Trail Tails Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Rochester Trail Riders

March 15, 2011March 14, 2011

Trail Tails: Rules of the Road

I think spring is finally starting to show around the farm in one way at least, MUD. Gone are the days of beautiful snow covered pastures that did such a great job of hiding all the horse piles. The ground is soggy and soft and my poor horses are stuck in their ‘mud paddock’ which means they need to be exercised more.

Unfortunately mud season also affects our trails. This time of year horse hooves can destroy groomed trails which leave many of us to ride on the road until things dry up.

Rules of the Equine Road

NYS requires horseback riders (and whips) to follow all the rules and regulations of the road as outlined in the DMV manual as well as some others.

This means you can and will be pulled over and ticked for any of the following:

Riding while intoxicated. Party poopers; I found this one out first hand back in the 90’s. Actually I found it out twice, they shouldn’t put hitch rails in front of bars then! So do as I say not as I do. That is unless you’re in Montana, where they actually encourage you to ride your horse home (see video below).
Signs and signals. Better learn your hand signals! You’re required to follow all traffic signs and lights and need to let others know of your intentions. If you don’t know the hand signals at least point in the direction you plan on going. (Whips: signals should be given with your RIGHT hand not left and use your whip as an extension of your arm. LEFT is a bent arm pointing left over your head, stop is whip straight up and whip straight out to your right, for right)
Cell phones and texting: Laws about texting and talking on the phone while driving also apply to you on your horse. I tried driving my horse while talking on the cell before, it’s a lot harder than driving your car and talking. I now silence my phone and bring it with me only for emergency use.

Other traffic laws that apply to riders and whips

Stay on the Right: Applies under saddle, in harness AND in hand.
Single file: No doubling up when on the road, you must stay head to tail
You must come to a complete halt before entering any road way
One hand on the reins at all times. You cannot carry any object which prevents you from keeping 1 hand on the reins.
No Night Road Riding: You cannot ride a horse on the road ½ hr before sunset and ½ hr after sunrise. This does not apply to carriage horses or mounted patrols. This is another do as I say not as I do. I’ve been caught out after sunset many times, usually not on purpose.
Wear your helmet: 14yrs and younger MUST wear one but it is advisable for everyone to do so. Pavement is hard!

RTR road riding suggestions:

Wear a hunting vest or jogging vest: Anything bright and reflective
Blinking lights. Often I’ll put bike lights on my horse.. a white flashing light off the breast collar and a red flashing one tied to his tail or on the cantle of my saddle.
Sleigh bells: I find it’s always a good idea to have at least 1 sleigh bell on your saddle. The jingling helps other folks know where I am both on the trail and on the road. It also helps spook off deer
Dressage whip: Untrained or unleashed dogs drive me nuts. I always find it handy to have a nice long dressage whip with me to smack those little suckers when they come nipping. Me and my little temper have also been known to smack cars that pass to closely too.

Are you curious about other laws that affect horse owners in New York State? Check out the New York State Horse Council for more information.

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March 7, 2011March 8, 2011

Trail Tails: Saying Goodbye

February 26^th 2007 a date which will forever be stuck in my mind. Why? That was the day I had to make the awful decision to euthanize my mare Hobbie. Here’s our story on how we got to that point and what planning had to be one.

Mahaba Ghinwa (Hobbie) was a purebred Egyptian Arabian mare who unfortunately found herself unwanted by her previous owner and was abandoned at the farm where I worked, bored unpaid. On January 1^st 2006 I paid off her back board and brought her home to my farm. What a great little mare, she was only used as a brood and had little handling. I worked with her and taught her to ride and drive and she soon became a favorite. So much so she was my mount on our wedding day that October.

Unfortunately 1 year to the day disaster struck. I remember it all too well. January 1^st 2007 was an seasonably warm day and the ground was bare and dy. I decided to let the horses out into the big field to stretch their legs since they have been stuck in the mud paddock for a few weeks. I watched them run, buck, kick up for a while and then they all settled in and munched on some grass so I went about my day.

4pm that evening I rang our dinner “cow bell” and waited for the thundering hooves that usually followed but not this night, I only got one horse who sauntered up. Stepping out into the paddock I could see Hobbie out in the field, ears pricked forward and she whinnied out for me. I called to her and she bobbed her head up and down and whinnied again. I knew something was wrong and made my way out to her.

