outbreak

Having a broken horse is really starting to wear on me. The fall weather is beginning to peek through the heat and humidity, and all I want to do is put Lucy back to work. We had the best rides in the early fall and it kills me that she is just standing around doing nothing. Everyone at the barn has been out on the trails and having fun and I just feel sad about the whole thing. I am not sad that they're having fun, of course, but I am sad I can't be out there too!

I actually did get to go on a trail ride last week, on one of the other horses at the barn. I had a great time but wished that I were on Lucy :)

I am not used to chestnut ears pricked in front of me, but this horse was
nothing short of a complete gentleman the entire ride. He is a sweetheart.

I called the vet's office yesterday to ask about another ultrasound appt to check the healing progress in her back. The receptionist looked at the notes from the July 1 visit and said I'd probably be wasting my time and money at this point, because the vet didn't feel she'd be rideable before September or October. I felt very sorry for myself, honestly. If we're already going to be in October, then it will be getting cold fast after that. We all know Lu is not a cold weather horse. I guess I might as well wait until the Spring? Give her an extra six months just to be safe? I don't know.

When I arrived at the barn yesterday after having a sob fest about her state of brokenness, I cleaned Lucy's stall and then went out to her paddock. She usually comes over and says hi, but she stood there awkwardly. Finally she GIMPED over to me. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. I checked her out and couldn't find anything wrong. No kicks from Brantley, no swelling or heat, no blood. Then I saw she was missing the shoe on her LF. I watched her move in her paddock a bit more and saw she was just ridiculously foot-sore on that left front. Ironically that foot still had the bell boot on it, but the other front foot did not have a bell boot, and DID have a shoe. Weird. At least it's better than a real injury. I hope my farrier can come out in the next day or two!

In other fun news, EHV-1 (Equine Herpes Virus, or Rhinopneumonitis) has been diagnosed in multiple horses at the same farm just 10 miles or so from where Lucy lives. It's a bit of an odd case. Here is a blurb from the email my vet sent out:

"Interesting features: 5 horses on the affected premises, 2 have remained normal, 2 have mild signs and hopefully will recover, 1 euthanized, none of the horses on the affected (index) premises have been vaccinated for years; none of the horses on the affected premises have left the farm for years; neighbor has three horses and are all clinically normal, all are vaccinated against EHV, and one has gone to events, but not since late June; horses from index premises broke fence last week and had fence line contact with neighbor's horses."

I'm not sure if a horse that has been vaccinated can be an a-symptomatic carrier, and one of the vaccinated horses gave the non-vaccinated horses EHV-1?

Lucy gets vaccinated for EHV-1 every year in late Spring. The vaccine is good for six months and my vet assured me that she would be covered through the fall. Still, this is pretty scary. I really appreciate that my vet's office was so proactive getting the word out to us all.

I am a terrible blogger.

Sorry for the hiatus, guys. Life just got crazy!

Lucy continues to trot on a circle a few times a week, and I've started letting her canter one time around if she looks really good. She holds her leads behind, which is a huge improvement. She seems to be taking it all in stride, though I am bored to tears with lunging. Yesterday we switched it up a bit and went on a hike in the woods. She walked with her nose on the ground almost the entire time, sniffing everything like a bloodhound. I thought that was quite convenient because she's supposed to be going long and low to stretch out her back and build up her muscles, which is exactly what she did all by herself yesterday! No fauxssoa necessary.

Lucy had a tough week. On Monday she kicked me in the leg when I was trying to clean her hind feet out. She tried to take her RH back from me as I was holding it and we got into a bit of a struggle; her pulling her foot back and me trying to wrangle it mid-air, and I have a nice big bruise to prove it. It was the hardest I've ever been kicked. Again, she wasn't necessarily aiming for me, but I wasn't bright enough to realise it was a lose-lose situation and give her back her foot, regroup, and try again. Instead, I tried to battle it out. Pretty stupid!

On Tuesday, she got her feet done and was a total ass for the farrier. Again, all hind end issues. Maddy had her dog at the barn and he was barking at another person as a horse was walking up from the outdoor and the farrier was trying to pick up her RH and she had a total meltdown overload, broke the crossties, knocked over the farrier's kit with all the nails in it, etc. It was a mess. After that she behaved better but I felt really upset and discouraged about it.

