Getting out in the sunshine

I fitted the bosal on Gussie yesterday and went for a little ride in the pasture. It was a nice sunny warm day, at least for a while, and I was in dire need of some quality horse time. 

It's always a little risky riding in the herd, especially with yearlings because they get pretty excited to see a person up on one of their herd mates. Sure enough, Miss Mesa had to perform!

I want to show you one of the areas where Gussie has lost body mass.....

She has a turkey neck!!!! Once her teeth are done and she has put weight back on I can do collection work to bring her back to looking like this:

Afterwards, I took Mesa for a walk, and invited Tay to come along. Well now! Mesa had something to say about that!

I swear I'll never have to worry about coyotes if Mesa is around, she pretty much thinks dogs should be stomped. I have seen her go after cats too. Anyway, that turned into a training session for Tay, and I also took Beamer for a ride and had Tay come along.

I was told that she had never been around horses before and so this would be her first trail ride. She did all right, had to explore everywhere, which is understandable. She did also follow behind too. She is a fairly strong minded dog which tells me she was pretty much neglected as far as basic training went. She is learning several things that are hard and fast rules here- no chasing kitties (she is much improved) and heel off leash (getting pretty good) as well as the number one rule- leave the horses alone! Staying out of the horse pens and out of the barn are works in progress.

It was such a lovely day that I couldn't resist just sitting on each horse at the end of the rides and zenning (is that a word?) out.

Beamer appreciated the chance to just stand there and gaze at his girls.

Riding day 10

Fixin'

I finished Gussie's front feet today. Now, I'm no professional but I think they look a lot better than they were.
This is the left front....

This is the right front:

I didn't manage to get a heel shot that was in focus on this one. They aren't perfect but it's a good start.
Side views: left and then right

That left front looks like there is a lot of toe flare, and it's the one with the most false sole and bruising between the frog apex and the hoof wall.

I should be able to finish up the hind feet tomorrow. She was pretty agitated today, her right front she did not want to hold up for long and was literally quivering. I let her have lots of breaks but did insist that she stand still and behave.

Gussie seems to be emotionally agitated, which is understandable as her life has been turned upside down, again. Last time I brought her home she was like this too, it took her about a month to settle in and I expect this will be no different. She is, after all, a red headed diva!

So- the last 2 days, I worked on Gussie with the Masterson Method. It's something I am physically able to do. The first day, I only did the bladder meridian, and found many spots that needed releasing. If you are interested, here is a video of Jim Masterson about it.

Yesterday I did it again, and went through the next 2 exercises in the book.

I borrowed the book and dvd from Shayla. It is an easy to follow system. I plan to do this at least 3 or 4 times a week until I feel that Gussie is getting right. Her neck is so out and there are hard spots that feel like her muscles are as hard as a board. Hopefully this will help- I got a lot of lip licking, yawning and neck shaking by the time I was done.  I do have a dental appointment for her, which will really help; I checked her side to side jaw movement and there was literally none. I will try to get photos of before and after when she is getting the float.
But- the good news is- she is looking better! Starting to put on some weight and her coat isn't as coarse- she is also getting Hoffmans minerals and is eating a lot of it.

And- compare this eye photo to the last one- so much brighter!

That's my girl!  I plan on trying her out in the bosal this weekend, maybe do a little ride around the pond and down to the dyke. 

Oh- and I let Beamer visit with her today on the way into the barn....

I think he was a little disappointed that she wasn't overly interested!

No February blahs this year.

This was yesterday afternoon..... 

But today it cleared off, we got about 5 or 6 inches of snow. But with the sun shining and everything melting, it was a beautiful day today.

I turned Rosalee out with the herd this morning; it has been a few days that she has been completely separate.  I saw her and Gussie hanging out over the fence yesterday, 

so I figured it was time to put all the girls together.

 It went well.

Yay for no drama! Rosalee still is a bit snarky with Gussie, but it's mostly just an ear pinning or a head snaking. I did put Rosalee back in her pen for the night, I think I'll continue doing that until after foaling.

