Vet Day: Good News and Bad News

"Maaaaam, halp me."

 I have some good news and some bad news. In light of the last few posts, I think starting off with the good news would be the most beneficial and while I do have bad news to share – I do not think the bad news outweighs the good, thankfully. I took the day off work yesterday because the Mobile Vets were coming up for their annual visit to the area to perform routine work-ups on horses, cows, goats, etc. I had booked my two hairy (and shedding!) beasts in for teeth, vaccines and a sheath cleaning (for Spud, not Suzie). I was anticipating a semi-large bill, but wasn’t too concerned with the cost. 

The Vets started out with Suzie and I ended up explaining how she had fallen on the Friday and how I’ve been managing her off-ness and pain for that time. I went over how her hips are uneven now as a result of the fall and how she did have some mild swelling in her left elbow. The vet did a body work-up and palpated various areas. She is visibly sore on her haunches – where it is “out” – and in several points along her neck. No doubt this is a result of the fall. We went ahead and started a treatment of acupuncture in the affected areas. 

Some acupuncture for Ms. Mare.

 While we left Suzie to “bake” with the needles (before Spud’s teeth were filed the Vet pulled the needles), Spud was prepped for his teeth cleaning. He took the needle well and was good about strangers handling him. He did have several sharp points but nothing was glaringly wrong with his mouth other than he was missing one tooth in all four quadrants (there was no open space or hole, the tooth simply just never came to be). One tooth was very sharp and was positioned in the back of his mouth and unfortunately, the Vet ended up giving him a bit of an owie on his gum line. She did the best she could but his mouth is SO small and narrow; she did apologize profusely to me afterwards. I was OK with it mostly because it wasn’t like she had punctured his mouth or caused any serious damage – just a little sore. He did super well for his sheath cleaning as well – the vet assistant found a small bean but otherwise he was very clean. Good boy!

Suzie stood patiently in the barn munching on her left-over breakfast when I pulled her out to have a quick lameness exam done on her. I had told the Vet I hadn’t trotted her out in about 4-5 days due to the disgusting monsoon weather (coupled with high winds which knocked the power out yesterday) and I wanted the Vet’s final opinion on it all. I trotted her out on the hard pavement and the Vet found something pretty interesting – her front right foot is not balanced properly. Basically, she walks and hits the inside portion of her hoof down FIRST and then rolls onto the outside portion. Vet said it is a lot like wearing shoes where one side of it is high and the other side is not; it causes stress points and potential damage to the tendons for being overstressed. She asked for me to talk to the Farrier when he comes out for her next reset, as she does not have enough growth to have it corrected at this moment.

She always blinks when I take nice photos, but
I'm pretty happy with how she is looking this year.
Still needs to shed out some but it's still snowing
up on the mountains so I'll forgive her.

The best thing about it all? She trotted out SOUND as sound could be! Vet and I spoke about a game plan to come back in action and Vet wants her to stay on Previcox as well as three weeks of “light” work. I can still walk/jog/lope but no difficult collection and a lot of stretching over her topline. Kind of messes up the plans we had for next month, but I can do that. It’s much better than having a horse who is still lame!  Vet also recommended I buy a Back on Track sheet to help stimulate blood flow in her back, haunches, and shoulder areas as well as gave me some stretching exercises to do.

Other than that, her teeth checked out fine; there were some sharp points but Vet is confident that she’ll be good for a year now (she’s had her teeth done twice a year since I’ve owned her) since we are getting her back on track again. 

Looking pretty damn cute, and slightly drunk still.

 So, all the Vet stuff is done; hopefully that’ll be the last of it for the rest of the year! It’s hard not having a local Vet, but even being 8hrs away this Vet has been so helpful to me and Suzie. The visits may be few and far between but Vet is confident I am on the right track – she complimented me on Suzie’s weight, overall health and the behavior of both my horses. I was a proud Mom and a proud owner in that moment. It’s nice to know I am doing the right thing sometimes, especially because it can make you feel so isolated and alone with no veterinary care in the area. 

