Cody on the Road - Another Attempt

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

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

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

Bath Day

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

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

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

The Mud

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

Lame, huh? Coulda Fooled Me!

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

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

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

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

Makeshift Surgery

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

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

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

We Can Ride Trail Ride

Well after a whirlwind summer we finally made it to the We Can Ride Trail Ride Fund Raiser weekend. I went from having no horse to ride, to having a friend's horse to ride, to having my own horse to ride. J&J offered to bring Cody for me which worked out well in the end since Cinder is getting pretty old and deserves his time off and that meant Tricia only had Dusty to offer to me and/or Anne.

So while I packed as much stuff in my mini as I could, J&J loaded Cody and their two TWHs into the big trailer. Supposedly Cody had no issues loading. Though when he got off the trailer we noticed he had a big scrape on his back right hock. Since he loaded calmly the best we can figure is he just stepped on himself while in the trailer, maybe shifting his weight at a stop or something. Cody was a little sweaty already getting off the trailer but that's pretty normal, he gets nervous and sweats. So he stood tied to the picket line for a while and grazed a bit while we finished getting everything ready and had lunch and all that. He was actually very patient. We tacked up and tried to get everyone organized to go. J&J had already set out on the trail. Cody started off as he usually does, trotting and worried about life. The last time B and I rode this trail he settled down pretty quickly so I was hoping and waiting for that moment. But it didn't come. He pretty much trotted the whole trail. Around the time we got up to the road and started heading back to the trail head is when he started to settle in with bouts of trotting to keep up with Vinnie. We did lead for a few minutes but that didn't seem to make him any happier. He might have been better off in the back but we didn't try that this time. He was a ball of sweat by the time we could see the trail head. I did get one little stretch of canter beside Steph and Boogie (gorgeous saddlebred canter on him). At least when Cody is tired there's nothing scary about his canter since I know he'll stop and not get too wound up.

After the ride I untacked the sweaty boy and dumped the pools of sweat out of his hoof boots. I hosed him off at the well and then tied him up to the trailer. He actually stood at the trailer quiet for a long time. He must have been tired. I ended up loading him to go home. J&J's trailer has a ramp and that did not seem to faze Cody at all, so that was good. In my mind a ramp would be easier, no big step up. Cody balked once but got in pretty decent after that with just J standing behind him and telling him to step up. Since I had to pack up my car, unpack my car, and get to Minneapolis J&J were just going to take Cody home and turn him out for me. I imagine he got in a real nice roll when he got home and caked himself with mud that I'll have to chisle off him.

Trail Ride Prep

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

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

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

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

A Nice Barn Trip

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

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

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

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.

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.

Common' boys!

I managed to drag my lifeless body out to the barn before going to the farm. I came down with a nasty cold on Thursday morning. I mustered up enough energy to try out my new Rider's Rasp on the boys. Cody has decided to remove his fly mask as often as possible now. So I got him groomed up and fly sprayed and tried to even out some of the jagged edges on his hooves with the new rasp.

Axel was looking kind of bad. He was limping still and the more I looked at his legs the more I noticed he was kind of puffy. I looked around the best I could see and didn't find anything obvious so after grooming and fly spray we walked up and down the road a little to see if that would reduce any of the puffiness. In all reality I think it was mainly his back right that was swollen. So I gave him some MSM and bute and put him back outside in hopes whatever it was would clear up over the weekend.

Cody on the Road - Again

I was actually around this weekend so I made it out to the barn on Sunday. Unfortunately I got there after J&J left for town with the clydes. So it was just me and Cody left to our own devices. It was warm but I decided it was time for another trip down the road alone. We will conquor this riding alone thing someday. I still need longer straps for Cody's breast collar, I tried it on him again and it's just too short but the new pad seems to help the slipping issue. With our boots on and a lead rope with a popper at my disposal we crawled down the driveway. Then we crawled down the road. We had a few stops on the way but only had to get popped with the lead rope once. Might be something I should do early on while we're still near the barn (less chance of a freak out and more chance for establishing some sort of alpha position in our relationship). We stopped when cars drove by but we did not spin around and bolt for home. I will remember treats next time. Perhaps cody needs some clicker training! Anyway we made it further than ever before (this summer). Almost all the way down to the next block. I'd say we had one minor spaz attack that was easily curtailed. When he calmed down we turned around. When he got amped to be facing home, we went away from the barn again and tried a second time. I'll take a nice brisk walk but I won't take a spazzy vertical trot, we don't run home, mister.

