Welcome to JKs Rough String Ranch

Welcome to the Rough String, and thanks for stoppin' by!! Grab a hot cup of coffee and sit a spell!
10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

What's your health score?
Just Take Your FREE Health Assessment: Click Here
Please DO NOT copy or reproduce my photos or writing in any way without my permission...just ask!!!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Baby It's Cold Outside!

(been humming that song lately)

We've been having a long spell of cold weather, but this is more normal for SE Oregon than we've had in the past few years. Global warming? I don't know...you get what you get I think.

But Christmas Day and the day following, we got 8-10 inches, and it's not going anywhere.

It takes 10 minutes to get dressed to go do chores...of course Cindy Sue is another couple of minutes. She's wearing a fleece Snuggie under her coat...she really wants some booties I think!


Quite a Pair of Hooters
Quite a Pair of Hooters!
The owls were totally lookin' awesome yesterday! They don't normally sit next to each other in the tree...they had positioned themselves so the breeze was coming toward their back, but they had the tree trunk behind them to block some of the wind...and they seemed to be snuggling. So very cute!

The herd is getting lots of extra hay to keep the internal heat turned up.

Yesterday's high was 15 and this morning it was -5. Forecast is a high of 23 by 11 AM (I'll believe it when I see it) and will go down quickly in the afternoon with a breeze picking up.


Tasty Lunch
Afternoon Snack

Pierce had an accident yesterday afternoon. I didn't see it, so I can only surmise...Colt and him have been turned out together during the day, and I think they got to running and playing...of course Colt is a lot bigger than Pierce. Pierce ended up going over/through a fence made of field fencing in a corner spot, caught up both rear legs in the fence and got scraped and cut pretty good. Doctoring in sub-freezing temps is not fun.

He's pretty swollen and stiff this morning. I thought I was out of Bute, but I'm not...so I'm going back out now to give him a dose. He should feel a bit better with the Bute, but I'm concerned with the cuts and scraped hide in these temps. Any suggestions?


11 comments:

  1. Sounds like you are having the weather that we should be in Minnesota - it has been quite mild here and we don't have much snow. Those darn horses - you are correct it isn't fun to doctor and pamper in the cold... We have an accident prone gelding (who seems to have outgrown that - thank goodness) that I had to doctor many times in the winter... one good thing is you don't have to worry about the bugs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Because I'm starting up a retirement board business, I've been slowly replacing all of my field fence with 2"X4" horse-safe mesh. Shoulda done that when I started, as too many of my babies had run-ins with it!
    I wouldn't think the cold would hurt too much--might slow done the healing process a little, but as Leah said, no bugs. I like water-based ointments like Novalson, because they let the wound breathe, but they do get a bit thick in the cold.
    Good luck! Babies are pretty tough.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ok, so I am not going to whine about temps being in the 20s in the evenings here in Maryland when I am out riding!

    Poor Pierce! Don't have many suggestions other than trying to keep the meds you apply from thickening too much. The folks at my barn swear by that Vetricyn stuff but I don't know how it performs in extreme cold.

    p.s. Thanks for the heads up on the capcha thing! It's officially gone!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the owls! I want to get a picture of owls soooo bad. I hope Pierce is okay. I can't offer any advise. We never had that problem in the cold temp with our horses. But did happen in milder temps. I was amazed when our vet had to mend a real deep wound. I couldn't believe how many layers of skin horses have!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with the Vetricyn. I have gel which works good.

    Before that came along and even now, I use Prep H for cuts on legs to keep proud flesh from developing and a light bleach spray. Prep H cream.

    Light hand walking? Can you do that to keep the muscles supple?

    Morris WAY needs booties, but I doubt he'll ever tolerate them. He won't tolerate a coat, but will come and ask for a lift when he gets so cold that he is shaking!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A third vote here for the Vetricyn, that stuff works wonders. Again, not sure about any extreme cold measures though. Hubby's gelding is finally outgrowing his always getting banged up stage. I swear they are like little boys!
    Hope you guys get a little warmer weather up your way!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brr it has been cold up here too, but the sun has been coming out the last few days so at least it looks pretty! Hope Pierce heals up all good, snow and cold should be just like icing and cold hosing I would think :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hope Pierce is doing better?
    Any updates?

    LOL on the edit queen!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the owls!
    Prep H, diluted iodine, Vetricyn and Bute. And gentle walking. I had a really nasty wreck this summer and used the diluted iodine, Vetricyn and Bute. It was an "L" shaped laceration about 8 inches or so, and deep puncture on his chest. Stitches didn't hold so just had to let it heal.It took weeks, but he's good as new.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice hooters shot, and for Lil' Cindy Sue...nothing worse than cold tootsies...stay warm..:-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great owl shot!
    If you can get spray DermaGel, it works great and you don't have to touch the wounds if he is fussy about it. I'd use some of my essential oils, and cover them with DermaGel like I did with Beamer's chin- which has completely healed, not even a scar.

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments! Let me know what's on your mind~~