Hoof Repair

 Here are some lovely before and after images of Rose's recent self inflicted hoof damage. As bad as the chunks chips looked they were luckily superficial, and she was immediately okay-ed to be ridden after her trim.

Left Hind Before

Left Hind After

Right Hind Before

Right Hind After

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•DS•

That darn door...again!

Last winter I had all the time in the world to deal with Rose's people door issue. However, when my husband managed to make time in his schedule last week to babysit Jr. so that I could go ride, I found my patients lacking.

Upon reaching the arena door, Rose, who had been having no issue with the door for months now, suddenly threw on the breaks and turned into a royal snot. I tried politely for about ten minutes to get her in, then I tried more aggressive tactics, all to no avail. In the end I ended up throwing her in a stall, opening the garage door, and then going back to get her and entered the arena that way.  I simply do not have time to deal with her marish bull$&** anymore.

Rose's fat bum, as a result, had to work very hard for the remaining 30 minutes I had left at the barn. The ride at least was good. I'm not too thrilled to see what I will be dealing with next time.

Looking innocent, post-ride.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•DS•

15 Minutes of Fame

I'm not famous, but my horse trailer is! The national Dodge marketing team was randomly in town these past two weeks. It is beyond me why they would pick Bozeman, Montana for a photo shoot. Granted the scenery around her can be breathtaking, but I just never imagined that a company like Dodge would come here for photos. Anyway, somehow their talent scout ended up at my barn while looking for a location to shoot a truck/cowboy photo scene. They chose a different location to shoot, but liked my BO's husband's bay quarter horse and my trailer. There is just something about that groovey 1990's detailing that catches peoples eyes. HA!

So, yesterday, my trailer was rented and photographed with the new Dodge truck. The photos will be featured in brochures that you can get at Dodge dealerships nationwide. Anyone want a signed brochure? I'm happy to oblige! LOL!

Here is my trailer behind our Ford truck:

I'll have to share the Dodge photo once I recieve my copy. I can only imagine that a new Dodge truck would make my trailer look more sexy (I'm a Dodge girl btw, it's just that Hubs came with the Ford), so I can't wait to see the photos.


Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•DS•

Grazing muzzle fail

Well, Rose and GoGo must be kindred spirits. I spent a half hour showing her how to get grass through the muzzle and all that was accomplished was her becoming utterly frustrated and aerating the lawn. Meh! She continues to get fat in the pasture. At least the swelling in her leg has gone away and her hooves are fixed and miss chubby cheeks is sound to ride. That's something at least.

"Hey this thing doesn't have any grain in it. What's with that?"

"Get it off! I must eat grass. I am starving to death!"

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•DS•

In which Rose continues to get fat

In the week I was away Rose managed to procure a swollen right hind fetlock, two inflamed splints,  three sizable skinned spots, several small cuts, one long one on her rump, many superficial bite marks, and a huge chunk out of each hind hoof. My guess, based on physical evidence on both her and the kick wall of the run in shed, is that she and her neighbor Lucy have been fighting over who is dominant across the fence in the shed. Sheesh! Mares.

The major damage:

Left Hind Hoof

Right Hind Hoof

Left Hind

Right Hind

Swollen Fetlock (suspensory ligament possibly?)

Superficial cut on rump

Big bite mark on chest

Aside from the obvious, it was exceptionally disappointing to discover her injuries (particularly the swollen fetlock) because I was intending to ride. Hubs had managed to make time in his day for me to go to the barn. I treat these rare occasions as gold these days. However, given the fetlock and how much hoof was missing I thought a ride was a bad idea. Luckily my farrier was scheduled to come tomorrow so after he fixes her feet I'll see if her pastern swelling has subsided and potentially ride.

Since I had the time, I gave Rose a very badly needed bath, doctored her up, and organize the exceptionally neglected tack room in my trailer. I did not return her to her dry lot, but rather put her back in the pasture with the other mares. All were thrilled with the reunion.

She clearly needs to be in a herd, and not left alone to her own devices in a dry lot. So that brings me back to the problem of her being fat. The only thing I could think of was to try out a grazing muzzle. For now she is stuffing her face, but tomorrow when she gets her feet done I will be introducing her to her new diet device. I recall the difficulties that Andrea had with Gogo, so I'm anticipating that she won't get it right away. We shall see. Hopefully it will work!

 *On a side note, I was a bit concerned about turning her right back out on the grass. In the end I figured it would likely be fine as she's only been off it one week, and I need to be less neurotic about these things. Any thoughts? Should I have been neurotic and transitioned her back onto it instead? I'm curious to hear others opinions on that.

Finding the time

Finding time to ride is almost as difficult as getting back into shape. Actually,  no, it is harder. I made it to the barn twice this week. Once when my in-laws were here and once when I hired one of my students to babysit. Initially I thought finding time to ride would be easy, as I had planned on just leaving Jr. with Hubs for a few hours during the day, ideally post feed and during a nap. The reality is such that Hubs works from home and at the moment has a huge workload and Jr. doesn't predictably nap yet. Nor does he nap for long if you set him down. Hubs workload means he can't spare three hours in the middle of the day to hold Jr. Meh. Enter babysitter MC. She did a great job and didn't break Jr. Unfortunately I can't afford to pay for babysitting four days a week. Rock / hard place. I guess I will have to lower my riding frequency expectations until Jr. is on a more manageable schedule for Hubs.

Our third ride was good. Rose worked really hard for 30 minutes. We are both getting back in shape little by little. I worked on a ton of two point to help tone up my core and strengthen my legs, and Rose trotted her chubby butt off. I am happy to report that cantering feels normal again. I think it just felt weird due to my jello-y joints. As part of Rose's fitness plan, Miss chunky monkey has been pulled from her pasture and dry lotted. This had to happen anyway so the hay can grow, but I swear she's put on 50 lbs in the past couple weeks alone. She litteraly has fat deposits on her back and neck that showed up over the weekend. I like my hunters plump but not obese for goodness sake! One step at a time, but we'll be fit again in no time.

Rose gets the next week off though, as we are headed to my family's lake house and Jr. will get to go for his first boat ride. Woo-hoo!

Ride No. 2

We had house guests this week, which yesterday gave me the opportunity to go to the barn and ride Rose again. This time we rode for about 35 minutes and did a bit of cantering. Rose was good and forward and worked really hard for me, but I can tell she is massively out of shape. She kept falling in and had a couple massive trips at the canter. Speaking of which, I'm not sure if its me, Rose or a combination of the two, but when I asked her for the first canter transition I was shocked. She gave me this huge transition (or that's how it felt anyway) and her canter felt like it had a ton of movement in it. It was very forward, very uphill, like a rocking horse on steroids. This is not a bad thing, but I wasn't ready for it. On the other hand, it could be her regular canter but my jello-y joints are all out of whack so it feels different to me. Not sure. But at least it was forward and willing, regardless of her balance issues.

Chunky Monkey

Upon closer inspection I've also noticed that Rose has indeed gained quite a bit of weight. I should tape her to find out just how much. Regardless, she has started developing little fat pockets here and there and I swear her bum is starting to get fat. Good thing that we are getting back into work. For now I've cut down her timothy pellets that I add to her grain. She simply doesn't need them to maintain her weight at the moment. Until she's more svelte I'll just have to keep rocking my girth extender. Thank goodness for girth extenders. Right about now I need a 56" girth!

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•DS•