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Ana's thread - Adventures in Morgan Horse Ownership

220K views 3K replies 49 participants last post by  frlsgirl 
#1 · (Edited)
I thought I'd start a thread about little Ana. We've had her for 5 days now. I go see her every night after work to check on her.

She's quite the little busy body. I noticed that her halter is laying in the dirt every time I stop by. I hung it back up last night and stood there talking to the BO for a minute when I saw her pick it up and throw it back in the dirt. "So that's what's been happening to my halters" said the BO :lol:

She's very interested in people. When others show up to do whatever she runs up to the fence and tries to get their attention.

I snuck into her paddock last night to check her water and she came running out of her stall like a bat out of hell to say hello.

The BO really likes her "she's the most jovial horse I've ever met" he said. I would have to agree.
 
#4 ·
We tried out 3 saddles 2 girths and 1 saddle pad today. The saddle pad is definitely a big score - it fits her, it looks good on her and it provides some extra cushion.

The other stuff, not so much. The hunt saddle fits her but the girth doesn't, one of the dressage saddles doesn't fit at all, one kind of fits except the billet straps are too long or the dressage girth is too short.

I lunged her today for the first time. I wouldn't call it an epic fail but I wouldn't exactly call it a success either.

She was really spunky and would only trot, canter or stop. But it was super cold out today so it might be related to that. We had some trouble with the footing. There is just so much stuff around there so you have to find just the right area to exercise. I underestimated how much lunge line she would take up so we got a little close to the tennis court and tree stump but she's a smart girl and just knew to avoid them.

She was cute though when she stopped. I told her whoa and she didn't stop right away but continued for another circle and then came to a dead stop and looked at me at which point I slowly walked up to her, petted her, moved the lunge clip to and lunged her going the other direction. She acted pretty much the same way on the other side, hurried trot, spunky canter, hurried trot, dead stop.

Lessons learned today: overestimate the amount of space you need, figure out a way to maintain control of her gait. She seems to know the word "canter" but not "walk" and I'm getting a very delayed response on "whoa". Her default gait is trot.
 
#5 ·
Well we got a lot accomplished this weekend and it's only Saturday. We tried out and returned two trial saddles. We did some lunge work. We worked with the BO to get a tack area established and moved and organized all my horse supplies.

I visited her this morning and she's doing great. She had a few strands of straw stuck to the mane on her forehead giving her that fresh "rolled out of stall" look. Should have taken a picture - it was so cute.

Now more winter weather is coming our way so I won't get a chance to do much until it clears up.

I'm planning on riding her next weekend in the Pessoa I have on loan. That should give me enough time to get her girth exchanged and soften up the stirrup leathers.
 
#9 ·
Oh my gosh! I think your at my old barn! I use that term loosely since we left after a couple of weeks. I had to send my horse to a trainer, but we will be back. I love that place! Shady creek, right? The BO is the best and the boarders are all very nice!
Yes, we are at Shady Creek. We like it so far except the weather has been too crappy to do much. The BO is great - he's taking super great care of my little girl.
 
#10 ·
I can't wait for them to put in the arena! It's going to be fantastic. I had to take my horse to Saddleback for 30 days of training. She's a great horse, but has been in the pasture for over a year before I got her. Thinking of selling her and getting an easy going trail horse so I can board back at Shady Creek. Ditto that on the weather, it has been horrible!
 
#11 ·
I can't wait for them to put in the arena! It's going to be fantastic. I had to take my horse to Saddleback for 30 days of training. She's a great horse, but has been in the pasture for over a year before I got her. Thinking of selling her and getting an easy going trail horse so I can board back at Shady Creek. Ditto that on the weather, it has been horrible!
Ditto on the arena. Let me know how it goes at Saddleback; I've driven by there a 100 times but haven't ever used their services.
 
#12 ·
So I had planned on doing a bunch of stuff with Ana today but the weather just wouldn't cooperate.

So I just gave her a really good grooming and did some light ground work with her. Of course as soon as I turned her loose in her paddock she went and rolled in the dirt.

BO is in the middle of moving horses around so Ana got to run around on the big paddock for a little bit, and boy can that girl run - she had the best time. She kept trying to play with the horse in the neighboring paddock; it was really cute!

