Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...

...except my husband, because he was there with me this time.

We had quite an ordeal hauling the horses today.
(Don't worry, all are safe. No gory accident story follows.)

I had a lot of trouble pulling the horse trailer in the mountains with my crappy old 1994 F250 turbo diesel last summer. I experienced overheating and extreme loss of power going over the mountains. It received major repairs at a diesel specialty shop after that trip, but I've still been having repetitious problems with the truck. Lately, my eyes have burned as I get fumigated with diesel odor while driving. It needed to go back to the shop, but I've lost faith in my diesel specialist.

I said to my husband last week, "I don't want to take the truck back to So-and-So Diesel Repair because it always costs us $1,000.00 to go there and I think they are missing things. Let's take it to the Ford dealer."

Ha ha ha. Famous last words. $2,550.00 in repairs later and I still have a crappy old truck; however my eyes aren't burning anymore. I'm happy with the mechanic and what he did. But dealer service prices are outrageous! We can't be doing this very often.

The mechanic found my fuel leak. Turns out the fuel leak was likely caused by So-and-So Diesel Repair. When So-and-So Diesel replaced all of the injectors last year, they didn't bother to replace the o-rings at the same time. Most of the o-rings around the injectors were leaking fuel.

The dealer mechanic also found excessive and large slivers of metal on the rear differential plug. Not a good sign. He had to take apart the rear diff and replace the pinion and carrier bearings. Of course, there were other things that needed repairing, but the leaking o-rings and the rear diff were the biggies.

We had a long talk with the the service adviser at the dealership and he was hopeful that repairing the fuel leak and a few other things might have fixed the poor towing performance. He suggested we do a test and pull a load up into the mountains and see how it does. My husband agreed.

This morning, we loaded Misty and Marley in the trailer and headed out for a long drive in the mountains with me at the wheel. It was a beautiful, warm day, and I've been wanting check out a dude ranch where I would like to go camping and trail riding.

We made it up a steep mountain pass with better performance than I expected, gaining hope that maybe the recent (and obscenely expensive) repairs did the trick. But as we passed through town, we started to experience some power loss.

We stopped at a red light. When it turned green I began to accelerate, but had no power. I had to shift down to 2nd to get the truck to slowly creep forward. We had watched the transmission temperature rise as we climbed the mountain and it was still high. Not in the yellow zone, but getting close at about 200 degrees.

So we stopped for a bite to eat at Taco Bell while the transmission cooled.

We'd made it over the toughest part of the drive and decided to press on to the ranch.

And then it happened!

Traveling up the steep dirt road leading to the ranch, the truck began to go slower...and s l o w e r...and s.l..o...w....e.....r, until it came to a halt. We were perplexed. So we put it in 4-wheel drive, hoping that's what we needed on this dirt road. Even in 4WD, I could not get any forward movement. The tires just wouldn't turn.

We were stuck. Stuck and blocking the 1-lane dirt road leading to this dude ranch, on a holiday weekend, during the guest check-in window.

My husband called the ranch and gave them the bad news that we were stranded on their road, with a horse trailer, and blocking access to their place.

I wanted to cry. Breaking down in any vehicle, anywhere is no fun. But breaking down with horses in tow is miserable at best. I find it frightening. And it wasn't long before someone pulling a giant 5th wheel RV came along behind us and had to wait.

The owner of the ranch was very, very nice. He came down in his F550 and towed us (truck and trailer and horses all together) up to his ranch and told us we could turn Misty and Marley out in their arena so they could rest and stretch their legs. I did that while my husband and the ranch hands peered into the truck engine and talked manly truck talk.

Misty and Marley were happy to be loose in the big arena. Marley immediately rolled in the dirt and Misty began eating the manure of strangers. I hate it when she does that! She doesn't eat manure at home, but loves to sample the dried droppings left behind by unknown equines.

After letting the transmission cool for an hour, we were on our way home.

It was smooth sailing down the mountain toward home. And my husband drove!!! My nerves were shot and I was glad to sit in the passenger seat.

But as we were nearing home, on relatively flat ground, we had some power loss again; and this time the transmission temperature was not unusually high.

