hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I guess really I should have emphasized the a there... no one really carries the /h/ sound out when they scream... but I digress.
I. AM. SO. UNHAPPY. WITH. MONSTERPONY.
I took Faith (my 5 year old sister) & my birthmom out to the barn yesterday. I wasn't planning on having Faith ride, but she kept bugging me & since my birthmom is very experienced with horses I figured it would be okay. I saddled her up & just left her in her halter & leadrope to lead her around. She was being a stubborn little booger, but just lazy... not spooky. I was leading her around the arena & my birthmom was walking next to Faith in case she needed to pull her off. Good thing she was because seemingly out of NOWHERE she reared up, my birth mom pulled Faith off (she wasn't hurt, neither of them were thank GOD!) & her hoof came right down onto my shoulder. Awesome. Luckily it really doesn't hurt near as bad as I thought it would, so that's good. I was angry but brushed it off as a one time thing. But even after Faith was off she did it AGAIN as I was leading her back to the barn. So into the round pen she went for a nice long workout. I was horrified by her behavior... I really didn't think it would be an issue. Ugh! I'm half terrified to go out again tomorrow & see what new bug she's got up her butt. I love her, but sometimes I think I got more pony than I bargained for! Eeeek!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Broken Pony
Don't you love those early morning phone calls... "Something's wrong with your horse."? It's only that much more exciting when the man who takes care of the horses speaks no English & tries to relay that information to the barn owner... who in turn tries to relay it to you. It was just a big jumbled mess... I had NO idea what was wrong. When I got out to the barn she was in cross ties & I couldn't see anything wrong with her leg. Quickly enough I realized it was probably the same stifle issue as before. Sure enough when I went to walk her out of the cross ties her back left leg was left dragging behind her. Thank God I had been witness to this before otherwise I would have had the same horrible panic attack I did when it first happened. Poor girls back leg was literally paralyzed she couldn't bear any weight & it dragged behind her & she hopped & hobbled around on 3 legs.
Last time we called the vet out & before she got there it corrected itself. She said it if happened again to back her up and it should unlock. Problem was I COULD NOT get her to back. Three of us tried, including Alamon who literally barrelled into her chest and pushed with all his strength. So after many unsuccessful attempts I called the vet who said he couldn't do anything, the only way to fix it is to back her out of it. He suggested I give her some bute to ease the discomfort & that she might weight bear & back if I did that. A friend of the barn owner suggested massaging the area with vetrolin to help loosen it up. Cheyenne LOVED that... not. It was pretty funny to see her hobble away from me as best she could on three legs... a little sad too. After an hour of massaging I gave up. I picked up some bute & made it back to the barn at 6 pm (mind you this had been going on since early in the morning.) I gave her some bute with dinner & as she was eating decided to try massaging again. I felt around the good and the bad stifle & found a little spot that seemed to pop in & out as I massaged. So I went with my gut & just applied pressure to see if it wouldn't pop whatever was out of place back into place. And wouldn't you know it, it worked!! I was so relieved & she seemed pretty thrilled (though a bit wobbly) to have the use of all 4 legs back.
I wish I had gotten video of how sad she looked on 3 legs. I couldn't find any videos of locked stifles online that even compared to the severity of hers. I hope this isn't a recurring issue. The first time is happened she was in a stall all night... but this time she was turned out so I'm not sure what triggered it. I certainly can't complain since I was able to fix it without having to have the vet out & now I know what to do if it happens again.
I gave her a day off since I'm sure if nothing else she was sore secondarily from accidentally putting weight on her bad leg incorrectly yesterday. She kept inverting her foot & putting weight on it since it was dragging behind. I lunged her lightly today & she did well... she was great one direction, better than she ever has been! She was a bit of a snot the other direction, but eventually complied. I'm going out to ride tomorrow, hope she's feeling up to it!
& If anyone is interested in learning more about locking stifles I found a handy little website here that gives the abbreviated version on the condition. http://www.equi-therapy.net/equi-therapy/horse-veterinary/sticky-stifle.shtml
Last time we called the vet out & before she got there it corrected itself. She said it if happened again to back her up and it should unlock. Problem was I COULD NOT get her to back. Three of us tried, including Alamon who literally barrelled into her chest and pushed with all his strength. So after many unsuccessful attempts I called the vet who said he couldn't do anything, the only way to fix it is to back her out of it. He suggested I give her some bute to ease the discomfort & that she might weight bear & back if I did that. A friend of the barn owner suggested massaging the area with vetrolin to help loosen it up. Cheyenne LOVED that... not. It was pretty funny to see her hobble away from me as best she could on three legs... a little sad too. After an hour of massaging I gave up. I picked up some bute & made it back to the barn at 6 pm (mind you this had been going on since early in the morning.) I gave her some bute with dinner & as she was eating decided to try massaging again. I felt around the good and the bad stifle & found a little spot that seemed to pop in & out as I massaged. So I went with my gut & just applied pressure to see if it wouldn't pop whatever was out of place back into place. And wouldn't you know it, it worked!! I was so relieved & she seemed pretty thrilled (though a bit wobbly) to have the use of all 4 legs back.
I wish I had gotten video of how sad she looked on 3 legs. I couldn't find any videos of locked stifles online that even compared to the severity of hers. I hope this isn't a recurring issue. The first time is happened she was in a stall all night... but this time she was turned out so I'm not sure what triggered it. I certainly can't complain since I was able to fix it without having to have the vet out & now I know what to do if it happens again.
