Farrier Visit

I should have awesome pictures of the three clydesdales running around the pasture and lining up in a row at the fence. But I don't. You'll have to use your imagination or find a Budweiser Clydesdale commercial on YouTube.

I held Axel and Cody and Diva, fetched Dolly, Steele, Danny, and Vinnie, and held Vinnie for the farrier last night. Everyone was on their best behavior. Axel was a little annoyed at having that right front knee bent and he kept wrinkling his nose and snorting. I've never seen him do something like that before, but he didn't pull his leg away and was much more cooperative with all 4 legs than he had been the last time Marv was out. He had a couple ticks, one on his nostril and one big yucky one on his forelock along with a lot of scabby spots from previous ticks. Ick. I keep spraying him with fly spray but I might have to bust out the Wipe for his forelock especially if I'm going to be gone all weekend, maybe I can sneak out on the way out of town on Friday and wipe him down. And someone please tie me to the sewing machine until I fix Cody's fly mask so save his poor pink nose.

Cody's crack isn't completely grown out yet and it passed the mark we made in his hoof so we could track it but it didn't seem to get too bad so hopefully it'll grow out this next time.

It was just too nice and cool to not try and ride again so after everyone was done I tacked up the old man in the arena. No yawning as I tacked. I got on and off a couple times because I really wanted the pad to be exactly right so I wasn't pinching anything. He was still not very willing and pretty darn lazy so it didn't go much better than our first post-chiro ride. But once again there was another horse in the arena and he has a hard time thinking about what he's doing and not paying attention to that other horse. It's part "I have to keep my eye on him" and part "he's not working why should I." Yes, I know, we need to work on ground driving. The next test will be out on the road but I didn't have enough time last night so we just stayed in the arena.

I'm not sure how I like the Tacky Too pad. I know we use them a lot in TR but it just seems like his back gets so darn hot under it. Maybe his back gets just as hot with the wool pad and I'm just looking for issues right now. But! there was a lot of long and low stretching. Still some yawning while I was riding but the long and low seemed like it was a good sign. And! there was a lot of licking and chewing. So maybe we're doing okay.

New Saddle Pad and New Horses

I broke down and went to Fleet Farm to find Cody a new saddle pad to fill in some of the gap from his lower than normal back. The chiropractor suggested that maybe if the saddle keeps slipping back it could be causing some issues with Cody's back. So it was time to bite the bullet. I found a saddle pad that someone must have tried on their horse and not liked so it was marked down by about $15 or so. I did try and ride on Sunday but it was hot and sticky and Cody was feeling lazy as can be. He still had troubles with tracking left but he wasn't trying and apparently I wasn't either so we called it a day and just tried his new pad on.

J&J came home with a new team of Clydesdales so they hitched them up and we all went for a ride around the block. Sounds like the plan to keep Logan but he needs some time to recuperate from his weird horse shoe issue. They might then keep him and one of the new team but they were a pair at the sale so they ended up with both for now. The bigger of the two horses has blue eyes which I've never seen in a Clydesdale before. I think Logan is happy to have some friends in his pasture. He apparently owns the waterer though and frequently chases the brothers away from it.

Cody's Appointment

Just got back from Cody's chiropractor appointment. He definitely had some issues brewing. His left side was uneven from his right quite a bit which could explain how going to the left doesn't go as well. He had quite a few ribs out, I think 3 on one side and 2 on the other. And he was a little out at the poll. His neck is really stiff so the chiropractor instructed me to do some massage and stretching of his neck. The TTouch clinic I'm going to in a couple weeks should be a good addition. We walked him out then after some of the adjustments and he walked much quicker and the chiro said he was tracking much more evenly with the left. So we'll see how he feels in a couple days and if he'll go down the road a little happier. He did ask about what kind of padding I used for Cody's saddle and thought maybe some additional padding would help and to make sure the saddle doesn't slide back. So I'll have to see if I can find a low back pad that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.

S and her friend L thought Axel looked worse than the previous day so I brought him in to check hm out. He looked a tad worse since I rode him yesterday but nothing really of note. I groomed him up and checked for ticks and luckily didn't find any. His scabs are getting close to gone but there's still a few big ones that haven't loosened up yet. I fed him a double dose of MSM and put some DMSO on his knee before turning him out. He actually moved really well at that point so maybe the DMSO is starting to do something? I'll keep up the MSM and DMSO until I get his next Adequen injection and some Surpass to try.

