June 2008
- Sunday 1 - Robie Point and Training Hill
- Tuesday 3 - Hopi's Mishap
- Friday 6 - Horse Expo
- Saturday 7 - Chili's Tummy / Pones Feet / 2008 Chooks
- The Rest of June
Back to May 2008 • Forward to July 2008
Sunday 1 June
Robie Point and Training Hill
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 Fergus
wasn't too sure about No Hands Bridge, and hid behind pft the
whole way across on the way out. |
 Why
does this horse always look so scruffy?? |
 On
the way back we rode, but he wasn't brave enough to go first, so
Uno had to and Fergus tucked his head in Uno's hip the whole way,
just in case. (no photos of that trip - I decided I needed to keep
both hands on the reins, just in case...) |
 Uno
is looking a bit crumpled around the edges because we decided to
take the training hill on the way back. However, he is a little
more cheerful now that we found the green, green grass.
I need to get Uno some clothes of his own because he looks like a mess in this colour combination (Roo's tack). He's on the biggest possible holes for the breast collar. Fergus is wearing Uno's BC, because it's the only one we have that vaguely fits F - and even that doesn't fit very well. |
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Training Hill Elevation Profile: |
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While pft was rasping Fergus Sunday morning, I put Uno's boots on him in the paddock to let him wander around and get used to them. He did the standard "I can't walk properly" Minnie Mouse walk for a few steps, then stuck his nose down, looked closely at the boots, grabbed hold of the velcro tab (which had about 1/8" sticking out) and completely ripped it off the gaiter. ACK! So while pft was finishing Fergus off, I sat and butchered one of Zini's size 1 Epics and stole the gaiter off it (luckily they are the same size). They are a pain to switch over, but I got the job done. Put the new boot back on him and even put Zini's size 1 comfort pads in the bottom of the boots, made sure both gaiters were snug and well-closed and went upstairs to get a drink before we left to go riding. Came back and discovered that he'd ripped a second velcro tab off - luckily this time only the outer flap, so the gaiter still worked, it just wasn't as secure. <sigh> I'm not sure if he's given up now (he didn't touch them again while we were riding) or if I have to vet-wrap the gaiters to stop him destroying them. D'you think EZ Care will replace one he, er, remodelled? It was a bad design... much too easy for him to take apart. The gaiter I borrowed was a different, much stronger design (older?), although I could see how it might rub a delicate horse. The good news is the boots seemed to work well. I think he was still a little ouchy in back (time to try boots on the back?), but he seemed to move OK in them once he got used to the idea. He was having a hard time on the training hill because he couldn't dig his toes in. At the end, he had no rubbing (OK, so it was only 12 miles, but still) and I think boots will help him in the summer as he's got those delicate-looking pink pasterns that get scratches as soon as you blink when they get sunburned. |
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Fergus was very sore and wanting to walk on the sides of the trail all the time, so we definitely need a second pair of Size 2 boots at the very least (maybe three pair, since that's what Hopi wears too and all three got ridden Tuesday at the same time).
The trails are pretty hard-packed right now. Patrick had let him get long - hadn't looked at him in a few weeks andFergus...hm...shouldn't be THAT sore...unless he is doing so many miles he is wearing down his feet, which I doubt....ask Patrick is he totally sure he is rounding all hoof wall edges, and not hitting any sole? How rocky/hard is the terrain?
hadn't ridden in a couple of weeks, so he had quite a bit of hoof-growth.
His soles had lost their nice shiny-compacted look as well - I think our paddocks aren't abrasive enough (plus letting him get long didn't help). I haven't looked at his feet since we rode, so it'll be interesting to see the difference post-ride.
I don't know if maybe we're filing too much hoof off? We definitely haven't been touching the sole.
I have a hard time with the directive "leave about 1/16th of inch of hoof wall standing above the sole". By the time I've rounded the edge, that 1/16th" hoof-wall has been rasped off? Does that mean I'm rasping too short on the hoof wall?
Uno seemed mostly ouchy on his heels - I think I'd trimmed him OK, but that set him back on his heels (esp. for slight downhill trotting) and they weren't ready for it yet, so he was super-short striding on Tuesday (felt like I was riding a paso-fino). He did better in boots on the front, but still feels a little tentative.
