Tuesday, June 2, 2009

It has been ages since I posted about Takoda. There are a thousand reasons why, but the main one being my time spent actually working with him and the others, as well as Laramie's eye condition (I could write an entire blog about her journey with eye issues since January, but that is a totally different topic!).

Takoda is being considered as a training demo horse for the Clinton Anderson Walkabout Tour (natural horsemanship training) in Upper Marlboro in July. I received a call yesterday from Downunder Horsemanship (Clinton Anderson's company), stating they needed a picture and more information before they made their final decision but that he is definitely being considered (Wow!).

Today I went out to take new photos of him since there were no current ones that showed how handsome he has become. What you will see below is a transformation that has occurred in just under 4 months of good care. His weight gain is approaching 150 lbs. since he arrived!

February 5, 2009



June 2, 2009

Little Victories Can Mean So Much!

Saturday, April 18, 2007

Well, Tonka surprised all of us and recovered from his colic without surgery or additional interventions, and that is just huge. I held my breath for several days expecting the worst (having seen it so much of the worst in the past year with various horses), and am just immensely relieved he is ok!

And, Beauty amazed us all by loading onto the trailer this morning after only a small amount of resistance. I did not anticipate her separation anxiety (nor did I anticipate Tonka's) at the show, but I easily forgave her for that when she handled the trailer so well. After an accident like she had, I honestly expected she might not get on at all today. Loading her to go home took a bit longer, but again she finally loaded nicely. She did manage to scrape a back leg on the way out (we think) at the show, but no major injuries or incidences to report - yay!

The two horses, though, were inseparable, making entering them into separate classes a really big challenge! They called pitifully to each other from inside and outside the rings, and at one point poor Jordan was on Tonka when he decided to stop walking in his circle and just stop at the fence to hang out with Beauty. The show itself was one major frustration after another with the disorganization of the show itself, and the harsh judges. It was not nearly as much fun for either girl (or any of the adults) as I beleive it should have been!

Next time we go to a show, we will just take one horse!

However, I am clinging to the victories of the week - a healthy Tonka, a recovering Beauty who is willing to learn to trust again, and no other significant issues to report.

The Pains of Horse Ownership

Friday, April 17, 2009

Ok, so this post is not specifically about Takoda, but I thought it's important to share some of the downs of owning horses, since most of this blog is upbeat and all about little victories. Those are so vital to balancing out the agony that comes with owning these magnificent creatures.

On Easter Sunday, Kristin was supposed to have an exciting lesson at a nearby park where an eventing course had been set up the day before for actual competition. Cherie was going to meet us there so Kristin could see how Beauty does over the small jumps, among other horses, and out in public. In preparation, we spent a few days loading and unloading all the horses onto the trailer so they would know the trailer was nothing to be feared. Tonka loads like a dream - walks on without a fuss and just stands ready to go. Takoda, I have already posted about. Laramie was one who needed practice as she has an appointment next week with an eye specialist to see if she needs surgery. Beauty has been trailered many times as a racehorse and I expected her to do just fine. She didn't like the idea of getting into that enclosed space, so I handled it exactly like Takoda's practice session, and she eventually got it. We had to load and unload Tonka, who she follows anywhere. Once we did that, she followed him on without any fuss. We practiced over and over again, until she was loading and unloading all by her big self, looking for the peppermints which were in ready supply.

