Shiloh and Indy (mostly Indy)

Shiloh is a Miniature horse. He turned two in April. He ran wild from the age of 4 months on until I bought him and caught him at a year and a bit old. He was rude, wild, and bit anything that annoyed him. Now he is gelded and a lot calmer. Can be led around easily and is in love with a goat. He loves to have his belly scratched and he herds anything that moves.

Indy is an Arabian mare, 10 years old and very underweight. She is going to be my riding horse once her feet get trimmed and she puts on a bit more weight. She is a sweet heart to handle on the ground and loves to be groomed. She loves it so much she stops eating and just stands in ecstasy while she gets brushed. Pretty impressive seeing as she was starved. The one time I have tried to put her in a stall and leave her she went crazy! Screaming and pacing pushing against the door. I quickly took her out before she could try and jump over the half door or go through a window. I know nothing about her history but she looks like she ha had a foal recently and we think that is what made her so scrawny. She is putting on weight insanely fast. While putting on weight quickly she might have been bred In sheep, goats, and cows if you breed them while they are gaining weight it doubles the chances of them getting pregnant so we are watching and waiting to see if she is bred or not. If she is bred it is to a gorgeous paint stallion who I would have bred her to eventually anyways. I have ridden her only once. It was bareback with a halter and lead rope and it wasn't until after I bought her. Nut hey I only payed 150 dollars for her and she might be bred to a stallion who's stud fee is more then that. And he let me ride her with just a halter and lead rope in a huge open field with a cow chasing us and a flock of goats bucking and galloping around us so I figure I got a pretty good deal.

So today I'm planning on trying her with a saddle and bridal. *Fingers crossed* Wish me luck. We are probably only going to walk and trot since her feet haven't been done yet. Hubby was suppose to call the blacksmith today while I was at work. I cam home from work early and hubby is gone so I have no idea if he did or not. I'm no looking forwards to the 50 dollar charge just to trim her feet but that is the going rate when they have to come out for just one horse, and of course my Mini needs his done to but lives at a different farm so it will be 100 bucks when all is said and done. But I'm way to scarred to try and trim them myself and end up making her lame.

So the saddle doesn't fit her... At all!! ... Not even close! And she was a brat with the bridal. When I got on with just the rope halter and clip on reigns she was an angel. I'm thinking she might have been ridden in a hack-more instead of a bridal. That or the bridal was just way to wussy for her. It was a rubber coated snaffle. The only bit I have ever used on my own horses. Maybe I should get a real bridal and bit to use on her... I need a new saddle that will fit her and I might get a hack-more to ride her in...

So I want to ride again tonight but I'm not sure if I'll get out there or not. Hubby is working closer to home so we should have more time to get out there but I really should be packing up my two rooms to get ready for the move on Friday. I have no motivation I need someone to work with me at getting packed or it won't ever get done. All I think about all day is Indy. I need my daily Indy fix then I'll pack another box.

So I went out to ride her on Tuesday and her leg was stocked up. I bathed it in cold water and scrubbed out the sore and by the time I left the swelling was mostly gone. Yesterday hubby stopped after work and cleaned the sore and said most if not all of the swelling was gone. Today I went out to see her and there is still some swelling and heat in the leg. Not s much as on Tuesday. I bathed it with cold water and cleaned the sore again. On Saturday I'm going to try and go to the vets to ask advice about it. I would go tomorrow but I'm moving all day. Grrrr I hate moving. I'm OCD and changes of any kind make me uncomfortable. All the changes that happen when I move make me go completely crazy. Panic attacks, mood swings, headaches, severe insomnia. Everyone keeps talking about how awesome it is that we are moving and I just keep dreading it.

I can ride Indy without her leg sweling at all and she is an angel to bath and handle. Little kids with no horse experience can pick her feet and they take pony rides on her. They can lead her around and on the rare occasion (it has only happened twice in the month i've had her) something spooks her she does the safe spook where she stops, then approaches the object instead of turning an running from it. Once she has checked something out once she doesn't spook at it again. The farm I keep her at had it's driveway paved in Friday and she was grazing a meter from one of the machines while it puffed out smoke and steam.

Indy is HUGE! She is a big fat cow of a pony and we are working on getting her brand translated. So far as near as we can tell she seems to actually be 17 not the 10 year old we where told. I noticed her come into heat once after we got her so no baby for me. Well no horse baby. I'm preggers and so Indy is not really doing any work and is getting huge. People keep asking if the horse I was planning on getting and showed them pictures of at the begining of summer died or if we just came to our senses and got a different horse instead of wasting our money on that skinny one. They don't believe that it is the same horse.

Hey! Just read your posts: your avatar looks like our Arab mare that we got from people who were going to euthanize her because they didn't use her anymore I guess in a way she is a rescue, too

Anyhow: your posts regarding the brand: is she freeze-branded on her neck? If she is branded just below her crest, it is likely the Alpha-Angle system used by Arab breeders. http://www.swtafe.vic.edu.au/toolbox...lpha_angle.jpg
Check above (awesome it is already on the forum)! The first marking should be an "A" (our horse's looks like a H with a bar across the top to make it an "A"), then there should be two angles directly on top of one another: these indicate the birth year, read from the top down. The rest of the angles are representative of her registration number.

We called to find out our old mare's history, it was kind of neat! Good luck!