Tuesday 3 June
Hopi's Mishap
Yesterday didn't start well. I had to finish off Hopi's trim and it was going nicely. I was working with him in the pen we made out of one barn stall + an extension.
He wasn't being terribly helpful, not wanting me to do his back feet, but with patience and some clicker effort we were making progress and it was a turning into a good session with him learning to trust me and grow comfortable with being handled and worked on.
As I was finishing up, he took startled at something and took off across the pen, treading on the heavy metal jack-stand (a car jack stand) I've been using and getting his rear foot stuck through the hole. He went into a complete panic, running and kicking out frantically, the stand still stuck around his fetlock, whacking it into his other leg, managed to get it off, ran straight into the panel, did another lap of the pen (me cowering in the corner with no way to get out), ran back into the barn part, did a U-turn, fell over, thrashed around on the ground and then scrambled up and came to rest.
Nice foot job, Lucy, shame about the rest of the horse.
He was standing on three legs and covered in scrapes and cuts from head to toe.
<sigh>
I got him cleaned up, and inspected the cuts. Most are superficial scrapes all over his back legs, but he's got scrapes in his armpits, his chest, etc. The worst cuts seem to be in the right fetlock (I still couldn't say which foot had the stand on his - but I'm guessing this one) and although he seemed sound later in the afternoon, his morning his fetlock is swollen.
We did have another session in the afternoon - moving slowly and carefully and finished on a good note (and his back feet are at least looking reasonable), but I feel a bit like I'm taking 15 steps backwards with him for every 2 steps forwards.
Finally - I just got done cleaning out the chook palace by flashlight. The palatial mansion is now ready and awaiting its a new herd of chooks.
Friday 6 June
Horse Expo
Things We Bought
Ann an' me went to Horse Expo yesterday and had a
lovely time.
I managed to keep my buying to a "needs" list, rather than
frivolously acquiring sponges that everyone knows will just vanish the
first time you use them.
Fergus has a new, giant-horse-sized Zilco breast collar (which means Uno
can have his old one back and not have to wear Roo's yellow one, badly
adjusted). Fergus also has nice new green reins to replace the red ones.
OK, so not *absolutely* necessary, but important to have the right
colours to make your horse riding experience as pleasing as possible for
good karma.
To protect my inner thighs from constant scrapes, I have a new trimming
stand. Not the perfect one I wanted (the one I *really* wanted was
nearly twice the price, so will be going on my Christmas list), but will
do the job nicely - although I need to buy some sort of rubber trim to
glue around the bottom edge, since we know someone will try and slice
their legs open on it somehow (more about that when I get around to
writing it - needless to say, Hopi looks a little battered right now).
A new sharp rasp is ready and waiting for my rasping activities. This is
good, since trimming 7 horses is giving me biceps of steel - but I have
never sweated so much before and wake up creaky from overwork.
Ann and I bought some rope-snap-anti-panicky thingies. I don't know what
they're called, ah - here's the website:
www.theclip.info
It's a snap-thingie that makes it so that you don't get stuck with
un-untiable un-tyable un-tieable (... how d'you spell that??) knots when
certain horses (Hopi) pull back. After Buck Meadows, I had a heck of a
job getting his "quick release knot" undone - so much for
safety. These are also handy for quick adjustment - like when I put
Uno's Epics on and then need for him not to be able to reach down and
rip the velcro off the gaiters.
They also came with rings on loops for using on high lines (Ann often
uses these when camping, since she doesn't have any
High-Ties/Spring-Ties). Handy things to have around.
I bought some more Hoof-It. $60 for a kit - two
bottles of powder, one of liquid. She said mix it up with more liquid
for more rubbery feel - it'll take a little longer to set up.
She said generally endurance riders will use the kits and every so often
will just find the need to buy more liquid (I know I have about 1/3 of a
bottle of powder left to a dribble of liquid).
We scored high in the freebie department by doing puppy-eyes and came
home with horse treats, two mini spray bottles of "hoof
moisturizer" (hey, I just realised how handy those will be when
empty for electrolyte spritzing), a baggie of fly predators, and I got
my sunglasses cleaned (wasn't going to *buy* the product though... it
was a *cleaning* product. I mean... what am I? a cleaning lady?? I don't
do cleaning)
(except I do - came home to a second day of Chili-tummy upset. Let's not
say much more about this, except that the carpet in her room is going to
be ripped out when I get around to it. In the meantime, her room door
remains firmly shut with the window open)
Things We Learned
Feet and Feeding:
As I was leaving, I stopped by the Swedish Hoof School booth and chatted
with them a bit. It was really worth it for several reasons.
