Feeding the Hony

After four years of keeping thoroughbreds, keeping a half welsh kiddo at an ideal weight caused a bit of panic initially. JT said he was generally a work six days a week kinda dude, okay I can do that. But how do I feed him? Or not feed him, really.

Butterball was pretty happy in the feeding system at JT's barn - in during the day with the world's tiniest hole slow feed hay net (that his owner kindly gave me) and then out at night with minimal grass and a round bale of tifton. But he moved up to my home barn with LOADS of grass in October, so I entered the world of grazing muzzles. 

Per recommendations, I got a GreenGuard Muzzle and then pretty rapidly their specific halter since he removed it rapidly without their halter. Even once I got the halter, it took quite a few nights of modifying before I got it adjusted so that he could eat but not rub it off on the fence. Now he's wearing it most of the time unless he can talk Ben into taking it off over the fence. 

I spoke with my BFF in NJ and asked if he really needed to be wearing a grazing muzzle every night. She said the short answer was probably yes, but the practical application of muzzles is difficult. She recommended submitting an insulin level after a night out on grass, using the grass as a glucose tolerance test essentially. If it wasn't high after a night on grass, then he could go out without the muzzle, but just keep an eye on his weight. I had submitted an insulin level when I ran blood as part of his PPE and it was 21 (reference range <20 uIU/mL). The day before Milton I pulled another after he chowed down outside the whole night without a muzzle, and it came back this week as 22. Woohoo! Pony can go out free! We're still going to do a MWF with muzzle, other four days without so that he doesn't get fat, but overall I was pleased with this approach. And I think it will make him much easier to manage over the summer. Our soil is so sandy and he looooooves a good roll, so the combo of sweat and sand was really setting him up to get rubs if he had to be in it every night. 

HALP! Report pony abuse! 

Grain wise, he switched to Seminole brand with the move, but still gets a small helping of ration balancer twice a day. He also gets OneAC and Relyne GI. For hay, he is on two flakes of orchard grass in the teeny tiny hole hay net. He still has it finished after about six hours, but without that net, he'd inhale it in less than an hour. I'm considering one of the portagrazer type things, but now that he doesn't have to be muzzled every night, I'm a bit less worried about his teeth dealing with soo much in the way of his food. 

I also baked him a tray of Low Starch Apple Cinnamon Horse Treats and he thinks they're pretty great. They were super easy to throw together. Ben also likes them, but Goggles was pretty sure they weren't food. 

Those of you with experience with easy keeping critters, any tips of tricks to share?

Outfitting the Hony

At one point I commented that NONE of my things for Yoshi fit Ben and then NONE of my things for Ben fit Goggles. I retract those statements. But... NONE of my things for Ben and Goggles fit Butterball. Actually none. Saddle pads being the only exception. The things the others could share/pass down... Blankets, bridles, reins, bits, XC boots, stadium boots, breastplate, girths... Yeah. None of that fits Butterball. I can't even use the same reins because horse length reins are long enough on him to risk getting my foot caught in them. Essentially my complaints between the others were that the same saddle didn't fit each. And Ben and Yoshi are the same blanket size, but Goggles is slightly larger (but could squeeze into Ben's extras until he got his own...) 

I was able to buy BB's bit, schooling bridle, show boots, blanket, and sheet from his old owner, which was excellent. The blanket and sheet did not come in fun pony patterns, but I couldn't pass up a good deal. But that still left quite a few things to acquire or modify.

Saddle: Because I still have Goggles and still need to be able to ride him, it made the most sense to send off my Forestier to get repaneled to fit the pony. The rep came out and watched me ride and we went through JT's and AT's saddles and picked out what he liked best. He objected the most to feeling restricted through his shoulder/wither, so we ended up removing all half pads as well. The rep decided to do a shoulder cut out panel with a pony panel (shorter overall length) and a narrower channel in the back. 

Also pictured - adorable turquoise halter 

Bridle: Another one of JT's students has a pony and has been my source of all things pony for this journey. She has an Antares Figure 8 for her pony. I have the PSoS figure 8 for Ben and Goggles. While I'm happy with the leather quality, the lower strap on the noseband buckles in a really annoying spot. When I tried the Antares, I was in love. While the PSoS has good leather, the Antares is like butter. 