Now on to the bad news (which isn’t that bad at all): Spud is off for a week due to the unfortunate owie he sustained during his float. He’s on bute and is having no difficulties eating, drinking, etc but I don’t want to hurt him with the bit or cause any issues that way. Suzie is cleared to go back to riding which is GREAT but it’s literally been pouring the last few days. Just POURING. Please go away rain so I can ride my mare.

What is that saying? April monsoons bring May.... ?

Week 1: Equine Choice Probiotics

March 31st the probiotics and hoof supplement came in and the Boyfriend went and picked up the package for me. The ulcer supplement and preventative  is called "Equine Choice Proboitics". It is made by a Canadian owned company that has been producing animal probiotics for over 20 years. The purpose of this product is to balance pH levels in the stomach (as well as hind gut) and is formulated specifically for the equine digestive system.

I purchased both the Oral Paste and the Feed Supplement. The Oral Paste is an 80cc tube and can render approximately 4-5 doses and is meant to be fed for a certain amount of days before being switched on to the supplement OR it is to be fed prior to a stressful situation . The Feed Supplement is a dry, granular supplement which is meant to be fed on a daily basis.

The directions for the paste and granules are different depending on your situation and your problems. I went the "hind gut ulcer" route and in following the directions, initiated the administering of the paste on April 18th (simply because for the first day the paste needs to be given every 6 hours and with working 10-12 hour days it just would not be feasible until my week off).

 
Day 1 - April 18th - 20cc dose every 6 hours

The dial system was really easy to use and I liked the fact it came with a replaceable cap. Unfortunately, Suzie wasn't so excited. If anyone remembers the whole antibiotic debacle from last year, you'd know my pain in trying to syringe things to Miss Mare. She'll fight me and although in the end she will relent, she is eager to let me know how displeased she is.

The paste smelt kind of sweet but had an underlying wet cardboard smell to it. I cannot put my finger on it, but it certainly is not something I have smelt before. It isn't a "wet" paste either - more like the consistency of toothpaste.

Day 2 - 7 - April 19th - April 25th - One 20cc dose
Alternated between fighting and taking it quietly. Still seems sensitive in her lower stomach (just under the loin) area. I've noticed that she seemed to balloon a bit in weight - will have to compare photos to see if my thoughts are correct. She also seems brighter and is a bit more cheekier than usual.

 

I'm the cutest.

So What Does This Mean?

Well, we have two more 20cc dosages of the paste before switching over to the powder. I cannot really comment on if it has cured her or has balanced her pH, but I am seeing some positive side-effects which I believe are in relation to the paste.

I have noticed that she has gained some weight and also seems brighter/ cheekier than usual. I'm not certain if it can be attributed to the ulcer treatment, but I believe it will only go up from here (it has to, right?). Her stools have been consistently formed and other than an odd loose pile here and there in the pasture I have not seen the normal amount like before. And even while riding she is much more pleasant - forward and steady-feeling. Again, her poops undersaddle are not "worry" poops and are formed and solid too.

She seems less stressed when taken on trail rides and although it could be a process of going out more often and getting rid of her Spring Silliness, she feels good. She feels... younger in a way.

A Case of the NQR-ness

Since my last ride on Suzie I mentioned that she was simply NQR. I didn't have much to support my theory other than the fact that she was obviously in discomfort. However, when our gut tells us something we should generally listen and I am both ashamed and annoyed to admit I did not follow my initial gut reaction.

After Suzie had fell in the arena, exactly a week ago today, she exhibited signs of soreness and her although her gait was even, it was slightly NQR. I had mentioned that she was cold hosed and linimented on all legs, as well as given NSAIDs - a fall like the one she had would render any horse sore - and I gave her Saturday off to recover.

Suzie says, "I b confusing with my NQR-ness"

On the Sunday I wanted to test to see if she was still sore and to allow her to stretch out a bit - she was slightly NQR, but not enough that I was wholly concerned. It felt like bridle lameness, but she easily worked herself out of it. Upon inspection of her legs and hooves, I found not one trace of heat or tell-tale sign of injury. I truly thought I was covering all my bases.

