Over Vaccination

So much of horse care has changed over the years as more information becomes known. One example is worming. Instead of doing one program for all horses, a lot of owners run fecals and personalize worming for each horse's needs. On the other hand, vaccinations have not changed and have even increased.
Years ago when we were dealing with Sherman's sarcoid, Joyce Harman told us not to give him vaccinations. Since he was not healthy, he should not get shots. We ran titers ( a serological test for antibodies) on both Barry and Sherman to see where they were for protection. When we found they were protected, we did not repeat vaccines for a few years. This is a practice we have continued with the horses we own now.

Rosemary was vaccinated during her pregnancy so that she could pass the necessary antibodies onto Roscoe. Though the vaccines were needed, they did have a negative effect. Her "scar" turned into a growing sarcoid. You all know the battle that followed. When we vaccinated last year, she did not get any shots. Unfortunately Winston did just before his laminitis diagnosis. He also has a history of carcinomas and a few of those appeared during the last year.
One thing we do not give to any of our animals is the flu vaccine. They have found it is not effective and can be more stressful to the animal. I know most people are stuck with boarding barn requirements, but if more people question over vaccination there is more chance for change. Changing barns caused us to change vets which means we have to explain all over again. That combined with seeing a recent article Joyce wrote brought the issue to the forefront for me. I think it is something we all need to read about and process. Think about the last time you got vaccines. Did you get all the types every year and maybe even twice a year? Probably not. Have you noticed that even though you live on one coast your horse still gets the other coasts encephalomyelitis

vaccine too?

We monitor our horses' food, shoes, turnout, blanketing and worming, but we blindly follow a generic vaccination plan.  Take an hour and read Joyce's article here. It will help explain the side of vaccines we don't see and will show alternatives to the traditional methods.

HGBH What's in a Name?

What's in a Name? I love this blog hop. Let's start the list

 DaVinci: He is not registered and was originally bought at auction. I think his previous owners just showed him as DaVinci. When we got him we wanted to honor his former rider, so we added "HJ's" in front of DaVinci. As for his barn name, it is just DaVinci, though sometimes we call him "D."

Winston: He is registered half Arab as Winston Spring Trophy. His dam was Spring Bouquet and his sire is Buds Trophy?, something like that.  When we got him they called him Bandit which did not fit him at all, so we just call him Winston. Peggy and Larry have taken to calling him Winny, but we don't really have a pet name for him. His show name is Omnis Cor, "all heart" in Latin. I picked that because that is exactly what he is.

Dottie: She is not registered as far as I know, but the name on her halter she came with was "Dottie DeCafe." Who the heck names a  horse that? Anyway, I have always wanted to use my initials (NV sounds like envy) for a horse's name and since she was my first horse bought with my own money, it was perfect. So, after some debate we came up with NV's Silhouette. Our dark girl finally has a name to suit her. Much better than DeCafe. In the barn I basically call her Dottie Dear.

Rosemary: She is registered Welsh Cob as North Star Rosemary. North Star is her breeder's prefix. They are Amish so the religious aspect is no surprise. Rosemary probably comes from her maternal side. Her dam was Rosie, grand and great were Rosemary and Rosina respectively. For obvious reasons we don't call her Rosie. I tend to call her "Drama Mama" or "Barn Monitor" but she does not have an established nick name.

Roscoe: He is also registered Welsh Cob. We were excited to get to name him right from birth. Lisa, his breeder told us he needed an "R" name since she matches the Mare's first letter. And because I wanted a Castleberry Cob, we asked Lisa to use her Prefix. Then we spent months deciding on a name. Mom finally hit on "Reflection." Orginally Castleberrys Rosie Reflection, was our choice for a filly and Castleberrys Roscoe was our choice for a colt. Then we decided we liked Reflection for both, so we tried Castleberrys Reflection of Ffame for a colt's name. This would be like his sire's name Castleberrys Ffame ap Culhwch. Unfortunately your only allowed a certain amount of characters and that was too long. So in the end, we went with Castleberrys ReFflection. The "Ff'" reflects Ffame's dam's line and the "R" name shows Rosemary's. Of course his barn name became Roscoe. I tend to call him "Baby Cakes" or "Minion" depending on the day.

