Thursday evening horse update

[Ottakee]

I got a call from the lady that owns Mark---the 15 year old gelding I am hoping to buy. The farrier is coming tomorrow around noon so IF the roads are OK, we will pick him up later in the afternoon. He is only 15 minutes away but we are supposed to get 6-8 inches of snow so we will see.

In the meantime, I found another horse that sounds good for my girls. I will have to see about going to see him next week as well. Then again, he is younger and taller than the one I am looking at for me. I figure though it is easier to give 75 pound 12dd a "leg up" than it is to give 185# 37 year old ME a leg up on a taller horse.

My riding instructor is now in the hospital so no riding lessons tomorrow and no having her help me get Mark. They aren't sure exactly what is going on so I pray that they can figure it out and she will be on the mend soon.

Still trying to think of a good horse name, other than Mark for him. He is solid black with a white blaze (not sure about white socks).

Any great horse name ideas? He goes by Mark but I think his name is "Marquette".

[amy g.]

That sounds great. Do you have any pictures of the horse you are going to see for your girls?

Our horse is coming Saturday morning. Dh is going to mow the pasture before he comes, because I don't think he had much green grass at his old home. We don't want him to eat too much.

We have the stall set up, and the pasture fenced. The kids organized his grooming tools today. His owner is going to loan us tack while we decide what we want, so I don't have to worry about that.

I think we may be ready.

I'm wondering if it is common to change a horse's name when you buy him? Our horse raced under the name Texas Tornado. His barn name is Tino. Dh wants to change his name, but Dd is not liking the idea.

[Ottakee]

That sounds great. Do you have any pictures of the horse you are going to see for your girls?

Our horse is coming Saturday morning. Dh is going to mow the pasture before he comes, because I don't think he had much green grass at his old home. We don't want him to eat too much.

We have the stall set up, and the pasture fenced. The kids organized his grooming tools today. His owner is going to loan us tack while we decide what we want, so I don't have to worry about that.

I think we may be ready.

I'm wondering if it is common to change a horse's name when you buy him? Our horse raced under the name Texas Tornado. His barn name is Tino. Dh wants to change his name, but Dd is not liking the idea.

We don't have any pictures of either horse yet. I hope to get some of Mark tomorrow. The lady selling Spyro doesn't have email to send me any.

You might want to see about a grazing muzzle if your horse is not used to being on pasture. Otherwise do 1/2 hour to 1 hour of turn out and then put him on a dry lot for a while and work up from there---at least that is what we have to do in the spring with ours.

Check with someone about the mowing as there can be a problem if the horse eats too much grass that was recently cut. I am not that knowledgable about that though.

I will need to see if any of the saddles in the barn fit Mark. I own a big horn full quarter horse bar saddle, a big horn gaited saddle, an Abetta saddle and a big horn youth saddle---well, and a pony size English one and a halfinger youth Aussie saddle. My friend owns an Aussie saddle, an English one, and about 4 or 5 other Western Saddles. Something should fit him and me.

I just won a Robart pinchless bit on ebay tonight www.pinchlessbits.com so hopefully it will work for him---otherwise we have about 10 other bits in the barn to try.

Now I just need to figure out the best way to introduce him to the "herd". I will keep him turned out alone until my friend that owns the farm gets back from Alaska on Monday. Less chance of problems that way. I think he will go in the front pasture where he can get to know each of the horses over the fence but not get at each other yet. Then we will likely try him out with 1 of the other horses and slowly build from there. We just have to watch my friend's Arab who pulled a tendon and can't be running around---but likely will get excited about a new horse. SO much to think about at first.

[Remudamom]

What'd I miss? Get the pictures up!

Change his name completely if you want. All of my favorites have several names, and only the ones I named myself have nicknames that vaguely resemble their registered names.

[Mekanamom]

Exciting!! I hope he works out for you! :D I'm sorry to hear about your instructor, though. :( I hope she recovers from whatever is wrong and feels better very soon.

I kind of like the name Mark. When you asked for possible different name ideas, my first thought was "Antony", so I'm no help at all. He sounds gorgeous, btw!

Ah, yes. Amy G... Mowed grass can be very bad. Check out: safergrass.org (http://www.safergrass.org/) My mustang is so darn sensitive to fructans, he will get laminitis every spring if I don't use a grazing muzzle on him. He's insulin resistant. Even though the grass in my pasture is hardly even 1/2" tall right now, he's getting a cresty neck already. It's time for the muzzle again. That symptom says "impending founder" written all over it. :( But aside from laminitis and founder, a lot of fresh cut grass can also induce colic. It took me forever to convince my FIL that it's really dangerous to feed lawn clippings to the horses. I don't think he totally believes me, but at least he doesn't dump the clippings in for the animals to eat. (And I know you're not talking about lawn clippings, but just mowing down the pasture... I think that there is an article about that on the site I listed above too.)

