Checking In

Well, hello there. The blog has been pretty silent as of late but much has been going on behind the scenes. Over the last 2-3 months, we have been focusing all our attention on recovery and doing a generous amount of self-care.

The first order of business was trying to figure out the proper shoeing arrangement. Mareface got her first set of fronts last cycle and she did really well in them...until she pulled a shoe. Fortunately it was the day before the farrier was due back out but unfortunately that was when Vet K was supposed to check Quest's progress. The pulled shoe didn't allow for a clear evaluation so it got pushed back a couple weeks. Vet K was nice enough not to charge me for that, thankfully.

The second issue has been containment. Mareface had been allowed to roam the pasture freely in hopes that she'll stay quiet enough to heal.

But then there are days when I visit and Quest is tearing around the field like a wild child. As much as I don't want to contain her, Vet K suggested that we should try something to get her to stay more still. So the nice folks at the barn are trying to set up a temporary corral of sorts. Hopefully this will aid in the recovery process and not make her a stressful mess.

As for me, I've used the time to take care of myself and build new friendships within the various communities I'm a part of. I have been getting time in the saddle but most of my hours lately have been spent reading, practicing saber, and doodling lots of art. I really miss working with Quest and sometimes get really sad thinking about it but such is the state of things. We just have to allow time to do its slow, steady work.

Another Hiatus

I guess distance riding wasn't meant to be this year.

Last week I pulled Quest out of the pasture to do our usual midweek speed terrain work. She looked a little funny walking down the hill so I had her trot out in a flat section of pasture and immediately called it quits.

She was lame. 

I checked her suspensories first and they are fine, thank goodness. No idea how the lameness happened but we've been getting quite a bit of rain and mareface does love her joy runs. I've arrived at the barn a few times in the past to see her galloping through the field, drinking the wind with tail flagged in the air.

I contacted the vets (yes, plural because the first two didn't have time to see my horse) but either or, I'm tossing her in pasture to let time do its work. Again. 

I'll be honest. I was angry and frustrated for a few days following but negative emotions does no one, especially me, any good. It's just sheer bad luck and we'll get over it. This does have me rethinking our long term goals though and I won't rush her recovery for the sake of the ride in October. We'll have to see what happens next.

Long Awaited Good News

Whew. I've been out of town for work and just got back from a vacation....So much to catch everyone up on but most importantly I got great news from the vet about Quest's suspensory.

The vet was scheduled to come out mid afternoon for spring shots so A and I made plans around the appointment. The skies were gray and with scattered rain showers so we moved the horses into the lower barn with cross ties for a thorough grooming session. I also took advantage of the wetter weather conditions to also touch-up trim Quest's feet.

There was still quite a bit of time left over after grooming so we got the horses tacked up and headed out for a ride. I had recently discovered a new area to explore for conditioning and wanted to check it out. Since we had A and Mel along with us, I didn't boot Quest for speed work over gravel and we took it easy with 75% walk and 25% easy trot bursts on pavement.

There were SO many things to spook at on the new trails through neighborhoods, the worst one was a life-size horse lawn ornament. It didn't help that the statue was posed in a super intimidating manner looking like it was ready to charge towards the road. Both Quest and Mel did not enjoy that at all and it took some effort to tiptoe them around the scary horse. Fortunately a couple miles later, we finally arrived at our goal for the day.

The trails on the left looked super inviting but we were on a tight schedule to meet the vet and had to turn around for home. I admit I was immensely disappointed lol but we'll definitely be back again to explore. Quest also took opportunity of the quick rest stop to relieve herself. Good mare! She's always been good about that on the trail which is one less worry for me. 

We made great time going home and arrived 30 minutes before the vet was scheduled to arrive, plenty of time to untack and cold hose Quest's legs. The vet ended up running late so mareface got her dinner too. A group of us at the barn signed up together to share the call fee so there was a good ol' fashioned grazing party afterwards until the vet finally showed up.

Vet D was new to us but she seemed kind and soft spoken. After the shots and blood draw, I mentioned the suspensory rehab and asked if she could take a quick look. I watched with bated breath and after what felt like an eternity, Vet D declared Quest totally fine and 100% sound!! There was scar tissue (I asked her to point it out to me so I could feel it too) were the injury was but it's an non-issue.

