The Ozzy Diaries

Nancykitt said:
Hmmm - I might start off with Black Sabbath and see how he responds!
Click to expand...
Mine are quite partial to a bit of Seth Lakeman. They're clearly folk fans!

When Henry slowed down in the last couple of years, I treated him like he had a headache if he had an 'off day' and just took it easy (walking hack). In hindsight, he probably had a headache constantly and those off days were when it was unbearable (he was found to have a brain tumour at PM). It's certainly shaped how I react to my horses having off days, now. I don't try to gee them up anymore.
 
We'd planned a birthday trip to Inverness this Friday, nice lunch at the garden centre and, very importantly, a shopping visit to Tesco Inverness (which is always a highlight)! Then, on the way back, calling in at the animal feed place to stock up on grass pellets and chaff.

The vet has just rung and they can come over this Friday! So Ozzy will have his legs clipped at last. All three are having their teeth done, but it will be such a relief to get a good look at Ozzy's legs under all that feather so that we can start topical treatment for the CPL.

So my birthday celebrations are on hold for now...but a vet visit is as good a present as any, I suppose!
 
Nancykitt said:
We'd planned a birthday trip to Inverness this Friday, nice lunch at the garden centre and, very importantly, a shopping visit to Tesco Inverness (which is always a highlight)! Then, on the way back, calling in at the animal feed place to stock up on grass pellets and chaff.

The vet has just rung and they can come over this Friday! So Ozzy will have his legs clipped at last. All three are having their teeth done, but it will be such a relief to get a good look at Ozzy's legs under all that feather so that we can start topical treatment for the CPL.

So my birthday celebrations are on hold for now...but a vet visit is as good a present as any, I suppose!
Click to expand...
Yay at last this will be such a relief for you. You can still have your birthday celebration later.
 
Nancykitt said:
We'd planned a birthday trip to Inverness this Friday, nice lunch at the garden centre and, very importantly, a shopping visit to Tesco Inverness (which is always a highlight)! Then, on the way back, calling in at the animal feed place to stock up on grass pellets and chaff.

The vet has just rung and they can come over this Friday! So Ozzy will have his legs clipped at last. All three are having their teeth done, but it will be such a relief to get a good look at Ozzy's legs under all that feather so that we can start topical treatment for the CPL.

So my birthday celebrations are on hold for now...but a vet visit is as good a present as any, I suppose!
Click to expand...
Great news! I can imagine it can get quite stressful having to wait for the vet like that.

Fingers crossed it will be a helpful visit for Ozzy.
 
@Nancykitt I hope your vet has a couple of hours put aside for you. If I was in your position I'd make a list of things you want to discuss with them. A few questions/answers might clear a few things of your list, but I'd hate to miss anything if getting an appointment is so difficult. I hope you get some support and/or answers from the visit as well as Ozzy getting his legs treated. X
 
August 13

Ozzy has a lovely stroll down to the sea front!

Ozzy is a bit strange at times. Today he decided he didn't want to be caught. He didn't run away from the headcollar, he just turned his head and walked a few steps. When he saw that AJ had been taken out of the field and was being groomed, he quickly decided that he wanted to come out too!
As usual, he stood calmly to be groomed and had a little sleep while being tacked up. Stood like a rock at the mounting block.
And then changed his mind and decided he didn't want to go out after all! He's never 'planted' before so we don't know why. But OH got off and led him a little way down the lane before getting on him again and he was fine.
Ozzy and AJ enjoyed their stroll down to the sea front in the sunshine. Both behaved superbly.

Since the haybell arrived, Ozzy's behaviour has changed for the better. No biting (horses or humans), not even a threat of a bite. No agitation at feed times. It's all incredibly calm.

Just goes to show how much things can change in just a few days!
 
I dunno, he just sounds like a cob 🤣

Plus, many horses will "test" or ask, "Do I have to, is this really what you want?" especially in the early days of a relationship. They're smart and will look to get out of things or exhaust minimal energy toward what they're being asked unless convinced otherwise. It's not soo strange.

Glad to hear that the haybell is working out so well. Food aggression isn't necessarily complex. Once they can trust/know that there is food available and that there will always be food and no competition for that resource, they do tend to relax. It's more deep seated in some than others though.
 
