Diamond in the Rough--Progress Thread Spring 2017

[Saddlebum]

She's Beautiful. My first horse was a morgan mare that came with the small farm my parents bought. We went everywhere together. Morgans are special!

[DD2]

So did you get her?

[KathyK]

TR_Teacher said the PPE is today - I have my fingers crossed!

[Suzon]

Jingles for a good PPE.

[Ryeissa]

jingles

[Code3]

Jingling!

[TR_Teacher]

Thanks for all the positive thoughts!

The PPE revealed one very minor issue, and I'm having my vet take a second look at it. Otherwise the vet complimented her, as a "nicely put together horse."

Once I get an opinion from my vet, I'll make the final decision. I'm always torn on these--I feel like a VERY GOOD PPE should always reveal something. But then you don't really want it to! This vet is very good, and I'm glad he caught what he did--the more information the better.

[khall]

TR, good luck! How rare is a horse that has nothing?

[TR_Teacher]

How rare is a horse that has nothing?

I'm not sure I've EVER vetted a horse that had absolutely nothing turn up. Just whether or not you can live with it or not. I treat these kinda like house inspections. Something is gonna turn up--it can be used for further negotiating, or if it is something you can't manage--you can walk away.

[TR_Teacher]

Done deal! Minor issue turned out to be a total non-issue. With any luck, she'll be here on Sunday!

[Fatcat]

WooHoo! Congratulations!

[Kyra's Mom]

YIPPEE!

[Suzon]

Congratulations!

[StraightForward]

Yay, congratulations!

[Hayburner]

Great News !! Congrats on your new mare and finding your "diamond"

[orono]

Wahoo!! We expect arrival pics of your new girl, glad it worked out!!

[PNG_Pony]

Hooray!!

[KathyK]

Great, great news!

[Imperini]

Woohoo! Looking forward to watching her progress

[demi]

Yay!!! This is exciting! I vote for lots of arrival pictures!

[Code3]

Congratulations!!

[TR_Teacher]

She's here! Actually arrived yesterday. I apologize, I have no pictures yet I wasn't holding the camera phone as she came in, but as soon as I get some, I'll post them. The entire arrival was uneventful, and I was very impressed by how curious she was with everything. She was a bit up (she hasn't traveled much), but nothing stupid. We turned her out for a bit in our indoor to let her stretch her legs after a 4-hr trailer ride. She was more interested in the people standing around. We have lots of toys in our arena, so we threw some cones, balls, etc. out for her to explore. She happily chased everything we threw around, and went up to each object to touch it.

When she walked off the trailer--WE SAW THE FRIESIAN. Soooo--who knows? When she was up, it certainly showed more so than the Morgan.

Turned her out this morning, and she ran the shared fence line with our pony, and then settled in for her hay.

I promise to post pics soon!

[Kyra's Mom]

Yes you had better because you know this post is now worthless without pictures .

Congratulations and glad she arrived safe and sound.

Susan

[TR_Teacher]

Sorry for the delay--here are just a few pictures as she was getting settled in to her stall. Terrible quality--but she mostly wants to SEE PEOPLE so, she wasn't interested in cheesing for the camera. She's exceedingly friendly and sensible--not much really bothers her.

https://plus.google.com/107087296882622558895/posts/V915K52TVTf

[TeresaA]

what a sweet face she has

[Kyra's Mom]

She is lovely. Get us more pics as you can. I need my beautiful hairy red haired horse fix.

Susan (who has a dirty white horse)

[Code3]

Such a cutie!

[hoopoe]

Congrats

I will take a sweet and sensible attitude over any fancy dancy gait

to me that core essence is the biggest deal

[demi]

She is a unique girl. Very nice to look at!

I agree with hoopoe, sweet and sensible over fancy fancy!

[TR_Teacher]

I'm transitioning this to her progress thread!

Because she was so green and wasn't in a consistent training program, I opted to re-start her from scratch. Lunging, long-lining, saddling, bridling, the whole nine yards. She's been keen, alert, attentive and VERY smart through everything. I've ridden her a bit of walk/trot a few times--but backed off when I realized that her teeth were a fairly major problem. The vet who did her PPE noted "moderate points" on both upper and lower molars. I figured she'd be OK for light work until the vet came for our regular spring visit.

NOPE--she was one unhappy camper. Always tolerant, but clearly tense, nervous and just unsettled when asked to work in a bridle. So, I had an excellent vet out on Monday to float her teeth. She had HUGE points on the very back of her back molars that had likely been missed with previous floats. It took lots of effort, but this vet got them, and HOLY MOLY what a change!

I lunged her in just a halter last night to make sure she was moving and stretching after the dental work. Different horse--dropped her head & neck immediately. Took longer strides, and much looser through her base of neck & back. So, we've got some work to do to help her understand that her teeth no longer hurt--but that is OK with me, and fits right into my plan of re-starting.

Moral of the story--don't underestimate dental work!!

I really LOVE her temperament, personality & work ethic. From what I saw on the lunge line last night, her gaits actually may be much fancier than I really saw before--which is cool! She's going to be a VERY fun project.

And some pics! She's muddy, fuzzy and generally a hot mess--but still cute We are in operation build hiney/reduce underneck.

https://plus.google.com/107087296882622558895/posts/KGhhFLMo4gA

[fergusnc]

yay…love updates!
you can never go wrong with restarting from scratch IMHO…the time you put in at the front end will save you time somewhere down the line when the unexpected holes make themselves known.
I'm excited for more updates and pictures!!

[M&M]

OMG - she found her outer gorgeous!

And you sound like a great horse mom.

[bailey]

She looks Good! Great job finding out what was bothering her, she's very lucky to have you.

