my new creation

I was quite proud of my little creation. I made a little chain gate for Maggie's stall. I spent probably more time than necessary making it but I didn't have any other plans for the day. Piddling on the farm is the best, no matter what I'm doing. The gate was just a coated chain and I used some baling wire and old air compressor hose to make the little rail things. A couple of snaps on each end and presto...a nice little stall gate that Maggie hates.
Maggie loves to stand in her stall. Apparently she only loves to stand in her stall when she can go to the pasture at her leisure. Either way the gate turned out nicely. I put some pine shavings in her stall and put a little 4x4 down for her to step over when she goes outside. I'm going to try to keep the shavings inside. I have no idea if this will work at all but it was fun to play in the barn all afternoon.

Results are in...

The results are in on Maggie. Well, sort of. The opinions are in. The farrier came out and said he thought it was arthritis. He said there was some separation in her hoof wall but he didn't think that was the problem. He said her joints were stiff and sore and he recommended a few things...
1. A barn buddy - to encourage her to walk around in the pasture and decrease her stiffness.
2. A weight loss program - She needs to loose a little weight that will take some pressure off her joints.
3. Some Bute to help with pain.

Then the Vet came out...he didn't look her over as well as I had hoped but he said he thought she had an infection between the hoof wall. So he started her on some antibiotics and gave me some bute to give her.
He recommended
1. Bute for pain
2. Antibiotic for the hoof wall infection
3. Weight loss

So I called my farrier that I LOVE. He said there is probably some truth to all of it. He recommended the antibiotics, weight loss, bute and Iodine on her hooves or Copper...something...Mom said she has it.
So I put down some pine shavings in her stall to keep it drier and then I soaked her hooves in Epsom salt tonight and gave her some medicine.

I was quite proud of my new gate I made to go across her door of her stall. It's not some professional thing but it's pretty cool to me.

That's all for now. Praying for health for my girl.

Worryhorse

I received a call from my dad the other night that Maggie was limping on her left front foot. I was headed down to see them and figured I would check it out then. When I got there it seemed she had a lot of muck and rocks stuck in her hoof. I cleaned that out and told Dad to keep a close eye on her. (I knew he would anyway) She seemed to recover from that and was back to herself in a few days. A week later Dad called again and said that she was hurting again. He said this time he cleaned her hooves and didn't find much and she was still limping. I started to arrange for her to be moved closer to me. I figured then I could have my farrier check it out. He is the best ever. I will dedicate another post to him later. I had everything worked out until my sister called and said she didn't think Maggie could handle trailer ride to the new place. (about 1 1/2 hours) I went to see her the next day and I think she may have laminitis. I cleaned out her hooves and soaked her feet in Epsom salts. I locked her in a stall with new pine shavings and apologized to her as she was glaring at me. Maggie loves her stall but she loves the ability to come in her stall, poop, then leave.
I arranged for a farrier closer to here and a vet to come out tomorrow. We will see how that goes.
Meanwhile, I will continue to receive glares from Maggie every time I go into the barn.

The beginning

So I've been looking at some old pictures and finally overtook my sisters scanner so I could get some posted to my blog. The horse I'm holding the leadrope to was Scarlett. As I recall she was a pretty decent horse. I think I ended up not experienced enough to ride her much. The pony I'm riding bareback is Sunny. She was a little Welsh Pony we bought from Iowa. She ended up being a great pony. You could do anything on her. Including breaking your collarbone! I was riding her bareback with a friend on behind me and we were trotting and turning at the same time and my friend wasn't ready for that and pulled me off and I broke my collarbone. My friend was ok but went home. I ended up walking down the pasture a little bit to catch her and take her bridle off and then went to the house to tell mom and dad. A few years later Sunny ended up going to a camp for children with disabilities. She would be great there. I hope she had a great life. She was a great pony.

Change of plans

I've been going over some of my past rides and pictures since starting this blog. I was going to go ride some potential new horses this weekend but the July heat is going to be a little too hot for riding. So I'm stuck in the house to look at old trail pictures, surf the web for trail riding websites, watch a little rural farm television and blog.
Here are a few pictures from my journey's with Maggie on the trails of the Lake. One of my favorite traits about Maggie is that she will just walk out into the lake and walk along the shore and sometimes splash around. There are few things that bother her on the trail. Not even when turkey fly up. She might take a quicker step or two but goes right back to her usual walk. She might eat some while on the trail and some people think that is a horrible trait. I don't really mind. Maybe that makes me a bad rider or whatever. I don't care. She never stops to eat and if we are headed up a steep incline she won't twist her head after food. She will snag a bite and I won't even notice. She doesn't miss a beat.
Well I'm still working on getting some pictures of the mules and from when I was a little kid uploaded onto the computer. Maybe I will this weekend since the July heat is ruining my hopes of riding.

The good ole days

The good ole days for me started when I was a little kid. My dad had a mule named Rodney for coon hunting. I rode Rodney smashed between my two sisters. Then I rode a bay horse named Scarlett. She was a little too feisty. I took some lessons with an old cowboy known for roping in Abilene Kansas. It was the best. Then we bought Manny and Zandy. Manny turned out to be a disaster of a horse and we bought his full sister (a year younger) Maggie. Maggie would prove to be the best horse I've ever ridden. We got Maggie when I was 9 years old and now that I'll be 29 in a few weeks we still have Maggie. She is still the best horse I've ever ridden. Yes, has her moments but they are few and far between. I had a couple of ponies. Sonny was a great pony. She was a little welsh pony that gave me the confidence to do anything. She ended up going to a camp for disabled children. My dad went back to his old friend and bought a big beautiful appaloosa mule Dabber. We also bought a little white mule named Hans. They were great. Trained by a good friend and reliable trail mules.
My dad and I spent many hours riding. All my adolescent years of frustration, green hair and eyebrow piercings were still spent on the back of a mule or horse with my dad trail riding.
Many of the people we met including my Dad didn't care if my hair was green, if my pants were camo and I worse tennis shoes and not boots. I loved riding. Loved trails and loved spending the time with my Dad. Even as a teenager I still had a great time and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Here's some photos of my horse and hopefully soon I will scan some pictures of my mules too. I wish everyday that my Maggie was 7 years old again, my dad and I were still riding and my mules were still in my pasture.
Ohhhh the good ole days.