Azir's Radiance

28/03/2024

28/03/2024

Azir, April 3rd - June 30nd 2022:

On April 5th Azir saw the farrier again. This was unsedated and with only the few days of handling I had done on him. He was living in his pasture with a 'catch halter' on at this point. Though I'd sit with him daily and practice 'catching' him with a rope halter and releasing him. We also worked a bit on his feet, but it took extra work. The farrier was patient and consistent, and all 4 feet got trimmed.

April 9th 2022 - It was Vet Day at the barn. I had my personal horse signed up for shots, and Azir signed up for Dental. The vet didn't check the notes and double-dosed Azir with the shots. He had his chance with the needle once, and after that Azir wanted nothing to do with him. He blew through the vet and handler and refused to let anyone near him except for me. We called it quits on him and I was fine with having more 'homework' to do with his handling. I believe at this point I had tried to de-worm him, and also was met with head tossing and absolute refusal to let me near his mouth. I took steps back with that and add touching his mouth and lips with just my fingers and hand to my work list. In the long run, this worked great. I was eventually able to "deworm" him with apple sauce, though he disliked it being inserted in the corner of his mouth and preferred to eat it straight and lick it up. That was a bit of an issue with actual dewormer...

April 16 - First "ride". I sat on Azir. I was informed he was broke and well behaved and he was! He neck reined and moved beautifully off of my leg. We did one lap in the outdoor arena in each direction at a walk and called it a day.

May 8th - I had a PEMF appointment set up with our local practitioner for both my personal horse, and Azir. He tolerated it okay on his body but didn't love it on his neck. I wanted to focus on his feet as he was 'off'. There was no routinely obvious lameness but turning in to the left he didn't seem right. Unfortunately he wanted nothing to do with the PEMF plate and we could only get a few seconds of treatment done on each foot.

May 11th - Our farrier came out to balance and trim him some more. We talked about his feet more and agreed that X-rays would be wise and we could work from there. I rode him outdoors for a bit longer this time and hand grazed him out by the pasture. I looked forward to being able to turn him out to the grass.

May 15th - Another riding day! This was the day we had our first canter. I had some photos taken of us riding. His canter was very upright and collected. Nothing like I'd ever ridden before. I continued to try and find out why he seemed off in his front end. It seemed to be in his shoulders, but also could have been due to the lack of trimming in so long. He had a vet appointment coming up and I was looking forward to getting some answers.

May 26th - I turned him out in the small pasture. It took some time to catch him again after, but it was nice seeing him out with the older mares. He was a happy boy!

May 31st - I scheduled the vet out to do Xrays on him (and teeth). Both failed. He wouldn't stand still again for the xray machine even though I'd been practicing having him step up onto 'strange' objects. He still didn't trust other people, and the vet didn't believe sedating him would work in our favor with his needle reactivity and hyper awareness. The vet left without doing much with him, unfortunately.

June 15th - Azir was lame. I don't know what happened but it was an obvious soreness in his front end. So he was left to heal on his own, with a farrier appointment scheduled again soon.

June 21st - I tried Trazadone (as prescribed by the vet on the 31st) to see if he would settle enough for the farrier. We had a great trim! He was easier to work with than my personal horse. At this point I had decided to de-worm him with the Safeguard Granules. He gobbled it up with no problem.

June 28-30th - On the 28th there were minimum signs of lameness. A couple of young girls who helped me keep the pasture clean rode the boys around at a walk in the arena. I was able to turn out Azir and Argo in the pasture together for some time and they did wonderfully. Argo (the personal horse) came when called and Azir came up to get caught after!
On the 30th my personal life had a traumatic event and I spent the day at the barn. He didn't show any signs of lameness so we went out together on the 'trails' on the property. A short loop of woods and hills. He did absolutely perfectly and soothed my heart in ways only doable with a horse.

June 31st - I had turned Azir and Argo out in the big pasture with other horses. Argo broke through a fence and fortunately was the easier to catch for strangers of the two. Azir seemed to have gotten in a bit of a pickle and had swelling on his chest and a cut on his hind leg. I kept an eye on it, and put ointment on both the cut and the lump, it looked to be a sting of some sort.

There are more photos being added to his album:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556335843233&sk=photos_albums

20/03/2024

Vet day will be in April or May and Jazzy is due for several checks!

She is up to date on her 5-way vaccine but she will need her strangles shot, as well as her teeth floated (she drops a lot of her grain and hasn't had them done in a couple of years). I want to have her checked for breathing problems as well, since in my history digging I was told she suffers from asthma and was on an inhaler in her past.

So far she's asymptomatic and hasn't had any coughing fits or signs of respiratory distress when worked, but it is important to know.

Veterinary treatment is not cheap. I do accept donations via PayPal.

18/03/2024

Apologies on the delays with updates and prior updates. Jazzy is enjoying the abnormally dry spring weather with little mud right now! She's surprisingly clean for a 'white' horse.

My personal horse, PWA Marquena is doing great as well. We might be able to do some intro endurance rides this year. So far everyone's healthy and shaping up. I'm excited to share more updates, but for now the horses are just enjoying being horses while other things are taken care of.

12/03/2024

Jazzy took her first trail ride with me! We also loped in the indoor arena. I'm so proud of her! She led very confidently, kept a good walking pace and trotted when allowed without jigging or pulling. We walked right up to deer, and when they ran she didn't bat an eyelash.
I look forward to logging more miles on her. She's responsive and quick with a good head!

