Until a few months ago I was not aware that apparently oregano oil can cure hoof abcesses. I walked into the barn one evening after work (tired and hungry, of course) and it smelled like Italian food.
The best part is that you’d think the oil should be applied topically…oh, no. Your horse SNIFFS it and the abcess is majikally cured.
A local self-proclaimed “FEI dressage trainer” believes horses are initially afraid of humans because their ears are on the side of their head. So she has been known to wear her “horse friendly” horse hat that is a headband with horse ears on top so her horses can trust her.
Well… I am still impressed from my experience on COTH today… People in that thread denied that I.K (an Olympic Medal winner in Eventing) is an Eventer. They insisted she is a Dressage rider and NOT an Eventer… Somebody even went as far to pick out of a sidelong list with her Eventing Successes the only 4 Dressage successes to prove she was a Dressage rider…
@NJRider that ear headband thing is totally something the my fellow boarder with the oregano oil would do…
Sadly, I think EVERYONE knows someone like the horse headband trainer. I have a friend who told me about a trainer that used to read the horse’s aura by foisting some kind of triangles over the horse’s heads. Nuts!
[QUOTE=billiebob;8975700]
@NJRider that ear headband thing is totally something the my fellow boarder with the oregano oil would do…[/QUOTE]
A few years ago, I leased a farm from a lovely older horse woman. I have so many stories from being there. She was quite a rider in her day–I have pics of her doing hunts and competing. She and her husband even trained a jumper that went to the Olympics in the 70’s. So she knew stuff. But she had some wonky ideas.
She felt that I spoiled my horses because I fed hay in the winter. “They can eat the grass under the snow like the deer.”
She was a fan of TBs and I had stock breeds. A bay and a dun. It was as if the only colors of horse that existed to her were chestnut and bay because if she was relaying a story to me about my dun mare, she’s say, “Oh that chestnut mare of yours…” LMAO.
One day, I showed up at the farm and she was changing a tire on the tractor. I had my boyfriend with me and she said, “Young man, can you please put the lugnuts back on?” He did that while she went and got us lemonade. She was a Southern lady. She came back, inspected his work, gasped and said, “Oh no! No. Loosen those up and take 3 off. I’ll never get those off if they’re that tight!” We exchanged looks and he explained safety, etc. But she insisted and I made a mental note to NEVER use that tractor (I used the neighbors’ instead-they insisted and now I knew why!)
Well, a few months later, I arrived and saw the tractor out in the pasture about halfway up the hill with one big wheel missing and up on cinder blocks. I walked out and sure enough, the wheel was down at the bottom of the hill! It had come off while she was brush hogging. (No one injured)
Come spring, she said she wanted to move it and put it up on some blocks. I disagreed stating that it would then be too high for my pony sized mare (the chestnut ha ha) to drink from once it was much below full. Again, we battled.
Well, I had a freak accident and broke my arm so a friend was doing chores for me while I recovered. She came out one day and found that BO had indeed built some sort of stand for the water trough and when friend inquired, BO said, “Oh, BuddyRoo isn’t here to argue, is she?” OMG. I was so pissed. Friend had to drag BO out to watch my mare try to drink. She couldn’t. BO relented. “Hmm, I guess I thought the chestnut was taller. What is with people having such stubby little horses?”
Farrier pulled in to the drive ahead of me by 2 secs. He got out, looked towards barn, and wheeled on his back foot to face me, red faced. There was BO. She got up nonchalantly and strolled across the yard into the house calling over her shoulder in her sing songy voice, “Oh, I didn’t hear you, fell asleep.” OMG. Never saw that farrier again.
Anyway…there are so many. I have “bad” stories about barns and people I could share–but those are old hat. My old BO was just such a hoot. She was in a home for awhile where I could still visit her but now she’s across the country with her son. Love that lady!
@SnicklefritzG: Absolutely! Well known and well loved in the horse community around here. Her second husband was the Dean of the Veterinary college at MSU for many years–that’s what brought her from VA to MI. She is such a hoot. I have many many more stories. Road trips with her–getting lost on the way to the Waterloo hunt, horses she just brought home and thought I might like, her showing me the mass they removed from her anus…oh yes. Many many stories.
IIRC, when the tractor tire thing happened, I posted links to pics here. It wouldn’t been around 2006-2007 time frame. Anyway…oh yeah. I couldn’t make that stuff up if I tried.
Last barn I boarded at, before bringing horses home, had one BO who thought he knew it ALL.
He did not.
His wife was nice enough, but he was a constant source of irritation.
They had a RID stallion both were afraid of - with cause, he’d bitten them both. The 4yo clearly knew who was in charge.
