New Farrier

Today we met the new Farrier. Her name is Michele Beehner and she does Natural Hoof Care. I really like her.

After we introduced ourselves, Michele walked with me to Ashke's run and came to greet him. She said it would be really easy for her to do the farrier work with him in his run. Her only criteria was that he feel as comfortable as possible. I gave her a bit of background on what had gone before her, some of the issues I had seen and how my first goal was to get him sound.

Ashke loved her. Absolutely loved her. Wanted to lick and nibble all over her.

I threw the halter on him and led him outside. Michele had me walk him up and down the trail behind his run while she walked behind him and watched. (My old farrier never even suggested watching him move prior to doing his feet.) Michele asked me if I was using a chiropractor and I told her I was seeing Diane. She said good because he was really locked up in the left hip and still needed some work.

She also identified that he was toe down when he walked, rather than breaking over and landing with his heel. This is something I identified back in late April, when trying to diagnose his unsoundness. She said he was doing that because his toes were too long and she suspected Dan of trimming him like a QH, instead of trimming to the natural shape and function of an Arab hoof. She said she could help make his breakover better. Then she took him into the run and began to work.

Michele used a black marker to show me where she needed to make the adjustments and what our end goal would be. She said she was very comfortable working with Arabs, since a lot of endurance riders are going with natural hoof care. She said his toes were too long and his heels were way too high.

She lowered his heels and angled his toe, moving his breakover point further back on his hoof. He had some bruising on both feet, she thinks in part because of how long they were. Both front feet had been trimmed by my old farrier so they were longer on the outside of the hoof and shorter on the inside. The front right was so much longer on the outside that Michele wasn't able to take any hoof off the inside hoof wall.

He was so much more relaxed with Michele than he ever was with Dan. She was patient and calm and let him have  his moments. Ashke responded really well to her handling and was much more comfortable with her than he has ever been with Dan.

Michele showed me where there was bruising on his feet. Both front feet had bruising on the white line to the toe. She believes some of the bruising was being caused by how long the toe was, and some was caused by the imbalance of his feet. She thinks now that he is balanced and the toe has been shortened, the bruising should disappear. The trim on his front feet was very interesting. She rasped an angle on the toe, which left a line for breakover about half an inch back from the front of the hoof. Even I could see how the pressure would now be redirected off of his toe and how much shorter the front to back surface of his hoof would be.

Michele didn't stop talking the entire time, explaining and instructing. She showed me where the hoof wall had started to split, something that happened in the last week, but she was able to shift some of the pressure away from those areas, which she described as mother nature's attempt to trim his own feet. If you look closely at the above photo you can see the line running just above his frog from side to side where she rockered the front of his toe.

It's easier to see in the above photos. The point where the toe was taken at an angle up from the rest of the striking surface of the hoof is the very dark part of his hoof toward the toe. I wish I could draw a line on the photo to show you. She said that he had great feet, which was one of the first things I said to Jenn when we were talking about bringing him home, that they were structurally sound and she could see no reason why we couldn't get him balanced and comfortable.

 

 

Ashke checking her out. He stood very well for Michele. He wanted to nibble on her, but she kept flapping her elbows and making it uncomfortable for him to do. So he ducked his head and sniffed at his knee. Reminds me of a six year old. "I'm not touching you."

 

He looks pretty stressed out, doesn't he?

 

 

Michele said his left hind was the most interesting hoof Ashke had. The walls and heels were twice as thick as the right one. I told her that Diane said he was overusing his left hip in order to compensate for the injury to his right one. She said she could see that in the structure of his left hoof and it would be interesting to see what his feet looked like in six weeks. Imagine that! A farrier who agreed with me that eight weeks was too long to go between trims. His feet grow fast.

With horses that are left barefoot, it is recommended you have boots or gloves to ride them in over long distances or on rocky terrain. I talked with Michele about boot or gloves yesterday, but am planning on waiting until next spring to have them fitted. We have no idea right now how his feet are going to change or what true shape they will have until after a couple more trims. I have no doubt that he is going to be so much more comfortable going forward. Putting boots or gloves on him should be interesting.

After Michele had finished all four feet she had me walk him out. After maybe thirty steps, he dropped his head, shook and snorted. She laughed and said that was a good thing. It meant he was communicating how good it felt to be on balanced feet. While we were watching him walk, Cali reached under the fence and grabbed the farrier's rasp. She had the handle in her mouth and was trying to drag it under the fence. Michele just laughed and went to rescue her tools.

We made another appointment for January 24th, just six weeks from now. Yeah! I love it when I am listened to and when what I think falls in line with the equine professional. I think Nicole might try using her as well, which would be nice if we could get them both on the same schedule. Best $50 so far.

