Amber - 2001 chestnut Arabian mare - PLACED!

[schwung]

I let Amber out of her paddock yesterday and she proceeded to gallop, leap, rear and paw the air, and go completely nuts and looked 100% sound. I decided that if this morning she still looked sound after all those acrobatics then she was going back to training. She looked good this morning so we loaded her up and took her up. I am crossing your fingers she does well! She has really turned into such a sweet mare and really enjoys attention from humans now.

[schwung]

Amber had her beauty day today. She got clipped and was pretty good, as usual she tends to be a bit dramatic about it but really isn't difficult. She also got her feet looked at and her one front foot that tends to grow unevenly cleaned up. Our farrier didn't think she needed shoes right now but we will keep an eye out for any footsoreness.

She starts work tomorrow. It will be a bit of a challenge as the vet doesn't want her doing a lot of circles or any lunging and she was a bit of a spaz before. However, this time she is on full pasture turnout so I am hoping that will help (at Black Raven, she only got limited turnout in small paddocks). Be a good girl, Amber!

[trillium]

Let's keep our fingers crossed. I bet she is going to be a beauty under saddle.

[Sara]

Is Andrea planning to do a lot of long-lining with her like she did with Lexi?

[schwung]

Amber got re-introduced to the saddle yesterday. Of course, Amber had to pretend she had never seen a saddle before in her life and bucked quite a bit but quickly got it out of her system and was fine. Andrea's off to a show this weekend so she will start riding her next week.

[mboos]

I've been tracking Amber since she came to SAFE. I'm so happy she is back in training again. I haven't seen her yet, but wonder if it is possible to watch her at one of her training sessions?

[schwung]

Of course! Send me an email and I will put you in touch with her trainer - [e-mail]

[crimsonlight]

*Keeps her fingers crossed that Amber stays sound.*

Jaime, do you think she'll be out of training before winter hits? No rush, Like I said last night.. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to foster her (if it can even happen), but I was just curious. I just might be able to get my mother in law to drive up and trailer her to whichever stable it would be.

[schwung]

Katie - I expect she will only be in training with Andrea for a month or two.

[crimsonlight]

Okay, thanks Jaime! Keep me posted on how she's doing and if it looks like she'll stay sound, I'll put in the foster app.

By the way, Emerald Lane bought more pasture recently, so they have lots of turn out now. :] I'll make sure to send pics with the application.

[schwung]

Amber is doing super under saddle, and is already walking and trotting in the big arena following another horse. Riding hasn't been a big issue for her but as she is on pasture board catching her has become a problem they still haven't been able to work through and she is taking roughly a 1/2 hour to catch each time. Amber tends to act terrified of things but once you get your hands on her and actually start doing something with her, she's really not bad at all. Under saddle she's surprisingly sensible and when she spooks she tends to spook in place and then stop and look. No sign of any unsoundness so far!

[crimsonlight]

Yay! Would it be too early to put the foster application in now?

[schwung]

Amber had a bit of a setback - she is turned out with Wishes who kicked her pretty badly in her hock. It's been pretty swollen so she's been having it cold hosed and on bute. She was pretty off on it at first, it is getting better today but still favoring it a little bit.

[schwung]

Amber's totally recovered from her kick from Wishes and has been back in work for a couple of weeks. She is doing well, but her fear issues are still quite prevalent. She will let Andrea catch her within a few minutes, but will not let her working student (for who knows what reason) catch her at all in the pasture. For some reason, she's very afraid of the barn and while the tacking up isn't an issue, she is sometimes so nervous in the barn she will stand and shake. Under saddle, she has started flipping her head a lot right after she is mounted and has had to be hand-led the first few laps around the arena until she relaxes. We are not sure exactly what is causing the set-back, but since she seems to be a little more comfortable with Andrea she's going to take over as her primary rider and see if that helps. Her working student is a super nice girl who is great with the horses, but for some reason Amber seems afraid of her.

Despite these issues, she is doing great under saddle, walk/trot/canter both directions. She's not spooky and quite sensible about what's in the arena, but still has an overall fear of humans that has been really tough to get through, and it makes her still a bit unpredictable under saddle. For that reason, she may need to stay in training a bit longer than Wishes...we will decide based on how she does in the next couple of weeks.

On a good note, she has stayed quite sound.

[schwung]

Amber's done really well the last couple of weeks and really progressed. She still gets a little nervous right after you get on and will toss her head a bit, the trick with her is to not pressure her or get after her but just soothe her and keep quietly asking her to go forward and she will soon settle and go along just fine.

I got some good video today and some photos before loading her up and bringing her back to the farm. I will post them tomorrow, here's a little teaser for how cute she looks under saddle!