It's always nice when horses meet up with old friends

elysian_fields_farm1 · August 12, 2020, 12:46am

Just had to share this heartwarming experience. I made it to the second Market Day with Dixie and my carriage (no ugly comments needed- and you know who you are). The post is kind of long. Sorry

Anyway, it was pretty hot yesterday, so I only planned on giving rides from 8 to 10. And really, there were not many people out at the market. School started last week, and with the heat and all, there just were not many shoppers.

I did only three rides, and was just starting out on my last go-around the square when a man and woman walked up and sat on the steps by my carriage stand space. When I rounded the last corner, I saw they were still sitting there. I had already decided that it was too hot to continue with rides, and was thinking how to politely explain this since I figured the couple had waited for us to return because they wanted a ride.

Now, you need to know that Dixie has freeze brand in the shape of Louisiana with the numbers 210 on her left hip, so I knew she was at one time property of one of the state prisons-- and the horse manager at the camp who wanted to send her to me instead of an auction had told me as much. But he really didn’t know much more about her other than she had been a “prison horse” and then had been a carriage horse until she and her carriage were donated to the church camp seven years ago.

She is registered, and the camp did have her papers, so he knew she ws 20 this spring. But he really didn’t know how she had been used at the prison, etc.

Well, it turned out that I didn’t have to make any excuses about not giving any more rides-- the man- named James – was an old friend of Dixie’s. He had thought he recognized her and knew for sure when he saw her brand – and he just wanted to stop by and see her.

It turned out that James had worked with the Percherons at Dixon Correctional Institute-- he didn’t say whether he was an inmate worker or a “free man” – and I didn’t ask. He had actually been one of the people who had trained her as a driving horse, and who had driven her. He told me she had been a wheel horse on the DCI four-horse hitch that traveled to shows, parades and the Angola Rodeo.

He said she had also worked as a wheel horse a few times on the six-horse hitch – also a show and parade hitch. And that she had been driven as a pair with her teammate Candy. He said she would have made a good lead horse and was being started out in that position when the decision was made to sell her because her conformation was not as desirable as some other mares the prison had acquired.

James had not seen her since she was sold as a seven year old to the people with the carriage business. I could see that he was really, really glad to see her after all these years-- and I could tell that Dixie knew him, too! She perked up the minute she heard his voice. He told me he was so glad to see that she was still alive, and living not far from where he and his wife had just moved back to after several years away.

He said she used to have a some attitude as a young horse, but seemed to have really mellowed out as an “old lady.” He also said that she had “grown into her head” because as a younger horse, her head was large for her body. He also told me that she was sired by a stallion the prison had bought from a family well-known for its hitch Percherons in Indiana.

He spent time petting her and traveling down memory lane-- of course all of his information was like gold to me. He did tell me that she was terrified of “shots” and he showed me how to press on the sides of her poll with two fingers to get her to lower her head-- he said all the DCI horse were trained this way. I told him this was a great bit of info because I usually stood on a chair to put her bridle on.

He and his wife visited for about a half hour, and he gave me lots of tips on feeding and harnessing. It turns out that my vet’s recommendation that I use corn oil to help fatten her is not such a good idea in the summer since she is a cold blooded horse- James suggested that I wait until cooler weather to add the corn oil, and that for now I should add soaked beet pulp to her diet to help fatten her. He also told me it would be hard and expensive to get her back in really good flesh-- especially to fill out the hollow along her spine since she is 20, but it could be done. He said most draft farms wouldn’t bother. But I told him that I don’t own but three Percherons, so I will feed what it takes to get them looking really good.

Dixie followed the sound of his voice he whole time he was visiting and walking around inspecting her and my harness.
I gave him my card and told him and his wife they were welcome to come by and see her anytime-- he said he really would like to be able to drive her a time or two, but not yesterday because he agreed that it was time for her to head for home in that heat.

