I had a dream about my Izzy pony this morning and when I woke up, I'm glad it is not true.
I dreamt that I had sold her, she was at the old barn and she looked like shit. I had gone to see her, she was in her stall and there was a woman trying to get her to come up to her so she could pet Izzy, but Izzy was having none of it and stood at the back of the stall. When I came to the gate and said her name, it all changed. Her eyes and ears perked up and she literally ran across the corral to me.
I went in to show Izzy some lovin' and she was all over me to get it. Her sides were all sunk in, her topline was too from muscle atrophy showing lack of care and use. There were long scabs of missing hair along both sides of her back and hind end.
Of course when confronted, the new owner was not interested in selling her back. They were not interested in hearing how to fix anything or how to get Izzy back to looking like she should. She even showed me the papers on Izzy and told me it was a signed and legal "Done Deal" and that I needed to get "Get over it." But they were interested in going back and signing a First Right of Refusal. In case anything ever happened to the owner, I would get Izzy back so that nothing bad would happen to her......
That's when my alarm clock decided to go off. Because I had set it early 3 days ago and forgot to change it. I'm glad the dream is not true. I'm definitely Not glad that Izzy is still gone, but I know that she never fell into the wrong hands and for that I am forever grateful.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Saturday, August 4, 2018
My thoughts on WD
Upon hearing about the Western Dressage show, I had decided to give it a shot and we would see where it went from there. Upon getting to the show and warming up, I had thought of something a friend of mine had said about doing eventing with Izzy. I also wanted to have Izzy trained to drive, I've really taken to dressage since showing her and thought- between CDE's, dressage, western dressage and eventing- it looks like the sandbox is going to be a way of life for us. 😁
I had found another dressage show to go to at the end of July but obviously now, with no pony that isn't going to work. I had planned on doing Intro 1 & 2 as well as doing Western Intro 1 & 2 and giving it another shot, but my honest opinion of WD? Well it's certainly different.
Western Dressage has been the topic of discussion many times over the past few weeks between me and my friends. One of them has a deeper rooted understanding of dressage and I'm kind of in the middle of the road. I'm always looking to improve, but I'm also trying to decide if we were going down this road and still forming my opinion of the concept in it's entirety.
From what I have seen and experienced at the show and thru our discussions, it appears that WD was created from people who didn't care for the way WP is going within their respective breeds. While WD is looking for more fluid and proper movement in the horse, it still carries with it some of the WP tendancies many of us would like to get away from, while creating a few more atrocities of its own.
I had gotten some insight about the judge being a very good one. "She's fair." Well I hope so because I really like that in a judge! The judges are really in a tough spot because not everyone is going to like their style of judging. Some are tough as nails and if you get good marks, it is because you worked for it and definitely earned them. Others are quite generous, not wanting to hurt anyones feelings. In a way I prefer the tougher judges. The generous judge seems like it's one of those where everyone gets a trophy at the end. Do we really learn from being babied?
Before sending in my entries, I needed to look at the tests so I could choose which of them I would be riding. In Intro and even some of the more advanced levels, everyone was allowed to post the trot. What? In Western Pleasure it is called the jog and you aren't supposed to be posting. WD ... incorporates western heritage and tradition... according to their website. Going back to heritage and tradition then, a true cowboys horse has a comfortable, ground covering jog that's easy to sit. No reason to be posting and in the upper levels of Dressage- they don't post the trot, they Sit the trot, even the extended or lengthened trot.
My biggest greif with Test 1 was obviously having the whistle bown at us. I was not happy about it, but I was glad she gave me the chance to correct things and go on, rather than DQ us and send us out of the arena. Kudos for that. Izzy was a little stiff, braced, fast at times and not paying attention to me at others. First class in a new arena so a total Baby Horse issue. NBD, right? What has mme a little confused s that we didn't get the comments of rushing and quick until Test 2 when she actually wasn't.
Another topic of discussion about WD was the idea that the use of 2 hands is allowed, even when using a curb bit. For Dressage this makes sense in the fact that you're using a double bridle and have the bradoon, typically being a snaffle, where using one rein or the other makes sense since it works on either side of the mouth independently. With a curb bit being one solid piece, pulling on one rein is like pulling on them both. There is no pulling 'left' or 'right', just pulling back and engaging the curb chain or strap.
On our one circle, the judge noted my reins were too long and when cueing my pony, my hands were in my lap. My reins were not exactly long, but when Izzy relaxed and was moving in self carriage, nice and round like she should, I dropped my hands and let her go. As long as she held it, I left her alone. If she started to lose it, I would correct her, get her back where she belongs and leave her alone again. Apparently this judge was not a fan.
