Hmm

I haven't posted in a few days, so I can't remember what's happened..

I rode at some point this week.  Tuesday, I think?  He was pretty good.  He's getting better about moving off leg.  We even attempted a leg yield at the trot.  It looked more like a drunken elephant trying to dance, but hey, he tried.  Not every horse can be smart or graceful..  Unfortunately, at the end of the ride, he turned up lame.  Not horribly lame, I think he just tweaked something being a silly clod.  Last night I took him out in the indoor to see him move and he was fine, so apparently whatever he did was no big deal.  He was trotting so nice and forward... he really has a lovely trot.

The ponies have actually worn clothes a couple times!  Just sheets so they don't get wet if it rains.  I'm almost looking forward to it getting cold so I can stop checking the forecast to see when the weather will call for clothes and when I'll be able to stop out and get them dressed.  They'll just have clothes on all the time, and that'll be that.  Much simpler.

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by quickly to say hi.

My poor, abused, overworked horses.

I ended up going to Tractor Supply and picking up some things, so they'll be getting an extra meal most nights.  I got beet pulp pellets, alfalfa pellets, and a cheap version of Omega Horseshine.  I have baggies made up...  1 cup each of beep and falf, and about a half cup of Horseshine.  Then I just have to dump the baggie into a little bucket, add hot water, and wait.  When it's ready, I add in about 2 cups of BOSS and a bunch of the extra grain I have in my car (Purina Omolene 500...  yeah yeah, NSC!!!  But it's 12% protein and 8% fat... they'll live).  Mix it all together, add in a generous splash or two of oil, and you have a yummy meal!  Well, yummy if you're a horse...  Last night I made one baggie and split it between them.  Princess can be a picky eater and I didn't want him overwhelmed with new(ish) food.  I may increase the amount of beep and falf they get, I haven't decided yet.  Hopefully a month or two of this will help get their weight where I want it and then we can go back to a maintenance level.  By the way, I have the hardest time spelling "maintenance".  I never get it right.

Also, my mare is a disgusting pig in her stall.  By morning, it looks like her stall was bedded down with nothing but poop and urine.  It's nasty.  I contacted the BO earlier in the week to see if I could put up a hay net--the mare isn't crazy about being stalled, so she fusses and paces and makes a mess.  I was thinking a hay net might slow down her eating and give her less time to be upset about being stalled.  My main concern wasn't really for her happiness, I just don't want the BO getting annoyed that my horse is a slob and is wasting bedding.... yeah, I'm not very nice.  BO responded that they'd noticed it too and were thinking about switching stalls, which is totally fine with me.  So now the mare is in River's previous stall, right next to a wee pony.  River is across the aisle in the biggest stall in the barn... seriously, it's got to be like 12 x 18 or something ridiculous like that.  They seem pretty happy.

So that's about it, I think..

I did trim a horse on Wednesday... Yikes.  It's going to take a few trims to get her feet in order.  I have to wonder if the farrier who's been doing her is purposely doing the worst possible job.  I'm not sure how it's possible to get feet so out of balance without really trying to do it..

Here are a couple before/afters.

Left front:

Right front:

That's all for now!