# Worth Fighting For ..: The HAPPY thread ;)



## Endiku

Hello Horse Forum family! I would like to introduce to my new horse, Kenzie <3

Yes, if you've been around for long you have probably heard about Miss Kenzie and her long, difficult road...and you may have even followed her threads going back as far as last November, when she came to us starving and deathly ill. I won't bore anyone who already knows with the details, but here are both of her threads for anyone curious.

Severe Stunting, will she ever be normal?
It just doesn't END. Kenzie has been mutilated

We've all been through a lot in the past few months. After being crammed into a stall as a suckling with two other horses, losing her dam at 2 months old, being rehomed into an extremely neglectful home where she was half the body weight she should of been, contracting deadly EHV and fighting for her life on the floor of her stall for 5 days, then miraculously living only to be purposely targeted and mutilated for unknown reasons by some sicko who nearly cut off her ear, Kenzie and I are ready for a break. After an equally exhausting 'custody battle' for ownership of Kenzie, and having to cancel plans to move her cross-country, then deterioration of where she is living, I finally had enough. Perhaps against my better judgement, I decided to buy Kenzie as a last ditch effort to save her. And so here we are.

I will unfortunately be unable to keep Kenzie due to my age, upcoming college plans, and financial stress, but my parents have kindly allowed me to buy Kenzie in order to rehome her myself rather than trying to play broker for a difficult owner. Having teamed up with a very kind family in my area who are willing to board her for free as I search for a home for her, and after help in every form of the word from fellow forum members, I am happy to announce that Kenzie will potentially be moving one week from today to her new home...and to her new life.

The plan as of now is to finish rehabilitating her (her hooves are still poor, she has multiple wire wounds that I am currently trying to heal, and she still needs 30 lbs or so) and begin searching for a home for her immediately. Locally or out of state, it doesn't matter, but a good home is a must. Kenzie isn't even two years old but she's already been to hell and back multiple times. I will do everything in my will power to make sure she never returns.

This thread though, is a happy thread. It is a celebration of Kenzie's new chance, and it will hopefully be a picture/update log of how my pretty girl is doing as she finishes rehabilitating and starts searching for her forever home!!!


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## Wallaby

Subbbbbbbbing!!


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## Celeste

I'm so glad that you bought her!!! She will be really safe for the first time in her life.


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## FaydesMom

:happydance::happydance::happydance:


:hug: WooHoooo!! :hug:



:clap: :clap: :clap:


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## Sharpie

I look forward to hopefully good news from here on out. What a lucky little filly to have you as her guardian angel!


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## equiniphile

I'm SO happy to hear that!! Good luck!


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## smrobs

Yay! :happydance:

She's got a dang good chance now and I'm 100% certain you'll do right by her, Endiku. You've already done so much for her, you really are a saint. She's incredibly lucky to have you.


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## Trinity3205

I never had a doubt she would be yours. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## FaydesMom

What would you think about posting Kenzie _and_ Sour up for rehoming to see what kind of response you get. Maybe seeing who generates more interest could help you decide who would have the best shot at finding a new home?

You have helped both of them come so far, there's no doubt that whatever way it works out, you have done an amazing thing for both of these girls.


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## HorseLovinLady

I'm so glad you got her!!


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## frizzy

CONGRATZ. I'm so happy for you yous two make such a good team 




FaydesMom said:


> What would you think about posting Kenzie _and_ Sour up for rehoming to see what kind of response you get. Maybe seeing who generates more interest could help you decide who would have the best shot at finding a new home?
> 
> You have helped both of them come so far, there's no doubt that whatever way it works out, you have done an amazing thing for both of these girls.


Have to agree with faydesmom on this. Only because Kenzie has been through SO much and had A couple off bad owners in her short life not too mention now has a lot off baggage. I would be a shame if someone took her on and then decided its too hard

You've done an awesome job.


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## egrogan

Have to subscribe to this one


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## amp23

Congrats! I'm so happy for you. You've helped her so much, you deserve to finally be in charge of what goes on with her. Can't wait to see what her future holds!


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## Cacowgirl

So glad you ended up w/her. Does BO know you are moving her? Hope that does not become a problem, but she is Yours now! I know you are savvy & you have the bill of sale, right? I hope you get any other papers that may rightfully belong to Kenzie. I am happy for both of you and look forward to hearing of her future life.


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## texasgal

Every time I see the title of this thread, I think of Mulan.

" ..... a girl worth fighting for..."


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## Endiku

^ Probably because that's exactly what the thread title came from, TexasGal! LOL. We think alike  

Thank you so much everyone. I'm still not sure about putting Sour up for sale, but I will think about it. Minis rarely find good homes around here. We have a huge problem with finding them, half dead, wandering on the side of the road every time we have a drought or the economy drops. Thoroughbreds, though admittedly not ones with as much baggage as Kenzie, have a better time of it usually. Maybe I could look into leasing Sour out instead? I'd actually really like to just lease Kenzie out if she was a bit older, so that I'd still be able to get her out of a bad situation if need be, but unfortunately I don't think there is any market at all for leasing a filly that won't TECHNICALLY be ready to ride for another half year or so, and really SHOULDN'T be ridden until she's at _least_ 3 1/2 or so since she has a lot of catching up to do. In a perfect world I probably wouldn't even start really riding her until she was 4.

Cacowgirl- yes, I have a bill of sale, and its one that Celeste suggested to me. I like the way it is laid out and I hope that it works should I ever need it. I don't yet have her coggins because BO doesn't keep those at the farm; they're at her house. I should get that and any papers (registration eligibility) if she can locate them. I personally don't care one bit about her being registered and I don't even know if she CAN still be registered, but if I rehome her she might go somewhere that they do care. And I'd love to know exactly who her sire is.


As of right now, my parents have given me 4-5 months to rehome her. I know that we all have the fantasy of me being able to keep her, and I must admit that I would LOVE that, but for now I must assume that I can't and make preparations. They were vehemently against me buying her permanently and it was only the 3 month negotiation that got me their blessing. Remember that I am only 17, and thus still a minor, so it is their signature on her papers, not mine. I also have no way of boarding her anywhere other than where she is currently about to go, unless I stalled her nearly 24-7...which I think would drive her insane. I'm also unsure that I can afford her care long term even if I did sell Sour because as we all know, there is a LARGE difference between what Kenzie will be eating and what Sour eats. Sour eats 8 lbs of hay daily. Kenzie will be consumer 20+ lbs daily. Sour gets only 1/2 a pound of grain, Kenzie gets 3 lbs plus beet pulp, suppliments, and alfalfa pellets. 

As sad as it is for me to admit, even if I did talk my parents into letting me keep Kenzie until I turn 18 and can legally own her myself (5 1/2 months from now) I have to be realistic. Smrobs is right, I _will_ do what is right by this filly, even if it does mean heartbreak for me or taking the chance that Kenzie might not always have the perfect home. As it is, without even paying for hay or anything, I am spending $85 a month on grain for her. I realize that will go down as she begins eating grass, but I'll still be looking at atleast $60 per month, plus about $100 per month for hay. Remember that I only work part time, and get about 15 hours a week on a good week. I do not have a job that would typically be considered suitable for horse ownership, much less a high needs horse like her. I could be laid off at any point, and I'm making only a tiny big over minimum wage. I want to start looking for a second part time job or a better one to replace the one I have, but its hard for kids my age to get a job and even if I could get one, my parents are VERY against that as well because of my health and stress issues. And in the end, I must listen to them. Soon I will be needing to pay for my own care insurance, and I don't yet have my own car. I need to save for college, and I also have to help my family with expenses every now and then. I love Kenzie to death, but I can't in good conscience be selfish enough to keep her when I need to be learning to support my self to relieve my parents of some of their stress. I'm almost an adult, and it is time for me to begin shouldering my own financial burdens. Its sad, but maybe selling her IS what is right by her. I'm not sure yet. But I am determined not to let my emotions get in the way of what might be right for her.

In an ideal situation, I would very much like her to go to a HF member as I said, and I DO have the offer from one person to take her, so maybe it will work out. Who knows? Maybe after I get on my feet in a few years, if that member or whoever takes her from me wants to sell her, she may end up back with me. But I won't put her in danger with me as her owner just because I want to see her grow up to be the horse I know she can be.

That being said, I AM going to be quite picky about who she goes to, and won't jump on the first offer that comes by me. I will ask for references if possible, find out what kind of plans and living situation are in store for her, and hope and pray that she doesn't fall into bad hands again. Its not a guarantee, but you better believe I'll do my VERY best to find the perfect home for her. I plan to, once she gains just a bit more weight, bring her to local shows for exposure and to get her name and her story out there. I will advertise anywhere I possibly can, and make sure all of my friends and their friends know I'm currently searching. And I'll let you guys help me decide if a home sounds suitable for her, just in case I miss a red flag. 

I have a question for you guys though. Would it be better to only advertise her 'as is' in the sense that in her ad I don't mention more than that 'she's had a rough go of it' or should I give her whole story in summary to pull at heart strings? The last thing I want is for someone to take her for publicity, but I also wonder if anyone will even give her a second glance without her story to tell what a vibrant personality she has. I mean, I have to be honest. If I was in the market for a horse or someone else showed her to me, after seeing all of her scars and problems my answer would be a huge 'NO.' Its her personality and will to live and thrive that I love, not her blemishes. I want to convey that to potential new owners too, but I'm just not sure whether that is me being whimsical or if it would actually be an ok idea.


Ok, I've already tainted this thread with sadness xD I'm sorry. How about a good thing to add to my sad 'I just can't keep her' post? Kenzie and I have been working this afternoon on loading into the trailer. She's doing wonderfully! I can pretty much just send her in there now. Of course our trailer is a stock trailer, so a straight or slant load might be another story, but its progress right? I also have her successfully walking over a little obstacle course bridge. Go Kenzie!


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## WSArabians

You've done a fabulous job with her, and I'm sure she appreciates everything! 
I hope this new home works out for her!


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## stevenson

She looks much better. Hope she gets placed in a good home . You are selling your Mini ?
you need post a pic of the mini 
I think if you post an ad you do need state she was rescued, had ehv but is now recovered, and was attacked by some freak. but not say freak. State she will require more rehab.


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## Endiku

Sorry, a few corrections. Typing too fast for my brain again! LOL

*only the *4-5* months negotiation not 3 
*consuming, not consumer
*tiny bit more than minimum wage

dyslexia much? lol! Nah, I think that's actually just me not watching for typos. hehe.

And thanks WSArabians! She's a good girl and I'm glad I can help her now.

Also I think I forgot to answer a question. No I haven't told BO I'm moving Kenzie yet. I kind of wanted to wait until I have her coggins papers and whatever bloodline information I can get before breaking _that_ particular news xD

Stevenson - thanks. And its just a suggestion I got, I'm not sure about selling Sour yet. I'm rather attached to her as well, though for different reasons. She's a grumpy little witch but I love her xD You don't have to ask twice for a picture of her! She's a cutey. I think it makes up for her lack of gracious attitude. LOL










She's five years old.


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## Little Jane

Subbing xD


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## stevenson

that pony is a doll! If i was closer she would be mine ..


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## greentree

YAY!!! WOOHHOOO!!!

I am so happy you got her, and now YOU can pick her home, instead of worrying about what BO (now PO) is going to do!!!


Nancy


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## KigerQueen

Why don't you contact the media about her story? People are suckers for animals who are different and who have had a bad past. And it something the media might jump on.


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## frizzy

Sour is so Adorable


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## morganarab94

*Yay!!!!!!!!!*:happydance::hug:
That is great news that you now own her! She is such a sweet little horse and has such a will for survival. If I was closer I would totally take her. :lol: But that is awesome that you can now pick her owner and that you can make sure she goes to a wonderful home! Oh and you've done a wonderful job with her. I'm 18 and I know how hard it is to juggle work and school and your horses, so Great job!!


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## Hunter65

Congrats Endiku, you will find Kenzie the perfect home!!!!!


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## Kayella

Just got the okay from my dad that we can move Kenzie for you! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## busysmurf

Kayella to the rescue!!


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## Endiku

woohoo! Thanks so much to you and your dad Kayella! I guess we can work out time over PM? P family already knows she is coming Sunday, and will be home all afternoon, but the last big obstacle we have now is BO for one last time, because obviously Kenzie is still there and while I don't think she's going to make a fuss or anything about it, we'll have to schedule with her just because the farm is typically only open Sunday mornings for a few riding lessons and she or someone else in charge will need to come unlock the gate for us to get your trailer onto the property, then lock up behind us. I only have a key to the other side of the property and theres no way we can load Kenzie from over there unfortunately. I don't think it will be a huge deal though, just give me an approximate time you'd like to be down here and I'll ask her to either loan me the key or have someone meet us out there to unlock the big gate for us. 

KigerQueen- that has crossed my mind! I guess my only POSSIBLE issue is BO seeing it and getting upset. Remember, Sour is still going to be on her property for a little while and I'm still doing the volunteer work currently so I won't be dealing with her about the Kenzie situation but I WILL be in contact with her frequently. 

I'd seriously love to write an article on Kenzie and see if I can get it in a horse magazine or something though... I have the power to do that now right? >

And thank you all for the compliments on Sour. She's a little poo head sometimes but she really is a great little horse. She just needs a purpose! 


GRRRR. Now I'm sitting here scheming ways to try to hoard Kenzie to myself and keep her. Bad Allyson! ;D


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## Celeste

No. You are good Allyson. You will work things out so that however it goes, it will be good for both you and Kenzie.


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## Endiku

*sigh* This is supposed to be a happy thread isn't it? I guess that's not working out too well.

So I just got a call from the P Family and it was bad news. One of their horses (the mare) is sick and running a fever/dry coughing. Ofcourse that is NOT good being that Kenzie is supposed to be moving there in about 3 days...

The vet is coming out for their mare tomorrow afternoon to check the mare and see what she has, but ten to one she is contagious. Which probably means I can't move Kenzie there this week because her immune system is still compromised...right? And if I can't move Kenzie, that likely means having to deal with BO more and pay for some sort of boarding for a few weeks. Ick. I just can't seem to leave trouble behind!


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## Kayella

Booooo. It's just a little bump in the road! Have you told the BO you'll be moving her, yet?


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## stevenson

You should be able to a magazine article now. You own her . You may need to change some names or just state the 'stable' to avoid any hassles or confrontations. You go for it girl! 
Write that article and submit to all the different horse magazines !


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## Gossip

Yay for Kenzie!


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## Celeste

It will be cheaper to pay board than to pay a vet bill. It is good that you haven't already moved her.


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## Endiku

Yeah :/ 
Its such a bummer though! I hope that Family P's horse just has a cold or something, for the mare's sake too. Poor gal. How long do I need to wait after she's better (no fever or coughing, no elevated pulse or anything, etc) to bring Kenzie out there? I don't mind paying the board for Kenzie to stay with PO but I don't particularely want her staying here for longer than necessary, especially since the last thing I want is to get myself stuck here.


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## Cacowgirl

Have the mare owner ask the vet questions as to how long before another horse can be added and be safe. Would they be in the same area? Adjoining pens? I hope you find a forever home for Kenzie soon so both your lives can calm down a bit.


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## Endiku

oops, I'm sorry guys! I missed two of your posts somehow, earlier.

Kayella- yeah, I know >.> I'm so sorry to have already had to ask you about moving Kenzie then having to go back and say 'whoops, sorry. No can do!' Hopefully soon...Family P's vet hasn't come out yet (he had an emergency to deal with) so I'm still waiting to hear what he has to say. But yes, I did have to tell PO I am moving Kenzie. She was asking me about boarding and such and I had to let her know that she won't be staying. Of course, that was yesterday morning and she seemed ok enough about it, but now I'm going to have to go right back around and say 'SOOOO. Just kidding. I need to board Kenzie here.' Fun!

Stevenson- I really would like to do that if I can get some down time to write one! I'm definitely changing names though. The last thing I need is more confrontations xD

Cacowgirl- we were planning to keep the horses together if they got along with each other well, but the other option was sectioning off a piece of the pasture with electric tape and having them in adjoining pens. They'd be able to sniff and touch each other though so they could easily share germs. The mare is now in the only stall away from the gelding but still very close to his pen (just locked up) and the gelding has been exposed to it, whatever she has... probably the pasture too.


Aaaaand of course, bad things come in three right? >.> Well, we're up to two now. I came out to the farm this morning to find a puncture wound on Kenzie's hock. Great. Its super tiny (probably the size of the end of a pen) and doesn't LOOK deep but because of where it is I didn't want to take a chance. I had a heck of a time getting a vet out as always but finally got mine to agree to come if he finished his rounds in time tomorrow. I wasn't completely sure what to do with it until then so for now I rinsed the outside of it really well, got a syringe and filled it with saline, rinsed the inside of the wound as much as Kenzie let me, let it bleed a little, and wrapped it up with some gauze and vet wrap. That's a hard place to wrap and I wasn't sure that I SHOULD wrap it, but the dust is awful here right now and I really don't want it getting infected or something. There is no heat or swelling at all and she isn't limping, but I'm paranoid xD should I have wrapped it or would it have been better to leave it? I can go take it off if I need to. 

No idea what she caught herself on this time, the little clutz. She's also making her lips rather rough from cribbing on wood >.> I rubbed some Petroleum Jelly on them as a sort of 'lip balm' even though I don't think she cares. This little gal just has so many darned problems! I can't seem to fix them all and have her healthy ever. ._. Oh well... I still love her 

Anyways, here is the puncture after I cleaned it up. There was very little blood and I'm actually surprised I noticed it, but I'm glad I did. 












My terrible wrap job. Feel free to tell me its awful, I know it is. I did make sure it was well padded, clean, and going with the tendon not against it though. That's a very weird spot to wrap though and she was NOT cooperating. She's a doll for anything unless it involves first aid care. Then she's just 'DONE'. Also, she's apparently terrified of the SOUND of vet wrap being pulled off of the roll and freaked when I did it (oops...), bolted forwards, and was stopped by her halter. Poor gal, totally my fault. I didn't even think of her being scared of the sound. So I spent 20 minutes desensitizing her to the sound (and wasting wrap) before she finally let me wrap her leg and be done with it. But its on. Hopefully its doing good and not harm though, I'd hate to have done all of that all for naught xD










On another, happier note though...YAY, almost no ribs showing!!! I can still feel them pretty prominently, but I think lowering the grain and upping the beet pulp really helped. She takes SO long to chew the BP though. She's taking 1-1.5 hours to eat each meal as of right now. Aghhhhhh!

Just 'cause she's cute...









'GUYS. Look at this thing on my leg. Isn't it horrific? I'm sure I'll die any moment now. (no the colt in the backround isn't dead. That's Peppin, her half brother. He's 2 now, and huuuuuge.)


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## verona1016

It's like horses are always looking for things to injure themselves on, huh? No heat or swelling is a good thing, but always a good idea to get a puncture near the joints checked out!

So nice to see how butt high she's gotten. She must be growing finally


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## Celeste

From the pictures, it looks like it doesn't go all the way through the skin. I hope that is right. If so, she should do fine with what you have done.


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## tempest

Endiku, she's looking so much better. In the first picture you posted, I can't see her ribs at all. She still looks awkward but she's definitely not as skinny. She'll grow into herself now that she's putting weight on.


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## Endiku

You're not kidding Verona! Little goof ball needs a padded cell xD And yes, she's definitely super butt high right now! lol. I don't think I've ever been this excited to have a yearling be this butt high at almost their second year, but I couldn't be happier with her growth and how she's filling out. 

Celeste- its hard to tell. When I wiggled the syringe it didn't go any deeper than the surface so I'm hoping that means its just a superficial type puncture, but I'm no expert. I'll probably take the wrap off tomorrow and reevaluate the leg. If its still cold to touch, not swollen, and she doesn't mind me poking around and cleaning it again, I'll just keep wrapping it and cancel the vet. Any signs of nasties or pain though, and I'll drag him out here xD I'd hate for there to be something inside of it that I can't see or something.

Tempest- thanks! Yes, she's pretty much the princess of Awkward right now, but that's alright. As long as she's healthy, happy, and has at least a hint of 'decent horse' still in there, I'm happy! lol. She's pretty much at the point of no ribs showing until she stretches or turns, then you can see them. I'm thinking another 15-20 lbs and she should be ok? If I end up shipping her though I think I'll want a little bit of 'insurance' weight on her in case she ships poorly due to stress or something. I'm expecting her to be off her feed for a day or two when she finally gets to Family P's pasture too, but hopefully she'll be alright. I have some probios ready to dose her with before she leaves in hopes of stimulating her gut beforehand, so hopefully that will help!


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## Ne0n Zero

Subbing!! Just read the entire thread about her ear and am totally emotionally invested in Kenzie now. So so glad everything worked out so far!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Wallaby

Endiku said:


> I have some probios ready to dose her with before she leaves in hopes of stimulating her gut beforehand, so hopefully that will help!


You mightttt want to start introducing her to them prior to the move [maybe she's had them before, I forget! haha]. Lacey, Captain of the "I will literally eat anything" brigade, acts like I'm trying to poison her whenever I add probios to her feed. 
She's eaten white cheddar flavored popcorn and liked it [probably not the best idea on my part but she was really into it! haha]...but Probios= "OMG, there is ARSENIC in my food. I'M GONNA DIEEEEEEE". What a drama queen. 


Also, Kenzie's looking so good! I'm really impressed. Keep it up! Go Allyson and Kenzie!


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## Endiku

Haha, thankfully she's had them twice before. Once for a one month period, another time just for two weeks. She put up less of a fuss about them than she did about the beet pulp being in her feed (now her food is probably 60% beet pulp and she eats it like a pig. SHHHH). I've been adding them when the food is already soaked though, so I'm hoping they're dissolving into the food? Or am I totally ruining it and making her not even get the probios? I don't know honestly.

Also, update. I checked the puncture yesterday and this morning and it has thus far looked just fine so I ended up holding off on the vet. Maybe I should have just spent the money but to be completely honest after paying a month's board here at the farm (full price) for Kenzie plus Sour's board, then the amount that I spent on buying Kenzie, I'm pretty much broke right now. I would have to majorly dip into my emergency fund (which IS what that's for...but my fund is pretty depleted after Sour's fetlock sprain and so now I'm like 'NO.SAVETHEMONEY). Hopefully that wasn't a bad choice. The area never did swell or get hot though, and it has stayed clean and dry so I HOPE she'll be just fine. She isn't favoring it at all either.

As for Family P's horse, the vet thinks she has the flu. He gave her a round of antibiotics for some secondary infection in the nasal passage (or at least I think that's what they said it was for) and said the flu should run its course in a week or two, but they're to call him if she gets worse or the fever continues. It isn't a super high fever, but still concerning. Kenzie wasn't always really high either.

That being said, I think we're looking at about 3 weeks for moving Kenzie, but it all depends on how fast the mare gets better.

Oh, and I was having the best time ever watching Kenzie yesterday! I had taken her bandage off and she was like 'FREEEDOME FROM BONDAGE!!!' and started galloping around the paddock like an idiot xD I'm no expert but she's got some gorgeous gaits when she's feeling peppy. Her trot is super lofty and she flags her tail like she's some sort of fancy Arabian, head in the air...its the best. And her canter practically looks like she's skipping. The gallop....well, its fast, but its super clumsy xD pretty typical baby thoroughbred 'wanna be a race horse' gallop I think. lol!


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## Celeste

If the pictures of Kenzie's little "boo boo" are really representative of what it looks like, and she is running around like a maniac, I think you should be fine to just watch for swelling and heat like you are.

One thing that I think that would be money well spent is to vaccinate her for flu. You can get a combo of tetanus, EEE, WEE, and Flu. It should give her some protection within two weeks. I think it would be well worth the trouble.

Vaccine


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## Endiku

That sounds like a really good idea Celeste. That way even after the mare is healthy again, if theres germs in the pasture or on something, she'll have a little 'extra' going for her. Anything helpful is good, since I'm sure she'll be more susceptible when she's stressed in a new home than normal.

I have more pictures for you guys! I totally forgot to take another one of her leg though o.o whoops. She's wet in half of them because she had a bath. She sweats even when she's just standing around and she gets disgusting, so I hose her off just to cool her down and get all of the sweat off once a day and she gets a 'bubble bath' every other week.

Saddest, most hilarious thing ever xD she's being boarded in her old pen but has a new paddock buddy (so now its a 16 year old mare Bess, then new buddy, and her) because he was just weaned and they have nowhere else to put him. He's SUPER spunky and Kenzie doesn't know what to think of him. Apparently she thinks she's just 'way' too old for him and mostly ignores him while he pesters her about playing. The sad part though? She's 21 months old. He's *4 months old* and literally two inches shorter than her. He's a big baby, but wow xD way to make Kenzie look short. I'm not even sure exactly what breeds he is... they said his dad is a TB, and his dam was out of a National Show horse and a QH so he's like Thoroughbred/Arabian/Quarter horse/ASB who-the-heck-knows-what-else. He's STOUT and seems to be well built though, surprisingly. I was hoping the two of them would play but so far they've grazed a little together and Kenzie has sat around watching him prance around, and that's about it.

So here they are, Busch and the midget TB  

'be aloof. Maybe if I act all mature she'll decide she can hang with me'









'is she noticing me yet?'









'MUHTHUR. He's bothering me. I can't associate with immaturity at such heights as he exhibits _obviously_ so you should tell him to just bug off. Feed me now?'









'Honestly. Do you really expect me to play with him? What do I look like, a babysitter?'









'NOW will you play?!'











after a bath, looking exhausted after such an awful babysitting experience. Poor poor Kenzie.


















My girlie <3 looking as annoyed as ever I see...LOL.









then this cute little girl came up and asked to help me groom Kenzie, and I couldn't resist. So she gave her a 'makeover' including a brushed tail and braided forelock. (How cool is that? We've officially cured the head shyness with lots of poll scratches and ear rubs!)


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## Wallaby

I'm probably totally, totally, off with this - I know absolutely nothing about foals/colts, BUT, if you haven't checked yet, it might be ideal to check that Mr. Spunky hasn't dropped yet. 
It just seems like Kenzie's luck to get unexpectedly knocked up. And that would be seriously unfortunate. 
Maybe Kenzie's too stunted to be cycling yet...I know nothing! haha

[you've probably already checked, but you know. haha He's probably way to young...but I think there was member on here who had a colt born with his "boys" already dropped = overly concerned Wallaby over here :wink:]


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## Endiku

Smart thinking Wallaby! Thankfully PO did at least something right and he's actually already been gelded along with the other weanling (6 months I think?) she had this year. I actually didn't even know you could geld that early, since they don't always drop that fast, but apparently you can  he was only gelded about 12 days ago though, so maybe they shouldn't be in together yet? I'm not all that sure.

I actually don't know if Kenzie is cycling or not. I've never noticed anything when cleaning her and she pretty much has the same temperament day in, day out, so I think she's going to be one of those that its hard to tell with. Maybe there is a way that I don't know about that can help you tell?


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## JulieG

Haha she's too adorable. That poor little boy, he looks like he's trying so hard.


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## Endiku

Do you guys have any idea what that bald splotch on her neck is? She has tons of scars and stuff but this one is just a bald spot. I'm kind of thinking it might be from scratching her neck when she's sweaty since she does that a lot, but I'm really not sure. I've been using some antifungal shampoo and iodine on it just in case it _is_ a fungus or something.


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## FaydesMom

*Just a quick safety note about using a rope halter that I learned the hard way with Fayde. *

While the placement of the halter in those pictures is good for hitting the pressure points with the knots while working with her, when you tie her up, you need to adjust the halter way up higher on her nose.

Fayde pulled back while tied with her halter adjusted almost like that, pretty low on her nose. I only tied her for a minute...while I went to the tack room not 10 feet away to get something.  It was sooo stupid, such a random thing to happen. She ties really well and usually doesn't pull at all, so I'm thinking she got stung on the nose or bitten by a horse fly or something. 

The bottom of the halter where the lead rope attaches to the loop got pulled part way over the bottom of her chin and ended up halfway inside her mouth...I am so grateful she didn't freak out and fight or she would have surely broken her jawbone! :shock:

And luckily I had the rope attached loop to loop instead of using a snap or I could have easily caused some broken teeth. As it was, she had some pretty bad abrasions and bruising on her lips and gums.

Please, everybody who uses a rope halter, keep this lesson in your mind!! Snug those halters up when tying you horse!


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## Endiku

Eeesh, thanks Fayde! I just can't seem to get that rope halter right! Its frustrating me xD I think I'm way too used to nylon for my own good. How high up though? When I posted the first picture of her halter, everyone agreed it was too high up, so I've been tying it where its right at the 'dish' of her face. I didn't even think about needing to change it for when she's tied.

I also need to keep working on loosening that fiador knot and bringing all of that excess rope into the loophole. I think I'll work on that right now. 

I'm so glad I stayed with Kenzie while she was tied yesterday then! I'd feel absolutely awful if I was the one causing her pain!

EDIT: Actually, looking back at those pictures I'm pretty sure I tied that halter higher than that originally. Am I doing my knot correctly? I'm thinking maybe its slipping or something as PART of the problem (I probably didn't have perfect placement to begin with though)


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## stevenson

she is looking better and better ! yes the knot is done correct, but as already commented in another reply, shorten up the halter, its to low.


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## smrobs

Yep, the knot is correct, but I've noticed that if I don't tighten the knot when I first put it on, it will often stretch out a little and make the halter looser.


As for whether or not she might be cycling...I'm not real sure if horses are the same as people in this respect. I know that people who are under a lot of physical/emotional stress can have erratic cycles. Some of them don't cycle at all.

With her still being so young, coupled with her very traumatic life, she might just not be cycling yet. A vet could tell you for sure. Either way, though, since the one they just gelded is so young and Kenzie is so mellow, I don't see any reason why ya'll couldn't turn them out together right now.


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## Endiku

Glad to hear it. I was actually worried that the colt (Busch) would be too rough actually, since Kenzie is SO laid back (minus the occasional 'DUDE I EAT SO MUCH AND FEEL GREAT' spurts of energy anyways), but they seem to be getting along together ok. Good thing too since my only other option at the farm is a 12 x 12 stall with no turnout right now. I actually had to pay extra to keep her in this pen still, but its worth it.

The update on Family P's mare is that her fever is gone but she's still coughing, so its really just a waiting game right now.

Other than that, YAY we have _rain!!!_ Our area of Texas had just crossed over into official drought this month because we'd had zero rain in 4 months, but thankfully last night the storm clouds rolled in and we got a good old fashioned soak down  it actually flooded most of the pastures because it rained so hard and the ground couldn't soak it up fast enough, but it should dry pretty quickly with the heat we've been having.


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## busysmurf

Meant to add this earlier for you as inspiration. This is an reg. arab (duh, lol) mare that my mom rescued. Parents were both 15 hh+, she was 13.2 on a good day. She had been starved & neglected from birth to about 2 years, then rescued by a family that loved her. But when the kids out grew horses she sat in a pasture for 6 years. They just made sure she had hay & water. That's it.

When we picked her up, she had a worm belly, slipper feet, an absess, teeth were so bad it took (3) 4 hour sessions to get them close to the way they should be, at least 4 missing teeth, and had developed numerous tumors over old scars.

My mom was able to get her back to health, and took her on trail rides CONSTANTLY (vet approved). Other than reoccurring issues due to the past neglect & abuse, she was a little energizer bunny. One of the most patient, and goofy little mares I've ever come across. AND WHAT A BABYSITTER!! Even though I seriously doubt she was ever properly trained, she took everything in stride. Not once did I ever see her buck or rear with my mom or any one. And she LOVED little kids. When she was starting to show signs of age at 18, we gave her to a family that fosters kids and was allowed to roam freely around the property. She was treated like a Queen. She only lived another year after that sadly, and passed away in her sleep underneath the window of the room that was used as the baby nursery.

