The night before last Reilly had a quick but violent case of spasmodic colic. This is the second time this has happened in aprox. 6 months. The last bout was not as severe and no vet intervention was necessary. This time, the pain came on extremely fast and extremely violent. In a matter of minutes he was sweating, his eyes glassed over and his respirations were extremely high with nostrils flaring and his sides heaving. The vet was called this time around and we began walking him. In a matter of

It sounds like you need to continue working over lower fences perfecting your equitation.Gymnastics such as you are already doing are great. Practice maintaining contact with your lower leg and pushing your weight into your heals. When you start to grip with your knee, you lose contact with your lower leg, which inturn will allow your heal to come up. Jumping a horse with a significant bascule will make it even more important that you have correct equitation as the horse uses their entire body, rounding

There are some fantastic horses that have come off the track regardless of how long they've raced. If she has a good temperment and is sane, moves well and clears her vet exam, I'd definitely consider her and of course if the price is right.

[quote user="Solaris"] Agreed -- I think part of it is that many people who used to answer a lot of posts left with the new format because they didn't want to have to adjust to it and they never came back. [/quote] That is exactly why I left and have just recently returned. Thought I would give it one more try. It's no more user friendly than it was a month ago. Too bad........ I really enjoyed this forum before and as my husband would say... "Are you on ES AGAIN???" He

Is it me or has there been a significant decrease in the number of posts on ES since they switched to this new format? I remember being able to go away from the site for only a couple of hours and by that time I'd have missed tons of new posts. Now... I can go away for a couple of days and come back to not a whole lot new. I miss the old ES.

Very interesting site FH. I guess it proves exactly what I thought was happening. Down, down, down.

Yep that's right AG. I think we've been on here for so long that we just kinda get to know one another! Now would someone tell me how to quote another post! Ever since they changed this darn forum I'm lost and I like to quote! :-)

Good sugesstion Brihanna's mom. I will take that into consideration. I am going to try a full cheek tomorrow and see how that goes. That bit doesn't have as much movement and freedom as the loose ring. I will also try a single joint as you suggested. Tickin', I tried playing around with the adjustment of the bit and it didn't make any difference unfortunately. :-( That was one of the first things I tried. I will of course give her more time as she is a baby. This mare is and has not

How about she's a baby and let her get used to the bit without causing any stress. Mild chewing is an active mouth and that's good right? Unless you are showing those futurity classes (and in my mind that's as bad as the racing almost), who cares if a 3 year old is curious and playful. A 3 year old is equivalent to a 15 year old human about depending on the breed, don't you remember being 15! I think the whole industry has forgotten that horses are not automatons, they are joyful

Nina is pushing 16.2 now. :-) Can't tell the difference between her and Reilly out in the field anymore. With the blanket off she still looks really immature. Reilly goes out with bell boots on in the winter because of his corks in his shoes. Every year he strikes his coronet band if he is not booted. I was a little slow on the bell boots this year and of course, he came inside bleeding where he had struck his coronet band. He's big and clumsy!! I've got open fronts on in those pictures