Fence Repairs and Clicker Training

Last Sunday, the horses got out. Marri watched Flash go straight through the hot fence (which has not been hot) in his impatience at feeding time.  Poor Marri spent the next hour and a half catching them.  She called me, then caught Flash right afterward, but Snickers proved to be a pain.  He finally came when she calmly walked in a way that kept him from getting away (he was in a little alleyway between fences), and then he touched her hand with his nose.  After that, it was over.

Unfortunately I was coming down with a bad sinus-infection type thing that day.  Marri had to leave, but explained how to fix the fence.  I did so (it ended up being pretty easy), but just couldn't seem to get it hot, so the horses stayed in their pens the rest of the day until I came back out that evening.  Just before I got there, Marri was able to verify the fence was, indeed, hot.  As it turns out, I just wasn't testing it correctly!  I did feel pretty proud of my fence repairing skills :)

So then the horses got put back in and all was well.  However, this brought up the issue of Snickers not allowing people to catch him.  Since our episode last Spring with the lasso, I really haven't had too much trouble catching him (then again, he's also been in a smaller pen and only with Flash).  After some time off, I did have to work him and get him to come in once or twice, but that usually ended pretty quickly.  However, he's still quite stand-off ish.  Oftentimes, he'll walk away from me when I go toward him.  Kristen suggested (from her experience with her horse). to just continue walking toward him.  Funny enough, he stopped less than a minute later when I tried this!  I guess that not giving up or making a big deal out of it made him loose interest in moving away.  Unfortunately, this didn't seem to transfer to letting Marri catch him. Honestly, if we were ever at a ride, I don't know if I'd see that horse again because he would leave me in the dust and not let anyone catch him!  Though, I'm sure he'd stick around camp, but just avoid everyone.  Thus, I've decided I need to address this specifically.

The weather has been getting nicer - both warmer and sunnier and not as hazy with an inversion - so I've been able to work with him a few times.  I decided a "negative" approach probably wouldn't suit him, and that I needed to convince him that I was interesting and rewarding to work with.  In other words, he didn't necessarily need to be trying to avoid work by coming to me, but rather seek reward.  How about clicker training?  I thought it might be worth a shot.  The first day (Monday), I took him into the arena and turned him loose.  He started strutting around and prancing, not paying any attention to me at all.  However, when he finally looked at me, I stepped back.  He was thinking about coming, but I had to coax him a little the first time.  After that, he seemed to figure out what I wanted, and, over time, started coming to me and staying with me more and more. It was kind of funny, though, because he still wanted to prance around some with his tail in the air and snorting his nose.  Silly horse.

Yesterday, I didn't feel like going to the arena and just did the same thing quickly in the pasture.  Of course, Flash was constantly with us, so I managed to time my click for when Snickers came to me but Flash wasn't grabbing for treats.  It was great to keep Snickers' interest, and funny to see poor little Flash trying so hard to do the right thing!  I'm excited for this year with Flash - I'm going to really start training him :)  Anyway, after a bit we stopped.  However, not before Snickers started getting snarky with Flash for getting in on the goods - this was his face every time I moved and they were coming to me!  Snickers was making this face clearly at Flash, flipping his ears forward as soon as he got close to me (and Flash was still a safe distance away haha).  Oh, Snickers, there's enough of me to go around!

It's poison, of course.

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm throwing into my boys' beet pulp mash and why...  The formula has gotten a LOT simpler than it used to be (thank goodness!), and I think it's a lot better.  I switched to doing beet pulp with Triple Crown Complete mixed in.  After consulting those on the endurance.net google group, I switched from TCC to TC Senior because it was lower in starches and higher in fat, which is what I need. That seemed to be a pretty balanced meal.  Then, I scaled it down to 2 1/2 lbs of each in their big, yellow flexible bucket, and filled it about halfway with water.  Originally, I was letting the beet pulp soak all the way and then draining off the excess, but decided to leave it nice and soupy for them when I discovered they would still eat it (Snickers actually drinks down to it!).  That way, I'm getting lots of water in them but not blowing through feed.

The other day, I texted Shelley to see if I was getting them everything they needed.  However, the Triple Crown senior is meant to be fed 5 lbs per day per horse, 4x what I'm already going through for my boys!  That's not going to happen.  Instead, we added a mineral powder to the mix.  That way, I didn't add a lot more feed since they were getting plenty and if already fills their buckets up.

At Marri's we found a little scooper for it and determined that it would be about 3 scoops of the minerals to total what both horses needed, then I'd mix it in and divide it into their buckets.  So, after working with them briefly in the pasture, I added the powder and mixed it up!  BIG mistake.  I finally earned myself the "Are you poisioning me?!" face from the horses.  Snickers made it pretty clear how he felt about me messing with their beet pulp:

"What did you DO to our mash??"

You gonna eat it??

Then Snickers tasted it, and showed me his clear disapproval, while Flash sniffed his cautiously and somewhat disappointed that he didn't get his same yummy mash.

I added some Senior on top to get them to start eating again.  It kind of worked - they ate it down a ways, but then Snickers opted for the hay.  Flash kept at the mash, though not as eager as usual.

