Home Again Home Again

Well the boys survived the week while I was in Colorado. Not only did they survive but at some point they were blessed with a round bale in their pasture. I swear to god they look fatter already. I'm really going to have to stay on top of things and keep Axel moving this winter, no slacking. Maybe having a round bale when there is still grass will help ease them into it. I guess time will tell. What I do know is that they already have a good start on their winter coats. Axel is almost all the way black again and Cody is starting to look like a teddy bear. I guess it's time to make sure the coolers and wool blankets are at the barn. How does this happen so fast?

I just ran out to check on everyone so I brought Axel in to groom. His wound is looking good I didn't even put any UHM on it this time. I did give him some MSM as usual. He was walking pretty good just lazily. And since they have the round bale now it seems like they are spending a little less time in the mud. I scrubbed Axel's back legs again. Next time I'll have to try and shave them up again and I'm almost out of Chlorhexidine so I'll have to pick up more of that.

Cody's scratches weren't looking too bad either but his back right leg seemed a bit stocked up so I scrubbed him as well. I might have to shave his legs too just so I can keep an eye on them. I put Cody in the arena for a few minutes to do some circling and we worked on driving over the fake bridge. The plan for both horses is going to be a lot of ground driving and lunging this winter. Now I just have to finish making my driving lines.

Get Better Already, Will Ya?

Well Axel is still down in the dumps as far as that knee goes. It's big and swollen again and his limping around. I gave him some MSM and bute and then took him into the arena. Instead of lunging at the walk I just followed him around the arena with a lunge whip to keep him moving. He was off but he didn't get worse. At this point the only thing I can do is keep him moving. Though with all this swelling and soreness his knee is still much more flexible than it was before the injection. So we'll try a few more days of bute and see if the swelling goes down. Not much else I can do. There's nothing on his x-rays and since it's a joint there's really nothing else it could be but reaction to arthritis. I should probably bite the bullet and order some supplements for him and get him back going on that (done and I ordered some liniment to try). Hopefully getting him back on a joint supplement will do some good. The one I'm going to try is similar to what he was on before minus the Yucca, has more Vitamin C, no MSM (which I give separate anyway), has Collagen, little less HA, more Chondroitin, and a little less Glucosamine. So the affects should be about the same as the more expensive stuff he was getting. We'll see if my theory that he went to pot after I stopped the supplement is true. Especially since I can't do the joint injection more than every 3 months. Wish I would have gotten off my butt and ordered this stuff earlier.

So Axel got put back outside and I grabbed Cody. I had planned on maybe just getting on bareback in the arena for a few minutes but the new boarder showed up (she's been around a few months now but this was the first time I met her). I didn't really want to fight with Cody without a saddle for support so I threw on the dressage saddle. New horse, new people, I figured he'd want to pay attention to them and not me. He wasn't actually bad and after we did a bit of trotting we stopped to talk to the boarder which Cody appreciated. We finished off the night with a tiny bit of cantering and made around to the right almost 2 laps.

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!

Cody is not a Dressage Pony

So Wednesday was day 5 for Axel on bute. The swelling has gone down to a usual knobby arthritic size but he's still lame. Not *as* lame as he was on Sunday. I'm just happy he actually ate powdered bute from a bucket this time with very little fuss. Apparently bute + MSM tastes better than bute + antibiotics. I'll have to make sure there's always MSM around (which I will taste myself one of these days). I did an extra good grooming job since I'll probably be out at the farm this weekend of course I think it's supposed to rain the whole time so my grooming is probably gone to waste already along with the fly spray. Still June and I think I have to go buy another bottle. I might have to break down and get the big jug.

