Yes.. WE JUMPED!

   Today I rode Udex with my friend and one of the school ponies, Ernesto. I mentioned my friend, Tamara in previous posts. (-: [[She is an E-A dressage rider. She is sixteen and has been riding for twelve years. She recently got her first horse... A beautiful two year old Friesian gelding; Mailo!]] Anyways, she rides at my barn with me sometimes since her horse is green!
   Anyways, Tamara and Ernesto, Udex and I, were just riding for fun in the arena. Neither of us really focusing on dressage or anything, just having fun and lounging around. I was rather bored (and extremely curios,) so I decided to set up a little jump for Udex! Once I tried free jumping him, and he swerved around the jumps and refused to do even one. Today I was determined to make him do one! I set up a reallly small jump. Probably just about 5 inches off the ground, if even. He did the jump! It was cool. He wasn't too happy about it, but it was fine. Then he got smart and started to swerve away from the jumps. Haha. I got a funny video of that. Crazy horse! (clever too!)

hahah silly pony

  Afterwards we kind of just walked around bareback. Yeahhh. Udex "dropped" his you know what, which means I need to clean that thing.. and soon. So much smegma has collected... Yuuuuck. That has to be the only downside to geldings! Hehe
   So Udex was great! Definitely not a jumper, but still; really great! SO proud to call this boy my horse. <3 He is sooo amazing!

I saw an extension I had no idea existed.

   Today I decided to free run Udex as his warm up, and then get to work with the pessoa. I have recently switched his feed to a performance mix with his pellets made into a mash. Although its only been a few days of him being on it, I can already see a big difference. For example, lets take today! I saw an extension I had no idea existed within Udex. When he free runs he has a great extension, I love it. Never over exaggerated with his front legs, but always has them "pretty high up there." Today however he gave out such a mighty extension. I could not believe I was seeing my horse give out a trot that was the exact same as his grandpa, Weltmeyer. It was so floaty, high, elegant, and most of all, he did it with ease. That did make me even more excited to take him back up the levels again! I can't wait!!!!
  Pessoa session was good with Udex. He always does his best, even when you can tell it doesn't feel so well on him. I do feel cruel putting the pessoa on him. I know if I was a horse I would not want that thing on me.. But at the same time I have to remind myself that it is helping his muscles and going to make him the horse he used to be again. I just want to pull out my hair and scream! ROLLKUR! Ughhh. It's the reason for a lot, if not all, of the pain and problems in poor Udex's life. If only that small choice of not using rollkur was made... Humm.. Overall, I am thankful though that he was rollkur ruined. Because of that I can help to get the word out that rollkur is cruel and hurts more then it does good. Udex needs justice.
  So yup!! Udex was a joy!! My 14th birthday is Thursday, and I plan on buying Udex a double bridle and a few new bits. Who knows how soon we will get to the double, but it's still a nifty thing to have!! I know he prefers the double, since he was trained with it. I am so thankful for my talented sweet horse. <3 If I was asked to design my very own dream horse, it would have been Udex. <3

I'm so PROUD!

   Oh my gosh.. Wow. I am so, so, so, SO proud of my boy! He was truly amazing today. Round the bit the entire time, so responsive to my leg.. and best of all, I was able to sit him. Now six months ago I couldn't even do rising trot due to Udex being a rocking horse from rollkur. A rocking horse is pretty much a horse who has his front and back moving at different paces, like; a rocking horse. You can imagine how difficult it must be to sit a horse with so much movement, extremely skinny, etc. Today I am so proud to say we are successfully doing sitting trot, and that it looks really well.
   I really don't feel like writing right now.. I will push on though and continue because I do want to look back on this one day.
   So pretty much Udex was amazing. I have videos and pictures but it is going to take too long to upload. He rounded his back making him so great to sit, was properly on the bit.. and our circles were amazing. So. Perfect. I am so proud I don't even know where to begin!!
 Okay, so trot. Trot was fantastico! He was round, collected, and truly amazing. I did a lot of sitting trot today!! I am soo proud of my seat!! I sit him really great, and especially great considering how difficult he is! I keep looking at the videos and feeling so proud of myself and my horse.! WOW!!!!
  Canter was also really great! Since Udex did so much and rounded his head and worked hard, we wanted to be easy on him and just did a bit of canter. The few minutes I did do of canter however was beautiful. He was so collected (I didn't realize how much until I watched the video!) also my seat in canter was exceptionally well! Yay!
  We had a bit of head throwing but not enough to stop me and riding him on the bit. Of course, he still does tend to hide behind the bit if I am the least bit hard on his mouth. (Thank you rollkur. ugh.) But his recovery has been going so well!! (-: I couldn't have wished for better!
   I have found that since I have started praying, reading the scriptures, and getting more involved with church again Udex has been going great. Just goes to show that blessings do come your way when you have faith in god and really mean it.
  I am so thankful for my pony, my great trainers, and wonderful family. (-: I can't imagine where I would be without them!!! I love them all soooo much!!!

