Going to the barn this past Sunday was very healing for me, after my sister’s death last week. I really appreciated spending time with Buckshot, and keeping my mind occupied with barn things and Buckshot things. On Sunday we had a good ride. We warmed up in the arena with walking, and then headed up the road to the reining arena. We did trotting and cantering up there. At first the canter wasn’t very good- not steered very well. So I changed up and decided to just canter for five strides – five good strides – and then go to the trot. That helped a lot. Probably I wasn’t as focused as normal and didn’t expect and ask for good cantering. So the five stride exercise did help.
On the plus side, the weekend before last, we did a wicked pattern filled with different sized circles, and we did it at the trot and canter and did well! I asked Buckshot to canter the large circles and he did! We trotted on the smaller circles. We hit every part of the pattern. It was really nice to see us do that.
On another topic, it is time for me to place my normal, every-six-months order for Fastrack (a pro- and prebiotic digestion supplement), and when I started to place my order, I was shocked! The price of one bucket had gone from $44 to $70, in six months! The accountant in me kicked in and protests such a large price increase. I thought I’ll just have to find a cheaper alternative. I talked to the BO and we reviewed why I chose Fastrack two years ago: the vet recommended it because Buckshot was having a lot of diarrhea. We had tried ProBios without success. Another boarder at the barn at the time had heard good things about Fastrack as well. And it did help Buckshot. And so, since then, I have used it. Buckshot, being an older horse, has occasional soft stools, and occasional semi-hard stools, but much less diarrhea. He has a good appetite, keeps his weight on, has a good attitude about riding and in general has been in good health. So I do think the Fastrack is good for him. But at $70 a bucket! That’s a hard pill for me to swallow.
I called the vet and told him about the price increase, and asked him about trying other similar supplements. He said that I could do that, and to give an alternative supplement a week or so to see if it worked. He also said that often you get what you pay for. And that Fastrack had been around a long time, and had been developed for the aging horse, and that it had worked for Buckshot. So, his advice was mixed. And I understand that. I hate to think I’m overpaying for a probiotic supplement, if a cheaper one would work. But if this one does well for Buckshot, I’m not sure I want to experiment with others on him. So I’ll keep thinking about it, and talk to the BO some more, and decide soon. I have several weeks to decide because we still have a good current supply of Fastrack.
Buckshot also has deep clefts in his front hooves, that I am watching, smelling and spraying with thrush medicine. Someone at the barn recommended a colloidal silver solution for thrush, but I’m not sure about that. The farrier recommended regular thrush medication and I tend to trust his judgment on hoof issues. Have you ever used the colloidal silver products? What is your opinion of them? Hope you had a good weekend! I can’t wait to go back and see Buckshot again!
1 comment:
I'm glad to hear your time with Buckshot is helping to heal you. He's a very special horse.
I haven't used the colloidal silver products so I'm sorry I'm not much help with that. I'd do what the farrier recommends. It is a big jump in price for the Fastrack, but like the vet says it is tried and true. If you know it works it might not be a good thing to experiment with other products on an older horse. But it's still your decision. Good luck with whatever you decide.
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