As I grew closer I could see there was a problem. Her left knee was the size of a soccer ball and she couldn’t move. I tried to tempt her forward to get her back to the barn but she wouldn’t budge and I couldn’t blame her. I called the vet and remained as calm as I could, explaining what I saw.

The vet was only 20 minutes away but it felt like an eternity. I had been in this position before and after much crying and tears I had actually come to the decision to put her down. The vet however had different plans.

The vet drugged her, applied a split and we managed to get her back to the barn. Xrays were taken, ice applied and wraps. Not much to do now than sit and wait.

The xrays showed she blew out her knee alright and there wasn’t much holding it together any more, there were even small fractures of bone floating around from the trauma. The vet convinced me to hold off making an official decision until we heard back from Dr. Dean Richardson. Does that name sound familiar? It should. He was Barbaro’s surgeon. Unfortunately, this all happened while he was working on Barbaro and his reply back was delayed because of it.

His reply came about the same time a major turning even occurred that sealed my mind. Poor Hobbie finally told me the only way she knew how that she didn’t want to be stuck motionless for the rest of her life. While I was mucking out her stall she made a break for it, jumped a gate and ended up belly deep in snow before the pain became so great her body shut down and she couldn’t move any more. She just stood there, buried in snow shaking from the pain of her ordeal. I managed to get her back inside, gave her some pain medication and called both my husband and the vet. Today was the day, I couldn’t take it emotionally anymore and keeping her confined to a stall in such pain was not fair to her.

But now what? It’s February, the ground is frozen and there’s 2 feet of snow to dig through. At the time we didn’t have the equipment to bury a horse on our own.

I talked to the vet and there were 3 options;

Hire a backhoe to come to us and bury her on our property
Trailer her to a crematorium
1. Cornell does “group” cremations of “whole” animals
2. Rush Pet Cemetery will cremate your horse in “pieces” because their crematorium isn’t large enough for a whole animal
Have her buried in a pet cemetery like the one in Rush

#1 didn’t work because we had not lived on our property long enough to know where we could bury a horse not to affect our water supply. Cremation was expensive and Cornell was quite a drive and I didn’t like the idea of chopping her up to accommodate a smaller crematorium.

That left working with Rush Pet Cemetery to have her buried there. What nice people. They made a very hard time as stress free as it could be and best of all it was affordable.

We loaded Hobbie up in the trailer and opted to meet the vet at the cemetery. I won’t bother you with the details but there was much crying, hugs and saying goodbye.

It was the longest ride home with an empty trailer and to this day I still can cry at the thought of her. She was a great horse and I will miss my little Hob Gobblin.

What caused her busted knee? No clue, I walked every inch of that field and there’s not so much as a divit or rock. She just must have stepped wrong.

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March 1, 2011March 1, 2011

Trail Tails: How to Tie a Parade Knot

First off what is a parade knot and what is its purpose?

A parade knot is a fancy name given to the hangman’s knot or noose when used with horses. Obviously the other 2 names for this knot have a sinister history but we’re going to concentrate on the use for horses.

The parade knot was most commonly used by Calvary and today is most prominently seen on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The reason for the Calvary to use this not is to have a lead rope always available without having to stow one in a saddle bag. This knot also allows for the horse to always remain in secured at all times allowing it’s rider to secure the horse to a tree or picket line first before removing the bridle.

The knot is can be quickly made and the coils of the knot can slide up and down the rope making this knot very adjustable. The knot works best with a 12-15 foot long lead rope so you are able to obtain a minimum of 5-8 coils. Any less coils and the knot does keep well and can come undone. There are rumors that 13 coils in a parade knot are illegal in most states but I was not able to find proof that this rumor is true.

Instructions:

Drape the lead rope over the horse’s neck still attached to the halter. Let the tail end lie on the side closest to you.
Grasp both the tail and halter end of the rope in your hand.
Bring up a portion of the tail end making a loop (app. 1ft of loop)
Coil the remaining tail around all 3 parts in your hand. Keep your coils fairly tight.
When you reach the end of your tail, tuck it into what is left of your loop.
Tighten the loop by pulling on the portion of rope on the horse’s neck closest to you
You can now slide the knot up and down the rope but pulling on the rope on the side of the neck farthest from you.
See video for full instructions.

