Very sore today...

Poor Huey...

He's one very sore and sorry boy right now - it breaks my heart. When I pulled up at the paddock, he very stiffly came over to see me (hoping for food no-less) ... I gave him a bit of hay while I took Red to go work out ...

I've decided I don't want to leave a honey/copper sulphate poultice on him for the full time he needs to be bandaged - given it's pretty caustic stuff... So I am going to alternate between two different poultices.... That one, which will only stay on for 1 day at the most; and the other will be a copper sulphate/cider vinegar solution irrigation, followed by packing the cavity with iodine soaked gauze and then re-wrapping the hoof. That one can stay on for 2 days... (This is also the one I did today). He was quite fidgety and didn't really want to hold still, and you know, I really don't blame him. I let him eat his hard-feed while I did it, so that it would hopefully keep his mind occupied...

I gave him his daily 5mls of bute, and I have also increased his supplementation intake. He's getting 3 scoops of biotin supplement daily, and 2 scoops of Equilibrium Blue vitamin/mineral mix daily ... I've also added rice bran to his diet - 1/4 scoop to kick him off, and I'll increase from there, and I also plan to add flaxseed (just need to go pick some up) ....

Poor boy. How anyone could know about his hoof and let him go untreated is simply beyond me, considering hooves are such a critical part of horse health. Makes me want to go and wrench the toenails off the person/people/whoever let this happen, and make them walk around with constricting shoes on all day, everyday - I imagine it's pretty much the same kind of pain. I am sure that the inner most circles of hell are reserved for people who let animals endure and continue to work untreated for months on end...

However, he is now on the long and arduous road to recovery - and I am glad that he's in my care! I only hope that when he looks at me with those big, soft, gorgeous puppydog eyes, that he understands I am trying to help him. I'd like to think he understands he's in a better place and will have everything he needs.

For help him I shall - and he will be good as new in time... No... He'll be even better :o)

Out of Action - for Atleast 8 months!!!!!!

The farrier came to see Huey today - and we discovered some pretty horrific things...

As previously mentioned, I had been trying to track down my normal farrier these past 2 weeks, but he's gone AWOL - so I got in another one. More expensive I found out, but seems more reliable AND does a great job ... I was only worried about 1 hoof, the offside hind. It was cracked and splayed and very very long...

The apprentice started on him (he's in his final year) - and when he got to the aforementioned hoof and started poking deeper - we were both HORRIFIED to find out that he could insert a shoe nail THE FULL LENGTH into the hoof, between the wall!!!!!!!

His wall has been seperating, and no-one has bothered to help him ... it's been happening over the last 6-9 months, and would have even been RACED like this .... I find that disgusting!!! It was riddled with seedy toe, mud, dirt, and all over kind of crap ... Needless to say, the apprentice waited for the 'Master' to arrive, hehe... We basically had to cut away a huge portion of the wall to get all the crap out, and to help it regrow ... now for the pics:

1- Just starting to explore:

2- The underside - what a mess
3- The never-ending cavity in his wall!!
4- AFTER removing the wall
5- AFTER - attaching a shoe for support6- AFTER - the side view

7- The underside - after the shoe went on

8- Wrapped in a honey/copper sulphate poultice as recommended by the farrier

I have gone out and bought him a GIANT tub of Biotin hoof supplement and started it on him today ... He's had a 'Bute' injection by the Vet already, and I've also got some 'Bute' paste to last me for the next week ...

We're now on the slow, expensive road to recovery!!! Why the HELL anyone like him get like this is beyond me ,- and I am seriously pissed off he was let get this far without proper treatment!!

Costs of today:

Trim: $45

Bute injection: $20

Bute paste: $10

Crepe bandage (x6): $25

Biotin Supplement: $63.50

Honey: $8.50

Copper Sulphate: $18 (1kg)

Iodine Solution: $12

Total: $206.00

The Hand That Feeds You: Update!

Today was very interesting.

