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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 8, 2006 10:23:29 GMT -5
I did a fairly long session with Delaney last night. What an awesome little mare! She's a completely blank slate and just a joy to work with. She's strong and tough as nails (she's had to be), but she learns very quickly and has no malice in her at all. We did a lot on just basic giving to pressure, yielding her shoulders, started the yielding the hind end (which she does fairly well to start with; much easier than the shoulders! ) I rubbed her all over her body, (used a stick for the rubbing under the tail as I wasn't in the mood to get kicked, but she actually never did threaten to kick out at it which was good to see). She let me rub her legs with no problems and work at the mud fever a bit. Such a good girl! There were some ground poles set up from a session with an earlier horse and as soon as she was turned loose, Delaney walked right up to them to investigate. Walked right over them. Then while she was out trotted back and forth over them several times...never once so much as touched a pole even though they were not set at a natural spacing for a horse her size. Can anyone say "eventer"? The good equine vet is going to come down to the barn this Friday to do a thorough check of her, including a palp. If this little girl ISN'T pregnant, than there is something else going on. The volume of her belly about the same as the entire rest of her body! I remembered my camera last night, only to discover that the batteries were dead! So I'll try to get pics when I go out on Thurs night. Cassie has also been working with Delaney in short sessions here and there throughout the day, which is wonderful, and has been supervising my sessions with Delaney. Thanks Cassie!
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Post by rainydayride on Feb 8, 2006 11:09:12 GMT -5
Thank both you and Cassie, CE.
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Post by pdevlieg on Feb 8, 2006 13:20:47 GMT -5
I am so glad to hear about Delaney's training. She is a beauty and sounds so promising. Thanks for all the work you are putting in on her.
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Post by Viola on Feb 10, 2006 17:05:27 GMT -5
Hey, is it just me, or does she look bay? BY the way, she is in Elma, isn't she? So am I. I think I am interested. violamoran@yahoo.com
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Post by nalasmom on Feb 10, 2006 19:18:15 GMT -5
She is no longer in Elma, but she is in training right now. I am not sure what city, but I am sure someone will post where she is.
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Post by rainydayride on Feb 10, 2006 20:30:48 GMT -5
Delaney is now in Raymond, WA, which is, according to mapquest, about 35 miles southwest of Elma.
(See the post from Critters above.)
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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 10, 2006 22:39:59 GMT -5
Well, guys, the good news is that all the 'not pregnant' dances worked for Delaney ;D The bad news is that the vet was very concerned about the worm load and nutrition history that a belly that size said about her...especially as she is on the thin side other than the massive belly. The vet also said that Delaney had the smallest ovaries and uterus that she had ever felt...she believes that Delaney has spent most of her life malnourished and it has delayed her development. She suggested a specific diet and worming plan to follow to get little Laney-Bug back on track. Fortunately, it was pretty much the way we were already headed (nice to get a little affirmation ). I gave her the first dose of wormer tonight (I didn't want to worm her until we had the pregnancy status determined) She may be the easiest horse I've ever wormed! What a good girl! Didn't even smear it all over everything! While she was still dopey from the sedative for the palpation, I gave her a little beauty treatment (trimmed her bridle path and her whiskers), combed the tangles out of her mane, etc. Interestingly, several hours later when she had totally come to, I noticed that she was much more comfortable with me touching her face than she had been before. The vet agreed with the age estimate of just about exactly 2 years old (coming 2, not coming 3). She also said she looked very much like a Walker-cross; much more so than a quarterhorse cross. Delaney does have that conformation & head...also has that really floaty trot that Walkers who don't gait seem to have. Whatever she is, she sure is cute! And smart. And really just generally a joy to have around.
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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 10, 2006 22:59:00 GMT -5
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Post by schwung on Feb 12, 2006 17:20:41 GMT -5
Here is a photo of the mare that Delaney came in with at the feedlot, who appeared to be Delaney's mother. Her feedlot name was "Bachi" and she was a papered QH. We were told the sire was a well-bred QH stallion but I do see the possibility of Tennessee Walker in Delaney's face, so there is no way to know for sure.
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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 12, 2006 18:13:54 GMT -5
I spent quite a bit of time doing low-key work with Delaney today (sunshine made us both a bit lazy!). The progress she's making is just amazing to watch.
