@Nutmeg33149; Hello and welcome to the thread! I'm sure you'll fit right in
I did breed Miles myself
He's out of my WB x TB mare Cleo by
this warmblood stallion
I will do most if not all his training myself, but at the moment his 'training' mainly just consists of hanging out and getting scratches lol He's pretty compliant with most things, so I don't drill it. I've been handling STB foals the last few seasons for the stud where Cleo and Miles currently are, so I've had a bit of practice lol Will see how we go when we get to the breaking stage, which would probably mostly depend on the time I've got available since I will hopefully be starting vet school by the time he's ready to break. Hoping to do it myself (just then you know what was done and how it was done ect.) but never say never lol 3-4 years is a long time between then and now.
With your barrel racing predicament, I suspect it would depend a lot on your riding experience. The basics are pretty much the same regardless of discipline. However, if you can already walk, trot, canter confidently ect. then you might have to look for somewhere/someone that teaches barrels specifically. If that isn't an option, lots of reading may help and then you can teach yourself at least the basics of running the pattern. I'm an english rider myself so I'm not that familiar with barrels, but I would assume there would be some stuff you could learn on your own if finding a trainer locally is too difficult and you're unable to travel out to someone
@Gam; Hi and welcome to the thread! Lucy looks like a really nice little mare and looks lovely to ride! I tried to look at the pictures you posted, but it appears the links to them are broken. The only one I could get to work was the video, so you might need to check the others
@Hime; Heta looks like she's having so much fun playing in the snow! Hopefully you have an uneventful trip home
@Moonfallthefox; Weather is all over the place, it goes from 38 one day to 20 and pouring with rain the next lol It makes doing outdoor things a bit difficult unless you want to get up really early or really late.
@Ruscher; I haven't ever owned an appy, but a friend of mine used to showjump an appy mare. She was a force to be reckoned with and if she didn't want to do something or you asked her the wrong way, you had no hope of making her do it
A lot of appies seem to be on the fiery side.
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Just a heads up, I am exhausted so please forgive any mistakes in this post- its very likely I'll miss something if I even end up proofreading lol
I went up to visit Miles and Cleo on Sunday and noticed he had a decent amount of swelling down near his sheath. So cue a phone call to the vet and we both agreed it was probably due to a hernia. Miles was well in himself so we left the physical exam until the next day as it was after hours and he was due to come to the stud on Monday anyway.
So Monday rolled around and confirmed it was definitely a hernia and would have to be surgically repaired. They can reduce and close over on their own, but he's on the upper age limit for that to happen so we decided it would just be best to call it and get it done. It wasn't apparent last Monday when I went down and D hadn't noticed anything in-between then, so it must have developed fairly quickly and we caught it early.
So we booked him in for surgery at the specialist equine clinic and floated them both up on Tuesday- which was a 2.5 hour trip one way without a float >.< I'm not exactly sure how long it took us to get there on the way up, but it was a LOOOOONNNGGGG drive. The horses traveled well and I am so glad Cleo is good to float! I couldn't imagine doing that with a scrambler or nervous mare
Had a chat to the surgeon about what the game plan is (lovely guy btw! I think he's supposed to be semi-retired but he can't seem to stay away lol) and we decided to geld him at the same time. It is possible for them to save the testicles (especially on the non-affected side) but it can increase risk of complications and makes the surgery a little more complex, plus I'd have to take him back to a clinic to geld because there is an increased risk of herniation (well mildly increased, but I would not want to take that risk lol). Our standard practice is usually to leave them entire as long as possible, but for Miles as long as possible is apparently not as long anticipated
The surgeon felt it shouldn't affect his growth too badly, but he'll probably end up an extra inch or two taller than he would of if we left him a colt and all things considered, I think I can live with that lol I don't think I would ever want to geld this early, but when its a medical concern it would be foolish to try and push it. So he'll go into surgery today (or he might have gotten done last night if they had time) and then we should be able to pick them both up tomorrow and then its box rest for the next few weeks. On the plus side, Tuesday was farrier day for the clinic so Miles was able to get his little shoes put on =D Got the vet to have a look at his legs as well and even though he'd been improving, we thought might as well put the shoes on while he's here and the farrier is available (what's a couple hundred extra when I'm already paying a few thousand?
). Also handy they'll be boxed or yarded while he has them on, so if he does happen to pull them off it should be easy enough to find and reapply.
I am crossing my fingers after this we don't have any more issues, he's had his fair share already
Guess that is just part an parcel of breeding horses, keeps you on your toes. Also highlights why its usually WWAAAYYY cheaper to buy than it is to breed
Not only money but also time invested- I literally traveled about 6 hours yesterday (from D's to clinic, back to D's and then home), get to do it again on Thursday/Friday and I'm sure my bank account is going to be very sad once I get the bill.
Horses, why do we have them?