Biosecurity

Is a very scary word!  I've been thinking a lot about biosecurity lately, as we've had several horses with fevers in the past week.

Here is what happened:  Sunday morning, my husband came in from feeding breakfast to the horses (bless him) and he said "Goshen doesn't look good".  Now, when the husband notices that a horse is ADR (ain't doing right), you have to think the worst.  My hubby is a great guy, helps out tons, humors me and shoves me out riding, but a horseperson he is not.  So, out to the barn I go, hoping it's nothing.  Ha!  As advertised, Goshen, who is a 4 year old colt, is not feeling well.  He's not eating, is standing in the corner and isn't interested in much of anything.  So, I listen for gut sounds (next to none), take his heartrate (around 80) and his temp (101.5).  Immediately, I suspect colic.  There is plenty of poop in his paddock, but the lack of gut sounds points directly that way.  So, I give him a dose of Banamine and call the vet.  Of course, it's Sunday, so emergency fees apply!

The vet calls me back, gets the info and asks if I want to wait and see.  By now it's around 10ish and Larry and I have tickets for a hockey game that evening.  So no, I want to get him looked at and know what we're dealing with, so I can go enjoy my evening.  Vet comes out, does a rectal, listens, pokes and prods and decides it's not really a colic.  There's been this bug going around...turns out that there has been something (no one is really sure what it is) going through local barns.  The vets don't know exactly what it is, except horses spike a fever (often quite high) for around 48 hours and show some minor colic symptoms.  So far, the diagnosis is to treat the symptoms, so Banamine to bring down the fever and get them eating and drinking.  So, good news is that it's not colic, bad news is that this has proven to be VERY contagious.  Great.  Into a quarantine stall he goes and I head to Pilchuck Vet Hospital to pick up more Banamine, gowns, gloves and booties.  I worked at Pilchuck for about a year, so I know how an Iso (Isolation) stall is set up.  They also gave me a nice laminated poster that I put on the tack room door.

 

 

I'm taking Goshen's temp twice a day and giving Banamine twice a day.  He's eating and drinking reasonably well - not great, but enough.  Then, Reggie starts looking unhappy.  Ack!  I take his temp and even though he looks fairly bright and alert and is eating and drinking, it's 105.5.  I don't believe it, so I take it again.  106!  I call the vet, who says this is what they've been seeing (Goshen only got to 103.5 that I know of).  Banamine and out to retake that temp 2 hours later.  At that point, it's down to 102.5, so that is a huge relief.  So, now I have 2 in quarantine.  Both have been doing well and their temps are normal after 48 hours, but this morning (Thursday), Ari is looking off.  104.5.  Now there are 3 in quarantine.  Ari seems to think it's kind of a vacation.  Free choice hay, lots of bedding, some alfalfa, small grain meals every few hours, what's not to like?  So far, no one else has been droopy and fingers crossed, we isolated them early enough.  The big question is the pregnant mares and my stallion.  High fevers can cause abortion and kill sperm.  So, I'm not going near the girls or Salam, just in case.  We don't know how it spreads, but I'm trying to take zero chances.  We had planned on going out on the trails this week, but until everyone is clear I don't want to potentially infect anyone else's horses.  We're pretty much on lockdown.  And, to make matters just a little more fun, I ended up with a fever this week too!  I KNOW where that one came from though (thanks kids).  The worst part of the whole thing (besides the expense) is that the weather has been fantastic! 

 

I suspect by tomorrow both Goshen and Reggie are going to be wondering why they're in a stall 24 hours a day.  Neither are used to this, as everyone gets lots of turnout.  But, better that they're on the road to recovery.  Fingers crossed that Ari is the last one and no one else comes down with it.

 



The 'Magic Number'

That old song, "One" by Three Dog Night, was going through my head yesterday.  I was riding Galen at Lord Hill by myself, so I needed something to keep myself amused.  I've been trying all sorts of different strategies to stay in the saddle longer (my ankle is still not where I think it should be).  I'm trying various riding strategies; doing more sitting trot (less ankle motion, but a slower overall speed), more leg contact during posting so there is less ankle flexion (thin thighs in 30 days!), more walking (slow speed again) and probably once I start doing over 2 hours, I'll have to get off and walk several times to give my ankle a break (have to get back on though, lol).

So, these are all helping some, but I'm still quite lame when I get back to the trailer.  It does work out reasonably soon, so I'm hopeful.

So, I decided that strategies aren't enough.  I've started experimenting with different drug regimes.  (cue the sinister music).  I've tried preloading my usual 3 Advil.  Not enough.  So, I tried 4.  I've never taken that many Advil at once, but I decided to try.  Not bad.  Hence the song.

