Validation!

Last weekend a friend of mine and I went over to Austin with the ponies and had a driving clinic/ playdate. Dinner on Saturday night was at a pleasant little place and the food was really good. The gentleman doing the clinic Tom O'Caroll, was with us and quite a pleasant man. When I asked how long he had been driving and how he got started? He chuckled and said he can't remember a time when he didn't drive. He had grown up in Ireland and drove the horse to town once a week- 20 miles away- to deliver the produce raised on the family farm. While he was there he would pick up whatever supplies they needed and drive the horse the 20 miles back home again. I can't even imagine. I'm sure at the time it was just what you do. I think it would just be so cool and definitely life at a slower pace. 

Sunday was a clinic of sorts where a few of us were invited to bring our ponies and give the local pony club members a chance to try driving.  Of course Kat was a perfect gentleman for the harnessing demo and was a little wound since he hasn't driven in a while. A few of the kids were so excited to drive him and he handled it really well considering nobody else has ever really driven him. A few of the kids were thrilled to take the reins and talk about how their horse should do this Really well. 

Luckily before the trip I had checked the weather forecast. While it wasn't bad here at home, overnight in Austin it was down to 38° which was quite cold for the ponies. We brought their blankets along so they were fine and thankfully there was also no wind which I was told by the facility owner that typically there is.  Some places just have a lot of wind and with it blowing as a constant, it gets old fast.  

We brought my friends pony along just for the experience. While she didn't exactly handle the trip very well, she did fine once we were there. She traveled with her nose to the floor and at one point when she brought her head up she had watery blood running from both nostrils. Poor baby was stressing. I would tell Kat to reassure her and tell her it would be fine.  Once she was off the trailer and walked around she seemed to be ok. 

Towards the end of the morning I could tell Kat was Starting to wear down and it looked like he needed to pee. Seem like a good idea so I took him back to the trailer to unhitch so we could both use the bathroom. At that point there was discussion of putting to the other pony and it seemed like a good idea. As I got her out and started to harness up the group started to trickle back over to the arena where the trailers were parked and lunch was being served. This was good since her pony was getting used to people and everything going on around her. Earlier they had a PA system too so she got used to that  too. 

By the time I had her put to the cart everyone else had come back over and the dressage arena we were using was clear. This worked to our advantage as her pony had seen the carriages going around from her stall and now she was getting to go out into the field where we could work. This pony is super talented and rather green but she has a really good mind to her. I used her Liverpool bit for just a little extra control should I need it and it was perfect for the occasion. We headed out to the field and I could tell she was feeling a little up, but she managed to hold it all together as we walked around so she could loosen up  before getting to work.

The dressage arena was a big open field and quite lovely. We walked both directions did a lot of circles and some serpentine's. When she started to relax I asked the pony to trot and we got a lot of really good work in. Again we did a lot of big circles, smaller circles and serpentine's going both directions and she was really working nicely. She was still looking around at the horses in the other field and the arena where the stalls were, but that's ok. Horses do that when they are in new places. As she worked and started to blow off steam she really settled in and was moving quite nicely. We did some working trot and some extended trot, brought it back down to a walk and let her relax a little before doing some more trotting work. She's quite a lovely mare and when we found a good place to stop, I let her have a little rest and then headed back to unhitch. 

By this time all of the kids and their parents were gone and it was just the event organizers left. They were all sitting in the stands talking and as I came into the arena they motioned for me to come over there. As I drove her up and stopped, they were all saying how they had been watching us work and she is a Really, Really nice moving pony. They had Lots of compliments and questions so I took her over to unhitch.  

While we were talking I explained that this pony has had less than 20 drives on her and how at one point she had not been driven for almost a year, but I was able to just harness up and put her to the cart and she worked to fine. When the discussion of two major driving shows came up, everyone agreed that this pony could certainly hold her own and do well at either one. She's That. Good. I finally asked the group if there was anything we needed to work on? Tom spoke up and said, "What you're doing with her, keep doing That." Again I asked- Any suggestions? Tips? Things to do? Things to leave alone and not worry about??? There's always something to work on.... Again Tom said "She looks really good with what you're doing. Just keep doing That."

My mind was blown. Such good things to hear about a pony I have been bringing along and teaching to drive. Funny thing is, she was supposed to be a hunter pony and while she loves to jump, she enjoys driving more. Now she just needs to travel more and we need to find or arrange more play dates she can go to, to put miles on her. 

Working out

Lately I have been working my ponyman since his hooves are back to almost where they should be. Since clearing up more memory on my phone, this means more pics too. 

Sometimes we do long line work and sometimes it's just working him on the lunge line. 

Everything starts and ends with the walk and my little man is still rocking his walk. 

Of course he's still rockin the trot too. I'm not pushing him for much more since its been a while since he's been worked regularly and the arena ground has also been packed pretty hard too. 

