June Happenings

So what have I been doing in June, besides not posting?! Digby has been oddly sound then sort of not sound. I'm terrified that he has Lyme, as that's a common sign. I'm hoping it's not (please don't spend ALL MY MONEY. GAH) and that he just was fresh in the field/was working too hard. I gave him about a week off now, paired with a few Vetrolin baths, and he seems to be doing better. The game plan is to ride tomorrow and see how he does. Here's an update photo of his weight that I promised last post:

As you can see, mucho, mucho better. Thank goodness! So finger's crossed that he continues to do better. I'm still hoping for a couple extra pounds and some lots of topline. I went down to the shore (Ocean City, NJ) last weekend so Digby got neglected while I was away. It was awesome and much needed for mental sanity. My friend's family has a house and they weren't going to be there so I swung down (it's about 2 hours away from me and only one $1.50 toll) and hung out on the beach. It was PERFECT weather on Saturday. High of 79, sunny, light breeze... Sigh! Perfection.

Noms. (Note, wild hony is not being held.... I clearly think he's going to run away.)

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. :) 

Vet update!

The vet (finally) made it out today to look at Mr Dig My Size. Digby got a couple shots. The vet and I got to discuss lots of good topics. Overall, she's pretty pleased with how he looks. He's at a good weight and seems happy. I'm still supposed to give him off until May. We're going to reevaluate in May if she hasn't come out for spring shots yet.

When he goes back into work, we're going to carefully evaluate the following things:

• Weight
• Footing
• Shoeing
• Medication

Weight being that he typically gets plump during the spring, summer and fall. This is highly frowned upon this year. He needs to be a BCS of 5 if not slightly lower (think 4.75 haha). We need to carefully watch what types of footing he's on and watch what he does best on. We're going to hopefully leave him barefoot but if he doesn't come back into work well, we're going to shoe him like a navicular horse including shoes (perhaps a type of bar shoe that we didn't try) and wedges. I'm supposed to leave him on his hoof supplement and possibly research one for tendon/ligament injuries if I find the money to do so. As for medication, he's currently not on bute or Isox or anything. We can start playing with them if nothing else works. I don't want to keep my horse on bute every day but if it means riding vs no riding, I might have to.

So, overall, she was happy with how he's doing. Now... we wait.