P2 has been put on box rest on BG’s shelter for his mud fever. It creates a bit of a problem, in that we can not catch BG in the field, but it is good in another way as it forces us to do more with her in the field. She was hungry for her tea last night and came and stood right next to me when I put her food bowl down, but she wasn’t having her head collar on. Every time she would come back to me, even resting her nose in my back, but she was not having the head collar on. It was a pity because it was quite a still night, so probably the best night to catch her if I was going to be able too.
In the field she has too much room to escape if she needs to. So I got my husband to fence off a pen where we can feed BG, creating a little space which can become her safe spot and we will have a bit more control over her. She wasn’t too keen on it though, as she is wary of electric fencing. It was quite sweet though as she was looking to me for confidence all the time when thinking about entering it.
I put her food bowl in the entrance to the fenced off bit and let her take a mouthful and then gradually moved it back as she took a mouthful at a time. Once she was all the way in I just let her be. She ate her tea, spun on her haunches and charged out the gap in the fencing.
This morning she went in quite confidently to eat and I put the fence up behind her to trap her in, although I stayed in front of it. If she got scared being trapped I could see her charging through the tape, but not charging through me. She was a bit nervous when she finished eating and didn’t know where to turn but she left the pen reasonably sensibly when I opened it up. She looked for a brief moment like she might charge off, but didn’t.
Now she has gone a while without having her head collar on I will have to decide when to face that battle. I don’t want to leave it too long, but I don’t want to do it too soon and upset the little bit of confidence she has grown at entering that area.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Monday 27 September 2010
Knocked over
The weather has certainly taken a turn for winter. The field is turning into mud, it’s getting colder, P1 and P2 are in rugs and BG has been soaked a couple of nights. I am pleased to say that she has not been shivering again, so the beginning’s of her winter coat is doing its job. BG has also been keen to see us, although still not 100% sure of having her head collar on. The other day she had a thorn stuck slightly in her cheek, so that might have been the reason that night. At the moment I only have to grab her food bowl and leave the shelter with it for a second and she clicks that she won’t eat until she has her head collar on, and second time is perfect.
I had a good check over the top of her neck behind her ears to see if there was anything there bothering her that could account for her throwing her head back recently. Her coat is beautifully soft there, but I didn’t find anything. Last night I had another feel and there was something in her coat, but it felt like it could just be mud. It was too dark to look properly and doesn’t seem to bother her the rest of the time, so I have left it to check when I am up there in the light.
Yesterday P2 had to be shut in the shelter as his owner believes he has mud fever and she wanted him out of the mud. He was back out by the time we went to give BG her tea. What I didn’t realise was the remains of his hay net was still up, so BG spotted that as she walked in. Why have your head collar on for your tea when you can eat hay and not have it on? I took the hay net down, so only the scraps on the floor remained. I couldn’t put the head collar on in the hay corner as it made her nervous, but if I went to her normal corner she would just go back to eating the hay scraps. So I asked my husband to stand in the hay corner so she couldn’t eat and might actually be tempted by her tea.
It was too scary with two people in there though. BG didn’t know who to watch and who to turn her bottom on. She swung it round on me and I wasn’t quite quick enough and got knocked. In a way I am pleased that we made contact. She didn’t kick me, and if she was too I think that would be the situation she would kick out, with me being where she felt her back end should be and me having the scary head collar. So I am pleased that kind of confirmed my belief that BG won’t kick me. (I’m sure she might in a really bad situation if she got upset enough, but I am confident it would be a last, last resort for her).
She had her head collar on and her tea after we removed her food and gave her a minute to calm down before trying again.
I had a good check over the top of her neck behind her ears to see if there was anything there bothering her that could account for her throwing her head back recently. Her coat is beautifully soft there, but I didn’t find anything. Last night I had another feel and there was something in her coat, but it felt like it could just be mud. It was too dark to look properly and doesn’t seem to bother her the rest of the time, so I have left it to check when I am up there in the light.
