home again home again

I left the horses outside last night, and planned to bring them in in the early afternoon when the flies start to get bad. At about 10, I went to take their "mosquito sheets" off. (Those are fly sheets they wear at night.) Envoy was flat out in the tall grass. It looks like that's where they sleep because the grass is all smashed down.

He woke up so I could take his sheet off, and then he snugged right back down. Kina was snoozing while standing so she didn't even have to wake up to get her sheet taken off.

Around me unless the temp drops below 60 at night the skeeters are still on the hunt.

Bet Kina was dreaming about getting dinner....

They aren't as bad here once it hits 70. They're out all the time, but there's bad and then there's bad. When people from cities come here, they are AMAZED at how many bugs are out. We don't have any sprayers, and the trees and water make it prime bug area.

The horses has to stayed inside today. It was very hot. They enjoyed their fans, and napping since they were out all night.

Our nice neighbor came to bush hog the really thick pasture grass. Now, they can go into the back without disappearing in the really tall grass. When that neighbor gets his big tractor fixed, he's going to help us plane some dirt in the back corner to deal with the flooding. He hopes it's this or next month, which will be good. It's usually dry in August and September.

What a great neighbor.

And we had a rain shower this afternoon to green things up again. I hope the mosquitoes won't be too bad. I'm putting the sheets on the horses in about 10 minutes. Out they go!

I hope to be able to ride Envoy tomorrow. A lot depends on the bugs. I've decided that donating blood is not on our agendas. It's supposed to be hot and sunny, so there's hope.

Tomorrow is farrier day. I wonder if he'll find an abscess in Kina's foot. She's kind of limping a little differently. It sounds like she has a loose shoe. I wonder if she caught it somehow when she was stomping flies. It is abscess season because of bruises and stomping. We'll see... I also need to call the vet and get a Legend shot.

Well... The farrier texted me. He is sick. So, the horses had no trims or resets. Kina really wanted the bottom of her foot hosed when I was giving her a "shower" before she came in. I don't see anything funny, but a shoe can hide a lot.

Envoy and I went for a short ride today. The mosquitoes are still bad, so we did our best to stay away. He did some nice, relaxed trotting. More to come after we mow the pasture.

Another nice ride. The mosquitoes weren't quite as bad, so we got to play a little longer. We tried to walk down the road, but Envoy isn't thrilled with cars. I decided it was better just to ride in the pasture.

It has started to rain, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow too. Looks like at least one day off from our new routine. I'm hoping we have time to get in shape enough for the beautiful and less buggy weather. Trail riding time!

Wish we had some of that rain.

How's Kina's foot doing? Wanting it hosed badly like that could mean maybe an abscess is starting to drain and feels icky and sticky to her?

I suspect an abscess, but I can't see anything on her sole. Horse feet are weird. I don't think they feel sticky. They feel the pain and burning pressure of abscesses. And, since the horn of the hoof is hard and the edge is hidden by the shoe, it's hard to see if anything's going on.

She seems a bit better. The shoe is still loose, but hanging in there. Farrier coming in 5 days. Sigh.

Can you pull the shoe?

I can, but it's on her messed up hoof. I am kind of scared of messing up. It's an old injury that healed funny, and she has what looks like a split hoof, but it's actually a flaw in the wall. It's stable, but I just don't understand it well enough to feel comfortable pulling it unless I HAVE to.

The weather is great, and Envoy and I got to ride without too many mosquitoes for company. He did great. I wish we had known yesterday that it was going to be dry. I would have asked my trail ride buddy if she wanted to go to the park.

In that case DON'T. You can more damage by pulling than leaving the shoe on.

Glad you had a nice ride, maybe next week for a ride in the park.

She's holding her own with a duct tape bandaid holding the shoe steady. I put vet wrap on her foot and then put duct tape around it holding the heel of the shoe to the toe of her foot. Not perfect, but stable enough that she isn't limping as badly.

Today's another beautiful day for riding. Envoy and I are going to hit the pasture soon.

Have a great ride. I love the solution till the farrier gets there.

No riding today. Even though it was beautifully cool for August, the lawn was screaming to be mowed. We're supposed to get rain tonight, so it had to be done.

The horses are in for the night because the rain is coming. They would be fine in a nice summer rain, but they like to lie down for a while in the night. Hard to lie down in soggy grass. They'll be in their nice, dry stalls and will go out to play in the puddles tomorrow.

That's too bad. I just wish it was cool enough to sit on the back porch.

Today was lovely while I was working. (I should have ridden at lunch time.) As soon as work time was over, it started clouding up. By the time I was done with chores, the thunder had started. It's off/on storming now. Tomorrow starts another stretch of pretty nice weather.

The farrier comes at 6 AM tomorrow. YAWN! I hope he doesn't come too late. I'm betting against an on-time arrival.

6 AM wasn't in the cards, but he did text to say he was going to be late.

Kina feels much better. The farrier tested her hoof, and didn't find any bruises or abscesses. He thinks she was just uncomfortable because her feet grew a lot and were out of balance. The loose shoe didn't help. She is still stiff on her knee. I need to get her Legend this week.

Envoy is doing well enough. We are considering doing some rebalancing of his hind feet to make his stifles (knees in the back) more comfortable. Need to consult with the vet first.

That's good news about the abcess.

I am relieved Kina didn't have an abscess and the problem is now corrected. Maybe she needs shoes more often since her feet grow so fast?
Hope that new shoe treatment helps Envoy with his problem.

Foot growth is seasonal. Since we're having terrific grass weather, horse feet are growing like crazy. It'll slow down as winter approaches. The extra week wait didn't help, but hopefully that won't happen again. The farrier and I discussed scheduling. Fortunately, he's a cool guy and didn't get all bent out of shape when I said that his scheduling recently hasn't been the best.

That's good.

A good person accepts constructive criticism well and learns from it. Glad your farrier is one of those people.