Jasmine

A sweet but nervous old mare who will try her best even when she is
worried. She is popular with the visitors due to her lovely colour and
pretty face. She is stabled next to Mr.Pickwick who adores her and gets very upset when she is out of sight.

May 2007
Jasmine is doing well and we have managed to keep her laminitis under control so far this spring.
She is a little sore on her hooves after a recent visit from the farrier and we have her in a small paddock with Mr.Pickwick which doesn't have much grass, so the risks of her becoming poorly are kept to a minimum.
She doesn't seem to mind being in this smaller paddock as she gets a lot of fuss from the public, occasionally Mr.Pickwick will get on her nerves and we will hear her squealing and when we go to see what all the noise is about we see her giving him a real telling off.
We used Jasmine for the young children to groom on our first pony day of this year, and she was a real little angel and stood so patiently while she was pampered. She looked beautifully well groomed afterwards then she was used to teach the children how to lead a pony properly, as she was so quiet and well behaved she was a real favorite and had a well deserved extra treat at the end of the day.
Sadly she was too sore on her hooves to used on the more recent pony day for the leading work but she stood nicely to be groomed by two young girls and looked very nice afterwards.
Hopefully she will be well enough to join in the fun and games for the next time.

July 2006
Jasmine has not been too good on her hooves for a while and has had a visit
from our vet who says she is still suffering from a condition called seedy toe which is a result of changes to her hooves after her laminitis attack last year.
To help her through this she has been kept in a small paddock for a few weeks
so she doesn’t have to walk too far, and we have been bandaging her hooves
up for the majority of the time to give her some support. She had improved
recently so we are hoping she will make a full recovery. Other than this she is really healthy and has been keeping Mr.Pickwick company after he had to be separated from the rest of the herd. She doesn't’t mind staying with him and we know that her is no threat to her as he only bullies other male ponies, and also as Jasmine is the boss in their relationship, Pickwick knows not to mess with her or he will get a bite or a kick to put him in his place.


March 2006
Jasmine has not been too well lately as her poorly hoof is still causing her
problems. Some days she is more lame than others but we did expect this as
hooves take a very long time to grow so it will be a while until it is back in a normal strong hoof shape.
Apart from this jasmine has improved a lot with her back problems. She was treated twice by a Bowen therapist who treats our animals at a discount and she works wonders on the ones with sore backs or legs.
During Jasmines first session she was quite nervous and very stiff along her
withers , lower back and poll. She was very unhappy to be touched in these
places but soon realized how relaxing it was and calmed down. However, by the second session she was totally relaxed and took it all in her stride. She was found to be less stiff and has been moving around a lot more loosely and evenly since her treatments.
We really hope to keep up with jasmines Bowen Therapy sessions as they
benefit her so well.

January 06
Jasmine has had some ups and downs over the past couple of months. She has had a problem with being lame on one of her front hooves. This is caused
by her hoof changing shape after her Laminitis in the summer and now there is a gap between the outside wall and the inside of her hoof , which allows mud & stones to get stuck between them. She now has to have the hoof bandaged all the time to stop any mud getting in there & to keep it clean  and dry.
She hates having her bandage changed every day but always tries to be good. We have managed to get Jasmine used to having a rug on to help with her arthritic back .She has taken to this really well although it needs to be  done very carefully & gently as she is frightened of the sound of the rug  rustling.
She is very lucky to have been bought a new rug by a lady called Kristin who used to look after Jasmine, it is a gorgeous red rug with a tartan inside  which fits her well & keeps her old back lovely & warm. Thanks Kristin!
 

August 05
Jasmine is over her Laminitis now and back in the Shetland ponies field. We are keeping a close eye on her though to make sure it doesn't come back and her grazing is still restricted.
She has definitely come right out of her shell compared to the nervous little pony she once was. She is now groomed by children as visitors stand round and watch, if this had happened a year ago she would have panicked but now she takes it all in her stride.
The only problem we still have with her is her striking out with her front hooves when we try to clean them out. This was a real problem when the vet was treating her hooves. She once badly kick a new vet on the wrist which was quite embarrassing!
We are working on this though, and soon hopefully she will learn to behave
herself.
 

July 05
Jasmine is still staying in our special paddocks so that she can't eat too much grass. Her Laminitis is very much improved and she is able to walk and trot around much more easily.
She has the company of Mr. Pickwick and Muffin, as they were missing her so
much that we had to move them in with her to keep them happy.
The vet is happy with Jasmines progress and we hope to be able to put all
the ponies in together again soon as they hate to be separated.

Tuesday 5th April 05
Today Jasmine had a visit from the vet as she has been lame on her right legs. At first we thought this was her back causing her pain again but watching her walk it became obvious it was her legs or hooves. The vet has suspected that Jasmine has slipped in the field and bruised or sprained her legs, or she could be coming down with a disease of the hoof called Laminitis.
Jasmine has to stay in her stable for a week and we have to cold hose her legs three times a day for twenty minutes each time. She is not allowed any treats at all, only water and hay in case of laminitis (which is a disease caused by eating too much sugar, especially from grass)
Of course we are finding it very difficult having to withhold carrots and apples from Jasmine, specially when she is calling out from her stable to her field mates out in the paddocks! But we are looking forward to seeing her go out again although we will have to keep an eye on her as she does become very playful.
We will keep you updated on Jasmines progress.

Jasmine with her friend Mr Pickwick