First, thanks for all your love and congratulations on our exciting news! Kenny went and bought me a brand new beautiful SUV last weekend so I guess we are well and truly on our way to being in family mode! ;)
Lucy had her first ride on Monday, with Maddy in the saddle. It was fairly chilly, and we had to walk through to the indoor in the pitch black. I am already missing the long summer days! Lucy plodded quietly along the path to the indoor and then lunged without any fuss. The vet wanted her to warm up on a lunge line for at least the first week or so before a rider got on. I don't think I will limit the lunging to just the first week; it is a good way to get her mind in the game, and after a few months of just lunging, she probably equates that to work more than anything else at this point.
After she had gone in both directions at the walk and trot, Maddy got on. Lucy just stood there, half asleep. Maddy started off letting her go in whatever direction she wanted to, as long as she was walking forward. Lucy went to her favourite corner of the ring, where she likes to roll, and I warned Maddy about that once I saw Lu sniffing the ground a bit. I don't think we needed to deal with a rolling incident, especially with her big bulky Western saddle on!
Lucy looked very calm to me, almost weirdly so. But I am happy that she wasn't a freak about going back to work. I didn't expect that out of her but I guess you never know, after the horse hasn't been ridden for six months. The goal for the ride was simply to meander around, long and low, and keep things very very simple. Maddy and Lucy just walked, and only for about ten minutes. Lucy looked a teenie bit short on her right hind leg but did not look distressed at all. I suspect this is a weakness issue, possibly a stifle issue from standing around so much. It didn't get any worse during the ride; in fact she seemed better on it at the end, so I am not worried about that. We called it a night, Maddy hopped off and loosened the cinch, and Lucy got lots of pats and kisses.
Once back at the barn, I put Sore no More on her back and gave her a Stud Muffin. She loves Stud Muffins ;)
Yesterday, Kenny got on her for me and we pretty much had a repeat of Monday's ride. I lunged her first and let her canter once warmed up, too. Her canter looked the best it has to date; absolutely no hesitation behind or swapping off in either direction. Kenny did decide to try a little trot with her but it got tense quickly. Lucy wasn't bad at all, no theatrics or nonsense, but it just was not what I really wanted to see at the trot. The vet stressed that it's very important she remain loose through her topline and keep her head low, and this was not that kind of trot. Kenny gets a bit worried sometimes and tends to pull on Lucy instead of half-halt and release, which quickly becomes a tug-of-war match between him and Lu...not good. I encouraged him to just keep it at the walk for now and we would work up to the trot eventually. He hasn't ridden since last fall, I believe, so I appreciated him being willing to get on her at all.
The good news is that the right hind leg looked almost perfect during Kenny's ride.
I also started casually looking for someone to start riding Lucy a few times a week and help get her going again. It's nervewracking to be opening myself up to a new rider, especially with Lucy coming back from a long break/injury, but I can't expect Maddy to do everything for me ;) she's only got so many hours in a day and she is very busy with work and her own horse, who's doing fabulously under saddle.
Today the weather is making me nervous. We went from high 50's, misty, overcast, etc, to high 80's with oppressive humidity and lots of sun. Lucy has the majority of her winter coat already so I am worried she is going to be hot today, and I'll probably soak her dinner extra well tonight. Horses are an endless source of worries.
I am off to the barn now for her farrier appointment and then she has an acupuncture appointment, too. Tough life!
Showing posts with label farrier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farrier. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
hi, friends!
Life with Lulu has been trucking along. She had a few days on the lunge line where she seemed not quite as fluid as she had before. Not sure if it was actually related to the work she had been doing, or if she had tweaked something in the paddock, or if I was just plain seeing things that didn't exist! She wasn't even lame, but just didn't look perfect. She got about two weeks off to chill out, just to be safe. During that time, she needed new shoes (and was re-shod), promptly lost a front shoe, and we had to wait almost a week for it to get tacked back on.
After calling the vet's office and hearing that they didn't even want to look at her until October, my vet finally emailed me back a few days ago:
Hi Kate,
How are things going, I know the last time we talked we were suggesting building back muscle with something like a Pessoa? How is that going?
Let me know and we can perhaps talk about ridden exercise too.
-J
As you can imagine, the horse went back on the lunge line asap!!! Yesterday was the first day back and she started out looking pretty stiff and choppy but towards the end, positively floated around. It was beautiful to watch!
Lu has been transforming back to her lovely dapply self, which means one thing and one thing only: WINTER IS COMING. She's growing in her winter coat, shedding out the sunbleached summer coat, and looking quite unique:
After calling the vet's office and hearing that they didn't even want to look at her until October, my vet finally emailed me back a few days ago:
Hi Kate,
How are things going, I know the last time we talked we were suggesting building back muscle with something like a Pessoa? How is that going?
Let me know and we can perhaps talk about ridden exercise too.
-J
As you can imagine, the horse went back on the lunge line asap!!! Yesterday was the first day back and she started out looking pretty stiff and choppy but towards the end, positively floated around. It was beautiful to watch!
Lu has been transforming back to her lovely dapply self, which means one thing and one thing only: WINTER IS COMING. She's growing in her winter coat, shedding out the sunbleached summer coat, and looking quite unique:
Friday, August 16, 2013
outbreak
Having a broken horse is really starting to wear on me. The fall weather is beginning to peek through the heat and humidity, and all I want to do is put Lucy back to work. We had the best rides in the early fall and it kills me that she is just standing around doing nothing. Everyone at the barn has been out on the trails and having fun and I just feel sad about the whole thing. I am not sad that they're having fun, of course, but I am sad I can't be out there too!
