Chiropractor and Farrier

Last week I waddled out to the barn to have the boys' chiropractor appointment. I foolishly decided to grab both horses at once which went okay until we got to the last gate and then both horses ended up in the yard wandering around and me with no lead ropes in my hand. Luckily Axel doesn't go any further than food and Cody was confused enough to stay put as well so I was able to catch them both without an issue. Then I figured I wasn't going to get them both through the little barn door so I tied Axel to the picnic table which he proceeded to drag into the driveway. *sigh*

Once I got both horses in the arena they goofed around for a while, Cody rolled and chased Axel around and they finally settled down. S was having both her boys tended to first so that gave us some time to wait. When she was done I put both boys in the cross ties and opted to start with Cody, figuring he hates waiting so maybe getting his adjustment first would calm him down. He wasn't horribly out of wack but had some low back issues. Axel also had some minor low back issues but that was about it for him. Of course Cody was not patient. He left two huge cow pies in the barn aisle and started to do his little cat stretch which freaks me out. I put Cody in a stall so I could clean up his mess and in case he peed. He proceeded to pace and sweat and just generally be a pain in the butt while Axel was finishing up.

I brought them back out to the pasture one at a time (hey I learned my lesson). Cody first, since he was the most likely to kill himself waiting. He proceeded to run around in circles while I went and grabbed Axel.

So then yesterday we had a farrier appointment. I was getting worried I might have to call and have someone else handle my horses if I was having this baby but the baby stayed where it belonged and I was able to waddle out to the pasture once again to get the boys. Cody was actually very calm and let me lead him slowly back to the barn. He stood well for the farrier while I grabbed Axel. Axel, the fat lazy lame horse, has found a new walking speed that I cannot keep up with so leading him is a bit harder these days. I'm glad he's feeling so good though. He was fine for the farrier and I put Cody back outside and left Axel in to do a bit of grooming since it had been so long. He still has a few remaining scabs but otherwise is looking good. I really should get out there one more time with the hose and try and get those last bits off and I still haven't ordered any Tea Tree spray which I'd like to use throughout the summer just to keep things at bay. It's rained probably 5 inches in the past week or two and there really is only one muddy spot in their new pasture so that's a good sign and it's not all that bad of a spot. So if I can get Axel cleared up maybe I can get ahead of the scratches this year, finally.

Finally Spring

Boy is it a lot of work going out to fetch horses these days. It's a long walk and once I get Axel haltered and ready to go he's now walking much faster than me. Too bad getting on and riding from the pasture to the barn isn't an option. Luckily it should only be a few more weeks before the baby arrives.

I did make it out on a nice afternoon just to check on things. Axel's legs are healing up finally, he still has a few scabs here and there but J has been helping pick them off when she has a chance. His ventral edema is gone and any stocking up in his back legs seems to be gone as well and he doesn't seem to be in pain. He is fat though, very very fat. There's so much grass in the pasture they are in now, even without grain he's keeping the weight on. Poor boy is going to be in for a shock when I can ride again!

I gave Axel his spring shot in the barn and then I just brought Cody's shot out to the pasture with me. I wasn't in the mood to do the walk back to the barn an addition time and I figured Cody would be a lot calmer if he didn't have to be taken away from his neighbors who he loves so much. He really wants to be in with Cody2 and Stitch. I guess all the brown/white horses like to hang out together.

N rode in the arena this past weekend and walked Cody down the road a bit. I guess it went pretty well. He was a little upset about being away from the neighbors but not too horrible. Chiropractor is coming on Friday so I'll be excited to see if there are any attitude changes following the adjustment.

New Pasture

So the boys are now out back in one of the big pastures. There's a bit of gate management that has to be done to get my guys out and not get the other herd with it but with all the grass it's not a huge issue. And boy are the horses happy to be a dry grassy pasture. They made me walk nearly to the back of the pasture to fetch them last night. Not that I couldn't use the exercise but it was the first 87F day and I think that might be my limit for heat while pregnant. I was beat by the time I got Axel back up to the barn. If I was agile and not in the state I'm in I would have figured out how to get on Axel and ride him back.

Cody was standing next to the fence with the other herd nearby. He didn't seem terribly concerned when I took Axel out either. He might have been calling a bit while we were in the barn but it's hard to tell who was yelling. He did come running up to the gate when I brought Axel back so he missed him a little. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts when N takes him out the next time. I just didn't have the energy to do it myself.

