Horse Talk

[chicken19]

I'm going to keep them off the new pasture tomorrow and see how Cinnamon's appetite is then. Then I'll know for sure. Eli (the mini) doesn't seem to be *too* big right now, but I don't want him getting really overweight. I just am not sure how he'd react wearing a grazing muzzle. I was thinking once the round pen is finished I can make sure he's calm with it in there, but I won't make him wear it if I don't need to.

Maybe check her teeth? My senior was having trouble eating and lost her appetite because her teeth needed to be done. Anyway, we got her teeth done and she's eating more.
I find seniors are super picky about food sometimes. Maybe add water to her grain if you grain her. That really helped with my old mare.

And about the mini, my best advice is put him in a smaller pen (like a electric fence) and feed him hay. In my experience those grazing muzzles are evil.
I bought a green Welsh/TB gelding who used to wear a grazing muzzle. He had chewed through the rubber and it took him about a year for the sores and marks to go away on his face that were caused by the muzzle.

 

[ChickenLover200]

I'm going to keep them off the new pasture tomorrow and see how Cinnamon's appetite is then. Then I'll know for sure. Eli (the mini) doesn't seem to be *too* big right now, but I don't want him getting really overweight. I just am not sure how he'd react wearing a grazing muzzle. I was thinking once the round pen is finished I can make sure he's calm with it in there, but I won't make him wear it if I don't need to.

Maybe check her teeth? My senior was having trouble eating and lost her appetite because her teeth needed to be done. Anyway, we got her teeth done and she's eating more.
I find seniors are super picky about food sometimes. Maybe add water to her grain if you grain her. That really helped with my old mare.

And about the mini, my best advice is put him in a smaller pen (like a electric fence) and feed him hay. In my experience those grazing muzzles are evil.
I bought a green Welsh/TB gelding who used to wear a grazing muzzle. He had chewed through the rubber and it took him about a year for the sores and marks to go away on his face that were caused by the muzzle.

Cinnamon just got her teeth floatee in January, so they should still be good. I'm keeping her off of pasture today to see if her appetite is back to normal tonight or tomorrow morning.

Yikes. Maybe he just needs more exercise... Which I am planning to do this year... The muzzle of course is a resort...

 

[chicken19]

Y

Quote: Cinnamon just got her teeth floatee in January, so they should still be good. I'm keeping her off of pasture today to see if her appetite is back to normal tonight or tomorrow morning.

Yikes. Maybe he just needs more exercise... Which I am planning to do this year... The muzzle of course is a resort...
I don't know what else. Is she skinny?

Sounds good.

 

[ChickenLover200]

Y

 

 

I'm going to keep them off the new pasture tomorrow and see how Cinnamon's appetite is then. Then I'll know for sure. Eli (the mini) doesn't seem to be *too* big right now, but I don't want him getting really overweight. I just am not sure how he'd react wearing a grazing muzzle. I was thinking once the round pen is finished I can make sure he's calm with it in there, but I won't make him wear it if I don't need to.

Maybe check her teeth? My senior was having trouble eating and lost her appetite because her teeth needed to be done. Anyway, we got her teeth done and she's eating more.

I find seniors are super picky about food sometimes. Maybe add water to her grain if you grain her. That really helped with my old mare.


And about the mini, my best advice is put him in a smaller pen (like a electric fence) and feed him hay. In my experience those grazing muzzles are evil.

I bought a green Welsh/TB gelding who used to wear a grazing muzzle. He had chewed through the rubber and it took him about a year for the sores and marks to go away on his face that were caused by the muzzle.

Cinnamon just got her teeth floatee in January, so they should still be good. I'm keeping her off of pasture today to see if her appetite is back to normal tonight or tomorrow morning.


Yikes. Maybe he just needs more exercise... Which I am planning to do this year... The muzzle of course is a resort...

I don't know what else. Is she skinny?

Sounds good. 

Ive finally got her weight back to normal... She did have worms before I dewormed her in Jan. Manure looks fine too. It's been pretty rainy, so the wet grass maybe is bloating her too... That might contribute to the loss of appetite.