I actually did get to go on a trail ride last week, on one of the other horses at the barn. I had a great time but wished that I were on Lucy :)
I called the vet's office yesterday to ask about another ultrasound appt to check the healing progress in her back. The receptionist looked at the notes from the July 1 visit and said I'd probably be wasting my time and money at this point, because the vet didn't feel she'd be rideable before September or October. I felt very sorry for myself, honestly. If we're already going to be in October, then it will be getting cold fast after that. We all know Lu is not a cold weather horse. I guess I might as well wait until the Spring? Give her an extra six months just to be safe? I don't know.
When I arrived at the barn yesterday after having a sob fest about her state of brokenness, I cleaned Lucy's stall and then went out to her paddock. She usually comes over and says hi, but she stood there awkwardly. Finally she GIMPED over to me. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. I checked her out and couldn't find anything wrong. No kicks from Brantley, no swelling or heat, no blood. Then I saw she was missing the shoe on her LF. I watched her move in her paddock a bit more and saw she was just ridiculously foot-sore on that left front. Ironically that foot still had the bell boot on it, but the other front foot did not have a bell boot, and DID have a shoe. Weird. At least it's better than a real injury. I hope my farrier can come out in the next day or two!
In other fun news, EHV-1 (Equine Herpes Virus, or Rhinopneumonitis) has been diagnosed in multiple horses at the same farm just 10 miles or so from where Lucy lives. It's a bit of an odd case. Here is a blurb from the email my vet sent out:
"Interesting features: 5 horses on the affected premises, 2 have remained normal, 2 have mild signs and hopefully will recover, 1 euthanized, none of the horses on the affected (index) premises have been vaccinated for years; none of the horses on the affected premises have left the farm for years; neighbor has three horses and are all clinically normal, all are vaccinated against EHV, and one has gone to events, but not since late June; horses from index premises broke fence last week and had fence line contact with neighbor's horses."
I'm not sure if a horse that has been vaccinated can be an a-symptomatic carrier, and one of the vaccinated horses gave the non-vaccinated horses EHV-1?
Lucy gets vaccinated for EHV-1 every year in late Spring. The vaccine is good for six months and my vet assured me that she would be covered through the fall. Still, this is pretty scary. I really appreciate that my vet's office was so proactive getting the word out to us all.
I actually did get to go on a trail ride last week, on one of the other horses at the barn. I had a great time but wished that I were on Lucy :)
 |
| I am not used to chestnut ears pricked in front of me, but this horse was nothing short of a complete gentleman the entire ride. He is a sweetheart. |
I called the vet's office yesterday to ask about another ultrasound appt to check the healing progress in her back. The receptionist looked at the notes from the July 1 visit and said I'd probably be wasting my time and money at this point, because the vet didn't feel she'd be rideable before September or October. I felt very sorry for myself, honestly. If we're already going to be in October, then it will be getting cold fast after that. We all know Lu is not a cold weather horse. I guess I might as well wait until the Spring? Give her an extra six months just to be safe? I don't know.
When I arrived at the barn yesterday after having a sob fest about her state of brokenness, I cleaned Lucy's stall and then went out to her paddock. She usually comes over and says hi, but she stood there awkwardly. Finally she GIMPED over to me. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. I checked her out and couldn't find anything wrong. No kicks from Brantley, no swelling or heat, no blood. Then I saw she was missing the shoe on her LF. I watched her move in her paddock a bit more and saw she was just ridiculously foot-sore on that left front. Ironically that foot still had the bell boot on it, but the other front foot did not have a bell boot, and DID have a shoe. Weird. At least it's better than a real injury. I hope my farrier can come out in the next day or two!
In other fun news, EHV-1 (Equine Herpes Virus, or Rhinopneumonitis) has been diagnosed in multiple horses at the same farm just 10 miles or so from where Lucy lives. It's a bit of an odd case. Here is a blurb from the email my vet sent out:
"Interesting features: 5 horses on the affected premises, 2 have remained normal, 2 have mild signs and hopefully will recover, 1 euthanized, none of the horses on the affected (index) premises have been vaccinated for years; none of the horses on the affected premises have left the farm for years; neighbor has three horses and are all clinically normal, all are vaccinated against EHV, and one has gone to events, but not since late June; horses from index premises broke fence last week and had fence line contact with neighbor's horses."
I'm not sure if a horse that has been vaccinated can be an a-symptomatic carrier, and one of the vaccinated horses gave the non-vaccinated horses EHV-1?
Lucy gets vaccinated for EHV-1 every year in late Spring. The vaccine is good for six months and my vet assured me that she would be covered through the fall. Still, this is pretty scary. I really appreciate that my vet's office was so proactive getting the word out to us all.
Friday, August 9, 2013
I am a terrible blogger.
Sorry for the hiatus, guys. Life just got crazy!
Lucy continues to trot on a circle a few times a week, and I've started letting her canter one time around if she looks really good. She holds her leads behind, which is a huge improvement. She seems to be taking it all in stride, though I am bored to tears with lunging. Yesterday we switched it up a bit and went on a hike in the woods. She walked with her nose on the ground almost the entire time, sniffing everything like a bloodhound. I thought that was quite convenient because she's supposed to be going long and low to stretch out her back and build up her muscles, which is exactly what she did all by herself yesterday! No fauxssoa necessary.
