Axel is on the Mend (Knock on Wood)

It was the moment of truth as I walked up to Axel in the pasture yesterday. Sound or lame? He chased me around, tried to eat the halter and the fly mask, and tried to knock me over. Sound! No head-bob at all at the walk! I groomed him and took him in the arena. I lunged him for 5 minutes at the walk in both directions. Still sound! I asked for a trot. He cantered a bit then trotted out almost sound. Way more sound than he has been for 6 months. I'd put him at 75% for the trot. And the fact that there was no head tossing was a nice treat. So now we begin a slow increase into some work. Granted my guys don't really have to ever work. We dink around the arena for a few minutes, maybe ride down the road a bit, and sometimes we hit up a trail for a few hours. But I'm hoping easing him back into some sort of shape other than round-bale-green-pasture-blob will help loosen up those joints and keep him sound longer. After he did his tiny bit of work I did a little horsie massage which he seemed to enjoy tremendously. I can only imagine how most of his muscles must be sore from limping around for half a year. So that will be the ritual for a while, tiny bit of moving at the walk and then some massage. We'll add in a tiny bit of trot in a couple weeks. He's still dragging that right toe a bit so hopefully that will improve as we work. I might try some polo wraps just to give him some attention to the fact his has front feet. Works with the bell boots in the back pretty well ;)

Cody and I did end up riding along with J and the big guy, Logan. He's just been started under saddle and thought Cody was maybe going to chase him down and get him in the arena but even so he was darned calm about life. Cody was a bit less than energetic as usual so I had the dressage whip for inspiration. After a few lazy trips around the arena at the trot we ended up the evening's ride by working on turn on the forehand. So far it's "leg, leg+whip taps, leg+whip taps+voice cue" to get him to move that back end away. But it was enough to keep me working on it and I hope to get him to move away from leg eventually. Then maybe this lateral stuff will start to become more easy. If he doesn't want to truck around at any sort of speed then we'll concentrate on moving body parts instead. Especially easy to do on a hot day or bareback or heck even a cold day that we don't want to sweat. At 20 years old I think maybe we'll concentrate on trail riding, staying sound, and learning as much as possible to be a good kid's horse someday.

We spent a lot of time in the cross ties with Diva just hanging out and chatting. Cody's personality is really starting to show. I cleaned his nose with a baby wipe and he spent the time trying to eat it and then giving us the nice "that smells" face (flehman response) despite it being an unscented wipe. He was generally just being goofy. He's getting more and more comfortable with me scratching around his sheath. I'm hoping he'll eventually let me clean it because, yuck, he's a dirty dirty boy.

Axel gets the big guns

Adequan, MSM, DMSO, and some bute was just not cutting it for Axel's sore knee. In fact the vet was surprised the Adequan didn't cut it. But Axel is good that way and feels bad for the vet and wants to help pay for his children's college. So after a week of phone tag I spoke with the vet and made an appointment for Tuesday to have Axel's knee blocked and then injected if the block indicated as much.

Axel actually wasn't terribly lame after not seeing him for a week so that was nice. I tried to get him groomed up before the vet arrived but he was a little early. He had me walk Axel in the arena to see how lame he was and make sure it was that right front (obviously). He had a significant head bob on that right knee. I asked him for a trot and got a big fat "F You!" He flung his head and bounced around and I don't think actually trotted at all. Of course this wasn't really a surprise to anyone. The vet scrubbed up Axel's knee for a nice long time to prep for the Lidocaine injection. Axel stood very quiet for a couple shots. I walked him around the arena once to get the injection spread out and then we stood for a few minutes to wait it out while I finished brushing his mane and looking for woodticks (found 2). When he had 10 minutes or so of waiting I walked him back in the arena up and down the wall a few times. The vet thought he had about an 80% improvement at the walk. The head bob all but went away. He still has his usual stiffness but he never did move all that well and he hasn't worked in 6 months, I would think that would affect it as well. I did ask for a trot and got a bit of a head toss and then a few strides of trot. He was off at the trot but I didn't get the big reaction I did the first time. So the vet thought all this meant the injection would be the way to go.

So another round of scrubbing commenced and then a couple more injections right into the knee. This time it was some steroids and hyaluronic acid. Once again Axel stood really patiently, admittedly it was too danged hot to move in the first place. After that I turned him out and now it's a waiting game. When the block wore off he was back to his normal lameness. I guess it takes about 5 days or so to really kick in and for him to start feeling better. So we'll wait and see and the vet wants a phone call update on how he's doing in a week or so, so keep your fingers crossed that this was the right fix.

