Horses(Anyone Own One?)

[Vitani]

I think he realized we weren't trying to hurt him on purpose....

Of course, the constant stream of pats and treats didn't hurt either


I much prefer geldings to mares, but I've known and ridden some truly beautiful girls in the past so I shouldn't be biased lol!

[Cowgirls Rule]

lol. I just went to go see my horse, who looks like a pineapple. He has hives, so I didn't ride him. The owners of the ranch, whom my family is good friends with, let me ride one of thier horses. He's a cute. He's very small. He's got a really fast trott though. He's still in semi-training.

[Vitani]

Oh, poor itchy baby!

How did he wind up with hives? Obviously he's allergic to something lol, but do you know what it is?

[Cowgirls Rule]

lol. I have no idea. You know how somtimes the hay makes them have hives? We think it might be that.

[Vitani]

Mmm...


Where has he been in the last day or so? Sometimes the reaction is delayed...Could be something he rolled on/rubbed against in the pasture....Something he ate...Something airborne...All manner of things. Its a process of elimination, might have to get some antihistimines from your vet, poor guy...

[Cowgirls Rule]

He's not in pasture. We turned him out the other day in the small arena up at the barn we board him at. He's never gotten hives from there before though. Nothing has gotten him hives other than somthing he ate or bites from flies.

[Vitani]

Poor guy...Hives are sore and itchy

If you think its the hay, try and swap it out for something else..Not completely, try 3/4 what he's eating, 1/4 different...If he still has hives, break it down to half/half...Still has hives, 1/4 old, 3/4 new...Then all new for a couple days...If he STILL gets hives, its not the hay and you'll have to move on to something else...


Isin't not knowing whats making your horse sick FUN? >.<

I know you can get creams to put on them here, not sure whats available in your area...


Its really really hard because something like hives can be a once in a lifetime occurance, or an every day reaction...If you can figure out what causes it that helps, if you can't you kind of have to guess...Theres lots of things you can add to his feed though to try and combat it...Depending on what he's already on...


Sometimes they just go away by themselves, sometimes they'll turn your horse into an itchy, scabby mess if they rub themselves raw, if he gets worse and you notice he has difficulty breathing/starts sweating when stalled call the vet immediately because in very rare cases they can get so bad its life threatening...

All in all, if you can't check on him frequently, get someone to look in on him, make sure he's doing ok


How bad are they right now, anyway?



I ramble, so sorry >.<

[Cowgirls Rule]

It's okay Vitani. It's gone down quite a bit. We think he ate some thistle. We're just going to leave it alone. Tomorrow it should be a lot better.

[Vitani]

Aww, I'm glad to hear they've gone down

Sometimes a reaction is a one time thing but if it happens again, theres definately an allergy there...


Poor guy, I just wanna hug him lol!

[MuteAppeal]

[Vitani]

Lol, bless his complicated little heart! The puzzle horses are...Well..Puzzling lmao >.< But you get a great sense of accomplishment once you figure them out and get them going well...

I find it really weird that he's closed off to you even at a walk or trot...Most bit grabbers only really do it once they get speed up and don't want to cool their heels...Well, in my experiance anyway, I know thats not always the case and looks like you got one of the harder to figure out ones unfortunately >.< At least he pays attention to a vocal cue, so thats something

Apart from the reluctance to stop whats he like? If he's listening and obeying transitions and things....


Gah, this is one of the times I so badly want to be there with my hands on trying to figure him out >.<

[Cowgirls Rule]

lol. He's less ichy. Hopefully today I can ride him like usuall.

[MuteAppeal]

If I had enough stamps I'd stick them to his rump and air-mail him to you

He develops hard sides as soon as you're on him. On the ground I have to be very aware where I touch him along the sides or he moves right off and tries to pick up a circle for lunging. Squeezing or kicking to get him going usually doesn't work until after I've made snap noises by whacking the rein ends against my leg. After he gets moving the first few times using the noise start it's hit or miss on whether he's going to try taking off once I move back to using my legs. And he'll tuck his head way down even at a walk if he's decided he just doesn't feel like doing anything that isn't originally his idea. When he cooperates he has some limited steering, just takes some waiting while he decides to give up first and stop clinging to the rail like he's attached at the hip.

