Pony club season is now upon us!

Hmmm its been a few months since ive updated this blog, how slack of me. Then again it has been winter..and speaking of winter it has been quite mild, we actually still have quite a bit of hay left. However we did have a couple of good snow dumps and that was cold ! I  felt sorry for my horses, but they got hot feeds and hay and nice barn to go into....not that they did though!

 
So kids winter sports have finished and now the pony club season is upon us again. So we have dragged the horses and ponies out of hibernation and tidied them up. Bit frisky and full of themselves but they will calm down with a bit of work.

My son isn't really a horses lad, more of a motorbike, getting dirty lad. But he surprised me the other day wanting to have a go. So maybe a may have the two of them gallivanting around on horseback. who knows??

Choke and a kick in the throat

Well having one mare and five geldings can cause problems. Actually its not the mares fault but one of my geldings. Harry is a lovely horse but can be very dominant and nasty to other horses.

I had heard that this can happen but had never actually come across it before. I have had horses in many paddocks with mares and geldings but this was an eye opener...and a pain in the butt!

Last year he attacked and yes that is the word i would use, attacked and hounded my youngster Holden. Now my young lad is such a gentle giant and wouldn't hurt a fly, always at the bottom of the pecking order and is Harrys best mate. But on this occasion Harry just turned on him. All horses were together, but in the paddock next to them were my two pony mares. Normally they are a few paddocks away. I wondered if one of the mare was in season. Anyway unfortunately for Harry, my youngster back kicked him in the knee. So vet visit and 12 stitches later ....all was ok. If the kick was just cm's lower he would have smashed his knee...phew!

Then things were calm for many months later ( so maybe not a seasonal mare thing???) even after we had introduced my daughters new mare into the herd. Then in spring I separated the Jock and my daughters mare and put them in the fatty paddock. After a while i combined the herd again. Things were fine for a number of days then, it happened. Mr Jeckle and Hide Harry switched and went after the mare. Boy did he hound her. I finally separated them and both were so wet with sweat it was pouring of their faces, and bodies! They were breathing so hard i thought one of them was going to have a heart attack! 


But before i separated them, the mare (who had shoes on) gave Harry a huge back kick right in the throat. It stopped him in his tracks and he backed off. Now I had been keeping an eye on him and he seemed ok.

That was about a month ago and now im feeding out hay and some hard feed. Harry chocked on the hay, tried again next day with very wet hay, same thing. He wasnt good. Then i gave him some hard feed and sure enough he chocked again.

I noticed on all occasions he developed a lump (which i presume was food) half way down his throat, where he got kicked . He also has a little permanent indent there as well. After i massaged his throat the "lump " went and he carried on eating grass as if nothing had happened.

So the vet is coming up to have a looksie. I am hoping its no permanent damage from the kick.

In the meantime the mare will not be grazed with Harry from now on. My youngster is still  best buddies with him again. But what a pain having to have 2 herds!

Im really not sure what was going on in Harrys brain but i still feel it has to do with the mares. It has only happened about 3 times in the 6 years I have had him.

Mr Goliath Rataphant pays us a visit!

My friends and I were all talking the other day about how its that time of the year again. Mice and rat presents being brought in by your loveable but annoying cats.

Well we have lately found deposited under the table, the odd whole mouse, decapitated mouse, or just a few guts or just a tail left. My cats im sure have a very warped sense of humor! Well the rat of all rats has just been presented. My bloody cat has just brought in a rat the size of an elephant, i kid you not!!!  deposited it in the hall and it took off into daughters bedroom (which just happened to be the most messiest house on the planet, well picked Mr rat!) 

So i armed myself with the washing basket as no other container would hold this rataphant ( yes the rat really was that big!) and then put my big girls pants on (cause hubby wasn't at home). I gingerly removed items from said messy floor and there it was! Mr Goliath rat..it looked dead so I thought..cool...but it was playing possum...I screamed like a little girl as it high tailed it off under daughters bed , over mountains of clothes and then out into the hallway again. Luckily i had closed all doors in the hallway. 

It really was a comedy act, two cats, a dog, a mad woman wielding a washing basket in hot pursuit of said rataphant and a daughter not knowing where to go. Well it got trapped in the corner with two cats & dog eyeing it up ready to pounce..so i swooped before they could...how the hell i got it i will never know.!! But then what the hell do i do with it now.!!  I yelled at daughter to get cats and dog out and then slowly slid the washing basket with rataphant in it, down the hall way. Thank god we have polished floors in the hallway.

The bloody thing then was trying to gnaw its way out..and trying to bite my fingers!! So quick haste daughter opened the front door and i did a great scoop the rat up and then throw rat and basket out of the door action, followed bya  swift slam of the door!

Phew, I then had to go and change my soiled big girls pants and pour myself  a whiskey or two or three. That cat had better not go and find Mr rataphant again or there will be consequences to rat and said cat!  You have been warned!

Honestly i have never seen a rat that big, being on a farm we do get the bigger varieties than out city cousins but boy oh boy that one was a mutant!

Proud Mum!

In the weekend we went to a show, nothing unusual about that, but this time it was the first time that my daughter would do some jumping.

She has always been keen, but the pony has had her back out for a while so we couldnt really jump. Well after Tommy did the back thing, the pony is much better. So she wanted to do some jumping. I hadnt really seen her jump anything other than cavalleties so when she said she wanted to do the 60 cm I raised my eyebrow a bit. But I shouldnt have worried.

Now I love jumping always have, so it didn't surprise me that she loves jumping to. So off she went into the "Eyeopener 60 cm".  There were 10 jumps altogether I think...I think I was more nervous than she was...infact when i asked her afterwards she said she wasnt worried at all.