I, of course, had to ride afterwards. We started in the indoor arena and worked transistions, leg yields and walk-trot. No canter today. It took a while to get on since boy-child wanted to move away from the mounting block every time I wanted to get on. We backed the length of the arena a couple of times and even worked in a small circle around me until he finally decided it was easier to let me get on. We rode for about thirty minutes in the arena and then we moved outside. We rode around the outdoor paddocks in a full circle and then again. The second time at the top of the paddocks we went out the back gate and onto the mesa. He did freaking awesome. He was a little spooky at all of the jumps that are set up north of the paddocks, but every time he showed fear, we stopped and faced the obstacle, then walked up and touched it with his nose. After that it was a non-issue.

He ended the day with a nice feed of warm bran mash mixed with carrots, peppermints, and amplify. He was licking the last bits out of his feeder when I left. It was a great day and a super ride. Total ride time about 45 minutes.

Canter and Leads

I got to put my nice clean saddle on my dirty horse. Oh well, no one said it would stay clean for very long.

Ashke looked good tonight. We are gaining muscle through the chest. And across the back and hips. His feet aren't looking as good. I'm so glad the farrier is coming out tomorrow. They are in dire need of trimming. I sure hope she's more flexible when it comes to getting her out at six week intervals rather than eight weeks.

He must be getting stronger because he was able to canter several times around the arena in both directions on the correct lead without cross-cantering. And he picked up the correct lead in both directions. I was very happy. The only issue we had was he felt a touch weak in the haunch when we were slowing to a stop from a canter. I'm not sure if his haunch came out from under us or if he slipped a bit in the wet sand. Either way, we went back to our walk-trot to finish out the night.

I found myself actively riding the trot, balancing my weight in the stirrups and shifting to move him in and out along the rail. Every time I tighten my leg (either leg) Ashke tries to take off, wanting to move forward faster rather than moving sideways away. When I ask him to move in a leg yield he tries to accelerate, swishing his tail and throwing his head up in the air. It's not until we are on the far side of our exercise that he begins to relax and listen. Maybe if I can ride him more frequently, it will help. I think the newness of the place is still throwing him off.

That, and horses that try to eat him.

A mare snaked her head out and tried to snag us as we went past her on the rail. Ashke went sideways pretty quick, but every time we passed her again, he would pin his ears and threaten her.

Tomorrow is farrier and a ride. Then a ride on Friday night. I won't be able to ride on Saturday or Sunday, due our work party and the Broncos game. Maybe I can get back out on Monday. We shall see.

I hope to have lots of pictures tomorrow. I tried to take pics tonight, but they were really blurry.

Random Thoughts

Ashke loves bran mash with carrots and peppermints. He expects it when I put him away now.

Once all of the old hay was cleared out of his feed bin, he has been cleaning up all of his feed.

We could see the edges of his ribs through his winter coat as he was lunging on Sunday.

My saddle looks awesome! Super soft and very clean. It only took six or so hours to soap and oil it.

We left the horse soccer ball in the tack room on my box so I have it if we want to play.

I need to define a work-out plan for Ashke, to increase stamina, develop his top-line, balance his canter.

Need to work on circles and serpentines.

I'm going back to the running martingale for now. He is not so head high and responds better to my commands.

I may try to go without it again at some point. It is just a tool, not a critique of my riding ability.

I'm going to plan on going to the barn directly from work tonight. Going home first puts a huge crimp in our time.

Tomorrow is the farrier. Can't wait to see what she thinks of his feet. Can't wait to see what a difference it makes in his gait.

Sunday

J and I finally made our way out to the barn in the bitter cold to see Ashke. I didn't want to ride, because we were running out of time, but did want to get him moving for fifteen minutes or so to loosen his right hammie. We had gone out late last night to let him play with his ball. He was terrified of it for the first twenty minutes. Then he started picking it up in his teeth and tossing it in the air, then rearing and bucking at it. Of course, he stopped doing that when I started filming.

Today was cold with a high of 23. J and I went by Murdocks and I picked up a pair of thin leather reins. I want to improve the contact between Ashke and myself. The english reins, which I like because they buckle in the middle, were $60. The western reins were either roping reins, which are too short and are one piece, or they were really long reins with heavy decorative elements. J finally found a pair that were as long as the English reins, without the buckle, but only $22. The ends that attached to the bit were kind of bulky, but I fixed that in about five minutes with the hole punch I bought. I didn't add a buckle to the reins, but I did buy a metal thingy that works as an impromptu buckle. $22.59. Sure beats $60.

Of course, I didn't use them. I put them on the bridle and then put the bridle away. I held Ashke while J brushed him. Then we went to the indoor arena and I made him trot and canter in a circle around me for 25 - 30 minutes or so. Not enough to make him sweaty. Just enough to warm him up. J said she thought he was moving easier. I agree. And when he was working to the left at the canter he was able to held his lead on both the front and the back most of the time. Definitely longer than he's been able to since his adjustment. His topline is developing each day and I can see the muscles rippling and moving beneath his skin as he trots and canters. His neck is amazingly arched with muscle and his butt just gets better every day.

