Mother Nature and I, we're going to have words if she doesn't get her sh*t together soon. This is outrageous! Spring officially started March 20 but apparently no one informed the SWVA weather gods, because it's still in the 30s/40s then they'll tease us with a super nice day and then fall back down into winter temps again. I'm pulling my hair out over here!
However, today was one of those fleetingly, brilliantly, beautiful days and I'm so glad for it!! The boyfriend and I both had off work yesterday since it was Good Friday and originally I was going to take Boo to Pat's so we could get sales pics of him and a few of her sales horses but she had a scheduling conflict so instead the boyfriend and I took Boo and Reily over to play at Green Hill Park today. One of my friends from the Blue Ridge Eventing Association proved to have superb timing when she called me in the morning to see if I wanted to do any riding so I told her to pack up her guys and meet us over at GHP.
We got some decent sales photos and video of Boo being a good little dressage pony. When we were done I changed his tack to western so we could do some "trail" pics with the boyfriend on him riding around, taking him through the water, etc. They both did great. Boo even trotted a couple times and, bless his heart, the boyfriend didn't ask for it but he kept his cool and brought him back to a walk without issue. I'm glad he's getting more confident because if Boo had have done that the first time he was on him he probably would have gotten freaked out. It's funny how horses have a way of knowing exactly how much their rider can handle
Reily got to go up on the hill and hack around and I was only planning on popping him over a couple little jumps, nothing major. But he had so much energy he was so excited to be out there!! I think I need to start using Boo's jumping bit on him when we go out there because he gets so pumped that he can get a little out of control. It doesn't scare me when he gets like that, but when your power steering goes out on the way to a XC jump it's not good for his training because you run the risk of him learning to run out since he's not concentrating. I try to never use any more bit than I really need, but we both end up pulling so much in the boucher that the snaffle is no longer being forgiving. My friend told me about a great exercise she learned at a Lucinda Greene clinic where you walk them straight up to the base of a good sized log (we're talking a Novice or Training level size jump) and have them jump it from the walk. This really helps them sit back on their haunchs and get their hindend up under themself to push off as there's no momentum to carry them over since you approach at the walk. Reily did NOT understand this question at first but after I got him over it once it clicked. He's super smart like that ;) He fumbled over the first couple of times then really started to approach it with a big confident march and popped right over. I need to get a neck strap for this though because it's such a quick action it's hard to not get left behind! I'm definitely going to practice some more at home but I'm afraid the biggest solid jumps I have at home are barrels and they're only about 2' or 2'3" at best and I know that's not going to be big enough to make him bother to raise up enough to really push from his hindend since it's not big enough to make it any work to try and clear it. Maybe we'll just have to build a log pile out in the field! He was so full of himself that at one point we were cantering away from a jump and he was pulling so hard I just sort of gave him a slack rein then squeezed and clucked and pumped the reins a couple times and pushed him into an all out gallop across the top of the hill. He LOVED that and I loved it and all I could hear was the sound of the wind as we flew across the turf. Now I know why jockeys are so addicted to what they do!! He wasn't even at top speed and I felt like we were flying! When we reached the tree line we pulled up and I walked him back to where my friend and the boyfriend were on the other horses and said to my friend, "If this horse could do a novice level XC round at the pace of Advanced he'd be the happiest horse on the face of the planet!" My friend just sort of chuckled and said, "Celeste, I'm pretty sure that's what he just did!" I thought about walking him all the way to the far end of the hill and them setting him loose again but I didn't want to push our luck. Neither one of us is really back in fit shape yet so we'll save that experience for next time ;)
My friend also brought her daughters horse to GHP and I jumped on him for a few minutes just for fun since I'd heard so much about him recently. He was super cute!! He's small but he moves a lot bigger then his size would suggest and has very comfortable gaits. After we got done playing we packed up and took the boys home for some well deserved rest. Although Reily was none to happy that he'd only been grazing with everyone in the yard for an hour or so when I came out and took him to the cross ties so I could work on his mane. He looked like such a hippy today while we were out and I couldn't take it any longer and the weather was finally nice enough that I could work outside without needing gloves for an extended period of time. Gloves and/or frozen fingers are not conducive to good mane pulling, only conducive to frostbite/cut fingers. So I got about half his mane done tonight and now he looks like a dofus, poor man. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and rainy but hopefully some time next week I'll be able to finish it!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Expensive Month #2
The herd got their shots/coggins today (yay!) and I'll get the bill sometime in the near-ish future (not yay!). That makes this the second expensive month in a row since they got their teeth floated last month. Thank goodness I've got a good job!
Funny comment though. Reily is supposed to be allowed to start jumping again this week and so I asked my vet if there was anything she needed to check him for while she was there to make sure he'd be fine to start back and she looked down at his legs and with the longer winter hair he's still got right now she couldn't even see the splint at first. When I pointed it out she was like, "Oh my god, that's TINY!! He'll be fine to start jumping!". So hooray for that at least!
