So I went out to the barn last Wednesday just to check and make sure everyone was right side up (stole that phrase from A, makes me giggle every time I hear it). At that point the boys had been back on round bale for not quite a week. Of course Axel was swollen up again, more like he was last year. I wasn't surprised. Other than that everyone looked pretty pleased with themselves so I went back home to get ready for Thanksgiving.
Between Thanksgiving festivities and throwing my back out (and being lazy when it gets cold) I didn't make it out to the barn again until last night, a full week later. Everyone was still on all fours when I arrived. I actually got side tracked by an injured deer that Jason and I tried to chase down and put out of it's misery but it apparently wasn't as injured as I thought and we couldn't find it after it ran off.
Let me just say, the boys are not impressed by their pasture right now. They were both standing up by the hay feeder and it took me 10 minutes to get Axel down to the gate. He wouldn't move. I thought maybe it was his knee bothering him. Really it was the frozen ground. Every step he took was slow and careful and followed by several minutes of waiting and me begging him to keep moving. All the mud froze in nice hard lumps all over the pasture with patches of ice between. I get the feeling both horses had done some Bambi moves prior and were very uneasy about moving. I'm actually looking forward to the 4-6" of snow we're supposed to get this weekend, maybe it'll make it easier for them to move around.
After skating Axel across the drive way we finally made it into the barn. Luckily there as no hay in the arena so I was able to turn him loose to do what he wished. Turns out his knee wasn't actually that bad. His mud fever is pretty nasty and it's way too cold to do anything about it. (I might be able to scrub them with hot wash clothes, scrub with chlorhexidine, and then maybe wrap them with polo wraps or towels til they dry next time I go out, that might not be too bad) Anyway, he wandered around in the arena a bit, tried to steal my shedding blade, the usual. I scraped some of the crusty spots he had from laying down and he wandered a bit more. Then he got excited a took off for a few minutes. A little bucking and running and snorting. He acted like he wanted me to play, he kept running up to me and stopping and then taking off again. I was going to get the big green ball out for him but it was pretty deflated and I wasn't in the mood to pump it back up. When he calmed down I skated him back out to the pasture where he stood and refused to move out of my way.
Cody took about as long to get from the feeder to the gate but we found a better route up to the barn so he didn't have to skate quite as much. He took off almost immediately when I put him in the arena. He was rearing, and jumping, and running, and having a great time. I suppose after standing still and tense on the ice it felt good to move a little. He ran around quite a bit more than Axel before he settled down enough for me to groom and pick his feet. I did notice Cody's sheath is now swollen as well. I couldn't tell if his belly had any edema and he sheath wasn't nearly as bad as Axel but it was puffy for sure.
So I have no idea what that means. Cody didn't swell last year and he didn't swell on the first round of hay bales this fall. But it's colder and it's icy and I don't think either horse is moving at all. So maybe we're coming down to it just being cold + lack of movement + too much eating + being old. I really wish I had a definitive answer though. I hate ignoring it not knowing exactly what it is. It's certainly not bothering Cody at all, though he doesn't want me to touch it which is normal for him.
As much as it'll suck having to feed horses in the winter, I'm looking forward to having the horses at our own place someday. I want to put Axel on a few more supplements but it's just too much work for J&J to feed powders or make sure Cody's not eating Axel's stuff. Plus I'd love to be able to grade the pasture and things like that to help de-lumpify it, or make it less muddy or just whatever it needs. But I oh so love not having to go out in the cold and feed every day.
Now that I'm pregnant it's not going to be long before I'm going to want to stop riding. I'd really like to get someone to come ride the horses for me weekly but J has made it known she doesn't really trust folks from the internet so finding someone online to ride might not be the best idea in her eyes. Sadly I don't know anyone in this area that needs a horse to ride.
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