Image Overload.

So, I took A LOT of photos on Monday... and lots of video. I'm still working on editing the video and the "real" photos, so that should be coming soon. The photos below are video stills. It's nice to see Gus pushing thru slightly with his hind legs. Hopefully after making some cavalletti and working with those, that hind end will improve even more.

The clips below are a dismounting sequence... just for giggles :-).

Gus seems to be doing really well though. Soundness is staying about the same. I do think I'll need to get his stifles injected before too much longer, but I just don't have the extra money at the moment to get that done. So, we'll see if we can keep him reasonably comfortable for a while longer.

November HEAT WAVE

Wow. On a day like today it's hard to believe we're in November. The projected high is nearly 60 degrees today, tomorrow and Sunday. Crazy, huh? And this is Minnesota we're talking about.

So, in light of the heat wave, I decided to leave Gus's sheet off for the next couple days. Boy, was he NOT happy about that this morning. He kept looking at me like I'd forgotten something. He'll survive... the overnight lows are only going to be in the 40s. That's nothing compared to what we've had lately.

Anyhow, I decided to take some photos this morning. Unfortunately they didn't turn out all too great because well, they were taken with my Blackberry Curve again (crappy camera) and the sun was shinning (NOT a bad thing at all... just bad for photo taking).

I had to go pick up more feed on Wednesday, and instead of my Mazda Tribute (a small SUV) I was driving my mom's Volkeswagen Beetle. Well, needless to say, the car wasn't too happy about carrying an additional 150lb in it's trunk. The proof is below.

The boys are done with their powerpak now too. So far so good. No one went off feed and no colic bouts, yet. So, hopefully at day 14 things are still looking good. Only 13 days to go until we're over "the hump".

I think I'm going to dig out the Canon for some better shots this weekend. It's supposed to be nice (like I already mentioned) so it would be nice to get some better shots before winter. I still would like to get some good shots with my fiance for Christmas card photos... but it's Deer Opener (almost as important as "The Opener" aka fishing (walleye) opener in the spring) so it's a no go this weekend.

Photos, Photos and MORE Photos!

Okay. So Gus has been on the new diet for nearly a month now. I thought I should finally do an update with how things are going with him. Gus has been on the Triple Crown Senior (at 1lb/daily) for about a month, give or take a few days. He's still getting 2lbs of Triple Crown Lite daily along with 1/2lb of alfalfa pellets. As far as supps go, he's getting MSM (10,000mgs), HA (100mgs), Lysine (10g) and Magnesium (5000mgs).

Gus had an incident last weekend where he overheated (supposedly) and started sweating. He was also lethargic and cribbing again. I naturally freaked out - drove all the way out to see him and he was perfectly fine. Thank GOD. Anyways, I did end up ordering some SmartGut for Gus to try for a month... to see if that makes any difference. I don't see any more evidence (or more damage) that says Gus started up cribbing again. So, hopefully that was just a one time thing.

Anyways, here's some photos taken 10/29. Gus seems to have put on some weight... but he's also putting on a winter coat. The weight tape says he's staying the same, or gaining very slightly. What do you think?

And here's Gringo. I haven't taken any recent body shots... so he was game for a photo op himself. He's still doing the same. Fairly sound most days, but he does have his moments where he's dead lame on that left front.

I had a new farrier out a couple weeks back. Nice guy... he'll go by L here. J recommended him as he actually apprenticed under her mentor too. Anyways, he said that if he didn't know better, he would have thought Gringo's LF was a true club foot, not a club foot due to injury. He agrees with our current treatment plan, which is barefoot unless Gringo tells us otherwise. He's much sounder now then he's been in months. So, hopefully we're on the road to some sort of recovery.

(Pretty goose head, huh?)

Anyways, both boys are currently doing okay at the moment. Today was the first day of their first "PowerPak". The PP targets all four stages of strongyles and conveniently takes care of bots too. Anyways, the boys are getting 50cc of liquid fenbendazole daily for five days. I'm hoping everything goes fine and if they have any critters... hopefully they'll expell themselves without any issues.

Day 1. First day of new diet.

So, here's some shots I took this past Wednesday. This was the first day of Gus's new diet. I plan on keeping a record via photos on how he progresses. True, he is getting hairy-er... but I should still be able to see improvements.

Here goes nothing:

These first few are during our ride and right afterwards... excuse the sweat patches on Gus. He's still quite a bit outta shape.

And, here's the ones of Gus minus the saddle... Ribs are quite visible, but he is chowing down on hay at the moment in most of these photos. Just standing, sans saddle and not eating, the ribs aren't nearly as visible. I'm just not sure anymore, but I'm hoping I'll start seeing more progress - in a positive way.

So, what do you think? I see some progress, just nothing like I had hoped for. I'm hoping he's looking better now... we'll see how he looks tomorrow when I'm out again. It does help, I think, that he's wearing his turnout sheet 24/7 currently. That helps keep him warm and not have to worry those calories away.

Diet changes, again.

Yep. We're changing Gus's diet yet again. What's new, right? Well, after talking to a Triple Crown rep, I've decided to add some TC Senior to Gus's diet.

So, that being said, we're decreasing his TC Lite back down to 2lbs daily. He's also going to be getting 1lb of TC Senior to start with (well, actually starting with 1/2lb daily and slowly increasing that until he's at a full pound daily) and we'll adjust that as needed. He's still on 1/2lb of alfalfa pellets too.

While talking to the rep, he noted that Gus does not need to be getting a vit/min supp anymore as he's getting the recommended 2lbs of TC Lite daily and that should meet his requirements, that and he's getting the other stuff too (TC Senior and alfalfa pellets).

Hopefully we'll begin to notice a more dramatic change in Gus's weight here in the coming weeks. Otherwise, I'll bump up the TC Senior to 1.5lbs, possibly two pounds and go from there. If needed, I will be decreasing the TC Lite...

He's still getting the beet pulp when I'm out there to feed it. I do need to try to come up with a better situation to feed it though. Not sure what I'm going to do. I also want to check with other local feed stores to see if they carry the molasses free beet pulp, so I don't have to be so anal about rinsing it so well. As it stands, he's getting about 1.5lbs of BP every 2-3 days or thereabouts.

Also, next month (at the beginning of the month) I'm going to do my first ever "powerpak". I've got my Safe Guard ready, and figured both boys would get the 50mg daily dosage. I'm hoping Gringo doesn't decide to go on a hunger strike at the same time, because I'll be having the BO just dump the dose in with his grain. So, for those 5 days or so I may have her feed him a little extra, or throw in some of Gus's TC Senior to make it more appealing.

Anyways nothing else new with either of the boys. Next week the new farrier comes to visit. He'll be known as L. He's supposed to be a nice guy, but we shall see. I made a fool of myself again... I always do that when talking with someone new on the phone. I hate phone conversations. But, he does come recommended from J and her mentor too. He supposedly studied under J's mentor also.

I did get a ride in on Gus this week too... and I was pleased with how well behaved he was. Yes, he was above the bit, hollow and lazy, but he was still pretty darn sound. Did a few canter laps around the south field and he was pretty consistent... very few mis-steps this time around. I am hoping for a few more days of decent weather, so we can keep up the canter work but I'm not holding my breath. It's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow, ugghh that's way TOO early in the season. It's MN though, so what can I say?