So after all that I brought Cody in to groom. It was way too hot to ride or do any work but since it had been a full week I thought the old boy deserved a bit of pampering. Well the longer we stood there the more I kept thinking about clipping a bridle path. I tend to go on the au natural side of things, I like long manes and all that. But I gave in. I clipped Cody's feathers, whiskers, and a bridle path. I'll admit it was a small bridle path but enough so I can tell what is forelock and what is mane. The whiskers I didn't get all the way down to the skin but I cleaned up the long dirty ones now he just has stubble. And for some reason he still had some pretty impressive feathers on his legs from winter so I clipped those off as well. I have to say I love my new clippers. It's so quiet and quick. Cody almost looks like a real horse (J said she's going to have to go out and lead him to the hay in the middle of the night now that he doesn't have whiskers to feel his way around - barn joke). So Cody who everyone is pretty sure was treated very poorly as a yearling, who was very head-shy and not terribly friendly now let's me wipe his nose with a baby wipe, scratch his ears, clip his bridle path and whiskers, AND when scratching his face with the curry gave us another lip curl. Go Cody! It only took 20 years!

So yesterday I made it out to the barn again and thank goodness for cooler weather. It rained off an on all day but it was only 70F and not humid so I planned to do some riding. Axel followed me around the pasture for a while and he was looking pretty good. Still limpy but I think it's getting better. I groomed and tacked up Cody and brought him in the arena. He was pretty pokey and I had a hard time getting him moving. Seems like the only way to get him going is to ask for a canter and then he gets a little spazzy and will move out for a few minutes before going back to his slow turtle speed. I think I'll be riding with a whip from now on at least until he figures out we need to just move out and not stop until I ask. We visited with B and Diva for a while and luckily for Cody I was as lazy as he was so I only ended up being mounted for a half hour.

Cody likes it!

I made a quick stop out to the barn on Friday on my way out of town. I didn't want to go a whole week without checking on the boys. They're usually fine but I like to see with my own eyes and assess things like just how lame is Axel today. He was still "ok" on Friday after 5 days on and 2 days off bute. I pulled off their fly masks and checked for bugs and rub marks. Axel's got a little rub on the left side of his face, it's kind of low so I'm not sure if it's from the mask or what. The one thing I hate about fly masks is how they grind in the mud when they roll.

So I didn't make it out to the barn again until later last night. I had planned to ride but it was almost 8 already. Axel was back to his worse than normal limp so I gave him some bute, MSM, and put some DMSO on his knee. I'm hoping this new biting/chewing issue is due to pain and if we fix the pain the biting will stop. I walk up to him in the pasture and take off his fly mask to put on his halter and he either takes the fly mask or the halter or lead rope and tries to cram the whole thing in his mouth immediately. And he'll grab at the cross ties and bite down on them as hard as he can. I keep waiting for him to start wind sucking but so far he's just biting/chewing. He hasn't been on enough bute on a regular basis to cause ulcers so who knows what his deal is. He's grazing fine and doesn't seem to be chewing on the fence posts at all that I've noticed. He walked out a bit better after his meds and some grooming. I have a vet appointment for next Tuesday to block that knee and see what happens. From the sounds of it, if it's really arthritis and we numb the knee he should be sound and then we'll do an injection right into the joint. If we numb it and he isn't sound, well then I'm not sure what the problem would be. Seems unlikely that if the problem isn't located in his actual knee he'd be as swollen and as knobby as he is. J thought perhaps that right front is so bad because his hind left had been sore for so long and the compensation finally caused an issue. I really should have looked into major medical coverage for him a long time ago (just emailed an agent to find out if he has any literature he can send).

I put him out and grabbed Cody to get him groomed up. Cody has found a new love of rolling in the mud I think. He used to never be dirty but the past year or so he's always caked in mud and dirt I've even caught him laying down which I rarely did before. And despite our arguments over riding he's been getting a little more cooporative bit by bit. Since I can't get him to stand still to put desitin on his sun burnt nose I bought baby wipes with aloe, it probably won't really do much but it was worth a try. He stood really well for that last year and this year. I've even been able to clean out the dirt in his nose and he just stands there and lets me. I can scratch his ears when they are itchy and for the first time when I was scratching his face with the curry I got an honest to goodness lip curl. Of course wearing a fly mask makes for an itchy face but this is the first time he showed a visible reaction to enjoying his face curry time. Go Cody! So on top of him behaving and being really patient last night, the other horses were in their stalls eating dinner and I decided that my laziness would win and I wouldn't force Cody into doing work during dinner time. I hope he appreciates it!

