Month: May 2018

When I started horse shopping I made it a point to be realistic in what I both needed and wanted in my next riding partner. The fear of getting something not suitable was strong.

One of the main characteristics on my list was the ability to have time off and not come out a lunatic. My riding life was defined by squeezing in two rides a week if I was lucky with a lesson once or twice a month. I made sure to ask every single seller if a schedule like that would be suitable for the horse I was looking at.

Thursday evening I rode Eeyore for the first time. While it had its frustrating moments, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Friday was a surgery day from the netherworld. I knew it would be going in though it was made worse by an inopportune shift change between my surgical cases resulting in me losing my A team and getting the F team. This made an already stressful and complicated revision case all the harder and I didn’t leave the OR until after 6pm resulting in me not getting home until after 7pm for the second day that week. This occurrence gave Eeyore a day off.

Saturday was looking ominous however the storm blew through over night allowing the sun to shine throughout the day. By late afternoon I was itching to mount back up and had an even better second ride on the Big Goof. We did walk and trot much like the prior ride only with crisper transitions and less protests on his part. It felt so nice that I ventured to canter both directions and then much to his dismay I broke out three ground poles to work over.

Were it not for the sweat pouring down my back and a dinner that needed made, I think I never would have gotten off him.

And there in lies my “problem”. I searched high and low and focused my efforts on finding a horse that didn’t need ridden very much. A low key horse with more whoah then go. After all, that’s how my riding schedule had paned out before. But low and behold, with a horse that is inherently well behaved with bad behavior resulting in slowing down and never a single moment of anguish on my part, I find myself forcing myself to not ride instead of dreading tacking up. Instead of using anything as an excuse to put off riding another day, I find myself sneaking in time that I could use mounted up.

In other words, the Big Goof is going to find himself with a harder work load than was anticipated. I still keep the rides short and give plenty of walk breaks. Saturday I rode for about 40 minutes with at least 15 of that in the walk so it’s not like I’m on him drilling or pushing his cardiovascular limit. It is still me we are talking about here.

I never anticipated this side effect of getting a horse I am more compatible with. He seems better for the frequency having already understood what lines I drew in the sand. He was much lighter in the bridle, actually showed true bend in the circles and handled the trot poles like a pro. He still wanted to peter out a lot but I believe a big part of it was my fault.

I’m used to my high octane Gem whose trot is fast and erratic. Eeyore is much slower by nature and when we were trotting I found myself nagging him for more. I felt like we weren’t moving at all but I believe that is his speed and my nagging annoyed him as he was actually trotting. Just not at Mach 10.

I really need Trainer to help me get to know him better but for now I’m enjoying each moment spent with him. After we left the arena I was super tempted to hit the trail surrounding the property, something I had yet to brave, but he was sweaty as was I and the Dynamic Duo were eyeing me up for dinner time. Eeyore needed a post ride shower as well so instead I settled for Eeyore snuggle time and plan to hit the trail another day. It may be sooner than he thinks though. Every day I find myself excited to ride and that is a brand new feeling.

Last night I swallowed my nerves, fiddled endlessly with tack, and eventually hopped on Eeyore for our first of hopefully many, many rides together.

And it went…..pretty good.

In 45 minutes I learned a lot about myself, him and my past experiences. There is a lot to say and a lot of thoughts to sort through, but today I just want to gush a little about my big goofy man.

Because while he wasn’t perfect and I didn’t sit on him and magically start doing piaffes and jump around a 4* course, he never once made me feel unsafe, scared or nervous. He never once pulled a dirty move or became tense, hollow or braced. He never once spooked at anything, not even the pile of digging toys Wyatt had left in the arena that I was too lazy to pick up before mounting.

Sure he pulled hard to the gate and became a sloth going away from it.  Sure he tried to convince me he was unable to bend left while still actively bending left. Sure he put on a good show that he was exhausted after 20 minutes of walking. But even through his protestations about being asked to work after nearly two weeks of being a pasture puff and a light schedule preceding that, he did the thing. Sanely and with only minimal opinions that I suck.

