Snap some pictures today
- Thread starter Jessey
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Pics from my week. Home-baked keto loaf. I love these!!
This is the raised pole ensemble that I set up for Gracie - ridden at walk only as advised by my physio. It took her a while to engage her brain and start thinking about all four feet but eventually she did well after falling over them copiously!! ?
Daughter gave me half a dozen eggs that were near their use-by date so I made keto lemon curd and my first keto meringues*!
*They were vile and went in the bin. LC was/is fab, but I've made that before.
Can you guess what I did yesterday??? ?
Gracie has been growing her feather and mane back since January. Still a way to go but she's not a quick hair grower. Pleased to report that she's still on the balancer that had sorted out her itchies and she's still itch-free which is utterly delightful. Yesterday she had her first feather wash. Yard has a hot (warm) shower on an extending overhead handle so G stood like a rock to have her legs, mane and tail washed. It was so much easier than the cold water fidgets (for which I don't blame her at all, tbh!!). You pay £3.50 and can use as much hot water as you need.
Yeah so that's the non-ridden part of my week!
This is the raised pole ensemble that I set up for Gracie - ridden at walk only as advised by my physio. It took her a while to engage her brain and start thinking about all four feet but eventually she did well after falling over them copiously!! ?
Daughter gave me half a dozen eggs that were near their use-by date so I made keto lemon curd and my first keto meringues*!
*They were vile and went in the bin. LC was/is fab, but I've made that before.
Can you guess what I did yesterday??? ?
Gracie has been growing her feather and mane back since January. Still a way to go but she's not a quick hair grower. Pleased to report that she's still on the balancer that had sorted out her itchies and she's still itch-free which is utterly delightful. Yesterday she had her first feather wash. Yard has a hot (warm) shower on an extending overhead handle so G stood like a rock to have her legs, mane and tail washed. It was so much easier than the cold water fidgets (for which I don't blame her at all, tbh!!). You pay £3.50 and can use as much hot water as you need.
Yeah so that's the non-ridden part of my week!
I'd love your shower setup, but since Hogan had a melt down with a sponge bath, I reckon I'd be wasting my £3.50.
Yuk - imagine dozens of the ugly little blighters. Not a fan of spiders, though I wouldn't hurt one.
Does she have sweetitch? Or just warm and gets itchy?
I am hoping a good dehair session along with the rain last night will settle mine. She's got an itchy chin and she's lost the trough that she used to had a little itch on. But the field got topped with her in it and all the seed has gone everywhere.
I can see myself buying her a trough!
Funnily enough mine is selective on the water front.
Hosepipe- loves it
Bathing - fine
Feathers - fine, cool water in summer please
Puddles, no chance! Ew cold dirty water.
The sea, meltdown, reverse, set neck, oh crap. We haven't been to the beach, that's just glancing at the sea!
Couldn't help it, I had to Google because I love spiders. This is a great site for easy picture ID. So many different types of spider and some with fab names - the 'Zombie Spider' - how cool is that? ?
Spiders Section - UK Safari
Close up photos and information to identify spiders in Great Britain and Northern Ireland
I'm afraid yours looks a bit like a false widow, not the first pic, there are several variations if you scroll down.
Very envious of your adder too, I think we only have grass snakes here and you have to be lucky to see one.
@newforest No to sweetitch. She's not really into rubbing her mane and tail. But Gracie had skin issues from when I bought her - mallenders, itchy feather (stamping, biting/rubbing until she bled and lumpy skin, so I kept them clipped off to reduce her discomfort. Then last winter (January) we got this on her inner thighs ? ... no diet or environmental changes.
She was pretty much living in her turnout rug but whenever I took it off she would bite her near stifle.... sometimes non-stop for 4-5 mins. It wasn't mites as she wasn't hugely itchy on her body.... just a bit lumpy.
I'd tried all the topical treatments PO&S and she'd had the injections.... nothing worked. So I thought about trying to treat her from the inside and emailed Forage Plus. They said that skin issues are often sure to a poor immune system and a mineral deficiency and suggested I started G on their winter balancer - which doesn't contain biotin (which is the worst thing for mallenders as it encourages skin overgrowth!). It also contains copper and zinc which are often deficient in grazing. So I bought a small bag to make sure G would actually eat it (she does!) and within a week I could take her rug of and she had completely stopped itching her stifles continually. Over the next few weeks all her skin issues disappeared and healed. 6 months on and Gracie is a different horse.... she's getting a lot hairier again for starters ? But her skin is smooth and her coat is vibrant and shiny. She's a MUCH happier mare and I've noticed that she tolerates flies a lot better this summer.... it's probably related. The balancer costs me over a pound a day to feed her but it's worth every penny to see her so happy now. I wish I'd thought to do this year's ago.
She was pretty much living in her turnout rug but whenever I took it off she would bite her near stifle.... sometimes non-stop for 4-5 mins. It wasn't mites as she wasn't hugely itchy on her body.... just a bit lumpy.
I'd tried all the topical treatments PO&S and she'd had the injections.... nothing worked. So I thought about trying to treat her from the inside and emailed Forage Plus. They said that skin issues are often sure to a poor immune system and a mineral deficiency and suggested I started G on their winter balancer - which doesn't contain biotin (which is the worst thing for mallenders as it encourages skin overgrowth!). It also contains copper and zinc which are often deficient in grazing. So I bought a small bag to make sure G would actually eat it (she does!) and within a week I could take her rug of and she had completely stopped itching her stifles continually. Over the next few weeks all her skin issues disappeared and healed. 6 months on and Gracie is a different horse.... she's getting a lot hairier again for starters ? But her skin is smooth and her coat is vibrant and shiny. She's a MUCH happier mare and I've noticed that she tolerates flies a lot better this summer.... it's probably related. The balancer costs me over a pound a day to feed her but it's worth every penny to see her so happy now. I wish I'd thought to do this year's ago.
