She said, "I had an accident yesterday!" Wolke started rearing and bucking with her in the woods, and before her mother could help out, Jasmin had leaped off the horse but the horse jumped away, pushed her to the ground and then kicked her as she ran full speed for home! I hugged her and said, "OK my day was not so bad!"
What is this phenomenon where we all had a terrible day with our horses yesterday?
I gave Mag a bag of hay because he stood there a long time and he would look at me pitifully as I worked, pushing wheelbarrows around, "I'm all alone!" But strangely, when other horses came, even Maja, he was cool about it. WTH! He didn't even do his rumbly, assertive, "I'M HERE AND I'M MAG!" greeting to them, not once.
I joined Jasmin doing ground work with Moritz and another lady and her PRE horse too. I watched the PRE for the first time and he knows lots of tricks, both types of bowing and even lying down. I did some lateral work with Mag on the line, copying her, and she gave me some tips when I asked. Mag is not happy about it, but he knows the exercise now. If I face his shoulder, tip his nose to me, and look at his hind end, he sidepasses away from me before I even have to ask. Sweet.
I see why people love PRE horses. Wow, such presence, they are massive with sweet eyes and tons of forelock and mane. If there were no Arabians. And no Morgans, I'd be looking toward Andalusia.
Some ladies were using the outdoor to canter their horses loose and it was distracting for Mag, but he wasn't completely beside himself like yesterday.
Soon I was alone with him and decided to try free lunging him for the first time in the indoor. He reacted as expected, twice he refused to change directions to the right, his most hated direction. Eventually he did though and I didn't get upset about it, he was loose, after all. I noticed he was moving upside down and nose tilted to the outside almost the entire time. So, free lunging really isn't something I will do much of.
He tried to follow me around afterwards, when I went to put away the poles and clean up the poop someone left. I said, "No, go away, go do your own thing." So he stood listening to the cantering horses outside and looked just like a statue, ignoring the hay bales.
Oh, he rolled and rolled and rolled, after the PRE did, and the lady apologized. She had just dragged the arena and she said the horses feel how soft it is and cannot resist. Warning to self - Mag gave no signs of wanting to roll, in other words, he did not paw first. He just saw the PRE do it, and dropped to the ground, rubbing his forehead in as hard as he could, flipping end over end repeatedly. And that is not my cavesson! Afterwards I had to wash the dirt and wood chips out of his eyes, and take apart the cavesson and wash that too. Yikes, I really need my own.
Back at the barn in his corner he watched horses come and go, no problem. WHY!?
I carefully groomed him all over and told him how good he is and gave him a few bread rolls from the bakery drop off. Then a handful of treats. I spoiled him like never before cuz he was so good standing there relaxed. It would have been the perfect day to ride, dangit.
Jasim says that Moritz is getting shaved tomorrow and I wanted to see that but I promised to finally spend a day with my husband since we haven't done anything together since moving Mag to Wuppertal. Jasmin was nice enough to offer, "I'll fill Mag's hay bags if you like!" How nice, I love it. Oh, I hope she fills them with hay and not haylage....
I saw the mini's owner ride Maja the Fjord today. That makes 3 riders for that horse? I understand, she'd be my pick too!
I kept my promise to Mag today that if he's good, the work is mostly play, and lots of just hanging around talking and he and Moritz sniffing and squealing and striking each other like girls.
I noticed the metal piece on Mag's gate to his paddock had broken off and the electric gate handle was hooked over the wire itself. I laughed, "Not my problem, not my fence to fix!" Hey, boarding is expensive, and I acknowledge every little already-paid-for detail *lol*
Another strange phenomenon of boarding - the temptation to buy sweet feed for Mag. I know, it's crazy. But tonight all the horses got their buckets and Maja was eating her corn, oat, barley feed, and Mag had his pitiful little mineral pellets and a handful of by-product pellets to make them edible....poor Mag, the thinnest horse in the barn, not getting a heap of grain twice a day!
I need a photo, and I promise one, of the upstairs tack/feed locker room. The room is long and divided down the middle with no less than 15 feed containers - plastic garbage cans mostly - and the other day I opened up each one and stuck my face in to smell. Oh wow. I was amazed when I came to the can labelled Moritz, he gets grain too! I mean, real grain, not waste product pellets. Is that a result of peer pressure to feed something that looks and smells so good humans want to put it in their mouths?
