Ok, so I've gotten some supplement for Dandy, it's called Cough Free. I've read good reviews about it and it's all natural! It is a powder that is to be added to the feed.
I've bought a custom feed that I had mixed at our feed store, it is cracked oats and soy bean meal, I've had no molases added, I don't want too sweet of a mix and Dandy is already crazy over the stuff! On the other hand, the little colt is not so fond of it. I guess it is a taste to develop, I remember the first time I gave Dandy a treat, she spit it right out! Until I kept putting it back in her mouth. Once she got to taste it, she never spit one out again!
I've trimmed Dandy's hooves this weekend. I have to be careful because my back is really sensitive to everything! So I did the fronts on Saturday and the back on Sunday. Her back feet weren't bad, but the front was a bit longer than I like to leave them get. Plus her fronts get unbalanced if I leave them get too long... conformation probably, or a lack of hoof care during critical young years where she was growing. Unfortunately, Dandy never received proper hoof care during the first two years of her life (she didn't get any hoof care for that matter). This caused her hooves to self-trim and become very unbalanced, they still tend to pull to one side, althought I did get them in much better shape than they were.
Her walls are so hard that my regular pair of nippers that I usually use with ease on every horse at my barn can hardly do the trick on Dandy. I swear, I would've had my sister take a video, but she was busy helping me close the nippers to trim the hooves... needless to say that I had to rasp a good part because the nippers just wouldn't cut through her tough hooves. Thank goodness the other horses don't have such hard hooves (although it does have disadvantages).
As a result of her hard hooves, Dandy can walk over any surface and can go long distances on pavement without having her hooves wear down to the point of damaging the sole. Whereas with Peg and Pearl, I really have to be carefull if I take them out on pavement. Those race horses prefer to walk on hard surfaces (or they were just trained that way), so their hooves wear down quickly since the quality isn't so good. However, I am pleased to say that their hooves have improved about 75% since I have taken them under my wing. Considering that Peg is base-narrow in her fronts and that her hooves wear in most unlikely places, the new growth coming from the coronet seems thicker and much healthier since I have allowed the blood to flow in her hooves. Pearl has one club foot but it doesn't seem to bother her at all, I just have to keep an eye and lower the heels when need be. I am also carefull not to trim too short on the Standards since their hooves wear fast... I have to consider wether or not we will ride them, how much and how can this much riding affect their hooves. It worked out pretty well after I had figured it out, but they did become a little sore at first, but we didn't use them when we noticed they were a bit off.
I won't have pictures posted today, because I haven't had a chance to upload them to my computer yet, I've taken before and after pictures of every hoof, I will probably post them tommorow. I had my sister take the pics. Dandy is always super patient with any handling and can stand tied for hours without getting really impatient.
After I trimmed her fronts on Saturday, I decided to hop on Dandy bareback to see if her cough had went down or worsened. I just went around the house and back and about mid-way, she coughed twice, but I am thrilled because they were tiny little coughs almost like she was faking it (but she wasn't, she's not a faker and loves to go for rides). It wasn't a cough where her sides flare up and she didn't seem in any discomfort from coughing. She went on to blow her nose twice after that and was fine, she even proceeded to trot back to the colt (she thinks it's her foal, silly mare). I am surprised that I could handle the trot so well bareback, but she trotted super slow, like a little jog and it was very comfortable... she knows I would've never survived the usual trot so she was really careful.
That made me realize that I really need to work on my bareback skills! I was so unbalanced and I hate it! On the other hand, Dandy was great, she stood there patiently for me to mount and I had only tied the lead rope to her halter. She went great! I was proud of her because we don't often ride bareback, but I do it much more often in winter and will probably try her out again next weekend to see if she still coughs. There is nothing like riding bareback.
The reason that I didn't ride bareback so much is because one of my friends (I helped her train her horses) told me that horses needed routine and structure and that riding bareback didn't prepare the horse for a ride... I thought that was a little far fetched and I remember thinking that I wanted my horse to be able to handle anything without me having to announce it. I just want to be able to jump on my horse and ride whenever I want. I'm not up to the bridleless yet, but I would like to work up to it. I would also like to work on my balance and doing bareback work could help... maybe that is why my friend is so unbalanced in the saddle.
I was giving lessons to my mom when Dandy started to cough really bad... so our lessons are on hold until my girl is back to normal... I have made an agreement that we would have a review course on Dandy before we continue. My mom is a first time rider and was quite nervous around horses. She did ride Dandy before but I want to prepare her and build her confidence up to where she can canter on a horse or take a spook without panicking. She was coming along so good! We were up to trotting, so we will have to take a few lessons to walk and work on the posture again... oh well... I am in no rush to teach and my mom is in no rush either, but she was pretty excited about her lessons! I'm thinking that we will be able to start again in a few weeks. I want to give Dandy a chance to fully recover before we do anything else. Her nose is no longer running as much as it was and her eyes and alertness are back to normal!
I will post tommorow with the pictures... I have before and after of each hoof, so do you want a detailed evaluation of each one or just a general evaluation... a detailed evaluation would give you a better ability to spot little defects in your horse's hooves (or mine! Feel free!).
