The day after being deshod.

Why can't we just buy a horse that doesn't have issues from the start? OK, so, I know these animals are in need of great care too. Mouse arrived on the place seemingly sound. How ever, after almost a month, he is still lame on his front feet. We had him deshod yesterday, because I had several suspicions.

Firstly,

1. He walks in a boxy diagram. Always turning on the forehand and never picks up his front feet or crosses over unless he's forced to, and only if he's in-hand. When he moves forward or covers ground in a straight line, he never shows signs of lameness. And he only shows stress turning, to the right.
2. He shows signs of thrush.
3. Frog is extremely soft and spongy.
4. Sole is harder, but chalky.
5. Has a hint of wall separation.
6. The frog area has a foul smell.

Having let him settle in, and now, which I think has been is long enough for him to show signs of getting better, it's time to start an aggressive approach to finding out the problem. I made a vet appointment for next Saturday. We went to Tractor Supply today. I picked up a couple of products to combat the thrush. Having had the shoes removed, it'll be easier to care for the problem areas.

Hoof pick with plastic bristols, Small wire brush, Hoofles Thrush medicine and Hoof Heal Protectant.

The first view is of the dirty foot.

Second: is after cleaning and drying the area.

Third: after applying the thrush medicine and painting on the hoof protection.

When the job was done from underneath, I applied a protective moisture coating around the coronary band and heel bulb. I'll repeat this twice a day until I take him to the vet next week.

Farrier Visit

Now we're getting some where. I had the shoes removed today. As I suspected the last time they were shod, Jerzey had been quicked on her right and left hind and her left front. Geeezus. But, of course, because she showed no signs of it when I finally got the farrier to come back out to check on his work, "almost two weeks later", she wasn't limping at all. My suspicions are, she got use to the pain, so he didn't do any thing about it at the time. That's when I felt a tad annoyed about the whole thing. I started reevaluating the way he does business and began my search for an other farrier.

The guy I had out today was very informative and explained thoroughly,  why and how they got to this point. When he pulled the shoes, where they had been pressure quicked, a small amount of blood surfaced from each hole. I just felt sick. All the time I was complaining in the past about my horse just wasn't right, came together. I hope my husband doesn't dismiss my concern from now on. Atleast I was persistant enough to get to the bottom of their issues. From now on I'll do my homework before I get some one else to do a job that could potentially be a dangerous situation given it enough time to evolve.

Jerzey: This is the left front after deshod. The foot has contracted heels and her heel wasn't growing out as fast as her toes. Explanation being, the wall had overshot the iron and wasn't spread enough to allow the foot to expand. He only trimmed the toes and did a mustang roll on the toe. He didn't do any rasping of the foot due to lack of growth from the previous job. She was pretty level on this foot.

Jerzey: left front. This foot has a quarter crack on the outside. Explanation, she was weight bearing on her outside because her foot was longer on the inside. The outside wall had separated horizontally and eventually broke off from the time before last. This foot was growing strangely. It always had a hump in it. The farrier from before use to rasp off the wall to compensate. This guy trimmed off the excess from the inside and leveled the foot lightly. Trimmed off the toe and did a mustang roll as well. Not to much, he said" because she didn't have enough growth. He didn't want to do to much this time.

Jerzey: left hind. Ok, so now here's the real big issue I had from the time before. Like I suspected. She had pressure quicks. The nail on the high side brought blood when he pulled the shoe. Though for sometime now, she had shown no signs of it being bothersome other than she dragged both hind feet and she couldn't roll over on her hocks when I was riding her. She was giving from time to time and showing resistance when I asked her to make sharp turns. This foot was also unbalanced. He did the same to this foot. Trimmed the toe and did a mustang roll. 

Jerzey: right hind. The other culprit. The high nail on the outside wall was in the quick! arg! I just can't believe this mare didn't act silly when I rode her more than she should. She obviously has a very high pain tolerance and I really need to stay tuned in better than I have been. How ever if she doesn't complain, how can I? I'm going to listen to my gut instincts from now on and forget that people tell me I'm worrisome.  

Mouse

Mouse still has that limp on his right hoof. I'll be having a farrier out in the morning at 10 am. I'm having both, Jerzey and Mouses shoes removed for rehabilitation. I'm hopeful it will have a profound effect on them. I've read every thing I've been able to get my hands on about barefoot trimming and I'm hopeful this is their ticket to rebuilding a solid foundation. The last time my farrier was out, told me my mares heels were contracting. I was like, huh? And you still want to keep shoes on her? His response was, she should never be with out shoes. I was like, how could that be good for her, to keep shoes on her. I'm no rocket scientist, but if her hooves can't expand from having the shoes, how could she ever become normal again?

