Labor Day through the Hunters Moon

[Aleuronx]

LSP how did the vet visit go?

I'm having slight FOMO catching up on the ongoing regionals scores. It's not meant to be for us with Kora being a tart about stabling away but in the moment it bums me out. We'd be in the mix for ribbons in the 3rd Level freestyle for sure and maybe even the straight championship class as well. Such it is, and I certainly don't need to set a chunk of money on fire for her to be a prat.

Found a 'hole' during this morning's ride. I wanted to get her shoulders up and even from both reins in a bigger kid trot. Rode down the longside, one step leg yield in then straight 2-3 strides, then another leg yield step repeat for a few into shoulder-in. Blew her MIND. She wanted to dive, pop into canter, take the leg yield and go too many steps and then shoulder-in was like wha?? huh?? Ha, I love when an exercise sets them up to do the work they need to be doing. We got it together each direction but I will be definitely going back to touch on that tomorrow and start filling that hole.

[StraightForward]

I'm getting back to riding T. Wednesday a chiro was coming to the barn, so I signed up, as she was still not letting me work on her RH. Chiro found her sore in her SI and a little stuck in the hips, so she got adjusted, and she suggested an SI stability taping, which I applied last night. Right lead was definitely improved last night, though we just kept it to a light stretchy ride after the chiro adjustment. I also noticed that she looked a little more round and up through the lumbars. This chiro will be back in a few weeks, and bonus that she is coming and doing several horses in the evening, so I don't have to take off from work to be there.

Her chest is healing up a lot every day, though she seemed to be rather ticked off this morning per a video the BO sent me. If I can get her RH trimmed finally, I'll put new shoes on all around, and maybe see how she does over some crossrails. There are a couple schooling jumper shows in October, so I'd like to get out to those as the season winds down.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

The vet appointment was great! I *almost* cancelled it because it forecasted for thunderstorms and insane wind gusts (like 60 mph) which I wasn't thrilled about trailering in. But the weather worked out for us. Lynx was so calm and chill for the whole trailering and going to a place with no livestock there to be seen.

The vets were thrilled with the changes in his feet comfort (I simply asked for a leather pad and vet said it was a great move.) The vet also commented on how wonderful his topline and hind end muscling is looking. He did flex mildly positive behind and they found a bit of soreness in his SI. We elected to inject his SI based on the on and off nature of soreness there and his history.

The vet wants to keep an eye on stifles- but I'm not too concerned yet. He didn't flex positive a month before. And the day before the vet clinic we had used the equiband for warmup, had a lesson and a farrier appointment right after. Then the next day hauled to a clinic to do flexions on extremely hard and rocky ground in a parking lot. So to me, some mild soreness isn't overly alarming.

She did say she's willing to try Estrone if I want- in about a month. So that made me happy. Just that she's open to it. I like to be as conservative as possible but as aggressive as necessary if that makes sense. But every professional that sees Lynx keeps commenting that we are on the right track and hopefully get 100% soon. I'm encouraged though.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Aleuronex- I can understand the FOMO! Especially since you two are doing SO well. But like you said, it's a lot of money (and time) to potentially have it all go sideways so I certainly understand skipping it. I would too, if I'm honest. Sounds like you are still slaying at home though so next season will be awesome

SF- I hope T keeps healing and feeling better! She's lucky to have such a dedicated owner.

[StraightForward]

Glad to hear the vet appointment was positive, and hope the SI injection does the trick!

I had a pretty nice ride this morning along with Jon Holling on my favorite Ride iQ lesson. At the end I played a little with half steps and she was really giving them to me without getting too high and tight. We also got an unrequested FC left to right going across the arena into CC. Of course I didn't expect it, so I wasn't tuned in, but I'm pretty sure it was clean and seemed nice. Now to figure out how to get them when I want them! My instructor will be out next Sunday/Monday, so I'm looking forward to that. I have lost some ground on my sitting trot after a month off, so hopefully I can get that back soon.