He also said he could find me a farrier who didn’t mind working on draft horses-- yea!! That has been one of my on-going problems- most of the farriers I found wanted to only work on the saddle horses-- they really didn’t want to do drafts- not even at a higher price.

He asked if I came to the market every month, and I told him I did unless it was raining (or snowing like it last December.) Watching the reunion between Dixie and her former trainer/ driver was really a special experience. I do hope he and his wife come for a visit-- I could let them use my forecart and take a drive with Dixie- I’m sure she would be in good hands.

Cielo_Azure · August 20, 2020, 1:43pm

Nice story, I enjoyed reading it. Isn’t it amazing how they recognize people years later. But then we all know horses are a heck of a lot smarter than “we” give them credit for.

but…

"it turns out that my vet’s recommendation that I use corn oil to help fatten her is not such a good idea in the summer since she is a cold blooded horse- "

I have never, ever heard this before! If you have ever read the rural heritage site or hang around some older teamsters, you soon discover just how many older teamsters have information that may be a tad “outdated” or just plain old wrong.

I can remember when I started riding my drafts a decade ago, being told that they were unable to canter under saddle! That drafts were conformationally unable to canter. By others, I was told I would ruin them for driving, because they would bolt.

Some of the old wives tales, thatI have been informed by these old guys as dead on truth have been bizarre.

So, do you trust your vet over someone you met who used to know your horse on nutritional advice? If so, why?

I have books on draft horse care and feeding as well as many, many old “Percheron News.” The amount of grain, that was fed to these horses during certain decades was astounding (and it showed -I call the draft horse era of the 1930s and 1940s, the “Porky Pig” era). The draft horses in the USA all looked like those geese that are used for “gavage-based foie gras production” (waddle, waddle). Seriously, don’t believe everything an old teamster has to tell you!

We are lucky to live in a time where so much good nutritional research has been done on equines. Please, trust your vet.

But I enjoyed the story and sounds like you and your mare are having a great time. There is nothing nicer than having a well broke horse for giving rides.

Zu_Zu · August 20, 2020, 1:43pm

Really Nice Story ~

Really nice story ~ love it when horses met up again with good old friends and show you a part of their former lives ~ very cool ~ and you received so much help and information (farrier)that you can use for Dixie ~ thanks for sharing you “Feel Good” story. Hope you got some pictures of the reunion or certainly try to the next time James and his wife visit with Dixie ~

elysian_fields_farm1 · August 20, 2020, 1:44pm

[QUOTE=Cielo Azure;5025574]
So, do you trust your vet over someone you met who used to know your horse on nutritional advice? If so, why?

I have books on draft horse care and feeding as well as many, many old “Percheron News.” The amount of grain, that was fed to these horses during certain decades was astounding (and it showed -I call the draft horse era of the 1930s and 1940s, the “Porky Pig” era). The draft horses in the USA all looked like those geese that are used for “gavage-based foie gras production” (waddle, waddle). Seriously, don’t believe everything an old teamster has to tell you!

We are lucky to live in a time where so much good nutritional research has been done on equines. Please, trust your vet.[/QUOTE]

Cielo Azure- Well since you asked. My vet has admitted to me that she is not “up” on draft horses because she has never had to deal with them before. She has told me that as cold blooded horses, they do have a different nutritional needs and metabolism from the light horse breeds, which are considered warm or hot blooded animals. She figured since they are cold blooded, that corn oil would not hurt Dixie in the summer.

The adding corn oil thing in summer is something that has been up for debate in light horse circles down here for years. There is the belief that corn and corn oil are “hot” feeds. Because of this, you can’t even get two vets around here to agree whether the benefits of adding oil to “pick up” a poor horse outweighs the possible problems of causing colic or even founder in the summer or not. Many people down here will not feed any feed that has corn in it during June, July and August. Maybe these ideas are old wives’ tales or maybe they are folk knowledge learned from experience.

