Farrier Visit

Now we're getting some where. I had the shoes removed today. As I suspected the last time they were shod, Jerzey had been quicked on her right and left hind and her left front. Geeezus. But, of course, because she showed no signs of it when I finally got the farrier to come back out to check on his work, "almost two weeks later", she wasn't limping at all. My suspicions are, she got use to the pain, so he didn't do any thing about it at the time. That's when I felt a tad annoyed about the whole thing. I started reevaluating the way he does business and began my search for an other farrier.

The guy I had out today was very informative and explained thoroughly,  why and how they got to this point. When he pulled the shoes, where they had been pressure quicked, a small amount of blood surfaced from each hole. I just felt sick. All the time I was complaining in the past about my horse just wasn't right, came together. I hope my husband doesn't dismiss my concern from now on. Atleast I was persistant enough to get to the bottom of their issues. From now on I'll do my homework before I get some one else to do a job that could potentially be a dangerous situation given it enough time to evolve.

Jerzey: This is the left front after deshod. The foot has contracted heels and her heel wasn't growing out as fast as her toes. Explanation being, the wall had overshot the iron and wasn't spread enough to allow the foot to expand. He only trimmed the toes and did a mustang roll on the toe. He didn't do any rasping of the foot due to lack of growth from the previous job. She was pretty level on this foot.

Jerzey: left front. This foot has a quarter crack on the outside. Explanation, she was weight bearing on her outside because her foot was longer on the inside. The outside wall had separated horizontally and eventually broke off from the time before last. This foot was growing strangely. It always had a hump in it. The farrier from before use to rasp off the wall to compensate. This guy trimmed off the excess from the inside and leveled the foot lightly. Trimmed off the toe and did a mustang roll as well. Not to much, he said" because she didn't have enough growth. He didn't want to do to much this time.

Jerzey: left hind. Ok, so now here's the real big issue I had from the time before. Like I suspected. She had pressure quicks. The nail on the high side brought blood when he pulled the shoe. Though for sometime now, she had shown no signs of it being bothersome other than she dragged both hind feet and she couldn't roll over on her hocks when I was riding her. She was giving from time to time and showing resistance when I asked her to make sharp turns. This foot was also unbalanced. He did the same to this foot. Trimmed the toe and did a mustang roll. 

Jerzey: right hind. The other culprit. The high nail on the outside wall was in the quick! arg! I just can't believe this mare didn't act silly when I rode her more than she should. She obviously has a very high pain tolerance and I really need to stay tuned in better than I have been. How ever if she doesn't complain, how can I? I'm going to listen to my gut instincts from now on and forget that people tell me I'm worrisome.  

Mouse

Mouse still has that limp on his right hoof. I'll be having a farrier out in the morning at 10 am. I'm having both, Jerzey and Mouses shoes removed for rehabilitation. I'm hopeful it will have a profound effect on them. I've read every thing I've been able to get my hands on about barefoot trimming and I'm hopeful this is their ticket to rebuilding a solid foundation. The last time my farrier was out, told me my mares heels were contracting. I was like, huh? And you still want to keep shoes on her? His response was, she should never be with out shoes. I was like, how could that be good for her, to keep shoes on her. I'm no rocket scientist, but if her hooves can't expand from having the shoes, how could she ever become normal again?

I'm not using the same guy this time. I want a second opinion and maybe a third or fourth if I can't get honest answers to my questions. Any how, my quest begins early tomorrow. I'll be taking pictures of the event and future progress until I get satisfaction. 

It's finally gotten back to normal...

Our week finally come together. Ron was let out of the hospital on Tuesday. Multiple stints and repair on his heart. Suffering previously from a 90% blockage in his heart. What a close call. The Doctor again, advised him to quit smoking. Being a light smoker my self, know exactly how hard it is to put them down. I went back to work on Thursday. There is still not much going on. We have slowed down considerably. It won't be to long before the busy season will start again, so I'm taking advantage of the rest.

He has to take a break now!

Saturday morning and it's till to friggin hot. Ronnie went in the hospital again last night. He's been feeling sluggish all week. It's a real good thing he recognizes his symptoms. Feeling bad yesterday, he called me at work around 5:30 pm wanting me to come home. Makayla had the situation under control and before I could make it home, they had called an ambulance out. Deciding to transport him because his blood pressure was a dangerously high level.

Ronnie called just before I got home and told me the neighbor was watching Makayla until I arrived. Having to take care of the livestock and dogs, we opted not to go to the hospital. I talked to Ronnie several times. The hospital staff had him taken care of. He would be in emergency until a room became available. They are keeping him over the weekend and sending him to the cath lab for  tests on Monday.

