Leave it to a horse

A few days after having left the horses at their new home I went out to do some ground work with Booker.  Now that my guys are too far away to ride during the week I'll be "leasing" Booker.  After chasing him around the pasture for 10-15 minutes, I finally caught him and noticed this:

Of course, first day out and he's got himself a big old chunk of skin missing from this leg. Since his leg was messed up I went right to the tree to tie him and get the hose.  He stood fine that whole time.  Drug the hose out there and took off the sprayer thinking that'd be too scary and just the regular water coming out of the hose would be better. But he didn't like it anyway and started to pull back.  I put the hose down and he stopped pulling for a second but then started again until he broke the halter and took off.

He ran around to the drive way and then down to the gate to the pasture. When he saw me coming of course he took off again.  I went around the other way and he went back down to the gate. He tried to get into the trees but it must have been too thick.  I was able to get to the gate and open it while he went and stood a bit off.  I was then able to herd him back into the pasture which is where I think he wanted to be anyways.

I needed to get the remaining pieces of rope off him so I decided he didn't get out of work that easy and got the regular halter.  This time I was able to catch him easily.  Maybe because he had that rope on his neck still?  I took him to the hose just to see if it was the hose or being tied that was his issue.  He didn't even want the hose on his front feet so we worked at that for a while.  He was better being held but still would pull back so we had a few times where I made him back up all over the place at high speeds.  Didn't really "fix" anything though.

Took him into the arena, shut the barn door just in case and got a bucket of water.  He stood better for that (not tied) but when the water would hit the wound he'd walk/run away, probably didn't feel good.  Even with getting some water on it I wasn't getting it clean enough.

I decided to work on something so I got the fly spray and we worked on that.  Still with the pulling back so we did some more backing and I made a lot of "shhhing" noises to imitate the spray.  Finally he just stopped and let me spray him. Not sure if he gave up, or if I won or what?  But I gave him lots of praise and sprayed a bit before I lost my chance.

So it's looking like Mr. Booker needs some lessons in not pulling back, fly spray, hose, needles, and who knows what else.

I ended up calling the vet to come out that night.  I couldn't get it clean enough and we figured the flap of skin would need to be trimmed off.  So I armed the vet with the warning that Booker did not do well with needles last time (granted those were needles in his feet - I don't blame him).  He was able to get the needle in with little trouble and Booker was drooling soon enough.  Thank goodness he doped up easily ;)

The vet cleaned it up and gave him some Novocaine and trimmed off the skin and also gave him some morphine.  And as long as the guy was feeling good we also floated his teeth, saved a call charge and drugs since he was ready to go.  So the vet said clean every day, spray with Aluspray, and give him antibiotics.  Could be 4-6 weeks that we'd have to keep up the cleaning and spraying.

The day after I went out and the barn owner helped me clean him up. We weren't sure how he'd do un-drugged and we didn't want to tie him so it was a two man job.  I held him and she cleaned him up with a bucket of water and a rag.  And he did really well. I had to shank him a few times with the halter but other than that he stood really well.  He even stood for the Aluspray and some fly spray.  To top it off, he ate his meds in some grain.  Was thinking we'd have to make a paste out of it and put it in a syringe.

So Nancy has handled subsequent cleanings and he's doing really well with it and we think it's healing nicely as you can see from the photos.  And I think he's getting the added bonus of learning to not pull back, at least with this situation.  She's been working on flyspray as well.  Still haven't tackled the tying issue but that's a bit more tricky.

He's a little pushy going into the barn right now, he looks forward to his grain/meds.  But that should go away when his meds are done in a couple days.  Of course it might be harder to get him in to clean his leg with no treats ;)  And we're loving the Aluspray.  Something we're definitely going to have around the barn for cuts and scrapes and things.  It sticks really well and keeps the bugs out.

Mud Season Again

This was the photo I was sent by A who was watching after Axel this past weekend while I was in Colorado. Kind of hard to see what's going on but it looks good to me. We'll see what it looks like when I get out there tonight. She said she thought it was maybe starting to get a bit infected so I'll have to make sure I get it cleaned up really good.

The other update I got while I was gone was about Cody. B sent me a message on FB about my silly horses.