So I hosed off Axel's legs one more time, perhaps the last time if they keep healing. I got a handful of scabs off and things are looking pretty good. He must be feeling okay didn't pull his legs away when I picked or scrubbed. There's still a bunch of scabs stuck on there pretty good but things are going in the right direction. After spraying I scrubbed them good with the chlorhexidine. Seems like the hair is growing back as well. And in even better news, the winter fuzz is all but gone. Axel is shiny and black again and nearly all the swelling on his belly is gone. In a week or two he should be looking pretty darn spiffy. Then he'll turn red again of course but we get a few good days in there. He's also walking pretty well at least on the lead. I'm hoping this fall we can get back to light work again and maybe a trail ride if we can work out any of our kinks from not being ridden in so long. Jeff offered to start going out there and working with him as well but we'll see if that happens. I don't think a few more months off work is going to make a huge difference in his attitude after having a year and a half off. We'll just have to start with lots of ground work in tack as a reminder.

Vet Visit

Well I guess we lucked out on Tuesday. Cody used up all his calm then and left me with a crazy horse when the vet came yesterday. Granted I should know better than to bring him inside before we're ready to go. Had him and Axel in the aisle to groom while I waited and he was there maybe two minutes before he started sweating and peed on the cement! So I put them both in the arena and he ran around like an idiot for a good 15 minutes. The big side door in the arena was open so he'd run up there look out at the neighbor horses and then try and run to the back corner where he thought he'd be closer to the horses but he couldn't see them there so he'd run back to the open door. Over and over. We ended up having to give him his shots outside where he could see his friends and he still wasn't the best but at least the vet got the needles in okay and he didn't really notice since he was so concerned.

I'm starting to wonder if it's not Dolly that has him worked up but instead Logan. Because Tuesday Logan was in and he was calm as could be. And he stands next to Logan at the fence all the time. So either he likes Logan a lot or Logan is competition for Dolly and he wants to know where he is at all times, doesn't want Logan to take Dolly away.

That horse, I tell ya, I think he has multiple personalities!

Axel was calm and patient like he usually is. Both horses scored a 5 on their body condition which surprised me. I figured Axel would be a notch over and Cody a notch under but the vet said they were looking good. Got some suggestions for Axel's scratches and the vet doesn't think it's copper deficiency he said it's hard to test for and doesn't happen very often. He did say supplementing for it wouldn't be a bad thing if I wanted to see if it helped at all. He figured the scratches were bacterial and thought I could maybe try some Animax/Panalog. His only other thought was maybe some sort of chorioptic mite (which is mange) but that again is tough to test for. It responds to an IM injection but I guess it's a bit tricky and it's doubtful that it would be it. He did agree that if Axel had a less than stellar immune system it would explain him getting them so often and so bad.

So everyone is caught up on their Rabies shots and had their coggins pulled. I have their other shots at home that I'll give. I actually ended up with a combo that has nearly everything in it so I just have one spring shot and then a strangles shot in the fall. The vet did recommend a Potomac shot but everyone declined that one. The last I heard it wasn't really around here and people don't usually give that shot. Glad I bought my shots at the Expo though, the combo shot was about 3 times as much from the vet as what I paid. Yikes!

Good Boy, Cody!

I should know better than to forget that horses like to prove their owner's wrong every chance they get.

Ran out to the barn last evening. It was finally nice out and sunny and it had been dry for at least two days in a row. The wind is still chilly but the sun is nice to see. I grabbed Axel and hosed off his legs. Quite a few more scabs came off easily so now there is a lot of clean skin showing through. I'm hoping the more skin that gets exposed the faster the fungus/bacteria will go away considering it's an-aerobic and all. And I could tell he was starting to not hurt so much, he didn't yank his feet away from me nearly as much. So this time I just scrubbed him up with Chlorhexidine and let him stand there and dry for a while.

N came out to work with Cody a bit and there were a few other people in the arena as well. Nice weather brings everyone out to the barn it seems! So while Axel stood not so patiently Cody got groomed and he actually stood nicely considering how nervous he had been the last time he was taken away from his new girlfriend. I put Axel out and N tacked up Cody and brought him into the arena. There were two other people riding/lunging at the same time but Cody did awesome. It didn't look like N had to coax him to keep moving too much and he was super calm. When she'd ask him for a canter he'd attempt it without running into it. He still needs working picking up the left lead but he just kept trying never really getting out of control. Even trotting after being asked to canter he was calm and slow. He actually looked like a decently trained western horse.

Darn horse sure has a way to make his owner look bad! I can't get him to do any of that stuff calmly when I ride. When I start riding again I'm really going to have to work on sitting calmly and not driving him nuts with legs and seat and hands. He really goes well for a western trained or more experienced rider. Silly pony.