Back on Track...Updates Since June 2011

I apologize for neglecting this blog, but I promise to keep it updated at least monthly. A lot has happened since the last post, so it's time to get this back on track! Izzy is now 18 months old!

Here is Izzy from a week old, to July 2011 (approx 4 mos old). She had changed so much and was finally starting to look like a real horse! 

In September 2011 Izzy turned 6 months old. 

October 2011 was a busy month for Miss Izzy. She was starting to really change and go through major growth spurts (physically and mentally). She had decided that there was no way to eat enough grass in 24 hours, so she gorged to the point of colic, to the point of an almost ruptured stomach. From then on out she's had to live with a muzzle for 12 hours a day while on grass. 

Also during October, Izzy participated in a parade in the town of Vienna, Va with approx 30,000 people, marching bands, sirens, running/screaming kids, police escorts and...bag pipes! She handled everything without a second thought and behaved herself a lot better than the grown, adult horses.

She also experienced her first snow! 

And got to go trick or treating around our rural neighborhood! 

During November she had a bunch of firsts. She attended her first show (as a spectator and babysitter to competing horses). She handled all the new surroundings like a seasoned pro. She walked right into the indoor arena without a second thought and politely stood quiet while the show horses where in the ring. 

She got to go walk around the XC course and decided on her own free will...to give it a shot!

In December Izzy experienced her first Penton Christmas! 

She was quite impressed with the traditions! We also moved barns, the day after Christmas. Izzy was now finally able to be out with a full herd of horses. (The horses and animals at the other farm, were not accepting of Izzy and were dangerous for her to be around). 

The new farm has a great ring, with lots of fun things for a baby's mind! 

January was a quiet month, with a bit of wintery weather. Izzy was settling in to the new farm very nicely and was making new friends! 

February was quite uneventful, with abnormal highs of 65 degrees..being a fuzzy pony was very hard! 

In March, Izzy celebrated her first birthday with lots of family, friends and supporters.

In April, Luna was in the hospital for a few days and Izzy got to go pick her up. It's pretty sad when you have to use the yearling to get the adult horse anywhere near a trailer...

In May, I got kicked by a horse I am kept with. She lacerated my leg and was only a few millimeters away from causing major damage (arteries and tendons) as well as potentially fracturing my leg.

She received over 35 sutures and had to be in a full leg splint on stall rest for over four weeks.

Izzy made a full recovery and has a lovely scar to remind her to stay away from other horses around feeding time! After stall rest, Izzy sticked/measured at 13.3 hands.

In July, Izzy had her first dental appointment. 

In August, her Appaloosa blood came out..and spots appeared! 

In September, Izzy started working more on ground work and manners, to prepare for the October show.

In October, Izzy participated in her first show (FEH/Sporthorse In-Hand). She received a score of 69, and consistently receiving 7's on movement/gaits and her conformation. 

Izzy has had a pretty successful first year and a half of her life. She will continue her in hand training and ground work in preparation for the 2013 USEF season to compete as a Future Event Horse/Sporthorse In Hand. She will be registered with USEF and USEF's Performance Sport Horse Registry at the end of 2012. For the most part, she will continue to grow and flourish through the winter season.

I will try to update the blog with training updates as well as a monthly update on her well being and happenings! 

For regular updates subscribe to Tylir at https://www.facebook.com/lubbazzy, or follow Izzy on her own page at https://www.facebook.com/orphanisabel?fref=ts 

On the road again (almost)

Today, I took Izzy on the trailer. It was a bit difficult, but she's so willing to do what you ask she went on without much fight. I should have got her on a month ago, but things have been so crazy lately.

She enjoyed her dinner on the trailer and willingly backed off.

She was sticked at 10.3 hands yesterday, she is growing so fast and getting SO stocky.

