Tishey got into some wire(I guess) the other night.  The fronts of her back legs are all cut up, though not deep.  I brought her up into the alleyway that goes to the squeeze chute so that I could put some meds on her legs.  We still can't touch her legs, so we sprayed iodine on them.  She did really well with it, so I decided to see if I could get a halter on her and work with her a little bit.  I got the halter on with only a little bit of resistance from her(she tried to turn her head away to where I couldn't reach her) and then while she was still in the alleyway, I moved her head back and forth, asked her to back and come forward, and even got her wormed!!  And of course, we did lots and lots of brushing!  I even got her mane and tail all brushed out!  She was doing so well, that I then decided that it was time to come out of the alleyway and try some REAL leading!  She walked out very ladylike(instead of bolting like she had done before) and we walked around the barn lot.  She wouldn't let me stand beside her to lead, but would follow me around just fine!  She is very smart!!  It only took a couple of trys to make her understand what I wanted.  We ended on a very good note with me taking the halter off while she stood quietly! Then, the next day, I went out and she actually FOLLOWED me out to the barn lot and into the alleyway so I could put more stuff on her legs!  We decided to try to put Furazone on them, she didn't like that very much and tried to jerk her legs away and kick a little, but we were able to get some on them.  Again, she did really well with the halter training!  The cuts are starting to heal up nicely now.  She has now gained a total of about 300 pounds and has grown a couple of inches sense I got her.  We will be working on more halter lessons and start teaching her that it is okay to touch her all over.  I will try to keep everyone updated on her progress!!

About three weeks ago, Tishey got into something again and cut her legs all up again!  This time the cuts are pretty deep on her left hind leg.  It appears to have maybe nicked the extender tendon.  She was limping badly and dragging her toe.  I had the vet out to look at her, and we started antibiotics and bute.  After 5 days, she wasn't dragging the toe as bad, but still limping.  Twice, we found her down in the pastue and she couldn't get up without our help.  Then, on the morning of Sept. 26th when I went to feed her, I found that she had lost her foal.  I guess the stress of her injuries got the best of her.  We buried the foal next to Secret.  Tishey is walking much better today, moving a little faster, but still limping.  She will be kept up in the barn lot away from the other horses for her own safety until she is no longer limping.  She is being fed twice daily, and now she just almost walks right on me when I bring her food!  She is starting to feel better!  I can tell, 'cause if I start brushing her or try to halter her, she walks away from her food so that I can't do whatever it is that she doesn't want me to do!  In a way, I'm glad she lost her foal, she is way too young to be having a baby, and I don't feel that she was in the best condition to be carrying a foal.  I will keep everyone updated on her as time goes on!

Tishey has had her hooves trimmed!!  She did very well with the farrier.  She is now halter trained fairly well too!  The farrier came on Nov. 21st.  I gave her a little sedative to help calm her some, but it didn't do anything.  At first she tried to run away, but when she realized that I still had her, she calmed down and stood very good.  I petted, talked and handed out alfalfa cubes to keep her calm during the process.  We did not have to use a twitch nor did we have to tie up a leg.  I am so proud of her!!  Sense her injury, I have kept her in a small pasture away from the rest of the horses, but now she gets to go out with them during the day and comes back to her pasture for the evening feeding and stays there for the night.  She is learning very quickly where she needs to be for her dinner!!  I don't even have to put the halter on her, she just follows me in!  I have added a few newer photos of her, I hope you enjoy them!

 

I know I haven't updated anything about Tishey in a long time, so I will try to do it all at once now!  :)  My sweet Tishey has come a long way sense I brought her home over a year ago!  She will now come to me in the pasture and stick her nose in the halter at anytime!  She is not doing well with the farrier, though, poor thing thinks he is gonna hurt her!  She really freaks out as soon as he comes near her!  We are going to try a different farrier, maybe that will help.  She seems to be afraid of men as well.........but she is getting better.  She has gained lots of weight, and her bad leg is all better now.  The hip on the left is still dropped a little, but Tish is on Aniflex GL, and it is really helping!  The hip had dropped shortly after she went down in the pasture during her leg injury.  For a long time, I thought her hip would never get better, but it is now much better!  Her hips are almost even with each other, finally!  Tishey is now out with the other horses all the time.  She runs, bucks, and plays the same as all the others!  As soon as winter is over, she will start her ground training!  I am going to treat her as I would any young horse that is just starting training to be ridden.  She may never be able to carry weight, but I want to train her to at least have the saddle on her and be line driven.  If things progress as they have so far, maybe someday her and I can go trail riding together!  Here are a couple of new photos of her, taken December 12, 2004............