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Managing horses when you’re sick

Managing horses when you’re sick

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You’ve heard us talk about it before (Getting Out of Barn Duties and Bill takes over horse duties for the day) but now I have a new pondering about managing horses when you’re sick. Up until now, it’s mostly been either Mikki or me who has been sick. That’s not so bad because the other can pick up the slack and there really isn’t that much work that has to be done. Tuesday night Mikki and I both got sick with something harsh. We think we both have the flu. Now everyone eventually gets the flu and we’ll make it through but I have to tell you…it’s a pain in the butt doing horse chores when you have the flu! Today we compromised a little but doing the worst horse stall housekeeping job ever. We finished our nighttime routine of feeding the goats, filling water troughs, filling hay troughs, sort-of cleaning stalls and feeding oats in a new record of 12 minutes flat. I should be in bed right now moaning about how achy I am but instead, I wanted to share these thoughts in the off chance I’ll croak. Let the world know we risked our lives taking care of our beloved horses. 🙂

Horse tonic ad
A fun tonic advertisement at Dollywood

But seriously, I hope our horses can forgive us for sort-of shoveling and sort-of raking manure to the sides of their stalls in our rush to get back to bed. And while our horse friends insist our horses will be just fine if we left them in the pasture overnight, we’re not ready to give up pampering our horses.

Spooked on the 4th of July

Spooked on the 4th of July

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FireworksThis may seem like an odd post when clearly the 4th of July is both a long time ago and a long time coming, but we have this new tradition of setting off fireworks to celebrate the new year, so this post seems relevant.

One of the neatest things about living in Tennessee is the ability of anyone (18 and older) to buy and light off fireworks. Our horses, however, vehemently disagree.

On the days leading up to the 4th, we started stockpiling fireworks for the big night. Of course, we couldn’t just wait until July 4th, so we set off a few small ones within sight of the barn. This location was chosen because there was a lot of non-flammable space up there and the horses were still in the pasture. Boom, crackle, whirrrrr…followed by the sound of hooves pounding the ground as our two horses galloped quickly to the rear of the pasture. Later that night I ventured out in the dark with carrots to lure them back in. Both horses reluctantly agreed and came the rest of the way to our barn without further incident.

Fast-forward to last night, New Year’s. We have some fireworks left over from July 4th and last year we discovered that some of our neighbors shoot fireworks at midnight. So after cleaning stalls, I bring a small battery of fireworks down to the paved road next to our house in preparation for midnight. Knowing the horses might not come in if we waited until after shooting off fireworks, we brought them into the barn first and fed them oats. I went through my usual “do I close the stall windows or leave them open?” wondering and decided to leave the windows open. I figured they’d want to see what was going on and they could hear us talking, which might help them to know everything is okay. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….Happy New Year – BOOM! I glanced up at the barn and both horses were moving around nervously. Our fireworks display was short and afterwards, we went up to offer Valentine and Moonshine some carrots and lovey-dovey talk. They didn’t seem panicked, just a little concerned. We’ll have to work up to the much larger fireworks display we’d like to fire off for the next 4th of July celebration.

This reminds me of a story I’ll share sometime about Civil War re-enactment horses and how they train them to stand calmly next to firing cannons. Let’s just say the training involved fireworks.

Happy new year from ourfirsthorse.com! Here’s hoping 2007 will be the best year yet for you and (if you have any) your horse(s)!

My horse ate a pine tree

My horse ate a pine tree

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

What did your horse do today? Mine ate a pine tree. Filling the pasture water bucket today I noticed something missing. There was a small pine tree growing near the water bucket and I’ve been watering it for months. It was a cute little feller with aspirations for being an equine belly scratcher someday. Its poor little life was cut short (nipped in the bud, you might say) by an apparently very hungry horse. Neither horse had a pine-fresh scent so I couldn’t figure out which one ate it. I’m not sure what I would have done if I did know. Can you Heimlich a horse? Sounds dangerous.

Horse Christmas Present Roundup

Horse Christmas Present Roundup

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Tack store at Christmas

A funny thing happened this Christmas. Most of the presents Mikki and I bought each other related to horses. This is our first Christmas with horses and I must say, buying presents this year was pretty easy. I asked for tack and Mikki always loves horse stuff so I knew that was a safe bet. And of course I bought my horse, Moonshine, something, too.

