the very good news - and the bad - and the moderate!

The very good news - rode, and i could get off no bother at all! YAY. This is goig to be a regular date on Tuesdays, helps the owner keep the horse exercised and gets me back into the swim. what was even better - we used my saddle (hurray) and it worked fine on the horse. she'd said, last treeless she had on him slipped - i said, this is a proper one, LOL.

the bad news - some person went and poked holes in all my bags of bedding! ggrrhh. notice going up at the yard on the subject, complete with photos ...

the moderate news - Monfils is sounder, despite the fact that the hoof and gone through at the toe (where the hole is!) ... not enough vetwrap.

no rain for the rest of the week, so hopefully i'll be able to keep him out. and then the hoof putty I've ordered should arrive tomorrow/day after and i reckon by then he should be right to put that in the hole and take the poultice off. fingers crossed.

and talking about it whilst riding tonight, we rather wondered if it was just run downness - you know how as people when we've been working hard, then stop - we get bugs - possibly that sort of thing? in which case the echinacea to support the immune system will be doing its job.

reflections on causes of abcesses

mmmm

the first one was 12th May

thought to be just one of those things; that was the right, off, fore

the second one was the following sunday

Trimmer, when she came, thought that that one might have been caused by some sort of trauma, and looking at it now, 2 weeks later, she may well have been right. of course, it's easier to see such things on this foot, as it's white!

The third one, near, left, fore, was thursday gone

I did discuss with vet whether there might be some underlying issue, but he thinks not, and thought not lami either (we did think of that).

So i wondered whether i should have had him in boots anyway, and posted on the relevant section of the EE forum.

2 well known trimmers, both of whom i have a lot of time for, suggest either low grade lami or ulcer (or possibly both?) bearing in mind he's not long out of racing was the thinking behind both thoughts.

I'm not sure he has an ulcer either. He certainly shows no behaviours that I would associate with ulcers/healed ulcers, even on the rare occasions when he's had some tack on there has been no grief about doing the girth up. which doesn't, of course, mean that he doesn't, just that there's nothing relevant showing and everyone agrees he's the sweetest natured horse going.

his feed is pretty much right for that sort of thing anyway

So it will be interesting to see what my trimmer thinks. but that off hind trauma is interesting, whatever it was, but i don't think lami, as there was (as i said on the original post) a scrape as well, so more external trauma than otherwise. That was the same day he scraped his back as well.

In the meantime, I should not have turned him out last night (or should have got him in this morning). I am NOT going to be able to keep the foot dry whilst wrapped, and i don't know what made me think that i might be able to. So he's in again.

Gave them all a good scrub whilst i was on, encourage by the fact that partner was with me so could, if required, feed treats/pass me the next item i needed!

But i'm going to try and avoid the mutual grooming - went in to give him a bit of a scratch before i left, and he decided to return the favour. OUCH!

without the nappy

always find that none horsey people look at you as if you're mad talking about nappies in the context of horses feet, LOL (oh, diaper that is in the US...)

anyway, wanted to turn him out again but again forecast for more rain on and off, so again dry poultice with vetwrap and double layer of duct tape - my thinking being, the abscess can still drain, is kept clean, but at least the whole thing gets a chance to dry out again if it does get wet, rather than sitting in a bubble of wet all day...

rain + bandaged foot

and water running down inside of leg into dressing, is VERY bad for the long term health of the foot.

so he's now in, until we either know we get a consistent dry spell, or i can be reasonably sure the abcess is sorted, whichever comes first.

possibly wouldn't have been so bad if he'd still been in Hall Field, where the grass is very short, but he isn't ......

if you can imagine, a disposable nappy totally soaked through encasing the foot?

not good...

i didn't even do hot poultice, just dry dressing....

swearing and crying

that's me, over trying to get the new poultice on that near fore - lost 3 bits of poultice to the dirt before he'd hold the foot up long enough for me to get a bit on......

in between 3 & 4 i had a good snivel

this is getting me really stressed, can you tell?

anyway, some echinacea to support his immune system was purchased, along with a spanking new velcro hoodie for him, with mesh over his eyes - main purpose, to ensure that the hole under his jaw stays fly free, and of course, will keep body heat in thus hopefully helping whatever on its way out...

