good bye winter

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The first day of spring. . .

The shedding has begun

But where is it?

It is cold. It is snowy. It is rainy. It is muddy. But nice weather will be here soon enough. Right?

Looking back over the winter season, Shyloh's first time (with me) outside all winter in a herd, I would have to say that she did quite well. She did not lose any weight. She had no injuries. . .in fact, she actually had more cuts, scraps, and chunks taken out of her when she was stalled! She fits in well with the herd. And, Shy had this amazing ability to stay clean through the snow and rain and mud! Don't be jealous, those of you with mud rollers, but this was the dirtiest she has gotten so far.

And that was because I got her when she was still laying down. I think she normally gets a little wet and muddy, but then waits until the sandy ground dries and rolls (giving herself a sand bath like a chinchilla). I am grateful that I didn't have to deal with this, like my blog friend Martine!

Over the winter we have suffered through the cold to get Shy ready for the cart. We have had a lot of success and some drawbacks. I still don't feel confident enough with her to get in the cart myself.  I am considering finding someone in my area (if such a person even exists) to take a lesson or two and get some feedback and advice. We had to go back to some basic line driving because Shy decided she wanted to boot, scoot, and boogy with the cart. Her steering is solid, her whoa is pretty spot on, but her stand is awful. The only time she actually wants to stand is when we are near the grooming/finish area. All other times she wants to go go go!

The herd also has made some changes. A white Arab joined the herd, he stands firmly at the bottom. Jesse, Shy's good horsey friend/protector/assurance of food also left. I have noticed Shy seems to pick out one horse in the bunch who is near the top and hang out with that horse. Since Jesse left, Shy has got her sights on Lukas. I even caught them together on the other side of the shelter, where they could not be seen (ooh, la la). They are always together now and Lukas seems to have excepted her since he no longer runs her off food and I have seen them sharing.

I am not a fan of the fence. . .but what can I do?

Two other mares that I have seen Shy hang around have also left the herd. One went to another barn and one went to another pasture to be a buddy for a horse that was by himself. The herd is much smaller now. But even when it was bigger, Shy seems comfortable in the herd.

Spring goals include: driving the cart, a bareback ride (or two), attend the spring draft clinic, and continue working on trust and our bond. 

Spring wants (but most likely will not happen) are: a saddle and a work harness (so I can show draft instead of pleasure).

Oh, and 22 days until Equine Affaire!! Who is going?

What is everyone else's spring goals?
Happy Spring!

loving lazy sunny sundays

Such a sunny, beautiful day out. . .I could barely tell it was under 30 degrees! When I got to the barn, Shyloh was taking her usual between noon and one nap. She was standing, so I went to the heated barn to chat and have a sloppy joe lunch with my barn buddies. When I got done, Shy was just beginning to move, but it was not because she was awake. . .she moved to another sunny spot to lay.

I love love love that she lays outside. Have I mentioned that before? She never did that at the old barn, but here, I catch her napping and laying quite often. 

I was hoping for some snuggle time, but Shy got up. Oh well. We did our lunging and stretches, then went back in the sun to hang out. And Shy got her wormer.

Kisses anyone?

Shy was very mischievous today. She stuck her foot then her head in a bucket. . .she dumped her food. . .she kept grabbing a towel out of her grooming bag. . .she kept kicking and picking up another bucket. . .ate a carrot off of a snowman's face. . .then she would smile in my face about all of it.  Silly pony!

There was no reason for the foot in the bucket. . .

She was convinced something tasty was in there

Shy would much rather eat from the snow

My friend Terry came to visit and Shy was extra cute for her. . .it helped that Terry had brought some carrots! Then Terry headed Shy and I climbed up on her. Ugh. . .my balance is atrocious! I need to work on that!

And. . .has the shedding begun?

It's there, I promise!

See that? It is a lone hair from her blaze, fallen out all on her own. 

Why is Shy the only horse that has not begun her shedding? All the other horses are shedding like crazy. I tried pulling hairs out, but they are rooted in deep. Perhaps Shy wants to be a shaggy beast for forever? Perhaps Shy's body knows something about the weather that we don't? I hope not! While I am not looking forward to all the shedding, I am looking forward to sleek and shiny pony. 

More naps. Pony life is hard work!

What a pleasantly perfect Sunday at the barn.

equine dentist

The equine dentist came to float a bunch of horsey teeth at the barn today. Shyloh was one of those horses. Doug, the dentist, was amazing! He does not use drugs or power tools. I had no idea what to expect, since Shy was floated and had her wolf teeth removed right before she came home to me. Doug just went right into Shy's stall and stuck his hand in her mouth. Shy did not have a problem with that. He was very calm and patient with her and she reciprocated by being a very good Haffie. 

File file!

The dentist's visit was educational, as well. On a whim, I asked him how old he thought Shy was. Without hesitation, he said five, coming on six. What?? I had believed that she was six or seven! For some reason, that year or two seems to make a huge difference in my head. It's almost like she is still a baby at five. She is probably still growing. Five. Wow. That really explains a lot about her. Why she is a little spooky (not as much exposure), lack of experience under saddle (does she even have any training?), less driving experience than realized (probably ground driven but never hooked up to a cart). So, she is much greener than we thought. . .but oh well. I have a good support team, including Beth who will train Shy and teach me.  