Of course, I changed the lyrics a bit:

The original:
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one

No is the saddest experience you'll ever know
Yes, it's the saddest experience you'll ever know
`Cause one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
One is the loneliest number, worse than two


I couldn't remember more than a line or two, so I made up a much happier song.

Four is the magical number that lets me ride.
Four is the magical number that keeps my smile wide.
Four is the magical number, Could Five be a magical number?

And on and on.  Galen provided the drumbeat with his hooves and seemed to enjoy my singing.  Good thing he's not very critical.

Of course, being a person that tends to think that if 4 is good, wouldn't 5 be better, I am going to have to be careful.  Then, I think, wait a minute, don't I still have some oxycodone left over from the surgery?  Ack.  Slippery slope.  I guess I'll keep trying different strategies and try to restrain myself from over medication.

I'm Going to Turkmenistan!

Yes, that is correct, Turkmenistan!  I bought my tickets yesterday with my friend Jas. 

This is for the 'IV International Akhalteke horses Association meeting and celebrations devoted to the Holiday of the Turkmen racer which we will host in Ashgabat 24-27 April, 2014'

This has been something I've wanted to go to from the start, but it looks like this year I'll finally get there.

Jas and I will meet Amrita Ibold and Jenny Rice in Frankfurt and continue on to Ashgabat with them.

I've read the reports from other people that have gone, but this year I will finally be able to write my own report.  Woo hoo!

Now, back to work...

PNER Convention, January 24, 25, 36, 2014

Ride season is off to a great start!  Monica and I headed down to the Portland Airport Sheraton last weekend, where the 2014 PNER Convention was being held.  We knew there was a good line-up of speakers, lots of vendors, the used tack sale and of course, the Awards Banquet on Saturday night.

We went down early Friday morning because Monica and Aarene Storms were sharing a vendor table and Monica wanted to get set up and start selling.  I think we were there and pretty much set up by noon.  Once I had helped her get most of her stuff in, I trotted off to check out the vendors and the used tack sale and to buy my raffle tickets.  Last year I made out like a bandit at the raffle and I was hoping to repeat my feat.  I brought a bunch of stuff for the used tack sale, both mine and my friend Cindy's.  I do have to applaud the people that organize and run the tack sale - it was overflowing with great stuff in a very small space.  I found a few 'must have and can afford' items and immediately bought them.  No waiting around or someone else will get the great deals!

I headed over to the raffle booth and bought lots of tickets, including 4 for the portable corral raffle (those were $5 each, the regular raffle being a $1 per ticket).  We had also brought a bunch of books to the Junior's Used Book Sale (along with every other person at the convention, it appeared), so I put them out too.  I did a quick look at the great stuff in the vendor area - everything from saddles to clothes to skin care products.  I then gave Monica a break so she could go check out the tack sale and vendors and sold a few Endurance 101 books and some of Monica's helmet charms.

 

Monica Bretherton photo

 

 

I learned a bit about Ride and Tie for a student.

 

Monica Bretherton photo

 

I'm not sure I could do Ride and Tie, although the nice people in the booth were very encouraging.  My running skills are very outdated (although they said some people power walk), but who knows.  I did go  from 'NEVER' to 'hmmm'.  All you can ask!

 

 

I got to chat with several people I hadn't seen in a while and got to meet a bunch of the 'Green Beans' as some of the newbies have taken to calling themselves.  In fact, something I really enjoyed about this Convention was the fact that there was so much aimed at newcomers to the sport.  I went to several of the presentations meant for newbies and even though I've been competing (lightly) for 10 years, I learned something new in each one.  There were some excellent questions.  It also made me think about the newbies that I'm helping along and gave me some good ideas.  We'll see if they agree later on...

 

Monica and I ended our Friday at dinner with a bunch of friends, both old and new and headed to bed early.

 

Saturday began with a good breakfast and then we went to the Endurance 101 talk, given by Aarene Storms.  There was a very good turnout of newbies and also non-newbies.  I really enjoyed her talk (and she asked ME to introduce her!).  We had to break before we really wanted to (tons of great questions, just not enough time) because next up was the General Meeting.  It seemed to be well attended and there was quite a bit of discussion, mostly polite, on quite a few issues.  The big one was the whole 'Should AERC be part of FEI endurance or not' discussion, that has been getting lots of attention.  What I found very interesting was that the whole debate started with the idea of distancing the AERC from FEI, up to the point of no longer participating.  After much discussion, much of it very, very good and well thought out, we voted for a motion to continue being part of FEI endurance.  It really was fascinating to see people change their minds, after they had heard all sides of the story.  Our FEI riders really had some excellent points and were able to get them across. 

