Rugby LOVES the Snow!

I love the snow, too. Brings out the kid in me... after I dig my truck out.

We got dumped on here in NY. In my area, a bit over a foot but I have friends farther east of me and they got 2 ft. or more. Once we cleared our driveway and dug out the Ford, I waited for it to warm up a bit and went to the barn around lunch time.

None of the horses were turned out since the stable hands were still in the process of shoveling and plowing the snow off the driveways on the farm. The stalls were clean and every horse was just relaxing with their lunchtime hay. Rugby was glad to see me. I got the feeling he wanted out today and I was going to give him his wish!

I put his rope halter and groundwork lunge line on, and we headed to the small riding ring behind the barn. I was thrilled that the guys hadn't plowed there yet and we would be the first ones to "break" the snow!

I have always loved first dibs on messing up fresh snow. Whether riding through it on horseback or walking on it, I love being the first to put my prints down. I think Rugby feels the same. As soon as we walked out the barn door he wasted no time walking out into it and then started pawing it in big, dramatic fashion! First one front foot, then the other. I had to laugh. It got funnier when I walked him out to the middle of the arena and sent him out to lunge. He started trotting and picking up his feet in this big, prancey-pants trot. He looked adorable (and totally sound!). Then, when I brought him back to the walk, he stopped and started pawing the snow again. So I let him and watched to see what he'd do. He pawed a bit, then bent his knees like he was going down to roll, but stopped on his knees, took his entire head and plowed it into the snow! He looked like he was diving into it! Then he jumped up, bucked and cantered around on the lunge.

What a goofball! He cantered a bit, then I stopped him and changed direction. He walked around to the same spot, stopped, pawed and this time went down for a good roll! All four feet in the air and snow flying everywhere. Pure joy! When he got up and shook himself off, he trotted around a bit more and then I let him quit with that.

By now, my monster truck of a horse had made a nice lunging path in the snow and it was easier for the next boarder to walk out with her little horse.

But the best, the very best for me was my barefoot horse strolled back into the barn without any chunky ice balls wedged into his hooves!! His hooves were immaculate! I have always HATED dealing with the problem of impacted snow in shod hooves. My fear is taking the horse out to get a little exercise and getting so balled up that they twist an ankle walking on that crap. In the past, I've had snowball pads put on with the horse shoes (I found them to just be "okay" for the purpose of preventing snow build-up) and tried things like smearing Vaseline in the hooves before riding but I see being able to go with nature's design has even more benefits.

I hope Rugby's Christmas gifts arrive by mail from Dover Saddlery before Friday. The big guy made out like a fat rat from Santa. He's getting some flashy new Amigo Horseware clothes, a leather halter, an anti-sweat rug and a peppermint stall ball from my kids. It's good to be a horse in this family! :)

A poem about cold weather and horses

I don't like the cold, no sirree.
My horse gets too frisky, you see.
He wants to get bucky which makes my ride sucky,
so I guess it's more groundwork for me.

Pictures of the Big Guy!!!

Finally! Riding pictures of Rugby and me! These were taken when I rode him after the hoof trimming last Sunday and it's the first time I've seen how we look together under saddle. I think we make a good team but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :)






What a good boy! He looks like he's sleeping in the sun after our ride!

Warm and Fuzzy

I am so not a photographer. My dubious talent is only compounded by the inadequacies of my cell phone camera. Due to the rain all day, last night's barn visit was a routine leg/body check and hoof picking, followed by a handful of treats in Rugby's bucket and a smooch goodnight. I decided to snap a shot of him in his new sheet with my cell phone at the last minute. Standing still and posing is something Rugby does with no problem, LOL.

I still don't think it's his Hooves

So the trimmer came to work on Rugby's hooves yesterday. He and his wife listened as I explained everything about Rugby's slight unsoundness. The trimmer (who I'll call A.M.) went with me as I walked to the paddock to bring Rugby in for his trim. He followed us up the gravel driveway and watched Rugby walk. There was no indication that the rocks were bothering my horse. He was not bobbing his head at all at the walk and striding right up into his front hoof mark as he walked. A.M. said if there was any foot soreness or tenderness, the gravel should have brought it out, even just at the walk.

We discussed possibilites of a stone bruise. I told him that the best I could trace it back to was that lunging session 2 weeks ago where the horse got rambunctious and I thought he may have strained something further up the leg. I also mentioned how I noticed the soreness seemed worse when working in the deeper, sand arena than when on the harder blue stone footing. A.M. said he felt quite sure that I was on to something as a horse who is footsore should be more sore on hard ground and yet he seemed better there. A muscle soreness would definitely be more aggravated when pulling the leg through deeper sand footing. As A.M. cleaned Rugby's hooves in preparation for trimming, he remarked on the huge amount of growth that had occurred since he was trimmed 5 weeks ago and he also would carefully check the balance of the hooves. And then he set to work.

