First Colic!

Yikes. Last Wednesday was NOT a good day for Gringo. Everything started off normally, but quickly spirled downhill. He had his typical 1/2lb of alfalfa pellets, slightly mushy with water, and his supps. I then turned him outside to munch on his hay while I was picking up his pasture. He took on small (very unusual) bite of hay and then proceeded to lay down. He stood back up, pawed at the hay and then laid down again (flat out).

I knew almost immediately that something was not right. First of all, Gringo never takes small bites of anything. It's all or nothing for him. And laying down while eating? He's lazy, but not THAT lazy.

Needless to say, he was colicing. I got the good vet out (Dr. NS, the same one we had for our spring vaccines this year) and she gave him a good dose of banamine and some other wonderful drug to help stop his cramps. She said he was colicing, but it was more of a "I ate bad Chinese" stomach cramp rather then an impaction. To be on the safe side, we did go ahead and tube him with some electrolytes.

He's better, but still not himself. He's very subdued. Talked to trainer/BO and she recommended adding in some probios/electolytes... so I think I'll try that to see if he perks back up.

Anyways, the farrier was out today and I took some shots of Gringo's feet just after the trim. Any suggestions?



He says "Mom, I don't feel so well".

Weight-wise, he looks pretty decent. He's still really hairy though.

Front Legs

Another front view.

Hind Legs.

LF

LF

LF

LF

RF

RF

RF

LH

LH

LH

LH

RH

RH

RH

RH

That's it for photos for now...

The MOVE!

Well, this past Saturday Gus moved back "home". Home would be where he's lived about 6 of the 10 years I've had him. It was funny picking him up from the fMIL's place. He saw the trailer, gave the inside a good ol' sniff and jumped in. No Big Deal. When we arrived back at the old barn, he jumped off the trailer, stretched a bit and that was that. No fuss. No whinnying. No Big Deal.

So far he's adjusting quite well to the place, which is pretty typical of Gus. Nothing ever bothers him too much. He'll be turned out during the day with N again (used to be turned out with him a while back) and overnight he'll be out by himself (well, in a turnout by himself... there are two other horses on pasture board as well).

I did end up upping his grain, least for the time being. However the *lovely* feed mill exchanged hands (older owner sold out) and the new owners were late in reordering feeds. So Gus will be out of his ProAdvantage Grass after tomorrow morning. Did I mention that I was out to the feed store two weeks ago this Friday? Uggh.

Anyways, his new grain is as follows:

AM:
1lb Progressive ProAdvantage Grass
3lb alfalfa pellets

Plus his supps, which consist of:
10g MSM
8g MagOx 56%
100mg HA
SmartGut (until gone)
Tri-Aminos

PM:
1lb Progressive ProAdvantage Grass
3lb alfalfa pellets

Plus:
1/2c Cool Calories 100

The plan is to decrease the alfalfa pellets over time (hopefully) and also to discontinue the CC100. We'll see how things go. I'm hoping he puts the weight (and muscle) back on before the end of summer. My goal (shhsh, don't tell) is to do the fall show at our barn - probably the Intro Test A or B, and if that goes well one of the Training Level tests.

Gringo seems to be adjusting to the lack of Gus. I went out on Sunday (after having a MARVELOUS ride on Gus) to see him and he was very happy to see me. Nickering at me a lot. I think he misses Gus - but only because he was something to pick on.

Both boys are shedding like crazy. I'm really amazed at how much Gus is shedding. Usually he keeps his winter coat until June. I'm wondering if it was either (A) the lack of blanketing this year or (B) finally getting his IR under control that made the difference. Those (besides the move to the old barn) were the only two changes in Gus's life over the past 12 months.

Needless to say, I'm hoping Gus continues to blow out his winter coat, cause otherwise the clipper blades may be in his future. He is still hairy and just after 45 minutes of work on Sunday he was sweating pretty badly. No big deal but he's having a hard time cooling off.

So, we'll see. More photos and updates to come. Can you believe that April is just days away? Uggh. And I'll be married (and officially Mrs. B) 4 months from tomorrow!

Riding Photos

Okay. The FINAL set of photos. These were taken 2/20. Don't you just LOVE my new saddle pad? Well... I do. It's a very pretty color on Gus. Then again, just about anything looks good on Gus.

The snow was so deep, you couldn't see his hooves. Now... well the snow isn't so deep. And the fields are getting sloppy. Uggh. Mud season is upon us. Great.

A scary photo of me. Really... I need to get better photos of myself. One of these days...

Our tracks.

The geese... welcoming (err, not so much) us back to the barn.

Ta Da! No more photos... for now.

Happy (belated) Birthday Gus!

So, I'm WAY late in posting theses, but here's the photos from Gus's "party". He got THREE whole bananas. I think he thought he died and went to heaven. He love bananas but I don't let him have them anymore because he's IR. Needless to say, birthdays are special so I figured he deserved a treat (or three).

Enjoy!

I wasn't kidding... lotsa photos. Again, not the greatest cause they are off my cellphone, but decent enough to capture the moment.