09/03/2024

Jazzy had her first ride outside today. We had intended to do a quick trail ride but the horses were feeling the nice weather, and feeding time was approaching! Jazzy's separation anxiety shows when she's passed by another horse, but otherwise she is very forward and easy to keep moving.
Plenty of progress to be made, each new adventure keeps me well grounded!

04/03/2024

Jazzy's second ride with me. She fits my western saddle alright and seems comfortable in it. Just getting her walking comfortably on a loose rein, and trotting politely. Our rides are very short, she's very out of shape.
Her new bit should be here soon too!

I'll be posting a back-update on Azir later this week. I was sick so didn't get as much done as I wanted.

24/02/2024

Today Jazzy got her feet trimmed! Her back left leg is pretty stiff but I'm hoping that'll work out as she gets back in shape and stretches. Farrier is impressed with her feet and her in general. I'm so delighted!

Rode her in my English saddle since it's light and fits well enough. Just walk and trot but she's very willing. I'll work on getting video of her next time.

Video showing what she does while tied up alone. Work in progress! 💪

22/02/2024

Azir, Feb 3rd - April 2nd 2022:

I first met Azir on February 3rd 2022. I saw his for sale post and messaged the seller about meeting him and taking a ride. On the 3rd he was unable to be caught. I was there for probably an hour watching him cleverly evade all of her capture attempts. He moved nicely enough, but he wouldn't even come up close to the gate.

I visited again 2/11 where the seller had him caught before I arrived. His feet were terrible and couldn't be touched, but he did stand for grooming okay. The weather wasn't cooperative so I had the seller just do some ground work with him and established he moved as if he was lame. I didn't want to ride. I wouldn't ride an obviously lame horse. I did establish that I would be willing to take him though. He'd needed his vaccinations and I really wanted his feet done before he came, and I soon set a date for my vet and farrier to come out at a discount for his asking price, however the weather forced a reschedule.

March 3rd - My farrier was able to come out. I paid extra for her to work with his feet. Overall I believe there was two of the front feet that were trimmed and the back right was untouchable. It was raining, and I was informed that he needed sedated to have his feet done. Unfortunately he would throw his head up and barge through his owner to avoid the dorm-gel sedation. She attempted to feed it to him, but he was suspicious of the taste and anxious about what was going on. So he was not sedated.

March 10 - The vet was able to come out. I had scheduled her to do his teeth, do a lameness eval with xrays, and give him his vaccinations. The lameness Eval was only partially performed as he was uncooperative, difficult to catch, and by time he was caught all she had time for was his shots. The vaccination was given in the pasture and he ran through her and escaped once it was administered. The evaluation was incomplete. But at least his shots were given and he was able to be transported.

March 15-22nd I was in Phoenix for a funeral.

April 2nd - Azir came to my barn. My first pictures and plans were taken and made this day. He was tied and I took some quick photos of his 'arrival' condition. Following that I turned him out in the outdoor arena to let him move and bring Argo in to introduce the two soon-to-be pasture mates in a neutral area.
Unfortunately Azir turned out nearly impossible to catch after turning him out. I'd spend the following week hanging out in the pen and practicing 'catching' Azir and graining him and establishing that people = good. I'd also work on handling him and his feet every day to make him easier when the farrier came to work with him next.

I purchased him with minimal history. He was a 11 year old arabian who had been a endurance horse in his past life. With his current owner she rode him a bit when she first purchased him two years ago. In 2020 when she purchased him he had a full vet check and passed with nothing noted.

Priced at - $2500. In the end she gifted him to me due to his needs.
Investment so far -
Farrier - $110 w/ training
Vet - $182.71 w/ partial performance exam and vaccination

22/02/2024

I'm going to post Azir's history and story with me over the next several posts. There's a horse I'm working on right now named Jazzy that will also have posts upcoming.
Otherwise the back-log/history that I want to share are of Azir and Argo. They are the two I've documented the most and the ones that I purchased as projects.
I'll be tagging their posts as well so it will be easier to find!

21/02/2024

Greetings and salutations.

With prompting I've decided to start this little page. I'm an individual with a passion to help horses. My health and finances only allow one or two at a time, but I hope with my drop in the bucket I can improve at least a few lives.

My mission is to write about and share the stories, journeys and struggles that picking up wayside horses can sometimes bring. I strive to reunite horses with their lost identities through DNA tests and researching prior owners. I'm passionate about Arabian Horses but do not turn a blind eye to any breed. Not every horse that comes to me is a 'rescue' but I do my best to give that horse everything it needs to be better prepared for the future.

Farrier care, veterinary care, chiropractic and massage are provided to all, as well as handling and working on building a safe and enjoyable riding companion.

** I want to add in that this is not throwing shade or hate towards the prior owners of these horses. People all have challenges in life and it is not our position to judge them. That being said I will not be naming names of prior owners unless the prior owners wish to be mentioned. So far every horse that has come to me, the people who owned them did their best until circumstances changed and the horse needed rehomed **

This wouldn't be possible without friends, supporters, and words of encouragement.
Thank you and stay tuned for updates and horses of the past.

21/02/2024

The horse, and the story, that inspired me to keep at it.