Axel's Scratches

Another quick trip to the barn.  Really looking forward to the mud drying up someday. The boys have been out on pasture for a little bit every day.  They were turned out while I was dealing with Axel.  When I turned him out he ran out until he could see them at the far end of the pasture and then just stopped to eat grass.  Lazy bones.

I ended up just hosing Axel's legs really well, spraying him with the blue stuff (CHG), letting him dry while I groomed, walked him down the driveway, and then spraying him with J's WD40 on her recommendation.  Apparently she was actually going to do that all herself this afternoon as she noticed he had a pretty decent case of scratches.  After hosing though they weren't as bad as they looked. Still pretty scabby but the mud made it look a million times worse.

I might go ride or work with Book(g)er tomorrow or something, who knows.

There's Still Mud and Snow

This is probably the most annoying spring ever.  Last year we had our vet appointments done and were riding down the road already.  This year we are still under snow with the forecast calling for more.  On top of that, or under it, the frost went out so it's also muddy.  So so muddy.

I ran out to see if I could scrape some mud off of Axel's legs and see what was going on under there.  I got a little mud off by scrubbing with snow but I couldn't get it all.  I'm pretty sure there's some scabs under there.  I've just been spraying the CHG on top of the mud, hoping it'll at least help a little.

I chased him around in the arena with the whip and once again, darn horse is nearly sound.  Walk, trot, canter, seriously.  If he keeps this up we're going to do some ground work and get the last two years of retirement out of his system and maybe, just maybe, go for a ride or two.  I don't think some light riding is going to matter much in the grand scheme of arthritis.  I just want him feeling good enough that if he feels too good I'm comfortable kicking his butt.

I also ended up meeting one of the new boarders that works nights, so I might have a lunch time riding partner again.

Ick ... mud

Okay the mud is in full swing.  Up over my ankles and totally disgusting.  The horses kind of looked at me like, "help me please."  Heh.  I was going to just go out and try out my new grooming tool in the paddock but the other horse was trying to help so that wasn't going to work.  A horse was in the arena for some reason.  I suppose I could have put her in a stall but that just seemed like more work than I wanted.  So I took the boys out and tied them to the rail by the other barn.  Not really out of the mud but that's next to impossible at this point.


I did end up spraying both Cody and Axel's feet since it was so horrible out there.  Though I just sprayed right over the mud.  Heh.  I couldn't quite see if Axel's scabs were worse or better or otherwise but they didn't *seem* any worse so I suppose that's a good sign.

So I ended up ordering a giant dog short hair Furminator for the horses.  The horse one is super spendy and I found this one on Amazon for 20 bucks.  As far as I know they are the same thing just a different size and the reviews said the horse one was too wide.  I had to brush off as much dried mud as I could first but they were still pretty dirty, hopefully I didn't dull the blade at all. So at first glance it didn't seem like it was getting off that much hair but when I was done I went back over the horses with the regular brush and it didn't fill up with hair nearly as fast as it usually does.  Probably would have been nicer had I gotten the thing a couple weeks ago before they were so nasty.

So when I was done grooming I walked each of them down the driveway.  I've come to one conclusion.  If we end up with a TB (or even any other horse) I'm going to need to pay closer attention to what the horse is doing.  I'm sort of spoiled with my more or less bomb proof horses.  Axel was on his toes the whole walk down the drive way.  We walked back and forth a tiny bit on the road and then headed back up the drive way and Axel got behind me and decided to let off a little steam and jump around.  So my back was turned to him while he did this and it could have been a really dangerous situation with most any other horses.  Cody wasn't quite on his toes til we got to the road then he did his usual trotting thing getting himself all worked up a bit (not really all that bad but more energy than he's had all winter).  I backed him up the first part of the driveway with success and some actual speed so that was nice.  But he still wanted to trot his way back to the paddock.  So I guess taking the boys down the road first thing in the spring (aka flying kites) is good practice for handling a less than bomb proof horse.  I should probably wear a helmet when I'm doing that too but I didn't have it with me since I didn't intend on riding.  So my rules for myself when we get a new horse is to 1. wear my helmet even doing ground work and 2. pay better attention at least until the horse is settled in and we know his personality a little better.

Superpowers

In the excitement of trying to put the gate back on the hinges I completely failed at taking any photos during my last visit. The boys had spent the day in stalls on Tuesday while it rained and Cody was less than appreciative of that arrangement. So when I got there on Wednesday they were back in their old paddock with the shelter. And the mud. So much mud. Not that their other pasture didn't have mud. I let Axel wander around in the arena for a while in hopes to dry off his feet a bit before I started grooming. He's down to mostly random spots of red/brown hair with shiny black in between. But I think we still have a ways to go before he's back in his summer outfit.

I didn't spend a lot of time on his scabs since it's supposed to keep raining. I did get a few big ones off easily and coated him in MTG again. As much work as it's going to be since he isn't too fond of the procedure, I'm looking forward to a warm sunny day when I can hose him off really good, work as many of those scabs off, disinfect the area, and cover him in something medicated. Common sun, where are you? (you know what will happen, it'll be cold and rainy and then it'll go straight to 90F heat, ug)

When Axel was done I grabbed Cody to get him some time in the barn away from friends. Though now that they were back in their old paddock he didn't seem to care too much about being separated. Apparently he just really likes Dolly. I let him run in the arena for a bit. First thing he did was roll of course. I free lunged him for a few minutes to get him moving since it's pretty hard to get around in the slippery mud and rain. He stood decently enough for grooming, a little pawing but that was about it. He must have gotten himself a little worked up in the stall on Tuesday, his chest was all full of dried sweat and hair. Poor nervous horse.

