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-

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

Mellon’s Christmas Wish

 Being the eldest horse in the barn,  I’ve seen quite a few things in my lifetime and what some of the youngsters in this barn don’t realize is how bad it can be for a horse out there. When I was a young two year old my family simply disappeared and left me out in the snow and cold with no food or blankets to keep me warm.  I was scared, hungry and very cold.  Luckily, a nice lady spotted me during a fierce snowstorm and took me home with her until she could find me a forever home. A few years later I was fortunate enough to find my special person who has taken care of me for my whole life.  I’m one of the privileged horses who found someone to love them.

I will confess to being a tad bit assertive over the years with whatever herd I was a member of but I had my reasons.  After the bad start I had in life I vowed to never be cold, hungry or frightened ever again so I had to let them all know I was the leader and got my food first.  Likewise, coming into the warm barn first was a priority.  My person has been very understanding about my quirks and she loves me as much as I love her so we get along just fine.

As for my Christmas Wish, I don’t have a single thing to ask for this year. I already have more than I could have hoped for. I’ve got everything I need, and I wouldn’t dream of asking for more.

But, Santa, we both know there are a lot of horses out there who haven’t been as lucky. So if I can ask you for anything this year, it’s that you take care of them. There is a stack of our old blankets in the shed, and it would be my Christmas wish to see them go to a rescue where less-fortunate horses might enjoy them.  I’ll leave my person a little note tacked to the door after I finish this letter. My greatest wish would be that anyone who has extra stuff around their barn would also donate it to the horses who need a little extra love and warmth at this wintry time of year.

Thanks Santa,

Mellon

Mellon Update

 

'Mellon' rolling in the deep (mud) and feeling better

Our vet was out yesterday to reevaluate Mellon.  He is now done with his first month of medicine for EPM.  The vet was very pleased with how well he’s doing.  He upgraded him 2 grades instead of 1 because of he's progressed so well so far.  He'll probably never be 100%, but this is better news than we could have hoped for!   Mellon has been allowed out with the rest of the herd for about a week now and the vet sees no reason to not continue letting him have his freedom.  He’s happiest when he’s among his herd so we feel mentally as well as physically it is the right thing to do.  Dusty is also delighted to have a vacation from her nursing duties. 

On Monday night they decided not to grace us with their presence for dinner and opted to stay out.  The rule around here is if you are not in the catch pen by 7 p.m. you will be spending the night outside.  I think their “you are my slave and here to serve me” attitude sort of backfired on them this time.  I believe it went down to the low 20’s and they had to deal with the cold.  Color me surprised that Dusty didn’t come in, because she had her grazing muzzle on and usually is in a hurry to get it off.  In the morning they were all looking miserable and wanted to come in. 

'Blue'  the service around here is a little slow

The breakfast buffet was served promptly.  Then Donnie and Blue lay down and took a well-deserved nap.  Blue is a professional napper by the way.  He can sleep anywhere at anytime and doesn’t like to miss his beauty sleep.  When it was time to be turned out to pasture again, they all came to their doors and waited--all except Blue of course.  He continued to eat from his hay net with his butt to the door as if to say, “I’ll let you know when I’m ready, but not just yet.”  So he was left to munch happily away while the service staff went into the house.

The barn is visible from the kitchen window so Blue could be checked on periodically.  After an hour or so he poked his nose around the stall opening and stared at the house.  This is his way of saying he’s ready to go out.  I love this horse and get such a kick out of his unique personality.  He’s quite a character.

p.s. The farm has power, but we still have no power or phones at my house.  All my neighbors’ power was restored on Monday night but since our lines are underground they forgot to hook us up.  We called and they had a crew come last night to assess the situation. I’m hoping that sometime today they’ll be able to hook us up.  Probably just in time for the N’or Easter to take it down again.  The phone company said we’d have service by Saturday at 8 p.m., which is pretty specific.  If they can be that precise on time I think they could do a better job with service to customers.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.

Autumn Colors and Horses

  

Mellon continues to improve weekly.  Dusty is still his unwilling companion of choice during his

 convalescence.  Since the weather was nearly perfect and they were getting bored in their small

paddock we let them out to wander around the barn for the weekend.  They seemed to appreciate 

their new found freedom and took time out from grazing to investigate the goings on in and out of

 the barn.  The stall guards had to be put up to enforce the rest of the herds privacy and hay stash. 


I had planned to ride Dusty this weekend but the farrier came on Friday and I like to give them a 

day in between shoeing and riding.  Unfortunately, Dusty threw a shoe on Saturday...nice... so I

had to postpone my ride on her until she can be reshod.  The herd didn't come in  Saturday night

so I couldn't keep Blue nearby for a Sunday morning ride.   I swear Blue has a calendar and knows 

when the weekend rolls around so he disappears!


It would have been nice to ride and if I was truly motivated I would have loaded the tack in the 

mule and gone on a reconnaissance mission to find him. But it was just as rewarding hanging

 out with Dusty and Mellon and enjoying their company. 


Until next time

 
Quote for Today

When your horse follows you with out being asked, when he rubs his head on yours, and when you 

look at him and feel a tingle down your spine you know you are loved...do you love him back?

