Back in the Saddle

I was supposed to do rounds at the hospital this morning/afternoon, but my attending told me to go home at 11:15am! I was so excited that I would get to ride my pony today! School has gotten a lot better this week, and I don’t feel as stupid when I’m in the hospital.

Before going to the barn, though, I went home and did laundry and napped. I have gotten on average about 3 1/2 hours or sleep a night this week. Amazingly, I seem to be handling it well as long as I’m busy. But whenever I have to sit and listen to someone talk I almost fall asleep.

But finally I got to the barn just in time to see them bringing in horses for dinner! I was a little frustrated because I figured Nico would be a pain if I tacked him up while he could hear the other horses eating. I told my trainer I’d just skip riding, but she told me that he’d be fine.

So I put him in the crossties and he was okay. He pawed a little when I left him to get something out of the tackroom. But he was decently behaved.

Then we went outside to the arena and he was great! I had switched the gullet to the wide one and it looked like a pretty nice fit. We trotted for a few minutes, but he really wanted to go, so I asked for the right lead and he didn’t get it. So we slowed to a walk and I was able to get him set up very nicely and ask for it again. I had been having a lot of trouble getting him off of his right shoulder - he tends to be heavy on the right shoulder. But he picked it up today and cantered off on the right lead. He wanted to go super fast, so I just hung on for the ride. I want to only reward him for picking up that lead. I don’t think pulling at his mouth would be a good idea at this point.

So we barreled around the arena a couple of times, then reversed and cantered on the left lead. From the left lead canter I said “whoa” and he actually stopped fairly well! Then I walked him out and called it a day. Fifteen minutes in the saddle. He was such a good boy about missing his dinner, I thought I shouldn’t torture him by making him go around and around all evening. He even stood really well on a draped rein after the ride while I sat and talked to the boyfriend. If this pony has one thing going for him, it’s patience.

I have tomorrow off, so I will be riding. Yeah!

Ugh… Will It Ever End???

After an exhausting day at the hospital (one of my patients HATES me for some reason), I dragged myself to the barn just to brush my pony and give him a few treats. I was still dressed in nice clothes, so I was glad that it wasn’t muddy out.

But then I walked in the barn and the first thing my trainer said was that Nico had diarrhea overnight that was the worst it’s ever been. She cleaned him up for me this morning, but it was so incredibly upsetting. Will this ever go away?

The other pony with the diarrheal problems also was pretty bad last night, so I am thinking the two of them are dealing with the same thing (whatever that may be). I talked to the owner of the other pony, and we are going to buy some different grain to see if that helps. If it doesn’t, then we will try new hay.

So I let Nico hand graze for awhile, then put him back out in his pasture. He was quite fresh, and actually spooked at a bush or something. I was surprised, but he didn’t get way out of control. Big dork.

I’m reading about kidney transplants and kidney failure this evening. Cheerful reading, eh?

Working Hard

Today was a very tough day at school. I’m starting my third year this week, so now I will be starting my clerkships (aka rotations). Today we had an orientation and learned about the Hell that is third year. I know this sounds super whiny and lots of people would like to be in my shoes, but I’m just having a low moment and school is really getting me down. It didn’t help that I signed a promissory note for $56,020.00 today. And that just covers THIS year. That $1000 saddle doesn’t seem like too big of a deal now. What’s $1000 more to pay off in the future???

So tomorrow I start four weeks of nephrology. I am terrible with the kidney, so I’m quite worried about how the “pimping” will go (pimping is where the attendings/residents ask medical students questions in front of everyone and want an immediate answer on the spot). Ugh.

After my horrible morning/afternoon (in which I also found out that one of my friends has been dismissed from medical school for poor grades), I was really looking forward to spending some time with my pony. I drove to the barn and was excited to see Nico walk over to the gate when I walked towards his pasture. I don’t think he’s ever greeted me at the gate before. I think the treats are working.

Nico was COVERED in mud. A short downpour had rolled through about 30 minutes before I got to the barn, so he was wet and had obviously enjoyed a good roll. I took him into the barn and was really lazy and only cleaned off the areas where the saddle would go.

Then I saddled him with the borrowed Wintec and took him out to the arena. I had the x-wide gullet in the saddle, but didn’t have a screwdriver, so I couldn’t change it to the wide (which I think is the size Nico needs right now). I figured as long as the pommel cleared his withers while I was in the saddle it would be okay for just today and I would change the gullet before my next ride.

