General Chat

Yes we are all well Julia. The weather has got a lot cooler but no sign of any grass yet. The donkeys don't like it much anyway. I have been on a couple of outings with a group of other donkey owners to look at another person's donkeys. One of her jennies had just had a tiny little black foal and it was only a few days old.
It's just an excuse really to go for a long drive somewhere in the country and chat about donkeys all day. Most people have little ones supposedly from the Mediterranean or Mediterranean via America making them Mediterranean- American or even Irish donkeys but donkeys are donkeys in my opinion no matter where they are supposed to come from and they are too small to be useful.
I could get you a rider for Tuppy if you lived a bit nearer to Perth. My youngest grandaughter is a very good rider and very keen. She has been having lessons for years and has no where to keep a horse near her or else we would have bought her one ages ago.
Yesterday I had a short visit from a friend accompanied by a young kangaroo in a bag. It looked so comical with its head and feet poking out of the bag. She let it out and it had a walk around looking at everything and a sniff at our cat's nose then she scooped it up and poked it back into it's bag and I gave it some little bits off our native shrubs which it enjoyed and away they went with it sitting on the front seat of her vehicle inside a box.
Why is your ground so hard if you don't mind me asking. Is it still frozen or just packed down hard.?
.

Hi,
I had written quite a long post the other day but when I pressed submit it deleted itself!!!

I have been trying to find someone to ride my 12.2hh, I have had her advertised all over the place and had quite a few responses, mostly from young girls wanting a pony, all emailing in text speak which i find quite hard to understand!!! I have had a couple of positive ones which I am following up and hopefull will find someone who wants to ride but keep her at mine as I have ahd a couple of bad experiences when she has been out on loan in the past!!
I had one person come out to see her last week, they travelled 2 hours to get here and then decided that tuppy had laminitus and that I obviously didnt know how to look after my ponies, I was quite cross as I tried to explain to her that she was just a bit foot sore from the hard ground and that once she had her shoes back on then she would be fine but she was adament that it was Lammi. anyone I have had her shoes put back on and low and behold she is completely sound again. its a bit annoying when someone meets your pony for 5 minutes and decides they know them better than you do!!!

The ground is rock hard again we are watering it to try to encourage some growth, I had sectioned off half of thier field to let the grass grow but the terrors broke out 2 nights in a row and ate it all!! I have connected it up to the electric fence now which seems to have sorted the problem!! I am strip grazing them, Bernie and Tuppy could do with getting a bit more but I cant let Molly have too much so i am supplementing them with hay twice a day still.

Went out for a great hack last night, Molly is feeling the joys of spring and for the first time since I have had her was pulling and jogging on the bits where we usually canter!!

Hope everyone and their animals are well

Julia x

Hi everyone

Just popped on to see how everyone is doing and all the animals are ok

My horse is getting a bit plump with the spring grass so have cut down on her grazing time, had the vet last week to check her teeth, had to rasp a few sharp bits off


x

Hullo Yvonne and Julia,
The vet rang me to-day to say that all the blood tests showed normal and there was nothing at all in the fluid from the oedema and Jennifer's protein levels are normal.
She is a very cooperative animal. Last year she had an abcess in her eye which took us ten weeks of treating with eye drops and ointment and testing occasionally with a fluorescent dye to see if it had healed.
When Jennifer saw us coming she would go and stand at her place in the shed then put her head up on my OH's shoulder so he could prise her eye open with one hand and put the eye drops and ointment two or three different kinds one after the other in her eye.
I used to give her a peppermint afterwards and that had to be done four times a day.
If he was away I used to do it and as I am not very tall she used to lean on my shoulder and nearly drive me into the ground.
There were three different viruses in her eye and the medication wasn't curing all of them we found out after a swab test was sent to the vet school for analysis.
She would even let the vet put her head on her shoulder to look at her eye if we didn't happen to be around. It was cured after ten weeks and luckily the Labour Govt gave all the self funded retirees a big bonus and I gave mine straight to the vet to pay the bill.

They are still advertising the cattle drive on t.v. At that time of the year it should be icy cold at night with fine warm days. Either way there will be plenty of dust or mud. There is entertainment laid on and first class facilities. First time riders will be standing up for dinner I daresay.

After all the rain we had the ground is turning green and weeds are starting to appear in my garden.

Lice. The t.v. vet in my English book says regular grooming kills lice.
My Natural Horse Care book by Pat Coleby says lice are caused by a lack of sulphur in the diet.
Give two tablespoons of sulphur in its feed daily for three days then cut it back to normal. If they are bad and causing irritation give it a wash with a show shampoo the first day or rub dry sulphur along its back line into the bottom of the mane and the top of the tail otherwise the sulphur in the feed should clear them up in about a week. A flat tablespoon of sulphur a day in their feed is all that is needed for maintenance.
My Donkey Business ll book says the same thing about sulphur, feeding it and dusting it along the back bone.

