Oppps, lack of posts again

So I haven't written anything for ages, and I could argue it is because there is very little to write as BG is still having the easy life, but then with horses there is always something to note each day, even if it is just their mood for that day.

BG has been getting very relaxed with her head collar again which is always nice, I think it is as a result of her knowing she won't be expected to do much, but it does make life easier. I have been trying to get her used to the fly spray for several weeks now too. She is very jumpy when sprayed so I normally always just spray onto a cloth and use that to wipe it on her. At the moment I am doing so little new with her I thought that the spray was something quick that I could start to get her used to. So I clip on her lead rope, use the cloth for her face, neck, underneath and back legs and then spray her sides and her back using the rope to allow her to move away a bit but not too far. To begin with she hated it; her whole body shook and she would tense as if she was going to swing her hind-quarters round. Finally though she is beginning to relax a bit more, just flinching when the spray hits her. Last night she was the best she has ever been and barely flinched or moved away at all. The down-side is I will have done all this work to get her used to it, then she won't need fly spray all winter and come next summer she will have forgotten that she isn't afraid of it.

So life with BG has fallen into a simple pattern. Each of the twice daily trips consist of headcollar on in the field shelter, food for BG, I poo-pick the field, push out the electric fence a little so she has new grass, check the waters, pop a rope on BG so I can fly spray her and then put some water on all her hooves before letting her go. She gets a quick brush too as her summer coat is all coming out and she is getting very itchy, she has started to rub herself on the shelter so her coat is looking scruffy with scratch marks and loose hairs.

One day she was very jumpy at something in her field although we never found out what, but she had a good trot round and around snorting. Another night there was a thunder storm really close by. BG was perfectly fine stood in the field, she had her back to the rain but other than that barely blinked at the thunder storm, but when I put her in her shelter to eat her tea she was spinning round and around. I think she was glad to be let back out again.

The field has been topped which is great, there is far too much grass up there for BG and it had grown so tall it had started to tower over the electric fence. It is already coming back again though, at least we should have a good amount of grass for winter.

On another practical note I am trying a worm egg count for the first time. I sent away my sample early on Friday and I am waiting to hear the result and whether I need to worm BG this time round. I hope not as she should be in a low risk environment as she is not in a herd and I poo-pick at least daily, normally twice daily.

The biggest thing of note since I last wrote is the damage BG did to her nose. It was the week after the vet had been, so on the 28th of June, I got up the field in the evening to find a gash down the right-hand side of BG's nose. I think the gash initially looked worse than it actually was as once I cleaned the blood up it wasn't too bad, and the following day only the hole at the top of the gash was visible. The worrying thing was the swelling, more so to me as it wasn't along the length of the gash suggesting it was just swelling to protect the area, but it was above it and around the hole at the top of the gash. Her face had really swollen (I will put up some pictures if I can get them off my phone). It didn't feel especially hot but I was really thinking should I call the vet for this.

I didn't call the vet, whether I should have done or not I guess is still debatable. The wound itself never looked infected but I still don't know what the swelling was. I just kept the wound clean and then put a coating of Sudocrem on to keep the flies off it. Then I kept an eye on the swelling to see if it got any worse/ when it started to get better to judge if I would need to get the vet out or not. It did take a long time for the swelling to go, but it did start to reduce and BG never seemed to be in any discomfort or have trouble eating. I would say now you would only notice the remaining sight of the incident if you were looking for it. The swelling has finally gone and the hair is growing back over the wound. It did take a long while though, but BG has remained healthy and happy throughout.

Mixed weekend and the vet's visit

On Saturday (the 18th of June - I'm a bit behind with writing this up) I finally got a nice stretch of time to spend with BG whilst my daughter slept. I tried to use the time to get a bit of exercise into her with a lunging session. It was a little windy but she was actually very good with that aspect, only looking scared a couple of times when the lunge rope got caught by the wind. She did refuse to lunge on the left-rein to begin with so we had to go back to basics with that, she would turn on the spot to face the other way and snort. Luckily it didn't take long to have her lunging on that rein again, although I had to use the tyre and pole obstacles set in a square to get her to do so.

Sunday wasn't as successful. I went to put her head collar on and, as she has done several times recently, she dipped her nose in and then pulled back several times. Unfortunately one of the times I had let the nose part rest on her nose whilst I went to reach up and pass the other strap over her neck. BG pulled back, the head collar resting on her nose, she threw her head up causing the head collar to fly off and hit the back of the shelter, scaring her so she spun round and fled out the shelter. It is a good job BG doesn't kick as I was in the perfect position to be double-barrelled had she wanted to. The big fear in my head was that the timing of this was not good, the vet was due on Tuesday giving me only one day to get BG's confidence back to have her head collar on easily.

