We have a strangles outbreak on the yard. There are two horses who have it, one quite ill, and the horses who are out in pasture are not allowed back on the yard unless they begin to show signs of it. So today I ruptured myself trying to carry all my tack, protective gear, grooming kit, and feed down in one trip. Ack.
I’d found an older synthetic dressage saddle on eBay for £30, and being medium-wide it should fit Kip until he is in enough work to begin to muscle up again, by which point I want to be able to afford my Isabell Werth dressage saddle. :) So anyway we, not being allowed in either of the arenas until the strangles outbreak is over, went out for a leisurely walk along the roads.
Thank god Kip is good in traffic. Understand, most of the streets where I have to ride are very narrow and curving. There isn’t a lot of room. And people, despite the fact that they should be used to driving around horses, drive FAST. I swear to god, this boy in a rice grinder came by us at at least 45-50mph. On a village lane. Kip is a very sensible boy, but he’s still a baby, and can only be trusted to be good to a point. When he’s goggling at a family of five all springing out of a car, each carrying crackling shopping bags, all it would take is for him to jump sideways even one step, and we would be finished if a car was speeding by. Grrr…
I was discussing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime with two women at the stable, and it turns out that one woman’s son is mildly autistic. I don’t pay much attention to the kids at the barn, but I immediately knew which one her son was.
Several months ago, I had been filling a bucket at the pump, and a small red-haired boy came up to me and said “I can help you turn that off if you don’t know how to do it.”
I remember thinking that he was being rather snotty and smart-mouthed, but I told him “No thanks, I think I have it.”
“All you have to do is remember which way you turned it on, then you know how to turn it off.”
“Thank you, I’ll remember that.”
Quite profound, actually, when you think about it. A good lesson in life. If you know how you managed to arrive in a certain situation, then you should know the way back. There’s a thought for the day.
My friends’ barn just got a case of strangles, from a horse brought in just before they moved in with their riding school. It’s a royal pain, for now I can’t go visit, as I am horse hunting and can’t risk it.
The company I am currently working for makes educational games/toys/learning aids for kids with dyslexia/autism etc, they are basically a special needs specialist. Some of the things are fantastic. I’m sure I would have learned more at school with some of their products.
What is strangles?
Finished supper? Ok, here we go. Strangles is a bacterial infection resulting in discharge of pus from the nostrils and infection/abscess of the lymph glands in the throat, which usually burst and drain. Highly infectious.
Sorry if that was a bit disgusting. :(
I think that would be a great place to work – even if it doesn’t seem very exciting at times, you know that you’re at least helping to do some good in the world.
Yes, this has not been fun. We can’t even let farriers on the yard, in case it spreads to other stables, so the horses that have lost shoes can’t be ridden, etc. It will be weeks before everything goes back to normal.
I was schooling a two year old Percheron QH cross filly, and I had to give that up, and as I am horse hunting and riding Chef and others, I can’t even visit them, so yes, I know your pain.
I hope it goes quickly for you.
Ewww… thanks for the info!
I hope it doesn’t spread. Sounds like they’ve done the right thing in isolating/quarantining the infected.