Change of Seasons

This Winter has been the coldest in quite a number of years. However with the increasing daylight and budding branches, it's quite obvious that Spring is just around the corner. So I thought it might be time to reflect over the past few months looking after Heather, who has been the only horse or pony on the yard to live out throughout.
Heather on another cold frosty morning, immobile! Whilst her shadow, Ouzo defrosts breakfast!

Really it was still Autumn when she got Mud Fever. This bacterial infection of the lower legs must be the scourge of so many horses. Essentially constantly wet skin breaks more readily allowing the bacteria in mud easy access to infect. The easiest and best prevention and cure is to take the horse out of the mud and into the dry..a stable for example. There are plenty of proprietary lotions and potions on the market which can then be applied.

Horse or Water Buffalo..with electric tape between her hind legs!! The start of the Mud Fever when the weather was still warm but wet in late October.

I was caught out by how quickly the infection spread. From the first little scabs appearing one day..too all four legs having big areas of infection all the way up to her hocks and knees with a patch on her belly which is technically Rain Scald, but the same bacteria. She became sullen and her lower legs all became swollen with movement being obviously painful and difficult for her. I really needed to get her in from the wet and was promised a stable within a week...which we never got. So I turned to an old remedy which I reasoned was the only course open to me. Pig oil and sulphur. The logic behind it is simple. Applied to clean dry legs, the oil acts as a barrier to the wet and as a carrier for the sulphur, which is an anti-bacterial agent. The beauty of this is that even for a horse living out, re-application needs only to be repeated every couple of weeks. It worked..though not instantly and with a side effect. Combined with the falling off scabs and rashes and possibly an adverse reaction to the sulphur, much of the hair on her lower legs started to come out.leaving her with bald chicken legs!
So I stopped using the oil and sulphur and now wash her legs every couple of weeks with hibiscrub and towel dry. She has had no recurrence and the hair has grown back nicely. Not a bad achievement...I think we can put that down as a victory.
By clicking on the picture you can see Heather's balding lower legs a result of the Mud Fever.

The next challenge came in the form of one of her field mates...a mare called Boo. As the grass in the field diminished, the horses ended up challenging each other for the hay that we put out. Even though there was only the three of them, it put Heather and Boo too close. Both obviously quite dominant, neither prepared to back down. Boo took to biting Heather and ripping her rug. Heather just stood there taking it!! I spent hours stitching and gluing her rugs. I even found her without one. Boo had shredded the buckles at the front. I bought a new Weatherbeeta Landa with a neck. First day on it was ripped. At this point I started researching. Someone suggested a bite repellant spray. This worked to some extent but the can cost £5 and only lasted three days!
Not a go faster stripe, no, the white on her side is the filling revealed by yet another rip from Boo, standing with Ouzo in the distance.

The Landa rugs have a ripstop 600 Denier weave..which is good enough for everyday turnout, but useless against horse bites! So after some deliberation I bought a Masta Check-Tech which has a triple weave and is a heavier 1200 Denier. I think it was the cheapest heavier weave rug I could find. Well it proved bite proof....another success! Not long after this Boo was taken out of the field anyway so Heather can wear the thinner skinned rug again without fear of a shredding.
Yet another stitch up! This time Boo managed to tear the buckles off Heather's rug. I fixed it!!

I've got used to having the car like a mobile tack and feed room. Putting on a warm coat and gloves then walking through the yard. Passing the warm cosy stables with happy horses munching neat hay nets, to the dark cold field which in the frosty and snowy weather seemed like a different world. Not that Heather seems particularly bothered by the cold, in fact I think she probably prefers Winter to Summer. She's not been head shaking since about November and quite happy to have no flies hanging around. Just as long as there's something to eat!

Happy to be out alone, so long as there's something to eat!
I've continued to hack her out with that ever elusive canter on her right rein my goal. I've learned when and where to ask and in some places with a carefully timed spin to the right she picks up right lead every time. The hard thing is getting her to do this riding away from home, she's quite willing to spin for home, but not a habit I really want to encourage. The ice and mud have also limited our outings.
Out and about, Heather keeping a wary eye on the hedgerows, always alert to a possible ambush by a squirrel !

So in the New Year I decided to try and start schooling her again. My knowledge of horses has increased and I now realise that she was never bred to do pretty things in a small arena. This is no ballerina. She has a very broad chest and stands with her fore legs wide apart suggesting a big heart and lungs and her thick winter coat and feathered legs give away her cold blood lines. She was probably bred as a light/medium weight hunter and is almost certainly Irish Draught crossed with Thorough Bred.
What a responsibility! Where on Earth has he taken me? Doesn't he know the woods are full of dangers! He's lucky to have me look after him...silly rider!

With this in mind I kept things nice and simple with nothing more than walk and trot round the outside with only simple rein changes. I managed to avoid having any fights with her and undoubtedly she then collected up and softened quite nicely. I would then take her out for a canter out of the school round Banky Meadow. Unfortunately sometime soon after this she began to go lame intermittently. Trotted up okay but after only a short time ridden, lame, limping slightly on her near foreleg.
Another good feed.

Some three weeks ago I took her out on a cold grey day. We went down Kickety Brook. Halfway round she went lame again. I made a sad decision then that this was possibly my last ride with her. The head shaking was also making a return, possibly with the increased daylight and possibly early pollen. No I have pieced together enough clues to formulate a considered answer. She has muscle wastage on her almost none existent top line. No ammount of work or feed has ever made any difference to this. I think she has arthritis to quite an extent which prevents her from achieving what she should be capable of. Which is all compounded by her head shaking which compels her to stand still to relieve the discomfort.
Heather with a rare visit to the field from Henry

Having said all that I have looked after her and worked out her ways. She's a very tough cookie, very independent for a horse. She can quite happily be the only horse in the field. She seems to attract other horses, but cares little for them, pushing them around. Very brave when ridden too. In some respects she's easier alone, as in company she is always glaring at the others. Alone she gets nervous and can be reluctant and hesitant, but when told to go, always does..which takes trust and acceptance. Not easy but predictable and reliable.
Heather like I've ever seen her before..now I know I'm trusted and accepted..after nearly 3 years.

So it was with great sadness that I was told that firstly she was for sale. I did wonder who on earth would want to buy her? Then even more grief on being told that she was leaving by the end of the week and not to return. For a number of days I went down to the field wondering if she'd still be there. I have become emotionally attached to her, I've learned so much from her. At the same time I've given her possibly the most stability and security she's had in recent years. From a semi-feral horse to a trusted friend who delighted me yet again in the morning by letting me near her lying in the field. She has not gone yet. I don't want to buy her. I have earned her trust and I marvel at her spirit. I've been touched by the same magic that has enchanted men through the ages, the spirit of the horse is priceless.