So moral of the story is (like you don't already know), she may not be the cutest, but you may not find a better horse anywhere...


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## Endiku

Wow, that is SO neat BusySmurf! I'm so glad your mom took her in. Thank you for sharing her story with me...I think she was beautiful.

I truly do hope that Kenzie finds a good home where she can be used to the best of her ability. True, she's not exactly the epitome of good conformation, and she has more scars all over her body than I can count, but her personality is just great. She's had a few rough weeks where she wasn't sure she trusted me, but you can just _tell_ that she really, really wanted to. She's at the point right now where she comes up and practically shoves her head in the halter when she sees me, and she absolutely adores kids. I was worried about letting them come touch her since she's so young, but she has so far proven to be an angel around them. Of course I'd never let one of them lead her or anything, but she stood for over half an hour on Saturday just letting the little girls brush her, scratch her neck, and braid her hair without batting an eyelash. Even when there was something spooky (trucks driving by with feed, large dogs, kids yelling, etc) she just looked at me to see if I was worried then went back into 'yoga' state xD by no means is she a beginners horse or anything of course, and she does have her moments of 'ITS GOING TO EAT ME' but I could definitely see her making a phenominal play date or trail mount for some more experienced kids 6 or 7 years down the road if she was trained right. I just hope someone else sees that and is willing to let her mature at the rate she needs to mature, then brings her up right.


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## Endiku

aaand we have more rain!:happydance:

The farm is looking WAY better with all of this nice rain. Kenzie's paddock actually has quite a bit baby grass sprouting up and she's loving it. I have a question though; is it ok for me to be letting her graze free range on it? Its still really short (maybe and inch tall?) and sparse, but growing fast and filling in quickly... and she's pretty much grazing all day if she isn't eating hay or grain. I'm not sure about the nutritional quality and such and the last thing I want to do is shock her system or something since until this week her paddock had pretty much just turned into a dry lot with a little bit of deadish nasty grass in patches.


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## Endiku

Alright, well July 28th through August 15th I am being sent to Missouri to stay with my grandparents while I undergo some more research and testing for my health problems. I tried to talk them out of it since I have Kenzie to care for right now, but alas I'm 17 and I only have so much pull xD I'll have no internet access.

I'm going to TRY to move Kenzie before all that if Family P's mare is healthy and all goes well, but if that doesn't work I'll be paying my friend where she is now to feed and water Kenzie for me when she goes out to feed her three horses, and hopefully once I'm back it will be ok for me to move her to her new home :/ I feel horrible about leaving her for 3 weeks like this, but I really have no choice I guess.


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## Wallaby

Endiku said:


> Alright, well July 28th through August 15th I am being sent to Missouri to stay with my grandparents while I undergo some more research and testing for my health problems. I tried to talk them out of it since I have Kenzie to care for right now, but alas I'm 17 and I only have so much pull xD I'll have no internet access.
> 
> I'm going to TRY to move Kenzie before all that if Family P's mare is healthy and all goes well, but if that doesn't work I'll be paying my friend where she is now to feed and water Kenzie for me when she goes out to feed her three horses, and hopefully once I'm back it will be ok for me to move her to her new home :/ I feel horrible about leaving her for 3 weeks like this, but I really have no choice I guess.



:hug: :hug: Though it's hard, you gotta take care of you!! 
I know how easy it is to put yourself on the back burner in favor of "greater good" - I had BAD Walking Pneumonia for an entire summer before it was diagnosed. I had things to do, no time to take a break, and I just powered through it until I nearly collapsed a lung!!
If I had actually collapsed a lung, that would have been a few months away from 'my job.' As it was, I had to spend a week away [the doctor told me to stay away longer but....hahaha] which felt like an ETERNITY. When I finally returned, I felt good enough to practically make 5 of me in my previous state. That level of energy made it nearly worth it. I had completely forgotten what really feeling good felt like and once I was feeling good again, NOTHING was stopping me.

Anyway, better to take the time now, hopefully get some answers, and feel better, than to put it off until you keel over. :hug:


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## JulieG

I agree with Wallaby. I know it'll be hard but you've done so much for her already, it can't hurt to take a little time to take care of yourself.


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## Endiku

Thanks guys. This really is probably the worst possible time to take some 'me time' away, considering that Kenzie still hasn't been moved and I'm having some other issues with her and the farm that I haven't even mentioned yet, but I guess it will all work out eventually. 

This really is the only time I can do it though, so I have no other options xD I start school (3 dual credit classes at the college, 1 at home online, and 2 normal high school classes) on the 26th and my colonoscopy/endoscopy is just a few days before that (I was wrong, its the 22nd not the 26th!). From there on out its going to be pretty hectic for me. College applications, FASFA applications, planning my graduation (homeschool graduations are the WORST. Its so complicated to get into an accredited graduation program), applying for more jobs, looking into getting a car, figuring out where I'll live and how I'll support myself, what to do with Kenzie and Sour....eeek! lol


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## JulieG

You remind me of me when I was younger taking on all of that!

I still have a hard time figuring out whether I'm pushing myself too hard or just the right amount, but if it's too much you'll definitely know.

I bet once you get into the swing of things it will all work out. Just hard to start so many different things all at the same time.

Maybe if your friend ends up taking care of Kenzie and Sour she can send you some picture updates or something? Just to let you know they're both still happy and doing well.


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## GoGoJoeGranny

Endiku, I have been following your threads about Kenzie, you have done such wonderful things for her! Take a moment to make sure you are ok, she will understand. What you have been through is emotionally draining and incredibly stressful, get yourself checked and if needed, helped. You and Kenzie have a long future ahead, you both need to be healthy and strong to carry each other through it. I have a saying, if life was easy, we'd all be good at it ;-) I do believe you will prevail, but your body needs to be as strong as your passion


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## Endiku

Thank you so much guys, you are sweet and very encouraging to me. Things never do seem to work out like they should, but I guess I just make my expectations a little too high! lol. Its ok though...I know they'll work out. We can't have had to go through this much already just for things to end poorly.


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## Endiku

*sigh* like I said, its always something!

I went out to mess with Kenzie today, normal routine of letting her eat dinner, brushing her down, scratching her face and working on her ears, handling her hooves, etc. I noticed nothing strange for a while but when I went to pick up a back hoof I realized, holy crud...both of her back fetlocks are swollen. Not grotesquely, but enough to notice for sure. She's 100% sound as far as I can tell even when turning, but I don't see how she could be stocked up or anything being that she's in a pasture where she moves around freely...no heat or pain, so I'm not sure whats going on. I soaked both legs (now THAT was a chore...) and as I was doing that, I notice ANOTHER thing. Two small identical lumps on her cannon bones, mid way up. Great. I showed my friend (who I trust greatly, and who is the only one I really trust at the farm right now) and she's thinking bone splints. What on EARTH could Kenzie have done to cause that...and swelling in the fetlocks?! She's in a small pasture with a lazy old mare (we had to take the colt out, he was annoying Kenzie and doing nothing but worrying her) and no reason to be doing anything idiotic. Splints are usually caused by running on hard surfaces aren't they?

So I'm really not sure what to do at this point...I don't get paid until next week and my emergency fund is pretty much depleted but she obviously needs to see a vet ASAP. What am I going to do with this little clutz?! And she wasn't one bit worried about it, crazy thing...waltzing around like usual, normal happy go lucky Kenzie. I can't even figure out if she's hurting or not honestly!

I'll figure something out I guess, and call the vet in the morning. I'll probably soak her legs again too. I'm going to bring my camera out to take pictures to show y'all as well, if I can remember to pick up some double A batteries at the store on the way out tomorrow.


Good grief Kenzie, I'm beginning to think you need a vet at your owner!


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## smrobs

Splints aren't always caused by running on hard surfaces. A horse can knock themselves either with the other foot or on something like a fence and cause a splint to pop.

Did you feel around on the bumps? Were they hard or soft and squishy? Did it seem to bother her at all to be poked and prodded around on the bumps?

Since she's not exhibiting lameness, I think I might give her a few days before calling the vet. The swelling in her fetlocks is probably nothing more than edema that has settled from the knocked places higher up. I would likely just keep an eye on her and if the swelling gets worse or she develops lameness, then I'd think about calling the vet.


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## Wallaby

^that.

Also, what's that thing young horses can get from 'too much' nutrition? That couldn't happen to Miss K, right, since she's not anywhere near fat? I know their joints swell from that...but I think it only happens to fat, fast growing, youngsters...right?


HUGE :hug: to you and Kenzie-Kenz!!


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## Endiku

I don't know Wallaby, it might be possible that she's getting too much. I cut her waaaay down on the actual grain (she's probably only getting 2.5 lbs right now) and I've upped the beet pulp, but she's getting the same amount of supplement (Dumor, 1/2 cup), 5g of probios, 15 lbs of hay + 5 lbs alfalfa pellets (I offer her more but that's all she's eating of it) and she has quite a bit of grazing right now, but the grass is short and very new so maybe too much sugar? 

I'll wait for the vet for now, and if she's not looking less swollen in a day or two I'll go ahead and call. She needs to get that four way vaccination anyways, and I'd like to get another fecal done soon in the future to make sure she isn't getting any worms from the grass.

Kenzie definitely is not fat, but she is growing (albeit, not extremely fast...but maybe too fast for a shocked body?) so...maybe its a possibility?

With how clumsy she is (Just like me!!!LOL. Mom and I find it hilarious how alike the two of us are) I wouldn't doubt that she banged herself on the wood fence or even kicked herself though. It didn't bother her for me to poke around her legs unless she thought it meant I was trying to put her foot back in the bucket (those things kill yearlings don't you know?!) but I don't particularly remember if the bumps felt soft or not. They seemed pretty hard to me, but I'll experiment again later when I go out xD

Oh, I do have one good thing to share though, in hopes of TRYING to keep this a 'happy thread', and that's that Kenzie cribs WAAAAY less when there is adequate grazing available so I'm really hoping when I move her she'll do well. It had gotten to where she was cribbing probably 30 minutes out of the hour, constantly latch, suck, burp, release, repeat.She was even starting to make her lips really 'chapped' and raw. With the grazing though I've only seen her do it in the afternoon when its hot, or if she's in the feeding pen waiting for me to put her back in the paddock. Big improvement! Now if only the grass would stay.


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## Celeste

Osteochondritis dissecans is the thing that I imagine that you are trying to think of. This is usually in really big, extremely fast growing babies. I doubt that this is Kenzie's problem. If she is up and running around, I would just give her a little bit of time.


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## natisha

Try soaking the halter knot in water. That will sometimes loosen the knot, with the help of a hoof pick.


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## Endiku

Well... I went out yesterday and Kenzie's cannons and fetlocks looked just fine...there was no trace of the bumps I'd felt or the swelling that she had, so that's good news. But, more bad news.

She cut herself, this time pretty bad. Remind me to NEVER EVER EVER build a wooden fence if I get my own land at some point. I'm not sure if it was the wind during the night, her or Bess freaking out and breaking it, or just bad luck, but somehow one of the sturdy wooden boards on top of the fence snapped and splintered, and Kenzie being the extremely smart and un-accident prone baby that she is, she must have either rubbed against it or misjudged distances and ran into it because she shaved a good piece of her shoulder skin off on it. Crazily enough, there was again no blood (does this horse even bleed?! weird...) but I know exactly where she did it because she left the skin ON the board. I'd estimate the wound to be 3 inches long and its sort of heart shaped. I wasn't going to take a chance with that though since it was very wet (clear liquid) and flies are bad so I found an emergency person to trailer Kenzie to Katy Equine so I didn't have to deal with vets making excuses not to come out and to hopefully save the flap of skin that WAS still attached, so thankfully she got quick care. The wound looked super fresh which is a good thing. 

The vet got two stitches into the top part to save that skin, but the rest is gone so he rinsed it out really well, made sure nothing was in it, and gave her some antibiotics. She's already had her tetanus shot so he thinks she'll be fine. Theres no muscle damage or anything and she isn't short strided (its up higher on her shoulder, sort of at the point of shoulder thankfully) or anything so he sent her home with orders to put sugardine on it like we did with the ear and let it heal itself. I'm only supposed to rinse it, not scrub it, once a day and leave it, but its already hard to do that! She's doing just fine for the care (except when I go to put sugar on. I'm sure that hurts) but the sugardine makes a nasty looking crust over the wound that makes it look horrible. Again, its in a spot I can't wrap, so I'm doing the Swat around it and hoping for the best.


Eeeesh Kenzie, give us both a break here why don't you? Now I feel horrible though, because maybe I missed that the fence was looking weak in that spot or something....I don't know. I check the whole perimeter of it daily but I guess I didn't see it :/

I swear this horse is trying to kill herself, and the vet has started mentioning every time I talk to him that I ought to look at putting her to sleep if she's THAT accident prone, but how could I? She's making herself look awful and at this point I'm starting to wonder if she's even going to make it to her 2nd birthday, but she doesn't seemed bothered by her various injuries one bit.

I just need a padded cell for her I think.


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## smrobs

Aw, poor Kenzie. She's such an unfortunate critter in all aspects except one...she's got you.

:hug: to you and her both.


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## Celeste

She will probably do a lot better when you get her moved to a place where she has more room to open up and run. When I first bought my horse, I started out keeping her stalled so that she could get used to where home was and get to know the other horses. She bashed her head into the barn door and got a big abscess on it. She is outside full time now, and she does fine.


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## Endiku

Yeah, she's just one of those animals that need a lot of space I guess. I feel bad because it seems like there should be SOMETHING I can do to move her faster, but I really can't think of anything :/ Family P's mare is doing fine now so we're just waiting the two weeks the vet suggested, and I went ahead and got that 4 way vaccination since I was at the vet anyways (maybe she has a crush on the vet and has decided the only way to see him regularly is to injure herself? LOL) but I'm leaving for MO in just a few days so that means no moving her for three weeks.

In three weeks she could kill herself at this rate ._.

Not to mention that I'm going to have to figure out who will do her wound care while I'm gone. I can ask the lady who will be feeding her but I know she has limited time (full time job and kids) and 3 horses of her own, so I'm not sure. I'm HOPING it will be well on its way to being mended by the time I leave on Sunday, but its hard to say. Its a pretty icky looking wound, even if it is for the most part superficial.


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## FaydesMom

Hmmm...I wonder if we could have her a set of these horsie onesies made out of Kevlar??


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## Endiku

LOL, maybe that would work! One of those trailer helmets, goggles, a tail sleezie, bell boots, and shipping pads too, and MAYBE we'd keep her safe...


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## Endiku

I got batteries finally. Heres some pictures from a day or two ago 










Ok so heres the cut... the stitches didn't stay in and the vet said to just leave it be, but I'm worried that it looks infected. I keep texting him pictures going 'IS THIS NORMAL?! O_O' and he continuously answers 'let nature fix nature.' So I guess it looks ok to him? I don't know. What do you guys think? This is a picture of it before I washed it yesterday, so it does have old swat and sugardine on it (the yellowish stuff) but even rinsed, it just looks unhealthy to me. Kind of yellow instead of pink flesh like I would expect :/ and every time I put sugar on it, it starts bleeding a tiny bit again. That isn't normal is it?









I still cant get her darned ribs covered.


















I have more to say and more pictures but this is all I have time for right now.


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## Celeste

She is looking much better! Her boo boo will be fine.


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## Sharpie

Looks like a pretty normal healing wound to me. It's in a pretty good spot- something like that on the shoulder is going to heal much more easily than on a leg, etc. She's just putting her calories into growing rather than fat, which is a good thing!


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## Endiku

How does her rope halter placement look now? I'm having the worst issues putting it in the right spot and I don't know why xD










Kenzie kisses! Excuse how I look. I've been feeling terrible lately and I'm working like crazy so my appearance has totally gone down the drain. And I need weight. Maybe I should start eating beet pulp too. And you gotta love how she always flops her ear even more dramatically and squints her eyes for selfie pictures like this...makes her look so annoyed. hahaha 










awkward faces x]









Ok, so maybe you guys can give me some ideas. Kenzie has started completely flipping out when I try to put any sort of spray stuff on her (but she's TOTALLY fine with me spraying water at her for baths...she loves baths) which is a huge pain because the flies irritate her skin, mosquitos bite her, and gnats make her agitated- so I want to be able to fly spray her. As soon as I start spraying it though, she flips out. No rearing or anything, but if she's tied she'll pull back which scares her even more, so I just hold her lead rope. When I do that though its no better because she's started doing this thing where if she's nervous or afraid of something, instead of just jigging or trying to pull away from me she try to run INTO me. She'll usually turn her shoulder towards me, try to sideswipe me, then do that strange 'merry go round' thing that she does when she's nervous and eating. Obviously I don't LET her do that because its a huge invasion of my space, so she'll get a warning shove on her shoulder or hindquarters and she's great about moving away from the pressure, but the moment I release the pressure she's right back. I've had to give her a good smack a couple of times to tell her that I DEMAND that she gets out of my space but it does no good. She'll get out of my space in a hurry when I do, but then she's trying to get right back. I'll keep backing her up on the leadrope until she stands still but as soon as I go to do whatever she thinks is scary again, she'll try ramming into me again. If I succeed in keeping her from trying to run me over (and I always do...so far), as soon as I try to fly spray her again she'll try spinning around me, getting closer and closer until she's right in my space again. 

I have no idea what else to try. With Sour, she'd rather get AWAY from me that CLOSER to me, so I'm not sure what to do. If she tries to dance around and act like an idiot with fly spray (which she used to do) I would just give her a quick (not super hard) yank on the halter, tell her woah, and try again until she stood still. With Kenzie though its like she's irrationally scared. I've tried holding the can and pretending to spray her, and she's totally fine. As soon as I spray it, even if its not hitting her and I'm spraying NEAR her, she starts trying to run into me or spin. I'm pretty sure its the sound, because if I copy the sound and pretend to spray her, she freaks out again.

She also flips when she hears me ripping (or unrolling) vet wrap, and when she hears the cup of sugar that I use to pour on her wound. I understand why she's afraid...she's had to go through SO much wound care that its ridiculous, but at the same time she's making it very difficult for me to care for her. The crazy thing though is that she's completely fine with me touching around her shoulder wound, washing it, scrubbing around it, rubbing swat around it, etc., but again as soon as I have the sugar which makes sound, she freaks out.

Any ideas?


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## Wallaby

Can you find the point where she's just nervous about the vetwrap/the flyspray/the sugar, then really work with her there?

Basically, before she freaks out badly, there's a point where she's nervous but not panicking. If you can find that point [for example, start spraying flyspray 15+ft away from her, move in until you find the spot where she gets very mildly scared - very mildly scared is important, too scared and she stops learning] and work on that initial nervousness until it goes away, then you can gradually move in - "up the ante," until you're spraying her or wrapping vetwrap right next to her, etc.
It's pretty much like training a dog that's afraid of people or one that's nervous about new people - you wouldn't try to help that dog by putting it on a leash and letting people love-maul the poor thing. You'd probably start out getting the dog comfortable with far away people, then gradually work up to more 'intense' situations where the dog is actually being touched/touching the new person, and so on.

At least that's what I would do. Find that 'trigger-point', work on it, her 'trigger area' will gradually get smaller, and voila!

[if she weren't climbing on top of you, I'd just say to spray her until she doesn't care......but I don't want you to die!!]

Lady, the foster horse I had last summer, was very similar - she'd jump on top of me when she was scared...not fun! haha Thankfully she was pretty chill about flyspray, and such, though so I never had to deal with that part.

As far as the flyspray right now, while you're training her, I'd maybe just let her deal with the flies or use SWAT in the areas she most needs spray. While you're desensitizing her, you want to keep "bad experiences" [every time she gets into a panic, the object becomes more and more "extremely dangerous" in her mind] to an absolute minimum since she's already reacting so negatively. Later on it won't matter so much, obviously, but by then she'll know that her fears were unfounded! haha


Other random thought is: do you generally spray her/roll vetwrap/shake the sugar on one side or the other first? Lacey'll start getting really jumpy about flyspray if I initially spray her on her 100% blind side too many times in a row. She's fine if I switch back and forth each time, but she really prefers that I start on the side she has some vision on. After I start on her seeing side, she's totally fine with me switching sides. She is literally the weirdest horse. :rofl:
That might be something to try - if Kenzie's less panicky on one side or the other, you have a building block for the really bad side. 

:hug:


ETA: for the rope halter, it looks ok to me. Still big, but she's growing into it. I always fit by feeling around on the horse's nose, finding the tip of the nose one, then finding the edges of the nose bones higher up on the face, if that makes sense. I try to situate the halter so that the noseband is never not touching bone [there's a soft, boneless, area going up into their nostrils...if that makes sense] and so the noseband is a few fingerwidths below the cheek bones. there's sort of a "sweet spot" that's a couple of inches wide that I look for.


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## Celeste

I used to use "wipe" and it worked pretty well for me. I put it on with a cloth.

She may just be trying to assert dominance. I guess you will have to figure out whether she is scared or being a pain. She might just need a good whack with a crop if it is not really fear.


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## Endiku

Great idea Wallaby! Thanks. I'll definitely experiment to see where she's comfortable and slowly introduce 'scary' to her rather than trying to chase her and/or peel her off of me to spray her down. Gosh darn, I'm trying to help her not making her life miserable! Its just so frustrating because the flies on her belly drive her nuts and she kicks at her belly, stomps her legs, etc, to try to get those flies off- but won't let me just spray her and help. Too bad horses don't understand 'hey, I'm helping you. Please hold still!' xD

Any ideas for something cheaper (and non air polluting) that comes in an aerosol can though, to use for desensitizing her to the sound? I'm totally willing to do it, but the fly spray I use for her is $15 a bottle, which doesn't sound bad unless I'm spraying it solely so that Kenzie hears the sound...lol.

Celeste- that's what I can't figure out. With the sugar I think she's legitimately scared, and I'm fairly sure that she's afraid of the vet wrap sound too, because once I unrolled it away from her and just carried it over she stood like a champ for me to wind it around her leg and didn't fidget or anything at all. The sugar, I think, hurts- because its grains in a very fresh area of flesh. The fly spray though? I KNOW that doesn't hurt, so she needs to just get over herself xD 

There has been times when she's gotten pushy when I knew she wasn't afraid (i.e; trying to get to grain before I'm ready to give it to her, or trying to get back into the pasture) and I've given her a good whack with the end of the leadrope for that. She stands and waits quietly (well, not quietly. She talks, but she doesn't try to move forwards so I guess its ok) while I empty and mix her food, and waits until I open the gate and send her through for the pasture gate now, so I'm thinking that she really is afraid of those things and the fear is whats making her not learn from my corrections. Any other time when she's just being a bratty yearling and I correct her for invading my space, she's very 'Oh, sorry! Yes ma'am, didn't know you were serious...won't happen again.' and its all fine. She's VERY responsive to pressure as long as she isn't in panic mode, but once she is, its hard to bring her back down.

Its so hard for me to 'forget' that she's had past abuse and neglect and just treat her like a normal yearling, but I know that's what she needs in order to thrive, so I'm really trying to treat her just like the other butt headed yearlings when she deserves it, but I guess theres that fine line between 'triggers' for her, and her just trying to get out of doing something....like walking over teeter totter bridges. I really had to get firm with that one, because she was just sure she was going to die if she walked all the way over it instead of trying to jump half way through. She eventually got it though and realized no, I wasn't trying to kill her 

Anywho, I fly out to MO tomorrow afternoon so I'm really going to miss Miss Kenzie and Sour :/ I'm pretty depressed about it actually, but its what I have to do so I'm doing it. I just hope they take adequate care of her shoulder while it continues healing. She is capable of getting herself SO dirty even in non-dirty paddocks, and she seems to think rolling on that shoulder is a great idea. Oi!

I'm trying not to worry though. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's going to have to just live with flies annoying her for a few weeks because theres no way my friend will have time to clean her wound AND battle her with fly spray before she goes to work. I might as her to put a little swat on her legs though, just to keep her from going crazy. She's totally fine with that stuff being rubbed anywhere.


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## Celeste

I know that you don't have time now, but you could fill a spray bottle with water and spray it 5 million times around her. When you get to five million and one, she'll probably be ok.


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## NorthernMama

Maybe the fly spray caused irritation to her with all her little clutzy activity and resulting open wounds. No matter how small, the wrong stuff in a cut can sting. If she is OK with water, but not fly spray she is definitely associating something beyond the noise and texture. Maybe the smell of the spray. A couple of options I would try: 1. wipe on fly repellent instead of spray 2. let her deal with the flies 3. a balance between the two: some wipe on fly repellent, just on the nastiest places - ears, under jaw, any particular area you notice she can't easily reach and definitely on her tail to keep whipping those flies away.


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## Endiku

That's a good point NorthernMama. She is forever scratching herself on seemingly nonexistent things, and the mosquitos make her itchy so she rubs herself (probably how she cut her shoulder in the first place and broke the fence) and sometimes makes raw patches. Maybe I accidently sprayed some fly spray into one of those little cuts or raw spots at some point. She LOVES to be hosed down (I do that every evening to wash off any chemicals still on her and to wash away sweat because she usually sweats even standing still every afternoon) so like you said, it doesn't make sense that the feeling of being sprayed is bothering her.

When I get back from my trip I'll try to do the water bottle spraying. It isn't the same sound as aerosol cans but maybe it will be close enough to serve its purpose  thanks!

I'll look into getting a wipe on repellent as well. As some point she's going to have to learn to be fly sprayed though, if she ever wants a home xD its bad enough that she has the vice of cribbing.


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## Kayella

Henny doesn't like aerosol sprays either. He had a tendency to shoulder into me as well. Get some canned air like what you use to clean keyboards. Don't spray it on her, but it'll definitely get her used to the sound without the expense of fly spray. Keep her head flexed toward you so if she wants to go forward, you can easily yield her hind quarters and y'all can do a little twirling waltz trying to wait for her to stand lol.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NorthernMama

See, I didn't even think of aerosol cans. Duh. I don't use aerosol. I buy a jug and put it in a spray bottle.


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## Endiku

Haha, so turns out there is a plus side to fancy hospitals...they have free wifi 

I miss Kenzie and Sour terribly right now. I'm used to seeing them both at least once a day so this is sort of bizarre for me. I haven't been away from Kenzie for more than three days since she came to the farm in December. I've been texted almost daily with updates though so I'm thankful for that. She's doing fine and the wound is slowly healing, although my friend said it did open up just a little bit again at the top where the flap of skin partially diet. Its scabbed over now though.

She said she's been noticing a lot of flaky, scabby looking skin around the base of Kenzie's mane and at the top of her wither though, so that's something to look into when I get back. She looked for lice since Kenzie did have lice at one point but didn't see anything. Her skin condition hasn't been as great as it was in the spring and early summer either though so I'm wondering if maybe she's deficient in something again? Maybe I need to switch suppliments from the DuMor I have. I know someone said HorseShine is really good but I honestly just can't afford it right now, so I'll have to research a bit I guess. The max I can pay right now is $30 per month for the supplement which is what I'm paying for the DuMor. I'd actually love to find a pelleted supplement though if possible rather than powder, because she has this annoying habit of using her muzzle to either dump her bucket or throw half of the beet pulp (with the supplement in it) on the ground, and the ground is being supplemented rather than her. I'm really not even sure how much of that stuff she actually gets xD


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## Celeste

Good to hear from you. How are you doing? Have they found anything new about your health issues?


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## Endiku

They're 'investigating' IBD right now, and did another full blood panel that is supposed to be done tomorrow as well as stool tests, and I have some sort of esophageal scan in a few days that is supposed to look for abnormal movement in my throat or something. They're wanting me to wear a heart monitor for 48 hours and do a sleep scan too in order to watch my patterns. No official diagnosis or hard information though, unfortunately, so IMO this week has been for naught. Hopefully one of these next tests with show something. Once I get back home I also have my colon/endoscopy but I'm really not too hopeful at this point that there will be a quick answer xD


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## busysmurf

Look at it this way, you may not find out what it IS, but at least you'll know what it's NOT.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## FaydesMom

I've been using Sho-Glo for years and I love it. It's fairly inexpensive, you only feed an ounce or two a day and comes in a 5 lb bag. Even at a full 2 ounces a day, the bag will last 40 days!! It's in a pellet form and it's available at TSC. 

Manna Pro® Sho-Glo® Vitamin and Mineral Supplement, 5 lb. - Tractor Supply Online Store


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## egrogan

Was happy to see your name pop up on here. Hope the rest of the hospital visit is helpful!


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## verona1016

It sounds like they're giving you the full work-up! It can certainly be frustrating when they do a bunch of tests and don't end up finding anything... I went through that myself a couple years ago and never got a straight answer, either. We definitely still have a long way to go in the field of medicine...

If you can find ADM Healthy Glo, that might work as a replacement for the DuMor supplement. It's the only omega-3 targeted supplement I can think of that comes in a pelleted/nugget form. I haven't seen it at any of my local feed stores (although I haven't asked about it either) so I'm not sure how much it costs.


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## tempest

Any updates on anything, Endiku?


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## Endiku

I just got back from Missouri today and I'm exhausted and gearing up for school which starts on Monday (the college classes do, anyways. Everything else starts the 26th) so this will be short.

The only thing that resulted from all those tests was them telling me I have IBD (I already pretty much knew that) and 'possible' Chrones which I also knew. Apparently they can't tell me for sure until I've had that colonoscopy (coming up very soon) whether or not I have it. They also found that I'm very anemic again so I'm back on iron suppliments, and they said my sleep patterns are strange and very irregular so they're trying to shove more drugs at me. I'm not going to take sleeping drugs, geez! They've switched medications for my GERD though to try to control that better.

As for Kenzie, I just swung by on the way back from the airport to see her very briefly, and I'm rather annoyed. She looks like she's lost a good 10-15 pounds while I was gone which is NOT good news considering how hard it is to get the weight ON her, but I can't figure out why she lost it. All of the feed I allotted for her is gone as it should be, and they said she was getting her usual 20 lbs of hay, so I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm kind of suspecting that they didn't separate her for grain and she got run off of it. Its super hot (98-105) and humid this month too though, and she doesn't do well with heat, so that might be part of the problem too. Not sure.

I'm going to call family P tomorrow or Saturday though and start working on getting her over to their place.


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## Marcie

Subbing  what you are doing for that pretty girl is so heartwarming ^_^


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## Endiku

So here is the injury, now 99% closed up (just a teeny tiny pink spot left) but looking a little lumpy because of that flap of skin that didn't stay stitched but didn't die either. Not sure what to do about that.










I swear she looks so darned homely right now... short ewed neck, scars from various things (most from before when she came to us) and still a little ribby. *sigh*









Excuse the lead rope in these pictures. I was standing right there with her but I didn't want to tie her since the only spot available (I still don't trust her with being loosely tied to fence boards) was tying her to the gate itself so I just looped it and quick release tied the end of it to keep her from catching herself.

Is her belly looking a little wormy or hay bellyish to you guys? I'm having a hard time telling since I see her all of the time. Her fecal about 5 weeks ago came back clean but you never know...


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## Celeste

She is probably going to be skinny for a while. Moving her to good grass should do wonders. I would deworm her right as you move her just for insurance purposes. You don't want to take worms to the new home.


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## tempest

Endiku, she looks more like a horse now, especially through her body. She'll grow into herself. Don't worry.