So I grabbed Cody and got him groomed up quickly and threw on his tack to ride in the arena with A and Danny. We're still having troubles tracking left but not quite as severe as before and I'm sure it makes a difference that this was day two of me riding him. I played a little with contact and trying to get Cody give to it, he did figure out the little exercise A showed me after a few tries. Part of his problem is that he doesn't like contact, it stresses him out or makes him nervous. So if he surges, I accidentally put more contact on the reins and then he freaks out and takes off even more. I don't know if it's worth it to try and get him to accept more direct rein contact or for me to learn to ride with less contact. Maybe a little of both? We actually had one nice round to the right of canter peppered with some bad spazzy moments but we ended up riding for more than an hour I think working on various things. So I still really need to get some long reins and work on ground driving with him as well as work building up his back. And then on top of all that my dressage saddle does not fit it. It's actually too narrow if you can believe that. But unless I some how stumble on an inexpensive saddle that fits we might be out of luck for a while. Anyone have a wide tree cut back 18" dressage saddle laying around?

Happy Birthday Cody!

Soooo I don't think the Chiropractor fixed our issue this time. Monday I got Cody ready to go and we went out on the road. I've had worse rides and I've had better. It was slow going out as usual. A few stops here and there. Speed increase when we turned toward home. And one "OMG I'm going to die if I don't get home instantly" episode when a truck drove by. So either this chiro isn't as good as the last or it was a fluke that the chiro and this issue went away at the same time a couple years ago or I have no idea. Luckily I don't usually have the urge to go riding down the road alone very often, it's just been a personal challenge so far. I'd much rather ride with other people.

Axel's forelock gets all funny under the fly mask so I decided to braid it and now he looks so fancy. I even had a yellow binder for him. Monday I gave him his bute, water, MSM, sweet feed, candy mixture and he ate it right up. No clear improvement. Tuesday I got him from the pasture and he was walking quite a bit better. He ate his mixture and I turned him out in the arena where he contemplated rolling for quite some time before finally easing down to the ground. It's gotta hurt to bend that knee all the way so he makes sure it's really what he wants to do. Since it had rained all day he wanted to roll really bad. Of course after he got up he was back to full on lame which didn't stop him from running and bucking immediately upon getting up. I wish I knew what his deal was, it just seems like if it's arthritis it wouldn't be so swollen so fast and for so long. Bursitis maybe? Capped knee? Blah Axel, get better already will ya!? I put a call in to the vet to get some more Adequan ordered and try some Surpass and see what else he thinks is going on.

So Cody was probably not happy with me making him work on his birthday but that's the way it goes. He gets enough days off as it is. J thought I should have brought out some cake but all I had was some carrots. I figured out why I want to get Axel back to work so bad, I loooooove my dressage saddle. I don't think it fits Cody very well but I love to ride in it. It just seemed like a day when Cody was going to be slow and there was going to be a lot of kicking so I grabbed my whip before I got on just in case. The whip always seems to inspire a little more pep out of the old man just by having it in my hand. I think overall the ride was sub-par but I did get some decent practice in. I'm trying to work on a steadier leg and we had some moments when I could post and work on that. But we had a lot of other moments of Cody speeding up and slowing down and speeding up and slowing down. He's very inconsistent and we need to work on that. Add some nerves on top of that and the tiniest amount of leg equals speed trot or spastic canter. So we'll keep working. I wonder if he thinks the tighter rein means go fast and is getting confused. I tried to work him to the left more which went okay for a while but given the choice of what direction to go he picks right every time. I'll probably ride in the dressage saddle a few more times to make sure it's not making him sore and we'll keep working on some basics. The whip is kind of handy to get some lateral work done but he's pretty good at ignoring me, I need to get a bit stronger with him I think. I'm probably babying him for no reason. In any case my legs hurt today, whew!

Horse Show

I helped out at my first horse show yesterday. Didn't bring any of my own horses but I went along with a fellow boarder and played "groom" for the day. Took some photos and recorded some video and got sun burnt, wind burnt, and sand blasted while I was there.

When we got back I brought Axel in for another dose of bute. This time I mixed it with the MSM, sweet feed, and a few pieces of candy and he actually ate it all. I'll try that again tonight but he's usually pretty good at turning his nose up at something that he thought was fine the day before. Trying to give him bute for 5 days this week and see if his knee starts to feel any better. It's getting quite knobby lately and he's limping around pretty badly (but he's getting really good at limping fast). I put both the boys fly masks on as well so we'll see how long they keep them on this summer.

