A Real Trail Ride

We finally did it.  We made it out to an honest to goodness trail ride.  Now that we have plans to bring Cody and Axel back to our farm we have the trailer in town (still not completely finished but good enough).  So we're squeezing as many trail rides as we can in the two weeks before my horses move.

I successfully drove the trailer to the barn and with the help of J backed it into place.  It's been a while since I've had to drive the trailer.  J said just go slow then you have time to fix any problems.  After helping catch Booker (who made a break for it after slipping out of his halter while being fly sprayed) we brought the boys down to the trailer.  Cody was acting a little worked up so J thought Booker should go in first, thinking he'd be a champ.  Well he proved us wrong.  He didn't seem scared but he wouldn't get in all the way.  He was testing some limits for sure.  But we finally got him in and hooked up and it was Cody's turn.  Only took a little verbal encouragement and he stepped right in, slow and steady and cautious.  We made it to UMore park (Lone Rock Trail) in one piece with a slightly long parade of cars behind us ;) Cody unloaded as slowly and cautiously as he loaded and Booker rushed out facing forward.  So Cody won the trailering portion of our evening.

So Booker definitely won the trail ride portion of our evening. Cody was in a constant "trot to keep up" gear.  He never really relaxed.  He wasn't horrible, just bouncy.  Near the end of our ride Cody decided he knew the way home and kept trying to turn around (away from the trailer) and was calling like mad.  I don't know if he heard some other horses in a distance or what the deal was but he was quite unhappy.  Booker just walked like a champ and gave Cody a "WTF" look every time he called.  We had a little canter at the end of our ride. Cody started out a little frantic but settled in.  Would have maybe cantered more but the trail was full of gopher holes so it wasn't safe. There was only a few nice stretches of grass that didn't have holes.

Booker got in the trailer at the end of the ride with just one balk and Cody got in like a pro.  We stopped at DQ on the way through town and got everyone unloaded and put away while it was still light one - the one advantage of it staying light so late.  Both horses unloaded really well and J backed the trailer into its parking spot for me. :)  Overall I think the evening was a success.  We have our farrier appointment today and we're going to try for another ride on Friday.  Booker should have fancy new shoes so hopefully he'll be feeling 100%/

So other than our trail ride adventures we've been making it out to the barn once or twice a week for a ride down the road and Cody and Booker have been doing great. Cody is slow as ever but fairly calm in general so I try to not nag him.  I've had Axel out a few times to groom and clean up his feet, his scratches are looking pretty good now.  I've used WD40 3 times on them now, I think that's doing the trick.  It is late in the season but it's still raining and there's a ton of mud so I think I can safely say it's the WD40?

After the boys leave I'll start doing some more work with Booker and hopefully we'll fix any of his little respect problems.  It'll be interesting to see how he does for shoes this afternoon.  We do know his MO now, fly backwards, when he wants to protest something.

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.

Spring TLC for Axel

Spent a little time getting Axel cleaned up. Scraped a small horse's worth of hair off him (still waiting for my furminator to arrive). I clipped up his back legs and dyed them blue. Heh okay not really. We decided to go a little cheaper this year and got some dairy cattle teat dip. Same ingredients as the hibi-clens I was using but a lot cheaper. Might be a little lower concentration but hopefully it'll still do the trick. This stuff is dyed blue so you can see where you've sprayed so now Axel has blue socks on his back feet.

I put Axel in the arena for a bit as well and chased him around a bit, though it certainly didn't take much encouragement on my part to get him moving. He trotted out a little lame at first and then just went wild and nearly sound. His canter is especially sound (at least comparatively). I hate when he does this, makes me really want to ride him. I should keep letting him stretch his legs in the arena as much as possible, keep the old man moving.

