Today I read a post on an online bulletin board written by a woman whose dearest cat is dying from kidney failure. Reading her grief-striken words was like an echo of my own posts last spring desperately trying to find a solution or help for Basette. And knowing, ultimately, that there wasn’t one. That this was the last downhill ride for the Little Black Wonder Cat. Everyone on the board was expressing their...
Continue reading...Pictures of Roman Re-enactment
Back in October, I went to a Roman re-enactment at the Parthenon in Nashville. In addition to the re-enactment, Champion One Productions was filming a trailer for their upcoming film, “The Charioteer.” Quite a few people attended. Some unedited, unlabeled pictures are available. (Some of the images are pretty large.) Several legions were there, including Legion XXIV. One of the highlights of the day was seeing a reconstruction of a Roman cavalry saddle...
Continue reading...Houdini Horse, part 2
Well, she is at it again. Houdini Horse has figured out how to take off the grazing muzzle. This time not by rolling and wiggling it off over her ears. This time she catches the muzzle basket on the fence and pulls it until the safety snap gives way. She walks away, leaving the muzzle hanging neatly on the fence for us to collect before feeding her. Some days having a really smart...
Continue reading...Riding! Yay!
For the first time since the trail ride where Isis bruised her feet, I actually got to ride. Her rain rot has mostly cleared up and she has been doing much better. I’ve lunged her several times over the past week, and each time she has done very well. She seems to move a little stiff in her hocks. However, that will be something to tackl after everything else. At least it seems...
Continue reading...Vet visit, part 2 or 3 or something
The vet came out to x-ray Isis’ feet and make sure that her feet have fully recovered. I was so proud of my little mare. First she was examined for soundness. In the large ring, I freelunged her so she could move about and strut her stuff… She was so good. Perfect, really. One of those rare occassions where she did everything I asked as if she could read my mind. The vet...
Continue reading...Bleck.
Bush won. ‘Nuff said. Related Images:
Continue reading...Sound horse!
Isis felt great today. Pulled her into the ring to see how she was feeling. She was off of bute, her hoof had healed, and it was time to see how she was moving. Poof! She took off around the ring, curled her tail over her back, and trotted without touching the ground. Oh yes, she is sound. Magnificently sound. Party! Related Images:
Continue reading...Houdini Horse
Isis is an escape artist. Not out of the usual things: fences, gates, halters. She gets out of grazing muzzles and leg wraps. For a week, we soaked her foot and then wrapped it. And of the days it was wrapped, she took it off probably half of the time. It didn’t seem to matter how careful I was about placing the diaper on the bottom of her foot, sealing the velco-type closures,...
Continue reading...Vet visit results
Good news. Well, kinda good news. Isis’ lameness was caused by an abscess and not by a flareup of her laminitis. The vet’s examination showed a sore spot on Isis’ front right foot. Boy was there a lot of nasty gunk in her foot. No wonder she was so sore. Isis wll be on bute for 10 days or so and her foot will be wrapped during that time. So she’ll be okay....
Continue reading...Vet visit
I called the vet and asked for her to call me back. Hopefully tomorrow she will be able to come out and see Isis. If she can, I’d like to do x-rays and a sonogram of her tendon. No, can’t really afford it right now, but neither can I afford to let something like this strange lameness go undiagnosed. Let’s hope that Mom is right and it’s just an abscess. Related Images:
Continue reading...Lameness, revisited again
On my way home tonight, the barn manager called and said Isis was lame today. Severely lame. She was not wanting to put any weight on her front right foot, had trouble turning that direction, and stood with her leg held up. He had examined her legs, shoulders, neck, cleaned her feet and found nothing. No obvious reason why she would be lame. I asked him to give her a bute and call...
Continue reading...Saddle news
Some good news at least. I went back to the tack shop last Thursday to pick up a saddle to try on Isis. It’s a wide-tree all purpose Spanish-made Zaldi saddle. Lovingly taken care of by the previous owner. It’s very soft. Unlike the other four saddles I’ve tried on Isis, this one settled perfectly on her back. The seat was level. Her whithers were the proper distance from the pommel, instead of...
Continue reading...Lameness, revisited
Poor mare. She is still lame. When the farrier came out today, I asked him to watch Isis move before trimming her. We brought her into the ring and asked her to trot and walk (briefly) both directions. Clockwise, she bobbed her head slightly and was obviously limping. Counterclockwise, she flung her head and trotted with her tail up with out an evident limp. (Last time she flung her head around like that,...
Continue reading...Trooper saddle
Isis is not a dainty mare. She is built like a tank; something inherited from her Crabbet breeding. Her sire takes a regular tree, as did her mother. Isis has to do everything in a special manner, and that means she is difficult to fit with a saddle. At the tack shop the other day, I picked up a trooper saddle made by M&W Saddlerly here in Tennessee. The tree had the just...
Continue reading...Spoke too soon…
I should have known better. Isis is lame again today. Again, seems impossible to tell exactly which leg or area is causing the lameness. No swelling. No heat in her legs or feet. Maybe just ouchiness? It’s been almost a week since the trail ride. I did find something interesting: she did not want to be brushed on her neck under her mane on the right side. Last week when she was not...
Continue reading...