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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Dec... 2012 Per the Old Farmers Almanac

Remember this is for my area only... Asheville/ Appalachian Region

Expected...
Ded 35.5 degrees (0.5 below average)
precip 3" (1"below average north BUT 1"above SOUTH)
1-7 Showers, then suny mild
8-9 Flurries seasonable
10-14 Rain then sunny, warm
15-20 Rain then flurries cold
21-23 Snowstorm, then sunny cold
24-31Snow Showers, very cold


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

I've done all I can to get the word out, that Navarre is up for share.  I've posted on Facebook, I've posted it on this blog, I've even joined some share pages in order to get the word out a little more.  Today I had a conversation with some who hope to share the word for me again.  BUT if all fails I'll end up posting him on Craigs List by May... I surely hope not as I want to meet the person I share him with, I want to know what they expect of him, what I can expect from them and how they are going to help Navarre to be active.

This is not about me at this point, it is about keeping Navarre active and giving him the time he needs for activaties... ?

Lets see...
I'm paying the bills,
I'm paying for the feed, vet, farrier, and even his teeth... but I just need someone to ride him, give him love help to feed them 2 or 3 nights a weeks etc...

I DO expect them to understand and keep him off ANY grass, I DO EXPECT that they understand that he can NOT have any treats that are sugar, that contain sugar, or would convert to sugar... NO SUGAR...

no grass,
no apples, carrotts, treat etc...

life sounds hard for him but he has a better life with me than most... EXCEPT he needs to be ridden.

I can't ride, as I have hurt my back, I can't ride as I have to work too much, I can't ride as I have no time left working 60 hours a week.

I need someone to Love on and Ride WR Prince Navarre!
Please share if you know ANYONE that would have a good seat, and gentle hands...

828 707 7607.... call me! ASAP!!!!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

So thankful today... I have started driving my own car again.
Yes I know sounds petty... but my car is small, saves gas, and is not perfect like those of my sweet husband.  In his vehicles I have to watch my boots, my clothes, and even the smells I leave behind.  I hate worrying about such things... Life is too short!

My car I do not care... I do but I don't. 
I'd rather be in a car that smells like leather or a horse, none of that worries me.

My car is a mess,
My car smells like a horse.
Grant, you don't want to be wearing nice expensive clothes in it! BUT ... that is not my lifestyle anyway, SO...

My day was spectacular!
I got all of my side dishes made for lunch tomorrow.
I got the birds settled
The horses done;  AND got to share a tiny lesson with someone else's child.  She desperately wants to ride Navarre BUT she was allowing him to push her around on the ground, thus I can not allow her to ride him till she can control him on the ground.

While I can't do much around the barn, Her father was great help as I directed from a distance and they communicated and she got a better hand on how to control the horses on the ground with out having a hand on them.

I did however backup with Navarre and literally make her take control of him at a simple walk.

Life ... was good watching a bulb go off in someone else.
Life is good when it is shared and life made easier for someone else or another animal down the road.

I will however be VERY worried about Navarre until I see him tomorrow morning... I am sure he will be sore from having being worked so hard today.  We shall see!


Saturday, November 17, 2012

You know I do EVERYTHING I can for my horses...
I've said it before but I am now posting on this site...

I WANT TO SHARE MY VANNER with someone! Yes! I said it publicly...

Here is the deal. 
He stays at my place!
I pay for his feed, suppliments.
I pay for his standard shoes, standard vet checkups ...


This is what I want...
I want someone to love on him...
I want someone to start to walk him.. do some ground work with him... and yes eventually ride him.
I want to share him with someone because this would be great for someone who can't afford a horse AND it would be good for Navarre!

I can't let someone just get on... and ride... he is not in good enough shape to just jump on...

But he is a beautiful horse, diserves more attention, and needs to be ridden.

I'm serious...
YES there are more details... but we can discuss them... nothing that big... but I want help, I want to share and he is such a good little boy!

So ANYONE interested... give me a call.
828 707 7607
Amber Goins...


Friday, November 16, 2012

Life...
Missing the barn...
Missing the smells...
The way it feels just being there...
But I brought some of it home with me yesterday.

Strings from the barn! Hay bail strings... I have no real idea what I am going to do with them but... I have some ideas from searching over the Internet none of which are what I am doing but they are all inspiring in their own way...

First... weeks if not months ago... I found this on Pinterest.



Now really How neat is that?
A privacy fence?
A Wall of art?
No matter how you look at it is is something different!

I could so something like that!
LOVE the idea...

Then I came across.>>>
how beautiful is this?

I know... I can't knit!
I have no idea what I am doing ... but I can braid ... so as I try to sit more upright for extended periods of time  I'll give some bailing twine a try!

Any ideas?
Anything I should try to do?
Come on people... here is your chance to push me around... What should I do?

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Really funny how badly I miss the barn.  It is not just the horses but the smells the sounds and the noise free environment.

I live on a FIVE lane highway!
Yep in a 1930's stone cottage with very little room where my dear husband runs an international business (for the time being) Actually for the last 9 years!   But with this economy he may not be around much longer?   Only time will tell.

I took the feed to the barn
Dumped it out into each of their bowls
Took my 30 minutes making a hundred trips up and down the field so to spread out the hay and keep them from pooping near my barn.

I have to get a farm worker to help me clean out the water container now that my back is so bad.  I can lean over and scrub it IF I lean on the side the entire time using my hips instead of my back... But I can't just stand over it and use my arms.

So in order to make my life easier.
I have been bringing SMALL amount of feed home
Sweet Pea has to have extra calories than Navarre or she will LOOSE lots of weight in the winter. ...
So Dried Pressed Alfalfa for her... Not heavy when dry but a pain when wet! So an hour before I go to the barn I boil a pot of water... Take the Alfalfa to the car... and then the water... Pour the water into the bucket in the truck  and that is ONE bucket to the barn... it sits gets mushy... and is the first trip INTO the barn yard once I make it there!

Next is Navarre's feed.. it is such a high fat content it too takes boiling water to make it work, but it only takes about 30 minutes to get mushy... and he will not eat it if it is too hot!  So...
a second bucket, but this time with only ounces of feed I can carry it and the feed to the truck at the same time.

Then I get all the supplements together... pour them in a plastic sandwich bag... I have the oil at the barn...

Daily supplements..
Feed through fly control for both... While I've been sickly... (only one week of missing the barn) I noticed the flies were coming back!  Yep only a week of no fly control and it is noticeable... SO as I have always done, I am making sure they have this YEAR ROUND!   I was one of few barns this year with little to no fly issues!  LOVE it!

They both get oil... Rice Bran during the day... and Corn oil at night...
     Why two different types... Well... Rice Bran is about $30.00 a gallon and Corn oil is about $10.00 so if I can make it spread out and cheaper over time not hurting my kids too much I will.  I have learned too much corn oil with stop the process of Vitamin D so I keep it to a minimal and at night as it burns hotter for them, and less sun at night... ha ha ha...

ONLY for Navarre
Natural Vitamin E.
Smart Pak E with Selenium
Daily electrolyte
Herbal additives ... as he gets NO real feed only rice bran so he needs what he is missing

Sweet Pea gets only one other thing...
A cool calorie! She needs so much more than I can give her... this is what I have.  I would rather only have to use this in the summer but it tends to assist me in keeping her weight on her for winter as well, but gives her NO insulation or heat in the digestion track... so I try not to over use it...




Then that third bag of feed to pour into Sweet Peas alfalfa once I'm at the barn makes life workable...

Then I can only take out a flake or two at a time so that takes a good 30 minutes or longer the issue is not the hay it is making sure I do not loose my footing going up and down the hill at the barn into through the barn mud lot and into the mud pasture lot!   Yes I know... but the slope can easily pull a muscle.  Slip a disk, or hurt the one ruptured...


I hate my meds...
I take acupuncture Thursday ...
and get my Cortisone Shots Friday...
Physical Therapy Tuesday

So hopefully we will be on our way SOON getting back to normal..
But again what is normal? right?


lead into tomorrows post...

