Free Jumping Costs Too Much for Jimmy Choo

Well today I thought would be a great day to free jump Jimmy. We've never done it before & it seemed like a great way to see how big he could jump.

I can't even tell you how WRONG I was on that one!!! Typically I ride for 30-45 minutes and the "cardio" days I will canter for at least 30 of the 45 minutes I ride, even gallop most of that time. I can't make him sweat if I try & it's never because it's so cold or anything like that, he is just so hyper-fit that he won't break a sweat or even puff his lungs.

Today, after 15 minutes of attempting to free jump, Jimmy was lathered in sweat, eyes bulged out of his head, and panting like a dog on a hot summer day. He had a complete & total meltdown and I absolutely never say it coming. He LOST his mind and had an emotional meltdown.

Silly me, didn't entirely see it building until it was too late & he was in a 100% "flight" mode. I calmed him down enough that he would come into me and let me put reins on him. I put the vertical down to an X and slipped onto him bareback & we cantered it a few times. He WAY over jumped it, but at least he was calmer about it. Poor guy just had a complete meltdown and needed his mom to make him relax!!!! Clearly, he gets his confidence to the jumps from his rider & without that he doesn't trust himself!! I never realized how insecure he was. Today was truly and eye-opening experience!

The video is garbage and I don't have the patience to edit it down (it's over 20 min long) so I'm just going to post some screen shots of his finer moments jumping. Enjoy!

One of the earlier jumps. Probably 3' or so. Little.

Getting bigger. This is the biggest I've jumped on his back.

Much more comfortable over this one.

This is my favorite - it shows his lack of logic in this situation.
He thought this would be easier than jumping the actual vertical...

4'6" vertical. He pulled it down but look how pretty he looks!

Note the excessive hair between the middle of the X & his front legs.
Oh, Jimmy. You poor, nervous thing.

 
 

Jimmy Goes Back Outisde

Today started off on the wrong foot, so I didn't end up being able to ride anyone or tape the greenies to sell. Hopefully we can start taping them tomorrow.

Jimmy's legs looked marvelous today & I even turned him out in the indoor so he could prove he felt better. HE DOES! I bandaged him back up & put him outside to play the rest of the afternoon. I took lots of photos today, so enjoy!

Left hind - Day 3. The water used to clean the wound
was clean, but the leg around the wound isn't!
Don't mind the yucky drip ;-)

Right Hind – Day 3. Nice & Clean & lookin' good!

Happy to get some exercise, but wants to go out to
play with his friends on the other side of the door!!

Mick… JC's Partner in Crime!!

The evidence: note that there ISN'T a top rail to the left.
Naughty Jimmy. He split it in half.

I even took a VIDEO today!!!! So you can all see the rambunctious little man in action. Happy Saturday!!

Quick Recovery From Jumping The Fence!!

Recap: Yesterday Jimmy tried to jump into the outdoor arena. In retrospect, I'm pretty impressed. Julie (BO) says Mick (17hh TB) was chasing JC and when JC went to turn & get away, the fence to the arena was there so he just lurched himself with all that he could to try & pull a fast one on Mick. Under the circumstance, it's astounding that he got as far over as he did. Cleared it with his front feet and pulled it down with his hind probably when he'd landed already with his fronts. He hasn't learned "Kick up ass to get out of the way of big jumps" yet. Who knew he had that much scope, anyway? Needless to say we WILL be free jumping him when all of this is behind him, because now I'm curious. Can you really jump that high...and clean, Jim? If you could set yourself up to that 5' fence, would you leave it up? I want to know. Maybe not really 5', but at least 4' just to see. Why not? He'll be healthy again.

Jimmy received SMZ's last night, this morning and this evening along with one gram of bute this evening in case he was still sore. As of this morning (Friday) he was still very sullen and had that look on his face that said "I am really sorry for what I did. I feel stupid."

When I got out there this evening he was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and moved easily in his stall to greet me at the door - a very good sign! I slipped his halter on and he stepped right up out of his stall and out onto the cross ties. He stood well while I took his bandages off. He didn't bleed through the Telfa pads too badly - not enough to mark the vet wrap so I took the vet wrap off VERY carefully so I could reuse it. I buy it by the case, but c'mon...An entire unmarked, perfectly good roll? YES I will save myself the $1.50 and reuse that sucker! I'm a master at the three "R"s.

