Monty's Road to Recovery

6/28/2010 - Day 11

I'm thinking now Claymore had a stronger influence in the herd than I ever realized, he was just the velvet glove type because it certainly never showed before. *lol*

It seems clear Monty is intent on "taking over" the herd - he's not just looking for status, he wants to be top dog, and that's why he keeps going for Claymore. While things are getting better out there, Claymore's defenses are much more obvious now. He keeps the group fairly close together, circles them and "stands guard", and generally in a separate pasture from Monty, or at least on the opposite end of the same pasture. (I have three large pastures that all are connected via gates - this time of year I just keep them all three opened up). I can separate Monty out on his own if I need to, but I'd rather they find a way to work things out. A couple times a day Monty makes the charge at Claymore, complete with rearing, squealing, and some serious acrobatics that would make a Lipizzan jealous. Gosh that pony is beautiful in motion. Claymore runs out to meet him, gives him a chomp and chases him away again. I might have the vet do a blood draw on Monty when he comes out to geld Finn - Monty is sooo very studdy, I'm curious about how complete his gelding might have been. I turned Misty back out now that she was past her heat and Claymore sucked her right back into the group, but still keeps Monty at bay.

However, as of yesterday, there is also another newcomer to the pasture, a fellow member on the boards here, Amarea, brought her QH gelding Stiffler out to live here. Shaking things up a bit more! However, he is submissive and non threatening, and my horses don't seem particularly bothered by him. I think if Monty wasn't already in the picture, having Claymore on high alert, then Stiffler would have been readily accepted into the group without a second thought. Claymore is not aggressively defending against Stiffler like he does with Monty, but he is however keeping him run off from the group as well.

On the plus side though, Monty and Stiffler seem to have bonded already. Maybe because Stiffler is submissive, and Monty feels like he's "in charge" of someone now, Monty will cool his jets.

I was having major studdy issues with Nico and we got the blood test done. Our vet is terrible but we got the results pretty quickly and he is infact a gelding. I would think in Montys situation, it would probably be a pretty good idea. Nico is 10 and was gelded kinda late at 4. Monty is only 3...he could just be a spunky lil boy...or he could have been incompletly gelded. The test was a bit on the expensive side but it was worth it to be sure that he couldnt hurt the mares.

Im glad you have a big man in the herd to protect your guys...I bet Claymore wont let him get near his girls!

Well, I think he probably IS gelded, but I'm just wondering if there was some problem with it. He's only been gelded around 8 months. The previous owners mentioned he had just been gelded when they got him, but had a severe infection they had to have treated, he was seen several time by their vet at the time. I just wonder if there were some complications to the gelding procedure that weren't related to them, due to the fact they got him from a sale barn - (like, did they go in to geld him, find he was a crypt, tried to retrieve and were unsuccessful, so were just passing him on? It certainly happens).

I'm pretty sure my pony mare Misty is having hormonal issues as well - she was in heat on June 10th, and then back in heat again on June 19th. All my animals are just crazy *sigh*

I am glad Claymore is doing his job as well - without being mean about it - he's not attacking, just defending. I'd have a real problem on my hands if he was going after Monty.

Do you have Amish in your area? It is pretty commonplace around here to have the amish geld your horses and while they do a pretty decent job on a straight forward, two nutted horse, they are no real substitute for a vet. This is what we are assuming happened to my friends horse who ended up being a cryptorchid. They paid the amish $25 to geld him...so geld they did. They never mentioned that the horse only had one decended testicle. 5 years later, she is still saving up to have his undecended testicle removed. Your boy is probably just a lil pisser...I've found this trait to be much more common in ponies! Either way, your doing a great job with him. He's very fortunate to find a great home where someone will love him and his head tossing, high steppin ways!

Corino - yes, lots, lots, lots of Amish around here. I didn't know they did gelding. I do have an amish guy come out and keep track of the work I'm doing on the hooves, maybe I'll ask him about that! I need to keep reminding myself that Monty is still so very young, that's a big part of it too. He's actually doing wayyyy better since Amarea's Stiffler joined the herd. The two have buddied up, and they stay away from the other group, though Finn is kind of a go between and hangs out with either "herd". *lol* But Stiffler seems to have really calmed Monty down, he's not gone after Claymore in about a day and a half. Claymore is still kind of "red alert" right now, but hopefully in a few more days he will calm down, and pasture life will be serene again.

Thats great then! He finally has a buddy! Maybe Claymore is suffering from what my brother suffered from. Every time he would go to a bar, some little snot would try to pick a fight with him. Mostly because he was 6'5" and 300# of solid muscle. He was also known to be a bit of a softy. The lil guy was just trying to impress the ladies by showing how he could take down a big old ogre like my brother! Funny...my brother did the same thing...just stood his ground, no matter what! Tell Claymore he's got the right idea...the ladies like the strong silent types verses the loud screaming pipsqueaks! LOL

BTW I love the amish. In our area there arent as many but they are great horsemen. I've heard horror stories about them being abusive and neglectful but the few around here are business like with their horses but always have fat, well trained horses.

You know, I've seen both sides of the coin around here. Living only about 20 min. From Shipshewana Auction, I've seen some horses incredibly abused - particularly drafties. But that's only one side of the story - I've met some of the best horsemen I know among the amish. The rumors are not 100% unsubstantiated, but there are good and bad, just like any group of people, and those that mistreat the horses are frowned upon within their community just as they would be outside of it, though the law certainly steps in much less. You can not make generalizations about ANY group based on the bad individuals, it's still a form of prejudice.

We live about an hour away from the Shipshewana auction... right in the center on an Amish comunity. And to be totally honest, weather the Amish abuse their horses or not depends on the individual people and how they were raised and how they raise their children.
And if you see an underweight or neglected looking horse that is still in work, it's usually a young Amish that has just moved out on their own... But yeah some of the Amish are BIG time horse breeders, breeding several thousand doller performance horses!
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7/5/2010 - Day 18 - We can see progress! He's already gained a pretty noticeable amount of weight for only 18 days.

Monty has been here a little over 2 weeks now so I thought I'd post a progress report on his condition. He's already starting to muscle up a bit and get into much better condition. You can no longer see his ribs, and the point of his hips, though not gone, are fading away! His coat is incredibly silky-smooth and shiney, softest coat I have ever felt on a horse....if you excuse the bite marks from Claymore of course - all healing and no new ones - they have all settled their differences out there now.


It's easy to forget what a baby he is until you look at his face - he still has a very baby face!

7/6/2010 - day 19

We also have some very good progress as far as Monty's ability to be handled and his trust in people. Although he isn't always easy to catch, he will now willingly approach me in the pasture. He will also walk up to my friend Tracie, and last night he walked up to Amarea when she came out. He's starting to figure out people aren't going to hurt him, and that they often come equipped with goodies! I was able to walk up to him, catch him, and lead him all the way from the farthest pasture into the barn yesterday with only a hand on his halter - he didn't try to break away or pull out of my hands once. He's still terrified of spray (working on that) and doesn't like being touched below the shoulder, but he's coming along. He still shivers and tenses when you brush his sides, but he's starting to lean into the brush on his neck. I've ridden him in the pasture twice more now, and he does respond better with a short shanked leverage bit, although he still really doesn't know much and is very nervous. I've yet to do anything but walk.

A few pictures of him in the pasture this morning (from over the fence in my backyard *lol*)




Ahah! Noticed I was there



Ambling over to say hi and get a scratch



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