Windflower Farm Weekly

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Summer Riding Session II and Turkey Tragedies

It has been a long time since my last post--apologies! Summer has zoomed by at warp speed.

Summer Session 2

The photos will tell you more than I ever could about the great kids we had here:

In addition to riding and ground work with the horses, each child made two bars of glycerin soap with a horse figure inside it. We also made collage note cards out of horse images and wallpaper sample books. And, of course, there was hours of swimming and water games. It was great fun, and I hope to be able to do more of these camp sessions next summer.

Turkey Tragedies

It is with great sadness that I must report the loss of two of our three turkeys. Clark was struck dead by one our horses when he attempted to share the horse's ground feeder. Incredibly, it was Tica, my elegant and usually highly tolerant Andalusian mare, who was guilty of manslaughter. Death was instantaneous, so the poor fellow did not know what hit him, and at least he went with a beak full of sweet feed.

Louis, the other male turkey, simply disappeared the day of the tropical storm. It is quite unusual for a fox or coyote to nick our poultry during the day, but it has happened. When I sheltered myself from torrents of wind rain in my house (though western Massachusetts and Vermont got hit much harder), perhaps the wily predator viewed my absence as an opportunity. I do occasionally have the feeling that some animal predator is watching me.

The only surviving member of our turkey expedition is Sacagawwea, but she herself has not been left untouched. A friend's Australian cattle dog seemed to have gotten her teeth firmly attached to her wing. I didn't see it, but I was out with this pup much of the day, and, at least, while she was in my line of sight she heeded my warning about not getting too up close and personal with the turkeys and chickens. But perhaps while I was riding she just couldn't resist her predatory response. That is, if she did, in fact, do it. (Maybe not, but I did notice a few days later, while I was informing my friend regarding my suspicions about her dog, that the dog lay down under the shade of a nearby tree chewing a large turkey feather with considerable relish and gusto.)

I found Sacagawwea peeping piteously in the dirt, her wing a dislocated mass of skin, muscle, blood and missing feathers. An unfortunate by-product of her cries was that all the chickens--usually fearful of me--immediately set upon her. I swatted them away, though they were like two-pound mosquitoes. I can only believe that it is the flock's response to keeping themselves safe. A distress call in the wild usually begets a visit from a local predator. She needed to be silenced, albeit in a horribly barbaric way. At least, that's the only tolerable reason I could come up with in the face of this decidedly non-altruistic behavior.

Poor Sacagawwea: a several hundred dollar trip to the vet was not in the cards, so I did my best to attend to her medical needs. I washed her wing with Betadine solution then secured it to her side with vet wrap (hot pink). I've managed to do this successfully with a couple of robins and a woodpecker. (The woodpecker required thick gloves as there was much frightened rat-a-tat-tatting on my hands.) When I put the poor turkey hen on the grass, she took a few steps but then managed to leverage her wing forward and out of her sling. She then flipped over onto her back, paddling her feet madly in the air and obviously in bad pain.

So, I snipped off my failed "wing sling," filled a plastic tub with hay, placed her in it, then moved to the mud room. I then drove to the local pet store and purchased a tiny dog t-shirt that said "Gold's Gym" across the back. With the addition of a safety pin this seemed to fit. She walked around easily but one hour later that bum wing had slipped forward again, and Saccagawea was upside down once again. I really should have taken a picture--she was quite a sight--but she was so distressed I just had to relieve her as quickly as I could.

So, in the end, I decided to keep her in the tub in the mudroom, treating her wing several times a day with Betadine and allowing her two half-hour "PT" sessions so she wouldn't lose a lot of muscle tone and strength in her legs and hips. Now, almost two months later, she is still with us but her wing is quite useless. When she runs she can flap only her good wing, resulting in a sort of unintended constant half-pass.

I don't think I'll get any more turkeys. Two of the three didn't even make it past the usual drop-dead turkey date of Thanksgiving. They are just too sweet, too docile, and too slow--desirable traits for those who require easy access to animals intended for slaughter, but sadly not helpful for them to range free and have the life they deserve here at Windflower, a farm near woods with coyotes, foxes, and fisher cats.

