September Riding Thread

[cyndi]

Well, it was nothing monumental, but I got on Fanny today! I guess it was monumental in that I was totally alone out there. I opened the two gates into the front paddock and the riding area, but she wouldn't leave the small area in front of the barn I really need to work on building her confidence. Before I got on her I led her around the front paddock and he was nervous because it was breezy and the farmer across the road was doing something on the far end of his field.

I had a neck rope on Fanny, so I held onto that as well as her reins. I felt better, but the saddle was slipping so I didn't feel really secure. I still haven't heard from the saddle fitter, to see if they are able to come out next week while the weather still holds out.

I didn't ask Fanny to do much, just some turns. Otherwise I just worked on my seat and subtle cues. She responded fairly well, considering how green we both are when it comes to riding. I was only on her for about 10 minutes.

I am not thrilled that Fanny's neck is really cresty and hard again I was hoping she'd be okay since it was mid summer when she started on grass, but she is ballooning. I know that riding her more often would help, so I could really use a saddle that fits right now :/ This feeling of being caught between a rock and a hard place is not a fun place to be, but it's just the way it has to be right now. I do have the option of putting her in the front paddock with the Friesian yearling, but by the time the two of them graze down the paddock it's not much different than her being out in the big field. Clover is a huge culprit too. The fields are covered in it. I hate using a grazing muzzle, but I may not have a choice. The grass is going to get sweeter this fall before we get a good frost. The problem is that they hang out the most where the clover is, and it is really short, so she'd get nothing in the grazing muzzle. The grass in the area is on the longer side, which can't be picked up through the muzzle either. I dislike the fact that she'd have an empty stomach for longer periods of time than a horse should.

[horsespoiler]

Yay for riding Fanny. Every little bit helps. It's really hot again here. If you were close you could put Fanny on our brown pasture. We haven't fed any extra for 2 months, just our dry brown grass and ours are still fat I give Sage Remission for her cresty neck. It does seem to help along with probiotics. I loaned out my english saddle to a little girl for a show next weekend so I might try my aussie on Whitey again for fun. It's supposed to be mid 90's this weekend so probably not riding.

[cyndi]

I've heard a lot about Remission, but it's expensive to ship out here. I have Fanny on probiotics and other supplements to help her gut, so maybe that's what is preventing her from being worse. I am thinking about putting her on a product for mares, because it has chasteberry in it, which is really good for IR and Cushings horses. She has a cresty neck and has gained weight, but on the bright side I still had to get those extra holes punched into her bareback pad so that I could tighten it enough on her. She seems to be storing the extra weight in her neck and her belly, behind her girth groove.

[horsespoiler]

I didn't realize you couldn't buy it there. Isn't it crazy what can and can't be purchased in each country? Can you still buy human antibiotics over the counter there? I know a lot of people (mostly seniors) used to go to Mexico to get their prescriptions and dental work done because it was so much cheaper. I wouldn't trust it but then I will not go into Mexico these days for anything.

[cyndi]

There are no Canadian dealers for Remission, but there is a place in Port Huron, Michigan, that you can have stuff sent to, then you just go pick it up -- costs $5 to do that. That's not even 1 1/2 hours from here, so I'm thinking about trying that. The one site I found Remission on doesn't charge shipping within the US, so it would really save me money to do that. And driving out to Port Huron to pick it up would be a fun outing for Sheldon and I. I would order two 10-pound buckets, which would cost me around $75, so duty wouldn't even be that much...if anything. I can't remember how much you can spend before you have to pay duty.

No, you can't get antibiotics over the counter here, and never have been able to. It wasn't until the past 25 years that you could even buy products like Canesten and Monistat over the counter. You had to go to the doctor for every single thing. Apparently, you can buy just about any med in Mexico. Not sure I'd feel really comfortable doing that.

[ghostrider]

My ex-MIL is mormon and they buy huge bottles of penicillin in Mexico plus other meds once a year. Both Glenn and I used some and it was not any different then what we get here in the U.S. I wish we were closer to Mexico, I'd go over and get it too. You can buy amoxicillin here without a prescription according to the dr. who did the class I took on stitching/stapling and health stuff, but you have to get it through the pet stores online. The same capsules they use for fish (break it open and put it in the water) or for birds is the same stuff you get at the pharmacy the only dif is they sell those capsules with little dents, or the color is off etc.. to the vet places.

Good for you for getting on Fanny you must be feeling at peace at the new place. As for pro-biotics according to what I've learned a probiotic keeps the good bugs in the gut from being destroyed but I don't know anything about weight loss due to taking them? Mom takes papaya enzymes and another probiotic for her gut to keep her from getting gas and indigestion.

I wonder if some of her weight is caused by neck muscles under the crest? I was watching Dr.Oz who explained that exercising does not make you thinner. When you build muscles under the fat it simply makes your muscles bigger which causes more inches. Makes sense? You do a lot of bending and lunging with Fanny do you think maybe she's built up some good muscle under there?

I was thinking today about Buddy and his fear of plastic and realized I forgot to mention on our trip it rained like almost every day off and on. I was really worried about everyone including me invading his space with plastic wear! I put mine on the first day and told the girls I may be laying on the ground in a minute and then mounted up. There was no fear, no tensing or even a pinned ear he simply couldn't care about the plastic ponchos and rain coats and they were on the ground and up above him. I was really proud. I even took off my coat and tied it to the back of the saddle right on him.

Sometimes I think we get in the way of our horses training.

[horsespoiler]

All our pet meds have to have a prescription. Our vet carries most of them but he can (and does) sometimes write one to be filled at a human pharmacy. Those are much more expensive though since you can't use your insurance to pay for them. I think antibiotics would be easier to get if people understood that they need to used with care. Too many think they need antibiotics for viral illnesses.