My horse grows the bars of his hooves and the wall like crazy. The bars were forming deep ridges by the time he was to be trimmed. A.M. said there was obviously good circulation to the hooves here. There were no signs of bruising as he trimmed the foot and the amount of growth was also an excellent sign. My horse has no hoof cracks and the pronounced flaring he had when A.M. first started trimming him have been greatly reduced and balanced. He did note that before trimming, Rugby's right front toe was more worn down that his left. That told that there was a definite change in his gait and was consistent with my noticing he's more sound to the left than to the right. There was no reaction, tenderness or heat in either front hoof while being worked on. Also a good sign.

So in conclusion, we both felt strongly the problem was not coming from his hooves. A.M. explained that there are so many times when someone sees a horse is barefoot and there is something wrong with the horses' gait, the knee-jerk response is to put shoes on the horse. And that may mask the symptoms for a while but it does not solve the problem. We both decided that if we were to see if the issues were coming from the hooves, boots would be the next step. We measured him for boots and while there are very few options available for big, warmblood feet, Easyboot makes a size 5 that should fit him nicely.

I took the Big Guy out to lunge and ride in the blue stone arena after A.M. left. I was curious to see if there was any difference - good or bad - after the trimming. My conclusion was this:

- Rugby walked sound on both sides.
- He lunged sound to the left at the trot
- he lunged at the trot to the right with very slight, only occasional head nodding
- He rode sound in both directions at the walk.
- He trotted sound under saddle on the long straight sides of the arena in both directions.
- He trotted sound under saddle to the left and almost sound to the right on the turns into the short sides of the arena.
- there did not seem to be any difference in wear to the toes of either hoof after work.

In all, the condition has been slowly progressing to better. It certainly has not gotten worse, even after the trimming. I think the Big Guy strained something and has needed the time to just heal through it. He's not walking out of the stall or from standing for awhile as sore as he was a week ago. I'm going to keep him on the rest/light work/watchful eye regimen for another week and see where we are at by next weekend. I'm curious to see how he is when I go to check on him this evening after work and dinner.

Oh Sheet!

Well, it was windy and cold here yesterday and most of today. So I figured it was time to see if the sheet I bought off Ebay would fit the Big Guy. When I measured him a little over a month ago, he was an 84. Great - all of my horse clothing is a size 80. (I now have bunch of sheets and blankets soon to be available for sale if you are in need of a size 80 and interested.)

I found a nice simple size 84 sheet for less than $45.00 with free shipping! It is red on the top half and black on the bottom with black trim. I thought it would look smashing on Mr. Black and White. Last night was the night to see what he'd do with it. His former owner had mentioned that she blanketed him but I didn't know how well he tolerated wearing one. He watched me unfold if and I let him sniff it all over as I slowly eased it on his back and spread it over him. I fastened all the buckles and took him for a walk outside in the wind so he could get used to it rustling on him. He very quickly got comfortable wearing it.

So I crossed my fingers when I left that he'd wear it through the night and not shred it after I left or somehow magically remove it from his body without undoing the buckles (seriously, I knew of a horse with this amazing talent!). When I went to work with him tonight, there he was, all cozy in his clothes and not a tear or mark on them. So far so good!

Rugby was just about sound tonight, even trotting. I even rode at the walk for awhile. Tomorrow the trimmer is scheduled to come and I'm hoping we get an answer or a solution.

To Be Thankful

Wishing all in the blogosphere a Happy Thanksgiving. Even if it's not a holiday you celebrate, we all have something to be thankful for. It may only be a small something or a positive that has to be seen past an unfortunate circumstance but there is good to be found if you try.

I'm thankful for my family, such as we are. I'm thankful to have a job, a home and some of life's little extras. Speaking of which, I'm thankful to have found my horse, Rugby. Our partnership was not exactly what I hoped for from the start but seems to be blossoming into the earliest beginning of what I hoped for and maybe more.

I fit in some horse time early this afternoon. Just some groundwork before heading back to the chaos at home. Rugby was a lot better today. Sound at the walk, and trotting to the left. Just slightly ouchy trotting to the right. Will see if the weather lets me try a bit of light riding tomorrow. We had fun stepping up on the catwalk with just his front feet only, then asking him to carefully step back off, then up on again. He was licking and chewing the entire time I did this with him and really seemed to like this game. I could see him thinking this one through as we did it!

Today I also decided to test Rugby's clipper tolerance. I've been too chicken to try using the clippers on him since I bought him but after the plastic bag exercise, I felt empowered to go for it. He stood like a statue with his rope halter and lead on as I trimmed his muzzle, ears and bridlepath. I was so happy to see that his ears were no issue! I didn't have an extension cord so trimming his front fetlocks was not easy. That and the fact that my blades are getting dull. I didn't do a great job but the point was more to see how he would react to clippers and it was another test he passed.

So, I'm going to go hang out and relax off this belly full of turkey. A Happy day to all!