Laney (*filly* 4/10-Tinkerbelle) *New pics pg 187*

[Eagle]

I am no expert Megan but I started reducing Dipinto's feed about a month ago when he started going on grass, I personally prefer them to munch grass than hard food at this age, he gets a cup of alfalfa pellets, a cup of soaked beat and a cup of 15% protein pellets in the evening but in the morning he just gets a cup of beat and a cup of alfalfa and he goes out on grass for the day. We have to remember though that Ricky is alone so he isn't burning calories charging around playing.

 

[AnnaC]

I agree with the others Megan - dont reduce his grass, it is STILL the best food for a horse's system!

I would look into reducing the amount of Omolene that you are feeding - as the grass comes in it will naturally contain more goodies so he may well not need so much 'substitute' feed. When you get to the end of your Omolene sack you might like to consider just feeding him a balancer which will just give him his vits and mins without any 'filler'? Something like Gro and Win if you can get it - one cupful per day would be sufficient and of course you can feed it to Laney as well, otherwise it will take Ricky ages to get through a sack full! LOL!!

Also be careful about cutting down on his hay - how many hours is he in his night pen? Remember that horses are supposed to be 'grazing' almost all the time, so giving just a little hay for the whole night (14 hours?) would not be good for his system and I think this is where a lot of mini folk run into trouble with their minis - the 'little and often' idea does not work through the night and horses are left for hours on end with nothing to graze on! Actually a horse will keep to a better weight if grazing more or less continually rather than gobbling their morning food down into an empty stomach.

OK I'm rambling now (as usual) LOL!! More pics soon please of ALL your fur kids.

 

[MeganH]

Thank you everyone! I am looking into the other feeds or a balancer to put him on. He will be a yearling next month. I hope the change helps with his belly. I will never be able to show him until we get rid of that gut. Until I can figure out what we are going to do I have cut back a little on his feed. He also gets a little soaked shredded beet pulp int he morning and evening.

We also had to cut back on Jake's feed. He is looking awesome but just a tad too plump and with the grass coming he needed it cut back.

Speaking of Jake.. we are starting from the beginning and working with him on ground manners and he doesn't seem to respect us. He lunges better without a line so we tried it today and I took a video. Does anyone want to look at it and point out anything you see we are doing wrong or you see him doing we need to correct?

We will be lunging him and not riding a bit longer because a horse took a big bite out of his side where the saddle sits. We are tending to it getting it to heal. It is not as raw this week and the cream seems to be doing a good job mending it. Last week you could not touch around it without his skin jumping. It isn't deep but it was raw.

Oh and I have some cute pictures I will upload of Tinkerbelle tomorrow. She is such a love bug!

 

[Eagle]

Me too. Morning all.

 

[AnnaC]

Me too! Me too!!

And the new Tink pics as well!

 

[MeganH]

Alright- there will be several posts of pictures of Tinkerbelle ending with Jake and his video.

More to follow...

 

[MeganH]

More to follow...

 

[LittleBittyBritches]

She is so precious!

 

[MeganH]

Jake

more to follow...

 

[MeganH]

And here is the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo0h4bwzzc8

Let me know what we need to change or if you see Jake doing anything we need to correct.

We are having a hard time getting him to walk or jog.. and stop..

 

[MeganH]

So I am keeping up with the threads but not posting. Being a bad friend right now

I went to the dentist today expecting to get a crown or root canal but instead I am having to have the tooth pulled by an oral surgeon and 2 root canals on the other side of my mouth. I am super nervous and upset. I was not expecting it to be so bad and we have a lot of work to do. All this has happened in like 2 years. It is crazy how fast all this damage was done. I am so nervous about getting the actual work done and then the cost... I cried all the way home and some of the afternoon. We are leaving in 3 weeks and then I am in a wedding the week after so If we don't get it done this week or the very beginning of next then I have to wait until June.. and we are chancing more chipping and it to begin to be painful (so lucky there is no pain right now). I want a whole new mouth and of course I can get it but at a huge price the dentist says is just not economical.

With the new bills we are about to have we are thinking of leasing Jake to western rider.. or selling him. If we can't get him to work out for us within the next few months we will just have to sell him- which we really do not want to do. We can't afford training and can't afford to pay for a horse we don't ride.. and we just aren't getting any help with him right now which we need badly.

This is a long vent and I am sorry... it is necessary for me right now.

On a good note- I am on day 8 of the 30 Day Shred and moved on to Level 2 today and am doing really well. You can tell I have lost inches already- I have not measured though and don't have a scale to know if I have lost any weight. Only 8 days in and seeing some great results so I can't wait to get further in. I only had 26 days until we left for FL when I started so I have about 18 left.

Tinkerbelle is also doing awesome. Growing fast and will be 2 weeks old tomorrow night. She is bored with her mommy that eats, eats, eats and loves to have you spend time with her. She will be so happy when she is allowed to be with Ricky and I know he will be too. Haven't heard back from the vet but Ricky should be gelded this week or next.

I will try to post more on the other threads! I haven't been able to watch like I would like to either!

 

[AnnaC]

Oh Megan I'm so sorry that you are having so many problems. I hate the dentist too, but have to admit that having a tooth out was never as bad as I thought it would be, nor was the root canal work - the thought of it was much worse than the actual happening, so I hope and pray that your coming dentistry will be easier for you than you imagine.

As far as Jake is concerned, I'm sure you will do whatever you consider to be right for you and the family and whatever you decide, please know that we will be right behind you in your choice.

I'm so pleased to hear that young Tink is living up to your expectations - she is going to be a very special person as she grows up as she has such a lovely temperament already, but then this is also due to your spending time with her and caring for her. I think she will have to wait a little while yet before she gets to play with Ricky - dont think Laney will approve until Tink gets quite a bit older!! But eventually they will all be together as one happy family. Are you hoping to show Tink next year - I think she will be vry successful, she's just so gorgeous.

