Friday, June 26, 2009
The morning started out fine. I decided to leave the girls out for the day – bedding was low and the weather was nice. I’m a bit OCD about them being in if the stalls aren’t nice and deep. After breakfast, the girls start milling around. They always take their time leaving me, but Anni was even more clingy then usual. She’s staring at the back yard two houses down. The girls are always watching everything that’s going on, so I don’t think much of it. Until, of course, the girls take off for the front corner of the pasture. Um, ok. I’m getting ready to leave for work but the girls are pacing the front fenceline. Bad. Huh. Ok, I’ll see what’s going on. As soon as I’m out of the car, I hear the most intense sound. I almost recognize it, but I go to investigate. I round a corner, and there are two bobcats fighting. And the submissive one is screeching. Well, now what? I can’t leave with the girls that scared, but the cats don’t care I’m even there. They finally run off, and I throw some rocks in their general direction just to get them farther away.
The girls are still scared, but at least aren’t running around anymore.
After work, I run to the feed store for bedding and hay and when I get back to the barn, I can tell the girls have spent all day in the front of the pasture. Poor things. I bed their stalls and try to get the girls in for dinner. They aren’t buying it. I actually have to go halter Anni and coax her in with peppermints. I get her in, and Adiva follows, luckily. But they are still nervous. I sure don’t blame them. After dinner, I turn them back out and they book it for the front again. This time, at least, they come back for their hay, so I know they’ll be ok.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The girls are still a bit spooked, but at least come in for breakfast, although they had to run in. Silly things. By the afternoon, they are back to normal, finally. I guess they survived their first ‘predator’ sighting!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Why am I so lucky?
Honestly, all I wanted to do was get back to working the girls. But no, today it has to rain. Not a lot, but enough to slick up the ground. So I decide to just trim Anni’s mane. Adiva likes hers all braided, but Anni never wants me to. And since her mane is so long, it’s hot and bothers her. So I gave her a ‘hunter trim’ and she loves it! Can’t wait to get some cute pics of her!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
That's fine, you can call me lazy!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
It’s been quite a wild ride the last few weeks, and to be honest, I’ve just been too drained to update this. I’ll fill y’all in now, tho.
Saturday, June 6. 2009
Anne from Beauty’s Haven came out for a site visit. It was a blast meeting her and talking about how far the girls have come. Of course, as soon as she leaves, the rain starts. Horrible horrible rain. I couldn’t even see the road from the barn!
Monday, June 8, 2009
My first real horsey emergency with the girls happened.
Anni coliced. Started at 6pm when I went out to feed. The girls were in their stalls (I'm stalling them doing the day due to heat and storms) and I could tell Anni rolled. No biggie, til I went to take off her flymask. Anni looks wrong. She's facing the back with her face into the fan. I go in, touch her belly and she jumps. Sigh. And damn.
I grab her halter, get her walking, call P to tell him I'll be late and call K to tell him I need help. Twenty minutes in, I give Banamine. I was hoping she'd work herself out so I waited a bit. But she was parking out and rolling so I gave in. K pulls up right then, and he starts walking her. I feed Adiva and get some food for Anni. Watery beet pulp and way too much corn oil. She's not buying it. Her belly is hard, but gurgly. She's not in horrible pain, but she's way way uncomfortable. I'm betting gas colic.
We take turns walking until 8:30, when she passes normal stool, and is finally interested in her mash. I turn her out so she can move and graze a bit. She looks better - more alert. Half hour later, she parks out, then lays down. Shit. We go out there, and both horses spook and take off running. I encourage it, of course, cuz moving will force all that gas out. Well, not so much.
I grab her halter and we go at it again. Make her fave – Gatorade - to tempt her to drink but no dice. She's slightly dehydrated but not horribly so, and I chalk it up to her being icky feeling. She keeps escalating. Rolling more violently, pawing at her belly - she was going downhill fast.
I'm freaking, cuz as y'all know, the last colic call I made was Classy, and I'm just dying inside. I'm scared to even call. But I can't let this keep going, so I call the vet at 10:20 and he calls back 5 minutes later - he's on his way - 30 minutes.
Lucky for me the vet coming out was the owner of the business and he's been around Florida colic so much he can do it in his sleep. I feel way better about him coming out. When he gets there, he shoots her full of Xylazine and takes her vitals. All normal. Heart rate, temp, respiration. Even had normal belly sounds, tho a little diminished on her left side. He gives her Banamine and does a rectal. (Did I mention she's passes FIVE normal stools since 6pm?) All he finds is normal stool. A bit gassy, but nothing crazy. So, oil time. We load her up, give her more Xylazine and that's it. We put her in her stall to sleep it off. Vet gives me strict instructions and tells us to get some sleep. I get home at midnight, shower, fall into bed, wake up at 6 and head right back to the barn.