I brought home some of the hay strings... WHY... well it kinds goes back to things I saw on line again. Now that I am not outside brushing my kids, cleaning up their environment I am going through my own with a fine tooth comb.  Getting rid of trash, papers, and things I've never used...

I have piles of magazine pages I am now ready to let go.
I have piles of folders I am ready to give away.

I am eager to clean my things out use what i can... and do what I can with what I have...

So... All those strings in the barn... What can I do with them?







Wednesday, November 14, 2012




Life is complicated...

There is nothing that is ever easy all the time, So just to show you how complicated my life THOUGHTS are... you should visit my Pinterest Boards...

There are so many... In fact  My mind separates into 41 boards over... 6000 pins but even with all this organization there are funny clashes in my personality, collection, and showing

my photo,idea collection through Pinterst...



My life is rural
My life is city slick...
My life is simple but that makes it hard.

My life is sudden
My life is planned
My life is prepped
My life is?  LIFE ugly, pretty, messy, clean and unlike ANY OTHER...

My life is me...
I am my life...


I know that my blog changes all the time... it does!
So does life..
As of right now my back injuries prevent me from being at the barn the time I want to... the time I need too... But life goes on and instead of not sharing my life as it is, I understand if some of my horse people fall off here and there!   But I will be back... I'll still be posting Horse things...

Tomorrow is going to be photos and reasons for Navarre's supplements, their morning mush... and getting them their hot meals in cold weather..

Have fun and follow me along the way learning how to care for my horses from a distance, with out the back I once had..




Sunday, November 11, 2012

I have had SEVERAL things come my way while I have been in my dark place with my physical inabilities. 

Navarre has gone down hill sense all my jobs have come first.

Notification that I have to find a new place for all my hay next year.

I have lost out on an electrical walker for him that I desperately needed... and while Don suggested I make payments... I am not spending money I do not have has always been my response and will continue to be for me and the horses.  While I could have afforded it... it would have wiped out my winter emergency fund for extra hay,  oils, or medical supplies for Navarre.  So NO I'm wasn't going to through out what little cush I have for my kids...


TODAY however all the positive has come back to light... I may have... I just may have been sent a small, light, young person;  who like me just wants to be around horses, can't have a horse of her own yet!   but if she gets Navarre back into a riding shape I will have a light weighted riding partner young enough to handle a young horse, but mature enough to give him good direction without getting into his mouth!

I am so excited that my darkness of this cold house, the feeling in the middle of my back,  has been counter balanced by Sweet Pea smelling my breath, nibbling on my nose (lovingly with her upper lip only) helping me walk up the hill, my toes being bare and dirty in the dry lot.  Sitting on a hay bail that my husband took down the hill for me.    A good friend stopping by for a chat that I hope helped us both.  A truly free space, a place I built for positive energy and a place that has paid me more of that energy in the past 24 hours than I can express though the English language to someone who ? may or may not even be in the same season, chapter, much less page of life and its views...

I am in a better place.
I am going to make it through all this new stuff!
I am going to help Navarre even if I can't do it myself. 

Who could pass up being around a horse that most think is beautiful... being able to create a relationship with him, walk him in hand back to a better state, then start on riding work down the road when we can get more together and assess both of our ideas of his requirements...


I can breath again!
my heartbeat is slower
my mind is racing but it's the steroids... can't get around those at this state... not sleeping but I'm breathing again!

I can finally see all the colors in a single blade of grass again.  I'm seeing things my way again instead of this drab, hum drum crayola five pack box... I've got the full set again!!!!!

Friday, November 9, 2012

It is funny how the outlook of my country scares me more than the outcome of my own life.

I have no children to worry about.
I have no reason to worry about other people... except no one can survive alone and be FULL of life, art, character, and be responsible.  "responsible" yep... it is our duty as humans to live a life we see as right and to show others that same path. 

This is a responsibility looked over by those who are selfish, greedy, and hateful.  This is what the typical Anglo of the United States has done to the only TRUE "American" the Native American Indian... a group of people who live in groups, take only what they need, and share all they have, and are so responsible they trusted the invaders of only 200 years ago.

I am a typical American MUTT, and thus a feel a responsibility for the repression of ALL people of this land... Black, Red,or Yellow in crude terms... I know I myself have done nothing to repress anyone, if anything I extend my hand to any equal or less fortunate than myself.  But this makes me no better than anyone as we are all one and we must ALL pull TOGETHER in order to feed, clothes, and shelter our brother and sisters in this time and need.


I know in my heart even if on one leg I can and I will make my life worth while.  I will be able to plant potatoes, beans, carrots, peas, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, pumpkins, squash and what ever else I can in order to make it through the winters of life.

I already have my apple trees of which I will have to protect next spring...
I already have other fruit trees I will have to protect ... along with other types of edibles on the estate lands.  I am a survivor and thus it is my COUNTRY I am scared to the core of my bones about and for. 

How many out there can as in food preservation?
How many out there salt food for preservation?
How many out there dry food for preservation?
How many out there freeze food for preservation? BUT if you do what is your back up when the power no longer works... (Storms, Fires and Floods)

I have to worry about my horses above anything! as they are my highest cost of living... Shoes, Foot Trimmings, HAY, STORAGE and feeds that will not hurt Navarre.  Oil is a big thing for him!   He must have oil instead of sugars.



Thursday, November 8, 2012

I have always been an outsider! 
I have always been looked at as strange, different, or silly.

I started this blog several years ago because I live 5 hours or more from any of my family.  A family I long for, visited everyday (yes EVERYDAY) if I was within an hour drive I would make the time to see my Maternal Grandparents whom have tied me to the earth, defined right and wrong, shown me the way to treat other people, and created the mortar to the strong brick foundation of laid by my parents.


My parents had little to nothing during the trying times of the 70s and life was not as easy as some of my friends because while both of my parents worked no one was at home keeping us tied to the earth like my grandparents.  It was only my Maternal Grandparents that taught me the feel of the air, the look of the sky, and the actions of animals around their house.


Grant you... when I grew up it was almost a different generation than that of which I am, but it was a solid American thought process and because of that I am now willing to tell the world I am TERRIFIED!

As I made my life harder than it needed to be getting married to a man who said one thing and ment another... not watching him like I would anyother animal but trusting him like a man? MISTAKE... But I learned yet another lesson and have not made that mistake sense.

I once again fell in love and through love with yet another man who supported me in anything I wanted, needed, or simply wanted to experience in life.  My horses being one of those things...
Together we have traveled more of the world than those I grew up with but less than world travelers I come across in my daily activities now.  We have not traveled in some time now due to the economy.

I am not saying this is the end of my world as I know it... although I am sure our business will not make another 4 years of this administration (of now I owe respect too... based on the majority vote of last night) I do respect the office! so I will back our president, but I am putting this is writing that the majority will be sorry after they see the total of his four more years that it will take us generations and generations to get out of.  It is no different how so many are underwater with their homes... we are now underwater as a country!   If you voted for this you are a part of the problem in 4 more years and I don't want to hear your winning THEN when you had the chance YESTERDAY to stop the situtuation! (I've said my piece)


I am all for public assistance.
I am all for EQUAL rights for each and EVERY human.

I am just NOT for generations and generations of public assistance! I am for regulating the use of public assistance so those of the next generation have it, those who need it, those like friends that I have, know, and have and will continue to do what ever I can, share what ever I have (although it is smaller by the day) 

xmpl.... I have people while not everyday close talking friends... I have a connection to them that I would gladly do what ever I can to help them.  THEY DESERVE ASSISTANCE.  They whom deserve assistance are those whom have done all they can and have no control over GOD GIVEN CHALLENGES that others only pray not to have.  I say it ugly; but I say it honestly!   Those whom are given life long challenges from God that are not seen in the public eye as "normal" should have every assistance they can get.  They lived life correctly and continue to but need help that others have only ideas of what one of their days endures. 

