Snowed in again this morning but the plough went up at 11 ish and we dug out the yard, which is great exercise and actually quite good fun. So we escaped for lunch and are now battening down the hatches for the next lot to land :-) I do like it, it's very pretty!
Radar is still unsound but the heel is going soggy. Soon now I hope. I'll bet he does too, it must hurt the poor boy. Unfortunately painkillers are also anti-inflammatories and will only make it more of a problem. We need the inflammatory reaction to get it to eat its way out.
Ace is bored but very, very sweet. There is no way I am riding him on the road - lethal, the arena - lethal or in the barn - too small given his current likely energy levels!
Woody. Much better news today. It was minus 6 ish overnight and still minus 3 at nine this morning. He had almost no exercise in the field yesterday, they are hardly moving. Of course he did not move a lot overnight either. I took him into the barn and free schooled him, where he chose to trot the bends at about 8 metre size. Sound. Completely.
I don't believe that any horse with serious hind leg lameness issues could do that. So if he does fail flexions when we do them on the road, it will only indicate that he might have a problem brewing and that joint support would be a good idea. If so, he'll go straight onto glucosamine and MSM. If we are lucky, he had just tweaked himself in the snow the day before yesterday, and he will pass the flexions.
What makes him difficult to judge is his unsteady mouth; coupled with his nervous nature; with a surface in the barn that was getting a little slippy; and atendency he has to push far too hard off his hind feet when he is anxious. To make absolutely sure what I was feeling today I spread shavings to make the track more sticky and I was feeling very, very carefully for the connection between the bit and his hind legs. The steadier I could keep one, the steadier the other is.
The other thing I changed was how I was sitting. I have been sending him on with my seat and legs when he wriggles back behind me. Today I used only my legs and I avoided any use of my seat. That seemed to be extremely successful in keeping him more consistently forwards, and that in turn further stabilised his hind legs. We ended up with some lovely bend and some changes of rein through the bend that were more consistent than he has ever been.
He is a very short backed horse, and I suspect that because of that he needs me to sit with my weight a little more forwards. His back is beautifully soft to massage, so he has no problems with it that I can tell, he's just built so very differently from the other two and I need to adjust my riding to suit him. I have already built him a saddle with a short panel, but I now need to sit a fraction further forward in it.
I really am relieved today, because I like him a lot and he really fits my little herd :-) In the very remote possiblity that it thaws for a hunt at the weekend it looks like it will be Woody who is going, because Radar is unlikely to be sound enough to go in four days time.
C
Apparently, some snow is in our forecast now too. I am not keen on it, that's for sure. I'll have to make sure the tractor is ready and my new snowblower actually starts for me.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Woody looked good. Maybe it was just a "tweak" as you suggest.
Wise move not riding Ace. No sense in risking either you or him on tricky footing or a too confined riding area.
As for Radar...I'd think the snow would actually help some of his discomfort. Don't know if it slows down the process, though. Sending him a hug anyhow....
I'll be interested in the results of your snow blower Jean, we are thinking of buying one.
DeleteRadar has a pink little hole in his frog tonight. It's probably the entry wound but it appears to have relieved the pain so it may be exiting there as well. It's good progress.
C
I've had snow blowers before. They work really well. But you need a two stage one for uneven ground, so it's the more expensive of the usual choices.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had a big push one and it worked a treat. The one I have now is only a 22" one, so much smaller. Got it at Sears on sale. Much easier than shoveling.
For the bulk of my snow, I used the tractor with the front end loader, but the blower should do paths to the barn and clear out in front of the garage door where I can't quite get in safely with the loader.
Please send the snow our way. We desperately need it!!! It is beautiful, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI love it everywhere but packed into ice on the road ML. If it was still fluffy I could ride on it, but not now it's been turned to a skating rink.
ReplyDeleteI send it over when I've finished admiring it on our hillsides :-)
C