Hi all

paddocks are full of mud again from the rain

JUlia, my sister's pony got lice, we shared a field with other owners and a girl had bought a horse from the Ashford sales, it was in a right state and gave the other horses lice, she got a right ear bashing from everyone. Mind you the horse looked better after a couple of months with a bit of tlc but it was mad as a hatter.

Marjery, a couple of years ago I show a programme on the tv about a horse drive in America, same sort of idea as the cattle drive where you pay to round up the horses , even people who had never been on a horse before could go, you learnt as you went.

x

Hullo Julia,
Lice. Our girls have not had them (touch wood) because they always have a spoonful of sulphur in their chaff. You can also dust it along their backbone with a comb in the other hand combing against the way their coat grows as well. For skin conditions we usually bathe with a tea coloured solution of Betadine lathering it up and leave the lather for several minutes then rinse off thoroughly and dry it well before applying a green ointment containing prednosolene. One of our donkeys developed rainscald on her legs after a particularly hot wet November . All the skin peeled off in patches and that is the treatment we had to do every day. I will look in my books to see what else can be done for lice.

Those cattle going to Russia are still in for a shock as their summer would be nowhere near as warm as it is here in winter. Some of them were steers too. I don't think they will be able to breed much from them.

That cattle drive costs $3200 for five days in the saddle, plus all other costs getting there, airfares, hotel costs before and after the drive plus travelling up to where it starts. All the recommendations I have read so far have been from travel agents who have done the trip.

Hi Marjery,

Glad to hear that Jennifers lump seems to have been nothing major, it sounds like she was very well behaved whilst being poked and prodded!!

I feel sorry for thoses cows being shipped all the way to Russia, it must take weeks. I'm not really that keen on the live export of animals as i'm sure it must be quite distressing for them. they are going to get a real shock with the weather!! lets hope they grow nice thick coats to compensate, i suppose the thinking is that at this time of year the weather in Russia will be starting to get warmer so hopefull wont be so bad for them.

I have discovered that we have the dreaded lice, Tuppy seems to be worst affected. it starnge because we treated them all with a pour on solution a couple of weeks ago which does lice and worms, just as a routine treatment, not because we thought they were infected. anyway it seems they must have been infected because Tuppy now has a very bald strip along the line of where the treatment was and this is a side affect of applying it to an area that already had any scabs. she also has various other small bald patches so is looking a right mess!! Molly only has a very small patch on her flank and Bern doesnt seem to have any patches! they dont mix with other horses so it must have come out of the hay or straw i guess, the cows are also affected but Lice are, apparently, species specific so they must be 2 different types of lice.

Julia

Well the vet came yesterday to look at Jennifer's oedema. She poked it with her finger and the dent stayed there so she shaved the hair off it and stuck a needle in to take a fluid sample. That unnerved Jennifer a bit, so did the thermometer up her backside but she only pushed sideways to try and escape it, no kicking or making a big fuss. Her heart and lungs were checked and the vet felt her brisket and legs and fetlocks for lumps then she took a blood sample more pushing from Jennifer and we asked for it to be checked at the vet. school in Perth to see what condition her kidneys and liver were in .
To-day the lump has gone down to almost nothing. I was told it might re absorb itself but we wanted to be sure. The vet thought it could have been caused by an insect bite or an injury such as lying on a sharp bit of stick or stone or it could be a protein deficiency. Not very likely as she has the best quality oaten hay grown by us and all her minerals as well as access to pasture even if there is nothing much in them at this time of the year. I have just chased them out into the paddocks for the afternoon, telling them that lots of donkeys would like eighty acres to walk around on. They prefer to hang around the garage and machinery sheds and eat cardboard boxes. They like to be where all the action is.

It must have been the foot and mouth outbreak when we saw all those distressing pictures on T.V. about cows being slaughtered in their hundreds. We did see one film clip of a black and white cow falling about which was shown every time the word mad cow was mentioned.

I have just read in a country farm magazine that a ship load of breeding cattle have just been shipped to Russia from Aust.. I thought poor devils having to be kept in stables or whatever they keep them in when all that snow and ice is about when they have only been used to big open paddocks and sunshine and dry hot weather .

Hi,
Weather sound like its been awful for you Marjery!!

With regards to the mad cows desiese (BSE) we did have cows at the time but were not affected, I think with BSE only the infected cows had to be culled. It was worse when the UK had an out break of Foot and Mouth in 2000/2001 as all cows in the herd had to be culled even if they showed no sign of having it. we were lucky in that our county was one of the few which wasnt affected although neighbouring counties were. we had disinfectent stations set up at all our entrances and sprayed any vehicles coming on to our land. it was so sad to see the huge fires they set to dispose of all the culled cattle, it put alot of dairy and beef farmers out of business, they were paid some kind of compensation by the government but it wasnt enough to start all over again. it was made worse because it can be carried so easily by birds and other wildlife which is why it spread so fast and so widely.