It started out like our normal new routine - catch Huey, halter and tie him while I get dinner ready - and let him have diner while tied. This is because:

1. Huey and Red are both on completely different diets right now
2. Huey is the boss and will steal Red's food, which he thinks is better

After yesterdays incident - I was careful when approaching him, and very watchful of what he was doing.... He pinned his ears at me a few times, but a sharp "AH" with my voice, and he was back to Mr. Innocent.... No incident today whatsoever, and really, he was a much calmer Huey.

He's really a doll to handle any other time than food time - and I'm hoping that I can train some of that food aggression out of him - it looks like we've already had a breakthrough in therapy, haha.

I do however, think he learnt his lesson very quickly... The future looks bright for this young man!!

The Hand That Feeds You: Today's Lesson

Huey learnt a valuable lesson today: DON'T bit the hand that feeds you... (in his case, don't bite the shoulder that feeds you)

As you may have guessed already - Huey decided it was appropriate to bite me - very hard - on the shoulder today .... I have a whopping great big bruise as a momento.

I have mentioned he's demon-horse at dinnertime, and I guess I got complacent that he was all show, and wouldn't actually do anything. Wrong. So really, it serves me right for being complacent. Not to mention being an excellent reminder as to why we don't stop paying attention. Ever. I had fed them both, and was in the middle of taking his rugs off to brush him while he ate. he was haltered and tied up, but was quick as a flash and as I went to undo his chest-straps, he wrapped his teeth around the nice fleshy bit of my shoulder.

He did however get the shock of his life when his punishment was dealt out - quite hard - to match his efforts. I then took him away from his food and tied him up outside the paddock - then proceeding to unrug him and brush him for the next 20 minutes. When done, I took him back to the paddock, and walked him straight past his food and did a few circles. We came back, and I asked him to stand about 3m away from his food politely. When he tried to push his way to the food, we did another circle and another halt .... This went on until about the 4th circle.... After the 4th, he turned his head to me, back to his food, then back to me as if to say "well, what next?" ... It was at that time that I let him return to his food, and not a second sooner.

After tonight, I'm sure he soon learnt that rotten behaviour soon means no dinner. He's also just booked himself in for manners training on the subject every night this week .... If he didn't learn tonight, I'm sure he'll have the message by the end of the week... Cheeky bugger.

Now - where did I put the icepack??!!

No Work Today - Just Food

What a life this pony has!!

As mentioned in yesterday's entry - Huey will just spend the next few weeks getting nice and fat before we get into any real work .... Plus I want to get my farrier (who as I mentioned, has gone AWOL), to attend to his terrible feet. At this point, I'm unsure as to whether or not I'll shoe him... For the next few weeks I think all he'll need is a regular trim-when we move into serious work, then the shoes can go back on ...

Am currently working on his demon-horse attitude he sometimes adopts. That's alot of horse there, and I want to assert myself as the boss-lady. He's not really a bad boy, he just obviously feels a bit threatened around food. When we establish his manners, he'll be a much calmer boy.

He ate his hard feed and about half his lucerne pile today - then left it. A good sign that he's starting to feel more comfortable and getting full-up. He's not scouring - everything is relatively solid, and he was wormed last Friday (the 19th) ... Life is good for the big grey pony!

Free Lunge, and Groundwork 101 ...

Well, Huey's been in the paddock for about a week now, doing nothing but eating gourmet food - so, I decided it was about time we had a little lesson.

I grabbed both him and Red from the paddock, and walked up to the arena, one in each hand. We came to a bare patch of dirt where an old shipping container used to sit. Huey walked over without a care in the world, Red, on the other hand, decided to flip out, rush over it, and subsequently knock me over it the process. That was fun. Anyway, Red went into the roundyard while I worked with Huey in the arena.