As I suspected (despite getting the head collar on BG on Monday with only a few attempts) BG did not want her head collar on before the vets visit. I tried and she just turned her bottom on me and hid in the back of the shelter. I tried several times, and tried the usual trick of leaving her for a few minutes before approaching her again with the food. She wasn't having any of it, in the end I had to get her to pick her near-fore up and get my husband to hold it whilst I put a lead rein around her neck. She was quite calm with this so, rather than holding the lead rope to block her movements, I went straight to putting the head collar on whilst my husband kept hold of the hoof. Phew - I was glad to catch her.

The vet gave BG a basic check and then her jab, the flu and tetanus combined one this year, followed by a sedative. I asked for her to be sedated for her dental check, I don't really fancy attempting one without as I can see BG getting more and more stressed if we were to try that. The vet asked how old BG was (she was 17 in May) and he said she looked in great condition for a 17 year old. I know it is because she hasn't had a hard life (not been ridden etc.) but it is still lovely to hear. Her teeth needed some rasping but again he said they were in great condition for a 17 year old. It seemed like he needed to do more work than the previous year though. I am glad BG was sedated though as, even with the sedative, she tried to pull her head away when they started to do her teeth. I wonder if the sedative was lighter than last year as she seemed to put up a little more of a fight (only slight) and recover again quicker afterwards.

The vet also said 'from her condition I can tell she obviously doesn't have trouble eating'. Not sure what I should make of that! Does that mean she is tubby (she is tubbier than I would like) or her gleaming coat shows she is well in herself.

The only other note from last week is that BG scratched her nose on the Wednesday leaving a tiny raised lump. I wasn't sure if this was a splinter in her nose or just dried on blood as it just felt small and hard, luckily it proved to just be blood and the following day you wouldn't have known anything had been there.

Getting away with a quiet life

Things have been a little different around here for a couple of weeks. Finally my daughter made an appearance in the world so we have all, including BG, started to learn to adapt to a new routine that fits us all in. At the moment though it means there is very little time to do much work with BG, so she is getting away with an easy life which I think suits her down to the ground, except her tummy is getting a little big.

I have continued to visit her every day, but not always twice a day, so my husband has been doing the trips I have been unable to. She is being mucked out, water cleaned, poo-picking done, grooming, fly spray, food and all the basics, but not a lot more. I have managed to lunge her once since the birth, but only a quick lunge. I did think it would be easier than this. 'Babies sleep, so I could do BG whilst the little one slept' I thought. This is great in theory, but the problem is you don't know when the little one is going to sleep, and she normally seems to wake just as we get up the field and I don't want to leave my husband with a screaming baby for too long.

Other than being a bit on the podgy side BG is doing well. Last night we had rain! It was also very windy and the wind had blown the door shut on the field shelter and wound BG up. She came galloping across for her tea and I didn't think I stood a chance of getting the head collar on her so I left it off. I thought she'd stay in in the dry but after eating she left to prowl up and down the electric fence line looking for more grass. This resulted in her tossing her head and running up and down as the wind caught the tape. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the electric fence was down today. Before I left I put up some hay in her shelter, hoping it would encourage her to stay out of the rain for a little bit. I made sure the door was tied securely open first though, so she won't be trapped in.

Other than last night with the head collar I have got it on at every visit, although on Thursday and Friday she was a bit of a pain and it took several attempts to get it over her nose and I had her swinging her bottom round to face me a few times.

My husband hasn't been having quite so much luck. BG missed her breakfast the morning she wouldn't let him get the head collar on, so my husband hasn't tried again since. She also missed her breakfast on Thursday. Overnight she had escaped through the electric tape (first time since we fenced her off at the end of January, and the fence was getting a little slack in places so our mistake) onto all the long grass, so had no doubt been stuffing her face all night which I think has contributed to her larger belly. Luckily my husband had no trouble getting her back on the correct side of the fence and putting it up, although BG wouldn't go anywhere near him and legged it down the field, he was impressed with how fast she can run!

So that is the brief update on the last two weeks. Oh, except we also got ten bales of hay ready for the winter too, thanks to the lady who used to have P1 and P2 sharing with BG. Next week BG has her annual vaccinations and teeth check, so that could be interesting.