He stood comfortably while I SCRUBBED the wounds. Some more dirt had surfaced over the 24 hours he was wrapped up, but the actual wounds themselves looked WONDERFUL. Very shallow, nice pink color, and once I scrubbed thoroughly they looked nice and bright & clean - with no new blood! HOORAHH!!! The scrubbing didn't seem to bother him a bit. I put new antibacterial/antibiotic foam on to clean and dress the wounds & covered with Tefla, (recycled!) vet wrap & pillows/standings.

Now, are you curious to hear the BEST news?? NO HEAT. NO SWELLING. NO TENDERNESS ANYWHERE. Not around the wounds, not in the fetlocks behind...and most importantly, not in the FRONT FETLOCKS EITHER!!!! HOORAYYYYY JIMMY CHOO!!!!! The best horse in the world! I left his fronts unwrapped and he is no longer going to be receiving bute.

Jimmy & I hangin' out.

I took him for a walk around the aisle of the barn for about 15 minutes so he could sniff and stretch a little. We did our carrot stretches too & he didn't have any stiffness at all in stretching, no tenderness in his neck & he didn't have any pops today either, which is comforting to me.

I'm going to keep him in one more day, which I think is his last day on SMZ's. I want to make sure those wounds are nice and clean and on their way to growing hair back before he goes back outside in the snow - and I think I'll have Cass polo wrap his back legs so he has some coverage over those nasty marks on his legs when he goes back out.

Tomorrow Cassie & I will be taping the greenies for sale & I'll be posting everyone available for sale online :-) Stay tuned! It should be a very fun day!

A Note From Jimmy Choo...

Jimmy is really on top of getting his Christmas cards out this year!!!

Enjoy the season and give thanks for all of the wonderful souls in your life!

Looking Forward

I'm looking forward to being like this again:

Someday soon, Jimmy!!! We're on our way!!!!!!

E-Mails From Jackie

I have been looking through the blog trying to find if I ever blogged the e-mails I received from Jackie - the woman who originally rescued Jimmy. I'm sorry if this is a recycled topic, but I think it's cool and at least for my own record, I'd like to have them online. Enjoy :-)

January 20, 2009
So glad to hear he is doing good. We did rescue him along with his three 1/2 brother and sisters. We did not get to see his mother and not sure what breed she was, but the mother did not die. His father was a sorrel and white paint. The man we got him from was disabled and could not care for them and his wife had just left him. I am not a rescue but I do love horses. I saw the add in the paper and went to pick out one. When I got there I had to take all four because they looked so bad and starved. They were kept in a stall and there was no food that I could see. We kept a colt, my mom has one of the fillies and we keep in touch with the owners of the other filly. They are all doing good with their training. I do have a picture of him when we got him,he had never been touched. I will find the picture this week and send it to you. It is so neet to see him. Please send more pictures or e-mail them. You can even call me.

September 15, 2009
 found a picture of Jimmy Choo! I will have my daughter scan it and send it to you tomorrow. They all looked so bad when we got them! I did not want to take pictures because I hated seeing them like that. My youngest daughter is 9 and loves looking at Jimmy Choo's pictures and reads what you have wrote. I will send you a picture of Rocko and Karli (my 13 year old) He has turned out to be a great trail horse but that is about all he knows.  Can't wait to send you the picture.

Rocko & Karli – Jimmy's Brother

Jimmy Choo - Day of Rescue (May, 2005)

 

 

 

Jimmy's Sister "Whinny"

I asked how old he was when they found him...Jackie replied
September 18, 2009
My guess is between 7-8 months. They were all so little for their age. I was worried when I wormed them that one would die. They just stood around, never playing like most babies. My dad trimmed Jimmy Choo's hooves before he left. We had to tranquilize him. He was so scared! He had never been touched by people. We had to find them homes quick because they were living in our arena. They did not have shelter but they had good food, they did not seem to mind.   My whole family hears about Jimmy Choo and what you have done with him. It is so hard to believe what has become of the little unwanted horse! I tried to get my dad to take him so he would stay in the family. After seeing what you have done with him we are sure glad he found you. 

