Blooper Reel

I think we like to pick the nice pictures to post on our blogs (unless they are really cool bucking, rearing etc pics) but we normally leave these types of photos on our hard drives never to be seen again. They are unremarkable, cringe worthy and embarrassing but they also show the journey, better than the pretty on-the-bit-through-the-back photos I think.

My Blog Stats - Concering.

I love looking at my blog stats. I like to see where my blog traffic is coming from, who has been looking at my blog, all that jazz.

However, looking at the key words that people Google that send them to my blog:

I guess that is what you get when you come from a country where a thong is a piece of footwear...

Little update

So Allie is eating better - the whole time Gracie was away at camp with Natalie (hopefully she will actually blog about it!) Als ate and didn't fret much. I was really pleased, I expected her to fall apart being by herself.

I have continued with the Apetite pasting every night and keeping her feed simple and only adding a little more at a time and this has seemed to do the trick. She is putting on weight again.

Yay. :)

Frustrating Pony-Mare.

My horse has a problem.

While she is generally a pretty calm horse, I think she does actually suffer from anxiety otherwise known as 'being a worry wort'. Her anxiety levels stay fairly low in the grand scheme of things but she worries about tiny things - like weather changes or having to go in the stable at night because it is pissing down with rain or freezing cold, or even something as stupid as swapping to the other night yard when they stay out.

In their little herd of two, Allie is the watcher on the wall. Gracie lies out flat in the sun, Allie watches for danger. Gracie grazes to her heart's content - Allie stares off into the distance on surveillance. The sheep herd across the road are on the move? Allie is the first to charge over to the fence and watch them to make sure they don't somehow escape their paddock, cross the road, leap the high fence and get in with my horses. (On a side note, my horse is a moron. She is from Goulburn for christ sake and she is scared of sheep?!?!).

Exhibit A - worry-wort eye...

But she doesn't stall walk much, she doesn't whinny and cry out, she doesn't stand trembling when she is scared. She is an internaliser. When she is stressed, she gets tucked up, a little figity and most frustrating of all, she goes off her feed. Remember when Natalie took her away to camp and she didn't eat her hard feed ALL FRICKEN WEEK? How am I supposed to take her away to shows if she won't eat?

Even with good weight on she gets tucked up - this was because the neighbors had their motor bikes out.

Again with the herring gut...

The latest saga of refusing to eat is a result of being stabled since lunchtime Thursday, then being taken to the clinic, sedated and clipped on Friday. We were home by 10am however she did not eat her dinner from the night before and refused to be even slightly interested in the lunchtime feed I gave her. Or her dinner Friday night, or breakfast Saturday morning. Treats hand fed? She no want. Hay? Mostly eaten but not finished.

Cue fuming Lisa.

HORSE! You need to eat - you are already light on - I need to fatten you up so you look like a proper dressage horse! So you don't freeze in winter now you are clipped! How do I fatten you up if you won't eat your bloody grain feeds?! How do  you get the energy to be ridden if you won't eat?

In desperation (and because it was pissing down all day. again.) yesterday I went to the feed store and bought vitamin B12 to stab her with and Apetite to shove down her throat. I gave her 10ml B12 and 30ml Apetite at about 4pm I think.

A couple hours later she was definitely calmer in the stable - she wasn't hanging her head over the door watching for horse stealing bandits, or madly ripping at her hay like a kookaburra with a snake. She was chilling in the middle of her stall with a soft eye and one hind resting. Huh.

Dinner was served at about 9.30pm. Her (tiny) dinner last night was stripped down to the bare essentials - one scoop each of oaten and lucerne chaff and two metric cups of whole oats. That is it - no water, no supplements, no copra or hygain or weightlifter.

It took all night, but she ate it - every last bit.


NB. I realise that if this continues I should have her put on a course of ulcerguard or something. Could be ulcers but unlikely.

Quick one

I just paid the entry for Allie and I to do two tests at Clarendon on July 29 - we will be doing Preliminary 1A (again) and 1C.

Fingers crossed all goes well again. :)

Allie Clipped

Hairy, muddy dirty pony pre-wash.

I took my hairy beast to the vet clinic to be sedated and clipped this morning.

Arriving at the vet clinic - does she suspect something?

Allie was just a gem the whole time - even trying to snuggle with the vet who had just jabbed her vein with a needle. The sedatives took hold very quickly. I'm talking like 30 seconds and she was like this:

I is a Allie dronk.

She cleaned up really well! I got Sharon from The Galloping Groom to clip her if anyone is interested. She was really good.

Allie kept trying to nuzzle with Sharon and I because she enjoyed the scratchy clippers so much! It was super sweet. I'm glad she had a positive first experience with the clippers. We might not even have to sedate next year.

Her head looks so nice and non-mule like without all that hair! (Not that there is anything wrong with mules...)

I'm really happy I clipped her - she has sweat dermatitis from not being able to dry off quickly when she sweats.

Bit hard to see but she has dry, flaky lumps all over her shoulder. :( Sharon said that will clear up now she is clipped.

Ready for the big reveal?

Nice, huh?

I can see her nice clean tight legs again! She doesn't look like an oversized anorexic dartmoor pony anymore! She looks like a real horse again. I'm pretty chuffed. Her coat is still shiny and looks awesome. We left a saddle patch on just in case she is sensitive.

Now to put on a bit more weight and muscle (if this bloody rainy weather ever lets up again!).

Catch Up!

Next week Allie is getting a full body clip. She is SO HAIRY right now and she is uncomfortable when being ridden (even in 2 deg Celsius [35F]) and she does not dry off quickly. She is itchy with old dry sweat no matter how much warm water from a bucket I wash her down with. Poor horse.

Our riding-in-the-morning-before-work regime has been interrupted by the weather. Australia is famous for our droughts but you wouldn't know it from the last few years. It has been very wet. The footing is crap and my horse is not confident in the wet. So I have only ridden once in the last week.

HOWEVER we have a hold of a tow vehicle (towing capacity is only one horse at a time and no prolonged hills sadly) but I should be able to get her to the indoor once a week after work and still ride in the mornings 3 days a week plus ride on a Saturday.

My sitting trot needs work.

Allie is already muscling up - her top line is improving (not that it was crap before) especially over her loins. Her shoulders look good! We are concentrating on going correctly, long and low, with transitions being smooth. With a little low jumping or trot poles thrown in for variety. The canter needs some work, but it is getting there (at least she canters when asked now!).

Nice and uphill here!

Oops.. getting strung out... Plus I look like a lump.

The plan is to try and keep her in consistent work (as best I can with no arena and bad weather) which means ride when I can. We are hoping to compete at the end of July (another dressage test) where Natalie will be joining us with Gracie for their first competition (!! they have been doing really well, see the photos!) and then another in August. In between, more lessons with Ann and indoor arena schooling sessions.

No laughing at me jumping in my dressage saddle!

Ok, maybe you can laugh a little bit...

That is where we are at essentially! We still haven't moved yet, they still have the house for sale but not much interest (They want $100,090,000 for it!!) and we are still in limbo.

Oh, the kittens you ask? Well - they are really well! I have one last girl to adopt out. Andrew and I are keeping two of them now - Herman and Fluff. They are so big now! (And Funder, they haven't yet DESTROYED a curtain but they sure have tried!).

Fluff!! (My husband named her and he won't let me change it!)

Herman! He is really big now...

Why my horse makes my day, everyday.