Bath Time

Well, it wasn't exactly hot today, but I decided it was warm enough to give Jetta a bath. Between the mud/crud that she came with, the medicines I've been applying daily for the fungal infection, and the shedding hair, I thought she needed a good scrub. She took it like a tough girl, cold hose and all. I half-filled a bucket of water, added a generous dose of both shampoo and Betadine. After soaking her with the hose, I scrubbed her really well and then rinsed her well, too. She stood still, although I could tell she didn't like the cold water! Poor girl. It was warm enough that she dried quickly; I kept her standing at the trailer while I trimmed Keno's feet and used the shedding rake on his winter coat. By the time I finished choking on all his hair Jetta was dry. And beautiful, I must say--very dark and very soft.

I won't be able to ride her for another week or possibly longer. Her girth itch is clearing up, but the skin is tender and new. The vet advised me to wait when she took a look at Jetta's belly yesterday. So, we have groundwork to do. She has obviously been sacked out before and is not overly nervous about things, but she is a little jumpy when being handled on her right side, so we worked on that. We also worked on the lunge line and on yielding front and hind quarters. She's pretty much got the hind quarters down, we're still working on moving the front end over correctly. It will come.

I went out to my friend's place to take Fly for a ride. He was full of it today! I can tell once a week is NOT enough work for him. He needs the consistency he is accustomed to, and he needs the arena work as well. We had a good ride up a long narrow rocky canyon and he handled himself very well. He's a fun guy, but I think I am facing a tough decision. It's hard to keep up with a horse that isn't at home with me for regular contact and work. I am used to making progress every week. I feel like I'll be lucky to just keep Fly at the level he is right now with our current arrangement, but I just can't get out there every day. Three horses is more than I can realistically keep fit, fed, floated, and trimmed!

Even though I haven't ridden Jetta except that first time, I think I have decided to sell Fly and work on turning her into my endurance partner. I really like her; I like her personality and her sweetness. She may be very green, or she may be fairly broke--I just don't know. I hope she is far enough along that I can just carry on with her training and conditioning, but if she is too green for me, I like her enough I am willing to send her to a trainer if I need to. That means Fly will need a new home. He's a fun guy and could do endurance, but someone else will have to continue his training. I does make me sad, but he needs to be someone's main project to finish his training and help him develop into a confident mature boy.

Jetta Takes A Trip

I trailered Jetta up north to a boarding stable to visit the equine dentist. We arrived as scheduled, but had to wait an hour for our appointment. I took advantage of the time to play with her in their big covered arena, showing her the jumps, the tarps, tires, tractors, and equipment laying around. She took it all in stride--no big deal. I did some ground work with her, lunging her and asking her to yield and follow a feel. She is super smart and willing to learn. She now lunges pretty well on the 12' lead and is even learning voice commands for walk and trot. I will start her on the regular lunge line tomorrow.

She handled seeing the vet like a pro. I know as a race horse she has been through some of this kind of stuff before, although this was the first time her teeth have been taken care of. She had a wolf tooth that needed to be pulled, one cap chip, and lots of sharp points to be filed. The dentist also did bit seats so she will be comfortable with the bit. I won't ride her for another week or so while the girth itch is clearing, but we'll be ready when it is healed! She is now vaccinated and ready for action.

I really like this girl. She seems quiet and kind and sweet. Yesterday she finally decided she could take a horse treat from my hand. Actually six of them! She has since taken a piece of apple as well. When I first brought her home, she was much too shy to take anything by hand, but I think she is relaxing and deciding I might be OK.

I think she's a keeper. I do want to ride her before I make a final decision, but I am sure hoping she is as nice under saddle as she is on the ground. If so, it's a done deal.

Jetta Comes Home

OK. This is really strange, but this skinny little dark filly just sort of fell out of the sky on the tenth day of March and landed in my lap. Seriously. I was (am) not in the market for another horse, but here she is. You may know me from my previous blog: www.flyboyofmontecristo.blogspot.com. If you do, you will know that I have been happily engaged with bringing a young mustang gelding along, hoping to get him started in endurance riding this year. (Or at least in limited distance.) Well, along comes this young filly out of the blue. Plop. Into my lap.

My friend and trainer, Marleen, asked what I have been sending out to the universe to bring this about. Nothing. At least nothing intentional. OK, I did, the day before I got the fateful phone call, say to a friend that I miss my Arab mares. I have always had an Arab mare until I got Flyboy, the mustang. I in no way meant Flyboy an insult--I do like him, but it's true--I have been missing having an Arab. And a mare. So perhaps the Universal Powers That Be heard me say that and plopped her down to me.

That March 10th morning a close endurance friend called me up and said I should drive an hour and a half north to see a horse. I tried to explain I wasn't in the market for another horse, but she told me I'd want to see this one. She was quite persuasive, so I dropped everything (literally left the broom standing in the kitchen!), got in my truck and headed north. It was a beautiful day. And what's a little road trip in the big scheme of things, anyway?

I drove to my friend's house and we took her truck and trailer over to the vet clinic where this horse was overnighting, not because she needed the vet, but because she was in route to a training facility way down south. When I walked into the stall to take a look, my first thought was, "MJ, you owe me some gas money!" Suffice it to say I was not impressed. At all. This shy, thin, dusty, sad looking horse with a bad clip job stood in the corner with her head down trying not to look at me. She had a quiet eye, though. And something whispered for me to look beyond the obvious.

She loaded into the trailer and we took her down to the local fairgrounds and turned her loose to see her move. Holy horse race!! She could MOVE! Her trot was huge and forward, her canter looked smooth and strong. I was shocked. She was amazing to watch. Her owner soon arrived at the fairgrounds and gave me the scoop.

He had taken her back east to track race last year as a three-year-old. She did not do well, although he assured me she was bred to run. He had left her turned out for the winter (six months or so) and that was why she was underweight. He told me she was a nice horse and she needed to go to an endurance home where she would have a chance at a new career. He felt she would be well suited for endurance. Since I came highly recommended as a good and knowledgeable horse owner, he was offering her to me for a reasonable price I could actually afford. I was floored.

We saddled her, and after adding a running martingale, he got on and rode her for me. She took off in a big forward trot and trotted and cantered around the arena for a few minutes. I then got on and asked her to walk. It took a few minutes for her to relax, but she did. She walked and trotted. Steering seemed pretty good, she listened to my seat and leg. She seemed to move off my leg (somewhat at least) and she transitioned from one gait to the next and transitioned back down, too. I asked her to canter--got the wrong lead, corrected it and did a few circles. OK. Fine. Maybe I was in the market for another horse, after all.

That was Saturday. Monday afternoon I made arrangements for Flyboy to stay at a friend's ranch so I wouldn't have to put her in with two geldings; Keno, my APHA gelding, gets pretty possessive when he has a girlfriend! I drove north to pick her up. She was in a pen with eight weanlings, trying to hide in the middle of the herd. She wasn't too hard to catch, though, and soon we were on our way home.

Jetta at home.

Jetta (her new name means "dark gem") came complete with a snotty nose, a bad case of girth itch, and 100 pounds too thin. But a transformation is in progress, and it is happening quickly. I cleaned the mud off, and trimmed her overgrown hooves. I started feeding her all the hay she could eat. And the girth itch--now that needed something major. Betadine scrubs and M-T-G. It's clearing up now, but it was nasty and painful!

Cooties.

Hooves before.

After initial set-up trim.

So follow along and watch the next few posts. You will witness Jetta's continued transformation and be along for the ride as I find out what she is really like to ride. I am sure there will be surprises in store, but I am hoping she is really as nice as her owner assures me she is. I asked for a thirty day trial with her, he agreed, saying, and I quote, "You will like her so much after thirty days, no one will be able to pry her away from you." I do hope he is right.