Been a Month!

It's been a month since I last posted and I literally only have five minutes.

I've put a total of around 25 rides on Shaggy now, had his feet done once and he was a champ, he's been clipped and banded and pretty-boyed-up, and we even went to our first schooling show.

I was show manager at the show so he was just there for fun. I tacked him up at lunch and sat on him and people came to me and got me to do stuff as necessary. I worked him W/J/L both directions, did some bending and backing, leg yielding etcetera, and then stuck him back in his stall. I took him through the trail course before it opened up as I ended up keeping track of scores for our judge... And then I took him into a W/J WP class non-competitively and he was more pro than the majority of the other "broke" horses there.

He's still a bit underweight but he has gained a bunch of muscle and looks totally awesome! He's a sweet boy and I love to ride him because he's so smart, soft, and willing! I have a story involving us going trail riding too, but I'll post that in the next week or so when I have time! (Graduation, it creeps up on you).

I plan on getting a video of me riding him pretty quick, he looks fantastic... But for now, here are some pictures! 

5 On the Henneke Scale?

Hello my one faithful follower, plus any other lurkers. It's been a while since I updated for typical teenage excuses - school, school, homework, school, chores, and school. Plus some family, too.

Anyway, Shaggy's grain is much the same as it was before, although 3-4 days a week he'll receive a small beet pulp/alfalfa pellet lunch. Also starting today, he's receiving vegetable oil. I'm not worried about him so much anymore and I don't feel like a devil tacking him up. He's gained between 50 - 100 pounds and is looking much better!

Weight aside, we naturally have a few more dilemmas that have arose since he started gaining weight. He looks much healthier. Bright eyed and... Appaloosa tailed (poor fellow). His coat is softer and smoother in most places, and in others it's FALLING OUT. I'm not sure why he's going bald in some areas, because it doesn't look or feel fungal in any way shape or form. The saddle pad that I've used on him was washed and is his only. I'm thinking that it's because he was malnourished before and now that he's receiving proper grain and such that his body is responding by losing hair (unhealthy?). There appears to be peach fuzz popping up, too. I'm not sure though and the only reason I still wonder if it's fungal is because it's both flanks, a bit on one shoulder and on one side of his barrel. Not only do I allow the saddle pad to air dry but I also hose him sufficiently or let him dry then brush him VERY well if he sweats. I'm going to give him a bath on the first weather-permitting day, and then Alisha mentioned rubbing Vaseline or something similar on the affected areas - what is the point of this? I'm not sure if she was kidding or if she was serious! The only time I've been in a place where fungus was guarded against was when I boarded at a local performance horse barn. They had bleach and disinfectant sprays for everything. I've never personally dealt with a fungus and figured I was taking good cautionary steps. That's why I am really unsure what to think of this hair loss. It looks to my eye and to Alisha's like his hair has simply fallen out. Malnourishment, or fungus?

When I took a peek into his mouth (unsure if I mentioned it in other posts) the first thing that's obvious is that he lost a tooth recently, and that he's losing another one. The next thing to notice is that he still has his wolf teeth. They are far enough down that they would cause discomfort were I too hard on his poor baby mouth. Alisha can't afford to get them pulled when this vet (previously mentioned) comes down because the prices are way higher than we were all quoted - bullshit! My mare isn't getting floated either because she doesn't need it. This means that I need to be super careful about how I handle the little guys mouth. I've heard that it's not painful per se, but it is irritating to the gums surrounding the teeth. Alisha is currently saving up to get them pulled.

Finally his last issue - his hind feet. I cannot explain how appalled I am at his hind feet. They were "done the same time as his fronts" but they are pancaking and one of them is cracking a little. My farrier never emailed me back (yet) ... (how kind of him, not) but he should be calling regarding my mares appointment soon, and I will bring it up with him and ask. Because he needs his feet done asap. They're not a huge worry for me but I still consider them an issue because the hooves make the horse. If that makes sense, it seems slightly paradoxical. Regardless, they're getting done soon whether or not Howie will take him, and if Kirk is still going to do his feet I will demand kindly that he do more than just "take a little off." He needs his feet trimmed, dammit, not tickled with a rasp.

