With a Truck This Big, You Can't Be Incognito!

This past weekend, I hooked up with longtime friend and H&R contributor Patty Brumley, for a girls' weekend in Walla Walla, Washington. We picked W2 for the meet-up spot for several reasons, not the least of them being that a Quarter Horse show was taking place at the fairgrounds. This, we figured, would give us a great opportunity to do a little incognito scouting of arena trends, show fashions, training styles, and so forth.

As long as we weren't all starched and hatted up, we figured we'd be basically invisible--as no one pays much attention to the "civilians" who turn up at horse shows.

But then, we blew our cover, by accepting a dinner invitation from Joel Gleason, the proprietor of Avila's Pro Shop. Joel offered to drive us all to a little corner bistro in downtown W2--in the monstrous truck he uses to pull his vendor trailer. (If you think it looks big here, you ought to see it parked next to a BMW.)

Naturally, we had to have our picture taken before we set out in Joel's Big Ride. And then, as we rolled down the streets of W2, it was all we could do not to roll down the windows and practice our queen waves!

Love Your Dogs? Read This Post!

Blog reader Kathy submitted this important info about dogs and horse dewormer, as a comment to a previous post. I think it's important enough to have its own heading, so here it is!

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I didn't know where to post this so you would see it, and I do recall a blog about horse people and their dogs, but since this is current I thought I would post it here to let others know it's an extremely 'common problem'

I just went through a terrible experience the last 38 hrs wondering if my beloved border collie Derby would survive.

Sunday I had Derby kenneled up in an empty stall while I did spring vaccinations and de-worming on 6 horses. On the last horse, the old sweet gentle mare, I had let him out of the stall...my mistake...my old girl spit out some of the dewormer and Derby as quick as only a border collie can ran up under us and licked it up before I could say get outta there!

That was about 6:30pm. I didn't think much of it..oh well,he won't have worms...came in the house fed the dogs took a shower, had something to eat, sat down in front of the boob tube and promptly feel asleep, until I was waken by a freaking dog!

This was about 9:30pm. Derby was going crazy, jumping on me (not at all the norm for him) drooling, staggering,crying,and panting. I called a friend and he said it sounds like he got into something....bingo..the horse de wormer.

I rushed him to the emergency vet (no small feat it was a 45 minute drive to town with a freaking dog trying to get in my lap at 65mph)

By 11am he was hypersensitive to light and sound, temporarily blind, had a temp of 106.7 and as the vet tech said "having a bad trip". It was explained to me that he could die from this, and I did good by getting him there right away. Unconciousness, coma, liver and kidney failure can occur if they have ingested enough.I estimated Derby gobbled up appromimately 250lb dose of moxidectin/praziquantel.That was 5X's his weight!

According to the toxicology vets from the ASPCA, it's not the praziquantel that is the problem but the moxidectin which is in the same class as ivermectrin, and anytime a dog gets an avermectrin product, this includes dog heartworm medications one must be extreamly careful.

The toxicology vets at the ASPCA who monitor,research, and advise vets nation wide on poisonings also told me this is so common, it's one of the top 5 problems they see as far as dogs being poisoned. Anything from a puppy playing with an old tube, to a dog jumping into a feed tub with daily de wormer, to ignorant owners thinking it must be good for the horse so they use it on the dog!

apparently there are a few dogs that are very sensitive to drugs and are hypersensitive to these drugs.including Border collies, Australian shepards, Greyhounds, and McNabbs.

I am glad to report after $800 bucks of treatments Derby is home and resting. After panels of blood work he does not appear to have liver, kidney, nerological, or brain damage. He's going to recover!

I had to learn a lesson the hard way...this dog thinks that anything that falls out of the horses mouth is fair game and tastes good, and usually it is..an apple, carrot, horse cookie, grain and with his lightening speed it's hard to deter him. However next time I do the de-wormings I will have him kenneled up and will wipe up anything that is spit out immediately!

I hope others here take heed of my mistake! The ASPCA pet poison control hotline is a wonderful source and they have a vet there 24-7-365 to help you! If it wasn't for them I don't think he would have made it.

While those of us with horses can't imagine a town vet not knowing about horse meds and dogs, it's a sad fact. With the dwindling of large animal vets and most vets limiting their practices to small town type pets they tend to forget about the meds that our 'ranch' dogs can be exposed too.

Guys At A Gelding Party (Not?)

Photo at right: "Mister," an Appaloosa colt, is the only guy who'll be at today's gelding procedure at our ranch (click to enlarge).

I don't know how many times you've been present for the castration of a colt, but I've been to a number of "gelding parties" over the years (one's taking place at our place today)...and I've noticed something.

Guys would prefer, if possible, to be doing something else that day. It's like an acutely personal sense of identification sets in; you bring up the subject, only to witness the winced expression and protective bring-together of the knees, followed by a rapid change of subject. Yikes!

