In the meantime, allow me to introduce my next project. Sly is a young buckskin and white APHA mare who had 30 days of training on her a year or two ago. I am assured she did not make any effort to kill anyone during that process and that she will welcome further training. :-) She is a very sweet and people-friendly mare, and we have always gotten along well, so I'm looking forward to working with her. Her bloodlines look like she ought to be interested in cows, so I am hoping that is true because I'd like to do a lot more of that stuff myself. I'm dying to have my own cutting horse but that is probably several years down the road, so in the meantime I'd be very happy indeed if I had something I could go team sorting on, and Sly might be it!
27 comments:
Hope the prognosis is good on VLC. :) Team sorting sounds so fun. I've always wanted to try it but I don't know anyone. Have fun!
Sly looks like a well put up mare ,thogh it is ata didtance. Even without "cowy breeding" you will be surprised what just a good sensible horse is cabable of.
Sly IS cute. Hope the VLC gets himself back in line soon so we can get more updates on his "Big-Boy" training!
What a pretty mare!
Glad to see you posting here again, I was missing this blog! Hope everything is OK with the VLC!
Very cute pic! The hubby and I went to team penning last summer here at the Wild West Fest, LOL , two friends were riding in it. One team (not our friends) was so adept, it was amazing to watch. They were like, one, two, three, Done! Anyway, it was great fun. Hope VLC will be fine soon.
The verdict was good - it is the stifle so we fix it with conditioning. Backing up in hand, extended walk and lots of walk-trot transitions under saddle and ideally some hill work if we can haul to where there are hills, ha ha. He was a little out in the hip and he needs to do lots of carrot stretches to work on the flexibility of his neck. He won't mind that, I am guessing...
Congrats! That must be such a relief.
Sly is adorable ... Where'd you get her from?
When my daughter's pony had stifle issues after going back to work after a lay up, we did lots of walking over ground poles to get a good stretch along with lots of backing. She will still get a small hitch if we don't work her regularly. Good Luck!
>>Sly is adorable ... Where'd you get her from?<<
She is my roommate's horse...I am not sure where she came from but I'm sure her mom will pop in and comment. She is a very, very sweet mare and I am looking forward to riding her! Probably start next week. I have a bad cold I'd like to get rid of first...
Good to hear that VLC is cure-able. I bet the carrot stretches will be very popular.
WootWoot
for VLC!
Carrot 1, carrot 2, carrot 3, carrot 4
aaaand crunch, crunch crunch.
Glad to hear the verdict is favourable.
TO VLC!
Glad to hear VLC has a good chance for full recovery!
And re: cutting and sorting - for some reason I always picture you as a hardcore English rider. Just don't picture you in a Western saddle, let alone out playing with the cows! :)
Sorting and penning are fun for chasing, but once you get into the refined work of cutting, you may not want to go back.
Funny, I keep watching "Rode to the Winners Circle" on RFD. I find I like the Reserve CH, third & fourth place rides more than the ride the Winner has. They work the cow and seem to control it better.
Good luck to Cecil that whatever the issue is,it comes with a relatively easy, simple and cheap fix. Sometimes if they are out of whack, turning them out to buck and roll, will get them back 'in' on their own. Of course a good massage will loosen up the muscles which may have become tense from the pain and essentially be 'holding' everything out of place.
Sly looks cute enough and I like the name. Good luck with her too!
Cdncowgirl - Well, I grew up in polo, which is a riding style that's kind of wenglish...LOL. I mean, you're in an english saddle but you neck rein and do rollbacks and slide stops. So riding western comes pretty easy to me except for that part where you have to sit up like a ramrod for horsemanship...but for cow stuff you are allowed to lean forward, ha ha, so that I can do!
(I used to be able to do horsemanship but I have to be in lessons to stay tuned up that way!)
OMG that mare is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
My mare has a habit of throwing out her back and going lame until the chiro can give her an adjustment. Her problem is her insistence that the grass really is greener on the other side, and she contorts herself into a variety of amusing (but back breaking) positions to sample it.
Chiro comes out and she's good as new that afternoon!
Thank Goodness the VLC will be OK!
Also, best of luck with that cute Paint mare! Beware of SPHS (Stubborn Paint Horse Syndrome). I am currently (and have been for the last 5.5 years) dealing with this Syndrome...there is soooo much talent there, but, somedays, you have to dig through the "Uh, uh-no way-kiss my spotted butt" attitude before you get to it. :-)
I love my Paint, but I have heard that stubborness is a common Paint characteristic. Has anyone else heard/experienced the same?
Keep us posted!
www.thespottedequine.blogspot.com
The new mare is bred cowy on the bottom. However I rode several Docs Summer Wages babies back in the 80's where I was working and they can be a bit `snorty'. I believe he, himself, was known to buck quite a bit. Should be far enough back to not be a concern though....
