LittleRooketRider
Well-Known Member
What a bl@@dy palava this last week has been...but I'll start with the fun bits
So previous to the drama the weather had been good, the ground was good and it was lighter for longer so our weekly lessons moved outside....commence Roo's introduction to XC!
It is lovely working them out in the field because you can really get them moving,play with the gears and all in all its jus lovely. I was grateful t find I still have control outside with just a rubber/nathe (?) snaffle. We only had 2 xc lessons, both spent popping little fences (about 2'3 and the odd 2'6) out of trot, but she really knuckled down and calmly took it all in her stride. Roo was much more confident by the second lesson so we did do some slightly bigger jumps out of canter up a line along a hillside. She hasn't stopped once. We did have a minor napping issue to start with but we have worked through this. Roo has a very big (and can be fast) stride but our workthrough the winter has payed off and she now has a very adjustable stride, whether I want her to pop through a double or open up and go. It really is great fun and lovely feeling her grow in confidence and make her own decisions.. i really think it is important for a rider to leave a horse alon in front of a fence and let/make them think.
Now the drama...
Tuesday morning t became apparant as Roo trotted off down the field taht she was lame, the vet was coming out wednesday morning to the farm so he could have look then..he diagnosed an abscess and told us to get the farrier out to remove the shoe and drain it. By wednesday evening she iscantering round the field on 3 legs :O .. we finally managed to get hold of the farrier (Hayley) and she came at 6.45 on thursday morning...
Hayley managed to 'undo' one side of the shoe, but then the pressure of removing the shoe bacame to painful for Roo and she refused to let Hayley have her leg and kept kicking back and forth....she kept this up for half an hour so Hayley said to call the vet out to sedate her...
The vet comes thursday afternoon...then we remember that Roo is needleshy...GREAT!! So wd had the bridle and twitch on, but Roo continues rearing and generally throwing herself about the stable before the vet finally manges to get the needle in and Roo takes a trip to la-la-land. Even the she resisted the vet removing the shoe, but eventually he got it off, drained the abscess and poulticed it. Let me tell you re-poulticing it other the next few days was not easy.
So by monday this week Roo was sound and Hayley came out again on thursday to replace the shoe.. the drama continues. We decided to sedate Roo in case she associated Hayley with pain and tried to kick again, but it had no effect whatsoever and she continued to pull her leg away and kick. We put the twitch on and she sort of zoned out and Hayley was able to tidy up the foot, sear and get the first 2 nails in....
Then Rooo became the master of passive-resistance and literally put her foot down...and what can only be desscribed as locked-it from the hip down, Hayley could not for love or money lift that leg. Roo would walk on and offer any other foot but not that one. After much effort from Hayley for about 20 minutes I had a go... after a bit of encouragement and tickling she (reluctantly) offered me her leg, I quickly praised her and passed it on to Hayley who continued her work, we had to repeat this again after a few minutes, but eventually she had enough nails in to keep it on and then hayley finished it off with her hoof still on the ground. All-in-all it took just over an hour to getone shoe on. **Sigh** its a good job I love her.
I plan to have a quiet ride later today and we have a lesson booked tomorrow....so this could be interesting.
LRR
So previous to the drama the weather had been good, the ground was good and it was lighter for longer so our weekly lessons moved outside....commence Roo's introduction to XC!
It is lovely working them out in the field because you can really get them moving,play with the gears and all in all its jus lovely. I was grateful t find I still have control outside with just a rubber/nathe (?) snaffle. We only had 2 xc lessons, both spent popping little fences (about 2'3 and the odd 2'6) out of trot, but she really knuckled down and calmly took it all in her stride. Roo was much more confident by the second lesson so we did do some slightly bigger jumps out of canter up a line along a hillside. She hasn't stopped once. We did have a minor napping issue to start with but we have worked through this. Roo has a very big (and can be fast) stride but our workthrough the winter has payed off and she now has a very adjustable stride, whether I want her to pop through a double or open up and go. It really is great fun and lovely feeling her grow in confidence and make her own decisions.. i really think it is important for a rider to leave a horse alon in front of a fence and let/make them think.
Now the drama...
Tuesday morning t became apparant as Roo trotted off down the field taht she was lame, the vet was coming out wednesday morning to the farm so he could have look then..he diagnosed an abscess and told us to get the farrier out to remove the shoe and drain it. By wednesday evening she iscantering round the field on 3 legs :O .. we finally managed to get hold of the farrier (Hayley) and she came at 6.45 on thursday morning...
Hayley managed to 'undo' one side of the shoe, but then the pressure of removing the shoe bacame to painful for Roo and she refused to let Hayley have her leg and kept kicking back and forth....she kept this up for half an hour so Hayley said to call the vet out to sedate her...
The vet comes thursday afternoon...then we remember that Roo is needleshy...GREAT!! So wd had the bridle and twitch on, but Roo continues rearing and generally throwing herself about the stable before the vet finally manges to get the needle in and Roo takes a trip to la-la-land. Even the she resisted the vet removing the shoe, but eventually he got it off, drained the abscess and poulticed it. Let me tell you re-poulticing it other the next few days was not easy.
So by monday this week Roo was sound and Hayley came out again on thursday to replace the shoe.. the drama continues. We decided to sedate Roo in case she associated Hayley with pain and tried to kick again, but it had no effect whatsoever and she continued to pull her leg away and kick. We put the twitch on and she sort of zoned out and Hayley was able to tidy up the foot, sear and get the first 2 nails in....
Then Rooo became the master of passive-resistance and literally put her foot down...and what can only be desscribed as locked-it from the hip down, Hayley could not for love or money lift that leg. Roo would walk on and offer any other foot but not that one. After much effort from Hayley for about 20 minutes I had a go... after a bit of encouragement and tickling she (reluctantly) offered me her leg, I quickly praised her and passed it on to Hayley who continued her work, we had to repeat this again after a few minutes, but eventually she had enough nails in to keep it on and then hayley finished it off with her hoof still on the ground. All-in-all it took just over an hour to getone shoe on. **Sigh** its a good job I love her.
I plan to have a quiet ride later today and we have a lesson booked tomorrow....so this could be interesting.
LRR
