Just Another Day!

It just been a normal, well normal for him being injured, kind of last couple days. He has to stay in his stall because they dont want him grazing with his loose permanent teeth, he gets this toofies rinsed everyday, and he gets his hair did and of course some love from his momma! His mouth actually looks like it is healing really nicely! The right side of his jaw where his gum only split on one side is healing back together! YAY! I have a call into my vet for more info and cost of taking him into OSU to get his lower teeth wired together, hoping to get a call back today, but im thinking (more like praying!) that we actually might not need to go that far. I just need to make sure that his incisors are tightening up and are not as loose. I feel so bad that he has to stay in his stall but he has been so good for it. Yesterday I just let him loose in the arena to let him roll, which he did for about 5 minutes straight, and he turned into a Gypsy racehorse! That is the most I have ever seen him run and buck! It was adorable, he even made himself sweaty.
After the barn yesterday I went to Alannas house and made Mystics 2011 video! It has video starting in January when we started lightly riding him and goes all the way until our last video which was in October (really the last time he was ridden regularly). It is amazing to see how much he has progressed in the short amount of time! We also threw in some cute pictures and some fun music to go along with it. In total it is almost an hour long. Yes we love our pictures and videos! Im going to send one to my aunt and uncle who bred him so they can see what a perfect child they bred :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I always love Thanksgiving (for more reasons than one!) because it is right towards the end of the year when I get thinking that if anything else goes wrong in my life I think I will have to curl up in a ball, get in my bed, and never get up! But it comes just in time to save me and remind me all I am thankful for! So here is just a short list (including pictures of course) of what im thankful for

 

I am thankful for all the years spent, miles travels, tears shed, and fun had with Tolo. 

He is the reason I started rescuing and was the first horse I trained. I miss him daily

 

Im super thankful for  everyone in this picture. Alanna has been there for me 

for 5 years now. Roz has done his share of butt saving for me and I love him just

like he is my own! Erin is always there to keep us well entertained at shows!

 

Im thankful I chose to play basketball for my senior year. It was an amazing year

and one that I will never forget. I truly made life long memories and friends. Not to mention

3rd in state!

 

Im thankful for my puppy Harley who helped me heal from the loss 

of Boomer my last mini aussie. He never fails to make me laugh!

 

I am thankful that my dog Max recovered from his knee surgery this summer and

I hope that next year I will be thankful that he didnt need any more major surgeries!

 

I am also thankful for the opportunity to save Sky. Although im not so 

thankful for her fractured hip, that is a minor thing compared to her almost

losing her life just because of irresponsible horse owners.

 

And my mom of course who has been there for me throughout my whole life with my horses

and all. I wouldnt have been able to save these horses without her.

 

And finally I am SO thankful for the opportunity to own Mystic. He is my once in a life time

horse and am reminded every single day, by him of course, of how truly lucky I am!

He is lucky he is cute!

Waiting to load up into Big Red (our trailer!)

Basically the title says it all. He is sure lucky that he is the most adorable pony out there! He had his vet appt today. There were some good things that came out of it and some bad, go figure. The good is that his jaw is NOT fractured! They were really surprised it wasnt because (here comes the bad) all his lower incisors as pretty loose (most of them being permanent ones). He had the one tooth, and some bone that had broken of also, removed from the left side which was the one that was hanging on by a flap. Dr. Doerr, our very nice vet, could almost fold it over backwards. I thought I was going to pass out, SO GROSS!! Even thought the right side corner incisor has the crack in the gum it is sadly the most stable tooth on his bottom jaw. She thinks that it should heal up and shouldnt fall out or have to be removed. The hard part is what we are going to do with his permanent central and intermediate incisors. They are all loose and we are worried that they will either fall out or if we leave them like this they may need to be pulled. My vet said we could go either way as to leave them how they are right now and continue with washing his mouth out and SMZs or we could look into getting referred to OSU to get his lower jaw wired together to help make sure that his teeth stay put. I do not want him to loose any of his teeth. If he were 20 yeah maybe we would just do what we are doing now and see where it takes us but he isnt... he is 4. So we are looking into cost, recovery, etc of taking him into OSU to get him all wired up. We will see where to go from here but for now he gets to go back to work (since the bit wont interfere with his front teeth at all) which is much needed since he cant go outside on grass because we dont want him grazing and putting more stress on his teeth! So back to work we will go for the time being. Here are some pictures from our trip today:

They didnt even have to put anything on him! Just stuck his head on the stand!