I took his rugs off and gave him a good brush down first - then picked up all 4 feet. He only has 1 shoe left one - and it's a raceplate; specifically designed for pacers. Interesting. The farrier has gone AWOL, so it seems I have to find another one ASAP - Huey's feet desperately need doing. I popped a lunge roller on him (no side reins), and he reacted slightly to the girth, but nothing major, and nothing after that when I was tightening it. I also popped some nice support boots on him. He has a few nasty cuts/scratches on his hind legs (that are healed more or less) and an old wound that's got some proud flesh on it, so I didn't use any rear boots on him today...
So we move away into the centre of the arena. We worked a little bit on:

• Leading - He's fine at this. Moves almost immediately from pressure; forward,back and to the side.


• Yielding - He's actually very responsive. Will move away from pressure, and took a few very nice steps to the side, ala sidepass/leg yeilding beginning


• Flexing - To either side. He's a bit stiff, but willing.


• Lunge - He has no clue, however, by the end he could walk a circle to either side, and if he stopped, I'd give the whip a wiggle and he'd generally move on. I say generally, because he's obviously never done this before and was a wee bit confuzzled.

And finally, free lunging. I want this to have it's own bullet points, as I have noticed some more interesting things from just watching the way he moves. This is what we did:

• Started free lunge with lunge roller/boots on. He looked quite stiff in the hip, and was 'popping' on his hind legs, and flicking his quarters into the air. Not pig rooting, just popping ... As he moved a bit more, all I could see was the strange action from his hindquarters; he even let out a couple of bucks. Not sure at this point if it's a pain issue, or he was reacting to the lunge roller.


• So, I called him in, removed his gear (boots and all), then sent him back out. No popping or bucking. Nothing. However, he still moves strangely .... I'm still undecided as to whether or not this was a reaction to the roller/or a pain issue - will investigate this further.


• However.....Watching him; He's using his back-end in a very exaggerated way - he's on the diagonal, but he's using his back end the same way he would when he's pacing/racing. Very high, very wide action. Not to mention very strange!! Not sure I've never seen a horse trotting on the diagonal, but using his hindquarters with the same action as a pacer before.


• He also thought ROLLING in the sand arena was a great idea! hehe. Cute. If my gear wasn't on him at the time, haha.

Conclusion after the free-lunge session: I'll be doing basic groundwork only with him over the next couple of weeks ... when he's put on enough weight, I think I'll start a lunge routine with the roller/side reins.... as well as alot of trot poles and perhaps cavaletti work ... At the moment, I think he's so hung up on race movement, that it's causing some discomfort, not to mention weakness, through the hindquarters/back/hips... I think if I encourage roundness and softness, and build up that topline, he'll move more freely and correctly... That, and I'm going to get a chiro out, just incase...

I'm betting money he went straight from the races or from full work training to the sales and was picked up from there - then he came to me..... 1) His last race was June this year. (according to his freezebrand records) 2) He's still wearing raceplates. 3) His action is pace-racer through and though - I've NEVER seen it quite like that though..... I think I've managed to track down the name and number of his previous trainer - I do believe I'll give him a call and see if I can piece some more of Huey's puzzle together.

He's a real sweetheart - love scratches and brushes (but turns into demon-horse at dinner time) ... He's very calm. He's alot calmer than Red, so I think getting him going under saddle is going to be even easier than Red (and Red was no trouble at all) ...

Okay, piccy time!!

Ohhhhh yeah, love that sand!!

Free walking - nice and calm

Trotting - something exciting outside there!

Wheee - about to do some above the ground airs (but I missed them, dammit!)

Huey Gets New a New Rug...

I finished work a bit earlier today - so I decided to go down to Horseland, and pick up a new halter for Huey. I have a zillion halters, but I wanted to get him a new rope one. Ofcourse, when I get there, I'm mesmerised by all the other shiny things, and even worse; the dazzling SALE tickets!! 'Be strong', I tell myself. And I was, until I discovered a brand new 6'6 Saxon flymesh combo rug ... Normally $80, on sale for $55 ... I thought about eBay briefly, but by the time I pay postage it would have cost the same, if not more... SOLD! In the end, Huey got himself a new rug, a new halter, and a new lead .. While I was at the counter thinking I escaped lightly in the grand scheme of things (SO many delectable items were on sale, you know te ones - the MUST HAVES that you don't really NEED), I remembered I saw "Ammo" wormers for $10 on special - so ofcourse, I raced over and got one of them for Huey as well...

