Thursday
The farrier came out today to finish what he started last Saturday. We had the tranquilizer from our vet, it's this really nice paste kind that kind of looks like dewormer and is as good as an injection. We gave it to Harry and Nina at the same time and then got started with Harry. He was bouncing around a little bit but then the tranq kicked in and he was so sleepy looking and he was drooling! I wish I could've had pictures, but my camera broke =[ So I'm in the market for a new one if you have suggestions. But anyways, Harry got done without a problem and off to Dreamland he went.
Nina, on the other hand, had probably worn off of her tranq by the time we got to her (bad decision to give it to her at the same time as Harry and then leave her for last) so she was putting up a bit of a fight. We called the vet and were cleared to give her another half of a tube, making her dosage for an 1800 lb horse! She's only 800 lbs! But even with that amount, the adrenaline was overriding a lot of it. She ended up calming down a little bit and it took all of us around her, petting her, for her to be calm enough for him to finish nailing the shoes on. It took a total of 2 hours even with a tranq! Hopefully she gets better at this. My brother's been messing with her legs and feet a lot now so that she gets a little more used to a farrier yanking her leg out to the side to rasp it.
So now all of our horses have shoes on and we'll see how they start to perform =] At least their little hooves are protected from chipping now on those awful rocks out front!
Showing posts with label leg shy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leg shy. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Day 77
I only rode Harry today.
I think I'm going to switch up his bit tomorrow. Right now he has a pretty falt one and I think I'm going to switch it with Nina's. The one that Harry has we originally purchased for Nina, but then Carmello told us that Nina was better off with one like Brie's so we ended up buying another one and gave the leftover to Harry when we got him. Paco said that he had a different bit than one like ours when he was working with Harry, one like Nina's so we're going to try it tomorrow. I only hope that Nina is okay with everything and she doesn't regress.
Why am I making all these changes you ask? I just feel like I can't control Harry. Between the crappy jaquima (we still need to order one) and this bit, everything seems ineffective. He just keeps on plowing onwards. It's like he has no respect for me. I took him outside today and as much as I would've liked to stay outside, I went back in because he would NOT respond to anything I asked of him (such as slowing down) and just did as he pleased. The most I could get him to do was turn, but even that was a yank. I don't want my fists to be up at my shoulders while riding him because that's how much effort I have to put into it, it's just ridiculous.
He was much better lunging today though, now that I know what I'm doing. He only ran out on me maybe twice. I was also very proud of him because I got him to get into the wash rack, something with which he's been having some trouble with the past couple of weeks. He's been scared of it. So I was very proud of both myself and him when I got him in there today.
Mom rode Brie outside for a while. Paco told us that he rode her yesterday and that she was all uptight and upset because she knew after about 20 minutes Paco would take her back into the barn so he stayed out a while longer and she calmed down. I wish I could ride Brie outside but I have to deal with Harry.
My brother rode Nina inside and outside. My mom and he also worked on her legshyness since she's informed us that the farrier should be out in about three weeks. I wasn't there to watch, but it sounded like it went well. No panicky yells or pounding dancing hooves on the concrete, so I assume it all went well.
Wish me luck with the bit change tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be one heck of a day!
I think I'm going to switch up his bit tomorrow. Right now he has a pretty falt one and I think I'm going to switch it with Nina's. The one that Harry has we originally purchased for Nina, but then Carmello told us that Nina was better off with one like Brie's so we ended up buying another one and gave the leftover to Harry when we got him. Paco said that he had a different bit than one like ours when he was working with Harry, one like Nina's so we're going to try it tomorrow. I only hope that Nina is okay with everything and she doesn't regress.
Why am I making all these changes you ask? I just feel like I can't control Harry. Between the crappy jaquima (we still need to order one) and this bit, everything seems ineffective. He just keeps on plowing onwards. It's like he has no respect for me. I took him outside today and as much as I would've liked to stay outside, I went back in because he would NOT respond to anything I asked of him (such as slowing down) and just did as he pleased. The most I could get him to do was turn, but even that was a yank. I don't want my fists to be up at my shoulders while riding him because that's how much effort I have to put into it, it's just ridiculous.