Our Tuesday ride is where my alarm bells went off - her NQR-ness was manifesting a bit more than I had initially thought and I knew I needed some second opinions. A friend of mine, who also happens to be my old 4-H leader came out and took a look at Suzie for me. I walked and jogged her on the pavement which is where Suzie displayed some large evidence of lameness - the most she has ever shown in relation to this whole debacle. At first it was difficult to pinpoint the location of Suzie's discomfort, but after running our hands along her shoulders, neck, spine, and haunches my friend found several spots where Suzie was sore. The most noteable was right above her elbow and another was in her neck - both on the side she fell on. The other side of her neck also has some mild heat as well.

Something isn't right here.

So it looks like she'll be off for a few more days, if not a week. She'll be on some NSAIDs and just hanging around, lumbering at her own pace. I had already booked a chiro appointment for her this weekend but I just received a note from the practitioner that she has to cancel our appointment and will reschedule down the road. It's frustrating because we don't have any other chiros in our area - this woman comes from 8hrs away once a month as it is!

Fingers crossed Mare heals smoothly and also, a kick in the butt to me for not trusting my initial instincts.

Instilling Connection

Thankfully the weather made a drastic turnaround from pouring rain to mild sunshine in the matter of two days and I was able to warmly welcome the opportunity to ride my mare.  A friend and I planned to ride at the fairgrounds but would be avoiding the riding ring due to the poor drainage and sloppy, thick mud. I’ve been told that the riding club which maintains the ring is going to be levelling it and removing additional sand, which would be beneficial since some areas are very, very deep (ie. The location Suzie and I fell).

Regardless, I knew it would be just as good to school in the meadow in front of the ring and I intended to pony Spud for the trip. I figured any excuse to get him out was a good one and teaching him how to pony properly would be a beneficial exercise.  He did good for the most part but truly has no concept of “half halt” and for some of the hack I was fighting with him to walk at Suzie’s shoulder and to not walk ahead further.

There were many good “Suzie Things” that happened on the hack to the arena one of them being that Suzie plodded along like an old trail pony before and after we met up with my friend and stood like a champ when we halted on the road to talk with my old 4-H leader (who was outside and wanted to meet Spud). It sounds like a ridiculous victory, but Suzie can be very opinionated about hacking/trail riding and I was both pleasantly surprised and happy that she chose to obey rather than get riled up.

I tied Spud to the arena fence and initiated some suppling exercises a friend of mine shared with me. Basically, I wanted to open up her shoulders and get her to start bending more since she was so sticky on our last ride. I opted to wear my little POS spurs and found that it was just the edge I needed to get the message across without bordering on compromising her very opinionated and sensitive mind. We rode multiple figure eights at the walk which consisted of lifting the inside rein and asking her to bend around my leg while travelling straight – it sounds awkward and difficult but the purpose of the exercise isn’t to have her head cranked to my knee, it is simply to have that little amount of bend there. She was able to do this freely, without additional rein assistance from me after a few repetitions and then we moved on to the other exercise. 

Spud and AJ had a bromance going hard.

The second exercise was a “baby haunches in”. I call it that because it certainly was not a true haunches-in and any Dressage Diva would laugh at me for even calling it so. The idea behind the exercise was to isolate and control her haunches on the straight stretches. She had a difficult time with this, but produced a few passable “baby haunches ins”. 

Happy with our progress I opted to go into trot and found that with the spurs I was able to get her a bit more ahead of my leg, but because she is Western and is supposed to be jogging, she found it very odd and I’m sure was a bit frustrated at times. Again, we had the odd misstep here and there and for some parts of the ride she felt funny and other parts she felt very strong. I know that with the meadow being uneven it could have caused some issues with her balance, but I don’t think that that played a strong factor. She wasn’t lame – just felt… off. I certainly cannot explain it and looking at the videos my friend took I can see it, but I cannot see any leg that is faltering. 