Today, I added the powder with the dry ingredients so it could soak along with everything else.  I added one not-quite-full scoop to the mix.  I worked with Snickers in the arena, then put him back and hauled out the mash.  Luckily, someone (probably Flash) had cleaned up the buckets as usual, so yesterday's mash didn't go to waste.  With today's mash, I couldn't see the powder in it, so I wonder if it actually dissolved or was just really spread out.  Either way, they didn't seem to have any issue with it today!  Success!

Of course, Flash was so interested in what I was doing when I bent down to scoop out more mash that he swing his head right over mine and drooled lots of nice mashy soup right on my head.  By the time I went home, it dripped all the way down to my neck and went down the back of my shirt!  Yuck!  Thanks buddy.

Anyway, I'm really glad they liked it this time.  They're getting a little less than half of the full amount they should be getting, so I'm going to add a half-scoop tomorrow and see how they do.  If all goes well, I'll just keep adding until I'm about at 3 scoops again.  Two scoops would be fine, though, if they don't like any more than that.  I just feel good that they're getting the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals they need!

I am woman, hear me ROAR!!

Yesterday, I sold the rest of my grass hay that Snickers was having troubles with.  The guy came and paid for it, but a lot of rain and sleet started coming down, so he said he'd come get it today.  I figured he'd call me when he was ready to come out, but around 4:30, as I was getting in the car with my beet pulp to go see my horses, Marri texted me and let me know he was there loading up the hay and was almost done.  Ok, well I guess that saved me from loading it!  Marri told me later the guy thought I'd lived there lol.  When I got there, he was coming out of the gate (good timing - I didn't have to open it!) and he'd loaded ALL 36 bales (I did my best to count and estimate how many there were, and I was right on!  >proud of myself<) onto the bed of his pickup.  I guess it's a good thing he wasn't going far!  Lol I hope he made it ok!  And I'm SOOO glad the hay is gone!

Since I was trying to sell that hay, I'd kept it covered so people would want to buy it, and my hay hasn't been covered.  That wasn't a problem until yesterday, when the world suddenly started melting and a puddle formed around my hay and then the rain/sleet was coming down.  I wasn't too happy about my hay being exposed to all that.  However, now I had all my 6 pallets and the tarp free to use on my hay.  Only thing was.... I wanted to get the top bales down to use first, as well as the bottom bales sitting in the muck.  Since it was just me, I figured I'd just get the top bales down and then cover the stack as-is, and worry about those bottom bales later.  Everything in the middle should be fine.  And the tarp was big enough to cover it all.

So then it began.....  And I got a little carried away...  And ended up moving the bales from here:

To here:

And those bales were HEAVY!! I definitely think I got my money's worth!  I didn't count how many I moved, but I think they're easily around 90-100lbs each.  There were a few I couldn't even lift.  Of course, those were toward the bottom, so I was also pretty spent.  I'm pretty proud of myself :)  Now, the bottom bales are exposed for feeding next, and then the top bales are on the far left without anything stacked on top of them to feed after that.

Then, I started untangling the tarp from itself and pulling the tires off.  About this time Marri came out and asked me if I needed help with the tarp.  Gladly!  She even put one of my heavy bales that I couldn't lift and was on the ground back up on the stack to keep it good and dry.  The tarp is HUGE!!  We pulled it over to a clear area and spread it all out, then folded it in half, and finally pulled it over the stack and secured it with the tires.  Marri said now that the COLD cold is over, the wind is coming next!

I sure hope they're happy!  Definitely a labor of love <3

PS - if anyone ever says that owning horses doesn't count as exercise, send them to me :P

Beet Pulp Attack

This time ON me!  Since I've been subbing, I've been setting my beet pulp mash up to soak in the morning, leaving it in my car all day, and then delivering snacks to the ponies after work.  However, due to the freezing rain we received, I started off today with a nice little slip and spill with beet pulp mash ALL OVER me!  At least it was warm I guess.  I ran back inside and changed, then was on my way to work with the lovely bucket of beet pulp.

At least the ponies were happy about getting it today!  I picked out their feet while I they were eating - I've been trying to do that as often as possible to keep their feet healthy and to get them (particularly Flash) better about letting me/Beth work with their feet.  I am still itching to ride and haven't had the chance...  Too cold/inversion/too slippery/sick/etc.  Maybe tomorrow?  I hope so!  And I hope this saddle comes soon so I can ride in it!!

**Pictures coming soon**

Lessons

Well, I finally took my first official private horse lesson last Saturday.  I was a bit underwhelmed.  The girl was nice, but I just don't think her or her horse are as advanced as I'd like for instructing me.  I believe they've usually worked with beginners.  Oh well.

So now I'm waiting for the weather to let up so I can take lessons with the lady I posted earlier.  She sounds like exactly what I'm looking for - particularly about dressage being the basis of good riding.  She also has had success teaching riders on green horses, like I'd be with Snickers, so I can't wait to see what she can do with us!   The weather has been COLD and she wanted to wait until it warmed up, especially since she's going to drive out and give me lessons at Marri's place, and it's finally getting there.  I don't know if tomorrow will work out, but hopefully I'll start soon!  And I'm all set with my new bit and saddle to give us the best chance of being successful - and have a trainer help me figure out all the kinks!

