Do you have an impossible horse to fit a sheet/blanket to, but still want or need to use one for some reason or another? A wonderful suggestion from a friend of mine has eliminated Duke’s awful rubbing. Shout out to Emily and her Mom for this tip! Duke is either the worst to fit, has super sensitive skin, or maybe both? Earlier this year (somewhere around the end of June, beginning of July), he broke out in bumps all over his body due to biting flies and/or mosquitoes. To try and fix it, I went out and got the latest and greatest Ultrashield Gold fly spray. It was supposed to be great, as I’ve read and heard great things. Well, it gave Duke massive welts all over his skin ON TOP of the bug bites. Poor thing was miserable and after feeding him zyrtec at the suggestion of my vet, I broke down and purchased each horse a Rambo Protector Integrated Hood (meaning it doesn’t detach) fly sheet. My bank account hates me. It’s always something. Don’t mind me while I go make a withdraw and light it on fire and that’s about how things go around here.
By the way, the Ultrashield Green, their Natural Spray has worked pretty good for us this year during training, doesn’t do squat for turnout though-nothing seems to last for turnout.
Anywayyyy the Rambo sheets fit pretty nice and it was working well without rubs for a few weeks, I was so happy! Then one day I brought them in and noticed it had started rubbing too. Once it started rubbing, within a few days his shoulder was basically raw. I wanted to scream. I may have yelled profanities out loud in the barn. I can put literally anything on Fizz and he is fine. He could wear a garbage can and not have any problems. I could put a billion dollar cashmere and luxury silk sheet (or whatever fine expensive soft fabrics are out there, I’m really no fashionista) on Duke and he’d be rubbed raw within a few weeks.
Enter this little stick of awesome. Just rub it on like you would deodorant in the spot(s) being rubbed and voila! I put it on once daily when I put the sheets on in the morning before turnout. They are usually outside sunrise to sunset. His hair started growing back within a week. After a month, it’s fully grown in. It looks a little weird being as the rest of his hair is bleached from before getting the sheets and the patch grew back unbleached black, but there is hair! Hallelujah! It is 9/18 and I’ve used 2 whole sticks at this point from August 8 to now, but that 13 dollars is worth every penny. I might as well buy a few cases of these things at this point.
The photo on the left was taken August 7th. The one on the right was taken Sept 6th. The hair has completely come back in.
Just putting this out there, maybe someone somewhere will find this and it will help them and their horses from getting terrible blanket rubs!
Do you ever look at your horses and think “you could have been so much more, if you weren’t just stuck with me?” Do you ever compare where you and your horses are to where other people and their horses are and think “we aren’t doing enough” and get a little upset at that?
So many times I flip through magazines and I see all these people and horses in tip top shape doing all these big things and I get a little down. I lose motivation and I lose some faith at times. I look at my knowledge and skill level for training, I look at the talent and natural ability of my horses and I think, they could have really gone to the top. I look at them in awe of their natural abilities, in awe of their tolerance and forgiveness for me, and I wonder what they could have done under a compassionate, more skilled teacher. I look at other horses that maybe aren’t as naturally talented working and showing under very talented trainers and doing big things and I think “that could have been my horses” if it weren’t for me. If only I had more money to pay someone to help them, to help me. If only I had more skill, more talent, more, more, more. It is so easy to feel guilty in the horse world, to feel like you’re not enough, you don’t have enough, aren’t doing enough. It’s so easy to downplay your accomplishments because you are too busy judging them against others.
But, isn’t that part of the problem with the horse world anyway? Isn’t this supposed to be FUN? Sometimes I have to force myself to take a step back. Maybe even a lot of steps back and look at my horses; Horses no one wanted because they were labeled “problematic” among other things, due to being under the direction of people who didn’t believe in them, pushed them too hard, had expectations beyond the horses skills, didn’t have enough time for them due to other responsibilities, etc. I have to look, I mean really look at how far they’ve come with only an amateur to teach them. I have to look at myself, where I started to where I am now and the skills I didn’t have in the beginning that I have learned over the years. When I really look at all I have learned since I began my AOT journey, not only out of necessity but also out of sheer determination, then I can see my horses have overcome so many hurdles and proved so many things people have said about them wrong. I have done the same myself. These horses have excelled because I have not given up on them when others did. I have made it a point to learn from anyone I can, find answers any way I can, and I have kept that “try, try again” attitude through setbacks, through failures, through all the highs and lows that come with working with horses. I have to meet them where they are, praise them as they stand, and be proud of how much we have done with so little.
