Vital Signs

At the Stable today, we all met at 9am to have a lecture-hands on- with he horses to document all of Their Vital Statistics. Temperature, Resting Pulse, and Respiration. We Checked for Dehydration through skin pinching and also Capillary Refill. Looked at the Mucus memebranes in the eyelids and gums. Also we listened to normal Gut sounds through the Stethoscope.

Our Instructor was pretty funny...she was using an old Mercury Thermometer with hay twine tied to it and a wooden close line pin at the end of the twine.I do remember my sister using these methods as she is 15 years senior of our instructor.

The instructor has used this method since she was 16 and has not upgraded... Nostalgia city, is what she called it!

I have a Digital thermometer that was given to me when I thought my mare to be colicing once, 4 years ago...it stays in the tack grooming bag and I thought it may be dead by now...But no!

It was in fact was alive still and it took less than 30 seconds to read out the correct temp and beep to tell me so! We repeated 3 of everything, to make sure.

The digital pulse was the most difficult for me to find on my mare. I found it quite easily on one of the Arabians.Also the respiratory rate seemed difficult for me...she just did not breath in a fashion that was noticeable..so I watched and watched and read 7-10 breaths in 1 minute. 8-15 is normal.

I read now from the photcopied print out we all used,that we all could have simply felt the belly! I guess some use the old fashioned methods for lack of exposure/acceptance to the new and proven easier ones.

So-You may also use the Stethoscope on the windpipe and will hear lots of other things too! It was great to be with all and to check out other horses vitals.

Then, two of my freinds and I took a Brisk but sunny trail ride! The horses were in frisky form and I kinda thought coming back may be interesting...and yeppers..it was two Throrughbred mares and a Quarter horse mare really wanting to move out towards home...tried for some pics on the lookout..and got all kinds of kicks and stomps and twirls instead.

So..., now that it is done and we had to separate..I let them go on and I schooled and we met up again in the woods, then I let them go again.
I talked to one of the gals that does natural horsemanship(blended views) She suggested that we start taking our halters and ropes with training stick as well...get right off at the spot of Uppity, unlistening horse and do some WORK!
I am in for this, all the way, and will not ride with others unless we can do this now...it just is not worth allowing my mare to become accustomed to getting away with what she pulls! Stopping usually does the trick for her...get her to put her head lower, shut off the Adrenaline!
Tomorrow will be a better day!

Loving Your Bloggin' Heart

I have decided to make my 100 Post something that makes me feel wonderful.

It entails sending a loving package to A BIG HEARTED FRIEND here in Bloggerville. Because she has always enlightened me with new ideas and facts, comes by and says hello and also, she is always there for so many folks..making their day! I admire her.

And because,It feels lovely to be thought of in high esteem , and a surprise feels great! Sometimes her sincerity is like a warm blanket on a cold day. So this surprise is for her this time.

(well she does know it's coming, but she did not know I'd make a post of it!)

The wonderful part for me is, and I have a saying for you;

"The giver gets the gift!"

I believe this whole heartedly.

Also, this little memento I give to all of you...it is just a quickly scribbled thing on the back of some mail disclosure...haha!

But, ALL of you, my bloggerville Friends, have given me a gift too. You have surprised me, thrilled me, counseled me, and generally made my online Blog experience a rich environment for sincere heartfelt friendship.I treasure you "Peeps", as my husband calls you, and thank you too! This has been sooo fun! I keep coming back for more because you encourage me in my endeavors and I am allowed to be apart of your lives as well!

THANKS All of You...You make me feels wonderful and I am

( Think the horse speak of "I is Roxy" got to me there!)

Loving Your Bloggin' Hearts!

Men Working Above

Today at the stable was NOT AN INDOOR RIDING DAY. There had been a posting that a work crew would me making a ruckus on the roof for 2-3 hours..then it got amended to: 9am till dark.

The stable sustained major damage to all the gutters when the icy snow slid off the roof...literally took them down and mangled them . It really was Such a beautifully devastating snow storm. And What is costly and unexpected for some; is making a good living for others...as the crew told me that they could barely keep up with the demands right now. This is what I had to ready ourselves in...they were directly over us, as I checked out to see if Washsahe could handle the commotion.
She did okay for a time...but once the men started to walk above her...it was all over and I couldn't see me trying to put her hoof boots on down by her feet and and stay in one piece! So we improvised outside of the closed in groom bays. Wa was perfectly calm once she was not trapped . There was not another person there, but the owner in the office. She did come out once and was surprised to see Wa tied across the hall, and not one of the 4 groom bays...I explained the danger for me, and she passed by the mare .

The ride itself was lovely in the Foggy into sunny day. It is higher at the stable so all the fog of the drive melted away as I topped the last hill to the driveway.

