Having a Baby Around

I've posted about Comanche several times and I figured it would be appropriate to talk about him again!

He still looks like a scrawny awkward baby, but he's so adorable... :)

We've been working on baby things like respecting personal space and leading properly and he's picking up on everything really fast.  He even got his feet trimmed on Wednesday and even though he wasn't a perfect angel he was definitely trying to understand what was required of him and the whole session was a success.  I love my trimmer - he was so patient and slow with Comanche.  And I was very proud of Comanche himself for trying. :)

Having a baby around is so different from my two girls, and a stud colt to boot. It's been an adventure so far, and a super fun one!  He's very expressive about what he thinks and if he's nervous he definitely feels the need to move his feet.

He's been getting much better at leading also... I don't like a horse that follows directly on your heels, especially where I can't see him, so we've been working on breaking that habit and he's doing well with it. He doesn't rush ahead (yet) so I've just been using a lunge whip to gently move his shoulder over when he drifts out of my sight. The only other bad leading habit he has is that he thinks sometimes that he can just leave if he wants to, but I'm setting a firm boundary with the lead rope and he's catching on to that too.

I've introduced him to a saddle blanket once so far and he was pretty wary of it but we got to the point that I could mess with the blanket on the other side of his paddock and he would watch me without worrying too much.  ;)

He's about to get six weeks off while I travel, and then he's going to have a vet appointment to have his teeth looked at and be gelded.  I'm looking forward to everything we can get done this spring after I get back! :)

Handing Over the Reins

I am now less than a week away from my six-week trip to Europe, and that means that I am very reluctantly preparing to leave my horses behind in the care of my family and friends.
If you own a horse, or even any kind of animal, you know that it can be very difficult to leave them behind for even a short amount of time - this feels like an eternity!

My family will be feeding all three horses and they do a fine job of it, but I couldn't leave Lady for six weeks to stew in a pasture and stiffen up or go crazy. I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad as I imagined it, but I just didn't feel right doing it that way.

Spoiled brat of a horse.

Anyways, I deliberated on the situation and ended up asking a friend of mine to give Lady some exercise while I'm away. She'll be working with/riding Lady 1-3x per week, which is plenty to keep her moving and limber.

Even though I'm totally fine with my friend's riding and experience and all that, there is still part of me that is very nervous about leaving my horse in someone else's hands. It wouldn't matter at all if I was leaving her with a fantastic famous trainer or whatever.... I would still be anxious.

So Rebecca has been over twice to ride Lady... and I'm starting to feel better.

Basically, I've allowed her to come and completely handle Lady on her own while I watch and offer input...  And it's been hard. I'm always the one to handle Lady, so the hand-off thing takes willpower on my end.

They are getting along... Lady has seemed compliant and willing and mostly happy about everything. Rebecca usually rides Western, so Lady will get a break from the dressage we've been doing lately (which I'm sure she'll like).

Of course its not going to be the same as if I was home handling and taking care of my own horse.... but Rebecca isn't about to ruin Lady's training, and Lady isn't about to dump Rebecca or anything like that.

It will be good for both of them.

I still want to stay with my horse though......

The Next Phase

It is now summer! Finals week is past and I attended graduation this last Friday, where I had to say farewells to several friends. I will be taking one summer course so that I can graduate at the end of the fall semester, but that does not start until the middle of July, which means I have close to two months free of schooling.

Well... I signed up for two low-intensity courses on Coursera.org. One starts next week and another starts the week after. I guess there is no such thing as escaping new things to learn, but I'm not sure I really  mind.

This summer has little on the calender so far. There is the World Expo - American Taekwondo Association that I will be attending in early July for competition. I also have my 20th birthday in July - that sounds scary!  O.o

I am attempting to search for a job that will help me pay for school and prepare for both a planned trip to Europe next spring and the big move to university (with Lady!) next summer. Landing a decent job seems to be rather difficult, however.

LINK

On the equine front, we have had a little good news. Lady is still tender, but not outright sore or anything. I am keeping her on grass for the moment as I simply cannot justify taking her off of it as it does not seem natural to me. So for now, both horses stay on pasture, which is now much shorter and not so rich anyways.

Instead of one bucket a day, I decided to divide her feed into two smaller meals. I only give her soaked timothy/alfalfa cubes mixed with a bit of oats, and only enough to mix her supplements in and make her happy. She is getting her regular supplements in the morning along with epsom salts and aloe vera (this week only). In the evening, she'll get her apple cider vineger, garlic, vitamin C, vitamin E (when I get it), and some extra comfrey, nettle and willow. I also plan to have activated charcoal on hand if she takes a turn for the worst and I'm offering her Himalayan salt and kelp daily.