Funny comment though. Reily is supposed to be allowed to start jumping again this week and so I asked my vet if there was anything she needed to check him for while she was there to make sure he'd be fine to start back and she looked down at his legs and with the longer winter hair he's still got right now she couldn't even see the splint at first. When I pointed it out she was like, "Oh my god, that's TINY!! He'll be fine to start jumping!". So hooray for that at least!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
I wish it paid to be an ostrich
Confused? Have you ever heard someone joking about being like an ostrich, just stick your head in the sand and pretend that nothing is wrong? I'm not sure if ostriches really do this in the wild (if so I sure do wonder how they've not yet gone extinct??) but I've heard tons of puns and jokes about it and they really all relate to us humans being in some form of denial. Well I have to finally admit something. I've spent the last nine years in denial about one very important part of my life and that's Boo.
I never should have gotten Boo in the first place because if the people who were supposed to be looking out for my best interests were really doing that they would not have let me adopt this horse. I was young, inexperienced and naive and Boo was green, spooky, dishonest and on many occasions down right dangerous. Just because I had a "velcro butt" and wanted a younger horse to keep competing with after Scotty retired and Boo was a free donation horse through the 4-H program didn't make it a safe or smart decision to allow me to take him. Luckily, I've never suffered any catastrophic injuries from riding him and he's definitely made me a better, stronger rider over the years but I took my fair share of falls off Boo. And worse than that, my confidence took a major beating for years because I couldn't trust my partner.
I've spent the last nine years doing everything in my power to try and help Boo to enjoy the job that I was asking him to do, which was primarily to jump at events and hunter/jumper shows. Over the years I've tried countless things including, but by no means limited to: dental work, chiropractic, riser pads, saddle changes, bit changes, riding lessons, schooling and numerous other life experience opportunities. Nothing has fixed the problem. Granted, I can take the blame for a lot of it over the years because I was such a green rider that I had no business trying to train such a green, difficult horse. But after countless hours and the blood, sweat, and tears that we've invested I have finally come to terms with the fact that my horse just does not want to be a jumping horse.
Now, I'm not saying that it was all a waste! I'm a better rider for having had him and he's a better horse for having been with me, but his heart isn't in it and his brain never has been. I'm incredibly proud of the fact that I've managed to train him up to 3'3" fences but he's unpredictable and often times down right dishonest. I used to think that this was a bad behavior that I could help him overcome by instilling confidence in his abilities and helping him to be physically fit enough to do it safely and soundly, but when it comes down to it I was turning a deaf ear on him and refusing to listen to what he was trying to tell me. Boo is more than physically capable of jumping well over 3'3" but he doesn't want to and I've done us both a disservice by refusing to listen.
I've had this growing voice in the back of my head for about a year now. However, the moment of my real enlightenment occurred this weekend. Reily is not jumping again until next week and won't be jumping in any shows for at least a month after that and I didn't want to take him to the Thoroughbred Celebration Horse Show at the VA Horse Center in Lexington just to do flat classes so he was staying home, but I entered Boo in the 2'7" and 3'1" jumper classes on Saturday evening. To be fully prepared I took him to Pat's last Saturday for a jumping lesson and it was good but he pulled some of his typical shenanigans and Pat finally got to see what I meant when I would talk to her about his behavior. So yesterday we got up there with plenty of time to go check in at the show office, get him clean and tacked up and the wonderful boyfriend held him for me while I walked the course and got comfortable with my plan. We were at the end of the order of go in the second class of the night and it took a good hour and a half before we got in the ring, but he was calm and relaxed on the grounds and we warmed up well over some smaller jumps then we raised them to 2'9" and 3' and he jumped those in fine fashion so I was thinking, "Yeah, this course won't be any problem, 2"7" is small and those are all jumper-type jumps, no fillers or scary walls for him to peak at." I felt really confident heading into the ring. He was well in-front of my leg and I even gave him a little tap with the crop to remind him that I meant business and I wasn't afraid to use the lord stick if he sucked back. We went in and he was looky as we circled through then started cantering to the first jump. Ten, count them, TEN strides out this horse had already thrown in the towel. There was absolutely nothing I was doing wrong. I was sitting up. I was squeezing as hard as I could. I was using my spurs. So I reached back and smacked him on the ass as hard as I could and cantered him in a circle to re-approach. Despite everything he cantered the last 5 strides up to the jump perfectly sideways. To be honest, it would have been a beautiful canter half-pass if that had been what I was actually asking for but obviously it wasn't. The third and final attempt I thought maybe we would actually get over it because I finally managed to get him straight but he pulled a dirty stop right at the base and we were dismissed. There was nothing else to do but shake my head and walk out of the ring. But that was the final straw, the one that broke the camel's back as they say. At the time I was so mad at him and humiliated for the both of us that if someone had have offered to put him on their trailer and take him home with them I would have just handed him over and said good luck. But of course, despite all of the long years of aggravation and disappointment, I still care about the stupid beast and want him to have a good home.
