Wow, it has been over 2 months since I updated this blog. Time just disappears. To catch up, I have been riding Katz in the large arena. I am not a fan of riding in round pens, neither is Katz apparently. Since we have been riding in the main arena, he has been a bit on the quite side. He still needs to work on turning and bending but we are getting there. We have been cantering and I must say his canter is lovely. I would almost say that he may be my future hunter but we need to work on the left lead. He does not want to take it. Takes the right, no problem.
The vet was out a few weeks ago for the annual dental visit. Katz did not need any work, my other OTTB did and my TWH but none of the other guys. I did have my vet watch Katz move. I felt that he has a bit less trot when going to the left. Vet flexed him and watched him move. He did agree that Katz has a bit less range of motion in the Right shoulder. Does not bother him and even my vet said that most riders would not be able to see it. We started him on Adequan injections since after 7 years of racing, he is the poster horse for Adequan due to the high probablitiy of future arthritis. As for his right shoulder, I am working on bending more, turning and I stretch him out after rides. The Adequan will probably help as well. A few days ago, I did notice Katz trying to itch his right side. So I went over to help. Well, besides the shedding, he had hives! Itchy Hives at that. Not sure what got him but I did fine one lump larger than the others and it looks like there are a few little bites. Maybe he found some ants whilst out in the pasture. Today, hives almost gone, never had a temp and never lost his appetite. Just itchy. Thus have not ridden him the last few days, figured let the hives go away first. But I am helping him with his winter coat. It was 70 degrees today and the hair is falling out. Here is what Katz looks like when I brush him now, super relaxed. This is night and day from when I first brought him home 5 months ago. He did not even want to be touched, at all. Now he just stands and you can touch/brush all over. This has been really neat experience to be apart of, the adjustment from race horse to my horse. The personality change and seeing him figure out his new life is pretty amazing. Even if he never becomes my super Jumper or Hunter, I would not change a thing. Just him learning that I am okay, and his new home is okay has been so rewarding. He whinnies whenever he sees me now and he always wants to touched. No more trying to bite or jump away when you try to touch him. I think he may like me!
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I had a plan to ride Katz a bit after I got home from riding my other OTTB. It was raining so headed inside for lunch. By 3pm, the rain let up and it was more of a drizzle. I still decided to ride. I checked the footing of the round pen and was fine, a bit moist but not sloppy. I put the halter on Katz and brought him to the cross ties to get tacked up. He just hung out as I brushed him, cleaned hooves, put on hoof boots and tacked him up.
Out to round pen. I started with the usual, send him to the rail and warm up at a walk and trot. Brought him back to me and over to the mounting block. This time I move the block a bit more to the inside of the round pen, not as close to the rail. Just seen what would happen if he had more space. He stood, I got one, he still stood. I had him bend to the left, treat. Then had him bend to the right, treat. Off we went at the walk. We did some trot both ways and called it good. Three days in a row of mounting success, no drama. With a nice 48 degrees this am, tacked up Katz. Today, rather than get him ready in his stall, which is what I have been doing, I put him in the cross ties to see what he knew about this. Stood just fine.
Once out to round pen, he was a bit full of himself. I barely got his reins tucked up when he pulled away and took off. So he got to go around for awhile. His trot is improving in that he is not landing on his toes with a short step rather he is striding out. I think he is finding his balance on the circle. After a bit, gathered him up and over to mounting block. He stood, I got on . No drama. That is now 2 days in a row of mounting success! Maybe I am really making progress? We worked on trot today and bending. He does try to fall to the inside, which ever way we are going so I am working on getting him more balanced. What is working for him since he is learning that a little bit of bit pressure does not mean go faster, is if he starts to lean in, I put my inside leg on, use my outside rein for direction, inside rein when I want a bit more bend. But the key is, very little rein and not together. So it goes something like this: Katz starts leaning to the inside, inside leg a bit behind the girth and pressure, fingers on the outside rein close, then release. During the release of the outside rein, more pressure on the inside. If no bend, the quick pressure on the outside, release with a bit more closing of fingers on the inside rein. Leg stays on until he bends, even a little. This has help greatly in that he was going around nicely both directions. No falling to the middle of the round pen. Then we walked, practicing bending which he does much better at the walk and making tighter turns. It was 59 degrees at 3 pm today so out to ride Katz. My first indication that I am making progress and that he may actually like/trust me more is that I was able to touch and brush around his left ear without any worries. The ears, particularly his left have been touchy but does not seem to be physical in that when we are just hanging out in his stall, I can rub all over his face and neck. When the halter goes on and it is obvious we are going to do something, no touching near the ears. Could be that he was ear twitched or something similar in the past. He is tall at 17 hh so I could see people having problems putting his bridle on thus maybe this form of leverage was used ( not something I agree with but his past job was to run, nothing else). Lucky for me I am tall, so even when he raises his head, I can still reach! So we have been working on that, touching of the ears. Today, he could have cared less that I was brushing his ears. Bridle now.. he did not even raise his head when it went on. He takes the bit just fine but does not like the headpiece over his ears. But today, slid over his ears with no problem.
