Horsepital

 

News from the barn is that Jack is happily taking half a pink pill every day and long may that last. Lots of horses go off their food when they are given this drug. 

The two big horses are still on box rest and due to an altercation, they have been given separate compartments - it still gives them plenty of room but they can eat their limited food in peace. 

The two girls and Henrietta are on a similar regime but outside on restricted grazing. After two weeks I can safely say that they are all still compact and bijoux.

In the canteen today we have soaked hay...

Dried nettles (so not these yet)...

Blackberries, rosehips and banana skin...

and bunny (not Buddy) holly which isn't spiky. 

Despite everything they still seem to love me, but it is definitely cupboard love.

This is how their fields look at the moment:

The barefoot trimmer, Cheyenne Korbutt-Brown, is coming tomorrow to give us some more advice, and afterwards we are hoping to receive two extra mares coming in off the Forest while I try to find them a home. These belong to a friend. 

Cushions

 

An ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) test taken on Monday confirmed that Jack has Cushing's Disease. He has had that waspy waist look about his hips for some years, and been confusingly fat (pads) and thin (ribs) at the same time. However, his original test was negative.

Cushing's, which is also known as PPID (Pituary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction), is a hormonal disorder which affects the pituitary brain and causes symptoms in many older horses and ponies such as long curly hair, weight loss, laminitis, increased thirst and urination, and infections. 

Other than long, but not curly, hair which takes a long time to moult in the spring, and his general shape, Jack shows none of the other signs but his reading was very high. He will be retested in four weeks.  As he is bright and happy in himself, hopefully we can manage his condition with Pergolide, a tablet, for the rest of his life.

Ribs and no ribs - photos taken on the same day

While my horses and ponies are happy and comfortable then I will remain on this earth, but I don't want any of them to go through chronic pain like I have. 

Just off for another little cry...

A Reprieve

I've been quiet about my own horses for a short while because both Theoden and Dave went lame again and I had no doubt that it was laminitis. Last Friday night I phoned the vet in a panic because Theoden could hardly walk. This time is was straight on to box rest with a deep bed and soaked hay, and a packet of Bute in their morning and night time feeds. 

The vet came first thing Monday morning to take x-rays of all of their hooves, and to take blood samples for various tests including the test for Cushing's disease. He found little damage inside the hooves, thank goodness, although all four front hooves showed that the bones had sunk to a mild degree - otherwise known as founder. One of Theoden's front hooves had a very small degree rotation of the pedal bone and all of their hooves had thin souls. We have a management regime set up into the distant future which should save them from any further discomfort and degeneration of the hooves but only time will tell. Laminitis is one of those diseases that is irreversible.

So, after fifty-three years I have my first confirmed cases of laminitis, a disease which causes more distress and angst to owners than any other. It undermines your confidence in yourself, and makes you extremely worried about the weather and the condition of the grass, and even your hay. The vets tells us that there have been a phenomenal number of horses getting laminitis this year. 

Luckily, I may have a few of my friend's mares coming in for the winter, and along with the toothless ponies they can do the first cut of any long grass with Nelly and Blue as the second cut. Henry seems to be quite comfortable keeping the two horses company while they finish their prison sentences.  

This deep bed now extends all the way to the front door. 

On the bright side, the vet - Matt from the Barn and the Veterinary Nurse, Rachel - were very complimentary about my horses' weight, their manners, and their hooves. David was extremely relieved to be told that his trimming was nothing to do with the problem and that their hooves were in great shape. In any event, Cheyenne, the barefoot trimmer is coming next week and will no doubt be able to give us more advice based on the x-rays which will be sent across to her. 

As you can imagine, I cried myself to sleep on Sunday night, and David was especially glum at the thought that we might lose both horses all of a sudden. He kept his mind off it by tidying up. 

When the Mist descends

 

The grass may still be green but the field is shrouded in grey. 

Found-ling

This morning my friends Jo and I went off for a walk with a little mission in mind. We wanted to find Mulibwangi, the colt that I helped to remove a headcollar from last year. Because it was drizzling, there were no ponies to be found but in the valley we came across a few. 

Close but no er...coconuts. A nice filly.

Second time lucky, here he is...

Here he is, now about 15 months old and looking good. He's another son of Lucky Lane Rollo and therefore related all the way back to Goodenough. 

Still with his Mum and a nice grey mare. I couldn't check if he is at all friendly - £1,000 fine for petting the ponies these days - but he was definitely curious. 

More ponies down by the brook. 

And some young cattle. 

The Graduate

A few days ago I went to visit Prince with Ruth, and we were joined by Hilary, Benji's owner. Prince instantly recognised an aligned soul and allowed Hilary to do activities with him. His social circle of trusted people is slowly expanding.  

In the year that Ruth and I have been working with Prince, he has learned to be caught, to lead, and to follow at liberty. He can be groomed all over and have a little spray put on him. He picks his hooves up and has them picked out. He will wear a numnah. Slowly but surely he has begun to trust his environment, hanging around in the yard and also going into the school to go around the obstacles and look at himself in the mirror. 

I felt as if I were watching him graduate, especially when he took to going into a narrow stable so easily - such good practise for loading and winter nights when he might have to spend the night in. 

Save for leading him at liberty, I had to remain hands off. At any rate, I don't think I am needed anymore. 

Three Great Books

I have to confess that my three books haven't sold as well as they perhaps ought to have done and so the price was lowered a little while ago. Whilst the pandemic was the ideal time for writing, it was also a time when nothing much happened, I had given up working with horses, and people were generally not interested in reading. I understand that - it happened to me too; something about the immediacy but permancy of danger made me only one to read Facebook and two line sentences. By the end of the pandemic, no one knew me anymore, especially as I had practically turned into a recluse. 

I hope that people's appetitie for reading has improved a little. If you would like a copy of my book, they are available on: Sarah Weston

As you can imagine, they are truthful recollections of the safari I have taken through a life with horses - they're a friendly, easy read, with a underlying message about the way that we treat our horses, and the way that they can redeem us when life has gone wrong. Someone described them as, 'pony books for adults'. They include the way I found myself involved with more natural horsemanship and the dilemmas that I faced; individual cases where I had to find a new of looking at things; the glorious characters of all the horses that I met including my own New Forest Ponies and their friends. 

I feel that I have another book in me but I can't afford to write it until I have sold more of the other three, and emptied what has literally become a box room.