Getting into endurance

Here are my two cents about getting started with endurance:

1) Volunter for at least one ride - definitely work some of that time at the vet check. Ask questions. There's a lot you can learn sitting with the vet and other volunteers (usually riders themselves) during the course of a 12 hour ride during which your job is mostly to sit, talk, and wait for a rider to show up. Observe and take in as much as possible about what's going on at camp, the vet check, ride meetings, starting the race, holds, and what riders are saying about the ride. You can learn more from one ride than a year of riding yourself.

2) Get your horse into fit and regular riding shape (you look like you're already there).

3) Get GPS that will tell you how far you've gone and how fast you're going (I have a Garmin Venture HC, about $110). This has been useful in riding in general - I log my arena miles just like my trail miles, and it sure is helpful on a ride to know how far you've gone and how far you have left to go! You'll also need a stethoscope. Don't worry about a heart rate monitor unless you really start getting into endurance. I still don't have one and don't feel any need for one, unless I start competing at the higher distances. Finally, you'll need a watch that shows the seconds.

4) Practice taking your horse's pulse with the stethoscope right behind his front left leg. There's plenty of websites to help you with this. When you start, time how many beats there are in 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

5) Get a good feel for a "working trot" - not a slow job, but not extended either. For most horses, this is about 8-9 mph (yours might be different because if his shape - I'm not familiar with the breed).

6) Take your horse out on a 4-5 mile ride and try to maintain a working jog most of the time. Keep cantering to a minimum, and walk where you need to. Cantering takes a LOT more out of a horse - that's why a good trot is the "working" gait of a horse. Walk the last 10 minutes/last couple hundred yards (figure out how far it takes your horse to walk 10 minutes).

7) Taking the pulse. When you get back, take your horse's pulse immediately, but not while he's eating/drinking/whinnying/being excited. You want an accurate pulse. Your target is 60. If he's already there, you're golden. If he's below somewhere 61-69, keep checking his pulse. As long as he's down to 60 within a couple of minutes, you're good. If he doesn't come down OR he's still very high (70-75 would be "iffy" while above 76 I'd be worried), then you need to go lighter. I highly doubt that's likely, given the work you've put into him and that any fit and healthy horse shouldn't have a problem coming down after only 4-5 miles of a working trot.

8) Adjust your training. If he's coming in at "golden", add distance OR speed - not both. If you're already up to 8-9mph good working trot, I'd just add distance, not speed. Any more speed really isn't necessary and strains your horse's ligaments which take years to build, not weeks. If you're coming in at "good", keep the same training schedule for a few weeks, then start adding distance. You'll get to know your horse. My horse always comes in at about 64bpm or lower, no matter if I went 5 miles or 25 miles.

9) Ultimately, you want to be conditioning at least 20 miles per week, but NO MORE than 30 miles per week. That does more damage than good. At least one of those days, you want to do hill work. If you can get in a short ride with tough hill work, that's great - but make sure it's shorter distance. You can count arena riding as conditioning, too! We were working on discipline at a working trot one day, and I got in all 8 miles. My friend does drill team with her GPS on, and she did even more than that! All riding counts as conditioning - even walking.

As far as nutrients goes, I'd say you definitely need to start with beet pulp, then add grain mixture. Soak the beet pulp to get a mash (you don't want any hard pieces) and it will help keep your horses hydrated. When you're just conditioning, this doesn't matter as much because your horse will have plenty of access to water most of the time. However, you want to get them used to eating it because it'll be a lifesaver at a ride, especially if your horse forgets to drink but is plenty eager to eat your beet pulp, getting his hydration that way. There are already plenty of threads on here about how to feed beet pulp, though, so I won't get into that many details. Just be sure to soak it, since hydration is the whole point of feeding it.

I add a Triple Crown Senior to my beet pulp because it's low in molasses, I'm already feeding beet pulp so I don't need a grain mix with that, it's high in fat, and has lots of other good stuff. I used to mix my own stuff together, but this is way easier and ultimately better and cheaper. You'll also want to get a good mineral powder to put in there, and electrolytes are great, but make sure your horse is used to them. I don't do electrolytes, but I want to explore it in the future. Ultimately, talk to your vet about what your horse needs. Since he's a different breed and build, he may require different supplements, but I don't think you can go wrong with that combination.


Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/new-endurance-148510/#ixzz2J3AngBs9

Dave Rabe Accident - Wear a helmet!

Just in case any of you were unaware, last month Dave Rabe, a legend in the endurance world, one of the top lifetime mileage earners, and a personal inspiration of mine, had a major accident at an endurance ride. You can't miss Dave - he's always wearing his cuttoff shorts, tank top (if he's not shirtless!), and ball cap - never a helmet. As he was getting on his horse, it started bucking and Dave ended on the business end a traumatic brain injury. It was a very scary few days in the endurance world as we awaited news of his condition. After hospitalization and many tests, he is now going through rehab and recovering. You can read more about Dave and get updates on his condition here: Dave Rabe « XP Rides

Dave has over 60,000 miles and more experience with horses than most of us could ever hope to achieve in a lifetime. However, accidents happen - and Dave is only one of many experienced endurance riders that I know that have received major injuries that could have been prevented had they been wearing a helmet. You never know what could happen at any time, no matter what you're doing or how many times you've done it before. Plus, particularly concerning endurance, there is a lot of chaos and unfamiliar circumstances for both riders and horses, and you are usually a long way from the help you'd need if anything did happen. Please, if you think you don't want to wear a helmet, think twice about that choice. 