Black Filly "Abbie" – Jimmy's Sister

Having Jimmy is just about the most amazing journey I've ever been on :-) I'm grateful every day to have him in my life.

Do You Remember The Moment?

I am following the lead of Marissa from Tucker the Wunderkind and I want to share with all of you what "the moment" of knowing when Jimmy was going to be my horse. You know you've all had it with your horses and I think Marissa describes it best in her post:

"For a second there, all the practical concerns (Are we suited for each other?  Can this horse do the job I want him to do?  Do I have a place to keep him?  Can I afford this?) are silenced.  There is just you and this horse, the rest of the planet falls away, and you know that you belong together, and you'll figure the rest out from there."

For me, it was the Fourth of July, 2005. It was really hot and sticky and I was going up to visit Doobie with my mom & my puppy for the first time in a few weeks. I was a full time student at The Illinois Institute of Art & rarely had the time to make it out to visit 'Ole Doob. I was excited to see him and as we pulled up into the parking area near the barn, I spotted a little worm-filled belly with scrawny legs and and a wimpy tail in the "New Horse" paddock. The little guy had a fly mask on, so I couldn't even see his face.

I've always had a "thing" for babies - so seeing the length of his tail was basically like holding up a sign with flashing lights saying "JESS COME HERE RIGHT NOW, IT'S A BABY" with an arrow pointing to the paddock - and since the majority of horses at the farm were well into their 20's I really was a heat-seeking missile. He looked no more than a year old, had ribs pointing every which way, a belly full of worms, and a nose so tiny and soft I wanted to hold it and kiss it for days. Since he had the fly mask on I couldn't see the beautiful white blaze covering his face, I just saw the tip of it and that pink nose with an upside-down heart poking at me through the gate.

He nuzzled my puppy, and followed her around the paddock. She darted through his legs, he curiously watched her with the "What's your name?" look on his face. The second I held his fragile nose in my hands I looked at my mom and melted. She knew it was all over.

The ride home I called to find out what the story was and why he was there. Mom and I talked about how "I didn't need a baby right now" and how "I'm still in college, I need to focus on my school and my career" but I just couldn't stop aching for that tiny nose and those spindly legs and that belly full of worms. I'm a "healing" personality so when I see something or someone in need I just desperately want to make it better.

Two more summers passed and the Fall of 2007 I finally asked to break that little colt. I started with playing with his feet and brushing him, and after a few weeks, I was on his back. He was a natural and the more I worked with him, the more I fell in love with him. I always said to my parents, "It'd really be nice to have a back-up horse...for when Doobie isn't around anymore..." and "Someday I'd really like to have a horse like Blaze, he just is perfect." (Jimmy's name at the time) They argued that "Doobie will be your last horse" and that "That Blaze pony is way too small anyway" because at the time, Jimmy was only 14hh, at most. He was really a peanut, and I looked ridiculous on him.

Jimmy's first ride, September, 2007

I had cried myself to sleep every night through December & then Christmas Day came & went. My mom anticipated that Dad would cave and buy me "the pony", so she hadn't bought me any other gifts. By December 27th Dad just couldn't take it anymore. He said "How much is that damn pony? I'll write you a check if you quit crying about it." And so it was, just as my mom saw the determination in my face July 4, 2005 – I wanted that baby and in the end, I got him...for $300. He's perfect and I couldn't imagine things any other way.

*******UPDATE******Looking through old photo albums this week, I found photos of "Our first kiss" - The first day I met Jimmy and that magical first time I kissed his nose and fell in love with him. It's not often you have a photo of "The Moment". Unbelievably blessed!!! Enjoy :-)

Jimmy Loves Lucy

Sunday Lucy had a wonderful lesson on Jimmy. He, of course, was a saint.

Saturday with me all he could do was startle and spook at any slight movement of anything. It was REALLY windy, and freezing cold, but still unacceptable for him to be such a spook.