 

 

After that meeting, I went to the talk given by Dr. Jen on lameness.  It was great, especially the videos she showed.  I think we all had a new appreciation for the hard work our endurance vets do at every ride.  Then I stayed for most of Dr. Vanwhal's (I think I have that right) talk on the hoof.  There were some really great slides.  Then I had to go get whatever hadn't sold from the used tack sale and check out the raffle table again.  I had a modest haul this year, I guess I used up my luck last year.  But wait...

 

 

We then all went and got prettied up, which only took Monica and I about 10 minutes.  We all headed down to the cocktail hour and then to dinner and the awards.

 

 

The Fish Creek Gang has a tradition of wearing prom dresses (often from a thrift store) to this, so as you might imagine, we were pretty, um, obvious?  There was a range of clothing from jeans to our finery, with every gradation in between.  Here is a photo from Friday night when we were figuring out our finery.

 

 

A few of the Fish Creek Gang/Pirates getting ready for our big party on Saturday.  Monica Bretherton photo.

 

We looked pretty much the same on Saturday, with perhaps a few dress changes.  We had our dinner and then the awards started.  In between awards, they gave out ride entries (with unwon raffle tickets).  I won an entry to Seneca Stampede.  I've never been there, so it sounds like a great time to go try it out.  There was a nice slideshow to go along with the awards and then towards the end, they did the drawing for the Hold My Horses portable corral.  We have two of them, but I had bought 4 tickets total, cause you can ALWAYS use more, especially as I'll be taking along some newbies this year.  And guess what?  My luck changed and I WON IT!  Whoo hoo!  I know Carlene took a photo of me fondling it, but I can't find it right now.  So, just imagine a big grin and me holding the corral rather possessively. 

 

After that, we partied for a while, got our dancing shoes on (or off in my case) and had a great time.  Monica and I didn't stay up terribly late and Sky Evans was sharing our room that night.  So, we had a 'girl's slumber party' and got to know Sky a bit better.  Monica knew her, but I had never met her.  We had a nice chat. 

 

Next day, Monica and I went to the New Board meeting and then headed home around 11 or so, after loading my corral into Monica's van (good planning there!).  All in all, a very good weekend!

 





Uncle Galen does his job

Yesterday, Monica and I took Galen and the young mare Mahri to the Redmond Watershed.  Mahri was foaled here at Cascade Gold and is the last of a line of wonderful siblings.  She's still quite green and this was her 4th total trail ride (maybe 5th?).  Anyway, she's still quite green.

Galen has really taken being "Uncle Galen" to heart.  He's great at leading the way on the trails, matching his pace to his charge behind and keeping an eye on whoever it is.  It's really kind of sweet how he keeps turning his head just enough to check on the horse behind.  He will even stop and wait if we get too far ahead.

His general unflappedness really helps those youngsters (and oldsters just starting their trail experiences) be calm. 

Mahri is pretty unflappable herself so far.  She's faced bicycles, strollers, dogs, all sorts of scary things on the trail with nary a spook.  She can be a little lazy, but in my book, a little lazy is WAY better than turn and leave at a high rate of speed.  As her fitness progresses, I'm sure her lazy will go away.

So, yesterday we took advantage of perfect weather (sunshine and 45 degrees on January 21st!), to go for a ride.

Mahri led a little bit and we also worked on her keeping her pace steady.  We had several photo ops where both horses got to practice their tripod stance.

                                                                Dueling cameras

Then, as we weren't out all that long (my ankle is still a problem, whine), we went over a bridge and then let Mahri go back and forth all by herself.  She studied the problem and then did a great job.  Of course, there was a little bit of help from Monica!

 

Mahri is really coming along and is for sale - if you're interested in a smooth, easy going not terribly tall horse who, while green, is taking everything in stride with great humor, she might be 'the one'.

Farmer Cathy

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunshiney day here in the often damp Pacific NW.  My lesson cancelled, so I could have gone riding.  But, seeing how nice the weather was and knowing that the growing season will be starting soon, I decided to be a good farm owner and do tractor work.

We compost all our stall leavings and paddock pickings and that turns into lovely, black, crumbly compost.  But, it doesn't do all that much good piled up in the manure pile.

So, my trusty Kubota and I spent 4 or 5 hours moving dirt around. 

This doesn't really give you the idea of how lovely and black the compost is.  This is one of our grass paddocks, that does double duty as an outdoor arena.  We bought the property back in 2003? I think, and at that time it was scrub alder with hardly any grass.  Years of adding compost, pulling alders, fertilizing and yes, outright coddling, have produced a lovely, springy grass paddock that can withstand a lot of traffic.

