Homemade Slow Feed Hay Net

I made a slow feed hay net for the horses out of hockey net and various other things used to hang it with.  Sadly the hockey net I have is kind of flimsy and won't stand up long so I'll need to order a tougher one, but it works for now.  They still had hay in it four hours later when normally they eat their hay in under an hour. 

The hockey net has sleeves on it so I just put wood poles through it, then put hose clamps on the end to hold the clips in place and keep the net from sliding off and then hung it on a chain.  So simple.  :D  I'll post an update when I get a better hockey net.  :)

Here is a video of Chrome seeing it and eating out of it for the first time.



Here are some screenshots (so kind of blurry) of that awesome neck for those who can't see video.

He was very leery of it at first (which is kind of odd for him lol).

Streeeeeetching!

Giving it a sniff.  Then he grabbed a bite of hay, but I forgot to get a screenshot lol.

 Reaching underneath for a bite of hay that I pulled through the net to teach him how to eat out of it.

Isn't he cute?

Vaccinations

Everyone want to share what vaccines they give and why?  I would really appreciate any real life experience and any legit information on the web about vaccines, reactions/triggers/laminitis, titers, etc.  So far the only thing I've given Chrome is Influenza, Eastern/Western and Tetanus.  There have been quite a few cases of rabies in skunks in the area, so any info on that would be greatly appreciated.  Is the rabies vaccine safe?  Are they really needed?  How likely is it that a horse will be bit by a skunk?  I'm asking these questions honestly, because I don't know.  I'm not being sarcastic or rhetorical. 

Also do horses really need annual boosters?  I don't give my dogs annual boosters because I've done the research and they don't need them any more than we need annual boosters (obviously some vaccines need boosters like for kennel cough, but I don't board so I don't get them).  After I complete the puppy series of vaccines the only thing I give is rabies and that's only because it's required by law... I don't even give Storm a rabies because she is getting older (almost twelve) and I don't want to risk a reaction.  She's never outdoors without my supervision so she's low risk for getting rabies. 

So as you can see I've done all the research on dog vaccines, but for some reason I know very little about horse vaccines.  I want to change that, but I don't even know where to begin researching lol.  Thanks guys!

Round Penning & Walking Chrome

Since the mud has finally cleared up I put Chrome in the round pen to get a video of him trotting (wanted to see if he was landing heel first).  I was going to share the video, but since I was doing it by myself it turned out really bad... like it will seriously make you sea sick lol.  So instead I got some screenshots for you.  You can click to enlarge the pictures.

He was being a touch lazy, but still showing off his nice trot.  :D  Now I just need to get the clicker out and teach him to put his head down again.  The last three pictures show him getting ready to buck.  He decided not to buck at the last second and just took off cantering, so I don't have any fun bucking pictures.  Like I said, he's lazy hehe.  I only trotted him in the round pen for less than two minutes.  Then I let him have a bite of hay (which is being stored in the round pen temporarily) as a reward for his good behavior.

 

 I love how the picture above turned out because he was chewing which caused the hay to move and blur.  So cool!

Then we went for our walk.  We've been walking between 1 to 1.5 miles several times a week.  I think next week I'm going to start the Couch to 5k with him.  I'm having trouble deciding how I want to do it though... should I run with him (with him trotting) out on the asphalt roads so we both get in shape or should I longe him on dirt?  Any thoughts?

 

He loves our walks.  :D  I had to remind him today that he can't balk when headed home because he wants to stare at the neighbor horses lol.  Am I the only person who has a horse who is all eager to go on the way out, but turns into a slug headed home?  Growing up my horses were always in a hurry to get home.  I guess Chrome just enjoys going new places and exploring.  :)  I can't complain about that!  I love it!