Lest We Forget and a taste of equine Uni!

Hello guys! This post is rather late, sorry, but it is better than never! It is about an important day in history last weekend… ANZAC Day.🏵️ More on that later. Also, some great (brief) things I learnt the other day, at an equine veterinary first aid clinic.🐴 I hope it is interesting and enjoyable, and that you hopefully learn something new! Happy reading!☺️

We’ll start with ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day is generally known as an important part of Australian and New Zealand history…held on the 25th April, it commemorates the Aussie and Kiwi soldiers that fought in World War 2. There are dawn tributes held every year, where people remember those lost, and there are certain songs played, including The Last Post, played by a single bugler. Also, people will lay red poppies and wreaths and sometimes wear rosemary as a tribute. Poppies symbolize remembrance and peace, mark the bloodshed, and originated in WW1 from the first flowers that bloomed after the war. Rosemary symbolizes remembrance, and grew wild on the Gallipoli peninsula. And of course there is ANZAC biscuits, which were eaten during the war because they last for ages. They used to be very hard though, solid enough that they were sometimes ground and used for porridge! Recipe below…

ANZAC Biscuits

150g unsalted butter 100g golden syrup 80g brown sugar ½ tsp bicarb 160g plain flour 110g rolled oats 80g desiccated or shredded coconut*2 ½ tsp salt 1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees fanforced. 2. Melt the butter, golden syrup, and brown sugar over the stove, then pour into a heat safe bowl and stir in the bicarb. It should fizz*1. 3. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and roll into around 14 balls, depending on how big you want them. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. My oven is not great, so it took longer but I would check at 20. Cool completely on tray. 4. Enjoy! Notes *1 If it does not bubble, I would not worry- it will be fine, and won’t matter much.😀 But the bicarb may not work anymore. To check, put 1/2 tsp in a heat proof bowl and pour over 1/4 cup boiling water. If it bubbles, it is good! 😁If not, throw it out. 😕 *2 Coconut is not traditional, but it is delicious. If you want traditional, I would try replacing coconut with 40g oats and 40g flour!

If you make this please let me know how it went and comment below!🩷

Recently, Mum and I went to an equine veterinary emergency first aid clinic. It was very fascinating, and we learnt lots! Let me check my 10 pages of notes…😂 It covered colic, which essentially means stomach ache and can range from mild to life threatening, so is not to be taken lightly. It can include twisted gut and blockages such as sand, and in serious cases may require surgery. Symptoms include excessive rolling, pawing the ground, looking at stomach, and being off feed but do vary. Generally, it is important to know what is and is not normal for your horse. It also covered things such as choke-not like humans with a blocked windpipe, it’s a blockage of the oesophagus (where food goes when one swallows it), dental emergencies, just like humans horses need the dentist and can have very serious issues, eye problems, and Laminitis, which is what can happen if horses and especially ponies have too much green spring and autumn grass! There are a few factors though. It is where the sensitive laminae (the bit between the outside and the bone) of a horses hoof gets diseased and sore, and in severe cases can cause the pedal bone to rotate. So not good. It was quite intense, with lots of lectures, but it was lots of fun. At the end there was practical sessions like how to check respiratory rate, heart rate, temperature, mucous membranes (AKA gums) gut sounds and something called digital pulse. Of course, ideally you want to prevent accidents or illnesses, but unfortunately that is not 100% possible, so it is best to be prepared.

I had better stop there… or you will be wondering why she is rambling on and on when she said it would be brief!?🤔🤨I sincerely hope this was both a little educational and a lot entertaining… that is all for now. Love, Amarylli 🩵🐴