The Winter of Our Discontent

I know my title is not particularly original, but it's such a perfect fit I had to use it anyway. What are we discontented about you ask. Or, maybe you should not have asked....

By far, the most important problem this winter was Ami. She somehow bruised her feet worse than she ever has which apparently led to her first case of active laminitis since her original episode in 1996. Talk about scary! Given that she's always had thin soles and rotation from that first episode, more rotation was the last thing she needed.

We immediately put in an emergency call to Dr. Conley's new clinic with Dr. Koontz, and it was Dr. Koontz who came out. This was the first meeting for all of us including Dr. K and Ami. She was well behaved for him, and he immediately diagnosed the active laminitis. The first thing he did was tape some large Styrofoam-like pads to both front feet, and she immediately went sound in her deeply bedded stall with a stall mat underneath. Dr. K was very happy with our set-up and recommended keeping her in the stall for a couple of weeks, and of course, try to get some weight off.

HELP! I'm being held captive here!

Dr. Koontz coming back next week to do spring shots and check her out. Looks like all is going to be well, thank goodness!

Another problem with this winter is that it doesn't want to go away. We sprang forward just like we are supposed to .....

Spring Forward! THIS otta do it!

but it didn't seem to help. Temps have stubbornly remained in the 40s and 50s, and even when it's relatively mild, the wind is howling at 25 mph and/or it's pouring rain. I haven't even had a chance to see what riding is going to be like with my new hip and my legs being the same length for the first time in my life. Should be interesting and I'm getting frustrated with this rotten weather.

The most depressing thing during this winter though was learning more than I ever wanted to know about the workings of our government and how utterly corrupt it is. Special interests rule, and it's delusional to believe otherwise. Even small things - relatively speaking - like getting horse slaughter outlawed in the US for good and all and preserving the small remnant that remains of our once magnificent herds of wild horses on public lands in the west - are totally under the control of the special interests and the will of the American people is irrelevant. 

I would have considered the things I have learned this winter inconceivable if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes in pictures and videos of those in the front lines. And I'm not talking about the Obama administration either. This has been going on for probably as long as the Department of the Interior/BLM has been in existence no matter which party was in the White House.

Ever since the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971, the BLM have been loading the dice in favor of the ranchers in the Public Lands Grazing Program until by now there are few acres left for the horses despite the Congressional mandate and even fewer horses grazing on them. The BLM rounds the horses up - at public expense - and warehouses them - at public expense while the ranchers lease their land for almost nothing.

Now something even worse is happening. The horses are literally being purged from their legal lands, but not for the ranchers this time, although those good ole boys haven't figured that our yet. No, this time the DOI is planning to allow extractive interests, many of which are foreign owned, to have pretty much everything they want. More open pit mines, shale oil extraction - known as fracking - tar sands extraction - all of which require millions upon millions of gallons of water which cannot be replaced because it is contaminated during the processing. Ain't that a hoot for states like Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, etc. that have no water now?

Meanwhile, the idiots ranchers are pushing for Nevada legislators to pass a law that screws with the definition of "wildlife," and will deny the wild horses the right to drink the water. No, that's not a typo. They want to cut Nevada's wild horses off from access to water. Well, when the water guzzling fracking and tar sands developing are finished with Nevada's aquifers there won't be any water for their cattle - or them either.

As for the pro-slaughter activists who block every effort to get a national ban on horse slaughter for human consumption, I'm even more contemptuous of them.

The big horse organizations like the Quarter Horse Assn., the Jockey Club and others want slaughter back so they can breed and breed and breed, looking for that "special one" while the culls - hundreds of them every year - are dumped off to be slaughtered. Nice, huh? Also, that horse that doesn't run quite fast enough, doesn't spin fast enough or doesn't have enough "cow" doesn't have a happy retirement, he goes to slaughter. Use 'em up and dump 'em off, that's their motto. Who cares how much they suffer or how many dangerous chemicals are in their meat. Not my problem.

Big Animal Ag seems to think that slaughtering traditional food animals might be threatened by banning the slaughter on a non food animal like horses. It's insanity, I know, but they actually seem to believe the "Vast Vegan Conspiracy" - which exists only in their imaginations - is using banning horse slaughter as a "slippery slope" to ban all animal precessing. I can't believe they think this could really happen, but why take chances, right? The only problems horse slaughter causes is intense suffering for horses and, given that American horses are not raised as food animals and are regularly exposed to substances that are banned from the human food chain, meat adulterated with dangerous chemicals is regularly being exported to unsuspecting consumers abroad. But, this bothers the Big Animal Ag fellas not one whit. After all, if there is the slightest minute microscopic chance that they might be affected, well, who the hell cares about anything else?

