Horses are Glamorous

Today was a beautiful day in horseworld. The temps were in the high 70's, low humidity, bright blue skies and billowy, white clouds, not too many flies. Perfect riding weather. I spent the day with the usual chores, feeding, getting the horses out in the big field, then cleaning and bedding stalls. They won't get to go out in the big field for a time since I'll be working some long shifts in the next few days and it's going to rain or storm or something and with it, bring in some really hot and miserable temps in the 90's. With that in mind, I decided not to go home and catch up with a few more things, dumping and scrubbing some water buckets and then planning on getting my horse Forrest, the one that's been dx'd with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which can be insidiously progressive, bathed and cleaned up after I bring them in. Besides, the horses shouldn't be out there too long anyway since the clover is up and the grasses, while not too lush, are fairly high in sugars mid-day.

So as I'm leading them all back in one by one,  I notice Forrest's hair coat (which I've been keeping an eye on) is still long and cushingoid looking, now wavy with dried sweat. I'm also wondering when I would find the time to clip him when I barely have time for his baths. His hindquarters, legs and inner thighs are caked with long hair and an eternal dried sludge of manure. The horses are munching happily on some hay while I drag the hose and buckets and shampoo, and fly spray all out to the back end of the barn where there is shade and some grass to  munch on. Then I get my horse Forrest and take him outside. Even though it's time for the grain meal, he's cooperative; he knows the pattern, as we do it a lot, and he looks forward to feeling clean of his disease--for at least as long as the hose is running because he's just going to get messy again.

While I'm busy lathering and rinsing and lathering and picking off old loose hair from his legs and rinsing again I'm thinking of a certain veterinarian where I used to work, busy at the wash stall performing what she calls the "weenie wash."  She's gently scrubbing an expensive and mildly sedated warmblood's penis and sheath area (because when they are expensive and fancy you have to have your vet do it. When you're like me, you learn to do it yourself most of the time, and without sedation) and in response to some kind of remark or small talk I was making with her then that I can't remember now, she exclaims "Ah, yes, the glitz, the glamour of horses! I thought that was so funny then, and was thinking all the while as I was chuckling at the time 'Man, she's just brilliant, brilliant AND funny. '

So I'm still lathering, rinsing and repeating and while I had a little laugh remembering that, I'm saddened too because we've been at this for three to four years. Now I see that he's getting some scalding and complete hair loss in some areas. His hind hooves are looking horrendous--mushy and peely, and there's areas around the coronet band and up into the pastern where his hair is patchy. I worry about laminitis since he's been on a low dose of steroids that, thank God, he'll be done with. I sob here and there, thinking what a good and funny horse he is and I don't want him to suffer another winter if this keeps going on, but I try to be cheery too for him as we're finished now and walking back up the aisle in the barn and he's being his usual nosey self, sniffing and checking out empty buckets and muck tubs, and making sure the other horses are where they should be.

After feeding and watering for the night and tucking them all in, I stand with him in his stall, my back to his chest while he gently rests his neck on my shoulder and with my hands on each side of his face I scratch his cheeks and behind his ears and and stroke down the front of his nose to the soft fleshy part where his nostrils begin and all the while he looks at me with a soft eye while I tell him I love him, oh how I love him so much. And I know that he knows it. Just that moment there is not anything glamorous really, but something that is just as rich.

When 'Livin' the Dream' Means 'Lots of Work for Little to No Pay'

I hear this oft used phrase many times throughout my day, often being issued from the lips of farmers, ranchers, trainers, co-workers, all with sour looks and lips that want to spit it out as though they ate a piece of bad meat, or being chimed out of mouths while smiling big dimpled smiles accompanying the classic rolling eyed sarcasm.

It's hard; working in this industry it really is, but many of us find it is a labor of love and when I say labor there is a lot of it but we try to work smarter, not harder and by doing that we make it look easy--sometimes too easy and people think we are rolling in the dough while we are living our dreamy lifestyle.