Lucy had a tough week. On Monday she kicked me in the leg when I was trying to clean her hind feet out. She tried to take her RH back from me as I was holding it and we got into a bit of a struggle; her pulling her foot back and me trying to wrangle it mid-air, and I have a nice big bruise to prove it. It was the hardest I've ever been kicked. Again, she wasn't necessarily aiming for me, but I wasn't bright enough to realise it was a lose-lose situation and give her back her foot, regroup, and try again. Instead, I tried to battle it out. Pretty stupid!
On Tuesday, she got her feet done and was a total ass for the farrier. Again, all hind end issues. Maddy had her dog at the barn and he was barking at another person as a horse was walking up from the outdoor and the farrier was trying to pick up her RH and she had a total meltdown overload, broke the crossties, knocked over the farrier's kit with all the nails in it, etc. It was a mess. After that she behaved better but I felt really upset and discouraged about it.
On Wednesday, she had an appointment with the acupuncture vet and did really well. He got five needles in again, without any sort of dramatics. I was really happy with her.
I had scheduled a massage/chiro appt for Thursday to see if there was anything going on in her hind end to make her act like such a jerk but unfortunately it was canceled last second. That's why we went on a walk, instead.
Lauren and Charlie moved down to Pennsylvania at the end of last month and we have a new boarder, a sweet old Quarter Horse gelding named Rowdy. He's actually the opposite of "rowdy" - he is very quiet and well-behaved. He has been a nice addition to the barn.
Lucy continues to trot on a circle a few times a week, and I've started letting her canter one time around if she looks really good. She holds her leads behind, which is a huge improvement. She seems to be taking it all in stride, though I am bored to tears with lunging. Yesterday we switched it up a bit and went on a hike in the woods. She walked with her nose on the ground almost the entire time, sniffing everything like a bloodhound. I thought that was quite convenient because she's supposed to be going long and low to stretch out her back and build up her muscles, which is exactly what she did all by herself yesterday! No fauxssoa necessary.
Lucy had a tough week. On Monday she kicked me in the leg when I was trying to clean her hind feet out. She tried to take her RH back from me as I was holding it and we got into a bit of a struggle; her pulling her foot back and me trying to wrangle it mid-air, and I have a nice big bruise to prove it. It was the hardest I've ever been kicked. Again, she wasn't necessarily aiming for me, but I wasn't bright enough to realise it was a lose-lose situation and give her back her foot, regroup, and try again. Instead, I tried to battle it out. Pretty stupid!
On Tuesday, she got her feet done and was a total ass for the farrier. Again, all hind end issues. Maddy had her dog at the barn and he was barking at another person as a horse was walking up from the outdoor and the farrier was trying to pick up her RH and she had a total meltdown overload, broke the crossties, knocked over the farrier's kit with all the nails in it, etc. It was a mess. After that she behaved better but I felt really upset and discouraged about it.
On Wednesday, she had an appointment with the acupuncture vet and did really well. He got five needles in again, without any sort of dramatics. I was really happy with her.
I had scheduled a massage/chiro appt for Thursday to see if there was anything going on in her hind end to make her act like such a jerk but unfortunately it was canceled last second. That's why we went on a walk, instead.
Lauren and Charlie moved down to Pennsylvania at the end of last month and we have a new boarder, a sweet old Quarter Horse gelding named Rowdy. He's actually the opposite of "rowdy" - he is very quiet and well-behaved. He has been a nice addition to the barn.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
apparently, it's summertime
I have been working my heinie off at both my regular job and then a bunch of small side jobs. After starting work at 6am on Friday I went straight to Dover to work at their annual tent sale. I was there until 8:30, so that was a long day. I worked another ten hours at Dover on Saturday. It was very hot out in that tent in all its sweaty sauna glory, but I enjoyed helping customers. I always like shopping vicariously through people!
With my earnings from working the tent sale, I bought something I've been pining for for a long time: a Rambo Micklem Competition bridle. It is sooo pretty. Now, I worked at the Dover store when it first opened, and I was part of the crew that put the store together initially. I spent about a week putting bridles together, so I know how all the pieces fit! But a Micklem is a bit...erm...different, and I swear I felt like I had never put a bridle together when I first saw all the pieces of this thing. Luckily, Maddy helped me, and we got it assembled. I put it on Lucy to see how it fits her (it fits perfectly) and she was so confused. I didn't put a saddle on her, of course, and she hasn't been tacked up in a very long time, so she was like, "What the devil is going on here? I thought I was retired!" Since she's been hurt, I haven't bought anything fun, only grain and hay! It has sucked! Boy did I miss shopping for beautiful tack, although I am much less broke than I've been for a long time!
On Sunday, I helped my hay farmer bale three fields of hay. Maddy was there too, and she told me I'd appreciate the cost of hay a lot more after that. Um, YEAH....that was a lot of work!! $7 a bale doesn't sound so bad now! My responsibilities on Sunday were to throw the hay that had just come in from the field onto the hay elevator so that it could be stacked in the farmer's hay barn. Then I went out and picked weeds out from the next field that we were going to bale. There were three of us picking out weeds and we got a lot of them! Evidently, the weeds, which have a very thick stalk, do not dry out as quickly as the grass does, so one weed can cause a whole bale to go bad.
Then we went back out with the baling machine and as the machine sucked up the hay, made it into a bale, tied the twine, and spit it out the back, I stood on a trailer that was being towed by the baling machine and hooked the bale of hay to bring it onto the trailer to be stacked.
I tried to keep up with drinking enough water but I started to feel very sick after about 4 hours of working out in the sun. I have such a low tolerance for heat and sun, it's ridiculous! I had fun, though, and learned a lot. In exchange for helping out, I got a very good deal on some hay that we pulled fresh out of the fields and brought to the barn. Lucy has been pretty wasteful with her hay in her stall lately but she is cleaning up every spare morsel of this stuff. It has made our hay barn smell amazing. If I were a horse, I'd eat it all, too!