Thankfully for all of us, he was the picture of perfection for Lucy. Here are some lovely photos of him from Sunday. Enjoy!

Jimmy avoiding me in his dry lot...

"Are you sure I have to come inside now Mom?"

Lucy cooling Jimmy out bareback :-)

Jimmy Gives Pony Rides

Last night a few of my friends came out to the farm to visit with Jimmy and he gave them all pony rides. He was a wonderful sport. Although not always pleased, he was always patient and for that I am grateful! Here are some photos of my clownish friends riding Jimmy!! Enjoy your weekend!!!

Lindsey, Jimmy & I

Kristen (aka x10) & Jimmy

Scott being the goofball he is & Jimmy :-) 

Jimmy Choo Afraid of the Dark

I had such a splendid ride last night. Tim didn't make it out there so I just tacked and hacked. I was the only person there after Cass brought all the ponies in and the solitude was bliss. I had my iPhone on speaker playing one of my favorite playlists on shuffle & worked a some more on lateral movements.

Jimmy completed one full long side of a BEAUTIFUL shoulder-in at the walk and I was positively elated. He's getting stronger and better with the trot work as well, but not quite to the point where I feel comfortable beginning to ask him to move laterally at the canter again. As a 4 year old he had it down, but with this recovery I'd like to build him up slowly.

After our ride I had to turn the lights off in the arena and the thought never crossed my mind that: 1. It's dark out. 2. It will be REALLY dark when I turn out the lights 3. Jimmy might not like the dark. Well what do you know. My silly self left Jimmy alone while I walked over to turn out the lights, then walked back to grab him...in the dark. Needless to say, even though I had the iPhone playing music & I was humming along I couldn't see him & he couldn't see me so when I reached out for his reins I accidentally bumped him in the nose and absolutely terrified him. He blew out at me and snorted and I could tell from the sound of his feet he was backing up away from me. I kept walking towards him and said "Hey buddy it's alright. Heyyyy...Heyy..... C'mon" and he walked right into my hands. I rubbed him, he calmed down, we walked out into the moonlight and right into the aisle. What a silly idea of me - just goes to show you that even the most seasoned equestrian makes mindless mistakes! I'm so lucky he's trusting and the sound of my voice calms him almost instantly.

He's now started his new feed to help his weight and muscle. It is VERY high protein (30%) and my feed guy told me I have to promise to work Jimmy and make sure he gets out because on this high of a protein he'll kill us if we don't let him work!! I noticed he had a little diarrhea down his back left & remnants of it on his sheet - meaning he laid in it last night. I stuck around long enough (he had great gut sounds, I knew it wouldn't be long) for him to have  BM and it was nice and solid. THANK GOODNESS. I anticipated there would be some adjustment in his tummy from the mega high protein feed, I'm happy to see the discomfort period has already passed. I'll keep my eye on him though, just to be sure.

While I clean my tack every night, I like to leave Jimmy's stall open so he can visit with me if he wants. He usually munches on his flax seed & then peeks out to join me. He KNOWS the rule is he can't step his feet out AT ALL or he gets pushed back in. Usually just an "Ah ah ah!!" and he steps back. Last night he was just belligerent and thought he really needed to have both feet out of his stall. He had the cutest look on his face so before I reprimanded him and closed his door (punishment when he doesn't listen the first two times I ask) I had to snap this photo:

He's just the cutest horse in the world! Love my Jimmy Choo!!!!

Hopefully Tim can get out to do Jimmy's shoes tonight! I've got a date with my Bill :-) Oh, and did I forget to tell you?! We're getting married 11.12.11. It's official. <3

Happy Horse

Jimmy and I had another great hack last night. He trotted very beautifully - minimal "hopping". Since his recovery he really loves to trot with his head in a hunter frame naturally, and if I pick up the slack in my reins he's gone from doing "hoppy" trot to just moving upward into the bridle so he's in more of a "dressage" frame. It's very relaxed and very fluid. He's such a pleasure to ride, I could just trot around on him all day long. I love that now I actually can!

How Jimmy is hacking without contact.

How Jimmy is hacking with contact.

