What’s In The Feed Scoop, Summer 2018

Horsekeeping

 

Here’s what we are feeding these days.

Rodney
Triple Crown Naturals [Feed Adventures]. I want to try to get off this if we can get Milton straighted out. Expensive and I don’t like supporting the non-GMO hysteria.

Electrolytes. I recently read that one should feed salt instead of electrolytes. At the beginning of the summer, we bought a big tub to save on buying several smaller ones . We’ll finish this and I’ll investigate salt vs. electrolytes for next summer.

Flax. Recommended as an additive when we were having trouble with Milton’s coat. Now that Milton is responding so well to the cimetidine, we may think about tapering this off. Less is more.

Apple or carrot. The first thing both of them look for.

Yeast. Just finished the last of. Market forces caused us to stop [not a post Horsekeeping]. Instead of tossing the remnants, we added a small amount to each bag of feed until the yeast was gone.

Milton
TC Naturals. Fortunately, the greedy horse gets more food. We don’t have to stand around defending the beta horse’s dinner.

Electrolytes. Neither horse is in hard work. We started feeding this in summer because Milton is obsessed with salt blocks.

Flax.

Cimetidine. Unfortunately, now that Milton gets meds, we are back to separating or watching them at feeding time.

Sand-Aid. Milton eats enough dirt that this is still a good idea [Sand Colic?]. The package recommendation is one week a month. We did that at first, then spread it out. We’ve been on once every 3 months. I may move it up to every 2 months. Or drop it. Depends on his response to cimetidine.

Yeast. Ended.

Apple or carrot.

Notes
Notice all of these are Milton-related. The large, brown dork is a fairly easy keeper [Diet Change, 3 Feed Sacks]. Yeah, I’m back to calling him a dork [not a post Rodney]. I mean it affectionately. Mostly.

Stunt meal in photo. Actual meals are soaked before serving.

UlcerGard as needed [Finding the Solution to Gastric Issues, Unfortunately].

What’s in your feed scoop?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Into Each Life A Little Dressage Must Fall

Home Team

 

Milton and I hope to make our dressage debut soon. I have entered two walk-trot tests at a local schooling show. As with the Saddlebred shows [1,2], the goal is to get in & get around, to finish with a number rather than a letter. Don’t care about the size of the number. As long as we have happy kid on happy pony, I will celebrate.

I see several ways this could go and still be considered a success.

Milton could discover his inner warmblood and blossom into a flawless Intro level dressage horse. I could discover my inner diva and blossom into a flawless Intro level dressage rider. It could happen. Theoretically.

Milton could discover his inner giraffe and stare at everything. As long as he does so reasonably calmly and goes where he is supposed to, no complaints.

Milton could discover his inner Quarter Horse and treat the test as a western pleasure display. Milton does not like to move and poop. I could see him stopping mid-test. As above, no complaints.

Concurrent with any of these scenarios is the rider completely forgetting herself. Voice commands are used in both saddle seat and driving. I deliberately use my voice when I ride Milton, to ease the transition between riding and driving. Voice commands are penalized in dressage [Why Wup?]. If Milton stops to poop I will be hard pressed not to yell, ‘Milton, Walk!’

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Pat Yourself on the Back, International Helmet Awareness Day 2018

Tackbox Tales

 

Do you wear a helmet? Kudos.

Do you wear a helmet in a discipline where helmets are not standard protocol? Double kudos.

You are not just protecting your head.

You are protecting me, as a human being, from having to hear another horrible head-injury story.

You are protecting me, as a taxpayer/insurance client, from having to pay a share of your catastrophic hospital bill.

You are protecting the next generation of riders who see you as a role model, whether you know it or not.

Go, you!

