Plants and Potomac Horse Fever

When I agreed to board at The Ranch I also agreed to vaccinate Ava with the PHF (potomac horse fever) shot. My BO said they ask you to do this as a precaution. The birds will poo in the horses water and if the bird ingested an insect that carried the bacteria there could be a possible chance that the horse could get it. Their water is cleaned out regularly but better safe than sorry. So, I went out and gave Ava her first PHF shot. I also have to remember to give a booster shot three weeks later otherwise it won't work, doctor's orders. If you would like to learn more about the Potomac Horse Fever here are some links to check out, or just search it on Google.

PHF- Wikipedia
PHF- Merck Vet Manual
PHF- America's Horse Daily, free download

Friday is Ava's day off so I gave her the shot and was done, she's been working her butt off this week. Starting Tuesday she has been worked everyday since then. Roundpenning, lunging, saddling, bitting, and even started to truly ride her! We had a lesson yesterday and he made us work. He gave us lots of things to work on and said we were doing well. I also asked him about moving into a shank bit and what I need to do to get there. He said I could've started that day! My heart kind of skipped a beat when I heard that. So, maybe in a couple weeks when we are used to riding more then we will start working with a shank. Exciting! We also began working on getting the correct lead and our posting trot, that gave me a huge workout. But it's a good thing, he said if you're getting a workout then you're most likely doing the right thing, haha! Overall it was a great first riding lesson. I am so happy with this move, one of the best decisions of my life, I can't say it enough! Hopefully I won't jinx anything.

In other news, I wanted to show everyone my little vegetable garden. I have growing three tomato plants, about eight lettuce, one basil, and two peppers (bell and banana). I plan to get more but we haven't made a trip to the nursery yet, but I would like more lettuce and possibly a strawberry but we'll just have to see. Does anyone else have a little garden going this year?

Also happy late Summer Solstice, it's officially Summer!