Relax a little, Booker

Well Mr Booker decided since he found a hole in the hay net he didn't want to give that up and took off when I came into the paddock. Luckily he didn't go far and I was able to catch him fairly easily.

I tacked, fly sprayed, and walked out to the middle pasture. I had some tagalongs but we were able to get through the gates without too much trouble. Made sure the saddle was on straight and mounted up. He stood pretty still for once (didn't want to leave the group at the gate I'm sure). So we walked the pasture to check out the footing and what not. Did some big trot circles at the far end. He wasn't settling in, was pretty "up" about it all, nothing horrible, just not a nice easy trot. I'm pretty sure he was concerned with his buddies. So I was going to work on cantering big straights but I changed my plans since he seemed more likely to ignore me.

So the plan was, walk or trot away from the gate, if he gave me a super easy trot, or if he transitioned down to a walk easily, or a good halt with out turning or wandering, then we turned around and went back towards the gate as his reward. I decided that for me at least, when I ask for a trot or a canter I want something super mellow and easy by default. I figured he's got the speed and I think if we keep light aids (which shouldn't be an issue if we work on getting him back to a snaffle) then he won't get sticky and it should be easy to let him "go" when we need it. I don't think we're going to be winning big dollars in the mounted shooting and it sounds like speed isn't necessarily the way to do that anyways. So consistency on his part and steadiness and all that I think would be more applicable to other stuff like trail riding etc.

He was getting good at the halt, I'd do voice "and whoa", then stiffen my body, then reins. Still had to do a couple tugs on the reins for halt but he was catching on and doing really well just standing there. Trot to walk transitions went pretty well too, I'd just change my body from posting to a more stiff sit and he'd transition down. I did do one canter just to see but it was pretty vertical and big so I didn't do more of that. He transitioned down pretty well though.

When I finally asked for a trot and he just broke into a super easy nice trot, I stopped him and got off. So I think that's the kind of thing I'm going to work on when I ride. That seems pretty simple and I get some variety of gait to get used to his movement. I'll just have to make sure I let him extend from time to time.

So his leg looks super awesome. I didn't clean it but there's barely a spot left of scab or whatever. Probably by Friday if we clean it there'll be nothing under that tiny scab. Then we can start putting some MTG on there and get the hair to grow back.

Booker Report (get it?)

So last we left Booker he had done a number on his leg and we were out cleaning and treating it nearly every day.  The up side of all this was 1. Booker eats antibiotic powder on top his feed with no issues (other than pushing you over to get into a stall to eat) 2. Booker learned to stand tied while being treated 3. Booker learned to tolerate fly spray 4. Booker has started to learn to tolerate the hose.  So I guess there's a silver lining.

So it was looking like maybe we were getting some proud flesh so we had consulted several sources to decide what to do.  We spent a few days scrubbing it.  And now I think we're trying Wonderdust (as I was out of Underwoods).  So the above photo was the proud flesh.  The below photo is after scrubbing it for two days.

It kind of looks like the proud flesh is better in this photo.  So who knows.  Hopefully the Wonderdust eats some of the proud flesh and we don't have to have it debrided.  We really don't want to have to wrap this and want to continue treating it as an open wound.

Otherwise the guy is doing well.  Not lame at all, oh wait, he threw a shoe last week.  So right after we decided to get back to work he changed the plans on that.  Farrier isn't due out for a week yet.  Luckily I found the shoe in the pasture Friday.  Luckily it was too danged hot last week to matter.

Hopefully things will settle down a bit and we'll get back to working on some "walk" on the lunge and some bending.

Here was our list of goals:

1. standing for fly spray
2. lunging at speeds other than a trot
3. standing still with a rider... he seems to stand still when you are on the ground next to him.  And stands pretty good for mounting.... but geez, once you are on, he just wants to walk!
4.  more trailering practice so a second person isn't needed to stand behind him with a whip

And I'm adding 5. bending

Everyone's got their groove back!

