I woke up yesterday to discover that Salina had a swollen udder and was off her feed, so I gave her a dose of Banamine, set her up in the barn aisle where she could have some hay, stand by Keil Bay's stall, or graze the barnyard, and she rested there with her trusty companion Rafer Johnson while we did barn chores.
Once the Banamine kicked in, she seemed a bit better, and I hosed the udder mainly to see if there was a wound there - nothing. She sighed and stretched her legs out though, so I think the hosing felt good.
I got out my books and came up with a homeopathic remedy to try. Within about 15 minutes she was alert and in her stall munching on hay. The swelling lessened a bit, and over the course of the day I monitored her to make sure she was eating (she lined up at the feed room door for lunch), drinking, and using the bathroom normally. Everything checked out well. The udder remained swollen so I decided to use a different remedy in the pm. She was back to her normal self in all ways, and I'll be keeping a chose check on that udder today and will put a call in to the vet as needed.
My daughter had ridden the pony in the morning, so she tacked up Cody and rode the Intro A dressage test with him in the evening. When I got Keil Bay in the arena and mounted, she talked me into riding the Intro A test on the Big Bay. This is what I wrote elsewhere about our ride:
I had done some warming up and Keil was forward and alert, but the moment we entered at A and trotted down center line, he was so in front of my leg and on the aids we basically overshot the entire test. Working trot became extended, the circles were me keeping him at a trot instead of canter, and he wanted to blast down center line at the end so that by the time we halted we were practically in the "judge's " lap!
It was a terrible test but I was laughing out loud through most of it. Imagine my delight at having this big powerful tank moving out with energy and excitement, instead of me trying to get the engine rolling!
I ended up *letting* him do the big giant trot work (this is when he looks the best, but normally we have to warm up and I have to push him into this gear) and then we hand-galloped some - he was so wanting to MOVE.
Keil is in week 4 of his herbal regime, and the results are astounding. It's like riding the "best of Keil Bay" all the time.
Heading into a new week with new things to learn - udders, getting a powerhouse to do a dressage test, hosting the first pre/early teen hs'ing movie night.
I'll leave you with two little videos my daughter made over the weekend to kick-start the week and get it rolling:
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
6 comments:
Hope the udder situation turns out to be a simple bug bite or something easy. Keil Bay sounds like a blast, I can tell you are really delighted with his herbal treatments. I'm really considering giving them a try for some of our herd.
The dressage test sounds, ah - interesting..
Your videos showed a happy herd. Wish they were longer.
I haven't commented in a while, but I am still enjoying your blog so much. The videos were a bonus today. How is the labrynth coming?
Have a good week (I will now refrain from using "udder" punnily).
Arlene, I've got a call in to our homeopathic vet to get his input. As of today she is completely normal except the udder is still swollen. The only thing I haven't tried is warm compresses - since I don't have warm water on tap at the barn, I'd need to do it with warm wet cloths, but she seems to like the cold hosing.
I'm actually leaning towards the bug bite scenario at this point because it is not hard like it would be with mastitis, and the pattern of swelling looks more like it's externally induced. But it's a difficult place to get a real good look. She did not want it being touched yesterday but today allowed me to feel around the area.
Keil Bay IS a blast, esp. after these herbs. LOL, the dressage test was truly funny. My daughter gave us a score of 30 and that was being kind. I guess we got those points for impulsion alone. :) Which is the happy part, as that has previously been where he was log-jammed.
Daughter usually makes the videos longer but I had asked her to shorten them as it takes forEVER to get the uploaded to Blogger!
There are a few more I'll add in throughout the week.
Mamie, I'm glad you're enjoying the blog.
I refrained from the pun as well - I think the memory of one bout with mastitis myself when breastfeeding two babies forced me to forgo humor in this situation.
Not at all sure this even IS mastitis, but it looks similar enough to make me remember.
I'm wondering if Rafer Johnson is leading the pack or being chased...either way, everyone looks like they're having a good time.
Linda, I think it depends on where you choose to start the circle. :)
He is more likely to chase than be chased, though, just FYI.
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