The South Dakota Cowgirl

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The Colt Cam Chronicles

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I know I haven’t shared a video in a couple weeks. I have a legitimate reason:

1. The week before last it was colder than a well digger’s…

2. Fridge has come up lame.

Why, I’m not sure. I thought at first it was due to thrush – we had a major warm up last week, and as such the snow melted off. I’d been bringing him in and riding him lightly anyway, just roping the dummy, working on lateral flexion, grooming, picking his hoof out daily (getting him in a dry barn helps), and trying to see what was causing it. His feet are in pretty good shape, though he could stand a trim, but he’s not in dire straights.

Monday, He’s still no better after a couple days off. I picked it out and could see a bit of black in the bottom, along with a slight odor, but it wasn’t terrible.

Tuesday, I decided I would get him in, clean it out, treat it for thrush and wrap it up. I found that his frog had began to slough off on both sides, but was still attached at the heel and front of the hoof, and underneath it was all sorts of dirt and mud and muck. So I trimmed it off smooth, treated the foot for thrush, put a cotton gauze pad with thrush treatment on the bottom, wrapped it in vet wrap, doubled a Walmart bag to put on the bottom to keep water out, wrapped with vet wrap again and he still hobbled around the barn.

thrush, hoof abscess

After a week of this, I’m starting to think it might be something more serious though. I can’t find a bruise, or a place where an abscess might try and break through. So today I plan to soak it in some warm water with salts, and put some Green Jelly on the hoof wrapped it in cotton pads, vet wrap, duct tape and see what happens. Zach also happens to be home today so I will get him to look at the foot as well.

Of course, being the rancher that he is, his suggestion is that I put Fridge out to pasture with the retired/un-started pen of horses, and bring in Rival, to get him caught up to where Fridge is.

I think that’s a super idea, but I want to get Fridge trimmed up first, and I’d like to have it dry out some before I go swapping horses around. Right now we’re sliding around in muddy nasty gumbo – even the gravel driveways have ruts.

I do have some video to share soon from a ride on a green colt, Jack, so stay tuned!

How has your winter riding been going?

Happy Trails!

About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.

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Comments

  1. NC Cowgirl says

    I love bucksins! Never have owned one for some reason I always end up with Greys and Chestnuts but my next one I’ve already said will be a Palomino or Buckskin. Hope you figure out what’s wrong with him. 🙁 Maybe he’s graveling and it just hasn’t popped up yet. My horse had that happen one time and it took a week before it came out his coronary band. We couldn’t figure out why he was lame and then one morning I went to check on him and there was a big hole with puss. It healed fast though and he’s been fine since. Good luck with that!

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