I've finally found the heart to post this on my blog. Our dear little Knight had to be euthanized on the evening of the 29th. It's a long story to explain, but the ultimate cause of death was colic, we think.
We had noticed him getting a little thin on the 26th, but thought little of it. It had been pretty chilly those past few days, and so we weren't alarmed at his dropping a few pounds. The next day (27th) he looked a bit more gaunt, and I noticed kind of a foul smell coming from his nose. I de-wormed him on a hunch that day, and on the 28th, I noticed some little red worms in his stool. Also on the 28th, we noticed he had kind of isolated himself, and didn't really perk up when we brought feed out. I knew he couldn't be feeling well, and I also knew that the vet was coming on the 29th to do a pre-travel exam on Prin.
The 29th came, and Prin passed her exam with flying colors. I pointed Knight out to the vet, who said "Oh my...go catch him and we'll have a look." (Keep in mind that Knight by this time looked downright gaunt) I brought Knight over to the vet, and he went to take a look inside his mouth. Knight tried to struggle, and much to our horror, was so weak that he fell over! The vet gave us a rundown of what was going on. He said that it looked like he might be feeling the symptoms of a tick-borne disease called Ehrlichiosis. It's similar to Lymes in symptoms, but caused by a different organism. Knight was running a 104 temperature, and based on the fact that he had blood worms, all the elements had combined to create a really sick horse. We were told that we needed to get him indoors, warm, pump all the feed we could into him, get him drinking warm water, de-worm him heavily using SafeGuard, and overall keep a really close eye on him. The vet drew some blood to do some tests, and gave Knight a massive dose of Tetracycline to reduce his fever.
Fast forward to about 9:00 that evening. Knight was in a stall, warm with all the hay and grain he could possibly want. He ate a bit unenthusiastically, and drank a couple of small buckets of molasses water. I had mixed up an electrolyte and pro-bio paste (applesauce, blackstrap molasses, and Fast-Track powder)and wanted to give him some. Knight, however, was standing with his head in a dark corner, and I couldn't see what I was doing. I asked him to turn around really slowly, and he obliged. I gave him the paste, and he went to follow me to the gate for some more, but he was so weak that his knees buckled, and he fell. What happened next will haunt me for a LONG time. Not only did Knight fall, but he fell HARD. Then, he started to thrash and kick at his stomach like I have NEVER seen before. It didnt' take long for that to wear him out, and he just lay on his side panting, looking helpless.
Micky and I were TERRIFIED, so we called the vet, and told him the update. The vet told us that we should administer a large injection of Banamine into Knight's HQ, and wait to see how he did. If his gut sounds and appetite returned, and he could stand up, he might be fine. If not, we'd have to make another call. The banamine seemed to do the trick, and when the Probiotics got there, he seemed to pretty much recover. He ate a bit of grain and hay again, drank half a bucket of water, and seemed to perk up considerably. He tried to stand up, and we all backed away and let him try. But he simply did not have the strength. He fell again, thrashing around like had had the first time, and by then, we knew what we had to do.
The vet came, took one look at him, and went "The only way this horse will survive is if you get him to the U of M. And I highly doubt he'd survive the trailer ride. I think your best bet is the option you obviously are not going to want to take."
But we took it. We HATED to see him like that.
The evening afterward was REALLY hard. Knight was a favorite to all who met him. A horse with that much heart, and SO CUTE. He had a special gift with children, and he seemed to melt when he saw them. To see that little horse go was the most painful thing I've ever been through. We'll miss him SO MUCH.
This concludes your Knightly News Update. Dear god, I'll miss them.
Photo by Margaret Chant and edited by Jessica Metropulos
Showing posts with label Knight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knight. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
A Lovely Fall Day
I started this post on the 1st, and promptly forgot about it...I'll write one for today after I finish this one :)
~Fran, 11/4/08
*Sigh* Such a lovely fall day. I got lots of horsey time, and it was just a NICE day...So anyway here's a quick recap :)
Morning--Went to Sherri's to help pull shoes. Poor Chy clipped a heel yesterday and yanked one shoe off in the process, so we decided to take the other off instead of having the farrier out on an emergency call on the weekend. That turned into an hour long drama, so to speak, because farriers have tools that us girls don't, and so Sherri and i took turns yanking and prying until we got the clip shoe off. We both successfully sliced our hands open though...gotta love those little surface slits that sting (a bit like having an inch-long paper cut on your palm)
Afternoon--FARMAGE! I had 3 lovely sessions with my horses, I started out with Knightly, who surprised me pleasantly with perhaps the most lovely session I've ever had with him. We started playing with patterns, which this clever little guy picked up on IMMEDIATELY. We even took a dive into some L3 stuff and did canter figure 8's. He just GETS it! Next, we went for a little jaunt around the chopped corn fields. He was just PERFECT in there, he settled into the most perfect easy lope I've EVER had out of him. His downhill body makes riding his gaits a bit difficult bareback, usually, but today, that was far from the case. He did simple changes even, and just had a grip and was using his hind quarters. I was SO PROUD of him.