Rainy Saturday

I tried to wait out the rain but it wasn't letting up or clearing off so I went out to the barn anyway. It's pretty quiet out there on a weekend when it's raining so it's kind of nice.

Axel was pretty sore and puffy still on that knee. I scraped off as much rain as I could and groomed him up a bit. It seems like his knee has better ROM but is more sore lately. I put more DMSO on it and gave him some MSM. I put him in the arena and he took off running and flinging his head. Then he'd gimp around smelling everything he could get his nose on. I decided since I'll be able to get out there several days in a row this week to try and bute him. Not sure how much actually got in his mouth, I mixed it with water and put it in a syringe. I wore quite a bit of it on my arm. I think I better get something a little thicker than water next time. My plan (ever evolving) is to get a new supplement to try for a few months, I found one that has a decent amount of Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and Collagen in it and is pellets and less than a dollar a day. Plus when I get the money together I'll get his next round of Adequan and some Surpass (gotta find someone going to Canada to get me some of the OTC human version sometime). I put together some prototype wraps for Axel's back legs so I fitted those so I can try and put something together. Eventually he might feel well enough to ride, right?

I grabbed Cody out of the rain and started grooming him when B came in with Diva. I was debating on if I was going to ride or not but wanted Cody to dry off more before putting the tacky too pad on him when he started to shake. He was yawning quite a bit and then stretching out both front legs almost like he was going to lay down in the cross ties and then he started shaking. He was still wet so we thought maybe he was cold so I put his blanket on. He was still shaking so I walked him into the arena in case it was actually nerves. He trotted around a bit and then started frantically looking for a place to roll. I still don't know if it was nerves or cold. Would he lay down and roll twice if he was freaked out? Or was he just looking for the quickest way to get warm? Very weird, but after that he was just fine. I lunged him a bit before turning him back out. I probably could have ridden but I was kind of caught off guard at that point. B was getting Diva ready for the show so I just hung out and chatted.

The sun actually came out by the time we were done so I took some photos of the clydesdales and then of Cody who so kindly posed for a nice conformation shot and then hung out by some daisies for me. Tomorrow I'm going to tag along to the horse show and take some photos and play groom for B and Diva. I'm hoping it doesn't rain though, ick.

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

I had a meeting on Monday so I couldn't get out to the barn to check on Axel so I was a little scared going out there on Tuesday. I had left a note in the barn that if Axel looked worse on Sunday night he could have more bute. There was a note in response that said he looked good so they didn't give him anything. I went out to fetch him and he seemed a little careful of that back leg but by the time we got to the driveway he was walking really well, almost sound. In fact the lame back left seems to balance out the lame front right. Heh go figure!

I was very relieved. It's been raining lately so I'm glad he's moving around well enough to get in the shelter if he wants. So I groomed him and gave him his MSM. He's a little resistant when I go to pick out that back left. I don't imagine holding his foot hurts him but he yanks it away for some reason.

The belly swelling has gone back down again. The sheath swelling is the same. The next warm day that I have a lot of time I think I'll bring a thermos of hot water out and try cleaning him out again. Maybe on vet day since I have the day off. Gotta find a thermos first ;) I put Axel in the arena to walk around and roll if he felt like it. He was kind of wet so I thought maybe he'd roll but he just explored a bit.

So it was finally a good visit to the barn. When it stops raining I'll have to shave Axel's back legs to help fend off the scratches he's so prone to getting. I'm going to try using some MTG as well, he has a few spots I had put it on the other day which were already growing hair the next day. Even if the MTG doesn't stop scratches it might help his dry skin a bit and maybe soften up some of the scabs on his legs.

Feels like Spring

I wasn't feeling quite as ambitious last night as I thought so I didn't end up riding. Who really needs to ride more than 10 minutes a week anyway, right? I chatted with J for a bit, he was getting ready for the big tack sale this weekend that his saddle club puts on. We discussed the impending mud and the fact that Cody's girlfriends left today and everyone was running around and bucking.