This weather is sooo confusing.

   I love Germany, I really do... But man this weather is complicated! This morning the skies were grey, it was windy, cold, bitter and cloudy, and on top of that, sprinkling off and on. I felt terrible keeping Udex cooped up in his stall yesterday night and today. I decided it best to take of his fly sheet and let him out anyways. A little rain won't kill him.
   Anyways, a few hours later its sunny, warm, blue skies, and no wind. AH!!! I can't stand this weather! As a result I have one lumpy pony! Welts allll over his neck, tummy, side; everywhere. Tomorrow morning I'm putting his protection on so he is safe from the bees and pesky flies.
  I didn't work him today, I let him have an off day. Tomorrow I have a lesson, and Saturday he MUST be worked in the pessoa. Today was good though. Off days are refreshing for both horse and rider.

Lessons with Udex are always fun.

   Today Udex was, well; Udex. He stayed last night and all day in the stall, since it has been rainy and stormy. He was very calm while I was grooming him! Then it came time to tack up! I put on his saddle and leg wraps on him without a fuss. I did sense a bit of negative energy though. Of course, he proved me right when it came time ti putting on the bridle. I un-clipped the lead rope from his halter, put the reins over his neck, and slid the halter on his neck when he decided that he wanted to try and walk outside with his pony pals. I tried and tried and tried to get him still enough to the point of putting on the bridle. Of course, no luck there. Fortunately for me the arena was free, so I took him there (with a bit of struggle) so I could have more control over him and if he did manage to escape from me he could only run within the arena, and not out to the road.
   He was being a monster. I let him free run after putting on the bridle. After a few minutes of free running he walked up to me -displaying signs of submission- and then I started to ride. We were awfully warm today so we decided to turn on the sprinklers from the ceiling on! Udex has free ran in them before, but never rode with me. It was really fun. He was a bit nervous when the first few went off; darting to the side and passaging around. Eventually he calmed down and we were happily trotting with the mist coming down. It was so refreshing! After the sprinklers went off he went back to thinking and became extremely hot again. Every stride was basically piaffe and passage steps, just waiting to dart into canter. I decided to be nice and canter out the crazies with him. I took him a few rounds and let him run his heart out, while I was in a two point.
   After the cantering sessions were over my trainer arrived and we began the lesson. I feel like today I found a missing piece with Udex. Our canter was really great; something that the missing piece completed. I feel that our canter circles were even better. Udex was very willing and straight-forward today. I am also proud to say that I can sit his extremely bumpy sitting trot without flying all over the place! Of course, it is not perfect yet, but its very close!
   He was a really good boy today, and I have reason to be proud! Never a dull moment with my horsey! <3

I have decided to post at least once every day, or every other day.

  Well, I need to get into the habit of writing. Usually I am turned off by blogs without pictures because they do tend to be rather on the boring side in my opinion. No matter, I will write with or without pictures about Udex!!
  So today! I didn't work him at all, just let him have a day in the paddock with his two best friends. His best friends are the two shetland ponies, Arina and Goldie. It's really cute to see the biggest horse be obsessive over the smallest horses, and vice versa. Arina is the mother of Goldie. Goldie is around two years old now, but she still nurses and think she is just two months. Goldie is a sneaky little thing. She will sneak under the electric fences for more grass, leaving the herd to do so! I love to watch that little pony! When you go the the paddock she will nibble on your toes, fingers, belly, arms, legs... you name it! Arina is a very calm laid back little thing. I don't know how she has such an outgoing little baby with such a mind of her own!
   Anyways, watching Udex, Goldie, and Arina is just adorable. I caught Goldie actually standing underneath his belly using him as shade. Of course, he was fine with it. When he is in a paddock with another horse, he is usually pacing, whinnying, etc. However, with these little guys he goes straight to grazing!! I love the fact he is so humble and accepts the little guys as part of his herd.
   Another thing I thought was cute. Udex saw his reflection for the first time the other day. We pulled up with the van to his paddock, and he stuck his head out and looked into the window! He got a very clear image of himself!! He touched noses to his reflection, and nickered!! We drove down a bit and he trotted over again, with his nose to the van and nickering! It was really cute to see him so excited about the handsome horse in the window. Hee-hee. Eventually he got bored of the "other" horse being silent and went back to grazing with his pony pals.
  Tomorrow Udex and I have a lesson. I'm somewhat excited, but I have a feeling Udex is going to be one sleepy old man. Well, hopefully I have something interesting to write about tomorrow!

