I'm super glad that when I took the opportunity to buy Siaga a new saddle, that I bought a Wintec with the Easy Change gullet system. I only have the extra wide gullet for the saddle, which fit last fall, but it is now too wide since he lost top line condition through the winter. I just placed a bid on the wide size (red) gullet on Ebay, here's to hoping I'll win that.
I'm glad I only have to fork out $10-20 for a new gullet rather than several hundred for a new saddle. Besides, I'm really daggone fond of my saddle. It's certainly the most comfortable saddle I've ever put my bottom in!
For now, I'll double up my pads and use a regular square pad and the fleece pad to help protect his spine. The saddle appears to fit when it's just sitting on his back, even when I girth it down, but once I'm on there it squishes down almost to his withers.
But thankfully, not a big problem! Easy fix, hip hip hooray!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Well...
Siaga and I went for a ride today. Instead of the normal routine, I took everything up to the barn and got him ready in the paddock and we rode around there after a lunge for a while, working on "whoa" and "go." And then we went for a while down the road.
Here is what I have learned today.
The good: Siaga will now usually whoa when I ask him to, and will usually stand still after that. Siaga also will usually turn direction with a shift of the reins of the reins and a press of the leg and a turn of the seat bones. Siaga will, almost without fail, start walking when I ask for it by walking my seat bones. These are all VERY wonderful things, and I can see in him a truly wonderful dressage horse in the making if we ever get over our fears.
The bad: Can we say... barn sour. Only he's sour for the yard, not the barn. He actually doesn't want to go back to the barn and pitches a fit if I try to ride him back to the barn. He just wants the yard with the grass. Sometimes he was ok, moving forward easily, stopping when asked, turning when asked, other times, he'd get himself stuck in reverse and back up in the ditch and try to turn around and I lost count of how many times I popped him with the riding crop. A few times I even got off and walked him through the sticky areas and remounted when we got past it. But there are so many deep ditches, and he through a fit by a bridge where the drop off is 5 or 6 feet, and it's just sooo dangerous.
I'm planning on getting him to the barn where I take my lessons (when I can afford them again) and having my instructor work with both of us at once.
He also has issues with standing still while I am mounting up, though I can actually mount from the ground in the dressage saddle now if I need to.
The ugly: He only works when he wants to, or when there is no grass to distract him, or when there is no barn or yard to run back to, or no dogs to scare him. UUUUGH.
He really is like riding a giant troll. lol.
Here is what I have learned today.
The good: Siaga will now usually whoa when I ask him to, and will usually stand still after that. Siaga also will usually turn direction with a shift of the reins of the reins and a press of the leg and a turn of the seat bones. Siaga will, almost without fail, start walking when I ask for it by walking my seat bones. These are all VERY wonderful things, and I can see in him a truly wonderful dressage horse in the making if we ever get over our fears.
The bad: Can we say... barn sour. Only he's sour for the yard, not the barn. He actually doesn't want to go back to the barn and pitches a fit if I try to ride him back to the barn. He just wants the yard with the grass. Sometimes he was ok, moving forward easily, stopping when asked, turning when asked, other times, he'd get himself stuck in reverse and back up in the ditch and try to turn around and I lost count of how many times I popped him with the riding crop. A few times I even got off and walked him through the sticky areas and remounted when we got past it. But there are so many deep ditches, and he through a fit by a bridge where the drop off is 5 or 6 feet, and it's just sooo dangerous.
I'm planning on getting him to the barn where I take my lessons (when I can afford them again) and having my instructor work with both of us at once.
He also has issues with standing still while I am mounting up, though I can actually mount from the ground in the dressage saddle now if I need to.
The ugly: He only works when he wants to, or when there is no grass to distract him, or when there is no barn or yard to run back to, or no dogs to scare him. UUUUGH.
He really is like riding a giant troll. lol.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
What the heck happened?
When I was fired from the barn, the horses there were still covered in winter fuzz. But... you could see they were still healthy. Their coats were shiny, if covered in mud, and they were spry and full of energy.
But today... that isn't the case. They have shed out, but they aren't shiny. None of them have much energy, some of them have big scrapes and cuts, one of the mares has cracks up the toes of her feet almost all the way to the coronet band, and hair rubbed entirely off of her face. Some of them are too skinny, some I can't even feel the ribs of. All of them were huddled in one of the shelters except for the one mare, instead of out grazing, and its not even a hot day.
Some had open fly bites on their legs and faces. The one mare, when she walked, looked stiff and in pain, taking short, stiff steps and only going a little way at a time. None of them seemed to have much energy except for the ponies, who seemed to be just fine.
