Still Lame

Reds still slightly lame. Nothing to really worry about but every 12th stride or so he does a little hop. It looks like his hooves have grown extra fast and the shoes are starting to slip. The shoe on his left hoof has slipped quite a bit and is pressing on his corn which could have been the reason for his lameness all along. Its only been 4 weeks since he was last shod. Usually he needs work done every 6 weeks. But the grass has been growing really fast lately and apparently when the grass grows so does the hooves.

I was supposed to have a lesson with Jacqui on Saturday but she was the one who saw the hop in his trot. She said he could be lightly hacked but not to do any work until he was re-shod so our lesson didn't happen. So this week hes getting re-shod and hopefully he'll be fine for the ODE on Sunday.

In other news it seems like the electric fence in the paddock where the Hacks are grazing went a bit crazy. Somehow electricity was being put into the ground underneath the gate and was giving the horses an almighty shock as they walked in and out of the paddock. The water was also alive so the horses weren't able to drink. Only the horses were affected because of their shoes. My Auntie Sue said when she was bringing Red out he suddenly bolted through. She didn't know what had made him do it. Someone must have figured out what was wrong when the other horses reacted too. The electricity has been turned off now. The poor horses! Its must have been a powerful shock to make them react like that. Imagine if a human had been been shocked. It could have caused someone a lot of damage. Thankfully everyone is alright.

Another Goal Gone!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Red and I were due to compete in a particulary hard dressage test against my Pony Club ride. I only had 10mins to warm up and I wasn't expecting anything spectacular but as I trotted around the ring I said to myself 'We are going to be amazing, we are going to do the best dressage test ever' over and over again. Lo and behold we did great!

Red and I scored really well. We got a lot of 7 and 8s in the transitions which I was very pleased with. The only thing that let us down was the right canter which I'm not suprised at all about. But we're working on that.

But even more exciting was we got lots of great remarks about Reds bending! Comments like 'Supple and bending well into the corners" and "Great circle, bending nicely' showed up. I was so pleased. We didn't place but hey sometimes achieving a goal is better then getting a rosette.

Congratulations to Michelle!

I was just want to say a hefty well done to my friend Michelle and her horse Gizmo over at A Moment in Time. Michelle trialed for Pony Club Show Jump Champs and came 4th in the last trial which is awesome! Shes not in the Hamilton Team but shes eligible to be a draft rider for another team if they need a senior. This is a great accomplishment! Well done Michelle! I'm so proud :) You can read her version of events at her blog.

Here are a couple of her pics:

Also congratulations to my friend Simone and her horse Rocky who made the West Auckland team. She doesn't read this blog but I thought I might put it in anyway.

A story for another day #6: The Day Red was Horsenapped

One spring evening mum dropped me off at the top gate of the pony club. I was looking forward to riding that night. It was slightly cool, the sun had painted its glory across the skies and I was just happy to be outside after spending all day in a office.

I walked down to the staircase paddock to get Red. First I just stood at the gate calling his name hoping he would come running. But alas it wasn't to be. So off I went to look for him. It was obvious he wasn't with any of the other horses standing around in the open so I went searching for him in the out of view nook and crannys of the paddock. But he wasn't anywhere to be found. I went back to the herd and took a closer look at the horses. Usually I can pick him right out by looking at his cover, but once I spent ages walking around his paddock when my Auntie Sue had changed his cover from a bright blue winter cover to a bright green spring one (she had told me, I had just forgotten). He definitely wasn't there.

Thinking he may have jumped the fence into the next paddock that held the ponies I went over and searched that paddock. But he wasn't there either. Now I was starting to get worried. I had visions of him lying in one of the Staircase paddock ditches with a broken leg and in lots of pain. I went straight back to the staircase paddock and did an extensive search. Nothing turned up.

Then I heard it. Laughing and jeering. I just knew what was happening. Someone had gotten Red out of his paddock and was torturing my poor horse. I grabbed a stick and sprinted towards the noise, ready to risk my life for my horse who had always given me his everything. When I got to the paddock fence I saw what was happening. Some kids were playing tiggy in the backyard of a house next door, and my horse wasn't with them. I dropped the stick and went sheepishly away.

