Re: building the basic first aid kit

[MBlanchrd@aol.com]

Hi, Lisa,

  Amidst all the "things" you need for your basic first aid kit, don't forget
your brain.  The very best thing for a first aid kit is a base line
"inventory" of your horse when he's normal. 
   You need to know  everything about him. What's his normal gut sound like?
What is his demeanor  when he's in good health? What is his normal heart rate,
respiration, temperature? How does he act when he's NORMAL? It never hurts to
listen to his tummy before and after he's eaten to establish these
"standards". It doesn't hurt to weigh him weekly. Check to see how much he
drinks, both before a workout and after. Look at his manure, cataloging in
your brain  it's content, (is he passing oats whole?) texture, and structure.
(no wonder normal people think we horsefolk are wierd.). Watch how he stands
when he urinates, how often he urinates and defecates. Watch how he rolls, and
what he does after he rolls.  

Look him all over, check him out every day. Establish a procedure in your
brain, and stick to that check list. I start at the nose, work my way up his
head, down his left side, all the way around him, legs included, tummy
included, back to the base of the right nostril.. In a few seconds I've
checked my whole horse's external appearance, excluding the bottoms of his
feet, which I do when I clean his hooves.

 My barnlords think I'm crazy, but I check Jordan and Smoke every single day,
when I groom them. I run my hands all over them. (my barnlords groom "as
needed"..they think I'm playing with "My Little Pony"..and they're probably
right. However, my boys shine, despite their winter hair, because I groom them
daily.). I feel them for heat, for bumps, for twitches, even for insects,
though I'm lucky as I can be that I don't need to worry about ticks here.

There's an instinct you can develop that's called "the eye of the Master".
What is it? It's that subtle sense that tells you your horse is NDR, "Not
Doing Right". With this sense, you can tell he's NDR just by looking at the
way he holds himself, the look in his eye, the pinch of a nostril, the change
in mannerisms, a change in his body language. I can tell just by looking at
Jordan's nose whether the arthritis in his right leg is hurting him or not. He
doesn't limp, he just looks like he's hurting. He pinches the nostrils back. I
can't explain it very well, but I know it. 

How do you develop the eye of the master? Long hours spent with your horse.
I'm also known as "the woman who sits in the stall with her horse." I cannot
remember how many times I've sat in the clean shavings (I'm not THAT dedicated
to sit in a dirty stall..) watching Jordan eat. I know the sequence he eats
his feed in, that he delights in tossing his hay everywhere, that he likes it
on the ground, NOT in a hay rack, and that he likes the tips of the carrots
better then the tops. 

  I hand graze him often, so I even know how he grazes...the right foreleg
back,(my farrier says it's because he's slightly clubfooted in his right fore)
sweeping his head back and forth in semicircles, using that wonderfully adept
nose to push the grass over to enable him to grasp it with his teeth, push a
leaf aside, test a green plant as to it's edibility...when he heaves that big
sigh I know it's because that big empty cavern in his stomach has realized
he's sending food its way.   

You develop the eye of the Master by spending lots of time with your
horse..not just riding, (though that's the reason for having a horse, but
that's an entirely different topic.), but by just being with your horse. Watch
him when he's in the pasture with other horses. You'll learn what his social
position is. Watch him while he eats. Watch him while he's standing, dozing in
the sun, one hind leg locked and his eyelids at half mast. Only byknowing the
WHOLE horse...not just from atop him in the saddle..will you understand who he
is and why he does what he does when he does it.

Establish a very solid picture of who your horse is when he's normal and
painfree...then you will have a very powerful tool in your first aid kit
should it ever be needed. One look will tell you if you need to run for the
kit. That's as good an early warning system we horsefolk will ever have.

Michelle Blanchard and Jordan, the wonder horse.


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