Hope we get to see and hear more!

[Moutaineer]

Nice!

[cb06]

She does sound like she is going to be fun and fabulous! Congrats!

[TR_Teacher]

So, we've made a ton of progress. Mare is now:
--Learning that she DOES NOT need to over-react to the soft, flexible rubber bit in her mouth. I'm not sure if her teeth triggered it, or if whomever started her initially did. But she would SLAM on the breaks every time the bit was touched, and then proceed to get very confused when asked to move forward. She is now starting to stretch into the bit on the ground and under saddle.
--Cantering on the lunge line with minimal "freight train" qualities.
--Working in a saddle that fits her HUGE shoulder and short back. Saddle fitting challenge=met
--Understanding that when I talk to her, it is OK! Someone put a "hard stop" on her at one point--so every time I'd say "gooood girl" she'd perform a sliding stop. No longer--now she nickers at me sometimes, and just keeps working with an ear cocked.
--Working in long-lines, including just a bit of shoulder-in. Gotta get rid of that giraffe-neck somehow!

She's VERY smart, and really seems keen on working. Sometimes a bit too smart for her own good. Here is a picture of the princess:

[StraightForward]

OMGosh, I love her. She sounds like a blast to work with! Please keep updating!

[Kyra's Mom]

^^^^Me too

I am glad she is making such good progress.

Susan

[piedmontfields]

Wow, she is already looking transformed. What an awesome update. I look forward to more stories and reports!

[Hayburner]

Looking Good!!!

[fergusnc]

She really looks great! In that photo, I think I see the friesian influence that the DNA test came up with.

I can't wait to hear more updates!!

[hoopoe]

shaggy ankles!!!!

shankles? she is totally sweet. Looking forward to seeing her pretty coat in the sunshine

[TR_Teacher]

Shankles! I love it

We're in Michigan. The weather has been grade-A crappy. This is the first week that we've had any sort of good weather. We also have MUD. So, every time I bring her in I have a conversation with myself that goes something like this:

"She's got mud balls dangling from her feathers. I should probably trim her feathers off. I will trim her feathers off, but I must wash her legs first."

*Begin hosing, scrubbing, and picking mud balls off legs, pretty white feathers emerge*

"Oh, but her feathers are so preeeeeeety! You know what, it is still cold at night, so she needs those to keep her little leggies warm!"

Plus, I'm pretty sure those "shankles" keep her feet from looking fat. I've never owned a feathered-beast before. What do others do? Trim? Leave? Decisions...

[Chisamba]

I trim, I dislike the excessive maintenance in very muddy spring

[PaulaO]

Trim. Too difficult to deal with WRT grooming. Think of ice balls in the winter.....

[Quelah]

If she was a Cob or something where it's traditional to keep the hair, I'd say keep it. Otherwise, as the owner of several fully feathered beasties, clip it off LOL! If you DO decide to keep it it's feather, singular. Birds have feathers, horses have feather. Now you'll sound like the proper owner of a feathered horse, and a very pretty one. And oh my goodness your indoor looks like the inside of a house to my California eyes, finished walls, who would think?!

[TR_Teacher]

Thank you all! I think she's got potential to be very special, just working on bringing her along the right way!

Now you'll sound like the proper owner of a feathered horse, and a very pretty one.

Thanks Quelah! Now I'll at least sound like I know what I'm doing. I did not know that horses had "feather" as opposed to "feathers." But, she probably won't have feather very long, as I'm coming to grips with trimming it.

and oh my goodness your indoor looks like the inside of a house to my California eyes, finished walls, who would think?!

This is actually a very special arena! I'm blessed to be able to board her at a therapeutic riding facility where I work. Our indoor arena and beautiful facilities were built for the program in 2010, after 20+ years operating out of a smaller, leased facility. The arena is insulated and heated. The finished walls/roof make conditions much safer when those Michigan summer storms pop up (think hail on a metal roof!). This allows many of our 100+ program riders to keep riding year-round, and keeps our horses and amazing volunteers comfortable & safe as they work.

My plan is to bring this mare along as a para-dressage mount for some of my riders. Our program is centered on horsemanship--and I've got a few students who will start showing this year. They work hard and want opportunities to advance and compete along with everyone else. I'm hoping with her size, temperament and sit-able gaits, she'll become a quality mount for them to enjoy.

[TR_Teacher]

No news is good news, right? We're coming along slow and steady. Haven't been riding much the last few weeks as my husband was on an extended international business trip--and I've got no one else to take care of the critters at home. So, I usually play it safe and stay out of the saddle! We've made vast progress in the "underneck" department with good ol' fashion groundwork--lunging, long-lining, and some short-lining (which she really likes!). Lots of leading & in-hand work too. Yield shoulder, hip. All of the fun stuff. We've also fixed a little mounting block "quirk" she had--at her previous trainer they had a fixed mounting block in the corner of the arena. They backed the horses up to it. So she'd cleverly figured out that she was supposed ot back up the rider got up to the block. No need for that here--we've got a nice, portable 3-step. Nothing naughty--just honestly doing what she through she should be! She's also turned out with the herd now, and has found her social group--which has overall made her much happier. Picture to prove that the neck is coming along!

Breslin.jpg (168.14 KiB) Viewed 25303 times

[Moutaineer]

She sounds like an intelligent and obliging little horse. Para dressage horses are very special creatures, so if you think she's got the talent for it, she must be a good 'un.

(I've been really appreciating a well insulated indoor arena in the wind and hail we have had here this spring, so yes, I can imagine in Michigan it must be really useful.)

[Rosie B]

She is gorgeous!!!

I am firmly in her fan club.