I mounted up and realized that the saddle was a little loose, so I climbed off back onto the mounting block. That was a little scary (and a little dumb), but Nico didn’t move and everything worked out okay. I got back on after tightening the girth and we proceeded to walk around the arena. I felt super secure in the Wintec. The brushed material seemed to be really grippy, and the deep seat was nice. I checked the pommel clearance and while it wasn’t great, it wasn’t touching his withers so I decided not to worry about it too much since we were only doing a short ride anyway.

After a lot of walking I asked for a trot and Nico was very sluggish and grumpy about it. He’s been doing this a little lately, so I think I might start riding with a crop again for awhile just in case he needs a gentle reminder that when I ask him to trot it shouldn’t take half a lap around the arena and a kick to get going! I feel like a little kid when I have to give him a kick. He is quite lazy, which I much prefer to crazy.

When I asked him to canter on the left lead, he jumped right into it. He seems to enjoy cantering a lot more than trotting. I liked the Wintec, and felt like it helped me sit up straighter and open my hip. Also, when Nico did weird stuff it was quite effortless to stay with him. I almost felt like if he did something completely crazy I would be able to handle it in that saddle.

After the left lead, we turned around and I asked him for the right lead. It was a no go. It took probably twenty tries before we finally got it. Argh! I had to slow him down and trot and walk for awhile in the middle so that he wouldn’t get too hot. Finally, though, he hopped into the right lead and I made a huge fuss over him and patted him with both hands as we cantered around the arena. He seems so unbalanced to the right these days, he has to careen around once he finally gets the lead. My trainer can keep him together on the right lead, but I just can’t figure it out. I let him run around all strung out on the right lead, then pulled him up and immediately hopped off. It took a lot of hand walking to cool him down because it was ridiculously hot out today.

Then I pulled mane for about ten minutes and called it a day. He’s a good pony, but he sure makes me work hard for that right lead!

If You’re a Haflinger Lover, You May Want to Look Away…

After a lot of thinking, I finally decided that if Nico is going to be a hunter/jumper for the next couple of years, it might make sense to pull his mane. Yes, I said pull his mane.

I don’t have a ton of experience pulling manes, so I didn’t really know where to start with Nico’s ridiculously long mane. Before I started, though, I had the most evil idea for a prank to play on my trainer. I briefly considered pulling only part of his mane (about six inches right in the middle of his neck) and then putting him in his pasture and hanging the pulled mane on the fence. I thought it would be funny to freak her out since I told her that I had no desire to pull his mane. I wonder if she would have called me in a panic when she brought horses in tonight?

So I cut the mane first to make it a little more manageable. My hands were shaking a little as I cut his mane off. It was a little sad, but as I cut I noticed that he was really sweaty under the mane which made me feel a little better. I didn’t realize just how thick my pony’s mane is until I got it cut. It seriously looked to be the thickness of a broom. It was crazy!

Then I started pulling. Nico really doesn’t seem to mind at all when I pull his mane out. He’s such an easy going guy. As I was pulling, my phone rang and it was the Haflinger lady who had offered to help me with finding Nico a saddle. She asked me if I could meet her at the barn this afternoon. I told her I’d be there all afternoon since I was pulling his mane. She laughed when I said I was pulling his mane and said she understood my dilemma.

I got back to pulling when my trainer came out to the barn. She was shocked and clearly happy with my decision. She didn’t think I would even consider pulling his mane. Well, everyone changes their mind from time to time, right?

Then the nice lady with the saddles showed up and brought in some saddles for me to try. We stuck her Duett saddle on him and it was too wide. Her Haflinger is 13.2, 900 lbs while Nico is almost 14.2 and 800 lbs. So her guy is obviously rounder than Nico. But she also brought her Wintec with all the gullets (and gullet gauge) and it seems to be a decent fit. At least it’s not pinching anywhere or anything. And here’s the coolest thing ever: she offered to let me borrow the Wintec (with all the gullets) until I can buy a saddle. Yeah!!! No more riding the pony bareback! Horse people are soooo cool! I offered to pay for her gas and she declined and acted like I was crazy for offering. I figure I can give her a gift certificate of some kind when I return her saddle to her to thank her for her generosity.

I looked over her Duett saddle and it still looks new after the couple of years she’s owned it. I think it would work well for Nico for now while he is still growing.

After pulling half of Nico’s mane, my hands were killing me (there’s a lot of mane there) and I gave up for the day. Plus, he’s still a baby, so I thought making him stand there for more than two hours of torture was a little cruel.