A job well done?

  I was just reading a few of my earlier blog posts... I am really, really, really happy I decided to write a blog about this adventure. I remember my mom telling me that these are going to be times I will want to remember, and me thinking "Why would I want to remember my horse as the skinny, rollkur ruined, damaged, scrawny horse??? Why would I even want to write about it!?!" I thought about it more and more. I also thought about why Udex went through rollkur. He wasn't the best horse if Belgium winning everything today, today he isn't even a breeding horse. He went through all that damage for what? Then it hit me.. He went through that all so that I could share his story and help others to realize that rollkur is not the answer. So since the day I realized that I started writing about Udex and his recovery. I know that by writing this blog, I will change at least one persons perspective about rollkur. It is the least I can do to make up for all the pain Udex was put through, and all the damage we have to step over today.
  Anyways, am I glad I started a blog or what!? I am so thankful my mom pushed me into writing and creating this blog. Whenever I feel a little upset with myself, my riding, or my horse, I just go back and read the earlier posts. I can't help but feel really good about everything, knowing how when we first started we were on a bumpy road. I remember people saying "Poor horse, he won't ever be able to properly use his back." or "Hahah! Thats not a horse, thats an ugly cow! You can't keep a cow at a horse stable! Move the cow, it probably has worms and will get the horses sick!" I just stood there with tears in my eyes as many, many, many people cut us down like that. I wasn't crying because I felt bad for myself. No, not at all. I was crying because of the pain my horse was put through, and why he is the way he is today. How dare someone have the nerve to make fun of this amazing horse, laugh at him, put their arms around their horse to "protect" it from my "cow.", or even point and make faces at him.
  Today, these people are a lot different towards me. Now these people look at my horse, with one of the shetland ponies under his tummy using him as shade, and him scratching the others neck. They look at my horse free running in the arena with a trot they only wish their horse could preform. They look at my horse and all his muscles bulging and veins pumping. They look at us, and see our bond. A few of these people have apologized and tried to make up for the nasty things they said to us in the beginning. My "cow" is now the best horse at the stable. Something about my "cow" makes him the special animal he is today. Looking at older blog entries, and looking through pictures that were recently taken... wow. I can only manage the word wow. I am so proud of myself!!! We are proving SO many people wrong! When I first got him I had my trainers ride him. The first thing they said was "you won't ever be able to sit this horse." I became very discouraged, because I too, couldn't sit my horse. Well, let me inform you that today I sit my horses canter without even moving, and sitting trot looks great!! I am thankful for the people who felt it necessary to try to bring us down. Your insults mean more to me then your cheesy compliments do. If it wasn't for you guys and your hate, I probably never would have felt the urge to prove everyone wrong.
  In my church we are very big on acts of service. We try and serve anyone the chance we get!! We serve out of love, with no pay in return. I know that I am serving my horse. In return I am getting the ultimate training experience, an even better seat, opportunities to train with amazing trainers, and sooo much more. I am so proud of where me and Udex are getting to! We are schooling second level movements! It has only been a little over five months! I really love Udex! So once again, I am happy I have this blog to look back on and feel great about what I am doing for my horsey. (:

Pictures!

  One thing I am very thankful for is amazing friends who are willing to share their talents!! A great friend of our family was kind enough to come practice her photography with Udex and I! The results are amazing! I now have around 500 amazing photos! I am really happy with the results!! Here are just a few of the amazing photos... *click the images to enlarge*

     

                        
                                                    

                                                                                                                                                               

   

                       

                       

Great lesson!