She has also outgrown her foal halter (almost, it still kinda fits but is snug) and has moved on to the weanling halter that was so graciously donated to her. It should fit for a few more months (it's pretty adjustable), and then I have another bigger one that should be the next size up :)

I believe her next farrier appointment is this coming week, and then she should be getting seen by the vet in a few weeks to get some vaccines and a look over.

She is on full turnout to a grass field and her regular pasture, with access to the barn. She is still being turned out with Luna, and they're very much bonded.

Here is a video of her yesterday with Luna. There are lots of videos of her on my youtube, feel free to watch them and subscribe so you can get all the latest Izzy videos.

Thanks to everyone who still follows the blog!

Two months old...

Izzy is now two months old, as of yesterday. She is getting so tall and strong. She's in the process of getting weaned, and only receives 2-4 bottles a day, depending on how hungry she is. She is out with Luna, my grey thoroughbred mare, all day now. They're turned out on the big field, and our neighbor's grass field during the day. If the weather is bad they're turned out in the barn with access to the smaller paddock. Izzy now eats about 2-4 qts of a pelleted feed, with 4 cups of foal lac pellets mixed in. She receives a little bucket at every feeding (AM & PM) and then has a free choice foal feeder, so that she can eat when she's hungry and Luna can't steal it. She's already like a big horse, well at least she thinks she's all grown up ;).

For about the last month, we haven't done any work with her, we've just let her be a horse and let Luna teach her how to be a horse. She has forgotten some of her manners in that process, so we may have to have a refresher course ;)

You can see her latest video here

Life Lessons

Little Isabel has decided to eat like a big kid during feeding time :)

Until she discovers that Luna has the good food...

Then she has to get sent to "time out" for stealing food that's not hers..

Isabel, the Rainbow Pony

Izzy sure is turning into quite the rainbow pony! Her black roots in her main/tail are growing daily. And don't get me started on the hair on her face! She's growing in black, grey and all sorts of hair once that chestnut hair falls out! In this picture you can see how dark she's getting. Not a week ago, her hair on her face was grey!

Then you can see here the grey hairs coming in!

She's just going to be rainbow :)

Update

I haven't posted in awhile, the horses and school have been keeping me pretty busy. Izzy is growing so much! It's unbelievable.

She is now turned out with my horse, Luna, during the days. They're best of friends and Luna takes great care of her.

She and Luna are stuck in the private paddock attached to the barn, because Luna decided to gash her hip open. Izzy doesn't seem to mind the small paddock because she has a buddy. The weather hasn't been great, but hopefully if it stops raining Izzy can go out in the whole pasture and really stretch her legs. I will try to get a new videos and pictures soon.

Izzy's Fashion Statement

Anyone else think she's trying to make a fashion statement? I guarantee you'll see this look at fashion week...

Today I spent an hour or so AT THE BARN (sorry if that's unclear and I made it sound like I worked with her for an hour). It took forever to get everything blown up and put together. We worked on desensitizing, child proofing and bomb proofing Isabel. She could care less about any of it, and wouldn't let me take the gator off. It's perfect because it adds pressure to her sides, but doesn't put weight on her back! Then I tied balloons to it, after letting her play with them. She didn't even budge when almost all of them popped under her tummy. She just went walking around with a bunch of balloons flapping behind her, didn't even blink an eye. The only thing she didn't care for was the hoola-hoop (the ones with beads/beans inside of them). Later I will practice loading on the trailer with her and maybe I can think of some more "scary" things to do with her.

Here is the link to the video of her with the balloons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KgAacaIksE

Farrier

Isabel is getting so BIG! She got to meet Aaron the ferrier. After he got done with Luna, he checked out the little one. He gave her a little bit of a filing and she was super well behaved. Aaron said that Tylir has done an amazing JOB. Izzy then went to run around the field for about an hour. Then she guzzled about two quarts of formula and took a nap.

Hello

So we took Izzy on a short little field trip (literally, hehe) to our house for my dad's birthday on Firday. She was very good and loved getting out.