So anyway... I use the grazing muzzle... works for us. Dry lotting and short turn outs onto pasture works well too... just watch out for signs of colic or laminitis if the horse is not used to any green grass at all. One he has transitioned to the pasture, he could probably be on it all the time without problems, unless he's like my mustang who just simply can't handle it.

The two other geldings I have here do just fine. One of the mares can't handle it, and the other one can. I decided not to find out what would happen to the ponies on green pasture. They are dry lotted all the time.

[Cindyg]

Amy, where do you live that you have so much green grass? If the grass is long but dormant (dry, yellow, brown), it won't be a problem. If it really is green, you would be wise to expose it to him gradually. The grazing muzzle will do the job, but my horses HATE them!

I was all set to go trail riding yesterday. I got Ivan brushed and tacked up. But it was just too cold to go out. I took the saddle off and turned him loose. He was so disappointed. He walked over to the gate (the one that leads out) and hung his head over. It was so sweet and so sad. I can't wait to go back out!

I don't have any name suggestions, Ottakee. Something will occur to you. I hope he's the one. (How small a horse are you looking for? How tall is he.)

[amy g.]

We are outside of Houston where it is warm. Our horse isn't very far away from us, and he is on pasture there, but we have a couple of sprinklers that hit one side of the pasture, and there is very green grass there. I didn't see anything very green where he is now.

Would mowing be okay if Dh uses a bag that picks up the grass?

The former owner said we could keep him in his stall all of the time gradually increasing his time outside. That may be what I have to do, although I doubt he'll like it.

Fortunately 3 of my horse friends are coming over Saturday as well. They can take a look at the situation.

[Mekanamom]

Would mowing be okay if Dh uses a bag that picks up the grass?


Probably... I put my sheep on my pasture to graze it down a bit before I put the horses on... essentially the same thing as mowing w/out leaving clippings!... and that worked out ok.

The safergrass.org (http://www.safergrass.org/) site warns against putting horses on "stressed" grasses, and that includes mowed (or overgrazed) grass. But, I think a lot depends on the individual horse. My pasture gets overgrazed every year, and though I do have management issues, once I identified which horses were ok and which ones weren't, I made management changes (the grazing muzzle or dry lot) just for the ones who couldn't handle green pasture.

Out of the 5 horses here (not counting the ponies), only two of mine have issues with green grass. So hopefully your new guy will be one of the ones that will do just fine! (And congrats, btw!!)

[Ottakee]

I haven't bought him yet. I am supposed to take him on a 2 week trial today. We will see if the weather cooperates this afternoon to go get him. We got about 6 inches of snow over night with more to come today. At least it is warm enough for the salt to melt the ice on the roads.

If it is clear, dh will go with me to get him (dh driving) about 4:15 today. I really want a 2nd adult with me when I go to get him and unload him. Then again dh doesn't know much about horses at all.

I Will TRY to get some pictures today---have to get the kids to locate my camera again. Then I might be without internet much of the weekend as I will be at my friend's house and they are making the switch to DSL but it isn't up yet.

I am still thinking of a name. My girls like Storm which would fit the stormy weather we have had since we decided to get him.

[Ottakee]

Mark is about 14.2-14.3 I will have to "stick" him once we get him. The barn floor where he was isn't even so it was hard to tell. That is about the size I wanted as my goal is to eventually be able to mount from the ground.

The mare my girls have now is 15.2 or so but they are easy to give a "leg up" to.

[amy g.]

I'm so excited for you. Keep us updated. I can't wait to see the pictures.

[Karen sn]

I have changed all my pets names - but kept them close.
Jake (old dead dawg I still love and miss) renamed him Jakob Charlie but still called him Jake, Jake Charlie, or his favorite....Jakob Charlie said in sing song fashion.
Missy (currrent horse) renamed her Melissa Lily. Still call her Missy, Melissa Lily, or Miss Lily.
And I give middle names to all the pets I know who belong to others (I never had a middle name- so I live through others vicariously).

[Ottakee]

We aren't going to get the horse until tomorrow. The roads are just too bad to haul a horse tonight. Also, by waiting until morning, I will have all day to monitor him and the others instead of only 1 hour of daylight before night hits.

I did find my camera so hopefully I can get some pictures.