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ruh-roh. had a fall, and it was a doozy

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My horse would probably go into heart failure if that happened to him. He is terrified of stuff in his blind spot, and a turkey would qualify as seriously SCARY stuff!

I can believe it. The last time I went on a trail ride, the horse I was riding shied like crazy because of a frightening stick next to the trail. I asked the guide if she thought it was alarming because it looked like a snake or something, and she said No. This horse proved her correct by later freaking out over a scary rock. (These horses spend a LOT of time on that trail...it made me wonder if the horse shied every time it saw that rock, or if it's just random).

I can't imagine what that horse would have done if a turkey had fluttered up.
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I can believe it. The last time I went on a trail ride, the horse I was riding shied like crazy because of a frightening stick next to the trail. I asked the guide if she thought it was alarming because it looked like a snake or something, and she said No. This horse proved her correct by later freaking out over a scary rock. (These horses spend a LOT of time on that trail...it made me wonder if the horse shied every time it saw that rock, or if it's just random).

I can't imagine what that horse would have done if a turkey had fluttered up.

It's pretty normal for even a veteran trail horse to be at the very least wary of big bad rocks and sticks! I joke that mine thinks that everything on the ground is a snake. :eek:
 

newskimama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Oh, Serafina, reading this thread with much interest. My riding career is limited to Girl Scout camp many years ago. Most importantly, glad you are ok and hope you have many wonderful rides ahead of you!

And just noticed your signature - sounds like you stroked the furry wall on this one and made it through just fine! :smile:
 

gardenmary

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My horse would probably go into heart failure if that happened to him. He is terrified of stuff in his blind spot, and a turkey would qualify as seriously SCARY stuff!

Make sure you point out where his blind spot is to me, if I can make it to Del Mar. I have an uncanny ability to end up in that blind spot and scare horses (and other things) without having any idea that's what I'm doing.
 

mtngirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Where I grew up, there were grouse.. lots of grouse. They stay still, well camouflaged in the grass/brush until the horse is about to step on them, then they take off and sound like a helicopter right in front of the horses nose...

They startled me more that the horse most of the time though!
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Make sure you point out where his blind spot is to me, if I can make it to Del Mar. I have an uncanny ability to end up in that blind spot and scare horses (and other things) without having any idea that's what I'm doing.

Don't worry, Mary. Unless you walk up to him and pat him on the chest or shoulder with a plastic bag, he's fine! Not sure we're going, though. He's come up sore on his right front. Having the farrier out today who is also a vet so we are going to make some changes to his shoeing (back to what he had before two weeks ago) and check his suspensories. If it's a suspensory, I'm SCREWED! :(

Where I grew up, there were grouse.. lots of grouse. They stay still, well camouflaged in the grass/brush until the horse is about to step on them, then they take off and sound like a helicopter right in front of the horses nose...

They startled me more that the horse most of the time though!

Gotta love the bush hiders! I remember my Grandpa hunting grouse in Eastern WA when I was a kid.

Around here, there are wild peafowl that hang out EVERYWHERE. Including way up in the trees. I won't even attempt to trail ride here on my big chicken because I'm afraid a peacock will drop down in front of us and scare the bejeezus out of him. :laugh:
 

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Unless you walk up to him and pat him on the chest or shoulder with a plastic bag, he's fine!

:laugh: These guys! I notice it's not just "don't pat him on the chest or shoulder"... it's "don't do that with a plastic bag". WTF is up with them?!? Also, I have to know...how did you determine that the plastic bag is a problem? :laugh:
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Walked into his stall with a baggy of treats one day and his nostrils flared and he whirled away from me. He STILL won't let me near his shoulder or face with a plastic bag.

Funny story about his blind spot--we gave him a carrot with the top greens on it one time, and he freaked out about the greens and ran paniced circles around his stall until they were gone (into his mouth, of course.) He's actually a lot better about this stuff now. I always say they grow up at around age 8. He's 9 now, today as a matter of fact :D
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This makes me want to ride again. Ditto on the good thing about having a helmet. :becky:
 

perma-grin

Instructor PSIA L 3, APD Alpine Ski training MHSP
Walked into his stall with a baggy of treats one day and his nostrils flared and he whirled away from me. He STILL won't let me near his shoulder or face with a plastic bag.

Funny story about his blind spot--we gave him a carrot with the top greens on it one time, and he freaked out about the greens and ran paniced circles around his stall until they were gone (into his mouth, of course.) He's actually a lot better about this stuff now. I always say they grow up at around age 8. He's 9 now, today as a matter of fact :D


chrome was terrified of plastic baggies too...until he discovered the candy that came in them...now he pulls them out of my pockets! LOL!
 

mtngirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The horse I had growing up.. She wasn't afraid of anything, because she had full confidence in her ability to kill it, I think...

But the barn she came from fed the horses peppermint candies for treats, and so she would practically come running to the sound of crinkling plastic... I use to give her candy canes for christmas!
 

gardenmary

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Don't worry, Mary. Unless you walk up to him and pat him on the chest or shoulder with a plastic bag, he's fine! Not sure we're going, though. He's come up sore on his right front. Having the farrier out today who is also a vet so we are going to make some changes to his shoeing (back to what he had before two weeks ago) and check his suspensories. If it's a suspensory, I'm SCREWED! :(



Gotta love the bush hiders! I remember my Grandpa hunting grouse in Eastern WA when I was a kid.

