Day 225

I have some lovely pictures for you all today!

This is Harry's beautiful jaquima!

Sleepy Harry is sleepy.

A close up of the shank of his bit...I should've taken a picture of the port, but I forgot. Notices the double reins!

Our very first saddle. It's from Colombia and is perfect for training.

Harry wondering why I'm taking a picture of his butt. This is the so-called "fruit basket" a.k.a rear end collector

 So as you can tell, I did in fact use the training saddle and the fruit basket on Harry today, hoping that it would get him a little more collected and remind him that he can't just string out like a Quarter Horse (nothing against them, though!) This is the first time that Harry has been very energetic at a longe in a while, since he's pretty pokey, which is okay with me because I'm not getting pulled around. But he was actually very good and responsive.

My brother and Nina exploring.

Brie peeking between the fence while she's eating.

He was a little stiff in this direction, but we worked at it the entire ride and he eventually loosened up. 

 Look at that adorable sashay!

 Now here you can see that he is really collected. He ended up working very nicely. I was able to keep a loose rein on him after the warm up and he was happily snorting along. He stayed pretty collected the entire ride, but he tap danced a little. We didn't work on largo, since we're trying to collect the corto before we can extend the largo at the same time. He was a very good boy and really gave me all he had today. He was definitely listening to me, as his hears were facing towards me the entire ride. He was responding well to my leg and to my reins and while he tried to get away a little bit with his head, after a few quick corrections he settled back like a charm.

Afterwards, we went out exploring without the fruit basket. Once he walked over that little ditch he calmed right down.

We even got to walk near the pond again! So proud of him. Now for some adorable shots of Brie in between bursts of partaking in her favorite activity: eating.

Afterward we came inside, I rode Taco really quickly because he kept pulling towards the door for Jane, so after he calmed down and was able to walk past the doors without wanting to run out back to his stall, I got off and let him go into the stable. Then everybody got a nice, thorough bath and tail scrubbing. Of course, everyone was dirty within 5 minutes, but what can you do.

Day 224

Every time I get disheartened with Harry, I have to remember how far I've come.

So you may remember that he is in a bit of a slump performance-wise lately. He's just not very enthusiastic about gaiting and not doing nearly as well as he was in April or so and I can't figure out why. He just got his shoes done last weekend, so I figured that this weekend there might be a little bit of a change. He's just not having it. He's very stretched out and not collected and despite the huge amount of circlework that we're doing, it just doesn't seem to be helping. He isn't tap-dancing anymore, so that's a plus, but his corto has definitely extended and his largo is more pace than gait. If we make it to the next show, that means I only have five more practice days with him, and I'm not so sure that I can accomplish this big of a goal in only five days, especially when I don't even know where to start tackling the problem.

But I do have to admit, I'm proud of how relaxed he's gotten, even if it seems to be making him a little bit lazy. His whole problem with the tap dancing was because of all this pent up energy and anxiety that he had and now that he's let that go, it's like he has no real steam to fuel his engine, the little train that he is (or was). But today before I rode, I did some more Parelli Games. He let me swish the rope all around him today without continuing to turn so that he was still facing me. He let me twirl the rope like a helicopter and he wasn't even phased by it. He even let me swing the rope over him in an arc from one side to the other without getting scared of seeing it or hearing the hum that it was making through the air! I played the Porcupine Game with him a bit today and he was really good at it. I didn't have to put pressure on either his shoulders or his hinds for very long before he got the idea to pivot away from it. So yeah, our performance might be suffering a little bit, but I would rather be gaining his trust and having him calm down so that he's a sociable animal than being a great performance and absolutely skittish of everything. Now I just need to find a way to combine the two.

After our somewhat depressing ride (only because he was pokey), we went outside with Samantha and Tobacco. I'm so proud of my little Harry! He has been scared of the pond in back for the longest time, and two weeks ago we went out and I lead him around it on foot and we got really close to the water's edge. Well today when we were riding outside, we were able to calmly walk next to it without the fear of being eaten up by the sea demons! In fact, the entire ride outside was wonderful. He's turning into being a great trail horse, but I do still have hope for finding a happy medium between super anxious but good performance and really calm but very pokey. Tomorrow, we're trying the fruit basket.

Days 222 and 223

Saturday

Didn't really do much today. Just played a couple of Parelli games and then left because it was hot out. But there was a lot that went on this week. Earlier in the week, Samantha's mom noticed that Nina wasn't acting right and that she couldn't pick up her head to eat her hay from her hay basket. She called my mom who called the vet and the vet said that there was a large swollen lump at the injection site from last weekend and there were hives on Nina's neck. Definitely still a reaction from the shots. So the vet gave Nina some medicine to eat for the rest of the week and then up until tomorrow. The vet was back out to check on everyone who got shots every morning for the rest of the week up until yesterday morning. Poor Nina. First the stitches on her nose, now this! And the vet also mentioned that a couple of weeks ago, some minis colicked from the vaccines too. So it's definitely the manufacturer's fault and the vet will be taking that up with the company. I'm just so thankful that Samantha's mom was there to notice Nina! Who knows what might have happened if the vet didn't get out there. One thing's for sure -- Nina wouldn't have been able to eat for a while if she couldn't reach her food =[ But by the time we got out there today she was definitely better and the vet had cleared her this morning.