At the end of the day, the horses don’t care. They are happy to stand in a field and eat grass and hay and they are happy to be loved and fed and cared for. THey could care less if we go to a horse show. They could care less what anyone thinks. They are happy to have someone kind to help them learn skills they didn’t even know they needed. They are truly and honestly GOOD boys who try so hard. So what if they could have done more? Others with more skills than myself could have done more for them, but they didn’t. They could have ended up in bad situations but instead, they landed with me: The determined amateur. And I won’t stand for ANYONE to talk poorly of my good boys, even if we accomplish absolutely NOTHING. So, why would I stand for myself looking poorly upon our accomplishments? I need to learn to use that at motivation as we ramp up into show season. There’s always things to learn and always fun to be had.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Learn to be happy as you are, and if you want more, go WORK FOR IT!
I’m not sure who is more stubborn, me, or the horses. I have heard so many “you can’t” do this or that with show horses, with my horses specifically, etc. You can’t turn them out during show season, you can’t work them twice a day, you can’t get on from the correct side or from a mounting block (Duke), you can’t ride him bareback, you can’t ride him just in a halter, you can’t run barrels, you can’t trail ride show horses, especially saddlebreds, they’re too spooky. Excuse me, what? No. We can do anything we want. Don’t tempt me with a good time trying (even if we fail). Which we won’t. Because we’re awesome. And we’re too stubborn to stop trying until we figure it out. Saddlebreds are smart, resilient, brave, and versatile. Despite what people think, they ARE multi purpose. At least mine are. I don’t really give them a choice not to be.
Many years ago when Fizz first came into my life, I was determined to give him a well rounded education. What I didn’t know is that I would be educating myself along the way. Over the years, I have learned many things outside of the saddleseat background that I grew up in. The key is to take knowledge from any and all places, no matter if you agree or disagree or like or dislike the discipline. There are principles of training in literally every discipline that you can use to make your horse better. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t believe that teaching them things outside of their intended use is going to make them less good at their primary job.
From saddleseat to dressage, to jumping, to reining, to barrels, to trail riding and everything in between, there’s something in each and every one that can help build your horse. I do the same exact job every working day and it makes me bored as all hell. What makes us think our horses don’t like variety? I know from my experience the happiest my horses are, is when they aren’t asked to do the exact same things every single day. The least happy they are (or at least Fizz was) is when I was doing the same thing day in and day out hoping to make a saddleseat horse out of him in the very beginning. That is all I knew. The best thing I ever did for him and for me is to open my eyes and learn. Most importantly, HAVE FUN.
Am I saying you have to trail ride if you don’t want to? No. Am I saying you have to take lessons in dressage? No. Am I saying you should run out and set up jumps and jump them? Absolutely not. But certainly don’t discount the training principles of the disciplines other than yours and give some solid thought to the ideas behind them, how they can help your horse(s). You have the option to try, and if you don’t like it or it doesn’t seem to work well for you, the beauty of life is that you can choose to discontinue doing something whenever you want. True that consistency and repetition is how horses learn, but once the basics are covered I am a FIRM believer in that horses adapt very easily to different things. The consistency comes in your handling. You keep your contact the same in their mouth, your cues stay the same no matter what job they are doing, you have the same basic rules and they can adapt to any task at hand. It’s OK for them to question it but at the end of the day, they should rely on you and trust you to support them in the same ways you always do and they can overcome any obstacle.
Enjoy these photos of the boys doing many different things. SUCCESSFULLY.
There are good days and bad days working horses. It’s always the great days that no one sees and there’s no evidence of. I am beyond lucky to have 2 very special, talented horses to work even if no one sees their best days but me. Ideally, their best days would be at a show, in front of God and Country and everyone else, but alas, we are rarely that lucky.
As an AOT, it’s been a very difficult road (with a stint somewhere in the middle where I just about gave up) but I have learned a lot in 10 years. People have asked me how I do it. Well, honestly, I didn’t know I had another choice. I can’t afford $2,000-$3,000 a month for professional training (the going rate here in KY is between 1,000 and $1,500 per horse). This doesn’t include any farrier, vet, or other needs. It’s also well above what we pay for our mortgage so… yeah. We are not in a financial position to pay more for horse training than we do for a home to live in.
When you don’t have money but you have work ethic and an undying stubbornness inside of you that refuses to give up, you can create your own 5 figure horses out of next to nothing. Granted, they may not be the best of the best, they may not ever be world champions, they won’t win every class they are entered in, but they are FUN. They are (Mostly) SAFE. They are talented. And if I were to go out and purchase horses of this quality at their current training levels, they would NOT be cheap. Even with their quirks.
$500 horse on left, “free” horse on right. However, just because they didn’t cost much up front doesn’t mean they haven’t cost. They have both had a LOT invested into them. They are worth every ounce of frustration, financial hardship, time, and sanity that I have invested into them.
