September 16, 2024
Good Autumn to you. And a grand one it is!! I am able to walk with a lot more confidence now. So I am spending more time at the garden tubs. A few flower beds that are overgrown with weeds are getting some much needed attention too. The flower tubs are pretty dry, even though there is quite a heavy dew in the morning, they still need attention with Adam’s Ale. Our 35 acres of pasture are adequate for 10 horses, the morning dew is keeping the pasture green. A horsekeeper’s reminder: we are coming into colic season, be vigilant when you shift the feeding from moist grass to dry hay. Make sure they are getting sufficient water to keep the gut moist. It is important to be on bun patrol. Horse buns should be moist and shiny when the horse eliminates (poops). Do everything you can, to have them drink copious amounts of water, at the very least, a minimum of 10 gals of water per day. Preventing a colic attack caused by impaction is very economical, compared to Emergency Surgery which answers to the kaching, kaching of the pocketbook. Another important colic prevention is a fall deworming. The Sanctuary deworms the herd after the first hard frost. This practise will take care of the Bots sitting in the stomach. I have sat through a few autopsies after a horse has died from colic. The stomach was full of bot larvae and large Strongyles. Prevention is the key to good horse management that keeps the horse healthy. Last month was a sad month for me, equipment is aging, Jehosaphat, the farm truck’s body had melted away. Other working parts were in a dismantling order as well. Well shucks, it was 20 years old, this is the Maritimes, should I expect more from the salt air and salt roads? The Farm is now the proud owner of a new to us 2010 Chevy Colorado, a smaller truck, but the bench seat fits just fine, the tourists are very happy. Of course disaster comes in multiples. My stairlift died, by my own hand. Don’t you just want to slap yourself when you mess up? The machine in question is installed on the barn stairs to the loft. These machines are very sensitive to anything on the rail. Of course there was always a bit of hay in question, dust, animal hair etc. When it stopped, I would use a long piece of wire to dislodge the offending obstruction. I wiggled and jiggled that wire just a little too much and destroyed a sensor. The Savaria lift had been installed 12 years ago. Parts come from China. Or do not come, there seems to be an embargo or slowdown even on generic sensors. Three months later, the light dawned that parts were not going to happen. Today a new lift was installed thanks to Henkel Elevator Service. It is lovely! The last 12 years I have had wonky knees. January 2024 I tore my left hamstring, knee and ankle ligaments, in December I had the right knee replaced. My best advice: DO NOT tear muscles and ligaments, it takes forever for them to come right, if they ever do. Climbing stairs takes a lot of energy, that energy can now be used doing productive chores. Before the new lift, repairs took a long time to get done. You know how it goes, three months to get to it, 30 minutes to do it. I would be upstairs and the tools would be downstairs. Without the lift I would think twice, maybe three times before I made the trip. Sometimes I would be downstairs and what I needed to work with would be upstairs. So that chore didn’t get done. I got better at organizing tasks and equipment, it will be so much easier now that I can zip up and down.
Back to horsekeeping. Pasture grasses are getting shorter, do watch your chubbies, make sure there is no heat in the hooves, watch their gait, you do not want to see a stiff legged walk. If you do, get them off the short pasture immediately, give them anti-inflammatory medication. Bute works pretty fast. I double up (1 cup daily) on Joe’s Seaweed in the feed as a maintenance remedy. Seaweed is anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic as well.
Just a reminder for students that are working on their volunteer bursary, Handibear Hills Horse Sanctuary, Inc. always need help around the farm and horses. A day here and there soon adds up to 100 plus hours. We can be reach by Facebook Messenger and at handibearhills@gmail.com. Remember kindness is like a pebble thrown in a pond, the waves travel to the shore and help many. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd