Does the anaphrodisiac work? ("Chaste berry" "Monchspfeffer")

We've been gone over Easter break (Europe's best amusement park! (Europa-Park) With HORSES!). Now that Mag has been on HRT, haha, I mean hormone control herbs, for quite a while, I think I see a difference. 

There is something different about his expression. I know it sounds unlikely (I'm more of a Paracelsus type: Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine in a world that pretty much just used herbs.) On our trip we visited Germany's pharmacy museum in Heidelberg, inside the actual castle, and learned a lot about medieval pharmaceuticals. Fascinating! 

You know that inward look horses get when they're processing or ill? He has it seemingly randomly. 

I don't know, I've only been home for a couple of days. But he has been more affectionate and appreciative of grooming. I gave him a full Spa day yesterday and he was quite content. 

Tomorrow the trainer comes again after a 3 week break. I'm not going to say anything, I am intrigued if there will be a difference in his behavior. 

Another Amazon Prime 2kg Monchspfeffer order arrives tomorrow.  I'm buying it in the seed (?) form because I don't know how shelf-stable the liquid is. If anyone has tips for me I'd appreciate some help. 

Today I put up the fence for our street-side paddock that is lush with grass, and my animals are enjoying immensely. LOL the moment I walked into the area with a wad of electric wire, Mag ran up and started nickering, "Hunger Hunger Hunger." 

Eventually Bellis found the rose bush and started snacking - I worrry about thorns but I ran my hands down the branches and only found 2, so maybe it's OK. She eats enough blackberry that she may be experienced and avoid esophagus injuries. 

 

Rare is it when Mag's mane is actually white! I never had this problem with Baasha, who kept a dark mane his entire life. Mag's is mostly brown from mud. He is eating from the garden sack that he is afraid of, and Bellis takes advantage of this by moving it and scaring him away, so she can eat without him. Donkeys have the simplest of priorities: food first. 

 

Bellis has a new halter and I never thought I'd buy a fancy stiched one. I used to hate stitching in leather halters, and now I've gone through menopause and I'm even buying the one with the fancy stitching design. Omy. It fits both my animals perfectly and they look like they could be famous horses from that place in England where it was designed. It came with an English flag tag, full of pride. 

Bellis discovering the rose bush, oh Bellis. Give a donkey and a horse a new area and the horse will be content to eat grass. The donkey, OTOH, will scan the place for any morsel of anything that might be nutritious in a way other than grass. Horses and donkeys are soooooo different from each other. And yet they can have babies!?

Wolves moving in to Germany

This week a woman was attacked by a wolf at Ikea in Hamburg. I read another story of a lady riding her horse being stalked for 20 minutes by a wolf. I'm used to coyotes and bears, but I've never encountered a wolf. 

I remember the time I rode by a wolf farm, captive wolves, in Maple Valley, and I was on foot with Baasha. They started howling and Baasha slowly crept behind me, using me as a human shield. LOL 

Last week Mag went nuts over something, I don't know what. He couldn't stand down his guard, he couldn't eat, wouldn't allow Bellis to eat. He just paced the north and south perimiters. The horses across the street were upset as well, but the horses next door were placid.

My donkey was also concerned, so it wasn't in his head.

I texted the hunter/ranger. What is going on? He said it's probably wild boars. 

We've had wild boars around many times so I doubt it because I've never seen such a reaction. 

I have no experience with wolves. I can only trust that my donkey is going to apply her protection skills, as she does with dogs. 

German farmers are hoping for permission to protect their livestock against the protected wolves. 

We'll see what happens. 

 

 

Mag's AMH results (cryptorchid test)

It's called an Anti Muellerian Hormone test. It tests for hormones at unusual levels. 

Mag "passed" his AMH test this week. Apparently his adrenal glands are producing testosterone, in levels above normal. So, no hidden testicles. 

I had no idea the adrenal glands could produce testosterone and I'm pretty good at my physiology! 

So the vet recommends a lifelong treatment of "Chaste-tree" or "Monk's pepper" which includes magnesium and tryptophan. 

Without input from people who have used such a thing, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to just continue to try to discourage the stud behavior as best I can. 

I'd appreciate help if anyone has experience in this area. 

(This is Mag's answer to being lunged - "This sucks, I'm outta here."  Note he's taken the wrong lead in an attempt to drag me across the arena. We've made a lot of progress but we're still not able to w/t/c.) 

Wacky product needs 'splainin

I'm reaching out again in hope that someone can tell me how this product is intended to be used. 

I was staring at the image a long time and read to the end, "Mastweg." I know that street, I rode Baasha there in Wuppertal. But what is this? 

Ingredient: Beeswax.

Please tell me it's not something a horse would be eating? 

I went to the website, still no clue.

 

 

Today I found out about breaking points in electric fences

You know me. You know how much I prioritize safety in my animals' environment. Tpost caps, no sharp edges, dragging a powerful magnet over my burn pile to get any metal out of the ground....

I have been following a Facebook group called Horse Track Systems because we have a track system here (paddock paradise, it was originally termed). Today someone said they'd like to build one and wanted to know which is better, electric tape or electric rope. 

Most people took my side, that 6mm rope is better because tape stretches in the wind, sags in the snow, and rips so easily. 

However, almost everyone said to be sure to include "breaking points" in the fence. What could that be? I googled it and it was hard to get info, but the group itself went on to explain it a little. Apparently 6mm electric rope (which we have) doesn't break, under any circumstance/tensile pressure.  

I've had trees fall on my fence and what always happens is the Tpost cap opens up, releasing the top wire, and the ring insulators below break, releasing the 2nd and 3rd wires. The wire never breaks. Is that important? 

The group's consensus is that if you use electric tape, it will break and you'll avoid vet bills. 

Over the years I've eliminated gates in my fence, using stainless steel wire connectors instead (the kind you can screw together using hand strength). In the back of my mind I thought, this is actually a safety feature, if a horse goes through, the rope will slide through and open up. But I never actually implemented it, in favor of keeping the volts on the electric fence as high as possible. 

The breaking point thingies that everyone recommends are called Litzclips, that pop open under a certain tension. (300kg?)  Their website in English here. 

I'm annoyed at the company who sold me all my fencing, that they left out this safety feature. In fact, their website has these Litzclips, and I've seen them, but they are called "wire connectors" and the description is "to repair a broken wire." That is not what I learned today. Today I learned they are safety features to prevent a horse from becoming entangled in the wire. 

Reading further in the group, it turns out people use them differently. Some people use one every 80 meters. Some only in areas that a horse is most likely to barge through a fence. 

Have you heard of safety breaking points in electric fences? I know that electric fencing (alone) is not as common in America. Here, almost every fence is electric only. Wait, I honestly cannot think of a single horse farm in my area that does not have exclusively electric fencing. And I live in horse country; there are 3 horse farms within sight of my front yard.  

I'm dismayed that I missed important information to protect my animals, and I've already decided to buy some more of my preferred connectors that allow the rope to slide out under pressure, at least for the potential danger zones (my interior fence of my track system). 

 

Blood test results for Mag

Mag had his blood tested yesterday based on your recommendations. The vet just called me and says his testosterone levels are too high. He'll need to come back and do another test before we send him to the clinic for the operation. 

Well that explains it! 

I told my one German horsey friend and she told me it would be wrong to destroy his spirit, to steal his identity. Screw that, I bought a gelding and that's what I want! All this time I thought he was just very strange, but lately the stallion behavior has intensified. 

Thank you for all your advice, and if anyone has gone through this I'd love to learn more.  

 

Stallion behavior in a gelding

It's been 10 years since I got Mag. I've never met a horse like him. He's Jeckyll and Hyde. 

More submissive behavior than I've witnessed; he "gulps" vocally if I move too quickly by him. 

More dominant behavior than a gelding should have - sheath dropped, neck arched, nickering to humans. 

I have only seen him flirt with Bellis once when she was in heat (and I have a huge YouTube following in South America from what should have been an innocent video). 

We have no baby mules here. He cannot be proud cut.

My trainer wrote me a report of her time with him this week, how he continues to display stud behavior after the lesson is over. He's fine at the start and during the lesson, but on releasing him into the pasture, he starts posturing and nickering and stomping. 

What is up with my strange horse? Here's a video of some of their liberty work together: Liberty Work