tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33740987835339156992024-02-07T12:51:45.586-05:00It's Quarters for Mesmazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.comBlogger371125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-37919091921941127422015-08-13T23:17:00.000-04:002015-08-13T23:17:48.680-04:00Redeeming herself<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So my last post wasn't very positive and then I disappeared for a while, which might have left a person or two wondering about my little mare. If you were worried, don't be, she isn't going anywhere.<br />
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After I wrote that I decided that I needed to make a real effort to work with her a lot more. When her hoof healed I rode her every day for a week and she didn't put a foot wrong. She really does have a heart of gold.<br />
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Recently, I found a local trainer who not only uses Classical techniques but is willing to make house calls! She also has her own collection of redheaded mares (OTTBs) so she's very comfortable working with horses that might be labeled as "hot."<br />
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Today, for the first time ever, I had a lunge line lesson riding Gwen. She trotted up and down a hill, in a circle, with me on her back trying to fix my posting position- and she was a rockstar! Unfortunately I started out as a nervous mess, so the real point of the lesson turned into getting me to let go of the fear and actually trust my girl. That is hard to lose but after our experience today my fear level dropped about 25% and the trainer had only good things to say about my girl.<br />
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So yeah, we're doing okay!smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-18105372910127454202015-05-31T15:47:00.003-04:002015-05-31T15:47:59.090-04:00Heavy questionsGood news, my art was selected to be in the show next month! I'm very excited!<br />
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In other news, my mare is a nut. You remember those pastures I worked my butt off to clear so they'd have more grass to eat? She's scared to be in them. She wasn't even in one of them for an hour when, in an anxiety fit, she raced around the pasture and then blasted through the fence. Unfortunately there are still remnants of little trees that had been cut off a little above ground level in there- she stepped on one and punctured her foot. She seems to be mostly healed now but it took two weeks of soaking, booting, wrapping, and topical treatments to get it there.<br />
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That's not normal, right? Most horses, when moved from a pasture with little grass into a pasture with a lot of grass are normally happy, right? Look at these pictures, this was an hour after I put her out here. Notice the grass, lots of grass, and she still made herself into a sweaty mess.<br />
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Is there an anti-anxiety med for horses that actually works? I need to find a way to take her down a notch, especially since my family keeps telling me to get rid of her. Get rid of her how? I can't sell her, I'd fear for her safety and the safety of anyone who took her. Ugh.<br />
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After her foot is completely healed I'm going to make an effort to work with her every day, get a routine started, and see if that doesn't help her mind get in a good place. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what I'm going to do...<br />
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<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-32625898676108622982015-04-20T21:51:00.002-04:002015-04-20T21:51:38.680-04:00Still alive!Just a little update for the three people still checking into my blog, yes I'm still alive. My horses are still alive too. I've even got a sort of plan for training and riding them this year. Part of my plan hinges on what kind of outdoor play equipment I can get to keep my son occupied for a half hour or so at a time...<br />
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Babies change everything.<br />
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In other stuff I've been doing, I've been focusing on art this year. I've always been a bit of a "closet" artist but this year I've decided to really go for it. Here's a piece that I finished last week that I'm thinking of entering into a local, juried, show.<br />
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What do you think?<br />
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<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-79070195444866420002015-01-01T13:33:00.001-05:002015-01-01T13:33:51.803-05:00Evening feed at my houseEvening feed at my house:<br />
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Get the toddler all bundled up in his snow suit, get myself all bundled up. Walk halfway out to the chicken coop, remember that I forgot hot water for the chickens, walk back into the house to get hot water. Get all the way out to the coop, bust the ice out of the pan and refill with water. Chickens are good for the night.<br />
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Walk over lawn to horses, note the toddler is in the middle of the yard. Get the horses' feed pans ready, hear the toddler crying. Rush out to yard to find the child has fallen down in the snow and can't get up. Hoist up the child. Go back down and find the horses charging around the pasture because they are obviously starving to death. Carry out the feed pans while elbowing the horses out of the way. Walk back to the shed and pull down a hay bale, check in the water tank. SHIT, there's a dead rodent in there. Child starts crying out in the lawn. Run out to help toddler, find him lying facing down licking snow off the ground. Right the toddler. Get back to the shed and dump out the water tank.<br />
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Carry bale of hay out to the feeder, get the hay in the bag and the bag in the tank, look up and, SHIT, toddler in the horse pasture (he knows better). Run across the icy pasture to escort toddler out, remember dead rodent is still in the shed. Use hay strings to pick up said rodent and toss it out of the pasture into the weeds. Walk around to refill the water tank. Look down to see a chicken has laid an egg on the floor, yesterday, now it's cracked. Toss egg out the door into more weeds.<br />
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Walk at toddler speed back up to the house and then carry the boy up the steps because he can't do it with snow pants on. Take soggy, snow covered clothes off. Warm up and wait to do it again tomorrow.<br />
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<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-816462356638818282014-12-22T14:48:00.001-05:002014-12-22T14:48:42.295-05:00Fighting for their supperMy poor horses, having to deal with this:<br />
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Handsome is wearing soaking boots because of THRUSH! Aaarrggh! I'm so frustrated about this, I would chalk it up to fall swampiness but he has thrush in the middle of summer when the ground is dry. Since the feed is always the same I'm wondering if it's the culprit. I swapped out their feed last weekend so I can see if the added sugar in it was causing the thrush. Not that I was feeding sweet feed, but there was molasses in it. I'm hoping that not having any molasses will have a positive effect. Fingers crossed!smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-78333556242814153692014-12-02T20:04:00.001-05:002014-12-02T20:04:10.189-05:00Dressage: How it used to be<div id="fb-root">
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<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=695530370530079" data-width="466">
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=695530370530079">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diamond.harmony.1">Thomas Kirst</a>.<br />
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If for nothing else, make sure you watch to the end where you can see a woman pat down the sweaty horse and then enthusiastically shake her hand off. Hehe.</div>
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smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-89003555556500252692014-10-26T15:24:00.000-04:002014-10-26T15:24:51.274-04:00Riding Miss GwenevereI've been riding Miss Gwenevere! Yes I have!<br />
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After cutting down a thousand trees, mowing and waiting for the horrible biting flies to go away, I was able to start riding again. Yippee!<br />
