What's Up Wednesday

 

It has been a WEEK! Lots to talk about and most of it pertains to Al so let's start there. As I whined about, things have not been going well for him. He's been very upset, distracted, and, well... kinda unhinged. So I reached out to my vet and while he couldn't come out immediately, he did ease my angst a bit by thinking it was likely ulcers and we can probably get this sorted out. He came out Friday to scope Al and sure enough he had ulcers. There was one really bad one in the fold of his stomach that Doc said was nearly a grade 4 (which is out of 4). So that's not ideal. 

What's extra tricky is that Al really JUST finished his last round of ulcer treatment. Which leads to several questions. Had they not healed fully to begin with? Did they return that quickly? Did the meds we used last not work? And this is why playing the guessing game and not scoping isn't always ideal. I don't love to scope because the fasting beforehand just seems so terrible for the horses. But honestly, it's worth it to know exactly what you're dealing with. Anyway, this time we have scoped so now we need to figure out which treatment plan to try this time. Al is already on Relyne which we are going to continue. (Eros gets it too, so I already will always have it on hand anyway.) Last time we treated with Omeprazole/fenbendazole as well as Misoprostol. This time we're going a different route. Well kinda. Temporarily he's on the same omep/fenben combo for a few days, but doc ordered us Esomeprazole to switch to as soon as it arrives. It's a more potent form of Omeprazole if I understood him correctly. We're also doing a course of Sucralfate. We are five days into treatment and I'm already seeing a different horse. I mean, things aren't magically fixed or anything. But the horse is so much more relaxed. Today I got on him and not three minutes into our ride all this construction equipment appeared on the road and it was... not quiet. 

I mean, OF COURSE this showed up while I was on Al, right? Wouldn't happen to Shiny who wouldn't care at all. But he actually tolerated it fairly well. I didn't push too hard about the scary part of the ring today because he was being so good about all the chaos on the road. And also, we did a walk trot ride. Played it safe. Kept the delicate flower somewhat protected. I realize some of the reason we are where we are is because sometimes I protect him too much. But he does have a painful tummy right now, so I think it's the right time to be doing that.

Post scope nap

In other Al news, we had our first session with our new trainer on Tuesday! Of course it was kind of rainy, but Al doesn't really care about rain. (He is a good boy about some things!) I'm feeling very positive about this trainer. We've actually known each other for more than 30 years so he knows my history and I know much of his too. But I've never ridden with him, so I wasn't sure of his methods. He was highly recommended from a trusted friend who has worked with him though, so I wasn't too worried. The lesson went so well! We spent a long while talking about what we've been dealing with. Trainer B asked me what I've tried and what's worked and what hasn't. And he really listened to my answers. He had some suggestions that I said I wasn't sure would work and explained my reasoning and he agreed with me. He had a lot of ideas and different approaches for every one of my concerns so I'm excited to get to work and try things out. But I digress, let's get back to the lesson. He didn't roll his eyes at me when I said it does seem to help Al take a breath when we walk the ring before mounting, and he said great, let's do that! After our stroll I mounted up, and we discussed where Al sees monsters and then he had us walk a bow tie shape all up and down that section. When Al did his stop and stare, trainer B had me get him moving but not by force. He said the horse is afraid, so we don't force him to do what he's afraid of. Get him to agree to move forward and then continue. So we did that. And slowly but surely he started to relax. We did have to wash, rinse, repeat the whole thing at the trot. But he came around nicely. We actually didn't touch on the canter. There was a lot of discussing and what not during the lesson, and I could tell Al was getting a little tired in the brain. We had a long session the day before, and so I asked trainer B if he wanted to do more, or let Al quit on what we had done. He said he was really happy with where Al finished (walking on the buckle up and down the monster side!) and didn't see a need to keep working just to work. And he also said he was glad I wasn't the type to want to keep going just to do all the things in every ride. 

We chatted for awhile in the barn about what he thought about Al, and he said it wasn't at all what he was expecting. In a good way! He agrees with my vet that a lot of our issue was likely the ulcers. He thought Al seemed like a kind horse who wants to do the right thing. Which is what I think about him too. So time to will tell, but I'm feeling optimistic. Which is a very nice change from the spiral I've been living in for the past many weeks! Let's hope tomorrow there's no surprise construction outside (or next door...) and we can really practice some of our new methods. 