What do you think it could be? I think the crappy old truck has a crappy old transmission. We've already put more into the truck in repairs than we paid for it. I think it is time to part company and this old truck needs to find a home with a young man who likes big, noisy trucks and likes to get his hands dirty.

I live in Colorado. I want to trail ride. I need a truck that can do mountains.

This old F250 is my first truck and my only experience towing horses. I'm now afraid to haul my horses with this truck. It's not safe and it scares me.

What do you drive? Gas? Diesel? How much load can you pull and do you have any trouble pulling up hills, particularly in the mountains?

Tow vehicle recommendations wanted.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't dropped out of the blogosphere.

I've just been too busy to blog because this is what my job has been like lately:

It's that work-life-horse balance dilemma again. Work has been consuming my life. Something has to give, so I've kept the computer off at home while I squeeze in some horse time before collapsing at the end of the day. But there are a few accomplishments and fun things to report:

• I attended a parade and helped on the ground crew. I love a small town parade.
  
• Marley and I had a nice driving lesson where I received some good instruction and practice using a driving whip and keeping communication with the lines while driving him through big puddles (remember...Marley doesn't like water).
• I attended an interesting rein board training class designed to help driving students learn to hold the lines and use a driving whip, while keeping proper contact...without actually driving a real, live horse. Driving lines attached to weighted ropes and pulleys simulate the feel of a horse at the end of the lines. Here is an example. In our class, we didn't have an actual board that the pulleys were attached to. We tied pulleys onto a hitching rail. It's a good way to practice (without annoying and confusing your poor horse) and see the affect you have when you lengthen and shorten your lines. Then try to use a driving whip and watch what happens to the weights as you "drive".
  
• Marley and I attended a 2 day trail riding clinic. It was a lot of fun and we played with many interesting obstacles. Marley is great walking over a teeter-totter bridge and passing through swim noodles suspended from a frame. And he absolutely loved pushing around the giant soccer ball as I rode him toward it. First he nudged it gently with his nose; the ball rolled forward slightly, then back into his face. How rude of it! So he gave it an aggressive nudge the next time and sent it rolling forward. We followed after the ball and Marley kept pushing it forward like he wasn't gonna let some giant 6 foot tall beach ball get the better of him.
  
• I took a riding lesson on Misty with a new instructor last week and she pointed out many things I need to improve upon. My biggest challenge is to ride with loose reins and get off of Misty's mouth before she gets irritated and starts developing behavior problems.

I hope to be posting and reading more often, as I get a better grip on the stress I'm under at work. I've missed reading your blogs and hope everyone is enjoying their best horse buddies.

When Life Gives You Rubbish

Today is trash collection day and it is very windy.

Our neighbors didn't consider the wind when they set cardboard boxes out with their trash this morning; empty boxes except for some packing paper inside.

The boxes, of course, blew onto our property and I retrieved several long strips of packing paper from our horse pasture.

The neighbors have driven by several times and surely they have seen how their boxes have gone astray, but they've done nothing to retrieve them.

Apparently they believe that once their garbage has blown off their property, it becomes the refuse of another.

I could be annoyed at my neighbors...or I could turn their trash into something useful.

Perhaps I could use it to frighten desensitize my horses.

I tied several of the long strips of packing paper around the corral panels.

They crackled and flapped in the wind like spooky hellions (mischievous snickering ensues).

When life gives you rubbish, turn it into a training tool.

Misty's Monday Muse: Scared!

My name is Misty and I'm scared of my rolling box.

Recently, I've been expressing a fear of my trailer. I've never been very comfortable in it, but I'm an amiable girl and try to do what is asked of me. But in the last couple of weeks, I've become very disagreeable and my naughty behavior has escalated on a daily basis.

MyLady says it is her fault and she feels very badly. Despite the dilemma of her cockeyed Work-Life-Horse Balance, she has been trying very hard to work consistently with Marley & Me and has been hauling us to places that have round pens and arenas to work in. I've had to travel in my rolling box a lot lately and my anxiety is growing.

I've become very fussy about getting in my box; and last week I started running away from MyLady as soon as I see her with a halter in her hand. I just want to be left alone!

I've never really had the chance to make friends with my trailer. It hasn't been mean to me, but when I step into it, the doors shut, it gets dark, the world disappears, and I feel very uneasy. I'm always so glad when the world reappears and I can get out of that box.

