Not always friends.

  Honestly I would be lying if I said that me and Udex had a perfectly happy relationship all the time.. Because we don't. Some days it goes so great I can hop on him tackless and ride.. and others? Well Udex and I don't seem to be friends on those days. I usually choose to right only about the good things and times I have with him, but as with all horses with bad past experiences, there are just as much bad moments as good. In about a two month time span we go through a few days, to even two weeks where we just don't get along.. at all. Of course we both still love each other, but our connection with each other just isn't as strong as it should be.
  It's been about a week where Udex and I haven't been best friends now. Yesterday he crossed the line, although I'm not innocent either. I should start from the beginning before I get too jumbled up in words!
 Yesterday I rode Udex. He was okay, but not as okay as I would have liked him to be. Lately he has been fighting against the bit big time, running like a lama under saddle, and refusing canter. I think I'm going to pick the crop, if that fails then spurs, back up and try them again before I officially decide he is being a bit stubborn. Usually when you ride with a crop he gets his head in with you and knows that your not playing around and what you are asking for is real. Okay- to get back on track here! After our ride I put Udex's sweat blanket on, cooled him off for a bit then took him back outside to groom him and put his winter rug on. He was okay during grooming, not too much pacing. When I put blankets on Udex, or anything by has back end, he gets a little sensitive by the skin by his back legs. The part by the hip and back legs? The name for it escapes me at the moment. Usually he picks his leg up like he is going to kick be he never does it. Some days he may kick out an eency bit but he is so kind hearted he never actually hits anyone. Yesterday he proved me wrong. I was going to strap the parts on his blanket by his legs and he picked his leg up a bit. I took a little step back and was going to give him a second to put it down. Like predicted, he did. So I went back over to strap it again. He was quiet one second and the next... BOOM! Ouchhh!!! He got me right in the leg above the knee. I have been kicked numerous times by horses.. Just never from such a big, tall, powerful one.
 I don't know what hurt worse.. The pain from the kick, or the pain in my heart from feeling so lost with my horse at this time. Right now I just feel so defeated against him. It feels as if he doesn't love me and I do so much hard work and make so many sacrifices for him, and he in return offers nothing. I know that isn't true, it's just that it sure doesn't feel that way right now. I hope we come out of this stubborn, gloomy time frame soon. I can't stand it! I have no drive at all to do anything with him right now. Something as simple as grooming him takes all my energy away and usually ends up with me sustaining a large amount of bruises, and him getting a not too happy vibe from me.
 On the bright side however I will be buying several new items for him. I am picking up on friday my nice new gel wedge for underneath the saddle. It offers great support for a weak back, protects the back muscles, makes the saddle fit like it should, forms to his shape, and should make him a bit more relaxed. As for me, I hope Udex does feel better from the new pad!! Saturday, maybe even Friday I am looking so forward to giving it a try!! Also, I think I will be supplying Udex with new vitamins. His newfound attitude could be from lack of minerals! I took him off his feed, and starting tomorrow I'm giving it back to him, PLUS more mineral bricks. He will be getting his usual power feed with oil (slowly weaning him back on the oil again.) Am I crazy for giving me already hot horse power feed? That very well could be the case. It's a crazy chance I'm going to take. With his power feed mix he will get the right amount of nutrients, and that could change a bit of his attitude. Besides, I can ride a hot horse, no problem.. It's only the bridling of Udex that gets me!!!! Hee-hee.
 Tomorrow I'm going to try to be strong and do my best to handle the mighty Udex right and not let him get the best of me again!!! I love him so much, and I don't like the feel that neither of us is offering our best. So I'm going to change that tomorrow.. <3

"Rollkur opponents care for horses. Rollkur proponents care more for success."

I have been so proud!

