Tag Archives: horses
“I Feel Good…I Knew That I Would!”
Chance’s Face Lift
I brought Chance in from his turn out this evening and immediately noticed this flap of skin hanging off of his forehead. Another emergency vet visit…yay! Unfortunately, due to the skin flap being to the side and not hanging downward from the top, Chance needed staples…I believe it was 14 staples in the end and two cuts.
Needless to say, the vet did a phenomenal job stapling his poor forehead.
“But Baby It’s Cold Outside…”
Here are some helpful ways to know when you should blanket your horse and what type of blanket to use.
* Sources: Weatherbeeta.com, Auburn University
Who Says A Donkey Doesn’t Cuddle?
Every time I come to the barn and the guys are outside, I will go and sit in the field with them. Lucky will undoubtedly walk up to me and nuzzle his face against me. He gets so close to me that I am waiting for him to try and climb into my lap like a dog. He is such a sweetheart.
Chance was a bit jealous 🙂
The Best Horse “Hello”
Hunting Season?
Resources to keep you and your horse safe during hunting season
Safety for Horses During Hunting Season | TheHorse.com
Be Safe if You Ride During Hunting Season | Equinews
Rubber. And aluminum. And plastic. Oh My!
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What type of shoe should I use on Chance’s back feet?
I am looking for something that is glue-on, provides support and comfort, that has good grip, while providing protection for his hoof from the rocky terrain.
After some research, I found GluShus- a company out of England. Their shoes sound fantastic. They have an aluminum shoe set in rubber that glues onto the hoof. Read more about these shoes by clicking the link below.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
GRIT
A while ago, one of my good girlfriends, sent me an article about perseverance; why some are able to withstand tremendous adversity while others can’t? The article referred to this concept of an individual’s strength to endure life’s obstacles, to succeed in the face of adversity, to remain positive and continue to move forward despite what is thrown ones way, as Grit. Those who are able to endure the obstacles-have it- and those who are unable to endure- don’t.
“In a recent article published by People in Aid, Scott Breslin argues that grit, and not just resilience, is a key component for aid workers. Grit is defined ‘as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress’ (Duckworth, et al. 2007: 1087-1088). Resilience instead is the human capacity to bounce back from difficult experiences.” (See more at: http://mindfulnext.org/aid-work-is-not-a-survival-contest/#sthash.OsqxZNnG.dpuf)
I can’t help but wonder if the concept of Grit may also apply to our four-legged friends? Because I am pretty sure that Chance has it. What makes living things able to remain positive and enthusiastic and continue to persevere despite being in tremendous pain?
I am truly humbled every time I look at Chance and I see a 25+ year old horse who has lived for years with painful flare-ups without a known cause…yet even at his absolute worse, he was still engaged in life…eating, whinnying, trying to run and play, giving kisses for treats…and now, after a year of ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations, stumbles and falls, medications and supplements, pokings and probings, needles and adjustments, samples and tests, and changes in just about every aspect of his life, he is finally in a healthy place! (He is no longer on pain medications daily. He maybe gets a dose a month or so. And does not have bouts of lameness or swelling).
What enables him to remain his calm and happy self despite all of the above? How was he not biting and kicking with every prick of a needle? How is his soul still gentle? How was he determined to walk up a small hill a year ago and now is able to run up that very same hill? He loves every second of his life. This may sound odd, but my old guy revels in every single second of his day.
He whinnies the moment I pull up into the driveway and greets me. He devours every ounce of grass he can. He often follows his friend and co-caretaker, John, to feed the chickens in the morning. He yells for his buddy, Lucky, when he can’t find him. He runs every where he is able to including back and forth from the house to the barn- racing with Lucky. He rolls around in the grass, the snow, or mud. He will lay in the green grass basking in the sunshine. He investigates everything around him. And each and every time he stumbles, or even falls, he gets right back up and tries again.
To me, that is the essence of Grit…to keep on trucking through life with a soft heart and grateful and determined soul.
Duckworth, A. Peterson, C. Matthews, M., Kelly, D. (2007) “Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 92(6), 1087-1101.
