This blog is turning more in to my experiences with other peoples horses than with my own. With mine it is more a case of same old same old although the very windy weather has stopped work with Max and Rosey for a few days. I am sure they both would have been fine but there is something about the energy of wind that puts me and N on edge. Where we are is usually quite windy which is great for keeping flies away but when it's really really bad both me and N seem to get really wound up. You know it is bad when you go in to the caravan to get something and breath a big sigh of relief. It definitely seemed to have perked Charlie Too up yesterday, he came back to the yard with C with his head somewhere between his needs at a rate of knots. C didn't seem to mind though, she was still smiling.
Got asked to look at the saddle of a horse at a friends yard, the rider has the horse on loan. It was one of those unpaid 'while you are here' moments that I seem to get dragged in to at that particular yard, wouldn't mind but I usually end up spending hours there and not being allowed to go. Don't even get a cup of coffee which is a bit rude. Anyway horse was lovely, big Irish chap who sounds like he has been screaming that he is not comfortable, not wanting to be caught, not standing still to get on, boinging around with his ears up your nose and really being unhappy with rider adjusting stirrups or bending down to do up girth.
Sad thing is that another saddler only a few days before had announced the saddle an ok fit, but recommended a riser pad to lift the back. I am always careful not to criticise another professional so all I could say was that the saddle perfectly fitted the atrophy on the horses back, however the atrophy shouldn't be there. We played around with a few saddles the rider could either use or buy and ended up with a Heather Moffett Phoenix Suber on him. I was a little worried as with these saddle you feel every movement of the horse, and they feel every movement from you, the horse was so reactive to the rider moving that I was worried that it wouldn't work. Luckily the horse is actually a really charitable chap and even though he is still probably bruised and sore, the Phoenix was comfortable enough for him to feel the difference and he went really well. Ended up giving a bit of a mini lesson as he really needs to be working more over his back to strengthen it up. Rider and horse both did really well, he is not a very affectionate chap but afterwards he was all soft and gooey and enjoyed a bit of a scratch.
I hope I get to do a bit more with them both, plan is to re-template after a month of proper flatwork in the Phoeneix and see where we are.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Phew It's Been Busy
Been a really, really busy couple of weeks, not helped by someone coming in to the yard one night and moving things around meaning I have been sleeping in the caravan on site. Got straight back in to the camping vibe, curry pot noodle, bottle of red wine and half a bar of mint aero with a cup of coffee for breakfast. I am not feeling at my most healthy at the minute ......
Horse wise not a lot has been going on with Max but N has started riding Rosey which is good for them both, she is responding well to a calmer rider who doesn't just gallop her around all the time. The Pee Wee bit seems to be really suiting her. C has continued to ride Charlie Too and they are having fun which is lovely to see, desperately trying to get them out hacking off the yard which will be good for me as I will have to go on a bike as Rosey is not 100% in traffic. She is also scared of bikes so that will involve some work.
Have been busy doing some saddle fitting, met a lovely horse the other day whose saddle was two widths too small and also had hardly any flock in it at all. I watched him ridden after I had adjusted and flocked it and owner said he was going well, he had been bucking and was struggling to soften. When she went to turn him out from the barn as he got near to me he pulled her towards me (completely away from where he would go to be turned out) and came and put his nose in my hands where I was sat. I swear he was saying thank you, it was a really lovely moment.
Met an Irish Draft yesterday who had been visited by a well known saddle retail company/fitter a few days before who announced that the horse's saddle fitted perfectly. I couldn't actually disagree with what he had said, apart from the fact that the horses back had a lot of atrophy and the saddle was fitting perfectly into the dips! It's hard to contradict another professional and I hadn't actually been called out to see this horse, I had just been on the yard at the time. Rider (who is not owner) now has the difficult job of persuading owner that current saddle is not in the horses best interest and should be replaced. Saddle was also pretty wonky, rider said that she had also been having hip problems and back pain after riding, not sure whether the saddle had crocked the rider or rider had crocked the saddle, or the horse had crocked both of them .........
