It doesn't get any easier

I have a great job, and on the weekends I am lucky enough to judge horse shows. As I grow older I realize that the hopes and dreams one has when younger are still there, but life has a funny way of making changes. I married my husband because of horses. A long story but to abbreviate. I had just committed to buying 4 horses from a former lover (how strange is THAT) and had nowhere to put them. Horses and other were in KY. I was in NH. A very dear friend of mine, now foxhunting in the clouds, wanted me to meet this man and did her darnedest to bring us together. It was the horses which finally did it. He had a huge barn on 15 acres and a couple of horses. I had 4 horses coming in from KY. It was as they say....a marriage made in heaven.  So, horses moved in, 9/11 happened a few weeks later and we decided we should get married. He likes to say it was so I could save on board. HA. He is a very expensive partner. We had a great time riding together, and working with the 4 unbroken mares. It was wonderful. Evenings we would sit by the pool, drink gin and tonics and watch the horses graze in the field below. Life was good. and so it continued. BUT, age creeps in and he took a couple of bad falls, one off his amazing horse, and one off the stairs His mortality must have kicked in because he quit enjoying riding.  It became an issue and I got tired of forcing him to ride. I would even tack up his horse for him.....So the reason you suffered through this long diatribe is that his wonderful horse, who I love was just being a pasture pet. This horse is a lot like me and sitting around is not what he is happy doing. It broke my heart. I would ride him occasionally, but  I have two wonderful mares and it is a struggle to ride all 3. I have tried over the last couple of years to find him a perfect job. Judging found that for me. A farm I have judged at a few times was looking for a big horse. Our horse was perfect and within a few weeks, he will be going to his new wonderful home in Maine. Still ours because he holds our heart, but theirs as long as everyone is happy. So hopes and dreams change. I thought my husband of now17 years and I would ride off into the sunset together. But no. And a big draft costs twice as much as two medium sized mares. I have a good job, but even with his social security and part time work, we cant make ends meet. So what brought us together is no longer viable. What keeps us together is that we are good people and care about each other. Life keeps changing.

This could be a very interesting journey. I work at Dover Saddlery. I love it. It gives me access to all manner of horse items. If we don't carry it, I can walk across the hall and talk to the buyer to find out how I might find that which I need. However. With all that, and as mentioned,  with the amazing help of vendors going above and beyond to help, I could not get a hoof boot to fit our 17.3 draft, with bad feet ( I have mentioned in previous blogs.). No one believes me when I say that his feet, when measured across are over 8". We even special ordered the largest boot Cavallo had, and even that was so small he couldn't even get his toe in it. Size 10.
I know you are probably saying he needs a trim. BUT NO! We have an amazing barefoot trimmer (Pat Zigelhofer) who has been keeping my horses sound for years. The past couple, however seem to have been rough ones for our big boy.
Since I am unable to access a commercial boot large enough, I thought I might try and juryrig something. One of our wonderful buyers at Dover, Lisa Imperato, who was also instrumental in the above mentioned search, gave me a template. It was their largest size and of course was way too small for Cup.
So, here we go, Template in hand. I am going to try and construct a horse boot out of an ole pair of leather chaps. We shall see how this all pans out. I remember reading, years ago, about how the Indians used to put leather boots on their horses to muffle the sound when they wanted to sneak up on another tribe.  Googling came up with "nothin' ".

WHAT’S IN WHAT, A GUIDE TO ANIMAL FEED INGREDIENTS.

We have four horses. Two Hanoverian/Thoroughbred cross full sisters, a Morgan born on Valentine’s day in 1989, and my husband’s 17.3 hand Percheron/App cross with very bad feet.
They live outside with a large run-In available which they only seem to use when the flies are bad, the winter wind blows hard, or the coyotes are running.
There are five dogs in our little log cabin, four English Setters, rescued, and a Cavalier King Charles, the only male and definitely King . They sleep on the bed and have the run of our 5 acres. In the fall they go upland bird hunting. The rest of the year they do as they please, which means hunting squirrels, mice and frogs. Generally and thankfully, to no avail, though I wish they would do better with the mice in the house.
Cats have always been in my life, however, our last cat, Aloysius  was so amazing, we could never replace him, so we are currently catless.