Bending around the corner like a good pony

Dumping onto the forehand

It was a really good ride and we had some good moments of connection and we also had some not so good moments of disconnection, but we mostly had some good BEND which is exactly what I was aiming for. I didn’t mind that she wasn’t tracking up – she truly is not an English horse – or that she was going too slowly for a real Dressage test, or the fact that she was heavy on the forehand. In addition to our bending, I was mostly happy with our transitions. We had a few moments where she was unbalanced and sped up to catch herself but overall it was pretty good for it only being her third “real ride”.

We’ll keep plugging away and hopefully I can also figure out this oddness to her gait.

A Week In Review: Poor Mare

I feel like I left all you guys on a cliffhanger - my last post outlined the frustrations I was having with Spud and his new-found evasion tactic. I didn't mean for there to be a huge dump of radio silence, but during my week off of work I didn't really feel much like blogging, surfing the net or watching TV. I apologize for my absence, but know that I was enjoying the time just living, being outside, and sleeping in. But enough of that, I know you all are truly wanting to hear about the horses!

Trying to remember all I did in a week is a bit daunting, but I'll do my best to recollect the events in chronological order instead of just mish-mashing my thoughts together.


Monday

The day after I had a super awful ground-driving school with Spud I spent most of the rainy day helping out at the property and moving underbrush, dead trees, etc. It wasn't really the greatest weather for riding and the BF and I wore goofy raingear for a better part of the day. It was somewhat scary just how much work there was to do on the land and both the BF and I felt a bit... overwhelmed by it.


Tuesday

I arranged a hack with a friend and decided to drive Spud instead of taking Suzie, as I wanted to take Spud back out in the cart but I wanted it to be a low-key, quiet drive. And although I wanted it to be a non-rearing drive, I also wanted to challenge him a bit - hence the reason why I asked my friend to hack out with us. It would be Spud's first time driving out with another horse walking alongside him and although I did not suspect any issues, it would be a good learning experience.

My gut instinct that it would be easy as pie for Spud was pretty accurate. He was quiet, mellow, and although we had to jog a few times to catch up to AJ and his rider, we had a pretty pleasant time. I was pretty proud of Spud for acting quite civil with another horse and my pride shone even further when we encountered a very ignorant dirt biker. Basically, we were turning to go down another street and a teenager on a dirt bike came whipping up behind us, went down the small ditch and back up again right IN FRONT OF Spud. He was so close I could've touched him! Little pony and the horse we were hacking with were so good and didn't even bat an eye but my friend and I yelled some pretty nasty things at the kid. I don't understand why people are so stupid sometimes - he could've easily just gone around us on the OUTSIDE (other side of AJ), but instead he chose to go between the ditch and my buggy. Thankfully my green-bean has a decent mind on him.

We finished the drive on an uneventful note and when my friend and her horse parted ways to go home Spud got a bit rushy, but nothing too bad. It had started to rain again by this time and instead of riding Suzie I put them up for the night and headed home.


Wednesday

Farrier day! I headed out to meet the farrier and wanted to make sure the horse's had some food in their bellies before he came by. Turns out I was there over an hour earlier because I had misread the appointment time. So I basically stood around for two and a half hours. D'oh.

Suzie had front shoes put on only and when the Farrier worked on her backs she didn't object to it like she normally does and she seemed pretty relieved that we weren't putting shoes on the back (she has a harder time holding her leg up for long periods and I've noticed she really doesn't like when the nails get pounded in... but only on the back feet). Regardless, she was good and only took about an hour total. The Farrier did mention that she didn't have much growth for it being 8.5 weeks since her last reset. I told him I put her on Farriers Formula, so I'm curious to see if it will promote growth.

And little Spud got a trim. He was good as well - so nothing really to report there. The Farrier was impressed with how good he was, given how little and demonic most ponies are. LOL.

After the appointment I headed back over to the land where we had some contractors punching a road in so we can actually move around a bit. They placed a culvert down and because of the land being quite damp, had to corduroy the road (lay trees down and cover the trees with fill/dirt). It isn't the most ideal situation, but it gave us the most bang for our buck (we wanted them to go in quite far) and instead of digging down 4-6ft and having to back-fill it all. I'll generate a post sometime soon on the new developments on the land (it's exciting stuff, I promise!).

