# Shelby - my big, black DIVA of a mare



## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

I've had Shelby for about 4 years. She is an Egyptian Arab/Quarter cross I bought for a teenager who was riding with me.
The teenager quit riding pretty soon after since she discovered boys and they took over her life.:doh:

I never took the time to train shelby to ride alone. I just took Cotton unless someone else was riding him and I rode Shelby. Now that I've lost cotton, shelby and I are trying to reach an agreement where we will go out alone and she won't kill me. It's a work in progress. That girl has a LOT of attitude.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

She's such a pretty girl! 

The first horses I ever rode were Egyptian Arabs. I loved them, even though they could be stubborn blanketty blanks.  

I hope Shelby has more of the easygoing QH attitude<:


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

Megora said:


> I hope Shelby has more of the easygoing QH attitude<:


Unfortunately - not a chance of QH attitude. She is full of ME attitude and a bit of a complicated ride at times.

Don't you like how diplomatically I said that?????:


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Shelby is beautiful.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

She's a stunner! What a beautiful girl! How tall is she?


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

She's about 15.2, but I've never actually measured her. She is way too fat and I have got to start riding her to get her weight down, but she surely is a big pretty girl.

She has always only had a scant handful of grain 2X a day when Cotton got his grain. Now she gets alfalfa cubes soaked in hot water 2X a day in an attempt to ward of colic, but not a large amount. Other than that, she stays so fat on hay. The vet recommended I change her over to fescue so more fiber and less nutrients, but they had me change to bermuda when Cotton coliced last year so I have 11 round bales of bermuda to go through. It will take even fat girl many months to do that.

I call her a diva bacause she truly is one. If there is a wrinkle in her saddle blanket, I have to stop and remove her tack in order to fix it or she truly witches out. Some blankets are ITCHY so she uses me to scratch her back with while I am in the saddle.:uhoh:

Hopefully I can find someone to ride with for a while and I can work with her a little more safely. She surely does not like riding out alone and our ground is too "not flat" for an arena. Even the round pen is on a slope.:doh: That fat girl can sure get some air when she wants to.:doh::doh::doh::doh:


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

Shelby is beautiful. She sure sounds like a handful! Be careful on those rides for now, until you get someone to go with you.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

My fat boy was on Timothy once he was retired and couldn't be ridden. Even when he was being ridden, he NEVER got an alfalfa round bale or he'd go nuts (all the other paddocks got them once a month, and the schoolies once a week) when being ridden. 

You give her alfalfa cubes twice a day? Holy crap - my guy would be off the rafters with that! He only got soaked alfalfa cubes at week long horse shows so he wouldn't start to get tired by the the 3rd or 4th day. Even then, he'd still have the energy to spook at ANY little thing, no matter how "tired" he was. 

Just out of curiousity: can you explain the rationale behind the soaked alfalfa cubes preventing colic? I've never heard of it before...is it just the extra water content?


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

She is so pretty. Hope she gets easier for you. 

I have noticed that a couple of ads for horses for sale, where the ad says, "selling because my girls discovered boys".


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

Ranger said:


> My fat boy was on Timothy once he was retired and couldn't be ridden. Even when he was being ridden, he NEVER got an alfalfa round bale or he'd go nuts (all the other paddocks got them once a month, and the schoolies once a week) when being ridden.
> 
> You give her alfalfa cubes twice a day? Holy crap - my guy would be off the rafters with that! He only got soaked alfalfa cubes at week long horse shows so he wouldn't start to get tired by the the 3rd or 4th day. Even then, he'd still have the energy to spook at ANY little thing, no matter how "tired" he was.
> 
> Just out of curiousity: can you explain the rationale behind the soaked alfalfa cubes preventing colic? I've never heard of it before...is it just the extra water content?


Well shoot- the vet told me to give it to her. It is only about 1 gallon once soaked and full of water. It is the extra water, the salt I add and the supossed "Fact" that they tend to drink well after a high protein meal. Oh yeah - and it keeps her guts functioning....... That's all I remember. I do keep a heater in her trough and carry warm water out there twice a day also.

When Cotton coliced last year they told me to get rid of my fescue and change to Bermuda. that cost me a bit since I gave away 5 round bales of fescue to have room for bermuda.:uhoh: Now they told me to change back to fescue. (the round bales are bermuda - not alfalfa - she'd kill herself for sure).

I was told not to give a bran mash more often than once every 6 weeks because it can cause imbalances. The more I ask the more conflicting info I get.

