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Alicia's Jem

5K views 49 replies 14 participants last post by  Roadyy 
#1 ·
I'm still new here and finally got my pasture fixed enough to bring my daughter's horse to our property. She is in bad shape as by my standards of a horse's health and hope to get as much help and advice to get her back to a much healthier state.
Here are some pics I had my daughter send me today since it is usually dark by the time I get home.
First of her full cover then some of her hooves, which the farrier is coming at 8:30 am tomorrow to do an initial trimming. This is his first time seeing this horse, but says he has 20 years experience in the farrier craft...






Now onto the hooves...



I look forward to any and all advice... I have her a roll of Premium Coastal hay in the pasture and have been feeding her 1 qt of plain whole oats twice a day. She is 13 years old by what I'm told.

Thanks in advance...
On another note I wrote down the list from the vet kit thread and starting to build up that kit for the barn aswell.
 
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#30 ·
I guess my daughter has found other things to do rather than keep up with this thread..Sorry

Here is a pic of Jems from Saturday afternoon to show how much she has improved since the beginning of this thread.. She isn't where she needs to be yet, but you can get an idea of the difference.




I had my daughter working her under saddle and she did great with very few twitches as we tightened the girth after each couple of walks in a 50' circle.
I'll get a good pic of her and the paint(Little Man) this evening to show them without saddles to show their progress better.
 
#32 ·
Thanks. I knew this was going to be a slow process and the fact that I can't count her ribs anymore at this point is very satisfying. I am looking forward to getting them both ready for some good workouts.

I had my wife pick up some marker flags yesterday while she was in town. Going to start setting up the round pen this week. I need to measure the smaller of the two pastures to see how big I can make it across and then figure out how much more lumber I am going to need. I think I can easily build a 60'er at the top of the smaller pasture, but concerned of it being too close to barn, so I'll see what comes of it this evening.
 
#36 ·
Thanks. We are trying to keep it a slow steady build up as to not kill her with love from feeding her too much.
Her feeding has progressed from 2 qt soaked plain whole oats morning and night, a month, ago to presently getting 1 qt soaked oats, 2 qt Seminole senior feed in the morning and 2 qt of Seminole Sr feed at night...Not to mention the Coastal/orchard hay roll available 24/7.
I'm hoping that she will be at the correct weight by the time the round pen is built so I can start working her in there a good bit.
I've got a local trainer coming out this evening to look over all 4 of them to see what ideas she can throw my way. This will also give me an idea of how I feel about her training skills. She may be able to train me to train them.
 
#37 ·
I almost forgot to add that her and the paint gelding that came from the same place are both getting Cool Calories 100 in with their feeding to help with their weight gain.

Product Chemical compound


My next question is what can I do to help build their muscle tone? What exercises and stretching do I need to focus on?
I have a trainer coming this evening to give some ideas with other things and will ask her about this as well, but thought I'd get some other opinions too.
 
#39 ·
Went very well. I made a deal with her to come out for 4 more sessions to start out so I could see if it is consistent. Tomorrow will be her first real work day with Boo on building his trust with her and try to get him to give up his feet so I can get the farrier out.
She found bumps on his hip that I didn't see that she said feels like it was broke at one time, albeit there is no soreness in it. While lunging him she was looking for soreness or tenderness in his step, but found no signs. For some reason he would side step towards her every time she tried to lunge him to his left eye. Lunged great to his right. He never did that the times I lunged him. Every time she would go to step away from him to try to lunge him to the left he would instantly start side stepping with her. The if she tried to step down his side to tap him on the rump to get him going he would back with every step she made. It was almost comical to watch. She said whoever did teach him that did a good job and Boo was doing it great, but it wasn't what she was wanting.,..
She also said with the way he shifted his front from side to side as she would try to get into position would make him a great cutter.

She has several dead broke horses and we are going to talk about her working with my 12 yr old daughter on riding lessons with her horses while we finish my horses. This way we aren't put green on green to get black and blue. Amber can learn how to ride on a known safe horse to learn so she can be prepared for these when they are ready.
 
#40 ·
Guess I should add that she also got him to open his mouth enough to get a look at his teeth. His canines are sharp and needing to be cut and the rest floated as they are getting sharp. I guess this explains a lot about why he fights taking a bit and is always the last one done eating.
 
#41 ·
Had Jems' hooves done this morning and he said they are close to being back to normal. One more trim should have her where she should be. He did Sugar and Little Man's hooves too, but we still working on Boo to let us pick his feet up so he got skipped today. He will be back out for a regular visit in 6 weeks, but will stop back by when I call about Boo being cooperative and trusting having his feet picked up. I'm at work so I didn't get pics. The wife said they all did great and were perfectly mannered during this visit.
 
#44 ·
Thought I would post another couple of updated pics of her just for reference.

Horse Mammal Vertebrate Sorrel Mane


Mammal Vertebrate Horse Mane Mare


I'm going to start doing some ground work with her as soon as the weather gets decent again. She is good with being saddled and walking around, but as soon as you try to put weight on her back she is ready for flight. I've checked over her really good and its not from soreness, pain or tenderness.
 
#47 ·
Got some ground work in with her last evening. Spent a while working on leading and stopping and it didn't take long til she was doing it like she knew it all her life. We were both getting bored so out came the lunge line. Took her a couple of rotations to get the idea and then it was smooth sailing. Worked her for about 10 minutes each direction until she showed some relaxation and picking up on my cues.

I am trying to convince myself to spend the time to transform her into a riding horse instead of a broodmare or pasture pet. Oh and no good post every lasted without pics right?
Horse Pasture Ranch Land lot Mare


Horse Mammal Vertebrate Pasture Mare


Horse Pasture Mare Stallion Ranch
 
#49 ·
Shes puggy..lol Her veins were definitely popping all along her body after the work out, but got back to normal after I walked her along the perimeter of the pasture to cool her down.

Even though she is atop the ruling throne, she has never been one to come to me or invade my space. I figure a man abused her at some point because she is fine with the females of my home. She actually followed me all over the pasture even after I removed the lunge line. I stopped a couple of times and she stopped about 3 steps behind me then started again once I took my first step. It wasn't until I went through the barn that she finally veered off and went about her own business.
 
#50 ·
Forgot to mention that I also worked on her about taking a bit. While leading her around by the lead rope, not the lunge line, I stopped and started rubbing it against her lips softly. When I got no fuss from her about it then I fingered her mouth and gently slid the lead rope in to where a bit would be. She began trying to push it out with her tongue, but did not throw her head around. I would slowly remove it from her mouth and then gently work it back in again. Did this about 10 or 15 times without a single head throw from her and called it a night.

We are suppose to be getting a good rain this evening so I'll just doctor Boo's leg and pack more triple antibiotic/ athlete's foot cream in Trusty's hooves this evening after feeding. Then may work on her taking an actual bridle and bit tomorrow if the weather permits. I'll try to get DW to bring the camera out to get photos of the process with Jems.
 
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