Daffodil..................Western Pleasure AAOTR

Part 1

On the way back to the barn my next class was already on my mind. It was an evening class and everyone knows that things get spookier at night. With my horse already convinced bad things lurked in that arena, I really needed another schooling session in there if I could get it.

It was then I learned the evening schedule did not have a listed start time. I knew that meant the show manager could begin any time he chose after the end of the afternoon session. I suspected he would make that start time as early as possible so the show could end early for that day. If that was the case, they wouldn't take much of a break.

At least my horse would get a small break even if I didn't. Our class had been in the midpoint of the afternoon session. I'd untack my horse and let him have some down time while I sought out the appropriate officials to find out the plans for the evening session.

As we walked into my barn, the woman in the first stalls was working on horses in the barn aisle. The woman noticed our ribbons and acknowledged our success. Legs did his usual......and just quietly walked by not taking any kind of notice of "strange" horses in his path.

I heard the woman remark what a "sweet boy" as we passed. I really didn't think much about it at the time. I guess because I have the expectation my horse will be good, I don't understand why others are surprised when he is. Personally I think expectation has a lot to do with how horses behave.

I walked Legs directly to his stall tying him up until I could get to him. I threw a cooler over his back just in case the wind whipped back up before I finished changing out of my show clothes. Since our stalls were right by the big door and that wind blew directly into Legs' stall, the last think I wanted was a chilled horse.

Legs dropped his head and sighed as I closed his door. He knows the routine. I figure the horse was thinking he wasn't done yet since he was being tied still saddled.

Normally I untack him before I change out of my show clothes but I didn't think I had time to do that. At this show Legs had decided he wasn't sure he wanted to "duck" under the curtains to go into the ready room.

I don't know what it is with horses they can do something for years and suddenly decide it looks strange to them. Since I didn't feel I had time for a schooling session on entering the ready room, I was going to get out of my show clothes and pack my tack from the horse's stall to the tack room.

I wanted to give the horse as much real down time as I could so he could really relax. I thought that might just let his brain chill out more than staying tied most of the afternoon.

Only after I began putting the horse's blanket on did it strike him that he really was getting a break. I didn't even have the last leg strap attached when Legs dropped his head looking for a place to drop. I firmy corrected him with my voice and Legs looked at me with a puppy dog gaze, "Come on, Mom, I'm pooped!" but he stood quietly for me to exit. Then it was down with a thud. Before I even left the barn, my horse was in dreamland. That searching for trolls is exhausting work.

I learned at the in-gate the break between the afternoon session and the evening one would only be forty five minutes. That meant I would need to be up at the arena waiting when the session ended if I wanted any chance of getting the appropriate schooling done. I thought of poor Legs back at the stall taking his siesta. His nap was going to have to be cut short if we were going to get in the schooling time we needed.

Unlike the afternoon session, our evening class was farther down the schedule. At least I wouldn't have to tack up my horse all ready to go show. He'd be able to get a bit more of a break on the other side of our schooling session.......or so I thought.

Because there was only a short break, the arena was a zoo with horses schooling for the evening session. That gave Legs lots of things to worry about at the scary end of the arena. It also added additional scared horses for Legs to feed off of. That made it a productive session.

Legs got lots of reminders that he's supposed to be respecting the bridle and my legs instead of making his own decisions about how to deal with those trolls. I stayed at it until the horse finally seemed to relax some at that far end. It was the first time since we'd arrived at the horse show that I'd heard him sigh anywhere near those tarps. I figured that was a good place to stop and we headed back to the barn until our next class.

Back at the barn, the same lady was working on horses in the barn aisle. Legs walked through just like he had the first time and again the woman seemed surprised at his manners.

I half chuckled to myself thinking people put up with too much stuff from stallions. I didn't find out until much later this woman hadn't even realized yet that Legs WAS/IS a stallion.

Thinking of that now really makes me laugh. I just have to wonder what she thinks acceptable behavior IS for a horse. Either that or what kind of things have happened to her in the past at horse shows that she so appreciates a horse that walks quietly down the barn aisle like it should. Either way, there's some kind of story there and I just can't help wondering what that might be. Maybe someday I'll know. I really liked that woman and I hope we will be friends.

It turned out that the evening session had cancellations I hadn't counted on. When the paddock announcer made his first call of the night, he rattled off the list of cancelled classes and there were about three of them before the Purebred Western Pleasure Adult Amateur Owner to Ride 40 & over class.Since I can get rattled getting ready for a class, I was now wishing I had tacked up my horse for schooling with my show pad so I wouldn't have to redo things now.

It's a good thing that Legs is used to me bouncing off the walls about getting ready for classes. The horse just doesn't take on my nerves. I scurried and fussed while he just stood there calmly getting all slicked up for another trip back into that arena. The only protest from him was getting that goop on his face. The horse hates that stuff.......the best part of it to him is getting it wiped off at the end.

As it turned out once I had the horse ready and got myself dressed, there was no down time. I grabbed my horse and we headed up to the warm-up ring.

Legs was still calm and I actually got a pretty decent ride off of him in the warm-up arena despite the fact it was much more crowded than it had been earlier in the day. Of course there were no big rigs moving through either. By the time we lined up on the ramp, I was confident we might just have a troll-less ride.

I think this class was the biggest class I rode at the horse show. There were eleven horses in the class and Legs was pretty good. He still tensed up at the far end of the arena and there was still some resistance at his poll but it was a reasonable ride. I couldn't ask much more.

The only real issue was a break from the lope going the second direction. I'm still not sure if it was my fault or the horse's. I asked him to move to the inside to avoid coming up on a horse that was struggling and Legs broke, just for an instant, but he broke.

We did not get a ribbon in that class. I don't know if it was that break in stride or the tension and resistance, no matter how small. This division is much harder than the select rider class. I know when we can win here, we will really be where we belong.


To be continued...................

The Second Day

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Daffodil..................Select Rider............ part 2

Part 1

The first few strides of that lope were absolutely awesome. Then we began moving into the scary part of that arena. My horse tensed up expecting to find trolls somewhere waiting for him. With that he sped up just a bit, bracing at the poll and raising up a little too.

Instead of riding the horse deep into the corners as I usually do, I decided it was best of ride him a dozen or so feet off that scary rail. With wind gusts flirting with the tarp wall, it was only a matter of time before "something" got Legs.

I figured if there was a little distance between the offending tarps and my horse I might be able to convince him to manage his fear. That would also give me room to move the horse laterally off my legs to the outside. Those lateral moves are difficult so the horse must "think" about what he's doing. I knew the more I could keep Legs focused on my the less likely he was to spook.

We managed to navigate through that end of the arena without a major incident. I knew my horse was not as soft or responsive as I like but at least he hadn't jumped out from underneath me. In my mind, it was good.

We actually loped a couple of complete laps around the arena before being asked to transition down into the jog. I think we were actually in the exact spot the beautiful lope transition had happened. Something about that location must have been good for Legs because the transition to the jog was as flawless as the one up into the lope. It was easy to see my horse was and is finally getting it.

Because we had already walked, I figured we would be asked to reverse at the jog. I pushed my horse off the rail anticipating the request from the announcer. By the time it came, I had my horse far enough off the rail I was able to turn him into the wall to make my change of direction. That allowed me to "use" the wall as a barrier to shorten my horse's frame.

Legs is used to this kind of change in direction, although it's normally done at the walk. He stepped deep underneath himself and rolled over softly into the bridle. Our jog down towards the call judge was smooth and slow. Then they asked us to walk and my horse accommodated with a fluid transition.

The new Judges and Stewards Commissioner, Stan Morey, has made it clear he expects judges to judge ALL gaits equally. It's my understanding that means that the "walk" must be treated as the gait it is instead of just a few step transition into another gait as it has been "used" for many years by some judges. It didn't surprise me that we walked a good portion of the ring before asked to lope. I suspect with this insistence by Stan Morey, we'll be seeing lots more "walk" in shows to come.

For me, that's a good thing. I allow my western horse to do the "ground covering" walk the rule book calls for. The rate of my horse at the walk isn't because he is disrespecting the bridle (as some trainers think) but because he truly is engaged from behind and carrying himself properly. I love getting the opportunity to show off the softness and responsiveness of my horse at this gait. All it took to keep Legs in the bridle was a soft squeeze of my legs every now and then.