And for fun

Sherman: He was registered Morgan. Now don't laugh, his name was Vinty Delfry Dare. I know seriously, a total nightmare. We never used that name. He was showed under Sherman's Way, because he was one of a kind.

Barry: He was registered Arab as Barry El Caballo. Yeah, total disappointment for me when we got his papers. I thought he would have a cool Arab name. His sire was Bard and his dam was Gayla El Caballo. My boy was a southern gentleman, born in Piciyune MS. His show name came after trial ones like Blueberry. Eventually I listened to a James Galway (plays flute) song called Penny Whistle Jig. The light, happy spirit reminded me of Barry so Penny Whistle became his show name.

CPEAP Trivia Answers and Results

Today is the day for answers and results. First up the answers:

1. When was the Caisson Platoon Equine Assisted Programs started? May 2006

2. What are at least 3 benefits of equine assisted therapy?

Improves center of balance

Improves efficiency in use and adaptation to prosthesis

Improves core muscle groups

Increases self-confidence

Provides a sense of accomplishment and well-being

Improves mental and emotional outlook

3. Students complete _____ ______ twice each lesson which helps record the therapeutic effects.
anxiety survey

4. This picture shows on important facet of the program. What is it?
soldiers helping soldiers

Bonus (answer not found on the website, must think about it)
Recently arena letters were purchased for the program. Why did fence letters work better than letters on cones?
Looking downwards could exacerbate the balance issues many of the Wounded Warriors battle so fence letters allow them to keep their eyes up.

Eventing In Color's bonus questions:

1. Who leads the horses during the sessions?

Soldiers

2. What kinds of horses are used in the program?

Percheron draft and draft-cross horses of the Caisson Platoon

I hope you all enjoyed looking at the CPEAP site to find the answers. If anyone is in the DC area, you can see a CPEAP exhibition Friday during the Washington International Horse Show.

Happy Birthday!!!

And in an interesting twist of fate, I learned that today is Larry's (co founder of CPEAP) birthday. He told me today that everyone entered could receive a shirt.
So instead of drawing for a winner, I drew for order of picking sizes.
Sizes available are: M (4), L(5), XL(5)

Size (U.S.) Size Bust
 M 8-10 34"- 36"
L 12-14 38"- 40"
XL 16-18 40"- 42"

Here is the order:
Sarah  Eventing in Color
Genny A Gift Horse
Carly  Poor Woman Showing
Alli     Pony'tude
Erika  An Optimist, a Pony, and a Pug

Please send me your shipping information and size choice to equinpilot@aol.com or send me a message on Facebook. Include a secondary size, just in case. Thank you all for participating.

TGIF and Contest Reminder

I am so glad it is Friday. Tomorrow officially starts my 2 weeks of vacation which will include our last Welsh show.
This is the last day for the CPEAP trivia contest, so get your entries in. I have been really happy with the posts that came with the entries. THANK YOU!!! Tomorrow evening I will post the question answers and the winner.
Till later

"Hey you know its Friday!!!"

Chiropractic Show

2 more days left to get a chance to win an EIS shirt by answering CPEAP trivia.

