Angel155 Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Grrrr stress!! Blue has been eating his bed big style! They delivered his straw on Friday and he ate about a quarter of the bale I put 3 pages of straw last night and today he had hardly any bed left. Am seriously considering changing his bed, but he goes out in 6 weeks, so am not sure whether to keep him on straw till he goes out and then start off on a different bedding type when he comes in for the winter Also his eye has gone quite puffy again, but he won't let me anywhere near it and I know if I call the vet again I'll get more drops again and we really struggled getting the drops in last time. Plus it cost me £100 and it didn't help at all. Could the puffy eye be related to the straw? If you put fresh straw in yesterday and the eye has flared up since, could it be spores from the bed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I don't know, his eye has been puffy for a couple of months now. We have had the vet and she couldn't see anything in it. He has been bedded on straw for over 3 years and never had any eye issues My vet friend reckons I should twitch him and have a look, think I might need help with that though. Am tempted to get some fucithalmic and give that a go as it is a broad spectrum antibiotic and will kill any nasties that are in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Just thinking, his eye looked fine when I got him out of his stable, but was really sore looking after he had been tied up. Am wondering whether his eye is itchy for some reason, and he is scratching it and that's why it puffs up Am wondering whether he's getting hay dust in his eyes when he is eating from his net, on his last farm he was on haylage. Then again the hay isn't at all dusty that he is fed on but his hay net is a bit higher than on his old farm. Am still researching bedding types, my farm sell wood bedding (not quite shavings) for £4.50 a bag which a few liveries use and their horses seem ok on it, so whilst it is only 6 weeks till he goes out, am seriously considering swapping him over to those, as if he is eating his bed, he will start putting weight on, which is not what I want when he goes out on spring grass!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Norty Blue and his midnight snacking, shouldn't do him any harm eating it so wouldn't think waiting would be an issue. Lucky you no mucking out for the summer! Can you try bathing his eye in biocarbonate of soda or cold tea? Might sooth it and be easier than getting eye cream in Horses they are sent to try us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Could be hay, can you try and feed him from the ground to see if it helps? Even nice hay gives off dust when being pulled from the net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Only thing that is making me think that I need to do it now is because he is still quite porky and with him going out 24/7, I won't be able to monitor his eating like I can when he is in. Last thing I want is for him to get lami. The way I look at it is if I put him on shavings, he won't be able to eat anything extra than what I give him I also worry he might colic as he eats so much. It is getting to the stage where he is eating every scrap of clean bed and there is no bed left! Dad did him on Saturday and I didn't think he had put bed down, however I put half a bale down on Sunday night and there was again hardly any left last night Flippin horses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EAD Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 He is a greedy boy isnt he Hope his puffy eye is de-puffed soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Thank you it looked slightly better today, but again loads of his bed had disappeared. Had a chat with my YO and decided to put him on their shavings and see how he goes with those. At £4.50 a bale it will work out cheaper than straw as hopefully once his bed is established we will only need one bale a week instead of the 2 bales of straw I am using at the moment. On another happy note, I schooled him by myself tonight. As it has been my day off, I was at the farm when there were still people there who I could ask to hold my stirrup He worked quite well, considering I didn't have my instructor to help me decide what exercises to do. Only strop came when I got off him and didn't instantly give him a sweetie - he planted his feet and refused to move I think my instructor has created a monster!! He did eventually move as his sweeties were in my tack room as opposed to my pocket, but made me laugh though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabbagepatch88 Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 Oh Blue! I have a stable for Milo, he rarely goes in but I use Paperdown bedding and it would be hard to convince me to go onto shavings. I used straw with Earl and used so much of it and it stank - plus, like Blue, he munched most of it! The paper is great, all the wee stays in one easy to remove spot, and its so light to work with. I use rubber mats aswell which