# My Horse Journal



## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Well still haven't gotten the new horse yet, aparently the owner wants to get her hooves trimmed and get her wormed before she gives her to me. I told her I could take care of those things but she would have none of that. So now waiting for Poke (that's her name) to come join Magic. 
Magic is doing fine. She follows me around the pasture and comes straight to me when I call her. I just got my saddle back in, (it was broken) so this weekend I am going to put it on her and lunge her. She doesn't seem to mind the saddle too much, but I want her to trot/run with it on. Just to get used to it being on her back. . . .
So that's it for today. Will be posting more this weekend when I work with her.


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Finally got the new horse. She is a 16 year old Quarter horse named Poke. I don't really like her name though so I've been calling her Pokers. She and Magic have gotten along great so far. No biting or kicking, just sniffs and trotting around. I think they are going to be good friends. 







(Poke)
This weekend rained pretty much everyday so I didn't get time to lunge Magic. The ground was too soggy and muddy. So hopefully this week it will be better weather. Poke is supposed to be broke and fine to ride but she is limping on her front right hoof so I am not going to be riding her untill we get that checked out. The previous owner said it's probably just a bruise from walking on gravel, so we will see how long it keeps up.


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Poke's limp never went away. It has gotten less severe and she only limps sometimes now. So I am going to call the vet out tomorrow. I checked her hoof and it appears fine. Her leg is not swollen anywhere and is not sensitive either. Hopefully it's nothing serious. 
Along with Poke's limp, Magic put a huge gash on her leg. I had Poke out in the pasture playing around and Magic tied in the barn. Magic hates being seperated from Poke and was throwing a fit. I had her tied close because I knew she would be pulling and trying to get out. I could hear her in the barn whinning and stomping her hooves but figured she would be fine. After I was done with Poke, I took her in the opposite end of the barn and tied her. Come to find out, Magic somehow scrapped her left hindquarter on something. I am still not sure how she managed to do it, but it was a good 4-5 inch gash. I put some of our aloe cream on it and now a few days later it is almost completely healed. I still want the vet to check it out though, just to make sure it's not going to be a problem. 







(Poke & Magic)
Now that we have Poke with Magic, Magic's attitude has gotten worse. She tires to push people around and nips at anyone if they are with Poke and not her. She also decided she doesn't know how to walk on a leadrope. She won't walk, she pulls, she tries to go the other way. Before Poke she was great on the leadrope, now she won't have anything to do with it. I did notice that Poke is not letting Magic push her around anymore. When we first brought Poke in, Magic would corner her and push her around. Now Poke lets Magic know it's not going to happen like that. 
So looks like we need to work with Magic even more now. I'm thinking about taking her to a trainer (she was my riding instructor for 11 years) and seeing if that will straighten her out. Plus, she needs more work before saddling and I know my trainer will do a great job with Magic and me.


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Whoops, haven't updated this for awhile. :?
Well, Magic's gash is completely gone now. We didn't need to call the vet because Poke stopped limping. So both the horses are healthy and accident free. 
As for Magic's training...We put the saddle on her and played around with it for awhile. We flapped everything around, slapped on it, jumped up and down next to her and eventually lunged her with it on. She walked with it just fine but when it came to trotting she bucked a little. After a few small bucking episodes, she got more comfortable trotting/cantering with it on. After lunging, I walked around the yard with her and did some more playing with the saddle. We did this three times within the last week. Also worked with bending her neck. At first she was confused and didn't know what to do but she figured it out pretty quick. Now she is pretty soft and will bend it almost imediatly when you ask. She is perfect at backing so we didn't need to work on that too much. 
Poke is just poke. I haven't ridden her because I don't want her to start hurting again, so we are giving her a break. She is a great girl and is just about perfect. But hopefully I can get the saddle on her and ride her a bit. I noticed she doesn't mind when you take her away from Magic, but Magic hates it. Poke also loves the salt lick. Magic had a mineral block but she ate it and she can't have another one untill the end of September so I got them a salt block. Neither of the horses had ever had a salt block and they both loved it.


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Rode Magic this morning. Saddled her up and lunged her for a bit then hopped on. She did great, responded to my requests and acted very good. After riding, I got the tarp out and also a log. Left the saddle on and practiced walking over the tarp and stepping over the log. At first she was scared of the tarp but within five minutes she was standing on it and walking right over it. She stepped right over the log the first time, she lifts her feet extra high and didn't bump it at all. 
After Magic was finished I took Poke out on her leadrope and walked her over the tarp. I don't think she has ever walked on a tarp but she sniffed it the first time and walked over it. She was not scared at all of the tarp even when the wind kind of picked the corner up and flapped it. She also stepped right over the log with no problems. Took her over to the trees and had the fiance kind of wiggle the brances to make noise and she could have cared less. Took a long rope and ran it over her back, her back legs, her front legs, her neck and she didn't care. Poke is a very sound, good girl. 
I rode Poke two days ago and she was great. Just rode her around the pasture for a bit. She was feeling pretty frisky and kept wanting to trot so I had to stop her and turn her in a cirlce a few times but after awhile she was fine and calmed down. She is so easy to ride, just like an old school horse. I love her to death.
I didn't ride Poke today because somehow she got a cut on the side of her belly. I cleaned it up and but some of the medical cream on it but I want it to heal before putting a saddle on her. I'm afraid it will rub on the cut and cause it to get worse and hurt her. It's not a deep cut or really even that bad but I don't want to cause Poke any pain. The cut should heal pretty fast then I can ride her again.


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Haven been working with Magic on leading. For some reason, when you first hook up her leadrope she doesn't want to move. So I've been working with trying to break that habbit. And the last few times I went out and hooked her she didn't brace herself and followed me. I walked her around the pasture last night and then unhooked her and she followed me around without the rope. Then Poke decided to come out so we all just went for a few laps around the pasture. 
I rode Poke bareback a few days ago, for the first time. She is so much fun to ride! The only complaint I have about her is when you first get going she just wants to run. So at first you have to really hold her back and do a bunch of circles, but she eventually calms down. She is so smooth to ride and everytime I got a little unbalanced she would kind of slow down. Love her to death! 
For once, nobody has gotten hurt in awhile. Both the girls are cut-free and energetic. Did have a little incident with clover (I didn't know it made them drool) but other than that it's been pretty quiet. The farrier is coming out sometime next week to trim Magic's hooves, this will be the first time with us. Her previous owner said she does fine so we'll see.


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

Haven't been keeping up on this journal. I have been super busy with a bunch of stuff. Me and my fiance broke it off a few weeks ago, so it's been pretty hectic with everything. I was trying to sell Magic (four year old palomino) because she just wasn't the right horse for me. I wasn't bringing out her full potention so I gave her to a friend of mine who has several other horses. They are currently working with her and riding her. As for Poke (sixteen year old chestnut), I am moving her to my riding insturctor's stable so she can live there. 
I got a new job, I'm working for my riding instructor. I do occasional office work and a lot of the stable work. I love it, I get to work with her five horses. She has two quarter horses (max & simply) and three pony of the Americas (ready, odiea & little guy). And then ofcourse Poke will be there shortly to add to the mix.


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## rosebud4030 (Nov 3, 2010)

Sorry to hear about the break up. I'm glad that Poke is working out well for you. Don't you just love quarter horses? I must say I do


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## HannahJo (Jul 24, 2010)

I just adore quarter horses. So far, Poke has been the best horse I have ever met. I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.


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