I worry that I won't get to work with her as much as I want to because of the weather and lack of arena, so I'm trying to come up with different things I can do with her. I figured that if I can at least groom her and do ground work with her on bad weather days and then always try to ride on good weather days - even if it's just trail riding around the property, that should be enough to keep her in ridable condition.
 
#13 ·
Had a super productive weekend working with Ana. Friday, I walked her through the scary pasture with all the strange horses and she did fine. I got her groomed and the girth fitted with the saddle and then walked her back without incident.

I rode her for the first time Saturday. It went really well. It was super windy and a really hyper horse was stalled within a few feet of our riding area - didn't bother Ana one bit.

After that we turned her out with the rest of the herd - no problem at all. She was more interested in finding the nearest hay bale. Some of the horses stared at her from a distance; others stopped by to check her out.

I rode her again today and made a little video:

Riding Ana - YouTube

Despite distractions, she did very well. There were dogs and kids running around and a lady was cracking the whip on a horse in the paddock next to her. Ana perked up but didn't spook. I can't believe she is only 6 years old. She acted like a total pro.

Had the farrier look at her feet - he said they look great and she moves great so no need to trim her feet today. She will just get added to the regular rotation schedule.

Seriously I need the Staples Easy button. She's just so cool.
 
#18 ·
I just bought Ana a dressage saddle of a tack trader FB page. I hope it works out. I didn't pay a whole lot for it so if it doesn't, I'll have a back-up or extra saddle. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time making a decision; I spend probably 1 hour each day researching saddles...just can't really pull the trigger on anything solid.
 
#19 ·
I got off work early Friday so I stopped by to visit her. This was my second time retrieving her from the pasture so I was curious to see where she would be and how she would react to seeing me. I found her half-way down the pasture fiddling with the BO's satellite dish! As soon as she saw me she turned and walked to me - yay. I didn't have time to ride her so I just groomed her before walking her back.

I went back Saturday and found her in one of the shelters sleeping. I put the halter on her and signaled for her to get up and she just looked at me...like "do we really have to work today?" After thinking about it for a minute, she decided to get up so I walked her to the barn where I discovered that that my only set of reins had destroyed by some random barn critter. BO let me borrow his split Western reins so I decided to go trail riding since arena work seemed a little too complicated with all that extra rein.

She did pretty good; only spooked once but didn't try to bolt or anything. I rode her right back to the spot that scared her and she was fine. It's so nice to be riding such a level headed horse.

Went back on Sunday. This time she was way down at the other end of the pasture. She's been hanging out with the two new TBs. Nice horses; one of them always follows me around. She didn’t walk to me this time but let me approach her and put the halter on her.


I was too tired/run down to ride yesterday; plus I didn't feel like fiddling with Western reins again. Hopefully my replacement reins will arrive soon. Note to self: always buy two of everything. When I walked her to the barn I discovered that the perpetrator responsible for destroying my reins had been apprehended :) It would probably be easier if BO just invested in a barn cat; he said he's thinking about it.

I ended up just giving her a really good grooming and turning her back loose in the pasture.
 
#20 ·
^It's great that you're getting so much riding time! Are you just loving being a horse owner?? (8
And sometimes going out and grooming can be fun. I think it helps build a bond, since then they don't always associate your presence with work. xD

I have been reunited with my horse. :) But, because of my little accident, I still can't ride. I go out a couple times a week and love on him and feed him and groom him and (and and and x.x) turn him out. If all goes well (and it has so far) I can ride starting in March. I am stoked.

I posted new pics recently; here's my thread if you ever want to check it out 8D

http://www.horseforum.com/member-journals/gator-country-337377/
 
#21 ·
I rode Ana today. Couldn't find the BO and since there's a horse in the paddock that I wanted to ride in, I just decided to trail ride around the property again. She did ok but was a little spicy today. I think the drop in temperature gave her an extra pep in her step. We just did walk/trot work in circles, straight lines, serpentines and weaving around various objects and going up and down hills. A tractor with hay pulled in toward the end of my ride and she didn't spook or anything so that was good. All in all a good ride.
 
#22 ·
Back before everything became automatic

So I've been listening to "Automatic" by Miranda Lambert and it's really making me miss the good old days and it made me wonder about how technology and innovation has evolved riding and horse ownership. Just opening the Dover catalog is overwhelming…50 different bit types, 10 different types of horse blankets, and don't forget to buy 3 different types of leg wraps to match your saddle pads, Really?
 
