Morning
Weather: Overcast, still
Quite grumpy& kicky again today while eating.
Afternoon
Weather: unchanged
Still quite grumpy & kicky while eating but able to remove cover, groom & replace cover (still while eating). Quite relaxed while being brushed.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Oh well...
Morning
Weather: overcast, windy.
Galloped in for breakfast, ears back past Sunny & I. A little bit grumpy but not too bad.
Evening
Weather: rain, windy.
Was waiting quietly for dinner. Still a bit ears back but a bit half hearted about it.
Still only getting salt at this stage, haven't started the minerals yet.
Weather: overcast, windy.
Galloped in for breakfast, ears back past Sunny & I. A little bit grumpy but not too bad.
Evening
Weather: rain, windy.
Was waiting quietly for dinner. Still a bit ears back but a bit half hearted about it.
Still only getting salt at this stage, haven't started the minerals yet.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Settling In...
He arrived in February, in the middle of a drought. He was pretty quiet to handle at that stage though he now looked even less 'right' than before. He had some big knots in the muscles in his neck & when he moved his head, his neck 'clunked'. You could see the ligament snapping backwards & forwards across his neck. He also persistently held his tail to the right. He had full mobility in his tail but that's where it tended to, even when he was just eating in the paddock.
Nevertheless, he seemed happy enough...'for him' & knowing that he'd been very good to ride previously, I began riding him. He was FABULOUS to ride although I hadn't asked anything of him; we'd just been quietly hacking around the roads & the neighbour's farm. He was VERY girthy & I was having to raise the front of my saddle to fill the hollows behind his shoulders & withers. As long as I did the girth up one whole at a time, he could cope...JUST! (Not without LOTS of face pulling, head snaking & shaking, tail swishing, moving around, etc. But that was 'just him'. The worst he ever did was get a bit 'humpy' when I first got on, on about our 4th ride. I just pushed him forward & off he went, jig-jogging as he ALWAYS does when we first set off.
He was a bit touchy around the poll & his hamstrings were sometimes really tender. When I massaged his bum, his whole back end would quiver & he'd literally sit down. I put all of this down to his 'melt down' in the float & figured we would need a good chiropractor or similar to bang him back into shape. Something his size, throwing all it's weight on that giraffe neck, would HAVE to do damage!
About a month after he arrived, I went out for a ride & he just didn't feel 'right' the whole time. He was quite lethargic & not at all himself! That night he came down with a decent bout of colic. I gave him a couple of weeks off & we had another couple of rides before I turned him out again to concentrate on the Kaimanawa muster. I figured I would deal with his problems at a later date, right now, he could sit in the paddock & (hopefully) put on some condition.
So that's what he did for a couple of months; just hung out & spent time 'being a horse' while getting to know the rest of my horse family.
I decided a month or so ago that it was time to get back on him so I got him shod & climbed aboard. He was no different to what he'd been when I last rode him & I was quite pleased that he was so cruisy after some time off. I STILL wasn't happy with his back, neck etc though!
After being back in work 3 days, I decided to go out for a farm ride with my friend. Manny had been particularly grumpy when I was saddling up but he was fine once I was on, so off we went. As I rode over the one-way bridge, he eyed the white line on the road suspiciously & snorted which was most unlike him but I squeezed him on & he walked on obligingly, only stopping briefly around the corner to stand stock still & bug-eyed, looking at the neighbour's cattle. MOST unlike him!!! I could actually feel his heart beating underneath me. He felt like he was having a panic attack. I just sat quietly & as he started to 'come back down to earth,' I asked for his attention again & on we went. I put it down to him being 'full of himself' after a couple of days of riding & I ignored him. He was also getting a fair amount of feed as I was still trying desperately to get some condition on him.
When I caught up with my friend, we started our usual circuit up the hill. Manny was feeling a bit 'weird' but
seemed ok. As we got halfway up the hill, he got a bit tense when we were tramping through some fairly deep mud. Before long, it was all too much for him & he started humping & kicking out. I growled at him & carried on but after the third episode, when he wasn't settling & was rapidly feeling worse, I decided the smartest move would be to get off. He then proceeded to hump & throw himself around while dragging me down the hill. I had intended on getting back on once out on the road where it's solid ground rather than knee deep mud but given his rapidly declining behaviour even being led, I changed my mind. This was NOT Manny!!