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I've been able to get on Gwen about twice a week for the past two months and she's doing really well. I'm also doing really well. I'm happy to say that I'm no longer nervous/scared/anxious about climbing onto her back. I tack her up, walk to the mounting block and just get on. It doesn't seem like much but to me it means a LOT.<br />
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Anyway, she's been working on moving her hindquarters, her shoulders, walking figure eights. She even got in a few steps of shoulder-in the other day. Progress!<br />
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<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-41836438253891520032014-10-09T10:33:00.001-04:002014-10-09T10:33:39.809-04:00Chicken keeping for beginnersOne of the perks I was looking forward to after purchasing our home was getting chickens so, as is my fashion, last spring I placed an order for way more chickens than any beginner should have.<br />
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My wee chicks arrived in the beginning of April and I excitedly set up a brooder for them in the basement. About a week later this turned out to be a very bad idea, I had no idea how much dust 27 chicks can make! There was dust all over the floors, the walls, everywhere! Even though I moved them outside as soon as they feathered out, mopped and vacuumed the basement as thoroughly as possible (including the walls), my husband still complains that the basement smells like chickens.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 week old chickies</td></tr>
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Lesson 1: Brood chickens outside.<br />
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I ordered an assortment, so I had no idea what breed most of my chicks were, or their sexes. It's been really fun to watch them grow up and see how they turn out... until the roosters start coming into their own. You don't want a lot of roosters; they fight each other, they gang up on the girls and they can start to turn their aggression on you.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLJhkMrILrEEErT9_0ClgyYCir7qSAHsUPWYvl-QwX0weBUGtBQdid8V-Ip4XrqV8oZv5PPpx0JzetdWnZ2Lh_z3l8dHisEO4WRTGONUDgq7UUZpEvvBGI5oZTR-t9La_CjkLqGMzV9E/s1600/P1020177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLJhkMrILrEEErT9_0ClgyYCir7qSAHsUPWYvl-QwX0weBUGtBQdid8V-Ip4XrqV8oZv5PPpx0JzetdWnZ2Lh_z3l8dHisEO4WRTGONUDgq7UUZpEvvBGI5oZTR-t9La_CjkLqGMzV9E/s1600/P1020177.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are four roosters in this photo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4abwO87Jh06V8pAr5IzGCfvH-BF-RmdhwrMBsgFQBrQv76BbEBehfJGv6C-RqpIYge_Q88hhQD-rIDYnqR2n6hZVds_KH33ZBvZa0NyrhY5StJ-wdwv2RGl94ap0QLtGL8LKARSj2c8/s1600/P1020426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4abwO87Jh06V8pAr5IzGCfvH-BF-RmdhwrMBsgFQBrQv76BbEBehfJGv6C-RqpIYge_Q88hhQD-rIDYnqR2n6hZVds_KH33ZBvZa0NyrhY5StJ-wdwv2RGl94ap0QLtGL8LKARSj2c8/s1600/P1020426.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my Easter Egger pullets</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUsIA3rzVgaHpQuTPGH0oNgp0ZURweq06BkzMcxK5Q0vNXD6SviHMYGfJpAx3nJkbpuWsWAUZli2CfqWIJ3B1g6UpuyyaSuhHABfkWflHB7cGpy0apgPk4pWbP4rv9u-DrveGj7SVB3c/s1600/P1020459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUsIA3rzVgaHpQuTPGH0oNgp0ZURweq06BkzMcxK5Q0vNXD6SviHMYGfJpAx3nJkbpuWsWAUZli2CfqWIJ3B1g6UpuyyaSuhHABfkWflHB7cGpy0apgPk4pWbP4rv9u-DrveGj7SVB3c/s1600/P1020459.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">two silkie roosters</td></tr>
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Lesson 2: Don't order a straight run of chickens (where you don't know what genders you're getting) or have a plan ahead of time for processing your excess roosters.<br />
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Fortunately, my husband does some work with an organic farmer that processes chickens and agreed to help mine through their life "transition." Thank goodness, I tried to do one myself and it didn't go well, it's a complicated process if you don't know what you're doing.<br />
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Now I'm left with three roosters, chosen for their gentler dispositions. I probably still have too many roosters, I can see the leghorn chasing the hamburg around my yard right this moment, but I'm hoping that my 22 pullets will keep them living together in reasonable peace.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3JR2TH6c23AaLRUGjJsUcO2QvMRE_Jr8O13m6caIJujvaWjjwe6u7mxNEnWWyskNc0jZO64dsEOBIJOJm4qKpEDg7UQvfSyrrIb1xGAT05kfPef2s8EDbfKrbK3JbD1UfN1KEhVqrz4/s1600/P1014657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3JR2TH6c23AaLRUGjJsUcO2QvMRE_Jr8O13m6caIJujvaWjjwe6u7mxNEnWWyskNc0jZO64dsEOBIJOJm4qKpEDg7UQvfSyrrIb1xGAT05kfPef2s8EDbfKrbK3JbD1UfN1KEhVqrz4/s1600/P1014657.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">brown leghorn</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiD6XPK8168ohYDdlZ29adPkbOKMGBuVqMVpI5AnSxz3BGKEv48IuNwiHOlUUOqIQFfNrdz2vct0QmqJTUWqJGL9EklBe8AVlJW4DPsXE7dAKHHLxbWobJchueB7Wmd0dZyTS4WUn-I0/s1600/P1014665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiD6XPK8168ohYDdlZ29adPkbOKMGBuVqMVpI5AnSxz3BGKEv48IuNwiHOlUUOqIQFfNrdz2vct0QmqJTUWqJGL9EklBe8AVlJW4DPsXE7dAKHHLxbWobJchueB7Wmd0dZyTS4WUn-I0/s1600/P1014665.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dominique</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hQPRNdPI57XA2Xz4Q-vcVZRoq__GrX_qEDOmw02Mdby7jzV7FmW_kCV2qP6pAdCCcoSXa_fGpYpN9oHcUwOJLtejwGU5rJj8UhVS3X-l_Odvl49pMeFkxE0rivS-Eze8n7OYre2QZRw/s1600/P1014668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hQPRNdPI57XA2Xz4Q-vcVZRoq__GrX_qEDOmw02Mdby7jzV7FmW_kCV2qP6pAdCCcoSXa_fGpYpN9oHcUwOJLtejwGU5rJj8UhVS3X-l_Odvl49pMeFkxE0rivS-Eze8n7OYre2QZRw/s1600/P1014668.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">silver spangled hamburg</td></tr>
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Aren't they handsome?<br />
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Lesson 3: Be prepared to get smitten with your chickens.<br />
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I got my chickens to provide food not to be pets, so I didn't handle them when they were chicks and I don't handle them now, yet every time I go outside I end up with a flock of birds swirling around me. I feel like the chicken whisperer. They also decorate my yard quite nicely, with all their different colors and shapes. Speaking of that, they also decorate my egg cartons quite nicely; I have white eggs, brown eggs, pink eggs and blue eggs. Chickens are also super easy to care for, at least mine are. I let them out in the morning and close them up at night, make sure they have food and water, check for eggs twice a day and turn over the coop bedding once a week or so.<br />
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I'm going out to check for eggs right now!smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-40510081235657608152014-09-13T21:34:00.001-04:002014-09-13T21:34:20.292-04:00The triumph of clicker training over fireworks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.phase-eight.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/fireworks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.phase-eight.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/fireworks.jpg" height="288" width="400" /></a></div>
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Tonight was my community's annual fireworks show, which would be great if I hadn't moved my horses a half mile away from where they shoot them off. No joke, we can practically see the guys light them from our house. I think some of the shells land on our property every year. They are CLOSE.<br />
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Anyway, I've been freaking out about Gwen and the fireworks. You may recall that my girl is a bit "jumpy," and by "jumpy" I mean extremely nervous and spooks at just about anything. In preparation I contacted my vet and got a tube of Dormosedan to sedate her for the show, the only problem being that she HATES getting tube medication and the last time I gave it to her it didn't work.<br />
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So about an hour before the show I was contemplating my choices, and decided not to try sedation. Instead, I filled my pockets with treats and planned to give her a reward every time we heard a boom.<br />
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It worked GREAT! After the first few she couldn't care less about those silly fireworks. Clicker training success!!<br />
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Unfortunately my supply ran out before the finale... but she kept it together and only jumped a little bit, but even Handsome jumped at that so I can't blame her for it.<br />
