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Post by dl on Jul 16, 2014 23:16:52 GMT -5
Okay... I know that my life is basically great, but sometimes it just feels like I can't do anything right.
Mason.... He got so fat this spring, so I have people on one side giving me grief for letting him get that fat and endangering his life. On the other hand, there is something about Mason that turns everyone around him into an Italian mother, convinced that he is going to starve to death if he is only 600 pounds over weight and you can still tell that he has legs. One person said it was "so sad that he has to be penned up when he can see all that pasture out there and can't go out." Ummmmmmm.... all the other horses at the ranch can see it also! Why isn't anyone saying that it's sad for them? Another guy actually told me I was cruel... again, HIS horse is in a paddock that is much smaller than the arena. Super's old owner told me she thought he wasn't getting enough to eat... Why? Because after a few months he is only 250 lbs overweight? There have been a couple of weeks that there hasn't been any change at all. We did let him back out on the pasture because the extreme grass has really died down a lot and Rose has been exercising him and he has lost some weight. He also has this huge fly allergy which just plagues him to no end. The worst is his face. We got a halter and soaked it in fly spray and citronella. It seems to be working pretty well and he hasn't opened any new wounds on his face since we put it on him. But we are getting raked over the coals about how dangerous having a halter on a horse is. Last year he tore a big chunk out of his eyelid because of scratching his fly bites. I really don't know which is worse, but it seems like it would be good for him to have skin on his face.
They keep tossing hay out for Super, who never eats more than a tiny nibble. Then I throw the hay away. I've thrown bales and bales of hay away because he doesn't eat it because he doesn't have teeth. His weight is good and his poop is good. If he is having any kind of health problems, it has nothing to do with HAY. I put a hay bag out for him. But they are still throwing hay out because they say that the holes in the hay bag are too small. He still doesn't eat hay. He doesn't eat hay.
In my business, some people are telling me that I don't charge enough and I should raise my prices. Then I get a couple of calls from people who say that I charge too much. Same prices. People get upset that I don't return their phone calls when they aren't calling the right number or when their spouse doesn't tell them that I called them back.
Those are just a couple of examples. On top of those plus a bunch of others, I live with two 13 year olds who are never happy with what I am doing. Lately they have been very surprised when I have cancelled an activity or two because they are crabbing at me when I have rearranged my schedule around what they want to do and spent way too much time driving around for little or no appreciation. Some times I am listening to what they are saying and they suddenly go off on me about how I'm not having the proper reaction to what they are saying.
Sometimes it feels like I just can't do anything right. I'll feel better tomorrow, I'm sure. Thanks for listening.
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Post by Idaho Linda on Jul 16, 2014 23:29:14 GMT -5
Sometimes you can only keep so many balls in the air at a time.
You might try a wide strap that would break around his neck like they do broodmares. If you could attach a couple of the insecticide cattle ear tags, it MIGHT work.
Horses built like Mason can balloon up seemingly overnight. Then you just go to step two which is a diet and exercise program. Life goes on. Magox--which you may be able to get at the feed store will help get that crest off, along with his diet/exercise.program. it is very inexpensive. Let me k ow if you can't find it locally.
For the teenagers.... can you get them a job bucking bales a few hours a day?
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Post by Trailpal on Jul 16, 2014 23:31:22 GMT -5
I hope your funk lifts soon! Everybody tries to tell you about your own horses, like you don't know them. If it makes you (or anyone) feel better, get a field or safety halter - the crown is thin leather and will break if he gets hung up. I used to board where all the horses wore halters out on pasture - and the breakaway halter saw that nobody got hurt (at least because of having a halter on!) Your kids - well, they do that I hear. At least they will grow up and move on. When the come back to visit they will be much nicer.
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Post by ride4fun on Jul 16, 2014 23:56:46 GMT -5
Its often helpful to vent. Super just is. A PITA for you to have to keep picking uneaten hay out of his pen to keep it from turning into a soggy mess but many people like to see horses have hay in front of them. Ignore the Mason comments. None of those advisers want to buy and manage him themselves.
You must be charging about right if some folks think its too high and some too low.
Kids ... haven't been there.
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Post by Mary Ann on Jul 17, 2014 5:11:56 GMT -5
Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.... I know it's hard to do, but ignore the Mason comments. It might feel like judgment of your stewardship, but mostly it's thinking out loud. It's nothing. If there's one thing horsepeople are good at, it's having opinions and letting EVERYone know them. Kids are different. I know you know enough about behavior to realize you shouldn't reward it, so no advice there. In my house we called this type of behavior The Thirteens. As in, "She's having a bad attack of The Thirteens." It seems to be a syndrome where normal judgmental development is replaced by selfishness and whining, and any rational response applied causes The Thirteens to fester out of control. The good news is, by some miracle of nature, it seems to heal itself by age 14, and mellow rational behavior miraculously returns. Sorry you're getting a double dose. Isn't it funny how when you have two in the house with The Thirteens, that one plus one equals more than the sum of its parts?
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Post by dl on Jul 17, 2014 7:39:39 GMT -5
Thanks, you guys! I think I haven't been getting enough sleep and my resistance is down. It's nice to vent and hear a few words of encouragement now and then!!!!!
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Post by ride4fun on Jul 17, 2014 8:55:27 GMT -5
And you probably hear a lot "those are such good kids" even the RM told me "you can bring kids like that every year" What I've observed with friends and co-workers over the years is that good kids have parents like you that do all the hard parenting work and suffer through the occasional sulk etc that comes with that.