Once the stud jumped out of their indoor - bending the top bar of the 5-bar gate as he did, then ran around the (thankfully) fenced property with Asshat chasing him (cuz yup, you can run as fast as a horse) until he cornered himself at a junction of 2 fencelines.
I was walking sloooooowly toward him, lead in hand, seeing if I could safely attach it to his halter. He reared once, then stood watching me - plenty room for me to get to safety if I needed…
I was this close to clipping the lead on, when Asshat comes charging up behind me, arms waving, screaming “Get Back!”
You BET I got back! And just as stud came barreling past us both.
I left him to the chase himself, since he obviously was waaay more expert at catching loose horses.
A-hat also had an abitrary Barn Rule that ENGLISH riders had to wear helmets.
Some of the Western riders there could have greatly benefitted from some safety gear - one woman in particular who rode her (Saint of a) mare in fetal position.
Just to mess with him, I’d ride bareback, sans helmet.
He’d come out of his house - where he’d plainly been observing/spying - and watch me, but never said a word.
Seems he couldn’t figure out if I was breaking his Rule.
To add to his frustration, I’d give my TB verbal cues to “jog” < trot or “lope” < canter.
Of course the words meant nothing to my horse, he’d react to my seat & leg.
On a more serious note:
When my DH’s horse was very ill & lying down a great part of the day AS APPROVED BY MY VET in A-hat’s presence.
I came to the barn and was informed sotto-voce by barn worker that A-hat routinely went into horse’s stall with a broom or whip & forced him to his feet.
I reminded A-hat (politely) that vet had agreed he could stay down.
Yes, I am aware this is not generally a good practice, but I chose to listen to my vet.
Then the nice BO wife went out of town, and I arrived one night to see on the public dry-erase board a note from A-hat saying I had to move my sick horse ASAP as his vet determined the horse was dehydrated.
When I checked, horse was not, and when I left, the electric gate at the drive was locked, forcing me to approach A-hat, who told me he was unequipped to care for my horse & I had to move him.
Nevermind why he had thought it was okay for his vet to examine my horse w/o my knowledge and then not inform me of this in some way besides his cowardly note on the board.
I spent a frantic weekend looking for a barn to move to and then on Sunday BO wife called to say I did NOT have to move.
So the pants were not totally worn by A-hat.
Finally, when I bought my farm & gave notice, A-hat had to tell me how much work was involved in keeping horses & how I’d never be able to do it alone.
That was almost 13yrs ago.
Sorry to disappoint.
A-hat’s farm has been for Sale for about 2yrs - priced at 3X what Zillow says it should be.
No takers to date.
Karma?
[QUOTE=billiebob;8975675]
Until a few months ago I was not aware that apparently oregano oil can cure hoof abcesses. I walked into the barn one evening after work (tired and hungry, of course) and it smelled like Italian food.
The best part is that you’d think the oil should be applied topically…oh, no. Your horse SNIFFS it and the abcess is majikally cured.[/QUOTE]
So, definitely not in the way you describe, but I was involved in a research project looking at treating mastitis in cows using various essential oils. (Like the lab grade kind, not what you would buy wherever it is you buy essential oils.) Oregano was one of the ones we tested, it worked ok, not the best, but cinnamon, that’ll kill just about anything it touches. Keyword being “touches.”
Okay, I’ll play.
I leased a paddock at a facility that did self care. The owner would lease a paddock or a space, but took no interest in the horses and didn’t perform any care. While I was there, a lot of “interesting” horse people cycled through.
My favorite was the eccentric lady who was convinced that calling a vet to tube and oil a colicking horse was a big waste of money, because she could perform the procedure herself. I was skeptical, because while I can and so some procedures myself, I wouldn’t attempt to pass an NG tube. So I said “Really? You have the NG tube and the hand pump and everything?”
No, she didn’t. She used a bulb turkey baster and squirted mineral oil in the horses’s mouth with it. :eek: :eek:
Cured that colic right up.
I declined her offer to use her services.
Okay, I’ll play.
I leased a paddock at a facility that did self care. The owner would lease a paddock or a space, but took no interest in the horses and didn’t perform any care. While I was there, a lot of “interesting” horse people cycled through.
My favorite was the eccentric lady who was convinced that calling a vet to tube and oil a colicking horse was a big waste of money, because she could perform the procedure herself. I was skeptical, because while I can and so some procedures myself, I wouldn’t attempt to pass an NG tube. So I said “Really? You have the NG tube and the hand pump and everything?”
No, she didn’t. She used a bulb turkey baster and squirted mineral oil in the horses’s mouth with it. :eek: :eek:
Cured that colic right up.