He was much better lunging today though, now that I know what I'm doing. He only ran out on me maybe twice. I was also very proud of him because I got him to get into the wash rack, something with which he's been having some trouble with the past couple of weeks. He's been scared of it. So I was very proud of both myself and him when I got him in there today.
Mom rode Brie outside for a while. Paco told us that he rode her yesterday and that she was all uptight and upset because she knew after about 20 minutes Paco would take her back into the barn so he stayed out a while longer and she calmed down. I wish I could ride Brie outside but I have to deal with Harry.
My brother rode Nina inside and outside. My mom and he also worked on her legshyness since she's informed us that the farrier should be out in about three weeks. I wasn't there to watch, but it sounded like it went well. No panicky yells or pounding dancing hooves on the concrete, so I assume it all went well.
Wish me luck with the bit change tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be one heck of a day!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day 71
At the end of the day, I smelled like a wet dog, sweaty horse, and dirt.
Let me explain (all but the wet dog part...I don't know where that came from). Today is the first time Harry has been worked for two weeks since we didn't bring him to the show last weekend. I expected him to be kind of crazy.
I didn't expect him to run away.
I was in the arena trying to lunge him. He had on Brie's old jaquima, the first one that we ever had that Andre made for us. He was very excited and then I noticed a little too late that the pisador (leadline, if you will) doesn't make full contact to get his attention if I pull on it (kind of like a lasso). It doesn't tighten as far as it needs to. Also, that jaquima has a nylon pisador, not a rawhide one like Brie's or Nina's current jaquimas.
The result? Harry was getting a little out of control excited, I tried to pull him back in with the pisador, it totally didn't get his attention, he ran out on me which resulted in rope burn. I still clung to it until he ran around one of the poles in the middle of the arena where I was lunging him, knocked it over, freaked himself out even more, wanted to rear yet not trample the flowers, and headed for the door, knocking me over and pulling me behind him. I was not about to be dragged through the dirt and get even worse rope burn by that point so I let go, and yelled "HE'S LOOSE!!" (as if they couldn't already tell) to my family and the electrician as Harry ran out one of the doors.
I jumped up, wild-eyed, and barked for my brother, who was on Brie, to go after Harry one way as I ran out the other (as if I could catch him). No where in sight, I ran back down one of the aisles where my mom yelled that he was coming around the back, so I ran out again. Saw him, he saw me, and he kept running, nearly jumping over one of the landscapers on his riding mower. He ran back into the barn (after being barricaded by our Jeep and my brother) and headed for his stall when my mom caught him.
All through that, his reins, which were tied to his saddle, didn't even come loose. Thank God for Andre teaching me a knot that ACTUALLY WORKS! It's secure and can be easily pulled off! I can just see what would've happened in my mind: the double reins flying over his head as he nailed a corner, him freaking out at these ropes suddenly flying over his head, rearing, getting caught in the reins, breaking his legs....*shudder*. The pisador didn't even get caught around his legs, thank God.
After all of that, he was shaking. I brought him outside into the round pen and worked. I lunged him with the rein instead of the pisador, tying that and the bit rein to the saddle, lunging with just the barbada rein. He was pretty shaken up, what could you expect from a mini Derby? I got on him and tried to just keep him from taking off in the pen and eventually got him to walk for a good 10 minutes (which is like 2 hours in Harry-time) after about an hour. I figured with the mini-Derby combined with the intense barbada lunging and then actually training plus the fact that it was 90 degrees out just about did it for him and didn't venture into the arena today. I'll leave that for tomorrow, now that I know not to ever lunge with the pisador on that jaquima again.
