What's Up Wednesday

 

We had a busy week over here! Kind of... I mean, I think I went a solid 10 days without leaving my property with the exception of walking the dog... But horse wise, we were busy. I had thought doc was coming out Friday but when I hadn't gotten a call with a time estimate I called them Thursday afternoon to check in. And they said, oh we have you on the schedule for the 7th. I was kind of irritated. Partially because I had been waiting since the 15th for my appointment, but more so because no one bothered to let me know I'd been moved out another week. But these are the types of things you can't control. When you only have three horses, the larger barns end up taking priority. Fortunately, they called back on Friday and said they needed to move me to Monday the 3rd instead, and so I was able to stop being grumpy. It also made my Friday easier. My worker had asked to have Friday off instead of Memorial Day, so I was able to be my slow self doing chores without having to worry about what time the vet was coming.  So all was well that ended well. 

Speaking of my slow ass self. I'm getting too old for three 12 hour days in a row. Ha! I was so tired by Sunday night! Or maybe the issue is that I'm not fit enough for three 12 hour days? Probably that one.

I love that he's napping so frequently again!

Anyway... let's chat vet appointment! We started with Al since he's the one I had the most questions about. Overall, Doc was happy with where he's at soundness wise. And I agree. For the most part, he feels pretty good in how he's moving. Flexions were all good, and Doc was also happy with his body condition. Which I was expecting him to say Al was under muscled since we haven't been doing the hard work since his meltdown in December. But we had lots to talk about regarding Al's emotional well being. I hadn't been able to tell Doc the full story about what happened in December until now where the walls don't have ears if you know what I mean... So I caught him up on all that we had been dealing with, and I told him about my experiment with the Ulcer Guard. He thought it was definitely a significant response. But because I was just dosing mid day with a quarter tube, he thinks it might be more of an acid problem versus an actual ulcer problem. He didn't think that level of dosing would touch him if he had ulcers. Which, I can relate with Al if that's the case. I have GERD which is acid reflux on its own, no ulcers. And if I don't stay on Omeprazole, I am miserable. Unlike Al though, I would prefer to curl up in a ball when I feel like that than bolt out of my own skin like he does... But to each their own. We discussed the regumate shot he'd been getting also, and I said I wanted to stop it since it didn't seem to really make a difference. Doc was fine with that. Which is GREAT because that stuff is ridiculously pricy. 

We also talked about the positive changes since the EPM treatment but that some of the symptoms returned after stopping. He suggested at first to put him on a different medication for a little longer, but then we decided to wait a bit before starting that. It can be hard on the stomach, and so we want to give the omeprazole experiment a little more time before we stress his tummy again. So that's not off the table, we will likely do that in a few weeks. But for right now we are just going to stay the course with the Ulcer Guard. Also are doing a round of Adequan to keep him feeling good soundness wise. It was a good appointment. I felt like we talked about a lot and are on a good path forward for Al. We will re evaluate in a few weeks and see what we want to do with him as far as continuing to treat the stomach and/or add some epm stuff. 

Eros went second. Time wise, he's due for hocks but I was more interested in how the recheck on his front leg was going to go. He's been VERY stuck through his neck, and I couldn't tell if he was feeling off on that bad leg, or what I was feeling was his inability to bend to the right. Tough call since it was the right front leg that was off. So Doc watched him go, and then did flexions. His conclusion was that yes, the hocks are due, and left stifle. But he was also thinking neck. You can't inject all of those things in one day though, that's way too much steroid in one day. So since he's still working through rehab we decided to wait on hocks and stifles a few more weeks, and do the neck now. Which was a great call. He's feeling SO much better already. He had Tuesday off but we rode today and he could bend both ways. Right was still harder, but he could do it, and he felt a million times more sound already. Phew! Also, Doc was really happy with how both front legs looked. If you recall he had the one very lame one with the question mark diagnosis, but also the left front had an inflamed suspensory. Likely from compensating for the other side. Both are looking good now, so that was great news! We're going to keep adding more laps of canter each week and then we'll have another recheck and do the other joints in a few weeks. 

Also, a little change in how we warm him up. When I first got on, Doc acknowledged that E looked off even at the walk. And I said, yes, he always is off until he canters. So Doc suggested we start out right in the canter and do our trot work after. So that's what we've been doing and it's wonderful. I'm not sure why I haven't always done that with him. Oh, to be clear, we walk for 8-10 minutes first. So I don't just get on and go cantering off. I think once we have a few more minutes of canter I'll do half the canter to start, then do the rest a little later. Just to break things up a little. So also a good appointment for E! I'm starting to get excited about his recovery now that he's feeling so much better. And it's always reassuring to get doc's eyes on him too. 

Shiny went last. I actually think she's feeling pretty great these days, so wasn't sure she would really need much done, but figured we would probably do a shockwave on her neck since that's really been helping her the past year. Doc was happy with her too. I told him about how since we finished the EPM meds I really feel a difference in how she's jumping and that she's been more supple through her whole body. He thought her warm up shuffle was a lot less shuffle-y which I kinda think he just caught her on a good day... but I'll take that! Haha! 

Look at that BIG TROT!

