House-Hunters: Equine Edition

What a crazy adventure this house-hunting-for-the-horse has been! Good news though, we found a place that we absolutely love. Some of the other places were nice, but had strange rules like "no coming at night"--well, I don't like not having access to my horse at certain times and some days I need to come late. Or they had more unsafe things like barbed wire fencing, which is just an accident waiting to happen with my accident-prone horse. However one place checked all the boxes and it's a full-service boarding facility. This means that many people board there and there are other "amenities" like arenas, washing facilities, all different types and sizes of stalls and pastures, and trails! Most importantly, they take amazing care of the horses. The waters were crystal clear, unlike my last boarding stable where they refused to scrub the waters nor let you touch them, and they feed a variety of hays. Overall, they're very accommodating and professional.

This stable has a free-feeding pasture that is likely the best option for Calvin. Currently, two other teenage horses are being allowed access to orchard grass hay 24/7. The owners of these horses rotate cleaning pasture and filling up the hay net, which I would also have to do. In a way cleaning the pasture again is annoying, but at least the other owners will contribute, with Calvin and Graf I was cleaning for two horses every time I was there! The only other option was a pasture with alfalfa feedings 2x/day, which I wasn't sure would be enough with winter approaching as horses eat more in the winter to stay warm.

I talked to the manager of the stable about wound care as Calvin would still need treatment on his sores. They said it would be easier to monitor and treat him in a stall, so I may have to house him in a stall temporarily (maybe a week or two) until his wounds are fully healed. The price is right with this facility and it was clear the other boarders were very pleased with the care and more importantly, all the horses looked happy.  Also, if anyone wants to ride with me they do horse rentals at $10/hour for a trail ride! This place was recommended to me by my vet as she frequents this place and even said "it's a place I'd keep my horse," truly a great find.

I'm moving him to this new location this Sat and I can hardly wait!

One of the many arenas available.

I gave calvin a rinse off yesterday, here he is standing in the 94° heat falling asleep.  He's looking a little scraggly, I'd trim his mane but he needs it for fly protection right now.

9/15/14

I had to go out to work today for orientation, but we finished very early so I decided to go over and see Calvin. His lacerations look very gnarly, unfortunately he popped all his staples under his jaw so he'll likely have some bigger scars than we were hoping. He's healing, but in the meantime it looks really gross, but the vet said it will heal fine. 

I told the boarders I was coming to see Calvin and they informed me that all 4 horses were together now. Um...okay? I would have liked to have known or heard how that went, but alright. I get there and see all 4 horses interacting very peacefully! Calvin only had one bite mark on his haunches and was tired, so I'm sure he ran this morning. Perhaps to get away or just running in unison. Anyway, I waited these 15 days for him to be turned out 24/7. Something I was told would happen immediately, but they were afraid to turn them all out in case a horse did something and wanted to introduce them slowly. Perhaps it worked, but I'd rather him just be thrown in and perhaps we could have avoided the vet bills from being stalled!

Anyway, the pictures below are of the 4 horses hanging out together. It was 104 but they enjoyed standing in the sun, crazy horses. Poor Calvin, his winter coat is coming in now but it is far from winter in terms of temperature! Hopefully it will cool off soon. I hosed Calvin off because I assumed that would be refreshing! 

"I'm coming mom!"

"Feed me!"

I went to look at a new boarding property today after visiting Calvin. Unfortunately, for what they charge and the distance, I don't think it will be a serious contender. Also, they don't have trails and most of these horses are boarding here because their owners can't see them very often and/or their horses are retired. Although, they took very good care of their horses and they had TONS of acreage. The good thing is that if I couldn't make it out to see Calvin often, I know he'd be safe at this place and plenty exercised! I'm checking out more properties this weekend.

Separate, multiple acre pastures

Moving Again...

Today I received a message from my boarding people that starting in October, they will be increasing board as Calvin, "eats more than their horses, hay prices are going up, and their stall cleaner is increasing his prices." They're not just increasing it by $20-50 either, they spiked it up $100 more per month. Yeah...I don't think so. As I mentioned before, the mom is in the hospital and can't help out like she wanted, so boarding Calvin is apparently too much work for the father and daughter.

