Horsing Around

Saturday Morning Post

2008-02-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry...I've been working on my other hobby over at Youtube. When I'm not riding...I'm trying to play the guitar.

A little "Tamara" update- She's improving. Yes the little knot is still on her leg, but it doesn't seem to be hindering her at all. In fact, she's been instigating most of the ruckus that goes on in the pasture between all three horses.

I've ridden her a couple of times in the past week, but only for short hauls (30 to 45 mins) and with no problems.
Hoof Boot Update: Riding in muddy conditions with hoof boots is probably not a good idea. Tamara slides all over the place, so after a good rain, we will go "barefoot" from now on. The boots are great for rocky surfaces. hard ground, or places where you have to ride on paved roads...but I would advice NOT wearing them in snow or muddy conditions.

Some Pics of Me and Tamara Today

2008-02-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Back in the Saddle

Hygromas

2008-02-06T02:58:00.000-08:00

Humm, the above is the Vet term for a contusion, or lump. Well, Tamara has a small hygroma that has formed underneath her injured hock. No puncture wound. Probably trauma induced, bumped against something or stood up wrong.

Good news is, no lameness. Bad news is, no riding.

I'm rubbing it down daily with ointment. Placing a cold pack on it.

It's back to wait and see.

Consider the mud, ice and horse play factor before turning out

2008-02-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

Well, the Super Bowl is over...wrote about that on my "political" Blog. Meanwhile, over here at my horse blog what's happening? Well, after riding Tamara 3 times she developed a small knot on her right hind leg below the swollen hock. No lameness but, I'm not riding until that goes away. I massage it daily and I've decided that after a small incident yesterday that I wouldn't turning her out.

Yesterday I did turn her out (with her hoof boots) for about an hour only to watch her from my kitchen window as she instigated a galloping and bucking session with the other horses. When one horse starts, it turns into a frenzy of horse play (pun was intended) so I decided not to risk another busted lip or worse, and brought her in. The ground was just too slippery, and I question turning horses out in such conditions in the first place. Just seems like an invitation for disaster.

I hear riders complain about the treacherous riding conditions after a good rain which is often the case here in Germany. Still, I don't understand their logic. When the horse is under the saddle, the rider should have control. Which doesn't sound nearly as dangerous to me as turning a horse out uncontrolled into a icy, muddy, and slippery pasture. Yet some folks seem perfectly willing to do this with less reservations than they have about riding in such conditions. Maybe it's because their own neck is not a risk, just the horse's.

Update: after a careful inspection of the pasture, I decided to turn her out today (bare foot) for a limited time. I figure the being barefoot, she might be more careful. The ground seems soft enough not to hurt her feet. The problem is, I just can't stand watch her standing in the coral alone and depressed.

The Pitfalls of a New Idea

2008-02-02T01:11:00.000-08:00

continued from On Hoof Boots

Well, not so new if you live in the States. Hoof Boots, as I understand it, have been around in some shape or form since the 70's. But here in Germany, among a people who -- at least in their own minds-- see themselves as the world's greatest equestrians, hoof boots are greeted with skepticism. First of all, Hoof Boots were not developed in Germany; a big minus in the German mind. What do Americans and, god forbid, Australians, know about horsemanship! Running around playing cowboy! Which, I guess, explains the big Western Riding craze here in Germany.Luckily for me, two Germans are very interested in Hoof Boots, enough to risk starting a business based on the hoof boot product.

In principle, the hoof boot is a good idea, but I think a lot of horse owners approach this good idea as sort of the end all solution to their horse's hoof problems. Therefore, when something goes wrong as a result of using the product, they panic, or toss it out, proclaiming it to be a "very bad idea".

In the first two weeks of using the hoof boots on Tamara, I noticed an immediate improvement starting on day one. It was though she was saying, "Oh this feels so good . Thank you!" She certainly appeared to be a new horse; lot's of pep in her step, and almost giddy to the point that while leading her out to the pasture, she would begin bucking and prancing with joy. But we had our first challenge on the third week.

We had a light snow. Enough to dust the pasture in a thin white blanket. According to the BOA instruction book, the boots work good in snow so I put them on her and turned her out. A few hours later a local farmer came to our house and told us that our horse had galloped through the pasture , apparently lost her footing, and literally flew through the electric fence, into a ditch and eventually ended up on her back on the tractor path. The farmer said that after being stunned, Tamara rolled over, sat still for a few minutes, then stood up and went to the adjacent field and then began grazing. He also said that she was bleeding from the mouth.