Tomorrow I get to ride! And it won’t be killing my pony with an ill-fitting saddle!

Lunging

The boyfriend and I got back from our vacation this afternoon, so I went out to see Nico this evening. He was in his stall, eating his dinner. He was finished with his grain, but still working on his hay. I put his halter on him and dragged him away from his dinner.

Once in the crossties, be forgot about his food and was quite agreeable. I groomed him and considered riding, but decided since nobody was around and I have to ride bareback, it was probably not a good idea to ride tonight.

So I thought about what we could do, and then decided to lunge. I’ve only lunged Nico a couple of times since I’ve owned him, and find it a little annoying because he isn’t super good at it.

But since lunging is quite necessary sometimes, I figured that we better figure it out sooner rather than later. Plus, it would probably be nice to lunge him before riding bareback. That way I might avoid the super fast trot that I sometimes get when I ask him to trot for the first time during our ride. With a saddle it is easy to post along and quietly ask him to slow down after a few seconds. I don’t want to get in the habit of grabbing his mouth when riding bareback because I can’t hang on when he has a green moment.

So I got my lunge line untangled and took him out to the arena. Unfortunately, there was water standing in the part of the arena without jumps, so I had to move some poles and jump standards in the dry area to make a large enough space to lunge.

I gave Nico a little line, pointed to the left, and asked him to “walk on”. He just stared at me. I repeated my request with the same results. So I smacked the lung whip onto the sand. Still, he stood and stared, looking bored. I cracked the whip as I repeated, “Walk ON!” Again, no response. Finally, I reached out with the whip and gently swung it through the air so that it brushed against his rump. He sloooowly moved into a poky walk. Obviously, Nico has not been abused with a lunge whip before. Yay! But I wish he showed it a smidge of respect

Fortunately, once he got going and remembered what lunging was all about he got a lot better. We worked on stopping, walking and trotting. Once, I asked him to whoa while trotting and he stopped really nicely. I walked over and gave him a treat. Big mistake! Then he just wanted to follow me around. It took a lot of work to convince him to walk on the circle again after that!

We did a little cantering each way, but I would have preferred a larger area to ask him to truly work at his canter. I bought the world’s longest lunge line so that he wouldn’t have to work in too small of a circle for his young legs, but the arena was too crowded with jumps (and I was too lazy to move them all) for me to let the line totally out. Plus, when Nico is still learning how to lunge, a really long line would probably make it a lot more difficult. So we’ll stick to mostly walking and trotting until he really understands everything. But I’d like to note that he picked up his right lead both times I asked for it on the lunge.

And here’s some good saddle news: a local woman who owns Haflingers is going to help me find Nico a saddle. She has four different saddles, and might bring them out to see how they work on Nico. She has Duetts and Wintecs, so we can see how they fit my pony (and I can see how her Duetts have held up over the years). I am always amazed at how nice some horse people are!

Ha Ha

The mom of a lesson kid asked my trainer the other day, “When does your kid get too big for their pony and need a horse?”

And they were referring to me. Ha ha. I guess as long as I’m not too heavy for my pony I don’t really care if I look a little too big. But would anyone tell me if I was actually too heavy for my pony? My trainer assures me that I’m not, but sometimes I worry a little about it. How many trainers would tell their client that they are too heavy to ride their horse?

I was riding Nico bareback when the question was asked, so I guess I look a little bigger without the saddle. What do you think? Way too big? Too heavy? You can answer anonymously if you want!

This photo is from the old barn, taken a couple of months ago. I think Nico looks like he’s struggling to not collapse in this picture

Saddle Drama

Why does it seem that as soon as I pay one bill (vet), I find another way to spend tons of money on my pony?

This morning I had a lesson with Nico. My trainer walked over to tell me something and was shocked to notice that my saddle was majorly pinching Nico’s shoulders. I’m a bad mommy and hadn’t noticed. Poor pony. Nico has been really bad about the right lead lately again, so my trainer guessed it might have something to do with my crummy saddle fit. Apparently he picks up his right lead for her when she’s using her saddle.

But fortunately, one of the teenagers was having the saddle fitter out this afternoon, so my trainer told me to ask her if there would be a way to pad my saddle to make it work for the time being.