On a side note, many riders I know are member of the Life Flight network, in case they do ever need urgent care. Something else to consider as an endurance rider.

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/dave-rabe-accident-wear-helmet-150863/#ixzz2J3AAPsyP

An endurance ride day...

Basically, crewing is a luxury that means you get to sit down and rest when you get back from a ride on holds and when it's over. It means that instead of having to carry water, clean your horse, give it nutrients, replace supplies in your bags, etc., you get to relax until your hold is up. However, there is no reason you can't do all this yourself, and I prefer to because it's part of the sport for me. Here's my "streamlined" routine:

Night before: Check in and pay. Vet in. Attend ride meeting.  Study map.  Ask questions.  Study map again.  Pack saddle bags. Double check all the tack is where I need it to be. Put my easy boots on loosely and anything that involves (taping, rasping, picking, cleaning, etc). Throw check to make sure horses have plenty of hay for overnight. Prepare my bucket of beet pulp and nutrients to soak overnight. Bring keep water buckets full - make sure they're full before bed.

Middle of the night: hear funny noise; check on horses; go back to bed. Hear hoof beats; check on horses; go back to bed. Get up to pee; check on horses; throw more hay; go back to bed. Hear LOTS of hoof beats, snorts, and voices; check on horses; catch random unknown horse and friends; return to owner; check on horses again and fix buckets that have been knocked over; go back to bed. 

Ride day: Alarm goes off about 2 hours before the ride; lay there and feel guilty that I don't want to get up because the horses need their breakfast; get up and give them their beet pulp and throw another flake of hay; prepare second bucket of beet pulp to soak in the trailer; go back to bed. Alarm goes off an hour before the ride begins; get up and get dressed, start tacking up, check hoof boots and tighten them, get on 15 minutes prior to ride intending to warm up, realize I forgot something, go back and get it, get back on, check time, realize the ride is starting and I'm at the trailer, trot up the the starting line and check out, and off we go!

Holds: Get off and loosen up tack, lead in at a walk, pulse down, sponge, vet check, ask vet anything I am curious about (if he's not busy), tie up at trailer, make sure water buckets are full, bring out the beet pulp, throw hay, check horse to make sure he's ok and there's nothing I need to worry about, check easy boots, usually leave tack on (unless there is a reason it needs to be pulled), throw on blanket over saddle if it's chilly/wet. Finally get to sit down, eat a granola bar or something light, refill water, drink all the water, refill it again, pack the saddle bag. Go back in trailer/tent, sit/lay down, remember to remove my helmet, realize I only have about 15 minutes of my hold left, drag self up after 5 minutes, unblanket horse and tighten cinch, double check all gear, get on, go to the hold area, wait a minute or two, then start again.

End of race: About the same as at the hold, except I pull tack and have to do all the grooming for BC showing, including washing, brushing, combing and trying to get my horse to look amazing even though I'm a scrub. It takes the whole time to get them ready in time, especially since you're going to want to sponge down EVERYTHING since they should look clean, and then have enough time to hopefully dry out. Then, I finally get to tie my horse back up with all his munchies and SLEEP until dinner.

If it's an out vet check, you have to adjust all of these things in order to stick your "hold" bag in the trailer, including packing a bale of hay, all supplies and snacks you'll want at mid-ride, and soaked beet pulp poses a special problem, but can usually be solved with a bucket with a tight lid since you don't want it spilling on the trailer when they take it wherever it needs to be. When you get to the vet check, the bags will be spread out and you'll need to locate yours and possibly regroup your things if you had more than one bag/bucket that got separated. I haven't even mentioned electrolytes for humans or horses because I haven't started using them yet.

This is a typical 25 for me. I have done one 50, and that was about the same, just longer  And so you need more supplies. You can see how an extra set of hands or two would help with all of that and take a lot of the work out, but I really don't mind it. It's kinda fun being "you and your horse against the world" and it gives a whole new meaning to the word "endurance".

You'll typically have 1 vet check in an LD, usually about halfway. However, I did have one or two where we went almost 20 miles, maybe more, and so the last "loop" felt like a quick jog - it was maybe 5 or 6 miles? They shouldn't be that lopsided, but it's not unheard of!

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/crewing-151193/#ixzz2J38iXOyT

Starting endurance horses

AWESOME quote - I was looking up the decade teams (which I hope to join), and at the top of their page was this quote that I absolutely love and want to keep in mind as I'm bringing up my horses now and in the future:

 I believe in the "2 years or 1,000 miles of competition before going fast" theory.  I stuck to that with Shayne and again on the horse I'm bringing along now and it seems to work well for my horses and me.  When I started endurance riding I heard that phrase (2 years or 1000 miles) allot and many people were pretty religious about it when bringing up a new horse.  It has really stuck with me even though I don't hear it much anymore.  I need/want/like my horses to last a long time and I believe that this is one way of stacking the cards in my favor to make that happen.  I don't creep along the trail by any means, and I do spend a great deal of time conditioning my horses for the rides.  But, I try to be conservative/middle of the pack"ish", for the first 2 years or approximately 1000 miles. I have also learned to be focused but flexible; that competition is not only about coming in first, and that nothing lasts forever.