Next, Lady and I ripped around for about an hour. That little horse is such a fun little partner to play with. We have about the same fitness level and attention span, so we really have fun inventing games together. We played a bit with the lie-down and sit task, which she's getting really good at...I'm enjoying this confident little thing so much. Pix to come soon :)
Last, did a little riding on Crest. He was buzzed and hyper, but we had a good time overall. Played a lot with snappy downward transitions, and he did really well, but I did realize I was using my reins too much. Must play with that a bit more.
Anyway, I finished the day out with a nice lesson with a new student, and we had a good time. It was a very nice day :)
~Fran, 11/4/08
*Sigh* Such a lovely fall day. I got lots of horsey time, and it was just a NICE day...So anyway here's a quick recap :)
Morning--Went to Sherri's to help pull shoes. Poor Chy clipped a heel yesterday and yanked one shoe off in the process, so we decided to take the other off instead of having the farrier out on an emergency call on the weekend. That turned into an hour long drama, so to speak, because farriers have tools that us girls don't, and so Sherri and i took turns yanking and prying until we got the clip shoe off. We both successfully sliced our hands open though...gotta love those little surface slits that sting (a bit like having an inch-long paper cut on your palm)
Afternoon--FARMAGE! I had 3 lovely sessions with my horses, I started out with Knightly, who surprised me pleasantly with perhaps the most lovely session I've ever had with him. We started playing with patterns, which this clever little guy picked up on IMMEDIATELY. We even took a dive into some L3 stuff and did canter figure 8's. He just GETS it! Next, we went for a little jaunt around the chopped corn fields. He was just PERFECT in there, he settled into the most perfect easy lope I've EVER had out of him. His downhill body makes riding his gaits a bit difficult bareback, usually, but today, that was far from the case. He did simple changes even, and just had a grip and was using his hind quarters. I was SO PROUD of him.
Next, Lady and I ripped around for about an hour. That little horse is such a fun little partner to play with. We have about the same fitness level and attention span, so we really have fun inventing games together. We played a bit with the lie-down and sit task, which she's getting really good at...I'm enjoying this confident little thing so much. Pix to come soon :)
Last, did a little riding on Crest. He was buzzed and hyper, but we had a good time overall. Played a lot with snappy downward transitions, and he did really well, but I did realize I was using my reins too much. Must play with that a bit more.
Anyway, I finished the day out with a nice lesson with a new student, and we had a good time. It was a very nice day :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
LBE Humor
Oh my...
Well I had my final session with my ponies before I leave for Maryland tomorrow morning, and man was THAT an adventure. I rode Crestor and Knightly, and both were full to the brim of LBE humor, hence my title.
Starting with Knight, I came out into the pasture with my pockets bulging with cookies...and the little demon knew it! He's usually an easy goin' little guy, mosies up, says hi, whatever...not this time! I must have had the "I have cookies" vibe going for me, because nosey little Knight pushed his way to the front, stuck his nose into the halter, then started nuzzling my pockets...SO cute!
We played a little on the ground, and then went for a little XC gallop up to Mickey's. He was fabulous, just went along with it like a trooper, he actually tried to chase a car at one point, cow-y little squirt!
Next I took out Crest, and Mickey took Cricket. Oh my GOODNESS did I have a good time with Cresty! It's been about a week since I've actually PLAYED with him (we've been doing a lot of riding, just not a whole lot of PLAY!) and we had a BLAST.
I snapped Cresty up to the 22' line (lacking a space big enough to do anything with the 45' at the moment, since the north paddock is off limits to grow back a bit), saddled him up in the fluidity saddle, and away we went. I started out with some circling (get the blood flowin') and he was PEPPY! It's so much fun to watch Mr. Athletic move under his accomodating saddle, he rounds up and powers with his hind end SO MUCH. Anyway, watching/playing with that was fun, but it also got me thinking (everyone repeat after me: "Oh NO! Not THAT!")