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I'm so proud of her, and now I have a plan for next year- a larger supply of treats!smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-10388256971799031612014-06-01T12:55:00.001-04:002014-06-01T12:55:51.416-04:00Sweat equitySorry I've been missing but I've been busy, and not the fun kind of busy either, where I could tell you that Handsome's canter pirouettes are coming along and Gwen is piaffing on the long lines nicely. No, I've been busy busting my hump trying to turn almost 30 acres worth of overgrown scrub into something useful.<br />
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Here's the first field that we managed to open up:<br />
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It still needs a ton of work, there are some more trees and brush I want to pull out and it needs to be mowed regularly for about two years before the weeds stop overpowering the grass, but it gives the horses something to chew on for a little while- about three days, which is really obnoxious considering how much work it took to get it to this point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2a1z8pzHL71PXUUlpbQYsxx9phIBqPzX_-qZjzXH8huaxdLbB8Fioc97bQmP5E3T0wPsXRpEtgcZGqQdmmgngXKp_v0yvlPCX1peZyvCtWZfgK3UDy29X_PmFtqthtuOQwc4KNI5D_ng/s1600/P1020119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2a1z8pzHL71PXUUlpbQYsxx9phIBqPzX_-qZjzXH8huaxdLbB8Fioc97bQmP5E3T0wPsXRpEtgcZGqQdmmgngXKp_v0yvlPCX1peZyvCtWZfgK3UDy29X_PmFtqthtuOQwc4KNI5D_ng/s1600/P1020119.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the brush and trees I pulled out of there, it looked a lot more impressive before the grass grew up</td></tr>
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Here's the next area in my sights, crap-ton of work left to do here:<br />
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And then there's this area, looks beautiful doesn't it?</div>
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Well look closer... oh, what's that? It's a BOG! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPWkDxQPlRf0GcLvULJNKXOiOaKJumwVPh1Lw4R44arx3W8QsvIQHy3metGQcA6VEp-CzMo9XLKTj62UsUeamYx9MPrh9yv8KrF6Kbxfr_d4L38ha5jcBJEB5Ii-OtD8aLFaEY6T9fIE/s1600/P1020123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPWkDxQPlRf0GcLvULJNKXOiOaKJumwVPh1Lw4R44arx3W8QsvIQHy3metGQcA6VEp-CzMo9XLKTj62UsUeamYx9MPrh9yv8KrF6Kbxfr_d4L38ha5jcBJEB5Ii-OtD8aLFaEY6T9fIE/s1600/P1020123.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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So that's where the pond is going at some point in the future. Sigh. It wouldn't be so bad if half our property wasn't waterlogged. That's what we get for looking at the place in the winter- a freaking marsh.<br />
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We got some new family members two months ago, want to see?<br />
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I could sit outside and watch these guys toodle around for hours, chickens are better than TV!smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-80287545594632978282014-04-05T12:51:00.001-04:002014-04-05T12:51:14.965-04:00Hurry up grass!I'm pretty sure that's what the Quarters have been saying for the past month. Unfortunately only the top two inches of soil have thawed so far, it's going to be a little longer before there's actually anything to graze on. Winter apparently still has it's ridiculously cold fingers in us. <br />
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I'm setting up my temporary paddock again, hoping that the horses can graze in there for a month while we get another section of our property cleared. The little Dude has been having a great time riding around in a backpack watching MomMom work. I'm currently scouting out a good place to set up a little ring so I can actually ride this year, it's a little tricky because I have to find a flattish, DRY spot of land that is already clear of trees where I can set up a ring that shares a fence with a pasture. Maybe that way I'll actually be able to accomplish something riding-wise without having both horses freak out.<br />
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In other news, I've become addicted to Kickstartr. Here's the latest project I've found that horse folks might be interested in, as if you don't already have enough ways to spend your money:<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/237422647/horse-medicine-the-journey" target="_blank">Horse Medicine... The Journey</a></div>
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BTW- the barrel racing OTTB project did get funded. I'm waiting to hear how it's all working out.</div>
smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-56525191920470787412014-03-19T11:40:00.001-04:002014-03-19T11:41:39.188-04:00Barrel racing OTTBs<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was kicking around on Kickstarter the other day and found a group that's training off track thoroughbreds to barrel race, <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/202282778/the-x-project" target="_blank">The X Project</a>. Here's their opening paragraph:</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.999998092651367px;">In the past three years, over 70,000 Thoroughbreds have been registered as foals, according to Jockey Club statistics. After their career on the track is over, these horses need to find a second career. The lucky ones find their way into rescues or trail homes. Other lucky smaller ones into polo homes and the taller ones into hunter/jumper/dressage homes. However, the Thoroughbreds standing 15.1 to 15.3 hands tall, the smaller/stockier build Thoroughbreds, seemed to fall through the cracks and a dim future awaited them until the Dreaming of Three's 100 day trainer challenge barrel race (Proceeds from this Event went to </span><a href="http://canterusa.org/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23.999998092651367px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">CANTER</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.999998092651367px;"> & </span><a href="http://www.brightfuturesfarm.org/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23.999998092651367px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Bright Futures Farm</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.999998092651367px;">)! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #121a0d; font-family: inherit; line-height: 23.999998092651367px;">I backed this project with a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. People finding alternative uses for OTTB and keeping them from slaughter always seem like a good idea to me. Especially when they could save cuties like <a href="http://www.canterusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9870:stone-broke&catid=58:pa-trainer-listings&Itemid=279" target="_blank">Stone Broke</a> that are currently available from <a href="http://www.canterusa.org/" target="_blank">CANTER</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #121a0d; font-family: inherit; line-height: 23.999998092651367px;">She's 15 hands of adorable, too bad my husband is adamantly against me having a third horse.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #121a0d;"><span style="line-height: 23.999998092651367px;">The thing is, I know nothing about barrel racing, much less whether a thoroughbred would be suitable for it. It seems like they should be, they're fast and most nowadays are bred for sprints anyway. But do they have the </span></span><span style="color: #121a0d;"><span style="line-height: 23.999998092651367px;">temperament</span></span><span style="color: #121a0d;"><span style="line-height: 23.999998092651367px;"> and the bone integrity for it? What do you all think?</span></span></span></div>
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smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-29020209978496296942014-02-12T14:45:00.001-05:002014-02-12T14:45:26.237-05:00Things I wish I knewThe Quarters got their teeth floated yesterday. The vet I was having do their teeth is no longer traveling to my area so I had to look for local recommendations to find a replacement. I got one for a woman who is not a vet and all she does is teeth. I figured that someone who concentrates solely on teeth would probably be better than a general vet who just kinda "also does teeth."<br />
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Might be the best decision I ever made for my horses.<br />
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Comes out ex-dentist really wasn't doing a good job at all. My poor handsome boy, his teeth were so bad his jaw was literally locked up. She explained to me that when horses put their heads up, their jaw drops back; head down and the jaw slides forward; when the head moves from side-to-side the jaw also moves to compensate. Except his didn't: his teeth wouldn't let it.<br />