Around here, there are wild peafowl that hang out EVERYWHERE. Including way up in the trees. I won't even attempt to trail ride here on my big chicken because I'm afraid a peacock will drop down in front of us and scare the bejeezus out of him. :laugh:

If you can't make it to Del Mar, then I'll just come up there! It's not that far. We can go have lunch at Bubba Gump's or something.

We have wild peacocks in Fallbrook - NOISY things, they are.
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
If you can't make it to Del Mar, then I'll just come up there! It's not that far. We can go have lunch at Bubba Gump's or something.

We have wild peacocks in Fallbrook - NOISY things, they are.

Well, good news from the vet is it's not a ticking time bomb on his leg so ice, heat wrap, and NSAIDS for 5 days then back to work, so here's hoping!

The peafowl are AWFUL! They are SO stupid which makes them amusing, until they saw their reflection in my car and attacked it with their hooks and left damage that will require professional work to remove! Apparently a common occurrence around here!

OK, back to the thread. Serafina, let us know how you are feeling!
 

perma-grin

Instructor PSIA L 3, APD Alpine Ski training MHSP
Peppermint candies = crack for horses! LOL! My horses will do anything for it!!!!! LOL!Even unload next to a field of scary cows!!!!!

Contesstant did I miss something did he injure his suspensory ligament? I hate losing ride time to stall rest and so do the "boys", last spring I had to soak and wait for a stone abscess to work it's way out of Peache's sole I hate that! He (the Palomino) is really prone to them so I get shoes on him quick as the mud allows for in the spring. I hope everything is okay! Serefina you'll find you spend almost as much time fretting over your horses as your kids! LOL! And just as much money! But both(kids and horses) are worth the money and the worry!:wink:
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes, I've never had a horse who didn't perk up big time at the sound of a candy wrapper!

And yes, we are dealing with a right front suspensory issue right now. It's not critical yet, but those suspensories can go down hill really fast. We have been changing his angles in shoeing since he was barefoot all winter and had at least one bad trim that set us back a few months. Vet wants to give him a few more weeks to get used to the changes. So after I've treated him this week, if he's still sore when I put him back to work, then it's time to reevaluate, ultrasound, and give him some time off most likely. But we're hoping that hitting it with some hot/cold therapy and NSAIDS will allow it to "quite down" and stay that way. No work while he's on the NSAIDS, though, because he'll feel so good he'd likely injure it for sure!

And yes, fret over them we do. Kids are easier because they can at least tell you what hurts! Horses are like infants or even toddlers--in more ways than one :D
 

perma-grin

Instructor PSIA L 3, APD Alpine Ski training MHSP
oh that sucks! Let's hope this rest helps the swelling go down, how does he do with stall rest? Chrome always poops in his water bucket, just to let me know he's tired of it!!!!! Brat!
 

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had one trip to my acupuncturist - after that, I didn't feel quite so much like I was 18 inches above and 45 seconds behind myself. Then I went to the cranio-sacral therapist (a first for me) and after that, I wasn't getting woozy every time I turned my head quickly.

And I haven't had to take one single extra nap so far today, and it's 3pm.

I'm on the mend!! And I can't wait to get back out and play with the ponies again!
 

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Walked into his stall with a baggy of treats one day and his nostrils flared and he whirled away from me. He STILL won't let me near his shoulder or face with a plastic bag.

Funny story about his blind spot--we gave him a carrot with the top greens on it one time, and he freaked out about the greens and ran paniced circles around his stall until they were gone (into his mouth, of course.) He's actually a lot better about this stuff now. I always say they grow up at around age 8. He's 9 now, today as a matter of fact :D

When I was swapping War Stories with the people in the tack shop yesterday - one of them mentioned that she'd gotten life-flighted after another horse bit hers on the butt while she was riding it.

I said "Why did that other horse bite yours on the butt?!?!"

And everyone gave me this sort of pitying, indulgent look and said "They're horses."...like this was a sufficient reason... and, listening to this about the birds, and the plastic baggies, and carrot tops, I am starting to appreciate that the full and complete answer really *is* "They're horses."

:rolleyes:

I can see that I'm going to get a lot of fodder for my "No kidding, check THIS bit of weirdness out!" story cache, hanging around with horses and their people. :smile:
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
He's great with stall rest. And he has a paddock he can go into if he wants and I won't take that away. The ligament never swelled, it just got sensitive to palpation and he had an almost imperceptible lameness at the trot. So I think he'll be OK! He's a good egg. And it's hot here, so he is quietly munching hay and just hanging out.

Serafina, good news about the recovery! Other than this mishap, I love hearing about your ventures through the eyes of a "babe" so to speak (meaning horse babe, of course! :D) I love mine to pieces but NEVER forget he's a horse and his instincts will ALWAYS trump me when push comes to shove. If you want to REALLY learn about horse behavior, spend some time sitting and watching a field of mixed-age and mixed-sex ones and you will learn a lot. They are MEAN to each other! But they also scratch each other's withers and are highly protective. And they pick their buddies, too, and their enemies. It's very interesting!
 

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