On Sunday I had to get up bright and early (which sucks on your vacation) to be at the barn for Stitch to get his pedicure. Our appointment was originally scheduled for later in the week, but my farrier had a last-minute opportunity to take a trip to Norway so she asked to reschedule.
She's happy with how his feet are doing and said he's got good sole depth, which I noticed as he hasn't been ouchy whenever we've gone for a walk down the road. First time in a while that I haven't had to baby my horse when walking across gravel! It also hopefully means I can keep him barefoot for a long time to come.
I finagled someone to help me with my ride I tacked up right after Stitch's trim. It was early on a brisk morning and Stitch was being a little restless in the barn, so I wasn't sure if that was going to affect him in the arena. I did a minute or two of hand-walking just to be safe before hopping on.
His first step was sketchy - it felt like his butt got high for one step, so I quickly grabbed the neck strap just in case, but my assistant kept walking and that was the only blip. Not sure what it was.
I had her lead us around one circle each way before unclipping the lead.
Stitch was much more forward than the previous day, with fewer sticky moments. His sticky spot changed to near the gate though.
We did a bit more steering than the previous day and was mostly able to stay on my chosen path - I'm not going to call it a circle by any means.
Before hopping off we did a couple of short walk/halt/walk transitions, which he did promptly from light leg/seat aids and my voice. His brakes are fabulous.
It was still just a 10 minute ride. The plan will be to walk a little further around the arena on the next ride, and maybe introduce the trot on the lunge if everything feels good.
A very boring video - don't feel bad about fast forwarding or watching only a few seconds!
I know there was a reason that I felt the need to inimediately ensure that I had at least a basic wardrobe to fit Stitch when I brought him home.
We had a full day of slushy rain last week and about 30 hours straight of rain this week. The good news is that this should significantly lessen the wildfire risk in the area for atleast a little while. I saw some scorched earth along the highway to the barn this weekend so concerns have been mounting.
Soaked at the 24 hour mark.
Stitch is still in the gangly young horse stage of having more leg than body. He's narrow with no boobs or ass - Kim Kardashian, he is not.
I don't want to spend a bunch of money on blankets that will only fit for a year (actually, I want to spend the money, but for once in my life have decided to be financially responsible). I suspect that in a couple of years he will fill out and will fit into my very extensive collection of 75" attire that I've acquired for three consecutive horses. I just need the basics until then.
The smallest thing I own is a 76" Century rainsheet. Cisco only wore it a couple of times - it was a bit snug on him so it became a backup that I never needed.
On Stitch, it was fine lengthwise when snugged up in front. But his lack of cleavage meant that the buckles sat a bit low. Also, the stomach straps were miles too long. They were knotted to shorten them from Cisco wearing it, not a chance that it would fit Stitch.
So, I did some repairs. Not sure if I mentioned this on the blog previously, but last fall I convinced my mom that we should get a heavy-duty industrial sewing machine. This thing powers through 6 layers of webbing like it's butter. I've been doing repairs for myself and some barn-mates all winter. I love it.
The beast weighs something like 70 lbs by itself - it's staying at my mom's house.
Originally, I planned to do the strap/d-ring thing like Schneider's blankets have along the neck to be able to make it smaller. A Google search suggested a different idea of just pinching the webbing at the neckline and stitching there. This creates a dart, doesn't stitch through any fabric other than the webbing, and would be easy to remove once the horse fills out.
Just a little dart did the trick.
The stomach straps - well, they were really long. It took me three attempts to get them the right length. Should have used a measuring tape in the beginning, I guess. First, I cut 6" off them. They were still way too long. Next I folded up about 10" and stitched that above the slider. Still long. The final version involved folding the previously folded part up against the blanket, and stitching through the 5 layers of webbing. That was finally the right length, and when he chunks up I will be able to pull the stitches out and expand the straps.
That's 5 layers of webbing on two straps, and 6 layers on the back strap where the leg-strap d-ring is attached. Your home sewing machine won't manage that!
Since the plan is to hop on Stitch a few times in the fall and then let him grow until spring, he's not going to be working over the winter, which means he won't need to be clipped, and won't need to be blanketed except in extreme weather, which, realistically, will be more for me than for him. Thus, his basic wardrobe will consist of his rainsheet for the crappy summer days, his new Champion 100g blanket for the cool and wet days, and I'll add a layer to that with a vintage 1990's BMB stable blanket that fits him well enough when we get the -40's that we get every year.
