February 2018

Like many horses, the cold weather makes Athena super frisky! She loves to play and dance, especially when it is especially chilly. I could sit there all day and watch her. I think she looks like a beautiful ballerina! <3

I kept working really hard on our flatwork. I focused on a lot of lateral work, roll backs, and getting Athena to relax. She was beginning to really pick up in the shoulder and go to work!

In the stock horse world it is common to block a horses’ tail so it lies flat. Although it is very illegal across AQHA, APHA, and PtHA, the rule is not really enforced and many people still block tails. I had been getting lots of pressure to block Athena’s tail, and while I do not judge others it just isn’t for me. People where telling me that in order to be successful in the pen Athena’s tail needed to be blocked and I was just heartbroken.

Here is why I am *personally* against it.

First off, the procedure is illegal so most vets will not agree to do it. This leaves the task to people considered “experts” to come in and do the job. While these people may do hundreds of tails a year, in the end they are not medical professionals and there is a lot of risk and liability in that.

I have personally seen tail jobs gone wrong, where the horse’s tail lies permanently to one side or infection or abscess sets in the muscle and rips open flesh. Honestly if you pay attention at horse shows, you can tell which horses have had it done. Sometimes they have little bumps of scar tissue at the base of their tales or white streaks, spots, or other coat changes at the base of their tales. In the end there are just too many things that can go wrong.

When I was being pressured into it I was told the horse would lose total control of their tail. They would not be able to lift their tail to go to the bathroom or to swish away flies. Athena gets eaten up by bugs and the thought of her not being able to swish them away seemed so cruel. Could you imagine standing in a room filled with bugs and having your hands taped to your side, not able to get the flies off your body and face? How maddening would that be?! Not to mention not being able to lift her tail to go to the bathroom increases her risk of infection or other injury.

*EDIT* I have since been educated that there are different kinds of blocks that allow the horse to lift their tail a bit. However that was not what was presented to me.

I always told myself that Athena’s health comes first, and if I had to surgically alter her in order to be competitive then we would find something else. It just seemed to go against my morals and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I started doing research and discovered the miracle of weighted tails. The people pressuring me to block her tail told me a weighted tail would never work, but I convinced them to let me try. I purchased a little pouch with weights in them and put them in her tail with her fake tail. Like magic, her tail laid flat and she looked great!

It seemed like as soon as we got over that hurdle we were faced with another. Athena began to slowly go off and then sometimes full on lame. At first it was intermittent, but then it was very subtle but always there. You can see it in the video below. Little did I know the battle ahead we would have to figure out what was going on with this mare!

Thank you for reading and being so supportive of Athena and I!