Wow so I didn't post all summer.....

But now that I'm unemployed at the moment (blech), it's a good time to get back to posting I guess.

Progress report: Over the summer we didn't ride ALOT because of the heat. Florida in the summer is just so hot and ridiculously humid that it's hard on horse and rider. Cody is a sweater, which I know is better than being a non sweater. He stops at every shade spot so I know he's feeling the heat. But anyway... the riding we did do was great.

He is gaiting more consistantly and can maintain his running walk pretty well. He also racks but it crumbles into the stepping pace alot. He's building speed too. We worked a little on the canter and he'll go right into it. It's a nice rocking horse canter but he doesn't maintain it well. We'll work on this more in the fall.

He is just getting over another accident. It looks like he was running around and bounced off a tree. His side is all scraped up and he must have twisted a back fetlock. He isn't limping anymore but I want to give him another week. His stifle problem comes and goes. He is always better the week after a ride. While I'm unemployed and the weather is cooler, I will try to work him a little every day and see how that goes. Obviously I'm not going to be able to get the surgery or the injections for him anytime soon.

Sweetpea is not doing well. Her skin has gotten bad and the muscle atrophy on her right side is more pronounced. If you pick up her rear leg she crumbles. Luckily our hoof trimmer can hold her up to do that hoof. We are thinking it might be time to put the old lady to sleep. She's had a long hard life and we've tried to make the 3 years she's spent with us as comfortable as possible. She is itchy all the time even with the shots and she's going blind. She is such a sweet old girl though.

Annie is doing well weight wise. The pasture drying up finally has caused some white line I think. She's a little touchy on one foot. She just went through a shed and has bald spots. We are switching Cody and her to a better food to see if it helps with her coat (and his sweating). I think she could use some more Omega too. She has that curly gene and loses hair at the drop of a hat. She's such a happy horse. A real joy to be around.

Bo is as grumpy as ever. And as onery. But he's looking fat and sassy. He has been pretty much retired for the last few years but every so often I saddle him up and ride him around the yard to remind him "it could happen".



"T" is doing great. He's always sound and consistant. A mule with a great sense of humor. He has this cute little habit of cantering everywhere he goes in the yard and in the pasture. He's a happy healthy boy.



Jackie is also doing well. Though each year he hobbles a little bit more. He looks great, always fat and shiny. Some days he hobbles more than others but most of the time you can't really tell unless he tries to run. He's gotten very affectionate as the years go by. He has also gotten attached to Annie which is funny. Both mules, Jackie and T didn't like her at ALL when she first came on board.

Benny, the Skinny Puppy, is doing GREAT. He is fat and shiny and happy. He is definitely part Dane and Lab. His body is lab like but his head and tail set look Dane. He is such a sweet lovable dog. People love him everywhere we go. We take him to the feed store every weekend and to Tractor Supply.

Caesar is slowly getting over Valarie leaving. He plays with Benny and runs up and down the fence with the next door neighbors dog. We had to put up an electric fence at the bottom because of the digging. The dog next door dug under the fence and after that, both sides were digging every day. The fence seems to have fixed the issue.

Callie is her usual silly self. I let the dogs out into the paddocks with me while feeding and she stalked the turkey. Topher, the turkey, ran away from her for a few yards, then she turned and attacked. And so it went. Callie chased her across the yard, and she chased Callie back the other way. It was all great fun until Topher pecked her. Then Callie hauled tail into the yard and hid. Benny also gave it a try and soon Topher was chasing him around the yard. Eventually Topher chased them all into the yard and held them there by standing in the doorway glowering.

Poker Run!