I'm just really confused. What happened? :/ I mean, Siaga gets minimal care to ensure he is healthy and happy, because I'm limited on time and what I can do, but even though he's still a little skinny, his coat is shiny and gleams like the sun and he's full of piss and vinegar and just entirely LIVELY.
:/
But today... that isn't the case. They have shed out, but they aren't shiny. None of them have much energy, some of them have big scrapes and cuts, one of the mares has cracks up the toes of her feet almost all the way to the coronet band, and hair rubbed entirely off of her face. Some of them are too skinny, some I can't even feel the ribs of. All of them were huddled in one of the shelters except for the one mare, instead of out grazing, and its not even a hot day.
Some had open fly bites on their legs and faces. The one mare, when she walked, looked stiff and in pain, taking short, stiff steps and only going a little way at a time. None of them seemed to have much energy except for the ponies, who seemed to be just fine.
I'm just really confused. What happened? :/ I mean, Siaga gets minimal care to ensure he is healthy and happy, because I'm limited on time and what I can do, but even though he's still a little skinny, his coat is shiny and gleams like the sun and he's full of piss and vinegar and just entirely LIVELY.
:/
Monday, May 21, 2012
I'm going Primal
If I asked you, what does a lion eat? Or a bear? Or a horse? Or a shark?
You could tell me. Lions eat meat. They are designed to kill and eat
meat. Bears eat meat, too, but they also enjoy some plants. They are
designed to be omnivores. Horses eat grass and other plants, they are
herbivores and designed to eat plants. Sharks eat fish and other sea
life... because... well, that's what they are designed to eat!
What are humans designed to eat? Twinkies? Ice cream? Candy? Nope. Not at all. Bread? Actually, no. Humans aren't meant to eat grains at all. In fact, horses aren't either, except for the small amount they have in seasonal times, but I'll get to that in a moment. Humans aren't meant to eat pizza (though I admit it is DELICIOUS) or pasta, or bread sticks, or cookies, or brownies, or chocolate, we aren't even meant to eat corn!
Going back to the horse thing, my pets have problems with their health, and I feed my house cat, my horse, and the dog grain free foods. My horse, grain causes excessive hotness in him, or at least, what he does manage to digest of it does. The rest passes through completely unharmed. Money for that grain right down the drain. My horse already has issues keeping his weight up because he is reactive and not a generally calm horse, this makes him hard to keep. My secret for putting weight on him? No grain. All the hay he will eat and all the grass I can give him, and then several cups every day of timothy pellets and a vitamin calmer.
The dog and cat, yes, I know what you are thinking. OF COURSE the dog and cat are grain free! Why would you feed them grain?! They eat dog and cat food right? That's meat based! ... Uhm, no. It's not. Read the label. If the first ingredient is corn meal, wheat middlings, brewers rice, or anything like that... you're feeding your dog or cat very unhealthy food. Often it will say the first ingredient is meat, and therefore the main ingredient, but if there are 2 or 3 different types of grain products after that listed, they probably overall make up more of the food than the meat does, still. My cat and my dog are kept on Taste of the Wild Grain free food. The main product is meat, with fruits and veggies after that, which ARE healthy for them, so long as they get those in moderation.
So... I feed my animals grain free diets for their health... so why am I eating all these grains myself? I'm trying to prevent future problems and fix current ones. I'm going Primal.
Learn about Primal Blueprints here: Mark's Daily Apple
What are humans designed to eat? Twinkies? Ice cream? Candy? Nope. Not at all. Bread? Actually, no. Humans aren't meant to eat grains at all. In fact, horses aren't either, except for the small amount they have in seasonal times, but I'll get to that in a moment. Humans aren't meant to eat pizza (though I admit it is DELICIOUS) or pasta, or bread sticks, or cookies, or brownies, or chocolate, we aren't even meant to eat corn!
Going back to the horse thing, my pets have problems with their health, and I feed my house cat, my horse, and the dog grain free foods. My horse, grain causes excessive hotness in him, or at least, what he does manage to digest of it does. The rest passes through completely unharmed. Money for that grain right down the drain. My horse already has issues keeping his weight up because he is reactive and not a generally calm horse, this makes him hard to keep. My secret for putting weight on him? No grain. All the hay he will eat and all the grass I can give him, and then several cups every day of timothy pellets and a vitamin calmer.
