Spring Update

Spring has begun... I think.... here in the Kansas City area. We are supposed to get some low temps in the 30s a night or two this week though.

The horses are doing great. Here is an update on each one. I will take some nice photos one of these days after they have fully shed their winter coats. The weather has been making it difficult for them to get into their sleek and shiny skivvies for the summer!

TOKAJ

Miss Tokaj is still queen of the Second Chance Team. She is quite a character. She goes from being an aloof princess, to being in-your-pocket depending upon her mood of the day. She rules the horse pasture and eats more than the other horses, and makes sure the tastiest morsels are hers. Tokaj and I had to have some serious discussions recently about her ground manners, and not charging through stall doorways in an effort to get to the feed bin. Now we enter the stall in a step-halt, step-halt fashion. She is a quick study once she understands that there will be no discussion about why she can't just trample me on the way to the feed! :)

This winter with all of the mud, I had been putting Tokaj's tail in a sock to keep from losing the few hairs she had left and it seems to have paid off. She is no longer wearing her sock as the flies are coming out and with all of the swishing... she was forming a dreadlock. But with the tail out and brushed, I realized that we have gained a thicker and longer, pretty silvery white tail! I hope it survives the summer and that we can show it off at a clinic or competition in late Fall or next year.

BAILEY

Mr. Bailey is doing better than expected with his jaw mass. The mass has not enlarged save for a cone shaped place where the bone biopsy irritated the mass. Bailey is gaining weight (always an issue for him... I call him my anorexic horse) and is looking quite nice. I can't wait to start riding him again and especially to start him over fences when I have some nice and consistent sand arena footing to work on.

Bailey's tail was also in a sock this winter. He has the thinnest tail of the three horses. He gained some length in his tail... but maybe only three or four extra hairs thickness! Sigh. Oh well, rat tail or not... it won't matter on cross country! :)

SAVANNAH

Miss Savannah has been the biggest surprise of all! She is finally growing up into a nice horse! I wasn't so sure Savannah was going to be proportioned very well once she entered maturity, but the last couple of months have proven me wrong. Horses grow height in their hind end and then catch up with the front... well, I have never seen a young horse that was as lopsided as Savannah! She was nearly a full hand (4") different from front to back! Now she is leveling out and as a consequence it seems her neck is shaping up as well and it appears more in proportion and longer. Another surprising aspect of her development is that she seems to be losing her short and walk and trot strides (which would really hamper her development as a dressage horse or in the dressage phase of eventing). She is overtracking at the walk, and tracking up at the trot!! Who'da thought?

Also, it seems like Savannah is wanting to be my cross country horse! When Tokaj and Bailey go around a fallen log or creek to get to the other side... Savannah is perfectly happy to jump it! Although Savannah is the shortest of the three horses... I think she is only going to mature to 15.2 hands... which is 62 inches at the withers where her neck intersects with her back... I think she might be a lot of fun to try over fences!

Savannah also has some appearance points in her favor... besides her flashy spots and her one blue and one brown eye... she has a full and ever so lovely tail!! It nearly reaches the ground and is just a beautiful glossy black, with two white stripes at the very top.

Last thing about Miss Savannah... she appears to be a houdini when it comes to getting out of her shoes. I had Savannah shod in the front two weeks ago because she has thin soled Thoroughbred feet and she was getting sore. It's been two weeks since Savannah got her shiny new shoes, and she has lost them both!! My shoer and I will have to think up some sneaky options like perhaps squaring her hind toes and rolling her front toes so that she does not step on her front shoe with her hind foot and pull it off. :)

THE ARENA

The arena work is at a standstill. We have gotten some really hard rains and so far no heavy equipment can be driven onto our very soft arena location. I had hoped to have the arena base in by now so that it would have plenty of time to cure before Fall... but again, I am having to learn patience.

ME

I am huge. Pregnant and huge. The horses have been lovely to me. I lead them into and out of the barn each day to and from their pasture and they are happily walking slower and slower, and are happy to take breaks to grab some grass while I catch my breath before continuing on. It isn't that far to the barn... but for someone with lungs being squeezed by a big baby... it is! :) Otherwise... no complaints! I am happy Spring is here!

Till next time,
P~