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February 23, 2011February 22, 2011

Hump Day Horse Photos

Ms. Cotton’s Snowy Muzzle

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The good stuff is always at the bottom of the Big Bale Buddy!

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The foal was kicking at Cotton’s sides, she was telling it to STOP!

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Prego Mare vs Filly… My $ is on the mare.

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I like big butts and I cannot lie….
No seariouly they are sheading can you see the loose hairs?! SPRING!

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Hump Day Horse Photos
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February 21, 2011February 22, 2011

Trail Tails – Eyelid vs Water Bucket

This week’s story I bring to you the hidden dangers of 5 gallon buckets. Now I don’t mean to scare anyone and to be honest I really haven’t changed my habits on the farm any since this incident. What am I talking about? Eyelids. Specifically rather gruesome semi detached eyelids.

My late great arab mare Hobbie taught me that no matter how much you fuss over your horses, protect your pastures, fences, stalls and more, a horse will always find a way to hurt itself.

I remember the day well, it was a beautifully warm summer morning and I headed off to work as I always did. Not soon after I had arrived my phone rang, it was my husband. He made several gagging sounds as he described the scene he discovered. He had me at “dangling eyelid” and I immediately 180’d.

Hobbie sure did have a dangling eyelid. She amazingly severed about ½ of it off and looked rather uncomfortable. Thankfully, there wasn’t much blood and the only blood we could find was on her leg where she would rub her face. I brought Hobbie into her stall and rinsed out the eye with saline solution and called the vet.

The vet showed up a short time later and immediately set my mind at ease. It could be repaired with 0% loss of function and 100% recovery with no scar.

So how does a vet operate on a horse’s eye? They drug it of course. Thankfully horses legs can lock in place in the standing position so with some sedatives and several hay bales to hold her head up Hobbie was resting comfortably.

The vet made the job look so effortless and in a few short minutes the eyelid was reattached and good as new.

So why my comment about the 5 gallon buckets? It turns out that she caught her eye on the handle of one of them. Solution? Duct tape or electrical tape the bend where the handle meets the bucket. Yes companies put rubber stoppers on the end but apparently they don’t help much.

I’ll have you know Hobbie fully recovered and had a beautiful eye just in time for her to be my mount in our wedding.

Here’s a look of the same eye just one week later.

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February 15, 2011February 15, 2011

Trail Tails – Slow Feeding Hay Net Round Bales

If you’re a small farm owner like me you know that managing work, chores and ride time is often hard and come winter riding at all practically stops. Just like humans horses get chunky and my 3 are all overweight. Ok 2 are overweight and one is REALLY pregnant but probably fat too.

To help keep chore times to a minimum I’ve been feeding round bales. Having to only worry about putting out food once a week vs. 2-3 times a day is very appealing to my busy lifestyle. Unfortunately like lush green pastures, 24/7 hay access can make for some rather fat horses. I’ve been researching slow feeders. A slow feeder can either be hard (wood/metal frame with wire mesh) or soft (netting). Since my horses are barefoot I opted to find a hay net to use on my round bales. Buddy Inc is working on a full size hay net for round bales and I got my hands on one to test out.

Since netting isn’t processed in food grade factories I opted to put the net through the washing machine before putting it out. It turns out it was a good idea for a few reasons. 1) Nylon shrinks 2) there was a white film that was on the net that I didn’t know was there until I washed it.

With my nice clean net I stabbed a round bale and pulled the net on like a big sock. I dumped the bale where I wanted it and used their nifty securing tool to weave the open end shut. The netting layout was really thought out. The manufacturer put a big ‘X’ at the bottom center so you knew you were pulling it on evenly. The securing tool is made of hard plastic with a screw ‘T’ end and I was able to easily use it with thick winter gloves on. Buddy Inc tells me they will be making the tool blaze orange in the future so it can be easily found in snow. Good thing too, I had a rather interesting adventure last week. (read story here)

Does slow feeding actually work? In my experience, yes, even putting out a bale wrapped in netting made that bale last almost 6 hours before the 3 horses. When feeding my round bales through netting it drastically reduced their consumption per day. Here’s my math.

