Prince or Pauper?

Last week a furry, 20+ gelding was listed on a website. He was in a DTS pen, and had a week to live. For those who don't know, DTS means Direct to Slaughter. Horses there have been purchased by meat buyers, who will load them up in stock trailers and truck them to slaughter plants in Canada or Mexico.

Because of the efforts of AC4H, a local rescue in PA who has developed a relationship with several of the brokers (they are a touchy lot, and won't let anyone else come near), photos of horses in the DTS pen are put on their website, for a last chance of reprieve. The brokers aren't being nice, they are businessmen. If they can sell a horse for more than they would get for slaughter plus not have to pay to ship it, they will. It's all money in their pocket.

A Morgan breed rescue group, Forever Morgans looked at the furry gelding, and watching his video, spotted a Morgan hiding under all that fur. He was healthy, well trained (walk, trot, back, did everything his rider asked without hesitation) and sound. There was no real reason for him to be in the 'throwaway bin'. Many horse people think a horse over 20 is too old to work. But those who own Morgans know that they will go strong into their 30's or later! Plus it was really morally wrong, that a horse who has obviously worked well all his life for humans, should be tossed aside because of a number, or because someone lost interest in having a horse.

The group decided if a home could be found, he would be saved. Members made phone calls, and a home was found, with a riding instructor who also does therapeutic riding. Donations came in, everyone digging deep into pockets made light by Christmas, hay and grain prices, and other rescues in the last month. But they were determined. This gelding would have a home.

I volunteered to pick the gelding (dubbed Harry) up, and take him to his new home, saving the transport costs, and getting Harry to his new home as soon as possible. All horses run the risk of picking up diseases in the DTS pens, plus having to fight for their food and water. The longer they are there, the more risk to their health.

I set off Monday morning in snow flurries to drive to New Holland. When I got there, Harry's coggins had just been pulled, so I have a 2 hour wait. No problem, Aunt Annie's Pretzels were there so I grabbed a pretzel dog, and went to watch the auction.

To my surprise, the auction was busy. Lots of horses, lots of people. Most of the horses I saw looked good, well kept, and went for well over meat prices. Quite a few no saled because they didn't bring what the buyer wanted. To my MD eye, the prices were very good even for the no saled ones. $1,700 for a well trained sound w/t/c /jump 16.3 draft cross gelding who was gorgeous? He would have been snapped up in my area.

But there was the lower end as well. A lot of weanlings and yearlings going for $25 or less. STB and TB going for $100-125. A gentleman sat next to me and asked about the prices, why they were so low. I explained a bit about over breeding, and the prices of hay and grain. He then asked who was purchasing the horses at that price, and I explained most were going to slaughter. Shocked, he said "But we don't eat horses in America!" I told him about shipping to Canada, Mexico, he whole slaughter pipeline. He commeted that he had plenty of hay and left. I hope he went to get a number. So my time waiting wasn't wasted.

Finally the paperwork was ready, and I went to pick Harry up. Lately, thanks to some of the Forever Morgans folk I have gotten close to some real quality Morgans. When I saw Harry, I could look past the fur and see a beautifully refined face, and excellent conformation. Classic Morgan good looks! He was a total gentleman, loaded right up, and except for some calling and pawing at first, trailered like a champ.

It's good he was calm, as I had quite a challenge getting him to his new home. While I was inside the auction, the snow turned from a few flurries, to a couple inches. Shouldn't be a big deal, but obviously no one was expecting it. Roads weren't plowed, and traffic was at a crawl. I had a couple of scary moments from drivers cutting in front of me. Fortunately I was always able to stop, but a few were sliding sideways stops in the icy conditions. Not good with a horse trailer!

We crawled down the hwy at 10 mph. The trip I made up in 2 hours took over 4 getting back. Once I passed Baltimore, the snow disappeared, and the roads were clear. Harry arrived to a lighted pristine stall, with hay, water, and humans with pockets of carrots to welcome him home. I got a better chance to look him over, and I am even more convinced of his quality. Someone has taken good care of him in the past, has probably shown him. He is very well trained, and trusting of humans.

I am looking forward to photos this spring, because while he arrived in paupers rags, I know hiding underneath is a prince.