J's mom wants him to save horse hair for the hummingbirds to use for their nests so I filled a bucket with Axel's hair when I was done grooming. Axel has been very mouthy lately, even before this swelling issue. At least back to the wood chewing and a bit before. He grabs onto the cross ties and bites down or tries to get the lead rope in his mouth. He doesn't appear to be wind sucking at all, just biting the ropes. He'll stand quiet for either a period of time or until I start grooming with the brush instead of the shedding blade, I haven't figured out if either of these is a trigger or what. The last 3 out of 4 times he's picked up his hind left foot when I asked instead of the other hind foot. The knee swelling seems to have gone down a bit. His sheath is still swollen and his belly is still swollen. There was a weird squishy tendon (or something) on his hind right but he wasn't standing square so it might have just been nothing (figured I should document it since it tends to come in handy).

I walked him down the road again. He made it almost all the way down past the neighbors before he started with the head tossing. And it definitely coincides with Cody calling for him. So I think he's just being naughty. He was a little more gimpy last night then the time before but he walks out pretty well on the road, it doesn't slow him down too much. When we went back in the barn I thought he'd maybe want to roll or something. I was cleaning up some manure when he came bolting across the arena, bucking and cantering. And the belly swelling and round bale induced fatness seems to go away when he gets all riled up like that. It's nice to see him looking a bit more fit once in a while. I'm looking forward to starting to work him after the vet confirms the arthritis and we discuss Adequan or something of the sort.

Cody is sad that his girl friends over the fence are gone. I think Dolly (or maybe Jesse, I can't tell the difference) is still in that pen but who knows for how long. If I make it out to the barn this weekend I want to clean out my grooming bag, try some DMSO on Axel's knee (it freezes at 65F so I haven't tried it yet, it won't be that warm but it should be worth a try), and maybe ride Cody down the road.

Now They're Both Shedding

Stop by on Friday on the way out of town to the farm. Axel's belly seemed a bit more swollen than normal.

Tonight my car said it was 45F so a trip to the barn was in order. After brushing off at least another horse's worth I took Axel for another walk down the road. He was being a little bit of a pill. I think he was hearing Cody calling or something but he'd toss his head, ended up hitting me once. Of course I'm paranoid so I'm thinking it's some sort of neurological issue. But I think he was just being Axel. Spring + no work all winter + horses calling = slightly misbehaving Axel. As soon as we get the x-rays or he starts feeling better then he's going to have to do a lot of ground work to get some manners back before riding. I'm hoping he just has some steam he hasn't had a chance to blow off yet.

Cody started shedding now too so when I removed a miniature horse's worth of hair from him I saddled him up to ride in the arena. We did some figure 8s, some corner circles, trotted a circle in the middle, and he offered some canter. I ended up only riding for about 10-15 minutes after lunging for 5-10 minutes but he was just starting to sweat so it was a good time to stop if I didn't want to stand around all night cooling him off. I thought maybe he'd roll but he wasn't interested. I did some leg stretches, neck stretches, and tail pulls with him before bringing him back outside.

Two (too) Hairy Visits

I try to not put two posts in one but I'm approaching a week behind so too bad. I had Friday off work so we were heading to the farm on Thursday evening but Jeff had some stuff to finish at work first so I ran out to the barn. Axel got his MSM and I opted to not groom since he was shedding in full force and I didn't want to be covered in hair. I did however find a very itchy spot on his back and we stood in the arena while I scratched him. I ended up getting covered in hair anyway. I thought maybe he was going to roll but in the end he didn't. He thinks hard about it though.