   I can't begin to tell you how great Udex is doing. Last lesson [Friday] there was a big, nasty storm; possible tornadoes. The sound the rain makes on the roof of the arena is pretty loud and spooky! Not to mention constant roars of thunder, and flashes of lightning! Udex was so calm in the scary environment. He didn't even flinch!! At some points the thunder was so loud both my trainer and I jumped. Udex being the brave horse he is prodded on like he couldn't even hear a thing!!!! I was sooo relieved to see him being such a lovely chap for me!
  During our lesson we worked on leg yields and shoulder ins and haunches ins! We did everything pretty good!! I am really getting the hang of it all with him! The most challenging part about all these movements is that in trot, it's done at a sitting trot. Udex being such a difficult horse to sit takes a lot more effort to do these moves. I do have to say I am quite pleased with my sitting trot, although even now it could use some work. These movements are coming along nicely though. I think within two months time we will do them as easy as we give a half halt!
 There was a bit a head throwing. Along with the head throwing there was itty bitty rears. You can't really call them a rear though, since all it was was him lifting his front feet off the ground an inch or two. As my trainer says "The good times come more and more." I do agree with her. Every lesson he stays a bit longer without throwing his head. It will be a while before the head throwing vanishes all together, but it's alright. He can take all the time he needs. I have it, and I'm willing to give it to him.
  Big surprise!!! I took Udex on a little trail ride!!! I swore my trail days were over, especially with such a big, energetic horse. So much for that though. The other day I felt so bad always boring him with free running, lunging, riding. The same thing must get sooo boring for him. I decided to see how he acts by taking him for about 45 minutes on a little walk on the street outside the barn. He did so great! I gave him a nice long rein and he was really enjoying himself. He was looking around enjoying the scenery! It made me happy to see him happy! I was so happy I forgot I was even trail riding!! I know it wasn't much, just walking on the road.. but it's a start!! Eventually I would like to be able to take him out and run!! That's my most favorite thing to do on on the trails!! Let him have a nice fast canter, drop the reins, and put your arms out and fly!! Too bad our summer is almost over, not that we had much of one anyways. I will still go in the snow though!! I plan on snow riding!! I think Udex would enjoy that too! After all, I don't want him to get too bored!! I do think that just leg yeilds, shoulder ins and haunches ins must be extremely boring to a horse who could passage, pirroutte, piaffe, and prance around!!
  I'm proud of my baby!! We have come a very far way, thats for sure!!! Whenever I'm having a bad day with him, I just think to the first day I saw him. That makes me melt and forget everything. I'm ready for another fun, adventurous week with my crazy horsey!

I never thought we would get this far this fast.

   Yesterday while riding I couldn't help but feel so proud!! Six months ago Udex was an un-sittable, suicidal, depressed, emaciated horse who would always tuck himself behind the bit due to riding with hyperflexion so many years. We are now doing shoulder in's and haunches in's and leg yields, and lot's of sitting trot!!! He is doing so, so, so amazing. I never ever ever in a million years would have thought that in just six months he would be coming along so far!!! I'm just soo impressed!! I mean of course, we still have our bad days. Our good days are just getting better and better. My trainer is raising her standards for us, pushing Udex and I to work even harder!! I love it!!
  So yesterday our lesson was beyond great!! Udex was a bit tired, but other then that; truly amazing!! Days I don't bring the camera something amazing always happens.. Go figure!!! He gave me some absolute perfect leg yields! I couldn't have asked for better. We also worked on our shoulder in's, which were also going well!!! For the first real day of schooling them and perfecting them, five to nine steps of a good shoulder in at walk was pretty rewarding. We also tried a bit of haunches in, which is actually quite difficult to do with Udex. When I give the absolute correct aids, then he goes right, but if it's anything below perfect he just won't budge. That's quite difficult due to my muscles not being at the strength that he is expecting. I'm not worried though. Doing all the leg yields and shoulder in's and now haunches in's I have been doing, I will have those muscles in no time!!!
   I couldn't stop smiling while I was riding him. Just thinking that six months ago how bad he was and how today we are riding second level moves!! Ah!! It's so amazing!!! This has to be the most rewarding feel that is possible. If you haven't ever took in a rescue horse... you're missing out... BIG time!!! The farrier is coming to put new shoes on Udex soon, so I'm off to the stable!! Hopefully Udex stands quiet, but since he is the horse he is, he probably won't, and will cause a hassle!!! Oh well, fingers crossed!!

Wounds && a Lesson

after I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide

   Yuck! Last week Udex was kicked on his front left leg pretty bad. He had a little gash in it. Taking the barn owner, my mom, and my trainers advice I cleaned it, put blue spray on it, and let it be. For about five days that was working. Yesterday? It was open and raw and flies were everywhere. When I put cream on it I got about four flies in the cream, that's how many flies there were. Instantly I became paranoid about infection!!! Ahhh!!!! Anyways, today I wrapped it and put a lot of good stuff on it. Hopefully tomorrow it's closed up again and fly free!!!