She's better - two piles of normal stool - but she's stuck in with no feed. Not that she cares. She's definitely still feeling bad. Adiva, luckily, is being an angel and not complaining about anything. I head off to work, and inform everyone that I'm going to be a bitch. When I explain why, one of the techs tells me to bring in a fecal sample and we'll check for worms. Well duh! Why haven't I thought of that? I check on them at lunch and Anni actually nickers at me. Oh joy! She's obviously feeling better. She's not allowed to eat anything yet, but she seems to be happier. I take some nice fresh poopies to work and test it. Guess what I find???? Hookworms. Lots and lots of hookworms. WTF? I mean, it’s not like they aren’t being wormed. So, after work I head to the feed store, grab oil, bran and dewormers and head back to the barn to hope she has passed some oil. If so she gets to eat. If not, I call the vet.
Oh joy – oily poop!!! That means she gets a nice bran mash. Here starts the scary business of feeding her again. But I’m a good girl and follow orders – only 1/4 of normal diet for now and if all goes well I can increase by 1/4 each feeding. She’s stuck in again at night – I don’t want to risk letting her out and having her overgraze.
She continued to improve day by day, but it took her a good week to start feeling (and looking) herself again.
Adiva was nice to her the entire time too. I’m a bit surprised as she’s a true alpha mare and can be so mean sometimes!
Speaking of Adiva, I did get to work her once last week – she was a defiant little mare and we had a long discussion about it. She’s decided that the lunge whip isn’t scary, which is good, but she doesn’t have to listen to it. So how to you convince a horse to listen and respect a whip without scaring them? Yeah, not easily. I haven’t had a chance to mess with her again, but I think I have a few ideas. Hell, if she’d just move on her own I wouldn’t even need a whip!
Anni hasn’t worked at all. They’ve been getting groomed, but I wanted to give her some time to recover, plus the farrier is due and it’s just been so effing hot! Heat index of 106 today. It’s been like this for a while now, and I see no reason to push the girls. I’m just going to wait it out and take advantage of nice days.
It’s been quite a wild ride the last few weeks, and to be honest, I’ve just been too drained to update this. I’ll fill y’all in now, tho.
Saturday, June 6. 2009
Anne from Beauty’s Haven came out for a site visit. It was a blast meeting her and talking about how far the girls have come. Of course, as soon as she leaves, the rain starts. Horrible horrible rain. I couldn’t even see the road from the barn!
Monday, June 8, 2009
My first real horsey emergency with the girls happened.
Anni coliced. Started at 6pm when I went out to feed. The girls were in their stalls (I'm stalling them doing the day due to heat and storms) and I could tell Anni rolled. No biggie, til I went to take off her flymask. Anni looks wrong. She's facing the back with her face into the fan. I go in, touch her belly and she jumps. Sigh. And damn.
I grab her halter, get her walking, call P to tell him I'll be late and call K to tell him I need help. Twenty minutes in, I give Banamine. I was hoping she'd work herself out so I waited a bit. But she was parking out and rolling so I gave in. K pulls up right then, and he starts walking her. I feed Adiva and get some food for Anni. Watery beet pulp and way too much corn oil. She's not buying it. Her belly is hard, but gurgly. She's not in horrible pain, but she's way way uncomfortable. I'm betting gas colic.
We take turns walking until 8:30, when she passes normal stool, and is finally interested in her mash. I turn her out so she can move and graze a bit. She looks better - more alert. Half hour later, she parks out, then lays down. Shit. We go out there, and both horses spook and take off running. I encourage it, of course, cuz moving will force all that gas out. Well, not so much.
I grab her halter and we go at it again. Make her fave – Gatorade - to tempt her to drink but no dice. She's slightly dehydrated but not horribly so, and I chalk it up to her being icky feeling. She keeps escalating. Rolling more violently, pawing at her belly - she was going downhill fast.
I'm freaking, cuz as y'all know, the last colic call I made was Classy, and I'm just dying inside. I'm scared to even call. But I can't let this keep going, so I call the vet at 10:20 and he calls back 5 minutes later - he's on his way - 30 minutes.
Lucky for me the vet coming out was the owner of the business and he's been around Florida colic so much he can do it in his sleep. I feel way better about him coming out. When he gets there, he shoots her full of Xylazine and takes her vitals. All normal. Heart rate, temp, respiration. Even had normal belly sounds, tho a little diminished on her left side. He gives her Banamine and does a rectal. (Did I mention she's passes FIVE normal stools since 6pm?) All he finds is normal stool. A bit gassy, but nothing crazy. So, oil time. We load her up, give her more Xylazine and that's it. We put her in her stall to sleep it off. Vet gives me strict instructions and tells us to get some sleep. I get home at midnight, shower, fall into bed, wake up at 6 and head right back to the barn.
