Farrier day

We had the farrier out today.

Dolly was an absolute angel. She's got the hoof trimming thing down now.
I love this horse............

side pass

We've been working on sidepassing for a while now, and I can say she's got it down pretty well.
I have a feeling my sister has been working on it with her too, though she's denying it.

I also washed out her tail yesterday and braided it up. She loves being fussed over and groomed, a HUGE difference from when she first came home.

Improvement....

I will be postponing Dollys surgery now until spring.
The excercises we've been doing have helped her immensely.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled!!
(I'm crossing my fingers that just maybe we won't have to do it at all, but I don't quite dare to dream yet)


She is also a wooly beast already. I truely hate seeing my beautiful animals shaggy in their winter hair with whiskers and hair coming out of thier ears, but I love nothing more that seeing the transformation of a lovely shaved pony in the spring.

Surgery

I'm scheduling Dollys surgery for November. Her stifle issues, while improving again, are just not going to go away.

This is truly a last resort for me, and I'm not happy about.

Hopefully the outcome will outweigh the risk, and she will be more comfortable.

Not really an update

No new updates recently as Dollys stifle problems have returned.
We're more than likely looking at surgury at this point.

More Jumping

We worked on a 4 jump course tonight. Dolly was very lazy about the low jump height though so I raised two jumps to 24" which kept her on her toes a little more.
She is doing very well. No refusals.
We will move on to a 6 jump course next.

Jumping

Dolly Jumped for the first time today.
She began the lesson a bit apprehensive, and ended it quite eager for more I'm happy to say.
We worked on a single jump about 18" in height. I will add more jumps at that level over the next couple of weeks until she is jumping a full course then I will raise the height to 24".

Had a lovely time at the show!

Dolly was wonderful! She trailered and stalled just fine, and seemed pretty relaxed throughout the show. My son did take her in his pee-wee halter class. They placed poorly, which was to be expected, but they made a nice pair.

I have been challenged to have her ready for Obstacle classes for a show in August.

She will need to have a solid pivot and sidepass to compete.

Hee-Hee, we'll see.

Ready to go!

Dollys big show debut is this weekend!! She got her finishing shave this afternoon and is all ready to go. I've also decided that If all goes well, and she settles in nicely, my son will be showing her in his Pee-wee halter class.

Horse shaving day

I got about 1/3 of Dolly shaved out last night. Her skin looks a bit better than I was anticipating, and her weight looks great. I will probably get about one more third of her done on Thursday, and then just have to finish her off over the weekend.

Dolly is going to a show on the 31st. She won't be showing ,obviously, but I'm renting a stall for her over the Ionia show weekend to let her get used to some of the sights and sounds of a big show.

Dang I'm cute!!!

*

Dolly has a Kid

On a whim tonight I decided to let my 8 year old neice use Dolly for 4-H practice. They got along so well that my neice thinks she wants to use Dolly as her 4-H project horse for next year. This would be such a good thing for Dolly, and my neice needs a horse that is more of a challenge than the one she was using.

Trail Walking

Dolly and I have started doing some trail walking. It really suprises me how relaxed she is about everything I try with her.
She looks really good this spring everywhere but her shoulder. There is still no muscle there at all really & I'm not sure if this is going to be something I can fix. I think due the horrible lack of nutrition she has suffered from for the last 9 years, she just never devoloped the way she should have. I'm not giving up yet though.

A Very Windy Day

The wind today was incredible. Dolly didn't seem bothered in the least. Probably due to the inadequate shelter in her previous home. She's used to standing around in all the elements. Honey was a complete nut about it, but anything out of the ordinary tends to set her off.
Honey is a spoiled brat, Dolly expects nothing.
Looks like I will be battling it out with Dollys skin too this year. She has unbelievable dandruff, thickened skin. Lord, why don't people think horses require decent shelter. I will be shaving her down as soon as possible, unfortunately were expecting snow over the next couple of weeks so it will probably have to wait a little bit.

Shedding

It's official. She's shedding. I brushed enough hair out of Dolly tonight to knit two sweaters. Then we took a pleasent little walk before dinner. What a sweetie.

A step back and a leap forward

I've been taking extra hours at work lately, and haven't had a chance to do anything with Dolly for a week and a half.
I get to the barn this morning and Dolly is acting terrified of me again. She was shying from me and flinching from my touch. I gave her a little grooming and she seemed to settle back down a
bit. I turned her back out into the paddock and finished the rest of my barn chores and headed out for lunch. When I get back to the barn later in the afternoon, Dolly refuses to be caught. I mean completely refuses to be caught. I try a little hay bribe, then a little grain.....nope not going to work. Finally, after about 15 minutes of fooling around trying to catch her, I bring in two of the other horses which tricks her into thinking its dinner time and she comes to the gate and stands waiting to be brought in. Damn Horse!
Now, for the leap forward. Dolly had her first real bath today and she was a complete angel.
Sweet success!

Uneventful day

We worked a little more on tying today.
I must also say that I'm very impressed with how easily she will pick up all four feet now to be cleaned.
I didn't get much done with her today as we spent most of our time rearranging horses to seperate the two yearling colts before spring really sets in.

Todays lesson.

Dolly has a tendancy to try to push past me anytime ask her for something she doesn't want to do. Todays lesson was simply: Walk when I walk, stop when I stop - No pushing, No pulling.
She's doing such a great job, but still becomes extremely fearful of any type of correction. I plan to do more desensitizing work over the next couple of weeks as well

On another good note, Dolly is also doing wonderfully at standing tied quietly. I love My Blocker (Aussie) Tie ring!

Going well

The Buckeye Trifecta is a hit. She's finishing her food now with good appetite.
I had my daughter work with her a little bit today, just walking around in a small circle. Then I did some Showmanship stuff with her. It's time to get down to business now. I'd like to have her show ready by late July.

What am I?

Miniature horse or Tibetan Yak?

Just kidding Dolly!

Here's Dolly in her Winter Woolies.

Becoming a picky eater????

Over the course of the last week or so, Dolly has decided that she no longer cares for her Purina Ultium:>(
I'm slowly making the switch now to Buckeye Trifecta, which was my first cho1ce for her anyway since it is fortified with Grow-n-win and Ultimate finish. I have to travel quite a ways to get it, but hopefully it will be worth it.

Mondays Vet visit

Mondays Vet visit went very well. Dolly has all of her spring vaccinations now, and has had blood drawn for her coggins test. She did much better for the vet this time although she was a bit apprehensive.
Well done Dolly!!!

Hi, I'm Dolly

Hi, I'm Dolly.

This is me one month after I was rescued. The little guy behind me, that's Derringer. He's not my baby, but he thinks he is. I had to leave my baby behind because the people I was rescued from wouldn't let her come with me to my new home.

I had a different name before too, but my new family didn't think my old name was suitable for a nice girl like me, so they chose me a new name. I already know my new name, and Dolly suits me very well.

I'm learning all sorts of new things too. I also am learning to like people much more than I used to. I love to be brushed, and I have also decided that I don't really mind having my feet played with. I even get my hooves trimmed now.My new owner is very patient with me, and she says that one day I will get to be a show horse like all the other horses I live with now. She thinks I will be terrific at showmanship, and she has been teaching me how to stand nicely, and how to walk and trot along with her.

I also get good food every day now too. My new home makes sure I have plenty to eat, and plenty of fresh water to drink every day. If fact, I think I will be quite a lovely girl this year when I lose all of my winter hair.