She is still being weird about her RH, but I think it is more of a learned behavior at this point. She held it nicely to be picked out last night, but I could see her tense up when I carried the rasp into the stall this morning. She is not trying to kick or anything, just seems to firmly believe that she cannot stand on that leg. So I left the rasp out there and I'm just going to start carrying it with me when I clean out her feet, and hopefully she'll get over it before too long. I was able to back her toe up a bit from the top, so at least it's not too dire of a situation just yet. She also held her RH up for quite a while while I was currying around her left gaskin, so maybe with a helper I can get at it that way. Just not wanting to make the behavior worse in the process!

[exvet]

Sounds like many are making progress. Congrats LSP and SF. Aleuronx at least you know what to work on and how to back fill.

I felt that i had a great ride on Junior this morning. We did multiple counter canter 10 meter circle figure eights with clean flying changes. We also worked a lot on maintaining and building more stamina. Since he worked really hard to day I decided to try to turn all three boys out together. Junior made a couple of attempts to show Troy who's top dog of this place but all-in-all things have been pretty quiet and there's been no blood shed. Hopefully we can continue to let the boys all go out together going forward.

[blob]

i hope the SI injections are helpful, LSP.

I am home from regionals and it was a bit of a disappointment. I did not go in with grand expectations of placing, but I was hoping to put a bow on what has felt like a pretty good show season. Instead, I ended up with my lowest scores all year.
First practice test: 61. There were some bobbles in this one, but still felt like harsh judging
second practice test: 65. Felt like a very strong test to me, but one break at the canter.
championship class: 65 from one judge and 61 from the other (same judge that gave me the 61 earlier). This test was very clean -- probably the most accurate and mistake free test I've ridden all year. And while I anticipate judging at championships to be harder, I don't anticipate it 7-10 points harder than what I've been scoring.

The judge that gave me the two 61s also gave me some fairly unkind comments. This is indeed the nature of showing and just sometimes how it goes. But very discouraging over all.

[khall]

Blob Cedar just got back from regionals in KY before she came here. Said that scores were low up there too. Apparently they are trying to limit the horses eligible for Nationals so were asked to lower the scoring.

[exvet]

Blob, I've ridden for all but 2 of the judges that were there. There are 3 on this list that are considered very tough with scores. Two in particular always get even stingier with regional championships. If you were in the middle of the pack with those scores then given all the challenges you've sorted through my impression is that you did very well.

[blob]

Thanks, Exvet and Khall. The 65s felt right for more conservative and tough judging. The 61s, particularly the one in the championship class are a bit more disappointing, particularly paired with the comments.

The 3 judges I rode for were new for me. There are others I've ridden for before, I just didn't happen to ride with them.

But yes, despite the disappointing ending it's still a good show year, considering this time last year I had a horse who couldn't canter

[Flight]

Did you get your tests on video Blob? Sorry that you got disappointing results and especially any unkind comments.
LSP I admire all the effort you are putting in with Lynx to get him right.

My sacrum has finally stopped hurting so I've began exercising again, which is just walking my driveway. I take the young horse with me so it's good practice for him too.
I had read that some people who fractured their sacrums, took up to a year to stop hurting. I guess not being young anymore, it takes longer.

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[Lipsmackerpony88]

Blob, sorry about the harsh comments, that is disappointing but it sounds like the actual rides were pretty good! I have heard similar remarks from many about regionals in different areas this year. But like you said, RP is still doing so well especially given what was going on last year! I hope you can share some photos or videos when you get them.

Exvet, I hope Troy continues to settle in and the boys work out their new herd dynamic. Looking for it to more pictures of him.

SF- I'm so impressed with where you have T. I know she hasn't always been straight forward (lol) but It just always sounds like you guys have really come together and are making such strides. So exciting !

Flight, hope you feel better soon. Sacrum stuff is rough. Mine is hypermobile and sometimes it can really start to act up and get sore. No fun. Lovely photo, are those sheep on a hill?