   Today Udex was a really good boy. I have to include the fact that my new saddle makes riding a lot more easier! I am very small, so a size 16.5''-17'' seat saddle fits me a lot better. I can't believe how lucky I was to find this great saddle at such a great price!! It fits Udex like a glove! I can't believe that a saddle my size, made for a high withered horse, was right before us! Ahhh! I'm so blessed!
  Anyways, Udex was awesome!! He was pretty awesome! We worked on leg yielding today! Udex was a bit on the sleepy side, due to spending a night out in the paddock. He was round the entire time. To think just five months ago he was either curling up behind the bit, or head in the air like a lama.. but today he goes perfectly on the bit! Amazing! Five months ago I could not even sit him.. Today? I sit him in trot and canter great! Sitting such a hard horse has made my seat even better!! I am proud of my seat; I have worked hard to get it the way it is! So yeah, Udex was pretty awesome!! My trainer and I were really proud of him today. He has improved so much!! This feeling of watching him go from negative fifty back up to a positive one hundred has just been amazing!! This is one journey that is well worth the while!
   I have high hopes for Udex!!! He is a really, really, really amazing horse. I am not just saying that because he is my horse, but I honestly mean he is AMAZING. If he was not my horse and he was with someone else, I would still think he is an amazing horse. I don't know what it is about him... but he has it. He has that special something that gives you the sure feeling that he is going to make it somewhere one day. It has been an honor to work with such a willing, kind, sweet horse. He may be extremely hot to the touch, and have his moods.. But that's what makes him special. I love my Udex, and I couldn't trade him for the world. <3

If you can't handle a warmblood at it's worse, you don't deserve them at their finest.

   Wow, I swear, whenever I don't post in this blog more and more happens. I have no idea where to start!
   First off, I had a problem with Udex hiccuping when eating. The hiccups led to choking, which led to me having to dislodge the feed stuck in his throat and cross my fingers a vet wouldn't be needed. Every time Udex ate anything I would have a mini panic attack! I have since then solved the problem! He now gets a "mush" (not a mash, but yes, a mush!) out of his pellets. I boil warm water and add that to his pellets until it is mushy, and a pellet soup! I add a bit of molasses for him (yes he is spoiled!) so the pellet mush soup then tastes even sweeter. Man, oh man does Udex go wild for his mush! The other day I had him playing around in the arena with just a halter on while I mixed together his mush... He stood there with his head sticking out of the arena and drooling and licking his lips! Then he got so excited he had a bucking fit! He really, and I mean REALLY, enjoys his mush! I can also say I really enjoy making the warm soup twice a day for him. I feel like a very smart equine chef.. heheh!

