2009: The worst year, ever

Have you ever had a year that will live in infamy as being the one you’d most rather have pulled a ‘Rip Van Winkle’ than be awake through?

Sure you have. We all have... or will. And 2009 is mine.

First, I was rear ended at a stoplight by not one but two vehicles (a moving van hit the half ton behind me, linking them at the bumpers before hitting me... if that makes any sense), which totaled my Jeep. After that came the age related woes of my highly intelligent and “sweetest little girl to humans and May West-like to other horses” thirty-two-year-old mare Bear, a cancer scare and surgery for me and, a month later, emergency surgery of a family member. Then a family member took a big hit from the dreaded “Downsizing Disease” (ten years at a great job literally one minute, and unemployment and a “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it goes” the next). But the twin topper was the most devastating of all: the sudden and unexpected but thankfully peaceful passing of my wonderful Mom on October 24th at approximately 3 pm, and, after “telling” me it was her time to go, the peaceful vet-assisted passing of 'my sweetest little girl' Bear (Pokey Bear Sadie) yesterday evening (Nov 24th) at approximately 6 pm.

Heartfelt thankyous go to Dr. McIntyre and the emergency crew of Red Deer, Alberta, for their compassion and heroic efforts with regard to my mom, and to veterinarians Dr. Grant and Dr. Rick, farrier Steve Harris, and Dennis Costen for their compassion and heroic efforts with regard to Bear.

I'll be infinitely glad when 2009 is over.

This is racist?

Seriously? Okay, so what am I missing? If this is racist and has been pulled off the shelves, then I gotta wonder what else is considered racist. Maybe this...








to the Witch communty.












Or this...







to the ‘Hairy Guys and the Women Who Love Them’ group.













Or this...










Oops, now how did that pic get in here? *ahem* But while we’re on the subject, this goes out to all you Twilight fans: THIS is a vampire!

A little horse advice to a beginner

So I was browsing through Craigslist today and stumbled across the following post:

horse advice (south shore)
looking to get a horse, but dont know anything about caring for it, if you can give me some advice as in how big a stall has to be and how much it costs to upkeep a horse that will be great. thanks
http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/grd/1417217513.html

Hey, at least this person asked first!

My advice? Don't get a horse unless you're first willing to take a ton of riding lessons with a qualified instructor and work at a reputable stable (gratis, if needs be) for at least a year.

Horses, even the free or cheap ones, are terribly expensive and are a huge commitment (mentally, physically, emotionally, and most certainly financially). They aren't something to be taken lightly nor started on a lark. Learn. Do your research. Ask questions. Find out about things like dental care (once a year at over one hundred per), farrier care (every six weeks at roughly $35 per trim... and that's for a regular barefoot trim—if you want shoes, they could run you a heck of a lot more), vaccinations (yearly for life—could run as high as $200 per year, depending), deworming costs (at least $20 every five weeks for life), boarding (as low as $125 per month to as high as several hundred per month, depending on the area, if the horse is to be inside or outside, and what the stable has to offer), specialized feed if necessary (boarding facilities only provide the basics, so there might be another hundred or more per month extra). And that's just the beginning! Add a minimum of $2,000 - $3,000 you'll need to set aside per year for misc. vet costs and the like (horses have accidents and they’re rarely cheap to fix!). Then there's the obvious, such as a helmet, saddle, bridle, saddle pad, brushes, hoof pick, blankets, fly spray, salt block, mineral block, buckets, halters (always have an extra one handy), lead ropes (again, extra), shipping boots, a trailer, riding lessons (yep, you'll still need that), possible training for your horse, a tack box... and the list goes on and on. Hey, horse owners don't call ourselves "horse poor" for nothing!

Oh, and if you're planning on keeping a horse at home, there's most of the above, plus straw (or shavings) and excellent quality hay (at the very least 250 bales of hay for one horse per year x whatever the price is where you live... here, it's gone up to around $8 to $10 plus, per bale) and a safe place to store it (away from where your horse is, as it could catch fire and kill the animal). And don't forget proper fencing (NOT BARBED WIRE or those damned T-posts!), a run-in shelter, a 12 x 12 box stall (which you'll have to clean out daily) which is made to specs and is safe and properly ventilated (or the horse could get the heaves, severely injured, or even killed), oats or specialized feed, a large water tub for outside (you'll have to clean that out every week as horses need access to clean fresh water no matter if they're inside and outside... unless they've just had a workout—then they need to be walked out and cooled down dry before being given water or they could founder), water buckets for inside the stall (also clean those out at least every week), a pitch fork, shovel, rake, broom, hoses, wheel barrow or muck bucket, safe stall mats (those can be really expensive!), a way to get rid of manure (to limit insects and disease, and because most counties have specific rules about that), rubber floor pans (to feed oats or special feed), water (of course), barn lights (of course), insurance, etc., etc. Not to mention the time involved in doing all of that plus grooming the horse from top to bottom every day, feeding at least twice a day, keeping all areas spotless, checking daily for anything sticking out (nails, etc., that could cut a horse), walking the entire pasture daily to check for gopher holes, loose boards, stray binder twine. And again, that list goes on and on.