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Lynx gets off pen rest tomorrow. I might try turning him out alone for a few minutes this afternoon or evening. I just hate for him to just go out in a big group after been locked in. I don't want him to hurt himself!! Then I'm supposed to bring him back into light work. I will probably do groundwork/lunging the first day or two. The plan is light walk/trot, lots of two point and straight lines for a few days. Then we will see what we have.

[blob]

LSP, my vet had us treat SI injections a bit differently than a standard joint injection. still the few days off, etc. But she said that with the SI, what you really need to do is strengthen the area around it. But if the horse is in pain, you can't do that. So, as soon as he's had the few days off, to really do focused strength training to build up that area.

I did not have a crew with me, so only photos are from the show photographer and I haven't decided if I will purchase any yet! I need to look and see if there are any I can't say no to. I am trying to limit all my photo purchasing these days! I do have some video--but in a funky format. They were live streaming, so a friend screen recorded one of my rides so I could see how the test went.

[exvet]

LSP - glad to read all the good news about Lynx.

Flight I fractured my sacrum close to 30 years ago when a horse flipped over on top of me. I honestly can't remember when it stopped hurting; but, I had to work and was doing large animal back then. I ended up taking some pretty hard core pain killers to get through the initial phase which eventually subsided but I still feel it whenever it rains, snows or if I've been using my lower back for long stretches.

Well my SO sent me this picture today while I was at work. The trio seems to be working things out and Junior isn't hell bent for leather to do in Troy any more though every once in a while there's a brief scuffle. Not the best picture but the order of go from left to right is Troy, Junior and Ace. Troy and Junior are both 14.2 but Troy has already grown croup high (again) so I expect he'll be at least a little taller than Junior in a few months. We did take Troy for a short walk through the neighborhood and he took everything in stride like he's lived here his whole life

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Blob, that makes sense and is similar to stifle and back pain in general. Lynx has improved SO much in his muscling already so interested to see how much this improves things. I was mostly planning on doing what we've done for stifles- walking over poles, backing in hand, using the equiband, walking up hills, lots of transitions and eventually more lateral work. But if you have anything to add that was especially helpful, I'm all ears! He got Depo for his injection which I hear takes a bit longer to see results. The vet and a few other people it'll probably be about 3 weeks to really see the true results. Fingers crossed

[khall]

Lsp jingles Lynx continues on a positive path! You certainly are giving him all the support to do so.
That’s great Exvet that all your boys are getting along! Will be fun to watch Troy mature. He’s so flashy!

We’ll definitely have some big news on a couple of fronts. Rip Friday morning first day of the Cedar clinic came in crippled lame. Bless my farrier who turned around to come see him and was there within 15 minutes. He found an abscess but to be sure had the local vet out for radiographs and that’s all it was. Depending on which vet one thinks he still foundered one thinks he had seroma bruising that abscessed one is reserving judgment until new cushings test abd tick panel come back. I still think some inflammatory reaction. May never know. Farrier came back same day out a hospital plate on and Rip is sound.


Clinic despite me not riding these last couple of months just in hand work when I could was resounding success for Joplin and I. We worked on minute details in lateral work we worked on FCs and we introduced canter pirouettes to Joplin. She just kept stepping up to the plate bless her.

https://youtube.com/shorts/KccuMAJEYeI?feature=shared

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kLSWBN ... tid=WC7FNe

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Pc2wpu ... tid=WC7FNe


And Chex has come back to be Lani’s weaning partner. Looking at within the next couple of weeks weaning Lani sending Gaila off to my vets to board a couple of weeks.

Overall it’s been a good ending to September so far.


Happy fall to all here on this side of the globe and happy riding to everyone!

[exvet]

Glad Rip is doing better khall. My heart always drops when I see one of mine 'off'. Congrats on Joplin's ongoing progress! The ups and downs of horses, it all builds character and perseverance.

[Tanga]

Ya'll are working so hard. I'm mostly not doing much. I thought I was getting a little better, but now I feel like I'm backsliding. I go to the barn, but it is still far too much for me to walk back and forth between the pasture and barn. It's either slow going or hard to walk up the slight hill to get the horses--luckily both of them now come down when I whistle or call because they get treats, so I haven't had to try to walk up the hill.

