2015 - the penultimate year!

cazmanian_minx

I'm afraid I'm unlikely to get it, as I'm not getting a new phone simply so my boss can send me the occasional WhatsApp message! He's going to send me an old phone he has at home, but that won't have my SIM in it. Can you PM me here or on Facebook instead?

Track sounds promising

LAM2011

Farm sounds fab. You sound like you are really getting organised there. Summer is going to be great.

I have a horse with PPID who suffers lami. She also has ulcers as does my event horse and its hard to manage in a livery yard situation. At least with your own place you can do things to make it easier. I usually ask for a paddock that has already been grazed by the skinnies and then my fatty goes in there. Its hard because due to the ulcers she is better with steady food intake. So she has hay. I also have been giving her activated charcoal which has helped but can only do once a day as she has her cushings med at night and charcoal would make this ineffective! Talk about high maintenance!

I hope you manage to sort yours out.

DebtFree2012

Thanks both. It was just general advice on any tried and tested ulcer or lami methods. (2 different ponies). Does the feed specific stuff work, ie the H a p p y tummy and hoof stuff work? Is it just a ploy to make us buy things where as hay would do on it's own. We're getting the free lab test done in March I think.


In other news though, which is good in one way - I'm finally under 20k! £19811 to be specific. By the end of this year I hope to have that down to 13k. I'd like to have it all paid off by the end of next year but it's due in March 2018 and I don't think I will be able to bring it forward that far (only 3 months, but 3 months of payments is a lot (almost £800 per month)).


Pay day today - first month of proper bills etc so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

sugarcube84

The feed only works if they need feed to begin with but a small feed is useful to hide supplements in, which can be very useful. My fell over the summer used to have a handful of happy hoof/hi fi lite with magnesium/rosehips/seweed/linseed/brewers yeast (i got the formula specially made) in winter he had the same but with some speedibeet as well or if he was competing (worker/sjumping/x-country/dressage etc).


The thing you wont get from hay on its own is a broad spectrum of nutrients, unless you get yours tested and alter feed accordingly and after every delivery/different batch. I think feeding a supplement to support their feet is always useful eg farriers formula or a mix of things as I used to feed, which is much cheaper. I found my fell was much less 'footy' on stones after swapping from normal chaff/nuts to the feed above, he didn't have shoes on.

crunch_time

Well done to being sub £20k!!! Welcome to the teens!!! Xxx

DebtFree2012

Thanks crunchy


Thanks sugarcube - ours are in light work only now, so I am interested to see what will make a difference to make him less footy as you say. I'll get some happy hoof and see how that alone helps, then start adding in supplements as I don't want to do too much at once as a) I won't know what's actually working or causing a problem and b) the expense. Great info, thanks.

cazmanian_minx

Primarily forage-based diet for ulcers, is the generally accepted wisdom, but that's obviously difficult if you're managing lami-pront as well. There's a good barefoot forum which has a Diet section with some interesting threads in here: http://phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org/forum8.php

My ulcer-prone one has a golfball-sized amount of soaked Coolstance Copra, Pro Mineral forage balancer from Progressive Earth (not expensive) http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Progressive-Earth/Pro-Mineral-Balancer-/_i.html?_fsub=13559395018 and a spoonful of micronised linseed. The first and the third he literally only has to get the balancer into him. I've found that giving the balancer means he regulates his hay/grass intake better, so manages his weight better by himself (usually, this year was a bit of an exception, but it's come off again over winter without restricting his diet).

Touch wood, no stomach pain issues for about two years now - the last lot was caused by Protexin adding alfalfa to Acid Ease, which he is very sensitive to. Happy Hoof has alfalfa in it, so just be aware that there's a tiny, tiny chance that it may cause a reaction.

DebtFree2012

Thanks Caz. Luckily the ulcer and lami ponies are separate! So I can treat each one for it's own condition thankfully. The joys. I'll have a good look through those links, thank you.

DebtFree2012

Happy Tuesday!


I have stew in the simmering over for tonight and brought a wrap in for my lunch. I don't have anything to go with my wrap so I am going to be starving but at least it's better than nothing.


Managed to get a few more seeds in so I will be watching them daily lol.


Right money wise I've spent £240 out of my £350 grocery budget. This covers a lot of items that take us through the month along with others that see us through 2 weeks. Tonight I need to put another loaf in and I want to have a go at some sourdough too.


The debt payments have all gone out for the month. The remainder are the direct debits which are all budgetted for. I have sold an item on ebay and made £11 but this went to an outfit for DS as we're going to a wedding later in the year and he had nothing that fits, they keep growing!


I have a few other things to sell so I will try and get that done in the next week or so. Also due a pay out from survey company soon.


I need to make the Mother's Day cards and gifts soon.

DebtFree2012

http://www.viewsbank.com/referral/777a14d4 if anyone's interested. I'm due £12 from them soon, it's pending as of yesterday and goes in to paypal.