People talk....

We ALLLLLLL know how much people in the horse world just LOVE to talk. When the story is good and juicy? Boy how they love to talk.... Lately I find myself at the middle of a lot of things at the barn. Before everyone thinks people are talking smack about me, they're not. As it turns out, it's the opposite.

Although my mare's weight is up and down and right now she's sore, she still looks good and has a silky, soft, shiny coat. I am proud of her, even if I can only hand graze her at the moment. My little man- people are amazed at him being 19 years old and the one kid keeps asking if I'm going to work him, because he loves watching him go. Part of it is that the kid is amazed I can make him work like that without being on his back.

There has been a few times the barn owner has, in ways, admitted he doesn't know many of the things I do. He has made statements of "Do what Linda did" when talking about treating a horses wound or even told me that the horse I was working at the moment looked really good. Just last night he asked if I would clip his mules.

The other night at the barn, one of the horses coliced. Everyone had their ideas of how to get the horse to feel better. The one guy was literally chasing the poor thing around the round pen (at a full gallop, cracking the whip repeatedly) and had been for a while. I had the meds and know how to use them so after the owner said "Yes, Please!!!!" I gave the horse some chemical relief.  He was able to relax and instead of them running the hell out of him to keep him from rolling, they were able to walk him around. He did go to the vet and was there for almost a week and I'm hapry to report- he pulled thru.

I have been riding and training the one pony at the barn. A couple weeks ago, speaking to one of the ladies in the group gathered under the trees, apparently they had been watching the workout. She told me they love watching the horses workouts and that I ride like the Boss. (Well That was totally different from before- you know, hearing that my ex had been telling everyone he trained my horses for me. Insert massive eye rolling! HAHAHAHA!)

Part of the new group at the barn has been a few younger kids.  One of them has a younger filly and admittedly he is having some issues with her. Last night he was saying he could not get her into the wash rack. at. all. She wasn't going in, no way, no how. I always like a challenge so I bet him I could get her in. I clipped my lunge line on her and he said something about how his filly was probably going to break it. I walked her up to the wash rack and let her stop for a second. When I asked her to step forward and walk in, she did. No issue and I never even uncoiled my rope. He stood there staring in disbelief and said, "You're shitting me, right?"  I put her in the wash rack and took her out a few times and then had him do it. He could not believe the change.

So people don't think I'm feeling all high and mighty over these things, I just always think to myself- there is a better way. There is always a better way to do things. Helping the horse not to suffer thru a human issue is worth it. That's payment to me. And still when people thank me, I have to remind myself not to self depreciate, but to just shut it and accept the compliment.  Ffs- thank them too!  

Good with the bad

About three weeks ago I rode my TB mare and while she did well enough in the round pen, we have hd issues getting just a walk down the driveway. Since she's barefoot and there's some decently size rocks, she had a step or two that hurt. I figured she may have gotten a stone bruise and when we got back to the barn I hosed her legs off, gave her some bute and put her away.  Nothing major, right?

Spoiler- Things haven't gotten any better. Totally sucks! But unlike my ex, when my horse is lame and hurting, I do what I can and when I can do no more, I take them to a vet.

So after soaking her foot and digging around in the sole with a hoof knife and hoping it was just another damned abscess, having her trimmed and hoping the farrier might find something and open it up.... and she's still lame, I made another appointment for her. I swear she is becoming one of those vet Dream Horses.  The tech that came out today asked "Oh is this the one with the knee again?" Yes. Yes it is. Thanks! Argh

I was getting xrays of her left front hoof. Seemed like it would or could be either founder or the beginning of navicular. At this point I was feeling like if it were either one, the most humane thing would be to put her down. I was at that point not too long ago when she came in from turnout with her 'good' knee swollen to the size of her bad one. That time too, I had decided going in- if her good knee was going to be like her 'bad knee', there was no point in putting things off and letting her suffer.

I'm also beginning to think this mare likes being at the vet clinic for some strange reason. The three times we've been there, she just stands quietly and looks around, twitches an ear this direction and that. Sometimes she even looks like she's about to doze off.  While at home and when hauling to different arenas to ride- she can often get so worked up about being in new place that it's obnoxious and annoying.

After hearing the rundown of everything that has happened and hoping it was an abscess or could be a stone bruise, figure it could be this or that and hoping it's neither one.... he put the hoof testers on her. Nadda. No reaction whatsoever. He agreed that rads would be the only way to find out what's going on inside.

Five pics later... No rotation of the coffin bone- not foundered, no degeneration- not navicular, no real issues to speak of until he got to the last one. Of course she's complicated. She couldn't be a one shot and done, there's your answer now go home, kind of horse. Nope, not her. So while it wasn't either of the two I figured (Yes, thankfully I was wrong!) she still has issues going on with that leg.