She's better - two piles of normal stool - but she's stuck in with no feed. Not that she cares. She's definitely still feeling bad. Adiva, luckily, is being an angel and not complaining about anything. I head off to work, and inform everyone that I'm going to be a bitch. When I explain why, one of the techs tells me to bring in a fecal sample and we'll check for worms. Well duh! Why haven't I thought of that? I check on them at lunch and Anni actually nickers at me. Oh joy! She's obviously feeling better. She's not allowed to eat anything yet, but she seems to be happier. I take some nice fresh poopies to work and test it. Guess what I find???? Hookworms. Lots and lots of hookworms. WTF? I mean, it’s not like they aren’t being wormed. So, after work I head to the feed store, grab oil, bran and dewormers and head back to the barn to hope she has passed some oil. If so she gets to eat. If not, I call the vet.
Oh joy – oily poop!!! That means she gets a nice bran mash. Here starts the scary business of feeding her again. But I’m a good girl and follow orders – only 1/4 of normal diet for now and if all goes well I can increase by 1/4 each feeding. She’s stuck in again at night – I don’t want to risk letting her out and having her overgraze.
She continued to improve day by day, but it took her a good week to start feeling (and looking) herself again.
Adiva was nice to her the entire time too. I’m a bit surprised as she’s a true alpha mare and can be so mean sometimes!
Speaking of Adiva, I did get to work her once last week – she was a defiant little mare and we had a long discussion about it. She’s decided that the lunge whip isn’t scary, which is good, but she doesn’t have to listen to it. So how to you convince a horse to listen and respect a whip without scaring them? Yeah, not easily. I haven’t had a chance to mess with her again, but I think I have a few ideas. Hell, if she’d just move on her own I wouldn’t even need a whip!
Anni hasn’t worked at all. They’ve been getting groomed, but I wanted to give her some time to recover, plus the farrier is due and it’s just been so effing hot! Heat index of 106 today. It’s been like this for a while now, and I see no reason to push the girls. I’m just going to wait it out and take advantage of nice days.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A break in the rain!!!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The rain has abated, at least in spurts.
Monday it was actually dry enough to work Anni. YAY! So K. and I tacked her up, complete with her bit! And of course, she could care less. She worked wonderfully too – no hitch, no issues, no big deal at all. Well, one temper tantrum, but I think that’s just because she was feeling good about being worked.
Today I actually got off work early so I headed out and worked Adiva. Her first time with the bit too. She still isn’t too sure about that ‘thing’ in her mouth, but once we started working she was golden. A few issues as she got used to the bit – some head tossing and chomping – but no pulling and no major tantrums.
I honestly think they enjoy working, and not just because of the attention. Anni truly comes alive and tries so hard to be good and do what you want. Adiva likes to move and show off, and seems to appreciate being allowed to strut her stuff. I really hope the rain holds off and I can get back into a routine.
It’s about that time to think about keeping them in during the day too. It’s so dang hot, and when the storms come up, it’s horrible. Plus it will help save the grass. The new paddock is ready to use also, so I need to make up my mind. I don’t want them to tear it all up. Tho, they aren’t running like lunatics that much anymore – either they are settled in or it’s just too hot for them to care. I honestly think they’d like to be in during the hot part of the day. Maybe I’ll try it this weekend and see how they like it. I’ve always found they relax more when they are in during the day and out at night. I think they feel safe enough to sleep during the day, but at night they are too on edge to relax in their stalls. We’ll see, I guess!
The rain has abated, at least in spurts.
Monday it was actually dry enough to work Anni. YAY! So K. and I tacked her up, complete with her bit! And of course, she could care less. She worked wonderfully too – no hitch, no issues, no big deal at all. Well, one temper tantrum, but I think that’s just because she was feeling good about being worked.
Today I actually got off work early so I headed out and worked Adiva. Her first time with the bit too. She still isn’t too sure about that ‘thing’ in her mouth, but once we started working she was golden. A few issues as she got used to the bit – some head tossing and chomping – but no pulling and no major tantrums.
I honestly think they enjoy working, and not just because of the attention. Anni truly comes alive and tries so hard to be good and do what you want. Adiva likes to move and show off, and seems to appreciate being allowed to strut her stuff. I really hope the rain holds off and I can get back into a routine.
It’s about that time to think about keeping them in during the day too. It’s so dang hot, and when the storms come up, it’s horrible. Plus it will help save the grass. The new paddock is ready to use also, so I need to make up my mind. I don’t want them to tear it all up. Tho, they aren’t running like lunatics that much anymore – either they are settled in or it’s just too hot for them to care. I honestly think they’d like to be in during the hot part of the day. Maybe I’ll try it this weekend and see how they like it. I’ve always found they relax more when they are in during the day and out at night. I think they feel safe enough to sleep during the day, but at night they are too on edge to relax in their stalls. We’ll see, I guess!
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