I'm not using the same guy this time. I want a second opinion and maybe a third or fourth if I can't get honest answers to my questions. Any how, my quest begins early tomorrow. I'll be taking pictures of the event and future progress until I get satisfaction. 

It's finally gotten back to normal...

Our week finally come together. Ron was let out of the hospital on Tuesday. Multiple stints and repair on his heart. Suffering previously from a 90% blockage in his heart. What a close call. The Doctor again, advised him to quit smoking. Being a light smoker my self, know exactly how hard it is to put them down. I went back to work on Thursday. There is still not much going on. We have slowed down considerably. It won't be to long before the busy season will start again, so I'm taking advantage of the rest.

He has to take a break now!

Saturday morning and it's till to friggin hot. Ronnie went in the hospital again last night. He's been feeling sluggish all week. It's a real good thing he recognizes his symptoms. Feeling bad yesterday, he called me at work around 5:30 pm wanting me to come home. Makayla had the situation under control and before I could make it home, they had called an ambulance out. Deciding to transport him because his blood pressure was a dangerously high level.

Ronnie called just before I got home and told me the neighbor was watching Makayla until I arrived. Having to take care of the livestock and dogs, we opted not to go to the hospital. I talked to Ronnie several times. The hospital staff had him taken care of. He would be in emergency until a room became available. They are keeping him over the weekend and sending him to the cath lab for  tests on Monday.

We awoke around 7:30 am this morning, because of my inability to sleep last night. Took  care of the animals on the place, called Ronnie for the low-down, and ate breakfast at Peggy's Diner. Returning home at 11:00 am, we let the dogs out for awhile, put a load of clothes in the washer. We're going to run up to the hospital some where around 2. Ronnie needs a paper, some one dollar bills for the snack machines and a book to keep him occupied for a couple of days. ha ha ha!

The good thing about keeping him there is, he's going to be forced to get some much needed rest. He never takes a break unless he can't move. Any who, enough for now...

Bridleless: Second session

  Like the night before, I saddled up my mare. She was feeling pretty good and it took me a few minutes to get her attention on schooling. We rode large circles in the pasture out behind the house. It's a great space to drill her and gives her a change of scenery apart from the excercise pen. I started out by trotting big circles to looses her up, then loping larger circles. A rule of thumb I try to remember is, trot for stamina and lope for lungs. It's still quite hot even at 7 pm, so loping to long is not an option. After getting her attention, we began the bridleless session. She is picking it up real well. Repeating the drill of circling large circles with leg pressure both directions. I've noticed it doesn't take much effort to get her to turn around now. I squeeze once and she reponds immediately. I worked on her stop more last night. Paying close attention to where I sit in the saddle and making sure I ride her loosely to a stop. It's really hard not to tense up, but I'm trying real hard and letting my body relax into the stop. There's that muscle memory thing!

Doesn't she look pretty?

Having gotten ready for school, Makayla is looking especially tall for a 12 year old. I haven't measured her in awhile. That's going to be on my next agenda. I have the usual beginning of school things to fill. She starts at 6am in the morning. Her morning duties include:

1. Rising at 6 am.
2. Getting dressed.
3. Making her bed and picking up her room.
4. Feed her horse and dog.
5. Eating breakfast.
6. Brushing her teeth and hair.

I don't think that's to much responsibility for her at this age. After all, if she wants certain things, she has to take care of them. She's such a big help to us with other things also. Never complaining for the most part.

Video of Makayla and Mouser's

  Makayla saddled up Mouse tonight. He really needs a lot of riding. I guess tonight's as good as any to get him use to riding every day. His dang feet are so long right now, he stumbles terribly. Before we bought him, the guy had a farrier shoe him and he left the toes long. His hooves aren't in that bad a shape, they just need some better care.  The farrier who shod him really sucked. His feet aren't level and the shoes stick out to far behind the heel. I mean, come on. Since when does a farrier fit a hoof to the shoe and not fit the shoe to the foot. ffs! He could have at least rolled them in some, cut them off and rasped off the ends. I've never seen work this shotty. Not to mention, the horse is toed out to begin with. Therefore, he needs a level foot, so he can hit the ground better. Off my soap box now! lol

Bridleless Riding

  I finely made up my mind, to start bridle-less training today. I've been contemplating this for awhile now. Searching for training tips and pointers from every article I can get my hands on, I learned my riding technique sucks, "putting it bluntly". So, as head strong as I can be at times, I'm not going to let that stand in my way. Even though I try not to be heavy handed on my horses mouth, proper balance and insecurities get the best of me in the end. Therefore I get the same results every time. A half ass in-put from my horse, because of a half ass out-put from me. Reading several articles by one in particular trainer, it is time to take it to a whole new level.

