Spring is Here!

Scout in the pine trees during our walk.

There's a warm breeze comin up from the south, and you know what that means??
SPRING!
This past week I've been taking all our horses for walks, riding in the outdoor, enduring this incessant wind, and trimming. Scout needed a bit of a trim since his laminitis and we got x-rays done of his feet too, so I trimmed to those.
Anyway, today this beautiful Sunday, we are addressing the track to get rid of all of the grass for our metabolic ponies, and I'll be playing with them all too.
I've been working on my final for my Applied Equine Podiatry online course and it is pretty challenging. I'm halfway done with it and it is already 6 pages! But today I'll take a break - I've been working on it nonstop and Sunday is a day of rest.
So, here's to more posts in the future. I know, I've been a bad blogger. But sometimes you just need a break to get a new perspective and finish up and attend to the things that really matter.

A blessed Sunday to you all!

Lack of News

Sorry for the lack of posts... I've been taking a break from facebook, blogger, and just taking some time off. It seems I want to post more when I don't force myself and say that I HAVE to post every day.

I've been super busy lately... Playing with Eddie every day, sometimes twice a day, riding, taking Diesel for trail walks, doing chores... It's been so nice to take a break from the computer and internet.
Anyway, I'm back, except for facebook, and I shall be updating ya'll more regularly.
So, here is what Eddie and Diesel and Scout and I have been doing.

With Eddie, we've been working on our side-passes at the walk and trot, and transferring that to riding. Trail riding too! We've been riding around the property more and more and today we rode around the pasture, which we haven't done for a while. He did so amazing! I love him so much and he just does better and better every day!
With Scout, my sister and I have been taking him for walks twice a day. His feet are looking amazing, the vet is coming out soon to take x-rays, and he is as happy and spunky as ever. I've been taking him for walks around the property and he will snatch a bite from pines trees and patches of grass. He is so silly! :-)
With Diesel, we've been going for trail walks and he has been so eager for them! We go across the road, and a couple of days ago we were out for over a half an hour walking down to the creek. We didn't get all the way there, but it was more than half way!

It's been such a crazy, busy, past couple of weeks, but here's to a more easy-going end of February!

No Matter the Weather

It was a cloudy, cold, day. The wind was so cold and damp that it just cut right through my carhartt's zipper. But, no matter the weather, there are three amazing horses in our backyard that are just waiting to be played with, or taken for a walk, or groomed, or fed.

So, I headed out to play with Eddie and let me tell you, he was spunky. We cantered around the pasture for almost the whole time and we would fly over the cavaletties, then jump over the log and anything else we could find. It was fun and he was having a blast! He would jump and kick and rear and literally just burn off his steam.
Oh, he is such a good boy and he is always ready to play. Every time I came around the corner and saw him waiting in his paddock, he would let out a huge whinny. Obviously he was waiting for me! :-) So I groomed him up and paid lots of attention to him in between caring for Scout.
On that note... Scout is doing so much better. His laminitis is gone, his feet are cool, and he is one happy, spunky boy! Praise the Lord. God has been so faithful in these past couple of weeks. It warms all of our hearts to see Scout so happy and well.


Proverbs 21:21
He who follows righteousness and mercy
Finds life, righteousness, and honor.

A New Lineup

So, I was thinking... I think I might do special blog posts for Wednesday & Sundays... Like Words of Wisdom Wednesdays and Scripture Sundays. I don't know... We'll see! It would be fun and it would ensure that I blog more often. :-)

Anyway, today was a beautiful day!
I trimmed Jigs this morning and Crissie (his owner) met us down there to hold him and so that I could practice my final exam (all the questions and spectrum I had to go over.) Jigs did really well and his feel are looking great. He's such a teddy bear!
Then when mom and I got home, we all ate lunch together and then I went out to play with Eddie. We went for a really long walk all the way around the property and we even went in between the trees down in the south line. He was loving that! We went in the pasture after that and played around. He was SO hyper! So we cantered, jumped, did cavaletties, worked on our harmony and I worked on my lightness. It was super fun! He was bucking and kicking and flailing his front feet - oh he was having such a blast!
We finished up by riding in the round pen and we just did one lap. He was still kinda crazy and I didn't want to get dropped in the mud.
I took Diesel for a walk too this afternoon. We went for about a lap and a half around the entire property and oh boy - he just loves his walks!
Also! I have great news!!!!! Scout is SO much better!!!! He was trotting around when Al took him out for his walk and he just looks so much happier. *happy sigh* God is good. I don't think we've ever been so happy to see Scout so spunky. We love you our little pony-man! <3



Psalm 33:4-5
For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Back to Normal

For the first time in over a week things felt like normal again. Scout was 99% better, Eddie was calm and confident and Diesel was exuberant and hyper. Oh, it was such a lovely day! It was foggy and cold - reminds me of fall.... Definitely not winter. Ah well, fall is my favorite season anyway!
So, I played with Eddie and we went for a 45 minute walk. We went all around the property, played fun little games and you know what? He was so much better when it came to our harmony. I would stop really quickly and he would walk ahead of me like, "Why'd we stop?!" Then I would run forward quickly and he would look surprised. After about ten of those all along the east side of our property, he caught on and we would run, stop, walk, stop, backup, run, walk... You name it! And he was so connected to me and eager to follow. Yippee!! :-) I love my Eddie!