Chiropractor and Farrier

Last week I waddled out to the barn to have the boys' chiropractor appointment. I foolishly decided to grab both horses at once which went okay until we got to the last gate and then both horses ended up in the yard wandering around and me with no lead ropes in my hand. Luckily Axel doesn't go any further than food and Cody was confused enough to stay put as well so I was able to catch them both without an issue. Then I figured I wasn't going to get them both through the little barn door so I tied Axel to the picnic table which he proceeded to drag into the driveway. *sigh*

Once I got both horses in the arena they goofed around for a while, Cody rolled and chased Axel around and they finally settled down. S was having both her boys tended to first so that gave us some time to wait. When she was done I put both boys in the cross ties and opted to start with Cody, figuring he hates waiting so maybe getting his adjustment first would calm him down. He wasn't horribly out of wack but had some low back issues. Axel also had some minor low back issues but that was about it for him. Of course Cody was not patient. He left two huge cow pies in the barn aisle and started to do his little cat stretch which freaks me out. I put Cody in a stall so I could clean up his mess and in case he peed. He proceeded to pace and sweat and just generally be a pain in the butt while Axel was finishing up.

I brought them back out to the pasture one at a time (hey I learned my lesson). Cody first, since he was the most likely to kill himself waiting. He proceeded to run around in circles while I went and grabbed Axel.

So then yesterday we had a farrier appointment. I was getting worried I might have to call and have someone else handle my horses if I was having this baby but the baby stayed where it belonged and I was able to waddle out to the pasture once again to get the boys. Cody was actually very calm and let me lead him slowly back to the barn. He stood well for the farrier while I grabbed Axel. Axel, the fat lazy lame horse, has found a new walking speed that I cannot keep up with so leading him is a bit harder these days. I'm glad he's feeling so good though. He was fine for the farrier and I put Cody back outside and left Axel in to do a bit of grooming since it had been so long. He still has a few remaining scabs but otherwise is looking good. I really should get out there one more time with the hose and try and get those last bits off and I still haven't ordered any Tea Tree spray which I'd like to use throughout the summer just to keep things at bay. It's rained probably 5 inches in the past week or two and there really is only one muddy spot in their new pasture so that's a good sign and it's not all that bad of a spot. So if I can get Axel cleared up maybe I can get ahead of the scratches this year, finally.

New Pasture

So the boys are now out back in one of the big pastures. There's a bit of gate management that has to be done to get my guys out and not get the other herd with it but with all the grass it's not a huge issue. And boy are the horses happy to be a dry grassy pasture. They made me walk nearly to the back of the pasture to fetch them last night. Not that I couldn't use the exercise but it was the first 87F day and I think that might be my limit for heat while pregnant. I was beat by the time I got Axel back up to the barn. If I was agile and not in the state I'm in I would have figured out how to get on Axel and ride him back.

Cody was standing next to the fence with the other herd nearby. He didn't seem terribly concerned when I took Axel out either. He might have been calling a bit while we were in the barn but it's hard to tell who was yelling. He did come running up to the gate when I brought Axel back so he missed him a little. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts when N takes him out the next time. I just didn't have the energy to do it myself.

So I hosed off Axel's legs one more time, perhaps the last time if they keep healing. I got a handful of scabs off and things are looking pretty good. He must be feeling okay didn't pull his legs away when I picked or scrubbed. There's still a bunch of scabs stuck on there pretty good but things are going in the right direction. After spraying I scrubbed them good with the chlorhexidine. Seems like the hair is growing back as well. And in even better news, the winter fuzz is all but gone. Axel is shiny and black again and nearly all the swelling on his belly is gone. In a week or two he should be looking pretty darn spiffy. Then he'll turn red again of course but we get a few good days in there. He's also walking pretty well at least on the lead. I'm hoping this fall we can get back to light work again and maybe a trail ride if we can work out any of our kinks from not being ridden in so long. Jeff offered to start going out there and working with him as well but we'll see if that happens. I don't think a few more months off work is going to make a huge difference in his attitude after having a year and a half off. We'll just have to start with lots of ground work in tack as a reminder.

Good Boy, Cody!

I should know better than to forget that horses like to prove their owner's wrong every chance they get.

Ran out to the barn last evening. It was finally nice out and sunny and it had been dry for at least two days in a row. The wind is still chilly but the sun is nice to see. I grabbed Axel and hosed off his legs. Quite a few more scabs came off easily so now there is a lot of clean skin showing through. I'm hoping the more skin that gets exposed the faster the fungus/bacteria will go away considering it's an-aerobic and all. And I could tell he was starting to not hurt so much, he didn't yank his feet away from me nearly as much. So this time I just scrubbed him up with Chlorhexidine and let him stand there and dry for a while.

