I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Moon is still in pretty good shape. He can maintain a nice, steady, strong trot for 9 minutes...in the deep snow. That's good. It means his stifle is in pretty good shape. That left stifle and Moon's breathing are always my top priorities. Both can be judged by working on his trot set times.
It's the other two that are giving me a little grief...
Obviously, I pulled everyone's shoes quite a while ago. I hadn't noticed my little sorrel horse having any problems moving around until I started saddling and ponying him...and sure enough, he's short striding on his right front. That is the foot that always wants to club due to an old scar. I trimmed a lot of heel off, but always hate to trim him down as far as my farrier does. There is some permanent bruising in that heel and without a shoe to protect it...well, he is sensitive and short-strides. Time to get his front shoes put back on. It took a long time last year to get his shoulder muscling re-balanced and get him striding out equally...I hate to work him while he is short-striding and risk unbalancing that muscling again.
And...Frosty has a bit of a cough. I can tell he doesn't feel great, but he doesn't have a temperature and he's eating and drinking fine. I have put him on an immune booster and MSM hoping to break up whatever seems to be depressing him...and at least his coughs seem to be more productive. But, I hate to stress his respiratory by trying to work him in this cold air.
Well, Moon is going to be well on his way to being back in shape before heading to AZ next week, but it looks like I will be starting from scratch with the other two.
6 comments:
It's never easy, is it!
Well 1 out of 3 aint bad! lol. It is always something with horses. But at least you know how to fix it this time.
It's amazing how easily the horses maintain their fitness levels when we don't. Pony man is still rocking it, blazing along for distances at a strong trot and barely if rarely breaking a sweat, even under his thick winter coat. I don't know how he does it?
ADT#1 is on the 26th if you're here and free that day. It's a blast.
Like Crystal said.
Pretty exciting that you are going to Arizona,you'll get a head start on barrel season this year.
That's great that Moon is still in good shape and that his stifle is holding up well. I am sure the other 2 will come along in no time!! I bet your excited to get to AZ and get to work!
Always something! Arizona sounds like a pretty good idea right about now
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