And of course that deep, rich color of his and the accents of his mane and tail. I should have had his bell boots on but they need to be washed.

Not quite as engaged as the pic above, but here's his working trot and a bit more relaxed. Still in the stages of loosening up here going the other direction.

Moving out a bit more here and yes again, he needs his bell boots. 

Especially when he turns up the heat and starts moving out like this. 

He knows he's still got it going on. Kat is such a character and always quite pleased with himself. 

Nip & trim

Sometimes we just have to take things in life head on. When it comes to our horses/ponies, we are their advocate and we need to stand up for their best interests, safety and their health. This includes hoof care. 

I have posted here before about dealing with an inferior farrier and the issues involving Kat's feet.  I trimmed his feet before and have no problem trimming them again. Then I switched farriers and while the new guy does a good job and all, for some reason I can't get him to take enough hoof off when trimming Katman. 

At 4 weeks the other pony in the barn that wasn't growing hoof- was already long and starting to chip the edges. She has not been on hoof supplements this last month and neither has Kat. And for not being in supplements, he was overreaching really bad at the walk the other night. Normally he overreaches at the trot when he is due for a trim- to the point you can hear him literally clicking with every stride as his hooves make contact. 

So at 4 weeks I sent a text they needed a trim. She's starting to chip, he's overreaching and how can we get this done? The other boarder that moved in with 5 horses and uses him now too, hers are still in good shape and can go a little longer. A week or two later and I let him know that if I need to, I can trailer out and meet him somewhere to get them done. 

Any wonder Why he might be overreaching at 4 weeks? 

So I grabbed my nippers, knife, rasp and got to work. 

Right front was first and while it is a touch long still for him, it looks a whole lot better than it did. 

Nice and short like it should be and balanced once again.  

Texting with a friend of mine that also uses the same farrier, she agreed that Kats feet should not be that long. 

His heels should not be the length of my thumb. Rest assured- they aren't anymore. Kat may still have some unresolved issues with deep cracking in the frog area, but that's a work in progress. And thanks to him fidgeting while I was rasping, the knuckle of my thumb is now missing a couple layers of skin. 

The difference in his hind feet after trimming the right one and before starting on the left.

Both hind feet have been taken down to where they belong. Its funny that Kat stood there licking and chewing as I worked on his feet. Each time I would set one down and let him have a break, (and me too) he would turn his head to me as if expressing his thanks. Anything to help out my little man.  

Visionary

Katman got a fresh load of shavings and proceeded to scare the crap out of me. Rolling in a freshly bedded stall is something they all do and he is no exception. This time however, he got something in his right eye. I whipped out my bottle of Vetracyn ophthalmic gel  and put a generous glob in his eye. In return I got back about a pea sized chunk of gray nasty something that was obviously causing the issue. 

The red part under the eyelid- this has recessed quite a bit but when it first happened that was sticking out under the eyelid and in plain sight on a much larger scale. The bottom eyelid was also swollen and puffy. 

After getting the pea sized chunk of crap out it had to feel so much better. He wasn't done yet though because next came a healthy glob of some terramycin an ophthalmic antibiotic. For $20-$25 a tube it is definitely something good to have in your first aid kit!  His other eye also got a healthy dose of gel and salve just in case. Fly mask went on for the night and I hoped for the best.  

The left eye still showing a little bit of pink irritation on the inside bottom. 

The next day there was a marked improvement- swelling was almost gone and the eyelid was almost back to normal. I also had a plan for a better way to flush the eyes. 

I have some packets of saline solution for flushing sinuses, so I took a handful of these to the barn. A bottle of water from the tack room fridge and a small container from the $1 store, I mixed up a batch of saline. A small syringe and we were good to go. Kat was again very patient while I rinsed his eyes and flushed away anything and everything caught in there. Another glob of terramycin and put the mask on again to wait to see.  

A few days later and much improved. Still a little pink but no more swelling and he's not rubbing his face on things. It doesn't look like he suffered any injury to his eye or vision so that's always good. The fly mask stays on now too since those pesky bugs have returned. 

Silver dapples

The weather has warmed up enough that everyone at the barn is shedding like crazy. Kat and one of the other horses there have pretty fluffy winter coats that will take some time to shed out. My pony is lucky since I body clipped him. Speed up the process a bit... Lol

He went from a silver dapple color-  

Kat showing off his deep chocolate brown color.

To a silver color with dapples- 

He's such a unique color and yet every year when I clip him or he sheds out- he changes just a little bit more. 

He is still and always will be - a character with a Huge personality. And now that he has short hair again, I can rinse him and he will be dry in a few minutes tops.  Hooray for that!

With his feet coming back around too, it won't be long before I'm back to driving him again and he's tearing it up. I'm betting we qualify for the old farts class before long. Lol  

He loves a good roll.