Horse wise not a lot has been going on with Max but N has started riding Rosey which is good for them both, she is responding well to a calmer rider who doesn't just gallop her around all the time. The Pee Wee bit seems to be really suiting her. C has continued to ride Charlie Too and they are having fun which is lovely to see, desperately trying to get them out hacking off the yard which will be good for me as I will have to go on a bike as Rosey is not 100% in traffic. She is also scared of bikes so that will involve some work.
Have been busy doing some saddle fitting, met a lovely horse the other day whose saddle was two widths too small and also had hardly any flock in it at all. I watched him ridden after I had adjusted and flocked it and owner said he was going well, he had been bucking and was struggling to soften. When she went to turn him out from the barn as he got near to me he pulled her towards me (completely away from where he would go to be turned out) and came and put his nose in my hands where I was sat. I swear he was saying thank you, it was a really lovely moment.
Met an Irish Draft yesterday who had been visited by a well known saddle retail company/fitter a few days before who announced that the horse's saddle fitted perfectly. I couldn't actually disagree with what he had said, apart from the fact that the horses back had a lot of atrophy and the saddle was fitting perfectly into the dips! It's hard to contradict another professional and I hadn't actually been called out to see this horse, I had just been on the yard at the time. Rider (who is not owner) now has the difficult job of persuading owner that current saddle is not in the horses best interest and should be replaced. Saddle was also pretty wonky, rider said that she had also been having hip problems and back pain after riding, not sure whether the saddle had crocked the rider or rider had crocked the saddle, or the horse had crocked both of them .........
Saturday, 14 May 2011
I Am Injured
Last Saturday I managed to fall off a pub style bench that we have at the yard, my own fault, I was sat astride it and it had a fleece blanket across it with something heavy on top, went to get up and the fleece wrapped itself around my Croc shoe and my body went one way and my foot another.
Was actually pretty funny at the time but was feeling it by the next day. Luckily I had a sports massage treatment booked in anyway as working the election can be pretty tough on your back. Alison says I have a whiplash injury, I am not sure who to sue, either the table or the fleece, or maybe my left Croc?
Me, the OH and C have breathed a sigh of relief that our livery owner has gone back to College and peace and quiet has returned to the yard. It's amazing how one relatively small person can be such an energy drain and effect the atmosphere of a place so much, it's exhausting. She is still not forgiven for asking us to book her horse in for the vet/dentist, agreeing to be at the yard at 9am to sort the horse out and then finally rolling up at 1.45pm by which point the horse had been sedated, teeth done, money handed over, observed for a couple of hours in recovery and then turned back out. She even appeared with saddle and bridle expecting to ride. Mine have all had a week off but she was back on board cantering around the next day, despite the horse having quite bad ulcers in her mouth. One interesting thing however is that she tried R in the Pee Wee bit and she went really well in it, especially considering she had just had her teeth done and had mouth ulcers. Some horses really seem to like it, R has quite a thick tongue and because it is held in position I think it was well clear of any sore bits so it really seemed to suit her. I can't see her buying herself one, think the expectation will be that she just borrows mine all the time.
This week has also been a week of Ebay and shop orders fun, suppliers being slow shipping me stock, supplier sending me completely the wrong hoof boot order at three times the price and not crediting the money back to my account, customer order going AWOL in the post and then claiming I hadn't sent it out in the first place (despite me having a proof of postage), of course the replacement would be the item that the supplier was slow to send ......... Also had a bounced cheque, a cheque order sent out before the cheque arrived as they wanted first class post, and then the order returned because they changed their mind so I have lost the postage and a DHL 5Kg parcel that is in the ether somewhere marked as 'inadequate address' despite the address being correct and me confirming it with them (and sending them a google map with driving directions).
I now have a banned customer list pinned to my office wall, it made me feel better writing the names on it, even if that's all I ever do ......
Was actually pretty funny at the time but was feeling it by the next day. Luckily I had a sports massage treatment booked in anyway as working the election can be pretty tough on your back. Alison says I have a whiplash injury, I am not sure who to sue, either the table or the fleece, or maybe my left Croc?