Still footsore, but getting better

So BG has remained in her quiet mood so she's obviously still feeling bruised on her hooves. They haven't always been hot, but they have had a pulse and she is definitely tender when turning on a tight circle or on the rutted ground.

Sunday night I went to lead her out of her stall and she just stood there looking out, obviously knowing if she stepped out it would hurt a little. So I used some of the shavings we had bought to make up a soft bed. It looks a little odd as I put islands of shavings in her field shelter rather than over the whole floor. She doesn't normally need to stay in for many days and the shavings get very dusty so I try to be careful and only use as much as she needs so as not to waste it. She has her favourite spots to stand in the stall so you can be selective where you put the bedding islands.

I left her out Sunday night as I don't like to put her in over night. I would rather have her in during the day, if I were to put her in over night she has to go longer between visits so I worry that she won't have enough hay for the night.

Monday morning she was still sore, and remained in her quiet mood, even letting my husband make a fuss of her in the field whilst I made up her food. Normally she'll turn her back on him and walk away.

When she entered the shelter she was very selective to stand on the shavings and not move off them, little things like that are good indications of how she is feeling. So she spent Monday in her shelter. I put up a hay net for her when we put her in in the morning, and then my husband very kindly gave up his lunch time break at work to pop back and put up another hay net. That night though her back legs had swollen round the ankles with fluid where she hadn't been moving around as much as if she had been out grazing.

She had Monday night out but was no better on her hooves on Tuesday morning although the swelling had gone. Rather than keep her in all day again, as I didn't want the fluid build up, I put up a hay net to encourage her to stay in on the soft bedding, but also gave her access to a small section of her field so she could move around and graze. Wednesday she had the same. I think she believes we should be spoiling her more since she is so sore, she still stands along the electric fence looking at us as if we should move it out to give her more grass, or follows me back to the shelter as if I should give her another hay net, even when she is out at night.

She is very sweet when she is feeling tender in her hooves, much more loving and stands alongside you looking for some tlc. It is a little bitter-sweet though as you know it means she is hurting.

Thursday I spent a fair chunk of the morning up there. I gave her a good groom and then cleaned all the water buckets and rearranged the electric fence in the far section of the field. I have split it into two so part can recover. She has the lower half and the small section outside of her shelter now. It meant I kept her in for a while on the bedding whilst I sorted it all out, and then I let her out on her newly restricted grazing for the day.

And it rained!!! I was so glad to see the rain, and I think BG was too. She was in a much perkier mood last night and the ground was softer underfoot so I think that helped. She still let me head collar her in the field (I am making the most of her being quiet to try and get her back into the habit) and then followed me all the way back into her shelter once we had let her out (cheekily hoping for hay). We gave her her first fresh section of grass (a couple of feet) for the first time in a week.

This morning she was looking so much better too. Head collar in the field again and then I led her in for breakfast. She was much better on the tight circle in her shelter and her hooves were cold with no pulse. She still looked a little sore but so much better, lets hope we are over the worst.

My husband stood and gave her a good scratch this morning whilst I was mucking out. She obviously enjoyed it a lot as her neck started straining and her lip quivering as she tried to turn and groom him back. It was very heart warming.

A little quiet

BG had the farrier out yesterday. She needed the visit due to her hooves starting to crack in the dry weather and on the hard ground. Its only been about eight weeks since they were last done, but I was amazed at how much the farrier actually managed to take off, almost a centimetre on some hooves. They look so much neater and tidier now.

I was a little worried about catching BG beforehand. As you know from the new water bucket introduction, anything unusual she thinks is some sort of conspiracy, so she would know something was up when we went to visit her half way through the day. Luckily she was good about coming down and being caught, and then just dozed in the sunshine till the farrier arrived.

BG stood nicely for the farrier too. Except when she was doing her off-fore when I think BG had a fly annoying her on her belly so she got a little jittery.

Today though BG was a little quiet this morning. I was half expecting her to go lame today, since the ground is so hard and it was quite a short trim. Her manner changes when her hooves feel a little sore, she goes quiet and that is the first sign more than her coming up short at all. She walked down the field nicely and her hooves weren't overly hot, nor was there a pulse. Turning tightly in the shelter and leaving the shelter where the ground is a little rutted she was very tentative though. With that and her quiet manner I think she is definitely feeling slightly footsore, so I will need to keep an eye on her. We've stocked up on shavings so we can make her a nice soft bed if necessary for her to rest her hooves on.

