Horse Sense....

 

                  

 

So I need to take another fecal sample.

This is super annoying for a few reasons.  Well, two.

1) I don't want to.

2) Boo looks good and I don't want a fecal sample to tell me any different.

Refer to 1.

But all jokes aside, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.  

You and I both know that the tummy is the most important part of a horse to keep the head healthy.  Healthy tummy - healthy head.  Which means that you absolutely 100% have to have the tummy in balance.  Which means the worm count has to be low. 

So, the natural wormer we've dumped, because getting it was just too erratic to be any good.  Which leads me to food, which I believe I have got right with stuff that kills the worms.  

However, what is a healthy worm count?

We start getting antsy if it is over 400.  Well, our lovely Vet does.  But all my horses look amazeballs.  So, and my bad here, I wish to live in the therefore they are fine and worm free land.  Which may not be accurate.  Hence, the fecal count.

But, and here is where it gets a bit dodge, if the count comes back fine, our lovely Vet just makes me take another one in two weeks, and if it has increased she makes me commerically worm.

So, what we are hoping for right now is a low count, then another low count two weeks later.

I just need to say here, I don't think anyone else knows much more about worms than I do, apart from you have to have a healthy tummy to keep the head straight.

I can't say I'm right, but I can't agree with anyone else's theory being right either.  I believe we are all on the wrong path and how we are looking at it.  Just degrees of wrongness.

Wish us luck.

****

Had a great conversation today re the jigsaw in relation to pre-foaling.  Physiology, psychology, genetics, strengths, weaknesses and whether it was important to physically see the stallion. We also briefly touched on Touch/play and  frequency, although we used different words.  Actually, we didn't talk about those at all, as you and I talk about them, but the very biggest, round circle concepts were there. 

Like the most fragile thread, connected.  

And just talking about these things with another foaling horse person though, and although the conversation wasn't long due to time restraints, I could breathe again.

****

And I'm trying some super new things over the next month.  I have heard amazing things about one of them, am hoping for amazing things on the other and the third one is a bit of a hit and miss.  Actually, I had two options for the same thing.  Both almost the exact opposite of same. Like the total opposite ends of the spectrum.  I'm excited and will let you know how they go.

I do have to say though that the young one and I are always chatting about whatever new thing I am trying, or about to, and sometimes the conversations go a little pear shaped. 

Like today when I was explaining about a new concept and he was like, Oh ok, well it won't be like that (referring to what he thought it sounded like), so how are they going to do it?

Ummmmm...actually, that's exactly what they are doing.

Oh no, oh no no no, I'm a Scientist and I am not happy about that.

Look you, they can't have rich old ladies dying, so it'll be fine.

You're not old.  Or rich.

****

Got the next lot of herbs and they came from another country.  Different to the first lot. 

So there I was Goggle-ing and yes, I can get them cheaper.  If I buy in the ton.

Many tons being preferable.

Might have to stick with the middleman after all, I just don't wish to buy in those kind of quantities because, well, I'm not a retailer.  I don't sell products, and I certainly don't sell you what another 10 people can with similiar results.  

****

And I might have upset our lovely farrier.

Ok, ok, fine, I did.  But to be fair, my first responsiblity is to my lovely Boo.  Which means every decision I make is directly related to how this will affect him.  

So I'm still working with fixing Az's sugar hooves, they're doing better but not perfect, and because I always have to keep on top of him, he regularly gets done every 6 weeks.  As do Suz and Chew.  Ralph, the little piglet, does not.  Cappy does mostly, but often every second six weeks (and missed the last one) and Mumma not much at all.

Az, Chew and Suz got done.  Chew complaining bitterly, Suz sulked and Az was just, Meh! 

Then our lovely farrier asked about the rest, and I said, no.

And the reason is this: 

Mumma, Caps, Boo and Ralph run as a herd.  Ralph is constantly having his mane grabbed by Boo, which is making him a bit munty, but overall, everyone has fun. 

But Mumma can be a bit of a tart when getting her hooves done.  Not all the time, mind you, just when she's in an off mood.  Which can be a lot when it's hooves time.  So she has been known to do a bit of a rear up, put the boot in and generally show some very unsociable behaviours.

Cappy is normally a rockstar.

So, the issue I found myself with is that Boo will be learning about hooving, from Cappy and Mumma.  

Now I have to say here that our lovely farrier does not hit or punch my horses, however, I was not willing to put that to the test if Mumma decided to rear up or put the boot in.  I hope he wouldn't, but rearing and booting, can cause peeps to do stuff that they normally wouldn't do.

So I went and spoke to He who knows everything, explaining that Boo was going to learn directly from Mumma and Cappy and that Mumma might not wish to have her hooves done, and that we couldn't do Mumma's hooves without Boo hanging round being a bit of a Watcha doing?  Wanna play?  You a stallion too? Check out my legs!! Can I eat that?

And he ok'd coming down to do it, when he had decided how he was going to tackle this.  Which is, I have learnt, when he has thought about every possible scenario, and found a successful way to acheive what he wishes.  And you cannot rush this process.

Then our farrier wanted to do it today.