"I saw how Cody gets mud up to his knees! Sunday after I put Diva back out I saw him in the middle of the pasture not far behind their shelter. Thought he was on his knees mid lay down, no he sunk so far into the mud there that he was up to all four leg to the top of the white. And he'd stand there and graze like that, then hoist a leg out one at a time and move and graze some more, without having to stretch his neck so far down! Hope he doenst ever get stuck!"

Sounds like I will be hosing off both horses tonight.

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.

Sunny Saturday

Axel is the same, didn't expect anything more. Groomed him and gave him his MSM and put him back outside. Perhaps tomorrow I'll give him some bute and have him move around a bit. He has been laying down, his right side was dirty again so he doesn't hurt so much that he won't lay down. And if he's going down on that knee that could explain the increased swelling. Poor boy, I hope we can get this under control soon. As he decided to humor me and drop I checked out his boy parts and they are pretty dirty. A lot dirtier than I think he should be after being cleaned by the vet a month ago. A mentioned that Axel wasn't dropped when the vet was cleaned and he was just mopping out the inside of his sheath. So now I'm wondering if there is a bean or something. If it was warmer I could maybe see what I can find.

So I brought Cody into the barn and A brought in Vinnie. We did a little bit of ground work in the arena and he was paying pretty good attention considering Vinnie was also doing some work. He was less than thrilled when Vinnie left and it took us quite some time to stand still at the mounting block. At one point we even did a bit of side passing/leg yielding. When he finally stood still I hopped on bareback. Riding a horse bareback in the winter = heated seats. He had a tough time concentrating but we worked on some circles in the corners of the arena and I worked on more subtler cues. A brought Danny in for a bit and moved him around a little before taking him back outside. When I got off Cody and removed his bridle he jumped around and ran to the gate. He really wanted to go out. I finished cleaning up the arena before I took Cody back outside. Since I'm a wimp and don't trot or canter bareback he was only a bit damp from nerves so I didn't have to cool him out. The sun was really warm and everyone was soaking it up outside and a big hawk was waiting on the fence post.

ETA: Doing a little research on MSM and DMSO, here's a few links with some interesting information -
http://www.vitaflex.com/res_msmdmso2a.php
http://www.dmso.org/articles/information/muir.htm

Axel's Puffy Knee

Poor boy. When I drove up to the barn today I thought for sure Axel was going to be 3 legged lame. It seemed like I could see his swollen knee from the driveway and he looked like he was standing kind of funny. When I haltered him up and walked him toward the gate he didn't seem much different than usual. I think he is a bit more swollen than Tuesday but his knee was also dirty so he must have went down on it at some point maybe to roll or sleep. I gave him his MSM which he greedily ate up. His other swelling seems about the same from what I can tell, no major change there at least.

I put him in the arena to see how he walked in there to determine if I should give him some bute or not. He seems to walk better on the cement than he does in the arena for some reason. Maybe the uneven ground and deeper footing is harder to deal with. He was maybe a tiny bit more lame but not nearly as lame as I expected when I drove up so I decided not to give him bute this time. I'd rather he feel a bit of the pain and not overdo it than to feel nothing and hurt himself worse. I'll probably give him some this weekend so he can move around a bit easier as it's supposed to get warmer.

Axel just might be arthritic afterall

So here we are thinking Axel's knee is kind of swollen. But it's not soft and it's not hot and it doesn't look a whole lot different to me. J says it's big. So being the OCD type I am I go and look at my Flickr photos and search for "Axel" and "leg" and I find this picture I took in May of 2009. If you'll note his right knee, it's kind of bigger near the bottom than his left. A little more pointy and this is what J is seeing.

Follow that up with a photo from May of 2008 (I guess I take leg photos in May oddly enough) where you can clearly see his knees are generally big. The right a bit bigger than the left. I'll have to take another photo of what he looks like right now but I don't think there's any change.

So I cross check the dates with entries in my blog and I find out that he was sore and stiff in his left knee nearly the whole winter '07-'08. May 2008 we start him on the 4-in-1 HA that has a variety of joint supplements. There's no mention of lameness for the whole winter of '08-'09 while he was on the supplement. I took him off the supplement in Nov. 2009 with the thoughts that joint stuff wasn't going to help ringbone at all. Forgetting that maybe I had him on there for his other joints. And now he's sore in his right knee. So even though he's not working out of his pain in the arena i wondering if this is just arthritis acting up.