Great! If it isn't one thing, it's another! , I thought to myself.

Back in the stable we assessed the damage. A few scrapes on her back (luckily she was wearing her turnout blanket), no visible lameness, or damage to her legs or bad hock (big relief) but a big cut on her upper lip that went all the way through. "Time to call the vet, again."

The stable owner, a German, a former riding instructor and Eventing competitor, was convinced that it was the fault of "those stupid boots". The farmer saw the crash wasn't too exact as to how Tamara went through the fence and landed on her mouth before eventually ending up on her back. So I wasn't too quick to blame it on the boots. Fact is, there was snow on the ground, it was slippery, and any horse, wearing boots , or not, could have lost their footing and slipped.

We hashed over the physics for a while, and I came to the conclusion that she must have "put on the breaks" just before approaching the fence. The hoof boots probably worked too well, causing her to stop too suddenly, fly head first through the fence, and smash her muzzle against the ground before the rest of her body followed her into the ditch. It's the only explanation I can find for the busted lip (which required 8 stitches).

After the accident, I reassessed the worth of the boots. I knew that I couldn't go back to traditional shoes. Tamara just has too many problems with those. After seven months of recovery and a massive Vet bill as a result of infection brought on by lacerations from her own shoes, I wasn't about to call the farrier. On the other hand, she had just sustained an injury that had at least a 50% chance of having been from her new hoof boots. And the injury could have been much worse than it was. The perfect is the definition of "Dilemma ".

I came up with an alternative. I decided to use the boots while riding on rocky, and hard surfaces, but going barefoot when the ground is soft. BOA (the boot's manufacturer) suggests that as well. But I'm going to go one step further. I will also avoid turning her out when the ground is frozen and hard.

There is a "loneliness issue" that comes along with this decision. Horses are herd animals after all. They don't like being left alone in a little corral while everyone else gets to go out and play. Tamara seems to be adjusted to this and doesn't flip out like her stable buddies when left alone. We'll see. Keeping the fingers crossed.

On Hoof Boots

2008-02-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

Look, there's always a new gimmick out on the market that promises big results if you use it on your horse. Everything from herbal remedies to bitless bridles. Some of the stuff might work, depending on the horse. It's like the barefoot craze. Yeah, some horses can go barefoot with little or no problems but, not all. Tamara is in the "not all" category. That's why the hoof boot caught my attention. Well, one of the reasons.

As I explained in a three part post, Tamara is always injuring herself with conventional shoes. So I decided to give the hoof boots a chance. There is only one distributer for hoof boots in Germany, and none of the tack stores around here in my part of Germany sell the things. So I had to travel 3 hours south in the Swabian Hills to go purchase the boots, otherwise I would have to wait a week; I didn't have a week. Tamara was getting sore feet.

Bernd Jung, who runs the Hufshop with his wife, Claudia, explained the differences in boots and the reason it is important to purchase the correct boot for your horse. He said that the most expensive boot on the market is not necessarily the best boot for your horse. It all depends on the size and shape of the hoof.

After measuring the cardboard templates I made of Tamara's hoofs, we decided that the BOA boot would probably suit both Tamara's needs as well as our riding requirements. So I purchased a pair for her front hoofs, and as her hind leg improves and our riding sessions increase, I will eventually purchase a pair for the back hoofs.

Tomorrow I'll explain the negative aspects I have experienced thus far with the Boot. Stay tuned.

And It's Not Cheap!

2008-01-30T06:47:00.000-08:00

continued from... On your Feet!

Hobbies, ordinarily, don't come cheap, but with most hobbies there's an initial big investment and then things are good until you decide to buy that new PC, motorcycle, hang glider, or whatever it is you do for kicks. With Horse ownership there's a little thing called recurring costs.

Most horse owners in Germany don't own their own stables, so there are boarding costs which usually include the feed. Let's not forget that bi monthly visit from the farrier. And then last but certainly not the least, there is the unknown and unplanned cost of the Veterinarian. It's that cost that can drain a savings account faster than any other. I've read horror stories on internet boards of horse owners, so desperate to save their animal, that they would try every remedy possible until their medical expenses snowballed into the $20, 000 range.