I put Nico away after the lesson and then helped with barn chores and went to lunch with the trainer and working student. Then I went back to the barn and got Nico from his pasture to do a quick bareback ride. I had just got his bridle on and situated when the saddle fitter showed up. The girl she was there to help wasn’t at the barn yet, so I grabbed the saddle fitter (of course, offering to pay for her services) and had her check out my saddle fit. I thought she was going to scream when she saw my saddle on Nico. She said he has an extra bump on his shoulder from where my saddle is killing him. Seriously, I just thought he had a big shoulder. Apparently the bump is his muscles spasming? That’s what she said.

But she pressed all over his back and said he is not sore. So WTH??? Then, she honestly told me to ride him bareback for the next few weeks. Uh, up until that point I had never done more than walk around bareback with Nico. He’s not nuts or anything, but every now and then he has a green moment which would definitely dump me without a saddle. Like he’ll suddenly respond to my nagging leg and bounce away from pressure sometimes. I see my butt in the dirt.

So I took Nico outside to the arena and he balked repeatedly all the way from the barn to the arena. I think the problem was the fifteen people (and cars) who had come to watch one little girl’s lesson. He snorted and blew at the cars. It was kind of entertaining, but a little surprising since he usually takes new things in stride. Not today! He was fine once in the arena, though.

I climbed on bareback and decided that if I have to ride him bareback until I buy a new saddle, I ought to start doing more than just walk. So we trotted around the arena for quite awhile, and I realized that I’m not as crappy of a rider as I thought. I was really scared to try trotting, but it ended up being not as hard as I thought. And I think Nico was happy to have the saddle gone, since he was so much more willing to round up and raise his back under me. Yay collection!

Then the girl who had the saddle fitter come to the barn brought her horse out to the arena. She was riding bareback too! I asked he what the saddle fitter had told her, and she said she’s supposed to ride bareback until she can buy a new ($4000) saddle for her horse. This girl’s horse cost less that $1000. This is the point of the day where I questioned the saddle fitter’s sanity.

If I hadn’t been worrying about the fact that I need to find money for a new saddle, the whole thing would have been kind of funny. I mean, what saddle fitter tells people to just ride bareback? Like, there’s no saddle to fit your horse… sorry!

My trainer was a little annoyed, and asked me what the saddle fitter had told me to do. Uh… Ride bareback? And she was like, “No, what did she tell you to buy?”

And I said, “A bareback pad?”

Sigh.

So after riding around bareback in the arena for awhile, one of the other girls talked me into a short trail ride. I was a little worried since Nico was acting unusually silly and I was riding without a saddle. But everything went fine. Nico didn’t spook on the road or the trail, and I got over my nerves by the time we got back to the barn. The other girl went inside to untack, but I found a spot in the shade next to all the “scary” people and made Nico stand there until he practically fell asleep.

I got home tonight (after almost 12 hours at the barn!) and looked up some saddles for my pony. Has anyone ever tried Duett saddles? I know that some Haffie people swear by them. And the great thing is that they’re less than $1000 new! A lot of money, but not $4000!

Toxic Plants?

I did some research over the weekend about plants which are toxic to horses. The more reading I did, the more I was convinced that Nico is eating something slightly toxic. One of the other ponies has a similar diarrhea problem, which makes me suspicious. Right now the horses are out on super overgrazed pastures. I can picture Nico and this other pony munching on weeds when their hay runs out. Also, the Biosponge, which absorbs toxins in the gut, helped a lot when he was on it, but lost it’s effectiveness as soon as he was taken off of it. This all really makes sense if it’s some kind of poisoning, so I hope some research can fix this problem once and for all.

I rode Nico this evening after five days off and he was an angel. An angel who forgot how to back up, but overall very good. He bends, he trots and canters in a moderate, reasonable manner, and he had a great attitude about working. Also, he’s developed a fantastic walk as long as I’m driving with my seat.

After riding, I washed Nico’s butt for the five thousandth time and he acted like I was killing him. Finally I got annoyed enough and growled, “Stand…” at him and he did a lot better. I think sometimes he just needs a little reminder of what’s expected of him.

I put Nico out in his new field (the trainer switched everyone’s fields to see if Nico and the other pony’s diarrhea clears up) and then grabbed my camera. I took pictures of every plant that Nico could get access to. After coming home and looking over things, I’m pretty sure that there’s a significant amount of Milkweed in Nico’s pastures (yes, it’s in both the old and the new pasture).

Here is the plant I took a picture of this evening:

Here is a picture of Milkweed from the internet:

As far as I can see, it’s the same plant, minus the seed pods. And here’s what Purdue Vet department has to say about the Milkweed plant:

MILKWEEDS

Asclepias spp.

