Blind Ambition - April 2008

It is already May and I am just getting to April's update!

SPRING HOORAH!
So glad to see Spring is here, this past winter was a challenging one with record snow. Especially for Apollonia. Due to the depth of snow her time outside in the paddocks was limited. We felt we did not want to take the chance of her slipping on the ice or getting lost in the deep snow. It was difficult for our drafts to get around never mind a baby. So she was out daily but for short periods.

BAD HABITS ARE HARD TO BREAK
Which leads me to my next point. Apollonia has become a windsucker. Unfortunately she was in a lot this winter, being in a lot led to boredom, which led to wind sucking. For those of you who do not know what wind sucking or cribbing is here is a definition: A horse is said to be cribbing or wind sucking when it grasps a solid object like the edge of a stall wall, arches its neck, and then gulps to force air into its throat. There is usually a distinctive glug sound with each gulp. Research suggests that horses receive a hit of endorphins when they crib, and become addicted to the habit. Cribbing is similar to obsessive-compulsive disorders in humans. The scientific name for wind sucking is aerophagia. This is not a big deal and there are many horses that develop bad habits similar to this.

I tried to give her toys to keep her mind occupied like Jimmy Lick it balls, big pink jolly balls, dog toys etc but once horses start doing this it is very difficult to get them to stop. It was a juggle gym in her stall with all her toys hanging from the ceiling and walls. She does like the Jimmy Lick It ball. It’s a big hard ball of grain and molasses. I always know when she been at it because she is like a child after a lollipop, a sticky mess all over her mouth and face. She has even learned to maneuver it up against the wall so she can bite it. She is just loving life.
My Quarter horse Willie is a windsucker too. He wears a cribbing collar to prevent him from wind sucking or cribbing. So we did what we could to try and persuade her to stop but she won out on this one. Until I put a cribbing collar on her. It stops them immediately and it does not hurt them in any way. The collar is buckled on the neck like a dog collar but snug. When she goes to wind suck the collar becomes a little more snug because horses will expand their necks during wind sucking. It is uncomfortable and she has not done it since.


WARM DAYS
I have been promising her all winter that the snow and ice would melt and it would be warm so she could be out all day long. Those days are finally here,
She is outside all day now and not bored anymore. She is in a 100x150 foot paddock. Her paddock is in between the other paddocks so she has all her horse buddies around her.
She loves it! Last weekend I saw her canter around it for the first time. You should she her canter. She is lovely. She just hangs out all day, eating, napping and acting silly.

Of course being outside also means bugs. For the life of her she cannot figure out what the heck all these things are that are buzzing in her ears and biting her all over. She swishes and shakes. She runs and rolls but they will not leave her alone. I keep telling her its part of a horsey life but she is not happy with them. I introduced her to bug spray. I was thinking she might not like the spray noise. Some horses do not like that noise at all. She could have cared less. She is not crazy about the way it feels, cold and wet but she is happy about less bugs.


GROWING UP
Growing up means lots of new things.
First Farrier visit
She had her feet trimmed for the first time. She did a great job. She was a little wiggly but not bad. I have been consistently picking up her feet and saying foot each time. She was better with her fronts then her backs. We will continue to work on picking up her feet and holding them up.

We had to put a bigger halter on her she is growing so much and since that time loosened it twice. She is getting pretty tall. She is shedding out her winter coat and has a new shiny black coat to show off.

The Vet was out to give her spring shots and to check on her Umbilical Hernia. She did not particularly like the vaccines but what horse does. Her hernia has stayed the same. I have been monitoring it all winter and it has not closed up. So they are recommending surgery.

Jim and I knew that it was likely that she would need surgery to close up the hernia. We also knew where we would send her to have it done
I called Myhere Equine Clinic In New Hampshire. This is where she was born. I spoke with Amy a very nice and helpful Tech there, we went over the procedure and all my questions and concerns. I was not really worried about the surgery I was more worried about her recovery and coming out of the anesthesia. I felt better after talking with Amy. She reassured me that the original staff that was here when she was born was all still there and that the recovery stall was padded and that they would all make sure she was ok.
So now the next step is to get her use to the horse trailer. That is our next adventure. I have thought about it and since her hearing is more in tuned it will be the hollow banging noise the horses make while walking in the trailer that may startle her. I am going to put Grandpa Willie on the trailer and allow her to get use to the noise of him banging and clanging around in there. I may even take him for the ride with her if it helps. I do have to admit I worry about things more then she does. More often then not I worry about how she will manage a new situation in her life only to see that she could have cared less and took it all in stride. We will schedule the surgery in the next couple of weeks
We need to trailer train her anyway. Hopefully I will be able to take her to a show or two this year. Shes going be a star ya know.
Stay tuned to read about her trailer ride, surgery and what ever else comes out way. I promise to put some updated pictures in very soon!

MORE BLIND FOALS
Springtime also brings new foals into the world. We have heard from 4 different people across the U.S. who have had blind foals born to them this spring. One paint filly in Arizona, 1 Thoroughbred colt in Pennsylvania, 1 Quarter Horse colt from Kansas and one filly from California (not sure of the breed yet). All different breeds and sexes. I was thrilled to receive the first correspondence. It meant that our story had reached others. It meant people had read Apollonia’s story and reached out to us. It meant it had helped other foals and their owners. People have been surprised to learn that bind horses are very capable of leading a very productive and happy life. I wish all of them the best with their new foals.
Up-date: the colt in Kansas has regained his sight. He had temporary blindness due to a difficult birth and the filly in Calf has a small non-progressive cataract and has partial vision in her left eye.

SHARING HER STORY
We have had several Girl Scout and 4-H groups out to the farm this spring. I offer a free demonstration to childrens groups to learn about proper horse care and now also blind horses.I ask the groups to make a donation to our horse rescue mission or to one of their choice. This does two things, it allows the children to feel the goodness and power of giving and it helps the horse rescues.

One of my missions in life is to help educate people on just how important it is to know what good horsemanship is. Horses are a huge undertaking and they deserve to be treated wth respect and kindness along with all the other day to day work it takes to care for a horse.
I also include Apollonias story. I want to spread the word that blind horses are very capable of leading happy productive lives. If I can instill that thought into the future horse owners of the world the horses will be better off.
Whenever a new visitor arives to see Apollonia I have observed an interesting thing Apollonia does. She immediately picks up on the new voice. She will stop what ever she is doing to come over and investigate. We have all seen images of blind people feeling the faces of people when they want to feel what someone may look like. Well Apollonia will walk over and place her muzzle on the face of the new voice and gently moves it all over their features. It is very cool. It is just another amazing thing Apollonia has shared with us and the kids love it.




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