Photo Credit: Bonnie Foster

5 years ago Griffyn was neutered and had to be on a leash. Unfortunately, said leash got caught up in Winston's legs and Griffyn became a puppy kite. One of the worst calls I ever got was hearing he was hurt. Turned out he had broken both back legs and required surgery. Since he has short corgi legs, he needed pins. With all the trauma, he did not pull out his stitches though.
He had a cast on the leg with a lower break, but none on the one with a high break. Amazing what science can do. As he hobbled along, we knew he would have issues long term. He has been on Corta flex or another type of joint medicine since that time. Griffyn has been very protective of his body and growls if he is bumped or jostled. Recently he has been very touchy about his ribs.
We have long promised him a chiropractic session, but other emergencies have kept us from keeping that promise...until today. Peggy made him an appointment with Comrade's chiropracter, Nikki. She is a vet who now focuses on chiropractic sessions. As sore as Griffyn is, I did not think she would get to do too much. Surprisingly Griffyn did really well. Nikki worked his neck area first to get him comfortable. All of us, including Winston, settled in to watch the show.
Nikki was great about being careful in is ouchy areas. We could see the progress by watching Griffyn's face. If she was in a problem area, he got bug eyed and had his mouth closed. As she worked, he relaxed and started panting. Many of the leg stretches we use on the horses, she used on him. She found that his spine is crooked from the years of compensating for his weak legs and his left rib cage is the problem area. She said there are nerves that cause sensitivity. Griffyn only protested when she had worked on him for 30 minutes or so. He said he was done.
Good timing too, because Comrade was trying to open the stall guard so he could get his turn. We asked Nikki if we should put him on some pain meds. She said at this time, no. If he was on pain meds he might actually do more than he should. So for now we will watch him and set up another appointment. Mom and Peggy both thought he stood straighter and seemed less tense the rest of the day.
Comrade got a thumbs up and only had a stiff butt. Maybe from getting rammed by a certain little boy ;)

Back between the Shafts

5 more days for the CPEAP Contest. There are 4 entries, how about a few more... Plus question #3 is turning out to be tricky so keep in mind the words Student and Twice.'

Five years ago Peggy started Comrade driving, but it kind of was pushed behind riding. With the loss of Addie it makes getting him driving more important. So this weekend was his refresher. It went surprisingly well. Saturday we did ground driving. Comrade moved like he was walking through molasses. Peggy had to push his butt a few times to get him moving. Even though he was slow, he listened. He used his head and remembered his long ago lessons. Comrade is really maneuverable and sensitive. After Peggy  played with him, I took the reins. He walked and trotted like he had done it all recently and his connection with my hands was soft. Very cool pony!

Peggy decided that we would ground drive him again Sunday morning and hitch him in the evening. While I was feeding my guys, she went and took down the barrier. When I went to help her, I found she had set up some stuff. There were two sets of two poles, jump blocks spaced a horse's width, a tarp and muck buckets. Not only was Comrade getting driven, he was getting challenged. Rosemary was full of it, so I volunteered her to test drive the course. Once she settled her drama mama ways and went to work, she tackled it wonderfully. The tarp made her hesitate, but she did go over. Then it was Comrade's turn. No problem there either. Where Rosemary went through the buckets, he went over them. Very true to each Cob. We did decide Comrade needed a whip to help encourage him to move forward. After him Dottie and Roscoe took turns. Dottie volunteered to be photographed.

Pole tunnel

Pole tunnel

jump spaces

tarp

buckets

In the evening we cleared the arena to drive Comrade. Roscoe thought the cart was way to strange to go near, silly boy has no clue. Comrade had no problem with it except when he was actually hitched. Then he totally whined about the weight and having to go through the sand. This time Peggy had the whip to encourage him. He was a bit of a drunk driver, but he made his turns without worrying about the having to push against the shafts. Roscoe watched in amazement seeing Comrade between the shafts of the weird contraption he himself did not want to go near. Peggy kept the session short and ended on a good note. Pretty darn good for his third time hitched in his life.

Unleashed

Make sure to check out the CPEAP Contest to win an EIS shirt. Carly has kicked it off and needs some competition.

