Saving Miss Jen

Dental work

2010-11-01T21:54:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, I came home from work late, and my daughter says to me "Hey Mom, Jen has a marshmallow on the side of her face". Greaaatt....... See, Jen is "that" horse. You know, the one in every herd that has some kind of injury or weirdness? She's that one here.

Schlepped out to the barn, and sure enough, a hard lump on the right side of her face. Its not terribly tender or hot, but she clearly doesn't want me messing with it. She was eating normally, so I left her for hte night. it looked better the next day, and I found some serum-y bits on it, so I thought it was a swelling from a tick bite.

No such luck. By Sunday it was bigger again, but still no heat, swelling or problems eating. I called the vet Monday, and she was out Tuesday. The short answer? Jen had a broken tooth. It was cracked in half and sticking out sideways into her cheek. She couldn't get it out, she needed oral surgery.

So on Wednesday morning, I loaded Jen up to head to the vet clinic. She was a good girl considering she hadn't been on a trailer, or even out of hte paddock much, since she got here 3 years ago, leaving her babies behind. It only took about 15 minutes and a handful of treats.

She arrived at the vet clinic definately nervous and upset, in a sweat even though it was only a 30 minute ride on the hightway. I gave Jen a kiss, and told her that she would be home the very next day.

Jen's procedure went well. The clinic removed the #4 premolar due to a grade 3 caries and saggital fracture, and packed the socket with antibiotic packing material. They had to go in through the nasal cavity to punch the root out from above.

When I picked Jen up, she looked quite unhappy. she was tucked up and thin looking from just 24 hours. She looked depressed and miserable. They said she was eating, but not well.

Jen loaded up with no problems, and rode quietly home. I unloaded her in the driveway, and as soon as she recognized where we were, she had a definate pop in her step. We made it up the hill, I brought her into the paddock and all her friends were so happy that she was home! Jen went and had a good roll, then a looooong drink of cold well water, then itched all over on her favorite scratching tree, before settling into some hay.

But, Jen wold not eat her grain with the doxycycline in it. Jen is allergic to SMZ, she had an allergic reaction when she had the stick jammed in her coronary band. She hates doxy. My daughter (and Jen agrees), that it smells like Sharpie marker. So Jen has been refusing her grain. Flat out refusing. I've been adminstering metronadazone rectally, and she is fine with that. But the front end feels like it has to argue with me. Jen has never liked pastes, and she was just dewormed last week, after all, why would I be bugging her with this stuff already?

I tried everything to disguise the doxy, I mixed it with molasses, yogurt, Nutrient Buffer ( a gut buffer), alfalfa pellets and soaked hay cubes. Nada. Now she won't even come at breakfast or dinner time, a horse that used to dig to China because it took me soooooo long to walk 10 feet to her.

Well, I think I finally have the answer. Take 45 doxcycline pills and pulverize them in the blender until they are a fine powder. Now wait a half hour for the dust to settle in the jar before opening the lid and inhaling said doxy dust (don't ask), add a tablespoonful of water, and a teaspoonful of good organic molasses. Suck it in the tube, and adminster, chasing her head up, downback, and forth with her jaw firmly clenched and her sending the daggers of hell out her eyes into your temples. Once that goes into the front end (or on my clothes, or in my hair), next is 60 cc of Nutrient Buffer, which his to help her belly from all the antibiotics and stress. Next will be a dose of yogurt. The a temperature taken rectally to monitor for infection, then a tube syringe full of melted Metronadazole gets adminstered rectally as well.

Did I mention how disgusted Jen is with me? She LOVES me any other time of day, but at feed time, she hates me now. Poor Jen.

Update

2010-06-28T07:41:00.003-04:00

I haven't updated Jen's blog in quite some time, mostly due to time-constrains, and I what I feel is nothing exciting that someone would want to take the time to read. But I'll bore you anyway with the "not much" that has been going on here.

Jen is still doing well. She weighs about 850 pounds now, she has gained over 200 pounds since she arrived here back in March of 2007. She does have some significant muscle atrophy to her back, and is backsore, likely from the saddle that I am told used to rub her raw ("extreme" curlies do not lose their hair and skin from a properly fitted saddle!). I will continue to do EquineTouch on her, which I admittedly have not done enough of, only a few sessions over the years.

In attempting to ride Jen, we have found that she is very very anxious about being ridden. she completely freezes up as if she is "waiting for the ball to drop". My daughter has taken it upon herself to spend a lot of time with Jen getting her over her fears. Jen has been a very stressy horse. She stresses over everything, gets anxious and upset over any little change in her life (doing something different during the course of the daily feeding chore, any change in her paddock arrangements, being asked to do anything at all (since it isn't done daily). So Mandy visits with Jen almost every day, it was every day at first, now she has reduced the number of days and increased the amount of time. She would just spend time with Jen at first, haltering her, grooming her all over, picking her feet and talking soothingly to her to let her know that she wasn't going to "do anything to her". The way Jen gets upset is that she stands perfectly still like a statue, with her head held high. She stops blinking, and she clenches her jaw, purses her lips, and her eyes become hard and distant, she just goes away somewhere. So to someone who really doesn't get horse-speak, it appears as though she is allowing.

As Jen relaxed into just the difference in her schedule of being caught and having one-on-one attention, Mandy introduced tack. Jen gets upset and anxious when she sees tack. So Mandy just introduced tack while using t-touch calming circles, which Jen just LOVES. She would just bring the tack out at first and let Jen sniff it, then not do anything with it. Then she progressed to putting it on her, without cinching up the saddle. She put the Bitless Bridle on her and didn't ask anything of it. Jen won't take a bit, period, and there is no way you are getting her to unclench that jaw to allow it in, and its amazing how far back she can invert that neck and have her head backwards.

So once Jen was bored with the tacking process, Mandy started taking her out of the stall while tacked and leading her around. Oh, she also lead her around untacked for awhile too, and then combined the two. At first Jen was upset and didn't want to leave the safety of the barn with tack on. She eventually graduated to leading her away from the barn, and then up in the upper paddock. She progressed to leading her over stones and logs, backing her over them as well, and following trails. Jen has become bored with that process as well, and will readily leave the barn area fully tacked.

we have now progressed to taking Jen outside the paddock to hand-graze her. At first she was upset, as were the others left behind, so we only grazed right outside the gate. Then Mandy started leading Jen further away, and we plan to continue that process over the rest of the summer, eventually getting her out of sight of the other horses, and then do that tacked.

Oh, Jen is actually more worried about having tack removed, and gets really scared when you take the saddle off her. She also gets upset if she is tacked up and you raise your arms over your head, so we've been doing that randomly and she is getting better about it.

Physically, Jen is doing pretty well. She finally finished abscessing in her feet, and is finally starting to grow an upright hoof. It was very flat and pancaked for so long, and once she got rid of that toxic buildup, she's growing a heel and a nice tight little foot. The dentist was out again yesterday, and made the comment "Wow, her mouth is a MESS! If we worked on this mouth every 6 months for 5 years, I don't think we would make any progress".

Poor Jen. I don't know the reason for the problems in her mouth. It could be a combination of factors. Her neglect, the fact that she had a halter on too tight to the point that it grew into her face and appears to have altered her skull structure (by comparing her head size and shape to her full siblings and parents), and/or the fact that she was ridden in a Tom Thumb bit with aggressive riders. I even recall seeing a photo of her with her reins tied over the top rail with her head cranked up, trying to evade the pressure, in a Tom Thumb. Jen is only 14.1H.

Jen is creating muscle, she has shoulder muscles now, and chest muscles. I think her chest has doubled in width! Here are some photos from yesterday.

