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  Discussion on Spring 2000
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 9:30 am:

I have a binder that I use to keep horse information in. It is divided into three parts: Riding, Nutrition and Health/Shoeing. I put in articles that I've found on the 'net, as well as photocopies of articles from magazines, books etc.,. I put the name of the article on the front of each section. That way when I want to find out some information quickly, I can look in my "Source Book". It's a lot easier then trying to find a "specific magazine that has a specific article on a specific topic" or to log onto the net every time.

TeresaA

Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 2:45 pm:

Anti-Chewing solution: Put Carona ointment on any surface that is being chewed. Our barn has found this l00% effective.

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2000 - 10:27 am:

Hi Dianne,

What exactly is Carona ointment? Where do you get it?

Tami

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2000 - 3:44 pm:

Put a packet of polos in a mug of bioling water and stir until dissolved. Allow to cool and add to feed to brilliantly disgiuse wormer etc.

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2000 - 4:55 am:

To clean eyes, nostrils and ears : instead of wasting expensive cotton wool, use Baby's Wet Wipes (moist paper towelling thingies available in most supermarkets) - they are clean, hygenic and easy to use.


Buy a second carton and add tea tree oil, laveder oil, eucalyptus oil and voila! wipe on fly spray to wipe around eyes, nose and along body. Much easier for delicate areas and good for horses who don't like sprays.

Posted on Thursday, Apr 27, 2000 - 5:02 pm:

"Carona" is probably "Corona" ointment. You can get it through https://www.statelinetack.com, or https://www.valleyvet.com, and there are a few others. Most tack shops carry it.

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2000 - 6:09 pm:

An alternative to fly masks for horses that sweat under them, rip them off or are in pasture, is to use those yellow, *insecticidal* "ear tags" that are marketed for cattle. An example is the Atroban brand. You can find them in any farmer supply store that has livestock supplies. The only difference is, instead of puncturing the ear, you simply use fishing line to tie one tag on each side of the halter to the upper ring on each side, closest to their cheeks. Each tag lasts an entire season, and cost about $2 each, but they are usually available in bags of 10 pairs. Make sure you get the insecticidal type, and not the ordinary plastic ear tags.

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2000 - 8:48 pm:

Supplement powders & pellets (like Biotin, Vita-stress, etc)didn't have much "shelf life" in our pasture shed and started smelling sour toward the end of the supply. Now I put the five or ten pound buckets in my home refrigerator and just put about a week's worth in a tupperware container to leave at the shed. These supplements are expensive and now I'm sure they stay fresh. Since our two chidren moved to California and our frig isn't stocked with sodas and snacks, we have room for two horses worth of goodies. I'm sure this isn't possible with all families, but it works for us!

Posted on Saturday, May 6, 2000 - 11:51 pm:

Recycle use for old cruddy 5 gal. buckets...a tip from my landscaper when we had a DrOught last year but good anytime.

When you have buckets that should be disposed of save them and drill holes in the bottom of the bucket. Put these buckets around trees and shrubs and fill with water from the hose. The water will trickle slowly around the roots and not run off. And if it's time to empty your big outdoor tubs of the icky stale water then find a way to use this to fill the tree buckets.

Posted on Monday, May 8, 2000 - 11:05 am:

Here's a tip my vet just taught me ...

You may remember me mentioning my mare's terrible head wound a couple of months ago.

It has nearly healed, except for a very small area that has a small bit of proud flesh (smaller than a pencil eraser - maybe 2mm diameter). My vet suggested mixing a bit of unseasoned meat tenderizer and TAO (triple antibiotic ointment) in a paste and applying to the bit of proud flesh. It seems to gently be doing the trick.

Cheers.

Posted on Monday, May 8, 2000 - 3:20 pm:

I've wondered about her--glad to hear she's doing so well, Chris. Must have some Pegasus type angel up there watching over her. :)

Posted on Saturday, May 13, 2000 - 9:12 pm:

The best tack cleaning formula I've ever seen is home made and CHEAP!
Melt 2 bars of glycerin soap (the kind you get at the grocery store for your guest bathroom--pick any scent you like, it doesn't matter), and add 1/4 cup of Lexol Condition and 1/4 cup milk. Put in any container with a lid (I use a small tupperware-type) and refrigerate until it solidifies.

Afterwards, use it as you would saddle soap. Only thing, is unlike saddle soap, it cleans and conditions in one step. You don't ever need to use anything else. I got the recipe from a friend. I was complimenting her "new" tack--and learned that it was 5 years old and that it had looked its age until about a year ago when she got the recipe from another friend...

Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2000 - 7:03 pm:

Gay--I like this recipe a lot! Do you need to KEEP the cleaner refrigerated after you make it (because of the milk?) or just refrigerate it till it solidifies? (Probably a dumb question...)

Posted on Monday, May 15, 2000 - 12:34 am:

There are enough preservatives in the Lexol to keep it A-OK without refrigeration. The refrigeration just makes it set up better.

Posted on Monday, May 29, 2000 - 8:04 am:

A Pill Crusher: I use a small handheld electric coffee grinder. Two seconds, and up to 15 huge pills are ground to a fine powder for mixing with goodies to make the horse eat. You can get this little doo-dad for usually under $20 from a department store in the kitchen appliances. The one I have goes by the brand name Krups.

Posted on Monday, Jun 5, 2000 - 2:27 pm:

Need some many making tips for your riding club/association?

Organize a "tag sale" coincident with your next big riding event and advertise it in your club newsletter with the event advertising.

The idea is that people bring their excess equipment - saddles, bridles, bits, books, videos, stable supplies to a main table. Each consigner is given a number and tags to identify their items & the price. A master sheet for each consigner is filed by consigner number, item number, description and price. When an item is sold, the buyer pays in cash or check to the owner of the item. The people managing the sale record the sale next to the item on the consignee's sheet and whether it was cash or check. When the consigner "closes" out at the end of the event, he/she picks up his left over stuff and the money! He/she pays the club 10% of his sales.

We do this every year at the Raleigh CDI and it has become expected. It is a great money maker, and as someone who "volunteers" one day, it is a great way to find some good buys, unload some extra stuff and see some old friends.

And, I am now a believer that one person's junk is another's treasure - you would not believe what people will buy if it is cheap enough!

Some seller tips:

Fill out a sheet and tag your items ahead of time - give each item a number, description and price. Then you only have to add your consigner number when you check in to each item.

If you don't want it, price it to sell. A good gauge is about half of list, depending on condition.

Clean, well oiled, mended items with size, age, etc. sell best.

Some "management" tips:

Have each consigner sign a release, fill out phone numbers of how to reach, etc. on their form. For saddles, let them identify the saddle, whether it is negotiable, how to be reached, if it can be tried on the grounds, or off the grounds. (A check for the full amount is always left for high dollar items such as saddles that go for a "fit" on a horse.)

Assign consigner numbers in sequential order and keep the "inventory lists" in numeric order in a master notebook to record sales next to the item. For example, I was consigner 67 this past weekend with 40 items. Each item was labeled uniquely 67-1, 67-2, etc. up to 67-40. If 67-13 sold, that was recorded on my consigner sheet.

Keep checks filed separately, either by consigner last name, or consigner number. Cash is kept separately.

One or two trained people should be the focal points for "check out." This is where all the unsold stuff is gathered up and the 90% of the sales are given to the consigner.

Have some tables, a saddle rack to sit in a saddle, a dressing area, hangers, racks, postits, pens, etc. for displaying items. Be sure you have enough volunteers to answer questions, help with sales and watch pilfering if your event is very large/public.

If your club has t-shirts or programs for sale, the "used tack booth" can sell those, too. Just keep the accounting and monies separate.

Hope this gives some clubs a new money making idea. I know I am always glad to get ride of extra stuff that is gathering dust and am always ready to convert my earnings into new horsey stuff, GRIN.

Cheers.

Posted on Sunday, Jun 11, 2000 - 10:17 am:

It's kind of late in the season for this tip but I just found this page! When giving my broodmares Regumate, it was inconvenient to put on the gloves, use a syringe and dispense the product, while hopefully not getting it all over you! It also "stretches" the rubber gasket in the syringe after a few uses so you use alot of them! It also will "penetrate" alot of plastics. My solution was to buy a mouthwash (Plax?) with the top that is a dispenser. You squeeze up an amount of mouthwash (coincidentally 10cc's!!) and them pour it into your cup or whatever to rinse your mouth. this also works for the regumate! Empty the mouthwash by taking a needlenose pliers and pulling out the plastic stem that keeps the mouthwash in the bottle. Then rinse it out(obviously). I cover the entire bottle in a "coat" of duct tape, since the regumate can make the plastic very weak aand crackable. Then I carefully pour in the regumate, replace the post into the bottle and then you can squeeze out 10cc's at a time (for a bigger mare, I 'go over' the line a little) and then pour the product on top of the feed with out coming close to touching it! The duct tape also protects the regumate from excess light which is bad for it. This type of 'dipenser' will last about a season before it has to be replaced. That's my "tip".