It's been a while since I've gone to the barn and felt like I got done as much as I should have. Axel seemed to be feeling okay in the pasture so I brought him in and gave him some MSM and bute and cleaned him up a bit. Flies seem to still be an issue but I'm out of fly spray so I didn't clean off all the mud on his legs, plus most of it was still wet. When I put him in the arena he was probably 95% sound at the walk. He wasn't feeling terribly feisty so I didn't put his bell boots on (I didn't think it would have been a good idea over all the mud in the first place). I scrambled up on him bareback and he walked off. I'd say he went the first 5 minutes 90% sound and maybe dipped down below that for the last 5 minutes. I tried to keep him moving the whole 10 minutes. He stopped quite a bit in the last half of the ride and started backing up a few times but I wanted to push him a little to make sure we were getting past any behavior/laziness issues and were just dealing with soreness. Overall he was pretty stable and didn't seem to get any worse the longer I rode. Lazier for sure, but his gait stayed constant.

Before I rode I picked up both front feet and held each knee bent for a minute. It seems like after the farrier was here he walked out so much better and I wondered if it had anything to do with being a little more stretched out. So I flexed his front knees and stretches his front shoulders before riding. He still braces himself when he stops (head up in the air) and when I go to dismount, though this time he didn't grunt as I slid off. I'm still not sure if that's pain related or just Axel related. I flexed his knee again after I dismounted and then did some massage on his front shoulders, back, and rear end. He seems to really enjoy having his rear end muscles massaged. And of course I scratched his itchy spot behind his girth. Anything to give him a good memory of being ridden. When we were done I gave him a couple cobs of sweet corn that Jeff decided were past their prime for our personal consumption.

I decided that I'd just do some ground work with Cody instead of riding in the arena for a change of pace. We haven't really worked on anything in a long time. He really needs some time on the lunge line building up some muscle but he also needs to remember that he has to move when I tell him to. So we started with some regular lunging but he was reluctant and it was hard to get him to move so I removed the lunge line and got him going at liberty. Without the lunge line I can weild the lunge whip a little more effectively and inspire a little more movement out of the old man. So he trotted around looking very nice for a while and then cantered around in both directions. When he was nice and awake I put him back on the lungeline to get a few more structured circles out of him as well as some change of direction. By this time he was back to his responsive self, changing directions with energy and paying attention. So I'm thinking we must get back into the habit of working on this sort of thing more and I have to make sure I don't settle for less than an energetic response to my requests.

Cody on the Road - Another Attempt

J&J were just about to hitch up the boys for a ride down the road when I had grabbed Cody out of the pasture. J asked what I had planned and told me to "throw a saddle on and ride" in response to me not knowing what my plans were. I had Wednesday off to head out to Canby for the wedding but Jeff had to work so I used some of my time up at the barn. Unfortunately I didn't know how much time I had so I could have spent much more time out there than I did. Cody has been pretty sluggish lately so before I got on I asked him for some circles and change of direction in the arena. He's not nearly as peppy as he used to be but he seems to still be paying attention. He was very concerned that the clydes were heading down the drive way without him. I took that opportunity to mount up and hopefully have a little more inspired ride down the road than usual.

I did get him to trot a bit down the drive way and his speed was a little faster than the snail's pace he usually finds but the clydes were far enough ahead that they weren't much for inspiration. Luckily that also meant Cody wasn't going to feel the need to chase after them. We did make it down the road with very little incident. I didn't make him go all the way to the intersection and picked a moment when he was calm and not weaving to turn around. And luckily our change of direction did not mean bolting for home. He picked up a little faster pace but that was about the extent of it. Cars passed and he ignored them and he refrained from grabbing for grass. So overall I'd say the ride was slow but successful. I hope I can recall this fact and keep riding the old man all winter so he stays fairly cooperative. Which might not be too hard if Axel decides to be lame for the rest of his life.

Speaking of, I'm pretty sure I rode Axel a second time last week but seem to have lost track of when. It was maybe Tuesday; bareback with a halter and lead and only for a few minutes. If you'll recall he sped around the arena the time before kicking up his heels and was not worse for wear. So I got on a second time and he was his usual gimpy self but as long as he's not getting worse I think we shall persevere. This time, however, he was quite sore after I dismounted and led him back to the barn aisle. But after standing in the aisle for a few minutes he walked out fine. I've been giving him 2g of bute on the days that I ride just to take any edge off. The next day he was the same as ever so his momentary soreness must have been just that. I am tempted to save up some cash and have that knee x-rayed again next year just to see if anything has changed. We'll see how he holds up this winter. I have the long lines ready so even if I don't ride I'm going to try and keep him moving. Axel's other injury seems like it's healing up decently. You can see more skin starting to grow back so that's a good sign.