So... I took Gussie to the round pen this afternoon. I wanted to see her moving out, since I know how bad her teeth are and I know how it affects movement. Her mouth is pretty much locked up, only very tiny side to side movement.

I took a video of her moving out- tell me what you see and we will discuss it in the comment section. 

And just because I couldn't wait any longer, I rode her in the round pen, bareback and in just a halter as I don't want to bridle her until her teeth are done.

It was so wonderful to ride her again! And yes, I had to climb on the fence and line her up to get on her big self! I'm sure I had a big silly grin on my face. It was so nice to feel that smooth pleasure jog she has. I gave her big hugs and told her how happy I am to have her back.

Riding day 9

The issues... you knew there would be some....

Whenever I buy back one of my horses, there are always issues. This is what I am finding with Gussie, so far:
She has lost body mass. She isn't skinny, just lean, and it isn't just because she is fit. Here are some comparison photos,the first one was the year I sold her over 4 years ago.

This next photo is now:

With these photos it isn't as obvious as it is in person.

Secondly, look at her lips in that first photo, and then these close ups of her now:

Thanks to my friend Tara for figuring this out- this is vitiligo, and after researching it in horses this is what I found; that it is nutritionally related.  I know they were feeding her alfalfa, as I saw it at her pen when I picked her up- and I expressly told the guy who bought her to not feed alfalfa as she was allergic to it. I think she must have been eating it for a long time which would explain the depigmentation and partially explain her body issues- which brings me to the third thing:

Her teeth were done the year I sold her and I am pretty certain, looking at this, that they were not done since. She was boarded at a training.horsemanship barn, how could they not have noticed? I have a call in to the fellow whose care she was in, I sure have a lot of questions for him. This issue probably has contributed to her body condition. 

I have checked her for ulcers using the Depaolo method and fortunately that doesn't seem to be an issue. 

Then we get onto the last thing..... and there is no excuse for this.

When I picked her up I noticed she had big snowballs on her feet, so I picked them and saw that her heels were about an inch high, and she had bar growing all around her frog, and what looks like false sole around her toe. I asked when she was done last and he said 3 weeks ago. 

I trimmed her fronts yesterday afternoon, and right away there was a lot of licking and chewing as soon as I lowered the heels, and even more as I worked on her bars. She was pretty fidgety, so I think she was super uncomfortable as she adjusted- at one point she was lifting the untrimmed foot as if she didn't want to stand on it any more. Poor girl. I will touch up my trim before I post photos of it, as we had both had enough before I had it completed. 

So my plan for her is to get her teeth done asap- hopefully I can get her in this week. She will go on Tribute Ultra for now, and Essential K when it's available here. All the grass hay she can eat, and she is really going through the Hoffman's minerals. I will wait to ride her until her teeth are done.

This is the dull look she had the first couple of days... I am going to bring back the life into her eyes as soon as I can.

Some answers and the meet 'n' greet

I had a few questions in the last few posts that I'll try to answer here.

Anna asked, " How well do horses remember their herdmates? Will they be happy to be back together?" ( Thanks for commenting Anna, always nice to hear from new commentors!)
I think horses remember each other quite well. They have wonderful memories! As to happy- I think it plays out in herd dynamics, the re-introduced horse has to find its place back in the herd hierarchy.

Belle was watching Gussie with soft eyes

Aurora asked if I saw signs that they recognized each other- I would say that they did although the greeting was interrupted by Rosalee being protective. If Belle and Gussie were alone together it probably would have been mellower.

I decided to pen up Rosalee, for now she can stay in the foaling pen until Gussie and Belle have bonded again. Rosalee is protective of Mesa, so this is the best way to keep peace in the herd, and it is a good thing for Rosalee to have a shelter to herself. I did set up another smaller tub for water that will be easier  to clean the ice out of. Hopefully warmer weather will be here soon!

I haltered Belle  and let Mesa  greet Gussie on her own.

She was curious but unsure.

Gussie was very kind, you can see that Mesa had just pinned her ears here, but that was about it. Then they all went to peacefully eating their hay.

I love the serenity!

After a bit I took her over to meet Beamer. He was quite vocal but well behaved. Gussie perked up and lifted her tail, but was otherwise quiet. Then back into the mare pen, where I spent some time brushing her.

