Apple:On Sunday past we said good-bye to Devil and hello to Apple. This Palomino sweetie had a long life as a field horse and is now undergoing work to become a 'people' horse or companion horse for someone who just wants a pretty girl to look at. Since I believe she is around 24, she has to be considered past riding age and I think she's just fine with that.
She arrived with Rosie so she'd not feel alone after having spent a time at Jana's and having other horses within a short distance. Here at our place she's got a wide open green pasture to roam around in. At first I had her and Rosie in the same field but Rosie wasn't overly fond of her. What ended up happening was Rosie would bully her around, and cause herself to have a lame leg. Apple being more agile, would run around, but with her current front knees being sore, I thought it best to have them near but not together. So far, it's working well.
Tonight I worked with Apple on her grooming. She's still showing signs of distress by urinating whenever she's overly stimulated. With persistance I'll get her used to being brushed and handled. She isn't sure what to do while being brushed, so she leans against you. I've overcome this by brushing her near the posts of the shelter. She leans against the post with her side as I start brushing her face, neck and sides. We'll leave it at that until she learns to stand for the grooming and not lean on someone.
I've also started her on dry horse feed plus 'recover' which is supposed to assist in joint repair and pain reduction. I'll try her on this for now but if this doesn't work by the end of the container I'll contact nutraceutial chemist to see if I can get a special formula made to help repair joints while reducing the pain that sometimes happens.
Rosie, Apple's current neighbour, will stay that way and will have a reduce grain intake.. this is one chubby horse! LOL
Apple is doing quite well. The shelter has been constructed at the top of the hill so she and Rosie can share the shelter but with a fence between them. I need to make sure Rosie doesn't get the extra feed that Apple is getting. Plus I also have Apple on a joint product to see if that reduces the discomfort she has in her front knees.
ReplyDeleteShe is, for lack of another description, spoiled now. Apple comes when you call her for the most part because she always gets a treat when she does come over. When I'm carrying her food bowl, she really runs to you! LOL Careful what you wish for.
Now that she's been with us a couple of weeks and is fairly calm, I'm going to up the level on her 'education' first off, brushing. This girl was never really tended to by her previous owner so isn't sold on being brushed beyond her from shoulders without a bit of a fuss. I'll get her into loving the brushing so the next person can in her life can move around her without causing distress for the horse and the person. :P
Her mane is still looking choppy from before she came to the cottage but it is growing... just slowly. She'll have that trademark mane and tail along with a nice new coat come the fall.
I've tried walking her out around but so far she's not happy being lead away from Rosie. Maybe the two of them together some day will help. We'll see how ambitious I feel on that given day.