That was IT! If he was a client's horse, I would have advised them not to ride him & get him fixed so why the hell was I ignoring EVERYTHING in front of me?! I decided to start with booking the physio & taking him off lucerne (which I suspected was contributing to his behaviour).
He had a session of Equissage with the physio which he absolutely LOVED & I was on my way to addressing his problems. He had a second session a week later & didn't seem quite as sore as he had been on the first. He received accupuncture this time too which he wasn't so keen on. He also had a visit from the dentist ( Kristina Naden - Dentist ) & had attention paid to the many hooks & ramps that were making him favour one side for chewing. FINALLY, I was getting onto getting Manny comfortable!
Until....
Kylee Bennett from Hot Spots Thermal Imaging posted about one of her cases on her Facebook page on the 13th of August. She drew attention to a horse with unusually hot spots around the lymph area of his loins. She mentioned it was caused by diet effects on the lymphatic system & how eating grass basically made the horse's muscles sore. This was a 'grass affected' horse, as described by Jenny Patterson on her website - Calm, Healthy Horses .
ALL of Manny's symptoms were there, listed under categories of severity;
Mild Symptoms
I also began to recall other horses I'd known with similar really weird, unexplainable behaviours. On a coulpe of occasions the horses had been blood tested, thinking that magnesium & selenium levels must be low. Sometimes they were, sometimes they weren't & sometimes addressing deficiencies made a difference but sometimes, even that didn't work & other reasons were sought for the behaviour.
After speaking with Jenny & kicking myself HARD a few hundred times for not having done more about this sooner, I've now set about a complete lifestyle change for Manny (& a couple of my other horses too). It's been a revelation to find that all of these things are just little pieces in a great big puzzle. I no longer have to address these things one at a time, if I'm strict with his diet, a lot of these things will fix themselves.
I have made few changes to date other than remove the prepared feeds from his diet & replace them with extruded barley & SALT (he was already getting lots of meadow hay chaff, oil & Eezybeet). He is still on grass & hay & I haven't yet begun adding the Premium NZ Horse Minerals & Alleviate C, as recommended by Jenny.
And so Manny's Diary begins...this is so I can keep track of progress, set backs & 'triggers' so I can hopefully keep Manny on an even keel & maybe even get him trucking & floating again. That would be the ultimate for Manny but I'll be more than satisfied if I can just get him sane & pain free & keep him that way.
This is Manny 23rd of August, 2010.
Nevertheless, he seemed happy enough...'for him' & knowing that he'd been very good to ride previously, I began riding him. He was FABULOUS to ride although I hadn't asked anything of him; we'd just been quietly hacking around the roads & the neighbour's farm. He was VERY girthy & I was having to raise the front of my saddle to fill the hollows behind his shoulders & withers. As long as I did the girth up one whole at a time, he could cope...JUST! (Not without LOTS of face pulling, head snaking & shaking, tail swishing, moving around, etc. But that was 'just him'. The worst he ever did was get a bit 'humpy' when I first got on, on about our 4th ride. I just pushed him forward & off he went, jig-jogging as he ALWAYS does when we first set off.
He was a bit touchy around the poll & his hamstrings were sometimes really tender. When I massaged his bum, his whole back end would quiver & he'd literally sit down. I put all of this down to his 'melt down' in the float & figured we would need a good chiropractor or similar to bang him back into shape. Something his size, throwing all it's weight on that giraffe neck, would HAVE to do damage!
About a month after he arrived, I went out for a ride & he just didn't feel 'right' the whole time. He was quite lethargic & not at all himself! That night he came down with a decent bout of colic. I gave him a couple of weeks off & we had another couple of rides before I turned him out again to concentrate on the Kaimanawa muster. I figured I would deal with his problems at a later date, right now, he could sit in the paddock & (hopefully) put on some condition.
So that's what he did for a couple of months; just hung out & spent time 'being a horse' while getting to know the rest of my horse family.
I decided a month or so ago that it was time to get back on him so I got him shod & climbed aboard. He was no different to what he'd been when I last rode him & I was quite pleased that he was so cruisy after some time off. I STILL wasn't happy with his back, neck etc though!
After being back in work 3 days, I decided to go out for a farm ride with my friend. Manny had been particularly grumpy when I was saddling up but he was fine once I was on, so off we went. As I rode over the one-way bridge, he eyed the white line on the road suspiciously & snorted which was most unlike him but I squeezed him on & he walked on obligingly, only stopping briefly around the corner to stand stock still & bug-eyed, looking at the neighbour's cattle. MOST unlike him!!! I could actually feel his heart beating underneath me. He felt like he was having a panic attack. I just sat quietly & as he started to 'come back down to earth,' I asked for his attention again & on we went. I put it down to him being 'full of himself' after a couple of days of riding & I ignored him. He was also getting a fair amount of feed as I was still trying desperately to get some condition on him.