I'm going to load him with MSM and keep him on that for the rest of the winter and see what happens. I'll get some X-rays this spring (if it doesn't get worse before then) and we'll see where we're at, if it's indeed arthritis. If so we'll probably keep up with the MSM if it's working and maybe add DMSO or Surpass or something for times when it flares up. I can't believe I didn't remember that he has a sore knee a couple years ago. Especially since it was sore all winter just like now. The MSM is supposedly an anti-inflammatory so maybe it'll also help his sheath swelling.

Axel is Pregnant

Okay not really but he sure looks it. Between the hay belly and the edema he looks like he's ready to have a baby any day now. I brought him into the barn to get him cleaned up and work a bit. He was surprisingly dry so it must not have rained much since I was out yesterday. I put him in the arena for a while and got him moving a bit. He cantered quite a bit and looked pretty good. Some stints of trot were a little off but that was expected. He was moving pretty good so I threw a bridle on and went to get on. Took me 4 tries to jump on him and he kept walking away before I could get all the way up. Of course as soon as I get on and walk a bit he starts limping. I thought maybe he'd work through it but the more we walked the more he limped. So my inexperienced diagnosis of arthritis might not be correct. Now I'm thinking something like bursitis from an injury to his knee. Maybe he wacked it rolling or something. If it was arthritis I think he would have worked through it and not gotten worse.

Riley was in getting lunged and Vinnie was in working on some stuff. Axel had gotten a bit sweaty just from walking, maybe from the pain. He looked like he wanted to roll but there was so much going on he never did go down. So we ended up staying in the arena and watching and walking a bit and chatting with everyone. I ended up giving him some MSM and some bute. I'll be able to get out to the barn a bit more the next few weeks so I'll keep giving him the MSM just incase it's arthritis plus he likes it and eats it well. He did actually finish all his bute too so that was nice. I'll probably keep the bute to a minimum and see how he does. If he doesn't start getting a little better it might be time to have the vet out (again) and do some x-rays. I wanted to get some films of his back legs anyway might as well throw in his fronts. If he is predisposed to arthritis it'd be good to have some films of where he's at.

The swelling still hasn't gone down even with the warmer weather and reports of him moving around a lot more in the pasture. I'm still wondering if it's an allergic reaction to the round bales but they haven't been getting their bales from the same place. Who knows. I think I say that a lot lately. Dallas came in today with a big blister looking thing on his back leg. It wasn't there yesterday when L&S had him in riding. I guess gimpy horse syndrom is going around these days.

Back in the Saddle ... again

Axel is still puffy and his knee is still kind of stiff/tender. But I figured he at least needed to come in out of the rain for a little while. He actually rolled in the arena and that dried him off almost completely. I chased him around a bit to get him moving, he was pretty gimpy but willing to move. More willing to canter than trot but I suppose the canter puts less weight on his front legs than a trot does. Between the hay belly and his swelling he looks pregnant, poor boy. I'm not sure why the swelling isn't really going away but it doesn't seem to be bothering him so ... who knows.

I had put Cody in a stall while I putzed around with Axel for a bit but he was not happy even with all the stuff going on. I figured Axel wasn't going to be happy in stall so I put him back outside by himself. Vinnie, Dallas, and Riley were all in the barn to ride so I tacked up Cody. First time he's had a saddle on since November. He wasn't excited but it fits really well now with his new found weight. It's funny to feel how wide he is now. Everyone tried to get their horses to push around the big green ball but Vinnie was really the only one that wanted to push it. We spent most of the time just sitting in the middle of the arena and chatting but I had Cody canter both leads and he went right into it without speed trotting so that was nice.

When we were done riding we decided to let Cody, Dallas, and Riley loose in the arena. We figured there wouldn't be too many fireworks and maybe they'd roll or play with the ball. Dallas rolled, then Riley rolled, then Cody rolled but they all kept their own space and didn't mingle. I finally shooed Cody away from the gate and he went over to meet the other horses. There was some sniffing and Cody did some squealing but Riley didn't back down and was nibbling on Cody a bit. Cody finally established his leadership and chased both horses away but it was all very civil as far as horse hierarchy goes. I figure if Cody meets all the other horses he'll be a little calmer riding with them in the arena or on the trail. He had been a little worked up at first but he did settle in while we rode, it has been nearly two months so I can't really blame him.

Axel's turn today ...