I can sit on them and trail ride. Sometimes I can do some actual work. When I'm feeling super weak, about the only thing I can handle is walk work and P/P, so we've been doing a lot of that. Quinn is so intent on being good she'll do what I want if she gets it. She's always been great in the piaffe, but gets more into big walk steps behind in the passage, sometimes uneven, so I've been working on really getting her to do the trot steps and lift her hind legs in passage, and she's getting there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEAri-l48-Y Quilla's been doing it longer, so knows, so it's just about giving her a lot of treats when she does well so she doesn't get all riled up.

blob--Sorry about the champs. That's what I noticed, too, even more lowering of scores than just for the champs. Literally, I would say, 90% of the scores last year for everyone over maybe 1st level were 60-62%. That's a problem.

Oh, and BTW, I am one of the millions of people worldwide whose Facebook accounts just disappeared and they say they can't verify me even though I sent pictures and ID's, so I am locked out of Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram (which I've never used) so any links there are blocked. Sigh. Fucking FB.

[Aleuronx]

blob sorry to hear your Regionals experience left a bit to be desired. Thanks for snapping me out of my FOMO and a reminder that it isn't the path for everyone. Rude comments aside, that's not necessary regionals or no.

LSP - I'd say just keep on what you're doing as he seems to be improving from it! Everyone that's had to do SI injections has made a big difference in comfort for the horse and the ability to build the necessary topline to support weaker structures. Jingles that's the case for him as well.

exvet that picture is adorable all them lined up like peas in a pod.

khall, the pirouette photo looks fab!! Glad you're having a good time with Joplin to help shoulder whatever is going on with Rip. Jingles he comes right soon and an uneventful weaning process.

Tanga - so hoped you'd have a better update and sorry to hear that you are still struggling health wise. Loved the video of Quinn with you on a better day. If we weren't on complete opposite coasts I'd send Kora to you for some P/P education in a heartbeat.

Us? Well we spent a little time fixing that hole of 1 step lateral work into the opposite engagement and since then have been enjoying the beauty of New England fall weather cantering round the fields with mouthfuls of grass. We are booked into a lesson Sunday and will get a bit serious but honestly just enjoying the horse before the dark, sadness of winter is upon us.

I have been playing around with tailcoat color mockups, but will probably just duplicate the short coat color/design that I already love. To be determined...

[blob]

Aleu--what color options are you exploring? please do share!

We're already getting some heavy storms in from Hurricane Helene and looks like the rest of the week will be a wash out. The worst of it should be tomorrow evening/early Friday, but these things are unpredictable. I do not yet know what the barn has planned for the horses/barn. The heavy rain won't be fun, but I'm more worried about wind/storms.

I am hoping barn, horses, house, etc stay as undamaged and safe through all of it as possible. I know many will be getting it much worse than we will.

I'm hoping i can make it to the barn on Saturday to check on ponies, though I'm sure it will be much too wet to ride.

[khall]

Blob we are here since dark. Bad winds predicted and rain. I’ve got every available container full of water and outside troughs full in case power goes out. Being on a well no power no water. We do have ability to run the house well so if needed can fill containers there. Generator is checked and fuel cans full. Pups are not happy. We brought my mom’s cattle dog (sweet heart Ellie who doesn’t know she’s a working dog) into our home after mom’s death so we have 3 dogs in the house now. They do well together but are worried about storms.

Stay safe all who are in the path!

[StraightForward]

Jingles for those in the storm's path. I hope it passes with minimal damage and disruption.

Khall, glad you had a good clinic and are starting to touch on new things!

