Shopping Spree!

Oh my wallet does not like me!

BUT, when there is a sale at a tack store, as a horseperson it is my responsibility to take advantage of it…well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Yes, Greenhawk had a lovely sale this weekend with lots of bargains to be had.

Grey Breeches (Elation (Greenhawk) Brand)—Check

Only $40! And they are my favourite breeches ever... fit great, comfy, and last forever)

Shipping Boots—Check

Traveller ripped his old ones pretty good last year, and for $25, why not?

New Gloves—Check

I really like the SSG Breast Cancer ones for schooling- they are a nice thin leather that wears really well.

A Horse Head Cookie Cutter—Check

Pretty cool! I even made some…but they got eaten before I remembered to take a picture

A Chambon—Check

I will get to this in a later post, but it is something I want to play around with a bit and see how he goes. I have used them on other horses had good results…of course only used in moderation and with proper adjustment.

Wormer—Check

$5 off, still more expensive than when we buy it in Montana, but not bad..

Vet Wrap—Check

Unfortunately I seem to go through tons of this stuff!

Empty wallet-- Check

I'm Feelin' Itchy

For a couple of reasons. 

Well, we are still waiting for spring to arrive, but there is hope in the forecast +13°C on Wedensday?! Lets hope so, there is a lot of snow to melt! I have been pretty tempted to trailer up to an indoor (only 10min away) but I honestly just don’t have the time with school- 1 hour to get organized and get there, 1 hour to ride or whatever, but the kicker is having to blow-dry him so he doesn’t freeze that night! So, I will continue to wait patiently (me, patiently? HA!) and dream about some saddle time!

We did have a little ‘excitement’ last week though, but not the good kind. I had gone to feed Traveller and he was fine, but on of the other horses decided to come up and see what we were doing. I hadn’t seen this horse for about a week and as he got closer I noticed something was wrong with his face…There were bloody/scabby patches where the hair was coming out and under his chin was all ripped-up and weepy—but it wasn’t bite marks, definitely not. Uh oh. Closer examination also revealed similar patches on his body.

I quickly called his owners who came and, when they saw him, called the vet.

Well, it turns out that it was lice! Yep, I probably should have realized that, but I just wasn’t thinking. The vet said all the damage was basically due to self-mutilation—him scratching and kicking at himself to try and relieve the itching. She gave him a shot of steroids and left us with some in a powder form to help him out.

Thankfully, horse lice are specific to them and humans/dogs can’t get it (as the owner said, “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day!”) but, because he had it, all the other horses most likely do too—crap.

So, we wormed them with an ivermectin and will do so again on Monday (10 days later) and they also got a good dousing of powder, which will happen again on Tuesday (10 days later). The only one that didn’t look ridiculous covered in white powder was Traveller, he just looked nice and clean!

The sucking louse- what our boys have (there is also a chewing
variety). Doesn't he look friendly?

An update, some goals, etc.

That's not melting anytime soon!

 Well, once again I am being a horrible blogger, BUT, in my defense, there hasn’t been all that much to talk about!

The calendar might say that it is March 7^th, and the gophers have started to emerge—both sure signs of looming spring, but the weather has other ideas. Today was a balmy -9°C for a high (I woke up to -22°C), with the last few weeks being much like this, but even worse. We have had ‘highs’ as low as -28, so Mr. Traveller has been a big red monster, bundled up tight in his mighty Rambo. 

My trusty helper

The good news is that the forecast seems to be improving slightly…we may even make it to the positive side this week *fingers crossed*.

Okay, enough whining.

I thought, as I am trapped inside dreaming about spring, that this would be a good time to talk about my goals for this season.

1)   SOUNDNESS

Although his tendon seems to be doing quite well, unfortunately, this will be a battle for the rest of his life. Tendon injuries SUCK. Oh well, there isn’t anything I can do about it; now it is all about proper care and management. What might this be? Well, just to quickly touch on it:

Conditioning- and lots of it. Nothing too hard and nothing too fast, slow and steady, gradual and slowly building, etc etc. I will also be vigilant about footing and if it is too deep or heavy, take a pass for that day.

After work care: I have a liniment that I have found to be quite effective, whether it is the liniment itself or the effects of me rubbing it in…it works anyways.

Also, any hints of heat or swelling will call for cold-hosing, something that Mr. IHateWater has actually come to like… weird. This will also mean that I need to take a step back and re-evaluate what we are doing- lets hope that doesn’t happen!

Feed: Still working on this one, I’ll get back to it later. My goal is to provide him with all the necessary nutrients to support a healthy system. He generally needs help maintaining weight so some sort of a complete feed will be in order, along with a joint supplement. At the moment we are trying out this one: http://www.basic-nutrition.com/sub_product.php?id=32, I liked the ingredients so I went ahead and bought the little container so we could see if a) he will eat it, and b) if it works.

2)   CONDITIONING (continued)

2 years off has done nothing good for his topline/hindquarter/any muscles. Once again, slow and steady, long and low, lunging, lateral work, etc.

Topline muscles? What are those?

I am not going to list any other specifics because everything else will depend on how sound he stays and how his conditioning comes along. Yes, I do see us doing some jumping- probably not until June or so, but showing is most likely out of the question. Possibly a schooling show or two, but nothing major. I would also like to repaint all of my jumps and possibly build some fill, maybe a wall or rolltop...but once again, we’ll see. 

Anyways, here are some pictures of Trav from today. I will apologize upfront, I took them with my phone so the quality isn't great (along with all the other pictures in this post)!

Mmm

Anymore in the bucket?