Bath Day

Friday I was going camping all weekend so I just ran out to check on the boys and make sure everyone was still in one piece. Axel's wound looked like it was either scabbed over or covered in mud, or both. I did get quite the welcome, both horses were standing head first in the lean-to and when they heard me open the gate they both whipped around and started knickering. Too bd I didn't have any good snacks for them.

Camping ended early on Sunday so I was able to make it out to the barn on a hot sunny day. Axel was a little gimpy so I decided not to ride him afterall and opted for baths instead. With soap! I was scolded afterward for not using the warm water but it was so hot out I thought maybe the cold water would feel okay. Axel didn't seem to mind as he stood pretty decently for the scrubbing.

Cody, on the otherhand, was not too happy about the situation. He paid me back by rolling right away so you couldn't even tell he had a bath. I tried out the Underwood Horse Medicine on Axel's wound and one of his feet with mud fever, we'll see how that works on it. Cody's back legs were so dirty down to the skin I wasn't even able to get them all the way clean. I don't think he has mud fever, I'm pretty sure it's just dirt. I should have grabbed a scrub brush or something and worked on it but he was pretty unhappy about the bath so I just went as fast as possible. If I hadn't had given them the baths I don't think I would have noticed that they both have bot eggs on their legs. So now I have to find my bot knife and remember to bring that out and try and get them cleaned up. Sheesh horses.

The Mud

Picture this: Sorrel paint horse with white stockings up to his knees + black black black mud = sorrel paint horse with black stockings up to his knees. I ran out to the barn late last night just to check on Axel and take off what I guessed would be a nasty muddy wrap. I was right about that. In fact the diaper that I had used was long gone and it was just some muddy vet wrap left. I tried to get it off in the pasture but the flies were bad so no one would stand still and after Axel slimed me with mud I decided to grab a halter and lead and take him out of the pasture. I didn't bother washing off the wound since it was covered in mud and would be covered in mud seconds after cleaning it. So I can just hope that it gets a chance to dry out and heal a little over the weekend. At the very least I hope it doesn't get any worse. I was curious if he was going to be extra gimpy from his mild bronc impression in the arena the night before but he was booking it around the paddock pretty well so either the flies were bad enough that he forgot he was sore or he was feeling pretty okay. Maybe a little exercize is what the doctor ordered. This cool weather must be a nice pace for the boys as well. Sadly I didn't get any photos since it was dark and everything was covered in mud.

Lame, huh? Coulda Fooled Me!

I decided it was time. Axel needs to get back to some sort of work. Not hard, mind you. The vet was very adamant that I not do something that will make his condition worse. But the last time we chatted discussed the fact that standing around not moving was not going to help his arthritis so I think getting him walking is the key. If I can get him so that we can walk him down the road or trail with a little bute before hand and no heavy duty trotting or anything like that, I think that's the way to go. I don't think it's going to make anything worse at this point. The vet also suggested that I get some Surpass which I agree with and had suggested a long time ago. So I'll add that to my list of things to get.

I made this nice little graph of his soundness since the day he got the injection. Just for fun of course, that's what I do. So it was finally cool out so I made sure to get out to the barn. The wrap on Axel's leg was so black I thought he had lost it in the pasture somewhere. You couldn't even tell the vet wrap used to be yellow but it was still on his foot and it actually kept the wound clean. I hosed him off and brought him back into the barn. It seems like he's got some scabs on the backs of his legs higher up than he usually gets for mud fever but I can't quite figure them out so I made sure to scrub them good just in case. The scabs are staying to a minimum on the rest of his legs so that's good. If it would stop flooding in his pasture maybe I could stop worrying about it so much but at this point a quick scrub is much easier to deal with than if the scratches got as bad as some of the other boarder's horses. So I scrubbed his back feet and his cut with the Norwex cloth and then some chlorhexidine, then I put some tri-care on the cut, then I wrapped his cut again, and put on his bell boots in the back. I gave him some MSM and some bute since I planned to ride a bit and it had been a long time since he's had someone on his back.

