Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Update

So, I have some people coming out to look at Tia. That being said, I sort of figured we should maybe..possibly...actually ride ride her! So I had Roo come out and hop on her. **I sprained my back in an accident and am unable to ride for a while**

I was super happy with Tia's performance! She thought the radio was going to eat her, but with some pushing she got through it. Roo even cantered her for the first time! For not being ridden for as long as its been, I normally just hop on and beebop around the ring, she did amazingly well.

Walking

Trotting

Cantering

Trotting

Cantering

Tia: "Mom...The radio is gonna eat me...can you walk me by it?!"

Grainy cell phone pic..but check her out!!!!

All in all, she was extremely good! She is definitely going to need a strong rider. The people coming to see her are coming this Saturday....a Dad and his 16 year old daughter. 

To be continued.....





Monday, August 18, 2014

Pic Spam

I finally got to spend some much needed time at the barn on Saturday! Gabs went with me and took some pictures for me....cause I have very few of me and the cute little fat mare...

Her feet look awesome. Very little limping/locking going on in the hind end! She might end up in the show ring after all!

Enjoy!

NASCAR Pony



What's that, Mom?


"Look What I Can Do!" 

"They are going to eat me!!"

"Hey this looks fun!"





Mom kisses!

Look at how cute I am!

Pretty Girl

Me and Mom! 

Monday, July 28, 2014

Still Alive

I am a terrible horse owner and blogger!

Things have been incredibly crazy lately and not only have I slacked on the blog, but I havent seen Tia in over a month! Good thing I pay for full board! Sigh. I am hoping to get over there tomorrow!

I will update on her feet as soon as I see her! I miss my pony!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Tia's Toes

The small gravel looking rocks are actually copper sulfate crystals to help get rid of the fungus.

This girls feet are going to be the death of me!

Left Front Foot

Right Front Foot

Sigh.

Monday, April 7, 2014

A day at the barn!

Tia's foot is looking better! She is walking much better on it as well! I have been soaking it everyday and that seems to really be helping.

On another note, Mia has proven herself to be a bit of a bulldozer again. Twice now, when I take Tia out to soak her foot, Mia decides that there isnt a fence in the world that can keep her from being able to SEE Tia. Sigh. So, I have started bringing them both up while I do Tia's foot.

Friday night, we decided to play a little bit. First we played with Mocha, and then with Tia and Mia, since Tia was feeling much better!

Enjoy the pics!!!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Follow Up - Farrier Visit

My trusty farrier came out last night to take a look at Tia's foot. The verdict so far is that, yes, she did tweak the existing injury. This injury is a pain in my butt! Sigh!




I am going to be soaking her everyday to help keep the area clean and free of anything that may try to wedge itself up in there. With it being so wet here, wrapping her may or may not be an option. IE - if she steps in mud, there is a good possibility the wrap will come right off. But, I am going to experiment with wrapping tonight and see how it goes. 

I am also going to put her on a hoof suppliment to help it grow out a little faster and promote healthy growth. 

Her front feet are pretty bruised. Not sure if its just from over compensating, or if she has been running around like a loon and hit a rock, or ten, somewhere! 

In the meantime, can everyone say a little prayer that this injury heals correctly and my girl feels better?

Thank you!!!!



Thursday, April 3, 2014

Saddles, Blankets, and a Huge Resounding Disappointed Sigh

In my last post, I talked about going to the Amish tack shop to look at new saddles for Tia. Well, my plans changed a bit.....

First, the trip to the shop didn't happen. We ended up getting a late start and I had to be in Virginia for lessons at 4. Never gonna happen if we went to the shop.

Second, in talking to Mom, and thinking a bit about it, we decided it was better to possibly look at a different pad instead of a saddle first. Its much cheaper that way, and it MAY solve our little problem.

So this past Saturday, we made it to Elams! Yay! We stopped to get horse feed first and while I was there, I got to take a little chick out to see my little Chi!

She was very excited!!!!

We ended up spending a lot of time with Elam, which we do normally, but I was really picking his brain on this one! In looking at the pads, and then showing Elam what her back and withers look like, we both decided that not one single pad is probably going to work, but we could try the Professionals Choice Pro Ride (I believe that's what its called). My Mom has an older version, and with the newer versions being $200.00 a pop, we decided to try my Mom's pad before dropping that much cash on something that may not work! So there was the new plan!

