Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Nothing New - but meet one more of the Herd

It is either busy as hell or nothing to do. Okay... I could find something to do - dishes, laundry, trying to get some of this animal hair off the floor...the couch...the rug. But it is one of those days and I have kinda spent it flitting around to various blogs. There are some really interesting people out there. So much fun to see what people do in other parts of the country. And, I couldn't resist sticking my two cents in on several of them.
So I sit here stuffing my face with my mom's 3-layer, white chocolate, banana cake with cream cheese frosting and contemplate that Megan's track practice will start in 3 weeks. I promised I would start walking and jogging with her so she is prepared for practice. As stuffed as I am - that don't sound like fun. But then again, my pants are getting a little tight. What can I say - it has been a long winter...I love to cook...and not too long ago I was complaining that I really needed to gain a couple of pounds.
I know comments like that can start a diatribe about how other people wished they had that problem. But really it sucks loosing too much weight. You are tired, you lose strength and certain body parts, that my honey really likes, disappear. Funny how when I gain those few extra pounds in the winter that it never goes where I want it to. So I guess I will bite the bullet next week and Meg and I will start jogging(walking!!).

This is Okie. She is such a beauty. She was born with one hind leg turned out and shorter than the other. You only noticed it at the long trot until a couple of years ago. Megan and I both rode her. I started her on barrels and poles and had she been normal, I think she would have been very good. But that hurt. So Megan tried to show her in 4-H for a year. She was just too sensitive to cues and as light as Megan tried to be, they just couldn't get together. I am torn as to breed her and hope the abnormality she has was due to a mineral deficiency or to put her to sleep. She is not suitable for most kids and too crippled for an adult to ride. What does a person do?

7 comments:

Jen said...

that's a hard one. My hubs would call up the horse trader and exchange out for new stock. too bad.

kdwhorses said...

I get to attached to mine around here, so that is a hard call! Have you checked with the vet and discussed to see if it is heredity or not? She is a pretty girl!

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Actually, we believe that the abnormality was caused from feeding her mom alfalfa while she was pregnant with Okie. I have talked to a couple vets about it and they have agreed that failure to properly use the calcium by the mare can cause joint problems in the foal. Further evidenced by the fact that I could not get any alfalfa while her mother was bred again and that colt is sound.
But when you can go buy a NICE colt for $75-$150 dollars, do you put the $$ and effort into a ??
If she was my only mare, probably, but something we do not have is a shortage of mares.
Too bad I couldn't find someone who wanted a really pretty yard ornament. She loves people and attention.
The delimma continues... LOL

BarnGoddess said...

awwww geesh. I am not good at decisions like this. Is she in any pain? is she otherwise healthy? My horse, Scooter, Ive owned him for 22 years. He is only ridable about 1 day a week due to his advanced arthritis. He and I have had many, many years of good rides. He will live out his days in safety and comfort at the Res, but he was my 1st child and Ive owned him over 1/2 my life.

hard call......

Holly said...

are you really asking for suggestions or is that a rhetorical question?

thank you for reading my blog, and thank you for posting about your roan horse.

Rising Rainbow said...

that is a hard call for me as well. If you have other mares that would contribute the same thing, why gamble. But then you just never now how those genes are going to match up.

She looks like a nice mare. It's a shame about her leg.

PaintedPromise said...

what a dilemma. if you can afford to feed her and not breed her, that would be my suggestion. if you cannot find her a "lawn ornament" home, then as hard as it is, putting her down is the right decision, whether she is in pain or not. and i say that while putting my flame suit on, but with good reason. in today's world, once she leaves your care, she is unfortunatley a prime candidate for ending up at auction starved and/or on the way to the slaughter house. there are so many people dumping horses these days, it's sad that they won't take the responsibility to do the humane thing...

i hope for your sake (as well as hers) that you are able to hang on to her, as it would be a hard decision to make. but i for one would back you on euthanization if you cannot keep her.

someday i will face the same decision with my older mare. she went lame last winter and i was freaked, but since i did want one more foal out of her (to keep forever as my riding horse, no sale contemplated) i sent her off to be bred and she ended up sound after the 3 months of stall rest, thank God! unfortunately she slipped the foal, but we will try again this year. she is now semi-retired though, as i don't want her to end up lame again. easy short rides and arena work...