600lbs Round Bale vs 3 hungry horses.

Bale fed with no netting (in Big Bale Buddy)
1 bale lasted 7 days
86lbs per day
29lbs per horse per day

Bale fed with slow feed netting
1 bale lasted 10 days
60lbs per day
20lbs per horse per day

My vet tells me to feed hay at 2% of body weight. Assuming my horses weigh 1,000 lbs that’s 20lbs per day. Tada! Look my horses are getting their daily recommended hay when using the slow feeder and I don’t have to go out and constantly throw hay at them!

Another great thing about feeding this way is it keeping the horses from getting bored. Bored horses chew wood and get into trouble at my place and since they now have to work at getting their food it’s keeping them occupied.

When “mud season” gets here I’ll use my Big Bale Buddy in conjunction with the netting to keep the bale dry and mud free.

For more information about slow feeding your horses check out this link.

As for the horses, they took to it rather quickly as you can see.

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February 7, 2011February 8, 2011

Trail Tails – Emergency Slip Knot

I’m flabbergasted every time I see a horse owner who doesn’t know how to safely tie their horse. I’ve seen double knots, incorrect square knots, some looped up thing that resembled a slip knot but turned into a mess as the horse pulled.

I’m here to show you the emergency slip know I like to use when tying my horse. It’s called a slip knot but I’ve also heard it called the one handed braid. Because it’s hard to film a wiggly horse who gets in the way of the camera I opted to show you this knot using a trusty chair.

Directions:

Wrap your lead around a post or through your tie ring.
Place your hand (palm up) under the rope that leads to your horse
Grab mid way though the “tail” section of the rope
Twist your palm to the down position creating a loop in the “tail”
Bring the loop to the other side of the rope that leads to your horse
Stick your hand through the loop (bottom to top)
Reach over the rope and grab the tail
Bring the tail through the loop
Pull tight

10. Done!

Video shows it so much better. As always, all of our videos are in HD! Check them out in 1080p!

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February 1, 2011February 1, 2011

Trail Tails – Barn Fires

We’ve all seen it in the news or even know someone who had their barn burn down. Thankfully many times without loss of life to human or livestock but sometimes with disastrous consequences. So what should you do to help prevent fires and how to prep should one happen to you?

Planning:

– Fire Department – Get to know your fire department. Stop over and talk with them about what you can do to make your barn fire safe or what you may need to help them do their job better. For much of the information in this post I interviewed a wonderful Rochester Fire Fighter named …. Elvis.

– Space – Your little ½ ton pickup and bumper pull trailer can make it down your driveway and maneuver just fine but can a fire truck? How about multiple fire trucks? Keep in mind they are pretty big so keep driving lanes and turn arounds clear of vehicles and overhead branches.

– Water – Always a problem on farms that have wells. My well tank holds only 100 gallons at a given time and takes about 30 min to refresh. Way too slow to put out a fire. Swimming pools and ponds are a good thing to have within a short distance to your barn should you need them. Another reason for visiting your local fire house is to let them know what your water situation is and to find out if they have pumper trucks or not.

– Smoke Detectors – when the fireman I interviewed mentioned this ,my reply back was “but my animals don’t know what that means and I can’t hear it from the house.” He told me that it’s best to put them in any way. There’s always the potential you can hear it if outside. The animals may even act up at the sound and if you’re like me (watching from the kitchen window) you know when your animals are not in their normal “happy” state even if they are showing only passive signs.

– Fire Extinguishers – Keep one by every entrance to your barn and to the feed room.

Extinguishers have expiration dates on them. They typically will last just a few years. If your extinguisher has expired replace it. Your old one may still work but you don’t want to find out if it does or not when you need it.
Dry CO2 Extinguishers can fail due to inactivity. Once a month or so take time to beat your extinguisher. Pound it on the ground or better yet tip it upside-down and beat it with a rubber mallet. This will aggravate the dry contents so they don’t turn into cement on you.

– Halters and Leads – You should have enough halters and leads that fit every single animal in your barn and on your property. Keep them tidy and in easy to find areas. Not only is this good for fires but for any time you may need to evacuate your farm.

