See... told you I've been saying that a lot. Only, this time.... it might be my fault a little bit. Doh! We technically were supposed to wait til tomorrow to ride but Dan is getting anxious. Okay, I'm getting anxious. Life has been a little stressful, and... Dan is getting restless too. I decided that since the swelling went down and stayed down... it was probably a wind puff thing and perhaps a nice walk hack today and then a more decent w/t/c tomorrow would be wise. That way if he poofed up again tomorrow, I could take it easy again. Or panic. Or both. Okay, maybe that's just an excuse. I don't know... I really really really really wanted to ride. So we did!
Unfortunately Ashland was hosting their dog search and rescue training day. And it was crazy busy with people riding and XC schooling. I was at least smart enough to put on my jump saddle and jump bridle. I got on and Dan jigged and bounced in the little warm up area right before XC. Like.. from the get go. I almost couldn't get him down from the trot to the walk in the jump bridle. But then he settled and we had a nice long 30 min walk with no distractions or shenanigans. And then... we got near the dog training. Dan heard them barking and was on edge. We got near them and unfortunately had to go a little farther to be able to go past them and carry on, or we had to turn around. Dan panicked and tried to spin and bolt. I got him settled and then he decided to be brave and go investigate. And then when we saw them... he panicked and tried to spin and bolt again. And then he got brave again. So we said hi and chatted and then turned and went the other way. And then he heard some bells... like a cowbell. And that made him panic again and he tried to bolt away. On the rock. So I kept him to a walk but then he jumped the creek and tried to bolt. And I held him, so instead he bolted up in the air. Repeatedly. Hee hee. Goober. I did let him trot a little bit and he felt amazing. Nice and sound. So then we walked some more...
And then more panic. Just after the bridge before the lake we came across a woman. She was just hiking I guess. Maybe she was with the dog group but she didn't have a dog. Unfortunately she had a bright yellow bag. So Dan saw that and panicked. His little heart was pounding this time. He tried to spin and bolt. Luckily when I spoke to her she replied and we kept talking. He held it together but was terrified. She froze and said she would just stand still. I told her that wouldn't work because unfortunately now we couldn't see her, but could only hear her. Which Dan HATES! So.. she started walking towards us and poor Dan ketp trying to spin and bolt... which means he kept backing into the woods. Sigh.. NOT good for your rehab Daniel. Not to mention I was afraid we were going to fall into a hole. So I finally jumped off. And almost lost him! Jeepers. She finally dropped the bag and got close enough that he started breathing. Bless her. She was so nice. She tried to pet him and then he saw her bag and almost backed over her. Jeesh! Seriously Dan!!! Sigh... So we managed to get past her and apologized profusely and then I was able to get him to the lake and to the mounting block there and I got back on.
So then we decided to go back via the XC field rather than the woods. I thought that would be less scary. Sigh. NOPE! Our timing was awful and we were next to the prelim roll top, but off to the side, when Kerry and Kate came cantering up. She jumped it big and Dan used that as an excuse to spin and bolt and rear again. Good gravy! I got him down and then he managed to walk flat footed back up to the top of the hill. He took a breath then and was normal. So we trotted a bit more and he was still sound. Phew! I got off and hosed him off and checked his ankle. No poofyness! So I linimented it and home we went.
So yeah.... I've been saying this a lot lately. And... I said it again yesterday. I put his fly boots on in the morning and didn't notice anything. I got home early(ish) from work but decided to go to the grocery store instead of ride. Because it was slick and rainy and all we could do was hack at the walk and I figured it wasn't worth risking a slip... and I was cranky and tired. So we didn't go ride. When I finally got out there it was like 7pm. He had pulled off both front fly boots so I fed and then pulled off his hind boots. And... OH MAN!!!! DAN!!!!!!! His left hind tendon sheath was HUGE! Like... puffier than before we injected it, and certainly puffier than it had been the last two days. Sigh... son of a .... There wasn't any heat that I could appreciate. And he wasn't tender on it. So... I texted Dr. M and... then I heard this crazy noise in the neighbors yard. It sounded like a chicken was being attacked... or a cat was dying... Or... I don't know... some wierd death screech. It freaked me out a little bit, so I went to look. I couldn't figure it out, but the neighbors rooster was freaked out too. And of course Dan was freaked out! So he was spinning in his stall and almost jumped out through the dutch window. I let him out and then he was running laps in the mud, slipping and sliding. Front end and back end. UGH.... Seriously Dan?! But he was sound. And actually he looked really good... he was using his hocks more than I've seen before. The noise finally went away so I tried to laser Dan. Nope.. I mean... I accomplished it but it took twice as long cause he was way more wiggly. Sigh... Dr. M. wanted me to wrap it, but.. there's no way he was staying in his stall... and I was afraid to wrap him because our grass is so tall and it was wet... and he's pulled his fly boots off... and I didn't want him to pull his bandage off and/or get a bandage bow...So I put some liniment on it and turned him out. He was still sound. Sigh...