Negatives aside, I've ridden him a few more times since the last post. It's a ridiculously dramatic change since the first two rides I put on him. Ride 3 (or was it 4? I'll call it 3) consisted of a tense half hour of tug o' war. I wasn't particularly hard on his mouth but I did use more hand than seat or leg, and this was problem number one. He's green. He doesn't know what I'm asking of him. I wasn't in a great mood and I was tense. Things clearly weren't working so I got off, walked him around, pet him and talked to him, and breathed. I relaxed myself. Turned on my iPod, and just sat on the fence for a while. When I got back on, I was much more relaxed, and I talked to him every time I shifted my weight, added calf, applied bit pressure etcetera. He was much more responsive and by the end of the ride he understood what I was asking. His jackhammer trot had gone from having the ability to cause infertility to a cadent, relaxed jog. Not the smoothest jog ever, but it was definitely a jog. Ride 4 was like the second half of ride 3; I was completely relaxed and he didn't fret over leg pressure or bit pressure. He was much more responsive and the deeper I sat the slower he went. It's impressive how intuitive horses (some more than others) are and how something so simple as weight in your stirrups can change their entire demeanor/way of going. Our lopes/canters are very short currently because he races off and is unbalanced. Short bursts of the canter will build up the muscles necessary and when I'm quiet on him, he'll relax into it the more we do it. He doesn't get frightened or begin spooking, it just feels unnatural and perhaps a bit dangerous to him. Ride 5 - last sunday - was at a 4H function. A massive "lesson" at the ring near my house. There were around ten of us. I lunged him until he stopped freaking out (rare for him, but it was all new) and then got on and walked. Did our usual figure 8's at the walk, relaxing both of us, moving off my leg, semi-collecting with bit and leg pressure. He was fantastic. He was lookie a bit but I didn't expect anything less from him! Our trot was a bit hammery because I was nervous at how he'd react. When I eased up and released the tension from my shoulders and SAT, we were able to get down to business and do figure 8's, serpentines and other obstacles. Our whoa's were even better. In rides 3 and 4 we would whoa nicely, and then approximately 1.3seconds later he'd decide it was take off time. I never put my legs on him, only asked him gently to whoa with my voice and fingers. This meant that he was being told in one direction to whoa and I hoped he'd be less confused. He fidgeted sideways and backwards and finally stopped and started pawing. I rapped him on the shoulder and basically told him whoa with tiny bits of bit pressure when he moved forward until I got a solid 5 seconds of stand still time. Then we moved off with much praise! This happened in rides 3 and 4 every time, and in ride 5 with the group we whoa'd for a massive 10 seconds. He got huge pets for that. Our back ups are a lot more relaxed as well.

I'm not going to ride him consistently, even though his weight is MUCH better now, until he gets his feet done, but I will be riding him occasionally. I will update more often.

Thoughts, comments, question? I'd like a bit of info on wolf teeth and the balding, if anyone is knowledgeable and so willing!

Pictures promised for next post, I swear! (My camera kicked the bucket, but I'll steal moms!)

Judgment Failures of a Food Lady.

Shaggy remains, well, shaggy. He's also still underweight. I've had him for approximately 12 days now, and he looks as though he has gained some weight, but still not enough to make me happy. I've ridden him three times lightly now, walk jog, mostly lots of turning and moving off my legs. He's sort of challenging as he's dead headed and then overly sensitive, hot and cold. He has no buck or rear, he never says, "no," he just throws temper tantrums at odd times which are mostly head tossing and becoming dead to my cues. He walks, trots (hammering-ly) and I know he'll canter, but he has no muscle and I feel we'd both die if I attempted. He won't move his hindquarters off leg pressure but he does turn at calf pressure. He does not back up. He barely knows how to whoa. However since he is not gaining weight like I believe he should be, I am officially laying off, like I really should have in the beginning. Over zealous I suppose.

On the Henneke Body Scoring Chart, I'd put him at a 3.5 but I don't know my stuff very well. I've only been looking recently. Here's a link to the actual chart and here's a link to an image pertaining to the areas used to judged body score. Here's Shaggy as of tonight. It was dusky so pardon the image quality. Also that line going from  his shoulder to the right was where I smacked him with a wet lead rope. Grass is very appealing. The other patches? No idea, the more hair I get off him the more weird things I'm finding. He does not seem like a very healthy horse in general. More about this to come...

