I was a bit over-optimistic about my recovery, it actually took a MONTH for me to feel normal again! Anyway, 10 days ago I took Finn out for a hack, he did his usual trick of walking off while I was mounting, this time before I'd even swung my leg over. He then got a bit un-nerved by the human wobbling along beside him trying to get her foot back out of the stirrup (the dangers of riding in hiking boots...) and started to trot - fortunately "WOOOOOAHHHHHHH!" worked, otherwise I'd have face-planted into the tarmac. Attempt number two was successful and we had a nice hack to the end of the village and back. I'd planned to go further and was all high-viz'd up, but I'd forgotten that the Scottish schools went back that day and after the circus of getting on from the normal picnic table, I didn't fancy trying to remount after the gate with a bus shelter full of kids and parents watching me!
So this morning I decided it was time for Mr Finn to learn that I wasn't like his previous owner (18, weighs about as much as a twig, very athletic, able to jump on a moving horse with absolutely no problems) and took him into my neighbour's school armed with a pocketful of carrot sticks. As it turned out, being fed carrot sticks in return for standing still while I leaned on stirrups, bounced up and down beside him with one foot in them and then being rewarded from the saddle when I was finally up is just about Finn's ideal schooling exercise and after 10 minutes he was standing like a rock in the middle of the school on a completely loose rein :o) He's obviously been taught it before, it's just not been enforced for a while. The next step will be to see if I can replicate the lesson outside the manege, but as long as I have suitably orange bribes on me, I think all will be well!
We only had a short schooling session after that, we'd done what I wanted to achieve, so we walked a few shapes, I practiced a bit of trot (my balance is slowly coming back) and then we called it a day.
I was thinking about bonding the other day. Merlin seems to have appointed himself my bodyguard when I'm in the field now; he'll walk next to me or just behind me as I push the wheelbarrow around (unless I've just moved the electric fence!). I'm not sure if he's really bonded that closely or whether he's just protecting his food source from Finn though ;o) However, he'll really try his hardest to do anything I ask him to these days, which is a real change from when he first arrived. It gives me hope that one day I might be able to hack him out once I have my confidence back properly. Finn hasn't bonded enough to want to try for me yet, but it's still very early days - he's only been here two and a half months and it took Merlin two years.
Robbie the farrier came out to do their feet the week before last. Merlin was, as usual, good as gold, but Finn was a slightly different matter and played up, not wanting to stand, snatching his feet away and generally being a bugger. Robbie has been his farrier for a couple of years, so knew that Finn could be problematical but was definitely trying it on as he didn't usually act up quite that much. Every time Finn snatched a foot back and walked off, I made him trot a circuit of the field - if he chose to move, he was going to be made to move more than he wanted to - and eventually we got the job done without too much grief, but this is something I need to work on. Robbie has shown me the trick to getting reluctant cobs to lift their feet and Finn will now give me a front foot loose in the field (previously I could only get him to lift the backs). At the moment I'm either lifting it, holding it for a moment and then putting it down or lifting, tapping with a hoof pick and putting down and I'm sure we'll get there eventually - Merlin was a sod with the farrier when he first arrived.
What else? Finn has two new rugs courtesy of eBay, a fleece cooler to dry him out and a shower sheet to go over it. Both almost new, the most expensive was £14.50 including postage :o) But he's been moulting like mad over the past fortnight and the bristly clipped coat he arrived with is now mostly gone, replaced by a lovely soft, thicker coat which is far more waterproof and windproof. As long as we have a dry, cold winter, he probably won't need rugging, but at least I now have some options on hand if he does. Both of them have lost a little bit of weight this week, Merlin's down to 467kg and Finn to 402kg, but they're both looking good. If there's another loss next week I may start them on a handful of breakfast each again. At the moment they're having a handful of Speedibeet, half a handful of Greengold and two heaped spoonfuls of the homemade yeast/linseed/magnesium mix in the evenings and that's it.
