Today was the first day that I've ever driven out to the barn on my own. I drove out with my brother in the rain. My mom had her surgery on Thursday and everything went well, but she's really bummed that she won't be able to ride for a while. My dad stayed home with her today and my brother and I went out because we needed to deworm the horses. I don't know if we'll get to Midwest Classic this year because I don't know if my mom will be able to sit in the car for that long...it's in two weeks. I hope that she feels better, regardless of whether we can go or not.
We got out there and started playing with them first. Harry let me swing the rope by his neck today, so that's progress. He was trying to bite it a lot, but eventually relaxed. We had to take turns playing and handling Brie because, since there were only two of us, Brie was the odd ball out today. I'm sure she didn't mind. I brushed her up first and my brother did Harry and Nina because he's super speedy. Afterwards, I put Brie back in her stall and tacked up Harry to ride.
I'm kind of nervous about how we'll do at the show if we go...he wasn't very collected today or last weekend. He also felt kind of pace-y today too...I have to figure out how to get him back to how he was, and quick!
Nina's nose is all stitched up. The vet came out this past Monday and her stitches need to be taken out next weekend, I think. That's pretty convenient, as the vet is coming back out for spring shots and to float teeth, plus the farrier is supposed to be out. It's good to get it all done in one day!
Once I was satisfied with Harry, I took out Brie just to walk. By then everyone was done riding so Brie had the arena all to herself and she loved it. She's so good by herself or when it's just Harry and Nina. It's when other people come that she gets upset and I don't know what to do about that.
After a little bit of walking just to get her stretching, we put everyone back to deworm them. Brie got to enjoy a banana while Harry and Nina got carrots. Wednesday is Nina's birthday! She'll be 6 years old. We have to get her something extra fancy!
Showing posts with label Midwest Classic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Midwest Classic. Show all posts
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Day 217
My mom has to have surgery next week on her spine, so she's trying to take advantage of as much time with the horses as she can. Today she rode all three horses and tomorrow she plans on doing the same thing. I hope that everything goes well for her in the surgery and there aren't any complications.
After looking at some stuff on Parelli Connect this past week, we went in with the intention of playing as many of the Seven Games that we know. I was more focused on getting Harry to play the Friendly Game because he had such a hard time with it last week. My brother and mom were playing the YoYo Game when Samantha's mom pulled in and started talking to my mom. Harry was making wonderful progress, coming in closer to see the carrot stick and letting me pet him with it when my brother called my mom and I over in a panic.
As we came in, he showed us a gash on Nina's nose that we hadn't seen when we came in because of the dirt covering it. It looked pretty gross, but not very bad. He took her out of the arena we were playing in to go into the wash rack and wipe off the dirt. My mom followed. I played with Harry a little more and heard some banging and my mom came in to ask me for help.
Nina was having a fit in the wash rack when you tried to touch her nose. I put Harry on the cross ties and went over to look at it. They were just trying to press a compress onto it to make sure that it would stop bleeding. It looked a lot worse once it was cleaned. The cut is about three inches in length and about half of a fingernail deep, but it's not bleeding. After much calming and talking, I can get the washcloth on her nose for about a minute before she starts thrashing around again. My mom took the hose and just let it run over her nose (which Nina still didn't like) and then I poured some hydrogen peroxide in my hand and pushed it onto Nina's nose. I got it all in one try because the length of her cut started to bubble white like cuts do when you put peroxide on them, so now it's disinfected. We put this blue stuff we have on it (I really need to learn what it's called) and only after then did I remember that I should take a picture.
Not a very good picture of the cut, but still. Maybe I'll get another shot tomorrow.
After inspecting her stall, my brother found that she must have cut her nose on her feed bucket. It was kind of shoddy looking before and I have mentioned it to Paco when Harry was living in that stall, but he never changed it. Well Nina must have cracked it and then went in to eat and sliced her nose on it. I'm just thankful it's not on her eye or her entire face or something worse like that. I am worried though that it won't grow back together and that there will always be a separation. I don't know if she needs stitches or what. Someone suggested butterfly closures, but she'd need to be sedated anyways for us to do that, and if that's the case, stitches might be the better option. We'll see how it is tomorrow.
Once we found out the bucket was the cause, my dad took down all three of the horse's feed buckets (their waterers are steel automatic) and put in new ones. Much better.