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"So that explains why I've been having such a hard time trying to get him to stretch into contact?" I asked.<br />
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"Yup," she said. "He literally couldn't do it."<br />
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Hoo boy, it was simultaneously vindicating and horrifying. It means I am not the worst rider in the world but now I feel like the worst horse owner in the world for not knowing his mouth was in such bad shape.<br />
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Gwen's mouth was better, but that's not saying much. I did decide to get her wolf teeth pulled. The dentist said the roots of wolf teeth dissolve away and fall out on their own when the horse is in their early teens, which would mean that Gwen had a time bomb in her mouth. I would not want to be sitting on her when one of those teeth worked loose, she's enough of a handful already thanks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gwen's wolf teeth, don't look like much do they?</td></tr>
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Ugh, poor Handsome had to wait until he was almost 14 years old to get his teeth fixed. I feel terrible about that. This is why I share as much hoof knowledge as I can, so that owners have another resource to keep tabs on their horse's health and hopeful catch problems before they get too bad. Seems I have some learnin' about teeth to do.smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-6535548277024649552014-01-30T07:59:00.000-05:002014-01-30T07:59:34.255-05:00Wisdom from Denny EmersonIf you're on Facebook and you don't follow this guy, you should. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tamarack-Hill-Farm/109161715946" target="_blank">His post this morning</a> was too good to pass up:<br />
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"ENGAGEMENT" The act of stepping under, planting, and lifting", and how it is related to connection:<br /><br />In the first picture, Essie is allowing Veloz to trot along with little to no connection, because if you "connected" a 100 mile trail horse, back to front, and asked him to engage his hocks for miles, you would swiftly do him in from sheer exhaustion.<br /><br />In the photos of Mr Watjen, he is creating push from behind into a carefully monitored constraint with his hands and body po<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">sition to encourage the horse to step more under (engage) and LIFT, rather than simply PUSH, which is what Veloz is doing.<br /><br />"Negotiated driving aids into negotiated restraining aids to create the engagement which leads eventually to greater lift, which in turn leads eventually to creating the strength required for some degree of "self carriage".<br /><br />Correct, systematic dressage work is akin to human athletes working on weight machines at the gym, to build strength, power, and greater athletic ability.<br /><br />You can't build lifting strength by pulling back on the reins. You can't build lifting strength by driving from behind into no contact. You can't build lifting strength by driving from behind into hard, rigid constraint with the hands against the bit.<br /><br />You use "negotiated driving aids into negotiated restraining aids", basically half halt after half halt, and let the "magic" of time do its job of building lifting power.<br /><br />All our good American dressage riders learned this concept "with their mother`s milk", so to speak. This knowledge is starting to trickle down into the other disciplines, into some more than into others. LEARN IT if you aspire to improve your riding skills.</span></div>
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smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-31277224775756242782014-01-25T08:53:00.000-05:002014-01-25T08:53:44.821-05:00Why is it colder here than in Alaska?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-21706726967976565592014-01-16T09:14:00.000-05:002014-01-16T09:16:11.134-05:00Healthy barsCindy had a very good question about my last hoof post: What do healthy bars look like?<br />
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In a nutshell:<br />
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<li>Healthy bars end at the midpoint of the frog</li>
<li>they are straight instead of bowed</li>
<li>they stand up, not pushed over onto the sole</li>
<li>they are not so long and deep that you can't see the bottom of the collateral groove</li>
<li>really healthy bars point toward the frog and not the toe</li>
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In detail: </div>
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First we have to know what the internal bar structure looks like. In this photo you see a pretty nice hoof, the heels were nice and wide and the corium was healthy. You can see that the bar corium (outlined) angles in from the heels to the midpoint of the frog.<br />
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(I encourage you to click on these photos and zoom in to see the detail, they are important.)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Cheryl Henderson</td></tr>
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In this, slightly less healthy, hoof you can see that the bar corium has started to angle toward the toe but they still end at the midpoint of the frog.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJYdoZfgwjw2TRowu6gdW3HhmFDgZViThMZ6ZaeZvYZVtWV8a9yI4Hz4XPeCUDJdz_YjSxF4-1topkhMc6xA-EpLICiZ_zNb5Vl97RsdnocUzqs_4UI7LeGYXUioBlTcggW1wxbA5QTw/s1600/corium+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJYdoZfgwjw2TRowu6gdW3HhmFDgZViThMZ6ZaeZvYZVtWV8a9yI4Hz4XPeCUDJdz_YjSxF4-1topkhMc6xA-EpLICiZ_zNb5Vl97RsdnocUzqs_4UI7LeGYXUioBlTcggW1wxbA5QTw/s1600/corium+2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from HP Hoofcare</td></tr>
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In this, really unhealthy, hoof you can see the bar corium (bright red) points straight toward the toe but they still end at the midpoint of the frog.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyfNWBr7Jl6otnt7wI5sNlCpRmmlxcmnzKNdcLqHGnsg3u3-Lm3wMkXkckYabx0d8tmaBjqFIcWhQbgx8a3p47t0SgrCPzFerf9JmFxUqmeaVMwGsPv3jUeJ-bn8bDBV2DjBh2UlHcuc/s1600/HPhoofcare+corium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyfNWBr7Jl6otnt7wI5sNlCpRmmlxcmnzKNdcLqHGnsg3u3-Lm3wMkXkckYabx0d8tmaBjqFIcWhQbgx8a3p47t0SgrCPzFerf9JmFxUqmeaVMwGsPv3jUeJ-bn8bDBV2DjBh2UlHcuc/s1600/HPhoofcare+corium.jpg" height="312" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from HP Hoofcare</td></tr>
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What all these hooves have is common is that the bars all end at the midpoint of the frog. That is true whether they are healthy or terrible. So when I trim I try to get the bars to end at the midpoint of the frog- to keep the external structures similar to the internal structures.</div>
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The angle is a different story. You can tell by the above hooves that if the hoof is contracted and unhealthy the bars are going to point straight at the toe. You can't change this by trimming, only the full weight of the horse on the heels will get them to open up and point the bars toward the center of the hoof. What you can do is make sure the bars aren't so long they are digging into the hoof and aren't laid over so they are suffocating the sole. Essentially, you want to trim the bars to give the horse comfort; that will facilitate the hoof transforming into a healthy shape.</div>