I also have friends that have assistance who can't keep a job due to health issues not easily seen by the public eye.  They have tried, they still try to get and keep jobs to this day, but life rears its ugly head and when it does it is VERY obvious to those who see them.  But I see she is making sure her child does NOT live on this assistance... she makes a point to show him how much more he can have by taking care of himself and doing more than she can.  I have to say at this point he is good about helping her out as no one can live well on what assistance she gets... but unlike so many I see she has nothing, but has used all her government assistance to further her son and his outlook on life.

Yes I am being ugly!
Yes I am putting it in black and white...
Yes I am being as honest as a human can be... but here comes the REST...

If you owe anything on your home, house, business, or even a car... just know that in the history of man you are at risk of loosing all you have to a very controlling country.  China basically picks up all our tabs, our banks could call in the note ANY DAY they want to based on the request of the controlling country!

Please know that we as people need to be more self reliant!
What does this mean?

Well for me it means EVERYTHING!
I have horses but I no longer have the time to ride them.
I have horses but I have to find the money to be able to feed them.
I have property but now I have to find a way to have it pay me for every minute I put into it!

What am I going to do?
Well for starters I think I'll get a few chickens... who knows when... as I am a penny pincher ...
It also means I will be hording my water, my dry goods, and anything that can make my life easier in the long run when I do not have a paycheck coming in.  Of which quite frankly I expect to be any day now!

I think I am going to call a bee keeper and see if they would like to put a hive on my estate!

It appears Navarre is doing well with out all his supplements EVERYDAY!
So I am going to discuss with my vet allowing me to give him 1/2 his dosage each day ... allowing me to cut back on some of my expenses with him.

I am also trying to find someone that will ride him daily...
A short ride for starters... but getting longer and longer as time goes on... This way I will be able to use him more around the estate when I need to!

Sweet Pea... I am going to have that same person put her out to pasture 10 minutes a day... until we can work her up to being on grass... (cutting down on my hay expenses) all the time.  This will not allow Navarre to have a play mate but we may be able to make up for that with a goat or something else that will pay off in the long run.  This we shall see. 

Point is... I have to start making plans... this is my place to scribble down my plans... laugh at myself the next day... and pat myself on the back months down the road if I got something right... ?

We shall see!
But all I can say is we all need to plant something in our yards to make our bills a little less next year! and a little more each year as we adjust to the physical labor, the good thing is the more you have your hands in the dirt the healthier you are! ... so this may help us all.

oh well for once I am a scared woman...


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I learned so much from my grandparents ... well my Maternal grandparents that is.  My Paternal... while I loved them as family I never had a great connection to their lifestyle. 

My Maternal Grandparents... Nannie and Paw Paw were my connection to life.  I had coffee with them every morning possible as an adult, and while it sounds strange in today's times it has shown to be one of the best assets of my adult hood.  These stories shared, their way of solving problems, way of looking at life no matter how little money they had or how bad things seemed.

My Paw Paw was one that loved and lived by the farmers almanac... thus I am in the process of sharing this information with you as I can.

Appalachian Region!  I live in the very TIP of this region... the very south... BUT with in miles of the highest point of the region.

Did you know the Appalachian Mountains are in fact some of the OLDEST mountains in the world?
Were you aware we customarily experience small earth quakes all the time?   The rarely make national news as they are only reported locally if over 2.5  and nationally if over 3.0  but they happen all the time under a 2.5 ... just one of the silly things we deal with here!   Just one of the minimal issues we have concerning building codes and the movement of earth etc...

So Back to the Farmers Almanac...

Appalachians are expecting a winter colder and drier than normal... the coldest times from December through early January... again in mid February cold will hit...
Snowfall is expected to be below normal, and a HOT memorial Day Weekend.

Summer is expected to be drier and a bit warmer than normal, with the hottest periods mid-to late June.  early to mid July... Late July... and mid August.

September and October are expected to be warmer and drier than normal for the region.

SO lets all keep an eye on how well the almanac hits the spot.

I'll post each months expectations just to see where we are!  I'm just curious ... lets see what it does for us... or NOT?

For MY area only... Asheville NC / Appalachian region....

November
40 degrees (4 below average)
Precipt 2.5   (1 " below average)
1-5 Sunny, cool, then warm
6-14 Rain and snow showers, then sunny, cold
15-22 Rain and snow then sunny, cool.
23-25 SNOW North, rain South
26-29 Rain then sunny, seasonable...
30 Showers, mild.

Thus we shall see how the book rates this year...

HINT... I am writing this on...   11-6 and it has been rainy and snowing today!!!! gotta laugh they hit that one on the head!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Life always has a way of changing in the blink of an eye.  My life while NOT upside down it has been put at a stand still for a small moment in time.

As I had prepared my mushy feed for the kids Saturday morning, I drove to the barn, got out of the car and proceeded to fall in my walk through the woods.  While I have yet to make it back to the ground on the estate... I am sure I cracked my buckets, and my horses have not had any feed only hay for the past few days as.... friends, family, and farm hands have been the only ones to love on my kids. 

I did however make it into the Explorer (with help of my beloved hubby) to see if Navarre was moving around ok or about to tie up considering he is getting none of his required supplements of his diet.  SweetPea is stuck in her rain coat, as (not that it couldn't be done)... but no one else has ever been able to get the blanket back on her in the past.  So... as long as it breathes... as long as it doesn't get into the 60's I think she will be ok.

I have to have a shout out... Actually I was to SCREAM a thank you to David! while I would love to use his REAL name... he is after all a climbing actor in the US... so my Shout Out to Mr. David Topp who has done Hallmark movies, other short movie skits, as well as his manager and mother... Melanie Star.     These two people have come to my house, made my coffee, brushed my horses, fed them, cleaned and filled their water, gotten them hay twice a day and offered to do EVERYTHING I can't do.

I never thought I would be 44 and not able to get on my pants alone.  I am just today able to sit up strait without pain rushing up and down my back and into my leg. 

I worry about my new job.... I worry they will not understand the pain that radiates from my back, hip, and leg.  I do have my ER paperwork, I also have two appointments with specialist this week.  But I am not the type of person that likes to have my kids taken care of by others that I will owe the rest of my days... much less have a job that they think I will do nothing to pull my weight.  My only issue is I can't move my right leg well enough to stand more than 5 minutes, go up stairs much less trying to walk on rocks at this point. 

I will do everything in my power to make this better... as I have already started to call and interview acupuncturist.. healing touch assistance... and researching exercises I can do on my own to ward this from happening again... or keep it at a minimum...

Thursday, November 1, 2012

IF ONLY!!!!

Today is the first day in Four there was no snow at all at the barn!.... I've been delivering HOT meals to the kids for several reasons. 
1. The colder it is outside the more energy it takes for a horse to digest processed feed.  This can make it harder on a horse that has coliced in the past ( my little girl Sweet Pea) and it takes away needed warmth created by using that energy to digest.  (not what I want for Navarre either)

So.  Sweet Pea gets  Alfalfa (dried/pressed cubes that I soak in boiling water for at least an hour) along with her low starch feed which turns to mush easily and quickly.

Navarre gets his high fat Rice Bran feed that only turns to mush if mixed with boiling water for at least thirty minutes or longer. 

Morning and Night they get their hot meals... then I give the extra hay with corn oil poured over it!

Today I had to FIGHT Navarre to keep him away from SweetPea's feed! mushy sloppy mess running down his mustache and he would wipe it on his knees ... like any kid eating and having a good time with their food.  But her feed has more sugars and she needs it! So out came the dressage whip.  NOT to hit him but to keep him down the hill while she ate in peace.

As the wind has yet to die down from Sandy... it whipped his mane and tail above his head as he pranced around mad at me!   His blue eyes glistened as he glared at me; a site rarely seen of Navarre as his forelock is down past his nose (and needs a good 9 to 10 inch cut)!   I'll get past you! I'll get to that CANDY you have given her and not allowed me to have!

Navarre gets vitamins and minerals, LOTS and lots  of vitamin E... a fly feed through, and a salt/electrolyte that makes him drink (he de-hydrates on me all too quickly so we decided not only blocks in the barn but powders in his feed are necessary!

Sweet Pea gets are more... relaxed routine of food... but he was dying to get to that alfalfa!   Not on my watch!

