[Maxwell]

I don’t know about collar fit but I do know that if I saw that kind of sweat mark on a saddle pad on one of my riding horses, I would know that the saddle was not fitting the horse well at all. It seems like it should be the same for a collar. Shouldn’t the collar distribute the pressure evenly on the horse’s shoulders? That kind of sweat mark could only come from uneven pressure. It seems to me that it wouldn’t matter what kind of pad you use if the collar does not fit properly.

Again, I am not an expert on harness fit but I have seen every kind of pressure sore imaginable associated with ill fitting sadles and that is what the sore and the sweat marks look like to me. I have often seen where the hematoma takes several hours to show up. This is because the pressure from the collar while the horse is working, forces the swelling out of the area. Once the saddle/collar is removed, it takes a few hours for the swelling to become apparent on the surface. The inflamation was there all along but was being forced into the deeper tissue where you could not see it. It may take up to 12 hours for swelling to become apparent.

I hope your horse is feeling better soon.

@goodcompanion 19529 wrote:

Pretty hot here today. One of our interns had the horses out harrowing several hours this morning. Putting them away both seemed fine. By this afternoon one of them had developed this sore.

Never had or seen collar sores before. Is that what this is? Or perhaps a “hot spot?” The hair and skin was chafed away just a bit in the center of the swelling. We put some blue-cote on it which you can see in the picture.

Is the collar pad to blame? The contact surface of it is essentially just plastic. Not very absorbent.

Currently our plan is to rest him and monitor the swelling and decide tomorrow whether to take further action. Advice appreciated.

[Maxwell]

Hi Jason,
My mare was not a Suffolk, she was a Percheron/trakehaner cross. I have always admired suffolks but have never had one. Maybe someday.

I do think the shot can contribute to twinning but there are a lot of factors that can influence the outcome. Where exactly in her cycle the mare is when she is given the shot is one of those factors as well as the number of follicles that are close to maturing. Of course, if you know exactly where your mare is in her cycle you may not need to give her a shot. It is the logistics that will probably determine whether you use it or not. Getting everything in the right place at the right time can be tricky which is why being able to regulate the mare’s cycle is so helpful. The benefits generally outweigh the risks.

Often twinning does take care of itself but not always, which was the case for my mare. We waited as long as we thought safe then went ahead and pinched one of the embryos off.

Overall, I think that AI is often easier and less risky for the mare then live cover is. If I ever breed another mare I would probably chose AI again. The twinning risk is nominal and easily eliminated compared to the other risks associated with breeding.

It seems like you have a good team working with you. I hope it works out well, it sounds as though you have a really nice horse whose genes are well worth preserving.

Spring in Appalachia sounds good too!

QUOTE=Biological Woodsman;17865]Hey Maxwell,

Was your A.I. a Suffolk?

Twining is a problem for sure, but I wasn’t aware that the A.I. was more likely to make twins. Is it the shot that does it more than a natural cover?
I think all these mares will be checked at 17 days and hopefully they can pinch any twins.

We are hopeful to get a few mares in foal with this technique.

If there is room I am going to try to attach a photo of the event. It’s not the best one, I am saving that for an article. The old horse learns fast.
He is 17 now.

Thanks for the post. Off to the woods for a lovely spring afternoon in Appalachia!

The staff has bought new Bull Riding helmets, so I am glad to have the photos of the vet wearing the football helmet. Both these staff members had been injured in the past also.

My new job title is Cheerleader! Go Hokies!

~

Jason

`

[Maxwell]

I had a mare bred via AI back in ’03. She was given a shot to make her ovulate and inseminated a few days later. She caught the first time and was confirmed in foal. The only problem that arose was that the ultrasound to confirm pregnancy showed that she was actually carrying twins. We had to wait a week or so and than the vets pinched off one of the embryos as we did not want the life threatening complications associated with twins.

This is the only major drawback that I see to AI. Twinning is much more common with AI then it is with natural cover. As long as you do all the follow-up ultrasounds and have a vet who can handle the problem if it comes up, it works well. My mare had a very nice baby who is now steadily and happily employed.

By the way, I did some work in an AI lab a long time ago (before they started using phantom mares) and I think the football helmets are a wonderful idea!

