Val Update
Val is doing well. He is putting on weight, slowly but surely. I joke that I should have named him Hungry Jack, because he is always eating....his senior feed three times a day, and hay all day and all night. He has been to the vet and had his front feet x-rayed and I am in touch with a highly recommended farrier, who is going to meet us at the vet's clinic to trim and shoe him, and then more x-rays to be sure he is "right". Just trying to co-ordinate the vet and the farrier now. Probably get it taken care of next week. His new shoes will cost $175. I have never paid anywhere near that much for my own shoes! Heck, every shred of clothing I own and my few pair of shoes combined didn't cost that much.
Here are two pictures. Made one week apart.
He has a ways to go, but he is going to be beautiful. Look at his forearm and the slope to his hip....and his gaskin...which is that muscle on his back legs just above his hock. As soon as his hooves are taken care of and he can stand to be exercised, I will start him slowly. And, he has responded to me better than I hoped. When I got him, he really didn't want to be close to me....now he follows me around.
Comments (32)
Related Discussions
UPDATE: Vines Robin Update 11-26-04
Comments (77)Hi I mailed it today. Sorry it took me so long but now I have a very sick puppy on my hands. Delivery confirmation # 03040370000044096051. Not sure if they have updated there site yet or not. May be Monday before you find anything online about it. Thans for hosting the robin. I hope you like morning glories because there are alot of them in there!! Sheena...See MoreA cute puppy....and a gift for Val
Comments (26)sjerin, he is just mean. He is one of the two guys who stole my pet pig, Piggy Sue. He also almost shot me twice....not on purpose but was shooting in the wooded area next to my house. The bullets zinged past my head. The first time, I didn't press charges. I did call out the sheriff deputy. The second time...a couple of years later, I did. His mother flew into a rage. She called me a liar....said I made it up. Believe me, I didn't. That is his main problem....raised by someone who never made him be a responsible adult. She actually paid someone to take him to Austin and put him out and told him not to come back. Of course, he called a friend to come get him and probably beat them home. She bought him a new truck....tried to get him to get a job and make the payments. He went to Houston, got drunk and tried to cross a railroad track, and something happened....I think the cross arm came down and hit the truck, and he bailed out and a train hit it. I found the dog running up and down on the highway about a mile from here. I thought she had been dumped out. I didn't pick her up the first day, but the second day I saw her, I did. I thought she was a boxer....she is probably half pit bull. I took her to the humane society and had her scanned for a chip. I could have left her there but they had so many dogs, I knew she would be put down, so I brought her home. Later I found out it was his dog originally. He was given her and she had puppies, and his mother didn't want them, so they killed the pups and threw them in the bayou. She killed a neighbor's chicken, so he gave her to his best friend who lives about a half mile from him and he was going to make a hog dog out of her. He didn't feed her and I guess she didn't do her job or something. She ended up on the highway. I kept her in the house and on a leash when I walked her outside but if she got loose, she would run right back to his house because she liked to play with his other dog. So, I think he thought it would be fun to take her off and dump her. She was found about 10 miles away....across the bayou. There are only 3 places to cross the bayou and she was not near a crossing. Some lady found her in the middle of the road and stopped and got her. That's a miracle, I think. Okay, going to do the links now. BTW, if you are already my friend on FB you can click where it says More under my cover pic, and scroll down to where it says Notes and they are all there....See MoreI rode Val
Comments (48)I am so picky about tastes, I don't think I will try the DMSO. I don't recall that it helped the horse that much either. I rode Val again this evening. I just love that horse! I think he has figured out that I am not going to ask him to do anything strenuous, and he has relaxed and just goes along. I rode him in the pen, in the pasture and started down the road, but the neighbor who lives at the end of the road, has a dog that ran out, barking. That caused my crazy dogs....the whole pack of them....to run down the road and bark at her. He never flinched when all those barking dogs ran past him. It got on my nerves though. I can't stand barking dogs...and from now on when I ride him, I will pen them up. He must think he is a kiddie ride pony, packing me around. When I get on him....after standing on a milk crate to reach the stirrup, and I throw my right leg over and whump him on the rump with it....not intentionally, but my hip only rotates so far, and not far enough to clear the cantle as easily as I'd like. Same thing when I dismount. And he stands as still as a statue through that. Quite remarkable, I think. I am riding him now more for my benefit than his. :)...See MoreAnother Val update
Comments (38)I've seen that too, Arkansas girl. Horses, donkeys, mules, dogs and cats, and I am sure parrots and other animals suffer the same fate. He does get in trouble. I think it is because I like him so much and I am so particular about him. If I just didn't care so much, maybe he would get along better. I didn't ride for 20 years. My horses were fed and taken care of but I didn't worry about them. They never got sick or hurt. we put down one 35 year old that had a cancerous tumor on the side of his head. It was basically inoperable, especially at his age, so we let him go as long as he got along and was eating and not losing weight. One day he just looked bad and didn't want his feed. I knew his time had come, but he had a very good life for a horse....horse companions, hadn't been ridden in many years, never missed a meal, never got sick. He was still in good shape and looked at least 15 years younger than he was. Val is enjoying being a horse. Being in the kill pen is very stressful, so this time to let down and relax is good for him. He just happens to live with a bunch of mares and a molly mule and they can be bitches. He is timid around other horses to begin with...probably from being around very aggressive horses at the kill pen and not ever getting enough to eat. This is what he looked like when he arrived there in November....See More
9 years ago
9 years ago- 9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
- 9 years ago
His shoes will need to be re-set every six weeks or so. They can use them over once usually... 2 sometimes. Depending on how they wear. I will just have to budget for that every month when I get my check.
It is very expensive to get a kill pen horse. Not to mention the fact that the pens charge 3 times what they should for a horse. They are almost always sick. Need a farrier and vet care, are underweight, and often have ulcers from stress and not eating. It is better if you are crazy....like me. I really love that horse and I know I can make him beautiful in a couple of months. I want his rump to look like this....this is Mariah's butt. Love big butts on horses! (She needs brushing but you get the idea. You could roll an egg down the valley of her rump).
- 9 years ago
ont_gal