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Nepomuk in motion!
http://www.artofnaturaldressage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3665		 Page 11 of 15
Author:  Volker [ Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
In a mad week with mad temperatures and mad horseflies, Mucki had a real hard time coping with the weather. He had a colic twice and I was very worried about his health.
Still, we managed to have some fun after all and I want to preserve that as the memories of our holidays.
First we played with the water hose (not on video) and then with our new load of arena sand... And there's a close encounter with Anna's bare feet of course - which I believe was his first time he ever saw that humans have feet inside that shoes of them :) Weird, isn't it?

Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhYOIEUc3e8
Author:  Morgan [ Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Ah Volker I'm sorry to hear Mucki struggled with the heat. I realise you don't normally have the intense heat wave that Europe just had. Here we do have some tricks to get the horses to drink more when it's really hot. I used to make sure I emptied and refilled the water at least once a day as the water bath temp could get well into the 40 deg range and I didn't even want to put my hand in there when I was already sweating, so somtimes they would wait for the temp to drop and of course it didn't at night (still balmy) and so they literally drank just enough to survive. By emptying and filling with cool water they would all come running and enjoy a really good drink. If the weather stayed that way for many days we would add a small amount of human grade salt to their feed which helped replaced salt lost though sweating and of course encorage them to drink more. Sometimes they got so lethargic from the heat that they just didn't want to expend the energy walking to the water. Hosing of course is great if they love it as it cools them down and they move to roll and then decide they may be thirsty. I do think though that most heat colics are due to lack of drinking enough water and dehydration sets in fast, followed by lethergy and then of course still no drinking. It still amazes me that yards and stable owners pay little attention to the water source on a daily basis and yet water is the most important aspect of horse keeping and the easiest to get right :-)
Mucki looks so chilled in the pic and Anna is getting a good tan!!!! :D
Author:  Volker [ Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Yeah, I'm also pretty sure it was mainly caused by dehydration. Our watering facilities are pretty good though. Our group of 12 horses have four big shelter boxes with a bowl drinker each. And outside on the paddock is another big ball drinker which cannot really be occupied by a dominant horse. The inside drinkers keep the water really nice and cool, so basically it should be easy to drink. Still Mucki is a notoriously lazy drinker :(

After the first colic though, I noticed that he was going to the water more frequently - maybe he is learning from the whole episode?
Anyway, I have just ordered dried Crataegus (hawthorn?) leaves. They are supposed to help his circulation. Apart from that the vet was here today and checked Mucki and we also sent a urin and blood sample in for testing. I should get the results tomorrow...

Morgan wrote:
Mucki looks so chilled in the pic and Anna is getting a good tan!!!! :D
I hope you realised that it's not just a picture, but a nice little movie? Mucki at his nicest :D
Author:  Morgan [ Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
That is brilliant!!! I am watching and seeing him being so controlled by not trying to take that foot in his mouth and just bite it to see what it feels like, moves like, when he eventually does!!! :hap: :funny: Morgan would have bitten my toe long before that :ieks: I was thinking how brave Anna was to let him do that :funny:
It' so nice to see a horse so relaxed that he can just stand there and focus so entirely on one thing and explore it thoroughly. These are always the best moments. :D
Author:  anat [ Tue Aug 06, 2013 8:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
It looks like it is the best foot & toes massage ever. :love:
the next step is for him to paint his human nails.
he is such a thinker. no doubt - Mucky it the sweetest horse. :bowdown:

i'm so sorry to hear he had colic,
this was probably so very worrying for all of you,
i'm so glad he is OK now. :sun:
how is Lilly doing?

it is funny as i had a rather similar encounter (but much much shorter)- since coming back from Germany i completely let go of all the proper shoes i used to wear (which used to be like my second skin, relics from past life. like a propper ex-riding instructor... summer or winter) now i will mostly wear my crocs or just barefoot (its so great) and i had these sniffing rubbing with nose moments (but very short) of both Geronimo and Hercules sniffing my bare feet. both looked quite intrigued (as if thinking ..."ahha this is what her real foot looks like - so tiny, so soft & quite smelly..."), it was very sweet. tequila on the other hand didn't seem to care about these mundane, physical worldly stuff as she is more within her spiritual world and her usual lack of body awareness.

