Trail ride and hoof update

I love that Laz nearly always comes up to me when I arrive to the barn

Could be food motivated...

The colder Fall is here and I've started giving Laz his soaked Ontario Dehy cubes

Pito likes to sneak in a few bites ;)

We had a gross hatching of lady bugs everywhere a few days ago, when the weather was sunny and warm. They were irritating the horses tremendously and I kept hearing them ping off the barn's metal doors. Nature can be so funny

 Last week, Laz had a double spa treatment.

Acupuncture and chiro adjustments from Dr. Weaver

Snap, pop and Laz goes into licking/chewing mode

 Followed by M to do his feet.

We decided to leave his foot bare this go around and see how he does without the cast

I felt good about it. I like to allow air in but wow we got some great growth from those cast, especially in his heel

Thrush still there, clean trax soak coming up next...

I'm hoping along with the air, movement from riding and soaking/every other day spot treating with Thrush Off, it will continue to grow OUT.

Heel growth!!! Boo ya. 

Now we need the back of the foot to continue to bulk up and stay strong

 In terms of working, Laz and I have been trail riding a lot!

E and I met a couple of weeks ago and took Laz and Pito out

It was the most relaxing trail ride. Both the boys were in Quarter horse mode and were chill and kerplunkity. It was want we wanted that day being cold and lazy.

No drama, just an easy easy ride.

Our during the week work usually means I hand walk him. I'm usually in my work clothes plus barn boots and it's all my work time allows mid week.

No complaints.

Triple duty: Walk the dog. Walk the Pony. Walk me.

 Speaking of pupster, how cute is Mason?!

He loves, er LIVES for his barn time

enjoying the moment

Welcome March!!!

Here is a quick video from today's lunge play

I couldn't stop smiling!

(sorry for the elevator version of Coldplay but trust me it was better than me kissing, clucking and goo gooing over him)

Thursday we had the Chiro out for an adjustment and acupuncture  He said he is always pleased to see how Laz continues to make progress (blushing cheeks!)--uh me too!

He noticed his tipped pelvis actually changed from being tipped to the R, it was more tipped to the L, so he re-adjusted. That change could have been brought by a slip in the ice/snow or just Laz's body realigning things. No biggie. He worked on his neck (Laz can NOT touch his sides with his mouth--trust me, can not do it) so we are always doing carrot stretches, etc but he's going to focus more on that and worked on his jaw/poll area. Laz is always a puddle in his hands. It's very positive and totally worth the money.

I actually asked the Chiro if he thought he looked good enough in his back/pelvis area to possible start him back over callavetti's and possibly up to cross rails, etc. this summer. 

He said "Absolutely, he is a healthy boy"

BE.STILL.MY.HEART.

I'll talk to my trimmer next round (weather won't permit us to start too much new anyway) and gauge it with my personal thoughts of how he progresses with that. 

As you know, I'll never push Laz. At the same token, I have to start riding and enjoying him in the moment, as he is and not have in the back of my mind, all the time, is he OK???

I'm just elated to have a sound looking horse who is 100% happy and having fun.

Well worth the fight.

Bravo Laz!

Laz eyeing up the pasture...let's do this!

Getting better at heel first landings...not perfect, but improvement. 

Time, exercise, diet, trim

 I love his reach on this one...

 I think he can handle an x rail....don't you??!

 Nice elevation but a bit toe first..

 Having fun

 My bold OTTB, I mean..classic f'ing beauty

 Could be a trotter?! lol

 Panther stretch..that adjustment did him right

What a good boy, he really enjoyed himself today.

After our session, he was all cuddles and yawns but he loved getting some play time outside of his pastures.

Hello signs of Spring

Slow, easy and chill

Slow, easy and chill has been our work ethic lately, at least at the barn. In my work life, the total opposite is true. Crazy, hectic, busy, etc is my daily life leaving me so stressed out and with little pony play time. Ah well...

Our foggy misty weather. I'm not hating the 40-50 degree days in December, but not sure the ponies agree. 

They are shaggy and wanting cooler weather

 Fatty Laz has been doing a LOT of this...

 He is always caked in mud when I get there. ALWAYS

 We've been still doing either ground work or riding

 I even had one day with a little extra time to play with Red, the little chestnut OTTB.

He's suuuuper smart and a very very quick learner. He's fun

Bareback hack down the road a few times. 

Laz has been comfie barefoot so we are able to do trot work and canter down the road.

His hip/back/pelivs? is not quite 100% and I've been getting him adjusted by his Chiro along with some acupuncture to try and help get him more and more sound.  

But he's been doing SO well and no more tendon issues (swelling/etc)

He was trimmed last week and we opted to not cast this round to see where it leaves him. 

I need to do updated hoof pictures! 

He has been landing so much better on his fronts, heel first! YAY!

 Eating a Christmas tree-yum yum!

 This barn and stone wall just calls to me for photos!!!

 On our alone bareback hacks we still play 'trail pony' and I do a lot of desensitizing and exposure of what I can, when I can. Laz is great. We worked on some canter sessions and he was chill with no playful antics of wanting to buck. I also had pre readjusted his bitless just in case that was causing some discomfort.

 When decorating our Christmas tree, I pulled this ornament that has a baby Mason swimming in Lake Charlevoix, awwwwwwww

9.5 yrs later...angel boy.

Wishing everyone a VERY happy holiday season with zero stress (if possible) and healthy animals!