Not much

2009-10-11T21:02:00.003-04:00

Not much has been going on with Jen, or here for that matter. I've been working, working, working, and no time for horses other than feeding, cleaning, trimming, and loving on them. Jen is doing well, is happy in her herd, and still continues to gain weight more than 18 months later. Jen still fancies herself a Southern Belle. She is cold on these chilly New England fall nights, and I found her shivering twice on mornings when the temp. was around 35. She still dissipates heat as if she were a warm-weather gal. So she is getting the benefit of a light blanket on the chilly evenings for now until she grows more of a winter coat.

Here are a couple of not that great photos from today.

2009-04-03T17:58:00.004-04:00

Jen has had a couple of more rides this past month. She is very eager for her turn to get to play. Mandy tacked her up with no problems, other than her bracing and getting worried when girthing up. I suspect that will take a good long time to overcome the old "kick in the gut" girthing process. But we went slow, one hole at a time, with a lot of reassurances, and she never moved a foot.

The last time Mandy rode her, she saddled her up and just did a few laps of the paddock. I noticed that when Jen had to reach forward with a front leg to step over a big rock (we have a LOT of rocks in the paddock, big boulders, ledge, etc.) she would get a grumpy face and flip her nose. So I slid my hand under the saddle, and noted that the medium gullet was too tight for her in the Wintec, and that her shoulders were interfering. So the last time we took her out, I remeasured her for the gullet size, and she measured right on the wide side of medium wide, so I decided to put the wide gullet in the Wintec with the thicker fleece pad (I really hate changing that thing, "easy-change" is a misnomer and it takes quite a bit of grunting, slamming, and swearing to get it back together). I looked more objectively at Jen's back, and she has the same conformation as her sister, Lakota, which is not a good thing. She has those huge shoulders that rotate about 4 inches under the saddle, and the same weird long withers, short back and forward girth-groove (sigh). But I was hopeful this would work for her. So after saddling up, Mandy led Jen around a bit to make sure her mind was connected, and they did fine.

Mandy REALLY wanted to bring Jen out of the paddock the last time, so we did. Jen was worried, she is an extremely herdbound horse, so considering that she did quite well. We left the gate in stages, taking breaks, turning back from time to time. I think it helped that the other 3 didn't really care that she left (although they stood at the gate and screamed for Lakota when she was out).

We made it out to the yard, and checked it all out. She was nervous, I could feel it, but she was well-behaved and tried to be brave. The ducks were flapping around, as were chickens, the goats, the goose was playing it up, it was a lot to take in for a horse that hadn't been out of the paddock in a year, and had only been out two or three times in two years. Then I took Jen for a bit, and asked her to move her feet around me, and we meandered her and there and I asked for her attention. Then Mandy laughed this weird laugh that only 12 year olds can manage, which caused Jen to spook and teleport a little, so I knew then that she was quite tense as I had suspected, but was trying to stuff it down and be brave. So I slowed down then, and just spent some time standing and petting her, chatting with Mandy, and relaxing. And then Jen started to drop her head, blow, lick and chew, and relax. Her head was about at my waist level now. I decided that was enough emotional stuff for her today, so we slowly brought her back to the barn, stopping along the way to look at this or that.

Then Mandy hopped on her for a short bit in the paddock. Jen was a bit anxious about that, and she had a real grumpy face as we walked through the paddock. Then we stopped for a photo op. Jen didn't look real happy, and she kept biting at Mandy's foot.

So I decided that the saddle still wasn't fitting well, and asked her to hop off. After untacking and putting our gear away, I decided at the last minute to toss the Barefoot London treeless saddle on her, just to see how it looked. It looked OK on her, so then I asked Mandy to hop on. We went for another short walk, and I was really blown away by the difference in Jen.

The Start of a New Season

2009-03-08T21:09:00.002-04:00

Jen has continued to gain weight over the winter and is looking pretty darned good now. She no longer looks like a "rescue", though she does still have quite a bit of muscling to build up.

I have spent a lot of time just loving on her this fall and winter. No expectations other than politeness. She gets lots of rubs, and is told how much we love her. I speak softly to her while stroking her neck. She is much less anxious about life in general these days, though she still does tend to rever to anxiety of something gets her emotions up.

Jen has been begging for some attention lately. She sees how much the other horses enjoy enteraction and one-on-one time with us humans, and Jen wants some, too. She would sit in my lap if I let her, she gets so jealous when the others are "chosen".

Today was Jen's day. Unfortunately, I left the camera in the house, but hopefully I'll remember next time.

We changed out the gullet in my daughters saddle and messed with girths until we got an OK combination. We decided to stay in the paddock to keep her emotions down for the first time we've done anything for about 8 to 10 months. She was only mildly concerned about saddling, but treats took care of that, she sighed and did a lot of licking and chewing. She took the Bitless with no problems at all (you may recall that she refuses to accept a bit, clamping her jaw shut and throwing up her head).

I stood on the ground and we practiced a lot of lateral flexion. Her first reaction to the feeling of any pressure at all from the reins is that her head goes up and she braces. I don't escalate pressure (start where you want to end up), I just take up contact and wait, while she works it out. The head goes up, it goes down, she tries pulling the rein out of my hand, then finally, the neck relaxes and she gives her nose. BINGO! instant release with a click, and then a treat. Yehaaa!!!! Repeat ad naseum.

Jen has a lot of braced default behaviors that is going to take a lot of time and repetition to undo. Did the same thing on the other side. Then hubby came home, so I stopped to talk to him for a bit. Jen fussed, pawed, fidgeted, and was trying everything to figure out how to get another treat. She finally settled down, dropped her head, relaxed, closed her eyes, and then it was time to reward her with more fun.I briefly repeated the lateral flexion on both sides, and she braced at first again, but remembered much quicker this time. I think I'm going to have to use this sort of thing for her for awhile, a lot of repetitions on one thing, then a break and do it again. She tends to forget between sessions, so hopefully a break and repeating it will break that habit. She also needs repetition, or she gets anxious wondering what the next behavior is that she will get rewarded for. She gets fizzy and tries too many things. Lakota, OTOH, gets bored, so we do something until she gives me a good try, or improves, then we move on to something else, and go back to the first thing (maybe). Interesting difference in horsenalities.

So then I had Jen walk along side me, and we practiced backing up a step each time I asked her to whoa. Interestingly, she settled down, relaxed and was very happy to be moving, where she was more tense with the flexion at a standstill. I think she was anxious about the other horses in her space while there was food involved. But she needs to learn to deal with that, too, and she actually was much better than she has been in the past. Then, rather than saying whoa and stopping abruptly for a halt, I decided instead to "breath out" and just "stop riding(walking)", and blow-me-down, but she whoaed beautifully and so relaxed! We practiced that for a bit, and it was fantastic, she was so soft and relaxed, very unlike herself, it was beautiful!

It wasn't in the plan today, but she was doing so well, I asked my daughter to hop on board. Jen is supposed to be her horse, I didn't know she had so many issues when I bought her, but I did figure she wouldn't be as perfect as the seller said she was. She hopped on board, and we walked through the paddock. At first, I did the leading, as we had to walk past the other horses grazing, and Jen can be pretty defensive of her personal space, I wasn't sure if she would act differently while someone was on board. But she was! She did fantastic! At first she braced and her head went up, but we didnt' ask for anything. Just stood there at the rock she mounted from, and scritched her withers while I rubbed her neck and told her what a good girl she was. When she softened and relaxed, we moved off. After a few laps, I gave up the reins to my daughter, although I walked alongside just in case I needed to snatch them. But she did beautifully, and whoaed on a breath out. Gorgeous!

But the BEST part, was we dismounted/untacked on the far end of the paddock away from the barn, and Jen was astounded! She sniffed at the saddle and mouthed it multiple times while my daughter wsa holding it, and I had the bridle hanging in my hand, and she turned toward me and put her nose right into the noseband. Awwwwww....... she wanted to keep riding!!!! Both of us were just so happy to see this, after the tense, anxious little girl last year. This is exactly how I wanted to leave her, wanting more, not thinking "When will this be over with?"