Cody is not a Dressage Pony

So Wednesday was day 5 for Axel on bute. The swelling has gone down to a usual knobby arthritic size but he's still lame. Not *as* lame as he was on Sunday. I'm just happy he actually ate powdered bute from a bucket this time with very little fuss. Apparently bute + MSM tastes better than bute + antibiotics. I'll have to make sure there's always MSM around (which I will taste myself one of these days). I did an extra good grooming job since I'll probably be out at the farm this weekend of course I think it's supposed to rain the whole time so my grooming is probably gone to waste already along with the fly spray. Still June and I think I have to go buy another bottle. I might have to break down and get the big jug.

So I grabbed Cody and got him groomed up quickly and threw on his tack to ride in the arena with A and Danny. We're still having troubles tracking left but not quite as severe as before and I'm sure it makes a difference that this was day two of me riding him. I played a little with contact and trying to get Cody give to it, he did figure out the little exercise A showed me after a few tries. Part of his problem is that he doesn't like contact, it stresses him out or makes him nervous. So if he surges, I accidentally put more contact on the reins and then he freaks out and takes off even more. I don't know if it's worth it to try and get him to accept more direct rein contact or for me to learn to ride with less contact. Maybe a little of both? We actually had one nice round to the right of canter peppered with some bad spazzy moments but we ended up riding for more than an hour I think working on various things. So I still really need to get some long reins and work on ground driving with him as well as work building up his back. And then on top of all that my dressage saddle does not fit it. It's actually too narrow if you can believe that. But unless I some how stumble on an inexpensive saddle that fits we might be out of luck for a while. Anyone have a wide tree cut back 18" dressage saddle laying around?

Happy Birthday Cody!

Soooo I don't think the Chiropractor fixed our issue this time. Monday I got Cody ready to go and we went out on the road. I've had worse rides and I've had better. It was slow going out as usual. A few stops here and there. Speed increase when we turned toward home. And one "OMG I'm going to die if I don't get home instantly" episode when a truck drove by. So either this chiro isn't as good as the last or it was a fluke that the chiro and this issue went away at the same time a couple years ago or I have no idea. Luckily I don't usually have the urge to go riding down the road alone very often, it's just been a personal challenge so far. I'd much rather ride with other people.

Axel's forelock gets all funny under the fly mask so I decided to braid it and now he looks so fancy. I even had a yellow binder for him. Monday I gave him his bute, water, MSM, sweet feed, candy mixture and he ate it right up. No clear improvement. Tuesday I got him from the pasture and he was walking quite a bit better. He ate his mixture and I turned him out in the arena where he contemplated rolling for quite some time before finally easing down to the ground. It's gotta hurt to bend that knee all the way so he makes sure it's really what he wants to do. Since it had rained all day he wanted to roll really bad. Of course after he got up he was back to full on lame which didn't stop him from running and bucking immediately upon getting up. I wish I knew what his deal was, it just seems like if it's arthritis it wouldn't be so swollen so fast and for so long. Bursitis maybe? Capped knee? Blah Axel, get better already will ya!? I put a call in to the vet to get some more Adequan ordered and try some Surpass and see what else he thinks is going on.

So Cody was probably not happy with me making him work on his birthday but that's the way it goes. He gets enough days off as it is. J thought I should have brought out some cake but all I had was some carrots. I figured out why I want to get Axel back to work so bad, I loooooove my dressage saddle. I don't think it fits Cody very well but I love to ride in it. It just seemed like a day when Cody was going to be slow and there was going to be a lot of kicking so I grabbed my whip before I got on just in case. The whip always seems to inspire a little more pep out of the old man just by having it in my hand. I think overall the ride was sub-par but I did get some decent practice in. I'm trying to work on a steadier leg and we had some moments when I could post and work on that. But we had a lot of other moments of Cody speeding up and slowing down and speeding up and slowing down. He's very inconsistent and we need to work on that. Add some nerves on top of that and the tiniest amount of leg equals speed trot or spastic canter. So we'll keep working. I wonder if he thinks the tighter rein means go fast and is getting confused. I tried to work him to the left more which went okay for a while but given the choice of what direction to go he picks right every time. I'll probably ride in the dressage saddle a few more times to make sure it's not making him sore and we'll keep working on some basics. The whip is kind of handy to get some lateral work done but he's pretty good at ignoring me, I need to get a bit stronger with him I think. I'm probably babying him for no reason. In any case my legs hurt today, whew!

Horse Show

I helped out at my first horse show yesterday. Didn't bring any of my own horses but I went along with a fellow boarder and played "groom" for the day. Took some photos and recorded some video and got sun burnt, wind burnt, and sand blasted while I was there.

When we got back I brought Axel in for another dose of bute. This time I mixed it with the MSM, sweet feed, and a few pieces of candy and he actually ate it all. I'll try that again tonight but he's usually pretty good at turning his nose up at something that he thought was fine the day before. Trying to give him bute for 5 days this week and see if his knee starts to feel any better. It's getting quite knobby lately and he's limping around pretty badly (but he's getting really good at limping fast). I put both the boys fly masks on as well so we'll see how long they keep them on this summer.

