To day was a fairly basic day in the morning. Amy and i rode out usual horses. Me on Mario and her on Frosty. We didn't ride them as long because my horse was supposed to arrive! She got picked up on Monday and was set to arrive around 5:00-7:00pm. Once I got off of Mario I went down to the store to see if they needed help with anything. Sure enough I was put straight to work. They needed some files moved from one cabinet to another and to check off the files that were and weren't there. While I was working on that Martha and R.E (her husband) were shooting a clip for the DVD's they send to the clinic coordinators. Since Martha and R.E have commitments at the ranch they send out three instructors to go around the country and hold clinics. This clip was to demonstrate what exercises and lessons they teach at the clinics and the improvements students make. I thought it was interesting watching her do take after take trying to get it perfect. She actually impressed me a great deal. She had a lot of enthusiasm and made good choices in her wording. Some parts had to be improvised for Martha to explain about the clinic's. she did exceptional. After I rode my colt I went back down to the store to await my mare's arrival. I put shavings in her stall, got hay from a grain store, retrieved/cleaned water and feed tubs, and searched for a grain similar to what she was on in VT. It is important to try to find similar grains because horses have very sensitive digestive systems. If a sudden change is made they can colic. Collicing is like having a really bad stomach ache and can be very painful. Many horses die from collicing. This proved to be quite a task. Most people feed their horses a sweet feed. Sweet feed can have a supplement in it called Athlete. It is to make horses more hyper or energetic. My horse was just on a simple pellet. Just something to maintain her weight and energy levels. We were unable to find anything close to the protein and fat percentages at first. We were almost forced to change her to a low rate Sweet Feed. Luckily we found what we were looking for. To prevent collicing you have to gradually change feed's. For example my horse was on 2 quarts of her original pellet. So I would start to give her 1 1/2quartz of original and 1/2quart of the new pellet, and every week you add a little more until it is 2quarts of the new feed. Her chariot finally pulled in. As she stepped off of the trailer I could not believe my eyes. I had missed her so much and it was good to see a familiar face again. It was like a mother being away from her child. I hugged her so long it surprising i didn't leave imprints on her neck. I put her in a small pen so she could stretch out and look around her new surroundings. This is an important factor when moving a horse. They need to know their areas. To them they check out of any dangers, how to get food and water, places they can run to, and things they would look for in the wild. Once a horse feels comfortable you will notice their body becoming more and more relaxed. I noticed she had a lost a little weight since i saw her last. This was very common for horses being shipped long distances. Shipping is a very stressful think for horses. The way they are positioned is not natural for them and even though they stop every 4 hours being in so many places in a short amount of time can worry a horse because they have no idea where they are and if something will attache them. But she was not scarily skinny, simply a little thin. She is a Palomino Quarter Horse. Palomino is a coat color. Their manes are white and some coats look gold...hers is more of a yellow. She is a registered Quarter Horse. Her Registered name is Chexy Blond Chic. But her barn name(what she is called for short) is Faith. Now that my Faith is here I feel a lot more at home. Now the whole family is here!
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