My view

This is my view currently:

Doing some rereading, waiting for Rolex live feed to start, cuddling with the pets. Bring on the day! :)

(Side note: Has anyone else had trouble with Blogger lately? I keep getting errors, having trouble commenting on other blogs, I wrote the same post twice and it was eaten both times, and struggling to edit. It's both on my computer and via mobile... Which is kind of a bummer! I can't be the only one??)

My horse is skinny, I've been eating too many cookies

All jokes aside, the vet came out for spring shots and we discussed a lot of topics. She pulled blood, we decided to up his grain to 4 quarts twice a day, as well as adding in alfalfa cubes/hay stretcher. I also started treating for ulcers, sort of as "just in case" option. He hasn't lost anymore weight but I wouldn't say he's gaining much. 

The blood work came back just fine so hopefully the addition of more hay in the form of cubes or hay stretcher plus treating for ulcers will help!

Digby is shedding a ton lately. There's a low of 31 (ahhh!!!) degrees tonight so his blanket is back on but hopefully the shedding will continue. He looks very handsome in his spring coat. :)

I also threw him in the round pen yesterday for a few minutes. I haven't been riding even though he's sound because he is quite skinny and I don't want him to burn any more calories than he needs to. Plus, honestly, is his saddle even going to fit?!

He just poked around, as I was testing to see his responses to my voice and making sure he was sound. He seemed to enjoy the "work" so hopefully he'll get some weight on soon!! I'm dying to ride! 

Also, I've been eating toooo many donuts and cookies so I've got a few pounds that I could lose from riding. :) 

A wee bit skinny

As you could see from the last post, Digby is skinny coming out of winter. Sigh.

He had lost a little weight between when I moved back and before I moved him back to PA but he was probably a 4.5 on the BCS so I wasn't too worried. Enter cold winter of doom.

All in all, I guess he could look worse...? But he looks pretty bad. His coat is still pretty shiny which makes me chuckle and he is always a very enthusiastic eater. He got tons of blankets and free choice hay. Fecal was fine but I dewormed him before I moved him back to PA with equimax and again in December with a powerpac. His teeth were up to date but I did them in March anyway. They weren't great so the equine denist is coming back out in May to use some power tools. I also switched him from what the barn feeds (Blue Seal Strider) to Triple Crown Senior in January. I've fed it before and had great results. He gets an entire scoop (3 quarts) twice a day and still looks like this. According to weights on their website, that's about 6-7 lbs a day. That's a lot for a 15hh guy like him! The last time I fed TC Senior he got max 5 lbs a day and that was in the dead of winter, not March and April.

The vet is coming back out for the second round of spring shots on April 9th so she's going to run some tests then. I'm thinking we will pull blood, discuss the possibility of cushings, Lyme or ulcers and see what she has to say. I had given him Ulcergard two days before, during and for a few days after the move, but I suppose he could of gotten ulcers while in PA. Any suggestions? 

A day in the life

So I thought it could be fun doing one of the "day in the life" posts that I've seen going around! Since I work night shift, my days are a bit different than everyone else. :)

10:05 PM - alarm goes off. Much grumbling, occasional cursing, ensues. Check calls, texts and alerts on phone to see what I've missed this evening while sleeping. Check weather to see how cold it is going to be at work and plan what I need to wear.

10:45 PM - arrive at work. Eat whatever breakfast I've brought. Discuss what happened during the day at the farm with the employee who works 3 pm - 11 pm. Pet Skylar, the obsessive but lovable border collie.

11 PM - 3 AM - twiddle my thumbs. No seriously, I get paid to sit and be quiet. It's mind numbingly boring so I usually tidy the office and the barn a bit right around 11 pm. If someone decides to foal at any point in the shift, I call a manager to let them know and help with foaling process, making sure baby stands and nurses, etc. If no one foals, I generally browse COTH, study and do homework for my classes, obsessively check social media out of boredom, and watch Netflix/Hulu.

3 AM - check waters for all horses, make sure everyone has hay. Continue studying/netflixing/being bored out of my mind. Pet the (sleeping) dog. Usually eat "lunch" around this time.

6 AM - start feeding. Throw down straw so day shift crew doesn't have to get it. Turn horses out. Administer meds if necessary.

7 AM - OMG TWO OTHER PEOPLE COME IN TO WORK!! BEST TIME EVER! Proceed to chat their ears off. Pet Thor, the yellow lab, and usually feed him a treat/donut piece.

8 AM - done work. Drop dog off at home, go to class.

10 AM - class depends on the day so well call done at 10 am the middle ground. Either go see the hony, or do things necessary to life like get groceries, do laundry, cook so I have food, figure out college stuff, plan my life (bahaha), etc. Usually check social media and try to text everyone I have in my phone so I feel social.

2 PM - curse out loud. Usually text someone "damnit it's 2 pm and I haven't even showered, eaten, or walked the dog and I should be sleeping! Why am I so bad at this?! I should be able to get 8 hours of sleep!" Every. Single. Day.

 2:45 PM ish - climb into bed. Force myself to put down my phone and social link to the world. Sleep usually within 15 minutes, but then wake up several times, until my alarm goes off at 10:05 pm.

Digby and Dino today at 1 pm. They've obviously never met before (they lived outside together for months up until this last month when they've both been brought in due to the mud) and needed to sniff and squeal at each other. (FYI - The barns 35 minutes from home and I had yet to eat "dinner", shower, or walk the dog...) 

I feel like this picture sums up this turnout herd. Completely.

Pretty horses. :)

The treat lady

This was my Wednesday:

"Oh! Are you going to feed us?!" (Note it was noon, not near any feeding times and they had mostly full hay nets.) 

Dino is like "hey lady, feed me." (Btw, this is his reaction to me every day and he is quite the sasspot when he realizes I have no dino safe treats!)

So I figured I'd be nice (for once, in his opinion) and throw him a little bit of extra hay just so he thought he was getting something. His reaction? "Hmph fine, I GUESSSS I'll eat the partial flake you just threw me so you can hang out with your own horse.... But only after I lick the snow for potential dropped grain from this morning to show that hay is not acceptable as a form of treat." :) this pony cracks me up.

Digby got to enjoy "real" treats and probably went back and bragged about it. 

Snowy Sunday

Digby had a mild colic yesterday (fine after 10cc of Banamine and some hand walking, although didn't pass manure for a few hours but was 100% attitude wise!) so I left early to go to the barn this morning. As you can tell from the photos, he is feeling much better! 

I pulled his mane, in case you wanted to know what that black pile of fuzz was. 

Digby and Dino in the pony palace! 

Friends. 

My last post was in February 2013. That needed to change.

Here's some photo examples what Digby has done from February 23, 2013 until now.

Basically, been his same adorable self that he always has been! I'm not going to write a 17 page long blog post about what I've done since, apparently, February 2013 because I probably could. It just feels a bit excessive, you know? We're back in PA. I am no longer employed at the job I had my last blog post. I'm pretty happy about that! He's happy as a clam in his new digs. I've been busy/away for work/OMG COLD for a solid few weeks so he has been majorly neglected since the move back to PA, minus short visits of treats being stuffed in his mouth, a few rides, and some petting. That will change (hopefully) after this weekend!

I still love Adequan. Still love oral supplements, though he isn't on a hoof supplement anymore oddly enough. Digby's done FABULOUSLY in his bar shoes, although in August we transitioned him into regular steel shoes with just a half pad wedge. I'm not as huge as fan so he'll probably be going back into bar shoes with a full pad for the winter. He's sound. He's blind in one eye. He's also a super star.