I promise to catch up with another blog soon. I will tell you about Tica at the Artur Kottas clinic as well as Dolly's chiropractic treatment.

Until then, and thank you for reading The Windflower Weekly --

Ainslie

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Dolly Goes To The Fairgrounds and Has Surgery

            Dolly on a X-Country Course                         Juliane Dykiel copyright 2011 (August)

To the Fairgrounds

       Though we had Dolly in and out of the trailer a number of times we hadn't yet taken her for a ride. It was time: she had her surgery coming up and we certainly didn't want that to be her first trailer experience. Also, her last trailer ride, the one that had brought her to Windflower Farm, had begun with a traumatic loading at the auction house. Normally, I would take a buddy pony to keep her company, but since she needed to travel to Mass Equine alone, I thought it best she now go it alone, too. So it was off to the local fairgrounds for some groundwork.   When we walked out onto the cross-country field she was a wonderful mix of curiosity and energy.

   After basic groundwork to make sure I had her attention, it was on to some jumps:

Dolly Juliane Dykiel copyright 2011

I'm sorry this one of the bank is a bit blurry, but I wanted to show it because it illustrates Dolly's athleticism.

Dolly Over Logs Juliane Dykiel copyright 2011

As long as I got Dolly on a straight line to each obstacle she jumped it fearlessly and enthusiastically.

And then a standardbred pulling a sulky around the track that ringed the cross-country course suddenly materialized. If you had a textbook similar to the one I had in elementary school, you will have read how the Native Americans thought the Spanish conquistadors on their horses were two animals become one. Dolly had a similar response to the horse pulling a two-wheeled cart with a human in it:

   Dolly fascinated by standardbred and sulky                             Ainslie Brennan copyright 2011

After more standardbred viewing it was back into the trailer.
We stopped at Johnson's Restaurant in Groton where Juliane and I had milkshakes while Dolly drew adoring fans to her open trailer window. She took all this attention in stride--quietly munching hay then actually nodding off to sleep.   It had been a big day.

Surgery

       Mid-morning the next day Dolly and I headed to Mass Equine Clinic in Uxbridge, Mass., -- about fifty minutes away. The surgery was to be performed the following morning, so Dolly would spend the afternoon and night settling in. I had mixed feelings about taking her--glad that she would finally be repaired but sad that I would need to leave her there. Since February--with the exception of two overnight horse shows--I had always been with her. I also knew that she would, once again, experience pain. Of course, it was necessary, but she'd already suffered so much.

I knew she would be in competent, loving hands. Jay Merriam has been my vet for over twenty years. He and two of his associates would do the surgery. Dr. Mike Strasser called as soon as the surgery was over. It had gone well. Dr. Strasser was kind enough to describe the procedure for this blog. In his words:

      Dolly is a 4-year-old QH mare that came to Mass Equine Clinic for surgery. Although her exact history is unknown, she sustained an extensive tear of her vulva, likely during a traumatic foaling. The tissue in that area is referred to as the perineum. There is usually a three-inch separation from the anus to the top of the vulvar lips. In Dolly’s case, those three inches no longer existed as she was torn externally. Fortunately, the tear did not extend into her rectum. Unfortunately, such an extensive tear had deformed the normal conformation of her perineum, which prevented her vulvar lips from sealing. Every time Dolly took a step or even breathed, the movement caused a rush of air to move into her vaginal vault, causing discomfort, making her more prone to infection, and creating an unusual noise. The best way to prevent this influx of air is to surgically close the upper portion of the vulvar lips with a Caslick’s procedure. Caslick’s procedures are commonly performed on mares with less than perfect vulvar conformation to decrease the risk of infection after they are bred. In Dolly’s case, a simple Caslick’s procedure wouldn’t work because, although the perineum is composed of stretchy skin, Dolly just didn’t have enough stretch left in her skin due to some previous scarring. Simple closure of the vulvar lips would fail because there was too much tension on the area that needed to be closed. We performed a perineal body partial transection by creating a relaxing incision in her perineum. A surgical incision was made parallel to her vulvar lips, separating her perineum from the surrounding muscle tissue in her hindquarters. This then provided us with the needed extra tissue! We then sutured her vulvar lips closed. The relaxing incision was left to heal by second intention – meaning it was left to heal on its own. Because there was no tension, the vulvar lips came together perfectly. Dolly will have some scarring but it will all be hidden by her tail. She will be much more comfortable, be less prone to infection, and will no longer make noise when she moves. -- Mike Strasser, DVM



