Saturday
We got up and out super early. Surprisingly, I was full of energy! It was also super nice outside, so I decided that I would ride outside. I was a little hesitant, since they haven't been ridden outdoors since fall, but I took Brie out to do our little program like nothing was different and after a few bucks of happiness, she settled right into it! We got ready to ride and were out there riding before anyone else was ready and she was sooo calm! It was a really nice surprise. She walked so slowly and was just happily going along with no problems. She tried to speed up a tiny bit when we would turn the corners to face going towards the gate, but with a little correction she regained her focus and settled back into a beautifully slow walk. Our corto was equally as calm. It was fantastic! Once everyone else came out she got a little hyper, but not really badly. We went outside in the fields to walk around and she was not super crazy so that was a plus! She actually wasn't bad at all. Never tried to stop or run away on me, just plugged along in her corto. =] It was truly a great day.
In other news...we're changing farriers. Our current farrier, according to the vet, cut Jane's horses hooves at all different angles. This lead to mass confusion but when confronted about it, the farrier had good explanations (supposedly) for what he did. After talking more with Nick, he explained how just being off on angles a tiny bit can make the horse not gait well or go into a pace. Harry has been pacing...so now we're concerned. We've decided on going back to a previous farrier that Gary and Nick fly in from Puerto Rico who supposedly specializes in Paso Finos.
This whole farrier v. vet business makes me anxious. Do farriers and vets ever really get along? And I'm not entirely convinced that Pasos need a special farrier just for their hooves. If the farrier is good, he should be able to comprehend adjusting the angles as necessary for the breed and conformation of he horse, right?
Sunday
Rode Brie some more today. I didn't use the mounting block because everyone was standing around it like a herd of cattle. I don't get it, really. No one outside of my family uses the mounting block for their horses, but they keep it in an area where they all stand. I might just move it to the corner or something, that way I don't have to keep asking everyone to move so I can use it and then feel judged if Brie doesn't stand still the first time. Also, there is a gazebo in the middle of the arena for this gathering purpose! Can't they go in there?!
It was crummy out today, so as much as I wanted to go back out, we got stuck inside again. Oh well. I'm really confident that Brie is going to do well if we take her to Michigan. This whole spring and show season is getting hectic, at least for me. I want to go to Michigan to show Brie, but my best friend has her graduation on the second day of the show...I'm not sure if my parents will want to drive back on Saturday night so that I can go to graduation. Otherwise, I might just stay home and then Brie will miss another year of showing, since I think Michigan is the last local one before State Fair, which I won't be able to go to because of law school starting, so no one will bring her to show anyways...plus I wanted to be the one to show her...
Anyways. This weekend is Easter! Maybe we'll go out on Friday and Saturday to make up for missing Sunday.
Showing posts with label hoof problems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hoof problems. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Days 240 & 241
Saturday
First thing when I got there today, I was bothered. Let alone that it was almost 100 F, but I show up and Paco is riding Taco. And then, to add to it, Samantha's dad is now learning how to ride on Taco. Taco is not an easy horse to ride and aside from the fact that he is not the starter horse, I was upset because I didn't want a complete newbie doing anything to screw up Taco. I never got the chance to say anything, and wasn't quite sure how to, but it stayed with me.
I tried to ride Harry, but it was a total failure. I'm not sure if it was because it was hot outside or because he was stiff or because of my sour attitude about Taco going into riding Harry, but he was just not behaving. He was bad, like trying to buck me off bad. I didn't want to give up, so when I finally got him to just go around without being terrible and make a nice pass across the board, I got off. I wasn't in the mood to fight with him today. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Sunday
I went in wanting to say something to Jane about Paco and Samantha's dad riding Taco before the show, but again I never got the chance to because Paco was always with Jane and I didn't want to just call him out in front of her, even if he does undermine me quite often in front of other people. I just can't be that confrontational. So Jane rode Taco and then Samantha's dad got on for a lesson while I was riding Brie. I made the mistake of taking her outside before she calmed down in the arena first and that set the tone for her whole day, with me and my mom afterwards. She's also hiking her back right hip up and I'm thinking it's because of her arthritis. If it keeps getting worse, I suppose we'll have to give her another shot or talk about other options with the vet, but I hope that it doesn't get worse...she's only 11. I would hate to have her unrideable at this young.
I plopped around on Nina while I was waiting for Samantha's dad to finish, and I love her more every time I do! She has such a relaxed walk and she's so focused on what she's doing. She's like a little steam boat. If we make it to State Fair (as now that's up in the air as well), I would really love to do a Pleasure Stakes class with her because I know we could win some money =]
Also more excitement! My dad rode for the first time since he was thrown off of Harry right after we bought him. That's about two years ago! He rode Nina and I knew that he was trying to look like he knew what he was doing as far as making her gait, but she's so automatic that even if he was doing something wrong, she just went on about her business and gave him a really great ride. I think it definitely made him feel better about coming out to the barn with us all the time.
