It is hard to contain myself! We worked on our own property this evening. It is more convenient, and I can get into a rhythm of momentum. A very short trot along the logging road (literally a few hundred feet), canter up an equally (shorter) hill, crest that hill onto a longer more gradual hill (which is a mowed grass path, back to a walk into the woods, shimmy down a short hill, trot the bottom, up a steep little hill, back to the walk for single track through the woods, then back down to where we started. All said, probably not a half mile, but we repeat it multiple times until an hour is up, then climb the hill out of the woods, and canter the neighbor's field which is a gradual uphill grade. She was sweated up pretty good but never any kind of excessive speed. Just looking for calm & controlled and I was getting it! On the long uphills she was lowering her head and stretching out her neck, lifting her back, and making happy horse noises. She seemed very relaxed out there compared to the neighbor's property where "stuff" tends to happen.
Lida over the weekend offered Phebes a few soaked alfalfa cubes. She went at them like it was the best thing she ever had. She is very sensitive to the high protein of alfalfa so I feed her such good stuff very sparingly since her tye-up episode. But after seeing her interest in diving into those it got my mind to thinking....how can I use that to our advantage. So while we were working this evening LSEGH took about six of the cubes, soaked them good and wet in her favorite black pan. When we got back he added beet pulp, a can of her performance feed, and more water to make a nice very wet mash. You couldn't have beat Phebes off that feed pan with a 2X4! We will be doing this on training rides at the break. I'm also going to see if she likes the taste of alfalfa in her drinking water. Maybe one or two of the cubes to soak in her bucket and turn into "tea" while we are out. Should not be enough protein to hurt anything, should also slightly help balance any calcium losses through sweating. The only bad thing that happened tonight was we rode too close to a patch of burr's I'll be picking those out for a month...~E.G.
During our ride this past weekend, I was thinking to myself, "I think Jacke is going to be very glad that she stuck with Phebes!" Love that things are looking up for you two! There will definitely be ups and downs along the way, but I think if you look at the trend it will be uphill - 2 steps up and 1 step back. This is still forward progress if you repeat this over and over, you will eventually get to where you want to be!
ReplyDeleteI think a little alfalfa is a nice treat for a horse and helps to balance out their diet. Doc just gets a small amount of cubes a few days a week. The rest of his forage is just grass hay.
And boy in a pinch it is a nice thing to have on hand when you have a horse that might not be interested in eating anything else. I think it is what helped Doc make his second 3 day trip across the country less physically stressful. A horse that won't eat for 10 hours in a trailer is not going to be faring very well. (Our first 3 day trip, he started to get bound up and a little colicky.) A little alfalfa mash (with a bit of molasses) would get him eating which seemed to stimulate him to eat his regular hay.
I also use it for mixing in his supplements so I don't have to rely on grain so much for that.
Also, the cubes are nice because you are adding water so you are also getting a little extra moisture in there. Not much I know, but sometimes something is better than nothing.
We turned them into a "pea soup" consistency and boy did she lap it up.
ReplyDeleteYes, even though she has her moments and can be a little knot head in given situations, I love my little mare. I believe if I keep doing what I've been doing, we WILL GET THERE. She may never be a fast horse (she thinks she is) but the little pace we've been going of late is EXACTLY what I've wished for all this time. I will admit I'm a little afraid to try again at a ride, but I think if we let all the dust clear first, we will be alright (maybe even overtime). But the goal is to go the miles, eat, drink, poop, and pee a nice color. That's our goal and the ribbon I want the most.
Thanks to you and Doc for helping us to get there and set that lovely pace.
I'm really glad to hear things are going well again!
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