You know you are behind on updating your blog when you don't remember your username and password to get into your account... Oops!
Okay, so long time no talk! I have been an extremely busy girl, and when I am not at the farm or at class, or with Sarah; I'm sleeping. I have finally gotten into the swing of things as far as assignments go and I am caught up with all the budgeting problems I was having along with everything else I was trying to get into a set schedule. With that being said, tonight's blog is going to be split into two sections. The first is going to answer everyone's question; What is Melissa doing!? The second is going to be far more heartfelt than that since for the past week I have constantly been thinking how I need to approach my blog like a journal. That and Momma keeps saying that it's the mushy stuff everyone likes anyway. So here we go folks... 3 weeks of craziness in one blog!
So what has Melissa been doing?
I have ridden in the back of a trailer with mares and foals that were healthy, along with mares and foals that were going to the clinic on the verge of death. I have been moved around to all 16 of the barns in the broodmare division and sometimes I feel like it happens all in one day. I have seen the use of our hyperbarics chamber which is truly amazing and shows me that the advances in veterinary medicine are incredible. I have completed a job shadow at Three Chimneys Farm and hung out with studs all day.. literally. I was blessed with the visit of my Daddy and my adoring Jax, along with a visit from a friend who will remain unnamed at this point but is making a very positive impact on my life. And to top it all off, I have been to so many conferences, meetings, seminars, classes, and lectures it would make your head spin! Shew, that was a lot and let's not forget the endless nights of laughter, giggle fits, and girl talks that I've had with Sarah!
Now to get into specifics, when mares and foals are moved around the farm they have to be trailerd simply because of the size of the property. This is done for numerous reasons: a) there are only 2 foaling barns and each of them only have 22 stalls. We have 156-ish mares that need to foal, clearly someone needs to move to make room. b) once mares have foaled and both are doing well, it is important to move them to a barn with other mares and foals to try and reduce the risk of disease or illness; such as scours. There are so many beliefs and practices to this reason that I can't even explain further, just go with it - lol! Back to the trailering... When a mare and foal are in a trailer most farms will have an employee ride with them in the trailer to make sure the foal is okay and the mare doesn't move around a lot to harm the foal on accident. This trip is sort of fun to experience because normally you are going under 20mph and you are only in the trailer for about 10 minutes. My other experiences in the trailer have not been so relaxing. I have been on 2 clinic runs with sick and dying mares. The first was 12 hours post-foaling and was bleeding internally, this is clearly not good for numerous reasons. She was showing signs and symptoms of Colic, the leading cause of death in equine, and then it was later determined she was hemorrhaging. After a few hours our resident vet decided we needed to get her to the clinic since we are unable to do anything as far as procedures, knock downs or anything like that. So off to the clinic we went and in a hurry. I was shoved into the front of the trailer with the foal to keep him stable while the mare was on the back of the trailer and the divider was between us. Although she never went down on the trailer, she was extremely uneasy on her legs. After about 20/25 minutes we were at the clinic and unloading her into a stall full of people waiting for us. Within minutes they had done a physical exam, scanned her, and found the problem and where she was bleeding from. She luckily didn't have to go into surgery and was back to the farm within a day or so, but she was extremely weak and it was critical that our vet sent her in when she did.
The second trip was by far a lot more scary. This too, was a mare who had recently given birth. She went from showing light symptoms of Colic to being broken out in a full body sweat and unable to stand on her own two feet in a matter of 45 minutes. I was in the same situation as the one before as far as where I was located on the trailer, but this time I had a much larger problem, keeping the mare up. It is important that when a horse is experiencing Colic that you don't let them lay down or roll. This will cause the intestine to twist even more than it might already be and cause more harm than good. During our trip to the clinic the mare was in so much pain that she continually tried to lay down which resulted in me doing all that I could do to keep her on her feet. Luckily, we made it to the clinic and pulled right up to the emergency doors and unloaded her before she could get down. This is where everything gets really cool, scary, but cool! Once you walk the mare into what is called the "knock down stall" the vet assigned to her will do a physical exam followed by anything they feel may need to be completed. It was only a matter of minutes before it was decided this mare needed to get into surgery as soon as possible due to her colon being twisted. So as safely as they can, they get the mare under anesthesia, laid down, and hooked up to a hoist to lower her to the lower floor to be placed on the operating table. From there, they prep her for surgery and get everything hooked up before they cart her into the operating room. I was able to watch this process and to see the surgery which was incredible! From the time we entered until the time she was done in surgery was about 45 minutes! It was amazing! |
Thankfully, about a week ago I was able to have daddy and Jax down here for 5 days to visit and hang out! It was so nice to see them and to spend time with them since I have begun to miss home a bit! As usual, dad made himself busy during the day with finding random things to do and I loved hearing about them at supper! I was able to have spend time with Jax too which was amazing since I have certainly been missing him tons and tons! I absolutely love having visitors and getting cards and packages that everyone has been sending! Next week I will get to see some of the girls from the WVU Equine group along with Crystal so that is something very exciting to look forward to!
All in all, these last three weeks have been a little hectic with my work at the farm and then keeping up with the requirements of the KEMI program! Now for the second part..
I have been trying really hard to evaluate myself, my thinking, my future, and tons of other things. I am constantly asked what I see myself doing after this program or where I see myself going, etc. Here's what I have come up with.. and I don't think it's the answer a lot of people expect from me...
I don't know. Truthfully, I don't. And for the first time in my life I am completely confident in saying that. My plan has changed at least 100 times since before I graduated high school, so why should I continue stressing myself over what is to come next. Instead what I want to focus my time and energy on is trying to find my definition of success and what it means to me. As most of you know, come June my internship ends and I plan to move home at least for a little while. I want to take the time to visit some friends in various areas of the country and spend time at home. From there, I'm going to just chase after the things I am interested in and the career paths I feel suit me best. Thus far, the decisions I have made and the moves I have taken have lead me down a very positive path and I am happy with where I am. This leads me into my next thought.
For those of you who have been around me long enough, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.. but I feel like the last three years I have spent essentially just trying to find myself and I finally feel like I know who I am. It has been a rough road of leaving home, losing some of the people I thought I loved along the way, and dealing with my biggest demon; me. My move to Kentucky was by far 1,000 times easier than my move to WVU and I have felt very settled while being here. But I also think it's because I know who I am as a woman, and the values I stand for. I am finally okay with being "independent." I am finally okay with up and moving somewhere new, I am able to go to dinner and eat alone, and most of all, I have learned how to love myself. Now some of this probably seems ridiculous to some of you, but there for a while I really lost sight of who I was and what I stood for in life and I just finally feel secure.
So now for my closing thoughts. I am finally the woman I have always wanted to be and I still strive to better myself each and every day. I am on a hunt to determine what success means to me and I know once I define it, it will determine the path I choose for my future. I have decided to stop trying to force life into a plan because it is simply not meant to be planned nor will it ever adhere to the plan anyway. And lastly, it is because of the strength and support from my family and friends that has gotten me to where I am today and I can honestly say I wouldn't be half the person I am if it weren't for those amazing people!
I hope you all have enjoyed tonight's blog, I know I am way behind on keeping you up to date but I'm working my tale end off and doing major soul searching! Kentucky has been great for the soul and has give me the space I needed to put all the pieces of the puzzle back together. This is an exciting time for me right now and to be able to say that I am deep down happy is an amazing feeling. People come in and out of your life for a reason and although we may not understand why, it always ends up for the better. I am so thankful for those who are in my life now, whether they have been here or have just gotten here.
With love,
Melissa