Cute Pony

Ok, I have a question for you. I need something I can do to convince my parents that I need a pony. I really, really want this girl.

Not only is she adorable, but she's been on craigslist for a while so the owner is now offering her for care lease instead of the $700 she was asking so it may be that I can make payments on her or at least take her home and see if she works out.

Tell me that is not the cutest face you've ever seen?!

While there's not a whole lot I can do with a pony, I can tell you I would have a blast. I can show her in hand and pony her on the trails. I can use her for lessons - her owner says she's not great for young beginner children so I can just use her to teach kids to groom cause they can't reach Jazz's back and possibly with some work I can use her as a leadline.

She is 12 years old and 11.2hh. She is on the chunky side, but nothing some work and a grazing muzzle probably couldn't help. So, what do you think? What are the best, I need a pony arguments that you can think of?

My Picks: Fleece Pads

Based on previous posts, you may have noticed that I am a tack collecter. Others, specifically SprinklerBandit and Checkmark115 have labeled it as being a "tack whore" but I prefer the label, "tack connoisseur". But whatever you call it, I have an affinity for tack.

While I haven't gotten to the point of some horsey people that I know (whose tack rooms, trucks and houses are filled with tack) and I at least use every piece of tack that I have, I will admit that I have about twice as much tack as other horsey people I know. My only consolation is that a large percentage of my tack inventory is from tack sales, presents or items that were given to me so at least I'm not dishing out major bucks for my collection.

Because of this expansive collection I have decided to make a few reviews of different items that I own or have owned on the off chance that there are others out there like me who also love to collect tack or are shopping for a certain item and my reviews may be able to give some help. As a key $ = relatively inexpensive retail price while $$$$ = very, very spendy. So without further ado...

Fleece pads. They've become very popular in the past couple of years. I decided to get one because it would help provide some comfort to my horse's back because of my slightly rock hard english saddle until I could find a new one or get it reflocked.

My first purchase was a Roma Merino Sheepskin Half Pad ($). It probably would have sufficed had I not made a trip to my local tack store and curiously felt a Mattes half pad. There is no way that my half pad could every compare to the luxury that it Mattes. Compared to that, my pad was a pathetic excuse for a half pad. The wool was not thick enough to conform to the horse's back nor did it make a cushion that would allow the air to circulate. So my Roma half pad found a new home and I bought a Mattes Half Pad.

This is my Mattes pad ($$$). I LOVE it! It is super cushiony and it is now being used with my dressage saddle to fill in a little until Jetta fills back out in summer time and her back muscles continue to develop. I opted for the pad without the full rolled edge along the back because it was cheaper (because these pads are spendy) so I think if I had the money I would have bought one with the rolled edge, but it really hasn't made much of a difference.

 

Another pad that I have is the Equine Comfort Pad (ECP) ($$) that I with my jump saddle. It is also very nice, not quite as spectacular as my Mattes pad but it fits great with the saddle and gives plenty of cushion. I like the wither cutout as it provides some extra ventilation and pressure relief. This is why I like ebay :)

And the last brand is Fleeceworks ($$). I use this one as a show pad. This is also a great brand - thick fleece that is high quality and cushioning.

Overall my favorite is the Mattes pad, but I definitely wouldn't hesitate to buy a ECP or Fleeceworks pad. Because sheepskin is best used next to the horse's back, instead of on top of a pad, I would recommend getting a square or shaped pad with fleece on the bottom instead of a half pad, but for the most part, my half pad on top of the saddle pad works just fine. I haven't had a chance to get my hands on a Circuit pad, but from what I can tell they are still a high quality, yet much less expensive version of the Mattes pads. I do have a Circuit fleece girth, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of it. I would probably avoid the Roma half pads unless you are on a tight budget and only need a little bit of padding, but that's just my input.

100th Post

Wow, that was fast! I can't believe I've already posted 100 blog posts. Thank you, my 9 wonderful followers, and anyone else out there who has been reading. You make me feel like I'm not just babbling to myself!

Jetta also wants to thank you guys. Doesn't she look so grateful? Ok, well maybe it's only me, but I think it's cute :)

In other news, my brain has died and is refusing to help me finish my chem lab write ups so I am currently taking a break and watching the puissance competition of the USEF channel from last night. Holy cow. I can't ever imagine jumping that high.

Magic Circles

I betcha you didn't know how magical 20 m circles are, huh? They seem to work wonders on my horse. Rushing the canter? Circle. Leaning in or too slow of pace? Circle. Rushing before or after a fence? Circle.

It's magical! Jetta comes on the bit, I apply a little bit of inside leg and it keeps her from falling in and gives her the correct bend and she maintains the perfect speed.

