WordPlay

By Patty Wilber

Longshot was born in  September 2010, and he had a contracted tendon (see last week’s post, The Longshot Update for more info.)

Splint #1, 3 days old, September, 2010

He recovered and went home.

Longshot at home with his mom, Dec. 2010

Then I got a yearling (Lacey), so Longshot came to live at my house to keep her company.

Lacey, June 2011. She had a joint infection, but recovered fully. See JJM Spurs Zan Lace

Longshot and Lacey. Buddies!

Then they turned two and I got another one (LT), and the three of them went to summer camp (See The Three Amigos).

Grass! 2012! (irrigated)

Then Longshot went home for the winter (Lacey had LT for company–plus I got Toots, who is just one year older…do we sense an ominous (for the bank account) horse accumulation trend??–LT and Toots are prospects–for sale–really!  Just make me an offer (a really big offer!)

Toots! And her summer coat is so much darker.  I SWEAR I am going to take monthly pictures for a year–um unless I sell before the year is up–yeah right !

And now, enough of the back story; we will get back to the real story: Longshot is back, and I am getting on his back, and his back is not up against the wall.

I started and showed his full sister Squirt and his half brother Tabooli (same mom).  I did a tune up on his cousin Fancy and a tune up on his half sister Cinco (same dad), so I am familiar with the blood line.  Plus, I am familiar with Longshot himself since he has spent a lot of time living here.

Squirt (3) at an ACTHA ride fall 2012 (she won her division).

Tabooli in a hunter under saddle class summer  2012 (photo by Caitlin Dralle)

I figured Longshot’d be a drama-less start.

Correct.

Since mid May, we have one day of ground work and he has been under saddle 19 times.

Longshot is not the super sensitive type and he has a bigger “not doing THAT” (i.e. stubborn streak) than any of his relatives.  But he rarely bucks, even when he plays.

If he is stressed, he simply quits moving. This can make him somewhat frustrating to train, but it means he is unlikely to come apart.

He will spook at things that appear strange, but he has a very short flight distance–he won’t go far.

He likes the company of the other horses (unlike Toots who is more of a loner), which does mean there can be buddying up/ herd bound issues especially when he is in unfamiliar territory.

So, that first day, I tossed a saddle on him and he flinched a little, but not much.

He worked in the round pen with a drag rope, some tarps, a butt rope etc.  The usual array of objects I like a horse to try out before I try them out from on top.

I do not want them careening around the place in a panic with all that stuff flapping, so I keep them on a line until I an reasonably sure they can manage.

Longshot really did not care.

I messed with the stirrups, stood in them and since he didn’t raise his head, swish his tail, or move his feet and then he closed his eyes (I swear he’s narcoleptic!) by day two I got on.

Moving?  Who needs to move?  But then he did kind of amble around.

Here are my notes from day three–Ride two :

“Ride 2-well he is not in a hurry about anything although he will go.  We already know he doesn’t startle at much–but that also means he doesn’t respond too much!  He walked and trotted with me on him.  His ground work was markedly better than the 10th.  He seems to need a soak-in period to process what I want.  I used reins today and he was of course clueless, but I did get walk, trot, back, whoa, some turning, move the butt and decent sideways.  Most of it was pretty kindergarten, but hey that is a lot for ride 2–and absolutely no drama in his body–well except he argued with his face because he did not know what I wanted…”

By ride four we were in the arena and he showed a little life by spooking at the arena drag, and he was moving his parts enough to open (but not shut) a rope gate.  And he could trot.  And steer–sort of.  And stop.  All of it a bit begrudgingly. Just think of the sound they do on TV when a person is on downer drugs and people’s voices are distorted, slow and deep.  I have no idea how to put letters together for that sound.  But trying to convince Longshot to move any part freely was an effort.

 Truthfully, I was a little depressed about this and I kept comparing him to Squirt who was super laid back but eager to try new things.  That comparison thing is bad!  It only gets in the way of seeing what is right for the horse under you.

But take the bridge for example. On day five, I figured we’d try the bridge.  I mean SQUIRT loped on ride  three, opened and shut a gate on ride four and went over the bridge like it was not even there.

(Hello?  To self! We already know that Longshot is not Squirt…)

But being the optimist (or just as stubborn as Longshot), we went for the bridge.  And, yep we went over the bridge.  Never sweetly, but at least he showed SOME try.

On ride 10, we had a turning point.  I put a cavesson on him (you can see it in the picture) to entice him to keep his mouth shut when pressure is applied to the bit and was using a training fork just to keep him from putting his nose in the sky.  We went to the round pen to see if loping was in his future.

Cavesson–over the halter–a little unconvential–but works on the trail.

We did some warm up. It was ok until I asked him to move his shoulder to the left. Nope, not doing it.

We got in a fight.  

I fought dirty.

I used my spurs.

I won.

And, huh.  His attitude became a whole lot more compliant.

So, we loped.  Very nice.

Then my erstwhile (is that the right word? erstwhile?) cow partner, otherwise known as Fancy’s Dad or Seasoned Hunting Friend #2, asked if I wanted to go to the Brazos Box Ranch.

How many horses can I bring??? (ok, so I get demerits for rudeness!)

One.  

Well then, it had to be Longshot.

Why on Earth would I take a horse with 12 rides ever in his whole life to the ranch to ride?

Because it would work. And Squirt’s dad took HER to the back country on 20 rides by me and only one ride by him. Not that I’m preparing to  compare.

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Ride 13, at the ranch.  I went out alone towards dusk.

WHAT?

Well, no one else wanted to go and he’d been there over night and had done nothing all day while we set up fence.

He was a little squirrely leaving his pen mate, Squirt, but as soon as he got over the hill, he was fine.

Until we got to the stream.  He was alarmed by the whole idea of a stream.  Why would that water MOVE like that?

Ok, so first we walked along it (crabwise, as maybe it was going to rise up out of the bed and suck us in), but then the trail went across, so I got off, he snacked on some grass, he put his foot in and followed me over, just like that.

