Homeschool and Horses

Well we are not on holiday any more. Homeschool is back in full swing. I was really unhappy with how last semester went so I am working hard on making some changes and trying to have a much better second semester. Having 2 teens and a tween in the house the last few months has really been changing the dynamics of everything. If they are tired, hungry, have opinions you get to hear all about it. Oh and did I mention they have faces that go along with every feeling or emotion that they experience. It means I need to be well rested and taken care of to make sure I am able to be the best Mom I can be for them as they transition into adulthood. That means saying NO. Yep saying no to outside distractions that would have me stretched to thin. 

doesn't Anna make the best faces!! 

It seems like when you make the decision to say no it gets even harder to say no. It  becomes more tempting to say yes. All of a sudden all sorts of opportunities present themselves that you just really want to say yes to.  

All this reflecting on time, habits and priorities has been good though. It has made me really remember how important being a good wife and Mom is and for now that is all I need to be. 

Here is a link for a free homeschool planner that I found. You can focus daily, on the week ahead, semester goals. There is room for prayer requests and there is also a section to write about what happened that week. Which is like a mini journal so you can go back and look at your notes. Being organized and planning ahead has made a huge difference in the way I homeschool. It makes your week go so much more smoothly especially when your teaching several grades. 

Click here for the planner HomeSchool Planner

and now some horse chatter...

See the hoof on the left of the picture how it has less of the white crust around the top of it. 

we have been soaking hooves and I think we are seeing some improvement. We are using White lightening and it is a solution that actually makes a gas that kills the bacteria. I met a really nice lady on a yahoo horse barefoot group. Yes I know I what your thinking and yes I do belong to a horse foot group LOL!!

But anyhow she suggested we try this treatment and we figured why not? 

 So you have to put the horses foot in a plastic bag and seal it with vet tape so the liquid gas does not escape. Because that is the magic the liquid actually makes a gas that gets into all the little cracks and crevices. I made a fabric bag to go over the plastic bag because sometimes Moose gets impatient and will paw his foot and put a hole in the bag. You have to soak for 40 minutes that is a long time to make a horse stand still. I have to figure out now what to soak his feet in since we are out of the expensive plastic horse bags. I might try gallon bags and then put it in the sack I made. Or someone said at REI the waterproof canoe bags that have a round bottom work also. Well the good news is we have noticed visibly a change. The bottom is looking better as well. 

The crack that runs through the middle to the top of the heel through the frog is not supposed to be there and we have noticed it is healing up. The top part of his heel is still very crusty but after two soaks we are seeing quite a bit of improvement.  Which means we are going to start soaking all of his feet. This will be some schedule to work out 4 hooves 40 minutes 3 times a week Yikes! 

I really can't wait until we can bring him home I think it will be so much easier to treat him and keep his stall maintained. Also we will have a pasture that we can turn him out in which really helps horses to have healthy feet. You have to imagine standing in a stall all day that you poop and pee in breeds a ton of bacteria. We might shave the hair around the top of his foot as well to try to help keep it clean and more visible. The vet had suggested this. Next week the farrier comes again and it will be interesting to see what we have after he clips and files some of that away. It is amazing how much I have already learned about horses feet. 

We had our yard cleared of all the brush and we are working on removing stumps and raking the ground. We also unexpectedly had a tree fall over which has added to our cleanup. I will post some pictures soon to show the progress we are making.

So far we are still on track to bring Moose home in March and maybe a friend as well. Isn't that exciting!!  I was offered to adopt another horse. Yes horses are like potato chips, but you know that already you can't have just one!! 

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” 

~Linda Grayson