Recently - With Nell

Nell was having some silly issues with fly spray, as I mentioned yesterday. Just downright goofy. So I realized it wasn't just the flyspray.... It's just that she is jumpy about everything. Fly spray is just one thing. A very silly little thing, but a huge big deal to her. I mean, a life and death, huge big dealio.

So I took the sceeeeeeeery, terrifying bottle of fly spray and a towel, and went into the round pen...... and basically did a sacking out.

"Sacking out" sounds so bad, like you're purposefully trying to terrify your horse and freak it out so it has a stroke or something. I have heard some people express the opinion that "sacking out" is cruel. It may have been cruel back in the day when "sacking out" included  tying them up to a post and basically beating the fear out of them. (Yeah, like that can happen -beat the fear out of them? What were people thinking then?) That is cruel. Nothing I did with Nell with my harmless little towel was cruel, though.

First I worked her in the pen, and did some flexing with her. 

Then, I put her on my 14 ft. lead and I just started flipping the towel about, and around her; touching her with it. Of course she shied or bolted away to the end of the rope. I just kept doing it, and talking to her in a calm voice and pulling her in a little closer  and closer.

Finally she stopped and let me touch her all over with it, under, around and even on her head. And she was very accepting of it. Then, and only then, did I break out the mean old bottle of flyspray.

And you know what? She stood still and let me spray her without moving away.  I could see in her eyes that she wanted to but she was choosing to trust me and let me put that sceeeeeeery flyspray on her, despite her doubts and fears.

So now, it's the same thing every day for the next few days: repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat - till it's old, and boring to her.

Then we'll move on to the next thing; which will probably involve riding her.

Me, in my new OTTB Tee's shirt I bought on Etsy, with my "crazy", silly girl Nell.

Money Back

This is Nell; raced as "Money Back". She is one of the stockiest OTTBs I have ever seen! She looks more like an appendix Quarter Horse.

I've had her one year but in that time she's had some issues; some soreness in her hips noted by my blacksmith. All that was required was some long term rest; so this spring I finally was able to get serious about starting her under saddle.

Though she was raced and obviously "broke in", she displayed some "un broke" behavior when I started trying to ride her. Like, bolting sideways as I draw up on the saddle; and when sitting in the saddle, jetting jumpy and bucky when I move my legs along her barrel.

Someone suggested that I simply start her like an un broke three or four year old. So I have been doing that, and she is responding wonderfully.

I've really been enjoying my Christmas Gift - a 60 ft. round pen for practicing  some natural horsemanship techniques I am trying to get better at.

I have been using my favorite western saddle for working this horse; I am just more comfortable breaking in horses in western saddles. This one is very lightweight; so it's not like she is lugging around 45 lbs. of heavy western saddle.

Also, I work her in a four knot  rope halter and 14 ft.  lead. Also you'll see in this pic. a headstall with a snaffle bit, a towel and a bottle of flyspray (she is having issues with running off when I try to flyspray her). The stick coming out the back of my saddle here is a training stick  like ones used by some resistance free trainers today. The stick is never used to hit the horses, just a lot of pointing and tapping.

Glad to report that Nell is responding very well to the natural horsemanship methods; I hope to be riding her in a few short weeks. Or days, depending on how much I get to work her this week with rain moving in and all......

2011 SEFHA Extreme Cowboy Competiiton

Kevin and I are members of SEFHA (Southeastern Farriers and Horseowner's Association) which was started and headed up by our farrier, David Tuggle.

 This past October, the association held a "Cowboy Competition" at the Tuggle Farm and I competed with Jett, one of my OTTBs.
 I had been practicing with my paint mare, but brought both of them, and at the last minuted, decided to give Jett a go - with no practice!

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Jett and I ended up somewhere in the middle, points-wise, but I was so proud of him. He was a little freaked and excited, but kept it together, and finished all the tests.


However, when I competed in-hand with my paint mare Princess we came in second. Of course, she was who I had been working with.
 I decided next year, each of the OTTBs will go and compete, as ambassadors for their fellow OTTBs out there! People need to know, and see, that these horses can and will do anything. Not just jumping, CX and dressage.

My Childhood Dream.

As a horse crazy girl I dreamed of horses..... all I could think about was horses.

Eventually the dream came true, and is still coming true to this day....

After all these years the romance has kind of worn off; and "spark" is not always there.... and sometimes horses are a downright chore.

When I have to muck stalls in 20 degree weather or 100 degree weather, I tell myself: "This is my childhood dream, coming true."

 When I am raking hay on the hottest afternoon of the year, breathing in tractor exhaust and getting sunburned, I tell myself: "This is your childhood dream, coming true."

 When I write the check for the vet bill, or the farrier, or the new winter blankets....I tell myself, "This is your childhood dream, coming true."