Her mane is beautifully long but quite thick and stiff. Once we are in warm weather I'll give her a bath and get some conditioner in it.

Today will be a low key day, give them a good bonding day, then tomorrow I'll start work on Gussies feet.

Home

The trip to Alberta was uneventful. (Thank you to those who said a li'l prayer!)The roads were pretty good, a bit of compact snow in shaded areas but with bare wheel paths through them. Left here at 5 a.m. and had Gussie loaded and on the way home by 11:45, got home at 5:20 p.m. Had to stop and pick up the surprise... more on that in a minute....

The meet and greet over the fence was the photo I posted last night. Rosalee tried to bite her, but Belle was very interested.

Due to only having one heated water trough, I kicked Gussie directly into the herd upon arrival. Rosalee took on the role of herd protector, keeping this new intruder away from "her" Mesa and Belle.



Gussie has been blanketed in Alberta, not sure it did her any favours, but since she had a nervous sweat going on in the trailer, I put her in a fresh blanket of mine for now, I'll wean her off that as she has a pretty good hair coat.

There are a couple of issues I'll have to deal with, one is nutritional and the other is getting her feet back to a good place. More on all that in the next post.

Meanwhile..... remember I said it was easier to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission...

meet Tay.

She is a 6 yr. old female border collie who didn't want to work, despite 3 months with a really good trainer. I saw her posting on Facebook looking to rehome her, so I responded and ended up bringing her home- she was only a mile from where I was picking Gussie up, so the timing and location were perfect! Meant to be, I'd say. Since I don't need a working dog here, she is a good fit, and it should help with the issues Tess is having about being the only dog here (Merle doesn't count! Border collies are snobs!). Tess was quite delighted to meet her. I think they will get along well.
Oh- and forgiveness was given! Especially since she sucked up to Ted !

Time to head to the barn, more photos will be forthcoming!

Sneak Peek....

More to come tomorrow.

Heading out

Tomorrow morning, 5 a.m. I hit the road to go pick up Gussie. It has turned cold here, but the roads should be ok. Hoping it won't be too windy when I hit Alberta. Say a prayer for a safe journey for me!

I love this photo of mama Belle. I am pretty sure she is going to be excited to see Gussie again.

Down to the river

I took Mesa for another walkabout the other day, this time we found a spot to walk right to the river.

Didn't mean to get my raggy sleeve in the video! That's my green Carr Hart coat that I have had for 10 years. Best chore coats ever! This was going up onto the dyke and topping out with a view of the river. Then we went downstream a bit until we got to the spot where the boulders that edge the dyke on the river's side of it have a bit of a path that is navigable  by horses; I have ridden there in the summer and with it's extra coating of  hard pack snow it was easy going to the water.

She wasn't quite sure about that moving water, tried to circle me a few times.

We stayed until she relaxed.
Then back up the trail, enjoying the view- these walks are as much for me as they are for her.

Then back down on that trail you can just see in that photo, on the left side, where quads cut down into the bush.

We found this really cool old stump that I really want to take home and plant with flowering vines and pretty flowers.

Tuesday is the day I plan on going to Alberta to pick up Gussie. We are supposed to get 20 cm. of snow today and tonight, and then it clears off, so hopefully by Tuesday the crews will have the roads in good shape. If not, I'll wait a couple more days.

Doing chores yesterday morning I noticed some deer running through the neighbour's fields, then saw Beamer alerting and spotted this doe, looking back the way they came. She ended up going back, her young ones must not have followed the rest of the herd and she had to go back to them. Beamer loves that spot, he keeps an eye on everything that goes on over at the neighbours. He loves it when they have their cattle and sheep over in that field.
He still is a bit too sore to ride, he has a puffy spot on his knee. So I just groom him and love up on him.

The news

Here we go.....

 Well hello there....

It won't be long before I enjoy this view again....