Darn, I wish I had the camera.

Brrrrr

2008-12-20T22:03:00.003-05:00

I got up this morning, and put my hands to the glass slider door to thebalcony in the bedroom. I said to my husband "Its around 15F out there". He laughed.

I fed dogs, booted up the computer, then headed out with mush for Whinney the toothless pony, and hay for the rest of the girls. It was 7 am, with 10 inches of fresh snow on the ground, and the wind blowing some more flurries around. I'm still pretty numb at 7 am, especially before coffee.

When I came back in the house and checked the weatherbug, the computer said 23F. It sure felt colder, but it was darned chilly in the house, so thought it was just me.

After coffee and breakfast, I headed back out to grain and muck, and even with a couple of hours of hay in their tummies, Jen acted cold. She wasn't shivering, but she was acting like she was starving, and a little anxious. Everything else seemed fine.

I thought perhaps it was because there was no sun, and the wind was blowing a fine mix of sleet and snow around, even though she had done so well when it was 10 with wind chills down to 1 and 2F, the sun was out and it was clear, so she could soak up the sun. I put her blanket on, and within an hour she settled down.

I headed back in the house, and had to reboot the computer because it was moving like molasses in January (gosh, I need a new computer, this one is older than my 7 year old son!), and when it all booted back up, my weatherbug said it was 14! No wonder she was chilly, with the wind whipping that snow around, and why I couldn't get the house warmer than 60.

Ah well, all snug as a bug in a rug now. I guess she can handle the cold when its nice out, but combine it with precipitation, and its just more than she can handle yet. I'm so thankful for horse blankets! It pays to watch your horse, and know their habits, and how they act all the time. I usually sit for about 15 minutes before leaving the barn after feeding to watch them, make sure everyone settles into their hay and none are feeling off. It is well worth the effort.

Here she is, hiding inside while her sister checks out the neighbor plowing his driveway.

The Horse: Fracture Recovery: A Stem Cell Case Study

2008-12-06T22:01:00.002-05:00

Well, that was lame, I could have done that. I sent this article straight from Horse.com to here, hoping it would post the entire article, but it didn't.

In any event, this article is a perfect example of Ana's injury, only Ana's was more severe, with more factures and more pieces separated. It took this 12 year old mare a full year to be comfortable at a walk, and her future is broodmare sound only. She was hospitalized for 102 days and in a cast for another 45 days after that.

This article just reiterates for me that I made the right decision. There is no way an 8 month old baby could have gone through that recovery and stayed sane.

The Horse: Fracture Recovery: A Stem Cell Case Study

Posted using ShareThis

All Better

2008-11-30T13:27:00.003-05:00

Thank goodness that didn't take long. Jen's abscess burst by Monday morning, the deadline I gave her before calling the vet :-)

She's feeling so much better. It came out her heel bulb. I think the wrapping was actually keeping it held in, so Sunday night I wrapped it very, very loosely, just enough to hold the poultice and soak on, and sure enough, out it came.

She is so much happier now, and back to racing around the hill. She couldn't wait for me to open the gate and let them all up in their "playground" area, where she was seen racing around, bucking, spinning, and having a grand old time with the girls.

We had a very early, VERY cold snap for a week. Temps were down into the 20's during the day, and teens at night. It felt more like January. I was a little worried about Jen, being the Southern girl that she was, and last winter I kept a blanket on her because she was still gaining weight. Incidentally, she has now topped the 200 pound gain mark, and is 860 pounds. She weighted 660 a week after she arrived, and had already gained in that week.

Anyway, I watched Jen closely for any signs of being cold. Her ears, chest, and flanks stayed toasty warm, an she never shivered once. She didn't stand around in the barn, or act cold in any way. I had the blanket all ready to go if needed, but I was really hoping she was now at the point where she could go "au' naturel".

Here is a photo I snapped one morning, it was around 14F, and Jen was being a little equine solar panel, soaking up the sun. That's her favorite mid-morning napping spot. The only way you can tell how cold it is, is she keeps that naked little tail tucked inside her little butt, to keep her girly bits from being exposed to the frigid air.

Loook at how long and thick her tail has gotten!

Early Thanksgiving Morning, Jen wants to know why its only old, toothless ponies that get a soaked mash?

Umm, that would be because you are still perfectly capable of chewing your own hay, Jen.

Poor Miss Jen

2008-11-11T22:07:00.003-05:00

There has to be one in every herd, doesn't there? Jen seems to be the accident or injury prone one. First, there was the stick in her coronary band back in May. Now, Jen has an abscess in her left front. She is just miserable.

It started Wednesday. She was intermittently off on the left front. But she was still trotting and cantering around, so I thought she had perhaps stepped on a rock, or whacked the ankle against a rock while goofing around. But she was still off Thursday. Then Friday she was dead lame. I went out to feed in the morning, and she was all the way at the top of the hill and not coming down for breakfast. Of course, panic sets in when they don't come in to eat, especially someone who enjoys her food as much as Jen does. But she was up there, calling to me. She couldn't come down on her own. So I gathered halter and lead, and trecked up that darned hill, and we made our way down. Thank goodness for cell phones, I had to call hubby and get him to make the kids lunches and put them on the bus, while it took us about 15 minutes to make the 2 minute walk down the hill. Then of course assess the damages, feed, clean, etc.

So while Jen was horribly lame, there was no heat, swelling or anything. I put her up in the stall so that she wouldn't get chased off her feed, and had to put the other horses up on the hill so we could install the doors on the barn. Jen began to fret and panic when she heard the gate close, even though if she just looked out the other door she could see them. But no, she was too upset. Thank goodness for minis! I brought April down, and put her in the stall with Jen, and Jen settled down. It helped that Lakota finally answered her when she called, also. April was bought to be a companion, and she is awesome at the job. All the other horses love her, and she fits in a stall with them with no problems, keeping them company ,but not causing any troubles.

I attempted soaking Jens foot, but as history repeates itself, she HATES to have a boot on her foot, and won't put it down, so the water only gets to the toe and never to where it needs to go. So I slathered her hoof in epsom salt poultice, wrapped it in a paper towel soaked in warm water, then wrapped that in vet wrap, then put it in a boot to protect it. By the second day she hated the boot, so I stopped booting her. I think the heel bulb was getting sore and the pressure of the boot just touching it was too much. I also gave her silica 30c to help the abscess burst. I tried bute once, but it didn't help at all, so gave that up quickly.

I found a line of dirt under the lateral bar, so I started to trim that down a bit to see if there was something under there. I never did get it cleaned all the way out, and the bar was definately tender and uncomfortable. I was afraid to invade her sole too much, or take out too much bar. So I continue to alternate soaks with poultice in the mornings, and apple cider vinegar/warm water in the evenings. I called the farrier and left her a message.

On Saturday her leg began to swell up the cannon. I told Jen she had until Monday and if it wasn't better by then, I was calling the vet out. She was horribly lame on Sunday, rocking back on her hinds and just not moving, laying down a lot. I was getting very worried. On Sunday night, she about had a panic attack when she saw me coming with the vet wrap. I promised her I would only wrap it loosely to keep the wet towels on there, and not wrap it tight. Then I started wondering if wrapping it was keeping it from being able to burst.

The green stuff is staining from the poultice

Sure enough, Monday morning it had burst out the lateral heel bulb. The pus coming out stunk pretty badly. I cleaned it up and applied icthammol. She is now weighting the foot about 50%, but there is still pus coming out. The farrier called Monday, she had been in California. She was in California when Jen ran the stick in her coronary band, too. I told her that she better keep her butt home and quit traveling to Ca!!!

So Jen is on the mend, albeit sore. There is bruising on the laternal heel/quarter area, so I'm not sure what she did to create so much damage. Hoof abscesses are NOT fun to deal with, for horse nor human!

