Catching Up

i'm probably the worst blogger on earth. Life just doesn't seem to want to slow down for five minutes for me to even think about writing, so today I'm making time.

Shadow has been doing wonderfully. Jamie was home from Texas and we did a lot of riding that week.

He has been improving weekly, and I am sure to ride him every chance i get. It is great to see how well he is actually doing.

I think we have the trot pretty much down to a science, he is finally consistent and riding on a looser rein. I don't have to hold him up as much.

The canter is still a little rough, and we can't hold it around the ring fully, but we will get there, i'm not really in a rush, I would like the trot to be a little less work still before i move onto anything else.

He is such a good boy.


New Opportunity.

Dom has moved Dancer in to live with us, to hopefully help her sell him. We have a cute little barn which is rather inviting and is a nice place to show a sale horse.

I am leasing him from her until he sells and riding him every time i get to ride shadow.

Shadow and Dancer are in fields right next to each other and they love each other! It;s nice to see Shadow getting along with another because he has been in a feild alone since I brought him home almost a year ago.

Saturday night i went out and rode both boys and they were wonderful.

I really enjoy riding Dancer, he is alot less work that shadow and i dont have to think much, I can just ride. Riding him improves all my strength and helps me ride Shadow more effectively.


This is a wonderful opportunity I have been given by Dom and I can't wait to get back into jumping with dancer, after all, jumping was always my passion.

 They're twins, it's crazy!

Shadow and I will be together for one full year this week. 

I can't believe how fast it has gone and how far we have come. I love that horse with my hole heart <3 

One step closer..

Every week shadow is improving tremendously.

Saturdays have turned into quite the busy day at the barn with back to back lessons for Dom and I really enjoy the time to get away from the real world and worry about what makes me happy. 

The last two Saturdays were like, my first real lessons I guess you could say. No lunging and Dom didn't ride first, just me and shadow and Dom on the ground teaching, which I'm really enjoying.

This past weekend he really felt great and he offered so really beautiful canter. Dom took some photos but we didn't get any of him cantering because we weren't ready, lol. Dom said it was a real canter there was no pace to it at all, great! 

He is really improving at the walk, it's almost perfect and he is really getting the hang of the free walking. For the last two weeks I have gone home all smiles. Just the thought of how well he is doing after I though our whole game plan was out the window with how lame he was at the beginning of spring.

The regimen I have him on is working wonders and I didn't even have to put the wedges on him, which makes me even happier. 

I really can't even say how proud I am, he is really coming along better than I could have expected so far. 

Head shot of my handsome by Dom

Never imagined him to look this good 

Top is august of last year and bottom was this past Saturday, major improvements!! 

WW:Birthday Love

Saturdays

I absolutely look forward to lessons every week :)

Shadow has been showing so much improvement, a little more every week.

I have been very sick with shingles (ouch), so I haven't done anything with him because of the amount of pain I am so when Dom came this Saturday I warned her that he might be a little off from being out of work.

To my surprise he was wonderful! The ground was super wet, but he managed. He looks very sound and not stiff at all, he it trotting beautifully on the lunge line, with a small amount of antics on his bad side because he is fighting the pain I suppose.

While Dom was lunging, she took a split second to look at me and ssay something, and Shadow decided in the split second he was going to buck and he pulled the line right out of Dom's hand. He took off running around us like a crazy horse. (i think he was trying to run away from the evil lunge line that was following him.) lol

He was completely sound and looked so beautiful in his natural gait. He had his head up and his tail up and he was moving so freely. I wish i could have gotten some of it on video but i was too busy staring at him. He looked wonderful, although not what we wanted, he warmed himself up. lol

We worked on some side passing on the ground, which he did pretty well and some turning.

He is still struggling a little on his bad stifle, but he is looking so much better, he even offered some beautiful canter while Dom was on him, and he held it for more than 2 strides, if the ground wasn't so wet I'm sure he would have kept going.

I hope to get some photos/videos for you guys next week. He is doing so well. I don't think I am going to have to put the wedges on him after all! I am going to take another month to observe him improvements/ strength and go from there.

This saturday we are going to pull his mane too, that should be fun!

I can't even express how happy I am with his improvements and with the team Shadow, Dom and I have formed together. I have set a time frame of next summer to get him to where he needs to be and out shows at a healthy 17 years old. Lol Dom thinks it is a perfect time frame and I couldn't be more excited.