[cyndi]

The last time we had antibiotics in our house is last year when the kids had their wisdom teeth pulled. Prior to that, I couldn't tell you when any of us had antibiotics, except that it's been years. We're a pretty healthy bunch, and if something comes up we generally get on it right away with homeopathic remedies or other natural sources.

Probiotics don't help Fanny lose weight, but they do help her digest the grass better, so that it doesn't start fermenting in her hind gut and increasing her chances of foundering. I think that being on probiotics has helped her do as well as she is.

Oh, GR, I wish Fanny's thick neck was from muscle...but this is Fanny we're talking about here! LOL No, unfortunately, it is plain old cresty neck. It is SO thick up along her mane. I measured her again with the weight tape and she has gained even more weight!! But when I put the bareback pad on her today I still had to use the new holes that were punched in the billet straps.

HS, are any of your horses fussy eaters? Do they like the taste of Remission? That is my biggest concern, that I go ahead and order a year's worth only to have her hate the taste. I could probably sell it online, but I'd rather she just liked it.

I got on Fanny again today! This time, as mentioned above, I used the bareback pad. She is so terribly wide, every time she takes a step and her shoulder drops a bit, I go leaning way over that shoulder. I just can't sit centered and 'stationery' on her because there is so much back movement when she walks. I sat on her for around 15 minutes, and she was really good, even took a step into the front paddock from the small area in front of the barn I was trying to get her 'feel' and see if I could move with her, rather than just sitting there hindering her movement, so I just asked her to walk on and I didn't direct her. All she wanted to do was turn tight circles, even though I hardly used my reins I didn't use them on purpose just to see what she'd do, and sure enough, she just more or less turned on the fore and that's it. ARGH!!! What am I doing wrong??!!

I decided not to spend money on a saddle fitter this fall, but to wait until the spring when I might be able to afford another saddle. I never did hear back from that saddle fitter I contacted over a week ago anyway. I did fire off an email to the 'local' guy who makes trooper saddles, to see if I could get a demo from him this week. The weather is supposed to be really nice all week, once today's low temperatures move on.

That's great about how well Buddy did with all those rain ponchos! And for you to be able to remove your jacket while still on him, GR, is really good!

[ghostrider]

I was on amoxicillin a year ago last June or July before the August trip 2013 because when I got back I had that root canal done. Before that it's been a really, really long time.

Have you decided which season would be best? Most horses are fatter in the summer, thinner at the end of winter. More muscular after a season of riding etc.. With Buddy we use the Colorado end of winter and the Tucker during the summer "fat" days. LOL

Anyone watching the new VOICE? Amazing!

[horsespoiler]

Cyndi, you have been walking her quite a bit this year, maybe some of her weight is muscle now. I keep telling myself muscle weighs more than fat every time I weigh myself. None of our horses are particularly picky when it comes to food. I did taste the remission myself to see what it was like and it doesn't have much taste at all. It isn't bitter. I have tasted all the supplements to get some knowledge of what they taste like. Just about anything could be used as a carrying medium without affecting the taste much. I use a pelleted horse feed that isn't a sweet feed for ours but I have also used the grass hay pellets. Our piggies lick the bucket so they get it all. I've done both wet and dry. I wish I could send you some to try but I don't know how well that would go over with customs or the Post Office. When you have Fanny in the small area where she is contained drop the reins and just hold the neck strap if you need to and just urge her to go. If you don't have your hands on the reins you won't accidentally pull on her mouth. I watched CA do that in a clinic on TV one time. Just ask for movement without guidance. Of course it's easier with a saddle but you can try.

[cyndi]

I seem to recall that you taste your horses' stuff to see what it's like. Good to know it's not bitter. I have hay cubes and a handful of oats that I use as a carrier for Fanny's supplements right now. She used to be on a pelleted horse feed specifically for founder-prone horses, so I could put her back on that and use it as a carrier for the supplements. The set-up I have now is working, so if I add Remission it should be okay. Today she practically licked her feed bowl dry.

I had the reins really loose on Fanny yesterday, just to make sure I wasn't letting them influence her. I had a neck strap on, but it's not really a neck strap and it has some stretch to it, so I don't care for it. An "oh crap!" strap on the saddle would probably make me feel more secure than the neck strap I was using. I plan to make a neck strap, just haven't had a chance yet.

No, GR, no "The Voice" for us. We don't watch much tv other than sports.

[ghostrider]

Mom and SF watch football. When they turn it on I go downstairs. I'm not upstairs much anyway but I can't stand sports.
I stopped watching anything that is a series a few years ago because I only want to watch tv when I want to not when it's back on. The thing I love about Voice or America's got Talent is you don't have to WATCH it you can bead or paint or play solitaire and still enjoy it.

I tried putting syrup in with Buddy's orange flavored antihist but he wouldn't eat it no matter what I put in it. Back in WY he would eat it right out of the hang over without putting anything in it. Back then they got fed twice per day and the other 23 hours and 55 min they went without food! LOL
I've heard a lot of people who use or used remission but the only supplement I've ever used was Corta-flex.

[cyndi]

I usually multi-task while watching tv, too. I usually do a puzzle on my Surface or I have my iPod, playing solitaire or scrabble on it.

HS, I forgot to ask, what is the shelf life of Remission? If I bought "a year's worth", would it last or go bad?

[horsespoiler]

I'm not sure about the shelf life. I'll check the bucket tomorrow and let you know what it says. I know that most "expiration" dates are just made up by the manufacturer and don't really mean much. Most people meds can be used up to 10 years after the date. It is a way to ensure you buy more.

[cyndi]

Homeopathic meds are like that -- by law they have to give an expiry date, yet they can be used for years. I just wasn't sure if there was something in it like flax that hasn't been stabilized, that could go rancid.