Jane hopped back on Taco after Samantha's dad and so I got on Harry. He was so much better today. He had a wonderful largo and a great board. I think he's super sensitive towards what attitude you have when you get on him, because I was feeling much better today, even though I was still ticked at people other than Jane and I riding Taco. But rather than try and kick everyone else off, it would be more of an accomplishment if I could overcome the obstacle of having other people screwing with Taco and still place...that is, if certain people don't try and take credit for my win, saying that it's because they rode that Taco did so well. Taco might not even be going to the show, because he has to wear pads on his front hooves and that's against the rules, so if the farrier can't put shoes on the back feet or doesn't clear him to take the pads off, then he can't go.
I finally got my chance on Taco and had a bit of a hard time getting him to gait and he did try and pull me into the middle, but after those hiccups had passed, he settled into a wonderful, slow corto and really listened to me. He's even doing better on the corners and isn't cantering as often as before. After he worked (and he was sweating!), we went and walked outside around the pond to cool off. I went with my mom and Brie, and I couldn't believe that Taco was so good outside! He was very relaxed and calm and Brie was the crazy one. I had just anticipated that he would be a handful, but it was a really pleasant surprise to both enjoy the ride and cool down.
I'm really excited for this Friday because the kids that I babysit during the week are coming out. They're little ones, all under the age of 7, and it'll be so great to spread the love of horses with them! Of course, they're only going to ride Nina =]
First thing when I got there today, I was bothered. Let alone that it was almost 100 F, but I show up and Paco is riding Taco. And then, to add to it, Samantha's dad is now learning how to ride on Taco. Taco is not an easy horse to ride and aside from the fact that he is not the starter horse, I was upset because I didn't want a complete newbie doing anything to screw up Taco. I never got the chance to say anything, and wasn't quite sure how to, but it stayed with me.
I tried to ride Harry, but it was a total failure. I'm not sure if it was because it was hot outside or because he was stiff or because of my sour attitude about Taco going into riding Harry, but he was just not behaving. He was bad, like trying to buck me off bad. I didn't want to give up, so when I finally got him to just go around without being terrible and make a nice pass across the board, I got off. I wasn't in the mood to fight with him today. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Sunday
I went in wanting to say something to Jane about Paco and Samantha's dad riding Taco before the show, but again I never got the chance to because Paco was always with Jane and I didn't want to just call him out in front of her, even if he does undermine me quite often in front of other people. I just can't be that confrontational. So Jane rode Taco and then Samantha's dad got on for a lesson while I was riding Brie. I made the mistake of taking her outside before she calmed down in the arena first and that set the tone for her whole day, with me and my mom afterwards. She's also hiking her back right hip up and I'm thinking it's because of her arthritis. If it keeps getting worse, I suppose we'll have to give her another shot or talk about other options with the vet, but I hope that it doesn't get worse...she's only 11. I would hate to have her unrideable at this young.
I plopped around on Nina while I was waiting for Samantha's dad to finish, and I love her more every time I do! She has such a relaxed walk and she's so focused on what she's doing. She's like a little steam boat. If we make it to State Fair (as now that's up in the air as well), I would really love to do a Pleasure Stakes class with her because I know we could win some money =]
Also more excitement! My dad rode for the first time since he was thrown off of Harry right after we bought him. That's about two years ago! He rode Nina and I knew that he was trying to look like he knew what he was doing as far as making her gait, but she's so automatic that even if he was doing something wrong, she just went on about her business and gave him a really great ride. I think it definitely made him feel better about coming out to the barn with us all the time.
Jane hopped back on Taco after Samantha's dad and so I got on Harry. He was so much better today. He had a wonderful largo and a great board. I think he's super sensitive towards what attitude you have when you get on him, because I was feeling much better today, even though I was still ticked at people other than Jane and I riding Taco. But rather than try and kick everyone else off, it would be more of an accomplishment if I could overcome the obstacle of having other people screwing with Taco and still place...that is, if certain people don't try and take credit for my win, saying that it's because they rode that Taco did so well. Taco might not even be going to the show, because he has to wear pads on his front hooves and that's against the rules, so if the farrier can't put shoes on the back feet or doesn't clear him to take the pads off, then he can't go.
I finally got my chance on Taco and had a bit of a hard time getting him to gait and he did try and pull me into the middle, but after those hiccups had passed, he settled into a wonderful, slow corto and really listened to me. He's even doing better on the corners and isn't cantering as often as before. After he worked (and he was sweating!), we went and walked outside around the pond to cool off. I went with my mom and Brie, and I couldn't believe that Taco was so good outside! He was very relaxed and calm and Brie was the crazy one. I had just anticipated that he would be a handful, but it was a really pleasant surprise to both enjoy the ride and cool down.