He's being fed beet pulp, complete pellets, and alfalfa pellets. I'm not sure what to call the exact measurements but I'd put the dry mix at 2/5 complete pellets, 1/5 alfalfa pellets and 2/5 beet pulp. It is all mixed together in an 8 quart bucket and soaked in hot water for 15-20 minutes until all water is absorbed. He is fed this twice a day. In terms of hay - I'd be feeding an orchard hay or alfalfa/mix (one flake of each) if I could but orchard and alfalfa are so expensive, and my friend literally cannot afford it. The little guy pretty much gets to eat as much as he wants. I throw him 2 flakes in the morning to get him through the day while I'm at school (he's a very slow muncher) and then he gets thrown a flake whenever I see he's got none left to eat. Because he's so slow this normally translates into: 2 flakes with morning grain (7:00am), 1 flake when I get home (3:40pm), 1 flake with night grain (7:30pm) and then 1 flake at lock-up (11:00pm - 12:00am). Here's his grain in the sequence dry, soaking, soaked.

The pictures make him seem so much skinnier and then I feel terrible for even trying to saddle him while he's so skinny, but when you're beside him he seems much more solid and not so delicate. I wonder if the flash/lighting of the pictures exaggerates the ribs or if I should really feel bad for hopping on those three times. Either way he is getting a good 14 days of nothing but groundwork. I might tack him up for our 4-H riding lesson and check him up and lunge, but I will tie him and ride Lily instead. Regarding his overall condition, and speaking of 4-H, there is a vet (apparently a Californian vet) coming randomly to our city, and she will float and vaccinate/worm and do a general checkup, price depending on how many people show up.We get this deal because we are 4-H, she is already here (for whatever reason, I don't know) and because it's a clinic-type deal. My mare Lily is definitely going to get her teeth checked and vaccines done, and Alisha said YES YES YES to getting Shaggy done cheaper than normal. Right now the fee is $50.00 per horse, but the more horses she does the cheaper it will be. Our 4-H leader is assuming $30.00 per horse if this generates the turnout that it should. I think this is a great deal and will save us some bills as well as getting Shaggy checked out without creating a tense situation between me and my parents or me and Alisha. Until then (Easter Sunday) I am stuffing him with grain and grooming the hair out of him. Literally. Look at all this hair from 30 minutes groom time with a metal curry (carefully over his thin frame, naturally).

There's a schooling show on May 15th that is going to be semi-formal,with your basic in-hand, english, western, and pattern classes, plus road/show hack and mini classes. I'm going to haul both horses there and putter around with Shaggy, maybe throw Lily in a few classes and just play. I was going to try and do some in-hand with Shaggy but I think for now the atmosphere will be enough on him. I'll just help out where I can, take some pictures, and acclimate him to the scene. He's a real trooper and I know he'll take it in stride anyway.

One thing I can definitely say about our relationship so far is that he has identified me successfully as "the food lady." I walk toward him purposefully, and he goes "oh dear" and semi-avoids me. I come toward him with anything resembling a food pail or treat and he's all googoo eyes at me. He has the girliest whinny ever, and when I hear it from the house, I just know it's him saying, "Hey food lady, bring me some grub!"

Looks Can Be Deceiving.

The poor little man is so skinny I don't know if he's actually a little man or if he's a big man in disguise. I really think he's pushing 15.1hh but he's so skinny that when you stand back he looks yearling-like and short... He's got no muscle tone anywhere, either. It's pitiful. I fed grain around 7:30am, took his blanket off and brushed the crap out of him today, and I clipped his socks/stockings/blaze. I hate white hair and he has tons of it, so to make things easier on me and to do something with him that involves no effort on his part, I clipped everything white. I got some good pictures of his pigeon toes and now just need to e-mail my farrier to see if he can do anything about it. It seems worse in his left fore (white sock) than his right fore. I'm not very hoof-smart though so I couldn't say either way with much conviction. His current farrier seems to have forgotten to trim his hinds at their last visit (last Tuesday, March 22nd).

