O'Grady

 

O' Grady

This past Sunday we lost our beloved horse O'Grady.  He was my daughter’s horse and she rescued him from a previous owner about twelve years ago.  Grady had some medical problems when he came to her, mainly shivers.  But he was a trooper and never complained, even when he had a cancerous third eyelid removed, a bout of pasture stringhalt, or his bladder flushed out with a huge catheter. They were a good team and enjoyed some very nice rides over the years.

Recently Grady was having problems emptying his bladder normally and had constant leakage. Each night my daughter had to wash his legs and other areas.  She didn’t mind and I’m sure he was appreciative of her special care. He was also mysteriously losing weight and, a few weeks ago was diagnosed with lymphoma. The vets had given him a few months to a year with medical treatment. She was waiting to start his chemotherapy which she had to hold off on because Grady developed a fever last week and the vet had her giving him antibiotic injections for a possible bladder infection.  He went off his feed.  There were also multiple ultrasounds, blood tests, and examinations. His fever was gone by Saturday and he started eating again, so we thought he was feeling much better. 

Sunday morning, he ate some feed, snacked on apple pieces and a carrot, and was eating his hay and drinking.  He got his antibiotic injection, and we went in to have breakfast.  When we came out, his condition had suddenly worsened. We could tell he was in terrible pain, looking at his sides like colic, and he went down.  We called the vet and did all we could to ease his pain, but it all happened so fast the vet never had time to come. He had what looked like a seizure, and then he was gone. 

We knew this day was coming when Grady was diagnosed, but we never expected it to be so soon, or so sudden. It has been a shock. The vets have offered some theories about what might have been the cause, and all of them sound reasonable, but no one can really say for sure. So, it is sort of a mystery why he declined so fast. We hoped he would have more time. But most of all, we hope that he had a good life, and that he enjoyed his years with us. We certainly enjoyed our time with Grady and are grateful that he came to us. 

Grady was the sweetest, kindest horse in the barn. We called him our Gentle Giant. Because he was always a perfect gentleman, Grady was the only horse on the farm who was allowed to wander loose around the barn, and to let himself in and out of his stall (with detours past the feed shed for a snack while feeds were made up.) He was known to stop in at the tack room door to ask for a treat, or to raid the apple bucket when no one was looking, but it was impossible to spoil Grady because he was always so good. He was also a horse who cared about all his herd-mates. He would never leave anyone behind. If I was riding Rosie in the indoor, he’d climb the hill beside it and look in the window to see where she was.  If I rode her outside, he stayed by the arena until she was done.  Then he’d follow us in for an after-lesson snack. When my daughter would hike out to the back field at night to bring them in, all the others would run ahead home, but Grady would stay and walk home with her. Being a big guy, at over 18hh, he would outpace her for a few strides and then stop, turn his head, and wait for her until she caught up before he would continue on home. As I said, he left no one behind. 

The farm won't be the same without Grady. We are heartbroken and will miss his kindness, gentleness, and friendliness around the barn. 

 

Goodbye Grady—you were the best.

 

Quote for Today

 

Nothing is more sacred as the bond between a horse and a rider.   No other creature can ever become so emotionally close to a human as a horse. When a horse dies, the memory lives on, because an enormous part of his owner's heart, soul, and the very existence dies also.
 - Stephanie M Thorn

And The Winner Is...

DONNIE!

"Donnie & Blue"

"Grady"

"Yeah! I win!"

Donnie gets the prize today for being the dirtiest horse of the day.  Grady and Blue were respectively the runner - ups in the “ How Dirty Can You Get Contest” that was apparently running today in the herd.  I actually watched Donnie roll in the mud first thing this morning when he hit turnout.  I was hoping most of the mud would dry and fall off during the day.  As you can see it didn’t.  There’s a lot of grooming coming his way tomorrow morning.  I was just too tired tonight to take care of this.

 I’m happy to report that Sami is doing much better.  His swelling is down and he’s not lame anymore.  He enjoyed some time outside in a small grass paddock with a buddy and seems to be less stressed now that he was able to go out instead of being stuck in his stall all day.  Our horses really aren’t used to being in a stall.  They are basically out from morning until night every day.

