Blog Hop: Appreciate What You Have

Let's take a moment to appreciate the Pros of our current ponies, whether you own them or just ride them in lessons. 

Totally stole this from Dom, figured it was a good opportunity to take a break from my hectic work week. 

Shadow

Happy and Handsome with his politced leg :)

He was an impulse buy, or adoption, no doubt about it. 

I had been thinking about getting back into the horse world for a little while and he basically fell into my lap.

I wanted a teenager to get back into it knowing that I'm not the rider I used to be. 

I haven't even had Shadow for a year yet, but I will say I have never had a bond with any other horse the way I do with him. 

He keeps me humble, teaches me patience and can always put a smile on my face with him hammy antics. 

So we won't be able to do any kind of jumping, but he has opened my eyes to a new discipline and I am excited to rehab him back to where we left off and start a new adventure. 

He isn't everything I had hoped, but he is more caring, forgiving and full of heart that I could have ever expected. Even being hurt, he gives me his all, almost as if he understands that doing what I ask will only help him, and that I would never hurt him. 

Out of all the horses I have ever owned, He will always be the one nearest to my heart. He is my boy and I wouldn't trade him or his flaws for anything in the world. I wouldn't want anyone else by my side or on my team and I think he knows he is with me forever, no matter what and that he could never let me down. 

Love my boy. 

Update

We have a stifle injury.

Solution: work work work.

I need to work him to strengthen it, which is not a problem. He will get worked.

Keep him on his smartpak, obviously.
I asked if adequan or something like that would benefit him more, he said no what I have him on is just fine.

Put him on previcox, 1 tablet once a day.

Rub his stifle down before riding to "warm" it up or a poultice

Aluminum wedges, in the back only, Raising up his heel will help the stifle.


Done and Done. :)

LAME.

So spring is finally here, I guess.

LESSONS HAVE FINALLY STARTED AGAIN!! YAY!

Dom was out on Saturday for our first session for the season, which I have to say I was super excited about.

As we all know this winter wasn't easy on anyone, apparently Shadow included. 

Bonni and I had noticed he has been limping on his back right for a few weeks now. I have hoping it was just stiff from all this brutal cold and kept bouncing it back and fourth from her brain to my brain. 

I don't know if any of you remember from my past post or Dom's but we noticed an issue when I first got him home, but as we started working it more, it seemed to fade away. 

Well it's still here, and way worse than it was last season. 

If first couple trips around on the lunge line, he looked just about dead lame to me, but he worked it out and started to move better as the lesson went on.

 Dom finally got on his back and she said "his walk feels much more lateral then it was when he left off in November, and he feels like he is wiggling his spine"

My excitement slowly turned into worry. I watched as they went on, my poo shadow tripping all over himself, in the back. As Dom put it, it's like he is trying his hardest to put his feet where they belong and that back leg is just not cooperating. Which is causing his tripping in the back and then tripping in the front trying to catch himself. 

As far as remembering, he does, and he tried his heart out. He made me very proud of him, and he was EXHAUSTED, He lost all his muscle and fitness and that will all come back in time. This year I will have a full season working with Dom, and I can't wait to see his progress once I get his issue diagnosed. 

Hip/hock/stifle?

"If you think it's stifle it's probably hock" is something Dom has been told and has passed on to me.

When I ask him to pick up that foot, just to pick his hoof or whatever it may be, instead of just picking it up for me, he pushes it out almost like, into me to hold it for him because he cant or as if he is trying to adjust it himself. 

So what is it? I have no idea, do I wait and see if it is a fitness issue and gets better or do I get it looked at?

My vet is due to come out tomorrow at 11 so hopefully we weigh our options before I just jump to getting x-rays done. I don't want to take the chance of anything getting worse or hurting him more. I don't want to sit back and see what happens, I did that last season, but it was more predominant this year and I don't want to push it. 

Maybe he needs injections? Maybe something stronger than the supplement I have him on. 

I have talked to a couple people about using adequan, and previcox, which we use on  several of our horses already on the farm.

I will update everyone tomorrow after I meet with my vet, hope it turns out to be a quick fix, I get so nervous, I never want anything to be wrong with my boy he has so much potential and I want him to be able to preform in the way he tries to. 

ugh.