Spring Shots

It's that time of year again.  Indy was so scared when I led him into the stall for his shots that he was shaking all over.  The vet said she didn't even need to take his heartbeat because it was already leaping out of his chest.  Poor thing - sedation was in order for teeth floating anyway.

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Some recommended shots: (I've put in bold the ones Indy got.)

The Coggins Test: Needed only if you're going to take your horse in contact with lots of other horses.  Like trail rides, campgrounds, or shows.  Most of these things require a Coggins, so it's not an option.  It checks for a kind of virus that spreads ever so easily among horses.

Strangles: Only needed if your horse will be in contact with young horses, because the disease "strangles" usually affects horses aged 1-5.  It involves the lymph nodes swelling up, and it's not fatal, but...do you really want to pay a $65 vet's farm call again?

Potomac Horse Fever: This one protects against a disease carried by water snails, mayflies, and possibly other creatures that live in bodies of water.  In MN, we have water almost everywhere, so it's recommended - but for the first time your horse gets it, he'll need a booster shot after three weeks.

Influenza:  Combats a viral disease with these clinical signs: fever, coughing, disinterest in eating, depression.  An upper respiratory disease.

FLU/Rhino: Also an upper respiratory disease.

Rabies: Horror of horrors! I'd say this one is a must.  I'm sure I don't want Indy going rabid.

West Nile Virus: This protects against disease mosquitos carry.  *shudder*

Tetanus:  Tetanus usually enters through open wounds (including puncture wounds) and starts to reproduce via bacteria.  This results in stiff muscles, which means dangerous riding, possible lockjaw, and breathing problems.  Treatment of tetanus is very hard to do and expensive.

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Besides these shots, your horse will need to be dewormed every six to eight weeks, but you can do that yourself.  Just get someone to help hold your horse's head and squirt that stuff into the side of his mouth.  (That way he can't spit it out right away.)

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Teeth floating essentially means "teeth filing" and that will need to be done every two years.  Your horse will be sedated, put into a special cranking halter  (see above) that holds his mouth open, and the vet will take a grinding drill to those troublesome teeth.  (Just an FYI - the smell of burnt teeth is awful.)

We just learned that Indy will need his teeth floated once a year now, because he has a missing tooth on top, and the tooth on the bottom keeps growing up into the gap.  This hinders him from eating properly and I think it's most of the reason that he gets so thin.

If you're not sure if your horse needs his teeth done, watch him eat corn or grain.  Does he drop it out of his mouth as he's chewing? If so, you want to think about calling the vet.


What vaccinations do you get for your horses? Was this post helpful?



Have a wonderful day.
Ellyn

In Style? Why not?

I found this amazing fashion website.  You will not believe the hip clothes they've got...you would be the queen of the runway in anything with their name brand on it.

What's it called?

Recollections.

* All photos from http://www.recollections.biz

Maybe you'd prefer a ball gown? Go on...enchant yourself with thoughts of Cinderella...just make them Victorian.

ball gown

victorian gown

silk bustle set

silk set

anna belle on sale

Need something for your little sister?

girl's calico outfit

In any of these, you're the queen of MY runway.  Go check out these treasures for yourself! If I had that much money on me, I'd pick up one of these right pronto.  As it is, I can only ooh and ah :)

- Ellyn

Let's Go Fly A Kite...

It's an Easter / near-Easter tradition at our house.  A Spring kickoff.  And lots of fun.  The above kite was the star of the event.

My brother snapped the above of me with my kite.  I think this was just after we got it down from the apple tree.  My other brother kindly got it down for me.

He's very skilled.

But then this kite - remember? The star of the show? -

Ran out of string and...well...didn't come back.

Oops.

Now it's in a neighbor's tree, and we pass it every time we come back from town.

Nevertheless, it was a fun day and we're hoping to fly some more of these babies on Easter.

And here's a...um...spontaneous photo of me with braces.  :)

Have a happy Easter holiday.

He is Risen!

- Ellyn

Horse Hopes, Summer '11

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This summer, with Indy, I want to...
Lunge him: twice a week
Ride him: 5 days a week

I want to work on...
- Jumping
- Riding in the "scary" arena, especially loping.  I want to be able to lope without him making for the opening in the fence.
- Going down the road alone.  Not the dirt road, the actual road.
- Loping in the pasture.  Any pasture.

As for myself...
- I need to use the reins less than I do and depend more on my weight and my legs.
- I need to maintain confidence even after a nasty spook.
- I need to not be afraid to lope somewhere new for the first time.