Then the BF and I had his Mom and family over to celebrate the "driveway" and the exciting developments on the land. Any excuse to have steak, I swear.



Thursday

This day was pretty much a write off because we had intended to only do some lawn maintenance at our place and instead got roped into helping the BF's cousin thatch his lawn. We spent almost 8 hours outside raking, making dump runs, etc. I was very, very sore afterwards and had ginormous blisters on my hands.


Friday

 In the morning we woke up to SNOW on the ground. What the fuck, nature? Once it warmed up it melted pretty fast and we did more work on the land - mapping out my lot and trying to figure out where everything would go (barn, arena, etc).  Then I got my butt back to the barn to finally get back to riding. Phew.

First up I got Spud out on the lunge line wearing his little mini saddle and rigged up his driving bridle. I wanted to start introducing some contact without it being too much or too little, if that makes sense. I wanted the contact to be steady, forgiving, and unchanging regardless of his behaviour. However, I didn't want him to fail and because I did not have side reins to fit him, I rigged up some cotton barrel reins and made a tie down of sorts.

Frumpy pony

The main objective of this cotton rein was to be forgiving yet steady. It would only come into play if Spud threw his head up in the air or tried to flip me the bird on the lunge (which does happen). Other than that, it would be loose and start to promote some kind of working contact. He did really well, after he trotted and cantered for nearly 15 minutes... *head desk* He was just hot to trot and after he had gotten his mach 10 trotting out of the way I did end up getting some quality work. We finished up with me sitting on him just to get him accustomed to a rider getting on/off and he acted like an old pro. He did also step forwards a bit, which was a huge plus! I don't intend to make it a habit to "ride" him, mostly because I do think it is cruel, but I was pretty happy with him.

Afterwards I tacked up Suzie western and headed to the arena with the intention to get a good schooling session in. For the most part, it was a pretty decent school but Suzie had an incredibly difficult time suppling to the right and bending around my leg. I didn't fault her for it, as she is older and has had the last few months off of work. We did some simple suppling exercises before it all fell apart.

Because of the rain, the arena was kind of muddy and a bit soupy in some spots. We were cantering along and I had asked Suzie to turn and her back legs flew out from under her. She fell and although I was slightly dislodged from the saddle, my ankle was still pinned beneath her. She went to get up, but I think because she sensed I was still close decided to lay back down. I told her it was okay to get up and that I couldn't get out of the way because I was stuck. I felt awful - she just laid there with mud caking her face but did eventually get up and stand quietly for me to get up and go give her lots of kisses.

Where she fell

I trotted her out and she seemed fine but I didn't want to continue any kind of schooling so we hacked back home. Halfway home I could feel she was a bit stiff so I popped off and hand-walked her home. As a precautionary measure she was given some NSAIDs, legs were cold hosed, and cooling gel was applied to all four legs. I gave her lots of kisses, thanking her for being such a good pony and keeping me safe. She sighed into my arms and quietly went to eat her dinner. Poor mare.

Saturday

I wanted to give Suzie the day off for obvious reasons, despite the fact that she was sound and all legs were cool and tight when I checked her that morning. I did notice there was some discomfort to her back and scheduled a chiro appointment for her in the near future. I cannot say that the discomfort was there as a result of the fall - it could started from being brought back into work.

I also started Suzie on her Probiotic/Ulcer program - 20cc every 6hours was the dosage and Mare Pants was not amused.  Poor mare!


Sunday

Lovely old mare

 Last day off before returning to the grind! It was a lovely day so I tacked Suzie up English and ponied Spud over to the arena. Spud did pretty well for being ponied (since I'm pretty sure he's never been ponied before). I let him loose at the Fairgrounds and he ate grass while I put Suzie through her paces.

She was really behind the leg and almost seemed lame in some instances, but as soon as I put my leg on she felt fine. A bit of bridle lameness? I worked more on suppling her and bending her around the corners which actually was a lot of work for me physically (as I am sure it was equally as difficult for her), but she did manage some good bend and was pretty decent for the most part. Unfortunately, she really lacked impulsion and it didn't help with trying to achieve any kind of suppleness. However, it was a really good ride - we just need to get into shape a bit more.

