Pony up

Hank has been out in the field doing his own thing for about a week now. This includes lots of grazing, and sometimes a bit of running around with the others. I have been still watching that what goes in, is coming out, and being the horse person I am, when I see him go poop, I go over to take a look at texture and moisture level. :-) The vet said he could go back to light work after a month, so I thought that it was time to start doing a little bit with him. Of course, what is light work to one owner, might be different to another. But I decided that I would start by ponying him some. Yesterday and today, I saddled up Gambler, got the halter and lead on Hank, and we went out in the pasture and trotted a few laps. Not sure how far it is around the 25 acres, but we trotted about 15 min. I figure that is enough for now. Just enough to get the heart pumping a bit, and for him to move and stretch longer than he does when loose in the field. Need to start building up his top line again. He has gained his weight back. Now to get it back in the places it should be.






Thelma always starts out with us, but by the time we loop past the pond, and get back to the house, she has usually had enough. But she does enjoy the tall grass, and will go along and then drop and roll around. Thankfully she was not doing one of those and had us trot up not seeing her, as that can be very exciting when the horses finally see her.




As we finished tonight, the sun was setting, and shining off the tops of the grass, with Hank going along beside Gambler and I, and I could not resist one more picture.

A pedicure

Hank has been out in the pasture pushing a week now. We have some rocks, and a gravel driveway. He had his shoes pulled 3 weeks ago, and has started to get enough hoof growth, to then chip and chunk some in his running around in the pasture. I am really horrible with a rasp, usually taking off more of the skin on my knuckles and fingers, than the hoof. I also found my back can not handle the time I take to clean things up with a rasp, so I started using an electric grinder a few years ago to do small touch ups between farrier visits to keep the little chips from becoming BIG chips out of the hoof on the horses who are barefoot. Because Hank has been shod most of the time for rides, he has had minimal grinder experience. But, I decided to give it a go, and see if he remembered it from a few years ago. I drug it out, and he was standing there, before I slipped a halter on to tie him, and I hit the on button, and he just looked as it made noise. So, I picked up a foot, and gave it a little "zip" and again, he just stood there. After I got the first hoof done, I decided that we needed a video of the horse who has been scared of his own lead rope in the past, standing there with nothing on him as I took a grinder, with the cord going in front of him, and touched up his feet. He has spooked at the garden hose in front of him getting a bath! We did some work last week with a cotton rope around his front legs. Learning to give to the pressure when a rope is hooked behind the leg, and you ask the horse to move a leg towards you when you pull both ends. The lessons went well, and maybe he is understanding these things (ropes, hoses, and cords) are not going to "get" him. One thing about his being set back in his being worked much since surgery is I can do some ground stuff I have been meaning to do. Seems to have already paid off a bit!

(and note, the grinder can take off a LOT of hoof fast if you are not careful. If you decide to try this on your own horse, be VERY careful. Were protection like you would using any tools. Eye protection to keep hoof dust out. Hair out of the way etc. And be familiar with the tool, and completely comfortable. If you have doubts, then don't try it.)

Graze Anatomy (the movie)

This was a big weekend for Hank. It has been a month since surgery, and he is finally allowed out in the big pasture with the other horses. I started with one of our very warm afternoons, where I hand walked him out to the others where they were grazing, and turned him loose, and he did not take off at a high rate of speed, but started grazing casually. Left him for most of the afternoon, and brought him back in that night, and fed him his hay, and had Gambler stay in with him. Next day, turned them both loose when the grey horses were not to far out in the field, and they cantered towards them, but did not have to go far, and again, started grazing. One more night inside, then this morning, I let he and Gambler out, and they took off a bit faster to head to the other horses. Then spent the day grazing. I took the little digital camera out, and took some videos of them after being turned loose, and grazing, and just being horses in the field. So good to see him back with the others.Not only so he can graze and move around, but for his mental state as well. We have some good grazing for maybe another month if we are lucky. After we get our first freeze, the pasture will all turn brown. They still seem to like to graze on it, but start seeking the hay bale more and more.

So, in the video clips, Hank has his fly mask on his face, Gambler is the dark bay with the two white hind socks, Toby is the white horse, and Rockhe is the flea bitten speckled grey. You can catch a glimpse of the neighbors donkey and maybe horses, next door in a couple shots.

