Moving Again

Future horse posts will be here: http://ineedanap.net/horsing-around/

One more week?

Jeff moved my fence line one last time so we can try and squeak out a few more days of having the horses in our yard. I'm still aggressively treating Axel's eye and it's a lot easier to get out there every couple hours when they are right out the door versus across the street. Not to mention I'm not looking forward the mud in the "dry" lot.

The weather has been pretty nice on the weekends so far. Last weekend the boys rode Cody for a while in the yard. At least until they started fighting over both wanting to ride but not together. I wish Axel wasn't so sore and someone could ride him too. I'd just be afraid he'd trip and fall. Also I don't have 4 hands to lead everyone around at once. Though Daniel thinks he can handle it himself.

We're working on week 4 of the eye meds. I can't tell if his eye is getting better or not. It almost looks like the ulcer is getting more shallow? I have no idea if that's how they heal or not. The circle doesn't seem to be getting smaller in diameter though. And it's hard to get him to open it far enough to take a photo. Every time I go near him he slams it shut. Go figure.

So in my short time taking care of my own horses my list of things I need is getting longer and longer and more expensive. Obvious things like a skid loader to feed hay, and a 4 wheeler and harrow to drag the pasture, a shelter, and automatic waterer are all sort of spendy items. Some smaller details: some of those cement dishes cuz the horses can't seem to not knock over their buckets when they are eating which gets grain all over and then they eat the grass down to dirt trying to eat up all the spilled grain, so that makes me think I also need a solid rubber mat under where they eat. In addition to the grid like tiles for protecting the paddock for mud etc.

There are still horses in my yard

After two full weeks of the eye meds Axel's eye went from getting better to getting worse. So we're back on bute for the pain so I can actually get the drops in and another two weeks of both drops. The vet said if he was in the hospital they'd put the antibiotics in once an hour so as often as I can get out there and put them in is best. At least with more attempts I'm bound to get more meds in, right? Also we switched from whatever the original antibiotic was to Cipro. So maybe a shake up there will help.

It's hard to tell since I see him every day (multiple times) but I think he's gaining weigh. Pretty sure he's butt cheeks are touching again. Still needs some topline work but if I ever get to Marshall to pick up that ration balancer that is supposed to help. (originally I ordered what I thought was right but it turned out to b some mineral instead, no harm done just not the right stuff)

I am looking forward (and I'm sure Axel is to) his eye being healed up so I only have to feed them and groom them and all that instead of making enemies. Though they might miss all the extra treats (bribes).

I also picked up some Back on Track knee boots to try out on the old man. Supposed to help keep the blood flowing and reduce swelling and increase mobility in his joints. I might have to get some quick wraps as well to help hold them up, depends on how much SMBs are if I find those instead.

They're here! (sort of)

So after Cody and Axel ate down most of the little pasture they were in Axel started dropping weight and his knee got really bad. The people watching them brought them up to their yard but the horses weren't getting along with their cows so it was a short stay there before they came back to me. I had planned on working something out with a neighbor (still do plan on it for winter) who has a couple equines but Jeff though we could put up a fence in our yard. Jeff's dad said just put them in the dry lot at his place. So right now they are on the dry lot and then I walk them over here every day where they can graze in the yard in a temporary fence area. So most of the time I get to look out the window while I'm working and see horses in my own yard. I can't wait til we have a permanent fence and a water source and I can keep them here full time.

I had the vet out to see Axel as he poked his eye. So now I'm putting eye meds in his eyes as often as possible (which is not easy on a 1000lb animal). She recommended some feed and supplements to help the weight but she didn't think he was as bad off as he could have been and thinks a winter will be okay as long as I grain him and get him a warm blanket. He's on a joint supplement so we can see what, if anything, that will do for his knee. Then I suppose before winter we'll see where he's at.

Cody is apparently jealous of the attention Axel is getting so he decided his laminitis (or whatever it is) is flaring up so he's back in hoof boots and on some bute for a few days to try and get him more comfortable. It's apparently too much to ask to have at least one healthy horse at a time. Sheesh.