Is he not the cutest thing ever?? 

I paired it with a set of Lemieux Rubber Grip Continental Reins when I placed by order from Redpost. I think I've discussed, but I require stops on my reins. Partly so I don't let them slip and partly so when riding alone I don't get in the habit of riding with them waaaaayyyy too long. When I did Ben's dressage warm ups at shows by myself I'd count stops, put my hands there, and then ride him into that length of frame after a warm up. Redpost was also recommended by Holly and made the $$$$ Antares bridle a bit more affordable. Plus shipping was insanely quick considering it is international. 

His dressage bridle is still TBD. He's not going to have a dressage saddle for quite a while, so I may just keep riding him in the figure 8 set up for all three phases. It's non-traditional, but he said a firm NO to Holly's Antares anatomic noseband, so the hunt is paused. 

Bit: This charming creature does all three phases in a Neue Schule Turtle Top with Flex Full Cheek. I was able to buy his from his owner at half the retail price.

We have played some with a Bombers preferred contact molded loose ring bit to see if it helps with the chomping he likes to do sometimes. 

Breastplate: Also recommended by fellow pony owner was the Anka Lumiere Breastplate with running attachment. 

Ft: Lumiere breastplate and equifit open fronts and fetlock boots 

Girth: After some discussion, it was decided that belly guard girths seem to cinch the whole saddle, pad, +/- half pad combo down onto a moderately witherless creature best. I have been quite happy with my LeMieux girths for Ben and Goggles, so I added their Arika contoured short stud girth to my Redpost order. 

Boots: In keeping with trying to be responsible, I bought a pair of used Majyk equipe boots for Butterball. They're black and red, wouldn't be my first choice, but at 1/3 the cost of new... can't beat that! 

Also ft. white Pro choice bell boots

Fly Sheet: I've been pretty happy with using a neck sleazy and then a discount fly sheet for keeping horse clean and braids in place with Ben before early morning rides, so I picked up a Rugged Ride Fly Sheet for Butterball from Chick's. The quality seems fine for what I ask of it. Florida is generally too hot to use fly sheets regularly unless there is a specific reason to protect. 

And that's a wrap! Hony is now outfitted and dressed for all three phases and daily life. My bank account is grateful that we're done with that phase of horse acquisition! 

Worded Wednesday Walks: My Dream Horse

We all came through Milton just fine. Less rain and wind than Helene by a long shot here, we didn't even lose power. Thank goodness. I feel for the people to the south, some of the rivers we canoe a lot are flooding and going to get even higher over the next week. I am ignoring the whispers of yet another storm out in the Atlantic right now. 

Back to ponies... Butterball's cut right in front of the girth is STILL healing. And after our XC lesson two weeks ago, I got serious about NOT putting a girth back on him until it is healed.

Pesky little thing, taken about a week ago

So in that spirit, we've done a TON of bareback hacking. 

Some of us have been snacking too 

As I explored a powerline cut bareback in misting rain the day before Milton, I realized this is what I've been searching for. I think my greatest joy comes from the quiet walks in the woods. I LOVE jumping and can really savor those moments where things click in dressage and there is a new understanding of moving off the leg and another degree of lift to the withers. But truly? I want a horse I can hop on and hack through the woods on and feel like they're having a good time too. Bonus that this one has the comfiest pony back so he is MADE for sitting on bareback. 

Butterball is not (yet) a seasoned trail horse, so he certainly has his moments. He spooked pretty hard at a banner flapping in the wind directly behind him and less hard at machinery rustling in woods that he couldn't see through. But generally he approaches things in a confident manner with a sense of curiosity. After those spooks, he came right back down to earth. And food trumps all for this pony, so a mouthful of grass later and he was totally content. He just took a moment to pause and stare at the clown donkey and horse duo across the road from the barn and the herd of cows that TROTTED towards him at the fence. After consideration, he wanted to head closer to them to investigate. 

It doesn't hurt that he's adorable and a heck of an athlete, but his level headed confidence is my absolute favorite thing. 

Those ear tips tho 

💗💗

What is your ideal horse? Which characteristic in a horse is MOST important to you? 

