JUNE 6, 2013. Primarily Saddleseat girls, we don’t pretend to know much about anything having to do with western. However, we were able to get a western saddle rigged up on Fiz and we each got to take him for a spin! He seemed receptive to everything, and didn’t mind the squeaky western saddle all too much. Doesn’t he look good in teal?
After we had Fiz for one month, we decided to take a comparison picture to evaluate his condition. In the month we have had him, he’s been given the world, considering he is the only horse we have to worry about. He has had personalized care, private pasture, hay, grain, and veterinarian care. A picture speaks a thousand words, so here is that comparison shot. In the bottom shot, you can still see where the hair is growing back after it was shaved to do an ultrasound on his “bulge” that we had previously written about. He is on the right track to where we want him to be. 🙂
May 19, 2013. After dealing with Fiz being sick, we were finally able to RIDE him!!! Seeing as he hadn’t been ridden in a while, we were a little leery of how he was going to act. So, hence the helmet for the first brave soul to hop on the wild beast!! All in all, he was very well behaved. He just didn’t have a whole lot of energy to get around the ring, so we each took a short few trips and called it a day.
The Monday after we brought Fiz home, a major problem developed. A spot on the side of his neck swelled up to the size of a football!! It was a massive lump, so we of course got the vet out immediately to look at him. At this point we were not sure what had happened. It could have been just about anything, from something really serious to something not so serious. Well, it turned out, he had a reaction to a tranquilizer given to him by the previous owners to sedate him for clipping prior to us picking him up. And HOLY COW what a reaction it was. He had to be on antibiotics, he got banamine injections and paste, and we had to use DMSO gel, and then poultice. It was a major ordeal that went on through several weeks of non-stop care and treatment.
Our guy was a decent patient, and he was mostly tolerant of us messing with him all the time, taking his temperature, and feeding him pills and powdered antibiotics in his food. It was tricky though, and we really had to watch him. He’s too smart for his own good! He would only eat the pills with a handful of grain for EACH of the 12 pills we had to give him each day. The powder was mixed into his sweet feed, but you had to make sure to mix it up good or he wouldn’t eat the parts with it on there.
I wish I could say we had pictures of the giant bulge from day one to healing, but unfortunately we do not. All we have is the pretty large vet bill we got just days after we picked him up! I will spare you from having to see that mess. We are glad it’s paid and over, and he is healthy again! Here is a picture taken within a few days of the initial reaction. This actually looks better than day one. The picture doesn’t do this thing justice!
May 4, 2013. The day of the Kentucky Derby, we hook a borrowed trailer up and drive from Indiana to Alabama to pick up our horse, sight unseen. All we had seen were pictures on Facebook and what the seller had sent us through private message on there. We were excited to make the drive and get our 4 year old show prospect. He was bright eyed and friendly, and he won our hearts. We loaded him up and were on our way!!
He happily ate hay in the trailer on our way home. Even though it was cold and wet, he trailered nicely on the long trip home to Shelbyville, KY where we plan to boarding him. We got back late that Saturday night and tucked him into his nice cozy dry stall with plenty to eat.
Sunday was a new day and we were out to evaluate him. He was overall in less than spectacular shape, but we took it upon ourselves to give him the life we know he deserves, and so begins our journey.
Twisted Sisters Saddlebreds 