When I brought him into the arena he nearly plowed me over ready to go so I unhooked his lead rope and let him go on his way. All the doors were open so he had to check out each one and then he took off. Cantering, trotting, you name it. The lame horse was not looking so lame all of a sudden. Sure he wasn't 100% at most gaits but he sure didn't seem to care. After about 8 minutes of him running and trotting and looking around he seemed to calm down so I grabbed his lead rope and tied it up like reins and led him to the mounting block. I will admit now that it took me three tries to get on. The first two times I jumped up, was laying over his back, tried to swing my leg over and felt myself going head first toward the ground on the other side of the horse so I bailed and landed on my feet. Third time's a charm I guess and I finally made it up on his back. He walked out with a bit of a limp but it was pretty stable and he was willing (for a few minutes). I didn't want to work him any longer than 10 minutes total including his little stint as a crazy horse running around the arena so I only stayed on for maybe 2 minutes. Basically a couple laps in each direction. Since he's started having all these issues I've jumped on bareback a couple times and I've noticed when I go to dismount he's very unhappy. He puts his head way up in the air and grunts as I swing down. I'm getting down on his left side, opposite of his sore knee, so I'm not sure if his back is sore maybe or what. The last couple times I got around to trying to do some massage on his back he seemed to really enjoy himself so perhaps that's the key. Old boy needs a masseuse apparently. Too bad he's already spent his allowance! To end the evening I took him for a walk down the road just to the end of the pasture and back. I think we're lacking in the stamina department right now, he got pretty slow just after that little bit and it didn't seem like soreness, just tiredness. So we'll try and keep up the 10 minutes of moving for a while and then increase by 5 after a few weeks.

Hopefully I can pop out there quick tonight and remove that bandage and leave it off for the weekend, maybe it will scab up. I'm just hoping the proud flesh doesn't get too bad. I should have taken a photo of it last night but I forgot, maybe tonight.

Makeshift Surgery

Axel may be accident prone but he is really the best patient I could ask for I think. I actually beat the farrier to the barn this time as did two other boarders. Since they already had horses in I messed around getting my saddle and stuff out of the car, put it in the sun to dry more, and hung out for a bit while they had their horses trimmed and shod. I grabbed Axel and brought him over to the tree to hose off his feet. I half thought about giving him a real bath but decided against it. The cut on his foot was looking okay. The flap of skin wasn't completely shriveled up yet and the wound itself was a little meaty looking. He might be getting a bit of scar tissue. I'll have to do some research on how to prevent that from getting too bad. I got him groomed up, scrubbed his back feet with the Norwex cloth, scrubbed in some Chlorhexidine on both his back feet and his wound, and then put some tri-care on the cut while we waited for our turn. He was starting to get a little antsy waiting so we walked around a bit on the gravel beside the arena so he could at least keep his wound clean for a few minutes.

The farrier trimmed him up taking extra care on this right front since that's his sore knee. I guess he had forgotten about that particular issue of Axel's but noticed Axel stiffen up ever so slightly as he picked up that foot and immediately remembered. When he got around to that left front with the cut and flap of skin he asked if I wanted him to nip that off. I told him he could try, I wasn't sure how much of it was still alive or would be painful. Axel stood there with his foot on the stand while the farrier tried to get the flap of skin off with his nippers. Then he tried another nippers. Then he had to resort to his hoof knife because the flap just wasn't coming off. Axel didn't move a muscle the whole time. So either it didn't hurt at all or he's just that awesome. I'm guessing the former. That little flap of skin bled like you would not believe so I grabbed a diaper and some vet wrap that I keep in my little first aid bag and we wrapped up his foot. I left him in a stall for a while but it was apparent he was unhappy with that situation so I put him back out in the pasture. I figured it'll at least stay clean for a little bit while it clots up and I'll just unwrap it in a day or so and see how it's doing. I'll have to remember to restock my first aid bag as well.

Cody was the usual patient boy for his trim. He had some troubles with his front feet on the stand stretched out I might need to do some more leg stretches with him and help him get relaxed in that position. He might have just been stiff from Saturday's ride though he trotted up the yard in front of the barn while I was leading him up to be trimmed.

