Digby and his herd after feeding this afternoon... :) They were wild for a minute before I started filming so this is the tail end! He looks pretty darn sound doesn't he! Let me know if the video doesn't work. Digby is the bay in the blue blanket, for the record.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
USEF Small Hunter Division
Read the article here.
I'm super excited to hear that there is going to be a Small Hunter division again! While Digby can no longer jump so he's not too interested in it, I'm thrilled! The article goes on to say that it's a 3' division, open to juniors, ammies and professionals. The horses allowed to compete with be between 14.2hh and 15.2 1/2hh. I think it's wonderful that these "honys" (like Digby) who were too small to do the bigger shows but aren't ponies now have their own division.
Personally, I have little to no desire to compete in horses that are 16.2 hands + just to be competitive. I'm 5'1" and pretty tiny. I look RIDICULOUS on a 16.2 horse. I look a bit silly on a 16 hand horse if they're built like a tank. While I'm fantastic for selling horses because I make everything look huge, it's just that I... make everything look huge. I'm much more suited for the 14.2-15.2 height range. I'm more comfortable on horses this size, I look better on them and they're usually a little bit more in my price range since there's a lot of people who can't ride them.
I'm very excited and hope that this division does well in the shows! :) Is anyone planning on showing in this division? Or know anyone who will?
I'm super excited to hear that there is going to be a Small Hunter division again! While Digby can no longer jump so he's not too interested in it, I'm thrilled! The article goes on to say that it's a 3' division, open to juniors, ammies and professionals. The horses allowed to compete with be between 14.2hh and 15.2 1/2hh. I think it's wonderful that these "honys" (like Digby) who were too small to do the bigger shows but aren't ponies now have their own division.
Personally, I have little to no desire to compete in horses that are 16.2 hands + just to be competitive. I'm 5'1" and pretty tiny. I look RIDICULOUS on a 16.2 horse. I look a bit silly on a 16 hand horse if they're built like a tank. While I'm fantastic for selling horses because I make everything look huge, it's just that I... make everything look huge. I'm much more suited for the 14.2-15.2 height range. I'm more comfortable on horses this size, I look better on them and they're usually a little bit more in my price range since there's a lot of people who can't ride them.
I'm very excited and hope that this division does well in the shows! :) Is anyone planning on showing in this division? Or know anyone who will?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Slow updates...
Not much to say! I had a very busy weekend at work, as well as some "normal life" stuff, so I haven't been doing much with Digby. I just curry him off and pick out his feet and let him be a horse. I've asked him to stand still, say yes and say no a couple of times just to do something but otherwise we've had a lazy weekend.
We're in the slow process of switching him over to his spring feed. I'm feeding 3/4 senior feed and 1/4 ration balancer. It's been so warm that I'm doing this a little sooner than I'd like to of but he's at the perfect weight now so probably by mid March he'll be on just ration balancer. We'll see how it goes!
The current barn leasee/manager is staying until April! So I think I will still move him but not till the beginning of April. This makes me a feel a little better and have some time to think and analyze the situation. Yay!
We're in the slow process of switching him over to his spring feed. I'm feeding 3/4 senior feed and 1/4 ration balancer. It's been so warm that I'm doing this a little sooner than I'd like to of but he's at the perfect weight now so probably by mid March he'll be on just ration balancer. We'll see how it goes!
The current barn leasee/manager is staying until April! So I think I will still move him but not till the beginning of April. This makes me a feel a little better and have some time to think and analyze the situation. Yay!
Digby and the herd grazing last week.
Friday, February 10, 2012
TGIF!
Here's a funny video of one of our Standardbred weanlings... :) He's been in for a while for a really bad abscess. He actually left to go back out with his group of weanling friends the day after this so it wasn't his first time out. He's just that cute.
Annddd... as for videos that aren't mine. Check out this video! HOW CUTE!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Electrolytes: the good, the bad and the... ulcers?
Let me start this post off with a big old "I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks!"
Digby is not a big water drinker. I currently supplement him with Apple-A-Day during the cold winter months and during the hot summer months. If he's at a facility that gives beet pulp during the winter, I don't give them because I feel he's doing ok water wise but I'll still give them during the summer. If it goes below 25 degrees, he gets a 1 oz dose of electrolytes in the AM. If the temperature varies greatly, I give him a 1/2 oz dose. In the summer when it's super hot and humid, he gets between 1 oz and 1 1/2 oz. I've tried SmartLytes and while he gobbled it down with no problem, he seemed to sweat more and drink more with Apple-A-Day. I won't use Stress Dex or AccuLytes because of all the sugars and filler in them. It seems to work for him. In the winter, he drinks enough that I don't worry about colic and in the summer months, he sweats.
I've always been under the impression that electrolyte supplements are a bit useless but no harm done unless you give too much. It makes me feel better. He definitely drinks more. Win win. According to some research (thanks to whoever posted about this the on COTH forums!) I didn't know about, electrolyte supplementing can cause ulcers. Oh goodness. Didn't I just discuss how I didn't want to give NSAIDs because I was worried about ulcers? Digby is a worrier by nature and I want to do everything possible to not give him ulcers if he doesn't have them already. I also read that little to no drinking can be a sign of ulcers. I think I knew this already and forgot... Oops.
He has a Himalayan salt lick in his stall that he does regularly lick. I was thinking of offering him free choice salt (either straight table salt or a mixture of half lite/half table salt) in a small bucket as well to help. Any ideas?
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Vet update!
The vet (finally) made it out today to look at Mr Dig My Size. Digby got a couple shots. The vet and I got to discuss lots of good topics. Overall, she's pretty pleased with how he looks. He's at a good weight and seems happy. I'm still supposed to give him off until May. We're going to reevaluate in May if she hasn't come out for spring shots yet.
When he goes back into work, we're going to carefully evaluate the following things:
When he goes back into work, we're going to carefully evaluate the following things:
- Weight
- Footing
- Shoeing
- Medication
Weight being that he typically gets plump during the spring, summer and fall. This is highly frowned upon this year. He needs to be a BCS of 5 if not slightly lower (think 4.75 haha). We need to carefully watch what types of footing he's on and watch what he does best on. We're going to hopefully leave him barefoot but if he doesn't come back into work well, we're going to shoe him like a navicular horse including shoes (perhaps a type of bar shoe that we didn't try) and wedges. I'm supposed to leave him on his hoof supplement and possibly research one for tendon/ligament injuries if I find the money to do so. As for medication, he's currently not on bute or Isox or anything. We can start playing with them if nothing else works. I don't want to keep my horse on bute every day but if it means riding vs no riding, I might have to.
So, overall, she was happy with how he's doing. Now... we wait.
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