Long Time No See

I ran out to the barn tonight to visit the boys and make sure everyone's appendages were still attached and all that. Axel has some lumps on his face again and I'm starting to think he gets this after it rains, maybe there's some gnats or flies that hatch in the rain and bite. His knee was looking pretty swollen as well but as usual it wasn't hot or even warm. After I groomed him and picked 3 wood ticks out of his forelock I put some DMSO on his knees. The last couple times I've used it he seems to move a little better afterwards. I have to pay off some of the repairs on the trailer and then order his Adequan and some Surpass. I'm also thinking of getting some denatured collagen II (supplement) to try since the recent research article in The Horse. I'm tempted to find a supplement that has MSM, collagen, and HA and put him back on that but ug, it's all so expensive especially since I like the pellet versions best.

When Axel was done I grabbed Cody and brought him in to clean him up a bit. He didn't have a single wood tick so I'm not sure what Axel gets into that Cody doesn't. I decided not to ride tonight and just got him cleaned up and both ponies sprayed with fly spray. I *will* fix fly masks this week, Cody's already got some scabs on his nose from sunburn. Not sure if Axel will keep his on but it's worth a try and maybe he'll get less lumps on his face.

Dirty Ponies

It's been so nice out lately I was able to groom the horses outside in the fresh air. And luckily I made it to the barn before it got dark making that task possible. I gave Cody some extra food while I took care of Axel. Cody even let Vinnie share some of his feed. Axel's rain rot doesn't seem to be getting any worse. It's hard to tell if it's going away or not but I think a full week of no rain and sun and the chlorhexidine should be working. After I groomed him I scrubbed some of his "spots" again just to make sure.

Cody's rain rot wasn't as bad to begin with so I didn't do anything more to him. Most of his scabs are gone and he hasn't lost any patches of hair. I figured he was going to be a big crusty mess after all the sweating on Sunday but he wasn't that bad. It'd be great if we had some heated water to do baths but they are just going to have to wait until next summer. Dirty ponies.

Just a Quick Visit

Since I ended up riding on Tuesday night I decided that Wednesday was just going to be a grooming visit. Mostly I had to get home and mow the lawn before it took over the neighborhood. So Axel came in and got groomed a little better than normal, fly sprayed, photographed, and sent back out side. And the same went for Cody. Axel is still bugging Vinnie it seems. I shooed him away while I was petting Vinnie. Axel seemed torked about that and Vinnie wants to be my bff. I hope I show up one day to them all grooming each other and being happy.

The other day I forgot to mention that I saw Cody standing in the pasture with birds on his back for the first time! Crazy!

New Masks

Just grooming today, it was warm and I had been to the barn every night this week. I just groomed outside but it was hot in the sun so it was a pretty quick groom. Both horses got some fly spray and their new fly masks. Hopefully Cody's will keep some of the sun off his pink nose.

I heard back from the chiropractor and I have an appointment for the boys next Friday so I'm taking the day off of work. Yay. I'll be curious to see how bad Cody is, he's pretty flinchy near his left flank, almost to the sacrum. So I'll be surprised if he's not out there at the very least. But his behavior suggests he's out in more places than just that. When the chiropractic is done then I think it's time to start working on Cody's top line maybe with some lunging and the bitting rig possibly even adding some ground poles for him. There's a nice gradual hill in front of the barn as well that I'd like to get him backing up.

Way Too Hot

Cody looked a little mopey in the pasture yesterday. I groomed him outside and I nearly passed out from the heat. It was obvious we weren't going to ride so I found a spot in the shade to sit while Cody grazed. I thought maybe it'd be cooler in the arena so I groomed Axel in there but it was still too hot so it was back to the pasture and I went home to cool off. It's supposed to be cooler over the weekend so hopefully I can get some riding in and maybe someone else will be around to ride with.

Pacing

Axel is still in with Cody. The barn owners didn't seem to be around so I'm still assuming that's the reason. However, Cody has dug himself a nice 8-10" rut from pacing the fence (thus proving that having Axel in with him does not calm him down). They moved the feeder in the middle of his rut, either to block his path (which doesn't work, he just goes around) or to put the feeder near the feeder on the other side of the fence so the horses are sort of eating together.

I did some circling with Cody right in the paddock before I brought him out to groom. As is becoming more normal now, he was a complete fool while tied to the hitching rail (the hunter girls have their lesson on Mondays so the arena/parking lot/barn aisle are all occupied). I didn't groom long before I brought Cody back in the paddock with the intention to keep working him. Axel stays out of the way and just watches so it works out okay for everyone.

Cody and I worked on circling with him keeping an ear on me. He wasn't too great at this today since he was really concerned that those gray horses were way out in the pasture and he couldn't see them. We also worked on standing and looking at me. I tried to anticipate the moment that he couldn't stand there any more and move him before he chose to move. Every time he stood and looked at me for a few seconds without his attention drifting we'd walk back towards the other paddock where he wanted to go anyway. After all this work he did calm down a notch but all things are relative of course. It must have been almost dinner time because the gray horses decided to come back up to the fence and see what was going on. That made Cody very happy so we worked a few more minutes and then I let him go.

I groomed Axel at the hitching rail and he was solid as ever, just standing still and enjoying the scratches. I thought he would shed out more black than it seems he is. But he probably has a lot more shedding to do. He seems to be getting some white hairs on his forehead now as well. I don't think it'll be a full fledged star, I think it's just old age, I mean he is 16 after all!

Mud and Hair

Mud and hair is the theme this time of year. I was going to experiment with some video taping tonight but part of the deal with boarding is that there are other boarders around. Apparently a couple of the girls have a little lesson on Mondays so the arena was full up. Rumor has it that two of the boarders are leaving at the end of this month so it should quiet down a bit. I scrapped the video taping for fear of looking like a dork and opted for some outdoor grooming. With all the mud and hair flying all over outside was the best option. The wind blew everything away and I didn't have to sweep the barn aisle. I groomed for over an hour and neither horse looks it in the least bit. Axel's mud fever doesn't seem to be showing it's face yet this year. He had a scrape on his one foot so I cleaned him up and sprayed it and some other rough spots with Betadine. Cody is shedding in full force and I could have used the shedding blade on him for days. Even with Danny in the furthers end of the pasture, I can take Cody away and Axel doesn't freak out like he does when both Danny and Cody are gone. It's kind of interesting. Next time Danny is gone I'll do some work with the herd bound-ness.

Apparently on Tuesday when it was snowing and raining and generally crappy out they brought all the horses into stalls. Including Cody and Axel. Sounds like my guys and Danny were in the small barn together. I guess they handled it fine. I suppose they were happy to be out of the mud and they probably had some nice hay to munch on.