Bath, getting ready for the Trial! Rambling about whats been going on.

It was to hot to ride today so Emma got a bath! She didnt even roll after I turned her out in the pasture!!
Although I expect a big poop stain on her in the morning, as she always lays in her piles, (sigh). I also got her clipped up purty for the trail ride, need to touch up her feet, she has a flair on the hind.

Noticed yesterday that she had a big welt on her belly, round about 8 inches across! Silly girl must have rolled on a bee! Put antihistamine cream on it yesterday and today, its almost gone.

The weather here has been hot. We went from 65-70, and rain, to 90+, almost overnight! Been getting a lot done though. Hubby snuck this picture of me mowing the pasture! LOL Quite the fashionista! LOL We finally got the pasture mower running! Carb was all gummed up.

It was hot! And I am happy to say I did not have a sunburn on my face! Just a little on my arms and knees!

I also built some fence to keep the horses out of the swampy area in the pasture. Mickey had a problem with her back legs. She was stomping her foot funny one morning so I checked her out. Her cannon bones had swelling on the lower part, above the fetlock, kinda like when they stock up. But! when I ran my hand down around the fetlock she just about fell over!! You know how a dog scratches with its leg when you scratch its tummy? well thats kinda the reaction she had! Itchy itchy!  Which is kinda scary in a 1000 lb animal.  I had some antihistamine cream that was expiring this month, so I got that (after running into the store to get more and some cortisone cream) and put that on her for two days. If I would talk to her and say easy, easy, she would try really hard to hold still! She is so sweet. She is better, not itchy anymore, still a little swelling. My theory is she was down in the swampy area after grass, and we have a lot of Buttercup in our field, I am slowly spraying it. Well I think she had a skin reaction to crushing and walking in that weed. If they eat Buttercup, it can cause blisters in the mouth, luckily they do not! But that tells me that it is pretty caustic and may be what caused the problem.

In retrospect Emma had a similar episode, a couple months ago, after I noticed she had been down in that area too. She was sore, and her skin was red, she has white socks on the hind so it was easier to tell, I scrubbed her legs down with iodine shampoo for 3-4 days and she recovered quickly.

So after all that I fenced that area off. They eat the swamp grass that grows down there, maybe it will come back and drown out some of the buttercup.  I have be careful when I spray down there, because of the overflow from the well. Water runs down there year around, and the river is 75 yards away.

So Emma got her first bath, pasture has been maintained, I have also sprayed more Tansy,( hate that stuff) The mowing is the big thing! The garden is weeded and watered and doing well, I will have zuchs soon!!! Some of my Dahlias are over 4 feet tall and putting on blooms! Soon there will be the first flowers of the year!!

Twelve days now until the Trail Trials! Gahhh I have not ridden again, I came down with a nasty cold/flu, now it is to hot! I dont do 97 degrees, thats what it was on Sunday. If it is hot the day of the Trail, I will be there are 8AM, first riders are out at 9AM! So it wont be to warm. All my chores I have gotten done before 11 AM! so it wasnt to warm yet.  Drinking lots of fluids and sitting in front of the fan out out in the breeze in the shade.

Kids are coming out for 4th of July, with some friends, we are going to BBQ. Stay safe everyone and have a great holiday.