Post by Zodiac on Nov 22, 2008 21:55:44 GMT -5
alrighty,its kinda a long and complex story, but i hope you all have time.
So about a year and a half, and some, ago, i purchased a 13-year-old Thoroughbred mare. i was ridding her for an additional 6 months before that, since i was taking lessons on her, and was the only one riding her.
now i spent 2 summers with her, she started out as a crazy, uncontrollable mess. she is now a calm and mellow girl. she is still not a safe horse for novices, but she is manageable in the right hands.
oh by the way, her name is Jersey.
she and i clicked right away. i saw her being ridden one after-noon, and i sat next to my trainer and said, "liz, that's the one, thats who i wanna start riding." i was riding an 18 year old arab gelding, he was nice, but he was the most difficult horse they had at the time, and he was completely pushbutton. (meaning he would do anything you asked. he really wasn't much of a challenge. ) so i finally got to ride her, and boy, she was a hand full! bucking, rearing, spooking at almost everything. "OH crap A LEAF." kind of horse.
...and i loved it to death. she was such a thrill to work with. its so wonderful to see a horse come from being utterly out of control, to being nice and calm, after all this hard work. Jersey is more than a project to me, shes my best friend.
this horse has helped me though the hardest times. she was always there for me, (after my dad died, she was the one i relyed on.) she kept my secrets, we flew together, so far. we are so in sync with each other, i know everything she would do.
then this summer, she went dead lame after one ride. (It wasnt even that hard, we trimmed branches on the trail, then did a gallop home, not even a long strech. something she definatly could handle. i know her limits, and never push her hard.)
she was dead lame, i mean, you could see it from a mile away. it was in her knee, by the way she walked. I had the vet out right away, he said it was arthitis, and injected her with quartazone. now after the 72 hour rest period (24 hours in the stall), she still wasnt better. i gave her time off, then very light riding, but she would still pull up lame.
i came to the hard decision to sell her...
i spoke to another vet, she says its possibly an old racing injury (a fracture on the inside of the joint of the knee, which then calcifies over.) it lays dormaint for a while, till it flairs up, it was mistaken for arthits. i had the vet out yet again to x-ray her, but he didnt think anyone was in the barn (when i was, freezing my ass off), so he left and never returned my calls. (the other vet is quite expensive, i dont think i can afford him. i'm waiting to hear back from my vet. this incident was recent.)
recently, she has been getting better. i've been taking her on walk rides, and she has been doing well. hopefully with more slow work she can be ridden again.
....but here is my big problem. I just got a new horse, Luna. the 20-month-old arabian mare. now i cant ride her for quite some time, she is still too young. my boss is expecting me to get rid of jersey, but if she is getting better, i dont really know if i should. i was originally advertising her as a pasture mate + light riding. i really dont know what i should do.
im not sure if i would be able to keep her, but id give anything to. i work so hard to have these 2 horses (i dont even own Luna, my boss does, but she's technically my horse). im really unsure what to do. i know im being very selfish, its terrible. (but honestly, if jersey was back to speed with riding, i would give up a chance at endurance for her. i really want to do this sport, but you know, i miss her more.) Giving up Luna is not an option, since its not my horse, and i was assigned to work with her.
i really need some help, i have to see what i can and cant do, but in the event i would have to sell her, what should i do? i dont know if i can cope with losing her.
thank you for reading this, i know its long. and thank you for your help, you have no idea how much i appreciate it <3
So about a year and a half, and some, ago, i purchased a 13-year-old Thoroughbred mare. i was ridding her for an additional 6 months before that, since i was taking lessons on her, and was the only one riding her.
now i spent 2 summers with her, she started out as a crazy, uncontrollable mess. she is now a calm and mellow girl. she is still not a safe horse for novices, but she is manageable in the right hands.
oh by the way, her name is Jersey.
she and i clicked right away. i saw her being ridden one after-noon, and i sat next to my trainer and said, "liz, that's the one, thats who i wanna start riding." i was riding an 18 year old arab gelding, he was nice, but he was the most difficult horse they had at the time, and he was completely pushbutton. (meaning he would do anything you asked. he really wasn't much of a challenge. ) so i finally got to ride her, and boy, she was a hand full! bucking, rearing, spooking at almost everything. "OH crap A LEAF." kind of horse.
...and i loved it to death. she was such a thrill to work with. its so wonderful to see a horse come from being utterly out of control, to being nice and calm, after all this hard work. Jersey is more than a project to me, shes my best friend.
this horse has helped me though the hardest times. she was always there for me, (after my dad died, she was the one i relyed on.) she kept my secrets, we flew together, so far. we are so in sync with each other, i know everything she would do.
then this summer, she went dead lame after one ride. (It wasnt even that hard, we trimmed branches on the trail, then did a gallop home, not even a long strech. something she definatly could handle. i know her limits, and never push her hard.)
she was dead lame, i mean, you could see it from a mile away. it was in her knee, by the way she walked. I had the vet out right away, he said it was arthitis, and injected her with quartazone. now after the 72 hour rest period (24 hours in the stall), she still wasnt better. i gave her time off, then very light riding, but she would still pull up lame.
i came to the hard decision to sell her...
i spoke to another vet, she says its possibly an old racing injury (a fracture on the inside of the joint of the knee, which then calcifies over.) it lays dormaint for a while, till it flairs up, it was mistaken for arthits. i had the vet out yet again to x-ray her, but he didnt think anyone was in the barn (when i was, freezing my ass off), so he left and never returned my calls. (the other vet is quite expensive, i dont think i can afford him. i'm waiting to hear back from my vet. this incident was recent.)
recently, she has been getting better. i've been taking her on walk rides, and she has been doing well. hopefully with more slow work she can be ridden again.
....but here is my big problem. I just got a new horse, Luna. the 20-month-old arabian mare. now i cant ride her for quite some time, she is still too young. my boss is expecting me to get rid of jersey, but if she is getting better, i dont really know if i should. i was originally advertising her as a pasture mate + light riding. i really dont know what i should do.
im not sure if i would be able to keep her, but id give anything to. i work so hard to have these 2 horses (i dont even own Luna, my boss does, but she's technically my horse). im really unsure what to do. i know im being very selfish, its terrible. (but honestly, if jersey was back to speed with riding, i would give up a chance at endurance for her. i really want to do this sport, but you know, i miss her more.) Giving up Luna is not an option, since its not my horse, and i was assigned to work with her.
i really need some help, i have to see what i can and cant do, but in the event i would have to sell her, what should i do? i dont know if i can cope with losing her.
thank you for reading this, i know its long. and thank you for your help, you have no idea how much i appreciate it <3