Dear Otto..

To my Long legged Wonder..

I know you are still relatively new around here at Acer Farm and for the most part , you spend your days eating , pooping , growing and wandering about the place looking for things to get into.   It's almost  a New Year and it makes me eager to look forward.  I thought maybe it was a good time to get some things cleared up for you. Tell you a little about what your purpose in life is going to be.

To start, let's get the "housekeeping" things out of the way...

1. Cassidy's tail - Its mot your own personal toy rope to pull  and tug. I know it's a very full and lush tail , and hard to resist but I spend hours working on that tail making it beautiful in the summer. I know its nothing like your scraggly whisp of a tail but that doesn't mean you can ruin Cassidy's.  Besides, having a mouth full of tail hair is difficult to spit out, as you have experienced..

2. Feed Bucket -When I feed you your grain in the am and pm and forget to go back and get the bucket after your done eating..., it's not an invite to poop in the bucket. We are a no frills farm around here. We don't have horse toilets and while you seem to think this is a pretty cool trick, I am not finding the humor in it.  I have to spend an extra 15 minutes cleaning it out for your  next meal because your road apples have frozen to it. Do you really want to eat your meals over the top of your own poop?? I think not..

3.The Jolly Ball. We have to chat about this..I thought this was a great idea as a toy for you. At first, you left it alone.. didn't have any use for it.. which was kinda irritating since it wasnt exactly cheap. Then one day I kicked it in the pasture and the light went off for you . You haven't left it alone since.. However..  you have not been kind to your toy. It was supposed to be INDESTRUCTIBLE.. Its a Jolly Ball , not a

They are INDESTRUCTIBLE ...do you know what that means? It means that it should not look this..

why ????

 I am not even sure how you got it too look like this but there isn't a way to fix it..I have tried.  Maybe I should call the company and send them this photo of your handiwork and they will send us a new one..


So that's that part.

Now that your settled into your new home, I wanted to let you know what I would like you to be thinking about as you  grow and develop into my "perfect, everything" horse.

Whaaaaa???

The sun is making me sleeeeepppppy...I can't be bothered

You did know that was my master plan for you , right? 
oh.. well if this is news to you, my apologies. Your mentor , Cassidy, should have mentioned that small detail..I have made a note to myself to circle back to him on that. He really needs to step up his game if he is going to be your role model.

Now, don't get your arab tail in a bind. (you do it quite well and I just have to look away when you do...) You will have plenty of time to work on becoming that horse...which is why I wanted to give you the run down now,  so you would have enough time to think about it. It's going to be a long process and come spring, it's going to pick up speed.

We have many adventures ahead and I am so excited to show you the great big world of  what being my endurance/jumping/trail/cow chasing/dressage horse is really all about. (n case your wondering, please refer back to the point about being my everything horse) Believe it or not, there is more to life than your quaint little 5 acres and barn....you'll see..

So first things first. In the spring, life will change dramatically for you . You know all those "feelings" you appear to be experiencing right now have? Yeah , well  they have to do with those two thing you have hanging between your back legs, which apparently are also connected to your mouth.
We will be taking care of those as soon as the footing is safe and I can chase you around to keep the swelling down. Thank god you have TB legs cuz your gonna need them son....

I promise, once your procedure is done, you will wake up a new horse..(and your pasture mates will like you alot better than they do right now as well) your just gonna have to trust me on this one..

After that, we will spend our days learning all kinds of things, like ponying, how to handle being clipped and having your legs wrapped. You will stand for the farrier and we will get the tying thing down once and for all too. I can't wait to see what you think about being out on the trail for the first time,  ponying along behind  your trusty mentor .But first, you have to learn how to pony at home before we take you to town. You will learn how to be okay with being behind another horse on the trail and not get worried , and you will learn that being between horses isn't a terrible thing either. It's just part of being a good trail horse. We are going to do alot of this for the next couple of years until your of age to be ridden.

See?, its easy..

You and Cass and I .. we'll be like the three Muskateers.

 There will be alot of new things to see and smell out on the trail like  hikers, bikers and jogger ladies with baby strollers. There will be other horses with other riders and  more than a handful of loose dogs jumping out of the trees or running up behind you.  Ofcourse, none of this is anything to freak out about.. it's just all in a day of being a good trail horse.. and since you will have seen it so many times with all the trips out there,  I will fully anticipate that  by the time I have a saddle on you, and I am aboard ,  we won't have any mishaps.. Capiche?

Then there is the water lesson.. Being sponged down after a long hot ride is refreshing and something to enjoy.  I know .. your Arab half despises water but you will learn that water is your friend..it's fun  to walk through and splash around in.. we have a lot of lakes and rivers around here to play in..

You know that outdoor  arena you seem to love so dearly and believe is your personal playground ? Well it will become even more fun for you soon.

I will teach you how to lounge  and ground drive. I will teach you how to walk and trot through ground poles so that someday we can build on that foundation and eventually sail over jumps together....just like this: ( and yes ofcourse I will be one handed over the fence , just like this rider  !)

Whoopeee!!

Ofcourse, at first , it will probably look more like this for a while..

There's other stuff too.. I have been doing some extra studying up on the side . Considering your tendency to be playful , I am learning about how to teach you a few tricks along the way too. As I will be patient with you, I hope you will be patient with me as I fumble through this unknown territory. I am sure we will both mess up from time to time but that is all part of the journey. We will have lots of times ahead where we are just going to have to trust one another so this is as good a time as any to start.

.....and    while this might be a little out of our reach.. .

Crazy chick

 Or even this...

crazy dude

I would think these two tricks should be mostly doable??

Sit down so I can get on you!

now take a bow

The plan is that whenever I get a chance, I will load you in the trailer and drag you along with everyone else so you can experience all the things a good "everything" horse must experience...this is how we do it here at Acer Farm and that is how you will become a good horse...

I am pretending I am not listening...

You will be brought along slowly and steadily. I promise to you that I wont push you or overexpose you to things too quickly  so that you become fearful of things.  I will always offer you a chance to think through an issue and if you can't figure it out, I will find a way to make it more clear. I will do my best to make the answer I am seeking the easiest choice for you.  I sincerely hope you do not choose to make it more difficult for yourself. That rarely works out well and usually winds up being more work. I do realize your part Thoroughbred and work is not something your kind is typically afraid of but lets just keep things easy.. shall we???


So, Mr Otto, we have some big goals ahead.. I can't wait to see what's in store for us!!

