Looking for a BYC member who works at a stable

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Thanks for the email EggCentric.

And Kate: Thanks for the nice comment on my post about my life friend, Cody.

And to all that offered help for Cody, Thanks.

She & I had a busy day today. A niece of a friend of DH (did ya get all that???) was having a farm animal birthday party for their 7 year old today. They had called us to see if we would bring some animals for the kids to pet.
We took some young cochin chickens, rabbits, goats, pot belly pig, and Cody. She was feeling very good today. I led kids around on her for 2 hours! She was of course her wonderful self. Most of these kids had never seen an animal except for a cat or a dog before. One of the rabbits barely scratched one of the girls, and she went to Cody for comfort...it was so cute!
Cody was queen of the day!
As we were loading everything up, each child came & hugged Cody and said thank you to her and told her goodbye. She lowered her head for each child to hug her face. Even some of the grown-ups got on her to have their picture taken!

Tomorrow, Cody is giving a riding lesson to a beginner. That is if it is not raining, looks like we are going to get wet.

Jean

 

[bluerose]

If you're open to more than just MSM, etc, here's what I've found with my guys.

I have a 19-going-on-5 year old Morgan mare with 'shot' hocks.. she gets MSM (by Select the Best), Cosequin, and Adequan (over the summer as she works more). Before we go on any trail riding trips, she gets 3-4 days of Conquer gel beforehand as well as during and a day or so after. I WILL say, though, that the single thing that helped her most (she went from being unable to canter back to her sassy 'why canter when you can gallop?' self after some 'rehab' in very light work) was pulling her hind shoes and getting her feet really balanced and functioning properly... pulling her front shoes and 24/7 turnout only made it better.

My 16 y/o Morgan gelding gets the same supplement protocol as she does and had similarly positive results when his shoes were pulled. He is not the yee-haw type, though, so no acrobatics from him... but he does have his moments

Alternately, if you use Smartpaks, I'm having good luck with Cosequin SP for my competition horse... whose hind end issues also improved when- you guessed it- we pulled her hind shoes. She's in pretty heavy work and doing quite well (although she gets other therapy as well- old injury acts up without it). The SP is only available in Smartpaks and has double the dose of regular Cosequin's glucosamine as well as 10000mg of MSM a day for $15 more/month (MSM is $10/mo separately).

Good luck!!! I love mares

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Thanks for the info bluerose

As far as shoes go, she hasn't worn any for about 3 years. I was wondering if her hooves might be out of alignment a little bit.
I think I am going to call the farrier that did all my horses when I was on the go all the time. I switched farriers when I moved here to DH's house. If my old farrier will drive this far, I believe I will have him start trimming her again. He did her for many years. If he can't, DH will just have to start doing her himself, he doesn't like to trim hooves anymore, it is hard on his back.

We had our riding lesson today. Cody was feeling real good, so we had a very productive lesson. This little girl has a lot of natural talent, well balanced, and has light hands, and she listens!!! The handicapped kids ride her with reins connected to her halter, but this girl is riding her with her usual bit.

Jean

 

[bluerose]

I have way too much overly helpful information in my brain, so you are perfectly welcome to ignore this if you'd like... but if you can't get your old farrier or hubby to trim your girl, and you're interested in changing, have you ever considered a barefoot trimmer instead of a farrier? (If you're so inclined, try www.americanhoofassociation.org as they have a list of trimmers... or if you'd like a barefoot bulletin board (as well as a wealth of barefoot info), www.equinextion.com is a great place to go.)

Go Cody! I LOVE working with kids, it's so rewarding, isn't it? Especially when it's your precious girl doing the important work...

 

[bantymum]

I had a beautiful thoroughbred mare who was overraced when she was young.
She had aches and pains, i gave her apple cider vinegar in her chaff, which she liked, it seemed to work well.
may be worth a try too! good luck

 

[bantymum]

Hi again,
please be careful with the trimming, its like a car tyre that wears quicker than the others, if its not perfect in balance she will suffer.

 

[helmstead]

Did I read right that your mare hasn't been trimmed or anything in three YEARS?

The old saying "no hoof, no horse" is so true...

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I may have written it wrong.

She has not worn shoes for the last 3 years. She is trimmed regularly. It is just by a different farrier. When DH & I got together and I moved here, DH did the trimming of her hooves, but it started to bother his back, so a different farrier has been trimming her.

I am trying to get in touch with my "old" farrier. He was the only one that worked on all my horses for about 15 years.
He may not even be doing it anymore, but he may be able to recommend one.

Thanks for the concern Kate.

Jean

 

[ml]

Jean as to the trimming of the feet. Look into a Hoof Jack. It is a great back saver and under 200.00. Worth every penny. It will hold the hoof up so you can trim. Also you can put on a nub and take off the extra toe.

ML

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Thanks ML, we do have one, and Cody is an old pro at having her feet done. She is no problem at all. It is the constant being bent over that bothers DH's back. "Old Age" LOL



Jean