Yesterday we got test results back for Pixie. We tested for both IR (insulin resistance) and PPID (formally called Cushings). We truly thought if it was either of the two it would have been IR, but no she does not have IR. She does however have PPID ( pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction).
Here is what I knew about cushings in horses prior to getting this diagnosis yesterday:
1. It somehow affected the glucose levels
2. I was pretty sure it had to do with hormones somehow
3. They don't shed their hair and usually are shaved down in warmer months.
Here is what I am beginning to understand about this disease:
1. Yes, it does give them hyperglycemia, but it is so much more than that. Pixie's test came back at 125 fasting and that is high for fasting.
2. It is all hormone based. The pituitary gland essentially is overactive due to hypertrophy or an adenoma (neoplasm).
3. By they time they have stop shedding properly they are in the advance stages of the disease.
4. It affects their whole system. Basically they are immunocompromised meaning they are at a higher risk of infection.
5. It is either treated with medicine or not, but there is no in between. Since this is caused by a dysfunction of the pituitary gland you can't not treat with diet alone. Currently there is only one medicine on the market for horses. Which as we all know that means the medicine is expensive. With treatment though horses can live a normal life span, without treatment this disease will usually shorten their life quite a bit.
So basically it boils down to this. This diagnoses is a life changing dx for Pixie and I. Of course we are starting the medicine. Expensive or not I don't really see an option here. I can't treat this disease any other way. My only hope is that maybe one day there will be more than one drug available to help lower the price. This is a progressive disease. We are starting out at a 1/2 tablet a day, but as the years go the vet told me we will probably make our way up in dosage. But it could be years before we need to up the dosage so that is good. With the meds she can eat like a normal horse with the exception of grass. She will never be able to free graze on lush green grass. But we shouldn't have to soak hay at least! Her feet should stop being sore. It may be up to a year before she is completely sound, but she should be feeling better in the next 3 months or so. She may or may not have to be in some sort of shoes forever. Time will tell on how sensitive her feet are.
This is what I know so far. There is far more to this then I ever realized. Between Pixie and Devan at least I can go around saying cool abbreviations for their diseases. PPID and EPI, that is enough now, I am not sure I can remember any more cool disease names though 😉
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Then You Go Splat
This last week I worked really hard to maim myself. Last Sunday just a mile or so into the trail ride I dismounted without looking down first ( a big no no) and proceed to land on a rock and roll my ankle, resulting in spraining both sides. It didn't hurt as bad as one would expect (yes, it did hurt though) so I went on and finished my 6 mile ride. Now to see me get back on Navi the few times during the ride I am sure was quite the sight as I struggled to pull myself up. I am not graceful anyways, but without being able to push off of my right foot made it worse. Navi was a champ and stood there and let me climb my way up in a not so nice way.
After the ride it was time to float the creek. Fun times! I must do that again!!
