Exercise VS Turnout

For a long time I worried about my horses' fitness after long periods of no riding. This stemmed from having horses at a boarding barn, where they spent more time inside than out especially in bad weather. When we moved Barry and Sherman to the new barn and they had nearly 24hr turn out we were amazed at the increase in energy and loss of stocked up legs. I joked that almost 20yr old Barry had found the fountain of youth. He was a handful to ride.
After seeing the benefits of turn out we decided not to go back to a place with limited turn out unless that was the only option. The horses we have now, still show some of the same effects. Dottie and DaVinci do lose muscle at their age, but their legs stay tight and they are still ready to work when asked. The younger ones seem to maintain better muscle.

When spring comes, we don't have as much ground to recover in terms of their fitness. Mother nature provided her own work out for them. I can attest to the fact that walking through snow can be tough. So the horses being out on it full time, means they are exercising. Just like with people, the horses still have to build back specific muscles used only during riding, but at least they have the support of winter toughened muscles during the process.

Recently on Facebook someone asked about whether her pasture kept horse would need to start back at square one in the spring or if the winter romping was enough exercise to maintain his fitness. Surprisingly, the response from the vet told about a study done to answer that question. 3 control group were set: Pasture kept, stalled w/ no work, and stalled w/ 5-10hrs of work a week. They established a baseline with an exercise test for each horse before the 14 week program and then did the same test at the end. The researchers used GPS to track estimated distances each traveled. The Pasture kept group traveled more distance than the other two and had greater bone density. Heart rate and temperature stayed comparable to the stalled horses. Overall it showed that stalled horses with no exercise lose fitness, but pasture kept horses remained as fit as their stalled w/exercise companions.

Definitely makes me feel better about the lost riding time this winter. The aspect of greater bone density reminded me of an article Mom read about making sure foals got enough turn out. The article, sorry no link, talked about turn out giving the foals stronger tendons and bone. They also learn to handle terrain and build supportive muscle. I can vouch for Roscoe being able to run across the various terrains found at the barn.
I figured since so many of us are stuck in snowy situations this was a good time for this post. We had to hang our hay bags so they did not get buried in the snow, but as soon as we could we put them back on the ground. The horses walk those bags all over the turn out which I prefer to them standing around. Though Mother Nature is doing a great job providing an exercise program, I hope we can get back to steady riding soon.

Stud-ly Shifts

Geez, this rain is insane. We are sloshing through loads of mud and wet clay. One of the sacrifice areas gets really slick with this much rain, so we have started doing turn out shifts. It really only effects two, Sonny and Roscoe. Those are the two that can't EVER go out together. That would cause a National Geographic worthy moment due to their stud-ly natures.
So we came up with a way to only use two pens and a bonus factor is Roscoe can't run himself skinny. He gets all worked up because the girls just had a strong heat cycle and teased him like crazy. I noticed he was looking leggy. It could be a growth spurt, but I tend to believe it is the hyper awareness. Sonny stays in a stall at night if there is any bad weather, which helps. During the day, Roscoe stays in the stall while the other four geldings go out. Then at night Sonny comes in and Roscoe goes out with the boys. Luckily Roscoe is totally okay with being in a stall when no one else is. The boys can visit him and for the most part, he can see the girls too. We just have to make sure we use the extra Comrade proof latch. Comrade let himself out the other morning and then came over to let out his buddy. Did I mention how we could NEVER let Roscoe and Sonny meet on the same side of a fence? Yeah, definitely have to Comrade proof. So far, so good. Roscoe takes advantage of being in the stall to get a nap. My horses are so adaptable, it makes these shifts easier on us all.

Stud-ly Separation Required

Well with all the rain it was a great time to pull shoes for the winter. We get to save some money, but I get another horse, DaVinci, added to the cue for trims. Dottie only gets her back shoes pulled. She has a old hoof injury that damaged the coronet, so it never goes away. Her shoes help keep that damage under control. I did manage to get 4 of 7 horses trimmed last weekend. I really hope it dries out some when I trim Jenna back at the old barn this weekend. Then I just have two more and I will be caught up.

Maybe then I can attempt to ride again or do my holiday pictures...

Cob Boys Collide

Before the show we wanted to make sure that DaVinci could go out with Sonny. That way no one was alone on the show day. So I turned out the Arabs together and watched. There was no drama. They all started eating grass together like they had done it for years.

 

 

Since that went well, I decided to put the Cob boys out together. This was the first time they have gone out together at this barn. They did go out a couple years ago at the old barn. I was alone, so I was hoping it would be okay. Well, Roscoe immediately felt like Comrade was his toy. And Comrade squealed nicely every time to reinforce that thought. Like typical boys they started biting at each others legs almost going down. I thought things would be fine, but then Comrade started kicking. Roscoe was like a tick and just kept after Comrade. They reared, pushed each other and kicked.