By the time we were asked to lope we were heading down into that far scary corner again. This transition was not what the first one had been. The funny thing about that is working to the right really is Legs' best way. However, the tension in his body translated to stiffness at his poll. While the transition wasn't terrible, it wasn't the poetry in motion I would have liked. It was pretty clear I was getting a different ride from my horse at this end of the arena than at the other one.

The rest of the ride went about the same. As we'd move out of the troll zone my horse would soften. The closer we'd get to moving back into that zone, the horse's anxiety would return. I was relieved when they called for the line-up even though we were just beginning our move into unfriendly territory.

I saw the opportunity to reverse my horse instead of heading all the way through the scary part of the arena so I went for it. The unexpected change of direction took my horse's mind off his search for trolls and we actually made it into the line up without incident. All in all it was a clean ride, if not the prettiest. At this point, that's a good thing.

This Daffodil All Arabian Horse Spring Show is really considered to be concurrent shows. There are two judges and the results from each are considered to be a separate show for the purpose of qualifications and points earned.

This format is new to the Arabian breed beginning in 2009. While I showed at Daffodil last year, with the foal watch on and my time limited at the horse show, I didn't really get the "feel" for this new format. This line-up was my first "realization" of the new format with it's resulting ring behavior.

I'm not particularly fond of this type of show. Riding with my friends, I like to know how each did. I find it difficult to keep track of who gets what in this two judge system. Once the horses move up for their first set of ribbons, I'm lost when the second ones are beginning to be presented. .The one thing I know for sure is a unanimous decision by the judges is about the only way I can keep up with what's happening. Once they no longer agree, I'm lost.

In this class, Legs was first on the call judge, Josh Quintos's, card. They placed the rest of the class on that card while Legs and I got our picture taken. From there I wasn't sure where I was supposed to go so I just moved up out of the way of the horse first on judge Lewis McKim's card.

When I heard my number called for the second place, I was really confused. Knowing the photographer, Rob Hess, wanted to take pics of the "victory pass" AND I really want a pic of Legs going with soft rein, I wasn't sure if I should get my red ribbon first or stay put to get the pic and get my ribbon on the way out of the class.

I know there are probably bigger issues to worry about at a horse show, but like I said, I'm new to this concurrent show thing and I didn't want to look "new." I wanted it to appear I knew what I was doing........even if I didn't.

To be honest, I can't even tell you which way I ended up. I know I got my picture taken AND I did end up with my red ribbon. Which order I did them in...............I'm clueless. But, hey, a red and a blue from our first class of the year, not too bad for a clueless old broad.........and her spooky, shopping for trolls horse.

To be continued...................

Western Pleasure AAOTR

This pic isn't of this class but it was taken at the spring show this year. I used it so you can see what that far end looks like. It's made up of green metal panels with sheets of plywood attached. Then there are those yellow tarps blocking off the view above the rails except down at the far end where there is a gate that can be opened to let the tractor in for drags.

There are bales of straw stacked outside next to the panels to stop the riders schooling horses outside from riding right next to the rail. People coming from the office to the ribbon room also walk right next to the straw bales quite often. It's really a spooky set-up for many horses, not just mine.



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Daffodil..................Select Rider............

Part 1

Once I got to the warm-up arena it was clear my horse was still looking for trolls. I think the "biggest" of my wrecks in the warm-up was caused by a rig going by with a long white trailer behind. I don't know how many trucks and trailers my horse has seen but he sure didn't like this one coming up behind him. He scooted forward and broke gait just before it was time to head into our first class.

I remember thinking as the paddock annoucer made the call the class in front of us was lining up, there just wasn't enough time to "fix" what was bothering my horse. I might as well make my entrance as soon as I could so I had a little time before the gate closed to school my horse. If I could get him "relatively" together by then I might have a shot at an ok ride so I headed out to the entrance ramp to get as close to the front as possible.

This was the purebred western pleasure 40 & over select rider class. Overall the riders have nerves about showing which make them less confident in the ring so these riders are usually in no hurry to get into the ring. That would give me a couple of extra minutes to get my horse put together before the gate closed.

I learned a long time ago, the best way to enter the ring is to find a point on the rail farther down the ring to ride towards. That way you ride a nice straight line past the judge instead of making a turn right and riding the rail when you enter the gate.

It also seems to help the horse because there is lots of scurrying going along on the rail as support persons swap places for the outgoing and incoming class. I've seen many a horse start off scared because of the movement on the rail.

When the paddock announcer called my class, I moved my horse into the jog and headed straight towards the gate. Even before my horse had cleared it, I picked the line I would ride past the judge. By the time we actually jogged by Josh Quintos, my horse had settled into the nice smooth jog I've come to know.

I looked ahead straight into the audience to see if that portion of the rail was quiet yet. Seeing some movement there, I moved my horse laterally off my leg to make those final steps to the rail. I wanted to be sure his focus was on me where it belonged instead of thinking about what might be going on over his head.

Then I glanced around the end looked towards the far corner to see if the tarps near the gate opening were flapping. I cut the end off leaving myself plenty of room to ask for more lateral movement. Keeping my horse doing more "difficult" things that just jogging down the rail is the most effective way I know to "deal" with his troll searches.

Despite this effort the horse startled at the sound of a lunging horse on the outside of those tarps.For a brief moment Legs dropped his b*tt compacting his frame and tensing his body. While he didn't relax from that point, he did settle into the bridle. As long as he didn't react anymore than this, we might just have a reasonable ride.

Because the horse had reacted to the noise on the other side of the wall, I took a short pass around that end of the arena. The gate was not closed yet, and this maneuver helped me with my ring position and it also helped Legs "see" there really wasn't anything scary at that end of the arena before we had to lope.

By the time we finished the pass at the far end of the arena, the gate was closed and I moved my horse onto the rail. We were well down the far side rail before we were asked to walk. I remember thinking that Josh Quintos must be thinking he was going to put us select riders through our paces. No horses on auto pilot were going to get past him.

At the time I sent in my entries for the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Spring Show I had not ridden my horse in the bridle since the Jody Strand Clinic last November. Entries closed about a month before the show so I figured I had that month to work on transitioning my horse back into the bridle. Then my husband wrecked my truck and my trailer so my truck spent two weeks in the shop being repaired. After that weather had not been my friend so I'd only ridden Legs in the bridle a handful of times before now.

Because the horse is going so much differently than he was before the clinic, the impact of the bridle on the horse has been huge. With our lack of schooling in the bridle, I knew I needed to be careful and not take for granted our communications were well understood.

The biggest place for those "missed" communications seemed to be at transitions so I'd been taking my time setting my horse up for his transitions. Now, in this class, my horse was showing a bit of resistance to the bridle. It was like he just wasn't sure what I was saying. I was glad our first transition had been down to the walk exposing this issue before it was time to lope.

When the lope was called for I made sure my horse was off the rail. Then I moved him laterally off my leg back into the wall. As we made that lateral move I squeezed the rein in my hand several times before asking Legs to move off into the lope.

I felt the horse coil up underneath me before he went forward. The result was a smooth, round, slow lope that didn't need to be adjusted for several strides.

At that instant, I didn't really care how the rest of the class went. I'd been working to achieve such a transition in the bridle from that time back when I first put the horse into the bridle. Now my horse had truly carrying himself into that transition without having to be supported by pressure from the bridle at all. A sense of satifaction washed over me as we slowly loped down the rail.

To be continued.................

Select Rider part 2


This picture is Jody Strand riding Legs at the clinic. Unfortunately I have no pics from this first class at the horse show this year.



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Daffodil..............The Show........

Part 1

The next morning I was up at 6 and headed off to the fairgrounds in Puyallup to feed my horse and to finish moving in all the stuff I forgot. My first class was that afternoon and I wanted to be completely settled before I moved on to getting ready to show.

I was still hoping to get Legs' white socks rewashed so I could fix the clipper tracks on those socks and I needed his hooves cleaned up more before I even attempted any sanding. Of course there would need to be drying time before the clipped and sanding could be done but I figured arriving that early it should all fit.

The best laid plans of mice and men never do seem to go exactly as planned........at least for me anyways. I should have known that before I left any kind of washing to the morning "of" instead of getting it done before coming to the show Somehow every time I've planned on finishing up my basic show grooming (bathing and clipping) at the show it's just never worked out for me although I see others doing it all the time. This time was no exception.