Until next time

Quote for Today
  Grooming: the process by which the dirt on the horse is transferred to the groom.

August Update

Blue- " I've had just about enough of this summer!"

There seems to be too many things going on at once around here and so there hasn’t been much time to post anything.

I’ll start with an update on the horses:

Nate (my daughter’s horse) has been suffering with a bad case of Stringhalt.  He’s been dealing with this for over a month.  At one point, it got so bad that he was completely paralyzed in his hind end and was stall bound for a while. His hind legs swelled mildly and he broke out with oozing sores around his coronary bands, front and back. Nate also has a condition called Shivers, which we think exacerbated or probably even predisposed him to the Stringhalt. Between my daughter and the vet they seem to have come up with a successful treatment plan.  The good news is that, after scaring the crap out of us, he seems to be doing much better and can now be turned out with the herd. He’s still walking very slowly, but he seems happy and at least he’s able to be with his buddies.

Shortly after Nate, Grady came down with a milder case of Stringhalt. He also has shivers. He's recovering much faster than Nate and seems to be doing much better now.

Mellon's legs--especially his hind legs--have been swelling, oozing serum, and breaking out in sores. He was also mildly lame behind, though it didn't look anything like the stringhalt in the other two. Mellon doesn't have shivers, though he did have EPM a few years ago, and he's got Cushings. Our vet thought it was cellulitis. My daughter said it reminded her of a milder version of the lymphangitis Nate had when he ate some toxic weeds he shouldn't have in Scotland. The vet prescribed a course of heavy duty antibiotics and topical ointment (which Mel finished and didn't seem to help), so she's been washing with mild antiseptic soap and wrapping with Animalintex which seems to help a lot.

Trying to find the common source for all of these problems might be a waste of time. But the stringhalt, at least, we assume had a common cause once two horses started to show the same symptoms. There is a variety of the disease called "Australian Stringhalt" that has been traced to a particular weed that grows in pastures called flatweed, catsear, or false dandelion. It looks almost identical with ordinary dandelions except the leaves are slightly hairy, the stems are coarser, and they can be branched (there are other small differences if you're into botanical stuff, but for the casual observer, that's enough to identify one in your field.) It's not always dangerous to horses. But under certain soil and weather conditions (i.e. drought) when the plant is stressed, apparently it becomes toxic. We believe that our horses already suffering from neurological conditions were highly susceptible to the effects of this toxin, and so exhibited the worst symptoms. All of the literature we've ever read about it, and all of the vets we've ever spoken to said it doesn't grow in our area. But after speaking to the local Cornell Cooperative Extention expert, my daughter went out looking for it, and it was everywhere. (My daughter is going to post more on what she's found out about the plant and the condition as the horses progress with their treatment.)

We've got probably 25 acres total of pasture, so there was no way we were going to dig it all up by hand. So in the meantime, to be on the safe side, we removed the horses from the pasture for a few weeks while they received their treatment. Then, though we don't like having to do it, we had all the pastures sprayed with a broadleaf herbicide to get rid of the weed suspected of causing Nate, Grady (and possibly Mellon) their various ailments.  We can't be sure if it was the flatweed or any other weed that caused their illnesses. But why take that chance?  They seem to be improving already... We will reseed in the fall.

Blue looks a lot better to me and I plan on starting back riding him this weekend.  He got a thorough grooming and bath over the past weekend.

Sami and Donnie are just fine. So there are a few bright spots here, too.

The Dogs:
Ginger the pup is doing fine. She was spayed two weeks ago and is as feisty as ever.

Gunnar has started having seizures.  He’s had three this month and so my daughter took him to his vet who referred him to a dog neurologist.  I didn’t know there was such a specialty, but apparently there is.  All of his tests came back normal. and they have no answers.  Every vet we use is on vacation so it’s been like pulling teeth to get him some anti-seizure medication.  Normally, they would use phenobarbital but since he has a liver shunt he can’t take that because it compromises the liver.  There is another medication that they are prescribing so hopefully we’ll be able to get that soon and help him.