Out to round pen. We walked together then I tucked up the reins and let him trot around. Last few times, I have not put the lunge rope on. He will go in the direction I point and just keep going around until I ask him to change direction. His new thing is to keep an eye on me and the second he thinks we are done, he comes trotting in to me. He also follows me around so pretty neat, no rope or reins needed. Makes me believe that he thinks I am okay. Lowered my stirrups, put the reins back normal and we walked one lap around. Then one stop next to block, he stood, we walked around one more time. I then brought him to the block, asked him to stand, I stepped on the block... no moving, deep breath on my part, foot in stirrup.....no moving! I mounted, he did not move, just stood but did turn his head to my right, looking for a treat. Again, I am fine with this, particularly because bending to the right is also a new thing for him. Here we are, standing and he bending to the right. I reached down and hand him a treat and praise him. He is also very in tune with voice and LOVES to hear 'good boy' . He responds very well to voice, but treats are an extra plus. So off we walk, did some trot but it was a shorter ride. We mounted without any drama today, that is perfect for today's session. I really wanted to work with Katz tonight since I knew that the new Renegade hoof boots were delivered. Sure enough boots arrived so out to the barn. I have been using hoof boots on Katz since he is barefoot. His shoes were pulled the day I picked him up at the track so that, with his under-run heel that are supposedly common in TBs, I want to help him get healthier hooves. Thus keeping him barefoot (and with the winter, best to be barefoot with snow and such), with frequent but brief rasps to bring his heel back, and hoof boots so that he walks/trots with a heel first landing. Without boots, he starts moving a bit with the toe first so the boots are helping. The boots I have been using can flop off and I was tired of always needing a screw driver near by to adjust them, thus went with the Renegades.
Boots fit great, no screwdrivers needed, no feats of strength to get boot on hoof! Wonderful! Katz tacked up and out to round pen. We lunged for a bit, he cantered, boots did great, ready to get on. Now, After bringing Katz over to the mounting block and which he did not want to stand at all, rather dash off, I had a thought. I have head of '2 steps forward, one step back' and other various on this saying but in the case of Katz, more math is involved. I rode him 4 days last week, Wednesday - Saturday. By Saturday, he was standing nicely, only took a few minutes to get him to that point and he only took a few walk steps when I mounted then stood just fine. Sunday ride was for my other OTTB, Jumping lesson, then by the time I got home, Husband reminded me we need to get food for the Superbowl. Off to the store. By the time we got back, I had some free time but I needed to trim Mace's hooves. After that, it was time for stall cleaning and feeding, then it was Superbowl kick off. Monday, I had back pain, probably due to tossing hay around on Sunday so no riding. Tuesday, back still not happy. Wednesday, late meetings so no riding. Thus I had 4 days in a row of riding, 4 days of no riding. 4 - 4 = 0 and that was where we were at today with mounting. It seems that we went back to day 1 in terms of getting on. He did not want to stand, once he did, if I moved, he jumped away from the block. After 10 min, he would stand but if I put my foot in the stirrup, he quickly scooted away, dragging me off and it is amazing the size of the lump that appears on your leg from just bumping a large plastic mounting block. 20 minutes later, he was standing, I sort of got on and he was off. I sort of ended up sliding off his rump, sort of hoping he would not kick out. He did not, good boy. I then sent him back out to the rail of the round pen for some more lunging. Maybe if he figures out that it is less work to let me mount, this will help. Brought him back over to mounting block, same behavior so back out to the rail to lunge. Back in to try mounting again, stood still until I went to put foot in stirrup, he dragged me off. He scooted away but I kept a hold of the reins, he stopped, I looked at him, brought him back to the block. He stood, I put foot in stirrup, he stood, I put all my weight on that one side and he stood. I then fully mounted and he stood still. Good boy! Actually had to ask him to move forward. So something got Katz thinking again. Was it my 'look'? I remember the look I gave was something like this ' nope not mad, not going to punish you, but REALLY? Back we are going to the block, follow me, again' Katz has been home for a little over 7 weeks. Week 4 I started some ground work which he caught on to very quickly. Love the smart mind of a TB! We did ground work for 3 days, was going to ride but then it snowed. A few days later, snow gone and ground was not too frozen and not muddy yet so decided to get on. At first Katz came right next to mounting block and stood there. So I put my foot in the stirrup, put some weight on him then stepped off. I think he did not know what was going on at first since I went to do that again, he would not stand still and quickly moved off. I think he figured out I was going to get on and he went into Jockey mode. I am calling jockey mode when they sort of throw the jockey on the horse as horse is moving. Thus me asking for Katz to stand by mounting block to get on, was a new stressful event. Seems that some of the stress was when he pulled me off so I had him watch me get up and down on the block until he no longer worried about that. Then after about 15 min of walking around the mounting block, standing, repeat., he stood still. So I got on and we were off. Katz lunged forward, I lost my stirrups but held on with my legs since I know that you are not to pull on the OTTB since that just makes them go faster. So after a few laps around the round pen with katz cantering, hoping, me thinking 'yep, should of had another human around, and me talking to him the whole time, I turned his head to the left and we started to slow and then stopped. Got my stirrups back and we then just walked around. Got off, remounted, slight