N came out to work with Cody a bit and there were a few other people in the arena as well. Nice weather brings everyone out to the barn it seems! So while Axel stood not so patiently Cody got groomed and he actually stood nicely considering how nervous he had been the last time he was taken away from his new girlfriend. I put Axel out and N tacked up Cody and brought him into the arena. There were two other people riding/lunging at the same time but Cody did awesome. It didn't look like N had to coax him to keep moving too much and he was super calm. When she'd ask him for a canter he'd attempt it without running into it. He still needs working picking up the left lead but he just kept trying never really getting out of control. Even trotting after being asked to canter he was calm and slow. He actually looked like a decently trained western horse.

Darn horse sure has a way to make his owner look bad! I can't get him to do any of that stuff calmly when I ride. When I start riding again I'm really going to have to work on sitting calmly and not driving him nuts with legs and seat and hands. He really goes well for a western trained or more experienced rider. Silly pony.

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 ;)

Is it Spring yet?

I forwent a nap so I could visit the boys last night. Lots going on this week so it was my only chance to check on Axel and make sure he wasn't completely miserable from the mud fever. Much to my surprise he was doing pretty well. Still scabby of course but the scabs seem to be contained and of a smaller variety than last week. He's still sore and standing around with one foot in the air but at least it's maintaining for now. If we could just get a good week's worth of sun and warm to dry up their paddock it would really help. Not to mention if it gets warmer out I'm more inclined to hose him off and try and get some of the scabs removed. J said he had been sleeping all day, out there completely laid out on his side. She called to him a few times to make sure an ear would twitch. He's pretty round and laying down I imagine he looks a bit like a dead bloated horse. I'm surprised no one calls or stops by to tell her about the "dead horse" in the paddock! I cleaned off as much dirty and mud and hair as I could. Luckily the mud on his legs was dry so I brushed it off and tried to soak him in MTG again. I didn't feel like being hunched over with the hose and the MTG usually helps loosen things up anyways. Hopefully I can make it out this weekend and it'll be nicer out.

Cody was very sad that not only was Axel in the barn but both his neighbor horses were in the barn so he was ready to bust through the fence to find them when I brought Axel back out. He spent quite a bit of time in the cross ties calm but started to paw as I finished up grooming. For once he wasn't a ball of sweat. I left his legs alone as he had trampled through the wet mud before I haltered him. Since N hadn't been out to ride the past weekend I took him in the arena for a few minutes just to do some circles and get his brain working. He was calm and fairly willing to listen even though his neighbor was being lunged as well though he kept looking outside at some mysterious invisible thing. And of course he had to ruin a good evening by grabbing a whole bale of hay on his way by and spreading it all over the barn.

A New Tactic

So Tuesday the scratches were in full effect. The scabs on Axel's legs are huge and he's very sore. I even resorted to giving him some bute to hopefully take the edge off. J had the warm water turned on so I hosed down Axel's legs, in retrospect a cold hosing might have felt better but the warm water helped work some scabs off and wasn't quite as shocking. I couldn't get all the scabs off, some were on there to stay. After I soaked him for quite some time we went in the barn and I scrubbed him up with the chlorhexidine. While I waited for that to dry I removed another horse's worth of hair from Axel's winter coat and convinced him to eat some bute. He didn't eat all of it so I'm hoping he got at least a decent amount to make him feel a little better for the day. Since he's so sore I decided to try some tri-care on the spots where I picked the scabs instead of the MTG. At this point I'm just kind of pulling at straws to find something to make him comfortable until the pasture dries. My initial thought is that having less scabs should help at least a tiny bit.

I did a little research and it seems like perhaps Axel could have a copper deficiency. The symptoms of such are mud fever, dull reddish coat, swollen joints. All three things Axel has. So now I'm looking at finding a copper supplement and seeing if he'll eat that. I probably won't have J&J feed it to him every day but between N and I we can probably get a decent amount in him a few times a week. I know J&J would offer to feed it but I think at 4am feeding time the last time a person wants to do is deal with more supplements. Considering the month's worth of joint supplement Axel gets lasts several months, I'm thinking it gets skipped once in a while. I am looking forward to having the horses at my own house and being able to make weird diet changes without putting someone else out. Another reason I'd rather not send them back to the farm when the Baby gets here, who's going to pamper my spoiled horses?

