Today was foggy, from start to finish. No ride time. We went to the grocery store to pick up things for his mother, I did three loads of laundry, mopped the kitchen floor, and other housewifey stuff.
After we got back from his mother's I went to the grocery store and did my own shopping.
It seemed warmer later in the day, and by the time I fed everyone I was positively overdressed for the occasion. The gate post has swollen again so I have to use the chain to secure the dry paddock.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Forward, Onward
Got word that the round pen will be delivered on Monday! This is great news, but we don't know how it will actually be delivered. Since the fencing project was completed we don't have THAT much room for an 18-wheeler to turn around in the parking lot. And the delivery weighs 900 lbs. He does plan to be home, but I don't know what to expect.
After everyone ate, we were at the gate for field #1 and I hadn't yet put hay in the keeper for the Littles. Beau came over for a visit, and the Littles were surrounding us. It was sort of sweet. If there was hay to be eaten, the Littles would have been out of there.
I made a fuss over Sprite and Lil Fred, in front of Beau, and then he allowed me to touch his nose! Then his face, and his neck. I retrieved the metal curry comb from the barn shelf and he allowed me to comb out his neck, and chest, and shoulder, and leg - all on the left side. I tried reaching around to the right side, got some of that, but not enough to brag about.
This is HUGE! He is so soft, and black. I can't wait to trim his ears and mane. His ears look like old-man ears, with hair sprouting out of them, and the hair has a red ending. So does his mane. Red tips. I want to trim them, too, so he looks really black. Like Black Beauty.
When the round pen shows up, it won't be long before I'm allowed to trim anything I want!
After everyone ate, we were at the gate for field #1 and I hadn't yet put hay in the keeper for the Littles. Beau came over for a visit, and the Littles were surrounding us. It was sort of sweet. If there was hay to be eaten, the Littles would have been out of there.
I made a fuss over Sprite and Lil Fred, in front of Beau, and then he allowed me to touch his nose! Then his face, and his neck. I retrieved the metal curry comb from the barn shelf and he allowed me to comb out his neck, and chest, and shoulder, and leg - all on the left side. I tried reaching around to the right side, got some of that, but not enough to brag about.
This is HUGE! He is so soft, and black. I can't wait to trim his ears and mane. His ears look like old-man ears, with hair sprouting out of them, and the hair has a red ending. So does his mane. Red tips. I want to trim them, too, so he looks really black. Like Black Beauty.
When the round pen shows up, it won't be long before I'm allowed to trim anything I want!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Bot Flies
We had Bot flies when I was a kid, and actually hadn't seen one in years and years until I noticed the eggs on Skip's legs when he was at Cara's place. I asked her to remove them before we brought him to the boarding barn; we didn't need an outbreak there! 
Bot flies look a bit like skinny honey bees. One or several flies will hover around the horse's legs and body and dive in to attach their eggs to the hair strands. Bot flies don't sting like a bee, or bite like a horse fly. They are basically little flying egg laying machines and they dart at the horse repeatedly, attaching each egg to a single hair. If you see one, kill it!
Bot flies don't normally lay eggs around the head and ears, so a fly bonnet won't be much help. One species of bot lays eggs around the horse's nose. It's hard to protect your horse from these. Bots also lay eggs on the horse's mane, legs, shoulders and flanks, so insect repellents and fly sheets may help.
Don't worry that you or the horse will get bit or stung if you swat this fly. More likely you'll be disgusted by a smear of yellowish eggs on your hand or horse. If this happens, wash the eggs off your hands or horse, but don't let them fall where the horse may accidentally ingest them.
There are lots of ideas out there about the best way to remove bot eggs. If there's just a few eggs, you can pick them off with your fingernails. Wiping mineral oil or petroleum jelly over the eggs is supposed to suffocate them, killing them before they hatch. This leaves a greasy mess, but is harmless to the horse—and possibly the bot eggs too. Kerosene and diesel are not good for your horse, so don't use these. Sponging the eggs with warm water is supposed to pull the eggs off as if the horse is licking it's coat, but I've never seen this to be effective. Pulling a block of pumice stone over the areas where eggs have been laid helps pull them off the hair. In 4-H in the mid-60s we used a straightened coat hanger with a cotton swab dunked in alcohol, lit, and then burned them off. Now I can't believe my horse stood for that, and that we actually did that.