Lauren is away this week and Maddy and I are taking care of Charlie for her. She also said we could ride if we wanted to, so yesterday I rode after work. He is very different to ride compared to Lucy. He is so long and lanky, but he was a very good boy. He had one little spook and it was basically, "oo that's scary! very scary! oo I will just do a little shuffle and then stop! ok, I'm over it!" and that was it. He has had a rearing issue in the past so I was paying attention to his front end most of all, and making sure he was going forward. At one point he started flipping his head and got a little light in the front end, but his front feet never left the ground, I just turned his head toward the inside of the ring and booted him forward. He snapped right out of it, thank goodness! After that, each time he got a little sluggish and started acting distracted, I made sure to urge him forward right away.
The other thing I worked on was asking him to stand by the mounting block. Lauren had told me he likes to wander off when you're halfway on, and he tried that on me the first time I went to get on him. He found his rear end parked right back by the mounting block and we tried again. This time he just took one step sideways, so again I got off and moved him back over. The third time he was almost perfect. My mission for this week is to work on that so maybe Lauren can come home to a horse that will stand all day by the mounting block!
Lucy has been doing well. I did a horrible chop-shop job cutting her mane, and I finally mowed down the mohawk bridle path she had going on, so she looks halfway civilized. Her front feet are falling apart, probably from stomping at flies, so I will need to have her feet done already, only 4 weeks into the cycle. It's only going to get worse, too; those huge "B52" flies are starting to come out and those things are awful. They actually take chunks out of the horses. Poor things :(
Here's a photo of Lucy being super sweet with one of the neighbour's children:
Last but not least, I will leave you with a kickass video that's been circulating around over the past few days. If this isn't heart, I don't know what is:
With my earnings from working the tent sale, I bought something I've been pining for for a long time: a Rambo Micklem Competition bridle. It is sooo pretty. Now, I worked at the Dover store when it first opened, and I was part of the crew that put the store together initially. I spent about a week putting bridles together, so I know how all the pieces fit! But a Micklem is a bit...erm...different, and I swear I felt like I had never put a bridle together when I first saw all the pieces of this thing. Luckily, Maddy helped me, and we got it assembled. I put it on Lucy to see how it fits her (it fits perfectly) and she was so confused. I didn't put a saddle on her, of course, and she hasn't been tacked up in a very long time, so she was like, "What the devil is going on here? I thought I was retired!" Since she's been hurt, I haven't bought anything fun, only grain and hay! It has sucked! Boy did I miss shopping for beautiful tack, although I am much less broke than I've been for a long time!
On Sunday, I helped my hay farmer bale three fields of hay. Maddy was there too, and she told me I'd appreciate the cost of hay a lot more after that. Um, YEAH....that was a lot of work!! $7 a bale doesn't sound so bad now! My responsibilities on Sunday were to throw the hay that had just come in from the field onto the hay elevator so that it could be stacked in the farmer's hay barn. Then I went out and picked weeds out from the next field that we were going to bale. There were three of us picking out weeds and we got a lot of them! Evidently, the weeds, which have a very thick stalk, do not dry out as quickly as the grass does, so one weed can cause a whole bale to go bad.
Then we went back out with the baling machine and as the machine sucked up the hay, made it into a bale, tied the twine, and spit it out the back, I stood on a trailer that was being towed by the baling machine and hooked the bale of hay to bring it onto the trailer to be stacked.
I tried to keep up with drinking enough water but I started to feel very sick after about 4 hours of working out in the sun. I have such a low tolerance for heat and sun, it's ridiculous! I had fun, though, and learned a lot. In exchange for helping out, I got a very good deal on some hay that we pulled fresh out of the fields and brought to the barn. Lucy has been pretty wasteful with her hay in her stall lately but she is cleaning up every spare morsel of this stuff. It has made our hay barn smell amazing. If I were a horse, I'd eat it all, too!
Lauren is away this week and Maddy and I are taking care of Charlie for her. She also said we could ride if we wanted to, so yesterday I rode after work. He is very different to ride compared to Lucy. He is so long and lanky, but he was a very good boy. He had one little spook and it was basically, "oo that's scary! very scary! oo I will just do a little shuffle and then stop! ok, I'm over it!" and that was it. He has had a rearing issue in the past so I was paying attention to his front end most of all, and making sure he was going forward. At one point he started flipping his head and got a little light in the front end, but his front feet never left the ground, I just turned his head toward the inside of the ring and booted him forward. He snapped right out of it, thank goodness! After that, each time he got a little sluggish and started acting distracted, I made sure to urge him forward right away.
 |
| Charlie |
The other thing I worked on was asking him to stand by the mounting block. Lauren had told me he likes to wander off when you're halfway on, and he tried that on me the first time I went to get on him. He found his rear end parked right back by the mounting block and we tried again. This time he just took one step sideways, so again I got off and moved him back over. The third time he was almost perfect. My mission for this week is to work on that so maybe Lauren can come home to a horse that will stand all day by the mounting block!
Lucy has been doing well. I did a horrible chop-shop job cutting her mane, and I finally mowed down the mohawk bridle path she had going on, so she looks halfway civilized. Her front feet are falling apart, probably from stomping at flies, so I will need to have her feet done already, only 4 weeks into the cycle. It's only going to get worse, too; those huge "B52" flies are starting to come out and those things are awful. They actually take chunks out of the horses. Poor things :(
Here's a photo of Lucy being super sweet with one of the neighbour's children:
Last but not least, I will leave you with a kickass video that's been circulating around over the past few days. If this isn't heart, I don't know what is:
Friday, April 12, 2013
out with the clips...