  I've learned the way I sit in the saddle plays a crucial role on how my horse performs. Duh! Well, I already knew this, but my understanding was cloudy, due to my lack of understanding. So, in his words of wisdom, it hit me right down to the very core. Finally a guy who puts words where I can get a hold on them. Being able to sit correctly, hold your hands right and place your legs where they need to be, takes practice. Something that really stuck in my head, was muscle memory. Having ridden the same way for many years, it's now time to change my way of thinking first. Then I can change the way I ride.

  After dinner I saddled up Jerzey. And because I use my hands way to much, I did something out of the ordinary for me. I put a rope halter on her, snapped some split leather reins to the cheeks of the halter and off we went. Sitting deep and lumbering in the saddle, we started out with large circles in the exercise arena. I have been working on leg cues for sometime now. So, hoping it would be a little easier, since I had already done some preliminary steps to working off leg pressure. Circling with reins in hand, I lay the reins on her neck and squeezed my right leg until she turned a tight circle to the left. I did the same on the other side. We repeated these figures until I felt comfortable putting the reins down.

  Pretty soon, we were moving forward in large circles, then making the circles smaller in both directions without using my hands at all. Paying close attention to my seat, sitting loosely in the saddle with my legs hanging straight down. Never changing the way I sat or moving my legs until I asked her to do a specific maneuver. It's going to take practice at the walk, before I can step it up to a trot. I realized while working with her, her stop has a lag. I have to pick up the reins for her to come completely to a halt. When she does come to a complete stop, I squeeze my legs, pull back on the reins and she backs up great. I'm going to have to concentrate on a better stop, before I can move on.

   As we were leaving to go pick out some school shoes for Makayla, we saw this squirrel lying on the front yard. He was rolling and dusting him self with the dirt. He didn't seem to curious about us watching him.

Looking, looking, and more looking!

Found some. She has to wear black shoes on Wednesday for school service. She goes to a christian private school and they have uniforms and particualr dress codes for each grade.

Mouse hits the streets for the first time.

  I wasn't expecting Ron to initiate riding this evening. The weather was finally decent enough for him to take a short ride before bed time. Moused was already tacked up when I went out to the barn, so Makayla and I dusted off our saddles, tacked up our horses and I changed into something to ride in. As we headed out onto the street, Mouse wasn't used to riding on pavement so he had to test his footing. He seemed fine as long as we stayed on the grassy areas a long side the road. He was quiet, and patient of his passenger. Not knowing what his back ground during a outing, I was pleasantly surprised he walked on out like a seasoned trail horse.

  The only thing he needs is a better handled on him. He direct reins fine, but doesn't respond to legs aids much. Never the less, he was nice and level headed, even when it came to the usual land sharks. Nothing seemed to bother him. Dogs were investigating our party. Cars driving by, neighbors waving, and Mouse took the whole adventure in stride. We headed towards the 30 acre basin just 2 blocks from our house. The entrance was always boogery for a lot of the horses that pass through the concrete barricades. Mouse never balked or got fishy.

  Riding across the pasture, the other two horses were acting pissy. Stradegy feed, mounting up with no longing and almost a month off don't mix well. ha ha ha! Jerzey really did what Jerzey usually does. Her attention wasn't on what was going on the saddle. So, I loped her in large circles for a time. She finally calmed down to a crawl. There's nothing like an old fat woman, and a fat horse loping circles, to alter the of thinking of a pissy mare. At 17 years old, Handsome was as full of the piss and vinegar as Jerzey was. Makayla didn't do much to change his way of going.

  Having made the round over the 30 acres, and on our way back, a couple riders crashed on the scene from a distance. Handsome was jigging about, snorting and lunging forward, when all the sudden he flew into the air. He started bucking and jumping forward. I immediately hollared at Makayla to pull him into a circle so he couldn't run off with her. He bucked about 5 or 6 strides and calmed back down to a fast walk. Makayla was shell shocked for a few minutes. She stayed with him every step of the way! I was proud of the way she handled the situation.

