{I'm not sure if you'll be able to get some in time to help your mare drink this time, but it would be a good idea to have a few on hand should she become dehydrated again some time down the road.} I haven't heard of this "Horse Quencher" but it sounds like something we all should keep in mind if this same situation arises, I'm sure if you called Valley Vet they could "over night" ship it to you.

Thanks for the advice. I do use round rope reins. I don't know if they come any larger but I will check that out. Your description of who to make the reins was very instructive. Thanks so much.

Percheronrider: Thanks for the article. It sounds very interesting and something I should try. Actually, my hands are screaming out in pain today. This is probably from the fact that I rode for over an hour yesterday and didn't wear my gloves!! I just can't get into the habit. I've received a lot of good advice from the Equisearch forum. Most of the hints I have incorporated into my daily life. I'm going to break down and get an appointment with a rheumatologist tomorrow. My family

I'm so sorry to hear that nothing more can be done. It does sound like something is "taking over" your horse's body. I agree, an 8 hour drive through a snowy pass is no trip for a horse who could suddenly freak out. Not good for her or the driver of the vehicle. My thoughts are with you. You are definitely doing the right thing.

I would like to share my experience with this issue. My last horse at age 18 was sick for a year with what the vet thought was sand colic. He and several other vets treated him as such for many months before it was decided to take him to Marion Dupont Veterinary Hospital in Virginia. By then, he was skin and bones and looking like a "rescue nightmare" horse. We had to be very imaginative in feeding him and tried nearly everything on the market. Many people told me he should be put down

O[quote user="remmer"] [/quote]n a different note, what do you think of Clinton Anderson? He's going to be in Reno in November and I got free tickets in the mail. I think they're legit.... I went to a 2 day Clinton Anderson Clinic early this Summer. He always says "he is a better teacher than he is a trainer". It was easy to understand his methods and he made "sense" to me. I think he sometimes gets a little more "severe" with the horses than I like

WTRA: Can anyone say for an absolute fact that you know when your horses NEED to have their teeth floated and not just because you're told it's necessary once or twice a year? There are several ways that your horse tells you it needs it's teeth floated. One is if he "drops" grain. Another is if he is fighting the bit. Of course, there can be other causes for these events but tooth problems are a major one. Not holding weight is another that I have heard, aside from parasites

The recommendation by the dentist/vet that we used is every year for an adult horse. The problem with thinking that a horse needs it only when he is suffering is that you can't tell when that is going to happen. Getting the teeth floated once a year ensures that you catch any problem that may become serious later on down the road. As I said in my previous post, I had my vet check his teeth every 6 months for the past 5 years since his last thorough dental exam and the opinion was always that

In reply to "wantingtoride again", we just had an equine dentist/vet at our boarding farm this AM. He was going to look at 11 horses. He had an instructor (his wife) and another student with him and they did an amazing job. As far as my horse is concerned, he has been on pasture 24/7 since he was born and he is now 14. He needed floating and had a big hook on one side that was causing pain when you touched his TMJ. It was causing his whole mouth structure to "shift" to stay away

Thanks. I have gotten so many suggestions. I appreciate them all and have initiated a few of them. My doctor wants me to see a rheumatologist now because he thinks it's more than osteoarthritis. Great!! Just what I wanted to hear. I'm not going to let it stop my riding though, even if I have to carry the reins in my teeth. LOL. Just kidding!