Anyway she did a clear round and got a well deserved clear round ribbon...she was beaming and so was I. She did it perfectly and to be honest seemed to easy for her, although there was one jump where her horse jumped too high and unseated her ...but she recovered beautifully.

I am such a proud mum!

Kia Kaha Christchurch

The whole of New Zealand is in shock. When i heard the news on Tuesday i was horrified but only when the stories and pictures came thru I realised the true devastation of what the earthquake did. We immediately thought of our family and friends who lived in Christchurch,...are they ok?. After many hours of worrying we slowly got the YES we are ok. My husbands two sisters and nephews and neices all ok. What a relief... We didnt hear about a friend till the next day but she has been helping at the square...

But my heart goes out to the families who havent heard of their loved ones or friends....what they must be going thru would be indescribable.And my heart goes out to families who have lost someone dear....

To the overeas team who have come to our aid a huge thank you....

All i really can say is

KIA KAHA CHRISTCHURCH....BE STRONG

Time will tell....

Well today we got my daughters pony seen by the bone cruncher man. The day didnt start off that well as i just couldnt get the float to connect properly with the towbar. I hitched up early so i wouldnt be rushed but as usual i ended up rushed....god i hate that!

Anyway my daughter really wanted to come and watch so she came too ..which was just as well as i really needed help with that blasted towbar! So off we went. I met up with some friends and we were having a yack at the yards when i heard this almighty "THWACK"! I just about jumped outta my skin!!  But it was Mr T with his hammers putting the pony in the next stall back into shape. I got such a fright. Then when the second hammer happened my eyes just about watered and i was only watching!!  But the horse didnt really seem to flinch.

Well then it was our ponys turn. I could see my daughter looking very nervous and worried, but she needed have been. It seems that our pony had 2 vertebra out. One near the front saddle area, which is why she tries to cow kick when doing up the girth...and I  just thought she was being a little tart. Then the big one which was a sacral vertebra or something. This is what is causing her short steps, reluctant to  move forward and her awkwardness in canter & jumping. Poor baby she had been so sore.  Well out came the little hammers and thwack, thwack. Then it was all over,  3 days turned out and then slowly back in the two days after that.

So all going well my daughter will be back in the saddle within a week back training for the Prince Philip games and jumping jumping jumpimg.....Hopefully it has worked...watch this space...

Here's the amazing pony who we love so much....

The Bone Clicker Man

Well tomorrow is D-Day and we are off to see the infamous or famous I guess, Tommy Behrns. I hadnt heard about him until just recently and i am very interested in what he will see and do and the outcome. Of course i am hoping for a great outcome and that my daughter can start jumping properly and get out and about again .

So I guess watch this space and fingers crossed.....

Still on an animal note, Odie our foxy corgi cross, is doing dog agility. What fun!   When we first arrived he behaved very badly and I thought great we will get kicked out. But they said in time he will calm down.

Butter wouldnt melt!!!!

 Sparky the cat is DA BOSS!

 Lets play mum!

Well 2nd week later and yes he has calmed down...a bit....But boy oh boy he is good. He is like a natural, nothing is a problem, tunnel, plank, wobbly board, ladder..  So we may have a champion on our hands...or not. There is one slight flaw in this masterplan. He has painted ears. What i mean by that is , if he sees something interesting he is off and no amount of calling will bring him back. So the problem is .....we do agility off the lead!!!

So a bit of work is need to get those painted ears to become real ears!!

Who would have thought.....

Hmm ok so if we have a dodgy back or feel out of place we go to a chiropractor to get crunched and then feel a lot better...so what if an animal is out of sorts....

To be honest it is something that never really crossed my mind...I mean....I just didn't think that a horse could be "out" so to speak. But apparently they do and why not, they have bones and muscles just like us. It can be caused my a roll or a kick or by playing in the paddock..

So what has brought this on, well my daughters pony has not been very forward and really just doesn't want to canter, its quite a battle. A number of people commented on how short stepped she is in the front in a trot as well. I had noticed that lately, but couldn't put my finger on what why.  After discussions etc we all put it down to the saddle not fitting correctly.I also noticed that her right shoulder muscle is much more defined that the left, too much in fact.

Anyway,  on a pony camp the other week it was pointed out that the pony may have her hip out. My daughter did a lot of riding and when she cantered and jumped the pony looked terrible.The more riding she did the more awkward the pony looked, just not right.  But she didn't complain being a lovely sweet pony she is, but we turned her out for a bit anyway after that.

So we are booked for the pony to see a crunch man, not sure what his official name is but he sorts out hips backs etc for horses. I have since heard a lot about this guy from various people who are raving about him. However the jury is still out until i have seen his work . But i really hope it works and my daughter can again have fun on her pony.....

New year...new beginning

Well 2010 is a year i would rather not repeat...it can close its doors forever. Just a recap of 2010 good and bad:-

1. Holden recovering from hoof problem very touch and go if he would get thru it...good news we are riding again!
2. RIP little Tazzie dog....I still miss that little fat doggie
3. RIP Smurf my gorgeous wee pony...so shy and timid but a gem and very loyal
4. RIP Sophie who battled hard but went with her best friend Smurf, they are together without pain
5. Welcome Odie a little clown with a big heart....fearless but a wuss. Great dog with lots of years of fun with us.
6. Sold the land, although what a saga...wont ever do that again but nice people who bought it.

The list goes on but they were my main points of the year...

So 2011.. what will this year hold I wonder. No resolutions so to speak, i think they really are a waste of time but i am endeavoring to lose weight get fit and get riding again. I'm more involved with the horsey scene again after many years of being absent. Due mainly to children, then my back and then my horse being crook. But as my daughter is more involved with pony club, shows and that, my love of riding is coming back. So this year will be a horse year. Few modifications to my horse float so my big lad can go in it and we are away!!  watch this space is all i can say.