On Wednesday, she had an appointment with the acupuncture vet and did really well. He got five needles in again, without any sort of dramatics. I was really happy with her.

I had scheduled a massage/chiro appt for Thursday to see if there was anything going on in her hind end to make her act like such a jerk but unfortunately it was canceled last second. That's why we went on a walk, instead.

Lauren and Charlie moved down to Pennsylvania at the end of last month and we have a new boarder, a sweet old Quarter Horse gelding named Rowdy. He's actually the opposite of "rowdy" - he is very quiet and well-behaved. He has been a nice addition to the barn.

Equine Aid Winners!!

Congratulations to the following readers, winner of the Equine Aid contest! Each will receive five packets of Equine Aid, courtesy of the company.

NS Rider

Sarah

Wendy

Megan

Ashley

I've emailed all of you, so make sure to check your spam folder if you haven't received it, or email me at axford.k@gmail.com.

YAY!! And thanks to Equine Aid for sponsoring this contest! Click the logo below to check out their website.

Cairo does agility!

With Lucy out of work, I've been feeling lost and bored. I miss having goals and looking forward to something. I miss seeing the happy look on her face after a nice jump school. We are both already bored with lunging and I haven't even been lunging her very much at all. When I do lunge her, though, she looks very supple and bouncy through her hind end, a marked improvement for sure!!

I decided to sign Cairo and myself up for a weekly beginner agility class at a local dog kennel and training centre. Cairo frequently jumps the jumps at the barn and does it in style, might I add. I thought she would be excellent at agility and she proved me right on Monday at her first class. My friend Cassie took some photos for me:

first time through the little tyre jump...how CUTE

up the a-frame! she had hesitated at this, unsure at first, but with each attempt
she got more and more confident and by the end of the class she was powering
up it and daintily but confidently coming down the other side.

not even joking here; she STUDIED the other dogs as they did their runs

also, check out her adorable new collar. stylish!

enticing her down the dog walk, which is like the A Frame but with a flat part
between the ramps.

down the ramp of the dog walk

good girl! the treats du jour were 100% beef hot dogs, the best I could find.

I don't want to eat crappy cheap hot dogs, and I don't want my dog to eat them either!

dog walk again

A frame

so proud of herself!

Everything I know about dog showing, I learned from that hilarious movie Best in Show so I will have to scope out that scene for myself before deciding to persue competition with her, but I was so impressed with her willing attitude and affinity for agility that I know she would love to keep going with it! At the end of the class, we even did a little course, including jumps, the A frame, the dog walk, the tire jump, and the tunnel. Such a smart doggie!

how to lead your horse to water AND (probably) make him drink: a giveaway!

Each day when I clean Lucy's stall, I check how much water she drank the night before. Many days, the answer is "hardly any". It freaks me out!! I've already dealt with one impaction colic with Lucy, shortly after I bought her, and I have been a crazy water lady ever since.

One way I get extra water into her is soaking her dinner, and trust me, it gets soaked thoroughly. She happily eats whatever I put in front of her face, so that's nice, but how nice would it be if she also drank a bit of water?

Recently I tried a new product called Equine Aid. It's made by a relatively new company based out of California. The product is a powdered supplement that you add to your horse's water to encourage them to drink. It has powdered alfalfa and Himalayan rock salt, along with some other tasty ingredients. It comes in pre-measured packets and the idea is that you add one packet to each 5 gallon bucket to entice your horse to drink the water.

The company offered to send me some samples, so I decided to give it a try. I supplied Lucy with one regular bucket and one got a packet of Equine Aid added to it. The first night, Lucy completely ignored it. She didn't drink any of the Equine Aid water, and she also didn't drink any water out of her other bucket. I re-used that water the second night, since it was untouched. She drank half of the Equine Aid bucket, and about 1/4 of the normal bucket. On night #3, I added a packet of the Equine Aid into her dinner, which she gobbled up. The company's owner recommended I try this so she gets a "taste" for the supplement. On the final night, she drank 2/3 of the Equine Aid bucket and only a small amount of the regular bucket. I felt encouraged!

