LaunchesKayaks @ LaunchesKayaks @lemmy.world

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Joined

2 yr. ago

Thank you. I'm hoping to get a few more years out of her. :)

I was hoping to be able to ride her, but she's improving slower than anticipated, so I probably won't get to ride her. But that's okay. I'm happy as long as she's happy.

As for her situation, it's a lil weird and sad. Her owner doesn't ever come to see her or anything. She just pays for the boarding fees and vet/farrier visits, and that's it. Apparently she has a lot of personal issues that are preventing her from coming out. When I started volunteering at the stables last year, I was told that I could take Sandy out of her stall and brush her because nobody else does anything meaningful with her. There's an old guy who lets her out to graze for a bit some days, but that's not really enough interaction to make a horse happy. So I took it upon myself to treat her like the queen she is and make her old age great. She was close to feral when I started working with her. She had no idea how to be loved and had no manners. I was determined to change that and now she's so happy and one of the better-behaved horses in the barn. I started her on a supplement for her weight and I schedule her farrier appointments and attend them. I can also attend any other appointments that she may need. I go out to see her at least 3x/week to at least say hi and give her a quick brushing. Her owner and I talk and she pays me back for everything I provide for Sandy. I'd offer to buy her, but the boarding fees are the only thing I can't afford right now. If her owner ever can't pay me back, that's fine because the board is what I worry about. I have everything else covered if need be.

So I do exercises to keep her old muscles and joints moving. We do lunging (me making her walk and trot in a circle), I make her walk backwards, I make her stretch her neck in different ways towards treats, and if we have the space for it, I walk her over ground poles and weave through buckets. It isn't super intense but it uses all the important muscles. She is very undermuscled and I'm trying to build a little back up on her. She's also recovering being very underweight as well.

I try to exercise her at least once a week. She's old enough and in poor enough shape, that if she were to get out of her routine, she'd end up deteriorating relatively quickly. Keeping her exercising will keep her healthy and she'll live longer. She'll never be super fit, but I'm trying to get her as good as she can be.

Thank you! My surgeon is really good, and I expect the surgery to go well. I am taking an entire month off of work to recover, so I'll have more than enough time to heal

She has that effect on a lot of people once they see that she's a good girl lol.

And thank you!

I've honestly been considering trying to find a race ar bed that'll fit a queen size mattress.

Thank you!

I sure do love being a wage slave in the good ol US of A.

🥲

Her needs were taken care of (food, water, shelter) but that's it. She's finally getting used to socializing again

I love that too. The first time I took a curry comb to Sandy, she hadn't been brushed for years. She was just brown after me doing my best to clean her up for over an hour. Took so long for her to start looking better after grooming instead of worse.

Thank you so much! I love how she has her own little fanclub!

She was anxious of the hose at first but relaxed once the water started hitting her. She really is a pretty horse. Hoping to get some muscle on her so she doesn't look as skinny and weird, but she might always look a bit rough in regards to her body shape because of her age and lack of exercise for 6 years. This summer is gonna be great for her. I'll be introducing her to my mom and sister in July because I'll be recovering from surgery and won't be allowed to do horse stuff. My mom and sister said they'd take me out to see Sandy and do her exercises with her with my instructions.

I only wear bras when I'm going horseback riding or into the office for work. I have free tiddies any other time cause it's comfier. There are a lot of people, usually gen X and boomers, who think women need to wear a bra all the time and not have the straps showing ever.

My cat loves to help me when I am on work calls. She'll come up to me and meow straight into my mic. Clients absolutely adore it lol

Thank you so much

Today I'm anxious, exhausted, and struggling with my self-worth. Honestly might just go to bed early and try to sleep it off

I do my very best. Nobody else does anything with her except an old guy who just puts her out to pasture for a bit when he's there to see his horses. I appreciate him letting her out when he does. I can't go out every day, but between the two of us, Sandy gets to leave her stall for a bit almost every day, weather permitting. That alone is so important to her well-being.

Thanks!

Giving Sandy a bath is different than bathing other horses. Sandy hadn't been bathed in so long, that she forgot what it was like. She developed a fear of the bathing hose and a sponge. I had to slowly introduce her to each over a few sessions over the course of a month, and even with all that, I was consoling and soothing her the whole time.

Her bath wasn't even what I'd consider a complete bath. I used a bucket of soapy water and sponged her off with that as best I could. She moved and danced for a while until she realized that what I was doing wasn't bad and actually felt good. I didn't even try to clean her legs. I only did her body, mane, tail, and teats. Once I used up all the soapy water, I gave her a pep talk on the way to the hose, introduced her to the hose nozzle for the millionth time, and rinsed the suds off over the course of 20 minutes. I had to do it in tiny intervals because she insisted on dancing around nervously after like 10 seconds of the water touching her. Then I had to squeegee the excess water off of her, which was a challenge because she was already wound up and I was coming at her with yet another strange object. I'm hoping I'll be able to hose her down without her dancing and apply soap directly to her someday, but I'm taking what I did as a huge win lol.

Most horses who get bathed regularly just let you get them wet, put soap on them, scrub them with something, and then hose them off. Just like bathing another person, pretty much. Sandy's neglect has led to her not knowing how to handle a lot of things and I'm trying to reintroduce stuff so she can get properly pampered in her last few years.

I don't use biometrics for anything.