I know you are in Georgia, north of Atlanta, I think. Your website and horses are beautiful, by the way. Down here in south Louisiana, many people cut back as much as possible on all grain feeds in summer and mainly feed hay and put horses on pasture – unless you have a show animal who has to be stalled up-- then many people only feed steamed crimped oats or something pelleted like Strategy. But then some people feed sweet feed year round.

I have some books that I bought on draft horse care when I got that first Percheron mare from the rescue group who couldn’t afford her board. I often wonder about the feeding information in them because all of these books are written by people who are not keeping and feeding drafts in a subtropical climate like south Louisiana – and I do believe that different climates may call for different feeding regimens. I do know that Dr. Kellon, who is well-known for her work with diet and disease in Peruvian Pasos says that drafts need to get 25% of their calories from “fat” and they don’t need as much protien as light horses.

I have tried to find info on feeding drafts in poor condition in my climate on the internet, but so far haven’t found any authoritative info. If you know of some, please tell me where to find it.

I guess I am not as prone to believe something just because a scientist has has come up with it-- I have faith in folk knowledge, too. Just look at all the bunk about human nutrition that researchers have come up with-- “Salt is bad at all times, no, salt is good sometimes.” “Avoid fats- No, just avoid animal fats.” “Drinking coffee is bad for you. No, drinking coffee can be beneficial.”

And look at the different diets, many devised by doctors or nutritonists, that seem to contradict each other. The Atkens diet. The low carb diet. The South Beach diet, The Suger Busters diet-- I could go on and on.

While some things like allowing horses to canter or not-- are strictly a matter of custom-- In TWH circles, it is a firmly-held belief by old timers that young horses should not be allowed to canter under saddle until they have been well-set in their flat walk and running walk. Old-time trainers wouldn’t “put a canter on a horse” for the show ring until the animal was well established in the first two gaits. Who knows if this is true or not? But it makes sense, particularly for the show ring, not to confuse a horse by asking it to learn too much all at once.

It is my understanding that Peruvian Paso horses are never allowed to canter under saddle, but they easily canter in the pasture as do Paso Fino horses.

As for drafts not cantering because it would cause them to bolt-- well I can see the reasoning behind this idea. If a horse is never asked to canter, it will not have the idea that it should or could canter or run while harnessed. I don’t know about drafts in harness shows, but I know that people with Hackneys down here never wanted them to canter or gallop in harness-- they wanted only a walk or a trot. People who had Standardbreds only wanted a walk and a trot or pace.

You know way more about Percherons than I do, but I have to say that until recently most everyone I know who had them (there was a resurgence in them beginning in the 1970s) only used them as draft horses for work in harness. Whether they were Percherons, Belgians, Clydes or draft mules-- also called Sugar Mules as opposed to Cotton Mules, draft animals were not ridden. When people wanted to ride a horse, they rode walkers, Morgans, QHs or TBs, or mules created with one of these breeds-- and yes there are walking mules, which I understand are preferred by racoon hunters.

This riding on drafts seems to be a “new” thing although the argument could be made that knights in the middle ages rode them into battle because they needed “heavy” horses to carry them and their armor. The only people I knew who rode drafts were visiting children, who were allowed to sit up behind the hames and collar while the teams walked back to the barn after work was finished. I did that myself a couple of times when I visited cousins in the country who kept a couple of drafts for old time’s sake.

Anyway, I’m glad that draft breeds are making a comeback. When I was growing up in the 1950s, they were becoming quite rare. Outside of the one family of cousins who kept them, I only saw a couple of other draft horses when I was young-- except for the beer companies’ hitches that came to New Orleans to be in the Mardi Gras parades.

Down here in the 1980s, one of the prison wardens Burl Cain got the idea of using Percherons to cross with the QHs that were used at the prisons for mounted guards to make a larger, taller, more intimidating horse. Then he got bit by the show bug and started maintaining several hitches and breeding registered Percherons as well as the crosses used by the mounted guards. Yes, on Angola especially (about 40 miles away), which is a huge prison farm, the guards ride horses and carry shot guns while supervising gangs of prisoners who work in the fields where many of the vegetables used to feed the prisoners are grown.