Today, I turned her out in the arena to play by herself for a bit while I cleaned her stall (and on that subject, the worming protocol appears to be working. <blech> <shudder> Anyone ever go buy live fish food for their aquarium? Then you've got the general idea <double blech>). She ran, bucked, rolled barrels around, rolled herself around, played with the cones & barrels some more... It was so much fun seeing her enjoying herself & being relaxed. When I went in, she came right up to me and let me rub her forehead. It's such a little thing, yet it says so much about how far her trust is coming. I played around with her at leading without contact and she was very willing. Then I haltered her (we both did it without thinking...such a change in just a week!) and pet her all over and worked on picking up her feet. We got all four feet in about 15 minutes, so I'm hopeful that she won't give James (the farrier) any problems on Weds.
;D Gosh I love this little horse!
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Post by rainydayride on Feb 12, 2006 18:41:08 GMT -5
She sounds like a doll... and a smart one at that. (and thank you so much for the image of your stall cleaning excercise that is now in my head )
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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 15, 2006 9:53:35 GMT -5
Our little Laney-Bug was quite the live wire last night! She had Monday off since I had to work (she spent most of Monday turned out in the sunshine). For whatever reason, she was just juiced last night. She’s feeling pretty good in general right now, so this may actually be closer to ‘normal’ for her...time will tell. She seems to have finished passing worms from the initial worming; next worming is Weds (we’ll see if she’s as easy to worm this time as she was last time When I wormed her initially she was like “hmm, is this a treat you’re putting in my mouth? Hey! Ucky! Umm, got a treat in your pocket instead? ;D) Anyway, she was a bit jazzed and bouncy and prone to try to bounce right over the top of me. I decided, rather than turning her out to blast around before working with her, that this would be a good chance to teach her the concept that you still have to respect the space of the tiny, frail humans no matter how excited you are. So we went straight into the arena to work on yields and other groundwork. I was actually quite pleased with how fast she settled down to work (even though it was obvious she was still dying to going blasting around the arena). At the end of her session, I again worked on picking up and all four feet in different positions since the farrier is coming to trim her on Weds. She was very good about it. She appears to be pretty much completely over her head shyness...at least with most people. She comes right up to me to have her forehead rubbed now, and will even stick her head over her stall door (which is a little taller on her than most of the other horses ) so that some of the other boarders can rub her head.
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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 15, 2006 21:32:44 GMT -5
Laney had her feet done today, as well as a training session with Cassie. She was fairly good for her feet...a little jumpy & nervous about the hinds but that's to be expected on a youngster who's just learning about people. Laney's heels were quite long, but James was able to get them down to where they need to be and he said she had good, solid feet. Laney came through her training session with Cassie nicely. She's definitely going through a stage where she's experiementing to see how much she can get away with & where the boundaries are. (Think a young teenager testing where his parents' boundaries are, how much he can REALLY get away with, and trying to figure out who he is.) Cassie thinks she should come through this pretty quickly as long as we keep working her consistently and correctly. So I'll be out at the barn tomorrow for a session, then on Friday I'm going to use Laney-Bug in a group lesson on groundwork, which will be good for both of us.
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Post by rainydayride on Feb 15, 2006 22:00:36 GMT -5
a teenager in the house... what fun!
(Good news about her feet.)
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Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 17, 2006 11:15:42 GMT -5
I turned Laney out in the arena to play for awhile before working her last night. She had a blast tearing around. She is already looking better...her hay/worm belly is starting to go down and she's getting some muscling. And while logically there shouldn't be any visible changes just in the 2 weeks she's been here, I would swear that her butt is higher than it was when she came. She was slightly butt-high when she got here, but now it's REALLY obvious. I just can't decide if it's because her muscling is changing, because we did some pretty radical hoof removal, or if it's because she really is putting on a growth spurt. Time will tell I guess! I did stick her last night. Using a real stick (with level), she was 14 h 1/2" at the withers and 14h 1.5" on her butt. Of course, since getting this little wiggle-worm to stand square is quite the challenge, I won't absolutely guarantee the precision of those! She wasn't afraid of the measuring stick at all though, which pleased me to no end. She just really wanted to watch everything else that was going on in the barn. Cassie did a big session with her on Tues and seems to have worked through most of the teenager-testing phase (well, at least this particular testing phase!). She was quite good for me last night. I worked on her yields some, but spent more time working on getting her comfortable with the flag and abrupt moves as she still is a little jumpy about those. I was pleased with the effort she made (and the progress too!). She's quite the cute little pony...if she stays under the size limit, I think she'll make quite the Pony Club mount in a few years. Obviously, she's going to need some time just to catch up physically before she could even be started under saddle, then training under saddle. But when she's 5 or 6.... ;D Of course, Barb at the barn gets QUITE upset when I make a comment like this and will respond "But as soon as her ground work is settled I want to adopt her" lol Glad to see I'm not the only sucker in the barn!
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