Chubby Ponies

Ran out to the barn last night after work to find the farrier already in the barn finishing the last horse before mine. J had him come out early and I made it just in time to grab my guys. He trimmed up Axel first and despite the "please hurry up" look at Axel's face, he handled his right knee very well. It must be retaining a bit of flexibility still so that's good. I had both boys tied in the arena when they were done while we chatted for a bit with the farrier. Danny and Vinnie were in the arena as well and everyone was very quiet. It must have been nice to just rest out of the cold and wind on decent footing for a while.

We discussed Cody and Axel's swelling. The farrier said every time he's seen something like what my guys have it was due to extra fat. Which I think stands to reason. Axel is totally chubby has been for years, he's just a big guy. Cody wasn't huge last year and the round bale really helped him. But this year he went into winter a lot more fit and maybe he had just enough weight that adding to it was just what he needed to add that swelling. So I think once again we're at old + cold + no movement + eating too much = swollen horse.

Now with the snow in the pasture it's interesting to see where the horses have gone. Someone has a spot for rolling but mostly they've stuck near the feeder or the round bale. There's one set of tracks that goes along the fence line out into the pasture maybe 10 feet but that's it. No one has gone frolicking in the snow. The other groups of horses I've seen all over their pastures and frequently see them playing. Cody and Axel just love their hay. I wonder what would happen if they had round bales all year ... I might have to buy super wide saddles!