So last night I went out to the barn while Jeff was rock climbing. I thought he would be busy for a while and I'd get a chance to get on Cody. I grabbed Axel first and got him groomed up. He's shedding like mad. I've noticed this both last night and the week prior, but he's stopped picking up the wrong back foot. For a while there when you'd ask for his hind left he'd pick up his hind right. My guess was that it was a balance thing so he didn't have to put weight on that sore front knee. But the last two times he's picked up the correct foot without an issue. And he's seemed mildly perkier/less sore. His knee is still puffy though. I walked him around the arena a bit and he was slightly less lame. It's all very subtle still at this point. On our way out of the barn I decided we'd take a little walk down the road since it was very melty. He walks really well on the flat harder surface so I thought this was a nice change and a chance to move a little. We only went down to the first mailbox and back. He was a little hyper on the walk back and nearly trotted over me going into the driveway. Needless to say you couldn't tell he was lame at that point. He hasn't been on stall rest but he's pretty much done nothing all winter so I can see where he'd be a little wound up on some footing that seemed safe. We might have to go for some more walks down the road before we start lunging or anything like that.

Cody isn't shedding nearly as much as Axel but he's getting there. His neck and his face have started pretty decently. I brought him in the arena to move around as well. I had originally thought maybe we'd go for a ride down the road but it gets pretty chilly quick and with no ditch traffic could be an issue so I figured he'd be just fine stretching his legs inside. Jeff was already on his way home so I scrapped the plan to ride and just free lunged Cody for a while. I need to bring out the Flip and get a real video of how good Cody looks these days. The cell phone videos leave a bit to be desired. We did a little more work in hand than we've been doing lately which took him a while to settle into. I really have to work more on the turns on the forehand and haunches he tends to ignore me on those which could be why we don't do them under saddle. I'll have to brush up on some techniques online or something.

Hair Everywhere

They are shedding. A lot. And it's still too cold/dark/covered in snow to groom outside. So I'm covered in hair and the barn aisle is covered in hair and the broom and all my brushes. Ug. Anyway Axel is about the same. Same swelling. Same knee. Thought he might roll in the arena due to the extreme itchiness of shedding hair but he decided against it.

Cody ran around the arena a bit with some encouraging. I need to take some video of him, he's looking good these days. I did end up getting on Cody bareback for a few minutes. We even trotted around for a while. I'm finding it hard to keep my body straight and still ask him for a bend AND not bounce off. One of those pat your head and rub your belly type issues. Cody spooked a super tiny almost nothing spook but I stayed on, yay me. Really it was nothing more than surging forward a stride but I'm a wimp and don't have a good seat so I was happy I was still on his back.

So that was about it for my quick visit. It's hard to find time and to get motivated again after pretty much doing nothing all winter due to Axel's winter long practical joke.

In sad news, Jeff's niece's Buckeye passed away yesterday (the dun in the photo above). From what they can tell he just laid down and that was the end. He was a pretty old guy but he had a really nice retirement and was a great first horse for her.

Ponies in the Snow

So a quick run out to the barn to check on the boys before heading to the farm for the weekend. Kind of sad there wasn't more time, it was a gorgeous Friday. It felt warm and the snow was really pretty. But there was only time for some MSM and a few minutes of taking photos. There's really not much to update, Axel is still swollen and his knee still hurts. Kind of the status quo around here. Cody is still looking mighty fine and visiting regularly with the girls on the other side of the fence.

Manicure Time

Last night was farrier night. I was a bit early as usual so I fed Axel his MSM while we waited. He was already in the crossties so he had his feet done first. He's been doing a new thing lately where you ask for his hind left and he picks up his hind right instead. I'm not sure if he's just trying to avoid putting more weight on his front right or what. He was not terribly pleased to have that front right knee bent and the farrier only bent it the bare minimum. He seemed pretty sore when he was done so I tied him in the arena while I tried to thaw out some paste bute. I'm ready to give up on the powder. I think I'll just get a dosing syringe from Fleet Farm and mix the powdered bute with water and dose him that way. He actually doses really easily, at least the last two times I've buted him.

So I got Cody and groomed both of them while we waited for Cody's turn to have his feet done. His front left has a bit of notch/chip in the toe. Not sure how he got a chip walking through 2 feet of snow but he managed. It's not too serious, hopefully it'll grow out. And other than hanging out while everyone else got their feet done that was about it for the trip to the barn. They've got a lot of snow out there and I guess Cody was running around playing in it a bit. But for the most part they all confine themselves to the round bale.