We have what looks like green slime on the top of the pond so we called in a pond expert.  He says it’s called watermeal. And there is a spray that will kill it, but he can’t spray because the oxygen level in the pond is below normal (because of the watermeal) and it will kill the fish.  So we need to replace the broken aerator with a new one, which requires getting an electrician to run a line from the garage to the pond.  I’m hoping this can be done soon.  We may not be able to treat the pond this year, but at least we can get the oxygen levels back up to normal to help the fish out until the weather cools off and the watermeal dies off.

So, it's been a rough summer, and we're looking forward to fall! That’s about it for now.

Until next time
 
Quote for Today
 “ It just goes to show you, it’s always something.”
    -Gilda Radner-

A Successful Surgery

"O' Grady"

My daughter’s horse Grady had an operation on his third eyelid two weeks ago.  He had to have a cancerous tumor removed.  She took him to the vet clinic for the surgery.  They sedated him and removed the tumor, which was quite large, without a problem. 

Grady came home the same day once he wasn’t drowsy and could ride safely in the trailer.  What surprised both of us was how well he took his SMZ’s and let her put in his eye medication.  He didn’t do that for me when they took the biopsy and I needed to administer the eye cream.  Guess I don’t have the right touch to suit him or he only trusts his girl.  I probably don’t need to mention he got lots of hugs and treats for being such a sweet boy.

So we’re all very happy he did so well and his eye healed without a problem. It’s nice to have something good to report for a change.

Quote for Today

He knows when you’re happy

He knows when you’re comfortable

He knows when you’re confident

And he always knows when you have carrots!

News In A Nutshell

Love the Autumn colors viewed from the patio

Last Thursday our vet came to give the herd their Fall shots.  He checked out Dusty’s leg issues and came to the conclusion that she had suffered a slight flare up of laminitis in her left front.  She’s been on Bute for a week and today is her last day.  She seems to be walking much better and is allowed out with the herd.  Grady had a growth removed from his third eyelid and the vet took it to the clinic for a biopsy.  The growths in his sheath weren’t removed. No treatment for now and he will check back and see how that is progressing.  Grady has had a course of five days of SMZ’s plus twice a day eye medication.  He’s not a good patient and it’s almost impossible to get the eye cream in his eye.  When an 18 hand horse throws his head up in the air and you’re 5’5” there’s not a shot of reaching that eye.  So I’ve resorted to some very quick slight of hand trickery.  I quickly squeeze the cream into his eye as I slide the fly mask off over his ears.

"Dusty"

" O'Grady"

The herd has decided that since the weather is cooler now and there are virtually no flies or bugs to bother them that they would rather stay out than come in at night.  If they are not up by 8:00, they stay out.  I can’t keep going out and checking for them all night and they know the rules.  In by dark or not in at all.  Last Saturday was the last time they came in until last night when they finally decided to grace me with their presence.

Luckily, the herd comes up in the morning for their breakfast buffet of hay and I was able to bring Dusty and Grady in for their medications.  Yesterday when they didn’t show up,  I finished up some work around the house and barn then took a drive down to the back field to check on them.  I was parked in the driveway outside the pasture and everything seemed to be fine until I noticed a horse in the riding arena.   We have a combination lock on the gate and I couldn’t see the tiny numbers on the bottom without my reading glasses and I don’t do Braille.  I had two options 1) climb over the fence or 2) go under it.  I opted  for scooching under it.

"Mellon"

This is at one end of the arena and they jump down to get in there

Turns out it was Mellon who got himself stuck in the arena. Some of the horses like to jump down into the arena but not out of it, except for Nate, but that’s another story.  They use that arena as their personal playpen.  With the rubber footing a good roll is like getting a full body curry.  With the gate closed Mellon considered himself trapped.  When he saw me walking down there and his friends about to flat leave him he started running the fence.  I was surprised he got himself into this mess and couldn’t jump out.  In his day he was one hell of a jumper to say the least.  But, I guess time retired and aging takes its toll on all of us.  Once I released the cracken he galloped off to join his herd.  Looking very good for a horse that is between 28-30 years old none the worse for wear.  So except for a slightly sweaty Mellon and a dirty butt on my part everything turned out alright.  Never a dull moment when dealing with a herd of horses!

