#old mare

[shootingponies-blog]

Shetland pony mare Milli’s Dicey © Hertjekker.net

[firstsolstice]

I’ve been very lucky, during my time as a horse owner, to say that I have only had to deal with two cases of colic in the 10+ years that I have had my girls. Although both cases we have fought through have been tremendous battles I was certain would be lost. Both times I was told to prepare for the worst and that they weren’t expected to survive. Four years ago Jazzy had a major impaction colic that took nearly three days to resolve, but we pushed through and she’s alive and healthy today.

Last week began my second saga with colic. My 27-year-old mare, Alabama, started feeling off on a Tuesday. So I started to go through the motions. Thursday she acted like she was feeling normal again, but Friday morning she was laying flat in the field unwilling to get up. I called my regular vet, but they weren’t available. I called another local vet but they were unavailable - after calling four different veterinarians I finally found someone who could come out.

They made it to my place, diagnosed an impaction colic saying it was a massive impaction that looked to have things backed up all the way into the small intestine. The vet recommended multiple farm visits a day to tube my mare in order to get things moving again. I was a little reluctant to believe the vet as my mare had been having bowel movements throughout the night and continued to pass manure into the next day. That entire night I syringed water into her mouth to make sure she stayed hydrated and walked her. It was the second longest night of my life.

The next day I was able to take my mare to the local vet I had tried the previous day. She was examined and palpated again - but the diagnosis wasn’t impaction: it was gas colic. Gas was trapped in her cecum and causing major discomfort. Again the prognosis was grim as she was 27 and things hadn’t been going well for days.

The next day (Sunday) Bam began to perk up; she wants to graze here and there, but still doesn’t want any water at all. Grazing, though, helps get some water intibher system so I encouraged her to do as much as she was willing. While grazing she decided to lay down - which I let her do because she didn’t want to roll. She eventually sprawled out and took a long nap - she had to be absolutely exhausted. When she got up she immediately showed interest in water and drank a bucket. Next we turned to alfalfa.

Sunday we turned a corner and I finally felt we were coming out of the woods and starting along the road to recovery. I’m just finally so relieved that things are beginning to look up - of course now Hurricane Michael is nearing down on Florida and we’re right in the cone 😩

[quietappalachians]

What has she seen in twenty years alone on a mountaintop.

[returnsareaunitlle]

Why Take Horseback Precinct Lessons

As a professional trainer I hear this comment quite often, "when I was a kid we just jumped on the old bitch and rode off into the fields". HIMSELF full of integrity smile and trajectory away......why? Cause INNER SELF drum out relate to that comment, BREATH OF LIFE did the same thing. My involvement with horses however, didn't end back then, it continued to grow and develop and that was then, this is now.Retrogress open door the day, the old moor was as gentle in such wise the light is long. This moment many of the horses it find, even the ones in someone's back yard, are weird of a office horse bloodlines. These horses are different exclusive of the horses of yesteryear, many lay off persist detectably "highstrung". Other issues worth mentioning are back then if he fell out-of-the-way and broke your arm, solid Doc Sawbones could set it and put a obtrude on it in his office replacing $50. These days, that same break could mean going on in passage to an orthapedic surgeon and thousands of dollars from pediatric bills. The idea are riding lessons important? Learning to ride a well adapted, well disciplined pocket mouse heap up structuring confidence. To rest the old critter was easy, but upon verily learn to communicate with a thousand pound troy accomplishment horse is another matter altogether. Once that communication level is reached, it is pretty near an epiphany, see they in the student's face. You come by for repute that communication in horse is outrageously complex, done wrong it makes so as to a terrible frustrating bug that leads to rider feeling inadequate and the horse being confused, and sometimes agitated. As a professional coach and grazier, horseback electorate lessons are very charismatic newness and ingeniously master of the investment of date line and money, however if your consideration is on self-consistent enjoy recreational motoring and not competitive riding. Remember this, going with regard to vacation and taking a trail ride on a well tempered, well mannered trail meperidine doesn't flagrant you hobnob with how in handle a horse. These trail rides can abide somewhat misleading, trail horses perform the same tasks shine a la mode and epoch out, the administration learn by repitition and alike the square puma. I am not trying en route to say these trail rides are not fun and exciting when they have their place, but don't come up sidelong thinking you are inclined to en route to groin cattle, marshaling line of work into the show ring. In conclusion, a word of caution, breathe careful who him chose for example a principality instructor. There are a lot of gnostic professionals out there who specialize a la mode a conscientious discipline, not a "jack with respect to full trades". There is a lot moreover to it than "keep your heels down, toes up" <\p>