I think this would be great to add to water at shows, or if you move your horse to a new barn and they have to get accustomed to new water. It will mask any small changes in taste of the water, while also encouraging the horse to stay hydrated. I think it's a great idea for a helpful product and if you have a picky drinker, or a horse that doesn't always like to drink at shows, consider giving this a try.

A word of caution to owners with horses who have insulin resistance or other dietary restrictions: this product does have a small amount of brown sugar in it. Luckily Lucy is free to inhale as many cookies, sugar cubes, etc as she wants so that wasn't an issue for us!

Equine Aid is sponsoring a giveaway for us, and five winners will each receive five packets of Equine Aid. To enter, leave a comment with your name, email address, and why you'd like to try this product. Good luck! Contest ends Thursday, August 1st at 5pm.

If you'd like to read more about the company and their products, visit their website at www.equineaid.com.

I need to invest in some sunglasses to be able to look at this horse.

Just in the past month, Lucy has gone from this:

To this:

raw sienna
honey mustard
UGH

look at the stark difference between the hair just below her mane,
and the crest of her neck.

her back; you can see where she was clipped for her ultrasound on July 1st

Well, beautiful dapples, it was nice knowing you, I guess! :(

love her no matter what colour she is :)

Her dramatic colour change, combined with the fact that not one single other horse at the barn looks like it has gotten even remotely sunbleached, led me to post on COTH (I know, I know) to ask a question.

Low and behold, sunbleaching is a result of certain colour genetics. After doing some additional research, I am wondering if Lucy is actually a "seal brown", not a "bay". Some seal bay traits that she has are the lighter areas behind her shoulders, in front of her hips, and up around her ears on her head. She also isn't very red at all, like Maddy's horse Brantley. He is a beautiful rich mahogany bay colour. She is more brown with black points.

I could get her colour tested through genetic analysis for $25, and I may do that since I have spent $25 on more ridiculous things than that in my lifetime. :)

Polo! Newport vs. Spain

Yesterday some friends and I went down to watch the polo game in Newport. The weather had been iffy all day but all we got were a few sprinkles right as the match started. Lauren and Dan brought homemade chili, and I made some great sangria and some sandwiches. Another friend of mine, Wendy, brought hummus and chips, and we all had the best time hanging out, chatting, and watching the game.

I loved this grey

the group, plus Cairo!

newsflash: the horse is fine

Well I am sure glad I didn't ship her off to Tuft's (again), because Lucy is just fine! I didn't do anything with her at all on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because I wanted to let her newest boo-boo get a good scab going.

On Thursday I put her on the lunge like and surprise! Not a gimpy step to be found.

cruising along

Today I didn't do anything with her because I was so hot after cleaning her stall and the paddock that I just wanted to go home and crawl into the refrigerator.

So that's where we are at! Thanks for all the helpful and supportive comments - I am glad she's fine and this wasn't another setback. I just want to RIDE already!

Oh, and we never found that acupuncture needle, so it will remain a mystery.

how fun!

Ya know, I was really starting to enjoy my daily horsey routine again. It involved no cleansing of wounds, no wrapping, no buting or Ace-ing or any vet care of any kind! I got to see my lovely horse trot around on the lunge line and then I got to put her away in her stall and feed her dinner. It was peaceful, easy, and I was happy to be working toward a goal with her.

THEN, THIS HAPPENED:

She was running to get away from one of the huge "bomber" flies. To her credit, those things HURT when they bite. They have knife-like jaws and take a chunk out of the flesh that then bleeds and swells to the size of a marble. So I imagine that in her mind, this was a reasonable response. In my mind, though, I was seeing her slip and fall and hurt her back again. Luckily, that did not happen but by the time I got out there she had kicked herself somehow and sustained this lovely cut down the lower half of her pastern into her hoof. She actually damaged the hoof wall and there is a little slice in her foot. Now, a hoof takes about a year to totally grow out so I will get to look at the evidence of this incident for the next 12 months, give or take.