Rainy Saturday

I tried to wait out the rain but it wasn't letting up or clearing off so I went out to the barn anyway. It's pretty quiet out there on a weekend when it's raining so it's kind of nice.

Axel was pretty sore and puffy still on that knee. I scraped off as much rain as I could and groomed him up a bit. It seems like his knee has better ROM but is more sore lately. I put more DMSO on it and gave him some MSM. I put him in the arena and he took off running and flinging his head. Then he'd gimp around smelling everything he could get his nose on. I decided since I'll be able to get out there several days in a row this week to try and bute him. Not sure how much actually got in his mouth, I mixed it with water and put it in a syringe. I wore quite a bit of it on my arm. I think I better get something a little thicker than water next time. My plan (ever evolving) is to get a new supplement to try for a few months, I found one that has a decent amount of Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and Collagen in it and is pellets and less than a dollar a day. Plus when I get the money together I'll get his next round of Adequan and some Surpass (gotta find someone going to Canada to get me some of the OTC human version sometime). I put together some prototype wraps for Axel's back legs so I fitted those so I can try and put something together. Eventually he might feel well enough to ride, right?

I grabbed Cody out of the rain and started grooming him when B came in with Diva. I was debating on if I was going to ride or not but wanted Cody to dry off more before putting the tacky too pad on him when he started to shake. He was yawning quite a bit and then stretching out both front legs almost like he was going to lay down in the cross ties and then he started shaking. He was still wet so we thought maybe he was cold so I put his blanket on. He was still shaking so I walked him into the arena in case it was actually nerves. He trotted around a bit and then started frantically looking for a place to roll. I still don't know if it was nerves or cold. Would he lay down and roll twice if he was freaked out? Or was he just looking for the quickest way to get warm? Very weird, but after that he was just fine. I lunged him a bit before turning him back out. I probably could have ridden but I was kind of caught off guard at that point. B was getting Diva ready for the show so I just hung out and chatted.

The sun actually came out by the time we were done so I took some photos of the clydesdales and then of Cody who so kindly posed for a nice conformation shot and then hung out by some daisies for me. Tomorrow I'm going to tag along to the horse show and take some photos and play groom for B and Diva. I'm hoping it doesn't rain though, ick.

Long Time No See

I ran out to the barn tonight to visit the boys and make sure everyone's appendages were still attached and all that. Axel has some lumps on his face again and I'm starting to think he gets this after it rains, maybe there's some gnats or flies that hatch in the rain and bite. His knee was looking pretty swollen as well but as usual it wasn't hot or even warm. After I groomed him and picked 3 wood ticks out of his forelock I put some DMSO on his knees. The last couple times I've used it he seems to move a little better afterwards. I have to pay off some of the repairs on the trailer and then order his Adequan and some Surpass. I'm also thinking of getting some denatured collagen II (supplement) to try since the recent research article in The Horse. I'm tempted to find a supplement that has MSM, collagen, and HA and put him back on that but ug, it's all so expensive especially since I like the pellet versions best.

When Axel was done I grabbed Cody and brought him in to clean him up a bit. He didn't have a single wood tick so I'm not sure what Axel gets into that Cody doesn't. I decided not to ride tonight and just got him cleaned up and both ponies sprayed with fly spray. I *will* fix fly masks this week, Cody's already got some scabs on his nose from sunburn. Not sure if Axel will keep his on but it's worth a try and maybe he'll get less lumps on his face.

Farrier Visit

I should have awesome pictures of the three clydesdales running around the pasture and lining up in a row at the fence. But I don't. You'll have to use your imagination or find a Budweiser Clydesdale commercial on YouTube.

I held Axel and Cody and Diva, fetched Dolly, Steele, Danny, and Vinnie, and held Vinnie for the farrier last night. Everyone was on their best behavior. Axel was a little annoyed at having that right front knee bent and he kept wrinkling his nose and snorting. I've never seen him do something like that before, but he didn't pull his leg away and was much more cooperative with all 4 legs than he had been the last time Marv was out. He had a couple ticks, one on his nostril and one big yucky one on his forelock along with a lot of scabby spots from previous ticks. Ick. I keep spraying him with fly spray but I might have to bust out the Wipe for his forelock especially if I'm going to be gone all weekend, maybe I can sneak out on the way out of town on Friday and wipe him down. And someone please tie me to the sewing machine until I fix Cody's fly mask so save his poor pink nose.

Cody's crack isn't completely grown out yet and it passed the mark we made in his hoof so we could track it but it didn't seem to get too bad so hopefully it'll grow out this next time.

