Secondly, Gogo's soundness is continuing to improve by tiny little increments. If you remember me stating last week, Gogo's lameness is most apparent at the canter, where she can maintain the left lead for as long as she wants but can only canter on the right lead up front - she crossfires behind and stays on the left lead. But the other morning, when Gogo saw me arriving for breakfast, she cantered to me from where she had been grazing across the front part of the field. And she cantered ALL the way to me... on her right lead!! Not that she should be cantering, but it was a good 10 or 11 strides, and it was fully maintained on the right lead... not one switch or crossfire! The legs both look great every morning (or well, at great as they ever will). They still have fill by the end of the day, but that's the way they get when she's warm. The fronts do it a little bit too, like they always have, so it doesn't bother me. That's just her new norm, I guess. They've been that way since she first injured herself nearly a year and a half ago. Yikes.... I can't believe it's been that long. This coming week will be a year since the original injury to the right too. Again, it's hard to believe it's been that long.
Thirdly, I have two stupid (or should I say AWESOME?) new polls on the side of my blog just begging for your votes. I am too computer-illiterate to get polls to post in an actual post (believe me, I tried), so they're in the sidebar after much failed cutting, pasting, and grumbling on my part. They both need a little explaination:
1) In discussing some of Gogo's, erm... quirky habits, I had someone comment to me that she was nearly as crazy as Charlie Sheen. All I could think was... NEARLY? I couldn't decide who is nuttier. Charlie Sheen might be great at spitting out nonstop word-vomit, but can he spin, rear and leap at the most inopportune moments? That's a tough call. Definitely want to hear feedback on this one.
(Edited to add: As if to add to her side of the argument, this morning when I gave Gogo a bath, she very definitively sat back and broke her halter for no reason at all when I was washing her face. I've only been washing her face for four years.... apparently, I was not allowed to do it today!)
2) Gogo's mane is OUT OF CONTROL. It's always been ridiculously impossible to maintain, but now that her head is down and grazing for most of the day and night, her completely awful mane is now growing both forward and straight up. No more falling nicely on the right side of her neck.... oh no. When showing, it takes endless pulling, fussing, and braiding over to get her mane to even vaguely stay on one side of her neck. It's a right pain. Part of me wants to just let it grow and grow and grow, and just see how long it gets by the end of the year. Nicole, who has had horses with long manes before, has warned me against this, citing how much of a pain it is. I figure it can't be more of a pain than trying to maintain it at a nice pulled length while she's in a field. The other option is to roach it - just shave it all off. I can't decide which would be a better option - without a mane, the flies might bother her, but with a mane, she might get too hot in the summer. What does everyone think?
Lots of little other things are happening, but they're all small. Fecals, feed-through bug-off supplements, and tail maintenance are all on the list to be written about, but for right now I have chores to do for my fattie. Go vote!
Proving her heart of gold and guts of steel at the 2009 American Eventing Championships
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25 comments:
I'm voting for Charlie Sheen on the nutso poll. Gogo really is as awesome as she thinks she is, therefore, not crazy!
When I retired my gelding from serious work I let his mane grow (for ease of care, and mostly to satify my inner craving to own a cute little cow pony LOL), and while I really enjoyed it for awhile, I did end up slightly pulling it eventually, as it was starting to look shaggy. The GOOD part of letting the mane grow, is eventually it starts to weigh itself down, my gelding's mane used to stand straight up trojan-horse style because I had it pulled short. But as it grew out, it eventually laid down and looked rather good--until it got scraggly and needed a trim. But even with pulling it to somewhere inbetween wild horse length and show length, it's still laying down fine and I'm happy with it now :)
70 and 80 lb lapdogs right here!! If hubs and I are sitting on the couch, Bandit will look piteously at us then climb on top of John so he can put his head in my lap.
Also, I'm going to go ahead and own up to my one vote for roaching. I don't think the bugs will bother her that much and it's sooo much easier for you. That and I think roached manes are totally sexy, but then again, I played polo so I may be biased a little.
I vote for the long mane, but then again, I deal with Andalusians and Lusitanos all day long, so I'm used to the LONG manes. At least on the horses I work with, they stay pretty nice if they get brushed regularly.
Do whatever you want with her mane, but believe me - Gogo will not get too hot with a long mane. Especially since she's not in work!
I vote pull. It will give you something to do and you like fussing over her. ;-)
I have heard that when you roach a mane, it only grows back thicker!
Oh yes. I have a 65 lb lap dog, a 45 lb lap dog, and a 23 lb lap puppy. Sometimes I get all 3 of them at once.
I'm at odds with my horse's mane too. It's SO thick and crazy that I avoid pulling it at all costs. I tried a solo comb once, and that was an epic fail. I think it would work if I found a way to finesse it, so it didn't look like I just hacked his mane off. I started roaching it when we were showing, and I love the look.
However, the past year he's been at a friend's barn, far away from any showing or anything else. I let his mane grow out. I put it in a running braid if it was hot out when I rode. Now I've just moved him to a respectable barn again. He's a shaggy little palomino paint in a barn full of clipped & polished TBs & WBs. I can't decide if I want to continue letting his mane grow, or pull it or roach it again to fit in with the crowd. I'm leaning towards leaving it, and just being rebels, lol.