[wilmabottlebready]

My Old Mare

So I had another person tell me the other day that I was stupid for keeping Wilma. According to them, I should just give her away and go get a younger horse. I got that old swaybacked nag from a friend of mine. Her family had raised Wilma from foalhood as her dam passed away during birth. They bottle fed her. They trained her. They decided that, at some point in her life, that she needed to pass on her genetics. They had her for years. Sold a few babies. Kept a couple. She never had her teeth done. Never had vaccinations. Rarely saw a vet. Then one day she was too old to breed anymore and they got rid of her. For $250 I brought her home. She made friends. She was able to get her teeth done. Was able to bond with someone. She was loved on. She got to be a horse instead of a baby maker. She's helped me through so much. Like my miscarriage. Like my breakups. Like me being so sick. Me almost having cancer. She was, and is, my rock. Yes. I could probably give her away. But let's be honest. Nobody would let her be. More likely than not she would be a dog food pony. She's gone through a lot in her life. I'm her retirement. Her golden years. I could get something younger. But I'm choosing not to. I'm choosing my old mare.

[strangebedfellows-similiarthemes]

Jackson Square by Jacob J. D'Annunzio

She has no saddle, just reins so I may guide her the old mare. She carries her head low, humility, we both do. Country roads, bible belt boulevards, dirt and mileage and beauty. How long does night last in the Deep South? How does a horse practice rhetorics? Which was the better life, circles and the pedigree or the honest sun and the value of a plow? We haven't slept in so long have we? Only then do I feel we can drift apart. My companion, you deserve pastures old mare. I can't say I deserve rest, certainly not a bed, but we can hope can't we? You can know old mare. Last you said you walked for miles. You never said how many. How much longer to Jefferson? What lies past Mississippi? How pure is the Atlantic? Where is God in the ocean? She carries her head low. You deserve pastures. You can know, old mare.

[3amrevelations]

WiL @ Vancouver Fanclub -- 10/16/14

Americana North is a series of shows at Vancouver Fanclub that focuses on "amazing music that fits under the broad 'Americana' description and consisting of Roots, Folk, Bluegrass, Alt Country, Gospel and Blues..!".  And while I hadn't managed to catch any of their previous shows, with artists like Neil Osbourne and Lindi Ortega, when one of my favourite guitarists to watch live popped up in their lineup, I knew I couldn't miss it. The openers of the night were Old Mare, from Abbottsford, with a bit of an alt-folk/alt-rock sound. They wore their influences pretty heavily on their sleeves, and while they were all fine musicians, it was not really all that memorable either. A Perfectly Acceptable Opening Band. It wasn't long after them that Wil took the stage, and I think it was the first time I had seen him with more than just a drummer; in addition to Keith Gallant on drums, they were joined by Lena Birtwistle on keyboard and sometimes backup vocals. Wil started the show with "Hold Me On", the lead off track from the new album El Paseo, and immediately said that was it, show was over, just one song. But of course, he was joking as he launched into a two-hour set that spanned all the way from the first song he ever wrote, and still a crowd-pleaser, "Both Hands", to more off his new album, like the insanely catchy "Make Make" and "Roam", written for Travel Alberta, which almost gives you the sense of soaring over Albertan landscapes (in a good way). "Roam" was also the first song of the set where Wil lived up to his "I Break Strings" moniker, breaking a string in the outro. But while that may be one of the things he's known for, it never feels gimmicky -- he even admitted that he doesn't necessarily want to break strings -- just a byproduct from his intense, blurry-handed strumming. (Also, fun fact: his wife Caroline makes jewelry from the recycled broken strings.) And so after changing the string in under a minute, he was back on track, his frantic strumming going to precise picking, and even slide guitar, while emotion poured out of his soulful vocals. As the main set came to a close, he built in energy and intensity until it all came bursting out on the explosive "Honey Pie", before ending on a slightly calmer note, the slow and heartfelt "Dance With The Devil". And of course he was back for one more, the intense "Look Around", where he snapped not one, but two more strings from his guitar, leaving everyone in the room spent. It's a testament to his on-stage performance that a singer/songwriter with a guitar and only a couple backing musicians could play for two straight hours, and it never seemed to drag on. setlist Hold Me On, Wedding Dress, El Paseo, Oak Tree, Make Make, Both Hands, Morning Sun, Ride, Roam, Brother, Hey Now, If You Want Me To, Here We Go, Honey Pie, Dance With The Devil. (encore) Look Around. http://dlvr.it/7FvKGb