(milkweed family)

TOXICITY RATING: Low to moderate. Milkweeds are unpalatable, and have variable toxicities. Death is not likely unless large quantities are consumed.

ANIMALS AFFECTED: All animals may be affected. Sheep are most at risk, but cattle, goats, horses, poultry, and pets are also at risk.

DANGEROUS PARTS OF PLANT: Stems, leaves, roots.

CLASS OF SIGNS: Gastrointestinal irritation (primarily vomiting and diarrhea), incoordination, tremors, heart problems, respiratory difficulty, death.

PLANT DESCRIPTION: Milkweeds, such as common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca (fig. 26), get their name from the thick, sticky, milky sap that oozes out of cut or torn leaves, stems, and fresh pods. The usually solitary stems of milkweed grow 1 to 5 feet tall and bear opposite (sometimes whorled), sometimes fleshy leaves with entire margins. Flowers emerge in umbrella-like clusters and range in color from pink to rose-purple to orange or white. The fruit (fig. 26A) is a pod with “tufted” seeds. A dozen species of milkweeds grow in Indiana woods and swamps, but most commonly in dry soils of fields and road-

sides. Dogbanes (Apocynum spp.), which are easily confused with milkweeds, are found in the same habitats and may cause similar poisoning.

SIGNS: There are several different types of milkweeds with varying degrees of toxicity, with the whorled milkweeds being the most toxic. Milkweed plants are considered unpalatable and are eaten only when other forages are not available, and may also be found in hay and processed feeds. The primary toxicants are cardiac glycosides that cause gastrointestinal, cardiac and respiratory problems and can cause death if enough is consumed. Resins (especially galitoxin) in the milky sap may also contribute to the toxicity of milkweed. In ruminants, the first signs are incoordination, muscle tremors and spasms, bloat, increased heart rate, breathing problems, and occasionally death. Horses are very reluctant to eat this plant, and its toxicity is only rarely reported: colic, diarrhea, abnormal heart rate and rhythm, rarely death. In animals that are capable of vomiting (pigs, dogs, cats, humans), this is the first sign to develop and is beneficial in that further absorption of the toxin is lessened. Horses cannot vomit, and vomiting is not generally observable in ruminants (if vomiting occurs, the contents still remain in the rumen), therefore toxic signs will be worse in these species.

FIRST AID: There is no antidote if an animal consumes milkweed. It is important to limit further ingestion of the plants or contaminated feed. If the animal recently consumed a large amount of the plant, a veterinarian should be called so that the gastrointestinal tract can be emptied and supportive care provided. Small tastes of the plants tend to result in minor oral irritation, and serve as a deterrent to further consumption, and these little nibbles typically do not require treatment.

SAFETY IN PREPARED FEEDS: Milkweed is toxic both fresh and dried, therefore hay, silage, green chop, and processed feeds that contain milkweed are never safe for consumption.

PREVENTION: Animals will avoid milkweed as long as there is sufficient forage available. Care must be taken to avoid incorporation of milkweed into prepared feeds and hay, and these feeds should be discarded.

So if you read all of that, it sounds like the Milkweed (or Dogbane) could be causing Nico’s GI symptoms. I doubt he’s eating a ton of it, but if he’s nibbling on it because he’s bored out in the overgrazed pasture, I think it might possibly cause his mild/moderate diarrhea without any of the more serious symptoms described above. He’s out 12 hours every day (which I am very happy about), and I can definitely see him eating poisonous plants that normal horses won’t touch. It was evident last night when I was taking pictures that the horses were bored and looking for things to eat, and Nico is so desperate to be eating something every second that I’m sure he’s at least tasted the weeds in his pasture.

I have a riding lesson tomorrow morning at 9:30am, so I’ll take along some gardening gloves and go out and attack the weeds after my lesson. Also, some larger pastures are being hayed this week, so eventually he will be out on better pasture where he will have more grass to eat instead of weeds. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping this will do the trick!

And, despite extensive searching, I can’t figure out what this weed is:

Any ideas? It’s obviously been feasted on by someone.

Quick Update

I’m on my way out of town for the weekend, but I ran out to the barn this morning and rode Nico around the farm bareback. He was a perfect pony (other than trying once to eat grass). I’m amazed that I finally have a horse I can relax with and not worry about spooking/bolting/etc.