NYC- My solid has that. There are days when, for no discernible reason, he just goes, "F*ck you guys! I'm not cooperating today!"
And then we enter the battle of wills...
okay, this is late info.
The chiropractor I use, and love is Sam Willis. I believe he lives in northern Oregon.
The Oldenburg I recently aquired had a stifle issue. He had an injection 12 to 18mths ago. He seems fine.
I put him out with Cami, (Camiseta Badger daughter). Introduced them, with him on a lead. They seemed fine. So I stood with him on the line while they grazed for 5 or so minutes. Then unclipped the line. He grazed for 5 or 10 minutes.
Then lifted is head like some little light when on, and ran full tilt toward Cami. Scared the crap out of her. So she ran. He ran faster after her. He didn't seem to have an mean intent...just wanted to be with her. (he has no herd mentality)
So, you live in the PNW, you know how slick grass and pasture are this time of year. She's flying, sitting, rolling back to avoid him. WB's do not rollback well...I'm here to tell you. He ate it so bad, hit the ground and skidded aways. I'm thinking great, he's going to break something.
I call Cami, she hides behind me, he comes trotting up and halts, just looking at us. His attitude was, "okay, now what are we gonna do?"
I clipped the line back on him, and put him in the pen with the 20 year old ex cutting mare. He's learning herd dynamics. lol He came up to her too quickly, she stopped and looked at him...he stopped. She started to walk, he followed, apparently too quickly for Div's taste, she slowed, he backed off. (I love old mares).
So, the point of this novella is: After his insane running, and falling, I figured we'd see if he was lame. He was fine. The next day he was fine. I used to think that stifle injuries were pretty much the kiss of death for a using horse. Not anymore. He's still in the pen with Divi. lol
Ohhh. My mare loves the carrot stretches! She got pretty annoyed at the chiro, though, when one of the adjustments required her to turn her head back towards her belly... and there was no carrot waiting there for her!
I have to say, I love the chiro we work with. She has a DVM, but has given up all traditional vet medicine for the holistic stuff. However -- she's very good about referring you to a vet if the horse needs traditional treatment. My mare's stiff in one hock; she works out of it but the cold weather is making it worse. Chiro said right away that while what she could do would help, it would be good to get a traditional vet involved, take some Xrays, talk about long-term maintenance.
The trainer/BO where I have Casey is the daughter of a veterinarian and she does chiro work herself. Better yet, the assistant trainer is also a farrier.
So, speaking of Casey, I have an update!
On Saturday, Casey was evaluated as to what he knows and what his training might be. He's clearly had some reining training. After not being ridden in about 2 years, it only took him about half an hour to start remembering his training. The trainer said he could do just about anything I'd like western, but isn't really suited to huntseat. So, I guess I need all new tack!
Also, his feet were done last week and the farrier said that with a couple more trims, all the damage done by Casey's previous owner's home trims would be undone. Yay!
What a gorgeous looking horse! Good luck with her.
And fingers crossed with regards to your vet/chiropractor - will be good to hear how things go.
That's great news about the VLC! Though I'm guessing he was hoping for an early retirement:) I'm also guessing that if the QH trainer is typical of most QH trainers they don't even own a pair of body clippers and the now Yaky VLC will simply get blanketed to the hilt under lights to get him shedding ASAP and he'll look just like all the other shiny slick show horses in no time! I'm having the same problem with my QH filly, who lives in a paddock and is doing her best woolly mammoth imitation. When I take her to the trainers for a lesson we are in the ring w/all these slick and shiny critters and then there's me on my poor furry Yak (who also of course gets way sweatier than any of the others)... Oh well, I'm also not paying the $900/month that the slick horses are!
>>I have a bad cold I'd like to get rid of first...<<
I killed mine by pouring
1 quart of boiling water over
2 cloves crushed garlic,
1/2 cup chopped onion,
1-2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar,
1-2 tbsp honey,
1 Throat Coat teabag (Traditional Medicinals)
and
1 or 2 teabags of any other flavor you think will make it taste better. lol
Breath in deeply the steam rising up and then drink all the tea as it cools.
I noticed a huge HUGE improvement in my sinuses within 24 hours and difference in the color of my urine as the garlic helps the body to absorb vitamin B.
Here's a disgusting, proven method of clearing sinuses. As someone with a very large schnoz, it saved me several times, and I've never had a problem since.
Snort warm, mildly salt water up your nose. Then, gently blow out the um, snot.
I SAID it was disgusting!!
But it works.
When I finally um, reduced my nose's size, my highly qualified plastic surgeon was amazed at how quickly it healed. I used the same method, and have a very young, happy nose that actually fits my face.
Merry Christmas to all!
With all that 'Doc Sugar Bars Leo Pine' in her bloodlines- she probably smells cows in her sleep.
Post a Comment