October 26, 2010 - It is said "Pride goeth before a fall"

Rory looked big when he was standing next to me today!

Rory went to the vet clinic today. His leg was even fatter and hotter on Monday morning after a night in with bute and Back on Track wrap.  The hot spots were in different places yet again.  I walked him for a good bit, briskly with some pauses to remind him of his manners.  Having spent the night inside he had more energy and a greater desire to return to the herd making him more distracted than usual.  He was pretty good once I realized why he wasn't quite as well behaved and got a little quicker at catching the warning signs of trouble.  After the walk I cold hosed his leg and put another poultice wrap on for the day.  I went back in the evening to remove the wrap and hose the leg again.  The swelling was greatly down, but the pastern was still swollen and had a hot spot on the inside towards the back.  I wrapped with the Back on Track no-bow again and turned him back out.

Another horse was going to the vet clinic on Tuesday (today) and I arranged to take Rory as well to save having the vet come out to the farm on Wednesday.  It was Rory's first time on a trailer in over two years (the last time was the breeder's show when he was two months old).  He walked up without any problem. Backed off a little crooked, but nice and easy.  Very well done considering it was the first time he'd backed off a trailer.

Rory was a little wiggly inside the examination area, but when we came out to do flexions and jog he was awesome. He trotted when I said trot, stayed with me, whoa'd when asked, allowed the vet to squinch his legs a couple of times... He was a STAR and I was bursting with pride in him!

Remember where I started - "Pride goeth..."

So then we had to wait while the other horse got looked at. The vet sent us off to graze while we waited. Rory didn't want to graze, so we walked, stood, walked some more, tried to graze again without any more luck. Anyway, the last time I tried to get him to graze he put his head down and grabbed a bit of grass, then squealed, kicked up his heels and bolted and I couldn't hold him. He ran. And ran. And ran some more. Off to the furthest paddocks, across a ditch. Down the side of the far paddocks, back (past me) and down the other side, vanishing into the woods... I set off after him. Before I got to the trees I spotted him running across behind the fields and turned around to run back and try to stop him in the narrower alley between fence and tree lines. This time I didn't bother with soothing words, but stood big and waved my arms at him. He broke to trot. Then came to a halt and waited for me to collect him. He's fine. And he was quite well behaved for the rest of our wait, most of which we spent walking back and forth to cool him out with the occasional halt, back up, do not get ahead of me reminder.

Ah well, pride goeth before a fall and all that He's been doing really well at home, but now I know not to trust him an inch away from home. At least not until he gets used to it.

And the fat leg? A minor sprain.  Not lymphangitis, not suspensory or tendon tears.

The funny, and kind of embarassing part is that while he was trotting and cantering about I was thinking "Geez he looks amazing!  I want to take a picture of that!"  and then had to keep saying very sternly "No, catch him before he does hurt himself!"  But boy, does he ever move nicely!

August 25, 2008 – Show time!

Saturday was the breeders show. Friday night I braided his mum. I had debated bathing them that evening, but in the end didn't. I was glad I hadn't as Rory was sleeping on a pee spot when I went in to braid mum. He got up and bothered me a bit for scratches and attention, but he didn't nibble on me, steal yarn, or anything like that. He did chew on mum's lead chain and try to bite the spray bottle of water a few times. I sprayed him. I hit his nose and he backed off and I thought "Maybe that wasn't a good idea" but later he came back and I sprayed his side, bum, back and belly and he didn't care one bit. Later on he was nibbling on the head and I sprayed water into his mouth - he came back for more.

In the morning I braided him. I started at his withers and worked my way up his neck. He was munching on the hay while I worked and was good. When I got about halfway I had to put his halter on and tie him (looped lead through stall bars) so I could finish. The hardest part was bumping the teeny tiny braids. He wiggled a bit of course, but was good.

