April 16, 2025
Crocus and Scilla are blooming in the yard, it must be Spring. I planted Snow Peas in the raised bed on the south side of the barn today the 16th of April. Snow Peas do not mind the cold weather. A couple of years before Covid, I planted Snow Peas on March 29th, it was a warm spring. I was able to pick a feed on June 6th. Last year the spring was wet and cold, the crop of peas was very meagre. I feel that the herd is ready to face another year. We had a very successful health clinic. All are dewormed and vaccinated. I did fecal testing a couple of weeks before the clinic. 3 horses were negative for parasites and 6 were positive. The results are so different now. In years past they gave you a count of eggs. 225 eggs per gram seem to be the thresh hold number. When a new horse came to the barn, the first thing I would do, was a fecal count. Even when the owner told me that they had done the deworming. Sometimes I believed and most the time I did not. You can tell if the animal’s coat is long, dull, and coarse, that they are harbouring a good load of parasites. A couple tests came back 3200 eggs per gram. That is a definite positive. Good thing I did not believe. This time, because of economics, and a skinny pocketbook, I only took blood tests on three. These candidates are the chubbiest of the bunch. If you remember last year, the blood tests showed that the whole herd was anemic. The hay that year was not nutritious and my mineral was not doing the job it should have done. I have fed an iron supplement to all of them from October to now. The results are back, drum roll, I assume we do not have anemic horses, the tests from these three show the haemoglobin (blood) count is normal. But and a big but, because I was feeding the poor hay to these three that get fat just from breathing, they are low in Potassium. I am not worrying about it because as soon as Dr. Green happens all will be well. I am not worried about the other six, because they have been getting the new hay, and the nutrition tests on that hay came back strong. Last year the weather cooperated and farmers were able to harvest in early July. Dr. Green is an old folks term, meaning that new green pastures will cure the nutrition imbalance.
It is mud season and that makes us very vigilant checking for scratches. An old term for this malady is “greasy heels”. It is caused by fungus, bacteria or a mite, and if not caught early, it will shorten the show season for the horse. It becomes an open wound and is quite painful. Lois trimmed the muddy feathers on 36 legs. 4 x 9 critters. Scissors were the tool for the day. You wouldn’t want to subject clippers to all that mud. Trailblazers treated the back of the pastern just below the fetlock (equivalent to an ankle). I mix a solution of a cup of oil with 2ml of Ivermect. They apply it with a Q tip. We treat all four pasterns. My theory is: if it is on one leg, it surely is lurking about on the other three legs.
Saturday is Trailblazer day. It is nice to have a few more newbies. I do my comfort around horses lecture and get them to practise leading and working around the horse. It is tight quarters my aisle is 10 ft wide and 50 ft long. Very tricky to learn to turn the horse. For safety sake you always turn the horse away from you. Next time we will practise in the ring. Different venue, difference horse behaviour. There will be some giggles and sobs. It is important to me that my riders and drivers have soft hands. My technique involves a lot of ground driving; another term is long reining. In the past Trailblazers would do 25 miles of driving rascal ponies before they did much riding. My sympathy is with the horse; soft hands make life so much easier for them. So when Trailblazers ride, they can concentrate on their seat and leg position, because they already know what to do with their hands. It is hard on a horse when a rider balances themselves with a tight hold on the reins. Of course the plan is to eventually have everyone riding so well, directing the horse just their seat and legs. That takes hours and hours, maybe years of riding. Very few have the time to devote to that training. Two British riders, The Whittaker brothers did an amazing demonstration at a Jumping competition. They rode their horses on a course of 16 jumps without bridles. And they did it in less than the time allowed which was amazing. So it is possible.
It won’t be long now and my barn heroes will be crawling the fence lines, preparing for the pasture release. There is well over a mile to check and clear the windfalls. I need a new gate opening built. Fiona did a job on it. We did a cobble with T-bars, but it would be ever so nice with post and poles. Need to make that dream a reality. Kindness can be contagious, try it. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd at Handibear Hills.