This morning it was still puffy so I put some poultice on it and turned him back out. I debated leaving him in and wrapping it, but... I knew it would be a long day. And good thing I didn't... because it was a 12.5 hr day. And it rained most of it. So yeah.. it's still puffy. I don't think it's hot... (it's hard to tell cause it's shaved so it feels warmer by default) and I don't think he's tender. I don't think it's any better, but not any worse. I jogged him and from what I could tell while running him, he looked sound. So... I bemered it and... out again he went.
I might try wrapping him and leaving him in tomorrow because I'll be home and can let him back out. Maybe my back on tracks?? Or maybe I'll just call Dr. M and decide if I need to bring him in. I'm paranoid it's septic arthritis, although that should be hot and lame. So yeah.... Because... Dan!. :(
Oh, and... now, instead of getting to start our light w/t/c tomorrow... now we have to take another 3 days off. Sigh....
Danomite!!!! He turns 9 today. :) NINE!!!!! It's hard to believe my little baby boy is 9 years old. Wow!
I'm so proud of the little punk. He really has turned into the best horse. Despite his cheekyness and his shenanigans (which quite frankly, I adore), he is a GOOD boy. He does all of the things. And despite the fact that our future as an event horse and dressage horse is up for debate.... I am fully confident that he COULD have been my P3D horse and my bronze medal (if not silver medal) horse. I honestly think he was that talented. So it kills me that he may not get to do it, but... I guess he doesn't care. Luckily, he's so much fun doing other things, that.... maybe we'll be okay just doing other things.
Anyways... I'm so proud of the Danimal. I really am. We went to Ashland today to celebrate. Today was the day we are allowed to ride after his injections. And it was supposed to be a light ride... just a hack... just a 30 minute hack. Oh.... 30 min? That's like, our cool down after a dressage ride. Oh well. It's a ride! Except.. we cheated! Oops. I didn't mean to. I ended up riding Marvin before Dan, so I wasn't quite ready to join Cindy and Dawn at first, so they started without me. When I did get on, I headed out and didn't see them in the XC field so I went in the woods and up to the far hay field by Halfshire. Then they texted me back saying they were in the jump field so we meandered that way. We caught up to them after the dam and then Dawn wanted a creek crossing since Jackson had acted goofy over the one they did earlier. So went back through the field, to the "fire swamp" section, then crossed the little creek and did twix and tween. Then we crossed the other creek and then we ended up at the lake. Dan splashed and had a blast and then... we went for a short little swim! Wheee!!! First one of the year. :)
Then we headed back and ate some watermelon and clover and headed home. :) Except our 30 min ride turned into an over hour ride. Ooops! But... after the swim as we were heading back to the trailers, he did a little trot and felt really pretty good so...??? :) Hopefully I didn't overdo it.
Oh Dan!! It poured last night and was cold and damp most of the day. I felt awful that the horses were naked, but.. it's May! In Georgia! And it wasn't that cold temperature wise, but it felt chilly. They were fine, but.. since it was supposed to rain again all night and I was freezing when I fed (like... I put on a jacket and a hat!), I put clothes on overnight. Of course this morning, it was much warmer, so... I pulled Dan's clothes and fed them. I went in the house long enough to change but by the time I came back out to go ride... and then go to the vet.. he had rolled and CAKED IT IN! All the wet mud. Ugh.... Like.. clumps! Oh well. I knew better, but.... I was hopeful because I had tossed alfalfa hay.
Anyways, we went to Ashland and hacked. It was a cool dreary kind of morning, but we had a good hack. He was still spooky today! We passed Tik in the field with a fly mask... and Dan's little heart was about to pound of his chest. They were stock still, staring at each other.... It's another horse, guys!! We kept going and then we passed Aubrey and Allanah in the XC field so we had to stop and stalk them for a bit too. We finished up and made a pit stop in the dressage arena. I had put on my saddle today and I wanted to trot him just a little bit. Just to see if I felt the rein lameness. I realize that the little bit I did may not have been a real accurate representation, but I was kind of curious if his "rein lameness" went away with the shoeing change, or if it was going to take the coffin joint injection, or.. if it wouldn't go away at all. Or if it was related to the other hind end stuff I guess. But... regardless, another piece of the puzzle to store away. So.. we trotted a big circle, both directions. He felt pretty darn sound really. I didn't feel any rein lameness, so yay! But we only did 2 or 3 circles each way and then I did a leg yield on the outside of the arena down the rail each way. (So, like only a few steps sideways each way) and he felt good.