And then he rushed up the bank.  Whereupon my rein broke.

Seriously? Ugh.  I knew there was an issue with that rein and I had failed to fix it at home.  Oh well.  Tied it in a knot to the bit and got back on.

Rode down farther and traipsed across a few more streams. La de da.

Fixed my rein back at the cabin.  Baling twine is useful.

The next day, we headed out to check a fence job.

We crossed more water.

Ho hum.

He wore saddle bags for the first time.

Ho hum.

We saw an elk calf! So new that its instincts were to freeze in place.

We went cross country over a lot of dead fall (and he stepped over everything, Ho Hum), through a bog, and up a very steep rocky ridge.

Deadfall–I can do it!

Except for getting tired on the steep hill and complaining that his muscles hurt and he should not be required to move his legs any more, no obstacle was an issue.  He was extremely sure footed.

Nice view from the top!

Just another day at the horse training office! Squirt with her dad to the left, Fancy’s dad on Mister, ponying Fancy.

My only complaint is that Longshot is a VERY slow walker.  He has a slow jog, too–nice if he were destined for a western pleasure show future, but (hopefully, for us once and will be again cow punchers) his future may be ranch work.

We rode the next (and last) day at the walk, trot and lope on the trail, and since he did water the first ride at the ranch, saddle bags and varied and challenging terrain the second day, for his third day learning experience: Hobbles.

After the ride, I put them on, stepped back, and he began to eat.  Ho Hum.

Hobbled. I kept the lead rope on so I could help him if he panicked. Doesn’t he look worried?

When he went to move, he carefully placed one foot and then the other. Ho Hum.

He took to that better than Squirt.  (Not that I am comparing!)

Thinking old Longshot is gonna make a horse.

By Patty Wilber  First Published in January, 2011

6/2013. Just wanted to refresh everyone on who Longshot is, so that next week when I talk about his training progress, there will be some context!

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1/2011. A while back I said that red boys were my LEAST favorite horse color/gender combo.  So this year I fell for not one, but TWO red boys.

Winston, my midlife crisis, who, based on a two second decison making process, came to me from a kill pen in Abilene, TX, got healthy and and is now in a fine new home,

Winston on a Back Country Horsemen project in the Manzano Mountains fall 2010.

and little Longshot who was born in September with contracted tendons in one front foot.

Longshot just a few days after birth.

Research indicated that a splint might help him, so his Dad gave it a go.

The thing that put me over the edge was the absolute center of calm this foal possessed. “Either that or he’s missing a part of his brain,” says his Dad.

How many foals FALL ASLEEP when getting messed with? Narcolepsy?

This cotton makes a nice pillow!

It was not clear that the initial splints were going to work, so Longshot ended up at Albuquerque Equine with Dr. Dralle.  Dr. Dralle recommended a dose of tetracycline to loosen the tendons, along with more splints.

Tetracycline being delivered via IV–and look he doesn’t even have a halter on.

This was a big splint!

Dr Dralle warned that despite the gauze, cotton, vet wrap, vet bubble wrap, and custom shaping, the PVC  splint could put pressure on the tender skin of the foal, causing damage.  He suggested would be best if the splint stints were no more than 12 hours in length.

After his vet visit, Longshot came to my temporary  “rehab clinic”.  (His Dad was going out of town).

With the invaluable help of my husband,  the splints were changed.  This usually involved Longshot laying on top of Jim, asleep, while I apologized for my slow splint removal due to the increasing dullness of my scissors.  (It is really hard to cut off layers and layers of elasticon tape!)

Dr. Dralle came to see him after a few days and because the tendons around his hoof were still very tight, we decided to go for a second dose of tetracycline.  This pretty much maxed out the tetracycline option and the vet budget, so we kept our fingers crossed.

Longshot after his second tetracycline dose.

After a few days, the leg is looking MUCH better. He has a tendon issue up near his knee also, so his knee looks a little funny.

One of my splint jobs did cause a pressure spot on the back of his leg, but over all it didn’t seem that there was much damage to his skin due to the splints.

He went home. 

He started shedding skin off his leg (there WAS tissue damage).

He limped and laid around a lot.  Mellow?  Too mellow.

Banamine (a pain killer) really seemed to help him.

He got a respiratory infection.  He rattled.

Longshot while he had the respiratory infection.

The hoof on his bad leg wants to grow WAY too much toe, so while checking on his respiratory issues, I held him (he fell asleep) and he got his toe rasped a little.  (There is not much hoof to work with, so just a little rasping is all that can be done.)

Two courses of antibiotics got the rattling under control, and he has gotten stronger.

I went to see him last Sunday, to help with another trim job and to get pictures for this post!

He has grown! The near leg is the one that was contracted.

He is standing oddly on uneven ice. The two white marks are where there were pressure sores. I am guessing they may be white for life.

This white spot is “mine”. There is a still a slight lump from the splint there, too. This shot is after the trim and he is standing reasonably well.

The bad leg is  hairier than the other legs.  I have seen horses in poor body condition grow excessively long coats, and girls with anorexia may develop downy hair growth called lanugo (which is especially noticable on their arms), but I didn’t realize that extra hair growth might occur in specific locations like this, apparently in response to trauma.

The coronet band, where the hoof grows, also seems to have sustained some pressure damage.  It is growing out normally in all but one spot.

Maybe the vintage hoof dressing is helping (price tag of 2 bucks for a big jar so you know it has got to be OLD).

Applying hoof dressing.

Too cute

Think I will take a nap!

 In  2013, I have a spot reserved to begin his training.  Either he is going to be the easiest horse I have ever trained, or  he is going to sleep through the whole thing!

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Tune in next week to find out!!!

By Patty Wilber

Cometa’s eye has really improved since last week!

Last week

This week!

His eye actually opens more than that but since he has been in the pirate mask, his eye has been in the dark so the light makes him squint.