helps. Even if I put him in for the afternoon (say 5 hours or so) when I muck out i'll get less that a small barrow of dirty bedding out. Its fab. I pay £5.something a bale. We had a good lesson Saturday, focussed on flatwork. Last week I noticed that Milo was finding it hard to strike off for left canter so we worked on that during the lesson. We did some walk - canter transitions and that worked a treat, and the canter he does after that transition is just stunning. My instructor was watching me trot on a 20m circle and she said we 'tick all the right boxes' and cant believe this is the same horse she saw 5 months ago Hes come on so much. Hes also hit a new milestone in the last 2 weeks - since hes now dropped all that 'bull neck' muscle from under his neck and has actually started developing a topline, hes now stretching and letting his head down in trot on the lunge Wahooooo! I bought him a pair of excercise boots yesterday and put them on him to lunge in the afternoon, i dont think hes ever worn boots before so he did the funny boot walk for a few mins My sponsored ride is growing nearer, has anyone got any advice for me?! Also wanted some advice for showing - im going to do some fun inhand classes with him, when he was in Cob mode i was going to get a hunter bridle, but now he looks more ISH ( ) I think that would look too harsh on his head - should I just get an inhand bridle? A brown one, now hes skewbald?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare Posted March 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 Aww Blue Norty mummy not having any treats for you in the school No advise on showing or fun rides, but sure you will have fun doing both Its lovely when you start to see the progress isn't it Look foward to seeing you at dressage at WEC this summer I am having a nightmare with Loki's skin at the moment, for the last month or so everything seems to be rubbing him, even his rug that has always fitted him lovely is causing pinkness high up on his shoulder guess its just the change of coat. I have been sudacreming a patch on his sides as my leg has caused a bit of loss of hair, but he was a bit challenging in the school yesterday and I had to use a lot of right leg, and must have had my longer legs on as below the normal place he gets rubs I have marked his side so looks like I have been booting him with spurs and I feel a very bad mum Off to a hunter trial at Tweseldown on Sunday, first outing of the season feeling very nervous already, but very glad I entered the 2.6ft not the 2.9ft I was tempted to do, as you do when something is weeks away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EAD Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Boy will he get a shock when he goes into his stable and no nice straw to munch on Isnt it funny how quickly they realise when they get goodies, we take apples and carrots each week and now they stand looking at us as if to say hurry up, only problem is if there are a few horses in and we’re mugged Good on you for schooling him yourself And well done Milo too Good luck for Tweseldown, im sure you and Loki will be fab I was supposed to have a lesson today, tomorrow and a hack on Sunday but ive hurt my coccyx and can barely even sit down so cancelled all riding :mecry: Soooooooooooooooooooo not fair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Oh nooo :mecry: Hope its not too long until you're back in the saddle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Aww rubbish! Hope you are feeling better soon! Nothing worse than coccyx pain. :GroupHug: Shavings seem to be going ok (touchwood). He does spread it all over everywhere, but got less than half a barrow out of him last night. Just got to get into the routine of mucking out a shavings bed! Not done it for ages so it took me forever to do last night as I am a bit OCD and hate leaving little minute bits of poo visible Didn't ride last night as he had his feet done yesterday and was a bit 'footy'. Will make sure I have polos in my pocket next time I ride though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EAD Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Thanks Torturing myself today and going out to yard to watch lesson my friends riding in Was at saddlery last night as ive been hankering after a pair of Mountain Horse High Rider boots, was waiting on a size 5 coming into stock as I wasnt sure what size I was and wanted both a 4 & 5 to try. Farrrrrrrrrrr too big on calf so have to rethink what I want now Cant really justify a pair of Ariat though to be honest I prefer a chunkier boot than them. Might just get Mountain Horse Classic Rider with chaps I hate not getting what I want (stamps feet like child) What boots do you all wear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 I have mountain horse boots from equestrian clearance and wear then with half chaps. My legs are too short and fat to wear long boots I do have a pair of just togs long boots that just fit me for shows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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