I look at him in person and I don't mind his conformation too much, his topline is very poor - everything is very poor - but other than the pigeon toes, weak loin and lack of conditioning, nothing jumps out. Well his plain head does too, but that's OK because it makes him cute. When I get around to getting good conformation pictures of him I will be throwing him to the wild savages at the Free Speech Horse Forum. I'm not knowledgeable in the slightest so anything conformation/hoof-wise that comes from my fingertips/mouth should be taken with a grain of salt. I think he's cute, and he's fluffy, and he's a gelding, so it's all 'kay!

Our session for today besides lengthy grooming and clipping (which he was fantastic for, I might add) was showmanship. We worked on stepping out together, stopping, trotting off, backing up, and turning into and away from me at the walk. Into me is a bit hard as the shank pressure made him nervous. I was relaxed and tapped his haunches with the end of the lead every so often and praised him heavily when he was successful. Backing up was hell. We must have had to do it 25+ times. I'd move into him and he'd stand like a log, and when I'd hit the end of the chain, he'd just flap his loose lips around like a fish. After some patience, smacks, and cookies/overboard praise, he gets it. I move into him with purpose and he moves away. Bravo! We lunged lightly just at the walk and trot also and he now understands that woah means stop. I was ecstatic with him and all he absorbed today so I threw him back on the wash pad, gave him a good scrub with a curry (much to his hairy delight) and reblanketed him (he's double blanketed with a hood.) He now is happily munching hay, waiting for his night-time grain (to come in about an hour!) Very pleased with him today.

Once he has some fat on him I'll have to build him up slowly, as there is literally no muscle. The pics that you have seen/will see show what looks like a tall yearling / scrawny two year old, not an almost-four-year-old... I hope to see that improving soon! For the record - he's drinking and eating well and he made a huge mess of his stall with poop, is it a gelding thing? He also got dirt and hay in his water bucket so here's pics of his stall all super clean... For the time being.

Groceries, Please.

It's too early in the morning for me to count today as a day, as I should be in bed right now. So when I say "today" I'm referring to Saturday, the 26th. Shaggy came home Friday night with his owner in tow. She brought over his grain and we tarped the hay in our trailer so it doesn't get mixed in with ours. He and Lily hit it off and she actually likes him. He naturally got zapped by the electric tape and now gives it some distance! I left him for the night after giving him grain later on and throwing hay at him. He was eating fine, hadn't drank much, and his poop was runny. Alisha said to expect this and I wasn't/am not too worried. It was today that really got me.

I woke up at 7:30am to grain them and they both were bright eyed and perky, nickering for their grain when I opened their top dutch doors. Opened the sliding doors into their runs, turned on the electric fence, threw flakes in their runs, and went back to bed... Until 11:30am! I slept it, but I haven't been feeling so well recently so I'm not beating myself up over the extra sleep. When I got up I ate an apple and put on a bra and headed outside in PJ's and my winter jacket. I pulled out Lily Banilly and threw her blanket in the hay shed. Gave her a good curry and brushed off the little bit of hair she had shed, then tossed her out in the back field so she could graze. I then pulled out Shaggy and took his two blankets off. Much to my terror, he is not just skinny, but a rack of bones. My plans are thrown out the window. I know it's not entirely my friends fault, it was a case of "the horse was blanketed all winter and when I took them off finally I went, oh shit!" She's been pounding grain into him for the past month or so. So now instead of throwing the saddle on and checking him up on the lunge line for a few days before mounting and starting basic woah, walk and trot commands, I'm reduced to handwalking him and pounding the groceries into him - which is totally fine! I just feel bad for the bugger. I took some pictures but naturally they are all on my other computer. I will add them to this post tomorrow when I'm up and about after I deal with the horses.

I did lunge him a bit and he is uncoordinated, unbalanced... It's pretty sad really, he turns 4 in June. He's hovering around 15hh right now, maybe pushing 15.1hh at the hip, and he's a bit plain headed but with groceries and conditioning I think he'll be a cute gelding. He just really needs the weight! He's also pigeon toed and I told Alisha I'm going to take pictures of his feet and e-mail them to my farrier (who has done wonders with my mares club foot) and see if he can do anything about it. They look like they're more farrier work than bone structure, which is weird. Her current farrier, plain and simple, sucks. My farrier costs about $30.00 more though so I need to verify that he WILL take her horse on for her and me, and then she will pay only if he thinks he CAN do something about the pigeon toed-ness. It doesn't effect him much that I've seen so far, but it might down the road if not given proper attention. Also today I took the clippers to his blaze and fore sock, I can't stand long white hairs as they shed so damn much and he's a shaggy beast already. He was fantastic and I'll tackle his hind stocking and sock tomorrow. I also used a shedding block and metal/rubber curry to drag hair off of him and he lost enough to make another pony out of it ... And he's still living up to his name!