Do you ever get that feeling like you’re just missing something? Maybe it’s right in front of your face and you just can’t see it? Yeah, me too. Since Duke got here in July, and even before that, my goal with him has been to get us to a (real) show, under saddle, IN A SUIT, all up in front of the public and NOT embarrass ourselves. We have hit roadblock after roadblock (he had an abscess that took forever to heal, I had surgery that put me off for 6 weeks, WINTER, mud, etc). It’s so easy to become frustrated and sit back and say we’ve gotten no where. The wheels of progress turn so slow, and the winds of change are barely blowing.
However, I cannot in all honesty say we have not made any progress. While the progress sitting in the saddle isn’t as noticeable as I wish it were, and we still have quite a way to go to be ready to hit the show ring, there are other areas where the level of progression is much more noticeable. On the ground, he is a different horse. I can put a brush to his face without him running backwards. I can put a blanket on without him running sideways. I can work around him without fear his teeth will take a chunk out of me when I’m not paying attention. I can use a mounting block. He still hates anything being sprayed on him, but we are working on it. He might squat a little but he no longe3r becomes a crash test dummy who would slam himself into anything around just to try and get away.
I have never dealt with such an incredibly sensitive horse in my life. So, what do you do when you have a horse that is so (over) reactive to literally every move you make? You just don’t react. You keep going. You take it slow, but you make it a point to continue on. Don’t panic when they panic, just keep going like nothing is happening. It’s just not your turn to have a meltdown. And it probably never will be.
I can’t say this is the way to go with ALL horses, but with Duke it has proven to work. After MONTHS of flailing my hands around his face, dropping things on purpose, kicking things all around him, touching him with any oddball thing I may be walking through the barn with (a broom, a rake, a pitchfork, a feed bag, a shavings bag, a giant rolling magnet, you get the point) he finally just stands and looks at me like I’m the most ridiculous human on earth with most things. He doesn’t shake in fear, he doesn’t run backwards or sideways or anything else. If I happen to drop something next to him, I don’t have to worry he might take me out on the way to getting the hell out of there, or that he will break the crossties trying to escape his fate. He stands there, 98% of the time. None of us are perfect, I’ll take 98%.
Duke: “There better be snacks involved after this”This is his “are you serious?” face
I go by the rule that if you spook at it, you get to wear it or be by it or look at it so you can realize it isn’t scary. It may take a few days of seeing it, being touched by it, etc. Some people might think this is cruel, and to those people I ask: how else are you desensitizing your horses? How are they supposed to understand something isn’t going to hurt them if they aren’t exposed to it? If they are not physically shown there is no harm to come from being “brushed” with a broom or “ridden” by a bag? Or whatever else. Please. Enlighten me. I’m always open to new ideas. Everyone has good ones, and I’m ready to hear them. However, this is what is working so far on my extremely sensitive guy, and he’s no worse for wear. Until a better alternative is offered up or discovered, I will stay the course with this. Do I annoy him? Probably. Is he safer to work around (and even ride) because of it? Absolutely. Does Fizz look at me like I’m a horrible human for “torturing” his brother? Nope. Been there done that is probably laughing from the other side of the divider.
Anyway, just because you can’t see progress every single day doesn’t mean progress isn’t getting made. When you feel you’re in a rut, take a look back at where you were a month ago, 6 months ago, a year ago. Don’t focus on today, yesterday, and the frustrations you may feel in each moment. Don’t look at your end goal and think about how far you have to go still. It can make it seem hopeless, believe me, I get it. Instead, focus on where you came from, where you are, and where you want to be. Adjust along the way if necessary. Look at the big picture. See the whole forest (all the little hurdles you’re jumping on the way), not just one tree (your end goal). It’s OK to trip. It’s OK to stand still and evaluate. It’s OK to proceed with caution. As long as you’re not going backwards, you’re doing all right.
In typical Duke fashion, he has caused trouble again. I mean, not intentionally but if I don’t make light of it and laugh at the troublemaker, I just might cry. I have dealt with lameness in the past before with Fizz, but never to this degree. It’s always been “Oh, you removed my shoes? I’m now crippled” or something else that is basically no big deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s never lasted more than 3 days. This had been going on since the end of September. It’s December now like really can Santa bring me an unquestionably sound horse?