The Week In Review

"Mellon"

Waiting for dinner - "The service around here is a little slow"

Mellon visiting with Sami and the boys

There has been a lot going on this past week to deal with.  My daughter’s horse Mellon, who is twenty-five years old, was diagnosed with EPM.  They had been staying out and at first he just seemed tired and a bit stiff, but then began having trouble walking and was stumbling around a bit.  We decided to have him checked out and the vet confirmed the diagnosis of EPM last Saturday.  He has been on medication now for a week and seems to be doing a little better.  Our vet also took a blood test for Cushing’s and that was also confirmed this past Saturday.  Mellon will start his medication Monday for that and hopefully it will help him better able to fight off the EPM.  Mellon is the type of horse who will never surrender his leadership of the herd or give in to feeling poorly.  So he is a little difficult to deal with when he is sick.

He has been put in the small side paddock with Dusty for company.  If she is out of his sight he will pace the fence calling for her.  Since we didn’t want him any more stressed, we thought it best to simply let him have her for a companion until he is well enough to go out with the rest of the herd.  Dusty, of course, doesn’t really care for Mellon and his stalker antics, but she puts up with him because she has to.  We decided it would be better if Mellon were less stressed last weekend, so I didn’t get a chance to ride her, but that’s okay.  The important thing is that he gets a chance to relax and let the medicine do its job.

On to this past Saturday:  We put Blue out with Mellon and Dusty in the hopes he wouldn’t have a meltdown if I took her out to ride.  While I was grooming and tacking up, we kept an eye on him and he seemed to accept the fact that she wasn’t with him.  I took her to the indoor so he could see her from his paddock.  He only called a few times and then settled down.

Unfortunately, when I brought her back into the paddock, Mellon decided to chastise Dusty for leaving.  He started to canter off after her to give her a bite on the butt, then did a huge buck but didn't stick the landing and went down.  I nearly had a heart attack until he got up.  I’m glad he didn’t hurt himself badly, but we’ll have to make adjustments and leave Dusty in with him until he’s more stable on his legs.

Dusty, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more insulted by the fact that she might have to work for a few minutes.  Apparently, she’s forgotten how to stand quietly at the mounting block again.  It took four longeing sessions before she would stand still and let me get on without swinging her ample butt away from the block.  Since she had already had a lot of exercise and was sweating, I only walked her around on a loose rein to cool her off.  The main idea was to make her listen and let me get on board.  On a good note, she did look balanced and had a nice pace at the canter, which was formerly her pogo stick gait.  I’m looking forward to trying this new balanced Dusty canter soon. 

Until next time

Quote for Today

A horse doesn't care how much you know until he knows how much you care.

Oh, Sami!

Oh, Sami!

Sami has recently been let out of detention.  For the past two weeks or so he has been residing in the smaller side paddock with his mama Sweetie.  Why you ask? Well, it seems Sami cannot control himself with the rest of the herd.  In his youthful exuberance, he constantly annoys the other horses and picks fights with lots of halter pulling, biting, rearing and striking out. He’s not trying to hurt anyone, he simply wants to play all the time and not everyone is interested.  To be fair, Grady is sometimes the instigator of a lot of the antics.  He’s another horse who has never gotten to play with others because he was a valued show horse. In recent years, before we got him, he shared a small paddock with two old grumpy mares, so he’s never had a chance to play much in turnout.  Grady is close to 18 hands and Sami is 14.2, so when they are rearing Grady towers above Sami, one false move and Sami is a pancake.  They both come in with various cuts and scrapes and it’s just a matter of time before there is a serious injury.  So Sami was sent off to detention with his mother.  It’s fair to say that just one “mother” look from her and he scrambles to the other end of the field for cover.  She may have a hard time walking now, but I have a hunch in her day she was a no-nonsense mom to be reckoned with, and I’m sure Sami can remember her wrath.

 ' Sami & Sweetie '

' Grady '

Sami appears to know he’s on probation; he and Sweetie are both back with the herd and things seem to be going smoothly … for now.  What is so surprising is that Mellon, aka ‘The Terminator,’ never corrects Sami as he’s done with all the other horses his whole life.  As leader of the herd it’s hard to believe he lets Sami get away with so much disruption.  Sami is like that annoying kid in school that nobody liked but who was always willing to do anything to try and fit in with the ‘in crowd’. 

 ' Mellon '

The other day, I actually saw Sami and Mellon playing halter tag.  Mellon never plays, but I’ve come to believe that Sami is Mellon’s mini –me.  Or maybe Mellon never played because the horses were so afraid of his authority they never included him in their games.  Sami has no herd etiquette and so he jumps in with all four hooves.  However, this morning I witnessed a very cute scene.  Sami was up Mellon’s butt as usual and when Mellon decided to roll, Sami did the same.  When Mellon got up and rolled on the other side Sami copied.  This wasn't the first time they've been caught in a game of “monkey-see, monkey-do,”  and it leads me to believe that either Mellon is grooming Sami to be the next leader of the pack or perhaps just having a little fun with our bratty boy making him play follow-the-leader for his own amusement.  Either way it’s good to see Mellon playing in his old age and I do believe Sami is keeping him young and helping him get over his deep depression over losing his best friend of 15 years, Erik a while back. 

 ' Sweetie '

We’re waiting for some good weather and the snow to melt completely so Sami can be started in regular work. Sweetie and I feel that when he has a job to do perhaps he won’t be such and unconscionable little monster.

Until next time

Quote for Today

A horse has so docile a nature that he would always rather do right than wrong, if only he could be taught to distinguish one from the other.