Exciting things coming up...
- Therapy riding is going to start up soon, and I want to volunteer more there.
- The therapy horses need more exercise.  I want to ask their owner if I can take care of that - at least some of it.
- This is the best one.  My friend Kaylee, owner of the wonderful horse Honee, has invited me to go camping with them this summer! With Indy! We have the Coggins Test scheduled and I am so excited I grin every time I think about it.  We might even get to take the horses to the beach.

kaylee on indy

me on honee

P.S.  Did I mention that my friend Whisper - the famed girl of our JoinUp session last fall - got a horse? Her name is Marquessa and I can't wait to meet her.  :)  She's a dark bay Arabian mare.  Maybe I'll post a picture if I get permission.


Love,

 Ellyn

Peeling Paint, Pretty Maidens

This week in school, I have had to do lots of little mini biographies on painters.  One of them was John William Waterhouse, and when I dutifully began looking at his paintings (as was required),  I discovered something:

I love this painter's work!

*All photos in this post are from http://www.jwwaterhouse.com

"Fair Rosamund"

Waterhouse was part of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an association dedicated to bringing the detail and quality back into modern art.

"Miranda - The Tempest"

As I looked at the paintings, I thought of all the stories that were woven into the depicted scenes.  Unfortunately, most of those stories are already told, and were in existence long before Waterhouse enhanced them with color.

"The Lady of Shalott"

The above 'lady' is one who fell in love with brave Lancelot, I believe.  (Correct me if I'm wrong.)  She looks sad? Yeah.  Lancelot was already in love with Queen Guinivere, who, even though she returned his affections, was married to King Arthur.  It's messed up, I know.

"Lady Clare"

"Lady Clare" by Tennyson is my favoritest piece of poetry! Except for maybe "The Eagle" (Tennyson) and "The Highwayman" (Noyes).

"The Missal"

I'm working on copying "The Missal" in charcoal.

"Windflowers"

Can you say SPRING in one...well...painting? Here 'tis!  This is our weather right now, except without all the flowers.  I wish we had more flowers...



P.S.  I have been thinking about my new design but I don't have any ideas yet.  You'll know when inspiration strikes.



Off to dinner!

- Ellyn

Art / Cartoons by Moi

It so happens that while I was gone I did a fair amount of drawing.  I got this lovely oversize book of Sea Battles from the library and copied these two pictures.  I tweaked them a little bit, but you could still recognize them in the book.

These pictures may remind you of something: Seaspear.  I, uh....cleverly....forgot to give you an update in my last post.  My little book was exploding with progress for most of March - so much so that I considered taking the month off of writing too, because I was neglecting other things.  But I'm almost to 60,000 words with it and right now, I have....writer's block.  Bah.

I'm soo sorry these are sideways.  I tried everything I could think of!  The top one is John Paul Jones, aboard his Bonne Homme Richard - I've always loved the fellow.  Especially in that old tv show - Liberty's Kids! Has anyone watched that? The bottom one is Admiral Brueyes, who was killed...hm.  Don't remember.  Killed in a battle with Nelson, I believe.

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A conversation my dad and I had over a catalog gave me the idea for this comic.  I'll give it to you frame by frame so its easier to read.  (As I uploaded all these, I realized some definite mistakes, like the lack of a question mark in the last frame.  Also, Ash had a little lipstick malfunction in this first one, due to a wayward pen.)

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Here's a four-frame comic I just did yesterday for a co-op art class.

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Hope you enjoyed these!

P.S.  Isn't the weather beautiful? I woke up to birds singing. :)

- Ellyn

I'm Back!

Wow...I'm feeling seriously out of the blogging groove :)
It's good to be back, and I had a full month - I actually have no clue of how I'd even have managed to blog, if I was allowed to.  Here's an update on life.

Braces - I got 'em.  And I need headgear too, but only for 12 to 14 hours a day.  :)

Firearm Safety - Readers!!! Yours truly has actually shot a gun at a target! *squeal* We only have a .22, so there's not much kick.  But still, I feel so accomplished! :D

Behind the Wheel - the first time, I had no clue what I was doing.  But I'm getting better at driving, slowly but surely.

And also - I've started a book review blog! While offline, I wrote tons of book reviews and read tons of books, so I'd love you even more if you checked it out and clicked the "follow" button.  Again, I've got A LOT of reviews to get out there - good stuff is comin'!
Here's the link: The Book Trapper


Missed ya!

- Ellyn