A day at the stables

[diamondlil]

Well, a big surprise today, Renata has bought this 14 year old black gelding, Joop, as a field companion for Calla and for me to ride! He's 14.2 hh, and seems quite a sweetie. I met his old owner, she's at university and not able to keep him any more. He's been showjumping, hunting and done cross-country with her and is apparently 'quite lively' to ride. I'm going to try him out in the school next weekend and probably wisest to let Renata take him out for the first outing!

 

[MegF.]

That's the one. I'd watch her on that grass. As a barefoot trimmer, that horse sets off all kinds of red flags. She's a laminitis case waiting to happen!

 

[diamondlil]

That's the one. I'd watch her on that grass. As a barefoot trimmer, that horse sets off all kinds of red flags. She's a laminitis case waiting to happen!

Yep, she's about 22 years old, does no work at all and lives out. Her winter coat is always dense but looked a bit 'curley' this last year, so her owner was worried she'll end up with Cushings. He wasn't concerned enough to take her back home though, he wants her to live out her life in Cathy's little herd. To be fair, she's been this fat for the 8 years or so I've known her, when she was on far less lush grazing she was a butterball then.
(edited to add........personally I've raised the fatness of Cathy's horses a few times and suggested strip grazing, especially as none of them work at all apart from some Parelli type games, but their not mine so I can only give my opinion, which she doesn't agree with. Look at the size of Luna's neck, the size of her mum, coconuts...)

 

[MegF.]

You might try a grazing muzzle and I've had excellent results with the Laminitis herbs from For Love of the Horse at www.forloveofthehorse.com I have all my laminitis and cushing's cases put on it. For laminitis it is the difference between horses being down for months or getting up and walking after just a couple of weeks. I'm certain this mare probably was insulin resistant early on...an "easy keeper" as you will. I find they transition into Cushing's quite readily when they age even if they never did founder earlier.

 

[diamondlil]

You might try a grazing muzzle and I've had excellent results with the Laminitis herbs from For Love of the Horse at www.forloveofthehorse.com I have all my laminitis and cushing's cases put on it. For laminitis it is the difference between horses being down for months or getting up and walking after just a couple of weeks. I'm certain this mare probably was insulin resistant early on...an "easy keeper" as you will. I find they transition into Cushing's quite readily when they age even if they never did founder earlier.

I can absolutely see your point, Meg, the problem is that none of these horses are mine, they belong to friends, so I can make suggestions but have no actual say in what happens....... Cathy likes her horses to have as 'natural' a time as possible, so she's so far been resistant to suggestions by myself and others about trying strip grazing to stop them getting so fat, in fact she's ultra paranoid about them getting a little 'poor' over the winter, so I can try to tactfully suggest a grazing muzzle but am not too hopeful she'll agree to it.
More than LouLou, the size of Coconuts concerns me, as she's only about 11 but her legs are clicking, she has a huge thick crest on her neck..... I feel she should be at least be working off the weight, and actually offered to buy a little pony trap for her this weekend (Owned by one of Mick's friends and a very good price) but it was turned down. There's no-one really small enough to ride Nuts, I have ridden her in the past and again I offered to start going over at the weekends to restart her on little trips out or over trotting poles and around weaving poles. The trouble is that once Cathy has done a little groundwork with Lola and Luna (who are no nearer being under saddle than they were last year) and done the poop picking, that's it for the day.
Again, not my horses, so frustrating that they haven't even been taken out of the field on a lead rein to get them used to following Joey and familiar with being out on the road, I suggested long-reining, not taken up, so instead they are busy learning to hold up a hoof or touch a cone with their noses on clicker training, have they had their saddles on? no, but look at these tricks they've learnt! Even if I went over every weekend anyway, from experience last summer I can guarantee lots of obstacles to actually getting a saddle on any of them!

 

[MegF.]

It's too bad they won't listen. Keeping horses naturally does not include over grazing them on grass. It's the equivalent of putting a diabetic in a candy store. Free feeding choice hay (soaked for those horses to remove the sugar) and 24 hour turnout and barefoot is more natural than what she's doing. She is sending her horses to a very painful problem that could be avoided and she'd be better off if they were "poorly" than fat. People are so used to seeing obese horses they don't know what a healthy weight looks like. Let her see this thread! I've been doing trimming for a long time and I have far too many laminitics in my care now. It's very rare that I'm wrong when it comes to a horse about to founder-sadly I've been right more often than not. The heartbreak of seeing a horse laying out in a paddock unable to stand due to pain unless forced is horrible. She has no idea what she is doing to her animals. A whole different type of abuse that comes from ignorance. A real shame. You can only do what you can do.

 

[diamondlil]

As far as I can recall, Meg, the farrier (the horses are barefoot and trimmed) the vet, as well as myself and other friends have all raised that the horses are too fat. So I will try again when I speak to Cathy but don't hold out much hope. I won't direct her to this thread, because I am free to 'speak my mind' here, but I will tell her a friend on here is worried and made suggestions. Last year I did get to ride Joey a few times and get him to where he was less puffed out after trotting, but she didn't carry on riding him herself.
She thinks Calla, the grey arab/lippizaner, 21 years old, fit as can be, ridden 3 times a week, jumps, gallops like a 4 year old, is shockingly thin and hooted wth laughter when I said Renata is concerned the grazing she has will be too lush for Joop the new horse I'll be riding and will be putting a grazing muzzle on him.

 

[SnakeAround]

Though you can see Calla is an old mare she is not thin. I think I see a nicely muscled back end too.