By Thursday I was able to squeeze my foot back into my boot. So I was off to the barn. Promising my other half I would be super careful because I wasn't wearing my brace the dr said I had to wear for 2 weeks! 2 weeks of wearing a brace that won't fit into my boot meant no riding for two weeks...uhm no. And 4 months of wearing the brace on uneven ground! (I did ask if there were limitations on what activities I could do while my ankle was sprained and the dr said "no, not really", they just wanted me to be careful. Oh and to probably avoid stairs. They didn't say I couldn't ride)
I decided I probably wouldn't really ride on Thursday and just took Navi down and did some liberty ground work. She was doing amazing! We had some really nice liberty work so I decided to try some bareback riding in the round pen to work on getting her softer. I didn't want to tack up so figured it would be a good time to start working towards bridle-less riding with her. We did some more warm up in the round pen and I jump on and off at liberty before putting her halter back on her. ( Ok, here is where I stop using my common sense.) She was kinda a pill for putting her halter back on, but I ignored that sign. Then we lined up and I hopped on. She quickly gave me the head shake, did I listen no, no why would I do that. I told her to stop it and walk on. (Keep in mind this mare hates being brushed, hates being touched. And I wonder why she doesn't like bareback riding?!) Ok she quits and we walk on. Work on flexing and relaxing at the walk. We get back around and I felt it coming. She braced humped up. Oh crap...up she went into a small rear I leaned forward and then she threw her head down bucked and when she came back up my head collided with her neck and I knew I was going to hit the ground. I fell off, landed on my side rolled over to the other side out and stayed put for a second. I tend to curl up in the fetal position just in case they decide to run me over. She didn't, she stood perfectly still like a good girl, lol. As I flew off I thought " my other half is gonna kill me" and great I sure hope I didn't mess up my ankle more. Well I jumped up and of course looked at Navi and said "Really Navi, Really". I was mad, but really I knew it was my fault. I had pushed passed all the signs she had given me. Bareback hurts her or just plain irritates her and she will always let me know if she doesn't like something. I sent her away then I relaxed and knew I had to go tack up to finish the ride. I wasn't leaving it on that note. We walked back up the hill and tacked up. I climbed up and she was great. We went for a little ride and then met up with some friends and hung out and talked while we rode around the arena. She did really well. A bit bracey and moody with the gelding riding with us, but compared to bucking me off it was really good, lol. We called it a night and I left the barn with a fat lip, a few more bruises, and a bit of a headache. But hey my foot didn't hurt any worse!
So that my friends is how you end up going splat on the ground. Word of advice...don't ride your green, very opinionated, mare bareback when you know she hates bareback. I don't think liberty riding is out for us, but I do think we will do it with a saddle, lol.
Well I am off to hit the trails with Navi today as Pixie is still slightly lame. We are still working on it, but really she doesn't need to be ridden so she gets time off to heal and hopefully come back sound! Besides Pixie could handle just getting loved on and groomed, she is partial to not working really.
After the ride it was time to float the creek. Fun times! I must do that again!!
By Thursday I was able to squeeze my foot back into my boot. So I was off to the barn. Promising my other half I would be super careful because I wasn't wearing my brace the dr said I had to wear for 2 weeks! 2 weeks of wearing a brace that won't fit into my boot meant no riding for two weeks...uhm no. And 4 months of wearing the brace on uneven ground! (I did ask if there were limitations on what activities I could do while my ankle was sprained and the dr said "no, not really", they just wanted me to be careful. Oh and to probably avoid stairs. They didn't say I couldn't ride)
I decided I probably wouldn't really ride on Thursday and just took Navi down and did some liberty ground work. She was doing amazing! We had some really nice liberty work so I decided to try some bareback riding in the round pen to work on getting her softer. I didn't want to tack up so figured it would be a good time to start working towards bridle-less riding with her. We did some more warm up in the round pen and I jump on and off at liberty before putting her halter back on her. ( Ok, here is where I stop using my common sense.) She was kinda a pill for putting her halter back on, but I ignored that sign. Then we lined up and I hopped on. She quickly gave me the head shake, did I listen no, no why would I do that. I told her to stop it and walk on. (Keep in mind this mare hates being brushed, hates being touched. And I wonder why she doesn't like bareback riding?!) Ok she quits and we walk on. Work on flexing and relaxing at the walk. We get back around and I felt it coming. She braced humped up. Oh crap...up she went into a small rear I leaned forward and then she threw her head down bucked and when she came back up my head collided with her neck and I knew I was going to hit the ground. I fell off, landed on my side rolled over to the other side out and stayed put for a second. I tend to curl up in the fetal position just in case they decide to run me over. She didn't, she stood perfectly still like a good girl, lol. As I flew off I thought " my other half is gonna kill me" and great I sure hope I didn't mess up my ankle more. Well I jumped up and of course looked at Navi and said "Really Navi, Really". I was mad, but really I knew it was my fault. I had pushed passed all the signs she had given me. Bareback hurts her or just plain irritates her and she will always let me know if she doesn't like something. I sent her away then I relaxed and knew I had to go tack up to finish the ride. I wasn't leaving it on that note. We walked back up the hill and tacked up. I climbed up and she was great. We went for a little ride and then met up with some friends and hung out and talked while we rode around the arena. She did really well. A bit bracey and moody with the gelding riding with us, but compared to bucking me off it was really good, lol. We called it a night and I left the barn with a fat lip, a few more bruises, and a bit of a headache. But hey my foot didn't hurt any worse!