My Dressage friend completely understands what was going on and since she knows how I ride and Why I do some of the things I do, her comment was, "The judge doesn't like your style of riding." At the moment, I didn't really think about my "style" of riding. This is still something I'm trying to figure out, so when I do, I'm sure it will be another post.
I had found another dressage show to go to at the end of July but obviously now, with no pony that isn't going to work. I had planned on doing Intro 1 & 2 as well as doing Western Intro 1 & 2 and giving it another shot, but my honest opinion of WD? Well it's certainly different.
Western Dressage has been the topic of discussion many times over the past few weeks between me and my friends. One of them has a deeper rooted understanding of dressage and I'm kind of in the middle of the road. I'm always looking to improve, but I'm also trying to decide if we were going down this road and still forming my opinion of the concept in it's entirety.
From what I have seen and experienced at the show and thru our discussions, it appears that WD was created from people who didn't care for the way WP is going within their respective breeds. While WD is looking for more fluid and proper movement in the horse, it still carries with it some of the WP tendancies many of us would like to get away from, while creating a few more atrocities of its own.
I had gotten some insight about the judge being a very good one. "She's fair." Well I hope so because I really like that in a judge! The judges are really in a tough spot because not everyone is going to like their style of judging. Some are tough as nails and if you get good marks, it is because you worked for it and definitely earned them. Others are quite generous, not wanting to hurt anyones feelings. In a way I prefer the tougher judges. The generous judge seems like it's one of those where everyone gets a trophy at the end. Do we really learn from being babied?
Before sending in my entries, I needed to look at the tests so I could choose which of them I would be riding. In Intro and even some of the more advanced levels, everyone was allowed to post the trot. What? In Western Pleasure it is called the jog and you aren't supposed to be posting. WD ... incorporates western heritage and tradition... according to their website. Going back to heritage and tradition then, a true cowboys horse has a comfortable, ground covering jog that's easy to sit. No reason to be posting and in the upper levels of Dressage- they don't post the trot, they Sit the trot, even the extended or lengthened trot.
My biggest greif with Test 1 was obviously having the whistle bown at us. I was not happy about it, but I was glad she gave me the chance to correct things and go on, rather than DQ us and send us out of the arena. Kudos for that. Izzy was a little stiff, braced, fast at times and not paying attention to me at others. First class in a new arena so a total Baby Horse issue. NBD, right? What has mme a little confused s that we didn't get the comments of rushing and quick until Test 2 when she actually wasn't.
Another topic of discussion about WD was the idea that the use of 2 hands is allowed, even when using a curb bit. For Dressage this makes sense in the fact that you're using a double bridle and have the bradoon, typically being a snaffle, where using one rein or the other makes sense since it works on either side of the mouth independently. With a curb bit being one solid piece, pulling on one rein is like pulling on them both. There is no pulling 'left' or 'right', just pulling back and engaging the curb chain or strap.
On our one circle, the judge noted my reins were too long and when cueing my pony, my hands were in my lap. My reins were not exactly long, but when Izzy relaxed and was moving in self carriage, nice and round like she should, I dropped my hands and let her go. As long as she held it, I left her alone. If she started to lose it, I would correct her, get her back where she belongs and leave her alone again. Apparently this judge was not a fan.
Western Pleasure, the judges want to see the horse working on a loose rein. My take away on Western Dressage is that they don't care for or want to see a loose rein. Just about every rider at every level that I got to watch, had contact thru the reins. Another thing I noticed was everyone's hands being on or close to the withers.
My Dressage friend completely understands what was going on and since she knows how I ride and Why I do some of the things I do, her comment was, "The judge doesn't like your style of riding." At the moment, I didn't really think about my "style" of riding. This is still something I'm trying to figure out, so when I do, I'm sure it will be another post.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
A life too short
It is with deep sadness that I write this post. Two weeks ago on July 11th I had to put Miss Izzy down.
The end of June was her first two weekend, back to back shows. Because she's a young horse, she had some well deserved time off. She had done her best and I was and still am, quite pleased with Izzy's performance.
When I turned her out on Tuesday night, She had gone directly to the water trough. When her other two friends came out and went to the trough, she went over to a different part of the pasture and started to eat the dirt. She was crunching at it as if eating ice. I thought it as a bit strange and figured tomorrow I would get some of her manure and test her for sand in the gut. To do this, you put some of the manure in a bucket of water. The manure will break up and part of it will float, but if there is any sand, it will sink to the bottom. When you pour the water out, you will have your answer.