Cody's Test

Axel is not ready to be ridden which makes me very sad. He's still lame on that front knee and he's not working out of it. Brought him in and put more DMSO on it and saddled him up for the first time since probably November. He was not pleased with having to wear a bridle or the saddle for that matter. Got on him for maybe 5 minutes. The first 30 seconds was a fit of head tossing and then he settled down but was Limpy McLimperson. As soon as I finish my rider evals and get paid from WCR I have to order more Adequan for him and I'm going to get some Surpass and try that for a couple weeks. I'm not sure if it'll have any lasting effect or if he'll just feel better during the time it's being applied but we'll see. Maybe if I can get him feeling okay he can start back to work. I think I'll have to add the MSM back to his diet as well. The MSM I could probably mix into a snack since he likes to eat it, that way it's easier for J to feed it instead of the straight powder. Poor Axel, I wish he felt better. I miss riding him and with only one horse it really puts a damper on my horse camping plans with Jeff. Especially now that I hear the trailer has it's new sheet metal welded on. It's almost time to paint!

So I decided that I should test Cody to see how he was feeling before our chiropractor appointment. Since Sunday went so well (save the trailer loading issue) I thought maybe he was feeling better about riding and it really was just time/work that sorted everything out and not necessarily a pain issue. He did yawn as soon as I got out his boots and saddle. He was pretty mellow as he has been the past few weeks otherwise so we just did a few minutes of circling and changing directions before setting out on the road. It was slow going. Lots of stopping and weaving back and forth but no backing up or bolting. The yawning increased the further from home we got but he seemed calm. Much calmer than he had been the previous times. We didn't end up going any further than the first field entrance but he turned around calmly and just sped up to a nice paced walk. I tried to make him bend and serpentine on the way back and he'd jig a little but that was about it. I'll take slow over bolting but a nice relaxed ride without having to poke and prod him to keep going would be nice.

We did a little trotting in the arena when we got back, I wanted to test out my theory that going to the left was worse than to the right. He wasn't nearly as bad as he has been but he is more reluctant to the left. We'll see what the chiropractor says. We did manage to pick up a canter to the left from the walk on the correct lead. I'm definitely comfortable on Cody in the arena now and can canter and continue to ask to maintain that canter even if he gets a little scrambly. Not sure how I'd feel out in the open, I like brakes, but eventually we should be able to have a nice canter outside. Maybe we'll start by riding out in one of the pastures in back, at least we're a little more contained there. B wants to start doing more dressage so I'll have to put some letters on my little cone and she and I can go out back and pretend. And Cody seems to be almost getting some of the lateral stuff. Right now it's almost coming across as an evasion, he'll get up to the wall instead of turning and almost sidepass. I'll be interested in seeing what things change after the adjustment.

Cody still understands the front leg stretches but he's not quite into the back leg stretches yet so I'll have to keep working on those. I want to start stretching Axel as well but since he's been so sore I haven't wanted to start, maybe if we can get to a stable point we can start that and hopefully maintain.

Both boys are looking mighty shiny these days and nice and round. I really want to get out on more trails this year and I can't wait until the truck and trailer are ready. At least with just one horse ready to go I have room in the trailer to bring someone else and their horse with.

First Trail Ride this Year!

I ended up making it out to the barn for a few quick minutes between chores on Friday to check on Cody and do a little pre-assessment on how his attitude was going to be for our scheduled Sunday trail ride. He was a mellow fellow so we just did a tiny bit of ground work and that was about it. Axel is lumpy again/still (face).

I hoped for good weather all day Saturday while sitting inside at my computer and 10am Sunday morning rolled around and I was not disappointed. Short sleeve weather but not too hot. I groomed Cody and planned to do some lunging just to try and make sure our ride wasn't going to be a rodeo. But he was still mellow as can be. So we did a tiny amount of ground work just to get everybody's brain where it belonged and then we waited for B and Diva to get ready. I put on Cody's boots so I wouldn't have to deal with that at the trail and we were set to go. Cody hopped right into B's 2 horse slant trailer and we were off.