– Lightning Rods – Self explanatory

– Emergency numbers – Keep them not only in your barn but also in every single other building on your property. No good having them I the barn if it’s on fire. My friendly interviewed fire fighter also suggests knowing the local number to your fire house not just 911. It could mean getting help to you even faster if calling from a cell phone which is forced to use E911.

– Evacuation Plan – If you manage to get your livestock out the barn where are you going to put them? On my farm animals all have free access to the barn and are never locked in. Should the barn catch fire I can easily herd animals away from the barn and into the fields keeping them 100ft away from the barn.

Prevention:

– Clean barn – Keep your barn free of cobwebs and loose hay or straw. Dust buildup on electrical outlets could cause shorts too. We all know rodents will eat through electrical wire so keep a cat around to keep those pests out too. Keep weeds and brush away from yoru barn. Round-up or string trim everything back.

– Hay storage – ideally you’ll want to store your hay in another building NOT attached to your livestock area. However, in WNY many barns have lofts so keep these tips in mind:

Most hay fires occur within 6 weeks of bailing. For the first few months of having new hay in your barn check it daily to see if there is any suspicious heat coming from them. You will know a bad bale when you feel it. It will be extremely hot to the touch and steam will come out of it if you cut the bale open. Use caution and don’t burn yourself when removing bad bales.
Air flow – It drives me crazy to see hay lofts shut up tight. Hay needs to breath… keep the loft doors open. When stacking hay do NOT stack it right up against the wall. Instead leave it 2-3 feet away from the wall so that air can move around the bales. Also, stack the bales up on pallets so air can flow underneath. More airflow = dry hay which will be less likely to ignite on its own.
Clean your hay storage area at the end of every season. Sweep out old hay and dirt before you put the next year’s hay in.

– Bedding storage – bedding can burn just as easily as hay… Hello wood pellet stoves! Keep only enough bedding in the barn to do that day’s chores. If you need an extra out-building to store extra bedding/hay/feed pick up a Garage-in-a-box at Tractor Supply. $250 for a 12x8x20 holds a lot of stuff and will keep it away from your livestock.

– Mulch – I would have never of thought of this. Elvis told me a story about how last year he had to put out a fire because the landscape mulch spontaneously combusted. I guess I’ll be decorating with rocks from now on.

– Electrical – In an old barn or even a new one there are a lot of electrical issues that can occur.

Cleaning – we already covered this but keep your barn clean!
Extension cords – They are meant for one time uses not semi-permanent or permanent solutions. If you find an area where you are constantly running an extension cord for a heated bucket or light then spend the time and $ to put a proper outlet there.
Plug Strips – Same goes for plugging multiple things into 1 outlet. It is nice to have a plug strip but plugging too many things into 1 outlet can overload the wire which in turn heats up, catches a cobweb or hay on fire and poof, your place goes up like a match stick again.
Appliances – When possible unplug your appliances such as radios or coffee pots. If using heated buckets, fans or portable heaters check them frequently. Don’t let dust build up on fan blades or dirt get worked into the plug of your water bucket.

Stay safe and happy trails.

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January 25, 2011January 25, 2011

Trail Tails – Keeping Warm in Winter

Welcome to Trail Tails Tuesday! Share your horse stories and adventures both high and low. Offer your experiences with horses and along with tips and tricks to help keep chores to a minimum and time in the saddle or in the drivers seat at a maximum.

This week I’d like to share with you my tips of staying warm in the winter. I’ve working on farms and owned horses for close to 20 years now and I have both over heated and froze myself on cold winter days.

I find there are 2 very important parts to your body that if they get cold you might as well pack it up and leave. 1) your feet and 2) your hands.

Cold Feet: The key to keeping your feet warm is not letting them over heat, sweat and then catch a chill. Your feet should not be crammed into your boots but should have room to wiggle and move around.

Boots Personally for barn chores and for riding in the winter I love my Classic Muck Boots. They are nice and tall for being used as a riding boot and they are water proof! They might be expensive but my last pair held on for 10 years before I had to replace them.

Socks Ok so I’m partial to alpaca because I happen to raise them but the truth is there isn’t a warmer natural fiber out there! Invest in a nice pair of terry knit alpaca socks and you won’t be disappointed. Not only are they warm but they help wick moisture away from your foot helping to keep it drier and warmer.