Most people love horses. Most people want horses. No person should own horses unless they can afford them and know what they‘re doing. Why? Because too many good, sound horses end up at slaughterhouses, or worse—crippled, starved, ruined and in agony for life. Not to mention your own safety! If you're determined to get a horse, do the horse, and yourself, a favor and learn (through a ton of riding lessons with a qualified instructor and working at a reputable stable for at least a year) as much as you can first, first hand and not through some internet site or via some know-nothing idiot, so you'll know what you're getting into and so you can give a horse a good life.

Life, by the way, can be around thirty years or more.

ALERT: Stolen Horse in Alberta, Canada

As some of you might know, I live in Alberta, Canada. So when I read a post today on Fugly horse of the day about a stolen horse in Alberta, I naturally had to jump on it to try to help spread the word. Please listen up.

If you are in Alberta, Canada please be on the look out for this stolen horse! This two year old filly disappeared from her pasture and we are VERY concerned that she may show up at an auction. If you see her at one or advertised for sale, please immediately call 780-722-4833. Thank you!





































If you have seen this filly, do the right thing and call the number. Let's get her home!

Update: This filly is home safe. She was deliberately let out by Bad Neighbors, recognized and intercepted at the auction house, and brought home. Thank goodness!

Applauding Good Farriers/For The Love of Old Mac’s Boots/Another Reason Not To Rein

There are a ton of things we horse owners can physically do to keep our four-legged family members healthy, as well as a ton we cannot do and so have to rely on the expertise of others. Trimming/shoeing, for most of us, falls into the latter category. So today, I thought I’d tout the expertise and ingenuity of the good farrier—that highly regarded, highly sought after and often unmentioned guy or gal who goes to extraordinary lengths to keep our beloved equines comfortable.

I’ve spoken about Bear—my thirty-two-year-old Quarter Horse mare—several times on this blog, but haven’t really gotten into her goings-on, so I figure now’s as good a time as any. To look at her, you’d swear she was in her prime. Inside, however, is a whole other story. It all started long before I purchased her, when her previous owner sent her as a four or five-year-old to some big-name whoop-dee-do reining trainer.

Yes, I said reining, and yes, it might ruffle a few reining-lovers. So it goes.

This summer, stiffness and slight lameness increasing to dead lameness forced a vet visit along with his portable x-ray machine. What he found was a very old torque fracture in Bear’s left carpus (knee) which had healed years ago and had over calcified, along with a bone spur and a few other odds and ends. In Dr. Rick’s own words: “This is the type of injury that likely nobody noticed when it happened, but eventually shows up big time.” Then he dropped the other shoe, saying, “It’s common in reining horses.”

Common! Well if that doesn’t give you a reason not to rein, I don’t know what will. Oh, and just to clarify: I’m a Western and English Pleasure person, not a reining person, so I had never practiced nor shown Bear in reining... although I heard she could spin on a dime and slide like a toboggan on ice. Of course, if I had reined her, no doubt she would have been in far worse shape than she is now and it would have showed up far earlier, like in her prime. But anyway...

So what has all of this got to do with a farrier?--you ask. Hang on, I’m getting to it.

We started Bear on intra-articular injections right then and there, and they worked like a charm. She’ll never be 100% of course (she’s still a little stiff and always will be), but the pain and lameness disappeared... until trouble started again, this time with her right front hoof. Out came the vet (again) with his x-ray machine (again), and this time the x-rays showed nothing—no rotation, no degrading, no anything. (Thank goodness.) The diagnosis: a high abscess. The cure: Epsom salts soakings, Epsom salts poultices, and shoes. Ah, but how do you nail shoes onto a stiff-kneed, sore-hoofed horse without causing even more pain?

