Cody likes it!

I made a quick stop out to the barn on Friday on my way out of town. I didn't want to go a whole week without checking on the boys. They're usually fine but I like to see with my own eyes and assess things like just how lame is Axel today. He was still "ok" on Friday after 5 days on and 2 days off bute. I pulled off their fly masks and checked for bugs and rub marks. Axel's got a little rub on the left side of his face, it's kind of low so I'm not sure if it's from the mask or what. The one thing I hate about fly masks is how they grind in the mud when they roll.

So I didn't make it out to the barn again until later last night. I had planned to ride but it was almost 8 already. Axel was back to his worse than normal limp so I gave him some bute, MSM, and put some DMSO on his knee. I'm hoping this new biting/chewing issue is due to pain and if we fix the pain the biting will stop. I walk up to him in the pasture and take off his fly mask to put on his halter and he either takes the fly mask or the halter or lead rope and tries to cram the whole thing in his mouth immediately. And he'll grab at the cross ties and bite down on them as hard as he can. I keep waiting for him to start wind sucking but so far he's just biting/chewing. He hasn't been on enough bute on a regular basis to cause ulcers so who knows what his deal is. He's grazing fine and doesn't seem to be chewing on the fence posts at all that I've noticed. He walked out a bit better after his meds and some grooming. I have a vet appointment for next Tuesday to block that knee and see what happens. From the sounds of it, if it's really arthritis and we numb the knee he should be sound and then we'll do an injection right into the joint. If we numb it and he isn't sound, well then I'm not sure what the problem would be. Seems unlikely that if the problem isn't located in his actual knee he'd be as swollen and as knobby as he is. J thought perhaps that right front is so bad because his hind left had been sore for so long and the compensation finally caused an issue. I really should have looked into major medical coverage for him a long time ago (just emailed an agent to find out if he has any literature he can send).

I put him out and grabbed Cody to get him groomed up. Cody has found a new love of rolling in the mud I think. He used to never be dirty but the past year or so he's always caked in mud and dirt I've even caught him laying down which I rarely did before. And despite our arguments over riding he's been getting a little more cooporative bit by bit. Since I can't get him to stand still to put desitin on his sun burnt nose I bought baby wipes with aloe, it probably won't really do much but it was worth a try. He stood really well for that last year and this year. I've even been able to clean out the dirt in his nose and he just stands there and lets me. I can scratch his ears when they are itchy and for the first time when I was scratching his face with the curry I got an honest to goodness lip curl. Of course wearing a fly mask makes for an itchy face but this is the first time he showed a visible reaction to enjoying his face curry time. Go Cody! So on top of him behaving and being really patient last night, the other horses were in their stalls eating dinner and I decided that my laziness would win and I wouldn't force Cody into doing work during dinner time. I hope he appreciates it!