Bits and Pieces

It was such a nice weekend, weather wise, we got all three rideable horses worked. In the process, we even got Otto worked too because he joined us in the outdoor arena and ran around, making a general nuisance of himself in the process. T

Tom actually did some liberty work with Otto off of his horse Cassidy , which was kind of cool to watch.  Otto has the attention span of a knat so he would only pay attention for a couple of minutes and then run off bucking and playing but he's such a curious colt, he would eventually make his way back and engage for another few minutes. Ofcourse, all his running around made it a bit challenging to concentrate on what I was doing on JB but we managed. JB was so patient with Otto's frequent drive-by's ... There was a time JB would have probably tried to get after him. I love older geldings!

JB and I took a ride out into the barren snow covered wheat fields just as the sun was setting.There is something special about riding a horse in the crisp clear  air of a winter evening as the sun is setting, the mountains cast in a pink glow from the last light of the day and hearing nothing but the horses soft breathing and the  crunch of snow under their hooves. It's almost a bit magical..I love rides like that.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my phone on me because the battery was dead and didn't get to snap any of the afternoon's events...

Otto also got his feet trimmed a bit. It wasn't a complete trim because he wasn't cooperating 100% of the time. He seems to do ok until Tom takes his foot between his legs to hold it in place so he can use the nippers, which requires two hands. Otto does not like that part at all. I don't think it's the nippers, I think it's more about having his foot held that way. Something to work on I guess. On the positive side,  his back feet are getting much better to handle.

A couple of weeks ago,  I finally had to break down and get Otto a new blanket. The one he had been wearing was two sizes too big and while it was getting him by, the last cold stormy night he had to wear it , it seemed it had somehow lost most of it's waterproofing. We had gotten a rain/snow mix that night and by morning, it looked like he had gone swimming with it. I even had it re waterproofed this summer when I had it cleaned but  apparently, the blanket might just be too darn old.. Otto also managed to break one of the front buckles in the front so only one to hold it on.

His new shiny red model arrived last week so we tried it on him. Perfect fit with just a little extra room to grow into , a size 68. He looks rather dashing in it and red is the perfect color for the season.

Sorry, again , no photo so you'll just have to use your imagination.  I always get the Schneiders  blankets. They wear well, fit well and stay in place for horses that are turned out 24/7 . Even with the coldest of temps we get here in Montana,  I find the midweights keep our horses plenty warm during the cold snaps we have, but then again our horses  (other than Otto) have thick fuzzy coats.

There is an article that has been flying around the internet about why horses should not be blanketed. You can read about it here It's making quite the buzz among horses owners. There are some interesting points in there and certainly some valid points. Alot of the reason why we blanket have more to do with our own emotional responses and desires to keep our horses what we consider "comfortable".

 I , like many other, hate seeing my horses shiver. I worry that they stand a greater chance of colic when they are cold because they are not moving and often won't walk to the water tanks if we are in the middle of one of our arctic blasts. Horses need water for thermal regulation as well.
For the most part, our horses do fine in the cold. But there are certain weather circumstances that I will continue to blanket in . When the weather goes from  temps in the 30's and raining, to temps below zero with wind, I will blanket.  Drastic drop in temps or changes in barometric pressure seem to cause problems for horses in this area. While we keep our horses  in as natural of a state as we possibly can, and it's certainly better than being stalled or penned up,  they really aren't in the ideal setting that horses were intended for.

Tracks in the Snow

A friend and I were chatting the other day about winter riding and what a drag it is here in the flathead. It's the typical conversation for us horse people in this area. We all suffer from lack of sunshine, damp , cloudy , wintery weather with crap footing. We all whine about the fact that our horses are sitting in their pastures getting fat and doing nothing, while we wait for better conditions. 

The only options are to slap on borium shoes and get our there anyways in spite of the cold, or pay out the nose to board your horse for 4 months at a facility with an indoor and fight the crowds. P public boarding facility options in the valley  are drying up. There are only a few choices because properties that were once available  are bought up by private owners who don't allow the public to come in.  Others are show barns with a large clientele that don't allow general boarders unless you opt into their training/lesson program. For horse owners that want to board their horses here have their challenges of  finding a good place the provides quality care, and when they do, most likely , they will have to deal with the crowds to use the arena.  I just need to win the lotto so I can build my own indoor.. guess I should start actually playing lotto in that case.

After our couple of nasty weather cycles that hit in November , we have been experiencing high 30's and 40's weather for the last couple of weeks which is "rideable" weather. Granted it's cloudy and foggy but we define "acceptable " riding weather a bit different here in the northwest. The temps are less of a problem for us than the footing most times.  I can ride in anything over 25 degrees ,as long as its not windy , snowing, or raining. We still have to be careful with sweating horses up but for those of us without access to an indoor , its the footing issue that stops the riding in the winter. 

JB has been restless, demanding of attention and generally seems bored or anxious to do something. He is constantly at the fence looking for attention, instead of out in the pasture like he would normally be. I am sure part of it has to do with the loss of Rebel.  I have been slightly concerned about his recent state of mind,  so discontent. 

Right now, there happens to be just enough snow  on the ground that makes the footing pretty good for slow easy riding. There hasn't been enough of the thawing freezing trend to create the typical ice sheet effects we usually have by now so I took the opportunity this week to get JB out a couple of times to our outdoor arena.

I tried to get some pictures of how cute he looked  with his fuzzy coat, but he kept getting closer to me so all I could get was this..He thinks he should try out for horse magazine photo ops..

hey.????what are we going to do?

When I got on him he was a bundle of energy. It's been weeks so it was nice to feel that energy in him. I took him through areas where the snow drifted and he had to really pick up his feet which made him work a little harder. He is the laziest little horse ever but I think he was enjoying the change of scenery, the engagement of an activity, and the added attention. 

JB feet

Handsome post ride pose, waiting for cookies

 

Boots For Duncan

I can't believe it! Duncan's issue with cracked pads last winter has reared it's ugly head again! I really thought it was a one time deal ..

 For those of you that don't know, Duncan is the cutest dog in the world.. He's my Borgi, the love of my life, can- do- nothing -wrong, walks on water- dog in our household.
 (ok he's actually very naughty at times but he is too cute for me to be mad at him for very long)

He is 2 1/2 years old.

His best toy, the orange ball, which no longer squeaks..

Last winter, Duncan's pads started cracking from going out on the snow and ice. Not completely unusual for dogs in the Northwest.
Duncan , Xena and I take walks most days and when we  can't , (due to my work schedule) I will at the very least spend a few minutes throwing the ball , or,  if all else fails, he  always has the option to do his other favorite activity, which involves him chasing the horse along the fence line. (make no mistake, the horses lure him into this game!)

Duncan in Border Collie Mode- waiting for Otto to make his move

** sidenote-  I really need to address this bad habit the dogs have gotten into,  but I am afraid it's going to require a training collar, actually two, one for him and one for Xena, the German Shepard, which I don't currently have.

