Navi's Growing...Too Fast

Poor Navi seems to be going through a growth spurt and apparently we were feeding her too well, because her tendons can't keep up with her bones. Last week we noticed her being "over at the knees" and being pretty shaky. So we called the vet, she came out the next day and said no more alfalfa as it is causing her to grow too fast. So now we were brainstorming on a way to keep her with the other three horses, but yet not have her get any alfalfa.

Currently we are pulling her out of the paddock at night when we feed the other three their alfalfa and then we put Navi back in the paddock in the morning to spend all day with the herd and eat all the grass hay she wants from the slow feeders. Navi gets a nibble net full of dry land straight grass at night so she has food at night in her pen.

Still I am pretty sure she thinks we hate her since during the day until her fly sheet arrives she gets sprayed with sunscreen (which is highly stinky in her mind) and then at night she is pulled away from her herd and the yummy alfalfa that she is accustom to getting daily. However it seems to be working, so she will be stuck with this routine for possibly the next year!

Speaking of fly sheets her outfit should be her tomorrow :)

What Navi will be wearing all summer to protect her from burning. Except her outfit isn't plaid...just plain white.

Currently Navi is just shy of 14 HH and is around 750lbs. So she hasn't grown a ton since November, but she is losing her baby look and is getting taller. I need to get some current pics of her!

Sad News, but some good things also.

Outside of the horse world things at home have been sad. Yesterday we lost one of our older kitties Jessie. Jessie has been with my partner since long before I came into the picture. He was born in 1995! I didn't come around until 2005. Jessie was a feral kitten when my partner took him in from the shelter that she worked at. So whenever something new happened at the house you could guarantee that Jessie would be in the attic where he felt safe.  For the first few years I lived here, he didn't venture down much while I was around, however these last few years he came down almost everyday and spent time in the living room with us. It was sad to have him leave us, but he lived a wonderful 17 1/2 years.

Jessie

In horse news things are good. It has been cold and snowy here, but we have still gotten in some playing time. Some really good news is that Jess is teaching a younger girl confidence. There is a family at our barn that own a National Show Horse (Arabian/Saddlebred cross) who is stunning and an amazing horse, but true to his breed he can be a bit of a handful. Because he is a bit much for the young girl she has been too nervous to ride him, so enter Jess. She has ridden Jess a few times this week and so far my trainer says it is going great! Jess has been really good for her. It is perfect for both of us, this way Jess gets light riding work and she builds her confidence back up so she can enjoy her horse more. 

Pixie and I are doing a demo on June 22 at the barns open house! So now that it is just two months away we have to start getting our routine down. I am going to use just a neck rope and then at liberty also. I think I might use my song I had picked out for last years demo that I had to miss due to work. I am excited to start practicing for it!  And now I am off to enjoy my three day weekend that of course will be spent with the horses!

Spring was here and now its winter again!

Last week we had amazing weather! In fact we rode both Wednesday and Thursday :) Not only did we ride, but we hauled 1 ton of hay each day and had the vet out Thursday to give shots and do wellness exams.

The vet visit went well! All the horses got their spring vaccinations and Navi got blood drawn so we could have a full blood panel done on her. We think everything is just fine, but we like to have blood work done once a year on everyone just to keep an eye on everything. Navi did well for being poked 3 times between the blood work and vaccinations.

Speaking of Navi, she is going through a phase of everything must be put in the mouth. Little bugger has been biting us and everything else she can reach! Apparently horse babies are just like puppies in that aspect, lol. Other than being mouthy she has been a very good girl. I will admit she hasn't been getting worked as much as she should be. Glad we have all the time in the world because my long work days have been cutting into her training time.

We finally made it over to the island that is owned by my barn owners. It is only reachable when the river is low so we ventured over there last week for the first time. Willow was a bit spooky but not bad and Pixie was super well behaved. I can't say enough how much I love that horse!

Willow

Pixie and I

 I am glad we enjoyed last week because currently it is 16 degrees outside with snow on the ground still! I think we will be riding/working inside today! Other than it being super cold I am glad it snowed, we needed the moisture in a very bad way. 

Busy Busy and Jess acts like a 3 yr old.

The last few weeks have been super busy at work which means I haven't had a lot of time with the horses :(  I do love my job, and it is what allows me to have the horses, but spring and summer are always super busy times for us which means some weeks I don't get in quite the horse time I would like.  Oh well such is life...gotta work :)

Last Wednesday we did get to spend the entire day with the horses ( that is the plan today also) it was a fun day overall. However there were a few bumps in the road with less than stellar behaviors.

