And here is your dose of cuteness...the VLC's son Bullwinkle. That's the barn owner where he lives with him, not his owner, but you can sure see how fast he's growing! He was the LAST colt of the season at his breeder's so this is not an early one...I will bet he's going to be bigger than his dad. I am so thankful he found a great home - look at that lovely fence. He is also out with another colt now for which I am equally thankful. They really do need buddies their own age!So, I'm still working on the web site and still not riding but I can give updates on previous horses I've talked about here. The VLC is still a little off and doesn't mind it a bit. I have so far played nothing but phone tag with the vet that is also a chiro, but I really want her because, after all, why not call the vet who is also a chiro and kill two birds with one stone? Also, my friends think she's a goddess. So I'm still trying. He doesn't mind the layoff a bit. He is entertaining himself playing with his gelding friend and doing things like systematically pulling bags out of the trash and throwing them all over (I always forget he's THAT big and he can reach over fencing the other horses can't and cause mayhem). I haven't been able to blanket him as heavily as I probably should, because I'm always worried he'll get hot during the day when I'm not there, so he's only wearing a lightweight one and has haired up like a yak. Could be the next thing we'll be teaching when he is sound is bodyclipping!
For VLC fans who would like one just like him, but a gelding, I noticed Clyde is for sale. Clyde is a 17 hand gelding by the VLC's sire and he is reportedly the quiet, willing, trail safe gelding of your dreams. Registered AQHA, not sure if he's PHBA but he could be. The pictures show they are not exaggerating his size!
Lucy may be going out to a friend of mine who has a daughter who can ride anything - we're working on that. It has not worked out for me to do anything with her because, due to conflicting work schedules, no one is ever around to be a ground person for me and I'm just plain not getting on a horse who is squirrely to mount and dismount without a ground person. Friend's barn has ever-present trainer and lots of other people always around. We are still trying to ID Lucy and I have submitted a search to the Thoroughbred Protective Racing Bureau which is known to get results where the Jockey Club can't.
Bessie had her VLC filly, Libby, weaned off of her and neither one cared. Bessie then headed out for training with Monica Stephens who will be finishing her under saddle. Apparently the month I put in messing around with her with wild filly at side was completely adequate for Bessie to think she was broke, if not going to work too hard at it - her new kid has been riding her all around the home property, sometimes double with friends. Yes, with helmets. Bessie loves, loves, loves the attention. My friend who feeds in the morning at Monica's tells me that every morning, Bessie is flat out in the shavings in her box stall, clearly not believing her good fortune. She was born and raised on an Idaho ranch, came through the Yelm auction and then lived in a big broodmare herd. The whole stall/spoiled life is a completely new experience for her at age 10 and she is eating it up. They have also discovered she has the ability to pin an Uncle Jimmy's Hangin' Ball up against something no matter where they hang it, and eat the whole thing...Yes, Bessie is happy. I am not sure how happy she will be when training begins December 1st and she learns she is actually going to have to, like, canter with a rider and, you know, break a sweat but I guess we will find out!
By the way, I noticed Bessie's three year old daughter on DreamHorse...bad picture, but might be worth checking out if you're local and looking for a project! She sounds like she got Bessie's people-friendly disposition. This is the foal she was carrying at the auction, from the stallion in Idaho.
The Drama pony returned to her owners and is jumping with their adorable 5'0, 100 lb. friend Heather in the saddle. I will get pictures as soon as I can. She is so damn cute. They almost took her to a schooling show last week but decided she was not quite ready...but that is coming soon. I like the role I played here - it's the same as I did with Connor, another rescue pony who turned out great. Connor was broke out by Juliane of Cowgirl Spirit. I had him for a while and did more finishing and put a canter on him and leads. Then he got sold to an event trainer who finished him the rest of the way and now he lives in luxury at an "A" barn.
I realized we have a little theme here going on the updates and it is a good one to bring up...you know, you don't have to be the one who gets a horse get trained from start to finish to be successful. It's perfectly fine to do what you are able and then pass them along to someone else for a next step. I see people who are driving themselves crazy because they don't have the ability to take the next step, and why? Do what you can. If that means doing all of the groundwork, great. If that means putting the first 30-60 days on, great. If your niche is more finishing and fine tuning, that's great too. Horses need people who can do all of these things, and they're not going to be traumatized if they have a couple different trainers along the way. And with rescues, we all need to work together to ensure they get as trained as possible and on track to great homes in the future.
My Big Gold Yearling is ecstatic - I found new boarding for him where he is out with a weanling Thoroughbred colt. They run. And run. And run some more. I had no one his own age to turn him out with and he would just stand in a corner of the paddock and sulk. This is so much healthier for him. He is fat and filled out now and looks so good - the yearling ribby stage had me at my wit's end despite the vet telling me he has fine - he just looked so lousy, you know? Fortunately it really was a growth stage and he looks good now. I may actually get a picture of him I'm not horrified by sometime next year. :-) The Crabby Old Bat moved to the same place, as it could offer the mud-free pasture she needs to stay as sound as possible on her creaky old legs, and my other two old mares are going this weekend. Clover of course stays home as she needs her hot mush twice daily, but at 35 she also is fine being turned out in a small paddock, while the rest of them aren't. Crabby Old Bat is very happy. She walked through the hot tape the second day and moved in with the barn owner's four geldings. I thought that was going to be a disaster but she merely established herself as the Queen of the Pasture and now has a 17 hand gorgeous Seattle Slew bred gelding who is in love with her. Go figure. Love is blind.
Casper returned to Cowgirl Spirit and they have taken her out trail riding and she did fabulously. Acted like it was all old hat to her. Didn't spook at a thing! That's pretty much what I expected since nothing ever bothered her here. She did figure out that she could revert to her stubborn/sticky behavior with some riders so Juliane is working on training that out of her. She is, of course, still available for adoption and does come with her APHA papers so she is eligible for all of APHA's riding and showing programs.
I may have a new project but it'll just be an old mare fattening-up project. I'll fill you all in if I get her! Hopefully we can make it a happy Thanksgiving for her and have her in a safe place eating mush before the weekend is over. She is a thirty year old Thoroughbred mare and the cutest thing ever...
17 comments:
(Sorry. Previous comment screwed up.)
Hi Fugly,
I know this is the wrong place to be posting this but it was posted on a horse community I am a part of and it's pretty urgent by the looks of it. I don't want this girl to get torn down by the FHOTD readers or she'll just vanish. However, something really needs to be done here and fast particularly since the mare is pregnant, and well, her body condition. Someone needs to get her A.S.A.P
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/grd/926632696.html
If, at your discretion you could do something, link someone, whatever. This mare really needs to be saved about now.
Good luck with your new project, Fugs, and Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Happy T-giving! You might consider a trace clip instead of a body clip, then you dont' have to blanket, at least not so much. If you're not showing him yet, why clip?
I clipped my Icey this fall, as I'm riding him much more now. I also learned to vacuum him first--keeps the blades from getting dull so fast. I tried a Double K vac, which works fine on a regular horse coat, but NOT an Icelandic winter coat, no way! So I bought a smaller shop vac--works great, not too loud, has the right attachments, it's on wheels so it's easy to roll around. Got that at Home Despot for just under $100 I think--cheaper than the horse vacs too. And it's not one of those R2D2-sized ones either. Those would barely fit in my barn.
To clarify, I TRACE-clipped the Icey b/c he sweats so much under his neck and belly that it's hard to get him dry after a more strenuous ride. But w/ the trace clip, he doesn't need a blanket at all.