 

[SnakeAround]

J9 I hope you don't mind me posting photo's of the pony I used to ride that reminds of Joop, we talked about it on FB. She was said to be a cross between a Merens horse and a Frisian and measured 156.5 cm (a tiny bit too small to be a horse officially). Her name is Broeska.

 

[diamondlil]

Though you can see Calla is an old mare she is not thin. I think I see a nicely muscled back end too.

Calla is a 21 year old arab/lippizaner gelding, Barbara. He's so fit that a 2 hour ride is nothing to him, including gallops, difficult terrain through the woods, jumping over logs.
In contrast, last time I rode Joey (Cathy's pied cob) he was sweating and puffed out after 1/2 an hour of walking with 2 short trotting sessions. Joey is only 14.
I honestly have said to my friend about how overweight I think the Crazy gang are, suggested strip grazing, suggested more time working them, but she doesn't agree. Before I started seeing Mick so often and then riding Renatas horses, I offered to go over every weekend or every other weekend to help exercise them, but Cathy just wants to play games with them........then she decided she needed to save for a new saddle...then she has the saddle but needs the saddle pad.....even this weekend I was going to ride Joey while Mick was fishing but she hadn't got the tack at the field. I offered to buy a pony trap (a bargain from one of Mick's friends) to exercise Coconuts and to be honest Loulou as well, but the offer was turned down. Cathy doesn't lunge the horses, she doesn't ride them but she teaches them tricks with a clicker and treats. Honestly I try not to get too worked up because there's always some excuse for not getting her horses fitter

 

[diamondlil]

J9 I hope you don't mind me posting photo's of the pony I used to ride that reminds of Joop, we talked about it on FB. She was said to be a cross between a Merens horse and a Frisian and measured 156.5 cm (a tiny bit too small to be a horse officially). Her name is Broeska.

Wow, what a beauty, I can see why you said she looked like Joop. Probably because the breed was used for similar work to the Irish cobs (I read a bit about them after you told me about her)
As renata cannot ride both her horses at the same time and I only go over a couple of times a month she's going to try to find a loan to share riding Joop. Which will help get him settled into riding around his new home and take some of the bounce out of him in between me seeing him!

 

[SnakeAround]

I really thought Call was a female name and thought he looks like a mare, lol. Great to hear the condition he is in! I read about your efforts and the situation, just wanted to confirm CAlla looks fine

What is a pony trap?

 

[SnakeAround]

I wish I lived close to you J9, I'd be happy to ride Joop once a week in that type of landscape And thanks for the compliment about Broeska. I was not allowed to ride her anymore after I left a jar of hoof fat in her stable accidentally. She ate the fat and got a terrible colic I think it coudl have happened to anyone but especailly the stable owner decided I could not go there anymore. Well, she had always been picking on anybody riding her except the owner... crazy *****.

 

[diamondlil]

I really thought Call was a female name and thought he looks like a mare, lol. Great to hear the condition he is in! I read about your efforts and the situation, just wanted to confirm CAlla looks fine

What is a pony trap?

Thanks Barbara, I appreciate your input and Megs. At least it confirms what I thought already, so I'll keep on trying to persuade Cathy to get the weight off the horses somehow, I've got a week off work coming up so I have asked already if I can go over to ride Joey that week. part of the problem is that Cathy seems to have lost confidence in riding out and about, she'll only do short trips in the field and hasn't got a schooling area without grass so of course the horses don't really get the idea that they are to work and not stop to graze or to socialise!
A pony trap is a little cart, the one I was getting is like this one, ideal for exercising the little ponies and even for the bigger ones

 

[SnakeAround]

Ah that is so cute and what a great idea! I worked a 90 cm high 2.5 year old Shettie stallion with a home made cart many years ago and it was so much fun! Until he decided he had had enough and would race into the stables no matter what I did, LOL! Nose between the front legs, behind the bit and they are boss

 

[MegF.]

There isn't much you can do when an owner is misinformed. I try to tell my clients that it's much cheaper to prevent, than to treat.

 

[diamondlil]

Just back from an absolutely wonderful first hack out on Joop. He was a little spooky at first but easy enough to settle and get to work up and down the twisty tracks through the woods. He doesn't like puddles but I got him through a room-sized one with a little encouragement and loads of praise, he listens well to the aids of leg, weight and reins as well as changing pace on voice commands, he's a real pro! He collects up and works on an outline but obviously only knows english style riding, he didn't get neck reining at all, has beautiful floating paces and a good stride out at walk. He wasn't at all bothered by me laying on his neck to go under overhanging branches and guiding him with my knees. Stuck to walk and trot this time, after an hour or so my madleg's foot was going numb but riding him has loosened my back up beautifully.

 

[MegF.]

I love the picture of him with food on his lips!

 

[diamondlil]

Thanks Meg, I couldn't have asked for a first ride out to go better. Things that bothered Joop (steep slippery track, some pigs, the giant puddle) were really easy to persuade him to deal with in a sensible manner. His old owner used him for cross country courses, showjumping and hunting so he knows the ropes, he's been out on loan for the last two years and from the way he started out so tensed up then responded so well I'd wonder if he was mainly ridden in a school recently and just needed reminding that he knew how to cope with it all. He certainly responds well to being praised!
His 'feed' is just some chaff with devil's claw supplement in it for his joints. Probably due to his previously heavy workload he has a touch of arthritis already (he's only 14) but as I won't be thrashing him galloping about he should be well able to cope with his new life. Renata is concerned he may be too good a doer on her good pasture so she's got a grazing muzzle to use if he starts getting bigger.

 

[SnakeAround]

Good to hear you had such a good ride