We got to ride Willow and Pixie first in the the early afternoon. We decided to take them down the road to the fishing access which also has land you can ride around on. It makes for a nice mini trail ride that is at most a  1/2 mile away from my barn :) Can I just say before continuing on that I am soooo happy to be back at this barn where you can ride along the river anytime you want!   Pixie was great! Again this horse has turned into a wonderful trail partner. She has come so far and for the most part she is super trustworthy with me. I can't say that she could go somewhere new with some else riding her and her still be relaxed. Willow was a bit anxious and ready to go she seemed to be fighting my partner a bit. Overall she did okay, but it wasn't her best day out trail riding. Oh well it just means we have to take her out more! ( I love it when you can say you have to go riding for the horses sake. ) Later in the afternoon my partner wanted to take Jess over to the fishing access. We have been riding Jess around the barn and he has been sound so we figured he could handle a short ride down the road. I decided I would take Willow to get her out again. We started out and boy Jess was excited!! He hasn't been out riding off property for almost a year! My partner and Jess took the lead and we followed behind. All started out pretty well then we got into the wooded area. Jess was literally trotting in place and just barging through the downed trees. Willow and I couldn't keep up! Finally we made it to the open area. Willow and I took the lead...Big mistake! Next thing I heard was my partner yelling whoa and I turn to see Jess cantering towards us and then almost running us over. It was a scary moment for me and my partner! Happy to say she got him stopped about 50 feet in front of us and then made him back up to where he ran from. We then made him stand and be patient before we switched horses to go back home. Willow was being amazing on this ride out. I got on Jess and while he wasn't going to run off with me, we did pretty much trot in place and jog the whole way home. We did a lot of backing up every time he broke gait which meant he spent more time backing then going forward!

We made it back to the barn and we did a few laps around so he didn't think the ride was over. The good news that came out of him acting like a 3 yr old horse is he seemed to stay sound. Maybe his super expensive supplements are working too well, lol. Bad news for him is that it means he gets to spend more time riding out with me. I make him work harder than my partner ;) 

While it was a odd thing to see Jess acting like a moron, it made me happy in some ways to know he feels good still. We will never know his true age, but we are pretty sure he is at least 22. Now any one that saw us out riding last week probably thought why is that girl not wearing a helmet while training. He looked like a green broke young horse out there while we were trotting sideways!  On the bright side his super collected trot is way comfortable to sit. I bet he could really get under himself when he was younger!

In other news...the next day we were planning on spending the day with the horses again, however the day didn't go as planned! Instead we ending up buying a new car :) A 2008 Tahoe. I must say I am a bit jealous, the Tahoe is for my partner more than me. I have my truck and we got the Tahoe to replace her little car.

The Tahoe :)

Pixie in her new pink halter

Willow in her new halter :)

Aimee Brimhall is coming to my barn!

Scratch the last part about auditing...instead I am going to participate with Pixie!!! :)

This is an amazing opportunity for me and I am forever grateful that I have the chance to attend! Now we have to get ready. Pixie and I are going to have a busy busy summer and I couldn't feel any more blessed!

Spring time!

Spring has arrived in our neck of the woods :) We were super lucky and our days off this week happened to be the nicest weather days of the week. Usually the really nice days happen on the weekends when I am stuck at work all day :( I am looking forward to heading out to spend the day with the horses as its supposed to be almost 70 today!!

Yesterday was a bit windy, but very warm so my partner and I enjoyed the day riding the horses outside. We decided to see how Jess would do on a short ride around the barn. He did great...no signs of lameness in his feet or shoulder. We will continue to ride him going forward as long as he stays sound with with no signs of pain. I rode Willow while my partner rode Jess. It was fun...I love riding Willow. She is a super fun cool horse! Its funny, of course I own her technically, but I don't ride her a bunch because I find that riding Pixie and training Navi takes up most of my time. And since she is my partners riding horse she gets plenty of work and training with her.  After Jess was turned back out I gave Willow back to my partner to ride and I rode Pixie. The girls did well considering the wind was howling at almost 50mph. We decided to use the wind as a training aid,  we rode in and around the pine trees. They were a bit anxious, but listening. We stayed out in the wind because it was a good time to practice for if we were ever out trail riding when a storm/wind blew in. I want to know they can stay calm.

After riding we got Navi out to play for a bit. She wasn't feeling very energetic so we did basic ground work. Working with ropes around legs, belly, etc.. She did very well. She is getting better and better! While we worked with Navi my trainer was also working with her horses. Its always a treat to watch her work with her horses! The connection they have is amazing. They play and have fun, but are listening and respectful at the same time!

In other news I am hoping to audit a clinic this July. I can't afford to be in the clinic, but would love to watch. The clinician is  Aimee Brimhall. She is my trainers mentor so I am hoping to catch at least a few days!

Slow feeders

I have been sick this past week so that has meant my ponies have had a lot of time off :( I have checked on them at feeding time, but otherwise I haven't done much with them.

 Last Thursday we pushed back our lesson so we could move the horses into a new paddock. They are now set up with their three slow-feeder boxes :) It has worked well having the slow feeders. They are getting supplemented with a couple flakes of alfalfa once a day, but otherwise have 24hr access to straight grass hay out of their boxes. It has been working really well! They are no longer camped in front of the feeders. They graze for a while and then walk away :) We were worried Jess (the old guy) wouldn't ever leave the feeder, but that hasn't been the case he has figured it out. I haven't seen any significant weight gain with him (he is kinda chubby already ), so we have been happy.

Hoping to get my lesson with Pixie in today!