I don't have that kind of money, so when the Vet told warned me of the costs I would incur treating Tamara, I swallowed hard. I'm not single. I have a family. One son in collage and the other serving an apprenticeship. They need my financial support, and as much as I love my horse, it's family (the human members) that must come first. My wife and I made a compromise. We would absorb the cost of Tamara's treatment, but if it didn't work, we might have to face the reality of putting her down.

To make a long story short, the antibiotic flush, and subsequent treatment didn't work, and my Vet was at a loss for an explanation. He had diagnosed her as having Streptococcal bacteria in her hock joint. After the treatment, the bacteria seemed to be gone, but the swelling persisted and the lameness returned. She couldn't stand up without injuring herself by slamming into the stall walls. The "snowball" had started rolling.

In desperation, I turned for a second opinion and was told by a second vet that Tamara was deathly sick but could be cured for around 3,000 Euros, ($7,500). We sent that vet on his way and turned to another vet who was also trained in homeopathy. For 200 Euros we got a small bottle of little sugar balls. Ten sugar balls a day and a mud pack was what this good doctor prescribed.

After a month, the lameness slowly subsided, although I suspect it had more to do with time than with the sugar balls. There was no improvement, however, in the swelling and on the second month my hopes were dashed when Tamara re-injured the leg while standing up in her stall. It was at this point when I had to seriously consider putting her down. We called a third Vet. If he gave us bad news, then that was that. We'd have to do the humane thing.

This Vet took x-rays, and said that surprisingly, the joint appeared to be ok with the exception of normal wear and tear. He suggested taking another fluid sample, and a possible second flushing. At this point my wife, who had been wonderfully patient up to this point, but her foot down. No more treatment. We were tapped. So the Vet gave Tamara a pain killer and additional oral medicine to be taken for the pain. And it became a process of keeping the fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Within two weeks her condition improved and has steadily improved on through January of this year. She had been barefoot since October and eventually developed sore feet. Since we suspected that hoseshoes had been the cause of swollen hock nightmare, I looked into hoof boots as an alternative to iron shoes. We purchased a pair for her front hoofs and this had an immediate and positive effect on her comfort. No more signs of difficulty walking etc.

I suspected that the swelling in her hock, which and gone down slightly, but not completely, would be permanent. My new Vet (the forth in a year) confirmed this.

Last week, I rode Tamara for the first time in almost 7 months. It was just ten minutes. Just to check out the strength of her leg, but it was literally a step forward. I have ridden her 2 more times since. Thirty minutes being the last ride together with a very short gallop. It would seem that my old girl is back. Realistically, the days of jumping up rooted tree trunks in the wood after a wind storm are probably over, along with 3 to 4 hour trail rides. Still -- considering the nightmares I had of a Vet arriving to administer that final deadly injection -- just to be able to ride Tamara on a pleasant day, along the green hills surrounding our village, is a blessing. Besides, I'm pushing 50 myself; getting too old to risk the care free fun of chasing deer on horseback through the wood.

Ride on!

On your feet!

2008-01-30T00:06:00.000-08:00

continued from... The Nightmare Begins

There have been a few occasions when I felt helpless. The first was when my newborn son was yanked out of my arms by a frantic nurse and turned into a pin cushion with IV's sticking in every direction. He had blood poisoning; the result of a careless Army medic who removed his umbilical clip too early. The second time occurred in the middle of the Iraqi desert, wearing a gas mask and anticipating a Scud missile attack that never happened. The third time came when I saw my big beautiful horse laying on the ground looking as if she were near death.

It was July, and it was hot, but luckily she had walked to the shade of the feed shelter before she collapsed. I just looked at the ballooned hock in disbelief; possible culprits racing through my head. An insect bite? Some nasty plant in the pasture? The heat?

The critical part would be getting her on her feet. If we couldn't do that, then it was game over. Pulling and tugging didn't work, so finally I just spanked her hard on her hind quarters with the lead rope. "On your feet now!" I shouted , almost too harsh. She reacted to the prodding and we jumped out of the way right quick. She hoisted herself up on all fours, and walked a few meters. To my relief, there was little in the way of visible lameness.

Still, her head hung low, and she refused a slice of apple. Tamara never refused an apple or anything else from my hand. We managed to get her back to the stable and I immediately called my Vet. She had a low fever, and still no appitite. My Vet's assistant arrived, took a look at the hock and shook her head. She gave Tamara a shot for antibiotics, pain killer, and a fluid sample was taken from the hock. We were told the results would take a couple of days and to meanwhile we should not turn her out. Like I really needed to be told that.