Hopefully soon I can get ACTUAL pictures of us hacking!! He cantered some more last night also, and I decided it's time to build upwards instead of just forward, so I slowly would collect him and sit in the saddle, asking him to come up under me. He really doesn't like this much, but that's just too bad. Being a jumper, he needs to be as elastic as possible. ESPECIALLY with his small stature - he needs to be able to move from a regular stride (for him, about 11' instead of the standard 12') to a LONG stride, to a short stride if need be.

After our ride I felt his fetlocks, and I was concerned to realize that they were warm and puffy. Before the ride I always feel them and they were cold and solid, so I was really concerned. I gave him a gram of bute and called my mom on my way home. STUPID, JESS! I didn't think about WHY he would be swelling, so my mom explained it to me. Giving him a gram was the wrong thing to do and here's why: His cartilage was severely damaged from the bone chips, so it's still healing, even though the flesh and bone around the incision sites are fully healed. Because the body's natural reaction to healing is to promote blood flow to the area - blood filled the cartilage to help it heal and caused the swelling. He showed absolutely no signs of pain or discomfort the entire ride, so based on that alone, I should NOT have given him bute. I know now for the future - LAY OFF THE BUTE!!! It's such a habit that I have to (shamefully) admit I don't even think about it. Swelling? Gram of bute. It's naturally ingrained into my brain and last night I definitely should have stopped to THINK about why in the world that swelling and heat was there. His body is doing what it needs to be doing - HEALING THAT CARTILAGE! (With the help of Flax, Cosequin ASU, and Adequan IM, that is....) Next time I will think twice before dosing him up.

On an emotional note: I am very impressed with how quickly he adjusted to this new barn. He's very calm and relaxed and just seems happy all of the time. He always has his ears up in a comfortable way, not an "I'm new here WHAT'S THAT?!" type of way. I'm astounded with how fluid he's moving after a few days on that indoor arena to hack and every day I get a text update from the owner of the farm letting me know he's doing great. She loves him and says that they're snuggle buddies. Jimmy is reminiscent of a puppy in that regard - if someone is up for a snuggle, he's all in to be your buddy!!

Tomorrow I will be teaching Dori at the old farm and hacking Jimmy at the new farm at some point. I can't express how grateful I am that things are working out so beautifully. I am truly blessed that this transition has moved as gracefully as it has!!

Great First Ride

I love the new barn!!! It's such a perfect fit for us. It's blissfully quiet, only one or two other people there at any given time & the arena is just big enough that Jimmy and I can get work done. It's smaller than I remember from my first look but it's absolutely big enough for us to work in all winter long. It's Jimmy sized.

He was very "hoppy" tonight at the trot, but Cass had her music up pretty loud & he'd never experienced loud music in an arena, so he was more distracted than he's probably ever been. I'll attribute the "hoppiness" to distraction - the wind howled so much I could barely hear myself think so he couldn't have been comfortable in that respect either. He cantered more tonight, also. Slowly I'm bringing him up more and more each night. We went about 3 times around each direction at the canter, which this arena might be 3/4 the size of the old barn's outdoor, so I'd say that's a good amount to ask him to step up for tonight. I hope to go out tomorrow and ride again. I might bump back up to three nights a week, because I'm just so stoked to have a place to ride.

Here's Jimmy in the indoor after our ride tonight, being excellently cute. His weight looks great & he starts his new high-protein feed tomorrow so the muscle development should really pick up. Love this big guy!!!

My little nerd.

Such a good boy.

Kyla Meets Jimmy Choo

Today a friend and coworker of mine brought her 4 year old daughter Kyla out to meet Jimmy. Kyla sees horses from the car window and always says "Mommy!!! Mommy!!! Horses!!!" so Amie thought it would be a great activity for her and Kyla to get to do. She asked me and of course I said yes.

Jimmy hasn't had a ton of exposure to children, but every time he has had children around, he's always been just like a puppy - very in-their-face "I love you I love you I love you" type. Today was no different :-) He was a perfect, wonderful gentleman and took very good care to be nothing but on his best behavior around Kyla. He kept reaching out to give her a nuzzle, and he wrapped his neck around her to give her a hug. He let her brush, hug, kiss, and even feed him a cookie and not as much as a single tooth or tail hair was laid on Kyla the whole time.