I'm really excited for this Friday because the kids that I babysit during the week are coming out. They're little ones, all under the age of 7, and it'll be so great to spread the love of horses with them! Of course, they're only going to ride Nina =]
Monday, December 19, 2011
Days 188 + 189
Saturday
Worked with Harry again today. I noticed that he had a crack in his hoof...maybe we're making them too hard? We've been using Tuff Stuff on them and since we started using it, he's been cracking. We're going to switch back to Rain Maker tomorrow. I didn't know, but Paco longed him during the week. He was much relaxed when I longed him and only stopped on me twice. Major improvements!
He was good in the gait and even went pretty fast for largo! I'm super proud of him, he's really coming along now that I'm not trying to do everything for him. I know it's only been a weekend, but he seems happier.
Brie was giving Mom a hard time today. She kept hopping and skipping and overall being Brie. I'll get some sense into her tomorrow.
Sunday
Mom rode Harry first and I rode Brie first. We don't know if she's still kicking the stall. I do know that I want to make her a salad for Christmas! I've looked it up and it's not bad for them as long as you don't give them a lot. So I'm going to make them all a small salad with apples and carrots. I hope they like it!
Paco cut off the chip in Harry's hoof today. The farrier's not coming back out until January, so we'll have to make sure it doesn't crack any further up his hoof.
Mom said that Harry was being an angel! I'm so glad that he's getting better, it's like he's growing up. She worked him longer on the barbada rein than I usually do, but she said that when she switched over to the bit rein, he was "as smooth as glass"! He sounded awesome on the board too, so mission accomplished!
Brie was really pulling, maybe because she was a bit confused. I wanted to work on leg contact, since it's something we never do and I figured that since I've only been trying to teach her to canter FOREVER it would be a good idea to get her used to since she jumps in reaction to when I ask her with my leg as opposed to just loosening the reins. If I ever want to teach her flying lead changes, she'd need the leg contact part, not just the reins, so I want to do it the right way. So we worked on maintaining a good speed while I kept contact in the walk and corto. She largo'd a bit, but only after a long time of working at a corto. When I did start asking her at the very end for canter, my main goal was not only keeping it at a sane speed, but picking it up right away instead of pacing and then getting the lead. Every time she'd start pacing to pick it up, I'd slow her back down into a corto and try again at the next corner. She was eventually getting it, but then lost the canter halfway down the long wall, but as long as she's picking it up, our goal was accomplished! I only hope she doesn't think that means to charge the corners from now on, as we've been working so hard to stop from doing that.
I was amazed that it was warm out, well, warm enough out, so we gave them all a hose down. Next time we see them will be Christmas Eve! I can't wait to give them their salads!
Worked with Harry again today. I noticed that he had a crack in his hoof...maybe we're making them too hard? We've been using Tuff Stuff on them and since we started using it, he's been cracking. We're going to switch back to Rain Maker tomorrow. I didn't know, but Paco longed him during the week. He was much relaxed when I longed him and only stopped on me twice. Major improvements!
He was good in the gait and even went pretty fast for largo! I'm super proud of him, he's really coming along now that I'm not trying to do everything for him. I know it's only been a weekend, but he seems happier.
Brie was giving Mom a hard time today. She kept hopping and skipping and overall being Brie. I'll get some sense into her tomorrow.
Sunday
Mom rode Harry first and I rode Brie first. We don't know if she's still kicking the stall. I do know that I want to make her a salad for Christmas! I've looked it up and it's not bad for them as long as you don't give them a lot. So I'm going to make them all a small salad with apples and carrots. I hope they like it!
Paco cut off the chip in Harry's hoof today. The farrier's not coming back out until January, so we'll have to make sure it doesn't crack any further up his hoof.
Mom said that Harry was being an angel! I'm so glad that he's getting better, it's like he's growing up. She worked him longer on the barbada rein than I usually do, but she said that when she switched over to the bit rein, he was "as smooth as glass"! He sounded awesome on the board too, so mission accomplished!
Brie was really pulling, maybe because she was a bit confused. I wanted to work on leg contact, since it's something we never do and I figured that since I've only been trying to teach her to canter FOREVER it would be a good idea to get her used to since she jumps in reaction to when I ask her with my leg as opposed to just loosening the reins. If I ever want to teach her flying lead changes, she'd need the leg contact part, not just the reins, so I want to do it the right way. So we worked on maintaining a good speed while I kept contact in the walk and corto. She largo'd a bit, but only after a long time of working at a corto. When I did start asking her at the very end for canter, my main goal was not only keeping it at a sane speed, but picking it up right away instead of pacing and then getting the lead. Every time she'd start pacing to pick it up, I'd slow her back down into a corto and try again at the next corner. She was eventually getting it, but then lost the canter halfway down the long wall, but as long as she's picking it up, our goal was accomplished! I only hope she doesn't think that means to charge the corners from now on, as we've been working so hard to stop from doing that.
