Enter the stable: Volume 2

Last night I decided to have another try at getting Cady into the stable. It was still a 'no' but this time I had more time and decided to perservere while remaining kind (hugely lost my temper with her on Monday which every horse owner knows gurarantees immediate victory. Not)

So I kept asking and after a bit one of the other liveries came over and we started chatting about the issue and she helped by getting a bucket of feed and then sat on the mounting block and we kept chatting as the evening went on which actually helped immensly as it stopped me getting frustrated and giving up.

We decided it was the rubber matting she was frightened of and moved the small square of it directly in front of the stable to one side. But the rest of the stable was still fitted with matting so she still didn't want to go in.

She would stop and have sniff and then as I kept asking her to come forward she'd pull back hard. During one of these moments she accidently stepped one front foot on the mat we'd moved and froze. After about thirty seconds she snatched her leg off it and had a lick and a chew. I think that was the start of her realising I wasn't asking her to walk into a giant hole in the ground. To help matters along we kicked shavings over the front of the mat so she could see it was solid.

We both agreed that in the few minutes after that she looked like she really wanted to at least try and sure enough it wasn't long before she walked into the stable. It was a great moment and I made a big fuss of her and proceeded to lead her in and out about a dozen times.

She ate a little feed in the stable and then I led her back to her field. Driving home after I felt very pleased with the process and the outcome. She wasn't bullied into the stable but went in through her choice. It has given me confidence to do some loading practice with her soon as I think it's the same issue and I'm more convinced we could work through it successfully.

So, a reminder to myself when tackling issues.

1. Have time to work through it

2. Have someone else about for moral support and suggestions. They see things that you don't or agree when there's a moment of progress which keeps you motivated.

3. Be kind. It goes a long way.

Happy horsing everyone x

Much better

A much better night at the yard yesterday. Rodney had a small feed, got doused in fly spray and had a slight haircut. He was very patient and seemed to enjoy the fuss. I started to lunge him but he seemed a bit tender on his lumpy fetlock leg so we called it a day. This morning the lump has gone right down so I think it's just been a knock and he should be fine soon.

So handsome

Having a little nose scratch post haircut

I then fetched Cady in and tried to be a more helpful sort of owner i.e. not ranting and raving (see previous post) She was good to lead and stood very still at the rail even though there was tons going on - multiple horses in the arena, trailers and boxes to-ing and fro-ing, lots of noise and runing around etc...I gave her a brush, put on fly spray, inspected the hole where her abscess was and squished some sudocream onto her head sore. She was really good which just goes to show that she tends to behave herself when I behave myself and do things properly. Or perhaps we were both just in a better mood?

Severe haircut with tufty bit from rug rub over the winter

In which I despair

At times, I am surprised by my own naivety. Despite all I have seen and experienced in relation to Cady there are still moments when I am left baffled, confused and hopping mad with rage.

The farrier had a look at her on Friday and dug out an abscess which was great. Now I know why she's been lame and she already looks better, though I think she's still a bit tender on that foot, unsurprisingly.

The tender foot is also not helped by the fact that she is a great, big fat pig at the moment. Last week I tried a grazing muzzle for a few hours a day but after two days she shook her head so much she came out in a sore.

So no grazing muzzle and horse still overweight. Fine. Kind yard owner said I could leave her in a stable a few hours a day and gradually bring her weight down.

So first thing Monday I went to bring her in. Except - no. Cady said "I am not going in the stable' and forty minutes of me ranting and raving did nothing to change her mind.

The best I could get was for her to sniff the area 10cm in front of the stable. Now I know a lot of knowledgable people out there are going to think "Well if you'd given her time to think about it she would have gone in" but I have learned from bitter experience that this is not the case. Cady will stand and sniff in a hopeful manner until civilisations have crumbled and oceans have dried up, without having any intention of moving a foot.

So after 40 solid minutes of wrestling I had to give up and drive to work late and, red in the face, furious and sweaty.