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## Endiku

Good to hear. She looks nothing like the other nearly-two year olds (She'll be two in two months. Crazy right?) but at least she doesn't look 5 months old anymore. Her face has really matured since she came to me.


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## tbcrazy

Endiku said:


> When I get back from my trip I'll try to do the water bottle spraying. It isn't the same sound as aerosol cans but maybe it will be close enough to serve its purpose  thanks!


I use cheap walmart hairspray to get horses used to aerosol can sounds  cheaper than canned air, too, and it doesn't get super super coldlike canned air does- a lady I know used it on her horse and the horse HATED the bursts of cold air, but didn't mind the hairspray. I just keep a wet rag around and wipe them down when I'm done if I get any hairspray on them.


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## Kayella

You know, I actually think her weight is just fine. She's a growing horse, it's definitely better for them to be on the lean side than fat. I can see Henny's ribs and we all know he's a chunky monkey. Like everyone is saying, she's putting all that feed into catching up. Her body knows what it's doing so just keep trucking along.  She definitely looks older! I think she looks older than Henny now and he's 16 months. She is really coming along. If she needs anything, it's some muscle. Some exercise could definitely do her a lot of good. I think you're doing a great job so far!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## BKLD

I think I've fallen in love with Kenzie. You're doing awesome with her. I'm just subbing so I can keep up with the updates (I can't believe I forgot to do this earlier...).


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## Sharpie

She actually is starting to look like a coming two year old! Good Work! I don't think there are any problems with what she's doing with all the feed you're giving her.


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## Skyseternalangel

Not wormy, like a real horse finally!  Just keep going with her!


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## Endiku

Thanks guys! It really is neat to see how much she has matured since the beginning. And she's definitely nearly doubled in size both height and width wise.


















The only thing I can't figure out about her conformation is the weird bulginess of her poll. Its like her head attached higher to her neck (which appears to be a bit ewed) than it should so there had to be extra bone there or something. I can see it making some problems when she's learning to break at the poll and really flex her topline, but we'll see! I'm glad she seems to have grown into her withers a little though. I'm still holding hope that she'll grow into her pasterns too but I think that's just wishful thinking xD

Kayella, thanks! I think I would be happier with just a LITTLE bit more weight on her as insurance, simply because she has a history of ailments and I'd hate for her to go through winter (or what winter we do have if you can call it that) poorly, or get sick and loose a lot of weight, but not too much. I can't see or feel her spine, neck bones, hips, or tailhead anymore which is huge progress. Even at the beginning of summer I was still seeing that typical emanciated horse 'dip' between the spine and hips. That's gone now!

Once she turns two I might start bitting her (or just using a halter) and teaching her some simple ground driving, and I'll probably up the amount of trotting she does when being ponied if I have a horse to pony her off of at her new home. I'm not really sure what else to do by way of exercise for her other than that though. She's really quite lazy so she doesn't do a huge amount of self exercising xD


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## Celeste

She probably will get more exercise on her own when she gets in the bigger pasture you plan to move her to.


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## stevenson

Hope your test come out with some answers, and some cures for you. 
Kenzie looks like a horse ! great job, she will start filling out and muscling up some more now . She has a butt finally ! Her poll is probably due to the shape of her neck.
Did I read you are moving her to a family members? or did I misread something? Is your mini going with her ?


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## Endiku

Yeah i am trying to move her but Not to a family members. Im even having Some trouble with that too! Once She is there though She will have a nice pasture with 2 horses. Sour isnt going with her though. I Dont want her in a pasture with three full sized horses and grass to worry About.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

ugh, sorry about the horrid punctuation xD I hate my phone and its autocorrect sometimes.


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## Endiku

I don't see any ribs today! :happydance::happydance::happydance:
ofcourse that could change at any moment and if she bends or stretches out you can see them a bit, but YAY!

....excuse that weirdish patch on her leg. Its sand. I had just rinsed her legs down in the picture and apparently she decided not to stay clean.









different halter today, I forgot my halter so I borrowed a farm halter. Its a bit big.









Someone is alert...and rather hot today. Must be feeling good 









Don't worry about all of the junk and horrid fencing in this pen...its actually the picnic area but I've been standing in there to feed her the past week or so because its shady and the panel feeding pen has been relocated to hold some calves xD









someone is actually looking rather cute and not-so-scraggly today!









no ribs here either! See the bump where her shoulder injury is though? Unfortunately the vet is possibly going to have to re-open that to cut away the extra flap that healed all bumpy there. Should be small, but right now it isn't smoothing itself down at all and I'm afraid it might impede her movement or something.









Excuse my horrifically exhausted look. I have a hard time getting over anesthesia and I honestly feel like total crud still xD having two tubes shoved down your throat and biopsies in your esophagus kind of hurts xD I didn't even make it out to the farm Thursday or Friday. My mom came and fed Kenzie.









unfortunately though I have a HELLLLLP GUYS question for you guys though. A certain little yearling has decided that she's feeling so good that she can be picky about what she eats, and she has thus started going on strike about being fed beet pulp. She'll eat her grain (she's only getting 2 lbs now) with gusto (as you can see by the breakfast on her lips in the photo) and she'll usually eat the alfalfa pellets, but she is absolutely refusing to eat more than a few bites of beet pulp. If its on top, she'll very deliberately use her muzzle to shove it out of the bucket and bury it in the dirt with her hooves, if its on the bottom, she'll just leave it in the bucket. If I mix them, she won't eat any of the feed unless it hasn't gotten mixed well; and then she'll pick through it and leave half! URGGHHH KENZIE.

So she's probably only eating a few cups of BP at most per feeding and wasting like half of her food. I'm sorry, but neither she nor I can afford for her to be doing this. She's just now looking good, and I'm literally scraping pennies to feed her as well as I am. And here she is dumping it on the ground! Any ideas? Should I just take the BP out? If so, what do I replace it with? She has to have something with fat and extra calories in it, because otherwise she drops weight. Is there a way to make the BP more palatable?

Here is how much she's leaving. I absolutely can't get her to eat it. At first I thought she was sick, but she's been doing this for the last week or so. No temperature, acting as happy go lucky as ever, very friendly, still happy to eat the grain...but not the beet pulp. She wont eat pellets either.


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## tempest

I don't know how to get her to eat the beet pulp. But I will comment on the bump on her shoulder. I used to work with a horse who had something extremely similar on his shoulder. It might have even been cause by the same this Kenzie did to herself. I'll see if I can find any pictures of him with his bump. It never affected his movement and eventually the vet lanced it off for cosmetic reasons.

Ok. I wasn't able to find a picture of him before he had it lanced off. Either that, or I can't see it underneath his winter coat. So I'll just circle on him in a picture where it was located. I'm sorry he's ribby and needed his feet done in this picture. He was a really hard keeper and took his own sweet time with putting weight on. Sorry to highjack your thread.










She should look just like new after the vet gets done with the bump.


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## Sharpie

She's at a much better weight and about to go somewhere where, IIRC, she'll have free-choice grass or hay. Go ahead and reduce the beet pulp or cut it out entirely. Maybe if you halve the amount and then mix she'll be more inclined to eat what there is? If a horse won't eat what you want them to, it is exhausting to try to fight them on it, so why bother when it's not life or death? Maybe just feed little bits until it's gone and then try rice bran instead (maybe someone you know has a sample so you can see if she likes it first though). 

Alternatively, and some people might light me up for this, try mixing in a little molasses to the beet pulp. Not a lot, but just enough to make it more appetizing for her. I wouldn't do it if she was a fat Cushinoid or Insulin Resistant horse, but for most youngsters and healthy horses, a little molasses in moderation isn't going to hurt anything.


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## Wallaby

^yes! 
Also, other ideas: raspberry leaf "tea" ["Mare Magic"+boiling water...I just get generic raspberry leaves because it's the same but SO much cheaper!!] - Lacey can't resist it when I add that to things she hates...like probiotics! haha Or Apple Cider Vinegar - I add about 1/4C and Lacey eats it right up.

Rice Bran might be a good thing to try too. Lacey will do anyyyyything for a bit of rice bran. Apparently it's the tastiest ever. :wink:


ETA: have you tried soaking the BP less? Lacey is not a fan of "mush", unless it's hot mush, but will happily eat half-soaked pellets. I pretty much soak until the very center of the pellet is still somewhat solid but the outside is soft.


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## egrogan

No help on the feeding front, but I loved seeing the pics with her injured ear standing almost straight up !! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Tempest it probably is just cosmetic, but at this point she needs all the cosmetic help she can get. LOL. Glad to hear that your gelding was able to have his taken off with no trace of it ever being there; that's what I'm hoping for!

On another note, have you guys noticed that all of her bumps, scabs, scratches, and punctures have usually been on her left side? Makes me wonder if she has any eye trouble in that left eye that makes her depth perception weird...or if her depth perception is just off in general. I've never seen a filly that thought it could fit through spaces as small as she thinks she can. I've just attributed it to being because she was so skinny/tiny before and she doesn't realize she's any bigger now, but maybe it actually is an issue with her. I have NO idea how you check a horse's DP though. "Kenzie, please tell me approximately how far away you believe that this bucket it from your body in inches...." LOL. She also appears to think that jumping through small spaces is a good idea too. No wonder she's always banging herself up ._. Yesterday I made the mistake of leaving her in that pen untied and eating while I went to grab her bottle of probios. The gate was open about a foot and a half but I didn't think that would be a problem since she was busy eating. I guess she decided she needed to come help me instead of eat breakfast though, because about 30 seconds later one of my friends on the porch yells over to me "Uhh....Allyson, is Kenzie supposed to be out?" I look back, and she's like a foot behind me, following quietly like she was still attached to me by a lead rope O_O According to them she had decided to run/squeeze/jump through the gate opening that should NOT have been wide enough for her, cantered up behind me without me noticing (Geez....good thing she wasn't an armed robber!) and started following like "yep, we're going to go get some stuff right now, nothin' to see here..."

Moral of the story, don't underestimate Kenzie, and don't leave her thinking she'll be too absorbed by her food to get herself into trouble. She is seriously the most ADD horse ever when it comes to eating.

ANYWAYS, back on topic xD I guess I will just have to nix the BP. I've already tried soaking it less (she'll eat a tiny more but not enough to make a difference), putting applesauce in it, mixing it in really well, putting her DuMor (which she loves) on it...but she knows what I'm trying to do I think! lol. I still have a bag and a half of it so I guess I'll just put a few cups in her feed at a time in order to get rid of it since no one else at the farm feeds BP, then I'll move on to something else. I can't say I will mind not having to soak it every day, twice a day! 

I might just try the rice bran, though its a more expensive option. She'd eat less of it though so I doubt it will be too big of a difference. How much do you think I should give her? Her pasture mate, who is a whopping 1300 lbs when at ideal weight, eats a pound...so maybe half a pound? Another option (which I'd never heard of before) is Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. Family P suggested it to me because they feed it to their hard keeping gelding, and they said it helps a lot with weight and coat health. Have you guys ever heard of that? They said it was at TSC but the only one I saw was labled "black oil sunflower BIRD FOOD"...eeesh. Scott Pet Black Oil Sunflower Bird Feed, 6 lb. - Tractor Supply Online Store How do I know if its just pure seeds or not, versus having some weird chemical or something in it?

Egrogan- isn't it fantastic? I can't believe how well it bounced back. Its definitely a little quirky looking, but it kind of fits her personality xD 

Weird, but I kind of wonder what it looks like when she's 'pinning' her ears. Not that I'm going to try making her mad to find out. I have actually never seen her pin her ears that I know of, which is crazy! Sour pins her ears at me if I even make a funny face at her, but I can shove a thermometer up Kenzie's butt, scare her (accidentally), push her away, wash her, deny her food....and she has never pinned her ears. The most she does is do this weird floppy dejected look and flap her lips at me, which is a little odd in itself. I don't think she even knows how to be mean or intimidating xD


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## cakemom

I prefer rice bran for weight, beet pulp for regular feeding. I feed Flicka oats, barley, small shred molasses free beet pulp and black oil sunflower seeds. She will not eat large shred.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Sharpie

I've head of feeding Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS), in fact I knew one horse who ate pounds and pounds a day, but he had previously had colic surgery that didn't heal quite right (adhesions) and wasn't allowed longstem hay because he would impact and colic, so he ate a lot of odd things to make up for that. They're supposed to be well-liked by horses and the only 'bad' thing I've heard is that they have much more Omega 6 than 3, so people recommended avoiding them in inflammation-prone horses (arthritis, laminitis, IR, etc).

The lip-flapping is a really common 'baby' behavior in horses (though submissive adults may do it too), essentially saying 'hey I'm little and submissive, please don't hurt me while I do this thing that may or may not annoy you.' Isn't it funny how different their personalities are?


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## stevenson

she looks so good ! Love the pic with her ears up , both of them.. she may gain more use of the injured ear . i have tried rice bran. it did not warrant the cost. I would feed some sort of hay pellet , I would try adding some corn oil over the beet pulp,or some karo syrup , I just add it with the water , stir it up and let it soak in the pulp. and there are new findings over omega 3 and 6 in corn oil depending on the type of hay which may or may not have the o3 or o6 in it naturally. My Vets have no problem with corn oil, and my horses are antiques. there are people who will freak about the corn oil suggestion , but if mine at 30 something yrs old are still going fine and have been fed corn oil for many many years, it cannot be to harmful ! lol..


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## Endiku

So THATS what BOSS stands for! I always wondered about that xD do you guys think it would be worth trying? Family P suggested getting her to about 3 cups a day and see how she did on that, and its tempting since they're pretty cheap. Not sure if that 'bird seed' kind is safe or not though...I guess I'd have to call the manufactuer and ask or something?

lol, she's definitely submissive so that makes sense. That's the nice thing about training her, theres absolutely zero challenging me so far.Fear, yes- and her fair share of overreacting (such as with trying to get her to walk CALMLY over our little obstacle course teeter totter bridge. She'll go over it like I ask her to, but insists on leaping off of it like a wild woman as soon as she's half way over) but there hasn't been any "well I'm 600 lbs and you're 85, so I don't feel like it and you can't make me" which is nice. Now if we could just get her over the spooking into me thing, we'd be doing great! She's improving, but still tends to move towards me, not away from me. 

She's super sensitive to rope pressure though which is fantastic. I can literally just flick it a tiny bit and she's backing up like a pro. I do think she's going to be on the spooky side all of her life, but thankfully once you redirect her she usually settles, realizes you're still in control, and is happy to do whatever it was that scared her. She has spooked once or twice while on the lead line, been corrected, and looked downright sheepish about it once she realized it wasn't actually all that scary xD

Stevenson- she's already eating 6 lbs of alfalfa hay pellets and wolfing down a good 20 lbs of grass hay every day, so I think we're covered there. I'm not terribly concerned about the 3 to 6 ratios as long as not everything I'm feeding her is way higher on one than the other, but I'm not too sure that putting anything in/on her BP is going to convince her to eat it. I could try though!


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## Wallaby

Info on BOSS:
Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for Horses

Personally, I don't like the idea of feeding seeds to an animal that wouldn't naturally eat seeds...but then again: hypocrite alert! I feed Flax SEEDS to Lacey every single day! haha
I wouldn't do corn oil and BOSS together since they are both inflammatory [I thiiiiink I've read that ulcers thrive on inflammation so, if that's a problem you suspect, use caution...I may be completely wrong though!] but one or the other couldn't hurt.
I'd probably try BOSS before I tried oil, however. But that's just me. haha


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## verona1016

My barn feeds a beet pulp & rice bran mash at night (~4 parts beet pulp pellets to 1 part rice bran pellets, by volume). The other night when I was mixing it up, I found that we had run out of rice bran, and the BO mentioned that a some of the horses won't eat the mash when the rice bran is missing. Maybe Kenzie would like the beet pulp more if some rice bran were mixed in? If you know someone who'd give you a little bit to try out for a day or two it might worth seeing if it works.

I know a few people who feed BOSS in smaller amounts (up to ~1 cup/day) and haven't had any problems with it, and I've never heard of a horse not eating them, so that could very well be the easier route!


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## Endiku

Good point Wallaby! Ulcers are a bit concern for me since Kenzie IS a thoroughbred and already cribs (though she's been doing it a LOT less lately now that she has a buddy at all times) and has had them before. That's the last thing she needs right now!

Verona- that's a good idea! I'm going to ask around to see if anyone is willing to lend me a pound or so of RB to see if I can coax Kenzie to eat the BP, but if she won't I think my next option is going to be trying the BOSS for a little while to see if it helps at all. I'm sure her coat could use it if nothing else xD


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## Endiku

Alrighty, I went out to buy feed after school this afternoon and I'm kind of proud of myself xD I'm sort of the 'extreme couponer' of the horse feed world, so I had a boat load of coupons for my feed today. The result? I got $150 worth of feed for Sour and Kenzie (which typically pays for one months worth ._. I feel like I'm selling away part of my body every time I hand over the money for feed) for....drum roll please...$120! Doesn't sound like a lot, but hey I'll take it > I was able to get a $4 off coupon on Kenzie's Nutrena feed for taking a survey, $20 off (one bag free) of Sour's feed for buying it in bulk (3 bags, 4th free), $3 off of my alfalfa pellets, and $3 off of a wormer. SUCESS. And since I got bulk of Sour's feed, she's set for like...the next quarter xD she only eats about half pound of feed a day.

I'm pretty annoyed with TSC right now though. Well...actually Nutrena. Or both. Apparently Nutrena Life Cycle Mare and Foal is being discontinued and Nutrena is replacing the life cycle feeds with "Safe Choice" feeds. When I went to ask where the M&F had been moved to, they said they no longer stocked it and pointed out one of the new Safe Choice Formulas that is supposedly the exact same thing. I even had the manager come assure me that it was the same feed and that if I went and fed my colic prone yearling 2 lbs of it today she'd be fine. I asked them for a breakdown of the nutritional information in it but they pretty much told me that I could get it online (I have no smart phone and couldn't check at that moment) so I needed to do that, and that they didn't have the information on mare and foal anymore. So I had no way of knowing whether or not the feed was the same or not. Since they told me they had the same ingredients (with the only exception being that there is now pre and probiotics in the feed and less starch for at risk horses) I went ahead and bought two bags because I refuse to leave empty handed after a 1 1/2 hour drive to the store.

Well, they aren't the same. It would appear that this new feed has LESS of all of the vitamins, minerals,fat and protein. This feed has 14% Protein, only 7% Fat... my Mare and Foal feed had 6% fat, 14% Protein. I don't think its going to be a huge deal considering that I feed a supplement with all of those minerals and more in it and she gets plenty of hay, but I'm still pretty bummed and I'm really not sure whether I should keep her on this feed (the good thing is that its $2 cheaper) or move her on to something else. My only other options though are other Safe Choice formulas (senior, prime, maintenance, or perform), DuMor pleasure horse feed, or Omleen 300. 

I guess my biggest worry with this feed (its Safe Choice Special Care by the way) is that it says its for easy keepers which Kenzie definitely is NOT, but I'm not really too sure. I'm still pretty new to this whole complicated nutrition thing xD Do you guys think it will be ok to feed this like I was with her old feed, or do I need to slowly introduce it as a precaution? I still have about 20 lbs of mare and foal left (about a weeks worth) so I can if need be.

Anyways, I did decide to just go ahead and invest in my own bag of rice bran since even if Kenzie won't eat it, ten to one I can find someone else who will buy it off of me since a lot of my friends use it. I paid a little extra for the pellets but IMO its worth it since SOMEONE likes to shove feed out of her bucket and eat it off the ground, causing her to not get any of the powders I give her. How much do you guys think I ought to be giving her? Obviously I have to work her up to the full amount but how much in the end? Half of a pound? Three fourths?

I did decide against the BOSS for now though. There were a bunch of ingredients that I didn't know on the package of them and the last thing I need to do is poison poor Kenzie or something!


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## Wallaby

They label "Safe Choice Special Care" as being for easy keepers....but, when I tried it out on Lacey last summer, it packed on the pounds so hard!! Of course, she is pretty much the QUEEN of easy keepers but I had to take her off of it within a week of starting it because she was gaining a scary amount of weight. :lol:
She doesn't need anymore more than a ration balancer in the summer to keep her weight perfect. Triple Crown 30% is perfect for her.
I ended up feeding the rest of the SafeChoice to Lady [this was when I was still fostering demon pony] and it did a great job putting weight on her. I fed SafeChoice and rice bran to Miss Lady, got her nice and fat. :rofl:

Anyway, I think you should be ok. Also, maybe I'm missing something: 14% protein in both feeds, 7% fat in the Safe Choice and 6% in your old feed? In that case, this newer feed shoulllld theoretically be better for weight gain since it has 7% fat...which is more/'better' than 6%...right? :lol:


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## Skyseternalangel

Hmm it has similar protein and fat quanitities but the vitamins and minerals is lacking.. however it might be okay! 

Do you have access to FeedXL?


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## Endiku

LOL, You're right! I'm totally not a college algebra student or anything guys...I definitely knew that 7 was better than 6 ;D you saw nothing. I messed up when typing the protein though. Mare and Foal had 16% protein, not 14. So there is a 2% difference.

I'm glad to hear that the Special Care worked well for putting weight on Lady. It makes me feel a little better. I was all like "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" when they told me they weren't going to be selling MF anymore. I guess Kenzie is having another big diet change between this new feed and the rice bran! lol.

Sky, I'm hoping that between the DuMor supplement that I have, the alfalfa, the feed, and the rice bran that has extra vitamin E in it, she might be fine. I'm planning to eventually move to that Sho Glo because of the powder problem, but I still have 3/4 of a bag of DuMor to go through and it takes forever to go through a bag of that stuff! I think for now she's going to be having enough diet changes though, so I may just leave her on what she's on for now. I haven't seen any of the scabbiness and dandard that my friend was talking about; and her hair seems to grow back fairly quickly so I'm not overly worried. I'd like her to be shiner, but she's already shinier than half the horses on the farm so I guess I can't complain. I'm just too used to seeing the hurt-your-eyes-shiny horses that people like Druydess have and I'm like "KENZIEMUSTBESHINY" I think. haha

Is feedXL this? http://feedxl.com/plans.html


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## tbcrazy

I use the safe choice perform (for hard keepers) for my two toughies- they love it  not sure why they wouldn't recommend the one specifically for tough keepers...
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Skyseternalangel

Endiku said:


> Is feedXL this? Plans and Pricing - FeedXL Horse Nutrition


Yes 

And no worries, I saw nothing ;-)


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## Endiku

That looks like a really neat program! Thanks for showing it to me. It might be worth the investment, and I could use it for both Kenzie and Sour!


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## Kayella

Whenever I got Henny he was weaned onto SafeChoice(standard) and I didn't like it. You had to feed A LOT of it, like 6 pounds, and that was just too much for Henny's little tummy to handle. Mind you, he was 4 months old at this point. I also don't think it has enough minerals in it for a growing horse. So when he was around 5-6 months old I switched him over to Purina Enrich 32 which is a ration balancer. He started out at 3 lbs a day and is now at 1 1/2 lbs a day. MUCH better results. He is obviously a chunky monkey. 

And I used the FeedXL program and he is getting all he needs in a day for a growing boy. Some things he's getting a bit too much of, but FeedXL says it won't hurt him at the quantity he's currently getting. Seriously though, the FeedXL is great. It takes into account your pasture, hay, feed, supplements, everything! It even has the SmartPak supplements which is awesome. I found out Bubba was dangerously low on selenium on his senior feed and when I punched in .75 pounds of the Enrich 32 everything was balanced out and he's happy as a clam. 

As for the rice bran, I started out with a handful and worked my way up to half a scoop over a week or so period. The bag tells you not to feed more than 2 lbs a day, so definitely don't go over that. I would say half a scoop for a while and if she's not maintaining/gaining well enough, bump it up to 3/4s of a scoop!


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## Endiku

That's good to know too. I guess since I already have the bags and don't have another immediate option I'll 'test' this SC type to see how Kenzie does on it. If she starts dropping weight at all, I'll figure something else out. I'm HOPING that with the DuMor supplement I'll be able to balance out her vitamins and minerals, but I'm not quite sure that it will be enough. I was only feeding about 2.5lbs of the Mare and Foal because more than that tended to upset her tummy a little (I guess that's where the ulcer proneness comes in) and she cribbed more, so I guess I'll start with that on the Safe Choice and up it if I need to. 

She was getting 3 lbs of beet pulp before she went on strike, but like I said I have no idea what the equivalent of that is in RB. I'll start with the half scoop as you said and go from there.


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## Endiku

I'm so proud right now. I've been doing a little bit more intensive training with Kenzie in the past week or so, and she is such a bright horse (except when it comes to injuring herself...haha). She is now quietly walking and trotting in hand, woahing on command, backing up as soon as I start wiggling my finger at her or flick the line with her head down, yielding to hindquarter, poll, and nose pressure (we're still working on side passing and yielding her shoulder). I also have been working on sending her through things to make it easier when I teach her to lunge, and she'll walk in a large circle (just once or twice) around. I still need to teach her to face me and change directions, but she's doing great! Next step, probably in November or December, is mouthing her for the first time and starting just a teensy bit of ground driving around cones or something.


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## Marcie

Woot! Sounds like you're on a roll!


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## cakemom

Awesome! I would bet as she starts working a little you are going to see her bloom. 
I have to say I jus eliminated all premixed foods or processed food from Flickas diet. I know some dont like grains but we are on a mix of oats, barley and small shred molasses free beet pulp and black oil sunflower seeds and that horse looks like a million bucks- and she's calmer, less stomach achy and smells better as well as her nose issue going almost completely away. I don't know if I will ever feed a preprocessed feed again. I give her Farnham super 14, rose hips and mare magic as well in her night feeds. For an entire month feed was less than $50 including supplements.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Haha, well minus her slightly spooky streak she really is an easy horse to train so far. She retains things very well for her age. We've been working on the fly spraying issue too and although she's still very wiggly about it, she's at least not trying to shove herself into me anymore with a spray bottle. Aerosol is still a problem though. We'll get there! She also tends to forget I'm at the end of the leadline if I'm just standing there with her sometimes, and take a step or two away to investigate something, but as soon as she feels the slight pressure that the halter makes (without me even having to pull or anything) she suddenly realizes she's still on a line, backs up quickly to where she was, and immediately looks over to see if I noticed her mess up xD its pretty funny.

Cakemom- that's great! My only problem with eliminating the grain right now with Kenzie is her not getting enough calories. She seems to require a LOT and even though I've feeding her decent jigs costal hay (free choice, she eats 8-20 lbs a day) and 6 lbs of alfalfa pellets it just isn't enough for her metabolic needs. Now that she's refusing to eat beet pulp I'm having to get more creative. I started adding rice bran two days ago and so far she isn't refusing to eat it (though its only 1/2 a cup to start with) so I'm HOPING that if she does really well on that, the hay, and her supplement, I can wean down the feed to even less than she's getting right now. In an entire day though she's only getting 2.5 lbs versus the 4.5 lbs she was originally getting, so really it isn't all that much grain. Just enough to mix her other stuff in since she ADORES grain to a point of obsessiveness, and since it does have some fat and protein which she needs.


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## Endiku

*18-20 lbs. I swear I don't feed my growing yearling only 8 lbs. XD


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## my2geldings

Endiku said:


> I'm so proud right now. I've been doing a little bit more intensive training with Kenzie in the past week or so, and she is such a bright horse (except when it comes to injuring herself...haha). She is now quietly walking and trotting in hand, woahing on command, backing up as soon as I start wiggling my finger at her or flick the line with her head down, yielding to hindquarter, poll, and nose pressure (we're still working on side passing and yielding her shoulder).


 It's great to hear and see how quickly she is learning new things! Thats the one reason I love bringing up my own babies. It feels like it takes a long time, but its worth it in the end.


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## cakemom

It took me a while to get to this point. When we got Flicka she was completely malnourished, like Kenzie almost at the beginning. Back then she had strategy and alfalfa and you couldn't convince her otherwise 
You're doing a great job!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Cakesmom- I'd LOVE to get her grain free eventually, and that is absolutely my long term goal! I'm thinking once she's done growing at 3 or so, she should be able to transition smoothly to no grain at all. I know it will be a healthier option for her!

My2Geldings- ahhhh, me too. Kenzie is the first full sized horse that I've taken from not even really halter broke to even this point. I did all of Sour's training up until the cart training (I hired a trainer to do Sour's first 10 outings and to work with me just so I didn't screw her up) but a 200 lb animal is much different than a 600 lb animal xD I've done PARTS of many yearling's trainings, such as halter breaking the sucklings and weanlings, teaching the 1 and 2 year olds to stand tied quietly and yield to pressure, and even doing some of the 3 year old work with saddle breaking, but I've never done ALL of in with one horse so its been a really neat experience. I just can't believe how fast time is going by though...seems like she was just 14 months old laying in her stall, nearly dead...and now she's almost 23 months old!


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## Celeste

I think that you are right keeping her on grain for now. She really needs the nutrients.


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## cakemom

But I'm not grain free, oats and barley are both grains. Just preprocessed free.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Sorry for no picture updates or anything, I am unbelievably stressed and overloaded right now with work, family trouble, dual credit college classes, senior year, and the two horses to care for- and I've really only had time to go feed the girls and come home to do more school or head to work, and when I do that its usually either dawn and not light enough yet for pictures, or the sun is already setting and its too dark. It stinks, but its what I have to do.

Heres a quick one of her in her pen while I was feeding Sour, just chilling out under the shade trees. It shows how nicely she is keeping/putting on condition though. She's SUPER glossy (you can't really tell in the shade) and soft, and her ribs are still covered unless she's bending or stretching out when walking. I think I like rice bran!









Actually, she has a bit of a hay belly xD









Then just for the heck of it, a picture of some flowers that I pressed last week. Not my best batch, but I think they're pretty.









This was SO SO sweet. There is a girl who I have sort of 'taken under my wing' in the past few months who is often bullied at her school for no apparent reason, and who adores horses. I've been letting her come out with me to mess around with Kenzie and Sour, and in return she drew me an AMAZING picture of Kenzie! The reference picture she used is when Kenzie was still looking skinny, but doesn't it look just like her- funky croup, upside down neck, floppy ear and all?! SO CUTE. This girl is only 13. I'm impressed!









And then I got a package from a member who has been conversing with me in the past few months about Kenzie and other lovely life things; and in it was a book on training young horses from weanling to riding age, and a calligraphy set! O_O I am so excited to try using it. I've never done calligraphy before but I love anything to do with ink and art. This looks like the perfect stress reliever. What a thoughtful thing to give me. I really am blessed to have you all.


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## Endiku

My parents are starting to get a little suspicious of why I keep getting free things in the mail though... XD I show them Kenzie's page and tell them I honestly don't know why, and you guys are just really sweet and love to see a horse recover that really _shouldn't_ have been able to, but I'm not sure that they believe me. Maybe they think I'm secretly selling my organs or something. lol.


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## Marcie

It's so sweet of you to be helping that girl! She is going to remember you for the rest of her life, you know what right?  The drawing is precious. The flowers are beautiful too. I have a garden at home that I've thought about pressing some flowers from. I'm just not sure what to do with them afterwards lol.


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## Endiku

I tape my flowers to my wall. It makes a masterpiece of its own! haha

I love helping the girls who are in the same sort of situation I was in at their age. I figure if I can help them get through it faster than I did, they have that much better of a chance at having a good productive teenage era xD


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## Endiku

aaand we have ribs again. Not too terrible so I'm not worried, she has grown another half inch and appears to be going through another tiny growth spurt again (butt high) so I figure she'll fill them in again quickly. Hopefully, anyways. 