Overall, he seems to be settling in. His anxiety at being separated from Cali has diminished. He was really snorty and blowy in the arena on Friday night. Today was a little better, but he's decided his ball is out to eat him.

After our workout, we loaded the saddle in the truck and brought it home. Then I did this:

The saddle was used when I purchased it and hadn't been cleaned since I got it. I spent several hours soaping it and then waxing/oiling it. I fixed the stirrup leathers so I can shorten them enough for T to put his feet in correctly. We talked to him about taking a lesson or two from Cinnamon to see if he would like to really learn to ride or if he just likes the idea. I think he likes riding, but isn't crazy about the taking care of part.

The cinch is finally clean. It is still wet so I need to oil the outside of it once it is dry. The sheepskin looks so much better.

Ashke was tucked in tonight with a bran mash in his winter blanket.

I can't wait to see what the new farrier thinks of his feet and what we can do to make his movement better.

Canter

I rode Ashke tonight. He was pretty tense. I think it was primarily because he was the only horse in the big arena, which is the first time that has happened since we moved him out. A secondary reason might be because there is a storm moving into Colorado and the barometer has fallen. It was pretty cold moving from the barn to the indoor arena and Ashke made the trip snorting at everything.

I really like the indoor. It's not dusty and the footing is pretty good. When I first got on, Ashke was very energetic. I changed the reins and took off the martingale. I have been using a set of reins that are very thick rope and tonight I tried a pair of leather reins. There was a huge difference in what I could feel from his mouth. Going to go to Murdocks tomorrow and get a pair of leather reins. J will be so pleased. I also rode him without the martingale. I could feel every time he moved his mouth on the bit. It was nice and I plan on continuing with that set up for a while.

What wasn't nice was his behavior. He would settle into a nice long walk, with his head down and relaxed. At the trot, he kept trying to jump out from under me. It got bad enough that I tried a one rein stop, which doesn't work if you have a horse that can canter in a small circle. Which mine can. Just for the record. I tried working him in small figure eights, giving him changes of direction to redirect him, but finally just jumped off and turned him loose. He galloped in a big circle around me for five minutes or so and then seemed ready to be ridden. He did try to bolt a couple of times after that, but everytime he jumped and tried to take off, I lowered my hands and asked him to walk. The whole ride was a struggle. After about forty minutes of riding the rail at the walk and trot, we did two circuits in both directions at the canter. Clockwise was good. Counter clockwise was a struggle. It's been that way since his adjustment. I think it's a hip thing and I just have to give it time.

One of the biggest issues at the canter is me. I am not balanced. I can't seem to find my comfort zone or riding ability when we go at that gait. It's such a bitch to get old. I know I am still building muscle in my abdomen and back and trying to regain my seat, but sometimes it just sucks. I rode bareback from the time I was eight until I was sixteen and was given my first saddle. I broke and trained a BLM mustang bareback. Riding the canter bareback was my favorite thing ever. It was something I did without thinking about it. My body knew exactly what to do. We aren't there yet.

I have gotten so much better at the trot and am no longer bouncing or flopping around the saddle. I can sit the trot with him without throwing him off balance or out of whack. I know I just need to give myself some more time. And put my subconscious to work on reawakening that part of my body. The canter will come with additional practice and more opportunity. It's not like we are spending a ton of time cantering. We aren't. Mostly, because I want to bring him along slow and give his butt time to develop.

On another note, he isn't eating his grass hay from Christensen's. He refuses. He is leaving it in his bin. This is kind of good, since it tells me he is getting enough to eat. However, I want him to have plenty of fuel for the winter.

What Do You Do?

It's a question I've been asked a lot in the past week . . .

First let me say that my experience at the barn has been good. People have been friendly and welcoming. There are a lot more riders under the age of thirty at this barn than at Christensen's. None of them have so much as raised an eyebrow when I introduce J as my wife. None of them has said a word about T tearing around. There are a lot of kids there working their horses, which leads me to believe T would be able to find a fun place to learn to ride with kids close to his age if he wanted to. There are plenty of Arabs there and I can't count the number of times I've heard "he's so cute" in relation to Ashke.

However, the one reoccurring question I've heard, over and over, is, "What do you do?'

I didn't realize until I got back into the horse thing, how prevalent the concept of "doing" with a horse really is. At Christensen's, the "doing" was western pleasure, cutting, reining, etc. At TMR, the "doing" is dressage and show jumping. There doesn't seem to be a slot for "just riding".

