Howie the asshole

Pardon my french in advance, I am a little ticked off at the moment.

Howie and I had a bad day on Thursday. It was our first serious ride since his stone bruise and it had been raining like crazy the days prior so he was full of piss and vinegar and possibly more piss. The arena area is up by the road and that has never cause problems before, bikers, motorcyclists, runners and cars all pass quite often and he has never been fazed by it. Well, never as in before Thursday. Any time someone would pass he freaked out, tried to bolt, buck, rear or any other poor horsey behavior. I stayed on for every single one, but the last time he threw me majorly off balance and I smacked my face into his neck. I did a very sloppy emergency dismount and fell down in the process, freaking him out more. I am a walking bruise right now. Everything is pain. But I am pissed off more than anything. Howie has never been such a fucktard before. We had quite the discussion afterwards, and on Friday he was a very good boy, but I am still at a loss as to why he was such a douchebag. And I can't ride him hard for a while because I am so sore and anything faster than a walk makes me want to die.

Injury count:
Imprint of teeth in lower lip, along with Bubba style swelling
Massive bruise on wrist, thigh, back, boob, knee
Jammed finger
Torn something in shoulder
Big headache

So I guess lunging it is for the next week or so. God dammit.

Bah, I need to update

The saddle, its AHMAZEINGGG
Like seriously, the improvement I have noticed already with it is just stellar. Howie moves much more freely and is more willing to go forward. He was starting to get into hard workouts but then stupid thing got a stone bruise. Before that happened though, we had a great routine going. I rode him every day of the week and had easy days tuesday, thursday, sunday, and hard days every other day.
Easy days go as so- Walking up and down the driveway a couple times until sufficiently warmed up, trotting 20 m circles and working on bending and engaging with the hind. Some poles at the trot.

Hard days start with walk and trot up and down the driveway, then trot work over poles and then canter work over poles. Then we go into the pasture and do wind sprints up and down a line. We then go in the ditch which makes him lift his legs more than usual, we go up and down the ditch and splash around in the water for a bit and then go into the lower part of the pasture and canter circles then cool down.

Here are some pics of the new saddle

Lots of news

Sorry for my crappy bloggin skills and my lack of updating.

Update #1: Saddle Issues
So the saddle fitter came out on Saturday, it was quite the ordeal. I had talked with her on the phone for quite a bit about what I was looking for (dressage saddle, cheap, wiiiiide tree) and had to repeatedly emphasize what a tank Howie is. My fitter has been in the business for about 30 years and has come across lots of big draft mixes, so she said she was sure she could find something. When she arrived at my place I had Howie all ready to go and she took one look at him and said "you really weren't kidding when you said you needed a wide tree." She then proceeded to measure him, did all the tracings and stuff and I showed her what I was currently riding in. Apparently its sinful. It is a standard wide tree close contact jumping saddle and supposedly does not fit him at all. So no saddle riding until the new one comes, just bareback

After taking tracings of his back my fitter told me that Howie is the widest horse she has ever fitted. No joke, she has never seen a horse with as broad of a back as the H pone. No wonder my hips kill after long rides. She brought 8 extra wide saddles and none fit. She showed me the tracings of his back and explained where a narrow, medium, wide and extra wide tree would be, Howie was a good 2 inches wider than an extra wide horse on either side. So we talked about options. Looks like I have to get a custom fitted saddle and the easiest and cheapest route is this.

Wintec saddles have an exchangable gullet system. Its nice, but Wintec is a synthetic brand so not as high quality as some other saddles. My fitter will take an extra wide gullet, heat it in the forge and make it wider and put it into the higher end Wintec dressage saddle model. Not as expensive as expected, but still, quite the ordeal so I will be waiting for a few weeks before I can saddle up Howie. He is gonna gain some more poundage. Lesigh.