I enjoyed our little tiff this morning, I got hot enough I had to undo my overalls, take off a jacket, my gloves and wish I had on my normal boots instead of barn boots.  But I wasn't expecting Navarre to be so happy, and so loose this morning!   If only he were able to move like that EVERY DAY!  I would have such thoughts of the day I have to put him down (for all the pain he is in)

It is all a good thing!
Life is good!

Sunday, October 28, 2012






Sunday... the only day I have off each week.

No lessons today!
I am about to pull out with the trailer to get a team of horses... brothers... bringing them back home for a bit before they go cross country here pretty soon.

I have my kids with extra oil for the day for heat.
I am leaving them to the weather for the daylight and then will put their rain coats on them for night due to 60mph winds expected, along with rain and snow.  only 1 -2 inches expected but Sweet Pea never has a good winter coat! Navarre has his muscle issues still so he needs to use his energy to keep his muscles loose instead of just staying warm.  A breathable rain coat, not 100% water proof will help them both make it through the night easier.  I will evaluate day light applications as EACH day rolls around and see what they are in for.

IT is DANGEROUS to have some horses in blanket! Please never leave a horse unattended if they are not used to blankets...

Make sure they fit properly... no slack in the neck, belly, or rear section!  You horse could break a leg!   Although my kids wear the same size blanket I have each tailored to them... SweetPea is lanky in the belly and chest, so adjustments have been made...   While Navarre is lanky ONLY in the neck section as his belly is more round and tail end more wide... His chest is much wider than SweetPea's but... his neck is lacking that filled out and slides back on his withers... not good so again adjustments have been made. 

You don't wear things that make you trip, fall, or cause injury!   Don't expect your horses to change their habits just because they have on a blanket! Legs,Feet, shoes, and boots get caught up in blankets.  Your horse can't be responsible for everything!   Do it but do it right!

Make sure that belly strap is not hanging down AT ALL... make sure the leg straps are crossed and at the belly not hanging so they get caught up when laying down etc...

Think it through if you have to do it!

My love to the world... and too all the horses that need help with this east coat weather setting in.
AegF

Tuesday, October 23, 2012





Navarre is doing better as of last night... He and SweetPea were RUNNING around the pasture!   Not a big deal but in the dark I can only see Navarre and not her.  She is your typical red horse, as they ran, kicked, and played it made me very happy to hear all the silence in between foot steeps, as this means Navarre is starting to loosen up a bit.  BUT not being able to see them was a little un-nerving in the dark; hoping Sweet Pea didn't decide to kick the crap out of me by accident. 

They didn't ...

But I now have a flashlight with me as well.  I had just laid down my lantern as it is too big to carry along with a bail of hay to the pasture.  A flashlight can dangle from my wrist allowing me a little more site in these situations.

One can never be too safe!



An off post...
But as I was walking from the car through the woods to the barn in the pitch black of night late feedings are a norm now;  away from any source of light, no houses seen through the trees as of yet.  A perfect view of the stars!  I was thinking to myself... How did I ever get secure enough to do this?  As a child I RANNNNNN to the back pasture to throw out the days scraps next to the garden, which was JUST on the EDGE of the old security light in the back yard. This darkness was enough to put me into panic!   And our only neighbors were family!  Aunt on one side Uncle on other... It wasn't like I was any type of a neighborhood, any type of danger... AT ALL.... But what lurked in the dark was enough to make my heart race faster than my feet back up the hill through the bright light and up the stairs to the back door into the kitchen.  Never failed I was out of breath taking out the scraps.

While each night, I park my car, get out my lantern, walk a longer distance through the woods where fox, field rats, ferrel cats, mountain cats, and bear all lurk in the dark by nature.  I feel more a part of this closed in leaf crunching trail than I ever did that open back yard lit by a security light down to the back pasture of garden area!   As if some strange animal lurked around our house?

Funny how our brains change
Accept our environments and our needs.

I could walk through the high grass pasture to the barn, unlocking one gate but the grass is more alarming to me than the crunch of leaves, the new grass emerging from seed, and the moss on the rocks climbing up to the barn... it is more like the back yard of my child hood.... in my mind the grassy pasture is full of snakes, rats, field mice, and other things that would bite at my ankles; as if they are more dangerous than the larger animals I see driving up the mountain to the estate?  Mind, Brain or Heart... it's funny when you think about it.  


Life... It is how you see it, how you choose to function in it...
It is and has been what you make it!

AegF




Monday, October 22, 2012



Well I got to save face yesterday! While I did go into Wal-Mart I did NOT have to purchase from them.  They did infact have a cheaper price on my needed items, but almost everyone out there will price match if it is posted on the internet of which walmart is! SO Got my computer under 300, got my phone at a matched price, AND got a percentage off accessories due to all my hard work etc... ha ha ha... basic but at this point in life / (with our lovely economy) every penny I spend is accounted for. 

Saved almost 100 dollars doing my homework, making a circle of the stores and recording their prices.  All stores were within a 2 block area of eachother so no wasted gas etc...   We got to eat out together yesterday!   Yea.... for fish tacos!

Navarre was a little better yesterday thanks to the help of a friend, a natural solution, a higher power, and having an open mind. 

While I  truely believe in acupuncture, message therapy, reki, and healing touch and I live in a area FULL of it... no one wants to work on my horse?  So I'm having to do it myself. 

So more learning even after I get my work down pat... we are going to focus on learning more techniques to keep Navarre at a more relaxed (muscular) state. 

I'll explain more later... I want to have my ducks all in a row before I start getting hatefull email about what I am doing or not doing for my baby!

Life... ? We all have different ideas of what it is.
I hope you enjoy yours! if not ... change IT! NOW!



Sunday, October 21, 2012

Well... today is one of those days that while I am off work it is still ALL work!

Wal-mart... as much as I can not stand them.  then Best Buys... HHGreg then Radio Shack before I go to the mall to price out computers, and phones.

I shall come home down load my e app and then ... practice my full presentation ... record it send it to my boss and then do my horse things for the day.

Navarre will NOT be having lessons any more, it will likely be just a walk up the mountain in hand with me.

Sweet Pea on the other hand my get a short bareback ride up the mountain as I work on my core muscles.

Thus the life of a new insurance agent... work work work and no play!

Life still goes on.
Pirates' Lair still needs my daily assistance,
Horses still have to be fed early and late
House still needs to be cleaned
and Dishes still have to be cleaned and put away.

I only cook twice a week now ... so the dear husband had to do what he can for himself now a days... BUT ... it shall all settle back down as I start to grow my client base and have more referrals of my own to work... or so the cards say... ?

Life...
Survival...
and what little love we can get from it!
AegF

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Well... As Navarre applied himself nicely Sunday he is paying for it desperately today!   As of last night he started to tie up again.  I've done all a mom can do... I have heated his feed and made it into a mush... and I have Crushed 15 of the 500mg Methacarbamol tablets from the vet for just such an occassion.  I am hoping his back will not be as tight when I get home tonight so I do not have to give him the other 5 tablets.

His back is tight, his butt is like a brick! He can barely get his neck down to the ground to eat.  He figured it out though.... if standing down hill he get reach his hay... he did not finish his mushy feed this morning (rice bran with all his suppliments) I did however add an extra scoop of our special vitamine E with NO Selenium! very important!!!!

I will do my best to keep him happy... but working a new job that requires 9-9 Wednesday through Friday and all day Saturday it is NOT going to be easy.

My husband is a great help, but has little knowledge of horses and they are not his thing.  Not anymore than his MV Agusta F4 was ever mine!   I enjoyed looking at it; but I would have NEVER taken it for a ride or even gotten on the back of it ( just not that stupid).  Much less care if it was leaking oil (unless it was in my house) Thus he is the same with horses... so... I'm on this one alone.

Life is always a teeth kicker, when you JUST think you may have things settled.  BUT the good news is! We have been through this before... this time I just can be with him through the pain.  His pittiful grunts, his reaching with his painfully stiff neck, and his back legs that barely bend are just a few of the things I wish I had time to help message and relax for him, but not this time around little boy... I'm doing my best to be there as much as I can.