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Post by donna on Jul 17, 2014 12:55:56 GMT -5
Mason can be frustrating. He is able to get fat on air. Remember when he was living in the roundpen with year old hay. He would pee on it and just look pathetic or when I had him in a grazing halter and he would stand in the middle of the pasture totally depressed? Who knew when you put him in the 300 acres of dry land (read desert) that we would have two years of incredible rain and a midwest type growth of grass. You do the best you can from day to day and try different things. ThyroL seemed to help, lots of exercise helps, once things start drying out,the grass will go somewhat dormant, that will help with bugs and too much forage. September is only six weeks away. If you need a halter on him, use a breakaway halter or tie a piece of twine instead of buckling the halter. It will break if he gets in a spot. You are a great horse mom. Screw the people and all their unasked for advice. ((((HUGS))))
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Post by Idaho Linda on Jul 17, 2014 14:49:47 GMT -5
Advice is SUPPOSED to be helpful and kind. Just sift through the responses and take what might seem to be workable. Like Donna says above, "...do the best you can day to day and try different things."
One thing that has made life difficult for horse folks with "easy keepers" is the "improved" seed for hay. It is designed to put weight on cattle. I finally was able to get my "gets fat on air" mare straightened out by buying hay only from the neighbor. He cuts natural fields--fields that have not been seeded to produce "better" (read, high calorie, high sugar) hay. Some has been sprayed for weeds, some has not. The hay from the feed store (convenient, call, they deliver and stack it in the shed and you are ready for the winter) was really setting me up for challenges. And, the final piece of the puzzle was when Jenni posted that new studies had determined Jiagulon should not be fed to "easy keepers". This, of course, was after years of recommendations that the herb helped the feet. So, dropping the herb and continuing the local hay has Fuerza looking wonderful. I changed where I put in the temporary fence and that worked out really well. The horses got more exercise, more hill-climbing, and, as a benefit, kept the grass/weeds down in the arena. We cut the hay off the biggest part of the pasture and then I put away the temporary fence. It can take quite a while to figure out the best working strategy. We rarely have rain from July through the middle of September, so that hay field/pasture dries out quickly after it is cut--within days. So this works for me. The grass quits growing. Like Donna said, you have had two unusual years in a row. Don't beat yourself up, just adjust. And, you have already made changes. Keep what works, and try something different when one thing doesn't work out as planned. Most folks offering you "free" advice have never lived where horses are on pasture. Most horses are never so lucky. You are doing great by Mason--his waist-line just needs a little fine-tuning.
I have seen folks who turn their horses out at night and bring them in every morning to spend the day in the corral (with a little hay.) This is big on ranches where the horses are brought in so they are available for work. Unfortunately, since you don't live on the ranch, this would be harder for you. Where it works, it works well. The horses still have pasture, but not for 24 hours a day. And, when you are ready to ride, the horses are ready for you. When you finish working the horses, they go back out until the next morning.
I temporarily changed the size of my pasture with step-in posts and electric rope. The horses could be out 24/7, get lots of exercise, and not get too much to eat. And, like Donna noted above, soon your pasture will dry out and once again it will be acres per horse instead of horses per acre.
We are here for you. And I hope we never beat you up, but, instead, offer you good, sound advice that you can take or leave.
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Post by Marci on Jul 17, 2014 16:30:20 GMT -5
Yes, the fatties can keep fat on the cheapo hay. Shadow actually had an episode of founder this winter on some extra rich hay. it was 400 a ton and in tiny bales but a few of those and I had to put her back on the el-cheapo hay. Right now she is eating cheap valley grass hay and a lb of alfalfa pellets. Downright fat she is. Wonder if you could suggest a paddock paradise type setup? Its supposed to help with pasture management and keep them more active. People have to understand that he just can't have extras. No matter how much he begs. Did you start him on a magnesium supplement? Its supposed to help with it too. Heck I had to start taking some mag, not for being an easy keeper but because I was having leg cramps, those things SUCK! He could wear a grass muzzle, but I imagine that would make everyone feel sorry for him too. But that way he could be out with his buddies. Course then the grass is now dry so it won't pack the punch the green stuff did. And there is never just one way of doing things, good thing too since what works for one horse doesn't for the next. LOL You have to take advice with a grain of salt, and some gets tossed over your shoulder for luck.
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Post by Newfygirl on Jul 17, 2014 16:39:50 GMT -5
Uh oh...I have a 12 year old...We are apparently in for it soon! I can see the moods coming though...yes, whether you want to hear it or not, people will give you their opinions. Just nod and smile. Sounds like you could use a little "me time".
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Post by Frostym on Jul 17, 2014 19:23:51 GMT -5
Two against one is always hard, especially when whiny and complaining. I would say, "Kids that are whiny and complaining are overtired." Bedtime tonight, lights out, will be an hour earlier. This is not a discipline trick, it's the truth. See if extra sleep doesn't help them.
Whoever "they" are who are wasting your hay and overfeeding Mason must be stopped NOW. Is it the kids? I just don't know who they are so I can't say more. But if the kids are not minding you on something this important, that's a big problem. JMHO.
People complain. Take is with a smile and an apology. This too shall pass.
You sound overtired. Maybe the whole family should turn in early tonight! Big (((HUGS)))).
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