I gave her a day off since I'm sure if nothing else she was sore secondarily from accidentally putting weight on her bad leg incorrectly yesterday. She kept inverting her foot & putting weight on it since it was dragging behind. I lunged her lightly today & she did well... she was great one direction, better than she ever has been! She was a bit of a snot the other direction, but eventually complied. I'm going out to ride tomorrow, hope she's feeling up to it!
& If anyone is interested in learning more about locking stifles I found a handy little website here that gives the abbreviated version on the condition. http://www.equi-therapy.net/equi-therapy/horse-veterinary/sticky-stifle.shtml
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Funny Story...
Well so far, so good. I was only able to make it out to the barn twice this week because of the thunderstorms, but Cheyenne is coming along nicely. She is still a bit testy in the round pen, but it takes much less time/energy to get her to concede and do what I'm asking. She didn't try to run through or jump the fence like she did the other day, so it's an improvement. She is also showing great progress with her stopping. She's responding well to voice cues so I'm trying to rely heavily on those with minimal cueing from the bit. Just a deep seat, a "whoa", and a teensy tinsy pull then release. She's much quicker to respond but we still have some work to do.
Cheyenne really impressed me with two things this week.
#1 Cheyenne has a new boyfriend, the stud colt. This handsome little gentleman is NOT mom approved, I'm still a bit in denial over the whole thing. She acts rather silly & whorish around him. Obviously they are separated but they do sniff each other through the window in the concrete stall wall dividing them. This week when I walked Cheyenne by his stall she kept right on walking & didn't stop & squirt. She was much more ladylike & made my life a LOT easier by not cementing her hooves to the ground in front of him.
#2 I had the farrier come out for Cheyenne Saturday. First off I was nervous because it has been MONTHS since I've actually held her for the farrier. Someone else had done it for me since the farrier came at the old barn while I was in class. Second this was a new farrier. I decided to use the farrier the rest of the girls at the barn use. Cheyenne did pretty well! She got a little stupid with her front feet, dancing around on her back feet a bit. She also tried to eat the farrier's ponytail, well not EAT... gum... lip at... play with it. She was a perfect angel for her back feet. Everyone was impressed with her behavior... but you know, can't ever please mom. ;) She's still working on it... but I am proud of her!!
So now back to the title of this entry... FUNNY STORY. I decided to ride Cheyenne bareback Saturday since it was 110 degrees outside (didn't want to deal with lugging around tack or making her miserable in the heat), we were only going to work on walk/stop, and I hadn't ridden her bareback at the new barn yet at all. So I was out with Ray's mom & Ray's leaser, and the barn owner was giving us a mini lesson. We were all standing under the tree in the arena when all of a sudden I realize I was quickly become closer to the ground. Cheyenne DROPPED straight to her knees to roll with me on her!!!! I lucked out because she literally dropped straight down & I stayed sitting on top of her, straddling her with two legs on the ground. She let me jump away before she proceeded to try & roll, thankfully! I hollered at her & flailed my arms so much she must've thought she was going to be killed... but I did NOT want her to think that was okay (even though, I admit it... it was REALLY funny!) She's been good about not tossing me, I don't want her to think this is a new way to get out of work. So I brought her right back over to the mounting block & worked her for a while... without resting breaks this time! lol She did do very well, and I didn't fall! Yay! Here's to hoping it was a one time event however.
Cheyenne really impressed me with two things this week.
#1 Cheyenne has a new boyfriend, the stud colt. This handsome little gentleman is NOT mom approved, I'm still a bit in denial over the whole thing. She acts rather silly & whorish around him. Obviously they are separated but they do sniff each other through the window in the concrete stall wall dividing them. This week when I walked Cheyenne by his stall she kept right on walking & didn't stop & squirt. She was much more ladylike & made my life a LOT easier by not cementing her hooves to the ground in front of him.
#2 I had the farrier come out for Cheyenne Saturday. First off I was nervous because it has been MONTHS since I've actually held her for the farrier. Someone else had done it for me since the farrier came at the old barn while I was in class. Second this was a new farrier. I decided to use the farrier the rest of the girls at the barn use. Cheyenne did pretty well! She got a little stupid with her front feet, dancing around on her back feet a bit. She also tried to eat the farrier's ponytail, well not EAT... gum... lip at... play with it. She was a perfect angel for her back feet. Everyone was impressed with her behavior... but you know, can't ever please mom. ;) She's still working on it... but I am proud of her!!
So now back to the title of this entry... FUNNY STORY. I decided to ride Cheyenne bareback Saturday since it was 110 degrees outside (didn't want to deal with lugging around tack or making her miserable in the heat), we were only going to work on walk/stop, and I hadn't ridden her bareback at the new barn yet at all. So I was out with Ray's mom & Ray's leaser, and the barn owner was giving us a mini lesson. We were all standing under the tree in the arena when all of a sudden I realize I was quickly become closer to the ground. Cheyenne DROPPED straight to her knees to roll with me on her!!!! I lucked out because she literally dropped straight down & I stayed sitting on top of her, straddling her with two legs on the ground. She let me jump away before she proceeded to try & roll, thankfully! I hollered at her & flailed my arms so much she must've thought she was going to be killed... but I did NOT want her to think that was okay (even though, I admit it... it was REALLY funny!) She's been good about not tossing me, I don't want her to think this is a new way to get out of work. So I brought her right back over to the mounting block & worked her for a while... without resting breaks this time! lol She did do very well, and I didn't fall! Yay! Here's to hoping it was a one time event however.
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