If you don't like the weather...

wait (fill in short time period of choice), it'll change. The old saw about Vermont's weather held true this week. On Monday I rode Bestie on a nice leisurely stroll out to the ring and around it a couple of times, both of us just enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures and taking in the welcome sights of trees leafing out (me) and grass greening (Bestie). On Tuesday I got up and by 8:30 am it was snowing, hard. And it snowed and it snowed and it snowed right through until about 2 pm today, Wednesday. I think here at home we got about ten inches. I never did measure, but it was over my snow boots and not quite up to the top of Maddie's tall rain boots. It was a lot of snow. Especially for April. LATE April, aaaarrrgh.

The horses did not go out during the storm. That was certainly fine, it was pretty crazy; not very good visibility and lots of wind. When I got to the barn yesterday, Dude was crazy to get out. There wasn't really anywhere to go except to trek across the driveway to the indoor and walk him around in there. He rolled, and that made him happy.

Same story today, except that we had the indoor to ourselves for a period of time and I let him off the lead and let him run around. Not that he ran much, he was more intent on prancing up to me and snorting, like he wanted to play. I ran backwards and he ran along behind me, snorting and hopping. When he'd get too close, I'd get nervous and make him stop. He has no concept of personal space, so I do get a little nervous when he's hopping around right next to me. Then we pushed the giant exercise ball around for a bit. I really wished I had my camera. The first time I kicked it to him, he stood there, with his ears all cock-eyed, staring kind of perplexedly at it. I'd kick it at him, and he'd push it with his nose. Never back to me, oh no. Usually in some completely random direction and then he'd look at it and then at me like "Huh. Why is it going THAT way??"

All that play time took the edge off, somewhat. He was still pretty antsy as I brushed him on the cross ties, but settled down once I put him back in his stall with a flake of hay.

After I got him taken care of I mucked out Bestie's stall and took her into the indoor. I could tell she really wanted to roll, but there was a jumping lesson going on and we just couldn't get the roll timed with when the other horse wouldn't be coming around headed toward a jump. All in all, she was really good as I walked her around and pulled her over a couple times so as not to be in the way of the lesson. She's much more accepting of confinement than Dude is. Even if they don't go out tomorrow, I think I'll be able to graze them as the snow is melting pretty quickly. And with yoga cancelled for tomorrow, I'll have more time than I usually do on my typically rushed Thursdays.

Not enough hours in the day

So my first week of being back at work full-time is almost over, and I'm surviving. I haven't worked full-time since 1993 when I quit the government to stay home with the kids--hey, it's been a nice long stretch. Someone said to me today, "You've had it pretty good for way too long." Ha. I know I'm lucky that it's all worked out this way.

The only thing about going full-time that bothers me is cutting into the pony time. I'm trying not to let it cut into barn hours, but I think it's inevitable that it's going to happen. There's a constant feeling of being rushed that I'm not sure is going to play out well over the long term. Tonight I zoomed from work to the barn to yoga, where I ran in like a crazy woman at the last minute and someone kindly made room for me.

Last night I rode Bestie out and around the outdoor ring. I got on her in the indoor and did a couple laps, but then had to get off of her to get the door open, and she took that to mean we were done. So she was then a little uncooperative once I tried to get back on again outside, but I made it--third try, I think. We rode out with another horse. She was good, and you could tell it was pretty darn exciting to be out on the "open range." Head up, lots of deep snuffly breaths. Once we got to the back 40 beyond the ring, the other rider went on and I turned around to head back. Very unexciting for the first time out there since the one winter ride I did. Pretty darn good for Ms. Excitable.

Afterwards I took Dude out to graze him for a few minutes and promptly discovered that his right front leg was swollen along the outside of his cannon bone from just above the fetlock to the knee. Great. It was pretty soft-feeling. After grazing him I brought him in and rubbed him down with liniment, then gave him a tiny bit more grain with some bute. Discussed with another boarder the merits of wrapping him, and decided against it since the swelling was actually up into his knee. Left a note for the barn folk to check him out in the morning and call me if he looked bad so that I could phone the vet.

