_Please NOTE if you would like to add optional extras to your prize such as a wrapped noseband or a wrapped handle you will need to pay the extra amount ($5 extra for a wrapped handle/noseband).
In order for this you will need to PAY the extra before the prize is sent.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. You need to be a fan on my facebook page if you aren't already!
2. You MUST share this blog post in some fashion with all your facebook friends! (I will check)
The more enteries the more fun it will be for everyone!!!
3. Write a comment below stating what you would like to win and what you will do with it if you do win!

MORE RULES:

This competition will run until the 24th December (yes what a great christmas present to win!)
You must leave a valid e-mail address to be contacted.
Prize MUST be claimed no later than a week after the winner is announced.
The winner will be announced through this blog as this is no way apart of or have anything to do in relation to facebook itself.
You are only allowed ONE entry per person (please be fair!!)

Most of all "play nice, No cheating,  Be fair, and HAVE FUN!!! :)

Meet Holly, Holly is a 7 year old Beagle looking for her very special forever home.
You can see Holly's petrescue listing here for more details:
http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/116845

This girl has obvously been through alot, but she is such a sweet girl to have hanging around the house.
She's looking for a home where she can live out the next half of her life. Where she can be treated like a princess.
She loves nothing more to be inside with everyone and go out for a good sniff around the yard.

Holly loves to go for her walks and let her nose lead the way like a true beagle.
She would be an excelent companion to have around the house and go on a regular walk with.
Who can resist such a gorgeous girl.  It's such a pleasure to foster such a girl,
but it will be a great reward to find her that special home, even though we will all miss her. :)

As some of you may know I just released two different types of dog collars. I also just announced that for every collar sold I will donate $2 to "Dog Rescue Newcastle". Our dog "Emmy" who is modeling one of these lovely collars was adopted from this wonderful group as a puppy. In 2008 we went in search of a new addition to the family in the name of this wonderful puppy who was origionally named "Ebony". My partners only requirments "it has to be a girl". So we went along to meet this wonderful group of pups. There mother was rescued from the pound a lovely natured staffy who had these wonderful pups. "Emmy" was the only girl in the litter so even though we went to look at the other pups we were really just looking at her.

Our lovely daughter at the time was just learning to talk hence her name turned from "Ebony" to Emmy.

We fast track forward and Emmy is still with us either keeping us on our toes or surprising us again and again.
I feel alot safer at home on my own with the kids having Emmy around "guarding" the place.
She even loves to play her hand at a little "jumping" agility course.

And also now modeling her new dog collar. Yes hers is alot longer than normal. To help with thoes "I don't have a lead" moments.

So anyone looking for a "new best friend" I urge them to check out the rescue groups. If your interested in one of these dog collars though you can be rest assured that a little "something" will be going to such a wonderful rescue group. For the costs of desexing and vacinations, you can bless a pet with a nice "forever home". That is what we all want in the end isn't it. Somewhere where we all "belong".

So thank you "Dog Rescue Newcastle" For helping our dog and many more animals in need.

The Horses Silent Cries

 Amongst the crowd a silent scream could be heard,
There stood in the middle of the commotion a figure,
A huge bay, tall and strong, so noble a creature,
His heart full of love and affection, eager to please,
Deep down he was hurting, deep down he was crying,
He tried to stand tall, yet he felt weak at the knees.

Silently he pleaded for forgiveness, for understanding,
He stood confused and misunderstood amongst the crowd,
With a painful kick from his owner he walked on with a whimper,
He tried to find comfort around him, yet no one heard him,
No one heard his cries amongst the laughter,
Everyone passed him as if he weren’t there.

Another jab in the mouth, another flick from the whip,
He silently obeyed, as he glanced around him,
Scared and afraid he stamped his hoof for the last time,
Another sharp pain from a spur came once more,
“Get up! Behave! Cut it out!” his owner screamed,
He couldn’t quite understand how he had misbehaved.

He did not know the words, yet he knew the tone,
He was in the wrong, but what did he do wrong?
His muscles ached all over; the saddle didn’t fit right,
A sore hoof from a stone bruise the day before,
An old fracture that hadn’t quite healed,
He tried to work through the pain.

