17th - 23rd March. Turned out, Finally!

Been exciting recently! Adam is now out (very lightly sedated the first time) i had to make him a 20 x 20 paddock (unravelling the electric fencing was not a fun task) and he has also started his pessoa work!

I've just finished my first week of pessoaing. Last thursday i let him have a potter without the pessoa to see if he was sound and allowed him to let off any steam he had brewing. Not really very exciting, had a buck and a fart, then got on with the job!

So the day after i stuck him in the pessoa. He is pretty grumpy about having the girth done up, but then again he has been ever since i had him on loan! weird thing is, he only makes faces in the stable! take him in the school and he isn't that bothered. Possibly all in his noggin!

I've gradually tightened the settings and started to push him a little more during the sessions towards the end of the week. He has had a few small mad moments, but nothing unbearable! But mostly on the left rein, so have been keeping an eye on that! Although it has improved towards the end of the week.

He has been an angel to turn out, but it should stop bloody raining and stop bloody snowing!

8th - 16th March. Started lunging.

Been a tricky week this week!
The weather teased me with pleasant sunshine last week, then is bleddy snows again! so Sunday and monday where unbearabley cold! I still managed to get him walked, but not as much as i should of done. It was so windy on the roads that i had to take him in the school rugged up to the eye balls so he didn't get chilly!
But still, even in high winds and snow, he still behaved! good pony! lots of pats!
Towards the end of the week, it started to warm up a bit and i managed to crack on with his last week of walking. Managed to get him walked for an hour but haven't managed to turn him out yet :(
Although the weather is better in the daytime, the ground is still really hard as its freezing at night! I need to help my boss put the wooden stakes in the ground for the fencing and we have no chance!

So hopefully soon he will be out, but in the meantime i'm just having to keep him walking.

On Thursday i stuck him on the lunge in the outdoor school. No pessoa, just on the end of a line and let him find his feet. We had a few exciting moments! but nothing that made craters in the surface!

Then friday i lunged him with the pessoa on. I put a thick numnah underneath the roller to make it more comfortable for him, but i think i'm going to get him a girth sleeve bearing in mind that he hasn't had any sort of girth around him since last september! He was so so good! im so bloody proud of him! He had one explosion (i think mainly because the train went past and hooted!) but managed to reserve himself pretty quickly! Oh, and he talks to me whilst im lunging him. such an odd pony!

Overal, I'm really really chuffed.

I have a video to upload, but i can't manage it. Hopefully will figure it out soon!

3rd - 8th March. Extra long chilly walks!

I've had a fab week with my boy this week.
everyone has been commenting on how well he is doing and how well behaved he is!
Its has been alot warmer and more pleasant for him to be walking out (less frisky!)
I don't think i have ever felt so proud of him!

I've been building the walk work up quite a bit this week, by either doing 20 mins on the road and then going in the school for a little while and doing that twice daily. Just having to look out for angry ladies in green fords and the milk lorry! but i've slowly learnt what time the milk lorry comes whizzing round the corner!
I arrive at the yard at 6.45 which i also work at to muck him out, unbandage his hind legs and start walking him by 7am. I usually take him around the triangle which involves uphill and downhill work about 3 times. It depends how much time i have before i have to start work. but if i dont manage to do as much as i like in the morning, i do it in my 2 hour lunch break or after work. Usually he's a little grumpy in the evenings and is ready to be left alone. The yard is a busy riding school and livery yard so he has a lot of visitors and a healthy fan base saying hello to him. Still very wary of men though!

Today i took him for one massive long walk. Mainly to get him away from walking the same boring route or going in the school. So i took him down through the river (which i did running up to his op too) and then the short train block which involved a bleddy huge hill! The calve muscles will be sore tomorrow! He was keen, but very well behaved. I'm so pleased i did lots of ground work with him before hand when i was hanging around waiting for my insurance company to accept my claim. I didn't want our relationship to suffer so kept on with bits and bobs on the ground with him. Also tried a little parelli with him, which he actually responded to quite well!

Also, all week i have been standing on the mounting block next to him on the side i would mount and have been patting, scratching and stuff so he is ok with me being there. No problems at all.


A few photos of him this week :)

 I think his hair is growing back dark because of his dorsal stripe?!

Then a few photos of the stuff i did with him prior to his op. Some being a little silly, but it kept him happy!

Sarah teaching me and Addy some Natural horsemanship.  

And one of my personal favourites. He looks likes he's been tumbled dried in this photo. Sydney (the chestnut i'm on) makes him look tiny!

15th Feb - 2nd March. 30 min walks and angry old ladies in Ford Fiesta's

So i've been pretty slack about updating the blog to say the least. I've been mega busy sorting out the wedding and not alot of time!
But Adam is doing so so well. He's still coping with the box rest (although he does shout continuously when he has run out of hay) and he's behaving implacably on the roads.
As most of you have probably noticed, its been bloody cold and pretty windy! so i've had to be careful with where i take him and when. Situations such as meeting the milk lorry on the way home, i'd really like to avoid! always fun! and angry elderly woman in green ford's trying to literally run me over whilst attempting to burn her clutch out (yes, i could smell it!)

I'm so so proud of him, his scar is looking alot better now, much less scary to look at! and Walking him down hills is where he is showing the real difference. He used to drag his hind legs, wave his head around and prance about with his ears back, I currently cant keep up with him down hills now! He is loving it! Sometimes have to slow him down because he gets too keen! When i know the roads are too busy around the yard or its dark, i walk him in the indoor or outdoor school which he has now taken to use it as a public loo. EVERY time we go in there, as soon as he hits the sand, he wee's.

I started my first week doing 5 mins in the morning and 5 mins in the evening or lunch time, then gradually added an extra 5-10 mins on by the end of the week.
We are now doing between 25-30 mins a day and will gradually build that up to 60 mins! so lots of walking!

Here are some updated photos from the past couple of weeks

 You can see now his hair is starting to grow back! yay! and he's a malting mess, hence the grey hair all over him!