The plans for spring are to move Vinnie into the big pasture and Cody and Axel will go in the paddock until their pasture has a chance to revive itself. Assuming they stop the round bales near that time, it might be a good diet for fat Axel. We're working on getting an appointment in March for shots and coggins and I'll get Axel's knees xrayed and then figure out what the next step is. It might be easier/cheaper to go with something like Adequan instead of the daily supplements (which haven't started working yet as far as I can tell).

Cody's Girls

Sunday was another quick trip to the barn. It had started snowing and a movie and a nap was calling my name so I just ran out quick to feed Axel his MSM. He was walking about the same, maybe a bit better but any changes lately have been minuscule. Mainly he hasn't gotten worse. I'm still really hoping the MSM kicks in, I don't want to have to bute him all the time. I was hoping to not have to add that joint supplement back in but that might be the case. I'll give him a little more time before I decide. He's getting around, seems happy as usual, and even rolls. From what I remember he was lame through March the last time his knees were bothering him.

I just checked on Cody in the pasture. He was standing guard for his new neighbor girls. I guess Stitch loves the girls as well and they knicker for him when S brings him into the barn. Silly boys.

Quick Trip

I only stopped out at the barn on Saturday morning for a few quick minutes to give Axel his MSM and check on him since his oh so fun practical joke. He was walking pretty decently. He wasn't horribly worse at all but wasn't a whole lot better, he must not have gotten much bute in after all. I didn't even bring him in the arena for fear he'd lay down again and I'd have to convince him to get up and get home in time for house guests. He's still swollen of course no better, no worse.

Out to get me

I swear Axel thinks this is some big joke. I brought him into the barn for his usual snack of MSM. I'm just about out of senior feed, I might have to pick up some more. He certainly doesn't need any additional sweet feed. I put him in the arena since he seemed a bit peppier than on Tuesday. He was a little less lame so I didn't think he needed any bute. He hasn't rolled in the arena since all this started though he's clearly laid down outside and sometimes had even went down on his knee evident by how dirty it was. Last night he sniffed around right away, looking for a spot to roll. He went down slowly, stopping midway through as his sore knee was half bent, almost trying to decide if it was worth the pain to lay down. He made it all the way down and rolled several times and then he just laid there staring at me. He hadn't tried to get up and he wasn't struggling, he rolled just fine. He laid there for quite a while before I started trying to encourage him to get up. He'd sit up slightly one or two times but never bent his legs under himself to get up. I was getting mildly scared, he wasn't struggling or thrashing but it just seemed weird that he'd lay down and not get up or even try. I started to walk toward the gate, I can't recall what I was going to do, but I turned around and Axel was standing. He must not have struggled nor grunted at all so the best I can tell he was trying to play a funny joke?

Anyway when he got up his knee was pretty sore so I thought maybe I would give him some bute just so he could get around a bit better for the next couple days. I mixed the unflavored bute with applesauce and sweet feed but he turned up his nose. I gave in and grabbed the paste bute which didn't seem frozen. Unfortunately it was colder than normal and I don't think a whole lot got in his mouth. Hopefully he got at least a gram.

I brought Cody in as well just to groom and let him move around the arena a bit. He wasn't ready to run but he wanted to walk around, I thought maybe he was going to roll too but he was just exploring. I grabbed the lunge whip and asked him to move a bit. I had him move around for a while and just stretch his legs. He let me stretch his front legs but he wasn't thrilled with standing still, he was just not into it. He's looking really good these days. I'm excited for him to shed out this spring. Axel is well on his way to shedding as well. It's almost spring!

Still Icy

Okay leave it to Axel to make me a liar. He was pretty sore last night when I went out to the barn. He ate his MSM with gusto but when I tried to give him some bute he turned his nose up at it. I added some slightly frozen applesauce but that did not inspire him. So he went without. Though it did seem like maybe the swelling on his knee was down a bit.