       Dolly spent the night recuperating at Mass Equine, and the next day I took her home with a full page of instructions. The surgical site had to be washed 3-4 times a day with Providine, then a salve applied to provide an antiseptic barrier between the wound and the unavoidable presence of fecal matter. I was also to take and record her temperature daily. Well, Dolly would have none of it. She never struck out but she gave many warnings with a cocked hind leg. I e-mailed Dr. Merriam informing him that if I continued to attempt to take Dolly's temperature I might require a similar operation.
This is his response, as well his own description of the surgery:

      I don't blame her for not wanting her temperature taken! As long as she's eating and pooping she's fine. The surgeons (Dr. Mike Strassner and Dr. Susan Galanthay) and l discussed this and we agreed that a radical approach would be necessary. On one side, she had lost so much tissue in the foaling accident that there was nothing to attach to, which is why the other sutures didn't hold. To create a new wall to attach to, they had to make several parallel "relaxing" incisions to allow the deeper tissues to come free enough to replace what had been lost. The procedure involved 2 deep layers of sutures finished off with one more at surface level. It was pretty intricate work and took almost 2 hours. It looked great when she left and she should respond well over the next several weeks. She may need a minor touch-up at the farm, which we can do later on. Meanwhile, make sure she eats her meds and is a good girl, she sure was a nice patient. Looking forward to seeing her all healed up. Thanks for bringing her in!   She's a lucky girl. -- Jay Merriam, DVM, M.S.

       Dolly has been home just over two weeks now and is obviously feeling a lot better. As per the vets' instructions, she has been in--and continues to be in--a small paddock with a stall attached. She is by nature a quiet girl, and it wasn't until yesterday that I saw her in any gait higher than a walk. But yesterday in the cool morning freshness, and anticipating her breakfast, she exploded into a series of joyous bucks punctuated by several squeals and snorts. Tomorrow the vet arrives to remove her sutures.   Dr. Strasser told me that Dolly couldn't do any real work for a full month after the surgery, but I'm going to ask if she can be ponied on the trail, at least at the walk.

       By the way, Mass Equine is a major participant in Project Samana--a program in which veterinarians, vet technicians, and others periodically travel to the Dominican Republic to provide much needed assistance to equines and other domestic animals in this developing country. Please check them out on Facebook: they do wonderful work.

       Next week my trainer Linda Parmenter will be riding Tica--as well as her own FEI horse Odin--in an Artur Kottas clinic. As many of you already know, Mr. Kottas is the former Chief Rider at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. My husband and I were lucky enough to see him in a magnificent performance there a number of years ago. I've also seen a number of DVD's of him giving clinics, and they were wonderful. So I'm very excited and will fill you all in with the details in the next blog. And, of course, there will be the usual Dolly update as well.

       Until then, and thanks for reading The Windflower Weekly--

     Ainslie

Housekeeping note: Last week I under-reported Juliane's achievements on Quilly at the NEDA Schooling Show of Aug 7: Her score in her first dressage test of the day was 68.5 and she was Reserve Champion rider not just for her division but out of all juniors that rode that day. Aplologies, Juliane!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

WINDFLOWER SUMMER SESSION

DOLLY BY WINDFLOWER STUDENT

This July we tried something that was a first at Windflower--we had an intensive riding program coupled with swimming, and crafts related to horses and photography. We hosted seven children, ages 8-10, for four days. All were already good friends and three have been riding at the farm for several years. We talked about horses--and mules--as prey animals and how that related to their behavior. We did Natural Horsemanship exercises and a lot of riding. Here are some photos:

Observing is another important way to learn.