Lord, Lord! Excuse me while I go out and watch Indy and Ami having a good time, frolicking without a care in the world. And I plan to keep it that way.

 

Last one to the barn is a rotten apple!

Related articles

• For High Crimes & Misdemeanors (goldendays-suzanne.blogspot.com)
• Radical Horse Slaughter Group Pushes for Horse Cruelty in Nevada (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
• EWA Prez Wins One for the Horses in Slaughter Debate (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
• "Welfare" Ranching is the Great BLM Lie (ppjg.wordpress.com)
• Open Letter to BLM (Deb Coffey) (artandhorseslauraleigh.wordpress.com)

Falling Back

If there is one day in the year that I can single out to be consistently depressing, it's the Sunday we go off daylight savings time. On Saturday it's sunny at 6:00 in the evening; on Sunday it's too dark to see at 6:00 in the evening. To me, it's awful.

This year, that Sunday was a nice day - the first in a while - and Indy and I did get in a ride. But, geez, it got so dark so quickly that we had to cut it pretty short. What a bummer. Indy seemed as disappointed as I was. We haven't had a chance to ride since then either, and it's very possible we won't get to ride again until spring. How dismal is that?

We haven't had any bitter cold - yet - but it's been cold and/or windy/rainy/snowy just about every day. The ground is squishy and torn up, so when it does freeze it will be hard as a rock with as many craters as the Moon. Just like last year. Oh, goody.

Of course there's never a dull moment with Indy around, under saddle or otherwise. For instance...

As Mike and I were going to the barn one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, I noticed Indy munching the grass along the fence line. He certainly was enjoying himself with those big mouthfuls of green grass. Wait a minute! There's no grass like that along the fence in the paddock! Right. Indy was eating the grass on the outside of the fence, stretching his neck over the top of the fence as pretty as you please. This fence has a hot wire across the top, but we had shut it off while we were replacing part of it and hadn't turned it back on yet. It had been off for weeks, but Mr. Smarty Pants had finally figured that out and was munching while the munching was good.

So, of course Mike and I had to drop everything and get the fences hooked up again before Mr. Troublemaker pushed to old part completely down. Indy looked SO disappointed when he realized the top wire was hot again. Sigh. Sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do.

Another problem we've had this season is all that clover that was in the field last summer - which is now in our hay of course. We had to take them off our hay because Ami was having serious problems with her laminitis flaring up, and both of them were gaining weight so rapidly that they seemed to get bigger by the day. Great.

It's hard to find good grass hay around here. We have a round bale that Joe took of our back field that's good grass, but it's not gonna get us through the winter even if the guys are on a diet. We are still using a bit of our "candy" hay - for desert? - but not much. Ami is doing fine now, and Matt was just here and said her feet look good again, so we have to be careful with the clover to make sure they stay thay way.

Then there was Indy's foot - left fore to be exact. I'd noticed a small crack in the front part of the quarters and what appeared to be a flare developing between that point and he heel. When Matt picked up the foot, he said, "There's your flare," as we looked on in amazement - it wasn't the hoof wall that was flaring - it was the entire quarters flaring sideways from a big crack in the sole of Indy's foot! None of us had ever seen anything like it. Matt said he must have hit something really hard - really hard. His sole was fractured and only his bars and buttress were holding the side of his foot on. Matt said, "If his bars and buttress weren't so awesome, he would've lost the whole side of his foot." All that and I don't think Indy even knew anything happened. He's not taken a lame step - whenever it happened or now.

Matt trimmed of the "flare" as much as possible, and the foot looks great. And we just let it grow off. I just wish I knew that in the world he could have hit to hard as to do that to his foot. At least it's not bothering him.....

Here it is almost December, and the guys are still confined to the paddock. We are still having cold nights, but warm(er) and sunny days - today for instance is sunny and expected to hit 48 after a low of 19 overnight. So, all that green grass out there is madly making fructose while the sun shines. Ami would come up sore after one hour on that stuff. Sooner or later they always get out there, but his year may be later than sooner.

One more piece of news - I was reading one of my many horse magazines, and in the grooming section they suggested using a doggie slicker brush on thick winter coats - carefully of course. It sounded like a reasonable idea, so I tried it. Indy loves it, naturally; Ami hates it, naturally. Too bad she doesn't like it because it's lots easier on me than a curry, and it really gets through that thick hair. At least I can use it on him, and he's the one that wants to be groomed endlessly anyway. LOL!