And that is why drafts like Dixie are more common around here that elsewhere in Louisiana – because of the breeding program at DCI (8 miles away) and the hitch driving program started by Burl Cain. I guess if James and his wife do take me up on my offer and visit, I will find out even more about the history of the draft breeding operation in the Louisiana Prison System.

I do subscribe to Rural Heritage magazine and I read Draft Horse Journal online. I find lots of interesting articles in them both.

Cielo_Azure · August 20, 2020, 1:45pm

Corn is not the same as, corn oil. They may come from the same plants but they are completely different nutritionally.

Corn is full of starch and sugar. Corn oil has neither. There are no similarities between the two products.

I don’t feed corn to my drafts, except a lactating brood mare. Because of its low fiber and high starch content, high corn diets in horses does increase the likelihood of colic and founder.

Corn oil is wonderful. Just calories, no starch. The starch is removed in processing the oil. Honestly, I am scratching my head how one can think corn and corn oil are nutritionally comparable.

Summer or not, if a older/hard to keep horse is underweight, the only way to do it is by increasing calories (ruling out teeth/medical issues). Corn oil, beet pulp, alfalfa, rice bran are all good sources of calories, good pasture always puts on weight too.

If you read Rural Heritage (the magazine), not the site -which was what I was writing about, you know Dr. Beth Valentine, who is a primary columnist for Rural Heritage and a DVM. She is always advocating oil and has also written a book about drafts, and believes that oil is a great food for drafts. But you must already know this, since you read the magazine.

elysian_fields_farm1 · August 20, 2020, 1:46pm

[QUOTE=Cielo Azure;5026655]
Corn is not the same as, corn oil. They may come from the same plants but they are completely different nutritionally.

If you read Rural Heritage (the magazine), not the site -which was what I was writing about, you know Dr. Beth Valentine, who is a primary columnist for Rural Heritage and a DVM. She is always advocating oil and has also written a book about drafts, and believes that oil is a great food for drafts. But you must already know this, since you read the magazine.[/QUOTE]

Yes, she does advocate oil, but she seems to write more about canola oil and flax seed oil. I bought her book.

Most drafts are in more temperate climates, and I’m concerned about how the climate where I live might affect draft horses’ metabolisms. MY vet has told me that “Drafts don’t do well down here that is why there are not very many around.” And to tell the truth, all the carriage companies in New Orleans switched years ago to mules. She told me she thinks that the prison system went to draft crosses and mules for just that reason.

Anyway, Dixie and other purebred Percherons around here may be just relics from a program that proved unsustainable. At least James knows where one of his former charges is and that he and his wife are welcome to visit her. James did not seem that old, but he was probably sent for training somewhere where there was a Percheron farm, or was trained himself by someone who came down to train teamsters for Warden Burl Cain.

James was trying to tell me about the farm where Dixie’s sire stood. I wish I could remember the name of the family or farm. He said they were from somewhere in the midwest- either Indiana or Iowa - and that their horses were very well-known.
Cain had made a special trip up to them to get some horses to start his program.

fivehorses · August 20, 2020, 1:46pm

That was a great story.
Smartpak has an article in the ‘ask the vet series’ about not using corn oil because it is pro inflamatory, and if using oil its better to use canola.

Its late, I am going to bed. If you can’t find the article, I will try and dig it up, and link it.

nice dreams thinking about one very lucky percheron.
any idea of who the indiana breeder was or who her sire was? I know percheron lines pretty well from the early 90’s and mid 90’s.

My mare is a South Valley Did It daughter, and therefore a Justamere Showtime grand daughter. I wanted to breed her so extensively studied lines. Just curious.

elysian_fields_farm1 · August 20, 2020, 1:46pm

[QUOTE=fivehorses;5027086]
any idea of who the indiana breeder was or who her sire was? I know percheron lines pretty well from the early 90’s and mid 90’s.

My mare is a South Valley Did It daughter, and therefore a Justamere Showtime grand daughter. I wanted to breed her so extensively studied lines. Just curious.[/QUOTE]

I just found the copy of the Dixie’s registration with the Percheron Horse Association of America. And I think that James was mistaken about the state being Indiana.

According to her papers (and they are hard to read because they are a photocopy of the original) Dixie was registered as DCI Dixie Dirp. Her breeder was listed as the Roger Johnson family of Randolph, NE (Nebraska?) And her foal date was 4/08/89.

Her sire was Brink’s Fitz Maverick bred by Darwin L. Brink. Her dam was Telleen’s Rosedale Madge bred by Draft Horse Journal.

She has Koncarlaet’s Prince as her dam’s dam’s sire. That is interesting because the other Percheron mare I have- Lou Lou, who ended up here from Florida, also has that same horse in her pedigree. Isn’t that weird? I have ended up with two Percheron mares who have a common ancestor. My poor old Barney- the 18 year old Percheron gelding is just a grade horse without any papers, so who knows what horses are in his pedigree.

I don’t know a thing about Percheron bloodlines. I ended up with these three as “cast-offs” because I’m a sucker for older horses. these are the first and only drafts I have had any close dealings with. They are all pretty easy-going and agreeable.

Have you ever heard of any of these horses or breeders?

fivehorses · August 20, 2020, 1:47pm

Yes, just a quick response, because I have to run. But, the Telleen’s are the owners of the Draft Horse Journal. His father started the mag, but now Lyn runs it, or did.
Koncarlaet is also a big perch line…and you will see many Laet’s, etc.
Put in his name on a search, and there is a site that will come up with their pedigree. I kind of think Koncarlaet is related to Justamere too.

I have my one mare, but also have two grades, who I love just as much. Papers don’t really mean that much to me, except fun. I look for loser horses to help. Well, I did, the barn is full, and no more room.

Dixie and your other two are very lucky to have found you. Drafts imo are the best horses. I have all breeds here, but the drafts by far are my heart horses.
well, we have to add in my little pony colt gelding who came out of a pony I rescued already prego. He is special, since he was the only foal I will ever have, unless of course I get another prego rescue.

Let me know what you find. Plus, you can call the Percheron Horse Association for more information, especially on the ones with papers…you could trace where she has been, as long as they let the registry know.

butlerfamilyzoo · August 20, 2020, 1:47pm

I knew several draft people in TX who fed oil ( i believe corn oil) to their drafts. I had a draft/qh cross in TX that i fed canola oil to when i was introduced to Dr. Valentine’s diet for an EPSM morab mare i owned. To be honest, i’ve fed the same diet to every breed of horse i’ve owned since. I would never feed oats to a draft, i wouldnt feed any grains or starch to a draft.

Yes, it’s very hot and humid in Louisiana, but it is not the only state that is hot and humid (ESPECIALLY this year! UGH!) and there are draft horses thriving in every state… I know (personally) carriage companies in Louisiana and TX that use drafts and not crosses.

However, I dont think climate has much to do with their diet to be honest, i think you just have to feed them like a draft…

I’m no draft expert though, just known a lot of them and their breeders.

Nice story though about Dixie meeting an old friend! It’s always cool to find out more history on the oldies!

Cielo_Azure · August 20, 2020, 1:47pm

Back in the 1950s/1960s, the Percheron in North American were down to about 500 animals. The numbers of Percherons still aren’t that high. They are off the endangered list but they aren’t common compared to many breeds.

Therefore, there is a lot of interbreeding and lots of famous sires that are found in just about all of the pedigrees. Justamere Showtime shows up in just about all the pedigrees. He was the most popular sire of his era and was bred to many, many horses when the numbers of Percherons was extremely low.