Working on getting the tooth/bone out

The piece they had to take out

Bad picture of what it looks like now

Happy to be home!

The bad and the ugly

How can you not just love that face?

Its a good thing I have a good life coach as a best friend!! I have been pretty stressed just with life. Juggling school, work, horses, homework, etc then to ad Mystics injury on top of that just made me want to sleep (I sleep a lot when im stressed)! Instead I have mostly been having major Friday Night Lights marathons on netflix. Today I woke up and did barn chores at the barn I work at then came home, plopped on the couch in like 3 blankets and watched FNL for awhile attempting to get up many times but finding it was WAY to cold! Finally I got the nerve up to get up and dress warm and head out to the barn. I dressed good for the most part, except for my poor toes that lost feeling after about 30 minutes! I decided what better way to just relax and not think of anything then a short bareback ride on the pony. So I hoped on bareback with his halter and took about a 30 minute walk with him trying to grab a bite of grass every single step of the way. You know he had been so deprived of food since he hasnt been on pasture for the last couple of days due to his mouth troubles. I mean cant you tell the dude is just STARVING?!  I did let him graze for a little at the end before putting him away to clean buckets. After the buckets were dont I got him back out and cleaned him up a little bit since he has to make a public appearance on Tuesday and it would have been thoroughly embarrassing to take him out with how he looked. It may have been a little mean of me to wash his mane but atleast it was with warm water and I put his cooler on after, not to mention he looked pretty handsome afterwards too! I really hope I can start riding him again soon because he needs it! He is being really good considering but he does get a little more impatient a lot quicker!
As for his mouth, I talked to another vet (from the same clinic) last night after discovering that his gum is actually splitting open and she said that from the sounds of it his jaw isnt fractured because he still grazes. Which is good news! She said that from what she has heard (she hasnt actually seen him) it sounds like his corner incisors are fractured and since they are his baby ones they will, or should, just fall out. And will most likely take the chunk of gum that is breaking off with it. It just looks super gross and painful and makes awful sounds.  Tonight it looked a lot closer to falling out to me. The took it coming out further and stick out more than the others. I got a few pictures but they are the kind of pictures that you look at and your mouth just starts to hurt!

All braided, pretty and ready to be seen in public!

Enjoying our time off

I have come to realize that being mad, sad, frustrated, etc about not being able to ride and having a hurt pony doesn't really get me any where and usually occurs frequently throughout the year. So while Rhythm is also injured (his hock) Alanna and I have been hand walking the ponies in the arena at night together since both are in their stalls all day. Tonight I hoped on Mystic bareback and in his halter and we did our 20 minute walking. It goes by so fast when you have someone to talk to and its good for them to get out of their stalls, not to mention it was prescribed to Rhythm head anyways.
Mystic was kind of a cranky boy tonight though! His auntie didnt give him his hay (not sure when she is going to live that down with him!), he had been in his stall all day, his mouth probably hurts, and to top it off he had to behave while we were walking! We were kind of making fun of him too so im sure that didnt help! But I mean really.... you cant hurt your mouth this bad because you bit a metal bar on your own and not expect to get some jokes on it! Anyways, he seems to be doing well. Still eating well and has gone through on of his tubes of Banamine. We have a vet appointment on Tuesday to get xrays and will see where to go from there!

Horses = A Major Pain!

You know when you get a call from your horses barn owner in the morning (at like 7 45 or so) something is wrong... The message confirmed my thoughts. My horse somehow was bleeding from the mouth and his corner incisors were messed up and they were concerned about a fractured jaw. Perfect. NOT! My vet opens at 8 so I had to wait till then to call. Luckily they were able to come out right away. I got there just before the vet did so I was able to take a look at him first and it was so gross! What he had done (so we think) is stuck his head out the feed doors (the ones in the stall fronts that you can leave open so they can stick their heads out) and was biting on his blanket bar when his lower jaw got caught on the bar and he just jerked back. The bar is pretty beat up too! So basically he is on Banamine and anti biotics until early next week when the swelling goes down and such so they can take x rays to see if there is a fracture (which im scared there is, wait for the pictures below) or if they need to pull any of the baby teeth etc. Luckily they are just baby teeth and even if he does have a fracture he will be fine once it heals, it just means he is off of work for awhile.
Horses are so stressful! Even though I know he is ok, which I am VERY thankful for, it just seems like life keeps knocking you down! If its not one thing its another... Im praying its not a fracture but it really seems like it has to be from what it looks like. But he is eating and drinking and everything else is normal besides his mess of a mouth.Oh horses!!