Once she was comfortable around him, she wanted to ride, so Amie strapped Kyla's helmet on and while I got the camera ready, Jimmy stood for Kyla to sit up on his bare back. He had to have known she was up there because he stood STOCK.STILL. I asked her (after snapping 10 or so photos) if she wanted to walk and she said yes, so while her mom was holding her upright, I asked Jimmy to slowly walk forward. Not only do I love this horse because he takes care of me, but my goodness gracious does he take good care of everyone up there. My heart swelled as Jimmy very carefully took 5 slow-motion steps forward and stopped again, stood posing with his ears forward, and waited for us to take a few more photos before Kyla was helped down. I love my horse beyond words. Here are some photos of our wonderful day with Kyla (Courtesy of Amie's camera!)

Jimmy standing perfectly for Kyla to sit up on him.

Kyla said "Mom, can I have a horse?"

Jimmy trying to give little Kyla a hug & kiss

He was so sweet with her!!!

Jimmy looking back to see what's goin' on up there.

Absolutely cute as can be.

Look at those smiles!!!

Going for a walk.

Walkin'. Bein' cute.

Learning how to hold the rope. Look how interested JC is...

Baby kisses.

Struttin' his stuff!

Saddle on a Fat Horse

Upon taking these photos I realized how fat Jimmy Choo REALLY is right now...So that issue is next to be worked with. But here are the photos I've been promising of him wearing his saddle. 

The starting point. Fat. Jimmy.

Prestige Nona Garson – No girth.

  

Behind – No girth.

Left side – No girth

Top/front – No girth

With girth (NOTICE: Bill cleaning his stall in the background. LOVE him!!)

Behind – Girth

Front – Girth

Right Side – Girth

After I tacked him up I took him to the arena for some riding time...and he was so fat and wild the saddle bothered him so much all he could to is shake his head in despair - no forward motion, just UPWARD motion hints (never went up, he knows better). So I got off & threw him on a line. It'd been a while since he'd worked anyway (5 days) and he couldn't do anything but rodeo bronc buck in place. He just kept sqeualing and leaping straight up in the air with his butt. At one point he was even kicking out with his left hind - he kicked the fence when he went by (for the first time in his life) and realized why he never kicks the fence. He looked at my like "MOM! WHY DID THAT HURT SO MUCH?!?!?" This is NOT normal "Wild Jimmy" so I calmed him down, grabbed the saddle & put it on the ground. Soon as that saddle was off he lunged BEAUTIFULLY sound and was gorgeous. 

Then of course the explosion hit and he was so wild and naughty he slipped his back end out from under him - twice. It was slippery out there from all the rain we got the other night, so I wasn't about to let him off the line to suck his shoes right off his feet. 

This brings me to my next point - his feet are rocking. I talked to Tim, my farrier, yesterday & he said he's seen a huge improvement in 5 weeks from the shoes/pads and because I've followed his instruction on sealing JC's feet 2x a week with Venice Turpentine or Hoof Sealer. I will have a bigger announcement on that later today or tomorrow regarding our plans for the future.

Please let me know what you think I should do about the saddle fit situation. He's so uncomfortable wearing the saddle that he can't move, but bareback rides he gets incredibly back sore. I spoke with a good friend of mine who's in feed sales and he recommended a new high-protein "diet" feed for JC. We will be starting that in the next month and until then, his "Complete" grain has been cut from 4#/day to 1#/day. Also: I've told the barn owner he is allowed a maximum of 4 flakes per day. His neck is cresty again like it got last year when he was on stall rest. He's absolutely huge. It's amazing how not seeing him for 5 days can clear my vision so much. 

Should I lunge him or turn him out in the arena? No more riding until he's thinner again? Tell me what you would do if he were your horse, I'm definitely looking for suggestions. I hate to put a pad other than a baby pad under there because the tree is just too tight on him - or something is wrong because he has NEVER IN HIS LIFE objected a saddle. Never, not once. And this saddle, specifically, is what I've ridden him in since he was 3.