On Sept 25th, we had the boys reset. Since we are going into winter in KY we had Duke’s show shoes (with the little leather pad) removed and plain plates put on. If you read/remember the post about Keratex, I was absolutely thrilled his feet were in good enough shape to even be able to do this. I thought, this will be GREAT for winter work. Then on the 28th, he turns up dead lame. My initial thought was, he’s uncomfortable after we took the pads off. Give him a bit for his soles to harden up, and he will be fine. So I waited a week, but he was the same. The farrier came out to put hoof testers on him and he removed a nail on one side where he noticed a little bit of heat, thinking it could have been a hot nail. I didn’t notice this heat, but I’m no professional. Anyway, it wasn’t that. He believed it was an abscess and suggested I soak and wrap for a week, and see where we were. I agreed and did as directed. Below you will find “how to” of sorts.
If you’ve never soaked a fidgety horses foot before, good luck, Godspeed. I hope you have the patience of a saint, especially if you’re trying to use a bucket or pan like normal people do. If you’re like me and have maybe just a smidge more patience than your horse who thinks standing still is stupid and knocking over buckets is funny, I highly suggest you invest in a product that stays with them as they move. There are multiple products out there but I got the little contraption below from my local Tractor Supply and it’s worked out well for soaking thus far (with the exception that Duke promptly broke one of the keepers for the velcro straps).
Dissolve some epsom salt in warm water with a splash of betadyne (if you have it or want to go buy it-my vet recommended it).
Soak the horses foot in the solution for a minimum of 15 minutes once daily.
I like to wipe it “dry” with a towel, inspect, then wrap.
There are some options with wrapping. You can just put some warm water and epsom salt into a baby diaper and wrap if you don’t have anything else on hand, but I find that an epsom salt poultice you buy is easier to use and stays “in place” better. You can also use something like icthamol drawing salve, or some sort of hoof packing like sole pack. In all instances, you still should wrap with a diaper (or other type of cotton) and duct tape boot on top. I use the diapers because the generic ones are cheaper than rolls of cotton and they secure on the foot so it makes wrapping slightly easier. I suppose you could put on a hoof boot or some other hoof wrapping if you choose but I haven’t found anything I like that works as good as the old duct tape way. If you have a better method, I would love to hear about it!
If you’re like me and you have never had to wrap a hoof by yourself before, again, good luck and Godspeed. haha. But really, don’t fear, for we don’t live in the stone ages and there is YouTube now.
After the initial week of soak/wrap process, nothing had changed. Another week of soaking/wrapping. Duke’s frog was soft and pliable and seemed to be bothersome, so the farrier came back out to trim his foot and make sure the shoes didn’t need anything. Still, the lameness persisted. I thought, let it go and give it a few more weeks. Still the same. Unfortunately.
I watched and waited about as long as I could tolerate him looking uncomfortable and to the point where I had exhausted all efforts that I knew of and that had been recommended to me. Then I called the vet. On Nov 3rd, they came out and performed an exam. He didn’t respond to hoof testers. His digital pulse was not elevated. There was no heat. But the lameness was evident. They did X-Rays to diagnose, since everything else looked normal. However, the X-Rays proved it is without a doubt, an abscess. As shown in the images below, the “pocket” of infection is clear. The vet was concerned about the infection spreading to the coffin bone, so prescribed antibiotics for that, bute to make him more comfortable, and ulcerguard to help ease his stomach from the bute. You would have thought I was poisoning his food, but he reluctantly ate it over the course of the next 10 days. The vet recommended to resume the soaking/wrapping and wanted a report in a week if he was still uncomfortable. It did not resolve.
The farrier came back on the 9th to trim and reset, and recommended another soak/wrap immediately following the trim. And then….I had surgery on Nov 11th!! I was not able to soak, wrap, or really do anything after the 10th! However, it still had not totally resolved. He seemed more comfortable on and off, but would still take “gimpy” steps trotting around the turnout and coming out of his stall. On Nov 17th, the vet returned to do magnawave therapy on his hoof to draw the remaining abscess out. They said improvement should be seen within 24-48 hours and if not, they could do another session, or more! At this point, I’m wondering (not for the first time during horse ownership) if I needed to find a street corner somewhere, or sell my soul to come up with enough money to pay for this insanity. How has it been 2.5 months and this thing is STILL hanging on?
Being the stubborn horse person that I am, I enlisted my poor non-horsey husband to help me soak and wrap… it can’t hurt, even if it hasn’t helped (yet). We did one day with epsom salt, then the second day we packed with sole pack. Left this on for nearly 24 hours. Yes, I realize the package says 18 hours max. But, being limited in what I could do, that’s the best I could manage. When this wrap was removed, a literal CHUNK of his sole picked away with a hoof pick. I was concerned, but it didn’t seem to bother him. I turned him out without soaking or wrapping and over the next several days, he seemed a lot more comfortable.