He is on eye steroids for a few more days and then we will see if he can see.  I have not opened the vet invoice from Wednesday yet…

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And now for our feature presentation!

The Pecos Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen worked in the Pecos Wilberness…no no I mean “Wilderness” this past weekend and  one of our tasks was to haul 600 pounds of trace element salt from Jack’s Creek to Beatty’s Cabin (about 16 miles round trip).

What does “worth your salt” mean anyway?

Apparently, “centuries ago salt was so valuable that many people used to have part of their pay in salt.
It’s mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible (Ezra) in the context of the pay of the Persian king’s servants.
According to the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, Roman soldiers are also supposed to have been paid in salt.

It’s also where the word ‘salary’ is supposed to come from (the Latin word ‘salarium’).” (from http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080125125348AA6VLMV)

The salt is for the Big Horn Sheep.  Someone thinks the sheep  are worth their salt!

I knew the sheep were introduced to the Pecos area and I knew the sheep liked salt, but didn’t know more than that. Here is what I found out.

“Bighorn sheep were extirpated from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the early 1900′s (Bailey 1931, Barker 1976). Restoration efforts began with a translocation from Canada 13 in 1932, but no bighorn sheep survived past the mid-1930′s (Lange 1978). A second translocation of 24 bighorn sheep in 1965-66 from Banff National Park, Alberta and from the now extinct Sandia population was successful. In 2002 this herd was estimated to have 340 bighorn sheep based on results of a helicopter survey, hunter-guide reports, and mathematical modeling.

“Considerable human interaction, driven primarily by a craving for salt (Hass 1992), has been reduced in the Pecos Wilderness population by consistently providing trace element salt blocks to Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (NMDGF files).”  From the Long Range Plan for the Management of  Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in New Mexico 2005-2014

Livestock salt probably comes in a few forms, but the two types I am familiar with are trace element salt blocks (which I have always called “mineralized”) and, just plain salt.

The plain variety is white, and some publication I read somewhere sometime suggested that there was no reason to spend the extra money on mineralized salt for your equines, so I buy the plain.  Every pen has a block of salt and some of the horses (Cometa in particular) really like to lick the blocks, making artistic grooves…

The mineralized salt is reddish/brownish, and that is the sort we were to haul.

I have purchased salt in 10 pound blocks and 50 pound blocks, and I know of people who have purchased “designer” salt in loose form (for a gob of money, too).

Our sheep salt was in 50 pound blocks.

All that stuff will go on the animals! The salt isn’t included yet!

We saddled and pack-saddled and tied on our saddle bags and cantle bags and pommel bags and coats and water and radios and spot locators–yes we were (over?) prepared.  Then we loaded 100 pounds onto each of  the horses: Lacey, Squirt, and Cinco; we put 100 pounds on one mule and 200 pounds on Chance (the other mule).

Chance was wearing a metal frame pack and he thought the whole thing was a little odd, so he unloaded the first a-salt (via various airs above ground manuevers) in fairly short order.

Once reloaded though, he was regrounded.

Loaded for real this time.

Cinco had salt in pack boxes, while Lacey and Squirt carried theirs in panniers. You can see Cinco, Squirt and Lacey’s butt in this picture.

I box hitched Lacey and Squirt’s loads and the thick and unwieldy rope on Squirt’s lash cinch gave me fits.  There is a new rope for that rig sitting on my kitchen table at this very moment.

Then we headed out!  Richard and Peter both ponied two animals each (and I was kind of proud of Squirt, since I trained her to ride and pack–she figured out how to be the second horse in the string without a hitch–wait–she had a box hitch–oh well, you know what I mean!)

I ponied Lacey, and we had two out riders, Siri and Julie.

On the way out of Jack’s Creek. (Photo by Siri.)

Julie!

Siri!

It was balmy and sunny–just the perfect temperature for riding.  The trail is steep climbing out of Jack’s Creek and then opens out onto a lovely meadow.

Richard and his string after we have climbed out of Jack’s Creek. It is SO dry!  In a more normal year,this would be much greener and the ground would be wet.

Despite the dry (there was NO recorded runoff for the Pecos this year–0% of normal?) there were still several small creeks to be crossed.  After Canyon de Chelly, Toots and Squirt were pretty good over water.  Lacey has always been willing to follow Toots and only jumped the muddy stuff once or twice.

Toots and Lacey are both good drinkers, but with her head down like that, Lacey stepped over the lead rope more than once.  Then Siri would gamely get off and fix it for me!

Photo thanks to Siri!

After a couple of hours, we made the forest service cabin just south of Beatty’s Cabin.  We unloaded.

Unhitching the lash cinch. Toots is supervising. Picture by Siri.

Peter unloading Squirt. Picture by Siri.

Julie  helping with Chance. Picture by Siri.

Our 600 lb contribution to the welfare of the sheep!

We had a late lunch break on the porch at Beatty’s Cabin and then headed back.

Peter and his string. Photo by Siri.

We made good time back–I THOUGHT Toots was a fast walker, but it turns out she is only Medium Fast.  Richard’s lead mare can really step out, and Toots is going to have to step up to keep up!

Fun trip and I know my girls are definitely worth their salt!

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I will be out of town next week, so will post a rerun blog about Longshot as a foal with his contracted tendon.  He is now 2.5 and the next new post will feature “The Training of Longshot”.

By Patty Wilber

Good News first! Progeny #1 graduated from Loyola Law School last weekend!

The Law School Grad!!!

Her boyfriend (Mr. Chocolate Covered Bacon Roses) was able to fly in from Hawaii, Progeny #2 was there, and so were her wonderful grandparents (my mom and dad), so we had a most excellent weekend!

Both kids!!

It was great to have the grandparents there!!

Semi Good News second:  The Law School Grad immediately (Tuesday) moved to Hawaii with the Bacon Roses Guy and her cat Baxter, which is FABULOUS for them.  On the other hand, my heart hates that she is so far away (not that I was jetting off to LA all that often to see her when she was there).

