From: deblev@nimoy.ipac.caltech.edu (Debbie Levine)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: What Santa brought!!!!!!!
Date: 28 Dec 1992 20:13:20 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology
NNTP-Posting-Host: nimoy.ipac.caltech.edu
Summary: be careful what you wish for

Santa left horses in my stocking!  I am now foster mother to
two!

The owner is paying board and shoeing for both, and I am responsible
for routine vet care, exercise and supplemental feed (the board 
includes alfalfa hay).  Both horses are in outdoor pipe corral
type in & outs.  We're negotiating what to do in terms of major
vetrinary expense, and I hope to get a written agreement, but
am willing to take the risk of a purely verbal one.  I'm not
entirely sure if this amounts to a very inexpensive lease on my
part or a very inexpensive training contract on hers... I know
what lease agreements look like:  does anyone have a copy of
a "full-training" agreement?    Morris is, in fact, something of
a reschooling project.  Split is semi-retired.

I'm picking up where the former trainer and then former barn
manager of our barn left off.  We now have a trainer coming in
to give lessons twice a week, and our barn is down to a rag-tag
accumulation of boarders!  The weathier of the rag-tag group
are hiring the "other" trainer at the barn to do turnouts,
blanketing and noon-time feed.  She has agreed to do a barter
with me for the times when I am out of town or ill.  She
will then do turnouts and I will work off the difference as
a working student.   "My" two will get their "lunch" feed
unfortunately at random times.  I realize this is not ideal,
but both are living primarily off the alfalfa which is 
delivered regularly.  The "lunch" consists of a pound  of
bran plus vitamins, baking soda, brewers yeast and corn oil.
This is what they have sucessfully lived on for the last
year, so I see no real point in changing it.  I'll probably
add some grain to Morris' diet if I wind up
being able to event him, but for now I think the alfalfa
has MORE than enough protein and I can up the hay ration
and oil to add more weight if necessary.  Split is getting
a bit thin.

Morris I have posted about before.  He's about 8, 16.2, chestnut
TB with a very furry winter coat at the moment (he eats blankets
and so does his neighbor).  He's very tense, but mellowing slowly.
Incidentally, the haunches-throwing turns out to be a side effect
of a more generic one-sidedness.  Particularly when he is tense,
he tends to drop the right side of his body and throw me to the
right.  If I make sure he is carrying his weight evenly and 
keep checking my weight distribution, we can do some nice
canter departs and canter work on a 20m circle now, as long as
the departure comes from a calm and balanced walk on a very long
rein.  I knew SOMETHING was going asymmetric, but it took a 
lesson with our trainer to figure out that the horse was
throwing me crooked!  Now, if I make sure my left seatbone
is weighted and push him 'back underneath me' with my left
leg, I can usually correct the crookedness for a little
while.  

Split is 21, about 15.2, also a chesnut TB.  She's sometimes been
a school horse, and is a decent mover and jumper.  She prefers
(strongly) not to jump anything a mm above 3' though.  She
desperately wants a little girl all her own to fuss with her
and not make too many demands on her!  She's a little too 
opinionated to be good for a rank beginner, though.  The
other trainer may use her occasionally for lessons, but feels
she is too much horse for all but the most advanced of her students.
(She has primarily a school-horse lesson business, does some 
Hunter/Jumper shows and goes to one Event a year).  I'm hoping
to find some one to get her out a couple days of week in
return for turning out and feeding Morris one day a week fro
me.  I'd like to ride her when I have time, but I won't have
time every day, and Morris NEEDS regular work, so he will get
priority.  At worst, she will get turnout while I ride Mo.

Now, how am I going to find time to my thesis?????????  :-)

Debbie
deblev@ipac.caltech.edu

...and Morris, and Split!