Friday, March 24, 2017

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Babysitter

Today I had a lesson with Beth at Ashland so afterwards I rode Fleck to babysit Mighty and the young OTTB's on a trail ride. Flecky was pretty good and we ended up walking 4.5 miles! He felt pretty good and was frisky but inverted. I was hoping that the LS injectin would have fixed him, but.. it didn't. He felt better in the sense that he seemed more comfortable and easily picked up both the right and left leads. BUT... he felt more uneven today and was still fairly haunches in both ways. Peri and Beth both watched and said he looked short in the left hind. Hmmm..... Not sure if that's originating from the left hind... or the right front. Or both? 

Oh well. He's happy and I'm happy. I'll keep working and see if I can't get things any better. Oh, and then because it was so nice out, I gave him a quick bath and then clipped him tonight. I used my new (used) big clippers and WOW!!!! I really wish I hadn't waited til now to get them. They are amazing!!! So much easier to clip his butt. I did a full clip in about 30 minutes. Granted it wasn't super tidy and I didn't go over him quite as detailed as I would have had I still been showing him. BUT.. it went quick and he looks pretty darn good.  :) 

Of course now it's supposed to get cold again. But it was 70 plus today and I even got sunburned. And other than this weekend being in the 30's, it looks like mid to upper 40's as the lows at worst. Either way.. he has clothes if need be. ;) 




 

Monday, March 6, 2017

Guinea Pig

Poor Flecky! He's always my guinea pig. :)

He enjoyed it today though. I ended up with a free day because my appointment for 6 horses that was 2 hours away cancelled. Rather than fill it with clients, I decided to make it a me day. I really really need to get my 10 case reports and case study done before April 1st so I can finish my acupuncture certification. So I was good... I didn't go ride. Sigh. It was hard. It's a beautiful day.... and yeah... But Dan had been ridden Tues, Thurs, Sat and hard on Sunday.... and will get ridden tomorrow and Thursday. And Fleck was ridden Sat or Sun and Thursday so... I was good. I got 2.8 reports done and figured out how/what to do. And I went to the bank, got the trash to the curb, got more treats for work, and did some laundry and dishes. Then I did have to see one dog patient. And it was so pretty out I couldn't stand it, so I went out and adjusted and acupunctured my horses at least. :)

I did Dan first and he's getting so much better at enjoying his adjustments. Hopefully I can get rid of that persistent lower back pain on the right side. I did find a rib that I think I've been missing a lot that MIGHT be the culprit of my inability to put my right leg on. So maybe!!!! And then Fleck had his turn. I did both acupuncture and an adjustment and he was good. Then I decided that he was painful enough in his LS joint to justify injecting it. I need to practice it anyways before I do it on the UGA team horse on Friday. ;) So... I got all my stuff together, hosed his very dirty butt off, and then scrubbed him. And then I injected him. :) I think it worked!!! He didn't freak.... he could still walk when I was done... ha ha!

So... I'm hoping that this will help him out. I still think his knees are bothering him a bit, probably the base of his neck, probably his sciatica still, and his hips are definitely still very tight. But.. maybe this will help him out a lot. If not.... I tried. He'll get a few days off and then I'll take him for a long hack with Beth and Mighty and the two thoroughbreds on Thursday. I'll let him walk it out and then do a little trot and canter to see.

We had fun today snuggling too. :)



Saturday, March 4, 2017

One year......

Facebook has the timehop app... and apparently it's been about a year since our XC schooling at the Vista... which I'm pretty sure is when I did Fleck in. And you know, I think I knew that at the time. I felt something but he was so game and happy and ready to go and do... and he hadn't been feeling that good in the last few rides. So... I decided that it was okay.. we would have fun and if it ended up "breaking" him for good.. I was okay with that decision. Especially since he had been on and off for quite some time. In retrospect, maybe that wasn't the best choice. But... we really had a lot of fun that day! 
 
But anyways.. it is what it is, and it's done, so... no going back. I do believe that that was the last time I jumped him. And it's been about a year of him being lame and not able to work. But it's okay. I've come to terms with it. Mostly. I still miss competing him and hanging out with him and all the riding we did. But I also am so busy with work and don't have time to really ride two horses consistently and Danny is ready to go and do. And Fleck has earned his "take it easy time". It's still hard to leave him though when I go to shows or go to clinics. But.. we had a good day today and had fun. And he seems to be feeling better again. He's been goofing off and playing and running in the pasture a lot. And the first 6 months it seemed like he would only walk. I even saw him doing a flying change the other day. :) He's so fat too. His BUTT IS HUGE!! And he's furry and dirty and his mane is a hot mess. But... I still love his beautiful face!
 
Anyways... we had a good ride today. The last few rides he's started out quite brisk and not stiff. I can still feel some choppyness in the front end, and I suspect it's his knees bothering him. But he feels pretty even, just shorter strided. We headed out and just went for a fun hack. We did a little bit of trotting and even some cantering. We ended up at the field behind halfshire and wanted to do a little canter. So we did. And near the top of the little hill, Flecky threw in a change to the right lead and busted out a little gallop!!! Hee heee. It did my heart good. His too. He couldn't hold it for long and he was puffing a bit, but.. we had fun. Hopefully he won't make himself sore tomorrow. We even jumped a little log today! He trotted up to it and jumped it and landed in the canter. :) 

I know... I know.. it's a far cry from jumping intermediate XC fences (we did one or two!!! But yes, mostly prelim) a year ago. But you know what?! We jumped a jump today. It may have been a log on the ground, but he jumped it happily. :) 

So... we'll see what the future holds. He owes me nothing and I owe him everything so whatever I can do to help keep him happy and feel special, I'll do my best. 

 

Thursday, March 2, 2017