#23 ·
The weather finally cleared up so I got to ride Ana today. She did pretty good. Another boarder arrived to feed her horses right as I was saddling Ana and she got a little antsy but was still controllable - I always welcome such training opportunities ;). The paddock was too muddy so I rode her in the open field area. We did the usual stuff: circles, serpentines, straight lines, up hill, down hill, walk, trot, halt, spirals. I had some trouble bending her as she would evade by moving haunches out. We will need to work on that. Considering that I hadn't ridden her in 7 days, the footing was not ideal, and there was distracting activity going on during our ride, I guess she did pretty good!

I'm hoping that the paddock will dry up so that I can ride her in there. She always does better in a closed-in space.
 
#24 ·
I cantered Ana for the first time yesterday and she did great. She picked up the correct lead both times - so proud of her. We also worked on stretching down at the trot. She's starting to figure it out. Turn on the forehand is also progressing. She still has trouble bending and relaxing so we will continue to work on that. Overall a great ride!
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#25 ·
I took the afternoon off yesterday, and after stuffing my tummy with good German food, I headed straight for the barn. Ana was half-way down the pasture with her micro group; I called her name and she stopped grazing and took a couple of steps toward me then stopped again, waited for me to get closer and then approached me – yay!

I hadn’t seen her in 3 days so it was good to spend time with her. After a quick grooming, I threw the new dressage saddle on her and took her for a test ride. It’s quite comfortable – well, for me anyway. At first she walked fine then we trotted and when I tried to walk her forward again, she pinned her ears slightly and resisted my leg. She has never done that as she is ueber-obedient; my only conclusion is that it has to be the saddle. I didn’t even attempt to canter her knowing that it would probably hurt her.

I had started a separate thread about the saddle and the general consensus is that it doesn’t fit her. So this weekend I’m headed back to the tack store to pick up 2 more trial saddles. This time I’m taking the Pessoa with me as it’s the only saddle that fits her well. That way I can hold it up next to potential saddles to find one that most closely resembles the tree-shape of the Pessoa. I’m determined to find a solution for her; even if I have to spend more than what I had planned.

So it’s going to be a busy weekend. Farrier will be at the barn at 8am; from there it’s off to the schooling show to support my RI as she shows her Friesian, then run down the street to the tack store to grab saddles, then back to the barn. If the weather is good we are supposed to have a barn BBQ for lunch plus I would also like to ride her in the new trial saddles and hopefully make a decision. I was also hoping to clean/organize my tack and riding equipment while at the barn. I don’t know how I will fit all this into one Saturday but I will give it my best shot.
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#27 ·
Boy what a busy weekend!

Started with meeting the farrier at 8am on Saturday. Found out that she has early stages of white line disease and therefore pulled her front shoes off and decided to leave them off for a while. So now I got to clean her hooves every day and treat them with lysol every other day. That's not so bad, right?

Then it was off to the schooling show; I had just missed Dante's ride but got to see my RI debut Prince at training level twice. Dante won Intro (no surprise there, he got a 9 on his entry!). I was really surprised to see how low key the schooling shows are and how novice the riders are...I could have totally showed Ana at Intro level and gotten a good score. It gave me the courage to really consider entering schooling shows THIS year instead of NEXT year.

While I was there I ran into a lady that used to board her horses where I board and she started to tell me how much she loves the new place and how she's getting ready to show her horse. That got me thinking, maybe it is worth it to spend the extra $ and upgrade to better boarding facility.

From there it was off to the tack store to pick up 2 more trial saddles. Then I raced back to the barn for the BBQ and to throw the saddles on Ana and take a few pics. I was hoping to taker her for a spin but then it started raining and pretty much rained and stormed all weekend. While there the BO made some comments that were concerning...if saddles get stolen it's not his fault, anybody could just walk in and steal them, he may not get the arena done until much later this year etc.

After the BBQ we decided to check out the other boarding facility that the lady at the show had recommended to us. What a nice place. But it is a H/J barn and is crawling with children. Not that I have anything against children but it just results in a different atmosphere and experience.

Today I ran back to the barn and grabbed all the saddles I had stored there as I'm now concerned that they might get stolen or damaged. So now my kitchen looks like a tack shop, but the added bonus is that it smells great. Don't you love the smell of leather?

