Existing

Hello Blog World - it's been a few weeks, ok, many weeks... We're still alive and going, basically just existing. It took this long to get enough worthy updates to make a post, otherwise you would of been seeing a lot of 1 liner post about irrelevant things.

Me

School is going meh. I'll complete these first 8 week classes, but I'm not too confident in the grades I'll receive. I'm no longer working a second job since as of last week I'm full time again at Equibase. Hopefully being full time and a little more in hours and pay will make a difference. My friend Jenny is actually moving to Kentucky this month. She gave herself a deadline to be here and if she's not here, gave us permission to go snatch her. Still have my doubts until I see here standing in front of me.

Dakota

Mr. Dakota is lame. It's soft tissue and in the same leg he bowed a tendon in 3-4 years ago. Just below the knee and I'm guessing up into the knee where I can't feel. It's been going on a few weeks but 1) I haven't had time to have a vet out 2) I wanted to give liniment & poultice a valid chance. He was sound 99.99% of the time he was in Michigan and sound from his arrival until around August 1st. Basically he probably did something in a field and he's visibly sound at a walk so I didn't notice as fast as I should have. 

Vet is coming out Monday to take a look and I'll have the necessary diagnostics done to find out what he did. My hopes aren't too high. My gut is telling me it isn't a tendon and we could be dealing more with a ligament issue. 

Echo

My mareface has a Mohawk... a giant one. Her mane has not yet flipped over from me roaching it earlier this summer. Her mane is a good 5-6" tall and just keeps growing. Dakota's is barely 2-3" - I guess it is a good and bad thing Echo has such good hair growth - she just looks ridiculous instead of 'cute' like Dakota does with his.

I started her back on raspberry leaves aka the cheap version of Mare Magic. She's been a spooky mess leading her in and out of the barn - over the top. 

I've been doing nothing but ground work with her partly because she has forgotten to respect space and her manners have gone out the window. Lots of rope halter time and me 'beating on her' and her enjoying it instead of following a normal horse's reaction. She's the horse that will make me a non believer in the basics of natural horsemanship in the end. She does not respond to pressure. I try to get her to move away from pressure and she leans into it. Lots to work on!

Both horses are starting to get a little fuzzy with the shortening days. My mission this week is to buy Echo a turnout sheet / maybe a blanket so she has a full set for winter. Still debating on body clipping her. Fall vaccines and FEC coming up next week - fun fall times!

Sorry for all the writing and no pictures, I promise in the next one I'll have some photo updates.