Going home should equal work so we did some serpentines. The first several were very spazzy "OMG are we turning around again I wanna go home now!" but once he figured out we were just bending then he settled in. I tried a bit of leg yeilding as well but without an audience it's hard to tell if he's crossing over or not, my guess is not. We went back to the serpentines and then tried some circles. Circles to the right were okay. Circles to the left looked like half circles with the sharp turn happening when we weren't facing the barn. Left is a real problem for Cody and it shows up a lot when he's freaking out. Left = freak out more. When we got near the drive way we trotted ... right past the driveway much to Cody's dismay. But as he calmly kept going with only a bit of encouragement we stopped and I got off and we walked the rest of the way home.

While I was riding I noticed Cody would get a weird hitch in his back end. Back left to be exact. Upon furthur investigation on the ground it seemed like he wasn't quite picking that foot up far enough and as we'd cross the crown of the road that toe would drag causing a bit of a catch/stumble. So Mr Cody might have to work on some ground poles as well. You'd think with the number of things I keep coming up with to work on I'd be busy out there all the time. But it's hard to get motivated and not just play around. I'm going to stop at the tack shop on the way home tonight and see if the have one of those Rider's Rasps. Cody has some serious chips going already and Tricia has expressed great love for the rasp so I think it's time to give it a whirl.

Get Better Already, Will Ya?

Well Axel is still down in the dumps as far as that knee goes. It's big and swollen again and his limping around. I gave him some MSM and bute and then took him into the arena. Instead of lunging at the walk I just followed him around the arena with a lunge whip to keep him moving. He was off but he didn't get worse. At this point the only thing I can do is keep him moving. Though with all this swelling and soreness his knee is still much more flexible than it was before the injection. So we'll try a few more days of bute and see if the swelling goes down. Not much else I can do. There's nothing on his x-rays and since it's a joint there's really nothing else it could be but reaction to arthritis. I should probably bite the bullet and order some supplements for him and get him back going on that (done and I ordered some liniment to try). Hopefully getting him back on a joint supplement will do some good. The one I'm going to try is similar to what he was on before minus the Yucca, has more Vitamin C, no MSM (which I give separate anyway), has Collagen, little less HA, more Chondroitin, and a little less Glucosamine. So the affects should be about the same as the more expensive stuff he was getting. We'll see if my theory that he went to pot after I stopped the supplement is true. Especially since I can't do the joint injection more than every 3 months. Wish I would have gotten off my butt and ordered this stuff earlier.

So Axel got put back outside and I grabbed Cody. I had planned on maybe just getting on bareback in the arena for a few minutes but the new boarder showed up (she's been around a few months now but this was the first time I met her). I didn't really want to fight with Cody without a saddle for support so I threw on the dressage saddle. New horse, new people, I figured he'd want to pay attention to them and not me. He wasn't actually bad and after we did a bit of trotting we stopped to talk to the boarder which Cody appreciated. We finished off the night with a tiny bit of cantering and made around to the right almost 2 laps.

Finally a Ride

One of these days I'll bring out a decent camera instead of my cell phone. Until then you get weird orange tinted photos where you can't actually see just how shiny and dappled Axel is. I ended up leaving off his fly mask this time around, he's getting some rub marks on his face from it. We'll see if gets bothered too much by bugs without it. He went all last year without one and didn't seem worse from wear. I ended up just grooming him and putting some fly spray on. He was a little limpy still, maybe down to a 4 on the Axel scale but I didn't put him in the arena or anything to really see how he was feeling. I should have more time this weekend to get him moving a bit. The sore knee certainly hasn't slowed him down any. I just have to decide how much I want to push him.