I had a nice ride tonight. T threw a shoe yesterday, so I took them off and got to try out the Scoot Boots that I bought for her on a Labor Day sale. It was fairly amusing the amount of stomping she did when we first started walking around. Trotting didn't seem to bother her, but when we cantered, the sound seemed to concern her and she started yielding off the line and breaking to trot a few times before I convinced her that it was OK and she could continue on. After that we played with lateral work; I can see I need to get her haunches more in the HP, as they would be the first to move either way in HP/LY. Got some really nice canter left, and OKish canter right, and ended with some simple changes. I'll see after our lessons what our homework is, but one thing I think we need to improve on before really starting changes, is maintaining the softness and bend in the simple changes.

Vet let me know that her Torigen is in, so I'll bring her in to do that and have him check her hind end again, as she is still being weird with her feet + not great right lead. Thinking I might take him up on the Robaxin trial we were talking about doing this spring, but I'll see if he has other suggestions.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Khall-, I really loved that video of you guys! My favorite part was how relaxed she looked during that. You guys seem to have such fun together. Stay safe through the storm

Blob- stay safe!!

Tanga, bummer about FB. I was following the dressage page you had started and really enjoying it. I hope you start feeling better soon!

SF, hopefully you get the hind foot thing figured out, what a mystery!

Lynx is back into turnout and I have been hand walking him a few days. I was pretty proud of him because yesterday he noticed that in the perpendicular ring, someone had the pony out and was driving her in a cart. He definitely stopped and looked for a second but then I kind of told him it was okay and he just continued on pretty relaxed with me. He can be spooky but I will have to say his confidence and trust in me has grown leaps and bounds lately.

Today we start back light undersaddle work. Probably just a 20 to 30 minute ride and we will slowly start to amp it up in the next few days.

[Aleuronx]

Jingles to those managing through the storm. I have some friends down in Florida and they are quite sick of rain to be honest.

Oh gosh I was playing around with all sorts of greens and blues on the designer but the end of the day in my head I don't want to be remembered for my tails if I have a dodgy ride.

This mirrors my short coat and probably what I will end up with. Just going to mull it over a bit still before I go for it. I waffle after a bad ride, lol. We did attempt the canter piro segment and it was more recognizable than I would have expected for first crack so I really need to just get over myself.

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[chantal]

Welp, I was gonna blog on here and keep up and nope. I'm actually sitting on my butt today after getting my Covid and flu vacc yesterday, not worth much of anything. But I can read the BB, yay.

We've had a regrouping year, I've done a number of schooling shows and 2 recognized shows and have 1 of each left. The goal was to get changes this year, in addition to correct thoroughness. As you all have experienced, this is not a straight progression so we work on stuff that comes up on the way. We just started seriously working on changes. My trainer can get them, I can get them on an experienced horse, but Mikey and I together can't get them yet. Right now we are doing simple changes with 1 step in between to get the idea into both of our heads. That's going well. HIs half passes are good, building more strength and overall I am so happy with him.

I think, like Alueronx and exvet, I've come to the realization that I can't block him anywhere and get forward, correct tempo movement. Huge duh but knowing and doing are 2 different things. The big one after coming back from 2 1/2 weeks off was that I would half halt, and my thighs were tight after the half-halt, ever so slightly but tight and then my seat stopped moving as freely. Where's the brain exploding emoji? Now add that to my left hand/elbow or seat blocking him and other places I'm not even remembering right now, and it be very interesting.

We stayed showing at 2nd while working on 3rd and 4th level collection. Here are 2 pics from last month that I really like.

The first one, which he proceeded to hit the rail with his hind food (he has 4 shoes now), scare the poop outta himself, and react in the photos in this series (If you scroll on this one, you should see the series ). And then he went straight back to work, huge difference for me from last year where 2 big mistakes in the show ring froze me.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10 ... 3188302820

And then my favorite canter one that DH took. You may be able to scroll and see more.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10 ... 9324403672

Now time to crawl back in bed.

Oh, and please let me know if you can't view the pics. I have my settings locked down.

[StraightForward]

I can't see the pics. The first link takes me to my FB home page, the second is a picture of soup

[chantal]

Soup is accurate for how I'm feeling today.

I was trying not to have resize and upload.