Several weeks ago, someone commented that when I played with Crest on the ground, they thought I sent him RBE when I matched his energy and got him up and playing. I won't disclose their name, but I was thinking about this tonight as we were playing, because you never know, sometimes people see things you don't. But honestly, as I played with Mr. Crest, his eyes NEVER left me. His play drive was up, he was doing cutting manuvers, arching his neck and doing close range circling around me and tossing his head, rearing and pawing, backing up, trotting to me, making quite the show of himself, and I'm sorry, but he wasn't the slightest bit RBE. And very rarely does he go there on the ground anymore. My good friend calls him "Mr. Brightside" for a reason! So I'm especially perplexed as to the origin of that analysis. Ah well.
So anyway, that aside, we had a blast. Just so much energy and stuff, FUN! I ENJOY being LBE with my boy. He's a hoot, and I'll miss playing with him on this trip back east.
Anyway, bedtime, we're up early and on the road, ugh. I'm going crazy already just thinking about it...but I will catch up on my sleep I suppose. See you all next week Thursday :)
Well I had my final session with my ponies before I leave for Maryland tomorrow morning, and man was THAT an adventure. I rode Crestor and Knightly, and both were full to the brim of LBE humor, hence my title.
Starting with Knight, I came out into the pasture with my pockets bulging with cookies...and the little demon knew it! He's usually an easy goin' little guy, mosies up, says hi, whatever...not this time! I must have had the "I have cookies" vibe going for me, because nosey little Knight pushed his way to the front, stuck his nose into the halter, then started nuzzling my pockets...SO cute!
We played a little on the ground, and then went for a little XC gallop up to Mickey's. He was fabulous, just went along with it like a trooper, he actually tried to chase a car at one point, cow-y little squirt!
Next I took out Crest, and Mickey took Cricket. Oh my GOODNESS did I have a good time with Cresty! It's been about a week since I've actually PLAYED with him (we've been doing a lot of riding, just not a whole lot of PLAY!) and we had a BLAST.
I snapped Cresty up to the 22' line (lacking a space big enough to do anything with the 45' at the moment, since the north paddock is off limits to grow back a bit), saddled him up in the fluidity saddle, and away we went. I started out with some circling (get the blood flowin') and he was PEPPY! It's so much fun to watch Mr. Athletic move under his accomodating saddle, he rounds up and powers with his hind end SO MUCH. Anyway, watching/playing with that was fun, but it also got me thinking (everyone repeat after me: "Oh NO! Not THAT!")
Several weeks ago, someone commented that when I played with Crest on the ground, they thought I sent him RBE when I matched his energy and got him up and playing. I won't disclose their name, but I was thinking about this tonight as we were playing, because you never know, sometimes people see things you don't. But honestly, as I played with Mr. Crest, his eyes NEVER left me. His play drive was up, he was doing cutting manuvers, arching his neck and doing close range circling around me and tossing his head, rearing and pawing, backing up, trotting to me, making quite the show of himself, and I'm sorry, but he wasn't the slightest bit RBE. And very rarely does he go there on the ground anymore. My good friend calls him "Mr. Brightside" for a reason! So I'm especially perplexed as to the origin of that analysis. Ah well.
So anyway, that aside, we had a blast. Just so much energy and stuff, FUN! I ENJOY being LBE with my boy. He's a hoot, and I'll miss playing with him on this trip back east.
Anyway, bedtime, we're up early and on the road, ugh. I'm going crazy already just thinking about it...but I will catch up on my sleep I suppose. See you all next week Thursday :)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Great playday!
I had a GREAT evening play session with Mickey, Prin, and Knightly last night. I was kind of insistant with Mickey that she play with a horse, because the past few sessions, she's come down and watched me and asked questions, which is GREAT, but she needs to get some play time in where she APPLIES the knowledge too-haha. I didn't get to watch much, I played with Prin mostly (more on that in a sec) but what I saw was really great. Mickey started out with Knight, who she's absolutely in love with. They warmed up playing on the 12' line, playing games with cones and working on refining the yoyo game. Knight's got personal space issues, which is hysterical, because he's such a little horse and Mickey's so tall, that it's a bit like a Shetland pony trying to shove over a tree. They did really well on that though, from what I saw.