Nothing but positive vibes :)

Blog Hop: Appreciate What You Have

Let's take a moment to appreciate the Pros of our current ponies, whether you own them or just ride them in lessons. 

Totally stole this from Dom, figured it was a good opportunity to take a break from my hectic work week. 

Shadow

Happy and Handsome with his politced leg :)

He was an impulse buy, or adoption, no doubt about it. 

I had been thinking about getting back into the horse world for a little while and he basically fell into my lap.

I wanted a teenager to get back into it knowing that I'm not the rider I used to be. 

I haven't even had Shadow for a year yet, but I will say I have never had a bond with any other horse the way I do with him. 

He keeps me humble, teaches me patience and can always put a smile on my face with him hammy antics. 

So we won't be able to do any kind of jumping, but he has opened my eyes to a new discipline and I am excited to rehab him back to where we left off and start a new adventure. 

He isn't everything I had hoped, but he is more caring, forgiving and full of heart that I could have ever expected. Even being hurt, he gives me his all, almost as if he understands that doing what I ask will only help him, and that I would never hurt him. 

Out of all the horses I have ever owned, He will always be the one nearest to my heart. He is my boy and I wouldn't trade him or his flaws for anything in the world. I wouldn't want anyone else by my side or on my team and I think he knows he is with me forever, no matter what and that he could never let me down. 

Love my boy. 

Update

We have a stifle injury.

Solution: work work work.

I need to work him to strengthen it, which is not a problem. He will get worked.

Keep him on his smartpak, obviously.
I asked if adequan or something like that would benefit him more, he said no what I have him on is just fine.

Put him on previcox, 1 tablet once a day.

Rub his stifle down before riding to "warm" it up or a poultice

Aluminum wedges, in the back only, Raising up his heel will help the stifle.


Done and Done. :)

LAME.

So spring is finally here, I guess.

LESSONS HAVE FINALLY STARTED AGAIN!! YAY!

Dom was out on Saturday for our first session for the season, which I have to say I was super excited about.

As we all know this winter wasn't easy on anyone, apparently Shadow included. 

Bonni and I had noticed he has been limping on his back right for a few weeks now. I have hoping it was just stiff from all this brutal cold and kept bouncing it back and fourth from her brain to my brain. 

I don't know if any of you remember from my past post or Dom's but we noticed an issue when I first got him home, but as we started working it more, it seemed to fade away. 

Well it's still here, and way worse than it was last season. 

If first couple trips around on the lunge line, he looked just about dead lame to me, but he worked it out and started to move better as the lesson went on.

 Dom finally got on his back and she said "his walk feels much more lateral then it was when he left off in November, and he feels like he is wiggling his spine"

My excitement slowly turned into worry. I watched as they went on, my poo shadow tripping all over himself, in the back. As Dom put it, it's like he is trying his hardest to put his feet where they belong and that back leg is just not cooperating. Which is causing his tripping in the back and then tripping in the front trying to catch himself. 

As far as remembering, he does, and he tried his heart out. He made me very proud of him, and he was EXHAUSTED, He lost all his muscle and fitness and that will all come back in time. This year I will have a full season working with Dom, and I can't wait to see his progress once I get his issue diagnosed. 

Hip/hock/stifle?

"If you think it's stifle it's probably hock" is something Dom has been told and has passed on to me.

When I ask him to pick up that foot, just to pick his hoof or whatever it may be, instead of just picking it up for me, he pushes it out almost like, into me to hold it for him because he cant or as if he is trying to adjust it himself. 

So what is it? I have no idea, do I wait and see if it is a fitness issue and gets better or do I get it looked at?

My vet is due to come out tomorrow at 11 so hopefully we weigh our options before I just jump to getting x-rays done. I don't want to take the chance of anything getting worse or hurting him more. I don't want to sit back and see what happens, I did that last season, but it was more predominant this year and I don't want to push it. 

Maybe he needs injections? Maybe something stronger than the supplement I have him on. 

I have talked to a couple people about using adequan, and previcox, which we use on  several of our horses already on the farm.

I will update everyone tomorrow after I meet with my vet, hope it turns out to be a quick fix, I get so nervous, I never want anything to be wrong with my boy he has so much potential and I want him to be able to preform in the way he tries to. 

ugh.