Unfortunately Nico’s diarrhea problem seems to be here to stay. I’ve got some great emails from people (which I will respond to soon - I promise!) who have great advice, and I think I will try some of their suggestions.

For this weekend, I will read up on toxic plants and then walk his pasture on Monday. I’m also going to do more reading on protozoal problems because the manure sample I gave the vet was several hours old and everything I’ve read says that it has to be really fresh to see the protozoa. Plus one of the other ponies now has the same problem, so I wonder if it’s something they’re eating in their pasture, or if the other pony caught Nico’s hypothetical protozoa.

Clippers! OMG!

If anyone has forgotten (or is a new reader!), Nico was born and raised as an Amish pony. According to his papers, he was sold several times within the Amish community before I bought him. When he was two, he was trained to drive (apparently he is quite broke and traffic safe), and a 14 year old Amish boy taught him to carry a rider.

This March, as a late 2 year old, he was sent to an English (aka non-Amish) trainer. She trained him for thirty days and marketed him for the Amish owner. She is the person I went through to buy my beautiful pony. So Nico had spent thirty days living in a modern barn before I got him. He saw lights, cars, clippers, four wheelers, etc. for the very first time. There are still some things here or there that I can tell he has never experienced. Fans in the stalls were a new thing. A mat in the grooming stall was very scary the first day I owned him. He stood and snorted at it for a long time before finally stepping on it.

So this long story is all leading up to today’s topic: Clippers! The trainer who sold him to me called and told me that he wasn’t super great with the clippers yet, but if I went slow things should be fine. For the past few months I’ve just been using scissors to keep him from looking to freaky with whiskers and his bridle path. But last week I went to the tack shop to buy probiotics (which didn’t help AT ALL) and saw a tiny pair of clippers. I thought the tiny clippers would be good for practicing getting Nico used to the world of clippers.

I started working with him a little with the clippers and he wasn’t super amused. He would let me clip his face, but didn’t like them around his muzzle or bridle path. The bridle path was particularly horrible - he would violently shake his head, making it impossible to clip. Granted, he wasn’t moving his feet or rearing. My trainer had a horse STRIKE at her recently when she was trying to clip it’s face. Ack! So I wasn’t too bummed by his antics, but figured it would take a lot of work to get him to quietly accept the clippers.

Last night I was at the barn as a huge storm blew in. I had Nico in the wash stall and the rain started gusting down the aisle way. So I was a bad horse person and led him to his stall without a lead rope. I decided to spend some time working with him with the clippers since I was stuck at the barn for awhile. I took his halter off and let him free in the stall. He’s good at following me around in the stall (outside, not so much), so I played a little game with him with the clippers.

I would walk away from him and wait for him to come over to me. I praise him and give him a pat, then run the clippers up his neck towards his bridle path. I would only put them close enough to make him a little uncomfortable, then praise him and walk away again. This was repeated a million times until he let me snip just the tiniest bit of mane at his bridle path, then I turned off the clippers and gave Nico a good scratching. I figured that was good enough for the day and by that time the storm had passed and I went home.

This morning I went out to ride but the arena was super wet so I wasn’t able to ride. My trainer was mucking stalls, so I brought Nico in to groom and talk to her a little. He walked away from me in the pasture, so I chased him around for thirty seconds or so. Then as soon as I released the pressure he was super willing to be haltered and walk towards the barn. He followed along great until he came to a dead stop and passed complete mush for manure. Ugh! When will this end???

So I was grooming Nico and telling my trainer about how bad he was with his bridle path and showed her what I was talking about. In the crossties, he would raise his head straight up and then away from me, rolling his eyes around when I raised the clippers. Back to square one!

My trainer suggested that the little clippers might be yanking his hair out (they’re pretty wimpy), so she got out her big clippers and had me try those instead. He still wasn’t too thrilled. But my trainer encouraged me to try a different method than the one I had employed the day before. She told me to just let him fuss a little and keep clipping. What do you know, it worked for his muzzle! He fussed for a minute, but got over it quickly and became resigned to his fate.

The bridlepath was a little tougher since he was throwing his head all around. But I just rested the clippers on his bridlepath and passively hung on for the ride. Within about ten seconds he gave up and stood nicely for me to clip and then even everything out. He looks so good with a proper bridlepath. He’s a big boy now!

Then I clipped his front legs for grins and giggles. That was a non issue. He could have cared less.

So it looks like my pony will be a good show pony afterall! Well, at least he’ll get ready for shows well