Here are a few quick pictures of her in with her 'kind' (all of the horses pictured are TBs, and one is from the original 6 that came to us almost two years ago) investigating the round bale that we had just rolled into the pen. They didn't even give us enough time to get the mesh off first, greedy little ******s! 

Standing next to her (presumably) half brother, Peppin. He had to have an eye amputated after a freak accident back when he was about 10 months old, so they make quite the klutzy pair together... Its so sad though, he's only 2-3 months older than her, and SO much taller xD he's a big boy though. Last time I checked he was 16hh at the wither and 16.1 1/2 at the butt.









ribs...and a stolen mouthful of crap hay. This drought is really getting to us this summer :/ BO is having a tough time finding much hay at all, much less good stuff. I'm thinking about upping Kenzie's alfalfa because of that. She's getting a hay belly from this stuff. 










Other than that, I do have good news (hopefully) in that the ball is rolling again with getting Kenzie moved. Thanks to some not-so-helpful people and my parents being horse-naïve, I had a hard time convincing them I needed to move her for whatever reason, and since they technically own her I couldn't exactly doing anything. *sigh*, Oh well. We're back on the green light for moving her though and I just need to find a hay supplier, figure out how to transport hay, where to PUT hay (I keep all of my feed in my garage. 100+ hay bales are definitely not going to fit), and arrange with Family P, my friend with the trailer, and BO to get Kenzie moved. This has not worked so many times though that I'm not even going to get giddy about finally moving her 'til her feet are in that pasture. Geez.

Speaking of Family P's pasture, WE NEED RAIN ._. Their pasture isn't looking too great (no fault of theirs, just no rain) and its definitely not going to hold up to three horses at this rate. Poo.


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## Endiku

Alright, so I have another question for you guys regarding worming. I'm about to get another fecal done on her when I can scrape up some money, and if she's wormy I'll obviously go from there and get the correct wormer- but Kenzie is getting progressively worse about being wormed. This isn't something I've dealt with much since Sour has a really weird fetish for wormer and absolutely LOVES it...(She'll try to take the syringe from me if I'm not careful) and even if she didn't like it, she's 34 inches tall. She can't exactly evade me. Kenzie though, absolutely hates wormer, not that I blame her. Back when I was going through the worming cycles when we first got her she was weak, small, and not hard to shove the wormer down. Now though, she's probably a good 600 lbs or more and nearly 14hh, definitely strong enough (and tall enough) to evade me if she wants to. I've tried to make as little of a deal of it as possible, but the second she sees that syringe she's all wide eyes, parrot lips, and giraffe neck. I'm able to get it down her eventually, but its a lot of work and last time I ended up even having to have someone hold her head so I could get the syringe in the right spot. Obviously I'm not doing something right. Any tips on worming her? xD I know its not fun for her but its not fun for me to waste/wear half the tube either.


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## Cherrij

Put the wormer in her feed - make the feed extra tasty. 
I don't really know what wormer I had, but the vet immediately suggested - just put it in their feed.. they will eat it all up. 
I had about 25 ml of the wormer, with about 2-3 lbs of feed - gobbled it down like nothing had changed.. 

She is looking goood


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## Endiku

I thought you couldn't do that with tube dewormers? It says not to have any food in the horse's mouth when you administer the paste so I guess I figured that meant no mixing it in food either.

I considered a feedable wormer treat/pellet but they're so much more expensive, I can't guarantee she'd eat it, and I really don't like to cover up problems like this and the fly spray- I want to deal with them and have her just accept them as part of life (even if not happily) instead of tip-toe around her if that makes any sense.

And thanks! I'm pretty excited by seeing her grow up. I'm curious to see what her winter coat is like this year since last year she had NASTY dull starvation fur and looked like a little wooly mammoth. She's in way better condition now so I'm guessing her body will realize that and grow a normal coat?


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## Skyseternalangel

Try making syringes a fun experience. Buy one, fill it with applesauce (or something she likes) and then teach her that when she sees it, it's a good thing.

That way when you go back to icky wormer, she won't know if it'll be applesauce or the wormer.


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## Endiku

oooh, sneaky. I like it! xD


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## Zexious

I use a daily wormer, and am happy with it~ But it doesn't sound like it would be optimal for your purposes...


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## Sharpie

Yep. If syringes are always filled with something nasty, of course they won't like them. You've got to 'dose' them with tasty stuff too if you want them to at least hope they're getting a treat. I use molasses or corn syrup in mine when we're doing syringe training. I had one filly who needed twice daily bute after a surgery who would nicker at you when she saw you had a tube of something because she just KNEW it was her molasses treat (with the bute mixed in), and would lick the thing clean and not miss a drop. That's a much more pleasant experience in medication for all involved than fighting them about it. You don't HAVE to condition horses to like syringes, most horses you can just do it, get it over with, and they're mostly cooperative, but I like my horses to take things easy.

The reason the tube dewormers say no food in their mouth is because if they have a mouthful of something already, it makes it REALLY easy to spit out anything else you put in their mouth, ie, the dewormer. It has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the drug +/-food, just a practical consideration for making sure it actually makes it into the horse.


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## Kayella

Here's what I did with both Henny and Bubba. Henny is now a pro at taking wormer because of this. Stand at their head and each under their jaw with your hand. Place your hand to where they can't turn away from you and place your finger on the corner of their mouth. Just rest it there until they stop tossing their head and calm down. Then push your finger into the corner of their mouth and again wait until they calm down. Then take the wormer. Have it laying flat against their cheek so the syringe is facing forward flat against the corner of their mouth and wait. After they're fine with that, stick the wormer perpendicular to the corner of their lip so it's in their mouth but not tilted towards the back of their throat. After they're fine with that, position it as if you were going to worm them. Once they're calm, actually administer the wormer. This worked to teach Henny how to take wormer and to reteach Bubba who had always been a pain about worming. He'd run away, toss his head and just fight us to the point where we'd just put it in his feed. Now after a little desensitizing, he'll take it no problem.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Zexious- if it was something I could afford and if Kenzie wasn't so suspicious of my poisoning her food (well, at least she knows she IS going to get food now and feels like she CAN be picky...) I might try something like that, but I'm not a huge fan of pouring chemicals into her body that she may not need either, which is what I'd be doing with a daily wormer. Nothing against people who do, I guess its just a personal choice. That's why I do the fecal every few months (more when she's had a worm load) and worm accordingly. She may not even have any worms right now, but I'm always suspicious of that belly she seems to keep so I'm going to get another done before bringing her to her new pasture. Sharing is NOT caring when worms are involved! lol.

Great ideas everyone. I might try some unsweetened applesauce or something similar to give her, and I'll do some syringe desensitizing as well. One way or another she needs to learn to take her meds like a good girl! haha.


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## stevenson

she looks really good ! Thats nice to help the 13 yr old. Might give her some confidence being around and working with the horses, just make sure she interacts with people also.


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## Endiku

Thats what I'm really hoping. She's a lot like I was at her age (and younger) and horses helped me TREMENDOUSLY. I honestly don't know, and don't want to know, where I would be without horses right now. I'm hoping they can help her the same way they helped me. Plus, Kenzie adores her and Sour is even nicer to her than she is to the typical kid and she's super bright and thoughtful around horses, unlike many careless teenagers that I know. 

She seems fine around other people socially, she's just sort of the type that gets clingy and worries constantly that she's making other people upset and that she'll loose them as friends...which is definitely a self confidence issue. And of course that causes her to be easily influenced by her friends, which could spell trouble if she made the wrong ones. Hopefully as she creates an identity for herself she'll realize that she doesn't need to worry so much about what other people think of her and she'll do just fine!


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## Cherrij

Well, with tube wormers yea, all I can say is syringe training.. mine is liquid, it comes cheaper that way, and as its extra disgusting, we just put it in the feed.. 
my boys are only picky on their grass/hay. when its buckets, they eat with no arguments. ..

Horses are amazing help - when something upset me when I was 12-15 I ran to my horse, or sometimes my dog.. then I had that limited, but yesterday me and my friend felt a bit off, like not wanting to do anything, tired and just all Blah. I said, lets go feed the horses.. (as we were playing vollyball and it meant I would be home at dark) and we spent some good time talking with them, and then also doing extra chores for them, and both felt a lot better... and now all my non horse friends here notice, that horses are actually good therapy - you just need to be around them and thats it.


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## Endiku

I don't think I've seen liquid wormer before! Maybe I just don't pay close enough attention xD I've always used gel/paste. I was even nice and bought apple flavor last time around, but it didn't do a bit of good for Kenzie. Sour on the other hand, looked like a drug addict looking for a fix when she realized that not only was her beloved wormer in the tube, it was also APPLE! Weird, weird horse...she's the only horse I've ever met that actually enjoyed being wormed. She even opens her mouth for it xD

Yeah, my friends don't understand why I spend so much time with my animals, but when I'm with Kenzie or Sour is really the only time I'm completely relaxed.I just wish I could spend more time with them than I am right now, but with my crazy schedule its just not possible, and unfortunately once they're both moved, I'll probably see even less of them for that reason. Family P's house is a good 20-25 minutes from my house without traffic, versus the 5-6 minutes from my house right now, and the boarding barn that I'm planning to bring Sour to is about the same, maybe a little further...and they're in opposite directions. I'm actually not really sure how I'm going to pull it off. That's a LOT of gas.


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## Endiku

Alrighty; I found a hay supplier that seems to have some decent costal hay for sale, so I'm arranging to have 50 bales (that's all I can store at once) brought to where she's going to be, and I'm supposed to be meeting with family P early next week to draw up some sort of boarding contract, then we should be good to go. The last thing I need to arrange is trailering, but I think I have someone who can do it for me. I'll have to work around her schedule though.

We weren't able to really rig much of anything up at Family P's place to separate Kenzie from their two horses while they're meeting each other though; so I'm really not sure what to do. I know its typical for there to be a little bit of kicking/herding/running around while they work out who is in charge and such, but I guess I'm just feeling extra protective. Should I just let her into their pasture and watch them for a while to make sure they aren't going to beat the snot out of each other? Should we introduce them all on lead lines? Put Kenzie in their pasture and introduce them (submissive gelding first, then mare) one at a time? Not bring her until I can afford fence panels or something to rig up an introduction pen for her?

I plan to, or at least HOPE to, bring her on a day when Family P is home and I'm able to stick around for a few hours to watch her interact with the two big guys before I leave. I've been doing some intense socializing with her and she's been doing pretty well with four herd mates of different genders and different ages where she is now, but there is no doubt that she is the lowest in herd ranking and she spends a lot of her time close to the group but not in the group because boss mare won't let her join the clique xD poor baby. I'm hoping that will help her when I integrate her into Family P's duo though.


----------



## acorn

Endiku said:


> Alrighty; I found a hay supplier that seems to have some decent costal hay for sale, so I'm arranging to have 50 bales (that's all I can store at once) brought to where she's going to be, and I'm supposed to be meeting with family P early next week to draw up some sort of boarding contract, then we should be good to go. The last thing I need to arrange is trailering, but I think I have someone who can do it for me. I'll have to work around her schedule though.
> 
> We weren't able to really rig much of anything up at Family P's place to separate Kenzie from their two horses while they're meeting each other though; so I'm really not sure what to do. I know its typical for there to be a little bit of kicking/herding/running around while they work out who is in charge and such, but I guess I'm just feeling extra protective. Should I just let her into their pasture and watch them for a while to make sure they aren't going to beat the snot out of each other? Should we introduce them all on lead lines? Put Kenzie in their pasture and introduce them (submissive gelding first, then mare) one at a time? Not bring her until I can afford fence panels or something to rig up an introduction pen for her?
> 
> I plan to, or at least HOPE to, bring her on a day when Family P is home and I'm able to stick around for a few hours to watch her interact with the two big guys before I leave. I've been doing some intense socializing with her and she's been doing pretty well with four herd mates of different genders and different ages where she is now, but there is no doubt that she is the lowest in herd ranking and she spends a lot of her time close to the group but not in the group because boss mare won't let her join the clique xD poor baby. I'm hoping that will help her when I integrate her into Family P's duo though.


Maybe she will be smart like my gelding. Whenever he is put with horses he doesn't know he does the baby chew to them. It has worked every single time. First I thought he was a chicken but after thinking it over I think he is pretty smart. By the way he is seventeen but hasn't forgotten how to do the baby chew "I'm just a baby, please don't hurt me."


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## Endiku

Haha, that is a smart gelding! I'm really hoping she'll do that too if they give her too much of a hard time. So far I've only seen her chew at the boss mare once or twice when boss mare (named Shiner by the way...) really got after her for 'stepping out of line' and approaching the hay too early, but I at least know she knows how to do it. I'm also hoping that Family P's gelding will sort of take her under his wing since he's the sweetie-pie, mares-are-all-from-heaven type guy, but he's super attached to family P's mare so if she decides she doesn't like Kenzie, he might just take her side.


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## thesilverspear

Can you get electric tape + post style fencing. I admittedly haven't seen much of it in the States but everyone and their mother uses it in the UK. You basically have strands of electric tape or rope running between posts, which aren't so deeply buried that they can't easily be moved. That is connected to either a battery or the mains, depending on your set up. Stables in the UK like it because it gives them a lot of flexibility to separate horses depending on the social dynamics at the yard.

Is there anything like that there?


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## Endiku

Yes, there is electric fencing here, and Family P has some running along the top of their fence around the perimeter as reinforcement, but there is only enough to make the perimeter live; not to divide the pasture into two sections. I'd go out and buy some more electric wire myself, but to be honest I'm broke right now. Two boarding fees and all of the extra rice bran, hay, grain, etc is killing me and I haven't been getting many hours at work lately for whatever reason. If I absolutely have to though, I'll see what I can do.


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## Endiku

Picturesss  excuse the huge amount of mud on her legs, I tried to brush it off after the pictures but there is so much of it. We had two days of a LOT of rain which is fantastic but the ground cant handle it and it made a ton of mud that she kindly painted onto her legs. Oh well, at least she's not grey!

And have I ever mentioned what a SLOWWWWW eater she is? I sit and wait for her to eat while she's in this pen since the fencing isn't safe / the other horses are group fed, and she takes over an hour and a half to finish the 3 lbs of alfalfa pellets, 1 lb of feed, and rice bran...twice a day! I end up just letting her do her thing while I do homework/study on the bench beside her, but the crazy little ADD animal moseys around while chewing, comes and tries to 'visit' with me and rubs food on my homework, and eats in tiiiiny bites. I mean, I guess that's a good thing since she probably wont choke with the way she eats, but goodness girl! And sometimes she'll stand there acting like she's gobbling her food down with her head in the bucket, but I'll go over there to see if she's eating too fast and she is taking the TINIEST little nibbles constantly without lifting her head, and usually has her eyes 3/4 closed like she's sleep-eating and can't believe it tastes so great. LOL. 

And she still insists on picking her grain out of the feed before the alfalfa, which takes her even longer. *sigh* this is going to stink when it starts getting cold 

I think she's going to end up having really long mane though  Its grown a LOT in the past few months. Tail is wimpy though. lol. They're both SUPER soft from the supplements <3









eeeek, super ribby when she stretches her neck like this >.> *shoves rice bran down her throat*









her tail is going like crazy in these photos because SOMEONE hates fly spray. Sheesh. Look at this picture closely though. Her eyes are closed while she's eating. LOL









she gets all drowsey eyed when she's eating. Full belly + sun shine on her back + safe from other horses stealing her food = soooo sleepy.









click, this is a video. See? Looks like she's inhaling her feed, but she had about that amount of feed in her bucket for like 10 minutes without a change. I have no idea what she's doing xD


She's just a HAIR under 14hh at the butt now, though! :happydance:


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## smrobs

Didn't I tell you she'd grow?:lol:

Endiku, she's looking so great. You should be incredibly proud of how well you've done with her...and how well you've done _by_ her.


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## Kayella

I don't remember if you ever said anything about this, but have you checked her teeth? She's nearing/is two(I don't remember haha) and isn't that around the time when they first need their teeth floated? Maybe that could be why she takes so long to eat?


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## Endiku

Haha, and I'm not going to lie...for as much as I respect you and the others that told me she'd grow, I didn't really believe y'all! xD I'm still not so sure that she's going to make 15.2hh like the string test says, but as long as she gets out of pony height I'd say we're good! She reminds me of an accordion. She gets all short backed and smooshed looking for a little bit, then streeeeetches out and grows both longer and taller, and thins out a lot, then repeats the process. That neck though? Its staying short and noodlish. It needs to streeeetch!

So lets see. I've had her about 9 months now, and she's grown... almost six inches, and put on more than two hundred pounds. Woohoo! By the way, I need to figure out a 'birthday' for her, so I know when to celebrate it. My best estimate is that the was born the second week of October, so what day should we pick guys?

Kayella, good point! She was checked a few months after she first came to the farm because she had a weird point on one of her back teeth and it was making her drop food, but its been a while since she was checked. She should be two in about three weeks, so I guess she IS due for a floating! Time flies. I'm not going to lie and say I have the money for it right now, since I just had to buy some extra stuff to bring to her new home, but I'll start stashing away money ASAP and once she settles in to her new home we can see about having her floated. In the meantime I'll take a peek into her mouth later when I feed her dinner and see if I can see anything alarming that says she needs done NOW. The good thing is that she doesn't drop any food (unless its on purpose, shoving it out with her nose >.>) or drool, but I know from experience that doesn't mean she necessarily has perfect teeth. Good suggestion!

Also, do you guys think she'll need a light weight blanket this year? She had that ultra thick one last year because she was starving to death, sick, and covered in starvation hair which meant her body was cold, but I doubt she'll need one that thick this year. I'm not sure if I should buy a light weight one though. If she's anything like our other TBs she won't grow a very thick winter coat (and so far she hasn't grown anything resembling a winter coat, but then again yesterday was our first day under 85-90 degrees in forever) but the others have always seemed fine without a coat, unless they're old or arthritic. She's neither of those, but she is definitely still on the slim side. I'd only blanket her on days/nights that get under 40 degrees, and there are few of those, but I'll buy her one if she needs it. What do you guys think?


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## smrobs

LOL, I also doubt she'll make her full "potential" height, but she might surprise us and grow until she's 5 or so.

Kayella, that was a good suggestion and it wouldn't hurt to have that checked whenever you can.

As for the blanket thing, I'd probably save up the money to buy one but hold off on actually buying one until she starts acting like she needs one. You never know, she might get all fluffy and not need one at all.


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## Celeste

You could celebrate her birthday on October 31st. Then she could be a Halloween baby. It would be easy to remember.


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## tempest

I was thinking that too Celeste.


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## Celeste

I thought of it because Halloween is my sister's birthday, and it is easy to remember the day.


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## verona1016

I vote for October 16, but only because that's my birthday.


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## egrogan

Endiku said:


> Also, do you guys think she'll need a light weight blanket this year? She had that ultra thick one last year because she was starving to death, sick, and covered in starvation hair which meant her body was cold, but I doubt she'll need one that thick this year. I'm not sure if I should buy a light weight one though. If she's anything like our other TBs she won't grow a very thick winter coat (and so far she hasn't grown anything resembling a winter coat, but then again yesterday was our first day under 85-90 degrees in forever) but the others have always seemed fine without a coat, unless they're old or arthritic. She's neither of those, but she is definitely still on the slim side. I'd only blanket her on days/nights that get under 40 degrees, and there are few of those, but I'll buy her one if she needs it. What do you guys think?


My concept of blanketing is probably really different than yours given my location in New Hampshire, but if you decide you need one, let me know. I have a few old ones (generally around size 69") that Isabel isn't using, and I'd be happy to send to you. They're probably closer to medium weight, but I'd have to check. Isabel is about 14.3, and while she's pretty petite, it may not be the right fit for Kenzie. But, if you decide you want to try it, just PM me and I'm happy to send it to you!


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## Endiku

October 16th or 31st...hmmmm. :think: 16th is probably closest to her actual age, but the 31st would be so cute! Oh the decisions! My mom's birthday is Oct 13th, and my brothers is Oct 18th so we're going to have a TON of October birthdays to celebrate! 

I usually make Sour a 'cake' (molasses, shredded carrots, rolled oats and peppermint) every year, but I don't think Kenzie will go for that. She is SO suspicious about new foods! I tossed a baby carrot from my lunch in her grain earlier and she gave me a look like 'You POISONED it you monster!' and turned her nose up at the grain, but if it had been Sour she would have devoured it, no questions asked. I swear, can these two get more polar opposite of each other? Haha, I have the best of both worlds! :happydance:

I hope Kenzie does keep growing into her later years and bulks up a little. I'm too used to Quarter Horses to really like how...stringbeanish she is. LOL. Come on, just a little more bulk? As it is she's going to be next to impossible to fit a saddle to. Good thing I'm in NO hurry at all to have her saddle broke. I'm thinking mid-three years old before she should even HEAR the word rider since she's so fragile looking right now.

Egrogan, you are so sweet! :hug:I have no idea what blanket size she'd need, but even if it was a little big I could probably tailor it down a little or something. It doesn't have to be pretty; she'll probably wear it all of 4 or 5 times during the whole winter since it doesn't even get below 50 at night until mid January, and it starts warming up early to mid February xD winters are nonexistent here. Last year on my birthday (Dec 24th) it was 70 degrees outside in the afternoon! Some nights do get cold though, especially if there is wind. I'll definitely keep you in mind if Kenzie doesn't become a puff ball!

Sour on the other hand...I could take half the fuzz off of that pony and MAKE a fur coat for Kenzie, and Sour would still be warm and cozy and very fluffy xD she grows a 5" beard and 3" thick fur. She's set for the artic! LOL.


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## Endiku

Ok, just a little bit of a brag about how good Kenzie's manners are compared to the other horses here. I've been really tough with her about staying out of my space no matter what lately since she was doing that "lets walk on top of Allyson when we're uncomfortable" thing, and she's doing so well. I've been doing the routine of going to catch her and actually bringing her with me while I go get her feed from my feed trunk in the back so that she has to wait quietly tied outside of the feed shed and walk on a SLACK rope behind me and to the side while I carry her food in a bucket to her feeding area, then I send her through the gate and ask her to back up before I go in and dump the food into the bucket. I always expect her to stand quietly without pawing (which you might remember, was a problem for a while), trying to come closer, or fidgeting until I decide that I'm done, then I unclip her lead and expect her to still stand there until I touch her and say 'Ok' as her release. I've only been doing that routine for three days and she already has it down pat, no crowding me while walking or filling the bucket or anything. I'm also teaching her to move her hindquarters, shoulder, or whole body away from me even if she's eating when I ask her to go "over" and touch that part of her, and she's doing really well. She's so...submissive about everything. With Sour it has always been a "Why don't you MAKE ME?" battle with all of these things, which was really interesting to work with, but Kenzie is so opposite of that. 

She's a smart little cookie


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## egrogan

That's awesome! Smart girl, and those manners will serve her well in the future. You must be a very fair and consistent teacher 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Or she's just that forgiving! haha. My timing isn't always perfect, but she tries really hard to figure out what I want. That's one way my girls are both similar- they're very bright. It totally astounds me that Kenzie can be such a forgiving, trusting animal after all that she's been through though. After all of the neglect and abuse, you'd think she would hold some sort of grudge, or hate a certain kind of person, but she doesn't. She's a little more nervous around the men than girls, and she's definitely most comfortable with me because she sees me twice a day, but she's always friendly and looking to make people happy. If I can just get her to the point of being more confident, I think she's going to be a stellar horse for someone, floppy ear, scars and all. I don't think she'll ever be the 'green as grass' beginner type horse just because she's that sensitive to what you want and takes her confidence from those around her, but I think her only other limitation when it comes to anything will be those toothpick legs of hers. She has enough heart to do just about anything.


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## Endiku

PICTUREEEES. And this time I didn't take them! Its gloomy outside this morning...sorry. So the pics aren't high quality. Photo credits to my friend, not me  I have permission.

pardon the bags under my eyes. If you can't tell, I'm exhausted! lol









oh, and my hair is a mess. Humidity is not my friend. Oh well, Kenzie is alert but not 'OMGGOINGTODIE' spooky, and she looks great, so I'm happy!










darned halter keeps sliding down her neck ._. not sure how to fix that.


















Standing like a good girl, behind me and waiting for her breakfast. Good baby!









IMO she's starting to look a little more mature.









This one makes me laugh xD 









Lady, you are the slowest grain mixer in the WORLD. I'm going to wither away, I swear. (little does she know the more impatient she is, the longer I take...LOL)










butt in the aiiir


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## Celeste

She has really grown!!


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## Endiku

She sure has! Good thing too, I was starting to wonder exactly where she's putting all of those calories being poured into her body...haha. Her wither is about level with my chin now, as opposed to here:









where it was at least 2" below my shoulder. And that mini horse halter is history xD Grow Kenzie grow!!!


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## Cherrij

you have done amazing things, never you forget that!This filly would not be as healthy and happy as she is now, if she did not have you!! (ok, maybe someone else would have taken her in, but its always more positive to think better about your own work) 
She has grown, changed, filled out and is a completely different horse!!!


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## Endiku

Thank you Cherrij ^_^ I'm sure she would have been much better off with someone more experienced or at least financially stable than I am, but she ended up with me so I'm going to do my darned best to make sure she has a good life from here on out. At this point it isn't looking like I'm going to get to keep her, but she's made such a huge impression on me that I think even when she's long gone and home with whoever is destined to be her new forever home, she'll still be 'with' me in a sense. People always say that horses rescue people just as much as people rescue the horses...and I'm here to say I KNOW that's true now. She and Sour are the one bright spot in my life right now and they're what I look forward to every day, even on days (most days) when all I have time to do is feed them. Its nice going and seeing healthy, happy animals, and knowing that they're yours.


She's going to make someone an absolutely phenomenal horse, whatever they decide to do with her.


Oh, and good news ^_^ its looking like as of right now, Kenzie is going to her new home on Friday!  Cross your fingers guys!


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## Endiku

Well I feel like a total idiot. BO called just a few minutes ago and apparently I have not been closing the gate to the horse's pen well enough (standard latch gate) and they've learned how to open it...and have gotten out every day for the past 3 days. They just realized that it was me doing it...after the horses ate 3 display haybales for our fundraiser. She is MAD and rightly so. I offered to pay for new ones but they refused.

I feel so terrible...I swear I've been closing it but apparently not like I'm supposed to or something, and now I've caused damage. 

I seriously can't do anything right this week.


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## JulieG

Wow! I've been off for a few months so it's nice to come back and see her looking so good! She really looks like she's grown. Glad to hear the training is going well too.

I love her floppy ear, although it's looking slightly less floppy these days!


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## Endiku

Thanks JulieG! I'm rather partial to that floppy ear too. Its actually a little hard to tell when looking at her from the side, but her front and back profile definitely show that floppy ear xD when anyone asks which horse is mine, every one at the barn always juts replies 'the floppy eared one' and they know! lol

Well, I have good news and bad news. 

The bad news is that I finally got a good look at Miss Kenzie's teeth (I had to have someone help me, she is NOT fond of having her mouth opened manually) and I'm 99% sure they're why she is eating so slow, just like Kayella suggested. They're a _wreck._ Most of the teeth look decent, but there is a hook on one and her very front right tooth actually looks like it has been broken off?!  totally unexpected. Its a lot shorter than the other tooth and a weird color, so I'm thinking it has rotten which I'm _sure_ hurts. Poor gal. Now that I think about it, I bet she did it cribbing, too. She always cribs on that 'side' of her teeth and actually bites down on whatever she is windsucking on, so knowing her that is how she broke it.

Kenzie, give me a break woman; I'm not made of money!!!

So now I definitely need to schedule that float ASAP.I feel bad I didn't even realize that the tooth was that way until now . I also need to look into what its going to cost to get her hernia fixed (for the sake of finding her a home being more likely) and Sour needs another chiropractic visit because her hips are acting sore again. I need to win the lottery.


And I forgot what my good news is xD ah well. Would it be completely cruel of me to have Kenzie floated the day that I move her (since we'll already have a trailer) for money purposes?  if it is, I'll just suck it up and pay for the vet to make a farm call, but no harm in asking...haha


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## Celeste

I don't see why it would be a problem to do both at once.


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## Kayella

There's a vet in Cypress that float teeth cheap. Around $65 or so? Everyone at my barn goes to him apparently. I don't have his phone number, though I need it too for my pony, so when I find out I can pass it to you? 

As for floating and trailering the same day, that's perfectly fine. Have her teeth floated and wait at the vet for a bit for the drugs to wear off then ship her off to the new place. Henny's been sedated at the vet then sent home the same day multiple times. As long as he has time for the drugs to wear off he's dandy.


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## Endiku

Good to hear, that would help me a lot. I'm already having to pay a friend to trailer her, then pay for the new arrangement for Family P (though not very much, they're very kind!), and now this floating (which needed done anyways)..being able to bypass the extra $50 our vet charges for farm calls would be fantastic. I didn't just want to traumatize the poor gal since she hasn't been off the farm in a while. 

Kayella, I'd love it if you could pass on the information to me when you get it! Cypress really isn't too far out of the way for us and $65 is a heck of a lot better than the $110 that Kenzie's usual vet charges...plus a farm call. eesh!

Oh, I just remembered the good news! I've finally worked through the whole 'aerosol fly spray will KILL MEEEE' panick attacks from Kenzie. It took half a bottle of spray and me getting covered in it, but I finally got her to stand quietly while I sprayed her with minimal fidgeting, and no running into me/backwards, jumping sideways, etc. Woohoo!


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## Endiku

:shock:Ok, this might be long-ish because I have a lot to say. The reward is finally seeing Kenzie moving faster than a walk though! LOL.

Firstly, I had a FEC done on her about... two weeks ago, because of that big belly of hers. She did have a decent amount (more than I expected anyways) of strongyles (round worms) but nothing else so the vet said to just dose her with ivermectrin once, then give her another dose a week later which I did. I figured that got them, but I saw another live round worm...on her butt. *sigh* I actually have a picture of it but I'm not so sure its forum friendly xD I'm certain its a round worm though. So obviously we need to worm again. The question though, is what should I worm her with? The ivermectrin didn't seem to work and I really need to get rid of these nasty things before she leaves the farm. Sharing is NOT caring when worms are concerned! I was thinking maybe this: pyrantel pamoate since it says its for adult round worms, and that's what I saw? But I'm confused. I thought strongyles and round worms were the same thing, but the wormer says it treats both, which means they're different?

Also, I ATTEMPTED to take a picture of her tooth today, but it didn't look discolored like it did yesterday...just very worn down. It doesn't help that she has a ton of caked (soaked) feed on her other teeth but its all I could get o.o I don't know if its useful at all or not. That's not normal right?

(ewwww Kenzie, brush your teeth! LOL)









And now pictures of Kenzie going faster than a walk! I know. Its shocking...you were starting to wonder if she even knew how to move out. Sometimes _I_ wonder if she remembers how to go faster than a walk. LOL. I put her in the round pen to let her roll/walk around/whatever while I was scrubbing her water bucket and picking manure out of the dry lot, but she started self exercising and I just couldn't resist going in to take some pictures of her...and a video. Note that I wasn't really encouraging her at all, I'm not a fan of round penning/lunging young horses, but I figured- hey. If she wants to run around, I might as well get a couple of pictures! lol

Sorry they're so blurry...and she looks so..._awkward._ I laughed when I saw her in these pictures. NOT the picture of grace just yet, Kenzie, keep trying! lol









Is there any way to keep that darned halter up on her poll? I tighten it and tighten it but it STILL does that.