When I got to Sleipner's can, I had to pause. I know that smell. I spoiled Baasha with that grain years ago. It's Hesta mix, full of herbs, and apparently mostly peppermint because it is the most increidlbe smell! Not that horses need peppermint, but what a marketing tool! You smell that and you cannot help but buy it for your horse.
After Gail's post about minerals I spent half a day researching available grain, mineral, and treat products here. I found that the pellets I buy are actually cheaper than grass pellets, and of course cheaper than alfalfa pellets. Wow. That's cuz hay is a feedstuff before processing, and "oat husks" are not, really, they're left over from the naked oat industry (thanks to Gail for teaching me that term).
So far no one has said why I am not spoiling Mag with a hot mash every night (so many hot steaming mashes were on the table today, the place smelled wonderful).
When Mag lived here, I was never tempted to feed him anything extra besides the apples that fell from the tree. And now I'm compelled to buy him something that I can steep in warm water and that smells like mint and and...
This means that boarding my horse has become even more expensive.
OK so what should it be - beet pulp, hay pellets, or alfalfa pellets? I've listed those in ascending order of price. If your horse needed weight but not energy (please, please no more energy!), what would you feed?
Oh, and isn't it true that when you pour boiling water on top of - ANY - horse feed, its nutritional value is damaged? That you should use only warm water? Everyone at the barn uses boiling, so I wonder.
I was able to get pics of both Lucy the mini Shetty and Maja the Fjord!
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| They think I have something nice for them: ) This is where I like to tie Mag up when no one is there because the school horses are on the other side of those plastic curtains. But the tie rings are close together and most people don't want to tie next to Mag, the "unknown." |
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| Lucy showing me her nice hair cut and hoof boots (why?) and still has a bandage from her abscess. Why does she need hoof protection when she doesn't really work? I'm gonna guess it's cuz she's the girl who has everything. |
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| Maja, the horse who let me have fun bareback after years of not doing that. I'm jealous of her 2016 model Easyboot Backcountrys. I only have one so far, now that I've sized Mag. When he is an actual for-real working horse, he'll get more than one. I think if my horse were this hairy and this wet after a trail ride, I'd shave off that hair. But they always end a ride with letting her roll in the arena. And after she eats grain, she gets her mouth rinsed out. She gets a lot, a lot of special care, cuz she's 21. |
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| Appaloosa? |
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| You can't tell but it's a rainbow colored hippy halter. If ever a horse knew she was a princess, it's Lucy. She's waiting for her purple Bucca blanket because even her deeply bedded stall is not enough for her: ) |
12 comments:
Funny how much they can vary on a daily basis attitude wise. I recall chanting "this is a test, this is only a test" with Grace. I'd definitely guess Lucy is an Appy Mini, so cute!
Camryn, like, this is a test of the emergency broadcast system. this is only a test. had this been a real emergency......
Wow I have not heard that in a long time. We did have an air-raid drill here last week. Scary to have such a thing in GERMANY.
As Lucy rounded the corner, I said, "OOOOHHHH" and Eike, the PRE owner said, "Oh look, Lucy comes out and everyone stops what they're doing and OOOOOH's."
I ran for my camera: ) I think Pippin and Merlin are cuter though.
beet pulp, definitely, and tons of it (you don't have to worry about haylage ickiness with beetpulp!)
Fee currently gets about 2 cups of beetpulp pellets (measured dry) plus water, salt, vitamins and a half-cup of flax seed (slightly ground, not to a powder) and a half-a-handful of Ultium (for flavor) twice daily. Plus all-she-can-eat hay and access to (dormant) pasture all day/night. When she's fat, I cut back on hay and beetpulp (this is the amount she gets for "not much work"). When she's working, I raise the beetpulp amount to 6 cups (dry) twice daily. She is NOT an easy keeper!
The flax seed is a Susan Garlinghouse thing. You can feed up to 2 cups daily (Fiddle doesn't like it much, it's taken a long time to work her up to half a cup in each meal). Good for hooves, skin, coat, and overall digestion . We started her on flax last January, can definitely see a difference in good quality! Susan G says scoop up flax seed in the cap of your cheap coffee grinder (I got mine at Goodwill) and zap it for 3-5 seconds. I grinds about a week's worth at a time, maybe less in really hot weather.
