Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Stuff that has happened since my last post
A lot of stuff has transpired since my last post. Uncle Kirby who always had a heart murmur developed a severe jugular pulse. YOu could actually feel it. He apparently had one small heart attack and another was probably going to come soon. He was not feeling well so we had to put him down. Now I am left with Pi, who is supposed to be blind according the Pony Club vet, Andi Lytal. But he does not seem blind at all... so I am gong to get a 2nd opinion. Raleigh and Pi are both living in some temporary stalls I have built at my place while I am waiting for the barn to finish being built.
Barn footers
FInally we have the permit for the barn. We had to do a geology study, a neighborhood compatibility study and and engineering study. It took nearly a year to get it. But we now have it! Yea! Yea! Yea!
It does not look like much. It's just a peice of paper with a seal and a list of things for which we have to get approval in order to get the whole barn finally signed off.
Now the fun begins. This weekend we are going to dig the footer. The footers have to be 2 feet deep. At the ends of the building they span the width of the barn. And then in the front and rear wall they are under where the doors are not. The Hardi frames will attach to the footers. Hardi frames are used to increase the sheer strength of the building and to provide earth quake protection. I will try to blog about the barn steps as we build the barn.
It does not look like much. It's just a peice of paper with a seal and a list of things for which we have to get approval in order to get the whole barn finally signed off.
Now the fun begins. This weekend we are going to dig the footer. The footers have to be 2 feet deep. At the ends of the building they span the width of the barn. And then in the front and rear wall they are under where the doors are not. The Hardi frames will attach to the footers. Hardi frames are used to increase the sheer strength of the building and to provide earth quake protection. I will try to blog about the barn steps as we build the barn.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thrush Treatments - Cephaprin Benzathine
Uncle Kirby has thrush. He has had it for some time and nothing was getting rid of it. Tried bleach water. Tried Coppertox. Tried Thrushx.Nothing was working. My farrier Jim told me to get the stuff that they use for mastitis in cows... like I knew what that was. But this weekend at Equine Affiar I found a farriers table and I got this stufff called Dry Cow....Tomorrow -- cephapirin benzathine. AMAZING stuff!!
It works!!!
I squirt it deep into the cleft of the frog -- very little.
I cut a 2" sq of gauze and coat it with the stuff.
I stuff the gauze into the cleft.
I do this twice a day.
Bye bye Thrush!
at 2.99per tube - 0.5 - 1 tube per day ... what is not to like!
Manufacturer: Fort Dodge
Cephapirin Benzathine
available for $2.99 per tube from horsemans's outlet .. That is the best price I have found. 877 238-1200
It works!!!
I squirt it deep into the cleft of the frog -- very little.
I cut a 2" sq of gauze and coat it with the stuff.
I stuff the gauze into the cleft.
I do this twice a day.
Bye bye Thrush!
at 2.99per tube - 0.5 - 1 tube per day ... what is not to like!
Manufacturer: Fort Dodge
Cephapirin Benzathine
available for $2.99 per tube from horsemans's outlet .. That is the best price I have found. 877 238-1200
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Horse Poop in the Horse Waterer
I would have preferred to begin my blog with something a little less disgusting but that is not how today happened. In Raleigh's stall this morning, next to the automatic waterer there was a red water bucket. There are a lot of reasons this could happen. the two most likely are that Raleigh's waterer is not functioning corrrectly or he has been playing toss the water bucket. In this case, the water bucket actually contained water. The waterer also contained water... but it was pretty foul. I clean my waterers at least once a week so it was obvious right away what had happened. I put my hand in and sure enough... there was a lot of disintegrated poop in the water.
Sharon is the non-riding mom of two Pony Clubbers. She usuallly swings by and checks the horses in the mornings. She had put the water bucket in Raleighs stall. She said he'd had been making quite a fuss that morning and he had been reaching over trying to drink from the water of the horse next door. She seemed a little smug when she told me, "He was very thirsty. I had to get him some fresh water this morning. He was not drinking from his waterer and there was a very FOUL smell." Snugness explained! Dirty waterers are one of my big pet peeves. I have threatened in the past to make the pony clubbers drink from their horses's waterers. (This threat did not go ever well with either parents or children. I strongly recommend against using it.) So it was probably pretty ironic that mine was so filthy.