The Big Green Ball Part I

I finally brought the big green ball out to the barn on the request of the other boarders. I've been so busy I'm never around to hang out with everyone and they really want to play with the ball. It was an interesting sight getting the ball in and out of the mini fully inflated. I'll say this, filling up the ball using the exhaust port on the shop vac worked like a charm.

So Axel is feeling a little better. He's still puffy, no better or worse. His knee is still a little swollen but he's walking better. He only had bute on Friday when he was really lame. J said he was running around all weekend with his tail up in the air so I guess he was feeling pretty good. He took it easy in the arena this time. Maybe another week if taking it easy will help and I'll be able to ride or lunge him next week. He actually knickered at me when I came out tonight, I guess he's expecting his medicine + apple sauce + grain mixture. Too bad for him he doesn't have any antibiotics left. Though I stashed a thing of applesauce in case he needs some bute. He wanted around the arena a bit and tried to bite the big green ball but he wasn't getting too riled up about anything.

Cody wasn't as excited to come in the barn. But I haven't groomed or done anything with him in a while so we needed some quality time. For a few minutes I thought he was swollen on his belly just like Axel but I think that's what you call fat, something Cody hasn't had in a year.

Cody wasn't scared of the green ball at all but he wasn't interested in it either. I free lunged him a bit, he was reluctant to trot. I finally went to get on bareback for a while. I guess nearly two months off has made Cody forget how to stand still at the mounting block. We had to do a lot of circles (these he wasn't so reluctant and even cantered when he knew I meant business) before he would stand stil, even then it wasn't perfect. But! Cody is now a decent weight to ride bareback and not feel like you're sitting on a 2x4. Yay! We mostly just walked around and tried to push the green ball but Cody wasn't too sure about that idea and kept going around it. We ended with some acceptable rein back before he got to go back outside (not sweaty this time).

Whoops

I guess I spoke too soon when I said someone was feeling better. Well perhaps he was feeling better but by Friday he wasn't feeling too great again. He must have over done it on Tuesday because Axel was limping again on Friday. We stopped by the barn on the way out of town to check on the boys and let the puppy run off some steam before the long car ride. Axel was really gimpy so I gave him the last of his antibiotics and 2g of bute. He must have just started hurting because J had just noticed it when I was bringing him back outside. I'm hoping if he takes it easy for a week or two he'll be back to feeling good. I'm not quite sure what's up with his knee but I'm guessing either more arthritis or he just tweaked it on the ice/snow and retweaked it while freaking out in the arena on Tuesday. I'm sure he's getting tired of being an invalid.

I plan to bring the big green ball out tonight to the barn. If Axel is feeling okay I might turn him loose with it in the arena to check it out. I should get Cody out and ride him a bit as well. Sadly this is my only day this week to go out and ride. Normally I'd be okay with that since I'm pretty sure the horses are in no hurry to get back to work but with Axel being so swelled up I really wanted to get him moving and working again. Teaching two nights a week is kind of taking its toll already. Next week I can get out there Mon and Tue and the week after Jeff is gone for work so maybe Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Fri, early Sat, and Sun I think. Hopefully the weather holds it's been so nice out lately.

Back to Work

Brought Axel into the arena to clean out his feet and see if he wanted to move around. No such luck. He's still looking pretty sad. This time when I picked out his front right and put it down he was lame on it. Seemed like it was his knee. I'm wondering if he's just all over achey from the swelling and not moving around and the billion below zero temperatures. Haven't heard from the vet on the bloodwork yet. I hope it comes back soon so we can get started on some sort of treatment. It's sad seeing Axel so down.

Note to self: work horse in arena first, then bring in other horse while first horse is cooling out. Sure would have saved some time.

So I brought Cody in and cleaned out his hooves and let him loose in the arena. He wasn't going to run around on his own so I started to free lunge him a bit. He hopped and skipped and kicked up his heals quite a bit. I put him on the lunge line to get a little more controlled work out of him. His preferred gait of the evening was canter. It was a lot of work to get him down to a trot and a collected trot was not going to happen. It took even more work to get him down to a walk. In all he probably ran around for 10 minutes at the most. And he was sweaty and wet. Not soaked to the bone but wet enough and steaming that I didn't want to turn him out right away. So for about a half hour we walked, wore a wool blanket, groomed, and waited. He finally stopped steaming and was cool to the touch but he was still a bit damp. I rubbed him down the best I could (which he does not appreciate) and brought him back outside. Luckily there wasn't much wind so I think he'll be okay.