Horsey IQ

People who have never worked with horses, seem to consider them extremely unintelligent. They are supposed to be placid, obedient, and patient. Sort of like a bicycle, just sits there until you want to ride it.

Yeah, I hear all you horse people out there laughing.

Last night I had another example of horse intelligence and reasoning played out at my humble barn. We currently have 6 horses, my 23 year old TWH mare, my hubby's 11 yr old MFT Gelding, and a 4 yr old Morgan mare, all out together in one pasture. (the Morgan mare needs some horse etiquette lessons, which the alpha mare and gelding are happy to dole out). In the other pasture I have my coming 2 MFT colt, my daughter's 18 yr old Arab/Morgan ? cross mare, and a 6 yr old Clydesdale Gelding.

The Clyde is a horse we are concerned about. He came to us quite underweight, and we have been blanketing him in the extreme cold. Last night I decided since it was very cold and raining, but he wasn't shivering, to leave his blanket off and put him in the barn area for the night. That way no worries about him getting wet or too cold, or putting a blanket on him and having him sweat under it, which has happened in the past. I pulled my mare out, popped him in her stall, and proceeded to put everyone else out. Understand, I am a firm believer in making life easy for myself, all my horses are trained to voice commands, 'get in your stall', 'out', etc. so I do all this with out a halter or hand on the horses.

All went well until I came to my daughter's mare, Coconut. We have just gone through two months of rehabbing her from a rope burn that got infected. All better now, but while it was open, we kept her in out of the wet.

I opened her door, and said " OK, Coconut." Coconut stood there and looked at me. I Looked at her and spoke louder "OUT, Coconut." She looked at me, and walked across the barn aisle, and into the foaling stall we had used for her rehab, turned around, faced me, then put ner nose down to her feet then looked back at me. I tried a couple more times to get her to come out, then just when I am thinking I will have to get a leadrope, I realized she was waiting for room service!

For the last two months, every time it was raining, she had been put up in the stall for the night. Coconut was very plainly telling me, "I don't go out in the rain at night any more, now where is my hay?" It was great! She was right, for two months, she has been a pampered princess, and she saw no reason for that to stop now. I took her hay to where she waited (she hadn't moved) and left her in.

Coconut resting her head on my husband's shoulder as her feet are done.

Holidays with horses

Having horses during the holidays can be a blessing or a burden. If you are rushing around with family to visit, dinners to cook, in between work and school, then going out to the barn to take care of your horses probably seems a chore.

While I have felt that time crunch, to me, they are more a joy. Being at the barn, listening to them munching is my zen moment, away from it all. Even when it's freezing outside. If there is snow, there is nothing more fun that your horses bounding through the snow to the gate to come in. Hooves make the best crunching sound in snow. The horses are warm, furry, and nose you for treats. Don't tell me they don't know about Christmas, because mine certainly know about candy canes! They will line up for their pieces as soon as they see them, or hear the crinkle of the wrapping.

In years past I have hung stockings of horse cookies and treats, and learned the contortions horses can do to get to them no matter where you hang them. We have had barn parties, gone Christmas Caroling on horseback. Christmas parades are always fun, the one time where you can hang ribbons, bells, wear santa hats and never raise an eyebrow. More is always better for a parade!

One Thanksgiving I was kid free, I went to Philly, and rode in their Thanksgiving Day Parade. A group from my riding club went, drove up the day before, stayed in a Youth Hostel, rode in the park, had a blast! Freezing cold for the parade, but good fun. Last year we went trail riding with friends on Christmas day. Good fun, and we met quite a few other people out riding also. This year we had the farrier on Christmas Eve, so all the horses got a complete grooming, while waiting on their pedicure, and lots of treats. But no time to ride over the holidays.

I always do apples and carrots in their dinner, and either for Christmas or New Years a hot bran mash. The last two years they have gotten their very favorite treat, a hot bran/oatmeal/brown sugar/dried apple and carrot/peppermint candy mash. Oh yeah, that's the good stuff! (yay SmartPak!) I've been tempted to sample it myself, it smells so good.

So I hope you took time to see your horses this holiday. I hope you went down to the barn, and enjoyed the sounds of quiet munching and footsteps. Smelled fresh hay, grain and furry horses. Horses don't have a wish list, color doesn't matter. No worries about batteries, cooking times or setting tables. No matter what you bring, even if it's just your company and some scritching, they will be thrilled to get it.

