Evaluations and things to consider

Bar having his pulse and heart rate taken

The rain let up yesterday just long enough to allow Dr. Leslie to evaluate not only our three horses, but two of our friend's horses, too. The wellness exam consisted of listening to hearts and lungs, a general weight and physical evaluation, checking feet and teeth, and watching movement. Ours were also scheduled for vaccines, which this time were West Nile and Intranasal Flu (their favorite).

Checking Bar's movement. It was good, trust me.

Lisa was there holding Winston when I rolled in, and he came through with a pretty good bill of health, though he could use some groceries. He's getting more exercise, and he was glad to hear that meant he got more goodies, too.

Forrest was next and (as we know), definitely needs weight. When we told Leslie he hadn't been himself Friday night--picking at his food, generally listless, digestive system (always our first thought) working better than fine--she immediately took his temperature. Turns out he had a bit of a fever, poor guy! So no vaccines for him until he's better. Katie gave him some Bute to help him feel better so he'll eat and drink.

When Leslie looked in his mouth, she said, "Oh, he is young!!" He needs his teeth done, and has a new tooth coming in behind (on top of?) the baby tooth in front. Lena actually had the same thing, but never has had the adult tooth come in all the way.

Leslie checking out Forrest's teeth

Next came Lisa's young horse, Whiskey, who was entirely unsure of this whole process, but cooperated fairly well nonetheless.

"What is all this about?" says Whiskey River

All the horses have been poked and prodded and pronounced fairly healthy overall, and Leslie said Bar looks the best she's ever seen him. His coat and musculature look great and he is more in his head than he has ever been. Yay, us and all the work we've done! Of course, then he had to act like a spoiled Thoroughbred when I interrupted his grazing for the trotting part of the exam, but even then he wasn't crazy. Bratty, yes. Crazy, no.

Calabar looking strong and healthy

Lena is beautiful, strong, and her only need is more exercise than she's getting currently. She is blessed with good feet, a good mouth, plus smooth and comfortable movement. Leslie watched her trot past and said, "Oh. She's a really nice horse." Lena heard her, too. It almost made up for the flu vaccine up her nose. Almost.

The lovely Lena Rey and Katie, too

Forrest is on the mend, and Bar and Lena are in good shape. It was definitely worth it ($30 each) to have Leslie look at horses I see every day from a professional and outside perspective. Not only did she catch Forrest's fever, she was able to give good advice and options for us to consider that are geared towards having healthier, happier horses--not ongoing vet care or chemical interference. We talked about the best way to put weight on Forrest, hoof care and the dynamics of the horse's foot, and alternatives to the cycle of medicinal/chemical worming.

One of the things Dr. Leslie advocates is doing regular fecal tests rather than worming arbitrarily. Even mixing up the worming regimen by switching from one wormer to another can contribute to what are becoming increasingly resistant parasites. By doing a fecal, you not only determine IF you need wormer, but what specific wormer you need. Leslie prices it about the same ($15) as a mid-range tube of wormer and the logic seems really sound to me.

Turns out both Bar and Forrest need to be wormed, but not immediately. There are very small quantities of Strongyles in their samples, so we'll wait a few more weeks to be sure we get all the little buggers--actually, large and small--with a good dose of Ivermectin.

We also had an interesting conversation about feet and allowing horses to go barefoot. Bar has had shoes on all four feet (unless he loses one) since we got him because of how shelly his hooves are. Lena has great feet, but we wanted to protect them while out and about on rocky trails, so she has always been shod all the way around, too.

Looking at feet

Leslie brought up some really good points about the natural way a hoof works, and making sure the frog is able to do it's job of helping with circulation by being in contact with the ground. Her point was that you don't really know what kind of foot you have until you let it go natural for a little while, and winter is a good time to try it.

We haven't decided yet what we want to do, and Steve is in charge of talking to Mike. There is no way on earth I want to alienate my farrier, so Steve's particular form of diplomacy is definitely required. Of course, with the rate that Bar loses shoes in the winter, it may just be easier to let him go barefoot! And, of course, invest in regular trims and a full set of boots for both horses for trail riding.

Despite the rain and the ornery Thoroughbred (mine, not Forrest), it was well worth the time and cost to have this done. Not just the vaccines, which are important, but the outside view of this horse I see every day.

The big, brown, fuzzy love of my life

Mother-Daughter bonding over abscesses

Katie is house/horse/mule/dog/chicken sitting until the 27th and called me the other night because one of the horses had abscesses pop through in the heel bulbs of both front hooves. Poor guy--one would be bad enough!

Cowboy was wearing pads on both front feet--probably to protect his soles--and they seemed to collect a lot of, well, you can guess. Not only collect it, but hold it up against the sole of the foot where it can ferment and do all kinds of good (bad) stuff.

We decided to pull his shoes (with the owner's permission), and Katie needed tools and first aid supplies, so I agreed to head down there early Sunday morning and assist.