...and in with the, uh, non-clips?
Lucy got her feet done today and for the first time since I've owned her, she is wearing shoes without quarter clips.
As my farrier explained it to me, clips are good to keep the shoe straight on the horses foot, but they are bad if the horse has genetically crappy feet, like Lucy, because they cause the walls of the hooves a lot of trauma and the walls tend to break down around the clips.
It's taken six months, but Lucy's feet have recovered enough from her accident in November that the farrier had sufficient hoof wall to nail to without having to rely on clips to keep the shoe secure.
So I hope in the long run, her hoof walls will remain more stable and not fall apart so badly!
Here's a cute photo of her nuzzling the farrier - he is so patient and calm with her and I know she adores him.
Lucy got her feet done today and for the first time since I've owned her, she is wearing shoes without quarter clips.
As my farrier explained it to me, clips are good to keep the shoe straight on the horses foot, but they are bad if the horse has genetically crappy feet, like Lucy, because they cause the walls of the hooves a lot of trauma and the walls tend to break down around the clips.
It's taken six months, but Lucy's feet have recovered enough from her accident in November that the farrier had sufficient hoof wall to nail to without having to rely on clips to keep the shoe secure.
So I hope in the long run, her hoof walls will remain more stable and not fall apart so badly!
Here's a cute photo of her nuzzling the farrier - he is so patient and calm with her and I know she adores him.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
checkboxes
On Friday after work I decided to handwalk Lucy down to the trail head behind the barn. I miss trail riding terribly and though I know it wouldn't be smart to dive right back into it before doing more work in the ring first, I don't see the harm in at least walking her around back there so she can get used to the sights and sounds of the woods again.
Well, she was a complete and utter fruit bat, spooking and snorting at things that did not exist, looking freaked out and bug-eyed half the time:
So I imagine we will need to do that a few more times before I can even think of riding her out there, and then for the first few rides I am going to ask Kenny to walk with us, then probably ask a friend to ride out with us.
The last thing I wanted to do for Lucy before getting too far under saddle with her after her accident was to have a chiropractor look at her. I was concerned about her hind end from her fall on the road when she got loose. While she hasn't shown any additional warning signs of being uncomfortable, I would rather be overcautious than not cautious enough so I had her adjusted this morning. As I expected, she is still body sore but the chiro said not to keep her out of work. Her turnout area is so small that she doesn't move around much during the day, and standing around in the cold air won't help her muscles at all. I was told to do lots of lateral work with her (haunches in, bending circles, serpentines, asking her to step sideways under herself with her hind end, etc). I also am supposed to back her up to get her to stretch her hind end under herself, and walk/trot over poles to get her to pick her hind legs up and stretch out her SI area.
She also got her feet done this weekend. Her hind feet look atrocious from not having shoes on. We already found out over the summer that she just cannot handle being barefoot, but after her accident she could not hold her hind leg up to be shod because of all of her painful road rash, so I was forced to keep her barefoot. Her feet held up well for the first few weeks but then we got snow, and standing around in all the moisture really did a number on those hind hooves. It's nothing we haven't come back from before, though! I am just glad she healed up so well and had no problems standing to be shod.
On Saturday, I went and visited Lauren and her horse Charlie. Charlie has turned into a bit of a brute since moving up to New England and Lauren has her hands full. Maddy and I are going to visit again next weekend and help her work through some of his naughtiness. You can read more about the visit on Lauren's blog, but here's a little teaser of what went down:
Tonight I had a pretty good ride on Lucy, who had two days off and was feeling fresh. I rode in the western saddle and a rope halter bridle again, and Maddy helped me work with her a bit. We tried a new tactic to work on her little outbursts in hopes of making her into a self-sustaining horse. When she threw a tantrum, sped up, broke her gait, etc, I was supposed to sit on my butt in the saddle, reach down and pull the outside rein so that she turned into the wall of the indoor, push her over with my inside leg, push her around with my outside leg, switch direction, and walk off like nothing ever happened. It worked pretty well because she was never able to get any momentum. The idea is for the horse to be able to go around the ring on a loose rein, and both self-regulate their speed without changing anything, and also not take advantage of the "freedom". The changing of directions works like a reset button. Ideally if we were cantering along and she was bad, then we would change directions and canter off immediately, but to start we are just keeping it simple and walking off from the spin.
Well, she was a complete and utter fruit bat, spooking and snorting at things that did not exist, looking freaked out and bug-eyed half the time:
So I imagine we will need to do that a few more times before I can even think of riding her out there, and then for the first few rides I am going to ask Kenny to walk with us, then probably ask a friend to ride out with us.
 |
| hanging out with her hay net that is almost the size of her! |
She also got her feet done this weekend. Her hind feet look atrocious from not having shoes on. We already found out over the summer that she just cannot handle being barefoot, but after her accident she could not hold her hind leg up to be shod because of all of her painful road rash, so I was forced to keep her barefoot. Her feet held up well for the first few weeks but then we got snow, and standing around in all the moisture really did a number on those hind hooves. It's nothing we haven't come back from before, though! I am just glad she healed up so well and had no problems standing to be shod.