So that my friends is how you end up going splat on the ground. Word of advice...don't ride your green, very opinionated, mare bareback when you know she hates bareback. I don't think liberty riding is out for us, but I do think we will do it with a saddle, lol.
Well I am off to hit the trails with Navi today as Pixie is still slightly lame. We are still working on it, but really she doesn't need to be ridden so she gets time off to heal and hopefully come back sound! Besides Pixie could handle just getting loved on and groomed, she is partial to not working really.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
20+ miles
Yesterday my partner, my friend K, and I all hit the trails bright and early in the morning. I had wanted to get Navi across the street and ride some new trails. We had a little issue at the road and her not wanting to cross so I just got off and walked her across. No biggie. Once we were through the 1st gate it was time for me to mount back up, that took a minute as she was insisting on coming up on the hill with me. We got that figured out and we were off. We met up with some cows who found us non-scary and just hung out while we accomplished our 1st water crossing. Now Navi lives in her irrigation ditch in the pasture so I was really hoping crossing water would be an easy thing for her. K said she shouldn't have an issue,lol, as she is a water baby. And she didn't, didn't even bat an eye. Good Navi! We decided to turn around as it was getting hotter and Navi was getting tired. As we turned around we made a rattle snake mad and it rattled at us, it was off the trail so we just quickly and quietly left the area. No spook in her at all with the snake. She was a little rushy going home trying to keep up with the two faster horses, but otherwise I can't complain one bit! For a horse that is just now approaching her 1st 30 rides she is doing awesome out on the trails. We of course have fine tuning to do, but she has been wonderful to ride.
My goal was to hit the 20 mile mark yesterday, we did that plus 2 miles :) Off to hit the trails again bright and early today!
My goal was to hit the 20 mile mark yesterday, we did that plus 2 miles :) Off to hit the trails again bright and early today!
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Navi and I continue/Self Doubt
Navi and I have been getting more rides in. Some good, some just ok. Saturday we lost all "gas" and her steering left a lot to be desired! But then Sunday we tackled 4.3 miles of hills, cows, turkeys, and "off roading" and she did amazing!
See here is the thing, like I said before, Navi was a blank slate when she came home. She was to be my first start to finish horse. So when we have bad rides/days I have no one to blame but myself, however it works the other way too, when we have good rides/days I am responsible for that too. I suppose that is really no different than any other horse/rider partnership. Navi and I are finding our riding partnership now in this stage of our relationship and it overall is going great! So many days in this journey I was pretty sure we were never going to get there. The self doubt was huge. I knew I could do this, but there were moments when I really really really questioned myself. Had I gotten in over my head? Did I really know what I was doing? Could I really use clicker training to "break" a horse? All the things you have been told about horses growing up comes back real quick when you get scared and feelings of needing to "win"come out in due to the fear of getting hurt. Have I used pressure and release on Navi? Yes I have. We have done quite a bit of pressure and release work. Do I still mix it up with clicker training? Yes. Is it suppose to be that way in a perfect world? Nope. In a perfect world of clicker training there would be no pressure and release involved. While I am moving away from mixing the two training methods one step at a time it takes a while. It is a journey, one that is never ending. I follow people who use clicker training exclusively and some day I want to grow up to be them :)
I have learned many new things on this journey of clicker training my horses:
See here is the thing, like I said before, Navi was a blank slate when she came home. She was to be my first start to finish horse. So when we have bad rides/days I have no one to blame but myself, however it works the other way too, when we have good rides/days I am responsible for that too. I suppose that is really no different than any other horse/rider partnership. Navi and I are finding our riding partnership now in this stage of our relationship and it overall is going great! So many days in this journey I was pretty sure we were never going to get there. The self doubt was huge. I knew I could do this, but there were moments when I really really really questioned myself. Had I gotten in over my head? Did I really know what I was doing? Could I really use clicker training to "break" a horse? All the things you have been told about horses growing up comes back real quick when you get scared and feelings of needing to "win"come out in due to the fear of getting hurt. Have I used pressure and release on Navi? Yes I have. We have done quite a bit of pressure and release work. Do I still mix it up with clicker training? Yes. Is it suppose to be that way in a perfect world? Nope. In a perfect world of clicker training there would be no pressure and release involved. While I am moving away from mixing the two training methods one step at a time it takes a while. It is a journey, one that is never ending. I follow people who use clicker training exclusively and some day I want to grow up to be them :)
I have learned many new things on this journey of clicker training my horses:
- It takes time, and lots of it. Training is never fast and it really does take a ton of time.