I had known in my gut that Quest was fine but hearing a vet officially say that my horse made a full recovery has done much good to my heart and confidence. While I am still sad that we lost an entire season of competition last year, this ordeal has taught me much and I've hopefully become a better equestrian and horse owner in the process. It was a unpleasant and difficult situation that forced me to become hyper-aware of my horse's well being and take it upon myself to learn everything I can to keep her sound, happy, and healthy for as long as possible.

I'm sure there will be plenty more difficulties along the way, but hopefully things are on the upswing for now. We'll take each day as it comes and steadily make our way towards the bigger goal.

Advantage

The weather in my area has been unseasonably mild the past couple weeks and thus far, we have been spared our annual dose of snow. The latter means that the trails have been clean and clear of the usual seasonal hazards and prime for some good riding!

This past weekend Quest and I  led A and Mel on their first trail outing at the barn. A few minutes out, we walked by a section of trail I mentally dubbed the “junk yard” because of the random trash we always see dumped there- from empty buckets, plastic trash bags to rusting mini fridges. It makes me angry to see litter and I know for a fact that it also bothers other people because I’ve seen some of the junk “magically” disappear…only for more stuff to take its place. Ugh. I’m planning to make and post no littering sign. Not sure how effective that would be but it may somewhat deter the usual suspects.

For the most part, Quest could care less about the junk but sometimes the objects on the side of the trail were odd enough that they caused the sideways eye and snorting and sometimes even a full stop. On this particular day the new item was a shiny pleather 2-seater couch that was tossed end over end, laying on its side.

I felt Quest wanting to stop and told her to keep walking forward past it. She kept moving, giving it as much berth as possible though. The entire time I kept her facing the obstacle and used my “outside” leg to gradually move her a little closer to it.  Once past it, I rewarded her with a “Good girl” and a quiet pat and we walked on.  

A, who was riding behind me, said“Don’t worry, that also made Mel look.” Her comment made me wonder how different people would view and handle a horse's reaction to something spooky. IMO, of all the spooks a horse could possibly have, giving something a look is highly preferable to the huge number of other reactions possible…e.g.; drop shoulder, spin, bolt. Of course ideally, we all want a bombproof horse/unicorn that doesn’t spook ever at all but we are interacting with flight instinct animals. 

For me, I am okay with my horse expressing her concern/curiosity in a safe way by looking but when I say “Okay, I see it too and it’s fine- keep moving”, I want us to keep moving. Depending on what/where the object is and how she is that day, we might stop and do the “touch it” thing but lingering at stuff sometimes causes more angst for Quest. The whole, move along-nothing scary here mentality usually works best for her.

The rest of the ride, for us at least, was rather uneventful. It was mareface’s second time on those trails, she was just as game as the first time and led the entire way. We did short little trot stretches where the trail was flat and clear and Quest clearly enjoyed moving out. She was feeling really good and I couldn’t help smiling to myself. 

When we got back to the barn, I untacked and let her soak up the sun for as long as possible before putting her blanket back on.  Of course mareface took this opportunity to go for thorough dirt mud roll  (she even rolled uphill, I couldn't help but be impressed) so I had to brush her out again before re-blanketing when I left the barn. I felt a little bad because the weather was so nice but the ridge gets windy at night and then it POURED buckets of rain and sleet the next two days.

Last night I went to the barn to get a rehab ride in. Midweek nights are typically busy at the barn since the in-house trainer uses those as lesson days for his adult students. The indoor arena is a decent size but it does feel too crowded with more than 5 horses. Fortunately for me it was a non-lesson night and there was at most 2-3 others in the ring at one time and we all did our own thing. I got Quest cleaned up- she was covered in mud thanks to all the rain – and tacked her up in the bareback pad. We warmed up at a walk and started doing our trot sets. She was feeling really good so I cut the trot short and decided what the heck, let’s do a little canter. And off we went.

It was our first canter in almost a year and it made me realize how I much I missed riding my mare <3 It’s been awhile for both of us so it wasn’t 100% pretty I’m sure but we managed. Her left departs were great, the right we had to do a couple times until we got it clean though that is likely more my issue (lopsided back muscles due to mild scoliosis) than hers.

Quest has been blasting around in pasture on her own for months but we are now cantering again undersaddle. Hopefully this means we are entering the last phase of mareface's rehab and though it took a long time, I think taking a super conservative route has paid off well in our case. Fingers crossed we’ll be back to unlimited work in a month or so, in time for spring trail adventures!  