He had a lot to say about her weight, and thinks that some of what we're still seeing and dealing with might just go away on their own if we can get 200 lbs off her. She's definitely put on a little weight since she's been home, which I don't fully understand. All I can think is that my helper is maybe giving her more hay than he should be. So unfortunately for Shiny, she's going on a very strict diet starting as soon as my mini size hay nets get here. I'm going to be soaking her hay to get the excess sugar and some calories out of it. And also I need to weigh it (dry) and distribute it out equally. Doc did a bunch of math and told me she needs to eat no more than 16 lbs of dry hay per day. So I need to weigh out 16 lbs, then divide that by feedings and soak it. Soaking it will also help her feel more satiated. He explained it in depth to me, but basically having wet hay will make her belly feel more full since it's heavier. Or something like that... I'm sure I'm not explaining that properly, but it made sense when he told me. So I just ordered some mini horse size hay nets. She gets hay 5 times a day (breakfast, turnout, lunch, dinner, night check) so I figured I'd measure it out all at once. That way my helper won't accidentally sneak her extra. (Hopefully.) I figure the mini horse hay nets would be perfect since she's getting less than a flake per feeding and the smaller holes will make it last a little longer. Plus they were $6 each at Chewy. 

Doc didn't want to inject anything on her. She flexed well, and she's feeling pretty good, plus with her weight, we wouldn't want to use steroid. Prostride maybe, or an alpha-2, but he didn't really think she needs anything at the moment. She's still very stuck through her lower back (always has been though!) but he doesn't think injecting the SI would really help it. He thinks it's more weight related. (Holding up that belly...) I don't like to inject when it's not necessary either, so I was happy with that call. We did decide to do a round of Adequan for her (which is nice, she and Al can share the big bottle which saves a little money). And she went on that secondary EPM med also for a little bit. I'm not sure how long she stays on that (it's called Rebalance) but I think for a month maybe? I'll ask when we recheck the others and/or I get low on it. It's a pita though. It's liquid but she won't eat it if I put it in her grain. So I have to just dose her in the mouth. 32 ml's though, so it's very messy. I end up wearing a fair amount of it. It smells like Karo syrup which is pleasant now, but won't be once the mosquitos are out! The things we do for our horses. Also, Dear pharmacy's, liquid meds and horses really don't mix. Give me a paste please!

Overall, it was a very positive appointment. Unless you're Shiny. She's not so positive about this new diet. 

As for the rest of the week? Things were pretty good! We didn't have any rain days which was lovely! Tomorrow doesn't look great, but I'm hoping to be able to ride anyway. As long as it's not pouring buckets nor lightning we should be able to get some work done. 

He keeps trying to stand under these trees
like he'll get shade from them.

Al continues to be much more chill. And I don't mean that he doesn't spook anymore. That would be some kind of religious experience if that happened. Ha! But when he does spook lately, it's more of a startle than a panic. 

He's not looking to spin and run away so much. And the dragon breathing is considerably less intense. I feel like our trust bank is filling up a little each ride which is nice because that thing was EMPTY. We even managed to pop over a couple fences one day last week. Literally just two. We still struggle when the wind picks up and lately it's windy every freaking day. But it's a start. And I'm still feeling positive. 

We have a LOT of work to do to get back to jumping bigger fences and real courses and what not. But hopefully we'll get there. We have some time. My trainer won't be back until July as she's having some medical stuff she needs to deal with. Bummer for us both! But hopefully she'll be feeling great when she gets back and we can all hit the ground running. In the meantime, we are going to keep chipping away and hopefully filling up that bank.

Eros has been kind of an ass. I rarely say that, but every so often he gets a little annoying. He's spooky at the end of the ring but I can't figure out what he's spooking at. I honestly think he just needs a good gallop but he can't do that just yet. He's not spooky like Al, and I don't think he even really means it. So I'm not concerned about it. I'm sure once he can do more intense work and maybe get to jump some stuff he'll settle in. He spooks when he's fresh, and I can't blame him for feeling fresh. He's still perfect. Even in his a-hole era. 

Shine's been so good you guys. She's jumped around a couple times this week and just gets better each time. She seems to love the new jump decor. Thank goodness, because her being a perfect princess is keeping my confidence up. I'm not sure if she knows how important she is to this team right now. She's the real MVP. I'm not sure where my head would be with two spooking warmbloods if not for her. 

I mean, she's not PERFECT or anything. She still doesn't have a lead change. And still does this when I demand more canter than she cares to give:

I got this from both angles! 

But still. She's wonderful. And just so ridiculously fun to have around. I love her opinions. You never wonder what she's thinking, she tells you straight out. She's brave, and she's polite (mostly). And yes, she's also adorable. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but you might have noticed I have media from both ends of the ring. A few years ago I chipped into Pivo's kickstarter campaign for their upgraded Pivo Pod Max. They had a lot of trouble getting it working the way they wanted and I kind of forgot all about and figured it wasn't happening. But a few months ago it showed up! So I figured I'd run both the other day, which was fun. The Max Pod works really well and if you're thinking about getting one, I'd go for that upgrade. The old silver pod lost us a bunch of times and then just stopped recording while I was riding Al. But the Max stayed with us really well. It drains the phone battery faster than the old pod, but there are work arounds for that. I made sure the phone was fully charged before I got on and had plenty of juice left after my 30 minute ride. If you're doing an hour or more you could attach a battery pack. The pod itself held its charge well though. I rode all three horses on one charge for the pod. (The phone I plugged in between horses.) 

So that's about it from here. Did you all have a good week/weekend? Do anything fun with your horses?