Chloes and My Journey to our new home

Let me first start off by saying how im sorry it took me so long to write! I know I told some of you this post would be up days ago but as it turns out moving to the east coast is a little more then a hop and a skip. At least this trip was. My Father, Chloe, Pickles and I headed for the east coast early Tuesday morning. I had spent the previous week packing my life into boxes and that was no easy task. Who knew I had so many shoes or saddle pads??? The Sunday before I left my parents threw me a nice going away party where all the barn people stopped by and had some mexican food and margaritas, my favorite!! It was great to see everyone before I left seeing how most of them I have grown up with. The day before I left our young rider vet Dr. Laura Werner dropped her horses off at my home. She is moving to the east coast as well, yay for me!! We offered to take her horses to Lexington for her on our way to North Carolina. Back to what I was saying, we left early Tuesday morning and of coarse Chloe would not load. She wanted nothing to do with it. I tried to bribe her with every treat possible...she almost seemed offended by that. Eventually we got her in and after saying by to my mom which was incredibly hard we were off. Another adventure across the country eating junk food and listening to lousy books on tape. I guess its called books on cd now. I think tape rolls off the tongue a bit better. Okay sorry back on track. The drive was long my dad and I took turns sleeping and driving. Pickles slept about 23 hours out of the day. He almost became relish when my dad accidently let go of his leash and he went running through the Flying J truck stop, in between all the trucks to try and find me...whoops! Now onto what I am avoiding. We arrived at Kentucky late Thursday night. We dropped Laura's horses off for her and headed to where Chloe was going to stay over night. As soon as I put her in her stall she started shaking. I had never seen anything like it. At first I assumed she was cold. I mean it was snowing and 11 degrees out and we are California girls. So I layered blankets on her and after letting her drink some I had my dad walk her around the barn (indoor) to try and get her warm. I searched for a thermometer and when I took it it came up 105.3. Well thats not good. I decided the thermometer must not be right. So I grabbed another one and her temp came up 106.4. I decided I like the first one better. I was so scared I could have cried. Wait, no I definately did cry. I was scared. The only good part out of this whole situation was that we were located right around the corner from Hagyards Horse Clinic. One of the worlds best clinics. A vet arrived within minutes and determined it was shipping fever. At that point we had already guessed that was what it was. I had talked to my mom prior the vet getting there and she had guessed thats what it was. Why does this have to happen on my first journey away from her and my regular vet. Don't you worry I was deifnately calling him too. Poor Bart. I'm all the way across the country and he cant get rid of Chloe and I. Anyways, we caught the fever soon enough that she responded well to all the meds and antibiotics. We pulled blood and ultrasounded the lungs and all of that was normal. That night I checked on her thoughout the night about every three hours. In the mean time I lay awake and googled shipping fever. 50% of the web pages informed me you must keep windows up to keep the air flow. the other 50% informed me you must keep windows closed to reduce the air flow. Helpful. Chloe was up to date on all her shots and was not tied so she was able to put her head down. Two of the most important things. Im not sure what else I could have done to avoid it. Throughout the night her temp dropped and by morning she was at 101.9 which is amazing considering she was at 106.4 earlier. Slowly she got back to her normal self. Eating, drinking and headbutting anyone who got near her. I liked that. We stayed the next day to let her rest and my dad and I went shopping for snow clothes since I was silly enough to think my jeans would hold up just fine. Thank goodness for tractor supply!! Later that night the vet had suggested that Chloe needed to stay in Lexington for at least three days to rest before she got back on the trailer to go to her new home. Well this seemed like a long time to me, but I also have never dealt with shipping fever before. So I called Laura who had said at least three days...at least. So I called Bart who said five days of rest minimum. Well this posed a problem because obviously Chloes health comes first but I had a job to start and my dad had a plain to catch. So we decided to leave Chloe there in the hands of the vet and Wendy who ran the barn. Both very trustworthy horse people. Not that it makes it any easier to leave your horse behind. We drove on to North Carolina. I started my job, we moved my dads flight back and the plan was for him to go back Sunday and get her. Well Sunday North Carolina was hit by a huge storm. Snow everywhere! So we decided Monday then, he would go get her Monday. Well, Monday still snow everywhere. Tuesday morning rolls around and he decided he was going to go. The conditions were getting better but still not the best driving conditions. Have I mentioned I have a great dad? So Tuesday, which is today, he left. Just called him and he is about two hours away from Chloe. Chloe has been off of banamine for over three days now and her temp has stayed normal and she is still pushing people around. I like it. It has been so hard for me to be here and not there with her. Putting that kind of trust into people to watch your horse, your horse who is the main reason I moved out here, the horse who has changed my life. Yes, that is some serious trust. They have been very good about answering my phone calls every hour though. So fingers crossed the weather stays good and Chloe will be here tomorrow!! I think she is excited too. Where she is located in Lexington is an in door barn and apparently when they walk her around inside she will stop in front of the door to go out and paw obnoxiously and then will refuse to go back in her stall. She is feeling good I think. I have a stall all set up for her and bags and bags of carrots here waiting. Also, If you are ever stranded in Kentucky go to Shylah Farms, they are truly a life savor.

I started my job on Sunday and besides all the snow I have really been enjoying it! I mean it is a lot of work but the girls are great, the house where I am living is fantastic and I am around horses all day. I cant complain!....yet. We definitely took trash can lids and went sledding on the cross country gallop track here. Or should I say we attempted too? Now the count down to Chloes arrival begins!! FINALLY! Thank you everyone who has been texting nice messages :) It does help! I know its hard for me being a days drive away from her but I cant imagine how my mom feels being a three days drive away. Chloe loves to keep us all on our toes and really seems to enjoy having us lose sleep over her. Please everyone keep your fingers crossed that her trailer ride here tomorrow goes smoothly. I will definitely keep you all updated on her and the new job!


The Fork on a nice sunny day!

Close up

Picture I took yesterday with all the snow!


Xoxo Kelly and Chloe