It was just too nice and cool to not try and ride again so after everyone was done I tacked up the old man in the arena. No yawning as I tacked. I got on and off a couple times because I really wanted the pad to be exactly right so I wasn't pinching anything. He was still not very willing and pretty darn lazy so it didn't go much better than our first post-chiro ride. But once again there was another horse in the arena and he has a hard time thinking about what he's doing and not paying attention to that other horse. It's part "I have to keep my eye on him" and part "he's not working why should I." Yes, I know, we need to work on ground driving. The next test will be out on the road but I didn't have enough time last night so we just stayed in the arena.

I'm not sure how I like the Tacky Too pad. I know we use them a lot in TR but it just seems like his back gets so darn hot under it. Maybe his back gets just as hot with the wool pad and I'm just looking for issues right now. But! there was a lot of long and low stretching. Still some yawning while I was riding but the long and low seemed like it was a good sign. And! there was a lot of licking and chewing. So maybe we're doing okay.

New Saddle Pad and New Horses

I broke down and went to Fleet Farm to find Cody a new saddle pad to fill in some of the gap from his lower than normal back. The chiropractor suggested that maybe if the saddle keeps slipping back it could be causing some issues with Cody's back. So it was time to bite the bullet. I found a saddle pad that someone must have tried on their horse and not liked so it was marked down by about $15 or so. I did try and ride on Sunday but it was hot and sticky and Cody was feeling lazy as can be. He still had troubles with tracking left but he wasn't trying and apparently I wasn't either so we called it a day and just tried his new pad on.

J&J came home with a new team of Clydesdales so they hitched them up and we all went for a ride around the block. Sounds like the plan to keep Logan but he needs some time to recuperate from his weird horse shoe issue. They might then keep him and one of the new team but they were a pair at the sale so they ended up with both for now. The bigger of the two horses has blue eyes which I've never seen in a Clydesdale before. I think Logan is happy to have some friends in his pasture. He apparently owns the waterer though and frequently chases the brothers away from it.

Cody's Appointment

Just got back from Cody's chiropractor appointment. He definitely had some issues brewing. His left side was uneven from his right quite a bit which could explain how going to the left doesn't go as well. He had quite a few ribs out, I think 3 on one side and 2 on the other. And he was a little out at the poll. His neck is really stiff so the chiropractor instructed me to do some massage and stretching of his neck. The TTouch clinic I'm going to in a couple weeks should be a good addition. We walked him out then after some of the adjustments and he walked much quicker and the chiro said he was tracking much more evenly with the left. So we'll see how he feels in a couple days and if he'll go down the road a little happier. He did ask about what kind of padding I used for Cody's saddle and thought maybe some additional padding would help and to make sure the saddle doesn't slide back. So I'll have to see if I can find a low back pad that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.

S and her friend L thought Axel looked worse than the previous day so I brought him in to check hm out. He looked a tad worse since I rode him yesterday but nothing really of note. I groomed him up and checked for ticks and luckily didn't find any. His scabs are getting close to gone but there's still a few big ones that haven't loosened up yet. I fed him a double dose of MSM and put some DMSO on his knee before turning him out. He actually moved really well at that point so maybe the DMSO is starting to do something? I'll keep up the MSM and DMSO until I get his next Adequen injection and some Surpass to try.

Cody's Test

Axel is not ready to be ridden which makes me very sad. He's still lame on that front knee and he's not working out of it. Brought him in and put more DMSO on it and saddled him up for the first time since probably November. He was not pleased with having to wear a bridle or the saddle for that matter. Got on him for maybe 5 minutes. The first 30 seconds was a fit of head tossing and then he settled down but was Limpy McLimperson. As soon as I finish my rider evals and get paid from WCR I have to order more Adequan for him and I'm going to get some Surpass and try that for a couple weeks. I'm not sure if it'll have any lasting effect or if he'll just feel better during the time it's being applied but we'll see. Maybe if I can get him feeling okay he can start back to work. I think I'll have to add the MSM back to his diet as well. The MSM I could probably mix into a snack since he likes to eat it, that way it's easier for J to feed it instead of the straight powder. Poor Axel, I wish he felt better. I miss riding him and with only one horse it really puts a damper on my horse camping plans with Jeff. Especially now that I hear the trailer has it's new sheet metal welded on. It's almost time to paint!