Winter Whirlwind

Winter weather is fast approaching, heralded by snow flurries and temperatures dipping below 32F every so often at night. Life has been rather chaotic (when has it not been!) but Quest and I are doing well and still enjoying our time at OF.

Mareface got her feet trimmed during Thanksgiving weekend. Her hooves really slow down growth during the fall and winter so they weren’t too long and I touch up as needed. I did however want her as comfortable as possible since we have been doing more trails (more on that in a moment) and it is always good to have experienced eyes regularly checking my work.

JA highly recommended her farrier P so I decided to give him a try. While he rescheduled the date/time a couple times and ended up arriving at the barn really late, P was kind and knowledgeable. Before he got started, I filled him in on Quest’s feet history including the suspensory rehab and our distance riding goals, and mentioned that I did the maintenance trims myself.  

To my immense relief, he said I did really well! Apparently usually when owners tell him they trim their own horses, he often finds quite a mess to fix. Once P realized that I was genuinely interested in learning, he was eager to share his experience and would describe what he was doing, calling me over to point out observations on Quest’s feet. At the end of the visit, P ended up gifting me a used rasp. It was “too used” for professional standards, but more than fine for my personal use. He also said if Quest only needed small/simple things done for a trim that he'd be happy to point the areas to address and let me handle it myself to save some money. I was VERY thankful for that. It was definitely a nice confidence boost to know that I’m still seeing/trimming correctly though and it's very fortunate that Quest has good solid feet which are great to learn from.

As the chill begins to set in, it has been too cold to tack up in the pasture on weekday evenings. So we now opt for bareback walks in the indoor and adding the trot back in steady slow increments. It has been an extreme test to my patience…the arena has always bored me to tears but I’m going to remind myself to be grateful for lights, non-dust footing, and being indoors whenever I start to hear myself complain.

Our weekends are all about the trails though, cold weather be cursed. Asides from a couple group outings, Quest and I are solo for the majority of our trail exploration adventures. While the barn location does provide direct access to miles of trails, the footing is very rugged and technical at times. I have been consciously avoiding the tough parts while Quest continues to rehab and sticking to easy/moderate stuff for now. Mareface and I were recently able to tackle a few trails that I first explored with Rori about 3 years ago. It was a fun recall challenge and thankfully my memory did not fail me.

After taking two horses down the exact same trails, the differences between Quest and Rori become very apparent. Rori is a total sweetheart but she never seemed to enjoy longer rides and lost interest quickly after a couple miles. On the other hand, Quest is 100% game and her energy never seems to end. She motors right along, even when traveling new trails solo. It's nice to know that she's just as eager as I am to plunge forward on a random detour to follow a new trail marker and discover what's around the next bend.

For all the good things I say about Quest, not every outing we do is 100% perfect of course. Biggest homework right now is standing still on the trail- this is imperative for re-mounting, chilling with other riders, or even waiting for right-of-way with road traffic. It has been mareface's weakness for a long time so we're taking advantage of the walk pace to do lots of trail training. I’ve also played with entrusting Quest to pick out the best path on technical terrain…most of the time it works. I leave her be as long as her selected route doesn't scrape me off the side of a tree. I'd like to retain functional kneecaps, thanks.

Despite the rugged trails, the area has many interesting things to see and explore. For now, Quest and I have trails that meet our needs for a long-slow distance. Knowing us though, we're probably going to very quickly exhaust the places we can actually reach without assistance.

Birthday Weekend Trail Ride

JA and I chatted about meeting up for a long ride since Day 1 when I moved in and we finally got it done this past weekend. I had just spent an entire week on the road for work and was really looking forward to being back in NJ and kicking off my birthday weekend celebrations with a low-key trail ride. Our destination for the ride was Hawk Watch, a popular spot for…well, hawk watching. JA was eager to show me the trails and claimed the views were well worth the long ride over. Quest and I need long slow distance. It was a good plan.

Originally it was supposed to be just the two of us, but last minute I found out that there were four other riders who wanted to join our outing. I didn’t think much of it at first since Quest has never had huge issues with new horses apart from making angrymare ears from time to time (probably a huge reason why she failed at being a western pleasure show horse).

The ride to Hawk Watch was uneventful and our group kept a walk-only pace. Quest and Lucy were the fastest walkers in the group and so we took turns leading the way. I was really impressed that despite the fact mareface is the newest horse at the barn and was totally new to the trails we covered, she had zero issues leading the group a good 60% of the time that entire day. Of course she still spooks from time to time when she spots something that takes her by surprise but they are shudder-in-place spooks- The stuff I can deal with.