I'm a little worried about Ana now. What if the BO is not taking good care of her? She looks a little haggard and has all kinds of marks on her. Is it the food? Are other horses picking on her? I'm still not any closer to making a decision on a saddle...they are either too big, too small, too narrow, too wide, too long..you name it anything with a "too" in front of it....sigh...I would like to put this saddle thing to rest soon. I'm going to test ride both of them before I make a decision.

The vet is coming out to see her on the 27th - I will check with him to see if we need to change her feed, or increase it or? She might just be burning a lot of calories cause she's out on a huge pasture and I'm sure I'm riding her more than the previous owner. I'm hoping that's it.

Anyway, I've been debating all weekend what I should do next. Should I move her to a different barn? Should I try long distance saddle fitting? Should I keep riding her in the Pessoa and wait for our saddle fitter to return? Should I start to feed her myself to make sure she's getting enough? Should I enter the schooling show in April or wait until summer? Should I add a hoof or coat supplement to her feed? So many decisions to make.
 
#28 ·
I'm glad you made the decision to move her. I imagine what he was feeding her wasn't very nutritionally balanced, so that could explain the dull coat. Did he have a good parasite control program (deworming, regular fecals, manure handling?)? You might want to get a fecal and deworm again. Even if there weren't health and safety issues, I bet you will be happier having good footing to ride in. Hope the new place is awesome!
 
#29 ·
Thanks. Yes the new place is awesome. The old place did not have any kind of worming program and there were some safety concerns as well. I got a new vet scheduled to check on Ana next week to do her routine annual stuff so I will inquire about doing a fecal egg count at that time.
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#30 ·
So I got Ana moved to the new barn on Tuesday. She is settling in well. They decided to put her in with the mini-horse, mini-donkey and elderly TB – all geldings. It seems to be going ok. The mini horse is in love with her; stands close to her, follows her if she moves, wants to eat hay with her. Ana is taking it in stride although she seemed a little annoyed with her new “boyfriend” – she pinned her ears at him but he didn’t budge so she ever so gently tried to bite him…well it was more like a gentle nibble so that didn’t deter the mini at all. Poor Ana…she’s just too nice for her own good sometimes. I was hoping that they would pair her up with two mares, but the BO thinks that Ana is too nice for them; they would just walk all over her and steal her food. If the mini-horses unwanted advances become too much for her, there are other options as they have multiple pastures.

I rode her in the indoor arena for the first time yesterday. It was AWESOME. I had the whole place to myself. I had picked up 2 trial saddles last Saturday that I will need to return this coming Saturday so I tried out the Passier on her yesterday. It seems to fit her ok; even sweat marks, no pinned ears, it didn’t shift during my ride. I hated it though; it was hard as a rock and the seat was not balanced; it put me in a chair seat as the pommel was higher than the cantle. The billet straps are too long for her; kept interfering with my leg aids. So tonight, I’m going back to try out the Luxor on her; can’t be worse than the Passier. Come to think of it, I rode Vince in the Passier; not sure which model it was but I had the exact same problem; the flaps were too long for my leg and the pommel was higher than the cantle so I had to ride in more of a fork seat to counter-act the ill-fitting saddle.

Ana must have been a little nervous because she pooped three times – twice while I was grooming her and once in the arena. It was a little runny too; could be from the much healthier feed she’s getting now. I had the BO mix in her old feed for a couple of meals to get her slowly used to the new feed and reduce the chance of belly aches.

Ana behaved very well (as expected). I walked her around the arena one time before I mounted so that she could see everything. At first I told myself I was only going to have her walk and maybe if she felt up to it try some trotting. But she did so well that I ended up trotting and cantering her. She missed the departure cue for left lead canter twice before she picked it up. She instantly picked up the departure cue for right lead canter. So far the only cantering problem with her that she sometimes misses the departure cue, she’s always picked up the correct lead and it’s easy to keep her cantering; it’s also easy to collect her; downward transitions aren’t always pretty but considering that she has less than 2 years under saddle and didn’t get ridden much at her last home, I think she’s doing awesome! Of course she tried to do some rubber necking as everything is new to her and it’s just so tempting to look around; heck I was doing some rubber necking myself!

So all is well with Ana and me and I’m looking forward to many more enjoyable rides with her at the new barn. Now, I just have to find the perfect saddle for us and we will be all set.
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