I got a phone call from Pete yesterday when I got to the barn to tell me that Dee had gotten herself into a big mess that morning. You know how the belly straps of a blanket double up when you adjust them? Well, she apparently got her hind leg stuck in the doubled part of her belly strap. Luckily, Pete seems to have found her right after it happened, because there are no cuts and the leg isn't swollen. The strap was apparently very tight on her hock, so I can only imagine how badly things might have ended if it hadn't been noticed quickly.
Poor Pete had no cut the strap in order to get it off of her, because he couldn't budge it with his hands. When I got there, I didn't notice any heat or swelling, but I did notice that she was very sensitive to touch. I gave her 2g of bute just in case and will check her again today. I would really like to know how she managed to get her hind leg through her belly strap, though.
Nikki, another one of stephie's former working students, is going to come up soon to ride my baby! I'm hoping to get some video of it so that I can use it for my class presentation.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
plague
I've been incredibly unmotivated this week as far as horses go - I seem to contracted the plague. My time at the barn has been fleeting, since I've been more concerned with burrowing under my covers and sniffling/coughing the night away.
I'm STILL waiting for my trailer to be fixed, too. Ugh. They're apparently having some issues with the tailgate latch. I'm pretty frustrated, but getting by on the notion that I'll have a great, like-new trailer when they're done.
I've been thinking about what to do with Dee's furriness. If I body clip, I'll need to both borrow a set of body clippers from someone and procure some sort of sedative from the vet (If she gets cranky about a curry comb, I can't IMAGINE the crankiness with a body clipper). However, if I DON'T body clip, i'm going to have a fuzzy, sweaty nightmare every time she works. Plus, if she goes to florida, she'll need to be clipped anyway. I dunno. We'll see how it goes.
I'm STILL waiting for my trailer to be fixed, too. Ugh. They're apparently having some issues with the tailgate latch. I'm pretty frustrated, but getting by on the notion that I'll have a great, like-new trailer when they're done.
I've been thinking about what to do with Dee's furriness. If I body clip, I'll need to both borrow a set of body clippers from someone and procure some sort of sedative from the vet (If she gets cranky about a curry comb, I can't IMAGINE the crankiness with a body clipper). However, if I DON'T body clip, i'm going to have a fuzzy, sweaty nightmare every time she works. Plus, if she goes to florida, she'll need to be clipped anyway. I dunno. We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Bounce!
Dee has been doing LOTS of trot poles lately. Tuesday, we did 4 poles instead of the 3 that we've been doing. I set it up on the circle and had the first pole on the ground, the second two raised, and the fourth on the ground. She trotted through to the left REALLY nicely - there was no dragging of the LH. She didn't start out as well to the right, but I think it was mostly because it was hard for her to see the poles. She was trotting right into the sun, and just seemed surprised when some poles turned up in front of her. Once she knew they were there, she was much better, and very cleverly (I thought) approaching with her head very low. I mean, she stretches going left, too, but it just seemed like she figured out that if she stretched her nose long and low enough, the sun wasn't such an issue.
Yesterday I decided to up the ante a little. I set up 3 trot poles on one side of the ring and a small bounce on the other. We began over the trot poles, which she did very nicely, and then moved on to the bounce, which is a whole new experience for her. The first time through, she didn't quite know what to make of it and just treated it like a weird trot pole set-up. With a little extra encouragement the second time, she actually jumped it properly. After that, she was popping through the bounce like an old pro. The only issues she had was swapping between the bounce and the trot poles. Once or twice she got confused and either tried to jump the trot poles or trot the bounce, but then she'd realize the mistake and correct herself the next time.
I would just like to add that she is possibly the cutest thing ever. I set up the exercises while she was in the ring, and I just left her in the middle of the ring. She didn't move a muscle the entire time I was setting up - she just watched everything I was doing. Too adorable. I should add that she wasn't wearing any tack while I was setting up - just her halter - so if she had done something silly, it wouldn't have been a big deal. I wouldn't have left her to her own devices if she was wearing her tack!
Yesterday I decided to up the ante a little. I set up 3 trot poles on one side of the ring and a small bounce on the other. We began over the trot poles, which she did very nicely, and then moved on to the bounce, which is a whole new experience for her. The first time through, she didn't quite know what to make of it and just treated it like a weird trot pole set-up. With a little extra encouragement the second time, she actually jumped it properly. After that, she was popping through the bounce like an old pro. The only issues she had was swapping between the bounce and the trot poles. Once or twice she got confused and either tried to jump the trot poles or trot the bounce, but then she'd realize the mistake and correct herself the next time.