I did bring Cody in for a few minutes to do a little ground work and let him run around a bit. I could tell he really wanted to roll while I asked him to circle but because of that he had a really nice long and low trot, good back stretch! When I was done on the lead line I let him roll and then I asked him to move out a bit and stretch his legs. I did scrape about a half a horse's worth of hair out of his winter coat but he's got a ways to go (and he gets groomed twice as often as Axel)! Lucky boys get the weekend off. I wanted to make it out to the barn one more time before the weekend to tend to Axel but it rained yesterday and it's supposed to rain Friday as well and we have to get the house cleaned up for some guests so it's probably not going to happen.

Still Fighting the Mud

I managed to make it out to the barn twice last week. The weather was great and I had more or less unlimited time so it was a nice break. I dealt with Axel's feet for as long as my back could stand being hunched over. Put a lot of cold water on and scrubbed a bit to get some scabs off. I figured the cold water might feel good on sore legs. Axel wasn't terribly happy about the whole situation but he was manageable. I ended up scrubbing with Chlorhexidine first and then letting his legs dry while I chiseled the mud off the rest of him. Then I soaked him in MTG before I sent him back outside. So we'll see the outcome when I make it out there this week. I don't expect miracles but it'd be nice if the scabs were at a minimum. I brought Cody in as well and tried to get off as much mud as humanly possible. I am looking forward to everything drying out which I don't think will be too long. Rumor has it, the boys might go out back with the bigger herd. It'll be interesting to see how Cody reacts to being taken out of that herd to be ridden. He might be a bit of a pill for a while until he settles in. But I guess time will tell!

The weekend report for Cody was pretty good. N and Cody made it down the road further than usual. N usually dismounts near the end of the road and walks Cody a bit further then remounts and rides back. She's going to be gone this coming weekend so hopefully I can get out there a couple times and lunge him a bit just so he doesn't forget that he's not retired quite yet.

Still waiting for spring

We're still not up to the nice 40's and 50's we were a couple weeks ago but the sun was out this weekend and the 30 degree temperatures felt pretty warm since the sun is much closer these days. I brought Axel in for some grooming and who knows what. A was in with both her horses and Vinnie was being his usual teenage self. The bad thing about a black horse is the more you brush the dirtier they look especially this time of year. The shedding has slowed down a bit for now but Axel is still as hairy as can be. He's still swollen but they are also still hanging out close to the feeder so I don't expect too much change in that department until it starts getting a lot nicer.

The pasture is getting pretty muddy but there's still a good layer of ice under the manure so when I pulled Axel out of the pasture he wasn't walking too well but he shaped up when we got on good footing. His nice clean back feet from when I got them shaved up the last time are no more. The back of his left hind is full of scabs again and it must be sore judging from the way he did not want me any where near it. I didn't scrub with the chlorhexidine this time instead I just covered him in MTG in the hopes that either 1. it loosens up the scabs a bit and keeps away some of the mud and/or 2. it actually does kill the mud fever. I might go on an alternating plan this spring, one week scrub clean and the next time douse in MTG. In the grand scheme of things even when his legs hurt he's very cooperative.

The BOs are going to put up a temporary fence in the pasture to keep the boys off the low parts and give that half a chance to actually grow this year before they start grazing it down to nothing. I'm glad about that but I'm sure that means Axel will stay swollen a little longer and where they do end up will probably be pretty muddy.

Sunday I wimped out and stayed home but N had a chance to get out and work with Cody again. I guess he did pretty well and made it down the road to the spot Danny had issues in last week. Then he started to balk a little. N dismounted and walked him past the scary ghosts and got back on and heading home. He was a little worked up on the way home (doing his best Rollkur impression I'm sure) but settled in and she didn't have to have him circle at all. I guess they worked on stopping and resting and being calm on the walk back. And apparently he was not sweaty when they returned which means despite some of his protesting he was calm enough to not work himself into a lather, good boy Cody! Hopefully by the time it's really nice out and people are ready to ride around the block Cody will be easy to handle and N can get out for some longer rides with him. He seems pretty decent when you take him away from the property on a real trail ride so I'm not too worried about that and all this going out alone on the road should only help. I just wonder if we'll every get Axel back in physical and mental shape to do some trail rides this fall when I'm able to ride again and my trailer is done (fingers crossed).