So I decided that I should test Cody to see how he was feeling before our chiropractor appointment. Since Sunday went so well (save the trailer loading issue) I thought maybe he was feeling better about riding and it really was just time/work that sorted everything out and not necessarily a pain issue. He did yawn as soon as I got out his boots and saddle. He was pretty mellow as he has been the past few weeks otherwise so we just did a few minutes of circling and changing directions before setting out on the road. It was slow going. Lots of stopping and weaving back and forth but no backing up or bolting. The yawning increased the further from home we got but he seemed calm. Much calmer than he had been the previous times. We didn't end up going any further than the first field entrance but he turned around calmly and just sped up to a nice paced walk. I tried to make him bend and serpentine on the way back and he'd jig a little but that was about it. I'll take slow over bolting but a nice relaxed ride without having to poke and prod him to keep going would be nice.

We did a little trotting in the arena when we got back, I wanted to test out my theory that going to the left was worse than to the right. He wasn't nearly as bad as he has been but he is more reluctant to the left. We'll see what the chiropractor says. We did manage to pick up a canter to the left from the walk on the correct lead. I'm definitely comfortable on Cody in the arena now and can canter and continue to ask to maintain that canter even if he gets a little scrambly. Not sure how I'd feel out in the open, I like brakes, but eventually we should be able to have a nice canter outside. Maybe we'll start by riding out in one of the pastures in back, at least we're a little more contained there. B wants to start doing more dressage so I'll have to put some letters on my little cone and she and I can go out back and pretend. And Cody seems to be almost getting some of the lateral stuff. Right now it's almost coming across as an evasion, he'll get up to the wall instead of turning and almost sidepass. I'll be interested in seeing what things change after the adjustment.

Cody still understands the front leg stretches but he's not quite into the back leg stretches yet so I'll have to keep working on those. I want to start stretching Axel as well but since he's been so sore I haven't wanted to start, maybe if we can get to a stable point we can start that and hopefully maintain.

Both boys are looking mighty shiny these days and nice and round. I really want to get out on more trails this year and I can't wait until the truck and trailer are ready. At least with just one horse ready to go I have room in the trailer to bring someone else and their horse with.

First Trail Ride this Year!

I ended up making it out to the barn for a few quick minutes between chores on Friday to check on Cody and do a little pre-assessment on how his attitude was going to be for our scheduled Sunday trail ride. He was a mellow fellow so we just did a tiny bit of ground work and that was about it. Axel is lumpy again/still (face).

I hoped for good weather all day Saturday while sitting inside at my computer and 10am Sunday morning rolled around and I was not disappointed. Short sleeve weather but not too hot. I groomed Cody and planned to do some lunging just to try and make sure our ride wasn't going to be a rodeo. But he was still mellow as can be. So we did a tiny amount of ground work just to get everybody's brain where it belonged and then we waited for B and Diva to get ready. I put on Cody's boots so I wouldn't have to deal with that at the trail and we were set to go. Cody hopped right into B's 2 horse slant trailer and we were off.

We opted for a close trip to UMore which was fine with me since I hadn't been there yet. Cody got off the trailer fairly quickly but the step down is a pretty high one so I don't blame him. And he didn't continue to fly backward he just zoomed out and stood there. He was a little sweaty but not as bad as I thought he might be. The first few miles of the ride we did a little jigging and some falling back/trotting to keep up. But he finally settled in and things were going great. He was getting pretty sweaty and the trail was mostly grass so I took off his boots right before we got to the slightly gravelly part. Whoops. He was fine though, hugged the side of the trail a bit more than I would like but it wasn't horrible. Maybe halfway through our ride we met up with a lady on a big black Perch/Standardbred mare so she joined our little group and Cody was pretty happy about all the girls. Other than one other group of horses we didn't see anyone on the trail, seems to be a kind of underused treasure I suppose.

Cody started to get a little tired at about the 3/4 mark and for a while I thought he might try and lay down in the sand but we plugged along. At some point he decided he knew the way home and kept drifting to the south despite the trailer being to the west. I don't think he would have appreciated walking the whole way home so I convinced him to continue on to the trailer. When we could see the trailer parking and our new mare friend had turned off to head home we decided to get down and walk. B's knees were hurting and my hips were crying for a break so we walked the last little bit. So the really nice trail ride with Cody being a real gentleman couldn't end completely perfect. He decided he wasn't going to get in the trailer to go home. We tried all the usual tactics: general encouragement and clucking, tapping on the bum with a whip, tapping his feet so he'd pick them up, lunging/circling away from the trailer. Nothing was working. The difference between this new refusal to get in and his past antics was that he wasn't acting scared to get in. He just plain wasn't putting his feet in. He had his head all the way in and he'd bunch himself up but he wouldn't step up. He was as calm as could be. Part of the issue was that there was a mare at the next trailer winking at him. Perhaps he thought this trailer wasn't big enough or the step up was too big. We finally took Diva out to see if more space would help. But in the end we had to go the butt rope route and he finally got in. I suppose we didn't spend too much more than 30 minutes trying, maybe not even that long, and he got a ton of scratches and praises once he made it in. I guess we have something to work on when my trailer gets done, it'll be interesting to see if it was a size or step issue since my trailer is larger and has a lower step up.

