Friday 21 October 2011

Wintery Update

BRRRRRrrrrr! Its freezing! We can't believe how much the weather has changed in the last 2 weeks - we have gone from naked horses in the field enjoying the sun, to horses fully rugged with haylage out in their fields to keep them warm.
So whats new at the yard?
Well, firstly there is some sad news. Many of you will know Sarge, one of the livery horses that was owned by Alison and had been with us for years. Sarge sadly passed away in his stable three weeks ago, with a (presumed) heart attack. It was a very quick, peaceful way for Sarge to go, as he knew nothing about it and was happily munching his hay, but our thoughts are obviously with Alison, who had to deal with the shock of losing her best pal so quickly. Alison was very mature in how she dealt with it however, and we are all very proud of her.
We also said a sad goodbye to Deano this month, another livery. Deano had a condition known as "kissing spine" which is basically athritis of the spine. The verterbrae develop new bone at the top, and then touch together when the horse moves, causing obvious pain. Whilst kissing spine is normally treatable, Deano had a very advanced case of it, where his entire spine was practically fused together. Unfortunately, Deano showed no signs or symptoms of the disease until around 5 months ago, at which point he was x-rayed, his spine was medicated and then he was sent to Glasgow for an operation to remove the problematic vertebrae tips. Unfortunately, when they opened Deano up, they discovered that it was far worse than even the x-rays showed, however he was given a chance, he had the operation and then returned home. On his return, it became obvious that he was in quite a bit of pain, so after pain medication from the vet, his owner Tracy made the sad decision to have him put to sleep, as there was no other option for him and we felt he didn't deserve to go through the pain anymore. Tracy did absolutely everything available to Deano, but unfortunately he just shows that however good veterinary science gets, horses still have a way of breaking and not mending. Deano was very lucky in that he had every option available to him, however even with all options, the best decision was still to put him to sleep.
Onto some happier new now! The AGM was popular, with over 30 members attending to hear the accuonts talk and a demo on "indoor x-country", Miro enjoyed doing the demo greatly and showed off by trying to take off and jump everything faster than he was meant to. We had some good suggestions at the AGM, and it was a nice chance for members to catch up with everyone.
We have also booked Aria in to go away and get backed over the winter as she is now 3 yrs old. We have lunged her, long reined her, put on rollers and saddles and she has been very good with all of it, however we have decided that it is fairer to Aria to go away to be backed so that she can be given the time she needs and the regularity of work as we are struggling to get to her each day. Young horses thrive on routine and regular learning, so we hope that in sending her to a professional who has time for her each day, she will have the best start to her ridden career. Although Aria broke her leg as a yearling, it appears to be standing up to the work of lunging, so we are hoping she will remain sound through her backing. She is going to Alison West, who runs West Eventing and has a great reputation for starting youngsters.
Thats all for now
Thanks