I think he wasn't a jerk because you weren't right there reprimanding him for being a jerk! No attention for that, so he didn't do it!
Exactly that, I say it when the grandsons are giving me a hard time as well. I must say it often as I overheard Lincoln chanting it lol. Yes, the boys are much cuter, both in different ways.
ALSO: That pony is. the. cutest. ever!
As you know I am biased for the PRE :)
Beet pulp is the way to go. I've also read that it's good to soothe bellies and bran mashes are not that great.
Carmen reacts to things like alfalfa and oats so her diet is a miniscule amount of fat and fibre, hay, and small amount of beet pulp at night. Last year I gave her alfalfa too but that made her a bit nutty.
Irish is on a mix of crushed oats (for his gut) and fat and fibre. At night he gets a mix of soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes. That's what he needs to maintain his weight over winter. He gets 3 times as much food as Carmen!
I have a theory about Mag's reaction to other horses when you're working him vs other times (but it's just a theory because I'm not there and haven't worked with him so take it into consideration and feel free to reject it):
When he's being worked he's a little more 'up' and perhaps uncertain which makes him more reactive. I wouldn't let him run when sees another horse to wear himself out because then he's not paying any attention to you. Instead I would make him work harder (say trot-canter-trot transitions or changes of directions or just whoa damnit) until his attention is back on you and then lighten up the work.
this is based on my experiences with Carmen- with her breed (PRE), like Arabians and TB they can go and go and go and it doesn't calm them down. After doing this when I'm riding Carmen and Irish starts running around like a fool in the field beside the ring she completely ignores him. Which is terrific.
You are making great strides with Mags, I'm so happy that you moved him to the barn.
What Aarene said. All of that. :) That's exactly how I feed when I want to give mashes for weight gain. Neither mareface is fond of beet pulp these days, so I buy them beet pulp-based senior feed that is low in starch, moderate in protein, and high in fat.
Aarene, beet pulp won't break the bank, and is the logical choice. It just doesn't have that heavenly smell of alfalfa/hay pellets. Oh well...Fiddle definitely works hard enough to deserve a daily beet pulp mash. I've never seen her fat, I've only seen her monster fit or less fit.
I'm in the process of trying to return my Zilco white bridle and reins to the (Harness racing!) dealer in Scotland. Hopefully they won't leave the EU and make my exchange rate worse *lol* I was daydreaming about a new color scheme, since the white is not working out for us, but I am afraid of color fade in all colors now, except black. (My zilco white turned yellow IN STORAGE!) I did check out Am. Trail Gear today and their stuff is much more expensive than Zilco, before shipping: (
Teresa, I have thought about your suggestion in the past as he reacts by speeding up ("should I allow this?") but until now I've allowed it because he is such a lazy horse. Since he is so adverse to expending energy, I thought it would be OK to make his choice uncomfortable for him (aiming him at the ground poles combined with making the circle smaller if he insists he must speed up). I already do as you suggest by asking for canter trot transitions because honestly it's easier to get a canter when he's animated! I've never met a lazier Arabian so if his decision to work harder is uncomfortable for him, I'll just ensure it isn't as easy as he'd hoped. I've never seen him run except for those moments he tries to break away from me, but usually when he does that he ends up falling down, problem solved. His "run" is a fast trot, and I realize I was misleading by saying he was "flying around tail on fire" - that sounds like at least a canter, but it was an animated trot. Sorry about all my hyperbole, I hate that about myself! Wish you were here to watch! Hey, is Nova Scotia really New Scotland? That's what my husband said when I told him about you.
Yes Nova Scotia is New Scotland. Before that it was Acadia (French) and before that it belonged to Mi'kmaq First Nation. In Lunenburg county there is a proud German heritage.
Zilco is awful, all the colors fade to either orange or grey, bleh. I still have the (shiny) purple biothane bridle I bought for Story in 1999, it's still pristine. So is the black and purple beta biothane set I used on Toad for 8 years. Fiddle has her own beta set because ATF built it just for her, it's beautiful.
I think the beta is best, seems to last well. Mag would look nice in blue...!
Beet pulp all the way!
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