Hawaii doesn’t suck–and hey it is great place to visit!

I think  all my emotion is a result of the fact that she is entering a New Era in her life–kind of like when mom’s cry because their kids are off to kindergarten.  Except I didn’t shed a tear when they went to kindergarten.  Nope.  Not a one. I had trouble when they graduated from college (!!), and now this moving to Hawaii thing!  Go figure.

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And now for the Bad News:  Cometa broke his head.

(He got in an argument with his pen mate, it seems. Apparently, The Boss of the Universe is now Boss of the Universe, Except for That One Other Boss.)

On Monday, as we were flying home from the graduation, I got a call from my stall cleaner, who, while shoveling horse excrement, actually took the time to look at the horses.  He saw Cometa’s eye was swollen.  I was impressed. Many people are not that observant.

We got home in the evening, thank goodness and …EW!

Eye didn’t like it.  Cometa was eating and acting normally, but he needed some vet help.

Next day, the vet came.  She also said, “EW! ” and then,  “That looks bad.”  Great.  Now I feel much better (or not!) I was hoping she’d lie to me, at least a little.

Tuesday. Eye agreed. Bad.

Look how swollen he is above his eye and how his third eyelid is protruding.  He could not move his eyelids. He had a bit of blood in his left nostril.

She sedated him and peeled apart his ginormus eyelids. She dilated his eye with atropine and was able to see that his eyeball was still intact and his lens appeared whole.  There is perhaps some internal damage.

Then she gently palpated his forehead, which exhibited “crepitus”…creaking and popping noises above one of his sinuses. He did not break the bone around his eye, but the bone above that  sinus–a bit smushed.

The fracture probably contributed to his exceedingly gross eyelid edema.

The vet gave him IV (in the vein) banamine (a pain killer with anti-inflammatory properties), and globbed a lot of antibiotic (two kinds) in and on the eye to both prevent infection and keep all the protruding tissue moist.

Eye put a fly mask on him for the afternoon and a friend luckily had a horsey pirate mask (because she recently had a horse with an eye ulcer–on the left–same side), so by afternoon, we had the boy re-gooped,

Regooped with a triple antibiotic and a silver containing salve. (Silver is antimicrobial).The lower eyelid swelling got worse as the day progressed.

and regarbed.

Eye Matey!

Too bad it is not closer to Halloween.

“One Eye was a race horse…” (to the tune of “Stewball was a Racehorse”).  The rig reminds me of racing gear!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuGt66WyO-8

Learned this song when I worked at horse camp: K-Arrow!  Lucky so now, 33 (yikes 33?) years later, I can put it in a blog.

Meanwhile, the horse is on a banamine 1x/day, antibiotic application 4x/day and we will wait until the swelling goes down enough to reassess the damage.

He is feeling pretty perky--banging the gate at meal-times to make sure no one  forgets him (as if), keeping his (one) eye open for unsecured gates, and begging me to let him out with the youngsters in the north lot.

NO Cometa! Your eye is Not Good,  your nose is still leaking a little  blood, and you have a divot in your head!

By Thursday, some improvement had occurred.

You can see his eye!!! The swelling above his eye is much improved. His lower eyelid still looks pretty bad. You can see the slight depression in his skull between his white mark and his eye.

He may lose some vision, but that remains to been “seen”.

The vet will return next week and if all is going well, we can start him on steroids (in his eye, oh joy!), to further reduce inflammation and speed healing.

Eye yi yi.

Poor guy.

By Patty Wilber with my assistant, Lupo

Lupo says: my work is not complete unless i knock at least one pencil on the floor!

Part II of the Canyon de Chelly Adventure!

There has been a dearth of moisture in the Land of Enchantment, making New Mexico the state with the USDA’s most dire drought rating.

So, on Day 2 of our trip, in Arizona, just barely across the border, we awoke to rain.  Ok, that is overstating it.  We awoke to a slight drizzle.  Haven’t seen that in months. But no matter, We, being Back Country Horsemen (four of us) or Experienced Distance Riders (one of us) were Prepared to Ride, even if the drizzle progressed to actual rain.  We did not drive all this way, get health certificates and Coggin’s tests for the horses (which no one actually checked) to get washed out!

But first, JD’s tossed shoe (from his attempts to out-compete Peter’s mare,  Squirt for possession of my mare, Toots) needed tacked back on.   Our guide, Justin Tso, got his cousin to come do it first thing.

JD holds his feet still, but likes to nibble on his handler while being shod. Marcia loves that.

 I waited it out in the “comfort” of the trailer.

Then we got going.  We loaded the horses in the trailers and drove to our trail head because the day’s trip was to be a one way ride down into the canyon back to our lodgings.  We would then shuttle up to get our vehicles.

Fortunately, there were many amenities at the parking spot (or not).

Dust drifts and doorless, but better than the “comfort” of the trailer!

If you look to the far lower right of the map, you can see a horse icon. That is where we parked. We rode down Bat Canyon (farther right on the map) into Canyon de Chelly and back to the Thunderbird Lodge (left of the map) along the Canyon floor .

Mary Ann in her slicker! It was chilly to start with. I lent my emergency ear warmer to Justin and a pair of rain pants to Marcia. We were all comfortable and it did not rain much at all.

The aroma of the sage in the damp was invigorating. It made me sneeze! We rode towards Bat Canyon.  We did not see any bats. We reached the edge.

The trail didn’t drop right off, but pretty close.

On Saturday before we left,  I took Marcia for a test ride on JD (he’d been here a couple months).  We went into a nearby “canyon”–very small compared to Canyon de Chelly–but with a rocky and technical descent.  She called me ” The Crazy Rock Lady” (or something similar).

Take our Saturday “practice” descent of 50 feet and expand into two miles.

The Bat Canyon trail dropped down along a spine with a lovely CLIFF on the left but a  comfortable trail bed–except for the that one rock slide spot where the horses could slip, lose their footing and plunge over the edge!  The scenery would be lovely on the way by…

Made that.  No horse issues. Human breathing issues.