We awoke around 7:30 am this morning, because of my inability to sleep last night. Took  care of the animals on the place, called Ronnie for the low-down, and ate breakfast at Peggy's Diner. Returning home at 11:00 am, we let the dogs out for awhile, put a load of clothes in the washer. We're going to run up to the hospital some where around 2. Ronnie needs a paper, some one dollar bills for the snack machines and a book to keep him occupied for a couple of days. ha ha ha!

The good thing about keeping him there is, he's going to be forced to get some much needed rest. He never takes a break unless he can't move. Any who, enough for now...

Bridleless: Second session

  Like the night before, I saddled up my mare. She was feeling pretty good and it took me a few minutes to get her attention on schooling. We rode large circles in the pasture out behind the house. It's a great space to drill her and gives her a change of scenery apart from the excercise pen. I started out by trotting big circles to looses her up, then loping larger circles. A rule of thumb I try to remember is, trot for stamina and lope for lungs. It's still quite hot even at 7 pm, so loping to long is not an option. After getting her attention, we began the bridleless session. She is picking it up real well. Repeating the drill of circling large circles with leg pressure both directions. I've noticed it doesn't take much effort to get her to turn around now. I squeeze once and she reponds immediately. I worked on her stop more last night. Paying close attention to where I sit in the saddle and making sure I ride her loosely to a stop. It's really hard not to tense up, but I'm trying real hard and letting my body relax into the stop. There's that muscle memory thing!

Doesn't she look pretty?

Having gotten ready for school, Makayla is looking especially tall for a 12 year old. I haven't measured her in awhile. That's going to be on my next agenda. I have the usual beginning of school things to fill. She starts at 6am in the morning. Her morning duties include:

1. Rising at 6 am.
2. Getting dressed.
3. Making her bed and picking up her room.
4. Feed her horse and dog.
5. Eating breakfast.
6. Brushing her teeth and hair.

I don't think that's to much responsibility for her at this age. After all, if she wants certain things, she has to take care of them. She's such a big help to us with other things also. Never complaining for the most part.

Video of Makayla and Mouser's

  Makayla saddled up Mouse tonight. He really needs a lot of riding. I guess tonight's as good as any to get him use to riding every day. His dang feet are so long right now, he stumbles terribly. Before we bought him, the guy had a farrier shoe him and he left the toes long. His hooves aren't in that bad a shape, they just need some better care.  The farrier who shod him really sucked. His feet aren't level and the shoes stick out to far behind the heel. I mean, come on. Since when does a farrier fit a hoof to the shoe and not fit the shoe to the foot. ffs! He could have at least rolled them in some, cut them off and rasped off the ends. I've never seen work this shotty. Not to mention, the horse is toed out to begin with. Therefore, he needs a level foot, so he can hit the ground better. Off my soap box now! lol

Bridleless Riding

  I finely made up my mind, to start bridle-less training today. I've been contemplating this for awhile now. Searching for training tips and pointers from every article I can get my hands on, I learned my riding technique sucks, "putting it bluntly". So, as head strong as I can be at times, I'm not going to let that stand in my way. Even though I try not to be heavy handed on my horses mouth, proper balance and insecurities get the best of me in the end. Therefore I get the same results every time. A half ass in-put from my horse, because of a half ass out-put from me. Reading several articles by one in particular trainer, it is time to take it to a whole new level.

  I've learned the way I sit in the saddle plays a crucial role on how my horse performs. Duh! Well, I already knew this, but my understanding was cloudy, due to my lack of understanding. So, in his words of wisdom, it hit me right down to the very core. Finally a guy who puts words where I can get a hold on them. Being able to sit correctly, hold your hands right and place your legs where they need to be, takes practice. Something that really stuck in my head, was muscle memory. Having ridden the same way for many years, it's now time to change my way of thinking first. Then I can change the way I ride.

  After dinner I saddled up Jerzey. And because I use my hands way to much, I did something out of the ordinary for me. I put a rope halter on her, snapped some split leather reins to the cheeks of the halter and off we went. Sitting deep and lumbering in the saddle, we started out with large circles in the exercise arena. I have been working on leg cues for sometime now. So, hoping it would be a little easier, since I had already done some preliminary steps to working off leg pressure. Circling with reins in hand, I lay the reins on her neck and squeezed my right leg until she turned a tight circle to the left. I did the same on the other side. We repeated these figures until I felt comfortable putting the reins down.

  Pretty soon, we were moving forward in large circles, then making the circles smaller in both directions without using my hands at all. Paying close attention to my seat, sitting loosely in the saddle with my legs hanging straight down. Never changing the way I sat or moving my legs until I asked her to do a specific maneuver. It's going to take practice at the walk, before I can step it up to a trot. I realized while working with her, her stop has a lag. I have to pick up the reins for her to come completely to a halt. When she does come to a complete stop, I squeeze my legs, pull back on the reins and she backs up great. I'm going to have to concentrate on a better stop, before I can move on.