Which maybe helps explain why the only guy expected to be at today's 11 a.m. appointment will be the future gelding himself. Our vet, her assistant, and the two or three others on hand all answer to Ms., not Mr.

And I know better than to tell Ed how it went once he gets home from work!

A Cowgirl's Playhouse! (Come On In)

Photo at right: My "cowgirl playhouse" is about the size of a two-horse trailer (click to enlarge).

Last fall, after selling a yearling Western pleasure prospect, I used the proceeds to buy something utterly frivolous--a vintage travel trailer that's basically a cowgirl's playhouse on wheels. And of course, wouldn't you know it, camping weather more or less disappeared right about the time I got my private little palace home, and still hasn't come back. (We've had daily snow squalls for the better part of a week.)

But on Friday, I decided I'd waited long enough to try 'er out. So I stowed two Schipperkes and some overnight goodies in the trailer, hooked up, and drove south of here for an overnighter with Riley. I got there in time to park by the barn and work my horse before dark; then I rode him again before coming back home Saturday morning.

Photo at right: Inside my little bunkhouse on wheels (click to enlarge)

My overnight domain had everything I needed to be comfortable and cozy--heater, coffee pot, fridge, stove, lights, tunes, featherbed, even wireless Internet. With both dogs on the bed, and May's "hot copy" issue of Horse & Rider to read, I fell asleep listening to snow pellets ping off the roof of my bandanna-bedecked boudoir. And enjoyed the heck out of the whole experience.

When it comes to rolling stock--it's not just boys who have toys!

A Lesson in Herd Dynamics

Horses are capable of teaching you something new every day. My latest lesson is one in herd dynamics--especially between boy-horses!

On Sunday, we brought into the barn the yearling Appaloosa colt pictured in one of my recent posts. On Monday, The Tankmeister--our super-senior gelding (age 29), and the self-appointed guardian of Tiffany, the yearling filly--discovered the presence of the ungelded interloper. All it took was my leading him past the colt's stall. The colt let out one of those boy-to-boy throaty calls, and the normally half-comatose old fellow turned into a horse I didn't recognize.

Tank didn't just get upset. He got beside himself. Even back in his own pen, where he couldn't see the colt, he was frantic over the new, unexpected presence of a perceived threat to his domain. He didn't calm down until after I moved Tiffany to the farthest pen from the colt, which placed Tank between the younger horses' pieces of ranch real-estate. He still can't see the colt, mind you, but is quieter now that he's between the two--where (in his mind) he can protect Tiffany from the threat.

Yesterday, I snapped this picture of him standing guard over Tiffany while she was taking a sunny-day siesta. He's done this out in the pasture whenever we've had a foal out there with its dam. With Tiffany as the last of the foals, I should have known the old boy would still think of her as "his."

You know what they say about old men and smoke from the chimney: The fire still burns down below!

Eye of the Beholder: What Floats Your Boat?

Photo: Me with Tiffany, as she first shed from bay to gray last year.

My previous post, with the photo of the Appaloosa, seems to have sparked a Comments discussion on likes and dislikes in equine appearance. We all have them, but they're deeply internalized most of the time.

So I just got to thinking, in a more deliberate way, about some of my own internalized likes when it comes to equine exteriors (conformation aside, talking only about the hide). Quickie list, off the top of my head:

MY EYE LOVES.....
* A pretty head, with short ears.
* Four matched socks or stockings.
* Flaxen sorrels with chrome.
* All the stages of black-based gray, from dark blue-gray to white.
* The blue-roan-with-hip-spots color that's particular to Appaloosas.
* The spotted-blanket pattern in Appaloosas, in bay--haloes around the spots.
* Dark bays and browns.
* The (rare) bay roan sabino.
* A luxurious mane and tail.
* Dark eyes, lined with dark skin.

Let it be said that I don't REQUIRE these externals, only that they're physical traits that draw and appeal to my eye.

Let's hear your list!

Weekend Update--Return of the (Short-Lived) Bliss

A high-pressure system hit these parts for the weekend, to prompt one of those horse-filled weekends that leave you falling happily into bed by Sunday night.

I went to "Trainerville," half an hour south of here, to ride Riley and take him some lighter-weight blankets. (It got up to 80 degrees yesterday where he is, probably enough of a shock to his system as it was, without suffering under winter blankets.)

I checked out the prospective grandkid horse, but passed on him. Too many issues that added up to "not quite right." A good thing to remember in such circumstances: If you have to talk yourself into buying a horse, he's not the right one.

I took Tank, That 70s Horse, out on a little field ride that included a few hill climbs. I've been riding him on the days I don't ride Riley, just to keep both of us "legged up." He's amazing--29 years old, and still ready to go when you are.

We also had a big barn cleanup session and then took delivery of the yearling Appaloosa colt that's here for for a spruce-up session (and to be gelded) before becoming the summer live-exhibit horse at the Appaloosa Horse Club. Here's his "before" shot; stay tuned for progress reports.

