Blanket Washing

Holy blankets! 

I brought back Echo's blankets from Lexington so I had double blanket duty. 

All the blanket washes I've used, they tell you to use 1-2 ounces and give us no good way to actually measure. Frustrating right? So I had bought some of the squeeze bottles liquid supplements use. It was thick and kind of difficult to get through the bottle but it worked great overall and I'm going to keep using it for now.

This was first time I've used the EQyss MicroTek wash on the blankets. I've used it and loved it on wraps, saddle blankets, etc. It did a good job and I like the whole fact of it killing stuff in the process of washing.

However I'm not sure I like it better than Saddler's. Saddler's is all I've used in the past since it took me forever to get through my supply. EQyss removed stains well and smelled a whole lot better after, but there were a few spots I wish it had cleaned slightly better. Downside to the Saddler's is it is way thicker and no way would it go through the squeeze bottle. That thing definitely made my life a lot easier and slightly cleaner than using the cap to measure out the soap. If anyone else has any blanket wash suggestions, I'd love to hear them, always a daunting task so anything to use that works better or makes the job easier, lets hear them!

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Congrats to now Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah. The day had been filled with upsets so things weren't looking as positive for 'Pharoah but he pulled it off. I think for the first time ever, I had the top three, actually four in my picks. If only I had bet! Top three look like they're going to the Preakness in two weeks. Read for more and race replay on the BloodHorse article.

Updates of Nothing

Whole lot of nothing going on here. Which after the last few months we've had, is ok with me. 

Snow earlier this week, now back to the 60's and rainy. Last weekend I reseeded half of Echo's paddock so the rain is welcomed to help the grass grow. Her paddock has a fence w/ gate in middle, so for now she's in the front half which was basically a dry lot already. I put the seed on the back half for later this summer when she can run free. The front half isn't much bigger than the round pen so she's been upgraded from round pen freedom to tiny paddock freedom. 

Vet was out this week to do vaccinations and I just had mine dispensed to save myself a few $. I haven't poked them yet, which I should probably do tonight and over the weekend.

Dad will be here visiting me this weekend, so extra time won't be with the ponies but it will be good to see him. I may have to tell him about Echo, I'm scared! He's never known about a second horse I've owned until after I sold it. Dakota was the first and only as far as he knows. Echo isn't going anywhere so he has to find out at some point. I can't keep hiding her when he goes to the barn with me, especially now that she's on stall rest. 

Monday is farrier. Dakota could probably wait another week for a reset but Echo needs her hind hoof reset in the bar shoe so I'm just going to have both done to save time / effort.

Next weekend a friend is coming to Lexington and we're going to the women's NCAA final 4 in Nashville. Despite Nashville and Knoxville being super close to me, I've never gone so I'm super excited. Plus she bought the tickets so I'm happy to go to a free series of basketball games!

Spot, our barn cat that belongs in the the barn Echo & Dakota don't live in, keeps coming to visit us at night. She's super loving and was sitting on my shoulders while I walked in Echo's stall and then this happened. Naughty Spot! Echo didn't care though, good mare. 

Entertaining the Mare

Here's a post I had ready to post the day after Echo got hurt. I had been putting together for the week prior to her injury. I still need input from everyone! I've since broke down and bought her a JollyBall which she is terrified of and wants nothing to do with. 

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So I've been toying (no pun intended) with the idea of decking out Echo's environment with toys. She's obnoxious and mouthy and I feel like that's the perfect combination for a horse that needs something to mess with. Either to add stimulation to work her brain in a good way, or it will boggle her mind.

Nose-It - Pricey but the food factor might help keep her interest. Plus looking at my options the price isn't all that bad. I can get a good size food nugget to put in there so it wouldn't be all treats. Something 'healthy'. My previous mare that I owned, Jitterbug, has one and she appears to like it. If anyone read's Jitter's Chronicle of the Horse column we know how particular she is about life so her review and approval is something I don't take lightly. I did own her for 4+/- years after all. Seems to be the USA version of the Elico Equine Decahedron that I know Aoife showed with me a while back. There are also two more roll and food is dispensed toys out there. I'm not sold on these since they don't seem as rolly and she's not always food motivated. There's the Amazing Graze and the Pasture Pal. but neither look like they roll and move as easy. 

