My father always said, "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see."
Not one of us is perfect and we cannot be at home 24 hours a day to ensure that all the pastures are safe or the right ones are in the right pastures. Last week, while I was in town for the entire afternoon, our yearling filly got out of a cattle paneled fence. My husband, doesn't give a rip about my mini horse endeavors and makes no bones about it. While I was gone, he put her a pasture with electric fencing where she'll stay put. Problem, a stallion was in that pasture. We'll have the vet out next week to detect pregnancy and consider what should be done for the health of the horse. Yes, this filly is for sale and I have shared this information with interested parties.
I sleep in the barn with my mares are ready to foal. What happens if the mare foals during the day, between checking on her in the pasture? What about folks who work 8-5 and their mares look like they're ready to foal? Every mare is different, their signs/symptoms are different.
Perhaps the person had the halter on for a short period of time, say 15 minutes while the baby/mama were turned out into their private pasture for the first time. That's exactly what happened with me and I used a photo in my avatar and heard about it. What the photo didn't reflect was that we were there with them the entire time.....but the point was well taken.
We have a large water tank (unfilled) that separates an opening in our cattle panel fencing between two pastures....we have three pastures for 11 horses, so as to accommodate a safe breeding program. However, as they say, "The best laid plans....."
Every day, I check the pastures to ensure there are no gaps in the security of the cattle panel fencing that separates our bigs from the minis. If my husband should happen to replace some plastic cable ties and doesn't clip off the ends (eye injury for any of the minis) I immediately go out to check the fenceline.
All I can do is the best I possibly can. Does everyone keep trace minerals in ample supply in their pastures to prevent deformaties or lax tendons in foals? Does everyone change/clean their water tanks on a daily basis in the summer to keep the mosquito larvae at bay....or are they just topped-off? Are there ENOUGH WATER TANKS OR SHADY AREAS within our pastures to ensure that the bossy horses aren't muscling the meeker ones? Are those with many horses rotating their pastures to keep the parasite issue to a minimum?
Our neiborhood has an individual we horse folks call "the barn nazi" who makes it her business to point out every danger or imperfection of care. Frankly, I shared with her that their hay was dusty (we bought a batch from them) from the gravel pit's blasting. She tut-tutted my concern regarding the potential for horses developing heaves last autumn. Guess what.....this spring ALL her horses are being treated for heaves and will be making a visit to Univ. Wisc, Madison.
I'd like to think that everyone takes the best care possible of their horses. However, I've visited enough big and mini farms who maintain professional looking websites which proved to be a real eye-opener. Sadly, due to shear numbers of horses on the farm, I've seen horses who've needed hooves trimmed for months, wormy looking bellies, etc.
Guess what I'm trying to say is that I learned the hard way that yours truly is an imperfect human being and have made mistakes with my minis. However, every time I error, my hope is that it is a learned experience that I hope hasn't caused too much harm to my animals. Perhaps that's why I'm selling three of my herd, so that I can better manage and love the ones that remain.
Sorry for the long post. If anyone wants to flame me, please be kind enough to PM, as it's not been the best of weeks. Thank you.
Cindy
