Flipping 4 yr old! Nightmare loading issues and subsequent scan...

kerilli

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If anyone wonders what i spent the weekend doing, how does about 8 hours (5 of them on Friday evening/night) attempting to load and re-load daft homebred Fleetwater Opposition 4 yr old, who used to go in lorry easily, but suddenly decided, apropos of nothing at all, that the ramp on the way down is TERRIFYING and therefore not to be touched by equine foot....
added to the fact that, in launching herself off it, even with me hanging on to head/bridle to stop her, she landed just past the bottom corner, and sliced the back of her hindleg just above the fetlock... argh.
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she didn't have boots on because she had a headfit about them and was lashing out repeatedly... never worn hind exercise boots before. there's a lesson learnt, although i doubt boots would have made much difference anyway.
then it got to "i'll go in, but i won't turn because i can't face the ramp forwards, so i'll run backwards every time". this lasted hours too...
then, when in and turned round, which took a lot of patience and persuasion, she'd get herself in a right stew just thinking about negotiating the ramp, stand there stressing about it, pawing, jumping up and down, etc etc... thinking too much, basically.
we also had "why SHOULD i go in?" and the only reason good enough was "For Breakfast" or "For Dinner", since unfortunately "Because I say so" obviously holds no water with the 1/2 trakhener argumentative floozy bint hag witch. btw, my poor neighbours have learnt lots of lovely new words this weekend, i fear.
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she wrenched me around so much in her paddies that i feel as if i've had about 5 purlers!
She finally came around to my way of thinking yesterday, and is now happily loading like a lamb, with the horsebox positioned at end of arena so ramp is flattish. panic and battle might possibly recommence when she has to face a steep ramp again, but i'll delay that as long as possible...
Just had vet out to scan tendon, and THANK EVERYTHING THAT'S HOLY, the tendon is fine, the bruising is outside it, so she's got to have a few days off and then a week of walking, and then slowly back into work. frustrating, as we were finally getting going with jumping etc.
so, no shows and no progress for us for a bit, but at least not a cripple either - could be a LOT worse.
hot choc and homemade shortbread cookies if you got this far. and sympathy please for my utter paranoia about tendons!
 
Bless her, I think that was brewing the day she didn't want to leave mine (unheard of for most horses
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). Thank goodness she's ok, and if it's any consolation Tino went through a phase of that recently, trying to go in and out without touching the ramp, and even did it coming off the trailer on Saturday.
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Strange things, horses.
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Oh I fully sympathise! Thank goodness injury not too horrendous. My exceptionally wonderful 4 year old has decided that she just doesn't fancy going in the lorry anymore, even though she's been loading in it perfectly fine for the last year. She travels brilliantly and is excellent in every other way with the lorry, but just as stubborn as hell! Chestnut mare syndrome, perhaps...!
 
I shouldn't giggle but ...

"Because I say so" obviously holds no water with the 1/2 trakhener argumentative floozy bint hag witch.

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Glad it saw your point of view in the end.

She did miss a trick though, my YO trak x resorted to defiantly lying down at the bottom of the ramp once .....
 
well done for conquering the battle. I was watching some of hybrid horsemanships vids the other day and your post made me think what a huge battle it would have been if you had not won it first time around, you knwo that bit he says about horses having doors and having to break them down then they build a whole new door.

See that's the advantage of an ifor williams trailer everything seems to go in it! except you will be alot warmer than me on a 3 day!
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Glad the leg is ok do we get to see some pics of this baby horse?... if it's another fleetwood opp does it look anything like Boss's mares?...
 
yes Baydale, not wanting to leave yours was indeed the Beginning of The Battle... i should have abandoned her there and then!
Just a warning to everyone then... don't let them jump off the flipping ramp, because they just might think they have the scope of Milton from a standing start, and it won't quite happen..
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FigJam, i don't know about having the patience of a saint, after 5 hours i'm really glad there wasn't a humane killer in my tackroom, that's all i can say!
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actually, that must prove my patience, because there's a perfectly sharp axe in the barn, so i actually COULD have just cut her flipping head off...!
Ben and Jerrys, she hasn't thought of lying down yet, no. all reactions are Upwards, instead...
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Chloe, i watched that endospink one yesterday, brilliant huh, i thought "Yes, i knew there was a reason i go xc alone the first time, now i've got it perfectly explained for me!!"
he really is an absolute marvel.
btw, i got desperate enough on Saturday to download the Half-Tap and The Tap... *taps nose* haven't resorted to the latter yet, former worked on the mare...
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Yes, my FO looks very like Boss' ones, and not at all like the huge black sexy elegant type of FO offspring!! we have the smaller, browner, workmanliker version! pics to follow when we actually accomplish anything other than jumping a foot high at home in the worst style possible!
 