Don't let your competitiveness carry you away.  Put the horse's well being before your own.  If you think your horse is off...he is.  And, realize that at this time next year (or possibly even next month) no one is likely to remember, or care, where you placed at this ride or any other ride.  So, take advantage of opportunities as they come but don't spend your time worrying over placings at a ride or push too hard to try to make something happen. The things that people will remember are how you treat others and how you treat your horse. Suzanne Pindar

New Saddle!

I FINALLY GOT A SADDLE!!!

First of all, thank you PH :) You really have no idea what this means to me.

Anyway...

A few of you are familiar with my soreness issues. After completing our first 50 (for a total of 125 miles last hear with LD's and the 50), Snickers came up SORE. And showed signs of grey hairs coming in on his shoulders. My heart sank - both because he hurt so bad and because I didn't know what I was going to do since I probably wasn't going to be able to afford a saddle. That was last July. After that, per the ride vet's recommendation, he had 6 weeks with no riding, a few tune-up rides, and did superbly in an LD 2 months later in a borrowed saddle that I believed fit. However, he almost hit the ground when we checked his back. He's such a trooper - he didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable or being upset until the vet check.

That was the end of our endurance season. I gave him 3 months of with basically no riding (I did jump on bareback for 5 minutes a few times in the second half of that time). And of course, since then, it's been very cold and wintery and I've been beating myself up trying to figure out this saddle issue. No matter what I did, I just didn't see a way to compete this season the way I wanted to. The saddles I did think would work were far out of my budget and we're currently trying to get money back in the bank since I've been student teaching and haven't had any income. My poor husband, who doesn't ride and is actually afraid of horses, has been SO supportive through it all, trying to make sure we had money for me to pay for my horses (I have two) and then compete on top of that. It's hard to explain to a non-horse person why one must have a saddle in the neighborhood of $1,500, and when it comes down to it, our family needs to come first.

The other day, I was talking to one of my friends, an expert in the field of endurance, and she said she uses Big Horns. She loves them and they fit most horses she's worked with, so I'm really hoping it fits mine. I knew those were less expensive, and after calling the company, I figured out which model I liked (of course it's the same one as my friend has). Then, I posted the thread about Big Horns, and moments realized later that this was the exact saddle PH was selling! And then my husband said he'd be ok with the price! Now, it's paid for and I'm trying so hard not to just explode while I'm waiting for it! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this is the end of my saddle woes and that I'll finally get to ride without stressing that I'm hurting my horse - lately, I've been limited to only very occasional rides and keeping them to less than a half hour and not really working, but rather just going for a quick trot/walk in the arena so as not to injure him. With a fitting saddle, I can actually do what I love again!

>sosososososoexcited<

It's a 16", so just a tad big (I think a 15" would fit me), but I can get creative with seat cushions and whatnot to make it fit.  In any case, it'll definitely be big enough to fit Trevor when he's ready, and for the price ($250), I think I can make do if it fits Snickers.  That's the most important thing.  I'll have to figure out the stirrups, and I think it'll work just fine with my HAF pad.  Worst case scenario, I'm sure I can get my money back out of it if it just doesn't work at all.

Here's the info from the manufacturer's site:

Big Horn endurance front synthetic saddle in two seat sizes and your choice of Brown or Black

No. A0117 – 16" Seat, Black
Tree: Fiberglass covered wood tree, 12" endurance front, semi-quarter horse bars.
Cantle: 4" with 1 1/2" Cheyenne roll cantle binding.
Seat: 15" or 16" grain out, padded.
Horn: N/A.
Gullet Width: Narrow Plus.
Gullet Height: 6 1/4.
Rigging: Western–style Center Fire, stainless steel ring and dees.
Skirts: (No. 118 & 117) 26" x 10 1/2", round, fleece lined, with bound edges.
(No. 120 & 119) 25" x 14", round, fleece lined, with bound edges.
Fenders: 17 1/2" x 7 1/2" nylon, 2" leather reinforced nylon stirrup straps with stainless steel buckles.
Stirrups: Ralide® with laced leather foot pad.
Finish: Brown or black.
Trim: Smooth leather jockeys, leather conchos, Synthetic® nylon skirts and rear housings, four attached eye loops, six clips and dees, breast collar dees, dee for attaching back strap and crupper.
Weight: 18 lbs.
Made in the USA

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/so-excited-151250/#ixzz2J35iKYOl

Fences, Dizziness, and Beet Pulp

I was so excited when I woke up and felt better today!  I've been trying to ride for the last 3-4 days...  Monday, there wasn't any school, but I started to get sick and before I had a chance to even think about riding, Marri called to tell me Flash had barreled through the fence as she was coming to feed, letting both him and Snickers out, and she couldn't catch either of them.  After she got off the phone with me, she caught Flash but Snickers kept running for a long time afterward.  She said he's very stand-off ish. Yup, that's my horse!  We did talk about getting some training to help him with that.  I'll have to look into it, because I know he can be a pain to catch.  We don't even need to revisit our roping incident from last Spring...

Anyway, Marri showed me how to fix the fence.  It wasn't difficult at all, but I just couldn't get it hot! It was on, but I just couldn't seem to get confirmation that it was working even when I grabbed it. I went back out that evening when Marri was there, but by that time I was starting to feel pretty sick.  She did confirm the fence was working - so I was pretty proud of myself for fixing the fence, but I just need to figure out how to test it lol.  My problem was that I wasn't putting the second end on the ground haha.  Oh well - lesson learned!  I moved the ponies from the small pens they'd been in all day back to their big pen, and got some satisfaction when Flash got a good shock - I knew he wouldn't be testing it again soon!