Welcome to the New Year.

Rescuing a Princess

This weekend I took part in a rescue reminiscent of a fantasy novel. Where the Princess was taken by trickery and held in drudgery. Abused, starved, she no longer looks royal. But some stout lad recognizes there is something special about her, and through adventures, and help from brave companions, she is saved and brought to a place of safety and love.

Last week, a mare was spotted in a kill pen. I won't list any details, because she could have been any breed, anywhere in the USA. By some miracle a rescue group spotted her and asked for information. She was in her teens, in foal, and wonder of wonders, her papers were with her. In the photo it looks like her back has been shaved? Strange, but a rescue list moves into action, appeals go out, and a life chain is formed. Money pours in for her and others. Literally hundreds of people co-ordinate to save these horses. Homes are found, shippers lined up. Volunteers phone each other.

Saturday the mare is picked up by one shipper, brought to a connection point where she is put into a second trailer. By sat night she is in a stall munching hay, and Sunday morning I pick her up and take her to her new home.

This mare was beautiful, had been shown successfully, had produced several foals, had been well cared for and cherished most of her life. But Sunday I picked up a mare that had to be a 1.5 on the scale. I could not only see every bone in her body, even the skin between her ribs was sunken in. What we thought was a shaved back was matted fur lying flat next to her backbone, which stuck up several inches and I could feel every bone of. I don't see how she was walking, I certainly don't see how she could be carrying a foal. But, she walked out of the stall with her head up like the Princess she was. You would have thought she had silk ribbons in her hair, and gold on her halter. She loaded and trailered like a lady, and at her new home walked past lessons, Christmas decorations, and chainsaws without hesitation. We were met by teenager riding students who welcomed her like the returning royalty she was.

Here was a mare that obviously made money for her owners, but not only was she tossed away, they didn't even bother to feed her before they did. Her quality was there to see for someone who knew how to look. Her head was very refined, perfect ears, excellent bone structure (rather easy to see, actually) and 4 of the straightest, cleanest legs I have seen in a long time. Big feet, nice bone, broad chest, I could see what she must have looked like before.

I look forward to visiting her when she is back to her full glory. I also have no doubt she will be back in the show ring sometime too.

Welcome home Princess.

Equine Dentistry

I just had my Equine dentist out to work on our horses. We try to have him out once a year, sometimes twice if we have a new horse who needs work done. I especially was concerned this time for a 6 year old Clyde gelding, who I didn't think was gaining weight like he should. Also I had seen him 'quid' his hay a few times, and it seemed he just swallowed food, with minimal chewing. Now part of this was being a draft..I swear they can just inhale food. But add that to the slow weight gain, and I just felt he needed special attention.

As it turns out, I was right. His teeth were in terrible shape, very sharp, and so grown out of alignment he was having a lot of trouble chewing. He must have been in pain, but never showed any sign. Happily accepted the bit, no trouble in any way, just as we would say in the past, 'unthrifty' or a 'hard keeper.'

It really got me thinking. How often in the past, before Equine Dentistry became more mainstream, did I have horses I considered hard keepers, or difficult to bridle, that were actually in pain from dental issues? I can remember paying so much money for massive amounts of feed, trying supplements, oil, etc to get the weight on. Also the multiple training methods and tricks I used to know on how to bridle a difficult horse. Now I have horses on diets, who lower their heads and open their mouths for the bit.

I remember going to a show clinic about some years ago, where an Equine Dentist came to talk about dental care for horses. Not a person at this clinic had ever had their horse done. No one thought they had to. I will say after his talk, and a demo, most of the people there had their horse looked at. He did a booming business, and sent out a lot of dedicated horse people to spread the word. I have had my horses done regularly ever since.

You would think everyone knows now you have to have dental work done every year. It's in all the magazines, literature, etc. But many people don't even see a human dentist regularly, so it's not as much of a given as you would think.