  Having made the ride back, all of us still mounted and in one piece, I decided to ride Mouse. It's time now, that he is schooled on a daily basis. He's been here long enough to settle in. I circled him in the excersise pen for 30 minutes. Slow and easy for a few days, not asking to much of him. He needs to leg up before I get to industrious of his training. He rides great. But, he doesn't know nothing! lol

A welcomed relief in the weather...

   We finally got some rain today. The temp at 900 am was 77 and a over cast from a cloudy sky. A slow sprinkle of rain misted the area. The place looks alive again. The grass perked up, the horses are feeling frisky, hummingbirds were flocking around the pink lemonade honeysuckle growing on the trellis and the dogs were sprinting around the yard. Now, only 81 degrees at 11:15 am. A sigh of relief from every living thing on the place. Though it wont stay long, it was a nice change of pace from this drought stricken area.

Channel33 News...story of 11 horses found dead.

   Sadly, a news story alerted the N. Texas area. Eleven horses were found dead in Parker county. Animal control officers arrived on the scene, they found no resources for either food or water. There were troughs, but they were bone dry and a well that had malfunctioned. There was a gelding still alive, and had to be euthanized shortly there after from kidney and liver failure. The televised news said: A near by neighbor had commented on not seeing the horses for a couple of days or so. Saying in the past, her family took pictures of the horses and petted them over the fence on occasion.

   Now I'm not one to pass judgement on people, but how could you NOT notice something that critical living so close. Thank God!, a man doing a drive by, noticed one of the horses struggling to get up and called the authorities. The pictures of the horses had signs of malnutrition and looked as though they had been starving for food and water. Again!, how could others living in close proximity, not recognize a cry for help from the helpless horses? The owner of the horses lives in Arizona and had a care takers, supposedly tending to the animals. Good grief! Cruelty charges are being brought against the caretaker. But, what about the owner? ffs!

   No one in there right mind, would leave horses to be cared for by some one else, without monitoring them. Having ownership of animals means being good stewards. Over seeing and managing the proper care of something so valuable, as a living creature. As brutal a season as this has already been, there is no way in hell those care takers shouldn't have checked the horses water source a couple of times a day. I was sickened at the news.

   That's why my husband and I never leave our animals with any one. It's risky business. Most folks don't know the first thing about caring for livestock, the signs of stress, sickness or other wise. At least most of our circle of friends don't. I wouldn't even strap them with the responsibility. As far as I'm concerned, it's cruel and unusual punishment for both parties. Off my high horse....arg!

We won't be breaking any weather records.

   Today, finally we got a break from the weather. As I was leaving work, I noticed the temp from my iphone. It was only 89 degrees. For the last 40 days it's been over 100 and most days near 105. I arrived home about 600pm  and immediately grabbed some dinner. I changed into something more comfortable and headed for the barn. I haltered all the horse, hitched them up and gave them a good brushing. The effects of summer are all over them. They have scrapes, rubbed places and Handsomes tail looks as though we cut it off from him itching his tail on the fences. I applied Corona all over the dry areas, fly sprayed them and turned them back out. They loved the attention. Earlier in the season, we had the Vet inject them with an allergy shot. It helped considerably. I don't know, when I've ever seen the summer quite so brutal on the horses skin and coat. Their manes and tails aren't as pretty as in the past either. We try not to brush or comb them as often, being careful not to pull the hair out. When I do brush, I bath them and apply conditioner.

The pictures tell the unsightly story of what a long hot summer can do, in spite of trying to protect them from the elements.

Ack!

It's been one hell of a hot weekend. We stayed in most of the time. Temps were soring above 105 both days, so I didn't do anything out-doors, I didn't have to. The horses seem to be chipper considering the heat, but he dogs are staying in where it's cool. *pansy asses* lol Haven't felt to well the past couple of days, the only thing I did do, was try and keep my sanity. I worked on a my computer. Down loading the latest updates and moving pictures in to an archive. I'm trying out a couple of different sites. Snapfish seems to be user friendly and has some great designs and pricing. Shutterfly is a little more difficult now, but with time, I should be able to use it with ease as well. I got a letter from Chris on Saturday. He's doing good. I took a trip to CVS and uploaded some pictures from my iphone to send him. Went to the grocery store today. I get so friggin tired of eating out. It's so cotton pickin' hot to cook. Our kitchen is so small it heats up way to fast and takes for ever to cool back down. Sitting here now contemplating on when I should go to bed. Thankfully, the house is cool. It sure helped having more insulation and getting a new AC unit. Energy savers are the best! Our electric bill this year is nearly one third less than what we paid last year at this time. Our water bill sky rocketed though. ha ha ha! Were watering the front yard late in the evening, just in case some nit-wit throws a cigarette butt out and catches the place on fire. Every yard up and down this road is scorched. Guess I'll mosey off here...bbl ;)