I thought this was a bit strange, they have three horses so I wouldn't think one more horse would be that much work, especially since I was a paying customer. I feel the need to justify to you readers that Calvin does not eat that much! This is outrageous and those who've followed my story know that his old roomie, Graf, ate much more than Calvin ever did. Calvin eats 3 flakes a day while their horses, and they have 3 horses, maybe eat 2 flakes.

Needless to say, I'm moving Calvin again! I have 3 very, very good potentials that I just need to go visit this month before he leaves the 1st of Oct. These are 2+ acre places that feed 2x/day and have been recommended by other people. The plus side to this whole ordeal is that Calvin is getting lots of trailer experience :) Stay tuned to hear more about our experience in moving toward the end of the month.

As for how Calvin is doing, he's healing up very slowly and is just the sweetest boy ever. Also, thanks to everyone who has been so supportive in this process as it's been stressful for both of us! 

Ah the good ol' days...

Hi, my name is Calvin and I like to hurt myself!

Calvin is pretty notorious for showing up with random scrapes on his body ever since I got him. I'd find random scrape marks on his head and wonder how he even got those in the first place since his pasture didn't have anything sharp. I chalked it up to him being dumb young and feeling the need to test his boundaries.

Yesterday I planned for a nice relaxing day (first mistake). I head out to the barn and it's already 88ºF at 10am, no problem though because I'll just brush him and maybe bareback on the property. I go to get him out of his stall and notice an inordinate amount of flies around his face. That's weird, I know it's fly season but this is kind of excessive. Oh I see, he scraped his neck! Ouch, that's kind of a deep scratch but will likely heal fine. Then I go to put on his halter and see it...

**Before I continue I'm giving a WARNING to anyone who is squeamish or doesn't like to see blood and gore. Please DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINKS TO THE PICTURES IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GORE OR SEEING HORSE INJURIES. If you just want the text story and don't mind gory details then it's safe to keep reading, but if you don't even want to read about gore then I suggest stopping here.

Calvin managed to slice his chin open on both sides of his face. This didn't look like an ordinary scrape, oh no, it was an inch deep and I could see some lovely proud flesh. Well, now I have to call the vet! It's Sat though, so regular vets are closed and I'm trying to find an emergency on-call vet to come out and see him. Luckily I got ahold of one who was able to make it out fairly quickly. In the meantime, I rinsed his face and tried to find where on earth he would slice his face open. If you're wondering how he sliced both sides of his chin, it's because he's a horse.

L side initial injury after rinse            R Side after rinse           After vet prepped the area

The vet comes out to examine the wounds and says they are a bit older than she would like, probably 12-24 hours old. I hadn't been out since Monday due to starting school this week so I just saw this injury today. She was also able to identify where he hurt himself: on a piece of sheet metal in his stall. I feel bad that I didn't even notice this glaringly sharp object near his stall and mention it to the boarding lady. The boarding people felt awful and rightfully so. The main horse caretaker (the mother) was actually hospitalized last week for pneumonia deep in her lungs and is still in the hospital so the daughter and husband have been watching the horses. The daughter broke up with her fiance and just moved back in with her parents. The point is that the person who mainly cares for the horses was hospitalized and therefore the dad with MS was doing the horse feed and the daughter would only watch them sporadically. The daughter didn't know that her dad wasn't letting Calvin out to roam on the acre. I then made it very clear that he needs to roam and have "turnout time" because he's such a playful boy that when he's bored and confined, he'll get into trouble. Needless to say, they're turning him out more now.

See in the center how the wood has been chewed down and there's just enough room for a curious horse to stick his head through? That sheet metal siding is very sharp, poor Calvy! This area is now covered. 

The good news is that this injury was actually not that bad. The vet said that the lacerations were straight, which apparently is rare with horses and normally when they get lacerations it's in an L shape, making it more difficult to stitch up. Calvin was sedated with a "medium" dosage during this time, but he still had a bit of fight in him so the vet ended up having to give him more sedation. He doesn't like shots (who does?), so he'll shake his head when she goes to put the needle in, hence why he needed more sedation. This isn't the worst behavior (like say, a horse throwing their head up and running backwards), but it's the smart and annoying way to avoid shots. Finally she managed to get the needle in and drug him up. As the drugs were kicking in, I noticed he was stumbling and asked if he would fall down. The vet said that sedated horses do a good job of standing up and she's never had one lie down on her. Well, Calvin decided to break that trend and take a nap. He then very gently decides to lay down and let out a deep groan. We both stood there in shock for a few seconds before the vet exclaimed, "In the 4 years I've been doing this I've never had one lie down...until now" haha.