Although the show schedule was set-up with three sessions on Friday, the only session with a start time was the morning session beginning at 8 am. After that the times of the breaks were to be announced.

While I'm used to this with the afternoon session, I hadn't ever noticed it had been set up for the evening session as well. The end result for me was a tight day.

As quickly as the first classes were running, I could tell from years of working on horse shows this session was going to end early. However, I didn't know if show management would give us a long break and start up at 1 or give us just a short break to see if they could get the day to "end" early.

I began to worry my horse's white markings would not be thoroughly dry when I needed to school him at the break. Having wet socks would result in mini mud pies instead of gleaming white markings. Not really the best look for the show ring.

Even though Legs' socks were a bit on the sticky side, that was still better than the muddy brown look too damp socks would provide so washing socks and hooves would have to wait. Since I hadn't schooled the horse in that arena the day before trying to let his chiropractor treatment "stick" for a day, skipping this schooling session wasn't a good idea unless I wanted a repeat performance of the first class of the previous year.

The whole idea of riding at this show was about getting some clean rides under our belt instead of racking up more scary ones. Schooling at the break prior to the class is the best way I know to "help" my horse be ready for whatever awaits him in the show pen and hopefully accomplish the clean ride goal. For now Legs' appointment with the wash rack would have to be postponed.

It was a good thing I opted to fore go washing socks to ride. When an announcement was finally made show management decided to only take a forty-five minute break before starting up the afternoon session. Before the morning session ended I have enough time to get my horse saddled and get us up to the ring.

The horse went through the gate already tense. He seemed to remember his last visits to this pen at the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Spring Show last year. Legs was searching for those trolls he knew lived somewhere in this arena. I worked at moving him laterally off my legs to get his mind back onto me.

It wasn't a bad ride.........but it wasn't a good ride either. The horse seemed to be locked up at the poll and a bit faster than usual at all gaits. I worked at getting him to relax using that lateral movement but it didn't seem to stick. A few strides and something else would cause the horse to stiffen up waiting for whatever "it" was to get him.

The far end of the arena is the worst for ALL horses in that ring, not just mine. The horses lunging on the outside of that far wall makes for "strange noises" depending on if those horses get spooked by something outside or if they're just plain hot at getting loose on the end of the line.

If you could just explain to the horse those noises are nothing but other horses, life would sure be easier but since that's not the way it works, Legs and I spent lots of time loping around in a circle as close to that wall as we could get.

Some passes were good......some not so good, depending on what those horses outside were contributing to the mix. I was wishing I had a couple of hours to spend working on this issue instead of just thirty or so minutes but my class was not far into the afternoon line-up, I was going to have to settle for what I had.

Heading back to the stalls, I heard the announcements of cancelled classes. There were only a couple but they were ahead of mine. That left me even less time to get ready than I'd planned. I was glad I'd had the foresight to saddle my horse using my show pad. All I needed to do to get him ready was to touch up with a brush and apply goop to his face. Then I could focus on getting myself dressed.

Back at the stalls, it seemed like I did nothing but rush. By the time I had myself dressed it was time to head up to the warm-up arena to school my horse before the class. I was half way down the barn aisle when I realized I'd left off something important............my cowboy hat was still back in its hat box instead of perched on my head where it belonged.

To be continued...................

This picture is Legs

Select Rider


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Update on Solidare and Her Foal

While I really needed the break, being gone to the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Spring Show with Solidare and her foal not completely out of the woods was difficult. I couldn't help but feel guilty that I was leaving my mare and her baby when I am still so worried about them.

I'm not always a big fan of my cell phone. It seems sometimes to me to be more like a leash than a help but this weekend having the means to check on Solidare and her colt made being away much more bearable. It gave me the opportunity to check in whenever the two horses crossed my mind instead of having to wait for reports when I got home.

Sometimes when I checked in there really wasn't much new happening. Other times there were little tales of colt activities that made me think maybe, just maybe, we were rounding a corner with him.

The first tale was of the little varmint kicking at his mother for no apparent reason that Lindsay could see anyway. I figure the mare probably corrected the colt for something he didn't like but either way, protesting is always a good sign in the newborn.

The next favorable report was the colt was actually caught scampering around his mother. Running in circles, just for the sake of running, is always a good sign. Even though I didn't "see" it myself, this was the first ever play like behavior seen from this foal. It did my heart good.

Sometime Saturday, the little delinquent tried to kick Lindsay. This was a first for this colt as well. He's shown no sign of aggression towards his human caregivers up to this point. I can tell you that's NOT normal for any colt born here. Usually the aggression begins within the first hour.

Then, today, the colt decided he didn't like Dave coming into his stall. He challenged the man, no less, puffing up big and tall and stomping his feet. Dave scolded him, "What do you think YOU're doing?" and the colt wheeled and turned running off behind his mother.

Funny how normal unacceptable behaviors become welcome when "normal" anything is better than nothing. Not that we condone the colt's behavior, the little squirt was immediately reprimanded in all cases but it's a relief to see signs he's coming around.

As for Solidare, she is still revelling in her new baby. Everything about her behavior is bright and happy. She's moving more and definitely improving every day. She loves her baby SOOOOOOOO MUCH............and will probably dote all the more as he turns into the little devil colts on this farm are expected to be.

We still have the first turnout to look forward to. With Solidare's leg injury I'm not really sure how we are going to manage it so his exercise doesn't interfere with her needs with the tendon issue but we'll get something figured out. We always do.

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Daffodil...........Future Horseman

Too tired to post but thought I would share this pic of my friend, Wendy's, grandson sitting on Legs in the stall. Legs was busy muching hay so I could get his pretty face but the young man (age 6) on his back was totally thrilled and did NOT want to get off. His mother is probably going to freak when she hears that Grandma let him "ride" a stallion............no less.

Daffodil............Moving In

Other than remembering to get my entries in on the closing date, I really haven't done much to get ready for the horse show. I thought about what I would do for the "pink" class I am entered in but that's about as far as my planning went so when move in day arrived I had lots to do.

First thing in the morning I got my show clothes together and loaded them into my trailer. Then I clipped Legs' ears and threw his blanket in the wash before I bathed him. With his chiropractor appointment scheduled for 2 in the afternoon, I wanted everything else ready to go by that time.

Dave loaded hay and my little refrigerator on my truck and repaired a wheel barrow for me to take. I really was pretty well ready by the time the chiro arrived.........or at least I thought I was. Everything I could think of was accounted for and loaded except, of course, my horse.

Legs was not happy about the work on his body. While the horse isn't dangerous, he makes sure we know he's hurting. There's a little bucking, some pulling away and even some nipping going on as he complains about how his body feels being manipulated back into place. His shoulders were sore, his poll was out and he had an odd injury in his lumbar region.

None of which surprised me because I knew the horse was not travelling straight. Hopefully he won't be too sore tomorrow when it's time to show. Because of the extensive work, I decided I would skip schooling the horse after we got moved in and just work him on Friday.

Once the chiro was done, I loaded Legs into the trailer. Lindsay decided to come along to help me move in so the two of us got into the truck and headed down to the fairgrounds in Puyallup. It was nice to have company along and we got things done much faster with two of us.

Lindsay bedded the stall for Legs while I took care of hanging water buckets and setting up the tack/ready room. Legs stood quietly in the trailer munching on lunch while we worked. Then I went to the show office and got us checked in before they closed for the night.

Once we had all that done, I brought Legs in and clipped his face and his legs. Although his white markings need to be washed again and then retouched with the clippers and his hooves cleaned up, the horse is looking once again like a show horse. Me, I was itching from head to toe and really wishing I was into trail riding instead of showing horses. I hate clipping horses. Legs tosses his head when having his face clipped and I ALWAYS end up with hair in my bra.

By the time we left the fairgrounds I had a long list of things I had forgotten. The first horse show of the year for me, I'm always forgetting something but with my focus more on Solidare and her foal, this list was more extensive than normal.

I forgot show pants for me, a small table, a couple of chairs, food for me, goop for Legs' face, towels, a radio (it helps me keep track of time as well as soothes the savage beast, that would be Legs who prefers country music), soft brushes, hoof polish, super white shampoo for Legs white markings, bute and banamine(just in case)......oh and reins (minor detail). It's a good thing this show is 14 miles down the road instead of in another state. Otherwise this would have been one expensive trip to a tack booth at the show.

