First Ride of the Fall

Well, today I opted to start working with Gus again. He was cleared on Friday by Dr. N to resume work and yesterday J, the farrier, didn't find anything new. I opted to take things really easy starting out. We ended up doing about 20 minutes of lunge work before I hopped up for about 10 minutes. Definitely not back 100%, but he seemed better today then he did a few weeks back when I worked with him last.

We only did w/t/c on the lunge and just mainly walking with a trot thrown in on both directions while under saddle. Gus seems a lot better if I can keep him off his forehand, but that's easier said then done. Least when we left the arena I didn't have any "drunken sailor" moves. Score for this team!

So, yesterday Gus has his hooves trimmed again. Like I previously mentioned, both Dr. N and J cleared Gus's hooves (ie no more abscesses). Here's the photos from today. As usual, it goes LF, LH, RH, RF.

I also managed to take more body shots of Gus today as well. He was extremely impatient outside, hence the ugly faces and crappy body stances. Oh well. He needs to learn a bit of patience.

 Gus is attempting to let himself out... he's kept repeatedly popping the gate door. Good thing I latched it. 

I wish he had a forelock... for whatever reason it almost disappeared entirely this summer.

I think, weight-wise, Gus looks pretty dang ideal. You can easily palpate his ribs and depending on his stance, they are visible... but not entirely. He's still getting between 1lb and 1 1/4lbs of Triple Crown Senior twice a day. He's still on 10g MSM and he's now on 1oz of Quiessence and 1 "scoop" of Grand Hoof pellets. The change in magnesium and hoof supplements is due to the fact that it was cheaper to switch then to stay with the old product. 

After visiting with Gus, seeing Gringo was my next stop. He's got this lump underneath this jaw, like between his jowls. My MIL noticed it last Friday, but didn't mention anything to me until yesterday as she knew I was going out of state for the weekend and didn't want me to worry. Gringo is eating/drinking/pooping/peeing like normal but the lump was originally about the size of a ping pong ball. When I head about it yesterday, I assumed it was a tooth issue, but now I'm not so sure. We plan on monitoring it for another few days and if it still hasn't resolved itself by the weekend, I'll be calling the vet to have someone out to check him out. On the plus side, it is soft and squishy - however, it's located in and around where I'd think a lymph node is, and I'm not sure if we're dealing with something more then just a simple lump. Hopefully that's all it is. 

Gringo seems to be doing well enough otherwise. Still not sure what's going to happen with Jade, his pasture mate. My now ex-SIL-to-be hasn't been out to visit her since she and my BIL broke up. Rumor had it that she was moving Jade to a pasture board situation for like $50/month... didn't sound like a good place for Jade but she's not my horse or my responsibility. My MIL is a bit worried, she really cares for Jade and wants what's best for her... so we'll see what happens after the first of the month. My bet is that Jade is still around... the ex had more then a few screws loose.

I also finally dewormed Gringo again. I haven't done that in forever... my bad. So today Gringo got a full dose of Equimax. In two weeks I'll be giving him a dose of just plain ol' ivermectin... then we'll get him back on a schedule again. Perhaps that's why he looks like he's 9 months pregnant....

Here's a few photos of Gringo from today.

He was so happy to see me. Him and Jade came trucking up from the bottom of the field. It's always nice (and very appreciated) when you don't have to walk out to get your horse. Makes me feel like I'm actually appreciated.

 The stall is very uneven... he's really not built that far down hill. Trust me. 

Anyways, we'll see what the weekend brings for both boys. I'm hoping that Gus turns around and becomes sounder (hopefully the bute prior to work will help with that) and Gringo's lump goes away. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

Hannibal

Meet Hannibal (aka Gus).

After Gus's nasty behavior last month when the chiropractor was out, we came up with a unique solution to Gus's attempts at biting people. A grazing muzzle. Worked wonders and he was so ashamed to be seen wearing it as well. Was quite comical.

So, Dr. K found that Gus has more or less the same issues as he's had in the past, just to a lesser extent this time around. Most of the issues were isolated to the right side of the neck, the lumbar region of the back and the sacroiliac joint. For the most part, all on the right side of his body. He was also out at the poll again, so he was adjusted there as well.

I definitely think we made some progress, as far as behavior goes. B, the barn owner, actually gave Dr. K the grazing muzzle to use on other clients. Kinda funny, but it should help make her job safer. FWIW, Gus would never try doing what he did last time with me. He respects me. I don't think he has any respect for C, the barn "manager". Which is too bad (though I secretly think she doesn't like Gus - which horses can sense when you don't like them).

I had a chance to soak and rewrap Gus again today. He's looking a bit better but I honestly can't tell if he's healing up or what. Dr. N will be out at the barn tomorrow to look at another horse, so I'm going to have her recheck Gus again as well. If he doesn't need to say wrapped, then we'll pull the wraps. Otherwise hopefully on Monday, when J's out to retrim Gus, he'll be able to let me know what he think. Haha - if he'll even talk to me.

I guess we'll see what Monday/Tuesday brings for us. Not sure when I'll be able to make it back out to the barn because I'll be out of town until Sunday evening (going to IA/WI to see family and go to the apple orchards - family tradition).

Wednesday, Day 14 of Abscessing

Today is day number 14 of the second round of abscessing. I guess if you were to count from day one, back in August, we're on day number 36. Yikes. That's depressing, when counting from the day it was first diagnosed. Anyways, here's the abscess photos from today. Like ususal, I did a 15 minute espom salt soak followed by a hot pad of Animalintex, cotton, vet wrap and finally topped off with some duct tape.

Gus was a bit embarrassed by the hot pink name tag. Haha. 

I did take some new body conformation shots as well. Just for comparison sake, here's Gus from today:

And here are photos from May 2010. Granted he's in his spring coat - clipped, but weight wise, he was still pretty dang skinny. Just comparing his neck muscles... it's amazing. And the above photos, taken today, show Gus about 6 weeks out of work. He looked a bit better at the end of July, muscle-tone wise.  

Wish Gus still had his mane. Sadly he decided to rub a chunk of it out and it just never grew back right. So we'll see how it grows over the winter. 

I also took new photos of Gus's hooves in general. As usual, they are taken left front to hinds, ending with the right front. 

I already posted this photo above, but note to the left of the abscess - the hoof wall. Doesn't it it look odd? In the pictures posted above (the abscess ones) you can see the odd separation. I'm not entirely sure what's up with that - I plan on leaving a note for J. Then again, why should I even bother when I never get any answers?

 Ugg. Note the flaring of the hoof wall. Yikes. 

And the quarter crack... sheesh, when will it end?

This hind (right) hoof is also flaring badly. For whatever reason this hind has been having more issues flaring then the left, but regardless, IMO, both hinds are flaring badly - and they shouldn't be. Again, the hooves are only at 6 weeks out - Monday when Gus is retrimmed, it'll be 6.5 weeks. 

God, the bottom of his RH looks like a dinner plate. Sheesh!

Underrun heels much? 

Anyways, I think there is not a lot to be desired with these hooves. No telling what I can get the farrier to do. But I'm thinking something needs to change again. Maybe I should run things by the vet?