About this Blog

Meet my very 1st horse, Lazarus.
I couldn't wait for Santa anymore or ask one more time for a pony for my bday (after age 30 it got embarrassing). I took matters in my own hands and I finally decided to pick a pony that needed a new home. Laz found me as I contemplated with this idea. He was sweet yet very sassy, fresh off the track, Thoroughbred (OTTB).
Join us for our re-training, rehabbing from laminitis and testing all parts of mixed up horsemanship and partnership, and luck...

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

"Mom, I AM a Thoroughbred...don't forget!"

I've been in la-la land with Laz lately truthfully because he's been so calm, happy, sweet and healthy.
Today, I had the Chiro out for treatment #2 and boy, was Laz NOT into it. 
There were about 2 minutes out of his half hour session of where he enjoyed it, about 10 minutes where he tried to buck and kick out, and about 4 minutes where he tried to smoosh the chiro against a pole, and he chewed and head bobbed the entire time. 
Nice.
Thankfully, she was a good sport. I had to resort to putting on a stud chain on (loosely, it was more a threat) to get his attention.  
She said he feels a little looser but still is really tight.  She recommended that trying to do every 6 weeks will help until his feet/stance gets more stable. I'm not sure I'll be able to afford that, so I may have to stretch it out more. It's $90 a session!  She showed me where to massage him and keep working on him in between sessions.  
Does anyone else feel like there isn't enough time in the day for all your horse demands? 3-4 days a week is all I can spend at the farm, and with 2 hours lost in driving (no traffic that is), and 2-3 hours at the barn...sheesh! Summer makes it easier with how late it stays light at least. 
 I still wonder if my neighbors would mind a horse nibbling over their fence watching their kids play on their swing set. ;)
So after our Chiro session...er, not ours, his...I turned him out to graze while I groomed him, cleaned up the hay from the bales I had to stack for the Chiro, clean his poop, throw the frisbee to Mason, pick some vegetables, fly spray Laz with new spray that claims to work for 17 days (ha), clean out his new cut, apply lotion to his itchy hocks, etc.  
Laz has been doing SO much better showing a little independence but today I asked a lot of him.  
See the big rig in the background? That is the BO's new job of horse trailering (so cool) and Laz didn't like it.  Could be that it was BIG, not normally there, reflective or maybe he thought he was going away.
At any rate, I put him in arena to nibble down some of the tall grasses while I picked veggies and he was fine until he caught a reflection of himself (WHAT..another beautiful BAY with the coolest hairstyle...how dare he?!) and started to FREAK!! He raced, not ran, RACED back and forth and I jumped under to hook him up to lead and he RACED to me (didn't run me over, but I swear came close) and I hooked him up, and calmly reassured him that the reflective horse wasn't going to steal his glory, and hand walked him by the truck a couple of times, walked him for about 10 more minutes and then put him back in his paddock with some hay.

And now a couple more photos from Tina...I'm going to be slowly posting them because they take so long to transfer! BUT THEY ARE SOooo GOOD!

His kind eye, she loved his kind eye 

This picture is from July 6th, pre Roached mane...I LOVE his roached mohawk and it's official that I will do it every summer. He just totally rocks it.

Friday evening, Cliff comes out.  
I'm going to try to sneak in a quick ride before his trim and this weekend, I'd like to take a nice longer ride if Laz seem OK with it. Mentally, I can tell, he's getting bored and needs something new....but we'll see what the mood brings that day. 

8 comments:

  1. Tina's pictures are SO good. What kind of camera does she have again? Maybe I should start saving :). Ella is hopefully gonna start seeing the chiro soon. Would you mind doing a post sometime with either pics or videos showing us what kind of massage you do for Laz? That'd be awesome!!

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  2. Wow, I love the light in those pictures!
    Dont'cha love the TB moments:) I swear they do it on purpose, lest we confuse them with "ordinary" horses.
    I hear you on the time thing...I don't know how people with kids do it. My commute is about 25 minutes one way, but it's still SO hard. If I'm not careful and don't keep track of time, I will easily spend three hours at the barn, just on a normal day. If we were actually in training for anything and riding an hour plus each time...omg, I don't know where I would find that kind of time! It helps that I get out of work at 4 most days, and of course the horse is my "thing". There are no cooking classes, or gym time, or happy hours, or or or. Dog walks and that's it! If I didn't have my husband to help, and my sweet parents who live reasonably near the barn and will let me drop the dogs off for playtime with their huskies 2 days a week or so, it would be really, really hard! Then I see people at the barn that are there almost every single day and I'm both baffled and jealous:) Most of them live a lot closer to the barn but still...yes, I would LOVE to just have my own barn, on my own land. Someday...as a life long boarder, the prospect both excites me and scares me to death:)

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  3. LOL! What a goof! Suzy loves her reflection and will literally stop and admire herself. Shes so vain!

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  4. Laz is a typical Thoroughbred! (Which isn't so bad by the way!) They do lose interest quickly like a smart child and are scared (understandably!) by HUGE reflective horse vans.
    I am with you about not enough time in the day for horses. I wrestle with this more than anything in my life. If only they could live at my house! And...I only have a 3 mile commute...what a baby I am! You have 1 hour each way.
    Good luck with your Cliff visit.

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  5. I love that he saw his reflection! I have a good pic of Olly that I will be posting today. Totally TB. Enjoy your nice LONG ride!!!

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  6. Ashley, see the comments section in my last post..Tina replied (name Athena) to Frizzle what camera she uses :)
    Miles Mom-I know..I dont do ANYTHING anymore other than horse passion, which is fine..I guess I hate feeling like I'm always rushing around and not actually getting things done. Oh well :)
    Juliette-Laz is the typical TB, and even one of the better ones. I am realizing that when he gets scared, it's like the volume in his head gets cranked up and I have to reset it, and start him over so he can hear/listen again.

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  7. Hey,

    Does BO go to NC! Enzo needs a ride someday! I'll have to bring my camera to Laz someday also!! Love the posts!! P.S I posted my lesson.

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  8. Yowza, that is one BIG rig there! At least you know that, if Laz ever needs transportation, you've got it right there. And if you can spend some time walking him on and off the trailer & getting him used to it, that could be a great training session for him.
    I feel you about the chiro appointments -- they are so helpful, but wicked expensive! Ninety dollars is actually not bad, as the chiro down here charges $200 per session. Ouch!!
    As far as barn time -- my god, I get stuck in a time warp whenever I'm out at the barn! I've started riding again, and I'm out there a minimum of 2 1/2 to 3 hours, no matter how much I "rush." I'm a bit OCD, lol.
    Can't wait to hear about Cliff's visit tomorrow! Good luck. :-)

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