Then the trail hair-pinned left, and veered very steeply, clinging to the canyon side. The track was ancient.  Justin said perhaps dating to the times of Anasazi (they were the makers of the cliff-side ruins.)

The good point about the rest of the Bat out of Hell Canyon trail was that it had a berm, so I never felt like I was going to pitch off the edge.  However, it was highly eroded, so the foot-bed was anything was smooth. There were huge rocks, small rocks, rocking rocks, tilted rocks, slippy rocks and mini gorges.  At no time were all four horse hooves at the same angle.  Every step required planning by both the rider and the horse.

Any equine with a poor sense of body awareness or one that was too tightly wound would have ended up sprawled on its knees or with a twisted ankle.  Many people might have had the same experience if they were to walk this trail.  And, as I mentioned, it was STEEP!

There was nowhere for six animals to comfortably stop, so there was nothing to do but try to maintain an even, measured pace that all the animals could accommodate, and forge ahead.   Near the end, several of our trusty steeds were showing signs of muscle fatigue–their legs were quivering.  Some us might of been hyperventilating.

Toots, the squat tank, is so muscular and low to the ground, she’s a like a little ATV! She handled it really well–and brag brag–then went to a show on May 11th and won Ranch Pleasure, took a second in Ranch Trail, and a third in Reining!)

JD was also magnificent.  So, may be I’m not so crazy?  In fact, four of our five horses have covered my “crazy rock lady trails”, three of them extensively.  I use those trails for training because it is interesting for the horses while helping them learn to use their bodies and watch where they are going.  It is good for the minds of the show horses and boy did it help on this trail!

There are no pictures of the descent.  We had to steer!

Toots says: there is no way i am going back up that, so don’t even ask. (the part shown is not even a hard part but at least it shows there are lots of rocks!.)

We shed some layers and took a sigh of relief that we had survived. This is not the best picture, but the bush behind Marcia is a Fendler Bush in bloom–we saw other flowers, too–unlike NM where it is so dry we barely even have weeds.

Along the floor of Bat Canyon towards Spider Rock.

The rest of the ride was easy and spectacular!

Spider Rock.

According to Justin, there was a woman that used to live near this spire and she wove rugs with the spider pattern.  I know very little about Navajo rugs, and did not find anything listed as the “Spider Pattern” in a quick search. Apparently, there is no one left who knows how to do this pattern.  The rock is named after her.

Peter took all the Day 2 pictures after the descent. Tons of gorgeous scenery!

We crossed a lot of water! Toots got to where she went right in and did not take the first opportunity to get out–she’d wade along until I made her to get out.  She also drank frequently. This is great because not all horses will drink strange water and thus may be prone to dehydration on long rides.

Window rock!

Trotting across water! Not enough splash to be pictorially dramatic, but fun anyway!

On the right is a fenced area–keeps out the feral horses. On the left, the horses have access. As part of the management of the Canyon, invasive trees (Russian Olive and Salt Cedar) are being removed. The horses are also non-native. They need to go. I think the picture makes the point.

The scenery was like this all day long. Amazing!

On Day 2 we covered nearly 21 miles!

On Day 3, we rode to Little White House Canyon–see map.  We rode along the paved rode with cars whizzing up behind us.  I found that a little unnerving and was happy that Tulip was bringing up the rear when the motorcycle cavalcade roared by.  All the horses handled the traffic well.  We cut South and got out on some flat rock and wide open spaces.

I really liked the sky in this picture.

Then we hit sand dunes.  Think those are marked on the map.

In some places there was no vegetation and just big sand drifts. We galloped over them!

Little White House Canyon was smaller and more intimate than Canyon de Chelly.  It also gets far less tourist use, so it was just us.  There were, of course, lovely rock formations.

And the Little White House Ruin.

Little White House Ruin.

This is a stand of Russian Olive that has invaded,choking out the native vegetation, but it did make a nice fore-ground for the photo!

Removal of the Russian Olive has brought the water table up quite a bit in Canyon de Chelly!

On the way back, Justin pointed out an ancient trail from Little White House Canyon to White House Ruin in Canyon de Chelly.  Not enough time to ride that, but it sounded intriguing!

Or exploring Canyon de Muerte (the northern branch), or riding to the end (37 miles) on a two day trip…or…for something completely different, maybe Nevada?

There are so many places to explore!  I sure enjoyed this trip with a great group of friends and a bunch of horses I also know personally (especially Toots! Thanks Wendy!).

By Patty Wilber

A few months ago, Mary Ann and I went riding.  I was riding Marcia’s horse, JD.  Mary Ann and I decided we should go to Canyon de Chelly.

Canyon de Chelly is a National Monument about 250 miles from Albuquerque, near Chinle AZ. Drive to Gallup, turn right.  It is federally administered, but it is in the Navajo Reservation.  Access to most of the canyon is restricted unless you hire a guide that is certified by the Navajo Nation.

So, for our partners, we recruited David, (who unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute), Peter (with Squirt), Marcia (with JD), and Chuck (with Dash).  Mary Ann brought Tulip (aka Petunia) and I brought Toots.

Chuck knew of a guide so I called him.  He wanted $800/day, and as I talked to him I felt as though my words were bouncing around at random.  Apparently, I do not speak the Navajo version of English.  It was sort of surreal.  Maybe that is how my students feel when I talk to them!

I looked on my favorite tool, the Internet, and found a couple of guiding services–ended up calling Justin Tso’s Horse Rentals.  He was willing to guide up for $15/ hour + $7/ horse.  With the five of us that went, it worked out to $50/hr + a good tip.  For 14 hours of riding over three days, we spend $850. A lot better than 800/day!

Had to figure out where to keep our horses.  Justin set us up with Pauline Martin, and her horse accommodations were right  across the street from the people accommodations: The Thunderbird Lodge–the only Inn In The Canyon.  It was kind of pricey, but it was fun and funky and within sight of the  horses.