Oh and now it's about 105º at 12:30pm and I'm sweating profusely and haven't been drinking enough water. Not only that, but we're having to stand in the sun because Calvin decided he didn't want to stand in the shade. All of the sudden I start seeing stars and getting dizzy, I tell the vet "I feel like I'm going to faint!" She immediately helps me sit down in the shade and gives me a water while I suddenly can't hear, I'm seeing stars, and I feel tingling in my extremities. She said that lots of people get squeamish with blood, but this didn't make sense to me as I've seen lots of blood and been fine. I chalked it up to the heat and being dehydrated, I've had this almost happen before when I got overheated but this time it came on so suddenly, I didn't even realize I was dehydrated until it was too late. Perhaps I was locking my knees? I read online how standing in one place causes blood to pool in the feet and not return to the heart as easily which can also cause fainting, and I was doing a lot of standing, so that could have been it. Let this be a PSA to anyone else who's heat sensitive to not make this mistake!

Alright so let me set the scene for you now: we now have an 800lb horse laying down, a tiny female asian vet, and now dehydrated owner (myself) having to sit out and unable to help. The vet said normally she has her 6' male assistant with her to help, but since it's Sat he wasn't working. The vet tries getting Calvin up by pulling on the rope, yelling at him, and of course encouraging with a lead rope but he's very content to lay down. However, not content to have her stitch him while he's laying down, so we need to get him back up. She then sticks her finger in his wound which then irritates him enough to finally stand up. At this point, I'm a bit horrified yet also pretty impressed at how hard core this vet is! She definitely earned her $$ for that day. Calvin finally gets stitched, stapled, and cleaned up with lots of bute (Phenylbutazone-a strong painkiller) and antibiotics to give over the next 2 weeks, so he'll be absolutely fine folks! Now if you guys can just send positive vibes to Calvin that he won't itch his staples out and he'll heal nicely with no complications, that would be fantastic.

Needless to say, I've had better days. Here he is all stitched up: frankenhorse

Moving Day!

Calvin moved today out to his new boarding facility! I talked about my decision and why we had to move in my last post. I was a bit nervous because Calvin hasn't been in a slant load trailer ever, and his last trailer experience took at least an hour to load him. Despite his past, he was a very good boy this time. It's clear he trusts me more and even looked at me for help a few times like "why is this strange man tying me to a trailer? Are you sure this is okay?" He snorted at the trailer and was a bit nervous, but he walked right in with the help of some carrots. The hauler I hired used to do the hauling for my past horses too, so I knew he was a patient guy. He did not rush Calvin and didn't whip him to get inside like some haulers do. The only thing Calvin didn't like was being confined in the slant position and would paw at the trailer, but once we were on the road he calmed down and stopped.

He got a 6 horse trailer all to himself! He was in the 3rd window down (closed window), you can't see him because they close the windows for safety, but he got to keep the back windows open for airflow.

Once I got to his new home, we unloaded him pretty easily. The goal was to make this a positive experience for him, which I believe that it was! Once off the trailer, he was actually very calm and brave walking into his new surroundings! But oh my gosh was it hot out there, 97º! Luckily, his stalls have shade, but I'll have to ride early in the mornings. The owners were very friendly, they put fresh bedding down and filled his water tank right before he got there so it wouldn't be too hot. Quite the difference from my last place. They also have 3 labs so Heidi will have company when we come to visit Calvin, anyone who knows Heidi knows that labs are her favorite breed :)

The property goes all the way to the back house in the distance. They let the horses roam night & day and bring them into the stalls to eat 2x/day. From the stalls to the back house, Calvin will have an acre to roam with the other horses.

The facility owners decided it would be best for Calvin to stay in the large stalls for the evening and then turn them all loose tomorrow. He paced the stalls a bit and whinnied, I think he misses his friends and is nervous in the new place. However, I know he'll make friends with these horses as he's pretty easy going. I even told the owners that I don't mind if their horses chase him because he could use the exercise! Can't wait to head out on some new trails once he's more comfortable, and I'll be sure to keep everyone updated!