Showing posts with label rugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rugs. Show all posts
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Saturday, 28 July 2012
*choke* *cough* *splutter*
Apologies for the radio silence, but I've been ill for the first time in about six years and it's kind of knocked me sideways. Two weeks ago I schooled Finn on Sunday morning, then mis-timed taking Merlin for a walk round the village and got soaked to the skin. That set off a urinary tract infection which became a kidney infection with added conjunctivitis, swollen tonsils, glands and a temperature. By Wednesday, despite antibiotics, about all I was capable of doing was lying on the sofa and watching the room spin in an interesting manner!
10 days later I'm mostly mended. I managed to put my contact lenses back in this morning, but I still have the sore throat and the occasional twinge in the plumbing. Most days it's been about all I can do to struggle round the field with the wheelbarrow, let alone think about riding, so Finn has had a quiet life. His old owner came to visit him this morning and I was hoping she'd be able to take him out, but we had a downpour at 6am and by the time I got out he was drenched through and, to my surprise, shivering :o( I scraped most of the water off and put his heavy turnout on him to warm him up. By lunchtime the sun had come out and he'd cheered up, so he finished drying out in the afternoon breeze while the rug dried out in the shed and I've put it back on this evening because half the weather reports are saying we're going to get heavy rain around 7pm (the other half say it won't hit until lunchtime tomorrow).
This evening's job: find a cooler rug to go under the turnout....
Weight-wise they've both gained; Merlin is up to 470kg and Finn back to 420kg, but this time last year M was 511kg, so we're doing better. There's still a sizeable chunk fenced off in the top field which they're slowly strip grazing up, though Finn worked out that if he bent his knees and shuffled a bit, he could limbo under the electric gate and get into the long grass, which delighted him and infuriated Merlin! The gate has now been lowered and he's not happy with me!
10 days later I'm mostly mended. I managed to put my contact lenses back in this morning, but I still have the sore throat and the occasional twinge in the plumbing. Most days it's been about all I can do to struggle round the field with the wheelbarrow, let alone think about riding, so Finn has had a quiet life. His old owner came to visit him this morning and I was hoping she'd be able to take him out, but we had a downpour at 6am and by the time I got out he was drenched through and, to my surprise, shivering :o( I scraped most of the water off and put his heavy turnout on him to warm him up. By lunchtime the sun had come out and he'd cheered up, so he finished drying out in the afternoon breeze while the rug dried out in the shed and I've put it back on this evening because half the weather reports are saying we're going to get heavy rain around 7pm (the other half say it won't hit until lunchtime tomorrow).
This evening's job: find a cooler rug to go under the turnout....
Weight-wise they've both gained; Merlin is up to 470kg and Finn back to 420kg, but this time last year M was 511kg, so we're doing better. There's still a sizeable chunk fenced off in the top field which they're slowly strip grazing up, though Finn worked out that if he bent his knees and shuffled a bit, he could limbo under the electric gate and get into the long grass, which delighted him and infuriated Merlin! The gate has now been lowered and he's not happy with me!
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Ptoooey!!
We had a first this morning - first time Merlin has ever refused a bucket of food. And this is a horse who'll happily eat buckets laced with wormer, antibiotics, bute and all sorts of other things that horses normally turn their noses up at.
Brewers Yeast, however, seems to be a step too far!
I finished the Total Eclipse last night and mistakenly assumed that since I was adding three of the four ingredients in it to his bucket, it wouldn't be a problem. However, the BY smells a lot stronger as a straight than it does made up as TE (I'm wondering if they actually use Yea-Sacc instead) and though I was ready to dive right in to his breakfast (it smelt like Marmite), Merlin gave it a long hard sniff, tried a bit and promptly spat it out, pulling the most hysterical faces.
Lesson learned, I'll just add the linseed tonight, then if he eats that I'll try linseed and magox in the morning and once that's going down OK, add the yeast back a granule or two at a time.
In other news, it's 11C here today and he's happily naked.
Brewers Yeast, however, seems to be a step too far!
I finished the Total Eclipse last night and mistakenly assumed that since I was adding three of the four ingredients in it to his bucket, it wouldn't be a problem. However, the BY smells a lot stronger as a straight than it does made up as TE (I'm wondering if they actually use Yea-Sacc instead) and though I was ready to dive right in to his breakfast (it smelt like Marmite), Merlin gave it a long hard sniff, tried a bit and promptly spat it out, pulling the most hysterical faces.