We did a good bit of photography work, concentrating on focus and composition. And, yes, getting horse shots with their ears pricked forward--always a challenge. Each rider took several pictures of his or her favorite horse. I printed one inch copies that night and the next day they had the choice of making either photo magnets for the fridge or necklaces.

This coming week we have another session with the same wonderful kids. The forecast calls for rain the first day or two, but that's not going to stop us. As long as lightning and thunder don't accompany, the canopy of the trees provides considerable shelter. And no bugs!

I've got some more horse-related crafts lined up and a couple of films, too, including a long-time favorite of mine, Into The West, a moving tale of two Irish Traveler children who are transported by a white horse from their Dublin slum to western Ireland--a wonderful and sometimes frightening land of myth, truth, and home. If you haven't seen it, please do.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Anne and her two daughters Juliane and Dana took Quilly, Nitelite, and Kip to an Apple Knoll Schooling Jumper Show in Millis, MA. It's a lovely facility and we had great fun. Here are some pics:

Nitelite and Anne Apple Knoll Schooling Show 2011

Quilly and Juliane Schooling Apple Knoll 2011

A happy result! Apple Knoll Schooling Show 2011

Quilly enjoys some well-deserved watermelon sherbert! Apple Knoll 2011

And last, but surely not least, here is a YouTube of Dana on Kip. They had a clear round and I think that, proportionately, they must have jumped a higher course than anyone else at the show! (Kip is just under ten hands.)

Tica and I went off for a day in New Hampshire to compete in "Dressage at the Seacoast." I now count Tica as a seasoned competitor, but my own nerves still call out for more ring time. As usual, Tica was wonderful and would have been more wonderful had I been so. But I was very happy: I got a 66 and a 63 on First Levels 1 and 2. We go to Beland the first week in September, then it's on to NEDA Fall and the First Level championships.

Just last Sunday, August 7, Juliane and I took Quilly and Firefly to the NEDA schooling show at T.H.E. Farm in Tewksbury, MA. Because of this past winter's injuries I haven't been able to work as much as I had planned to do with Firefly, so I just entered Intro. A. and B. And a good thing, too: It rained all day, and Firefly for some reason is petrified of umbrellas. Totally "my bad": I knew this was an issue and had not done the necessary desensitizing work with her. I thought I might have to scratch. There would be no point in subjecting her to tests that would not benefit her training and make us both miserable in the bargain. When we arrived I saw about fifty umbrellas twirling and popping open and shut.

But Firefly coped better than I thought she would, though she was not able to relax completely during her tests. As we trotted around the arena she was certain that even though the judge was nicely sheltered from the elements in a trailer, she surely was harboring some sort of anti-rain device. We got a 63 and a 65--two second places. "Tension" was mentioned in the comments. Lesson: If you do your desensitizing homework you will get better scores and have a happier, more relaxed horse.

Juliane on Quilly garnered two seconds as well, with a 65 (Intro C) and a 61 (Training Level 1.) She also was Reserve Champion for her division, which was thrilling.

Many thanks to Diana Lane, the show organizer. She runs two great schooling shows for NEDA annually.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of Firefly under saddle. But here is one I took last Fall:

Our next edition of The Windflower Weekly will take us to the fairgrounds with Dolly's first actual ride in the trailer since she arrived just over five months ago. The following day she must got to Mass Equine Clinic in Uxbridge, MA, for surgery, where she'll need to remain a couple of days. Details about those trips as well as the coming riding, swimming, and craft week will appear next week.

Please do make comments. Tell me what you like, don't like, or would like to see more or less of. I know I have a number of European readers. Do you want to hear more about Natural Horsemanship? Just say the word.

See you next blog and thank you for reading The Windflower Weekly--

Ainslie

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dolly Gets Backed and Trailer Trained; Tica goes to another Dressage Show.

                    Dolly July 20, 2011                             Ainslie Sheridan copyright 2011

     Dolly Is Backed !