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 ;)

Axel Misses the Vet So Much

Maybe I should tell Axel all about Jeff's new toy, a .44 Magnum. Because it doesn't seem like anything else is preventing him from trying to mame himself daily. I'm going to Colorado for the weekend so I thought I better run out quick last night and clean up Axel's back feet in an attempt to fend off the mud fever a bit. Sort of a pointless task since it rained 5 inches on Tuesday but I'm sure it doesn't hurt to at least try. I half thought maybe I wouldn't clean him up but I saw he was pretty much covered in mud, you couldn't even tell his back feet were supposed to be white. So I tied him to the tree and grabbed the hose and started spraying down his back legs. They actually cleaned up really nice since I had shaved him on Monday. The scabs were soft from standing in the muck all day so most of them came off with just the hose. I sprayed a little mist on the rest of him to cool him off since it was a billion and a half degrees out. His fronts were pretty muddy so I decided I might as well clean them up too even though he doesn't usually get scratches up there. Low and behold one piece of loose hair I can't seem to spray off. Well gee maybe that's because it's a big ole flap of skin that he decided to try and remove himself.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, I'm leaving for the weekend and the barn owners are probably going camping, what better time to hurt yourself! So I sprayed in and around the cut trying to clean it out. There seemed to be something stuck in there but I couldn't tell if it was mud or flesh. I discussed his injury with J and we concluded there wasn't much that could be done about it save for cleaning it out. S took a peek at it as well as A and they both said they'd bring him in over the weekend and hose him off and make sure it wasn't turning gangrenous or anything. Thank goodness for nice boarders! I did email and call the vet to see what he thought but I haven't heard back and I'm running out of time (though A said she could meet the vet there if I couldn't make it). The general consensus on the interweb is that he'll be fine just probably have a nice scar. It seems like mostly skin and probably didn't even bleed much.

So I scrubbed Axel's back feet with the Norwex cloth, picked more scabs, and scrubbed him with the Chlorhexidine (I really should get some stock in this stuff). The good news so far is that the mud fever doesn't look too bad on the back legs and I think maybe the swelling is starting to go down (I suppose standing in cold water/mud helps that a bit). He's also walking pretty okay and if it would ever get to a temperature where he's not out there sweating from just standing still I might get to see him move more. I put some chlorhexidine in the wound on his front foot and tried to scrub a bit, he wasn't too pleased with me scrubbing though. I also tried to put some Tri-Care on the wound but I doubt that did any good. Without jamming my finger in there I was only able to really get the edges.

And I just got a call back from the vet that said we're doing all the right things, can't stitch it at this point so just keep it clean and call back if it gets nasty.

Sweaty Evening

When I got to the barn around 7:30 last night the horses looked like someone had dumped a bucket of water on them, they were sweating that much. Of course the first thing Axel does is try and rub on me, ick ick ick. I wanted to get his legs cleaned up and decided he would appreciate some time standing in front of the fan while I scrubbed away. I really should carry the other camera more, Axel looked pretty cute with his fabio hair blowing in the wind but my cell phone hates the overhead lights in the barn aisle and I must have sweated on the lens or something.

So Axel has been on his new supplement (Flex-in-Motion) for a week now, not big breakthroughs but he was moving pretty good. Still a bit off at the walk but better than the last few weeks. His back right leg is still puffy but I'm hoping that's just from the scratches (mud fever). So I brushed as much of the dried mud off, scrubbed with a rag and water, let it dry for a while, shaved the hair short, scrubbed with a Norwex cloth and water, picked a few scabs, and then scrubbed in some Chlorhexidine. He wasn't terribly happy with the scrubbing but he tolerated me for the most part. I can't imagine the cold water felt too horrible considering the heat. I'm hoping to get this cleared up and see a change in the swelling sooner than later. If it ever cools down I'm going to start long lining the old man.

