Sunny December..what?!

 I literally cherish the sunshine. Especially on cooler days.

Today, after work, it was a mild 30 and sunny. No wind. It felt like Spring.

I decided to grab Mason who hasn't been to the barn (old man has been struggling a little lately so I've been spreading out his visits-my loyal co-pilot) in a while and head out.

Carpe Diem bitches. Sunny, and especially knowing I have the babes coming soon, I wasn't going to let this day slip by.

Belly BUMPIN'...You can see my feet but I can't ;)

I'm happy to say that in my 37+ week I can still pick/trim hooves, groom, etc. Riding not so much although if my Hubbie had been with me, I would have done it today.

Mason playing in the winter field (no snow--huurah!)

Flip flopping around

Chewing on one of our future xc logs in the field

 He was literally trying to pick it up

"MOM..I found the bestest stick everrrrr!!"

 

"COME ON STIX!!!!!"

Bless his lumpy heart

***
Speaking of lumps.

FatLaz in trotting action. We played at liberty today

(yes I had treats in my pocket. Fatty is food motivated)

His hoof resection is looking good. I'm planning on doing a white lightening soak this weekend to keep on top of any possible disease at bay but he is moving sooooo awesome

 He was a snuggle puss. Really into wanting to play/please

 Smiles all around

oh and double chins.

whittle whittle whittle at a time....

These are from yesterday (sunday)

 There is still a lot of wedge in the toe area but my goal is to rasp it enough just so it doesn't hit ground when he trots.
I rasped, lunged him (he is sound sound sound right now!!) and trimmed a bit more...

 I'll be so happy when the heel backs up to support the back of his foot.

I rasped the heel wall to allow the tubules to try to stand up vs being crushed/under run...

we'll see if it works.

Saturday morning

This sleepy fluff head stands for 40 minutes like an ANGEL so I can Clean Trax his hoof

Worth his weight in gold

So, what do you do for 40 minutes?!

Selfies....

 You can sheaths (I'll spare you any photographic evidence)...

You trim Tina Turner manes 

PS I'm keeping it long for winter protection 

 A bit cleaner and oh SO nerdy

 "Bored, I'z bored"

Don't let him fool you, he is quite used to and loves his 'spa treatments' and to be doted on 

Such a clown

The definition of insanity

So on 9/24 Laz showed signs of an abscess..but shockingly enough in his LH, which is typically his good hoof

Well, why not change up the drama a bit?

He wouldn't walk on it, his leg was swollen from hoof to hock. I had the vet out the next day just to make sure it wasn't a torn tendon. It wasn't.
It took about a week (should have taken less but I finally broke down despite being told not to do it, and did my abscess pulling trick; soak hoof, dry, slather on ichthammol, put a plastic baggie on, and boot for 24 hrs)

Oh, and I also removed bar. Like a ton of bar.

 Abscess popped after booting. Minor swelling lasted another 24 hours (cold hose, yes why not?) and there were two exit points. One at coronary/hair line (see below) and one on lateral quarter where he was jammed.

Damn. 

I made a decision to start trimming him on my own for a while. There are things that I think he likes/needs and I'm going to buck up and do them.

Bars; very conversational but Laz's seem to impact/fold quickly and then cause issues. I am doing to ramp them to encourage proper height/placement. With him being on grassy/sand pasture he can't really wear them down on his own. I've left them and they cause issues. 

Take this hoof for example; his LF (splat foot being his RF is a club)

When I don't take out bars/ramp to sit up...he lands more toe forward. He had in fact 2 weeks of a slightly swollen tendon. After removing bar slowly over a few days, he stood more square and swelling went away. Hmmmm

Balance; he has seemed out of balance to me as of late. Toes too long, medially to lateral balance off, so being that I see angles as a career, I'm going to tackle this on my own to see if I can get him in a better spot. We'll see how this goes

 Sometimes, like Pudgie shows below...you just have to stop and think...

This is why I'm here:

I'm amazing what going back and looking at old photos does.

This was his RH back in 2012

To me, a much better/healthier hoof to what was in August, below

Damn. 

My last trimmer and I saw most things eye to eye (removing dead tissue/aggressive bar, keep toes backed up, etc) and so I'm doing back to her route of thought/practice
I'm not happy with his hoof especially after the last cast which basically girdled his hoof. 

So, by removing the hoof wall and dead/damaged laminae I'm hoping to get a better/new growth and connection

Saturday below:

Wed, sprayed with Thrush spray (keep in mind he is on turnout so it's impossible to keep 100% clean but I'm chasing it)

 Saturday below, compared to...

 To Wednesday...see that hairline?? GROWTH? Already a better angle?

We'll see....

I'm watching toe/heel balance, everything...I know more toe can go but I'm trying to give him days to adjust to things that I'm doing vs all at once. 

 Wed sole shot

He is showing no signs of lameness or issue..in fact he's happy to roam and munch

He will be having many soaks coming up to keep bacteria at bay and encourage new growth

Wish us luck!

Weekend play time

This is what 8 am looks like. 

Two puppies breathing on us to remind us "FEED US!!!!" in a sweet manner

We fed the pups and decided to enjoy the nice Fall day and get outside

We headed downtown Detroit (we live about 20 minutes north of downtown) to this great coffee shop

for a gooey bar, almond croissant, a lavender latte and a regular coffee

 Billy boy has himself a sweeeet tooth!

 The ambiance is fantastic at that coffee shop. Downtown Detroit has a very cool revival and we try to support it as much as we can. Coming from living in Chicago (Suburbs), Detroit was built backwards in my opinion with lack of public transit, and not embracing a water view with international access/view BUT there are fantastic things happening to this humble city, and we choose to support it.

After our caffeine surge, we headed to one of the US's largest farmers market, Eastern Market

There are several large sheds and hundreds of vendors with local produce, cheeses, meats, etc

It's fantastic

 After our Detroit fun day, it was time to drive north an hour to see the pony

Double snuggle with Laz & Pito

They were both convinced I had treats in my belly...uh no

It was SO nice and I'm super sad about not trail riding (I've just decided to pasture hacks for during pregnancy) that I wanted to still enjoy the weather, my horse and the trail.

So....we all hoofed it.
I put Laz's padded slipper boot on his RH just to be extra careful and we were off

 Cutting through the sweet neighbor's pasture to our trail system of heaven

 Laz was funny. He was snorty and prancing for a bit, clearly excited to be out.

He hasn't been on the trail since we rode it alone in April (le sigh)

 It was a good decision to hand walk him, he was definitely not 100% confident and chill and I can't blame him. Lack of constant exposure leads to that but he was great via in halter. He is a pony that does best with repetition so I just set us up for success

 SNORT!

 About one minute after this photo we came  head to head with a cyclist on the narrow path and Laz jumped backwards about 15 feet. Poor guy was just so startled! He almost sat on Billy who was walking behind

The cyclist was super cool and stopped and allowed us to pass by slowly. I'm not sure I would have sat that spook or not if I were in saddle? Maybe...big maybe. Or maybe I would have eaten dirt over his left shoulder. 

 It was a super fun walk, we covered 4 miles and enjoyed the gorgeous trails. I hope to do it again soon

  After we returned home, we enjoyed rustic homemade sourdough toast with fresh MI mozzarella and heirloom grape and currant tomatoes

Pretty much a perfect Saturday!