I'm going to advertise him as a flat horse ONLY. He won't go to anyone who has any interest in jumping, period. What I'll be looking for is someone who wants a horse that they can love and shower with affection but have no real competitive ambitions. His perfect fit would be a home where he might do a little w/t/c or dressage work a couple days a week but better yet he'd LOVE to be someone's trail buddy. He's ridden out extensively with me and he's always been happiest just wandering around, getting lost in the woods and eventually finding our way home. He could be a low level dressage horse for someone who wants to show a handful of times a year but this horse just doesn't want to be asked to be truely competitive. I plan to do a home inspection, call references, and write into the sales contract a legally binding addendum that I have to be offered the right of first refusal if they ever decide to sell him and that I get to come visit and check up on him throughout the year. Some people may be turned off by that, thinking that I'm being overbearing but a real horseman will understand that I'm only looking out for the best interests of my horse.
It's been a long time coming and I truly think we'll both be happier in the long run. It's just hard to admit that it's time to let go and move on. So, like I was saying, I wish it actually paid to be an ostrich.
I never should have gotten Boo in the first place because if the people who were supposed to be looking out for my best interests were really doing that they would not have let me adopt this horse. I was young, inexperienced and naive and Boo was green, spooky, dishonest and on many occasions down right dangerous. Just because I had a "velcro butt" and wanted a younger horse to keep competing with after Scotty retired and Boo was a free donation horse through the 4-H program didn't make it a safe or smart decision to allow me to take him. Luckily, I've never suffered any catastrophic injuries from riding him and he's definitely made me a better, stronger rider over the years but I took my fair share of falls off Boo. And worse than that, my confidence took a major beating for years because I couldn't trust my partner.
I've spent the last nine years doing everything in my power to try and help Boo to enjoy the job that I was asking him to do, which was primarily to jump at events and hunter/jumper shows. Over the years I've tried countless things including, but by no means limited to: dental work, chiropractic, riser pads, saddle changes, bit changes, riding lessons, schooling and numerous other life experience opportunities. Nothing has fixed the problem. Granted, I can take the blame for a lot of it over the years because I was such a green rider that I had no business trying to train such a green, difficult horse. But after countless hours and the blood, sweat, and tears that we've invested I have finally come to terms with the fact that my horse just does not want to be a jumping horse.
Now, I'm not saying that it was all a waste! I'm a better rider for having had him and he's a better horse for having been with me, but his heart isn't in it and his brain never has been. I'm incredibly proud of the fact that I've managed to train him up to 3'3" fences but he's unpredictable and often times down right dishonest. I used to think that this was a bad behavior that I could help him overcome by instilling confidence in his abilities and helping him to be physically fit enough to do it safely and soundly, but when it comes down to it I was turning a deaf ear on him and refusing to listen to what he was trying to tell me. Boo is more than physically capable of jumping well over 3'3" but he doesn't want to and I've done us both a disservice by refusing to listen.
I've had this growing voice in the back of my head for about a year now. However, the moment of my real enlightenment occurred this weekend. Reily is not jumping again until next week and won't be jumping in any shows for at least a month after that and I didn't want to take him to the Thoroughbred Celebration Horse Show at the VA Horse Center in Lexington just to do flat classes so he was staying home, but I entered Boo in the 2'7" and 3'1" jumper classes on Saturday evening. To be fully prepared I took him to Pat's last Saturday for a jumping lesson and it was good but he pulled some of his typical shenanigans and Pat finally got to see what I meant when I would talk to her about his behavior. So yesterday we got up there with plenty of time to go check in at the show office, get him clean and tacked up and the wonderful boyfriend held him for me while I walked the course and got comfortable with my plan. We were at the end of the order of go in the second class of the night and it took a good hour and a half before we got in the ring, but he was calm and relaxed on the grounds and we warmed up well over some smaller jumps then we raised them to 2'9" and 3' and he jumped those in fine fashion so I was thinking, "Yeah, this course won't be any problem, 2"7" is small and those are all jumper-type jumps, no fillers or scary walls for him to peak at." I felt really confident heading into the ring. He was well in-front of my leg and I even gave him a little tap with the crop to remind him that I meant business and I wasn't afraid to use the lord stick if he sucked back. We went in and he was looky as we circled through then started cantering to the first jump. Ten, count them, TEN strides out this horse had already thrown in the towel. There was absolutely nothing I was doing wrong. I was sitting up. I was squeezing as hard as I could. I was using my spurs. So I reached back and smacked him on the ass as hard as I could and cantered him in a circle to re-approach. Despite everything he cantered the last 5 strides up to the jump perfectly sideways. To be honest, it would have been a beautiful canter half-pass if that had been what I was actually asking for but obviously it wasn't. The third and final attempt I thought maybe we would actually get over it because I finally managed to get him straight but he pulled a dirty stop right at the base and we were dismissed. There was nothing else to do but shake my head and walk out of the ring. But that was the final straw, the one that broke the camel's back as they say. At the time I was so mad at him and humiliated for the both of us that if someone had have offered to put him on their trailer and take him home with them I would have just handed him over and said good luck. But of course, despite all of the long years of aggravation and disappointment, I still care about the stupid beast and want him to have a good home.