[Maxwell]

@Stable-Man 17504 wrote:

Well, I don’t know about horses exactly, but diatomaceous earth is one of the options for sheep and cattle. Maybe it’ll work on horses too. I’ve also read about mixing powdered garlic with some other things and using a syringe to inject it into the animal’s mouth (again, for sheep). Garlic powder is much cheaper than fluid garlic or cloves.

A note about diatomaceous earth: This works well for external parasites such as lice but has no effect on internal parasites. The mechanical action of the DE does not work inside the body because of both the wet and acidic environment. I have included a description of DE and how it works….

“Natural diatomaceous earth (DE for short) is the remains of microscopic one-celled plants (phytoplankton) called diatoms that lived in the oceans that once covered the western part of the United States and other parts of the world. Huge deposits were left behind when the water receded. When crushed, they break up into tiny pieces of “glass” with razor sharp edges (so tiny that the material feels like talcum powder). This is easily picked up by the hairy bodies of most Insects. When DE comes contact with the insects, the sharp edges lacerate the bugs’ waxy exoskeleton and then the powdery DE absorbs the body fluids causing death from dehydration. Said more simply, DE kills insects by drying then up.”

[Maxwell]

What beautiful, kind eyes she has. Congratulations

@Jean 16932 wrote:

Hi, I would like to introduce my new mule Mine of Gold.

She is about 12 hands, and 18 years old.

She is trained to drive. Looking to find some tack to fit her, my mini stuff is just a bit small.

[Maxwell]

@Does’ Leap 16741 wrote:

Maxwell:

Have you used/heard of boots for drafts (I assumed you were talking about a riding horse in the previous post)? If so,what is your experience and where do you get them?

George

George, Here is a link to the easyboot site. If you buy direct from the easycare inc. site you can get the boots up to size 7. The only time I have seen easyboots fall off is on horses with very round hooves with very low heels. The gaiter on the epic really helps with this though. I hope this helps.

[Maxwell]

@Does’ Leap 16741 wrote:

Maxwell:

Have you used/heard of boots for drafts (I assumed you were talking about a riding horse in the previous post)? If so,what is your experience and where do you get them?

George

One of my “riding” horses is a Perch/Trakhaner cross…17H and weighs 2000#. I have used these boots on her with good results. The simple boots go to size 6.

http://www.cavallo-inc.com/hoofboots/fit.html

I have seen the easy boots on draft horses as well, they are used on a lot of the carriage horses in amusement parks. I will check to see where I last bought a set and post that as well.

[Maxwell]

Another suggestion altogether…buy a set of “Cavallos Simple Boots” or a set of “Easyboot Epics”. I have used both and have had very good success with them. They cost about the same as a set of shoes but I have gotten as much as 3 years out of a pair. That is with riding on every terrian you can imagine. If you only need them when on the road they may last even longer. Also, I have found that it is very rare that a horse actually needs shoes on the back feet no matter what surface you are working on. Leave them barefoot unless they really need the shoes.

[Maxwell]

@grey 16657 wrote:

Is Holly the one closest to the camera? She has a soft expression.

Holly is in the back, she is the one with only half a stripe on her face. This was taken with a zoom camera from about 50 feet away so they were fairly relaxed. Bonnie does have a nice soft eye. Other than people, she is not afraid of much and she is very inquistitive, which is a trait I like. I think that if I can get her to like people she will be a nice horse. Holly is on the bottom of the pecking order so she is usually in the back.

[Maxwell]

A picture of the ponies…

[Maxwell]

Wow, she is a beauty.

[Maxwell]

Use a string to measure from the ground up to the point of the elbow. Keep the string in place on the elbow and pull the other end up, the end of the string is where her whithers will be when she is mature. I have found that this is accurate to within a 1/2 inch on every type of horse I have tried it on. I hope I explained this clearly! Good luck.

[Maxwell]

@Stella 16451 wrote:

Best of luck to you, Maxwell. Sounds like you are following my favorite piece of training advice… “when in doubt, just pretend that you are making progress”. Go slow and stay safe.

That is a great quote, it reminds me of something I used to tell some of my riding students who were really timid….”pretend you aren’t afraid of the horse and soon you won’t be.” It usually worked.

[Author]

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