As you can imagine, all of these activities worsen the paw cracking. But he's an active dog. If we can't keep him active during the day, my house will be turned upside down at night with his boundless energy.

Last winter, we went through the gamut of finding ways to protect and eventually heal his pads without limiting his activities. We started out putting antibiotic cream on his pads and wrapping them at night with vet wrap which worked for two nights until he decided he was not liking it and chewed them off. His paws got so sore, he would barely let us handle them, which was creating it's own set of challenges. Ideally, if I could get them wrapped and leave them wrapped for a few days that was best. We started lathering his paws in vaseline and special paw cream , wrapping them with vet wrap , Koflex, and putting the "cone of shame" on so he would leave his wraps alone. It sort of worked,  but  he was still able to get at part of his paws and rip things up so that when he went outside , the inside of the wraps were getting wet. Kinda defeats the purpose.

I found these, which looked like they would do the trick. and they did...for about 20 minutes. They ripped apart in short order.  The other down side was in the snow and ice, they were like skiies for him. They slipped and he was doing the splits. The fit wasn't great either,  they were either too tight at the top and after about 20 minutes, would become uncomfortable for him, or they were too loose.. Fail attempt #2... ( atleast they were colorful)

I went back to the pet store, once again, to look for another option and return the paw condoms. I brought home two different brands of boots , both of which were "guaranteed" to stay on. I was suspect but desperation was setting in. For both sets, we struggled to get them on for 10 minutes, let him out , and within 4 nanoseconds, the boots went sailing through the air as he ran through the snow.

Impressive.

In the long run we went back to wrapping with Koflex and vet wrap and got a different cone of shame that was actually an inflatable collar that worked a little  better but I was still rewrapping his feet every other day or so. We also had to put him on antibiotics because he developed a secondary infection as a result . Long story short, my baby boy Duncan was a sad case last winter. and now, it looks like we are starting all over..

I am now working on trying some different boots. I ran across a cross country skiier last winter who had these boots on his Golden. I asked him how well they were holding up and staying on and he said he has been pleasantly surprised.. but warned they weren't cheap.. I guess not. They are the Cabela's brand and come with a steep price.

Cabela's boots

 Then I found these. They are called Trail Tracker , made by Doggles. What I really like about this set is how high they come up. Duncan doesn't have long legs but the upper pad, called the Carpal pad I think, splits open because of the cracks. Its rather painful I imagine.

Trail Trackers

These boots are also at a much better price point. I went to order but , ofcourse they are sold out in his size..

Back to square one, the quest continues or we hope the Trail Trackers come in soon.

Anyone have any recommendations? I would rather not begin the vet wrap fiasco again!

Endurance- A funny short story from a Beginners Perspective

I ran across a cute story written by a lady , approaching her senior years, but willing to give the sport of endurance a try just the same. I love stories like this. New experiences, new adventures , people getting out of their comfort zone. I think I can relate. I think I probably had that wild eyed, bug filled teeth look about me in my first CTR, my second CTR and probably my first coupe attempts at my the LD rides I attended. I have had my fair share of failed attempts and wild experiences (riding through a dirt bike rally in the middle of a ride is by far the most memorable to date)

and ofcourse.. it's about a Morgan doing endurance! What's not to love about that?? :)

Hope you enjoy. Find the story here.

"The Soul of a Horse"

Still sad... still grieving. still missing my boy.. It's hit me hard, an ache that hurts deeply. It's been a rough week. Trying to get through the days at work, staying busy with other responsibilities,playing with the dogs in the hope it will bring even the slightest break from the sadness. I am thankful for the "busi-ness" of life that has kept me going inspite of the loss. The other horses still need me , the  chores still need to be done. The other horses were affected as well but none more than JB. He continues to call for him, although it's lessening with every day that passes. We let JB see Rebel in the trailer after if was done and over and before we buried him. We hoped it would help JB to  understand. It breaks my heart to see JB so lost and obviously mourning for his friend. There have been many quiet moments with JB crying into his mane  , hoping somehow , we can provide each other some type of comfort.  I have run through the gamut of emotions from knowing I made the right choice given the circumstances to "did "I make the wrong decision?", "should I have done more, bought him more time?"

But in the end it doesn't matter,it's over and done with. I know we made the best decision we could given the situation.  Rebel will always be with me in my heart. We are coping, and getting on as best as we can. We will all be ok.. in time.. just need more time.  Otto makes me laugh and I am thankful for that blessing.

I ran across Joe Camp's blog  several months ago. His blog is about wild horses, horsemanship , the human/horse relationship but it's  mostly about his horse Cash. The man has written several books.

Sadly, Joe lost Cash this fall and he wrote this post about it.  It was so eloquently written that I wanted to share.  It echoes so much of what I have experienced losing my beloved Rebel .
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Update! *** I was looking for this post and finally found it! 

In honor of remembering some of the good times that are logged here on this blog (although not many since Rebel was mostly retired by the time I started this blog)

"While my good conscious told me to just go out for a short break to pet on a couple of horses , my bad conscious won out and I grabbed for a halter, caught up Rebel and climbed on bareback. My heart jumped with joy and I headed out along the pasture fence line for a trot around. As I rode along, Brego , Cass and Roman followed up behind like a parade wondering where we were going but not wanting to be left out. Just my luck, I happened upon some fairly deep drifts out in the arena and couldn’t resist. Rebel willingly responded to my suggestion for a little more speed as we bounded through the drift, the snow sent flying, glistening in the sunlight and biting at my cheeks as it danced and sparkled all around me.

 The other horses seemed to sense the new energy in the air and decided to make their own game of it as they ran around the pasture racing each other through the snow , jumping through the drifts. It almost seemed they were relieved for some excitement to arrive after being hunkered down with bad weather for the last several days.

There is nothing like bounding through a snow drift on a horse, and just for a moment I remembered what it felt like to be a child again, uninhibited exuberance to be riding bareback , invigorated by the cold air on my face and warmth of my horses neck against my hands, leaving me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day".

My Rebel- A Tribute

Rebel Fall 2014

This was written about a bird dog , but I think it's fitting regardless. 