Since she is doing better again, the best thing I feel I can do for her is keep her in light exercise. Right now, that is going to be at least 20 or 30 minutes of hand walking and trotting. She will also get a small amount of walking on gravel every day, and depending on how she continues to feel, I'll start going back to our regular work.

Hopefully, we can have a ride before this week is over.  *fingers crossed!*

The Mountain

Poor, muddy, and not-so-happy horsie.....

So the trimmer was out today and Lady is definitely laminitic, probably chronic. She was also quite certain that we had an episode of founder pretty recently, which would definitely explain the last week.

<lots of sad faces>

I have not had a vet out to look at her, but since I won't get as close to conventional vet medicine as a single minute dose of Bute anymore, there doesn't seem to be much point. I'll get a diagnosis at best, and spend way too much money, at worst.

So, there won't be any magical, fast cures happening, but we will get through this one too.

Since Lady now has a set of 4 lovely manicured feet, I plan to keep my tools close at hand so that those hooves stay pretty and don't grow out too far. I cannot use nippers on her feet because she has thick and rock-hard hoof wall and I'm just not strong enough.

I don't completely agree with the practice of pulling laminitic horses off of grass because it just doesn't seem right or natural. Limiting grass intake is another matter, and I probably will do that by taking both the girls into the small paddocks for 8-10/12 hours per day. We'll see.

Exercise is going to be another part of recovery, as well as lots of herbal and vitamin/mineral supplementing.

Fingers crossed that the plan in my head works out and we are back to regular work again soon.

Rain!! + Blog Hop: Right Here, Right Now

This week, Viva Carlos asked "What are you currently working on in your rides or lessons?"

I have not been taking lessons, at least not from a specific trainer. I've just been studying on my own, which isn't always the best route, but its the most I can afford at the moment.

So, ummm... I am currently working on keeping my horse sound. It's been over a week since I actually rode. But besides that, we are working on rhythm, relaxation, and responsiveness, and being consistent in those three areas.

We were working on this without much structure, but because of the lame horse this week, I've done some more reading and contemplating and I've realized that I need to allow and encourage more forward motion. I think that big school movements will be good for both Lady and for me. She has not been very forward lately, and I know that my position and unconfidence don't help that.


I'm really happy to say that Lady seems to be doing much better. The girls are still separated to keep the horse off of grass, so there is some tension, but it is nicer to see Lady trotting back and forth along the fence instead of standing in one spot and sweating with anxiety, but not willing to move a foot.

The trimmer will be out tomorrow at noon and hopefully we can find some answer to this puzzle and some way to keep it in check without making my poor horse too unhappy.

In other news, it has rained ALL DAY here today! Some areas nearby have been reporting up to 5 inches of rain! It feels SO good! :D

April's Goal Review

April 2014 Goals - Horse Related

• Film 1 riding session.  Didn't happen. Was supposed to over one weekend when I had help, but got sick instead. :(
• Practice riding the trot with help.  Did not happen for the same reasons as above.  :'(
• Take The Pony out 4 times.  Not 4 times, but it did happen twice. She is no longer wearing a halter in the pasture and is doing so much better!
• Complete a set of Online Level 3 tasks.
• Work with a flag.  We worked on this twice and made some progress. Lady is still tense about it, but not scared.
• Lead by one ear and backwards by a hind leg.  We did some leading backwards by the tail which went well, and played with the ear. Got her comfortable with the idea.
• Back up and draw on a 22 and 45 foot rope. We never touched the 45 foot rope, but did work on the 22-foot. Got a little bit better.
• Solid transitions and trot change of direction on the circle.  The change of direction has gotten better in one direction and not the other. Transitions are 10x better!! 
• Move sideways from Zone 1 (in front). Gotten lots better. Still have to "hold her hand".
• Play with tarps.  Nope. Never actually went to look for a tarp.
• Separate the medium and free walk.  Not exactly, but we started to get some difference.

April 2014 Goals - Personal

• Start a workout routine. Can't say this became a routine yet, but definitely started working out.
• Go to Wednesday  night church.  Went twice out of five times. :P
• Win Camp NanoWrimo with 30,000 words.  YES!!!  Finished and Won! :D
• Record a video for my blog.  A little late, but doing that this morning.
• Read four novels.  Finished two and a half. 
• Practice piano 3x a week.  I didn't exactly practice, but have made a point to play every day.
• Learn 2 new songs on the violin.  Bad me never picked up the violin.

Finals are next week and then I won't have school to worry about, so May goals should be happening much easier! :)