I would just like to add that she is possibly the cutest thing ever. I set up the exercises while she was in the ring, and I just left her in the middle of the ring. She didn't move a muscle the entire time I was setting up - she just watched everything I was doing. Too adorable. I should add that she wasn't wearing any tack while I was setting up - just her halter - so if she had done something silly, it wouldn't have been a big deal. I wouldn't have left her to her own devices if she was wearing her tack!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Trot trot trot poles
Last thursday was Dee's first time doing serious trot poles! (Well, a proper SET, anyway) I set up three poles on a circle and started by lounging over them at the walk, which she understood perfectly. I then asked her to trot them, which she didn't understand so perfectly. It took her a few times of leaping into the middle of them and then tripping over the last, or trotting the first pole and leaping over the last two. After she'd figured out all the ways that didn't work, though, she finally did a slow motion trot-through. Realizing that doing it that ay worked, we didn't have any more issues and she trotted through in both directions with no issues. She did the middle, which was a normal trot, and the outside, which was a little wider. I'm not yet willing to encourage her to do the shorter side, because she doesn't understand collection, so I know that she will just shorten her stride by slowing down and cutting the engine.
She had the weekend off because I was up at Quinnipiac doing the LSAT prep. Monday, we picked up where we left off. She came out breathing fire a little bit. She didn't want to trot nicely through the first few times. At one point, she very handily made it into a double bounce without touching a single pole - sort of impressive. FINALLY, she settled down and started trotting through, so we did them a few times in both directions and then I made it a bit harder. I took two of the jump blocks and raised the middle pole up, so that she would have to lift those feet a little higher - be a little more careful. To the right, she was very good. She trotted through the middle perfectly and through the outside perfectly, as well. She found the left a little harder, and I think it's because of that weakness in the left hind. She clipped the raised pole two or three times with that left hind leg, which she didn't do going right. I'm hoping this sort of thing will get her stronger back there.
Yesterday she was really high again, so we just practiced the trot poles some more. I never really got her to settle, so I didn't make the exercise harder, like I'd planned. Our next step is to do four poles with the second and last pole raised. I only have two sets of jump blocks, so that's the best I can do. Ideally, I would like to have ALL the poles raised, but I figure this will force her to be careful and lift her feet, too. I took some photos of the exercise, but I forgot the camera at the barn, so I'll have to put them up later!
Bettina is away this week, but when she gets back and I finally get my trailer back (they're taking FOREVER), we're going to "operate" on Dee, as Bettina said. I'm pretty excited about it, and she said that Windhorse has stalls open, so I'm thinking of doing an overnight there - TWO DAYS of Bettina in a row!? How great would THAT be!?
She had the weekend off because I was up at Quinnipiac doing the LSAT prep. Monday, we picked up where we left off. She came out breathing fire a little bit. She didn't want to trot nicely through the first few times. At one point, she very handily made it into a double bounce without touching a single pole - sort of impressive. FINALLY, she settled down and started trotting through, so we did them a few times in both directions and then I made it a bit harder. I took two of the jump blocks and raised the middle pole up, so that she would have to lift those feet a little higher - be a little more careful. To the right, she was very good. She trotted through the middle perfectly and through the outside perfectly, as well. She found the left a little harder, and I think it's because of that weakness in the left hind. She clipped the raised pole two or three times with that left hind leg, which she didn't do going right. I'm hoping this sort of thing will get her stronger back there.
Yesterday she was really high again, so we just practiced the trot poles some more. I never really got her to settle, so I didn't make the exercise harder, like I'd planned. Our next step is to do four poles with the second and last pole raised. I only have two sets of jump blocks, so that's the best I can do. Ideally, I would like to have ALL the poles raised, but I figure this will force her to be careful and lift her feet, too. I took some photos of the exercise, but I forgot the camera at the barn, so I'll have to put them up later!
Bettina is away this week, but when she gets back and I finally get my trailer back (they're taking FOREVER), we're going to "operate" on Dee, as Bettina said. I'm pretty excited about it, and she said that Windhorse has stalls open, so I'm thinking of doing an overnight there - TWO DAYS of Bettina in a row!? How great would THAT be!?
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