Lesson learned, I'll just add the linseed tonight, then if he eats that I'll try linseed and magox in the morning and once that's going down OK, add the yeast back a granule or two at a time.
In other news, it's 11C here today and he's happily naked.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Winter weather has finally hit - more strong winds, bringing snow.
Merlin is perky about it all, he's warm under his middle-warmth rug, he's dry in his shelter and he's munching his way through nets of hay and HorseHage. He still has the freedom to go out into the fields if he wants to, but the ground is so saturated that the drainage ditch alongside the field shelter has overflowed, meaning there's a moat around the exit (the shelter itself is dry, it sits on a little mound of hardcore) and since he's a wuss about water he's more or less voluntarily stabled himself. Unlike last year, when he was in with the gate shut, he's not pacing round the shelter or weaving, possibly because he can still go out and stand outside if he wants to, it's his decision to stay in.
This morning's weigh-in was still 504kg, but with the weather getting worse over the next few days, he's getting four handfuls of speedi beet in his evening bucket instead of three. He's still looking great on this feeding regime, though I'm wondering whether to take out the Greengold and replace it with grass nuts - the more I read about lucerne/alfalfa and horses, the less I like, though he doesn't seem to react to it. I shall ask the UKNHCP forum for their thoughts.
We only managed to get out twice this week, Monday and Tuesday, but I'm still squirting his frogs every other day. One foot (the right fore, aka 'the dodgy one') still has a slight smell, but the rest are looking and smelling better.
Merlin is perky about it all, he's warm under his middle-warmth rug, he's dry in his shelter and he's munching his way through nets of hay and HorseHage. He still has the freedom to go out into the fields if he wants to, but the ground is so saturated that the drainage ditch alongside the field shelter has overflowed, meaning there's a moat around the exit (the shelter itself is dry, it sits on a little mound of hardcore) and since he's a wuss about water he's more or less voluntarily stabled himself. Unlike last year, when he was in with the gate shut, he's not pacing round the shelter or weaving, possibly because he can still go out and stand outside if he wants to, it's his decision to stay in.
This morning's weigh-in was still 504kg, but with the weather getting worse over the next few days, he's getting four handfuls of speedi beet in his evening bucket instead of three. He's still looking great on this feeding regime, though I'm wondering whether to take out the Greengold and replace it with grass nuts - the more I read about lucerne/alfalfa and horses, the less I like, though he doesn't seem to react to it. I shall ask the UKNHCP forum for their thoughts.
We only managed to get out twice this week, Monday and Tuesday, but I'm still squirting his frogs every other day. One foot (the right fore, aka 'the dodgy one') still has a slight smell, but the rest are looking and smelling better.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Wild, wild weather
It's been a bit blowy up here for the last couple of days. There's a bit of traditional Scottish understatement for you - the wind hit gusts of 93mph at 5am this morning and we've had hail on and off since Friday. I have caved and started rugging, though he might have preferred me not to last night, as I came down this morning to find one of the leg straps had gone and the rug was twisted three quarters underneath him...
Amazingly, it's not affected the exercise schedule too badly; we managed to get out 5 days out of 7 last week and although we had to give it a miss today, I'm hopeful that we might get out for another plod through the village tomorrow. He's really enjoying it and he's become so much better to lead - he now walks steadily beside me or slightly behind me, compared to when I was walking him in hand over the summer and he was dragging me up hills. The only thing we've come across so far that he really doesn't like the look of is the concrete area at the salmon station, which is immensely frustrating as it's got a ramp that would make a perfect mounting block - he won't even set foot on it at the moment, but we're working on it...
He had his weekly weigh in this morning and he's still on 504kg. He's now getting a haynet morning and night, but his bucket hasn't changed from one handful of Greengold, three handfuls of speedibeet and two spoonfuls of Total Eclipse.
The frogs have stopped peeling and are starting to look a little better. One thing I did notice yesterday, as we got back from our walk, was that he strode confidently over the gravel at the top of the drive rather than slowing down and picking his way over it. A good sign.