As for Brie, I told her today that since she doesn't want to show, she's going to be good for something: trail riding. It's either one or the other. So I cantered her around the arena a couple times, let her catch her breath, then it was outside! OH MY GOD she might get murdered by the sunshine demons. Just saying. It's that scary for her. We swerved all the way to one tree line until she got too close to the barbed wire for my liking then took off for the next tree line. She galloped *ahem* to the fence line and practically into Gary's house for dinner. After she got that out of her system, I made her walk as calmly as possible back to the barn so she could break her habit of charging it. She did pretty well. So that's our new mission: acting civilized outside.
Worked with the bucket and Nina again today. It got caught between her legs again and she freaked a little less severely, which is progress. I also managed to do some Parelli with Harry. Here's to hoping I don't get dragged through the dirt again tomorrow.
Let me explain (all but the wet dog part...I don't know where that came from). Today is the first time Harry has been worked for two weeks since we didn't bring him to the show last weekend. I expected him to be kind of crazy.
I didn't expect him to run away.
I was in the arena trying to lunge him. He had on Brie's old jaquima, the first one that we ever had that Andre made for us. He was very excited and then I noticed a little too late that the pisador (leadline, if you will) doesn't make full contact to get his attention if I pull on it (kind of like a lasso). It doesn't tighten as far as it needs to. Also, that jaquima has a nylon pisador, not a rawhide one like Brie's or Nina's current jaquimas.
The result? Harry was getting a little out of control excited, I tried to pull him back in with the pisador, it totally didn't get his attention, he ran out on me which resulted in rope burn. I still clung to it until he ran around one of the poles in the middle of the arena where I was lunging him, knocked it over, freaked himself out even more, wanted to rear yet not trample the flowers, and headed for the door, knocking me over and pulling me behind him. I was not about to be dragged through the dirt and get even worse rope burn by that point so I let go, and yelled "HE'S LOOSE!!" (as if they couldn't already tell) to my family and the electrician as Harry ran out one of the doors.
I jumped up, wild-eyed, and barked for my brother, who was on Brie, to go after Harry one way as I ran out the other (as if I could catch him). No where in sight, I ran back down one of the aisles where my mom yelled that he was coming around the back, so I ran out again. Saw him, he saw me, and he kept running, nearly jumping over one of the landscapers on his riding mower. He ran back into the barn (after being barricaded by our Jeep and my brother) and headed for his stall when my mom caught him.
All through that, his reins, which were tied to his saddle, didn't even come loose. Thank God for Andre teaching me a knot that ACTUALLY WORKS! It's secure and can be easily pulled off! I can just see what would've happened in my mind: the double reins flying over his head as he nailed a corner, him freaking out at these ropes suddenly flying over his head, rearing, getting caught in the reins, breaking his legs....*shudder*. The pisador didn't even get caught around his legs, thank God.
After all of that, he was shaking. I brought him outside into the round pen and worked. I lunged him with the rein instead of the pisador, tying that and the bit rein to the saddle, lunging with just the barbada rein. He was pretty shaken up, what could you expect from a mini Derby? I got on him and tried to just keep him from taking off in the pen and eventually got him to walk for a good 10 minutes (which is like 2 hours in Harry-time) after about an hour. I figured with the mini-Derby combined with the intense barbada lunging and then actually training plus the fact that it was 90 degrees out just about did it for him and didn't venture into the arena today. I'll leave that for tomorrow, now that I know not to ever lunge with the pisador on that jaquima again.
As for Brie, I told her today that since she doesn't want to show, she's going to be good for something: trail riding. It's either one or the other. So I cantered her around the arena a couple times, let her catch her breath, then it was outside! OH MY GOD she might get murdered by the sunshine demons. Just saying. It's that scary for her. We swerved all the way to one tree line until she got too close to the barbed wire for my liking then took off for the next tree line. She galloped *ahem* to the fence line and practically into Gary's house for dinner. After she got that out of her system, I made her walk as calmly as possible back to the barn so she could break her habit of charging it. She did pretty well. So that's our new mission: acting civilized outside.
Worked with the bucket and Nina again today. It got caught between her legs again and she freaked a little less severely, which is progress. I also managed to do some Parelli with Harry. Here's to hoping I don't get dragged through the dirt again tomorrow.
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