Some Gussie stuff

 With all the attention focused on Theo lately, I figured I'd better give Gussie some blog time. 

The horse dentist came out and did her teeth, she definitely needed doing. I like that he doesn't sedate or restrict the horse from moving, and only uses power tools if he has to remove something that would take too long to hand rasp. 

She was very good for him. It did take her a day or so to get used to her new mouth. 

Since my last ride was a while ago, I do have an excuse other than foal watch. Not so much an excuse as a reason- I am having a major issue with a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder- and me being left handed, it really limits my ability to do anything that requires any extension of my arm, especially lifting the saddle onto a 15.2  plus hand high mare. That last ride I managed to get her saddled but then it all got worse. I was beginning to get healed up so I figured I would try again. Which may or may not have been a brilliant idea! 

I led her through Velvet's pen to see how Velvet would react to having another mare in the vicinity of her foal. She did herd Theo away, but I think in a few days I will be able to turn them out together, as Theo is getting more independent and Velvet isn't getting too excited about him being away from her. 

Then saddling her, Gussie stepped away from me a couple of times but I did manage to get her standing still and got her saddled. (Ouch.)

In the round pen, I checked to see if she was with me or thinking about her herd- and got some beautiful connection. I love it when you can ask them to step forward with a merest suggestion and then get the foot to stop in mid action and ask them to reverse direction- and they do! Yay Gussie! 

My purpose for this ride was to check fence- I always like to ride with purpose- on the 15 acres that we fenced off one side with electric tape. It was down again and I wanted to see how much repair would be needed. 

We may have to replace the whole bottom strand, it has several week spots. 

It's such a joy to ride a solid free moving horse! The rest of the fenceline was all intact so we headed back.

 This pasture has a lot of old grass that is laid over, we should harrow it if we can find someone with a big set of harrows. We will fix that fence next week and then I want to turn Beamer out on it for a few hours a day- he will love exploring it! 

The jury is out on whether or not Gussie is in foal, remember we did breed her to Beamer after she foaled last summer, but I am starting to think she's open, 

It is really hard to tell with her though until she's about 2 months away from foaling- and she hasn't come into heat yet this year. She would be due mid to late August. 

Speaking of foals.... can't go away without a cute Theo photo!

That white chin!

Ruby stuff

 Catching up with the Ruby stuff!

I worked her in the round pen the other day, pretty basic stuff just to see where she was at mentally. 

First with the flag. Then with the saddle pad. Pretty much the same- no issues. 

She does move away from me when I try to get the saddle up on her, not sure why just that she takes exception to it. Not in a big way, just lets me know she isn't best pleased about the process. 

The good news is that I get a new-to-me saddle today that is 5 lbs. lighter and should be a good fit for her. We shall see!

Working her on line and at liberty in the pen. We discovered a few holes to be fixed too. She is pretty good going left but switching sides and going right (clockwise) she has some resistance, wanting to scoot back the other direction. We worked on that until she went around a few times without bailing on me. 

See? I like going left!

I took the halter off as the lead rope was catching in the spaces between the top of the panels as she did her sudden stop and reverse directions. We did get a nice lope both ways. I love how this mare really strides up underneath herself- I'm sure that having a long back enables that!

That long back makes her legs look short, but they aren't. 

It will be interesting to see how her physique changes now that she is being put back to work after a couple of years off. She's rump high, not much we can do about that but with conditioning and some nice work under saddle hopefully we can improve her topline. 

I love that she doesn't pull back like Sophie did! She is overall a much calmer mare, but she is a bit stand offish. One of her favorite expressions of that is turning her head and neck away from me. I work on that in the pasture; when I catch Velvet for her grain and take her out of the pen, I spend time with Ruby and give her scratches while she has her head turned away, which encourages her to acknowledge me and turn back her attention to me. She is a very emotionally reserved horse. 

The dentist appointment was interesting.

Checking the balance- left side was higher than the right

 Initially she was good as he did her incisors, without sedation, but when he got to her molars she objected so was given an oral sedative.  While we waited for that to kick in, we checked Beamer's mouth. It only needed a couple of swipes on the incisors, for the rest there is pretty much nothing to be done for him as the teeth erupt so slowly at his age and he was done a year ago. 

So between having her teeth done and having a saddle that should fit better, we are geared up and ready to go! 

Heat x2

It feels like August. Summer seems to have hit before spring is over. There are wildfires raging already, and as many of you know one northern Alberta town of 80,000 people was evacuated and as of this time is burning with the fire out of control. As well, 2 other fires in Alberta have evacuation alerts.
By the time I get home from work it's the hottest part of the day, and I usually wait until it's a bit cooler before working Coulee. I had her teeth done yesterday, like I figured her mouth was locked up and her poll was out as well as one vertebrae in her neck.

 He took advantage of the sedative to adjust her poll and neck.
I noticed yesterday that Coulee is in heat- full squat and pee heat, so I am postponing riding for a couple of days so that I  will have her full attention for our first rides. Of course, Beamer would love to spend some time with her, but he is such a good boy; he called out just a couple of times to her while I was working her.
I worked her in the round pen again today, just some basic stuff and then the flag work. I spent less than 5 minutes on that and she is so much better. Still a little feely on her right side; I am doing more right side work than left side to help get her balanced out.

This evening I talked to the girl I bought her from, just to ask a few more questions. She said she would just step on and ride, no longeing, and no silliness from the mare; that she ditch rode her and traffic or other horses in fields didn't bother her. She rode her out alone too, which is good because I do most of my riding alone.
Don't forget to watch the Kentucky Derby on Saturday! I think Gun Runner will win, but if I was going for a long shot it would be Suddenbreakngnews. I didn't like the way Nyquist finished his last race and even though he is the favourite I don't think he will win the Derby.

Dentistry and branding

Yesterday was dentist day. But first, a little story.My Wordless Wednesday post, as Fern Valley guessed, showed Coyote Belle- back home. I went to visit her the other day, and she wasn't doing well as the newcomer in a large band of broodmares. The folks who bought her kindly allowed me to buy her back- I'm such a softy, I raised this horse, and this is the second time I've bought her back; the first time was when she was a weanling and I had her sold; the day before she was to go to her new home she got kicked in the shoulder by a big gelding, and couldn't bear weight on her right front for two days. The lady took her home on the understanding that if she didn't come sound, I'd buy her back- which I did, as Belle has permanent damage in her shoulder so that she doesn't travel correctly with that leg; she kinda rolls from the knee and lands the foot from the outside edge to the inside; she can't extend her leg straight forward due to the damage in her shoulder. So this is why she is in my broodmare band; it's not a genetic defect, and she makes nice babies- her first was Sparkle. She is heavy in foal to Beamer for her second baby, due mid April. Anyway, I brought her home the day before the equine dentist got here. We did her first, and it was interesting to see how her teeth were, and it is the most likely cause of her weight loss; basically her jaw was locked up due to wedges and hooks that wouldn't allow her to move her jaw side to side as horses do when they are chewing/grinding their feed before swallowing; she wasn't getting enough hay in her belly because she couldn't chew properly. This is what it looked like inside her mouth.

The wedge can be seen on the last brightly lit tooth- see that point that comes straight down? That is the biggest reason for her problem, as well as the hooks and sharp edges.

Just as a side note, remember that even a horse that is getting plenty of feed can lose weight dramatically if it can't chew.

All the youngsters got their wolf teeth pulled, as well as floating and balancing . This video is of Chickory getting her wolf teeth pulled.

This next video shows Velvet when he was using the power float.

After the teeth were done we branded each one while they were still sedated.

Beamer is modelling his new brand for you.