Our Orangutang

We have a beautiful (yes I am biased) black Percheron Draft Horse named Stingray the Incredible.  We call him Ray.  When he is in trouble we call him Raymond.  He showed up in our lives accidentally, more on that in a later post.  He has caused us a lot of grief in his short 5 years.  He can be an orangutang! 

Stingray the Incredible and our new fence

Until he was about 3 years old our simple 3 strand electric fence kept him in the pasture.  Then we had to make it 5 strands.  He still escaped.  Then we strung wire electric fence and got a bigger fence charger.  Apparently he didn't notice all our hard work!  He actually broke 1 or 2 fence posts off at the ground, but never broke the tape.  I have no idea how it ever happened.  Where would he go when he got out?  He would just wander around the yard, the sheds, and then follow the horses on the opposite side of the fence.  At one point he was getting out at least 3-4 times a week!  It got to the point that we were surprised if he wasn't out.  Most of the time we just had to yell "Raymond!  Barn!" and he would be waiting in there for us to put him back in the pasture before we could get to the barn.  We know have 3 rail fence that he has yet to escape from.

Ray stuck in the old fence

A few weeks ago Ray stepped on an old rusty piece of metal that had a nail in it.  There was a building that used to be in our pasture and someone buried it.  Every year I pick up metal in the pasture.  I guess I missed a piece this time.  For the last 2 weeks I have been cleaning Ray's foot (it is literally the size of a dinner plate) and packing the bottom of it with a mixture of sugar, betadine scrub, and metronidazole.  Then I put a diaper over the mixture.  Then I wrap his foot with a roll of vet wrap.  I really need 1.5 rolls but I have a limited amount of time before Ray wants his foot back.  Then I cover Ray's foot with duct tape.  One roll of duct tape only lasts us 3 days and I am tired of buying duct tape, it isn't cheap.  Twice a day he also gets an oral antibiotic.  The good part of Ray's injury is he gets some one on one time and practice picking up his foot, something he hates.  Bailey usually gets to come in and eat grain too.  And Cecilia comes out and watches me wrap Ray's foot every night.  She loves watching the horses and dogs while we are in the barn!  It has been good bonding time for everyone.  The bad news is he went from never getting any grain to getting grain twice a day.  If his grain isn't right in front of him when I start working on his foot he throws a fit.  A 2,000 lb mini temper tantrum.  If I yell at him a couple times it usually stops.  The grain has become like an addiction for him!

Ray and his bandage

All that being said we really do love Ray and we do laugh a lot about his antics.  We refer to him as our eldest son and he really is the sweetest thing.  The kids love him.  We love him.  The best part is after only 3 months of training when he was 2 years old he is an angel for us when we drive him, and we only drive him 4-5 times a year!  Hopefully more now that we have a better wagon.  So all the grief he gives us is completely worth it. 

Cecilia my happy helper