The easiest way to pull the eggs off is with a knife blade, special bot knife or scissor blade. I just open my scissors wide and use one blade to scrape the eggs off. Be careful to keep the blade almost flat against the horse's skin. You don't want to accidentally cut your horse or yourself. Pull the blade down in the direction of the hair growth and the eggs come off easily. Sweep up any dropped eggs and put them in the garbage where horse's won't eat them. Or burn them.
De-worming medication that contains Ivermectin or Moxidectin will kill internal bot larvae. These medications also kill other internal parasites, so can be used in place of your regular product. Give your horse this medication after the first hard frost that kills the insects in the autumn. Administer it again in early spring to kill any remaining bot larvae in your horse's system before they are expelled with the manure and develop into mature flies that will begin the bot's life cycle again.
He's been working on the Blacks, and part of this is getting rid of the eggs on their legs.
Bot flies look a bit like skinny honey bees. One or several flies will hover around the horse's legs and body and dive in to attach their eggs to the hair strands. Bot flies don't sting like a bee, or bite like a horse fly. They are basically little flying egg laying machines and they dart at the horse repeatedly, attaching each egg to a single hair. If you see one, kill it!
Bot flies don't normally lay eggs around the head and ears, so a fly bonnet won't be much help. One species of bot lays eggs around the horse's nose. It's hard to protect your horse from these. Bots also lay eggs on the horse's mane, legs, shoulders and flanks, so insect repellents and fly sheets may help.
Don't worry that you or the horse will get bit or stung if you swat this fly. More likely you'll be disgusted by a smear of yellowish eggs on your hand or horse. If this happens, wash the eggs off your hands or horse, but don't let them fall where the horse may accidentally ingest them.
There are lots of ideas out there about the best way to remove bot eggs. If there's just a few eggs, you can pick them off with your fingernails. Wiping mineral oil or petroleum jelly over the eggs is supposed to suffocate them, killing them before they hatch. This leaves a greasy mess, but is harmless to the horse—and possibly the bot eggs too. Kerosene and diesel are not good for your horse, so don't use these. Sponging the eggs with warm water is supposed to pull the eggs off as if the horse is licking it's coat, but I've never seen this to be effective. Pulling a block of pumice stone over the areas where eggs have been laid helps pull them off the hair. In 4-H in the mid-60s we used a straightened coat hanger with a cotton swab dunked in alcohol, lit, and then burned them off. Now I can't believe my horse stood for that, and that we actually did that.
The easiest way to pull the eggs off is with a knife blade, special bot knife or scissor blade. I just open my scissors wide and use one blade to scrape the eggs off. Be careful to keep the blade almost flat against the horse's skin. You don't want to accidentally cut your horse or yourself. Pull the blade down in the direction of the hair growth and the eggs come off easily. Sweep up any dropped eggs and put them in the garbage where horse's won't eat them. Or burn them.
De-worming medication that contains Ivermectin or Moxidectin will kill internal bot larvae. These medications also kill other internal parasites, so can be used in place of your regular product. Give your horse this medication after the first hard frost that kills the insects in the autumn. Administer it again in early spring to kill any remaining bot larvae in your horse's system before they are expelled with the manure and develop into mature flies that will begin the bot's life cycle again.
He's been working on the Blacks, and part of this is getting rid of the eggs on their legs.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Frozen
Christmas night we watched 'Frozen' with my sister, her husband, him and my aunt. The three of them had never seen it before and my aunt said she had seen it but kept confusing 'The Princess Bride' with 'Frozen'. I love both those movies.
Today is our anniversary. Twenty-eight years. We got married in a snow storm, and that day government and schools opening was delayed a couple hours. I had taken the day off as a vacation day, anticipating getting married, but he had failed to do that. I had moved the ‘date’ around and maybe he thought I’d do it again? We had to wait for the court house to open because of the snow delay, then rushed to his job to inventory the company’s assets for tax purposes. The proceedings went so quickly I didn't even take my coat off, getting married in my down parka and blue snow boots.