Looking ALMOST proportional in this one. xD









She farted and scared herself in this one...mid-bolt. Fun stuff xD



























I have NO idea what she is doing here. :shock: Bolt/crossfire/jump forwards thing? Yikes xD



























I actually only let her play speed demon for about 5 minutes before bringing her in...I was worried she was going to hurt herself even though its a 60' round pen. That's the last thing she needs right now!

I got a 1 minute video of her trotting and doing a tiny bit of canter but its super dark. She seems like of short strided to me though :/ I don't know if its just her conformation, age, or if she's sore again. Click. Sorry about all the airplane activity, the property is right by a small airport.
**


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## Celeste

If it weren't for the ear I would think she was a different horse. She looks so much better!!


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## Wallaby

Endiku said:


> I got a 1 minute video of her trotting and doing a tiny bit of canter but its super dark. She seems like of short strided to me though :/ I don't know if its just her conformation, age, or if she's sore again. Click. Sorry about all the airplane activity, the property is right by a small airport.


To me, though I am absolutely terrible at seeing 'lameness'/soreness, she looks a whole lot like a young horse with gangly long legs who's working her hardest not to get those legs tangled and die. :lol: 
As she's going into the canter, she started taking longer steps and there was some serious overtracking happening there - she might not yet have the muscle/knowledge to stay in the "sweet spot" between taking short steps and overtracking.

For whatever reason, I expected her to be significantly less of a pretty mover! I think she's really gonna be something once she finishes catching up and gets out of this gangly stage. Not that she's not something now, but you know! :lol: There's some real potential there, imho.


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## Endiku

Thanks Celeste! She's really filled out nicely right now, minus that wormy belly. Some weeks she still looks like a skeleton, others she almost catches up with herself enough to be pretty xD



Wallaby said:


> she looks a whole lot like a young horse with gangly long legs who's working her hardest not to get those legs tangled and die. :lol:


LOL, that's exactly what it is too xD she's always forgetting that she's a lot bigger than the used to be, and has to recalculate ALL of the time. Hopefully it is just immaturity (after all, she's not even two yet) and she'll figure herself out as she gets older. I'm in no hurry after all! I just can't imagine her already being under saddle and doing short gallops on the track by this age o.o wow.

She actually is quite a decent mover! I was pleasantly surprised too. All of the race-bred TBs I've met have been hammer-trotters so I figured she'd be the same way, but when she can find the rhythm you catch this glimpse of what she can be and its just so darned exciting. I mean, I doubt she'll ever dressage or eventing material, but small local shows (that don't care about her floppy ear...haha) and all-around pleasure horse? I don't see why she couldn't do awesome with that!


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## ThePaintGirl

She looks so amazing! My dad has completely fallen in love with her, he always asks if there are any updates on Lil Kenzie


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## Endiku

That is so sweet ThePaintGirl! Its amazing how much one little filly can impact so many people isn't it? 

I'm working on a little 'article' type thing about her to send in and hopefully see published in a magazine or two. I think it might really help her chances of finding the perfect forever home. She deserves it. We'll see!


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## Kayella

You can also find local rescues and put her name out there that way. Contact local news stations and try and generate some interest. The more she's seen, the better!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs

Endiku, she looks like a very lovely little mover. Something that I just thought of, if she never does mature enough to be a suitable riding horse, she would make a darling little cart horse.

Oh, and I think the reason the halter won't stay up on her may be because the cheeks are too long. If the knots are loose enough, you might try shortening those up a little and see if it helps.


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## verona1016

I'm wondering if the broken/discolored tooth is loose and about to come off. It's normal for the front center teeth to fall out at around 2 1/2 years old- maybe cribbing has loosed them up a little bit early? In any case, it's definitely worth getting an equine dentist to take a look while you're getting the hooks filed off


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## Endiku

Great advice guys! I definitely need to see if the news or newpaper would like to do a little story on her, and the local rescues is a great idea too. Now that she's looking good I might look at finding some local shows for her to go to as well, although that might be a challenge since I'd have to find someone to trailer her. It would be great exposure! The trouble I'm having with magazines is that I don't subscribe to any of them, so the chances of her getting published are very slim xD

Smrobs- hehe, I've thought of that too. Would she be the CUTEST thing pulling a little two-wheeled buggy or something? Perfect height for that too, if she never did grow ;D I'll see if the knots for the cheekpieces will shorten up a little. Either Kenzie has a tiny head, or this is just a huge yearling halter because its too big on her in just about every direction! lol. I'm not sure she'll ever even grow out of it at this rate. Not that I mind...I'd rather a petite head than a clunky one!

Verona- good point! I wasn't sure when it was that horses lost those front teeth, so when I saw that tooth I freaked xD it doesn't seem to hurt her, but it sure is ugly o.o as soon as I get paid again I'll be making her an appointment to be filed down and ask about the tooth. Hopefully it is normal though, I'd rather that she wasn't toothless before she turned two! lol


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## Kayella

Henny's was huge whenever he first got his. HUGE! Now it fits a lot better but I still have almost a foot of excess rope when I tie it. He also has a petite head and is still fitting weanling halters LOL. His will also slip down his neck. Does she have a bridle path? Maybe make a small one near her poll so the halter will stop at the end of her bridle path instead of slipping down.


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## Endiku

Nope, no bridle path. I hadn't bothered yet, since her mane is fairly scraggly and thin anyways xD Maybe I'll try trimming a little one and see if it work. Good idea!

How accurate do you guys think measuring her heart girth and using a conversion to find her weight is? I have no clue what she weighs right now which means I'm probably underdosing her with the wormer.


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## Celeste

To get a story published in a magazine, you need to look in the magazine and find the address (hopefully email address) for the editor of the magazine. Write them and ask if they look at unsolicited submissions. Give a VERY short (maybe a sentence) about what your story is about. You may have to write to a lot of place to get your article accepted, but somebody will probably be interested. Be sure that you keep your initial query letter to the editor short and to the point. When sending in the actual article, it is a good idea to get several people to look it over for typos and grammatical mistakes.


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## Endiku

Thanks Celeste! Maybe I can find a friend who subscribes.

I've also contacted multiple large facebook groups in hopes of sparking some interest there.


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## Celeste

Or you can just buy one magazine.


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## Hunter65

Wow endiku I haven't been here in a while and I must say she looks fabulous. Great job girl! I missed it where is she going to? I sold hunter. He has gone to a lady that does eventing which I think he will excel at. I have my new guy Scotty and just love him to bits
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Celeste - LOL, Right. I could. Silly me! xD

Hunter - Thank you!  She's going to one of my friend's houses about 20 minutes from where she is now. Its a longer drive for me but they have better hay. a little better pasture, and much less danger. I just keep hitting road blocks on GETTING her there. ugh! Its only a temporary situation though, I believe she has to be gone by February-ish which doesn't give me long to find her a suitable home. I have no idea what I'll do if she doesn't find a home by then.

Awww, you sold Hunter? I'll miss seeing pictures of that little guy, but I bet he's going to LOVE eventing! He'll be so adorable popping over courses!


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## Hunter65

He is a cute little jumper and he loves it. It was time to find him a new home after 4 years we just never clicked. Is there no way you can keep Kenzie. I think you belong together.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

I've tried to think of any way I could possibly keep her, but I just can't figure one out. One suggestion was to try leasing her out until I'm financially stable (a few years away at LEAST) but unfortunately being that she's not even two (will be two in about two weeks) and not even ready to be backed for, at absolute least, another 6-8 months (and if she was with me it would be at least another year) there is a very low chance of anyone wanting to lease her, even for free. Right now she's just a money drainer.

If I had a very cheap boarding situation and she did ok on ad lib hay/rice bran, theoretically I MIGHT be able to keep her, but I wouldn't have much money to deal with emergencies (which are a given with her...LOL) but that is a lot of ifs. I'm enrolling full time into college next August and I still only have a 10-12 hour-per-week job which just isn't going to cut it when I have to pay for both college and my insurance. Not to mention that at some point I'm sure my parents will get tired of me and want me to move out. 

I really, really wish I could keep her...she's pretty much my world right now, but its just not fair to her to make her deal with my financial instability when she desperately needs an owner who can pay for things like floating, hernia surgeries, and chiropractic visits without literally scraping pennies. Its not fair to her for me to keep her, no matter how much my heart wants to.

Its going to hurt to let her go though. I've spent a lot of time healing her body and mind this year, but I don't think she'll ever leave my heart. And who knows? Maybe 5,6,7...15 years down the road...we'll meet up again. At least she has a very distinguishable face (floppy year) that I'd be able to recognize!


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## JulieG

I wonder if they have any charity training programs that might take her.

I've never heard of something like that but I've never really been looking for it either. I know there are a ton of rescues, maybe one of them could take her on or a while and help with her training while you're getting on your feet, but let you keep ownership?


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## Hunter65

Ohh endiku I so feel for you. I know after all you have done it will be so hard to let Kenzie go. I know I had the same feeling gs with hunter. I wish I could do something to help you. You have been her world too and I really hate to see you separated. You are one special lady and i mean lady. My hat is off to you
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## KigerQueen

Try to see if a feed store would sponsor you guys? Post your story in a paper and see if you could find her a home that way. I would take her but sadly hay prices are getting me atm .


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## Endiku

hmmm. I don't know Julie, I've never heard of anything like that either. But just like you, I've never looked either. I doubt there is anything out there that would let me retain ownership, but maybe theres a program out there that needs her. I could always look around.

Hunter65- Yeah, it will be :/ I'm trying not to think about it, but as the time gets closer its a reality I have to face unfortunately. Thank you though, the support from you and everyone else really has helped me a lot. Kenzie wouldn't be in half as good of a situation as she is now without you all advising me along the way!

KingerQueen- funny you should mention that, I was just at TSC getting some more alfalfa pellets (have I mentioned how crumby it is to be allergic to the hay you feed your horse? LOL) and a wormer, and happened to ask the guy who I'm assuming is the manager (he referred to TSC as 'his' store, and getting in 'his' shipments of a certain feed, etc) about a bucket tie, and we got to talking about Kenzie and her love for spilling her feed and 'mixing' some dirt into it for flavoring. I ended up telling him a short version of her story and it turns out that he has rescued a few equines and dogs before, and he was super interested. He wants updates about Kenzie whenever I stop by now...maybe the story _would_ be willing to at least discount us on some grain or something. hmmmm. Not sure how I'd bring that up though!


re: wormer- I bought some "Athelcide EQ" today (oxibendazole) because it said it kills large and small strongyles, small strongyles, round worms, and threadworms. Sound ok to give her? How much do you think I should give? I really have no clue what she weighs.


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## Cherrij

Endiku said:


> How much do you think I should give? I really have no clue what she weighs.


I noticed nobody answered the previous time when you asked how to tape the weight. 

Equation: BW (kg) = [heart girth (cm)2 x length (cm)]/11877

This is done with a simple measuring tape in CM, measure right behind the shoulder, over the base of withers - get that measurement and square it. Then multiply by body length (point of shoulder to point of hip) and divide it all by 11877









Good luck  I am sure the best solution will come by.


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## Endiku

Thanks Cherrij! Hopefully now I'll at least be in the ball park range of her weight. It will be interesting to see what she weighs.

I haven't been doing much of the syringe desensitizing (no time) though, so worming her today might prove to be...eventful to say the least. lol.


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## Endiku

Well, I forgot both my measuring tape and wormer today, so Kenzie didn't get wormed. This past week or so has been pretty awful and I'm sleep deprived and I keep forgetting silly things. I have a bit of flu too (from the vaccination, I think) and feel over-all terrible. Kenzie cheers me up a bit though. After she ate breakfast, even though I didn't REALLY have time, I decided to take her for a walk down the trails, mostly for my sake. I ended up taking her on the 'haunted' trail that even some of our THERAPY horses are squirmy about going on, and oh my goodness she did so wonderful. There is cob webbing everywhere, skeletons with glowing eyes, spiders, billowing ghosts, scarecrows...total sensory overload- and she was an absolute angel walking down the trail. Never tried to crowd me, walked with her head down behind me and to the side like she's been taught, and over all just did superb. She was breathing pretty hard (that's her reaction to scary stimulus, heavy breathings/snorting) and very alert, but never balked or spooked at all. Well, until the VERY end anyways, when we had to pass a black 10 ft ghost suspended from the trees that blew all over the place. She popped her head and snorted hard at it a few times but walked right past it. I decided to bring her over to 'investigate' though and she was hilarious! She'd take a step, stretch her neck as faaaar as it would go, sniff the ghost, and stepped back. She did that liked ten times but I eventually got her to walk around it and even under it before we stopped. Good girl Kenzie!

Then I tried to walk her over a teeter totter bridge. Little goofball tried just about everything she could think of to avoid walking over it, including taking a HUGE step over the side of it, trying to jump it, and sidepassing over it, but eventually I got her to step up and walk over it. Silly girl.


The rest of the day totally stunk and I feel like death right now, but she definitely makes my day tolerable!


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## smrobs

Yay Kenzie and Endiku! :happydance:

Sorry you're not feeling good though, hopefully after a good night's sleep, tomorrow will be better.


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## Endiku

I think its just the stress getting to me again. I've had a migraine since Saturday evening that refuses to go away, and I usually get those when I'm stressed. Not much I can do about it though.

I remembered the wormer and tape today. According to the calculation Cherrij gave me, she's about 680 lbs, so I went again and wormed her with the 700 mark. But when I put it in her mouth, I don't know if I didn't shove it far back enough ro what, but she spit half of it out so I ended up just dosing her with the whole syringe. Hopefully enough got down her throat for it to do its job. She makes some HORRIBLE faces and make a huge mess with it, and got it all over me, her halter, the lead rope, and wiped it on her legs too so she had to have a bath. Oi Kenzie!

Oh, and apparently she is incapable of not being injured for more than a few weeks. She came up to me for breakfast this morning with two big bite/kick (I cant figure out which) marks on her upper back and stifle. They're both rather swollen and hairless, and very slightly open (it actually looks like it swelled enough to open it? not sure though) which freaked me out, but I hosed both of them for the swelling for about 20 minutes and they went down, so I _think_ they'll be ok. I put just a dab of swat on them too, because flies and gnats are terrible right now. Thankfully they didn't seem painful (she let me poke at them) but I gave her a 1/2g of bute just in case. I don't know what she did to make one of her herd mates gives her that though! o.o

I'm pretty sure she's TRYING to move up in rank in the herd though, which is probably what earned her those bites. Ive been seeing her boss Busch and the Arabian mare around a lot, trying to get them to move away from the roundbale, so she's probably just making a nuisance of herself and they decided to put her back in her place.


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## Endiku

More pictures! These are from the past couple of days though, not all today.

These are from...two days ago? Maybe three? This is when I took her on the 'haunted' trail 









'so many new things...I don't know which to look at first!' I'm pretty proud of her. Note how she looks very alert, but in no way panicked or nervous. More of a 'wow, this is a lot of stuff!' than 'I AM GOING TO DIE'









a view of the trail.









The scary scarecrows!









"what is THAT thing?"









Ok, I'm officially going to have to figure out how to shorten those cheekpieces. haha









The 10 ft ghost that she wasn't too sure about xD










Then these are all from yesterday. We're still working on stepping onto bridges as you can see...she insists on walking sideways over them. *sigh* but hey, she does it! haha. Please pardon her hooves, my farrier has cancelled coming out twice and she's a bit over a week overdue, plus the wet/dry/wet/dry is no good and they chipped a little.











Looking seriously adorable.









Bite #1) swelling is all the way down, no heat, doesn't appear to hurt at all. I think she'll be just fine. Excuse the scummy stuff; its left over Neosporin that I hadn't washed off yet. 









#2) This one only opened on the bottom but has no hair. No swelling, doesn't appear to hurt. I'm not even putting anything on it right now.









Do you guys agree that they look like bites, or do they look more like kicks or something else? I wasn't sure how she could be kicked like that all the way up on top of her back, so I'm just assuming they're bites.

looking as awkward as possible for her picture of course. She's starting to get a little fuzzy!










more in next post.


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## Endiku

And this one is from today!!! That's right ladies and gentlehorses, Kenzie went to her new home this afternoon! I didn't get any pictures at the new place since I haven't asked permission to take pictures on their property yet + I was slightly busy dealing with everything, but I'll try to soon 

getting ready to load.









Looking a little nervous about being in a trailer for the first time in a while. She loaded like a champ though. I didn't even have to get in with her!









don't worry, I untied her before we actually left. The tying was more for the sake of the picture than anything xD we also closed off the back half so she was more confined.

"gosh darnit, when did I get so tall? I can't see!"









baby butt.









'uh, uh...I don't know whats going on!!!' Poor baby!









She trailered beautifully without a problem. We had a little trouble trying to get her to back out (there is no ramp) so I ended up just taking her through the side door since she's small enough.  We'll have to work on that. She was a little jittery at first when we got there, but we introduced her to her new fieldmates without too much trouble. Jewel, the mare, felt the need to run her around a little but didn't take any actual bites (unlike SOMEONE in her old herd... >.>) and the gelding was thrilled to have another girl friend. I left them all grazing peacefully, and Family P will watch her closely this evening to make sure they get along. Fingers crossed!


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## egrogan

Woohoo! Congrats on the move. She looks great in all her pictures. Can't wait to hear how she settles in.

Also- I love the haunted trail. We really want to get a proper sensory trail going at our therapy barn next year, just didn't happen this year. But I love all the fun things you can do with something like that.


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## Endiku

Thanks! I'm just glad it finally worked out.

The trail is what I'm going to miss most about the farm, I think. She'll be safe (hopefully) at her new home but they only have the horse pasture and dirt roads. The roads I might be able to lead her on, but I'm just not sure yet. At the place we just left, there was the trails, obstacle courses, an arena, a round pen, etc. Plenty of stuff to do and to use for young horses!


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## Endiku

Things are looking UP for Kenzie!!! :happydance:

I just replied to an answer to my first ad for Kenzie. I didn't think I'd actually get any answers to it...I couldn't even pay for a photo-ad so it was standard text. Even the website said I was unlikely to get a reply.

But I did. I called the lady, and wow. She is _so_ sweet. She lives about an hour away from my area and we talked for almost two hours. Turns out she has extensive experience with rehabbed horses, and has three of her own who are all from bad situations. She's just about to retire her 27 year old Arabian gelding and is looking for a two year old that she can start in a year or two, and is just looking for a smaller, sane young horse (she's only 5' tall...perfect!!!) to ride on trails and beaches. I gave her a short story of what Kenzie's been through and how she's doing in training right now, and she seems very interested. She has a trainer who starts BLM mustangs for a living that she will be working closely with, and a large pasture for her horses. Sounds absolutely fantastic.

Anyways, I sent her some pictures and we're going to talk again in a few days, then if she likes what she sees, she and her trainer will come meet Kenzie for themselves! Fingers crossed guys...this woman sounds perfect, and she seems very kind hearted. She has a 5 year old mare who she rescued from a man who beat her by 2 by 4s so she knows what its like to work with horses that may have some physical or psychological trauma, and she said even if Kenzie didn't work out as a riding horse, she keeps her horses for life. She's going to send me a reference or two as well.

I really, really hope this works out. Wow.


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## tempest

That's awesome! She sounds really nice. If I were you, I would want to check out this lady's property also just to make sure it's Kenzie proof. Especially considering how accident prone Kenzie is turning out to be.


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## Endiku

Good idea. Should I ask to come out personally or should I just ask for pictures? I'm having a hard time figuring out what the line between concerned seller and 'control freak-hard to deal with seller'. LOL. 

This is her ad. As you can see, I was rather blunt about her past.

Brown 2 Year Old Thoroughbred Filly | Buy this Horse at Equine.com


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## JulieG

What great news! I hope it all works out, sounds like she would be perfect.


Maybe wait until she comes down to see Kenzie and then if she still wants her ask about visiting the property?


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## JulieG

Also, maybe you should get a contract when/if you do end up selling her saying that if for any reason they don't want her anymore she'll go back to you or another seller you approve of.


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## tempest

And that's the thing isn't it; Where is that border? Maybe you could just ask if the lady would mind letting you visit the property or if she would mind sending pictures of the property to you.

My first choice question would be the property visit though. Anyone can take a picture off of the internet.

If I were looking to buy a horse and I knew the horse came from a hard past I wouldn't be too upset over the seller asking to see my barn property before hand. But that's me though. We'll have to see what the rest of the forum has to say in their opinion of sellers visiting buyer's properties.

And it's good to be blunt about her past, just to let people know what they are looking at. And without a picture, they really wouldn't be able to see her too well before actually meeting her.

And ETA: Definitely wait until the potential buyer comes out to see her. And maybe also if the buyer wants the trainer to come out. I think they'd be more receptive if you waited until they both gave their approval before asking to visit.


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## Endiku

Good advice everyone! Thanks. This is my first time dealing with a buyer that I don't know whatsoever (I sold my mini mule filly to a friend of a friend, and I wasn't exactly attached to the little butt head...haha) so I'm trying not to be overly trusting, but also not sound paranoid either. The lady already seemed to completely understand my concern (actually, she figured out I was going to be picky before even talking to me, and that's why she wanted to talk on the phone instead of via email) and offered to send me pictures of her current horses, so it sounds like she won't be the type to freak out and run if I did ask, but I'll absolutely wait until after they've come to see her. I'm a little nervous about what the trainer will think of her (better make sure those ground manners are perfect!) since she and this lady were searching ads together, and the trainer didn't sound extremely thrilled that the lady really wanted to pursue Kenzie the most of all of the horses they looked at, but I can't really blame her. After all, the only thing that ad says is "this is a stunted abused filly with possible potential." haha. I'm pretty sure Kenzie can win them over fast though. She's an absolute doll.

I'm not sure I'd go as far as trying to make a contract (if that's even possible) saying she had to go back to me, because I feel like maybe thats too much like a rescue, and I'm not a certified rescue. I would definitely ask, just as a courtesy measure, for first right of refusal, but I wouldn't count on actually getting it. I realize that, as sad as it is, once she's out of my care and the money has exchanged hands, I have no right to her anymore.


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## Celeste

Did you mention the hernia?


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## Endiku

I think I forgot it in the ad, but I mentioned it in my reply to the lady. I'm looking into having it fixed though (the vet is supposed to evaluate it again when she goes in for her floating) so hopefully it will be a non-issue very soon.


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## MsLady

It looks like things are starting to go in the right direction for you guys. How is she doing at the new place?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs

:happydance:


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## Godgirl

WOW Congrats! :happydance::clap:


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## Endiku

She seems to be settling in pretty well. Family P said that their mare got a little grumpy with Kenzie when it was time to decide where she stood in the pecking order, but so far there are no battle scars to show for it or anything! They said she seems to fit right in and was grazing on what little grass they have all evening, and when I came out to see her today she seemed as bright any happy as ever. Woohoo!


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## cobra

Endiku said:


> Good idea. Should I ask to come out personally or should I just ask for pictures? I'm having a hard time figuring out what the line between concerned seller and 'control freak-hard to deal with seller'. LOL.
> 
> This is her ad. As you can see, I was rather blunt about her past.
> 
> Brown 2 Year Old Thoroughbred Filly | Buy this Horse at Equine.com


Just to throw my two cents in here.....from both sides of the situation. 

As a buyer, i have had sellers ask to view my property 1st hand to be sure it is 'safe and adequate'. I had no issues with it - apart from a few who seemed to have a attitude about it. Imo it shows the owners actually care about the horse and it's new home. 

As a (new) owner, i would have no issues asking to see their property to assure the situation is a good one for the horse and the new owner. I would ask in a respectful manner of course, not an arrogant one - but i would by all means ask to see their property if they were seriously interested. I think that also reassures buyers that you care about the horse and both of their safety (horse and new owner). JMHO there. 

Sounds like a great situation for her. Keep us updated, and GL.....


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## Endiku

Well today is Kenzie's "birthday" so she's now two years old!!!  I made her a cake with a tiny bit of molasses, peppermint, and apple slices and I'm going to bring it to her this evening. 

Other than that I've been talking to the lady a lot this week that wants to buy Kenzie, and she seems so sweet. She plan on coming down with her trainer in about two weeks (she's busy until then) to meet Kenzie. So far she seems to really know what she's talking about and has been very interested in knowing what her personality is and how she's doing, so fingers crossed!


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## Wallaby

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENZIE!! :happydance: :happydance:


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## Skyseternalangel

Happy birthday Kenzie!!!


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## verona1016

Yay! Happy Birthday, Kenzie!


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## Endiku

And if I'm not mistaken, happy birthday to you too Verona!!!

Wallaby- best.picture.ever. LOL.

Kenzie wasn't a huge fan of her cake...she's such a suspicious eater when it comes to new things.! haha. I think it was the apple. In true odd-ball fashion, she does not like carrots or apples. WELL FINE. Prince and Jewel, her two new 'bestest buddies evarrrr' didn't mind helping her eat it at all! 

And holy cow, Kenzie sprouted fur overnight xD I swear she was still a sleek typical-TB thin-coated yearling when I left last night, and when I came today I found a fur ball two year old on her place! Well, underneath all of the mud anyways. I think she's having an identity crisis and thinks she's a pig right now because she was COVERED from head to hoof with it plastered in her mane and under her belly when I came out, and looked so happy with herself. Good thing she's not white 

Looks like she's not going to need a blanket this year after all, though. Not unless it gets below freezing, which is insanely rare.


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## Endiku

I just got laid off. I'm really not sure what to do right now...


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## amp23

Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Finances are killing all of us right now. *hugs* I wish I could help! Hopefully things will progress forward with the lady looking to buy Kenzie from you.


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## Endiku

Me too. I have enough feed bought for another two months for both girls, and a little bit of money stashed away that should take care of farrier bills, but that's about it. I guess I'll be job hunting immediately...

I kind of thought this might happen soon, which is the only reason I had any money saved at all. A lot of people, mostly us teenagers, are being let go right now.


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## smrobs

Oh, honey :hug:. That sucks. Hopefully something better will come along.


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## Wallaby

Endiku said:


> I just got laid off. I'm really not sure what to do right now...


That was basically my day too! What is WITH today? Seriously. Rude.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

Hang in there. :hug:


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## Endiku

D: I'm so sorry to hear that Wallaby! I read your thread religiously even if I don't reply to it (creepy stalkerish huh?) and it sounds like you've had a not-fun week or two  

I guess the up side to all of this is that Kenzie DOES have that prospective home, and Sour is generating a little bit of interest too. I suppose this is a sign that I really am supposed to give them up.


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## Skyseternalangel

Today has been hard on both you and Emily... man. 

I was once let go, and it made me cry like crazy (forced to quit or be fired) but that was over 3 years ago. I couldn't be happier. I also had just gotten Sky at the time.

Things will work out, I promise!


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## JulieG

I'm sorry to hear that! For both of you!


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## Endiku

That's pretty much how things went down for me too. My boss called and explained to me that they needed to let go 5 employees because they just don't need as many people as they once did (I guess we're just too efficient >.>) and that I was one of them. Apparently I hadn't done anything to warrant firing, but I was picked because I had the most inflexible schedule between highschool and college, and I could to either be fired for something totally stupid or to just quit myself, which, according to my boss, might look better on my resume? Whatever.

I'm pretty down about it. I went to visit Kenzie and cried a lot (sweet girl let me <3. Sour would have ripped my face off) but I felt a little better after that. Its not like theres a whole lot I can do about it, I guess.

I'm mostly upset that I'm not going to be able to get the hernia surgery and floating for Kenzie that I had scheduled for next week since it will affect her sellability. Maybe I'll be able to find a fast food job or something and still be able to get those for her. The only problem with job finding though is, again, my schedule. With the schedule I can work, I'd be forced to work nights which means pretty much zero sleep for me. And with my lovely health, that's really just not a good idea.


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## xXSweetBreezeXx

Oh Endiku, I am so sorry to hear that things have taken this turn for you! I really wish that the good people out there got what they really deserve...Judging by the kind of person you seem to be on this forum, you deserve a lot better than what you've been dealt!
I really truly hope things work out for you and get better in the very near future!


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## Endiku

Thank you SweetBreeze. Yes, its unfortunate, and I'm starting wonder if I'm even capable of having a normal 'nothing big happened' month, but I guess it keeps me on my toes! LOL.

I spent yesterday evening applying for jobs in person in hopes of meeting a manager or two, but nothing yet. I plan to go back out this evening though.


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## Endiku

I'm going to miss this little ****** so much when she finds a home. I started teaching her how to side pass over a ground pole for the first time today, and no joke- she got it in less than 5 minutes. Whether or not she remembers tomorrow, I don't know, but yay! She was already yielding her shoulder and hindquarters beautifully so I was like "hey, why not?" and after just a couple of 'wiggles' forward and coaching her by moving her butt, then her shoulder, then her butt again, she was moving away from my hand perfectly sideways. Such a smart girl.

I had a new farrier come today too, and I'm in LOVE with her already. Kenzie has always been a little iffy with her back legs being picked or trims, and I figured she was just being a butt so I reprimanded her. Turns out, the way the other farrier was trimming her was making it harder for her to balance on three legs with one hoisted in the air, so the farrier showed me how to hold her leg at a certain angle to help her out, and voila- no more fidgeting/jerking her leg around. Wow, I feel bad now...heh.


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## Endiku

wow...things might not always seem great but there's obviously someone looking out for the girls and I.

First- I got a call this morning from a driving academy interested full leasing Sour from me. They said their only possible apprehension was her age since she's only 5 and a half, but they saw her ad video (of me driving her through obstacles, on a trail, in an arena...lunging, ground driving, etc) and they're impressed with her. They're looking for a new mini to use for driving lessons for the more advanced beginners, to replace their arthritic 26 year old mini. Anyways, they're coming to have someone test her out on Monday, and if they like her we'll discuss things.

If they like her, I can still own her, and she can do what she loves. Work. No cuddly kissy little kids and no sitting in a pasture. Sounds great to me!

And then with Kenzie, I had two different people approach me separately and offer to help me out with her still getting her teeth floated, so it looks like that's still going to be done. My friend offered to trailer her so I don't have to pay the farm call fee, and she's scheduled for a float and to have that tooth pulled (I KNOW its rotten now, it has changed colors sadly...) on Friday. Then the lady interested in her is hoping to come see her Sunday with her trainer.

Fingers crossed. Its all moving so fast, but I'm trying to be happy that both of my girls have such a good chance at fantastic homes


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## Zexious

That's lovely!! So glad to hear things in that aspect are working out. How is the job search coming? ^^


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## Endiku

I had an interview for Buffalo Wild Wings (yeah...I know. Its a job though...haha) two days ago and they seemed to like me but I haven't heard back from them. I'm going to bug them tomorrow though, if I don't hear from them today. Other than that though everything has been a no-go so far.


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## smrobs

Woot! :happydance:


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## egrogan

That sounds like a great opportunity for Sour! Fingers and toes crossed for you 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

It has been raining ALL day today so we had to reschedule meeting the lady and her trainer. Its a swamp outside right now and conditions are not good enough for her to want to drive the hour and a half here in the rain. Both of our schedules are so crazy that it looks like it might be next weekend before they come now, the day after Kenzie gets floated. Hopefully she isn't too ouchy the next day and doesn't act grumpy. The academy people are still coming to see Sour tomorrow though as long as it isn't still raining.

The rest of this post is just me being ultra-moody and grumpy.

