Order Up!

The best laid plans of mice and men...and all that. A visit to the doctor's office yesterday afternoon sent me immediately home to bed, where I have been until just a few minutes ago. Amazing what a little thing like a kidney stone/infection can do to a human body. Especially a body that's still reeling and recovering from a year of cancer treatments. Anyway, I'm a day behind now, but peddling really hard to catch up.

I had the list mostly made up before I left yesterday, so it didn't take much to fine tune it this morning.

First on the list is something for Newt. Newt is a two year old sorrel stallion that is one of our rescues. He was foundered as a young colt (rare) and went without care for well over a year. During that time, his feet were so sore that he couldn't take so much as a step without crumpling from pain. A thorough vet check when he came to us gave the report that he was actually in surprisingly good health, considering his inability to move around to forage for food. His growth is stunted, but no other long-lasting ill effects. We were given instructions to pass along to our farrier, and otherwise given a clean bill of health.

I'm a bit of a foot fairy. I don't believe in keeping a horse shod full time (our horses go entirely barefoot in a mustang trim, except for those that need shoes for correction of some sort) so the thought of following the vet's instructions made me cringe. But, we called our farrier (Smith Horseshoeing...and if you're in North Alabama, by all means call this man! He's not only a sweetheart of a man, but he's a farrier extraordinaire!) and made the appointment to not only get shoes put on Newt, but to get them put on backwards! To make a long story short (unless it's too late?) the shoes were a great success, and combined with our home-made herbal regime and good food, Newt is now gaining weight and muscle and yesterday we saw him actually galloping across the field, which brought tears to our eyes. What a wonderful moment!

• Anyway, for Newt we ordered white willow powder for inflammation and pain, along with glucosamine and feverfew. We'll include some fenugreek to keep his gut working well with all the extra feed he's getting for weight gain and then some celery seed, rosehips and chamomile to keep a healthy blood supply to his hooves. Because of his debilitated state, his coat is a little dull and his skin is paper thin, so we'll add in a teaspoon or so of dandelion and garlic to help with that. I think I still have some burdock, so no need to order more just yet.
• Jazz is next on the list. He has an ongoing issue with an eye that weeps. For him we'll get some billberry and eyebright. (I love the way so many herbs are named for what they actually do).
• Poor Dan. He is our resident "Ethiopian horse" looking like the photos of all those poor starving children with skeletons showing through papery skin. When he came to us a year ago he was a little thin, but got a glowing report from the vet otherwise. We put him on our weight gain program and he showed some improvement, but started getting really bad diarrhea. Our vet suggested we slow down his input and we began giving him marshmallow, fennel and licorice to help maintain his digestive tract health. Nothing seemed to help. If he ate enough to gain weight, he developed diarrhea and lost ground instead of gained. Blood workups show that all levels are exactly as they should be, and other tests came up equally unhelpful. It was finally decided that Dan is suffering from ulcers. He was given a prescription for Zantac (21 a day for 20 days, do the math...definitely not our cheapest fix ever!) and antacid liquid. This took care of the diarrhea and allowed him to sometimes eat alfalfa/oat pellets without problem. Eating too much hay not only upset his allergies, but made him prone to impaction colic (like poor Freckles), so that was out. Finally, we were told to put him on a diet of mostly field grass, something he could eat slowly and his system could digest. He will be getting as much grazing as he can ingest, and since it's mild weather at the moment, he can eat around the clock if he wants. He gets regular doses of antacid still, but he's off the Zantac for a while to let his system rest. He gets doses of slippery elm, fennel, licorice and marshmallow along with peppermint, garlic and dandelion. To an undeducated and perhaps judgmental eye, he looks like death walking, but we can see the tiny signs that he's beginning to hold his own. It still breaks my heart to look at him this way, he is the most loving, wonderful, considerate horse we've ever owned, but we have full confidence in our vet, and in Dan's will to thrive.
• We offer horse training, and sometimes when horses first come to the stable they're nervous and leery of not only being in a strange situation but being asked to do things they've never done before. We will be ordering some passion flower, ginger and motherwort to aid their nerves and help calm them so their lessons can sink in.
• Although we do not do any breeding on purpose, a "goodbye action" from a disgruntled stable hand has put us in a position of expecting some colts this spring. Veterinary exam has proven one expectant mother, and educated eyeballing is suggesting at least three others. For them, we'll order some raspberry leaf and parsley leaf and they can share Dan's fenugreek. A little closer to foaling, we'll add in red clover and barley grass for better quality milk.
• For our mares that managed to keep their legs crossed until we could get our rescue stallion castrated, we'll get extra raspberry leaf (this seems to help with their PMS) and chaste tree berry powder to help regulate their sometimes raging hormones.
• For our older horses that have problems with metabolic funtion, we'll add a bit of dandelion, lemon balm, rosehips and garlic to their daily ration. A bit of kelp should boost liver function and if Cushing's is suspected, a teaspoon of chasteberry powder will be given twice daily for 2 weeks, then off a week, then back on for two, etc. Those that have joint issues will receive white willow root as needed for pain along with peppermint to help them digest all the extras. Old age isn't for sissy horses any more than it is for humans!
• Whisper (the chestnut love of my life, pictured over there to the left ---->) is prone to get allergies in the fall. He'll get a bit of marshmallow, slippery elm, anise, garlic, and alfalfa leaf to help ward off the sniffles. He's an easy keeper most of the time, but even when he's in perfect condition, he gets a pinch of peppermint leaves in his food...just because he likes it and he's The Whisper and that is good enough.

OK, the shopping list is completed. I'll check and see that I'm not doubling up on something already in our storage closet, mail off the order form and then start checking the mail for a big, weird-smelling box!

Today is Harley's (our stable baby) birthday, so we're off to celebrate with Skeeter and Nancy and their friends and family. She was born on her mom, Nancy's, birthday, so it's a double celebration. We took Skeeter and Nancy to Georgia for a Clinton Anderson clinic for her birthday. Definitely the gift that keeps on giving!