Then I decided that since I had Mom's work saddle at the barn for Mocha, I would try it on Tia just to see if it fit her any better then my trail saddle does....

Looks nice right?!

Left Shoulder - fits nicely, no pinching

Right shoulder - also fits nicely with no pinching
it does, however, flare out on this side, but I think its just the saddle

The back..check out that butt!!!
And yes, she is leaning...more on that in a minute.

So, the end result is that the saddle seems to fit her nicely. Once I put the pad on, it yet again bumped the back end up in the air a bit. I know this is common for some saddles, but with her it seems like every saddle does it. And I know it will not be up like that when I am in the saddle, I just don't want it to be uncomfortable on her shoulders! Sigh. So, I have my Mom coming to the barn to check all three of my saddles for proper fit. 

Now, remember I said she was leaning and we would talk about that in a minute...yeah. I have the farrier coming out tonight to look at her feet. Basically, last night when I brought her up, she seemed gimpy. But, with her stifle issue, it wasn't any more gimpy then normal so we carried on as usual. When I picked her feet out, she was touchy about her front feet, especially the front right. I chalked it up to her friend was throwing a hissy fit about being by herself, oh the humanity, and her being funny about her feet sometimes. Her back feet were no issue. She still has this "injury" to her back right hoof that is still being rehabbed. She has been sound on it for a few months. The only issue we have noticed is that its growing in a little funky and the blood vessels are close to the sole, making trimming a bit hard on that foot. I took her out and lunged her. Dead Lame. FML. 

Took her back into the barn, untacked and basically had a spa day with her. Clipped her woolly bear whiskers so she looks less like a Yak, clipped her bridle path and cut her mane. While we stood there I paid close attention to how she was standing and what she seemed to be most sensitive on. Have you guessed it yet? Yep...Back Right Foot. Damn.

I hurried to finish her mane because she had started to hold that foot up in the air and then only rest it on the toe. Even when I walked her back to her stall, she half hoped so as not to put to much pressure on that foot. She is off a bit on the right front as well, which I think is from compensating for the hind end. 

I gave her bute and left instructions for the BM to give her a gram in the am. I checked all four feet for heat, nothing. My worst fear at this point is that we will have to do reconstruction on that back hoof. My second worst fear is that she is throwing laminitis into the mix with the front end. 

Honestly, I am hoping that maybe she tweaked that back foot a little and needs a bit cut off and that she is just over compensating with the front. I will even take an abscess in the front! Either way, just please don't let this be major. I'm not sure what I will do. 

I am going to take pictures of the hoof tonight. See you all tomorrow with the update!! Wish us luck!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Tack - Sigh

I HAVE NO TACK!!!!....That fits this crazy, beautiful, evil little mare! 


Now, before I go on, let me explain a few things. 

1) I have FAR more tack then any one person should ever have for 1 horse! 
2) I am the person at the barn that my girls come to for any and all their weird tack requests!
3) I donated an english and western saddle to Melwood's Equestrian Center last year...I still have 2 western saddles! 

Sigh. How have I come to own all of this wonderful tack, you ask?! 

Reason #1: My Mom owned a tack store from 1998 until 2006. 
Reason #2: I have been riding horses since I was 13.
Reason #3: My Grandparents raised QH's and App's up until a few years before they passed away. (I inherited a lot of cool stuff!!!) 
Reason #4: I have been a traveling instructor for 14 years. ( I had to have my own stuff most of the time!) 
Reason #5: I am a glutton for tack. 

Honestly, the main reason I have so much tack is because in my travels I have worked with many different types of horses ranging from Arabs to Percherons. And let me just make this abundantly clear - that saddle that you love so much that fits that prissy little Arab like a glove - it ain't even worth pulling out when you have a Percheron in front of you! Sigh. 

So last year, I donated my english saddle because frankly I don't ride english all that much and, well, it didn't fit anyone BUT Boomer! Which really really made me irritable! But, from what I hear, it is working out well for their program, so all is good! I also donated my Cordura 15" Western saddle to the program. I originally bought it off ebay as a cheap saddle for Chi to ride Tia in eventually. Yeah...it didn't fit Tia either. And honestly, I hate corduras! They slip and cause me anger. They are super easy to clean tho! ;) 

So the two saddles I have left are both western, which is preferable for me considering I am a western pleasure baby. The problem I am having is that the horses I have owned have all been a Semi QH bar...Tia is not. I have my Grandfathers 50+ year old handmade saddle that will never leave me and my husbands trail saddle, the later of which is my preferred riding saddle due to seat size and my butt being much larger then it used to be! Neither of these saddles fit Tia. 

