Hooves!

So, Gringo has his hooves trimmed last week (I forget which day) and Gus had his done yesterday. Both boys' hooves are looking pretty good, all things considered.

J said Gringo's hooves showed signs of improvement, least where thrush was a concern. I'm still supposed to be using Tomorrow (or is it Today?) as often as possible to help cure and prevent further thrush outbreaks. Easier said then done when it's been so dang muddy and wet outside. Oh well. Such is life for an outdoor horse who's owner is VERY pregnant.

As usual, here's Gringo's hooves in their typical order (LF, LH, RH, RF).

I'm not entirely sure why his front frogs are so dang narrow. I can understand with the left front, as that's his "clubby" foot due to lingering effects associated with the fractured coffin bone in that hoof. But the right front? Nothing has ever been wrong with that hoof - but it's always had a narrower frog, least when compared to the hinds.

Gus FINALLY had his pads and studs removed. Woot! Woot! This means it's finally SPRING. Or in our case, it's summer. Spring never even happened.

All things considered, Gus's hooves look fabulous. The fronts look pretty dang good, especially since they've been covered up since January (I think that's when I put pads on ... it may have been back in December even).

As with Gringo, Gus's hoof shots are in the same "order".

I ended up pulling Gus's bell boots for a couple days. I'm REALLY hoping it wasn't a mistake to do so, but they were so mud-logged, it wasn't even funny! Hopefully a couple days to air out will allow Gus's fetlocks to air out as well. I'm really hoping I don't have to deal with any "scratches" this year.

27 Weeks and Still Riding!

... And I have pictures to prove it! Except, well they are on my cell phone and I'm on the computer. I will get them downloaded and update this blog once I get the opportunity though.

So after work yesterday, I decided to get some "therapy" in and headed out to the barn for some 1 on 2 time with my boys. Both boys were SO HAPPY to see me. Makes me a happy mom, that's for sure. Gringo is almost entirely shedded out, where as Gus still has a long ways to go. But, we're making progress. Since I've owned Gus, I don't think he's every began shedding this early in the year. Typically, it's late April/May and he's not done until June. We'll see if he's done by May. I kinda doubt it - especially with the type of spring we've been having. But at least he's started the process.

Yesterday's ride was very lazy but good. I rode Gus and ponied Gringo so we didn't get anything accomplished. Which is okay because my body really can't handle too much right now anyways. Getting on and off of Gus is getting more and more comical as the weeks go on. Least I'm still landing on both feet!

We started off with the should stretches followed by the 10m half-circles. Once done with that, we did a half a lap at the trot around the arena, with a 20m circle thrown in at either E or B. Then we rinsed and repeated the other direction. Very uneventful.

Gringo was a good pony yesterday as well. He was not such a pest to Gus and actually is becoming better at trotting on command, least when I ask Gus to trot he picks up the trot as well. Very proud of him as 6 months ago, we didn't have that ... heck even early December/January we didn't have that. So all the ground work (long-lining and ground-driving) have paid off. Woot. Woot!

Anyways, I'll get those photos posted soon. Promise.

ETA on 4.26.13 - Proof that I'm still riding at 27 weeks.

Proof that I'm in the saddle at 27 weeks ... riding Gus and ponying Gringo.

 

Pre-ride ... wasn't sure if I'd be able to manage riding + ponying + camera.

Gus and I

Post-Ride. A very sleepy Gus.

Post-Ride. Gus conformation-ish shot.

The boys before our ride.

Gringo and I, pre-ride (or in his case, pre-ponying).

Gringo. Post-Ride ... bright eyed and ready for more adventures.

Gringo, post-ride.

A conformation shot of Gringo.

Another confo. shot of Gringo.

Gringo mugging the camera.

It's been a while ...

but I figure I should update everyone again on how the boys are doing.

The last time I worked with either horse was back on April 2nd, I think. It's honestly been a while but thankfully both boys are doing fabulous out at B's. It's very reassuring to know that I can be gone for a week and not have to worry about them. Even though it's in my nature to worry about them, regardless.

Before I forget, here's photos of Gus's hooves from his last trim, which was March 14th. These photos were taken a week later on the 21st.

His next trim is on April 25th. I'm hoping to pull the snow pads AND borium studs by then. Kinda glad I left them on for this last round, as we just got dumped with another 6+ inches of snow here on Wednesday and the forecast is calling for another 6 to 9 inches by Sunday. Great. Love living in the midwest ... not.

Gringo's doing pretty fabulous as well. He was supposed to be trimmed by J on Wednesday, but due to the lovely snowstorm, she had to reschedule. Totally understandable. So, not sure if he's actually been done yet or not. She was going to let me know when she was out but I haven't heard anything yet. I'm thinking if she hasn't done him already, it'll likely be early this next week.

Riding has definitely become more of a challenge as of late. On Sunday, I'll officially be 27 weeks pregnant - and only three months til Baby B is due. Not sure if Baby is a boy or girl as we opted to not find out. So instead, we're calling it Baby B. My mom call's it "Lexi", one of my favorite nicknames for Alexanderia. My BIL calls it his "nicefew" - short for niece/nephew. Pretty cleaver, if I do say so myself.