Day 1: Arrived around noon, unloaded and let the horses out into a big arena to drink, relax and have a snack before our afternoon ride.  JD had trailered with Toots and had decided Toots was his.  Squirt rode with Tulip and Dash, but decided that no, Toots was HERS.

Toots ended up in the middle.   (She’d be happiest if they all just left her alone, but she’s too polite to say so!–or else she is a complete whuss in the world of horse-y hierarchies).  There was a lot of drama.

So much drama that JD threw a shoe.

JD also got put in a pen by himself, so Squirt won.

toots is mine. where ever she goez, i will be 6 inches away. at all times.

Justin said JD did not need a shoe for the evening’s ride, but we were unsure, so put an easy boot on and “secured” it (as it was a somewhat too large), with my handy dandy roll of Duct tape that I keep in the trailer.

It fell off anyway.

But Justin was right.  The ride was in the canyon bottom in sand.  JD did just fine without his shoe.

Justin had asked if our horses were good trail horses, and I gave them all the highest ratings.  So, the first thing we came to was a water crossing and NO ONE wanted to cross.

How embarrassing!  Meanwhile, JD and Squirt were making evil eyes at each other. (JD stands for Just the Devil!  Not really! It is Just Dun).  Still, all that posturing did make the whole group a little antsy–then add on the Not Going in That Water dance!  Geez.

Fortunately, our intrepid guide was chatting with the park ranger guarding the canyon entrance, so we had a few minutes to get our act into the water and on our way.

Mary Ann on Tulip, Chuck on Dash, Justin (our guide) on Freckles. Laredo tags along.

Peter on Squirt ( I think we last saw Squirt when she  and I completed the ACTHA ride last Dec.)

Marcia and JD–water became a piece of cake for everyone.

The entrance to the Canyon has beautiful rock, and the deeper you go the higher the walls!  We rode along the stream, in and out of the water, looking up at the sandstone.  Wow!

Our first guide stop was at some petroglyphs.

Nothing could have been more appropriate!

I gave my camera to Peter real quick so Toots and I could be in at least one picture for the day.

What is Squirt trying to do? Toots is not impressed!

Up the Canyon!

We continued on to a really cool ruin–Junction Ruin?

Nice map but I could not get it to display, so you’ll have to click this link to see the location of Junction ruin, where we turned around on the first day. 

We had a very fine ride and we were well prepared:

Toots: Like a Girl Scout–always prepared. (or is that the Boy Scout motto?!)

Freckles is not a Girl Scout. 1-He’s a boy…2-Not so prepared.

All of our horses were carrying extra: water, rain gear, jackets, food, first aid kit, gloves, etc. etc.  We were ready.  You never know.  It could have turned out like Gilligan’s Island.

They set out for a three hour tour and ended up stranded on that sitcom!

Chuck and Marcia show their teeth? I do not recall why!

Justin Tso!

And one last closing shot:  There were lots of feral horses (busy decimating the environment) but here was a cute Appy foal.

Next Week:  Tso Anyway: Our harrowing descent down Bat Canyon! (you can see it on the map link!)  It was so harrowing, I did not have a free moment to snap any pictures.  But there are lots of other nice shots. And Day 3 we did Little White House canyon, which was quiet and had a nice ruin!

Until Next Week!

By Patty Wilber

I traded some training for this horse last year.  

 “Why?”, you  may ask.  Well, because, sucker that I am, I wanted to keep her dad (A Paradox/Buckshot) in training with me. Buckshot was a whole lot of fun to ride and show and we were just starting to really get somewhere (got Reserve Jr National Champ in Working Cow at Appy Nationals! ) So, I took the filly.

Her registered name is Paranormal Activity.

(It fits.)

But I could not figure out a good barn name based on that.  PN?  Para?  Norma (huh–didn’t thing of that at the time…) But whatever, nothing seemed quite right.

Then I came up with Like Totally (Awesome), which is 1) true(!) and 2) based on a  joke with a friend who maintains that the word “awesome” is awesomely over used.

And LT is nicely alliterative with Lacey and Longshot, the other kids at the barn at the time.

LT wasn’t quite two and she was small (um I seem to specialize in small–see the picture–they are all the same small size) when I got her in early 2012, so she went out on pasture for the summer with her buddies Lacey and Longshot. (The Three Amigos!)

I started LT in late 2012,

Didn’t really ride her regularly until early 2013.  She is coming along really well– in some ways.

She did not take to being the lead horse when I tried to pony off her, even though I had Lacey, her best friend (after Longshot).  But since Longshot went to his real home after that summer fling in the valley, Lacey (Boss mare in training) moved up to Best Friend..Longshot is coming back next week to start his training.  We will see what transpires in the horsey hierarchy!

Thus, since LT didn’t handle ponying duties,Toots gets to  take Lacey on all the Back Country trips!

You can barely make out Toots or Lacey from our project last weekend,  but it does look backwoodsy!

LT is also super sensitive (no spurs needed), which leads to being a bit on the over-reactive side when there is too much physical pressure (in her opinion) with the bit or bosal.

She throws her head  and ducks her head and stomps her feet (just like a little kid throwing a fit!).  Working on that–my actual kids were never fit throwers– but you’d think I could out smart a horse! Getting there by making her move with purpose whenever she starts in. She “gets” to  keep her feet in motion until she softens up “in the face”–Light and flexible feel in the mouth and neck.  Both soft and flexible are easy for her.

She does not buck or rear, and although she looks at everything, she is not spooky.

When she moves (as opposed to hoof stomping), she is so athletic it hardly feels like she touches the ground.

She is a busy body, which is a good trait for a horse being  aimed at reiner/ cow horse–especially cow horse. (But can be a pain when FOCUS is needed!)

Two weeks ago  she hit both lead changes in a reining competition (and got a third in a decent sized class!). Today she hit none after I went and bragged on her.  Typical.