Calvin in his stall, this is normally just where he will eat until he's finished and then he'll go back outside and roam the acre.

Last Group Trail at the Ranch

We signed up for the same ride that we did back in May. Since we're moving locations at the end of the month (see previous post), this would be our last time on this trail. Unlike last time, we were told to arrive at 8am and then we could do the trail twice since it's not that long. I could see some major improvements since the last time we did this trail. Calvin was calmer and trusted me more as the rider. He was also in better shape and took until the second time around to get tired!

It's a fun ride because you get all sorts of horseback riding levels and personalities. The scared amateurs who don't know how to control their horses and/or are afraid of their horses. The confident trail riders on dead broke horses who make riding look too easy. The advanced riders on younger/more difficult horses like myself, and the people on gaited horses who always ride in front because their horses walk so fast!

Calvin bonding with Mona Lisa. Never mind that she tried to kick him a week ago, he holds no hard feelings toward her ;)

This is Calvin's previous pasture mate Olive, he misses her and enjoyed sticking with her for most of the ride. We could actually see the ocean before the smog arrived.

Trail ride by ourselves. Sometimes he's a little too in touch with his wild heritage and will veer off the nicely paved path into the brush. Notice how it goes up to his shoulders, silly Mustang!

Overall, a nice ride to end our time at the Ranch.

When it Rains it Pours

Hey readers, sorry for the lack of posts lately! I have had some major life changes happening, including moving into a new apartment. Not only moving myself, but I had to find another boarding stable for Calvin.

As some of my family and friends have already heard, I put in my 30 days at my current boarding location. They sent us a letter at the beginning of August saying that they are shutting down the pastures where Calvin is located. They apparently got fined around $40,000 and given the option to either shut it down or to fix the problem & pay the money. The boarding place where Calvin is was fined by the city for not having permits for horses or the land, I'm not savvy about permits so I'm not entirely sure what permit they did not have. The stable owner does not own the land Calvin was on, he only leases it and he wants out of the horse boarding business. Therefore, we were given the option to either relocate to smaller pastures, relocate to stalls that he owns, or find somewhere else. I decided to move Calvin somewhere else. In a way I'm relieved, Calvin will have shelter from the rain and I won't have to shovel poop anymore. As my mom put it, "you're taking care of him like he's in your backyard" except that I was paying over $300 a month. Out where I'm looking board is less expensive, but it's a drive and I'll miss the beautiful oak trees from this location. The hardest part will be moving him away from Graf, they are such good friends now and really do love each other.

My friends I've made at this new barn are also leaving in the fall, which is a huge reason why I decided to look elsewhere. Also Graf, Calvin's new pasture buddy, is also leaving in the fall because his owner bought horse property. With no reason to stay, I decided to look in another area for horse boarding. I asked on facebook to see if anyone knew of pasture boarding and I actually got some offers from private boarders. I went to look at these properties a few weeks ago and found a place I really liked. The owner feeds the horses 2x/day in stalls and then turns them out on her 1 acre property to roam the rest of the day/night.

I was excited about the fact that Calvin could now have an entire acre to roam on with other horses. He would also get good orchard hay (grass hay) and not the alfalfa cubes which he's eating now. Side note, I'm not a fan of the alfalfa cubes because C. has found dead mouse bones and barbed wire in them before, plus long stem hay is healthier for them anyway. I am disappointed that he won't be free-fed anymore. He has gained weight and looks absolutely fabulous with a shiny coat! The thing is that free-feeding is so rare with boarding facilities, most think that free feeding will cause horses to gain weight. If we lived on the East Coast or somewhere with grass pasture, this would be a non issue because he could munch all day on grass and then get hay on top of that. Yet on the West Coast we have lovely "dry lots" with no grass, so most people only feed 2x/day and that's all the horses get. I had to decide between two less-than-ideal options: keep Calvin in a stall and free-feed OR keep Calvin in a pasture and get 2x/day feeding. Due to his young age, I opted to keep him in a pasture. They will feed him separately at the new boarding location so at least he will get his fill before being turned out again with the other horses. Since I already paid for Aug at the current boarding location, he won't move to his new boarding location until Aug. 31st. I'll make a new post of him in his new home after that.

Calvin and Graf getting into trouble knocking wheelbarrows over!