Update on Horse Question

I've got an answer (from a vet) on my horse question posted here. It's an allergice reaction to flies and gnats and she's itching (which I already knew) and scratching herself raw.  So, she got Dexomethasone, a corticosteriod hormone, to relieve her itching.  I'll continue with the soothing shampoos and fly spray.  I just hate putting so much fly spray on her in this heat.  It's like it's cooking on their skin.  Even though I sprayed more on her tonight, the flies were all over her legs.  It's awful.
We never really had a winter here so the bugs are in full force.  Flies, crickets, gnats... I wish I could swish my pony tail like my horse does!
Thanks for the help and the comments.
Happy Trails...
Berte

Gotta Horse Question

Jess gets this fungus on her every summer but she's never had it this bad and I need to know if anyone out there uses something that works on there horse that might have the same thing.  She's got it on both neck/shoulders, halfway on her mane and her tail.  She's itching like crazy.  Not worms because she's been wormed.

 I've even thought it could be flies but I use fly spray and I've never seen flies cause this so fast and create such itching.

I've used M-T-G but it does nothing but stink.  She is miserable. Tonight I used this MicroTek shampoo, Betadine scrub and then sprayed a fungicide.  I'm hoping this combination works.

I would love any suggestions.  Thanks.
Happy Trails...
Berte

Horse and Chicken Update

Bye-bye, Daisy.  Theresa ended up selling her sweet little mare to a family south of Houston for their twin boys who are disabled.  She's the perfect fit for them.
In the meatime, we ended up buying this sweet boy...

He's an Appaloosa that comes compact.  He's a playday horse that will be great for beginner kids at church to ride....not to say that they've won but to say "I did it!"  Our last playday got rained out and rescheduled for the end of August so I'm very anxious to get him out there.  As a matter of fact, we've got a work day at church tomorrow to get the arena up.  We've been using the arena at the county fairgrounds.

Red is coming along well.  He's putting on some weight and looking a lot better. I have to admit, he is the sweetest horse I've ever owned.

I think we can definitely confirm that Lincoln is a tom...

and Lucille a hen...

my little Salmon Faverolle rooster is growing...can you see all those toes and feathered legs?

This is one of my black sex links...isn't she pretty with those gold feathers?

An Ameracauna hen....check out those precious feathery cheeks!  She's one of my favorites.

Every time I order Ameracaunas from Ideal, I always get a white one.  This one is ALL white.  The others have had some brown in the feathering and my granddaughters always name them Snow White. I was asked by them again if I'm going to name her Snow White.  And...oddly enough, she doesn't have the typical feathered cheeks but I know she's an Ameracauna because her legs are dark green.  I heard the eggs they lay will be close in color to their legs.  I can't wait to see hers!!

By the way, I appreciate all the names suggested for The Bathroom Lady.  I think Prairie Barbie fits her.  A big thanks to TexWisGirl that always gives us some great pictures from The Run Around Ranch Report. I even had one of my friends suggest Stepford Barbie!  Yes, she is donning her white gloves.  The truth be known, those gloves are holding her fingers on!!  If ya'll only saw this girl naked you'd be coming up with a whole new set of names!  I wish I could have caught a picture of Lucille, the turkey, sitting on her shoulder earlier this evening..She had pulled off her hair and her hat... poor Prairie Barbie...I won't even go there...well, okay, she has a sizeable hole in the back of her head.  Duh...who would have thought Barbie had a hole in her head?!?!?

Don't forget about the GiveAway here.
Happy Trails...
Berte

It Happened!!

100 Followers!  So it's official.  I will be posting a GiveAway very soon!  I've got to come up with something...

Last Saturday we had our second playday in a series of four out at church.  Somehow I didnt' get any pictures of Jacob.  He did so much better than the week before...he just needs more time in the saddle.
My daughter, Theresa, and her three girls were there.  Here she is with the two older ones.

All these kids are trying for buckles.
It's funny. I was out taking pictures of a bunch of kids for our church website.  Just about every horse was falling asleep!!  I don't know who this kid is but she is adorable!

