The (almost) 6 month update

GLW

GLW

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Hello all,

On the 16th of this month I will have had my girl for 6 months. It has flown by but also I can't imagine life before her!

Many of you may have read my "new horse" thread http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=569631
and/or my two week update http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=572890

So you know there will be a picture overload!

I think she has come through the winter fairly well. This is her the day we met (11th October)

photo1_zps2f655c41.jpg

and at the weekend (30th March)
MoonlightRose503_zps5c8696f7.jpg

No idea why she is stood on a slant like Michael Jackson, but there we are.

She has seen the dentist twice as her teeth were in a real mess and had clearly been neglected. This has reduced the "snatching" she did a lot when I first started riding her. She has also had the osteopath out due to changing legs behind in canter when she felt tense (every stride - not comfortable for either of us). She really needs to build some muscle, particularly in her hindquarters (and neck) so now the lighter evenings are here we will be working a lot harder (she's already on micronised linseed thanks to this forum!)

She can still be an opinionated, stroppy mare but we are definitely starting to come together a bit better and I am trying my best to improve my riding and taking lots of lessons so that we can hopefully work towards dressage, she definitely has the paces for it.

Tantrum:
MoonlightRose651_zps1ae5034a.jpg


Nicely:
MoonlightRose578_zpsebabe40f.jpg

MoonlightRose523_zps9c005970.jpg

(I know - stop leaning forward, thumbs on top and close your fingers around the reins!)

And finally for those who were kind enough to compliment my father's photography before, you will recall this photograph:
MoonlightRose007.jpg

It now has a partner:
MoonlightRose6521_zps240bde72.jpg


If you like, please visit my dad's blog: http://colinwhiteley.blogspot.co.uk/
He has made two posts with photos of Rose:
http://colinwhiteley.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/moonlight-rose.html
http://colinwhiteley.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/riding-moonlight-rose.html
My dad is not at all horsey and doesn't usually do much equine photography but I think he captures her beautifully and his black and white photographs are exquisite. His other photography is also rather good if you're in to that sort of thing.

Apologies for length, thanks for reading!
 
Nice to hear you are getting on nicely. :) The last two pics are lovely. I wish I could take pics like that. The only thing I seem to be able to take pics of is my thumb :o I still do this despite haveing a digital camera. (I realy am that useless ;) :p :o :o ) I look forward to your next report,maybe of your first dressage show together :D
 
erm - she looks a lot thinner to me, especially her neck. I would be concentrating on getting her weight up tbh, before you start serious work. The weight loss could well be down to her teeth issues, but needs addressing. But then, I have no idea what's happened between the two photo sessions, so I may be talking rubbish.

Sorry, just mho.
 
LauraWheeler - thanks, and please do check out my dad's site if you are interested in photography

Shysmum - no need to apologise! She has lost a bit of weight, but I'm keeping an eye on it. It is difficult when you see them everyday to judge though, so I will take your comments on board and see if there is more that I could do. I agree that her neck looks weedy but I think that is a lack of muscle more than anything so I plan to up her feed and use the equi-ami to try to encourage her to work properly and build that up.
 
To be fair I think a lot of horses would look a lot different between then and now - winter happened! My mare is certainly thinner at the moment despite being stuffed full of food.

Your mare will put on weight again when spring finally springs and schooling will build her up where she needs it. She looks well with a nice glossy coat. I hope you have a lot of fun on her.
 
Oh. She doesn't look like the same horse at all. In your ridden pictures she looks most uncomfortable. Hopefully your physio is a good one and can help her out. i'd like to echo what others have said and get her built up before you start stressing her with schooling which she obviously is not enjoying.
 
Hoggedmane - yes I am looking forward to the grass if only to reduce my enormous hay bill!

Singingdawg - thanks for your comments, I intend to build her up in the coming months. The osteo is great and I call him whenever she feels stiff or uncomfortable, his opinion is that what she needs most is to build muscle. I'm not sure that it is possible to discern much from a handful of photographs of a short schooling session (although the photograph taken in the middle of her tossing her head is, admittedly, not pretty) on the whole she is much more settled and relaxed than she was a few months ago.
 
I am afraid I have to agree with Hogged Mane; in none of the ridden photos do I see a happy horse. Unfortunately on a forum you question whether the OP can see this if they do not post photos when the horse looks happy in their work too. It is such a small and subjective snapshot.
 
melbiswas - thanks for your reply, my dad took the photos and although he probably took several dozen he only sent me a handful that he had chosen to work with (based solely on photographic considerations rather than horse knowledge, of which he has none) I'm sure that if I looked through them all I could find some that I preferred. She can be quite tense, this is improving but we still have a way to go.
 
I know what you mean; my daughter tried to get some good photos of our rather tense Tbs flat work. I am hopeless with cameras and her boyfriend seemed to miss all the lovely moments!

It sounds as if she has a loving new home; wishing you lots of fun with her. X
 
Sounds like u have it all in hand OP! Her glossy coat shows ur doing something right! Good luck with her, looking forward to ur next update!
 
Ex-racers are notoriously hard to keep condition over winter, and yes, while there has been a loss in condition (mainly muscle), she's not looking too bad imo, and you sound like you've acknowledged that and have a good plan for her. I like the 7th picture down on your dad's 2nd blog (which I found were very interesting reading btw).
 
I also like very much the 7th pic on your dad's blog, she is collecting nicely, post it and you will get very different comments.
She looks like a happy mare that needs a bit more schooling to me. She is certainly not one of those poor horses forced into an outline by overly strong hands and a clamping seat.
I have the same problem with my husband taking pictures. I will have a look at his shots and ask: "but why didn't you photograph when she was relaxed and going softly on the bit?", his reply: "she looked more impressive when she had her head in the air and was playing up", lol.
 
Palindrome you are right about the photos me and my dad look for different things. I think she is generally fairly happy but she can still be tense at times.
Fairynuff I hadn't thought my martingale was too short but I will have another look. I'm hoping to do away with it as soon as possible anyway, particularly as we look towards dressage.
 
Thanks googol I'm very proud of her coat, which will look even better when she finishes moulting!
Flaxen I'm so glad you enjoyed my day's blog I think he's great
 
Fairynuff said:
why is your martingale so short? Maybe if you lengthen it she would look a bit happier :)
Click to expand...

^^This, does she need the martingale? Shes more likely to react badly having a tantrum as the martingale basically socks her in the teeth ( which you stated were in an appalling state) so not nice really.

I agree she has lost weight and muscle tone. Ive found adlib hay has helped my girl.
 
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