CanteringCarrot said:
I dunno, he just sounds like a cob 🤣

Plus, many horses will "test" or ask, "Do I have to, is this really what you want?" especially in the early days of a relationship. They're smart and will look to get out of things or exhaust minimal energy toward what they're being asked unless convinced otherwise. It's not soo strange.
Click to expand...
I know what you mean! We’ve had a few cobs now and there’s always been an element of ‘negotiation’ at times! With Ozzy, he does change some of his mannerisms in a day to day basis, but this is probably due to him still going through the settling down process.
I do think he’s really clever - he picks up the groundwork exercises very quickly.
Today they have all discovered that while they’ve been giving all their attention to the haybell, the grass at the end of the field has grown a microscopic amount. They are currently alternating sunbathing and grazing - what a life!
 
Nancykitt said:
Hmmm - I might start off with Black Sabbath and see how he responds!
Click to expand...
My OH was playing an acoustic guitar cover of a Bob Marley reggae song in the horses paddock at the side, well away from the horses, and the gelding pranced over to him very intrigued by the sound, stood listening to him singing and playing with nose over his shoulder. When the faster jovial chorus started, the head went up and he swivelled cantering around. He loved it, whereas the mare was completely non reactive.
My cat years ago bit into my flute, then she knocked it over denting it - I guess she didn’t appreciate my playing! It cost a pretty penny to have the teeth dents hammered out of the silver head joint, but even then it was impossible to get them out completely without thinning the metal so they are still faintly there, reminding me of the ginger darling 😁
 
Nancykitt said:
This is obviously very sad - but I can imagine that some horses are affected by changes in barometric pressure.

We tend to take things one day at a time with Ozzy - and today is a good day for him.

Aren't they just? AJ doesn't seem to bear any grudges at all. I don't think I would so easily forgive someone who did that to me!
Click to expand...
Especially as they have huge sinuses. If they didn’t they’d never be able to lift the head off the ground.
 
Nancykitt said:
August 13

Ozzy has a lovely stroll down to the sea front!

Ozzy is a bit strange at times. Today he decided he didn't want to be caught. He didn't run away from the headcollar, he just turned his head and walked a few steps. When he saw that AJ had been taken out of the field and was being groomed, he quickly decided that he wanted to come out too!
As usual, he stood calmly to be groomed and had a little sleep while being tacked up. Stood like a rock at the mounting block.
And then changed his mind and decided he didn't want to go out after all! He's never 'planted' before so we don't know why. But OH got off and led him a little way down the lane before getting on him again and he was fine.
Ozzy and AJ enjoyed their stroll down to the sea front in the sunshine. Both behaved superbly.

Since the haybell arrived, Ozzy's behaviour has changed for the better. No biting (horses or humans), not even a threat of a bite. No agitation at feed times. It's all incredibly calm.

Just goes to show how much things can change in just a few days!
Click to expand...
Hungry cobs are not the best cobs!

Looking forwards to seeing his legs clipped
 
August 14

Ozzy throws another (slight) curveball!

Ozzy has grown very attached to Snoopy so we thought it would be nice to take them for a stroll together. We also thought he might be less reluctant to 'plant' if Snoopy was leading the way.

Sure enough, he moved off very nicely, I was leading on Snoopy and everything was fine.
Halfway down the lane he planted and totally refused to move. Threw a half-hearted mini-buck, nothing major but clearly he didn't want to go.
OH got off and led him a little, got on and we tried again. At this point yesterday Ozzy stopped arguing and went fine.
Today he was still not wanting to go forward. So I rode back and got behind Ozzy. Magically, he started to move forward! He seems he is happier as a leader.
On the way back, OH suggested that I put Snoopy in front again and all was well - Ozzy was happy to follow him home.

We know that Ozzy was hacked alone for much, if not most of his ridden life. Perhaps this is all very new to him. Perhaps he's pushing the boundaries a little.
I thought back to the auction advert - 'Has been out of work over winter, needs a confident rider to bring him back into work.'
There will be no riding tomorrow as the vet is visiting, but next time we ride I'll take AJ out with him and see if Ozzy is happier leading initially.

Life is never dull with Ozzy! And after 22 years of cob ownership, there is SO much to learn...

1755178683834.png
 
August 15

Ozzy meets the vet (and is NOT impressed!)

We hadn't met this particular vet before and she was absolutely brilliant.
She said she'd do Ozzy's teeth first and then we could clip his legs.
At this point, we found out that Ozzy was needle shy. He was EXTREMELY unhappy about being injected!
But he was a very good boy for his dental and she said his teeth were in very good shape.

The problems started when we got the clippers out. It was honestly like he hadn't had any sedative whatsoever. He kicked, thrashed, stamped and was generally dangerous.
Vet decided to top up the sedative with a small dose. He was difficult to inject because he suddenly realised it was a needle and he wasn't happy.
She managed to get it in the vein, but it didn't make any difference.