The dog and cat, yes, I know what you are thinking. OF COURSE the dog and cat are grain free! Why would you feed them grain?! They eat dog and cat food right? That's meat based! ... Uhm, no. It's not. Read the label. If the first ingredient is corn meal, wheat middlings, brewers rice, or anything like that... you're feeding your dog or cat very unhealthy food. Often it will say the first ingredient is meat, and therefore the main ingredient, but if there are 2 or 3 different types of grain products after that listed, they probably overall make up more of the food than the meat does, still. My cat and my dog are kept on Taste of the Wild Grain free food. The main product is meat, with fruits and veggies after that, which ARE healthy for them, so long as they get those in moderation.
So... I feed my animals grain free diets for their health... so why am I eating all these grains myself? I'm trying to prevent future problems and fix current ones. I'm going Primal.
Learn about Primal Blueprints here: Mark's Daily Apple
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Grumpy faces
That is what I am making this morning, very grumpy faces. Today I have my "first day of work" at Wal-Mart, which really is just orientation and filling out tax forms and stuff. JOOOY. Not really. I am NOT looking forward to working here. However, I have a horse, and I will do anything to keep that horse, and to keep him healthy and happy, and if that means delaying my dreams a little while longer until I find a better barn job, then so be it. I will show up on time every day, work hard, and smile at all the customers and be polite and nice and happy, even if I'm grumping on the inside. Such is life.
And then, yesterday, I was out driving about with Devon's mom, and we passed two horse trailers for sale. They were both what looked like 2-horse trailers, one was nicer and white with nice windows and the other was more like a 2-horse stock trailer. The white one was $7000, and the other was $3500. Just another thing for me remember while I'm grumping, that hopefully I will soon be able to save up to buy a trailer to haul Siaga all over the place to.
After orientation today, I may go riding with Brenda, and if not, I'll probably come home and ride Siaga. I meant to yesterday but ended up having to help out around the house and didn't have time. D:
Anyways, another day of rest won't hurt, I suppose. :3
And then, yesterday, I was out driving about with Devon's mom, and we passed two horse trailers for sale. They were both what looked like 2-horse trailers, one was nicer and white with nice windows and the other was more like a 2-horse stock trailer. The white one was $7000, and the other was $3500. Just another thing for me remember while I'm grumping, that hopefully I will soon be able to save up to buy a trailer to haul Siaga all over the place to.
After orientation today, I may go riding with Brenda, and if not, I'll probably come home and ride Siaga. I meant to yesterday but ended up having to help out around the house and didn't have time. D:
Anyways, another day of rest won't hurt, I suppose. :3
Monday, May 14, 2012
Compare: January to May
Proud of how far he's come on the health scale. Anyone care to rate his body score? I'm thinking 4.5. lol
Monday, May 7, 2012
No sedation for the farrier!
Siaga got a visit from the farrier yesterday. He did really well, a little dancing around, a little pulling away, but since there was no sedative at all involved, I was so proud of him.
I had more issues than he did! I hadn't been expecting the farrier or to have to be outside so much yesterday, and it was very hot and humid. I was dehydrated, and I ended up passing out twice! Like, out cold.
First time, I felt the familiar nausea with the swimming vision and new it was coming, before I could anything Siaga jumped away and pulled the rope and woop, down I went. I woke up to the farrier trying to pull the rope out of my hands because I was holding on so tightly. I got up and thought I was ok then, and just as I changed my mind and said "I think I need something to drink," I fell again and was down for a few minutes that time, mom brought a couple glasses of water and a gatorade, and after that I was ok. Siaga took a few minutes of convincing to be certain I was ok, though. I'd try to walk around to his hindquarters to look at the bumpy patch on the back of his leg and he kept turning around to face me like "I don't want you to fall back there, mom!"
But overall, it went mostly smoothly. :)
I had more issues than he did! I hadn't been expecting the farrier or to have to be outside so much yesterday, and it was very hot and humid. I was dehydrated, and I ended up passing out twice! Like, out cold.
First time, I felt the familiar nausea with the swimming vision and new it was coming, before I could anything Siaga jumped away and pulled the rope and woop, down I went. I woke up to the farrier trying to pull the rope out of my hands because I was holding on so tightly. I got up and thought I was ok then, and just as I changed my mind and said "I think I need something to drink," I fell again and was down for a few minutes that time, mom brought a couple glasses of water and a gatorade, and after that I was ok. Siaga took a few minutes of convincing to be certain I was ok, though. I'd try to walk around to his hindquarters to look at the bumpy patch on the back of his leg and he kept turning around to face me like "I don't want you to fall back there, mom!"
But overall, it went mostly smoothly. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)