Stuck in Neutral

Today I realized why I've been stuck in neutral with the horses.  We moved barns back in May and I haven't ridden since. I know this sounds crazy, but perfectionism has kept me from riding and working my horses.

The arena is too deep, the round pen is too deep, there is grass in the round pen, etc.- I have plenty of excuses.  Because conditions aren't perfect like I think they ought to be, I shut down and give up. In the meanwhile, my Kid and Rupert are fat and out of shape (much like their owner). If you follow Fly Lady, you know perfectionism can ruin your life. I finally am working my way to a clean house

October 12, 2012

I started the paragraphs above probably 2 months ago. After the fall shot vet visit in the middle of September, I felt better about where we are. We cut back on the boy's food and now they look great. We started working them in the round pen (OK, just started yesterday) and it was a great experience.  The lighting is wonderful, the footing could still be better, the grass needs to be gone, but all in all the workout was good. Kid's cantering and trotting were better than I had seen in a long time.  He seemed excited to be getting exercise again. Rupert was spastic, alternating between nice trotting and cantering to full-out body twisting bucks.

Once the round pen time was complete, we turned them out for pasture time. One of the downsides of the place we're out in we are limited to 2 hours per day. Thank goodness, they do have big, individual paddocks.  While they were chomping away on grass, Steven and I bagged their food and meds for the next 4 days. Actually I did the bagging and Steven read Vice-Presidential debate twitter posts to me. Food prep done, we got the boys out of the pasture where they were treated to half-assed grooming by yours truly which means hooves were picked, thrush stuff applied, massages given, and fly spray sprayed. Both Kid and Rupert were VERY relaxed during their massages which made me happy.

What made me even happier was the entire process from leaving home to getting ready to leave the barn only took about 2 hours. I'm not saying this because I don't want to spend time with my horses, but rather I get overwhelmed and don't think I have enough time. Yesterday proved that there is time during the week to spend with Kid and Rupert to give them the exercise we all deserve. With lighted round pen and lighted/covered arena, we have no excuse.

Potential Hoof Problem

I was out feeding dinner to Kid and Rupert this evening and noticed a big crack in Rupert's left hind hoof. I took a picture of the hoof and have sent off to Andrea the wonderful trimmer. She's going to get back with me later to see how we need to proceed. Update: Andrea is coming out this afternoon to have a look at the hoof. After reviewing it again last night, it doesn't look as bad as we thought. Rather than a crack, we just have a big chunk coming off.

Update to Update: It turned out to be a cosmetic chip that pretty much disappeared after trimming his hooves.

Worms

Yesterday I got the results of Kid and Rupert's fecal tests - :(. Our diligent rotational worming schedule did not keep Kid from having lots of strongyles in his sample and a few in Rupert's. This is the second year in a row Kid has had lots of worms. I'm not happy. The vet is reviewing our schedule and will get back with me with her recommendations. Meanwhile, she wants Kid to have a Power Dose or Power Pak for this month and Rupert gets a double dose of Panacur.

I know for a fact there are some people at our barn that are lax about worming and rotating wormers. It's going to be hard to get our problem under control if they don't take care of theirs.

Spring Checkup

The vet came yesterday for shots, fecal samples, and sheath cleaning. I had stalled the boys about an hour before Dr. Jen arrived and gave them some hay in hopes we would have fresh fecal samples. Success! The piles of poo were still steamy on the inside. Perfect for checking out pesky parasites.

Rupert was a good boy for his shots and sheath cleaning, but Kid was not. Usually spring checkups involve teeth floating, but since I'm not working, I hall the boys to a much cheaper equine dental school for a $35 float by graduating students (they do a great job). Even though Kid didn't get his teeth done, we still had to sedate for sheath cleaning. He does NOT like his junk messed with and will try to kick you even while half asleep. He kicked out several times but never made contact and now has a clean thingie.

Dr. Jen said their weight is good and they look great - yea!

Current feeding plan that works:

AM
3 quarts pellets
4 pounds timothy pellets (pre-soak weight)
7 pounds coastal hay
Joint supplement - Rupert
2 tablets Acetazolamide for HYPP - Kid

PM
3 quarts pellets
2 pounds beet pulp shreds (pre-soak weight). Beet pulp is drained and then re-rinsed to get rid of excess potassium.
7 pounds coast hay

All Day
Grass in the field

Feeding in the Rain

We have huge thunderstorms moving through North Texas today which inspired our BO to feed earlier than usual this morning since most of the horses are fed outside. She only feeds once a day so my husband and I usually go out in the evening to give our horses a second feeding. I had to go buy feed and beet pulp this afternoon and then went to the barn to unload and feed early (again before the storms moved through). The grass is getting quite nice and tasty but I usually don't have any problems getting Kid and Rupert to come up for dinner. Today was different.

Winds were gusting over 40 miles an hour so calling the horses didn't work because I don't think they could hear me. I walked out into the pasture where Rupert was and he actually ran off. I'm not going to chase him for feeding so went back to the feeding pens, picked up their lovely hay, and put it back in the trailer. We will try again this evening as long as it's not lightening out. I don't want them to go without their food, but we need to stay safe.

Silly ponies...

In like a Lion...

March has proven to be very windy and somewhat wet so far here in North Texas. It was supposed to rain every day this week so I didn't plan to ride. Guess what? No rain. Steven and I went out around 11:00 today to feed Kid and Rupert and ended up have a spa day with the horses. Rupert especially, had weird, funky yak hair but most of it is now blowing in the wind. They both look a lot better and their hooves look great too.

Rain is predicted again for most of the coming week which is fine since we really need the hay to grow so we can buy locally and maybe bring the prices down. Sometime this week I must make a trip to the feed store for feed, timothy pellets, beet pulp, and hay. I don't want the hay to get rained on so must plan my trip around the weather.

Exploring Where We Board

The place where we board the horses has a creek running along the property boundry. Last week we road in the creek for the first and second times. Kid was so good with just the tiniest spook on the first day and a little bigger spook on the second. He and Big Red (horse on the right with Bethann) willing went in the water and splashed around. Steve at the barn told us in the spring it's really fun to ride because the creek is filled bank to bank.