The big melt

Over the last few days the sun has been out and the temperatures have been in the 40s, so we've lost a lot of our snow cover. With the snow gone and the warmer temps, the ground has started to soften up and get pretty muddy so we're expecting turnout time to be limited for a while. Hard to tell for how long.

The horses were in yesterday due to the paddock conditions, but they were able to get out for a few hours first thing this morning because the ground had firmed up overnight. They definitely have spring fever. Yesterday I let Dude out in the old indoor arena and he pranced around snorting, and worked himself up into a tizzy at the slightest little noise - and there were lots of noises because it was quite windy. Even though he's been in the arena a million times when horses and people have walked down the attached aisle to access the new arena, it was cause for much excitement yesterday.

When Turbo passed by, Dude stuck his head out to say hello. So cute.

After Dude got bored, I brought him back in and then took Bestie out to the indoor to lunge her. While she was pretty good on the lunge line, she definitely used the occasional appearance of people and horses passing by in the aisle to blow off a little steam - tail way up in the air, huge trot, eye rolling in the direction of the aisle.

Thank goodness for the two indoors. It seems that all the riders really prefer the new one (it is brighter and warmer), so when I've brought Dude and Bestie out to the old one, we haven't run into anyone else and they have had plenty of space and lots of time to roll, stretch and wander around. Looks like that will be our routine for a while.

Spring - vet visit and weather that keeps us guessing

"Spring" in northern Vermont. Since the official day on the calendar, we've had a few single digit mornings. The temperatures rose into the low 40s yesterday after a mix of freezing rain and icing Friday night, so the horses didn't go out yesterday. For sure they're not out today either, as it's raining and the deep snow is becoming a slushy slippery mess. The warming temps are great for the sugarmakers, who have been waiting for the sap to run, but these temps usually mean a period inside for the horses until the paddocks set up again.

Last week was spring visit #1 for the vet. They've been breaking the visits into two separate appointments for a few years, which is something our holistic vet had introduced us to even earlier. Concerns for the massive dump of innoculations into their systems; make sense. I cringe to think back to when we first got Dude and it all got done on one day. Sorry, buddy, we didn't know any better.

So this week's visit featured sheath and teeth cleaning for Dude, teeth cleaning for Bestie and the 5-way vaccine for both of them. Usually there is one of them that will receive the sedation, appear to be totally OUT, but then miraculously snap to as soon as the vet attempt to begin the teeth cleaning.

This time it was Bestie - she had to have a bit additional la-la juice because she kept hurling her head up into the air when Dr. Phil would try to clean her teeth. Which is bad, because it annoys the vet and because our barn ceiling is pretty low. She has a cracked tooth on her back right side, so we've been watching that since it was first spotted a year ago. No problems at all yet. I'm supposed to watch for nasal discharge, or difficulty chewing. She's a vigorous and enthusiastic eater, so I think that any difficulty chewing will be readily apparent.

Dude's visit with the vet was pretty uneventful, except that I guess I was a bad mom and should've had his sheath cleaned last fall. He's now officially on the twice yearly plan. He's all about the anticipation - gets a bit wild eyed when the vet comes in with the sedation, tries to back or lunge forward, but then succumbs to the inevitable. You just can't come in with the needle fully visible announcing your intentions.

I brought up Dude's weight - he seems ribby, and Dr. Phil thought he could stand to put on about 50-75 pounds. He also took blood to check his vitamin E levels, which can impact muscle development and maintenance if low. Dude used to be on a pure E supplement, because a previous vet thought it was needed (although I didn't test at that point). But in an effort to consolidate supplements, I had switched him over to the multi-component senior supplement, and it might not have enough E in it. Waiting for the test to see if it's back to buying the straight E to mix in. Apparently if he's E deficient, he needs to stay on the supplement, which I didn't understand before. Sigh.

The visit was Thursday. They were still a bit dozy when I had to leave about 45 minutes after the appointment ended so barn manager Caitlin fed them later. They were both at the point where they had started wandering the stall picking minute pieces of hay out of the shavings to munch on, but definitely not perky enough for full flake and grain. I went out to the barn on Friday and all was well. In the past they've had some swelling from the 5-way but nothing this time. And I didn't pre-bute, which I've done in the past. Dr. Karen assessment, ha ha - honestly, I think their stress levels at this barn are so low, plus they are outside so much more, that their systems process the shots better.

The next visit for the rest of the shots is in two weeks, but I'll unfortunately need to miss that one.

Horse beauty products

It's that time of year. The sun is out more, so it feels like spring is coming, but the temperatures are still cold and the horses are still in their blankets .. disgusting, dirty, manure-encrusted blankets. And underneath, shedding hair, lots of dander. Bleh. At the barn we all stand in the aisle and groom our ponies, complaining about how gross they are and how we can't wait to give them a bath. In northern Vermont, MAYBE that could happen in April, but it's not likely. Bathtime will be sometime in May, probably.

Dude and Bestie usually look pretty good coat-wise, but this time of year is tough. Maybe because the winter has been colder than normal, their coats seem kind of dry and dull. So I've been eyeballing a few products to try. One girl at the barn uses as Eqyss coat conditioner that smells like tropical fruit, and she really likes its effect on her horse's coat. The scent puts us all in a happy mood when she sprays it; a bonus. So that one's a possibility.

I've also been thinking about the argan oil hair wipes that I put in the girls' stockings for Christmas. Seems like those would work well, too. I just spent a few minutes Googling to be sure that argan was safe for horses, and it turns out that in countries where the trees grow, horses eat the leaves. Learned something new!

