I taught her the exercises I do with Sandy so she can help me with her training while I’m recovering from surgery next month. Sandy was so wonderful for her. :)

      • Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
        1·
        19 hours ago

        Wow… She looks remarkably like my mom’s old horse, Soondy/Soondie (not sure which spelling was correct). She had to give her up in the early '00s and donated her to a YMCA camp in Michigan, but I genuinely doubt that horse is still around. The name, appearance and possible age certainly gave me pause.

  • jaybone@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    1 day ago

    What kind of exercises and training does sandy do?

    If she stops for a month does that set her back or she forgets and has to re-learn?

    • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      24 hours ago

      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.

      • jaybone@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        24 hours ago

        Oh that’s sad. I didn’t realize she was that old. I guess that means you cannot ride her then either? Was she rescued from some kind of abuse or neglect situation?

        • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.worldOP
          4·
          24 hours ago

          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.

    • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      1 day ago

      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