Amazingly, it's not affected the exercise schedule too badly; we managed to get out 5 days out of 7 last week and although we had to give it a miss today, I'm hopeful that we might get out for another plod through the village tomorrow. He's really enjoying it and he's become so much better to lead - he now walks steadily beside me or slightly behind me, compared to when I was walking him in hand over the summer and he was dragging me up hills. The only thing we've come across so far that he really doesn't like the look of is the concrete area at the salmon station, which is immensely frustrating as it's got a ramp that would make a perfect mounting block - he won't even set foot on it at the moment, but we're working on it...
He had his weekly weigh in this morning and he's still on 504kg. He's now getting a haynet morning and night, but his bucket hasn't changed from one handful of Greengold, three handfuls of speedibeet and two spoonfuls of Total Eclipse.
The frogs have stopped peeling and are starting to look a little better. One thing I did notice yesterday, as we got back from our walk, was that he strode confidently over the gravel at the top of the drive rather than slowing down and picking his way over it. A good sign.
Friday, 7 October 2011
BOING!!!!!
He's been gradually weaned back on to two meals a day since Monday - I had about 2 scoops of Leisure Mix left in the bin, so it got trickled on in slightly larger amounts each day and he's now on half a scoop morning and night, together with two handfuls of soaked beet pellets.
It's like feeding a 3-y-o on blue Smarties. About 10 minutes after he's eaten he takes off around the field in a total IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE!!!!! trot-canter-buck-gallop circuit before snorting his way back over to me to see if I've magically refilled his feed skip. No swelling on the dodgy leg as a result.
He should settle down in another week, he did something similar when he re-started on feed last year, but if he doesn't I'm going to email D&H and ask if they've changed the mix!
Still unrugged - going to start keeping a record of this as well. He's using his shelter at night and going through about a third of a haynet while he's in, but he's warm at the base of his ears and between his front legs every morning and evening and his skin is much, much better this year through his coat change.
It's like feeding a 3-y-o on blue Smarties. About 10 minutes after he's eaten he takes off around the field in a total IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE!!!!! trot-canter-buck-gallop circuit before snorting his way back over to me to see if I've magically refilled his feed skip. No swelling on the dodgy leg as a result.
He should settle down in another week, he did something similar when he re-started on feed last year, but if he doesn't I'm going to email D&H and ask if they've changed the mix!
Still unrugged - going to start keeping a record of this as well. He's using his shelter at night and going through about a third of a haynet while he's in, but he's warm at the base of his ears and between his front legs every morning and evening and his skin is much, much better this year through his coat change.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Pony weightwatchers
Weigh in day and the tape still says 504kg. Steady is good :o) The weather has turned, so he's back in the bottom two fields again - his restricted turnout finished last week and so far (touch wood) he's been back on full space turnout with no problems, despite a bit of bouncing.
As per the horse listener's suggestion he's currently unrugged and the improvement in his skin has been amazing. Virtually no dandruffy lumps and he's been warm whenever I've checked him, so he'll stay naked for as long as we can manage. He's got a field shelter with a bed down, water and a haynet if he wants it, but he's been preferring to stay outside, albeit he seems to be attempting to thatch himself by rolling in sheep shit...
I've started running again this week. I only intended to run 5 miles, split 1.25, 1, 1.25, 1.5, but ended up running 1.25, 1 and 5.15 after I discovered a runner doing 40 marathons in 40 days was coming past the village and wanted company. I'm planning 6 miles next week, 1.5, 1, 1.5, 2.
As per the horse listener's suggestion he's currently unrugged and the improvement in his skin has been amazing. Virtually no dandruffy lumps and he's been warm whenever I've checked him, so he'll stay naked for as long as we can manage. He's got a field shelter with a bed down, water and a haynet if he wants it, but he's been preferring to stay outside, albeit he seems to be attempting to thatch himself by rolling in sheep shit...
I've started running again this week. I only intended to run 5 miles, split 1.25, 1, 1.25, 1.5, but ended up running 1.25, 1 and 5.15 after I discovered a runner doing 40 marathons in 40 days was coming past the village and wanted company. I'm planning 6 miles next week, 1.5, 1, 1.5, 2.
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