Bubba, Daisy, and Western

Helllooooo....

I've been meaning to post but of course haven't had the time.
Daisy is completely fine; i took her out the day after I posted last time and she was fine; jumping a bit and galloping a lot. She felt amazing.
I also rode Bubba. Normally Bubba is a very tank-y ride; very strong, and my biceps KILL after a ride. Now that he's retired, Jean is trying to ride him long and low; sort of westerny/hunter horse, so that he'll do well in pleasure shows. Because she's used to him, he does great at it with her. But our last few rides together were awkward because I was trying to ride long and low, but I'm not used to him enough and it was hard to get him to do it and I ended up using a lot of contact anyway. Last ride on him on Friday was like riding on clouds though :). He felt incredible. We just clicked riding together with the new technique. My arms weren't sore at all, and he did everything amazingly. He stayed at a nice controlled, same speed trot and canter in both directions. I had to do nothing but balance; he controlled his speed and kept it slow himself. He felt amazing, best ride on him ever! So I'm quite excited to ride him again. I'm finally completely convinced that I can ride him successfully in county fair; we'll kick butt ;) (Unless we have some sort of unplanned disqualification again :P)

Anyhow, I rode Daisy western on Saturday. Note to self upon seeing the photos: I REALLY need to buckle down and get a new pad! I wanted to go western to test run my new boots :) like 'em?

And I rode her in the rain, bareback, with the western bridle on Monday evening. That's where I took the fourth picture. She was so great; at the end, with just very slight wiggling of my fingers to "run" the bit, she went down on the bit...with a loose rein and no contact. Very cool. :) I'm yet undecided about which bit to be using...her Tom Thumb or the curb...For various reasons, I can't decide. I may try the curb again; it's not as harsh, correct?

The trimmer came today and Daisy has no bruising and relatively hard hooves, and they look great :) they make me smile.

Question is, do you guys trim the feather-like things on their fetlocks? I never have, but lately I've noticed them...I can't decide.

That 'tis all for now. On Thursday I will indeed to go to witness the gelding operation :) should be cool.

And after looking at old posts, I want to point out that she never stands like this anymore:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ISgC_pFR932DRkxk3gqJ_j0Z90blRb4oN3-X07Qzk-qYwJlzCD1nTBBQk_vdILUR7tHjHK72OEkU9QDs9hrKc5J94fBix8nkxr2CH-hnwMyeltvLyjEAsbXNM4GUNgsqoHOYgIXdkLU/s1600-h/groomed.JPG
Not sure why...better trimming...really because of more selenium? idk. But it's awesome. :)
Until my next post,

Nothin' Much

Hello, bloggers!
I'm all for quick posts lately... :P

Daisy got her rabies shot and her blood drawn for coggins yesterday...and was ridden by another student, who really enjoyed her :)

Today we had our first club mounted meeting of the year. She felt a little funny....stiff...but I blamed it on her neck, which was really sore from the rabies shot (she cowered in the corner of her stall; shook each time my hand got near her neck. Poor baby!) She felt decent at the walk and trot. Go to canter, and she really felt strange...She didn't want to collect, or go on the bit...and she had moments where I felt like I had no hind legs under me...like she was changing leads in her hinds. One time it was obvious enough that Jean said "Wow, she looks really off" and suggested I rest her so I did...we didn't really canter after that. We did some barrel patterns, but Daisy and I just trotted. At the end, I took the ring to myself and did an easy canter around and she seemed ok again...so I'm not sure what that was all about. Maybe she's still recovering from the swelling?

I ride her one more time at Jean's tomorrow and then she comes home. Jean had a new water crossing put in, and I want to try to cross it before I head home :). Should be fun...it's big enough that Daisy won't have the option to jump it...so that'll be interesting. Maybe I can film it-we'll see :)

And that's the video of her rolling like a pig. ;) She really dirtied up her fly mask. I thought it'd be fun to add.

Otherwise...I have nothing to report, but that our first game show is May 8th! Time to pull out the western tack... :)

I Just Love Her...