It turned out to be pretty decent today despite the morning low of 19 degrees. Tomorrow night however, we're supposed to start getting snow lasting through Monday. We are under a winter storm watch from Sunday afternoon until Monday evening. Indy - the world's foremost Snow Man - says, "It's about time!"

As long as he's happy.....

Artist Selected to Create Barbaro Memorial Statue

Nearly two years after Barbaro took the Kentucky Derby, and a year and a half following his death, the colt's memory continued to prevail as dozens of fans and media gathered for a special announcement regarding a memorial statue of him at Churchill Downs.

Surrounded by images of their deceased colt projected on the walls of the Kentucky Derby Museum, Roy and Gretchen Jackson May 1 announced they have selected equine sculptor Alexa King to create a permanent memorial honoring the 2006 Derby victor.

King will sculpt a statue of Barbaro, which will become the focal point of his official burial site in front of Gate 1 at Churchill Downs. A one-third-scale model clay replica of the statue was unveiled at the museum, which features Barbaro and jockey Edgar Prado in mid-flight between strides nearing the finish line in the 2006 Run for the Roses.

Read more

The Stray

A stray wandered onto our property in the wee hours of Saturday morning. But who hasn't had a stray dog or cat wander onto their yard once in a while? This stray however was a horse - a very small horse.

When we examined him in the daylight, I was sure he was young, but not knowing whether he was a horse or pony made it harder to estimate his age, and I don't claim to be an expert in baby teeth. He was bigger than a mini, but not by a lot. He was a very pretty bay with four white stockings, and he was very friendly. I was worried we might have trouble catching him, but he came right up to us, obviously glad to see us.

At first, we just put him into the field, since Indy and Ami were in the paddocks. They all seemed quite chummy, but I still didn't want to turn a totally strange horse into the paddocks with them - for all kinds of reasons. He ran around a bit at first, but very soon came back close to his new found buds, and they all grazed along together with only a few pesky strands of ElectroBraid separating them.

Later however, I got worried about the amount of grass he was getting. He was already quite chubby, and I know all too well what too much grass can do to certain horses. By now, I had decided he must be some kind of pony, and they are notorious for foundering on grass.

We put Indy and Ami in the large paddock, and brought the little guy into the small one and gave him some hay.





My hubbie, Mike, was trying to put hay in the feeder, but the little guy just couldn't wait. As you can see the little fellow - he's a gelding - was so cute!

We had called the sheriff's department and all our horsy friends, hoping they would know something. No one had reported a missing horse, and none of our friends knew anything off hand, but they all said they would try to find out something. That's one of the many things I love about being a member of the "horse community." Everyone sticks together like glue, and we will do just about anything to help one another and our horses.

Naturally, it was a weekend, and we were afraid the Kid's owner might be out of town or something. We thought surely he hadn't wandered far from home, but it's very rural out here, and he could have wandered accross the fields without being seen from the roads.

I figured he was probably an "only" horse, because horses with pasture buddies almost never wander away from them. He seemed to have formed a bond with Indy and Ami, and he appeared to be perfectly happy just staying here. Unfortunately.

Don't get me wrong - I would have loved to keep the little cutie. But he belonged so someone else, someone who might be as frantic as I would be if it were Indy or Ami that were missing. Besides that, we don't have good shelter for more than two horses, and, global warming or no global warming, it gets cold and nasty here in the winter. Not to mention hot and buggy in the summer. And, last but far from least, I would not able to care for three horses the way I feel they should be cared for - the grooming, the personal attention, and for this baby, the training. Heck, I'm still training Indy under saddle, and that's about all I can manage these days.

Speaking of Indy and Ami... I was so proud of the way they handled this situation! They both befriended the Kid and neither one ever showed a trace of aggression or jealousy. They were a bit excited of course, but not nuts, and even that settled down quickly after the Kid moved into the small paddock.



Indy is only 15.0 hands, but next to this kid he looks like a giant.



Ami is only 13.2 hands, but even she looks big beside the baby.

On Sunday afternoon, Mike decided to take a drive around the "block" - out here that's about an eight mile trip - to see if there were any "lost horse" signs up. I'll bet he hadn't been gone five minutes when the phone rang. It was a guy who asked me if I were "Suzy." When I said I was, he mentioned the name of a mutual friend of ours who thought we might have his pony. He said, "Does he have four white stockings?" and I said, "He sure does!"