Horse Playball - Cheap and small. If she does nothing with a toy I wouldn't feel as much pain if she cared less about it. However it looks like it could be easily flung around or targeted at things when she got going which if that happened I'd feel for anything in a 20 foot radius of her. I've seen her swing empty buckets around. They fly. Possibly not too durable. Schneider's also carries one that's pretty much the same thing and have one 2" bigger. 

There is always the classic Jolly Ball? I feel like this is one that you can just never go wrong with. They've been popular and around for so long. I think Dakota had a small one at one point, if he did, who knows what happened to it.

We learned last week the basic Likit is just pointless with her. I can try it again and just let her destroy it when she has a fit or get her the Boredom Breaker version which looks much more inquisitive. Plus lots of fun flavors I could try with ding-dong Echo. Likit also makes the holder / ball combination or a stall mounted "tongue twister" version. There's also the Pas-A-Fier that can be stall mounted. Anyone ever use this? I've never seen one in action.

The Mega Jolly Ball - This option is most intriguing to me. Mostly because when I think of it, all I picture is this video of a colt being an idiot. I'm sure my 6yo mare could duplicate his charades. I would probably get it with a cover since it since it would hopefully make the thing last longer with her. Then there's the risk of her being a complete idiot and injuring herself. Lots of pros cons and risk, but the potential of a lot of entertainment and laughs for me might be worth it. 

Thoughts? Any other options I'm missing? Suggestions on which to try first? 

Breathe Deep & Don't Overreact

First and foremost, I'm so grateful to everyone at the barn who got to her so fast on Wednesday. Their quick action drastically reduced her risk of infection. Secondly, thank you to everyone who has sent me messages tell me Echo has been in her their thoughts, the support means a lot. I'm sure I'm not the only horse owner that jumps to the worst conclusion and outcome. I was a mess Wednesday and those who were there did a great job trying  to keeping me positive. 

Podiatrist from Rood and Riddle came out yesterday to take a look at MareFace. I got there a few minutes before him since I stopped along the way to get hay and some supplements. Her stall was trashed and she had managed to get the duct tape off her hoof but was quiet and putting slight weight on the leg, thanks to bute. 

Podiatrist gave her a double dose of sedative since after one she still was freaking out if you went near her leg. Despite this, him and his 2 interns kept calling her a princess which made me laugh! He unwrapped her leg most of the way and then did a nerve block so he could work freely with the leg and not cause more pain. Once the block kicked in, he pulled all the gauze off and his first comment was that it's not as bad as expected. The diagram below - the one on left is what we thought it was, the one on right is actual. If it had been the one on left her suspensory would of been involved and more hoof tissue would of been exposed. We still have to worry about growth, scar tissue and infection but that is half the things that could of gone on if the cut/tear had been deeper or at a different angle. 

I quickly asked to see it, because my inner desire to be a vet comes out. It was... bloody, and gross but so interesting. Pretty sure his intern was peeved he had to keep holding Echo when I wanted to see something but I can't help myself. Anyways, the podiatrist proceeds to tell me he thinks we can bypass the hoof cast and go with a bar shoe and lots of padding. 

He trimmed the rest of her hoof since she's scheduled for a routine trim Monday, so her hoof was in best condition to put a shoe on. Packed the gap in hoof and under bar shoe with gauze and wrapped it up. He put a standing wrap on her leg since she had been blocked he didn't want her pulling something stupid. 