Update #2: Fitness stuffs
Until I got the news that I was forbidden to ride in a saddle, everything was going very well. Under saddle we had worked out most of our issues, thank you dressage whip, and we were starting over fences. He was doing great, even went up a hole on either side with the girth!! I also turn him loose every morning in the arena and let him thunder around like the crazy beast he is. The better fitness means a more lively Howie which is phenomenal.
And now for some pics

Awardyward

Wheeee! I am engulfed by the blogger scene!

I have an award. *Dances in circles*Thank you Beckz! http://horsebeckz.blogspot.com/

1o honest things, here we gooooo:

1. I enjoy watching crappy MTV shows such as "Paris Hilton's My New BFF"

2. I own a Snuggie, Shamwow and lust after many other TV wonders

3. I cannot stand art museums

4. Lifting weights is like an antidepressant for me

5. I am bad at coming up with things on the spot, hence the stupid, weak truths you see here

6. I ride in a mixture of jumping, pleasure and dressage tack. And look pretty much pathetic.

7. I have a fear of jumping anything higher than 18" on a horse. Yet I can go off a 3o ft kicker on my skis with no problem

8. I have never ridden in an honest to god horse show

9. I love my job even if I bitch about it all the time

10. I make noises when I drive. I also narrate it. "And backing up, look out for that pole Daphne" Haha

The rules are: Link back to the blog that gave you the award.
Post 10 honest things about you
Pass the award on to 10 other bloggers.

I will attempt to pass it on to at least 5 bloggers. Lets see how this works

http://icantellyourpurseisfake.blogspot.com/

http://rehabinganurbantransplant.blogspot.com/

http://trueantihero.blogspot.com/

http://dontbitethedog.blogspot.com/

http://skeetercomesback.blogspot.com/

Glamtastic!

Howie had a glamour shoot of sorts. I groomed him, slapped his new booties on and took pictures of him being pretty. His muscling has come so far and his tum tum doesn't stick out so far on the sides when you view him from the front. Yay!!!

Howie the jumper

Finally, pics from our freejumping adventures. Silly fatty really enjoys it, and I took the camera out today. He hangs his knees like none other, but I am also using a really small jump (I am currently building some nice standards, but just use little logs or buckets right now lol) so he could be sloppy cause of that. He is still losing poundage, but getting hay now. The grass in the pasture isn't as lush and nice because its hot as balls and the rain has stopped coming so frequently. But fatty only gets a little bit of hay, so its ok I guess. He got his feet trimmed on Wednesday and for the first time in like forever he had no flare!! He also got a new bridle (gift from a secret santa thing on the Free Speech Horse Forum) which fits him wonderfully.
And now for pics :]

Update

Things are going pretty smoothly, nothing crazy exciting to report. I keep getting the feeling like he really isn't improving much and then I look at pictures from several months ago and take it back. He looks so much better in comparison. He is working hard, summer=boredom so I have been riding and lunging him a whole lot more than usual. I can only do so much on his back as we have had thunderstorms EVERY DAY for the past month or so and the ground is slick, so no jumping and higher speed work at the moment. Just walk, trot and a bit of canter. He is sweating more and holds up for longer workouts. We have done a little bit of hill work too and some trot poles. Trot poles and Howie are not the best combo, he is not very good at them but it is improving.
And for your enjoyment I have some videos of the fat man moving, shows off his lovely lumbering trot and whatnot. Haha.
I have no idea how to post them in blogger, so I will just link them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EVnm4xkWww
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVsiu90GAa0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lldMZ_-o9AQ

Drumroll please....

NO GIRTH EXTENDER

Yes. You heard me. The girth extender is GONE!!!!!!!!
We may be going to a 54" girth sooner than expected!!
Other than that, nothing super fantastical to report. Howie is sloooooowly losing the poundage, still looks fat though, we are slooooooowly getting over our riding issues. His feeties get trimmed soon, they didn't flare as much as last time, I wonder if its the weight loss or just the trim? I don't know very much about feet.

