Throwback Thursday (again!)

Throwback Thursday from June 2011, because it rained today and I couldn't ride soooo I have no updates on his soundness or new media of any kind. It's supposed to stop with the raining tonight/basically has now but I am off to go pet sitting for the evening so I won't be in the area sadly. (Side note - Look at our awesome saddle pad. Haha! I no longer own this as I felt it was degrading to put purple and hearts on a gelding. :) I'm sure Digby was thankful.)

Derp derp derp walk.

Game faces.

And we canter. No idea why this photo is blurry. I'll chalk it up to indoors being hard to photograph in.

I think we were changing direction...? Maybe.

He looks like a flipping hunter pony here but seriously, what's with the leaning Becky?

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.)

Throwback Thursday

Horse showing in early spring 2011. We used to jump!

Digby, the failed racehorse...

As you may or may not know, Digby did a few "pony races" in 2003. Three to be specific. When I purchased him, I reached out to a previous owner and she gave me what she knew about his history. I thought it was pretty cool that I own an OTTB... who isn't tattooed... but technically he has raced. That's gotta be few and far in between, right?

When I was working nights this year, I had a bit of free time so I started to do some searching. I figured in this day in age, SOMEONE must have a video of one of these races? Surely? No? Much searching on Google and YouTube ensued with zero results. After some asking around on COTH (forever my favorite!) and in real life, I got a few names and sent a few e-mails to people who may be able to help. All signs pointed to HCP. I contacted them and they were super helpful. Since this was right before the Kentucky Derby and racing season was in full swing, they politely said "yeah we can look, we should have something, but give us a week or two." Sure enough, they got back to me and said give us your address!

They mailed me a DVD that has all THREE of Digby's races on it!! I couldn't figure out how to save it (technology is not my strong point) and I'm not even sure I'm allowed to, to be honest. I paid for them so I'm assuming yes? Not 100% sure on that. Please don't sue me. I did however snag this off of my phone, hence the wildly poor quality. I'm videoing on my iPhone of an already pretty poor quality (I mean, it was 2003 and it's pony races, not the KY Derby....) video.

Without further ado, Dig My Size, with the green silks:

He ended up placing second! Go Digby! 

The weight battle.

Digby had some weight issue this winter. 

Ribby in early April.

Probably mid-April.

ZERO TOPLINE/NECK. ARGH!

I've posted about his weight issues this winter and spring before here and here. After changing feeds to Triple Crown Senior, having the vet out a few times, and treating for ulcers, he finally seemed to be gaining weight. There was much rejoicing. 

Fancy trot, fairy skinny horse. Late April.

Mid May.

Late May.

As you can see, he was putting weight on and gaining muscle which was even better but still needs a few pounds. I sadly don't have any good conformation shots from the end of May but I assure you his neck is probably double the size than it was and he's adding on weight all over. Yay! The combination of hay, meds, 8 lbs of senior feed, and  a scoop of soaked alfalfa cubes seemed to be doing the trick.

We had treated him for an entire month and around mid May, started backing off his omeprazole. There's an article that (sort of) touches on the topic of "acid rebound effect" and why you should slowly back horses (and humans!) off omeprazole. He has since stopped gaining more weight while we were backed him off his normal treatment dose. His hay, alfalfa cubes and grain stayed the same. I spoke with my vet and she suggested treating him for another month. It's possible if his ulcers were bad enough that one month of treatment was not enough. We've bumped him back up to the treatment dose and we'll continue that for another month. Hopefully that does the trick!

Has anyone else had ulcer issues? What's worked for your horse? What hasn't? I'd love to get some other opinions, as it seems that there's easily 100 different opinions and options on treatment/prevention.

So much to catch up on!

So much to catch up on!! I have some videos to post from Digby's past. :) No more info on that yet because I don't want to ruin the surprise!

I also need to discuss his weight/ulcer issues...

Anddd need to talk about how riding has been going. But on that note, Digby was a hair off today. He trotted up to me at the gate like usual and I looked at him and thought "is he..... Off?" Not bad but enough that it makes you tilt your head and say "huh." So I brought him in, picked out his feet just to make sure there's no rocks, checked for any heat/swelling. He seemed fine there so I threw him on a lunge line and took him to the ring. Sure enough he was just a TOUCH off on his left front. That's his bad foot, in case you're a newer reader. His right front is more of an upright hoof which has its own problems but his left front is the one with congenital bipartite navicular.

I had noticed earlier in the week that he was maybeeee a bit off/sore up front but it was so, so minor and he worked out of it, I just toned our riding down a bit. Sigh! Horses!

Not sure if he just played too hard in turnout or what. Here are some things that could of contributed:

- just got reshod on Monday

- could of played too hard in turnout

- hasn't been on supplements for a few months since we were dealing with his ulcer/weight issues. One supplement he usually gets is a joint supplement

- could just be stiff/sore from increased workload

Sooooo, basically, could be almost anything. We're still treating for ulcers so I don't want to give him any bute if I can avoid it. I'll give him a few days off and we will regroup. Fingers crossed y'all.

My horse is famous, again. What can your horse do?

Brb proud mom moment!

Horse nation shared my photo of Digby and his birthday poptarts! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't geeking out a little.

This is actually Digby's second claim to social media fame. In case you don't follow me on Facebook, about a year ago Digby was also in a SmartPak video. :) You have to watch until the VERY end. Digby isn't shown until around the 2:00 mark. 

http://youtu.be/8tRTyj2rfzY

So tell me! Has anyone else's horse been "famous" for a day??