October in Review

This month at FOCUS for me mainly centered around working more with Cheyenne, the Paint rescued last month along with three other horses, and Calvin. Cheyenne is currently working on going over the various obstacles set up around the arena, and also learning how to respect instead of doing whatever she wants. We have also started putting a saddle on her. Since her past is almost completely unknown, we are not sure if she has been ridden before, so we are taking things slowly with her.

Going over the rolling bridge.

Calvin, on the other hand, is now old enough to wear a saddle, and also learn how to be ridden. I started off by setting a saddle on him, which was... Anticlimactic to say the least. Most horses when they first have a saddle put on them freak out, but Calvin just stood there, looking bored. I did not get to work with him nearly as much as I wanted to this month, but he is still making very good progress.

Jesse, the now three month old at the barn was still not 100% recovered from his fight with strangles, so he had to go to the Equine Specialty Hospital in Burton to have an abscess drained. I happened to have the school day off when they had to go pick him up, so it was a pretty neat experience to go to the very aesthetically pleasing (as well as expensive) hospital. Up until a few days ago, Jesse needed penicillin shots twice a day, a hot compress on the area that was drained three times a day, and the area also needed to be flushed with saline solution. I was able to see an instant improvement in his attitude, and it was obvious that he was feeling better after his hospital visit. Jesse will go back again this week to make sure that there are no more issues.

At the hospital.

One way I showed initiative this month was when I volunteered to come and feed the horses one evening, because my supervisor was going to be in Columbus that night in order to do a demonstration at Quarter Horse Congress.

My biggest highlight for this month would definitely be putting a saddle on Calvin for the first time. I have never broke a horse to ride before, and I do not think I could have a better pony to work with. Calvin has come so far in just 6 months, from running away from anyone who got near him to now tolerating anything life throws at him.

This month, I started learning how to break horses to ride, which includes learning how to saddle a horse that has never been saddled before, desensitizing to the saddle, and teaching them how to move with the saddle on their back. I also learned about how to properly deal with sick foals, and when the time is right to take them to a clinic (which ideally, you do not have to take them to, since they are super expensive.) I also learned how to give a horse inject able medicines, which I was especially proud of.

The biggest challenge I faced this month was learning how to give injections to horses. I have a very weird thing about needles (I have no idea why, I just do) so the very first time I was asked to do it, I ended up chickening out of it. Since the main issue I had was just putting the needle in, my supervisor sent me home with a syringe, and told me to practice on some oranges. It actually worked really well, and the next time I was asked to give an injection, I was able to do it with no problem. I was really proud of myself for getting over my weird kind of phobia, and now I can give a shot to a horse if I need to.

Next month, my supervisor is going to Cabo for a week, so I plan to start trying to reach one of my SMART goals of "barn management." Since my supervisor will not be there, it will be up to me to make sure that the horses are fed, given water and hay, and have clean stalls. I also plan to work even more with Cheyenne, so that she can be ready for adoption.