My horse gets hurt in his stall...overnight... and its his MOUTH?!

"I may have a messed up mouth but I aint missin a meal!"

Looking like a devil pony. This is the better side

All the swelling and such around corner incisor

Blazin a trail!

A month ago, or so, Alanna and I decided that we are going to try to get up in the trails a lot more this winter then we have been just to give the ponies a change in scenery and also work those butt engines we want for dressage! Yesterday was our second time in the last couple weeks (didnt go last weekend but we did the weekend before that). We set off at 1pm with Mystic pony and Rhythm head ready for a nice relaxing ride since neither of us really felt like drilling our new found dressage ponies in the arena.
Neither of us have explored these trails by the barn but I sure can tell you know that we have a lot of exploring left in us! We quickly reached our "turning around point" where we reach and decided to just turn around and follow it back home but we were not ready to turn around yet so we just kept going. Alanna said that Mary (our dressage trainer) had told her about a loop that would just bring us right back to where we wanted to be eventually but it would be a decent trail ride. The only catch was that we had to find the correct trail to take. After going down 2 dead end roads we decided we would just follow the main gravel road and turn when we saw it going downhill in the general area we wanted to go (and follow horse poop on the ground!). As you can tell, since I am clearly alive and writing this, we did make our way home! About 3 hours later we finally hit the main road that we cross to head back to our barn. The only thing was... it was about 2 miles further down the road then we were supposed to be! Our poor ponies were exhausted and our toes were cold but it was tons of fun! We crossed a small creek, saw beautiful trees, got to overlook a lot of land from on top of the hills and I got to hang out with a great friend! Next time we plan on bringing Mary so she can actually show us which way to go so we dont get lost again :)

Major Breakthrough

I honestly have never experienced a horse changing (for the good!) or learning something new so fast as my pony did tonight when Mary rode him! It was super cool to watch! Not to mention... it is nice to know that basically all our "problems" have been due to me. I was getting frustrated with his lack of listening off my leg but really its just me not being as clear with my aids and him just still not fully knowing what I want. After just 35 minutes or so of Mary riding him I could visibility see a huge difference, and not only that I could FEEL it! I felt like I had a new horse! Not that he wasnt great before but now we are getting some super nice work and we actually did a couple nice leg yields (a recent sticky spot for us). I have some homework to do with him and new ways to ride him but it is nice to know that yes he can do it and yes he is basically the most perfect pony :) I really cannot wait till show season! I have hopes of getting him qualified for league championships at first level but im not sure if it will happen since it is in June (a lot sooner then championships at Devonwood in September). We will see, if we keep making progress like tonight I have no doubts that we will be ready in June.
Things only get better with this boy and I cannot wait to see where we are in a couple years! We have a lesson again next week I think and am hopefully going to get Alanna to tape it for me so I can post some video of the star pony.

Something else that some friends and I were talking about today was how horse people always think way to highly of their own horses (guilty!) and how sometimes they try to shove their horses (what they think) niceness or abilities down others throats and how irritating it is when people who really dont seem to do well by their horses think that they are way better then your horse and will openly tell you that and such. Although super irritating (mostly the bashing of others horses) one thing we said is that each horse owner really should feel like their horse is the best. Like you all may have gather I believe that my horse hung the moon. I couldnt ask for a more perfect horse.... for ME. I know that not everyone thinks that but guess what? It also doesnt matter one bit to me because they dont have to look at him, touch him, ride him, nothing. I feel SO blessed to have him in my life and although it always makes you feel good when people tell you how nice your horse is or what a good job I have done with him those are all minor compared to the big picture. I can honestly say that I wouldnt sell this horse for any amount of money, he will never go anywhere that I wont be.