Every horse I have bought in the last few years, has had terrible dental care, so I know the problem still exists. It's just like regular worming. Yes, it costs money now, but saves it in the long run. Every horse I have is on a diet. They just get a bit of low protein feed and their coat supplement, and hay. Yet I still see people riding horses that are thin, who buy alfalfa hay, and expensive grain and supplements, but won't worm regularly or get the dentist out because it's "too expensive." Here is an eye opener: I go through about 1.5 bags of grain a month per horse. That's say $20 a month/$240 a year. Plus I worm every 8 weeks, $4 each/$24 year (shop online and sales, wormer is cheap)and have the dentist out once a year at $70. So per horse I put out $334 per year for feed, outside hay/grass costs). Now some folks near me worm occasionally, and who knows about the dentist, go through a bag of grain a week, plus supplements. Not even counting supplements, that's $52 a month, $624 a year. Almost double the grain costs, because their horse can't chew properly, and probably had a high parasite load.

My Equine Dentist is knowledgeable, certified, and just the best. My horses love him, and even the 18h draft lowered his head so his teeth could be worked on (I know this was his first time). After I turned the draftie out, he stood at the water tub for 15 minutes, running his tongue in and out in the water, and playing with his new smooth teeth. I have watched horses turn their heads so the dentist can get at teeth that need to be worked on.

On the one hand, I do feel guilty for all the horses in the past I swore at for being such 'hard keepers' or 'difficult to bridle.' I didn't know any better then. But there is no excuse now for a horse to have either issue because of tooth pain.

Put it this way, for those who don't think it's necessary. How well would you eat, if every time you chewed, you cut your own cheek or gums? If every bite caused throbbing pain?

When simple injuries go south

Horses tend to get injured. They scrape themselves, kick each other, trip and step on their own feet, the possibilities are endless. Most of the time, you clean it off, slap some fura-ointment on it, and life goes on.

A few weeks ago my daughter's horse Coconut (buckskin in previous post) got rope burns on both back fetlocks. She lost a little skin, one had a few drops of blood, but nothing really serious. She was walking fine, no issues for 3 days after the ride. But 2 days after the ride it started to rain. While our fields drain very well, we still had mud at the gates. By the 2nd day of rain, I noticed Coconut had stocked up in one ankle. I examined the foot, and she now had bloody scabs, heat and swelling. I figured she had an infection, and we started the regimen of salt water soaks, and keeping her in a dry stall, away from the mud and wet. I washed the leg off daily, but didn't scrub the bloody scab area as I figured that would be very painful for Coconut.

After a couple days of this, she wasn't any worse, but really wasn't getting better. Then one night she couldn't flex or walk on that leg. All my alarm bells went off, and I realized the cold snap we had was masking the growing infection, by keeping the heat and swelling down. I called my vet the next am and trailered her directly to the clinic. My worry was that the infection was going up her leg, or was in the joint capsule itself.

My wonderful vets took me right in, and after a look at the wound, immediately drugged Coconut into oblivion. They clipped the whole area, took a strip of necrosis off (dead tissue) and cleaned the wound up. They wrapped her to the hock, and sent us home with some serious antibiotics and several other meds, and instructions to keep that leg DRY. Two days later they came to my barn for a check up and a bandage change, and pronounced her healing well.

It has now been two weeks since then, fthree weeks since the original injury, and Coconut is still healing. The bandage is off, but she still has to be on stall rest or dry lot. (Much to her disgust) She has a divot now, where the strip of flesh was cut out, and it's still tender and soft. Probably still a few more weeks before she can be turned out or ridden.

So, minor rope burn turns into 6 weeks off and high $ vet bills.

What's wrong with this picture?

Ok, look at the photo above, do you see anything wrong here?
Beautiful fall day, check. Fields and trails to ride, check. Nice smooth MFT to ride, well cared for and looking particularly handsome that day. Safety halter on..wait..is that leadline tied in a knot instead of a quick release???

How about this photo.



We can plainly see the proper quick release knot. Same safety halter on gorgeous buckskin QH. What could be wrong with this photo?

Hands up anyone who spots the potential disaster? Aha! Yes, both horses were tied to the lower rail on a fence with really long leadlines. What is wrong with that you ask? They could easily get their foot over the rope, get tangled and panic. Which did happen to the lovely buckskin mare. We had a broken rail, a lot of scrambling, and fortunately just some rope burns. It could have been far worse.