I'm going to advertise him as a flat horse ONLY. He won't go to anyone who has any interest in jumping, period. What I'll be looking for is someone who wants a horse that they can love and shower with affection but have no real competitive ambitions. His perfect fit would be a home where he might do a little w/t/c or dressage work a couple days a week but better yet he'd LOVE to be someone's trail buddy. He's ridden out extensively with me and he's always been happiest just wandering around, getting lost in the woods and eventually finding our way home. He could be a low level dressage horse for someone who wants to show a handful of times a year but this horse just doesn't want to be asked to be truely competitive. I plan to do a home inspection, call references, and write into the sales contract a legally binding addendum that I have to be offered the right of first refusal if they ever decide to sell him and that I get to come visit and check up on him throughout the year. Some people may be turned off by that, thinking that I'm being overbearing but a real horseman will understand that I'm only looking out for the best interests of my horse.
It's been a long time coming and I truly think we'll both be happier in the long run. It's just hard to admit that it's time to let go and move on. So, like I was saying, I wish it actually paid to be an ostrich.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Tally ho!
Talked to my vet today and she's cleared Reily to start canter work again, hooooooray!!!!!! She said to give him 2 weeks cantering and if all is still going smoothly he can get back to jumping after that :) And she'll be out on the 18th to do spring shots and coggins so she can check him over personally right at the end of the 2 weeks. So excited to start really getting him back in shape, he'd lost so much of his top line and he currently looks like a great big hippy. It'll be time for a trim ASAP!!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Same old, same old
So I haven't bothered to post much because I haven't had much news to share. But here's a quick update on what's going on with the boys. A friend of mine has begun to part lease Boo and she's coming out to ride him 2x/week which is great for all of us! She's getting to actually ride on a regular basis, Boo's getting more work and starting to get back in shape, and for once he's earning a small portion of his keep, Woohoo!
I'm glad she's riding him as well because I think it give us both a mental break from each other as I think I've got such a long history with Boo that I get sort of nagging towards him sometimes when we ride. But knowing she's working him twice a week and I'll usually get on him at least twice a week as well I know he's getting 4-6 days of work now rather than the scattered ride on an unpredictable schedule. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the weather is finally starting to act like spring will exist again in the future!
Reily is still recuperating but we've begun to get him moving again. We'll walk for about 2-3 weeks, then start introducing trot for another 2 or so weeks and if the vet gives him the all clear we can start cantering again after that. But you can't help but love a horse that's had 5 weeks off work and yet I've gotten on him bareback with a bridle and ridden him around the field for the last 2 days without him ever even having a thought about bucking, squealing, or generally acting up in any fashion. This one, he's a keeper!!
I'm glad she's riding him as well because I think it give us both a mental break from each other as I think I've got such a long history with Boo that I get sort of nagging towards him sometimes when we ride. But knowing she's working him twice a week and I'll usually get on him at least twice a week as well I know he's getting 4-6 days of work now rather than the scattered ride on an unpredictable schedule. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the weather is finally starting to act like spring will exist again in the future!
Reily is still recuperating but we've begun to get him moving again. We'll walk for about 2-3 weeks, then start introducing trot for another 2 or so weeks and if the vet gives him the all clear we can start cantering again after that. But you can't help but love a horse that's had 5 weeks off work and yet I've gotten on him bareback with a bridle and ridden him around the field for the last 2 days without him ever even having a thought about bucking, squealing, or generally acting up in any fashion. This one, he's a keeper!!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Say carrot!
Napoleon, Boo, and Reily all got their pearly whites filed down today. I thought for sure the vet was going to chastise me for letting them get over due because it had been closer to 18 months since they last got done, but I was happily suprised when she said they were about par with were they would be anyways and when she got done she said they could all go for at least another 12 months maybe another 18 before needing to be refloated. So if I think of that vet bill as being spread out over that length of time, it's actually incredibly reasonable ;) Glad they're all healthy and happy!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The Thoroughbred of...
How do you want to finish that? There are several options.
The Thoroughbred of Transportation
The Thoroughbred of Safety
The Thoroughbred of ...
I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them right now.
I got the job offer from Norfolk Southern Corporation (aka "The Railroad" as it's none here in the 'Noke) back before Thanksgiving and I started the first week of December.
I really do like it at NS! Even though the RR is a breed all it's own and there's a billion weird rules to learn dealing with a unionized company, the people are great!! I work in one of the two Payroll departments and I just love my co-workers. Everyone is uber friendly, super helpful when I have a question, and even though I feared that I would be bored out of my mind because I wouldn't have much to do they always found some lingering project that I could work on when my normal job duties were sparse. The most randomly fun thing about working for NS though... everyone knows what a TB is! So when people find out I have horses and they ask what kind I can say 2 are TBs and everyone is like, "Wow that's so cool! You were meant to work here!" rather than, "What's that mean? Does that mean it's a pure bred horse?".
However, I find it both comical and ironic that NS brands itself with the TB in its logo and all of it's "statements" and I'll explain why:
1) Calling itself the TB of transportation is a total oxymoron. One of our trains, on average, can move 1 ton (that's 2,000 lbs) of freight over 436 miles on a single gallon of fuel. In contrast, it seems like an average TB can burn an outrageous number of calories just walking around the field so you constantly have to feed them a much higher concentrate ration than other horses.
