Back at it!

Last weekend at work we hosted a group of bloggers whose focus is healthy eating. I was lucky enough to sit in on some of their sessions related to blogging, and their creativity and enthusiasm were really inspiring, not to mention FUN to be around. Needless to say, the whole experience gave me a little kick in the pants to get back to this blog. They had some great tips on structure, photography, social media, search engine optimization ... all the stuff I haven't really focused on with this little effort. 

I really enjoy writing, but what I find is that I write so much for my job that by the time I get home, I'm pretty well fried. I need to remember that it is indeed fun to do - I'm doing it for that reason and because I also truly enjoy my time with the ponies.

Speaking of fun, doesn't Bestie look like she's having fun in the wash area? I'd say she appears resigned to her fate. :)

She looked absolutely gorgeous after the bath, all sleek and shiny. But of course, a day later when I arrived at the barn, she had rolled in the mud. Ah well.

This photo is of Dude's corner feed trough with the twigs he'd picked out of his hay and left for his servant to take care of. Um, that would be me. They almost look like pretzel sticks. It's so funny to me when I discover this. His hay flakes had been on the floor, so he was definitely picking the twigs up and putting them there in the feeder.

He has done this in the past; nosed out what he's not going to eat and left it in a prominent spot. One time I got to the barn and he'd left a rather sizeable stick several inches long in his feed bucket. Very helpful of him.

I'll end with a shot looking at the hillside across the road from the barn. It was a beautiful night with the clouds lifting after a gloomy day. It's the time of year when the leaves are starting to change so the hill glows a bit yellow. Such a peaceful setting.

Plenty of excitement in July ... and not in a good way

Poor Dude, July hasn't been too kind to him. On the 4th I got a call from barn owner Julie reporting they'd noticed Dude lying down in his paddock - that doesn't happen too often. They brought him in, and he lay down in his stall. Even more concerning, he didn't immediately attack his hay like he usually does. Julie reported, "He just doesn't seem right."

I was on the treadmill when she called, so I figured I'd finish my workout and then head over in 20 minutes or so. Then another call came in, this time from barn manager Paula checking to see that I was coming over, and kind of reviewing what she'd observed with Dude. It totally tracked with what Julie had said, but getting a second call kind of freaked me out. We decided to have the vet come out (yay, vet visit on a HOLIDAY!!);  best to play it safe as one horse in the barn had Potomac earlier in the month, and a couple others had minor colics.  I basically jumped off the treadmill and into the car.

When I got to the barn, he was up, and Paula had walked him. He had pooped and had a little water, but it was true, he didn't seem himself. Paula said, "He was snuggling - that's not Dude!" Hahaha, true, he is NOT a cuddler unless he's under the weather. We were experiencing a stretch of really warm, muggy weather, which he never does well with. They had been hosing him at turn-in time, and I had been hosing him when needed later in the day when I'd get to the barn.

Anyway, once the vet arrived, they sedated him and checked for impaction - nothing. He didn't have a temperature. He was slightly dehydrated, which could have been the root of the problem. Everything else looked good, but he is such a hothouse flower that the minor dehydration could've set him off. The earlier time he had a small summer colic - probably 7-8 years ago, but also on the 4th of July! - the weather was similarly hot and muggy. At the barn we were at then, they hadn't transitioned from previous year's hay to brand new really rich hay, and I think it was too much for his system.

By the time I left the barn, he was alert and back to his usual demanding self; i.e., pretty irritated that he couldn't have any hay. He was put on a program of really wet bran mashes and light grazing for a couple days to see how he did, and he did fine. All in all, a good reminder to me to watch him extra carefully when it's hot and humid. Typically we don't get too many oppressive periods of summer weather in Vermont, but this summer there have been a number of them. I know it's hard on me when it's like that!

A week later farrier Justin came for Dude and Bestie's trims. I was considering putting shoes on Dude for more support and also to get him out on the roads this summer. However, when Justin went to work on his left hind, Dude wouldn't stand. Something was bothering him; he wouldn't put sustained weight on his right hind. He'd been ok to pick out and treat his feet over the last few weeks, but standing on that right hind for any period of time - he just wasn't going to do it. In a sense, no surprise, as that's where he's been injured in the past, but I have no idea what he did to himself. He's in a flat paddock with another older horse and all reports are that they just hang out quietly all day.