Today it is cold, and by cold I mean freezing. But no snow. The springtime weather of Christmas is gone, replaced by real-feel winter climate. Tonight our game plan was to try to get the Blacks into the barn for their first overnight stay. It is predicted to get down to single digits with a stiff wind.
I got all the electric buckets out of the shed, cleaned out, filled and plugged in. Straightened out the stalls, he put fresh sawdust in there, too.
After feeding everyone we started our ‘Keystone Kops’ version of moving equines. He moved the tractor out of the barn, tied Sprite and Fred to the aisle hay net, then persuaded Beau into Sprite’s stall. He immediately started to panic, ate some of the fresh shavings, but I threw a couple flakes of hay into the stall and he settled down.
Next was Ally, who is very suspicious but doesn’t want to be left out. With a couple laps around the manure spreader parked in the aisle, she found herself in Fred’s stall. She also wanted to panic, but a couple flakes of hay were like a pacifier for her, too.
We left them to ‘rest’ but came out later for a check of the water buckets. For some reason he thought now would be a good time to try to worm them! He did actually succeed with getting the plunger between Beau’s pursed lips, but with Ally it was going to be a no-go. We feel this is HUGE progress.
Cut the lights out and left them for their long winter’s night.
Today is our anniversary. Twenty-eight years. We got married in a snow storm, and that day government and schools opening was delayed a couple hours. I had taken the day off as a vacation day, anticipating getting married, but he had failed to do that. I had moved the ‘date’ around and maybe he thought I’d do it again? We had to wait for the court house to open because of the snow delay, then rushed to his job to inventory the company’s assets for tax purposes. The proceedings went so quickly I didn't even take my coat off, getting married in my down parka and blue snow boots.
Today it is cold, and by cold I mean freezing. But no snow. The springtime weather of Christmas is gone, replaced by real-feel winter climate. Tonight our game plan was to try to get the Blacks into the barn for their first overnight stay. It is predicted to get down to single digits with a stiff wind.
I got all the electric buckets out of the shed, cleaned out, filled and plugged in. Straightened out the stalls, he put fresh sawdust in there, too.
After feeding everyone we started our ‘Keystone Kops’ version of moving equines. He moved the tractor out of the barn, tied Sprite and Fred to the aisle hay net, then persuaded Beau into Sprite’s stall. He immediately started to panic, ate some of the fresh shavings, but I threw a couple flakes of hay into the stall and he settled down.
Next was Ally, who is very suspicious but doesn’t want to be left out. With a couple laps around the manure spreader parked in the aisle, she found herself in Fred’s stall. She also wanted to panic, but a couple flakes of hay were like a pacifier for her, too.
We left them to ‘rest’ but came out later for a check of the water buckets. For some reason he thought now would be a good time to try to worm them! He did actually succeed with getting the plunger between Beau’s pursed lips, but with Ally it was going to be a no-go. We feel this is HUGE progress.
Cut the lights out and left them for their long winter’s night.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Sunday - First Ride of the New Year!
Finally, got a ride in. I did keep my coughing to a minimum, had plenty of tissues with me. And it was cold. The sun was bright, not a cloud in the sky.
I wore two shirts, a sweatshirt, a Melton wool vest, my Carhartt coat and flannel-lined jeans, heavy socks and insulated Ariat Boots. Suede lined work gloves. I was ready.
Had a nice ride - there were so many people out, but only saw four horses. Saw Glen from across the tracks and river, yelled out our howdies and HappyNewYears, he was alone and the other three were with about 10 dogs on the pipeline, said they were the Hernwood Hounds. Quite the assortment pack of no particular breed or size. No one was at the LOMH.
So many walkers out, it was great! I thought we would be all alone, but was glad to see people, with kids and dogs, out in the park and using this great area. Saw a Big Buck near Driver Road at Ivy Hill, a Buzzard spooked the horses right in the main area of the park. They were jazzed for some reason and the Buzzard came right across the trail, no more than 20 feet above, Skip did a roll-back.
