Monday, August 17, 2026 – Packing, Shopping, Visiting Day After Scary Night for Flash

Hi Babe,
Last night, as I was getting ready for my shower and bed, I heard a small moaning sound, and when I followed it, I found Flash on the ground with his lead rope around one of his rear fetlocks. Apparently I had tied it too loosely and I'm guessing he tried to scratch his ear like a dog (which he is prone to do), it got caught. I hadn't heard him whinnying or in distress, so I was surprised to see him like that. I managed to get his foot out of the rope and release the rope from his halter, and he just lay there while I tightened the highline, which had dropped down from all the weight. Once that was done, I put the lead rope back on him, untangled his legs from the post, and got him standing, though he was lifting that foot clear off the ground. I settled him down, treated the abrasion with the usual sprays and wound gels, and checked for anything else, but fortunately, it seems like the rope burn is the only injury. Phew! I gave him some bute tabs and stayed with him until he stopped quivering and finally went to his hay bag, settling down for the night. Guess I won't be doing much riding at my next stop! At least, not on Flash. By morning, though, he was doing much better, able to put his full weight on that leg, so I treated him again with topicals and bute, and he continued to improve throughout the day. I, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep until about 2:30 a.m., and was up with my alarm at 7:30. In the morning, I had a visit from my friend Alayna for about an hour, then headed into town to get a few things from Tractor Supply, including filling up my propane tanks, and to do a good shopping at Walmart, since it's a lot closer to camp here than at my next stop. I ran my generator again this morning, it went for over 45 minutes, until I actually stopped it, so the batteries got a good charge. I picked up some fuel for the truck (at the ridiculous price of $5.33/gal!), though it stopped at $100 and I left it at that, and a small tank of regular gas to fill up the borrowed generator, which I also ran later in the day for a short while just to top off my batteries for the evening. Put most of my stuff away in anticipation of our departure tomorrow, and finally settled down for the evening, more than ready to get to bed, hopefully to recapture some of those hours I didn't get last night! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!