4th vet visit

and twice in 2 days is a bit much as well...

another abcess, near fore this time.

he was lame when i brought him in this morning to hot soak his jaw, so left him in (since he didn't want to move out) and vet came tonight... defo abcess, defo pus coming out.

ggrrhh

Another vet visit

This is what i found tonight. There id a wound underneath so we think something has gone in.

So antibiotics bute and hot flannels.  If it doesnt come out in couple of days or so will be scanned

:-(

gales - rain- mud.....and no riding...

gales - if you saw the news/forecasts, you know how strong the wind has been. not quite as bad here as scotland, but not good. Young lady age 17/18 killed by falling tree in Corbridge, apparently - it landed on her car

rain - showers - but very heavy and very horizontal when it came - happily, i only got caught once

mud? monfy came in tonight with dried mud all up his back legs, bum, on his sheath! belly and some spots on his face, even...

what i reckon he's done, he's found the one muddy bit in the field - I'm told it's up by the trees - had a good roll, got up whilst having his back legs in the mud - the rain has washed the rest of the mud off his body and I've been left to deal with the rest, that was dried on...(when not raining, it's been good drying weather if you can be sure your washing is going to stay on the line, LOL)

job only half done, then something set them off i nthe fiel (new field right next to stable yard, can be seen by horses tied up) him duly unsettled, one pull back and equitie broke - then it rained again - i gave up, gave him tea and turned out again..

he's still sound, though :-)

and the riding? was supposed to go up to previous yard to ride cob, but RI cancelled as she had to work late at her day job - TBH, in this gale, not sure i would have wanted too anyway! so that is rearranged to Thursday.

still sound!

even though it's still hard, i think the going in this new field is better for his feet (probably because there's so much grass it's providing a bit of a cushion when you stand on it, LOL).

He was over the other side pretending to be part of the fence, under the trees, when we arrived, but came to meet me, led in no bother (hopefully, no more grief on that front) closely followed by the rest of the boys, picked his feet out, he's still a bit iffy about letting me have the near fore for too long but better than he was by far, it didn't get snatched out my hand so possibly a memory thing! checked his back which is healing nicely, tea (top spec to ensure he gets correct vits & mins) and back out again...

looking good on the back to work front, methinks!

Happy boy

In the long grass.

Just checked his feet and walked and he still sound

couple of days to be sure and then see if we can start the work programme again

lots of grass

and seems quite sound

i had thought i'd taken some video of them running about this new field, but clearly pressed wrong button as there's no video... :-(

i've a horrid feeling

tonights efforts at wrapping the feet won't survive ... hope i'm wrong...

in the meantime, a mare on the yard had a really nasty accident today, she was in season... and looks like she did something silly in consequence.

Change of field

At the weekend to the one next to the stables. Will mean monfy doesn't have to walk down the pebble and gravel ridden driven path for a while which will be good.

In the meantime he wasn't o helpful about the feet tonight and i had to ask for help. Will be pleased when they've recovered

The tape failed

On the back foot so it got double layered tonight after a good scrub out.

I was very pleased with him tonight, he didn't budge whilst i wad doing either foot - so chilled, in fact, i was hard pressed to hold the foot up! But better that than wrestling with him for control of them lol.

And he was a lot easier to get in!

Something to look forward to is Max coming 20th June yay

silver feet

so last night i turned him out about 6 and he was pretty sound on that right front, and of course sound all round elsewhere...

just on 7, i was rung to come back - he was hopping, right hind...i got there, was rining the vet from the field gate!

happily, not as bad as it looked from a distance....choice of bruise or abcess, money was on bruise due to bit of brick i found in said right hind....

in fact, another abcess at the tip... vet came down at 07.45 this morning!

so, silver feet on his right side.

and i'd texted my trimmer, of course, who was a bit stunned - and was waiting for me tonight! she'd been at the next yard along this afternoon so thought she'd call round, showed me a new trick for getting duct tape on, much more effective that wrapping round, very kind of her. She wondered if the second abcess might have been trauma induced - she noticed what i hadn't, he'd scraped a bit off the top of that foot as well...

He's out again now, best thing for an abcess is walking about not standing in.

Off hind now

:-(

hugs and best wishes

for an online friend whose loan horse Bailarina has just had a nasty accident involving a gate, this is her blog http://dancingwithbailarina.blogspot.com/ (not update for a good while, i know, but you can see what a lovely horse the mare is). apparently a fractured leg is suspected :-(

in the meantime, if someone could tell me why monf will let me catch him but then makes a struggle of bringing him in, i'd be grateful. he's not THAT lame, and knows he'll get tea and no work, and frankly quite likes getting his foot sorted out...