She wasn't lame at first and then I cleaned it really well (aka scrubbed it) and after that, she was like, OW! OW! OW! each time she stepped on that foot. This all happened on Monday morning, the morning after my friend's horse was euthanized, and honestly I did not have the energy to deal with it. I gave her some bute, cleaned it up real well, and called it a day.

Yesterday, she looked much better and didn't seem bothered by it, but given its location I started to feel like maybe it deserved a bit more worry from me, so I sent my vet a photo of it. The vet called and basically scared the crap out of me talking about infection in the coffin bone, referring us to Tuft's, etc. I kept saying, but she isn't lame on it! So the vet gave me a list of signs to watch out for and said to call back if she seems to take a turn for the worst. In the mean time, I have to clean it, doctor it up with some Neosporin, and wrap it each day.

OH HEY! How fun. I had just put away all of my vet stuff that was hanging out in the barn aisle and here I was dragging it all back out again. I guess I jinxed myself!

the kindest thing

My friend's beautiful, sweet Morgan mare "S" colicked badly late on Sunday night and her husband called me and asked me to come to the barn to be with her for when the vet came. I rushed over and when I got there, the mare was down in a paddock, rolling and in distress. My friend had already decided she was going to have her mare euthanized. She had a long history of various ailments and this had been in the plans for a while, but of course not on these terms. Still, given S's history and the amount of pain she was in, my friend opted to do the kindest thing for her. We let her stay down because she was being quiet and seemed comfortable. We spent some time brushing her, stroking her soft nose, and scratching her favourite scratchy spot behind her withers.

The vet took quite a long time to get there and at one point, S decided she wanted to get up, so we got her walking. My friend had given her Banamine when she first found her down, and I suspect the Banamine had started to kick in and help some of the discomfort. She did go back down a few times and roll but we always got her back up.

As we walked, we talked about my friend's best memories of this lovely mare. S was a sassy mare with a kind and patient disposition. They had done lots of fun things together, the best of which were the hunter paces they attended. They had also done dressage and some breed shows but overall they had enjoyed spending time together. As S got older, she developed tendon problems and also had some breathing issues so she enjoyed a quiet retirement.

The vet finally arrived and did a quick assessment. She agreed that my friend had S's best interests in mind and went to her truck to prepare the drugs. My friend decided she did not want to be around for the euthanasia, and spent a final few minutes stroking S's muzzle and telling her she was loved. Then she handed me the lead rope and I stayed with S for the rest of it.

When my friend went back into the barn, S laid back down on her own accord, which made the vet's work very easy. She passed away peacefully as I held her head and stroked her cheek. She was graceful and dignified until the end.

On Monday morning, I called out of work. I was at the barn almost before the sun was up, after getting about two hours of sleep, to meet the company that came to deal with S's body. I had told my friend I'd be there to make sure she was handled gently and with respect. The company was wonderful and did a very good job.

I had taken her halter off after the vet finished, and it was covered in sand and dirt from her rolling. I didn't want to give it to my friend all dirty like that so I did quite possibly the most thorough and professional tack cleaning job I have ever done, and that halter's soft leather gleamed when I was finished. I also had cut some of S's tail for my friend to have, with her permission, and it was very dirty. I tied a rubber band tightly at the top of it, filled a bucket with some water and shampoo and gently dipped the tail hair in it to clean it. I let it air dry and then picked the remaining leaves out of it. I gently brushed it out, being very careful to hold it tightly with one hand so that I didn't pull it out of the rubber band. When I was finished it looked beautiful and now her owner can have it to either have a bracelet or Raku pottery piece made. S really had a gorgeous tail!

This is the second time I have done this for a friend. Though it is very hard, I am honoured that I was asked to be there both times. What a wonderful thing to be able to do for a friend, and also for the horse. Both times I've done this, the horses have passed away peacefully with dignity, and neither have felt alone. I would like to imagine that if I ever had to put a horse down, that it would go as well as S went. I honestly don't know if I would stay for my own horse; I'd like to think I would but I guess I won't know how strong I am until faced with that. If I can't do it, though, I hope someone will be there to hold her and stroke her kissy spot on her nose.

Today I am feeling quite sad about the whole thing, which I guess is to be expected. I hope S is running around pain-free in Pony Heaven.