So here’s the list:

Bill:

Mikki:

Moonshine:

Valentine didn’t get anything and that’s my fault, really. When I was out buying a gift for Mikki, I saw the stall toy for my horse Moonshine. I was only thinking about her. Sorry, Valentine! He doesn’t seem to notice he got slighted.

Top 10 Reasons to Buy a Horse this Weekend

Top 10 Reasons to Buy a Horse this Weekend

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Horse as Christmas present

We can all sit around and talk about all the research you should do before buying a horse, but you and I know that’s not how it usually happens. Somebody wants a horse desperately and you see an ad in the paper and whammo, you’re shoveling horse poo 24 hours later. Sure, fancy horse people (nothing against them, mind you) buy horses like wine aficionados buy wine, but the rest of us buy on looks. “Oh, look at that pretty horse, honey!” So here’s a top-ten list of reasons to justify going out and buying that pretty horse you’ve been dreaming about…this weekend:

  1. If you’re a married woman, your husband owes you big for something. Now’s your turn to cash in! If need be, remind him of how sad it made you when he bought that laser-guided compound miter saw he failed to mention. It’s all about communication, after all.
  2. Housing prices are going up and everything is getting more expensive with inflation, so horse prices must be going up too! Buy now before prices go up!
  3. As Willie Nelson pointed out, thousands of unwanted horses are being slaughtered every year. You need to rescue one right away.
  4. Similar to reason 1, your husband has been itching to build something. It’s probably just an excuse to buy more tools, but give him reason to buy into this whole horse thing. You’ll need a barn and a fence and a run-in shed…
  5. It’s a great excuse to buy a one-ton dually 4×4. You’ll need it to pull a horse trailer.
  6. It’s good for the kids. Horses help teach kids about responsibility and hard work. You do want what’s good for the kids, don’t you?
  7. You’re not getting any younger and the older you get, the more it hurts when you fall off a horse.
  8. All the cool kids have horses. Actually that’s not true. All the rich kids and the not-so-rich kids who are now poor kids because they bought a horse, have them. But owning a horse does raise your “cool” score a few points.
  9. Your healthcare savings account (HSA) expires December 31st. Use it or lose it!
  10. It’s Christmas! A horse would definitely qualify as that “one big present”.

Disclaimer: ourfirsthorse.com takes no responsibility for your impulse horse purchasing decision. 🙂

The downside of horse leasing

The downside of horse leasing

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Colorful clueA few posts ago (Should you buy a horse?), I recommended leasing a horse as a great way to figure out whether or not you should buy one. I still think horse leasing is a great idea but today I read about a downside that needs to be considered. Mona over at Horse Approved (EDIT: link removed since it is no longer valid] passed on the story of a 14 year old girl named Sarah in North Carolina who is trying to find an old friend. Her parents leased a mare named Colorful Clue for her as a Christmas present a few years ago, intending to purchase the horse if Sarah proved she would be responsible for it. Unfortunately, the actual owner of the horse fell ill with cancer and wanted the sell it for more than Sarah’s parents were able to pay. Eventually Colorful Clue went to auction and Sarah’s parents lost the opportunity to purchase her by only $50. Now, two years later, Sarah is trying to track down Colorful Clue. She says her budget is higher now but even if she couldn’t purchase the horse, she’d at least like to know how she’s doing.

I must admit, although I’ve only owned Moonshine for 8 months, I’m completely attached. It makes sense to me that one of the biggest dangers of leasing a horse is becoming attached to one you would not be able to keep long-term. Keep that in mind as you consider whether or not horse leasing is an option for you.

If you can help Sarah find Colorful Clue, please visit her page. [EDIT: link removed because the page appears to no longer be valid]

Horse Restores Man’s Eyesight

Horse Restores Man’s Eyesight

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Eye
Photo by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash

An 82-year-old man in New York (state) had his eyesight restored by a horse accident. Don Karkos, a World War II veteran, works as a paddock security guard. Two months ago, he was head-butted by pedigreed racehorse My Buddy Chimo in the same spot where he sustained a shrapnel wound that took sight from his right eye in 1942. Doctors had been trying to repair Mr. Karkos’ vision for the past 64 years to no avail. Then one day he was putting a collar on My Buddy Chimo and got whacked pretty hard. Doctors aren’t sure what happened to restore his eyesight but I suppose Mr. Karkos isn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak.

