I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments from the last two posts - it is great to connect with other horse people in this way!
I also wanted to update everyone on the herd dynamics situation. Things have been going better the past week - Jackass is still trying to be a pain, but not as bad as before. The barn owner was away last week as well, so she didn't realize how bad things were. She came home on Monday and Jacksass charged her when she was trying to bring Rusty in for his grain. She disciplined him and over 2 days the situation improved even more. She also saw how many cuts Rusty had, so she separated Jackass out for a few days. Jackson is out for a week in a makeshift paddock with a 25 year old pony mare who will keep him in line. I was very relieved to hear that - I knew she would do something to help.
I had no problems bringing Rusty in by all of the other geldings last night - no one did anything inappropriate. I still carried a dressage whip, just in case. Rusty's kicks/bites are healing up and I didn't notice any new ones. Only one of the other horses has a full set of shoes, but he is high up in the hierarchy and could care less about Rusty - come to think of it, that horse has been lame for almost a month, so I doubt he will be kicking anyone.
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I'm still trying to sort out my saddle fit issues. I have a wintec on trial and I changed the gullet to a wider one - sidenote: the gullet is really easy to change - what a cool system... - and it seemed to fit ok in the barn, but I didn't really like it while riding. Although, Rusty is a different shaped horse than my old rotten horse (ha!), so that might take getting a bit used to as well. Rusty has a longer neck, higher withers and a lower natural headset. Jackass had a short muscular neck and had his nose in the clouds half of the time. I feel like the saddle is right on his withers and that I have a lot of horse in front of me. The barn owner and I checked the saddle after I was done riding and the position over the withers looked fine from the ground. He is white, so it was really hard to see any sweat marks.
I've decided to call the local saddle fitter and see if he can come out to help. He brings out about 10-15 saddles, recommends which ones fit the best and then will leave 3 or so with you to try, without charging them to your credit card! He tends to sell more high-end brands, but because of this, he usually has a high number of used high-end saddles as well.
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One last thing is that Rusty's front hooves are a bit of a mess. The previous owners boarded at a barn with a farrier, but you would never know it from the condition of his hooves. The front ones are the worst right now - they are dry and cracked and have chipped. I've tried calling my barn's farrier, but he hasn't phoned back - apparently that is unusual for him, so the barn owner is trying for me. I'm going to start applying hooflex or something similar to give him a bit of moisture at least.
Does anyone know if hoof/joint supplements actually work? I'd be willing to pay for a supplement that would help strengthen his little hooves. I need him sound and happy!
Name That....
2 days ago
9 comments:
I've heard good things about Majesty's horse supplements.
http://majestys.com/horse_prod.php
They put all the supplements into a "wafer," looks like a horse cookie and claim that 99% of horses readily eat them. My mare was in the 1% that wouldnt eat them and when I called the company they apologized and immediately refunded my money (I bought direct).
Glad things in the herd have improved keep that whip with you - though i wish you'd use one that lets you get out of kicking range like a lunge whip.
The supplement my trainer feeds is a vitamin mix with bioten (sp?) for feet and hair and MSN (for joints) mixed in.
squirrelgurl - thanks - I'll look them up. It's a bit harder for me to order stuff direct since I'm in Canada but it might work out.
stephanie - I have both kinds of whips handy - the lunge whip is a good idea.
Hey There,
Sorry to hear about the herd stuff. I also have an appy that is always low on the totem pole and is always has scrapes and cuts. He just never seems to move out of the way fast enough. The pin their ears and he just saunters and then give him a nibble for good measure. But he's never had a serious injury and is MUCH happier living outside then in a stall. I think he would tear the stall down if he was in for more than 2 days.
Good luck with the saddle and fitting, that can be a major pain sometimes. I'm glad that my horse is a regular in everything!
My mare (elderly OTTB) has had dry, crack prone feet ever since I got her. A few years ago I started feeding her "Joint Combo" by Farnam (readily available here in Saskatchewan). It has made a huge difference. Her feet aren't "perfect" but they are much much better than before. It took awhile but I do think this product made a big difference.
Farnam promotes it as helping their hooves and joints as well as enhancing the coat (and Cessa is a pretty shiny girl!)
Some vets & farriers say that the feed through joint and hoof products don't work, some say they do. My advice is to try one if you like it and give it some time to see if it works. My mare's hooves took awhile to improve but they did, and I am pretty sure it helps her joints too.
Good to hear things have improved. Makes a huge difference in your enjoyment of visiting the barn and taking Rusty out for one on one.
My Baby Doll has dry, cracked knicked up feet usually, too. We are experiencing a drought here in New Mexico, so all the horses are affected. Plus we live in the mountains so the terrain is rocky and dry, too.
I apply hoof conditioner to my mare every other day, but my farrier says that a good vegetable oil will work the same. I think that even olive or coconut oil would work well, too and is usually even more moisturing with staying power.
I've not given her anything beyond her regular vitamin mix, but if hooves are like fingernails and hair, I woud think that any product that has biotin in it would work.
Also, wasn't the reason that women were told to eat jello was because it was made to strengthen nails and hair? It used to somehow be made from horse, too, right?
Anyway, I've been wanting to let you know that my llama shared your wonderful blog on her 'Blog-of-the-Week" post, on my Laughing Orca Ranch Blog.
Check it out sometime :)
Oh definitely a good supplement works. Biotin is (IMO)the most important ingredient. I like the sounds of the one CdnCowgirl uses. MSM is wonderful for removing inflammation in the joints and cannot be overfed. As she said-it takes awhile because the rest of their system has to get to working right before you start seeing it show up in the hooves. It can take 3-6 months minimum but it could be up to a year before you really see the results. Strangely enough any horse that I had problems with dry, cracking hooves once I got all of the poor hoof wall grown out, I didn't have to keep feeding them the supplement.
Often a good higher end secondhand saddle can represent better value than a new lower end saddle. Obviouly so long as it fits. It sounds like you are doing the right thing getting the saddle fitter to visit.
My Arabian has crappy feet. Source in his feed plus alternating treatments with Shur Hoof and Corona have helped.
LCF
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