Starting Strong

Maybe not on the blogging front but in other areas yes, it's been a great start to 2020. We're in the middle of our first real snow storm of the year so I finally have some enforced down time to put a blot post together!

First, we're mainly moved in on the first floor of our house. The basement needs some serious work (except my tack corner but more on that later) and the upstairs is livable but still a work in progress. We did get our Roomba set up today though so we have that going for us.

Dining room and kitchen looking very adult. 

And then there's my tackroom corner in the basement.

All of the <3 eyes
Also, supplement baggies being made while I watched horse Youtube for entertainment.

I so love having this much organized space for my horse stuff. It also feel slightly insane that I have this much tack in "storage" which completely ignores all the stuff I have at the barn and in my car both of which are more actively in use. This set up is also awesome because it's right next to our washer and dryer and the laundry tub which make tack cleaning easy as well as doing horse laundry.

One big thing that's going to be updated is that the tack locker that I made with my dad is getting moved in probably within the next month or so. It's going to need a coat of paint and some finishing touches but then I'll be rearranging to make use of that space. I'd love to have it at the barn but the last couple of barns that I've been at already have dedicated tack space and didn't allow outside tack lockers so my best option is to have it at home. I'll share updated pictures once I have that set up.

In pony news things are going really well. I've been really focused on utilizing the skills that I'm learning from resources such as the Jane Pike podcasts and it's making a huge difference with how Katai and I work together. We're in sort of a back to the basics and strength building place right now. It could, and would, have felt frustrating but I've been really focused on how much of a different place we're in relationship and communication wise so really it just feels like a huge step in the right direction.

Finding these amazing things that Katai ADORES
probably isn't hurting our progress lol

I've also been so happy to have Katai in a stall again. A week or so ago we had a quick temp drop and I went out in the morning planning to add a blanket and I was feeling bad that she was probably cold. I got to the barn and saw that the barn employee had added a couple of extra layers when she turned out and Katai was toasty warm. I actually got teary eyed. I can also tell that she's getting her magnesium every day and it seems to be making a huge different in her ability to learn and process the work we're doing.

Katai was having a bit of trouble adjusting to the new stall board set up. For whatever reason all of the mares in the pasture she was in previously got along SUPER well and were very close. After moving her to the stall, she was worried and upset for about two weeks and spent a lot of her time trying to convince us that we'd screwed up and put her in the wrong place. I started her on a hemp supplement just to see what happened since I was curious if it would help her high anxiety around the change. She hasn't been on it for long at this point but I'm curious to see if it helps her anxiety in general. She seems to be adjusting better to the stall at this point but I'm not sure that it's related to the new supplement and feel that it's more likely it's related to time.

Rolling time. Now I just need to make some time to clip again to clean up what I did previously and get rid of the awkward hair on her belly and neck since she's in a stall overnight.

She's also scheduled for a massage on Monday to help offset any muscle soreness with getting back into work. I'm curious if she's more or less receptive to the new massage guy this time since she was pretty doubtful last time.

I'm hoping that since moving is quieting down at this point I'll be able to blog more frequently since it feels like I actually have content now that I'm back in a more regular routine!

Take Your Vitamins

When I have an issue or something I’m unhappy with I tend to research and read everything I can get my hands on. This is true with everything in my life but especially with my horse so when I noticed a few concerning things with Katai I went to the internet.

Katai has always had really tight muscles. When she is nervous she literally turns to stone and the same happens when she is resisting. She is fairly tight through the back as well and would react strongly to minor things. While doing some searching on COTH I stumbled across some information on Magnesium and Magnesium deficiencies. Most of the things on that list applied to my pony including the metabolism things and the hoof health. Magnesium isn’t an especially expensive supplement and it’s not something that will hurt them if they get it when they don’t need it, you just won’t see a difference in that case.

I started Katai on a loading dose of Magnesium last fall/winter and OMG what a difference. She went from tight reactive pony with muscles of stone to relaxed quiet, almost to the point of seeming sedated pony and was much softer. At that point I went to the maintenance dose and continued to see incredible things. She’ll still spook and she still resists and is her normal self it’s just that it takes the edge off and she doesn’t fly off the handle at small things. She is also more able to concentrate on me and so our communication is worlds better. Since then I’ve kept her on it and the couple times I’ve not been able to give it to her for awhile, such as when I went to KY, she went back to being tight and reactive. I’ve had several other supplements suggested to me since then, such as Mare Magic, but all of them are basically a form of Magnesium. Right now she is getting Magnesium 5,000 in pellets that I ordered from Smartpak in the 80 day bucket.

I also ordered some Omega treats awhile ago and although she won’t eat the treats whole she will eat them if I cut them up into her grain. Once they are gone, hopefully sooner than later because have you ever tried cutting up horse treats, I plan on purchasing a powdered form to add to her grain instead.

Finally, and most recently, I added DMG  http://www.vitaflex.com/res_growdmga.php .It is supposed to help with horses that are muscle sore and particularly horses with PSSM. It also has a form of Magnesium in it so I reduce the dose of straight magnesium she receives. It is also a cheap supplement and I am still just trying it out to see if it works. I ordered it from Smartpak in the 28 day bucket for about $10 so I can see if it works at all. I do have to say that last night when I massaged her, and just working with her in general, she seemed WAY different and looser. She is certainly not diagnosed as PSSM, although I may have the vet test next time he is here, but with her muscle tightness and some of her resistances I guess it wouldn’t surprise me. Hopefully the DMG will help with her tightness since it is certainly something I can afford to keep her on.

The current barn actually grains pasture boarded horses but since they are all loose together and there is no guarantee who will eat out of which bucket they can’t do supplements. Because of this I make up baggies with about a cup of Senior horse feed from Purina and the three supplements listed. There are far better grains for easy keeper horses but they are tough to get in this area so for now this system is working out ok. The main problem with the current way I do things is that she only gets her supplements when I’m at the barn. Each baggie has the amount of supplement she should get for one day but I can only make it to the barn around four days per week so she is still always short. This would be one good reason to switch to stall board and something I am taking into account as I make the decision.

More news about the new barn possibility to follow!