Then.... I ran like hell before I went back in there and bought MORE stuff. hehe.

After that,I went straight to the paddocks and moves both Huey and Red into their new paddock together. I put Huey in first, he ambled over to meet the neighbours - ambled about a bit more, picked some grass. He was content for life to go slowwwwwly by.
I then went and grabbed Red - much different story there. He had to meet EVERY neighbour, now. It was like speed-dating for horses. Sniff. Squeal. Next pony please. While he trotted up and down to meet the neighbours, head arched and tail up, Huey ambled behind - maybe threw in a few strides of trot. But life is to be enjoyed slowly for him it seems. He's a pretty calm dude. There's a very nice amount of spring grass in the paddocks right now - and the boyz are loving it...

I took a piccy of him today to map his weightgain progress. There's a little but more coverage across his ribs and hip now - not a great deal, but it's all coming together. I gave them 3 biccies of oaten hay and 1 biccy of lucerne hay to share this afternoon. While Huey does NOT want to share hard feed, I have discovered he'll share hay with Red happily enough. He'll be another grey land-whale soon enough, just like his new bestest buddy Red.

Huey Likes his Din-Dins...

....and also likes his attitude!

At the moment, the Hu-Meister is being fed a bran mash with a scoop of Equilibrium Blue mineral supplements. I have also made him a batch of boiled linseed/rice porridge, which I am going to add to his bran mash over the next 4 days ... Coupled with that, he's getting 2 big biscuits of oaten hay. I've about half a bale left of that, and then he'll move onto the 2nd grade lucerne I have... I have 3 bales of that leftover, which have his name written all over it ...

I added the first batch of linseed/rice to his mash last night, and he loved it ... Maybe too much. I was running my hands over his neck, shoulders, hip etc, and he decided it would be amusing to pin his ears back and lift his leg as if to kick me ... I issued him a rather dismal slap on the shoulder (can't be mad at him for being hungry and enjoying his dinner, can I?!) and set about rubbing the other side in the same fashion. Again, he pinned his ears and snaked his neck towards me, but a sharp 'AH' and he knew better ....

I wonder if he realizes he just gave me his first training mission, haha. I doubt it ... At dinnertime (and not every dinner will be a 'lesson'), I think I'll put a halter on him and have him tied so that he can still eat without issue, but wont be able to snake his head around or move off if he decides to be huffy ... I think I'll also take the opportunity to brush him down all over so that a) he stops being a twit at dinnertime and b) he realizes that each meal wont be his last and he doesn't have to feel threatened and protective over food..... Silly pony. He'll soon work out that will always be dinner, and snacks, and treats, hehe.

On the subject of treats - he, like Red, doesn't eat carrots. I haven't tried him with apples yet (Red doesn't eat apples either) , so I think it's about time I made of batch of rolled oat/apple/carrot pony cookies! The recipe was given to me by a friend, and they are what I used to teach my old Standardbred that it was okay to eat treats. (he had no clue either!). Poor racehorses. I think they miss out on so much in life - yet are expected to give so much.

I'm also contemplating getting them a round bale of oaten hay for when he and Red go into their 2 horse paddock in the next week or so ... It's recently been harrowed, so is resting for a short while before they go in... They're apparently going for $90 locally, so I can't argue with that. The only thing I would be concerned about, is Red gorging himself into oblivion. He's already a land-whale! hehe ...

Well see how it goes :o) ... Another day, another horsey story!

The Huey Has Landed!!!

He's here! And oh my god, he's adorable!!

