I was (again - this is becoming a nasty habit) late leaving work on Monday, by the time I got to the yard L (the Guru) had kindly thought to turn the ladies loose in the smallest arena - Kika had a blast running & leaping around like a nutjob. L said she stood in the middle and Nancy hid in a corner as Kika ran around like a lunatic throwing herself in the air in her special leap-buck-way. When I arrived I joined her in the center and we coaxed the pair of them to walk, trot & canter around in a more civilised fashion, namely Kika not snotting herself & Nancy actually moving - lol. They are such characters!
Tuesday evening was spent "artz&crafting" the plans for my flat which is being built. My mother and I spent two hours deciding where we wanted walls moved, cutting out & glueing showers, baths, toilets and sinks from other plans where we want them in my place. Thankfully L was able to see to the ladies for me.
Wednesday, the vet came to see Miss Nancy as we still aren't completely rid of of a bump on the underside of her jaw between noseband & throatlash. The vet was out twice during summer/early autumn to check on it and while it has gone down in size it still scabs the odd time - it was made more obvious & is easier to see since we clipped her. So N is on a different antibiotic & I have cream for it, sadly if this doesn't get rid of it we're going to have to visit a vet-clinic to get X-rays and/or a CT scan to try and see what's causing it - shall deff be getting on to insurance for that and they'll whine that I didn't let them know we were treating her earlier in the summer. Eurgh, paper-trails!
I don't know whether it is a good or bad thing that she is showing no averse effects from it and works away as always - I hope she is not being a martyr and sucking up any pain she may be in. :-/
When it comes to boo-boos I always wish they could tell us what's wrong, although I reckon Kika would be a whiner & forever snivelling about something or other ;-) I couldn't deal with her being able to "talk" to me at feeding time, I can imagine incessant shatter of "is-it-ready-yet", this is just going off her behaviour of kicking partition with her front feet telling us to hurry up in her "special" way ;-)
Ack, sorry gone off-topic again, Lord, I am useless! No wonder my posts gets so wordy! Funny when you read these tomes of drivel, to think that I had such difficulty writing 16 lines on a given topic in the first paper of the test last week - we were supposed to write 20-25 lines. So I am terrified that my paltry 16 won't be enough and I'll fail through my inability to use my imagination & come up with more verbose arguments for and against the given topic.
Sorry off-topic again!
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| New-new bridle modeling - can you say un-impressed?! |
I lunged Nancy for the first time in ages, she was much better than the last time I'd lunged her - her canter work was much improved and considerably more balanced than when she arrived, she listened well to voice commands to slow down - but her walk work (as with under-saddle with me) leaves a lot to be desired. She would much rather be trotting - something to work on :)
Above photo was from our lunging session, image on the right was pre-work & left post-work with camera flash. Either-way her face screams enthusiam, right? *rofl*
Finally we get to Thursday evening, last night. I am super proud of myself & both my girls, I managed to get both ridden, stables done (sort-of, poop removed & fresh straw added - but not done as thoroughly as i usually do, anyways they are done every morning so not the end of the world) and supplements prepared. For the month of November they are getting this horrible looking gelatenous-goopy stuff that is supposed to be good for horses that were out for the summer/near the beach for any sand and/or mud they may have ingested when the grazing got bare. Powder is mixed with boiling water and becomes gelatenous as it cools, so that the little darlings will eat we mix in three handfuls of muesli at this stage and then let cool for 30 mins. It seems to work well, Piggy-Kika eats it straight up, Nancy & L's mare O are less enthused about it but typically have it eaten by the time the next batch is served the following evening.
I rode Nancy first when the arena was more crowded, bearing in mind that Kika prefers a quieter arena - slightly awkward though as Nancy's steering and reaction times are invariably slower yet a lot of other riders chose to ignore the fact she is still very much a baby when it come sto riddenw orka nd get too close for comfort - I know we all go into our own zones when riding - but come on! Common sense should still be used people!
Sorry, rant over!
We got some lovely trot & canter work, her walk work as always leaves a bit to be desired - but everything else was very nice and smooth & calm - can't ask for more from a baby horse in such situations.
Kika was next and we had the arena to ourselves, she she had just gotten new shoes that afternoon I kept things simple & didn't ask for much. Just lovely w/t/c transitions, worked on upping the tempo in trot but not loosing our shape and really tried to concentrate on using my whole leg and not my heel - hopefully progress is being made!
Right that is more than enough waffle considering I am only offering one photo - sorry!
Hopefully there will be more when reports of the weekend roll in, plan is Saarbrucken Equi-Expo tomorrow (Saturday) & field fencing on Sunday. Hoping to also get a few spins in on both days, perhaps some polework on Sunday depending on how electrifying the fence goes - I would rather fix things so that they can start going out again and ride during the week.
Shopping list includes (but is not limited to):
Eggbutt bits - 2, maybe three depending on price
Reins - if i can find the rubber ones i want at the same or cheaper price than I found at Equitana (if not I'll wait till i go back there, it's not like the bridles i am using didn't come with reins)
Excercise sheet(s) - Fleece &/or waterproof depends on price & sizing - preferably Hi-viz reflective for waterproof one.
Warm Waterproof Jacket - my stalwart Ornella Prosperi jacket gave up the ghost earlier this year and a new jacket is needed as winter arrives :(
Then just keeping my eyes peeled for any other bargains to be had, but if i can get most of those things I'll be super happy. :p
Hope you all great weekends, I wish there was some reward I could offer you if you've read this far! *blush*
I hope you get Nancy squared away soon. I often wish my horses could just tell me what hurts or what's wrong but then I'd probably have to listen to them complaining about my riding, eek!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too, will feel terrible of she's been hurting all this time and we can't figure out why.
DeleteHope your boy is doing better, haven't been able to check in on anyone's blog for ages :-(
^i agree, so wish they could talk to us!
ReplyDeleteAmen sister!
DeleteI like the new bridle, I can see that on a polished large black hunter.....
ReplyDeleteI don't know about 'polished large black hunter' but Nancy will rock it in her own way;-)
DeleteI would be so annoyed with the other riders in a busy ring like that. I'm so leery riding close to other people after reading about a blogger that got too close to another horse, the horse kicked at her hose, caught her in the leg and broke it (the rider's leg, not the horse's). It had never crossed my mind before reading that, that if a horse kicked my horse while I was riding that my leg could take the impact. *shudder* So I steer clear of other riders now.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see the original post about the bump (or if I did I forgot). Did she get kicked or something? Is it soft or hard? My Appy mare had a bump on her jaw midway between the cheek and chin. It was on one of the ridges of her jaw. It felt like bone attached to bone. I was told it was a calcium deposit and left it alone. I had her for thirteen years and it never bothered her, even if I messed with it. Sometimes it would get a scab, I guess if she rubbed it, but it never caused major problems. I don't know if that sounds like the same thing or not because I don't know if Nancy's is hard or soft or attached to the bone in her jaw. I hope you figure it out soon!
The arenas are so busy at my yard this year it's madness, I now no longer even attempt to ride until at least 7 or 7.30. It's just not worth the hassle any earlier.
DeleteNancy's bump is soft, so not bone. Typically since vets visit it hasn't scabbed up again so I'm not sure what to make of it. But we'll put on the cream and give her the antibiotics and see where we are when those courses of treatment have been followed.