He and his brother were there in minutes with a trailer - in fact, they beat Mike back by a few minutes. They had been out of town, and had returned to find the pony missing. They were certainly glad to see him alive and well!

So, that's the saga of our little weekend guest. Since he doesn't live far away, I will probably have the opportunity to see him again. I hope so anyway. As for Indy and Ami, things quickly returned to normal - as you can see.



Oh yeah, Baby is three years old.

More On Horse Slaughter

Rescue operation buys 32 horses from Cavel - International horse news; equestrian event news, equine news - Horsetalk

Rescue operation buys 32 horses from Cavel

June 11, 2007

A horse rescue operation in Colorado successfully negotiated the
purchase of 32 horses left at Cavel International's slaughter plant
when Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich signed legislation to
immediately ban horse slaughter in the state late last month.

Horses remaining at the plant when it closed were slated for shipment to either Canada or Mexico for slaughter.

The horses were bought by Front Range Equine Rescue, a 501(c)3 non-profit horse rescue.

Two of the rescued horses were humanely euthanized as their
pre-existing conditions left both horses in extreme pain and were
untreatable. One mare was severely crippled with arthritis and barely
able to walk; another gelding had laminitis so progressed the coffin
bone was rotating through the hoof. Assessments are being made on each
of the remaining horses. Unfortunately it is believed that at least two
more horses will require humane euthanasia as well.

The rescued horses were moved last week to four locations where they
will be quarantined for about three weeks. The horses will be monitored
for contagious illnesses such as strangles or upper respiratory
infections which can happen due to the stress and exposure to unhealthy
conditions during their ordeal

Unfortunately, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that allows Cavel International in Illinois to resume slaughter operations, despite Governor Blagojevich signing the bill outlawing it last week.

The order blocks the new state law while a lawsuit that Cavel filed against Illinois is considered. The next hearing in the case is June 14, when the restraining order could either be canceled or extended.

According to the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, that organization will be filing documents in conjunction with the Animal Welfare Institute opposing Cavel's attempt to abuse the court system. Patton Boggs is the law firm working on the case

Safer Grass

This is Indy's pasture mate, Ami. She is a Quarter Horse/pony mix mare that I have had since 1992 when she was a yearling - see picture below. What a cutie!



Originally, she was DJ's pasture mate after we moved him from Dallas to here in Indiana. They were great buddies, and she grieved for him almost as much as I did when we lost him in 2002 at the age of 25.

Fortunately, she and Indy hit it off from the very beginning - 2002 - and she's doing great at the age of 14.



She's had more than her share of problems though. In the summer of '95 she developed laminitis, appearantly from grass. And that's the point of this post. We almost lost Ami, and even though she recovered, she suffered horrifying pain, and has had intermittent problems with bruised soles and abscesses ever since. We must be extremely careful in the spring, summer and fall to be sure Ami doesn't get much grass. One bite too much, and she will come up sore - again. Laminitis is nothing to fool with. It is still the number two killer of horses - after colic - and the number one crippler.



Ami is hardly the only horse that cannot tolerate unlimited grass. In fact, it seems to be the norm rather than the exception these days. It is especially common among ponies and the easy keeping breeds such as Morgans - which means I have to keep a close eye on Indy too.

But, but... aren't horses supposed to eat grass? Isn't that the food they evolved on and have been eating for millennia? Yes and no.

The natural food of the horse is grass - just not "modern" grass. The grass species that we have available these days were developed specifically to fatten beef cattle and to allow dairy cattle to produce more milk. They are very high in sugar and starch. While cattle can tolerate this forage much better than horses, there is still much doubt about how healthful it would be for them long term. Since most cattle, even dairy, have a productive lifespan of about five or six years, they can't be compared with horses which are expected to perform for thirty years or more.

The specific culprits in the grasses seem to be a class of sugars called "fructans," and the manner in which they ferment in the horse's gut. The research on all this is very new, and there is a great deal yet to be learned about why today's horses can't safely eat their natural food. Even forage specialists and equine nutritionists don't fully understand the problem. Some in fact don't even realize there is a problem.

If you own a chubby, easy keeper like Ami, or any pony, Morgan or other "easy keeper" breed, I urge you to click on the link in this title and visit Katy Watts' site safergrass.org. She is an agronomist who owns horses that founder on grass. Her research is ground breaking and offers critical information for those of us who want to best for our pudgy equine pals.

That link will also be permanently displayed in my Other Links of Interest area. Please check it out. The horse you save might be your own.