combining blogs

I've decided to have one personal blog and one professional blog, so I'm not going to post on this one any more. I will mix Dakota news with my own news. Just too many things to keep track of these days. All new posts will be at my personal blog:

alexandriapallasblog.blogspot.com

February 2010

It's been a while and Dakota continues to grow. She'll be 2 in May and we are doing a lot of groundwork and taking long walks. I'll be long lining her soon. Here are some pictures taken within the past couple of days. She is very woolly and you can't really tell how big she is getting. She's still a baby, though!

Update on Dakota's hoof

The farrier was out today and the hoof that was cut away to drain the abscess has healed up nicely. No more duct-tape boot, thank goodness!!!! He also said he sees a bit of thrush around the outer rim of her hoof. I clean them daily, but where she was, she was standing in very clay-ridden mud for a good deal of the time! There is lots of that around here. Her new paddock is MUCH drier and her feet are already better. But I'm going to treat her for a bit of thrush. It's strange, because I've had several horses over many years and never had thrush to deal with. Then again, I always treated their soles with iodine, which my vet and farrier both advised against, saying it really didn't do anything.

I'm not convinced! The farrier definitely thinks the abscess was caused by the front of her soles being a bit thrushy! So back to my old protocol.

Okay, these latest posts are so exciting, but it's been a big deal. I am greatly relieved that he has found a clear cut reason for her abscess and I feel I have a way to prevent more of them!

I feel badly, because of what I took her from. I know someone else would have bought her, and she may or may not have had a herd to be in, grass to walk on and eat. Who knows? But I'm doing my very best and hope I'm giving her a good life. For sure, she couldn't possibly be more loved, and I am very committed to doing the very best I can to do right by my little girl.

Dakota's hoof!

Well, her hoof seems to be better. She isn't limping any longer, but I'm continuing to pack her foot with sugar and iodine and make duct-tape boots each day. She's been pretty tolerant, but the experience of being in a stall for a week has brought out her inner brat! Ha! She has been rather pissy and acting dominant, etc. All things I can deal with thanks to the Parelli work, which usually gets things shifted pretty quickly. I've been taking it very easy with her because of her foot, but she is entering her 'teenage' years as she approaches being two, and I need to keep these behaviors in close check. Luckily, with the work I'm doing with her, and can achieve that in a good way. I just got a Level 1/2 DVD from Parelli and it is really, really helpful! I've been learning from videos from the site and a borrowed older DVD, but this fills in many gaps. I keep getting, over and over, how it's not about the horse but about ME. I feel like right now I'm training me not the horse! Though she gets to learn with me.

Anyway, I'm anxious to get back to work. I changed paddocks in the hopes that this one will be less muddy and I never have to deal with another abscess! I have never had a horse get an abscess before, mostly because I had a lot more control over what my horses stood in all day and I've always been very diligent about taking care of their feet. No matter where she is at this stables, she's in mud at least part of the time. Being young, she has feet that are still forming, thin soles, etc. Plus there are plenty of sharp rocks around, which is what the vet things punctured her sole. So I have my work cut out for me to make sure this never happens again!

I'm sad...

On Saturday, Dakota came up lame. The vet came out Sunday AM and immediately (and easily) found an abscess on her hoof. She will be fine, and is already feeling better, but it's been hard on us both. She has had to stay indoors in a stall, and does not like it one bit! She's been outdoors her whole life, so being cooped up all day is not making her at all happy! For me, it's taken away the most fun part of my life here in Ashland. My two hours with Dakota is taken up with making duct-tape boots and getting Dakota to stand still long enough to put it on. I hope her abscess heals quickly and she never, ever gets another one!

Of course I am grateful it is something simple to treat and not one of the horrible things that ran through my mind when she first came up lame!!

Today we had sun!

It's been very cold and wet here in Ashland this past week. Even had some snow! But today, Sunday, we had sun!! So we bundled up and took the family out for a walk.

It was beautiful! I finally got a picture of John with the kids! You can't see his face because of his big, fat hat! Next time I'll make him take it off.

Dakota was in a rather bratty mood. Mostly she wanted to eat grass and do nothing else, but the walk was good for her. She was breathing a bit heavily at the end. She needs lots of conditioning! It will be harder to get her conditioned in the winter months, but I'll do my best! We are doing a lot more with Parelli games and there is so much more to learn. Should keep us pretty busy during the cold, wet months. We'll do lots of circling game to get her in shape. Me too!

Scenery

Some scenery from our walks. John takes great pictures!