Of Tandem Rides and Eyes

The start of 2024 has been quite something to be sure. Since moving Quest back out to SV, I haven't been able to see her as often as I would like but she's definitely living her best life in pasture and with lots of horsey friends. I sorely miss the days when she was close to home but it's getting harder and harder to find a place nearby that has a good balance of all the things that we both need. Knowing how much happier Quest is being pasture boarded, I can't in good conscience keep her in a stall just for my convenience either.   

I'm thankful for a supportive non-horsey husband though and we try to do as many family barn trips on the weekend as possible. And with winter slowly giving way to spring (fingers crossed), there is riding to be done! Mareface is always game for a quick adventure and my son has been enjoying all of our tandem bareback rides around the property. Quest has never put a foot wrong with him on board. She's really just the best <3 I'm hoping we can graduate to trail rides soon, maybe that'll be a goal for the summer. 

A couple weeks ago, Quest had her first mishap in years. This mare has a really strong sense of self-preservation that she rarely, if ever, needs a vet visit. However one morning a couple weeks ago, the BO texted me that she noticed during morning feeds that Quest's right eye was watering. It looked a million times better after the BO took her in and cleaned it up. It wasn't as scary looking anymore and Quest didn't seem any worse for the wear. As luck and timing would have it, the vet was coming out for dental work at the barn later that week and I had them check out Quest's eye just in case. 

It turns out that mareface had somehow scraped the inside of her bottom eyelid! No debris or foreign matter was found, no stitches or anything else was needed. Just daily application of an antibiotic ointment. I was so relieved that it wasn't anything worse as eye injuries can get pretty bad very quickly.

Fingers crossed for quick, speedy healing!