Then it was bath time. I didn't have anyone to help, so I tied mum at the wash rack and bathed her one handed while I held Rory's lead in the other. Soaped, scrubbed and then rinsed. While I was spraying the soap off I sprayed Rory's feet, then back to mum, then his feet up to his knees, then mum. When I did his side he didn't mind, so I went all over his sides, back, bum and legs before working up his neck. He was really good. I scrubbed him with his new wash mitt and rinsed him off. It's hard to scrape the excess water off baby sized horses. I used my hand a good bit.

After the bath we went for a little walk while a stall was cleaned. Rory wanted to run and play and just get out. I put them in the stall while I got everything else ready. I had to drive the trailer myself. It was the other trailer - the step up - and he followed mum up just fine. His last foot slipped off the rubber bumper and he scrambled a bit, but it didn't bother him.

At the show we brushed the hay dust off them and did a little practice trot. Rory bounced a bit. The first class was the CSH Foal of 2008 with two entries. The other foal's pro handler beat us. I didn't get Rory stood up very well and he didn't want to stand still while the judge was looking at him. The trot wasn't bad, but not as good as he is at home. His breeder told him he was robbed, and I protested that we couldn't start that way and we should tell him that he needs to stand better and trot properly if he's going to win.

Because we were second in the Foal, we got invited back for Junior Champion. Before then Rory's breeder gave me some tips and I tried using the grass trick to keep Rory still and occupied. We didn't place in the Junior Champion, but I did get him stood up better and right after they announced the winners the judge took another look at Rory and made a note on her clipboard.

We went back to the trailer for a bit and I wandered around with Rory, jogging here and there (he cantered and bounced too). He slipped once and limped, and held his left hing leg up for a few steps. He was fine a minute later, and bounced again but with a bit more caution.

There were four foals in the Open Foal of 2008 class - including the foal that won the CSH class. Rory won. He stood nicely (kept me busy finding grass and getting his legs set and all) and trotted well. I was glad to see the judge had the confidence to change her previous placings and didn't feel she had to repeat the order. The conformation:movement percentages were slightly different between the two classes, so that may have helped too. The pro handler went to help get another foal to trot and when he came back he almost came to Rory. He was laughing about it and said "I'd take him. I'd take them both."

We got invited back for the Open Junior Champion, so we had to hang around and wait for the Yearling class to go. Rory was tired after all his effort and decided to lie down. He nibbled on the grass he could reach, rolled over and went to sleep. I had to wake him up for the Junior Champion class - which the yearlings won (1,2). He did a very nice trot in that class.

After that we headed for home. Rory hopped on the trailer without the slip this time. Once there I put them in their stall for a bit, hoping he'd lie down for the rest of his nap (and make it easy for me to take his braids out). He did, and I did get them out. I took mum's braids out too, and then put her and Rory out. I tacked the ribbons onto the front of his stall.

I really think he's going to go dark chestnut - maybe as dark as "brown" (think Ward Mclain's Sapphire). He's got quite the raccoon look just now, and his ears are quite dark too. Too cute! The dark hairs are showing through the foal coat in places and giving him a bit of a dirty look on his bum. I hope he stays dark - not that it matters one bit, but I think he'd be really striking with the dark contrast against his whites. Plus I could put red on him without commiting a fashion sin.

July 28, 2008 – It’s official!

I introduced him to the trailer on Saturday! Followed mum up twice, then went in and out three times while she stood outside. He's too cute! Wasn't sure about going down the ramp - he walked like he expected it to be level with the trailer floor.

I picked up a foot three times yesterday. The third time I held it for a second and he hopped, stopped and tried to paw when I went to put it down, so I held it and made him put it down gently. And he got whacked for thinking about rearing on me. He went to mum afterwards, but came back without concern a few minutes later.

I had to make the halter nose bigger, and move out the crown to the third hole already! I dug out the next halter on the weekend so it would be ready when needed. This one will last a while longer.

We agreed on price on Saturday after the show. I haven't handed over the $ yet, but the agreement is there.