Firstly, they have concluded that it's not just what your horse eats,
it's how your horse eats it. The ideal situation is that the horse
nibbles all day long, instead of stuffing its face twice a day. So they
have come up with various ideas for feeding.
What struck me about this was their comment about horses getting ulcers
and I thought of poor Scout and his bad tummy. Could this be something
that would help him especially?
They have set up a bunch of free-feeders that have small holes, so don't
let the horse stuff himself:
Here's some info:
http://www.swedishhoofschool.com/hayfeeders.htm
http://www.swedishhoofschool.com/Experiences.htm
I'm certainly going to play at making some feeders to see what can be
done.
They also gave me some pointers on Jackit's upright feet (possibly
caused by thrush)? and Fergus' odd-growing foot.
* * * *
Ground Tying
One man did a quick demo on how to teach the horse to ground tie. I know
the basics of this - move the horse back every time he tries to take a
step.
What struck me, watching his demo, is how strict he was in his
interpretation of what "taking a step" was. In most cases, I
translated what the horse was doing as it just redistributing its weight
- it had to move that front foot slightly forward to rebalance.
But it didn't. When it finally stopped moving and just stood nicely, and
even though that front foot was still slightly back, he didn't need to
move it. The reason (I think) he was moving it was because his focus was
still on going forwards. Whereas once he finally stopped moving, even
though his feet were in the same place, his weight was rocked back so he
wasn't thinking about moving.
* * *
Chris Cox said you had to have a definite game plan on what you were
working on. If you said "I'm going to ride to that cone", you
had to do that, not give up because the horse "dinna wanna".
Be determined about what you want to do and follow through.
(I have to say that I never saw so many holes in my training as I did
when I took Mouse to a NATRC ride. Simple things I thought she ought to
be able to do were beyond her. I just assumed she should be able to do
them, without having ever specifically tried to do them. Stuff like
backing between two trees. How hard is that? ...until you try and do it
and discover the horse isn't listening to you at all...)
He said too many people work with their horses in a haphazard way with
no clear plan on what they're actually trying to achieve (hand up,
here).
* * *
Donna Snyder-Smith did a lil' talk and Ann understood it better than I.
My take-home was to do an exercise that worked on quads and core.
Stand sideways on a step. Foot # 1 is on the upper step, Foot #2 on the
lower. Bring your lower foot #2 up to the same level as your foot #1 on
the upper step (don't step onto the step, just bring foot #2 up to
the same height).
Do it slowly. Don't stick out your butt - remain upright. Don't arch
your back, don't drop a shoulder.
Hold a 5-8 lb weight in your down-ward Hand (same side as Foot #2).
Repeat x 15 and do both sides (one side will be weaker than the other).
After a week or so, you'll be getting really good at it, so switch to a
higher step - ideally twice the height.
she also did a thing to do with your pelvis, but I couldn't figure that
one out. Ann got it.
Saturday 7 June
Chili's Tummy / Pones Feet / 2008 Chooks
Chili was poorly this last week, culminating with coming home on Wednesday night to a nasty mess in her room. Since we were busy, busy, busy, the best idea seemed to be to just shut the door and deal with it later. The carpet was supposed to come out months ago anyway, so I think we're just going to rip it all out.
I like how you are so opposed to cleaning that instead of washingIf you saw the carpet, you'd understand :)
the floors in Chili's room, your plan is to RIP them out!
This is a whole new approach to housecleaning.
It’s dirty = throw it out. I like it.
It's already missing a big chunk along one side from the cats, er, activities, so chopping out the rest will not be a big deal. Plus Chili lies on it and leaks a bit... every day... let's just say the carpet is long overdue for removal.
* * *
Just came in from rasping feet with my spiffy new tools. Having a sharp rasp is *mahvellous*! Talk about making the job easier. The stand is good too.
But the pones' feet are very demoralising. Keeping the toes short and the hoof wall rasped isn't hard - I can do that easily now.