If you’re ever been head-butted by a horse, you know it can be a moving experience. Mikki and I have both seen stars after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think Valentine meant to do it but he’s just so darn big and strong. That’s the thing you need to remember with horses and other large animals. It doesn’t take much movement for a 1,000-pound horse to seriously injure a 170-pound human or a 35-pound dog.

Fortunately, in this case, the injury had a positive effect.

Source: scotsman.com and New York Daily News.

Do I smell?

Do I smell?

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NoseLast night I was in the sound room of our church helping push buttons to keep the Christmas program on track when suddenly I got a whiff of a familiar scent. I mostly detected the smell of ammonia but also a hint of day-old horse manure. But I wasn’t wearing barn clothes or my barn shoes. Oh man, I think I walked through the barn in these shoes. How embarrassing. I mean I live in the country and all and many of the people we know have horses but still, I’d prefer to not smell like horse excrement all the time. I’m hoping I haven’t doomed yet another pair of shoes to barn duties. I have a pair of Justin cowboy boots I use for horse stuff…riding, working in the barn and pasture. They hold up well and offer better protection than old sneakers. Once I tried to clean them up to wear out somewhere. Nothing fancy but more than a trip to the feed store, if you know what I mean. Soap and water and boot shine make them look almost new but they still reeked of ammonia. I suppose it soaks into the rubber sole or leather.

So let this be a lesson to us all: don’t wear shoes around the barn that you’ll later want to wear in social situations!

Photo by Timothy Barlin on Unsplash

Pasture Hole Repair

Pasture Hole Repair

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The weather was beautiful the other day – 70 degrees in the middle of December. I completed horse stall cleaning while it was still light and decided to take a little walk out in the pasture. I don’t do this as often as I should. I have to force myself to even go outside during cold weather. I’m a warm-weather person, really. But today I’m reminded that horse people need to keep an eye on so many things. I discovered this 8 inch wide, 10 inch deep hole next to one of the trails. It almost looked like someone had dug this hole with a post-hole digger. I was aghast. I can just see my horse stepping in this thing and coming up lame. Since the dirt here is as hard as cement right now, I filled the hole with horse manure, packing it nice and tight. I’ll keep an eye on it. The hole didn’t look like a sinkhole and it’s in a place where I can see it from the house. I don’t think anyone dug the hole but it’s a great reminder that we all need to check the pasture occasionally, for obstacles like this. Here’s the hole, with Mikki standing next to it for scale:

Hoof swallowing hole
Stall Fork Preferences

Stall Fork Preferences

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Loaded manure forks

It doesn’t take long to figure out what products and procedures work well for horse chores. Last night while shoveling horse stalls (it’s more like forking horse stalls), Mikki grabbed the manure fork I normally use and I, in turn, took hers. After a few minutes, we happily swapped back again. Neither of us found it easy to work with a manure fork weren’t familiar with using. That might sound silly but we each use a different size and style fork and that makes more of a difference than I would have thought. Mikki uses a smaller fork purchased at a tack shop for around $20. It’s the typical style you see for manure duties, with a nice smooth aluminum handle. We bought the fork I use specifically for use with pellet bedding such as Woody Pet and Equine Pine. In fact, I think it’s actually manufactured by the Woody Pet people (I think they call it their “Fine Tines Fork” – around $26 at Tractor Supply). Its tines are closer together for catching small manure pieces. It’s also quite a bit larger than the one Mikki uses and as a result picks up a LOT of horse manure, which makes it quite heavy to use. For those who use sawdust or pine pellets, cleaning stalls is partly scooping big chunks of horse manure and part sifting to separate the good bedding from the little pieces of manure. The larger fork does a great job as a “sifter” since it’s deep and the sides adequately keep the payload from prematurely escaping the fork. The smaller fork Mikki uses doesn’t work as well as a sifter because the payload keeps falling off the sides. At least it does for me. Mikki has it down, though and much prefers it over the larger stall fork.

Here’s what they look like. Even though the larger one looks like it’s carrying less horse manure, remember it’s deeper. You just can’t see the depth in the photo.

  • Manure fork - large
  • Manure fork - small

On the left is the smaller fork, with the larger Woody Pet fork on the right. While shooting these pictures, I lost some of the horse manure from the fork on the left.

Incidentally, we’ve been using both stall forks for at least 6 months without any of the tines breaking. They’ve fallen down in the barn and used as rakes and shovels (not recommended) and have proven to be durable, despite being plastic. The bolt holding the fork onto the aluminum handle of the smaller one needed tightening once.