Suddenly I realised EXACTLY what had happened. Red had been horsenapped! Someone must have broken the chain on the gate, caught the first horse they could see (which happened to be Red) and taken him away. The rational side of my brain did wonder how they got him on a float but that thought was soon pushed away with thoughts of the pain and fear he must be suffering at the hands of the horsenappers. I sprinted towards the clubrooms, glad that I had my Horse Information File in the car so I could show the Police what he looked like.

As I got closer to the clubrooms I saw a horse standing in the Plum Tree Paddock. "Hmm must be a loose horse" I thought. Then I saw another horse, and another one and then a few more. I sped up trying to figure out who these horses were. I'm short sighted so it took a while until I realised that THE HACKS HAD BEEN MOVED INTO THE PLUM TREE PADDOCK. I soon spotted Red and I threw my arms around him. My feelings flew from euphoria that he hadn't been stolen, to disbelief that I had been so stupid. Then I just put my head on his neck and laughed. I haltered him and took him to the clubrooms where mum was waiting. I told her the whole story about The Day Red was Horsenapped.

Lameness Update #2

Red and I didn't ride in the Pony Club rally last night due to his sore leg but I went up anyway to check on him and watch my group ride. I'm please to annouce that hes much better. His limp has all but gone and his swelling hasn't got any worse. Hes short stepping slightly with the sore leg but otherwise hes great. I'm very pleased. Auntie Sue will check on him tomorrow morning but it looks like we won't need a vet.

It looks like it will be all good to enter into the Henderson ODE. If his swelling and limp is gone by Friday evening I'll possibly have the lesson with Jacqui on Saturday but I'm going to talk to Sue about it.

It looks like the injury would have come from him fighting with the new gelding at the pony club. A few people have seen them have impressive all out fights complete with rearing battles and nashing of teeth. I was wondering why Reds neck was continually covered in bite marks. Hopefully that will settle down and they'll sort themselves out soon so Red doesn't get any more injuries.

Lameness Update #1

Red had some slight swelling in his knee last night when I checked on him. Its very minor and he doesn't seem to be sore in or around his knee in anyway. Two of the more knowlegable people at PC poked and prodded all around with no reaction.

The conclusion is that something is sore in his hoof area and hes over compensating with his knee so he can keep the pain to a minimum which is resulting in the swelling.

We're going to wait a couple of days to see what happens with it. I'll check on him tonight and my auntie will check on him tomorrow night and then we can make the decision about whether to call the vet. I was supposed to be having a lesson with Jacqui Williams on Saturday but at this point it looks like that won't be happening.

Hopefully he'll get better soon and won't be in pain. Wish us luck.

Oh dear! Hes lame.

Well here I am. Sitting at my desk trying to figure out WHY RED IS LAME! Yes hes lame. When I was leading him in the paddock I saw it, but then again I always think hes lame in the paddock because of the un-even terrain. I walked him over to the rails, tacked him up and as soon as we walked off I felt it. That totally evil, time wasting, money wasting limp. I trotted him out for one of the instructors at the club and she said it was in his left fore. There was no heat or swelling otherwise I would have seen it when I checked him over while grooming.







Lisa, a vet in training who rides at PC, looked him over and did a hoof test but she couldn't find anything. She said it could be an abcess that will burst in the next couple of days. If he's still lame on Wednesday I'm calling the vet. Hopefully its nothing too bad, I hate him being sore!



It seems to be one thing after another with him lately. Last weekend he was bitten by a White tail spider (we think) which can affect humans quite badly. My poor guy was swollen up in patches all over his body and anytime I put my hand near the spot where we think he was bitten he attacked with menace. I left his cover off since the heat generated from it seemed to make the swelling worse and when I checked on him the next day he was fine.


Hes also been having trouble with jumping, hes refusing jumps that we did easily a few weeks ago. I don't know whats up with him but hopefully it all stops and he gets back to his normal soon.



Anyway heres a cool little thing that Maddie over at Pony Tail Club posted about... You upload a photo and suddenly your in a gallery! Check it out!