Lesson learned? Horses should always be tied at least above the level of their chest. If you want your horse to get in some free grazing, walk them around on the leadline. The more significant lesson learned though was how much it hurts to realize you did something that caused your horse pain and distress, which could have had far more serious consequences.

Brain Buckets, why use them?

First, let me say, I too grew up riding horses without a helmet. It wasn't done in the south back in the dark ages. But with age comes wisdom, and I do wear one now. Recently on the MD Horseperson list a member forwarded a story about a tragedy this weekend, where a helmet wasn't worn.

(posted with permission)

Dear RAA Riders, fellow club members and friends,
I am writing this letter to each of you tonight after having witnessed a horrible accident this past weekend. It happened in New York - a weekend "get away" with family reunion and wedding we were attending, but the best thing was we were meeting with friends I've made over the years back where I was raised as a kid. I couldn't wait. We all met at Mendon Ponds, a beautiful park I'm sure, to ride together. We never got to ride. A series of calamities happened that will forever change our lives and snuffed the life of one of our riders. She never got to go home to her son.

One of the horses had a bad time in one of the trailers, so a couple of the other horses were spooked. One of the riders, Patty O'Neal got on her horse to try to settle it down and ride it down a bit before we rode off. She was not wearing a helmet. Another horse, the same one who had problems in the trailer, bucked his rider off and in doing so the saddle slipped, sending the horse flying around the parked vehicles, close to a road and eventually, as the saddle was still hanging under its belly, the horse took off for parts unknown (later he was caught and has some lacerations, but otherwise survived). Patty did not. Somehow, her head was smashed against a low limb on a tree, the next thing we knew, she was lying on the ground. What we thought was her breathing was actually her blood pumping out of her body as her brain was no longer functioning to tell the rest of the body to shut down. We didn't know all that and of course did everything we could, thinking she was still alive. Part of her brain were on the front of her along with a lot of blood.

Why am I sending you this message? Because those of us who were her friends, who were there are still in mourning with this tragedy. Could it have been avoided - we don't know. But what we do know is that a helmet would at least have protected her head and multiple head injury was listed as the cause of death. So, the next time you think that wearing a helmet is not cool or for sissies - try to stop being so selfish about your beauty and think about what an accident like this does to everyone else around you. Thank God she died, as there wasn't much brain left on her left side. Does this sound gruesome? I hope so, because as I'm writing this, I'm crying so hard I can't read what I'm writing. Please, wear a helmet when you ride. The image of Patty lying on the ground with bits of her brain splattered around in a pool of blood is am image that will be with me for years. Please, put on your helmets - think of those who will find you, those you leave behind, your friends and relatives. They care - and maybe you are doing what you want to do, but there are those of us left who need to try to go on with our lives who will forever be left with a bloody, gruesome scene that will never go away.

PLEASE - WEAR A HELMET.

Before you say, 'Oh, well, that could never happen to me.' Lets list some of the other stories, near misses because they WERE wearing a helmet.

I met a family this past summer at a clinic. Just 2 days before her husband and young son were riding and were on the edge of a road on their way home from the ride. The horses were behaving, and they were having a nice ride, but it was dusk and they needed to get home. Around the bend came a car – he saw the husband’s horse, but thought he was alone and ended up not seeing and hitting the boy’s horse – the child went flying one direction the horse the other. The horse was killed on the spot as it rolled over the car. The boy doesn’t remember much about the actual accident after he hit the ground – however he does know the ONLY reason he walked away from this horrible accident was because his Dad made him put his helmet on that day – a practice that was not always followed in this family. They came to visit us at the clinic that day and shared their story at lunch – the boy, still sad about his lost horse, and they brought the shattered helmet with them. Had that boy not been wearing his helmet this 8yo child would be dead or seriously brain damaged. The horse and rider did nothing wrong other than being out a little too late on their ride home, the horse never would have done anything to hurt that child – but circumstances are NOT always under your control and NEVER be lulled into the thought that you are not going to come off of your horse, you can’t control everything.

My daughter was in an accident this June. My daughter is young--but a very good rider. She steeplechase races, foxhunts, events and plays polocrosse. She is on a horse or pony every day unless sick or weather prohibits it. She also rides MANY different horses--so she is young but has a lot of experience under her belt.