We all rode after that. I rode Brie first and she was kind of limping. I guess it must be time for her to have another arthritis shot. I was trying to get her to walk because of the limp, but she didn't want to. So after a while of struggling with getting her to walk, but a little bit of calming down, I let her corto the rest of the ride and she seemed content. Then my mom switched with me and I got Harry.
This largo is the kind that we've been looking for. He is so ready for show in a couple of weeks, I can't wait! He was absolutely flying in his largo without breaking gait (only a couple of times in the counterclockwise) and had a very nice, high-stepping, collected largo. Hopefully I can get some pictures and a couple videos tomorrow!
In the end, I ended up riding Taco a bit for Jane, because it was muddy out and she didn't get to let him out in the round pen to longe, so he was being a bit naughty for her. It took a couple of laps to settle into his tweaks, but he worked nicely for me after that. He likes to break into a canter though. If I were training him, I'd definitely have to work on that, even though his canter is gloriously smooth, it's unacceptable in show. At the end of my ride, John asked if I would show Taco. I sure hope that he was serious! I would love to! And it would give me an excuse to get a different show jacket =]
I really hope that Nina is okay. Please keep both Nina and my mom in your thoughts!
After looking at some stuff on Parelli Connect this past week, we went in with the intention of playing as many of the Seven Games that we know. I was more focused on getting Harry to play the Friendly Game because he had such a hard time with it last week. My brother and mom were playing the YoYo Game when Samantha's mom pulled in and started talking to my mom. Harry was making wonderful progress, coming in closer to see the carrot stick and letting me pet him with it when my brother called my mom and I over in a panic.
As we came in, he showed us a gash on Nina's nose that we hadn't seen when we came in because of the dirt covering it. It looked pretty gross, but not very bad. He took her out of the arena we were playing in to go into the wash rack and wipe off the dirt. My mom followed. I played with Harry a little more and heard some banging and my mom came in to ask me for help.
Nina was having a fit in the wash rack when you tried to touch her nose. I put Harry on the cross ties and went over to look at it. They were just trying to press a compress onto it to make sure that it would stop bleeding. It looked a lot worse once it was cleaned. The cut is about three inches in length and about half of a fingernail deep, but it's not bleeding. After much calming and talking, I can get the washcloth on her nose for about a minute before she starts thrashing around again. My mom took the hose and just let it run over her nose (which Nina still didn't like) and then I poured some hydrogen peroxide in my hand and pushed it onto Nina's nose. I got it all in one try because the length of her cut started to bubble white like cuts do when you put peroxide on them, so now it's disinfected. We put this blue stuff we have on it (I really need to learn what it's called) and only after then did I remember that I should take a picture.
After inspecting her stall, my brother found that she must have cut her nose on her feed bucket. It was kind of shoddy looking before and I have mentioned it to Paco when Harry was living in that stall, but he never changed it. Well Nina must have cracked it and then went in to eat and sliced her nose on it. I'm just thankful it's not on her eye or her entire face or something worse like that. I am worried though that it won't grow back together and that there will always be a separation. I don't know if she needs stitches or what. Someone suggested butterfly closures, but she'd need to be sedated anyways for us to do that, and if that's the case, stitches might be the better option. We'll see how it is tomorrow.
Once we found out the bucket was the cause, my dad took down all three of the horse's feed buckets (their waterers are steel automatic) and put in new ones. Much better.
We all rode after that. I rode Brie first and she was kind of limping. I guess it must be time for her to have another arthritis shot. I was trying to get her to walk because of the limp, but she didn't want to. So after a while of struggling with getting her to walk, but a little bit of calming down, I let her corto the rest of the ride and she seemed content. Then my mom switched with me and I got Harry.
This largo is the kind that we've been looking for. He is so ready for show in a couple of weeks, I can't wait! He was absolutely flying in his largo without breaking gait (only a couple of times in the counterclockwise) and had a very nice, high-stepping, collected largo. Hopefully I can get some pictures and a couple videos tomorrow!
