Since I haven’t written about what the boys have been up to for a while, I figured it was time.
Phoenix had a sudden lameness the week before last where he was fine at night but came out of his stall very off the following morning. One would think abscess at that point, especially since his foot seemed warm, but that didn’t seem to be the answer. Instead I left his hoof wrapped in epsom salt poultice for two days before asking the farrier to look at it and trim him up. The farrier didn’t see anything, but trimmed him up. He was close to sound after his trim that night, but I gave him a few more days and he’s been perfectly fine since (knock on wood).
What a long tongue you have…
Phoenix and I have of course been riding in the field a lot. It’s so beautiful out there right now.
Wednesday night ride with Mr P
Stampede had been having issues with his back since getting injected at the end of April when we left off. When Phoenix was having issues, Stampede was still having them as well. There should be a rule against having two ponies with issues at the same time…
I ended up talking to my regular vet and the vet at MSU and there was a concern about infection being the issue since Stampede had the bump along his spine where he was injected. We put Stampede on 10 days of antibiotics (SMZ’s) and I stuck to lunging him in his rig so I could track his progress.
Shiny and almost normal looking back
One night (a week ago last Thursday) I decided to get back on, even if only to walk. Stampede didn’t get angry when I was putting on the saddle and walked happily around so I decided to keep going. Strangely enough he felt pretty good, and when I got off the swelling along his back was almost gone. So basically Stampede went back to work, and he felt better and better all that weekend. Last Tuesday came and I decided to throw caution to the wind and attempt a lesson. The beast was feeling lazy on the flat, but felt good otherwise. The moment we headed out to trot an X I knew he was feeling better by the way he moved forward to it. I was feeling a bit unsure since some of the spookier show jumps were out and my horse hadn’t really jumped since a show the end of March, but I shouldn’t have worried. The beast didn’t look at a thing and went right around.
We have continued to have good rides, and I’m trying not to be optimistic that I could possibly show a little this weekend…
To finish up my post, here is what happens when you ask your husband to pose for a photo with the horses…
You’re right, it shouldn’t be allowed for both of them to be hurt at the same time! Glad your boys are feeling better.
Nice to hear from you and the boys again! I’m glad they’re on the mend and hope your Stampede rides continued to improve.