We're proceeding with a vet check up tomorrow from my normal vet.  I have to change her bandage every other day so she will take a look at it when it's time to be changed. She's expected to not need bute by the end of the weekend. If it's dry outside 100% she can go out for short amounts of time in her field. After 2 weeks I don't have to wrap her hoof as extensively, it won't be as crucial to keep the hoof dry. She can also be hand walked in the indoor if she's moving comfortably. The best news is when I said something about it being 10ish months of healing he stopped me and said it's more like 3-4 months because of it being by the heal and that equaling more blood flow. Plus once we see what the scar tissue does, he sees no reason that in time she can return to normal work.

Pictures:

The Tear

Removed Piece of Hoof - I won't lie. Last night Colleen and I found this piece laying around in the dirt, cleaned the blood off and had fun touching parts of the hoof and feeling the lamina. 

Standing Pre Leg Wrap

Finally her standing on it after being all wrapped up. Gauze filling in the shoe and injured area, vet wrap, more wrap, duct tape and then a leg wrap since she was nerve blocked during the procedure:

Lick It, Destroy It

More cold wintery days in the bluegrass. Warmth is ahead! Got to the barn yesterday and as I'm driving up I see my favorite face hanging out by the fence.

Hi Mom!

Dakota in all his glory. Love.

Cleaned stalls. Saw Echo destroyed her LickIt that she had ignored to this point. She either really hated it or really liked it because it no longer exist! Think it's time to explore the idea of non edible toys with her! Dakota hated the LickIt, she's so mouthy I figured she would enjoy it more.

The Moment When...

It's 11pm and you're scrambling to finish up in the barn. You're on your last stall and you go to remove muck tub. You're so tired and out of it that while you're pulling muck tub out of said stall, it tips over and muck goes everywhere.  Yep true story.

What are those moment's you had where you just feel defeat when you're working around the barn? 

No You're Not Houdini

Sigh. Mares. I'm learning they really are more brilliant than the dead head geldings and I'm trying to decide if this is a good thing or not. 

Last night, grooming Echo, in the cross ties with the non velcro safety release. Same cross ties Mareface has broken out of twice before. I figure I'm a step ahead of her and keep a leadrope on her in case she start's to pull her escape routine.

Well Mareface has learned to slightly turn her head one direction and lower her head. This equals freedom. 

I caught her by her field being an idiot there, brought her back to the barn where we had a discussion about not threatening to rear while being lead. I decided she had way too much energy and threw her rear in round pen and did some join-up work with her and can say she honestly stopped for the first time when I turned my back to her. Big progress!

Four Day Weekend

No Monday video today because not much exciting has happened other than lots of down-pouring rain. 

I started my four day weekend not how I REALLY wanted to. I really just wanted to curl up on the couch and sleep. I was bound and determined to prove people wrong though and decided to groom and bathe both horses. They didn't see it coming, no one did, not even me, but in an attempt to gain control of Echo's wild mane... I roached it. Then I bathed her, and repeated on Dakota. I thought I'd regret it, but it turned out pretty decent and as Echo's mane grows back I'll hopefully be able to tame it better. 

Roached maned mare.

Itchy Mare

The Best Duo

Then in the evening I tagged along with George and Colleen to pick up a horse that was coming to the barn to be boarded. She previously kept her horse Lifey (a 21yr old Holsteiner) here before but moved sometime after I had left for Michigan. She took her to the most expensive and prettiest boarding farm in Lexington area - however it's apparently also the worse for horse care. Pictures of the place from the pickup:

Saturday was my birthday which also didn't go fully as planned. Mother Nature prevented us from going to Churchill Downs as planned, but we went out to dinner and I had a great night hanging out with my friends who also got me a yummy ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Huge thank you everyone who sent me well wishes on my birthday :)

Yesterday... well I was pretty much useless. I helped clean some stalls but sleeping was my main priority which has carried over into today. I did get grain this morning to feed my beast, good accomplishment for the day. Tomorrow is my final day off on my extended weekend. I'm determined to ride at least one of my horses but at the same time it's felt great to relax before a stressful week to come. 6 Days until Michigan to move :)

Arrival Wrapup

After their 4:30ish arrival Saturday, I put both horses in their stalls for about two hours to let them relax a little and eat hay and drink water. Echo had not drank well on their 20 hour journey so she was eager for water and drank about 15 gallons. I watched the most boring Belmont Stakes I can think of in recent history and then went and decided to groom Echo some. 