On Saturday, I had a lesson to properly introduce me to my trailer. I had to trot a lot until I figured out that the trailer was a place where I could rest. I was given lots of chances to snoop around in the box and play with it, but was allowed to leave when I felt uncomfortable. TrainerLady said I needed to use my natural curiosity, but fear and curiosity cannot co-exist in my equine mind, so I was allowed to approach and retreat as needed. It was a long lesson. After 3 hours, I was finally comfortable enough to walk all the way into my box and relax in there and have a snack.

Then yesterday I found the rolling box just sitting at the top of my dry lot with its big, gaping mouth wide open. Inside was my lunch. That was really weird.

I stayed away, but every now and then I stole a glance. Then I saw MyLady sitting in it, playing with my food tub. I decided to check it out before she ate all my food.

Hey, save some of that for me.

I hung around for a little bit, then I turned and galloped to the other end of my lot. This back-and-forth went on for awhile until I finally got curious (and hungry enough) to start investigating further.

Nibbling outside the box.



Nibbling inside the box.



Getting braver.


Oh oh! What's that I hear?

PREDATORS!

Gotta run!


The next-door predators scared me with their yapping.

Just look how scary they are!

Wouldn't you run too?

Finally, I calmed down and went back to my box and got most of my body in. That's all I could do yesterday. I suspect I'll be dining in the box again.

.

OH MARLEY!


What a show-off.

One day at a time,

The Scoop on Poop: Deworming

Deworming ("worming" or "drenching") is the process of dosing a horse with drugs to purge them of parasites. These drugs work by killing or paralyzing parasites so that they may be discharged from the horse's body....and that's the poop!

Horse owners have been battling equine parasites for centuries, beginning with old fashioned remedies that included blood-letting and feeding cigars to horses.

Tobacco was once thought to be a cure-all for man and beast. In 1565 a physician published a pamphlet about tobacco's medicinal powers. From the book Tobacco A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by Iain Gately, we read that tobacco was considered a treatment for many ailments:

Griefs of the breast...rottenness at the mouth, and for them that are short of wind...an effective cure for any illness of any internal organ, for bad breath, especially in children who have eaten too much meat, for kidney stones, from poison arrows, indeed for 'any other manner of wound'...Tobacco...could heal cattle of 'new wounds and rotten', of maggot infections, of foot-and-mouth disease, and of any parasite that had or might trouble them.

The mysterious plant from the New World was thought to be a wonder drug. We know better now. While some people still use tobacco as a backyard horse wormer, it is not recommended and can make a horse gravely ill.

Times have changed and veterinary medicine has advanced, thank goodness. But we must continue to wage war against the worms.

When I was young, tube-worming was the popular treatment for equine parasites. Twice a year the vet would come out and fill a big metal bucket with a chemical solution, insert a tube into my horse's nostril and pump the mixture into his gut. It looked very uncomfortable for the horse, and certainly not something I could do myself.

Then the practice of rotational paste worming took center stage and has been very popular and effective for several decades. Rotational worming allows the horse owner to easily dose their horse bi-monthly (every 2 months) by injecting a drug imbued paste into the horse's mouth, varying the chemical combination to target particular types of worms throughout the year.

Also popular is a daily pelleted wormer combined with occasional paste worming.

I have been a faithful follower of a bi-monthly paste worming rotation....until now.

My bi-monthly worming schedule has been so important to me that I keep the schedule posted on my dresser mirror, next to my earrings. (Not very decorative, but I know you horse lovers will understand).

I dutifully check the calendar to make sure I administer the appropriate paste wormer at the right time of year.

But now we are hearing more about those pesky, clever worms developing a resistance to our arsenal of dewormers. Last year my veterinarian suggested I change tactics. So in December, I used up the last of my paste wormer supply when I gave Misty & Marley their measure of pyrantel pamoate paste.

Last week I locked each horse in their own stall and waited for them to produce some manure. I didn't have to wait long. I strategically plucked several "apples" from different places in their piles, put them in separate plastic baggies marked with their names, and dropped these gems off at the vet clinic so they could do a fecal egg count.