When I caught up with my friend, we started our usual circuit up the hill. Manny was feeling a bit 'weird' but
seemed ok. As we got halfway up the hill, he got a bit tense when we were tramping through some fairly deep mud. Before long, it was all too much for him & he started humping & kicking out. I growled at him & carried on but after the third episode, when he wasn't settling & was rapidly feeling worse, I decided the smartest move would be to get off. He then proceeded to hump & throw himself around while dragging me down the hill. I had intended on getting back on once out on the road where it's solid ground rather than knee deep mud but given his rapidly declining behaviour even being led, I changed my mind. This was NOT Manny!!
That was IT! If he was a client's horse, I would have advised them not to ride him & get him fixed so why the hell was I ignoring EVERYTHING in front of me?! I decided to start with booking the physio & taking him off lucerne (which I suspected was contributing to his behaviour).
He had a session of Equissage with the physio which he absolutely LOVED & I was on my way to addressing his problems. He had a second session a week later & didn't seem quite as sore as he had been on the first. He received accupuncture this time too which he wasn't so keen on. He also had a visit from the dentist ( Kristina Naden - Dentist ) & had attention paid to the many hooks & ramps that were making him favour one side for chewing. FINALLY, I was getting onto getting Manny comfortable!
Until....
Kylee Bennett from Hot Spots Thermal Imaging posted about one of her cases on her Facebook page on the 13th of August. She drew attention to a horse with unusually hot spots around the lymph area of his loins. She mentioned it was caused by diet effects on the lymphatic system & how eating grass basically made the horse's muscles sore. This was a 'grass affected' horse, as described by Jenny Patterson on her website - Calm, Healthy Horses .
ALL of Manny's symptoms were there, listed under categories of severity;
Mild Symptoms
- Tight & tense
- Girthy
- Difficult to bend
- Tight hamstrings, short stepping behind.
- Bunny hops at the canter
- The saddle doesn't fit
- The physio finds lots of sore spots & treatment requires multiple visits
- He seems to have ADD
- Weak, shaley hooves
- He hardly ever lies down
- He has no topline & is hard to keep weight on
- Sometimes bolshy & bargy
- Doesn't like to be touched / brushed
- Touchy around the ears (I'd put this down ot his neck being 'out').
- Pulls back at the slightest thing (Ooohh...& I have another horse who started doing this a couple of years ago).
- Races around the paddock for no apparent reason (Aah, yep, he's a TB full of feed & no work. Hehehe)
- Acts weird when you put a cover on (If you count threatening to chew your head off & kick it in all at the same time as 'weird').
- Overly reactive &/or claustrophobic (Think floating).
- Flies back out of the float
- Sweats in the float
- Uncharacteristic, violent, 'out of the blue' behaviour
- Overly agressive towards you or other horses (YUP!! He's nicknamed Super Nanny Manny as he's managed o beat Chance into submission; something everyone else has failed at!)
- Exhibits stallion like behaviour (He's a bit 'colty' in his behaviour & I'd been wondeing if maybe he was cut a bit proud & that's why he's sometimes a bit 'odd').
I also began to recall other horses I'd known with similar really weird, unexplainable behaviours. On a coulpe of occasions the horses had been blood tested, thinking that magnesium & selenium levels must be low. Sometimes they were, sometimes they weren't & sometimes addressing deficiencies made a difference but sometimes, even that didn't work & other reasons were sought for the behaviour.
After speaking with Jenny & kicking myself HARD a few hundred times for not having done more about this sooner, I've now set about a complete lifestyle change for Manny (& a couple of my other horses too). It's been a revelation to find that all of these things are just little pieces in a great big puzzle. I no longer have to address these things one at a time, if I'm strict with his diet, a lot of these things will fix themselves.
I have made few changes to date other than remove the prepared feeds from his diet & replace them with extruded barley & SALT (he was already getting lots of meadow hay chaff, oil & Eezybeet). He is still on grass & hay & I haven't yet begun adding the Premium NZ Horse Minerals & Alleviate C, as recommended by Jenny.