Cold Hands: As with your feet you want to keep your hands dry as well as warm. Most folks will buy the bulkiest gloves they can find and then constantly have to take them off to cinch up the saddle or put on a bridle. Bulky might do the trick but taking them off all the time sure makes for cold hands.

Layers! I found it best to layer your gloves. My personal choice is to wear a thin glove under and then use deer skin gloves over. For the longest time my thin glove of choice were those $1 extra stretchy cotton gloves you can usually find at the checkout lines. I used those cheap gloves right up until this past year when I tried using a pair of alpaca gloves under the deer skin ones. WOW, what a difference. I’ll hand it to alpaca, it is one warm fiber.

Core: The layers rule works great for the body and legs. Usually I like to wear lined jeans or leggings and jeans. If it’s really cold out I’ll wear leggings and ski pants. For my body I find you can never have enough. Undershirt + T-shirt + sweater/flannel + Jaket + topped off with your favorite scarf.

Head: Ah yes headwear. What you wear usually depends on what you’ll be doing? Just running through chores and mucking? A good head band or favorite hat works wonders. But if you’re riding and need to wear a helmet hats are hard to use. There are several nifty products out there to cover your entire helmet and others that are thin enough to fit under. As for me, I hate having to go from barn working headwear (headband) to riding so I did the only logical thing I could think of. I bought a larger helmet! Yup, I have a helmet that is too big for my head typically but works great when I’m wearing my headband.

Good luck and stay warm this winter! Happy Trails!

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January 10, 2011February 22, 2011

Adventures in Breeding AI – Artificial Insemination

As I wondered out to the barn in blowing wind and single digit temperatures to give my mare her 7 month EHV shot it reminded me of all the craziness that got me to this point.

To breed or not to breed?

When I bought my mare I never initially intended on breeding her. I was looking instead for a carriage horse and a best friend and of course something that fulfilled my childhood fantasies of a black horse with lots of hair. I have always had a particular fancy for geldings and I searched high and low for one that would match my picky tastes. Instead I found a cute little mare named Cotton.

It was love at first sight when the owner brought her out of the barn into the daylight. This little Morgan/Friesian (Moriesian) girl had the “it” factor for me. The way she moved even at a lazy walk was impressive. She was friendly and though she young and was only green broke to drive I knew she was something special.

We brought her home and I got to work training her further in driving and eventually to saddle. I challenged her in every way imaginable and she seemed almost bored with most obstacles. 4 years old and bombproof by nature. In my mind she was my perfect horse.

It wasn’t until I started showing her that I realized how special of a horse I really had. Everyone thinks their horse is the best and looks judgmentally at others when showing. But when Cotton would back out of the trailer people would actually stop and watch. They’d come up and ask me questions about her and want to know more about Moriesians. We had a blast at shows and to my surprise would win or place at all of them always coming home with the blue for confirmation. It was then that I realized I might actually have a special horse and started thinking about breeding.

Breeding for what?

I made my mind up to breed but why and for what? Immediately I knew I wanted to breed for another Moriesian but what %? Full 2^nd generation? Breed to a Morgan or to another Friesian?

It was time to look closely at my Mare, where are her faults? After thinking it over I wanted a horse with a little more knee action, more hair, and good hoof angle (no Friesian club foot). That ruled out breeding to a Morgan and I didn’t want to add the height a Friesian would bring so I decided on breeding to another Moriesian.

Mr Stud Muffin

I looked at several photos and videos of Moriesian Stallions and kept the picture of my ideal horse in my mind at all times. Some stallions were too big, I wanted a mature horse around 15hh. Some stallions looked lanky and must have been bred to light Friesians or the saddlebred type Morgans. The biggest problem of all was finding a Stallion that didn’t inherit the awful club foot of the Friesian yet still retained sport-horse movement.

Finally after all my searching I found Mr Right. Medallion Moriesians Ivan-Reno. Isn’t he dreamy? 14.3hh with a beautiful Morgan type head, sport-horse movement, hair and looked like a mini version of a Friesian. I loved him.

Contact and Contracts

Mare….check. Stallion picked out….check, but he’s in Arizona! Time to talk to my vet.