Then we got a little more cleaned up and headed to our vet appointment. Dr. L thought he jogged out pretty sound and looked better in the hind end. I agreed. Which makes sense, as he's been walking only (well, on purpose) for the last month and a half. But still. So we injected his tendon sheath, his fetlock, and his coffin joint. He was super. He didn't even flinch. Then he got wrapped up and we headed home. He was very happy to hear he could go out. :)
So now... we give him off until his birthday... and then he really should only be allowed to walk for 30 minutes.. but we may cheat a teeny bit. And he's allowed to swim, so yay :) Then Tuesday, if I have time, we'll do the same, and then on Thursday next week, we can start doing some w/t/c work. And we'll just slowly build on that until July 2nd. See what happens. Dr. L was optimistic about how good he looked and what I paraphrased that UT had said, but... I also heard her say that trail riding would probably extend his riding life out... rather than doing dressage or jumping. Sigh... But... we'll just have to wait and see. It's in God's hands and I'm doing what I can, but... ultimately... it is what it is. (don't misunderstand.... I'm devastated... and almost had a break down again today.. it's unfair.... it sucks.... it's unfair to Dan... I'm saddened... I'm frustrated... I'm feeling very unhappy that I've put this many years into him for "nothing"... I'm grateful for the journey... I'm grateful for all that we've gotten to do.... I'm half convinced I'll just turn into a trail rider and maybe do competitive trail or cowboy obstacle stuff.... half convinced I'll buy another horse.... I don't know.... but I'm trying VERY hard to just trust in the Lord... ).
Today is Tuesday... which means a morning ride. :) I got up early and it had rained a good chunk of the night and was still raining right as I was waking up (or... shortly before.. I woke up and heard rain and it was light out, so not that long before I woke up for real). But... it looked like it would be okay so I was going to go anyways. Then my first patient of the day cancelled because her farm was too wet. So yay! I ended up doing paperwork for an hour or two and then went to ride. Which was nice because it gave it time to dry up a little, warm up a little, and the clouds had dissipated.
I met Kelli and we had a nice hack. I put my saddle on today. I'm not sure why... maybe because he's gotten a little pushy lately about doing what he wants vs what I'm asking. And... it was a good idea because he was spooky today! Not shenanigans, but legit spooky. I'm not really sure why. It wasn't that cold.. wasn't windy. Wasn't a spooky day. But he was snorting and staring at the lake crossings... spooking and shying at random logs on the ground. Goofball! But we had a good ride.
See... told you I've been saying that a lot. Only, this time.... it might be my fault a little bit. Doh! We technically were supposed to wait til tomorrow to ride but Dan is getting anxious. Okay, I'm getting anxious. Life has been a little stressful, and... Dan is getting restless too. I decided that since the swelling went down and stayed down... it was probably a wind puff thing and perhaps a nice walk hack today and then a more decent w/t/c tomorrow would be wise. That way if he poofed up again tomorrow, I could take it easy again. Or panic. Or both. Okay, maybe that's just an excuse. I don't know... I really really really really wanted to ride. So we did!
Unfortunately Ashland was hosting their dog search and rescue training day. And it was crazy busy with people riding and XC schooling. I was at least smart enough to put on my jump saddle and jump bridle. I got on and Dan jigged and bounced in the little warm up area right before XC. Like.. from the get go. I almost couldn't get him down from the trot to the walk in the jump bridle. But then he settled and we had a nice long 30 min walk with no distractions or shenanigans. And then... we got near the dog training. Dan heard them barking and was on edge. We got near them and unfortunately had to go a little farther to be able to go past them and carry on, or we had to turn around. Dan panicked and tried to spin and bolt. I got him settled and then he decided to be brave and go investigate. And then when we saw them... he panicked and tried to spin and bolt again. And then he got brave again. So we said hi and chatted and then turned and went the other way. And then he heard some bells... like a cowbell. And that made him panic again and he tried to bolt away. On the rock. So I kept him to a walk but then he jumped the creek and tried to bolt. And I held him, so instead he bolted up in the air. Repeatedly. Hee hee. Goober. I did let him trot a little bit and he felt amazing. Nice and sound. So then we walked some more...
And then more panic. Just after the bridge before the lake we came across a woman. She was just hiking I guess. Maybe she was with the dog group but she didn't have a dog. Unfortunately she had a bright yellow bag. So Dan saw that and panicked. His little heart was pounding this time. He tried to spin and bolt. Luckily when I spoke to her she replied and we kept talking. He held it together but was terrified. She froze and said she would just stand still. I told her that wouldn't work because unfortunately now we couldn't see her, but could only hear her. Which Dan HATES! So.. she started walking towards us and poor Dan ketp trying to spin and bolt... which means he kept backing into the woods. Sigh.. NOT good for your rehab Daniel. Not to mention I was afraid we were going to fall into a hole. So I finally jumped off. And almost lost him! Jeepers. She finally dropped the bag and got close enough that he started breathing. Bless her. She was so nice. She tried to pet him and then he saw her bag and almost backed over her. Jeesh! Seriously Dan!!! Sigh... So we managed to get past her and apologized profusely and then I was able to get him to the lake and to the mounting block there and I got back on. 