Subtle Changes

2008-10-03T21:08:00.003-04:00

I have seen quite a few changes in Jen over the last few months. They have been subtle, but I think quite significant.

Physically, Jen is still filling out. She is starting to have some muscle tone now. In the past, she felt very frail, and fragile, as if you could easily break her, or knock her over with a breath. Now, when I pet her, she feels more substantial. Some of it comes out in photos, but not the extent of the change. Her muscles are beginning to have some tone and definition to them, and she's beginning to look less like a rehab and more like a healthy horse. She is even getting some muscle in those pockets one either side of her withers. Her neck is finally starting to look more normal, and less strappy. She is building a nice little fat crest, so she doesn't look quite so much like a llama anymore.

Emotionally, there have been many changes. Jen spends less time with her head way up in the air, and more time with it neutral and relaxed. She sighs, and licks and chews now. She never would relax and sigh near a human. She was only braced, and ready for what might happen. Now if she tenses, I stroke her neck gently, tell her all is OK. And she says "Yes, you're right, I remember", sighs, drops her head, licks and chews.

Her expression is so much softer. The wrinkles over her eyes and around her mouth are gone. I'm amazed at the change in her facial structure! You would think that a horses face is what it is, but apparently it is not! Her chin is so much fuller, as is her upper lip. She always had these three deep creases in her upper eyelids. I just thought she was abnormally wrinkly. I was wrong. It was stress. Those creases are completely gone. I wish I had the photos to compare, but I lost 7 years worth of photos in a hard drive crash back in June. So all my old photo's of Jen (and all my horses, dogs, cats, and most importantly, my children) are gone.

In any event, Jen's upper lip is now full and round and soft. There are no wrinkles around her lips and the corners of her mouth. Her chin is no longer tight and winkled, its fat and soft and relaxed. She used to screw her mouth all up and pop her lower lip when she was ticked off. She doesn't do that anymore.

She now believes me when I tell her everything will be OK. I can speak softly to her, stroke her neck, and she will sigh and relax in less than half the time that it used to take.

And I saw Jen and Lakota grooming each other yesterday. That makes me so happy! I thought they would never be friends. I noticed that this summer I would often find them in the run-in together, napping in the afternoon, nose to tail swishing each others flies. Lakota, obviously, is still alpha, and always chases Jen off food. Jen still tries, but half-heartedly. But to see them grooming really warmed my heart.

I am really looking forward to the day that my daughter and I ride off down the trails on these two sisters. Both completely rehabbed, fat, happy, confident, relaxed, and comfortable.

Jen, exploring the wooded area of their paddock

May, June and July 2008

2008-08-02T16:34:00.004-04:00

Crazy spring and summer plans and work have prevented me from keeping up on Jen's (or Leroy's) blogs.

But, Jen's new life is beginning. I have started some relationship groundwork with her using Dan Sumerels methods, and she is responding well. Jen loves being chosen as "the one" that gets to come out of the paddock and play with the humans. She is so eager to do things together, that it actually borders on obnoxious!

She responded well to her first session. At first, she was a little upset that I actually asked her to move away from me, and she couldn't quite figure out what I wanted, she kept banana'ing (is that really a word?) back in to me. When I insisted she move around me, she gave me the finger and raced off. She is a powerful little horse!!! Jen gets quite animated, and she is also an extremely sensitive horse in many ways. As soon as she got her wits about her and relaxed a little and put an ear on me, I relaxed my body language, inviting her in. Which she was very relieved! She came right in, and attaches herself to you like velcro. So we did some off-lead leading, and then I introduced her to the Bitless Bridle. Jen has a major aversion to bits, and she flings her head up in the air and clamps her jaw shut. No amount of treats, or patience, will get her to open her mouth short of being aggressive with her, which I won't do.

She was braced against the Bitless at first, it seemed to be an ingrained habit. Human picks up rein and yanks, horse braces against inevitable pain. So when I first picked up the rein (I stayed on the ground), she braced. I held steady, light contact, eventually she relaxed her neck a little, and she got a click and a treat. She thought that was really cool, so we did it again. She still automatically braced, but she softened quicker and quicker. We repeated many times, and she was softening and relaxing. We obviously repeated the steps with both reins. I also tried out the one-rein-stop / hip disengage from the ground, and this was beautifully soft and responsible. Interesting. So then I called it a day, and took her out in the yard for some grass. I wanted to keep it simple for our first time out.

The second time we started off the same way and it went much the same, although with a bit less animation when I asked her to move away from me. We repeated the groundwork with the Bitless, and she was still braced, but a smidge less than last time. After she was responding pretty well to the Bitless, I put the bareback pad on her, and I took my time getting on. I leaned over her, petted her, put just a leg over her, guaging her reaction as if she had never been ridden. She was a little tense and worried about what I was going to do. But I reassured her a lot. Eventually I climbed on board, and just sat there feeding her treats. She though that was really cool! The first time she tried backing up so she could get her head closer to me with the treats. LOL! It didn't work too well for her.

So then I asked her to move forward, and she was extremely tense. Her whole body was waiting, ready to leap into action at the slightest hint of movement. Hmmmm....... But when I gently squeezed, she didn't move. I tried again, and again, with very gentle contact. then I slid my legs slightly back, I have abad habit of my legs sometimes sliding too far forward, inhibiting forward motion in a sensitive horse. When I did this, she about leapt out of her skin and rushed forward, as if she was expecting me to lift my legs away from her sides and just whallop on her. So she got a little spooky after that ,but soon calmed down. Once she moved forward softly off my leg, I got off her and called it a day.

We repeated this again a third time, and she was calmer even the third time. So we are making progress. I have not had a chance to work with her more than every few weeks unfortunately, with the hot weather, kids home from school, yard work, barn work, house work, work-work, etc., etc. But we'll get there.

OK, don't make fun of the tie-dye -- the horses don't care what I'm wearing when I play with them or feed them :-)

So the next phase of Jen's life has begun! From starved little filly, to starved, abused riding horse, to starved, abused broodmare, and now a fat, unpregnant family horse.

Well, OK, she's not really fat yet. But she's getting there! She's in decent weight now. She has a small amount of topline to build up, a small amount on the top of her butt to muscle up. After that, I'm certain that she is going to continue to bulk up over the next year or two. Her chest is still pretty narrow, although it is much wider than it once was. She has muscles in her shoulders and neck and butt now, but I'm certain that they will get bigger, and firmer, and stronger.

March and April, 2008

2008-08-02T16:22:00.003-04:00

We are all healing after Ana's death. Jen was very, very distraught for quite some time. It was really amazing (and very sad) to watch the herd dynamics. Lakota took care of Jen for 3 days after Ana's death. On the 4th day, she told Jen to get on with her life. Jen was very funny for awhile, but soon she began to heal, also.

Jen seems to have taken on some of Ana's personality. She now seeks me out for attention, and loves to be scratched on the belly and the brisket, just like Ana. She plays, and canters, and buck, which I have never seen her do in the past year. I think that Ana is keeping Jen company, and helping her to learn to trust humans again, and teaching her how much fun we can be.

Jen and April have buddied up, and they spend all their time together. It really came to fruition when Jen ran a stick into her coronary band early in April. It was in a good inch and a half, and I didn't discover it until the 3rd day. I was soaking the hoof, thinking the lameness was an abscess, but on the third day, the soaking with Epsom Salts had drawn the stick out enough that I finally felt it. Jen was confined to a small pen, and on bute for 3 days and anbitiocs for a week. She ended up on Doxycycline after having an allergic reaction to SMZ. She was quite frantic, stomping, and itching her entire body. Banamine set that straight quickly. While I am generally a very natural-oriented person, Banamine is like a wonder-drug! I wish it weren't so darned expensive.