Because Cody's stifles just aren't reliable right now, I took Annie to the Alafia Poker Run on April 2nd. She did really well. She's a confident mare and likes to stride out. We have had people tell us she looks to be Saddlebred and her gaits seem to support that. She has a long striding walk, a nice slow rack, and then she shifts into this trot that has about three gears. One is a high stepping trot, then she extends out into a floating trot, and then there is just hauling ass. You can post to the trots, and in fact, the fastest trot is a DREAM to post to. It just pops you right back up with no fuss. I really need to get some video footage of her going through her gaits. She is shedding out and has gained good weight. She looks really good. Her mane and tail were starting to grow in but they suffer alot of set backs. She likes to rub them in her stall even though we keep her bathed and use the itchy spray. There doesn't seem to be any fungus. She just loses hair super easy. I don't think she's every going to have a mane and tail.

Stifles AGAIN

Well, Cody has always been iffy on the stifles. It gets worse, it gets better, but it never truly goes away. I know his exercise hasn't been consistant lately due to other issues and injuries, but it seems his stifles are always tweaky these days. I have decided to save up and take him to Dr. Van Roekel again to see about having the stifle surgeries. I always felt he was too young before but we've tried alot of different things and it doesn't seem to ever really go away. I think those stifle issues are here to stay. I don't recall the exact amount I was quoted. I think the injections were $160 each stifle.

Much Better Now, Thank You

Cody is feeling much better. He's back to fighting with Bo over the mares. Bo can still kick his ass. But Bo is 20 and Cody is 4 so at this rate, he can hope to outlive Bo if nothing else.

So He's Not the Most Coordinated Horse in the Barn....

Cody managed to mangle himself up pretty good this time. He hobbled up barely able to walk. The vet had to come out because I couldn't get him up on his feet to get in the trailer. A thermal scan showed alot of heat between his front legs and all the way down one side. Doc Davis thinks that he did a spread eagle out in the pasture. I know he and Bo have been "going at it" lately because Cody fancies himself the boss of Annie and Bo is the boss of ALL. He was given steroids, and several other shots and a tube of Bute. I took some video to document this chapter that I HOPE he does not repeat.

Mobstacles!

We had a busy four day weekend.

We went to Little Manatee River State Park on Saturday to the Poker Ride. We took Annie and she did very well. It took about 10 minutes to get her in the trailer to go but there was no panic. Just a stubborn delay. She was very excited in a happy way once she got there. Ears alert, looking around without apprehension. She was polite to the other horses there when we crossed paths with them. We were careful not to overload her with being too close to too many but I think she would have been fine if we had. We rode less than an hour and then tied her up with T and they had some hay while we ate lunch. It was a good day!

On Sunday, we took T and Cody to the Alafia River State Park for the Mobstacle. Again, we didn't compete but we paid our entry and took a leisurely ride on the Long trail (9 miles, give or take). However, we got lost in the process. Figures eh?

Cody and T were very good though they got irritable at one point because we had been down the same trail about three times. They started getting nippy at each other. But once we got back on the right track they were happy again. They both gaited pretty well and there was no silly spooking or anything.

It was a very pleasant weekend of riding!

4 years old

Cody is now four years old (January 9th). Happy Birthday Cody!!

Here he is with his BFF.

One Goes up! The other goes down!

Cody was sick last weekend. He colicked for the first time in his life. He was so sick and scared. He kept trying to lean on me and I shooed him away because I was dealing with Annie and T. When I touched him, he was Ice cold, so I opened his stall door then went back to deal with Annie. Meanwhile, Cody went in his stall and laid down.

I put a blanket on him, gave him Banamine and sat with him. He'd just lay his head on my lap and moan.

He got through it though after a trip to the vet.

Over the weekend, after Cody recovered, we took Annie out for a ride. She has a really nice gait and is calm on the trail. She's starting to look GREAT!.

Annie - Two Months Later

Annie is doing great! She's only been ridden once around the yard, and once down the road (about a half mile) but she's ready to start working now. She's put on alot of weight and needs some conditioning now. She's a very happy girl who talks to us whenever she sees us in the yard. She is starting to stand up for herself against the other horses so she's not being bullied.

"T", who started out as her arch nemesis is now her "buddy". Though neither one would admit it, they follow each other around and hang out in the pasture together.