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@domane sorry to poke my nose in but I just read your reply to newforest with great interest. I know you've mentioned biotin (I think it was that) being not good for itchy skin. How do you find Gracie's hooves without it in her diet? I have re-started feeding it to ours after years of not bothering. Farrier hasn't commented either way and I do know you have to feed lots and lots of Happy Hoof to get the required daily amount.
Other thing is - your Gracie's skin condition looks similar and sounds similar to my Chloe cob's. She's had the dectomax injections loads of times to no avail, except a small difference - not a lot. Plus I've tried countless shampoos and sprays. She's on prascend so probably coupled with her age 31 not the best skin in the world. However, it's made me think now about trying to treat her from the inside out. I am not wondering if the veteran mix I have her on isn't that good? I shall have to check the ingredients. Sorry for the long waffle. But it's just made me think seeing the pic of G's inside upper legs.
Other thing is - your Gracie's skin condition looks similar and sounds similar to my Chloe cob's. She's had the dectomax injections loads of times to no avail, except a small difference - not a lot. Plus I've tried countless shampoos and sprays. She's on prascend so probably coupled with her age 31 not the best skin in the world. However, it's made me think now about trying to treat her from the inside out. I am not wondering if the veteran mix I have her on isn't that good? I shall have to check the ingredients. Sorry for the long waffle. But it's just made me think seeing the pic of G's inside upper legs.
Thanks for your reply. I am leaning towards pollen with mine.
Previous yard she would itch the back feathers, got that earth stuff but I wasn't combined it was mites, but the grass being allowed to go seed.
New place she isn't itching the feathers but is wanting to itch on the poly posts. Will look at footage plus because all she gets is grass and token hay come winter. My grazing is actually poor much to her disgust.
@Trewsers Gracie has a very low sugar/low starch diet.... well as low as I can manage. She does get a daily feed - to get the supplement in but that's literally a handful of Fast Fibre soaked to mush so that I can mix the powder in, plus a couple of handfuls of Graze On dried grass chaff and a tablespoon of salt. I don't feed her carrots because I only found out recently that they contain lots of biotin - as well as sugar. She is on restricted grazing because being a fat cob she inhales calories from the air ?. She can't eat alfalfa in any shape or form either as that makes her itch profusely.... and it's in a lot of chaffs. I did a search on H&H forum and it's quite a common reaction.
I emailed Forage Plus, describing G and that's what they suggested. They were delighted to hear from me a few weeks later too when I have them a great update! Drop them a line and tell them about Chloe - and see what they suggest.
I emailed Forage Plus, describing G and that's what they suggested. They were delighted to hear from me a few weeks later too when I have them a great update! Drop them a line and tell them about Chloe - and see what they suggest.
The horse produces it's own biotin, my farrier was of the understanding that if we supplement it, the horse stops bothering completely.
The hooves are the last to get the nutrition, so feeding from the inside out is good thinking.
I tried with her seasons to focus on the seasons, I actually scrapped that idea to support the whole horse. And this year she's on nothing at all, but, looking into balancers.
Today's offering. The po got some new hoof boots
Now that lockdown is over, we've upped our hacking on roads/stoney tracks too quickly for so early in Gracie's journey to barefoot and she's got a bit sore. So today we tested out these little beauties for stability with a quick 20 minute jaunt around the farm. As you can see they didn't move. And hadn't rubbed when I removed them.
Now that lockdown is over, we've upped our hacking on roads/stoney tracks too quickly for so early in Gracie's journey to barefoot and she's got a bit sore. So today we tested out these little beauties for stability with a quick 20 minute jaunt around the farm. As you can see they didn't move. And hadn't rubbed when I removed them.
Interesting about biotin. Didnt know it can make them itchy. Ive put billy on it this year to see if he grows anymore hoof. Its early days as hes not been on it long enough yet. But i think hes a bit less footy.
But hes been itching his bottom alot more recently. Mind he is due a wormer. But i notice hes mallendars/mites are worse.
Catch 22 do i take him off the biotin. Ummm
But hes been itching his bottom alot more recently. Mind he is due a wormer. But i notice hes mallendars/mites are worse.
Catch 22 do i take him off the biotin. Ummm
@chunky monkey I don't think it makes them more itchy. My understanding is that biotin boosts hair and hoof (keratin). Mallenders and sallenders are an itchy over-production of keratin - so if your horse suffers with it, you don't want to be feeding something that makes them produce more.
Biotin is one of the B vits, which are all produced in the horses gut, so could be an interesting link there @domane. I read that somewhere @newforest that if you supplement it, it reduces the bodies ability to produce it naturally so you aren't necessarily increasing the amount they get, especially if you don't give enough of it
When I started roadwork with mine I didn't boot unless it was over four miles. She was a youngster back then and the hooves were changing as well.
They do so many different boots now, she had Trails. They look like Fushion? I did try some but didn't like them a much.
Yep, Cavallo Treks. Got to be honest, I've been pleasantly surprised. When I was booting my TB 11 years ago, Cavallo's only came in the "Simple" style and were very much the poor-relation to Easyboots, Old Mac's and Boas. But my goodness have they slowly climbed the ranks in the intervening years. A Google search now has them at top of the recommendations list for a starter boot. And they fit G really well.... well this size does.... She outgrew the smaller size in 10 days!! ??
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