The perfection of life with a gun dog, like the perfection of an Autumn, is disturbing because you know, even as it begins, that it must end.  Time bestows the gift and steals it in the process" 
George Bird Evans 
"An Affair With Grouse

On Thanksgiving morning, I found  my long time friend Rebel acting colicky. We hauled into the vet clinic. The exam did not reveal anything conclusive but we decided to start with treating him for an impaction. We  spent the next  48 hours working on trying to get him through it with fluids,electrolytes,  pain killers and hours of handwalking. He rallied by Friday morning, his gut sounds improved, his appetite improved, and he had passed some manure. We  thought we were through the worst of it but by later that day,  he started becoming symptomatic again and his pain was quickly becoming unmanageable, even with pain medication through out the day on Friday.  His gut sounds were practically non existant again, and elevated respiration. At this point, It was most likely a right distal displacement or possibly a lipoma . Either way, our conservative approach to treatment for an impaction did not seem to be working. It was not going to resolve on it's own.  Rebel was , as best we know since he was never a registered horse , about 28 years old.  Surgery was not an option. We had come as far as we could in treatment options  and I was now faced with making that difficult decision to say goodbye. He had fought the good fight and I could not bear to let him suffer any more pain. 

Its hard to even write this post. The wound is still raw.  

Rebel was the first horse I got when I moved to Montana . He was also the first and last horse my dad bought for  me. Rebel had a rough start in life and was mistreated, beaten and neglected. Once he was mine, we spent the next several years learning about each other. I learned about building trust with a horse. I learned about patience.  I have had many horses come and go in my life , all of them I liked, some I loved,  but Rebel got into my heart like no other horse. Rebel and I had a bond that doesn't come along all that often. At times, it felt like we read each others mind. 
Over the years, we saw endless miles of trails, experienced hundreds of adventures.  He would do anything and go anywhere I asked of him. 

As he aged , and his arthritis became an issue for him, and as a result our adventures lessened and lessened. Our time together in the last several years was easy trail rides, and his favorite , belly scratching sessions. Every evening he would greet me at the gate with a nicker and his pawing at the feed pan to tell me he was ready for his senior mash. 
Even into his golden years, he taught countless people to ride. He even became a solid archery mount for several horseback archers. Anyone who met him loved him. In spite of his rough start in life, he learned that not all humans were quite so bad as he once thought. He was a kind gentle soul. Only a select few of us ever find our heart horse. Rebel was mine and I knew it from the first time we met, over 20 years ago. 

He is now buried in our pasture under a tree. My heart aches and there is such a sense of emptiness for me. I miss our evening talks and scratching sessions. I miss hearing his nicker when I walked into the pasture. I miss the way that when I would give him a hug,  he would wrap his head and neck over my shoulder as if he was hugging me back. He was my best buddy for so many years, a true privilege that I am grateful for.  I hope that he is running somewhere in green pastures, free of any pain or discomfort and looking down on us , keeping a watchful eye. 

He will be greatly missed. 




" 

Keep Calm and Gobble On

From Acer Farm to all of you

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!





 (this would be our horses if we let them in the door

Otto, OCD and High Glycemic Response Feeds

Yes, we are altering the feed program AGAIN for Otto. You might ask why  because we all know that frequent feed changes for horses isn't really a good thing.

Otto is now at near optimal body condition for his age. That is a good thing. My vet is pleased with his weight, I am pleased with his weight and he seems like he feels good judging from his playing and overall attitude. Maybe a little too good! The improved quality feed  has paid off. His feet are even beginning to show some noticeable rings indicative of the feed change.

So why fix it if it isn't broke??

After speaking to the vet  about his growth, his "previous" feed program,  and discovering that the Safeshoice Original formula is not TRULY a low starch or controlled carb feed,  (thanks to Mel for discovering what I overlooked!) it was time to reconsider.

(**Note to self in the future-  READ the damn feed tag in detail and DON'T ASSUME it truly is a low carb feed because that is what the pretty packaging said.. Seriously.. I do know better.. )

More than ulcers, risk of colic or anything else related to feed  or feed changes,  our biggest concern for Otto is developing OCD (Osteochondritis Dissecans)

There is a direct correlation between horses developing issues with Osteochondritis Dissecans ( OCD)  and feeds that contain high glycemic responses.  There is also an increased risk for foals that were born large, with faster than average growth rates i.e. Otto.

There is a ton of information out  there on this subject.  Kentucky Equine Research did a study in the 90's and I also found this Field study.  An interesting read if you have the time. If not, I will spare you the time and summarize the basic concept from one of many articles on the subject:

"The source of calories for young horses may also be important, as hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia have been implicated in the pathogenesis of OCD. Foals that repeatedly experience an exaggerated and sustained increase in circulating glucose or insulin in response to a carbohydrate (grain) meal may be predisposed to the development of OCD."  
( date accessed 11/26/2014 ; http://www.equinews.com/article/bridge-the-gap-between-ocd-and-nutrition)

Otto was not only born a large colt (according to his previous owners) but he was also not being fed the best of feed the first year and half of his life. If the hay quality they sent him here with is any indicator of the typical hay he had access to through his short life, then he was probably not meeting his nutrition requirements. That,  compounded by the fact that he was also being fed a 3 way cob with corn and molasses and oats.. ??? That's two strikes in my opinion.

The first thing I did when he got here was  transition him to beet pulp and Safechoice Mare and Foal along with Equipride for the fat. He was underweight so getting some weight on him was a priority especially since we were headed into winter.

As you may recall, he decided one morning he didn't  like the Mare and Foal and refused it so we switched to another feed , Safechoice Original formula (see note to self above).

He has certainly enjoyed this grain but it's not exactly a good fit for what he needs. So ... it was back to shopping for the right product.

Walking down the aisle at the local feed store retailer these days is almost as bad as walking down the aisle of skin care at the local walmart. There's a choice for whatever ails ya , but scratch the surface a bit , and it's the same old pig , only with wheels.

In my hunting and researching, I have been able to whittle it down to some basic guidelines to look for as far as ingredients when you want a true low starch grain.

1st rule of thumb-(not trying to be captain obvious here but still worth the mention)

 AVOID CORN, OATS, BARLEY in all cases.

1.  Wheat Middlings- This is the the part of the wheat hull that is the smaller part of the wheat ( as opposed to the wheat bran part used in processing flour). It is known for adding good fiber digestibility to feeds. Midds actuaully have a high NSC level, about 33% BUT  because of the fiber and being combined in feeds with fat, it levels things out. It also packs a punch when you look at the DE megacaloris per pound.  It is often one of the FIRST ingredients found on several Low starch grain available. 
2. Dried Distillers Grain - a by product of grain fermentation for either alcohol for consumption or producing ethanol.  They are grounded and yeast is added. It is then heated to convert the starches and sugear into alcohol leaving behind a low NSC ingredient that is high in protein and fat. It's then dried and used in livestock feed. 
3. Soybean Hulls:This is a by product of crushing soybeans. They are low in lignin and high in fiber. They are considered a source of protein .
4. Alfalfa meal- ground up alfalfa and considered a high calorie fiber
5. Shredded beet pulp: most of us are familiar with this miracle fiber for horses,however there is still some misconception out there that it is high in sugar because its derived from sugar beets. The processing removes the sugars, leaving a by product with very low NSC (well under 20%) and very digestible fiber. One thing about beet pulp is that is has some odd mineral properties that can throw off a horses balance if not careful
6. Rice Bran- yet another fiber and it also serves to add calories to a horses diet without the carb load. The main problem with Rice bran , when fed in large amounts, is that the Calcium and Phosphorus ratio is reversed from what a horse actually needs so back in the day when people would often feed warm rice bran mashes to their horses, it really wasn't the best practice. 
7. Molasses or Cane Molasses- i was surprised to see this as an ingredient in low carb/low starch horse grain but it was there nonetheless in some. Its  used for palatability and combined  with soy oil , keeps textured feed from separating. It seems it doesn't necessarily need to be feared, if it is on a feed tag as a 3rd , 4th or further down ingredient number . It may only make up 1% of the total feed. 

Last rule of thumb- Possibly more important than anything else, is that really , no matter what grain I choose, the key is the forage,  long stem good quality hay , as much as he wants at this point.  Otto is fortunate and I am reminded to be very grateful.  I am able to keep him in a fairly ideal setting on our pasture . It's not alot, but its more than what alot of horse owners have. While our pasture is pretty much gone, there is still some dormant grass he is able to pick at throughout the day. In fact,  he will actually choose to pick and graze at that over  his hay at various times through out the day.  I keep hay in front of him most of the time and this alone goes a long ways to keeping him as healthy as possible. 

As far as which grain I select goes, I am looking at a couple of options of feeds. Price wise they are similar and within a few dollar of each other. Ingredient wise they are also similar. One has some cane molasses in it as a 5th ingredient so it's really not a huge concern to me. The other product I am considering has NO molasses but also contains flaxseed which is a bonus.

The biggest difference is availability and/or convenience with sourcing it on a monthly basis. I am not always good at getting my new supply of grain 2 weeks before I run out. Most times it's more like 2 days before I run out. If the grain choice is not available when I need it last minute, I don't want to be faced with waiting a week for the feed store to get it back in.

Ah,  the joys of living somewhere with limited choices!

Spider pig.. Spider pig... ( no... Spider horse...)

Otto and Cassidy were at the vet on Saturday  and it's all positive news. Cassidy has his tooth issues sorted out for another year and Otto has  gained 100 lbs since September. He has finally reached a near optimal body condition. WOO HOO! So the feed program has worked however, we are reevaluating things a bit based on discussions with the vet about young horses with fast growth rates and the potential OCD risk with higher insulin/higher carb diets. The timing of all this is about perfect because we also have some newly discovered  information about the grain I have had Otto on  that  isn't quite what we  thought it was.. that is Controlled or Low Carb. The post  came out of Mel's blog recently . If your curious, check it out here  (check out the comments too).

In spite of Otto's improved body condition, we still get the reactions of people, including my vet,  when they see this long legged monster of mine. His choice of words were... in between chuckles... was "What in the world do we have here??"

*** The last time we had Otto into the vet, we didn't get to see my "regular" vet and instead had to take an appointment with the new associate lady vet at the practice,  so this the first time he had seen our latest addition to the herd

Ofcourse our vet also knows that we typically have stocky short Morgans and Barbs so he was a little surprised to see us bringing the spider looking colt in to see him. We all had a good chuckle when he compared him to a teenage girl that hit a growth spurt. Yep.. he's all leg.. The good news is that he was pretty sure his leg length is probably done with growth at this point.
There was other good news too. Remember  the the weird scar, possible sarcoid looking thingy on his pastern I posted about here?????

As it turns out , it is just what I suspected and hoped for... old injury that went untreated leaving behind a nasty scar , likely due to proud flesh development.  The only thing we have to be careful of is to make sure we keep up on his hoof trimming , especially on the inside wall of the opposite  hoof to eliminate any risk of Otto interfering.  The interference could cause the area to become re-injured ,which can cause it to become an open wound, which could become a sarcoid in the right environment. I had no idea but apparently, sarcoids can be caused by a certain fly larvae passing from Cattle to horses with open wounds.  ( sorry don't have the specific details about this beyond that and didn't jot anything down so it was information that went in and went out)

I actually haven't seen Otto catch himself at all since he has been turned out .  My suspicions that the full time turn out will improve his coordination were accurate .. and I don't have a physically challenged baby colt..

On other fronts he does not appear to have any wolf teeth erupting at this time. When we schedule  for his castration next spring they will check again and remove if they have erupted. Otto also had his boosters so all things being equal, he is  all set until next spring when Otto becomes an IT.

Going to the vet also provided a great day of learning opportunities for the young lad. He had to load and unload twice, go somewhere new, get messed with by strangers, stand around and wait for Cassidy to finish his dental while drills were going and making all kinds of noise,  and watch other people and horses coming and going. We even took advantage of the tie rings attached to the very safe cement wall at the clinic and did a session on standing tied. He did really good. He would get to the end of his line, hesitate for a second, and then step forward or sideways to release the pressure. That left me feeling much better about his progress with standing tied. I was quite proud of my little spider horse.

Our footing has degraded to slippery slushy ice so not much happening with ground work at this time. Cassidy is showing a marked improvement in his attitude with his teeth done and was actually playing with Otto, even playing with the ball with Otto,  (which is no longer a ball but a pancake) Cassidy playing is acutally  kind of remarkable.. if you knew Cassidy.  Playing is  below his royal highness!

Otto sizing his buddy up

The not so stealthy attach move, easily thwarted by the Cass Man

Random Updates

Well it's official. I received Otto's registration papers in the mail and apparently AHA wanted to be doubley sure,   because they sent me two copies. This is  first time I have owned a horse registered with the AHA. I was actually surprised that the half Arabians are all part of the same registry as the full bred Arabians. I was thinking there was a separate Registry for anything less than full Arabian.
So, I need to research the awards programs, and all that goes along with it.  This is all new territory for me. My background is Morgans and the Jockey Club.

It's been a busy week. Temps have mostly regulated but it's still been quite cold. It's provided a great learning opportunity for blanketing.

With the cold temps Otto has had lots of practice with the blankets being put on and taken off. If it's above 15 degrees, he gets to be naked. The day time highs have been in the low to mid 20's and he seems to be handling those temps just fine without a blanket.  Night time lows dip into the single digits so when he gets his evening grain, he gets his blanket put back on. We have only had one issue with the blanket. He managed to chew up the ends of the front chest straps the first day he wore it but we worked on "correcting" that behavior in short order.
He really needs a size  66" right now but the smallest I have is a 69 " so we are making it work.  I am keeping an eye open for a used 66" . I really don't want to buy new because I know in three months he will have outgrown it.