Ha ha, I have a feeling when I drop my yak off at the trainer's, she is going to run for the clippers...there is nothing yak-like or partially clipped in THAT barn. They are all gorgeous and slick! But you know, someone is there all day to adjust ... heavy blanket off, lighter blanket on, etc. for weather.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, I'm really looking forward to hearing more about your new project. ....You do inspire us to be better and to get involved. Thanks, J
You are so right about the training process and doing what you are good at.I raise all my foals and do all the manners,ground work,trailer loading,barn basics then when they are 3-3 1/2 off they go for 90 days of under saddle,WHY because I can't afford to get injured or lose my job.Once I see they are reasonably safe and sane at trainers and I've been on them a few times at trainers they come back home and then I finish them.
This has worked out really well as they get used to going to new places,get their feet wet at schooling shows and they really understand their job when they come back home.It is well worth the $$$ spent.
Here is another thing that has worked out well for me and may be useful to those of you who need to put riding time on a rescue/project.
Depending on what discipline you ride you may need to tweak it.I do H/J.There are 3 fabulous Equine College teams fairly close to me.I send my youngsters to them for their fall/spring semesters.as I do not have an indoor and I want my youngsters to get regular work.
I get them back at the end of April and can then continue with showing over the summer.I also get the benefit of good local young adult riders who can't afford to show.It benefits both of us and I don't have to haul and show by myself.
Had VLC Already bred mares??? That baby is super cute!!!
Bolting, bucking, rearing and leaping under saddle.
Holy crap, I would have fallen off at the bolt, ha ha ha. Thought you might get a kick outta this....she loses her stirrups at some point, too.
So that link to Bessie's trainer website made me think--I know you feature a lot of bad websites that make the people look terrible, but what about the opposite? Good websites that make the trainers look better then they are? I'm curious because that's a pretty nice website, but I once went along with a friend to see a horse that particular trainer was marketing (couple years ago, at least) and I would not pay her to work with my horse. Especially since there are really quite a few very good trainers within driving distance of Seattle.
Hmmm... Maybe I should send you Casey as a project...
Now that he's up to weight, I'm going to have the trainer at our new barn evaluate him before the month is over and see what he knows. Our BO/trainer's father was a vet and a chiro and she learned chiro from him. So, I get all Casey's adjustments done for free! And believe me, he needed them!
Bullwinkle is just so cute I could gobble him up! Can't wait to see how big he gets in a couple years.
Kathryn, well, I didn't know her a couple of years ago but I do know that I have liked the horses I have ridden that she has trained. They are calm, respectful and like being ridden so that tells me there is nothing taking place behind closed barn doors that would upset me. I think the horses always tell the story, if you pay attention.
Vet/chiro scheduled for Tuesday. FINALLY! I am very happy about this. Can't wait to tell you all what the verdict is.
If the verdict is, he has somehow totalled himself and will have to be gelded and be a big pet, I will be taking 2 weeks off from blogging to cry...that would just be my luck and I know it happens - you finally get the sort of horse that you have dreamed about all of your life and then BAM they do something stupid and are finished.
FHOTD, I hope that the VLC turns out to have a simple problem that the chiro can fix easily.
Oh man, the horse we saw at the time was pretty much the opposite of calm, respectful, and happy to work: it was jumpy, jittery, and very very green (much greener than represented, I hate that when I go to look at a horse, it wastes everyone's time if horse is not as represented). Perhaps, however, that was just a one-off. I agree that the best way to judge a trainer is via the horses ... and this one was not a happy camper.
Regardless, I've thought that about other websites before, too--that the website is nice, but I know (from personal experience) that it, ahem, over-represents the trainer's work product. To me, it's almost more troublesome, because at least a non-horsey person can tell from a bad website (bad grammer, spelling, etc.) that there may be something wrong with that establishment.
Good luck with the VLC's appointment! I had a vet/chiro in Snoho County that worked on my mare up there, I wonder if it's the same one. If it is, pricy but excellent care. I don't believe in non-vet chiros, too easy to harm more than help.
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