I am woman, hear me ROAR!!

Yesterday, I sold the rest of my grass hay that Snickers was having troubles with.  The guy came and paid for it, but a lot of rain and sleet started coming down, so he said he'd come get it today.  I figured he'd call me when he was ready to come out, but around 4:30, as I was getting in the car with my beet pulp to go see my horses, Marri texted me and let me know he was there loading up the hay and was almost done.  Ok, well I guess that saved me from loading it!  Marri told me later the guy thought I'd lived there lol.  When I got there, he was coming out of the gate (good timing - I didn't have to open it!) and he'd loaded ALL 36 bales (I did my best to count and estimate how many there were, and I was right on!  >proud of myself<) onto the bed of his pickup.  I guess it's a good thing he wasn't going far!  Lol I hope he made it ok!  And I'm SOOO glad the hay is gone!

Since I was trying to sell that hay, I'd kept it covered so people would want to buy it, and my hay hasn't been covered.  That wasn't a problem until yesterday, when the world suddenly started melting and a puddle formed around my hay and then the rain/sleet was coming down.  I wasn't too happy about my hay being exposed to all that.  However, now I had all my 6 pallets and the tarp free to use on my hay.  Only thing was.... I wanted to get the top bales down to use first, as well as the bottom bales sitting in the muck.  Since it was just me, I figured I'd just get the top bales down and then cover the stack as-is, and worry about those bottom bales later.  Everything in the middle should be fine.  And the tarp was big enough to cover it all.

So then it began.....  And I got a little carried away...  And ended up moving the bales from here:

To here:

And those bales were HEAVY!! I definitely think I got my money's worth!  I didn't count how many I moved, but I think they're easily around 90-100lbs each.  There were a few I couldn't even lift.  Of course, those were toward the bottom, so I was also pretty spent.  I'm pretty proud of myself :)  Now, the bottom bales are exposed for feeding next, and then the top bales are on the far left without anything stacked on top of them to feed after that.

Then, I started untangling the tarp from itself and pulling the tires off.  About this time Marri came out and asked me if I needed help with the tarp.  Gladly!  She even put one of my heavy bales that I couldn't lift and was on the ground back up on the stack to keep it good and dry.  The tarp is HUGE!!  We pulled it over to a clear area and spread it all out, then folded it in half, and finally pulled it over the stack and secured it with the tires.  Marri said now that the COLD cold is over, the wind is coming next!

I sure hope they're happy!  Definitely a labor of love <3

PS - if anyone ever says that owning horses doesn't count as exercise, send them to me :P

Beet Pulp Attack

This time ON me!  Since I've been subbing, I've been setting my beet pulp mash up to soak in the morning, leaving it in my car all day, and then delivering snacks to the ponies after work.  However, due to the freezing rain we received, I started off today with a nice little slip and spill with beet pulp mash ALL OVER me!  At least it was warm I guess.  I ran back inside and changed, then was on my way to work with the lovely bucket of beet pulp.

At least the ponies were happy about getting it today!  I picked out their feet while I they were eating - I've been trying to do that as often as possible to keep their feet healthy and to get them (particularly Flash) better about letting me/Beth work with their feet.  I am still itching to ride and haven't had the chance...  Too cold/inversion/too slippery/sick/etc.  Maybe tomorrow?  I hope so!  And I hope this saddle comes soon so I can ride in it!!

**Pictures coming soon**

Fences, Dizziness, and Beet Pulp

I was so excited when I woke up and felt better today!  I've been trying to ride for the last 3-4 days...  Monday, there wasn't any school, but I started to get sick and before I had a chance to even think about riding, Marri called to tell me Flash had barreled through the fence as she was coming to feed, letting both him and Snickers out, and she couldn't catch either of them.  After she got off the phone with me, she caught Flash but Snickers kept running for a long time afterward.  She said he's very stand-off ish. Yup, that's my horse!  We did talk about getting some training to help him with that.  I'll have to look into it, because I know he can be a pain to catch.  We don't even need to revisit our roping incident from last Spring...