We had a nice lunch, and The Woodstock Inn was fairly busy, but only one motorcyclist ventured out on this cold windy day. Later on he made dinner again. Leftovers, which is fine, perfect for me. Clear that stuff out, hate to waste food.
I wore two shirts, a sweatshirt, a Melton wool vest, my Carhartt coat and flannel-lined jeans, heavy socks and insulated Ariat Boots. Suede lined work gloves. I was ready.
Had a nice ride - there were so many people out, but only saw four horses. Saw Glen from across the tracks and river, yelled out our howdies and HappyNewYears, he was alone and the other three were with about 10 dogs on the pipeline, said they were the Hernwood Hounds. Quite the assortment pack of no particular breed or size. No one was at the LOMH.
So many walkers out, it was great! I thought we would be all alone, but was glad to see people, with kids and dogs, out in the park and using this great area. Saw a Big Buck near Driver Road at Ivy Hill, a Buzzard spooked the horses right in the main area of the park. They were jazzed for some reason and the Buzzard came right across the trail, no more than 20 feet above, Skip did a roll-back.
We had a nice lunch, and The Woodstock Inn was fairly busy, but only one motorcyclist ventured out on this cold windy day. Later on he made dinner again. Leftovers, which is fine, perfect for me. Clear that stuff out, hate to waste food.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
New Year, New Resolutions
Last year is history, this year is brand new. My old list had lots of things finished, resolved or over-ruled. Some things were not addressed and will move forward. Maybe this is the year?
One resolution I want to move forward is the camping promise. Last year we camped two nights. That's it. We didn't even do that until Labor Day Weekend, and were planning on camping in October, but that got rained out. Well, really it was flooded out. This year I think we need to start earlier and get more nights out under the stars.
We also added two young horses to the herd. Getting them finished, rideable, would be the best thing for them, for us. All the other things that get done, planned or not, will just be icing on that cake.
One resolution I want to move forward is the camping promise. Last year we camped two nights. That's it. We didn't even do that until Labor Day Weekend, and were planning on camping in October, but that got rained out. Well, really it was flooded out. This year I think we need to start earlier and get more nights out under the stars.
We also added two young horses to the herd. Getting them finished, rideable, would be the best thing for them, for us. All the other things that get done, planned or not, will just be icing on that cake.
Friday, January 1, 2016
First Day
I have to confess - I have a head cold. I came down with this thing last night. Sneezing, coughing, can't taste or smell. Sore throat. I don't feel like doing anything, so I'm doing very little.
I put a load of laundry in and he wanted to go to Mt Airy, so we did, but the feed store was closed, and I didn't have the strength to then go to the grocery, so we went home and I went back to bed with Max.
He had a couple things he wanted to do, but these were not things on my 'honey-do' list. He also had a cold, starting it earlier than I did, but he was home all week and I had to work a few days. He got a couple things done, like fixing the stockade fence gate but mostly hanging out with the Blacks. He can lift Beau's feet! This is HUGE!
My honey-do list consisted of indoor work, just the little things that need doing from our ongoing house renovation projects, but nothing vitally important or necessary. We have the materials and tools to finish, but these can wait. It really is more important to work with the Blacks.
I'm waiting for the round pen. And a sunny day.
Happy New Year!!
I put a load of laundry in and he wanted to go to Mt Airy, so we did, but the feed store was closed, and I didn't have the strength to then go to the grocery, so we went home and I went back to bed with Max.
He had a couple things he wanted to do, but these were not things on my 'honey-do' list. He also had a cold, starting it earlier than I did, but he was home all week and I had to work a few days. He got a couple things done, like fixing the stockade fence gate but mostly hanging out with the Blacks. He can lift Beau's feet! This is HUGE!
My honey-do list consisted of indoor work, just the little things that need doing from our ongoing house renovation projects, but nothing vitally important or necessary. We have the materials and tools to finish, but these can wait. It really is more important to work with the Blacks.
I'm waiting for the round pen. And a sunny day.
Happy New Year!!
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