     Dolly's training has been going along very well. Here is a YouTube of Juliane and I backing her utilizing Australian trainer Kel Jeffries's method:

       Will Dolly Ever Get Back in a Trailer?

For those of you who have been with us from the beginning, you will remember that Dolly had never been handled before she was thrown on a trailer in Tennessee with other members of her starving herd and shipped to an equine wholesaler in New Jersey. When friends offered to pick her up for me they found a terrified filly who'd never even been haltered. It took them three hours to load her.    She fought long and hard but to our little lady's credit, not once did she kick out. But she did flip over backwards and cut the side of her head. So that trauma, coupled with her claustrophobic ride from Tennessee, most likely comprised the totality of her trailer experience. Who could blame her if she out up a fuss when she next encountered one?

       But she didn't. Thankfully, we'd done a lot of natural horsemanship between the time she arrived in February and early July. She now was leading, yielding to pressure, yielding her hindquarters and forequarters, backing up, and ponying several miles on the trail crossing all sorts of natural obstacles. And, of course, she's by nature a sweet horse.

       I decided to use a combination of Craig Cameron, Pat Parelli and Clinton Anderson's trailer loading methods. I opened up the round pen and backed the trailer so its rear doors were just inside the round pen. I then pulled the opened round pen panels against the side of the trailer. In other words, the open doors became part of the round pen.

     The first step was round-penning so she could get used to trotting by the trailer. At first, she veered away from but in less than five minutes--she trotted by as if that gaping black hole simply didn't exist. Next, I decreased my pressure--lowering the whip and softening my posture--to encourage her to take a break near the trailer.   After a several additional changes of direction she happily stood at the trailer, even stretching her heard down to sniff the rubber mats inside. We did this a number of times.   With each rest by the trailer Dolly's comfort level increased. Because of the degree of ground work and leading I had done with her I thought I'd see if she would simply follow me in. Here's the result:

Martha Rounds copyright 2011

And then, just for fun, Tim, a student, and I decided to invent our own version of the "West Texas Dismount." Usually, the rider grabs the top of the trailer and lets the horse continue loading himself. Once the horse in fully on board, the rider drops to the ground so he can close the trailer doors. Next time. But I just couldn't resist showing you how brave Dolly has become with both people and trailers. See for yourself:

Tim and Dolly in trailer Martha Rounds copyright 2011

P.S. Please do not try this at home.

Dolly spending time with Sonia who is visiting us from California:

                        Dolly and Sonia                                                             Ainslie Sheridan copyright July 2011


Surgery For Dolly

      On August 3 Dolly will being going down to Mass Equine in Uxbridge for surgery. It seems her tear requires a more extensive operation than originally thought. Dr. Jay Merriam guessed that she may have had a foal when she was just two years old. During the birthing process the lower half of her rectum was severely ripped. Jay and his associate will attempt to reconstruct the damaged part by utilizing a piece of the interior of her lower colon. She will need to arrive the day before and stay down there for a couple of days following surgery. The trip away from home will also provide additional training for her. She hasn't been away from Windflower since she arrived on that cold February day. I'm sure she will do well, and it's something that has to be done.


King Oak Dressage Show

   Tica and I just returned from King Oak in Southampton, Mass, where we qualified to ride in the First Level Championships at the Region Eight championships in Saugerties, New York in September. Aren't equestrian sports wonderful? When you get good at something you get to spend even more money. Joking aside, I am, of course, thrilled. Our scores ranged from 60 to 63 without the able assistance of our coach, Linda Parmenter. Had Linda been available to warm us up, I'm sure we would have scored a few points higher. I found the judging fair, well-considered and, most importantly, helpful. That's why I love dressage shows: I not only get tested but evaluated as well. Then I get sent back to my farm to try to get better. But the best part is that the 7's and occasional 8's confirm what's going well in our training. Even though I did garner a couple of 8s this time, my favorite score was a '7' I received in the collective marks for harmony because it came with the judge's (Jane Ayers) comment, "happy together." That meant the world to me: I could not imagine doing dressage if my horse didn't enjoy being in the arena.