I am not overly protective, and try to treat my 4 legged friends with diet rather than calling the vet at every turn. Labels have always fascinated me. My big brother  taught me at a young age the benefit of reading directions and labels (go figure, a guy!). I could not find a side by side comparison of feeds, hoof care products or other items which we animal lovers like to put into and onto our beasties. Hopefully, this blog will help those of you curious about ingredients for which you might be searching, as well as confronting some other questions which arise in my day to day life with a passel of animals.. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions, to contact if you have any comments, and definitely let me know if there is any product you would like me to research. I do hope this is useful. It is not meant to endorse any products, merely to give an unbiased list.

Check out INGREDIENTS IN HOOF SUPPLEMENTS

http://mikicc.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ingredient-blog-facts.docx.pdf

Does your horse like the water at shows?

Just got back from 6 days at a wonderful horse show and we had a marvelous time. There was a wrinkle however and I am hoping for answers to the problem here. Some of the horses who were blessed with good water at home, many from the south,  colicked on the hard VT water. Our pony was fine, but we in NH are not so blessed and thought the water up there "mighty fine!" So, does anyone have any remedies for travelling horses short of bringing your own water truck? I will do some more research and try to add to this post myself.

I have heard of people adding, believe it or not, Metamucil to their horses water. Ginger ale has always been a go to. I believe they now even make additives for water, but have never tried them. If anyone has any thoughts, solutions or ideas. Let me know. Inquiring minds being what they are.

There are a lot of items out there which we horse people use on us, which we are told by the manufacturer are not intended for that use. Often when one goes on line to check uses there will be a caveat saying, we can not say whether our product does such and such and do not recommend that use.  When my children were small I used to put Furacin ointment on their cuts and scrapes and they healed well and fast. My mare Caly has horrible feet (the Thoroughbred in her I am afraid) and I often would put her hoof goo on with my fingers. My nails love the stuff. I will plug the name in here later. I gave some to my friend Bella Martin in a small jar and called it grandmothers finger cream and Bella kept asking for more.

post stitches

My new best friend in Vetericyn. I have mentioned it I believe in reference to my mare Caly (she is also very accident prone) and how quickly and well it healed her wound. Well, a few weeks ago, I was using a leaf blower to blow the hay out of the back of my wonderful Suburban a.k.a. The Black, not knowing that the bottom of the leaf blower had dropped off, exposing the fan. Next thing I knew, hay was flying out the back of the truck as well as part of my finger. Instead of getting hay out, I got blood in. Gross I know....the nurse at the emergency room told the Dr. I "mangled" my finger. So sorry if you are squeamish.

Well, a few weeks later, and I have taken the stitches out and am mending well. Vetericyn was applied a couple of times a day. The hole that was once part of my finger, is gone, and to look at it you would barely know I had lost a chunk out of it. 





Then there is Borax. How could I ever live without Borax. You know, of 20 mule team fame? Or do I date myself?  Well, I do use Borax to help whiten my clothes, but, I also use it as well to rid the house of ants, and, put it in the dog beds to keep the fleas at bay.

Skin so Soft....when in KY where the bugs are bigger, and we would be out on the trails or fox hunting, we wafted with the smell of sweaty horses and Skin so Soft. Some people mix  a little vinegar in with the water, I cut it with just water. Depending on the season and how virulent the flies, I use either 1/4 SSS to 3/4 water, or 1/2 and 1/2.
The upside is, it works and you can even use it on yourself with no worries. The downside is, on horses, it does not absorb into the skin but sits on the hair and attracts dirt, so you can't use it if you want your horse to look clean and neat. But for trails and fox hunting it is fantastic.

As long as we are on the topic of flies; another "dirty" trick I use is to put Bag Balm in my horses ears and on their chests where the midges like to drive them crazy. My horses live outside with a large cow barn as protection from the nasty biting bugs, but they still go out to graze and get bitten. They will not keep fly masks on, and I hate the way they rub anyway, so I put Bag Balm in their ears and on their chests and down their bellies and between their legs. They seem quite happy. I have avoided their eyes as am cautious and I not sure if they would have a reaction. Here again, it is greasy stuff so I would not put it on if I were going to a show, or if I were thinking of trimming out their ears.