Until next time
 
Quote For Today
Horses are predictably unpredictable.
Loretta Gage

O’Grady

"Umm, rumor has it there are apples in here for good horses"

 

Mr. O’ Grady had a little exercise on Saturday, too.  I’m so impressed with how well he is doing and how far he’s come since my daughter took him in.  Grady is a big guy, at least 18 hands or maybe more; we’ve never taken a measurement.  He is one of the sweetest horses we’ve ever met, with a heart as big as he is.

He does have shivers but with the proper care and maintenance he’s doing very well.  After letting his feet grow naturally and some corrective shoeing he travels much better than when we got him.  My daughter has also done extensive work on retraining him.  When Grady first arrived here he was very nervous, worried and stiff to ride. Now he’s as easy going, relaxed and goofy as the rest of the herd, and seems to enjoy his job for the first time, too.  I really like this wonderful horse. 

It just goes to show you that any horse who is given the time to trust you can become the horse he wants to be, not the horse he’s been told he is.

Until next time

Quote for Today

The horse through all its trials has preserved the sweetness of paradise in its blood.     - Johannes Jensen

Do Horses Live In The Moment

"Grady"

Most people believe that horses live in the moment.  To a certain extent I feel this is a true statement.  One only has to watch them interacting with each other, grazing, waiting for their feed or going with the program they’re used to each day to believe they do.  However, I’m of the opinion that this is a somewhat misleading statement.  I’m thinking they live in the moment but they never forget what has happened in the past.  The events of their previous years shape them into the horses they are today just as our childhood shaped us into the adults we’ve become.

Case in point today is Grady.  The other day he sustained an injury to his face below his eye.  We don’t know how he did this but he came in bleeding with a decent sized cut.  When my daughter went to treat it with medication he was terrified.  She stood by his shoulder with her back to his chest and reached for his nose to hold his head.  My daughter is a very calm and gentle person and there was no need for him to have a reaction that backed him into a corner with his head up and fearful eyes rolling in his head.  Obviously, Grady was panicked by his rough treatment by persons in his past.

To remedy this situation she simply stood there quietly and spoke to him until he came over with enough trust to let her treat his injury.  We know Grady was on the show circuit and ridden incorrectly.  By that I mean he was yanked into an unnatural frame and pounded into the ground.  He’s still dealing with leg and mental issues but he’s getting much better with proper training and respectful handling.

So the point of my disjointed thinking process is: yes, I believe horses do live in the moment but they remember things that don’t pertain to the moment they are currently experiencing.  Which makes them thinking creatures and not simply livestock as uninformed horse people have told me over the years.

The question remains, are we being presumptuous and doing them a disservice to assign them personality traits that we know nothing about?  How do we know whether a horse is thinking or not thinking while they’re grazing or living day to day with their herd? Without the ability to think/remember past experiences or using their instincts for survival I don’t think they would still be around after all these millions of years.

Until next time

Quote for Today

There is one respect in which beasts show real wisdom... their quiet, placid enjoyment of the present moment. 
    - Schopenhauer

Weekend Report

" Blue "
"  How do I get myself into this stuff, I should have hidden behind the shed "

Friday was the most gorgeous day, sunny with temperatures in the 70’s.  Of course, due to prior commitments, I didn’t get to ride.  Saturday started out cold and windy with temperatures in the low 30’s.  This is the day I get to ride after not being able to mount up for over two weeks.

" If you want to ride, you better get a brush"

 Saturday

Dusty was pretty well behaved although she was a tad over-enthusiastic and had to be brought down from a trot bordering on canter more than once.  A canter would have been fine except I wasn’t exactly asking for it.  All of the horses need to be brought back slowly after a miserable winter and sporadic work.  Everyone is out of shape, including me.

Next up was Blue.  I asked my daughter to ride him first as my “crash-test dummy,” since he hasn’t been ridden all winter either.  And due to the Wild West rodeo show he put on while longeing him last week, I thought it was in my best interests to have younger bones test the waters.  Turns out he was the Blue we all know and love; he’s one of the laziest, calmest, safest horses in the barn.