He's a really calm little guy and he didn't blink when we trailered, when we let him go in his new enclosure, when I clipped his leg/face. So far he takes everything in stride. We also had a bit of a ground WOAH lesson, as he doesn't even grasp the concept that woah means stop. We walked around my yard woah-ing for probably about an hour before he stopped on command versus me him stopping because I stopped. I was very pleased with him and threw him in his paddock with hay. I've upped his grains just a tad and am giving him extra hay. He gets beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, and complete pellets, all soaked in hot water. He's also getting 2 flakes in the morning, afternoon, and night, and I'll be turning him out as soon as the daylight lasts longer, so that he'll get grass. I'm deworming Lily soon so I asked Alisha to pick up some wormer. Theres Ivermectin sitting in the feed room by his bucket so I can worm them at the same time. When he's cleaned up his food I'll throw him an extra flake here and there too, I really just want weight on him - his bones protrude and you can feel/see almost ALL of his ribs, his spine is sticking out, too. Hopefully the grain/hay/worming will help him pack on the weight... I'd feel bad putting a saddle on the fellow. He has a really kind face, which makes it all worse in the pitying department.

Also I'm really not blaming Alisha. I had an oh shit moment with Lily too, it just so happens she's an easy keeper, and Shaggy's not - he's always been an "Ethiopian," as she calls him, so I feel bad for her that he is so skinny - her mare is super chub. Even though they're half siblings they require totally different diets. Her mare needs no grain, while this guy clearly does!

Getting Excited!

The basics first, I suppose. I'm a 17 year old female who has been riding competitively and as recreation for 9 years. My name is Riley. I don't know why I'm blogging or if there is a point but hey, writing helps you vent! Anyway, my story is this: I have a rising 10 year old QH mare that I've owned for nearly 7 years. She is not 100% sound undersaddle but is sound and comfortable just lounging around so while I save up the money to get a lameness evaluation/xrays done, I have a young green project. My baby girl Lily is still getting all the loves and brushes she wants and deserves, she just doesn't have to work as hard!

I used to show QH a lot after "graduating" from Open/4H shows I attended with the local 4H group. Seems like now I'm backtracking! I have this friend in town who has two (apparently cattle-bred) QH's, both with the same sire, Skippa Oak Bar. Last summer I took her at-the-time 8 y/o mare for a month and put some time onto her. Now I'm taking her 3 y/o gelding on as a project. I'll have him for around six months as it's my goal to break him (he is very minimally broke, not sure to what extent) and take him to some Open shows - I'm rejoining 4H! Then I don't know, I'll be out of highschool and starting college. She reckons she'll sell him and give me a percentage of what he sells for, but she's doing me a favour as well as me doing her one, so I may or may not accept. She is in her senior year at highschool with me, is attending two college courses and works at Canadian Tire. With two horses she has zero time. Me? I just want to ride, and I love greenies.

From what I understand, Shaggy - "MTA Skippa Doc Jack" - is between 15.1hh/15.2hh, is currently a hairy yak, and is slightly underweight. He's been 'ethiopian' since she bought him, he's not an easy keeper. I'm not even sure what she's done with him. I know she's checked him up and lunged, walk trot cantered, but I don't know how broke or finessed he is. My dad and I are going there tomorrow night to grab him along with hay and grain and blankets etc (she's providing food and paying for farrier etc, go figure). I already have the stall set up for him and the paddock divided by electric tape. I will provide pictures of the stall/enclosure etcetera tomorrow when the lighting is good! I don't have any recent pictures of him but here's one taken of him when she first got him as a 15 month old (or so). Pretty skinny hey? If he's still too skinny now I'll jam the groceries into him harder than she is now...