Comrade getting a taste of his own medicine

 A bit too exciting for the week before a show. I ended up going in to move Comrade to the Arab side. Roscoe even had muddy hoof prints on his fly sheet. Yep, definitely not the time to let this play out.
Now fast forward to today. DaVinci does well handling Roscoe, but he does pay a price, which can be bloody. He comes in with bites all the time. We decided with a month until the next show, it was time to try again so DaVinci can get a break. This time we put them in the big field, well away from the girls and any close quarters. The girls and Roscoe have not been in that field recently, so he had no possessiveness towards it. We took off Comrade's muzzle to even the playing field.
Right away I saw a difference in both. Roscoe took the time to look around the field before going to Comrade and Comrade did not immediately start squealing. They did eventually get into the body slamming, rearing and nipping, but not with the same intensity I saw the first time. Comrade did not kick like crazy either. I don't mind them playing or even rough housing. The dominance battle was always going to happen. I just am glad they both came to an understanding sooner rather than later.

Spotted Comrade after his walk around

"Wanna Share?"

Still going after each others legs

Cob Collision

First came this...

Then came this

And we ended like this

When we left to go to work, they were eating grass side by side. I told Peggy to leave them out overnight if they continued to be civil. She just posted a video of them sharing a hay bag, so I guess things are still going well. I am so glad. Now all the older Arab guys can relax without the sometimes annoying Cob boys bothering them. DaVinci and Sonny both check in with their respective red boy over the fence.
As much as I would like DaVinci to live forever, we have to take the steps to give Roscoe a buddy. His "Manny" is unfortunately getting older. I don't want him to be isolated because he is a stallion. Plus if Peggy has her way Roscoe and Comrade will be pair driving in the future :) so they need to get along.

Gingerbread Man

"You have to catch me first!!!" would be Winston's new favorite phrase.

We have been letting him go out with the boys while we are at the barn. That could be 45min to 4hrs depending on the day. He has decided that he likes being back out with the boys and only wants to come in if they do. So when Mom went to get him, off he trotted. Eventually she opened the barn doors and he trotted in there like "Ha, I am going in here." Just where she wanted you silly.

As of Sunday he is off of the B-L and not getting any pain medicines. That decision came about the time we started seeing his stall get messier and messier from him moving around. Obviously he is feeling better. More turnout has helped that issue some.

Today we decided to try putting him out for the day and having Jenna's owner bring him in for the night when she came in the evening. Finger's crossed he lets her near him. We told him he could go out, but he had to wear a muzzle. DaVinci and Roscoe need hay and Winston inhales hay so the muzzle will slow him down. Long term we worry about the typical muzzle being too hot and rubbing him. Well, this weekend Jenna's owner moved her stuff into our barn to make room for the new horses coming next weekend and she had a different muzzle Peggy had given us. We thought she had donated it thinking none of the horses could use it, but this morning there is was the answer to our muzzle problem.

This muzzle is connected to a halter with buckles and is only a piece of rubber with slits in it. If it works we need another halter because this one is a bit small around his cheeks. Hopefully ole Babycakes won't  figure out how to undo the buckles. Those Cobs have nimble lips. Winston took one look at the muzzle in my hand and off he went like the Gingerbread Man. I love how the horses know which one is my focus. As he tried to hide behind Roscoe, Roscoe was like "Nope not me, not my problem." and kept eating hay. I ended up having to open the barn doors and "let" him go inside.

So Not digging the muzzle

We suited him up in a fly sheet, boots and mask and sent him off. No call from the other owner saying she could not get him in, so hopefully he is tucked into his stall tomorrow.

Finally got his vet bill for the Laminil treatment and the Laminil cost us $125. Plus the farm call and other stuff used, that is not to bad a bill all considering. Dad of course was hoping it would be free, but I am not complaining since the results have been great. The trial person contacted me and asked my opinions. I sent him the videos and my impressions. It will be interesting how the product effects the horse world when it is readily available.

What the Heck?

And I really debated using the colorful version of that question.