So my schedule these days now that we are moved and what not. Drop of children at day care and school, feed horses, work and breakfast, walk horses from dry lot to grass on a break, work and lunch, put in Axel's eye meds and bute everyone on another break, work more, pick up Daniel, feed horses again, work more, walk horses back to dry lot, pick up Edward. Whew.

An inch closer (though further away)

I've been doing a horrible job updating but I'm going to blame that on the fact that I rarely get to see Cody and Axel.  So last we left it was in the fall of 2014.  When the pasture grass started getting thin we moved Cody and Axel to a family friend's place in exchange for hay for the winter.  He has several horses so the boys got to pal around with a real herd for quite a while actually.  I tried to ride a couple times but in usual Cody fashion, he didn't want to go anywhere and Axel's arthritis is getting so bad he was a trip hazard.  We brought the horses back into town for a long weekend to work on some volunteer wheat again and give some rides in the yard.  At one point the property that they were staying at changed hands so the horses all moved to another paddock/pasture out 4 miles from the farm for the winter/spring/part of this summer.  And now finally they boys are staying at a friend's place for a couple months.  I'm really trying to get them moved as close as possible to me so when we move out there I can handle the care of them. Axel is getting thin and I really want to get him some grain on a regular basis and see if he'll fatten up.  And I'd like to blanket him this winter if he's going to stay on the thin side but I'd need to be able to check on him regularly if I do that.  Plans are still rolling around in my head on how to accomplish that.

So until then, they are a tiny step closer even though they are a few miles further away from us right now.

Cowboy Mounted Shooting Blog

I decided to start a new blog just about Cowboy Mounted Shooting - you can follow that over here - www.cowboymountedshooting.horse

On the right track

So far we've putzed around a bit with the mounted shooting business.  Took a private lesson a couple years ago and exposed Booker to gunfire during that lesson.  Then we worked with him on general desensitization with random things, then we worked with cap guns (mounted and unmounted), then .22 blanks (mounted and unmounted), then .380 (unmounted).  Then I got pregnant, it was winter, and we got lazy.
Fast forward to this past weekend and we're signed up for a mounted shooting clinic with Chad Little (World champion mounted shooter FYI).  We packed up the horse and way more supplies than we'd ever need in N's new trailer and went to our first clinic.  We made it in one piece despite the mud and rain.

It was a 4 hour clinic in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon so N rode first and I went second.  The first group was an older crowd with less experience so they spent a lot of time just firing the pistols until the horses started getting used to it.  Then they started working on patterns.  Booker did really well.  He had been exposed to gunfire before so he'd jump a bit but didn't freak out or anything.  There were a couple horses that were not too happy about the situation and they didn't help keep him calm but he did really well anyway.

After lunch I jumped on and warmed Booker up again and myself of course.  The group I rode with was a younger crowd that had shot and/or gamed before so they were all pretty comfortable but had to borrow guns.  So I got quite a few rounds in since I had my own guns.  We did have to borrow a holster since mine aren't made yet.  Booker was still doing really well, not even flinching when people shot.  But he did start getting a little sticky and not wanting to move.  So then I had to manage him and the gun at the same time.  But can't really blame him, it was his first time doing much of anything this winter and we were asking him to work for up to 8 hours.  We got some great tips from Chad and he thought Booker was going to be really good at this sport.  My shots were pretty decent when I didn't have to micromanage the horse.  But we did discover the action on my revolvers is really really stiff.  So that's on the list to get worked on.

I think our biggest thing to work on is riding patterns and just getting smoother and handling the horse with one hand.  Everything else seems like it'll come easily enough.  More time in the saddle is #1.  Holy cats does my butt hurt.  Oh and I stuck to my "guns" and wore my helmet despite having picked up a western hat the day before at a tack sale.  I'll stick to the helmet until we're at a competition and have to wear a western hat (though I think helmets are okay too).  It had been forever since I'd ridden so it didn't seem like the time to ditch the helmet.  In any case he rode really well and the time off seems to have taken away some of my fears so that was good.