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Every time I come out......not the bell part, the walking up to see me. Even when he is at the furthest part of his paddock, he comes to say hi. Always hoping for a treat ...which he gets most times :) The bell is a new trick he is learning.
Well, I said I was gonna do it. Poor Thistle stepping on and ripping out part of his braided tail with his front feet (while getting off the trailer) finally made me do it. I cut that tail. A little too short. However, Thistle appreciates being able to swish it! Right away, after cutting it off, he lifted to pass gas, turned to look at his tail as he slowly moved it side to side. It was too heavy to do more than lift before cutting it off. I know, if I was aggressive at keeping it up, his tail would get even longer than the 5 and a half feet plus it was (longer than I am tall!). However, he will always be trimmed up now, though not as short as now, it just looks silly.
Just some shots from our walks along the road. He does great. His only "boo" comes from the first or last step to the bridge. It makes a noise that bugs him. Gotta love my Thistle though. His version of a spook is dancing away from the "boo" and stopping before I have to really respond. Then we try again with him trusting me to keep him safe.
That tail needs brushing. When I do this time, will take pictures, then cut it high enough it will not need braids and tie up to stay off the ground.
Hay saddle.
Sleepy boy, and some before after pics of Thistles float.
Does not look fun. Thistles teeth were good, just some typical sharp edges starting. No chips or breaks. Always worried about those since he eats so fast.
Thistle had an appointment to get his teeth floated. The vet is along a busy set of train tracks, so loud trains are part of the fun. He did not care of course.
This is why his hair is tied up. He would be walking on it if not. Thistle was well over due for a brushing out. Only did sections this time. So no glorious hair pics :( But did measure and his manes max length is now 4.5 feet. I think Thistle must appriciate being able to see again! His tail will be done later this week.
Thistle was having a royal fit over Antoni taking Zaheera (everyone's favorite mare) for a walk out of sight. Mind, he can not see her most of the time anyway, but at least he knows we're she is at. This went one for 10 or more minutes. Gotta love that tail swoosh.
A little Easter fun.
Thistle is a quick learner. He really seem to enjoy these. These lovely side passes are after a pretty short set of lessons before this. I plan on spending quite a bit of time with him over the summer. He is more than ready for some serious training.
The fun of a fresh horse after a long winter. Thistle loves his dramatic turns!
When wishes come true......
No, I don't want to kiss you, hummph.....Come here give me a big ol smoochy! Also from Antoni, thank you!
Happy Valentines! Thank you Antoni for the pic!
So after about three hours of patiently getting his tail done, Thistle got some free time in the green field. He got a little too excited and slipped. A perfectly soft landing :)
It is still growing! It takes nearly 3 hours to unbraid, brush, then put back in braids. Koda is a mustang with a mane to rival Thistles. Unfortunately not quite brushed out yet in this picture.
The camera was not cooperating, but this may be the most ridiculous picture of my Little man (his nick name). Thanks for the silly picture Antoni!
Somebody loves his boredom ball....
Antoni got some pictures of Thistle attempting to ask her for treats in his bowl. He was in the middle of his paddock and started walking to see Antoni by the gate when he decided to grab up his bowl. Such a dork.
Thistle was doing his best to convince our helper to hand over some weeds :)
We have been working on ground work. Thistle decided to spin yesterday so I have taken his cue and we are working on spin. After we clarify shoulder over vs spin our next trick may be backing a circle around me :)
Long story short - Thistle had colic, but good now.
Longer story (if you feel the need for detail....)
Why you have to know your horse.
Thistle has never been big on laying down much. It is rare to catch him laying down. Even rarer to see him lay down. Though at five years sold he has been laying down more often, though typically at night, only occasionally during the day. I caught him laying down after I had already walked by his fence once. Thistle will follow me along the fence 95% of the time (hoping for a handful of grass growing there). So right away it was odd he was not begging for green grass. He did get up once I got closer and came to the fence, but was a little slow to take his handful of grass.
I kept an eye on him as I did chores. He started stretching like he had a belly itch he could not reach and nipping at his chest (like bugs were bothering him). So I went out with bug repellant to make sure that was not his issue ( I knew colic was a possibility, but always start with the easy to deal with first to eliminate those options). He did not want the spray or the carrots bits offered. A denial of food is a major red flag for this endless pit of a horse. He then laid down once more and started to role. Well that was it, full colic alert. I yelled at him to stop and got him up. Haltered, brought out, took him to the house to get the banamine from Antoni. Gave him a little soupy mush with mineral oil, antacids, and plenty of water. Fortunately he ate/drank that down. Took him for a short trailer ride (nothing makes a horse poo faster than a trailer ride! and he obliged). Then set him up for night watch.
Thistle was so upset. The banamine was working, so he felt much better - and was now very hungry. Aside from a little more soupy mush, he got nothing until he finally pooed again at 4:30 am. Just a very little wetted grass. Then he pooed again at 7ish, so he got a little bigger meal. Throughout the day, he got several little meals with a normal sized one by dinner. While banamine is essential living so far from a vet (and this was after hours of course), it can hide more serious symptoms. So better to have a hangry horse with sad eyes than find out later he was impacted and food made it worse.
Thistle is back to normal. Feeling great. No more green pasture for him. Pretty sure he is eating something he should not be eating, or just eating too much. He eats faster than any horse I have seen. He will been nearly done with his meal when coming back from feeding the other five horses. His feed bag slows him down a bit, but sounds like he is tearing down the barn in the process.
