Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You who help

thanks to everyone who helps. Happy Thanksgiving.

case of equine white line disease

update on Baylee's white line disease

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

One-of-a-kind Xmas gifts. halters, breast collar, dog collar

LINK HERE beautiful one-on-a-kind xmas gifts donated by South Grove Tack

Sherry Steineke of South Grove Tack, Hartford, SD, donated several one-of-a-kind halters, a dog collar, and a bright beautiful blingy breast collar, to raise money for our rescued horses. We have them listed in our ebay account. one of the halters already sold for $65. So, don't wait! These will be beautiful, cherished gifts. for yourself, your horse, or for someone else. go to the link and you will see the items and many more photos of them. here's a sample to get you started. but right now the only way to get them is from our ebay account. link above.






Thursday, November 10, 2011

Fall Vet Day & Globe University Vet Tech Students at New Hope Horse Shelter

First I have to say that we are so blessed to have excellent equine Veterinarians in our area.
Who are dedicated to caring for our horses but also dedicated to teaching others about horse care. Thank you Sioux Falls area equine Veterinarians.

Today was Fall Vet Day at New Hope Horse Shelter. Volunteer Jeremy and pt employee Ashley arrived around 8 a.m. and we put hay out in the horse yard by the barns. Jeremy put water in the stalls in the main barn, and Ashley put hay in. Then we brought about half the herd in. We brought Jet in with the first group. Jet is the only rescued horse of ours who has not been able to completely overcome his human-trust issues. We have had him running around the riding arena with a needle sticking out of his neck before, a few years ago, when he was still totally terrified of vet stuff. He's better now, but he can still go into escape mode very quickly. This morning, we put him in a stall and brushed him and spent some time with him. We wanted to get done with him before the other people arrived. The Globe University Equine Class Vet Tech Students with Dr. Jim were coming again! Around 9 a.m. Dr. Michelle Jensen and Vet Tech Loretta from Dakota Large Animal Clinic arrived. Aside from snorting very loudly, Jet was a very good boy for his flu-rhino shot! The best he's ever done! No prob. at all. then he got dewormed and got turned back out with the herd for good behavior. The most stressful patient was already done! Volunteer Heidi showed up to help too. She is also a Globe student but isn't in this class yet.

The whole day went very smoothly. All 17 horses got a flu-rhino shot and de-wormed for bots. Six of them had their teeth floated. Butterscotch age 10, Prince age 10, Bella age 3, Minerva age 5, Hero age 4, Jewel age 7. All pretty young, huh? Young horses need their teeth checked and floated often. A lot of people think dental work for horses is only for old horses. If you wait until they are old to start on their dental checks, you have waited too long. Our old guys, ages 30, 28, and 20, all have "beautiful teeth" according to Dr. Jensen. It is because their teeth are checked twice a year, and any little thing that needs to be fixed, smoothed, lined up, etc., gets done right away.

We had Dr. Jensen check a few horses for special issues. Baylee, who has been recovering from white line disease and related problems since Feb. Baylee is not a rescued horse. she lives here though. Baylee is doing great, considering all she has gone through with this foot. We are going to X-ray that foot one more time and then hopefully in a couple of months or so she can go back out and run with the herd!
Star, also not a rescued horses, probably has arthritis or something like that going on in her knees. She hasn't really been lame, but some soft swollen looking areas have appeared and her flexibility has decreased. Dr. Jensen wants to X-ray her legs.
And beautiful Bella. Who is definitely a rescued horses. and only 3 years old. She came with a huge scar/old injury area on her shoulder. And we need to open it up a bit and look in there and sew it back up. there is a big flap/ball of skin there and so Dr. Jensen thinks she can do some reconstructive work and hopefully the flies won't be all over it as bad next year. That will require about 2 weeks stall rest. never fun, but necessary.
So, next week, we will take Baylee, Star and Bella in to the clinic.
Spirit, I rode Spirit a couple of days ago and he was acting a little odd with his face/mouth. I looked, and found some weird sores inside his lips. nothing major. just something we hadn't dealt with before. guess what it's from! we got some late-season grass hay with some foxtails in it. and it's from the foxtails. good thing we didn't get a bunch of that hay. we'll most likely re-sell it to someone for their cows. MY PERSONAL NEW-EDUCATION TYPE LESSON OF THE DAY: foxtails really are harmful in hay, and they bother some horses a lot more than other horses.
And the only other out of the normal issue was in HotShot, our 20 year old OTTB. Dr. Jensen noticed just a little tearing (crying, weeping) on his right eye. There is a scratch so we have some salve that we put in it 4-6 times a day now and then he should be fine.
Little Shadow does have wolf teeth that we will have removed next spring before we introduce him to a bit.
Oh yeah, one more special issue. King. also not a rescued horse. he's 28. a Tennessee Walking Horse who has Cushings. We've had him on pergalide for a few years and he really does fine. But this summer he did not shed out all the way. We might do the blood tests again next spring (evidently this fall/winter time of year is not the best time for accurate results in these tests). But for sure we are going to switch meds. There is a new FDA drug coming out soon. this month. And we're going to try it.
30 year old Moonshine continues to be one of the healthiest horses here. and he is still the herd boss. Flicka had no issues. Princess and Lily also had no issues. Though Princess does have navicular issues. Her condition has not changed for several years. She runs and plays (and limps a little) and has excellent quality of life.

