Re: Separation anxiety
This message is from: Jean Ernest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mark: I'm a litttle embarassed to admit that I didn't get around to weaning my gelding Bjorken until he was 14 months old! He was gelded before he was weaned! I left him with his mother through his first winter up here in Fairbanks, and the next spring started to put him together with my older gelding, but Bjorken was getting so "Studdy" that he wanted to play too hard with old Bjarne and Bjarne was about to lose patience and trounce him a good one, so I separated them and called the vet. He was gelded at 11 months and I let them all together after about 3 weeks and the kid had toned down enough for Boss Bjarne to tolerate him. I still didn't get around to actually separating him from mom till the end of the summer, then closed the gates between the two paddocks. No Trauma at all, Stella breathed a sigh of relief and walked away, Bjorken played with uncle Bjarne in the adjacent pen. One month later I let them back together and Stella wouldn't let him nurse. Bjorken is one of the most well adjusted horses I know, leaves the others to go trail riding with me without a backward glance, learned manners from Bjarne, etc. And Stella was in great shape that second summer, slim and active, played with her son, was at her best (slim) weight ever! So much for weaning early, avoid the trauma, and don't rush it! Friends here also left their Fjord foals nurse the mare through the winter, it gives them a much better start here in Alaska, and since the Fjord mares are easy keepers the mares don't get too thin. I would put the baby in the stall and go riding on the mare. Why wean early? Unless you are selling the foal or the mare is losing condition, etc. In the natural state the mare would nurse her foal till the next one was born the following spring. Jean in Fairbanks, Alaska, where we lost a minute of daylight today. :-( Sunrise at 3:00AM, sunset at 12:46AM At 08:28 PM 6/23/98 -0500, you wrote: >This message is from: Mark McGinley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Hello all, > >I have a question regarding the weaning process with our 2 1/2 month old >filly. (This is our first foal, can you tell?). We are planning on >weaning her at about 5 months and boarding her at a stable across the >road from where we take riding lessons. I have read that they should be >separated for as long as a year. This seems to be a long time, is it? >We were hoping for about 5 months or so. I have also read that even >with a lengthy separation period, the foal can bond right back to the >mare and be a problem (spoiled was the term used). Is this true? Do >Fjords act the same way as the other horses this person was writing >about? > >After reading all this we thought that maybe it would be better to sell >Asa the filly and get another non related one. I'm not sure we could do >that though 'cause we have worked with her from day one and have become >quite attached to the little sweetie!! She is really friendly and likes >to hang out with us too. > >Thanks in advance for any information you can send along. > >Mark McGinley >Mariposa >Northern Wisconsin, USA > > > ** Jean Ernest Fairbanks, Alaska [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Saddles and such...
This message is from: Ingrid Ivic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Well, Gunthar hated the saddle. And he repeatedly told me in no uncertain > terms that it is *not* a "one size fits all." I'm writing to the list to > get feedback on whether the problem is possibly "operator error" on my part, > spoiled horsey, on Gunthar's part, or whether others have had horses who > *hated* the Sports Saddle. > Gail, I agree...have tried this same "one size fits all" treeless saddle with dismal results for the fjords. (Fit the Quarterhorse OK though!) We ended up with an Aussie saddle too. Traced the horses withers and sent it in...voila! A saddle that fits. So much for western and trail riding. I've found for english riding, the Kieffer (Lech and Wien) wide tree dressage saddles (and the new Klimke dressage model) to fit well also. The Kieffer I have was made for a Hanoverian I owned a few years ago...who knew it would fit my "non- 17 hd." fjord? Glad it did, although it needed some re-stuffing... Gunthar knows best!! Now, where DO you find "little butler outfits" for your fjord? LOL!! Ingrid ;o)
Separation anxiety
This message is from: Mark McGinley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello all, I have a question regarding the weaning process with our 2 1/2 month old filly. (This is our first foal, can you tell?). We are planning on weaning her at about 5 months and boarding her at a stable across the road from where we take riding lessons. I have read that they should be separated for as long as a year. This seems to be a long time, is it? We were hoping for about 5 months or so. I have also read that even with a lengthy separation period, the foal can bond right back to the mare and be a problem (spoiled was the term used). Is this true? Do Fjords act the same way as the other horses this person was writing about? After reading all this we thought that maybe it would be better to sell Asa the filly and get another non related one. I'm not sure we could do that though 'cause we have worked with her from day one and have become quite attached to the little sweetie!! She is really friendly and likes to hang out with us too. Thanks in advance for any information you can send along. Mark McGinley Mariposa Northern Wisconsin, USA
Re: Just want to share what has been happening.
