A long update. I rode Qutie twice since my last post. Both rides were pretty terrible. Both were out in the dressage field. Both were filled with anxiety, not wanting to go forward, threatening to balk and most of her other tics. At the beginning of the first ride she kicked B and Lisa at the same time. Lisa was riding B. Qutie kicked B in the ribs and got the steel toe on Lisas boot. No real harm done to either. I tried to Kronk Qutie under saddle the second ride. I may have learned something. Kronking is all about breathing. A former race horse knows how to gallop and breath, therefore you cant fix a breathing issue that doesnt exist. Qutie was extremely anxious. It took some doing but I got her into canter. Once going she can GO! Shes smooth to gallop and fairly easy to steer and rate, but shes not calm. There was a lot of head tossing and drifting towards B on every lap. We went right for several minutes, then I decided to change direction. She refused to go left. I did discover she can do a counter canter full side pass at a gallop though. I wonder if that will be on any of the dressage tests? I also discovered that she can run farther than I can ride. After quite a long time, my old carcass began to give out. Qutie, on the other hand, was just getting warmed up. I got the feeling we could have galloped all day and not gotten any change in her. Then there were the rubs on my knees. DONT TRY THIS AT HOME OR ANYWHERE ELSE. I made the mistake of galloping her in shorts and chaps. The chaps got wrinkled up under my knees and now I have two dollar sized raw spots. OUCH!! Last night right before dark there was a ruckus in the shed in pasture one. Damascus came out of the shed looking stressed. He pawed with both front feet alternately and looked at his right side over and over. I went out to see what was amiss. Qutie had double barreled him. She kicked him just behind the ribs with her left hind and got him right below the hip with her right hind. I knew it was her and not B that kicked Damascus because the hoof prints were exactly the shape and size of her hind feet. Between her kicking every horse on the place at least once and kicking Lisa twice, combined with her erratic behavior and unpredictability, it got me thinking. When she kicked Lisa a few weeks ago, I nearly sent her home. I had a long talk with Sara about her. Sara said she was on the fence about Qutie as to her adobtability. She also said she didnt want anyone to get hurt. We put Qutie back on Regumate to see if that would help. It did, but apparently not enough. She is still erratic and unpredictable and she still kicks. She has yet to do any serious damage but Lisa and I feel it is only a matter of time before she really hurts one of us or one of our horses. So, it is with sadness and a feeling of failure that we have decided to send Qutie home. Shes never going to be a horse that will be attractive to adoption. It takes a very skilled horseman to deal with her. Generally people with that level of skill are not going to be interested in a horse like her. I think the best thing for Qutie is to live out her life at Days End and just be a horse. As much as I have enjoyed most of the work I have done with her, there isnt much point in continuing if there is no benefit to it. Between that and the danger she poses to us and our horses, plus the kids we have coming here for lessons, the decision seems the right one. I will be interested to read the comments that are sure to follow. In fact I encourage you all to write and tell me what you think.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 13:19:29 +0000
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