Anyway, Marri showed me how to fix the fence.  It wasn't difficult at all, but I just couldn't get it hot! It was on, but I just couldn't seem to get confirmation that it was working even when I grabbed it. I went back out that evening when Marri was there, but by that time I was starting to feel pretty sick.  She did confirm the fence was working - so I was pretty proud of myself for fixing the fence, but I just need to figure out how to test it lol.  My problem was that I wasn't putting the second end on the ground haha.  Oh well - lesson learned!  I moved the ponies from the small pens they'd been in all day back to their big pen, and got some satisfaction when Flash got a good shock - I knew he wouldn't be testing it again soon!

I couldn't sleep at all Monday night because my headache got so bad and I was so stuffy, and then I ended up calling in sick.  My butt was confined to the couch the rest of the day :(  I wanted to see my ponies so bad!  But Trevor said no :(

So today, I was so excited when I woke up feeling almost normal!  I went to work and was great for the first half of the day, but then started feeling dizzy and it hasn't really let up since.  Since I was having trouble just getting through P.E., I figured riding probably wasn't a good idea.  Instead, I ran a few errands (bought more beet pulp), then rested for an hour at home, and finally went and fed all the horses just before dark.  Thinking about how I wanted to put more pictures and posts on here, I took a few pictures by the light of my headlights and that were much better with the help of iPhoto ;)

Flash making a mess eating his beet pulp

Snickers

Snickers drinking down to his beet pulp - he loves it!

Flash making more messes

Flash's mess.  He spills so much because he shoves his face into the mash and splashes it around!

To the hay...

More of Flash's mess frozen on the gate

Mmmm alfalfa!

Snickers stealing from Flash's bucket

Bit test ride

I think we have a winner! Check out that foam! He ground his teeth a little every now and then, but stopped almost instantly. He was chewing and chomping and licking constantly. I wasn't too fond of him chomping on the bit (like actually getting the metal and being quite loud about it), and he gave me a few head tosses when I pulled up on him, but I think that's just him getting used to a bit again and matter of habit. He REALLY didn't want me to put it in his mouth when we began and stuck his nose in the air and clamped his teeth shut, so I think he's definitely got bad memories now from the previous bits and the sore mouth, so I'm curious if he's easier next time. Anyway, this looked really good to me, and I have videos I'll share once I get my hard drive cleaned up enough to fit them!

****

Here are a shots from last ride, when he had the stuff in his mouth. You can clearly see his pissy nose snarl, even though he wasn't opening his mouth. The nose shot with the new bit looks way happier!

The slobber turned out to be the clue that stuff was stuck under his tongue, causing the teeth grinding.

He actually has the new bit in his mouth in that first one, but he had the stuff stuck in his mouth and the ulcers :S

Nearly had a horse-induced heart attack!

This came up as I was attempting to solve a bit issue that I already had a thread going in the tack section, so I typed this up there as an update in that issue. If you already read that, save yourself some time and don't read it twice. However, I did want to share this as its own thread just because it was so strange... but so simple.

Snickers was very slobbery today and has been for the last day or two. Not like "foam when you put the bit in" but rather huge strings of thick drool hanging from his mouth all the time. I wasn't sure what was going on....

I've been trying to find a bit that was comfortable for him, and my latest bit came in the mail this morning. I brought him up and saddled him, and he was doing really well. Then, I wanted a picture of him with what he was doing before, so I put the curb bit in his mouth and rotated it, but no matter what I did, he didn't react at all (he was gaping and pulling his lips back before). Instead, he just drooled. Interesting....

I put him in the new bit, and it was awesome and crappy at the same time. He rode like he's never done before - that head was automatically in the perfect position the entire time, no throwing his head, no fighting, nothing. And he was doing things for me that he's never done - perfectly responsive to all my cues. In fact, I was riding with a lighter hand than I usually ever have with him. It was great! Except.... He was girding his teeth the ENTIRE time, like 30 minutes straight. It was the strangest thing - how could he be SO good (I was shocked!), but be so pissed the entire time??

