Andy's Update

Ever since the winter started Andy has been a bundle of excitement. He seems to love the snow. I'm sure he gave Kelly a hard time this morning on his way out to the paddock. He loves to bounce around in the snow and roll a lot.

Last weekend I had a riding lesson. It was my first lesson with him so I was quite excited about it. Andy was more than enthusiastic about the whole process. I probably should have lunged him first but I was a little curious about what sort of antics he would pull. He was fussy in the cross-ties (probably because I was rushing) and a pain to mount. He stood long enough for me to get in the saddle and then marched off. I've allowed him to do that this winter because he really fights standing still for so long. In the summer months he's much quieter and stands like an old cow. He seems to enjoy being ridden though because he's pretty eager to get going once I've tacked him up.

Anyways, I got on and we started walking around. He spent about 15 minute trying to trot and jig around the ring. I finally got him walking somewhat quietly before we started trotting. I spent another 15 minutes trying to settle him down in the trot. We went on a circle and that's when he exploded. He did his leap-in-the-air-and-buck-at-the-highest-point kind of bucks. Two of them, actually and then proceeded to buck several more times around the circle before settling into a strong canter. He got his right lead and that's all that I was excited about! :) I stayed on no problem - his bucks weren't meant to unseat me and they didn't. They were just, "I feel good and need to let this out!" kind of bucks. Andy has an innocence about him that you can feel when you're handling him and riding him. He doesn't want to hurt you he just feels good.

After he calmed down and was ready to start working Michelle was talking me through having him stretch and how much contact to have when he was offering to stretch. When I thought he was starting to root he was actually trying to stretch, which I had been trying to teach him all along! We did a lot of work at the walk and trot, allowing him to stretch and figure out where his feet should be. She pointed out (very early in the lesson) that I am allowing him to lean on my left rein and that's where a lot of my problems are coming from! As soon as I took it away he was reaching for it, trying to lean on something (because that's what he was used to) and the rein just wasn't there. By the end of the lesson he was a bit better and I was getting used to riding without the rein there. He picked-up his left lead canter quite nicely and then we worked on the right lead canter. The first time I asked he got his left lead and I brought him back, prepared better and asked again. He picked it up beautifully and we went around the ring a couple of times while I worked on having him not lean on that rein.

She had so many wonderful things to say about him and I felt so great afterward. :D It was a fantastic lesson. I'm really looking forward to our next lesson!

A couple of weeks ago we shipped the horses to Fairmont for a weekend of hacking in the Vivian. It was a fantastic weekend and we spent several hours in the woods both Saturday and Sunday. Both horses shipped like champs. Finn splashed around in the pond and Andy put one hoof in. If I had been smart I would have worn rubber boots and brought a pocket full of treats. It just means that we'll have to do it again. I'm hoping for May sometime to go back. :)

Andy's Walk In The Woods

Last night it was decided that we would ride bareback. I've always loved to ride bareback and it is important to me that my horse goes well sans tack. So I throw the bareback pad on him (his spine would ensure that I never have children!) and hop on. I opted to use a bridle today although I don't always when I'm going bareback but he's been a tad fresh lately. We walked, trotted and cantered around. He was actually very good! There was three children running around in the ring with us which made for some distractions that we could work through. He wasn't spooky about them - just watching. He's starting to get to the point where I need to work him daily and lunge him if he's missed a day. So far it hasn't been a problem but with the cooler weather on the way and him gaining more muscle, I can see there will come a time when daily work is necessary.

To cool down we went for a walk through the woods. By this point it was dark and the woods was black. We couldn't really see anything other than trees and sort of where the path was. The children were up ahead of us which was just fine. Their dog was running through the woods and I thought that was going to be a bigger issue than it was. He just stood there and watched. On the way back the dog went through the woods again and Andy started dancing. I calmed him down enough that he would walk and we power-walked the whole way home, which was fine. He had been so good and didn't spook that he's allowed to walk quickly, so long as he isn't falling down.

Afterwards we worked on our bowing and going around a barrel. He was good on both accounts. I think tonight it is time to start working on a new trick - I just haven't decided what yet. He gets the bowing part - I've started working on him going down on one knee. I should give it a different command so that I can use both forms of the bow. Again, I have to decide what I want to call it. He's such an awesome horse. I never thought that having a three-year-old would be so easy!