  This past week Udex and I have gotten back to business! We are back to using our very good old friend once or twice a week.. The pessoa lunging system. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a way to get the horse to engage in his hindquarters and to develop his topline. Udex needs his topline strengthened, and the pessoa was really helping him to become very muscular! If you have a horse that has a weak topline, little impulsion, needs help collecting, or just want your horse to develop muscles in the proper place.. Then I SWEAR by the pessoa lunge training system! It has been a miracle worker! Anywho, it has been a while since I used it. I was so excited to be lunging him with it on again! Pretty soon he will be looking muscular again! We had a great pessoa session the other night. Udex was great and as always, willing to work. I feel like now we are well on our way to looking great again.
   One thing you should know about a warmblood. They never, -and trust me when I say never- out of energy! You can work your warmblood five hours straight but somehow, from the very center within themselves, they can pull out this tremendous amount of energy to do what not. I can give you a classic example. Ah, the other day I had Udex tied up outside preparing him for our first lesson back. I was so excited since it has been around a month since I last rode. I guess Udex was excited about riding too. The other horses in the paddock outside were running around trying to escape the flies I suppose. Anyways, Udex felt the need to join them, forgetting the fact he was tied up and I was standing in front of him. I had just finished putting on his boots. Seeing the other horses galloping, he decided he wanted to gallop too! Problem was? Udex started to gallop and passage in place (oh the joys of a dressage horse.) and was bucking and crow hopping as well. I quickly pulled my quick release knot (PHEW! Thank goodness I always tie up in that knot!) and took him to the side. (I am only 5'1 and 95 lbs. Udex towers over seventeen hands and weighs over 750 kilos.) Udex was then doing extreme collected, fast, pirroutes, with each circle lifting me a few feet off the ground, leaving me clenching onto the lead rope controlling this huge horse. It took a few good whacks with that lead rope to get his mind back to where it should be, which was to me.
   Anyways, we continued on and tacked up. It was a very interesting lesson. Of course, he was extremely fresh and the only thing on his mind was to go. I let him free run a bit to get his negative energy out, and then lunged him once more. Like I said before, a real warmblood never completely looses his energy. I had him in walk on a nice loose rein, when all of a sudden (being the typical warmblood he is) he took of into a canter crow hopping and bucking. I got him calmed down within a few seconds and continued on. This happened a few times until he finally felt calm enough to continue on! -I have handled quite a few hot horses, so running, bucking and crow hopping isn't anything new.-
  Udex made up for our rough beginning big time though! He was amazing! We worked on haunches in and half passes, both of which he did amazingly. I was having so much fun half passing him around the arena. Riding such a well trained horse is like magic. All you have to do is sit right and give the proper aid, and he goes. Some days if I'm giving too much aids, he decides to go above and beyond and do something crazy. Whether it be a surprise half pass at canter, or switching to piaffe mid trot; he always manages to surprise me!
   Of course, last but not least we have our near tornado touch down today! Udex and his friend Grisu are in a nice private paddock a little distance down the road. It has nice grass and is the perfect size for two big warmbloods. Today when I turned them out I noticed neither of them were acting normal. They were both pacing and whinnying a bit too much for usual. I did not feel comfortable leaving them out for some strange reason. I went on with my barn chores and giving lessons. I had an hour or two break in between, and during that time my mom and I went to the store to get some snacks. When we were driving we noticed a funnel cloud. We were not too concerned, since the cloud was breaking up anyways and was quite a distance away.  about an hour and a half later I was back at the barn helping my students tack up. I found it quite odd I could hear my horse from inside of the arena. He was whinnying awfully loud. The fact him and Grisu were whinnying at this time concerned me! The paddock is quite a distance from the barn!! Of course, I ran to go check on them! Extremely close to their paddock was a funnel cloud!!! It was so close I could see the bottom point spinning like mad!! I could not believe my eyes. My mom got Grisu, and I got Udex, and as fast as we could we made them run into the barn! It was freezing rain and that funnel cloud didn't make things better. To top it off the warning whistles were playing loudly all around, and the air base was giving it's warning of "Attention. Possible tornado touch down. Seek cover immediately." We got the horses in the barn safely. They were so happy to be in. Each munching happily on their hay and letting out little nickers every few seconds as if to show how happy they were to be in.
   Lucky for us the tornado didn't touch down! I don't know what I would have done if it would have! I don't even want to think along those lines. The area of Germany I live in is very hilly, so we do have that working with us against the tornado. The barn is made of cement, which is a strong, sturdy material that would have hopefully stand strong against an F3.
  Well, a lot sure has happened since I last posted. I can honestly say I really, really, really love my Udex. Everything about him amazes me. I can't believe such an amazing horse is actually mine! He continues to amaze me every day more and more and more. My most favorite quote ever..

"If you can't handle a warmblood at his worse... Then you don't deserve him at his finest!"

 

Hard keeper.

He may not be grey but he is definitely NOT an easy keeper!

   A lot of people say how hard their horse is to keep. "My horse is grey, I have to rug him in the summer so he doesn't get skin cancer!" or, "My grey horse has a pink nose, I have to put sun cream on him so he doesn't burn!" or even "when my grey horse lays down he gets coated with manure stains!" I do have to say that it does make me a little upset when owners of greys consider their grey horse to be the hardest keeper of them all. Uhm, I have a chestnut, but he is just as hard to keep as a grey, if not worse! He is allergic to bees, so I too must keep a constant fly sheet on him PLUS check daily for any bee bites and anaphylaxis. Also, he has a pink nose too so I have to constantly re-apply sun cream on him as well. When my chestnut rolls, he rolls his white blaze in the mud. One too many times I have had to curry his face because it was coated inches deep in mud! I don't even know how many times his forelock had been invisible to due being buried in the mud! Udex is a pretty hard keeper if you ask me!!
  Udex was gaining weight and muscle left and right... Until. -Ah, how I despise that word until.- Until that terrible farrier damaged his hooves! For about a month in a half Udex had been in constant pain. It was a loose, or loose, situation for us. Our options were to turn him out with bad feet and every step be painful for him, but at least he would be happy with his friends... OR. We could keep him on stall rest where he would pace himself and work himself into a sweat everyday. We went with the first choice, of turning him out with his friends. Since then his bruises had turned into an abscess, resulting in even more pain. Every horseman knows that when a horse is in pain, they loose weight.