And I said, no.

Let's just say he wasn't happy and leave it at that.

However, my first, and only responsibllity is to Boo and the people coming behind me. 

No one, and I mean, not one person will thank me for showing him Mumma rearing and putting the boot in, when hooving. 

Rule Number 1 when foaling - Don't fuck it up.

Rule Number 2 - refer to Number 1.

****

What I love most with my horses is when they are in teaching mode. 

And they've been teaching recently.

So I like to train my horses that they are not head shy.  That if they see a hand coming towards their head, they do not automatically shy back or try and bite you.  This is a very helpful tool to teach.  So at night as they're feeding with their feed bucket on the fence, I stroke Cappy's head, Mumma's and then Boo's, so Boo gets to know that a human hand coming towards him, comes in kindness.  It is also particularly helpful if someone ever finds themselves inbetween them at feeding times, Boo knows that you do not bite a human.  It's a win/win. 

However, the other day at dinner time, I touched Boo on his bum bone and he stopped eating, turned, and started Miri-Miri-ing Cappy.  Which I found out was a complete no-no as Cappy turned and growled at me!!  I got a telling off!  Absolutely, 100%, I am not to touch anywhere apart from the forehead when they are eating.  And even then, briefly. The funny thing was I saw again that when the horses Miri it is an exchange of Energy.  They do not do it, or maybe cannot do it, singularly. There has to be an exchange of Energy between 2, possibly 3 horses.  Interesting.

But tonight Mumma was in a teaching mode and was showing Boo the correct way to stand with humans and be groomed.  She literally would not let him near me.  She stood, showed him the proper way, the correct manners, complete with facial moevements and expressions, and then left.  With Boo not quite getting what he wanted.  So then I popped off over to Az and was grooming him and Boo hurtled through the paddock, turned left, down, left again round the corner, and then up and through another paddock to stand watching us.

Az also had impeccable manners.  In fact, he was a bloody rockstar.

****

And the young one was hanging out with someone today, when they got the email that they were Covid positive.

Back to isolation.

He'll get a test Thursday (hiis time).

No, Covid positive person does not know where he might have got it.  Last peeps he saw was a week ago and they had all been vaccinated.

And no, the young one has also not had a vaccination. 

Not because of anything I have said, mind you.  In fact, vaccine conversation went like this, No, I haven't had a vaccine yet, because I haven't made up my mind.  But it really doesn't matter what you say, this is my body and I'll do what I want.

I've raised him well. 

Annoying. 

But well.

****

And I've lost another bloody chicken!

I went outside yesterday afternoon and there were some feather lying on the ground. That's all that's left.

And we can thank Don Cappo Pat.  The Don didn't like him.

Poof!

So we're down to 3.  I've named one Coyote.  Well, I wanted to name him Ugly because he is white with these random brown streaks, like he has rolled in poo but I thought that was too mean.  He suits Coyote though.  And we have Humphrey who is Mumma's double but white. 

But the last one I won't name because I'm not sure he's staying.  I think Humphrey might be a rooster and I'm pretty sure the third chicken is too.  If he is, then he's gone, so I won't name him.

****

And do you remember me saying that Boo was watching me groom Az the other day?

Well, today, he had a bit of breakfast then came down to the Welcome Paddock to see me, and stood exactly how Az did.  It was weird because he was trying so hard to be an excellent horse, and I was trying so hard to be a good human role model.

We worked very slowly, in an extremely fragile way, and it was bloody beautiful.

****

Ooooohhhhh almost forgot...Belle's baby Daddy had 3 babies race this week.

2 colts who came 4th each, and 1 filly who came 3rd.

It is now glaringly obvious, that the majority of Belle's baby Daddy babies who hit the track are colts.  I believe the ratio is almost 3 to 1, but could be as much as 5 to 1.  I'm not 100% on this, because some peeps use names which have no relevance to their Daddy, but from checking results, that's what it looks like.

However, overall, they don't do as well as the fillies.

Now this tells me two things:

1) The speed comes from the Daddy.

2) The spark, that little bit of magick that every race horse needs to win, comes from the Mumma.

Nice.

****

So that's been our week:

At all times at the moment, I have to check my ego and leave it at the door.  I'm always looking at the goal that I wish, and I do not deviate from that end goal, no matter whether I am right or wrong.  I consistently hold myself as accountable as I do everyone else.  If the results cannot be guaranteed by me, or they are not backed up by fact (like that bloody worm count), then I will go with a better plan.  Admittedly, with a bit of a whinge, but I'm old enough that I won't allow my ego and desire to be right, to over ride everything else.  

Every single decision I make, is based on our goal of Boo being a happy, healthy, well adjusted and successful race horse.  

And Spirit.

Bucketloads and bucketloads and bucketloads of Spirit.

Big hugs and horsey kisses from us here, to you there.

Caps, me, Spirit, Az, Ralph, Chew, Suz, and of course, my beautiful Mumma Bear, Belle and Little Boo, Pat, Chuck and Lightning, Humprey - the cute white fluffy one that looks like Lightning, Coyote and 1 (not so little) chickadees.  

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