My first class is the first class of the afternoon session. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to school my horse before the morning session or at the lunch break. I'm thinking if I school early, he'll have a chance to recuperate before I ride. But then if I school at the lunch break, he will have "just" seen the arena. Guess it's six of one and half dozen other and that would be why I'm still on the fence. I'll let you know how it went................

To be continued........

The Show

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Onto the Daffodil Spring All Arabian Horse Show

I've been so preoccupied with Solidare and her foal that I haven't even gotten to posting about the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Spring Show. Yes, it really is that time of year again. I am moving onto the showgrounds this afternoon after Legs has his appointment here with the chiropractor.

I was worried that this year's show might just be a repeat of last year's with Solidare's due date being so close to the show dates. Now with foaling out of the way, I think maybe I can do the show right instead of being on foal watch AND showing as we were last year.

Poor Legs, it really was not fair to him the way things went. I just dropped him off and returned home. The horse wasn't schooled once in that arena before we rode a class. My usual routine of schooling on move in day and then at the break before each session just didn't fit into the foal watch plan.

Taking a horse with "issues" into a particularly scary arena just was NOT the way to do things. The fact the horse spooked was no one's fault but mine.

This will be the first time we have been back to that arena since we showed at Daffodil last year. It will be interesting to see if Legs is still looking for those gremlins that got him in both classes at last year's show. We've worked a lot on "spooky' things since then but you just never know whether old ghosts will win out over all that training in between.

I will be on my own at this show since the split with my former supposedly working associate. I know I've promised to tell the story of the split but it is yet to come. I was hoping for an amicable resolution of the conflict so I was holding off posting. However, since "amicable" would require honesty on the part of both parties and there's been little of that forthcoming from my former associate, I will be telling the story as it is.........without resolution. For now, suffice it to say I have learned the character of those individuals was NOT what I believed it to be.

Running into them at this horse show will be awkward. Not only because of our unresolved issues but they have made a concerted effort to make it look like I am the one lacking integrity. I know in the long run the truth will win out......but for now, it's just more stress in an already difficult time.

I'm hoping my stress isn't going to translate to issues for Legs. Normally I can put outside pressures aside when I ride. However, there's so much emotion involved in our conflict, I don't really know what to expect. It would be really nice if I could just go show my horse and relax for a change.

To be continued...........

Daffodil......Moving In

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Solidare...............Updates

Part 1

Well, these last posts have just been the first fourteen hours with Solidare and her new foal. From there the constant checks were exhausting and Dave's back and mine are still pretty darn sore but we got through. We are now at day six and things are looking up.

Solidare is one happy mare. She loves her baby so much. Her eyes are sparkling and she's acting more lively than we've seen for a long, long time. This foal has done for this mare exactly what I had hoped when I made the decision to breed.

Solidare loves nothing more than being a mother and this year she doesn't have to cry for another's baby, she has her own. Having a baby to look after brings her great joy. All's right with her world, even if it's not with mine.

Each day Solidare looks better. She is putting on weight and actually moving around. Because she wants to keep her eyes on her new baby, she's following him around and actually getting some exercise in the process. It's probably not good for her injured leg but it's been good for everything else.

The foal, however, is not what I would call thriving. He's getting along ok but just not flourishing like I'd expect. I still am monitoring him closely to be sure he's nursing like he should and sometimes I have to get him up to remind him it's time to eat. He doesn't seem to initiate any kind of play. He's pretty much about eating and sleeping. He does kick at his mother and his people if he's interfered with but he's really just doing what he needs to survive.

BUT the good news is while he isn't thriving, he's not going backwards either. He seems to be making gains, even though they are slow. That's a good thing. Any kind of gain is good. Even if it's not as much as we'd like. Having dealt with preemies and dysmature foals, I know the routine. We are definitely on the right track.

He is a strong little bugger. Yesterday I had to have help to wash his cute little b*tt. He nearly knocked Lindsay on hers trying to get away. Lindsay giggled at his outburst as she chased him down and he did a pretty good job of avoiding her. It was good to see the resistance for a change.

For Solidare it might even be best that her colt is not as active as normal right now. He is compliant to her wishes and that avoids stress for her. She's getting the opportunity to build up her strength to deal with an active foal. Who knows, by the time he's where he needs to be, she might be right there with him. We can only hope.

I can just imagine her following behind him muttering for him to do what she wants as he runs off to explore the world on his terms........not hers. Her lower lip will be flipping, a sign of her frustration, as she tries to convince him she's in charge. I suspect the call of the outdoors will deafen him to her pleas as he explores a world he someday will want to rule.

The comments indicate people think I should be relieved at this point and maybe I should. However, I'm not. There is still the big unknown with Solidare's injured leg. I can't help but worry about the welfare of the mare and the foal as long as the possibility of further injury hangs over us. I know all too well the possibilities of failure.

Still as I see Solidare improve, I think maybe there is a possibility my mare might actually live to see next winter and even beyond. Yet even the vet believes it is too soon to tell. When he tells me we are out of the woods, then I will relax. In the meantime I'm going worry while I do everything I can for my mare and her foal.

Unfortunately, the weight of this situation has affected me. Normally I am bubbling over with joy at new arrivals around here. Currently I have no energy left for bubbling. Between worrying about my mare and now worrying about issues with her foal I am in survival mode.

It's odd to be in this situation. Even before the breeding, I knew this would be Solidare's last foal. Considering the place this mare holds in my heart, I expected her last foal would be particularly dear to me. Now, I don't know if it's the fear of losing the mare or even fear of losing the foal, my heart seems to be protected from connecting with him. It is an odd feeling.........unknown to me.

I take care of him as intensely as any foal I have 'reared.' That part hasn't changed. It is the joy.........that isn't there. All I seem to feel is a weight........on my heart............except for one little thing..........

With all the commotion going on, I'm pretty sure I haven't got to mention this colt really looks like his full brother, Scandalous Rhythm. He may be a different color and have a bit different markings but other than that he could be a double for his flashy older brother.

I suspect the attitude will follow when the colt comes out of this fog he is in. God knows the matched set between his legs are comparable to Rhythm's. I can't imagine the attitude will not reflect that. At this point I might actually welcome some of those outbursts dear sweet Rhythm pulled as a babe. I know I think I should begin halter training....... just in case.

I'm going to try to get some pics that show what I see so I can post comparison pics of Rhythm and this new colt. So far most of what I've taken look like Legs as a foal, but there is that angle of the colt's head that is Rhythm. No other foal born here has had that particular look except this colt now.

It will be interesting to see if this colt grows into the beautiful horse his brother would have been had he not had that accident as a foal Not that Rhythm is not a beautiful horse.......because he most certainly is........but Mother Nature intended him to be more exotic than he looks before that accident filled in the depth of his dish. We've always wondered "what if" Maybe we're going to get the chance to find out.

Note: In this pic you can see the dried milk all over the colt's face. Currently I think he's actually getting more of it in his mouth now than those first few days. His face no longer looks like it's covered with spun sugar.



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Solidare............the Fall

Part 1

Unfortunately, when Dave and Lindsay went out to the barn to feed grain that night, Solidare tried to get up and the colt jumped up at the same time. The foal crossed her path and the mare stumbled trying to avoid him.Solidare was unable to regain her balance and managed to fall landing with her bad leg underneath her. Once again the mare was in a situation where she was unable to rise.

Dave put in a frantic call to me in the house to come help get the mare up. I understood the emotion in his voice because it's exactly how I felt knowing the mare was in jeopardy again. Both of us understand all to well, the possibility of a catastrophic injury in getting Solidare to her feet.

My daughter had come earlier in the evening to check on Solidare and see the new foal. As it turned out she was just getting ready to leave when this situation arose. Instead she joined me heading to the barn to see what we could do to get Solidare on her feet.

I knew immediately when we reached the stall, we had our hands full getting Solidare up this time. Instead of being right in the middle of the stall she was near the wall we would be rolling her towards. It didn't look like there was much chance we could get the mare turned over without getting her caste once again.

