From the ground up...

Digby, yesterday, coming over to see me.

Digby is getting his hooves trimmed soon. It's been 4 weeks since his shoes came off but the farrier had left his toes a little long on purpose so he'd be a little more comfortable. When they get trimmed, I will be taking some photos just to compare. He's been super sound some days (darn you Digby! I wanna RIDE!) and then there's days where he isn't so sound. I don't think it has to do with the fact that he's barefoot really. He's been fairly ok with his shoes being pulled since day 1. I think it's just whatever he has going on in his left front. He's also due for a chrio/massage treatment. I hemmed and hawed about continuing these now that he's not being ridden but they definitely make him more comfortable. It's not that expensive and it makes him happy. The pain in his hoof makes him brace and create tension in his muscles, which explains why he's back sore right before he goes lame. Even though we're not sure how much pain he is in, he's certainly happy and if the massages make his muscles more comfortable even for a week or two, it's worth it to me.

I've been thinking that I'll have a lot of free time when I go back to night shifts in January. I'll be working hopefully 6 days a week from 4 pm till 11 pm foal watching and doing all the fun things that that goes along with. This leaves me with ALL DAY! to do fun things. I might start doing some ground work with him or clicker training. Digby has been clicker trained before and knows how to bow and say yes and no. I'm sure I could teach him some fun new tricks. I think he's bored and would like a job. Maybe it's me who's bored... I'm not sure! :) Either way, he's not the best horse to work with on the ground and does need work with clipping (ears only) and definitely with trailer loading/unloading. He's sort of irritating on cross ties because he does. not. stand. still! and thinks that pawing is acceptable, even though I tell him every single time he does it that it is in fact NOT ok. I've decided that this winter/spring without being ridden is a good time to work with him on that kind of stuff. Nothing else to do right? I've been researching the groundwork stuff and the only thing that worries me slightly is there is a lot of circling done and/or lunging type situations. I'm not sure I want to do a lot of small circles with a horse who is lame. We will have to see how he is doing then!

Digby's new digs

Meet Trooper.

Digby!

Handsome <3

The young girls, Colada and Kahlua.

Nom Nom...

Skyy!

Sur and Brandy.

Digby.... please don't climb this tree and injure yourself.

Digby's gf Colada.

Worried face.

Thankful for...

I believe that you don't need a specific day to be thankful. You should be thankful for what you have every day of your life. I try to. But, tis the (turkey) season, so I'm thankful for...

Digby. The lovely wild hony beast and the reason I'm writing this blog today. He may be lame (though he's less and less lame lately, even on 12+ hours of turnout a day without shoes!!) but he's still his same old personable self. He makes me laugh. I'll have had him for two years in February but I've known him for much, much longer! Love you Dig My Size!

Miss Midnight. Aka the little dog. I waited 24 years to get a dog. Finally got one and she's pretty much perfect. We rescued her from the SCPA in March. Not much history on this girl but she was apparently around 2 years old, a lab mix and rescued from a puppy mill. People say you don't rescue a dog, the dog rescues you. I'm not sure who rescued who honestly but she's worth waiting 24 years for. <3 Oh but she's technically my dads... don't tell!

Fluffy. Aka fluffy cat, miss fluff, fluffers, fluffernutter and fluffaluffagus. Possibly the only good thing to come out of my last job (being a barn manager in NY). I stole her when I moved into the house across the road from the barn. Someone dropped her and her kittens off shortly before I started working at the barn. Her kittens got good homes. She remained a barn cat. Who meowed when you opened the fridge ever hopeful for some milk... it broke my heart. (She still meows when you open the fridge :) in case you were wondering) She's a big, cuddly, gorgeous thing and makes me smile every time I see her.

My friends, family, and all their pets. Being safe and healthy. We've all got food, clothing and roofs over our heads. <3 Enough said.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Promised pictures!

They aren't the best. Taken from my phone and don't really show a whole lot besides Mr. Digby himself but you get the idea.

Coming out of the run in shed the first day!

Wait, where am I?

The gate going out from the barn to the field.

Hanging out in his stall... with evil eyes :)

A barely visible Digby and a new friend, Sur.

Baby, it's (getting) cold outside!

Digby's moved to his new self care boarding situation, aka a field to live in 24/7 except to eat his grain, in nasty weather and when the temps go below 25ish at night. He's still not having an excellent time. It's no ones fault. He's just the worrying kind and two of the other geldings are quite dominant. They'll figure it out soon hopefully. He's definitely getting his butt kicked and has already lost weight! Grr. How does a horse lose weight in, like, three days? Not a ton but a noticeable amount if you're paying attention which I am.