Nothing much new to report but that Daisy is still steadily improving/healing. The swelling is basically gone; now she just rides like a pony with a one week break. I know, most ponies are fine after one week off... not Daisy. She behaves relatively well, but is just really energetic and active...we went on a small trail ride with Jean's two sons today, and Daisy was a bit ahead of both with her active walk...I have trouble keeping her at a LAZY walk! Haha. We rode in a big clearing where a bulldozer was running. It spooked her a little at first (just tried to spin (slowly) and back away, but with the other ponies going she went) but then she got pretty used to it. There's a log jump in the clearing; not big, but big enough to force her to truly jump, and we went over it a few times. She felt INCREDIBLE. It was like a mini-high that I felt like at the cross country schooling in October. When a jump is big enough to challenge her so she picks up her hooves for real and rounds over it, she feels sooo good. I knew in the midst of her silliness there was a reason I loved her! :) She's the bestest, despite her frequent shenanigans. ;) Of course, as soon as she got out, she took a nice roll and ruined the good grooming I have her...*sigh*. I filmed it...may put in on at some point ;)

And these fine young ladies should be our neighbors in a few weeks (*fingers crossed*)
Jordan to the left, Jayda to the right. Jean's sister, Jenny, is closing on a house (hopefully this week) that is on a street next to ours, for me about a 10-15 minute horse ride over. AND! They have an indoor!!!

Yeah. I'm psyched. :D

It's Our 3rd Anniversary...

I boosted the ground and sky behind us...and only kept us "natural"...just so you don't think it's really really green at our place :)

...and I rode my pony for the fist time since last Sunday today! She's 99% better...yey! The ride was wonderful; it felt so good to be on her again and I know she enjoyed it, too. Here's last year's post, I can say the same this year:
http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com/2009/04/two-years-of-joy-and-learning.html

So That Didn't Work So Well...

We were supposed to visit Germany yesterday. We took off from our airport around 11:45, arrived in Philly, and ended up flying home after a few hours. It's not such big news yet, so for those of you who don't know yet, check here:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/16/iceland.flights.volcano/index.html?hpt=T1
All flights to Europe from the US are canceled and the earliest flights out to make up for them are Tuesday...So needless to say we're not going to Germany. Which is a bummer...but it is spring break now, so I'll get to do a lot of riding!

Updating Daisy...Oliver and Jean (Oliver is Jean's son) cold hosed Daisy for me yesterday :) and gave her benedryl and banamine again and she seems to be doing much better....I'll go to see her around noon today.

Daisy Update

I visited Daisy today; I leave tomorrow. The swelling spread from her right upper leg to her left...so we basically ruled out muscle strain. We talked to the vet and have her on benedryl for a few days (mixed capsules with apple sauce :)) and banamine today and tomorrow...and cold hosing. Jean is undertaking it all for me. :D We think right now that it was an insect bite...or multiple bites. If it doesn't go down Daisy will see the vet in a few days. She got her spring shot today and will see the vet while I'm gone anyway for her rabies and coggins. :)

And tomorrow...I'm off. Au revoir!...whoops! I mean Auf Wiedersehen! :)

It's Not an Abscess....

Jean picked up Daisy today. Once we got to her farm, I walked Daisy for Jean and Jean very quickly picked up on the problem.
It's definitely not in her hooves.
Daisy's hind leg is swollen, way above the hock, almost to her belly on the right. It seems like either she was stung, as there is a really obvious lump, or she strained a muscle in her hind end. As soon as Jean pointed it out, it was really obvious. I feel bad I didn't notice it before! However, it did require lifting her tail to actually see it, so it makes a little sense that I didn't notice it...seeing as I'm leading her and trying to look. :P
Anyone else ever heard of swelling there? It's really strange. We cold-hosed it (Daisy was very tolerable) and I'm giving her a few days off...I'll see her again on Wednesday and see how she is. I leave Thursday in any case.

The Horse Taught Me Another Lesson...

I have way too much fun with Picnik. Isn't that about the cheesiest picture ever? :P And I love Daisy's expression.