 Today, though, she did work a cow mostly off my legs and her own innate feel for it. She tracked the cow and stopped hard when it did.  She was brave when the cow tired to sneak by her on the fence. She  floated her roll backs when the cow would stop and turn.

It was one of those rides when you get off and think , THIS is Like Totally Awesome!

By Patty Wilber

So, basically this is an advertisement.

A friend, Susan, graciously invited me to an evening at Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico Campus where the featured guest was the star of War Horse.

Yep! The Horse.

Of course I took pictures and then took a gander on YouTube, where I found a clip of the very presentation we saw!

The movements and sounds created by the three puppeteers made the puppet disappear and a (slightly unusual looking) horse come alive on the stage.

I spend a lot of time with horses.

That transformation was remarkable.

I am GOING to War Horse when it comes to NM next year!

I already know the story is good (having seen the movie) but I really just want to watch the horse!

Have a great week everyone!

By Patty Wilber

I have been looking for data on vaccine efficacy and longevity of immunity for  tetanus, West Nile virus, rabies, eastern and western equine encephalitis and equine herpes virus (rhino), so that I could make better informed vaccination decisions for my horses. Turns out there is not very much in the way data detailing the length of immunity produced by the vaccines.

Tetanus.  This is caused by toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani, an organism is found in the soil, horse intestines, fecal matter.  It is every where!  It can cause the disease when it enters a wound (even a really tiny insignificant wound).  Uninoculated  horses infected with this organism have a 75-80% death rate, and should they survive, recovery can be long.

The toxin that causes the problem is called tetanospasmin and it is one of the most potent toxins known.  In humans only 2.5 ng (that is a billionth of a gram)/ Kg body mass can cause death, although only about 20-30% of people that are infected die.

CDC graph of tetanus cases in the U.S.

Human cases have steadily declined since the 1900′s due to better wound care followed by a vaccine that was introduced in the 1940′s. Almost all cases seen now are in the uninoculated or those who have gone more than 10 years since a booster. (When was my last booster?! Ahh!)

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) page on tetanus cites a study showing that protection against the tetanus toxin in horses remained high for six months after vaccination, but says longer term studies do not exist!

What?  Really? Then how do we know how often to vaccinate if there is no data? Cuz the vaccine maker said so? Seems like the fox might be guarding our chicken house full of $ we need to spend on vaccines.

A 1979 study I found from Europe indicated immunity to the tetanus toxin could persist for 128 months and with a booster, for an additional three and half years.  BUT that was not using the vaccines commercially available  in the U.S.

Zoetis (formerly known as Pfizer) markets a vaccine in New Zealand and Australia called Equivac-t that has the following recommended schedule: 1st shot, second shot in four weeks, third shot in one year, and then vaccinate every five years. I suppose this vaccine has not been approved for use in the U.S. by the USDA?

In the U.S. the AAEP recommends yearly boosters for tetanus. There are tests (or at least one I found) you can purchase to measure tetanus titer levels in horses, so that could be one way to see if you really need to boost your horse yearly. You might have to order from Germany…

It’d be kind of nice if there was titer data somewhere easily accessible!

West Nile Virus.  In New Mexico in 2012 there were 46 human cases of WNV, 10 veterinary cases (most likely horses as 96% of non- human mammal cases are horses), and 20  mosquito samples tested positive.

Veterinary Cases of WNV, New Mexico, 2012

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Human Cases of WNV, NM, 2012

Positive Mosquito samples, WNV, NM 2012

These maps are from The USGS disease maps site.  Very cool.

In WNV challenge infections of unvaccinated horses, 90% became infected, 40% developed clinic signs of disease and 10% of those died.  Thus, 3.6 % of uninoculated horses might be expected to bite it if they got infected.  Forty percent would need treatment.  (Read $$$$)

As far as the fox guarding the chicken coop goes, Zoetis says,“Efficacy of the West Nile fraction was demonstrated in horses that received two doses of the vaccine and were challenged one year post-vaccination with WNV. The vaccine protected 95% of the vaccinates against infection, while 82% of the controls were viremic.” In other words, the vaccine worked at one year post inoculation.  Data! Yay!

Rabies.  I kind of lied about Rabies. Although not common in horses (because most dogs are vaccinated and many horses  are too–thus protecting the unimmunized–herd immunity!!), if contracted, rabies is 100% fatal.  The vaccine works, and the recommended vaccination rate is once every three years according to Albuquerque Equine.  The balance between cost, protection and possible side effects seems skewed to “JUST DO IT”, so I did not look for any additional information.  

Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis

Eastern Equine Encephalitis does not, and apparently has never, occurred in NM, but there were numerous veterinary cases (pink on this 2012 USGS map), as well as human and mosquito cases (not shown) East. (Yellow show states where it has historically occurred and white shows areas where it does not occur)

I also looked at maps for Western Equine Encephalitis back to 2007 and there were were no human, veterinary or mosquito cases in 2011 or 2012, but there were positive mosquito samples in California and Nevada in each of the other years. According to the AAEP, WEE has not caused many problems in horses for nearly two decades, but mosquitoes are still testing positive (as evidenced by the USGS maps).  In addition, the virus does mutate so new strains may develop, necessitating new vaccination.  The recommended dosage is once per year (after the initial series).

Equine Influenza.  According to the AAEP, 100% of naive horses exposed to the flu will get it, and it will spread rapidly. Horses aged one to five are most susceptible.  The intranasal vaccine provides protection for up to one year although it is only rated by the manufacturer for six months.

The horse immune system (well human, mouse–all of them) is an amazing and complex system!  In the case of flu, it turns out the intranasal vaccine may be the best because not only does it promote the production of antibodies that circulate in the blood, but also antibodies that line the mucosa–just the spot where this virus likes to find and enter the cells it infects.

According to Wikipedia, horses competing in FEI events in Europe must be vaccinated every six months and have a card to prove it.

