[jen judkins]

Since you brought up plowing, Joel….which horse walks in the furrow when you have three abreast? I wish I had paid better attention to Andre’s team plowing last fall in Randolph :rolleyes:

[jen judkins]

That is sad….I’m sorry for your loss. I spent time in Haiti as a med student and have never seen a poorer country (actually I’m not sure there is a poorer country). It was filled with wonderful charming people though. Its so sad that they have met with this disaster.

[jen judkins]

I actually slide the collar on upside down (wide part at the top) then flip it around while its at the narrowest part of the neck before seating it in position. Haven’t had to open it yet. Like Donn, my horses help by squeezing their head through good naturedly.

[jen judkins]

Holy Crap, Mike! Did you say you were new to farming with draft horses?! That’s quite a hitch! Nice job…

A question…which horses are you actually driving? Looks like you have contact with at least the outside of the front horses. Are their lines on the wheel horses?

[jen judkins]

I agree with Mitch. Maybe its just the nature of those ‘maineiacs’, but I didn’t see any competitive angle to the course at all. It was just plain fun and was useful to highlight areas where skills needed work. I was dissappointed we couldn’t spend more time in the woods, but have a great deal of respect for the course organizers for sticking to the principles of low-impact forestry.

[jen judkins]

@ngcmcn 14029 wrote:

The other horse we had with identical symptoms to your mare was a Morgan mare. Rubbing off on the neck, bumps itchyitch.Wewashed,powdered,cleaned, medicated, you name it, to no avail. So we sold her, to a doctor in southern Maine. the bumpy itch came back. The doctor bought over the counter antihistamines, put them in the little mares grain with excellent results, and from what i was told less frequent occurences of the itch. Don’t know dosage? Type of antihistamines? Maybe Jen Judkins could help on this one,I think she’s a Doc. I could dig up the name of the Doc who has our Morgan. I guess it was an allergy?

It was probably benadryl. Cheap and few side effects, except sedation.

I wonder if it is a corn allergy (as long as you have ruled out lice). 10% of mammals (people, horses, dogs, etc.) are sensitive to corn (wheat is also high up there, but not as common an ingredient in horse feeds). Try taking her of grain for a couple of weeks and see if there is any improvement. If there is you will have to add the grains back into her diet, one at a time….depending on what you are feeding to see what sets her off. Just a thought…I do alot of allergy in my practice. Jennifer.

[jen judkins]

I like your sled…even I couldn’t fall out of that..

[jen judkins]

@highway 13722 wrote:

After spending more than $500.00 hundred dollars in meds and vet calls I would have liked a diagnosis. But I guess that is not an exact science?

I feel your frustration…really! But I’m glad he is out of the woods and recovering! Jennifer.

[jen judkins]

Shorter horses?!? You guys are wimps. I’m 5’5″ and harness a 18 hand percheron easily. What’s up with that! You just push it up and over and that’s all there is to it…:D

[jen judkins]

BTW…who created the poll? There should be 3 choices….blinders, no blinders, and no preference…

[jen judkins]

@Donn Hewes 13640 wrote:

I have enjoyed this thread, especially how it almost went off the tracks only to recover. I truly believe it will all ways be difficult to express these ideas with just words, but it sure beats not talking at all.

Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself:p

But how bout a report on your trip down south?

[jen judkins]

I sure wish I had a grandpa like you when I was a kid! Well, that came out wrong….my grandpa was pretty cool and taught me alot about gardening and I loved him so much!

But that is for sure one very cool pony! I am sure he will love it and it will be a family treasure for many years!

[jen judkins]

Buy them, George. There’s no reason in the world a team needs to be the same color or size. They just need to work well together and provide the power you need. I, myself, almost ended up with a belgian and a percheron for a team…

[jen judkins]

OMG, that’s adorable…did you make it Rod?

[jen judkins]

Mink, I’m not sure how a vet could pick up selenium deficiency just by looking unless the horse were in bad shape. Selenium has a role in immune function as well as muscle metabolism. So deficient horses show symptoms such as ‘tying up’, muscle spasm, excessive sweating (out of proportion to work load). Most selenium deficient horses are lame and unable to work. Immune dysfunction can be alittle harder to figure out, but still….if your neighbor’s horses look healthy, they are not seriously deficient. Not saying they couldn’t benefit from supplementation, just saying the vet was just guessing;)

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