I have no idea what he is. I don't wanna know. I find comfort in ignoring his creepy existance.The kids were all enjoying the sunshine and warmth as well. Laramie, Dakota, Paula, and JJ.
Bambi is out of the shot, but I got a picture of her below.Even Charlie was enjoying the sun. Sophie was off playing somewhere. She loves stalking and terrorizing the field mice, but Charlie stays close by and supervises.
I got Laramie and Bambi trimmed today, got water hauled and worked with Paula a bit more. Paula has been getting very tense at the lope and while I could push her forward and we'd probably be ok, I feel like if a horse bucks, throws a fit or is tense in any way that means I'm going too fast, so we just worked on cues for about 20 minutes today. I didn't even saddle her--just put on her bell boots and a properly fitting halter and went to work. By the end I had her transitioning from walk to trot, trot to lope (relaxed), lope to trot, lope to walk, trot to walk, walk to lope and her whoa down pat, all while free-lunging and using verbal cues only. Instead of fighting her at the lope, we went back to the basics and we accomplished what we needed. Hopefully next weekend will be nice to pick up where we left off and get to riding again (or maybe I should call in sick *cough cough*--just kidding :)
You can't tell from the pic, but she looks so much like her momma it's eerie. I always want to call her Truly. If her legs keep going as well as they have there's a real possiblity we could do some open show halter in the future. That would be terrific!
Below is Bambi. My little girl is growing up! She's hip-high right now which is a good sign--she keeps getting these spurts she might actually make 15H! I'd be thrilled--she's come so far from the 2 month old foal that I was certain would not survive. It's a shame she is stunted because I love her build, but we might still try to make it to some open shows where there isn't such a huge emphasis (pun intended) on height.
Everyone's got their head in the feedbag.... I put that up there and put a flake of alfalfa in it to keep the horses occupied while I'm doing their feet. It makes life easier on me and associates feet trimming with something good for them, so it's a win/win. I trained Paula this way and she now will anticipate picking up her feet for trimming and cleaning, so I hope these kids progress the same way.
Laramie also got her MTG treatment. She looks a little awkward here--not quite like the show horse she is. She fits up so nicely, though, and is a very tall, wide filly. She's almost as tall as Paula now and will pass her soon (since Paula was also stunted, sadly). Laramie doesn't have to worry about that, though--she's not going anywhere!
I really hope to be able to do all these kids justice and show soon. I could have shown a lot by now, but it's always an extra for me--something that is the bottom of the priority list for my budgeting. First and foremost, the animals are all properly cared for and fed, and so far there's been nothing left to show. I'm praying that the changes in my life will change that and I will actually get to show soon.
I got Laramie and Bambi trimmed today, got water hauled and worked with Paula a bit more. Paula has been getting very tense at the lope and while I could push her forward and we'd probably be ok, I feel like if a horse bucks, throws a fit or is tense in any way that means I'm going too fast, so we just worked on cues for about 20 minutes today. I didn't even saddle her--just put on her bell boots and a properly fitting halter and went to work. By the end I had her transitioning from walk to trot, trot to lope (relaxed), lope to trot, lope to walk, trot to walk, walk to lope and her whoa down pat, all while free-lunging and using verbal cues only. Instead of fighting her at the lope, we went back to the basics and we accomplished what we needed. Hopefully next weekend will be nice to pick up where we left off and get to riding again (or maybe I should call in sick *cough cough*--just kidding :)I didn't get to everyone's baths like I wanted, but I did groom everyone, gave JJ another good coating of MTG and spot treated anything that even thought about resembling a fungal mark on the girls--I want to nip this in the bud!
Pictured below is Dakota. The oily spots are the MTG....
You can't tell from the pic, but she looks so much like her momma it's eerie. I always want to call her Truly. If her legs keep going as well as they have there's a real possiblity we could do some open show halter in the future. That would be terrific!Below is Bambi. My little girl is growing up! She's hip-high right now which is a good sign--she keeps getting these spurts she might actually make 15H! I'd be thrilled--she's come so far from the 2 month old foal that I was certain would not survive. It's a shame she is stunted because I love her build, but we might still try to make it to some open shows where there isn't such a huge emphasis (pun intended) on height.
Everyone's got their head in the feedbag.... I put that up there and put a flake of alfalfa in it to keep the horses occupied while I'm doing their feet. It makes life easier on me and associates feet trimming with something good for them, so it's a win/win. I trained Paula this way and she now will anticipate picking up her feet for trimming and cleaning, so I hope these kids progress the same way.Laramie also got her MTG treatment. She looks a little awkward here--not quite like the show horse she is. She fits up so nicely, though, and is a very tall, wide filly. She's almost as tall as Paula now and will pass her soon (since Paula was also stunted, sadly). Laramie doesn't have to worry about that, though--she's not going anywhere!
I really hope to be able to do all these kids justice and show soon. I could have shown a lot by now, but it's always an extra for me--something that is the bottom of the priority list for my budgeting. First and foremost, the animals are all properly cared for and fed, and so far there's been nothing left to show. I'm praying that the changes in my life will change that and I will actually get to show soon.When I do get to show again, what in the world am I going to do with this?!?
Kim, Laramie's breeder, warned me, but I was unprepared. I've never seen a mane like this! LOL The sad thing is I worked on it a lot over the summer--pulled, razored, pulled, trimmed, pulled, banded, and pulled some more. Pictures cannot do it justice--it is so thick, so unruly, so MUCH of it! Poor Laramie is going to get tired of me pulling it, I'm afraid, but not sure what else to do. Most of us would kill for thick, gorgeous, strawberry blonde hair like this.
Since I did Laramie's feet today and noticed that she was a perfect example, I thought I would take the opportunity to show how hooves can tell a story about the horse.
In the picture above, and the one below, Laramie's foot has a noticable ring in it. Some people might consider this a founder ring, or some other sort of trauma, but it's actually a fever ring.
Kim, Laramie's breeder, warned me, but I was unprepared. I've never seen a mane like this! LOL The sad thing is I worked on it a lot over the summer--pulled, razored, pulled, trimmed, pulled, banded, and pulled some more. Pictures cannot do it justice--it is so thick, so unruly, so MUCH of it! Poor Laramie is going to get tired of me pulling it, I'm afraid, but not sure what else to do. Most of us would kill for thick, gorgeous, strawberry blonde hair like this.Since I did Laramie's feet today and noticed that she was a perfect example, I thought I would take the opportunity to show how hooves can tell a story about the horse.
In the picture above, and the one below, Laramie's foot has a noticable ring in it. Some people might consider this a founder ring, or some other sort of trauma, but it's actually a fever ring.I know it's a fever ring because Laramie had strangles a few months ago and a low-grade fever for almost a week straight. Right before that I had tried to fit her up in hopes to show, so the foot below that is very healthy and thick. Then we have almost two fever rings (this strain of strangles actually hit the horses twice, two weeks apart with the second occurance being a bit lighter), then the new growth she's just been pastured and allowed to be a normal horse. You can clearly see all this in her feet.
I just think it's kind of neat to see how the hoof can tell us about what a horse has been through in the recent past. Any kind of illness, or even a change in diet, can be reflected in the hoof wall.
I just think it's kind of neat to see how the hoof can tell us about what a horse has been through in the recent past. Any kind of illness, or even a change in diet, can be reflected in the hoof wall. Sometimes I think that we all need a hoof wall to show the world our stories....
No comments:
Post a Comment