Yesterday P2 had to be shut in the shelter as his owner believes he has mud fever and she wanted him out of the mud. He was back out by the time we went to give BG her tea. What I didn’t realise was the remains of his hay net was still up, so BG spotted that as she walked in. Why have your head collar on for your tea when you can eat hay and not have it on? I took the hay net down, so only the scraps on the floor remained. I couldn’t put the head collar on in the hay corner as it made her nervous, but if I went to her normal corner she would just go back to eating the hay scraps. So I asked my husband to stand in the hay corner so she couldn’t eat and might actually be tempted by her tea.
It was too scary with two people in there though. BG didn’t know who to watch and who to turn her bottom on. She swung it round on me and I wasn’t quite quick enough and got knocked. In a way I am pleased that we made contact. She didn’t kick me, and if she was too I think that would be the situation she would kick out, with me being where she felt her back end should be and me having the scary head collar. So I am pleased that kind of confirmed my belief that BG won’t kick me. (I’m sure she might in a really bad situation if she got upset enough, but I am confident it would be a last, last resort for her).
She had her head collar on and her tea after we removed her food and gave her a minute to calm down before trying again.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Rugs and fluffy coats - winter's coming
My beautiful pony is starting to fluff up nicely for winter. Her coat has gone so soft you just want to bury yourself in it.
She was a little keener to come in for her breakfast this morning, since it was raining, but is still needing to be herded in the rest of the time. She is not any better with the head collar strap going over the top of her neck. In fact, she has started to pull back when I am putting the head collar on, although I am very pleased to say every time she has come straight back to me thrusting her nose forward to try it on again.
I have been continuing to take the head collar off in her shelter as she tends not to pull back so much and scare herself. As it was dark last night my husband held her outside so I could see to pick out her hooves and check her over. She has scabs at the bottom of her legs which I think are from the brambles, so I have been Sudocreming them to soften the scabs up. She stood perfectly, even though we don’t often do this, and then my husband took her head collar off in the field. He had to be very patient and just rub around her ears a few times when she tensed, but it did come off without her pulling back and scaring herself in the end.
P1 has started to be rugged in the evening, so the other morning I was asked to take his rug off and replace it with his fly rug. I thought I would catch him in case he tried to run off before I can get the second rug on. He was as good as gold, if a little bemused about why I was catching him and then wanting to lead him down to the shelter. He happily licked the remains of BG’s breakfast whilst I changed his rugs for him though.
BG is not a pony that needs much care, she doesn’t need rugs on and off, she doesn’t have a stable to muck out….and I do miss doing these things. I like feeling business like around horses, with a list of tasks to complete, and then you have the quiet time to bond with them. I’d love to have several horses to care for, but there is no way we could afford that, and BG is the best horse in the world. Just sometimes it is a little hard to find things to do around her as she just wants to eat and go back out.
I rang the farrier yesterday day and left a voice message, she is yet to ring back. The thing is I know she will probably ring back and go ‘I can fit you in tomorrow at …’ but I can’t get time off work at that short notice. If she replied when I originally try to contact her I would have time to organize it, but she always leaves it to the last minute to get in touch. Last winter it once took me several weeks to get in touch with her. It is a pain and I dread having to organize the farrier visit, fitting things around work is always hard. She is one of the few farriers I know to turn up on time every time though, and she does seem to do a good job on BG’s hooves, even though BG doesn’t like her one bit.
She was a little keener to come in for her breakfast this morning, since it was raining, but is still needing to be herded in the rest of the time. She is not any better with the head collar strap going over the top of her neck. In fact, she has started to pull back when I am putting the head collar on, although I am very pleased to say every time she has come straight back to me thrusting her nose forward to try it on again.
I have been continuing to take the head collar off in her shelter as she tends not to pull back so much and scare herself. As it was dark last night my husband held her outside so I could see to pick out her hooves and check her over. She has scabs at the bottom of her legs which I think are from the brambles, so I have been Sudocreming them to soften the scabs up. She stood perfectly, even though we don’t often do this, and then my husband took her head collar off in the field. He had to be very patient and just rub around her ears a few times when she tensed, but it did come off without her pulling back and scaring herself in the end.