 

[abigalerose]

June has been acting up a bit, so I was lunging her this evening and watching her closely, and it seemed like she might be a little tender on her left front foot, so my grandpa helped me look at her hoof and he said the frog part (i think that's what it's called) is sticking out just a little past her hoof, and he thinks that it might be making her hoof a little tender. Do you think that could be what's causing it? And would putting shoes on her help?
Also, if her hoof is hurting, could that explain why she's throwing her head when I ride her, backing up instead of going forward, not wanting to stay in a trot, and leaning my leg against the fence with all her weight?
Please note that I did NOT ride her after I noticed her acting like her foot was sore, I definitely don't want to make it worse.

Also, I'm almost 100% sure that Phoenix had no prior riding before the rescue people broke him. He seems so green. I haven't rode him in a while, but the times I did he would refuse to move and back up instead of go forward and his turning was pretty rough. And today I worked with him, I started with lots of groundwork, and then I put the saddle on him, cinched it up, and then sent him off to lunge (I like to lunge them after I put the saddle on just to get out any excitement and get the air out of their belly's) and when I sent him off he totally blew up, bucking like a 2 or 3 year old would if they were being saddled for the first time. Then after he calmed down and finished lunging, I worked on getting him to stand still while I got on. It took about 30 minutes on each side of just sticking with him and putting my foot in and out of the stirrup before he stopped yeilding his hindquarters, but once he realized I wanted him to stand he was good and I got on and off of him from both sides without him moving. So that was a pretty major breakthrough for us. But I'm not too excited about the idea of riding a VERY spooky green broke 13 year old. Ah well, we'll just have to take it extra slow. And desensitize to EVERYTHING. A car drove by, he jumped, my grandpa stood up on the fence, he jumped, the barn door swang shut, he jumped. He's a bit of a mess.

 

[ChickenLover200]

About June and the hoof, the frog may be causing it... If that is so, her Hooves might have been trimmed too short(?) If she gets shod, the shoe would raise up the outer hoof wall to make it higher. So it just might work, if of course the frog is the problem..

 

[abigalerose]

Okay, I will look into it more. I checked her over and it didn't seem to be anything with her leg. I'll have to find a farrier now because my darn farrier won't message me back

 

[chicken19]

June has been acting up a bit, so I was lunging her this evening and watching her closely, and it seemed like she might be a little tender on her left front foot, so my grandpa helped me look at her hoof and he said the frog part (i think that's what it's called) is sticking out just a little past her hoof, and he thinks that it might be making her hoof a little tender. Do you think that could be what's causing it? And would putting shoes on her help?
Also, if her hoof is hurting, could that explain why she's throwing her head when I ride her, backing up instead of going forward, not wanting to stay in a trot, and leaning my leg against the fence with all her weight?
Please note that I did NOT ride her after I noticed her acting like her foot was sore, I definitely don't want to make it worse.

Also, I'm almost 100% sure that Phoenix had no prior riding before the rescue people broke him. He seems so green. I haven't rode him in a while, but the times I did he would refuse to move and back up instead of go forward and his turning was pretty rough. And today I worked with him, I started with lots of groundwork, and then I put the saddle on him, cinched it up, and then sent him off to lunge (I like to lunge them after I put the saddle on just to get out any excitement and get the air out of their belly's) and when I sent him off he totally blew up, bucking like a 2 or 3 year old would if they were being saddled for the first time. Then after he calmed down and finished lunging, I worked on getting him to stand still while I got on. It took about 30 minutes on each side of just sticking with him and putting my foot in and out of the stirrup before he stopped yeilding his hindquarters, but once he realized I wanted him to stand he was good and I got on and off of him from both sides without him moving. So that was a pretty major breakthrough for us. But I'm not too excited about the idea of riding a VERY spooky green broke 13 year old. Ah well, we'll just have to take it extra slow. And desensitize to EVERYTHING. A car drove by, he jumped, my grandpa stood up on the fence, he jumped, the barn door swang shut, he jumped. He's a bit of a mess.

