I've been slacking lately. I haven't ridden my horse in... a week? No, I think it's been about 5 days. Yesterday he gave me a break though, he got an owie so now I don't have to feel guilty for not riding. He has a scrape on his back about 6 inches long and it goes from thinnish to about an inch wide. I assume someone got mad at his constant peskiness and he didn't get out of the way fast enough. I'm sure it'll be fine in a few days. As long as I can ride by Tuesday so he's not totally fresh at my next lesson on Wednesday I'll be happy.
To be honest I haven't been doing much with the horses at all. I'm kind of having withdrawals, but not enough to make me stay out in the heat for long. I give them their supplements in the morning and I halter Bella and Scout (Bella is still not too keen on that, but I have managed to get it done). Then I pet them while they eat. Then I pet Scout some more, because he's such a personable, visiting type. Today I haltered Tonka too, and scratched all his itchy spots, and well, as odd as it sounds, I messed with his boy parts. I need to give him a good cleaning down there, so I've been trying to get him used to more handling in the area. He doesn't care about me messing with his sheath, but I need him to get more comfortable leaving it dropped a little when I'm messing around there. Lovely fun. The smell of smegma is hard to wash off.
Now I need to get my house clean. I have house guests coming for the 4th, and my dad will be on his way over tomorrow. I don't think he'll be spending much time here. He just found out his friend since high school is dying of cancer, so he's coming over to see him. Prayers for everyone involved would be much appreciated. He is in a lot of pain and will be leaving a wife and two grown kids behind.
Sorry, kind of a downer moment. Cancer is evil.
I hope you're all having fun in the summer weather, living and loving, enjoying every minute of it! Hug thy loved ones!
(Which reminds me... Yesterday my son asked who lives with our neighbor. I said nobody. He said, "But where does his honey live?" What a sweet way to put it.)
Lol Andrea you are so much braver than me! I have had geldings in my life for 13 years and never had to have their nether regions cleaned. I didn't even know they did that until about a year or so ago when another blogger had her gelding done. I've been wondering if I should work like that with my boys or if I should just leave it to the vet (I know I am a wussie). This may be a dumb question but when do you know that they need a good cleaning?
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful 4th of July!!! : )
With Tonka it's so easy to tell, because he's filthy and has flaky chunks of black stuff in the folds around the edges of the sheath. Other than that, rubbing their tails, kicking at their sheath, swelling, a bad smell... Here's a good site about it: http://iceryder.net/sheath.html
ReplyDeleteI think it's good to do once a year whether you think they need it or not. Checking for the bean is especially important, even if you don't do the whole cleaning ritual.
It is nice to leave it up to the vet! I had him do it last year while Tonka was already sedated for his wolf teeth removal. But then of course you have to pay for it...
I find some geldings need it done more often than others. Andrea your like me, I don't wear gloves either. I use WD 40 to get it off my hands. Everything is ok if my finger nails are short. lol. I never went over to see Wildairo when we had the real hot weather. I sent my son to feed him and he came back and told me he had been scratching his itchy spot and Wildairo loved it.
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