We opted for a close trip to UMore which was fine with me since I hadn't been there yet. Cody got off the trailer fairly quickly but the step down is a pretty high one so I don't blame him. And he didn't continue to fly backward he just zoomed out and stood there. He was a little sweaty but not as bad as I thought he might be. The first few miles of the ride we did a little jigging and some falling back/trotting to keep up. But he finally settled in and things were going great. He was getting pretty sweaty and the trail was mostly grass so I took off his boots right before we got to the slightly gravelly part. Whoops. He was fine though, hugged the side of the trail a bit more than I would like but it wasn't horrible. Maybe halfway through our ride we met up with a lady on a big black Perch/Standardbred mare so she joined our little group and Cody was pretty happy about all the girls. Other than one other group of horses we didn't see anyone on the trail, seems to be a kind of underused treasure I suppose.

Cody started to get a little tired at about the 3/4 mark and for a while I thought he might try and lay down in the sand but we plugged along. At some point he decided he knew the way home and kept drifting to the south despite the trailer being to the west. I don't think he would have appreciated walking the whole way home so I convinced him to continue on to the trailer. When we could see the trailer parking and our new mare friend had turned off to head home we decided to get down and walk. B's knees were hurting and my hips were crying for a break so we walked the last little bit. So the really nice trail ride with Cody being a real gentleman couldn't end completely perfect. He decided he wasn't going to get in the trailer to go home. We tried all the usual tactics: general encouragement and clucking, tapping on the bum with a whip, tapping his feet so he'd pick them up, lunging/circling away from the trailer. Nothing was working. The difference between this new refusal to get in and his past antics was that he wasn't acting scared to get in. He just plain wasn't putting his feet in. He had his head all the way in and he'd bunch himself up but he wouldn't step up. He was as calm as could be. Part of the issue was that there was a mare at the next trailer winking at him. Perhaps he thought this trailer wasn't big enough or the step up was too big. We finally took Diva out to see if more space would help. But in the end we had to go the butt rope route and he finally got in. I suppose we didn't spend too much more than 30 minutes trying, maybe not even that long, and he got a ton of scratches and praises once he made it in. I guess we have something to work on when my trailer gets done, it'll be interesting to see if it was a size or step issue since my trailer is larger and has a lower step up.

When we returned from the ride Cody waited patiently to be asked to step out of the trailer but he was very hesitant about stepping down. B suggested we put him back in and of course once we started to ask and he balked we had to keep going til we got it. B and J locked arms and pushed him in after the usual tapping and whatnot didn't work. It went faster than before but he did end up tripping and landing on his knees in the trailer and scratching his left leg. Poor Cody, just can't figure out why he will get in really good for a while and then decide he's not going to do it.

After all that we decided it was bathtime. So Cody got his first bath with shampoo since I bought him. I'm not sure if that was a reward or not but I think it would have felt good. We scrubbed down Diva and Cody and then gave them the rest of their spring shots before turning them out. I was surprised to see that Cody didn't find some dirt to roll in after his bath but he is kind of a neat freak that way, he likes to be clean most of the time. Axel got his shots and we stood around and chatted for a while and before we knew it it was almost 6pm.

Bugs?

I do not know what's up with Axel or Cody for that matter. Axel has the lumps on his face again only this time it's not behind his jaw or under his chin, it's just lumps on his cheeks. Which I don't see how that could be the swollen salivary gland diagnosis we had last time. It looks more like bug bites or bee stings. And judging from the fact that the last two times I've come back from the barn I've found a new itchy bite on my side. So I fly sprayed him, I just hope it stuck before it rained.

Cody had been hiding in the shelter when I arrived but walked over to the fence to visit with friends before I got out there to get him. So he could walk fine. But when I got up to him he was doing what I can only describe as "a potty dance." With his back end. You know the dance little kids do when they have to use the rest room? Cody had his back legs crossed and kept switching them back and forth like he was dancing. He kept stepping on his own feet in the process. I saw no bugs or cuts or anything and when he finally let me lead him to the barn he walked just fine. The best I can figure is that he was trying to scrape the mud off his back feet? Who knows. I cleaned him up and did a tiny bit of ground work in the arena and then hand walked him down the road. Conditions were not great, it was windy and threatening rain but we made it. We made it all the way to the culvert with no freak outs. He stopped twice but that was it. Cars even passed and he didn't use that as an excuse to run home. Granted I was on the ground and he behaves a lot better that way but it's a start. He got a lot of fruit ring treats and some grass when we got to the culvert. We walked much faster home but on a loose lead line and I didn't have to run to keep up. So I put that in the win category.

