With Spring comes shedding season and this year, thankfully
(we really need the moisture), mudding season.
Its Admiral’s favorite time of the year.
Admiral loves mud so much that he has systematically dug himself a pond
in the turnout field. Apparently he has
more sense than the average suburbanite, because he put his pond at the bottom
of the hill where it happily collects water and nearly always provides ample mud
for his daily play time. What does this
have to do with tools? Well, I learned
long ago that Spring requires a separate set of grooming tools. A soft brush is worthless when faced with caked
on clay and flying fluff. Admiral’s
grooming tools this time of the year include a metal curry and the stiffest
stiff brush they make. Given enough time
and energy, the job gets done. Of
course, my preferred tool is the garden hose, but the mud always seems to come
before the warm weather. While the curry
comb takes way more time and energy, it is much better for his coat.
Thankfully, the long and laborious isn’t always the best
answer. This past weekend I helped my
husband give his dream car a little TLC.
I should have taken before and after pictures because the three plus
hour transformation was astounding. We
learned something too. When waxing a
car, use a sheepskin mit not a chamois.
I don’t know what the difference is, but when I was applying the wax and
taking half of it off in the same time it took my husband to remove about a
foot square of wax, he began to wonder if I’d given him the wrong tool for the
job. I thought he was just being a
perfectionist. Turns out, not so
much. The mit is truly the superior tool
and it turned the back breaking project into an enjoyable afternoon. The right tool makes a difference.When waxing, Use This |
Not This |
I’ve been battling with Nutmeg’s stall kicking habit for
some time now. She does quite well over
the winter, but as soon as the Spring Heat starts she becomes a mennis. We’ve tried every trick in the book: moving
her away from neighbors, giving her more hay then she can possibly eat, leaving
her window to the outside world open, closing said window, feeding her
supplements to lessen her “mare-ish” behavior, keeping her loins warm, even
kicking chains. Nothing seems to
help. When she feels the urge to kick
down the wall, she does (or at least attempts), no matter the consequence. Finally, after a particularly bad night, I
took the final suggestion from a friend, “try a horse shock collar.”
Before we go any further, let me clarify that the horses are
outside 24/7 unless their safety could be compromised by bad weather, then they
come inside. I believe completely in
maintaining the welfare of my animals and that is why I went to the shock
collar. Stall kicking isn’t just annoying;
it’s detrimental to the horse’s legs. It
was time to fix the problem, and so far I’m pleased with the results.
The collar (or necklace as I’ve been referring to it) has an
elastic insert for comfort and fit. The
remote has multiple levels of “reprimand” so you can adjust from the most
sensitive to the thickest skinned horse.
Plus, it works through walls so I can sleep in my bed and with a touch
of a button, remind Nutmeg that stall kicking is a bad idea. There is the added bonus that she won’t
associate the reprimand with me.
Night one brought ample opportunities to test it out. Normally when she kicks it is a barrage of
kicking. Bam-ba-bah-da-bam, bam. With the necklace in place I was able to interrupt
the rhythm and she only ever kicked once.
Plus, she left a healthy hour or so between kicking attempts. I was satisfied. Night two, she didn’t kick at all. It might be a fluke. We’ll see, but for now I’m optimistic that
through quite a bit of trial and error and a bit of desperation, I may have
found the right tool to stopping Nutmeg’s stall kicking vice.And now for some further experimentation. Nutmeg has been having some soundness issues. We thought they were coming from her pelvis, but I’m beginning to think there is something more. We’ve tried chiropractic adjustments. We’ve tried joint supplements. Now we’re in hunt of the cause instead of just addressing the symptoms. Nutmeg gets to be a demo horse at University of Missouri. We’ll be showing off their state-of-the-art Lameness Locator®. I’m super excited about the experience. Obviously, I’m not excited about the circumstances that have led to this opportunity, but I am excited to see some of the industry’s leaders at work, trying to pinpoint what has gone wrong and where. With that information, hopefully we’ll be able to find the right tool and the right time to apply it.
Fingers crossed. Our
appointment is tomorrow. Sometimes
opening your mind to a different approach is all it takes. So for today’s Fresh Perspective, “here’s to
finding tools and learning to use them appropriately.”
Nutmeg's soundness issue may be result of stall kicking. Given some time without the kicking, her lameness may disappear.
ReplyDeleteI'm (we're) thinking the same thing. We did radiographs of her coffin bone this morning. They didn't turn up anything of interest. We'll be doing some further blocking this afternoon. The only thing with the stall kicking is that she is out probably 99% of the time. She only comes in when the weather is nasty or unsafe. This particular lameness showed up when she had been out for several days. Still won't rule it out though. Thanks for the input. I greatly appreciate it. - MM
DeleteI was R. Nelson's original racehorse trainer and commend you on your work with one of her horses! Just wanted to comment that I have found electronic collars invaluable in training problem horses. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteOh, how nice to hear from you! Admiral is such a gem and we were so pleased to discover after a couple of years pasture rest how well trained he was coming off the track. You get credit for that! Thank you, thank you!
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