So A was at the barn and suggested we go for a ride down the road. I tacked up Cody (no yawning) and put on his boots and some fly spray and we were off ... like a snail. He's soooo darned slow. I have yet to bring a whip with on the road but I might have to start especially since my reins are one piece and don't have any ends to use as poppers. We went along at a glacier's pace for maybe just under a half mile before he started moving a little better. Maybe he also needs a warm up but I'm sure most of it is barn sour. But with every car that passed and he didn't decide to bolt home I praised and patted him and we kept on. When we turned the corner at the mile mark he picked up speed, mostly because going parallel to home is better than going away from home. He had a few bursts of trot but they weren't completely spazzy and since Vinnie is a pretty solid and lazy guy Cody didn't really have anything keeping him amped up. As soon as he relaxed down to a walk and licked I asked him to turn around and he did so very calmly. The past few times even if our ride out is calm (but slow) when we turn around he turns it up to 11. So I was very happy when he didn't bolt as we changed directions for home. He did pick up a real walk finally. I should have made him work a bit more, do some serpentines or something, but I chose to let him walk calmly the whole way back.

I'm really going to have to keep riding him out as much as I can even during the winter so he doesn't get barn sour again in the spring, he was going pretty good last year (I think) and then spring came around and he was crazy again. But more time will always help. Part of his slowness I think is his application for retirement. I don't think he needs to be a pasture puff quite yet and I'd like it if he'd keep in shape and become a nice kid's horse. So he and I will keep working and one of these days one of us will win (hopefully it's me).

Two Steps Forward One Step Back

So the million dollar horse wasn't feeling up to par on Monday. Let's say on a scale from 1-10, 10 being awesome totally sound at all three gaits (something he hasn't been since this time last year) and 1 being so lame he can't move at all, holding up one foot hopping around style. Before he had his injection I'd say he was at a 3. After the injection he was at a 7 (still lame at the trot, sound at the walk and really moving out). Monday he was down to a 5. Not nearly as bad as before the injection but not as good as a week after the injection. I really don't know what the deal is. Just ups and downs I suppose. The only thing I can do right now is keep going slow, get him moving around more and back into shape. If this is really just arthritis issues then more work isn't going to make it worse, he doesn't have a broken leg or anything, it's just going to maybe hurt. My thoughts right now are to keep him going at the walk until it's been a month. Then we'll put a saddle on him and work more at the walk. I'm going to pick up some liniment as well. Of course I'm impatient but in all reality if you limped around 6 months it would take at least a month if not much more to start feeling normal again. Jeff's niece broke her foot and has been out of a cast for a month or more and she's still limping and is a little gun shy. Why should I expect Axel to be any different?

So I did ask him for a trot to see what was up and he jumped and flung his head and cantered instead. Not the best day to ask for that I guess but you don't know til you try. So I put him out after giving him some MSM and grabbed Cody. Cody managed to stay stress free while I tacked him up in the cross ties. I decided to put out some cones before I got on to ride. I'm not really worried about Cody rolling or doing something stupid while tacked so I just let him wander while I set up. I put the cones down the centerline so we could work on weaving a bit and when I got to the end and turned around, Cody had knocked every cone down and was standing behind me. So after I reset all the cones I got on to ride. Cody was slow as usual so I grabbed the dressage whip for some inspiration. It seems like he doesn't start working until I ask for a canter and then he's on his toes. Which was the case on Monday but he's starting to calm down a lot faster after a spazzy canter. He's a little hard to motivate and when I'm riding alone I'm hard to motivate so I'm guessing that's no help to him. I should get someone to come in and instruct me or something.

We did weave the cones a bit but without impulsion it's a pretty difficult task. At first Cody decided he was supposed to walk up to each cone and stop. After we got over that idea then he figured out we were weaving. I probably should have put the cones a bit further apart for him. So while we were in the arena riding Axel was out in his pasture screaming his head off. Usually he doesn't care if Cody is gone but for some reason he was very unhappy with the situation on Monday. Of course his screaming makes it harder for Cody to concentrate on the task at hand. We made a few attempts at side-passing on the wall with no success and then we did a few tiny turns on the forehand. That was pretty much it for the night. And since it was a billion degrees last night I didn't go to the barn at all. So we'll see how everyone is feeling on Monday when I can make it out again.

