I'm relieved

I managed to get three of Banjos feet treated with hoof flex! It has taken me a very long time to get this far. I have a huge feeling of relief to finally be in control of this situation that started last fall.

We got the arena raked and groomed and ready for the upcoming neighborhood group training our neighbors arranged! It's such a cool idea. I really hope it works. Stay posted.

Snubbing Sparkler

Yesterday we took Sparkler to the Osseo vet for her Coggins. She was uncontrollable anticipating the needle. So Dr. Kolar had us try a neat trick. He had me tie her nose tight to the trailer. I mean really tight. But the trick is to tie through the trailer tie, under the halter throat latch, and back through the tie so the halter cannot break. Twice she tried to back up and went down to her haunches but she was so snug there was absolutely nowhere to go. In the course of about 10 seconds she was stock still and he had the blood drawn.

Coggins scare

Our friend Vicki had a scare with her 4 year old paint. His first Coggins came back positive. The test was repeated and it turned out false, but the thought of having to put him down between the two tests was tough for her.

Tootsie trouble

Kate came to do hooves this morning. I was so hoping things would go smoothly. Sparkler first. After Thursday's vet incident, I had a dreadful feeling, but after a few minutes of stewing around, she settled down and let Kate do her job.

Would Gilly continue to hold out on his hind feet as he has the last 2 times? Would I need to twitch him? Nothing of the sort! He was an angel. I guess the few times I've worked on this has paid off.

But Banjo. Good for the vet -- could you be good for Kate? No. That would be asking too much. Kate went round and round up one side of the shed and down the other. It was like watching a gymnast. She had to hold the lead rope, tilt his head toward her, pick up and hold the foot while he danced around in circles on three legs, then get the foot between her legs all the while keeping the rope taut and not tripping on it. After a half hour, she had trimmed the front left hoof.

The rest was a lost cause. However, we had to say he has improved. Last trimming, Kate could not hold a foot up for a second. Now, she can hold the foot but can't use the pick. The little work I've done is helping -- I just need to do more. Especially since there's still some thrush.

A day to forget

7:30 am - Baby it's cold outside

There was a hard frost, so Bob and I put our long underwear on and dressed warmly and went out. We connected the truck to the trailer and I managed to corral Banjo using grain and got his halter on. I'm taking him to a De-spooking clinic in two weeks and he needs a negative coggins. I picked up the coggins form from the clinic Thursday night and filled it in to save time.

8:00 am - Drawing blood

Banjo hopped in the trailer after a couple circles around the rig and we were on our way to Osseo. We made the clinic by 8:17. I paid and the vet drew blood right there in the trailer. What a breeze. On the way home, I'm thinking the rest of the day should go well.

9:10 am - Chores

Back at home, I walked Banjo around our circular drive. He leads so well. Then I did some shoveling and sweeping and Bob took off to spend the day at an auction. Little did he know what he was getting out of. After I finished chores I went in the house until time for the farrier.

10:30 am - 2 new horses for Kate

Kate came a few minutes early, which was great, because 2 of these horses are new to her. I used grain again to catch Banjo and he got to go first.

Bad news - thrush in all four hooves. Kate says he's probably had it for a good long time and it has really gotten in deep. So she dug out as much of the rotten tissue as possible, then used my Hooflex and squirted it in all the grooves. I'll need to treat it daily for a week, then several times a week until his next trim. She recommended straight bleach every other application because when it gets this deep its really hard to get rid of. About a capful is all you need.

Good news -- Banjo has good, hard feet and he's very good with Kate. So I tied him up nearby and got Sparkler. She was a breeze--no news there.

Next Gilly. He was an angel with his front hooves, despite a gash right above his right hoof. I put some SWAT on it, then we joked about jinxing things--so we didn't say anything. That didn't work--he was extremely touchy with his rear feet. They were both badly flared and misshapen. Kate said, "Do you have a twitch?" Well...no. She feels it's better to use the twitch than try to wrestle with a touchy horse, which often turns into a pushing or kicking match. But she didn't have her twitch with her. So she asked if I'd mind twitching him with my hand. Okaaaaaay. Here's a new one for me.

I took a deep breath and grabbed the muzzle in front of his nostrils, squeezed and gave it a twist. And held it. And pinched harder as he struggled with Kate. Then I gently, slightly, rocked is head back and forth. After three or four minutes, the strangest thing happened. The endorphins kicked in and his eyes softened, his head started to drop and he relaxed enough to let Kate finish the left rear hoof. Then I needed to relax - my hand was numb.

Kate worked a bit with his right rear leg. Pinched the tendon, then when he lifted his foot, immediately let go. She repeated this again and again until just the movement toward the tendon and he'd lift the leg. So she went to work, but in the end I needed to use the twitch maneuver again. When she was done he had the nicest shaped hooves. I'll need to continue to do what she's been doing - squeeze the tendon and release when he does what I want. He, too, has good hooves. Not only that, but through it all he wasn't mean, and was forgiving.

Whew, I thought."Thrush, gash and twitching. Couldn't get any worse." Hmmmmm.

12:30 - Made you look

By now it was time for lunch. Sam was in the kitchen and said, "So what is Gilly doing in the front yard?". Being the jokester he is, I wasn't even going to look, but thought I'd better. There were three horses in the front yard. Yikes! "Sam, get a grain bucket. I'll get halters and the car." They ran down the road faster than we could think about a plan.

Off they went into the neighbor's corn field with us in pursuit as far as we could with the car. Then on foot--but they were nowhere in sight. So we went down the road a mile and tried Larry's place. I walked way back in his cow pasture. They didn't take kindly to my being there. I still couldn't see the horses. There was nothing to do but go back to the car and drive back. We found a pasture path and took the car as far in as we could go. At the top of a hill we spotted them!

I grabbed two halters with lead ropes and the grain bucket. Sam took the car back to the road on the other side of them in case they went in that direction. Then our neighbor, not knowing who belonged to the horses, began chasing them with his tractor, not wanting his cows to get spooked. I'm waving at him to stop and watching from a mile away as they ran back and forth. Then Sam managed to talk to him from the other side which gave me time to walk through the fields, with thistle and burdock, over hills and under barbed wire until they could hear me with my grain bucket. And I'm wondering "They've had grain three times already today. Will they even care?" But care they did and they came. I haltered Sparkler and Gilly and with them in tow and Banjo trailing behind we walked back to Doug and Sandy's barnyard.

I left Gilly penned there while I walked Sparkler and Banjo home. Then I went back for Gilly. I had a burr in my shoes, my laces were untied and my knee was killing me. But we made it. Which leaves the question, "How did they open the gate to escape?"

3:00 - So, what more can go wrong?

Back in the house, the phone rang. My father-in-law wanted to let me know we didn't need to deliver the snow blower to Dan tomorrow. He tried to start it this morning, but no luck. He took a wrench to the spark plug, which slipped and gashed his hand, which had to have stitches. I tried to make him feel better with my story.

Then he told me how he noticed Banjo trying to open a gate the day they brought Gilly home and how he used his mouth to pick up the chain.. Maybe we should rename him Houdini.

Riding is the furthest thing from my mind right now.