"Sometimes cameras and television are good to people and sometimes they aren't. I don't know if its the way you say it, or how you look."Dan Quayle
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Dog Lover Gift Ideas
Following are a few Dog Lover Gift Ideas to jump-start your shopping: Many Dog Lovers like to accessorize their pets in style! Check out colorful "Pet Wear" for that prized pooch. Favorite articles include Elastic Neck Ruffs and Bandana-syle Skollars ...
Frosty, The Wandering Vagabond Cat
FROSTY, THE WANDERING VAGABOND CATCopyright 2004, Michael LaRoccaFor a long time, we had a four-pet home. Daisy the border collie mix and Bebe the dachshund/doberman mix. Witchie and Taz, the Siamese couple. Pumpkin wandered into this mess for a ...
Picking Up A Horse's Hoof
The idea of picking up a horse's hooves can intimidate some owners since a well-placed horse kick would really hurt! Such caution is good, but in reality if you pick up a horse's hoof properly you provide him with no leverage or ability to kick you. This ...
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Having only been a horse owner for 10 months, to suddenly find myself with a foal to care for was quite a shock.
My horse is a traditional coloured cob, prone to be a bit on the large side anyway, so she hid the foal very well. So well in fact that it was not until we found her early one morning with a foal at her side that we realised!
A call to the vet advised me that as long as the foal was suckling and the mare was calm, everything was ok, but to keep an eye on them both for the first few hours.
Try stopping me ! Still in the clothes I had grabbed and thrown on at 7am I spent the whole day gazing in awe at my new and unexpected arrival and her clever mum.
I gave my mare a good feed with plenty of supplements to make sure that she started to produce the milk she would need and she allowed me to have a close look at her foal, who at only a couple of hours old was very sturdy.
My next thought was "what do I do now - how do I make sure that this little foal gets a good start in her life with people. " I knew that I would not be able to keep the foal as I could not afford 2 horses in livery, but I wanted to make sure that when she left me, she was happy that people were her friends.
I spoke to a natural horsemanship expert, who advised me to introduce the foal to as many different things as possible, and get her used to
being handled as early as possible. Fortunately my horse had no problem with this and was happy for all the kids from the yard to come and adore her foal. The foal was happy to have her feet picked up once she had trusted me to support her until she found her balance on 3 legs. She loved being groomed and once we had a foal slip on, soon learnt to walk quietly with me on a lead rope, by being patient and letting her own curiosity encourage her to walk towards me.
This was particularly useful when I needed to bring mum and foal into the yard and pop her into a stable if the blacksmith or vet was coming.
As the foal got bigger I had to work on teaching her about "my space" as a boisterous foal at shoulder height could easily have knocked me over and she had to learn not to bump into me.
We had a lot of fun for the months that the foal was with me and although it broke my heart when I had to part with her, it gave me great pleasure when she trustingly trotted into the trailer to go back to the farm that my mare had come from. I am sure that the foal will take to all the other things she has to learn over the next couple of years with equal confidence and trust and be as kind and gentle as my horse is.
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Learn the essential information for picking the right Horseback Riding Vacations at http://www.horseback-riding-vacation.info
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Wis. horses quarantined after disease exposureChicago Tribune, United States - 55 minutes agoWisconsin agricultural officials have quarantined 17 horses on 11 farms around the state after they were exposed to a contagious venereal disease. ... |
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