I'm sort of liking the "self care" part of it. I never have to worry about what he's eating, if he's getting his hoof supplements, if he's ok, if the barn is going to take his blanket off or not, if they're going outside. I make up his feed, supplements included. I take his blanket off or put it on depending on the weather. They're always outside. Of course, I do have to worry about getting there every day, making sure he has hay to eat, that I get grain delivered to work, and that I can find someone to get me shavings. I also need to PAY for all these things. But all and all, it's almost relaxing to go to the barn after work. I've already got a routine down. Wake up, stop by barn to remove blanket if necessary, go to work, back to barn, make up grain for AM and PM, clean stall, fill up buckets, throw hay, bring Digby in, groom, apply corona ointment to his "battle wounds", throw on blanket if necessary, usually feed around this time, give kisses and treats, leave, go to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'm sure eventually I'll get sick of it but I'm kind of enjoying the quiet solitude. It's relaxing to not have to worry if he's sound or not. It doesn't matter if I'm not in the mood to ride. I don't have to feel guilty about only riding 4 days a week. I can't ride. He's not going to be sound. He just gets to enjoy the attention that I smother him with. It's quiet. The barn is clean. The owner is nice. I'm really hoping it works out. 

As for life in the field, Digby's not friends with anyone yet. Two of the mares, both are young, seem to tolerate him fine and occasionally eat next to him but when I came today he was all the way by himself. Poor kid. Find some friends, Digby! And for the love of god, START KICKING THOSE MEAN HORSES BACK! You're going to give me an ulcer. Thanks. :)

Otherwise, life is fine. Work, Digby, sleep. Getting over a death cold/flu of epic proportions that caused nearly half of my works employees to feel like death for several days. I guess that's fall/winter though. What else is new? 

Think I'm high maintenance? You should see my horse...

I got to thinking today about Digby's odd affection while I was grooming his neck and shoulders with the curry (usually he's not a fan of the curry at all) and decided that it might be his blanket. He just started wearing it. Now, this is the ONLY blanket I've found that fits him without giving him rubs on his withers or his shoulders. He wore a shoulder guard the first winter I had him and was fine but last winter, it rubbed him! Isn't the point of it to not get rubs? I took it off and he was fine with his one medium weight blanket on. I always put blankets on after he got clipped so I figured he was just itchy the first few weeks but he didn't get clipped this year. He's only getting the blanket on when it gets cold (into the 20s at night) enough to warrant him having clothing so he doesn't lose weight. Which brings me to my next point... what if Digby wasn't completely spoiled? He must be totally nuts. I suppose when he lived at the college he wasn't spoiled and we all see how well that worked out. I'm sure there are horses out there that are as high maintenance as him. Let's list several things Digby thinks he should get special treatment for:

• Saddles. He's a tricky saddle fit. It needs to be a good fitting saddle, in the proper position on his back, with a half pad and a wither relief saddle pad. If one of these is not correct, he gets cranky. Think tail swishing, grinding of teeth, resistance to move forward cranky.
• Flies. Any and all flies MUST. BE. KILLED! If a fly lands on him at any point in the ride, Digby feels he was full right to completely ignore any and all requests until aforementioned pest is removed from him. He will resort to any means necessary.
• Flat work. He gets bored with flat work at best but tends to flat like a champ, no martingale, simple happy mouth d ring like a total short stirrup pony requiring a crop and the occasional spur. But if you ask him to flat in a grass field or on a trail ride? He's calling the union on you because clearly, this is not in his job description. I can usually coax him into doing it but he's very good at telling me "mom, I'll do it because you want me to... but I really hate it. Can we get this over with?"
• Jumping. Some days he lopes around and you could probably but a kid on him. Other days if it's above or below a certain temperature, he worked semi hard the day before or the wind is blowing just right, watch out. He turns into a nut case, needs a martingale, absolutely no crop or spurs, front and back boots (because if he hits himself while jumping you may die. It's apparently your fault that he's overzealous), and under no circumstance are you to tell him what to do in the last two strides before the fence. He will suck behind the vertical, jump, land and attempt to kill you in a very nonchalant way. Though I suppose this part no longer applies because we will no longer be jumping. :( Sigh...
• Sweating and drinking. He's not a big drinker and he's not a big sweater either. This worries me in the cold, cold months of winter (he tends to colic in the winter I've noticed) and in the heat of the summer where he sweats but really not a lot. This is easily fixed thankfully by electrolytes.
• Feeding. Summer he's FAT, winter he's SKINNY. If you feed too much grain in the winter, he gets wild! Beet pulp usually helps with this or grain-free feed like most senior feeds but it's still a serious process. In the summer, you literally can't feed him anything because he's a chunky chunky thing.
• Turnout. He requires at least one friend at all times. More is better. If you remove this friend, he will be very displeased. He also requires at least 8+ hours a day. None of this "4 hours" nonsense. This required 8 hours does not depend on weather in the least. He wants to be out. Like 5 minutes ago, what are you waiting for?
• Blankets. Oh god, just about every blanket I try on him, gives him either shoulder rubs (which has previously been fixed by a shoulder guard... that then also started rubbing him??) or wither rubs. The one that doesn't, as I mentioned above, apparently makes his neck and shoulders itchy and/or sore. Oh it also rubs away a tiny 1 inch section of his mane every year.
• Farriers. They are his personal chew toy. End of story.

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of at the moment! Is anyone else's horse as opinionated or high maintenance as mine? It's a good thing I pay attention enough to pick up on these things or else he would be a very unhappy camper. Someone should remind him that life could be far worse next time they see him! :) I guess I love him anyway.