Wednesday Walks: Through Pony Ears (and Bonus Cats)

Here we go again. This *looks* to be more mild than Helene for our area. We'll be on the north side this round instead of the east, so tornado chances are minimal, which is always nice. Only change is that Butterball is closer to home. He'll be out in the field, next to but not with Ben. 

Pretty dappled sunlight, post hurricane ride 

Interested in what's going on over there! 

Why yes, I do think you set this fly mask here for me! 

Kittens at JT's, OMG do I love them 

Hacking from our new home barn

Crossing the main road which I haven't dared to do on Goggles yet

But BB is pretty perfect

Why yes, I did set that up to be your bed 😂

The Nitty Gritty

I ended up with a private XC lesson with JT two days after our fun bop around trip to Majestic. There are no pictures (but there is video from my glasses... I need to spend an afternoon with my computer and sort out video editing and audio filtering - lots of wind sound - and then it will be a really cool thing to share here, it's already a super educational thing for me). 

Munching some hay (I was stopped I swear) and being a generally good traveler

She asked what I wanted to focus on, and I mentioned his bucking during the trip to Majestic as well as some feelings about how we'd done ditches at both shows. What we actually ended up doing was changing my galloping position so he didn't offer a buck the whole lesson. Not that it may not still be in his repertoire, and I have the appropriate response (a very unemotional half halt and tap with the crop before going back to status quo), but he really enjoyed the position change. Ben was so prone to traveling *not* in a straight line, that I ended up with a somewhat defensive, rocked back position. She wanted me not tapping the butt with my saddle every stride, with my butt further up out of the saddle and knees a bit straighter, the look the professionals have as they gallop by that just looks perfectly balanced. If anything, lean on the hands on the neck, almost with elbows extended fully, think CPR elbows, so that shoulders aren't particularly low. It should not be a grab mane to prevent butt falling back into the seat because then I'm relying on his mouth for balance. Feel the weight in the stirrups themselves, NOT jamming the heels down, but putting the weight into the stirrup and ball of my foot. "Slide your ass back another inch" was the general direction that I got and feeling that I needed. Hips lined up over heels. I got directions to practice that position while doing my canter sets. 

How is he so cute? 

Then we practiced that position while galloping. And the pony was much more willing to hold himself up and gallop forwards. He is VERY sensitive to seat aids, I found that out while riding bareback, so if I let my seat smack the saddle it encourages the stickiness and the bucking. This position also gave me a great spot to land in so that I was less prone to snapping back too quickly and catching him over the arc of the jump.

We warmed up over a few fences and then the smaller ditch, which went fine, then we put it as part of a combination. The same half halt, a slight jiggle of the reins while adding leg, that helped keep him straight when he got a little spooky to some barrels, helped keep his balance up during the line. It's not quite the push the reins towards the fence feeling that I had with Ben, it's a bit more half halt where my hands are. Certainly no backwards motion though. But that made the ditch feel much better. 

Next we played with some jumps on mounds. There were several options coming up out of the depression, first a small log, then a smaller uphill to a cabin, and then a larger uphill to a similar sized  cabin. We had one stop on the bigger uphill to the cabin, basically I didn't have enough energy, got to a funky spot, and he was struggling to sort out the terrain change. We walked around the back side of the jump and down the hill and then reapproached with feeling, and he popped right over it. JT said that on these fences, lifting the eye a bit higher than the fence itself helps to get the correct distance. 

We took a brief walk through the water and then headed over to the down banks. He very casually popped down the smaller one. When he went down the bigger one I lifted up with my hands a bit, which JT has repeatedly told me creates horses that launch off banks. Pushing my hands down and thinking crotch into saddle not seat bones into saddle helped immensely. Then I worked on half halting after the bank with slightly longer reins when we added a jump about 5-6 strides away The first time I just funneled with a wide hand and he went, but was down on his face. The second time I got the down bank position better and then managed to do a little jiggling half halt even with wide hands. He lifted up much better through his shoulders. At that point, pony and I were completely pooped, so we ended. 

It was such a good, productive school, it was nice to come out on a reliable pony and without an agenda of a looming show. We were able to pick the most important long term things and pull them apart. I feel like the position changes are going to be super productive for me and BB. 

September Wrap Up

Sorry not sorry for the repost. Conquering the corner on this dude and having it captured by Lisa Madren was the highlight of the month

	Ben	Goggles	Butterball
Training rides	0	0	3 - flat
Lessons	0	0	6 – 2 bareback, 1 dressage, 3 jump
Hacks	2 – 1 ponied from BB	1	6
Ground work, lunge, long line	1 – lunge with equiband	3 – lunge with equiband	0
Flat rides	4	3 – 1 at MO	2
Conditioning rides	0	0	3 – 2 aquatred, 1 trot set and canter sets
XC school	0	0	1
Shows	0	0	2- LCT jumpers, POP 3 phase

Ben: Much to his dismay, Ben continued to (slowly) return to work this month. He lost his wraps during the second week of the month and then got them put back on about four days later. He was sore for a few days after that trim/application, but then went back to work. Between Goggles' cut and all the excitement of a new pony, he didn't work as consistently as he could have, but we know that he appreciates the slow, careful approach anyways. October I hope to bring more consistency and aim for 3-4 work sessions per week. 

Goggles: Unfortunately he spent most of the month not working due to a cut. I did utilize the equiband belly band on the lunge while bringing him back into work and it did WONDERFUL things to his softness and back. We had one of the best rides we've ever had the day after an equiband lunge session. He was just soft, lifting, and supple the whole time, so I only rode for about 15 minutes. October will bring a few trials and more time with AT. We're planning on usually having him tag along with BB when I got to JT's so that he an have a training ride. If he's still mine at the end of the month, he'll probably go to the POP schooling show on the 27th. 

Is large labrador. Likes to play tug with the grooming tools. 

Butterball: Obviously the NEW pony was the star of the month and all the posts were devoted to him. He and I had a great month getting to know each other. I had THE BEST time hacking out on him bareback. Ever since I lost Zinger, I have been searching for *my* perfect combination of horse - something athletic, smart, and not spooky (and within my budget... likely the largest part of the problem). And those bareback hacks felt like I'd found it. The horses I've had along the way have all had pieces of it. Yoshi was certainly brave and dependable, but he was the least sweet on the ground horse ever (to the point that I was worried about him biting or kicking Ms. GY more than once). Ben is the sweetest and lovely and athletic, but is the biggest chicken. Goggles is brave and definitely developing into quite a reliable dude, but is more of a man's horse than anything else I've ridden. Anyways, my love affair with Butterball just continued to grow during September. 

We started the month with our first show together at POP and then three weeks later went back for our novice debut. Both times he was just an incredibly good boy. We also threw in a few XC trips and multiple jump lessons. 

October will be the first month he's at my home barn. I want to find the right rhythm of fun adventures off property, lessons, and hacks from home. I also am sorting out managing a PONY on grass and have plans to test an insulin level again to decide how much he needs to be muzzled.

Making Friends

Yesterday I took Ben for a ponied hack off BB. My thought was that Ben is such a scaredy cat I could get him to rely on the brave pony a bit by heading off property. Butterball was sporting a few mild bites from their intro on Sunday which made me want to sort things out sooner rather than later.

In spite of being on the trailer together, Goggles still felt the need to put himself into BB's stall 

BB is such a friendly dude. And Goggles can't bite him in this set up, so they're actually pretty cute together

Getting on Butterball was a tiny bit hairy because Ben moved and BB thought Ben was going after him and shot forward as I was partially over his back. But we sorted that out with nobody the worse for the wear. We did a few laps in the front field with only one attempted bite from Ben. Butterball kept turning and sniffing noses with him. Then we headed down the road. Pony was POWER WALKING, it was fun. We rode past cows, the chained barking dog, and a few out of sight barking dogs. No spooks from either horse, good boys. Afterwards I rode into their field and walked a lap there. Then I let Butterball free first and then Ben. Butterball immediately put some distance between them but kept looking in Ben's direction.

Ben - "I would NEVER chase and bite a pony!!" 

I left them for a minute but came back with Butterball's grazing muzzle and Ben's fly mask. I went to Butterball first and gave him a carrot in the muzzle. He then followed me right up to Ben and started offering to scratch Ben's withers. Ben obliged and the two settled in together. 

Sweet boys! 

Butterball - "I can be a really good friend if you'd just let me!" 

"See, I give scratches!!" 

💗