Eros seems to be feeling pretty good these days too. He's been a little sassy about the far end of the ring, but nothing terrible. I'm guessing there's some wildlife out there that he can smell and I cannot. Silliness aside, he's been putting in some good work lately. We do the equiband once a week, and we've been jumping once a week too. If the weather would cooperate I hope to get to twice a week jump schools soon. He's been really good to the jumps. It HAS to be the doxy. That's the only change in his life. Zero torpedos in the last two schools! I'm not sure if it's because doxy makes them feel a little blah, or if it's because the doxy is helping the lyme... So I guess we'll see if the torpedoes return post meds. He still has a couple weeks left so TBD I guess. I tried to bring Pivo out today, and the results were all over the place. I set up two of them. I have a broken one that no longer tracks, but can zoom in and out and then I have a "good" one. But the latest upgrade seems a bit buggy. I actually think it tracked my entire ride on Eros, but (user error here) I forgot to put my phone on airplane mode. When I was approaching to stop the video and save it, I heard the beep of doom. The app closed itself and I got nothing. Nada. ZILCH. So disappointing. Thankfully the broken one got a few jumps. 

I'll keep trying. I feel like every summer I have to re-learn how to use this thing. I also filmed Al with both cameras but we didn't do anything exciting. "Good" Pivo only tracked some of his ride and then chose to stare at the sky for awhile. Bad Pivo did what it can, but I didn't really have it pointed in a good spot for our flat work. 

I got the most useful footage with Shiny, but only kind of. The sun finally came out for my ride on her, which good Pivo liked, but Bad Pivo was kind of shooting into it, though it was also cloudy on that side of the property...  So it's like a tale of two weather fronts. (New England is a trip this time of year.) Anyway, Good Pivo tracked her for the most part, but was tilting too high (I have a Pivo X which can tilt up and down) and apparently didn't feel like zooming was necessary. It also was bouncing back and forth a lot. So the video is nauseating, but it did allow for some cute screen shots. I'll take it. Better than staring at the sky! Pony was pretty good today, but she was a little lazy. I did her last and I think she wasn't here for it honestly. I really appreciate that she still does the thing even if she doesn't feel like it. She doesn't fuss much or put up a fight. But she does pick her own pace and throws you the bird if you try to force something else.

Pony version of the finger.

Overall she's going well. I'm not sure she's thrilled with the saddle set up anymore, so I need to really start hoarding my pennies so I can get something else for her. I've been stalking the used saddle sites for her specs, but so far coming up empty. Hopefully something will pop up soon. 

Good Pivo, cutting off the feet.

Bad Pivo getting the best shots, but the worst lighting

Good Pivo in the sun

Bad Pivo facing the clouds AND the sun

Last weekend was kind of chaotic with non horse things:

Beautiful Dinner in the rose garden at my friend's house
But of course it started raining just after we sat down to eat so 
we had to move indoors. Lol!

A Midsummer Night's Dream with my bestie on Saturday night
She lives an hour from me, so it was a late night

Sunday morning I was up bright and early (5am this time which was much better than last week's 4:15) to do the chores so I could be showered and dressed appropriately to attend my nieces performance in Finding Nemo kids. I gotta tell you, these kids plays are adorable, hilarious, and complete chaos. Only like 1/4 of them can remember their lines or where to stand. Chaos. It's adorable. I had about three free hours after that before I had to be at Father's Day dinner. But in those three hours I had to feed also, so it was more like two and a half hours. Not enough time to ride. Or do any sort of project. So instead I took a nap. I think it was the best option. 

This weekend is quiet thank goodness! I have a horse to braid Thursday night, and family dinner Friday, and then nothing but horses on the schedule! It's supposed to start getting hot and humid, but I think we'll stay in rideable temps through the weekend. Monday and Tuesday though I think they'll have off. Monday is supposed to be in the 90's with feels like of 100, and Tuesday the high is 98 with a feels like of hades. Wednesday only looks mildly better so that might be a tack walk day... But they never really know this far out. We'll see how it shakes out. 

Fingers crossed the weather forecast is wrong about the highs so Al and I can have another lesson. Until next week friends!