Horse training update
As most of you know, I have been training my miniature horse Mozart (AKA “Moe”) to drive under harness. I am happy to report that he now has a solid 10+ hours of pulling a cart. Most of that time has been up and down our very long driveway and around the back of the property. I have not taken him to see our neighbor’s cows and goats yet but that will come in the next few weeks.
He is really learning fast on how to maneuver the cart by pushing on the shafts to make tight turns. Horse’s that are trained to drive under harness have to learn to move into pressure where as a horse under saddle has to move away from pressure. A horse that has been trained to ride and drive is indeed a very accomplished horse.
One of our other horses. Kid, an older gray Arab (he is 24) has melanomas. The melanomas has just started to form in his sheath so now I have to clean him out frequently to keep flies from laying eggs inside. The melanomas have formed in such a way that his sheath is now an open cavern when he is retracted. He first started showing signs of irritation last Friday by kicking at non existent flies. I examined him only to find a very dirty sheath and one maggot inside. Excalibur (horse sheath cleaner) to the rescue and lots of water from the hose. Yesterday Kid was acting the same. This time when I applied the Excalibur inside him I found 3 more maggots and I did another clean up job. After that I coated the outside with Swat (a fly repellent for wounds). I know that Swat contains a carcinogen, I even wrote about it (Swat that is) but hey the horse has melanomas already and is 24 years old. Now I just have to keep a closer eye on him during the fly season.