Skinny lil' thang

 Yes, that is exactly what happened to Udex. He was looking so great, with just a faint outline of his ribs showing. Now you can make out his ribs again. He looks nowhere near as bad as he did when he first got there, but then again he looks nowhere near like he did last month. I have to say, I am really, really, really angry and upset about all this. I worked SO hard to get him looking decent, and now have to re-do all my hard work. Ughh! Talk about upsetting! However, I do keep telling my self that this all happened for a reason. I am just thinking "okay, no problem! As soon as he can work again without a limp we are going to start our once to twice pessoa sessions every week!" I know this happened for a reason, it had to have. I have to stay positive about this, because being angry won't help anything at all.
   So, back to being a hard keeper. I swear, owning Udex is the most challenging thing I think I may ever have to do. Of course, it is too rewarding to regret any second of it all! As I write this, Udex is in a big paddock with just two other horses enjoying the sunshine and munching on delicious fresh grass scattered with miscellaneous juicy flowers! I am sure that in no time this grass will put the weight back on him! Until then, I'm just going to keep on having fun with him!

Hiccups!

   I am pretty sure not every horse owner gets to experience hiccups in horses. Most times when I ask my friends, trainers, farriers, or even vets, if they have ever seen a horse with hiccups they reply "No!" I can tell you right now that I have seen hiccups in horses.. Well to be more specific... In Udex. Since rollkur damaged his esophagus pretty bad, when it comes to the respiratory area of him, he can do a lot of things most horses can't do. Burping in horses was declared "impossible" but ah, my rollkur horse does in deed burp. He has big, loud, man burps! I have known a few other horses that can burp, not from rollkur but from being that is the way they are! In a way, I am happy he has since then developed his talent for burping. I guess I do never have to worry about colic in that area, since he can just burp up the acids!
     -However, back to hiccups!!- I won't forget when I saw him hiccuping for the first time. It was a normal warm sunny day and I had took him in from the paddock to give his usual white -then yellow/brown from arena sand and dirt- a shampooing! I had tied him up, groomed him, finished bathing him, and while he was drying I thought I would give him a bit to eat as well. I got my bucket full of his feed and held it while he happily, -and greedily!- munched away!! He did eat that one kilo of pellets up awfully fast I was thinking. So around five minutes of him eating his grain I was back to grooming him before I would put his fly sheet on and turn him out again. While I was grooming him he would pause, put his head alll the way up in the air as high as he could, flip his upper lip up, and then go back to standing quiet. I did think this was a little interesting since this was very unlike Udex to be displaying this behavior. I thought it was probably just from the bubbles on the floor from the shampoo that I had rinsed of his legs causing him to be confused as to what the smell was. After this smelling session he did something that mortified me! He lunged forward, curled his neck in, and made a very short, high pitched sound, almost like an "EEE". Along with the "EEE" sound, I heard a "thummmmp-thump" sound as well. Being the paranoid owner I listened for gut sounds, checked his gums, and waited a few minutes. Every few seconds he would repeat the process of lunging forward, eein'g, curling his neck in, and that thump thump sound. In between he would lift his lip up and burp very loudly.
    I still didn't think that this behavior was normal, so I got the owner of the barn right away and asked if he had ever seen anything like it. He told me to take Udex to the arena and free run him, just to be on the safe side. Udex was going along like normal. Showing his fancy trot off, cantering, stopping at the windows to see his friends, and of course, whinnying to them! After about thirty minutes in the arena, I took him out and slowly the strange behavior stopped. I watched him about an hour afterwards just to make sure nothing serious was going on!!!
    That night I turned him out, but the entire drive home I was so afraid I was going to get a call saying something along the lines of Udex was found dead outside. I could not eat I was so worried about him!! I suddenly remembered about that great technology of today and immediately went online to try and search of what this strange behavior could mean! I was relieved when I came across something called thumps... aka equine hiccups! There could be a few reasons horses get the thumps. Low on calcium, eating too quickly, and also a not too good esophagus. I give Udex a mineral/vitamin biscuit everyday, so I was quite sure he was not low on calcium, I did however know that Udex gulped down his food faster then usual and that his esophagus isn't in best condition. I was so happy to hear it was just hiccups! All that worrying for nothing!!
   Since then I have started feeding him more slowly, but even with him slowly consuming his grain they still happen every now and then. I just hang out with him and keep him company until they finally die off, and then continue what we were doing. The hiccups are all part of dealing with an ex-rollkur horse!
   The other day it was raining, windy, and bitter outside. I decided to keep Udex in on a day like that, since the horses do like to kick and run and the mud was perfect consistency to slip and fall, and possibly hurt themselves. Anyways, I came to feed him his grain like usual. When I did he ate like normal, and well, got the hiccups. He kept on eating while he had the hiccups and started to choke!! I took him out of his stall and he stood with his head down, and dropping thick saliva out of his mouth, while having the hiccups going on. Lucky for him I know horse anatomy and what to do when a horse is choking! I dislodged the stuck pellets and immediately he was back to normal. This choking due to hiccups session did open my eyes to a new possibility of what can happen when he continues eating while hiccuping. Since then I have been even more careful that he eats more slow!! Maybe I will buy a special grain dish for him so he can't eat fast enough to either hiccup, OR choke!
   So I wrote about hiccups today for several reasons! The first being if someone else had a horse hiccuping, but no idea as to what it was can find this and get a good look at hiccuping! There is not too much info about thumps on the net. The second reason I wrote this was to help people become more aware of the cruel effects rollkur remains to have on the horse, even after he is done with his rollkur training! The third reason being that I think I would like to look back on this and laugh again at how scared I was the first day he got hiccups! Since then I have become much more relaxed about the entire ordeal, and can even giggle at the silliness of it all! I have to bring my camera and catch it on video one day, because it is pretty cute to see a hiccuping horse!

