Um. You know what? I actually think I might be a reptile. Hear me out. Last week when we had a few days above freezing, I was all, "Let's get these horses fit and ready for some spring shows!!!" But now it's in the twenties again for like ever and ever into the future AND there's snow in the forecast pretty much every two days for the next 10... And I gotta be honest. My motivation is back to zero. Which, thankfully I was raised on guilt by a couple of boomers so I generally disregard my motivation and just do what I gotta do. So the horses are getting worked and hopefully fitter. But I will admit that we still haven't really done any jumping. They all got their feet done Saturday too which kind of messed up our schedule a little. I will admit that I absolutely used that as an excuse to be a little lazy. But it was a valid excuse. I don't really like to jump the day they get their feet done unless I can do it beforehand. And Sundays are for fundays so ya know. Couldn't do it then either! Lol.
In case you haven't inferred from my rambling I don't have much to write about this week. But I'll give it a go. Al has been consistently inconsistent under saddle which is just who he is as a horse. But after speaking with my vet we decided to put him back on the Misoprostol. His spookiness has kind of ramped up, and while he's still more relaxed for our rides than he was a few months ago, he's spooking a bit more each day and starting to shut down a little too. Not as badly as he has in the past, but it's there. He's also been picky about his feed again. So back on the meds he goes. They arrived last night and he started them today so we'll see what we get in a few days. His canter is much better though, and he is doing some really brave things on all his own which I'm really proud of him for. Tuesday I lunged him before we rode because I had a feeling he needed to get some bucks out. With how the weather has been, they really can't do much playing out in the paddocks. The ground is either rock solid or slippery mud and so they mostly just stand around out there. Anyway, while we were lunging Tuesday, Al actually lunged right up next to the end door that he typically avoids like the plague. He wanted to look out the window while going past, but not in a spooky way so I allowed it. He's never ever done that in this ring before. It's kind of a silly thing to be excited about, but you know what? Anything that brings joy is worth celebrating these days. Even if it's just your horse looking out a window.
Eros is feeling better and better these days. I think the Robaxin combined with finally getting his feet done are working wonders for him. We rode in the re-paneled saddle today, which... meh. I'm not convinced it fits him but to be fair, I have zero education in such things. He felt pretty willing and sound to ride, but I felt exactly the way I did before in it. I keep sliding back in it and it has me riding towards the back side of the flaps if that makes sense. It was nearly impossible to sit the canter. But if it turns out to be a perfect fit for Eros, then I will just suffer in silence up there. Time will tell. I sent some photos to the rep but she was off today, so we'll see what she has to say tomorrow. I think she's going to want a video so hopefully someone will be around when I ride him tomorrow to take one for me. If I've learned anything from this saddle experience it's to not try and save money on a saddle. I wish I had just spent the extra not that much more money and gotten him a custom one too. Live and learn I guess. Sometimes you get lucky, Shiny's saddle has worked great! But more often than not, I don't think you do. Saddle woes aside, the horse feels good, and that's the most important thing!
Shiny's doing just fine these days too! I checked in with the vet as our two week trial on the Ventipulmin was coming to a close. I sent him a video of her belly while she was breathing... Vets must get the weirdest videos. Anyway, he was happy with her improvement but recommended we keep her on it for awhile. Which is fine with me since it's making her feel better. But it is a little bit of a pain. He recommends just squirting in her mouth twice a day rather than putting it in feed. It will be not very annoying when the horses are home, but with them not here? It's not the most convenient. I am really happy at the new barn overall, but the staff is a little disorganized and it's a lot of different people on a rotating schedule that I cannot figure out. So I don't really trust to ask them to medicate her for me. Most days I'm there long enough that it's pretty spread out. I give it immediately when I arrive and then last thing before I leave. But on Monday, my non riding day, it means I have to drive up there twice. It's not that far, about 25 minutes. But that's pretty close to two hours of my day off. Two hours less to get all my chores and errands done. But since I don't have a real job, I really can't be too complainy about that. Plus I take Rita at least one of the trips up there and she enjoys that. Boy I can get off topic... Anyway, Shiny is definitely breathing better and she's not holding her breath at the canter so much anymore. She's still bouncing off the contact and doesn't seem to want to really carry herself up into the contact, but we didn't do a shockwave last visit and I think that was a mistake. I'll own it, I said we should wait until after the epm meds have a chance to work to see if that was the culprit. But truthfully I know she responds well to the shockwave and I should have done it anyway. Doc will be back in a couple weeks though, so we'll do it then for sure. She's been much less trippy since being on the Toltrazuril and she's using her hind end a lot better. So I'm not disappointed that we decided to treat her.
And that's what we're up to here! Just kind of more of the same. Complaining about the weather and trying to push through the dark days of winter (and the collapse of our civilization... but I digress...). Hope you're all staying warm and getting through it too!
No comments:
Post a Comment