So, with riding, it's been interesting. I have been limiting myself to mostly walking, with some trot and/or canter thrown in IF I feel balanced enough to try. Unfortunately, carrying all this extra weight around makes it hard for me to balance. I can definitely no longer get up into the saddle from the ground. Mounting blocks are a life saver (and a Gus.back.saver). Dismounting involves using the near-side stirrup ... but it's still very much doable. I'm hoping having the last two weeks or so off won't make matters worse when I go to ride again. I'd like to keep riding for as long as I can. But we'll see. My body will let me know when it's no longer feasible.

I know I've said it before, but I'm going to try hard to keep this blog updated on a more regular basis ... hopefully I can make good on that promise.

First Trail Ride of the New Year!

Well, today it was FINALLY nice enough (and I was off work in time) to have a quick ride outside. It's a muddy, wet mess outside, but that didn't stop me or Gus. We had a nice ride out on the gravel roads today ... probably did about a mile or two over the course of about 30 minutes. Gus was a VERY GOOD boy, as usual. There is definitely something to be said when you can pull a horse out of the pasture, tack him up, and ride outside like you've been doing it all winter long. Love my ol' man.

So, I did end up putting Gus and Gringo in lighter-weight blankets. Gringo, actually, is running around now in his Centaur sheet. Gus has his Centaur sheet on along with an ancient blanket ... so about 100g or so of fill total.

Both boys are still shedding out like crazy, which is a very good thing. Hopefully after a couple more weeks, they'll both be done shedding out. That would be absolutely AMAZING.

Updates ... A bit overdue.

Okay. So life has been super, duper busy as of late and the boys have (unfortunately) been on the back-burner.

Gus had his hooves trimmed last on March 14th and I *think* things are still looking good for him. He's still sporting full bar shoes + full snow pads + borium studs, but I'm hoping to remove the pads and borium next shoe cycle. Hopefully by then, end of April, we'll be done with snow and ice. If not, we'll I'm moving south! I'll try to get photos posted soon ... they are stuck on my cell phone at the moment, as usual.

Gringo's hooves still seem to be doing okay too. He's dealing with some on and off thrushy issues - so when I think of it, I do try to use of the mastitis ointment (Tomorrow) in the the crevices to ward off any more infection. His last trim was back on February 27th, I'm guessing he'll get done again sometime the beginning part of April. He's still barefoot and reasonably sound.

As far as workload goes, both boys have had it really easy as of late. I've done a couple rides on Gus over the last two weeks and both times he truly was a trooper. He still looks to be fairly sound, abit stiff, but he does work through his issues. Gringo has had it super, duper easy. He's been ponied twice off Gus in the last couple weeks. Despite not having attempted this in months, he was a pretty decent boy. Although he thought it would be more fun to start a fight with Gus, he did at least listen to me and acted like the 10 year old he is - eventually.

I'll try to start blogging a bit more regularly again soon. At least I really hope to.

Gus ... Confuses me.

Well, the last time I rode Gus was last Thursday, February 28th. We did our usual routine and he just didn't seem 100% right. It probably had A LOT to do with the fact that I didn't have spurs on OR a crop with me. So the forward button was entirely my leg - which Gus is fairly dull to. Oh well.

It also didn't help that B starting lunging her young gelding just as we were finishing our warmup - so we didn't have access to the entire arena. Instead, we had the rail and only one end to work with. I was not fully satisfied with our trot work so I'm hoping when I get the opportunity to get to the barn again, it'll be much improved - or at least better then it was the last time.

Because of our lovely snow storm, I'm not sure when I'll make it out to the barn next. The way it looks right now, it probably won't be until Friday. I don't work til later tomorrow, but we're supposed to get another dumping of snow overnight tonight. Yippee skippy. Not. Then, I'm stuck working long days on both Wednesday AND Thursday. I desperately need my therapy ... should've gone to the barn yesterday. Kicking myself for skipping out on that.

Gringo's Footsies

Well ... nothing has changed too much here in Minnesota. It's March 4th and winter is still hanging on. As I type, we're in the midst of another winter storm. This one is named Saturn. Lovely, huh?

Anyways, Gringo had his hooves trimmed again this past Wednesday. So here's the shots, like usual.

Not sure what's with the "bump" about midway up the hoof wall ... odd.

And he's got a real odd "bullnose" sorta bump going on here. I guess I need to keep an eye on this.

Good news is, J said the thrush is going away. So the plan is to keep using the mastitis ointment frequently in hopes of clearing up all his thrushy issues. 

In other Gringo news, nothing has really gone on with him, as of late. He's shedding like crazy - hence all the Gringo hair in the above photos. It's IMPOSSIBLE to get all of it swept up. 

I haven't done a lot of work with Gringo lately, either. But he's such a good boy that he literally leaves right were we left off. I do need to start committing to him more frequently. I keep saying that, but honestly, I need to act on it. He deserves it.