Bad Mommy....

...and I Hope He's OK

I finally did it. I have to lock Tucker in his stall in the morning so he does not bully his way into Chance's stall to eat his food.

I left for school and forget to let him back out.

The water in his bucket was frozen solid, so he was stuck in for eight hours without any real water to drink. He could lick the ice, but that is just not the same.

When I let him out, he immediately went to the water trough and drank a good amount. I felt terrible. And, of course I am worried that he could colic. He looks fine, but it's still a worry. Water is an essential to the equine digestive system. I gave him a wet feed tonight with some carrots and I will give him a bran mash at late feeding.

Poor boy. What a miserable day he must have had.

That just goes so show how much my brain has been worn out by the testing in school. I have had no breaks since Monday--take that back, one break yesterday. Today, I was going to have to go straight through the day again with only my lunch time off, but I said something to the vice-principal and he let me off my hall duty.

Now, I do understand some people do work all day, but teaching has an intensity and demand that really doesn't compare to many jobs. I worked one summer as a temp in a high powered insurance company, and the job was a piece of cake compared to a day of teaching. It's hard to explain what it's like to have to be "on," 100% aware and ready for almost anything while you are trying to instruct classes of kids in 45 minute sessions. You cannot leave the classroom. You must react and respond to everything the kids do, adapt to distractions, and still teach.

Our contract limits us to 6 "pupil contact" periods a day, with one preparation period each day. This week I was doing 7 contact periods and had no prep period. Needless to say, I am tired. I will be getting paid for the extra periods, but that doesn't fix my mental exhaustion.

Then, to come home and find out I had left Tucker in.....*sigh*

No riding again as it is still frozen out there, although much of the snow has melted. By the weekend it's supposed to be up into the 50's, so that will be grand.

I have also found out that the former sand company family next door is selling hay for a pretty decent price. I just called and left a message that I would like to try a few bales to see if the "Boys" like it. I have an excellent hay supplier now, but if I could buy right next door, I could certainly save both time and gas. The way things are going, that might be well worth it.

We shall have to see if my gourmet equines will consider the product worthy of their delicate palates.