I have always provided safe horses for her--and we do not take these horses for granted. We know they are a beast w/a brain of their own...but her beloved pony had a trip while she was galloping on the polox field. She is fully aware of how to stay balanced at a gallop and knows how to keep the horse/pony off their forehand. The pony hit a small dip in the ground...could NOT regain his footing and he fell.

While I think he and her fell together and he rolled over her due to the momentum of the fall--actually the video shows her being pitched (emergency dismount at its finest) forward. The pony then proceeded to fall and the forward momentum carried him to land on my 77 lb daughter. You could see the panic in his eyes as he knew that he landed on her...and he proceeded to lay there still and get off her gently. He actually had to flip back over off her and he was going about it very calm and slow. It was not until helpful people came over and starting tugging at him that he ended up having to thrash around in which he kept hitting my daughter in the head with his hoof. I yelled at them to leave him alone and once they did he got up off her w/o hitting her again.

While I personally know that I witnessed a miracle that day--and it was only by the grace of God that my daughter walked away from that accident 36 hours later--I know that we gave that miracle a bit of help. That helmet saved her life and her quality of life. It was to date the most expensive helmet I had ever bought (It was a Australian helmet that was designed for polocrosse) but it exceeds our safety standards.

It was an awful feeling watching your little one be on the ground w/o movement--but I know that the crowd around us was in a great state of panic. It would have been a terrible day for all that was there if she had not had her helmet on--and I know how I felt--and I would not wish those feelings on anyone.

I never wore a helmet, until I moved to Maryland in 88. All the farms required them, so I bought one. I was spotty on wearing it, except on trails (spiders!). One time I was riding my calm, dead broke horse with a group. We were cantering across a fallow field that was partially cut. There were lines of weeds about 2 feet high, and as we cantered my horse decided to jump the weeds. I thought this was great fun until just as she started to jump one, she stumbled. As I was already in 2 point (yes, too early!) I fell on her neck a bit. She then lurched, and stumbled again. I rolled down her neck, and fell at her feet. She couldn't stop, and ran over me, one hoof coming down on my head squarely, cracking my helmet, and taking a chunk out of my cheek. She weighted 1200 pounds, and had shoes on. Through no bad behavior, just simple accident, she would have crushed my skull if I hadn't been wearing my helmet.
I saved that helmet for a long time, as an example.

This of course doesn't even bring into horses getting stung by bees on a trail, stepping in holes, getting caught up in briers, none of which are the horses fault. So you can have a 4 legged saint, and still get hurt.

Of course you don’t have to be ON the horse to be seriously injured. About 10 years ago at a Cherokee Raiders show I was involved with helping out at a scene where the lady must have been kicked or slammed into the trailer by her horse – no one saw the accident, we all rushed over to help when the lady was found unconscious on the ground. The horse was tied to the trailer and not tacked up – so it’s clear she wasn’t riding. When she came to, she was combative and incoherent – classic signs of a brain injury. She was flown to shock-trauma and although she did survive from what I’ve heard she never made a full recovery, or if she did, it was long after I stopped hearing stories about the incident.

And people just don't think about the consequences of a brain injury. You can recover from broken bones, etc. Even if you lose a bit of mobility, it's still nothing compared to losing memories, or having your whole personality change because of a brain injury. You never completely recover because you can't regrow brain cells. gone is gone!

A good friend of mine had a gelding that her husband would often ride as well. One day he rode, and tied him to a pasture fence to untack him. Another horse came up, and her gelding reared up, breaking the board he was tied to. The board hit her husband in the head (although he rode in a helmet, he had taken it off already), then her gelding came down on top of her husband with shod front feet. (The details were fuzzy because he doesn't have good recollection now of what happened) He put the horse away, then went to the barn owners house to ask for help. He was incoherent, and had basically a hole in his skull where blood etc was gushing out. They air lifted him to shock trauma, after a lot of surgery, and time in the hospital, he recovered, but he was never the same guy again.

We joke and call it the 'brain bucket' but it makes a real difference if something bad happens.

A helmet should be as much a part of your riding equipment as your saddle and bridle. Better to have helmet hair, and be here tomorrow.

Equestrian roadside assistance

I'm not talking about one of the companies who do this for a fee, like US Rider. (Great company, by the way). I am speaking of the unwritten law in the horse community that we all seem to follow.