I brought Cody in to have his time in front of the fan as well while I just cleaned him up a bit and gave him the once over. Both horse's manes and tails are disgusting, sticky dirty gross. Axel had some nice hair "tornadoes" in his mane I had to get out. Cody had found the mud which I don't think I actually got completely off. I should get some show sheen to clean them up but I suppose it's kind of unnecessary. Maybe I'll get around to giving them a bath one of these days. Cody's nose is looking pretty good now. A was barn sitting this past weekend and put Cody's fly mask back on him when he'd lose it so I think that helped clear up some of the sun burn. He's not been great about keeping it on this summer, Axel has kept his on for longer stretches of time. Cody didn't seem to enjoy the fan quite as much as Axel but I think was starting to get used to it by the time I went to turn him out. He's got a weird bump on the outside of his right front which had a scab on it. I picked it in case it's mud fever so we'll just see what happens.

I had put their fly masks back on but they were both wet with sweat so I changed my mind and removed them. I should spray them down with some bleach water or something and air them out in the sun while they aren't wearing them but that takes planning. So far this morning it's rained and is now overcast and sunny so they shouldn't be too bad without the masks. We'll see how they feel about it tonight. I won't be around this weekend again so maybe I'll put them back on so at least they have them for a bit until they take them off.

A Little Better Visit

Of course the day I'm able to get out to the barn it's a billion degrees out. I waited until as late as possible to go in hopes that it would cool down a bit. So around 7:30pm I finally went out to see the boys. Cody, once again, was missing his fly mask. Axel came barreling up to the gate, it was nice to see he was feeling pretty good again. I grabbed him and brought him into the barn so I could get him cleaned up. He ate his new supplement without fuss as well as his MSM.

That back right leg was still swollen and I noticed there was quite a bit of mud fever under the dried mud. I should have cleaned him a lot more than I did but I got off as much of the mud I could with a brush and scrubbed some chlorhexidine on both back feet. I'm hoping the swelling is just from the scratches and nothing else. He was actually walking pretty well on the front for once so I didn't give him any bute. Once again I'm just about out of fly spray, I should have gotten the big jug but it's just so much money at once. I tried to clean up some of the rough edges on his hooves before turning him back out. Cody already had his supper at this point and Axel went running off to catch up on the hay pile. It might be a feeble attempt but I put both their fly masks back on. Cody's gotten a little sun burnt the past couple weeks so I want to keep his nose covered as much as possible.

I don't think I'm going to get a chance to get back out to the barn this week, but I'd like to get Axel's feet cleaned up better and maybe shaved as well. Perhaps if our plans fall through tonight I can make it out. If the mud would dry up that would be helpful.

Last Shot for April

Axel had his last shot for April last night. That completes his month of 7 shots in the loading period. He'll just get one a month from now on. He's still sore on that front right knee though so I'm not sure what's up with that. If I can find some natural rubber gloves I might try the DMSO and see if he can tolerate that. Otherwise in a month when I get more Adequan I'll get some Surpass as well. Until then we'll keep up with the lunging and see if just some exercise and moving helps him feel better.

His head swelling seems to have gone down as well so I'm hoping that doesn't come back randomly. His mud fever is getting a bit better as well. I didn't really pick any scabs last night, a few came off when I was brushing and what not but I did scrub his legs with the Norwex cloth again. I'd like to shave more hair off his feet again but the scabs are kind of making that difficult. Next spring I'm going to shave his feet as early as possible and just keep scrubbing with the Norwex cloth and see if that will keep away the mud fever to begin with. The Norwex lady said that she never heard of a person using the cloths in the barn but at the very least I can leave it in the barn and it doesn't stink. If the cloths are supposed to get ride of acne causing bacteria and what not why not try it on mud fever bacteria!