There are 17 horses here total. there are also 17 cats. 7 of the cats are fall-shot cats. the other 10 get their shots in the spring.  they all get rabies and the other one. ??? and they also get profender for tapeworm at least twice a year, and revolution at least twice a year too. expensive for sure. But we also do not have a mouse problem in our barns. and our kitties are very healthy. And all spayed and neutered, of course! We love our kitties here. Barn cats have really great and unique personalities.

now for the photos:
here's Butterscotch's dental appointment today.
Butterscotch, getting sleepy from her tranq. getting ready to have her teeth floated.
Vet Tech Loretta from Dakota Large Animal Clinic helping her out.
Butterscotch. Dr. Michelle Jensen applying the speculum. Vet Tech Loretta assisting.
Dr. Jensen, making sure the speculum is in place, and raising Butterscotch's head for accurate visibility/dental work.
The Globe University-Sioux Falls Vet Tech students got to feel sharp points.
Globe Vet Tech Student gets a good look with the light.
Another Globe student feels the sharp points.
Dr. Jensen and Vet Tech Loretta float Butterscotch's teeth.

Dr. Jensen checks her work.

I have to say, I know a lot of Vets and Equine Dental specialists still use manual files for dental work. I'm sure they do an excellent job. But, you know what? with the power floats, it's faster, it's easier to watch (I used to have to leave the barn), it just seems easier on everybody. horse, vet, tech, owner. Zero drops of blood today, and 6 floats.
Highly recommend equine dental work with power floats!

Here's photos from little Shadow's dental appointment. Even though he was severely malnourishished most of the first 2 years of his life, his teeth look ok and age-appropriate.
He does have Wolf teeth which we will have removed next spring before we start using a bit. He did not have to have his teeth floated today. He's good.
Dr. Jensen checking Shadow's teeth

Dr. Jensen showing the Globe students Shadow's teeth
 
The Globe University students getting a good look at Shadow's surprisingly normal looking 2-year-old teeth
including Wolf teeth present.

 Before today, the Globe Students with Dr. Jim came here a couple of times and practiced a wide variety of procedures such as drawing blood, wrapping tails and legs, haltering and leading and handling, setting up for X-rays, etc. Our beautiful rescued Paint Prince usually ends up being everyone's favorite. Prince is an amazing horse. Unfortunately, he has severe arthritis in his hocks. not sure why. malnutrition? genetics? untreated injury as a baby? we will never know. But it showed up when Prince was 3. So he is limited to very light riding.




DoubleHP Volunteer/Director Heidi helps with Globe Students practicing day here.
Heidi is also a Globe Student, but she isn't in this particular class right now.










Thursday, November 3, 2011

In Honor of Stormy, and his adopters Wendy & Matt, who gave Stormy a second life. An excellent life.


 
Stormy, 1994 to 2011

here's a link to Stormy's story. Including a beautiful video created by his adopter, Wendy.