When I scrub out and dress a wicked, bloody, stinky, large laceration, I think to myself, "This is your childhood dream, coming true."
 
When I break ice off of water tanks, pay a fortune for horse feed, deal with rain rot, fix fence boards, scrub buckets, and find a hoof abscess, I tell myself: "This is your childhood dream, coming true."

And somehow, it makes everything seem better.

Because I am living in my dream.... and the dream didn't end with adulthood; it just got better.

Nervous and Fidgety Horses and Weight Issues - Is There A Link Here?

The last two TBs we got off the track included a mare and a gelding. The mare adjusted to life on our farm wonderfully, and after a brief period of weight issues and skin fungus, she is now totally "normal".
The gelding, who we now call "Monty", is a different matter. We have had him a year and a half and are still having weight issues with him.
I have tried everything the feed stores have to offer - high fat feeds, pelleted feeds, weight gain supplements, alfalfa pellets, alfalfa cubes, corn oil, yadda yadda yadda........ in addition to free choice quality hay and fresh water. And while we did see a lot of improvement (For a while last summer I thought he was just going to die; and no one could figure out what was wrong.) I still think he looks ribby and underweight.

This morning when I went to the barn to feed, I had a revelation, I think. I had turned Monty out in the barn yard to eat his nightly hay, as I think the mares in the herd paddock don't let him eat the hay we set out for all of them, and chase him off.

 There, in the barn yard spongy wet turf, he had worn a trench next to the fence from pacing it all.night.long. It looked like someone had gone in there with a shovel and dug out a shallow trench along the fence line! The 50 lb. chunk of hay I had set out for him last evening was gone, as well as several other leftover hay droppings under the hayloft door; so I know he ate.

 I then proceeded to feed him his morning ration (Several pounds of high fat sweet feed and "hay replacer" pellet - a new experiment) in his stall, and left the door open for him, while I fed the other horses and did morning chores. He would grab a bite from his feeder, and walk out, up the isle, make a large circle in the barnyard, and walk back - (rinse and repeat)......
I shut the stall door. He grabs a bite, circles his stall, and gets another.

About a month ago, we had to have his pasture buddy, a very aged QH gelding, put down. After that, we have been trying to gradually integrate him into the herd with the other 5 horses. And he has gotten increasingly fidgety, nervous, and worries all the time.

We only stall the horses for nasty weather, and feeding, and to hold the horses while we're doing various chores in the pastures and have to have the gates open for tractors, fence repairs, etc. And when he is in his stall, he paces, weaves, and works on shredding his heavy plastic feeder that is attached to the wall. He doesn't crib, just shreds.

So I am beginning to wonder now if his nervousness, worrying, and fidgeting is a factor in our on going weight gain issue. Has anyone else had a OTTB do this? Do calming supplements work? I've thought of giving those a try.

I also switched my radio station from hard rock to classical.

He just seems to be getting worse since he lost his buddy and cannot seem to get along with the other horses and just stands in the corner waiting for me to come and feed him twice a day; pacing and weaving.
I could understand it if I kept him in a stall 24/7 but I don't. It's like paranoid stall behavior in a paddock/pasture situation.

?????????? 

PS - He's not being ridden yet, because he was so "sick" last summer and fall and no one could figure out what was wrong so we didn't put him under any training stresses. Then in the fall he was plagued by abscesses in both front feet and was lame for a couple of months while we worked on it with our farrier. He walked around in  Easy Boots for weeks. Even at his hoof trimming appt. a couple of weeks ago, there were still issues from the abscesses. I have only just in the past few weeks started working him a little bit on a lounge line. So perhaps the nervousness is penned up energy finding a release. I dunno. I am stumped.

Sooooo....

I rode in my vintage jods yesterday and it was interesting. I didn't wear tall boots; I actually wore a new pair of  western Justin ropers I had bought recently because they need breaking-in.
Anyhoo, the jods were "tight" in some places and loose in others - obviously; they're loose through the hips.:P
I think it was less "tight" and more that they have no stretch and it is an unusual feeling, for someone used to riding in modern day stretchy breeches.
But for the most part I can report that these vintage jods are super comfy!

Vintage Jodphurs!

LOVE these vintage jodphurs I bought on Etsy. They're from the 30's - 40's, I'm guessing. They're a little bit big for me but easily customized to fit.
They're from back in the days when almost all riding gear was unisex; women had to wear smaller men's sizes. They're surprisingly comfortable to wear, and made from a soft cotton twill that has been nicely broken in.
I was inspired by Nicole Kidman's 1930s riding outfits in the movie "Australia" when she went cattle droving with Hugh Jackman. *Swoon*
I wonder what funny looks I'd get if I wore these to ride in a show, clinic, or trail ride?