I have quite the story to tell.
I'll start with before my ride. I groomed and tacked up Daisy and as I was picking out her left hind, I picked it up and within a few seconds she very persistently pulled it out of my grasp. Generally she tries, but I just hang on. That wasn't at all possible this time, she grabbed it from me. I took it up again and finished my work but she wasn't too happy; she still tried, though kinder, to pull the hoof from me. I took her out and went trail riding (it was supposed to be my warm up). She wasn't lame or anything, and rode well. At one point however, I we were riding through the woods (off the regular trail) and I was leaning forward to avoid branches. She shot forward suddenly like something hit her back leg, and once we got on the regular trail, I looked at it from on top of her and she had it cocked like she was resting it (only the toe touching the ground). I got off, keeping her reins looped over her neck and told her to "whoa" to ground-tie, which is something she normally does fine, and as soon as I got back to her leg she started walking. "Oh, yeah, very funny Daisy, come here!...Daisy....Daisy?"
Yeah. You guessed it. The more I tried to stealthily sneak up on her to grab the rein, the more aware she was that she was loose and i was trying to catch her. The walk toward home became a trot, the trot the canter, and my stealthy walk became a tripping, sliding (Note to self: Need new paddock boots with grip) running-jog as I tried to keep up. It was sorta pointless to chase her because OBVIOUSLY I couldn't outrun her so I couldn't catch her. But was I just supposed to say "Adios, meet ya at home" and let her take off and just follow far behind at a walk? That'd be stupid too. So I jogged. Soon she cantered around a corner and I only saw a few flashes of red on her saddle pad as we neared a big hill that went down. I was worried about that hill. I was praying "LORD, PLEASE let her walk down the thing!". I know horses, like us, are self-preserving, but you know...I had my doubts. Who knows what that new taste of freedom would make her do?! Luckily, I turned the corner and found that just before the top she went to a walk and slowly picked her way down the steep hill. And then there's me, huffing and puffing (NO KIDDING. I could barely breathe, my throat was so dry and scratchy) and now praying "LORD, PLEASE, please, PLEASE let her stop at the bottom of the hill and graze!"...Yeah. That didn't happen. I thought for an instant it did because at the bottom Daisy lingered for a second. But then I heard the telltale "clop-clop" of her trotting over the bride we have over our stream and I knew I was done for. Then I hear my mom "Why is she loose?! Daisy!" and other random stuff. Poor mother, out walking the dog, and here comes Daisy, with me running behind her shouting pointless words like "Don't you DARE gallop on the sloppy mud, young lady! Nooo! DAISY!".
It was actually quite humorous. I knew it wasn't that dangerous so i allowed myself to laugh as I ran. I finally ran the last stretch (which, by the way, I am not a runner at all so this romp through the woods left me gasping and I could barely breathe) and found Daisy calmly waiting to get in the barn gate. Ha. Nice try.

I got a drink, which at first I couldn't swallow because I couldn't breathe :P and then I got back on and made her ride the trail again to teach her a lesson. Needless to say, I didn't end up doing any road riding after our "warm up". (Haha.)
I learned never to assume she'll ground-tie each and every time. :P

Through all this, Daisy was not lame. I can say that. Perhaps she was very very very slightly lame in a way that I didn't notice, but noticeably she wasn't lame, and I did pay attention just before she took off because I thought she hurt herself.

So fast forward a few hours after graining. I went outside with Daisy at her stall and grabbed a flake of hay to throw in the paddock for her. Normally she comes trotting up to get it. This time she only went within view of me and stood pawing the ground, refusing to move. After a little bit of coaxing, she walked forward, but after maybe ten steps, just before an uphill to get to the hay, she stopped and pawed again and then looked at me all miserable.
So I assumed colic. However, she finally got up to the hay and she ate it; normally she doesn't eat when she's colicy. So I took her out of the paddock to either walk her or check her leg, and I watched her walk. She clearly favored her right hind (OPPOSITE leg she pulled out of my hand while grooming); landed toe-first when she walked, rested it when she stopped, etc. And she walked with a low head carriage; sign of lamness in a hind.