" Grady "
" I'll just be good and do what you want "

Sunday

Sunday morning was also cold with temps around 20-25 to start with.  I opted to ride Blue first since you really need a lot of leg to keep him going.  Although he looks like a pudgy quarter horse (and he is at this point) Blue has a big, athletic trot and is prone to throwing you out of the saddle with every stride.  My new saddle fits him like a glove, which is good, but it is still slippery and the panels feel like stiff cardboard. I found it very hard to stay tight with my thighs and drape my lower leg with little contact and pressure.  One of my worst habits when I get tired trying to maintain the correct position is to simply stand in my stirrups, relying on them for balance.  Not the correct way to ride, but I find myself falling into this trap once in a while.

Blue is trained to do just about anything that is asked of him, but he’s no push button pony by any means.  The minute you lose a soft following contact or pull on him in any way he will pull down on you and revert to going on the forehand and relying on you to hold him up (as any horse worth his salt should.)  I was treated to this little idiosyncrasy of his while trying to keep my balance in a slippery saddle a few times. We did a lot of circles and change of bend at the walk and a few trot circles and called it a day.  He was a little winded.  Small steps are the order of the day with Blue until he’s in shape.  When I dismounted my legs were Jell-O, which later turned into outright pain.  Blue is the perfect horse for getting your legs in shape if you can take the agony.

Next I took Dusty in the arena and my daughter rode Grady.  He’s such a good guy.  Well trained and sweet. I’m of the opinion Dusty was showing off for him.  She was an angel (yes, I did just say Dusty was an angel) and never took a wrong step, but did everything asked of her.  Which leads me to believe that she knows exactly what I want, she just doesn’t do it if she’s not in the mood.

We had a good laugh when we realized that, although Grady is 18 hands and Dusty is all of 15-1 hands, she wouldn’t let Grady outdistance her.  Obviously, he’s got a huge stride and was trying hard to keep up, but even at the walk Dusty overtook him with her normal enthusiastic forward walk. 

I’m glad she was well behaved and comfortable because by now my legs were not in any sort of shape for horse antics.  Thank you Dusty.  And thank you Blue for being you.

Until next time

Quote for Today

When riding my horse I no longer have my heart in my chest, but between my knees.

Observations From The Fence

" O'Grady "

O’Grady is our newest addition to the herd; he’s been with us for over a year now and is one of the sweetest horses we’ve ever met.  Grady stands at least eighteen hands, also making him the largest horse we’ve ever had.  His personality reminds me of the new kid in school, a bit awkward and shy, on the playground with no real friends.  He wants desperately to fit in, so he’s always looking for an accomplice to get into some trouble with him.  Blue is his stablemate on one side and Donnie resides on the other.  We put them in these stalls in hopes they would bond.

Because I have nothing else to do, here are my observations from the other side of the fence monitoring this interchange between Blue and Grady:

Grady:  “Hi Blue, whatcha doing today?”

Blue:  “Nothing that would interest you.”

Grady:  “Want to play or groom or something?”

Blue:  “No.”

Grady:  “Blue, you’re like the coolest horse in the whole barn.”

Blue:  “I know.”

Grady:  “Want to be friends?”

Blue:  “Uh, no.”

Grady:  “Aw, come on Blue, nobody else will be my friend.”

Blue:  “How’s that my problem?”

Grady:  “Want to see me roll in the mud again?  I can get super dirty!”

Blue:  “Good for you.”

Grady:  “How about we go check out the back field?”

Blue:  “No, that’s a long walk for no reason; there’s no grass back there yet.”

Grady:  “I’m bored.”

Blue:  “Yeah, I’m starting to know how you feel.  Why don’t you go play with that little brown
 pest.”

Grady:  “He’s not my friend.  He’s always biting me and it hurts.”

Blue:  “You’re a big guy, stand up for yourself.”

Grady:  “I can’t, I don’t want him to be mad at me.  No one else will play with me!”

Blue:  “I can’t imagine why not….”

Grady:  “I’ll give you my lunch hay….”

Blue:  “Hmm, now you’re speaking my language.  What did you say your name was again?”

Grady:  “It’s Grady, can we play now?"

Blue: (Sigh).  “Maybe after lunch we can do a little thing I like to call ‘halter tag."

Grady:  “Yay, I just got a new halter!  Sounds like fun!!!”

" Blue "

Until next time

Quote for Today
Be wary of the horse with a sense of humour.
    - Pam Brown