Don't we all love a lame horse?

   Lameness. Every owner faces it, just a matter of when. Whether it be a torn tendon, a pulled muscle, a kick from another horse, bad shoes, a fracture, laminitis, a crack in the shoe, a pulled shoe, or as it was in my case this time, an abscess. Abscess do suck, but you can't help but feel relieved when the reason your horse is acting as if his leg is broken is just because of a puss filled blister causing pressure somewhere inside his hoof. Of course, the waiting game really sucks!! A few weeks ago we had a bad farrier who cut away ALL of Udex's already too thin sole, resulting in his mushroom feet being even MORE prone to stone bruises and abscess'. To top it off, Udex was also kicked by a mare in the paddock, making him a little sore. So for about 3 weeks I was taking care of a lame Udex. Taking him on little walks, not riding anymore then walk and a little trot, and getting him corrective shoes (by an amazing farrier!) which are helping his hooves to grow. So almost a month after Udex had gone lame, I was so excited to be back in the saddle! He was feeling well, and I was feeling excited to ride and to take a lesson!! I had a friend out and I rode Udex with her and her horse. He was a joy to ride (as always!) Two days from then was going to be my lesson. The next day I went to go put boots on Udex in the paddock and saw he was walking in the most bizarre way imaginable. His brown leg (front left [FL]) was outstretched and he was refusing to bend it at the knee or to put pressure on it. I palpated his leg (as you should when you see somethings not quite right with your horses limb) and did not feel any heat, any moisture,any lumps, and didn't even see swelling. He was not bothered by my hands squeezing his leg. I picked up the leg and checked out the hoof, just to be sure it wasn't a hot nail! Still he did not seem too bothered by it. He then got uninterested with my squeezing his leg and, being the typical warmblood he is, decided to walk away from me! Now, I know when a horse is lame how they should limp, jump around on their other three legs, throw their heads, or just refuse to move... Usually you can see how the way they are limping, what may be the cause of the underlying lameness. However, I was stumped when I saw how Udex walked away from me. He was walking with his FL leg locked in place, and swinging it outward. I mean, reallllly swinging it too!! He wasn't throwing his head, and besides not putting any weight on that leg, didn't seem to be in any other pain! I had to chuckle a bit because my usually elegant, floaty, energetic horse was now walking like a Spanish horse of some sort! Anyways, after a lot of consideration I decided it would be better to leave him overnight in the paddock with his friends. I know that if he was hurt in some sort, and I did stall him, he would have just paced himself out of fear from being a lone and just made matters worse. It would be far smarter to just let him stay with his friends, doing just a few steps of walk. We would decide whether or not he would have to be stalled in the morning.