I hate the idea of giving up my girls. I hate the idea of losing my only access to horses. I hate how fast this is all moving. I've been in a terrible mood for the past few days and I feel bad about it...I know its annoying my family. I'm trying to just keep to/brood to myself so I don't end up being grouchy with them, and I keep telling myself this is in the horse's best interest, but it doesn't make things any easier. I almost hope the lady wanting to buy Kenzie DOESN'T want her but then I'm angry at myself for even thinking that. She seems very kind and like she knows what she is doing, so why would I wish that? A life of beach riding, trails, and daily belly and ear scratches is perfect for Kenzie. It is SO selfish of me to not want her to go somewhere like that. 

But I'm going to miss her. I know I've worked with her a lot less time than with Sour...and I feel bad about that too. I'll miss Sour, but not to the extent of missing Kenzie. I love Sour, don't get me wrong. Its been an amazing journey with her and she's the one who taught me a lot of what I know. But she just isn't the 'lets be friends, I trust you completely' type that Kenzie is. 

Kenzie though...ugh. I wish so much that I had bought and rehomed her a while back, or that the original HF home had worked out with Kenzie's old BO...because then I wouldn't be so attached to her. I know in my mind that Kenzie will not know the difference when she moves on, and that she'll love her new home even more than she loves it with me because she'll have pasture and someone to dote on her, but _I_ will know the difference. She has become such a huge part of my life. The idea of not seeing her every day, even just to feed her hurts. And it hurts even more to know that with her and Sour I'm losing all of my horse world. Not for good...someday I will own again. But for a while. That hurts a lot too. Horses saved me in more ways that you guys could ever imagine. I know that sappy, but its true. I felt like an oddball, like no one accepted me, until I discovered them. I guess I'm scared I'll loose part of me with them.


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## AnalisaParalyzer

you've accomplished so much i feel so..... inadequate to be giving you advice. but, if its not to....idk....here goes



i had similar feelings when i had to give up my jumper pony when i was 17. he was my world, and so was riding, but a hurricane had just wiped out one of my parents companies, and things were rough. he went to a couple young girls id known for years, shown with and liked a lot, they're horse had just died from a bad colic, and smugly was perfect for them. but i felt lost. and then i got lost.
i got into all sorts of bad things. with all the wrong people. 

i still trained here and there. oh my horse needs breaking, oh my pony bucks....can you ride my mare while im on vacation....

but i didnt bond with any of them and i just sort of..floated.

a boyfriend of mine came up to me one day with print outs of three horses ads. and he said we're going to look. so i went. and ended up with annie. 

that part of you that feels like its going to whither and die never really does, it never goes away, or stops being you. if your smart (which everybody on this forum knows you are Super duper intelligent, wise beyond your years) you never let it hide either. thats what i did. i regret it, even though i learned from it. 


losing your girls will hurt, but i believe, with as strong as you've shown us you are, that you can find a way to stay around horses. leasing, or trading barn work, or volunteering like you did, anything.... i think you'll find a way. even with college and school, and finding a new job, i think you can do it. 

you've done amazing things with both your girls, and provided them with all the tools they'll need to move on, pat yourself on the back for that. hell, throw yourself a party. you deserve it.


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## Endiku

Thank you, AnalisaParalyzer...you are absolutely not inadequate to give me advice, please don't think that. I'm just an insane kid taking on the world...sometimes well, sometimes not so well. haha.

I guess I AM just an emotional wreck (I might be 'mature' for my age but apparently I still have the whole "happy one minute, eeyore the donkey the next" days) because I almost cried when I read your post. It must have been so terrible for you to have to let go of your boy...but I am so very glad that you met Annie who seems to be the perfect match for you. It gives me hope.

Your post was very encouraging to me. Thank you.


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## Endiku

Sour's "interview" seemed to go really well! Its really wet outside but we made it work. She let them catch her, lunged w-t-c in both directions flawlessly for them (thank goodness! Sometimes she's a little sticky on her right lead at the canter), tacked up and hitched to the cart without moving a muscle, and drove quietly. They only did walk and a tiny bit of trot since its so darned muddy, but they seemed quite impressed with her. They want to see her one more time on a drier day when they can see her in action a little better under cart, and they're going to bring one of their school minis out to ground drive double with her (I'd been training her to hitch tandem but we moved barns and her old driving buddy is still at the other barn) and if she does well, they'll take her. We're thinking a 6 month lease at first, and if she likes working with them (its a bit redundant and I wasn't sure how she would do with doing the same thing almost all the time) and takes to the low level show atmosphere for the more advanced students, they'll buy her as a full-time member of their crew.


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## Northernstar

What a wonderful positive, Endiku! They do sound like good owners that would make Sour very happy and well cared for


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## egrogan

Glad she did well. Not sure if I missed this, but would they not consider something like a long-term lease so you can retain ownership, or do they only want her if they can eventually buy her outright?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

They didn't seem particularly fond of the idea because they'd be putting more hours (and show time) into her that would boost her value a lot, but maybe we can strike some sort of deal since they really seem to like her.


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## egrogan

I can understand that perspective. I'm just rooting for you here and want a solution where you can take her back when you're ready


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## Endiku

Thanks Egrogan. I understand why they would want to do that too, so I'm not holding my breath that they'll agree to a long term lease, but there's no harm in discussing it I guess. Either way though, if Sour is happy as a lesson horse (She is going to be SO cute) I can learn to be happy without her. I've felt like I've been neglecting her lately and just adores driving.

Oh, and a 'peek into my life' I took my SAT again on Oct 5th...and got a WAAAAY better score than my first time. My original score was 1560 with a very bad math score, but I boosted it a ton this time and go a 1820 with above average scores on everything!!!


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## NorthernMama

If you are confident that Sour's prospective buyers are going to provide a good home, why the lease? To their benefit so they have an out? If so, I'd be leary. What if they mess something up in training and try to blame it on you? If they are confident and able, then why the hesitation?


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## Endiku

They said that they wanted to lease at first because of her age, and they weren't sure if she would be able to handle the program since she's only 5. I know about the academy (my old trainer that helped start Sour for me came from there) and I know that take care of the animals, but they do have fairly strenuous work loads. The academy has only 7 driving lesson horses. Two drafts, four lighter horses, and the mini that they're replacing, and apparently they have quite a few clients, so each horse works at least 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. Their idea was that if she just doesn't hold up to the work load or seems stressed by it/not willing to work they would end the lease after 6 months, but if she seems like a good fit they would buy her. I think her age and the fact that she has had no show experience except for two 'fun' showmanship shows is what makes them balk at buying her outright since there is no guarantee she'll do well in the show ring with lesson drivers.

Does it seem fishy to you, or like maybe I should just tell them they either buy her outright or they don't at all?


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## NorthernMama

Sorry, Endiku, I just don't have the experience with that kind of scenario to provide advice or insight.

I don't see why she couldn't handle the workload if she is healthy. That's not a lot of work for a horse, mini or not. The show factor: I have no idea. But, there are NEVER guarantees with horses. What if she is hurt while with them? Whose responsibility will that be and if you have to take back a horse that will no longer be capable of performing at whatever discipline, how do you find a new home? Just an example of what "could" go wrong.

Maybe you should start a new thread about Sour's current situation. Get more input. This thread is pretty vague -- it's almost "Endiku's thread" :lol: rather than "The happy thread."


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## Endiku

XD yeah, that's what its become hasn't it? Its just so complicated to have 50 threads with my billion and two problems so I end up just sort of throwing all in one. Maybe I will start one for her, asking people's opinions. 


Back on track with Kenzie though, do you guys have any suggestions for presenting her to the prospective buyers? I had a general idea with Sour because obviously they were going to want to see her tacked and driven, but with Kenzie I just have no idea. Should I leave her in the pasture and offer for them to catch her or watch me catch her? Tie her up and have her waiting for them? I'm going to bathe her Friday morning (its still 80 degrees here) before she is floated so I'm hoping she'll just need brushed down and have her mane untangled before they get there. Should I braid her, leave her hair loose? I really have no idea. I'm assuming the trainer is going to want to mess with her some, since she'd be the one taking over Kenzie's training if they bought her, and be the one starting her under saddle in a year or two. Should I have a water hose, fly spray, blanket, ground pole, etc out and ready to demonstrate what she's comfortable with and what she can do ground-work wise?


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## thesilverspear

That's a tough one re: Sour. On one hand, it's nice to think that there will be a chance to see how she fits into the program before she's 100% committed to it. On the other hand, as NorthernMama has said, there are a thousand things that can go wrong with horses and who would be liable. I mean, as a kind of worse case scenario, if the horse went lame and they gave her back, you would then be stuck trying to fix a lame, unsellable horse.

As an afterthought, plenty of people do loans with view to buy, but you're best writing out a detailed contract that makes liability clear for every situation you can imagine.


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## amp23

For Sour, I wish I could give advice but don't know what to say other than good luck!!

For Kenzie, I would personally choose to leave her loose so they can see she is easily caught and have a few things out and ready in case they want to see how she reacts to them. The more you show them how comfortable she is with things, the better they will end up feeling about committing to a horse that they will have to train in the coming years.


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## Endiku

Ok, sounds good! I'm really not worried at all about her being caught. She comes trotting up to meet me when she sees me, and while she doesn't quite do that with strangers (understandable) she lets the members of Family P catch and handle her whenever they bring her in for the night without any fuss at all, and often even walks up to them. She had been having some minor problems with picking up her back feet and holding them quietly for strangers but we have that worked out now. Fingers crossed!

And with the fly spray, which was the biggest demon she had to face for whatever reason, I can now spray every inch of her body and half way up her neck (I don't do above that with the aerosol can because it might sting if I got it in her eyes/mouth) without even tying her, so I don't have to tell them that's a vice any more. She's still a ****** about worming though.


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## amp23

That's awesome! I would definitely show off everything that she does well  Worming is a different story for most horses though... As long as you're able to get it done it's better than it could be! Haha


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## cobra

Imo - For Kensie - i agree w/ leaving her loose and go get her/have them go get her when they arrive. It would be good to have some things handy to show what she can do, but i would let the lady 'take the lead' as far as what she wants to do/see (within reason, of course). Hope all goes well there....

As far as Sour....leases are always 'risky' and it is a must to have all your bases covered in a contact. I can understand them wanting to 'test her out' for 6 mo, and if she is not happy there i am sure you would prefer to be able to find her a better situation. Just be sure the contract covers all possible scenarios....


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## Endiku

Very true! She isn't out of control about worming or anything, its just best done with two people because she tried to walk forward and swing her head in the air. Of course the difficulty might come with the fact that I'm only 4'11 as well and can't reach far...lol. I've tried giving her 'yummy doses' of applesauce but apparently she doesn't even like applesauce?!  Well fine! I was just trying to help...trick her that is. lol.

eta (sorry, cobra, didn't see yours in time!)

yeah, I figure since the trainer is coming, she'll have a set of things she'll want to do/see and we can go from there. The only things that would be off limits to me with her is lunging at faster than a walk right now. She CAN lunge w-t (I've only done one or two circles so she gets the idea of it) but I don't see a point at this age. I kind of wish I'd worked on saddling her just for the sake of saddling her when I had access to saddles, but its too late now I guess! I haven't bitted her either though, since she hasn't been floated yet. 

Also, her asking price in her ad was $200 as a formality. I'm not interested in making money back from what I've put into her or even getting what I paid for her, but I also didn't want her to go to 'just anyone.' Should I stick to that price, or bring it down if they ask and want to buy her? Or I could just offer to sell for the $200 and give them all of Kenzie stuff (halter, lead rope, blankets that I was given, brushes, and a small O ring french link snaffle if they're interested) and a bag of feed? I really have no idea how to do all of this...


With Sour, my only concern with the amount of work is her hips. She doesn't have the best conformation. Nice legs, but her back is straight and her croup is steep which means her hips get sore if she isn't properly warmed up, and she tends to need the chiro at least once a year. That shouldn't be a problem though, I would hope...


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## Celeste

If they are not interested enough in her to pay $200, then they probably don't need her.


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## egrogan

I don't know, I might be odd man out here, but finding a horse that is appropriate for a highly specialized lesson program can be really tricky. At the therapeutic program where I work, we very frequently take horses on a 3-6 month lease before making a commitment to buy outright. It's not that we are wishy washy or financial unstable; we just need to see the horse in our environment first, and, as Endiku said, make sure they can stand up to the workload both physically and mentally.

Them proposing a lease would not concern me, unless there were other red flags.


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## Endiku

I kind of figured also, that if they DID lease her and just decided she wasn't the right fit for them, it would still buy me some time to find another job and it might not even be a bit deal that she comes back...provided that she's sound and hasn't been 'messed up' at all. Then I could either keep her if that happened since I'd be financially stable again and she is actually REALLY easy to keep (she gets two flakes of hay and a RB right now and stays at a great weight) or I could try finding her a home more suitable if she decided she just isn't a lesson horse. 

I really do think she'll fit in great there. She loves working and doesn't like 'fuss' at all. She'd much prefer you to catch her, tack her up, use her, then put her back than for you to just take her out to love on her, brush get, groom her, feed her treats, etc. I'll definitely make sure we have things super well laid out though in the contract if they do lease.

And with Kenzie, thats what I figured on her price. Given that she'll have JUST had her teeth floated (thats going to cost me $150 itself... >.>), she's at literally the perfect weight right now, and her hooves are really starting to come along (we're just still working on that left rear hoof trying to get it balanced better), $200 isn't much at all. Either way I'm going to pass along her blankets and some feed to start with since the blanket were free and for Kenzie, but I might keep her halter just for sentimental reasons. The only thing that really had me questioning whether I should ask money for her was that her hernia isn't fixed yet. She's 100% sound, healthy, and ready to move on with life other than that though.

Actually, it was really funny this morning. Its been HUMID and really warm for almost-November lately, and super rainy/muddy so the horses have been just sort of draggy. It was raining again today but the temperature is down a bit to 72, and I guess Kenzie was feeling GOOD today because when I let her go, as soon as I shut the gate (she knows not to walk away until I do) she went galloping, bucking, and farting off to her two new friends. Thats actually the first time I've seen her galloping and kicking up her heels just because she could in the pasture, and it was awesome! I was kind of worried she was going to kill herself though...its a soupy mess out there.

I was totally impressed and horrified at the same time honestly. She almost ran into her 'boyfriend' Prince, and did this perfect QH impression of stopping on a dime. Tucked her haunches and everything. Not bad for a noodle horse!!!


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## Endiku

Kenzie is being floated tomorrow morning at 11 am if all goes well. It will be her longest trailer ride yet (still not far...LOL. 45 minutes without traffic). Please be praying/hoping she does well with just the first level of sedation, because it costs more with each level. Oh, and that the rotten tooth comes out fast o.o they charge per minute for pulling teeth xD

Question though, should I go ahead and feed her breakfast before we leave or is it a better idea to just put a few flakes of hay in a net and let her snack in the trailer rather than eating a grain breakfast? I'm assuming she'll be a little ouchy and not want to eat hay for dinner so I'm going to make her an alfalfa-pellet soup (yum...) with her usual grain. I'm not sure if they usually send you home with any bute or antibiotics when teeth are pulled though, since Sour has never had a tooth pulled.

I think if Kenzie is feeling ok and if the waller equine vet's farrier is out there, we're also going to have him take a look at and try trimming her feet. he's also a licensed chiropractor so I thought maybe we'll have better luck with him than I've been having with all of the other vets. We'll just bypass that and bring her home though if the sedatives don't wear off pretty fast.


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## Wallaby

I would just feed her her normal stuff pre-float..and have hay in the trailer [why not make it a cushy ride? haha]. Unless there's a reason not to? I don't think it's like sedating humans where you can't eat for a while before going under. :lol: And in the case of Kenzie, I would imagine that more calories=better. 

Who knows though, she might not be phased at all by having a simple tooth pulled...I mean, she DID nearly lose her ear+had that infection for a while. Her pain tolerance has got to be crazy high!

If you do have hay in the trailer, make sure to get it all out before putting her back in to go home. I only say that cuz Lacey is really tolerant to sedatives and will appear to be totally 'over' being sedated in about 2 hours...but give her hay/grain, watch her immediately [mildly] choke. It happened twice before I wised up and started giving her 4 hours without food after a float, vs the recommended 2.


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## Endiku

Haha, yes. More calories always = better. I'm actually curious just how many calories she eats every day...Family P can't believe how much hay she can pack away in that belly of hers. lol.

And that's so true o.o watch as she comes out of the vet like 'so....when does the pain start?' Actually I wouldn't be surprised if it felt BETTER after being pulled. Its not swollen around the tooth and she isn't acting like it hurts or anything, but with as short as it is it has to at least be sensitive. That's why I've been turning all of her feed into mush. Even if it isn't actually bothering her, it bothers me to think it MIGHT be bothering her! lol. She definitely seems to have high pain tolerance though for sure  even when she cut her shoulder she didn't even have a hitch in her stride. She was just like "yeah, sliced half the skin off of my shoulder...cool huh? WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST I AM STARVING WOMAN." And yet she's so sensitive at the same time. Flies drive her absolutely bonkers, poor gal. I have to practically bathe her in fly spray every day to keep her from constantly stomping and swishing her tail.

Thanks so much for the heads up about her eating afterwards. The last thing I need is her choking! Better safe than sorry.


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## Endiku

Well we ended up not pulling the tooth because the vet said it would be really hard to get out and it is a baby tooth so it should fall out on its own. Supposedly it really isn't even as damaged as it looks, its just worn down because she always cribs on that side of her mouth. She had the usual floating done though and I had them evaluate the hernia for surgery...I don't know if its just that clinic or what but they want a LOT to fix it. More than I'd be able to pay even if I still had my job. We had the farrier out there trim her hooves though and I liked his work. He did a much better job fixing the under run heels than anyone else has. She was a bit ouchy on the gravel immediately after the trim, but when we turned her back out at Family P's they went through their 'ritualistic' canter around the pasture and she didn't seem sore at all. 

I might write more in the morning. I'm exhausted and kind of worrying over here about the lack of job and finding her a good home even with that hernia...I definitely can't fix it. They want $600 for the surgery ._.


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## Endiku

I don't know whether to be annoyed, frustrated, or amazed. 

My exact words in a different thread about Kenzie asking for a confo critique, and receiving a reply from Elana saying she might make a nice low level eventing horse. 



endiku said:


> I'm not sure that she'll be any good at jumping though...she's too much of a clutz as of right now! Haha.


yeah. Kenzie decided to make me eat my words. :-|

Some time between last night and 9 this morning, she jumped a 4 1/2 foot tall fence into someone else's pasture. No big deal right? We could just go over and get her. Wrong. The pasture only has one gate, and that gate is padlocked. And we can't get ahold of the pasture's owners. It is now almost 4 and she is still in their pasture with no way of getting her out. Even worse, today was supposed to be the day for that lady to come out and see if she wanted to but Kenzie, but I had to call and explain to her that we would have to reschedule. Why? Because Kenzie the 14hh wonder-pony jumped a 4 1/2 ' tall fence. Now I'm worried that the lady won't want her, or that family P is going to be really annoyed that Kenzie jumped out and created more work for them (I live 25-30 minutes away) and they'll want me to move her. But I can't.

And now that she knows she can jump, and that there is more grass over there to eat, she is going to jump again most likely. Great.


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## Celeste

At least she is a good jumper.


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## Endiku

Heh...yeah. She's STILL over there though. I'm actually not even sure that anyone lives on that property to be honest, and if they do, if they're gone for the weekend or something. We've called multiple times and left a note on their door. I was kind of worried they'll call the humane association when they see the runty horse in their pasture, so that's why I put the note there. 

What should I do if we can't get ahold of them today? We tossed a bucket of water and hay over there and there is plenty of grass (I hope its safe to eat...) to gorge herself on, but she can't just stay there for multiple days.


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## cobra

I am sure you have looked, but figured i would ask anyways......
you have checked the pasture she is supposed to be in, made sure there is nowhere she slipped through, right? (Idk what kind of fencing they have).


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## Endiku

Yes, I checked. The property has three types of fencing. One is no-climb horse fencing with boards on top, the other (on family P's property) is boards, and the one she presumably jumped is livestock mesh strung tightly across a board fence, and there are no breaks in it anywhere that we can find.


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## Wallaby

Could you...fabricate some kind of jump "chute" to chase her down, get her to jump back over the fence? Maybe string some of that white tape stuff between a reasonable number of plastic lawn chairs or something?

Last resort though, I'd figure. 

That's amazingly stressful!
Do you have any clues as to why she might have jumped? Just the call of better grass? I don't think horses just jump pasture fences for no reason...but then again, I once knew a pony that did just that. Well, in her case, she was "lonely" and wanted to go visiting...but anyway. haha

Yay for Kenzie the future Eventer! :wink:


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## swimminchikin

Hmm.. if I was in this situation.. 

I would probably grab a pair of bolt cutters and a new length of chain (if that's how the gate is padlocked), free my horse and leave a note with the replacement chain. Granted, my two are NOT jumpers and with my luck it wouldn't be that easy. 

Been following your posts and updates. Praying everything works out for you both and hoping for a miracle that keeps you two together. Remember: for everything there is a reason- even if you can't see it now.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Wallaby, I think Jewel (the mare) may have been chasing her or something. She is VERY bossy and possessive and frequently chases (doesn't bite or kick, just 'herds' kenzie around like she is her property) her around, so it may be that Kenzie just realized the other pasture had no bossy mares in it and she wouldn't be chased around.

This is super stressful though. My horse is in some unknown person's pasture eating who-knows-what (its overgrown). I miiiight be able to jump her again but with her coordination she'd probably hurt herself or something, and I really don't want to risk it unless I absolutely have to. Someone suggested that I call the sheriff to come free her (so I don't get in trouble for cutting the lock myself) in the morning if we hear nothing before then.

swimminchikin- thanks. It seems like everything is coming in groups and I'm like incapable of having a normal life with a normal horse that I can rehome normally, but I guess I'm supposed to learn something through all of this? *sigh* I have no idea!


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## Endiku

Whew. They finally got an answer from the neighbor (who was SO sweet) and went and got her. Thankfully she was well behaved about it all if nothing else, little turd! xD 

Until we can figure out why she jumped/how to keep her from doing it again though, she is on "stall board" except for a few hours during the day. It isn't ideal but I'm afraid that she is going to try jumping the right-hand fence, which leads to the road- not another pasture. I feel bad for doing that to her but I can't be making so much more work for Family P either. The stall was actually not even finished but I helped them finish building it this afternoon to put her in. I guess this is even more of a reason to find that home for her asap.


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## Endiku

She just jumped the fence again. I have no idea how to stop her... any ideas? :/ I have nowhere else to take her and family P is getting fed up with her. My only other option is stalling 24/7


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## Wallaby

Oh no!! Is there any way to separate her from Jewel, if you think that might be the issue?

Or maybe you could ghetto-rig some sticks, or something, tied to the original fence and extending a few feet up higher than the actual fence, then attach them together with electrical tape/some other kind of visible fencing? It wouldn't have to be particularly sturdy, just tall enough that it makes that fence look HUGE+completely unjumpable to Miss Kenz. [haha, now we know why Wallaby's fences look ridiculous..:lol:]

And yes, you can come live with Lacey+me! Lacey would loooove to have an actual baby horse to baby. She'd teach Kenzie about fences - you go through them, not over! :rofl:


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## Endiku

The only way to separate the two of them at the moment is the stall, and Kenzie will have to be the one in it since it IS Jewel's home after all. I'm actually not so sure that Jewel is the problem now though, since the second time she jumped, Jewel was minding her own business, doing nothing threatening at all.

I might be able to rig something up after talking with the neighbor who shares the fence and with family P, but it has to be something I can take down easily as well. Electric fencing miiight work but I know NOTHING about it, how to rig it up, what type of power source it needs, etc. 

I thought about buying some of these Feedlot Panel, Cattle, 16 ft. L x 50 in. H - Tractor Supply Co. and some-how attaching them (maybe with t-posts?) to the top to make a huuuuge fence, but I'm not sure how to do that without messing up the existing fence. Or how to transport it for that matter...I currently drive a Honda Oddessy...


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## cobra

electric fence may work.....even a strand or two inside the existing fence. Alot of horses respect elec fencing and won't go near it - and you could fit it in your vehicle. Altho there would be the cost of buying the wire and the box. Is the lady sill planning to come look a her soon? If so, i may be best (and cheaper) to stall her for now.


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## Endiku

Yes, some time this week. I'm not so sure she's going to want to buy Kenzie considering that she has proven herself to be a fence jumper though... :/


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## Celeste

What about asking the people with the empty pasture if she can just stay there for a while?


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## Endiku

I asked this evening and unfortunately that is a no-go. The lady was sweet but unable to take on that responsibility at this time because of her work schedule.

So until then Kenzie is being stalled.

I feel so terrible, I've really made a mess of all of this. :/ I really should not have bought Kenzie but I was just so sure that I could make her life better. Now she's in a stall that really isn't any bigger than a standing stall, with no turn out because she jumps immediately. And I can't even come out every day to hand walk her. I'm coming every other day and taking her for a long walk to stretch her legs, but I can tell she hates the stall and she has started wind sucking again. The lady who wants to look at her is still coming on Saturday, but there is no guarantee she'll even like her- and then what? Keep stalling my 2 year old filly 24/7? I'm desperately looking for a job but no one is hiring, not even fast food- and I'm running out of money pretty quickly. Sour is now gone so I have some money from her and from selling her harness, but that won't last very long. I want to try the electric fence but family P seems a bit leery of it and I really have no idea how to string it or what to buy. Makes for a stressful situation to say the least.


Anyways, sorry for the rant...does anyone have suggestions for cheap stall bedding for the time being? I've never stalled a horse before and have no idea what to do to be honest. Tractor Supply's shavings seem like they wouldn't last long and that is a lot of money for one bag if they have to be changed daily.


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## Celeste

She will be fine. It is not going to hurt her to stand in a stall for a couple of weeks. She shouldn't be jumping out all the time. She'll be ok.


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## VickiRose

You have not made a mess of things!

You have a challenging issue at the moment, but its hopefully fixable. You just sound a bit overwhelmed. 

In the other thread, someone had a good idea of how to put up electric fence, but...
If you want to try a cheaper option, I'd get plastic electric fence posts, the really lightweight type, use cable ties to attach them to the existing fence, , then get a few rolls of that fluro coloured, plastic ribbon stuff that surveyors and builders use and run that instead of electric fence tape. It may be all that is needed and if she does jump through it, it should break easily and not injure her.

My hesitation on the electric fence itself is that unless she has dealt with one on the ground and knows to stay away from it, its not going to be effective. She might try to jump through it, and in that case she will not be earthed so won't get a zap, a bit like when you grab one with rubber boots on, you might get a bit of a tingle if the boots are wet, but it doesn't hurt. However if she jumps and gets tangled, that tape is quite strong and might injure her, especially if its zapping her and she panics etc etc. Worst case scenario I know, but possible if things go bad. 

Just my opinion though, and I am a worrier so take that into account ;-)


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## Endiku

That's a good idea Vicki rose...any idea where you get that kind of tape? Home depot or something, maybe?

She's never been around electric tape, so this would be a first for her. I didn't even think about the fact that she wouldn't know to respect it and try to jump anyways...good point!


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## Endiku

Here are some pictures of Miss-Kenzie-the-runty-eventer-wannabe 

I seriously can't stay mad at her, even though she's making things oh so difficult for me. I have to say though, she is not very helpful when cleaning her stall.  She follows me every step and has to sniff eat piece of poop I shovel, tries to eat the shavings, tries to pick the bag up in her teeth...what a goof ball xD I'm glad she feels good and doesn't seem overly annoyed with my for stalling her. She looks pretty good to me weight-wise too. 

I bought shavings that are pine and 'the perfect blend of small and medium flakes.' Hopefully they're good enough. GEEZ they're expensive though...I was only able to pick up 3 bags and it cost me $22. She's going to go through them fast too because she is apparently a messy housekeeper. Her entire stall is her toilet unlike some of those horses that you hear of who pee/poop in one corner, and I swear she pees like crazy. 

More bad news though, she is biting down on the stall doors and windows to windsuck and making marks all over them, and family P is (rightfully) NOT impressed. I think they're pretty much at breaking point with her because they literally just built this stall and obviously don't want it eaten by vice-horse over here. Any ideas of something to put on them to keep her from biting down on it? Something nasty maybe?

They've pretty much said she can stay until the lady and her trainer come to see her (they plan to come Saturday) but if the lady turns her down I need to find another place to keep Kenzie. So I've already begun my search. Obviously I really can't afford board right now, but I'm searching mega-hard for a job and I've been going around to different stables trying to get someone to let me work for discounted board. I am very capable of handling pretty much any type of horse, am very willing to clean stalls/tack/whatever, know how to repair most fences, can feed, catch, turn out, etc- horses...you'd think it would be easy to find a place, but it isn't.

However, I did find one possible prospect today by accident. I actually got lost (heh...) on the way back from a feed store I don't usually go to and saw a sign for horse boarding and figured I might as well write down the number and call. So I did, and they are actually SUPER cheap compared to most places. The average is $200 for self care pasture board, but this place is only $150 for self care pasture board on a 22 acre property with GRASS (rare here, seriously) and not many boarders. They also have an arena and round pen, not that I need those things, and the owner actually seems really sweet. I haven't asked about bringing the board down by working out there yet, but I did schedule a time to go out and view the place/talk to her and it sounds pretty promising. It is also 10 minutes away from my house versus the 30 minutes of Family P, which makes it easier to get out there and less gas too. She could be turned out either with mares or with the farm's 2 weanling foals, whichever she got along with better. 24/7 pasture and hay.

But of course, at the moment I really only have about 2...maybe 3 months worth of board at normal price saved up...so I'd really be chancing it to take her there. There is no guarantee I'll have a job by then. What other choice do I have though, honestly? 


ANYWAYS, enough rambling. Here are the pictures. She's wet in half of them because I took her for a walk and we got caught in the rain. The picture of the fence is the one she jumped.


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## JulieG

She's looking great these days!

Does the place you accidentally found have high fences? 

Even though it wouldn't be perfect at least it's another option. Hoping it all goes well when the lady stops by to check her out, but I'm glad you're looking at other options as well.


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## Endiku

According to them, yes. Same type of fencing as she is in now, (no climb horse mesh) but a little over 5 ' tall. I haven't seen it for myself yet though, so I guess I'll see when I get there for the 'tour' of the place. I told them she was a jumper and that is why I'm looking for a new place, and they said it should be no problem and that they'd never had a horse jump yet- but I won't hold my breath until I see it xD The entire farm is closed in by 5 1/2 ft tall wooden fences though, so hopefully even if she did jump out of a pasture she would be contained....maybe. haha. 

Ideally the lady who is coming to see Kenzie will love her and want to buy her for sure. It sounds like she would make a decent home for her and has the knowledge to care for her property. I'm one of those extreme worrier must-have-5-backup-plans type people though...as I'm sure all of you have noticed xD

One question regarding the bedding. How deep is it supposed to be? I didn't want to put more than I have to, so I can go deeper if I need to, but I only put about 1 1/2" down; enough to make it cushier than the ground and to soak up pee, but nothing luxurious. I have no idea how much is 'normal' though.


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## JulieG

What is under the bedding you're putting down? It is dirt, sand, cement?

I think that has a lot to due with how much you need to put down.


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## Endiku

Its hard-packed dirt.


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## VickiRose

I've no idea on the bedding issue  
It sounds like you may not need the plastic tape to raise the fence if you are shifting her or selling her, but I'd look for it in a hardware shop, I'm not sure what Home Depot sell but they sound like they might. 
The new place sounds like a good option. Even if they won't let you work off some board, the reduced travel time saves money on fuel and gives you extra time for work or school. Could work out well, I hope so.