In the end, I ended up riding Taco a bit for Jane, because it was muddy out and she didn't get to let him out in the round pen to longe, so he was being a bit naughty for her. It took a couple of laps to settle into his tweaks, but he worked nicely for me after that. He likes to break into a canter though. If I were training him, I'd definitely have to work on that, even though his canter is gloriously smooth, it's unacceptable in show. At the end of my ride, John asked if I would show Taco. I sure hope that he was serious! I would love to! And it would give me an excuse to get a different show jacket =]
I really hope that Nina is okay. Please keep both Nina and my mom in your thoughts!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Day 216
Yesterday we went to the Midwest Horse Fair and it rekindled my interest in Parelli. So we bought two more halters and leadlines and their Hit the Trail DVD (especially interested after last weekend's fiasco with Brie) and set out today to play some of the games we knew.
We went in the outdoor arena because the indoor was pretty occupied. Brie is a pro at the 3/7 games I've taught her so far. I found out today that we never taught Nina the YoYo Game, so my brother spent the time teaching her that. Harry, while he knows the YoYo Game, sucks at the most basic of all -- the Friendly Game! He's just so scared and thinks that when I swing the rope over by him that I want him to longe so he takes off. We really need to work on that before moving on with anything else. It's really opened up my eyes to how much he doesn't know and just to the extent of how scared he is of everything. I didn't think he would be that scared of the end of his lead rope. Although he did think that the carrot stick was amusing, he kept trying to bite it when I would rub it on him or swish that rope around a little bit.
After everyone played the YoYo Game and we finished freezing in the wind outside, we tacked up to ride. My mom wanted to see how Brie would react to her baby Myler bit, but put it under her tongue and I didn't notice for about 15 minutes into my warm up. So I had to fix it. After I fixed it, she was just not listening at all, so I switched back to her bit that she's been using for a while. She never really wanted to calm down and give me a walk, so I had to keep circling her. Then she didn't want to back up straight, so we did that. My mom decided to switch after Harry bucked, but Brie still wasn't behaving.
Brie apparently got a little better while my mom was on her and Harry calmed down while I was on him. He really is doing nicely. We largo'd today and it was fantastic. Just to feel him go with such a difference in speed, the difference we've been working at, without breaking gait was a great feeling. I can't wait to show him next month! So starting next week we begin preparing for the Midwest Classic. I think that next weekend is our last full weekend of practice before the show, because the week after that the farrier comes out one day and the week after that the vet comes out and by then it's the show the following weekend! I can't wait. I hope we do well.
Also, when we bought the DVD and halters, we signed up for ParelliConnect! I'm using it under my mom's name and will definitely be exploring it duringboring parts of class my free time =]
We went in the outdoor arena because the indoor was pretty occupied. Brie is a pro at the 3/7 games I've taught her so far. I found out today that we never taught Nina the YoYo Game, so my brother spent the time teaching her that. Harry, while he knows the YoYo Game, sucks at the most basic of all -- the Friendly Game! He's just so scared and thinks that when I swing the rope over by him that I want him to longe so he takes off. We really need to work on that before moving on with anything else. It's really opened up my eyes to how much he doesn't know and just to the extent of how scared he is of everything. I didn't think he would be that scared of the end of his lead rope. Although he did think that the carrot stick was amusing, he kept trying to bite it when I would rub it on him or swish that rope around a little bit.
After everyone played the YoYo Game and we finished freezing in the wind outside, we tacked up to ride. My mom wanted to see how Brie would react to her baby Myler bit, but put it under her tongue and I didn't notice for about 15 minutes into my warm up. So I had to fix it. After I fixed it, she was just not listening at all, so I switched back to her bit that she's been using for a while. She never really wanted to calm down and give me a walk, so I had to keep circling her. Then she didn't want to back up straight, so we did that. My mom decided to switch after Harry bucked, but Brie still wasn't behaving.
Brie apparently got a little better while my mom was on her and Harry calmed down while I was on him. He really is doing nicely. We largo'd today and it was fantastic. Just to feel him go with such a difference in speed, the difference we've been working at, without breaking gait was a great feeling. I can't wait to show him next month! So starting next week we begin preparing for the Midwest Classic. I think that next weekend is our last full weekend of practice before the show, because the week after that the farrier comes out one day and the week after that the vet comes out and by then it's the show the following weekend! I can't wait. I hope we do well.
Also, when we bought the DVD and halters, we signed up for ParelliConnect! I'm using it under my mom's name and will definitely be exploring it during
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