This morning we took Buddy's horse, Cinch, in to the vet to get shots and get his back checked.  Thought it was out of whack but I guess Cinch just had a case of the BRAT syndrome because he checked out okay.  He must have had a bad day....yeah, right...
Here he is in La-La Land at the vet holding up this pipe rack-

He still had a little of that BRAT syndrome left over this morning because every time the vet tried lifting his back legs, Cinch would kick at him...so Mr Cinch got sedated.  He has got all his weight leaned up against that rack.  So he got his shots and back home we came.

Well, stay tuned for the GiveAway...I'm thinking...
Happy Trails...
Berte

Early Morning Ride

Nothing like an early morning ride before the hustle and bustle of the day and triple digit temperatures.  It's been too hot later in the day to do anything! 





Today's lesson:  prepping your horse for the ride, saddling, riding the roads, unsaddling and putting up horse and tack.

All went well and we had a most enjoyable ride.

Back home just as the cropduster hit the fields.  Awww...

Happy Trails...

Berte

Church PlayDay

We had to get the "horse dentist" out to take care of Red's teeth.  When we bought him a couple weeks ago, Red's job was ranching and I doubt he ever had his teeth done.  Probably why he's a little on the thin side...he's been dropping all his feed because he can't chomp down on his food. 

He's in La-La Land here. 

Here's little Kenley on Red waiting for her events.  She's just a talkin' to Red...

First time for either Jacob or Red to go through the pole pattern!  Wow, they did great!!  Great horse and great listening on Jacob's part!

    He was sooooo proud!!!   He's working toward a buckle and prizes for the playday series.   We think it's awesome that he listening and doing so well!
Happy Trails...
Berte

Doing the Horse Shuffle

Remember me posting that my daughter brought her little mare in on my birthday so the kids could ride with me?  Well, she was (and still is) for sale but ended up cutting her pastern (right below her back ankle) which is the worst place for a horse to get cut...so she's still here getting treated and on the mend.  Vet says it's gonna take 6 months.  Joy, joy...

 2+1=3

And remember that at the same day on my birthday when she left this mare, she took Buddy's roping horse, Cinch?   3-1=2

Add back this guy that I went to Houston to pick up for my daughter.   2+1=3

Add this red gelding we bought for the grandkids.  We've been looking for something the kids could ride for playdays at church.  This guy is one of the sweetest ranch horses I've been around.     3+1=4

Daughter returns hubby's horse...  4+1=5

Exit the grey gelding...he's my daughter's so "adios"...  5-1=4

Whew! Are ya confused yet?  I am!  This has been a merry-go-round.... 

Happy Trails...

Berte


A Whirlwind Birthday

 Saturday was my 60th birthday and my husband pulled off a huge surprise.  Eating at Red Lobster is a tradition with us on each of our birthdays.  He asked me what I wanted to do after lunch and I told him I wanted my "senior" nap and then go for a nice trail ride.  The surprise waiting for me at Red Lobster was all my kids and grandkids and one of my sisters.  They all drove from out of town.  And the surprise wasn't finished.  My daughter had hauled her daughter's horses here (over 3 hrs) for us to go ride together.  Saturday evening, the kids rode in the round pen.  They even got to take turns on my horse.  My daughter saddled up Buddy's roping horse and, very long story short, she drove out of here with him in her trailer today and left the bigger of her ponies here.  Good trade?  Yeah, for who?

She's a pretty little thing but too little for anyone around here to ride.  Guess we'll be hauling her back up to Ft Worth ...

I have to admit, it's pretty heart warming to be able to see my grandkids riding horses. I wish they all lived closer to come ride more often.  My daughter spent the night to go on a trail ride yesterday evening.  Now, that's pretty special to go ride, not only with my daughter but, with my granddaughters. 

I am blessed with great kids and grandkids!

Oh...and, no, I never got that "senior nap".   What is a senior anyway?  Buddy asks me "if I didn't know how old I was, how old would I be?"  hmmmm...

Happy Trails...