The Luckiest Unlucky Day Ever
Today was not the greatest of days….but I will say that we had the luckiest unlucky day ever! And, of course, it was a full moon tonight which means I should just stay inside.
Today we met with a new farrier. I have been doing some research on shoes that provide comfort, support, and do not mess up Chance’s hooves like nails tend to especially when a horse is on rockier terrain. I spoke with my vet who suggested to, “put shoes on all 4 hooves with a 1 degree wedge pad on both hind shoes. Set all 4 shoes back from the toe of the foot by at least a 1/4th an inch.”
I went to the farm a bit early and gave Chance a bath, some Equinox for pain, and got ready for the farrier. The farrier arrived and Chance was great! He stood on the cross ties and ate hay like a champ. For some reason I decided to lengthen the cross ties. I am not sure why exactly but thank God I did.
My dad and the farrier were with Chance while I went to feed Lucky his dinner. Well, after I fed Luck, I turned the corner and saw that Chance was on the ground! Yes, you read correctly, he was on the freaking ground…all 17.1 hands of him! The moment I saw him our eyes met- I know it sounds like the beginning of a love story- and he immediately took a deep breath and calmed down. I walked up to him and he slowly got up and stood there right in front of me with his head resting under my arm- breathing heavily and he had the beginnings of sweat covering his body.
I stood there and just spoke to him- calmly- telling him he was okay. Once a few minutes had passed, and he was calm, I walked him forward to make sure he was okay. Sure enough, he was fine…aside from some surface scrapes. I cleaned his scrapes up and walked him outside to eat some grass. After about ten minutes, I walked him back into the aisle for the farrier to finish up.
According to both my dad and the farrier, Chance was having his back left shoe nailed in when the nail hit a nerve and he flinched. I guess the farrier didn’t realize this because he hit the nail once more. That was when Chance reacted and went down. Thankfully, the farrier got out of the way & removed the nail midair (so that Chance wouldn’t go down on the foot with the nail and drive it deeper). Think of a splinter going under your nail…and then hitting it again, deeper under your nail….ouch!
However, he landed somewhat gracefully, but due to the cross ties not being break away and the concrete not allowing Chance to gain any “grip” with his newly shod feet, he began to panic. Upon seeing me, he calmed down, and he was able to get back up. I can’t help but thank my lucky stars that I had lengthened the cross ties so that he had some slack, and that I came back inside when I did…had I not, he would have kept flailing. Had I been in there when the nail hit the nerve it may not have happened because I would have said something to the farrier. However, had I been in there when it occurred, things may have also been far worse…since my dog, Sadie, is always right by Chance’s or my side at all times.
We ended up deciding to forgo putting hind shoes on until later (a few weeks) and the farrier removed the one evil hind shoe and trimmed up the other hoof. Chance stood quietly and allowed him to complete his job. I was so impressed with my old guy!
I have emailed my vet to see if she is able to come check on Chance tomorrow just in case…hopefully, Chance will just be a bit sore in the morning and nothing worse….:(
One of the Scariest Moments
What do you do when your horse suddenly chokes?!
Well, unfortunately, I found out the hard way. Thankfully I had my emergency medical barn book and was able to quickly reference what to do.
Here are the steps an owner can take until the vet comes (if necessary):
1. Help keep your horse calm
2. Give injection Intramuscularly (IM) or Intravenously (IV) or orally (liquid only) of Banamine (10cc) to help relax the muscles
3. Rub the horse’s throat until the substance the horse is choking on comes out of the nose and mouth
4. Remove all other feed and hay
5. Call vet to ask if the horse should be put on antibiotics in case they have aspirated (the substance getting into their lungs)
Here is a link to more information on what you and/or your vet can do to help your horse- When a horse chokes
Beauty Shop
4:30am is clipping time! Chance has never been clipped but due to his unrelenting shedding and the allergic skin response, there’s no better time to try.
Chance was awesome! He stood quietly as I clipped him for over an hour and I decided to stop when I noticed he had fallen asleep. I guess not everyone is a night owl.
The Chances We Take 
