Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We had insane winds here Sunday, followed by a ridiculous rain storm on Monday, so I didn't even go out to the barn.

Yesterday I was so exhausted that I just went out and lunged the mare. She looked good, happy, and forward, which made me wish I was riding. Then I realized I'd have to change into breeches, fight with my stupid dead boots, and saddle up, and I decided I would just turn her out instead.

I don't know what to think. I'm looking into cheaper ways to get omeprazole for her to treat for ulcers, but if she maintains her current behavior, then I'm pretty sure that we're dealing with a hormone issue. If it's hormones, then I've heard very good things about raspberry leaves, which are relatively inexpensive but I still don't want to spend money on anything until I have a better idea of what's going on.

Oh, and it's supposed to rain the rest of the week. Ugh.

I'm looking forward to riding tomorrow and maybe even doing a photoseries for It's In The Bag. (If you haven't heard of them, go there and buy away! I'm a tightwad poor person and I got a gorgeous three tube tail bag. Love the quality, love the product, love the cause.)

6 comments:

  1. love those lazy barn days!!

    Raspberry leaves. I've heard nothing but good things about them too... however they didn't do miss Pia much good, even in RIDICULOUS quantities. Though in fairness, I get wicked cramps myself, and if someone offered me lots of herbal-leaf-tea instead of my costco bottle of pain meds and a heating pad, I'd probably buck them off too ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I fed copious quantities of raspberry leaves to the big mare and she still had wicked heats that were too much for me to handle. She's in a new home with a much younger and braver rider.

    RE: gastroguard - it's the same thing as Ulcerguard, which is available OTC. I've heard folks who suspect ulcers but don't have access to (or desire to pay for) a scoping give their horse several days of Ulcerguard at full Gastroguard doses. If the symptoms abate, it's a pretty good indicator that ulcers are present. As I've said, I've not tried it, but it makes sense to me.

    Good luck figuring out the mare!
    - Sarah from CollectingTBs (openid isn't working!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sent you an email.

    Hate this weather. Warm, cold, wet, dry, snow....wind...ick. Glad you have an indoor to use.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Perhaps try chastetree berries? I have had excellent luck treating one of my mares with it for Cushings and another for her heats. It is a great product. :-) Good luck!

    http://www.morethanalive.com/Chaste-Tree-berry-whole

    ReplyDelete
  5. Agreed with Jean. This weather sucks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Some local pharmacies will whip up a generic version of gastroguard for you - our local one does and it's immensely cheaper! I've also heard mango juice/extract can be really helpful and way more cost effective. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...