Meet Annie

Well, it's been a pretty big week for this little duck and the horses at Dragonwood Farm. We've recovered from Canberra Horse Trials and Jedi is now getting ridden by an up and coming junior at Lynton and is working really well with her. They had a fang around the Canberra course yesterday and she was pretty happy with how that went. Jedi may well have landed on his feet! Let's hope he catches someone's eye at Lynton now he's being ridden in a manner more to his liking....

Timmy the Connemara/TB went off to Hillydale Ponies for foundation training (aka breaking in). Cath at Hillydale uses the Equitation Science approach and the Mclean method of training, so Timmy will be in great hands and should be a super little young dude when he comes home in a few weeks. We got lost on the way there and ended up four-wheel driving through the bush out the back of Bungonia and he just stood like a rock in the float. Even when he got out he parked beautifully (made me look great!) and just calmly went into the paddock to eat in his new environment. Really got high hopes for him going to an ambitious young rider or small adult to bring on.

Which brings us to Annie. Annie was a bit of an 'accidental' purchase. I had gone up to look at her as a bit of a curiousity trial with no intention of buying her. She was well over-priced as a rising 5 year old green ISH mare and the photos didn't inspire confidence. She was even worse in person, significantly underweight with a cut mouth and a big saddle sore. She'd just come back from 4 weeks with a well-known professional event rider so I was pretty taken aback at her condition. Clearly, she was not being fed or looked after well at all.

She rode very green, with a hard mouth and no real understanding of roundness or softness. She was forward with a super big trot and lovely canter. I only worked her for 10 mins as the arena we were on was very deep, it was hot and she was just not conditioned to cope with much. She was getting tired.

Still, I walked away really liking her attitude and her work ethic, not to mention her movement. One day, I thought, she'll be a star in the right hands. But given her asking price, those hands were not going to be mine until her price came down!

My mate Jo, the legend that she is to come traipsing up to Bowral with me, and I chatted about her on the way home. We both agreed that was probably the worst presentation of a horse in the price bracket we'd ever seen and we also both agreed Annie was the sweetest horse with quite a bit of talent. We only hoped she'd go to a good home.

That afternoon, I texted the owner to tell her I really liked Annie but couldn't offer her the kind of money she was looking for. After a bit of pushing from the owner to make an offer, I ended up offering half the asking price, which I still thought was probably a bit generous. To my open-mouthed surprise she accepted straight away. Shit, I thought, now what do I do?? Luckily, I have the best husband in the world and he said, just do it, but you can't have your arena until Jedi and Timmy are sold. Deal, says I.

Vet check was a bit of a nailbiter for me - I really didn't think she'd pass in that condition. But the vet was quite happy with her, at least soundness-wise. No issues at flexion, but anaemic, malnourished, with a sore wither and dull coat. Poor Annie.

So, after dropping Timmy off at Hillydale, the intrepid Jo and I headed up to Bowral to pick up Annie. She actually looked worse than the week before. She loaded great (hoeing into her hay with gusto) and we headed home. We never heard a peep out of her.

This is Annie the day after she arrived at Dragonwood Farm:

As you can see, no topline, prominent ribs and hips, dull bleached coat. But she's already looking a little better on 2 modest feeds a day of Micrbeet, lucerne chaff, Hygain Ice and Equilibrium with sunflower seeds. Not to mention spring grass!

Kirsten the wonder trimmer came out yesterday to pull her shoes and we were pleasantly surprised by the health of her hooves and frogs. This could be an easy transition - no thrush or seedy toe found and a big frog to help cushion those sensitive tootsies.

For some reason my pics won't rotate....but that's her off fore.

Off hind. The squared off shoes were used so the farrier could 'dump' the toe to help stop her forging.

Freshly pulled and rasped near hind. The white hoof makes it easy to see what Kirsten did.

Freshly pulled and rasped off fore. A bit pointy at the toe but otherwise suprisingly good.

 

So, Annie has good feet and should transition well to barefoot. I'll keep you posted on her progress. So far she's been a bit sensitive on the gravel road (completely understandably) but otherwise fine on the grass and dirt. She'll keep landing toe-first for a while but will gradually start moving properly as her feet get less sensitive and her body gets used to the different feel.