Duct tape

Is excellent stuff when poultices have to be kept on feet

His back - how?

abcesses and hips

And where has blogger been? that was mad, 24 hours down...

Anyway

Last night went and Monf was clearly lame. struggled to get him up the field and out the gate, and then to get him to the yard Lauren had to run up and get a bucket of feed! in the meantime, i was ringing the vet, as you do....

An abcess. so he's out with a poultice on (which amazingly stayed on, i don't think tonight's effort will, but disposable nappies, vet wrap and duct tape are a powerful combination, i think). wrestling with poultices whilst also combatting one's own dodgy shoulders isn't a wonderful combination - even less so tonight, did my back no good either!

He'd also managed to scrape his back off something from the wither back, directly under where saddle would go and right between the spinous processes. Vet thought that was only surface, and looked as though he might have tried to go under something, or off the underside of a tree branch, who knows. At least vet is tall enough to see - i could feel, but had to take photo to see (sorry it's on the phone, will post it tomorrow...it's very bizarre!)

So that's slavered up with green oils

and this morning i went for the physio on my hip

turns out that the start of the problem was not last years crashing fall, but the trochanteric bursitis that I'd had for years but for which i had never been offered any physio when i did it....

So i've been given some exercises and go back in a fortnight..

Anti-inflammatories

Are the order of the day, combined with paracetamol

i was pleased monfy put his head down to get headcollar on, not so pleased about hi lack of desire to come in.  He probably expecting to stand again, so i can see his concern, and the avoidance of the day was to walk in front of me, so we did a lot of turning and backing up!

Blogger app

I have had trouble posting from phone so this is a test to see if the app i've found works

the bad news

is that i have now fried my right shoulder, and right wrist hurts - probably through trying to save the left combined with wrestling with saddle - twinged it this morning and by mid afternoon had to give up. have now put wireless mouse to left of keyboard and am typing left handed.

brought monf in lunchtime as trimmer due (as it turned out she was well late and i needn't have) o he was well unhappy - but we are pleased with his feet

in hand....

wasn't the original plan, but probably a good idea since, apart from anything else, i can do that, LOL, and it'll also help getting him moving on ....

although i do think he possibly should be a shade farther away from me .. .need to review some video i think .. but nonetheless, went ok, he moved on, we got some sideways.

the plan for lunging went off as Tash couldn't make it (perils of not taking own car, i think!) and since i'd had a thought that inhand would probably be a plan, as a method of starting, i decided to just concentrate on that.

ALSO, of course, if Monf had been planning some new diversion on the lunging front, he had to think again!

lunged 3....

you will recall that the plan for today was to go practice on Natasha's horses then come back down for Monf...

so, 2 to lunge there.

Jack - big 17 hh +, Phillip's horse - he's very "yeah, whatever" - got that.

Tash thought last night that if i could get Alfie away, i'd get Monfils away. She says watching their groom lunge Alfie is always entertaining..... he goes off body language.

So, Alfie? totally different stamp of horse, just over 15HH, 5 year old they got as a rescue and backed themselves.

no problem (glad the groom wasn't there to watch, LOL). both reins, walk trot canter, no problem whatsoever.

Monfils?

This was him when i went out to get him, had to use bribery to get him to stand up (amazing what a polo will do!)
he was practising that well known art of eating grass whilst lying down....
mmmmm

he'd thought of something else overnight so what should have worked, didn't.....so we had to change tack slightly, and having practised what was working last night, took me ages to get the new tack after Tash had worked it out.

So, got that eventually if not very well

then we got the roller etc and started him two rein lunging.

I am so out of practice. he has, we think done it before, but again, doesn't really want to do it. But easier in many respects as one has control of the quarters as well....

I have no doubt he'll have thought of something else by tomorrow night!

Tash has kindly offered to come across every night this week, with a view to riding him at the weekend..

one thing is for sure, though - we don't need the lunge whip. I just need to get my body language better - i've always known i tend to lean in, it's as if i'm being pulled in to the horse, which of course is not one one wants - and i am of course being careful of both wrist and shoulder.

the plan is that she'll then ride him whilst I'm getting physio and having the odd lesson/ride out with a view to any wrinkles he might have being sorted/known by the time i am right to get on (or rather, off, LOL!)