Then I took Diesel for his usual power-walk all around the property. We jogged about two laps and he was having such a blast! He would wring his neck and 'strut-his-stuff.' Oh my goodness, it was so cute.

Such a fun, foggy day. Pictures to come soon! :-)

1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Sole Mates Pads

Scout is one happy camper! We put the Sole Mate pads (offered on KC La Pierre's website) on Scout's feet yesterday and he is so comfortable and happy for the added protection and stability during his laminitis. The heat in his feet is also going down and he isn't shifting his weight any more. Which is huge!

So, we are saying a prayer that these will stay on and give him the comfort he needs. The sparkle is back in his eyes and he just seems so much more happy.

*whew*

You know that moment when you haven't blogged for a week or so and then you have a long list of all the things that you did...
Well... I'm havin that moment.
This past week has been pretty crazy. Long story. Here's the short version: Scout got acute laminitis and we literally caught it on the first day. We gave him bute for 3 days and took one day off. He was looking better, but then went a little downhill and we called our vet. He told us to give him bute for 1 week and that's what we are doing now. So, he's tender-footed, he doesn't have heat in his feet anymore and that's huge, he isn't shifting his weight as much and now he just gets introverted when we give him the bute. Poor thing! But, he is doing better and hopefully this bute will be accumulative and he'll just keep getting better and better.
I know you are probably thinking, 'what caused it?' Well, we got into a bale that had a tiny, itsy, bitsy, amount of alfalfa. Not much... Just a sprig here and there or an occasional stem. I guess it was just enough to set him off.

I haven't really played with Eddie much. 1) because we've been keeping an eye on Scout. And 2) it's icy out. So we've just been running around the pasture together, riding in his paddock and not doing too much. Oh yes, and going for walks, which we are officially cursed this week when it comes to walks. lol! Once it was a rogue garbage can that could have had a cougar in it. Then once it was stray cow that had gotten out at the dairy farm north of us. So, we're not really going for walks until things calm down and Eddie calms down too.

On another note, I got my first Eclectic Horseman magazine in the mail today! I've already half of it and it is really good. Like a Ray Hunt magazine! :-) Can't wait to read more!

Laminitis

Over the 9th and 10th, of May Diesel wasn't quite looking the same to us. He was slower, didn't trot, looked sore, and his sparkle was gone from his eye that is normally there. So we watched it for the first few days - staying on our schedule of 4 hours on the pasture - thinking it was just a pulled muscle or something. However, on the 11th, he wasn't better. In fact he was worse. So we called our vet and he came out to take a look at our little guy late in the day. Meanwhile, mom and I are researching.

We both took a Insulin Resistance/Cushing's Disease course by Dr. Eleanor Kellon and in the course, there are several chapters dedicated to laminitis and treating laminitis. So after I read the symptoms which include:

• Less activity
• Reluctance to more off from a stand still
• Reluctance to trot
• Reluctance to make sharp turns
• Stumbling/scuffing
• Preference for soft ground
• Stiffness when moving
• Muscular tension in the upper arm, neck, shoulder, back, hindquarters (any or all)

Hoof changes which are suspicious but not diagnostic include:

• Hoof rings
• Widened white line

So, out of those 10, Diesel had 7. Now these symptoms are for low-grade laminitis, NOT acute laminitis. For acute laminitis it's a lot easier to tell, they just can't and won't move! Poor horses, and it's all because of grass. But, let's not get sidetracked - I could go on about this all day!

The vet came out and sure enough, it was laminitis. Drastic changes were made to Diesel's already diet-ed diet. No sweet feed. No grass. Hose his feet & banamine (for the first two days). And Exercise. Our vet chose banamine instead of Phenylbutazone (bute) because bute is an anti-inflammatory drug for hard tissues while banamine targets soft tissues including... the inflamed lamella of the hoof which is laminitis.

Diesel was on that for two days, we hosed his feet and he is back to his old self and it is only two days after the vet came. Of course, he is unhappy to be in a dry lot all by himself (only for 4 hours though) but we're going to turn our track into dirt so the ponies (who are on their diets) can actually go out and get exercise.

So, that's our plan! More exercise once his feet are a-ok and no more grass.



Keep an eye on your horses and minis, this spring has been a sugarpacked-grass growing-super wet one. When all else fails, there is always the dry lot and that can work wonders for an overweight horse!

~Lea