The results...drum roll please...negative! Misty & Marley do not have worms to speak of. In fact, I was told "their manure looks great!" I'll take that as a compliment, thank you.

So what do I do now? Instead of paste worming 6 times a year, my vet has instructed me to paste worm just twice a year. And because Misty & Marley are worm free and it is just the two of them living at home, I don't need to submit another fecal sample for 18-24 months. Our new semi-annual schedule is:

Spring: Equimax (ivermectin/praziquantel), targeting roundworms, tapeworms, lungworms, and bots.

Fall: Quest Plus (moxidectin/praziquantel), targeting large strongyles, small strongyles, encysted cyathostomes, ascarids, pinworms, hairworms, large-mouth stomach worms, bots, and tapeworms.

I must admit...I'm a little uneasy about abandoning my trusty bi-monthly worming rotation. It's a paradigm shift of sorts. I'm taking a chance because I want to do what is best for my horses and thwart resistance in the parasite community. I trust my vet, but I will probably submit a fecal sample in 12 months for my own peace of mind.

Whatever strategy you choose to combat parasites, please consult with your equine veterinarian. Your vet can help formulate a plan based on the latest research, your geographic location, and your horse's living situation.

Interesting reading: Horsetalk's Parasite Series

Misty's Monday Muse: Dining Etiquette

When I first came to live in the land of Once Upon, I had very bad mealtime manners. As my picture shows, I was impatient and would grab at my hay as it was being served through my feed door.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I was even more ill mannered than the gluttonous pony!

I've been taking etiquette lessons that teach me how to be a lady at feeding time. I've learned to turn away from my feed door and wait until my hay is served before I start ripping and chomping nibbling daintily upon it.

My manners are much better now, but sometimes I forget and fall back into my former bad ways. When that happens my waitress swiftly pulls my hay back through the feed door and gives me a look. Then I remember my manners and I step away from the feed door until my hay is properly placed in my trough.

Equine dining etiquette isn't just about obeying rules. It is a matter of being kind and considerate of others. After all, I wouldn't want to hurt my waitress by accidentally tearing into her hand with my hungry horsey teeth. Besides, I'm a vegetarian.

Dining with grace & style,

Spring Thing: Curry Comb

Spring is the time to dust off the curry comb and flex those grooming muscles that have been idle all winter.

Circles, circles, circles.
Feel the burn.

Each springtime grooming session reveals a little more of the beautiful horse hidden underneath all that winter hair.

Marley is really giving it up here.

Happy spring and happy shedding to all our equine friends and their devoted groomers.

Spring Thing: Puddles of Opportunity

Spring is a good time to take advantage of all those yucky puddles that form after spring showers and melting snow. If you are looking forward to trail riding, puddles at home offer great training opportunities.

When I purchased Marley I was forewarned of his great aversion to water.

He hated getting his toes wet.
He hated baths.
He hated any water touching his body.

I was even told of an incident during a cup-of-water relay game, when Marley threw a tantrum when a small amount of water spilled out of his handicapped rider's cup onto his shoulder.

Marley has challenged his trainers in ground training sessions involving water. I watched as he refused to walk across a water puddle and opted to run up a hillside, pulling his trainer with him. This was a forested hillside, so the trainer took quick advantage and wrapped the lead rope around a tree and brought Marley to a surprising halt. Marley can put up a pretty strong argument when presented with a task he doesn't like. But we've been working on his water issue every chance we get.

When I came home from work yesterday, I was pleased to see that the melting snow from last Saturday's blizzard had created puddles of opportunity for Marley.

Marley's opportunity to walk through a puddle:

Ok, Mom, I can do this.

When working through puddles on the ground, I like to do more than simply lead Marley through the puddle. We started out that way, but now we work in a circle on a long lead rope and I "send" him through the puddle, without being close to his side in a typical leading position. When I'm riding Marley on the trail and we encounter a puddle, I won't be by his side to lead him through it. I'll be on his back and he may feel he is facing that horse-eating puddle all alone, unless I've reinforced his confidence on the ground by sending him through these preparatory puddles.

Marley's opportunity to stand calmly in a puddle:

Look Mom! I'm calm and sweet and willing.

And finally, Marley's opportunity to stand patiently while the puddle muck is washed away:

I'm a good boy. Can I have dinner now?