We tried tucking her legs underneath her and rolling her over the top again. Yet, again, Solidare just really didn't want to cooperate. I was stripping off layers of clothing with sweat dripping everywhere and we were no closer than when we started. There was no point in wearing ourselves out on a method that just was NOT going to work.

Because of Solidare's proximity to the wall, we tried to pull her away from it before we even tried to roll her over. Solidare wasn't really happy about that either and such she wasn't stuck, she fought our attempts. We were unable to make any progress getting a better distance between the mare and the wall.

The only thing left to do was go back to the method that had worked in the morning. I fastened a lead rope around Solidare's left fetlock and got myself inside the people door in that stall wall. Dave went to the mare's front end getting a hold of her left front leg and on the count of three we pulled the mare over onto her back and into the wall.

Solidare fought in the middle of the turn. She did quite a bit of rolling to and fro resisting the turn. My heart sank into my stomach as I saw this resistance. From all the conversations with the vet, I knew this was our biggest enemy.

We did get the mare's body to complete the turn. Solidare was now scrunched up into the wall much tighter than she'd been earlier that day. I studied her position for a time trying to figure out the best way to get her free. Solidare laid there quietly waiting to be saved, yet again.

Because the mare was so tight into the wall, we were going to have to pull her around much farther than we had earlier in the day. Then there had been some room for her back legs. Now they were jammed as tightly into the wall as her front legs were.

Just looking at the mare in this position made my back hurt. I think Dave felt about the same way. We knew we had to get her pulled around but we really didn't know if our backs could handle it this second time. Even with the third person to help, we had a lot of dead weight to move.

At first there was no way I could push off from the wall like I had earlier in the day. Nor was there any way to use the mare's front legs for leverage. We would have to get the mare moved enough to create that room first. Then we could proceed like we had earlier.

To start off, that meant all three of us were pulling on the mare's neck. We tried to get as close together as we could so we didn't cause any residual harm. The closer to the base of the mare's neck we could be, the easier the pull would be on Solidare.

The only problem with that was it made for some uncomfortable reaching for us. The more, we humans, stretched to get a hold of the right place on the mare, the worse it was going to be on our backs BUT from what I could tell, it was probably the only way we could get her moved.........so we went for it.

On the count of three, we all pulled on the base of Solidare's neck. Ever so slowly the mare's shoulders eeked their way towards us. The amount of exertion it took to gain an inch felt like that last push of childbirth, where every ounce of energy you have gets directed into that one movement. The strain pulsed throughout our bodies until we hit the point there was no more to give. Then we rested for a moment and surveyed what we'd accomplished.

Unfortunately, we hadn't accomplished much. It took us three attempts to get enough room for me to get in against the wall so I could push on Solidare's shoulder. Then with my daughter's help we managed to get Solidare out far enough in one movement the mare jumped up which I dove for the opening in the door.

With the mare back to her feet, all looked good but we were back on watch for a torsion. That meant it would be another long night with regular checks for signs of colic in the mare and monitoring the foal's nursing behavior..

To be continued..............

Updates



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Solidare............a Routine for the Foal

Part 1

Last year, I am the one that made the mistake about what gender the foal was. Now it was Dave's turn to take the heat. There's nothing I like more than getting the opportunity to "catch" Dave in a mistake. It doesn't happen often, not that he doesn't make them, because he does. It's the catching him in one that doesn't happen often.

Dave can finagle his way out of most anything but it would be hard to get out of this one. His wishful thinking about having a filly had jinxed me and set him for a fall. He saw what he wanted to see..........instead of what was really there. I'll be rubbing it in for a while.

I had to be the one to break it to Lindsay. "Serenade" is not my idea of a colt name. That meant back to the drawing board on names for this guy. As much as Lindsay was disappointed, I think she was excited at the possibilities of colt names too. So far she's had no recommendations but I'm sure they're coming soon.

While I finished cleaning the stall for the second time, Dave went back to work trying to teach this foal to nurse. This time I heard his mumblings followed by giggles about "stupid colts." Dave was building his rapport with this dude no matter what gender and getting frustrated at the time it was taking.

Not long after this, Dave did finally get this colt to nurse. I watched carefully and listened even more carefully. This colt was just not "latching on" like he should nor was he nursing for any length of time. There was good reason to believe he wasn't getting all the milk he needed.

Not that Solidare didn't have enough milk. From the time the foal touched a nipple the milk was streaming. The colt was getting more milk on his face than in his tummy, I suspect. That made it important to keep him on task. When he'd wander away wanting to lay down, we'd turn him back towards mom. It was just like the early days with the twins making sure they were nursing long enough to get what they needed.

Because of this lack of focus and weak suckle reflex, I checked the colt every two hours to be sure he was up and nursing. I'd also watched for behavior that said he was getting stronger........not weaker. Dummy foals can "forget" to nurse or go off task before they've gotten enough fuel to sustain them. They can go down hill really fast.

Running over the regime in my mind, I realized I'd been so focused on Solidare, I'd forgotten to iodine the foal's umbilical cord. I also had not gotten to an enema yet. While I knew the colt's bladder was working normally, there were no signs that anything else was. At least for the moment, the focus was shifting from Solidare to the foal.

Before I left for the house again, I thought about Solidare and the way she's lain in this stall for months. It's been a consistent protective position. She's always laid with her butt facing Dare's stall (so a herd mate had her back) keeping her face turned towards the road (the most likely place a threat might come). I thought these facts could work for us in keeping Solidare safe from injuring her leg.

I realized the foal was once again laying in the corner tucked in under the water buckets. I knew if he stayed there, when Solidare laid down she would probably lay down so she could keep an eye on him and still maintain her protective manner . That meant she'd be laying with the weak leg underneath her so I pulled the foal out of that corner and laid him in the one where Solidare could see him laying with the strong leg underneath her hoping I could influence how she laid down.

When the mare did go down, she went down just as I hoped. The colt was still laying in the corner I'd moved him to and Solidare laid down in her usual spot. She had a perfect view of her new baby and her strong leg was underneath her.

That's pretty much how most of the day went. I monitored the colt for his nursing habits and strength as well as his position when laying down. I was hoping we could "teach" this colt to lay in one place so we might avoid Solidare laying down on her weak leg.

Most of the time when I checked I had to rouse the colt to get him to nurse. Once up he seemed to find the udder pretty easily but he still wasn't nursing as strongly as I thought necessary. He did, however, seem to be strong enough for his age, although still way too quiet for my liking.

A couple of times I found the colt up and the mare down. Solidare didn't want to get up and the colt was too young to have figured out how to nurse from a laying down mare. I suspect it won't take that long for Solidare to "teach" him how to accomplish this, however.

I did notice that even in the first day, Solidare was teaching this colt what she expected. By the end of the day, if they were both laying down and people arrived, Solidare would "tell" her foal to get up and move behind her. She didn't have to get up. He just did as he was told. One nicker and the colt got to his feet taking refuge behind her. He wouldn't come out unless the mare told him it was ok.

Half the time I found the colt down he'd be in the corner under the water buckets and I'd move him out to the "right" corner. The other half he'd be in the corner I wanted him to use. At least we seemed to have just the two choices. I was beginning to think maybe we could get him trained about where to sleep without a further incident with Solidare.

To be continued..........

The Fall



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Solidare............The Foal

Part 1

With Solidare now standing, I called the vet to confirm we had managed to get the mare to her feet. He gave me a time table of what I might expect if a torsion had occurred in that process and a few other things to watch for with this mare. Until the mare's uterus quit contracting, there was also still a possibility, although slight, her uterus could still prolapse.

With that out of the way I focused on getting the wet stall cleaned up. I didn't want there to be any slick spots that might be a risk for Solidare or the new foal. The wettest part, of course, was underneath where Solidare had lain. That's were all the amniotic fluid had collected. I went to cleaning out all the wet straw and getting new bedding down while Solidare visited with her foal. Once I got the bedding done, I headed off to the house to cook the mare her bran mash.

Dave stayed at the barn keeping an eye on the two, playing with the foal. That's the part he likes best. He loves those funny new babies on their teetering legs and he's very good at getting them to nurse. He has lots of patience for this task and I'm more than happy to leave it to him since patience is not my thing in this particular situation.

For foaling mares I like to make my mash with more bran than grain. I stopped by the other barn and picked up a bucket filling it with two scoops of bran and one of rolled oats. Once in the house I also woke Lindsay up telling her the news and asking her if she would feed breakfast to the rest of our herd. Then I went to the kitchen to finish the mash.