I declined her offer to use her services.
A barn owner got upset with a boarder who was a week late on her payment. If I recall, a family member had suffered a serious health crisis and the boarder had more or less been at the hospital for two weeks. The next time she came out, the barn owner pulled a gun on her as she came down the driveway.
I may be short on the details- it’s been almost 15 years and I didn’t know the boarder well- but I saw the gun incident myself. Out of there a couple days later.
After reading the first couple posts this story popped into mind. I was in high school and I was boarding/working/riding at a very nice barn with several trainers including a hunter/jumper trainer, dressage trainer, and a Parelli trainer. I was riding a 3yo for the hunter/jumper trainer in the indoor arena. He was a very good horse, but he was still only a baby. The Parelli trainer comes into the ring and proceeds to let her horse loose and start chasing it around the arena with her carrot stick, all while I am riding a 3yo! Her horse then runs straight for me and the 3yo and runs right into us. I managed to stay on the resulting chaos, but I was furious. Even though I was only a teenager at the time I got off and started yelling at that trainer and told her she was a idiot for free lunging with someone else riding and that she had no common sense and was going to get someone killed.
I’ll keep it short. Rehabbed an OTTB with a suspensory injury for 6 months stall rest, 2 months hand walk. Finally got cleared to ride. I was 14/15ish maybe younger so my mother was in charge of horse decisions. Trainer advised that Ace was strongly advised for first few rides.
Barn Manger- " You may not use Ace! It is not allowed! Here, I have this old container of Quietex. It will work the same."
Got thrown into a wall that ride and broke my back. Needless to say after other common sense issues unrelated to mine, she was fired.
[QUOTE=McGurk;8976158]
Okay, I’ll play.
I leased a paddock at a facility that did self care. The owner would lease a paddock or a space, but took no interest in the horses and didn’t perform any care. While I was there, a lot of “interesting” horse people cycled through.
My favorite was the eccentric lady who was convinced that calling a vet to tube and oil a colicking horse was a big waste of money, because she could perform the procedure herself. I was skeptical, because while I can and so some procedures myself, I wouldn’t attempt to pass an NG tube. So I said “Really? You have the NG tube and the hand pump and everything?”
No, she didn’t. She used a bulb turkey baster and squirted mineral oil in the horses’s mouth with it. :eek: :eek:
Cured that colic right up.
I declined her offer to use her services.[/QUOTE]
Hahaha. When I was a kid we lived in a quite rural area. Our vet preferred small animals and actually taught us to do the NG tube so he wouldn’t have to come out. However, it is harder than you think and a few times it went the wrong way. Of course we had the sense not to pump oil when breath was coming out of the tube but we fired that vet and got one a few hours away who would actually come in an emergency. I think we still have the stuff around somewhere, hasnt been out of the medicine cabinet in 15 years.
Had a neighbor that had a nice QH she kept at home. Horse was sweet as anything, kept blanketed or fly sheeted (with full fly mask) as the weather demanded, always groomed to perfection, but hadn’t been ridden in a while as neighbor had a permanent condition that kept her out of the saddle. One day, while chatting with neighbor at her barn, it was time for her to bring horsie in for the night. She did so, and as she hung up a bucket of feed, I looked around for the hay to put in the stall for her. It was then I realized I had never seen a bale of hay in her place…ever. When I asked where her hay was, she said she didn’t have any. I looked at her, unbelieving, and asked what she gave her horse at night. “Nothing” she said, closing the stall door. “You mean that you don’t have anything for your horse to eat at all overnight?” I asked, really confused. “Nope” she said.
According to her reasoning, the horse had plenty to eat in the (small 1 acre pasture) during the day, and didn’t require anything to eat overnight. This included winter as well! Just grass, no hay. At all. Horse was bedded on shavings, too.
Still boggles my mind!
Had a neighbor that had a nice QH she kept at home. Horse was sweet as anything, but hadn’t been ridden in a while as neighbor had a condition that kept her out of the saddle. One day, while chatting with neighbor at her barn, it was time for her to bring horsie in for the night. She did so, and as she hung up a bucket of feed, I looked around for the hay to put in the stall for her. It was then I realized I had never seen a bale of hay in her place…ever. When I asked where her hay was, she said she didn’t have any. I looked at her, unbelieving, and asked what she gave her horse at night. “Nothing” she said, closing the stall door. “You mean that you don’t have anything for your horse to eat at all overnight?” I asked, really confused. “Nope” she said.
According to her reasoning, the horse had plenty to eat in the (small 1 acre pasture) during the day, and didn’t require anything to eat overnight. This included winter as well! Just grass, no hay. At all.
Still boggles my mind!
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