Bloody, bloody, bloody-minded witch - four years on and she won't walk into a stable. I know, from her point of view, it all makes sense, but it would be so amazing if we could do one small thing without a huge problem.

But I am bloody-minded too. So Gail Jeffrey, who helped me untold amounts when Cady was a bit younger is coming to help in the next few weeks. To show Cady I mean business I gave her a severe haircut last night. She looks bald and fat now.

Rodney is a big consolation, but has a hard lump on his near hind fetlock. It had gone down this morning so fingers crossed it's just a knock. He's had his headcollar off all week and been good to catch.

Happy horsing everyone x

Best buddies and hula-hoops

Phil and Cady seem to be kindred spirits and whenever he comes to the yard she glues herself to his side. Here are a couple of pics from the weekend that (I think) show their friendship perfectly!

In other news. I have taken up hula-hooping. If it's good enough for Sylia Loch it's good enough for me. So far though, not much hooping. It's very difficult when you have the core strength of a stick.



Lovely weather, muzzle grumpiness and extreme photoshop

Well the great weather makes the stables an absolute pleasure these days. I'm got a cracking farmer's tan and all my goals are out the window as I concentrate on just drifting about and pretending to be in Spain.

Cady pops is still lame unfortunately and I've bought her a grazing muzzle to tackle her weight, figuring that being a fatty isn't helping and will place more strain on the injury, whatever it is.

I asked the yard owner to take a look at her last night. We both agree it looks like something in her near foreleg and that it's worse on hard ground.

On Friday the blacksmith's going to take a look to rule out gravel or a bruise and after that I'll ask my osteopath to take a look. The next step after that will be a vet visit. It goes without saying Cady hates her grazing muzzle. I tried to help her figure it out yesterday and she shook her head so hard it banged off my hipbone and left me really sore, so we are both in the wars!

It'll be interesting to see how long it is before she refuses to be caught and subjected to her face brace. I do take her point but why are we owners always having to do things they hate/don't understand to try and keep them healthy? Equine parenting is hard!

Rodney is doing really well. He stomps over to be caught and even when I'm just passing through the field he follows and begs. We did some light schooling over the weekend and a little hack about as it was very hot. He still stumbles a bit on his back legs when we ride out and his next osteo visit is September so I'll know more then. He is schooling nicely though and will have his saddle checked next week.

I've been happily messing about with the special effects button on my phone and here are my efforts.

Happy horsing everyone!



Happy Thursday chums !

I've got my tack all ready today so all being well me and Rodney are going for a pootle tonight. He came over very willingly again last night which is really great. Cady Pickle is also happy and bobbed over to inspect our pockets.

In lieu of having much news, I'm going to recommend the Horse Hero website which has lots of blogs by trainers like Emma Massingale, Jason Webb and Richard Maxwell. There's a lot of good reading on there if you've got a bit of time and want to hear from people who can really work well with horses.

It's free to register and there are videos on there for anyone who doesn't enjoy reading.
Click here to take a look Horse Hero

By the way, this is not a sponsored post - I just think it's a good resource for horse owners :) Hope you enjoy it.

To finish, here's a little picture of Rodney to brighten up your day.

Happy horsing x



Handsome Rodney

I was slightly worried last night that Rodney would be a sod to catch as they've just moved to a new field. I should have had a bit more faith because he came stomping over for his carrot and a neck stroke. He is so extremely beautiful at the moment it gives me face ache.

Here's a pic from Monday when we lunged over raised poles to help him use his back properly. He's got his weather eye on for some reason but actually I think he didn't mind it too much and it should help him in the long term.

Mrs Pickle is happy as can be with her friends though her grass belly is ridiculous. She'll need the lard come winter though, especially if it's as tough as last year.

Not much else ongoing at the moment so apologies for being a bore lord.

Happy horsing everyone, I hope you're having good weather too x