It took me a bit to catch Spud too, who was being a jerk face and refusing to be caught. I ended up hacking away from him and when he couldn't see Suzie he spazzed out pretty hard. I laughed.

Back at the barn I intended to fly-spray Suzie since I spotted some mosquitoes on the hack back and she was pretty sweaty. I grabbed a fly-spray bottle and sprayed it onto some wood and smelt it - I did this because I have a bottle that has diluted bleach/water mixture in it. It smelled like fly-spray and didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. So, I went to work spraying Suzie's chest when I realized it was NOT fly spray. It was the bleach mixture.

I was seriously so horrified, angry, and upset. I rushed the mare to the hose and began furiously washing her while she nonchalontly munched on her mash, unperturbed by the frantic washing and furious "oh my gods" I was vocalizing. After washing her down I scrubbed her with soap and washed her down again. How positively embarrassing... POOR MARE.



tldr; Suzie fell on me in the arena and in return I sprayed her with bleach, and started her Ulcer program. Spud is still a shit-head pony.

Feeling Frustrated

 Things have been going quite well with both of the ponies. On Saturday after work I decided I wanted to do some ground work with Spud. We walked over a little make-shift bridge, over poles, sidepassing, and even did some impromptu lunging over trot poles. He was pretty good and I was pleased with that. I had wanted to do something to take his mind off of just driving but since he was being pretty decent I figured I could ground-drive him.

All was well until he got spooked by a branch that brushed against my coat as I walked past it and made a loud scratching noise... He bolted forwards in the lines and actually pulled me off balance. He's never bolted before or done anything remotely stupid so I was caught off guard. We worked on turning, figure eights, serpentines, ground-driving over the poles and bridge, etc. He just wasn't "there".

At one point, while we were doing a figure eight around some tires he just shut down. Literally just stopped dead and when I clucked at him to go forwards, he tried to dart over to where Suzie was at the barn. No matter how hard I asked him to yield to the left rein, he refused. I gently squeezed the left rein, asking him to flex his neck. He pulled against it. He braced and sucked his butt up and gave several half-hearted rears to let me know just how much I was pissing him off.

The Devil in disguise?

I'll admit I was frustrated and perhaps did not handle the incident as well as I could have, but it was such a shame. I really was hoping for him to behave and be agreeable. With the shit he was pulling I was curious if he'd respond the same way with a cart behind him.

Today I harnessed Spud again and also put him to the cart. I was apprehensive about how he'd be, but knew that although he threatens to rear, he doesn't bolt afterwards or really do anything other than lift upwards slightly. I was also curious to see if pulling extra weight would deter him from expelling more energy.

For the most part, he was good. He realllllly did not want to listen to my left rein again. He'd drift badly to the right and when I corrected him he'd fling his head up and act pissy. He didn't get "sticky" or threaten to rear, but he did throw me some attitute. I chose not to argue with him and loosened my lines a bit so they weren't tight but also so they did not have slack. We didn't do much trotting, mostly because I was concentrating on his mood and what he'd do. And then I started to think, what if his teeth are bothering him? He's five years old and I doubt has ever had his teeth done. I mean, I get that he is also being a shit-head, but what if he is in pain?

Always the best

Once we got back to the barn I switched the bridle out for a halter and unhitched him. I decided to ground drive him in the backyard again. And while we had some good moments, we had a majority of really shitty moments. I was pretty unimpressed with him for the most part and seriously wanted to knock some sense in him. He was purposely being a shit-head and ignoring my cues turn - he wanted to turn back to Suzie at the barn and reared half-heartedly several times to let me know his protest. At one point he did rear fully and I put his ass to work. We finished with him walking and trotting around the figure eight without trying to dodge out and freezing. But still, I was pretty let down and frustrated with him.

So I pulled out Suzie and went for a little w/t/c on her and she was just lovely. We did some side-passing over the poles, baby spins, and just worked on loosening her up. She was simply fabulous and I couldn't have asked for a better ride from her. She really tried and even when she couldn't really bend to the right, she still tried for me. That's all I ask of my horse partners - just to try. So the afternoon was saved by my little red mare who can be a real pain in my ass just the same.