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## Wallaby

Lacey has hard-packed dirt in her stall and what seems to work best are those wood pellets. 
I put down about 5 bags to start, then add a bag per week as needed [Lacey only 'uses' her stall at night so 24/7 stalling would be different]. I don't wet them down at all, just let humidity/pee do that for me. :lol:
I don't 'strip' the stall either, just clean it everyday.

I found that shavings seem to last about 1/3 of the time pellets do. :shock:


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## Endiku

Kenzie is soaking the shavings and even with her stall being picked twice a day there are still wet spots for a little while and I guess she lays in them because her chest/side were sticky this afternoon when I came out. Maybe I should try the pellets. They cost more but if they last longer, they might be a better idea. Being that she is in 24/7 except for me hand walking her, EVERYTHING is in there xD

I used two 8.8 cu.ft bags in the 11 x 12 stall to get the 1 1/2 inch thickness but it seems like I waste so much with as soaked as the bedding gets from pee  do I need to add more? At this rate I'll be going through it super fast.

Who knew stalling horses was so much work?! lol!


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## Endiku

Lessoned learned... I am not ready for a two year old of my own. 

Another lesson learned... Kenzie does not do well at all on 24/7 stall.

I wasn't able to come out to see her for two days (Wednesday or Thursday) because I came down with the flu, so she didn't get her walks and stood in her stall all day. I expected her to be a little higher energy than usual but I wasn't prepared for her behavior today at ALL. She was fine when I got there and went to clean her stall; normal respectful, sweet Kenzie. She stood to be brushed, have her hooves picked out, and to be haltered, and she lead out of the stall nicely...but then she went psycho. First it was spooking at stupid things, which she has never done...but they were controllable spooks- just a hop or two forward. I'd correct her, calm her down, and continue. Well then I decided "hey, its not muddy. Lets go on the trails instead of the roads because its safer." Mistake number one. Its not really even a trail, just a space of public land that people ride their horses on between properties that stretches about a mile. She started getting prancier and prancier as we walked along, and kept trying to break into a trot which she knows is a no-no. She isn't allowed to walk in front of me, or change gaits. So I did what I've always done to correct her, I switched directions fast and gave a yank on the lead if she tried to barge in front of me again. She started getting annoyed I guess, because she really felt like running and I wasn't letting her- so she then decided she was going to completely crowd me and push into me with her shoulder. Another BIG no, and she knows it. So I corrected her again... first just shoving against her shoulder. Usually that is all it takes and she backs off, but she just shoved harder. So I used the lead rope and gave her a FIRM whack on the shoulder...and she _spun her hindquarters at me_ which she has NEVER attempted to do. Obviously I went at her and make her think she was going to die right then and there, and she didn't try that again, but the ENTIRE time we walked she kept trying to barge in front of me/practically walk on top of me, and she was super panicky even though there was nothing 'new' around; just a big stretch of dirt track. I tried correcting her every single time she got in front of me but she eventually started ignoring me and even though I would smack her with the lead/push/whatever, she just pushed harder against me and started spinning around me. I had no idea what to do after that because 1. We were about a mile from her stall by then 2. I was alone (BAD idea) 3. She was utterly ignoring every correction I made, which she never does...usually she is very sensitive to correction. So I decided if she was going to spin, I was going to MAKE her spin until she didn't want to any more. Well we did that for a good 15 minutes before she wanted to stop circling and stand still, so I was finally like "good, I won." but the second we started walking forward again, guess what she does? Spin.

I eventually got her back to the barn and at least semi-behaving/walking behind me, but I KNOW I didn't do thinks right and I'm exhausted and still sick, and I was really getting frustrated with her so I just put her up. As soon as she was back in the stall, she was back to angel Kenzie who moves away with the point of a finger. Yet it took us 2 1/2 hours to get up and down that trail because she was being such a butt.

I'm not really sure what to do. I feel like I let her get away with a LOT but I didn't know how else to correct her honestly, and I was exhausted by the end. And now she's probably going to try to walk all over us tomorrow when her potential buyers come out. I advertised her as respectful, levelheaded, and quiet...which she always has been. NOT the demon that she has become from being stalled all of the time.


And to make things worse, I swear she has dropped weight since Tuesday. I've got to get her out of that stall...even if it means taking money out of my college fund to get her pasture boarded.


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## verona1016

Maybe it would be worthwhile to let her blow off some of her energy on a lunge line. It's not great to lunge a young horse too much, but I don't think there's be any harm in doing it just until you are able to get her off stall "arrest"


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## tempest

When is the lady coming out to see her?


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## Endiku

Tomorrow at 3, with her trainer.

Verona- possibly. I don't know of anywhere 'safe' to lunge her though, really. The place she is at is pretty much a neighborhood type thing, with the roads and the trail (only about 12-15 ft wide) being the only places to take her. I also haven't yet taught her to lunge past a walk, because I didn't want to strain her joints early on. Would it negatively affect her future lunge training if I let her run around a little now?


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## swimminchikin

I'm no expert but I don't think putting her on a lunge line and letting her get all the craziness out of her system will be detrimental to her future training. I would let her get it all out early tomorrow before the potential buyer comes. 

Every great once and a while my two will just have a store of pent up steam that they HAVE to release in order to work well. It doesn't happen very often but when it does I'll usually turn them out or throw a lunge line on them and let them get all of the stupid out of their system. Then we'll finish with some regular lunging and go for a ride.

I'd say let her stretch her legs and be loony on the line for a bit. Just be sure to end with some structured work. Just my opinion though. I'm interested to hear more experienced opinions.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Wallaby

Don't beat yourself up too bad, Endiku!! 
I can guarantee you that Miss "Broker than Broke, I'm Almost 29" Lacey would nearly kill me if she were stalled for 2 full days. Heck, she gallops out of her stall every morning as it is...and she's only in overnight!

If you do choose to lunge her [sounds like a good idea to me] please be careful. Since she doesn't know "the rules" of lunging beyond the walk on a line, she may be quite...active. :lol: Just don't get hurt! But do get some of that energy out before the prospective buyer comes.

:hug: you're doing fine, well even! Certainly better than I would be doing!! :hug:


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## Endiku

Thanks guys. I don't think she is purposefully trying to be bad (except with the swinging her butt at me...she got a good walloping for that though), she's just a hot-blooded breed that happens to be only 2 years old, feeling full of herself, that until now has been pastured 24/7. Oh, and did I mention that she's getting 6 lbs of alfalfa pellets, grain, rice bran, and all of the grass hay she can eat? Yeah.

But running me over is not acceptable, even if she is going stir crazy in her stall. 

I will try to find a place to let her goof off tomorrow before they come. I'm trying to be as 100% honest as I can possibly be so they know exactly what they're getting into and already told them she is full of energy from being stalled all of the time, so hopefully they'll understand that this isn't how she usually is if she is a little excitable. If they aren't acting interested at all though, I'm going to bite the bullet and move her again, this time to that place I found near my house. I went to see the place and its very nice with a covered arena and well kept pastures, but they don't have any work available so I really can't afford it as a long term option. I really don't have much of a different choice though. Kenzie is apparently banging around in her stall and trying to chew on the windows too, so its time to get her out of there.


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## Kayella

Those babies go stir crazy, especially ones that are used to being outside 24/7. Whenever I stall Henny due to thunderstorms and mud, he is bonkers by day 2. He knows to be a gentleman while I'm around, but he is revved up to go and shoots off the second I let him outside. Then he runs and bucks everywhere a good ten minutes to stretch out his legs. After that he's the same old Henny. He KNOWS not to act up with me. 

As for corrections, it sounds like you did well enough. What I do with Henny of he becomes pushy is give him plenty of warnings by tugging on his halter to get him back at my shoulder. If he continues not to listen, I make him yield his hindquarters to where he's facing me and make him back up FAST. If he wants to get there, he'll get there. But he'll be doing it MY way. I back him for probably about 30 feet and whoa him. At this point he'll drop his head and lick his lips at me. Then we'll continue on like nothing happened. If he gets a little ahead of me after that, all it takes is a vocal "no" or a tug on the halter to remind him.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

I'll try that Kayella. I made her yield her hindquarters to me twice and asked her to back up, but I don't think I did it forcefully enough or long enough for her to really care. She was pretty much in the attitude of "You are slowing me DOWN kid" with me the whole time, even after being corrected, and that's what was frustrating. She'd do what I told her to do when I corrected her, but not even 15 seconds later would be trying it again. I guess I just wasn't being firm enough. I think I'll take my driving whip with me next time.


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## smrobs

Endiku, don't get too down about it. She's still just a baby and, while the corrections didn't seem to do much today, they weren't completely ineffective and you didn't let her get away with it.

I agree with the lunging thing. While she does have a lot of growing left to do, letting her run around on the lunge for 20-30 minutes (not all at the run, of course) to burn off some energy from being cooped up won't hurt her at all and if it helps her get a home, all the better.

Endiku, I swear you are an absolute saint, for real :hug:. You have done so much and given up so much for this little horse. You saved her life when not many other people would have and you turned her around from a puny little thing with no hope into a blossoming young mare with a bright future to look forward to.

I know that words don't really mean a whole lot, but I am so incredibly proud of you. You're an amazing young woman and I have the utmost respect for you. If you ever need a place to disappear for a week or a month, you are more than welcome at my house anytime .


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## Endiku

You're so sweet Smrobs. Actually, words do mean a lot to me, especially from people like you. I kind of have two different 'worlds' right now, all with the same reality but different types of people. There are all of you, who encourage me to continue working with her even though I've messed up multiple times and who give advice constantly to help me, then there is my family who is incredibly upset that I'm spending so much time and money on a runty horse that jumps fences xD its nice to have all of you to talk to. Kenzie is important to me, even if she is frustrating (not her fault, I'm just very new at all of this) sometimes. It helps me more than you'd imagine to know that other people, even if they are just over the internet, understand what she means to me.

Hopefully she catches on to lunging today and doesn't try to kill me...hehe. I'm armed with a lunge whip, gloves, and a 'spotter' in case she decides lunging isn't for her. I've trained horses to lunge many times before, but always started in an enclosed area and not with a horse whose first instinct is to climb on top of you  

Wish us luck with the buyers, she needs to be on her best behavior!!!


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## cakemom

Wishing you luck.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Cherrij

*fingers crossed*


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## cobra

If lunging her doesn't work, maybe turning her loose and 'guarding' the fence she likes to jump would work? Best of luck on the buyer - hope all works out well.


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## swimminchikin

My relatives can be similar sometimes when it comes to spending so much time and money on the horses. I finally told them that there are a lot of other things that I could be doing with my time and money... like drugs or drinking etc. (Not that I would) But It gave them pause before bugging me again. 

I just kept consistent in saying if I didn't have horses it would just be something else. Horses make me happy, teach me leadership skills and patience. And while I do live at the barn and spend a good chunk of $$ on their upkeep I don't want to get older and look back and regret that I didn't. 

Good luck today. Will be thinking and praying that all goes as it should and that everything works out for the best for you and Kenzie. 

We'll be waiting for an update!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## egrogan

Good luck with the buyer today. Hope everyone clicks!


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## smrobs

I hope all went well with the buyers today and she was on her best behavior!


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## Endiku

Whew! First, thank you all SO much for rooting for Kenzie today!

I got there at around 1:30, cleaned her up, got rid of some of the dead ends in her mane, picked her hooves, then took her down to find a place to lunge her. I eventually found a decent-ish spot that was fairly dry (a lot of places are still a muddy mess right now). At first I could tell she was totally confused since I generally keep her to a strict walk and in small circles, yet here I was giving her about 15' of slack, and it took a little encouragement but once she realized I was LETTING her run around it was so obvious that she was thrilled xD

She was a little reckless at first, but I was impressed that she really didn't pull on the line at all like most young ones do. She only cantered/farted two or three laps and spent the rest of the time showing off, prancing around at the prettiest trot I've ever seen her do. She actually looked like something other than a homely two year old for once! She did have a couple of "stupids" to get out of her system and gave a couple of BIG leaps in the air/bucks which made me a little nervous since the circle was a bit small so I brought her in each time she did that and she figured out that airs above ground and bucks weren't particularly appreciated on the lunge. Over all though she did really well...and I swear as soon as she got her stupids out and blew off all of the energy from those extra pounds of alfalfa, she was back to normal Kenzie just like everyone said. She settled right down, did a few yields for me, and walked back as quiet as could be. I'm so glad you all suggested that! I can tell she just plain feels better too.

But then at 3:15, 15 minutes before the lady was supposed to be there, they called and said some horses got out on their road (not theirs) and they had to help corral them back into their pasture...so they hadn't even left yet. They said we could reschedule but I decided to just wait for them and I put Kenzie back in her stall. They didn't arrive until about 5:15, but thankfully there was some light left and Kenzie was still in zen mode xD They went and haltered her in her stall themselves, brought her out, and she was great! Stood quietly while they fiddled with her ears, tail, chest, and legs, (she got a small scrape from her second fence jumping escapade that they wanted to look at. Its no big deal, completely superficial thankfully) walked and trotted BEAUTIFULLY in hand for the trainer, and backed/yielded to all of the pressures thrown at her. She didn't even spook when a truck behind us backfired. The only thing she was a little weird about was picking up her back left hoof and holding it, but we attributed that to the scrap she had right by her fetlock. We also accidently let her into an ant pile, poor thing, and she started stomping around, but I was impressed that that was all she did. Poor thing....oops.

The lady and her trainer seemed super knowledgeable too. We talked for about two hours, actually, and they're both in agreement that she will be at LEAST 3 to 3 1/2 before they put her under saddle, and the trainer was even going over how she usually starts her mustangs (lots of ground driving and pressure yielding before anything else). So far she sounds really great. The only thing I wasn't 100% thrilled about it that she does teach her horses tricks, which in and of itself isn't bad, but sometimes makes me wary. It sounded like she was pretty careful about how and which tricks she teaches (bowing, nodding head, etc) though so I'm not terribly worried.

ANYWAYS, both the trainer and the lady (who is super tiny and perfect for Kenzie by the way...haha) really liked Kenzie's curious but friendly personality and complimented how quiet she is about everything and according to the trainer "you can definitely tell she is messed with on a regular basis" and the trainer really likes her over all conformation. They said they'd love to take her (!!!!!!!!!) if I feel like they are the right choice for Kenzie, but that I should do what is best for her, which I really liked. They seemed very down to earth about her background and realizing she may not be 100% perfect, and appear to be more than capable of handling her. The trainer wasn't fazed at all by when Kenzie was being a goof about picking up her hoof and just went with her until she picked it up. So sounds promising right?

I'll be talking to them a little more tomorrow over the phone but I'm really leaning towards selling her to them. And it doesn't hurt that they're totally willing to update me on her occasionally (they brought it up, not me ) and they actually want me to go riding with them some time and they'll even loan me a mount...a BLM mustang >

Almost sounds too good to be true. So now it y'alls turn. Catch anything fishy that in my "yaykenziemighthavetheperfecthome' happy cloud might be blurring for me?


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## smrobs

I'm not hearing any red flags at all. And, can I just say 


WOOHOO!!!!!!!

That sounds totally and completely awesome  :hug:.

Yay for Kenzie and Endiku!!!
:happydance: :happydance: :happydance::happydance::happydance:


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## JulieG

Back to the Happy thread!

That sounds PERFECT. I'm so glad it's all working out.


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## Endiku

<3 I'm insanely excited that she might have such a nice future ahead of her. Trails (they trailer their horses almost weekly all over the place to different state parks, beaches as stuff) is something she can definitely do, and the trainer perked up at the idea of trying her on some small jumps when she's older just for the heck of it. 

I just realized how horribly put-together my sentences were in the other post...sorry guys! When I get excited I ramble (well, ok, I MIGHT ramble all of the time...)and mix words up...hehe. Tsk tsk!

I asked just to be sure, and she would be pastured in a large field 24/7 with actual _grass_ and sturdy fences (electric braid tape over wood fences, 5 1/2 ' tall) with the trainer, and a similar fence but smaller pasture (partial dry lot, partial pasture) with the owner. When I reminded them that she is a cribber/windsucker, the trainers just like "pft, I know the cure for that. Pasture, friends, and something to do with their big butts" :lol: Which is true. I rarely EVER see Kenzie crib when she's pastured, but she seems to think she is a stinkin' beaver when she's stalled...lol!


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## smrobs

It truly sounds like you might have found the perfect home for her.


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## Cherrij

Sounds awesome  I hope they take her off your hands soon and she can be out of the stall, and start getting even better. And that you can visit 

It is just amazing.


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## egrogan

Wow, so happy to hear this great news. Sounds like it really went exactly as we would have hoped! Good luck making your decision.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## cakemom

I'm so incredibly happy for you two girls!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## VickiRose

Awesome !!!! They sound perfect! If you have any bad vibes, ask for a vet or farrier reference, but they sound like lovely genuine people who just... "Get it"


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## amp23

So happy for you and Kenzie! It sounds perfect!


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## Endiku

Thank you all! And Smrobs....wow. What a picture. LOL. 

We talked today and I'm sure that I am going to sell to them now, I really feel like this is the right place for her after all of this time, and although I'm sure I will be very sad to lose her after all of this time, knowing she will be absolutely adored and well cared for will make this SO much easier.

We just have to figure out when, exactly. They live a good hour and a half to two hours from me and the three of our schedules combined makes things crazy. Its looking like Thursday evening or some time early next week will be the date though. I'm actually going to be on a camping youth retreat with my church (which, to be honest, I really need) this weekend or we'd do it then.

I'm actually going to (carefully, so I don't make her tail look funky...just a few strands in each spot) take some of Kenzie's tail and have a bracelet braided as my own early birthday/Christmas gift to myself, I think. I collected some of Sour's tail as well before she left too.


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## cakemom

Would you mind sending me a photo of the two of you and if you have a good one of you and Sour? I have a project I would like to do.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Sure Cakemom! Full body or just upper profile? I'll send a couple your way via PM


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## smrobs

That's such wonderful news  :hug:.

Have fun on your retreat this weekend and try to unwind a little bit. Things are going to work out .


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## cpr saves

Congratulations!!! Sounds like a wonderful home and so great that you will be able to stay in contact with her. Such a difficult decision but you made the right one. It will really decrease the amount of pressure and stress you have been going through and allow you to finish up your senior year and go on to college with renewed energy. You have not seen the last of your days as a wonderful and loving horse mom!!! So proud of how you have continued to address every challenge that has jumped out in front of you and still put Kenzie and Sour first. Way to go, girl!!!


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## egrogan

I almost wish you could write in the contract that the seller has to keep all of _us _updated too  (totally kidding- but I will miss seeing Kenzie grow up.)


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## Endiku

I think the retreat will be fun! I didn't get to go last year because I came down with pneumonia again (great stuff...I have awesome timing. haha) so I'm pretty excited to go. I actually wasn't going to be able to go this year since I work, but seeing that I'm _not_ now, my youth pastor pretty much didn't leave it as an option because he totally knows me and how I'll go "WELLLL but I should probably stay home and write this report or catch up on my math" or "I'm just so busyyyyy."... So I'm going! xD

CPR- eee! So excited to see you lurking on this thread. I need to catch up with you! Thank you so much, this hasn't been an easy few weeks for me but I really am lucky to have such fantastic people offer homes to my two special girls, given that there are literally TONS of grade and registered horses just like them (but with less problems than Kenzie has had) that are going for the same price or free. I'm so blessed to have found such great people for them, and I really think that is going to help me as I get used to not having horses for a while.

Egrogan- aghhhh I know!!! Maybe I can hook them onto Horse Forum though...I think they'd fit into our little community just fine. It seems like they're very interested in staying in touch, and have already added me as friends on FB and invited me to go riding with them, so maybe they'd like HF too? And I mean, come on. Who doesn't love having a horse that absolutely everyone loves?

I'm going to make sure that I am not "that person" who bugs the new owner like crazy about the horse though. I wouldn't want someone to do that to me. I may have to ask for just a picture or something every now and then though...but since I'm FB friends with them chances are I'll see some anyways! >


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## NorthernMama

Yay! Yippee! Awesome! So nice to hear the great news! Everything sounds positive and "too good to be true" is not the adage here; "you get what you deserve" is the right adage! You have given and given and toiled and persevered -- now Kenzie will have a great home and you have peace of mind about her future!


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## Endiku

We still don't have a final date for when Kenzie is leaving just yet, things are crazy!

She did much better today on her walk though. I let her lunge (finally found a better place to do it) again before we even attempted to work on anything and she was much better behaved- no bucking, just one half-spook at who knows what, a few canter laps, and a few trot laps before she felt a little better and we stopped, did some ground work, then went on our walk. She was quiet and minded me well (I think the fact that I was walking with the whip reminded her that I CAN make her listen...haha) on the roads and on the trail, got a little excited when she saw some new horses, but calmed down decently and didn't try to run over me after one good whap on the shoulder with my lunge whip. I let her graze too, which she really liked. 

Question though. She has lost weight again. My guess is from the stress of stall life, but its hard to say. Its enough that her ribs are easy to see when she is standing in the light and I do not like to see her that thin. No hip or spinal protusion, but I'd be worried if she got thinner- and since she's about to move homes again...no bueno. I can bump up any of her feeds for now, but which ones? Right now she's eating the same thing both AM and PM so she is getting:

Twice a day for all of these...

2 flakes of grass hay (pretty big flakes, about 5-6 lbs each) 
~1 lb Safe Choice Special Care 
3 lbs Alfalfa pellets 
1/2 lb Rice Bran
1 measure Sho Go

She isn't eating all of the four flakes of hay she is given at the moment, so upping the hay is useless. Any ideas? Can I give her more than a pound of rice bran? I don't want to give her more alfalfa pellets if possible since they make her a little fizzy and she is stalled, but I can. 

She also has some pretty significant dandruff on her neck(the vet says this could be stress too?) that needs addressed as well. Family P suggested MTG. What do you all think?


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## smrobs

Have you tried feeding her any kind of oil? Adding a bit of vegetable oil to what she's already getting would be a relatively easy and cheap way to add more calories from fat.


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## Cherrij

Cold pressed linseed/flax oil will help up the weight with cool calories, and also help with the skin and dandruf.. apparently apple cider vinegar helps with that too


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## Endiku

No, I had stayed away from oil since I've ben told the Omega 3 and 6 is hard to balance with them. Vegetable oil is supposed to be the best of those though, right? How much would I feed her daily?

Cherrij, I'm trying to think of where I would get that. TSC doesn't have it, nor does my local mill (no surprise...they have NOTHING good thus far! xD ) so I'm not really sure. 

Is it safe to feed more than a pound of rice bran to her at this point? The vet weighed her on Nov 1st at 790 lbs.


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## Kayella

Can I just say 790 is impressive? Henny was 550 in August when he went. And in January, he was just 500. My midget needs to catch up with your midget LOL. 

You can add rice bran oil, but that is very expensive(as in 30 bucks a gallon.) I think you can safely feed 2 pounds of rice bran a day? I'd read the bag to see but I think I remember that being it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## greentree

I would not worry about FA's, just get whatever oil is cheapest at the grocery store. 
Start with 1/4 cup, and go up from there. 

Nancy


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## Endiku

Haha, I couldn't believe how much she weighed, Kayella! She still doesn't look "big" to me, but apparently she's putting all of that weight somewhere...definitely not in her width. How tall is Henny now? Kenzie is a _smidge_ under 14hh at the wither, almost 14.1 at the butt (SHE'S GROWINGGGG!) and looking like she's mid-growth spurt again. She's definitely bigger than I am now, I had to look UP at her yesterday which I definitely did not have to do last year! 

Eeeesh, yeah if I can just feed the pellets that I already have (20 lbs for $30) that would be optimal...she's eating right at 1lb right now, so maybe I can bump that up to 1 1/4 then put some veggie oil in her feed? I'm interested in the cider too...I have no idea about that helping with dandruff!


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## Cherrij

Washing with nettle tea helps dandruff too.. Even 1 or 2 washes has helped clear up the skin for a few horses I worked with.. 

Apple cider vinegar does mirracles overall 

But ye, any vegetable oil from the grocery store will do too - just flax, soya etc are considered better, but I have fed sunflower and rapeseed oils too, no problems.. just that they arent too unnatural.


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## Endiku

Any comments on the MTG? Where would I find nettle tea...maybe at the health food store? I've been using some EQyss gel that I already had and it is helping slough off dead skin that is already there, but it isn't helping with the actual problem.

My first thought was that she might be low on Vitamin A, but she's getting the proper amount with her feeds combined. Decent amount of Vitamin E too. I'm trying to get it cleared up pretty fast though...I really don't want to sell a horse with a problem that I can fix! Its sort of weird that it is only on her neck/chest though, and not anywhere else. The vet didn't seem concerned at all, but we all know I'm the queen of worrying! lol


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## Kayella

Last time I checked he was 13.2 and a half at the withers and 13.3 at the butt, but he's leveled out a bit since then. I used to able to stand on my tip toes and lay my arms over him easily. Now I can barely do that! We'll be going to the vet in January so we'll see where he's at then!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## verona1016

I'm so excited that Kenzie has found such a good home! Not to mention it's with people who sound willing to give you updates on how she's doing so you can still watch her grow up 

I'd go ahead and bump up the rice bran to 2 lbs if it's fortified. If it's not you might want to do a quick calculation of her total Ca and Ph intake to make sure it doesn't invert the Cah ratio. It could also be that she's hitting another growth spurt, so I wouldn't be _too_ worried about it just yet, but definitely something to keep on top of.

ETA- if you try out oil, canola is better than vegetable (which is usually soy). As far as omega-6mega-3 ratios, canola is 2:1 and soy is 7:1


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## Endiku

Yes, it is fortified. Good to know!

I'm pretty sure its just a mixture of stress from being stalled (she has been cribbing, which she does when stressed) and growing again since she's rather butt high again at the moment, but since she appears to be losing the weight (not quickly, but enough for me to notice) I figured some extra calories won't hurt her. I swear she is such a hard keeper, its ridiculous! xD


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## tempest

Once she's done growing she probably won't be that hard of a keeper.


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## Endiku

I sure hope so! Otherwise she's going to eat her owners out of house and home...you wouldn't _believe_ how much I spend on the grain and hay she eats xD Family P's paint and appy are as fat as pigs and eating half of the hay that she does. She packs away a good 18-20 lbs a day plus the 6 lbs of alfalfa pellets, so about 3% of her body weight. They are 1050 and 1120 respectively, and eating 14-15 lbs a day. I guess Kenzie is making up for lost time! LOL. I don't mind, its just frustrating to see her thin out every few weeks again, especially since I walk her on roads and I always feel like someone is going to look at her and go "she isn't being fed enough!!! ABUSE" Hasn't happened yet, but I'm just waiting...haha


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## Endiku

Double post, sorry. I just got her coggin result back, and noticed that they put the wrong color for her, and that the age was put as Jan 1 2011 (presumably since that is when TBs technically age, even though she's actually almost an entire year younger than that?). They wrote her color as dark bay, though I told them she was brown. Originally they wanted to say she was black. Those things won't affect anything though will they? Or should I try to get them to change them?


Oh, and just 'cause she is cute: 2 of her coggins pictures. The other one shows just how out of she was from the sedation...LOL Not sure why she is standing like that...my guess is her feet were sore since she was freshly trimmed and acting ouchy on the gravel.


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## Kayella

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Henny is listed as a bay QH on his coggins =.= at least they got her breed right. Mine might be an issue if I wanted to show Henny at a paint show,but i wouldn't be worried about color or birthdate too much.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## greentree

You took her to Waller!!! I love the staff there!!!

Nancy


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## cpr saves

I wouldn't worry about the color. In the unlikely event they are stopped while in transit, most troopers wouldn't know a brown from a bay from a black to begin with. Just my guess. 

Love the pics! She sure has matured!! What a cutie!!!!

Also, don't kill yourself trying to put weight on her now. If they are picking her up in a day or two, it isn't likely to make any difference in that short amount of time. It would be good for them to know that she has lost weight and perhaps to encourage them to make an effort to address. Many cribbers lose weight because they are more interested in cribbing than eating, even when they are hungry.

If she will be going out on grass right away, that alone will put some nice weight on her quite quickly. You're doing GREAT!!!


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## Endiku

LOL, a bay Kayella? Whoops...

Greentree- I sure did! Its a lot closer to where she is right now (brookshire...far drive. bleh) than the katy clinic. They are fantastic! Love love love the vet's...uh...stall-side manners? haha. They were super with her and really took their time to make sure I knew exactly what was going on and to make sure the visit was positive for Kenzie. The chiro/farrier was fantastic too. 

Thanks Amy! The left side picture is the funniest, her floppy ear is stretched as far forward as it gets because she saw a gelding, but she was still so sleepy and looked rather drunk. Her legs look awful in the picture though so I'm not posting it unless you make me, I don't know what the heck was going on with them, I swear she isn't that messed up! lol

It looks like it might be another week before she moves homes. Her new owner and I have conflicting schedules and she isn't comfortable driving a trailer all the way here (1 1/2-2 hours) so she wants her trainer to come with her to pick Kenzie up. Totally fine, but it makes it hard for the three of us (and family P) to schedule something. We're trying to do it as early in the day as possible too so that Kenzie can settle in the daylight. She is going to the trainers first, so she will have plenty of grass immediately, so that's a plus!


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## Cherrij

I agree with the weight, you can add a bit of calories with what you have, but not much will change.. 
And I agree with the cribbers, our buddy is a cribber, he had 3 week stall rest, he did not become fat with free choice hay (he has a round bale at his stall door) however he gets his supplements with a cup of bran, and a little carrots every day... his ribs show occasionally... but he looks healthy. The other day when we let them together in the paddock thinking they might run and have fun, the buddy went straight to biting into the fence post..


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## Endiku

hmmm. Her dandruff is getting worse instead of better with the EQyss so I went ahead and bought the MTG, gave her a bath with some iodine shampoo, and slathered her with MTG in hopes of getting rid of it. Her skin is so flaky its ridiculous. 

Took some pictures today to show her weight loss to you all though, and a few fun ones just because. She was a little ****** today on her walk and spooked at a big dog, a bike rider, another big dog, and some unknown boogy monster in the ditch, but she was at least handleable. I made her back up instead of circle when she jumped ahead of me and she was NOT happy (but did it), but I'm not sure it cured anything xD it actually kind of seemed to work her up more.

Just as a warning, she's rather awkward looking right now...lol! Another sign of growth spurt?




















this is what I mean by bad dandruff ._. this is what it looks like if I scratch her or brush her...but only on her neck/chest?









baby butt 









part of the trail we walk on 


















where I've been lunging her:









omnomnomnomnom









looking gangly and skinny









her neck looks gunky because it is. The MTG is in her fur.









what I think of her constant issues, having to correct her every time she tries dragging me down the road, and of cleaning out her stall. Please remind me to never stall a horse again unless I have to guys...SUCH A PAIN. I have to put it in trash bags and haul it home with me because they don't have a place to dispose of it here. fun stuff. My car smells great now ;D









y u so skinnnnny Dx









hahaha, her feet are smaller than mine...


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## cpr saves

Allyson, you are just too funny!!! You're kwazee! Ooh-ooh, that grass looks Wonderful!!!


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## Wallaby

Have you tried something like Tea Tree oil for the dandruff? I always use that on "what the heck is this?"-type skin issues and usually it clears it right up. :lol: 
IMO, I've never seen MTG work as well as Tea Tree oil-based stuff.

[so funny, I used to be all "Tea Tree oil? Come ON, do I look like a weird hippy?!" ....but then I used it once and it's now my go-to for everything. I guess I do "look like a weird hippy"! :rofl:]

ALSO! I'm so excited that it sounds like she's found the perfect home!! That's the greatest. Way to go!