Berte

Days of GoodBye

Buddy's uncle passed away last week after a long illness so we traveled to Dallas to the DFW National Cemetery for his funeral.  If you've never been to a Veteran's Cemetery, you owe it to yourself to go.  It was most impressive and absolutely beautiful.  I was pretty amazed at how they continually run services through there.  We had 30 minutes before another funeral was scheduled for the pavilion.  I believe I heard it said while we were there that close to 1000 veterans die a day.  I'm telling you, we were on sacred ground. 

We finally had to "let go" of Bridget and send her on to Rainbow Bridge where she can run through the sweet green grass and breathe easily.  The Cushings had taken it's toll on her.  She was a good one!
Happy Trails...
Berte

Around the Farm

Are there days when you can find nothing to post about and then others when you have too much for one post? Or maybe things are just so busy around here that if I took the time to post each day, I could for sure have something to post about. It seems I have a lot of irons in the fire right now with much on my "to do" list. Especially since we had 4 days without water last week...ugh. How much we rely on that good ol' stuff called water.

Here's Buddy hauling water for the horses last week (with a little help from one of the granddaughters). Fortunately, we had some rubber water troughs that he could pick up and haul. Yesterday when I was out working on the chicken pen (that's another story), I heard a commotion and looked up and saw that silly Longhorn "playing" with that trough like a toy. We keep a big blue plastic barrel out in the pasture that she usually plays with but she decided a very large trough was more fun. I wish I had my camera...

I did have it with me to snap some pics of the horses... this is Jess and Cinch. Poor Cinch...Jess won't leave him alone. Every picture I have of them is just alike because she is along his side every step of his way.

And here's sweet Bridget. She has classic Cushing's Disease. Cushing's is usually seen in the smaller breed horses and ponies but not limited to them. It's when the pituitary gland is not functioning properly and puts out abnormally high levels of cortisol in the blood. Among some of the signs is excessive thirst and urination and a thick wavy coat. They typically have weight loss and develop respiratory problems. She's there! It's pretty sad because we've seen this beautiful animal go downhill despite a variety of medical and dental treatment. Pretty soon we're gonna have to "let go"...

Well, back to a better subject...chickens! I'm in the process of moving the location and building a new pen. I'll get pictures up soon. I can hardly stand being without my fine feathered friends.

Happy Trails...

Berte

How to NOT do something

This is way too cold for Texas..and this is mid-morning after the temperature has gone up a few degrees. I went out this morning to feed and break up ice for the critters and had a pot full of hot oatmeal for the chickens and my camera in hand. Okay, I forgot my hammer to break up the ice. When all else fails, you use your trusty booted foot to break it up. I got the chicken's water broken and they were so cute..they had their fuzzy butts showing and one was even standing on the ice.





I've got Rooster Cogburn confined to a cage because he's always bothering Big Hilda. I don't know why but he picks on her and then the other girls start being mean to her and she gets isolated and won't come out of the chicken house or is off by herself to avoid Rooster. So, since Big Hilda is a favorite (yes, we play favorites), Rooster gets penned up. Maybe that's why we're getting so many eggs every day in the bitter cold. But I caught of picture of Big Hilda parading in front of the rooster as if to say "Na, na-na, na, na--na!"

Anyway, so I get the chickens taken care of and get the horses some hay...















Now, I need to go break up the ice in the horses' water trough...with oatmeal pot and camera in hand, I need to do this and not get my camera wet...hmmm, no hammer. Okay...I'll use my foot again. It works..but only a small hole. Mind you, this is a good size water trough. I really need to get my foot up and over and slam it in... yep, I did just that and ended up practically falling in! Wow! Ice shock! That's cold!




I've got on two thick layers of clothes and my boot is sloshing full of ice water. This is NOT the correct way to break up ice.

I can only imagine what these animals are thinking.....
Bridget seems to think it's funny...

and Cinch turns around to say "you stupid klutz!"

Happy Trails...

Cold and Frisky

The morning ritual...the dogs and horses kicking up and playing the cold.

Ahhh...all settled in. Jasper has them right where he wants them. Out in the far corner off his porch.

Happy Trails...