And so Manny's Diary begins...this is so I can keep track of progress, set backs & 'triggers' so I can hopefully keep Manny on an even keel & maybe even get him trucking & floating again. That would be the ultimate for Manny but I'll be more than satisfied if I can just get him sane & pain free & keep him that way.
This is Manny 23rd of August, 2010.
 |
| I was able to remove his cover while he was eating for the first time ever. |
 |
| You DON'T go near Manny when he has food! Except today!! :-D |
 |
| Manny; no topline. Yech!! He's well fed, drenched, etc... |
 |
| He's remarkably calmer since having salt added to his diet. |
 |
| 3 days since we started the salt & his tail is noticeably more centered, though his tail hair is still favouring the right. |
Today...
All was still well this morning. He lay down & slept yesterday, for the first time that I recall. Just like yesterday, he wandered in quietly for his feed & he was quite happy to let me take his cover off & brush him while he was eating. I got NO reaction! This is absolutely unheard of for Manny, even on a good day! This salt thing is AMAZING!
This afternoon was a little different; he came galloping in for his feed & I got 'ears back' as he raced through the gate for his feed. It wasn't quite as big a reaction as usual though. Then there was the 'approach while eating' test...he was quite snarky but it was at "Manny on a good day" level. Still, I'm not disappointed. It's early days yet & I haven't taken him off grass or started the minerals yet. Today was the first bit of sun we've had in DAYS too. I wonder if that had anything to do with it?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Where It All Began...
Mansion (approx. 17.1hh, 10yo TB out of Thats A Thought, by Manaloj) raced successfully in Australia as 'Big Mansion' before being retired due to a wind problem & flown back to New Zealand.
To the best of my knowledge, he was given to a young girl who was a bit intimidated by his size & did nothing with him, he then found his way into the hands of an acquaintance of mine with a view to him becoming an eventer. She hadn't had him long when he had a panic attack in her wee truck & did some damage to himself. Despite having numerous reputable trainers work with him, she was advised that he would never be 100% reliable to truck. I met him shortly after his accident when I was there for something else. The owner jokingly asked if I would like another horse but I was in no position to take another horse at the time & I didn't think she was serious anyway, he seemed SO nice! Not much good if he couldn't leave the paddock though. He was happy to be floated but the owner was hardly going to sell her truck & get a float when she had other horses to consider as well, so instead he was passed on to another person I have come to know.
Manny was her dream horse! She absolutely adored him but didn't adore his episodes of grass staggers & the behaviour that goes with it; that worried her! She moved him to alternative grazing in an attempt to alleviate his symptoms but with this & other things going on her life, she was forced to part with Manny. She gave him away to a lady up north in the hope that the poorer soils & poorer quality grasses in the area might help to keep his staggers at bay.
I had moved north to Paparoa myself & just happened to know the lady who took Manny on, although at this stage, I had NO IDEA who Manny was or even remembered meeting him. My friend's 'forever' horse was out of action with a nasty stone bruise & she was itching for something else to ride so she jumped at the chance to give Manny a go on different pasture. This is where I met him.
When I first saw him, I thought he didn't look quite 'right' in his back end; sort of 'tight' through his loins. He was also quite snarky when you touched him; putting his ears back, throwing his head, swishing his tail, stamping & kicking at air... but that was all he ever did, it was 'just him'. I gave the owner the benefit of the doubt on that one (who GIVES away such a flash horse? There MUST be more to it!) & just thought to myself, "Get on it?! Rather you, than me!"
He looked to me, like a horse that was sore so I was VERY relieved to get an email with photos of the owner astride him & the pair of them looking quite relaxed. "Good!" I thought. "If he is sore, it's obviously not bad enough to cause a real reaction other than pulling faces at this stage. Maybe it really is 'just him?'"
I rode out with his new owner the first time she took him out on the road & he was an absolute trooper! I was astounded at what a cruisy dude he was, particularly for a Thoroughbred that had been sitting in the paddock for a couple of months! She was rapt with him but she wasn't really comfortable on something his size. She was also finding it difficult to get time for her other horses now that her main ride was back in work.
She soon realised that he wasn't particularly happy standing on a float (though she had no idea of his trucking history). She would feed him in the float & could 'feel' his heart pounding through the floor of the float. He would still walk on for her though...
Although she really liked him, she felt she couldn't spend the time he needed & after much thought, she passed Manny on. A young German dressage rider (who had worked for Isabel Werth for a few years), took him on after being impressed by his flashy movement & size. She hoped he might be her dressage star or at the very least, make a good profit with a little bit of work. All he needed was to build some muscle!
