EOW No. 27

This week has certainly been one of the weirder weeks I’ve had in awhile.  We have had some wild summer storms roll through the area.  Last Sunday evening, we had one severe thunderstorm that dumped down hail, rain, and a load of wind in the area.  In an event that shatters belief, we did NOT lose power at our house.  The next day, there were utility trucks crawling all over our neighborhood.  I guess all of the trees directly around us that could have gone down have already done so, and there was nothing left to crash down on the power lines.  Last night, blaring weather sirens wailed for 15 minutes, surprising all of us.  There was no rain, no tornado, some gusty wind but a massive lightning storm.  Luckily, no tornadoes for us yet. 

The storms this week have brought on some disgusting humidity and heat.  Even though the temps were lower, any relief was counteracted by that heavy wet blanket feeling.  I got to the barn to ride and encountered this while grooming Dalton.

I have never seen a heat rash like this before, and it still makes my skin crawl.  Dalton’s hind quarters were swollen, as if he had gotten bitten all over.  I snapped pictures and sent them to my trainer who told me it was a pretty bad heat rash.  No turn out due to the rain, bad air circulation in the barn, an eruption of all the flies after the storm, poor Dalton was not having a very good day.  I got him out of his stall, saddled him up, and we walked / trotted outside to get some fresh air and work off some of the pent up energy.  After the ride, his swelling had gone down significantly and by the time he was hosed off and cooled down, most of it was gone.

In addition, Bryan’s been time zones away.  His work is almost always domestic or at least North American but this week, he’s been sent clear across to Europe.  The reverse scenario is usually the case - where I’m in the UK and he’s stateside but this time it’s the other way around.  I’m only slightly jealous that he’s in Europe for the nicest part of the year.  So far, he’s only been in Spain but he’s quite chuffed to be there and getting the odd opportunity to explore and walkaround.

Hopefully your week has had less humidity and fewer rashes than mine - gross.