Canadian Equestrian

Seraphena: 2019 Drum Horse (25% Gypsy Vanner, 75% Shire); learning baby things Tory: 2009 OTTB (Obligatory Glory); passed away June 2023 I use a combination of the TRT method and positive reinforcement. I support science based horse training and management - barefoot, free-choice feed, low NSC supplements, and turnout with friends. Past horses on the blog: Percy: Quarter Horse; sold Star: Quarter Horse; retired Phoenix: OTTB (La La Boom) gelding; retired Asia: Warmblood mare; retired Rosia (Ross-a): APHA & AQHA mare; retired All horses are tagged with their name and breed.

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May 2022 - August 2023

A fresh haircut and a few hundred pounds difference! We just moved to a new facility and are still struggling with both saddle fit and foot rehab, so not sure if we’ll be riding her this year or not. We’re working a lot on in-hand exercises to build her hindquarters and topline in the meantime.

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Slenderhorse

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TW: Horse death (euthanasia)

We lost Tory on Tuesday night. We had been to the barn Monday night, my dad rode her around the property and she was totally normal. Tuesday we arrived and she looked like she has been through a war. She had superficial but large scrapes and swelling all over her face and the base of her ears, some on her sides, and the front of her back legs. She was standing with her eyes closed and didn’t want to move. We called the vet, gave her Banamine, and slowly brought her inside. Right before she came in she had completely liquid diarrhea, which was the first clue that something else was wrong and she probably went down and got stuck somewhere because of it.

Her heart rate was extremely elevated (68bpm, normal is 28-40) and she had a fever despite the Banamine so we rushed her to the vet. Ultimately she was diagnosed with right dorsal colitis. Her colon was extremely inflamed (the wall was 2cm thick, it shouldn’t even be visible on ultrasound) and had completely displaced her spleen and pretty much everything else. There was free fluid in places there should not be fluid. Her red blood cells were at 60%, a colic surgery case might be 40%. Her kidneys were extremely stressed. Her proteins were low and were only going to plummet as she was re-hydrated. She would have foundered from the toxins being absorbed. Treatment would have been tens of thousands of dollars and likely to prolong her suffering only to lead to the same result. Euthanasia was the only humane option.

I’m going to be honest, we were always waiting for something to happen to Tory because she was so prone to colic and she had an immune disorder, but to have something this sudden and this severe was still shocking. She was essentially a pasture pet but she was only 14. There were literally no viable options for treatment.

I’m not sure what we’re going to do now. It would be nice to have a rideable horse as Seraphena is still young and starting her is a very slow process but I’m not sure what the good options are.

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Haven’t updated here in forever! Seraphena is still a good girl. The goal is to get her started walk/trot this summer but I am struggling a bit with saddle fit and her continued spookiness. Her saddle really wants to roll to the right and I have a lot of anxiety around slipping saddles, so it’s limiting what I’m willing to do with her, especially as she wants to dive out of corners due to aforementioned spookiness (which I also hate).

I’m really disappointed as her saddle was a ton of money and I’m not sure if it’s a fit issue or just her shape, but I really can’t handle the feeling of instability, so I need to find a solution ASAP. I’ll get her saddle fitter out to look at it again and see if we can find somewhere to adjust, but I swear every time she comes out it looks totally fine. I’m just very frustrated with the whole process.

If we can sort out the saddle fit and the spookiness continues to be a source of anxiety I’ll get my barn owner to put a couple of months training on her. I want to do it all myself but I don’t want to be totally stressed every time I get on her, for her sake and mine.

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Correct panels are on the way but we have the all clear to use the saddle in the meantime! Not planning to do much riding until the summer but it is nice to have and I’ll at least start sitting on her a bit more.

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Just found your blog and want to say that Seraphina is basically a dream horse for gals like me! I can't wait to follow your journey with her and maybe get my own Drum Horse one day :)

Aw thank you! She’s a really good girl and I’ll try to make sure I capture more of what we do together.

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Still not heard from Erreplus about her saddle 😕 but in the meantime she is cute

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So after 6 months, my saddle came…. And it came with the wrong panels. 😞 We ordered it with their special shoulder relief panels and they made it with regular ones. My saddle fitter has assured me they will rectify this and has told me I can use the saddle that came in the meantime but I haven’t heard back since. Pretty disappointing given it cost 7x more than Tory and was already delayed 3 months! But alas, the vet recommended waiting until Seraphena’s 5 year old year to get into real work with her so there isn’t too much rush.

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The most perfect Roman nose ❤️

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Perfect visual of how I feel about the weather rn

Thankfully after a full week of highs around -30C the weather breaks on Saturday and we can return to our regularly scheduled playing around.

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Frosted pony ❄️🌨️

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Modelling her new bridle

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She’s a powerhouse

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Saddle comes next week!!!

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Cute pic from before the highs dropped to -18C and barn trips have consisted of nothing but feeding and running

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She getting thicc

By the time her saddle arrives she’s going to be a totally different horse 😌 When we did the tracings for her saddle she was quite under developed in the right shoulder, but based on this I think it has evened out quite a lot! The difference is very obvious in the groundwork patterns - she used to fall in so badly to the right and now she’s able to load outwards.

July - November 2022

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So fluffy