Z update

When Dr. Cowgirl arrived, she confided to me that when she got my call Friday, she was very concerned. It turns out that Pigeon Fever is making a comeback in my area and the chest puffiness I had described in Z’s chest might have been that. She would have put Z on antibiotics if that had been the diagnosis.

Thankfully, it was not. The swelling has gone done to the point that Z was totally comfortable with us touching her on her shoulder and chest. The bump I had noticed on her left shoulder was gone. And of course there were the signs of biting under her mane, near her wither Of course the cut that had been treated on the other horse she shares the paddock with as further evidence that some sort of confrontation had caused the soreness.

If it was Pigeon Fever it would not have gone away but continued to develop. Just in case though I’m going to keep a close eye on her and if it comes back call Dr. Cowgirl immediately.

Lots of needed rain here has turned the driveway to the barn to mud.

SORE!

Z is still down and out and maybe worse. I think we’ve pieced together what happened.

About 4 days before I noticed that she was sore (w/ no physical cuts), the big gelding she is kept with had a split on his poll/forehead area that had to be stitched. It now seems like Z must have gotten massively kicked in the front of her chest as she is now puffy and very sore to be touched there. So 2+2 = 4.

Probably some fracas broke out and both really got into punishing the other, and we already know that Z does NOT back down – even if she is only 14.2 and the other is 17 hands.

Got a call into the vet but for now she’s on Bute and we’ll see what Dr. Cowgirl recommends. May be up to two weeks off from work which will take us to the week off I had already planned for her during Thanksgiving :(

Luckily, Rugby Guy has work with the Barn Owner, riding her two horses, and starting her colt. But it just bums me out and makes me feel bad for Z too.

major dental

Last time Z saw the vet she got her shots and I don’t mix shots with dental work. During dental work, bacteria is aroused in the mouth and open areas may allow infections to penetrate. Combine that with the body being flooded with immunization shots and it’s just too much stress for one horse.

However, I knew at that time she would need some rasping, the removal of two Wolf Teeth, and the removal of a very loose baby tooth. I wasn’t sure what to expect - how painful would it be? Would Z cooperate? Would it take hours and throwing Z to the ground to get this done?

Thankfully, it didn’t take long, like 30 minutes and though Z’s mouth will be sore and was a bit bloody nothing super out of the ordinary happened during the procedure. I know she will be feeling so much better now that that her mouth won’t be full of hooks and a wobbly tooth.

I’ll post a photo of her baby tooth later – soooo cute!

 

Vaccs and Dental

Vaccinations done on Z which I decided to add the Rabies since she is young (turning four in August). I’ve got the injections for Big Guy and Pandora (no rabies) so I’ll give those most likely on Sunday.

Both BG and Pandora have been with me at least 7 years and once we were at a farm that had strangles – while other horses were dropping like flies, neither caught Strangles. They must have a pretty robust immune system so I try not to interfere with it. Personally, if they were on my own property and not being boarded, I would opt for vaccs every 3-5 years.

I had originally planned on getting Z’s dental done today but it turns out that it will be more then just a filing… she has a loose, wiggly babytooth that didn’t fall out; wolf teeth to be removed, AND filing. So Dr. Cowgirl will come out sometime next week and finish it.

No wonder Z has been mouth sore!

baby steps

Rode Z Saturday for the first time at the new place. For some reason she decided she forgot how to walk! Today, I decided she would walk and we got through the “stickiness” of standing still and doing nothing. We definitely have taken some backward steps in the training but I expect that this week will get us caught up and moving forward again.

The basic routine: lungework under dressage saddle with walk and trot. Spiral in’s and outs on the circle, and will add in some shoulder in later.

Next, once she is warmed up, we do our carrot stretches, nose stretch, nose between knees, side to side, and side tail pull for the hindquarters as well as a few belly lifts.

Right now I’m still using Molly’s Western saddle but I hope to be back to my own dressage saddle by the end of July. I do my walk-riding in it and once the chiro visits and the walking is all smooth, I’ll add in the trot under saddle. Mostly because of myself and not Z.

Some additional things I’ll be doing is the target stick touching and getting her to stretch more forward at trot. Under saddle we are also using some of Mark Russell’s Lightness exercises to get her to stretch forward and slightly down.

I’ve also ordered Peggy Cummings book Connected Groundwork and her specialized halter with lines so I can start doing those bending exercises also.

If it wasn’t so hot I’d do more but really, this is about as much as I can do considering we are over 103 every day.

BTW she has melded into the new group without a hitch! She has a Palomino Paint mare that she now shares her paddock with and they are quiet friendly and peaceable together! Far less controversy then she had with Dee and Big Guy.

The only worrisome thing is she has lost a lot of weight and lost some weight again when she moved to the new place. I’m putting together some flax seed supplement mix for her and the vet needs to come out next week and do her teeth.