Our first walk out!!

Do you see this lovely Bay boy, in the round pen!?

Yes, that's right...Lazarus and I had our first 10 minute walk today and he did great. I took off the Easy Boot Epics from his back feet and hand walked him around the round pen quietly. He was quiet today which I was VERY thankful for. I had images of him acting up and wanting to run but he was calm and curious and even remembered some of our ground work. I was soooo happy with him...and proud!

He seemed to really enjoy his outing. Initially when we first walked into the round pen, he blowed/snorted at it, but I think it's been 5 months since he's been in it?! I chose the round pen vs the large arena because the round pen was our comfort zone before he got sick. I thought starting there would provide comfort to us both. It did.

We walked in both directions and I could tell at the end of it, he was a bit tired.

But, lots of licking from him and a couple times he tried to nibble the grass (No!) and pawed at the ground wanting to roll.

FYI-Laz's laminitis was not brought on by IR (insulin resistance) but even so I have to be very careful about what he ingests and grass is not part of his program right now. His laminitis is thought to be a chemical founder, an adverse reaction to some medication or fever that he had from his colic or possible Potomac episode or ulcers that aggravated his GI. Still unknown so we keep his diet super super bland and simple until he gets more stabilized.

Calm boy

Here is a crappy video of his walking, no shoes, no boots for this.

After putting on the boots (not the easiest task) I decided to still wrap his legs before I left. We haven't opened up the paddock of his yet as I want to introduce changes slowly to him. So by tomorrow or Tuesday he'll have more room to walk in, and until then I wanted his legs wrapped in case they stocked up. No sign of that today when I was first out, thank god, but I'm taking a precaution. He is eating and drinking the same. The last couple of days he wasn't loving being groomed so I kept it light.

Overall, he is doing quite well to the change and I hope this barefoot way keeps him feeling good!

I am being realistic that it could take some time...and am in no rush to be jumping on his back, but obviously I'm just ecstatic to see any improvement.

Oh, and we got a text from our sweet Cliff asking how he was today! :)