Now, with AI -the “famous” sires are bred 100s of times. Again, you find certain horses dominating the pedigrees (as there still aren’t that many Percherons). Then you find that even if you avoid the famous sires, their brothers and cousins are everywhere.

When I breed, I always do an inbreeding coefficient but sometimes it is hard to get a good number!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding

leilatigress · August 20, 2020, 1:47pm

Awesome story and always nice when they remember people they have dealt with.

elysian_fields_farm1 · August 20, 2020, 1:47pm

[QUOTE=fivehorses;5027297]
Yes, just a quick response, because I have to run. But, the Telleen’s are the owners of the Draft Horse Journal. His father started the mag, but now Lyn runs it, or did.
Koncarlaet is also a big perch line…and you will see many Laet’s, etc.

Let me know what you find. Plus, you can call the Percheron Horse Association for more information, especially on the ones with papers…you could trace where she has been, as long as they let the registry know.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info- I have looked at The Draft Horse Journal online, but didn’t know who owned it.

I did spent a lot of time researching the first draft mare Lou Lou who arrived in 2008. I was able to talk to her breeder- a man in Ohio, who told me she had been “just a broodmare” that he sold at age 10 when he was culling his herd. He said she “threw colts that were better than she is, but I have more mares better than her.”

I could find him because I actually got her papers with her, but was told that her last owner had “messed up” in not having her transferred himself to whomever bought her at auction. When I tried to contact the last owner “of record” with the Perch Assoc., he was not very cooperative about trying to straighten things out-- I think he didn’t want to pay for the transfer. I didn’t persue it because I don’t ever intend to breed her. She is 18 now.

Anyway, after being with one owner 10 years, Lou Lou went through four owners in the next five years. And in 2008, she went through auction in Ocala, FL twice in six months and was headed back again when she was bought “at the auction house door.” Her last owner had really bought her for the month old filly that was at her side, and to use as a riding horse. Apparently she found Lou Lou very difficult to get going and very hard to stop once she did. I don’t think Lou Lou had been ridden before at all.

I did find out that she had been trained to drive- somewhere in the five years since she had left her original breeder/owner. The girl who owned her last, had tried to sell her privately, before deciding to just take her back to the auction.
Apparently, she pulled to the right side when a vehicle approached her head-on, so none of the carriage companies in Ocala were interested in her.

I have used her to pull a harrow in pastures, and she did very well with that. I have not tried to take her on the road.

Lou Lou was poor like Dixie is when I got her. It took almost whole year, but I was able to get her to fill back out again- even along her spine. There are photos of Lou Lou, and Barney on my website- I don’t know how to link photos on this site. I have not had as much success with Barney, but I’m trying.

As far as Barney’s history- it dead-ended at a Louisiana horse dealer. He admitted that he had brokered the deal for Barney, his harness and carriage as a “package deal” to be bought by his previous owner. He said Barney was a carriage horse from Minnesota, but refused to give me info so I could contact that seller. So Barney’s past- other than his last previous owner- will remain a mystery.

Now that I’m driving more, I hardly ever ride any more. I guess that doesn’t really bother the riding horses- they are just enjoying hanging out and not having to work.

Dixie has made remarkable progress with gaining weight in the two months I’ve had her. When I find out more about her, I will post it. I don’t have a lot of photos of Dixie up yet because my camera phone broke. I will get some up soon.

Nojacketrequired · August 20, 2020, 1:47pm

It is nice when you run into a former “person” that belonged to your horse and can glean information. That’s very cool. Dixie seemed to enjoy it as well.

The man seems very nice to be so concerned about the mare’s weight and feet as well and to give you so much advice and the name of a new farrier. Word of mouth is always the best way to network in the horse community. I find there is always someone out there who can fill in an area where my knowledge is lacking…you just have to find them!

