Retirement?

So I mentioned retirement in my last post.  So potentially the person taking care of Haji right now might be selling his place or moving or whatever in the Spring.  Which means Haji needs to either move in with Cody and Axel at the boarding barn or move out to Canby.  If he moves to Canby he'd be alone so obviously we'd need another horse out there.  But moving just Cody or just Axel seems unfair to Cody and Axel so maybe they'd both move to Canby with Haji.  Which means no horses nearby for me :(

Enter the gal who's been riding Cody for a while.  She'd like to own a horse one of these days but taking the financial plunge is always a big decision plus the thought of having a horse 30 minutes away is a little less than ideal.  So we formulated a little plan (much to our husband's dismay).  Send Cody and Axel and Haji out to Canby and buy a new horse that I then lease from her.  Sort of a reverse of her leasing Cody from me.

I'm thinking I can keep my budget about the same, I'll have to buy feed for the boys at the farm and then pay half the board on the new horse.  I think that should turn out to be about the same (not counting grass hay from the inlaws).  I think Cody and Axel's old owner would maybe lend a hand and grain them since they will be right down the block.  And since we visit the farm usually 2 weekends a month (at least), I'll still be seeing them about as often.  Plus Daniel can start riding Haji and I can still ride Cody.  And even take him out to the cows and do a little cow work.  While I won't be able to rush out there in an emergency I think there's enough family and friends that would be willing to lend a hand if necessary   Of course now I need to find a farrier out there.

So we're on the hunt for a new horse.  This could be interesting.  Oh and fencing, there needs to be a bit of fencing done at the farm place before all of this can come to fruition.  I think there might be a bit of overlap with my horses and the "new" horse so maybe we'll get to ride together a few times even.

Still Winter

Been out to the barn a couple times now and while the paddock is so hard, icy, and bumpy and makes all the horses walk like they are 3-legged lame, when I get them in the arena they move out well. The first time I got out there Cody did one of those crazy cat leg stretches on the way out of the paddock. I think standing on bumpy ice makes the old men a little stiff.

These last two times I went out I didn't ride at all, just let the boys stretch out a bit. The second time it was sunny so everyone was a little more interested in snoozing than running and rolling.

As soon as this super cold streak breaks a bit I bet they'll be happy to do some rolling in the sand. And I picked up my "new-to-me" dressage saddle which I'm hoping fits Cody at least enough for a few rides before he's maybe retired.

Cody's Back - Fingers Crossed

Well had he not gone through what he did this summer/fall/winter I wouldn't notice any difference in the old man.

Went out today at lunch, he was a bit slow and tender in the paddock (nothing new from past winters). Ran around the arena and rolled. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being completely sound, he'd be a 9-9.5 and that might just be how he is normally.

Pretty sure he's exactly how he was last winter, maybe a little stiff but I don't think he's feeling the foot thing any more at least on good footing.

So I did a little ground work and a little free lunging and then spent quite a few minutes getting him to stand still at the mounting block before I hopped on bareback (while he was walking away I might add). I might have picked a not great day to be on bareback with just the halter as the ice was sliding off the roof - whoops. He startled once and I startled once. But we survived. Only rode around for less than 10 minutes probably. Just walking and then worked on some turns on the forehand and haunches and some backing up. He's a lot more responsive bareback with a halter. I think I'll ride like that more often I think it makes me less naggy and more precise. And definitely not in his face.

So yay to that, it was a good day.

On the mend?

Had to run out and drop off the board check the other day so I grabbed Cody and threw him in the arena for a few minutes while I was there. He was still reluctant in the paddock but seemed to move a tiny bit better. Once he got to some deep snow he moved really well. In the arena he rolled and then ran around by himself without my encouragement. Pretty close to sound trot and canter. Even had a nice left lead canter. So it was a good day, he was feeling pretty good. Thank god for that!

Cody Update

Just a little update to how Cody is doing with his bout of Laminitis.  He was on bute for a week and even though he liked to walk away from when I went to fetch him and he'd toss his head a bit he was a pretty good patient and took his bute well.  He was feeling pretty good with the combo of bute and foam insulation in his boots.  I left the boots on for a week after the bute was done just to make sure.  I never did get a god answer from the vet on how long to leave the boots.  But it snowed and I figured I better take the boots off so they didn't get stuffed with snow.  The heat was gone from his hooves and the stocking up in his right front was gone.  And he was throwing some pretty decent bucks in the arena, so I think he was feeling pretty good.

So he had been out in the paddock for more than a week when the farrier came up for a trim.  He checked out his heels and all that and did his best to bring them down a bit so his feet were covering the ground as best they could but he had very little toe growth so there wasn't any nipping, just filing.  We agreed shoes this time of year would be a pain in the butt as well as nailing shoes on a sore foot isn't exactly everyone's favorite job.

A week after the farrier appointment, or maybe a little longer I went back out and threw Cody and Axel in the arena to blow off some steam.  Cody was really walking poorly out of the paddock but it's icy and bumpy and frozen and that seems to be his MO in the winter like that.  Even Axel was tip toeing around.  But with a little "encouragement" in the arena they both tore around and Cody started to look like his old self.  still the tiniest bit "off" on the right front so I'll be keeping an eye on that for sure.  I really hope this is behind us and I'm planning on shoeing in the spring from now on.  It has yet to be determined if we'll have to shoe all around or just fronts.

I'm buying another used saddle and I'd really like to try it out so I hope Cody is getting back to riding condition.  Mommy's getting a Crosby Prix St. George dressage saddle - yum.