Harlow is coming along nicely with her ground driving exercises. Tonight I put the saddle on her for the first time in over a year. She moved right out, a little too fast at first and did a few bunny hops... not bucks, but tucked tail maneuvers. After about a minute she settled right in and we drove all over. She is backing up on verbal queue, just needs to stop quicker on the "whoa" command, but we'll get there. Her left leg looked like it was doing better today. Not as much "catch" in it as before. Well see how it is tomorrow. I worked her for 30 minutes with rests in between. Sure does take a long time to build up muscle and fitness.
Then we ended with some Clinton Anderson desentitization games. At least I can say that I am getting a good workout so maybe I can shed a few of those winter pounds. Ha!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Still Waiting on Sheep
Well as you probably guessed I didn't get my 3 sheep last fall. The owners of the sheep decided they didn't want to sell the ones I was wanting and I really wasn't too keen on bringing home the wild ones with horns they were wanting to sell. Then I had some back health issues last fall that set me back this winter, but I am getting better with the help of a really good chiropractor.
My little sheep pasture is getting very tall with nothing munching on the sweet grasses. So I'm on the shetland sheep quest again. I'm hoping to have some young ewes by the beginning of summer. I really miss my goats and nuturing of them... I need to nuture something little as I didn't have any chicks this spring and of course no foals since the horse market is not so great and there are a lot of unwanted horses right now. Maybe next year I'll look into breeding one of my MFT mares.
Harlow's surgery went well. She was diagnosed with Upper Fixation of the Patella. Basically an issue with the stifle and ligament getting temporarily caught on the patella (knee). I researched many options and did not do what one vet recommended... cut the ligament completely! Yikes!! That sounded so barberic and could lead to severe artheritis in several years. She is only 7 years old, so that was not an option I wanted to do. After reading a bunch of medical journals I came across a procedure where the medial ligament was spliced instead of cut. Then I had the task to locate a vet locally who could do it.
I called several vets to get recommendations and found that Dr. Mark Frees out of Peculiar was a board certified surgeon and had done the procedure on 5 horses with good results. So I took Harlow over last Tuesday. All I can say is WOW on the facility. It rivals any veterinary college hospital. All the most advanced equipement. I have seen improvement in her right leg, but her left was the "sticky" one and will take longer to show improvement. I hoping that this procedure will allow me to ride her again and that she will remain sound.
My little sheep pasture is getting very tall with nothing munching on the sweet grasses. So I'm on the shetland sheep quest again. I'm hoping to have some young ewes by the beginning of summer. I really miss my goats and nuturing of them... I need to nuture something little as I didn't have any chicks this spring and of course no foals since the horse market is not so great and there are a lot of unwanted horses right now. Maybe next year I'll look into breeding one of my MFT mares.
Harlow's surgery went well. She was diagnosed with Upper Fixation of the Patella. Basically an issue with the stifle and ligament getting temporarily caught on the patella (knee). I researched many options and did not do what one vet recommended... cut the ligament completely! Yikes!! That sounded so barberic and could lead to severe artheritis in several years. She is only 7 years old, so that was not an option I wanted to do. After reading a bunch of medical journals I came across a procedure where the medial ligament was spliced instead of cut. Then I had the task to locate a vet locally who could do it.
I called several vets to get recommendations and found that Dr. Mark Frees out of Peculiar was a board certified surgeon and had done the procedure on 5 horses with good results. So I took Harlow over last Tuesday. All I can say is WOW on the facility. It rivals any veterinary college hospital. All the most advanced equipement. I have seen improvement in her right leg, but her left was the "sticky" one and will take longer to show improvement. I hoping that this procedure will allow me to ride her again and that she will remain sound.
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