Here they are, and one gratuitous canter photo.

The SI is where he kicked the rail, pilot error. The bottom one from the front view is the one DH took

[Moutaineer]

(Waving from across the pond, where the weather turned cold and wet today.)

Reading along and missing my horse. Looking forward to getting back in the saddle next week!

Hoping the storm isn't too awful.

Lovely pictures, Chantal!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Chantal, gorgeous photos!! Your soup looked pretty good too though ha ha! But Mikey is even better to look at.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Lynx had his first ride back after the SI injection. He was really happy when I was currying him and I I got a new massager that he's in love with that I use beforehand too.

It's a little to tell much but today I noticed he was happier holding his left hind up for me. He also was happier to stand square behind. He had been wanting to keep his left hind underneath himself quite a lot lately.

We did a little 20 minute ride per vets instructions. I swear it did feel like he was just a little bit looser under saddle. We got a nice little bit of shoulder in at the walk And just worked on a little bit of walk trot transitions. He was a very good boy and I'm encouraged right now. The vet said I won't see full effects until 3 or 4 weeks.

I was looking through my notes and I didn't realize that it has been nearly a year since we injected his stifle. So that might be in the books too (I've accepted that it's just regular yearly maintenance with him) but we might try Estrone first. We will see how the next few weeks are first.

[exvet]

Yay LSP!

Please everyone stay safe and hoping the storm isn't as bad as some predict.

Chantal those pictures are just fab. Those changes will come. It just takes time and as to how long will depend on the beast.

[mari]

Odin is in hospital with a very bad sheath infection. Getting litres of antibiotics and painkillers and anti-inflammatories. Being walked and cold-hosed 5 times a day, and is wearing a sling of pressure bandages. I wish I could magic him better.

[Moutaineer]

Oh no, Mari! We love that dude! Many jingles to him and to you.

[exvet]

Jingling for Odin's swift recovery!

[StraightForward]

Jingles for Odin!

Aleu, that is a gorgeous tailcoat, though the flashier colors are tempting!

Great pics of Chantal and Mikey as always!

[blob]

Agree that's a lovely tailcoat, Aleu--but I suspect you could get away wit bolder trim and points IF you wanted to without standing out too wildly. There are a lot of tail coats out there that have base colors much bolder than traditional black or navy

Oh no, Mari--poor Odin, that sounds very uncomfortable. Do you know what caused the infection?

Chantal-- I had a break through recently with timing on changes. I've always been taught to ask for the change when the horse is coming up/suspended. But was talking to a reining trainer who said that in his opinion when most people aim for that, you're already too late. So, instead he teaches people to ask for the change when the horse is in the "down phase" of the canter--front legs on the ground, hinds up. I've been thinking about that when playing with changes with RP and I think it's been super helpful.

Khall--how did you hold up post Helene?

We did better than expected as the storm shifted a bit east. But the family property we have in N. GA got hit pretty hard, we haven't yet had a chance to go up and check any damage. Luckily we are on a hill, so even though lake levels have risen a lot, the house sits up away from the shore.

[heddylamar]

Oof. That sounds miserable for Odin. Jingles that the antibiotics clear it up, and the vets find a cause.

Lovely photos, Chantal!

[khall]

Oh no Mari! Major jingles for Odin!! I know you had been battling sheath issues for a bit.

Blob we came through Helene fairly unscathed. Power was out for a few hours and that was pretty much it. Helene jogged east so we were on the west side of the storm but friends east had it harder. Aiken got hit and Augusta and surrounding areas. Then the flooding in SC NC TN. Been there in ‘94. Another friend had an old family FL home in the big bend. They doubt it survived. Massive storm impacting so many.

Only news I have is Rip. My vet repeated the trh test on him. He doesn’t follow normal protocols about timing of the test which came back positive for cushings. So I’m not sure what to do. He’s already on expensive apoquel for his upper airway and prascend is $2 a day. I’m just not sure how far to go with it all for a horse that I don’t ride. Right now he is good as far as soundness goes. But fall founder is what got his dam even on prascend and he refuses to wear a muzzle. No dry lot here. Too much grass. Any thoughts welcome!