But the story doesn't end there... During this time, he continued drooling the entire time, and I even saw a hint of what looked like blood after he'd been grinding his teeth for so long. I took a look inside his mouth and couldn't see anything, and there wasn't any more blood, so I just wasn't sure....

I put him back and my BO called me on my way home. We've been talking about his eating habits - he drops a lot of food and seems to have trouble chewing. She'd been watching him eat that morning and agreed with me it wasn't normal and she was worried about him. Between the food issues and the bit issues, we decided it might be good to have his teeth checked again. I called vet #1 who's known him since before I bought him and did his teeth last February. He said he really didn't think he could have a problem with his teeth since he did them, but suggested thoroughly checking my feed for cheat grass. Funny enough, we just switched feed last week, and that's when the drooling started and I think the teeth grinding (in addition to the gaping with a bit) started around then, too. I called my BO and she went and threw them some of her hay (I'm her only boarder and we take care of our own hay). I then called vet #2, who checked his teeth a couple months ago and who I'm much more comfortable with. She took the time to talk to me and thoroughly explain different aspects and hear me out about all my concerns from the hay to the bit to the girding, and she said she'd bet money it's cheat grass in the hay.

Then, things got scary. My BO called - she'd given them new hay in a different bin and he wasn't eating. He kept putting his head down to the food, but never ate anything. This is NOT like him, at all. Especially with straight alfalfa that he'd been eating before I got my own hay last week. So, I prepared a mash with about 2 lbs of beet pulp, 2 lbs of Triple Crown, and a bunch of alfalfa cubes soaked in hot water (he NEVER turns down his beet pulp mash, even if he's stuffed himself) and called vet #2 back. As I was driving with my mash back to my boy, she explained that he was probably in too much pain with the cheat grass in his mouth and it made him not want to eat. I needed to take a syringe and rinse his mouth.

My BO got a 60cc syringe and a bucket of warm water, and I caught my horse. He was standing at the barrel with the hay that likely had cheat grass and looked like he'd been digging through it, but not eating. There aren't any outdoor lights, so we brought him right up to the front porch on the yard. She held him while I inserted the full syringe and emptied it in his mouth... Nothing. It was so strange - where did the water go? We did this a few more times, and concluded he must be swallowing it lol. He just kept letting us stick that syringe in there and give him a drink over and over! What a strange horse... But that's nothing I didn't already know, it just added to his list of strange things he does. Anyway, nothing was coming out, except the same slobber like crazy. After a few more times, I got out the mash, but he sniffed it and turned away. Now I was worried - that is extremely unusual, even if he was somehow full (but we really doubted that was the case). He was acting normal, except just not eating. I'd seen him eat his regular daily mash and drink water just 2 hours earlier. This didn't feel like a colic, but he still wasn't eating at all and rinsing his mouth wasn't working. I stuck him in the round pen with the mash while I called the vet - we decided it probably wasn't an emergency and could probably wait until morning to see if he ate then, so I decided to go with that. Wanting to give it one last go, I went and got him and rinsed his mouth with the same result. I even pried open his mouth before I rinsed it and it really didn't help any. Now, he was getting a little annoyed though. Finally, I did what any mom would have done for their child - off came my nice, warm, waterproof gloves, and my hand went in his mouth. Turns out, if he feels your hand in there, he won't bite hard enough to make it hurt. He was obviously not to thrilled with it, but allowed me to explore his entire mouth (all the way up to my elbow) and get out the crud. There were two main wads of food under his tongue, but I could guarantee after that that there was nothing left in that mouth. And my arm smelled TERRIBLE!! I did feel two rough spots about the size of dimes on the side of his tongue that were different than the rest, but there wasn't any more food in there for sure.