I couldn't sleep at all Monday night because my headache got so bad and I was so stuffy, and then I ended up calling in sick.  My butt was confined to the couch the rest of the day :(  I wanted to see my ponies so bad!  But Trevor said no :(

So today, I was so excited when I woke up feeling almost normal!  I went to work and was great for the first half of the day, but then started feeling dizzy and it hasn't really let up since.  Since I was having trouble just getting through P.E., I figured riding probably wasn't a good idea.  Instead, I ran a few errands (bought more beet pulp), then rested for an hour at home, and finally went and fed all the horses just before dark.  Thinking about how I wanted to put more pictures and posts on here, I took a few pictures by the light of my headlights and that were much better with the help of iPhoto ;)

Flash making a mess eating his beet pulp

Snickers

Snickers drinking down to his beet pulp - he loves it!

Flash making more messes

Flash's mess.  He spills so much because he shoves his face into the mash and splashes it around!

To the hay...

More of Flash's mess frozen on the gate

Mmmm alfalfa!

Snickers stealing from Flash's bucket

Mounted Archery

As I'm home sick today, I have been on the internet and came across this thread: Horseback Archery

Gotta admit, this looks pretty sick. I really want to give it a try someday!  I found this article, which fleshes it out a little more and got me even more excited about it: Horseback Archery Explained

Not gonna lie, I'd feel pretty awesome doing Mounted Archery.  I'm already trying to train Flash to ride bridleless, so I think he'd do pretty well with this once I get him all trained up :)  Definitely worth giving a try!  Plus, the costumes look pretty sweet, and I could live out my childhood fantasies of being a warrior princess on her horse kicking butt :-D

Catching up...

Well, it's been a while since I've written, but I figure better late than never!  Since I last wrote, I've moved the ponies 3 times and finally believe I've found the right boarding situation for them and am very happy.  It took forever for Snickers to put his weight back on, and he could still use a little more, but is looking pretty darn good.  We also completed our first endurance ride season - I'll have to pull up our info for those rides and report how they went.  Anyway, I'm going to try to post more often and take lots of pictures!  In the meantime, I'm going to copy over a few posts that I wrote on HorseForum.com since they'll do a pretty good job of summing up what's been happening in the time I've been absent....

Bit test ride

I think we have a winner! Check out that foam! He ground his teeth a little every now and then, but stopped almost instantly. He was chewing and chomping and licking constantly. I wasn't too fond of him chomping on the bit (like actually getting the metal and being quite loud about it), and he gave me a few head tosses when I pulled up on him, but I think that's just him getting used to a bit again and matter of habit. He REALLY didn't want me to put it in his mouth when we began and stuck his nose in the air and clamped his teeth shut, so I think he's definitely got bad memories now from the previous bits and the sore mouth, so I'm curious if he's easier next time. Anyway, this looked really good to me, and I have videos I'll share once I get my hard drive cleaned up enough to fit them!

****

Here are a shots from last ride, when he had the stuff in his mouth. You can clearly see his pissy nose snarl, even though he wasn't opening his mouth. The nose shot with the new bit looks way happier!

The slobber turned out to be the clue that stuff was stuck under his tongue, causing the teeth grinding.

He actually has the new bit in his mouth in that first one, but he had the stuff stuck in his mouth and the ulcers :S

Possible instructor?

I've been riding since I was little and can hold my own pretty well on a horse. However, during my last two endurance rides, my horse came up with a sore back. Part of this is due to saddle fit and I'm riding in my best internet-learned half-seat on short jogs with him to keep him ridden. However, part of it is influenced by my seat I'm sure. I was never taught to post and I'm fairly positive I'm terrible at it and have been contributing to the back issues. I was raised riding Western and learned pretty much everything from my dad and only ever rode foundation QH's and one paint, but have realized his riding/horse philosophy and mine don't align with one another. For instance, my dad hates Arabs and I am quite smitten by the one I bought for endurance and for all the reasons he hates them haha.

I'd really like some lessons to take a second look at everything I'm doing. Since I need to post on our endurance rides due to the movement, getting that figured out is first priority. However, I firmly believe both my horse and I could use a little dressage instruction to give us a firmer foundation and learn to move and work together better. I've always wanted to learn English from an instructor (my sister tried to teach me a thing or two and that lasted about 30 seconds) and am currently using more English equpment than Western since it's better suited to endurance. Eventually, I might give eventing a shot if things go well and I enjoy it, but my heart really belongs to the endurance trail and I prefer that quite a bit to an arena.

Anyways, I did a quick search on instructors in my area. I would need them to come to my location since I want to work with my horse and don't have a truck and trailer. This instructor looked like a good option and is willing to come to my location for $25/hour. I have no idea what to be looking for in an English instructor, so I was wondering what you think? She does have a few pictures, so maybe you can tell how skilled of a rider she is. Over the phone, she seemed nice, and I'd probably do a lesson or two per month and then practice so we can fine-tune and continue to learn each time. Does she look like a "qualified" instructor to you?

Erica Webster: Listed in Horseback Riding Lessons in Nampa, Idaho

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-talk/possible-instructor-149189/#ixzz2J3B6JEu7

I love my helmet!

