1. Horses! (It's so much fun to be able to talk horses again.)
I'm finally seeing progress defeating the ringworm on my new horse's face (had it when I bought him). I can see fuzz growing and the hard scabs are all gone. Yay! It didn't take much--miconazole as the vet recommended. And that's easy to come by (aka Monistat in brand name, but I get the generic for this). I've also been washing his face with Betadine/water mix before slathering on the miconazole. Plus, after I'm done with him, I've been dunking the rope halter (which is black, so no staining worries) into the Betadine water to disinfect that too. It probably started working from the first day, but today I could clearly see new fuzz in the sun filling in the scabby areas of his face. The hardness under his jaw (lymph nodes) is disappearing with the fungus. I suspect his immune system was working hard to fight this. Letting him mostly relax in his new home has been the best medicine for his body to heal from the stress that had been placed on him to prepare for that auction, and that is allowing ulcers to heal on the inside, which only helps even more to boost his immune system to fight the coat fungus.
And he's doing well in the round pen. I've only taken him there a couple of times, but we're making progress on lowering his head--the head-shyness is slowly fading away. And he now comes to me immediately after releasing the "pressure" of moving out around the perimeter; no hesitation.
He's getting a little better about having his feet handled. It probably helped having those poorly applied shoes pulled and his heels lowered; they were too high. I'm sure he was sore, especially since he's now stepping out like a nice dressage pony prospect, which makes me giddy with excitement!
Last of all, the horse dentist will be out in a few weeks. Buddy has a bump on his jaw that's tender. I suspect a tooth problem. Between that and the ringworm, I have good reason to wait to put anything more than a halter on him. I want him to feel comfortable and relaxed before I bridle him. In fact, given his flinchy behaviors while desensitizing, I can more than confirm that he was cowboy'd on.
Buddy is a beautiful little pinto with the conformation for doing anything I want. And after all that I endured with my last few horses, especially Beau, I want to give him the best start that I can. That means healing him mentally through building his confidence and trust in me--he wants to but there are a few scars from his last trainers--and healing him physically, which will only help him feel better mentally.
That's the horse update. He's everything I needed and wanted. And when I'm with my horse, I forget about my disease; I am at peace.
In war, the first casualty is the truth. Nira is about to learn first-hand the real truth about the beastly Asru, the enemy of her people, the Ta'fel, but not as she would expect. As a life-giver and the daughter of the ruler of the Ta'fel, she is an invaluable war prize. For the Lord Master of the Asru, Drazan the Dark, she is something more. When she is taken prisoner by the Asru, her beliefs are challenged by Drazan and, in the process, so is her heart.Reserve your ebook today! Kindle Unlimited members will enjoy this as a free read for the first 90 days.
3. I've learned a great deal more about my autoimmune disease and insomnia. This is a thyroid AID, so hormones easily get disrupted, including adrenal hormones with the thyroid. I now know that I have been deficient in iron. My ferritin came in lower than ideal, although still in the normal range. This means low iron, despite eating meat every day, usually now at lunch. I also eat various veggies and fruits with iron, but the meat is the confusing part. I should be sufficient in iron and ferritin, you'd think. With Hashimoto's, however, I don't produce enough stomach acid and often depend on Betaine to aid my digestion. It's apparently not enough to help me absorb the iron I need. Thank goodness for supplements. In only a few days of iron supplementation, I feel much better.
And I'm sleeping better. I learned in my research that low iron and/or ferritin (the two components are related) can lead to low oxygen carried throughout the body (duh), but what I didn't know was that this also contributes to insomnia. I can only speculate why, but I'd guess it's the body's defense mechanism for survival--the adrenals make up for it by causing alertness, which tends to come at night. So, normal ferritin -> better oxygen transport -> thyroid support (and rest of the organs and glands) -> improved function -> improved metabolism and hormone support -> properly regulated metabolism -> normal sleep/wake cycle -> :D . Just don't go overboard--iron, like all minerals and vitamins, is toxic when too much is in the body.
The takeaway here is that I am sleeping better and waking up more rested and have more energy throughout the day. Hooray!
4. Last of all, The Lereni Trade is now available free to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited. I decided to give it a trial of 90 days as an Amazon exclusive.
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