Well the boy can still buck and frolic in the turnout:-) course my dumb camera was "processing" during the huge bucks and rears...Yesterday Dr. Matt came out and we did the neck x-rays and of course they showed nada :-/ We were both curious if we would see any arthritic changes that would indicate trauma from his past...I was hoping to find something, anything really. He told me to be satisfied with *that* and did not suggest by any means a milogram (putting him under and injection dye into his spine), my chat friend Sara also told me it's not worth it and makes the horse so ill:-( I guess if I wanted to know *something* a body scan is all that would be left, but then again that's just going to show his problem areas and we already have a pretty sure bet it's an old spinal injury of some sort...
Sometimes I 2nd guess my decision and think I can still get on him and ride lightly and then I
remind myself that I have ridden him lightly for YEARS and that's an understatement. Up until last month he seemed pretty OK with anything I did with him... but the not wanting to turn right at all is what really bothered me...I mean it's one thing to be sore, but it's another to not be *able*... But as you can see the ManPony is pretty happy and healthy despite being a lame/ neurological mystery.So I've kinda taken the month off, I've really just been showing up and feeding and turning out. I've trotted him in hand some here and there, but I think chasing him off his grazing duties will be the most fun for me and a good method of exercise for him. But I do find myself going "Now what"? alot.
12 comments:
Ok his eye in the first pic was a bit freaky, but the other two pics are good!
I think you are doing the right thing "retiring" Lesterman. Handwalking, possibly lunging... anything else you can do? What about teaching him "games" kinda a la Parelli. Or horsemanship type patterns, modified for his no-rightsided-ness. Can you ride another horse at the barn and pony him for exercise?
You guys have such a great bond, and Les has WAY too much personality to be happy without your attention. :)
Denise: I have to 'hijack' this for a moment... do you remember I posted (quite awhile ago) about the chick who bought the super expensive horse?
OMG at finals I found out she sold him back to the people she bought him from. Seems she hadn't really "test rode" him when she went and bought him. They insisted she try him so she gave a half-assed test ride and bought him. Things haven't worked out between them, they can't find a groove, he's too much horse, whatever the excuse.
This gets better (or worse actually), she paid over $130,000.00 for him and they gave her $40,000.00 when she took him back! :O
OH MY GOSH
I can only hope her parents finally realize that this needs to stop! I mean, sure their loaded, but this has gone beyond ridiculous!
Sorry to hijack and fill you in here, but I couldn't put this on my own blog...the wrong people might see it.
Denise, I think you are totally doing the right thing. I think a milogram would be crazy. You might find out what it is, but I really don't think it would change your course of action..... maybe if you just let Lester be a horse and stop spending so much money on x-rays, shoes, and joint injections... maybe you could afford a little project horse. OR you could tune up Polo :-).
Jen
well, frustrating as it is to still not have any definitive answers, it IS good news that the x-rays turned up nothing. and the milo is way overboard... i wouldn't put a horse through that either.
i have a book of tricks to teach horses that i use when i have lay-up cases who are bored out of their minds. it keeps their brains occupied and gives you something fun to work on together. you could always play with him that way.
and i guess there is no reason you couldn't take him out for the occasional mosey under tack, if you were so inclined, though i know my retired horse wants no part of riding now that he has reverted back to his 'wild' state ;-) i guess it depends on him. he'll let you know...
oh sure, he does it and it's cute. we do it, and we're throwing a tanty.
Ughhhh...I am sorry that you ever had to make "the" decision. It will definitely take some time to get used to. Lester probably kind of wonders what is going on too...unless you have not been able to ride him for a while now.
It must be hard to see him bucking and running around and then decide not to ride him...but I'm sure you are doing the right thing. Doesn't make it any easier though!
I think Cdn had a good suggestion - trying Parelli games or clicker training or something, so that you guys can still *do* stuff together but not worry about the stress of riding. I know alot of people think the NH stuff is silly,but in this case you aren't trying to train, but just maintain your relationship with the Less-man...
Cdn - you know someone who spent $130K on a horse? Crazy. I don't think I could spend that much on an animal, even if I was loaded.
Well regardless of his condition Les seems to look pretty good and cute out there running and bucking!
Just a beautiful bay color - I love just sitting and watching them when they play in the pasture. When I was younger I would do it for hours, memorize their "drinking times", "feeding times", and their "sleeping times". I just couldn't get enough of them.
cdn- Why do rich people have to be so dumb and brainless? and how do horses cost so much! I just don't get it. How do you not try out a horse?! What # horse is she on now?
Jen, don't worry I won't ever do the milogram...sounds so horrible. No project ponies for me, I'm done for awhile:-) need a nice break before I decide about riding. Jen the next time you're down lets clicker train Lester:-) He's VERY food motivated, LOL.
jme- I kinda toy with the idea of teaching him the spanish walk:-) I guess you're rigt about the x-rays... I didn't decide not to ride him because I'm afraid of him tripping up and falling on me really (though I guess that could happen), his spooking undersaddle is out of control, and I really don't enjoy a spook filled ride.
the knustons- I've taken LONG breaks before and you're right it will take some getting used to. He usually gets really snotty at the other horses and is mean to them during our breaks, but this time around he's behaving himself more.:-)
laura- it is hard to watch him buck and RUN, but I'm glad he still enjoys himself, that's what counts. I never liked to see his big bucking fits when I rode him cuz they scared me, LOL- didn't like knowing he was capable of that...;-)
stefanie- Thanks! I love bays too... when my sis and I went to horse camp we would sit on this huge rock in the middle of this HUGE pasture that all the camp horses got turned out in and just watched... course there was also the occasional bull/pony mounting:-o
Look at the handsome Less go! He looks happy and perky.
Haha, your reply to Stephanie's comment ; Ink does the SAME thing and I've wondered the same thing, lol.
** Edit that, sorry Laura's comment! ;)
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