Jen had her bandage changed on her hoof 2x/day, with antibiotics injected into the hole, and of course her temperature was monitored. We got through all of this with a lot of treats :-) While Jen was laid up in her pen, April immediately rushed the fence, and spent the entire week in the pen with Jen. No matter what ugly faces Jen made, April never left her side for all that time. They have been inseparable ever since. Jen even shares her hay pile with April, and that is a BIG deal for Jen, she only shared her hay with Ana occasionally.

I have started taking Jen out to the roundpen, and we started with some clicker targeting exercises, to build her confidence. Soon I hope to start some round-pen relationship work, and see how she reacts to that. Jen has really warmed up to me over the last few months. She softens and likes to just stand with me, and be with me. She seeks out the companionship.

While Jen is supposed to be my daughters horse, I think it is good that Jen is learning to trust all humans again. At first I had thought I would step back and let them build their own realtionship, but with school hours, homework schedules, my daughter doesn't get to spend as much time as she would like with the horses, and Jen was feeling left out, I think.

Jen is also moving so much better! She is bucking and cantering, and she is moving engaged and with natural collection. Her poll and sacrum no longer seem to be sore, and she rolls all the way over, now. Thanks, Pam! She is moving engaged, and very happy and comfortable in her body now. I think she just needed to build the muscle necessary to carry herself. I think her old, inverted movements were due to atrophied and cannibilized muscles, unnecessary muscles that were sacrified for survival, but their absence caused her to not be able to move properly for so many years, that her body didn't know how to move correctly again without the NMR help.

February, 2008

2008-08-02T16:11:00.004-04:00

Well, I don't need to worry about weaning, anymore. Someone took care of that for us. On Feb. 28, 2008, Ana shattered her pastern and had to be euthanized.

Poor Jen, she was just devastated. She wouldn't leave he body , and grieved over her for 3 days. It was just heartwrenching to witness, along with my own grief. Ana's life was far too short. She fretted and fussed, and became anxious everytime she saw me come outside. She wanted me to fix it, to make it all better like I promised. But I couldn't .... there was just nothing that could be done.

The entire herd is grieving. Lakota is helping Jen, though. Even though they were never friends, Lakota was very, very nice to Jen for those 3 days. She stood with her, never chased her at feed time, didn't chase her away from attention from me (as per usual), and guided her. On the third day, after Ana was buried, Lakota chased Jen out of the stall, and wouldn't let her stand and mourn over the spot where Ana's body had lain. She told her it was time to get on with her life now, that Ana was gone, and we couldn't bring her back.

Here is a photo of Jen on 2/24. Its all I have right now, I haven't been in the mood to take photos.

Here is the last photo I have of Ana and Jen together, taken on 2/24, 4 days before Ana was gone.

Here is a videoI put together telling Jen and Ana's story.

January, 2008

2008-08-02T15:55:00.003-04:00

Jen is having some sessions with Pam Sourelis of Reiki, Communication, and Neuromuscular Retraining. I will keep this page updated with her progress, but here is the report of her first session.

__________________________________________________________________

1/3/08
Hi Michelle. Here are the notes for Jen's session.

I began the session by placing one hand on her chest, one on her hind end and just channeling Reiki while gently rocking her from front to back. She pulled in a tremendous amount.

I was then led to take her sternum in small circles. This is ordinarily not something I would do at the beginning of a session, as this is a very private area of the body. I also like to work with the spine and ribcage first. But this is where Jen wanted me to work, and so I did. The circles were very smooth and clean, no sticking.

I then channeled Reiki to the entire underside of her body, then to the muscles along her spine, and then up through her seat bones. When sending the Reiki through her seat bones, I saw dark areas in her lower spine and off to the sides of her spine. I place my hands on either side of her lower back and channeled Reiki while gently rocking her from side to side. The dark area cleared fairly quickly, within two or three minutes.

I noticed gray energy further up her spine, and so I moved my hands further up the spine, one hand on either side, and continued channeling Reiki. This energy also cleared fairly quickly. I repeated this process with my hands on her shoulders.

Jen then presented her chest to me. I wasn't sure if she was presenting her physical chest/sternum or her heart chakra, perhaps both. In any event, I channeled Reiki to the area.

Jen then led me to her left shoulder. Standing on her left side, I channeled Reiki to the area, which was rather dark and seemed quite stiff. I did not attempt to initiate any movement. I then moved to the right shoulder. I channeled Reiki to the area and then took the shoulder in small circles. They were smooth, no sticking.

Jen then led my hands to the area just below her withers (still on her right side). After channeling Reiki to the area, I moved a bit lower on her spine, where I held and lifted the muscles beneath the spine (taking over the work of the muscles). I "walked" down her spine, and when I reached her haunches, lifted and held the muscles of one haunch at a time, while gently rocking her from side to side.

I then sent Reiki up through Jen's feet. She felt much softer at the end of the session than she had at the beginning.

I started to speak to Jen several times during the session, to ask her questions, but I thought better of it. It felt invasive. She wasn't interested in communicating in that way. My sense is that she is standoffish because she is physically uncomfortable and doesn't want to be jostled by the other horses. This could change with additional NMR work.

After I wrote these last two paragraphs in my notebook, I turned my attention to Jen again to end the session. I had planned on taking her face in my hands, but she positioned my hands higher up, just behind the poll. As I channeled Reiki to the area, I felt her neck loosen.

She told me that what I had just written was correct. She stretched her neck and back and communicated the energy of smiling broadly. I stroked her mane for awhile and then swept her aura to close the session.

Thank you for allowing me to work with this lovely creature.

Please let me know if you notice any changes in her demeanor or behavior.

Be well, Pam

Reiki Energy Healing

Animal Communication

Neuro-Muscular Retraining

www.WingedHorseHealing.com

__________________________________________________________________

1/9/08 -
Hi Michelle. Here are the notes for Jen's second session.

As I connected to her with Reiki, I told her that it's OK for her to be off by herself as long as she is happy. No one is asking her to change her personality.

When I began working with her body (mostly Reiki), I noted that her lower back was stiff. I channeled Reiki to the area, did some gentle rocking, and very gently "bent" the hind a tiny bit around the lumbar/sacral joint.

I then sent Reiki up her spine and into her shoulders. I still noticed darkness in the left shoulder and to a lesser extent the entire left side of her body. I channeled Reiki to the left shoulder, then took it in small circles (which she didn't want me to do last week, so this is progress).

I then took her sternum in small circles. They were smooth; this is good, too.

My sense of her is that she is still fairly closed, not as willing as Leroy to let go of pain. She needs to find something else to replace it (like play).

I then channeled Reiki to the rest of her body and chakras.

I said a prayer for release of pain, release of fear, and I asked that those spaces be filled with love and light. I assured her that how she behaves after that is up to her; she is free to remain reserved if she likes.

I ended the Reiki by holding her head in my hands for a few minutes. I then swept her aura.

While I wasn't comfortable speaking to her last week, I took a chance this week: Pam: Jen, do you have anything you want to say? Jen: Not really, not yet. I feel that I am healing. I appreciate what you are trying to do. I am trying to move the darkness aside and bask in the light.

At this point, I said good-bye, ending the session. Her comment (along with her bucking episode!) is very good news. As long as she is open to information and to healing energy, my sense is that she is going to be fine.

Thank you for allowing me to work with her.

Be well, Pam

Reiki Energy Healing

Animal Communication

Neuro-Muscular Retraining

www.WingedHorseHealing.com

__________________________________________________________________

1/16/08
Hi Michelle. Here are the notes for Jen's session.

I began as I most often do, rocking her gently from front to back while channeling Reiki.

She then led me to her left shoulder. I spent a lot of time here, channeling Reiki until the area was "softer" and then taking the shoulder in small, smooth circles.

I then did the same on the right side, but for a much shorter time, as the nervous system transfers the information from one side to another fairly quickly.

She then led me to her sternum, where we also worked for quite awhile, channeling Reiki and taking the sternum in circles.