Posted on Thursday, Jun 15, 2000 - 2:30 pm:

Since there seems to be alot of discussion concerning sheath cleaning & the best way to remove the smega, this works very well for me...

Generously apply exalibur sheath cleaner to the inside of the sheath (before he hangs), making sure to disperse the gel everywhere & rub it in gently. Leave it "soak" for at least 5 minutes.

Once your gelding/stallion is relaxed and hangs for you. Have a bucket ready, filled with warm soapy water (I use 1 tablespoon of hibitane antibacterial soap Ed's note: antibacterial products are not recommended see post below) and a small round sponge (about the size of the palm of your hand & approx. 1cm thick) Get the sponge soaked with water and gently soak the penis and inside of the sheath before you begin to rub gently to remove the smega. Use ample amounts of water and continuosly soak your sponge so that it is never "dry".

Always make sure that your fingernails are trimmed short, so you can't poke or scrape your horse.

You want to make sure that you thoroughly rinse the sheath and penis so as not to leave any irritating residue behind. Hibitane soap is non-irritating and does not require further rinsing.

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 12, 2000 - 1:25 am:

I read above that someone suggests using an antibacterial soap for cleaning sheaths. May I strongly suggest not to do that. There are certain bacterias in a sheath that protect the animal from infection from more intrusive bacteria. If one kills the "good" bacteria, they are asking for trouble. It allows opportunistic bacteria to take the place of nature's intended bacteria that prevent opportunistic bacteria from infecting stallions and geldings in the first place. On stallions, some of those antibacterial soaps may also be spermicidal. After over 35 years in the industry, I suggest to always wear gloves, use warm water which works well alone. Fill a 2 quart pitcher with the water. When they let down, place the pitcher of warm water over their penis and sheath, and swirl the water around both. Repeat two or three times. If the gelding or stallion is extremely dirty, warm water and ivory soap (without antibacterial remedies) seems to accomplish the job extremely well without harm to nature's required bacterial load in the sheath. Gently soap the sheath and penis with minimal soap, then peel any loose smega and rinse as above with warm water. Perhaps when one is finished cleaning the sheath, they may want to use antibacterial soap on their own person, but never on a horse's sheath unless prescribed by a veterinarian!

DrO's note: Barbara, you are exactly right!

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2000 - 11:40 pm:

Hi, Do you have problems with mice getting in your tacksheds and eating and chewing your good blankets and other expensive items? Put a Bounce fabric softener sheet in the shed. I did this and I don't have a problem anymore :) two other friends have tried this and are also seeing the results...no mice! It smells good, and you don't have to deal with poisons. :)

Posted on Monday, Jun 19, 2000 - 4:48 pm:

Try this for gnat and fly bites that make your horses ears sore. Mix 1 oz. tea tree oil (available at health food or GNC stores) with 8 oz. olive oil. Shake it well to mix the oils before each use. Apply to the insides of horses ears with a cotton ball. The bugs don't like the tea tree oil and the olive oil helps keep the scabby yucky stuff from the ears. I have also used this on the underside of my Belgians sheath cause the flys really go after him and the pink Swat embaressed him :o)

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2000 - 6:40 pm:

Great idea about the fabric softener! We had mice really bad in our tack shed, chewed three holes in a cordura saddle, ate the vetwrap, ruined two blankets and left DrOppings everywhere - yuck. First we used traps to catch the critters - then we used spray-foam industrial type filler to seal up all the construction gaps between the floor, walls, ceiling (use gloves, don't get on your hands). Then we got two kittens to live with our horses - end of mouse problem so far. Now the "problem" is two cats who think they're horses following us down the trail or hanging off the end of the whip when we're lounging! Wish I'd know about the fabric sheets earlier (but may still try them at home when we have some unwanted "guests" in the pantry!)

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2000 - 7:35 pm:

Linda C.,
Does it have to be Bounce or can it be any brand? My problem is in the pantry because I don't have house cats, does it take just 1 sheet to do the job and how often should you replace it?
What a great idea!!
Jackie

Posted on Saturday, Jul 1, 2000 - 11:22 am:

Hi Jackie , I don't know if it has to be the Bounce product, probably not as they are pretty much the same, I haven't changed mine yet, I am thinking that when the smell goes away that it should be changed. I want to try another brand just to see if there is any preference.

We used one sheet of it, our sheds are 8x10, the standard metal ones.

My girlfriend put one in her shed, her car, and in her horse trailer where she keeps her stuff when going to the mountains. So far so good! :)

Linda, I wonder if your cats have seen the commercial of the cowboys herding the cats across the plains! hehehhe
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