I find myself very lucky to have the opportunity to work with and own horses. My reward is the relationship I have with the horses in my care. Horses are fair. Horses will actually thank you and will give you that gentle tap with their muzzle on your hand or even softly embrace you with a gentle curl of their neck to pull you in close to their shoulder--that's a horse hug! Mama horses do it to their babies and horse friends do it to each other.  It's even more meaningful when I get a horse in that is empty-eyed and skinny, scared or spoiled--or all of the above--by bad or inexperienced handling and I take on the task of helping the horse get healthy nutritionally, find out what they need medically, and learn to be a good citizen around humans. When I've accomplished even minor things I get my little nuzzles and hugs, telling me I understand them and that I've got it right when they offer without resistance to perform the tasks I've asked of them.

What the horses don't have are bank accounts (well, some do but not any of the ones currently in my care.) I know they would write me a big fat check if they could or hand me some cash from time to time but for now, I work at a "real" (note my sarcasm) job so they don't have to.  I have to mention my human family, and non-horsey friends don't really get what I've set out to do and have long been neglected in my pursuit. That being said, I will be honing down my operation as the emotional and financial overhead is way too high to keep doing what I'm doing for no pay and keep the horses healthy and happy. I'll be busy trying to find good homes for some of my residents, as well as highlighting some of the work I've done with all the horses in my barn. Hopefully I will be able to continue some of my work and services to help at risk horses and support owners with their endeavors without being responsible for running my own facility and free up some time that I can spend with my two-legged family and friends.

A Busy Few Weeks...

Other than turning everyone out, cleaning stalls, bringing 'em all back in I got a chance to attend theDelaware County, Ohio Horseman's Council Open House with lots of great demos on horse and rider safety. I even got a chance to ride a little bit along with Caroline, who is helping me at the barn, and do a little much needed groundwork with Lexi. What I have found is that she knows all the Clinton Anderson Groundwork Fundamentals as I ran a little test the other day. Of course, she passed with flying colors just to placate me. My goal for her is of course, consistancy and having more confidence around scary objects. Anyway, here's a few photos from the last two weeks....

Caroline and Forrest

Forrest

Forrest

Franklin County Sherriff' Mounted Patrol Unit Demo

Dr Naomi Chlero, Teresa Burke, and Prada

I'm not a REAL botanist; I just play one on Blogger

For the past few months I've been taking photos of  plants toxic to horses. Here's a good, informative site for plant identification including some details on toxicity.  Ohio Biennial and Perenial Weed Guide . I'm just going to use common names for ease of posting. Most horses and livestock will avoid these plants, but young or curious stock may sample, plants could be ingested if other non-toxic forage is not available, they could be baled in hay, or certain hebacides if not applied correctly may make the plants more palitable and increasing nitrate levels in all dying plants, not just the toxic ones.

I want to note that many herbicides that are labled safe for livestock 24 hours to even hours after treating may contain a somwhat fine print precaution about making deadly plants more palatable, and over time, livestock can build up toxicity of the herbacide itself.  For the goods on that visit these sites: EPA publication , Penn State argricultural extention , and Merck Vet manual pet health--herbicide poisoning

So, for now, heres a few photos to start, with more to come in other posts. Below is  Poison Hemlock, one of the deadliest, like water hemlock, it grows in moist areas and can become quite tall. Where I photographed this, there were stands at least 6ft tall and 2 to three feet thick, growing along a creek bed. Early growth looks like a lovely low growing fern-like plant So don't go transplanting it to your garden!  All parts of the plant are most toxic during early spring and can cause immediate death. If baled in hay, it can lose some potency, but depending on volume baled and eaten can also cause poisoning, possibly fatal.

Poison Hemlock

Another common one: Horse Nettle, one of the various nightshades. Below is an excerpt from  Equus mag... how toxic is this weed? 