It's really amazing what this parent-child bond gets one to do.



Cowboy was not a terrible patient and we did get the shoes off and his feet cleaned up, treated with Ichthamol (a truly nasty but effective substance), and wrapped in diapers and duct tape for the night. I have to say Katie does a nice job of creating a diaper-and-duct-tape boot for a horse. It seems to be in the prep work, which appears to include holding her knife in her teeth.



Last I heard--which was this morning since the cell phone service is a little spotty where she is--the diaper boots were still on Cowboy's feet and Katie was prepping to go out and check on him again. She planned on laying everything out before even going to get him out of the paddock, since he is now vaguely suspicious of buckets and medical supplies.

Silly horse doesn't know yet how good Katie is. Or how stubborn.

Winter antics

Lena hadn't gotten much exercise in a couple days, and it had been four for Bar, so it was definitely hitting critical mass tonight. Weeknights don't offer enough time to ride both horses, but they really needed OUT, so we headed to the round pen.

The first thing each of them did--after being blanketed for several days--was roll. It's not that they don't lay down while in their protective gear, but rolling is really a treat for them this time of year. And roll they did. Lena got both sides at least once, and Bar very thoroughly rolled twice on one side, then twice on the other, before he would even consider any exercise. Not that I blame him, of course. It would be hard to be inside the same clothes, skin and hair starting to itch, day after day after day. Bleh.

And the exercise for both was mostly productive, if only to get at least a little bit of the spit shaken out. Lena was thoroughly distracted by another boarder and her Thoroughbred, Romeo, and proceeded to raise up her tail and gallop around snorting to get his attention. Luckily, Manna is a very good rider and took it all with good humor. "It's good for him," she said, correcting Romeo's dancing. Nice to have people like that around my nutty horses--people willing to take responsibility for their own horses, and also accepting of other horses and their sometimes less-than-docile behavior. Thankfully, Lena did settle down, give me her attention, and get a decent workout.

Bar definitely wanted to stretch his legs, so he got to canter a bit more than usual, though it was peppered here and there with some trotting to get him to work on his transitions some more. And then he had to show off with some bucking when another barn-mate went by with two of his girlfriends from the big pasture. Sometimes he is such a boy. He did also settle down and relax into a nice, smooth, steady trot, listening to me talk to him and sing The Dixie Chicks like I usually do.

Both got carrot stretches, too, so were nice and limber by the time they got back to their paddocks to finish their dinner.

Winter is hard, but it invites more creativity to help keep them entertained and interested in what we're doing. Sometimes it's just a matter of tossing in one thing that's a little different, like a ladder sitting in a different place or asking them to cross an obstacle in a new way. Sometimes it's just trying to ask them for something in a way they understand.

Who exactly is training whom? You have to wonder, don't you?

Bar the Ballerino

I had another impressive first-hand example of how fit Bar is this morning. (And, yes, the term is indeed ballerino according to Wikipedia.)

I took him down to the round pen and, just as I've been doing lately, let him loose on his own for a little while. He bucked, farted, raced around, and then did the most amazing act of levitation. As I watched, he launched himself straight up off all four feet and got about 2-3 feet of air.

It was like a solid spring of dark brown muscle. So much energy, so much power, all under his control.

Yes, I was glad I was on the ground and not on his back, but it did not dull for a second the awe I felt for this wild, healthy, beautiful friend of mine. I could almost see him in battle, leaping up and over whatever the enemy might use to sweep his legs out from under him. It was truly amazing.

Maybe I should change his name to "Bar-ishnakov." Ha!

On a side note, I am seeing a difference in his behavior the more often and consistently I handle him. I put the stud chain (also called a lead shank) away because, frankly, he listens to me even when I don't use it, so I don't want to pull it out unless absolutely necessary. Tone of voice works amazingly well with him, actually.

I did ride him over the weekend, but I used a new bit and it did not go well. I got a high-five from my daughter because I did manage to stay on, but I was pretty frustrated with myself. (Okay, I had the curb strap on incorrectly, so not only was it a new and heavier bit, I didn't have the leverage I needed and was probably bumping his mouth in entirely the wrong way.) Hopefully, we can backtrack a little and he'll forgive me for being so lame. It may take longer for me to forgive myself.

I almost hate to admit that after 3+ years, I got the curb strap on wrong. It looked wrong, but I was in my little tunnel of needing to get back on Bar and only focused on that, rather than on figuring out *why* it looked wrong. (It was hooked on the lower part of the shank, where the reins connect--duh.)

I know there are a lot of people who would rather pretend they know everything, but I'd rather use my own mistakes to help someone else out if I can. This particular mistake was more in not taking the time to correct what my mind's eye told me was wrong, not just having it wrong in the first place.

I may not be the smartest horse owner out there, but I am trying to learn as I go, working with the horse I have to get us both to the next place we need to be.