Upon further looking into the results they really aren’t clear he definitely has cushings. Sigh.
I think I will just let him be as he is now. If he does go lame again then I’ll call it. Don’t really want to go down prascend path especially when test is not clear.

Probably not much riding until next week. Jingles for those who need them for themselves or their horses.

[chantal]

Sorry to hear that khali, jingles for you you and Rip. Do you you soak his hay (guessing you do)?

How is Odin Mari?

[exvet]

Personally, khall if the results aren't definitive then I would wait before pulling that trigger. I've had so many people insist various horses of mine must have cushings over the years and they simply didn't. Oh I tested because I felt guilty and didn't want to miss anything but almost every time the results were clearly 'negative' and/or a couple were inconclusive. None of these horses (cobs) that I refer to had laminitis, cresty yes and easy keepers. Monty who is 26 finally tested conclusively that he has Cushings. That did not happen until this year and he'd been tested before. Laminitis wasn't the concern. He has other symptoms. I know it adds more to the plate which I'm not trying to do but is there anyway to get Rip safely exercised if muzzles and dry lot aren't an option? Can you pony him? Hand walk or do you have any access to a walker? While it's not an answer to cushings disease it does help with calorie overload/metabolizing excess sugars.

[khall]

Chantal yes he’s on soaked hay and forage diet with balancer for most of his life. Love your pics!!

Exvet actually yes I can lunge him fairly easily. I don’t have a horse to pony him off of. He’s the dominant horse around here and that wouldn’t go well. Hand walking wouldn’t be much fun with him:). He’s a PIA. His weight looks great imo. Not cresty feel ribs but can’t see them. Doesn’t have the broodmare belly Gaila does. Doesn’t look like a retired horse either or move like one. For all his airs and shenanigans he’s sound legged as long as the LF hoof isn’t bothering him that is. Even his airway seems good.

I agree I’m not convinced he has cushings. Now his insulin has risen but still not crazy high. 40 I think last test. So yeah work would help that. I can also wih. Certainly done that for most of his life!

[Josette]

Khall - If your riding ring is fenced in would that be a possible dry lot turnout option? It would mean poop cleanup but at least restrict eating grass and some free turnout. These metabolic types are complicated to manage. Anyway just a thought....

[khall]

Josette it is but not sure I would trust him down there. He’s been known to jump fences. It’s just 3 rail where my pasture fences are 4 rail. No telling what kind of mischief he would get into!

[blob]

Khall, glad you didn't get hit badly. The bump East saved us as well, the news from South Carolina is awful.

I would do the same thing you are --- not add med and make the call if he gets laminitis again. I know the struggles of dry lots in this part of the country. But grazing muzzle and/or some lunging might help.

After the rough summer, I'm trying to slowly get MM back in shape. When she's fit she is overall healthier, so that's the goal. A friend of mine has one retired guy and the horse she was leasing might be out for a bit with injury. So, I'll see if she can also help put rides on MM to keep her moving. Right now I think low intensity rides more frequently is best for her, but not always easy for my schedule to get in the frequency. But between the two of us we can maybe ensure some more regularity.

RP's change introduction has gone better than anticipated so far. We are far from a clean, uneventful change on the aids. But after 3 sessions on it he clearly understands that sometimes we CC and sometimes we change leads without breaking to trot or walk. So that feels important. I'll wait to do any more work on it until I can get video to see exactly what we're both doing.

[mari]

It is terrifying to read about your hurricane experiences, such huge weather just boggles my mind.

Odin is still in hospital, and still on antibiotics, but the swelling is down and because of that and the pain meds he's acting like a happy loon, tearing around the enormous vet paddock. I'm going to visit him today, and hopefully get some idea of when he can come home and what the long-term forecast is.