burst of movement but nothing like the first time. Walked some more and ended the first ride. Then it snowed and was bitter cold for a week. 2nd ride: The second ride was going to be at my trainers barn, nice indoor arena. That ended up being a hand walking lesson and standing next to mounting block. There was no getting on Katz. There were other horses in the arena and it was too much going on. He also did not seem to like multiple humans on the ground asking him to stand. Seemed to stress him out. So we just walked, I got my exercise for the day. Real 2nd ride - with the winter ground thawing but not muddy, perfect for riding. I did some ground work first, some lunging and then time to ride. 40 minutes later, had Katz able to stand next to mounting block and willing to give about 2 seconds to get my foot in the stirrup and get on. And we were off, this time fast trott with crow hops. Lost my stirrups again. The bolt right as I would get on did not help me with my stirrups. So legs hold on, me talking to him and then with a little pressure on the reins, Katz stopped and stood. Only 1 lap around round pen this time! Some walk and trot then I got off and led him back to mounting block, got back on. He only took one step when I got on. Making progess! 3rd ride - To see if there were any good hints on mounting your new OTTB, I checked the internet. There is a great video about retraining your ottb. This part of the Retired Racehorse Training Project ( http://www.retiredracehorsetraining.org) and here is the video (around minute 9:00, he is mounting and providing hints!) Ok, watched video, I am ready! I put up 2 barrels on one side with the mounting block on the other. Nice walk way between. We walked through several times, then I started asking Katz to stand for a second, then walk. He would stand until I got on the mounting block then he would go forward or backwards. Tried this for 20 min, he started to get the 'look' ( he is very expressive. You can see when he has had enough of something and is no longer going to try, rather panic starts to seep in) so I then decided to change the process. I took the mounting block over near the fence. That was the direction he kept wanting to go so lets try this over there. And I am not below bribes, treats for standing still. After just a few tries and a treat each time he stood, Sucess! Katz stood still, I got on. A quick burst but I kept me stirrups this time. He then stopped and turned his head towards my left leg. Someone wanted a treat. So I reached down and he gently took it. Now some may poo-poo my use of treats but if the treat got Katz to focus on something else rather than whatever he was focusing on, I see no problem with treats for positive reinforcement.
Ride 4 - today was ride 4. I let him spend the morning in the pasture playing. Brought him in, tacked up, out to round pen. I put the mounting block accross from the fence, we walked around it several times. I stood on block, he stood still, treat, I stepped off. Today took 5 minutes to get him to stand still for mounting, and I got at least 5 seconds to get my foot in stirrup, I got on, he took 2 steps forward and stood still. I had him bend to the right this time for his treat and then we walked off. Today we did more trot work and I had him trot over a pole. He is learning! I am way behind on my OTTB blog! In December, traveled to California to pick up the newest addition to the horse family. I wanted an TB right off the track and found my perfect match through The Second Race . Wanted to try my hand at being the first human after the track rather than the second or third. I have never been to a big race track so that in itself was an experience. It was very neat and loved seeing all the wonderful TBs. We left the track at 9am, got home at 11:50 pm. Stopped 5 times to give Katz a drink and some more hay.
The next day, he hung out in the barn taking in his new surrounds. The day after that, I opened the door to the attached run and led him around. After I left, he just stood in the barn looking out. Then by afternoon, he decided to go out on his own! It was interesting to watch him figure out that he had the choice to go outside. Coming back in took him a few minutes but he figured it out with a leap into the barn stall! Katz has been home for 2 months now and he is doing great. He comes in and out of his outside stall, figured out that he can drink from the trough outside ( I still leave a full buck in the barn though!), and has decided that he can now grump and Jedi in the stall next door. At first, Jedi was his security blanket. No longer it seems! He is not scared of things, grabbed the shavings bag from me and started playing with it. Well, I do like the epona shoes. They did not help Solo much as far as riding. Last month, tried some walk trot with him and still stiff. I do think that the arthritis in his hips is getting worse. The day after our short ride he did seem more ouchie on his fronts. So no riding for Solo. The shoes did seem to help him be move better when in his stall or out in the pasture. This year he seems to be a bit more sore, cannot wait for winter to be over.
What I do really like about these shoes is that if you loosen the nails and put the nails out, shoe can easily be re-used. There was a little bit of wear on the toe but nothing eles. Thinking you could get at least 2 uses out of one pair. Solo has been just hanging out for the last 3 years. In 2008, had xrays done on his front feet and he has bone spurts, laterally, on both. Today, we put on Epona shoes ( he has been barefoot and doing well with no riding but still has days where he not quite right). Farrier used glue and the 2 nails on each side of the hoof . We shall see if this helps him be more comfortable and maybe, even get to where we can do just flat work. I did not want to pack him yet, wanted to see how basic Epona shoes goes. And I like to be able to clean out feet and see what is going on. We did not put glue along the back so that if I do decided to pack, we can fill in later.
This was so much fun and Mace was a superstar. We were the queen from snow what, My instructor was snow white and her horse was Dopey. First time we have jumped 3 ' at a show. And in costume!
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