a rough patch

Nina seems to be going thru a rough patch, part klutzy and part bad luck.
First she scraped up her front legs, then she bruised her knee...both healed by the way.
This week she was going along fine and yesterday she broke out in hives (?) or maybe a severe case of fly bites.  AND she apparently got attacked by the nearby hornet's horde.  She had three enormous swollen patches on her belly and between her front legs and a couple on one side and flank.
So she has had Benadryl every 12 hours, 3 doses now.  The little bumps are the same but the big swellings are almost gone.  She got a Vetrolin bath and a fly sheet... and more Benadryl.
And the hornets got killed.

finally riding again

Finally got to ride Nina today.  She was nice and forward at the walk, bit of a flat tire at the trot, but I think she is just a little stiff from standing around.
Her attitude amazed me.  She was relaxed and positively cheerful, even playful.  I had to look to see if I was on the right horse.
She has been a pest this last week, confined most of the time to her stall.  Following me around and begging for attention.  Could it be that she is starting to actually enjoy having a job and the attention that goes with it?
Her normal FU attitude has been missing lately.  I like it.

ready to ride

Nina was pretty sound today, both directions.  She even threw in a couple of canter strides and then decided that wasn't a good idea.  I think that now she is just very stiff.  This is the least exercise she has had since I got her.  Even when she was skinny, body sore and nasty, she still got out everyday for quite a bit of exercise. 
She has only been out to walk around for a few minutes and roll in the sand for over a week, she is kind of creaky. 
But it was 100 degrees as I pulled into the barn and tomorrow it is supposed to be more like 83 or 84, so I think it can wait one more day.

almost there

Pretty sound today, trotted both ways.  Just a little bit of NQR, which is a long way from 3 legged, head-bobbing lame.  I will give her tomorrow off, just let her out to roll and see how it looks on Wednesday, when the temps are supposed to get back into the high 90s again - of course.

much better today

Even a little trotting.  Sound one direction, a little off the other.  Sound walking both ways.  This is day 7, about right for a nasty bruise.  She is starting to get cranky.  Don't tell me that riding is better than boredom... can't be.

Sunday - ditto

borrrr--ring

Better today. She was walking normally on soft ground, gimpy on the hardpack. Acting normal so I am assuming it doesn't hurt all the time anymore. Still on arnica and rhus tox.

Thursday - ditto
Friday - ditto

better today

She was eating better, feeling better, just a little limping off and on.
Whatever it is, it is healing.

lame

Yesterday I went to the barn a little after noon and found Nina standing on 3 legs. The barn manager said that she was in her stall around 11 checking the feeder and she was fine then.
We think she may have bashed her knee (right front) sometime in that hour. The way she was walking looked like a sore knee. I couldn't find any heat or swelling anywhere. Prodded and pushed up and down her leg and on the sole of her foot. Nothing.
She hobbled around for a while and was walking better in about 20 minutes. So I put her magnetic wraps on her, gave her some Arnica and left her eating her dinner.
Today she was much better. Walking fine if she was walking straight and carefully. Turning or speeding up made her limp. That still looked like a knee, but still no heat or swelling.
I tried to walk her around a little and hand graze her but she wanted to march off at top speed so I put her in a round pen. She rolled and walked around a little and again was walking better after she moved around a little. Sublingual arnica and rhus tox are her friends for a few days.
If it is just sore it is going to take a few days to go away and a few more before I ride. If it doesn't keep getting better fast I'll have to get the vet out to tell me that she is lame....on her right front.
*sigh*

New pics - Me and Nina

I finally got some pics today of me and Nina.

This was a nice moment...

This is the head-down stuff that I hate...

More head-down, behind-the-bit avoidance. I would like to strangle the person who taught her this...

I think the pinned ears and mouth wide open while I throw the reins at her is a little over dramatic, but she is still moving along...

A stuck moment here...

All in all not bad.
Thanks to Deb for standing out in the heat to take these pictures.

apologies to Nina

hey, she speaks English, she might be reading this blog.
I have been trying to set a routine for our rides. Lunge for a few minutes, walk around on the rail at least one lap, then ask for a trot, trot at least one lap and then start asking her to work a little, bend, a little lateral etc. She doesn't need variety, she needs to know what is coming up next and that is it nothing to worry about.
Yesterday I was hot and tired when I got on and within about 10 steps I was hustling her along and demanding that she trot. Horses much more tolerant than she is would have been ticked off. *sigh* Well, at least she is learning to be a little forgiving.

keeping me guessing

Just so I don't take anything for granted....Nina was a *#)$*@*@+#*&!^!_ today.

new digs for Nina

A nicer stall just opened up and I am going to move Nina to it. Much bigger shed, it is in a shed row so there is more protection from the elements. The pen is about the same size, she only has a horse on one side of her and she gets a window! The feed door doubles as a window for the horses, she LOVES this set up, or at least she did before.
The pen she is in now is fine, but she is fed outside in a feeder, in the new stall her food goes in the shed. Much better for winter. She pretty much avoids her neighbors so she should be fine with this change.
No riding today, I got to the barn late. Had a great ride yesterday. It was way too hot to ride for an hour but I rode for about half a hour and - I timed her - I got 20 minutes of continuous trotting, circles and figure 8s and around on the rail. Steady footfalls, she still feels like she is lurching because she is thinking about stopping every step, but she also knows how to put her feet on auto pilot and maintain a nice rhythm. The best she has done so far, with CJ or with me.

hot again

It was just too hot to do what I wanted to do, but I did get on her for about 25 minutes. I think she wants to please, her attitude of 'the best defense is a good offense' is just so ingrained.
Only a few minutes of fighting today before she was trotting along. If I leave her alone instead of trying to push for more trot, it gradually gets better as she relaxes. Any encouragement from me and she sucks back again. At least now I can give her a pat on the neck, that used to cause the brakes to lock up.
We worked on a long narrow figure 8. Couldn't get through the turns without a fight for several attempts and then she just started doing it practically on her own, nice balanced turns with the rhythm never changing through the turns and the long straight stretches.
CJ was beginning to think that she had had some good training at one time, it is just overlayed with abuse and fighting. If I can get her to relax and breathe she does start to feel like a well trained horse.

ride today

I took off yesterday. I don't know what Nina did for the day but I did work around the house, goofed off, updated blogs and didn't go to the barn.

Today she was a little stuck, she did have a week off and her eternal hope that she will never have to work again is always hard to give up after a break. But she wasn't too bad.
Of course, by the time she gives in and starts cooperating I am tired. But I looked at my watch for the first time today and I was on her for about half an hour. I was surprised, if feels like only a few minutes.

I think maybe it's because we don't have a repertoire of movements to practice like you do with a horse that has had some training so just trotting around and arguing about it beforehand doesn't seem like much.

I am going to start pushing both of us this week, trying to ride for an hour and get her to actually work for most of that. I think she is figuring out that the argument is more tiring than the work and she is not going to win. The temps are the enemy right now, high 90s and low 100s are brutal to work in.