We took our time, enjoying the perfect fall weather, laughing, taking pictures and eventually arrived at our destination. True to JA’s claim, the view was absolutely breathtaking.

I wish we could have spent more time there but the great weather enticed a lot of hikers and birdwatchers out of the woodwork. The small area started getting crowded rather quickly and I could sense Quest’s nerves getting amped up. I mounted back up and we walked a little distance into the woods working on trail skills to keep her mind busy on me while we waited for the rest of the group to rejoin. While heading back M, one of the ladies in the group, said she knew of a trail that was “easy, flat, level and safe” that would still take us back home. Since we didn’t know the way to this new trail, JA and I let her horse and everyone else take the lead and we continued on our way. M led us down a section of trail that opened up into a grass path running alongside a small lake. The view was very pretty and I was just thinking to grab my phone for a picture when M suddenly, without warning, took off at a canter with the rest of the group hot on her heels. JA and a girl named S hung back but Quest was not happy about the sudden rapid departure of her other trail buddies and started jigging to try and catch up.

Though Quest was keeping to the trail and not hauling on my hands, the trail was also NOT flat or level as M said it was. I really didn’t want to risk injury to anyone and decided it was safer to dismount and work Quest from the ground to get her brain back on me. It took about 10 minutes (which felt like an eternity) but after firm reminders of the emergency stop to chill and stand, we walked back out to the parking lot and I was able to mount back up. After discussion, we decided to go back the way we came and not risk doing M's suggested route.

The three other riders eventually figured out we had stopped but decided to not to wait and headed back home without JA, S, and me. In the end, it was much better that our group had split up because Quest was much better without the other horses around her. She even led the way home a few times and we returned back to barn sane and quiet as we had left.

While no one was hurt and everyone was fine in the end, I can’t help but be annoyed by the lack of consideration the other riders exhibited- especially when JA and I both went into the ride telling everyone we were doing walk-only. It's been awhile since I did a large group ride and maybe I took some things for granted.

This experience does remind me that I need to continue working on Quest’s “stand and wait” on the trail.  It’s been her weakness from the beginning and I really should be addressing that more proactively. She does it just fine in an arena where there is no stimuli around her whatsoever so this will have to be a "on the trail" training thing. We did lose almost a year to her injury though so naturally trail training things have been on the backburner. I’m not fazed by the setback though; it just means we have to just go out more. We’ll get better with time and practice.

OF Turkey Trot

Since I started riding three years ago, I've always wanted to be part of a barn community that actually DID fun things together- Not just talk and plan, but actually follow through and do the fun thing. I'm an introvert by nature so nothing will ever replace the satisfaction and contentment I get from hitting the trail solo but I won't ever deny or turn away the opportunity to enjoy horses in like-minded company.

This past weekend the BO and his daughter hosted a fun scavenger hunt pace at the barn to celebrate Halloween/Thanksgiving/autumn. The event was very low key and since the pace time was based on a slow walk, I was comfortable that it was safe to participate with Quest.

We partnered up with JA and Lucy and both agreed beforehand that we would ride in costumes (which was highly encouraged). The night before the pace, everyone got emailed the instructions and ride order. To our bemusement, JA and I were assigned to go first at 9AM- it was a little curious why the two newest boarders (JA had arrived in March) were given the earliest start time. Maybe because of the fact we had the highest chance of getting lost and sending everyone else off on the wrong track? lol

Despite our newbie-ness, JA and I worked really well together. Quest and Lucy got along fine and paced each other nicely. We found all of the clues and only one of the riddles completely stumped us at first- we eventually puzzled it out after a detour but the confusion cost us too much time in the end. To be honest I wasn't too bummed since all I really cared about was having a good, safe time with my mareface in our first "competition" since her injury.

Kudos to anyone who can guess what our costume is!

The scavenger hunt put Quest on new trails that we had not yet had a chance to explore together and the mare was rock solid. She didn't even pause at the scary things that apparently spooked other horses (who have been at the barn longer than she has) that day. At one point during the pace, we were passed by a horse on the trail jigging to get back to the barn- Quest paid him no mind and plodded along on a loose rein minding her own business.

