smellshorsey

Sick by a Nose

We're having problems with horse noses around here. Rather, with Buddy's nose. First off, his nose is sick. And secondly, his nose is extremely adept at sorting out medicine from food. I love this photo, but it is not mine. I found it here. You don't want to see Buddy's nose right now.

Buddy has pneumonia! He's on Banamine for three days to decrease the inflammation and help the antibiotic get where it needs to go. The antibiotic, Tucoprim, is a powder the consistency of flour. He'll be on it for ten days.

How can there be such a thing as sand colic when horses can sort pellets from dust? Buddy gets pelleted food, and he's able to sort the pellets out and leave the Tucoprim in a big pile. How can those lips be so agile?

Fortunately, I am slightly smarter than he is. I went out this morning and bought a bag of very sticky sweet feed. Mix the Tucoprim dust with that, and there's no sorting it out. Buddy made it all gone.

Horse camp is next week. I guess Lily will be taking Lucy, who will enjoy it whether or not Lily does.

We're hoping to see improvement in Buddy in the next few days. He's not bad BAD, but he's bad enough. No fever, but noisy lungs, discharge and coughing. So much for being healthy as a horse.

Back from Vacation

There's something wrong with this picture, which I took from our balcony at Grand Case Beach Club on the French side of St. Martin. Click to enlarge. Maybe then you'll see the problem.

Still don't get it? Well, you're not a 13-year-old girl on vacation. The problem with this picture is that there is no horse in it.

Lily was in paradise for a week -- and kept longing for Buddy.

Have You Got a Stranger Piece of Horse Equipment than This?

Now here's something I don't know what to do with. It's a riding crop except it's not flexible. (Click on photo to enlarge.) It's leather with wire wrapped tightly around it. This riding crop means business. I got to thinking about it after reading about Sue's Amazing and Magical Stick of Wonder at her Flying Changes blog.

Well now. I'm not sure whether this is an Amazing and Magical Stick of Wonder, or something else. I haven't come up with a name for it yet, but it would be something along the lines of Amazing and Terrifying Stick of Death, because if you give a pull on the handle, look what comes out.

Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, it's a dagger, a pike, a sword, a stabber-thingy with a very sharp pointy tip. This is a stabber-thingy of substance. Horse won't trot? Now he will! Won't jump the jump? How high, he'll say. Of course when you fall and impale yourself, you'll be quite dramatically dead and may make the national news.

Here's a not-so-good photo of the tip. The riding crop dagger is square but comes to this ferocious point:

(You'll be glad to know that's rust, not blood.) And where did I get such a thing? My father said that since I was the one who rode horses, I'm the one who should have it. When he moved to assisted living and had to downsize, he parceled this out to me. Because of my love for horses and the fact that I still keep them. Heaven knows I need all the weapons I can get when I'm riding....

He brought it back from his service in WWII, whether in Panama or the Philippines I need to ask. I suspect it's not from either place originally. And I'm pretty certain it's not for riding, or at least not for use on your horse. I haven't been able to find out much about it's likely origin or history. Here's one link that has better photos of other ones, as well as speculation on their origins.  And another photo of the same concept, though the shaft is round instead of square, from Iran.

What oddities do you have in your tack box?

There's Possibly Something More Destructive than Horses

Buddy and Lucy spend a lot of time tearing up things (though not as much as Annie the pony did). When we were in NYC, I saw something that's possibly even more destructive than horses. Lily wants credit for taking this little video clip. I'd post it here if I knew how. Click on the camera -- it works!

You really have to see how big this thing is to appreciate his approach.
 

Hay! They're Using HORSES to Harvest Hay!

I thought hay was hard to get, hard to pay for and hard to store.

And then I get a lovely e-mail from Julian in Romania, whose blog, Transylvanian Horseman, will make you envious and relieved all at the same time.

Please look at these photos of how they bring their hay in. It looks like National Geographic, only it looks even more like work....

His blog tells about his life. And his other website tells about his business, which is taking people like us on long rides through Romanian forests.

We tried to get tickets to visit a friend in Romania last summer, but could make our Frequent Flyers work. I'm glad. Because now if they do work, I have one more stop I need to make while I'm there.