I played with Princess on getting her to lighten up and be snappier on her transitions and send on the 45' line, and then did some liberty. She's getting more and more extroverted by the day. What's REALLY funny is that last weekend, Linda told me Remmer was getting the same way, so COOL!
I swear, even 6 weeks ago, I never would have dreampt of having THIS MUCH FUN with Prin, and that's saying something, because we always have fun. It seems like we've all of a sudden hit another breakthrough period, and things are just GREAT now. She's becoming more of an extrovert, and we're starting to blossom.
After the ground stuff, we hopped on and I did some bridless riding, and Micky and I played follow the leader (Princess did all the leading, we just sat back and let 'er rip) and then we switched horses.
Knight and I tore around causing trouble (LBEs need something to DO!!!!) and Micky experienced her very first bridless ride!! I was SO PROUD of her. She kept marvelling over how LIGHT and RESPONSIVE Princess was, and almost how comforting it was to not NEED the reins. They walked and trotted, turned, changed directions, did some circles and some backing. I was really impressed with how well Micky did, and also, how great Prin was. She was REALLY responsive to what Micky asked, and took it slow at first when she felt Micky's unconfidence. I'm SO proud of my horse, and of my "little sister" :)
So that was my great session last night. I expect I'll blog again later today about today's sessions. I have a lesson lined up in 1/2 an hour, so I'll talk about that for sure! Thanks for reading.
I played with Princess on getting her to lighten up and be snappier on her transitions and send on the 45' line, and then did some liberty. She's getting more and more extroverted by the day. What's REALLY funny is that last weekend, Linda told me Remmer was getting the same way, so COOL!
I swear, even 6 weeks ago, I never would have dreampt of having THIS MUCH FUN with Prin, and that's saying something, because we always have fun. It seems like we've all of a sudden hit another breakthrough period, and things are just GREAT now. She's becoming more of an extrovert, and we're starting to blossom.
After the ground stuff, we hopped on and I did some bridless riding, and Micky and I played follow the leader (Princess did all the leading, we just sat back and let 'er rip) and then we switched horses.
Knight and I tore around causing trouble (LBEs need something to DO!!!!) and Micky experienced her very first bridless ride!! I was SO PROUD of her. She kept marvelling over how LIGHT and RESPONSIVE Princess was, and almost how comforting it was to not NEED the reins. They walked and trotted, turned, changed directions, did some circles and some backing. I was really impressed with how well Micky did, and also, how great Prin was. She was REALLY responsive to what Micky asked, and took it slow at first when she felt Micky's unconfidence. I'm SO proud of my horse, and of my "little sister" :)
So that was my great session last night. I expect I'll blog again later today about today's sessions. I have a lesson lined up in 1/2 an hour, so I'll talk about that for sure! Thanks for reading.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Ahhhh...So cute
I had very limited time with my ponies today, unfortunately. Anyway, I got out there with the full intent to play with Cricket, only to find her limping obviously on her left front leg! EEK! Not entirely sure what happened to her, but I'm keeping an eye on it. If it's not much better by Monday, I'll call the vet, but for now, I'll keep her on bute and hope it gets better. Keep her in your thoughts please!
I couldn't decide who I wanted to play with at this point. I know that whoever I choose to spend time with, I always end up going longer than I should, so I wanted to play with someone who NEEDED the time. And thats when the answer nuzzled me on the shoulder. There stood little Knighters. So we haltered up.
Okay, let me just take the time to say that Knight is adorable. Really. He is. I managed to keep myself to a time frame, and honestly we didn't do anything too notable, but knight is just SO DANG CUTE that everything he did was wonderful. We did some circling, some yoyo, and some sideways without a fence (he's GETTING IT...such a smart little guy, it's only the second time we've tried it :)) Also did some stick to me, he got the canter today, and he does it all with this adorable "I'm cute and wonderful, and I know you just want to snuggle me" on his face. So after he did that, we quit. Pix to come soon of his cuteness.
This concludes another Knightly News update. And I'll keep posted on Cricket.
I couldn't decide who I wanted to play with at this point. I know that whoever I choose to spend time with, I always end up going longer than I should, so I wanted to play with someone who NEEDED the time. And thats when the answer nuzzled me on the shoulder. There stood little Knighters. So we haltered up.