Another interesting thing Doug showed me was that Shy had two canine teeth coming in through the top of her mouth. I got to feel them! One had already pushed its way through the gum and the other was just under the gum. Doug said that mares do not have these teeth, only stallions and geldings, unless the mother horse was giving hormones when she was in foal. Very interesting! This just adds more mystery about Shy's past! He took those canines out (it was real simple, Shy bled a little, but she did not mind). Doug also floated the rest of her teeth, including the hook on her right side. I can't wait to see how she does when Beth rides her next week. 

Later, when I kept checking on the bleeding in Shy's mouth, I could see it already healing. Just so amazing! Doug asked me if I drove Shy. I told him I was working on it and he said she has the body for driving. He also mentioned that she was a very quiet and well behaved Haffie. That made me smile!

I gave Shy a long grooming session, using every brush and de-shedding tool I had access to. Shy is a shedding pony! And look how big Fuzzy has gotten!

Baby boy Haffie

I also used a whitening shampoo on her tail. I want to get her mane, but I will wait until it is warmer out. Then me and Kathy took our horses outside to graze on the green green grass for just a little bit. Between the rain and the hail, I don't know when the pastures are going to dry up!

So yummy!

I am ending with this short video. . .does anyone notice anything different about Shyloh? Or do my eyes deceive me? Let me know what you think!

haflinger's aren't born. . .

. . .they are made! Made from the hair of Halfingers already in existence. 

Since it is only February and I have already gotten so much hair off of Shyloh, with much much more to go, I must ask a question. . .

Why would anyone buy a second Haflinger? All you have to do is collect hair from the Haflinger you already own, put it in a bag, add some hay,water, and carrots, and *poof* a brand new Haflinger!

You could get an extra Haflinger every year! I asked for another stall the other day for my brand new Haflinger baby. The rate of growth for this baby is exponential! I cannot believe how big he is getting and so quick! Now we just need a name for this fur ball. . . 

I shall call him Fuzzy and he shall be mine

He is pretty cute, right? I hope Shy and Fuzzy get along, because it seems that they will have to share the stall.

On another note. . .will this precipitation ever end? Rain, snow, sleet. . .it all melts and makes mud!

there's a hoof in the bucket. . .

. . .dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hoof in the bucket, dear Liza, a hoof!

Brrr! The water is cold!

I had to put Shyloh's left rear leg in a cold bucket of water today. I was picking her feet and that leg, from the fetlock down to the coronet band was warm. I double checked the warmth I felt by feeling the rest of her legs and they were cold. I asked Kathy and Beth to feel her leg and they agreed that it felt warm. The bottom of her hoof was not warm at all, just that general area. 

But. . . it was not swollen, Shy was walking just fine, she was bearing weight on it, and she was not showing any signs of pain with it. 

In fact, when I went outside to get Shy, she had me smiling from ear to ear! She was in the way back of the pasture and I called for her. She looked up and ran toward the gate and me! She stopped right before it got really muddy, pooped, then navigated through the mud all the way to the gate. She let me halter her without a peppermint and we walked out of the pasture. Then we trotted to the barn. Shy was completely fine and really willing to trot next to me. Fun times!

Helping Aunt Kathy clean up the hay!

Once we got in the barn, she was in a great mood. Shy was very curious and I let her poke about the buckets and bins along the aisle way. She also picked up as much fallen hay as she could. She was walking fine and at this point I had no idea we could be having a potential problem.

Nosy pony!

Any hay under here?

I put Shy in the cross ties to groom and de-mud her a little bit. She is a shedding pony! Look at all that hair! I am sure that this is just the beginning of a massive amount of hair loss.

I am building Shy a brother Haflinger from her extra hair.

Then I picked her feet and felt the warmth. Beth advised that I cold soak her leg, preferably with epsom salt. I had never done this before, so I filled a bucket (minus the salts, we had none at the barn) and made my first attempt at putting her leg in the bucket. Shy was willing to let me lift her leg, but a little hesitant to put it in the cold cold water. Eventually, she did lower her leg and stand there. I was pretty amazed! She only tipped the bucket twice and that is just when she tried to move, otherwise, she was great!

"Don't look at me like this!"

After her cold soak, I put her in her stall and we worked on our first trickonometry trick, which required no movement on Shy's part. We are off to a good first start, so soon I hope to have a video of her first trick!

I am very surprised that I am not totally freaking out about this heat on Shy's leg, but besides it being warm, she is fine. I am a bit worried and anxious to see how she will be in the morning. I picked up some epsom salts on the way home in case I need them tomorrow or in the future. Beth is guessing that is it not an abscess and not laminitis. Perhaps she just did something, like twist it,  from the mud?

Does anyone have any ideas of what this could be or any experience with something similar to this?

Still sassy! Even with a bucket hoof!