So this would be the reason I haven't ridden since the beginning of December. Only a few minutes of work and we have to spend half the night waiting to dry off. Maybe I can find an old hair dryer. Not sure that Cody would enjoy that any more than being rubbed down. Time to throw some more blankets in the car. I wonder if riding with a quarter sheet would help at all, on second thought Cody was sweaty on his neck and chest so a quarter sheet wouldn't really help for that.

Another Vet

So the other vet I contacted came out this morning in the nearly unbearable -11F weather. He did a basic exam on Axel and took some blood for a test. He even listened to his heart and felt for some various pulses (something the other vet didn't do). From the sounds of it this vet does not think it's chronic heart failure (so yay to that). He explained a few things that it could be and said we'd hold off on any treatments til the bloodwork came back. He thought it might just turn out to be an infection in his sheath. Then he'd just put him on some oral antibiotics and some lasix to reduce the edema. So now we wait. I definitely like this vet better. He seems to be a bit of a nerd so he's just my style in that respect. His call charge seemed pretty inexpensive as well, so that's always a good thing. So now we wait.

Axel was a little down in the dumps even but it is super cold. I'd be down in the dumps if I was standing outside as well. But he grabbed for the hay bale by the door and drank water when I turned him out. So he's not off his feed yet or anything. His slightly swollen back leg seems to have un-swelled itself as well. So that seems like it was just a coincidence.

Still Puffy part 2

Another day, another visit. Axel is still swollen. No better, no worse. I went out yesterday before all the New Year's festivities. I walked Axel around the arena again for 15 minutes or so. The bute from the day before must have been working because he didn't seem lame. That back pastern is still swollen though. He was in the same mood as the day before. Pretty normal, a little cranky but willing to follow me around the arena.

I ended up emailing another vet today, one that another boarder uses and recommends. The vet emailed back within the hour (on a holiday) and is coming out tomorrow to check out Axel. He said "Ventral edema of the sort affecting your horse can be due to a number of causes. Among them, congestive heart failure, liver or kidney disease, low blood protein levels (hypoproteinemia) or vasculitis, as well as infection. I agree that a thorough physical exam with bloodwork, including serum biochemical profile and complete blood count would be appropriate." So yay, a vet that emails promptly and is willing to do a few tests. At least so far, I like him better than the previous. Though the barn owner's don't really like him, not sure why. To each their own of course. We'll see what he says about Axel tomorrow.

Still Puffy

Made a trip out to the barn to check on Axel post vet visit. No changes yet in his swelling. I brought him into the arena to walk him around. He wasn't all wound up like he was when the vet was here. I didn't have to force him to walk but he wasn't booking it around at all. His foot was a little sore so I ended up giving him some bute with some feed. He ate most of it but he doesn't like the apple flavor and turned him nose up at the rest. I'll have to get some non flavored bute next time. As far as I could tell there was no change at all, better or worse, with his lumps so it's a waiting game.

I brought Cody in for a while as well to see if he wanted to kick up his heels at all in the arena. He trotted around for a while if I clicked at him and bucked a little but he wasn't terribly riled up. He's looking really good though, he stretched out his back while trotting and his razor blade withers all but disappeared. It's about time I get him back to work. I figure I'll get him moving around the arena a bit for a few days then start riding again. It's supposed to get pretty cold for a while so we'll wait til it warms up a bit.

Vet Update

So the vet made it out last night to take a look at Axel. While I was waiting I brought him into the crossties and Cody into a stall. Axel stood patiently while I groomed and then I put him in the arena. As soon as I turned my back he started to run around bucking like crazy. Apparently this sore foot thing isn't as sore as he led me to believe the day before! He was really working himself up so I put Cody in the crossties and Axel in the stall. Normally I'd like him run but I didn't want him worked up before the vet arrived.

Cody's mane "tornados" weren't as bad as Axel's so it didn't take long to get him groomed. He's looking so good this winter having a round bale. As soon as this thing with Axel is cleared up Cody will have to be put back to work. Apparently the other day when J & J left the house Cody was napping in the hay, flat out sleeping. When they came back 2 hours later he was in the same spot. Not a good sign. They yelled his name and he picked up his head and looked at them. Turns out he cast himself on the very small portion of the bale that remained intact. J went out and kicked the bale out of the way and Cody got up on his feet. Goofy horse. He doesn't lay down very often and now that he's pretty comfortable with life he goes and casts himself on a bale in the middle of the wide open pasture.

