Adventures in Hippos (With Pictures!)
So we brought down those two Percherons last weekend. The Farrier came out and did their feet, the mare didn't need a whole lot done, but the Gelding, Jed, took some time. He must have taken off a good inch and a half of foot, mostly toe to bring him down to somewhat of a normal size. Like cats and dogs, if allowed to grow too long you can't just hack off all of the extra, you have to chase it back a bit over several trimmings. Jed apparently has rather soft feet because he was wearing pads in the front so we'll take it easy on him as he gets used to his "new" feet (not that we've had much of a choice with the weather).
The mare's been a little ouchy, I think it is related to the trailer ride down. She was a little cramped and had a hard time getting comfortable. She also swayed the trailer when we'd go downhill (which was most of the drive, unfortunately, not very fun to haul, but that's okay, we all survived). At least we're pretty sure it was her doing it rather than the gelding. I noticed a little swelling on the outside of her right pastern and can't recall if it was there before or not.
Monday we took Jed to the horsepark. At the time I was calling him Jedzeke because Chris was torn between Jed and Zeke and, well, Zekejed just didn't sound as cool. I rode him first and then Chris rode him a little bit. We also took pictures.
I walked him out a bit first to let the saddle and everything settle as well as allow him to have a look at the place first.
As you can see, he's a bit of a big boy. He's wearing the show-style shoes still, his "real" feet are actually much smaller.
And then I got on him. He was a bit distracted by some horses out yonder and would call to them now and again. A rather social boy.
A slightly better view of him, even if the lighting isn't ideal.
On the move! He's rather nicely forward, in the trot he's really "through" and should be fun to play with as I ride him more.
And Chris got on and rode him a bit. I didn't get many pictures as we were running out of light.
Not quite a month ago Chris got out the tarp and we had some fun with Z. She did quite well with the scary thing. Once she was set free to explore it on her own she pawed it into a ball and generally tried to destroy it.
She wasn't so sure about it at first.
The first several times she wanted to just charge across it to get it over with.
But over time she slowed down a bit.
She was a bit more direct when set loose to confront it.
And enjoyed pawing at it.
And as I mentioned the Perch mare has the same brand as Panda. Chris and I took some pictures of her and sent them off to Panda's breeders, who replied back with three possibilities. They're going to do some more research and get back to us. So we might just be able to find out who her parents were as well as discover that she's registered and possibly be Panda's half sister!
I'll post some pictures of her later as I don't have time to fuss with trying to convince my ftp client to upload them. Besides, ten pictures is probably enough for one entry, right?
In less photographic news: I took Kitt out Tuesday and Wednesday to the horsepark and have been working on her canter. It'd come along a lot nicer if she was a bit more forward, but that's okay. Tuesday she was nicely forward so it was a lot easier getting her into it and keeping it, but Wednesday she was a bit of a slug about it and I only got one real good transition.
Today Trish and I took Kash and Moab out and the weather was just lovely. It was UNDER 90! And we had clouds! And a cool breeze! The weather might just be taking a pleasant turn! It's supposed to top out around 96˚ today and only hit 99˚ tomorrow. The weekend cools down even further and we get to enjoy some blissful time at NOT 100! YAY!
Now I need to get ready for a lesson *scoots off.*
The mare's been a little ouchy, I think it is related to the trailer ride down. She was a little cramped and had a hard time getting comfortable. She also swayed the trailer when we'd go downhill (which was most of the drive, unfortunately, not very fun to haul, but that's okay, we all survived). At least we're pretty sure it was her doing it rather than the gelding. I noticed a little swelling on the outside of her right pastern and can't recall if it was there before or not.
Monday we took Jed to the horsepark. At the time I was calling him Jedzeke because Chris was torn between Jed and Zeke and, well, Zekejed just didn't sound as cool. I rode him first and then Chris rode him a little bit. We also took pictures.
I walked him out a bit first to let the saddle and everything settle as well as allow him to have a look at the place first.
As you can see, he's a bit of a big boy. He's wearing the show-style shoes still, his "real" feet are actually much smaller.
And then I got on him. He was a bit distracted by some horses out yonder and would call to them now and again. A rather social boy.
A slightly better view of him, even if the lighting isn't ideal.
On the move! He's rather nicely forward, in the trot he's really "through" and should be fun to play with as I ride him more.
And Chris got on and rode him a bit. I didn't get many pictures as we were running out of light.
Not quite a month ago Chris got out the tarp and we had some fun with Z. She did quite well with the scary thing. Once she was set free to explore it on her own she pawed it into a ball and generally tried to destroy it.
She wasn't so sure about it at first.
The first several times she wanted to just charge across it to get it over with.
But over time she slowed down a bit.
She was a bit more direct when set loose to confront it.
And enjoyed pawing at it.
And as I mentioned the Perch mare has the same brand as Panda. Chris and I took some pictures of her and sent them off to Panda's breeders, who replied back with three possibilities. They're going to do some more research and get back to us. So we might just be able to find out who her parents were as well as discover that she's registered and possibly be Panda's half sister!
I'll post some pictures of her later as I don't have time to fuss with trying to convince my ftp client to upload them. Besides, ten pictures is probably enough for one entry, right?
In less photographic news: I took Kitt out Tuesday and Wednesday to the horsepark and have been working on her canter. It'd come along a lot nicer if she was a bit more forward, but that's okay. Tuesday she was nicely forward so it was a lot easier getting her into it and keeping it, but Wednesday she was a bit of a slug about it and I only got one real good transition.
Today Trish and I took Kash and Moab out and the weather was just lovely. It was UNDER 90! And we had clouds! And a cool breeze! The weather might just be taking a pleasant turn! It's supposed to top out around 96˚ today and only hit 99˚ tomorrow. The weekend cools down even further and we get to enjoy some blissful time at NOT 100! YAY!
Now I need to get ready for a lesson *scoots off.*