2) As evidenced by my dear boy Reily, TBs are a far cry from the safest creatures on the planet. Horses in general are self destructive and TBs in particular, with their athletic drive, slim figure and thin skin they seem to constantly be on the mend from one issue or another. Not to mention, with TBs like Boo, well he just has half a brain or something and is always spooking or bucking or kicking, etc. and if I was on a train that pulls something similar to his stunts, lets just say I wouldn't be here to write this now.
But I'm loving my new job, despite the fact that they have no idea what an actual Thoroughbred is like.
The Thoroughbred of Transportation
The Thoroughbred of Safety
The Thoroughbred of ...
I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them right now.
I got the job offer from Norfolk Southern Corporation (aka "The Railroad" as it's none here in the 'Noke) back before Thanksgiving and I started the first week of December.
I really do like it at NS! Even though the RR is a breed all it's own and there's a billion weird rules to learn dealing with a unionized company, the people are great!! I work in one of the two Payroll departments and I just love my co-workers. Everyone is uber friendly, super helpful when I have a question, and even though I feared that I would be bored out of my mind because I wouldn't have much to do they always found some lingering project that I could work on when my normal job duties were sparse. The most randomly fun thing about working for NS though... everyone knows what a TB is! So when people find out I have horses and they ask what kind I can say 2 are TBs and everyone is like, "Wow that's so cool! You were meant to work here!" rather than, "What's that mean? Does that mean it's a pure bred horse?".
However, I find it both comical and ironic that NS brands itself with the TB in its logo and all of it's "statements" and I'll explain why:
1) Calling itself the TB of transportation is a total oxymoron. One of our trains, on average, can move 1 ton (that's 2,000 lbs) of freight over 436 miles on a single gallon of fuel. In contrast, it seems like an average TB can burn an outrageous number of calories just walking around the field so you constantly have to feed them a much higher concentrate ration than other horses.
2) As evidenced by my dear boy Reily, TBs are a far cry from the safest creatures on the planet. Horses in general are self destructive and TBs in particular, with their athletic drive, slim figure and thin skin they seem to constantly be on the mend from one issue or another. Not to mention, with TBs like Boo, well he just has half a brain or something and is always spooking or bucking or kicking, etc. and if I was on a train that pulls something similar to his stunts, lets just say I wouldn't be here to write this now.
But I'm loving my new job, despite the fact that they have no idea what an actual Thoroughbred is like.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Scratch that... try again
Yeahhhhh, about that whole small paddock deal. Napoleon refused to stay in and the little bastard is so fuzzy that he can run straight through the bottom strand of fence and won't hardly feel a thing. Of course, with Napoleon's complete rejection of the idea of being confined to a small area with him, Reily was dejected and pissy and paced worse than ever. I had to put him back in the stall last night and today when I got home I decided to just bite the bullet, change his bandage, put him in brushing boots and turn him out in the little field with everyone else. I walked him out there with a chain over his nose and kept him on it for the first 10 minutes and he was acting, comparatively, controlled so I finally let him go.
Envision this: Complete Thoroughbred Retardation Episode.
Yep, he spent the next 5 minutes being the biggest idiot alive. Once he got it out of his system though he was more or less calm. We'll monitor him for the next several weeks but he has yet to take a lame step (in any gait).
But it's my birthday so I'm hoping Reily's present to me is that he'll heal up quick and we can get him back to work! He's a total poo without a job to do!
Envision this: Complete Thoroughbred Retardation Episode.
Yep, he spent the next 5 minutes being the biggest idiot alive. Once he got it out of his system though he was more or less calm. We'll monitor him for the next several weeks but he has yet to take a lame step (in any gait).
But it's my birthday so I'm hoping Reily's present to me is that he'll heal up quick and we can get him back to work! He's a total poo without a job to do!
Monday, January 21, 2013
The fire breathing dragon
It's been just over 1 week on stall rest and Reily has turned into a total fire breathing dragon. I'm ready to kill him. He paces, he's crapped in his water more than once, he screams, he refuses to stand still while I'm trying to cold hose and half the time he almost knees me in the head while I'm trying to put on the DMSO and/or wraps. Honestly, without turnout, I have no idea how they even contained him when he was at the track!
Sunday night when I got home from the BREA Annual Awards Banquet (where Reily got a 3rd, well done you big butt head) I decided to create a little tiny paddock for him the same as I did for Napoleon when he was finally allowed to get turned out. I thought it might keep him calm and make him more happy to graze right across the fence from him buddies rather than have to go straight back in the stall afterwards. So we get done hosing his leg (during which time he turned over the wheelbarrow and dumped the hay in the water, asshole) I put on the DMSO and turned him out in this tiny paddock. He immediately went to mowing and was being super quiet and well behaved the whole 10 mins I spent watching him before I would walk away. Well he was acting trustworthy so I gathered up all the stuff and headed to the tack room to get his standing wraps so I could put them on while he grazed. I hadn't gotten more than 50 feet from him and behind me I hear running hooves, snapping wire, and then a herd of running horses. That son of a bitch promptly took off, broke out snapping the T-post in the process and galloped up the driveway with Boo, Scotty and Napoleon in confused pursuit inside the fence. I've never hated him so much before.