I ran my hands all over the leg but I didn't feel any real HEAT heat (just warmth). There was one spot on her hock that seemed a little bit extra warm, and below her fetlock but I still wouldn't say the spots were hot. So I cold-hosed the leg in case in was her leg and then I put her back in the stall with hay. I looked stuff up on google and from her symptoms, I think it's an abscess. I called Jean and talked to her about it, then called my trimmer. He said it sounds like either an abscess or just a stone bruise and I should call him tomorrow and if it's still bad he'll come look at it. Tomorrow Daisy gets trailered to Jean's. I'm going on a trip on Thursday and Daisy's staying there. I already have two riders lined up to ride Daisy a couple times while I'm gone :) So I hope she stays sound/gets sound.

I'm not too worried. I was so relieved that it wasn't colic (her frequent colic behavior (in spring and summer) scares me. I hate it when she gets that way. This way, yes I know she's in pain, but it's not gonna kill her.

Good Weather=Good Mood

We have had AMAZING weather the last two days. Yesterday it was high 80's, today, 80's. It feels WONDERFUL; like summer. Daisy's still shedding out her coat so I don't think she fully appreciated the warmth :P but that's ok.
Riding her has been ok...today's ride started out pretty not good :P. We turned left off our driveway (not right towards the minis, the way Daisy likes) and we rode a bit and then, Daisy strategically placed herself between two houses with neighbors in the yard to throw a "temper tantrum". Her form of a tantrum consists of just ignoring me, out of the blue. She isn't jumpy or pushy; she simply refuses to listen. She stops, and won't do anything-back up, walk forward, trot, side-pass, etc-except turn around. So I smacked her once with the end of the rein and used my stern voice, but it got me no where so I got off her back and made her trot up the street next to me until we were a distance from the neighbors who were blatently staring and using us as entertainment. Once I was far enough away, I mounted, and gave her a good smack with the reins and I gave my typical manly "GET!" growl and she went (relucantly). In exchange, I promised a trip to the minis tomorrow :P (turns out I probably won't have the opportunity to ride tomorrow anyway...sorry Dais' :P). After that, our ride was actually pretty darn good. She was dull until we got out on the big open rode and then she was great. One time she had a right-lead canter hissy fit, but she got over it pretty good with me reminding her who was in charge (*ahem*) and that was all. One rode back (as mentioned two posts ago) is about a 1/4 mile and we gallop it and Daisy has the annoying habit of trying to gallop and jigging in place as soon as we turn onto the road. It's not dangerous or really bad, just annoying. Today, I expected her to do that, but she was AMAZING. I got her on the bit and we walked a little bit until I finally gave her a soft signal to canter and she sprang walk-canter into it perfectly and was really good. I was in two-point (which I stink at, so I do it whenever I get the chance) and about half-way along the road I realized she was sort of not controled anymore; going a little too fast (Before I was so astounded with her good behavior I was basking in it and forgot to think about speed :P). I tried half halting, but then just told her "woa" and she brought herself right back down to an acceptable canter. :) YEY!

And going up the BIG hill home she was amazing :)

Afterward, I went to Jean's planning on riding Bubba, but ended up riding Paulie, a new horse, because Bubba refused to be caught...
Paulie was born at Jean's farm out of a rescue mare 2 1/2 years ago. He's since been with a new owner and is incredibly well trained. Jean wants to buy him back and has him on trial. It didn't occur to me until after that I rode a STUD, that was only TWO AND A HALF! He was so great. I always sorta thought only really good or really insane riders rode stallions, but he was so good. He was a little nippy on the ground, but otherwise, SO well behaved. He can walk/trot/canter, turn on the hindquarts/forhand, sidepass, back up, etc, already. That's me on him in the second picture :P
He's being gelded on the 29th, and Jean offered for me to be there along with a small group of kids from the trade school. She said it would be interesting for me to see him gelded, especially since I'm interested in vet school.

So my question is, has anyone ever witnessed a stallion being gelded? :P Is it worth seeing? Is it interesting? Should I see it? What stood out to you most?
If you haven't, would you want to see it?
Just wondered, thought it was interesting.

Also, on a sort of off-topic note, out of Listerine and apple cider vinegar/tea tree oil mix, which do you prefer for daily thrush prevention? I can't decide; Lately I've used Listerine.

Happy Easter, Everyone! May you celebrate your risen Savior! :)
And eat chocolate. It's required. :)