Doing the limbo

Hanks fan club is requesting an update, and I will admit I have been a slacker on his blog for a bit. But, that is only because we have little to report again. He is in that limbo stage. He has this week left on “lock down” before he can get turned out in the big pasture with the rest of the horses, and all that yummy grass! He is spending his time in the ½ acre field by the barn, eating mass amounts of hay, and a couple beet pulp mashes each day. His weight tape is telling me he has gained about 40 pounds in a week. The weight is mostly low, more like a hay belly, as he has not had any work since July, when he started in his colic journey. Thankfully he was in pretty peek physical shape when he started all this, as we had been conditioning for the 5 day / 250 mile endurance ride. His winter coat is just starting to come in, but I noticed that where the bandage tape stuck, and pulled out hairs, they are not growing in yet, but the shaved areas are starting to grow. Hopefully he will not have bald spots all winter!

I have noticed that he has some excessively loud gut sounds at times, that sound like thunder. I mentioned it to the vet tech today when I dropped off a thank you basket for taking such great care of Hank. She is to talk to the vet, and call me if it is anything to be concerned over. But I am guessing he is still shifting all his stuff inside around, and getting it back into place after surgery. Amazing it has only been 3 weeks since the surgery when I watch him. I had him in the yard this evening, and I called him, to be caught, and put back in his field. He can trotting over, nickering at me, and circled around me, and dropped his head in the halter as I held it open. Wish he would do that every time he is to be caught, especially out in the 25 acre field!

His other interesting habit is, as he eats his beet pulp mash, he will eat a bit, then turn and walk to the salt block in the red bucket (pictured in previous blog) and lick on it awhile, getting wet, goopy mash all over it, then turn, and go back to the mash, then salt, then mash. I figure his body is telling him what he needs. And, I am glad to seeing him eat with such enthusiasm.

I will have much more to report I am sure, after he heads back in the pasture this weekend. I know the extra movement will be good for him, although he moves around quiet a bit in the little field, even trotting some. When I see him trot a bit, sunshine on his coat, ears up, looking content, it sure makes my heart feel good that the vet staff at Lonestar Park Equine was able to fix him. I look forward to being able to be on him again, and tell him “Trot on Hank, trot on!”




I was not able to download any photos yet this week, so this is from 2004, at a NATRC ride. He always looks good in photos.

Yes Deer

Not a lot to report on as far as Hank goes. He is eating a LOT of food. And, he is making a LOT of horse poop. But that is OK with me. On the 15th I put a weight tape around him, and it said 878 pounds. I'll see what it says next week. I wish I had taken time to see what it said after the first colic, but who know the poor little horse was gonna go through all he did! He also had a slight edema on the incision line yesterday, but I remembered the vet said that might happen, and he had been doing much more walking in the small turn outs. Today it looked much better. I have also tried to keep his mind occupied with the other horses interacting with him some. They usually do not get too playful when in the small field, so I put them all in with him the other morning for about an hour to hang out together. It was nice to see him with them. for a bit. The funny thing was, he just grazed, and really had no interest in them except having them nearby.






As I go out the driveway, we always "count heads" to make sure we see each horse in the pasture, and that they are upright. A few years ago, I found my old gelding that had moved with us from California down, near a fence, and when we got to him, we could tell he had broke his back, and had to have him put down. While I can not keep my horses bubble wrapped and over protected, I do try to at least 'see' them a few times a day minimum when I look out in the pasture. Anyway, I looked across the field, and I count 1-2-3..... and wait, 5 other pretty chestnut critters grazing. We have had a group of 5 deer that frequent our property for a few years now, and they were way out in the open, away from the woods grazing with the horses. That is Gambler below in the photo with them.




Our weather has been spectacular for riding. To bad I have not taken advantage of it with Gambler. I really need to do that. Our daytime temps have been in the 80's. With Hank being sick, it had taken a lot of enthusiasm for riding out of me, but the nice weather kind of jump started me, and I was out changing the fit on my saddle for Gambler. It is a Specialized Saddle Co. saddle, and for those who have never seen one, they have sets of neoprene pads that velcro on and off the tree, and you add shims and adjust the height of these pads to fit the shape of each horse. Unfortunately, Hank and Gambler have very different builds, so I need to work with it some more. But maybe I'll get out for a ride this weekend.




And one last random photo below if of Thelma. Yes, we have a dog, with all these attention seeking cats. And, she adores the kitties. She is a Catahoula, which is a hog hunting dog, and the state dog of Louisiana. She weighs in at 80 pounds. Thelma is 8 now, and slowing down a little bit, and getting a few more white hairs on her face, but is FAR from old. She was disgusted with us, that we were sitting out back, scratching the cats, and not her.

Turned out and enclosed

Today was sunny and nice, so we turned Hank out in his 50x50 grass paddock for the day. He had a good roll in the grass, and now has pretty dirt stains on his bandage. It must be itchy with the new hair growth, and the fact it sticks and pulls the skin a bit. Every so often I'd toss him a bit of hay, which he seemed to prefer today over grazing. But he sure enjoyed being out in the sunshine.