On Saturday, I went and visited Lauren and her horse Charlie. Charlie has turned into a bit of a brute since moving up to New England and Lauren has her hands full. Maddy and I are going to visit again next weekend and help her work through some of his naughtiness. You can read more about the visit on Lauren's blog, but here's a little teaser of what went down:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
vacation: DONE
I've been hand walking Lucy for the better part of a week. She went from perfect angel to downright terror on the ground. She is extremely pushy and cannot walk around the outdoor without having explosions every ten feet or so. Spooking at a leaf, or nothing at all, wasn't just a small affair; it involved a giant overreaction complete with rushing around, butt tucked under, and showing the whites of her eyes.
I have approximately ZERO tolerance for this nonsense but at the same time, I didn't want to get all down and dirty with her because I didn't want her irritating her tendon. Then she got turned out on grass for a few hours one day. She was happily eating grass until some horses returned from a trail ride. She got excited and was a nutcase, leaping through the air and bucking, running in circles, sliding stops…my poor barn owner was not impressed and I had to spend a lot of time fixing the divots in the grass out there. However, her legs looked just as cold and tight after all that excitement as they did before, and I started to realize that putting her back in some light work wasn't going to break her.
Another thing I noticed is that she seemed to be very depressed. Her appetite has gone way down - before the accident, she was eating a bale of hay per day. Now I'm lucky if I can get half a bale into her. She has dropped a bit of weight and Maddy reported that she spent a good chunk of time standing in the middle of her paddock with her head down, looking dull and sad the other day. Fearing she wasn't feeling well, I gave her a dose of Banamine and checked in on her later that night, but all systems seemed to be working fine. I hope that getting her job back will bring her spirits up.
Last night I lunged her for the first time. I debated drugging her and trying to ride, but I am still missing one of my stirrup leathers/irons from the initial incident. Word on the street is that a neighbor picked it up the morning that she got loose, but I haven't been able to track that neighbor down to see if he has it. I'm sorry but there's no way in hell that I am getting on that horse without two stirrups. Though I am really not a fan of lunging, I am also not a fan of dying so this is the lesser of the two evils.
She started out exceedingly naughty on the lunge line, and each time she acted out, the radius of her circle decreased so I would have more control over her and she would have less opportunity to be bad. When she was being good, I gradually let the line out so that she could have more room (and there would be less stress on her legs). Within about ten minutes she was doing a lovely floaty SOUND trot with her nose on the ground. Her breathing steadied and she started actually listening to me.
When we were done, I unclipped the lunge line and she happily pranced off to find the perfect spot to roll. She rolled on both sides and had a look of bliss on her little horsey face. I cooled her out, cleaned out her stifle wound really well, cold hosed her legs, and treated them with poultice. I left them unwrapped overnight but this morning everything looked peachy. There was no heat, no swelling, and to the naked eye they looked completely normal. I ran my fingers down the right front and there was just the tiniest bump, almost undetectable. So that is really great news!
I don't know when I will finally get back on her, obviously once the stirrup leather is recovered, maybe over the weekend, or next week? But I am glad I let her get some kicks out before attempting anything under saddle. She is one athletic beast, let me tell you.
She is about a week overdue for shoes - I had to cancel her farrier appointment because the vet did not think she could tolerate standing on three legs for the farrier to do his work. However, I think the tendon is more than strong enough to handle that now, and her stifle injury is healing well, so I called and made an appointment. I warned the farrier that he may have to do those two legs in stages if she has a hard time keeping them up, especially that hind leg, but he is a super guy and assured me that he would take his time and be patient with her.
Kenny and I were able to take our family photo for this year's Christmas card and she thankfully cooperated for that! Good thing because I was wearing heels and it is a little bit difficult to manage a fresh horse with heels on.
Also, Cairo got her photo taken at a local dog specialty store, because the proceeds were going to benefit the local animal rescue league. She was a really good girl! The photographer said she had been waiting all day for a dog to come in who would tolerate wearing the Santa hat.
I have approximately ZERO tolerance for this nonsense but at the same time, I didn't want to get all down and dirty with her because I didn't want her irritating her tendon. Then she got turned out on grass for a few hours one day. She was happily eating grass until some horses returned from a trail ride. She got excited and was a nutcase, leaping through the air and bucking, running in circles, sliding stops…my poor barn owner was not impressed and I had to spend a lot of time fixing the divots in the grass out there. However, her legs looked just as cold and tight after all that excitement as they did before, and I started to realize that putting her back in some light work wasn't going to break her.
Another thing I noticed is that she seemed to be very depressed. Her appetite has gone way down - before the accident, she was eating a bale of hay per day. Now I'm lucky if I can get half a bale into her. She has dropped a bit of weight and Maddy reported that she spent a good chunk of time standing in the middle of her paddock with her head down, looking dull and sad the other day. Fearing she wasn't feeling well, I gave her a dose of Banamine and checked in on her later that night, but all systems seemed to be working fine. I hope that getting her job back will bring her spirits up.
Last night I lunged her for the first time. I debated drugging her and trying to ride, but I am still missing one of my stirrup leathers/irons from the initial incident. Word on the street is that a neighbor picked it up the morning that she got loose, but I haven't been able to track that neighbor down to see if he has it. I'm sorry but there's no way in hell that I am getting on that horse without two stirrups. Though I am really not a fan of lunging, I am also not a fan of dying so this is the lesser of the two evils.
She started out exceedingly naughty on the lunge line, and each time she acted out, the radius of her circle decreased so I would have more control over her and she would have less opportunity to be bad. When she was being good, I gradually let the line out so that she could have more room (and there would be less stress on her legs). Within about ten minutes she was doing a lovely floaty SOUND trot with her nose on the ground. Her breathing steadied and she started actually listening to me.