She said that she would try one last dose but warned that there was a chance he would be wobbly on his feet - however, she said that it was important for us to get a good look at the legs.
After the third dose he was clearly fighting, but OH managed to clip enough feather off for us to get a good look.
He was STILL trying to kick out (and having some success, unfortunately) - vet said it was a pretty extreme reaction! We were racing against the clock.
Vet was holding his head up and had his eyes covered with a towel - he was much worse if he could see what was going on.

The end result is probably the worst clipping job we've ever done, but the good news is that the CPL is really quite mild. A few small sores, the worst being on the left hind and right front (the right front is the one he won't let us pick out). But not much in the way of folds and no 'filling' She says that we should be able to manage the CPL fine with our current regime. She's also agreed to give us cydectin for the mites - she agreed that it's the very best stuff and lasts a good while.

She suggested that for future visits we give him an oral sedative before she comes with the IV sedative, just to make him less reactive to the needle!

Anyway, he is fine now and back with his friends (who were absolutely saintly for their dentals!)

Here are the photos. You can just see the sores, especially the one on the front leg which is quite high up. (the dark bit on his front left is just his skin colour).

I'm hoping that he'll feel better now he's got the feathers off and we can hopefully stop the itching and irritation.

Whether or not he'll forgive us for today is another matter...!

1755257823793.png1755257875689.png
 
Last edited:
Nancykitt said:
At this point, we found out that Ozzy was needle shy. He was EXTREMELY unhappy about being injected!
Click to expand...

That doesn't surprise me but what does surprise me is how Devine Cobs managed to Strangles test him and he was a saint when it was done seriously that man could lie for England. But did he really get him done or was the paper work with the results faked who knows. None of the above behaviour is a shock as he was exactly the same with the vet that came to see him here. He wouldn't tolerate the stethascope, the implement they use to check out their eyes, he didn't like being touched by the vet at all. And of course Devine blamed the vet for not being able to handle the horse! Anyway you managed to get his legs clipped and his teeth looked at so that was really important. I am glad the CPL doesn't look too bad. I am sure Ozzy will sulk for a bit but it's in his best interests. And good job my the vet too Ozzy must have seemed like quite a challenge.
 
Jasmine2023 said:
That doesn't surprise me but what does surprise me is how Devine Cobs managed to Strangles test him and he was a saint when it was done seriously that man could lie for England. But did he really get him done or was the paper work with the results faked who knows. None of the above behaviour is a shock as he was exactly the same with the vet that came to see him here. He wouldn't tolerate the stethascope, the implement they use to check out their eyes, he didn't like being touched by the vet at all. And of course Devine blamed the vet for not being able to handle the horse! Anyway you managed to get his legs clipped and his teeth looked at so that was really important. I am glad the CPL doesn't look too bad. I am sure Ozzy will sulk for a bit but it's in his best interests. And good job my the vet too Ozzy must have seemed like quite a challenge.
Click to expand...

I didn't realise that the dealer claimed Ozzy had been tested for strangles! Surely he wasn't with them long enough? And I'm assuming he meant a blood test rather than a swab?
Did he really have paperwork to say that a strangles test had been done? It doesn't seem to add up at all!

At some stage, something has happened that has made Ozzy scared of the needle...as soon as the vet pressed on his neck, he kicked off.

The vet said he appears to have a clipper phobia - and then we showed her that he has no problem with a clipper anywhere on his body other than the legs.

Priority is to get rid of the mites and sort out the sores. Then we'll have to tackle the whole leg/clipper phobia thing somehow...
 
Nancykitt said:
I didn't realise that the dealer claimed Ozzy had been tested for strangles! Surely he wasn't with them long enough? And I'm assuming he meant a blood test rather than a swab?
Did he really have paperwork to say that a strangles test had been done? It doesn't seem to add up at all!

At some stage, something has happened that has made Ozzy scared of the needle...as soon as the vet pressed on his neck, he kicked off.

The vet said he appears to have a clipper phobia - and then we showed her that he has no problem with a clipper anywhere on his body other than the legs.

Priority is to get rid of the mites and sort out the sores. Then we'll have to tackle the whole leg/clipper phobia thing somehow...
Click to expand...

The yard where Ozzy was going do not take horses without a Strangles test so I had to have it done. There was paper work to say he was negative but I am dubious it was even done. I cant imagine thrm paying out for sedation and he obviously wpuld have flipped if thry tried to take bloods. Paperwork can be faked. Seriously the lies that came out of that mans mouth were many.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top