I also thought I’d mention, just in case you aren’t familiar so forgive me if you already know this, that beet pulp can ferment quickly in a very hot climate as you describe. I’d also research that angle before making any drastic changes.

Hopefully the man and his wife will come around and take Dixie out for a drive.

NJR

MSP · August 20, 2020, 1:48pm

It turns out that my vet’s recommendation that I use corn oil to help fatten her is not such a good idea in the summer since she is a cold blooded horse- James suggested that I wait until cooler weather to add the corn oil, and that for now I should add soaked beet pulp to her diet to help fatten her.

As CA was explaining this advise about the oil is very questionable. I would take the advise of a vet that specializes in drafts over legend or some guy you talked to on the street.

Drafts are often “metabolically different” and thus prone to developing muscle problems, most notably equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (tying-up, or PSSM), Valentine says. “Feeding grain can exacerbate the problem.”

Additionally, because a draft’s heavy muscling gives him a lower skin to muscle area ratio in which to dissipate heat from working muscles, drafts are at higher risk for overheating. Many thermoregulation, muscular, and orthopedic problems can be addressed or avoided through a diet high in fiber and fat and low in starch and sugar, reports Valentine. “Fat supplementation can help decrease excess heat production during hot weather,” she adds.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=1019

Griffyn · August 20, 2020, 1:48pm

I would really like to know more about the prison program. Angola has a very interesting and unique history. I know theres a TB rescue in one of the prisons in VA. I work in a prison, so I would love to hear more as your story unfolds. I love it when a piece of the puzzle falls into place./

elysian_fields_farm1 · August 20, 2020, 1:48pm

The reunion was the point, not the corn oil

:

[QUOTE=MSP;5027965]
As CA was explaining this advise about the oil is very questionable. I would take the advise of a vet that specializes in drafts over legend or some guy you talked to on the street.
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=1019[/QUOTE]

Again-- The specific concern this guy had was that I was using CORN oil. In checking specifically Dr. Valentine’s book as well as an article by Dr. Kellon-- the oils they discuss are primarily CANOLA, and FLAX SEED.

My equine vet – who was the one who recommended the CORN oil —readily admited that she is NOT a draft horse expert because she has not been called on much to deal with drafts. (I’m the ONLY client she has or has ever had that has drafts- and I have only 3 and old ones at that.)

Her practice, which is moblie, consists mainly of QHs, TBs, Appys, Arabs, TWHs, various warmbloods, and some grades and a few ponies.

James, who has spent years dealing mainly with draft horses, especially Percherons and Perch crosses, probably has more practical experience with drafts, though he is not a vet.

Anyway, my point in making the post was that this guy was so overjoyed to find a horse that he had trained, and worked with extensively, and hadn’t seen in 13 years. AND Dixie seemed glad to see him, too. Not only did she follow him, turning her head to keep him in sight as much as possilbe as he walked around her–she actually leaned her head into his chest and rubbed him.

He cared enough to wait around for a chance to be with her a few minutes, to look her over, and find out what I was doing with her. He was extremely polite and actually kept apologizing and asking permission to make suggestions about her care and some minor harness adjustments. I was more than happy for his help.

I perfectly understood what CA was saying-- duh-- I may not go automatically gaga over science vs. folk wisdom, but I’m not uneducated.

I have since contacted my vet, and she, too, rethought the use of CORN oil-- and suggested I go with the canola, instead.

I was already using the soaked beet pulp as 1/4 of her ration, but am now going to slowly increase that proportion until she is eating more beet pulp-- which does have to be watched carefully becaue it does go sour quickly in this heat and himidity-- 93degrees right now, a rather cool day-- with humidity at a very unseasonally low 65%. Heat index 98 degrees, rather cloudy with scattered thunderstorms predicted, but we are under a heat advisory until 8 pm- once again-- our 17th consecutive heat advisory day.

eyetallion_stallion · August 20, 2020, 1:49pm

[QUOTE=elysianfieldsfarm;5028220]
: