July 25, 2006

Tonka is still on vacation. I really need to be working with him on hoof trimming practice, but I haven't been. It's been HOT. And I've been really busy with family visiting and other stuff. Seems like there's never a dull moment. Now I've got a cold but I'm still functioning okay. But anyway, back to my mustang, not me... I don't know if his leg is still sore or not. He looked great running through the pasture yesterday (I can't wait to ride that boy!) but that's not quite the same as training.

I finally got to ride with my husband again! It's been about a year. My dad's horse is here again, so we rode the two Sox's again. But this time I rode Sox, my dad's horse, and John rode Soxy, my horse. He got a little irritated at her wanting to go too fast, especially through ditches, but other than that I think it went well. Sox was pretty good for me. Same problem with the trotting when I didn't ask him to. I had John ride Soxy in a halter and maybe that wasn't the greatest idea. But anyway, I'm hopeful we can do this again sometime. Preferrably out on a trail or something, but I don't think the horses are in condition to carry us for long yet. Oh, and if you hadn't already guessed because we were riding her, Soxy didn't cough once. Awesome.

July 20, 2006

I got checked by the BLM today. The guy called last night and came out this morning. He was very pleased with how well-behaved and gentle Tonka is, and how well he's taken care of. I was proud of my boy.

Not much new going on lately. Tonka wore a fly mask for a while this morning, until the BLM guy came. He was a little jumpy about it at first and then didn't care. He stiffened up a bit when I took it off and the velcro made a noise, but other than that it wasn't a big deal.

July 16, 2006

This morning I went out to medicate Soxy and Tonka volunteered to come into the inner pen, where we often do training. So I loved on him a little then went and got my hoofjack and trimming tools, minus my precious nippers. He's not ready to try that anyway, and I don't want them accidentally damaged! Put his front hooves forward on the stand, and did a little rounding with the rasp over some small cracks that are forming. Then switched to the cradle and worked on the bottom of the hoof. Took out a little dead sole, not much because it's so hard and dry. Rasped a little on the heels that are out of balance. He took his foot from me once, and tried a few other times. I gave him some breaks to keep it easy. We probably only worked for 10-15 minutes total. Then I let him out, unhaltered, petted, and visited with Lyric who has a very itchy belly. Then loved on Tonka some more.

I'm hoping to get an appointment with a barefoot trimmer who is finally accepting new clients. He has a history of not showing up for appointments or being like 4 hours late, so I don't know how that will go. But it's worth a try. So I'll keep messing with Tonka and not do a real trim unless I find that I can't get an appointment with the guy. His hooves have a strangeness that I'd rather have a professional deal with.

July 15, 2006

Tonka went out for a walk -

Wait a minute. I think I failed to report how he wore the saddle for the first time the other day! Well, he did. And he didn't do anything exceptionally over-reactive. He did give a couple half hearted bucks when he was lunging. Something spooked him and he sped up and then I assume he noticed the saddle again and bucked a couple steps then went on. It was kind of cute. He got his first sweaty saddle marks. It was warm out, and we worked for quite a while, lunging and flagging with the plastic bag again.

Tonight I saddled him and took him out. Was going to go for a walkabout around the property but we didn't get far. There's a tent set up in the front field from a sleepover the kids had, and that was scary. The lawnmower was scary. A tree was scary. It took a while for him to mostly accept the tent. Touching it with his nose really made him feel better. Then we moved on to the trampoline. Didn't take long for that to be okay. Then we worked on stepping on a board. Eventually got 2 feet on it. Good boy. Then went back to unsaddle, by which time it was mostly dark. The light/dark contrast from the spotlights was freaking him out a little. We did some lateral flexion before I took the saddle off, and it relaxed him pretty well.

He almost ran me over twice tonight. I'm not sure if he didn't of his own will or if I just got lucky, but it was close. Once he spooked and once I was in his way when he was avoiding something. I swear his spookiness has gotten WAY worse since Lyric has been pastured with him. Not good. I may have to separate them, but I hate to do that because they really like each other. They hang around itching each other's backs.