During this whole thing the other two have been forced to adhere to Howie's diet plans as well, Ollie has lost some weight and Corbet has visible ribs now. Its exciting!!

New diet plans?

I think he needs an all feline diet like Corbet here...But really, We are currently in the process of dividing the pasture, this will help the grass and also limit his intake so I am excited. We worked through our little riding speed bump sorta, He listened much better yesterday. I am looking for a new saddle for him too, and a new bridle, this one has chewmarks on the browband and noseband courtesy of Ollie

Riding woes

Now that school is out I have had more time to ride him, and he has been somewhat of an asshole. Really figety, jumpy, and not listening to my leg at all. I hate using my hands on him because he has a chunk out of his tongue from a previous rider, but when he doesnt listen to my leg except for when I ask him to go faster, I have no choice. Yesterday's ride went a little better, I introduced the dressage whip which made him raise his head a little bit (he likes to hold it like a WP horse sometimes) and that was a little better, but still. Stupid prick needs to listen to my leg. We'll work through it I'm sure, but right now its frustrating as all hell.

Here are pics from riding on Thursday. My position needs work, but Howie looks muscly and nice!

Update

Better, no? Fatty is off hay at the moment. The grass is super good and since I cant restrict his access to that, I'm restricting his access to all other foods. He doesnt seem to mind at all. He is starting to get nicer muscling around his shoulder as you can see from the pics and his butt is less flabby. Progress. Yay!!He likes to give Corbet a hard time. Corbet is losing poundage too, its great. In fact, all the horses are currently on Howie's diet and are lookin goooooood. His feet look better now, for a while he had a flare but that has gone away almost entirely, my farrier went to town on his tootties the other day and its made quite the difference.

Teh thpunky man

Howie is all spunk now. Like holy cow. He looks fabulous too!!















He has a new favorite snack, old cattail heads. He noms them constantly, i hope they arent fattening. The cutest thing is when he blows the fuzz around afterwards. He is like a little kid.

Progress?

If there isn't very much change in his appearance, there sure is in his attitude. Holy cow, he has spunk lately. He actually participates in the daily pasture romps with the other two loons. He also has gotten less pissed when I dont feed him, he doesnt paw at the gate or anything, he just leaves and goes and grazes.

Under saddle he has been pretty fantastic, a little off in the canter but we are working on that. He likes to pick up the wrong lead on occasion. His trot is amazing, he is collecting like a champ and isnt as out of breath as he was at this time last week, the daily riding is great.

He really isnt much of a sweater, he gets a little damp under his bridle by the ears and in the girth area, but other than that he barely sweats at all. I need to make him work harder methinks, he can handle it.

On a bummer note, he doesnt get his feet done for another week and a half. He needs it bad so I may not up his workout times and intensity until those flares go away because I dont need him lame again.

Picture time showing his spunk and muscles :]

Hallelujah

Ribs. They're there. I felt them today. Granted I had to push really hard, but heck, they are there at least. Gives me hope that one day they may show a little or be felt easily. He gets his feet done next week, hurrah!! He needs them done bad, he flares really easily and right now he has a massive flare.

I was picking out his hooves yesterday before our ride and there was a freakin DEAD MOUSE embedded in some mud in them. Seriously? Disgusting. How the hell does that happen?

We have been riding a lot, I made him hop over a few logs and crossrails yesterday, fatty was not happy. He was so sweaty after his ride, he hasn't worked that hard in ages. We also have been doing tons of lunge work. Stupid animal had practically forgotten how to lunge. Or he was being a prick. Or both.

He has almost completely shedded out!! I am debating pulling his mane or not...Its really long and kinda ratty and he gets tons of stuff stuck in it.

I am working on a wicked farmers tan with all of this riding in the sunniest hours of the day.

The starting point

I can just tell that by the end of the summer these pictures will haunt me. Just look at how FAT he is. I hate myself for letting him be like this even if he doesnt seem to mind.