THEN, he threw a shoe. Actually, both of them did. They both threw one front shoe each. FAIL. Duke’s abscess side shoe was still hanging tight, but called the farrier anyway. Thank GOD for a good farrier, he showed up the next day. We had a nice chat about their work and living arrangements over the next few months and decided to pull ALL shoes off BOTH horses. I was SO nervous this was going to be a disaster, but the farrier assured me they would both benefit from it and if not, he would come back and nail shoes back on. Both barefoot boys pictured below.
He examined the abscess hoof and he thinks it may have blown out under the piece of sole that came off. I tend to agree. They have been barefoot for 2 weeks now and today, he was a hot mess but he looked like a SOUND hot mess! Praise the lord I (cautiously) think we are over this, but apparently this is the most stubborn abscess in history and soaking/wrapping usually works a lot faster! In extreme cases the vet can cut in and drain, but in Duke’s case the vet thought that would cause additional problems and felt it would be best to let it come out in it’s own time.
If you’re dealing with lameness, and everything you are doing isn’t working, PLEASE have your vet out to confirm an absolute diagnosis. It could be a (should have been more simple) abscess, but really while you’re blindly treating symptoms there could potentially be a bigger issue that if treated sooner, would have a better outcome. While my bank account may be drained, my heart is happy knowing I have done my due diligence as a horse mom and caretaker. I exhausted every effort I could do myself within a reasonable amount of time before enlisting professional help (and spending a small fortune) but at the end of the day, my horse is happy and comfortable now and I feel good that I didn’t let it go on and on without asking for help. As much as we ask of our horses, we owe them that much.
What is with me and horses with “bad” feet? Not sure, but my first “reset” after getting the boys home did NOT go well for Duke. I had to get a new farrier, since the previous farrier does not come to my location. The new guy came highly recommended and he did not disappoint in the workmanship area. The boys feet looked absolutely amazing after he left and I was highly impressed. My bank account however, was not impressed. The previous farrier was much more budget friendly, and he always took excellent care of the boys despite their not so ideal feet. I’m hoping since now I can control every detail about their living and working environments, I can help keep their feet the best they can be. I can be extremely OCD and meticulous, and this situation is one of those things I have been very meticulous in managing.
The work Duke needed to keep his feet together required keeping leather pads with a shoe and applying epoxy to fix the parts of his hoof that were literally crumbling apart. He had soft, shelly feet and the bill I paid made me cringe. Shelly feet come from too much moisture, among other things (including genetics, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, etc) and I had a lot of instructions from the farrier to control and fix this moving forward.
No hose bathing
Sponge off sweat only, keep bell boots on to keep sweat scrapings off feet
Keep stalls clean/dry
No working on wet footing
No turnout when dew is present
Always work with bell boots on
Start feeding Farriers Formula Double Strength
I will probably do a review of Farriers Formula after he’s on it 6 months or so as it takes a while for the new hoof to grow out and see any benefits from a feed through supplement. I needed something to help FAST as I can’t sustain paying to glue my horses feet back together repeatedly over time. That’s where the Keratex comes in. I had used Keratex previously on Fizz when he lived in a field 24/7 and it seemed to help keep his shoes on longer, but I never really could use it in a controlled environment so I wasn’t sure if it was the Keratex or something else so although I had mentioned previously that we used it, I never did an actual review.
I wish I had gotten better photos, but I will share the photos I do have. Below are Duke’s front feet after being trimmed, where you can see the parts of them with chunks missing. This photo actually doesn’t do the damage justice. Those chunks were just flaking off with only finger pressure.
Below is a photo after the reset. The sections of white are the epoxy to create pieces of hoof to nail the shoe to. Such a pretty manicure!!
The day the above photos were taken, as soon as the farrier was finished, I went and bought a package of farriers formula and started him on it that day. I also started application of the Keratex the same day. Following the instructions on the package, I applied Keratex daily for 7 days. The packaging says to apply twice weekly after that as maintenance, but I went with 3x weekly due to the condition of his feet and how much we needed to improve by the next reset. Good idea/bad idea? I don’t know but in my mind an extra application wasn’t going to hurt anything.
Fast forward to 7 weeks later due to a farrier delay, and here is what the farrier had to say. Duke’s feet are HARD. He was able to do a reset into regular plates, with no pad for winter work! NO epoxy was needed! There is still a little bit leftover from the previous reset but by next trim it will be gone. He said they could actually use a little moisture, so he recommended to use Rainmaker 2-3x a week from this point forward.
Here is a photo of the reset after 7 weeks, just plain plates with no pad. The bill was much more acceptable! The Keratex did it’s job and then some. We have successfully managed to get hard feet in 7 weeks time with the use of this product plus the other management tips listed above from the farrier.