She then led me to her neck, at first the whole general area and then the spine, then to the area below her withers (both sides) and then the withers themselves. Most of the session was spent in these areas: shoulders, sternum, neck, withers.

But then, much to my surprise, she led me to her poll. I channeled Reiki to the area for awhile, then left one hand on her poll , placed the other under her chin, and gently (I'm talking about very tiny movement) coaxed her chin towards me. The purpose was to show her that the poll can move, and that the movement can be free and comfortable.

Jen then led me to her hind end, where I sent Reiki up through her tail to her poll, up through her hind feet (to stabilize the hind), and then up through her seat bones towards her poll.

We ended the session as we had begun, with gentle rocking front to back.

As I told you on the phone, when she placed my hands on her poll, I said, Michelle isn't going to believe this; she's going to think I just went here because of our conversation, and Jen was all, Oh, be quiet and do the work. She's a stitch.

Thank you for allowing me to work with her. Please keep me posted on her progress.

Be well, Pam

Reiki Energy Healing

Animal Communication

Neuro-Muscular Retraining

www.WingedHorseHealing.com

__________________________________________________________________

Jen had 3 Reiki/NMR sessions, as you read above. I have seen some emotional changes in Jen, that are very interesting. Jen seems to have realized that she is entitled to an opinion, and she is testing out sharing that opinion. I can't say that she has completely opened up yet, but it feels like she's trying out the theory ;-) So we're working through a few emotional things. She kicks out at the other horses now, which she didn't do before. She's been the bottom of the pecking order, and not she's telling them to f--- off when they push her around. She's still bottom of the pecking order, but sharing her opinion. She is learning that we don't kick out or push other horses INTO the human (Leroy is the only horse under her that she can push). That is something I don't tolerate, and I fully expect to be able to walk around the paddock with hungry horses and not be run down. The rest of them have learned, and Jen can learn as well. Don't chase other horses near the human, that is the #1 rule.

Also, instead of locking up and bracing when I handle her, she is now throwing her head up and bugging her eyes out. It seems to me, that she's telling me that she is worried, rather than withdrawing into herself with the attitude of: "OK, FINE! Do what you have to do to me and get it over with already." So, although on its surface it is quite annoying, I'm taking this as progress. I'm currently handling it by doing my best to keep my emotions out of it (my first thought being: "you stupid horse, we've been doing this every day for almost a year, why are you freaking out NOW about it???" So I take a deep breath, and just wait.

One day I had to wait almost 10 minutes to take her halter off, she kept throwing her head up and popping her eyes out and ready to run away every time I reached toward her halter. Finally, she sighed, dropped her head, and licked and chewed for the first time ever! Then I was easily able to take her halter off, and she wandered off (rather than ripping away like she had originally planned to). It actually looked so funny at the time to see her lick and chew, I guess I hadn't realized how tight she always holds her mouth and jaw, always clenched tight. She is doing a lot of l/c now, everytime I handle her she walks away licking and chewing.

Unfortunately, Ana is still nursing. She actually seems to be nursing a bit more than she was in December, darnit. Jen is so darned herdbound though, I really am reluctant to force wean them. She's already been ripped away from her other daughters, while they were starving, and she really misses them, I don't want to do that to her again. I guess I'll just keep pouring the feed in, and as soon as the weather gets better, I'll spend more time taking them away from each other incrementally and doing fun stuff with each one so it isnt' so worrisome.

December, 2007

2008-08-02T15:52:00.001-04:00

Jen continues to put on weight, and is looking rather good. She needs to bulk up on muscle now, and work on her topline, which we will start in spring with some light roundpen work over ground poles, and some light riding by my daughter.

Nothing much else to report, Ana is almost completely weaned and has a suck every now and then, I think mostly she's just too lazy to walk all the way to the water tank for a drink. Jen mostly pushes her away, and her bag is mostly slack and drying up. I'm not going to stress them with forced weaning, considering Jen is gaining so much weight and Ana is self-weaning.

November, 2007

2008-08-02T15:41:00.004-04:00

Earlier this month, Jen came down sick, with ... something. I don't know what it was, but we had a period of cold weather with rain, so I had her blanketed, and was feeding them under the run-in. Two days in a row, Jen acted confused about coming to eat her grain, though she was nickering and interested, it was as if she had forgotten how to get from here to there. Both days I led her over, and she ate everything. The third day, the other horses were pushing her out of her hay, and she didn't care, which was uncharacteristic. It was pouring, so I brought her inside the one stall, and closed her in. She was warm to the touch, so I took off her blanket .... and she was gaunt and tucked up, and looked horrible. I took her temp, is was 101, which is pretty high for her, she typically runs low, most likely due to her starvation. She was far too warm to the touch for what the weather was.

So I locked her in with hay, and gave her some banamine. I checked on her in a few hours, and her temp was down, and she was picking at her hay. I called the vet, and we agreed to put her on a course of SMZ. Her temp. bounced back up that evening, so I gave her a gram of bute, and it went right back down again, and she continued eating, and I started her on SMZ. She was on it for 10 days, and her temp went down and she was eating and otherwise fine. She perked back up in a couple of days, and has been fine ever since. She did have one eye that was a little runny, but nothing else to suggest an upper respiratory infection. She's been fine for 2-3 weeks now, thank goodness.

It is getting pretty darned cold now, so she is wearing her blanket and its keeping her toasty warm. Ana rarely nurses anymore, Jen's bag is shrinking up, and she continues to gain weight nicely. Here are the most recent pics.

This is Ana's morning ritual. She stands on this rock while I prepare grain, yawning, and sometimes she leaps off the side of it like a little fawn.

October, 2007

2008-08-02T15:37:00.002-04:00

Much the same for October , Jen continues to gain weight, little by little. Ana is nursing less and less. Jen enjoys getting her blanket on for the cold nights, and the nice warm sun and warm October days on her skin. She is curling up like crazy, she has plenty of coat.

She mostly just needs to fill in her topline now, and just a smidge more on her butt, and she'll look pretty good. Then it will probably take her another year or so to really bulk up those muscles, and her chest. It took Lakota 3 years for her chest to really widen and muscle up.
Some photos from the end of October.

And here is Little Miss Ana-Banana, playing with my chair

September, 2007

2008-08-02T15:20:00.002-04:00

Jen continues to do well and gain weight. It is very slow now, but she is building a good winter coat, and she has plenty of blankets to keep her warm this winter. The dentist will be back in November, and I also have a chiropractor coming in November for her, as well.

Ana is getting big, and is a happy, healthy little filly that torments her old-fart paddock-mates. She rears up at them, leaps on them, bites at them and tries very hard to get them to play. All they do is sigh and give her an ugly look. Jen has gotten quite big for her britches since Lakota (alpha mare) went out for training. Lakota comes back next week though, and I'm sure Jen will be back in her place and quit tormenting everyone soon thereafter.

August, 2007

2008-08-02T14:48:00.001-04:00

Jen continues to do well. She had her teeth floated last month, and that has helped keep my water tank MUCH cleaner. I think she has plateaued for gaining weight for the moment, at least while Ana continues to nurse, but she isn't losing, so I'm happy.

She is settling in much better, all the horses have been together for about a month now. Jen is the bottom of the pecking order, but is working her way up. She already is above April, and is working on Whinney next. The only time they seem to squabble at all is at breakfast and dinner-time, but if Jen goes to her own spot and waits for her bucket, there are no troubles. But she gets anxious about dinner and paces, that's when the other girls get mad at her and put her back where she belongs.

Jen seems to be settling down a little bit. She seems a bit less tense and anxious, so that is good news. I expect it will take her some time to really settle in and be comfortable here, she seems like she is holding in a lot of tension and stress. It's hard leaving the only life you've know, leaving behind your herd, including your babies, to a new life.

And here is my daughters artistic shot for the day

We have started doing a little bit of groundwork, just to build Jen's and Mandy's relationship. Mandy is using clicker training to help Jen learn to trust her and build a relationship. She is also doing gentle work over groundpoles to help build her muscles back up.

Here is Jen learning to target a cone

Leading over groundpoles

Backing over groundpoles

And getting an Equine Touch Body Balance

July, 2007

2008-08-02T14:22:00.003-04:00

Jen continues to gain weight, slowly but surely, even while lactating. She is gaining in her neck, shoulders, chest area now, and starting to get some muscling over her shoulders, and filling in between her ribs. Her anus is less sunken in and she is getting close to being normally conformed back there.

My daughter sat on her for the first time last week, and was grinning from ear to ear. Obviously its too soon to ride her, but my daughter has been doing some clicker-training groundwork with her, so they develop a good relationship when Jen is ready to ride.

Ana-Banana is also doing very well. She is a VERY active little filly, and very outgoing. I've started introducing the other horses, and Miss Ana pins her ears and charges at them from behind, then races off, bucking in the process. She is such a bold little imp! All the while, Jen hangs out in the shed with her butt facing everyone.

I'm sure they will all be friends soon. Jen is not worried, just doesn't want to be bothered right now. But Miss Ana needs to learn to live in a herd and not just with her mom, who tolerates all her shenanigans.

June, 2007

2008-08-02T14:16:00.003-04:00

Jen continues to gain weight even while lactating, with the help of a round bale and plenty of oats.

She has a few issues she needs to overcome. She is a little spookier than the rest of my lot about different things going on around the farm (kids running around, machinery, etc.) but we'll work on all that. She also needs to learn some manners, as she can be quite pushy, especially with food, and doesn't think twice about walking over the top of you. So we are now working on her manners in just our daily activities, and when Ana gets a little bigger, we'll do some more formal desensitazation work, and manners.

Ana is a little doll, is very, very outgoing and people friendly. She loves to be scratched everywhere, and is learning to have her halter on/off, and leading for short distances. She picks up all 4 feet with no problem, we will soon progress to holding them up for a few seconds or so at a time as she gets bigger and better able to balance on 3 legs.

May 24, 2008

2008-08-02T14:12:00.001-04:00

All is continuing to go well. Jen got a little loose manure, either from the bump up in grain or foal heat, I'm not sure which. So I backed her down a bit for a few days then will try increasing again and see if the loose manure comes back.

Jen is an excellent momma who takes good care of her baby without being overprotective. She is fine with me and my daughter, but is not a fan of my son being in with her and the baby. What could have happened to her in the past with a little boy? Hmmm..... who knows. At this point,

I'm just hoping that she doesn't lose any weight while nursing baby (now officially "Huyana", meaning "rain falling" because she was born between two significant rain storms, with a barn name of "Ana").

May 21, 2008

2008-08-02T14:09:00.001-04:00

The vet was out today to pull an IGG. He said all looks good, and that Jen looks better since he saw her last, about 3 weeks ago. I've increased her grain, and of course she gets all the hay she can eat.

May 18, 2008

2008-08-02T14:06:00.002-04:00

Jen delivered a healthy, happy, bouncing baby GIRL at 1:30 am! Baby was up and Jen passed the placenta intact within 30 minutes, nursed in less than an hour, pooped 15 minutes later, and nursed again. It was at that time I knew I could go to bed. Of course I was so jazzed I couldn't sleep until 4 am, then the kids got me up at 5:30.

May 17, 2007

2008-08-02T14:03:00.002-04:00

Slab-sided, and we have WAX!!! Baby should come any day now!

May 10, 2007

2008-08-02T13:54:00.004-04:00

Well on Saturday I thought for sure Jen would foal. She was very, very agitated, her udders filled significantly in short period of time. She was pacing, belly-kicking, chewing her feet, biting her sides, and she looked like she would go into orbit with her tail spinning like a helicoptor... But nothing. She must have been positioning the foal, because her belly changed shape signficantly after that.

She hated being in the roundpen that I set up for foaling, she was just miserable where she couldn't see the other horses. So I had to hurry up and make her paddock foal-safe. She will not go inside a stall, she is afraid, so I'm not going to stress her out with that. She has her tent shelter that she will go in when it rains heavily, and she has a nice flat area with shavings underneath and hay where she sleeps, and to foal out in. I put lights around the fence perimeter so I can see better on the cam, and snow fencing up on the fence to make it foalproof (so baby can't roll under it, or get a hoof caught while flopping around, as they tend to do in the beginning).

Jens udder continues to fill. She is very loose behind, she has been belly-kicking for days, and her tail is in constant motion. I'm exhausted watching her on the cam every 2 hours all night for a week now. Soon, I hope! She continues to gain weight and is doing well. Prayers appreciated for a healthy delivery.

May 2, 2007

2008-08-02T13:41:00.005-04:00

Jen was dewormed with Ivermectin on Saturday, and has been passing bot larvae in her manure. Ewwwwww.

The vet came out to see her on Monday. He said everything I'm doing is right, and to just keep on keepin' on. He thinks she will probably foal within a few weeks to a month. Her foaling pen is all ready, with a wood chip base and deer fencing around the panels so baby doesn't roll under. The cam is all set up, www.marestare.com/chestnut.htm

She continues to gain weight, she's gained around 75 pounds so far. She seems to be gaining in spurts, she gained a lot in her butt at first, then that has slowed down, and now she seems to get getting some weight around her shoulders and neck. Her shoulders are now beginning to blend into her neck (or vice versa), and her shoulder blade is no longer so much like a "shelf" . She is getting a bit of a ridge of fat along her crest, and she is growing a mane!!!! Its amazing what a little food can do for you.

I've also noticed, now that she's shedding out, that she has a pretty pronounced indentation on the bridge of her nose. She must have worn a halter too tight for quite some time. So sad :-(

Sisters! This is what they do, make faces at each other over the fence. They may not look a lot alike, but their mannerisms are identical!

April 25, 2007

2008-08-02T13:29:00.003-04:00

Jen is on SMZ as a precaution due to the manure rolling down her vulva because of her sunken in anus from being starved for so long. She is starting to build a milk bag this week, and is just postively HUGE! Still as sweet as ever though.

I'm getting the roundpen all ready for a foaling pen, I spread a box truck load of wood chips to provide a clean base, and need to work on installing some deer fencing around the bottom so baby doesn't roll under the panels or get cast. The cam is up and running properly so I can keep an eye on things from the house until she is imminent. My foaling kit is almost filled. The only hitch at the moment are the darned coyotes who have decided to start prowling around this past week.

She seems to have stalled a bit in her weight gain, at least in her butt. But I'm noticing that her neck is beginning to thicken up a bit, and she has some muscling on her shoulders now, so she seems to be putting weight on in different areas and I'm sure most of it is going to that little baby in there!

April 19, 2007

2008-08-02T13:24:00.003-04:00

Today is the first day of sun after 4 days of rain, a total of about 10 inches. Yuck! The weather is finally beginning to become a little seasonal, and Jen has her blanket off, finally, for some much needed fresh air and sunshine. She is shedding like mad under that blanket, and it is rubbing some of her hair out, so she's looking rather raggedy. She is also losing her old, dead, unhealthy coat in huge clumps that just peel off, taking a thick layer of dead skin and scurf with it. yuck.

On the bright side, Jen now has the strength to lift her head all the way up like a normal horse. It looks like her rapid weight gain has sort of plateaued. She weight taped at 700 lb. today, and is 14.1H. I suspect that everything she can possibly eat is going to the foal right now, and I don't want to overdo the carbs and risk laminitis. So we continue with all the hay she can eat, and her high protein, high fat, VitaRoyal feed program. She's been dewormed twice so far, and is due again this coming Tuesday, for Ivermectin this time. After this, she will go on a regular schedule. I'm not seeing any signs of a baby impending soon, so we'll keep on keepin' on.

April 13, 2007

2008-08-02T12:59:00.006-04:00

Jen had her hooves trimmed last Friday (so 1 week ago), and she was such a good girl. Her feet surprisingly aren't in that bad of shape, even though it was admitted she hadn't been trimmed in years. She was dewormed with Strongid on Tuesday.

Jen continues to gain weight and improve, and her belly is getting enormous! She is a very sweet little mare. My daughter feeds her twice a day, every day, no matter the weather, blankets and unblankets her, shovels her poop, refills her water, and sings her songs. She said she likes slow Shania Twain songs better than fast Shania songs. Jen is beginning to come out of her shell, become interested in her surroundings, and not look quite so withdrawn. My gelding, Joe has taken it upon himself to be her protector.

Pictures from today, its now been a full month that Jen has been here. Be sure to check out the video of the baby moving in her belly, amazing! (And I remember how she feels).

April 5, 2007

2008-08-02T12:46:00.004-04:00

We moved Jen into a section of the lower paddock this past weekend. She wasn't using the upper area, and my other horses were really wanting to get back up in the woods. So we sectioned off an area of the lower paddock, they can hang out better this way, and get to know each other.

It rained like crazy yesterday, and Jen finally realized that its not such a bad idea to use her shelter. She still wears her blanket when its cold (under 40F) and when it rains to keep her dry. Sorry, she's muddy in these pics from all the rain yesterday, and I didn't have time to brush her out first. Besides, my daughter would have a fit if I did her job for her before she got home from school.

Jen's eyes are almost completely better, they look great. I'll stop the antibiotic ointment this weekend and see how they do.

March 30, 2007

2008-08-02T12:30:00.004-04:00

We've been up to 1 lb HiPro 2x/day w/Nutrient Buffer for 5 or so days now. I've added just a little bit of oats, vitamin C for her goobery eyes, and am treating her eyes 2x/day with antibiotic ointment. Jen went out in the roundpen for a half hour 2 days ago. She didn't like being where she couldn't see the other horses, so we're going to take it slow with that, until she gets used to being out there for foaling. She is shedding like CRAZY! Her hair comes out in big tufts. But, I'm seeing some mane growing, if you can believe it! Its amazing what a little nutrition will do for a body, eh?

March 22, 2007

2008-08-02T12:03:00.004-04:00

We hit 54F today, so took off the blanket for some fresh air and sunshine on that dry, flakey, grimy skin. Jen has a bit of conjunctivitis that I've been treating with an opthalmic antibiotic ointment. She also has bot eggs on her legs.

We are up to 2/3 lb. of HiPro 2x/day now. Once I get her up to the full pound, I'll start weaning down the alfalfa pellets. She is eating about 30 lbs of hay per day. She weight taped at 660 lbs. today, and she is 14.1H

I can't tell if she's picking up already, or if I'm just getting used to looking at her? She just looks slightly less angular to me, less tucked and "tight" looking.

Well, now that I put the pics side-by-side, I can see that we are making progress already in 7 short days. Wow, look how much her butt filled out! Wahoo!!

March 17, 2007

2008-08-02T11:34:00.000-04:00

The sun is out, and we're up to 34 today, yippee! Back down to one blanket, and 1/4 lb. of HiPro with Nutrient Buffer and a bit of alfalfa pellets for flavor, 2x/day.

March 16, 2007

2008-08-02T11:31:00.000-04:00

We are hit with a late-winter/early-spring Nor'easter. Temps plummet from 65 on the 15th down to 20 on the 16th, with 24 hours of snow ending in sleet and freezing rain. Welcome to Connecticut, Jen! What a shock from sunny 85F Texas. Jen wore no less than 3 blankets to keep her warm, and had hay in front of her 24/7. She weathered the storm like a trooper, upbeat and happy. What a good girl!

March 15, 2007

2008-08-02T10:55:00.000-04:00

Jen arrived here late on the evening of March 14, 2007 after a 5 day trip from Texas to Connecticut. She is in emaciated condition despite constant hay and water on the trip. Thank you, Candy, of Tender Touch Hauling for taking such good care of Jen on her long journey across the country.

The vet who pulled her Coggins and did her health certificate scored her at a 1.5. She is also most likely very pregnant. I sure see a lot of jumping around in that belly. She was supposedly exposed to two studs from May through October of 2006, which would make her due anytime from April through September of 2007. Her last foals were born on 4/22, 4/28 and 5/10.

I've started her road to recovery with free choice hay, which includes 2 flakes of second cut hay and 2 flakes of first cut "herbal" hay, 4 times per day. (I call it "herbal" hay because it is a mix of grasses and weeds/herbs, the horses LOVE it). On her first day, she was dosed 3x with Vitaroyal's Nutrient Buffer mixed with a dose of Untie supplement. Then on her second day, she had the NB mixed with a small amount of alfalfa pellets 2x/day. On her third day, we started the Hi-Pro, at about 1/4 pound 2x/day with NB mixed into the alfalfa pellets (otherwise she won't eat it).

Jen also needs her teeth done desperately, just as soon as I hear back from the dentist. She is leaving globs of stuff in her water.

These are taken the morning after she arrived, on the 15th, ready to put her blanket on for the impending storm. Remember that she is 9 months pregnant in these photos.

Here's an udder shot, to keep track as her pregnancy progresses.

And here she is, all snug as a bug in a rug, ready for the early spring snow storm.

History

2008-08-02T10:35:00.000-04:00

Morningstar Jen, or just Jen, is a Bay Appaloosa Curly mare, foaled around 1997 in Tennessee.

I did a little bit of digging on the internet, and what I found out was very sad. Apparently, Jen was rescued as a little filly, maybe about a year or two old? From someone who was feeding her nothing but bread and water. She was in horrid condition, from what I could gather, but was very friendly and sweet. I understand the breeder of these horses was not only starving them, but he was also abusive. The Curly community is quite small, and it is not difficult to dig up the history of most of the horses, owners and breeders.

Then a Curly breeder from TN found her, and bought her from the person that rescued her from presumably the breeder. She was about 3 years old at the time the breeder from TN bought her.

She had her about a year, and had her trained under saddle shortly before she sold her, apparently she took to training very easily and did well. She was also exposed to their stud. She was then sold to the woman I bought her from, where she foaled her first filly from that exposure (that filly is now living at another Curly breeders in TX).

I learned about Jen when I bought her full sister, Lakota Gem. The owner of Jen (the person I bought her from) contacted me, and we had chatted via email off and on over a few years, comparing the girls temperaments, and just keeping in touch because we owned full sisters. I was told how wonderful Jen was, very calm, smart, willing, and a wonderful childs horse.

In the fall of 2006, it was brought to my attention that some photos were posted in the owners Yahoo photo album of Jen, her fillies, and the other horses on the property, and they were all in horribly emaciated condition.

Apparently things had gone horribly wrong for the owner in her marriage, and the horses were not being fed properly since before 2005. Apparently the husband was abusive, among other things, and the story comes across as a movie of the week worthy of an award.

The horses continued to suffer, and the owner continued to do nothing about their condition, other than continue to move, avoiding the sherriff each time they were called to a new location to investigate.

In February of 2007, the owner finally decided to put Jen up for sale (and kept, and still has, the fillies and studs, despite being ordered by the State Vet and Sheriffs to find them homes). I attempted to network and find a buyer for Jen, but there was nobody I could find stupid enough to pay $1500 for a rack of bones mare.

I could not stop thinking about Jen. She haunted my dreams every single night, and I thought of her every waking hour. I was not currently working, and my husband was out of work for 3 months due to a bad accident that broke his leg, and shattered a vertabrae in his back. We were in no position to purchase, ship, and care for a horse in this condition. But we made it happen, Jen traveled from Texas to Connecticut, and her new life has begun. This is her story.