Playing in the yard

Leading (she got a tad bit frisky, but corrected herself and was a lady the rest of the way home)

She has a busy week ahead, tomorrow we're loading on the trailer and then going for a walk off property! Then on Tuesday she has her first farrier appointment!

One month old!

Izzy turned one month old yesterday (Thursday, April 28th, 2011) and I've officially had her for a month as of today :)

Here is the video I made for her to celebrate. I think we've decided on the show name "Wide Eyed Dreamer".

Thank you for all the supporters, you guys have been absolutely amazing. The support has definitely urged us to get through such an emotional and physically demanding task of raising an orphan foal.

Hello

Everything is going good, Izzy is getting stronger and healthier than ever. I hope everyone had an amazing weekend and had a good Easter with your family and friends.

My camera is broken, so hopefully I will be able to borrow one to continue doing the daily Izzy videos on youtube. The video setting works on and off, but it takes like 10 minutes through the filming to actually show up. Pictures are a dud (as you can tell, this picture < is from right when it started malfunctioning).

Izzy will be seen by a corrective farrier (Luna's farrier - he is amazing!) Tuesday, I should have pictures/videos from that because one of my parents will be taking the morning off. Her legs are getting a lot better, but this way he'll be able to catch anything now that may show up later. Not looking forward to two farrier bills now, but hopefully Izzy's will be a lot cheaper than Luna's. Hopefully he'll say her legs are straight enough to go out for more than 2-3 hours at a time, so that way she can be turned out with Luna during the day.

Happy Easter

We just wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone and thank you once again for all the support!

Today Isabel was turned out with Luna and everything went well. This picture was from yesterday when I introduced them again. Hopefully if things continue to go well and as Izzy gets bigger, I can let them out together for longer periods of time.

Izzy's Dad, Videos and Updates

So I wanted to post a picture of Izzy's sire, I haven't been able to find a picture of her dam though. I took some, but haven't been able to find them! I'll have to go back when there isn't bad weather. Her breeder is supposed to call me when she figures out Izzy's exact breeding, so then I can let you guys know what exactly she is ;) She's a mix of Appaloosa, Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Arab..but not sure how much. Her dad is quite the stud-muffin!

Here is the video from Wednesday (or maybe even Thursday)..she is such a little energy ball!

Izzy will be four weeks old on Monday, which is a huge deal. I can't believe it's almost been a month. It literally feels like I just got her last week! I guess that's because I've been running around and barely sleeping. Although, we've had a lot of help the last week :) Once it dries out, I'll take her out to the drive way so we can get a height on her and maybe calculate what she'll be when she's done growing.

I calculated how much it costs to feed her each day - $10-14. That's if she only eats two bottles a feeding, and goes two-three hours between feedings. We had a very generous donation of a 44lb bag of formula, that should last two weeks!

Pent up energy!

Today (Tuesday) was a good day. She had visitors this morning and turned into a little nutter, since it had been the first time she had been outside since yesterday afternoon.

Then she got to spend two hours outside. We worked on the tarp and leading. She was terrified of the tarp when it was on the ground, so I'm going to put it outside her stall when we go outside, so that she has one choice: go over the tarp to go outside. Then we'll try to make it a fun game outside. It's much easier when there are two people there, by yourself it can get a little overwhelming. Tomorrow (if the weather is good in the morning) we will load her on the trailer and feed her there. She's already getting stubborn about things, so I need to get all the basics and desensitizing done by the end of the month. Trailer loading is my big thing, since Luna doesn't load. In the next few days, I'll be making scary contraptions with pool noodles, balloons, streamers, flags and bandanas. Hopefully with all the big horses watching the baby, they'll realize what chickens they are! ;) I can only hope...

After we got done doing "work", she had over an hour to just be a baby. She enjoyed running, eating grass and helping me collect rocks from the pasture.

I promise I will have an online photo album up and running ASAP, for those who are not on Facebook. For those who are on Facebook, I promise to upload more on her fan page daily.

