Friday, June 25, 2010

Cravings

I'm craving sunshine and riding Fox. Only problems are the weather won't cooperate we are getting more damn rain and my horse is still broken.

Called the chiro, she is now on maternity leave and apparently there is no one else who does quite what she does. Bit gutted. She is going to try and see if she knows anyone else that comes this way. She is back in October so I will still keep her in mind just in case.

There is another lady coming to look at Smurf sometime, another local thank goodness. It makes a big difference. Haven't worked out how I feel about the whole thing yet. A bit relieved, a bit sad and a bit anxious that he goes to the right person. He hasn't felt like my horse anytime since I've had him, I just want my Foxy back to be honest so it's probably for the best since the owner can no longer take him. I still wish she could and if I won lotto I would send him over there for her. And I never thought I would be able to say that! I guess it's Kind of like when you see an old boyfriend that you thought you would never get over. Then you see them and don't feel what you used to. It's good and bad.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

For Sale

Sorry, another long break, exams suck!! But all over now, just have to wait for results :(

Anyway, Smurfs owner has finally decided to put him up for sale. Pretty heartwrenching decision on her part but probably the most sensible. She hasn't been able to find the work she is after as quickly as she thought so sending him over has become a bit unrealistic. So we are on the hunt for the best possible home. Both of us are going to be pretty fussy too. She is taking the initial e-mails and I get to meet the people and show them Smurf.

Had the first one on Sunday. It ended up being a no go as she decided to stick it out with her current horse. Would have been perfect as I know her personally and she is a local. Next best one seems to be from Auckland. Very far away but looks like a fab home. Will be interesting to see how it pans out. I've never sold a horse so will be an educational experience.

And I have to say, I'm looking forward to being a one horse woman again!

I can also cross a breastplate and girth of my wish list. Spent total of $45 on both. Yay for Trade Me! Next up is the chiro for Fox.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Shocks!

I had the trimmer out at the weekend, he pulled the shoes that were on Smurf's fronts. he has lovely feet, far too good to ruin with shoes. Fox on the other hand is constantly unbalanced. The trimmer is certain it is coming from somewhere in his back end. Yes that old cookie again. I have e-mailed the chiropractor to see if she comes this way. Fingers crossed that she does!

Anyway, I showed the trimmer all Fox's muscle wastage and strange bits. His first thought was that Fox's body belongs to a much older horse. So he looked at his teeth. He reckoned Fox was about 20, not the 14 he is supposed to be. I have no idea about teeth but I have to say that the idea that Fox is older had crossed my mind before. It would make his body issues make sense.

The trimmer said he would do some research online and let me know. Sure enough, he reckoned 20 if not older. From what little I could see and what the trimmer pointed out to me, I did my own research. Yes indeed it looked like Fox was older. I was gutted. I did not want it to be true.

So the next day I went back to the paddock and looked at Fox's teeth again. It is a mission let me tell you to get the big guy to stand still long enough to have a good look. I took mental pictures of all the things that indicate age. Angle and shape of teeth, spots in the middle of the teeth, Galvayne's groove, everything. And I went and did more research. And I went and looked at his teeth again. My conclusion is, whilst the marks on the top of his teeth look consistent with an older horse, and initially his Galvayne's groove looks like it is at the bottom of the tooth, the shape is not triangular enough and the angle of his teeth isn't acute enough for him to be 20 and his actual Galvayne's groove only extends down a small bit of the way, a lot of what looks like the groove is actually discolouration of the tooth not the actual groove. So everything I could see was consistent with him being 14.

Who knows though as I am not an expert. The dentist is due in a few months so I will ask him. I also e-mailed the old owner but I think she may be overseas at the moment.

So what do I have, an old horse with old age muscle wastage and arthritis or a middle aged horse with a fucked up body?