I added about a half cup of molasses and chopped up some carrots (I normally add some beet pulp and apples but we were out of the latter and I forgot the former). I put the whole thing in a big pot. Added lots of water and then put it on the burner. I like to heat it until it's steaming, stirring the whole time so it doesn't stick and burn. Once it's cooked I poured it back into the bucket for transport to the barn.

When I returned to the foaling stall, Dave still had not managed to get this foal to nurse. He had been close several times but was having trouble keeping the foal on task. By this time I was thinking this foal really reminded me of Chance. I guess I should have realized then what was going on.

When I walked into the stall, Solidare began nudging me to get her mash. I couldn't pour it fast enough into the feed pan for her. The mare tried sticking her head into the bucket making it more difficult for me to pour, then stomped her foot at me for taking so long. It was good to see Solidare was already feeling better.

While Solidare slurped down her hot mash, Dave and I worked at getting this foal to nurse. First off it looked like it was going to be fairly easy. Dave made comments about how smart fillies are because the foal was right there where it belonged. The only problem was the foal sucked every place on that udder except for the nipples and it easily lost focus.

Right from the start of working with this foal to nurse, I was concerned. While the foal had a suck reflex it was not as strong as I like to see. The overall demeanor of this foal was a little more subdued than what I expect too. I was beginning to suspect that this was a "dummy foal" not to the extremes...... but enough to make the going tough, complicated if you will, as in needing more human intervention. Again, I thought about Chance.

Lindsay stopped by a few times on her way back and forth cleaning stalls checking in to see how things were going. It was on one of these trips she told me she'd been thinking that "Serenade" would be a good name for Solidare's foal. Since the last three of the mare's foals have had musical names, Serenade sounded good for a filly. Lindsay was pleased. Her names are not always the ones I pick.

After a couple of hours.........and I do mean hours of trying to guide, coerce or whatever other way we knew how to do, coax this foal to nurse I gave up and I quit letting Dave tell me it would be ok. The clock was ticking and we still had no colostrum into this foal. Not knowing exactly what time this foal had been born, we only had a ball park figure on how old this foal was. I didn't want to waste anymore precious time without getting colostrum down the foal.

I went back to the house for a clean container and a large dose syringe. When I returned, I rewashed the mare's udder and then milked enough colostrum off the mare to fill the syringe. Then I hand feed the little varmint. The last thing I wanted was a foal that needed to be transfused because of low IgG scores.

It took Dave's help, however, to get the liquid down the foal. It's not that the foal was fighting me but it wasn't willing participating either. Dave had to hold the foal's head in the correct position as well as hold the mouth open so I could manage the syringe without spilling any of the vital fluid.

It was necessary to go very slowly. This foal wasn't spitting out the sticky foamy fluid but was not visibly swallowing it either. The upside was the foal wasn't choking on it. The fluid was going down.........but ever so slowly. It worked more like a plugged up drain gradually diminishing than a foal swallowing the precious colostrum.

I had to gauge my additions of more liquid by the level of bubbles in the foal's mouth. I've never been all that patient but at times like this I seem to muster up enough to get me through. I managed to not get ahead of this foal so we didn't get into any choking. None of the precious fluid rolled out of the mouth. Only a little got wiped off on the foal blanket when Dave once lost his grip and the foal rubbed its face across the blanket. Other than that pretty much all I milked off the mare got down the foal. At least that was good.

Even though it was a slow protracted process the foal got the much needed colostrum. We managed to get six ounces down. I figured, guessing at size and weigh, based on what we'd done with the twins, this would be right for now.

Then we went into the house for breakfast and to give the mare and foal a break from our intrusions. I hoped when we returned, the foal might be a little more lively......... a little more vigorous.

Once back out at the barn, there was more stall cleaning. I was glad to see that Solidare had actually pooped while we were in the house, not just once but three nice piles. That spoke volumes about the condition of the mare. We were probably out of the woods for colic and maybe even torsion. I worked at getting the piles cleaned up before they got mushed into the straw.

It was while I was working on cleaning the stall this second time, I spied something unusual on the foal. Well, unusual for a filly......... I went closer, lifting up the tail and sure enough, there they were. Two of them, nice big testicles hanging down for all the world to see. Another Legs colt born with both testicles down. Whodda thunk!.........especially when it was as quiet as this one. Just another reason for me to suspect I was dealing with a dummy foal.

To be continued...............

A Routine for the Foal



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Solidare..........the First Hours after Foaling

Part 1

Once I was finished checking on the mare's status, I turned my attention to the foal. Shivering in the cold morning air, the partially wet foal was nestled up close to the mare's face. Solidare was content with the closeness. From what I could tell things looked pretty normal except for a rattle to the foal's breathing, a tell tale sign of inhaled amniotic fluid.

I toweled the foal down, rubbing briskly to add some heat. I checked respiration to be sure the rate was normal. I wanted to be sure the rattled breathing was not a sign of a bigger issue. I also kept my an eye on Solidare wanting to be ahead of her if she should attempt to rise.

The mare was shivering too. Dave was worried about that. I assured him it's a normal occurrence after foaling. The loss of the foal and placenta mass causes an abrupt drop in the mare's temperature. It takes a while for the system to stabilize and the mare's body heat to return to normal.

I reminded him of those days when we had babies and the nurses with hot warm blankets trying to keep me comfortable. I sure wish they had warming ovens and towels big enough to accommodate mares. I always feel so sorry for them as they shake. Another one of those things to add to my list of wants should I ever win the lottery.

Solidare had tried a couple of times to get to her feet before I'd joined Dave at the foaling stall. Just the thought of the quivering muscles of her left leg made me wince. There wasn't much chance the mare would make it up with that injured left leg underneath her but there was a good chance she might do further damage in her now weakened state. It just was not safe for her to be attempting to get up on that leg so soon after foaling.

Solidare, however, was not as worried about her leg as she was about her foal. I could see her motherly instincts kicking in as she considered getting up. As long as the foal was standing some internal clock told her she needed to rise for her foal to nurse. It was driven by a sense that needed to be accomplished soon. If we didn't intercede getting her good leg underneath her, the mare would be attempting to rise without our help. Whether we were ready or not we needed to get this mare to her feet.

It helped that at first the foal was unsteady. There really wasn't a protracted period of time standing for the little one so Solidare's inclinations to rise came and went with the attempts of the foal. While the foal seemed strong enough, the interest in the task wasn't really all that strong.

It was hard to know what the balance should be in this situation. The mare needed to rest as much as possible. The foal needed to be nursing sooner, better than later. Nursing required the mare be standing. Standing required the mare be turned over to the other side. All of these things needed to be accomplished in the manner that was best for the two horses.

Because the foal didn't seem to be that interested in really figuring out how to use those mile long legs, I was worried about how long it might take to teach such a foal to nurse. With the clock ticking on how long colostrum can effectively be utilized, there was a sense of urgency to this task.

I figured the longer I could keep Solidare down, the better off she'd be. I suspected once she got to her feet she wouldn't lay back down easily. So my first priority was going to be getting this foal comfortable on its feet while still keeping Solidare down. Once we knew the foal could stand well enough to nurse, then we would work on getting Solidare turned.

Dave and I both worked at helping the foal find balance. Caught up in the task at hand, I never even thought about what sex this foal might be and I don't think Dave did either. When it became clear that Solidare was intent on getting to her feet our focus turned once more back to her and we still hadn't discovered the gender of this new little one.

Solidare was not happy about the prospect of us rolling her over to get her good leg underneath her. She'd not been particularly fond of our assistance the other three times but her resistance had been minimal. Now we found the mare was determined not to cooperate and it was easy to see why. Solidare did not want to take her eyes for one second off her foal. The mare co operated to the point she'd lose sight of her foal and then she fought.

At first the foal was right there in the thick of things. Still trying to get up or lay down, it didn't matter. Mostly it was about staying near the mare while Dave and I tried tucking her legs underneath her so we could work on turning her over. In the midst of all this, I mentioned to Dave that we still didn't know what sex this foal was. He bent over taking quick look, or so I thought, and said, "It's a filly"

The foal was too unsteady on those spindly legs to be anything but be in the way while up. We decided the best thing to do was move her out of the way. Down, safely tucked in the corner, we wouldn't need to worry about smushing the foal as we turned the mare so that's what we did. We moved the foal to the corner with little resistance and tucked those mile long legs up underneath. At least one "horse" was in the right position.

