Jynx

Isn't she pretty? She's my paddock/pasture mate, and we are such friends! It is great fun to watch her grow up. Jynx will be two years old at the end of May, and I think today she's looking like quite a grown up. There is a saying that when we look at very young horses they really only look good at 3 days, 3 months and 3 years, and everything in between is quite possibly unbalanced and looking like unmatched parts all put together! Jynx has been rump-high for months, but is evening out. She's certainly pretty in the foggy morning we had yesterday.

After this photo was taken, nine of the ten horses currently living at Fish Bowl had their feet "done" by our farrier, Jim. He pulled shoes, trimmed hooves, and re-shod those who wear shoes, and simply trimmed those of us who are barefoot. He trimmed Jynx and me in the field, and I stood very still for him. Jynx mostly did, but was a bit grabby with her hind feet. She's learning...

If you come to the OPC Dressage/CT Show today please bring nonperishable food donations for the Vashon-Maury Food Bank. Find Emily's enormous white and red truck in the parking area (it'll have a sign on it) and please put your donations in the bed of the truck. Our community thanks you!!

Horse Show Saturday 4/25/09

Olympus Pony Club is hosting a dressage, jumping and combined test (dressage+show jumping) show at Paradise Ridge Park on Saturday, 4/25/09. Go watch! It'll be fun! Dressage tests will be ridden from 9:30-2:30, then jumping from 3:00-4:30 or finished. Emily is the course designer for the jumping, which is great fun! She's having a very nice crew of pony club members and families help set up the course, enjoy pizza and pop, and have a course walk late Friday afternoon. It's all about the learning and the fun, with the jumping thrown in for good measure!

Speaking of jumping, one of our students did her first jumping ever in her lesson this week! Fun! She rode Rio, and she did really well - never out of balance, learning about where to put her hands, how to get the horse to the fence in balance and straight, etc. Yea!!

How much grass can a horse eat?

A lot!

The first photo is where I did not graze today. The second photo is where I ate all the grass I possibly could!

The grass is really growing at Fish Bowl Farm because it is Springy warm weather and the sun is up for over 15 hours each day. I love to eat the grass! Today Emily set up a pen for me along a fence line so I could "mow" the grass. Did I do a good job? My tummy was full, and the grass is noticeably shorter as you can see in the photos!

A horse needs 2% of her body weight in roughage each day. What is roughage? Hay and grass. Hay is dried grass. I weigh about 1,200 pounds, so I need about 24 pounds of hay and grass each day. Fresh grass has a lot of water content, so maybe I need even more grass than I need hay.... do you think Emily will fall for that and let me graze even longer tomorrow? I'll let you know!

Have fun, Blossom!

My friend Blossom left this morning at 7:30 a.m. for her new home in Pullman, Washington. Blossom is being leased, and possibly purchased, by a nice family. Blossom whinnied as she went up the driveway in the horse trailer, and Jynx, Coco and Annie all whinnied back. Jynx will miss her very much, and I will too, although I really will enjoy having one less pony to live with and keep track of! Did you know I'm the boss of my little group? I am! The pecking order was: me, then Blossom, then Molly when she's with us, and then young Jynx. It's funny because I'm just over 14.2 hands tall, and Jynx is 15.2, but I'm still in charge because Jynx is so young. She'll be two years at the end of May. I wish Blossom all the best at her new home! I know Blossom will enjoy all the open space and grass in the Palouse, the beautiful countryside around Pullman, Washington and Moscow, Idaho.

Equine Dental Work

Yesterday Rio had a day in the dentist's chair. Not really, he didn't sit down, but he did have a session with Dr. Kent Tooman, DVM, getting his (Rio's) teeth floated. What is teeth floating? It's the process a veterinarian performs on a horse's mouth to file, shape and smooth the teeth so the horse's mouth is once again comfortable and as functional as possible. When horses chew, our teeth get worn (we grind hay and grass hard between our top and bottom molars!), and eventually the uneven wear on our teeth makes "points" and sharp edges that poke our cheeks. Dr. Tooman gave Rio a sedative so he would hold still, put a speculum in his mouth so his mouth stayed open, and tied his head (gently) up to an overhead timber in our grooming shed. Rio looks funny and a little weird with his tongue sticking out, as you can see in the photo! Dr. Tooman uses an electric drill with a file attachment to file down the sharp points and edges, and a hand tool to finish. Rio didn't like it very much, and his tongue looked like a geoduck, but he feels much better now. Dr. Tooman and his assistant were very good at this whole process, and considering that Rio didn't want to hold still despite additional doses of sedative, they held him still enough and worked fast to get it all done. They showed us and explained that Rio has a slight "wave mouth" which means that his teeth go up and down like a roller coaster track in his mouth. Before Emily purchased Rio she had another veterinarian do a thorough exam on him, and that vet told her that Rio has a wave mouth and that he would need his teeth floated. I'll have my mouth checked next month when I have my spring vaccinations and check up with our vet. I'll let you know what shots I get and how my mouth looks!