- It is possible if you keep at it.
- You can control a 1000 lb animal riding without a bit if you give them a reason to listen to you other than fear.
- Sometimes you will doubt yourself and at times others will doubt you, but don't give up.
Well I am off to hit the trails with Navi. We shall see how today goes 😆
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| Our ride on July 2. Taking a break in the shade. |
Sunday, June 18, 2017
2nd Ride out on Navi
Yesterday my other half and I hit the roads around the ranch again. I walked Navi down the road to the huge new outdoor arena. We warmed up a little and then I hopped on. She hasn't ever been to this area so it was all new! She walked out like a champ. With the support of my partner we decided to try some trot work. She was a little hesitant at first, but then moved right into a nice even trot that was super smooth :) We did that for a few minutes off and on. She was awesome. It was nice to finally have the first trot under saddle out of the way. I was beaming with pride when we accomplished it. My partner is a great support and is super good about reminding me to watch my hands. I tend to nag and I needed to just relax and let her have her head. After that it was time for lunch. The ranch was hosting lunch for the poker run and clinic that was going on also. So we left the arena and rode back to the main area of the ranch. Navi was perfect for the ride back. She lead the way some and followed some. We accomplished our second bridge crossing! We rode right up to all the action where the cavaletti clinic was coming to a close, horses and people everywhere and she didn't care one bit. We tied the girls up for a break while we ate lunch. After lunch we got back on and did a little work over the cavalettis that were still set up from the clinic. It was super fun and Navi was one tired girl. We called it a day and rode back up the the tack room.
It may have taken us a lot longer than planned to really start riding, but in the end I feel like everything happens for a reason and this is no different. Every bump in the road, every set back, every moment that I questioned if I knew what I was doing had its reason for happening. Navi and I have had amazing moments while training and not so amazing moments. But I can say this there has never been a time when I pushed her to where she was truly stressed or scared and now it seems to have paid off. Last summer when we started to ride again and she started rearing up a little I always got off and started over. Why? Simply because I have no desire to get hurt or hurt her. Was she told no when she really threw a fit? Yes she was because again I like my safety.
I sat out on this journey to make Navi a trail horse through clicker training mixed with some traditional training. When we very first started I was still riding in bits, since then we have given up riding in bits completely. We are on this journey to keep learning and learning is certainly what we are doing. Navi has only worn a bit one time in her life and then I quickly changed my mind and never had her wear it again. We are riding in a side pull currently and it works great!
Our journey together hasn't been perfect, far from, but I can say I am proud that I have made a horse that is safe enough to ride out bitless in new areas on her 2nd ride out. Today we hope to hit the actual trails for the first time :)
It may have taken us a lot longer than planned to really start riding, but in the end I feel like everything happens for a reason and this is no different. Every bump in the road, every set back, every moment that I questioned if I knew what I was doing had its reason for happening. Navi and I have had amazing moments while training and not so amazing moments. But I can say this there has never been a time when I pushed her to where she was truly stressed or scared and now it seems to have paid off. Last summer when we started to ride again and she started rearing up a little I always got off and started over. Why? Simply because I have no desire to get hurt or hurt her. Was she told no when she really threw a fit? Yes she was because again I like my safety.
