I am sure that there are many of you on OS who get tired of reading all the sunshine and touchy-feely entries I do regarding life on Almosta Ranch.  Well I'm here to tell you today that life on the ranch is not all sweetness and light and yesterday was a prime example of that fact.

 You see, I should not even be doing a blog today, instead, Mel and I should be arriving in St. Louis just about now and meeting up with one of my closest friends from England who is now touring the States with her husband.  Many of you know the blogger, Linda Cooper and she and her husband are ensconced in one of those swanky downtown hotels in St. Louis for a few days before making their way to California.

Mel and I had been looking forward to meeting up with them ever since Linda let us know she planned another visit to America. We even drove into Poplar Bluff yesterday morning to purchase new outfits just for the occasion.

It was yesterday afternoon that was our undoing.  After we got back from Poplar Bluff we hooked up our horse trailer and drove to a neighboring ranch to pick up two new brood mares so we could have them settled in before we left for St. Louis.  The rancher, one of the best known horse breeders in the state, wanted to give us to of his older brood mares because he was going with younger mares and wanted his girls to have a good home.  The only cost to us would be that he would have first claim on the first two foals the mares produced for us.  This is not an uncommon deal and ranchers and breeders do this sort of bartering all the time.

We were only too happy to do the deal as his horses boast one of the best blood-lines in the state and would boost our own offerings when we begin to sell foals.

So we picked the two mares up and brought them home and unloaded them into the pasture with a very happy Stallion....Billy was more than ready to do his part in bringing in next year's crop of babies.

The rancher had followed us home so he could help with the unloading and to take the chance to see our new baby for the first time. I put Billy in the barn away from the ladies to give them time to settle down and while I was doing that, Mel and the rancher led the two mares into the pasture they would share with our stallion, Billy and our small goat herd.

Unfortunately the two horses had never seen a goat before and was nervous around them, stomping the ground and throwing their heads around in alarm.  To add to the unrest, our dog pack, seeing two strange horses, were standing at the fence barking at the new girls.

Mel was holding the big Chestnut mare and the rancher was holding the Bay and, as I approached the gate, I could see that Mel was having trouble holding her horse and I begin hurrying toward the gate to get in there and give her a hand. Before I could reach her though, the mare wheeled her butt and lashed out with her hind leg. She struck Mel in the hip and lifted her completely off the ground. When Mel came down she landed with all her weight on her right foot.

The ankle snapped.

I got in there and took the horse's lead rope from Mel as she struggled to get to her feet.  She finally made it up but I knew she was hurt bad as soon as she tried to take a step.

The rancher and I got the horses sorted out  and then I helped Mel to the house. She was in a great deal of pain so I decided to load her into the truck and take her to the emergency room.

X-rays bore out my first impression....broken ankle and deep bone bruise of the hip. 

So here I sit....writing a blog instead of sharing laughs and grand conversation with our good friend.  Linda I am so sorry we had to bail out on you.

Mel is sound asleep...IN MY RECLINER....so her foot will remain elevated. At her side is a small bell I got for her so she can call me whenever she needs anything.  She took that idea like a fish to water and has just about wore the dang bell out.

In injured foot....

Mel, staking claim to my recliner.....Note Smoke the cat and Mollie the dog standing guard over "mom".

The Chestnut mare on the right is the guilty party

So tomorrow we will go to Mel's regular doctor and she will decide whether or not Mel will have to undergo surgery to repair the ankle.

There you have it....not everything around Almosta Ranch is sweetness and light; we got angst and drama with the best of them!