The next day she was seen laying down out in the pasture. It was strange for her so I borrowed some medication, injectible, from my friend and gave her a good dose to make her comfortable. It seemed to help and things settled down for a while. Later she was standing by the water trough drinking and splashing in the water incessantly. Her breathing was rapid as if she had been running and she was sweating. I brought her up front and rinsed her off to cool her down and clean the dirt off her, then moved her to the round pen where she could be watched more closely.
Izzy seemed to relax some but she laid down again and although she wasn't rolling and thrashing at first, she started to so she was made to get up. Things started to really go downhill. As she tried to stand, she was a little wobbly on her legs and went back down. She tried to stand again and this time couldn't straighten her front left leg. She stayed on her knees for a few moments until she could finally straighten the leg and stand up.
A call was made to the vet and it was decided to take her in. The trailer was hitched, she was loaded and away we go. Before leaving, she was given another dose of medication, IV this time. Stopping for gas, I checked on her and there was a trickle of blood from her neck where the needle had gone in. She looked ok otherwise, a little sweaty and still a bit stressed as if asking what was happening.
When we arrived at the vet clinic things weren't any better. After unloading her and trying to take her inside, it was as if now Izzy couldn't bend her front legs. She was walking very strangely and the vets seemed to think it was a reaction to the medication.
Inside the clinic she was loaded into the stocks to be assessed. She had blood drawn, temperature taken (normal), heart rate (a bit fast), gut sounds? (none), palpated from behind- lots of manure coming out although she hadn't pooped in a while and a tube went up the nose into the stomach to drain things. There was a bucket and half of water that came out. The skin pinch test showed she was also dehydrated and her gums were pink with good capillary refill.
The initial blood tests came back and the numbers for what is normal being 2, Izzy was at 17.5 which indicated she had likely twisted her intestine somewhere. They tapped the stomach and at first couldn't get anything so they used a longer needle. When they finally got a few drops, enough to test, her results? The test goes up to 20, but Izzy's numbers didn't even register. It kept coming back as Error. She was off the charts.
Surgery was the only answer and after some serious consideration on my part, I decided to go ahead with it to a degree. I was hesitant to do it and when they checked her gums again and ran another test, the outlook was turning grim. Her gums had gotten a darker pink and the tests showed her kidneys were starting to fail. IF she made it thru surgery, recovery would be more difficult and drawn out.
The cost of surgery- by the time she walked out the door it would easily be in the $8k-$10k range. Once a horse colics, they are prone to doing it again in the next 60-90 days. Due to the meds, they are also prone to ulcers which are also not cheap to treat. With all things considered, the only option- and the best one for Izzy, was to put her down and end her suffering.
You could see it in her eyes that she was hurting and confused. They gave me some time alone with her and I held her head, braided part of her thick mane and told her everything would soon be okay. She wouldn't be hurting anymore, she would simply lay down on the grass and go to sleep. She would be in Heaven soon where there are a lot of great horses and an endless supply of treats. I told her how much I loved her and that I promise to never, ever forget her.
I have tons of photos of her and I'm looking forward to putting them all together in a book. The book of Izzy the Wonder Pony. She was a great pony with a lot of heart and would always try her best. She was very much loved and quite fortunate. Izzy never fell into the wrong hands, never had a bad day and was always waiting there at the gate for me with a whinny as if to ask "What are we doing today?" I was lucky to have had her for the best year of our lives. She went out on top and truly lived the life of a spoiled Princess pony.
RIP my beautiful girl 💖 💕
The end of June was her first two weekend, back to back shows. Because she's a young horse, she had some well deserved time off. She had done her best and I was and still am, quite pleased with Izzy's performance.
When I turned her out on Tuesday night, She had gone directly to the water trough. When her other two friends came out and went to the trough, she went over to a different part of the pasture and started to eat the dirt. She was crunching at it as if eating ice. I thought it as a bit strange and figured tomorrow I would get some of her manure and test her for sand in the gut. To do this, you put some of the manure in a bucket of water. The manure will break up and part of it will float, but if there is any sand, it will sink to the bottom. When you pour the water out, you will have your answer.
The next day she was seen laying down out in the pasture. It was strange for her so I borrowed some medication, injectible, from my friend and gave her a good dose to make her comfortable. It seemed to help and things settled down for a while. Later she was standing by the water trough drinking and splashing in the water incessantly. Her breathing was rapid as if she had been running and she was sweating. I brought her up front and rinsed her off to cool her down and clean the dirt off her, then moved her to the round pen where she could be watched more closely.
Izzy seemed to relax some but she laid down again and although she wasn't rolling and thrashing at first, she started to so she was made to get up. Things started to really go downhill. As she tried to stand, she was a little wobbly on her legs and went back down. She tried to stand again and this time couldn't straighten her front left leg. She stayed on her knees for a few moments until she could finally straighten the leg and stand up.
A call was made to the vet and it was decided to take her in. The trailer was hitched, she was loaded and away we go. Before leaving, she was given another dose of medication, IV this time. Stopping for gas, I checked on her and there was a trickle of blood from her neck where the needle had gone in. She looked ok otherwise, a little sweaty and still a bit stressed as if asking what was happening.
When we arrived at the vet clinic things weren't any better. After unloading her and trying to take her inside, it was as if now Izzy couldn't bend her front legs. She was walking very strangely and the vets seemed to think it was a reaction to the medication.
Inside the clinic she was loaded into the stocks to be assessed. She had blood drawn, temperature taken (normal), heart rate (a bit fast), gut sounds? (none), palpated from behind- lots of manure coming out although she hadn't pooped in a while and a tube went up the nose into the stomach to drain things. There was a bucket and half of water that came out. The skin pinch test showed she was also dehydrated and her gums were pink with good capillary refill.
The initial blood tests came back and the numbers for what is normal being 2, Izzy was at 17.5 which indicated she had likely twisted her intestine somewhere. They tapped the stomach and at first couldn't get anything so they used a longer needle. When they finally got a few drops, enough to test, her results? The test goes up to 20, but Izzy's numbers didn't even register. It kept coming back as Error. She was off the charts.
Surgery was the only answer and after some serious consideration on my part, I decided to go ahead with it to a degree. I was hesitant to do it and when they checked her gums again and ran another test, the outlook was turning grim. Her gums had gotten a darker pink and the tests showed her kidneys were starting to fail. IF she made it thru surgery, recovery would be more difficult and drawn out.
The cost of surgery- by the time she walked out the door it would easily be in the $8k-$10k range. Once a horse colics, they are prone to doing it again in the next 60-90 days. Due to the meds, they are also prone to ulcers which are also not cheap to treat. With all things considered, the only option- and the best one for Izzy, was to put her down and end her suffering.
You could see it in her eyes that she was hurting and confused. They gave me some time alone with her and I held her head, braided part of her thick mane and told her everything would soon be okay. She wouldn't be hurting anymore, she would simply lay down on the grass and go to sleep. She would be in Heaven soon where there are a lot of great horses and an endless supply of treats. I told her how much I loved her and that I promise to never, ever forget her.
I have tons of photos of her and I'm looking forward to putting them all together in a book. The book of Izzy the Wonder Pony. She was a great pony with a lot of heart and would always try her best. She was very much loved and quite fortunate. Izzy never fell into the wrong hands, never had a bad day and was always waiting there at the gate for me with a whinny as if to ask "What are we doing today?" I was lucky to have had her for the best year of our lives. She went out on top and truly lived the life of a spoiled Princess pony.
RIP my beautiful girl 💖 💕
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Hella scores- Intro 2
Our first test was interesting because Izzy was rushing thu part of it, a bit nervous and excited to be in a new arena. She had a bit of a tough time focusing. Baby horse things so no big deal. The second test went a bit better, I used a caller to keep from having the judge blowing her whistle and screwing us up. I also had taken the chance during a short break to ride Izzy around the outside of the ring so she could see things and help her realize there was nothing to get excited about to help her focus.
Again she liked our halt and this time at least added that we needed a better bend in the corners, but I would have liked to see a comment of some sort with the score of 7 to know what she ws thinking was so nice about our circle. I'm also wondering what our score might have been if Izzy had stopped more square and we had stood for the exact 4 seconds.
We did wander a bit and our halt probably could have been more squarem but I'm okay with the score.
Again no comments on the Collectives which I would have liked, but what do you do at this point? lol At least she scored us higher where it counted and it was worth double points, again she liked Izzy and thinks we made a good pair. I'm happy with that. Monday, July 16, 2018
Hella scores- Intro 1
Izzy's person here- For our first attempt at Western Dressage, we did okay, but we also nailed down some really good scores too. We did two tests- Intro 1 and Into 2. One of the most memorable is on our first test at the very end. Working walk from X to G, halt and salute. We scored an 8 y'all! An 8!!