So how to clean it: turned off the water supply. Then I drained the waterer and rinsed it with bleach. I was careful to scrub out the corners and crevices with a toilet brush I keep around for cleaning the waterers. (Very appropriate in this caes.) Then I rinsed it a couple more times. Raleigh seemed to drink just fine from it after that. I was tempted to take it apart and clean the float. But I figure the bleach probably killed anything up in there anyway.
My waterers are the 16 qt. DuraMate Automatic Waterers.
Things I like about these:
1. Size: If you check your waterers at least 3 times a day, 16 quarts is large enough, at least here on the coast, that your horse will not run out of water between checks in the event that something happens to your water supply.
2. Price Point: 29 -42 dollars is about the price range
3. Ease of use: Comes with brakets for installing
4. Replacable parts - floats an be replaced
5. I like that the float is covered so the horse cannot play with it.
6. Hose can be attached from witehr side.
7. Drain facilitates cleaning
8. Fairly durable
Things I do not like:
1. The atachment to the water supply does not use a std. garden hose.
2. The float is not very adjustable.
3. One you habe installed it the metal screws fuse. It is difficult to get it apart for cleaning or repair or replacement
When my new barn is finished I hope to use the Nelson waterers. I like these because
1.They are VERY easy to clean
2. There is a water consumption monitor option
3. They look classey
On the other hand they are fairly expensive and I am not sure about the warranty vs the initial cost ratio.
I will be checking these out more at next weeks Equine Affair in Pomona. I will let you know then my conclusions.
Good news on the barn today. We have the certified engineer's stamp for the certificate for the silhouette. Next we go to the city to commence the neighborhood compatibility study.
Sharon is the non-riding mom of two Pony Clubbers. She usuallly swings by and checks the horses in the mornings. She had put the water bucket in Raleighs stall. She said he'd had been making quite a fuss that morning and he had been reaching over trying to drink from the water of the horse next door. She seemed a little smug when she told me, "He was very thirsty. I had to get him some fresh water this morning. He was not drinking from his waterer and there was a very FOUL smell." Snugness explained! Dirty waterers are one of my big pet peeves. I have threatened in the past to make the pony clubbers drink from their horses's waterers. (This threat did not go ever well with either parents or children. I strongly recommend against using it.) So it was probably pretty ironic that mine was so filthy.
So how to clean it: turned off the water supply. Then I drained the waterer and rinsed it with bleach. I was careful to scrub out the corners and crevices with a toilet brush I keep around for cleaning the waterers. (Very appropriate in this caes.) Then I rinsed it a couple more times. Raleigh seemed to drink just fine from it after that. I was tempted to take it apart and clean the float. But I figure the bleach probably killed anything up in there anyway.
My waterers are the 16 qt. DuraMate Automatic Waterers.
Things I like about these:
1. Size: If you check your waterers at least 3 times a day, 16 quarts is large enough, at least here on the coast, that your horse will not run out of water between checks in the event that something happens to your water supply.
2. Price Point: 29 -42 dollars is about the price range
3. Ease of use: Comes with brakets for installing
4. Replacable parts - floats an be replaced
5. I like that the float is covered so the horse cannot play with it.
6. Hose can be attached from witehr side.
7. Drain facilitates cleaning
8. Fairly durable
Things I do not like:
1. The atachment to the water supply does not use a std. garden hose.
2. The float is not very adjustable.
3. One you habe installed it the metal screws fuse. It is difficult to get it apart for cleaning or repair or replacement
When my new barn is finished I hope to use the Nelson waterers. I like these because
1.They are VERY easy to clean
2. There is a water consumption monitor option
3. They look classey
On the other hand they are fairly expensive and I am not sure about the warranty vs the initial cost ratio.
I will be checking these out more at next weeks Equine Affair in Pomona. I will let you know then my conclusions.
Good news on the barn today. We have the certified engineer's stamp for the certificate for the silhouette. Next we go to the city to commence the neighborhood compatibility study.
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