Of course good things always seem to be accompanied by bad, I just heard that Jeff's niece's other horse died this week. She lost her first horse a month or two ago and now her only other horse has apparently had a heart attack. So sad. RIP Silver and Buckeye.

Spring Vaccine #1

I just made a quick trip out to the barn since it was cold and gloomy out. I gave Axel his Strangles vaccine, a couple treats, and groomed him up and wiped off his legs with the Norwex cloth real quick before putting some DMSO on his knees. He still didn't really react at all. I walked him back out to the pasture and he walked pretty well actually. He ended up running off when I turned him out, a little bucking and head tossing but still gimpy.

Cody chased after him so I had to go fetch him from the far side of the pasture. He stood very patiently for his Strangles shot so that made me happy. He had some nice tornadoes in his mane that I had to get out and I brushed him off pretty quick. So overall not a very eventful visit.

Making Enemies

Cody really hates me now. I stopped by Fleet Farm on Wednesday before going to the barn and picked up some Zimectrin Gold. I decided to just de-worm Cody in the pasture so I brought out his bridle to trick him. He was not impressed. He didn't spit out any of the de-wormer but he stood there with his mouth open for the longest time afterward, expressing his distaste. Poor pony, he wouldn't even take a fruit ring I brought as a treat after.

Axel was all over me while I tried to de-worm Cody, he thought I had something good to eat. Unfortunately for him he found out what that was when I brought him into the barn and de-wormed him there. He's a lot easier to dose but he still ended up with a big smear of medicine on his face. He wouldn't eat the fruit rings after being de-wormed either but he accepted a handful of hay as a peace offering.

So then my next experiment started. I put on his boots and took him into the arena armed with multiples of rubber gloves and some DMSO. Sadly (luckily) he wasn't feeling too bad and moving pretty good though he is more lame in the arena footing than out on the hard ground. He wandered around a bit and then I put some DMSO on his knees. I couldn't smell it (despite reports of it's horrid scent) but he could either smell it or feel it as he put his head down immediately to look at what I was doing to him. The boots and administering it in the arena was a precaution as some horses don't tolerate the feeling of DMSO. I figured if he was going to freak out he might as well do it where he can't hurt himself or me. But once he looked at his knee for a few seconds that was the end of the reaction. After that he went about his business wandering around. I asked him to move out a bit to see if he felt any better. Still lame at the walk and trot but pretty darn sound at the canter (tell me how that even works). So the next step is to use the DMSO every time I go out to work him and see if that starts reducing the swelling and soreness in his knee. Next time I buy the roll-on version because gloving up and trying to get the gel on is a pain in the rear.

Pthththththth

Axel looked a bit better tonight but once he got moving a bit in the arena he started getting sore on that knee. I'm going to stop at Fleet Farm tomorrow and see if I can find some natural rubber gloves and then try some of the DMSO on his knee. I bought the wrong kind of gloves when I originally got the DMSO so I haven't gotten around to trying it and seeing how he'd react to it. I picked a second wood tick of the season off Axel today. Guess it's time to get out the bug spray.

Despite the tornado like winds Cody was super calm in the aisle while I groomed though he started in with the yawning when I got the saddle on him. He was even too calm in the arena and just did not want to move. J had Dolly in the arena again and he followed her around to the right with no issues other than being lazy. Once again to the left he was uncooperative. Next time we start to the left and see how that goes. Part of it could be the need for chiropractic adjustment but part of it I think is him wanted to keep his right eye on what's going on but can't do that when he's going left. He doesn't understand why he can't just stand and watch other horses work. After Dolly left we stayed in the arena and actually got a decent walk for a little while and tried to work on turn on the haunches again. I dismounted and untacked him and then asked for an extended trot and canter at liberty. He'd go right okay but would swap leads and directions when he was going to the left. I really have to get that chiropractor appointment but B wants to wait til June and I would have to wait til this session of WCR is over first anyway.