When we were done, I unclipped the lunge line and she happily pranced off to find the perfect spot to roll. She rolled on both sides and had a look of bliss on her little horsey face. I cooled her out, cleaned out her stifle wound really well, cold hosed her legs, and treated them with poultice. I left them unwrapped overnight but this morning everything looked peachy. There was no heat, no swelling, and to the naked eye they looked completely normal. I ran my fingers down the right front and there was just the tiniest bump, almost undetectable. So that is really great news!
 |
| a happier Lu getting some ice wrap therapy |
She is about a week overdue for shoes - I had to cancel her farrier appointment because the vet did not think she could tolerate standing on three legs for the farrier to do his work. However, I think the tendon is more than strong enough to handle that now, and her stifle injury is healing well, so I called and made an appointment. I warned the farrier that he may have to do those two legs in stages if she has a hard time keeping them up, especially that hind leg, but he is a super guy and assured me that he would take his time and be patient with her.
Kenny and I were able to take our family photo for this year's Christmas card and she thankfully cooperated for that! Good thing because I was wearing heels and it is a little bit difficult to manage a fresh horse with heels on.
Also, Cairo got her photo taken at a local dog specialty store, because the proceeds were going to benefit the local animal rescue league. She was a really good girl! The photographer said she had been waiting all day for a dog to come in who would tolerate wearing the Santa hat.
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| "I had better get a million cookies for this!!" |
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday snuggle session
Lucy got her feet done today and when I rode a few hours later, she was very sore :( I could tell as soon as she picked up the trot that she was ouchy. I am 99.999% sure it's a foot soreness issue because she was reaching out just fine through the shoulder but when she put her RF foot down, there was a second of hesitation and a head bob. Poor girl.
Instead of the jumping session that I had planned, we had a snuggle session.
Instead of the jumping session that I had planned, we had a snuggle session.
Lucy is spoiled
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| I have been getting 10lbs of carrots a week from a local farm. Lucy gets carrots with her breakfast and dinner, and for photo taking purposes she even got to stuff her face with them straight from the bag. |
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| She thinks this totally rocks. |
So before she started the supplement, the farrier would compare her feet to soft cake. When he hammered the nail into her foot, the foot hardly resisted the nail. He barely had to tap the nail with his hammer to get it in, which is a bad sign. You want a hard foot to drive the nail into so that the nail stays put!
Today, my farrier exclaimed, "wow, this foot is actually making me work today!" What he meant is that her hooves have hardened up so much since starting the supplement that they were much more difficult to nail into. This is great news!
Her feet LOOK much better, too. She is growing nice heel, something that has always been a challenge. You can actually see lines on her hooves that signify big changes. These changes are moving barns (back in January) and starting the supplement. They're easier to see in the second photo.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
next in line: Groton House, and feet frustrations
I had so much fun at my first event that I've gone and signed us up for round two! This time we're going to Groton House's Summer Classic schooling event on June 24th. I picked this event for a few reasons:
-It is only $95 for all three phases, and we'll get to compete at one of the best spots in New England
-They have an elementary division which, according to reports from others who have competed there in the past, is somewhere between the "advanced elementary" I did at our first event and a rated BN course. This will give us the chance to challenge ourselves without overfacing either of us.
-My barn owner is going with her horse, so I will have some support while there!
-The XC course is in a much larger area than the Groton Pony Club's event is, so we'll have a chance to get a good feeling for what XC is really like!
Lucy has had a pretty easy week. She got Monday and Tuesday off while I caught up on non-horsey obligations that I had pushed aside to prepare for our event last weekend. The rest of the week was pretty low-key, though she gave a "lesson" to a friend of mine who wants to learn how to ride on Saturday. On Sunday I went out to the barn and tacked her up and mounted up, and she was slightly ouchy on her LH. I couldn't find heat anywhere, and she didn't react when I poked and prodded, so I put her on the lunge line to try and get a better look. On the lunge line, she looked stiff but not really sore on any particular leg, and she worked out of it as she warmed up. I gave her some bute with her dinner and she got yesterday off.
Today when I got to the barn, I really wanted to go on a trail ride with Brantley and his owner M. I put Lucy on the lunge line first and she looked pretty good. When I brought her in to groom her and tack up, though, I got a good look at her feet and her LF (the evil white foot) looked AWFUL. It looked not-so-hot on Sunday when she was off, but not as bad as it did today. I texted my farrier a photo of that foot, since she was due to be re-shot this coming Saturday. We both agreed that she wouldn't make it to Saturday without losing that shoe, and the foot was deteriorating so badly around the nails that if she threw the shoe, she'd do a lot of damage to that foot. I have this problem with her every summer. Between the fluctuating weather and humidity level, and her stamping at flies all day long, her front feet take a beating. My farrier is awesome, though, and he came out within the hour to do her feet for me. How great is that?
She's now on a 5 week schedule instead of a 6 week schedule, and I am going to put her on a hoof supplement. Money is really tight for me but no hoof, no horse, so it isn't really an option anymore; it's a must.
I will leave you with some recent photos!
-It is only $95 for all three phases, and we'll get to compete at one of the best spots in New England
-They have an elementary division which, according to reports from others who have competed there in the past, is somewhere between the "advanced elementary" I did at our first event and a rated BN course. This will give us the chance to challenge ourselves without overfacing either of us.
-My barn owner is going with her horse, so I will have some support while there!
-The XC course is in a much larger area than the Groton Pony Club's event is, so we'll have a chance to get a good feeling for what XC is really like!
