So life has been interesting. Sasha has been schooling fairly well since her surgery, so I brought her to a show two weeks ago. She schooled super quietly, and everything was good. We hung out for a while, she ate hay, and drank, etc., everything was good. I go in for a schooling hunter round. She cantered off fairly quietly, and we headed to the first jump. I felt her tense up when I went to it, so I collect her to it but keep my leg on. She stops. Oh well, kinda my fault for boxing her up to much to it. I circle, and she grabs the bit and runs to it. I get her back under control, and ride up to the next jump - a single oxer. I rode up very aggressively to it, and the distance was right there. Yup. She stops. I get annoyed, and circle out and jump it. I do a diagonal line, and then ride up to another line. Again, I ride her up aggressively, the distance was there, she stopped. I reached back and smacked her with my hand. I finish the course, with her fighting the whole way around. The rest of the course was decent, but it was a struggle.
I get off, and swap her from a Happy Mouth D-Ring to a full cheek Dr. Bristol. She was a little better, but it was still a struggle for the next two courses. I then put her in a stall, figuring that maybe she needs to pee. Yep. I get back on, and she is still awful. I got her over the course with decent distances twice, and I somehow got a third and a fourth? Uhh. My last course for hunters was going extremely well, and I turned to go up the last line. She started rushing, so I sat down and lifted my hands. I softened a stride out. She prepared to take off for the first jump of the line, then suddenly stopped. I fell onto her neck, and I was staring at the flowers on the jump going "I am not falling off, there is no way I'm falling off..." I got back into the saddle, and finished the course.
Then, it was eq flat time. Yay. I took her martingale on, and she started walking off when I got on her.I lightly closed my fingers, and she flipped her head back extremely had and far, and then started prancing around, and flipping her head back if I closed my fingers or did anything with my hands at all. I then turned to my trainer and said I didn't think that the flat class was a great idea. He said that once she got moving she would be fine. Oh well. I went to walk into the arena. She threw a fit, back up and hopping. Normally, I can get her to snap out of it pretty quickly, but nothing I did convinced her to go forward, and we nearly wiped out a few people. >.< Anyways, by the time I got into the arena, we were both tense, worked up, and upset. Yeah, not going to go well. After a tense walk and trot, it was time to canter. First, she refused to pick up her canter. Then, she freaked out and leapt into it. I got her to settle it somewhat, and we went around. They asked for a walk. I sat down and back, lifted my hands, and said "whooaaa." She started hopping in place, flipping her head. My trainer looked at me and went "just bring her out." I (somehow) got her to settle and just walked out of the arena. I scratched my hunter U/S.
Then my trainer and mom proposed that I get another horse. It has been over a year since I bought her, and she'll school perfectly and then go to a show and lose her mind. After some convincing and tears I agreed.
Long story short, I found this horse, Pete. I brought him home Saturday as a lease. The problem is, Pete is for sale. He is a cheap, fairly nice horse that packs around and is bombproof. His owner wants him sold. Therefore, if I want to ride him this year, I have to buy him. My parents, trainer, and I, all like him. Thus, we decided to buy him. I am going to ride him and Sasha all year. Sasha will not show at all this year. She will stay at the barn and grow up, and there will be no pressure on her or me. At the end of the year, I have to sell her or Pete.
I think it will be Pete. He is perfect as a 2'6" horse (really, REALLY l-a-z-y though!) but he doesn't have a big jump in him like Sash does.
But yeah, it's just a lot to deal with atm. =/
Monday, March 12, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
6 days down, 15 to go.
Yes, that is the count until I can ride Sasha! =)
I visited her Monday night, and gosh, she was so cute! I got there, and she saw me and came up to the front of her stall, ears pricked, very happy to see me. I turned her out in the indoor. At my old barn, she would always pull back, rear, and go crazy when I went to turn her out, so I would have to lead her out of the arena, walk her in circles, etc., until she was calm when I went to take her halter off. This time, I reached up to take her halter off, unbuckled it with no reaction, and she stood for a second and then loped off.
She rolled , cantered around the arena once, and then came up to me. I started jogging, and she trotted after me. I stopped, she stopped dead. No lead rope, halter, nothing. She's so cute <3
Anyways, I lessoned on this appaloosa pony last night at my old barn. She was very good. She was a little resistant to my aids at first, but by the end, she was rounding up, going on the bit, and responding to a twitch of my finger or a light nudge with my leg. She is such a good girl. I only did a tiny little in and out, the last jump was only 2'3", 2'6". She was so good, super honest!
I visited her Monday night, and gosh, she was so cute! I got there, and she saw me and came up to the front of her stall, ears pricked, very happy to see me. I turned her out in the indoor. At my old barn, she would always pull back, rear, and go crazy when I went to turn her out, so I would have to lead her out of the arena, walk her in circles, etc., until she was calm when I went to take her halter off. This time, I reached up to take her halter off, unbuckled it with no reaction, and she stood for a second and then loped off.
She rolled , cantered around the arena once, and then came up to me. I started jogging, and she trotted after me. I stopped, she stopped dead. No lead rope, halter, nothing. She's so cute <3
Anyways, I lessoned on this appaloosa pony last night at my old barn. She was very good. She was a little resistant to my aids at first, but by the end, she was rounding up, going on the bit, and responding to a twitch of my finger or a light nudge with my leg. She is such a good girl. I only did a tiny little in and out, the last jump was only 2'3", 2'6". She was so good, super honest!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Tooth Updates!
The Lash-Ma is back from Cornell!
My parents brought her home yesterday, because I was at the end of year banquet, which was soo fun!
Turns out, she had an abcess under her diseased and extremely deformed molar...Yeahh, only Sash. She can't have sugar anymore, because some of her other teeth are messed up. I'm set to ride her in about 3 weeks! Yayy!
My parents brought her home yesterday, because I was at the end of year banquet, which was soo fun!
Turns out, she had an abcess under her diseased and extremely deformed molar...Yeahh, only Sash. She can't have sugar anymore, because some of her other teeth are messed up. I'm set to ride her in about 3 weeks! Yayy!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Happpyyy New Yearrr!
Yes. I did it for the 17th time. I disappeared. This is happening way too often. New Year's Resolution? Blog more.
Hiii so a lot has happened. Like a lot. My horse is on her way to Cornell as we speak (I type?) for mouth surgery, (Mum wouldn't let me go) we moved barns, hit our one year anniversary, are back to having awesome lessons, I had to let go and put to sleep my other horse (worst day of my life) and for the most part, that's it.
Let me go in chronological order. So, Sasha and I were having a super rough patch. She was getting extremely strong and fresh, shaking her head and getting quick after jumps. I could handle it and ride her through it, but riding her was becoming a chore, not fun. My trainer started riding her again, and he noticed she was particularly reactive to pressure on the left rein, especially if you picked that hand up high. He suspected a sore tooth or sharp edge, so the vet was called out, since it had been around a year since she last got her teeth floated. Indeed, she had a few somewhat sharp edges, but nothing that would cause such violent reactions. However, an odd lump was discovered on the top left side of her mouth, right around where a wolf tooth would be.
The vet came back out a few days later for x-rays. Indeed, it looked like she had a half submerged wolf tooth; odd, because she is seven. Either way, the vet sedated her, put her in the set up so he could work on the tooth, and got to work. As the vet started working on her, he realized this was more than a trapped wolf tooth. The tooth was practically bonded to her molar, and after an hour and two top ups of sedation and numbing, he decided this was a job for a specialist. He sent Sasha's x-rays to a specialist at Cornell. The specialist said the cause of her problems were the molar behind the wolf tooth, which trapped the wolf tooth, and was causing problems with the molar behind it. Wow. So her molar needs Either way, Sash is having her surgery done tomorrow, and my dad and I are picking her up Monday. Hopefully, this will solve her problems. I can't ride her for 4 - 6 weeks after, but it will be worth it to make her better.
Right. Then, on December 18 (the tooth thing started beginning of December), Sash and I had our one year anniversary <3
Made a video, so watch it, like it, subscribe to me on youtube, the usual (;
Next issue. Sasha moving barns. My old barn was a very busy lesson barn, with lots of kids, horses, and energy at all times. Sasha didn't do well, so I moved her to a quiet 13 stall semi-private barn, where my trainer also teaches. She has been doing sooo much better there, and it's been a week and a half. I moved her January 1. I lessoned Tuesday, and she was perfect, same with the previous 2 lessons.
Right, then Velvet...that was a horrible week. We got a call Monday, December 26th, saying that Velvet was down and acting odd. My mom went out, and sure enough, she was colicking. My mom gave her some mineral oil and banamine, and Velvet was fine and back to eating and drinking. Fine, end of story. Nope, got another call a few hours later, repeat the process. End of story yet? No. Tuesday afternoon, bam, another call. This time, my mom gets the equine doctor to come out. They stomach tubed a ton of mineral oil into her, and Velvet stopped drinking and wouldn't go to the bathroom (impaction colic). My mom slept at the barn overnight, and Velvet seemed happier, and was eating and drinking, but wouldn't go to the bathroom. Wednesday morning, she was brought to the clinic. Wednesday night, it seemed that everything would be fine. She went to the bathroom, got everything out of her system, was rehydrated, everything was fine. Thursday, we were told we could pick her up. Then, we got another call saying, never mind, she's still acting odd, let's hang onto her another day.
Velvet stopped eating. This horse SOMEHOW broke through her field everyday for a week at one point during the summer (no fencing down, gate was sound...jumped? possible.) just to eat some of the grass on the other side. She would eat no matter what...except, apparently not. They x-rayed her mouth, suspicious of a tooth problem. Sure enough, she had a tooth split vertically, and it would require immediate, emergency surgery at Cornell. However, Cornell was closed because of winter break, plus Velvet had cancer, and between that and the colic, we decided to let her be, and give her some peace. December 30, I didn't know you could feel so devastatingly empty. It was awful.
Hiii so a lot has happened. Like a lot. My horse is on her way to Cornell as we speak (I type?) for mouth surgery, (Mum wouldn't let me go) we moved barns, hit our one year anniversary, are back to having awesome lessons, I had to let go and put to sleep my other horse (worst day of my life) and for the most part, that's it.
Let me go in chronological order. So, Sasha and I were having a super rough patch. She was getting extremely strong and fresh, shaking her head and getting quick after jumps. I could handle it and ride her through it, but riding her was becoming a chore, not fun. My trainer started riding her again, and he noticed she was particularly reactive to pressure on the left rein, especially if you picked that hand up high. He suspected a sore tooth or sharp edge, so the vet was called out, since it had been around a year since she last got her teeth floated. Indeed, she had a few somewhat sharp edges, but nothing that would cause such violent reactions. However, an odd lump was discovered on the top left side of her mouth, right around where a wolf tooth would be.
The vet came back out a few days later for x-rays. Indeed, it looked like she had a half submerged wolf tooth; odd, because she is seven. Either way, the vet sedated her, put her in the set up so he could work on the tooth, and got to work. As the vet started working on her, he realized this was more than a trapped wolf tooth. The tooth was practically bonded to her molar, and after an hour and two top ups of sedation and numbing, he decided this was a job for a specialist. He sent Sasha's x-rays to a specialist at Cornell. The specialist said the cause of her problems were the molar behind the wolf tooth, which trapped the wolf tooth, and was causing problems with the molar behind it. Wow. So her molar needs Either way, Sash is having her surgery done tomorrow, and my dad and I are picking her up Monday. Hopefully, this will solve her problems. I can't ride her for 4 - 6 weeks after, but it will be worth it to make her better.
Right. Then, on December 18 (the tooth thing started beginning of December), Sash and I had our one year anniversary <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvBxp6SL7_E
Made a video, so watch it, like it, subscribe to me on youtube, the usual (;
Next issue. Sasha moving barns. My old barn was a very busy lesson barn, with lots of kids, horses, and energy at all times. Sasha didn't do well, so I moved her to a quiet 13 stall semi-private barn, where my trainer also teaches. She has been doing sooo much better there, and it's been a week and a half. I moved her January 1. I lessoned Tuesday, and she was perfect, same with the previous 2 lessons.
Right, then Velvet...that was a horrible week. We got a call Monday, December 26th, saying that Velvet was down and acting odd. My mom went out, and sure enough, she was colicking. My mom gave her some mineral oil and banamine, and Velvet was fine and back to eating and drinking. Fine, end of story. Nope, got another call a few hours later, repeat the process. End of story yet? No. Tuesday afternoon, bam, another call. This time, my mom gets the equine doctor to come out. They stomach tubed a ton of mineral oil into her, and Velvet stopped drinking and wouldn't go to the bathroom (impaction colic). My mom slept at the barn overnight, and Velvet seemed happier, and was eating and drinking, but wouldn't go to the bathroom. Wednesday morning, she was brought to the clinic. Wednesday night, it seemed that everything would be fine. She went to the bathroom, got everything out of her system, was rehydrated, everything was fine. Thursday, we were told we could pick her up. Then, we got another call saying, never mind, she's still acting odd, let's hang onto her another day.
Velvet stopped eating. This horse SOMEHOW broke through her field everyday for a week at one point during the summer (no fencing down, gate was sound...jumped? possible.) just to eat some of the grass on the other side. She would eat no matter what...except, apparently not. They x-rayed her mouth, suspicious of a tooth problem. Sure enough, she had a tooth split vertically, and it would require immediate, emergency surgery at Cornell. However, Cornell was closed because of winter break, plus Velvet had cancer, and between that and the colic, we decided to let her be, and give her some peace. December 30, I didn't know you could feel so devastatingly empty. It was awful.
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