Almost a HEAT WAVE!

Well, we've had such super crappy weather lately here in MN. Finally, today, it warmed up to 20+ degrees... a HUGE improvement over the -34 we had yesterday. And, yes, that was the actual temperature, without the wind factored in. It was absolutely miserable here in MN this past week.

That being said, Gus didn't have the opportunity to be worked at all this week. That really stunk because he needed to keep those stifles moving. Horses were in on Tuesday and Thursday, with limited turnout on Wednesday. Friday was the coldest, but they were eventually turned out later in the morning.

Gus was so happy to see me today, and I was of him. Yesterday was his 19th birthday. I've always made him something special for this birthday. This year, I did something a little different. A bit of sweet feed plus an apple, orange and small container of applesauce. Added hot water and a few peppermints... then chow time. Gus loved it. Gringo got a modified version tonight also (pears instead of the orange and applesause).

Gus was still off today when I got to the barn. He was still tracking up well with both hind legs, but they seemed weaker. He had two bad stumbles, where he almost lost his own hind end. We're back to square one with just nice long walks. Can't wait til spring... really can't.

On Wednesday we're testing him for Cushings with the ACTH Stim test. Please keep your fingers crossed that nothing shows up. I'm really hoping that the results fall within normal limits... we'll have the results within a week or so at the latest, so I'm told.

Gringo seems to be doing well enough. He still is getting snow packed into his hooves... and that's causing a lot of pain. I'll be talking to the farrier about this... as it's not normal, and he's so ouchy. I do feel bad for him because I'm not able to get out there all the time, but he shouldn't be this uncomfortable. So, we'll see with that.

Otherwise, both boys are doing okay. Both still have their lameness issues but both are happy and in otherwise good health, from what we can tell. And I'm so happy that the weather is starting to warm up a bit.