Wild eyed

Someone has been feeling "Spring Air" with wild eyes and crazyeee behavior.

It's been funny and at times, totally frustrating. 

Laz can slip into "SAVE MYSELF!!" behavior quickly and can try to tune me out, so I have to match that energy and remind him "Um no...."

We had a visit from our lovely Vet for a Rabies vaccine. It went off without a hitch (phew!) and she is SO great about helping me work through my anxiety with certain vaccinations for Laz.

Next up will be Tetanus next month.

She did a follow up lameness check on him and thought he looked so much better in comparison to November. His Chiro adjustments, my Trimmer's hoof work, balancing his diet and his ability to stay out and moving. 

BOOM BOOM BOOM! :)

She told me to get to work on really starting to exercise him and double check with Chiro to make sure back is happy with those slow changes at his next visit

So, this past week, we took just long hand walks as he was a crazy pants McGee for a bareback hack.

He acted like he had never walked down this dirt road before.

In his defense, it was a bit slippery so I'm not sure if that made him feel uneasy but I kept him in the deeper sections of snow.

Every noise made him jump and spook.

I had asked Vet about his excitable behavior and she seemed to think his amount of Triple Crown L/S couldn't be enough calories to make him hotter.  I'm not sure I agree 100%..I've cut back his Chia seed and in about a month, I may start cutting back his feed too (currently getting 3 cups not scoops, twice a day).  She thinks he's feeling better and is not able to use his body in a stronger way.  He can feel great, but he needs to keep his manners...so I've been doing a lot of reminding and ground work to try and instill that good behavior and space around me. 

On Sunday, the winds were just whipping through and something by the barn just kept freaking him out.  He would snort and side leap.  We worked on ground, circling towards and away the barn, squeezing through and backing off, until he finally settled. 

It took a good 45 minutes and a lot of games.  He fought the first 25 and was a total lunatic and then finally started to breathe and calm down.

See, calmer eye below

Then, after our work, it was complete mind resetting.  He kept eye rolling, yawning, shaking his head. It must have been a lot for his OTTB brain to handle.

I will say, he did SO great in the end.  He even started listening to me MORE as the two other horses were racing all around us.  

I think with this newer set up we need to work on; I come first, his friends come 2nd.  

He is fighting his instinct of flight versus thinking...

Oh, and shedding has BEGUN...!

Pin-cushioned babes

Laz and I walking down the dirt roads.

They've been especially wet and cushy so I though/hoped the different terrain would be good for his hooves to walk on, while still being comfortable

His Right Hind medial sole still shows some bruising as that hoof wall continues to grow down, but not yet hitting the ground. HURRRRRRY up hoof wall (trust me, he's on all supplements, vitamins, hoof lotions and potions to get it to grow..it's time)

 

On Thursday, we had our 2nd Chiro/Acupuncture visit from the AMAZING Dr. W.

We lurve him

He's cool, humble, SMART and awesome

Did I mention, we like him?? 

LOTS

What I like best about him; His quiet ability to listen to the animals.

Also, Laz loves his treatments and stands still and quiet for him.

Above is after the Chiro work, Dr W is putting the Accu needles in Lazaroo.

Then he follows it with a shot of B12 vitamin to help 'keep' the adjustment

He thought Laz was looking really good and was happy. 

I am to keep working on stretching out his R Front shoulder to help break up that scar tissue, but he thought it's already looking a bit better.

Go, us!

Then, I had him look at Mason

Masie Pie is 8 yrs old (9 in May) so I thought it couldn't hurt

Dr. W thought his hips were off a little (actually similar to Laz, lol) and adjusted him.

He didn't feel anything bad in his hips otherwise

Mason was a VERY good patient 

"Uh...Mom...who dis??"

Dr. W confirmed my suspicions (without me telling him!) that Mason left front leg was hurting him.

Mason has been limping a little, and it's inconsistent. Some days it's there, some days he's fine. For the past month or so, I've stopped throwing his ball/frisbee because he runs with 10000% speed and then slams to stop and it's wearing on his joints.

At any rate, Dr. W found a bit of pain in Mason's left elbow area.

See how below, Mason's face is relaxed...

 And here he quickly stopped breathing, shut his mouth and showed signs of "ouch"

Glucousime will be added to his diet, per wondrous Dr. W.

 Wagging his tail during his 2 minutes of acupuncture

Can you see his needles? They are the same as the ones used for humans 

He has 7 here, and had 2 or 3 near his shoulder/elbow area

 We also chit chatted about vaccinations, etc.

He prefers to do Rabies for Dogs (and he's waiting on testing to be released that perhaps we only have to do that once every 5-7 yrs) and for Horses, annually : Rabies, Tetanus, and West Niles combo.  They said, "Those three could kill your horse and it's a terrible death."

Something to really consider for Laz coming up...it's the same three my new Vet thinks I should do too.

Laz is clearly benefiting from this extra TLC

Video of Laz and his WB X bestie

Oh, and for those that wanted to see how Laz kicks it in reverse to try to 'sit' on his friend, zoom to 0.37.  He does this maneuver all the time, lol

Mason was a bit extra tired after his appointment. He tends to get excited over new things, and I knew it would knock him out a bit.  But, later that night, he seemed re-energized and prancey

Pudgie wants to know if I'm going stick pins in him too ;)

Not yet littlest one...