Sunday, August 26, 2007

Settle down, settle down

Got the boys in this morning (Thanks Farmmom and Farmdad!) And they're starting to get settled in, but they're still a little nervous.

Red is settling in better than the bay, he just wants attention. The bay however... well he's being stubborn. He stood at the back of his stall for a while and I brushed him all down one side, got rid of most of the dust and got him fairly shiny, until he started dropping his head and relaxing into it. Then I went to turn him around and do the other side... no dice. So, he's now got one shiny side, and one dusty side. Oy.

I'll take him out tonight when I clean their stalls and brush him down all over, get the rest of the travel dust off of him and get him looking pretty. The big baby.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I once owned a Missouri Foxtrotter that developed the creeping crud. Vet game me some antibiotics, so the treatment was on.

First day was no problem. The second was find another spot for the injection. The third day was an early work day from hell. Cold, light rain and a horse that wasn't happy about his shot.

After trying to give an injection to a horse that was constantly backing up, I came to my wits end. I finally decided it was enough and gave it up.

After thinking about it, I came up with a plan for that evening. I walked to his left side, swabbed the alcohol (on the other side, this is where he'd start backing up) held my breath, stuck him with the syringe, checked for blood, and gave him his medicine. No fight, no snorting or pulling, nothing. He hadn't learned what an injection was on this side, so it didn't faze him. I spent the rest of his treatment alternating sides.

FarmGirl said...

Jon, I got the worst of it brushed off, but its gonna take a few days to get all of it out unless I wash him, and I'm not much on bathing them.

Anonymous said...

Well, if you wash him, he'll find the muddiest or dustiest spot to roll in after you get him spotless. Horses are like that. They show their appreciation for your efforts by defeating the same efforts.

Anonymous said...

I'm not real big on bathing my horses either, per se, but in summer, this one I have now seems to like a shower just with cold water from the hose. With the hot weather here, I've been washing a lot of salt out of his coat every time. He's that much cleaner. But it's another case of one size not necessarily fitting all. He'll still go roll and get some fresh dust in his coat.

mustanger

Anonymous said...

jon, It's not that a horse don't appreciate it. The ones I've known enjoyed the attention. They'll go roll to get some fresh dirt in their coat to retard the bugs' ability to bite through the hair.

mustanger... again.