June needs shoes. That's one of the reason's you shoe horses. Whenever one of my horses get long frogs we get them shod and they are fine after that.
And about Pheonix, does his saddle fit properly? That is so important. I've seen a lot of people buy saddles that they think fits but it doesn't and the poor horse's back is sore.
About his spookiness, from what I've learned, just keep riding, grit your teeth and ride through it.

 

[abigalerose]

Farrier is coming out Tuesday to shoe June and trim Phoenix. I've never had to shoe any of my previous horses so I don't know a whole lot about hooves and long frogs, etc. but I'm trying to learn so that I don't put June in any pain. It seems to me like he trimmed them very short last time (probably because they were cracked, she had never seen a farrier before I got her and lived part of her life on sand), and then doing so much ground work and riding in a rocky area has worn them down to where that one hoof is shorter than its frog. So hopefully the shoeing does the trick and then next time she needs a trim I'll make sure he doesn't go very short. Her hooves are growing slooooow. Very slow. They weren't even long looking when I bought her, just cracked and rough around the edges. I know a lot of my horses I've kept at the farm have never even needed trims. So maybe once her hooves reach a decent length I won't have to have them done too often. I know it's different for every horse though. Phoenixs are very long, but they haven't grown any since we brought him home. And about the bucking, he is a bit sway back, but the saddle fits fine, although I think I'll start using saddle pad and blanket together just for some extra cushion. But I truly believe that he is very green, and he just had about a month off from all work and riding, so when I cinched him up and lunged him I think he just forgot what the saddle felt like for a minute. And I lunged him a little before saddling and he wasn't very cooperative. I think he was just enjoying his time off a little too much lol.

 

[abigalerose]

And about the spookiness, I know, I know. The whole "riding through it" is just a tough concept for me to grasp.
But when I feel discouraged and like I'm not going to improve any on being confident or a better rider I just think about where I was 6 months ago, or a year ago. And if I would have had Phoenix a year ago I would have given up. I would've sold him or just let him sit in the pasture forever, becuase of his spookiness. Use to if a horse spooked I would get scared, and then I was done. But now when they spook, I get scared, but then I laugh and calm down and try to keep going. So when I think of that, I just think that maybe another year from now when I'm riding and they spook I'll just keep going like nothing happened at all, and that makes me feel better about the situation. And I'm working a lot with Phoenix on his spooking, I try to act crazy around him and make loud noises when I can, so he realizes that the scary stuff won't hurt him. And I spend lots of time walking around him and brushing him, and here soon were gonna do lots of desensitizing.
I love seeing the progress that both me and the horses have made.
When I got June she was pushy, bitey, and not halter broke, and now she's sweet (most of the time!) and rideable, it amazes me! Sometimes I forget that I did it by myself. And although progress is slow with Phoenix, when I got him you couldn't walk up to the side of him without him yeilding his hind quarters, and he'd just keep going and going spinning in circles, but now you can walk up beside him (as long as you don't go too fast), saddle him, and mount him and he'll stay still.
And as for me, well, this time last year, my posture was terrible, I "whoa"ed too much, I was nervous at a walk, and terrified of trotting, but now my posture has improved (not perfect), and I LOVE trotting, and as soon as June gets shoed and starts acting like herself again, I'm ready for a canter. I can't wait to see how the three of us are doing by the end of summer. And really all this progress has been made since February 15th, becuase that's when I brought June home and she totally inspired me.
Oh and my sister has made progress too, she went from being afraid of being in the arena with horses and not knowing how to put a halter on, to being able to go out in the field and catch the horse, saddle it up, and ride it confidently at a walk and trot. Lucky little thing, she learns and gains confidence way faster than I do, I showed her how to saddle once and she had it, it took her two tries to get the hang of lunging, and she was trotting on her third lesson.
So my hope is that by the end of this summer, me and my sister can take June and Phoenix (or June and her horse if she gets her own) and trail rides, that way we can spend lots of nice fall days out riding.

Wow. Sorry for the rambling, guess I got carried away.