In the next month, I am going to try to do a fundraiser on Izzy's behalf to help raise money to geld these stallions so that no more mares can be put at risk. The situation where I got Izzy is not the best situation and something really needs to be done. A mare died a few weeks ago while foaling, mares are starting to be inbred and foals are not getting enough milk or are born with defects. I'll keep you guys posted on any fundraising we decide to do.

PS - For any donors who have not received their note and picture, please email me your mailing address at: equine.success@yahoo.com so I can get those to you right away!

Oooooh...and if you're interested in volunteering or taking a feeding/babysitting shift, email me at the above email address to set something up!

Three Weeks Old!

It's a miracle that she has made it this far, but she has had a ton of support, love and really good vets!

Lots of work today

Today we worked a lot on her training. We worked some more on picking up her feet because she's started getting frisky about her hind end. I sacked her out some, gave her a sponge bath this morning and then introduced her to the clippers. We'll be introducing her to the bag whip, trailer, tarps and streamers tomorrow and over the next few days. She seems to have a lot of fun with all of this, super curious and brave now.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and was safe in the bad weather. Izzy enjoyed quite the gorgeous day today, and even got to go into one of the other fields to run. She really enjoyed the change of scenery!

She'll be cranky this week with all the storms in the forecast, but hopefully she can get out a few times during the day. If she doesn't get to go outside, she is such a handful in the stall. I can't blame her though ;)

I am going to create a flickr or photobucket account and that will be attached somewhere on the blog in the next few days. I just want to have one place to upload the pictures for those of you who are not on her Facebook page. It's amazing to see her progress. Almost three weeks ago she was ribby, weak and could barely stand, let alone walk. Now look at her! She's starting to bulk up really quick and can really pack on the muscle.

Again, thank you to all the donors, volunteers and supporters. All of you are greatly appreciated! If you're interested in donating items or volunteering your time - please contact me at: equine.success@yahoo.com.

Enjoy your Spring Break!

Rainy Weather

It's another yucky day here, lots of rain and thunderstorms today. Yesterday was an awesome day for Izzy. She had a new babysitter, which she really took to, and she got to meet a new horse! At first she was terrified of him, but she put her big girl pants on and finally decided to be brave! By the end she was trotting along after him and not scared at all! Laddie was such a good sport and was very calm and quiet around a strange little thing.

We're going to start measuring her height to record her growth, now that she's going to be at week three in the next few days. That's a huge milestone and another big week. She's progressing constantly, it's amazing. She's stronger, feistier, hungrier and bigger every day. She's even almost the same size as one of the foals that was born on February 23rd. It's amazing what good nutrition and love can do!

Thanks again to all the donors and volunteers, each and every one of you are greatly appreciated!

Gorgeous Weather = Fun Day

Today was a gorgeous day, sunny and not too hot. Izzy sure enjoyed it! She played all morning, then again at noon. Afterwards, I decided to take a nap in the back of her stall on some horse blankets, just to keep her company. She can get a bit lonely sometimes and really loves having someone just around her while she sleeps. Let me tell you..that was the hardest she's slept in a long time! She was out for almost two hours. :)

Then her Auntie Tori (my sister) came to babysit and she played outside for a long time. She ran and ran, ate some grass and talked to the neighbor's horses. She sure loves all the attention! Later in the evening, while we were out riding, her "Old Man" came to play with her. She was so frisky and happy to be outside in the sun. I swear she's just happy to be alive.

No videos for today (I have one, but it's boring so I need to cut out parts of it). I'm trying to post a daily video of her on youtube, so you can search "Isabel, the Orphan Foal" and you should find something.

Feeder Success???

We got Izzy to drink out of the feeder. Took a few tries and some patience, but she finished her meal. We're going to continue feeding her with it and hopefully rig it so that she can eat on her own tomorrow. That'll make life so much easier!