I wrote this little editorial and posted on the riders4helmets Facebook page - and they decided they wanted to put it on their website!  Check it out!

I Love My Helmet - Jillane Baros

Snickers's bloodlines

I'm curious about what Snickers has in his parentage, so I posted it online to see what people said.  I guess the basic idea is that there's a LOT going on in there!  Here were the most helpful responses:

I'm not the best, but I'm seeing some egyptian, if I am not mistaken. I really like Ferzon too (had a double Ferzon G-daugter that I love to bits). Gold N Ali is Fire An Ice's sire. Fire An Ice...there was a big hoop-la over him at one point as he is one of the really light (pali colored) chestnuts and there was question about his purity due to his color, I believe. Nice stud though. LOL. That's all the help I can be. I see some names that are recognisable, though I couldn't tell you specifics about individuals. 

Your guy has Mr Mc Coy in there. My gelding does too, but that's not really uncommon to have ancesters like that. There were widely used and popular studs being bred to everyone.

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-breeds/what-can-you-tell-me-about-148905/#ixzz2J3GQMOt9

Well, daddy is mainly russian-crabbet, mommy also crabbet/domestic with lots of Egyptian and even Spanish thrown in.
If I ever get my computer up and running I could post tons of pictures.....if.....in this lifetime.....:-/

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-breeds/what-can-you-tell-me-about-148905/#ixzz2J3GUY8mj

Oh WOW! Your horse is a Gold N Ali grandson, a friend of mine used to own Gold N Ali!! He was such an awesome stallion.

Your horse has a lot of very well-known horses all over in his pedigree on both sides... sire's side I see a blend of Polish, Russian and Crabbet. Dam's side you have Egyptian, Spanish and Crabbet.

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-breeds/what-can-you-tell-me-about-148905/#ixzz2J3GY3QpE

New bit is here!

It's here! I paid the $4 for expedited shipping so I wouldn't have to wait too long to find out if this bit will actually work. No, it's not the JP Korsteel (though the site led me to believe it was through the description and URL address), and it came with a giant "Made in China" sticker. I think I might write a complaint about mis-advertising, because they copied and pasted the description for the JP Korsteel, but the links aren't even curved like JPK's. However, it does seem to be something that would work given my issues, and I paid about $25 for it. I did need a few other things for blanket repair, so I felt I got a decent deal. The sides are very small with a nice, big copper peanut. The holes are big enough that it can really bend any direction to bend with his mouth. I don't think there's any opportunity for it to be pinching. I'm going to test it out this afternoon - I'm really excited! Any suggestions for what I should do to evaluate whether this bit will work or not? Should I go ahead and try riding if he looks like he's doing fine?

The issues before were: 
1) with a single-jointed snaffle - almost instantly pulling back because, when it rotated downward with gravity as all snaffles do, the joint was poking the top of his mouth (I believe), so I was having problems before I even touched the reins. Then, when I touched the reins, things became a fight because he was so uncomfortable.
2) with a ported curb bit - he was fine with no pressure because the port was laying flat on his tongue. However, when I picked up the reins, even with minimal contact causing the bit to rotate slightly, the port hit the roof of his mouth, so he started gaping, but didn't fight it. Now that I think of it, I believe he was better behaved because the fixed port could only rise so far to hit the roof of his mouth and was smooth and round, rather than a pointed joint. He wasn't grinding his teeth anymore nor fighting and actually responded pretty well, but he still had a gaped mouth.

The pattern seems to fit that my issue is just the bit coming up and hitting the roof of his mouth, especially since I got the same reaction when I stuck my finger in his mouth and barely poked the roof, and, though he seemed fine when I just let my fingers lay flat on his tongue, I still was making a lot of contact across the roof of his mouth because it's so low.

Given that the peanut is so wide and round, and that I don't think it'll rise up to the roof of his mouth but rather lay on his tongue and the sides will come down when pressure is added, I really have high hopes for this bit.

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-tack-equipment/bit-irritation-148001/page4/#ixzz2J3ErgPWn

Nearly had a horse-induced heart attack!

This came up as I was attempting to solve a bit issue that I already had a thread going in the tack section, so I typed this up there as an update in that issue. If you already read that, save yourself some time and don't read it twice. However, I did want to share this as its own thread just because it was so strange... but so simple.

Snickers was very slobbery today and has been for the last day or two. Not like "foam when you put the bit in" but rather huge strings of thick drool hanging from his mouth all the time. I wasn't sure what was going on....

I've been trying to find a bit that was comfortable for him, and my latest bit came in the mail this morning. I brought him up and saddled him, and he was doing really well. Then, I wanted a picture of him with what he was doing before, so I put the curb bit in his mouth and rotated it, but no matter what I did, he didn't react at all (he was gaping and pulling his lips back before). Instead, he just drooled. Interesting....

I put him in the new bit, and it was awesome and crappy at the same time. He rode like he's never done before - that head was automatically in the perfect position the entire time, no throwing his head, no fighting, nothing. And he was doing things for me that he's never done - perfectly responsive to all my cues. In fact, I was riding with a lighter hand than I usually ever have with him. It was great! Except.... He was girding his teeth the ENTIRE time, like 30 minutes straight. It was the strangest thing - how could he be SO good (I was shocked!), but be so pissed the entire time??