Growing up

Onto a progress report. My third ride on Roscoe went really well. I even got him to move off my leg at walk and trot for almost the whole circle before his brain kicked and said "Wait a minute, the wrong person told me what to do." He has some great brakes. I will take him stopping over bolting any day though. Since he was in a good working frame of mind, I looked at Peggy and asked "Ready to get on?" Her first response was "AH NO." Not too surprising. Then when I got off, she walked over and said "Okay." So she got on him and let Mom direct his movements. She had some issues with being a passenger, but they worked it out. The best part for me was that he did not fuss about going back to work after the change of rider and he adjusted to Peggy. He knew she was unsure and stayed closer to Mom than he ever has with me. When she was more comfortable, he moved out when Mom asked. Overall not too shabby.
Roscoe had 3 days off before I could get back on him. Mom was working so I figured I would see if I could get him moving without someone in the middle. I did give Peggy the whip to be my gas pedal if need be. Well, he moved off great walking around the little area. He evened trotted a bit. Then that smart ass brain kicked in and he just stopped. He said no way he was moving. Roscoe does a really impressive statue pose. I tried everything I could, but it was not working to get him to move. So Peggy stepped in to move him on. We did walk and trot both ways before ending.
I decided that Roscoe was getting bored. It is a curse that all smart horses deal with and it is something we owners have to stay ahead of. So after ending the arena work, I had Peggy open the gate. We were going for a stroll. I figured how far and how long would be determined by Roscoe as we went along. First we had to walk by the mare's turnout area. Not a problem. He was too busy looking around. Then he had to go down a small hill. Plus Peggy stopped to move a branch off the trail, putting him out front. Roscoe balanced himself well on that hill maintaining his pace. He slowed, cocking an ear towards Peggy, but I told him to walk on. He kept walking. Peggy said his tail had that nice relaxed swish to it as he moved. Although he looked around and tended to follow his nose, he felt great. I have been on older horses that don't know how to handle themselves on a trail. Roscoe went over logs and walked between trees happily. We got to a steeper hill and some green came through before he found his footing going down. This was not the day to continue onto the really big hill, so we turned around. Roscoe spotted Peggy at the top of the hill and trotted up to her. Both of us were so happy. We realized that Peggy left my phone back at the arena, which meant no way to take pictures. I ended walking Roscoe back over to the arena area so Peggy could take a picture. Rosemary was calling and trotting around. Roscoe just cocked a leg and waited.
The biggest revelation the trail ride gave us, was that this could be the way to unleash Roscoe from the ground person. He listened to me out there and that is a step in the right direction.

Watching his Mama

A couple days later I rode him again. This time I only moved him a little at the end of the lead line while Mom took down a section of the barrier. Then I got on and walked him into the bigger side of the arena. He was so excited he broke into a trot. When I flexed him, he tried to bite my legs. Yep not quite in the working frame of mind yet. I asked him to walk on and he did. The other new thing I did for this ride was pick up a dressage whip. From all the in hand work and breed shows, he knows that means move. I figured it would not hurt and it is easily dropped if he overreacts. Mom stayed on the other side of the barrier waiting to see if I would need her. Roscoe kept moving and it seemed I would not need help. I asked him to trot. He picked it up but the combination of me posting, going around a turn and him being distracted by the mares caused him to lose focus. So he did a baby buck and slammed on the brakes. No big deal. I flexed him, focused and asked him to move on. He was a bit stuck. The dressage whip and some kissing worked great at moving him on. After that he really did not have any big issues. He walk, trotted both ways and even went over a pole. I think Roscoe is finally unleashed.
I ended my ride and handed the reins to Mom. She needed to feel his awesomeness. Roscoe tested her and she pushed him, before they both settled and enjoyed the work. With time running short we took him out for a loop on trail. Literally we walked down the first hill and then looped around to the other path to come back up. I swear Roscoe stopped as if saying "Uh, no way. We went further the last time." He did not want to end his ride. Sorry buddy we have to go make money to pay for your food.
Just what we need another work a holic horse. I will say the other horses have not been giving me the "I want to work too," eyes. Mom thinks they like how much calmer Roscoe has been since he has started under saddle work.

"Say What???"

Next I want to try another horse in the ring with us to see how he handle that distraction. Then maybe we can use another horse to help him learn canter. He also needs to work on his long lining to prep for driving. For that matter so does Comrade. Those Cob boys have no idea the fun coming in the future. I am looking forward to actually being able to ride this winter especially since that means Roscoe can get the time he needs to develop.