When I got to the barn today it looked pretty much the same. I took him out to graze him again and he trotted out enthusiastically and with no lameness. Wierd. I hosed him and doused him with liniment again, and he had more bute in his grain. Barn manager Emma checked him out and said it seemed like a lot of fluid from a bruise most likely concentrated on his knee. Of course it is that leg he bangs the door with. He's apparently one of the first to go out, so I don't know what he is getting so angry about. Crazy horse. I don't know what to do except maybe buy a bunch of Mellow Out and start dosing him in his water bucket to maybe take the edge off.

Good reading

I know I've written before about articles I've read in the Holistic Horse newsletter I get; it seems there's always at least one article that interests me. Although our show season days are well behind us (except for helping out with the occasional 4H show), I thought this article on holistichorse.com -- Seven Tips to Prepare Your Horse for Show Season Travel -- had some good points to think about when preparing for show season and how travel can affect things like immunity, stress, digestive health and more, with suggestions for possible products to use in each category. Certainly stress related to new surroundings and a different routine have been things we've had to deal with at horse shows (drops of Mellow Out flower essence in their water and on treats), as well as improper hydration due to overly chlorinated water (apple juice in the water didn't work; ended up buying gallons and gallons of spring water!). It always seems like no matter how much you prepare, there are always some things, like the chlorinated water, that you don't discover until you arrive at the show.

The light bulb goes on

Recently Dude has done this strange thing where after standing for a while in one place, like on cross ties, he puts his right front foot out ahead of his left. Now, the last time he did that (back in December) he was really lame on that foot, and I soaked and soaked it, assuming an abscess to be the culprit, and one day it was better even though I never saw an abscess come through.

This time he doesn't appear lame at all; in fact, I was just telling Emma about it during my lesson on Friday and she remarked that he didn't look off. The only odd thing is the placement of the right foot, and an occasional unwillingness to pick up his left front foot and place total weight on the right.

I've been thinking about it, and I think it's from kicking his door. They've mentioned a couple times at the barn that he gets really impatient when he doesn't get right out, and I know that I've caught him kicking his door when I've arrived on days when there hasn't been turnout. When I've seen him do it, it's always been with his right foot. He's doing it enough that the door doesn't slide easily on its track any more. What I can't figure out is why he wouldn't show signs of lameness when he's being ridden, if it is bothering him enough to shift his weight when standing. Hmmmn. And I definitely would like to have some sort of solution to the door kicking.

Grooming and grazing

I hope the last couple of weeks aren't a sign of what's to come. I've been really busy at work and have been doing very rushed trips to the barn that aren't very enjoyable at all. I did pretty well during the early part of the week, lunging Bestie on Sunday, riding Dude on Monday, and riding Bestie on Tuesday. It all fell apart after that, and I didn't have a chance to get back on either one of them until my lesson on Dude Friday.

Last weekend was positively gorgeous, really warm and sunny. We had a few wet days throughout the week, so their turnout has been unpredictable. Yesterday and today they were in, and by the time I got to the barn today, Dude was ready to kick his door down. I think that they are a bit crazy from the grass; it has really started to come up in the past week and there's that spring smell in the air. I've taken them out as much as I can to graze them, and they just wolf the grass down. Today I grazed Dude, and he had just taken a bite of grass when he suddenly dropped and rolled! Then, before getting up, he grabbed another mouthful of grass and lay there, leisurely chewing! It was pretty nice out, sunny and in the low 50s. Crazy, because we woke up to snow! It was nice standing out there currying him.

After I grazed him, I let him loose in the indoor since no one was in there, and he tore around a little snorting and bucking. He was pretty fired up. After bringing him in I had to brush him again, since he had rolled again in the indoor. Here he is on the cross ties, zoning out, with Bestie looking on and periodically whinnying as if to say, "Hey, when's my turn??"





I took Bestie out to graze and curried her while she munched, then saddled her up for a quick ride in the indoor. The wind was really blustery, so we didn't go too far down the path; she was on high alert :). The weather looks ok for tomorrow so maybe they'll go out, which will be good for everyone's mental outlook.