Well, now it's Sunday afternoon. I was probably more excited than Kristin! The truck was loaded up with all the tack and supplies and water, and Kristin and I were ready. Beauty was groomed and the final step was putting her on the trailer. I did not expect any issues, but a phrase Cherie loves to say jumped into my head ("It's a new day!") and I realized today was a day Beauty really didn't want to load, even for peppermints. We got Tonka, put him on, and Beauty followed right behind. We unloaded Tonka, and of course Beauty thought she was getting off, too, and turned. She accidentally pinned me against the inside of the trailer, so I was unable to move to shut the gate behind her. I have to admit I panicked a little inside, which might be what triggered the next chain of events that happened so fast I can't even believe it. I was scared she was going to crush me, so I pushed her off me, and she decided to back up, which was fine - or so I thought. The trailer can hold 2 horses lengthwise, so she had plenty of room. I let her back a few feet away from me, and called out to the others to close the gate, but they were not quick enough for what was about to happen. Beauty started to rear up inside the trailer. Knowing it's best to let them have their head when they panic, I let go of the lead rope, but the knot on the end of it got caught between my fingers, which means she shanked herself as she pulled up. We believe the chain scared her enough that she all-out panicked. She took two steps backwards and I was watching her feet precariously near the back edge of the trailer, and was not watching her head. I was terrifed she would fall out the back, having seen photos and footage of horrible accidents to horses legs when they step off a trailer. She managed to step down mid-rear, and knocked her head against the top of the trailer where the opening is. She hit her head so hard the trailer shook. As soon as she was out, she bent down to eat grass, and I was SO relieved she had not hurt her legs, and said to the others, "That horse is NEVER getting on this trailer." As soon as I had said that, Kristin walked over to her, and said, "Oh wow!" I knew that was not good, so I went to look and almost got physically ill at what I saw. Beauty's forehead was ripped open to the bone, and the skin was peeled down her face a good 2-3 inches. I called the vet immediately, and was told they would be here in about 40 minutes. I had already tried dialing MJ to see if she was home to help load Beauty and had gotten no answer, but I was frantically calling again. I still got not answer, so I decided to run over to her house. I instructed Jeff to give Beauty a 1000 lb. dose of banamine (pain killer) and ran like I have never run before. When I got to MJ's I was relieved to see her truck. I was so out of breath all I could get out to her was "Beauty's hurt!" and she ran back over with me. Beauty always loves to see MJ and this day was no different. Beauty seemed unphased by her head injury, which actually was not bleeding all that badly. She just kept grazing the green grass which all the horses are sadly deprived of. MJ managed to get the Banamine into her and we waited for the vet. While we were waiting, we thought we could see a small crack in the bone where some blood was hiding the rest of it. This sent me into another emotional tail spin. I can't even begin to describe the guilt I was feeling over all of this. It's just unreal. It's bad enough that this happened during something I was doing with her, but what's worse is she's not even my horse! This was the longest 40 minutes of my horse-owning life!!!

To make a long story short, the vet arrived, sedated her, cleaned the wound, got the blood flowing nicely again, and then showed us that Beauty did indeed have a fractured skull (but not where we thought we saw a crack - that was just a trickle of blood that she had cleaned away). you could not see the fracture, but she had us feel it. It is a perpendicular break in the nose, 4-6 inches long (insert nausea here) along the inside of her left eye. As I felt the tissues squish where they should have been quite hard, I felt a new wave of guilt, sadness and just all out pain. What had I done?

MJ and the vet both assured me that these types of trailer accidents do happen all the time, and that actually horses frequently fracture their skulls at race tracks when they slam into the starting gate. The vet said as long as there are no small bits of skull that do not reattach, she should be just fine, and could even go to the show this coming weekend (but not over the jumps). Their assurances were not enough to assuage my guilt, however. I still ache for the girl, even though rationally I know I didn't do anything wrong, and we had practiced it. I went over the accident in my head probably a thousand times trying to figure out what I could have done differently, and the only thing I can think of is that I should have had someone in position behind her to shut the gate faster, and I should not have used the lead-rope with a knot in the end! The lead rope was a learning experience - I would not have figured it could get caught like it did. MJ and the vet convinced me to have my finger x-rayed, which I did, and it is broken - but I feel like that's absolutely nothing (although typing takes a lot longer now :) compared to what Beauty endured.

When I told Kristin about Beauty being allowed to show on Saturday, she was so upset and said she couldn't compete her; she was scared. I spoke with Cherie who agreed that Kristin and Beauty should both at least go to the show, even if they don't compete. Beauty needs to learn that the trailer really will not kill her, and that will take a long time to teach her after the accident.

So, we were getting all set to show, giving Beauty her meds twice a day and making sure she doesn't rub her stitches, when, Tonka... of all horses (Jordan is supposed to show him on Saturday)... decides to colic two nights ago! Jeff found him in the pasture, not wanting to get up for his dinner. He was not interested in food at all. He gave him Banamine and put him in his stall and I came out and walked and walked him in the rain and muck. Once the banamine had kicked in, he seemed fine (and hungry!) but I did not feed him. I wanted him to poop, so I left him in the stall and hoped he would poop. I checked on him and walked him about every hour throughout the night, and fell asleep around 6 AM. When I checked on him at 8 AM, there was still no manure in his stall, so I called the vet. She came and tubed him (after double sedation AND a twitch she finally got it into the buttheads nose!), gave him fluids and said to keep him in his stall til he poops. She said he had good gut sounds (but so did Willie at Thanksgiving), and lots of gas, so she was not too concerned. She expected he would pass manure by lunch time. I went to bed for about 90 minutes, got up and checked on him about noon, and still no manure. He did not look or act painful though, which I took as a good sign. Later in the day, I checked and he had passed a very small pile - not impressive enough to assume he was out of the woods. I gave him a very small bran mash for dinner, which he scarfed down eagerly and hoped by morning he passed a larger pile. This morning, no manure at all! I fed him a larger bran mash and felt sure he would pass a very soft stool by the afternoon, but no such luck. I phoned the vet again. It's never good when the vet has to come out a second time for the same colic. She said to let him eat some grass about 10 minutes several times, which he did. By this evening's dinner, still no poop, but he ate his bran mash, acted normal, and ate grass like it was the best thing he had ever had. I let him walk (or should I say trot?) the length of the barn for about 30 minutes before putting him back in his stall. He was terribly upset about being stalled again, but I figure if there is no manure by morning, the vet is coming back. My heart is heavy with worry, because while he is not acting sick or painful, he is not producing enough to be cleared of an impaction or twisted intestine. Ironically, I kept calling him "Willie" by accident - he does look remarkably like Willie - but when I realized my slip, I got an even bigger sinking feeling.

At any rate, while we wait through the night again for better results, I have been reflecting on the pains that come with owning horses. The financial burden is enormous and sometimes I feel it is too great for us. But that aside, there is the emotional pain that comes from watching these big, beautiful animals suffer. It hurts almost as much as watching a child who hurts. The intensity of worry is certainly no different than that of parenting. I hope by my next posting that I have wonderful news.

For anyone wondering about Takoda - he is fine, but is a filthy mess and has not been worked much due to heavy rains and too much mud. He is going to Kim's on Monday so she can get on him and see how he is under saddle. Normally I would be ecstatic, but I am scared to death of loading him onto the trailer. I will certainly post about that lesson after it happens!

An Amazing Day!

Sunday, April 6, 2009

Wow, I didn't realize so much time has gone by since I posted last! I guess the flu running through a family this size will do that! Between all the sickness and the incessant rain we've had, I have not worked with Takoda nearly as much as I would like in the last two weeks, but that seems not to have mattered much to his ability to strut his stuff for Cherie!

I had two goals for the lesson today: MAKE Takoda longe to the right (something he refuses to do!), and get him loaded on the trailer without Acepromazine (tranquilizer). However, with all the rain, Takoda had taken the mud bath to beat all! He had mud caked over probably 50% or more of his body, most of it in the hardest to reach places (he is VERY tall, remember?)! I knew I simply had to groom him before Cherie saw how awful he looked. When I say it was caked, I mean a good half inch thick of CAKED mud all over his withers, back, both sides and hind end! I have been grooming him quite often, usually holding the lead rope in one hand (with the shank for correction when he kicks out), so most of the time I am not able to get his entire body. Today I tried something new just for kicks. I should preface this by saying that race horses are never cross-tied. They are chin-tied by one lead that is attached high up at the back of their stall, leaving them as much freedom to move (and kick and bite!) about as they want to. Jeff actually installed such a tie at the back of Takoda's stall today, but just for fun I wanted to see if he would freak out at the cross-ties. As Cherie has said, cross-tying horses is "the ultimate in submission" because they are almost immobilized - good for us if they don't fight it, bad for them if they get scared! So, I got the grooming box out, and led him to the cross ties with a pocketful of peppermints. I clipped one tie on his left cheek, and he looked at me as if to say, "Ok human WHAT are you doing to me now???" I quickly praised him up and down and fed him a peppermint. He was thrilled and looked for more. So I clipped the right cheek on, expecting him to rear up, break the cross ties or the halter, or both! He grew very wide eyed, but I had another peppermint ready which he eagerly took. I praised him like crazy, scratched him in his favorite spot (his forehead) and just stayed by his head petting him all over while he got used to the cross ties. I kept the lead line attached to the chin loop just in case he did break free, and I held onto it lightly so he knew I had him and he was safe. Takoda once again impressed me, by maintaining his cool, adjusting to this new human trick, and not getting upset at all. I slowly began grooming him just with my fingers for the most part, making it like a giant petting session, talking to him the whole time. I picked off as much mud as I possibly could with my hands before ever getting his (very soft and gentle) curry comb out. He has the most sensitive skin of any horse I've ever groomed and even the stiff brush is too hard for him, so I had quite the task ahead of me de-mudding him! I allowed for slightly more foot movement than I usually do when it's just me and him and a lead line, but I never allowed kicking. He only raised a back leg twice, and all it took was a gentle tug on the lead line and a firm NO! and he put it right back down. I managed to get all the caked on mud off him, and I brushed and brushed and brushed, and he became a sickly shade of pale brown. Well, at least it was better than it had been, and the thick mud was gone! The only thing I didn't do on the cross ties were his hooves, because I didn't want to push my luck his first time on them. I plan to cross tie him every day now if even for just a few minutes so he can learn it's no big deal, he gets lots of attention, and is praised when he's a good boy.

So when Cherie showed up, she saw what an incredible citizen Takoda was being on the cross ties, which spoke volumes of how far our relationship has come since he arrived. When it was his turn for his lesson (he had a long break between grooming and lesson, as being so young he still has a short attention span), Cherie wanted to know what exactly he does when I try to longe him to the right. I told her he just stands there looking at me like I'm crazy. When I insist he walk on, he dances around, trying to get turned around the other way, or he rears up like an idiot. Prepared for the worst, she led Takoda out to see him act like the fool he knows how to play so well. Well, to EVERYONE'S surprise, but especially mine, she sent him on to the right with ABSOLUTELY NO FUSS! He acted like he has been doing this for years and had no idea what I was talking about. BOY! Did I feel stupid! I wondered if it was because he knows Cherie and knows she means business! Then I wondered if maybe it was because she started him to the right - I have always longed to the left first - you know, something to be successful at before we try the new, hard stuff? I think it was a combination of lots of things, and just lots of longeing in general that we've been doing, but he really did quite well. After awhile he did begin to get silly but Cherie was very quick (I am still impressed with how quick she is!) to correct him, and by the end, he was trotting rather nicely to the right. He is still clueless that he's supposed to be.... *gasp* W O R K I N G! His attention was on everything BUT me when it came time for me to take over, but he still managed to stay moving to the right, which absolutely thrilled me to no end - because from now on? NO EXCUSES BUDDY! He raised his own bar in just one longe session, and it's time he behaved like he has shown he can. Way to go Cherie!

My other goal, getting him loaded on the trailer, was motivated by Kim's offer to work with Takoda at her place. I plan to take him down to Leighton Farm a few times over the coming weeks (as much as I can reasonably afford) so she can hack him out, and see what kind of horse he is under saddle. That's why I needed him to longe to the right - we've been building all those nice muscles going one direction, but he was going to get unbalanced! And he needs to be much stronger and more fit to support the weight of a rider. Anyway, back to the trailer. My biggest concern was not getting him loaded, it was that he has never been outside the gate since he arrived back in early February. I was a little nervous that he would see freedom and try to head for the hills (or nearby grass and stay just out of catching reach). And, the day he arrived, he did load and unload nicely on the trailer, but he was also doped way up on Ace, and likely either did not remember it, or knew he now had full control of all his capacities.