I cut his food rations nearly in half. The pasture is growing back now and he doesnt need the amount of hay he was getting. He is pissed, when he finishes his portion he stands at the gate expectantly and occasionally paws at it. He is allowed no treats and doesnt even get his small amount of grain in the evening like he used to. (Its like 1 cup of grain and 1 cup of sunflower seeds, not much, just enough to give the guys something to look forward to). I hope he still loves me after all this is done.

Exercise-wise- our rides are primarily flatwork currently. Lots of trot work, just a little bit of canter but not much, he gets as winded as the fat asthmatic kid in 4th grade P.E. Come on, you all know exactly what I'm talking about. We did some trot poles yesterday. That was an experience. He had no idea what in the world to do with them and came to a dead stop for the first couple runs. Silly boy. Eventually we'll be doing some weekly jumping, but not quite yet.

And here are the pics of his royal fattyness from 2 days ago. Eating. Of course. Here's what I see, feel free to correct me or add. His muscle definition (which is there I promise) is hidden under fat, especially in the shoulder region and his buttocks. He has almost a double belly thingy going on, super man boobs and what looks like a beginning of a crest. It is an unflattering pose for him too, slightly angled away etc. excuses excuses. He has a very powerful butt, but it is for sure a bit flabby. His tail is amazing though :] He has enjoyed the mud lately, it took ages to groom him, these pics were about halfway through the first grooming sesh.

Introduction

Well how do I put this lightly... My horse is pudgy. Festively plump. Big boned. Fluffy around the edges. Chubby. No matter how much I try to sugar coat it, one thing is certain. My horse is a complete and utter FATASS.

Howie is pretty much my dream horse. When I lost my best friend in horse form at age 10 to a horrific car accident I knew that I couldnt live with just 1 horse, especially since that one horse was arthritic and unrideable. I told my dad that I wanted a "big gelding" and shit, thats what I got. In fact, I got 3. Spoiled much? My dad is a vet who specializes in equine dentistry and has lots of good horsey connections, and he started asking around. Soon he heard that there was some sort of draft quarter horse cross about 20 minutes from us that was cheap, friendly and needed a home soon because his owner didnt want him anymore. He went and looked and fell in love. That night he gushed about him for the longest time, especially about how BIG he was. I was incredibly stoked to go see him. It went from there.

Howie had apparantly been shuffled through over 7 homes in his first 5ish years of life. He was an accident foal, the product of a bunch of percheron and belgian mix mares and one horny draft qh stud who needed his balls hacked. The mares were left on pasture for over 6 months and when the owners came by after a long time, surprise!! There was a foal. So we know that Howie is 3/4 draft, either percheron or belgian, and 1/4 qh. We can infer that he was treated pretty shitty by old owners considering the fact that he was only about 5 when we saw him and his withers and underbelly were dotted with those little white specks from a poorly fitting saddle. He also has quite the chunk missing from his tongue. Pictures will come eventually.

We had many ups and downs over the years, from me falling off on our first ride at home to us trying Parelli (vomit). He was green, I was young. His ground manners were flawless but as soon as you got on his back he was a completely different horse, spooky, bolty, shaky and all around terrifying. I grew to fear riding him. I didnt ride him for about 2 years, he was essentially a pasture puff. I started riding him again about a year and a half ago but due to mild arthritis that occasionally spikes in the winter, hoof abcesses and me being very busy and having another riding horse, he hasnt been consistently worked in a long long long time.

What does that mean? I'll tell you. You have a VERY easy keeper combined with pasture 24/7, an owner who is a sucker and feeds whenever her horse looks at her sad, and almost no work. Plus he is extroadinarily lazy.

So join me on my journey where I attempt to take my fatty mcfatterface from a 2000 lb horse to a muscular, very in shape beast.

And for your enjoyment- Babyish Howie (top) and Fatty Howie (bottom)