It's Been a While...

Alright, so I'm not updating as often as I would like...

In the last month or so Andy hasn't done a whole lot. Last week there were a few sets of trotting poles left out in the outdoor ring so Andy and I started trotting over them. He's never been over trotting poles and was a tad concerned that I was leading him to attacking poles but after going over twice he just calmly picked-up his feet and trotted over. Superstar pony! A friend of mine set-up a raised pole (about 6 inches) at the end of three trotting poles which he promptly knocked down. She then set it up as one half of a cross-rail and he hopped over that easily. When she put up the other side he picked up his legs, cleared it calmly and then kept on trotting.

The next night we decided to see what his jumping skills consisted of and setup a small shoot with a single fence. He walked, trotted and cantered through the shoot with just the pole son the ground. That didn't seem to bother him any so we put up a cross-rail. He trotted and cantered over that both ways without issue so we set the jump to a vertical. Once again that wasn't an issue. We then raised it to 2'6 and he cantered over that a couple of times each way. Breaks were given of course and he got lots of praise and pats - mostly from his mommy who was videoing the whole thing. What an awesome guy.

Last night he came in out of the paddock with very swollen hind legs. His hind legs are always a concern for me because of his previous injury. I called the vet, mainly because a horse had come in from the paddock on Friday with the same symptoms. Andy had a bit of a temperature (101.5ºF) and had loose stool which the other horse did not have but with Andy being underweight he is more likely to get sick. Poor pony. He has some meds now and we are waiting to see how he reacts to them. I'm not sure if I can ride him or not for the next few days. Here I was hoping to go hacking - but I'd rather have a healthy horse of course!

Aaaand a video for your viewing enjoyment. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqNTO8ia3-k

Andy Attempts to Canter

When he's lose in the arena, he has a beautiful canter. One of those canters that you can't wait to ride out in the forest because it's so long and easy looking. He easily picks up both leads and changes whenever he feels like it.

Two nights ago I attempted to ride that canter... Following a lead horse (Finn, the big white guy in the pictures farther down the page) we attempted a canter. Aaaand we got a very long, fast trot. We are going to attempt again, this time I'll have someone on the ground with a whip. :)

Andy Jumps!

Ok, so I'm stretching the truth a little. Yesterday a tiny jump was set up for Andy to walk over. There was hardly any jumping and even less concern about the activity set before him. After knocking the pole over several times, he started to pick his feet up a little bit but was still hitting it a bit. It's almost time to try trotting over poles.

Perhaps today we can get some pictures of it so that they can be posted.

Andy Gets Shoes

When I bought Andy I decided to go the barefoot trimming route. I liked the idea of it (no need for shoes and the feet care for themselves) but he has not been sound in months. For a while it didn't really seem to matter because he was on stall rest. It could have been almost anything that was making him lame in the front. He became acutely lame last week and was not weight-baring on the left front and when the hoof was down, he was only allowing the toe to touch the ground. *ding* *ding* *ding* Abscess anyone?? I called my farrier and was told that she will not dig live sole. If I want the abscess to come out the vet was going to have to do it. I called the vet that I wanted to use (I lost my previous one after the move) and was immediately told, "Get a new farrier!" I called the vet that she recommended and was told the same thing. Apparently I should be leaving the abscess and letting it work its way out. Not really what I wanted to be doing with him! The poor guy was in pain and it's been a rough enough year without this too!

Anyways, I just received a call from my barn manager. She was calling because the new farrier has recommended shoes. I'm not totally on board with the shoes but am willing to give it a go. Hopefully they won't be on for too long. In changing farriers, I have to be willing to go ahead with what they plan for my horse. Otherwise what's the point? Right?

A Brief Overview

Since I didn't start this blog until now but have had Andy in my life since the beginning of February...here is a quick catch-up.

February 2nd - paid in full for Andy
March 10th - moved Andy
April 12th - discovered injury
April 13th - vet came out, recommended stall rest, Andy moved to another farm to accommodate this
May 29th - Andy moved closer
June 6th - Andy finally gets turn-out again!

I will add pictures of his injury and update this with a little more detail when I have the chance.