 "Horse nettle, like many plants in the nightshade family, contains solanine, a glycoalkaloid that irritates the oral and gastric mucosa and affects the autonomic nervous system, which controls various internal organs. The glycoalkaloids act on the digestive system to cause excessive salivation, colic and diarrhea or constipation. These signs may be followed by depression, weakness, depressed respiration, dilated pupils, collapse and death if horse nettle is eaten in large amounts. - See more at: http://equusmagazine.com/article/how-toxic-is-this-weed#sthash.vwvc6xHm.dpuf "

Horse Nettle

Horse Nettle flower

Evening Ride Selfie

Here's a selfie of Forrest after one of our evening rides. Did I mention his barn name is Forrest Gump?

R. I. P. Willie

It was a beautiful, yet sad day yesterday as an old campaigner from another barn was helped over to the Rainbow bridge. It is always a hard thing to watch these regal creatures go down and breathe their last breath, but much harder to see the sadness and grief of their owners when they must do the unselfish thing and let them go.

 R. I. P. Willie, it was a loving gift, your trek to the rainbow bridge, as it was paved with a bounty of friends, of family, and the sweet taste of clover  as you crossed to the other side.

Livin' the Dream, Livin' the Dream...

My last post was 2012! The last three years have been spent operating and managing my own barn, It has been my second home--well, it's practically a main  residence 'cause I'm there so much. There is always so much to do to stay on top of things because, well,  this is Ohio; the weather likes to throw a few kinks in your well laid plans. Right now there are six horses to care for and the sad part is that five of them are mine! At least for the moment I have five. I don't know how that happened but it did, which is why my last post was 2012. For ease of posting, I set up a Facebook page so stop on by
KSTequestrian Services and take a look if your curious about what's keeping me off of blogger for so long.

Star's Saga

Star, a difficult loader, recently suffered yet another bad experience in an attempt to be loaded onto a trailer by a handler working alone (both were injured in the process, the handler with a concussion and lacerated finger). A day after the incident, the assistance of a vet was called to tranquilize him and after 5 doses, a vet and her assistants were also unable to get him loaded. Not only would he not get on, or at this point, get anywhere near the trailer without a fight, he's learned he can rear, strike, buck and haul back when asked to do something he doesn't want to do. To sum it up Star needs desensitizing to the trailer to overcome his fear before success with training to load and actual  loading can be achieved.

So, the following, which only took a few short sessions over a period of three days,( many thanks to Parelli, Anderson, Tom Dorrance and Ray hunt for the tools and knowledge) is how i approached Stars problem with people and trailers.

We parked the trailer in the arena. I did groundwork exercises away from the trailer and when he was ready, let him rest near the trailer. His owner and I set his am and pm grain  on the trailer, sometimes standing with him, sometimes leaving him alone. He was more apt to relax and eat when no humans were around.

After a few sessions of doing groundwork to get his attention and his respect, and letting him understand that the trailer was where I'd let him catch his breath,  It wasn't long before he'd take me to the trailer when he wanted to rest. I stood on the trailer and he was comfortable to stand quietly with his head and neck in the trailer. Before he even thought of leaving I would back him off and put him to work, then repeat., He got the idea very quickly that backing away was not going to take him where he wanted to be. By this time i was able to move and jiggle things on the trailer, myself included, and desensitized him to pressure from behind with the stick and string. Even with dogs barking, cats running around, heavy equipment with air brakes coming up and down the drive, he eventually was  willing to stand quietly with a relaxed attitude and ignore distractions. At no time did i pull him to try to get him on the trailer as these sessions were focused on getting a relaxed response rather than a fearful response when a human interacted with him at the trailer. Their were times when he got cranky, and disrespectful, but were short lived. At no time did i get mean, yell or frustrated with his behavior, I simply redirected the behavior, moved his feet,  smiled and gave lots of praise and encouragement  when he got the answer right. All in all, we were just playing a game with a goal in mind and having fun.

