What's Up Wednesday

 

I got done early in the barn today because it won't stop raining... And the tropical storm isn't even here yet! Sheesh. 

But this is a nice side effect of the rain

It's been a weird week around here. Monday Al started acting colicky while I was filling Shiny's hay nets. Kept laying down, getting up, laying down. You all know what I mean. I gave him some Banamine paste and took him for a walk and it seemed to resolve in the five minutes I walked him, which is not enough time for the Banamine to even kick in. So that was weird. It was right around noon when this all happened. he seemed fine the rest of the day, though he was napping (quietly and comfortably) when I came out for night check. (And yes, I was in contact with the vet. Even though it seemed under control I always like to touch base, especially when this is NOT normal for this horse.) He got up when I threw hay though and was happy to eat it. Plenty of manure in the stall. All seemed good. Then on Tuesday, same thing! Like same timing even. This time I did not give Banamine and instead just walked him for a few minutes. Again, was fine after the walk. WEIRD. So checked in with vet, and while not terribly concerned they just said to keep an eye on him, but agreed to not give Banamine so we don't cover anything up at this point. So he's been fine since. I hand walked him yesterday for twenty minutes at the end of the day since we didn't ride, but otherwise let him have the extra day off. I was going to tack walk, but it kept raining. Today I decided to tack walk him (despite the stupid rain) and all went fine. So weather permitting and as long as he stays normal we'll do a light flat tomorrow and hopefully be back to normal for the weekend. I'm relieved he's feeling better, but I am still a little concerned as it was so strange. I'm going to schedule a non emergency vet visit just to pull some blood and do an exam. I just don't want to miss something that could be caught early. Ya know? Like with Jamp and his failed kidneys. If we'd caught that sooner I might have been able to help him. Would hate to repeat that mistake. It's entirely possible this was just from gas and/or maybe the weird weather pattern. But I'd rather spend a little money and err on the side of caution. Plus with his weird behaviors in general, there COULD be something brewing inside him. Or not, and I'm just a crazy person. Either way. Haha!

Anyway, prior to all this, the horses all had a nice rest of last week and weekend. We got both or our jump schools in though only used Pivo for one due to inclement weather. 

Al has had better days since I spent an entire blog post whining about him. Maybe that's the key? Out him on the internet and then he gets his poo together? Whatever the reason, I'll take it! We jumped around Friday, but I kept the fences on the smaller side since I wasn't entirely sure how it would go. He was great. Like really great. So that was a relief!

We kept it really basic. I didn't attempt the bending lines, opting instead to just jump a course of singles. I really like to simplify things after a rough patch. Go back to the basics and set us up for success. And that it did! I won't jump him this week but probably will do the same thing next week assuming he stays comfortable. Just keep it simple and positive. 

Shiny has been WORKING lately! We've done a lot of work on the flat and with transitions, and she's starting to move more quickly off my leg (just not in the beginning... haha, she is who she is). She's getting MUCH more supple and starting to get that hind end working better. I think the bodywork session really helped her, but also, I apparently needed to put in a little more effort too. FAIR! You can see the difference in how she's jumping even. She's been kind of just cantering over stuff, not really picking her knees up well. But this last jump school was so much better. Amazing what happens when the power comes from the back end like it's supposed to... Funny how all those things you're taught are actually true. Crazy!
Her kiddo came today to ride her, and kiddo is starting to learn about putting Shiny together. We didn't get there all the way yet, but we did some work on a figure eight, and she's learning about bend, and moving the ponies body left or right. All precursors to getting her packaged up. Kiddo said today Shiny felt much more responsive so that was a pat on the back for me and the work we've been doing. 

I didn't get around to changing the course yet because it started pouring buckets when I was going to do it. But I did find some places to throw rails on the ground so Eros could kind of do a little course. It went... okay. He started out lazy, with his hind end trailing behind him (something we're working on, but I'm STRUGGLING to get it better) and just not really going forward so I couldn't adjust as needed for nice distances. And finished up reminding me about Torpedo Eros which is bad behavior but I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. I reeled him back in and got him to canter one nicely before quitting. Torpedo Eros hurts himself so we have to shut that down asap. 

He's been very spooky at the end of the ring for a the past week, but Tuesday he gave himself a free lunge during turnout (which... is not ideal, but mental health matters too I guess) and was lovely on Friday. I think he was just really wild and needed to get those bucks out. Yesterday, after his frolic, when I was terrified he'd have lamed himself, he actually felt so much better. The hind end was more under him, and he put in some lovely work. Unfortunately, he was the one that got rained out today. It had stopped when it was his turn to ride, but the footing was just too wet at that point. We'll see what happens tomorrow but it's supposed to rain off and on all day again. 

And that's about it from here! We have a quiet weekend coming up and then the next two weekends will be rough. I have a bunch of horses to braid starting Thursday night both weeks. My wallet is very excited though! We'll see how much productive riding gets done those days. I'm assuming very little, but it's okay. They've been working pretty hard this summer. 

Hope you all had a great week! Also, have you had a horse do what Al was doing? What was it??