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| Joe with Jesse, Target & Joyce on Tin Bridge |
The day started out looking cold & foggy, but within 30-min. the sun was breaking through the clouds & I was to meet-up with Joyce & Joe at the Bracken Rd. trail head. The sun felt So good, Farah was happy to see her friend Target &
knows Jesse - but prefers Target :-) Much better behaved today - thank heaven! She'd worn off her own
edge yesterday. Ten days off, smart enough to not go ripping around the pasture to release her extra energy - she'd just
bottled it up! I did have a little
talk with her this morning - but what fun to do some nice trotting all three horses working so well together!
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| The Stillaquamish - With WATER! |
Joyce wanted to ride over to the river & see what the water level had done since the week + of rain. It was up! Really good to see - not where it usually is - but a really good flow. Lots of fresh snow showing up on the mountains too
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| Grazing break~ |
We hadn't gone far when the clouds moved over the sun & the temperature dropped. We went to the current
end of the Whitehorse as it heads east toward Darrington. The valley is so beautiful, it was very quiet.
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| Our way back toward Tin Bridge & Arlington |
Joe was telling us that in years past, this valley was used for Civil War reenactments - that would have been fun to see! We made good time, stayed on the dryer trails & covered some ground. Once back at the trailers - the sun returned :-)
I'd failed to schedule Farah's first of the year vaccinations - so called Dr. Essex as we were leaving on the chance that he could do the deed today. He could! So, we headed to the farm, for the first time in a while, to find it humming with activity. Lots of horses home from the track, Kisses flying down one of the big pastures - tail flagged! Our friend & top track groom Manuel, soon had Farah ready for the "pokes" as Grandson Mason called them! That done - Polito asked if he could sit on Farah so that his wife, (visiting from MX) could get the photo of him on her - that he's wanted for a couple years now.
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| Polito on Farah |
Farah was happy to oblige. Dean said that the way Farah
draws attention is similar to the way men feel about blonds with large chests :-) Well... We all decided
that analogy would work - since she is blond & does have a nicely developed chest :-)
A note regarding vaccinations - I asked Dean today about people who say they've had a "bad reaction" with vaccinations & no longer vaccinate. Part of what he shared with me was to say that the drug companies have refined many of the current vaccinations - that they are safer & more effective than ever before. You not only protect your own animal - but help to protect
all the animals that come into
contact with yours. With proper vaccination protocol, the track has dramatically cut the amount of horses that get sick. It's the responsible thing to do~
The horses' expressions on the bridge are priceless. lol
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have is not reactions to vaccines, although there are still some, but the problem is that most vaccinations they currently give on an annual basis are shown to last in the horse's system for 5+ years, some are *listed* as 3-year vaccines and they are giving them annually, semi-annually in some barns. The exception being viral vaccines, which can be given annually, such as influenza, and which has a listed effectiveness of 30%.
ReplyDeleteSo it's an issue of overloading the immune system in 2 ways. First would be giving multiple vaccinations at once, which is why I prefer to spread each vaccination out over the course of several months, and secondly giving the vaccine unnecessarily even while the vaccine is still in the system. (minimum 3-5 year period).
And... I've had the hardest time asking vets about this because they make over 60% of their income on vaccinations. So if we don't vaccinate annually, we're essentially decreasing their already low income. It's part of why there is limited science being provided on the subject. There is motivation to keep up a high frequency vaccination cycle due to income needs.
All good points David - but when a lot of horses from different areas are brought into close proximity & some of those horses have never been vaccinated, or not vaccinated for years - it creates the perfect storm for illnesses to be passed around. I use Vets that I trust to put the welfare of my horse first - within the guidelines suggested by UC Davis - http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/vaccination.cfm
ReplyDeleteDo you give Rabies vacc? I have the last two years, but haven't decided about this year- for some reason horses are recommended annually but dogs can now go three years.
ReplyDeleteDean is suggesting yearly - it's cheap protection. No one is sure yet how long it lasts for equines~
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