Since we were expecting a professional handler who used natural methods, to finish the job and get him loaded, my sessions were done at this point. The owner continued to feed him on the trailer, but I told her not to do any work around the trailer and to only lunge him away from it, as if this person showed up, we didn't want to do anything inconsistent or interfere with his methods to get Star to load.

To find out what happened next and the outcome, read the note titled "Good Boy, Star"

Good Boy, Star!

Ok, well, the trainer never got in touch with the owner, but she did arrange with another to bring a trailer today to see if he could get him loaded. I had not worked with Star for the last week but went today to help my friend and review some groundwork to prep him for the load.

To coin Clinton Anderson, the horse doesn't really have issues with the trailer, he has general handling issues due to lack of respect that just happens to show up at the trailer. The baggage Star brings to the trailer is not being properly trained to stand tied (yield to pressure), hauling back and backing away, rearing and bucking to scare the handler when he doesn't want to do something or is challenged to push further, fear of whips, ignoring handlers requests to whoa, changing gait and direction whenever he wants to, pushing into handler's space, or pushing past handlers through narrow spaces.

The focus is to get star to use the thinking side of his brain, rather than the reactive side, and me being consistent in what im asking and being particular at the right time and for the horse to ask, "how can i get them to stop so i can get my air back?" Bribing or rewarding with treats is counter productive in this case and also one must be careful to not inadvertently reward undesirable behavior by not being aware of your body language and actions. Horses are great people trainers!

Here's the rundown of exercises I did with Star that would also help him with handling and respect issues in general if kept up on a consistent basis:

Liberty work- direct which direction I want him to go, turn and face me on whoa giving me both his eyes, not just one. Make transitions, walk trot walk, don't change gait or direction unless I ask. Stop, back up, come to me, join up.

Online - lunge in circles around me while I remain in neutral position keeping my feet still and without him changing gait or direction. When that's good, get him to slow to a walk on the circle by bending and looking at his hindquarters. Speed up with minimal cueing- point and look at the direction i want him to go.  (circle game, and "dont make me pick up the stick")

Stop and face me, change direction.  Turn on the haunches right and left at the walk and trot. (lunging for respect stage 2)

Touch it game-- also online, using driving and porcupine game to yield to pressure and desensitize to stick and string.
Find object /target and direct him toward it with the stick to block and guide his body in the direction I want. I focus my vision on the object and drive him to it using  pressure from my body position or stick, not necessarily touching him unless redirecting.
If he backs away from object, i use gentle pressure with the stick moving the air or touching him behind with it to encourage him forward to the object. when he touches it with his nose, I rub his hindquarters with the stick and praise then we go to the next object. This helps desensitize his fear of driving pressure of a whip or person behind him.This exercise helps with trailer loading, where backing up is not the answer, but touching an object like a trailer or on the trailer is.This driving game also gives him a purpose, a goal, and somewhere to go and helps him to use the thinking side of his brain.

Yield to pressure at the poll- teach him to lower his head when asked or when feeling pressure at the poll. This helps with tying, leading, etc. Also teaches them not to panic when feeling pressure from the halter or being tied. When they learn to give, they learn that they can reward themselves by lowering their head or standing still to get the release. Star needs lots of work at this as well as suppling exercises from side to side.

All this took an hour or so and star was doing wonderful. I would have liked to end the session by looping the rope around the pipe gate and letting him stand as a reward. The trailer showed up so that was the end of our session. I left as there were many bystanders by this time and one was ready with treats. I left hoping for the best. Yes, star did load and didn't seem to take that long as he was at the new barn, relaxed and happy as a clam when I got there.

I have to say that I've worked with Star in the past, and even loaded him in 20 30 minutes using same techniques, exercises--well he actually loaded himself, so it helps that what ive been doing with him is review and we've had a relationship based on trust and respect. He still needs consistent work with a focused handler to really get him reliably loaded onto a trailer anytime anywhere.