  The next morning I came to lunge Udex to try to get a better look at what the problem could be. He was standing off to the corner in the paddock all by himself, FL leg dangling by his side, but his appetite still huge and grazing on the great grass!! I put the lead rope on him, but he refused to walk with me. He stood there with his FL leg dangling. At that point my hopes of the lameness disappearing over night left me. It was still here, and if not, worse. We got a whip out and together, my Mom and I managed to pull him to the stall. It took about an hour to get him to go the short distance. The entire time he was walking on his toe, which convinced me it wasn't a leg, hip, muscle, or joint problem, but rather a problem within the hoof. So Udex went into his stall and happily munched on some hay and nibbled on some straw! He was still the same old Udex though, nervous to leave his friends, but instead of pacing he was hobbling on his three legs!
   For about four days I soaked his hoof in warm epsom salt water several times a day, and hand walking him to a little patch of grass down the street. (He had to walk to keep circulation flowing to the hoof the right way, and of course, he did love his snacks of that great grass!) Finally on the fifth day, at the bulb of his heel puss started to seep out. He was walking normal and had all his go back! He got to be with his paddock palls and eat the fresh grass out there! I was really happy to see him being able to walk normally on over to his friends! -He had missed it so much!-

   So right now the abscess has finished popping! I am at the stage where I'm waiting for it to fully heal up so I can start to ride him again!! His walk is perfect, but he still limps at trot! It has only been about two days since the thing popped, so I'm pretty sure he is going to be ready to ride in no time!!! I'm really excited to have a nice ride with him again! I do have to say, over this entire last month and a half I have really bonded with him a lot more.  It's always fun to get to know your horse a bit more!!! I would have been totally lost if it wasn't for our amazing friends Jacq and Dirk giving us advice the entire way! I don't know what I would have done without them!!!! I can't thank them enough!
   Am I happy that my horse is lame and that I was out of the saddle for a while??- No, Of course not. But I AM happy that I got this great learning experience out of the situation! When you think about it, a month and a half of a lame horse is not that bad! Some people have it a lot worse then me! Although I was offered to ride friends horses for the time Udex was lame, I had to refuse. To me it is just not the same, I don't want it any other way if I can't  have Udex! I really love my horse!! He may be the most energetic boy I know, he may be the hardest horse to sit, and he may be the only horse that can embarrass me senseless...  but you know, that's my horse, and I absolutely love the fact he is all that, and so much more. That's what makes Udex; Udex!!! I am so happy to have such an amazing horsey!! (-: I love you Udex!! (-:

Horse shoes??

*sigh* Today Udex got  horse shoes!! I was hoping it would not have to come to this, but ah, as luck would have it, Udex was shod. Any how, our farrier is amazing. He is one of the best in the country [Germany]! He travels to Kentucky to give clinics on how he shoes horses, has his own farrier school, drives horses himself, and has his mini farrier shop in a trailer on the back of his car! -The farrier really knows his stuff, which is always a relief when you have a tall, energetic, very nervous horse!!- I have to say, I was more then impressed when the farrier took out his spiffy little heat map that showed the heat levels in Udex's hooves. The farrier had me run Udex on the rough, rocky, terrain to get a better judgement of what type of shoes, and on which feet, Udex would need. So the heat map, the farriers clever eye, and Udex's movement showed the farrier that the smartest choice would to be to get him shoes on his front feet! I know with Udex that usually with men he gets

extremely nervous!! (His past training was of rollkur with a harsh man, with little hair and deep voice, so when Udex meets a man that reminds him of his old trainer/rider, he starts to remember the harsh rollkur and the pain he was put through.) Anyways, I was amazed at how well Udex behaved! He stood more quiet then I have ever seen him in his life. May I also add he was alone in the stable?? Talk about improvement!? So, my Udex stood amazingly for the farrier while he was getting shoes on! I did feel pretty bad for the farrier though when half way through putting the shoe on Udex, Udex decides his head itches and felt the need to rub the farriers back, resulting in the poor farrier almost falling over!! Udex! Oh well! I am glad he is no longer limping, and now we can relax about him getting his feel bruised from the stones! Goodbye mushroom feet... Hellooooo irons!