My beautiful red-headed diva is coming home!
My offer on Gussie was finally accepted, and now all I have to do is brave the winter roads for about 5 or 6 hours and go get her. Plans are for next week. I am so excited! She is 15 now, and has had a lot of additional training over the last few years ; here is what they put in her ad:

"Gussie" is a been there, done that horse. She can be ridden bareback, or run through barrels or poles. Has been used for Ranch Roping and is very comfortable on the end of a rope, has been worked with the heel-o-matic and is very good dragging a dummy behind her, and is quite cowy. She has a lot of go, responds nicely to leg and rein pressure, neck reins well. As an older mare, she would work well for a high school rodeo prospect. Very friendly mare, comfortable with other horses or by herself.

I had been thinking about her for a few months before I found out she was for sale, and the way everything has worked out has been totally amazing in a meant-to-be kind of way. Also, I may have someone interested in Rosalee- her original breeder contacted me today, she always liked her from the time she was born and is considering breeding her to her own stallion, and letting me keep the foal. Y'all say a little prayer that this will work out for me!!!

And I may have another surprise in store...more on that next week if it happens! And this on would be on the "better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission" premise. 😉

Something new

Lots going on, will explain more in my next post.
Ted built me the pedestal step for Mesa, we had one session with it. She thought I was crazy to ask her to step up on that li'l bitty thing; she has no problem going into the trailer or the barn but something this small is new to her. Also it was a bit damp so her foot slipped forward, I'll have to add some grit to it before we work it again. I did use treats, and placed her foot, gave her a treat, rinse and repeat. We stopped when she left the foot there after I placed it.

Next thing to build will be a bridge.

The next morning, it was cold, and she had the wind up her tail when I went to feed. 

She is such a character! In this video, I was keeping her away from the feed as she got a little too rambunctious too close to me. This morning, we have some fresh snow and they were performing again, Beamer got in on it too.

Due to changing circumstances, Rosalee is back up for sale. I am secretly hoping that she doesn't sell before her colt is born...... we shall see.

Good days

I have been working on Mesa's leading manners and getting her to be more in tune with me. I have tried a couple of different training styles, and use a little bit from each one. I absolutely cannot for the life of me stick to one particular style of training. I try each one and use what works for me. It isn't just about the horse, it's about the person too and what their personality is, that makes training successful.
I am finding that Mesa has, as can be expected, a short attention span, and any training has to be done within about a 10 minute time frame. Anything after that should be recreation and fun.
So, this is where we are at so far, after 3 days of working on this.

She is leading nicely behind me on a loose lead. Also, she will walk right beside me if I ask her to.

When it comes to backing, she is starting to get it without me having to get vigorous in my cues. At first, I was asking too much of her and not being satisfied with just one step back (my bad!) Once I eased off and worked on it one step at a time it became much softer. Now I can build on it.She does still tend to bend her neck to the side as an evasion but I think that will get better over time; she is still a baby .

I was such a beautiful day today! I raked the straw that I had put down over the ice into piles so that the ice could melt, and straightened out my hay tarps- I was quite dismayed to see how much of the hay had gotten wet under the tarps, I will have to peel out some mouldy sections, hopefully it is all surface and didn't penetrate deeply into the bales.

My vigilance in checking Rosalee's belly for baby bumping finally paid off! 250 days pregnant now.

The next 3 months are going to drag by! Especially for Rosalee.....

Don't crowd me

Edited to add link to Radek Libel's blog 

In my last post I mentioned that my issue with Mesa is her crowding me- and it's funny that I just found this video that lays it out how to get a horse to respect your space. We all know most of this stuff, but it really helps me to have a visual aid and to have things laid out step by step.

This will be what I work on today with her.

Making of a trail horse

Mesa training Day 9

I like to mix it up a little and keep things interesting for the young 'uns. Today's something new was taking her for a walk down to the dyke, where she got her first glimpse of the river.

The sound of it quite intrigued her.

We walked a little further and then headed down the bank to go back.

She did so good! The only issue I have so far with her is that when she isn't sure about something she tends to crowd me. I'm working on getting her to respect my space, I am making progress but when she is not sure about something she is glued to me!

Once we got back to the barnyard, I took her into the round pen and we did our review session- the tarp. 

This li'l horse just gives me a happy!