While Hurricane Ike is not to give us very much in the way of nasty weather, we decided the stall Hank stays in could use a bit more weather protection. It is fairly open along one side, with just some 4x8 sheets of plywood along the fence rail to block wind, but rain could blow in from above. So, we added some plywood above that, to make a more solid enclosed wall. It is sure not the Ritz, but it does give us a place to put a horse that may be on stall rest, and keep them out of the weather for the most part.


Then tonight when I went out to check on Hank one more time before bed, he seemed to want to go back to the stall, and out of his turn out. Maybe he was not seeing the other horses in the pasture, or knew he would get more food in the tall. Either way, I held open his halter, he dropped his head in, and then he marched me to his stall. He did a tiny snort at the new enclosure addition, then started looking around for hay, and gave me that look of "Well??? Where is it??

This horse is getting really spoiled.....

Saturday, we will see what hurricane Ike brings to our area in the way of wind and rain.

On the 12th day of healing, my staples were removed..

Today was 12 days after surgery, and time to get the staples on the incision removed. The vet said I could do it with a staple remover, but I thought it was really the best if I hauled him down, and let them do it. First, I wanted to make sure it was looking good to the vet. We had some slight drainage, and a little puffy area in front of his sheath, that I (over) worried it would be the start of a hernia from the surgery. Next, if Hank took exception to me pulling them out, I wanted a vet to be able to give him a bit of a tranquilizer.

We arrived, and unloaded, and Hank had a worried look to him. Poor horse had been there to many times in the past couple months. But he marched into the exam room like a champ. They started removing the belly wrap, and of course it pulled on the hair and skin. Ouch! Then they had dropped the bandage on the ground for a moment and Hank sees it laying there, and does a huge "snooooort" and side passes away, with him keeping an eye on it like it was gonna get him. Of course we all laughed at him. I just never know what will tweak his brain. So the vet starts to remove staples, and the first couple he is really good. But then he kind of cocked a hind leg a little, and we decided a tranq would indeed be best. Even with that, I had to hold a twitch on him for a few, as they had some skin / flesh that had grown around them a little. But they got them all out, and he did not kick, and really, was a very good boy. She felt it best to wrap it one more time, to let the bit of open flesh finish healing. So, they assistants put one more wrap on him, which he gets to wear 5 days. Poor boy is SO thin, but now we can get him back to speed on full feed, and gaining some weight


After they were done, I looked at him, and the drugs had gone to the next level, and he was standing there, head down, zoned out.



As he dozed, I was able to talk to Dr. Williams a bit more about Hank, surgery, feed, future colics, and distance riding. I asked if he should not be fed the Coastal Bermuda Hay as many say it contributes to colic, but he saw no problem with it. Then he asked how much grain he ate. I am a minimalist for feeds, and only add things as needed, and told him he really does not eat grain. Just a little Purina Strategy, and beet pulp. He suggested not to feed him the HUGE meals of all he can eat hay before rides, and to look in to Platinum Performance to add to his diet. He feels he should be able to do distance again, and has no higher of a chance to colic again, than he did in the first place. Oh, another suggestion to our pasture was to add clover, as it adds nitrogen to the soil, and in turn the grass but the horses don't eat it. It is much cheaper, and more "natural" that the liquid fertilizers. I need to read up on that. It was now time to load him up, and take him home. Hopefully he will not need to visit Lonestar Park Equine Hospital for a long time. I would highly recommend them for ANY vet work. Excellent staff, great facility, and over all, their prices are no more than most equine vets.


I was asked to be sure to remember to show some photos of the other critters. So, tonight I got a photo of RJ and Orca, who were a couple feral Tom cats that found our house. Orca had been living around here almost 3 years before we trapped him, and got him neutered. RJ showed up one day, just as wild, and we got him trapped and fixed. I would not doubt it if Orca was RJ's daddy. They have some similarities. Anyway, after they were fixed, and we had them live in some large pet cages awhile, they got used to us, and the fact we fed them, and eventually tamed down. RJ would prefer to be a spoiled house cat, but that is not gonna happen. The photo is in the screened in porch, where the outdoor cats go at night, and are locked in after dark, to keep them safe from Coyotes. We built some kitty condos, where they can sleep and stay warm in the winter. During the day, we open the pet door, and let them out to go hunt around the house and barn. Our large 80 pound dog, Thelma, keeps and eye on them, and adores them. They know she is a "cool" dog, and will rub against her. It is an odd relationship, but she knows that she is to protect the kitties and keep coyotes away, and they know she loves them.