The weather is breaks...

   Finally, after nearly 70 days of triple digit heat, it's starting to cool down. Though it will still be above 95 today, it feels like the cool front the weatherman predicted is moving through. The dust is horrible with the wind blowing. There is still no rain in sight yet. Tomorrow is going to be a high of 85 degrees! Yeeehaw! I can do my own prediction and say " the weather is going to be just right for trail riding".




   We puttered around the barn this morning early. Makayla was off to church by 8:30 am and it felt good to get some things done we'd been putting off till it got cooler. The horses are looking better. I haltered them up, groomed them all and cleaned their hooves. We then decided to make it easier to feed in the evening so we don't have to rotate them, Taking the panel off then back part of the rear stall and putting it on the front. Now, Hoover can come up and rest in a stall during the day.

Jerzey is always nosey as hell. If we're doing something, she's right there with us.

   Yesterday, Ron and Makayla went down to Pecan Gap. Makayla's, Great Grand Father has a bunch of cows and he put up tons of hay for the winter. He has access to a whole lot of fields where they were baling off of this year. The north east area of Texas wasn't quit as dry as our area. They picked up  three bales of bermuda, prairie grass and other mixed forage for the horses to eat on. When I took my first glance at the hay, I said "there not going to eat that mess". It didn't take Jerzey a few minutes to prove me wrong. As she was eating it, I could see that the inside was beautiful. It has a little trash in it, but they won't eat what they don't want. The bales are nearly twice as big as the first round rolls we bought. Surprisingly, yesterday, Jerzey was eating dead leaves that had fallen from the trees. So, I guess a little trash in the hay isn't going to hurt them. lol

 

   I took this video of Mouse doing the screwy thing he does with his head. I'm not sure how he aquired this habit. Most likely, from being stalled somewhere in his previous life. I've noticed any time we've bought horses that were shown in halter or western pleasure venues, or stalled to long of a period, they've always brought with them, some silly shit habit. This is one I haven't seen before. It appears to be brought on from needing his teeth floated long before we bought him. I had checked his teeth the day we looked at him and notice he was in need of dental work. At that time, I thought, no big deal. Still don't.

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.