So, we shanked him and led him out. He huffed and puffed a great deal, but I realized it was more nervousness than sensing freedom, so I spoke to him, and I just love how when I talk to him, he calms down. For whatever reason, it works every time! I led him over to the trailer, and he immediately discovered GRASS!!!! (We have NO grass in our pasture.) Cherie said to let him eat it, that eating it will make this a positive experience. Good thing Jeff parked it on the grass! Cherie instructed me to let him do whatever he wanted but to keep his attention on the trailer, which in the beginning he did. He sniffed it all over, but also looked like he had no intention whatsoever of getting in that scary cell! After he had sniffed around the trailer a whole lot, he began to get distracted. He kept looking around, but mostly kept looking back at the barn. It didn't help that the horses who were cooped up were whinnying pitifully for their friend. She showed me how to keep bringing his attention back to the trailer. He could do anything he wanted as long as he was focused on this trailer thing. Several times he made motions as though he knew he had to get on it, so eventually I stepped up into it, and he almost came with me, but stopped. He pawed at the trailer and I think the very loud sound of his hoof striking it scared him (it's a stock trailer with no ramp, and it is LOUD!). He backed off and started eating grass again. I let him for a minute, then brought his attention back. A few more sniffs around it and he finally followed me right on! I led him right to the front of the trailer where he was VERY antsy and excited, and was huffing and puffing. I "threw a party" as Cherie would say, praising him, and had treats ready for him. He eagerly took the treat, and I led him right back out again. We repeated the whole thing again, and the second time didn't take quite as long as the first, but I still never asked or made him get on, I let him do what he wanted as long as he was paying attention to the trailer. He eventually walked right on again, and we had another little party with pats and treats, and I led him right back off again. He was very excited to be led back to the barn, and I could tell from his body language he was going to act the fool once I released him, so I put him in his stall for a few minutes to calm down, realize he was home and safe, and no one was missing from his herd. As expected, once released he spent quite awhile pushing all the other horses around, letting them know he had indeed come back and was still the boss!

I have been on cloud nine since the lesson, feeling more and more hopeful about our future together. I really feel the connection and communication we have, and I KNOW he looks to me for leadership when he is scared, and that's just the most amazing feeling in the world, and is exactly the place I had hoped to get with him.

Oh, and to be able to watch someone else longe him is SO incredible, because I can watch his whole body move from a little further away. When he knows what to do and is paying attention to what is asked of him, he moves SO beautifully. He is very fluid and just gorgeous to watch. My only regret is that I got no video of him today - it would have been fun to watch him move again, but also to review how Cherie handled him.

A tremendous thank you to Cherie for yet another wonderful lesson!

Happy Birthday Takoda!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Ok, so there are a couple surprises I have not posted about Takoda yet. I wanted to save them for a very special occasion, and today happens to be it!

Several weeks ago I did a search on pedigrees, as I was trying to ascertain if Takoda had ever actually raced. I found a site www.pedigreequery.com where any race horse that happens to be in their registry has all sorts of information about them listed. Here are some VERY neat (I think) things I found out about our boy:

• He was foaled in Florida on March 23, 2003 (making him 6 years old today!)
• He was bought (I believe in November, 2003) for $29,000.
  
• His actual name was Collective, by Charismatic and out of You're A Lady
• He has two VERY famous great-great grandfathers: Secretariat (whose earnings were $1,316,808 in the early 1970s!) and Mr. Prospector (who sired a winner of each of the triple crown races)!!!
  
• He has raced 26 times! but did not do so well (fine by me!): 3-1-3 (win-place-show)
• His career earnings were a paltry $40,133
• His lip tattoo reads G15791 (the letter is the year he was born, and the 5 numbers have to do with his jockey club registration)

But, regardless of all that, he's got a new life now. As Kim emailed me the other day in response to an update I gave her on Takoda she writes, " He has a family that loves him and that's the best part." I couldn't agree more!

Happy Birthday Takoda! May you have many, many more as a member of our family. Of course there are pictures below!

Here he is wondering what the heck we put on his head and why the whole family has come out to see him!


The birthday treats we made for all the horses were carrots with a center carved out to hold a frosting filling - then covered with sprinkles of course! That's my 7 year old daughter feeding his "birthday carrot" to him.


After one bite, he decided he liked them enough to come back for more.


Handsome Birthday Boy!

Longeing Under Saddle

Sunday, March 22, 2009

(Note: Schoolwork kept me from posting these next two posts the day they occurred, but here they are anyway!)

Cherie came Sunday for a lesson. Jordan, Kristin, and Jeff all rode, and Takoda and I were to have another groundwork lesson - this time with a saddle! The weight of a typical English saddle is much heavier than a racing saddle that Takoda would be used to. And, it's been many months since anyone's saddled him up for any reason! We will never know how long he sat in a stall (starving) at the track, but one thing is for certain, he had not been worked in a LONG time. All his muscles are flacid, and they sink in in places where they should be rounded out.

Saddling him was uneventful, much to my surprise. He seemed unphased by the saddle pad and the saddle, and even the girth! This boosted my confidence about how the lesson would go. Interestingly enough, he longed beautifully to the left at the walk, as if the saddle were truly no big deal. It was not until I asked him to trot that he finally actually noticed the weight of it on his back. He tried to get it off by bucking mid-trot. Cherie taught me to correct him quickly and send him right back to trotting every time. I am still getting used to holding the longe line, the slack, and the whip, so I am actually glad Jeff took videos of both Cherie and me longeing him. She makes it look absolutely effortless! Watching the videos of me longeing him, I realized that I am MUCH slower to react than I feel like at the time. Now I know why she wanted me to correct him faster and send him on faster!

The photo below is Takoda longeing beautifully at the walk before he ever really realized he had a very heavy saddle on his back. The video below it is the last part of the lesson where we got him to go pretty well at the trot. He finally gave up trying to buck the saddle off most of the time, and was actually quite exhausted at this point (as was I!). My schedule prevented me from longeing him today (Monday) but I am excited to get back out there and do it again tomorrow!

Dental Float

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

When a horse has its teeth filed, they call it "floating" the teeth. Their teeth usually need to be floated yearly, or more often if necessary. The vet had said Takoda has 3 baby teeth he should have lost already but looked like they posed him no problem. She also said his teeth were done recently and did not need to be done. Always listening to my gut, I wanted a second opinion. I just "felt" there was something going on in his mouth and I wanted to be sure. MJ had an equine dental specialist out today to do Beauty's teeth, so I had him do Tonka's and asked him to check Takoda's. He said Takoda did have some sharp points in the back but they weren't too bad, but his real problem is that his canines were way too long and sharp. He showed me how they poked into Takoda's tongue every time his tongue slid over them, and said the poor guy had to be super careful not to get his tongue caught on them - all 4 of them! He pulled the baby teeth, as they were actually making his adult teeth come in very crooked behind, and he cut the canines about in half, and then filed them down. And the best part is, Takoda was SUPER GOOD! He did not fuss, even when he had 3 teeth pulled with no tranquilizer or sedative! Another neat thing is there was one point when he kept lifting his head too high for the dentist to cut the canine (honestly, I think he was just plain done - he had been good and still for SO long, and this was the last tooth to be done). MJ was holding his head, the dentist used a gum shank to control him, but what got his attention was my voice - I spoke softly to him, and he looked at me, held still and began breathing again. From then on he was an angel again, and he even behaved nicely when we turned him out. I half expected him to take off and tear around, but he didn't do either. He just looked around, wandered to a pile of hay, and happily began munching - this time without the worry that his tongue would get sliced by those canines! Attached are some photos - the teeth are the baby teeth that were extracted.