You Have Got to Be Kidding Me ... Again

Monday I go out to the barn after doing some yard work and bring Axel in to work on his scabs. I get him hooked up in the cross ties and I notice his face is swollen. He has a big welt on his left check. First I thought it was from falling over and maybe hitting the stall door but that was the other side. Then I notice his throat latch is swollen and under his chin. Seriously? It was like 7pm and I didn't particularly want to pay for another vet visit. I took his temperature and he didn't have a fever. His eyes were clear, no lumps anywhere else, no snot, attitude was fine, he had been grazing and happy. J&J didn't have any ideas so I called the vet and left him a message. He called back just a few minutes later and couldn't give me a snap diagnosis from the symptoms but thought he'd be fine if we just watched him a few days. One idea was swollen salivary glands. Upon further investigation I found something called "grass glands" which is swollen salivary glands due to possibly an allergic reaction.

So last night I went back out to check on him and go back to work on his scabs which I neglected then since we got sidetracked with the swollen face. His swelling is mostly still there, kind of spread out a bit, maybe a little lower, hard to tell. I poked at him to make sure it wasn't tender and he seemed just fine. I set to work on grooming and picking scabs. I did end up getting a lot of scabs off and scrubbing him with the chlorhexidine. There are still some scabs left but I'm hoping to get them all off gradually.

J said she'd leave Axel in a stall overnight to see what happens. Apparently if the swelling is "grass glands" then it should get better overnight when he's not grazing and then get worse after a day on the grass. It won't really change anything I don't think but we'll know we're probably dealing with an allergy. I'm hoping it'll go away as he gets used to the grass or whatever it is he's eating goes away. From what I can find on the internet is another sort of common ailment that you just put up with. It doesn't seem to bother him so far but I haven't tried working him or riding him yet.

I had been neglecting Cody so I groomed him and then took him for a walk down the road. He was even more calm than the time prior so I think tonight maybe I'll try and ride down the road and see how he does. And I need to get Axel lunging again but at least he's moving around more in the pasture. His knee is a bit sore lately which I assume is from increased movement.

Scabby Axel

The boys are back out in their pasture and Vinnie is out back with the geldings. I guess he's not terribly happy with the situation and would rather be up with my guys. But it seems like Cody is pretty happy with where he is. Jesse and Steele are in the paddock so even when I take Axel out he has other horses to visit with. He didn't call for Axel at all when I had him in the barn tonight.

I ended up wrapping Axel's back leg with a wet cloth to try and soften up the scabs so I could pick them off. Axel won't stand with his foot in a bucket and the water is super cold so I guess I don't blame him. He was weirded out about the wet cloth but he stood patiently. I couldn't get all the scabs off yet but made some headway. Hopefully if I keep working at them this week I'll get him all cleaned up. I also bought a cordless clippers from one of the boarders so I'll probably clip up his feet again as best I can (it's hard to work around the scabs).

The good news is that his belly swelling was all but gone tonight. The 3 dimensional swelling he had is now flat, it's still a bit hard (pitting) but it's not raised. Soon he'll just be flabby and fat. The swelling in his sheath has gone down as well. So that's all an improvement over the last week. They've only been on pasture for a day or so, so I'm not sure I can chalk it up to lack of round bale but in any case it's good to see.

Oh and I forgot our little mishap. I was picking Axel's back right foot and he kept pulling it forward toward his belly. I don't usually let go unless there's a problem, he can learn to not yank his foot away. Well apparently there was a problem I was unaware of and pretty soon he had fallen on top of me and pinned me to the stall door. He scrambled a bit and got on all four feet again but I'm left with a bruise on my elbow and my shoulder. Guess I better start working out more if I'm going to be holding up a 1300lb animal.

Back on Track

Tuesday I just ran out and gave Axel his shot and some MSM. They were back in the pasture for the night since it was raining and there is no shelter in the small paddock. Cody and Vinnie were out in the rain grazing and Axel was hiding in the back of the lean-to.

Friday the barn was busy. Riley had some people out interested in buying him. Stitch and Cody2 were out riding on the road. I had Cody in the aisle for a few minutes to groom and then had Axel in to work on his back feet a bit. And A brought Vinnie in to get ready to work in the arena.

I hand walked Cody down the road ditch just up to the neighbor's property. He wasn't perfect but he was a million times better than he had been last time I rode him. I might keep that up for a while and see if he makes any progress before trying to ride him down the road alone again.

