PHOTOS!

The view from Digby's stall into his run.

Love.

Shiny butt.

You know I'd fall apart without you....

You know I'd fall apart without you...

I don't know how you do what you do...

Cause everything that don't make sense about me, makes sense when I'm with you...

Like everything that's green, boy I need you...

But it's more than one and one makes two...

Put aside the math and the logic of it, you gotta know you're wanted too...

<3 Lyrics are from the song "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes. Photos are by various people through the years. The adorable TB gelding in question is, of course, your favorite hony, Mr. Dig My Size. I figured a nice photo tribute would be fitting for these past few weeks. He's still the star of the show, remember!

The doctor calls...

Today at work we had a very, very experienced and knowledgeable vet come to inject the hocks of one of our yearling fillies. She had gotten OCD's removed from both hocks and was getting injected post operation. My boss had previously mentioned that I needed to talk to this particular vet as he might have some ideas. I kept trying to get his number with little or no effect on my boss. :) Typical! However, the vet stopped by today so I helped out!

I asked him about Mr. Dig My Size after he was done injecting our filly. He had a few good ideas that I'll list quickly:

1. Make sure the toe on his front hooves stay short. He said to square them off if possible and keep them short to prevent low heels.
2. Make sure he stays a good weight, especially not too fat!
3. Keep diligent about footing he gets worked in.
4. Make sure he stays SOUND behind, especially in the right hind (hock especially) so he can keep weight off his front feet as much as possible.
5. If all else fails, Digby is a good candidate for a long term chemical nerve block. Basically, Digby would be injected with a chemical in his hoof that would last around 6 months. It is similar to being de-nerved with less complications. Digby would probably do well with this because he trotted off SO sound when we blocked his hoof originally to take x-rays back in June 2011. I personally think of it like giving a horse Ace as a sedative to take the edge off vs a month long sedative. Similar effects, just different time frames.

My vet had mentioned the majority of these things to me originally so I was not shocked by any of this. She did not mention a long term nerve block though. Due to this and his current stellar soundness....

The hony is coming back into work. Officially. Whoo!

We will do this again!!! <3

I'm going on vacation (I know, I know... lazy! Haha!) until Tuesday so I won't be jumping right into this obviously. I'll probably do a week or two of straight hand work before trying to start riding. Ok ok, I MAY just tack him up and walk around. :)

If he goes lame, I'll try a chemical nerve block... barring I don't find a lot of horrible, horrific reactions to it via Google. Hopefully we don't have to try this but it's good to have in the tool box, just in case. :)

Life ain't always beautiful...

To quote the Gary Allan song... "Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride."

Work at dusk...

My life has been crazy lately. Between work problems and home problems and Digby's board going up (although that happened about two weeks ago).... Ugh. I am READY for Monday! Let this week be over!!

In between all these messes, some truly wonderful things have happened.

1) Digby is still sound. I have no plans on bringing him back into work at this time but perhaps once summer is over? He tends to do best in fall/winter months. The wheels are turning in my head... :)

2) I still have a job. I'm not sure I was ever close to losing it but at this point in my life, with this economy, and the lack of jobs, I'm still happy to have one. Even if it does occasionally (or more than occasionally, depending on the week) suck.

3) As you may remember, I was lamenting about the fact that with Digby's board being raised, I could no longer half lease at my previous barn. It's the one I currently lesson at and there's a horse who is a bit quirky but I adore. With the board being raised, it was just out of financial reach. Due to an extreme show of kindness, an eventing friend has graciously donated a few extra bucks that will allow me to half lease for the summer months. I have no words. I am so touched by the support of a fellow rider that I literally cannot describe how thankful I am. I can only say THANK YOU SO MUCH!

4) I get to go to work, play with baby horses all day, and come home to a gorgeous fluffy cat and a loving dog. My horse is happy, healthy and still comfortable. My leased horse (don't worry, I will blog about that shortly!) is AWESOME. I pray every day that my friends and family get to have the same support and love in their own lives.

To end this post, you get a picture I took of an ADORABLE baby who was sooo tired one afternoon when I was trying to bring him and his mother in:

Pictures like this remind me that my job may suck, but at least there are foals to make me feel better! <3

Daily Dose of Digby (ok, for the past few weeks...)

What Digby's been doing the past few weeks:

A lot of this...

Some of this....

A bit of this too....

TONS OF THIS....

And as always, this... <3

Why I love COTH Forums....

I'm a avid stalker on the COTH forums. While I technically do have a name, I post like twice a year so I just say I stalk. A few days ago a post popped up on my radar about a horse with bipartite navicular. I was, of course, immediately intrigued. Since then, I have acquired the e-mail address of two other ladies who own horses with bipartite navicular! How cool! This makes three people total that I've spoken to with horses like Digby! One has not e-mailed me back yet (it is Memorial Day weekend, she's allowed to be busy I suppose) and the other has e-mailed me back a few times so far. We chatted a bit about our horses, what we've done with them, what we've tried, what's worked, what hasn't. It's just SO refreshing to find someone who is going through a similar problem! Turns out, this woman has a gelding with it and she de-nerved him with much success. I will definitely be mentioning her success to my vet when I call her early next week to let her know about Digby's soundness!

I'm not sure I want to go that route but it's definitely worth mentioning considering her success, isn't it? De-nerving isn't 100% guaranteed to work on any horse, even if the surgery is successful. It also has it's risks. The nerve can grow back thus making the horse lame again or a neuroma can develop. A neuroma is a large bundle of nerve fibers that cause pain at the site where the nerve cut took place. Not exactly ideal.

This is why I LOVE forums. I found people who have experience in something that is extremely rare that I would of never even remotely been in touch with. My vet wouldn't have talked to them, I wouldn't of, my farrier wouldn't of. Now I get to talk to someone who has a similar problem. We can commiserate and share successes! If I can find TWO people with bipartite navicular horses, I'm a firm believer that you can find just about anything online! :)

In other news, have a great Memorial Day weekend! Be safe and have fun!

Comic relief!

For a good laugh, go check this out...

http://galsandhorses.blogspot.com/2012/04/for-sale-or-lease.html

HAHA! :) I needed a good laugh.