  Our lesson was pretty good!! Udex was a little tired; he spent four nights in the paddock Other then being tired, he was pretty good! It was a really, really, really warm day today. I'm surprised neither of us died (lots of laughs.) It's never easy to work in the heat, as almost anyone should know. So putting together the fact he was super tired and it was super warm out.. I'm pleased with the outcome of today. We didn't have any more, or less, head throwing then usual. Leg yielding him from F to X wasn't working out too well. Actually it wasn't working at all. I need stronger muscles on that side, and he does too!!! Our other hand is both of our dominant hand! It's a little difficult making our weak hands stronger, but I'm sure we will do it. He does all his moves so lovely, sometimes it's a little frustrating knowing that the reason he isn't doing it is because of me!!! I was watching a T.V. show yesterday and had to giggle when the dressage rider was half passing her horse, and the trainer was yelling at her. The rider said "It's this footing in the arena. It's terrible!!" The trainer looked at her blankly and said "it isn't the footing... and it isn't the horse!" It was really funny to hear this (at least to me!) I guess it could be because my trainer says the same thing when I try to make excuses!! Well sorry for the short entry, I am just not in the mood to write.

Sometimes bad days turn good... really good.

  Days like this I just am not in the mood to ride. Rainy, windy, cold, blue; gloomy. Everything about today just set the mood for a bad day. Since it was raining, I had my horse cooped up in his stall all day. Just thinking about how I was going to have to wrestle with my huge, energetic, fresh warmblood gave me a headache. I just wanted to skip today and go right into tomorrow... I came to the barn feeling very sour. Udex was pacing around in his stall and whinnying every two minutes. I rolled my eyes and took a while setting up my tack box and getting my saddle and bridle out. "Oh great.. He's so energetic and nervous today! It's going to be a hard struggle to pick his hooves, yet alone put the bit in his mouth when the only thing he wants to do is run!"
  I was right. It was a struggle to get him to stand still long enough for me to pick his hooves. After getting that task over with I very unhappily took him to the arena to free run a bit of the crazies out. After a few minutes of running he walked over to me, chomping on nothing, (sign of submission) and nuzzled me. He was still full of energy, but he let me tack him up a lot easier then he would have without letting that negative energy out.
  I did notice he had a fantastic trot today. In the beginning he had a very nice long and low neck! I trotted him with no hands for a bit... Good for my balance, and good for him to really stretch down low. Anyways, after he was warmed up to some extent, my trainer arrived and we began our lesson. [At this point I was still a bit gloomy. The wind rattling the roof, Udex whinnying out to his friends every few seconds.] We started out the lesson with einfache schlange linien [simple snake lines] and lots and lots and lots of circles. Udex was going great with little head throwing and very eager to listen to my leg. We did lots of circles on a loose rein! He was being such a good boy. My bad mood was slowly getting lighter and lighter. When it came time to canter I was in a pretty happy mood considering how outstanding my horse was preforming!!! The canter was amazing. No head throwing, total response to my leg, and a nice steady pace!!!!

Udex sometimes curls behind the bit.
Thankfully now he doesn't tuck his head in
as far as he once did.

   Sadly, some days Udex still curls up behind the bit out of his past trauma from rollkur. It breaks my trainer and I's heart to see that even when I give him a very loose rein, he still is tucked in behind the bit. He is so mentally afraid. It is very sad to see him curled behind it. Usually towards the end of our lesson I give him a very long rein with hardly any connection and just ride him with my body and legs. We try to get him to come up on the bit, not behind it. Usually the long rein makes him feel secure enough to go on the bit. It's very difficult to help his behind the bit problem, but it's getting better. Today in our lesson, towards the end he started to go ON the vertical, instead of behind it. To see Udex not behind the bit is enough to make me tear up. Two years ago this was a high trained dressage horse, riding everyday in hyperflexion. Today, he is my best friend riding on the bit.
   Over all, today I was expecting a bad day. To my surprise it turned out to be one of our best rides yet!!! I am so, so, so pleased with Udex's recovery! Although some days It isn't easy and I want to give up, I don't. I keep on working with him. Sometimes I see an instant difference, sometimes it takes a little longer. This has been one very hard and challenging journey, both mentally and physically.. but I know what I'm doing for my horse is the right thing to do. I hate knowing he was trained with rollkur his entire life... At the same time I am thankful for it. I know that he was put in my path (and I in his!) so I can do him justice and share his story. If at least one person hears his story and changes their mind about rollkur... then I feel that I have done my job. Rollkur needs to end. It doesn't do anyone any good. Please, put an end to rollkur.