2 1/2 hours....

after 2o minutes or so i was starting blisters on the fingers of my left hand (lightweight grippy gloves, abrasive inside... not good!) and "rang a friend". 2o minutes or so after that Natasha rang me back and kindly offered to come over. she arrived 1/2 hour later, with her OH

what was i doing for all that time? standing, ensuring i was behind Monf in a driving position, cracking the whip mostly behind him and generally trying to get him to move.

what was he doing?

mostly, standing still. occasionally turn on forehand to face me, i got quicker and eventually was at least preventing that. couple of times, he even had his head on the floor .....

some time later, tash got him going....

the end result

1. don't use the normal technique for setting him away, but start off as if doing in hand, lead him straight from the bridle forward and look at and walk into his shoulder to move him away from me ... which is a technique i am going to have to learn, i'm going to go practice on Tash's horses tomorrow... i'm not getting my body language right and not getting my foot placement right, trying to go the wrong way .

2. we rather think he wasn't given very long on the lunge when he was first started - thinking being, if he was quiet, they would have just legged up on him asap rather than spending as long as we would on such things....

but one things for sure, there was no way we were leaving that arena tonight until he had lunged....

so he was eventually lunged by both Tash and Phillip, but i couldn't quite get it....

Tash was the only one who didn't end up with a bootful of arena, sensibly having her long boots on. lord only knows why i didn't! Phillip was only wearing shoes!

and i went to the chippy on the way home.... never mind cooking, I didn't have the energy left!

grrhh....

may be i shouldn't have given him last night off?

anyway, tonight i thought we'd go down to the outdoor at blackdene, not too far and a bit of a breeze, also more space...

left rein, fine.

right rein, fine... until after a few circuits i wasn't quick enough to spot that he was going to turn in (i'd also let the rein out too far...)

could NOT get him going again....

could not even get to driving position.....i go back towards that point, he turns his quarters away from me, and quicker than i can move ..

either rein..

b*********************

hot bothered and getting annoyed .. and of course he knew what he was doing...

but he wasn't, of course, being quite so passive about it.....

so we'll see how we go tomorrow....

rain = midge heaven

i'd pretty much decided not to do anything tonight, time for him to cogitate, and the rain reinforced that view....

as it goes, for the first time for a couple of weeks i didn't need to put the pressure halter on to bring him in, he came willingly

it was raining off and on, but warm rain....hence the midges! i'm bitten to bits.....

we need the rain, desperately, so not complaining but wish it would rain properly not in showers with gaps!

plan to lunge in the field tomorrow, dust avoidance (sprinkler in indoor broken so very dusty!) or take him down to the outdoor at blackdene... one or the other!

new monfils?

like a different horse, success - not total instant, but only took a couple of seconds, and both reins.

and finished with walk - last night he would either stop or trot, so to end tonight i managed to keep him going in walk left rein

it's true what they say you know = it's much more difficult to really get after your own horse

and then once the job's sorted, it's sorted, pretty much, and one has much more confidence about keeping it going!

passive dominance

was what monfils was practising on me, and making it look like ignorance...

so much more assertiveness, and he was lunging

many thanks to Natasha who came over to help

hopefully, i can keep it going now!

didn't help...

maybe i'm not being forceful enough, but i don't want to start beating him up!

too much join up (not that i've done a lot towards getting that!)

the blank space last night

was caused by my being in Scotland and blogger refusing to work with the tablet...

and it's taken just over 2 hours since i got in for the internet to work properly to the PC

went to Scotland to watch Becky Holden give lessons to my friend's 5 year old luso/quarterhorse cross, who hasn't done anything yet and is an opinionated madam (the mare, that is!), which was interesting, and i knew would help me watching (Becky won't be near mine again soon, i gather!).

What i got from it for me was not to be frightened of flicking M with the lash, wihtout actually hitting him of course....

whether it'll help, or not, is another matter.... but will try

My friend's mare learnt that she CAN lunge and CAN work in hand, and now she's her her introduction to that my friend will be able to progress work with her

some hi jinks - it was her first time away from home as well! - but in the scale of things not too bad

went up last night to my friends as otherwise it would have been too much driving today = almost as far up as partner has gone for her weekend!

and a lovely drive back down the A68 - no traffic at all on the road, an excellently peaceful drive.