So Axel wasn't too happy to be in the stall. He even bit at the metal bars on the door. J came out and waited for a bit and said he'd be back out when the doc got there. So doc arrived, J came out, and A showed up for moral support. He took a look at Axel and took his temperature. Just as my thermometer read a little low the day before, doc said his temp was 99F (should be 99.5F). A little low but he's got a good winter coat and he's not shivering so not really a concern. He poked at the swelling on his belly and confirmed that it was pitting edema and it was symmetrical. Poked his bits for a while and looked around a little. He said he didn't really know what it was but maybe it's a dirty sheath causing Axel to stand still too much and thus stocking up. He poked around a bit more and discovered Axel was a little dirty but not too horrible. But he also discovered that Axel is a liberal fellow and had no issues with doc being in that neck of the woods. So he got some warm water and betadine and whatnot and went to work cleaning his sheath. He didn't uncover any mysteries and there was no bean so that diagnosis looks a little half hearted. But he said to see if that does the trick.

When I put Axel in the arena again while doc was packing up he did his usual running around and then started in with the lame walking again so I had the vet watch. He got out the hoof testers but didn't get any reactions. Can stocking up make a horse sore? Anyway my plan is to get out there this week as much as I can and get him moving around in the arena to help reduce the swelling. The vet was terribly full of suggestions or "just in cases" so if the sheath cleaning doesn't remedy the situation I might see about getting a different vet out for a second opinion. It's hard to doubt a vet that's been working for over 30 years but he left me a little at a loss. A little bloodwork would have been an acceptable "just in case" for me. So we shall see.

Poor Axel

I went out to see Axel last night, deliver gifts and see how he was doing. He's still swollen like A said. J had called to fill me in as well and said he wasn't doing any better and she thought he was maybe a little off on a leg. Turns out his back right (the non ringbone leg) is stocked up as well now. His belly lumps have pooled to a single huge lump and the muscle area over his sternum are swollen as well as his sheath. I couldn't find anything else notable. His left eye was a little puffy if you used your imagination. I remembered the thermometer this time so I took his temp but he did not have a fever at all. I groomed him and got all the knots out of his mane and then tried to walk him around the arena a bit. If he was just stocked up from not moving enough in the pasture, walking in the arena should have helped. Unfortunately the more I walked him the lamer he got. Not knowing exactly what is wrong with him I decided to stop before I made anything worse.

So the vet is due out tonight sometime. Hopefully he has some ideas. I took a look at my calendar and wrote down anything that changed in the past couple months.

10/27 Both he and Cody had rain rot for about 2 weeks
11/9 We stopped giving him the 4-in-1 HA supplement
11/20 He started excessively chewing on wood
11/30 We put him on the Quitt supplement for a month
12/7 He stopped chewing on wood for the most part
Some time in here they got their first round bale
12/15 Farrier trimmed hooves
Second round bale was put out
12/24 We first noticed the swelling and gave him some benedryl
12/28 We first noticed he was lame on the back right and still swollen

Interesting to note that the wood chewing started after stopping the 4-in-1 supplement. At the time I didn't even connect the two. The 4-in-1 has probiotics, biotin, joint supplements, and omega 3&6. I'm not sure if any of that would make him want to chew wood in it's absence. Maybe just the sudden change in itself? Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the vet knows what this is and fixes it.

Merry Christmas

We stopped out to the barn on Christmas Eve morning to check on the boys and deliver some carrots for a holiday treat. I hadn't been out there in over a week and it showed. The horse's manes are a mess. It's going to take me forever to get them detangled.

I noticed as we drove up that Axel looked exceptionally lumpy. But since he's so hairy I thought it was probably just puffy winter fur. Of course I was wrong. His boy parts are all swollen and he has some big swollen lumps on his belly. We brought him into the barn to check him out. His attitude was the same as always, he was happy to eat carrots, and he was happy to eat the feed and benedryl we gave him. He went right for the water fountain when we turned him back out and he was very willing to chase down Jeff in the pasture to try and get more treats. So he's feeling okay just really puffy.