And that folks is a whole new experience for me.

I don’t want Eeyore’s life with me to degrade into a constant comparison with Gem. It isn’t fair to either of them as they are very different horses, but it will be inevitable in the beginning since Gem is my only experience to draw from. Where Gem’s answer to anything hard or new is to get hollow, tense and go fast, Eeyore’s response to most of life is to slow down, take it in and think about quitting. It was a refreshing new problem to find a solution to and while I didn’t cure it in one single ride there were a lot of glimpses of a lovely future admist this first ride.

After 45 minutes of a lot of walking and some trotting mixed in with a few “oops, this horse knows how to do a walk-canter transition when I accidentally pull my leg too far back” moments, I called it a night. He was sweaty, a storm was rolling in and it was 8 pm with dinner still needing made (of side note, if you haven’t made flat bread pizzas at home you really must. They are quick, easy and delicious!!! A hearty, filling home made dinner in 15 minutes) yet I didn’t actually want to get off him. On Tuesday evening, with my hot mess of a Gem, I had to force myself to stay on her and work through the tantrums keeping an eye on my phone until it was at least 30 minutes of ride time. last night though, I had to force myself to get off the horse. It wasn’t a perfect ride by any stretch and we weren’t making any ground breaking improvements, but it was fun. And safe. And everything I was wanting in my next horse.

I have more thoughts on how it went and what all I learned about myself and Eeyore that will help me in the future, plus tack questions/issues and a plan for the near future with him but all that is going to wait until another day. It poured this morning and the weather says rain all weekend, but maybe I can squeak in another ride. I have a saddle fitter scheduled for June 2nd and a lesson with Trainer May 31 and a head full of dreams to start making reality. Eeyore may not be perfect, but he sure is perfect for me.

Ugh.

(Trying to take a selfie generally ends up with a big spotted nose taking up the entire field)

Tuesday was the first time Eeyore was out in the big pasture with our other two and he came in that evening for dinner sans right hind shoe. I already talked about my farrier coming out Wednesday evening to trim and reset but that right hind shoe had pulled off most of the hoof wall with it and a shoe wasn’t able to be put back on. That led to my decision to go barefoot on the back and see how he did.

Well, turns out he didn’t do so well.

(Licking my shirt. He is the most mouthy horse I’ve ever met though he never tries to bite. He licks. And uses his lips. And plays.)

Thursday morning he came in crippled. He would have been three legged lame had it not been for the fact that both hinds were killing him and he couldn’t walk on the front legs only. It took a very long time to get him in his stall. Dusty ran to work and got bute for the big guy and I changed his 3pm chiro appointment with Trainer’s vet to a regular appointment to see what could be done for him.

By the time the bute hit he was doing somewhat better but was still barely able to walk and don’t even think about trotting. I felt terrible for him. The vet examined him the best she could and noted that his right hind had the lamina exposed. She kept blaming the farrier but honestly that damage was done when the shoe was lost and the farrier barely touched that hoof as there wasn’t much to do beyond trimming some rough edges left behind.

(Better. He tried to eat my phone though)

She wrapped him with cotton padding and elasticon, recommended hoof boots as there isn’t enough hoof to attach a shoe to, and to use farriers barrier or the like on the hoof and sole.

Of course it was 7pm when we finished and the tack store closes at 6 so the big guy kept his wraps on overnight in his stall until I could get out at 10 am the next day when they re opened. I picked up some Cavallo boots, farriers barrier, treats and a fly mask to protect his pink third eye lids from the sun.

Once back home he got the wraps off, barrier applied and I re wrapped the hoof with cotton and vet wrap before putting on the boots. By Saturday morning he was walking a little high stepped in the back, but at a normal pace and was even standing normally to graze again instead both hinds tucked under him.