Take care of yourself and try not to stress too much - you have not had things easy for quite while, what with the family illnesses and waiting for Laney to foal, so I'm not suprised that you are feeling a bit tearful.

But many congrats for keeping at your exercise routine - sounds as though it is going to be a great success!!

And please remember that we, your special frends, are here for you! Sending you huge ((((HUGS)))).

 

[Eagle]

Megan I am so sorry that you are feeling down. I know a little about teeth probs as I had to have one out after having Alberto. I agree Anna, the only thing that hurt was my purse

I still have to finish some stuff but I just can't afford it right now. Matteo is having braces which costs a fortune and also private school lessons so I will just have to wait.

Selling horses is never an easy decision but when you have a family that comes first so whatever you decide to do with Jake I will totally understand. I had the most beautiful Haflinger that I had trained since she was a baby and she was a dream, I had to sell her when Alberto was born as I just didn't have the time for her, I was heart broken. The family comes first is what I had to keep reminding myself.

 

[LittleBittyBritches]

So sorry about all you are going through right now.

I hope it all works out for the best for you. We have had to make difficult decisions like that in the past, and I agree with the others too, your family has to come first.

 

[MeganH]

Thank you, everyone

I really love you ladies. You always make me feel better.

I do think the thought of it scares me more then how the procedures will actually be. I do have to ask what type of anesthesia did they have you on for a pull??? They are asking if I want local anesthesia (just the numbing) or if I want to be put under and not be awake for it and I don't know what to say yet. The dentist said they thought it would break coming out but I don't know how bad it would be just to be numbed for this. I need to make an appointment for the consultation for the oral surgeon to figure out what we need but I have to pay out of pocket for that and we don't have it right now since we are going on vacation.. so I think we will have to wait til we come home. For now I am only chewing on the other side of my mouth.

We are hoping for the best for Jake. REALLY want to keep him and work with him so we will see how things go.

I am planning to show Tinkerbelle

She is just the sweetest thing and has grown SO much just in these two weeks. I put her blanket on her last night since it dropped into the 30s and her butt pokes out the back! It was an inch loner then her bum at birth. I will have to take photos of her today since she is 2 weeks old tonight

 

[MeganH]

Oh and I have also been thinking.. Will I be able to wean Tink and then put her back with Laney? Out property is not ideal for weaning but we will be able to separate them and they won't see eachother most of the day. Do I move Tink by herself or with Ricky? And then how long before she would be able to be with Laney again?

 

[MeganH]

'Going under' is more of a scare for me.. and I know the idea of the pulling is kind of unpleasant but as long as they are not violent about it I think I could handle it. Hubby said going under isn't bad when he had his wisdom teeth pulled but I have never been under so that makes me nervous. I don't like taking many meds or drugs either. I was so mad in the hospital with my daughter. They gave me something to relax me and I couldn't open my eyes but still felt the pain and was nauseous after. As soon as I had my epidural I was pushing and very nauseous from the drug they gave me. I was so mad they didn't tell me the side effects or I never would have let them give me anything.

They gave ma a quote for the local anesthesia and said that is the way most people go so I will see if they say that is good for me.

 

[Eagle]

I just had the local *** like Diane and I did just fine, sure it isn't that great to hear what is happening but at least you can walk out as soon as they have finished. I lit a cigarette as soon as I got in the car and couldn't control my lips

 

[a mini dream come true]

Came to check on our little Tink. So sorry about your dental problems Megan. I'm a big baby when it comes to the dentist. They gave me a little blue pill to take about 30 min before my appt. and I had to have a driver arfterwards, but I don't remember any of it. I'm not one to take meds either, but the dentist scares me more. Too much when I was little I guess. Praying all goes well for you.

 

[cassie]

Hi Megan,

sorry I haven't been able to keep up to date with everything.

so sorry to hear about your dentist problems. I know how it feels...

and its not nice, with regards to getting your tooth out, if its just one tooth I would go local... you might be in a little more pain for a little while, but they will take more care with you.

If your out fully then they are more rough and thats when you could get problems, with my wisdom teeth i didnt want to go under completely but as I was getting 6 teeth out i had no other option. and now my nerve in my chin is damaged... it will probably get better but I know I will prefer to go local over a full anaesthetic... I hope I am not scaring you :s its scary enough having to have anything done at all. Praying for you!!

Tinkerbelle is looking so stunning! what a lovely little filly she is! Laney has sure done you proud and I bet you are loving having her around

how is Laney with sharing her? she certainly seems a love bug, does she lie in your lap yet? hehe its so fun... except that if I scratch Finn in the right spot he STILL tries to lie on me LOL AHH he is a little to heavy for that now LOL

Jake is looking brilliant!! the change in him already is SOO amazing he looks like a completely different horse

with regards to his feed I would keep feeding him the same amount, he is looking good, but in my opinion needs weight on him still... don't know how much weight they need for western riding but I know myself I like to see more topline along the butt and not be able to see their ribs... also if you start working him again he will lose that weight quite quickly, as it transfers into muscle, it would be very sad if you had to sell him but I know you will make the right choice, and maybe futher down the track you will find the prefect horse for all of you, a nice old schoolmaster. Like Smartie

he is 22 this year and is the perfect gentleman to ride. I can not have ridden him for 3-4 months and get on him straight away and he will be perfect.

thinking of all of you!!

has Ricky been gelded yet? or is that this week?

hope everything settles down for you Megan, and you don't need to spend all that money on your teeth

give Tinkerbelle a big hug and kiss from me!! and Laney and Ricky!!