We seem to have made great progress in our jumping these past two days! No rushing!!! Well ok, there was a little bit, but really she is doing so much better. I started out with three canter poles (her stride is 8'6" which seems a little longer than average to me) to warm up with then set the middle pole up to about 18". She was so, so good. I should've stopped after the first couple jumps because I think she started to get a little tired and rushed a tad bit in one direction. But still, what an improvement!

Today we just did canter poles because my body was very unhappy about the jumping from yesterday. My core and back muscles are out of shape :( She is still doing a ton better, but in one direction (the direction that leads back to the road) she seems to anticipate and speed up more. Not as bad as before. I'm tempted to do lots of canter poles in that direction to see if we can remedy is, but circling before and after in addition to the canter poles seems to have totally improved Jetta's jumping. I'm so excited :]

There's a jumping clinic coming up in two weekends that I'm considering going to, but we'll have to see how it all works out. That's the same weekend as the Horse Expo which I would like to go to. I found out that I didn't make it into the clinic which is a little disappointing, but in reality it's probably a good thing because then I'd have to prepare for the clinic and I'm drowning in homework right now. Jetta might not get ridden much in the next week unfortunately.

My Future Barn: Part 5

Ok, so you've seen all my dreams for what my barn will look like in the future, if I can ever afford it. But maybe I can make it my business like this facility is. I would love to do Equine Rehabilitation. I am still working on pre-vet, but I haven't really decided what I want to do as a vet. Do I want to be a general practicioner, specialize in just small animals and/or horses? Or do I want to be a nutritionist or a rehab vet? I'm not really sure yet, but I would love to be any of the above choices. Especially if I got the chance to work somewhere like this.



Oh my gosh, this is exactly like what I want!! Though this would be as a business, not solely as a private barn. I would love to work somewhere like this. I didn't realize how close I actually live to this place. I could go on a field trip! This is Pegasus, a rehab and training barn. Go check out their website, I guarantee it will make your jaw drop. Make sure you check out all their rehab equipment. On a side note, I found this place because this is where Denali (is, was, was going to be? can't remember...) staying. What a lucky pony, I want to live there and I'm not even a horse!

March Goals

It's already March! Let's see how we did on our February goals...

1) Well first, I would like to take one or two jumping lessons. I neeed jumping lessons! And Jetta does too. - FAIL, didn't make it to a lesson :(

2) More cantering! Let's make even better transitions from trot to canter and let's work on walk to canter transitions. Also, work for better, more prompt canter to trot transitions. - Much better transition from trot to canter. I didn't feel like we were ready to try walk to canter transitions, but we've nailed the halt to trot transition.

3) Continue work with shoulder-in and leg-yeild especially in the trot. - Kind of. Improving but still needs work.

4) Halting square (no more spraddle-legged halts!) - Accomplished! Much better square and prompt halts.

Ok, so for this next month, pretty much the same stuff:

1) Jumping lesson for real! I'm actually going to take one this month!

2) Fine tune trot to canter transitions, continue playing with halt to trot, and improve downward canter transitions.

3) Work on learning to ground drive/long line, possibly?

4) Leg yeild, shoulder-in, etc -- we really need to work on getting more respect for my leg. She's gotten a little too desensitized...

5) Play around with the intro and training level tests. Prepare for a dressage show ??

6) Do lots of grid work for jumping to work on not rushing the jumps. Use exercises from my new 101 Jumping Exercises!

"Corrective" Shoeing

  

I saw a horse today who's hooves looked like these. These aren't my pictures, they're from a farrier's website, but they really did look exactly like this. I felt really bad for him. He was a giant appy cross, so cute. They said that the farrier noticed that this horse had low heels so he needed corrective shoeing so that he wouldn't get navicular. Umm, whoa there. He doesn't have navicular? He has low heels? I've heard a couple people say that low heels can lead up to navicular, but most people (including vets) agree that it's the opposite that can predispose horses to laminitis. I mean for one, just look at all the barefoot horses that have "low heels," pretty sure they're doing fine. High heels and long toes will cause a horse to be more likely to get laminitis because it stresses the hooves/legs and decreases blood flow. "With poor hoof care (specifically high heels, overlaid bar, long toes or shoeing), the navicular bone becomes immobile which results in poor blood flow within the hoof." Which in turn can (though not always 100%) cause navicular because of the stress and poor blood flow around the navicular bone and the tendons that support it. This poor guy! I wanted to buy him and take his shoes off. It was obvious how unhealthy his hooves were, with the contracted heel, super soft soles and almost no frog to speak of. Which equals poor blood flow and will likely cause lameness issues in the future. Sad!

I guess I could understand if the horse was actually navicular and there was no one that was competent enough to do barefoot trimming or maybe it wasn't working but for that horse, but for a horse that isn't even navicular?!

This horse that I saw on craigslist looks almost exactly like him except his name was Oscar, not Midas, but they could be twins :) I want both of them! I just love spots and draft crosses. Well, make that I love pretty much anything with four hooves!