Horse Sense....

 

                  

 

Mumma's hurt herself!

Got up this morning and did my normal feed out, then scooted down to Welcome Paddock to muck out and resfresh with hay and baleage and Hello! next minute Mumma is with me.  Then trailing behind was Boo.  Then Cappy.

Super weird because they left all their breakfast and considering what gutsy pants they are, I knew something was badly wrong.

So there I was checking but no blood, rips, tears or swelling so big it took up a whole side of the body, so first impressions were good.  

Then Mumma moved.

Actually, she did this weird ass dragging motion thingy.  Called Vet.  Then text Vet.  Re-called Vet's landline, Vet called back.  Then re-called back, then had a cancellation and came straight over.

Could be an abscess, we had a bit of a chat about farriers here, but we're not 100% sure.  I think she put the boot in somewhere and has pulled something.  That's more likely.  And it doesn't feel like an abscess.  She's hot, but the wrong hot.  Her heat is up by her hip joint when I'm touching her.  And as much as I believe that a lot of abscesses start from the hip being pulled, and the toxins travelling down and out the hoof, I don't believe that this is the case here.

And I know Mumma.  She's not an abscess kind of girl.  Cappy gets them and periodically so does Az, but not Mumma.  Anyway, Touch tells me she's pulled something.

Anyway, hoof scraped out a little bit but no pus or blood, although we do have swelling, but her hip is hot and sore.  Anyway, no one is saying a word, but Cappy never moved an inch away from her all day.  And is still there and will continue to be there until she is better.  Boo wouldn't leave her alone either and even Ralphy poo stood in the huddle in the stables.

I ended up feeding everyone in the Welcome Paddock, both breakfast (new) and dinner.  No one was leaving Mumma, and she was too sore to do much movement.

I was really surprised that Boo never left Mumma.  He who wants to go everywhere at the speed of light.  Nope.  Stand with Mumma.

I love the intricate and complexities of the herd dynamics.  It's very fucking cool.

My horses also love our Vet. 

She is not of the stable, medicate and wrap variety.  She is success focussed and understands how quickly a horse in top condition can heal, and just does what she can to encourage that healing process, in the most stress free way possible for them.  

It's a win/win for everyone.

****

And this herb type thingy I'm trying is slippery.  And intelligent.

It's been a while since I've used something like this.  

So, how it works is that it corrects any imbalances around the tummy.  But the interesting thing is that it doesn't fix diarrhoea or constipation but if you have diarrhoea it will make it solid and if you have constipation it well, makes you flow.  

That's clever.

I'm also hearing that you can add stuff to it to make it do lots more other things.  So I'm thinking in human terms it would be like potatoes, or bread.  Maybe rice.  I don't eat rice so that's a bad analogy.  But think of something plain, that you add other interesting things to to make it interesting.  

I'm going to get through this cycle, then start adding stuff to it that I've heard about.

This has been a big surprise.

****

And Mumma's noticeably better today.  No Miri Miri needed, or balm, just the herbs.

Everyone stuck to her like glue though, in the end she buggered off down to the bottom paddocks and the boys stayed at the stables. 

I'm super proud of her healing abilities though.

Still don't know what it actually was.  If it was/is an abscess, it should be getting worse, which it's not.  I mean, it could, but as I'm writing this, it is not.

And GREAT news...drum roll, please...

Cappy's worm count came back at 200

Boo's at 300 but wait for it...

Mumma's came back at 4300.

Our lovely Vet just said, I've seen Mumma, she's not carrying a 4300 worm count.  

We still don't know why we periodically get these weird ass worm counts though.  The lab we use is awesome and really sterile, and the guy who does it LOVES worms, so he's not making a mistake.  All we can do is what we're doing, and hope that something tangible comes out of this.  Something we can say, Hey!  This is what is happening and this is how it's working.

At the moment we're getting success, but if I'm being honest, we're just winging it.

And talking about winging shite, this herb-y type thing I'm playing with is bloody awesome.  I mean, I love writing with you, not just to share our lives, but often it gives me a Boom! moment.  Which is what happened.  When I wrote about it being like potatoes or rice, I completely changed how I was using it.  

And got even better results than the original.

Put this with this and that will happen.

Put this with that and this will happen.

Use this by itself, this will happen.

Got the doseages completely wrong today, and by miles, but in a super good way.  Overall though, I couldn't be happier.  

****

And I am so unbelievably proud today.

i don't know about you, but it is not often that I can say that I've done something amazing.  But today I can.

You know all that kerfuffle about me stomping my hoof about farriers, and how the first time Boo has to see something amazing.  Well, amazing as in No big deal.  

Well that's what we did.

I got it.

And here I am writing, letting you think that I did something here, and that's a lie, I did nothing.  It was all He who knows everythig and his lovely partner-in-crime, who came down and made what I wanted a reality.

They did Cappy while Boo looked on.  Cappy was just on the lead, while Boo and Mumma were in the stables next door.  Boo popping his head over all the time to see what was happening and whether anyone wanted to play.  Cappy was a rockstar and there was not one issue.

Then Cappy went off lead, Boo came out to play and He who knows everything and his lovely partner-in-crime, moved into stables and did Mumma.  

No rearing, bucking or putting the hoof in, although I wouldn't have taken my chances on someone less experienced.

Again, Boo was watching, popping his head over inbetween playing with Cappy and Ralphy Poo.

It doesn't seem like a big deal, in fact, it might even be not that important to you there, but you know, to us here, and especially me, it was a really proud moment.

Oooooh and wait, Mumma doesn't have an abscess, He who knows everything said she had either slipped iin the mud and pulled something or stepped in a rabbit hole.

Either way, she's fine.

****

Now roasting this herb then blending in whizzer type thingy. This is so bloody easy to use.  And versatile.

****

So that's been our week:

We've done ok.  I'm happy that I've stood my ground because when it mattered, my belief system has come through for us.  Mumma hurt herself and self-fixed, with a few herbs, one Miri Miri and a chat with our lovely Vet.  That's awesome.  

I also gave Boo the gift of humans.  

That first farrier (and I use that term with the highest respect to He who knows everything and his lovely partner-in-crime) was the best experience I could have given him - thank you so much!!

BEST.  EXPERIENCE.  EVER.

But as much as I am proud of us here at home this week, and I am proud because we got excellent results, I need you to understand I am only able to do the work I do with the horses, because the people around us are also experts in their field, have open minds and are solely focussed on success for the horses.

There is no, I am right, you are wrong.  

There is no ego.

There is only, How can we get success in the quickest, easiest and most stress-free way, for the horses?

And I swear, hand on hoof, the horses know.

And then work with us.

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, Coyote and One.   

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  

* Ok, I've made a mistake, so I need to correct this.

I said re Belle's baby Daddy, colts and fillies, that it was lots more colts to fillies that hit the track, but the fillies did better. 

I was wrong.

It goes like this:

Colts to win or place: 11

Fillies to win or place: 10

Out of the 6 lifetime winners in New Zealand, 5 were colts.

Top time in New Zealand was 2.04.7 - Done by a filly.

However, one colt was sold to Australia and has done extremely well. 

His lifetime starts are (as I'm writing this): 24.  Consisting of: 5 wins, 6 seconds, 5 thirds.

His best time: 2.07.1

Random fact Number 1: Only one other of the 158 foals (157 if you count Belle) has the same Granddaddy Stallion as Belle. 

Random fact Number 2: They can't seem to run as two year olds.  

Very few have hit the track as a 2 year old.  Now this backs up what you and I have spoken about, that Belle should have been in training and is not allowed to by He who knows everything, as he has said she is still growing, and she is not yet ready.

Boom, baby.