Well, Ricky tried to get up, but he couldn’t. He’d thrashed around so much in the mud that he’d made a kind of trough that he was lying in, with dirt down below him.  He just couldn’t maneuver around enough to get up.

Joan decided to go over to the barn and get a shovel so that they could dig out the dirt preventing him from getting up.

Well, Miss Beatrice didn’t like that one single bit! She thought that Joan was abandoning Ricky, and took off behind her towards the barn.

Joan was on her way back to Ricky, so Miss B decided things were better, and she came back, too. She’s kinda like Ricky’s mom, always watching out for him.

With Miss B encouraging Ricky, Tina, Joan, and Blaine gave Ricky a shove, while Nolemana tried to keep Miss B from getting too close.

They tried to get Ricky to get up, but he couldn’t do it.

Joan began shoveling the dirt away from the lower side of where Ricky was lying.

Miss B kept trying get closer, and Nolemana had to keep her from doing that; she’d just get in the way.

Then, with the dirt out of the way, Tina, Nolemana, and Blaine began clipping all the wire that was nearby, while Joan comforted Ricky.

There was also some tape that had been around a fruit tree that had to be removed.

The problem had come because Ricky would insist on rubbing on the wire surrounding the tree, making a huge mess.

At last, everything was out of the way, and it was time to try again to get Ricky up.

Blaine, Tina, and Joan got in front of Ricky, and they all gave a huge push.

He was up!!! His left eye was caked with mud, and his legs were really shaky, but he was up, trying to walk. Everyone rubbed him all over, trying to get the blood flowing again. You can see the steam rising; like I said, it was major cold out there.

Ricky was shaky for awhile, while his rescuers rubbed him down.  Eventually, they were able to get the blood moving in his legs, and his legs began to get stronger.

Ricky very shakily began walking towards the barn, because he knew that’s where the food was, and he was very hungry. Miss B was in close attendance.

And here’s the filthy boy in the barn hungrily munching on alfalfa hay.

Joan was able to wash and clean out the eye that had been stuck in the mud all night. Then she immediately went to our local farm store and got him a new blanket, because the old one was a mess. She also thought it might have been too long on him. And after getting his new outfit, Ricky decided to venture out into the pasture, despite the fact that there was ice and snow all over it.

The next day, it was as if nothing had happened. Ricky and Miss B ventured ‘way up the hill to see what Rayado the llama was munching on so that they could join him. There wasn’t much, really. So when they saw me coming, they decided to head down, hoping for something better.

“Feed us!”, they called to me. Joan was on her way and I didn’t have my boots, so they had to wait for her.

What we figured out was that the fireworks on New Year’s Eve scared Ricky really bad; they had been particularly close and loud this year. He must have been running back and forth and slipped on the icy ground and because he was on a hill, couldn’t get back up again.

We were all so grateful that he was okay. It was a really scary time, the worst part for me when I thought he’d died.

Today, he’s still doing well, though twice he got himself into a pickle by deciding to roll and couldn’t get up again. But these times it was during the day and Joan got him up quickly.  Needless to say, we’re keeping a very close eye on him. Silly boy.