Amber.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Navarre's feet are FINALLY starting to look a little better.

Today was lesson day for Navarre.  He got worked into a sweat with his new coat coming in nice and strong.  He did very well as did the young lady riding him... with her eyes closed. 

I was of course only lunging them at a walk, but this was a great way to give him guidance and allow her to work on her balance in a controled environment.

I trimmed his frogs back got into some of the more damaged tissue as the frog's have grown out nicely as have his feet.

Life is good!   I have been working six days a week, not making it home till eleven or twelve at night.  Thus I have had little to no time to create new post.

BUT I found myself cleaning horses giving lessons and coming home/ making myself something to eat and enjoying how stinky I smelled.  I eventually had to take a shower, because although I LOVE my horse drenched clothes, all of our seating in the house is leather.  Because it takes on a smell for years to come I had to sit on other fabrics threwn over the chair just so I could relax. 

It was so nice to smell like a horse! Something I miss!
I can not wait till life settles enough I can ride again.

My love to the world...
AegF

Thursday, October 11, 2012





Life is funny!

I got in hay the other day... and it was hard to get out of the barn much less into my little stalls etc... The owner of the barn has more hay this year than he has EVER had in the past 8 years.  My hat is off to him, I am happy they have such a stash as I normally worry about their horses ( I know not my job... but I do )

I got just a few bails  about 30 into my place and got the kids settled ... Went back yesterday morning and Sweet Pea had pulled down two bails, shewn them all in the barn.  Navarre was so comfortable using it as bedding he didn't even get up to say hi when I drove up! 

He jumped when I made it to the barn! He knew he would be in trouble.... So no feed for them yesterday... and now I have a nice dirty stall of pee and poop to clean up on Sunday. By the time Sunday rolls around it will be a truck load of a mess and take two bottles of pinesol to make it livable again.   Sunday? yep this is now my only day off, so house and barn will all have to crammed into Sundays from here out!

My age ... The change in weather... Yes all the arthritis the physicians say I should be taking care of  is locking me down, cramping me over, and I feel like I'm 64 instead of 44.  BUT my mind knows I will not be cramped in the back seat of a tiny car for long.  The weather will eventually be cold and thus my body aches will settle into a normal raw tissue of sand paper in my knees.  As of today sand paper is a good feeling while the urge of a hot hunting knife being jammed around like a cortizone shot without the deadening is the message my leg and into my right hip is screaming as of the past two days.    Hiking to the barn is actually a relief! I'm not moving around enough while I am training for this new job.  But I'm getting home at 11pm and last night 12am  with little to no time to stretch out the joints before going at it once again. 

LIFE.... painfully funny!

We all have our aches and pains... and we all know if you have horses... you have more to come!

My love to the world
AegF

Thursday, October 4, 2012

yes... time has pasted with no post...

Navarer has been picked three times a day as we have had rain for the last 4 days... and the ground is still a muck...

I will gladly post more when I start to get the area and his feet under control.

Our little community lost 10 horses last week to a barn fire.
So much attention to hay storage as rushed the area and thus my place to put hay is being questioned; meaning I too must find another place to put my hay.

I do however stack my hay where it touches nothing of structure OTHER than the VERY BOTTOM row of which I lay on it's cut side.

My stacking is..
Five on cut side
four horizontal
four vertical
two horizontal with two vertical in the center
and then tie it together on top with
two vertical on edges and the horizontal tieing them together on top...
this allows me 21 bails a stack and I can go ONE higher but did not this year due to kids playing on the rope near my stacks...

? at any rate...
studying for work...
researching containers for storage on my estate... which will require much prep this spring IF I can get it done.

My love to the world
an update on WR Prince Navarre ASAP!
AegF

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Monday...

I was trying to take a state exam... (I failed) what's new?  I'll get it done though... I am not one to give up BUT I am personally mentally challenged when it comes to test.  I'll take a verbal exam any day but I hate computers and test!   Enough about me...

I am going to the barn in a moment and I have had to make a decision about Navarre and his feet.  Why?   Because Rain is due in two day for the next THREE days and everything I have done will go to waste if I don't get this feeling better for him in the next 48 hours... SO...

While I have been keeping it dry... My next step is OFF LABEL! NOT something many vets ... will suggest you do... BUT I've got to get this going... I called several people for help and found one that will help me in a moment. 

I can say as soon as Bill and I drove up Navarre was jumping off all four and having a good time in the crisp air.  He would not have done this as of last week! So we are doing some good even if it still looks really bad. 

My plan..
Pick out the feet as normal...
DONE... REAR... ON...

As you can see it is beautifully dry IN the frog and on the bulb.  BUT it is seriously deep too... so I am going to put an antibiotic in all the HOLES! and pack it again.  What am I using?   A basic penicillin in sesame oil as good and as basic as it gets. 

Where does someone get something like this over the counter? EASY it is a basic mastitis tube... Used for cattle and their teats. Use the DRY label... GO DRY or TOMORROW are normally how they are marked... It will also say the milk but not be used for 72 hours ... etc...
The tip of the tube is small and soft enough to go into the teat of a cow, so it is the perfect form to go into the small areas and soft tissues being damaged by thrush.

Once I got the feet picked... brushed... I started putting the antibiotics in ANY CREVICE I could find.  In doing so I found a hole ONE INCH DEEP...

You can barely see the syringe at the top middle... but what you don't realize is it is ONE INCH into the hoof!  This is exactly what I keep talking about and why you can't see from the photo above this one that this whole is even there or that it could possibly be bad.  I am sure having found this one hole in such bad shape there are likely many more any every direction off all the wholes we can see.  So I am using an excessive amount of the contents as I want it FORCED throughout the hoof as much as possible without moving my syringe around and again not pressuring soft dissue so not to cause any damage.  Allow the liquid to do it's job.

I had not once packed this hole, it goes straight down and when I did pack it lightly tonight I had to use ONE side of the hemostats so I didn't make it any larger.  There are two schools of thought on holes and a hoof.  Used to be Vets dug out things and left it exposed.  I tend to use a TINY drill / dremmell ... and break the surface (of an abscess etc) and leave it as covered as possible so it does not get infected.  Either way... keep it as clean as possible.  So I did not pack the whole to its depths I only covered the opening so debre doesn't get in easily.

This is going to take months to grow out.. and our wet season is upon us... So ... Using the antibiotic now is likely my best choice ... Like anything else though once you start antibiotics you have to use up 7 days of it unless otherwise stated... as you have to clean it out and make sure you kill of anything after that would develop resistance. 

I have had to do this with Navarre two other times in his life, but my choice to do so was all the more clear after finding such DEEP crevices in this foot my first day with the antibiotics...

I packed it with clean cotton


I will unpack it in the morning... and repack it with thrush buster...
then tomorrow night I will do the antibiotics again... for the next week rain snow sleet or shine...
Our plan is still to unpack and clean twice a day... using antibiotics only at night, when he is less likely to be running around or digging in the mud.

Doing all I can!
Hope your horse does good if you have any of these issues.

My love to the world
AegF



Monday, September 24, 2012

I love the feed back I get from blogging! All the photos in this post are found on bing... however I could not find the source to give credit! Please know these are NOT mine do not associate them with my name... I did not take them, own them, only found them in search.    They are also NOT of my horse but used as examples for discussion.

Why?
Because this gives me a way to share information I have collected over years of having or being around horses.  And having learned from some great people... I think we should all pass on what we have, but again... we all have to keep an open mind, not take ANY ONE PERSON as a source or mistaken anyone for a VET when they are not... and I AM NOT A VET! I just do a lot of research...

Sunday Morning the cotton was nice, dry, and still mostly clean!   Life is good!

 
PLEASE NOTE ... I got this photo from... bing photos and could not find the source...
below is the diagram info...


I also found another I like MUCH MORE;  Another Barefoot BUT more concavity that I like in a horse! It is posted down further below...


I could NOT find the information on this one... but you can match from above...


I like this foot below a lot more as it has more of a natural curve (concavity)  in the bottom of the hoof, something I strive for in each of my horses. 