I walked half way up the driveway then waited for him to turn around and come back down because I knew he wouldn't stay that far away from all the other horses for long and they were all too lazy to go much farther than the corner gate. Usually standing in their path, yelling, and waving my arms is enough to remind them that the longer they act retarded the more trouble they'll be in. Nope, this little bastard just kept on coming and would have plowed me down if I hadn't jumped out of the way at the last second. Then he proceeded to gallop back down to the yard and trying to figure out how to get in the field with everyone else he ran through the wire on the other side of the paddock I'd put up and trapped himself inbetween the car port and field. Haha, you moron, there's only one way out and that was coming straight to me. Needless to say he got a royal screamfest. I could have shot him I was so pissed. After everything I've been doing to try and make sure this thing heals correctly and as quick as possible so he can get back to being turned out like he wants to, this is seriously how you re-pay me?! I get up at 5am to take care of him before work and spend my entire evening taking care of him after work, I have no life other than treating this right now and this is how he reacts. I hate horses some times.
And you know what's more ridiculous? Through all of this, he never took even one lame step. By last Friday all the heat in the splint was already gone and he was completely none reactive to palpation. After those excapades there was some heat in both the splint and the tendon in that leg. Thanks a lot you dumb fuck, way to try and hurt yourself even worse.
I talked to the vet this morning and told her I was either going to have to sedate him or figure something else out because he's getting completely unmanagable. She agreed that if he's this awful it'd be better to turn him out in a small field with some leg protection and maybe with just Napoleon so he's less encouraged to run. So all the boys will be in the little field with Reily in the stall until this super cold weather blows through then we'll try and fence off a smaller portion of the field for Reily and Napoleon to spend some time in together. Ugggghhhhh.
Sunday night when I got home from the BREA Annual Awards Banquet (where Reily got a 3rd, well done you big butt head) I decided to create a little tiny paddock for him the same as I did for Napoleon when he was finally allowed to get turned out. I thought it might keep him calm and make him more happy to graze right across the fence from him buddies rather than have to go straight back in the stall afterwards. So we get done hosing his leg (during which time he turned over the wheelbarrow and dumped the hay in the water, asshole) I put on the DMSO and turned him out in this tiny paddock. He immediately went to mowing and was being super quiet and well behaved the whole 10 mins I spent watching him before I would walk away. Well he was acting trustworthy so I gathered up all the stuff and headed to the tack room to get his standing wraps so I could put them on while he grazed. I hadn't gotten more than 50 feet from him and behind me I hear running hooves, snapping wire, and then a herd of running horses. That son of a bitch promptly took off, broke out snapping the T-post in the process and galloped up the driveway with Boo, Scotty and Napoleon in confused pursuit inside the fence. I've never hated him so much before.
I walked half way up the driveway then waited for him to turn around and come back down because I knew he wouldn't stay that far away from all the other horses for long and they were all too lazy to go much farther than the corner gate. Usually standing in their path, yelling, and waving my arms is enough to remind them that the longer they act retarded the more trouble they'll be in. Nope, this little bastard just kept on coming and would have plowed me down if I hadn't jumped out of the way at the last second. Then he proceeded to gallop back down to the yard and trying to figure out how to get in the field with everyone else he ran through the wire on the other side of the paddock I'd put up and trapped himself inbetween the car port and field. Haha, you moron, there's only one way out and that was coming straight to me. Needless to say he got a royal screamfest. I could have shot him I was so pissed. After everything I've been doing to try and make sure this thing heals correctly and as quick as possible so he can get back to being turned out like he wants to, this is seriously how you re-pay me?! I get up at 5am to take care of him before work and spend my entire evening taking care of him after work, I have no life other than treating this right now and this is how he reacts. I hate horses some times.
And you know what's more ridiculous? Through all of this, he never took even one lame step. By last Friday all the heat in the splint was already gone and he was completely none reactive to palpation. After those excapades there was some heat in both the splint and the tendon in that leg. Thanks a lot you dumb fuck, way to try and hurt yourself even worse.
I talked to the vet this morning and told her I was either going to have to sedate him or figure something else out because he's getting completely unmanagable. She agreed that if he's this awful it'd be better to turn him out in a small field with some leg protection and maybe with just Napoleon so he's less encouraged to run. So all the boys will be in the little field with Reily in the stall until this super cold weather blows through then we'll try and fence off a smaller portion of the field for Reily and Napoleon to spend some time in together. Ugggghhhhh.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Pop goes the...splint bone
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I turned Reily out in the field when we got back and he was just dandy. Happy to be back with his buddies and be home.
I went out to feed Scotty and throw out more hay around 6pm and I heard Boo and Reily galloping around in the dark. It's super muddy out but I didn't think much of it at the time, they run around like that all the time and never really care how slippery or dry it is.