The only way we could possibly roll Solidare with her legs underneath her required her active participation or at least total submission to the process. Without tucking her legs up tightly underneath her we couldn't even make an attempt to push her body up and over. With the foal now out of the way, it was much easier to get all four of the mare's legs in the right position.

Solidare was fairly good about leaving her legs in the correct position once we got them there. When it came to moving her neck and head into the "right" position that's where the mare balked. One toss of her head was enough to undo all our work and we were back where we started.

Solidare couldn't see the foal all the way through her changes in position. If we'd had more sets of hands we'd have been able to move the foal through the process to keep her in Solidare's sight. Instead we had to figure out how to convince Solidare the foal would be safe out of her sight for that brief instant or we had to find a way to get the job done even with her resistance.

It soon became clear we weren't going to be able to accomplish our task in this manner. We were going to have to go with the more dangerous method of rolling her with her legs up and going over the top. While the quieter the mare was in this process affected how safely the task could be accomplished, it was possible to get it done with some resistance from the mare. Since Solidare wasn't going to stay quiet if she couldn't see her foal even for a brief moment, this was our only option.

Having pulled the mare over before, Solidare knew when I put the rope around her left fetlock what was coming next. She popped up onto her barrel in rigid attention. At least for the moment she was more concerned about losing sight of her foal than she was getting herself up for him to nurse but we couldn't accomplish what we needed either. To roll her over we needed her flat out on her side.

We talked to her, petted her trying to soothe her into relaxation. The foal dozed quietly in the corner and the mare finally laid back down onto her side to take a brief break. We tried to take advantage of the situation to roll her over but the confines of the stall put Dave in a bad position. We ended up with another aborted attempt and Solidare once again sitting rigidly upright in a protective mode.

This time in addition to soothing the mare, Dave and I conversed about where each of us needed to be when the next opportunity arose. With me having the rope on the mare's fetlock, I needed to be behind the mare's back in the small people doorway. Since Dave was grabbing onto Solidare's front underneath leg for leverage he needed to be on the opposite side from me moving into the mare as we turned while still managing to stay out of the way of those flailing legs.

The next time the mare laid flat out we tried again. Again we had logistics problems but we were closer this time. When Solidare popped back up onto her belly we strategized some more.

We did manage to get the mare turned over but only on our third attempt. It went smoothly this time but unfortunately the mare ended up too close to the wall. What we now had was a cast horse. While I had suspected this possibility we hadn't planned on how we might handle it. Luckily, Solidare laid there quietly while we figured out how to free her.

I got on the phone to see if I could round up any help. Sliding the mare far enough away from the wall so she could get her legs underneath her wasn't going to be easy for just Dave and me. We sure didn't want to be rolling her back over again. I did find help but no one close so we decided to see what we could do by ourselves.

It's funny what adrenaline can do for you. Don't ask me how, but Dave and I managed to slide the mare around enough she could get up. It wouldn't have been possible without Solidare's total co operation.

I wedged myself between the mare and the wall pushing on her upper legs right near the shoulder while Dave pulled on the base of her neck. Solidare laid there quietly keeping me safe. The mare's body moved slowly like a compass pivoting on it's point. That got us a few precious inches at her chest. away from the wall.

Those inches allowed me to pull the mare's legs into a position like a handle with her forearm parallel to her body that I could "use" from the mare's back side, right next to Dave. Dave kept his position at the base of her neck. Together, we pulled and pulled, counting and breathing and pulling and groaning in unison. Ever so slowly we pivoted the mare's front end away from the wall.

Once Solidare got enough room to unfold her legs she pushed off on the wall and bounced to her feet while still being careful not to know either Dave or I down. As we moved out of the mare's way, Dave and I both struggled to get to our feet, our backs done in by the process.

To be continued..........

The Foal

Solidare's new foal framed in her flowing mane.



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Solidare...........

Part 1

The cobwebs were forced from my head by the adrenaline released by my recognition of the meaning of the ringing phone. Grabbing for it I asked an urgent, "What?" There was no time for more words, I needed to know what the situation was with my mare. I wanted to hear Dave's voice....... not mine.

Dave's response, "You need to get out here. There's a foal on the ground." There was urgency in Dave's voice but not desperation. That meant he wasn't alarmed but he needed help. Dave doesn't have the experience to do much for the mare without instruction still I asked about Solidare's condition.

The mare and foal looked ok. Solidare was still down. She was laying with her bad leg underneath her. Everything else I would have to find out for myself.

Springing to my feet, I couldn't get ready fast enough. I was wishing I'd laid down with all of my clothes on instead of being only half dressed. It seemed like each piece of clothing took on a life of its own not wanting to cooperate as I tried to put myself together. The whole process couldn't have taken long but to me it felt like forever. I wanted to already be with my mare and I was just heading out the door.

Running to the barn seemed like a better option now. There was no secretive mare to disturb. I nearly tripped over my own feet shaking my head at my clumsiness as I imagined landing on my face and further delaying my arrival at Solidare's side. I tried to think about my feet instead of the urgency I felt.

The sprint to my barn is farther than my asthma will allow. I made it as far as the hay barn before I had to come to a walk. Wheezing my way towards the far barn, I realized the only sound I heard was me.

The silence in the barn yard was staggering. Normally this time of the morning every horse in the place would be sending a morning greeting wanting to be fed, yet not a sound was to be heard. There was not a nicker, a rustle, the fall of a foot, a chomp of teeth on wood walls......... nothing. If I didn't know better I would have thought there wasn't a horse on the place.

Something magical happens when a mare is giving birth...........the entire herd goes quiet....... waiting............wanting to hear the precious sounds of new life. It's one of the things Dave uses to tell him the mare is "getting close." He knows the herd will know before any of we humans and they will stand at attention........... listening for the outcome.

Normally it is the first call of the mare to her new foal that will arouse a response from the other horses. The new foal will be greeted in quiet but joyful chorus. Then the silence resumes as the herd listens intently for the response of the foal and any other clues of what's going on.

On this morning the silence of the horses really struck me. Usually I am the one already at the foaling stall. Something about the walk this morning brought new perspective to me. My alarm was soothed a little by the silence.

The horses know when something is wrong. I remember the night Vee went into labor with the twins. You could have cut that silence with a knife. I was running around frantic to find a vet and the herd seemed to have a sense of the urgency. This silence with Solidare didn't have that kind of tension that comes when things could be going horribly wrong.

I greeted Dave at the door of the foaling stall. He was standing there looking in, watching the mare and foal. I glanced over the half door to see that Solidare looked calm and relatively comfortable. The nearly dry foal was laying right in front of her.

Still I didn't trust without looking for myself. I needed to check the pool of material I could see laying behind the mare underneath her tail. I needed to know status before I called the vet.

Carefully I entered the stall through the little side door. I carried a bucket with me to put the afterbirth in. Then I reached carefully for Solidare's tail. Lifting it ever so carefully to see if there were any signs the mare's uterus was protruding from her vagina. Was the placenta the only thing there outside the mare?

Every thing looked normal. Without the pressure of the foal inside the mare, the lining of the vagina was no longer exposed. There were no external signs of the uterus but I couldn't believe it. After all the worry and stress I had to lift the mass laying beneath the mare's tail to see it was what it was supposed to be. Then and only then could I believe we had probably dodged a bullet.

I immediately called the vet to give him the status on the mare. We talked briefly about the jeopardy of Solidare laying with her bad leg underneath her. If at all possible we needed to roll her with her legs underneath her. Otherwise there was an even greater risk of a torsion now because of the "looseness" caused by the vacany left by the foal inside the mare.

Symptoms for a torsion would manifest similar to those for colic. Colic is also a possibility in the post parturition mare. The vet suggested if I had bran to make a mash to help insure that didn't happen. A hot bran mash is always part of my after care for foaling mares but we'd have to get Solidare to her feet before I could go cook.

To be continued............

The First Hours after Foaling



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Heritage.........Watching......Waiting..........