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The following two photos show my second trim on a contracted hoof. I use the bar lamina to outline the bars from the heel turnaround (seat of corn) to the frog. I then try to make the bars as straight as possible and I slope them "downhill" from the heels to the frog. I do this so the bars are "passive," meaning that they don't bear weight which is especially important if the bars are impacted. While I do this I try to take off as little sole as possible, this can be a very time consuming process of taking off thin slivers at a time. It takes a sharp knife, a steady hand and lots of practice (I admit, I still need more practice) and can be made even harder by a fidgety horse. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQ48Wl3RuSKiL_WFbW4S19tnx3y4JAx85CcEewSeBqd-Y0UA5cVAQoWctAjI9TI4KhNH0qsShlcTZa356cCh0oYMOm1fcqlKOsap9uH2FXmMhGCsvvRqU_A8V_Jmc0DjRET6DF2cpbgw/s1600/bars+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQ48Wl3RuSKiL_WFbW4S19tnx3y4JAx85CcEewSeBqd-Y0UA5cVAQoWctAjI9TI4KhNH0qsShlcTZa356cCh0oYMOm1fcqlKOsap9uH2FXmMhGCsvvRqU_A8V_Jmc0DjRET6DF2cpbgw/s1600/bars+1.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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In this closer view of the above hoof, you can see the bar lamina as the demarcation between the inner/unpigmented bar wall and the sole. In this horse it's easy to see because the sole is slate colored.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPD1S0kr0glU0HjxiX1rix5EjBzr-Cfb7NTx04MWbYFvN0mY1pZtR3xnUKWzRTtkRE11T0Ec4BSjRsd4JE9ifd_8XVM5-0ExQ1o5ZQK5pmu8eWk2ZAkqeXcdq1Qqe3mdJFKuShYZW-xYE/s1600/bars+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPD1S0kr0glU0HjxiX1rix5EjBzr-Cfb7NTx04MWbYFvN0mY1pZtR3xnUKWzRTtkRE11T0Ec4BSjRsd4JE9ifd_8XVM5-0ExQ1o5ZQK5pmu8eWk2ZAkqeXcdq1Qqe3mdJFKuShYZW-xYE/s1600/bars+2.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you can't see the lamina the bars are laid over the sole. If there is a black line along the bars it means they've laid over the sole and trapped dirt and thrush under them. That trapped dirt and thrush will destroy any sole underneath it, not good.</div>
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This next photo is after my first trim on a pony. The circled areas show bruising from overgrown bar, bruises that weren't visible until I started pulling the bar off the sole (Excess bar puts too much pressure on the corium below it, crushing blood vessels and creating these bruises.). Lots of horses have these bruises but you don't see them because the bar that causes the bruises also covers them up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EdaEsITKiz4h1a4Sud5WbeZa2OxTOM7l2aHq6wg3iqETFfThIu3B9WjhSw1kzIuEG7BGlVYz3165DhbcZQ5438FEby-SPik5zPY-nlbs8tC1OF1SK80ldb2tKWEFBGkE1ZtEKAjwz0g/s1600/bars+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EdaEsITKiz4h1a4Sud5WbeZa2OxTOM7l2aHq6wg3iqETFfThIu3B9WjhSw1kzIuEG7BGlVYz3165DhbcZQ5438FEby-SPik5zPY-nlbs8tC1OF1SK80ldb2tKWEFBGkE1ZtEKAjwz0g/s1600/bars+3.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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This last hoof is mostly healthy and shows little sign of contraction. You can see how the bars on this hoof angle in toward the frog instead of pointing down to the toes. I didn't make this happen, I just followed the bar lamina. These bars are pretty close to ideal, if your horse has bars that look like this chances are that horse is sound.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7XxhyV8IG0rsQltTZldAiGx_F5LDikTPr8jvHYi52fZqq_HofY4Njp2eNYWnBzwwYOkIGVgPE7MzIIY_jlF0YNmyjakEYAdrfI9AncVV0RgpSCK2lTrhZrnbH8_CjJnKBN_FG4HLQZo/s1600/bars+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7XxhyV8IG0rsQltTZldAiGx_F5LDikTPr8jvHYi52fZqq_HofY4Njp2eNYWnBzwwYOkIGVgPE7MzIIY_jlF0YNmyjakEYAdrfI9AncVV0RgpSCK2lTrhZrnbH8_CjJnKBN_FG4HLQZo/s1600/bars+4.jpg" height="275" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bars should look similar to this</td></tr>
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Here's a how-to guide to trimming bars similar to the way I trim: <a href="http://www.thehorseshoof.com/trimmingbasics3.html">http://www.thehorseshoof.com/trimmingbasics3.html</a>.</div>
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Questions? Please comment.</div>
<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-38340370095519299142014-01-12T20:27:00.001-05:002014-01-12T20:27:38.177-05:00Legendary White StallionsCheck out this Nature documentary on PBS while you can, it expires on Feb. 11.<br />
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<a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2364999318/">http://video.pbs.org/video/2364999318/</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/gogIZALj7WY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-27127497987554960192013-12-30T21:27:00.000-05:002013-12-30T21:27:08.744-05:00Contraction continued...Before I get to the hooves in the photos I'd like to mention a few other factors that might play a part in hoof contraction:<br />
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<li>The weight of the horse: the heavier the horse, the less likely it is that their hooves are contracted. Drafts can have sorry, sad feet and still have very little contraction, small ponies and minis are the opposite.</li>
<li>Movement: Allison had it quite right in her comment on my last post, movement is essential. Without movement and heel first landings the hooves will contract. Standing = stagnation.</li>
<li>The hardness/softness of the surface they live on: hard surfaces offer more resistance to the hoof causing it to expand wider, soft surfaces are the opposite. Mud or soft sand can contribute to contraction.</li>
<li>The moisture content of said surface: here's a bit of a contradiction to the last point, drier environments leave hooves more contracted than wet ones. This is because tissues tend to shrink when water isn't abundant. A healthy hoof in a desert environment will probably look more contracted than a healthy hoof in a more humid environment.</li>
<li>Injury/disease: if one hoof is contracted, I would suspect an injury in the leg or disease in the hoof. Anything that makes it uncomfortable for the horse to land on that hoof correctly.</li>
<li>Shoes: when the horse weights the hoof it expands, when they lift the hoof it contracts. In order to nail a shoe onto a hoof it has to be lifted- so the hoof is already at it's smallest when the shoe is nailed on. The nails will then interfere with the normal flexing of the hoof once the horse starts moving again, and if the nails are placed too far back they will interfere with the expansion of the heels. Shoes lock the hoof into its smallest (contracted) size which can get worse over time. I've heard there are farriers out there who can avoid this, but they are very, very few and far between.</li>
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Okay, onto the pictures.</div>
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Personally I think those hooves were contracted due to the pain from the bars (cue the broken record...). The bars are meant to give structure to the back of the hoof and to keep it from expanding too far upon impact with the ground. If the bars are left to grow unchecked, they can grow so long that, not only do they cause pain, they actually stop the back of the hoof from expanding. When the hoof can't expand all it can do is contract.</div>
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Lets look at some of those pictures a little closer, shall we?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNobO7uH0OFsUA8fVRAU5eKxLRnjBRxnjWMcY3Tz8-wQCbuTv9VlMAgDShF_TEvbbeET0MpSrYaR0JksVy4D4sPuKNDAdJLlFOhlS4w0Swblazz2Q4LX0X4eO456tSXGB2rKd-gJCndQs/s1600/contracted1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNobO7uH0OFsUA8fVRAU5eKxLRnjBRxnjWMcY3Tz8-wQCbuTv9VlMAgDShF_TEvbbeET0MpSrYaR0JksVy4D4sPuKNDAdJLlFOhlS4w0Swblazz2Q4LX0X4eO456tSXGB2rKd-gJCndQs/s320/contracted1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_F2In9TxIJPwfJ1yNrL8X2fj36GjdWMZRREeACGH15khY-Vh5hRO_p20U2lpxMRBLiNdTHdmoZjgRE03wikhZZW5AGa0nCDy-wiIZImeTwjdvqGvhytoFz94FeDa7thgtM1b9cWdDLg/s1600/contracted7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_F2In9TxIJPwfJ1yNrL8X2fj36GjdWMZRREeACGH15khY-Vh5hRO_p20U2lpxMRBLiNdTHdmoZjgRE03wikhZZW5AGa0nCDy-wiIZImeTwjdvqGvhytoFz94FeDa7thgtM1b9cWdDLg/s320/contracted7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmDJ8SYCcDedZ3TOILhXLBXJh8VmsGBKSnsrU1qenb3xF25_K_noSXO7hbxLLQ4xhtE-CfXhLG7coDemFfBRbhGWfh3y44bXJ_GdKbhHEHoobwuX_3oYPo_Wi5-HVcf-LqMpbQx7SQu0/s1600/contracted4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmDJ8SYCcDedZ3TOILhXLBXJh8VmsGBKSnsrU1qenb3xF25_K_noSXO7hbxLLQ4xhtE-CfXhLG7coDemFfBRbhGWfh3y44bXJ_GdKbhHEHoobwuX_3oYPo_Wi5-HVcf-LqMpbQx7SQu0/s320/contracted4.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The red lines outline the bars, the blue lines are there to show how deep they've grown into the hoof. Keep in mind that you can't see all of the bar, there's probably quite a bit that has been pushed up inside the hoof too. The accordion folds are a tell-tale of too long bars. Those are compression folds that are created when the too long bars get squeezed between the inside of the hoof and the ground.<br />
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I know there are some out there that still don't think bars need to be trimmed, all I can say is that every time I've trimmed off overgrown bars one of two things happen: they either start licking and chewing (a sign that a stressor was removed) or they pick up a hoof I haven't gotten to yet and ask me to do that one too. I imagine the horses in the photos would react the same way.</div>
smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-55015224434753168412013-12-18T09:46:00.001-05:002013-12-19T14:22:59.921-05:00Charlotte Du Jardin sets the records straight!<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Charlotte Du Jardin and Valegro set a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">new freestyle dressage world record with a score of 93.975% a</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">t the London International Horse Show this week</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">. She broke Edward Gal and Totilas' record, good for her!</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/82143908" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/82143908">Charlotte Du Jardin & Valegro WORLD CUP Grand Prix Freestyle to Music London Olympia 2013</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user15592421">Toptalent Dressage</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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In case the embed doesn't work: <a href="http://vimeo.com/82143908">http://vimeo.com/82143908</a><br />
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Dang it, the video got pulled. Here's another one: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Iu8B4FRNk&feature=share.">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Iu8B4FRNk&feature=share.</a>smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-73464060924792124712013-12-10T22:06:00.001-05:002013-12-10T22:06:44.101-05:00What's the deal with hoof contraction?A word that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to hooves is contraction, but I think a lot of people new to hoofcare don't really know what that means. I'm going to try to help you out.<br />
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con·trac·tion</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">: the act or process of making something smaller or of becoming smaller </span><br />
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Normally when someone says that a hoof has become contracted they mean that the back of the hoof, the heels, have shrunk/become pinched like in these feet (I snagged these pictures off the web):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl3uD71Ok65p2h7d7ASZ6SbiT9wLDHhKCBHn77X2s-AvUHXY1u6PtUp-kWWZN7d-N23FukdLV5ZybWmr48cj-j9sBYIUglvYKmGP4_C1_yDOnomZpi8qotA3VklXvmU9ZN1FOAe07wQg/s1600/contracted1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl3uD71Ok65p2h7d7ASZ6SbiT9wLDHhKCBHn77X2s-AvUHXY1u6PtUp-kWWZN7d-N23FukdLV5ZybWmr48cj-j9sBYIUglvYKmGP4_C1_yDOnomZpi8qotA3VklXvmU9ZN1FOAe07wQg/s320/contracted1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAQv69E6B7tNRQStEeY9vqzS09KmHaj1BFW4wmWiSZ34NTpI3p1-hH3dtv2UvncekHyCWr2W-p-kRdMfWlzeuNvfqFnzgJ1cQh_bUpna0p4Byo62TPZ9Y7CejZ7yxsAeL2pec8-FVl7k/s1600/contracted3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAQv69E6B7tNRQStEeY9vqzS09KmHaj1BFW4wmWiSZ34NTpI3p1-hH3dtv2UvncekHyCWr2W-p-kRdMfWlzeuNvfqFnzgJ1cQh_bUpna0p4Byo62TPZ9Y7CejZ7yxsAeL2pec8-FVl7k/s320/contracted3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqKo1dpUTeIxNhTTSuTCcqM6XwyPgAjMdqur0dGgtXWpPFQ4jbpwN84o6WyZuoUAFWJSPsRnZSLOZuTnmJxT3O6oHn5AWJJavj3YCrDjyBVilR9LA0zQUrm3ZXwh58ePaz3cpp6mAElA/s1600/contracted4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqKo1dpUTeIxNhTTSuTCcqM6XwyPgAjMdqur0dGgtXWpPFQ4jbpwN84o6WyZuoUAFWJSPsRnZSLOZuTnmJxT3O6oHn5AWJJavj3YCrDjyBVilR9LA0zQUrm3ZXwh58ePaz3cpp6mAElA/s320/contracted4.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0hrFZc8FkBZB7MUBuueRVDcvRjfAI9Gi3fU8UOe_ZlGuERw7vPbjLUBIszaYdN2L7uWtRYZtaBSCHKb-lldSXspEseRxGbb-n-_CinMMKlEfCao7U18-q-PQdSu3C7oPh900yDdUG6I/s1600/contracted6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0hrFZc8FkBZB7MUBuueRVDcvRjfAI9Gi3fU8UOe_ZlGuERw7vPbjLUBIszaYdN2L7uWtRYZtaBSCHKb-lldSXspEseRxGbb-n-_CinMMKlEfCao7U18-q-PQdSu3C7oPh900yDdUG6I/s320/contracted6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwPVWvxcmoro4lNcJx0DqFtGEoCo3yq2cVWk_sSMR7Z7P9a8TMU3JySREQSo4sW0scSMzDkgCBxm6kOSZCCZtVdBJpw6i36sRSNOW1o64drlRdRj-YFJGf5c2OjzO71Sinw7XJPIfKNo/s1600/contracted7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwPVWvxcmoro4lNcJx0DqFtGEoCo3yq2cVWk_sSMR7Z7P9a8TMU3JySREQSo4sW0scSMzDkgCBxm6kOSZCCZtVdBJpw6i36sRSNOW1o64drlRdRj-YFJGf5c2OjzO71Sinw7XJPIfKNo/s320/contracted7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What's wrong with that? There are structures inside the hoof; like the coffin bone, navicular bone, live frog, digital cushion, and lateral cartilages that are all negatively impacted by hoof contraction. There's only so much room inside the hoof, and when that space gets smaller- through contraction- they stop functioning correctly. The lateral cartilages lose their efficiency at pumping blood, the digital cushion loses its shock absorbing function, the coffin bone itself can even be remodeled due to the pressure. All this measures up to a horse with impaired movement at best and dead lame at worst.<br />
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What causes contraction? Simple: The horse not landing on the back of the foot. Without the weight of the horse pressing on the heels, they don't expand.<br />
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How can you tell that a hoof is contracted? Take a look at the hooves above, they all have a few things in common. For one, they all have long toes. Yes, even the second one down, it's not as long as the others but it'll get there. Toe first landings = long toes as the constant pressure will stretch the lamina and sole. Second, look at the frogs, they are all narrow little triangles with ugly looking trenches in the central sulcus collecting thrush. Third, look at the bars, they are all very long. Lastly, look at the heel bulbs and see how they look like cleavage squeezed tight in a corset.<br />
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Here's a hoof that isn't contracted, can you see the difference?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtejOw0PPvSwz_N9MrG2WU9pzdwWyKCrS7F55ueK7DECoaXpHxUI1ePn6dVxvlgKSXVuOv2z2vuITQVw-uJXrXxEHIKFfIqdWxrlOGDkItP0xgA7FzUU7-fFr15pj_zthqJbXdAOMVyc/s1600/contracted5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtejOw0PPvSwz_N9MrG2WU9pzdwWyKCrS7F55ueK7DECoaXpHxUI1ePn6dVxvlgKSXVuOv2z2vuITQVw-uJXrXxEHIKFfIqdWxrlOGDkItP0xgA7FzUU7-fFr15pj_zthqJbXdAOMVyc/s320/contracted5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trim isn't perfect, but you get the picture</td></tr>
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Most of us know that horses should be landing on their heels because that's where the shock absorbers of the hoof are. So what would cause a horse to land on their toes instead? It's normally because of pain in the heels, you just have to figure out where the pain is coming from.<br />
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Let's go back to the thrush issue real quick: Thrush and contraction go hand in hand (or hoof in hoof). As the hoof contracts the frog folds up like an accordion, creating that deep crevice you see in these photos. Thrush just loves deep, dark crevices like that. Some people think (and I thought this myself once) that the pain from thrush can cause contraction. What I've learned recently points to the contraction happening first, making a nice, comfy home for the thrush to move into later.<br />
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So can anyone guess what I'd say caused the contraction in the above hooves?<br />
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smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-28174723945753497022013-10-31T21:02:00.000-04:002013-10-31T21:02:18.753-04:00Settling inThey've been home for a month and we're starting to figure things out here on the homefront. Gwen has relaxed and finally stopped pacing the fence; she's even started lying down for naps every morning, which is wonderful to see. I'm figuring out how to care for my animals and a baby at the same time- thank goodness for playpens and strollers! I think the little guy is going to start walking in the next month or two so then I'll have a new monkey wrench thrown in the works.<br />
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I've had to get a tad creative about grazing since my permanent pasture is currently grass-free. I now have a collection of step-in posts that allow me to make temporary paddocks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uOCru-LJhp7_Uh6FD50ZsHNKZUM7IsnhxQLdDHJigt1QPReOyN31AZDAF7KrizMeOj4l5VpEwv3WEtO1ft8g6AYT_48I6AuFPQhgWv303yuweG0VJ1yOl4o1gt_dhrIyFCYhJqRAh14/s1600/P1010391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uOCru-LJhp7_Uh6FD50ZsHNKZUM7IsnhxQLdDHJigt1QPReOyN31AZDAF7KrizMeOj4l5VpEwv3WEtO1ft8g6AYT_48I6AuFPQhgWv303yuweG0VJ1yOl4o1gt_dhrIyFCYhJqRAh14/s320/P1010391.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temporary paddock #1</td></tr>