Verdict? If you have a horse with shelly feet that are crumbling apart, I would absolutely recommend Keratex. It appears to be the only product that chemically alters the horn of the hoof to provide results to what is essentially “dead” hoof horn. It also works on the sole, just follow the instructions on the package and stay away from the frog and the coronet band. I am not affiliated in any way with this product and I do not receive any commissions for recommending it. I am just a horse owner who has used this with fantastic results, and want to share so that it may help other horse owners with their horses if you find yourself in this situation. I hope you don’t, but if you do, give Keratex a try!
You read that right. I’m afraid of my pizza cutter. Laugh all you want, but you’ll understand the relevance if you keep reading. Years ago, I got a fancy new Pampered Chef pizza cutter. One of the first times I used it, I made a mistake in taking the cover off and it sliced the bejeesus out of my finger. I maybe should have gotten stitches, but I’m a stubborn fool and pretty much felt like since the finger was still attached, it was fine. It took weeks to heal, kept busting back open and bleeding-fingers are the worst place to have cuts. I think about that literally every time I use the stupid thing now though, and it’s been probably over 10 years. I think about how it cut me, but I still use it. I have come to understand my mistake and that if I use it correctly it won’t cut me anymore. I learned from my past experience. I moved on.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. This is a blog about horses, why is this lunatic telling me about a stupid pizza cutter? I’m not here to read about how she doesn’t know how to appropriately use kitchen tools. Well, my misguided use of kitchen tools isn’t really the point here. The point is, fear from past experience is a real thing. When you are afraid of something, it affects your decision making and it alters your future choices. Sometimes permanently. Horses are not different in that regard. Helping your horses learn to move past or work through the things that “cut” them in the past, the things they fear in the present, or both, is what training horses is all about. Help them to learn. Help them to move on. We just have to try our best to maintain good judgement and hope we do not become a thing that “cuts” them too.
Horses are inherently flight or fight animals. They have an instinct built in that tells them if something is scary, to just run away as a first resort. If they can’t run away, their next instinct is to fight. The hurdle for us as trainers (or in my case, an amateur just trying to do what I can) is that we must find a way to teach horses that the things they think are scary, are actually not. To build a rapport with that animal so that they know you are not asking them to do things that will put them in danger. My opinion may not be the most highly sought after opinion on horse training, but I think this starts with trust. If your horse does not trust you, how can you expect it to “walk through fire” simply because you asked it to?
Exhibit A, I offer you Duke. He is absolutely not the bravest creature that ever walked this earth. Bless his heart he’s afraid of his own farts. I do think he is very talented and very special, and because of that, he was pushed to be something great before he was ready. Since he has a very high flight instinct, he was labeled a jerk, a no count asshole, difficult, and those are the nicer terms. He was not given the time he needed to mature, and some horses just take longer (cough cough FIZZ). Since he has arrived at my house, I have spent quite a bit of time offering him love, patience, and understanding. I have spent time learning his favorite places to be scratched, rubbing on him, telling him he’s a good boy, and making him feel safe just being around me. It’s been more than a month and we still have good days and bad and I expect that will continue. Possibly always. However, I did this with Fizz when he first came into my life and that horse WOULD walk through fire for me if I asked him to. Back then, I was just so happy to have a horse of my own that I enjoyed spending time “hanging out” with him, I didn’t realize this would be invaluable to our relationship as horse/human. So, I feel this is an important step to take with Duke also.
I can tell his attitude is slowly changing. This isn’t to say that he wasn’t ever offered love or understanding, but having someone spend that extra time just being near him, working around him in a way that shows them your intentions don’t need to be questioned, maybe doing things that are not quite “normal” just to give a reference point for trust. You may not think so, but that is also training. For example, I have “brushed” Duke with a broom several times. At first he thought I was coming to beat him to a bloody pulp. Now, he thinks it’s fun and tries to eat the broom. I drop things around him on purpose. He has stopped reacting to this now. I put strange things near where we work on purpose. He eventually stops snorting and running sideways. I am not gentle in the way I move around him, I am clumsy and flail things around and make a lot of noise simply to show him noise isn’t the enemy. Does he still react? Yes, but it is a simple head raise and ears pricked forward and maybe a slight body twitch as opposed to a running backwards or sideways, into whatever is in the way or over whoever is in the way like it used to be.
Yesterday, we did ground poles in long lines. I walked him back and forth and he walked right over them with me beside him on the first try. Not even a slight side step. Then I left his side, went into lining him as I normally would, and asked him to move over them without me. You would have thought the things grew legs and were standing up ready to take him down. So I went back to his side and we did it together. We had to keep going over and over them, with me gradually moving away each pass. By the end, he was going over them on his own. I wouldn’t say gracefully… but give him a break, it was his first try. He did good enough, he tried and that’s all I can ask of him. But it showed me something, he trusts me. He thinks if I am there doing it, he is OK to be doing it too (at least from the ground). It showed me that I need to work on his confidence, and that if I am asking him to do something alone, it is still OK to do even if I’m not right there.