Clocks change on Sunday so am hopefull that I will be able to start riding after work!!!

Marjery- hope your Jenny is OK, let us know how you get on with the vet.

Julia

Hullo Julia and Yvonne,
Power cuts, thunder and lightning, and an inability to reply to anything has kept me unable to communicate this week. The Aust. site has got something wrong with it and I was sent an email from G.R. to log on through the U.K. site until they fix it. That was after I complained.

When we were up North in the Northern Territory in the early eighties someone told us that they were destocking all the cattle stations for five years in an effort to stamp out brucellosis. Cow V.D. was how I heard it explained.

Did you have cows when that mad cow sickness was about? I felt really sorry for those farmers who had to destroy their herds that had probably taken them a lifetime to breed.

They are still advertising that cattle drive on T.V. w.w.w.cattledrive.com.au if you want to see what it is about. In the 19th century cattle duffers (we don't have rustlers) used to steal cattle from South Aust. and drive them to Queensland and sell them and vice versa. I have an idea this cattledrive is to commemorate those events.

I am getting the vet in to-morrow as Jennifer donkey has an oedema I think. It is a large oval lump just to the left of her belly button. I have been told that they are usually reabsorbed by the body and that a jenny that has just had a foal often gets one although there are other reasons as well. It has only just come up and it is quite noticeable from a distance. My Natural Horse Nutrition book puts it down to an imbalance of potassium to sodium caused by super phosphate on the paddocks. It advised spraying the hay with cider vinegar which I did and getting a natural salt block which I have already got and I have two different horse blocks for her to lick as well so she shouldn't be short of minerals.
That is a nice horse poem. I will print it off for my neighbour. She has lost three horses in the last ten years.

Just came across this and thought it was lovely.

Don't Cry For The Horses, by Brenda Riley-Seymore


Don't cry for the horses
That life has set free
A million white horses
Forever to be


Don't cry for the horses
Now in God's hands
As they dance and they prance
To a heavenly band


They were ours as a gift
But never to keep
As they close their eyes
Forever to sleep


Their spirits unbound
On silver wings they fly
A million white horses
Against the blue sky


Look up into heaven
You'll see them above
The horses we lost
The horses we loved


Manes and tails flowing
They Gallop through time
They were never yours
They were never mine


Don't cry for the horses
They will be back someday
When our time has come
They will show us the way


On silver wings they will lift us
To the warmth of the sun
When our life is over
And eternity has begun


We will jump the sun
And dance over the moon
A Ballet of horses and riders
on the winds
to a heavenly tune


Do you hear that soft nicker
Close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses
Love the ones that are here


Don't cry for the horses
Lift up your sad eyes
Can't you see them
As they fly by?


A million white horses
Free from hunger and pain
Their spirits set free
Until we ride again

Hi All,
Hope you are all well.
I had a dissapointment last night in that I found out that the 14 year old who rides Tuppy for me doesnt want to continue, she has been riding her for 18 months but she really is getting too big for her! such a shame and also means that i now have to go through the hassle of advertising and taking loads of time wasting calls just to find one person who may be suitable!!!
Ho Hum!!!

Weather is lovely here agin, in fact we could probably do with some decent rain as we havnt had any for about 4 weeks now!!

Julia

Hi all!!
Marjery, the reason we had to report the miscarriage to the ministry is because of a serious contagious infection called Brucellosis which is all but eradicated in the UK, if any other person or animal comes into contact with a foetus that has been aborted because of Brucellosis they you can catch it and it can lie dormant in you for years, you would only know you had it once you tried to have a baby as you would also always miscarry which is why she has had to be isolated just in case, the chances of her having it are very small.
The cattle drive sounds great!! a bit too far for me to come although I can always dream!! a friend of the family has been to one in Texas and said it was really good fun, although as you have to ride western style I don't know if I would stay on for long!!

We have put the fertilizer on the paddocks this afternoon to encourage a bit of growth!!!

Hope you are all well
Julia
xx

Yesterday my reply button wasn't working so I sent a message to Genes and to-night it is O.K. I always find them helpful. Am I the only one?

I have just seen an Ad. on T.V. for a big cattle drive and tourists can join it for five days and four nights droving cattle during the day on horseback and partying around the camp fire at night with everything laid on.
If you girls fancy a great outback adventure here's your chance I'll keep my eyes peeled for further ads. It looked like rain to-day but nothing happened.

Hi all

I haven't given a horse a colic drench before, I know parafin was used a long time ago. A couple of years ago my mare had a touch of colic, I caught it early, I phoned the vet and he said to walk her about and feed her some polo mints, if she was no better in 1/2 hour to phone him again and he would come. It worked.A friend's horse gets colic quite often and her vet comes out straight away and gives an injection to relax the stomach and ease the pain.