So I grabbed Cody and groomed him up. He must be laying down more often now because he looks a complete mess. He is also spending a lot of time visiting across the fence with his temporary neighbor girls. After I took the huge snowballs out of his feet and got him cleaned up we went into the arena. He seemed a little energetic so I just turned him loose but he wasn't in the mood to kick up his heels on his own so I got out the lunge whip and he free lunged for a while. He's really lifting up his back these days which is nice to see. After he stretched his legs a bit we did a few change of direction on the lead line. It took a few tries to get him to stand still at the mounting block again but I jumped on bareback for a while. We spent some time working on the rail and staying on the rail and going deep in the corners. Cody thinks he knows me and wanted to do corner circles but that was not my plan, silly boy. He picks up on repetitive things very quickly.

We played around with some leg yielding and still didn't get quite it. We had a few tries of turn on the forehand which went just okay. There was some decent rein-back, he's a lot more willing to do that when I'm just riding in the rope halter and no bridle. And overall we worked on seat and leg cues and neck reining. I even attempted some sitting trot for a little bit. We ended the night by standing next to the mounting block, getting a treat, and me getting off. I also did some of Cody's stretches and massaged his hips a bit. He's got these new weird indents on his hips which I assume is just from weight gain but they are odd.

I made the mistake of taking him out the side barn door since S had just come in with her boys and had the door open still. Cody just about pulled a Bambi and did the splits on the ice. He held it together but we won't be using that path again any time soon. I'm glad I didn't go that way with Axel, yikes.

New URL

Well well it seems as if blogger is getting rid of FTP which means this blog is going to have to move. Which in the end is fine since it's just in a sub folder on one of my existing domains. It could use a domain of it's own. I assume blogger will assist in the redirects so hopefully if there's anyone actually reading this blog they will be forwarded. I'm not sure how it'll work for RSS feeds. Sounds like this will start happening the week of Feb. 22 so keep an eye out if I go missing and you wonder where I am.

In other news, I still think Axel's knee is ever so slowly feeling better. The collage is from the past few photos I've taken, most recent on the left. He's not sound by any means but he's peppier and he just about ran me over on his way up to the barn last night. He's still gimpy in the arena but maybe just a little less gimpy? It's hard to tell for sure. He was actually in kind of an obnoxious mood last night. He booked it up to the barn nearly leaving me in the dust and he was trying to bite me in the arena. Not sure what that's about. I'm hoping when this knee thing gets better we can start working off some of his energy and hay belly.

Cody Pushes the Green Ball

Another sunny but cold day at the barn. It seemed a little chillier today than yesterday actually. Cody was nappping when I drove up so I took some photos of him and grabbed Axel first. B was in the arena playing with Diva and the green ball. Axel ate up his MSM as usual. He seemed very slightly less lame today so I brought him into the arena for a bit to move around. He's still much more lame in the arena footing than he is on the cement or even the ice in the drive way. But, we might be getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel because I swear he seemed a little less lame.

I put him out side and Cody was up from his nap so I brought him in to ride a bit. I saddled him up this time in case he was feeling frisky with Diva in the arena or in case I wanted to trot or canter a bit. Diva was pushing around the green ball with her legs so Cody and I tried several times before we finally pushed the ball. We made a big fuss telling Cody he was a good boy when he pushed it. He's still not going to run in there and play with the ball by himself but at least he finally trusted me enough to do what I said.

B and I swapped horses for a few minutes and I got to try out Diva. She's got the big big big arab trot, that's for sure. She does have a WP trot but it's still got a lot of action and would be tough to sit for too long. We even cantered a bit but it took me a couple tries to get to it. She's so little, it's like my feet touch each other. B got Cody to trot and canter a bit as well, he was being pretty cooperative. It got cold pretty fast when we stopped working so I untacked Cody and took him back out side. I couldn't stand around too long without freezing so that was the end of hanging out at the barn. Can't wait til it's a bit warmer.