Horses do talk to you. You just have to know how to listen.
It’s been nearly 3 weeks since I pulled the trailer into our driveway with my boys in tow.
Since we are honest folk here at Twisted Sisters, I’m going to lay it out nice and clear for you. If you are a person who dreams of owning a horse and keeping it at home, and also believes doing so is full of nothing but butterflies, rainbows, and unicorn glitter, you are sadly mistaken and living in a dream world. Come back down from the clouds and join the rest of us here in reality. If you are perfectly clean and look like a million bucks all the time, you’re probably doing it wrong.
That aside, it is still in all reality, a dream come true for me. I take pride in hosting my horses in clean stalls, making sure they are fed, and that they always have clean water. If that means I pick stalls every time I walk by and see a pile of poo, so be it. I have that luxury where I didn’t used to and I am grateful for a life that has given me this opportunity. So I will do all the things and I will be happy that I have that luxury. A lot of folks do not. A lot of folks would love to. Some are happy to pay others for the dirty work, but I’m not that kind of gal. I have always dreamed of a life where I could be intimately involved in every detail of my horses care and I FINALLY have that opportunity. I would venture to say most truly hardcore equestrians dream of a life where they can spend it day in and day out doing all the “horsey” things, even the dirty ones. Either way… here’s my experience and things I have learned so far as a first timer having horses at home.
Helicopter Mom: Apparently, that’s me. I installed a camera to spy on the boys. I check it incessantly. If I wake up during the night, I look at it. If I hear a noise outside, I look at it, if I am working or busy and can’t walk outside just to see if they are OK, I look at it. I mean, in the last 2 weeks I have looked at the camera like I believe at any moment either horses legs may detach from their bodies or some other horrific thing might happen. What do I find? Them munching away on hay, looking outside, or laying down sleeping. Perfectly content with life. OR I find Fizz rubbing his tail, and I can scold him through the talk feature on the camera. Both horses now think God talks to them, below is them listening-they don’t know it’s just little ole me.
Hay: I am pretty sure there will never again be a moment in my life where I am not wearing hay as an added accessory to my outfit. It’s itchy and it gets in places no one should have hay, ever. How does it even get there? Does it grow legs and crawl to really weird spots inside your clothing? Just, how?? Also, if you like to watch your money turn to poop… Just look at your horses happily munching on hay.
Sweat: It’s summer here in Kentucky. It’s HOT and it’s HUMID. I spend a lot of time outside and always have but when you’re working with horses it seems like the heat is amplified 10 fold. I can’t explain why. My eyes have never burned so much as in the last several weeks. I think I’ll keep this as opposed to frozen fingers, but still. I am pretty disappointed I’m not skinny yet after all of this sweating. The universe owes me an explanation on this.
Poop: So much poop. Like, I realize they are large animals and I have worked jobs where stall cleaning was a part of it (back in college and as a kid) but there is SO MUCH POOP. Literally they are poop factories. How did I not remember this? And I feel for all of you who have barns full of horses because just these two create so much!!!
Dust: There is literally so much dust. I use a combination of pellet bedding and bagged shavings, which I had read this combo was supposed to be low on dust. I would like to know what definition of “low dust” is on the internet because this is not it. Therefore, I have been researching this. Evidently, I need to “water” my stalls. Um, excuse me? I don’t even water my flower beds. Those things need to live off the water God gives them or they don’t survive well here. Somebody send help.
Crisis: If you think you’ll never feel like you are in a crisis, just give it a minute-one will come and your little fantasy bubble will have been popped. If you have thought about it and planned for every crisis you could think of (like me) and think you know how it will go, just know it goes nothing like you thought it would. Also know that of all the crises you could think of, the one that will happen is something you NEVER thought of. There’s a back story here I might visit later, but my first “crisis” was experienced and it is over now. Bless my husband, my friends, and my very lovely Vet for putting up with me. I probably worry way more than I should.
Bills: There are just SO many bills. Hay, grain, bedding, vet, farrier, supplements, and the list goes on and on and on into eternity. Some bills can be more than you expect, by a LOT. You might think about finding a street corner to call your own, but in the end you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your horses are healthy and happy. Even if that might mean eating ramen and never leaving your house again.