All I ever wanted

The title explains Mystic in 4 words :) We had a GREAT clinic today with Karen O'Neal out at Inavale Farms. It was an hour and a half jump lesson with 3 other people who all were jumping about the same height as Mystic and I (very little :) ) even though all their horses have way more experience that Mystic does. All three of the other horses have a one point competed in recognized 3 days events, one even competed at training level with its previous owner. Needless to say he was the green bean for sure but it didnt show!
After talking to Karen about our horses/our experience and what goals we hope to accomplish, etc we started on the rail at the walk. Every 10 steps or so we would make a 10 meter circle making sure our horse had good inside bend and was really moving off our legs. After doing that each way we started doing the same thing at the trot except sitting the trot on our 10 meter circles. Mystic and I got many compliment from Karen on our solid walk/trot work and my position. After we worked at the trot for a little we moved up to the canter. Every one started in a different corner where we circled a 20 meter circle then went straight (in two point) to the next corner where we would do another circle, down the straight side to the next corner, etc. After our horses were warmed up at the w/t/c we started working on our position... our two point position! Yeah I can tell I havent been jumping. We did a LOT of it. Two point at the walk, and trot, and canter, and even staying in two point through transitions. All stuff I have done before but not recently! My legs are like rubber now! Mystic was very good for it all. She noted how balanced and nice all his gaits are and that he definitely needs to be in the show ring!
After basically making my legs useless we started jumping haha! We started with a small cross rail with a pole on either side. I knew he would have a little trouble with this since we havent done it at all and he still is figuring out where his legs go but he did really well considering. We worked on how to get the correct lead after a fence and how to properly set your horse up. I really liked her exercises because it really made our horses and us work as a team. If one member wasnt all in it there was no way you were going to accomplish the task. They were all or nothing exercises. Your horse has to be listening to your aids and you have to be properly telling them where to go. Then we moved on to 4 cross rails set off track from each other. There was the first fence, then to the left the next fence was one fence to the side, after that the next fence was one fence to the right and so on. We really had to be telling our horses where to go next as you were going over the first fence and your horse had to be adjustable in their speed and had to be moving off your leg. If not? There was NO WAY you would make it through. Thats how tight it was. All 3 of the horses horses had issue in rushing after the first couple and not making the last one or two. Mystic was super good and even though to a couple I didnt always give him the best angle he still jumped them. He is super forgiving and the only time he ran out was in another bending line (super bendy line!) where I just totally screwed him over and the fences were on the bigger side of what he has jumped. The second time through that course he nailed it though, clearly just because I rode him better to it. We also did our first baby oxer! And he didnt even bat an eye at it! He was the only one in our group who got to do the line with the oxer. We started at a cross rail in the middle of the arena and went around to our fun 4 fence bendy lines the to a vertical on the other long sides rail, to a vertical in the center of arena back out to a vertical on the rail (the equivalent to the one loop in training level dressage test) then down the center line to a cavaleti, once stride, to our cute little oxer, two strides to a vertical. He did it perfectly! His distances to the fences, his adjustablility, everything! I am SO happy with him and our progress. We talked about her coming back over to do another one over the winter or in the spring and we will totally be there if she comes back! This lesson just makes me even more excited for show season! I cannot wait!

It was muddy...

Very, very dirty!

We even got butt speckles!

Tired pony!

Is it really almost 2012?

WOW! I really cannot believe that it is almost a new year. Its crazy! I was thinking today about some of my goals with my ponies for next year and things that I would like to do with them so I will start a list now and see where we are by January as far as adding more and such.
Mystics Goals:
- Nail our leg yields
- Show @ 1st level dressage (all 3 tests by end of season)
- Get a 65 % or above
- Attend several derbys and one days
- Do a 1st level musical freestyle
- Qualify/compete at league championships
- Show at Devonwood at least once (never have and I want to SO bad!)
- Go to the beach and XC schooling lots and lots and lots!
- Work more on his conditioning

Skys Goals:
-The biggest goal is getting her SOUND! If that happens then..
- Start her back under saddle very slowly (lunging and building muscle up for at least a month or two since she has zero muscling now.. :/)
-Take her to shows with us to get her out and about
- After lunging get her going well under saddle
- Sell her by next fall

Hopefully I can stick to these goals! Having them definitely gives us something to work towards which is always motivating. Tomorrow Mystic and I have a clinic with Karen O'Neal out at Inavale Farms. It should be fun! Im hoping that if the weather clears up a little tomorrow afternoon that we could possibly, maybe, for just a little bit, go cross country schooling! It would be lots and lots of fun but we will see, im not holding my breath because im sure I would end up passed out when I wake up and its pouring down rain... They are supposed to be bringing out some of Inavales scary jumps from the actual horse trials which is awesome! Even though we are just doing intro (little baby jumps!) it will still be fun and a great outing for him. I am super concerned with having another "Tolo" in terms of jumping and all so im getting him out as much as possible so if he ends up having issues over fences I know he just doesnt want to do it and its not that I didnt get him out enough. Although im REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping that he will love it (which he seems to!) if he decides its something he doesnt want to do then we will just go rock the dressage ring and be happy :) So far he hasnt shown me any signs of not liking it and today when we popped over a couple fences he was pulling me to them! Not a good habit but I was happy to see him having fun with it at least! More updates tomorrow after our clinic fun!