Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Frances Witzel on February 24, 2011 at 8:56am

Thanks for all your comments, I'm not in dire straits here. I'll tell you what I have going onhere. My steady eddy, foundered this year and is recovering, my project horse, 8 year old appendix (isnt getting any riding til the weather breaks, he's ok) 2 3year olds that are going to the trainers in may for 90 days, and 2 yearlings which are no realtrouble and we do lots of ground work (weather permiting). when the 3 year old get back from training I hopeto have some help here. I have a 7 stall heated barn, (most of the boys prefer being outdoors. Heated water bowls,a 3 sided old airplanehanger which we're going to close in for an arena. It's pretty much at it'sbest for workright now,but those bitterly cold days like today -35 are the days that just zap my energy.I'm better in the spring and spend most days (all day) with the boys. I have no health issuses (thank god) , am in good shape, (realativly lol) .I don't work off the farm ( don't have time) and really am quite blessed, thankyou for all you comments and I agree some haveto go, but not yet....

Permalink Reply by Cindy Jeffery on February 24, 2011 at 3:20pm

Good to hear from you Frances :-)))) As you can tell from our group here we are concerned about each other and very concerned about the welfare of our horses just like you. Thanks for getting us on the same page, I for one am thankful things aren't as bad as we all imagined (horsewomen must have explosive imaginations or something:-), we are definitely passionate :-) )   Minus 35 and wind are definite energy sappers. In Northwest B.C. we're sitting at -14C with sun shining, no wind right now, but when I woke up it was -28 gray and dreary at 8 a.m. I just layered my clothes, snowpants and windbreaker over top, fleece balaclava (what a site, but the horses recognized me, must be my smell :-)))))  and headed out fed hay and then added more ice to the water trough (with a heater) then headed back to the house to wait for the temperature to rise as the sun comes up.  The horses are fine, yours and mine, the less stress in the winter the better for them, so that just means we put our energy to indoor things....like hmmmm bookkeeping...tax time is here!!!!!!   Stay warm :-)

Permalink Reply by Shirley on March 24, 2011 at 1:58pm

Glad to hear your larger story so everyone gets a better idea of your situation. You seem to have a good plan....IMO

Sounds like lots of work and lots of fun. Enjoy! I'm sure it could get to be too much but you can make those adjustments as situations have to be dealt with.

Permalink Reply by Mari on February 24, 2011 at 11:02pm

Thank you Frances for filling us in, I for one am breathing a sigh of relief.  There are just too many news stories of animals in trouble nowadays.  I'm glad things are not so bad as I feared.  But really, you don't need so many young horses -- I can't imagine being in your shoes.  I have the one mare and it's all I can do to exercise her regularly, keep her feet done, have her dewormed, vaccinated, not to mention the odd accident here and there that requires veterinary care.  My situation is different because she lives in a boarding barn, but still -- why does any one person need six horses?  I really hate to be Debbie Downer here, but I think it's a question well worth asking.  How, unless you have unlimited funds, do you take proper care of so many horses?

Permalink Reply by Elaine Flintoff on March 3, 2011 at 4:50pm

Is anyone using the ThinLine Ultra Thin half-pad?  I read somewhere that someone was using one and it helped alleviate back pain for the rider.  I thought I would invest in one but discovered that, in their description of the pad(s), there appears to be one for the horse's back, and one for the riders.....it seems  like a catch-22 to me.   ha! ha!   if the horses' back was better, the riders would be.....if the riders' back was better, the horses' would be......kind of like stiff rider-stiff horse; stiff horse-stiff rider type of thing.    Can anyone suggest one or the other?   Thanks.  Enjoy walking with all of you.  My horses are shedding.....whooppiiieeee!   spring !!!! 

Permalink Reply by vickie lawson on March 4, 2011 at 4:33am

ahhhh we just had our 1st day of autumn march 1st! my guys are shedding too ........... ready to grow their winter coat! (sigh, moan). my 5 yr old spooked at the shadows with the 3 lights last yr, wonder what her 3 yr old brother will do this yr?   i kind of 'inherited' him when my 18 yr old daughter, who threw a wobbly when i didn't pay out on the sale of her super pony ( she wanted to buy a car, and we needed the money to fix the collapsed hill, after her dad had a stroke and then was made redundant).  so now i have 2 horses, although she tells people she still has a horse and still rides.......maybe one day, eh!

Permalink Reply by Jan Jollymour on March 4, 2011 at 10:02am

Hi, Elaine!

 

I have and use ThinLine Ultra Thin half pads on all my horses.  They all have custom made saddles, and none of them have ever been sore in their backs, but my 53 year old once fractured back is really feeling the workload these days, hence the investment in the ThinLine pads.  They have made an enormous difference in my back and hips, and the bonus is that the horses are moving more freely with them as well.  I have not found any confusing information on the ThinLine website, and I bought mine from Greenhawk for $104+tax per pad.  Even my saddler approves of them! 

 

I hope this helps!

 

Permalink Reply by Frances Witzel on March 17, 2011 at 11:21am

Hello Everyone, thanks for all your coments...I've made a decision...( I thought it would be a lot harder than it was)....My two 3 year olds are going to be sold after they return from the trainers....I'm thinking I should cut my losses to concentrate on what I have here. I have a wonderful appendix quarterhorse that was made for dressage  (my dream) and want to persue that course. Having made that decision , I feeling less scattered and more focused on that. Now if only the weather would co-operate and spring would arrive.

thanks for all your kind words and will keep you posted with my progress....

Permalink Reply by Carol Bradley on September 1, 2011 at 1:38am

Hi Francis

I know exactly what you mean about trying to keep horses excercised when energy is low.  While I am in chemo I have a problem with my nine year old ex race horse.  Although he has a huge field to roam around with his elderly companion he has no one to run around with to run off his excess nervous energy that goes with the breed and at times I just arn´t well enough to ride so I resort to free lunging him and playing other games with him in the school.  I found lunging him without a rein was far easier to show him than I thought it would be and now he knows that without the rein he can let off steam for a while before we get down to well mannered work!  I sometimes put a couple of small jumps in for him too which runs off even more energy but saves mine! It´s surprising but just half and hour a day keeps Harry the horse fairly quite and keeps us close too.

I think riders like us who have low energy at times have to get clever and find new ways to do things that spend our horses energy but not ours so any ideas do please share.

Kind regards

Carol

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