The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!

[HairOfTheDog]

Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?

A few of us thought it would be interesting and informative to have a chat thread where we can share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the last thread we had a great time and were a great help to each other working through lessons and training, horse lamenesses and illnesses, questions and challenges and always just our stories we like to tell.

I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

So... like the last thread, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

[CindyDawg]

How interesting because it's hard to pull them off intact.

[CindyDawg]

Possums a pain but I hate snakes.

[Esther Ruth]

We had one come up to the house last winter right to the back door, cozied up next to the cats and their big bowl of cat food, cats didn't even notice he was not one of them. The kids all of a sudden... "mom, mom, look at that cat, that is the strangest cat, I've never seen him before." I tried to chase him away and felt guilty. He backed slowly away like an old man or homeless person, he wouldn't go, looked at me as if to say "now you wouldn't chase poor old me away, would ya?". Had to catch him and drive him to the woods. So easy to humor us suburban transplants.

[Grammy]

I assume the pam clogs up their breathing, so they back out.

[CindyDawg]

Or makes it so slick they can't hang on :') I'm gonna try this the next time I see one.

[Esther Ruth]

http://www.yourhorseshealth.com/epm/index.html

OK - now I really dislike the little guys a lot. Will get even more aggressive keeping things out of the barn.

[HairOfTheDog]

If she is having a hard time keeping weight and muscle, puppy food is perfectly fine to try. The only thing I don't like about lamb is the smell, I think it smells bad.

Really, another great product for hard-keeping dogs and horses alike is Red Cell: Red Cell You can just glop it on food, and it helped both my old dogs with weight and energy, and it tastes good.

Canine Red Cell
Liquid Vitamin-Iron-Mineral Supplement formulated to provide a reliable source of blood building ingredients and appetite stimulants for show and hunting dogs, racing Greyhonds and old debilitated dogs. 1 tsp. per 10 lbs. body weight. Kennel feeding: 4 oz. to 10 lbs. food.

[FrogInABlender]

You actually CAUGHT him?! {shutter} I had one turn up sick in the middle of one of my stalls one morning. It was still alive, but just barely. I just freaked. I just KNEW it had rabies or something. I called the health dept and you wouldn't believe the crap I had to go through to get it tested. I guess I just assumed that they would just come and get it and test it. WRONG! I had to scoop it up and take it to my own vet myself to have it's head removed. He was kind enough to not charge me for it because it had died on the way over there so he didn't have to euthanize it first. Then I had to haul the darned head (nicely boxed up of course) to the health dept office. Bureaucratic weenies! Anyways, it turned out to not be rabies thank goodness. My vet said it was probably distemper. Well I got all worried again coz I've got a lot of cats, but he said it wasn't the same kind of distemper that cats get. Whew!

[FrogInABlender]

My BIL had a big ol' black snake that lived in his feed room and ate the rats. I killed it one day by mistake when they were out of town and I was feeding for them. I didn't know it was there. I had to rock the feed barrel forward to move it and must have caught his head under it when I let it back down. I didn't know if he was gonna whip me or cry. He's a little nutty if you ask me. He also feeds table scraps to the possums and coons even though he KNOWS they can carry all kinds of diseases. I prefer cats for rodent control myself.

[CindyDawg]

Something to think about. She's really not under weigh though. She's very broad across the front. It's just her rump that's thin. I might try it later. I just spent 50 dollars on her skin.

Something unusual just happened. My old boss just called me and is setting up a new rehab unit. She wanted me to come talk to her about an infection control/ inservice position. We set up an appointment tomorrow. I could use the money and we need the benefits but I hate giving up the flexibility I have now. I guess it won't hurt to talk to her.

[CindyDawg]

The one that almost caused me to hurt myself was the one curled up like insulation in my dishwasher.

[Esther Ruth]

I guess at this point there should maybe be some Beverly Hills music playing when we click back onto this thread -maybe Hair could add that :). My husband and I are actually one entity, technically he catches all the unwelcomed visitors, does real well. He always knows something is up by how fast I am moving from the barn. We had a stray Doberman!!!! in our yard once, would not leave, I was not about to leave the house w little ones. Animal control was good, came quickly, but it was funny - he had to take pictures of my dead hens and do a report.

[FrogInABlender]

OMG!! IN the DISHWASHER!!! I'd've DIED! How'd he get IN there and how'd you get him out?

[Esther Ruth]

Not Beverly Hills! I meant the Beverly Hillbillies. Didn't Granny have a recipe for possum stew?

[FrogInABlender]

LOL!! I kinda thought that's what you meant. Yeah, I think Granny was famous for her Possum Stew, when she could get the possum away from Ellie Mae.

[CindyDawg]

The drain screen had come loose. It was just a garden snake but he moved when I touched him and I jumped back and whacked my leg on the door. I had to re-wash the dishes:'(

[FrogInABlender]

Betcha had to clean out your drawers too! ;o)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

2 times I've had Copperheads in the house. A baby one curled up on the top of the curtains in the living room. I thought it was a mud dobbers nest from across the room and was going to knock it down with my hand when I realized it was a snake. The other was curled under a trash bad I had sat on the kithen floor over night. Have no clue how they got in the house. But personally, I'd rather deal with snakes, mice or possums then bugs. I hate bugs, but can't kill them. I always made one of the kids kill them for me.

In the 25 years we've lived here, I've had to kill about 6 copperheads and a couple of rattle snakes in the yard. We had a black snake live in our feed room one summer. He didn't bother me, and I left him alone. He slept days under horse blanket that covered my husbands saddle on a rack. As long as I knew where he was at he didn't bother me, and I figured he kept the mice down. It's when he wasn't on the saddle I was careful where I stepped, and didn't reach into the feed barrel without checking first:)

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Thanks. I'll pass this info on to my DIL.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Snakes in the house, now THAT'S a bit much to have to live with. I'm afraid I'd have to either move or have a lifetime prescription for valium. We've had little blue tailed lizards getting in the house here lately and that's kinda weird when you step on one barefoot in the middle of the night that the cat has killed, but SNAKES ... IN the house .... Nooooooo thank you!