hobbyhorse23
Well-Known Member
Poor Kody has always waited out the nasty winter months from October to February lurking in his stall or under a tree refusing to move because of the discomfort of his locking stifles. This means each spring we start our conditioning over from scratch with a fat, fuzzy horse huffing and puffing his way through five minute free lunging workouts.
In 2007 we started serious training in January for the first time and still were barely CDE-ready by June because it took so long to get him back in shape for sustained driving work. Last winter he was on stall rest for weeks following his first stifle surgery in October then AGAIN in March when he had his second surgery that finally fixed the problem. So obviously that winter he didn't get much exercise either and it showed in the nice hay belly he had for most of 2008.
BUT!!
This is the first year since I've had him that his hind legs have been working normally over the winter. We gave him an exercise ball last spring and he enjoyed playing with it but mostly he'd roll it around at a trot and occasionally kneel on it or otherwise attempt to pop it, which he succeeded in pretty quickly. I tried a Jolly Ball which he ignored and finally in fall we bought him one of the big "indestructible" horse balls Jill uses. He thought that was great fun and discovered he could pick it up by the cloth cover and bounce it up and down incessantly as well as chasing it. Yay, happy horse! *LOL* Every single morning the ball is in a different place so I know he's been playing with it but I haven't seen him at his games in a month or two except for the occasional half-hearted shove. We've gone back to training and I noticed to my surprise that despite a full three months of really no work at all, this year Kody hasn't lost much of his edge. He's a bit, um, "fluffy" around the middle, but he's fit for work without any huffing or puffing and can go for an hour already without strain. I was like "What the heck?!"
This morning I got my answer.
It turns out that if you get up about the time the sun is starting to come above the horizon, especially on a snowy day, and look out the window at the paddocks you can see an interesting sight. By 7AM there's only a little pony standing at the gate, never moving as he stares at the house and awaits his breakfast. But at 6AM there's a wild stallion out there, picking up a ball almost as big as he is, drumming it on the ground, flinging it left and right like a terrier until it bouces off his sides and racing forward with it hanging from his jaws until he suddenly skids to a halt, rears to his full height and artfully flips it away to bounce down the hill so he can chase after it at full gallop then fall upon it in an ecstasy of aggression.
My lord he was impressive!
He kept up this act for a full fifteen minutes at least which explains why he's in such good shape for sprinting and running at this point.
Mystery solved!
By the time I normally look out the window he was once again standing quietly by the gate, pretending he'd always been there. The little con artist!
Leia
BUT!!
This is the first year since I've had him that his hind legs have been working normally over the winter. We gave him an exercise ball last spring and he enjoyed playing with it but mostly he'd roll it around at a trot and occasionally kneel on it or otherwise attempt to pop it, which he succeeded in pretty quickly. I tried a Jolly Ball which he ignored and finally in fall we bought him one of the big "indestructible" horse balls Jill uses. He thought that was great fun and discovered he could pick it up by the cloth cover and bounce it up and down incessantly as well as chasing it. Yay, happy horse! *LOL* Every single morning the ball is in a different place so I know he's been playing with it but I haven't seen him at his games in a month or two except for the occasional half-hearted shove. We've gone back to training and I noticed to my surprise that despite a full three months of really no work at all, this year Kody hasn't lost much of his edge. He's a bit, um, "fluffy" around the middle, but he's fit for work without any huffing or puffing and can go for an hour already without strain. I was like "What the heck?!"
This morning I got my answer.
It turns out that if you get up about the time the sun is starting to come above the horizon, especially on a snowy day, and look out the window at the paddocks you can see an interesting sight. By 7AM there's only a little pony standing at the gate, never moving as he stares at the house and awaits his breakfast. But at 6AM there's a wild stallion out there, picking up a ball almost as big as he is, drumming it on the ground, flinging it left and right like a terrier until it bouces off his sides and racing forward with it hanging from his jaws until he suddenly skids to a halt, rears to his full height and artfully flips it away to bounce down the hill so he can chase after it at full gallop then fall upon it in an ecstasy of aggression.
By the time I normally look out the window he was once again standing quietly by the gate, pretending he'd always been there. The little con artist!
Leia