P1 has started to be rugged in the evening, so the other morning I was asked to take his rug off and replace it with his fly rug. I thought I would catch him in case he tried to run off before I can get the second rug on. He was as good as gold, if a little bemused about why I was catching him and then wanting to lead him down to the shelter. He happily licked the remains of BG’s breakfast whilst I changed his rugs for him though.
BG is not a pony that needs much care, she doesn’t need rugs on and off, she doesn’t have a stable to muck out….and I do miss doing these things. I like feeling business like around horses, with a list of tasks to complete, and then you have the quiet time to bond with them. I’d love to have several horses to care for, but there is no way we could afford that, and BG is the best horse in the world. Just sometimes it is a little hard to find things to do around her as she just wants to eat and go back out.
I rang the farrier yesterday day and left a voice message, she is yet to ring back. The thing is I know she will probably ring back and go ‘I can fit you in tomorrow at …’ but I can’t get time off work at that short notice. If she replied when I originally try to contact her I would have time to organize it, but she always leaves it to the last minute to get in touch. Last winter it once took me several weeks to get in touch with her. It is a pain and I dread having to organize the farrier visit, fitting things around work is always hard. She is one of the few farriers I know to turn up on time every time though, and she does seem to do a good job on BG’s hooves, even though BG doesn’t like her one bit.
Monday 20 September 2010
Tea by torchlight
Last night BG had her first tea by torch light this winter. If it wasn’t for the fact I insist on her having her head collar on we could probably have done the whole thing in the dark. She was a little cautious about coming in but after the initial look to check everything was okay she was fine. She is still having her new head collar on every time, only problem is she is nervous about the strap going over the top of her neck and being done up/ un-done still. Luckily each time she has gone to pull back from this I have been able to move back with her so the head collar remains in the same spot on her head.
She lunged beautifully on Friday but other than that she has been having an easy time of it, although I made her do some trotting poles and basic ground work on Saturday night.
She is chubbier than I would like so I wish I could get some more work into her, but she is happy enough and the cooler weather will hopefully do it’s part in regulating her weight.
Now I have the dilemma about when to get the farrier out again. It is seven weeks today since she last had them trimmed and they are getting long, but non of the bottoms are looking anywhere near to splitting and the crack in her near-fore is holding up okay. If I had it my way I would probably have them done a week today, but then there is getting the time off work and seeing what the farrier’s calendar is like.
She lunged beautifully on Friday but other than that she has been having an easy time of it, although I made her do some trotting poles and basic ground work on Saturday night.
She is chubbier than I would like so I wish I could get some more work into her, but she is happy enough and the cooler weather will hopefully do it’s part in regulating her weight.
Now I have the dilemma about when to get the farrier out again. It is seven weeks today since she last had them trimmed and they are getting long, but non of the bottoms are looking anywhere near to splitting and the crack in her near-fore is holding up okay. If I had it my way I would probably have them done a week today, but then there is getting the time off work and seeing what the farrier’s calendar is like.
Wednesday 15 September 2010
Miserable nights
Why is it getting so dark in the evening’s already? With the wind and the rain as well I am very limited on what I can do. I don’t mind working in the rain, but it isn’t fair on BG if the top of the ground is slippery.
So far this week BG has been better about her head collar. I have had to resort to using her old one but at least I am getting it on her on my own without too much of a fuss. I am taking it off in her shelter though since she is still being funny about the buckle when having it taken off. I normally like to lead her out and take it off in the field so she is used to having me move it round her head out there, but with the wind and her being silly I think it would do more harm than good. So I am taking it off in the shelter and last night she was perfect, but all the other times, including this morning, she has tensed when I have gone up to the buckle and looked as if she is going to move back.
Her coat is beautifully soft at the moment, her summer coat is still coming out but you can tell she is starting to fluff up for winter.
Although I complain in the title about the miserable nights the rain stopped just as I got up the field last night. We were up there at the time of day when the sun throws golden strips across everything, and we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow (with BG stood at the bottom of it as the treasure). Having horses really does enable you to see the best (and worst) of nature.
