Newly Toothless

The vet's reaction to me pointing out the lumps on the front sides of Jasper's hocks was, "Huh, that's weird." Which was obviously not quite the reaction I was looking for. She poked around, decided they were hard, and flexed each hock. He was fine. I'll keep an eye on them, she suggested Cosequin as a preventative measure, and that was about it.

The teeth, however, were a different story. He still had his WOLF TEETH. Apparently the vet that did his teeth two and a half years ago did NOT pull them out. She filed them down. Say what?? Which of course made them that much harder to extract. There was a lot of digging to get them out. Poor guy! Wolf teeth are sensitive and are right where the bit sits in their mouth. I wonder if I can blame them in part for Jasper's tongue problems. If he was trying to protect his teeth by putting his tongue over the bit...? Time will tell.

I've decided against getting the saddle. It's not a perfect fit, it's an older saddle, it has foam panels, and it's quite pricey. I would love to find a Jeffries JMX to try. Actually I did find the perfect one over in the UK and sent the gal an email. The saddle was already out on trial, but she recognized my email address from this blog and knew who Jasper and I were. Small small world. So cross your fingers it doesn't work out. :)

Alexandre has moved to his new home. I drive by there on my way to the barn (they're practically next door, they saddled up their horses and rode them home) and this morning they were all staring at something off in the distance. Then they all turned and pranced around, soooooooo scared of the Thing In The Woods. He's in a great big paddock with a little black Arabian about half his size. It's a breathtakingly beautiful place, every horse should be so lucky.

And, we're having a barn party on Friday. A celebration of the new indoor going up, sweet! I've volunteered Jasper to be in a corral in the arena for petting and treat eating- free desensitization experiences always welcome. Norm has been working on building a big wagon for hay rides, there will be a bonfire, horse rides for kids (not toothless Jasper, duh), food, and more stuff. And after that, a punk-ish band is playing at my favorite bar downtown. Life is good.

Saddle fit- help!

I have this Jeffries Flyover on trial. It's a forward flap x-country jumping saddle. It's great to ride in, very balanced. It just doesn't look like it fits very well to me- it looks like the pommel is way too high. Like he needs a wider tree or something? (This is a medium, they don't come in med-wide).

Is it just me? I really like the feel of it.

Pre-ride.

After I rode in it and it settled a bit.

Good Things.

Who knew that when I found an ad for Valley Chapel Farms two years ago on Craigslist that it would turn out to be such a great situation for me. Newly unemployed (and then soon back to school) with two horses to take care of had me desperate to find good, affordable board. VCF was a godsend with their options for pasture board at very reasonable prices, which turned into stall and paddock board at the same very reasonable prices. Trails right off the property. Alexandre has found a new family. Norm and Lisa have put in a brand new huge outdoor arena, Norm helped me build jumps, they've put in a little obstacle course. And the latest and greatest (and totally unexpected) addition... an INDOOR arena!!!

It has been SO long since I have had access to an indoor. I'm really excited. They're just finishing things up, Jasper and I had our first real ride today.

He, of course, is absolutely THRILLED.

The vet comes out on Wed. to check his hocks and his teeth. I'm no longer too worried about the hocks as we had a good ride today, although it's hard to tell if the "lightness behind" was from the sand hitting the panels, the light from under the door, or if there really is something wrong. I'm pretty sure it's excitement related.

Forgot about these.

I got an email from the photographer that was at Aspen Farms Horse Trials (June 2010) today, offering discounts and deals on photos. I bought the CD but no prints and decided to look through them. I had forgotten about these...

This fence was the second in a combo and came as a bit of a... surprise.

You know it had to be spectacular when the photographer takes a shot of the LANDING.



Clear.

We were only jumping this fence. There is not another one outside of the frame that we were also jumping.

(Liverpool)

Actually, I like all of these. He didn't have much experience but he sure had a lot of heart that day.

Bog Spavins?

On Sat. I went out to the barn to check on the hoss, check out progress on the indoor arena, and grab my saddle for Serena & Roxie to try out. (It's a treeless so it's supposed to fit everybody). I noticed that Jasper has small hard bumps on the front (flat) sides of his hocks. Were those there before? I don't think so, I 'm pretty sure I would have noticed them. Or maybe they're just bigger now and more noticeable. Later that day Serena looked it up in her horse medical book and figured out they're probably some kind of bone spavin.


I worried all last night and went out today expecting Jasper to be dead lame on both hinds. When I drove up he was out in his run bucking in place. I'm assuming it's because there's snow and ice on the ground so galloping around isn't so much an option. He can buck in place pretty high, heels waaaay over his head. He wasn't acting like he was in pain.

Even though the indoor doesn't have footing yet it has a roof and walls so I took him in there to lunge him around. He seemed verrrrrry happy to be on non-slippery dirt and cantered around throwing a huge buck every time he went past the big open space where a door will be. Seemed a little stiff to the right?

I decided to ride to see if I could feel anything. Nope. Not that that means anything. He was excited and forward but didn't feel uneven.

I don't know why lumps would show up on the fronts of his hocks. I'm going to have the vet out to check on his teeth so I'll ask her about it then.


On another note, while I was doing research I discovered there is a band called Bog Spavin. Their logo is "rock out with your hock out". It was disturbing to me.

Happy Halloween- Fantasy Costume Class!

Whoa!!!

Friesian people take their costume classes SERIOUSLY. How are these horses not spooking at themselves? Each other?? WINGS???

Friesian people are a little weird.

I feel I have the right to say that.

:)

Oh, and the Queen of Hearts was my favorite.

Don't bother to watch it to the end, it takes 20 minutes for the judges to decide then cuts off before the winner is announced. I think it was the Eagle though.

Oh oh and the yellow horse with the horsey LEGGINGS is a sphinx. Dude. Horsey leggings. The particulars behind those boggle the mind.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to come up with an outfit like the pink vegas showgirl's for the next time we compete XC. Or wait... wings...

The Beginings of Modern Day Eventing

Holy crap, check out this video:

Calvary

These guys are flying.

I wonder if it helped the horses' courage to be in large groups while galloping at breakneck speeds over giant obstacles? Seems like if one stopped he'd pretty much be rammed from behind. Might instill a "go or die" element to the training?

It's sobering to think these horses were being trained to charge into battle under fire. I can't imagine doing a BN cross country course while dodging bullets. Not cool man, not cool!