April 4, 2023
Tiny steps in recovery, it was a big day Monday, I was able to hobble out of the apartment, plop onto my chairlift, do a transfer to the walker and get outside and land my butt into a car seat. All of this in honor of an appointment for an orthopedic consult. Slow healing, next on the agenda is a CT scan to check on the hamstring and ligaments. From there we ventured forth to Stanley Bridge to vote. I took one look at that long ramp and the steps at the door and knew I could not do the journey. My driver went in to explain, 5 minutes later, my ballot was at the door with the ballot box. Only in PEI eh!!.
April is with us now, and due to the UPEI Faculty strike, we could not have our annual Health Clinic. It has been rescheduled for April 23rd. In spite of that hiccup, we have started on our spring routine of deworming the herd. All the critters were weighed, this is done with a weight tape, This used to be a $5 investment. It seems odd that the heart girth circumference will give you an accurate measure, but it does. We post this information on our wall chart for treatments. Almost all medications and supplements are given according to weight. This is important information, so do it. On Monday the herd was dewormed for the spring treatment. I deworm with liquid Ivomec, the dose I use is 1ml per 100 lbs. That is why you need the correct weight. A 1000 lb horse will take 10ml, 700 lb pony would be 7ml. Ivomec does not eliminate tapeworms. I used to tell everyone to check with their veterinarian, but that cannot be now. And if there is any doubt you can always do a fecal test. I am not sure if the diagnostic lab at AVC is open now due to the faculty strike. Long ago I had my own microscope and did my own testing. To my greatest sorrow, I met poverty and sold my most valuable assets,, microscope and telescope. I kept the horses. In my childhood years we dewormed naturally with Artemisia, aka Wormwood. We dried a lot and fed it by the handful for 5 days. You could see the expelled parasites in the manure. Now the chemicals destroy the parasites so there is not a lot to see.
Already it is difficult to manage without veterinarian help. We vaccinate the horses in the spring. It is important to me to protect the herd with at least the Tetanus and Rhino vaccines. We need a veterinarian to prescribe them. If your horse is competing you should have proof of vaccination. In terms of biosecurity, I personally feel that every show or competition should require proof of vaccinations. Most stables or competitions do not observe the 10 foot rule to prevent transmission of a virus. There are lots of horses shifting from stable to stable in the spring. Be Vigilant!!!
The next thing we do at the Sanctuary in our battle against parasites we hang fly stickers. Every fly you destroy now counts to death to 16,000 offspring. They are busy procreators. By trial and error, we were able to help Morning Mist, she had a terrible reaction to fly bites, lesions like rain rot all over her body. Topical lotions and fly sprays were no help at all. Fly blankets did not help, they attacked her on the belly and udder. I started giving 3000mg each of Garlic and Apple Cider tablets. It took 8 years to find the cure for her. About now we will start to give everyone garlic tablets. This has to be successful, we have very little tree shelter for them since Fiona visited. When I was young and full of energy, I grew the garlic and made the cider. I am not there anymore so capsules seem to work just fine.
I would like to thank Trailblazers, last Saturday they had the stalls and buckets prepared and the herd in before their leader arrived. They know their stuff. On top of that they scrubbed the grungy water tub. I love it when they see work and do it. Be kind and lend a helping hand when you can.
Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.