On other fronts, in addition to cold temps, my poor baby colt (cough)  has apparently done something to his eye. He has had a weepy , slightly swollen right eye that I have been watching for a few days. I am not sure how long he has been having an issue but I only noticed it this past weekend.  There doesn't seem to be anything in it that I can see , nor does he  appear to be rubbing it, that I have noticed,  but it's definitely not right.

Yesterday it looked worse ,  so I put  some eye ointment in it to see if it would give  him any relief. It It seems to be helping. yesterday,  it looked better and the watering had stopped. The swelling was slightly less. So , I have been giving him a shot in the eye of goop each morning and night.

When it comes to eyes, I don't take any chances. We have a vet appt scheduled on Saturday for Cassidy to get his dental, so we decided to schedule Otto to go in as well. He needs his boosters anyways and I can get a new weight on him as well. And.. I will probably have them take a look at that spot on his pastern as well. * Update on that is that it hasn't changed a bit and it doesn't seem to be bothering him when I touch that area anymore.

there is also the  added benefit of trailer loading practice and getting to go somewhere.

I actually worked on the loading the first week he arrived here,  because in the event of the emergency situation where we have a :

" I need you to get your butt in the trailer NOW "  moment...

I wanted to make sure we had the loading thing down. He got it figured out pretty quickly  but his dismount needs work. For now it's manageable. He just has to ponder the getting out. At this point, I let him turn around and step out but we have to work on the backing out because before long, he will be too big to turn around.

We will leave that for another day..

So, while we wait for Saturday to arrive and we can get to the vet, we have been instructed to keep putting the ointment in as long it doesn't appear to be making things worse. At this point it isn't.

Ofcourse getting the ointment into his eye is a trick.  Otto doesn't exactly think it's too much of a fun game and doesn't cooperate like I would like him too. I am trying to be quick about it but his studdy mouthiness is making it more challenging. getting mouthy. Just getting the halter on him alone is a trial by fire process because he tries to grab a hold of it as I am slipping it over his muzzle.  Once I manage to  get the halter on, he is busy trying to chew  the lead rope, my sleeve, or whatever else he can find to get in his mouth.  I am ready to buy him a horse sized passifier. Cassidy is concerned he won't have a tail left by spring because Otto likes to get a hold of it pull it , so hard that sometimes, Otto gets a mouth ful of tail hair

The plan was/ is to wait until April before we get him gelded.  Mostly, he is fine (other than his mouthiness) but his boy hormones are kicking in it seems. He's not super studdy , he isn't pushy to handle, but  there is the rearing thing when I try to work him on the ground. That seems to come and go at this point . I am beginning to think it has less to do with being a stud and it's more of a behavior issue when he doesn't get his way.  Some days are good , some days are bad. I did heavily consider arranging to have him gelded this weekend.

My vet said he COULD geld him on Saturday..meaning he has time in his schedule. There are pros's and cons to consider and in typical fashion, decisions like this, I might tend to overcatastophize the situation. After a bit of hand wrenching on my part trying to decided,  I sat down with pencil and paper and  made my pro's and con's list. This made the decision alot easier.

The cons of doing it now:

• Stress of weather added to trauma of wound could cause other issues.
• Colder weather means the horses move less generally,  which means I have more work to keep him moving in order to keep the wound open and draining properly.That also means I would probably have to lunge him, which he doesn't exactly do at this point and the footing is bad enough in our round pen that I can't reasonably ask him to run around in there without risk of some other injury. ( gotta love winter)
• Lesser development in regards to heaviness of bone that would come if the boy hormones were allowed to remain a bit longer. 

*** Normally I would not consider this so heavily,especially if I was talking about a Morgan. I am big fan of big heavy bone. Unrefined is preferable to me!I know that heavy build or bone isn't always "preferred" in endurance but it's important as far as durability in my book.  Right now, Otto's frame is lighter than I would like to see for a horse his size, which I believe , ( hope)is more likely due to poor  nutrition and lack of turnout in his prior situation. I really want him to develop as much heavy bone as his genetic makeup  is capable of. His sire and Dam both had substantial enough (not as much as I would like to see) bone for their respective breeds, so I have to believe he stands a good chance of developing the same. Keeping him a stallion just a bit longer should help that.

• I wouldn't be able to coordinate the brand inspector in time so that I could have him freeze branded at the same time, while he is sedated (lessens the trauma of branding)
• I also want to have him micro chipped and I have NOT ordered a kit yet so I wouldn't have time to get one before Saturday anyways, which means I would have bring him back into the vet clinic anyways to have it inserted and entered into the database. 

**Future post about Microchipping might be in order.  I have been doing some research on that and have learned some interesting things...

Pros of doing it now

• Rearing issue MIGHT go away..(but then again, maybe not , if my suspicions are right that its not about being a stud at all and he just  needs more work to resolve a behavior issue regardless of the jewels being intact)
• Mouthiness goes away
• Studdy behavior become less ingrained

I think the cons mostly outweigh the pros at this point. He is not studdy enough that he is dangerous to me , himself or the other horses. He is more than manageable .  If he does get too abusive to Cassidy,  I can always try putting Brego or JB in his pasture with him.  They will are much more inclined to put him in his place than  Cassidy would ever think to be.

On the rearing thing, I was thinking back because  Brego was a talented rearer as a youngster and his older brother Roman fixed the issue with a well timed shoulder check into Brego just as he was going up. We happened to be standing out there when it happened. Brego was being his annoying self and trying to get his older brother to play . Brego was quick to go up as his preferred way of showing his dominance, Roman shouldered into Brego at just the very right moment. Brego went down like a ton of bricks. I don't think we ever saw him rear again.

So while we don't have Roman anymore, we do have Brego , who, as he has matured is very much like a clone of Roman. Maybe ... just maybe we have the solution to the problem for Otto after all!

Holiday Season for the Horse Lover in your Family

The stores have had Xmas decor up for weeks now, in fact I think I started seeing it right about the same time they started putting out Halloween candy and decorations. It seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year. The big pressure by retailers for consumers to spend. Every year it's worse and worse. I heard that retailers are expecting to set yet another records profit year. We Americans sure love to shop. I am pretty sure I don't contribute too much towards those profits. I am not much of a shopper, unless it's in tack store.. ofcourse. I definitely don't get wrapped up into the Black Friday thing. Ofcourse, last year, we did do the Thanksgiving night shopping, on our way home from dinner and got ourselves a new flat screen for a screaming deal. For the bargain price, I was willing to make a small exception, but only if there wasn't a line. There was a small line and we were in and out in 20 minutes..Flat screen in tow.