I did however get a comment from a barefoot lover who said I was doing my horse a dis-service by having shoes on him, him having no bar in the foot, and a shoe that was too tight!   Again ... I so appreciate all this!      Because ...     when in fact ... I have only recently put shoes back on this little boy! And the infection is the result of not having shoes that caused him to walk more on the soft tissues of the foot, the toe to grow beyond LONG and the fact he is still getting over an abscess that started just between the bar and the frog growing into the heal...

So yes I can see what was trying to be said, what we has horse people / and humans in general don't do is think about what else could have been going on. 

1.    I try to take the shoes off my horses every winter.  I have however decided NOT to do so for WR Prince Navarre this year as it has taken me 8 months to get his feet back in order AND then the abscess came about and I am still dealing with it! BUT my mare will go without shoes as soon as our wet season sets in...    I love a barefoot horse as well!      No big deal... but his weight, his angles and his feet never fair well when he doesn't have shoes.  I will however take all four off my little girl who is much more suited to barefoot although is a breed that rarely fairs as well as she.  I have to say she has the best feet for a Saddle bred that I have ever seen!

SO... Bars (on the closest picture above are #7) are cut down when the hoof is trimmed and cut more to the concavity of the foot, as the concavity supports the coffin bone, hoof wall, etc... remember a curve/ circle or arch has more tensile strength than a flat board/ square etc...  Normally we only trim the bars down not out like we did this time!(the abscess was on the edge of the bar; more like the collateral groove)...   Bars and Frog support and create the suspension of the foot.  So the bar is like that extra set of wheels tucked up on a dump truck... till he has a really heavy load, otherwise the frog and wall support the normal load.  

If I don't use shoes my little boy gets a very flared hoof with a long toe leaning back on his bulbs... This one foot with the abscess did exactly that.  Normally I keep a carbon fiber and resin poured in Navarre's front feet due to his weight and likely hood of foundering at any given time.  He gets visual veins in his hooves if he is not supported. (founders easily)  He is not a great horse to have as far as his... muscles, diet or feet so most I do is VERY preventative... otherwise he would need to be put down.

Navarre is a different case... so lets not judge all my decisions on one side of the issues!

Like I said... everyone has to make decisions about their kids based on their own information.  the point it to always be open to new things... I've tried barefoot... and I love barefoot... it just doesn't work for mine or my horses lifestyles right now, maybe later!

like a said an open mind is the key to children and animals...
Good luck everyone..
My love to the world...
AegF






Sunday, September 23, 2012

What's the big deal?  So what's so worry some about this foot thing?  Why are you so worried it's just thrush?   Well get your horse out of the mud and put him in a stall! 


These are all things I am getting from the general public.  And truly I appreciate the bouncing of information, questions, and yes even the comments.

Let's make this one clear!  My horses are in a mud lot ... (as stated in almost every post) ONLY because Navarre has PPSM... in laymen terms it is ALMOST like us having diabetes but even worse add a muscular degenerative disorder into the mix and you ALMOST have an idea of what I deal with.    To JUST keep him alive he can never have apples, carrots, treats... much less GRASS.  So he has to stay on a dry lot.  a DRY lot turns into a mud lot when you get over 22inches of rain on average... BUT I have a 24x24 barn that is raised with DRY medical ready dry stall mats of which is open to my horses 24 / 7   Not only that I have another area of mats thrown down not attached ... but 4x6 mats 4 across and 5 deep... so another 20x24  out into the open sky not covered... not to forget the SHOWER MATS... that are before the non attached stall mats outside... just so the shower mats help knock mud out of their shoes etc... before they get onto or into dry area...

So all in all I've got a good 44 feet of stall mats open that are generally dry unless it is raining hard and further out at some points... So I do what I can!   and yes as life goes on... and IF the economy ever gets better I will.  a) purchase more mats b.) put them down permanently as in the barn as I can afford too.  c)  yes eventually I would LOVE to have the level areas bricked ... ? but life is not that easy right now so we do what we can!   Just like everyone else!

Thrush ...
It is going to occur at some point of having a horse. 
Normally ... You can control it by picking out the hooves, if not once twice a day.  I have two horses and while My mare is easily controlled with picking my gelding is not.  There are several factors.

IF my mare gets thrush it is normally in her front feet.  You know the feet that get the most usage, carry 2/3rd of the weight thus they get more of a pounding, packing, and suffer when conditions are wet. 

My little boy (gelding) is FAT! although I try to control his weight. 
He has LOTS of hair... so much I have to shave it from his coronet band in order for it to stay healthy, and too keep hair from the frog of his feet. 
His hair is another issue entirely BUT adds to a fungal issue which is what THRUSH is...

It is a fungus that thrives with OUT oxygen... so the best thing you can do it AIR IT OUT!
What ever means necessary keep the foot DRY at all cost! 

Thrush is not a big deal when controlled... but when it gets OUT of Control it will EAT THROUGH the hoof into the soft tissues and lame your horse.  ? sorta like a plantar wart that grows INTO the foot to the bone in your heal.  Or think of walking on a stone all day no matter what type of shoes you wear!   It is painful and can destroy a horse if it gets too bad.

Navarre had HORRIBLE thrush when he was a baby, he was stalled and I was not there to clean it twice a day.  The barn manager tended to him and allowed wet shavings in the stall as where I would not? BUT we each keep our children differently, and those with more than one know they are all different no matter how you want to keep them... SO... keep an open mind!  I have dealt with this with him already three times in his short 5 years... but I now have a plan of action which is what I was trying to share...

1. clean foot... HIGH PRESSURE WATER IF you have it... I don't  ( I have only gravity feed water)
so I pick, brush, and then I pour hydrogen peroxide into any openings in the foot, and allow it to sit on the hoof around the frog etc...

2. I allow that foot to dry... dry well...

3. Like today I had Navarre tied up for over an hour just to tend to his feet.  Yes I was doing other things with him... brushing his body, mane and tail... but those things could take all day.  I also have a short lesson and left him tied up!

While I waited for his feet to dry... I did drip some lavender and tea tree oil into the holes but mostly on the healthy soft tissues of the foot.  Yes may sound crazy but ... lavender, rosemary, and tea tree oils are natural antibacterials... cheap ... and are not going to hurt the horse.  The entire secret is NOT to damage any soft tissue... so rubbing the healthy with anti... properties can't hurt! besides doing so only increases the circulation to the area... thus helping the situation anyway!   If your going to do something you may as well do it well. 

4. This morning I packed the area very carefully and very easily with my hemostats everyone should have a some... WHY ? the tip is rounded the teeth are on the inside and make it easy to get the packing out.... WHAT do I use a packing? cotton balls!   Yep that cheap and that simple....

Some people pack with thrush powder... I like this stuff! but I find it is even easier for a beginner to pack too tightly so packing with a soaked cotton strip with thrush buster is best for beginners.  ONLY because if you pack too tightly the cotton is more likely to fall apart not pack the powder more like clay, and the powder gets wet over time and is hard to get out if you do not have good water pressure to force it out! Not to forget some of these holes are not going to allow something to move around enough to come back out unless pulled out the same way it went in! thus my cotton balls instead of powders...

5. At night... I went back to the barn... picked his feet AND pulled out the cotton I had packed... then I put thrush buster liquid IN the wholes... got clean cotton again and REPACKED it for the night.  Good thing is... cotton was almost perfectly clean  when I pulled it out, so the hydrogen peroxide had done it's job... and he wasn't just digging in mud with his feet today.    Tomorrow morning may be a different story, after all it will be a heavy dew in the morning. 

ok so this is his front left foot... Frnt ON...

Above is my horse....

ok... now this is what I do NOT want it to end up like!...

Below is Horrible case... but always possible....
So What's the big deal????

This stuff is more damaging on the INSIDE than what you see on the OUTSIDE... so while Thrush is not that big of a deal it opens the soft tissues to damage like a Canker...

While some think this is the heal of the horse it has actually grown up the heal into the bulbs... and beyond! 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Ok... so today is all about feet!