Part 1

Since I began using a barn cam, I've always had the luxury of streaming on the web. For me the advantage of this has been those extra eyes streaming makes available. However, as MareStare has grown there are now so many foaling mares on cams it has diffused the number of "capable" observers to a point it's hardly useful. I learned that during my foaling last year.

With Dave being out of work for over a year and a half now, I didn't really think live streaming was worth the expense. We would have to set the barn cam up for closed circuit instead. That would give me a bird's eye view of what was happening without disturbing the mare.

You would think if you could stream live on the internet that converting to a closed circuit on the computer should be easy. Well, at least that's what I thought. I should have known better. Nothing for me on the computer has ever been easy and we still haven't figured out how to do this.

The next option was closed circuit with a TV set so Dave went to Goodwill to buy a used set and then on to Radio Shack for the coaxial cables needed to get the cam up and running. From there it should have been easy BUT it wasn't. The barn cam, sending unit and receiver will all have to be uninstalled and sent off to see if repairs are possible. In the meantime, there would be no closed circuit assistance for foaling at the time we really needed it.

With Solidare's due date set using a 345 day table, the mare's actual due date is April 19. Her past performances have put her all over the place in regards to the "when" of birthing. The mare has gone anywhere from 335 days to 370 days so there was no help in the guessing game there. Watching and waiting were the order of the day.

Dave is as worried about Solidare as I am so he decided that he would help in this current foal watch. This is something he has volunteered to do only rarely and he's really not taken it seriously enough for me to believe I can count on him. However, Solidare really did scare Dave in the field on Saturday. The last thing he wants is to see me loose this mare and he really did step up in ALL ways this time.

We mapped out a schedule for checking the mare so we could maximize on our sleep. Alternating back and forth allowed us to "stretch" our forty winks. Hopefully neither of us would end up so sleep deprived we wouldn't be useful when the time actually came.

For me the biggest indicator of foaling in my mares has always been the status of their milk. I've been fortunate to not have mares that would stream milk for days while not producing a foal. Once that milk turns to white, it's pretty much been a given a foal will follow sometime soon if the mare is not disturbed. This put monitoring Solidare's milk foremost on my list.

The changes had begun early Saturday morning but they were subtle and nothing to get excited about yet. The liquid was amber but just a hint cloudy. By Saturday evening there were more changes but still very subtle..... just a hint more cloudy. I was looking for a change from amber to white.

When I'd talked with my vet about his current concerns, there had been no more changes in Solidare's pre-milk at all. I don't know if all of the excitement and having the vet stalled the mare but clearly she was not progressing. To be safe we were watching the mare like a hawk watches its prey.

Solidare was not happy with the interruptions during the night as Dave and I took our turns checking on her condition. This probably didn't help speed things along either but I knew she would get used to our routine.

It's a known fact a mare can "hang onto" her foal if she feels threatened in any way. Only once she's into that second stage of labor will it proceed despite external forces.

Because the mare is so sensitive to our presence, I've learned sleeping in the barn does not work with her. If we sleep in the barn, Solidare has always managed to hold onto her foal until we take a needed potty break. She has held out for days waiting for that break to come.

If this foal was ready to be born, we wanted that to happen as soon as possible. The sooner the mare was relieved of the extra weight, the better off she would be. While sleeping in the barn is actually easier for me, it wasn't going to be easier on my mare so we opted for staying in the house and doing frequent barn checks. The mare seems to tolerate those better than the move in.

Sunday night came and went followed by Monday night too with no changes at all in the mare. It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that I detected any more changes to Solidare's pre-milk. Even though those changes were not "normal" for this mare, there were significant changes. I still had golden but slightly cloudy liquid just like there had been Saturday evening. The only difference was it's consistency........and it was now very very sticky.

For those not familiar with all this foaling stuff, it's important to know from the time there is fluid that can be extracted from the udder, it is always rather sticky so "sticky" alone is not a clue of imminent foaling. However, there was a very noticeable change in how sticky the liquid from Solidare's udder had become. It was that change that made me suspect we were closing in of parturition.

By Tuesday evening the color of the liquid had only made a slight change but that consistency and stickiness really had my attention now. I wondered if Solidare would hold on to her foal throughout the night only to foal sometime early morning like she has in years past. While I wasn't positive foaling was imminent, I knew the mare wouldn't be holding out much longer. We were getting down to more serious stuff.

I kept playing scenarios over in my head. The "What if's" were killing me. What if the foal was born , the uterus came with it and the vet had not arrived? What if the mare managed to foal when we weren't right there and every thing all came out together? What if we couldn't reach the vet? What if........

All I knew was I didn't want any surprises. I knew from lots of past experience, the odds of catching this mare right at the entry from the first stage of labor going into the second were slim to none.
Because the mare does little moving around because of the torn tendon in her left hind leg, the tell tales signs of pacing are totally removed from the equation. Without those, the odds of catching her were even worse. Still, I tried to keep the faith, be calm and wait for Mother Nature to grace us with her presence.

Dave and I discussed our strategy before our late night shifts began as the intense watch sifted to accommodate a little sleep for the watchers. On my turns it was hard not to run to the barn. I knew running would only cause problems but my heart was running.........as was my head.

Each time I checked the mare that night there was no sign. I reluctantly put myself to bed and prayed. The prayers disappeared into sleep until something intruded through the dreamlike awake state that comes with too much worry and not enough sleep, ..............my brain jolted at the unexpected intrusion.

WTF IS that?........... OMG, the phone......... Dave!................ Solidare...................

To be continued...................

Solidare


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Heritage.........Problems

Part 1

I was riding my stallion at the park the next day when my cell phone rang again. On the other end was my vet.I figured he'd done his thinking and now he was ready to tell me what his thoughts were on this whole situation. I took a deep breath hoping I was ready to hear what he had to say. Then I answered the phone.

As I expected, the vet started off with, "Now that the cobwebs have cleared and I have a chance to think.........." Then he proceeded to explain his concerns about the mare's collapsing vagina.

This collapsing vagina is not something I have ever seen before. I did know that the mare's vulva seemed to be changing in appearance but I didn't know what was causing the change. Now it makes sense the changes are from the loss of support inside the vagina. As the muscles collapse, they're pushing outwards.

This is what I got from the vet's comments. It is the structure of the vagina that keeps the uterus in place during the birth process. With that structure being compromised there was a distinct possibility the mare's uterus might prolapse (come out along with the foal and placenta) as she was foaling.

I've been doing this foaling thing long enough for fear to be my immediate response at the mention of a prolapsed uterus. I know that mares die from a prolapsed uterus....... not always........but often enough. If there was any possibility this might occur the mare's best shot would be to have the vet come at the first sign of foaling.

Having the vet present at foaling is one of those things...... easiest enough to plan.............. not so easy to carry out. Predicting "when" just isn't all that successful when it comes to foaling. We'd have to hope we could catch a normally very sneaky mare. The only times I've ever caught Solidare before a foal was born was when she needed assistance.

Then there was the other issue the vet mentioned. A pregnant mare rolling can cause a torsion of the uterus. It's extremely dangerous. A torsion can kill the foal and/or the mare and somehow, that I still don't understand, my vet felt Solidare might also be at a higher risk for a torsion during her foaling.

We have rolled this mare over a couple of times in the last weeks because she gets down with her bad leg underneath and she can't get up. Even with intervention we've been unable to get Solidare to her feet without rolling the mare over completely.

Doing so is an absolute last resort, and we cringe each time we do it. Also, we try our best to support the mare and the foal during this process hoping the foal rolls with the mare. It's when the foal floats inside the mare as she rolls that a torsion is caused in the uterus. Even by supporting the foal there are no guarantees. It's dangerous, that's all there is to it.

At this point I really didn't feel like riding anymore. What I really wanted to do what go somewhere and hide, maybe climb into bed pulling the covers up over my head, but what I really needed to do was have some thinking time of my own. The best way for me to deal with stress is to ride...........so ride I did but only after I got on the phone and called Dave telling him I really needed my barn cam up and running.

That cam has saved me lots of grief when it comes to tracking foaling mares. Having the cam probably saved Bey Aana and Patriot's life and I was counting on it now to help save Solidare and this foal. Wouldn't you know it, this was the year my barn cam decided to die.

To be continued.....................

Watching......Waiting.......

This is another archive photo of Solidare. The foal at her side is Dare, her first foal for me. The pic was taken when Dare was 4 months old.



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