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!"