Charlie Sheen - Gogo may be nutsy, but not nasty. Sheen is both.
I vote let her mane grow out, as thick maned horses turn into bogbrushes when you roach them.
Unless Gogo is snorting lines of Coke in her pasture, I'm going with Sheen. I've decided for Laz, his wild hair, gets new hairdo's every year. Last year I roached it. This year I'm going to braid it long, like an Arab, lol! Why not!? He's my field pony.
I haven't cut Denali's mane since she went Lame, and I'm not. I'm going to let it grow until we're riding again. At this rate it might hit the floor.
I vote for pulling, maybe not to show length, but somewhere near there. I only say this because I grew up with horses who were out 24/7 and they had loooong manes and they always seemed to get them caught in something and pull out huge chunks of them. That or they would get them caked in mud and have gross dreads that were practically impossible to clean:(
Yep, I have a 75 lb. very hairy Husky puppy who is a lap-dog/snugglebunny. And if I don't get up in the morning when SHE thinks I should get up, she climbs into bed with me; I guess getting her hair all over and making me wash all of the sheets/blankets is her revenge. Yeah, she's got me wrapped around her little paw.
I hate to be a party pooper but do admit to finding constant complaints about GoGo's behaviour can get irritating at times. She is a horse. You are the human. That makes you the senior partner or the parent if you prefer to think of it that way. You are the one in charge. Every interaction with your horse should be done with a view to improving your horse. I am glad that you sent Marti back. He was too much of a challenge for you, and I am glad that you no longer risk being hurt by him. It is not my wish to hurt your feelings, but rather a desire for you and GoGo to be all that you can be.
Charlie Sheen is batshit crazy. Go-go is a mare. Totally different.
Let the mane grow, swat flies and learn to lay down. Leave it alone - she is on vacation!
Kippen, you are under no obligation to read this blog. If my nonstop banter about Gogo's silly quirkiness bothered me or I didn't enjoy it, I'd sell her. I LOVE her ridiculousness, and to be honest with you she is truthfully the most well-behaved and wonderful horse I've ever known, now that she's older and trained. She's a push-button ride and she's a dream. She's 1100lbs of uselessness in a field if you look at it financially, why would I keep her if I didn't enjoy it?
Sorry to snip, but if you think I'm not doing my part to make sure she minds her P's and Q's, then you haven't been reading.
Hi Andrea,
I hear you on the joy of keeping an unrideable horse as I have the same problem. Hank's knee clicks audibly. The vet is of the opinion that he can have a happy retirement but his ridden days are over. So he lives at a retirement farm. Life can suck sometimes.
I would just leave the mane to its own devices but keep it at a reasonable length (approx. 4-5 in.). Long mane + spazo horse= disaster you may not be able to fix. If you decide to keep it long, the only practical way to keep it from getting super raunchy and disgusting is putting it up in training braids and re-braiding every week or so. This is an extreme example, but we have to do this with the friesian stud at out farm.... Such a pain, but he is a good boy!And got forbid if Gogo rolls with the braids in: That just makes them even more of a pain because you have to untangle the braids.
Haha, Gogo's got a mane like my mare! I call it the punk rock look. Whenever you touch her mane, it goes and sticks straight up in the air. It doesn't matter how long it gets, (I tried that strategy) it just looks even nuttier when its long.
I laughed when I read about Gogo's halter breaking incident. Cadence could probably compete with both Gogo and Charlie Sheen for craziness as well. Last week she put her head through an eight foot high Plexiglas (I think.. its not normal glass anyways) window. She wasn't hurt (at all, not even a cut!) she just gave me a heart attack!
I let Shorty's mane grow out now that he's outstide a lot more. Remember how awful his mane was? Well, now that it has grown out, it actually lies flat because it has more weight pulling it down. As for the tangles, just Show Sheen the hell out of it after every bath and whenever it starts to feel dry/matted (I do a light maintenance spritz once a week or so and after every heavy rainfall) and brush it out slowly, working from the bottom up to the top.
I don't know if you remember my palomino Trigger that I had at LEC for a few years, but that's the kind of mane Shorty has now. I love it!
Let it grow! A nice conditioner should make it easy to comb. I like a long, romantic forelock and this goes best with a long mane and tail. She's already got the tail, so you are halfway there!
As for Charlie Sheen, I think he is milkin' it for all it's worth, even if he may kill himself in the process.
Oh Charlie Sheen wins the crazy contest... I voted to keep her mane pulled, only because when it gets hot out this summer. I guess you could always braid it down her neck when it gets long enough though.
Firstly, Charlie boy is crazier... at least Gogo has moral values ;)
Secondly, ask Greta about having a roached mane..... I like to think she likes it :)
Thirdly, 65+ lap dogs are the best!!!
I had a 110lb lap dog. An akita, his favorite trick was to lay ON TOP of me while I was sleeping. I can't even tell you the times I would dram I was suffocating only to wake up and see his face with a doggie smile right before my eyes. LOL. He was a rescue who was blind since birth.
My lap dog is 45 pounds and that squished me. I can't even imagine another 20 pounds. Flattend for sure. LOL
I'm into very long manes and tails here but then natural flowing manes and tails are part of the breed standard. No roaching, pulling or even braiding allowed except of course braiding in appropriate english type classes.
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