Tica spend two nights in the tent stabling where we had great aisle company. Everyone was mutually supportive, lending equipment or a free hand/ and inquiring how tests went. The black flies were horrid, as usual--but it wasn't as brutally hot as last summer nor as humid. Fly bonnets were allowed and jackets waved which made things a lot more comfortable. And, even though by the second day Tica was tired, she tried her heart out during her tests. She was just terrific.

       There was just one "wrinkle" in an otherwise wonderful weekend. When it came time for one of my tests, and I was about to go in, the ring steward said, "You're up--time for the old farts." Taken by surprise I quickly wondered if the previous rider was also in her in sixties. I glanced over at a young woman exiting the ring. Nope, at sixty-two I was the only "old fart." The ring steward herself was hovering somewhere in her fifties. I honestly think she was simply trying to connect and be humorous. But she didn't and she wasn't--not at all. I was attempting to hold an entire test in my head. In the past I've frequently forgotten parts of my tests. ( Nerves not Alzheimers!) In addition to the actual sequence of requirements, I needed to focus on how I would ride each one. I did my best to shake the comment off but, I must admit, it did get to me. I wondered if I had heard correctly: Did she, in fact, mean me? Was she intending to distract me? Why did she say that? All those questions circled in and around the the letters and moves that lay just seconds ahead of me.

    But then I just did my best to focus on the task at hand as I trotted around the outside of the arena. And I was happy with my score of 60.

   These folks who work these show are all volunteers and wonderfully nice. They work long hot hours getting us in an out of the ring. I make a point of thanking them at the end of my test. But please, please no comments on my way in.

       Though I am in my sixties and have been riding for decades, I count myself as a young rider. When Thomas Jefferson in his seventies said, "I am an old man but a young gardener," he implied he had many years ahead of him to cultivate and create the magnificent gardens of Monticello. And he did. I have many years ahead of me to ride and compete. And I will.

   But that comment did get me thinking--again-- about the society we live in and attitudes toward the not-so-young. First of all, we live in a culture--unlike some others--that esteems youth, not age. In fact, there is outright prejudice against the elderly. Right off the top of my head I came up with the following expressions which bare this out. Here they are:

Men    -- old geezer
         -- old fogey
         -- old goat
Women      -- old crone
               -- old bag
                   -- old bat
                   -- old biddie

       And, last but not least, that equal opportunity expression that resonates most with me at the moment: "old fart." And I'm sure there are more.

Well, in a couple of weeks it's off to the University of New Hampshire dressage show where I hope Tica and I can bump up our scores a bit. But as you see in the next photo--taken just minutes after she got off the trailer-- Tica is glad to be home for some rest and relaxation:

Tica just off the trailer from King Oak Ainslie Sheridan copyright 2011

Turkey Update

Remember those three cute week old turkey poults I carried around in an apron pocket at a dressage show last June? Here they are again so you don't need to scroll back.

Then:

Now!

    Louisa and Clark July 20, 2011                                        Ainslie Sheridan copyright 20/07/11

       And did you know turkeys like to swim? Neither did I until:

      Louisa takes dip!                                                                                        Ainslie Sheridan copyright 2011

   Everyone around the pool was totally shocked. At first, I thought Louisa had fallen in trying to catch a bug. But I watched her closely: The next two entries were thoughtful and deliberate. She simply seemed to enjoy the H20.   Fortunately, this aquatic proclivity has apparently vanished.   (As you can tell from the photo, Louisa was but 4 weeks old at the time. ) At their current size Louisa, Clark, and Sacagawwea would constitute a significant disruption to the ph balance of the water. It wouldn't look too pretty either.

I'm sorry this blog was so late. This summer seems to be flying by.   But I will try harder to be on time.   Next blog look for updates on my next dressage show, Dolly, of course, and a four-day horsemanship, swim and craft session we had with some great kids.

Until then, and thank you for reading The Windflower Weekly!

Ainslie

PS: A pin I couldn't resist buying at a tack shop while at            King Oak: