My last ride on Breezy was lovely. She was relaxed and pleasant. A real treat.
She had a quieter year. We did, however, ride in the Rose Parade!! in Portland, Oregon. The Pacific Wild Horse Club was in the parade. It is FIVE miles of crowds, max-trains, and noise. Not exactly my cup of tea...Or Breezy's. She was not impressed. We did make it through and are not planning on doing that anytime soon!
After the parade, she was back to her usual bossy form and not happy about being ridden. So! She was turned out with a cohort and had some time off. We'd pull her in occasionally to so a kid could ride her or I would give her a relaxing lunge. Either way, it was easy-peasy.
That has seemed to have helped. As I began with, my last ride was lovely.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
On the TrainingSide
Despite the two gas colics, I have been slowly progressing with Trevor.
I stil take him on walks down the road and through the vineyard, as well as our lunge sessions. The lunge sessions have expanded to free lunging which allows him more freedom to make decisions and still be respectful of me.
As the "EVERYTIME lunging" before I get on and ride, Trevor has graduated to a walk around the arena in both directions. On the days he is rather fresh, I incorporate "moving away" exercises.
This decision was made for two reasons: 1) As with all horse shows, lunging is not always an option sooooooooooo we better use other ways of relaxing in new places. Don't forget to chew!!! 2) Since he is recovering and getting stronger, the need for a non-weighted warm-up becomes less of an issue.
It has been a real pleasure getting to know Trevor and see him become the confident, brillant horse I know has been hiding in there. We've been to four schooling shows this year and plan on one more come October. "A" shows here we come!!
I stil take him on walks down the road and through the vineyard, as well as our lunge sessions. The lunge sessions have expanded to free lunging which allows him more freedom to make decisions and still be respectful of me.
As the "EVERYTIME lunging" before I get on and ride, Trevor has graduated to a walk around the arena in both directions. On the days he is rather fresh, I incorporate "moving away" exercises.
This decision was made for two reasons: 1) As with all horse shows, lunging is not always an option sooooooooooo we better use other ways of relaxing in new places. Don't forget to chew!!! 2) Since he is recovering and getting stronger, the need for a non-weighted warm-up becomes less of an issue.
It has been a real pleasure getting to know Trevor and see him become the confident, brillant horse I know has been hiding in there. We've been to four schooling shows this year and plan on one more come October. "A" shows here we come!!
Oh Frabjous Day!!!
Today is Septmeber 22, 2010.
I have been seeing this day in the future since the last September 22. This is the one year anniversary of Trevor's colic surgery. I wasn't sure if he was going to make this milestone.
We had one rather scary colic episode in March. He managed to eat stall pellets like they were candy before I could remove them from his stall and decide that I would NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. Even when I watered them down to soften them up, he munched. Twelve hours later, we were in full-blown colic. I called the vet out, all the while preparing myself for the fact he was going to be put down.
However! One gut palpation (gas only) and a "torbe" (a sedative) shot later, Trevor was resting comfortably. I, however, was up all night checking and re-checking Trevor's status. He recovered well.
That. Was a hard lesson.
Then, after eating wild cucumber in May, he had mild colic episode (Can ya tell he's REALLY DUMB ABOUT FOOD). Aha!! I said!! Get the Torbe!! I happened to have a shot that the vet left for me from the March colic. I called a got the OK from the vet and let 'er rip. After a mild snooze and farting, he woke up and went on with his day. The torbe allowed his system to relax and the gas to pass quietly from his system. Whew!! What a relief.
Now, I keep a shot of torbe on-hand for the possible next episode.
As he is consider a high colic risk, I still am meticulous about HOW I feed him and what I allow into his diet. I want his gut to be as stable as possible. Hopefully through consistent feeding and relaxing exercise, Trevor will maintain and thrive more and more.
I have been seeing this day in the future since the last September 22. This is the one year anniversary of Trevor's colic surgery. I wasn't sure if he was going to make this milestone.
We had one rather scary colic episode in March. He managed to eat stall pellets like they were candy before I could remove them from his stall and decide that I would NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. Even when I watered them down to soften them up, he munched. Twelve hours later, we were in full-blown colic. I called the vet out, all the while preparing myself for the fact he was going to be put down.
However! One gut palpation (gas only) and a "torbe" (a sedative) shot later, Trevor was resting comfortably. I, however, was up all night checking and re-checking Trevor's status. He recovered well.
That. Was a hard lesson.
Then, after eating wild cucumber in May, he had mild colic episode (Can ya tell he's REALLY DUMB ABOUT FOOD). Aha!! I said!! Get the Torbe!! I happened to have a shot that the vet left for me from the March colic. I called a got the OK from the vet and let 'er rip. After a mild snooze and farting, he woke up and went on with his day. The torbe allowed his system to relax and the gas to pass quietly from his system. Whew!! What a relief.
Now, I keep a shot of torbe on-hand for the possible next episode.
As he is consider a high colic risk, I still am meticulous about HOW I feed him and what I allow into his diet. I want his gut to be as stable as possible. Hopefully through consistent feeding and relaxing exercise, Trevor will maintain and thrive more and more.
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