This morning, after a week, she finally had a drink from her new water bucket. She still seemed a little unsure about whether it was safe to do so, and gave long glances back over both shoulders after her drink as if to check everything was still okay.

Lets hope she isn't any sorer on her hooves tonight.

Hello....and thank you

It's been a quiet week. BG still hasn't really accepted her new water bucket, she's happy with having it around now, but she hasn't drunk from it. We are still desperately in need of rain. Apparently the last proper rainfall in this area was on February the 28th when there was 6mm, which was almost three months ago. Since then there's been 5mm in March, 3mm in April and 2mm so far this month. So we are desperate for more.

BG has been a little funny with having her head collar on, normally pulling back on the first couple of attempts, but we get there in the end.

The loveliest thing this week is on Monday evening when I went to give her tea she gave me a little vocal hello. Very rare for her, maybe she was letting me know she enjoyed the lunge and attention that morning! Then I lunged her on Thursday as well. She was good on both reins again, without obstacles. When I went to let her off, give her a well done pat and give her a treat she fluttered her nostrils at me again in anticipation, almost a vocal thank you for the treat.

Tomorrow we have the joy of a farrier visit, for which I am slightly concerned about catching BG since she'll know something is up as it will be in the afternoon, and not her normal time for a visit from us. She needs the visit though, her hooves are cracking round the bottom, none of them have split off but several cracks go higher up her hooves than I would like. Some of the soles of her hooves have dropped off with the mud when I've picked them out, so it will be good for the farrier to tidy them up. I think she (the farrier) will also take off one of BG's front chestnuts that has grown rather large, the other one dropped off about a week ago.

It's a trick!

Yesterday we went to stock up on food for BG, another bag of treats and also to get her another water bucket. She has one in the field, but that seems to be being used a lot by the birds at the moment and gets mucky so quickly. I thought it would be nice to add one in her shelter too; one which would probably stay cleaner and cooler. That way both could be kept half full, so I waste less water when I tip them out to clean them.

There is no water up the field so we have to take it all from home. We have two ten litre containers we use and luckily BG doesn't drink a lot so we can cope with that, but it does mean I don't like to waste too much.

So last night we took the new water bucket up, put it in the back of her shelter (in 'her' corner which she likes to hide in) and topped it up. Cue snorting from BG who was eating her tea, and then it seemed to upset her the rest of the time we were up there. It is only a new bucket!

She gave it a sniff which I thought was brave of her, but that was it. She was a pain to catch hold of once she had eaten, she was very jumpy as we tended to her. My husband led her round to show her the new bucket and she leaned away from it as if he was introducing her to something that would leap up and attack her at any minute.

Once we let her out she would then not come back in the shelter, even when tempted. I don't know what she thought the bucket would do to her but she seemed to think we were tricking her into something! Luckily this morning she came in as good as gold, snorted a bit when her head collar went on, but otherwise ignored the bucket.

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This morning I spent a nice chunk of time up the field with BG. I gave her a thorough groom, although she is looking a little odd at the moment which a groom just seems to highlight. Where her winter coat still hasn't come out she is looking almost black. On the insides of all four of her legs it looks like I have attacked her with a shaver and not done a very good job. The winter coat is black, the summer coat a light yellowy almost, the contrast looks very strange. Her bottom looks mottled where she has lost some winter coat but not all of it. It's just a funny time of year for her on looks.

After her groom I gave her a lunge. Last time I got her going round the obstacles on her 'bad' rein with the whip re-introduced and got a trot out of her without her playing up. This time I went straight to lunge her on her 'bad' rein without the obstacles. She tried to turn round initially but with a bit of coaxing then corrected herself and lunged on her bad rein again. Phew, hopefully that is that silly phase over with for the moment.

One reason I really wanted to lunge BG was because she has been on some new grass. She was meant to move from the far section of the field to the mid section at the start of May, but she is doing plenty well enough size wise, and I really didn't want to risk putting her on all that fresh grass. So instead we started to move the fence posts out a little on the middle section so she had a little bit new each day. She does now expect this, and stands there looking most hard-done by if we don't move the fence out. Rather than do bit-by-bit we decided the other day to give her a bigger section of the new grass and so not have to do it every day. She's definitely enjoying the new grass, but still seems to expect more every day.

We will keep pushing the mid-section out a couple of metres at a time and will fence off half of the far section. Hopefully we will soon have four summer sections, and the final third of the field we will leave resting for winter.