Spring was short-lived, unfortunately, as it's back down to the 30s again, with snow in the forecast for the next several days.
Back to those winter blankets!

--Your turn to entertain us with your own version of Weekend Update.

Ready for a Weekend! (With Horses)

There's nothing like a sunny-at-last Friday morning to get you in the mood for some weekend horse activity. Care to share your plans for gettin' out into the Nicker Zone?

I have plans for a half-day ride/groom/graze session with Riley, for continuing the process of legging up Tank, That 70s Horse, and for creating a horsehair blizzard with the shedding tools.

I'm also meeting up tomorrow with someone who has a potential grandkid horse for sale. I'll take the camera, and keep you posted on that one.

Happy Friday!

Blog Readers: Say Hi To Steph, A Regular

After you've been writing (and reading) a blog for a while, you begin to recognize some of those who leave comments on a regular basis. And sometimes, in my case, you get to hang out with them in person.

On Saturday, I got a chance to ride and go to lunch with Steph, shown here on her Quarter Horse that she shows in Western pleasure. Steph's from northeastern Washington and has her horse with a trainer I sometimes ride with in Idaho.

Through the blog, we learned that we both have a rockhound streak. The day we met up to ride, Steph brought along a thunderegg she'd found at age 8 and hadn't had cut open until just recently. It turned out to have a rare crystal pattern inside--something a fellow rock lover could appreciate!

Steph's an excellent writer who probably ought to have her own blog. Last year, she submitted a moving commentary to a post I made about attending a benefit for a horseman who lost his barn to fire. That horseman was Steph's trainer, and she was among the owners whose horses perished in that fire. Re-visit her comment here:

http://special.equisearch.com/blog/horsetalk/2007/02/circle-of-horse-friends.html#c3013605498216387216

When the Old Horsemen Also Were Old Farmers

The other day, while out feeding the horses at the appointed evening hour, I got to thinking about a horse-world influence that's all but gone these days. It's the one that came from the old farmers and stockmen in my grandfather's generation--people born around 1900 or thereabouts, and who bridged the eras between the horse as utilitarian workmate, and the horse as recreational indulgence.

They knew things about animal husbandry, firsthand, that are lost on so many horse owners of today, who see their horses as pets instead of livestock. Things like:

* How stock thrives best when fed at regular, consistent times. Grandpa, for instance, milked cows in addition to raising horses. He milked those cows at the same times every day, twice a day, and fed them (and his horses) with the same regularity. He would no more have thought of making the horses wait for dinner "until he got around to it," than he'd have milked his cows at 9 p.m. instead of 4. His milk cows were always at the peak of health, and his horses looked magnificent, too. Not a coincidence.

* How you can't expect the best results from your stock if you skimp on how you feed them. I used to ride along to the creamery with Grandpa when he went there to sell his cream, and understood, even as a child, that there was a direct correlation between what you put into the cow, and what she produced in return. Same thing with the horses. When an old farmer like Grandpa sized up someone's horse and pronounced it "poor-looking," there was an element of "tsk-tsk" to the statement. Poor was as poor was fed by the person doing the feeding.

* How you couldn't expect regular, consistent behavior from an animal if you didn't create a regular, consistent routine to establish it. In Grandpa's day, horses worked the fields six days a week, and were habituated to doing their jobs. Which is why they could be relied upon when they were harnessed or saddled to go to work. They weren't expected to be perfect partners one day a week (or once a month), after spending the rest of their time doing whatever they pleased, as pasture ornaments.

* Why there's a practical reason for balanced, correct-legged conformation--a reason that has nothing to do with winning prizes at the end of a lead rope. As far as Grandpa and his ilk were concerned, it made about as much sense to pour feed into a long-backed, crooked-legged horse or cow as it did to keep making payments on a tractor that spent more time in the repair shop than out in the fields. There was just no point in having something that wasn't going to hold up.

I know...it's a different century now, and horses play different roles than they did when my grandfather was young. But I cherish what I learned about horses from following him around the farm, and can't help but wish that more of his old-farmer knowledge were more widely practiced today.

In Case You Missed It: Stacy Westfall on the Ellen Show

Stacy Westfall, the phenomenal horsewoman whose bridleless, no-saddle reining video's been sent around the world and back, appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show a couple weeks back. She brought her champion reining freestyle mare, Roxy, into the studio, and let Ellen take a spin on her, too-literally.

Watch Stacy on Ellen's show, the full version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrtJWC7Bvk

Stacy also wrote about the show under "On the Road Again" on her website:
http://www.bridlelessridingnaturalhorsemanshiptrainer.com

Stacy's "viral video" that caught Ellen's attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pg1EbXbZO4

Enter before April 21 for your chance to win a day with Stacy in Horse & Rider's Reining 101 Sweeps!
http://equisearch.com/horseandrider/reining101sweeps_012808

One of this blog's readers, Suzi V, hosted Stacy and Roxy while they were in Southern California for the TV show taping. Hope Suzi checks in and can provide details!