Okay, let me just take the time to say that Knight is adorable. Really. He is. I managed to keep myself to a time frame, and honestly we didn't do anything too notable, but knight is just SO DANG CUTE that everything he did was wonderful. We did some circling, some yoyo, and some sideways without a fence (he's GETTING IT...such a smart little guy, it's only the second time we've tried it :)) Also did some stick to me, he got the canter today, and he does it all with this adorable "I'm cute and wonderful, and I know you just want to snuggle me" on his face. So after he did that, we quit. Pix to come soon of his cuteness.
This concludes another Knightly News update. And I'll keep posted on Cricket.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Knightly News Update
Haha, like my play on words?
It's been a busy one around here today. I played with all 3 of my horses for over an hour a piece. A short wrap-up, Cricket's using herself better and better, Crest is hyper and needs work on transitions, and Prin's circling game just keeps getting better and better. We also staked out the arena, which, by the way, will be huge since we decided on the new area, more like 210' x 150' WOW!! Talk about room to do anything and everything, Prin and I even practiced some lead changes in there to make sure there was space!
But most excitingly, I played with little Knighters today! He needed his feet trimmed really badly, so that's what I did first. That was SO easy, it was almost gross. Got all 4 done in almost record time, I think probably only 10-15 minutes or so, and then we played around.
Now those of you who have followed Knight closely since I got him (His groupies or fan club as he calls you-haha)know that recently he's been pulling a lot of "You can't catch me!" games. It's been really frustrating to me until today, and then I realized that he didn't want to be with me for the same reason that Prin didn't on the circle. After finishing his feet, I walked him over to the fluffiest patch of clover I could find, and I sat down and let him graze for about 20 minutes or so.
After grazing for a bit, we hopped up and did some ground work on the 12' line. Some circling, and jumping on an in and out pattern. Knight is SUCH an athletic little horse. The one thing that I made SURE to change, however, is that when he asked to come in, or just even asked me a question on the line, I'd let him come in, and we'd go crazy with the friendly game, and this is where I started to see subtle little changes. Knight was way less overreactive about things when I asked for them, and also was much lighter on his head than usual, and also was much more WILLING to yeild his hindquarters and come in and say hi. While it wasn't a HUGE drastic change (when is it ever, really?) I did read those subtle little things that kind of tell me that Knight will be MUCH EASIER to get hold of next time.
It's amazing to me just how much this friendly game has affected everything. But I'm certainly not surprised, I mean, go figure right? I'm too demanding and not rewarding enough, pretty typical of Fran. This is a big change in my self development here!
Savvy out!
It's been a busy one around here today. I played with all 3 of my horses for over an hour a piece. A short wrap-up, Cricket's using herself better and better, Crest is hyper and needs work on transitions, and Prin's circling game just keeps getting better and better. We also staked out the arena, which, by the way, will be huge since we decided on the new area, more like 210' x 150' WOW!! Talk about room to do anything and everything, Prin and I even practiced some lead changes in there to make sure there was space!
But most excitingly, I played with little Knighters today! He needed his feet trimmed really badly, so that's what I did first. That was SO easy, it was almost gross. Got all 4 done in almost record time, I think probably only 10-15 minutes or so, and then we played around.
Now those of you who have followed Knight closely since I got him (His groupies or fan club as he calls you-haha)know that recently he's been pulling a lot of "You can't catch me!" games. It's been really frustrating to me until today, and then I realized that he didn't want to be with me for the same reason that Prin didn't on the circle. After finishing his feet, I walked him over to the fluffiest patch of clover I could find, and I sat down and let him graze for about 20 minutes or so.
After grazing for a bit, we hopped up and did some ground work on the 12' line. Some circling, and jumping on an in and out pattern. Knight is SUCH an athletic little horse. The one thing that I made SURE to change, however, is that when he asked to come in, or just even asked me a question on the line, I'd let him come in, and we'd go crazy with the friendly game, and this is where I started to see subtle little changes. Knight was way less overreactive about things when I asked for them, and also was much lighter on his head than usual, and also was much more WILLING to yeild his hindquarters and come in and say hi. While it wasn't a HUGE drastic change (when is it ever, really?) I did read those subtle little things that kind of tell me that Knight will be MUCH EASIER to get hold of next time.
It's amazing to me just how much this friendly game has affected everything. But I'm certainly not surprised, I mean, go figure right? I'm too demanding and not rewarding enough, pretty typical of Fran. This is a big change in my self development here!
Savvy out!
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