Double Phews!!!

So.... Today was a scary day. I've been letting the horses out on the grass for a few hours each day. I turned them out front today while I ran errands. (One of my "errands" was supposed to be getting Dan's leg x-rayed, but we couldn't fit it in.) But I managed to get a lot done and the horses were out for about 4.5 hours. I called them in and fed them. Was planning on teaching Dan about fly masks. :) We were going to start with the black earless one as opposed to the scary alien Easter Bunny one. ;) But no worries... we'll build up to that!

Anyways.... Danny ate and drank and I turned him out. And then he laid down... flat on his side. Hmm.... that's not quite right. He got right back up and then looked at his side. Awwww crud..... So I turned Roany out and he went and drank... then pawed the water trough (which is not normal behavior for him... he's not a "swimmer"). So crud..... I called Christina and she suggested banamine. I headed up to the trailer to get it and his halter and then we decided to just hitch up and bring him to the clinic. It may have been minor but after what happened with Dewey and knowing how paranoid I am... I figured I would feel better having her check him.
So I hitched up and got his halter and headed back down. And he was down again. Drats.... I got him up and walked him to the trailer. He stopped once or twice and seemed a little puny. He loaded about half-way up and stopped but then walked on. I think he was hurting and didn't feel like putting up a fight. :( So... we hauled to the clinic. I attempted to not be a super smooth driver, hoping I could jiggle him a little. Well... it must have worked... or my prayers did the trick! When I unloaded him there was one big pile of poop! Yay!! And as soon as he walked off, he pooped again! :) Double yay. And what made me the happiest was that when he got off he was bright eyed and bushy tailed and very curious. When I loaded him up, he was dull and had big pupils. So this was a much happier Danno. Christina heard a lot of gut sounds on both sides but his heart was a little elevated. Of course some of that could have been nerves. It was only his maybe fourth solo trailer ride and the last time he was at this place... it didn't go so well for him. Surgery isn't fun! So... we blamed that. And sure enough, within a few minutes, it had dropped even more. So, we gave him some buscopan just in case and some banamine.
Then we figured, well... what the heck, let's x-ray his leg while he's here! And good news on that end too! No fractures of the splint or any other bones and no problems! Yay!!! The splint bone had remodeled a bit but looked good. There was still some swelling but it was all soft tissue.

Thank God!! I was okay at first because he was calm and quiet, but... on the ride over I started panicked and praying. I really do love the guy already. So Double Phew...

And super thanks to Aunty Doc Christina who saved the day again..... Silly baby horses....

Off to go check on him again... :)

Good News

Yay! Danny seemed much better this morning. He's still swollen but seemed sound as he trotted by, even with his leg wrap on. Then... after Fleck and I pulled out of the driveway, he proceeded to run laps.... like 15 laps at a gallop! Sigh.... Guess he feels okay :) I'm still going to x-ray it Tuesday and make sure it's not broken.

But today we did some work finally! I didn't do too much as I didn't want to stress his leg before I knew for sure what I was dealing with. But we groomed, touched ears, and did some in hand walking and trotting. Then we filled the fly spray bottle with water and got him used to the sound and even got a few spritzes in the air that misted onto him done. Also measured him again... at exactly 10 months old today.. he was 14.2 at the wither still but 14.3 at the butt. Oh, and I was able to sponge off his leg too.

So whoo hooo. I'm glad I was able to do even a little bit with him. He's a quick learner and I know he won't be too hard if I can stay consistent. :)

Big Brothers are not always cool!

So... my crappy week just got crappier. :( Went out to feed early this morning and was getting feed set up when I heard a commotion at the gate. Went and looked and Dannyis holding his left hind up in the air. (&(^(&^*%*))(((*&^%&^$ Sigh...... So I went and looked and luckily after the initial sting settled, he started to walk on it. I still panicked and called both my horsey vets.... They both thought it was hopefully just a little scrape/sting because it wasn't swelling and he was walking on it. Except... as soon as I hung up with them, I noticed that it was now oozing a small amount of blood and swollen. RIGHT ON TOP of the scar from his first surgery. Are you kidding me?!?! Argh... but I guess if he's going to hurt himself again, it might as well be the same leg. Argh.... Well, I had to get to work so I threw some surpass on it and gave him some bute and went to work.

Luckily when I got home, he was almost 100% sound at the walk. Phew.... but still awfully swollen, just laterally. So... I did some yard work that desperately needed to be done and figured I'd address it afterwards.
Well...the day continued in the same vein. I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to do much work with Dan, other than feed him and turn him in and out. He was freakin' out about his ears recently, but then after one big freak out session and 4 or 5 other ones... he was fine. And is fine tonight still. So... I have hope that he'll be fine if I can just manage to find some time (which may not be a problem shortly... but that's a whole other story). But so... he still doesn't do clippers and still doesn't do fly spray... and very apparently doesn't do water. I thought I could sweet talk him into just hosing that foot, but nope... We spent 15 minutes dancing in circles and kicking at the hose... which culminated in me slipping in the mud and landing on my ass, almost underneath him. Luckily, he's a good guy (despite being a almost 10 month old colt who hasn't had the benefit of lots of work) and didn't clobber me. So... I burst into tears and got up and turned the water off. Luckily Peri called at that point and said she was just down the street and could come help me. Yay!
So... between the two of us and a skin twitch hold we managed to convince him that sponging water on the leg to clean all the mud I had now gotten glopped on there was an acceptable plan. Then the furasone and DMSO and a wrap and he was done. And... oh was he done alright... His quarter was up... and up he went. Talk about a baby temper tantrum. So... we backed him up and made him stand another few minutes to learn some patience, and then we went back to his pals.
Sigh.... I'm really starting to remember why people don't buy babies.... the stress is just not cool. But... I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love my little squirt. I just need to find a way to make time to work with him. He really is a good baby.

