Monday, September 3, 2012

Soundness update a some stuff.

The lack of photographic content has been in part due to the fact that I lost my camera charger a while back.  The ones here are taken with my phone so the quality is crappy but it is something.  Since Steady and I are at a stand still until he is healed up I keep thinking I need to video some of my daughters lessons with Lily the halflinger.  I am trying to decide if Lily's progress should be documented here or on a blog that is seperate.  What do you think?  Would you enjoy hearing about her training also or stick to just Steady?  I am thinking one blog would be easier as long as you all enjoy reading about her progress also.  I have a goal to get 2 training rides in on Lily each week along with my daughter riding her in a lesson 2 days a week.  I think she would start progressing much quicker then.  And now that Steady is out of commision that should be even easier.

The horses are enjoying the softer footing and the mud that the rain has brought.




Update on Steady: He is not 3 legged lame anymore which is great.  So I am confident that it is not anything serious.  He is using in normally for the most part but he is taking too many off steps for me to be comfortable to start riding him again.  I think more than anything this cement hard ground is what is making it take so long and the flies aren't helping.  He is so thin skinned and when a fly lands on him he hates it.  Just a few days after the initial injury I was out with him and he stomped so hard at a fly with THE leg that he held it up touching his belly for a good minute.  It must have hurt.  I am now thinking that he would be best covered head to toe in fly sheets.  I am not one for babying horses but with the hard ground and flies combined it may just be the right thing to do for the time being.  We will see what this rain does for the ground and I will at least be spraying him more often with fly spray.

Here is a picture of The Dude after a nine mile trail ride that my daughter and I went on last Saturday. 
He can be a pita but he sure is sessy!

It was Lily's first time out on a trail ever and I had some apprehension having my daughter be the first one to take her through the trails.  Though that pony is the most level headed horse I have met and I was 99% sure she would be perfectly fine.  I decided that I would go ahead and let my daughter do it.  And wouldn't you know she was perfect.  Like she had done it a million times.  Steady was the idiot and he was really getting on my nerves.  Every dead branch was there to kill us and required him to stand completly still or turn around and run for home.  I had to get off 2 times to lead him past a spot but other than that we worked through it so we could mostly enjoy the ride.  To give him a little credit we have trail ridden very little this season and the times we have it has been with others who led the way.  Steady unfortunately is not a fearless leader on a trail.  The cross country course he is fearless and eager which I find funny that a trail would give him so much trouble.  Horses?

We are in the process of building a deck that Steady is ridiculously afraid of, especially when we are sitting on it.  I will hopefully be starting my training rides on Lily this week so unless someone opposes I will update her progress here.

9 comments:

  1. You could be right about the hard ground and the flies. I read a study somewhere about stopping on hard ground due to flies causing issues when done long enough.

    My barn owner hates all things "unnatural for horses" when it comes to fly prevention which means no fly masks, sprays of fly sheets but out in the wild, horses would not be hanging out in the same area for months where flies would build up and they certainly wouldn't be hanging out near cattle (we have a herd of 20 at our barn) which are huge fly attractors so to me it us unnatural for them to be covered in flies. Not that I think you are that way so much;) Most TBs I've been around are tremendously thin skinned so it must be a TB thing.
    I would enjoy the Haffie reports on this blog, no need for a second:)
    Hope the boy heals up soon!
    Sasha

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  2. Cuna would die without his fly sheet and mask. He would also die in the wild. It's a tb thing.

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  3. I know that garlic powder, and vinegar can help your horse natural repel flies. I put the vinegar right onto my hay (versus in their water supply) so that I know that my horses are getting it- and if they don't like the flavor they still drink.

    Also I think it'd be fun to hear about Lily and the pony's progress!

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  4. Garlic isn't safe for horses! http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/nutrition/feeds/eqgarlic528/

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    Replies
    1. "Springtime Inc."
      Research papers on EXACTLY "what kind "of Garlic isn't safe . And all the research you'd need to know they are Pros.
      Some isn't, but theirs IS!

      The benefits.outweigh anyone's unfounded scare tactics.
      I used Springtime's Garlic on my mare's open would several weeks ago. Made a poultice. She's healing nicely.

      15 Year user here of Springtime's garlic , with a TB. She isn't immune to glue , bug her bites and welts are fewer.
      Just read the testimonies too.

      Sorry to hear Steady got injured Amy. He'll come good soon.

      KK

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    2. Not immune to flies...but garlic use helps + general immunity

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  5. Hey, I am all for making their life easier! Would love to see pics, videos, and read updates on Lily and your daughter. Someone besides me needs to brag shamelessly on their daughter on their blog :) So happy to hear Steady is healing.

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  6. Happy to hear he's healing quick! WHEW that is always a relief. I like hearing about ALL horse adventures :)

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  7. I would love for you to document you daughter's and Lily's progress on this blog. :) It is way easier to have one blog and it is horse related. The reason I have two is because one is horse related and one is dog/farm related. The people who like to read the dog/farm blog aren't interested enough to sit through long, boring posts about horses lol.

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