Since I am a horse person, most of the things I truly want for Christmas  anymore are horse related items...and not necessarily needed items for the household..( a cuisine art frying pan?? really)

*ok the TV wasn't necessarily NEEDED since we already had one TV but..let's not split hairs here!

AND...

Since I am also the only horse person in my family, it was a very rare event growing up that any of my gifts resembled anything horse related. Ofcourse, I had great gifts, I am not complaining.. my parents worked their tails off to provide us kids with fantastic memories. But I do recall, in spite of my best efforts over over a period of several years,  my family never could quite  grasp the concept of that buying  a  saddle pad , a horse blanket , a bit, or a new pair of reins was acceptable and exciting to me.

So for all of you that might know of a horse person in your life, here's a little something that might help and believe me,  if you gift with a horse related gift,  you will be crowned the best christmas gift giver in the eyes of your loved one that has a larger wardrobe for their horse than they do for themselves.. I promise.

Let the Holiday Madness begin!

Arctic Blast Aftermath

We are still very cold, much colder than we should be this time of year. We should be in the 30's and 40's, not the single digits and negative digits at night.. but we are dealing.. The horses have all done fine, even Otto,  who I was most concerned about. The water tank heaters have not caused us any grief and have quietly hummed along as they should , even in -25 with the wind chill factor. That makes me happy.

Less than a week  ago we had been getting torrential rains  for about a two week period. As you can imagine,  that made for a major mud disaster in the corrals.  We have a type of dirt that is a mix between a clay like and sandy loam type soil so when it rains, our Mud is really something to behold. It's like gumbo. We also had standing water in many places because everything was so saturated, it wasn't sinking in any more. (you desert dwellers don't know how fortunate you are to  have sand ) Horses came and went in and out of the corrals through the  mud  in order to get to the water tanks and barns. Well. with the artic blast on Sunday night,  that all froze rock solid.

 We are now left with really hard ground that has divits from hoof prints and high spots in between.  Its ankle breaking footing and very difficult for the horses to walk on. They don't like it at all.
It's so bad  that the horses don't want to come into  the one corral area from the pasture  (the one that Cassidy and Otto have been living in ) to get water. Unfortunately, the way we are set up, we have a designated area for the water tank because we have electricity run right next to for tank heaters. The option of moving the water tank is not an option.

The rest of the horses are in the other corral and theirs isn't as bad. They also aren't as bothered by the footing.. since they have grown accustom to this over the years.

Otto will come into the corral and walk around the edge of the fenceline where the divits and ground aren't quite as bad  in order to get to his barn, but in order to get to the water, he has to go through the worst part of the footing.

So, I either let my horse get dehydrated or  I have to somehow find a way to get him water. I have been haltering Otto a few times a day and dragging him over to the water tank so he can drink. It takes us forever because he doesn't like it but we eventually make it there with alot of coercing. Sometimes, I just haul a bucket out to him, which is easier and less time consuming. It's also  the method he prefers , but I don't want him to come to expect that special treatment!


Obviously, neither of those are good long term solutions to our issue with this footing thing. Not a whole lot can be done because everything is frozen so hard. After talking it over last night, we decided to give something a try. It might turn out to be money thrown away because in realty NOW is not the time to be laying down gravel but we are going to anyways.  It's really the only solution we can come up .

The idea is that with 6 inches of gravel laid down, it should  completely fill the low spots and level it  they have a level base to walk on.  3/4 " gravel with a binder should  do the trick. Come spring, alot of it will sink in but gravel is cheap enough and we can bring more in to keep building it up, which is something we have been wanting to do anyways.  We will place it in the barn , 6 feet in front of the barn ,  in front of the water tank and in front of the gate that goes in and out of the corral. That should pretty well cover the worst areas and hopefully help the horses travel alot easier.

Fingers Crossed!

Rearing

Otto has recently discovered a new trick!!

 I was working on some ground work and lateral lungeing with him. I had taken him out of sight of the other horses and he wasn't happy but my attitude on that is .. too damn bad.. deal with it..

Well, he had other ideas. When he blew through the pressure of asking him to go from a trot to a walk on the line, I gave him a heftier tug to get him to "walk". His response was to go up, just a little bit with his front end, but then walked off . Ok.. Then he tried to trot away again.  ( the brain is gone.. the feet go..) I asked for a walk and he went up again. This time, he went up a little higher .I pulled him to one side and he came down. I asked him to walk off again on the end of the line. He wanted to blast away. In his attempt to leave the scene , he hit the end of the rope, and he really went up in the air this time.. and added in some hang time. Special...

This went for several more times. I could not get the leverage on him I needed to get after him enough and stop the behavior. And I was late...

In hindsight , I realize I made a couple of mistakes. He was crowding me and I wasn't getting him away from me,  so when he went up he was practically right over the top of my head.. not a good place to be. I also should have been quicker in my attempts to correct him before he could get up so high . My timing was off. Way off .

What was amazing to me is that he realized very quickly he had my number.(yep, I ain't proud) AND.. he took major advantage of it. I definitely learned something about his behavior/personality . I can't give him an inch.. I am sure he sensed a level of fear as well after about the 5th time, he was getting down right bull headed . The scenario went from bad to worse and no matter what I tried to do, his response was the rear. I know alot of this is the testosterone since he is not gelded yet but  that it is still not acceptable.  This behavior has also lent itself to his playtime with Cassidy. I often see Otto out there playing and rearing at liberty. Tendency? maybe.. Just feeling his oats.. probably. I truly believe for the first time in maybe a long time he has enough energy reserves that he can act on some testosterone type behaviors. I think before any spare energy was going into his growth.

So , as much as I didn't want to end to session having clearly lost, I did , because it was becoming a safety issue for me and him. I basically had to throw in the towel but not without getting the last word. As I turned him loose in the pasture and he went blasting away, I said

"Wait till your father comes home you little smart ass... we'll see who has the upper hand then!"

 Talk about feeling like failure as a horse owner/trainer at that moment. I thought I had caused the issue somehow but couldn't figure out why. I knew Tom would be home in a couple of hours and I took solace in know he could help me. Normally, Tom lets me address most of my horse issues all on my own, because most of the time, I can figure it out. This time, I called Uncle. With age comes wisdom. I have a vested interest in keeping my skull from being tap danced on.  I am so very thankful I have a spouse that is so good with this kind of stuf

So, "daddy" got home and as I predicted.. he  had it sorted out within about 15 minutes. More importantly, he helped me figure out what I was doing wrong and  coached me through it. I needed to stop letting Otto crowd me so much and I needed to drive him forward more.  Even if he needs to move his feet and chooses to trot around, instead of walk (like what I ideally wanted) I was to let him but just direct his feet, and go with him...keep him on the circle, ask for a walk but don't insist. Let him sort through his options a little  and hunt for the answer. Eventually he will offer to slow and reward that. Ofcourse, I know all of this.. this was nothing new.. i have coached others through this very same damn thing and yet here I was struggling.. Oh well..