I sat out on this journey to make Navi a trail horse through clicker training mixed with some traditional training. When we very first started I was still riding in bits, since then we have given up riding in bits completely. We are on this journey to keep learning and learning is certainly what we are doing. Navi has only worn a bit one time in her life and then I quickly changed my mind and never had her wear it again. We are riding in a side pull currently and it works great!
Our journey together hasn't been perfect, far from, but I can say I am proud that I have made a horse that is safe enough to ride out bitless in new areas on her 2nd ride out. Today we hope to hit the actual trails for the first time :)
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Navi and I finally did it!
5 or so years ago I set out with the plans on buying a baby horse and taking them from start to finish myself. In late Nov 2012, Navi came home as a 1 1/2 yr old blank slate. Flash forward to now. She turned 6 this year and yesterday we took our 1st "trail"ride with a couple other horses. I can't believe come November of this year I will have owned her for 5 years! Wow, time really does fly!!
To say this road has been smooth sailing would be a bit of a lie. Her and I have had anything but a smooth ride up to this point. Navi and I have not seen eye to eye a lot of the time. But I just had to learn to listen to her and go with the flow. All plans have been thrown out the window about a hundred times. I was planning on starting her lightly on trails at the age of 4, but then as we know she tried to cut her leg off. That was a year of healing and not knowing if she was going to even come back sound to ride. So we dabbled in the world of driving. (Which I do plan on still doing) It was decided she was sound for at least light riding so at the age of 5 we started under saddle training again. Except this time around, unlike when she was 3, she was not easy to ride. She started kind of throwing fits when I would get on her. I feel like I changed the way we did things 500 times in hopes of finding a non-stressful way of getting her going under saddle. She pushed my confidence to the brink and made me think hard of ways to find a partnership with her. More than once I said I didn't think she was ever going to be a riding horse. In fact just this year in early spring, my partner and I finally just said nope her being a trail horse isn't going to happen. I made the decision to just focus on riding Pixie and enjoying the summer. Navi of course would never leave us. She would always have a home with me, but I decided to take a break from regular training. We were doing well for the most part, but I had to find my confidence and desire to continue to try and push through this road block when it came to riding. I have always struggled to find my way with Navi cause she pushes my buttons. And lets face it I have always had an easy out as long as I have had Pixie around to ride. I didn't need to push myself. Well then Pixie came up lame again in the beginning of June. I had 3 choices: 1. Not trail ride 2. Buy another trail horse 3. Step up to the plate and just ride Navi. Here is how this decision was made. It was quickly decided I am already poor so another horse was out, lol. I could go the summer without trail riding, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I could also see if Navi and I could work this out and hopefully hit the trails. So it was decided it was time for me to just saddle up and ride her. I have great medical insurance, so heck why worry about it. I got my helmet and and last weekend I climbed aboard after months of not riding. I waited for the blow up, the rearing and or bucking. It never came...so ride two I waited again and it never happened. Then ride 3 this week. I pushed a bit more she got mad, pinned her ears, tossed her head,but never blew up. What happened here? Had I finally figured out how to connect with this mare and ride? Had I just gained my confidence and said the heck with it? I am not really sure I know the answer, but I do know I wasn't nervous one bit on her last night. I know I can ride and for the most part I can ride through a blow up. And well I have a helmet.
So there we were on our 1st trail ride. We actually were out a bit farther from the barn, but I decided it was best to not take pictures and focus on my riding. Well up until the end when I couldn't resist. :) We rode over a bridge, she was perfect! We rode past horses in pastures that wanted to come see us, she did great! We tackled a tiny hill or two (really tiny) and she did great! I don't think someone could have ruined my excitement if they had tried really really hard. I could have cried when I dismounted at the tack room I was so happy! This moment was one I had waited for for a long long time. Our journey is far from over, we have so much more to do. And we will hit many more curves and bumps along the way while trail riding, but until then I am enjoying the moment.