Trail Ride Prep

I decided if J&J were going to bring Cody to the trail ride for me on Saturday I better put him to work so he's hopefully not a pain in the butt for them. I set up the "bridge" in the arena next to the wall with the two barrels (which I now remember I forgot to put away - doh) on the offside to simulate a close-quarters situation. I made Cody circle and change directions a few times (lazy pony) before walking him over the bridge in both directions. Then I sent him over the bridge with no issues. Well the only issue being laziness. But it was good to see he'd drive over the bridge even when it was loud and wobbly. Hopefully he'll walk into the trailer just as easy.

I worked with him for about an hour including riding. We walked (slowly), trotted (reluctantly), and even cantered on both leads (once and very spastic). We spent a few seconds on the turn on the forehand but he really will only swing his butt to the left. We tried to circle left and that was a fight more often than not, Cody is not left handed apparently. His neck seems a bit thicker on the left side as well so maybe he does need some stretch and massage in that direction like I conveniently ignored from the chiropractor.

When we finished up I cleaned up his bridle path and tried to clean up his whiskers. Cody prefers to try and eat the clippers instead of being scared of them. It makes clipping whiskers very tricky. I'm still questioning the amount of heat on his back from that Tacky Too pad. It just seems like no matter how cool it is out he sweats a good deal under the neoprene or whatever it is. I might have to go looking for some research.

When I put him out Jeff drove up on my motorcycle for a visit so we grabbed Axel and cleaned off his wound. He actually had stayed out of the mud since the night before so it was looking pretty clean, just full of flies. So we cleaned, scrubbed with Chlorhexidine, and borrowed some Swat to put on it and keep the bugs away. So far I think it's healing well, I just hope it doesn't get proud flesh or scar too bad. When it closes up I suppose I'll try the MTG on it but I think that'll be quite a while, it's a big wound.

A Nice Barn Trip

For once (and I'm knocking on wood and crossing my fingers and throwing salt over my shoulder right now) my trip to the barn was pleasant. Axel was waiting at the gate so I didn't have to wade through the swamp to get him. He wasn't pleased as punch to be hosed off but the most he did to protest was pick up each foot. I cleaned off his wound and hosed off his back legs as well. His cut was looking pretty good. The skin flap is shriveling up and the cut itself didn't look too horrible. A thought maybe it was getting infected but at this point I don't think it is. It's light pink, not too oozy, no jagged red edges, and it didn't seem hot or too painful to the touch. Of course the flies love it but I know as soon as I put him back in the pasture it'll be covered in mud anyway. I scrubbed his back legs with the Norwex cloth, let them dry for a while, and then scrubbed with Chlorhexidine. They are looking pretty good actually. A few scabs a little higher up than he usually gets in the spring but the swelling has gone down in the back right leg.

I put some Chlorhexidine in the cut on his front foot. I'm hoping it's still effective even if it doesn't get scrubbed in. I did scrub around the wound with it and Axel seemed to appreciate that a bit, I suppose it's itchy as it heals and I was keeping the flies away. I tried to scrape the rest of the dried mud off his body but I didn't want to get too much dust in the wound so I took it easy. I should try and sneak in a bath yet this summer, he hasn't had one yet and the warmer days are getting fewer. Though the last time I bathed Cody I discovered there is warm water available. I didn't get Axel moving save for the walk to and from the barn but he's looking pretty okay, hard to tell on the gravel. Drat and I forgot to give him some MSM, oh well.

Cody had of course left his fly mask laying in the pasture. At least this time both he and the mask were on the near side of the swamp so I lucked out with both horses and didn't have to don the muck boots. The sun must be getting just low enough to keep him from getting too bad sun burn. I'll probably leave their masks off starting in the next few weeks, maybe September. Cody didn't have nearly as much mud on him as I thought he would and it must have been a while since he was in the wet because it was all dry. After I got him groomed up and put back in the pasture I chatted with J&J for a while mentioning the We Can Ride Trail Ride Fund Raiser this Saturday. I said that I was maybe borrowing a horse since I didn't think Cody would fit in A's straight load. So J&J decided to attend and they will bring Cody for me. I have to be early to set up so I'll just get my saddle and stuff in their trailer Friday night and they'll just grab Cody Saturday morning and bring him over for me. I'm so glad the old man gets to go to the ride (he might regret it but oh well). I just hope he loads okay for J. That leaves Dusty open for someone else to ride and it's always kind of silly to own two horses and not be able to have either of them with me. I'll have to make sure Cody gets groomed up real nice on Friday night, see if I can get my brush through his tail ;)