I wasn't able to get too many more scabs off Axel but the foot that I had cleaned up on Monday was doing good. I got the other foot cleaned up a little bit but it still needs work. If Axel would let me soak it that would help. Maybe this week I can wet a rag and wrap that foot with some vet wrap then he can stand there acting helpless while the scabs soften up. Easier than dealing with a bucket.

When the arena was open I went in and lunged Axel at the walk again for a few minutes with a few stints of trotting mixed in. He was looking sound at the walk but a little gimpy at the trot which was to be expected. He takes a few bad steps at the walk still but perhaps that is due to no exercise for 5 months. I ended up getting on bareback with just the halter and lead rope. Last time Axel was recovering from whatever random lameness he had he was sound at the walk but with a rider he was still lame. We did a few laps in each direction and he was pretty darned sound even with me on his back. He was very interested in looking out the open arena doors and he was a bit hard to control with just the halter but he did really well and didn't offer any unneeded feistiness. Yay Axel!

Saturday bright and early I ran out and gave Axel his 4th Adequan shot before heading up to the We Can Ride tack sale. I ended up buying a few things at the sale: John Lyons rope reins, new riding tights, a foam english saddle pad, and some black saddle bags for Axel's saddle.

Sunday I went out to Murphy with A and rode Danny. Cody just won't fit in A's trailer and riding Danny was like a vacation. It's been a long time since I've had a calm trail ride. It started out a little hairy when the horses thought some hikers were going to eat them but after that everyone settled in and it was a gorgeous day.

I groomed Axel outside when we returned and then worked him a bit in the arena. He was not about to let me lunge him outside where there was grass to eat so we had to go in the arena. He was sound at the walk with the exception of a few wrong steps and he trotted a little on the lunge line. We only worked for a few minutes before I unclipped and sent him out at liberty. He went 1 lap in both directions at the trot (a bit of canter to the right - I think that was the direction). He was a little gimpy which was no surprise. Right now I just want to work him up to doing more trot and getting back into shape. He looked a bit more swollen as well which I hope is just because it's been warm and there's a lot of standing around with the round bale in the small paddock. All things considered, he's not that much off when he trots. The cranky head tossing or pawing seems to have dropped a notch and he'll trot fairly willingly when asked. I'm sure we're dealing with some laziness as well. We'll just keep plugging away.

One Step Forward, 17 Steps Back

The mud is quickly drying up so Axel's mud fever won't be too much of an issue for too long (I hope). I did shave Axel's back legs on Sunday anyway. Surprisingly enough he let me shave them without yanking each foot away. He did not let me pick the scabs or even try and soften up the scabs with a wet rag. So I did the best I could and scrubbed both legs with the hibiscrub. I'm counting down the days until Axel's been on the Adequan for a few weeks and we can start working in the arena. He's gotta have some energy to work off, he certainly has some hay to work off!

Cody was pretty impatient in the cross ties when I groomed him and chatted with some folks for a while. We trotted around the arena for a few minutes to see how we were feeling and then we set out for the road. Slow down the drive way, slow and weavey for the first block, then moved to the ditch so if we decided to freak out we wouldn't get run over by a car or anything. That's when we started backing up. We made it down to the culvert finally and turned into the drain way. And then backed up. We finally made it a little further down the drain way, then we backed up. And spun around. And backed up. Snorting and huffing and puffing the whole time. Rinse and repeat. We Cody finally took several almost calm steps forward we stopped and turned around.

The trip back was fast and snorty. Trot walk trot walk trot. He finally started walking when we got back to the edge of the pasture. So we walked past the drive way and kept going. He was still a little snorty but calmer than before. We crossed the road and headed back toward the drive way, and went past it again. A car passed us and Cody remained calm so I gave him a lot of pats before we turned around (he's not afraid of cars he just uses them as an excuse to bolt). We walked down the driveway and did a few trot circles near the pasture gate before we went into the arena and did a little more work. He was a little worked up in the arena and had a pretty big trot and a kind of cruddy gallop/canter. We cooled down doing some serpentines at the walk with seat and leg cues followed by some leg and back stretches when I dismounted.

I'm hoping for some attitude change between the dentist, sheath cleaning, and chiropractor. One of those things has got to make him a slightly happier pony.