I fell into this myself when I first started suggesting I might be able to get a horse to J. I thought I had to have a purpose, that "I love them and want them" didn't seem to carry enough water to justify the expense. That's why I gravitated to endurance, because it's basically riding for a really long time. I like that and want to do more. I also want a good, solid relationship with my horse. I want him fit and eager and sound when we ride. I want him to enjoy our companionship and adventures. I want the trust and love. I want him to be completely healed and ready to ride for six or eight hours at a time, without pain or fatigue. I want him to enjoy the gymkhanas, based on how he reacted last year, and develop balance and agility with me on him. I want him to feel safe and taken care of and to let go of his past. Those are my goals. But they aren't really my "do".

In talking with the young woman riding her 17.1 warmblood mare around and around the arena on Tuesday night, I told her I was interested in trail riding. She sneered. I'm sure she didn't intend it the way it came across, but it is in effect what she did. I asked her if there were people who liked to ride trail, and she sneered again and communicated to me that TMR was a "show barn" and although there might be a few people who ride trail, most of them were serious equestrians, with trainers and scheduled shows and a PURPOSE. All spoken in a reasonable, but a touch condescending, tone.

I've ran into this a lot. Trail riding is not a discipline, unless you wrap it up in the terms "endurance riding", and doesn't seem to qualify in the eyes of most horsepeople as a real reason, a real "do". I did admit to her that I was interested in "doing" endurance, but was waiting to see how Ashke's right hamstring came along, which garnered a lot of verbal support and comments like "well, don't give up on it yet" and "you could still DO it". But I wasn't able to really communicate to any of the people I have talked to that it really doesn't matter to me if we never DO anything other than trail ride.

I didn't have a purpose when I had Queenie. Or a "do." She was freedom and movement and the thrill of being on a horse. Some days we were the pony express. Some days we were the Lakota at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Some days we were soldiers in the Civil War. Some times I was the ape in Planet of the Apes, armed with gun and rope chasing the other kids in the neighborhood. It all depended on the book I was reading. And the games I was playing in my head. We did work on the things that would make us successful in 4-H, but that was not really the reason for having Queenie and was never really our focus. It was part-time work at best. What we did best was just be. And to just be everywhere it was possible for us to go.

I have always loved going places I've never gone before. I love exploring. I used to do it in my car. I have done it on my bike and on rollerblades. I love doing it on horseback. I would die to be able to camp and ride at the same time. I would love to take Ashke to Wyoming and explore Vedauwoo from horseback. I would love to feel the Wyoming plains disappear beneath our feet, to chase antelope, and pretend again that I am a Lakota warrior, wild and free. I want to ride all the way to Boulder from the barn in Golden. I want to find a way to ride to Sloan's lake. I might want to participate in a fun ride at Kenlyn Arabians or their poker run. I want to spend time with my horse exploring and adventuring.

For me, I don't want to "do", I just want to be.

Sweat

When I got to the barn tonight to see Ashke I found him looking like he had been soaked with a hose. Or had completely sweated up. It's easy to tell on a horse with winter hair when they get sweaty. First off, they aren't as clean in general during the winter, since it is difficult to wash them when the weather is bad. When they sweat and are dirty, especially white horses, their hair bunches into dirty brown ridges. Ashke was covered with those stiff, dirty ridges. Even after he was brushed, the hair was stiff and wavy.

I pulled him out to the grooming stall and set to work with the brushes. I saw one of the women who works at the barn and asked her if anything had happened to him. She didn't know, but quickly found Megan. Megan came over and I asked her if anything had happened today. And she said yes. That he and Cali had been out in turn out and Nicole pulled Cali from the field. Ashke went crazy. He ran himself around the pasture so much that he was soaked with sweat from his ears to his haunches. If it had been earlier during the day. They had to go pull him out of the field early, because they were afraid he would hurt himself. I would have washed him, but I didn't want him to be chilled as the evening started to cool off.

I finished grooming him and spent a bit of time rubbing his ears and playing with his mouth. He only bit at me one time today, and that was while I was getting on him. He nipped at my pants leg. Otherwise, keeping him from rubbing, nibbling or pushing at me has helped establish boundries for him.

I rode in the big arena with a bunch of other people for about an hour. Ashke mostly walked and trotted. We did some small circles and he did a couple of rounds around the arena at the canter, but mostly we trotted. Our only issue was getting him to move away from the leg pressure without accelerating. He loved watching himself walk and trot in the mirror. Cinnamon, one of the trainers, said he looked pretty relaxed. I answered that he was still a little tense and she laughed and pointed out he was an Arabian and that they are supposed to be a little tense. By the end of our ride he was walking out nicely, moving freely at the trot, and only cross cantered for a little while. He felt very much out of control at the canter. I still need a lot of work at that gait. I find it ironical that I am hesitant about cantering when it was the only gait I rode Queenie at. Maybe, when we get to the point where I know he is strong and able to maintain the gait correctly for a longer period of time, then we will ride it more.

New thing I want to work on is riding him without the martingale. Starting on Friday.