Me, the OH and C have breathed a sigh of relief that our livery owner has gone back to College and peace and quiet has returned to the yard. It's amazing how one relatively small person can be such an energy drain and effect the atmosphere of a place so much, it's exhausting. She is still not forgiven for asking us to book her horse in for the vet/dentist, agreeing to be at the yard at 9am to sort the horse out and then finally rolling up at 1.45pm by which point the horse had been sedated, teeth done, money handed over, observed for a couple of hours in recovery and then turned back out. She even appeared with saddle and bridle expecting to ride. Mine have all had a week off but she was back on board cantering around the next day, despite the horse having quite bad ulcers in her mouth. One interesting thing however is that she tried R in the Pee Wee bit and she went really well in it, especially considering she had just had her teeth done and had mouth ulcers. Some horses really seem to like it, R has quite a thick tongue and because it is held in position I think it was well clear of any sore bits so it really seemed to suit her. I can't see her buying herself one, think the expectation will be that she just borrows mine all the time.
This week has also been a week of Ebay and shop orders fun, suppliers being slow shipping me stock, supplier sending me completely the wrong hoof boot order at three times the price and not crediting the money back to my account, customer order going AWOL in the post and then claiming I hadn't sent it out in the first place (despite me having a proof of postage), of course the replacement would be the item that the supplier was slow to send ......... Also had a bounced cheque, a cheque order sent out before the cheque arrived as they wanted first class post, and then the order returned because they changed their mind so I have lost the postage and a DHL 5Kg parcel that is in the ether somewhere marked as 'inadequate address' despite the address being correct and me confirming it with them (and sending them a google map with driving directions).
I now have a banned customer list pinned to my office wall, it made me feel better writing the names on it, even if that's all I ever do ......
Friday, 6 May 2011
Blimey It's Been Hectic
I have been working the elections manning the postal vote process, I had not quite anticipated that this would mean working until 1.15am this morning after a 6am start on Thursday to get stuff ready for the dentist. Feeling really tired now after a busy day at the horse sales today.
Vet/dentist visit was good, he new his stuff, pointed out a lot of the same things that my EDT has mentioned before, had a good manner with the horses, talked to them lot and gave them some breaks before they started to get too anxious about it all.
Interesting thing was the different reaction from the horses, we decided to do Charlie Too first, he is not daft he had identified Charlie as a vet from about 10m away, even though he was disguised as a dentist, he is an intelligent pony though and saw through this disguise and promptly tried to leg it even thought he was tied up. You could see Charlie Vet was thinking the visit wasn't going to go well. After giving him the potentially worst pony to do first I was happy to let him carry on with the rest. Three of the five were sedated which is an improvement over my usual dentist Jane, she likes them all sedated routinely. Other big benefit was that he uses power tools but they are all rechargeable battery powered and don't need to run from the generator. Jamie was the only one that needed the power tools, he was sedated after he showed Charlie Vet his barefoot front feet at eye level.
Max also was sedated for the last five minutes, up to that point he had been very good. Charlie Vet agreed that he thought the drooling had probably come from a sting or bite as his lymph gland under the tongue was still a bit swollen. Nothing major going on with teeth apart from a few sharp hooks.
All systems go for getting the work going again so that is good news. I have taken the time off to do helpful things like buy myself some new breeches, jodhpur boots and to replace my missing hat.
Vet/dentist visit was good, he new his stuff, pointed out a lot of the same things that my EDT has mentioned before, had a good manner with the horses, talked to them lot and gave them some breaks before they started to get too anxious about it all.
Interesting thing was the different reaction from the horses, we decided to do Charlie Too first, he is not daft he had identified Charlie as a vet from about 10m away, even though he was disguised as a dentist, he is an intelligent pony though and saw through this disguise and promptly tried to leg it even thought he was tied up. You could see Charlie Vet was thinking the visit wasn't going to go well. After giving him the potentially worst pony to do first I was happy to let him carry on with the rest. Three of the five were sedated which is an improvement over my usual dentist Jane, she likes them all sedated routinely. Other big benefit was that he uses power tools but they are all rechargeable battery powered and don't need to run from the generator. Jamie was the only one that needed the power tools, he was sedated after he showed Charlie Vet his barefoot front feet at eye level.