When I went to put him back I lifted up on the gate to unlatch it and pulled it off the hinges. I managed to get Cody back in the paddock and then tried to get the gate back on but I could only ever get one hinge, never both at one time. So I had to suck it up and tell J&J that I broke the gate with my super human strength ;)

New Pasture

The boys have been moved to a new pasture for a while. J&J are hoping to get something done about the massive bog that seems to be growing in their original pasture and until then they thought it'd be better to move them. This pasture doesn't look a whole lot better as far as mud but I'm pretty sure it dries out a lot quicker than the one they were in. If the weather gets bad they will go back in their original pasture with a shelter until J has a chance to make a new shelter. Needless to say Cody is very happy having some new neighbors to talk to, one of which is a mare.

Ironically he was giving Dolly the "hey baby" knicker and she walked away to go visit with Axel. Axel could care less and was more concerned that there was a little bit of grass for him to try and eat. Cody and Logan seem to be keeping close company but that might just be competition.

Axel's legs aren't worse but they aren't better yet. I'm not really getting my hopes up for a while since it's been raining and is supposed to rain a bunch more this coming week. Until we see some sun I've just been brushing off the dry mud and any scabs that want to come with and then putting as much MTG on him as possible. I *think* that's at least keeping the scabs from getting too huge, I think it loosens them up a bit so they fall off on their own. And hopefully it's keeping the mud fever from spreading up his leg too far.

So far I have about 1/4 of a horse again (the rest being buffalo). His neck has shed down to shiny black hair. Now if only the rest of him would follow. And it looks like his belly/swelling is starting to go away and his sheath is almost normal sized. Pretty soon he's going to look like the fancy black horse again.

Uninspired

I'm feeling very uninspired lately. It mostly has to do with the mud. So much mud. The horses are living in a bog. On top of that it's been raining all week. I'm pretty sure they are going to go from bog-living to bumpy ice rink living sooner than later. There's no way this water is going to go anywhere before it freezes. Ug. I foolishly thought having the round bales would mean the horses would stay on the dry side of the pasture. Oh no. When I get to the barn they are standing on the far side grazing the non-existant grass and staring at me. Sunday I ended up tricking them into thinking it was dinner time so I didn't have to wade through to get them. They paced back and forth on their side of the swamp trying to figure out what to do. Finally Axel took the plunge and instead of tip toeing through the muck he went full speed, mud flying everywhere, and for good measure he threw out some bucks just to spread it around a bit. There is next to nothing I can do when they are full of wet mud like that. You can't brush it off. Luckily it's still warm enough that the barn owners have the hoses still out. So I sprayed both horse's legs off for what could be the last time this fall. The warm water was actually steaming off their legs. I did a very poor job on Axel's legs. It's very hard to see black mud on a black horse. Cody's was much easier. Surprisingly Axel's mud fever/scratches aren't bad at all. He has one spot with some big scabs but that's it. I expected to see much worse. Cody's was spread around in little scabs here and there. He has a few larger ones that I just can't get off yet. The small flaky ones seem to come off easily just with the hose. So I scrubbed them both up with chlorhexidine and sent them back out side. They, of course, approved since they had just gotten a new bale of hay.

Playing Catch Up

Alright so I missed a few posts which makes it very difficult to recall when I went to the barn and what I did. I do know that two weeks ago the day after riding Cody between the fields the other boarder and I went out and I rode Axel down the road. We went nearly the whole mile before turning around. I did end up dismounting a bit before the neighbors and walking the rest of the way. Axel was tripping a bit and having some issues with the gravel but once I dismounted he walked the rest of the way back sound as a bell and quick fast even. I'd say he's been pretty darn sound for the past month or so.

Pretty sure I got out to the barn sometime last week as well but I think I just managed to do some grooming. Last night I went out for another lazy grooming session which turned out to be more lazy than usual. Axel was fairly muddy but most of it was dry with the exception of his feet. Cody, on the other hand, must have run through the mud when I had Axel in because he was covered in wet mud. I brushed the dry parts and ended up just putting him back outside. Can't do much with wet mud.

Axel seemed a little bit off again last night but walking from the pasture to the barn isn't too far to really assess him. I'd like to get him out on the road a couple more times before it's too late. Then we'll start some ground driving in the arena and move up to riding. The deep footing seems a little hard on his knee so we might have to work up to to it.

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.

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.

Oh the Mud ...

I just stopped out at the barn on Friday so I could groom some of the mud off the boys before we went to the farm for the weekend. And boy did they find the mud. Both Cody and Axel were caked in it.

Axel was feeling mostly okay. Belly swelling has reduced quite a bit again. His sheath is still not back to normal but looking a little better. His ringbone flare up seems a lot better, he's careful but he puts full weight on it. And finally his knee is still a bit puffy but he's getting around pretty well. He's got some pretty decent scabs going on his back right foot from mud fever. Friday when the vet's out and I have a lot of time it will be scab picking and disinfecting time. I might have to borrow a clippers as well and get his legs cleaned up.

So after I scraped all the mud off of him I set to work on Cody. I think Cody was worse, since his new found love of laying around all day. I promise he's going back to work soon. I noticed just how nasty Cody's sheath is and tried to gently pick some "stuff" off. Cody protested by trying to kick me. Guess who's getting their sheath cleaned next time he's sedated? Until then I guess I just have to work on desensitizing him "there."

I hope to get out and do something at the barn on Wednesday and then the vet is due on Friday so I took the day off so I hope it's nice out. It would be great to groom outside and not have to clean up all the hair ;)