Cows do make a racket don't they, the yard where I keep my horse is also a farm and he has cows, a couple of months ago he weaned the calves from their mums and put them in a barn near the stables. For about 4 days all you could hear were the calves mooing!!!!!

x

Hi Julia and Yvonne, I couldn't reply a minute ago so I logged off and came back on using the U.K. address.

What a shame about losing your calf Julia. I hope your cow recovers alright.
I am amazed that you have to notify the Ministry. Is that because of the E.U.? I sat next to a woman on the train once and she told me that her and her husband had sold their farm in Yorkshire and come to W.A. because they had to grow varieties of oats and potatoes that did no good in their area.

Another neighbour of ours breeds Gelvieb cattle a Swiss breed. What for I don't know as they are the most beautiful looking animals and then she sends them to the Markets where they are probably bought to slaughter for meat. She told me she didn't want to know what happened to them. In my opinion she hasn't got much feeling for animals.

Yvonne this article I have recommends soaking hay for an hour to leach out sugars then drying it for the evening feed and vice versa for morning. I give our barley straw a good damp down with the hose to get rid of dust and I notice that the donkeys clean up more of it and don't waste so much and at night their hay is damped down as well..
We are approaching our most dangerous season for horses.

If it rains after a long hot summer and the first green shoots come through, the dusty soil clinging to the roots contributes to sand colic.

Luckily our soil is heavier and not pure sand as on the Perth coastal plain so we haven't had that experience yet (touch wood).
We have had the donkeys drenched with paraffin oil in the past as a precaution but our Vet used to work at the vetinary college and the new thinking is that drenching is now out.

They now recommend dosing with psyllium husks on three or four successive days which have to be fed dry as they swell up in water. Unfortunately donkeys are not keen on them, they stick to their teeth.
I have tried testing a few donkey droppings in a bucket of water but there was only a sprinkle of sand so I might just feed lots of barley straw and hope the sand gets swept through.

Julia do you put rugs on your horses if they have to stay outside at night ?

Hi Yvonne,
The vet had to come out as all cow miscarriges have to be reported to the ministry, it seems that it was a freak accident as the head of the foetus was very swollen and he felt that it may have been strangled by the umbilical cord he said that its unusual but not unheard of, however he has taken some tests and we have to keep her isolated from all other livestock until the test results come back which could be 2 weeks, just incase it was something infectious which caused it. it has meant that she has had to go into one of the stables and so the horses are going to have to stay out overnight. shes not very happy as it means she is away from the other cows although she can still hear them and they are all making a right racket calling for each other! she hasnt yet delivered the placenta so we will have to keep a close eyes on her although the vet did say it could take up to 7 to 10 days.
such a shame but unfortunatly one of those things when you keep livestock.

Julia

Hi Julia and Marjery

Lush spring grass is a problem for horses prone to laminitus, I usually have to resrict grazing durung April, May and June. I also soak my hay for about 30 minutes, soaking also helps to dampen the dust and spores in hay that can lead to COPD

Sorry to hear about your cow Julia, hope she feeling better soon, Did you find out why she micarried?

x

I'm so glad i live in the UK where I am not afraid of any of the wildlife except maybe our gander who is feeling very fierce at the moment as his wives have just sarted laying!!

Sad news to report, one of our cows miscarried last night, she was 4 months pregnant and it would have been her first :( it meant 2 of the horses had to stay our overnight as we needed their bit of the barn for the cow to be in on her own! they didnt seem to mind, at least we are no longer getting freezing temperatures at night or i think they would have been a bit miffed!!

Julia

Hullo Julia and Yvonne.
Spiders are O.K. you can tread on them but I try not to think that stripes = tiger snakes perhaps and number three on the world's top ten deadly snakes. Australia has seven out of the top ten.
There was an article in the latest N.Z. Donkey magazine about laminitus written by a prominent Queensland vet. who also has his own range of products.

Basically he said that lush pastures during wet spring conditions accumulate fructan sugars and non structural sugars. High quality grassy hay harvested at the height of the vegetative stage can trap fructan sugars in the cured hay making it 4-5 times more concentrated in the dehydrated hay than the original pasture which most horse owners would recognise as a founder risk.
All good quality grassy hay should be soaked to leach out "dangerous" sugars prior to it being given to high risk horses and ponies and certainly to it being fed to an animal already suffering from laminitus.

He has a fairly long hint about how to soak grassy hay to remove sugars which I don't have time to copy at the moment but I will put on later if you feel it might be handy to know.
His website is. www.kohnkesown.com or [email protected] John Kohnke Products.

There is another long paragraph about varieties of grass as well. I don't know what sort of grass you have over there but I can tell you about that as well if you like.