Riders4Helmets: What is International Helmet Awareness Day?
Ontario Equestrian: Ten Things To Remember On International Helmet Awareness Day 2015
[List of helmet posts]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

It Takes a Barn, Show Report, Alabama Fun Show #2 2018, Stepping Stone Farm, Acknowledgements Page

Home Team, Adventures in Saddle Seat, Pleasure Driving

 

ASHAA Fun Show
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL, USA
Sunday, August 12, 2018
[Show Report]

Five classes in four hours. Three horses. Two saddles and a cart. Two sets of pants & boots (hunt seat britches/boots & saddle seat jods/jod boots). Two hats (schooling and show). Two sets of gloves (I drive with a black version of the super-grippy navigator gloves [New Equipment].) Two quick changes (schooling -> saddle seat -> hunt seat) in the dressing room of the trailer, hoping that no one was looking. I could not have accomplished this without help.

Thanks for the first classes of the day go to SSF Assistant Trainer Melissa C. She supervised the driving: headed Whiskey when I got in, stood at the ring telling me to slow down or speed up as needed, headed him in line up, and then unhitched while I headed. I tell you, driving is labor intensive!

At the hunter end of the scale, thanks to my wonderful groom, in both senses of the word. Husband Greg took charge of Milton for the day. If I wasn’t riding Milton, Greg was with him: sitting next to him at the trailer, grazing when Milton got restless, holding him next to the trailer if Milton wasn’t quite settled enough to be tied. I think I attended to Milton for five minutes, maybe.

In the middle, collective thanks to everyone who made the show possible, from organizing, to judging, to volunteering. Despite being our home show, I did not pull my weight. I was gatekeeper for about two classes before I wandered off to get on another horse.

Finally, thanks to MJ for “pulling” (actually, carefully combing & cutting) Milton’s mane. Even though I ran out of time to braid, Milton looked sharp with a short, tidy mane.

They made it easy.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Nice Way To Be Taken For a Ride, Show Report, Alabama Fun Show #2 2018, Stepping Stone Farm, Driving

Pleasure Driving

 

ASHAA Fun Show
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL, USA
Sunday, August 12, 2018

3 – Academy Driving, 1 of 1
With Whiskey Throttle
Thank you to Courtney Huguley for the Wonderful Whiskey.

Driving is hard. Sitting behind a well-mannered horse, tootling around an enclosed ring, as a solo procession? That is easy.

Whiskey had been in two short – it was a summer show, everything was short – suit driving classes before the Academy class. I got in. We cruised around. I got way more excited than was probably merited by a one-horse class. What can I say, I love a horse show.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Getting The Band Back Together, Show Report, Alabama Fun Show #2 2018, Stepping Stone Farm, Saddle Seat

Adventures in Saddle Seat

 

ASHAA Fun Show
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL, USA
Sunday, August 12, 2018

30 Academy Showmanship WTC Adult, 1 of 3
31 Academy Equitation WTC Adult, 1 of 3
With Sultan’s Miracle Man
Thank you to Courtney Huguley for the Stupendous Sam

I hadn’t ridden Sam since Mid-South in May [The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly]. Didn’t matter. We picked up right where we left off. When Sam shows with me in Academy, he has a chance to reminisce about his glory days to an impressionable audience without the heavy lifting of a suit horse in a performance class.

My competition did me a favor. At one point, I looked up to see another of the Academy adults getting on their horse. The schedule said I still had loads of time before our class. Instead of sticking to my plan, I panicked and got on. We were ready way too early.

However, Sam came out of the stall cranky and annoyed. The time we spent walking and standing and a little bit of trotting and walking and standing was just what he needed to loosen up in mind and body. When we hit the ring, Sam threw it into show gear and flew down the long side. All that was left for me to do was style my feet and wonder what to do with my pinkies. (In? No out. Let’s see, pinkies go outside the reins for hunters, inside the reins for saddle seat. I was right the first time.)

To the spectators and the judge, I’m sure we looked like a nice Academy student on a pleasant school horse. Between the two of us, we were lost in mutual admiration of Sam as a fancy show horse.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott