Please click here to read how the horses fared on Day Two of the Maryland Horse World Expo in the Retired Racehorse Training Program’s Trainer Challenge: http://thetdnblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/retired-racehorse-trainer-challenge-day_26.html

Please visit the TDN Blog to read about Day One of the Retired Racehorse Training Project’s Training Challenge- link here: http://thetdnblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/retired-racehorse-trainer-challenge-day.html

Day Two will be published in tomorrow’s newsletter, as well as on the TDN Blog.

STAR- 5 year-old 9hh miniature horse mare- companion/pasture pet only

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Star spent three years living on a chain outside someone’s house with her friend Cocoa. Star is a smaller mini and makes a great companion/pasture pet. We prefer to place her in a home with Cocoa, but will consider all home offers.

Located in Allentown, New Jersey area. Star is available for adoption for $100 to an approved home with a minimum 60 day trial period. Adopter must be located within an approx. maximum five hour drive of Allentown/Chesterfield, NJ.

Email lunar_aradia@yahoo.com for more information or an application. Questions about Star can also be directed to (609) 481-8561.

Next up is Cocoa. 14 year-old 11hh Shetland pony gelding- small child’s riding pony or companion/pasture pet. Cocoa spent three years living on a chain outside someone’s house with his friend Star. To date, he’s been evaluated under saddle once and should make a nice child’s pony. He needs a bit more handling and retraining, but is an overall calm and good boy. We prefer to place him in a home with Star, but will consider all home offers. Cocoa is available for adoption for $150 to an approved home with a minimum 60 day trial period. Adopter must be located within an approx. maximum five hour drive of Allentown/Chesterfield, NJ.

Email lunar_aradia@yahoo.com for more information or an application. Questions about Cocoa can also be directed to (609) 481-8561.

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VIDEOS:

Cocoa’s riding evaluation- Video 1: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150362983508346

Cocoa’s riding evaluation- Video 2: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150363005943346

And finally, my friend Jessica… remember her? JESSICA- 18 year-old 14.2hh Standardbred mare- trail/pleasure W-T-C riding- suited for advanced smaller rider, pleasure driving, or companion. Jessica was saved from slaughter via New Holland auction. She has some trust issues from her past that have greatly improved. Jessica makes a wonderful driving pony and is also a great pasture pet/companion for other horses. Suited for a smaller advanced rider or intermediate+ driver, Jess is a sweet, feisty girl who rides walk-trot-canter. She is looking for a home with a kind, experienced person who can give her the one-on-one attention she deserves.

Jessica is available for adoption for $250 to an approved home with a minimum 60 day trial period. Adopter must be located within an approx. maximum five hour drive of Allentown/Chesterfield, NJ.

Email lunar_aradia@yahoo.com for more information or an application. Questions about Jessica can also be directed to (609) 481-8561

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VIDEOS:

Virtual cart ride: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150281831455279&…

Jessica driving 8/12: Video 2: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150281831050279

Jessica driving 8/12: Video 1: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150281364770279&…

Jessica enjoying attention and scratches: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150258793220279&…

Jessica cantering in open field: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150241277015279

Jessica enjoying being scratched in the field: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150240308765279

Jessica’s good manners getting groomed: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150240535770279&…

Jessica cantering under saddle: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150240536875279

Jessica walk/trot/canter in open field: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150240536575279

Jessica walk/trot with Caitlin in roundpen: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150219582765279

Jessica walking with Caitlin in roundpen: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150212426275279

Jessica: Bareback in Paddock: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150206414030279

TO SEE MORE, OLDER VIDEOS OF JESSICA, PLEASE VISIT: www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=182161965195825

Jessica and Anouk Busch

Jessica in the summertime

Stay warm, my friends!

Saturday, 1/14/12

Wizard began his doxycycline treatment for Lyme Disease on Tuesday night. In acute cases, I’ve heard of horses showing signs of improvement in 3 days to a week. Since Wizard’s test readings showed chronic and acute levels, I’m guessing that it will take longer. He’s a little quieter than usual, but I don’t see much more than that.

He was just as sensitive about grooming and blanketing as he was before starting his meds, and he is trotting out the same as he did before treatment. He was FULL of energy, but that could be the lack of work and the cold air- we got a blast of below-freezing temps for the weekend.

Getting Wizard to eat the doxycycline is a challenge. My vet said that the simplest way to get him to eat the 45-pill dose (twice daily) is to see if he will eat the whole pills. Some horses do, apparently. Wizard does not. The first time he bit into one, he made a range of awful faces and sulked in a corner.

Things I tried:

What did not work
Cherry Kool-aid powder
Whole pills mixed with molasses
Peppermint oil
Powder mixed with feed

What worked (so far)
I fill a plastic container with 2-3 handfuls of grain. Then, I dribble a little oil to make it sticky. Then, I put the doxy powder on top. Then, I put a blob of molasses on top of that. Then, I add warm water. Put the lid on and shake the whole thing up. Once it soaks, it’s the consistency of runny oatmeal, and it gets poured on Wizard’s grain like salad dressing. He leaves a little grain behind, but eats almost all of it. Because it’s wet, there is very little leftover powder.

The other thing that helped me was to cover my face with a bandanna while grinding the pills. I get an awful taste in my mouth when I inhale the powder. Blech.

I know Wizard is getting the meds into his system because his manure is soft and has a very odd smell. At night, I’m feeding him a probiotic, since it is not supposed to be fed at the same time as the doxy.

On Saturday, I took Wizard outside for a little hand grazing. He was in fine fettle, and was leaping around, playfully arching his neck and misbehaving on the lead line. Once we had a leadline refresher course, I took him into the indoor arena for a longeing session. I longed him mostly for exercise, since I’m letting him rest while he’s on the Lyme medicine. He mostly longed without side reins, and I put them on for just a few minutes in each direction. As an experiment, I asked him to canter just 2-3 rotations in each direction. He picked up each lead perfectly, and his canter looked pretty nice. He did, however, stumble pretty badly going from the walk to a trot. He also acted up and spun from right to left twice. It could have been that he was distracted, though, since we could hear hunters in the woods and the horses were on high alert.

A horse was found wandering by the road in New Jersey in autumn 2011. Animal Control picked him up and held him for a few days. Nobody claimed him, so he took residence at Helping Hearts Equine Rescue in Perrineville, NJ, and was named Walter.

After getting three months of regular meals, Walter went from this…

To this…

Recently, Walter was evaluated under saddle, and he’s gaited! His stocky build makes him look like a Quarter Horse, but there’s no mistaking the way he moves…

Here’s more information from Helping Hearts- please contact HHER if you’re interested in adopting Walter:

“Walter is approx 18 yrs, 14.3 hh. And will be suitable for an advanced beginner on up. I plan to start putting my lesson kids in him this weekend to hack him out and start toning him up.

He is a nice, personable, sweet horse. His adoption fee will be $300.”

Monday, 1/9/12

On Monday night, I longed Wizard, just to give him a little exercise. We basically repeated our Sunday session, but it was a little shorter. I saw a little shortness in his right front when he warmed up, but it went away by the time he was done. Videos above of him longeing. It’s not easy to longe and film! I could not really rate him, so he rushed to the right and plodded to the left, ha ha. I’ve gotta practice. I usually use my phone but I shot an actual video this time.

On Tuesday morning, my vet called me with his Lyme Disease test results. Here are his values (Cornell Multiplex Test):

Acute = 7,000
Chronic = 9,500
Vaccination = nil

My vet explained that his acute levels are on the high end of the spectrum, and the chronic values are in the middle range of the spectrum. She prescribed three months of doxycyclene administered twice daily.

Wizard’s history and symptoms:

- Sensitivity to grooming and touch. People said it was a “Thoroughbred thing”, but he would sometimes jolt like he was zapped by an electric fence if I touched him, even very lightly with my fingers.
- Grouchiness about blanketing and saddling.
- Seasonal crankiness under saddle. In the spring and summer, he would practically improve with every ride. In the winter and sometimes fall, he did a lot of ear-pinning under saddle. Tail-swishing, a little kicking at the girth. He was worst at the canter, but also sometimes really irritated at the trot. On a really loose rein at the walk, I could get him to relax, but as soon as I took contact and his topline changed, he would get worked up. He also seemed to have difficulty with upward transitions. He was never bad, but he was “not right”- something was bothering him. I’ve been suspecting SI joint/back, and that was going to be our next line of examination.
- Occasional body soreness. My friend does massage work with him, and sometimes he was really tense.
- Chiropractically all over the map. He never had one particular thing that was always “out”. It was usually a few things here and there.
- Occasional minor lameness in different legs. No swelling or heat, and it always resolved itself with a few days of rest.
- Occasional stumbling.
- Some difficulty maintaining weight. He did not lose an extreme amount of weight, but he seems to not hold his weight as well as he did in the past.
- Occasional odd/quirky behavior. He did not get lethargic- he was the opposite- keyed up for no good reason, overreacting to things, etc.

These are the things I tried:

- 30 days of omeprazole (the blue pop rocks)
- 3 weeks of Mag-Restore
- Nightly Back on Track blanketing
- Massage
- Chiropractic
- Bought a new (used) saddle
- Decreased activity
- Increased activity
- Bute as an experiment. He warmed up a little faster and moved a little nicer than before, but it did not resolve the under-saddle issues.
- The vet did a basic lameness evaluation and did not locate any issues that should have caused his problems. She located minor issues, but nothing that should prevent him from doing the low-level work that we do. When she did the exam, she said to try the Lyme test as the next diagnostic step if he did not improve, and we did.
- The vet did a basic neurological exam and did not see any issues.
- Shoeing changes

So now we have a diagnosis and a treatment plan. If only I could get him to eat the medicine in his grain now…

Sunday, 1/8/12

On Friday morning, the vet examined Wizard in the hopes of diagnosing the cause of our under-saddle issues. The last time she did an evaluation was May 2009 (click here to read it).