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I wish my husband would let me fence in the yard so we wouldn't have to mow, but he is emphatically against it. That doesn't mean they can't graze there loose for an hour or so.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIEnjCjupMOgI9erGTi3ZMGlpu2QlB8aol11E_6ygiv3OIOwk7Q5tcOGEVHaN8zIP6kfqeqDqdSti8GQaYM9uwsgAmf66LgvmOTdz-lnUSToU9S6rszX70FDLHvdQRMqIXhFGs_I3j-Vo/s1600/P1010392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIEnjCjupMOgI9erGTi3ZMGlpu2QlB8aol11E_6ygiv3OIOwk7Q5tcOGEVHaN8zIP6kfqeqDqdSti8GQaYM9uwsgAmf66LgvmOTdz-lnUSToU9S6rszX70FDLHvdQRMqIXhFGs_I3j-Vo/s320/P1010392.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mowing the lawn for me</td></tr>
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I've been on a bare handful of rides since they've been home. It took a while to get a trail cleared so I could ride. My husband was so proud that he'd gotten his tractor and made me a trail to ride on by my birthday, so I got all excited and tacked up Coriander and got Gwen in tow (because I can't leave her behind or she'll catch up, dragging the fence behind her.), only to find that what my husband considers a cleared trail is not what I consider a cleared trail. There was brush and broken trees everywhere! Oh well, I guess everything looks different from horseback than from a tractor.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptimdhKo9AzggFYKFkMMmFyn751gdBWD3wOGdIO2Q3E4CZ59CA_YlFaTG_0GehjfrFrqR4_JWpA-1oN_nwkbMPypXJp3mMPhDHFQkhTCZngyU4tsc01Q5vZRMZL0SoxBsi__Qv7dnMhA/s1600/P1010389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptimdhKo9AzggFYKFkMMmFyn751gdBWD3wOGdIO2Q3E4CZ59CA_YlFaTG_0GehjfrFrqR4_JWpA-1oN_nwkbMPypXJp3mMPhDHFQkhTCZngyU4tsc01Q5vZRMZL0SoxBsi__Qv7dnMhA/s320/P1010389.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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That's about all that's happening here right now, eventually I'll have more to talk about- it might not be until next year though. Babies do change everything!</div>
<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-84049969578663865602013-10-02T21:04:00.000-04:002013-10-02T21:04:06.065-04:00They're home!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
They came home last Thursday, getting them here was... ugh. I really wish I'd gone with my instinct and just walked them home last month, instead Gwen and I had a little saga going on with the trailer for 2.5 weeks. Let's just say that, at this point, the only way she's getting on a trailer again is if she's dead. Yeah, it went well.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMtIxVna2h-xst4W4MlMNl1mWHoz5hshoBqe7ayD06CEHtK3Jtqa_70LNRoQ-OVwSk9PDyMrrvlfIrIC03QcHG1CrBN326x_p3qrbTJit6B_4EkGZ0gUU-mYIX1ERbcSf6iB4vDzkhGg/s1600/P1010274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMtIxVna2h-xst4W4MlMNl1mWHoz5hshoBqe7ayD06CEHtK3Jtqa_70LNRoQ-OVwSk9PDyMrrvlfIrIC03QcHG1CrBN326x_p3qrbTJit6B_4EkGZ0gUU-mYIX1ERbcSf6iB4vDzkhGg/s320/P1010274.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">It's sure nice to have them home though, where I can see them whenever I look out the window. I've gotten a front row seat to Gwen's neurotic show. She wore this lovely path next to the fence line by pacing FOR DAYS ON END. On the bright side, she's getting better, I only saw her pacing for an hour today.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMtIxVna2h-xst4W4MlMNl1mWHoz5hshoBqe7ayD06CEHtK3Jtqa_70LNRoQ-OVwSk9PDyMrrvlfIrIC03QcHG1CrBN326x_p3qrbTJit6B_4EkGZ0gUU-mYIX1ERbcSf6iB4vDzkhGg/s1600/P1010274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTqEG52oaTLgEc6lmuNse1E5RVjjhCN-y33vjWq5kmtwtzenV8en3r-faomnltugbqz6pSf5WRnnzu6jBKjdv0O8icnH3m9CWtTADFKlnq6U9Mq5N0JjO3_4RWykR51jkqGUl4eE5bsQ/s1600/P1010273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTqEG52oaTLgEc6lmuNse1E5RVjjhCN-y33vjWq5kmtwtzenV8en3r-faomnltugbqz6pSf5WRnnzu6jBKjdv0O8icnH3m9CWtTADFKlnq6U9Mq5N0JjO3_4RWykR51jkqGUl4eE5bsQ/s320/P1010273.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Coriander, on the other hand, settled in pretty quickly. By the second day he was comfortable and begging for treats.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrAQAfDjIhjT0KiIHPKbUbWo5X9QESpzAifB6NO3sxWZQ-knIk2x9VO7WPal-DZkJALgupYmTC_KvUeBb-wm9Iku41yNWaYPd0Y2XWXfvDxt4AG1-Ugmn1wPFe95IdsT2rCfiz6B7C4I/s1600/P1010284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrAQAfDjIhjT0KiIHPKbUbWo5X9QESpzAifB6NO3sxWZQ-knIk2x9VO7WPal-DZkJALgupYmTC_KvUeBb-wm9Iku41yNWaYPd0Y2XWXfvDxt4AG1-Ugmn1wPFe95IdsT2rCfiz6B7C4I/s320/P1010284.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately the pasture looks pretty ghetto right now. There isn't much grass because we had to go around and fill in a bunch of holes and dips with topsoil and then we had to dig a drainage ditch to try to keep it dry. I am planning on making more pasture but we need to clear out a few more acres first. They should have grazing available next year.<br />
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Baby boy has been getting some horse time too. He likes to chill in his stroller with his feet up and smile at them. Maybe he'll be a horse boy someday?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe_SVEv247G0L69NRmQkpuy7jt2R1kpy3zlqRJi0YfxNsb1I8F77zvSolgMDPcaQAqkKNuFUJg7MrlpohGeHCPhHqrkZivxI2zVWJ6FrM9Zfp-VhsIeg91g-ZbVEjwu5Bg-5v943KxTc/s1600/P1010291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe_SVEv247G0L69NRmQkpuy7jt2R1kpy3zlqRJi0YfxNsb1I8F77zvSolgMDPcaQAqkKNuFUJg7MrlpohGeHCPhHqrkZivxI2zVWJ6FrM9Zfp-VhsIeg91g-ZbVEjwu5Bg-5v943KxTc/s320/P1010291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-8995067820419291512013-09-20T22:55:00.000-04:002013-09-20T22:59:15.706-04:00Sounds vs. "sound"First, to clarify a very important point left over from my last post: If the hooves are unhealthy, soreness after a trim might be a sign of healing. If the hooves are healthy, however, the horse should NEVER be sore after a trim. <br />
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The nice thing about really healthy, sound hooves is that they are resilient. For instance, Gwen has never been sore after a trim, ever. Which is really amazing considering how many times I've screwed up. Fortunately for her, I studied and documented and kept improving so I didn't make the same mistakes over and over. For a sound horse, one bad trim shouldn't hurt much, a series of bad trims will probably ruin them.<br />
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A "sound" horse is a different matter. This is the horse that most people think is sound but really isn't. Coriander falls into this category, nine years of no hoof care (before I got him) on top of halter horse breeding have given my boy less than perfect hooves. That poor horse is my trim barometer- if my trim is a little off he'll show me. Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist trying to figure out exactly how he wants his hooves trimmed: leave the heels higher here, leave the toes longer there. It takes trial and error to keep that horse happy.<br />
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It's my personal opinion that there are a lot more "sound" horses out there than sound. When I go out to trim a new horse I always ask the owner to lunge the horse for me so I can do a lameness check. Most of the time I find that the horse is a little off on one foot or another- but the owner never saw it! Now, I am not an expert on diagnosing lameness, I think people just get used to seeing their horse move a certain way and think they're fine. And really, here's where the problem lies for the trimmer: If the owner already knows their horse hurts then they can usually handle a little soreness after the trim if they know healing is happening, If the owner doesn't know anything is wrong with their horse then they'll probably freak out.<br />
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Here's a short list of what I consider to be signs that your horse might only be "sound." I'm not saying that all of these are definite signs of unhealthy hooves, just that they are often correlated:<br />
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<ul>
<li>If your horse is perfectly comfortable on sand or soft grass but has issues as soon as they step on pavement, concrete, or hard dirt (gravel doesn't count, that's hard for most horses)</li>
<li>If your normally well-mannered horse is especially averse to picking up a specific hoof</li>
<li>If your horse takes short strides/ has a limited range of motion</li>
<li>If your horse does not stand with the front legs straight underneath them but with them stretched forward or back</li>
<li>If your horse typically stands with one front hoof in front of the other/pointing a hoof (not when grazing)</li>
<li>If your horse has bouts of "mystery lameness" but seems fine most of the time</li>
<li>If your horse squeals or bucks when jumping (this could also be a back/tack issue)</li>