If that wasn't good enough, the scribe was using a black pen with the judge signing everything in blue. Comments all the way down the page were in black ink except for the last one.
Do you see that? So very awesome sauce!
Izzy has always had an awesome stop. I taught her early on to feel for my change in position- I would take my legs off her sides and slightly push back, sitting a little deeper before asking for a stop. It didn't take her long to figure it out. I shifted my weight a little and Izzy would shut it down. I didn't have to say a word. What I did say was what a good girl she was as I scratched her neck.
Test 1-
We also received a 7 for our Develop working walk. No comments though so no idea what was so good about it.
If that wasn't good enough, the scribe was using a black pen with the judge signing everything in blue. Comments all the way down the page were in black ink except for the last one.
Do you see that? So very awesome sauce!
Izzy has always had an awesome stop. I taught her early on to feel for my change in position- I would take my legs off her sides and slightly push back, sitting a little deeper before asking for a stop. It didn't take her long to figure it out. I shifted my weight a little and Izzy would shut it down. I didn't have to say a word. What I did say was what a good girl she was as I scratched her neck.
Test 1-
We also received a 7 for our Develop working walk. No comments though so no idea what was so good about it.
The 2 scores of 6.5, were decent, but what about the comments? Is the More Bend mean we need it or we had more of it than necessary? Inquiring minds want to know.
The two Errors on the test- I do not agree with. I could swear I was doing the test as it is laid out, yet the judge blew the whistle at us twice and had us repeat what we had just done. It was truly a WTF moment.
Our Collective remarks were pretty impressive with the exception of the 2 errors pinned on me in our WTF moments. Yes Izzy needed a refresher on what the cues were for a free walk. When she's on her game with the free walk- she has a lovely fluidity about her and her overstep is quite substantial. The judge did seem to like Izzy and how could any owner, rider or trainer not appreciate that?
Friday, July 13, 2018
Western dressage
There's this new thing that seems like everyone is doing. Western Dressage. My person found us a show the weekend following the last show and we gave it a shot. I liked this one so much better.
My person knows how to pack for a show. Look at my hay net! I'm Rocking that Sexy Round look in this shot too. Woot! Woot!
We had to remove the leg wraps before our tests. They are allowed only in colors to match the horses coat and not be distracting. No boots of any kind- No bell boots or SMB's.
My bosal is hanging on the saddle horn. We were the only horse showing without a bit. were were also number 13 which turned out not to be unlucky for us. We rocked some hella scores for the day!
I'm watching you. Don't think you're taking MY hay or taking me away from it! Hahahahaha
I look good from all angles. My person is really proud of me.
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Pool noodles and hula hoops
My person managed to get a few pics of the obstacles 1st the show.
In the foreground is the Ball Slide. We had to get close enough the rider could roll the ball down the slide.
The blue barrels to the left is a Push Cart. The horse was supposed to push this with their body. For us this didn't happen.
Above/behind the push cart you can see the jumps. We did these fine by the end of the day.
To the right of the jumps, you can see the Cowboy Curtain- a gate with strips of garden hose hanging down from the top rail.
To the left of the Ball Slide was the hoops. Four (4) simple black hoops to jog or trot thru. This was just not happening for us. I'm sure they were going to snap shut on my legs or something. They were not to be trusted.
Off to the right is the water box. We didn't have to do that, but we did go past it as part of our course. That was close enough for me.
In the foreground is the Ball Slide. We had to get close enough the rider could roll the ball down the slide.
The blue barrels to the left is a Push Cart. The horse was supposed to push this with their body. For us this didn't happen.
Above/behind the push cart you can see the jumps. We did these fine by the end of the day.
To the right of the jumps, you can see the Cowboy Curtain- a gate with strips of garden hose hanging down from the top rail.
To the left of the Ball Slide was the hoops. Four (4) simple black hoops to jog or trot thru. This was just not happening for us. I'm sure they were going to snap shut on my legs or something. They were not to be trusted.
Off to the right is the water box. We didn't have to do that, but we did go past it as part of our course. That was close enough for me.
At the far end of the arena, under the overhead stand, you can see the Tunnel (of death!) We did eventually get thru this. I didn't even die! Win
To the left of the Tunnel (of death) there was a roping dummy that we eventually conquered. Ground poles to the left of that- we did those.
On the far left edge of the photo is part of the Noodle Platform. I wasn't going to do that one at all. No way, No how. I got close enough to sniff it. That had to be good enough.
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