I thought he was having a heart attack

The other day I was talking to a member of the Wentworth Hunt and she mentioned that her draft cross had been very sick. When she described the symptoms I relayed the story of Cupcake and his mysterious illness. They had taken their draft to The New England Equine clinic and even they could not tell what was wrong with him. My vet ran extensive tests . I must confess, I have forgotten a lot of what she told me, but it seems both these drafts had the same problem. Symptoms were: And odd that they are identical....I took Cup for a ride, was not an exceedingly hot day in November, and he gets worked pretty regularly. He stopped on the trail and started to shake, he was sweating profusely, and I do mean profusely, dripping from his neck and off his chest. I thought my big white boy was having a heart attack and dropped my stirrups, preparing should I have to leap from his 17.3 height.
 My wonderful vet was not sure what caused the problem, but looked it up and found that the treatment for what she surmised was wrong was soaking his hay and changing his feed. He does not get a lot of grain as is, and he eats enormous amounts of hay in the winter, and shares with 3 other horses. If this was going to be his new regimen, I was in for a lot of work.  A while back one of the mares at Mountain Lane Farm tied up and got better as soon as she was given selenium and E. Mountain Lane's owner, Heather White, a wise horsewoman, thought perhaps we could try giving Cup selenium and see what happened. Within a few weeks there was a big change.
About a month later I was in Tracctor Supply and saw that they had selenium blocks. I had read that horses can actually get too much selenium, but that they will only eat what they need if they have the block free choice. My horses now have free access to not only an mineral salt block but also a selenium block and are doing great. They are not licking down the selenium as fast as the mineral which leads me to believe they are, now that they are back on pasture, in a good balance.
This leads me back to the Wentworth hunt Master's horse. I mentioned the selenium to her mother and I will be interested to see how her draft fares.

While this blog is titled "Life on the Farm" we all know that there are days when one just needs to get a change of pace. For me, that is either hiking or riding my lovely little collapsing bike which my son Baylor gave me. The most useful present aside from the camelback which followed later.
I am not a road biker. I don't have spiffy biking clothes. When it is cold, I wear riding britches and muck boots. In summer I wear a wonderful skort I got at LL Bean on sale for $10. (love a good deal) and a glow in the dark vest (also gift from son) which I wear even though I NEVER plan to ride in the dark. Vest does come in handy on those late evening walks back from the barn. I digress.....I love rail trails and started my fitness program on the little rail trail in Peterboro, NH. Part is paved, my favorite as far as my seat is concerned. Part is gravel, doable, and I usually let Cromwell ride with me when I do that part as we have to take it slowly. Part is dirt and roots which I avoid. The non paved section runs along the Contoocook river and is very scenic. I kayak the Contoocook often and highly recommend it, I start my boat trip in Greenfield and then paddle up to Peterboro, that way I can float with the current on the way back. (oops digressed again).
This month my favorite Rail Trail is the Nashua River trail. http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/nash.htm It is the perfect length for me to get fit, 22 miles or so round trip. There is a great little restaurant in Groton:  www.filhoscucina.com,  and a great sandwich shop, the Black Bird cafe. Filhoscucina looks as if it would be a white table cloth kind of place, but it is low key and great for bikers, and...for those who would like a little something extra while they sit outside, the liquor store is right next door.
So far, I have done this trip twice. The first time,  a group of friends were eventing at the Groton Pony club event and I could not pass up the proximity and the second time with a dear friend who is a far better biker than I but very patient. The first trip was far too eventful. A student of mine wanted to come with me so we started out in Groton, headed for Hollis. When we pulled her bike out I knew we were in trouble as it was small and looked more like a driveway bike than a Rails to Trails bike. Stupidly, I did not check the tires and the poor kid rode all the way up to Hollis with a somewhat squishy tire. In an effort to help I first asked a bickering couple. She was already upset as she had a flat and her "friend" couldn't seem to pump up the tire. I probably should not have asked them for help but we were somewhat desperate. He kept saying the pump was broken, she kept saying he wasn't doing it right. He loaned it to me to try on our tire, and it was quickly obvious that it was in two pieces and all the air was escaping out where the hose had split. I don't think I helped their relationship any. Next I asked a guy at the Hollis parking lot if he had a pump and he somewhat begrudgingly offered to help, only to find he didn't know how to use his pump and succeeded in letting more air out of the already squishy one. So now matters were even worse and we had about 8 miles to get back to the car in Groton. What I thought was going to be an great outing with some exercise turned into an exercise in extreme patience for me. Had it not been for the fact that my student is one of the most wonderful kids you could ever hope to meet, and always has a great attitude I think I would have had a melt down. It certainly shows that a smile and a laugh can make even the worst of situations better! We made it back to Groton, or I should say, she made it as she ended up walking most of the way while smashing her shins on her pedals. Finally a mother saw her walking her bike and asked if we needed help. She pumped up the tire and for the last couple of miles we got a good ride. Leave it to a Mom!!!  I guess Third time is a Charm. And... Mothers can fix ANYTHING!!
I couldn't wait to get back and try the trail again, which I did with my energetic friend, but that is for a later blog. 