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## Endiku

Just got back from the retreat!!! Its so sad...we went to Bastrop State Park which is where all of the wildfires were two years ago. It destroyed hundreds of miles of forest. A friend and I were talking about how when you see things like that on the news, you don't really (or we don't anyways) realize the true extent of what is going on. You think to yourself "oh, only 10 miles, they can put that fire out in no time." or something, but then you go and you see for yourself what damage was done...how much forest was burned...and what it looks like even two years later, and it is unbelievable. We went on a 3 hour hike and never did reach the end of the burn line because it just kept going and going and going. It was also sort of neat though, because you can see all of the new plant life transforming the land again. It was really humbling though. And it was an AMAZING trip. 

Amy, doesn't it?! I feel bad that she isn't able to graze on it 24/7 but SOMEONE likes to jump fences...not mentioning any names xD I hobble her and let her graze while I'm cleaning her stall though (because she is SO not helpful, despite the fact that she tries very hard to 'help me' when she is in there with me) and I let her hand graze after her walks too. She's hilarious because she practically doesn't even breath when she's grazing. Its just "GRASSGRASSGRASSGRASS" She's going to love having it all of the time.

LOL, this is definitely a "what the heck is this" thing, so maybe I should use the tea tree oil!!! Its so weird how flaky the skin is...and the vet was no help, much as I loved her. She was just like "yeah, it could be stress. or bacteria. or allergies. or just her. Give her a bath." So I did. But its still here! Dx ickkk. I'm going out in the morning to see Kenzie before class, so I guess I'll evaluate whether or not the MTG helped at all. If it didn't I'll go hunt down some tea tree oil.


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## tempest

Could you put her in the hobbles all the time in the pasture? I don't have much experience with them so maybe someone could tell me if that is a good idea or not. But if there is a mare that likes to push her around that may not be a good idea because she might not be able to get away.


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## NorthernMama

Hobbles unsupervised are not a good idea. I hobble my horse fairly regularly, but only when I am watching her. I might be talking, or eating, but I am watching.


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## Endiku

That's the problem. Jewel, the mare, is very dominant and has always picked on Kenzie a little. Not to the point of biting/kicking, but she herds Kenzie around and I think that (and better grass) is what caused her to jump in the first place. Then she just did it because she knew she could.

Just in case anyone is wondering though, she is supervised when she is hobbled atm. I'm not RIGHT with her, but they're quick release and I leave the stall door wide open (the stall is IN the pasture, so I wouldn't even have to go over a fence- just walk over and help her) in case she needs something. The first 10 times or so that I hobbled her it was in a small area with me standing right with her, but she has thus far been fine with them and doesn't try and funny business. Sour mastered the bunny hop while hobbled, but so far Kenzie has not! (knock on wood...lol)


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## NorthernMama

I missed the original post about the hobbles, apparently. I was responding to Tempest's question as to hobbles full-time in the pasture.

Endiku, if you are nearby and there aren't any other horses, then Kenzie is fine with hobbles and it is a great training tool to teach a horse to relax and give.


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## Endiku

Well I'm amazed! 

I went out yesterday to the see Kenzie, expecting to see that her neck hadn't improved, but instead I found that the dandruff was 100% cleared up and her fur/skin was SUPER soft everywhere that I put the MTG. Success! So I went ahead and put some in everywhere else (poll, chest, part of her shoulders) that had dandruff and bam. It looks great today. I'm totally impressed over here y'all. Apparently her skin was just that dry. I think I like MTG for this purpose! haha. Just saying though, her winter coat is ridiculously thick  maybe she isn't going to need blanketed after all unless it gets abnormally cold this year...its nearly as thick as Sours always got and it just appeared overnight. That's insane! 

Oh, and she was fantastic when I came out to walk her today  No spooking at all even when we had to pass two very in-your-face large Labradors, no jumping ahead of me and only one time when she got in my space and had to be corrected. She also stood very nicely to apply the MTG AND I decided to mouth her for the first time. She did great! She chewed on it like crazy as expected, but didn't seem particularly stressed by having it in her mouth so I left it in for 5 or 6 minutes and took it out when she stopped chewing, and that was the end of it. She has SUCH a tiny mouth though. The bit that I used was a 4" O ring pony bit. lol!

We're also looking the lady buying/moving her Saturday or Sunday if we can get our schedules to line up. Its bittersweet.


ETA: Oh, one question though. I'm noticing a liiittle bit of thrushy-looking sole on Kenzie's left fore hoof. Obviously I should go ahead and treat it before it gets worse. What do you all recommend? The stuff I used when she had it in all four feet is no longer at TSC so I need something else. My friend suggested Copper Tox. What you do all think?

I feel bad, its my fault. She pees like crazy and I can't get out to clean her stall as much as I need to. I pretty much strip it every other day, but I just can't usually get out there every day. Family P picks through it but not thoroughly enough (can't complain, its free) so it gets pretty wet before I clean it. :/ hopefully not for much longer, poor baby <3


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## verona1016

I like "Pete's Goo" for thrush- mix equal parts triple antibiotic cream (like Neosporin) and antifungal cream (like Lotrimin), pack it into a dental syringe and "inject" into the deepest part of the sulci.


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## Endiku

That sounds easy enough! Where would I get a dental syringe though? And actually the thrush is near the toe on her sole, not on the frog (the frog actually looks super healthy at the moment). Should I put it there instead, and if so how would I keep it on there since she stands in shavings? Or should I do both the sole and the sulci?


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## Kayella

A horse can't get thrush on their soles, at least not that I know of. Is the sole white, chalky, flaky? If it is, that's just exfoliating sole. It's completely normal and actually healthy. It's dead sole flaking off to reveal true sole. The wetness of her stall probably helped it loosen up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Oh xD well then. Yes, its white and flaky- the same color I'm used to seeing with thrush. so I guess that's just what I assumed it was. That's good then! Thank you! I'm still learning the ins and outs of hooves apparently. LOL.


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## Kayella

Lol don't worry, the first time I saw it I freaked out too. Now I sometimes encourage their feet to get wet to help shed the dead sole faster.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Ok, so I have a question. The lady buying Kenzie (I'm going to start calling her T) is still trying to schedule with me a day to buy/pick her up and honestly we've had a hard time since both of our schedules are crazy and she's wanting her trainer to be with her to pick Kenzie up so that everything goes smoothly (which I think is wise, even though Kenzie loads and hauls like a champ. I love how involved her trainer is.) They were planning to come this weekend but they called yesterday and said T is having trailer troubles so they are going to have to get it repaired before trekking down here. She is SO sweet though and knows that I'm having some financial troubles at the moment, so she suggested that she buy Kenzie this weekend (she would come down herself without the trailer) and just give me the money for her feed and shavings this week to keep her until she can be trailered to Brazoria. That sounds great to me personally because honestly I'm running REALLY low on money at the moment. I've been doing odd jobs and babysitting for some friends but I'm really hurting from the lack of my paycheck every other week, especially since I'm having to buy 3-4 bags of shavings ($28) a week at the moment and I'm about to need to buy some more feed. I honestly don't have the money for it right now. If she did buy ($200 plus the money for upkeep this week) that would reimburse some of what I've had to spend and I can pay a bill or two.

But I figured I'd check with y'all to see what you thought of us doing that. I really feel like I can trust her, she's been nothing but straightforward and we've already sort of become friends, but at the same time I don't want to get myself in any sort pickle by 'feeling' like I can trust her and something happening. So what do you think? Should I accept the offer, or just tough it out another week and hope she can come by next week to pay?


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## cobra

I would accept, since she offered. Once Kenzie is at her place she will be taking care of all that stuff anyways....and since T wants to buy her but has not paid you yet, you are 'holding' Kenzie for her. I ssee no issues with it - but i would get everything in writing and signed when she comes down.


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## Endiku

For sure. I already have her coggins certificate in order, as well as two copies of a bill of sale for her to sign when she comes down. Should I make some sort of contract saying I am keeping Kenzie for her? She's giving the money for the week to me up front so she shouldn't owe me anything unless next weekend doesn't work out.

The good thing with that is that I can officially take Kenzie's sales ads (I have them on like 5 websites...lol) down and stop getting calls from interested buyers. I've had at least six and have talked to each of them/collected their numbers in case something fell through, but honestly no one struck me as being as suitable for Kenzie as T is. One guy wanted to know if he could register and race her, another asked if she would cross well with and Andalusian (O_O Kenzie does not need to have babies. Not at all) and another wanted to know if she was a husband safe trail horse yet that could pack 200 lbs. Another called, sounded nice, but then started referring to Kenzie as the "tenessee walker" and wanting to know if she was over 15.2hh...when I very pointedly wrote in all of her ads that Kenzie is an unregistered but racing bred THOROUGHBRED and that she's barely 14hh. The last one was a teenaged girl who wanted to know how broke to ride she was and if she had been started in dressage or jumping because she needed a broke horse. When I said no she asked why I hadn't broke her yet, so I explained that she just turned two and is small for her age. Then she proceeded to change her story and start telling me she could break Kenzie herself if I would sell her for $100 instead of $200, and she just needed a cheap horse. Yeah no. 

So I really think I just got lucky with T and her trainer! Most people in this area are inexperienced or nuts xD


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## JulieG

Yikes! Those other calls sound slightly concerning. Good thing you lucked out with T!

That's great that she is willing to help you out since you're going to keep Kenzie longer than expected. I think it's fair that she would pay for her upkeep this week since she was supposed to pick her up this weekend. Just like anywhere else you would board a horse.


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## thesilverspear

If you get a good vibe off these people and have an airtight contract, you should be fine. I think a lot of times, these things work out perfectly for all involved. Sometimes, they really go quite wrong (and people then post forums with outrageous stories), but I imagine most of the time, it goes according to plan. 

Your phone calls...oy! Nothing like advertising a cheap horse to bring all the crazies to the yard.


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## Endiku

No kidding! I kind of regret putting $200 as her sales price, should have just put private treaty or something. She comes up as one of the cheapest, and the only one of her price that isn't ridiculously old or lame, so all of the cheapies and wish buyers are calling me. 

I really do like this lady and her trainer a lot. And it doesn't hurt that she has already invited me to go on a fundraising trail ride in February with them, and they're willing to led me ride their mustang...and they plan on bringing (ponying obviously) Kenzie along with them so I might get to see her if that's the case!


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## thesilverspear

Hindsight is 20/20. When I see "private treaty" on an ad, I think the horse is so expensive most people can't afford it and probably related to Valegro or Frankel. But it might have kept the crazies at bay!


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## smrobs

I think I would go ahead and do it, but before she comes down, write up a simple contract stating that she is paying for the feed and necessities of the horse and that she is certainly their "property" but the horse will remain under your care until they can arrange for transport.

Then, just have her sign that the same time she signs the bill of sale and you should be good to go.


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## Endiku

Sounds simple enough to me! 


Dude, it has not been a very good day though xD I went to TSC to buy more feed and they were out of alfalfa pellets so I had to settle for alfalfa/timothy (which isn't really that big of a deal), then I ran into my old BO there even though I've never seen her at that store...then I bought a new hay net for Kenzie because she broke hers, and my car ate it o.o no joke- I set it in my trunk with the bales of shavings and hay that I had bought and now I can't find it anywhere so she is at the moment eating hay from a big round tub. 

Then I walked Kenzie and it is INSANELY cold (ok, not to you guys...its 43 with 15 mph wind, but it was 82 yesterday...) so I almost turned to a popsicle, and apparently at some point when we were trotting in hand and practicing trot to halt and halt to trot transitions my phone must of fallen out of my pocket and I didn't notice. An hour later I couldn't find it, starting digging through Kenzie's shavings and went phone hunting in the dark- only to find it in the middle of the road, run over by a car, but still working. Or so I thought. For whatever reason it still LOOKS fine but its saying 'emergency calls only' and wont let me access any of my contacts or messages xD 

Oh well. This is why I have a cheap phone though...I kill ALL electronics. haha! On a good note though, Kenzie met a moving school bus full of screaming children on the road today and didn't even bat an eye at it. But then she spooked at a trash can. Her spooks are HILARIOUS though. She throws both front legs in front of her and lets out a huge snort...and that's it. As soon as she realized it wasn't alive, she sniffed it, sighed, and kept walking. Didn't spook at another on again, silly girl. She also kept her cool when a dog practically ran under her legs barking. She's going to make a stellar trail horse yet!


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## BLSpromise

just joined the horse forum so my first time seeing this, and way to many for me to read but did read the first few and the picture and she sure is cute, you can tell in her eyes she is just so kind hearted and wants to be loved, so sweet.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Welcome to the forum BLS! You won't meet a better group on online horse lovers. 

Thank you so much  she has come a very long way and she's definitely a lover!


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## Endiku

Is there danger in putting a too-big blanket on Kenzie? I was given two, but they're a few inches too long and definitely too wide (droop down) on her. I only ask because it is COLD today (40) and it supposed to drop to about 30 with wind tonight. Her stall blocks wind pretty nicely so it won't be SUPER cold but I thought she might appreciate a blanket. If it does more harm that good though I definitely won't do it. I put an entire 50 lb bale of costal hay in her stall for her to munch on so that she can regulate her own temperature better, so hopefully that helps. It will probably be gone in two days...that horse can EAT.

When I ran into my BO and hubby they asked me what I was feeding Kenzie (no idea why it matters to them...they feed their horses sweet feed and very little hay...sometimes none at all!) and I saw no reason to lie so I told them alfalfa pellets and 2 1/2 lbs of grain. They told me alfalfa kills horses and that I was going to kill her from obesity. mhm. Nah, she looks great actually  slightly ribby if anything!


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## AnalisaParalyzer

If alfalfa kills, my horses should be dead already......
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Kayella

I probably wouldn't risk it. If she lays down, it'll slip down her shoulders and get stuck. She may catch a hoof on it trying to get up or something like that. I think she'll be fine with the stall and hay. I know this weather isn't normal. Mine are up, too, because of the wind and possible rain. Henny went CRAZY last night when I let him out. Running and bucking everywhereeee. Silly boy.


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## Endiku

Mine too Analisa! xD Kenzie gets 7lbs right now (I bumped it up a bit) a day, and has been getting alfalfa since pretty much the beginning of when I started feeding her. They looked at me like I was crazy when they asked if her grain was a 10%,12%, or 14% sweet feed and I told them it wasn't a sweet feed at all. In my area it is insane not to feed sweet feed apparently! 

Oh well. Its my horse now. I can feed her what I want to feed her and she looks way better than their pot bellied babies.


Kayella, good point. She's pretty furry now and has good skin/oil now that the dandruff is fixed, so I'm sure she'll be perfectly ok, I'm just a worry wart! haha. The weather is insane though! Super cold, wet and miserable >.>


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## ThePaintGirl

Endiku said:


> The weather is insane though! Super cold, wet and miserable >.>


Never come to Wyoming  It was 20 degrees today and we thought it was a heat wave, I let my horses out of their stalls for some exercise (apparently they needed to work on their bucks) and we get on average 30 mph winds sometimes up to 65 mph


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## Endiku

haha, there is a reason I live down south! Bring me heat any day...I'll gladly take our 110 days with 90% humidity if I don't have to suffer the cold.


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## smrobs

LOL, sounds like you had a heck of a bad-luck day. That sucks :hug:.

Anyway, I agree with not blanketing her if they're too big. As accident prone as she is, she'd probably find some way to hurt herself or get tangled in them. Since she's nice and fluffy and will have plenty of hay in a place that blocks the wind, she'll be fine, I'm sure.


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## Endiku

So, so true. With her luck I'd be meeting her tomorrow afternoon, hanging upside down suspended by her blanket from the stall rafters xD


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## Endiku

Double post but I have three things to say.

1. HOLY COW  or horse. I went out today and that bale of hay was totally gone-not a single straw left. That's 50 lbs of hay Kenzie; goodness woman! She seems to have no effects from the cold except maybe watery eyes though, so I guess its working. I bedded her stall deeper than usual too.

2. She's awesome. I bitted her for the second time today and she acted like she was born knowing how to be bridled. It was as simple as putting it up to her mouth, touching the side of her mouth, and she opened up and carried the bit quietly for 30 minutes on her walk- only chewing for the first minute or two. I think having something to do when they're first learning to accept bits really helps them realize its not a big deal and just another piece of equipment.

3. She was sold today. It makes me sad but I don't think it has fully hit me yet because she isn't gone. I did get signed permission to hand walk her until she is picked up though, as well as continue bitting her and feeding her as I have been.


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## greentree

AAaaaawww....she is going to a good place.....and think of AALLL the things she taught you, and you learned through her!

Nancy


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## KigerQueen

Your old BO would hate az. All you can get your hands on is alfalfa. You will be paying almost 20 bucks a bale during the winter for burmuda and id be impressed if you could find timothy for less then 25 at any time of year. Alfalfa is 14 bucks a bale last I checked. Most people only feed it here.


And I'm sorry to see you have to sell her but sh is going to a good home 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

Its really not like I even feed her that much alfalfa either. She gets 7 lbs which is the equivalent of maybe 1 1/2 flakes a day. The rest is decent but not SUPER nice costal Bermuda.


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## smrobs

LOL, I know there are a lot of folks that believe that feeding pure alfalfa is horrible for their health (mostly because of the increased risk of enteroliths), but I've got several horses in my pasture that, up until the last few years when alfalfa became nearly impossible to find and/or afford, were fed nothing but alfalfa...and much of it was free choice :wink:.

They are all still fat and healthy *shrugs*.


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## Endiku

Its really hard to find here, too. I saw it going for $18-20 for a smallish square bale a few weeks ago but I'd much rather just provide grass hay that costs me $10 for a heavy (55-60 lbs, depends on the bale) bale of costal hay and supplement with the alfalfa pellets which are $12.99 for 40 lbs. Although right now I can't even find pure alfalfa, I'm having to feed 40/60 timothy/alfalfa mix.

I really like the costal supplier I've had though. The hay is fine and fairly leafy, not tough and stemmy. It isn't super green but color doesn't necessarily mean anything. The only complaint I have is that the flakes really vary in weight (some are thin and only about 3 lbs, some are huge and 6+ lbs) and they're hard to separate because they're so fine. Its a good problem to have though I guess; Kenzie likes the Bermuda costal a lot more than the stuff she was getting at her old barn.


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## Endiku

Kenzie pictures for you all  sadly they're probably one of the last unless T wants to share some with me and gives me permission to show them to y'all, but here we go.

Her ribs seem a little less visable with the extras I've added in. Oh, and yes- that bucket is tied with baling twine xD she likes to paw it when she's alone I guess and soaks the stall ._. also excuse the stall, I hadn't cleaned yet.










Prince spying on Kenzie and hoping for some morsels of hay. The hilarious thing is she'll give it to him too. He just hangs out there with her and she'll grab a few mouthfuls and literally fling it over the door for him. They're best buddies despite the mare's protests!









nomnom lots of hay  she had this gone by the time I left O_O









wearing her bit! Its so TINY. haha. And yes, the 'bridle' is just a bunch of braidy parachute cord...I'm broke. Don't judge! LOL Its just to get her used to having the bit though and won't be used for anything except keeping it in place so I figure its fine. Easy to get on and off too.


















I'm sick with the flu or something AGAIN and feel awful (fever, stomach crud, etc) but I'm so bored of being in the house so I decided after cleaning the stall to play dress up with Kenzie...haha.

Yeah. If she's going to be a western horse, she's going to have to have a pony sized blanket because this one is WAAAAY too big! This was her first time with one on though and she was just like "whatever lady, let me eat hay."









Yep. I look sick. haha









I think she's trying to tell us she needs to be an English jumping horse. She was must more interested in this saddle pad (ISNTITCUTE). Also as a side note, look at how nasty it is outside o.o its actually SNOWING in a lot of areas around Houston! But its just pouring freezing rain here. I think Kenzie should be glad she is stalled this week!









Oh, and just because- a picture from the retreat I went on ;D I'm standing so weird, but whatever. I'm proud of the Winnie the pooh shirt that I found. $3 at a thrift store. I WIN.


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## smrobs

Adorable, both of you .

She's really maturing quickly! Other than being small, she is starting to look like an actual horse:lol:.

I hope you can continue to get an occasional picture to share with us or *hint, hint* talk the new owners into joining here so we can continue to share in Kenzie's story.


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## VickiRose

Very sweet!


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## Tazzie

You have done a fantastic job with her! She is adorable! And I do so hope we can get an occasional update on her! I haven't posted much in this thread, but I read every new update


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## Endiku

It is SO thrilling to see her mature. I'm really going to miss seeing her. She really is very well behaved for a two year old with a greenish owner, especially in light of all the things that have happened to her. She still has that wonky neck that doesn't fit her body, but I've SEEN it at normal length/width a couple of times so I know an elegant neck is in there somewhere! lol. Neither of her parents had funky necks.

Haha, I've already started mentioning to T and her trainer that they should join HF! I'm hoping they at least come check it out. They might like seeing Kenzie's journey from beginning to 'end' and having the chance to share her with people who love her just as much as they do! And y'all would LOVE the trainers mustangs. 

Thanks Tazzie! Thank you very much for sticking with us through the journey!


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## cpr saves

Love the pics!! Especially the one of you together! And her looking at the AP saddle pad. Too cute. Not to mention you at camp! The socks and shoes are just my style! I so hope you will be able to keep up with her as she grows. She is really looking wonderful thanks to you. I am sure she will Always remember you for the rest of her life. Hopefully your paths will cross again some day.


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## Endiku

Thanks Amy! I thought the lime green was absolutely adorable on her.


Hehe...everyone sort of 'knows' me for my crazy socks and shoes. Those particular socks came in a set of 3 instead of 2, and the shoes are signed by my absolute favorite singer ever so they're good in my book!!!


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## Endiku

I believe Kenzie is supposed to be leaving for her new home tomorrow.


Oh, and there was a good reason for me feeling sick the past few days...its not the flu, its pneumonia again. Today I feel like, as my mom says, "death warmed over" so hopefully I even feel good enough to drag myself out of bed to meet T tomorrow ._. I feel awful. This is my second round of pneumonia in a year (I had it...get this...at thanksgiving time last year too! LOL) and I've had bronchitis three times too. Fun stuff man. Boooooo!


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## smrobs

Dang! I hope you get to feeling better quickly:hug:.


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## Celeste

I think that the timing on getting Kenzie into a new home is good. You probably really don't need to be sleeping in barns with sick baby horses this winter. You work on getting your own health in better shape. I hope and pray you feel better soon and start having better health.


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## Endiku

You're right Celeste. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat but this year has been extremely challenging what with trying to balance Kenzie's care with school and working. I can't believe it has already been 11 months though...it seems like I was just in the stall with her, trying to get her to stand and fight. Now she's a lively, happy two year old ready to take on the world. That's a far cry from the emaciated little pile of bones that she was last December. Every minute I've spent with her has been worth it, and I've learned _so_ much from her.

I'm not going to lie though, I'm exhausted. Sometimes I feel 60 instead of 17. Being away from horses will be a sad thing for me, but I think its going to give m a little down time too. Horses are a lot of work! haha.


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## Celeste

Yes, horses are a lot of work. Over the course of your lifetime, you will be able to do more for horses if you get your education as well as work on getting in better health.


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## Endiku

Hmm. Well, they were all set to pick Kenzie up today, but then T got called in to work because a bunch of people were out sick. I haven't heard back about tomorrow yet. 

It is a beautiful day though so I decided to take advantage of it if Kenzie wasn't leaving today, and Kenzie, my sister, and I went for a walk. I almost died from a coughing fit a couple of times but I seriously needed to get out and it was gorgeous out...


so I lied to you guys. The pictures a few days ago weren't the last...but these probably are. haha. Pics by my sister, not me. Pardon how I look, I didn't know we'd be taking pictures and the sweatshirt is a mens medium so...haha






























Trying to make us look shorter than we already are...hehe. Sister is 3 years younger and 6 1/2" taller than me. We can't decide if that makes her my 'big little sister' or my 'little big sister' though.


















She has a crazy long mane for a two year old!













































I like this one for some reason. 









I'm going to miss her so much. I don't think it was real that she's leaving until today, since she was so close to leaving this afternoon.


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## egrogan

So glad you have all these beautiful pictures of both of you together!


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## Endiku

Well, Kenzie left today at about 4. She'll be staying in the trainer's round pen for tonight then they'll slowly start introducing her to the "crew" as they call their horses, tomorrow. 

I felt kind of numb about the whole thing, which I guess is good for the sake of my reputation... She hopped in like the champ that she is and I'm so proud of her, and never looked back. I'm sure she had no idea that she'd never be back and I think she's going to love her new home. I'd planned to clean her stall today but once I got back to the empty stall though I just kind of fell apart so I ended up coming home. I'll tackle it another day. I'm not really sure what to do with the big shavings pile anyways, or how to treat the stall after I scrape it.

I'm really sad about this whole thing, but past the emotional side of it I know I made the right choice.


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## egrogan

Sending you lots of hugs. While it's the end of an era, I'm still amazed at how selfless and determined you were to do what's right for that horse.

And, I still think you have a college essay in this story when you're ready...
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## cakemom

Love and hugs
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs

:hug: It's always hard to part with an animal that has been such a big part of your life.


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## Chevaux

No words from me, Endiku - just a hug.:hug:


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## cpr saves

Wow! Big day. Bet you're exhausted and drained. Yes, you did the right thing! Heavy on the heart, but lighter on the shoulders. You did good!


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## stargirl90

Hugs! Feel better soon. :hug:


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## VickiRose

I'm a late comer to the journey you and Kenzie have been on, but have been hugely impressed with your commitment and love for this horse. 

You are an inspiration. Truely!


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## Hunter65

Awe Endiku big hugs. I thought I would pop in and see how you were doing. I love those last pictures of Kenzie, she looks fantastic!! Be proud of yourself girl you did so much good for her.


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## Endiku

Thank you very much everyone. I'm truly lucky to have had so much support on this journey...I wouldn't have been able to do with without you guys, Family P, and a friend or two! 

T was very kind and sent me a text last night to tell me that Kenzie had settled in well into their roundpen and was already attacking a hay bale with gusto. They were suprised (and thought it was hilarious) how vocal she is about new horses.

So now its finishing time with family P. Do you guys have any ideas for what I should do to the stall? What do you usually do with soiled bedding? I've been slowly drying out what was wet (it got rained on) and bagging it up into trash bags but that isn't work too well because I can only put so many bags in front of my house at a time without the garbage mane hunting me down. Plus they're HEAVY and tend to break which is a huge mess. It will take me forever doing it this way. I can do it if thats the only option though xD 

When its all cleaned out, what end should I do? Should I treat the stall with anything for bacteria or just leave it? Its well ventilated so I don't think that will be a problem.

ALso I'm wanting to do something nice for Family P (a gift or something) since they were so sweet to keep Kenzie for those two months without any pay- and their daughter fed Kenzie for me twice a day...and hunted her down when she went fence hopping once. I'm planning to give them a little more than half of what I got for selling Kenzie, but $125 obviously is barely anything considering what they did. Should I get them some sort of gift? Maybe one for their horses, or for their house?


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## Chevaux

A horse related thank you gift is always nice - how about a new muck bucket filled with horse related stuff (eg brushes, lead ropes, a magazine or two, etc.)?

Re the manure - what does the family normally do with theirs? If you had the money, it might be more effective to hire someone with a truck to haul it away (if you're lucky a gardener would do it for nothing).

Re the stall - I think after you clean it, just let it air out.


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## Endiku

That's a good idea! Her horse's halters are a bit old (but totally functional)...I wonder if she'd like some matching halters and lead ropes for them? 

I think they pretty much just collect their manure and let it decompose in a pile on the edge of their property since their horses are always pastured and not stalled. Since Kenzie's stuff is soiled pine bedding and not just straight manure though, I don't think it will decompose fast enough and there is a lot of it so it definitely needs to go. Hiring someone to take it might be a good option...do I just put an ad out on craigslist or something? lol! I doubt anyone will want it as fertilizer though since it is mixed with shavings. Actually its mostly shavings.


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## Chevaux

Matched sets are always classy - if non leather, colour coordinated with the horse's colour.

Shavings will decompose too but there's probably already folks in your area that have ads out for the 'anything for a buck' kind of person which is what you would need.


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## KigerQueen

If you can afford it you should try to get these type of halters for their horses 

Saddles Tack Horse Supplies - ChickSaddlery.com Personalized Monogrammed Nylon Halter


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## Endiku

Those are adorable Kiger! I'm not sure that I can afford monogrammed halters since I'd have to pay shipping too, and I'm unfortunately still jobless minus a few odd jobs here and there. I think I am going to get them some halters and leads though- our tack store has some cute ones. They have a paint gelding (looks like his base color would probably be bay but he is 90% white) and a bay no-spot appy mare so I'm thinking maybe lime green and pink halters?


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## amp23

I think you can never go wrong with blue, green, black or pink. Whatever fits the horse! I think it's awesome that you're going to get something together to give them, it'll mean a lot.


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## Endiku

They really deserve it...I couldn't have taken that final step to make Kenzie safe without their help, and I really didn't even know them before asking such a huge favor. I'd been in two or three classes with their daughter so I knew her enough to know she had two horses and rode in a drill team, and she knew I had a mini mare- but that was all. And suddenly here I was asking to keep my horse with them for little to no pay. 

But they did it! And Kenzie didn't make it very easy on them either, what with the fence hopping and chewing on one of their stall boards (don't worry, I fixed it.) so they definitely deserve a thank you gift. I'm really not even sure that they'll accept the money without some persuasion, but I won't take no for an answer! They've been so generous.

So far I have on the list of things to get: a bucket, two halters and leads, and maybe some matching brushes that I saw. Maybe a bag of horse treats too? Would it be 'rude' to give them the opened (but completely full minus one) bag of treats I bought Kenzie? She refused to eat them, so they're still all there and the bag is resealable. And I have nothing else to do with them! lol


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## aerie

I think this is a great idea!!! All those things sound lovely and I am sure would be appreciated  If you are nervous about giving them an already opened (but untouched  ) bag of treats you could always pick up a cheap container and decorate it, that way they will never know and they will have a re-useable treat container. I just wanted to stop by and tell you that you an incredible young lady and you should be soooooo proud of yourself. Hugs all around <3


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## Endiku

That's a great idea! Thanks, I think I'll do that. It gives me an excuse to decorate anyways! haha.


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## Endiku

Funny story- T told me that Kenzie now has an official birthday, and its exactly the same day that we had all decided on! LOL. How perfect is that? Kenzie has settled in perfectly though and appears to love her new home. I am so very happy for her. 

I dropped off the bucket of treats, halters, and brushes at Family P's today, and a few days ago I decided to call their hay supplier and pay forward their month's hay bill since they refused to take any money from me too  I also finished cleaning the stall and manure pile outside and was able to find someone who wanted to haul it away for free if I bagged it for him so that he could use it as compost fertilizer  so this chapter of my life is over at last...just a few weeks before it started this time last year. It seems like it has been so much longer, but so much shorter at the same time.

Again, I want to that you all so much for your support through all of this. It has been an adventure for sure- one that sometimes made me cry and sometimes frustrated me or made me angry, but I have learned SO much and grown up a lot learning to handle all of the things thrown at us. And we succeeded!

Maybe a few years down the road, when finances aren't such an issue and I've had time to grow up and make a place for myself in the world, I'll find my own forever Kenzie. Until then I can be satisfied knowing that 'my' Kenzie has _her_ own place in the world


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## smrobs

:hug:


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