So, unfortunately Gus is starting to have a few issues with his hooves again. Of course that is nothing new. Here's what I was looking at last Wednesday...
By yesterday, the left front was even more broken up. Sad thing is, this is only a 4 week trim. It's unfortunate, but we had such a wet spring and that was followed by HOT, dry weather. Everybody and everything seems to be breaking up. So, I bumped Gus up from a 6 week schedule to a 4 week schedule, least for the next two cycles.
Yesterday, Gus and I had a lovely ride outside. Due to his hooves, I opted to not ride in the outdoor arenas as they are like riding on concrete right now. The indoor would've worked just fine, but it was beautiful outside. So, we worked in the fields. We started off with working on down and round at the walk and trot. When I asked for the canter, we got both leads - correctly - the first go around. I figured we'd try our hand at the hand gallop again... and what a lovely hand gallop we had. Of course is was on the forehand and no where near proper, but since when has Gus had a proper hand gallop?
Tonight is another lesson night, so I'm hoping we can work more on getting him round and forward again. Last week's lesson was primarily working on round and forward. We did the 3 and 4 loop serpentines again at the trot, followed by 20m canter circle figure-8s. We also worked on leg yields, from the quarter line to the rail. Gus was better doing the leg yield off the right leg when I was posting. The left leg yield was fine regardless.
He's still getting bute prior to every ride, as long as I remember. The bute seems to take the edge off and make him a little bit more comfortable. The farrier wanted him bute'd before he works on him in the future, so hopefully Gus will be good for J tomorrow when he gets retrimmed.
Oh, and I asked the BM about how Gus is eating his new grain (Triple Crown Senior). She said he's eating it all up, every meal, including his supps. However, he's not eating his Pergolide unless they break and crumble up the tablets. So... he's obviously been missing a few dosages as she's seen as many as three tablets in and around his feed area. She and the BO break up the tablets, but none of the other workers do. So I'm thinking about crumbling them myself when I make up his grain every week. And speaking of his grain, he's currently on about 1.5lbs twice a day. He's looking great at this current amount, so we'll see how well he holds his weight.
Oh, and I asked the BM about how Gus is eating his new grain (Triple Crown Senior). She said he's eating it all up, every meal, including his supps. However, he's not eating his Pergolide unless they break and crumble up the tablets. So... he's obviously been missing a few dosages as she's seen as many as three tablets in and around his feed area. She and the BO break up the tablets, but none of the other workers do. So I'm thinking about crumbling them myself when I make up his grain every week. And speaking of his grain, he's currently on about 1.5lbs twice a day. He's looking great at this current amount, so we'll see how well he holds his weight.
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