<li>If your horse is a dead-head in the pasture but turns into a fire breathing dragon as soon as you mount (again, might be a back/tack issue)</li>
</ul>
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Want to read a little story about me screwing up? Of course you do. I trimmed a horse that I knew was lame and unhealthy but the owner was completely clueless; thought the horse was perfectly healthy.</div>
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Here she was before:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iUgDKxSpbZvFnDpfWD0xwRhckuI33tJ1Q7vzHBOw1MWt_XR5xLbAUmNjmaSCe2JCvyLAqb2qw0IVPvsoOw-yDMIWrpGz0uKeEkzRrgmS5XzXn-iwyBN6sVqARAiQniLAnKWGLLGmAvQ/s1600/P1000410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iUgDKxSpbZvFnDpfWD0xwRhckuI33tJ1Q7vzHBOw1MWt_XR5xLbAUmNjmaSCe2JCvyLAqb2qw0IVPvsoOw-yDMIWrpGz0uKeEkzRrgmS5XzXn-iwyBN6sVqARAiQniLAnKWGLLGmAvQ/s320/P1000410.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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and after: </div>
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I learned a lot from trimming this horse, because she hurt after the trim and the owner flipped out. I learned that you can do the right thing for the horse (this was the trim she needed, after she got past the soreness she moved better than she had in months) but if you don't prepare the owner it's all for naught. I also learned (after consulting with my mentors) that the growth rings showed this horse was foundering- they are further apart at the heels and starting to bunch together at the toes. Which is not surprising considering the horse had been taken away from a place where she was starving and thrown immediately into spring grass. It was just a bad situation all around, basically the owner was a neglectful ________.</div>
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If I had to trim that horse again (I wouldn't) I would leave the toes and heels a little longer to try to avoid some of the short term soreness. Chances are she would have been sore anyway. Live and learn.</div>
smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-61016467986542259342013-09-06T23:10:00.001-04:002013-09-06T23:10:11.903-04:00Should a horse ever be sore after a trim?I've been putting this off because this is a topic that will potentially make me very unpopular, but I just saw a horse that put it in the front of my mind. Last week I got a call from a kid who just got his first horse and wanted me to trim her, when I got out there I found out that all her hooves looked like this:<br />
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And all I could think was, "I'm never going to see this horse again."<br />
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Why would I think that? Because with a hoof like this I know there's a very good chance the horse will come away from the trim sore. Most horse owners will immediately fire any trimmer who leaves their horse sore.<br />
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"But wouldn't they be justified?" You may say, "surely a good trimmer wouldn't leave a horse sore after a trim?"<br />
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Here's the truth: Healing hurts. If you've ever had physical therapy you know this very well. If you've ever had someone massage knots out of your back or neck you know this as well. It hurts, and then you feel better.<br />
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Look at the hoof pictured, note the long walls, bars and lumpy sole. Overly long hoof walls will, through the force of the hoof impacting the ground, tear away from the coronet band little by little. Overly long bars will bruise the corium and press on the DDFT and navicular bone. Lumpy soles will also bruise the corium under the coffin bone. All of these things are painful.<br />
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Do you know how humans can eventually tune out the pain of wearing uncomfortable shoes but once you take the shoes off your feet hurt like heck? Over time horses can tune out the pain in their feet too, and once you take away the overgrowth damaging the hoof, guess what happens- their feet hurt like heck.<br />
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So here's the trimmer's dilemma: Do you do enough to let the hoof heal and risk the horse being sore, or do you do as little as possible to maintain the status quo and let the damage keep happening? Personally, I'll take the temporary soreness if it means that the hoof is healing.<br />
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If the trim is good but the horse is sore it means that healing is happening, if you wait a few days for the pain to go away you'll probably find that the horse is moving much better than they were before the trim. That's how rehabilitation works, sometimes you have to take a step back to make a leap forward. (If the trim is bad and the horse is sore that's a big problem, this is where the onus is on the owner to know a good trim from a bad one.)<br />
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Okay- back to the horse. She was initially very nervous, didn't want to pick up her feet and even nipped at me once. Obviously she didn't have pleasant associations with trims. Fortunately her attitude completely changed through the course of the trim and she became quite friendly towards me. I found evidence of damage on all of her feet though, bruising around the white line, bruising around the bars, bruising on the soles... they were a mess. Despite that it seems that she wasn't sore after the trim (I asked the owner to contact me if she was) which I think is because her feet were essentially pretty healthy underneath all that junk (note the round shape of the hoof and the nice wide heels).<br />
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Next up (eventually): Sound vs. "sound."smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374098783533915699.post-1638695203910446182013-08-26T14:47:00.003-04:002013-08-26T14:47:55.915-04:00Almost ready!I realize that my last post was pretty cryptic so here's what's happening: We bought a house!<br />
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Somehow, after about 8 years of looking, my husband and I found a house we could both be happy with. Let me tell you, it isn't easy to find a house when I'm insistent on buying a place where I can keep the horses and my husband wants it in a specific small town. I can't tell you how many crappy, old farm houses we've seen in the past few years. Enough so that we could make up rules about looking at them, like: If you can close your eyes and walk across the floor without falling it's pretty good, if the river in the basement has a current that's pretty bad.<br />
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Want to know how we found it? Sure you do. Craigslist. No kidding, I put up an ad that we were looking for a house with land and this guy responded to it. Comes out the house was around the corner from the one we were renting, 2 miles from where the horses are now. Another interesting detail: The house was built for a distant cousin of my husband by another group of his cousins. Small world.<br />
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But guess what? If you're buying a house with acreage the banks can't deal. Maybe in Wyoming they can, but here in central New York if you've got more than 2 acres they freak out and screw you on the mortgage. Apparently they're afraid that if we default they won't be able to sell the place. Jerks.<br />
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Also, be very, very wary of gas leases. Banks don't want to mortgage properties with gas leases, period. Our place had a gas lease and the seller had to get out of it before we could get a mortgage. Apparently this wasn't a problem a couple of years ago but now it is, so if you are a landowner and you think you might want to sell someday- don't get a gas lease (not to mention there's a whole slew of environmental reasons why you shouldn't do it either).<br />
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So we own a house - with almost 30 acres, most of which needs to cleared before we can use it - so we've been kind of busy lately. Fortunately my first, sacrifice, pasture is nearly ready.<br />
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There are some dips and holes in the field that need to be filled in, the run-in needs a few boards, the t-posts need caps, and I need to get some hay but I'm sure I can get those done and bring the horses home early next month. I just have to figure out how I'm going to get them here!smazourekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029180368325070266noreply@blogger.com24