Apparently there are more horse owners than me thinking about this, because Googling also led to numerous forum threads with discussions about preferred horse coat conditioning products. Argan, coconut, baby oil - that last one doesn't seem good; too greasy. I'll have to investigate coconut oil, which seemed like a popular choice on the forums. I wonder if it smells strong. At least argan doesn't really have much scent. I see some time at Guy's Farm & Yard reading product labels in my future.

Not a small animal ...

... just a pile of Dude and Bestie's hair after grooming! While our temperatures are still not spring-like, the days have definitely gotten longer in the last few weeks, and the horses have been shedding hair like crazy. Prior to our grooming session, Bestie had rolled in the indoor, and that really seemed to loosen up her hair. I took her out to lunge her and I could tell she wanted to roll because she kept dropping her nose down to the footing while trotting - kind of awkward, to say the least! So I finally slowed her down and she settled down for a leisurely over-over-over-up roll while I stood at her head and tried to keep the lunge line from getting tangled. She looked like a mess afterward with the dust and the little chunks of rubbery arena footing stuck on her. :)

Looking at this photo with the gutter cover pulled back, I have to say that I would find it tough to go back to a barn without gutters! I think back to all the previous years of cleaning out stalls with muck buckets and wheelbarrows - yuck. Cleaning up, whether it's the aisle or the stalls, has never been so easy. I'm totally spoiled.

Happy birthday Dude!

Today Dude is 21 years old. He has been part of our family for 13 years. Amazing ... where does the time go?

Last weekend I was filing some of the invoices from last year's spring and fall vet visits for routine shots, and teeth and sheath cleaning. I've got binders for both Dude and Bestie, and as I was filing the invoices on Dude's care in his binder, I came across the listing of pro's and con's that the girls developed as we were considering purchasing Dude wayyyy back in 2001.

I. Love. It.

Reading the list makes me laugh to see what they considered the pro's. Likes dogs; yes, which I'm thankful for given the current influx of puppies at the barn. Dad can ride ... um, yeah, how many times did that happen?

And so sweet to picture them developing this list, with its concerns about "skinney legs" and "nivicular." Won't jump? Well, yeah, he's definitely not built for it, but that didn't stop him from taking first in a hunter cross rail class, doing the course with his ears pricked forward happily. Backwards training? Backwards as compared to what we as novices knew at the time (I think that's why that little "us" is listed as a con) ... that backwards training gave us an opportunity to learn.

Reading through the list brings back a whole lot of memories of all our adventures with Dude.

"Will never outgrow him." True.
"He is wondeful." Also true.

Happy birthday Heza Flashy Dude Mr.

A look at our fabulous new indoor arena

This is the aisle walkway to the new indoor. At right is the old indoor. You can see that there's a wooden wall; it's since been lowered a bit so that horses who might be in the old indoor can see anyone walking through the aisle. They don't get quite as freaked out that way. Speaking for my own two equines, initially there was a lot of snorting and tails wayyy up in the air when forced to deal with any not visible but audible traffic in that aisle. :)

This is the view as soon as you enter the front door. Beautiful and bright! Not exactly sure of the size ... um ... BIG.

The walls above the wooden half walls are plastic  with these funky shades that sort of remind me of Duette house shades, but clear. There's a fan that keeps the whole thing inflated, and they can be lowered (winter) or raised (summer - for air circulation). This makes the arena warmer than the old one - particularly nice with the stretches of single digit temps we've been having. We're in our third round of single digits this winter.

Can the new arena get any cooler? Yep, 'cause this is the footing - a mix of recycled athletic shoes. It looks like confetti - very festive. It's called ATHLETEX™  - the website promo says it "is designed to give you maximum cushion while retaining moisture and adding stability. ATHLETEX™ is made from recycled athletic shoes. It is a mixture of rubber and textile. We use rubber for cushion and textile for stability." Read all about it. As for the claims of cushioning, there is a sense around the barn that the ouchier horses are indeed happier in the new indoor.

Tour over! This is a look at the aisle coming out of the new indoor and heading back to the barn.

December at the barn

I took this photo of the barn holiday decorations a few weeks ago and am just getting around to posting it. The decorations made the front entryway to the barn look very festive.

Each horse had a little stocking on the tree in the tack room with a candy cane tucked inside. So nice!

We experienced some crazy weather in December. Rain, sleet, snow ... and a combination of all three on the weekend prior to Christmas, followed by a deep freeze that made the paddocks into skating rinks. The horses were in for a week. They got turned out in the indoor arena if owners were unable to make it out. I would turn out Dude and Bestie in the evening when I got there if no one else was using the indoor. Luckily, most people seem to enjoy riding in the new indoor, so the old one was often vacant and perfect for a little roll and romp.







One late afternoon I happened to be there at the barn when the front right half of the roof shed its load of snow and ice. That's the front end of my car in the photo; luckily no damage. Even more exciting, when the roof shed, I had Dude on the crossties in the aisle. It was like an avalanche when it came down - the barn shook. All the horses started whinnying, and Dude was tap dancing and snorting while on the crossties but didn't freak out or break loose. Amazing. What a good boy.







Just before New Year's barn owner Larry took turnout matters into his own hands and drove the tractor out into each paddock and made endless loops, totally pulverizing the ice. It made me nervous to hear they were planning on turning the horses out, so I went out with a flashlight prior to heading home that night and took a look. The tractor circles had basically crushed the crusty snow and ice and the footing was like the consistency of sand. So the horses have been out for two days now; partial days, actually, because the temps are in the single digits. Dude and Bestie have a Baker sheet as their bottom layer, then an insulated blanket, and then their turnout sheets. On Friday it's likely they won't go out at all because it's not supposed to climb above zero. Gotta love Vermont winters.