He arrived this morning at about 2am, and he was placed into a stable with some hay overnight; this way, he was safely contained and not running about in an unfamilar pasture at night. This morning, the stable door was opened and he was free to roam in and out as he liked. The stable ajoins a private 1 acre paddock (his temp home) so he's got plenty of room to stretch his legs. (and boy, those are some BIG legs!)

I haven't measured him yet, but I am guessing he's atleast 16.3hh _eeeegads! ... I've decided I'm going to need a ladder to get on this horse, given I am vertically challenged at 5'3...

I took him down to meet his new brother, Red, and tied him up outside Red's stable/paddock ... they had a sniff, a bit a of paw and a squeal, and were both over it soon after. Here they are together, aren't they adorable... (Huey infront, Red behind):

It doesn't look like it in the picture, but Huey is alot bigger than Red (the ground slopes, so Huey is actually standing lower than Red). They are soon to be put in their own 2 horse paddock, but until then, they're both staying in their own luxury paddocks with stables (though I'm yet to see Red actually use the stable, I walked in there today and the bravest he could be involved poking his head around the door to check where I was) ...

But, back to Huey!! I unrugged him, and gave him a good brush down. His coat isn't very long which is great, and his mane and tail are both beautiful and soft!! I'm almost going to cry when I shorten Huey's mane, hehe. It's long, thick and silky!

He's a bit lean right now, as evident along the spine and rump, but he'll soon pick up. For the first week, he'll be getting a bran mash, with rosehips and a scoop of Equilibrium Blue mineral mix. Plus he'll be getting 2-3 big biccies of oaten hay to gorge on the start with, then I'll move him onto my 2nd grade lucerne, then onto the good lurcerne. Somewhere along the lines, mayve after the 2nd week, I'll introduce small amounts of wheaten chaff and Prydes EasiResult.

Huey Was a Racehorse.....!

....But not a very good one, hehe... I looked up his freezebrand when I got home, and it turns out he did indeed race! He has 13 starts for 2 thirds; netting a grand total of $400 prizemoney. Not hard to see why he didn't cut it... He seems wayyyyy to laid back for the racehorse life. His racing name was 'Mush Mush' - I laughed when I read it - it seems VERY fitting as well ... Like the drivers yelling mush to the sled-dogs, so to would they have been doing so to Huey- the not-so-enthusiatic racehorse....

He's also a 2002 foal by Flight Laag (by Laag USA, OMG!!!!), making him 6 years old, not 3. I'm not worried about that - actually I'm relieved - he wont grow anymore!! haha. He'll grow outwards, he wont grow up - and that suits me just fine ;o)

But back to Laag USA. Oh man, I LOVE that horse! Ever since the first time I saw him, I said to myself I have to get a horse that has Laag lines. And now, here he is! It really was meant to be.

Huey is home, and I couldn't be happier!

Another grey Standardbred!

I've been looking for another grey standardbred on and off for a while now - as I eventually want to do harness pairs with my current gelding Red (see http://thechroniclesofinthered.blogspot.com/) ... However, when I friend of mine sent me the link to a 3 year old grey standy gelding for sale, I immediately jumped on the email and fired away some questions and asked for a piccy if one was available (it was 9:30pm and I didn't want to wake anyone up, hehe, so email it was).

The reply came back that he was indeed still available and a few piccies were attached:

He was apparently broken to both cart and saddle, trialed but never raced , and was very quiet. After a phone call and some back and forth emails, I said I was more than happy to take him on and set to organising his transport. (Wow, don't the prices between companies vary, for travelling the same distance!) The best quote was $275, the most expensive was $600 ..... I mean really, how can there that much variance in pricing?!

Anyway, I settled on a company I liked and booked him on.... After a series of misunderstandings between everyone involved, poor Huey missed the truck and was re-booked for the next week (I was so excited prior to that..).. It just so happened a friend of mine was happy to go down to Sydney to pick him up for me so that I didn't have to wait as long for his arrival - so once again, I was excited!!