She did some simple neurological tests, and she did not see anything that raised any red flags for her. She also pulled blood to do a Lyme Disease test, and we’ll get the results in a few days. She watched him on the longe line, and said she did not see any lower limb unsoundness. The plan is to do further diagnostics of his back and SI (sacroiliac) joint if he comes back negative for Lyme. I really like my vet- she is very open-minded and thorough. I am hoping that we can get to the bottom of this.

On Sunday night, I longed Wizard in the indoor arena, and Kris and Sunny longed in the other end of the ring with us. It was a chilly night, in the 30s when I got there. Wizard worked in his bridle and surcingle. He walked and trotted without side reins as a warmup (video above), and then we did about 10 minutes of side rein work, trotting and working on one spiral in each direction. He was very willing to do some work. For the past few visits, I’ve been letting him run and play loose in the arena. He got just a little sweaty and I cooled him out by walking him in hand. I put him to bed, and will continue waiting for a call from the vet’s office.

$1- to approved home only. MidAtlantic Horse Rescue is assisting with the placement of these Thoroughbred mares located in Westminster, MD. These mares are looking for homes- deadline is 1/31, or unfortunately they will be euthanized, rather than end up in bad hands. Contact Bev for more info- 610-405-0607 or email Bev@MidAtlanticHorseRescue.org

Please share the photos of these mares with your horse friends.

Sweet Lil Lolly, bay mare, 15.2h, 2001, by Military- Sweet Blow Pop. Pedigree: www.pedigreequery.com/sweet+lil+lolly

PLACED Go Rose, b.m. 16.1 1/2h, 2000 by Yoh May Kenta-Pacoma Rose. Open. Pedigree: www.pedigreequery.com/go+rose2

Starduster, b. m. 16.1 1/4h, 2002 by Western Expression-Cold Stare. Open. Pedigree: www.pedigreequery.com/starduster5

Way Easy, dk. b.m., 16.0h, 2002 by Chief Seattle — Toogoodtobe Easy, by Easy Goer. Open. Pedigree: www.pedigreequery.com/way+easy

Smooth Slew, grey mare, 15.2h, 1998. Dam: Smooth Angel, Sire: Ocala Slew. Sound and sweet, does have a melanoma on her tail. Pedigree: www.pedigreequery.com/smooth+slew

Sunday, 1/1/12

My mom always said that how you spend your New Year’s Day will reflect on how you live in the upcoming year. Sooooooo, I went on a trail ride with Wizard and Kris and Sunny :^) Before our ride, I knew Wizard needed to blow off a little steam. There is a big weather change on the way in, and the warm air is being chased out by a cold front tomorrow (Monday). The air today was very mild and sunny- I think it got over 50 degrees.

When I went out to Wizard’s paddock to bring him in, he walked over to me, which I always think is really cute. Some days, he actually runs to me, and some days, it’s a meandering walk with a few stops. But giving up his turnout friends for me is a compliment indeed.

I could tell Wizard was “fresh” as soon as I had a halter on him. He was prancing around playfully as we walked down the driveway. I turned him loose in the outdoor arena and he went BANANAS, leaping and running, tail flagged. He took every opportunity to gallop, spin, and spook. He was still sparky when I took him out of the arena. I tacked him up and then I longed him in the round pen while Kris longed Sunny in the other end of the indoor arena. Someone was working on some equipment in the storage space behind the side wall of the indoor arena, and Wizard hopped around every time he heard clanging. He’s not a spooky horse, but he had an excess of energy today and showed me at every opportunity. He did some work in side reins, and that helped him settle a little. In the very beginning of longeing, it looked like he might have been a hair off again in the left front, but it seemed to go away- whew. On Wednesday night, he was looking funny on the same leg when I let him trot around the arena. His right hind also looked a little “hitchy”. On Saturday, it was gone. I have my eye on it.

I mounted up, and Kris and I headed out onto the trails. Wizard stood like a stone while I got in the saddle, and walked nicely in the arena, but as soon as we started to head down the drive way, he began hopping and prancing. I sat firmly and quietly, and he settled once we were in the woods. With every leaping squirrel and every fluttering leaf, Wizard twirled his head and thought about reacting. I focused on some shoulder in, and sitting as balanced as possible. He nervously chewed on the bit, but by the time we reached the third leg of the ride, he was settled and in his groove. There were dirt bikes in the woods, but none came within our sight or onto any of our trails.

Even when we were walking back up the driveway, Wizard was alert. Usually, he’s loose and relaxed on the last bit of the ride, but not today! He felt as fresh as he was when I pulled him out of the paddock. I brought him in the outdoor arena after our trail ride, and just trotted about 5 laps around the arena. He was so excited about his surroundings that he barely flattened his ears or kicked out. He listened and he felt really nice, but was definitely FIZZY. Hopefully, I’ll schedule a vet appointment this week so I can figure out if the fizz is a physical issue. He also has a farrier appointment for Monday- he’s overdue (8 weeks- ack! I try to keep him on a strict 5 or 6-week schedule).