Saturday Snapshots.

The photos I promised with the last post: 

The little black dog looks the best in black and white.

Such a pretty mare - too bad Spud is creeping in the background!

That tail doe!

The fierce protector <3

Showing off his moves.

Suzie watching Spud like, "meh."

"Hur hur hur, I'm the best at horsing."

Always listening and watching.

Spa Day and Cutting Down the First Trees

Standing tied amidst the mess.

This past Wednesday I went out after work with the intention of brushing both of the horses and cleaning up a bit. Suzie and Spud have been shedding for the better part of the week and I wanted to get most of the itchy hair off of them and on to me. I figured it would also be good tying practice for Spud since I do not really know the extent of his tying history.

I needn't worry because while I brushed out Suzie the little pony stood still and although he attempted to eat what little grass was on the ground and paw a few times, he was quiet. Once I turned my attention to him and began brushing I saw an opportunity to practice yielding the haunches and shoulders when I poke/ place pressure with my hands. Since his episode of "I don't wanna", I've taken it upon myself to really hammer it into his little brain that pressure = move away not into. He's really blossomed with it, which is great to see.

Standing on some VERY sloped ground, out of shape, and shedding...
she looks pretty damn good for being 21.

After brushing them out and getting more hair on me than the ground I turned them back out, shoveled a good amount of manure and then snapped some photos of the animals (including the dogs) being a mixture of goofy (Spud) and cute (the rest of the gang). I still haven't had time to process them but they will hopefully be on the blog tomorrow!

 There is little to update in the way of Suzie. She gets shoes on this coming Wednesday and has been on Farrier's Formula for almost a week now (will update with my findings on this after a good solid month). She'll start her ulcer program on Sunday and I'll report back with my findings after I've had some conclusive data. Other than that, we've been enjoying the sunshine and I'm trying my best to spend lots of time with them despite working late, housework, and other responsibilities.

Certainly doesn't look like much.

I was supposed to drive Spud lastnight but I forgot my keys on my desk at work and didn't realize it until I had already badged out and was in the carpark. All the walking back and forth (through security) had me going late so I headed home right away and the Boy and I went to the properties to cut down some trees and get a start on our dream. It was hard work, lugging around underbrush and cut logs but I'm excited to see it start to take shape.

The plan is, once our eight days off comes around there will be much more in the way of cutting/ burning, etc. It's exciting to get started and although it will be a lot of hard work, it is so worth it.

Also, I shared a mango popsicle with the dogs.

TOA Bloghop: 18 on the 18th

I'm excited for this bloghop from The Owls Approve! In honor of her gelding's 18th birthday the last bloghop in the series has arrived and truth be told, is probably my favorite:

Eighteen on the Eighteenth.

In honor of Archie's 18th birthday, tell me 18 things you love about your horse.

(I chose to only utilize this bloghop for Suzie since is she is the bestest ever).

1. I love that even though she is older, she always has things to teach me. 

2. I love the way she paws the ground when she is too impatient to wait for dinner, or when she is just excited to have her minerals/ grain.

That face is just so smoochable.

3. I love her blaze - it is so unique and beautiful.

4. I love how excited she gets to "run barrels".

5. I love that I can ride her tackless and she won't kill me.

6. I love that her idea of "running away" from me is to walk slightly faster and then giving up when I catch up to her.

 

Her Royal Shortness.

7. I love her size - she isn't too big, nor is she too small.

8. I love that she puts up with my shenanigans.

9. I love that my niece can ride her and has fun riding her.

10. I love that she looks cute in both English and Western tack.

11. I love that she holds no grudges about her past, or blames me for them.

12. I love the mischievous twinkle in her eye she gets when she is about to be naughty. 

13. I love that she trailers so well.

14. I love her puffy little forelock.

 

Best friends for life.

15. I love the fact that her best friend is four sizes smaller than her.

16. I love that she never spooks at anything.

17. I love that she tries so hard in anything I ask.

18. I love that she is all mine. Forever and always.