There's a bad development in one of his legs. Nothing permanent, but I don't like it. I noticed him pointing with his front right foot the first time I saddled him. You can see it in the picture. I thought he was just nervous, he was walking very carefully with that cinch behind his elbows. Then I briefly worked him yesterday, and I didn't like the way he looked travelling to the right on a circle. Tonight I SHOULD have checked out the leg BEFORE I took him out. I didn't, but I did put splint boots that Amy lent me on him. Well, he was still travelling funny on that side. So I tried to keep him mostly calm. Should have stopped, but I wasn't all that worried about it. When I took the splint boots off I checked both front legs very well, and he does have a splint. It's a bump, an inflammation between the two bones there. Not a huge big deal but he'll need time off. Darn it. One website I looked at said a month off. One of my books says to ice or hose it. We haven't worked on hosing, so I'm sure that wouldn't be a restful activity. I'll talk to the vet Monday. I have to talk to her anyway to give her an update on Soxy.

I sure do like the way he looks with his saddle on. What a big boy!

July 13, 2006

What a wonderful day! I finally got up early enough to work with my boy. We sacked out with a plastic grocery bag on the end of a long crop and with a big garbage bag. Then strapped on the bareback pad with cinch and breastcollar. No big deal! Lunged a bit, worked on our stop and yield. More with the grocery bag and we were done.

With the plastic bags I started with the grocery bag on the end of the long crop, for more reach. Whacked the ground with it, rythmically. Worked closer, whacked all around him. Whenever he wanted to sniff it I'd stop and let him. Rubbed shoulder, stop. Rubbed shoulder, work over back, stop. Et cetera until we were rubbing all over. Ears were a big no no spot. He didn't like that. Took a long time. Then started "pouncing" it on him. Like whacking the ground but softly, starting at the wither. Stayed at same spot until he gave me a big sigh and a lick and chew. Took FOREVER! I got bored. But kept at it. Did same on hip, then worked on wither and hip on other side. Went on to the grocery bag. Rub rub rub, then flick flick flick all over his body. Oh, another thing I made sure to do a lot of with both was moving over his back from the side I was on to the other side, as my leg and body will do when I mount. That is an absolute "have to" in my opinion. A lot, if not most, wrecks happen when mounting. The horse knows you're on the one side, but then you're suddenly on the other side! Ack! Buck!

Then I briefly worked with a saddle pad. Up on his back, off, up again, then knocked it off onto the ground. Both sides. Then walked around with it on. Then moved on to bareback pad with scary attachments. He wasn't scared. I basically just put it on and cinched him up. Wow. Lunged. Went back to plastic bag on a stick around his head. Done. Good boy!

July 10, 2006

Tonka met the vet today. Soxy needed to be checked out for her cough so I had a bunch of other stuff done too. So Tonka got his teeth looked at and we talked about how much riding to do and when. She said his teeth look good, not much to see or do at this age. I was a little worried about his overbite but it should be fine since the teeth do come together so he can cut grass. For riding she said short rides would be fine, and short trail rides in about 6 months. After watching him playing with all the buckets she said it'd definitely be good to keep him mentally occupied! Poor guy gets bored. He was locked in the smaller pen while he waited his turn and boy did he do a lot of running and fidgeting and playing.

Soxy doesn't need meds immediately. If she's still coughing later this week we'll start her on a bronchio dilator. I think she's already improving though, I haven't heard her cough today other than when they made her cough. Mainly we just have to reduce the dust, which I've already done by getting her out on pasture. She did suggest using a muzzle to help control her weight. I hate doing that, Soxy gets sores on her nose. But obviously I don't want her to founder.

Coda got his teeth floated. He didn't like that! We had to use pretty light sedation because of his other health issues, so he fought it. Stepped pretty hard on the end of my toe, it still hurts! He also got his sheath cleaned. We talked about his constant diarrhea and she had a few suggestions.

They also looked at one of my dogs. Maya has a skin problem again, because she was on cheap dog food for several days when John couldn't make it to town. So I got some ointment. They really liked Angus too. He's such a big gorgeous sweetheart (great dane rott cross).

I'm off to re-pot some plants.

July 4, 2006

Well, the horses lived through the firework ordeal. Lots of galloping around and a couple of booboos. This was also Tonka's first time in the same pasture with Lyric and Emma, so there was some chasing and nasty-face-making going on.

July 1, 2006

I got back from Hawaii today. Here are some pics for you to enjoy.

Have petted all the horses, dogs, cats, and sheep, and sweet-talked to the turkeys and chickens. Rode Soxy just now for about 5 minutes, hanging tightly on to my sandals with my toes.

All is well on the farm.