This was originally Farly's, who wore it for many winters but was super easy on his blankets so it's still in great shape.
He's set, right? Lots of horses live perfectly happy all year round without blankets. I can have a naked horse in the winter for the first time in 30 years and that won't make me a terrible horse mom, right? Right?
I was scheduled to teach a lesson on Sunday morning. Alas, the storm that merely threatened in my area of the city overnight apparently hit full force at the barn. They had pouring rain for at least two hours, leaving everything very soggy in the morning.
Phantom has been using mud-based hair styling products again.
No worries. I was up and ready to go so I went out early anyways. I mean, I was already in the car when I found out, but was still in the garage, so there wasn't much point in heading back into the house (although I was tempted for a moment).
Since the road wasn't going to be dusty, I decided that I would put Cisco back out with Phantom and his recently returned from summer camp BFF Pete. He'd have a couple of hours to socialize and move around a bit more than he will in the individual paddock he's been in for a few weeks.
It all started well. Cisco and Pete immediately sniffed each other with no squeals or strikes, and Phantom emitted huge fuck off vibes so Cisco smartly stayed out of her bubble.
They had gone down to the far end to look for the few blades of grass that might have been previously missed. Cisco was trying really hard to encourage one of the others to play with him, but not being overly rude about it.
Phantom got down to have a roll, and I got the video ready thinking that when she got up she would take off and hijinks would ensue. Wrong. She got up, shook herself off, and went back to searching for that elusive blade of grass.
They were being boring so I was just about to leave the gate and head back to the barn to find something to keep me occupied for a couple of hours when somebody made a break for it and they all galloped towards me. There was some leaping around, mostly by Cisco, and then I don't know if Cisco got a bit possessive of Phantom, but he kicked out at Pete - and one hind leg went right through the fence, and got stuck on the other side.
Just the good bit in slo-mo.
I was still at the gate and realized right away that he was stuck. Thankfully, Cisco also realized right away that he was stuck, and he stood perfectly still and waited for a responsible adult to help him out.
The bar that he got his leg over was pretty well at the same height as the front of his leg extended behind him. His leg was in a flexed position, so the bar was resting on the flexed front of his hock.
Think this, but the bar was higher, more level with the bottom of his stomach, so the leg was flexed more and higher. (Hind legs at odd angles are really hard to draw.)
I tried to grab him by his hoof and lift the leg up, but that did absolutely nothing. I had yelled "help" a few times as I knew there were a couple of people around, but no one came running. I frantically called the BO's SO, who I had chatted with a few minutes earlier, and told him my horse was stuck on the fence. He had just gotten to the gate when Cisco shuffled his front legs just a bit which put him at a different angle to the fence, and his leg mostly slipped free, with just a bit of assistance needed from me to get the rest of his hoof clear. Phew.
He was probably only stuck for 2-3 minutes, and thank God, he barely moved. I was behind him, and he knew I was there, but I'm honestly surprised that he didn't try harder to escape, although I'm not complaining! In the video you can hear me saying "stay there, stay there" to him as I was running towards him, and had a moment of panic wondering if me running at him would cause him to panic. That might be something useful to teach your horse - not to run away if you run at them!
Poor Cisco was a bit shaken up by this. He wouldn't let me catch him right away, though I had him within a minute or so. We went into the barn, he had some bute, and I hosed off the leg. The scrapes all seem to be superficial, so I'm not too worried about them. I'm much more concerned that something will have happened to his stifle, not that there is currently any evidence of it. He was maybe a bit off at the trot within about 15 minutes of the incident, but I was trotting in hand and trying to evaluate, so I'm not quite sure.
Hosed off and waiting to dry.
Emma - this coating of Blu-Kote is for you!
I won't be surprised if his leg blows up by the morning. One of the ladies who rides with me is going to have a look at him in the AM and give him some bute if it got big or seems sore, and I'll be out in the evening after work, armed with wraps and maybe ice packs. Fingers crossed that he won't be worse than a bit stiff for a few days.