WHY? because Navarre has some MAJOR issues that could very quickly need vet assistance for his feet!

What is going on?
Well... If you will go to my Facebook Mobile uploads... You will Quickly see there are serious feet issues!

Mobile Uploads ,,,

Why did I let them get this bad?   Well truth is as posted previously... I normally have a FULL shoe on Navarre, which is a poured carbon fiber with resin that fits into every crevice of his precious little foot.  Time before last we had to pull the Front Left Shoe off, dig out a heal abscess ( they easily and quickly go INTO the foot instead of moving out)   We allowed it to grow out longer than normal BUT still had to dig out quite a bit and not sure of ALL of it being gone... SO well did not POUR his front feet this time allowing me access to dig, drill, and cut what I needed to.

This also allowed MORE moisture to be packed into the foot than normal and while I clean my horses feet twice a day... with all the rain we have had they are quickly packed and nasty with in 30 minutes of my picking. 

Why are my horses on a mud lot... Because Navarre can not tolerate ANY GRASS what so ever.  Most would have already put him down ... (as many times has he has tied up, been in the hospital, not to mention all the extra cost EVERY DAY< WEEK< MONTH< and YEAR!!!! this kid cost me a fortune! but I had him bred and thus he is my responsibility... SO ... I'm stuck with keeping him happy and healthy as much as possible!   Don't like it... go read somewhere else!   Not to just be completely  rude about it... but I get a lot of slack for keeping this horse!   I'm done with it! he is my responsibility and I will do everything I can do till I can't do anymore or find another way of dealing with it! )   Do you throw out your kids?  NOT!!!! so stop telling me to!

We have had so much rain this year my lot has rarely had chance to be dry.  It is dry today ... Part of the way at least so... It is time to address this head on.  Yes I pick everyday... TWICE A DAY... but not all the thrush buster in the world is going to dry a wet foot, on a mud lot.  Today

As I can only hope you can see with the photos  we... Lily and I ...
Picked out all four feet! Cut his hair back again...
Washed out three of four with water... then...
Hydrogen Peroxided ... three of four!
An Hour later I cleaned two out more with hydrogen peroxide
and then proceeded to pack them.  This morning I packed them with hydrogen peroxide... to help it eat the bad tissue... Tonight I will clean, unpack re clean... and repack them but this time over night with Thrush Buster...

It is DANGEROUS to pack a foot...
Not to the horse but to the tissue. 
It must be done easily, no force at all....
It must be done carefully so no good tissue is pushed, damaged or forced in any way...

If you have never had a vet show you how..
If you have never discussed this with your vet.  I suggest you do so before you follow someones advise you do not know, that does NOT HAVE A VET DEGREE!!!!!! and EVERY horse is different! ...

I have always said Horses are like kids... you can raise two the exact same way and they will be exact opposites as adults!   My parents did it with three... and My other horse has no issues with the mud lot!

This is one of those times a hemostat is good to have around... Tweezers are a pain with a horse so hemostats work perfectly getting the packed Cotton out of the foot!

I'll post more as the days progress... May post more on my facebook page. 

If we are not friends you can at least Subscribe and follow my photos as needed... Other wise send me an email  or phone in a personal message and I'll send them at your request!

No issues.
Life is good, my little boy is just down due to weather!
My love to the world.. .
Amber egF


Thursday, September 20, 2012



I have shared this information before but I think it is important to do this again.

There are several horse blogs, places, and sites I like... BUT if you are a horse person have an extra stall, a paddock, a spare cot, and or a trailer PLEASE give back to your horse community by following and signing up for Fleet of Angels ...

Face book link is... FleetOfAngels

it is an important facebook site but also GO TO THEIR WEBSITE and sign up to share your barn, pasture or trailer on their active website... Fleet Of Angels web site

I am not normally someone who pushes something but YOU control what you do or don't do for or with these sites.  The website has a sign up page where you can offer what you have and how people contact you!

This next mention is for transportation.
There are times when we are moving and need help.
There are times when we can't afford to move our kids first class but want it done safely.

Facebook Link is... Hitch Your Horse A Ride

This is a site where people who have an open slot offer others a ride ...
You can ask for a ride, find a ride and check out what others say about a transporter.
again you control what info you want from them or just check in everyonce in a while.

If you are looking for a horse...
look local, BUT if you want to save a horse from else where

Facebook Link is... Home Seekers and Heros

I am just putting this out there but if you are a horse person ... give a helping hand when you can.  Life is only going to get harder so please! do something! even if it is just local....

My love to the world
AegF


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Saturday morning as I was sitting drinking my second cup of coffee my text message dings on the phone.  I picked it up and ... it read ... shipper canceled?

This tiny message was enough to set me off!  I texted back, ... come with and well do it today!
It took 30 seconds for the phone to ring.

The person on the other end didn't know what to say... it was a ... Let's talk about it moment.  I was done!   The owner expecting the horse had to be "done" and everyone was on pins and needles trying to figure out the issues with delivery. 

I have a tiny trailer, a little truck, and I had the weekend to do it! I just require when I haul a horse the owner be with me so they know I'm doing what I can, when I can ... and if an emergency occurred it wasn't second hand message from a stranger.

Lets do it tomorrow?
Can you do it during the week?
You take care of the gas / diesel and lets just DO IT!

I knew I couldn't do it Sunday... and my week is scheduled to the minute... So I had to get it done if I was going to be the one doing it.   I hated to rush it all but... the issue had drawn on long enough and things get no better when dealing with an animal, do it or not animals feel the tension of non committal decision through any human around them.

Mike was already scheduled to help me start the gravely.. he showed promptly at 9:30 as asked.  We got the thing back together, but never got it started... I threw in the towel at 11am ... I knew I was never going to get it started, get it to the pasture, and know Mike was safe by noon.  So I paid Mike for his time, asked him to take care of the kids (my horses) while I was gone, and went to get my stuff together!

My trailer stays packed with emergency supplies  I only recently took out my bag of feed I normally keep in it. ( I rotate my feed bags to keep it all fresh) I some how am missing my broom and muck rake, but I will soon be replacing them.. thanks to people in this story!

We rushed... we got it all in the truck... I left my Motrin on the counter with the trailer keys? no real issue, but I hated that I left my barn lantern as well.  That was a big one!

We were leaving late... it is a 6 hour drive in a car ... with a horse that would be an 8 hour drive EASILY ... but once we got to the barn... I knew this was going to be... ? more than they expected.

No real issues...
BUT please if you are a parent! Understand ... Safety comes first! and your child should NEVER be in a trailer with a horse, any horse... I don't care if that horse is 40 years old (not really) bomb proof, and been a perfect gentleman all his life... things happen and in a trailer someone will get killed!

The horse was an easy load, but not a safe load... there is a difference.
An easy load is just a horse that will get on.
This horse was hesitant, but 15 feet back with a little visual pressure is all she needed.  No issue!
But the previous own had gone in the trailer with her and that worried me, as I never do that and I LOVE my kids, trust my kids, and think it would be no real big deal BUT IT IS!!!!!!

The first training I ever got for SweetPea was trailer loading!  I was NOT going to have a horse that would not load themselves on the trailer without it being a safety issue for her or me!   Get a professional to do it! but DO IT! is my point!

A five year old should be able to load your horse if it is a safe load! Keep that in mind with judging what I am saying!

She was a easy load!
She was VERY aware of her surroundings and as we drove off her heard was upset at her leaving! No out cries but racing the fence and following the trailer was the action of the herd.  They could not have cared less when we drove in.

Pretty horse, we put shipping boots on her... she started to get hot after we got out of the mountains, not too hot, just she was working more than she needed to, to stay still in the trailer.  She wasn't sure about using the bumper pads to lean on at first.  She never ate or drank so we had to stop and hand feed her.  We got her started with a small piece of apple and a horse cookie that was larger than the fruit piece.  Then I dunked hay and fed it to her little by little.  She would not get her back end off the butt bar our first top.  She ate more the second stop, Started eating out of the hay back the third and by the forth stop she was eating as if we had starved her intentionally.  