More energy, less head throwing.

   This new feed combo is awesome. I'm so excited I finally found the right combo that works for Udex! Anyways, today during my lesson he had the most perfect amount of energy.. Which means? No head throwing! The entire time I was riding he didn't throw his head a once. At the very end when I was talking to my friend and had him in a halt, he tossed it about two or three times, but that was it. Yipeee! I'm sooo happy! It was really great to ride toss free! It wasn't an intense or hard work out today. Mainly just circles. The circles were pretty good though, possibly a few of my best circles my entire time riding Udex. The way he was bent around my leg, rounded, and staying perfectly on the circle track pleased me. (and of course, no head throwing which just added to my happiness.)
   So not much to say about today's lesson other then the fact we did lots of circles. Udex is stubborn and is getting a little sour when it comes to cantering. When I bring out my friend; the whip, Udex usually starts to realize I'm serious and not just playing around. He leg yielded nice! Haunches in still needs a bit of work, he knows more then haunches in and wants to complicate things by either half passing, pirouetting, etc. It's difficult to ride such a well trained horse because you have to really ride him right in order for him to work. He knows so much that when you are even the slightest bit of on your aide you won't get anything you want.
   So today was a great day!! We are super close to throwing our head shaking battle away! Almost through this small chunk of his rollkur recovery battle! One more thing... I have changed my out look on insults that come my way. When people rattle of all the things that are wrong with my horse, I now look at it this way. "Thank you for telling me everything that's wrong with my horse. You have made it clear what I will fix, and make better. Everything you named wrong with him is everything that is just giving me more experience and my horse more happiness. So it's good the list goes on and on. It's just more tings to eventually name of on the completed list." So now I truly feel unstoppable with an outlook like that. Of course, things like that do hurt me, but having a more positive perspective on it really does change things and ease the hurt. So go ahead and throw insults at us... It won't hurt us, it will only make me more determined and even stronger to go out and do whats right for both me, and my horse!!!! It's those moments that make me the persona and rider I am today!

New feed a SUCCESS!

fresh

  Aaaa-ha! The new food I have been giving Udex has been a huge success! It has given him the right amount of energy and is really helping him to pack on the pounds! It's half a scoop of beet pulp, half a scoop of performance feed, corn oil, molasses, and a splash of garlic powder! He really loves the stuff, which is a relief considering how must feeds and treats he hates!
  Anyways, I spent the day running around with him in the arena. Me in my pajamas, and him just trotting on behind me. It's really fun to play with him in this kind of way now! Even after he runs around like crazy he still has enough energy to play with me! So awesome! Now when I put him on the lunge he wants to just go go go! Before after a few minutes he would tire down. I'm really happy to see him able to just be the fresh and happy horse he was born to be. I can definitely see a change in his behavior now.
  Of course, having an even hotter hot horse is always a joy! Oh well, it's something that is really paying of!! I can't wait for our lesson tomorrow considering he is going to be more energetic!!!

Jealousy.

   Jealousy. It's something that from my experience is pretty big problem in the horse world. Then again, don't you have jealousy in any competitive sport?
  People express jealousy in many ways. It's never fun when your'e the one they are jealous of though. A lot of times you get "hate mail." Other times something stolen or taken from you, and sometimes something as simple as a friend removal off a social networking site. Bottom line is, jealousy causes all those problems.
  Anyways, this is just a little note to anyone who may be reading that when you get hated on, it's not necessarily a bad thing! It just means you have something someone else doesn't! Stay strong and don't give up!

Head throwing.

