Adventures with Ozzie

 So my hubby thought Ozzie was named after Ozzy Osborne, and that is the only Ozzy I could think of, but our fabulous farrier Mr. Ed Spitzer (Thanks Ed for making the trek out and agreeing to take us on!) said “Oh like Ozzie & Harriet,” that made me smile. Yep, that’s it. I did not give him that name, but I think it’s growing on me.

So we’ve had a couple ups and downs, and we are back up again.

In trying to find the ideal spot at Aliso Ranch for Ozzie he was first in a shared paddock with one other gelding. A large quarter horse named Teagan, all seemed find at first. Friendly Ozzie just wanted to share feed bins, and meet all the horses next to him. But then Teagan was keeping him hopping. I don’t mind a horse that keeps his paddock mates moving, that’s why we want them in a big paddock, but Ozzie just couldn’t relax, and was getting chased a bit too much. So we put him in a smaller private stall for a couple days, and then into another paddock.

The paddock was bigger, and with two other geldings, Bo and Cuervo. Cuervo is a golden palomino, Cuervo Gold, and Bo a pretty, large paint. At first all seemed well. Cuervo and Ozzie made fast friends, again Ozzie just wanting to get along with everyone, share food and space and have fun in a herd. Well one evening I got a call from the stable manager that another boarder saw Bo really going after, and he was getting some significant bite marks. So they decided to pull Ozzie out, and apparently had to pen up Bo, just to get him off of Ozzie. Poor Ozzie.

So they put him back in a private stall, and I made it out the next morning.  

Ozzie got bit up pretty bad on his rear end, and two spots under the saddle. Damn, well that will mean several days of no riding. He was pretty tender to the touch, and very sensitive. One bite was visibly swollen. I cleaned them off, put some magic salve on it, and gave him a little Bute. Fabulous Auntie Vicky palpated him, and mentioned that his rear end was pretty tight too. I gave him a light workout to keep him lose and just hoped he healed up pretty fast cause Lost Padres is coming up.

So that was all last week, he had about 6 days of no riding, starting with light workouts and turn out in the fabulous green turn out pastures, progressing to harder workouts to yesterday, when I checked his back. No swelling, no apparent tender spots. So I decided to put the saddle on, and just lunge him a bit and he how he felt.

He felt great, after lunging for a bit, both directions, going easy first, then a bit hard he just kept looking at me, “Aren’t you going to get on?” he seemed to ask. If you read my first post on this blog, you’ll recall my sense about him is that he asks you to get on his back. He can be a bit pushy hand walking (just a tad) and seems hotter when he’s not under saddle. But when you get on him, he settles.

So I got on up, did a pretty hard arena work out, and then decided to stretch our legs on the trail a tad.

Ok, so several weeks ago I tried to go out on our own. Well, we ended up hand walking. At one point, I had to work for about 20 minutes to get him past a certain spot. When I spoke with our trainer afterwards she asked if I had a crop. Yep, I did, and carried it with me this time. Just a light tap on his haunches let him know I really meant that we were heading out, and he went just fine.

So now we are looking down the line at Lost Padres. Registration confirmed. My friend Brooke will be trailering us. Going to be fabulous. So I’m making my packing list, and shopping list. Ozzie’s gained a bit of weight, but we’ve settled in well. He is now able to cruise by a bunch of cows mostly un-fazed, mostly.

I’m planning a longer ride later this week to ensure all the tack is adjusted properly. I’ve adjusted the breast plate numerous times, lowered my stirrups, bought a couple different nylon latigos to adjust my center rigging, and am super excited to put on the new saddle pad. It’s the same kind he was going in before I bought him, and boy is it pretty. Ah the simple joys in life. And so the ride continues. Cheers.