Max also was sedated for the last five minutes, up to that point he had been very good. Charlie Vet agreed that he thought the drooling had probably come from a sting or bite as his lymph gland under the tongue was still a bit swollen. Nothing major going on with teeth apart from a few sharp hooks.
All systems go for getting the work going again so that is good news. I have taken the time off to do helpful things like buy myself some new breeches, jodhpur boots and to replace my missing hat.
Monday, 2 May 2011
De-Horned
Charlie got his feet trimmed and his devil horns removed tonight. Not sure whether it was the lack of a Welsh Section D x Pacer floozie, or the threat of the OH getting on him but he was foot perfect for C tonight including jumping. She came back beaming.
I spent the afternoon dodging the sand storms while trying to clean tack ready for Reading Horse Sales, was a beautiful day but really, really windy. Max of course has continued to become less dribbly each day, waiting for the ok from vet/dentist before doing anything with him. I have Friday and Monday off work so as long as he doesn't need too much time off after having his teeth done I will ride again at the weekend.
The rest just got a good furminating and a groom before being put to bed.
I spent the afternoon dodging the sand storms while trying to clean tack ready for Reading Horse Sales, was a beautiful day but really, really windy. Max of course has continued to become less dribbly each day, waiting for the ok from vet/dentist before doing anything with him. I have Friday and Monday off work so as long as he doesn't need too much time off after having his teeth done I will ride again at the weekend.
The rest just got a good furminating and a groom before being put to bed.
Poor C
Poor C took a tumble last night, or rather a Charlie assisted dismount. I thought things could end in tears when I spotted L the owner of our livery pony and C carrying wings and jump poles down to the bottom paddock, that is quite a long way to carry them so they were obviously keen for a good jumping session.
From what I could see Rosey was leaping poles on the ground, bits of grass, shadows etc and Charlie was looking a little bit bouncy but he is not the most forwards thinking of horses so that never does him any harm. I should remember that excitement in a not very forwards welsh native can often show itself in not very suitable behaviour .........
Things were ok however until L decided to finish as she had been working twice as long, C did the jump once more ok and then decided to hack around the middle paddock to cool off. Charlie was not very happy about this and tried to nap to the gate at which point C told him off, he bucked which put her in front of the treeless dressage saddle with no knee rolls that she was riding in, and then very helpfully stuck his head between his knees so she went flying over the top. The OH reckoned it was a well practiced move not seen in any dressage manual but often the theme of a Thelwell cartoon. C was ok, she always rides in her back protector which I think is very sensible and she did see the funny side, mind you that could have been because me and the OH were killing ourselves laughing and she felt she should join in. OH stopped laughing when I suggested that he should hop on him today to get Charlie to remember his manners ..........
Naughty pony, think I am going to have to get him a GP saddle sooner rather than later.
From what I could see Rosey was leaping poles on the ground, bits of grass, shadows etc and Charlie was looking a little bit bouncy but he is not the most forwards thinking of horses so that never does him any harm. I should remember that excitement in a not very forwards welsh native can often show itself in not very suitable behaviour .........
Things were ok however until L decided to finish as she had been working twice as long, C did the jump once more ok and then decided to hack around the middle paddock to cool off. Charlie was not very happy about this and tried to nap to the gate at which point C told him off, he bucked which put her in front of the treeless dressage saddle with no knee rolls that she was riding in, and then very helpfully stuck his head between his knees so she went flying over the top. The OH reckoned it was a well practiced move not seen in any dressage manual but often the theme of a Thelwell cartoon. C was ok, she always rides in her back protector which I think is very sensible and she did see the funny side, mind you that could have been because me and the OH were killing ourselves laughing and she felt she should join in. OH stopped laughing when I suggested that he should hop on him today to get Charlie to remember his manners ..........
Naughty pony, think I am going to have to get him a GP saddle sooner rather than later.
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