   The one bad habit Udex has is the fact he throws his head. When I look at it in the big picture though I am pretty lucky that his only bad flaw is throwing his head.. It could be a lot worse!
  When I first got him every time he threw his head I would loose my balance a bit. Now since I am so used to the head throwing I hold against it very well and respond to it without loosing balance; like it never even happened. The head throwing gets worse when he is low on energy. When he has a nice large amount of energy he usually throws his head five times, max. However, on a day he is rather low on energy, the head throwing goes on and on and on. With every four or five strides I would get one or two head tosses.
  Well holding against the head throwing is not that difficult to do once you get in the hang of it. You just have to push him a bit more, and at the same time be hard with the outside rein and ultra loose with the inside rein! Of course there are a few other easier tricks to do to make the head throwing stop.. But being the sneaky person I am I would rather keep that a secret and let you figure out on your own what to do with a head shaker!!! hee-hee.
   The reason Udex throws his head though is from none other then the harsh training tool of rollkur! His lumbar spine is locked in place and you can imagine that it is hard for him to work on the bit after being behind it for so long and having a sore back. I wouldn't ever make Udex do something that wasn't good for him. I have a very nice gel therapy pad (that my trainer was oh so nice to donate to Udex for the time being.) so Udex's back is not taking so much impact! It is good though that I am riding Udex right so he can repair the damage that he has sustained to his back. I know the head throwing will stop once his back gets better. For now he just has to stay strong and get past the hard work so he can feel over all better soon!!!

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'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!!!

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

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!! (-:

Sharing the Arena

Tonight I was very impressed with Udex. Although he has been in the arena numerous amounts of times before, tonight was his first time sharing the arena with another lovely horse. To be more specific, the other horse is not boarded at the barn, but trailed to the barn for use of the arena, (making the horse a total stranger to him.) At first, I was a little nervous to see Udex's reaction to this new mare. I was lunging Udex when the mare arrived. At first, Udex was a bit excited and did start to speed up his canter. Though after about a minute he calmed down and slowed down to a very nice relaxed, ideal, canter. He handled the situation perfectly, I could not have asked for better.

HUGE improvement!

       Now, as you know, Udex's muscles are not as good as they used to be. In order to re-develop his muscles, I need to walk Udex a lot more then I would a normal, up to par horse. When he walks, he is working on using his hind leg muscles, resulting in him developing those muscles! (Yay!)  For the past few days I have been walking him a lot... Today I saw the difference. HE WALKED WHILE HE WAS ON THE LUNGE!!!!!! This is great news!! Before, udex would not want to walk, due to it being a bit uncomfortable for him. Today I saw the past few days really pay off. The fact that he decided to walk instead of just stop or start a trot, really means a lot to me!!! Already my horse is improving drastically! To name a few improvements, he is walking more, looking shiny, listening to me perfectly, recognizes his name, a lot calmer, and so many other things I could add to the list!

    Overall, I am very impressed with him tonight! There are many other ways that the night could have went, but luckily for me, my horse trusted me enough to show him the way. I am so thankful for Udex, and his willingness to learn. Tonight was fantastic!

The Journey

       Why buy a horse like Udex? I mean, who in their right mind would want to buy an underweight, un-muscular, scrawny, HUGE, energetic warmblood? ("Me! Me! Me!!") An ideal first horse for a thirteen year old girl, would probably be a horse that is calm, sweet, muscular, well fed, and well ridden, that you could take to shows several months after buying, and ride everyday after it arrives at your barn. That's not the case with my Udex though!

   While looking for a rescue horse to fix up, I came across Udex. I almost immediately knew that he was the horse for me.
I am truly lucky to have such an amazing horse. I honestly can say that I am proud that my horse needs work. To me, that means that my horse and I are on a journey together. On our journey, we will both become disappointed, share our happy moments, have many laughs, have our falls, have our times when giving up comes to question, spend lots of time on just working out little flaws, and also become frustrated, but most importantly... We will achieve the one thing that matters most in the horse world... A bond. I know that together, Udex and I can accomplish all of our goals and prove many people wrong. The key to success with a horse is trust, a bond, patience, and love. I know that it will be anything but easy to complete our journey. There will be many days when I will question the goal... But I know, that in the end, we will complete our journey successfully and that the prize is oh, so worth it. So here we are, at the beginning of our very long journey. I know that together, Udex and I, we will do this.