To say this road has been smooth sailing would be a bit of a lie. Her and I have had anything but a smooth ride up to this point. Navi and I have not seen eye to eye a lot of the time. But I just had to learn to listen to her and go with the flow. All plans have been thrown out the window about a hundred times. I was planning on starting her lightly on trails at the age of 4, but then as we know she tried to cut her leg off. That was a year of healing and not knowing if she was going to even come back sound to ride. So we dabbled in the world of driving. (Which I do plan on still doing) It was decided she was sound for at least light riding so at the age of 5 we started under saddle training again. Except this time around, unlike when she was 3, she was not easy to ride. She started kind of throwing fits when I would get on her. I feel like I changed the way we did things 500 times in hopes of finding a non-stressful way of getting her going under saddle. She pushed my confidence to the brink and made me think hard of ways to find a partnership with her. More than once I said I didn't think she was ever going to be a riding horse. In fact just this year in early spring, my partner and I finally just said nope her being a trail horse isn't going to happen. I made the decision to just focus on riding Pixie and enjoying the summer. Navi of course would never leave us. She would always have a home with me, but I decided to take a break from regular training. We were doing well for the most part, but I had to find my confidence and desire to continue to try and push through this road block when it came to riding. I have always struggled to find my way with Navi cause she pushes my buttons. And lets face it I have always had an easy out as long as I have had Pixie around to ride. I didn't need to push myself. Well then Pixie came up lame again in the beginning of June. I had 3 choices: 1. Not trail ride 2. Buy another trail horse 3. Step up to the plate and just ride Navi. Here is how this decision was made. It was quickly decided I am already poor so another horse was out, lol. I could go the summer without trail riding, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I could also see if Navi and I could work this out and hopefully hit the trails. So it was decided it was time for me to just saddle up and ride her. I have great medical insurance, so heck why worry about it. I got my helmet and and last weekend I climbed aboard after months of not riding. I waited for the blow up, the rearing and or bucking. It never came...so ride two I waited again and it never happened. Then ride 3 this week. I pushed a bit more she got mad, pinned her ears, tossed her head,but never blew up. What happened here? Had I finally figured out how to connect with this mare and ride? Had I just gained my confidence and said the heck with it? I am not really sure I know the answer, but I do know I wasn't nervous one bit on her last night. I know I can ride and for the most part I can ride through a blow up. And well I have a helmet.
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| Why are all my horses slow?? |
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Crazy Horse Owner
Everyone knows the world is full of "crazy" horse owners. No one wants to be one, but the truth is we will all become one at some point. 😊
I feel as though I have officially become one, lol. Don't feel bad for me, I enjoy my little stressed out world. However, you should feel bad for the barn employees where my horses are kept. Because not only am I a crazy horse owner of 1 horse, but we of course have 5. You know that means we are crazy times 5! Which means the poor people that take care of my horses are subjected to 50 thousand texts a week. All of which probably include " okay we are going to move so and so or can you check on so and so..." Oh yes, I am that person who freaks out and will text at 6:30am to please check on my horse when I am told the night before that he is sore on his feet. I am also that owner that decides to move their horse and then two weeks later needs to move her back to her original paddock. Or I need to dry lot my horse this month, but next month she needs to be moved to a different pen with more shade. The last text I sent Friday to the manager said "Don't worry I think I am done moving horses for a while" Ha! 24 hrs later my other half and I are talking about that we need to move Pixie to a different pen. I assume they know to no longer believe me when I say things like that, lol. I want my horses to graze 24 hrs a day, but I don't want them to get fat ( Hey that is kinda like me, I want to eat all the time and stay skinny??), lol. Oh and here let me have special hay boxes to feed my ponies out of so they can slow feed.
