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!

guess what?!?

And. . .

I bought a saddle!! I kind of just snuck up on me. Jaime from my barn mentioned that she knew someone who was selling a saddle that would be perfect for Shyloh and it has a round skirt. 

So when I got to the barn today, Jaime and the saddle where waiting for me to try. Kathy helped me fit her and let me borrow some tack. The saddle seemed to fit Shy really good. The next question was. . .was the saddle comfortable for me?

Oh no. . .this would mean that I would have to get on her! I was not prepared for this. I guess that fall really messed me up more than I originally thought. I was fine with the fact that my butt is still slightly numb and my tail bone is still sore. As long as I felt this, I would not ride, right? Be safe. On a scale of one (one being totally fine) to ten (ten being scared out of my wits), I think I was at a 6.5. I did the only logical thing and asked Beth to ride her to try out the saddle. 

Wanna ride?

Oh my gosh. . .Shy can move! I knew this, but watching Shy with a very experienced rider on her was pretty cool. Her little legs are so quick! Scary quick! Beth walked, trotted, faster trotted, and cantered Shy.  She has the fastest little trot I have ever seen! 

Shy was on the move!

Beth did say that when she tried to slide the saddle over so it was even, Shy started a bit, but by the end of the ride, Beth was able to shimmy that saddle around. A few times, Shy kind of scooted underneath herself, but she never spooked or freaked out. Shyloh was actually really good and she is super cute in her saddle. Beth said she was fun to ride, but fun for a person who has been riding since birth equals scary for a person who has not been riding that long! I am still kicking myself that I did not take video. Guess I'll have to ask Beth to ride her again. 

She was so cute!

I did end up getting on Shy. I sat on her and tested out the saddle. I was pleased with it. And the price was so right! We did not move forward today, but at least I got on. That's a start, right? Next time, I'll do a little more. At least this time I will have a seat to hold me on if she decides to spook!

And for fun, Kathy rode Clutch!! What a big boy!

monday musings by shyloh #24

Allie is a watcher. She watches and watches. Take a picture, I say! It lasts longer. . .but then I remember she does take pictures. Lots of pictures. I do my best not to shoot her nasty glares or roll my eyes, but after a hundred photos, I get tired of all the posing. I am definitely not cut out to be a model. Plus I don't think I am the right size and I could never get used to the diet of a model.

Watching me eat. . .

Allie will come into my stall and just watch at me when I eat. How rude! I don't stare at her when she eats. . .okay, maybe I do. But her food is so delicious! And sometimes she gives me bites when I put on my super cute look. She watches me when I walk and run and she watches me when I roll. She watches me when I pee and poo (gross) and she watches me  play. I know I am good looking and all. . .but can't a mare get a break?

Watching me sleep. . .

Another thing Allie does is watch me trying to get my groove on! I got my eye on Shaman  lately and we have been flirting over the fence. Of course. . .Ryleigh does not approve, but I am a girl with needs! And sometimes Ryleigh can be a little possessive, but he is still my number one. I do like to test the waters. But Allie has got to stop watching me when I am turning on my charm. I can't be giving away all my secrets of what attracts the geldings to me. . .like the song goes "I'm sexy and I know it!"

Watching my mojo at work. . .

But what Allie doesn't know is that I watch her, too. Oh yes I do. I watch her walk up to me with that lead rope and halter. I watch her let me get away with certain things. I watch her by the treats to see if she is getting one for me. I watch her by her locker to see what she is getting out of it and to see what work I have to do. I watch her with other horses and I watch her with people. I am very watchful.

I analyze her every move. Sometimes she is so predictable. Sometimes she can be tricky and catch me off guard. Sometimes I know what she is going to do next and I can predict my next move based on what I already know. I am no dumb blonde. And sometimes, most fun of all, I push her buttons and watch how she reacts. 

I've got my eye on YOU!

~Shyloh

more sass in the snow

I have no idea what has gotten into Shyloh this weekend, but she is full of sass! She has been acting in ways that I have never seen her act! My sweet sweet Haflinger has turned into an ear-pinning beast! My easy going, gets along with every horse mare has begun to step it up a notch in her herd! Okay. . .she is still sweet, but she has been pinning her ears back lately, which she never does.

In this video, Shy is telling Dulce and Resy to get away! She wanted in first! This was new, usually Shy is the very last one to want to come inside. I was actually surprised that when I called for the horses to come on in that she joined them! Normally, she stays at the far end of the pasture until the very last minute. But today she stood right at the gate and let me put her halter on, without a peppermint again! It's the little things that make me happy!

However, this evening's behavior was a far cry from this morning. I had her in another pasture and when her herd went out, I wanted her to join them. Since her English is a little rusty, she was not understanding me when I said that I wasn't bringing her in to work, just move her to anther pasture to join her friends. All she saw was a halter, a lead rope, and me walking towards her, and she was off! This time I had to use a peppermint to catch her and move her over.

Devious diva! -in the shadows with pinned ears.

I am thinking that Shy is trying to move herself up in her little herd. Of course, she picks little old Resy (he is 28!) to be a jerk to. Maybe she is tired of being a pushover, not that she gets picked on or anything. Maybe she has completed her assessment of her herd and is thinking she will be boss mare.  (This is the most likely scenario, given Shy's assessment and cognitive skills.) Wouldn't that be something! Any which way that it is, as long as she is not mean, she can be all the horse that she can be.

Don't mess with the best!

sassy snow day!

Today was by far the coldest day of the winter! Shyloh and Casi went outside, but only for a little bit. It was bitter cold and windy. 

I did play with Shy a little bit outside. Boy, is she a sassy girl! Clearly, at this point she was not ready to go in. I wasn't trying to catch her here, just trying to get her to move her legs a bit. She told me in no uncertain terms what she thought of that. . .

Shy also tried her hardest to get to the teeny tiny bit of grass is that left buried beneath the snow. Look at those lips move!

At least they got outside for a short time. I think they were happy to go out, but grateful to come back inside. When it was time to come in, Shy was ready and let me walk right up to her, halter her, and take her in. . . without a peppermint! 

This is what Shy's whiskers look like after she has her nose buried in snow!

"Do I have something on my face?"

Needless to say, it was too cold to do any actual work. . .but we will get back into a schedule soon. Soon. . .