No rotation here, latral view,

No signs of navicular but her bones in the fetlock joint aren't exactly straight but he said that was likely from when she was growing up or maybe even born that way. Who knows?!?!?!?! 

This was the pic that explains it. On the top of the short pastern bone towards the back there's what looks like a chip and up towards the middle of the large pastern bone there's a darker spot that is of interest too. I have sought out a second opinion and I will gladly let everyone know when I get the results of that one.

For now she is on stall rest and maintanence levels of pain meds. Oh happy joy. She is not thrilled. Not at all.

Fix the issue

One of the girls at the barn was having issues with her gelding. She said he was and has, "pushed thru the bit" as she called it. I didn't see what was going on and of course there's no video because we can't be on both sides of the lens, but she asked me to work him in the long lines and see what he's doing and what I suggest to do to fix it.

First off I put him back in a snaffle. I had worked him once before in it and he did well then, so why shouldn't he now? She wants to do barrels on him at some point and had been using a bit that worked for her with her other horse.... A we all know, when it comes to horses and training- What works for some, don't work for one and what works for one, doesn't always work for some.

Another thing I did was to drop the bit one hole on both sides of the headstall. No wonder he puts his head up freakishly high when bridling... Also this give the horse the release when you release the reins or lines.  Sometimes she loans her bridle out or uses it on other horses and forgets to adjust it to the horse it is on. 

When he started off in the lines, he would give to the bit and turn his neck, but his body didn't follow. This was the problem she was having when she tried to long line him in the round pen. I used my inside line to pop him in the rear end and push it to the outside. This causes the front end to come into the turn the direction you want the horse to go. When I popped him with the line, he reacted a bit and went forward into the trot. She reacted too, saying that she seen he obviously needed that, but admitted she was hesitant to do it, almost afraid he would do something she wasn't ready for and then not sure how to fix that either. As he went into the trot, he was allowed to keep it as long as he was moving in balance.

I would tug on the inside rein and keep him on the circle and release when he responded. He stayed on the circle and was tracking up in frame, balanced and looking great. I slowed him back down to a walk and turned him around. A slight tug on the outside rein and he changed directions with ease.  When it came to the stops the first few took a little bit to get, but once he figured out that I would give him cues to set him up for the stop before asking him to actually stop, he started to really dial in the part about listening to me and what I was asking of him.

With my own horses, I have started to give them cues of what is to come next. It helps us both to prepare for it, before it comes. I make a softer, higher pitched whuuup a few times then a lower toned whoa. The whuuups let the horse know the whoa is coming and be prepared to stop. With my ponyman, he hears the whuups and starts to shut it down, no matter the gait. With her horse, once he figured it out, he started to slow things down  for the stop.  We quit on a good stop without any use of the reins.

What followed was an exchange between us and another boarder. This is what inspired the previous post abut opinions. The thing is, this person talks a lot about training, but only about half of what they say makes any sense at all.  After they had added their two cents to the conversation, my friend expressed her opinion about how the other boarder doesn't have a clue.  She doesn't take their advice because from everything she has seen of their horse- It's not all that.

A time of loss

One of the girls that used to be at the barn with me, lost her horse yesterday. He was her heart horse, her Unicorn and now he's gone. He had become impacted and coliced. The vet was treating him and sadly, things just didn't work out.

RIP Redman

Opinions

We have all heard the phrase about how opinions are like assholes- everybody has one.... Sometimes the opinions of others are helpful and sometimes they aren't. So who do you not only accept opinions from, but seek one out? And whose opinions do you politely thank the person for and think to yourself- They don't have a clue!

There are several people whose opinions I respect. Many of them are from diverse backgrounds and have ridden a number of horses at various levels. This means they have been in the trenches, doing the work and seen for themselves- the results.... They know first hand what works and what doesn't and can usually explain why.

Some of these people stick to breed shows and some of them compete in the open field in their discipline of choice. There's backgrounds of all kinds and sometimes i tend to roll with those that align with my own pursuits.

I respect the opinions of other bloggers. I won't be naming names as I don't want to leave anyone out. There are several I have met in real life, several that we have discussed things via email or text message and several  There are several of you that if we were to gather in a group somewhere- there would be more than plenty of All Things Horse to discuss.

So how do you decide who has an opinion worth listening to? Blogger MiKael from Rising Rainbow Arabians said it best once and I'm going to paraphrase here- People may know the right words to use to make themselves sound like they know what they're doing, but if you want to find out if they know what they're talking about- watch their horses work.  If you like what you see? Great, this is someone worth listening to. If you're not all that impressed? You know to keep looking.