So far this week BG has been better about her head collar. I have had to resort to using her old one but at least I am getting it on her on my own without too much of a fuss. I am taking it off in her shelter though since she is still being funny about the buckle when having it taken off. I normally like to lead her out and take it off in the field so she is used to having me move it round her head out there, but with the wind and her being silly I think it would do more harm than good. So I am taking it off in the shelter and last night she was perfect, but all the other times, including this morning, she has tensed when I have gone up to the buckle and looked as if she is going to move back.
Her coat is beautifully soft at the moment, her summer coat is still coming out but you can tell she is starting to fluff up for winter.
Although I complain in the title about the miserable nights the rain stopped just as I got up the field last night. We were up there at the time of day when the sun throws golden strips across everything, and we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow (with BG stood at the bottom of it as the treasure). Having horses really does enable you to see the best (and worst) of nature.
Monday 13 September 2010
Flying back
Having said how well BG was getting on with her new head collar it all fell apart over the weekend.
If BG won’t have her head collar on she spins round in her field shelter and points her bottom towards me. I’m not afraid she is going to kick but I am afraid she will keep spinning round and get herself all worked up, which won’t achieve anything but a very upset pony, when really there is nothing to get upset over. So if she turns her back on me I take the attention away from her. I take her feed with me and just leave her to calm down. Normally then when I go back in she will let me put her head collar on, although it may take a couple of tries. She has to learn no head collar means no food.
On Sunday she was having none of this. She was in a really stubborn mood and would not have her head collar on. When I so much as looked at it to go to pick it up she would turn round and look at me with one eye as if to say ‘what are you going to do now?’ I think she was more stubborn than afraid this time though. Unfortunately I was up there on my own so I couldn’t go in with our solution to say ‘look, you are going to have it on whether you like it or not’ until my husband turned up to help. I think she had had enough by then so was a little upset when we did the ‘grab a hoof, lead rope round the neck, head collar on’. Ideally I wouldn’t have left her so long to get away with it, not that she ate until she was caught.
The strange thing is I did give her a groom, even her face which she is normally funny about, and brushed her forelock with no issues, but the head collar was a no go zone.
Sunday night she was similar. We resorted to the ‘foot, neck, head collar’ method a lot quicker though. Then this morning we almost had to use it again. I always try to give her a chance to do it on her own first, and luckily she accepted it (the head collar) on the second attempt. It is the old head collar again though.
So getting the head collar on has become an issue again. I am hoping this is just because she is in season and she will be fine once that is over. I always thought being in season never really affected her, but I have seen her squealing with P1 which is very unlike her, so I hope it is just in-season moody-mare-ness.
The other problem now is getting the head collar off. She has started to tense when you go to undo the buckle near her ear. She will fly back (not too far but I am dreading it getting any worse), and if the buckle is un-done I have nothing to hold her with so it drops down her nose. She will tentatively come back to me but she will snort her way round the head collar on the ground. This can’t be helping her confidence having it on either, and I am just afraid each time she goes back it will just get worse. I think lots of playing with the head collar strap near her ears is needed as I really do not want this to develop any further.
If BG won’t have her head collar on she spins round in her field shelter and points her bottom towards me. I’m not afraid she is going to kick but I am afraid she will keep spinning round and get herself all worked up, which won’t achieve anything but a very upset pony, when really there is nothing to get upset over. So if she turns her back on me I take the attention away from her. I take her feed with me and just leave her to calm down. Normally then when I go back in she will let me put her head collar on, although it may take a couple of tries. She has to learn no head collar means no food.
On Sunday she was having none of this. She was in a really stubborn mood and would not have her head collar on. When I so much as looked at it to go to pick it up she would turn round and look at me with one eye as if to say ‘what are you going to do now?’ I think she was more stubborn than afraid this time though. Unfortunately I was up there on my own so I couldn’t go in with our solution to say ‘look, you are going to have it on whether you like it or not’ until my husband turned up to help. I think she had had enough by then so was a little upset when we did the ‘grab a hoof, lead rope round the neck, head collar on’. Ideally I wouldn’t have left her so long to get away with it, not that she ate until she was caught.
The strange thing is I did give her a groom, even her face which she is normally funny about, and brushed her forelock with no issues, but the head collar was a no go zone.
Sunday night she was similar. We resorted to the ‘foot, neck, head collar’ method a lot quicker though. Then this morning we almost had to use it again. I always try to give her a chance to do it on her own first, and luckily she accepted it (the head collar) on the second attempt. It is the old head collar again though.
So getting the head collar on has become an issue again. I am hoping this is just because she is in season and she will be fine once that is over. I always thought being in season never really affected her, but I have seen her squealing with P1 which is very unlike her, so I hope it is just in-season moody-mare-ness.
The other problem now is getting the head collar off. She has started to tense when you go to undo the buckle near her ear. She will fly back (not too far but I am dreading it getting any worse), and if the buckle is un-done I have nothing to hold her with so it drops down her nose. She will tentatively come back to me but she will snort her way round the head collar on the ground. This can’t be helping her confidence having it on either, and I am just afraid each time she goes back it will just get worse. I think lots of playing with the head collar strap near her ears is needed as I really do not want this to develop any further.
Saturday 11 September 2010
An update
I've been quiet on here for quite a while. It does not mean BG hasn't been up to anything, just there didn't seem to be anything that made me leap to the laptop and feel I should record this.
So, what has been happening?
Luckily there have been no more shivering incidents. I'd like to think there will be no more all year but I think we might have another one or two over winter. As mentioned before I was trying to think of an alternative to hay to feed as a way of warming her up. I turned to the horse forum I post on, where everyone is always very helpful and non-judgemental. The advice there was any food with fibre in it (or peppermint tea!) and Allen and Page Fast Fibre was suggested which looks like it might do the trick. I'll need to take a trip to a tack shop sometime and investigate it a little more.
It seems strange getting ready for winter when Christmas is still four months away. Although some hay has been stacked ready for this winter for a while. The evenings are getting noticeably darker already which is very depressing. I get up the field around seven on a work night, by the time I have worked BG I am struggling to muck out the field in the dark. Soon I won't have any light at all at night and BG's education will be taking a break. I won't be able to keep the weight off her, but the cold should do that for me. P1 and P2's owner remarked the other day how good BG was looking, not tubby at all. Personally I'd like to see her a little thinner, but we weight taped her the other night and she was 411kg. I like her at 400kg so she isn't far off.
BG is still being funny about coming in for her food. Now it is getting colder she is better; 50% of the time and comes down on her own, but we still regularly have to go and herd her down the field. Unfortunately she doesn't always walk away when we go up to her with the head collar anymore. This is good and bad, but if she has her head down grazing so we can't put her head collar on I'd like her to at least move so I can herd her down the field. Instead we are stood there at a bit of a stale-mate.
This week we have hit a new milestone with BG though. You might remember in June I bought her a new head collar along with her rug. I haven't really pushed this new head collar as much as I should; since BG was being caught in the field I didn't want to ruin the good work, and then she wouldn't be caught at all and I thought the new one wouldn't help. She can tell anything that isn't her old familiar head collar. For a while I was having to put on the old one, the new one on the top and then take the old one off, since she would refuse the new one every time. This week though, with a few refusals, she is now having her 'new' head collar on. It sits tighter on her head and looks so smart compared with her old battered version.
I put the bridle on BG this week too. She did not want the bit in and threw her head around a bit trying to avoid it. The silly thing is, as soon as she let me hold it in the right place, she put it in perfectly. I didn't lead her in the bridle as she is silly about this, so I lead her in a head collar over the top. I did put the reins on too and twisted these through the throat lash so they weren't too loose. I thought she might be upset with them resting on her neck but she didn't seem to mind.
I led her around and a couple of times I thought she might turn her back on me like she does when the saddle is on. I don't know if that was due to the bridle or the wind, but she overcame the thought quickly and was very good. Even better she dropped the bit out of her mouth perfectly (she still pulls back as if expecting it to scare her) and had the bridle off over the top of her head without too much of a scare.
Her lunging has been improving. I think it might be helped by reducing the work load (wind/ slippery ground/ dark nights) as she normally seems better if you leave something and come back to it. She now does trot to halt transitions, sometimes perfectly, and halt to trot transitions (normally with a couple of strides of walk in between). These are all off voice commands. I carry a lunging whip which I do occasionally use but she does very nicely without it too. The other day I didn't have the lunge whip (P1 had moved the field shelter rubbing on it and buried my whip half under it) so I lunged her without and she went perfectly. She barely ever tries to turn in on halt now too.
For a couple of days she did look a little sore on her off-hind. I'm not sure what that was but a couple of quiet days and she seems better now. When I left her up the field yesterday morning she was bucking and cantering around.
So, that's what we have been up to. Let's hope I don't leave it so long before writing an update next time.
So, what has been happening?
Luckily there have been no more shivering incidents. I'd like to think there will be no more all year but I think we might have another one or two over winter. As mentioned before I was trying to think of an alternative to hay to feed as a way of warming her up. I turned to the horse forum I post on, where everyone is always very helpful and non-judgemental. The advice there was any food with fibre in it (or peppermint tea!) and Allen and Page Fast Fibre was suggested which looks like it might do the trick. I'll need to take a trip to a tack shop sometime and investigate it a little more.
It seems strange getting ready for winter when Christmas is still four months away. Although some hay has been stacked ready for this winter for a while. The evenings are getting noticeably darker already which is very depressing. I get up the field around seven on a work night, by the time I have worked BG I am struggling to muck out the field in the dark. Soon I won't have any light at all at night and BG's education will be taking a break. I won't be able to keep the weight off her, but the cold should do that for me. P1 and P2's owner remarked the other day how good BG was looking, not tubby at all. Personally I'd like to see her a little thinner, but we weight taped her the other night and she was 411kg. I like her at 400kg so she isn't far off.
BG is still being funny about coming in for her food. Now it is getting colder she is better; 50% of the time and comes down on her own, but we still regularly have to go and herd her down the field. Unfortunately she doesn't always walk away when we go up to her with the head collar anymore. This is good and bad, but if she has her head down grazing so we can't put her head collar on I'd like her to at least move so I can herd her down the field. Instead we are stood there at a bit of a stale-mate.
This week we have hit a new milestone with BG though. You might remember in June I bought her a new head collar along with her rug. I haven't really pushed this new head collar as much as I should; since BG was being caught in the field I didn't want to ruin the good work, and then she wouldn't be caught at all and I thought the new one wouldn't help. She can tell anything that isn't her old familiar head collar. For a while I was having to put on the old one, the new one on the top and then take the old one off, since she would refuse the new one every time. This week though, with a few refusals, she is now having her 'new' head collar on. It sits tighter on her head and looks so smart compared with her old battered version.
I put the bridle on BG this week too. She did not want the bit in and threw her head around a bit trying to avoid it. The silly thing is, as soon as she let me hold it in the right place, she put it in perfectly. I didn't lead her in the bridle as she is silly about this, so I lead her in a head collar over the top. I did put the reins on too and twisted these through the throat lash so they weren't too loose. I thought she might be upset with them resting on her neck but she didn't seem to mind.
I led her around and a couple of times I thought she might turn her back on me like she does when the saddle is on. I don't know if that was due to the bridle or the wind, but she overcame the thought quickly and was very good. Even better she dropped the bit out of her mouth perfectly (she still pulls back as if expecting it to scare her) and had the bridle off over the top of her head without too much of a scare.
Her lunging has been improving. I think it might be helped by reducing the work load (wind/ slippery ground/ dark nights) as she normally seems better if you leave something and come back to it. She now does trot to halt transitions, sometimes perfectly, and halt to trot transitions (normally with a couple of strides of walk in between). These are all off voice commands. I carry a lunging whip which I do occasionally use but she does very nicely without it too. The other day I didn't have the lunge whip (P1 had moved the field shelter rubbing on it and buried my whip half under it) so I lunged her without and she went perfectly. She barely ever tries to turn in on halt now too.
For a couple of days she did look a little sore on her off-hind. I'm not sure what that was but a couple of quiet days and she seems better now. When I left her up the field yesterday morning she was bucking and cantering around.
So, that's what we have been up to. Let's hope I don't leave it so long before writing an update next time.
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