I asked about Cotton eating acorns before too and they said it wasn't a problem as long as he didn't eat a bushel full. I still think there is a strong chance that is what caused him to colic since he also coliced the same time last year and that is the only common denominator I can think of.

Just what she needs - more energy and attitude.
I forgot to mention one of her "quirks". She is "high hormonal" according to the vet (and yes she's been checked and ovaries ultrasounded) and she lactates almost all year. She might quit now that it is very, very cold. She also gets all studly over a mare in season to the point that the mares will set up in their breeding pose.:doh: She is also demanding of any gelding when she goes into season. Poor Cotton - he never quite knew what to think. End result? The vet said just leave her alone is she isn't toooo bad.


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## maggie1951 (Apr 20, 2007)

She is beautiful i sure miss my days at the stable's:uhoh:


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hmmm...well, I hate to go against the advice of a vet, but if you're feeding the alfalfa cubes MAINLY for the water/roughage intake...then I'd probably swap to something like beet pulp. Alfalfa's calciumhosphorous ratio is pretty imbalanced which is why I was told only to give it at horse shows (as an energy booster), not a day-to-day supplement.

Both alfalfa cubes and beet pulp cause horses to gain weight, but at least the beet pulp won't cause the "I'm outta here", airs above ground attitude and it's more balanced than the alfalfa. You need to soak it for a few hours before feeding (I usually soaked it for at least 8). A handful of beet pulp with hot water over it, will soak up and swell to almost a bucketful. Which is why you need to soak it before feeding - you don't want the swelling to happen in a horse's gut.

In the winter, I usually give Virgil a handful of grain (weight is no longer a problem since he switched to flakes instead of round bales) with some black oil sunflower seeds. I mix it with hot water and make a "mash" out of it and for special treats (once or twice a month), a little bit of sweet feed (also an enegery upper) and carrots/apples/molasses. Also, if you want her to drink a little more, you can put a lashing of salt in it and make sure she has free-run to a salt and mineral lick. I found out years ago that my horse wasn't getting enough minerals. The barn owner would give them free-choice minerals in their paddock buckets once a week and Virgil would eat them all. Once I started to supplement minerals/vitamins in his grains, his coat turned a super dark shade of chestnut, almost liver. The new place he's at has huge cow-sized mineral lick (and salt ones) so his coat has stayed fairly dark.

As for acorns causing colic...I'd have to agree with you on that one. Acorns are toxic to horses and though some vets say only in large quantities, it really depends on how sensitive your horse's system is. And everyone who's been around horses knows just how sensitive these big creatures are! I'm so sorry you've had such a crappy time with colic. It's such a such a scary thing!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Just seeing this thread now. She's a beauty.

I agree with Ranger. Sounds like she's getting 'rocket fuel'. Our boys get 2 small yogurt cups of 12% pelleted grain (Patriot), morning and night. Daz gets only one. We feed grass hay. Because they get so little grain, we feed SmartPaks with Horseshoer's secrect, Smart Lites, and B1 (for calming). Daz gets an EasyKeeper grass supplement and Hershey gets halluronic acid (in treat form) for his hocks. Everybody is really mellow on this regimen.

Keep working with her, maybe tone down how 'hot' her feed is and I'm sure you'll see a big difference.

When my Rocket was a baby, I had him on a high powered food because he was growing so much. When it came to the point where he was on his hind legs everywhere I led him, I started calling it "Rocket fuel". When I dialed it back to normal, he started walking on all fours again. Give it a go....we learn as we go along.


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

She has a mineral block and a salt block.
I am feeding her the rocket fuel for the fiber, salt etc.
I'll check with the vet who is mostly a horse vet tomorrow and see what she recommends. This came from my all purpose vet (who yes diagnosed Cotton with a UTI last year when he coliced:uhoh. I'll get a friend to ask her horse vet too and I'll let you know what they say.
I think it was the calciumhosphorus ratio that was deemed a problem with bran mashes.

Her attitude and airs above the ground was there before the alfalfa cubes, but she might get a teeny bit better with at least less.


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## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

I think she's a real beauty.....good luck with getting to know her again....


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

coppers-mom;1309702I call her a diva bacause she truly is one. If there is a wrinkle in her saddle blanket said:


> She sounds like me!! If I have a tag on the inside of a top, it will absolutely drive me crazy all day. Pajama tops hiking up my back or wrinkles in the fabric that I am supposed to lie on? No no no!!!
> 
> You go girl....make sure Teresa understands these itchy and wrinkly things have got to be attended to.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

We give all our horses B1. It helps calm them. 

SmartB1® - Calming Supplements from SmartPak Equine


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