Ugh! They both sit to far down on her wither, causing the back to pop up. I already ride with a 1 1/2" thick pad so adding more padding isn't a good idea. We have ridden her in a bareback pad and she behaves much better without the strain on her shoulders - naturally. 

So, what is my answer to this problem you ask?! Easy! I'm going to buy another saddle! Because that is what I do. Apparently more then I like to admit. Sigh. 

I am going to Elams (the Amish tack shop) on Saturday to start looking at some different possibilities. I have already decided that she is built more for English tack, so I will be looking for an english saddle. I really like leather saddles, but I am actually considering a Wintec with the interchangeable gullet system. This would fit my needs pretty well with having more then one horse to ride on occasion and it would let me change the gullet for Tia when she finally starts dropping her weight! (Haha!) 

So for now, Tia and I are in limbo! At least riding wise! But that's OK! It just means more cuddle time!!





Friday, February 21, 2014

Finally - Ride Time

The weather has been...sucky! The ground has been...sucky! And the horses attitudes have been...sucky!

BUT! I actually made it to the barn last night to spend some much needed time with my girl! Luckily, she was already hanging out in her stall so I didn't have to walk through ankle deep "yuck" to get her! Yay! I pulled her blanket off and took a swipe with my brush...and then thought better of it and went and got the shedding blade!

Spring is coming people! Tia's lost enough hair last night to build an entire new Tia...and she still has more left to lose! Spring is coming!

Ahem..sorry about that..I got a little excited!

So, after brushing and tacking we made our way to the big barn. I lost my shoes three times in the mud. And it isnt even like the pastures are terrible. We have really nice pastures. We have just had 11 inches of snow sitting on them and then yesterday it was like 55 degrees! Sigh. I cant complain tho...it was WARM!

Anywho, so I took her into the indoor and lunged her while Gabs hopped on Mocha Man bareback. Does anyone remember the Flinstone cartoons where they would move their feet really fast but not really go anywhere? Yeah...that was what Tia looked like. In between looking like a cartoon, she looked, and sounded, like a freight train! Full speed ahead, damn anything in her way, freight train! Sigh.

I tried her new bridle on her...its to big. I need to punch more holes in it! She is this weird in between size of Cob and Horse...its kind of frustrating! Good thing I am friends with the Amish Tack Shop Owner!!! I love him!

So after a little more lunging, freight train remember?, I hopped on her and rode her in her halter and the reins. She was good as cold! Very calm. Very light. Seemed to enjoy not having a bit in her mouth!!! Which makes me happy! She is probably just going to be a trail horse, so a bit really isn't needed if she is controllable with just a simple sidepull. I have a really nice sidepull and a custom made bitless bridle that I will try on her next time!

Here is the link to the video of us last night. It isn't long at all. Just us walking around enjoying some time together. LINK

I hope everyone has a great weekend! We will be spending the weekend, yet again, moving my husbands parents. Pray for me! ;)

Monday, February 17, 2014

Off Course

Life has been....hectic. Yeah! That's the nice way to put it! I haven't had any time to get to the barn...and I wont until probably March! :( If it would ever stop dumping snow and rain and sleet on us I might be able to get down there! The barn owner doesn't plow the driveway and I have a non-snow liking vehicle! Luckily, I have two wonderful friends who can get over there and check on everyone!

In the meantime, we are working on moving my husbands parents into a new home. We started moving them this past weekend and will continue to work on it for the next 2 weekends I believe. This coming weekend we will be moving his parents and not just some of their stuff. There are numerous reasons why we can't do the move in just a weekend...but for my husbands sake, I will not list them. Use your imagination!

One the other hand, the snow has given me the opportunity to take some pretty cool pictures!














I got some good ones of my little girl playing in the snow the next day as well! But I will have to post them later! They are on my other computer!

I hope everyone is staying nice and warm out there! I am so ready for Spring!!!