Tired Axel

So I put Axel in the arena and lunged him at the walk on Wednesday. I tried some body wrapping ala TTouch but it didn't seem to inspire him to pick up his feet any more. Still dragging those fronts. He moved around slowly and lazily but sound, just dragging. I tried a little more massage which he seemed to enjoy or at least tolerate well. But as soon as we walked out onto the cement he was sore. I can't quite figure if he's just hot, tired, and out of shape or if this is the knee talking. Especially since the duration of his knee troubles he was always more sound on the cement than he was in the arena footing. Wednesday it was opposite.

And I am ignoring this new lump. Sort of new lump. I think the lump was there before but it's bigger now. More ringbone maybe or just arthritic changes, we do know he's an arthritic boy. It doesn't hurt him nor is it hot and it's hard. Perhaps just a bump and it'll go down. Seems fishy if it's just arthritis that it'd show up nearly over night so for now I'm pretending it's not there. Luckily I've been photographing his legs and feet for a while now so I can keep an eye on changes.

Boy Axel, you sure go through a lot of work to get out of work.

I Guess It's Summer

I missed the farrier appointment yesterday because of the holiday but B held the boys for me. Sounds like they acted decently enough. I made it out tonight to see them after a week away. Axel was in a decent mood so I groomed him and then we went for a walk down the road. Even after the trim Axel is still dragging on the front so we'll just have to keep working and see if it improves. We went about a half mile total. Near the end of the walk he started tripping a bit and slowing down. I thought maybe he had a rock in his hoof but I didn't find anything. Granted it was in the 90s and a billion percent humidity so perhaps all of that contributes. Anyway we'll keep going slow and steady and hope for the best. And he has a new lump which for now I am going to ignore and pretend it's nothing. It's probably nothing? Definitely nothing? It's on his front right pastern. Looks like there is usually a lump there but comparing photos, it looks bigger now. It's hard but doesn't seem to bother him. Darn horse.

So I brought sweaty Cody in from the pasture to groom him and get him fly sprayed. Doing anything more than that required too much sweating on my part. I did find a few of his itchy spots. If you know Cody you'll understand why this next part is so cool, I was able to clean his "bits and pieces" for the first time. He was hanging it out when I came back in the aisle with a baby wipe and he didn't yank it back in when I started to clean it. And he didn't kick at me. He might have actually been calm about it. We may not be riding a lot but we seem to be getting somewhere in our horse and owner relationship. I'm not sure if the farrier trimmed Cody's left front a little shorter than normal to get rid of the crack he has or what. It looked pretty short and the crack was nearly gone but he seemed pretty tender footed. We'll see how it shapes up in a few days when it's had a chance to grow a bit. Luckily it's too darned hot to even think about riding lately but there's always tomorrow.

Just Some Walking

Brought Axel in, now a full week after his knee injection, groomed him and got him in the arena. I had him walk on the lunge in each direction for probably less than 5 minutes each. Still sound but dragging that right front a big (we'll see how he looks after a trim). Of course now it's a week later and I can't recall if I asked for a trot or not. But I was dared to get on bareback I think B thought Axel was going to act the fool. I jumped on with just the rope halter and lead and we did one lap in each direction at the walk. It was a perfectly sound and willing walk. It's been a long time sine I could say that. So even with some weight he's sound at the walk. My thought is that even if we can get him sound at the trot he can still do little trail rides at the walk.

I didn't feel like riding so I grabbed Cody and just groomed him quick and asked if B and Diva wanted to go for a walk down the road in-hand. Diva is getting over a nasty case of scratches so she's on vacation for a bit but a nice walk would do us all some good. Cody was slow on the way out but no calling and no wheeling around to bolt for home. We even made it nearly the whole mile. I asked him to turn around and go back as soon as he relaxed and started licking. Of course the trip back was much quicker but it was calm. We even stopped to visit some grandparents walking with their little granddaughter, she wanted to see the horses.

I think Axel and I might start walking down the road for our conditioning, it's much more interesting that lunging at the walk and easier to judge distance/time. If I was a smart person I'd have already trained Cody and Axel to pony and I could ride Cody and pony Axel but the road is just a bit too busy for me to feel comfortable doing that.