Lilys First Fall

Well, it was bound to happen and it did! Lily had her friend over to ride Val, and while Lily was showing him how to do it, Val stopped, shook, and Lily came off. She was pretty upset but got back on and I'm proud of her for that! Now she laughs about it.

A Valentina Update!

I realized its been awhile and I've noticed SUCH a difference that I had to show some comparison pictures.

This is the day she came to us

And today, approximately 6 weeks later

Valentina: One Month!!!

Happy One Month to Val! She is doing SO well. Very slightly and very slowly, she is putting on pounds. Lily is still right by her side every morning feeding her, brushing her, and "riding" her, and Val is soaking up the attention.
I spoke with my vet and we are going to retest her in about a month or so, and re-adjust her medication if necessary, although the vet did say that sometimes it can take up to 6 months or longer to see the real effects of the Prascend.

She's been getting short lunging sessions every day with Lily, maybe 10 minutes at max, and she is getting stronger and stronger. She really needs help on her hind end, and thankfully, our property is very hilly, so she gets lots of walking exercise throughout the day.

The other day she rolled and I just about cried. I thought "Well, if she can roll around and get herself back up, she must be doing alright!"

Admittedly I haven't been taking alot of photos this past week, so my apologies!

Valentina Week 3

Val is getting better and better! She has most definitely been packing on the pounds! Lily has ridden her three times this week, and each ride has been better than the last. This last ride, this morning, Lily trotted for the first time on her own! Proud mama!

Val's butt on Sunday

 

Lily's first time trotting on her own!

Val gets a pedicure!

Valentina had her first farrier visit today. I missed it because I was at work,but the farrier called me and reported that she was great, he didn't want to take too much off at once, so he'll be back in a month. I rushed home to see her tootsies and they look fantastic! Very happy. And grateful to have a farrier that I can have come while I'm gone, and do his thing without me! I wish I had some before shots, but that's ok!

Valentina: Day 14! 2 weeks!

More and more positive updates on Val! She's doing really great, appetite is wonderful, and she has more pep! She bangs on her door for breakfast, and trots up to the barn for dinner, which are all excellent signs!

 I experimented by trying to get her to eat her pill out of my hand, and its working, so no more dose syringe, for now!

She's been switched over to Triple Crown Complete, and soaked timothy pellets. She gets as much grass hay as she wants, which equals out to about a flake 2x/day. I'm not so much concerned about the hay, that's sort of her filler to keep her busy.

I ordered Gleam and Gain 60, which should be arriving shortly, and I'll add that in to get some more calories in her. On the days that I can, I've been giving her a "snack" when I can, to help space out the meals, but because I work full time, I can only really do that on the weekends.

My friend, who is a wonderfully talented photographer, came to the house to take some pictures, and I am so excited to share them, because they turned out beautifully! All credits go to KCK Photography.

Had to put one of Sam in there!

Valentina Day 10

The little old lady's getting some spunk! Giving Sam meanie faces,and today she trotted up to the barn for dinner! She's a little off when trotting hills but on flat ground she is fine so I hope with more muscle, exercise, and weight she will be 100%.

Valentina: Day 8

Well, Valentina has officially been here one week! She's doing great, settling into a routine (well, as much as we can, we've had monsoon weather the past 2 days so they've been inside 24/7).

Today Lily took her for a short ride, she is definitely feeling better because she was being a little ornery (aka, being a typical pony). Nothing bad, just wanting to eat grass and/or head back to the barn. The nice thing is she's small enough and responsive enough that once Lily figures out her quirks, I think she'll do really well with her. I have to remember to find some daisy reins. I have the kind that goes from the poll to the saddle, but I think they actually might be too big! I was thinking of looking for the kind that are kind of like side reins.

Valentina: Day 6

Call me crazy, but I think I see a difference in her weight! She's been on her old feed, TC complete, soaked alfalfa, and free-choice hay. I'm hoping I'm not seeing things!

My plan is to switch her to a low NSC feed, and I've had several nice people offer samples of different kinds, so I'm not wasting money on bags and bags of feed! So far she has eaten timothy pellets, alfalfa pellets, the smartpak supplement samples (smartgain and smartprotect), wellsolve l/s, and amplify. I think now that she's feeling  better, her appetite is getting better!

Valentina: Day 3

One thing you must know is, NEVER wake me up. It will cause you much pain and suffering.

However, if you are Lily, and you come in at 6:30 am to ask me if its time to feed Valentina, you're ok!

Valentina always appreciates cozy jammy hugs....

Valentina: Day 2

On our second day, Lily got up early and drew a picture for Valentina. Here is is:

We decided to let her walk around on her for a few laps, to get her muscles moving. Lily weighs all of 35 lbs, so my thinking is that little bit of work will help Valentina build her muscles up. 

After that, Lily groomed her, and took her out for a short graze. Then wouldn't leave the pasture, and they had a little private conversation.

Valentina: Day 1

I wanted to create this blog to chronicle little Valentina's progress. Its hard to see the differences day-to-day, so I thought if I write it down, at least I can use this as a reference!
We found Valentina through craigslist; she was a free-to-good-home ad. We went to check her out, and the woman had rescued her and a few other horses from an abandoned property. Unfortunately, Valentina wasn't faring so well, and once tested, she tested positive for Cushings. The woman was able to get her on the meds she needed, and start her on a good diet. What the woman felt she really needed was a little kid to love on her. Enter...Lily!

So, Valentina came home with us on 9/25/12, with the help of my ever-enabling pony loving mother. We got her home before Lily got home that night, and after dinner I told her it was time to feed Sam. We went down to the barn, and once we got down there, she knew something was up. This was her face before she peeked in the stall.

After seeing what was in there

Pony kisses