Today was all about that hair. So....Much.......Hair! Thistle has been braided up for months and it has grown so much. I had to come up with some creative braids to deal with the length. These seem to be working quite well. I can not leave his mane down, or he eats his hair. Had to clip it while working on him just so he could eat. That tail was cut in early winter to above the ground. Now it drags. Think I have my methods down to let it stay long, though I may just cut it shorter again if I think it is needed.
Thistle was a good boy for the 3-4 hours it took to do this. Of course there were lots of treats, conditioner, detangler, and scratches.
Thank you Antoni for taking the picture today!
Antoni has the best finger nails :)
It has been a good while since I posted. Had my phone on me so caught a video of Thistle trying to decide what to do....go say hi to Koda over the fence, something he very rarely gets to do, try to go back out to his field (he was just brought back in), say hi to Conan, or get his pellets he knows are coming.
Short winter days, long school days mean little time to take pictures and frankly been leaving my phone in the house so not handy. The days are getting long now and school is almost done for summer. So more updates will show up.
A freezing rain left poor Thistle in a slippery situation. He wanted to come up and say hi but it was very slick. I told him to get back to his stall, but he had to try. Fortunately he was taking his time.
Once back in his stall I decided he might not have come out all night and drank so got him a bucket of water for his tiny stall. He stuck his head between my arms and took a big drink. Good call on my part.
Things are defrosting quick, so will be safer soon.
Thistle got to enjoy a nice growing fresh from haying field today. Looks like we were posing :) Just saying hi.
Took some time to actually take pictures. Trying to figure out running braids. Clearly I did not succeed, but three mini running braids will do for now. A double tied forelock as well, all in an effort to keep him from eating his hair. The front has chew marks and the back (closer to his withers) is recovering from pulled hair. I may never know how long it could get. Trimmed that tail again.
Thistle can be the sweetest boy when he wants to be, or a big brat. We have been working on basics a little. Between work, life, old horse issues (Lily got too fat eating all that pasture grass and was struggling to get up after napping. So lots of rotation between moving - required for her arthritis- and grazing or her stall and diet. Much better now), rescue pony issues (Willow decided she wanted to try being feral...refused to be caught. So days / weeks of retraining with her.) some hardships (had to put my Rose the mustang down a few weeks ago) Thistles training keeps being pushed down the list. I have been very happy with how he has been handling himself with the short trainings we have. Staying in control, trying to be being patient, getting a bit more mature. We play chase in his paddock and he loves his brushings. Gets into yawning fits :)
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Every time I come out......not the bell part, the walking up to see me. Even when he is at the furthest part of his paddock, he comes to say hi. Always hoping for a treat ...which he gets most times :) The bell is a new trick he is learning.
Hay saddle.
Does not look fun. Thistles teeth were good, just some typical sharp edges starting. No chips or breaks. Always worried about those since he eats so fast.
Thistle had an appointment to get his teeth floated. The vet is along a busy set of train tracks, so loud trains are part of the fun. He did not care of course.
Thistles name could have been Hover easy. He inhales his food faster than any horse I have met. Even with the hay net, he is done an hour before Conan.
Thistle was having a royal fit over Antoni taking Zaheera (everyone's favorite mare) for a walk out of sight. Mind, he can not see her most of the time anyway, but at least he knows we're she is at. This went one for 10 or more minutes. Gotta love that tail swoosh.
Thistle is a quick learner. He really seem to enjoy these. These lovely side passes are after a pretty short set of lessons before this. I plan on spending quite a bit of time with him over the summer. He is more than ready for some serious training.
The fun of a fresh horse after a long winter. Thistle loves his dramatic turns!
Somebody loves his boredom ball....
We have been working on ground work. Thistle decided to spin yesterday so I have taken his cue and we are working on spin. After we clarify shoulder over vs spin our next trick may be backing a circle around me :)
It has been a good while since I posted. Had my phone on me so caught a video of Thistle trying to decide what to do....go say hi to Koda over the fence, something he very rarely gets to do, try to go back out to his field (he was just brought back in), say hi to Conan, or get his pellets he knows are coming. Short winter days, long school days mean little time to take pictures and frankly been leaving my phone in the house so not handy. The days are getting long now and school is almost done for summer. So more updates will show up.
A freezing rain left poor Thistle in a slippery situation. He wanted to come up and say hi but it was very slick. I told him to get back to his stall, but he had to try. Fortunately he was taking his time. Once back in his stall I decided he might not have come out all night and drank so got him a bucket of water for his tiny stall. He stuck his head between my arms and took a big drink. Good call on my part. Things are defrosting quick, so will be safer soon.
A long video showing how to catch a pony in a field of five foot tall grass who does not want to be caught. Lots of walking through wet grass. Staring Willow the rescue pony, a cameo by Lily the old draft, and Rose the mustangs butt.
A little boredom busting.
It's snowing!
The initial dust is settled. Time to relax...so time for a tandem yawning session. Conan will need a few days to recover from the trip. Thistle would just wear him out if he could reach him. Conan also needs time to get used to green grass. They will be fully together in a few days.
Video speaks for itself.
Conan was moved into a smaller pen by Thistle. Lots of nose sniffs and a few stomps, but nothing dramatic. Once we get settled into the new place they will be together. The rocky ground here is just too dangerous for rough play.
First proper dental work. All looked good. Just a few sharp edges starting. Front crooked tooth (from being kicked out) is fine. The dentist was able to pop a loose baby cap off one molar. Others are still tight. Thistle also got his vaccinations updated, a health check, and a Coggins test. Getting ready to cross state lines soon.
Gotta love that upper lip action
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