This week has been horrible at work and home. Then on Monday the farm manager asked Mom "When is Jenna going to be moved? I have promised the field to someone with a couple of horses." What? Talk about pulling the rug out from under our feet. Mom told him Jenna was still being integrated into the mare herd and that right now she is lame so the process is slow.
When Rebel died, Gretchen basically told them to sell the field because Jenna would go out with ours. I knew that would come back to bite us in the butt. Why anyone would take her seriously when she is grieving I don't know. Anyway we asked about extending the sacrifice area for the girls into our front field. With three mares we wanted to make sure the area was larger. Getting it done would be fun, but in the long run would be easier on us. Today we found out the owner does not want us running a hot wire fence, because it will look bad. Argh!!!
Mom told the farm manager that without that extension, we did not have the room to accommodate Jenna. At this point they need to talk to Gretchen, who I do not think has been addressed, and get a timeline and hash out these issues. If all else fails, we can move the girls to the boys side, with the larger sacrifice area and run in, and move one gelding to the mare herd. This is not ideal because it leaves one gelding probably DaVinci to deal with Roscoe. Roscoe takes a lot of energy to deal with. We would have to make sure Jenna does not injure either of the geldings since she is bigger than them. The whole situation sucks.
The other big question is whether they will get use of the other barn too. We store Rosemary's cart in there and Gretchen keeps her food and hay there. So many things to think about and such a great time of year to deal with it all.

Ah, well back to work for me.  Fingers crossed this drama works out okay for all of us.

Operation Integration Part 2

Today turned into a day of delays. First up was getting our last load of hay. He was suppose to come at 10am, but he had to help his wife so he did not come until nearly 11am. As Dad was putting hay on the elevator the chain decided to jump off track. Luckily Dad and our hay guy were able to get it fixed. Since our hay delivery took longer than expected, Gretchen could not stick around to watch the girls go out together. She told us if we wanted to put our girls out, it was okay.
Before we could put the girls out, Lily showed up to ride. We were going to let Lily lead Dottie out, but Lily just wanted to ride. Mom put the saddle on and took her for a stroll around the field. After that we were finally able to get the girls out in the field. Jenna was in her sacrifice area when we let our girls into the big part of the field. Rosemary did what she normally does in an open field, run. Dottie surprised us by taking off too. Then we got an even bigger surprise when Jenna started running in the sacrifice area. She ran straight at the four strand hot wire fence and did not stop.
She busted the fence, broke some of the clips and gate handles and went running with the girls. Mom went to turn off the hot wire and assess the damage. I pulled my cell phone and called Gretchen. Since there was no way we could secure her back into the sacrifice area, we put her grazing muzzle on and let her stay with the girls for a little while. Jenna stood there realizing she did something wrong. It was really funny to see her looking over at the girls, like oh boy what have I gotten myself into now. She got scratches from us then braved the girls. Well Dottie at least. She knows Rosemary won't challenge her. She went up boldly to Dottie, poofed up and squealed. Dottie squealed back and definitely won the I am the big mare here contest. Then they went off to their own spaces and grazed. A little anti climatic, but a really good result.
Jenna got a bit pushy when we took the girls out and called a few times. She settled down quickly and went back to eating. Another good result. We still have a long way to go before they go out together full time.

Group shot just after the Dottie vs. Jenna match

Operation Integration

Jenna, Gretchen's remaining Appy, has reached a point where we believe we can start trying to integrate her into our mare herd. Unfortunately, she came up really lame the first time. So their first meeting through the slats in the stalls, then Gretchen grazed her near the girls out in the field. Dottie and Jenna exchanged ugly faces, but no crazy stuff.
Today Jenna was looking a little better. We brought Dottie and Rosemary out to her field this time. My girls were thrilled. It is an 8 acre field with a lot more grass than their current field. All my horses except Roscoe are still wearing muzzles. The grass still has not died back enough.
We gave my two time to explore before we added Jenna to the equation.

As you can see they followed the fence, while taking in the sights. When they came back around, I hooked Rosemary on a lead line so she would not run anymore. Then Gretchen brought out Jenna.
The girls grazed together for a little while, each keeping track of the others. Then Dottie poofed up to her full 16h drafty self and approached Jenna. Jenna poofed up too and squealing ensued. Gretchen pulled Jenna back and Dottie walked away, not impressed at all. Rosemary kept grazing keeping her distance from Jenna. She moved to follow Dottie and ended up getting charged by Jenna. I almost lost the lead line she moved backward so fast. Yep, no lead mare in that pony. After that she kept a close eye on Jenna and widened her bubble.
I was able to let Rosemary off the lead line, but Jenna stayed on. We had one more Dottie vs. Jenna incidence where Jenna tried to turn and kick Dottie after squealing. Again Dottie was not impressed. Today was not going to be the day Jenna roams free with the girls. In the end we put Jenna in her sacrifice area and kept the girls in the field while Gretchen did her remaining work for the day.
Mares are tough and Jenna seems like she is going to be even tougher. I do not think she has many herd manners. It will be hard to let Dottie teach her a lesson with the worry of injuries.
If anyone has any suggestions on merging mares, let me know. Rosemary was a dream to integrate when we brought her home, so Jenna is definitely a challenge.
Stay tuned for more ;)