thanks for this lovely video

anyway - sending kisses to all of you
please stay well and healthy (and happy if possible) :kiss:
Author:  Volker [ Tue Aug 06, 2013 9:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Morgan wrote:
Morgan would have bitten my toe long before that :ieks: I was thinking how brave Anna was to let him do that :funny:
I was thinking that too! I am actually wispering on the video to take care, because I was anticipating that he'd bite her to test her toes ;)
But it's so interesting, that in many regards he is so much more careful in his interactions with Anna, than he is with me sometimes. He's a gentleman horse - most of the time ;)

anat wrote:
i'm so glad he is OK now. :sun:
how is Lilly doing?
Thank you, Anat! I am still very tense, because the abnormal heat here in Austria still lasts for at least three days and those days will be very hard for Mucki.

Lily is happy now. After 9 weeks of holding back and being a good little pony, she is finally back with the herd and on the big pasture. She enjoys her freedom so much! I'll have to upload the video of her first run on the grass - it was heart-breaking and also quite intimidating :green:. Especially if one has to worry about her newly fixed leg :roll:.
Author:  anat [ Tue Aug 06, 2013 9:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Quote:
I am still very tense, because the abnormal heat here in Austria still lasts for at least three days and those days will be very hard for Mucki.

i hope he will be OK,
will you or anna be around theses days to watch over?
i'll be thinking of him and sending him liquid cool thoughts :rain: for the next couple of days :pray:
(here it gotten so hot too the last couple of days)

Quote:
I'll have to upload the video of her first run on the grass

YES please :yes:

sending all of you hugs :kiss:
Author:  Volker [ Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
As promised, a video of Lily's first time free on the pasture again after 9 weeks of being confined to box, or small paddock. We had her carefully trained to strengthen her leg as best as we could, but we were always afraid of that final moment, when she realises that she is free to run - and buck :pale:. In the end, we could just stay out of her way - and pray :pray: :pray: :pray:.
Well, she ran like mad for a looong time, but she still looks sound and her trot is better than ever :f:. She also feels so much calmer than before and doesn't pull faces to other horses. It's so depressing that we only knew her like that and thought that's her character, when all the time she must have been in pain :sad:. Still, she hasn't lost her infamous Lily-power like you can clearly see in the video :funny:...

Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPQUiYn3Evs
Author:  Romy [ Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
So nice to see the happy little bug racing around! :love: Oh, now I am sure that playing with her will be even more fun. :cheer: I am so glad that all the time in the hospital and then the small box has paid off, and I can imagine that it must be so nice to know that you will always have such a happy, pain-free pony from now on. :f:
Author:  anat [ Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Wohoooo :cheers:
great to see her healthy again, with her super pony power
happy for all of you :kiss:
Author:  Volker [ Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Yeah, we are so happy too! What a relieve to see her finally back on the pasture with the herd again...
And while she reacted most wildly at first, she is now so calm and content most of the time. And so grateful it seems, when she is interacting with Anna :f:.
Author:  SunLily [ Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's so great to see her so well and happy! Me and Bill have just watched that video together and what can we say? Hoooray to Lily!! :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:
Author:  Nora [ Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
This video is so cute :love:. It gets me happy to see the wild Lily and that she doesn't have stand in the boring box. I look forward to see Lily in front of me and to play with her. Please Anna, kiss Lily for me. :)
Author:  Volker [ Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Thank you Sunny and Nora! Lily sends her regards! :sun:
Author:  Volker [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nepomuk in motion!
Here's a little, albeit unspectacular, video of our beloved pony friend Nicki. She is not very experienced with clicker training, or any training for that matter. But she is a very fast and very eager learner! :thumleft:

That day Anna was teaching her to back up towards her:
Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzwXEMxlLwM
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