He developed a hoof abscess within days of arriving & was turned out for a month while it healed. Despite vast quantities of hard feed, like the owner before her, she couldn't get weight on him & he had no topline. He was brought into work but he was hating being ridden in circles in a small, uneven paddock. In an effort to have a happier ride, this owner decided he needed to go out. She called the farrier & had shoes put on & a couple of days later, she loaded him in the float. She got approx. 20 metres outside her gate & he went absolutely ballistic in the float!! He ripped off both back shoes & took little bits of skin off his legs. The whole incident rattled her SO MUCH that she wasn't keen to ever attempt loading him again. She just wanted him GONE! He was now a BIG, USELESS horse who was eating expensive feed & was a BIG liability!
Thankfully, she rang my friend, whom she got him from & asked if she would like him back. She declined but it just so happened that I'd begun looking for a horse suitable to lead the youngsters off & hopefully, quiet enough for the husband to ride. My friend, recalling this fact, texted me & asked if I would like Manny.
I had been looking for something suitable for a couple of months & had started advertising as I'd had no luck just trawling the classifieds. When I got that text, I was rapt!! YES!! Manny would be perfect for what I wanted! Super cruisy on the road & quiet to ride across the farm with other horses. It didn't matter that he'd had a floating accident. I could 'fix' that later (that's what I do for a job) & I could just truck him home...eh...??
It wasn't long before the grapevine caught up & I received an email from a friend regarding Manny. She was good friends with "trucking accident owner" & that's when I was made aware of our previous meeting & who he was. Of course, as soon as she said who had owned him & who he was, I remembered the "stunning grey" that I'd said no to, 3 years earlier. It was then too that I was made aware that I had a problem; he didn't truck AND he didn't float....BUGGER!!!
I figured it would take me a full day to ride him from where he was but he's good on the road & I'd only be crossing the main highways, not riding down them...well, except for 7km or so...but he's GOOD on the road! Everyone was convinced by that stage, that I was MAD & they got truly worried when I got shoes put on him in preparation of the journey. While I was there getting Manny shod, the owners came home, towing their float. Manny had been standing very quiet & relaxed until he spotted the float. At that point, he grew an extra few inches & got VERY agitated!
One of my neighbours (a VERY knowledgeable horseman & all round nice guy) owns a flash gooseneck & had transported Manny twice before; once when my friend first got him & then to take him to where I was getting him from. (Confused?!) When he heard of my plan, he insisted that I let him go & get him instead. However, I was under strict instructions to stay home & just wait for him to arrive. Given the diffculty I was having with getting access through some of the farms & with the doom mongers opinions ringing in my ears, I accepted & waited.
He was a little sweated up when he arrived & he began kicking the wall as soon as the door was opened. He'd travelled ok but he certainly wasn't happy! At least he was now home though, safe & sound!
To the best of my knowledge, he was given to a young girl who was a bit intimidated by his size & did nothing with him, he then found his way into the hands of an acquaintance of mine with a view to him becoming an eventer. She hadn't had him long when he had a panic attack in her wee truck & did some damage to himself. Despite having numerous reputable trainers work with him, she was advised that he would never be 100% reliable to truck. I met him shortly after his accident when I was there for something else. The owner jokingly asked if I would like another horse but I was in no position to take another horse at the time & I didn't think she was serious anyway, he seemed SO nice! Not much good if he couldn't leave the paddock though. He was happy to be floated but the owner was hardly going to sell her truck & get a float when she had other horses to consider as well, so instead he was passed on to another person I have come to know.
Manny was her dream horse! She absolutely adored him but didn't adore his episodes of grass staggers & the behaviour that goes with it; that worried her! She moved him to alternative grazing in an attempt to alleviate his symptoms but with this & other things going on her life, she was forced to part with Manny. She gave him away to a lady up north in the hope that the poorer soils & poorer quality grasses in the area might help to keep his staggers at bay.
I had moved north to Paparoa myself & just happened to know the lady who took Manny on, although at this stage, I had NO IDEA who Manny was or even remembered meeting him. My friend's 'forever' horse was out of action with a nasty stone bruise & she was itching for something else to ride so she jumped at the chance to give Manny a go on different pasture. This is where I met him.