But the story doesn't end there... During this time, he continued drooling the entire time, and I even saw a hint of what looked like blood after he'd been grinding his teeth for so long. I took a look inside his mouth and couldn't see anything, and there wasn't any more blood, so I just wasn't sure....

I put him back and my BO called me on my way home. We've been talking about his eating habits - he drops a lot of food and seems to have trouble chewing. She'd been watching him eat that morning and agreed with me it wasn't normal and she was worried about him. Between the food issues and the bit issues, we decided it might be good to have his teeth checked again. I called vet #1 who's known him since before I bought him and did his teeth last February. He said he really didn't think he could have a problem with his teeth since he did them, but suggested thoroughly checking my feed for cheat grass. Funny enough, we just switched feed last week, and that's when the drooling started and I think the teeth grinding (in addition to the gaping with a bit) started around then, too. I called my BO and she went and threw them some of her hay (I'm her only boarder and we take care of our own hay). I then called vet #2, who checked his teeth a couple months ago and who I'm much more comfortable with. She took the time to talk to me and thoroughly explain different aspects and hear me out about all my concerns from the hay to the bit to the girding, and she said she'd bet money it's cheat grass in the hay.

Then, things got scary. My BO called - she'd given them new hay in a different bin and he wasn't eating. He kept putting his head down to the food, but never ate anything. This is NOT like him, at all. Especially with straight alfalfa that he'd been eating before I got my own hay last week. So, I prepared a mash with about 2 lbs of beet pulp, 2 lbs of Triple Crown, and a bunch of alfalfa cubes soaked in hot water (he NEVER turns down his beet pulp mash, even if he's stuffed himself) and called vet #2 back. As I was driving with my mash back to my boy, she explained that he was probably in too much pain with the cheat grass in his mouth and it made him not want to eat. I needed to take a syringe and rinse his mouth.

My BO got a 60cc syringe and a bucket of warm water, and I caught my horse. He was standing at the barrel with the hay that likely had cheat grass and looked like he'd been digging through it, but not eating. There aren't any outdoor lights, so we brought him right up to the front porch on the yard. She held him while I inserted the full syringe and emptied it in his mouth... Nothing. It was so strange - where did the water go? We did this a few more times, and concluded he must be swallowing it lol. He just kept letting us stick that syringe in there and give him a drink over and over! What a strange horse... But that's nothing I didn't already know, it just added to his list of strange things he does. Anyway, nothing was coming out, except the same slobber like crazy. After a few more times, I got out the mash, but he sniffed it and turned away. Now I was worried - that is extremely unusual, even if he was somehow full (but we really doubted that was the case). He was acting normal, except just not eating. I'd seen him eat his regular daily mash and drink water just 2 hours earlier. This didn't feel like a colic, but he still wasn't eating at all and rinsing his mouth wasn't working. I stuck him in the round pen with the mash while I called the vet - we decided it probably wasn't an emergency and could probably wait until morning to see if he ate then, so I decided to go with that. Wanting to give it one last go, I went and got him and rinsed his mouth with the same result. I even pried open his mouth before I rinsed it and it really didn't help any. Now, he was getting a little annoyed though. Finally, I did what any mom would have done for their child - off came my nice, warm, waterproof gloves, and my hand went in his mouth. Turns out, if he feels your hand in there, he won't bite hard enough to make it hurt. He was obviously not to thrilled with it, but allowed me to explore his entire mouth (all the way up to my elbow) and get out the crud. There were two main wads of food under his tongue, but I could guarantee after that that there was nothing left in that mouth. And my arm smelled TERRIBLE!! I did feel two rough spots about the size of dimes on the side of his tongue that were different than the rest, but there wasn't any more food in there for sure.

And guess what? After a few minutes, he started stuffing his face with the mash! He truly was just in so much discomfort from those bits of food that it made him not want to eat at all. After a bit, I returned him to the pasture and filled his (and my other horse's) buckets with the rest of the mash. I went back inside and called my husband to tell him I was almost done and that Snickers was doing fine, talked to my BO. And then drove my car out to the gate so I could see what was going on and finish my last job. Snickers was still stuffing his face :) No, there was no way he was sick haha. With my headlights helping me see, I emptied their entire tractor tire that I use for free-feeding of the bale of hay or so that I'd fed yesterday and threw it over the fence. I got it out all the way down to the dirt and felt I did a pretty thorough job, especially for being in the dark. Then, I went and got some of that alfalfa hay that I know he likes and offered him a bite before throwing it in the barrel. He eagerly took it! In fact, more like Snickers than anything, he left his mash for the hay as soon as I threw it in the tire. (Of course, Flash, my colt, was very pleased since he'd finished his bucket and was waiting for a bit of Snickers' lol).

I called my vet back and left a message telling her what I'd done and that he was fine, and she called me back (What a fantastic vet on a Saturday night!). She said those rough patches were probably ulcers, like a bad canker sore, and that that was likely why he'd been grinding his feet the entire time we were riding. Sticking a bit in there just put more pressure on his tongue and caused him discomfort. His ulcers should heal up on their own in 4-5 days, so then we should be good to go. In that time, I'm definitely going to be getting them new hay!!

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-health/nearly-had-horse-induced-heart-attack-148964/#ixzz2J3BY5HGl