When we returned from the ride Cody waited patiently to be asked to step out of the trailer but he was very hesitant about stepping down. B suggested we put him back in and of course once we started to ask and he balked we had to keep going til we got it. B and J locked arms and pushed him in after the usual tapping and whatnot didn't work. It went faster than before but he did end up tripping and landing on his knees in the trailer and scratching his left leg. Poor Cody, just can't figure out why he will get in really good for a while and then decide he's not going to do it.

After all that we decided it was bathtime. So Cody got his first bath with shampoo since I bought him. I'm not sure if that was a reward or not but I think it would have felt good. We scrubbed down Diva and Cody and then gave them the rest of their spring shots before turning them out. I was surprised to see that Cody didn't find some dirt to roll in after his bath but he is kind of a neat freak that way, he likes to be clean most of the time. Axel got his shots and we stood around and chatted for a while and before we knew it it was almost 6pm.

Bugs?

I do not know what's up with Axel or Cody for that matter. Axel has the lumps on his face again only this time it's not behind his jaw or under his chin, it's just lumps on his cheeks. Which I don't see how that could be the swollen salivary gland diagnosis we had last time. It looks more like bug bites or bee stings. And judging from the fact that the last two times I've come back from the barn I've found a new itchy bite on my side. So I fly sprayed him, I just hope it stuck before it rained.

Cody had been hiding in the shelter when I arrived but walked over to the fence to visit with friends before I got out there to get him. So he could walk fine. But when I got up to him he was doing what I can only describe as "a potty dance." With his back end. You know the dance little kids do when they have to use the rest room? Cody had his back legs crossed and kept switching them back and forth like he was dancing. He kept stepping on his own feet in the process. I saw no bugs or cuts or anything and when he finally let me lead him to the barn he walked just fine. The best I can figure is that he was trying to scrape the mud off his back feet? Who knows. I cleaned him up and did a tiny bit of ground work in the arena and then hand walked him down the road. Conditions were not great, it was windy and threatening rain but we made it. We made it all the way to the culvert with no freak outs. He stopped twice but that was it. Cars even passed and he didn't use that as an excuse to run home. Granted I was on the ground and he behaves a lot better that way but it's a start. He got a lot of fruit ring treats and some grass when we got to the culvert. We walked much faster home but on a loose lead line and I didn't have to run to keep up. So I put that in the win category.

Of course good things always seem to be accompanied by bad, I just heard that Jeff's niece's other horse died this week. She lost her first horse a month or two ago and now her only other horse has apparently had a heart attack. So sad. RIP Silver and Buckeye.

Spring Vaccine #1

I just made a quick trip out to the barn since it was cold and gloomy out. I gave Axel his Strangles vaccine, a couple treats, and groomed him up and wiped off his legs with the Norwex cloth real quick before putting some DMSO on his knees. He still didn't really react at all. I walked him back out to the pasture and he walked pretty well actually. He ended up running off when I turned him out, a little bucking and head tossing but still gimpy.

Cody chased after him so I had to go fetch him from the far side of the pasture. He stood very patiently for his Strangles shot so that made me happy. He had some nice tornadoes in his mane that I had to get out and I brushed him off pretty quick. So overall not a very eventful visit.

Making Enemies

Cody really hates me now. I stopped by Fleet Farm on Wednesday before going to the barn and picked up some Zimectrin Gold. I decided to just de-worm Cody in the pasture so I brought out his bridle to trick him. He was not impressed. He didn't spit out any of the de-wormer but he stood there with his mouth open for the longest time afterward, expressing his distaste. Poor pony, he wouldn't even take a fruit ring I brought as a treat after.

Axel was all over me while I tried to de-worm Cody, he thought I had something good to eat. Unfortunately for him he found out what that was when I brought him into the barn and de-wormed him there. He's a lot easier to dose but he still ended up with a big smear of medicine on his face. He wouldn't eat the fruit rings after being de-wormed either but he accepted a handful of hay as a peace offering.