We had to stop because of her being hot, not drinking, and barely eating... The boots came off! As we noticed she never even moved her feet! She was frozen in a wide stance,so there was no worry of a cornet band bruise from the haul and she needed less to be cooler and more comfortable.

We did have to get her out, she had not pooped in 5 hours. We were lucky enough to find a hidden area perfect for noise protection, very little car activity, and nice grass for us to run around in.  We ran in circles, she did some lunging, and finally a little poop made me SO happy I can not tell you how much.

Life was better thanks to horse poop... if you are new to horses this is now your life!

The new owner spooked the horse by accident.  It wasn't the owner! It was the ride that had put the horse on edge.  I had seen for myself only hours earlier the previous owner shaking a black plastic trash bag out right in front of the horse and she barely flinched.  You never know what a spooked horse is going to do... My worry was safety for the owner... I yelled for her to get out of the dressing room in case the horse reared in my extra tall trailer and caught the dressing room window with her front leg.  NONE of this happened but it is ALWAYS a possibility.  I had actually asked earlier than the new owner stand only at the empty side emergency door of the trailer before we got there, BUT life never goes as planned and she did NOTHING wrong.  I just knew this horse was going to be wired when we arrived and ? she was...

Once we got her out of the trailer the horse was fine! A comical snort every few minutes but still no more poop.  ? A few whinnies... cries of help and hello to the new brother and sisters but nothing out of control. 

We delivered the horse safe, but still no more poop, running walking, walk, trot, no canter as I can't go that fast... please????

At midnight I had to draw the line... the horse had been delivered safe, but I wasn't positive on how she was going to settle, poop, eat, drink etc... She started eating as soon as we put her in the stall, it was wet hay from the ride on top of dry hay ( so that would help a little) on her freshly swept padded floor.

We left ... HE drove us back to NC... I was spent, I was WAY past my bed time, and way past driving anytime soon.  He was pumped on how happy his little girl was, how well we got the horse there, and how wildly unexpected but perfectly emotional it was for everyone. 

My life revolves around horses...
While I do not remember getting my first pony.I was barely three.. I will be forever heart broken from the day I had to see him leave.  I remember that second horse, third, and so on... There has never been a horse in my midst that I didn't have a print on my heart from them being in my pasture.

To this day smelling of my horses is enough to calm my fears, wash away a bad day, and allow me to dream of a life so easily communicated as theirs.  Horses bring out who you are.  Watch how you treat your horses, how they treat you, and how the world respond to that same emotion. 

My thanks to the family that owns this beautiful TB Mare!
My thanks to the entire family that allowed me to share in a first horse event!

Their gratitute was passionate
Their emotions ran thick and bright in a night that exected to be dark.

I enjoyed the care package on the way back, and tonight!
I enjoy my painting at my desk each day as I type!
I have your cards and letters hanging on my board!

Thank YOU all for sharing such love with me!








Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Getting hay is normally something I get a few farm hands to help with.  Normally Mike, Robby and one other.  Never fails the third gets to drive the truck, while Mike and Robby throw hay up to me on the truck and I stack it.  We can get 125 bails in two trips no problem. 

This time I paid more for the hay but they brought it to the barn.  Mike was the only one available, we had another person scheduled but... he didn't feel like it... but didn't tell me till it was time to do it!   I was more than upset and lets just say he is not longer on my menu of hand choices. 

Mike and I double teamed the hay for the first 100 bails.  There was someone that was going to help us load the elevator but he couldn't get it just... right so Mike did it.  That left me getting the hay off AND getting it to the stack area, something that takes me twice as long as it should and I'm better at getting it off or stacking  not so good at carrying it for long distances. 

So I doubled everything, touching each bail at least twice.
Off the elevator...
Over to my stack...
Over to create my stair case up the hay stacks...
 five on the bottom ( side lay, short cut side up and down)
Four... Horizontal  normal... (wider side on the ground)
Four... vertical ... THEN...
Four but;ONE vertical TWO horizontal and again ONE vertical THEN... switch that up too...
Four but; two horizontal and two vertical... and again a switch...
Four but; One vertical TWO horizontal and again ONE vertical...

that leaves us with 25 bails a stack... and easy enough to count with a glance...
5 on the bottom and 5 stacks of 4 is 5 and 20+5 is 25...

Not a big deal but all those switching of Horizontal and vertical really tie them together... otherwise you get the stacks separating in the middle and falling away over time.  Tie them together good and it will last as long as you need it too.

I am lucky the barn is almost open air, second floor so very rarely is the wind going to blow IN and on my hay, but I do keep an eye on it! As it does get really close if I truly have 400 bails at one time, which RARELY happens as I normally go through it as the year progresses, but sometimes I can have that left over several years in a row and like this year... it allowed me to get through most of the year with next to nothing... as the 125 bails I got in April should have been gone by.,.. Aug and it is Sept with a few bails left (only 50 plus 25 at the horse barn)... but no one needs to push it!   No matter how well off you are, it is not a matter of getting hay it is always about having it when you need it!   So use it wisely! and never allow your supply to get below 7 days as it takes that long to work your horse into a new supply.

You think food from another country messes up your stomach... hay from a new pasture wreaks havoc on your horse just as bad! 

Colic is most likely when feed, water, or hay has been changed within a two week period! So only change one thing at a time! not everything at once....

This is why even in an emergency I ask people to bring as much from home as they can possibly afford to bring.  It helps the horse settle, and not get sick.

We got the first 100 ... it was a killer but we did it.
I asked if he had another 100 and YEP! he did... so Mike and I went to get two more men to help, as I was about to pass out from the heat in the barn and double teaming the hay...

We easily got in the second 100 bails, put the west wall back up, ( I had allowed the horses in... )
Sowed the west pasture with seed... and now it has rained the last two days...

All so perfectly!
One plan that worked out for the week.

Yep much more to come!
Saturday is a hoot! I'll post it next.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Life comes at you from all sides... and so it happens to us all.

I have not been writing as I was studying and trying to settle my horses for the winter.  I always get all my hay for the year during the spring.  I try to get first cuttings so there is less trash (weeds) in the bails.  But if the pasture is treated with a broad leaf second cutting can be just as good, rarely is that going to happen around here.

Life in NC has been wet, So wet in fact we never got a second cutting from my normal, local supplier, he treated his fields for broad leaf and wanted to have it rolled for cattle due to chemical issues that could occur.  The cattle / roller lost three cuttings due to all the rain.  When normally we have at least three cuttings a year for horse bailing of which I try to collect at least 400 bails for the rest of the year.  about 125 per cutting is my standard from my local guy... Not this year... got my 125 and then no more came about.

I have two horses and need 365 for the year, IF it is a good easy year.  Last year was and not so sure about this winter! So I like to get my 400 leaving me 35 bails for the worst nights of winter allowing my horses another 1/2 bail each on VERY cold nights.  While we horse people understand why; those whom have run across this page write and ask what it has to do with anything.    Horses create their heat from what they eat.  So they need more hay on nights it is excessively cold.  And it happens up at Three Thousand feet with a negative wind chill so... You have to be prepared.  Also with that extra hay I pour a little extra Corn Oil on their hay at night.  Yes at night only as Corn Oil helps give them heat but it also blocks the absorption for Vitamin D if used over time.... Just as we humans need our Vitamin D so do our horses.  They get Rice Bran Oil during the day... and for as long as I can afford it through out the year.

Oil is required basic with the PPSM Navarre has... he gets 4oz every morning and night but this is a basic and not his winter supplement.  He gets 8oz during the winter morning and night....

This year hay was sparse, but the weather perfectly cool, plenty of water... just too much rain each day so we didn't have three days in a row to cut, dry and bail...  so I have less than 100 bails in the barn and it is September... this is CRITICAL! So I got 200 more bails Friday and will need another 100 by Oct to make sure we are ok for the winter and into the first cuttings of next year.  I am hoping my local supplier will come through with one more cutting.  If not ... I'll have to purchase some really expensive stuff to get my kids through to next years cuttings.  ? And you can't trust when that will be in the Appalachian Range.

More abou the week tomorrow!  Lots to tell...