So.... yeah... I hope that he looks better tomorrow, but no matter what... I know I'll x-ray him anyways to make sure. Fingers crossed and prayers said.

Another trail ride adventure

So... Danny is getting better about his ears again. And now we're working on fly spray. I agree that suddenly having mist on you is scary! But we're making progress.

I knew he was getting bored so we planned another trail ride. I suckered some friends into joining me and Danny met a few new duos! We all met up at the horse park... me, Dan, Fleck, Peri and Sunny, George and LE, and then Karen and Grant and Kelli and her new pony Jordan. Danny was very interested in the new guys. We started off and we were in the lead. At first I thought Fleck was pumped, but now I think he was trying to get away from Danny. Hee hee. Poor Poor Flecky.... being a bumper pony isn't all it's cracked up to be. Danny spent the first 30 minutes chewing on us. He was chewing on Fleck's head and neck, Fleck's bridle, my knee, my thigh... And he knew he was naughty! He'd do a little nip and then jump back! Little stinker! It was all play bites though... never hard, but he still got a few good smacks for it! So.. we treked off and eventually got to some hills and such and Danny eventually got bored of the chewing game. Or got sick of the smacks and evil Flecky faces.

During the trails we took turns leading and following so Danny was fine in any position. He was much more polite about staying at Flecks' shoulder this time for most of the ride. At the end of the ride, we managed to even go through a puddle a few times! Yay!!! That was actually a first. Then I had to do the "sunken road" again. Well... I stayed on this time ;) But Fleck launched it and then poor Danny basically got dragged along a stride behind. But he did it. Then we untacked, drank some water, and loaded up and headed home.

I spent an hour and a half cleaning the house and then Mike and I went to lunch. When we pulled out, I peeked out for the horses and Danny was flat out snoring in the sunshine. Ha ha!! YAY!!! Finally got him tuckered out :)

More adventures to come! My time seems to be short these days, but I have been making more of an effort during feeding time. We even worked on pulling his mane and cutting it. It's tempting to not pull it because it's not that thick at all, but I think it's just a little too thick to do with scissors only. But so far, so good.

And... he's started nickering at me at feeding times!!! Awww... melt your heart cute!!!! He's got a deep throaty under his voice nicker. My little stallion! We'll have to take care of that soon enough, but at the moment, it's still a cute innocent nicker!

Uncle Fleck to the Rescue

So.... Poor Dan has been neglected lately. I've gotten back into my slacker mode with the ponies, which means that after feeding, the doors get open and they go free or they get lead ropes looped around their necks to be moved to the other pasture. Which is great.. because Dan now leads via rope looped over his neck. But... it also means that suddenly he's ear shy again. Sigh.... So we're going back to real haltering and lots of ear scratches. ut
But anyways... he's had a few days off because I've been so busy, so... we got back to work today. Tonight he was tied, groomed, and then had to wear the surcingle loose and a splint boot on both front and back feet. Then we worked with the clippers again. I'm not sure why they are sooooo scary but they are. Even off... he just gets all nervous. So.... I waved them around and touched him, made him touch them with his nose, and fed him lots of treats when he wasn't upset about them. On and off.... But still no actual clipping yet. Baby steps I guess....
Then we walked off to do some in hand work. It was getting dark, so I didn't want to do too much. We started off and worked on whoa and go. Those buttons still work. Then just as I went to ask for the trot... he saw the pallet! Doh! I have had them in the other pasture and the other day I unloaded a pallet. It was too wet to drive it down to the barn so I left it leaning up against a tree. Well... Danny saw it and thought "MONSTER"! He started dancing backwards and sideways and... well, pulled me with him. So.. I had to let go. He ran back to the roundpen. So I gathered him back up and we started back up towards it. Fleck was hanging out so I asked him if he wanted to come and help Danny be brave. And lo and behold... he came along! Danny was much braver this time, so he walked up and sniffed it finally. Then we had to look at it from the other eye. ;) So then Fleck moseyed off and we did some more in hand work.
Then back to the barn and we worked on his ears again. Yipes... he fought pretty hard, but we eventually got him calmed down. I told him I was doing this while I was still big enough to win... cause soon enough I wouldn't be! So... that's on the agenda for daily work! Bad Mommy! Then some cookies and another walk and halt. Then when I went to take the halter off he got all ear shy again, so... halter came off, went back on, came off, went back on, came off, went back on... and came off. And we will continue that for a while until ears are no longer a big deal. It's funny cause he lets me stick my fingers in them completely and scratch them.... not sure why suddenly he's ear shy. Maybe it's a phase... or because he got sensitized from the clippers?! Who knows!? We'll fix it.

Other than that.. he's still being a wonderful wonderful baby!! I love that little kid :)