on foot improving

albeit slowly, and the other kicks off - and considering he's been in since Tuesday, that's VERY tedious....

he'll be standing in for a week

i took a photo of the sole of his foot as i couldn't see it properly otherwise - friend held foot up and torch for light  ... he isn't going back out in that mud until it's healed up.

mud fever (US - scratches?)

There's two schools of thought on this

those who agree with Jean - leave it to dry then brush it off

those who do as I do - hose it off when still wet.

My  thinking is that if the mud dries on, it is then likely to be abrasive against the skin whether brushed off or left on (that, and the abrasive qualities of brushes that are hard enough to cope with dried on mud...) resulting in somewhere for the bugs to get in and cause mud fever.  similar to getting e.g. a grain of sand stuck between sock and foot ...

Whereas, if you hose it off, everything is clean once hosed, horse put straight in stable and all dry for morning when you can, if you wish, then apply your choice of mud fever prevention to the lower leg/heels/etc....

and as for the feet - the way i look at it - if the mud is so deep and wet that i feel a need to hose legs off, the feet are getting softened anyway and i'd rather clean them than otherwise..

today we have snow - a fine covering when i turned out this morning, but it then got worse and worse and there was far too much in Stanley and Consett (on way to hairdressers & mothers) and it was clear the Councils had been caught out ..the first snow plough i saw followed me down Blackhill Bank (mother's area) and that would have been about 10.30....even coming back from their the Dipton road hadn't been cleared, and that's a main road...

At least M's feet will have been cleaned out by the snow!

and back to snow

well sort of - kept trying to all day, very fine, not lying (except a bit tonight) and bitterly cold despite no wind....

I'd have thought you were right about warmer temps bringing thrush out, ladies, save that it's still cold!  the mud is drying up, is that relevant? so we don't have to hose legs every night, but at the same time, hosing legs involved (at least when i did it!) hosing feet as well, i point the nozzle so the water gets into the feet as well...

who knows, but its very tedious and he's not happy... but at least is a good patient for this, unlike when he has an abscess when you take your life in your hands...

thrush

horrid..

he's gone through the muddy winter no problem and now it's drying out he gets it....

but at least he's happy to stand with the relevant foot in the air.. willing you do clean it out again!

Tidied up

G's day today; she charged the clippers and tidied him up - the clip was at that stage where there was long hairs, short hairs, generally unkempt looking so that was all tidied up and next thing he'll be shedding and growing in summer coat...

i'd wondered yesterday if he was a tad not right; G found a shade of heat in that leg, so didn't ride just let him school himself in the arena (wherein he promptly rolled, of course...)

so assuming we do anything this week, it'll be done in walk...

hip stretching...

must find some good exercises!

anyway, i rode...

the first 15 minutes were excellent, lots of walk, circles, serpentines and so on....then i thought we'll go small circle (was thinking that exercise where you do 1 1/2 10 metre circles all the way round the arena....it's a good suppler...) and he stopped - whether he stopped because of something i did in the aiding, or stopped for some other reason i have no clue, but it was 20 minutes before i could get him going again....

he totally ignores whip tapping

I decided rather than persisting with whip tapping/leg aid/ for the time, i'd spend some time just getting the contact right and keep asking for it...

but interspersed with further attempts to get him moving..

eventually, he did and i pushed him on to a faster walk (TBH, rushing somewhat, but better than stopping) and to try some trot

the trot was pants... again, whether it him or me i'm not sure but there was no smoothness in it and he wouldn't/couldn't keep it going...

at which point i wanted someone on the ground, as i wasn't sure if he was sound or not - he'd been resting the near hind a lot when being groomed etc so not sure if he's twinged something - but he didn't feel lame in walk ...

but having got him moving again and done another ten minutes (assisted my confidence, if not a lot else!) i called that quits and got off - and oh my, my hips were well stretched and i knew about it!

i need to ride more!  anyway, lighter nights should help a lot on that front!

the year starts here?

well i hope so

no wind.  not THAT cold (well wrapped up)

5 minutes in hand in the arena.  first weekday evening work i've done with him since, i think, November, the weathers been so generically not good..

so start of the new year

and more snow

with a howling gale added so a nominal zero felt like a lot below...

had we known this was going to happen might well have kept him in ....he and brandy were last out and VERY keen to be back in again...

an active afternoon..

and between snow showers, M got ridden out by G (who's afternoon it was!).  We were surprised it became possible, but the snow wasn't the wet sort, just the small  dry sort, if you know what i mean..

in the meantime, I was moving stuff from what was my end of the storage area to what was G's end, she having put her notice in...it's flat!  so i won't be tripping over all the time...

not that there's a lot in there, the important, use all the time stuff is not in there and won't be until the roof is sorted, which apparently will be April time...

and then M has to move back out of what was G's stable back into his own ...

but today the rain got in the way

of Gaynor riding... that, and moving stuff again...

bit of a grin on my face

as for the first time for a long time i was able to mount wihtout having several tours of the mounting block first.

i was too late in the day to even think of going anywhere but the arena but we did 20 minutes in there including some trot.

he was pretty responsive, despite my squeaking boots (every time i clean them i ended up squeaking with every leg aid, and I find it very disconcerting even if he's not bothered).

he also had a new bit in, a neue shule, and seemed to like it, certainly went well in it, better, IMHO, than in the myler....

a quiet week on the horse front

after last weekend; GAynor did some schooling and a ride out on Sunday (with an unexpected gallop thrown in!) and i cleaned all the tack thinking we'd be able to start some work this week...

monday = gales
tuesday = gales

and then i started a streaming cold....

and now it's forecast for snow....heavy snow, they say...

to cold and sunny

and i actually rode!

not for long - i need to do something to loosen my hips off!¬  and my left knee is, i think, going the same way as yours did Jean....but considering the bad time we've had for the last few weeks (wasn't even worth thinking about riding most of the time) i was pleased.

hopefully, the weather will hold steadyish and dryish for a bit so we can start getting some work into the boy again... G wondered if I thought he'd lost muscle over his back and when she asked me i thought not, but thinking about it, he's bound to have and i need to look closer (I was looking at the mud, actually, not the shape of his withers..)

9 - 5

someone posted today on facebook about it being glorious whilst she was at work, raining when she wanted to ride, she gave up and fed and then it sorted out..

isn't that always the way?

it was raining buckets at our yard as well... #

when we get some settled sensible weather - neither drowned, nor frozen, nor blown away -  we might do something with the boy, but in the meantime, he's happy with his current routine of not having to work, LOL!