So he's on Robaxin. The vet is talking possible arthritis given his age. It seems more like a traumatic injury to me; since he had been fine at the last farrier appointment. Reassessing after 10 days on Robaxin.

Tick season

It seems like ticks exploded onto the scene this year. We had a long cold winter and I know I assumed that it would delay the arrival of nasty creatures like ticks. Wrong. Apparently, the snow cover protects them, so they're worse on years with snow cover even when combined with frigid temps.

Back in late May, right about the time I heard at work that a few people had already picked up ticks while working outdoors, I went to the barn and found out that Bestie had come in with one on her muzzle.

The amazing thing to me was that the tick even got spotted on her, since her coat is so dark. A fellow boarder, Gina, who uses Bestie's pasture mate Sadie for lessons, went out to get Sadie and figured she'd bring in Bestie too rather than leave her alone. Gina noticed the tick while walking the mares in. I was so grateful.

This is the little contraption that barn owner Julie has on hand to extract ticks. I had never seen one before. It's about as long as my pinkie. Apparently you just position it so the little teeth/hooks fit around the tick and then twist and pop the tick off. There's even a YouTube video of people popping ticks off dogs (I think) ... many dogs. Crazy. And disgusting. I was trying to figure out if the contraption has an official name and the video came up in the search. Trying hard to get that one out of my head.




I have to say I'm a bit obsessive now about inspecting every little black speck I spot on them. Knock on wood, I haven't seen any more ticks on Bestie, or on Dude for that matter. Hopefully it stays that way.

B is for Bestie

Dude - king of the nicks and scrapes

Over the last couple months Dude has been getting so many nicks and scrapes in his stall. We solved one mystery - the mystery of the cuts on his hocks. He was getting those because there were nails popping out of the wall in the back of his stall, and he was apparently backing right into them.

But yesterday Reggie was cleaning his stall and noticed this scrape. It's pretty much a surface scrape, but still, it was a little messy. It's just so odd that he's getting all these - with no shoes. Michelle was on top of things and hosed him and cleaned it up with Betadine, which was very nice of her. I think her quick treatment help forestall too much swelling. By the time I got there in the afternoon, it was definitely swollen, but not too bad. I cold hosed him again and put a bunch of Sore No More on his leg around the wound, which I covered in triple antibiotic cream

He also has this one on his hock. Maybe it's from when he lies down at night. He had a scab there and it reopened this weekend. I've been treating the spot and it starts looking pretty good, and right about the time we seem to be over the hump, it reopens. Kind of frustrating.

The horses went out today so I think having that time outside walking around helped with the swelling from the scrape. I cold hosed him and also scrubbed all his legs with Betadine. This was our first warm weekend, so it was really nice out in the wash stall in the sun. And it's easier to see all the winter grime and crud on his lower legs in the sunlight. Looks like I'll be scrubbing him a couple more times before all of that is gone; his stockings are a little scurfy. Horsey spring cleaning.

An afternoon at the barn

I should know by now ... 9 times out of 10, when I'm feeling a bit draggy about going to the barn, when I get there, it's good. By good I mean that whatever was making me feel cranky usually disappears. When you're in the moment with Dude or Bestie, life is pretty simple and straightforward.

Yesterday I had a lengthy meeting to go to that involved a two-hour drive, so I left the house at 7:30 am and got back at 4:30 pm. It was a good meeting, but being gone for that chunk of time on a Saturday left me feeling less than enthusiastic about going to the barn. 

The horses are still confined to their stalls because the paddocks are really soupy. I brought each of them out to the indoor to have some stretching time. I romped with Dude off his lead, then handwalked him. Bestie strolled around as she's not much of a romper, then I handwalked her a couple of laps then grazed her outside on one of the few teeny tiny patches of grass available at this time of year.

Captured one of Dude's 3 rolls. Drop and roll, drop and roll, drop and roll.

This always makes me laugh. Who's the handsome guy in the mirror?

Checking out the action down in the new arena. At one point Jubilee was in the other arena staring back at him, but I couldn't get them both in the frame.

Bestie goes down much more daintily than Dude, and one prolonged roll is good. No multiples for her.

Hard to tell from the photo ... mud, mud and more mud.

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.