But Mouse has flares on every foot from flopping over bars and crappy frogs because of it. Zini has crappy frogs. Jackit has high heels and upright feet that are going to make his legs fall off. Uno is too flat and spatula-like so will always be tender-footed until they get better (although to be honest, those might be something I *can* fix). Hopi's aren't bad. And Fergus has good feet except for that weirdo foot that has a funky bar that I understand how to fix, but don't know how to do it. And finally, Roo has crappy upright feet with weedy frogs from no work. At least they're cupped. But one day I'd like to get him barefoot just because he has a short little stride that I think would be way better if his feet didn't look so weird and upright. But we have to keep them upright to stop him interfering... that can't be right...<sigh>
I'm looking at Renegade boots - expensive, but apparently better in the long-run for various reasons - no rubbing, etc. Ashley's tried both and says now they've got the Renegades sorted out, they are better than Bares - particularly because they don't have stupid gaiters that rip as soon as you turn your back.
Chooks
Ann bought this year's batch of chooks over this afternoon, after having brooded them since they were tiny.
They did.Ann:
did the chooks go to bed in the new house?
Tiny Rooster was a bit upset that he couldn't get in, so finally when it was bed-time, I opened up the back door and let him in that way. It was a bit difficult for him, since the new chooks were all looking out at him and he was looking in, not sure if he wanted to proceed.
Once he was in, he found the food and thought that was good. Only one chook came up to challenge him - one of the big brown ones. They eyed each other suspiciously for a few seconds and then the brown one lost interest.
Later on, once he'd finished eating, he flew up on the dark-end perch and then up onto his customary shelf up really high.
Up until then, the new chooks'd only found the one perch up the light end and they weren't all eleven going to fit on it. But as soon as they saw Tiny Rooster fly onto the other perch, they got the idea and two of them flew up onto it.
I did notice that those two seabrights have different shaped hats, so I guess one of them is a rooster. <sigh>
The Rest of June
Hoo boy, have I gotten behind. It's now 4th of July and I'm three weeks out of date. So what happened?
- Tuesday 10 - Took Zini, Provo and Jackit in for shots and brought home WNVs for Mouse, Roo, and Fergus. Did Mouse's WNV first, loose in the stall - she didn't even notice so I moved on to Roo. Again, he didn't notice, so I moved on to Fergus. Jabbed the needle in his butt and he leapt away and ran off. Oops. Retrieved the needle from the dirt, went indoors and cleaned it, came out again, tried again, with similar results, only this time I managed to grab the needle before it fell on the ground. Gave up on the butt shot and jabbed it in his neck. He reared backwards and I nearly lost the needle again. Argh. Fourth time lucky. I attached the syringe to the needle and jabbed the whole thing in the other side of his neck and held on to stop him leaving. Shambles, but at least I got it in. <sigh>
- Sunday 14 - Uno got a bath because someone was coming over to look at him. We lunged him up top and took some photos, before driving over to Cool and riding. I rode Roo (first time in four weeks, since Patriot 100) in the Sportssaddle (which was too strange - he felt about 2' tall after riding Uno, and the saddle felt immense). We had a nice ride, but the lady didn't buy him although she liked his attitude.
- Tuesday 17 - Farrier Ted came over to shoe Roo and told me he and Jenny were going to Hat Creek at the weekend. I was bummed. Tuesday night, pft suggests I go to Hat Creek because I'm in a funk. I spend the rest of the week running around at work getting everything done so that I can take Friday and Monday off (Hat Creek is a two-day ride).
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Saturday 21 (Midsummer) - Roo and I attempt to do Day 1 of Hat Creek and it all goes horribly wrong. Northern California gets hit by bad dry lightning storms which spark of over 1,000 wildfires, which in turn cause the worst air quality (see photos) on record in this area.
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Monday 24 - More x-rays and orthopedic Dr Christensen looks at my newly remodelled lower right leg.
Tuesday
25 - CAT scan to make sure my talus isn't broken.- Friday 27 - Surgery to put my fibula back together. Dr says the tibia can heal on its own.
- Saturday 28 - lie in bed, eat pain killers. WS100 run cancelled because of horrible air quality and worry over the Peavine Fire which was threatening access to the Last Chance area.
- Sunday 29 - lie in bed, eat pain killers
- Monday 30 - lie in bed, eat pain killers
- etc....