Both have lost weight but it could be worse. Dakota doesn't look AS bad since he had more weight on him to begin with. Echo's ribs are showing way too much, but I'm confident that even after just a week of green grass, awesome hay and starting grain again she'll look better.

After their arrival and being turned out.

Some of this stuff I'm sure I've mentioned but no clue what so it may be repeated. I found great hay last week that's a good grass blend and both horses seem to love it. Grain wise, I'm feeding Hallway's Fibrenergy. Hallway is made fresh just up the road from the barn. It's so fresh that it was bagged the day before I bought it, which is almost 'old' for how much grain that place makes and goes through. It's a newer feed in their lineup and I can't wait to see how the horses do on it. Before, Triple Crown Complete was the closest thing to my 'ideal' levels of everything. Now I'm feeding 12% protein, 20% Fiber, 12% Fat and all with a NSC level of only 7.3%. Eventually I will have to fortify Dakota's portion with their Stamm 30 since he's an easy keeper but he won't eat a pellet grain (go figure).

They're turned out together in two one horse paddocks. There's a gate between them so I can either open it or close it and let one side rest. On the diagram I've added I kinda circled the gate between them. They're stalled in the Tobacco Barn which is where Dakota was last time at this farm. The diagram is a little off because there are way more fence lines and paddocks than I have the ability to sketch out but it gives a general idea. 

The farm itself basically has 2 barns - both have tack room and feed room and wash stalls. Indoor arena, outdoor grass jumping field, round pen, LOTS of trails and creeks to ride through. The driveway is super long and one side is grassy with tree line so it's good area to ride. The one field has a 'track' around it. The pasture itself use to be the outdoor arena but was changed back to a pasture. The track I believe is 1/4 mile or so around so you can get some great conditioning in on it - everyone from the driving people to dressage riders seem to use the track.

How To... Hay & Bedding

While the barn I board at offers full care services, I prefer to stick to self care. Basically this means my horses get a stall, and whoever is working at the farm (aka George and Colleen) turn them out or bring them in once a day and I do the rest. I clean their stall, provide hay, grain, shavings etc on a daily basis. I like it this way because I get to see them every day and when I'm on vacation I still know they're well cared for.

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Now that I'm starting to prep for the arrival of my four legged creatures, I'm remembering the quirky ways of horse ownership and management in Kentucky.

Step 1 - Find a good friend at the barn that doesn't complain when you ask them to go get hay or shavings with you.

Step 2 - If you fail at previous step, find a friend in same situation so you can complain and cry on inside together because you're about to turn your 4-5 person vehicle into a farm truck.

Step 3 - Despite seeing your shavings or hay pile diminish daily, wait until last possible minute to get more. It's a good challenge to see if you can make it to the store and back on your lunch break.

Step 4 - If you have to settle with step 2, make sure you don't clean your car before before going to pick up shavings or hay. It's a fun game of Tetris trying to fit everything.

Step 5 - Stand at the register and act like a fool trying to guess how many bags of shavings or bales of hay will fit in your car.

Step 6 - If you over estimate, don't worry about returning any. Just ask for some spare baling twine or rope and tie the trunk of your car shut.

Step 7 - Finally unload everything at the barn, but only after you let your car sit in a parking lot all day so many people get to see your new handy farm car.

Step 8 - Two options here. a) attempt to clean the hay or any shavings the might of fell out of the bag. b) leave it, you only have horse friends, they'll understand.

Step 9 - For hay - watch your horse devour the hay. For shavings - watch your horse do it's business in your efforts. Regardless, cry a little more on the inside.

Step 10 - Repeat.