You don’t. You use Old Mac’s Multi Purpose Horse Boots (Original) with Comfort Padding instead, along with some vet wrap around the pasterns to prevent rubbing. Bear takes a size 6. And yes, she wears them 24/7, save for taking them off every 24 hours to check the hoof as you normally would, the boot for debris that might have fallen inside, and to change the vet wrap. Easy as hell to size (place hoof on a sheet of paper, trace the outline, take the outline to a tack store and have a knowledgeable employee measure to fit), easy as hell to put on and take off (just don‘t forget to put your finger between the horse’s pastern and the internal velcro fastener when cinching it up in order to give a little breathing room), easy as hell for Bear to walk in, and she‘s never lost one yet. I seriously love these boots and highly recommend them. (By the by, I tried the Epsom salts poultice/gauze/diaper, vet wrap/duct tape boot thingy for about three weeks prior to the Old Mac‘s, but Bear was still pretty darn sore with it. Not to mention that the amount of time with her knee bent and the other leg holding her up sure didn’t help matters.)

Ah, but who gave me the heads-up on Old Mac’s?

Why, my farrier, Steve Harris, of course.

(See? I told you I was getting to him.)

Did I mention that previous to this whole ordeal, when she was just a little stiff in the knees, that Steve was trimming Bear’s hooves via sitting on the ground with her hoof in his lap so she wouldn’t have to bend her knees too much and he therefore wouldn’t cause her as much pain? Now that’s a farrier who goes above and beyond, let me tell you; a rare one who’s actually concerned about the welfare of the horse.

More, we found that Bear, in trying to take the weight off her abscessed front right (during the interm between the duct tape boot thingy and the Old Mac’s), had strained her opposite hind leg through overcompensating. That was when the real farrier fun started. Poor Steve. There he was (even with the Old Mac’s boots and pads by then, which made my mare’s fronts sound and comfortable), with Bear needing to practically sit on him to have her hind hooves trimmed. I mean, Steve is a pretty strong guy and all, but let’s not forget Bear weighs around eleven-hundred pounds! So what did Steve do? He staggered over to his truck and came back with something so simple and worked so well that it was forehead slapping—a wide roll of duct tape and a square sponge. Lay the duck tape on its side, place the sponge over it, place hoof on top, and trim while kneeling on the ground. Voila! Well, it’ll do at least until her hind leg strain heals. By the way, I told Steve that if he ever tried to move, I’d hunt him down and drag him back—he’s that good.

Currently, the abscess is ready to break, the boots are doing famously, and Steve is still worth his weight in gold. Good farriers like Steve Harris (who hails from Alberta, Canada)—you gotta love ‘em.

When should I start riding my horse?

About a gazillion years ago, I asked our so-called qualified vet that very question regarding our then coming two-year-old and was told (word for word): “He’s a lot stronger than he looks, so go ahead.”

That has to be the single worst piece of horse advice in the history of bad horse advice, and I’ll tell you why. 1) No young horse is stronger than it looks, and of course it isn’t; no matter what it looks like on the outside, it’s still a baby on the inside. 2) Any vet who tells someone that is a moron.

Instead of talking to myself for the next twenty pages (since I doubt horse folks who’ve made up their minds and/or have their own agendas and reasons for doing things will listen to little-ol’ me), I’ll just post a link to
Deb Bennet’s (Ph.D.) study on equine skeletal development

Read it; repeat it; print copies off and hang them up in your barn or leave them on the table in your Boarder’s Lounge or pass them out at your kid’s local 4-H or Horse Club meeting. Futurities be damned; I want my horses alive and sound beyond the eight-year-old mark.

I don't think so, Doc

Well, I’ve met with the specialist, had a biopsy (here’s a word of advice: “A little pressure” is doctor jargon for “excruciating pain”), gone in for my pre-op blood work and had a CA125 test. Now, as long as I don’t catch a cold, the surgery will take place on August 24th.

Oh yes, and the doc advised me to quit smoking at least ten days before surgery.

Quit smoking? He must be joking. As if my nerves aren’t shattered enough at the myriad of horror stories one hears about surgery—being awake throughout and unable to tell anyone; dying on the table because the doctor is a quack, or because the anesthesiologist is a quack, or because the doctor is making google-eyes with Nurse Buxom, or because the anesthesiologist is making google-eyes at Nurse Buxom, or because the doctor and anesthesiologist are making google-eyes at each other; dying in recovery because that Nurse Buxom is in the janitor closet with the doctor and anesthesiologist instead of monitoring my stats; dying because the anesthesiologist doesn’t know that my veins have a tendency to collapse with such force as to shoot catheters across rooms like lethal ninja weapons, perhaps killing said doctor, nurse and anesthesiologist, leaving me to bleed to death before the surgery has even begun; waking up at my own autopsy.

I’m kidding of course. I don’t really believe any of that. I’m just a Fiction writer who's a little neurotic when it comes to anything medical. I know nothing will happen before, during, or after the surgery. Ah, but just in case, I won’t be quitting smoking anytime soon.