Like a great vet they try to talk you out of it. The phrase I remember most was; “Do you love your horse? Yes? Then don’t breed her.” The reason for such a harsh phrase is pregnancy and delivery can result in injury or death! I’ve worked on many farms and am very familiar with what can go wrong.

I assured the vet that I was aware of the risks and thought the pairing and resulting foal definitely outweighed them. We then proceeded to do a check up to make sure my little girl Cotton was healthy enough to have a foal and would be receptive to an AI breeding. Vet approval… Check

Next step was to talk to the stallion owner. What a great experience, we chatted and sent more photo/videos back and forth and discussed what both of us wanted to see in a foal. Contracts were drawn up and $ changed hands. That was easy enough!

I need sperm STAT!

What no one ever tells you is a stud fee of $800 is the minimal cost of AI breeding. My new rule of thumb; whatever the stud fee is, multiply it by 3. So your $800 fee turns into $2,400+ of vet bills and shipping. Why? Because when your mare is in heat you need sperm NOW.

Step 1. Determining when your mare is in heat. For most folks this part is easy. Most mares get rather opinionated, pee at anything with 4 legs, will masturbate on fences, the side of the barn, water tanks or hay bales. Not Cotton. Come to think of it I have never seen her in heat. Her temperament is even and she has never shown any signs.

How do you determine the heat cycle of a horse when they won’t tell you? Ultrasounds! CHACHING! Every 2-4 days for 2 weeks this poor mare was getting an arm stuffed up her rump until we finally found the perfect follicle.

Step 2 I need sperm. I happily called up the stallion owner and informed them that Huston, we have a follicle. No go, the stallion was not a location where it could be easily collected. DAMN!

More ultrasounds for Cotton and a reschedule with the stallion owner and follicle #2 was looking beautiful.

We called up the stallion owner this time and there were only 2 hours away from a collection facility. We’d have sperm in the mail and would get it by the next day. Yippy!

The vet gave me a shot of prostaglandin to give Cotton that night so make sure she ovulated in time to meet her man.

Step 3 Breeding time! I trailered my girl to the vets the next morning and promptly remembered, crap, I forgot to give her the injection. My vets looked rather concerned as well and we decided to see if things would work anyway. The blue shipping container arrived right on time and insemination was a rather uncomplicated process.

Is she pregnant?

With me missing the injection we were all worried Cotton wouldn’t ovulate in time. For this to work Cotton would have to ovulate within 48hrs of insemination.

Unfortunately 48hrs came and she still had not ovulated. We called the stallion owner up all bummed out. Luckily while the stallion was being collected they also took straws for Frozen as well as the cooled they shipped me. So, out they sent some frozen for the next time.

I brought Cotton home all heartbroken and practically out of money at this point. I had enough funds for one more attempt since I just paid $300 to ship frozen semen across the country.

The Vet came back out 10 days later to check Cotton to see when she would be ready for another attempt and to our surprise, she’s pregnant! YIPPY!

We had a baby foal floating around on the ultrasound. I immediately called the stallion owner and the 2 of us squealed with joy. Me, I was so happy because she took and the stallion owner so happy that Ivan was that potent past 48hrs.

Pregnancy

Mare pregnancy is rather uneventful. Mare care…. Vet orders stated for me to do absolutely nothing different. Same feed, same hay, no supplements and to give EHV at months 5, 7, and 9.

I was surprised on how little Cotton showed up until the last month of pregnancy. About the only difference I could find was that her winter blanket didn’t fit right. I could see her belly under it and the straps were practically let out. This is a photo of her belly just 6 hrs before foaling.

Foaling

The calendar was coming up on 11 months quickly and I decided since this was Cotton’s first foal (and mine) I’d send her to a mid wife so to speak. 2 weeks before due date I loaded Cotton up in the trailer and we headed over to Carlland Stables.

Easter Morning around 2am we got a call that Cotton was in labor. By the time I got dressed and drove to the barn the baby was already born. The whole event went by the book and we were blessed with a little filly and boy she is a beauty. We ended up naming her “Is A Bella” Izzy for short.

Rinse and Repeat

Would I do it again? Yup! Izzy sold quickly to a woman who fell in love with her dream horse much like I did with Cotton. So, once again I’m dreaming of little hoof beats around the pasture. Here’s to hoping for a healthy 2011 foal!

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