[ QUOTE ]

btw, i got desperate enough on Saturday to download the Half-Tap and The Tap... *taps nose* haven't resorted to the latter yet, former worked on the mare...
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How about I paypal you some £££ and you email me the files!!!
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joke
I can't justify buying it just coz I'm curious I have no particular issue to fix. Please PM me the rough gist of it (don't give away the secret I will get round to buying it one day) I am intrigued as everyone I have shown it to has said there must be some pressure points or pain involved, but I don't think so
 
i thought so too, i thought it was going to be an Equine equivalent of the Vulcan Death Pinch, but it isn't. I'm amazed tbh. haven't done Full Tap yet but it makes perfect sense (now!)
when you pay for it and receive the files, he asks you to "be a friend" and not spread the secret around for nothing, and i can totally see why.
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i wonder whether it is tapping (excuse pun) into some kind of prey-animal reaction. I also wonder whether certain 1/2 tap aspects run parallel with rollkur, in a very very odd way... in vet tests, heart rates dropped when it's applied...
just idle musings. amazing stuff though, i take my hat off to the guy. wish he was in the U.K.!
 
What a little madam!

If it makes you feel any better (
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) you were very lucky with the injury sustained. A young horse of mine, a few years ago, decided to reverse out of the lorry at a particularly impressive rate of knots and managed to slice an artery in his pastern
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. Unfortunately my vet didn't think bright red blood spurting 6 feet across the yard constituted an emergency
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Needless to say I now use a different vet. (Horse was eventually fine btw, after a LOT of stitches, box rest and TLC.....
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)
 
Yes it looks like cutting off breathing pipes or pinching blood supply sort of but then he doesn't seem from the vids to spply any pressure and some of them tap themselves so it can't be that. Argh even more intrigued now will have to wait till pay day to find out the secret!
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Welcome to the joyous world of owning an Opposition horse!
Dont worry, she'll be like this a few times and then one day she'll suddenly go 'oh, ok then' and you'll never have another problem
 
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Welcome to the joyous world of owning an Opposition horse!
Dont worry, she'll be like this a few times and then one day she'll suddenly go 'oh, ok then' and you'll never have another problem

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Haha, i did keep thinking "Boss said, never to back them into a corner they can't get out of..." and then thinking "but all i'm asking her to do is go in the ****ing horsebox!!!"
I jolly well hope we've had our "a few times" this weekend and that she'll be the epitome of sweetness and willingness to please from now on. At least she didn't ever rear at me, strike out, etc.. we never quite got to 'the big guns' thank heavens.
not sure i can cope with a horse that thinks even more about 'stuff' than i do though!
 
You have a LOT more patience than I do thats for sure. Don't think I could have been trusted not to beat the head off her. MY OH would have had to lead me away in a straight jacket.

Glad the tendon is OK
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and you were successful in the loading eventually.

Fiona
 
argh, don't you just hate horses and most especially youngsters at times
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its the way they get so wound up that they forget what it is that they are scared of that really gets me
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well done on your patience...i'd have ended up storming off in a sulk i fear and thank the lord its nothing serious with her leg
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Well you know how much I can sympathise with the loading issues.

Took me 2 hours once to load my mare just to go 1/2 hour up the road. After 2 hours I was totally deflated, exhausted, ready to give up, then this woman appears, halo shining, blindfolds my mare & on she goes, you may know this person
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I always have that blindfold to hand now, it works a treat
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...panic and battle might possibly recommence when she has to face a steep ramp again...

[/ QUOTE ] Happened to me a few times. I put some sand, or ground, or some horse's bed on the ramp; they felt more confident and went happily inside the trailer. It seems they are afraid of stepping on something different.
Try it! It worked for my horses.
Now I always take a bucket of horse bed to use in case of emergency.
 
I'm glad you got there in the end. Little bugger. I spent a whole afternoon loading one of Lady M's at the start of the season. First time he went straight in, then launched himself fomr the top of the ramp, sliced his hock, and refused to go anywhere near the lorry again.

Eventually we got him on, but only once it started raining! Any kid of pressure sent him backwards so I just stood there till he was that bored he took a step forward. Bloody animals!
 
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