Right lead!?! Hope!!!

This weekend was a pretty good weekend in the Dan realm of things. I slept in Saturday a bit and then went and got hay. $30/bale for alfalfa!!!! Jeepers! But it sure is pretty. I hope they like it. Then after I unloaded it I cleaned up the barn and the house and ate some lunch. And then Kelli came over to ride. Dan was sad because he, Fleck and Funny had to stay in the middle pasture while Marvin was over. I think he misses his friends and doing things. And later when I was practicing trailer loading with Lyric he was watching. With his ears up. 

 

Anyways, after Marvin left I snagged Dan and we headed to the arena. He's such a goober! He's soooo food motivated lately. He keeps chewing on me. He's not biting and he's not being aggressive. He's just playing. He was making me laugh. And other than the chewing on me (which I'm sure is limiting his pillar 1 to some degree), he was a good boy. We did all 3 pillars and he even straddled his pole today without it taking 17 tries! And I pulled off his K-tape, which he was not a fan of! There's still some stick where his butt was shaved! BUT, later I noticed he cantered a tiny bit and I'm pretty sure it was his right lead! Both front and back!!! ha ha.. maybe the K-tape was screwing him up! Doh. 

 

And then later when I was feeding the guy with the fan hangglider was out again. Dan was watching it!. 

Then last night Mike took me to the Optimist for oysters and dinner! And we got a hotel room and stayed overnight in the city. It was fun. We slept in a little and ate breakfast and headed home so the ponies got a late breakfast. More of a brunch. ;) 

 

After I fed I put fresh shavings in all the stalls, cleaned out water and feed buckets, and got them all fluffed and prepped for the rain. Ugh. Then my migraine came back and I had to lay down for a bit. I needed to drag the arena ... I ended up working Dan briefly first. Of course Jean rode up right as we got in the arena and was talking to us. Which was fine, but Dan is not one to be ignored, so he was chewing on me and the lead rope. Sigh. We got back to work and he was still pretty chewy, only today it was more grabby than chewy. But we managed to get our pillars done. And we mostly did the pole straddle. He sort of went sideways at the very end, but... close enough. I also lunged a tiny tiny bit also. He's still so sluggish. But we got some nice trot, even if only one or two circles. 

 

Then tonight again... I'm pretty sure he cantered on the right lead both in the hind and the front!!! Again, only a few strides or so, but... still. And it wasn't like he swapped to the left... he just cantered on the right lead then trotted. Yay! And again, he was waiting at the gate for me when I was messing with the trailer. 

 

Silliness

 I love this goober. And I'm so grateful he's still here... doing goober things. But I do still worry about him.

Today I pulled clothes off a little later than I should have. And then they used that as an excuse to run like fools! And then Dan rolled (because of course he did) and had a little piece of hay stuck to his nose. He was cracking me up!

So then we went and did our homework. We did our pillar walks with pillars 2 and 3. And then I tried to get him to do the pole straddle and good grief! He was not doing it today. It took us about 12 attempts to get him to do it correctly. Jeeesh Dan! But he did get it. And I did a tiny bit of lunging just to see what his trot looks like. And meh... it looks so blah. Like he's doing a western jog. There's no tracking up. He seems disinterested and blah. And he falls out of it pretty easily. I don't know if it's his meds... Of course yesterday he was trotting and cantering. And then today he was running around some too. But still, it makes me sad. I just want him to be happy and comfy!

Oh, and... hee hee.. he was blowing bubbles today. He even had a double bubble but I missed it!

Hanging in there

 Danimal is getting bored!!! He's got me a little worried and also a little bit excited. Ha! He seems like he's not been as animated lately... I haven't seen him playing as much or running or being silly. But maybe that's the gabapentin and methocarbamol? Or even the steroids? Or maybe he's still a little sore from his episode and anesthesia? I haven't adjusted him yet, because... I'm a little afraid too but also ...life...  But sometimes he seems like he's happier and more comfortable and then othertimes he's still as cranky and grumpy. And today he lifted his hind leg at me twice. So... I have no idea.

 

I was messing with the trailer and then walked out to get him. The other 3 were at the top of the hill all snoozing. But Dan had walked up and was ready at the gate. Even with me being in the trailer! Granted, I dumped feed into the trailer because I was going to practice later with Lyric, but still. That's not his usual course of action. 

 

He was happy to be haltered and we headed up the hill. He was quite willing and happy. We got into the arena and did our pillar work. He's so smart! I had my hay bag so we did clicker training today. He's getting the hang of pilar 3 quickly. He's learned that he has to keep his head turned slightly towards me when he does pillar 3. Otherwise he (especially on the right rein) appears to just throw his head and neck over to the outside and pulls his shoulder with it. Rather than engaging the shoulder muscle to lift and place it. In my brain, it seems like keeping his head straight or towards me a little will make him use that muscle. So I only rewarded when he did it with his head turned and he figured it out quickly! Smart boy! We also did our slow walking and some weight shifts. Good pony!

 

Then I turned him out and he stood at the gate for a good bit. It was like he's trying to tell me he's bored and not ready to be done yet. But... maybe I'm imagining things. He did make a "crop circle" in the sand I noticed. Ha ha... A nice big ring of foot prints with a body print in the middle. And then when I saw him later he was COVERED in wet red clay. Thanks Dan. ;)

So yeah.. I'm thinking that maybe he's feeling better overall.. in general. Or maybe he's just bored... but he seems happier and more comfortable in general. Fingers crossed and prayers being sent up all the time! I found some really fun things for us to do! An actual cattle drive!! In South Carolina. And a fun hunter pace... 

Hanging Out

 

 I'm not quite sure if Dan is feeling better with the steroids, if he's actually being nicer/more snuggly, or if he's just bored from not working... or if he's his usual self and I'm just over-analyzing. ;) We hung out a good bit today. We snuggled a little bit this morning though he still pins his ears too. After I rode Lyric and worked Funny, I brought him to the trailer and groomed him. He was SOOOOO dirty! And so cranky! Pinning his ears and snarling. Except for when I was grooming his butt. Then we walked up to the arena in pillar 1. Then we did our pillar walks with pillars 2 and 3. We did our slow walks. And we tried to learn how to smile! Then I turned him out and went to collect rocks to help with the arena run off. He followed me and hung out, although I think he was convinced the rocks were cookies. And there were cookies... which I'm sure kept him around. He did finally leave after I went back into the arena. But then later he came back out to find me again. Awwww... Of course he was snarly at dinner again. 

 

But tonight was no prednisolone. Day 1 of once a day instead of twice a day. I maybe should have done it tonight instead of this morning since I was around all day to watch him, but my brain was originally thinking that since I'm working days, it would be better to do the morning dose, so he has it while I'm gone. So too late to change it now. He seemed fine at dinner time, but I'll go out for bed check and make sure. Of course it's going to rain again tonight. Ugh. 

I do love him so much!!!

Back to Normal! Whatever that means

Wave that freak flag buddy!

 

 

So this morning I noticed that Dan must have either laid down on both sides and/or rolled because he was FILTHY! Both sides! Yay! I don't think he felt brave enough to try that yesterday as he was still pretty clean. So yay! And today... no kicking at all and no toe drags even. Phew!!! Plus he smells much less garlic-y so I'm thinking the DMSO is wearing off! Granted he's still on pred, but... 

I did a tiny bit of pillar work with him today. We just worked on pillars 1, 2, and 3. We did a tiny bit of slow walk and fast walk. And then we did our pillar psoas stretch. 

He's such a goober. I love him so much!