Help: Having help is CRUCIAL. I can’t say this enough and to those of you out there doing it by your very lonesome, what kind of super hero DNA do you have and where can I get some of it? Or are you just an alien with weird superpowers I can’t even begin to imagine? Because I would NOT have made it even these last few weeks without my poor non-horsey husband who has gotten a very rude intro on how to restrain a contrary horse, how to work a twitch, and some of the other unpleasant things things that come with being around horses. He has also been learning how to pick stalls and he does so without even being asked. BLESS HIM. Ladies, a lot can be said for a man who isn’t into horses but cleans stalls without asking simply because he knows YOU want your horses living in the cleanest stalls in America. I would also not have survived without my Mom, who comes over simply to make sure I don’t die while working these creatures. She’s a saint.
Work: Having horses at home is work. I work a real big girl job. I spend every other amount of time doing things for the horses and the dog. What exactly is this “spare” time everyone speaks about? Who exactly in this world gets to “sleep in” because yeah, that’s not a thing here (for me). Everyone else is taken care of before me. I am the last to eat, the last to be clean(ish-you know, because hay exists…), and I’m fairly certain the horses stalls are cleaner than my house. I can barely manage to do something as simple as boil noodles and slap sauce on top for dinner most days. Dishes left in the sink? Oh well, maybe I’ll get to those tomorrow. Or not. As long as the 4-leggeds are taken care of those dishes can sit another day. Paper plates? Meals that don’t require silverware? Even better. Sign me up.
LOVE: These animals have so much love to give. They make me laugh daily and they fill my heart with so much joy despite all of the above. I truly enjoy simply watching them exist day to day. Every person has good day and bad days, and I believe all creatures do. Our job as humans and facilitators of these animals is to make sure their days are all as good as possible, and understanding that they too, have days that are “off” and they deserve our compassion and understanding. No one, and no animal, is perfect all day every day. These horses (and our Dog Dixie) give me a break when they know I’m having an off day. They offer me peace and acceptance, despite my shortcomings. The least I can do is offer them the same.
For all my (like maybe 2) followers, you might have noticed we added a page for a new horse!
Those that need a reminder, check out the post here: DUKE
Anyway, this guy is a 2015 model American Saddlebred. He is ALL BLACK you guys. My own personal black beauty. In real life. Like, how did I even get so lucky? My luckiness has not come without it’s struggles though.
Duke is, for lack of better words, a firecracker. He is bred to be hot. And HOT he is. When I first started driving Duke for his previous owner, the first time I grabbed the lines was at our first show together in Sept of 2020. We had a short little warm up that went really well. The literal MOMENT he stepped foot into the show ring though, I had a different horse. It took me by surprise, and I fell in love. That is a feeling I can’t explain. I have shown in many classes, on many different horses, in many different situations and places and this was a feeling that was completely new to me. I had a show horse. A fancy, fire breathing dragon who stomped the ground like he OWNED the place.
He had barely been pulling a cart for 30 days at that point, and since I had never driven him before we did have our share of mistakes. But we looked pretty good at our first show together and the few subsequent ones if I do say so myself. Evidence below. Disagree? You’re allowed but please kindly take your negativity elsewhere!
July 2021:
Fast forward to April 2022:
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Fizz and I moved to Brickyard Farms in early 2021, where Duke had been since late 2020. As time has rolled on, it’s becoming apparent that pulling a cart is not where Duke will ultimately excel so over the winter 2021/2022 we began to switch gears and focus more on riding. Duke has had a lot of negative experiences with riding in the past and has not been taught a lot, so we are basically working from the ground up here to re-teach him things that are paramount to his success.
So aside from my rambling because I haven’t talked much about this horse, my point is that too often, horses are rushed into situations for which they are not prepared. They are pushed too hard too fast and they do not learn everything they need to learn before they are expected to do all the things right. Then, when the FLIGHT animal shows it’s flight instincts, people misinterpret that as bad behavior. However, is it really fair to assume they are misbehaving, when infact, they just have never been given the chance to understand what is expected of them, and to learn a basic foundation on which they can rely on? The answer, in my book, is no.
Teach them the easy stuff. Let them understand the basics. Don’t expect them to know the hard stuff automatically just because you’re asking it. And if you are asking them over and over, and getting the same results, maybe evaluate how you are asking and ask in a different way. Just as with humans, horses do not all have the same personalities and they do not all learn the exact same way. This complicates things and makes training more difficult, but to me, a good trainer has patience. They have the good sense to know when to change their methods. They research. They learn new things. They are humble enough to ask for help.
All that said. We are still being patient. We are still researching. We are still finding new ways to ask for what we want. Slowly but surely, Duke is beginning to provide the right answers more often than not. We are in no hurry, when he’s ready, he will let us know. Check out the short video clip below. Please ignore my chattering, asking him not to “fall apart” since he was going along so nice!
Twisted Sisters Saddlebreds 