I keep my horses 47 miles away from my house, why? Well because I am that crazy owner and no where closer to me even comes close to my standards of care! Why don't I buy land you say and keep them at home? Because I can't afford to have such nice pastures for them. They need space to run, graze, have a year round live creek, and have shelter. I am sure if I do ever buy land and take my horses home every employee at the barn will be throwing us a good bye party 😝 Ok, I don't think they will be that excited to see us go, lol.
The first step in any problem is admitting you have a problem. No worries, I know I have a problem.
In all seriousness though, everyday I am so beyond grateful for the ranch that my horses live at. I couldn't ask for a better place or better people to care for my babies. Every time we go out there I feel blessed that we are able to call that place home for our horses!
Now I am off to get errands done so I can get the ranch early to figure out a game plan for where Pixie will be moved to. Pixie is lame again, so I need to find a perfect combination of somewhere she can graze, but not get fat again, but can move around more than her current situation. Willow has a cut on her neck that I want to check on. I need to get Navi dressed in her fly sheet now that she isn't in the big pasture with tons of shade to protect her from the sun. Jess and Char... well I think they should be good to go for the day. They will get their one candy cane they get each time we visit. It is super tough being a retired horse of mine. You have to walk to the fence when we arrive to receive your candy cane. What, you say, you can buy candy canes year round?? Oh yes, no worries you can always find them on Amazon or cracker barrel 😉.
I feel as though I have officially become one, lol. Don't feel bad for me, I enjoy my little stressed out world. However, you should feel bad for the barn employees where my horses are kept. Because not only am I a crazy horse owner of 1 horse, but we of course have 5. You know that means we are crazy times 5! Which means the poor people that take care of my horses are subjected to 50 thousand texts a week. All of which probably include " okay we are going to move so and so or can you check on so and so..." Oh yes, I am that person who freaks out and will text at 6:30am to please check on my horse when I am told the night before that he is sore on his feet. I am also that owner that decides to move their horse and then two weeks later needs to move her back to her original paddock. Or I need to dry lot my horse this month, but next month she needs to be moved to a different pen with more shade. The last text I sent Friday to the manager said "Don't worry I think I am done moving horses for a while" Ha! 24 hrs later my other half and I are talking about that we need to move Pixie to a different pen. I assume they know to no longer believe me when I say things like that, lol. I want my horses to graze 24 hrs a day, but I don't want them to get fat ( Hey that is kinda like me, I want to eat all the time and stay skinny??), lol. Oh and here let me have special hay boxes to feed my ponies out of so they can slow feed.
I keep my horses 47 miles away from my house, why? Well because I am that crazy owner and no where closer to me even comes close to my standards of care! Why don't I buy land you say and keep them at home? Because I can't afford to have such nice pastures for them. They need space to run, graze, have a year round live creek, and have shelter. I am sure if I do ever buy land and take my horses home every employee at the barn will be throwing us a good bye party 😝 Ok, I don't think they will be that excited to see us go, lol.
The first step in any problem is admitting you have a problem. No worries, I know I have a problem.
In all seriousness though, everyday I am so beyond grateful for the ranch that my horses live at. I couldn't ask for a better place or better people to care for my babies. Every time we go out there I feel blessed that we are able to call that place home for our horses!
Now I am off to get errands done so I can get the ranch early to figure out a game plan for where Pixie will be moved to. Pixie is lame again, so I need to find a perfect combination of somewhere she can graze, but not get fat again, but can move around more than her current situation. Willow has a cut on her neck that I want to check on. I need to get Navi dressed in her fly sheet now that she isn't in the big pasture with tons of shade to protect her from the sun. Jess and Char... well I think they should be good to go for the day. They will get their one candy cane they get each time we visit. It is super tough being a retired horse of mine. You have to walk to the fence when we arrive to receive your candy cane. What, you say, you can buy candy canes year round?? Oh yes, no worries you can always find them on Amazon or cracker barrel 😉.
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