For those of you on the west (or wet) side of the Cascades, you can appreciate what keeping grass paddocks take.  If you turn horses out on them year round, they end up being dirt and mud paddocks.  But, on the other hand, when the grass is growing, it really, really grows.  I'm usually out there mowing 2 or 3 times a week, even with horses on it daily during the spring and summer.  In the winter though, they just look at it longingly.

Here is another photo of my compost spreading.  I tried to get as even coverage as possible, but we'll see how it works out in a few weeks when the grass starts growing.

Northwest Search and Rescue Trail Challenge, January 11, 2014

Wet and wild pretty much describes it!

Me, Monica, Julie and Keiko headed out to the first ever (I'm pretty sure) Trail Challenge at Lord Hill in Snohomish.  We knew there would be 6 obstacles over 6 miles, which we could do at any one of three levels, easy, medium or difficult.

After driving up the VERY STEEP HILL to the Quarry, 4 wheel drive recommended, Monica and I signed up.  Julie and Keiko had been responsible and signed up early.  We ended up with start times of around 11:30.

It was pretty soggy to begin with, mud everywhere, but reasonably warm (45 degrees probably) and we had lots of wet weather gear on.  Keiko on Cady and Monica on Mahri headed out first.  This was Mahri's 3rd ever trail ride, so Monica was riding as a 'companion' horse, there for the adventure, not to do the obstacles.  About 10 minutes later, Julie on Andy and Galen and I headed out.  Galen and I ride at Lord Hill quite a bit, so he knew where he was going, except the first obstacle was on a trail I'd never been down (that was kind of neat, finding a new trail).  He was SURE we were going the wrong way, so it took a bit to get over the first obstacle, which was a bridge.  But, we did it and headed up the hill.  There was some very tricky footing that looked like someone had slid off the side of the trail not to far along.  We kept to the other side of the trail and got to the next obstacle.  By now it was raining pretty hard, but we were cheerful.  Galen and I did the obstacle as a 'easy', where we had to open a rope gate and hang it on a different tree.  He was a bit puzzled, but did it.  Andy on the other hand, was sure that rope was an electric fence and horses don't go near electric fences.  So, Julie gave it a pass and we headed on.  By now it was raining even harder and as we trotted (to keep warm) up the trail, it began to thunder and lightning, almost together.  As part of the trail is in the open, by the time we got to the next obstacle, they had called the ride.  Just too dangerous with the thunder, lightning, whipping winds and heavy rain.  Of course, at this point, everyone was out on the trail!  So, we turned around and headed for the trailers in the shortest distance.  This is where knowing the trails helped.  A few people that had been in front of us seemed to disappear...they must have taken a different trail.  The wind was making the trees sway and groan, the rain was soaking us and the thunder and lightning happily slowed down a bit.  The horses were very ready to head back to the trailers, as they were soaked too. 

Julie and I were wringing out our gloves and comparing notes on where water was dripping down our bodies (I had water running down the backs of my legs under my half chaps and down the back of my neck).  Julie found out that her coat wasn't waterproof at all.

We got through some tricky footing (downed trees had necessitated an off road trail that turned into knee deep muck) and finally made it back to the trailer.  We untacked the horses, put coolers on them and loaded them in.  Of course, at this point, the sun came out and the wind and wild weather stopped. 

Monica and Keiko were still out on the trail - they had gotten further than us before it was called, so ended up doing the entire ride.  By the time they came in, Julie was in dry clothes, both of us had had some hot beverages.  I got a few photos of Monica and Keiko coming back into the camp.

                                                           Monica in red and Keiko in blue

They both had big grins on their faces.  Cady had done her usual good job and Mahri was pronounced "fantastic".  For a young lady on her third ever trail ride, Monica reported that she took everything in stride, never lost her cool, did everything that was asked of her and was cheerful the entire time.  It sounds like Mahri has a future as a competitive trail or endurance horse!  She is for sale.

After Keiko and Monica took care of their horses, they wrung out their wet clothes and we headed home.  I did make one wrong turn that meant I had to back the rig up about 300 feet, which I called my last 'trail challenge'.  But, we dropped off Keiko and Cady and headed back to Cascade Gold, where all the horses got warm blankets and lots of hay, before the humans got to go inside and get dry.

We all had a pretty good time considering the weather challenges, although if we knew how nasty it would get, well, we didn't.  It was pronounced an 'adventure' and we sure got some good stories out of it.