Traveling through the hinterlands of PA recently on our way to pick up a couple of horses, we broke down with a busted hose. We were on the side of the road next to a convenience store, when a smiling lady pulled up in a pick up truck, and asked if we needed help. She explained she also had horses, and a trailer if we needed to unload and put them somewhere while we repaired the truck.

It's a funny thing, once you have horses, if you see someone with a horse trailer, on the side of the road or in an accident, you have to stop. I have done this many times, a horse trailer pulled over on the hwy, stopping to see if they needed help. In the news, these trailer accidents where horses are involved, horse people seem to appear out of nowhere to assist with the horses.

Recently in Calgary Canada, a trailer bound for a feedlot overturned, and staff from Spruce Meadows came over to help. Here are people who daily handle 100k horses, coming out to help auction horses who went for 50 cents a pound. But they were still horses, and they needed help. That's all that mattered.

It's one thing that gives me hope for the horse community. While we may argue and sling mud at each other, malign each others chosen riding discipline and techniques, when it comes down to horses scattered across the hwy, we are of the same mind.

See you guys out on the road, I've got your back.

'The Perils of Pauline' aka: horse ownership

On one of my favorite blogs there is a discussion of how horses can hurt themselves (see whole discussion here) I was going to post my experiences, but I realized that would be pages of stories! So here they are:

The first horse I owned was a black TWH mare, Senator's Rebel Lady (Neysa). I had owned her a year when some kids went into her pasture, and started shooting horses with BB guns. Of course they ran through a barb wire fence, of course my horse was leading the way. The damage? Splints in both fronts from running on the road, but the worst was the loss of pretty much her entire top left leg muscle (can't remember now what it was called)ripped out by the barb wire fence. The vet actually told me to put her down, because she would never be ridable, but I refused. The gaping hole in her shoulder eventually filled in, and all that was left was a small scar and the little flip to her gait with that leg. She developed new muscle, and learned a way to use her leg around her disability.

Same mare, years later on a trail ride, we were riding up the power lines, and there was an old fence. Walking the in tall grass next to the fence, she suddenly stopped, and refused to move. One of the other riders hopped off to come look, and both front feet were tangled in wire. She stood there, until someone lifted each foot out of the wire, then we went on our way. Notice, neither of these were HER fault!

Her daughter, Shadow (another black TWH), whom I still have, had her own collection of incidents. The first time I rode her, I didn't have a girth that really fit, but as long as I kept my balance, I was fine. So we head out, with a friend ponying her, leadline hooked to a halter under her bridle, me on her back. She was doing great, when suddenly she put on the brakes. I look down, and my friend had let the leadline sag enough so it was now tangled in her front feet. I couldn't get down, the saddle would slip. My friend couldn't mount with out help. So I leaned forward, unhooked the leadline from the halter, unwound the line from around her legs, then clipped it back and on we went. In all of this she was perfectly calm, waiting for me to fix it for her. Another time she got tangled up, we had moved to a new place with high tensile fencing. The charge box was broken, which Shadow figured out pretty quick. She was grazing over the fence, pushing on it when she stepped through and caught her hoof and shoe on the fence. She stood there patiently for who knows how long until the barn owner came home, saw her there, and untangled her foot. The barn owner, who hadn't even met Shadow yet said she was amazed. Shadow just stood there, looking at her, saying 'It's about time to came and helped me.' Then she just went back to grazing. (Charge box was fixed the next day, LOL)

Lets see, falling into rivers. I was on a trail ride with Shadow and we came to a water crossing. None of the other horses would cross. The leader of the ride assured me it was a safe crossing, so I led the way on Shadow. We got close to the other back, and Shadow slipped in to a hole. I rolled off onto the bank, and Shadow (who is 16 hands) had her front legs folded under her on the bank, and she hung straight down into the hole. The hole was so deep, her back legs didn't touch the bottom. She couldn't climb up on the bank, so we eventually got a bunch of riders to help, and grabbed her front legs and rolled her over and out of the hole. She was fine, I had a wet seat for the ride home. She stayed calm all though this, just waiting on us to figure it out and save her.