Within the two day period, Tamara began to improve. Her appetite was back, the fever was gone, and there was no sign of lameness. The hock, however, was still swollen.

My Vet called two days later. "The test results are positive, " he said. "You must transport her here to the clinic. And I must tell you now. It will be very expensive." To be continued...

The Nightmare Begins

2008-01-29T00:12:00.000-08:00

On the last week of June, 2007, Tamara, my horse, sustained multiple lacerations on the inside of her right hind leg. We discovered the injuries late in the afternoon when bringing the horses in from pasture. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought she had tangled herself in barbwire, but we don't have barbwire. I'm not even sure barbwire is legal to use it as fencing here in Germany. So the mystery began. How did she injure herself so badly?

Judging from the pattern of the lacerations (seven in all) both myself and the stable owner concluded that the only possible way this could have happened is while she was rolling. Tamara was shod and she has big feet. In fact, she has hoofs that would give a Clydesdale a good run for the money. Before riding her, or even turning her out, I'd have to go through this ritual of wrapping her legs with Velcro trainer boots and put overreach bells on her front hoofs. Yet despite all of the "armored" protection, she must have managed to scrape the inside of one leg with the shod opposite hoof!

The scary part is that we had no idea when the injuries occurred during the course of the day. There was no sign of lameness so we decided to clean and dress the woods and keep an eye on her. Bare in mind, Tamara was constantly getting lacerations like this, and I was constantly cleaning and dressing them to the point that it was almost routine. The only difference being that this time there was more than one or two cuts. Hind sight is always better than foresight. I should have called a Vet then and there.

Three days later, all appeared to be ok, so my wife and I left for Italy on a planned two week holiday. The stable owner and one of my sons would continue taking care of Tamara's wounds, and regular cell phone updates assured me that everything was fine.

Upon returning from holidays, I examined Tamara's wounds to find they had healed nicely, and on the first full day back from Italy, I went for a long ride without one single hitch. The next day I turned her out early in the morning and went about my business as I always do on non riding days.

In the afternoon we went out to bring the horses in and that's when I discovered Tamara, laying on her side, prone, in obvious pain, and a hock the size of an overinflated balloon. To be continued...

Let Me Tell Ya About My Horse

2008-01-28T05:37:00.000-08:00

Hi, if you're here to learn something about horse ownership, you're in the wrong place. This is where one learns what not to do.

Going on three years ago, I bought a horse. To be precise, a monstrous 17 hand beast with a mind of her own. That's right, she's female, a mare, that makes it doubly worse. There is nothing so similar to the mentality of the human female, than a female horse, and the real problem is, when she's in a pissy mood, she really can kick the crappola out of you.

Tamara (that's her name) is gray. There's a difference between gray and white you know. A gray horse has black skin underneath it's white hair. A white horse and pink skin. Don't believe me, I'm as dependable as Wikapedea.

Tamara is Hungarian stock with no papers, and don't ask me why the original owner chose to name her "Tamara", "Lucy" actually fits her better. When I bought her she was 17 year old, not necessarily ancient for a horse but not a young Philly either.

Tamara's one of these animals that can be deceptive to the eyes. By that I mean, some days she looks like a tired old granny. Her conformation sucks and her oversized Tyrannosaurus Rex head becomes very pronounced. On other days, I feel like I'm looking at a totally different horse; a descendant of Lipizzaner stock. She stands erect and alert, beautiful confirmation, flowing white main and tail shimmering in the sunlight. Those at the days I should sell her.

It's a joke. I wouldn't sell Tamara. We've been through too much in the past 3 years, including over 2,500 Euros worth of vet bills in the past year. I love my horse. I feel really weird as a guy saying that. "Tamara, I wish I knew how do quit you!"

So anyway, I have just gone through one of the most trying times for any horse owner. Through patience, frustration, and a ton of money, my horse has come back from the brink of death, and yesterday, I rode her for the first time in 7 long months. It was only a ten minute ride to see how she would hold up, but it was a start.

I'm starting this blog, in her honor. She's deserves a little recognition for having carried my fat ass all over creation for so long. If you are a horse owner, you will probably cringe at some of the stuff I write. Horse people invariably think they know more , than other horse people. I'm sure that as this blog continues someone will post well meaning advice like, "Do the horse a favor and put yourself down."