Blob - He has a whole host of antibiotic-resistant bacteria living their best lives inside his sheath and on his penis. We've been managing it for years with regular cleanings and low-dose anti-inflammatories. But something triggered it into full-blown cellulitis infection last week. We don't know what, there are no visible wounds or marks. Best guess is that the constant skin irritation from the bacteria leveled up somehow, and got out of control.

[StraightForward]

Glad to hear Odin is feeling better! I hope he gets to go home soon and doesn't have any more flare ups!

Khall, sorry to hear Rip is having issues again. Hoping he can stay comfy. So glad to hear Helene didn't hit you and Blob too directly. My dad, aunt and cousin all outside of Tampa fared OK; I think it was close to flooding my dad and aunt's condos close to the water, but didn't get quite that bad. I have another cousin in Asheville who had to evacuate and lost a lot of old trees. Quite a terrible mess over there.

Saturday we had a nice little jump school after I got inspired watching the hunters and jumpers at the big fall show. We were a little rusty, but ended with some nice turns through a grid with an oxer and then a turn to a vertical plank. Working on getting a jumping clinic set up in a week or so.

I had a lesson yesterday, and my instructor thinks T is moving better than ever, so the hind leg thing is still puzzling. I watched the video, and her canter started out pretty lateral, but with some exercises, we got some pretty nice work. It was all basics mostly focusing on getting her through in the canter, and maintaining the bend and softness through the transitions. She also reminded me about bringing my center of gravity down as I can tend to get a little perchy and baby T along when she gets tense in the canter. Also refining my timing and staying on the outside reins in the down transitions. Looking forward to our lesson this afternoon!

Her Torigen vaccine came in, so we'll be hauling to the vet every Friday to do that. The vet is going to do another lameness exam on our first visit, and I might just have him tranq her in the trailer to see if I can get her foot trimmed.

[exvet]

On the news regarding the devastation due to hurricane Helene, I finally was able to get through to my brother and my niece yesterday who both live just outside of Boone, NC. My brother faired okay; but, my niece is still trapped at her place and unable to get out yet. The creek by her house came up the bank to her back door but spared her house (she sent me a picture of her hot tub which had the creek almost in it). Due to trees and roads being washed out she's living off her generator and now at least has spotty cell phone service - can text but not call. Her school was wiped out so she's worried about her job but is trying to get the downed trees cleared from her driveway just so she can get groceries and check on friends. She said her road though is impassable. My brother isn't sure when he'll be able to get to town either due to the roads but is at least able to ride the quad over to his daughter's place. Even major highways will be closed in that area for months due to mudslides as well as the water undermining major thoroughfares. I'm at least relieved to know that my immediate family is okay but could tell that my niece is just fried, struggling to feed her three cats and three dogs (didn't plan ahead and is running out of supplies) and now is waiting to hear about what FEMA is going to do to help repair their town. I can't imagine how those with horses are managing.

[khall]

Exvet it’s a complete mess from Fl to TN/NC SC. Just east of us got hit hard here in Georgia with tornadoes. All up and down the east part of Ga. Friends near Augusta got hit with a tornado. No power lots of trees down. Thankfully house is ok. Aiken had a big event at stableview. Crazy there. They ended up running the event Elisa Wallace ran several but geeze it was a mess. Friends in Aiken are still without power and struggling to find fuel. Long lines.

There but for the jog east of Helene would be us. Very thankful Feel for them terribly. Went through terrible flood in ‘94 cutting us off even destroyed bridges and even parts of I 75. So feel for the wide spread damage they are facing. So long for clean up! Glad your brother and niece came through intact. Hopefully they can get help soon.

I saw a hay transport heading there 500 bales.

Mari glad Odin is feeling better.

SF appreciate the good thoughts for Rip.

Blessings all

[Tanga]

Mari, wow, I'm sorry. I don't think I've heard of anything like that. One of the horses in the pasture (the woman who was the director of Hoof Dreams) got a little wound on his shoulder that made him very sore, then got cellulitis, and then ended up at Davis with a rare infection that she could have done nothing about, and is now on a month's rehab getting it taken care of. Wild.