He tried so hard to understand, he tried to ‘behave’,
Yet he did not know what he was meant to do,
He went unnoticed amongst the crowd,
His owner oblivious to the cries and the suffering,
As he tried once more to call out to a passer by,
His pleas answered by another crack of the whip.

by: Jesskah Morris

Well previously I talked about the Founder horses and my experience owning such a pony that has foundered on and off.  You can see the post here: http://jesskahsropetack.weebly.com/1/post/2011/02/the-founder-horse.html
Now I would like to show some pictures to show how far a horse can come, with regular correct trims.

Below is a series of pictures from a good few years back maybe five years actually. It shows clearly how bad my ponys souls stuck out. I forever battled with this because of how fast his hooves could grow. This was even at a point I couldnt get a farrier out and had to try to do what I could to help him.

Now we fast track to today. (picture below). No shoes or gizmo's just regular trimming from a decent farrier. Who with care, trims the souls of his feet so he isn't walking on his souls.

All in all, here we have an old pony who is a much happier pony in general, despite all his prior founder problems. We still need to remember however that weight can play a great deal on these type of ponys.
Control the weight and control the feet growth and you have one happy horse indeed.

Through so many years after finally getting my first pony. I ended up battling so many times with feet problems relating to founder. Hearing this one word can send people away to cower. It can be such a chronic thing at times to battle with especially when you don’t know which way to go about treating it.

Now the definition of founder just to clarify is when the bond between the sensitive and insensitive laminae completely fails, as the laminae dies. This means the attachment of the coffin bone to the hoof breaks down, which can destroy the living tissues around the coffin bone. This usually results with the coffin bone rotating downwards. In extreme cases the coffin bone can come through the sole of the hoof.

On the other hand laminitis, which usually goes hand in hand with founder, is classed as a totally different thing entirely. Laminitis is referred to as an infection of the laminae/tissues, which can cause the coffin bone to detach from the hoof wall.

Now there are a few causes that can cause laminitis and founder so here’s some to name a few…

·         Grass founder - A drastic change in the diet e.g. Lush grass, grains etc.

·         Drinking copious amounts of water whilst overheated

·         Having insulin resistance (almost the same as in humans horses can’t handle the high sugars in the grass)

·         Stressful conditions including colic, illnesses and high fevers

After that big introduction though I will get back to the dilemmas with my old pony Timmy. Now his feet problems we off and on along with his weight, but another big problem had been trying to find a farrier just to come out and do his feet. No one wanted to come out to do a pony that would lean on them.

I am not sure how rotated his coffin bones would be. He is an odd case where his back feet are worse than his front feet. However, his souls were not the concave type you would be looking for in a horse. Every farrier has their own view on correcting these horses with a big one being “corrective shoeing”.
Which was done and tried on my old pony, but after all that my opinion stands to reason that it is not the solution to correct the foundered horses feet. I’m still yet to work out how nailing nails through the hoof wall that is already breaking down is supposed to help.

Another method that I had heard of while looking for options was to raise the heels on the horse’s hooves. This is also a ridiculous idea as the coffin bone is already rotated enough without having to raise the heel more.

So I went with bare foot trimming on my own through the worst of times where I couldn’t find a farrier. No it was not the prettiest job in the world but it was better than leaving the hooves to grow on their own and turn into flipper feet.

Well after all these years my answers have finally been answered with the lovely farrier I have now for my old pony.  Not only has the answer been granted with him coming out every month on a regular basis, as foundered horses feet grow 10 times as fast. But he has answered my one suspicion I have had all along!

He actually dare I say, trimmed my pony’s souls! For so long no farrier has dared to touch the soul of my pony’s feet. From the words of the farrier when I questioned him “Yeah with all my founder horses I cut back the sole so they aren’t walking on their soles”.  For so long this has been in my head that a horse shouldn’t be walking on their soles. There’s no corrective shoeing or any “jazz”, just a regular trim which includes trimming the soles, without needing to go over the top.

Thanks to my farrier my pony has no limps and doesn’t look anywhere near his age. As long as he has his feet done regularly because they do grow so quick his feet are pretty much almost back to normal.

So from someone who has been through a pony that has foundered on and off…. Make sure your farrier trims the sole as well as the hoof (with care of course).

RANT...... OVER!
Jesskah