I was amazed that it was warm out, well, warm enough out, so we gave them all a hose down. Next time we see them will be Christmas Eve! I can't wait to give them their salads!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Day 177
I hate when my farrier is late.
I mean, I do enjoy that he takes his time when he gets to our barn, but that means also waiting around while he takes his time on other people's horses at their barns before he gets to ours. Which sometimes means showing up at 5pm instead of noon.
We didn't get to stick around to see Nina being trimmed because I had to get back to school, but we tranq'd her and Paco was going to be there to help out.
On the other hand, after my mom rode Harry today, we found out that he severely cracked his hoof just from being on the rocks for a second on his way out the arena into the grass. I had a picture, but I can't get it off my phone right now. So the farrier tried to fix it and basically told us we can't ride Harry until Thanksgiving now because he had to take off a big piece to fix the chunk that happened with the crack. =[ This makes me beyond depressed.
I rode Brie today. She was really good, but stocked up again. We're thinking maybe it's time for another cortisone shot for her arthritis again, because when she's warmed up and ready to start going faster, she snorts, and it took her a long time for her to snort today before she was warmed up. We're going good with the largo, we only break in the corners now in the counter clockwise direction, but we'll be able to fix that by Spring. There might be a local fun show coming up in November, so I'm hoping we can take Brie to that to get her used to being back out in the show ring!
Today, I also rode Kimmy's horse, Sadie. She's an Icelandic Pony/Foxtrotter who was trained for barrel racing...which is an interesting mix. O.o Anyways, Jane, who's Kimmy's grandma, said that Sadie could use all the practice she could get since Kimmy's having trouble with her doing anything really because Sadie hasn't been ridden too often for over a year now. Boy, was that horse snotty! She almost ran over everyone standing by the arena door at least 4 times trying to get back to her stall and tried a couple of little rear/jumps on me too until my mom had to lead me away from everyone for their safety and stand by the pole and make me do circle work. Then Sadie started to calm down. Apparently, she never gaits, but Sadie was gaiting when I was really looking forward to doing some extra trot/canter transitions. In all, Kimmy has a lot of work a head of her, but I'll take the chance to ride any horse I can get! Especially now that Harry's out for the next month =[
I was proud at the end though. Paco congratulated me on riding Sadie so well because apparently she gave Kimmy a really hard time last weekend and Kimmy got off crying. So that made me happy =]
I mean, I do enjoy that he takes his time when he gets to our barn, but that means also waiting around while he takes his time on other people's horses at their barns before he gets to ours. Which sometimes means showing up at 5pm instead of noon.
We didn't get to stick around to see Nina being trimmed because I had to get back to school, but we tranq'd her and Paco was going to be there to help out.
On the other hand, after my mom rode Harry today, we found out that he severely cracked his hoof just from being on the rocks for a second on his way out the arena into the grass. I had a picture, but I can't get it off my phone right now. So the farrier tried to fix it and basically told us we can't ride Harry until Thanksgiving now because he had to take off a big piece to fix the chunk that happened with the crack. =[ This makes me beyond depressed.
I rode Brie today. She was really good, but stocked up again. We're thinking maybe it's time for another cortisone shot for her arthritis again, because when she's warmed up and ready to start going faster, she snorts, and it took her a long time for her to snort today before she was warmed up. We're going good with the largo, we only break in the corners now in the counter clockwise direction, but we'll be able to fix that by Spring. There might be a local fun show coming up in November, so I'm hoping we can take Brie to that to get her used to being back out in the show ring!
Today, I also rode Kimmy's horse, Sadie. She's an Icelandic Pony/Foxtrotter who was trained for barrel racing...which is an interesting mix. O.o Anyways, Jane, who's Kimmy's grandma, said that Sadie could use all the practice she could get since Kimmy's having trouble with her doing anything really because Sadie hasn't been ridden too often for over a year now. Boy, was that horse snotty! She almost ran over everyone standing by the arena door at least 4 times trying to get back to her stall and tried a couple of little rear/jumps on me too until my mom had to lead me away from everyone for their safety and stand by the pole and make me do circle work. Then Sadie started to calm down. Apparently, she never gaits, but Sadie was gaiting when I was really looking forward to doing some extra trot/canter transitions. In all, Kimmy has a lot of work a head of her, but I'll take the chance to ride any horse I can get! Especially now that Harry's out for the next month =[
I was proud at the end though. Paco congratulated me on riding Sadie so well because apparently she gave Kimmy a really hard time last weekend and Kimmy got off crying. So that made me happy =]
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