Well when I went out to feed them dinner around 9pm I walked up to Reily and immediately saw a lump on his inside, right fore just above the middle of his cannon bone and my heart sank. I've never personally dealt with a popped splint before but I know enough about horse care to recognize one when I see it. I took him out of the field and felt it. It was warm to hot, felt hard and he was just a little sensitive to palpation. He hasn't taken a single off-step and it's only between the size of a quarter to a half dollar, so not massive. I think it's a pretty minor strain but the vet's recommending 3-4 weeks stall rest, then another 2-4 weeks in a small paddock. Along with that a couple grams of bute the first few days and an application of DMSO/Furizone 2x/day with standing wraps half the day. The vet said he probaby just slipped in the mud and over extended just a little bit and that's likely what caused it.
He's never going to make it for 4 weeks in a stall, so we'll see how this goes. But he'll be off riding for about 2 months :'(
This sucks.
I turned Reily out in the field when we got back and he was just dandy. Happy to be back with his buddies and be home.
I went out to feed Scotty and throw out more hay around 6pm and I heard Boo and Reily galloping around in the dark. It's super muddy out but I didn't think much of it at the time, they run around like that all the time and never really care how slippery or dry it is.
Well when I went out to feed them dinner around 9pm I walked up to Reily and immediately saw a lump on his inside, right fore just above the middle of his cannon bone and my heart sank. I've never personally dealt with a popped splint before but I know enough about horse care to recognize one when I see it. I took him out of the field and felt it. It was warm to hot, felt hard and he was just a little sensitive to palpation. He hasn't taken a single off-step and it's only between the size of a quarter to a half dollar, so not massive. I think it's a pretty minor strain but the vet's recommending 3-4 weeks stall rest, then another 2-4 weeks in a small paddock. Along with that a couple grams of bute the first few days and an application of DMSO/Furizone 2x/day with standing wraps half the day. The vet said he probaby just slipped in the mud and over extended just a little bit and that's likely what caused it.
He's never going to make it for 4 weeks in a stall, so we'll see how this goes. But he'll be off riding for about 2 months :'(
This sucks.
The big, bad indoor
Reily went to his first indoor show today! The VA Horse Center has a great little schooling series during the winter months called "The Polar Bear Series". Fortunately it's indoors so even if it's rainy, windy, etc. you're in shelter. The bad news, it's a hunter show which Reily's really never experienced and the commotion was almost enough to just BLOW. HIS. MIND.
Poor little fella has gotten spoiled doing eventing where we only have a handful or so of people warming up at the same time for dressage (and the rings are usually quite large providing plenty of space to maneuver around) or show jumping (which much of the time is in a wide open jump field allowing us plenty of freedom to avoid/be avoided by others). Well let me tell you right now, he wasn't really nervous about being indoors even though I'm sure it was a lot to look at because the warm-up ring is lined with stalls so there is a lot going on right over the railing. However, he was super anxious about having 20-25 horses and ponies all cantering every direction and weaving in and out of lines around the jump standards. Add to that the fact that other people were cutting in front of him to jumps and landing directly on his ass after jumps and it made for a rather shocking experience. I got him around everything (not that it's ever the jumps that are the problem) but the environment was just completely overwhelming. If we go back for anymore of these shows we'll forgo schooling ahead of time. It was a good learning experience for him, but I think he'll be much more relaxed if we avoid the chaos of the schooling ring.
So we were in the first 3 classes, 2 hunter over fences courses at 2'3" and the division hack class. He was still pretty on edge for his first course, I didn't want to just hang on his mouth but he wasn't listening to my half halts very well (a theme that got progressively worse throughout the day) so it was difficult to keep him from rushing through the whole thing. We essentially did the hunter round at jumper pace. I was happy that he got most of his lead changes though and we got half-way decent distances to most of his fences. That single-diagonal we kept getting at long but I think a lot of our problem there was because he wasn't listening well so I just didn't have the adjustibility with him in that state of mind.
Hopefully we can do lots more stuff like this soon :)
Poor little fella has gotten spoiled doing eventing where we only have a handful or so of people warming up at the same time for dressage (and the rings are usually quite large providing plenty of space to maneuver around) or show jumping (which much of the time is in a wide open jump field allowing us plenty of freedom to avoid/be avoided by others). Well let me tell you right now, he wasn't really nervous about being indoors even though I'm sure it was a lot to look at because the warm-up ring is lined with stalls so there is a lot going on right over the railing. However, he was super anxious about having 20-25 horses and ponies all cantering every direction and weaving in and out of lines around the jump standards. Add to that the fact that other people were cutting in front of him to jumps and landing directly on his ass after jumps and it made for a rather shocking experience. I got him around everything (not that it's ever the jumps that are the problem) but the environment was just completely overwhelming. If we go back for anymore of these shows we'll forgo schooling ahead of time. It was a good learning experience for him, but I think he'll be much more relaxed if we avoid the chaos of the schooling ring.
So we were in the first 3 classes, 2 hunter over fences courses at 2'3" and the division hack class. He was still pretty on edge for his first course, I didn't want to just hang on his mouth but he wasn't listening to my half halts very well (a theme that got progressively worse throughout the day) so it was difficult to keep him from rushing through the whole thing. We essentially did the hunter round at jumper pace. I was happy that he got most of his lead changes though and we got half-way decent distances to most of his fences. That single-diagonal we kept getting at long but I think a lot of our problem there was because he wasn't listening well so I just didn't have the adjustibility with him in that state of mind.
