Must be mad

Can someone tell me exactly why I agreed to Rosey's owner's plan to escort her and C on Charlie out for a hack around the roads this afternoon?

The hottest day of the year so far saw me walking with riding boots with no socks on trying to avoid two horses who were doing their best to avoid the horse flies and if they did get one bounced around on the spot until I could swat it.

We managed to find boots for Rosey in front, once we had found an Easycare screw kit to put the gaiter back on that she managed to remove last time she wore them.  We found boots alround for Charlie, one back one came off when we were still in sight of the yard so both got removed and hidden in the hedge, one front one came off halfway round and the final one came off when we were in sight of the yard again.  It is not easy to remove a hoof boot from a pony who is trying to kick horse flies off his belly. I guess Charlie's feet have changed shape a lot since he was measured up for boots.

We also got shouted out by a women for not wearing high vis, I know we should but it was very hot and I was walking in the middle of the road with a beige T shirt on. I shared my point of view which was if she hadn't have been driving so fast she would have had more time to see us and slow down.  We also met three motorbikes which are Rosey's worst thing in the whole world, they very kindly stopped and I told L to put Rosey in the drive of a house, she interpreted this as riding up the drive and pointing Rosey's head at the front door, between two cars, closely followed by Charlie, still trying to do his best to get rid of the horse fly on his belly.

Never have I been so pleased to see the yard after 2.25 miles.

The Hippogriff

Met another interesting horse this week on my saddle fitting journey.  The owner invited me in to the horses stable but the horse was a little wary of me being there, I think probably he thought I was a vet, particularly as I was carrying a flexi curve in my hand.

A few years ago I may have asked for a headcollar to be put on the horse or been a bit annoyed with the horses 'bad manners' in turning his bottom on me.  My time with Peter Laidely and undertaking some Epona training has made me view the world very differently now.  I was a stranger and I had come in to O's enclosed space uninvited, the owner had invited me in but it was O's space and I had been a rude visitor and not paid attention to the proper etiquette in this matter.

His owner explained that he could be shy around people that he didn't know.  I don't feel the horse was being objectionable, he was simply telling me that he had not invited me in to his space and who was I to barge in and expect him to stand still when I hadn't introduced myself and hadn't asked his permission to template him. I am sure customers think I am completely barmy when I verbally introduce myself to their horse and have a conversation with them.

Anyway when I inadvertantly forget my manners I channel my inner Harry Potter meeting a Hippogriff for the first time.  JK Rowling writes:

Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk towards him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. —Rubeus Hagrid teaches his first class about hippogriffs.

So, I stayed in the middle of the stable, crouched down and said "hello O, I have come to fit you with a new saddle" and he walked over to me, put his head down to my hand holding the flexi curve and gave me a little nuzzle, then I slowly stood up and gave him a scratch and said "thank you" and proceeded to template him with him loose in the stable with no problems at all.

Making The Most Of The Dry Bits

Weather was very hit and miss again although C managed to ride Charlie twice in the dry bits.  Rosey's owner is back from University which means that C gets to become her personal groom again.  Rosey is back in her normal hanging cheek Dr Bristol (I have no idea why, it came with her and that is what she is ridden in all the time).  I gave L a lesson on Rosey using Jamies bridle with the pee wee bit, I think she could tell that life was a bit easier using it and she got some nice work.  Not sure she will buy one apparently bank of mum said no.

The ponies are pulse free on their new diet and are moving a lot better, the droppings are still very weird so we are trying to introduce a bit more fibre to see if we can give them more substance.

Tommy has been making good progress over the last couple of months, he came to us with a steep foot and where we were having problems with his last blip the foot became so steep he was very over at the knee.  This meant the tendon shortened.  In this case it was very important to take the foot back a little bit at a time to give his body a chance to adjust to the changes.  He is now not so over at the knee, part of the problem is that this leg is actually longer than the other at the minute but it is getting there.  N and C came bursting in to the shed where I was packing things up to tell me he was cantering around the field, course when I got outside to look he was happily grazing again.  It is nice to see him trotting and cantering around, a few months ago I would have said that wasn't possible.  It is also nice to see him out in the paddock seeing as he spent most of his life shut up in a stable.  We are controlling his grass by putting a filter in his muzzle to reduce the size of the hole a bit.  He is a good boy with his muzzle and doesn't often get it off unlike the other two monsters.

Not sure why but the horses were all in a very lovey dovey mood, we spent Sunday morning weeding the field and had chaff sacks with us to put the docks in, they took great delight in following us around and looking very disappointed when there was no feed in the sacks.  Max has discovered that I can scratch a particularly favourite spot of his on his neck, he spent most of the time I was in the field throwing himself in front of me with his neck bent so I would scratch it, it still takes a few moments to work out whether he is ok in the field to be handled or not, he has been fine with me for ages now but a few weeks ago C walked up to him to say hello and he squealed and stamped his foot.  It all depends on what mood he is in really.

Still not adjusted his saddle for him so we can ride again, I spend so long doing work for other people the little jobs for myself get pushed to one side.  Really must get this done as it is the longest day shortly and it feels like the summer has passed us by .......

Washout

Yesterday we got the tack on Charlie and Rosey twice, then took it off again, then C decided to brave the weather and came back 10 minutes later totally soaked and unable to see.  Today we didn't even bother trying.

Three of them came in quite shivery but were ok once they had started eating their tea, whole weekend a bit of a washout really.

We have been struggling with laminitis with two of the ponies for several weeks now, even though we had restricted them to the school/yard and they were having no grass at all.  This proved it had to be something in their feed so I removed all alfalfa to see if it would make a difference.  On paper the alfalfa they were having should cause no problems at all, it is low in sugar and I have been balancing with magnesium, I have always been a bit sceptical when people report issues with it as mine have all been fine in the past.  It is very, very hard to get a non molassed, no alfalfa, low sugar chaff, eventually the only thing I was left with was fast fibre which is not actually a chaff but a pellet with rubbish in it basically, along with unmollased sugar beet, some linseed and a basic vitamin and mineral blend.  You soak it for 60 seconds and it forms a big bucket of mush.

I didn't have high hopes for the ponies eating it but actually they really like it, to the point of licking the bucket clean.  For the last week they have been having this, along with buckets of beet only and for the last two days (actually the only days I have checked) they have been pulse free, they are also moving a lot better.  It really seems to be helping them, I am a little concerned however that there is no substance to their droppings so I am worried that there is no long fibre going through their system.  They don't really want to eat our hay and the only stuff I can buy around me looks very potent.  I may try and get some low sugar haylage, the purple horsehage stuff that people use with laminitics has no supplies left in the UK at all, and new stock will only arrive in the shops in July.  They must have been really hit by the bad hay making season last year.

Friend of a friend said that she had been trying to source this years hay and was already being quoted prices of £7.50 per bale, think if mine like the haylage I may be feeding that this winter as at least it doesn't need soaking and will be quicker for N to feed every day.