September 25, 2024
It has been a dry September and statistics are proving that story. The soil was flying last night on our way to Kensington as we watch the harvester work the fields. Dry potatoes going into storage has to be good news for the producers. I am busy drying herbs for the winter for myself and the herd. I have a few horses that have the cough. Two have a cough, that I call upper respiratory. Kind of a sinus and nasal drip. People have it all the time. In horses it has to be watch all the time, in case there is an infection. The usual nose drip is clear, if it white, do something about it before it turns to yellow. Yellow is bad news and probably needs a very serious look. The other cough is very deep and comes from the belly, it used to be called the heaves, because you could see a line along the bottom of the ribs at the back of the belly. Then they called it COPD, and after that AWD, (Airway Disease). Whatever the name your horse has difficulty breathing, and it isn’t fair to ask them to perform at high levels. Prevention is the best method to help the horse. Make sure your hay is free of mold and dust. If it is wet or steam it. Make sure your bedding is free of mold and dust, or just don’t use bedding, rubber mats will do. Wet the pellets and make sure the horses have access to lots of clean water. Well at the Sanctuary we three horses that cough. I go to the family of herbs called expectorants. These are the plants that helps the discharge of mucus from the respiratory passages. There are about a hundreds of herbs, but I only harvest a few that are easily available. They are Honeysuckle, Dock, Savory, Plantain, Lovage, Mullein and Comfrey. These plants are perennial. Some folks call them weeds. I pick them and dry them. It seems long ago, when I used to do oils and tinctures. They are a lot of work. I found that just putting the dry leaves in their feed and wetting the feed, seems to do the trick. For our tubbies that do not get oats, we add the supplements and herbs to a couple cups of beet pulp. If management and maintenance do not work and your horse has a serious attack of coughing, you may have to go to the chemicals. Call the Veterinarian. That is difficult in our area, but call the Veterinarian College and see if they can help. Meanwhile you can drink Borage tea, that is the happy calming herb. Dry the leaves, flowers and seed. A teaspoon makes a couple of cups of a soothing drink.
There is an abundance of apples this year. If anyone wants to pick some good cider apples, you are more than welcome. The big winds will be starting soon, so get them before they fall. They are small because I haven’t pruned trees in many a year. BUT they are pretty well worm free. The horses eat all the windfalls and that takes care of the worms. Without the rain the pastures are getting pretty well eaten down. Too short for Prince and Cameo, necks are getting crested and stiff, they are showing a little heat in their hooves. As a Founder (Laminitis) measure and preventative, to the barn paddock they came. Thursday is dentist day for the herd. AVC students will be practising the sedation of horses and use of manual floats and electric float equipment. Floats are the file tools of the equine dentist, not a parade item. I expect the older horses mouth will have stories to tell. Although we have a 7-year-old that is not crushing his oats very well. I think he drops more oats than he swallows. There may be pretty sharp points in that mouth. The students also do an examination and check their body condition too. My management list says: check teeth twice a year and float if necessary. I get to do our old stock once a year. If you have younger horses, it is important for their health and growth to have a good mouth of clackers, before you put that bit in their mouth check for wolf teeth or caps that may be ready to pop.
Many times when friends send their pal across the rainbow bridge, they send their tack to the Sanctuary. What we cannot use, we share. Our thanks to Bev and Tom for their gift of shavings and tack and grooming supplies in memory of Gertie. The Sanctuary and directors thank all our barn heroes for their support, be it $$’s, bottles and cans or supplies, we will find a way to survive. We can be reached at handibearhills@gmail.com or Facebook messenger. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd