Two Months Later



Well, since I've had him he's been power wormed, gelded, has had all of his shots, and he's had his feet trimmed twice. He has a bad habit of kicking in protest, he's not trying to actually nail me (because he could if he wanted too) he just kicks at the ground - I smack the stew out of him every time. I swear I'm going to cut his back legs off - I'm really getting tired of it. He has a small umbilical hernia also but it doesn't seem to give him any trouble, I'll have the vet look at it on the next go around. He's super, super, super docile and sweet. He'll let you do anything to him except pull his mane and clip him. He's not real sensitve which I love. On day three after we began the power worming regimen, the belly went totally down - it was like someone popped it. Thanks Tiff for the advice!



I've started him in a surcingle. This is the 2nd time he's been in it. He's done really well.





I'm so glad I decided to keep him.





This is just an introduction to the side reins. I just wanted him to feel them flapping, etc. We haven't even put a bit in his mouth yet. As usual, he could care a less.



The little horse has quite the hip on him. I've known it all along. He's going to be a really nice pony when it's all said and done.



His neck is really improving. He'll turn 3 in April and my goal is by January I want him to be the ground driving / surcingle champion!! I would like to start him under saddle in January so that by time he hits the 90 day mark in his training it will be Spring then I will ride him all Spring and Summer of next year. I have a good 4 months to do nothing but build his top line and drive him. I want him to be ready to go come January.

This is what he looked like when he came to me on June 2nd.



Here he is today. I think he's put on a little weight.



The pictures don't really show just how bad he really looked. You could see his spinal column, especially across his croup. His croup protruded really bad. He's no longer "depressed" either. He's come alive a little.

He's starting to act more like a young horse. He notices and looks at things more than he did, of course I have to introduce him to them and then he's ok. He's just a lot more alert in general. He still likes to have his head held in my arms. He shuts his eyes, it's so sweet. The swelling around his sheath is almost completely gone. The wound from the incision is in the "white" stage so it's healing pretty well. I'm very pleased so far. I'm looking forward to doing all of the ground work with him. I'm planning on sending him to a trainer for 90 days beginning in February. He'll turn three in April. That way, when the weather is really nice I'll have him back in time to ride. Between now and then I'm taking this boy to some shows so that he can get his head right about sights and sounds. I regret not doing more of that with my big gelding when he was a baby.

For the life of me, I'll never understand the mentality a person must have that would allow them to tie a horse to a tree in the summer and not provide them with water All ...... Day ........... Long. That is not cool, macho, cowboyish ... it's simply cruel. A true horseman would never do that. All I can say is you reap what you sew and if you sew bad things like that, it will come back to you. This horse would have been better off being hauled up to the pony express and auctioned off. It just makes me feel sad and dismayed. It's over now, he's with me now but I know there isn't a shortage of people like that in the world and it's just sad. This one was just too close to home since the guy was an aquaintance of my husband's. What he did to this little horse was just wrong.

He's really sweet, he put's his head on my shoulder and looks me in the eye as if to say "Scratch me!"
I'm really beginning to think he belonged to someone, at one point, that did love and take care of him. He turns his butt to have his tail scratched too.





Finally...... he's starting to sweat like a normal horse. Yesterday was the first time that I've seen him sweat like this, even with the 90+ degree weather we had last week. I think his system is beginning to straighten out a little.

He was feeling better so we worked a little in the round pen in an effort to get the swelling down.



I just love him.



I hope he stays this "up hill".



He's beginning to turn into a nice looking little horse.

Well he's out to pasture now with his old pal, Jack. The two of them are sick with snotty noses and hacking coughs. I can't lunge him a whole lot since he's sick but his scrotum isn't too terribly swollen and it's still draining pretty good. He's getting 14 antibiotic pills a day and Jack is getting 16. They have a little grass to nibble on. With all the coughing and yacking I don't want them to choke on their hay so I'm just letting them graze. He's on a high fat feed so hopefully we'll see an improvement in his weight soon. He's like a big slow puppy dog, he'll let me drag him around, fly spray his hooty hah, pick his feet, whatever. Both ponies eat their medicine in their food unlike picky, finicky Jasper. The vet will have the lab results back by Wednesday so we'll know for sure what Jack, Jessie, Rue, and Black have.



I don't know, I think maybe he's put a little weight on. We are introducing salt back into his diet, slowly. Here he is licking his salt block. He was deficient.



4 Days Later



I think when it's all said and done he's going to have a decent little butt on him.



He has a very pretty tail with the exception of where the ponies chewed on it.

Well, today was the big castration day. It went off without a hitch. Wow! I've never seen 2 yr old hooty hoos before. They were rather large compared to Jasper's at 6 months. Sometime over the past day or so he blew an abcess out his frog also. That smelled lovely. Poor bony little guy. I just feel so bad for him. He did sweat some while he was down which is good. He didn't sweat a whole lot but maybe with electrolytes and good nutrtion his little body get back on track. The vet agrees that he is two and says he may grow two more inches but doubts it. He has to stay up in a paddock tonight and can go out in his shaded pasture tomorrow morning. He can have 1 gram of bute a day over the next few days and has to be lunged 2x a day for 10 minutes for the next several days. As it turns out, Dr. Fuller treated this horse for severe colic last year when he was with lovely owner #1. They apparently fed him and others tons and tons of corn stalks, which caused Jessie to colic severely.



After Surgery - "What  just happened? What am I? Where am I? Who am I?"




I worked on his mane a little while we were standing around and waking up. At this point, it's just going to have to grow.

He has another appointment to be castrated on Thursday at 9:00. Yay!!

We had his feet trimmed last night. The farrier said he didn't think they had ever been trimmed. He did so good. I was so proud of him. He fought a little bit but eventually just dropped his head and stood there, like I said, he's very tolerant and easy.

Apparently he got himself tangled up in wire at one point. It cut into his coronet band pretty bad and his foot grows a little funny in that spot. He has scars on his left front and back left pasterns / coronet band. The farrier said it will always grow a little funny but should not cause any problems. Other than that his feet looked good, no thrush, etc.

First of all, let me say that my time is limited at the barn and that's why his mane is butchered. I had to do something and fast, I couldn't stand the nappy dreadlocks, yuck!!  However, I will take time very soon to even it up. We are still waiting on the vet to call and schedule his castration. I wormed him tonight with a good wormer and we excercised him in the round pen. He's staying up until we can have him gelded. I can't risk him breeding a fellow boarder's mare.



Above: This is his lazy trot. This is the trot most people have seen and  they are not too impressed, it looks really average.



He's working a hair harder in this picture.



However .... when you really push him, he shifts gears, drops his little nose, and does this. To me, this is a little above average.  He even get's a little floaty. My horse will not do this, I don't care how hard I push him, he just breaks into a canter.



He looks like one of those horse skeletons you see on the vet's desk.





Cantering.



He looks like a little tiny Thoroughbred



He's very very sweet.



I really like him.



Yes, yes. I know. The mane needs a little work.

I sent him to a friend of my husband's and when it was discovered that he was a stallion, he found himself tied to a tree without water. I had to get him back.