So then my next experiment started. I put on his boots and took him into the arena armed with multiples of rubber gloves and some DMSO. Sadly (luckily) he wasn't feeling too bad and moving pretty good though he is more lame in the arena footing than out on the hard ground. He wandered around a bit and then I put some DMSO on his knees. I couldn't smell it (despite reports of it's horrid scent) but he could either smell it or feel it as he put his head down immediately to look at what I was doing to him. The boots and administering it in the arena was a precaution as some horses don't tolerate the feeling of DMSO. I figured if he was going to freak out he might as well do it where he can't hurt himself or me. But once he looked at his knee for a few seconds that was the end of the reaction. After that he went about his business wandering around. I asked him to move out a bit to see if he felt any better. Still lame at the walk and trot but pretty darn sound at the canter (tell me how that even works). So the next step is to use the DMSO every time I go out to work him and see if that starts reducing the swelling and soreness in his knee. Next time I buy the roll-on version because gloving up and trying to get the gel on is a pain in the rear.

Pthththththth

Axel looked a bit better tonight but once he got moving a bit in the arena he started getting sore on that knee. I'm going to stop at Fleet Farm tomorrow and see if I can find some natural rubber gloves and then try some of the DMSO on his knee. I bought the wrong kind of gloves when I originally got the DMSO so I haven't gotten around to trying it and seeing how he'd react to it. I picked a second wood tick of the season off Axel today. Guess it's time to get out the bug spray.

Despite the tornado like winds Cody was super calm in the aisle while I groomed though he started in with the yawning when I got the saddle on him. He was even too calm in the arena and just did not want to move. J had Dolly in the arena again and he followed her around to the right with no issues other than being lazy. Once again to the left he was uncooperative. Next time we start to the left and see how that goes. Part of it could be the need for chiropractic adjustment but part of it I think is him wanted to keep his right eye on what's going on but can't do that when he's going left. He doesn't understand why he can't just stand and watch other horses work. After Dolly left we stayed in the arena and actually got a decent walk for a little while and tried to work on turn on the haunches again. I dismounted and untacked him and then asked for an extended trot and canter at liberty. He'd go right okay but would swap leads and directions when he was going to the left. I really have to get that chiropractor appointment but B wants to wait til June and I would have to wait til this session of WCR is over first anyway.

Better Late then Never

Axel is still gimping around on his front knee. I lunged him for a bit in the arena to get him moving. He ran around a bit kicking up his heels.

J was riding Dolly in the arena when I tacked up Cody and got on to ride. He was sort of okay for the most part until we turned to go to the left. Unfortunately we didn't go left until we had already been going for a while so I'm not sure if it was the act of going left or just the time frame that upset Cody. He wouldn't stay on the rail, would counter bend all over, wanted to stop, was just plain hard to control. We had spent a little time trying to work on some lateral work so then when he was being a pain tracking left he'd spontaneously swing his rear end like he was trying to sidepass even though I wasn't asking. When J was done riding I made the mistake of asking Cody to canter which was just a good excuse for him to bulldoze around the arena. I am looking forward to when he stops being a pain in the rear, that's for sure.

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!

A Good Ride

I couldn't sit at the horse expo all weekend and not go see my own horses so I left the expo earlier today than planned and went out to the barn. Axel's face swelling is down a bit and he's still a little off on his front knee. I brought him into the barn and got him groomed up a bit. He still has some brown winter hair left that I haven't been able to get completely off. I wish the Furmanator wasn't so expensive. I didn't work on his scabs at all but it didn't look like he had any new ones so that's a good sign. I put him in the arena but forgot to put his bell boots on before I turned him loose and he took off like a bat out of hell. He was cantering and bucking and generally let loose. I was able to get his boots on when he stopped to say hi and before he went off running and bucking again. He kept slamming down on his front end both feet at the same time. By the time he was done letting loose he was limping pretty decent again. I lunged him for a few minutes but he didn't want to walk and trotting hurt so he'd bounce around and canter a bit. I tied him to the wall while J&J were talking to a farrier about Logan's shoes and he was fairly patient with that situation.

I grabbed Cody when Axel was done right as B was driving up. We groomed our horses and joined S and her friend in the arena. Cody was fairly well behaved in the arena with 3 other horses that he technically doesn't know. I spent a little time working on some lateral work against the wall. Cody doesn't completely get it but started to take some steps in the right direction. We played with the big green ball for a while but Cody doesn't like to push it and he started acting afraid of it and shying away from it. Diva really loves pushing the ball around, she's fun to watch. Eventually we set up a little jump and took all the horses over it. Cody did pretty well and jumped it after just stepping over it a few times. He even managed to ground tie when I got off to reset the jump. Of course all that good had to be followed up with something not so great, Cody decided to pee in the barn aisle when we were done riding so I had to get that all cleaned up so it wouldn't stink. Hopefully I got it washed off good enough.

Picked up all the vaccines at the expo this weekend so I have to give those sooner than later and I need to pick up some de-wormer as well. Plus Axel will have his last Adequan shot tomorrow for the month. I talked to the chiropractor that the vet recommended at the expo and I'll have to give him a call sooner than later and have him adjust Cody.