What's Up Wednesday

 

It's funny how weird time gets when you're working late nights. I feel like so much has happened this week, and at the same time like not much happened... So let's see if I can remember what the week was like...

Thursday night was my busiest braid night. I just had four horses, but they were in two different towns so it was a pretty long night. I got home at 4:30 AM. 

I didn't really plan for a second jump school this week just because I knew I'd be a little brain foggy after my long night Thursday. (We usually jump Friday or Saturday.) I did end up hopping Shiny over the cavalletti height stuff, but mostly she just flatted with me this past week/weekend. I honestly can't remember what Al did Friday. I think we may have done the same thing as Shiny. Just popped over the teeny stuff. And Eros just flatted. 

Friday I had an unexpectedly easy night. One of the horses I was supposed to braid that night had been a very naughty boy at the show that morning. His rider was offered another horse to ride that was already getting braided at the show. Kind of a bummer for me to make less money, but I also didn't mind getting home at a reasonable hour. Plus, the rider is a friend of mine, and I was glad she was getting something a little more reliable to ride at finals. I still had one mane and two tails to do at the other barn, so it wasn't a total wash for the evening.

I gave all the horses Saturday off and they got an extra long turnout in exchange.  Even though I was home around 12:30 I was moving pretty slowly in the morning. (I have an autoimmune disease that gets a little pissy when I pull all nighters like I did Thursday, and it takes a few days to get back to "normal".) I also had limited time because I was attending an end of summer Taco Party at a friend's house around 5. So, I just decided they could have the day off. Horses don't HAVE to work six days a week every week. I'm not sure why I feel so much like I'm not fulfilling my duties when they get an extra day off. But I do. I'm working on it. They were no worse for the wear. 

Saturday night I just had one horse on my list so another easy night! Though this horse has something weird going on with his mane in the middle so it was a big of a challenge to try and get it looking nice... Not my best work, but came out well enough for what I had to work with.

Sunday morning wasn't as rough as Saturday since I got a pretty full night's sleep. I banged out stalls in no time at all (probably because they were out longer than usual the day before, but I'm gonna pretend I was super efficient) and then they all had a nice flat ride. Al was a little extra pokey and felt a hair stiff behind, but nothing that out of the ordinary. He has that one foot that sometimes he can be a little funny on so it doesn't concern me too much if he's having a stiff day on it. I know why, and it's nothing terribly serious. Eros and Shiny were both good though. It was a nice day!

And then there was the whole dinner debacle, but I'm still so happy about the Taco Bell. (And this is just one of the many reasons I'm a weirdo.) I seriously am already excited to get it again this Sunday. Can't wait!

Monday is their usual day off and I kept that despite them having Saturday off too. I spent the day running a few errands (needed more yarn and braiding snacks), did my PT exercises so the knee doesn't fail me, and Rita enjoyed a nice walk by the lake. 

And then Tuesday. I rode Shiny first and she was a little annoyed that she hadn't been retired over the weekend, but was otherwise a good girl. Then I went to get Al out. I pick feet in the stall before we come out to minimize aisle mess. And when I got to his back left foot, I noticed a big ol' hole in his heel. 

This is his foot with the stubby coffin bone. So his foot is weird and he can be prone to getting some thrush in there. At first I thought that's what I was looking at. Like that cleft in the frog had maybe gotten icky. But when I really got in there I realized it was a separate hole. And was stinky. Not thrush stinky, abscess stinky. Yuck. And also weird. He was never abscess lame on it. Even Monday when I checked in on them and fed meals, he was always standing comfortably on all his legs. So this was a real surprise, but I guess explains why he felt slightly not great on Sunday. Anyway, I sent a photo to my vet who suggested having my farrier take a look at it. Unfortunately, my farrier is out of town for a few days, so in the meantime we're soaking in epsom salts and wrapping with animalintex. He's perfectly sound on it, but I don't want to work him until it gets checked by a professional, Plus, it is still draining some. BUT THEN, I took him out today, planning a tack walk. And when I picked his feet, I found this leg:

It's VERY swollen. There are two small nicks that you can see in the photo, but I swear he just took the hair off. No blood anywhere. Just like that other week when his back leg did the same thing. I'm guessing either Shiny kicked him again or he really whacked it on something. I do know that he swells up excessively over the tiniest things, so I'm not panicking about it. I decided to go ahead with our tack walk plan since he wasn't limping and that went just fine. Then while I soaked his abscess foot, I put an ice boot in this front one. (I also scrubbed it with betadine first.) 

It did come down some with our walk, so I'm feeling like it will be fine in a day or two. Not a big issue since he's having down time anyway for the abscess. But seriously? We've been waiting ALL summer for trainer to get here, and now he's trying to off himself one leg at a time? Could we just not? 

I mean really. This is ridiculous. Horses are the worst!

I rode Eros today while trainer was here and her kiddo had a lesson on Shiny. Both were great, and Eros got to jump his first cavalletti since last November! And uh... hahaha.... he stopped the first time. There was some crazy noise coming from over by the lake and he was so busy listening to that he didn't notice I was aiming him at a little jump. He came back the second time and jumped it like it was three feet high though. I just did it once, we'll see how he is tomorrow. And if he's still sound, we'll do a couple more on Friday. 

And that's the rundown for the past week/weekend. Anyone else ever seen an abscess blow without the horse having been very lame before hand? It's a first for me! But this is Al. So things are always a little different. Ha!