Outside at last!

The stable owners have been working to convert one of their pastures so that the fencing is tall enough to contain Nox.  They use electric fencing in their pastures and last year Nox leaned against the wire fence, was shocked, and ran straight through it and broke it.  It was pretty scary.  He hasn't had any exposure to electric fencing that I know of (race barns usually have board fencing) and his first experience with it was awful.  I could only turn Nox out it in the outdoor ring where he could nibble on the grass at the edges, but I really wanted him to be out in the grass pastures during the day. 

The stable owners let him out in the indoor ring for 30 minutes while they clean his stall in the morning, but most of the other horses get to go out all day in pastures.  I felt bad that he had to stand in his stall until I arrived at the barn to let him out.  As a racehorse, Nox would spend 23 hours in his stall, so I knew he was used to hanging out in the barn.  But horses should be outside grazing - especially when they are retired racehorses, and it's warm and sunny, and the birds are singing, and the grass is swaying in the cool breeze! 

The past few weeks, as the stable owners have been constructing the fence, I've been taking Nox into the pasture and grazing him on a lead.  We walked the perimeter a few times and he got used to the area.  Two days ago, Nox's pasture was complete.  They used a different type of electric fencing that is a thicker web material and they placed two rows of the fencing higher on the posts so that Nox can easily see it.  We turned him out in the pasture and hoped for the best. 

Free at last, he wandered around a little bit before settling in to graze.  It was very anticlimactic, but exactly how I hoped it would go.  I wanted him to touch the fence - not because I'm mean - but because I wanted to see how he reacted.  If he ran through it again, I wanted to be around to catch him!  After about an hour, he wandered a little too close to the fence and backed into it.  Nox's butt was shocked by the fence and he jumped forward in surprise, shooting across the pasture like a rocket!  He stopped well before he reached the other side's fencing and turned around.  I laughed out loud and was so pleased that he had received the shock on his rear end instead of his chest.  I wonder if he had hit it with his chest if he would have run through it again.  This way was perfect, since it made him run away from the shock.  He hasn't come within five feet of the fencing since!

Nox is now being turned out in his pasture in the morning where he enjoys the grass and sunshine (theoretically - it's been cloudy and rainy lately) until I get to the barn in afternoon.  I'll put him in the barn after we ride and play and he'll spend the nights in his stall.  I'm so relieved and happy that he finally gets to live like a normal horse. 
Yay!

Nox, King of the pasture.

Nom nom.

A few more pictures from Nana and Aunt Deneece's visit.
Best Husband Ever introduces a barn cat to Nana.

Nox and I doing the two-step.

 

        

Nox has visitors

Last week, I had some family visit!  Nana and Aunt Deneece began their east coast tour in my town before continuing on to New York City and then Washington, DC.  How do I compete with the excitement of Broadway and the National Mall?  A Thousand Islands boat tour and a visit to the barn to meet Nox!  Despite the near constant drizzly rain, we had a wonderful time laughing, sight-seeing, and eating.  

Nox enjoys people and especially those who dote and fawn all over him.  Aunt Deneece and Nana helped me brush him until his coat glistened and then watched as I did a short free lunge session with him in the indoor ring.  Remember how afraid he used to be of the poles?  When I lunge him I want him to run around the outside of them, but this time he cantered over every one of them.  He was a little peeved that I didn't take him outside to work (he moves more comfortably in the larger outdoor ring), but the outdoor ring was flooded from all the rain.  He threw a few little temper tantrums - animals and kids always show off when they have an audience.  Aunt Deneece recorded his antics, but I'm having trouble uploading the video - technical difficulties.  I'll post the video when I can. 

Thanks for visiting Nana and Aunt Deneece!  We all loved seeing you!

Nana, Aunt Deneece, Nox, and I.

Saddle up!

It fits!  The extra wide saddle sits beautifully on Nox's back with plenty of room for his shoulders to move freely.  I'm so relieved (so is Best Husband Ever - the custom saddle route is crazy $$$$) and Nox seems to feel more comfortable.  I also purchased a different saddle pad called a half pad with a wither cut out - this pad will give him a little more cushion around the wither area without adding bulk on the shoulder area.

Nox's hooves were trimmed last week and he was a little tender-footed for a few days.  I asked the farrier to trim a little more off the left front hoof (the one he fractured) than he's been doing in the past.  The sports therapist thought the toe was a little too long and making it difficult for Nox to move naturally.  I agreed with her assessment and the farrier was happy to try something a little different.  The results have been promising.  The combination of sports therapy, hoof trimming, and a saddle that fits have Nox moving better than ever under saddle.  I'm very pleased!

Now, if it would stop raining long enough for the outdoor ring to dry out so we could ride in it, I'd be ecstatic!   Do I ask for too much?

Nox, tacked up and ready to go.

 

He gets his broad shoulders from me...

My beautiful saddle, the one that was lovingly given to me by my family, does not fit Nox.  I've suspected that the tree was too narrow, but since I haven't been riding, I didn't worry about it.  After the sports therapist fixed Nox's back and legs, I knew I couldn't put my medium tree saddle on him anymore.  I've been riding in one of the lesson saddles that has a wider tree.  It still didn't sit quite right on him and I could feel that it was too tight on his shoulders.

A little lesson about saddle sizes.  The "tree" is the solid base and frame of the saddle.  It distributes the rider's weight and the pressure of the saddle evenly across the horse's back - if it is the correct size for the horse.  A tree that is too narrow or too wide can cause soreness and permanent damage, which then leads to a horse that doesn't like to be ridden.  It would be like making a person run around every day in shoes that are too small or too big.  You'd get a little sore and sour, too.  Saddles also come in seat sizes for the rider's butt.  Most adults fall somewhere between a 16 1/2" to 18" size saddle.

Nox is a big horse.  I knew that, but I didn't realize how very, very big he is in the shoulder.  Most Thoroughbreds are sleek and fairly narrow in build.  Even OTTB (off track Thoroughbred) racehorses usually aren't as bulky as Nox is.  When I told the tack shops I was saddle shopping for an OTTB, they pointed me to the medium tree saddles.  I explained that he was very muscular and big boned.  They pointed me to wide trees, skeptically.  I have driven to Syracuse and beyond three times, tried out four different saddles, and returned them all.  None of them were big enough.  It turns out that Nox is so big in the shoulder that he requires a saddle that is sized for draft horses.  Yesterday I drove an hour and half to a tack shop that carries extra wide saddles, and I brought a tracing of Nox's wither and shoulder.  The sweet and knowledgeable owner showed me two saddles that might be wide enough.  One was used, in my price range, and very wide.  The other was new, more expensive, and even wider.  I took a gamble and selected the used saddle to take home and try out.

It pinches his shoulders.  It's too narrow.

So, I'm going back on Monday to pick up the extra, extra wide, all purpose English saddle for my freakish mutant of a Thoroughbred.  If this one doesn't fit, I guess I'm riding bareback from now on! 

Does this saddle make my butt look big?
(Saddle #4)

A pretty rainbow appeared after a thunderstorm rolled through yesterday.