Compendium of useful horse information

Life on the Farm seems to be taking on a life of its own and actually getting some useful information imbedded in the ramblings.

How to own a horse

I found this somewhere, and thought it too good not to repost. Whoever wrote it sure was spot on. I tell my students who wish to go to college and study Equine studies that they should become Drs or Lawyers instead so they can afford their habit and not be working other people's horses.

TEN EASY STEPS TO GET IN SHAPE TO OWN A HORSE:

1. Drop a heavy steel object on your foot, don't pick it up right away, & shout "Get off! Get off!"
2. Leap out of a moving vehicle and practice "Relaxing into the fall". Roll lithely into a ball, and spring to your feet.
3. Learn to grab your checkbook out of your purse and write out a $200 check without even looking down.
4. Jog long distances carrying a halter and holding out a carrot. Go ahead and tell the neighbors what you're doing.They might as well know now.
5. Affix a pair of reins to a moving freight train and practice pulling it to a halt, smile as if you are really having fun.
6. Practice your fibbing skills. "See, moving hay bales is fun!" and " I'm glad your lucky performance and multi-million dollar horse won you first place!"
7. Practice dialing your chiropractors number with both arms paralyzed to the shoulder, and one foot anchoring the lead rope of a frisky horse.
8. Borrow the US Army slogan; "Be all that you can be'...(add) bitten, thrown, kicked, slimed, trampled."
9. Lie face down in the mud in your most expensive riding clothes and repeat to yourself: "This is a learning experience, this is a learning experience ."
10. Marry Money!

Senior Horse Feed comparison

I have a senior horse who has been losing weight. He has plenty of energy and is getting more feed than my other three larger horses combined. I have been feeding him a senior formula feed, but wondered it it was the right one. After horse sitting for a friend down the road and noticing that her once extremely thin aged mare was looking good on the feed they were giving her, I decided to do some research. So, for any and all of you who might want to compare senior feeds, here are a list of their perspective ingredients. I have been feeding Blue Seal and am about to switch him to something else to see if there is a change. I love the Blue Seal product for my other horses as it keeps them in good weight. They are not hard workers, but do climb up the back of Holts Peak here in NH quite often. We shall see if changing feed helps the old guy or not.

another beautiful day in NH. I awoke to a host of male birds trying their darndest to convince the flying girls out there that they were the best. Each song had a "take me, take me" attitude. A great way to start the day. That, followed by a ride in the woods with good friends. Mud season is here, a bit early, and I know we in NH should NEVER think spring is here til mid april, or beyond, but it is hard not to agree with the birds and have a song in one's heart. We did a bit of slipping and sliding, but nothing compared to some of the icy rides we have had this year.

Not having enough of the outdoors, I proceeded to take my soon to not be lame mare Caly and Cromwell, my wonderful Cavalier King Charles on a muddy walk. It gets her out and starts getting her fit again, while helps me keep some of the pounds off. Some how after age 50 that gets harder and harder. What ever happened to the days when I could sit down and have a half bag of oreos with milk. now I look at them and have to plan at least 5 days to walk them off. I digress, a habit of mine......I am working on teaching Cromwell to ride Caly so we can go on trails together and when he gets tired, or we get near a road I can plunk him in front of me. Caly isn't so sure she likes the idea, but she is getting better. Cromwell doesnt mind anything as long as it involves warm bodies. He had his first ride a few weeks ago when he got wrapped up in digging for something, could be a rock or a vole, or anything as far as he is concerned, and did not come when I called, nor when I mounted back up and went looking for him. Two friends were training young horses and found him near where I told them he had gone missing. Very tired, I like to think a bit stressed when he realized I wasn't around. So, they put him in front of them and rode him home. Now he is in trouble. Now that  I know he can ride.