His owner seems to think that a lot of his problems are because he has a reoccurring allergic reaction that sometimes clouds the cornea of his right eye, but the more I work with him the less I think this is the case and it is mostly clear right now meaning he can see well. He supposedly wouldn't lunge one direction because of the eye, but I've never had that problem, he just seems to prefer one direction over the other and was never pushed to go that way even if it wasn't his favorite. And he clings to the rail going both ways so it's not that he's wanting to stay close to it on the one side to make sure he can see it and compensate for the vision loss.

I discovered today that the pudge has not learned the meaning of lunge unless by lunge I mean get so close to me that stomped toes are likely. I just didn't have the time to ride everyone of them today so I thought it would be a great idea to do something relatively quick with her. After a couple circles I convinced her to go out on half the line, any further and she'd decide that she was far enough from the whip and veer off to start grazing. If I actually want to lunge her in the future she'll have to be taught to stop trying to come back to me to beg to go in. I was told she was unbelievably lazy, I should have believed it.

[Vitani]

Bwahaha...Oh, wee pudgie one brings back so many funny memories Wee Welshie ( hereafter formerly addressed as "Tibby" lol! ) was sort of the same....The longer the line, the better her chances of doing her own merry little dance at the end of it that resulted in her having fun, whoever was holding the other end, not so much...A couple times of someone walking the circle with her, first unaided, then with line holder having a whip and she cottoned on to the idea. We had an extremely long flexi lunge whip, nearly a metre and a half, not including actual tag, and so it was fairly easy once she knew she couldn't get away with it....

You had to always push though lol, working in the classic triangle...Never had to actually touch her with the whip, but having it level with her hocks and following close behind as a constant reminder made her manners greatly improve..........I'm a fan of a natural way of dealing with horses, not so much of "natural horsemanship"...Only because in instances like lunging, it can be extremely problematic when horses have been taught to "turn in" for release...Contradicts the whole "go away from me and work" idea >.< Actually its hard to explain my view on the matter lol, without boring everyone to death >.< Suffice to say, I do think its brilliant and the best way to work with them, but don't agree with all methods and principles....

Anyway...


Lol, if I could, I'd be boots on and running to come help Kermie. I actually kinda like problem horses...Glutton for punishment, I am
I think the problem with his eye is a crutch...Someone got the idea that poor baby can't see well and let him away with things...That sounds harsh but theres absolutely no reason he can't function almost 100% normally even if his vision isin't the best...Plenty of half blind horses out there doing extremely well...Seems you've got the same sort of attitude...

Just like people, horses favour left or right, and are usually noticably stiffer on the unfavoured side...I'd say that may be his lunging problem, not the eye...Especially if you talk while he's working. He can feel you in the line, and hear you....He knows he's not flying blind, pardon the pun. And again, sounds like bad habits because of people rather than something being seriously wrong...Nobody pushed him, so he figures why start doing what you want at this stage? At the end of the day nobody can make a 500kg animal do ANYTHING it doesn't willingly want to...So its a case of rewiring his system till he learns its NOT ok to play up, you ARE the boss and his life IS better if he listens and does as you ask him lol...

Though in saying that, if it is a genuine dislike of working in that direction ( I'm picking its working to the right? ) due to not being as supple, you'll have to work him up to it...Try 4 laps left, 2 laps right....Or 4 right, 2 left lol, whichever is the difficult side and see how that goes...Although if he's really, really difficult about it, you might have to start with just handwalking him and any turns you make being to the bad side till he gets some confidence up...

Haha, that sounds wrong but I can't fully explain what I mean, sorry >.<

[Cowgirls Rule]

I'm not riding my horse today. Hopefully he looks better. The other day we went up the trail together. It was fun. He only ate pampas grass, a little of it though.