Complete in triplicate
First was Zip. A quick rasp of the hind feet. One was woefully unbalanced with an outside wall much longer than the inside. Fixed nicely. The other was still very long and the frog still not on the floor. I took the heels off again (fourth time in three weeks I've been able to lower them) and it made a huge improvement. While he was tied in the yard he seemed happy and relaxed outside Jazz's box, so I got a step and leant over his back. He was twitchy with the strangeness of it, but he soon seemed pretty happy with what the wierd woman was doing :-) He is certainly going to need leaning over for a little while before I sit on him, unlike Tetley and Scooby who I got on the same day as they were saddled for the first time. But I don't think he is going to be "difficult" as long as you don't scare him with something new too quickly.
We went into the barn then with our tack on and did some leading exercise - round and round the scarey stepladder - I left it in there last night so he'd had plenty of time to get used to it by this morning. He was very good. I have a problem with the saddle - he has such a depth of girth at the chest and heart (nearly as much girth as Jazz!) that he has no girth groove. There is simply nothing to stop the saddle from sliding backwards and coming loose. I shall have to put a breastplate on him, at least for the moment, otherwise it would be very dangerous to sit on him.
I rode Tia then, and she did the best canter transitions she has yet done without a pelham or martingale on. She still needs very careful setting up, and she still produces two or three headlong rushes first, but when they came right, they were RIGHT. I was pleased with her. Her back foot is hot again though, and I'm a bit worried that infection is sealed up inside again. I squirted the hole full of peroxide and hope I have caught it in time.
Tia and Zip then went out, so as to unsettle Jazz. Dear little Zip screamed with all his might because one of his herd was gone, which was actually just what we wanted. He also kept cantering into the yard and back out again (on concrete) which did unsettle Jazz to start with. But he started to listen to me, and then he did the most amazing shoulder in and travers. You could feel how high he was holding his shoulders and how much crossing of the legs he was doing. We did trot/walk transitions (he kept cantering instead!) and we practised some halts, which are coming along brilliantly.
I do hope that he will at least consent to jump a few fences tomorrow.
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 3:23 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
"I do hope that he will at least consent to jump a few fences tomorrow."
I love it! I guess that's the approach to take with an opinionated horse. With Tucker, it's generally "ask", not "tell." Granted, it's not always the most productive method, but when Tucker decides he's not going to do something, I haven't found an effective command that works yet. Gentle, persistent persuasion seems a far better option. *G*
Zip is getting better about being handled, isn't he? Just keep taking your time with the backing. The quieter the first experience is the better.
Hope Tia's foot is OK. That heat is a bit disturbing.
Have fun tomorrow. I am looking forward to your report!
i dunno caroline, i think if i were me i'd be getting the vet to that.... if there is a persistent infection getting in it might be in need of som e antibiotic? that's rather a long time....
oops. of course i am me ....
Antibiotics can be very bad news for foot abscesses Claire. They can suppress the infection so that it encapsulates and takes for-e-ver to be resolved, sometimes with a foot resection needed to get it out. I wouldn't let a vet near a foot abscess in a sound horse that has an open access wound.
C
Caroline, try either a foot soak in a strong-ish solution of epsom salts, or a tiny poultice over the hole of Magnesium Sulphate ointment. Old fashiond, but the best thing possible for "drawing" a boil or an abscess in horse or human, as long as the infection is purely localised - which fortunately in 99.99% of cases in the horse's foot, it is .
Michaela
Yes Jean, with Jazz, consent is required. He can be persuaded to give his Royal consent but he most certainly can't be forced :-)
Michaela thanks, soaking is not an option (she won't have it) but you have reminded me that it's a fairly deep (an inch?) and clear hole and would be simple to stuff mag oxide into to let it poultice itself and flush it out again.
C.
Mag sulphate paste ( from an old-fashioned chemists, if such still exist) not mag oxide!
M.
Mag Sulphate is Epsom Salts, you should be able to mix some of that up on some form that you can pack in?
Do you have a local honey producer? If so Mag Sulphate mixed with active honey then add to this a small piece of lint bandadge (the sort of stuff you would bandadge a finger with). Then stuff in the hole.
The benefit of using the bandadge rather than cotton wool is that you can grab hold of the end of the bandadge with a pin, and pull the whole lot out again. Cotton wool fibres can be hard to get out of a foot.
Thanks guys, got my salts mixed up, suphate not oxide. :-) Good tip Tracey, thanks. I've just put a thin lint bandage in the bin- I'll go and get it out!!
We have a great farm chemist in town, thank goodness.
Even better - ask for nasal packing tape (also used for packing dental sockets post extraction)... you'll be able to stuff yards of it in, and soaked in a paste of magnesium sulphate and raw honey, it'll draw out almost anything!
Michaela
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