informative ride this morning
Tamara in TN
just got back from riding and thought I'd share...
kinda chilly this morning at 55 F (yes I am a whiner about cold
weather <g>) and went to saddle up the mare known to you as the
"victim" (dun) she has puilled a shoe off in the night (hooked the wire
and no hoof damage) and so while waiting for the farrier she earned a
reprive and the second victim (grey) was pulled out instead
unlike the dun mare who has a had a superb home and care and been
more than a bit pampered and has a well documented history...the 11 yo
grey has come from a place less than three weeks ago now (???) and
that place is less....hummmm....hummmmm credible....?? in regards to
me believing a damn thing they'd tell me about her...
the mare herself has had some very good training at some point in her
life...easy mouthed,stands solid to mount,good mannners,seems to enjoy
being fiddled with,good whoa and stand there....she does try to set
back ( but I have almost gotten that out of her)
her feet I think are very sore and she is very short
behind...her palpation on arrival showed an open mare with a harder
than normal ovary...further vet work is upcoming to see how much
affect if any that has on her being short behind....
she is gaited of course and holds a lick very very well
at a slow slow speed...as it takes rear drive (just like a straight
going horse) to hit a good lick that should improve as we get the
feet/ovary/short behind mystery cleared up....
as I ride out in the fields and alone the about face for the house
(we did not go 1/2 mile round trip thru the fields) brought a twinge of
what could be barn sour if left untreated...I was then on my pockets
and out of her mouth like a barrel horse to keep her quiet...any
attempt to get "in her mouth" brought head slingin' and tounge
rolling....so I left it alone (bit is mylers comfort mouth loose ring
with a non pinch sleeve)
I stopped twice on the way home to talk to first two
of the hired boys and the Calvin...she stopped dead and stood silent
and calm...so maybe it's just a trigger point of the intial
turnaround....
I am also going to try to switch to a solid mouth as I get
a vibe from her that she was at one point "finished" although she is
much less trained to a leg than she should be...that of course can go
back to her feet so I'll make and allowance there for her at this
point....
the plan is to use bute and see if that improves things
overall....until the "higher ups" have their way with her she just get
easy peasy things to do here...
gotta go milk <G>
Tamara in TN