I'm proud to say that Harry and I are making progress with the tarp! He didn't want to step on it, but I did pick it up and drag it on the floor while he walked with me and then held it and walked around with it while I held him too. Then when we were all finished, I brought it into the aisle where he was cross-tied and folded it in front of him really small, then showed it to him and rubbed it on him and he was okay with it. Progress will continue!

Sunday

I'm getting really discouraged. After Harry was working well all this time, he's not doing so hot anymore. He's all loose and flying away from me now that he knows how to largo and I can't figure out how to get him to slow down and collect without tugging on the reins and it drives the both of us nuts. And it was so hot today and I felt bad for working him so hard, but the next show is in two or three weeks, and I won't be able to go out to ride this weekend, so we don't have that much time to get back to where we were a month ago. I really don't know what to do and it's frustrating. I know he's trying to figure out what I want too, I just know that he's trying, but I don't know a better way to communicate that I want him to just collect and corto instead of flying around now, and that I still DO want him to largo, but only when I ask him to, not just all of the time as a default speed. I was getting really frustrated, but then I had to remind myself that we didn't work yesterday and that he was really behaving like he was trying to give me what I wanted. He wasn't fighting at all and I appreciate that. I just need to figure out how to ask him for it better. Hopefully this week off will give me some sort of revelation!

Day 221

Happy Mother's Day! My mom got the great present of being able to come out to the barn today. It was nice having someone to watch and correct my riding from the ground.

Everyone is back to being okay. There weren't any after effects of the whole commotion with the vet yesterday, so that was insanely relieving. When we got there, we let them all out to play in the pastures. They ate for a little bit and then we chased them around and played. Harry is so cute to play with. He'd play when I'd chase him and then knew exactly when I wanted him to come back to come inside. His hair was a mess today, so that took forever for me to brush through it all. He was very calm when I went to longe him. I love this calm Harry. It's great being able to longe without him fishtailing or backing up or charging at me or anything. I love it!

We did a lot of circle work today and flexing, since he didn't ride yesterday. I mostly worked on trying to collect his corto better and my mom was helping me with that, telling me that I keep my hands a little too low and too close together on his neck to support him, so I had to change that. After his corto was where I wanted it to be, we worked on the largo. It was pace-y again, but we kept working at it. I had to keep checking him and flexing him with the outside rein. We eventually found out perfect speed and remained in gait, so I was happy with that.

Since he was such a good and patient boy, we wandered around outside by ourselves, since my brother and Nina were already done. I was so proud of Harry! He's scared of walking close to the pond that's in the back of Gary's place, but today we walked around it on our own! Not very close, but still, it's progress! He was such a doll outside and was absolutely calm. He likes to run up the little hill in back too =]

Afterwards, I showered him off and let him out in the paddocks with Nina and Brie, where Brie stayed the entire day today. I also found out that a horse will not see a carrot if you throw it at them and won't sniff it out like a dog and eat it from the ground. It has to be literally in front of their noses.

Day 220

What a day. I left the house at 7 AM and came back at 745 PM. I drove there this morning with only my brother because my mom wasn't feeling to good.

The vet came out today for spring shots and to float teeth. By the time we got there, Jane's horses were already done and we were just in time for the vet to start Brie. I asked him about giving her an arthritis shot, but he didn't have any on hand so he'll have to come back for that. He also took a good look at her and said that she should gain weight. We keep her on the thin side because of her insulin resistance in order to prevent a spike in blood sugar and develop laminitis like she did when she was younger, but the vet recommended changing her from 1.5 lbs of grain and 2 flakes of hay twice a day to 2 lbs of grain and 3 flakes of hay twice a day. We might just do this to get her up to weight and then cut back to 2 flakes again, because every one else is on 2 flakes and it just seems like a lot for her to metabolize.

So everyone got their shots and teeth done. Nina was terrible for the vet. She had pinned my brother and the vet against the wall at one point and the vet had to give her the tranquilizer one handed. We had planned on the farrier showing up right in time to trim them while the tranquilizer was still in effect, but he was running late so I had to go pick up the tranq in the paste back at the vet's office since he didn't have any on hand. By the time we got back, the farrier was there and the vet's tranquilizer was wearing off, so we decided to do Nina first since she was the most recently tranquilized by the vet and gave her an extra dose of paste tranquilizer. 