We walked around during a couple other people's trips then went back in for our second trip. I honestly couldn't tell you if it was better or worse then the first. He was a little bit less quick but worse about listening to my half halts. We completely missed the lead from the near outside line to the diagonal single because he was so strong I couldn't get him back to a trot for a simple change so, oh well. Again it was really quick and probably looked completely out of control, but honestly I'd still rather try and bring him down to a calm state of mind than have to beat him around the course like I would have to with Boo. Mainly he just needs miles and experiences like this so that he won't feel so nervous in the first place, because for Reily, his first reaction when he gets nervous is to get this huge stride and go quick. In time that'll all be old news and then he'll be back to his wonderful self.
Since we had over an hour before our hack class (there were something like 23 people in each of the o/f classes!) I took him down to the outdoor schooling ring behind the East Complex and we worked on some dressage and transitions to try and burn a little energy and also get him listening to me better. He was still a bit less responsive than I would have liked, but was better now that we had some peace and quiet (thankfully we were the only ones in the ring). He's still fuzzy and probably was 1 of 5 horses total at the show who wasn't clipped and got rather sweaty since the weather was exceptionally nice out (near high of 70 in January!) so I took him back to the trailer and rubbed him down with towels and pulled off his tack so he could take a breather for a while before we had to tack back up for the flat class.
The hack was also his first ever flat class. I've never had a reason to enter him in a hack before because we've been doing all eventing and jumpers. Since there were 20 horses in our class they split the hack, thank goodness, into 2 groups. We ended up in the second group. My only real concern in the hack was to keep him from a) thinking it was a race once we started cantering, and b) not allowing him to push through my leg aids and duck out of the ring because through both o/f trips he almost scooted out the gap at least once during each round. He had pretty decent walk-canter transitions considering how up he was, but since he was barely listening to my half halts I kept having to ask stronger and we broke a couple times. That was fine by me because I would much rather he listen to my aids and break gait than the other way around. We blew his canter lead after breaking at one point but by the time I almost had him under control to try a simple change they called for us to trot, bummer. Going to the right he was a little better at the canter simply because I was pushing him as close to the rail and as deep in the corners as I could get him so that he'd have to slow down some. I couldn't care less about him getting any ribbons but I did want him to learn from the experience or otherwise it was a waste to put him through it. He was pretty strung the whole time but when we finished and I gave him some rein he took it and walked calmly along, so I feel like that's at least a bit of improvement. I was so glad to get out of there! It felt like my arms were gonna fall off by the end.
The sweetest thing that happened all day though was this. The boyfriend held Reily for me outside the barn while I ran into the bathroom and when I was washing my hands some woman at the sink sort of did a double take and stared at me real hard (felt really awkward at first because I was like, "oh man, why's she judging me, I'm just trying to wash my hands!") then pointed at me and said, "You just rode in the 2'3" division right?" I shook my head and said yeah, then she was like, "You rode BEAUTIFULLY! He did not look easy and you handled him beautifully! Really!" I was just shocked because for one thing it felt like anything but beautiful and for another I was so flabbergasted that someone was actually watching us and caring enough to remember us. I felt very grateful for her compliment and I told her it was his first time indoors and his first hunter show so it was a little overwhelming since we're really eventers and she just smiled and said, "Well you did a great job with him". What a nice woman! She totally made my day!!
After our classes we took a nice, super long walk around the grounds. I was hoping to walk him around in the coliseum but there was a dog agility meet in there so that was a no go. Instead we walked around past all of the out door rings, up the hill to the dressage arenas and all the way out to the cross country course. The boyfriend decided to go back to the truck and take a nap while Reily and I hacked out across the XC course. I walked and trotted him through the tiny puddle of water that was left in the water jump and we hopped over a few little things out on the course, but nothing serious. He was still bursting with energy so I let him canter back, which turned into a gallop. We walked across the top of the hill and back to the dressage rings and I let him canter some more in one of the big schooling rings. When he finally decided he was done we took a nice, long, meandering walk winding through the barns and parking lots until we got back to the trailer. He was happy to munch his hay while I took care of him but when we went to the barns to hose him off (it had gotten hot by this point) he was a little brat about going in the wash stall. He walked in just fine, was standing there and when I reached through the opening to turn the water on he up and decided to just drag me back out. Then he wouldn't go back in. I don't know what the deal was but it was pretty rude and particularly odd behavior for him. We ended up walking into the adjacent wash stall instead. Once I got him scraped and towel dried we got him loaded up and headed home.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy "Official" Birthday Boys
January 1, wow, a new year and a ton of chances to write 2012 then try and change it to 2013 and making the 3 look like a mutant, fun times ahead. Well as we enter the new year the first thing to do is say Happy "Offically According to Jocky Club Rules" Birthday to Reily and Boo! Technically they turn a year older today, but their real foaling dates are April 4th and May 15th, respectively. So really they've got a few months.
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