Next time it was worse. We were trail riding after a fall storm The trails were wet, bridges were slippery with wet leaves. My friend crossed a bridge made of I-beams with railroad ties. Very sturdy, used for cars. Her little Arab trotted across, but when Shadow followed, one of the rail road ties was rotted, and both her back legs fell through. I rolled off, and when I saw what had happened, I yelled "Whoa Shadow!" and she stopped scrambling and was still. There we were, two women miles from anyone, without even a leadline to help. My friend tied her Arab to a tree (he was a saint through the whole thing, just stood and watched us) and as she was taller, she went under the bridge to see if she could push her feet back up. They were in the gap just past the fetlock.We got one foot up, braced the other, and I asked Shadow to get up. She scrambled, got up, but both back legs slipped again, and went in the hole even further this time. Now Shadow was lying on her belly, both back legs in the gap up to her hip, with one stifle caught on the bridge. I pushed on her neck and said 'lay down.' This isn't something I have ever asked Shadow to do, but she did, groaning as she did. I realized she was groaning because her front left leg was curled up to the side, so I pulled both front legs out straight. I took the reins off her bridle, and as my friend pushed her back legs back up the gap I looped the reins around them and pulled. Once we had them out, I put all my weight on pulling the reins around her back feet, and told Shadow to get up. She got up, and with me bracing her back legs was able to get away from the gap in the bridge. It was a long walk back to the trailer. She tore ligaments in her hip, and was off for a year, but I still ride her today. She's just a bit stiffer on that lead at the canter.

I have had a few trailering incidents, but the best was a young QH gelding I trailered for student of mine. First they decided to help me out by loading him into the trailer before I got to the barn. Into a trailer.... parked in a field... not hitched to anything and right next to the pasture where all the horses were out. I went out there, no horse in the trailer. They had tied him to the chest bar ring, instead of the tie ring above the door. He had pulled up, realized he was loose, turned around in the 2 horse straight load and jumped out the back. He was calmly grazing on the other side of the fence from his buddies. I then properly hitched up the trailer, we loaded him, being sure to tie him correctly this time. I was about to pull out of the driveway when I looked in the mirror, and saw the gelding's face was pushed up against the window of the trailer. Thinking he had knocked the breast bar loose again, I stopped and went back. No, this time he had jumped the breast bar, and was hanging on it from his hips (was only 14.1) with his face smashed into the front of the trailer. As the owners ran around in circles screaming their horse was going to die, I got a hammer and screw driver, went under the horse's dangling back legs, and took the breast bar pins out. I then pulled his tail until the bar came off. I slid the bar out, closed the trailer and got on the road before he did anything else stupid. Yes, he was a palomino, and so were his owners. :-D

I've had two incidents with horses getting their feet caught in a hay net in the trailer. Both times they were tied short, the net was way above their chest, they had to reach up to get hay. Still don't know how they did it. They both managed to trailer to our destination on 3 legs without problem.

I've only had one Stallion incident, but it was funny in retrospect. I was boarding a supposed Arab gelding. (who it turns out was a cryptorchid) He was in a stall, as he was new, my mares were out. I got down to the barn in the am to find my spotless cement barn aisle looking like the aftermath of a teenager party. Brushes and boxes everywhere, coated in manure (the mares had wiggled the door open and came in) and the gelding/stallion hanging off his stall door looking very miserable. He was 15 hands, but the stalls were lower than the aisle, so his back legs were danging. He was very sweet, just kept looking at me with pleading eyes as I took his stall door off the hinges. Once I had the bolts out, I grabbed his halter and pulled. The door fell down, and almost immediately he peed for about 5 minutes with a sigh of relief. Seems his 'parts' had been pinched on the door all night. He was pretty uninterested in the hussy mares for a while after that.

My daughter was untacking her first horse after a ride, and as she was in the pasture, just turned her buckskin Paint Willow loose. She went in the tack/feed room with her brush box, halter and lead, and turned around to find Willow calmly standing right behind her. She thought my daughter still had her on the leadline, and followed her through the small doorway and into the room. We had the center of the room filled with four flats of hay, so Willow was standing curled around the corner of the hay, looking at my daughter rather puzzled. She then proceeded to calmly eat hay until we backed her around the corner and out. No damage except for my daughter's nerves, LOL!

This is just a sampling, horses always manage to hurt themselves, no matter what you do.