The farrier got her hooves done. I went to go get Harry out of his stall and noticed that he was shaking. I didn't really think much of it and tried to give him a bit of the paste tranquilizer while he was in the stall, but he wasn't having it, so I brought him out. There I really noticed how badly he was shaking and knew that something was wrong. I called the vet's office and they said not to give him any more tranquilizer and not to do his hooves until the vet got out here again, so I gave the farrier Brie to do. While he was doing Brie, he said that she was also shaking, but not as badly as Harry, so I called the vet's office back and reported that to them. They said that they were on their way.

A different vet came out than the one who gave the shots and looked at Harry and Brie and said it was probably a reaction to the vaccines and that next time we should make note of the amount of tranq and the brand of tranq plus split the vaccines up to prevent this from happening again. She gave them both banamine and gave Harry cortizone (cortisol?) as well because he was extra shaky. They both had some grass and we chatted, then she left and said to watch them for about a half hour and call her back if they did anything strange like roll around excessively or bite at their stomachs, all signs of colic. We decided that the farrier would have to come back for Harry probably next weekend because we didn't want to stress him out anymore for today.

About 15 minutes into watching them after the vet left, Harry started bucking and kicking in his stall, pawing the ground, and rolling around, so I got him up and walked him and called the vet back. She said to keep walking him for about 20 minutes, put him back in the stall, and if he hasn't relaxed to call back and let her know because she'd have to come out again.

I put him back and began to watch him when my brother went to pet Nina and noticed she was shaking too. At this point, I began to wonder if it was a bad batch of vaccines, so I went to look at Taco and Sadie. Taco was shaking a little too, but not Sadie, so I called Jane and told her and she said she would be back out. I called back the vet, told her Harry was looking okay, but reported on Nina and Taco and she said she'd be right out again and that it was probably a bad batch of vaccines.

My brother went to grab some Subways for dinner while I waited for the vet. Before he got back, the vet returned which left only her and I to handle giving banamine to Nina. Nina tried to run us both over in her stall, and then tried to pin the vet against the wall on the cross ties and tried to rear onto me. The vet told me to get a lead rope with a chain and then put the chain between her top gum and her lip and I held it there like a twitch while she gave Nina the banamine and cortizone (cortisol?). By the time we finished with that, my brother and Jane were back and the vet gave the meds to Taco and Sadie as well. No one got grain for dinner and Harry and Nina won't get grain for breakfast because they were the worst tremors out of the bunch.

Jane called a while ago and said that she checked on them and they all seemed fine, thankfully. We won't have to pay for these emergency calls, but I sure hope we never have to go through a bad batch of vaccines ever again!

Day 219

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!

Day 218

I have everything, as promised! Here are some more pictures of Nina's cut.

Right after we took her out of the stall. Getting ready to clean it.

Front view. It goes all the way into her nose.

After cleaning it.

This is the blue stuff I'm talking about!!

After seeing it today, we've decided to call the vet tomorrow and have them take a look at it. From there, it'll be their decision to put stitches in it or not. My poor Nina. Maybe the stitches will be out before the show.

Once we made that decision, we played some more, since we didn't get to play for as long as we wanted to yesterday. I did some walking around and Harry followed me wherever I went. We got further with the Friendly Game and he'll now let me swing the string at the end of the carrot stick against him. Next goal: getting to swing the string over him and around him. Then my brother set up the tarp. I was pleased that I managed to keep Harry's attention and relative calmness while my brother unfolded and put the tarp out. He made Nina longe over it, which Nina thought was the most fun thing ever, and my mom made Brie go over it, which Brie thought was the biggest waste of time ever. I decided to take Harry over by the poles that my brother had set up and we tried to walk over them. He walked over them once, but then everyone else wanted to, so we started with the tarp.

Thinking about it

Smelling it

There are literally 90 other pictures of him sniffing the tarp. He was snorting the whole time. Once in a while, but not often, we got shots like this.

You want me to do what, now?!

 The important thing is that I never forced him into anything. Although this picture shows me pulling him with the lead line to prevent him from rearing, I only pulled this hard in times like this. Otherwise I had a very gentle tug and immediately released when he moved his neck or foot closer.

Circling around the tarp.

The final sniff

Stepping on the tarp!!!

Finally he stepped on it! I'm so proud of him. It certainly took a while, maybe close to an hour, but next time it will be even less and before you know it, he'll be able to longe over it like Nina!

I worked Harry first, since by the time he stepped on it, everyone else was already tacked up and riding. He was very good on the longe, no fishtailing, and was pretty calm. Maybe a little too calm. He paced a lot when I rode him today, unlike yesterday. Maybe he was tired too from mentally exerting himself over the tarp. But he wasn't bad. He just needed a couple corrections. After much riding, here is the final video!