This message is from: Julia Will <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Boy, Marge, what a time you have had! Bravo for your courage in going right back to driving again, and BEST of luck with your founder problem! What a heartbreaker! Julie @ Old Hickory Farm
Various
This message is from: Cynthia_Madden/OAA/UNO/[EMAIL PROTECTED] Welcome, Annelli to the list. I am sure you will have some good information for us. I am paticularly interested in anything unique to training Fjords in dressage. Tank is in the diet corral and doing well. He has lost some weight. He gets alfalfa hay to eat which is still richer than he needs, but it is not as rich as the current grass situation. He spends the night in a small corral with no food and his days in a larger area shared with Jack the Arabian colt, Sonny the lllama and Grandma the 35 year old pony. Jack is so happy to have a male role model (An Arab adopting a Fjord, this should be interesting to Jack's development!) This arrangement is still tentative and the farm manager (who is not a horseperson) is not happy with a pasture horse being in a dry lot. But my vet is cooperative and the horse manager knows the situation and will try to keep him there as long as he needs. Marge, I am really interested in seeing your cart design. Can you share a picture with us? It sounds wonderful. It is certainly more in my price range than most I hear about. I like my country cart's simplicity and weight, but I have now had enough experience to want a few other amenities and something a little more suitable and safe for what will probably be our infrequent ventures into CDE's. I love my Orthoflex dresseur and highly recommend it for Fjords. It is an excellent trail riding saddle and very comfortable and I can switch it from horse to horse with no problem. I think it needs to be more strongly emphasized that the saddles are designed with the rider's size and weight as primary factors. Steve being larger than I, our saddles are not useable by each other. (Steve has a modified American outback, sort of Austrailian, but without the pollies). The panels are sized by the rider's weight. Their theory of using the panels to more evenly distribute the rider's weight is what makes the saddle more comfortable for the horse and frees the horses shoulders up for easier movement in a really remarkable way. Your weight sits on the tree bars in most other saddles which puts most of your weight on their withers and shoulders. The Orthoflex panels spread to accomodate the horses wifhers (or lack of them, in the case of Fjords). You use pads that fits inside the booties (saddle pad) to fit horses with uneven withers or other fitting problems. This makes the saddle very flexible for use on a variety of horses. The Blue Earth show information came on Saturday. Who's not going? Does anyone know who will be judging this year? (Sharon, can you give us an answer?) Cynthia Madden, Coordinator Office of Sponsored Programs & Research University of Nebraska at Omaha EAB 202, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182-0210 Phone: (402) 554-2286 FAX: (402) 554-3698 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: wide-backed horses a problem? and Saddle fit
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Re: Wide backed horses. Maybe the problem with sore knees (besides old knee injuries) is that the rider is trying to grip with the knees rather than balance on the seat bones. If the pain goes away by lengthening the stirrups a bit, as another reader suggested, this might indicate that "gripping" is the problem. A good exercise to learn how to use the legs properly and to balance better is to "two point" which is riding the horse with your seat off the saddle, bearing your weight on the balls of your feet with knees slightly bent. You can use your hands to steady your upper body, but you should not use your hands to hold yourself upright -- the balance on the feet should do that. It's -really- awkward at first, since most riders want to fall forward when they first learn this skill. Keep trying, but don't rush it -- practice two-pointing at a walk for only a few strides at a time, then longer as you learn to balance properly. If you keep at it, you will eventually be able to two-point without using your hands to steady yourself. It's the same position that "English" riders take when they post correctly to the trot -- the bounce "up" is a two-point position. Another exercise that I was taught is to rotate the thigh muscles inward with my hands when I first mount a horse -- if I'm not careful, I tend to sit in the saddle much like I would sit in a chair, with more of the bottom/backside of my thighs touching the saddle and the horse's sides. But it's the inner muscles (touch your knees and thighs together -- those are the muscles I mean) that must be used to ride well. So I get on the horse, stand in two-point position with the horse standing quietly, and grab my thighs and rotate them inward. That also rotates the hips, knees, and calves inward to a better position for riding. Sounds silly to do this, but it helps me to quickly regain the "feel" of what it's like to sit properly in the saddle, balancing on my seat bones and inner thighs. Re: Saddle fit. I have a true "Sports Saddle" (not an Orthoflex) that I like to use on our Fjords. It has a gel pad in the middle rather than a fully rigid tree, which allows the saddle to adapt to a wide-backed horse and is very comfortable for the rider. It's really odd to feel the gel-pad in the saddle bend as the horse bends! A saddle with full Quarter horse bars (not semi-Quarterhorse bars) may also fit a Fjord well. The old style of Quarter horse had a chunky physique, unlike the Quarter horses of today, many of which have a lot of Thoroughbred blood in them. I have an old saddle with probably full-Quarter horse bars from the 40s which seems to fit Sissel fairly well. She has a round barrel but well-defined withers. It doesn't do as well on Tuopen, however, who has a rounder torso yet with less definition to his withers. DeeAnna