(His new kicks. New horse is expensive but worth it. Thankfully the legs have remained cold and tight)

Saturday night he came in for dinner with only a few bad steps here and there and walked back out to the pasture after just fine. I threw him out first because I’m tired of cleaning up his water mess as he plays with his bucket as soon as he finishes eating. It took Gem and Pete a bit to finish and when I went to take her out I caught Eeyore cantering a big circle by the gate looking for his friends. It made me so happy to see him cantering again and looking like he was on the mend.

I can’t tell you all how worried I was about him. He was so crippled I thought I’d killed him. Once he grows out enough hoof to attach a shoe he will return to them permanently. Big guy needs his foot wear apparently.

(Saturday morning. He was starting to stand more normal when grazing but he still looked tucked up and tight in the back end)

By Sunday night he came trotting happily over to be brought in for dinner so I think it’s safe to maybe say he is mostly over this. I cut his bute in half and pulled the boots to see how he does barefoot. The ground is super soft right now after a week of rain every single day so I’m not worried about hard ground. If he goes back to showing some soreness I’ll throw the boots back on him again.

The plan is to stop the bute today or tomorrow and see how he does. If it ever stops raining I’d like to get a short ride on him the middle of this week to see how he feels under saddle. If that goes well then I’ll start getting him conditioned to his new riding life.

Eeyore has been a pleasure to get to know so far. He is now out all day with the others and in at night. He is handling the big pasture fairly well though he has yet to figure out his feet when he goes trotting up or down the hill. I know the last place was a flat paddock and who knows what he lived in before but ours is hilly and undulating so he will have to figure it out eventually.

(I still can’t figure out captions on my phone so instead you get this. Eeyore tried to trot around and ends up nearly face planting a lot. I think some trail time is in our future)

He has also stopped being so ADD about all the space. At first he would not stop moving. He would begin to settle but then notice an interesting rock and go investigate. Then notice the arena and check that out. The Old Farts put an end to that real quick as they got over following him on his mini quests and began to ignore his movements. He decided staying with them was more important.

(Waiting for the farrier is boring. Making funny faces helps to pass the time)

His only flaw so far is when the others come in first for dinner. He doesn’t mind coming in when they remain out or staying in when they go out. In fact if he sees me enter the pasture he comes trotting over to say hello every time. But when he is the last one out he freaks and begins cantering around all idiotic like. I could take him in first but he needs to learn to chill about that. Also I give deference to Gem and Pete due to seniority. He can wait and come in for dinner last.

(But this is taking forever! I’m bored.)

He lost a hind shoe almost immediately after being out in the big pasture. I’m sure I’ll find it with the bush hog. Thankfully my farrier is awesome and had already agreed to squeeze me in Wednesday evening at the end of his day. Eeyore was at the end of his shoe life anyway and his foot balance was all sorts of wonky. Low heel left, high heel right and medial to laterally imbalanced as well.

(I heard a bunch of banging and went to see what on earth he was up to. He was playing with his water bucket so hard that water was splashing out between the wood boards. )

He wasn’t that well behaved for the farrier which is always embarrassing to me. Gem and Pete pick their feet up for him and nearly fall asleep during their trims. He can do both horses in about 25 minutes. When we had Nash he reared, struck out, bolted and tried to bite which was another reason he got sold. Eeyore wasn’t that bad but he did continually rip his legs away and that was very frustrating for all involved. I’m going to start doing stretches twice daily when he comes in for feed and see if I can’t get him behaving for the farrier better.

(He also crosses his front legs to scratch. I’ve never seen a horse do this before and didn’t quite catch it in the pic fully but it is so odd)

I did decide to pull his hinds and will see how he handles that. The farrier was complimentary on his feet noting that he has great frogs and nice soles all around. I know the vet wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of him being barefoot but she was a bit weird and I think I may try barefoot all around eventually. I didn’t want to change everything all at once on the guy so he got a nicely balanced trim and front shoes this time and we will see where we go from there.

(Wyatt didn’t like the banging of the anvil and Eeyore kept wuffling his neck to let him know it was ok)

I have one more thing to check of the list of his general care before hopping on up and starting the fun part!