Lucy has had a pretty easy week. She got Monday and Tuesday off while I caught up on non-horsey obligations that I had pushed aside to prepare for our event last weekend. The rest of the week was pretty low-key, though she gave a "lesson" to a friend of mine who wants to learn how to ride on Saturday. On Sunday I went out to the barn and tacked her up and mounted up, and she was slightly ouchy on her LH. I couldn't find heat anywhere, and she didn't react when I poked and prodded, so I put her on the lunge line to try and get a better look. On the lunge line, she looked stiff but not really sore on any particular leg, and she worked out of it as she warmed up. I gave her some bute with her dinner and she got yesterday off.
Today when I got to the barn, I really wanted to go on a trail ride with Brantley and his owner M. I put Lucy on the lunge line first and she looked pretty good. When I brought her in to groom her and tack up, though, I got a good look at her feet and her LF (the evil white foot) looked AWFUL. It looked not-so-hot on Sunday when she was off, but not as bad as it did today. I texted my farrier a photo of that foot, since she was due to be re-shot this coming Saturday. We both agreed that she wouldn't make it to Saturday without losing that shoe, and the foot was deteriorating so badly around the nails that if she threw the shoe, she'd do a lot of damage to that foot. I have this problem with her every summer. Between the fluctuating weather and humidity level, and her stamping at flies all day long, her front feet take a beating. My farrier is awesome, though, and he came out within the hour to do her feet for me. How great is that?
She's now on a 5 week schedule instead of a 6 week schedule, and I am going to put her on a hoof supplement. Money is really tight for me but no hoof, no horse, so it isn't really an option anymore; it's a must.
I will leave you with some recent photos!
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| grazing in one of the grassy paddocks |
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| Cairo enjoying a trail ride with Lucy and I |
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| Lucy grabs snacks-on-the-go |
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| Cairo hanging out while I tack Lucy up |
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| see? we were made for each other. |
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| the girls |
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| Cairo jumping one of the jumps in the ring..how cute is that? |
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| an essential for every doggy household: a little paddling pool to cool off in after a long walk on a very hot day |
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Oh, come ON
As predicted, I sucked at following my little training schedule, but I think I am mostly prepared for tomorrow anyway. We did some dressage rides, we did the XC school on Monday, I did a few trail rides/trot sets, a couple gallops out in the field, and schooled fences twice. Everything went surprisingly smoothly throughout the week, and I got to the barn this morning around 11 all ready to put in one last dressage school and then pack for the show.
I pulled Lucy in out of her paddock and got to work brushing. Curry, soft brush, hoof pick. LF, LH, RF, R....WHERE THE HELL IS THE RH SHOE?!?!?!
Yes, my dear readers, my smartass horse lost a shoe the day before we ship out for an event. On a weekend. During show season. I just about had a meltdown right there and then.
By some sweet miracle, my farrier was able to come out and stop my world from crumbling further within THE HOUR. That's right, my farrier is the shizzle. I still cannot believe how wonderful he was about everything. I paid him in cash, cupcakes, a cold drink, and a sandwich. He kept saying thank you to me and I was like, no, really, thank YOU!
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| such a pretty sight...a shoe on each foot |
I rode, bathed the pony, packed everything up, put shavings in the trailer, and by golly I think we are ready. Tonight I am going to pick up our traveling companion, who lives at her owners house 30 minutes away. She's staying at my barn overnight (yay for open stalls and awesome barn owners who permit this sort of thing) and then we can head out bright and early tomorrow.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
and the shoes go back on
I have failed miserably at blogging this week. Kenny and I started some work in our front yard and between my day job, Cairo, and the yard work, I really haven't had much time to ride or blog.
The biggest change this past week was that Lucy got her feeties done on Saturday, and I asked the farrier to put hind shoes back on her. She's shod all the way around now and she is doing great! We took it easy for the first few days because when the farrier trimmed her feet, he found a lot of bruising, but she has seemed happy and comfortable with increasing the workload over the course of the week. Both Lauren and I have had some awesome rides both in and out of the ring, including jump schools over the XC jumps and the stadium-style jumps, gallops on the trails and in the fields, trail rides with the dog, and some really lovely flat work.
This is a video of my ride earlier in the week:
Last weekend, I went to Massachusetts to support my friend and fellow blogger Hannah, from I'm All Ears. She competed her horse Tucker in the Valinor combined test, and Lauren and I went to go cheer her on and take photos and video for her. She competed in SJ and Dressage, and then schooled out on the XC course with some friends. There are more photos on her blog, but here are a few from that day:
The biggest change this past week was that Lucy got her feeties done on Saturday, and I asked the farrier to put hind shoes back on her. She's shod all the way around now and she is doing great! We took it easy for the first few days because when the farrier trimmed her feet, he found a lot of bruising, but she has seemed happy and comfortable with increasing the workload over the course of the week. Both Lauren and I have had some awesome rides both in and out of the ring, including jump schools over the XC jumps and the stadium-style jumps, gallops on the trails and in the fields, trail rides with the dog, and some really lovely flat work.
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| a trail ride |
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| Cairo "helping" me |
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| The front of the house, almost completed |
Last weekend, I went to Massachusetts to support my friend and fellow blogger Hannah, from I'm All Ears. She competed her horse Tucker in the Valinor combined test, and Lauren and I went to go cheer her on and take photos and video for her. She competed in SJ and Dressage, and then schooled out on the XC course with some friends. There are more photos on her blog, but here are a few from that day:
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| Tucker's tidy hind end in Stadium |
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| this paint horse was not a fan of the coffin! |
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| Tucker was all business out on XC |
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| One of the final jumps of the day...MASSIVE! |
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