When I first saw him, I thought he didn't look quite 'right' in his back end; sort of 'tight' through his loins. He was also quite snarky when you touched him; putting his ears back, throwing his head, swishing his tail, stamping & kicking at air... but that was all he ever did, it was 'just him'. I gave the owner the benefit of the doubt on that one (who GIVES away such a flash horse? There MUST be more to it!) & just thought to myself, "Get on it?! Rather you, than me!"
He looked to me, like a horse that was sore so I was VERY relieved to get an email with photos of the owner astride him & the pair of them looking quite relaxed. "Good!" I thought. "If he is sore, it's obviously not bad enough to cause a real reaction other than pulling faces at this stage. Maybe it really is 'just him?'"
I rode out with his new owner the first time she took him out on the road & he was an absolute trooper! I was astounded at what a cruisy dude he was, particularly for a Thoroughbred that had been sitting in the paddock for a couple of months! She was rapt with him but she wasn't really comfortable on something his size. She was also finding it difficult to get time for her other horses now that her main ride was back in work.
She soon realised that he wasn't particularly happy standing on a float (though she had no idea of his trucking history). She would feed him in the float & could 'feel' his heart pounding through the floor of the float. He would still walk on for her though...
Although she really liked him, she felt she couldn't spend the time he needed & after much thought, she passed Manny on. A young German dressage rider (who had worked for Isabel Werth for a few years), took him on after being impressed by his flashy movement & size. She hoped he might be her dressage star or at the very least, make a good profit with a little bit of work. All he needed was to build some muscle!
He developed a hoof abscess within days of arriving & was turned out for a month while it healed. Despite vast quantities of hard feed, like the owner before her, she couldn't get weight on him & he had no topline. He was brought into work but he was hating being ridden in circles in a small, uneven paddock. In an effort to have a happier ride, this owner decided he needed to go out. She called the farrier & had shoes put on & a couple of days later, she loaded him in the float. She got approx. 20 metres outside her gate & he went absolutely ballistic in the float!! He ripped off both back shoes & took little bits of skin off his legs. The whole incident rattled her SO MUCH that she wasn't keen to ever attempt loading him again. She just wanted him GONE! He was now a BIG, USELESS horse who was eating expensive feed & was a BIG liability!
Thankfully, she rang my friend, whom she got him from & asked if she would like him back. She declined but it just so happened that I'd begun looking for a horse suitable to lead the youngsters off & hopefully, quiet enough for the husband to ride. My friend, recalling this fact, texted me & asked if I would like Manny.
I had been looking for something suitable for a couple of months & had started advertising as I'd had no luck just trawling the classifieds. When I got that text, I was rapt!! YES!! Manny would be perfect for what I wanted! Super cruisy on the road & quiet to ride across the farm with other horses. It didn't matter that he'd had a floating accident. I could 'fix' that later (that's what I do for a job) & I could just truck him home...eh...??
It wasn't long before the grapevine caught up & I received an email from a friend regarding Manny. She was good friends with "trucking accident owner" & that's when I was made aware of our previous meeting & who he was. Of course, as soon as she said who had owned him & who he was, I remembered the "stunning grey" that I'd said no to, 3 years earlier. It was then too that I was made aware that I had a problem; he didn't truck AND he didn't float....BUGGER!!!
I figured it would take me a full day to ride him from where he was but he's good on the road & I'd only be crossing the main highways, not riding down them...well, except for 7km or so...but he's GOOD on the road! Everyone was convinced by that stage, that I was MAD & they got truly worried when I got shoes put on him in preparation of the journey. While I was there getting Manny shod, the owners came home, towing their float. Manny had been standing very quiet & relaxed until he spotted the float. At that point, he grew an extra few inches & got VERY agitated!
One of my neighbours (a VERY knowledgeable horseman & all round nice guy) owns a flash gooseneck & had transported Manny twice before; once when my friend first got him & then to take him to where I was getting him from. (Confused?!) When he heard of my plan, he insisted that I let him go & get him instead. However, I was under strict instructions to stay home & just wait for him to arrive. Given the diffculty I was having with getting access through some of the farms & with the doom mongers opinions ringing in my ears, I accepted & waited.
He was a little sweated up when he arrived & he began kicking the wall as soon as the door was opened. He'd travelled ok but he certainly wasn't happy! At least he was now home though, safe & sound!
 |
| Manny, the day he arrived. |
For a horse that doesn't travel, he's certainly been around in the last 3 years!! This is his LAST stop. I have promised him that this is his 'home'; he won't be moving on again unless we ALL do.
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