Geez, now I think I should go intranasal on this one! Maybe I’ll throw in a tube worming at the same time for good measure because the vet would have to do the intranasal flu thing.  Or maybe not…it does not look too hard! And maybe I could order it on line.

Rhino (or Equine Herpes Virus 1).  This is a DNA virus and once the horse is infected, in 80% of cases, the virus will embed in the DNA of some cells and lay dormant.  Thus, it can be a  life long infection. Unfortunately, even when infected naturally and embedded, immunity in horses seems short-lived (3 months).

This virus is everywhere horses are though, and on the plus side, according the AAEP, mature horses have been repeatedly infected and this bolsters their immune response, so they do not usually develop serious disease.

Chicken pox in humans is also a herpes virus and it also embeds in our DNA, sometimes reappearing as shingles later in life.  EHV does not reappear as shingles in horses, thank-goodness–after all EHV is a respiratory virus (Ok there are some brain-releated cases) whereas chicken pox likes to embed in neurons of the peripheral (not brain or spinal cord) nervous system.

Horses under two are most prone to EHV infection and according to most sources I read, vaccination doesn’t produce strong immunity and doesn’t do a very good job at controlling either the respiratory or the neurological disease.  More than one source recommended eliminating this vaccine.

Here is an except from the Veterinary Extension Service in South Dakota, May 2011. “Not all vaccines have published data supporting efficacy, and studies on the same vaccine sometimes have produced inconsistent results.The ubiquitous nature of the virus and propensity for the virus to become latent makes it difficult to study groups of animals that are similar immunologically. A recent review of EHV vaccines was unable to draw any conclusions about vaccine efficacy.” 

The article goes on to say that the vaccines do seem to work, right after saying they didn’t, though…

On the other hand, newer vaccines for EHV are being developed that may end up being really great! And of course (**disclaimer disclaimer**), I am not the source you should consult for vaccination decisions!  Talk to your vet!

So, finding all this out was rather time consuming!  But kind of interesting too.  Now I can go buy my vaccines, and at least have reasons!

By Patty Wilber

It is SPRING!   Has been for a while. (I suppose everyone knew this already!)

The days are getting warmer. Well, some days.

Here is how THAT works in NM in spring:

Monday, 80F in the afternoon.  The hair is coming off the horses in clouds and they sweat whenever I make them do anything over a slow jog.

(The whole shedding thing is fun!  Toots is losing her long white winter hair and becoming more mottled.  LT is dropping her pale  winter coat so her spots and gold summer hair are showing.  Lacey is chucking her very dark winter attire and right now her gold-toned summer coat is showing through in bizarre patches. One year I am going to take one pic/month to show the color changes of these girls–better do that soon as I must eventually sell two of them–at least that was The Plan!)

Tuesday:  Cooler, and LOTS of wind and then SNOW.

Wednesday, 23F in the morning and  more snow.  The horses are all cold because their hair fell off Monday.

Thursday, 60F by the afternoon and the horses are covered in mud because they rolled while there was still damp ground to roll on.  Why do they do this? It just makes more work when I have to get ready to ride!

******************

We got to Spring ahead.

I was doing a lot of cooking while I was trapped indoors by the pesky setting of the sun (and I was really enjoying it, too.) Not any more though.  Am at the barn.

All that extra day light at the end of the day is a good thing because now that it is warm, people are thinking about getting back to riding and business has picked up to the point where I am… over extended.  Surprise, surprise.

Just last month I was whining to another East Mountain trainer that I might not have ANY outside horses in the barn.  Be careful what you worry about.

Now I have got three outside horses and three of my own to ride.  And two more probably coming at the end of the month.

These three outside horses are all over 16 hands in height while my three are barely breaking 14 hands, so it is quite the contrast!

*********************

Spring means spring shots. 

I recently read an article suggesting that we tend to over-vaccinate dogs, and that research has indicated that the normal series of puppy shots might be enough for the dog for eight or more years.

So, I did a very little bit of research on horse vaccines and the diseases for which I vaccinate.  Not enough to make any decisions yet…

But I found: Over vaccination can result in decreased immune system function.

Horses are weirder than humans, immune system-wise.  Humans can form very long term immunity to various diseases for which we have been vaccinated, but horse’s produce immunity which may last only a year.

Horses produce antibodies just as we do, using the humoral immune system, but another branch, the cellular immune system, may have a bigger role in horses than in humans.

Vet’s often like the frequent vaccination schedule because it can cause people to visit the vet and thus keep up with other health needs of their animals.

Some of the things I vaccinate for are mosquito borne  and pretty unlikely to occur to my horses.  What are the odds I want to play?

Vaccinating older horses might not be necessary…

In humans, if about 80% of the population is vaccinated for a particular disease, the illness is unlikely to break out because there are very few “naive” or susceptible hosts to infect.  In effect, the unvaccinated free-loaders are protected by those that are vaccinated.  This is called “herd immunity”.  It applies to horses, too.  So, if I failed to vaccinate, would I be putting other peoples horses at risk?

These and other questions remain incompletely answered.  Guess I better make a decision soon though, before “spring shots” become “summer shots.”

*******************

The first Spring buckskin point show is coming up this weekend. Toots is semi-ready to show but I might toss LT into a thing or two, too.  Both these girls are reiner/cowhorse types, so we are sticking to the Saturday events for this show:  Ranch trail, ranch pleasure, reining (we are not ready for cow competition yet…bummer).  But, I am still planning to push cows home for those in the cattle events if they need me (and if LT–and maybe Lacey–) can handle it. Toots can!

With the extra paying guests, my girls get fewer rides per week, at least until the semester ends at the start of May. This is ok for level-headed Toots.  It is not so ok for my Fizz Kid, LT.  LT is super busy minded and without a really regular schedule, her sessions can be a little bit less than satisfactory.

Lacey is packing this summer, so if she never makes the show ring, this season, oh well, she still has a job.

Next Spring will be fine.