He is asleep behind me on his pillow as I type. He snores loudly.

It's been a long winter. Global "F#$%&ing" up of the weather prevented us from having a lot of snow up here in beautiful NH. Top that off with a lot of yo-yo temps and there were a lot of sick horses. I, who never seems to have issues with my 4, had my share. My favorite mare, Caly, ended up with a crack in her hoof, courtesy of the wet fields. My barefoot girl is now wearing shoes. She doesn't seem to mind and was actually pretty good for the farrier even though she hasn't worn shoes in 10 years. I so love her. She is on the mend and I can't wait to go for our meanderings through the woods again. Cupcake, the infamous, he has a fan page on FB, had a selenium deficiency. We thought it might have been his heart. Now that gave a scare. I noticed it when his 17.3 hand body started staggering, and he broke out in a sweat on the trail. He is, I am happy to report fine now and the selenium block I placed in the run in seems to have helped both him, and Azeem the 24 year old Morgan who again has come into my herd. Azeem poked his eye and for a while we thought he would go blind, but he is doing fine and back to sailing over 3ft jumps and galloping on trails. Friends have lost horses to colic this year and even at Mountain Lane we had a few cases, which is a rarity. On a good note, Rhumba is back under saddle after a 5 year hiatus. Her back seems to accept the western saddle and no major bucking, so, while she is the best jumper of all of them, it looks as if she will be relegated to western for my safety. Jumping in a western saddle is not something I plan to work on this year. So this week the weather is in the 60's, in March, go figure, next week it will probably snow. I am looking forward to summer pasture and watching the horses play in the pond. For now, I will clean their paddock and hope to get a few rides in before the snow flies again.

Animal days

My Hollywood moment. Many of you know Cupcake, my husband's 17.3 H Percheron/Ap. Well, he had decided to quit riding due to far too much back pain so I am now trying to make him into a Derby horse. He loves to jump, far too much, so it should be a good match. Speaking of jumping.....this time of year Cup tends to get a bit bored. He is a very lucky boy as with this balmy weather we have had in NH this Nov. he has been able to stay with his little herd in their summer pasture where the grass is still green and there is plenty of room to run. Still, the boy does have an adventurous spirit and sometimes it gets the better of both of us.
The other day I went out early to put them in their paddock and decided to go down to the "pond" field to see if I might find the halter he lost. I put it on when he started going on walk about. His field buddies, Azeem, the 22 year old bay Morgan, Calypso and Rhumba, the Hanoverian/T'bred sisters were in a state. They saw me crossing the stream thru the woods and came running up to me, whinnying...."Cup is out, Cup is out...we don't know what to do!" Within feet of me the three slid to a stop and couldn't tell me fast enough that Cup was on the other side of the fence and I needed to help them get their fearless leader back. (Azeem was probably trying to tattle on him and saying "See what a pain he is, he got out again.") There he was, trotting up and down the old road on the other side of the fence. Silly boy. I promised to get him back and walked over toward the fence to access the situation. At that point Caly, who gets VERY unnerved when Cup is not near headed toward the fence as if to jump it. I backed off, very quickly. Did not need two horses out! So, I thought, perhaps I can get them up to the barn and fence them in the paddock and THEN go get the errant big boy. I called the obedient three to me and they came running. "What shall we do? What are you going to do? Tell us, tell us!" They trotted beside me, would go a bit ahead then toss their heads and fall back in line behind me. The stream crossing is very narrow and not a place I want to be with three large horses in a stir behind me so I sent Azeem across and Rhumba followed. But Caly hesitated. "Cup, what are we going to do with Cup, I can't cross without him!" Bother I thought. But just as I thought my whole plan would blow apart there, up on the hill at the far gate, stood a large white mammoth. Caly saw him and decided I was quite brilliant. My take. They all galloped up the hill to join their leader. I am only second in their eyes. The amazing part of this whole story, apart from how much my horses trusted me to make the right decision was that Cup had to go down the old dirt road, through the woods then turn up the hill in the overgrown field and come to the gate at the top of the hill. It is not a straight shot, and I am not sure he has done that trip with me on him more than once or twice. So Hollywood, when you want to be impressed by horses check out some back yards. There are amazing things happening there.