The result was that Otto and I ended on a much better note. He was listening and so was I. Going forward  I need to make sure I am not inadvertently causing him to react or respond in that way to pressure.

However, the rearing may still be there for a while.  It's not gone..

Not yet.

Rearing is a scary deal, whether you are on the horse or on the ground. I will have my work cut out for me and ....

up

up

and down with a buck...

me thinks his doctor visit this spring for a certain "boy specific" procedure might be happening sooner rather than later!

The Big Storm!

All day Saturday we prepared for the big storm heading our way. Saturday's weather  was a blessing because it was the only nice day we had seen for two weeks. It has been raining and raining.  We also had  5 ton of hay being delivered that would need to be stacked inside our hay barn.  

The media was hyping up the storm to a “superstorm” which was a little over the top in my opinion. but looking at the radar images, this storm was  definitely going to be on the upper end of intensity. The scariest part of this storm was that the rain would continue and then the temps would rapidly decrease and turn to snow and ice.

Hmmm. Wet horses, rapid temperature decline, high wind speeds and snow?? These are the conditions that can kill a horse in short order.

We got all the water tank heaters installed but that required emptying the “summer tanks” first. Normally we can just dump the tank and replace it with the tank set up for the heaters however.. it wasn’t that simple this time. The paddocks were a fine mess due to all the rain , mud that was past ankle deep with standing water (yes , which would be freezing up with this storm) .  Tipping over the tank where it stood and dumping more water in  front of the tanks wasn’t going to be an option.

 Ideally we would have invested into a sump pump by now , but instead we do it the hard way.. empty the tank bucket by bucket, carry it over to the tree row and repeat , until the water level in the tank was low enough to drag the tank out . .  We have two 150 gallon water tanks that this needed to be done with and ofcourse, I had just filled them 3 days before so they were about half full.

So while hubby was stacking 5 tons of hay, I was sloshing around in the mud , buckets of water in tow and trying not to re-injure my already strained ( possibly worse) hamstring muscle that I had already done 4 days before from slipping in mud and nearly ending up face first in it.. (that’s another story).  After a lot of  slip sliding around, I finally got the tanks emptied, dragged out and replace with the new tanks for the winter. We got the tank heaters in , tested, and insulated tank covers in place.

I did one last “Dry run” blanket lesson with him because I knew I would have to blanket him Monday and he would need to have it on  for several hours, or days. My smallest blanket is a 69” inch and it’s slightly too big but was going to have to work. I wasn’t going to buy another blanket in a size that he would be grown out of in a few months.

Up until that point I had put it on him a few times , walked him around and took it off. This time, I put it on him and turned him loose in the round pen with it, in the event he panicked over the leg straps. I didn’t anticipate a reaction since this wasn’t really new to him and I was glad to see he didn’t seem to care.

Sunday came with more rain and about 48 degrees. The storm was scheduled to start at about 6 pm. I made sure everyone had plenty of hay in front of them most of the day. I debated on when to blanket. Most of my blankets are waterproof  but it was pouring and I decided to wait until later to get all the blankets on everyone. I wanted them as dry as possible when the wind hit. Either way,  it was going to require each horse to get a good toweling off first before putting on blankets.  We had to separate Otto and Cassidy and move Cassidy into the other pasture because he wasn’t letting Otto into the barn. For this storm, the one horse that needed to be in a barn was Otto! Otto wasn’t happy about it and I was a little bit concerned he wouldn’t stay in the barn if he couldn’t see Cassidy.

We got out to the corrals about 5 :00 to start this process and the wind was already picking up and the temps were definitely dropping.

Mother nature can be such a wench. 

We no more than got Otto’s blanket in place and settled into his shed with his evening meal that the loud smattering of rain on the metal roof of the shed went silent , the wind gusted and rattled the walls the of the shed , and then the ice/snow mix started. It was literally within a 30 second time frame it switched. Then the wind howled some more. The snow started coming down so hard that we could literally not see more than a few feet in front of our nose. Lovely..  

Otto quickly figured out the b best place to be was IN THE BARN!

We had to pull the other horses into the hay barn where there was sufficient light, and cover from the snow and wind.  One by one, we toweled  them off and got the blankets on.  JB practically put his own blanket on while we were trying to dry him off.

It appeared this storm was going to be as bad as they had predicted but it’s nothing new for us here in the Northwest.

All the horses had access to cover from the Spruce trees to block the wind or could get into  a shelter. Everyone had a big pile of hay and access to water. It’s about all we can do without having an actual barn and stalls for everyone. Generally, our horses do just fine. I wasn't worried about any of them except Otto. This was going to be all new to him.  The frigid temps, snow, blanket and 50 mph wind gusts with ice. 

These kinds of nights are always restless for me but I had spent so much energy all day Sunday worrying about it, I slept like a rock.  Hubby said he woke up at 2 am and looked out and could see Otto laying down in his barn and seemed fine.

This morning, everyone was fine. It warmed to 23 degrees and the wind and snow had stopped. Everything was coated in an icey snowey crust. We ended up with about 2 inches of snow, which was less than the 4 they predicted.  

I was happy to see everyone anxious for their morning hay and decided to pull everyone’s blanket off, exept Otto's. The other geldings have more than enough of a coat to handle a non windy 23 degrees, especially now that they were completely dry.  I had hoped to keep Otto's on through tomorrow but he had other plans. 

A couple of hours later, I had to pull his off as well because he had decided he was done with it. He was doing his best to destroy it.  He was grabbing it with his teeth and pulling on the front. He already had one of the front straps undone. It was only a matter of time he would have it in shreds. Instead of having a destroyed blanket  that he is likely going to need again, I figured it was better to just take it off . No rain, no wind.. he would have to deal with the colder temps. There was plenty of hay for him to help keep him warm. 

Once his blanket was off , I turned Cassidy back into the pasture with him.  He spent the rest of the morning being a total nut in the pasture, running, bucking, kicking, rearing ( his new favorite thing) and generally being obnoxious to the point of Cassidy having to really get after him.. (can't blame him!)

Obviously 12 hours of being hunkered down in the shed was about all his little half Arab brain could handle.  

First storm of the season down.. how many to go????