I was in awe with the sight of our valley view the extends itself towards three large mountains and the sky scape's of Portland Oregon . Today...just a white heavy cream was laying deeply across the whole valley as far as the eye could see...small faint peeks of taller tress was all I could grasp through the sweet thick moistness of white foam. I kept gasping aloud, it was fantastic!

Cavalletti work 016

Cavalletti work 016

So this cavalletti work out is the last 10 minutes of our whole time in the arena on Monday. Started with lunging without side reins, then with them..slightly shorter on the inside to create some bend. Then Off for 10 minutes of walk over 1, then 2, then 3 ,then 4 rails on the ground to get her accustomed to looking and picking her feet up.

One thing of note: while I was using just the rails, directly on the ground, placed for walk then the same rails moved into place for trot...she got lazy and tripped on one..it slid almost out in front of her! I see now why using ground rails, without stands or blocks is very dangerous while trotting or cantering! And that is how I learn it seems...as my sister told me so!

Washashe was such a good girl !

Schooling over Cavallettis 2

Well, our planned schooling(with another) is being interrupted already! Vinnie here, our Thoroughbred Jumping Counterpart, was barely able to be walked into the stable yesterday before his scheduled lesson. I had my mare in the grooming bay and heard a commotion and stepped to the aisle to see him walking, without bending his knee , and with his leg actually straight out in front of him . It was painful to watch and my friend and he spend half of the summer 08' with his opposite foot/leg off..so she was holding back on the fearful tears of disappointment. The vet came out and they really hoped it was an abscess over anything else...today, my friend called me to say..they think it is an abscess because of the relief he got with shoe pulled/foot soaked/ poulticed overnight/ with standing wraps. Today, at 6am, he was walking well. Yea...hope this is true...and she said something interesting to me.....I have noticed my mares frogs are diminishing a bit concavely...no heat no smell, no black ick..just smaller. Yesterday I noticed a slit like scratch on Wa's Coronet band. Thought nothing of it but to put some of my favorite cure-all on it "Schriners" herbal spray.She told me that absesses can come on quickly and also release, just as fast sometimes through a slit near the band...as Wa's. I looked again the next day, and could NOT even find it! Interesting.

SO-My goal last night was to set up the Cavallettis after I groomed, with mare loose and following me as she normally does. I really don't expect too many folk to be around..and if they do come out tonight, I will just lead her with the lunge line and set up...she is good.I plan on doing the above pattern.. (with a twist...one set will be 4 cavs.) After I lunge in both directions freely(no side reins) then with side reins attached. I was with with another "unexpected" bout of work at the stable when I arrived...so I got to the setting up later than normal...and someone did come to ride...so my configuration changed somewhat for their convenience. It was crowded but we made it work.

From Reiner Klimpke's "Cavavlletti" book: Remember that the horses that is to go on a circle and that the inside rein must be shorter than the outside. The correct length will be about 2-4 in- about three to six holes shorter. The function of the outside rein is to control the inner bend and to prevent evasion through the outside shoulder. Side reins are fastened, as for work on a straight line, to the girth under the saddle flap, so that the the horse may stretch his neck forwards and downwards.Therefor the length of the reins is adjustable, and may be altered during the lesson."... The author does not recommend doing more than 20 minutes lunging over the cavallettis...broken up as :1o min at walk/ 5-10 minutes without side reins/ 5-10 with side reins, not over rails/ then 20 min of walk and trot over rails. Finishing is to be without side reins. "I do not recommend more than one such lesson every eight to fourteen days because the exercise over ground rails has to be included within the whole training programme and if carried out more often would prove to be too strenuous for the horse."..." The advantage of lunging a horse over ground rails lies in the fact that stiffness in the neck and quarters can be eliminated. Through the position of the horse's body on a circle, the inside muscles are contracted and the outside neck and back muscles are stretched. The inside hind foot has to take more weight."...After a warm up session walking over a few single polls and then lunging over 1, then 2, then 3 , I put the 4Th one down and we did about 10 minutes both ways walking . Then I set up for trotting and did about 10 more minutes.

She hit her feet a few times, and I had to readjust the Cav's(marks seen on feet ) and got kinda upset at first...then she settled in and we did a few minutes of trotting video before taking the side reins off and walking out for 10 minutes and me taking the polls down.

Washashe is doing much better in cross ties...She was so claustrophobic there at first, I was unable to groom even, for her anxiety. She does well alone now , she trusts the general area more and can relax. At first, there was a horse in the stall behind her and it would put its nose up to smell and she could see it...bad, she could not relax. She still does tend to pull to see if she may free herself if I turn my back...to get the camera in this case! I call her "The creeper"...as she creeps ahead -slowly so-one step at a time! I usually quick tie one fast..so she does not get all the way loose. It is a rule of the stable not to leave a horse unattended in the ties, as well as being standard for me!

I SURE missed my partner last night...it is a lot of work setting up and tearing down alone!

This Video is missing cause it refused to upload...so the next post will be a "You Tube" of the missing video!