cabbagepatch88

Well done gooster! Please send positive thoughts

He was completely and utterly lame this morning.when we trotted him up. Rang the vets, my vet mark is away til Monday so have booked him to come Monday afternoon and spoke to another vet on the phone. She said it sounds like the injections have worn off, apparently not all of them respond to them so we might have to try something else. Will have to see what Monday brings. If he says we have to do another 3-4 months recovery I will explode...

Well we've come crashing back down to earth with a bang. Went out for a hack this afternoon then popped him in the school to give him a few laps of canter. Asked for left canter, it was disunited, just like it was before :'( right canter fine. Got off, trotted him up, bit short on left hind but nothing major. My thoughts are- 1) the injection has worn off now 2) he's been an idiot in the field as we had a new horse in the field yesterday afternoon so has made himself sore Waiting for vet to phone me back but might not be til the morning. Will trot him up first thing and see how he looks. Absolutely gutted :'(

The last time we cantered properly without being broken was in September so nearly 6 months ago. We went for a hack today and he had me crying with laughter. We went out with one of milos field buddies who's a 16.3hh warmblood with enormous paces and poor milo with his pony-like-legs struggles to keep up especially in trot and he HATES getting left behind. So today, to conquer this problem, Milo decides to pop himself up into a gorgeous collected canter and stayed at exactly the same speed as his buddy in trot So he CAN do it, I just think the school is way too exciting at the moment...

It's amazing how quickly they lose their balance and flexibility isn't it? Very frustrating! Well canter was a bit scary!! He's just unbalanced I think, I couldn't give him any contact without him trying to piss off with me. My shoulders are going to ache tomorrow On the plus side when he was going nicely it felt very springy and onward bound. Think I definitely have a few weeks hard work ahead of me before we start jumping again..

Well we've finally made it to the end, we can canter tomorrow wooooooo!!!

Yes with Tracey, am really looking forward to it I emailed Lisa about the LT today and she said it would be a good one for me to start out with she's doing a 'back to basics' clinic at mine in march so will try and get on that, I think after I described him as a psycopath she wants to see him in action first now I just need to win the lottery to fund all these clinics!!!

Bless Blue, its nice when they want to work isnt it NOOOOOOOO not draw reins It still amazes me how 'novice' riders/horse owners buy 4/5 year old horses. It is never going to end well!!!! Just read my post back, sorry didnt mean Carl, I meant Earl I was on my phone and it auto-corrected it! Earl, my big grey boy before Milo absoloutely adored Hobo (who was also a grey), they were always together and in bad weather Earl used to shelter tiny Hobo from the wind and rain I used to call Hobo 'mary poppins' because he was just the most perfect pony - he was the perfect kids pony who would ride in an outline regardless of who rode him, always found the right stride into a jump and would win everything hands down out showing, he was absoloutely stunning. Rest in peace Milo went out with his new big friend today, all went well I believe as he came in with no war wounds Ive been getting a bit excited and have booked myself a place on the next dressage clinic with the riding club at the end of march (PLEASE Milo behave yourself and dont embarrass me too much)and am also hoping to go to a XC schooling session which my YO is teaching so hopefeully she will take me in the lorry, thats also end of march. My friend at the yard is currently trying to convince me to go to a riding club competition mid-april - its an 'area' competition called the liason trophy and is aimed at the people who dont compete at the proper big RC shows so all the jumps and everything are teeny weeny and its all aimed at being fun. Or so she tells me She's inviting me to go with her because there will be a space in her lorry. I know I will be up and running by then but to be honest the idea terrifies me but I know once I get going i'll want to do it Also ive got atleast one person who has said they'll do Frensham Sponsored Ride with me again this year so wont be on my own, so all good news

Wow Clare that's dedication! Milo goes in with his new rather large friend tomorrow, he's 17.3 :O ex hunt masters horse. Fortunately so far he seems very chilled so fingers crossed all will be ok! We were due to be cantering tomorrow before the snow set us back a week...still, nearly there!! Bad news is I got a text last night from my old YO to say they'd had their pony Hobo put to sleep, he colic'd overnight and they made the decision to let him go. He was Carl's best friend and was an absolute star so will be greatly missed

Oh my goodness collies r best, what a nightmare! PW wishing you a speedy recovery We are mostly defrosted now, the horses were finally allowed back out today, hooray! Bad news is that the school is now like a pond also we have a new horse at the yard that will be going out in milo's field and its HUGE :O

I'm eyeing up the one on the 7th of April but realistically think that might be too soon...I know its 2 months away but if the school doesn't defrost soon it may take me that long to get jumping! I need to do another 2 weeks trotting and would then like to do a few weeks in canter before adding in the dreaded jumpies! Would ideally like a few lessons with nicola too on the jumping before we venture out We can hack but that means only walking...better than nothing I suppose! All the horses still in but don't think milo minds too much, he's been very well behaved on the last 2 hacks

Oh my goodness gooster that's awful! Hope it gets sorted soon! K9Fran that sounds lovely EAD I wondered where you had gone! So sorry to hear you're having a bad time. You're probably right that magic is getting bored, these cobs are very clever you know are there any local bhs registered yards you could try? Weeeeeeeee go Loki - when Mr Monkey is back out we can be 'Team Piebald' Hehe. Do you do any David Sheerin clinics Clare?

Well done Clare, just had a look at Wayne's pics, Loki looks like he was enjoying himself I am soooo itching to get out and about again!! Go away horrible cold weather so I can get some decent trotting done!!

Collies r best, its so awful isnt it when you KNOW theyre not quite right. Lets hope you get to the bottom of it. Glad to hear Bumble is feeling good though Bless little Lilly, I remember when she was tiny Clare, how did you get on with Francis Whittington yesterday? I was going to come with Sarah to watch but I had totally forgotten I was supposed to be at my Grandads 80th Birthday party so couldnt go All the horses have to stay in at our place if it snows so it looks like Milo will be in for the next few days. Not that he minds, he loves scoffing his face Fortunately we had a horse walker built a few months ago for when it snows, so we had our 'induction' on how to use it yesterday. Milo can be a bit of a pansy with new things so was expecting it to be a bit traumatic but he walked straight in and knew exactly what to do so think he's definately been on one before which helps! Hope all the other fugee horses are warm and cosy

We've pretty much been signed off now...got 4 weeks trotting to do gradually building up to the level we were before then back to normal work I havnt heard anyone talking about that clinic but I expect a few will go! Sounds like it will be good!

Oh no Clare what a nightmare! Who's the camp with Clare, wbrc? I will totally be going to that if it is lol id love it!!

Milo worked beautifully for me last night, he was so responsive - I was almost a bit reluctant to ruin it by trying a trot He was so funny - I asked him to trot on and he stopped a few metres later as if to say "but I thought im not allowed to do that anymore" So I asked him again and off we went, and he stopped as soon as I asked. What a good coblet. I was so proud of him when the vet came on Friday, after the initial trot up and flexion tests he asked to see him on the lunge. Although Milos not naughty on the lunge, he hasnt been lunged for 3 months and we had to go in the school (as the surface in our lunge arena is too deep really) which is full of jumps, I thought he was going to take off. He was only in his head collar and behaved impeccably, I asked him to trot on and he did - not even an excited buck or lurch forward. He was so chilled and calm, I was so impressed, so proud of him Im so lucky that he has perfect manners Then ofcourse I had to ruin everything and dink my car My excess is £400 which I really cant afford at the moment, I guess it was all too good to be true ...

The good news is, Milo is fine onto a month of trot now then back to full work. Bad news, I was so happy, I crashed my car on the way home....

Oh god Clare what a nightmare!!! Monkey milo sounded ok walking down to the field this morning so fingers crossed he's OK...I will explain all this to the vet and hopefully see what he has to say...appointment is 4-4:30, positive thoughts pleased

I am ready to have a breakdown. For the last 2 months since the injections Milo has been (or at least sounded to me) sound. Tonight, the day before the vet is coming, he walks on the yard sounding completely wonky Please everyone cross all available limbs for our appointment tomorrow!!!

Wahooooo go Loki What BE event are you planning for Clare? How exciting! We are into our final week of walking, up to 1 hour now - its VERY boring and cold . Vet will be coming on Friday to re-assess him and then hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) we can start trotting Milo taking every oppertunity to try and break into trot, today on a hack he had a little trip and then just started trotting off, as if he was saying "oh no look what just happened " Of course I pull him up after a step or two, hes really getting fed up now I think - and I guess he'll be feeling fitter now he's done all this walking!

I emailed Allen and Page a few days ago to ask what I should do regarding Milo's feed and I had a wonderfully helpful response today. They say the Cool and Collected would be brilliant for him, and I can feed it on its own without chaff or the balancer. She said if im worried that im not feeding the reccomended levels I can add a vit/min supplement to make sure he's getting enough. Theyre also sending me a free sample and a £3 off voucher just for enquiring, what a lovely company I think I will slowly move him onto that when we start our trot work (hopefully 2 weeks time) and see how we get on. Fingers crossed!

I've never fed Allen and page but loads of people I speak to love them. My friend fed VV to her elderly pony and he went from looking like a hat rack to a show pony!!! I think I will give CC a go when we start trotting just to give him a bit extra. He's on the spillers balancer at the mo and I can't fault it, he's kept a lovely topline despite being out of work, his coat is shiny, his hooves are growing at a rate of knots and his behaviour has been perfect - oh and its very good value for money! They also do a 'cool fibre' chaff I thought I might try too...

Or what about speedibeet? I hate finding horse food...

Question- Im currently feeding milo a scoop if chaff and his balancer (and hay) but am wanting to add a little extra now he's coming back into work. Need to avoid anything that will hype him up as he's Sharp so need to avoid anything heating, so mixes, sugar beet, molasses.. I'm thinking about adding some non heating cubes like spillers but looking at their website the starch content is 16%! Another food I'm looking at is the new cool and collected which is 7.75% starch so quite a huge difference...I've always heard its the starch and sugar content that creates the fizzyness, anyone got any thoughts?