Horse Sit Stay

14/05/2024

Great ride out this morning at Glengarry North. Gina was perfect. Another new place and new riding buddy. Feeling blessed.

29/04/2024

For sale. Horse rug/ pet bedding, blankets etc washing machine. Old but working. Brand unknown but l think it is a Westinghouse. Cold water hose comes with.

$50 pick up from Yarragon South.

10/05/2023

Gorgeous agisterHarry feeling playful with Milla, who is not amused!

10/05/2023

My special girl, Milla. A reasonable photo for a change.

27/04/2023

My gorgeous rescue mare Gina Hanover. Due to be backed next week. This is what happened today. Thanks so much Jessica Jade for your encouragement.

19/03/2023

I’m booked in to this in 2024. A good enough reason to head to the UK l think.

01/03/2023

Very useful advice re worming your horse.

Apparently it’s March... already!?
Our wonderful, tidy calendar says it’s autumn now too. And so here is my annual “It’s not actually autumn yet – don’t deworm your horses straight away!” spiel.

Autumn is the No. 1 time of year to worm your horses, because it ties in best with breaking the bot-fly life cycle. A bot fly’s lifecycle is 12 months, so treating just once a year will break that lifecycle (and overtime decrease bot fly populations). By mid-autumn/early winter, the entire population of bot flies will be inside your horse, which means you can target all the bots on your property with a single dosage of a boticide dewormer (ivermectin, abamectin, moxidectin).

If you deworm your horses too early in autumn, you will not be targeting all the bot flies as they are often present well into autumn, laying eggs on your horses coat. If you deworm on the 1st of March, there will be bot flies, and subsequently bot eggs and larvae that come after the treatment and will remain within your horse for the year.

Therefore, hold off on the autumn deworming a little longer, if your horses are in good condition. Wait until the nights cool down and the bot flies disappear before deworming – and make sure that the dewormer you purchase is active against bots, otherwise it will all be in vain. If your horses need to be treated now, do so, but make sure you target bot flies again in early winter.

So that’s my bot-fly spiel. Normally I write about strongyles (my favourite), and so I shall of course make a mention of them here too.

I always recommend a mid-late autumn deworming for ALL HORSES because it a) cleans out any bots and b) all horses really should have a strongyle clean out once a year as well. I may be against deworming for the sake of deworming, however that is only if you are doing it 3 or 4 or more times a year.

Strongyles can have a lifecycle of as little as 6 weeks. In addition, at any one point, about 90% of the strongyle population is living on the pasture, not in the horse. Therefore, the concept of using chemical dewormers inside the horse to break the lifecycle of strongyles would not work. At all. So, we chose our annual deworming-clean-out to line up with as many other parasites as possible.

All boticide dewormers are also effective against strongyles so deworming in autumn is a 2 for 1 type deal. You should also consider using a dewormer that also contains praziquantel to treat for tapeworms to get a complete clean out, just in case tapeworms are present. If your horses are only being treated once a year, it is good to do as complete a treatment as possible.

Lastly… wait, second lastly.. this is a topic to complex to get into here, but: this time of year is key for larval cyathostomins, where encysted larvae have mass emergences from the intestine wall, in response to changes in weather (eg in VIC as it cools and becomes wetter again). Deworming and removing adult populations of worms can act as a trigger for larval re-emergence, which is also why I often baulk at deworming horses now. The larvae may slowly re-emerge coming into the cooler weather and treating in mid-late autumn may be a safer bet to remove adults and emerged larvae. The research on this is sketchy as best, however these are patterns shown in cattle and hypothetically should translate over into horses.
And lastly (pat on the back for reading this far): just because I’m recommending deworming all horses does not mean I am not recommending FECs in autumn. A FEC will tell you important things about your horses health, and pick up anything odd that may be happening (eg tapeworm you didn’t know about). It will also allow you to test drug efficacy. Autumn should be a key time for everyone to do a FECRT (faecal egg count reduction test), where you get FECs done before and after deworming to make sure that it worked. If you only deworm once a year, then you’ve only got one chance for a FECRT, and you cannot, I repeat, you CANNOT do a FECRT without a FEC before to compare to.

If you’d like to organise FECs and FECRTs for your horses this autumn, check out the website (link on the FB page) for postal submission and drop off points/events.

28/09/2022

Crazy

When assembling your dog, be sure to follow the instructions to avoid disasters like this… 😂

25/09/2022

I’m not into all the motivational, philosophical sayings people share but l like this one very much.

Train a horse in 3 hours.
https://fb.watch/fQQxx2x3iZ/

https://www.4bphorses.com/

17/09/2022

Hi all. Just letting you know l am now offering 24/7 stabling and basic rehab services (no injections). I have my first client on site requiring 4 weeks 24/7 stabling. After stabling overnight with my two mares it became evident he would stress without company. I’ve come up with the perfect accommodation solution for him that provides him the company of other horses whilst being confined and keeping his hoof dry.

A testament to my on-site accommodation options and my ability to come up with workable solutions that benefit your horse.

For further information send me a message, call or submit an enquiry via my website.

17/09/2022

My dear human, I see you crying, because it's time for me to leave.
Please don't cry.
I want to explain some things to you.
You're sad that I'm gone, but I'm glad to have met you.
How many dogs like me d-i-e every day without having met someone special like you?.
I know you are saddened by my departure, but I had to leave now.
I want to ask you not to blame yourself.
I heard you sobbing that you should have done something more for me. Don't say that, you've done a lot for me!
Without you, I would have known nothing of the beauty I carry with me today.
You must know that we animals live intensely in the present. Our lives begin when we know love, the same love you gave me, my wingless angel.
Please don't cry anymore. I leave happy.
I remember the name you gave me, the warmth of your house which at that time became mine. I hear the sound of his voice talking to me, even if I don't always understand what he is saying to me.
I carry in my heart every caress you gave me.
Wash your face and start smiling. There are many like me waiting for someone like you.
Please give them what you gave me, they need it like I needed you. ❤

30/04/2022

29/04/2022

Just wanted to share this flyer from Project Hope Horse Welfare promoting some up and coming events that may be of interest to members on this page. Please share. The more the merrier.
Registration to all events is by email - [email protected] to register your place and you will be sent a link. Call 1300 881 606 for any enquiries.

06/11/2021