Click the link: treadlightly.org/responsible-horse/recreation

   Trying to teach my Granddaughter safe, and responsible behavior on the trail has it's challenges at times. Twelve year old girls seem to have no concept of the dangers of equine ownership. My next priority is teaching her safety on the trail. No matter where we travel.

Hay shortage in Texas...

   Findly we have enough hay to make it til' the next season. Early June we put up enough for two horses. Since we added the other horse, we had to get some more. We picked up another forty bales last weekend from Tractor Supply. I think the number is around 150 bales total, plus two round bales so far. We may pick up 3 or 4 more to set out this winter. Since the winters in Texas aren't that harsh, we may get by without them.
  
   I've been checking out local resources and hay has nearly doubled in some cases since we intially picked up our first batch. We payed $6 a bale for Tifton 85 in June. Last weekend, we payed $8.25 a bale. This weekend it's almost doubled. I don't know what some folks are going to do about feeding there animals. Ron had a gut feeling it may be a bad year, so he didn't waste any time putting up enough to feed our livestock.

  

Real endurance riding...

Living in the city makes it harder these days to ride safely. Cars whizzing by, the lack of respect for pedestrians, much less riders on their horses. People making a big deal out of you crossing an intersection. Hell, I had a lady come out of her house a year back. She picked up a sign of sorts, carrying it along with her as we were riding on the median across from her house. She yelled across at us. "do you speak english?" Now my Grandaughter was accompanying me along the way on her own horse. Replying to the woman, "yup, I speak english. What kind of question is that?" She began telling us, that our mexican friends were always using her pasture as a short cut. I'm not Hispanic! lol But, we do live in an area where the population is probably 70% Hispanic. Do I care? Nope! They're people too. But, she obviously didn't mind sharing her unsolicited opinion.
Now personally, from my street experiences, while horseback riding, 'people are crazy! and some folks have no respect for, public or private property,' no matter what ethnic origin they come from. How ever, I understood her concern. She certainly wasn't aware, I do respect folks property and I to, don't want horses on our manicured yard. And it was, after all her property, and she didn't want the horses crossing it. But the way she was wagging that sign around made me think, she might, wave it in the horses faces and cause a unwanted or needed incident. Ranting on that we need to tell our other rider friends, "stay off my property" was a little bizarre, since in my mine, we had nothing to do with any of it. As we were crossing towards where our cut off was, she got closer with that sign. My horse particularly, was getting nervous at her presence. High stepping with her head in the air, and my Grandaughters horse was side-stepping the other direction in the street. I finally had to get mouthy and tell the lady, "you better take your unhappy ass back-up to your house or I was going to be unpleasant in the end. Still continuing to follow us, her nasty behavior and disgusting mouth, we just ignored her til' we passed her property. Well, I almost never! The things we had to endure just to ride down the road these days.

Photo Editing

I found the coolest online photo editor. It's called LunaPic. I was amazed at the capabilities and it's totally free! Can't beat that...

 This is a color bar image.

This gives a painting on canvas appearance. Then I turned it into a button. I put on the corners and edges using Snapfish.

There is no relief from this hot weather!

Ok, so I know, I shouldn't wake up in a bad mood. I really try to get motivated in the morning with a warm shower for my aching muscles, a decent breakfast and checking out the animals before work. This morning I found myself moody and stressed. No expected relief from the weather forecast makes me cringe. I've had a terrible case of cabin fever. It's unbearable to spend to much time on the outside. The high of 108 today, means I'll be cooped up again. The animals on the place seem depressed as well. The horses are already standing lifeless in the back pasture area. The dogs don't want to get out of the air-conditioned kennel even long enough to do there nature call. Now that's friggin hot! Work has slowed down to a crawl, I get off earlier than usual, and I still can't spend time outside. All of us are moping around at the home front.