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Thread III: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1311311/posts |
Posted on 09/18/2004 6:56:23 AM PDT by 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.
I love 1st birthday parties! Especially when they let the guest of honor sticks his face in the cake. The blue icing really looks funny when it's coming back out of their mouth as blue drool, and their teeth and tongue are blue too and they've got it all over their body. Those kind of pictures are good to save for when they're 40 and you can publish them in the local paper, along with "Lordy, Lordy, look who's 40". When my sister turned 40, My Dad published one of her sitting on the potty chair. It was really funny.
Not a bad idea.
I've gotta go to town to get some stuff to make a cake with for a family get together tomorrow, so I'll talk to ya'll later. Seeya.
Beth
LOL
YOu know when I was kid and my kids I don't remember anyone giving kids their own cake like this. Now a days, every 1st birthday party I've been to the kid has thier own cake. It's fun to watch. But once JP got his hands so full of icing he didn't seem to want to dig in anymore. He was sitting there like "what do I do now,:)"
Becky
Sure, looks like a fun party!
Well, we've got to get busy now... just talked to our soldier friend, and we'll be meeting up with him this afternoon. House needs cleaning because they may want to come by - mostly to see the horses, but still ;~D
I was thinking of maybe riding a bit today before the rain moves back in, BUT I just remembered that rifle season opened today. I've seen several hunters coming out of the woods. I don't usually ride during rifle season. Even tho the "real" hunters stop during the afternoon, we get alot of amatures here. We're close enough to town to get weekend want to be's here, that don't know you have to hunt early in the morning or late evening.
Guess I'm shut down now except for the arena (which I hate), for the next 10 days.
Becky
Hi,
Congratulations on the impending motherhood.
First question - are these mares full size or miniature? That will make a difference here.
Is the foaling pen fenced so that a baby cannot get caught under a rail or hung up?
Where do you live - what's the temperature this time of year?
Get together a foaling kit of sorts - you want old towels, iodine solution, a fleet enema, cotton balls or something similar, tail wrap. Make sure your vet knows that a birth is due soon so that they can expect a call if there is a problem or if they are going to be out of town, refer you to someone else.
Signs of impending birth will vary greatly from mare to mare, depending on whether or not it's a first foal, sometimes by the breed (arabs tend to go a little longer sometimes).
Take a good look at your mare now. You should be looking at a fairly rounded belly and rear end. Her bag may or may not be full, there may or may not be milk already - again, just depends on the mare.
As she gets close to foaling, her rounded belly will look more like it's pointed at the bottom. Her rounded rear end will sink in beside her tail and feel sort of like jello. Now is time to wrap her tail. My experience has been that once you have the pointed belly (foal has dropped into position) you usually have a baby on the ground in less than 24hours.
Pick a spot where you can observe but be unobtrusive and still help if necessary. After the birth, assuming you don't need to assist, and assuming that the mare will let you, dry the baby partially off, run your hands over legs and face and ears, etc., put some iodine on the cord area and watch for awhile to see that the baby nurses. If the placenta hasn't completely expelled, tie a knot in the bottom end of it to keep it from dragging on the ground. Under no circumstances pull it out. After the baby starts nursing, the nursing will cause contractions to release it. If it doesn't expel after a few hours, call a vet.
If the mare is having trouble foaling, legs pointed up or only one leg presented, or legs and no nose between them, just above the knee area, or contractions that continue for over an hour with no foal presented (and let me check the timeline on this that is safe), try to get the mare to stand while you call a vet.
Now, if you have a mare that doesn't want company, she'll wait until you leave for a cup of coffee. If you have a mare that is new to you, make sure you don't intrude unless real problems arise, you will just worry her. Some mares will be very protective of their new foals, if she is, forget imprinting that one, and don't even try to do anything with it unless you have help so someone can halter and hold the mare.
Please try to get some information on foaling, either a book or online, so that you can recognize trouble if it comes. Most births are pretty rapid and you need to have some idea ahead of time what a problem birth will look like as you don't have much time to prevent serious injury to the mare and/or foal.
:) Having told you enough to worry you sick, most mares will foal just fine on their own, just put them in a safe and clean area (40x40) sounds great. If you do only one thing, alert a vet that a foal is due and call immediately if you see any kind of problem. That I can't stress enough.
Hoping for pictures here soon.
Bummer. I used to hate the arena but now I'm finding I can do lot's of cool stuff in there:')
Just wanted to add my "get pictures" too:')
The arena is good for the horses and well, a good place to work on horsmanship.Which I need to do. Harley has alot of training that I'm not good at using, pivots for one thing. I'll probably do some, sometime thru this week...:)
Becky
On the hour - if contractions are hard, don't wait that long at all. After two or three contractions, you should see the beginning of a sack.
Wow! Battle scars. I'm impressed:'). I can relate but I can top yall though. Thru various life experiences I've had broken ribs, a fx pelvis, a dislocated/broken finger. and a cracked nose, , and I didn't have to fall off a horse to do any of this:') I should invest in icy hot and motrin! Somedays I'm so achy, I limp when I walk and it feels good to let the horse do the moving.
What a precious little boy. Makes me want to just pick him up and squeeze him. He's getting started out early on horses :) Thanks for the pictures of the ride also. That water looks deep enough to swim in by the way. Our river here may have some holes that deep, with the drought is mostly 2-3 inches.
Who sired the foal?
Rocky:).
You don't think I'd pay a stud fee when I've got my own stud do you:).
Becky
Thanks:). His great grandmother bought him that horse.
Becky
Oh dear lord. Duh! :-) Hahahahaha.
I have plenty of various painkillers and ice/hot packs on hand :-)
Awhile back I was looking at horses on line and I found this really good looking one for 500 dollars. I was wondering why he was so cheap.Come to find out that was just his "guy" fee :')
I was just reading about your trail ride. You did good:')
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