I've bought a custom feed that I had mixed at our feed store, it is cracked oats and soy bean meal, I've had no molases added, I don't want too sweet of a mix and Dandy is already crazy over the stuff! On the other hand, the little colt is not so fond of it. I guess it is a taste to develop, I remember the first time I gave Dandy a treat, she spit it right out! Until I kept putting it back in her mouth. Once she got to taste it, she never spit one out again!
I've trimmed Dandy's hooves this weekend. I have to be careful because my back is really sensitive to everything! So I did the fronts on Saturday and the back on Sunday. Her back feet weren't bad, but the front was a bit longer than I like to leave them get. Plus her fronts get unbalanced if I leave them get too long... conformation probably, or a lack of hoof care during critical young years where she was growing. Unfortunately, Dandy never received proper hoof care during the first two years of her life (she didn't get any hoof care for that matter). This caused her hooves to self-trim and become very unbalanced, they still tend to pull to one side, althought I did get them in much better shape than they were.
Her walls are so hard that my regular pair of nippers that I usually use with ease on every horse at my barn can hardly do the trick on Dandy. I swear, I would've had my sister take a video, but she was busy helping me close the nippers to trim the hooves... needless to say that I had to rasp a good part because the nippers just wouldn't cut through her tough hooves. Thank goodness the other horses don't have such hard hooves (although it does have disadvantages).
As a result of her hard hooves, Dandy can walk over any surface and can go long distances on pavement without having her hooves wear down to the point of damaging the sole. Whereas with Peg and Pearl, I really have to be carefull if I take them out on pavement. Those race horses prefer to walk on hard surfaces (or they were just trained that way), so their hooves wear down quickly since the quality isn't so good. However, I am pleased to say that their hooves have improved about 75% since I have taken them under my wing. Considering that Peg is base-narrow in her fronts and that her hooves wear in most unlikely places, the new growth coming from the coronet seems thicker and much healthier since I have allowed the blood to flow in her hooves. Pearl has one club foot but it doesn't seem to bother her at all, I just have to keep an eye and lower the heels when need be. I am also carefull not to trim too short on the Standards since their hooves wear fast... I have to consider wether or not we will ride them, how much and how can this much riding affect their hooves. It worked out pretty well after I had figured it out, but they did become a little sore at first, but we didn't use them when we noticed they were a bit off.
I won't have pictures posted today, because I haven't had a chance to upload them to my computer yet, I've taken before and after pictures of every hoof, I will probably post them tommorow. I had my sister take the pics. Dandy is always super patient with any handling and can stand tied for hours without getting really impatient.
After I trimmed her fronts on Saturday, I decided to hop on Dandy bareback to see if her cough had went down or worsened. I just went around the house and back and about mid-way, she coughed twice, but I am thrilled because they were tiny little coughs almost like she was faking it (but she wasn't, she's not a faker and loves to go for rides). It wasn't a cough where her sides flare up and she didn't seem in any discomfort from coughing. She went on to blow her nose twice after that and was fine, she even proceeded to trot back to the colt (she thinks it's her foal, silly mare). I am surprised that I could handle the trot so well bareback, but she trotted super slow, like a little jog and it was very comfortable... she knows I would've never survived the usual trot so she was really careful.
That made me realize that I really need to work on my bareback skills! I was so unbalanced and I hate it! On the other hand, Dandy was great, she stood there patiently for me to mount and I had only tied the lead rope to her halter. She went great! I was proud of her because we don't often ride bareback, but I do it much more often in winter and will probably try her out again next weekend to see if she still coughs. There is nothing like riding bareback.
The reason that I didn't ride bareback so much is because one of my friends (I helped her train her horses) told me that horses needed routine and structure and that riding bareback didn't prepare the horse for a ride... I thought that was a little far fetched and I remember thinking that I wanted my horse to be able to handle anything without me having to announce it. I just want to be able to jump on my horse and ride whenever I want. I'm not up to the bridleless yet, but I would like to work up to it. I would also like to work on my balance and doing bareback work could help... maybe that is why my friend is so unbalanced in the saddle.
I was giving lessons to my mom when Dandy started to cough really bad... so our lessons are on hold until my girl is back to normal... I have made an agreement that we would have a review course on Dandy before we continue. My mom is a first time rider and was quite nervous around horses. She did ride Dandy before but I want to prepare her and build her confidence up to where she can canter on a horse or take a spook without panicking. She was coming along so good! We were up to trotting, so we will have to take a few lessons to walk and work on the posture again... oh well... I am in no rush to teach and my mom is in no rush either, but she was pretty excited about her lessons! I'm thinking that we will be able to start again in a few weeks. I want to give Dandy a chance to fully recover before we do anything else. Her nose is no longer running as much as it was and her eyes and alertness are back to normal!
I will post tommorow with the pictures... I have before and after of each hoof, so do you want a detailed evaluation of each one or just a general evaluation... a detailed evaluation would give you a better ability to spot little defects in your horse's hooves (or mine! Feel free!).
*********** Picture above: Dandy (right) and Jenny (left). Jenny was a horse we boarded for the summer. She was untrained and a real nightmare to be around.... unfortunately, Dandy and Jenny became the best of friends. We did teach some manners to Jenny while she was staying at our barn... she was the kind to attack anything or anyone.*************
No comments:
Post a Comment