And guess what? After a few minutes, he started stuffing his face with the mash! He truly was just in so much discomfort from those bits of food that it made him not want to eat at all. After a bit, I returned him to the pasture and filled his (and my other horse's) buckets with the rest of the mash. I went back inside and called my husband to tell him I was almost done and that Snickers was doing fine, talked to my BO. And then drove my car out to the gate so I could see what was going on and finish my last job. Snickers was still stuffing his face :) No, there was no way he was sick haha. With my headlights helping me see, I emptied their entire tractor tire that I use for free-feeding of the bale of hay or so that I'd fed yesterday and threw it over the fence. I got it out all the way down to the dirt and felt I did a pretty thorough job, especially for being in the dark. Then, I went and got some of that alfalfa hay that I know he likes and offered him a bite before throwing it in the barrel. He eagerly took it! In fact, more like Snickers than anything, he left his mash for the hay as soon as I threw it in the tire. (Of course, Flash, my colt, was very pleased since he'd finished his bucket and was waiting for a bit of Snickers' lol).

I called my vet back and left a message telling her what I'd done and that he was fine, and she called me back (What a fantastic vet on a Saturday night!). She said those rough patches were probably ulcers, like a bad canker sore, and that that was likely why he'd been grinding his feet the entire time we were riding. Sticking a bit in there just put more pressure on his tongue and caused him discomfort. His ulcers should heal up on their own in 4-5 days, so then we should be good to go. In that time, I'm definitely going to be getting them new hay!!

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-health/nearly-had-horse-induced-heart-attack-148964/#ixzz2J3BY5HGl

Beet pulp

This thread challenged my previous thoughts about beet pulp and encouraged me to learn more in order to back my point of view - and I did feel that my research ultimately did support my points as well as enlightened me a little more about beet pulp:

Horse not Drinking

and related...

Different types of beet pulp?

My new favorite slow feeder!

Thought I'd share with directions (click link for full post). All in all, this cost $44 for the net and lacing (and I have plenty left over to make another), and then however much my friend is going to charge me for the tire, so I'm thinking no more than $75 total for this feeder. So far, I've only fed one bale at a time since I have two horses, but I'm confident I could probably feed two or more, especially since it can go higher than the tire itself and the net holds it in.

I designed this off of the feeders at happygrazers.com since I didn't want to pay $300+ and thought I could make a bigger and better one anyway :P

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/barn-maintenance/my-new-favorite-feeder-147755/#ixzz2J3L0T6rn

Soaking beet pulp...

To keep my boy hydrated, I give him soaked beet pulp. I havent been able to lately, but I'm starting back up again, especially with the cold weather and needing to make sure they get enough water. I board, so I decided to put it in my largest water bucket, add water and soak it in the morning, then take it out to him and my other horse in the afternoon. Around 8 this morning is the first time I did it - put about 5 coffee cans of beet pulp pellets (total for both horses) in the bucket (which made for about 2 inches deep of pellets), added 2 coffee cans of triple crown, and then added warm water in the tub for soaking. I checked it periodically to see if there were any hard pellets and added water accordingly. It's just past 11 now, and this is the monster I found in my tub.

I think I'll cut the recipe in half from now on...

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/soaking-beet-pulp-147612/#ixzz2J3KQRo34

Stalling Snickers

Honestly, after all the bonding we've been doing, Snickers is like a whole new horse, and I think it's because I'm a "safe" person that he's comfortable and patient with. Right down to the way he leads with his eyes and ears on me, head lowered and relaxed (as opposed to swinging his head high to look at everything, dancing around, and whinnying for his friends), he acts comfortable with me. Yes, we still get the occasional whinny, but then his attention is right back on me. And guess what? He enjoys just standing there and being brushed! We lunged in the round pen as a warm up/exercise the other day (since he's in the stall), and his ear was on me, paying attention, and definitely not looking for where his friends were. I think being in a stall has also helped, too, since I'm his buddy now and he's not so concerned with the other horses. I'm so happy with where we're at :)

Here's the ironic end to this little incident - though I think (though I wouldn't say I'm confident) I could catch him in the pasture now, the stall is going to be a permanent move. I finally went and got the supplements I need for him to get into shape for endurance, and it would be impossible to have him eat/drink them in a pasture situation, especially boarding. One of my worries for him being in a stall was that he would have too much energy, but as I mentioned above, he's more calm and relaxed than ever. So now the stall, and the two new buckets of supplements I hung up in there today, are his new home!

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/cant-catch-my-horse-118092/page4/#ixzz1tRM9l9e9