OF is certainly no WSS but for now, we will make do with what we have and take our time with lots of long slow distance walking. JA knows of a lot more places to ride and is more than happy to show me the trails. I'm excited to see what other things the new barn has to offer (:

Back on the Trail

It's been a little over two weeks since the barn move and things are still going swimmingly. I will admit that I was little tense for the first few days after we arrived and had to refrain from constantly checking my phone for updates. Some readers may recall our welcome gift from the last barn move was an emergency vet call and stifle radiographs...So I don't think my concern was unwarranted!

Fortunately Quest and Harley have complete run of two private pastures so there is plenty of space for either to escape unwanted attentions. However I don't think that will be necessary because they are still absolutely IN LOVE with each other.

I'm certainly not as experienced as some others when it comes to boarding at different barns but from what I have noticed, I am satisfied with my decision to move to OF so far. The BO is friendly, attentive, and has been prompt with addressing my questions. I have already met a handful of boarders that love to trail ride and are eager to show Quest and me the trails directly accessible from the property.

The facilities are pretty nice. With the shorter daylight hours, I appreciate having access to a nice indoor with lights and non-dust footing. I do tack up Quest in the dark pasture, which is not as nice, but I'm becoming quite the pro at efficiently grooming and tacking up using only my headlamp for light.

However none of that puts a damper on the simple joy of being able to see my mareface more often than not. Keeping Quest close has been instrumental for her rehab as well. We're making steady progress with undersaddle walks and handwalking, doing one vs. the other depending on what time allows. While the arena still bores us both utterly to death, we have been keeping our minds busy playing with basic walk dressage movements (thanks Liz for the suggestion!) and I have been doing a tune up/self-evaluation of my own riding and painstakingly working to improve my 2ptober time (4:30 as of last night).

When good weather allows though, we have been venturing out on the trail and this past weekend Quest and I hit the trails undersaddle for the first time in almost half a year. A couple days before the trail ride, I had taken Quest out on trail once on a handwalk. She was relaxed and attentive the entire time- she genuinely seemed pleased to be back out exploring again.

The success of that walk made me very curious to see how she would fare undersaddle on the trail. It had been quite awhile since we last did this and she was going out solo.

Well, she was simply awesome. No antics, no arm pulling, just a nice forward walking march.

We did have one sticky moment where we had to pass by two motocross bike riders. Quest has seen ATVs and motocross bikes on trail back when we boarded at KBTC but it had been awhile and we were on unfamiliar/new-to-her trails. The motocross riders were very courteous and seeing us coming from a distance away, they stopped their bikes, got off, and even took off their helmets.

Quest was fine approaching the bikes to a certain distance but did not want to go forward after that. When I asked her for forward, she decided to back up instead. I did not want to risk doing any tight turns because of her suspensory so if she wanted to back up, she'll have to do it past the obstacle. I stopped Quest right next to the bikes and gave her time to process before we went on our way. I profusely thanked the bike riders for being patient enough to give us the time and space to figure it out. They were even kind enough to wait until we had walked out of sight and were far enough on the trail before starting their engines back up.

My parents joined us for the fun trail walk

Six months ago I would not have dared to let myself think about trail riding but here we are now. I've got my adventure mareface back and I couldn't be any happier.

Saddle Up

Quest and I ride again!

Autumn brings the best riding weather but also the curse of shorter daylight hours. I arrived at the barn on Monday night to rapidly fading daylight. Since we pasture board, our tack up area is in the pasture itself which has limited/no lighting. A bit of hustling was needed to get tack out and fortunately I had organized my stuff the day before (in daylight) so it wasn’t hard figuring out a working system again.

Quest was hanging out with Harley by the hay feeders next to the gate so it was quick easy grooming and tacking up. Despite my mad awesome speed tacking skills, the first hours of nightfall had set in by the time I was finished- the roads were dark and the wind was gusting strong; I immediately scratched any thought of riding on the road and opted to handwalk to the indoor arena.

There were two boarders in the arena when we arrived. After introductions, I told them that we had just arrived the day before. They were very friendly and gave us the room to work on the ground. Since mareface has never been in the indoor arena before, I led her around for the first couple minutes so she could inspect and touch noses with everything. I love how curious she is and how quickly she figures things out. Some horses you look at and just know they have a fun personality.

With curiosity satiated, it was time to ride. We re-discovered what a mounting block was (Quest insisted at first that wasn’t necessary for her stand anywhere close to it), and I hopped on. Complete non-event. It was like not a day had passed since our last ride together in six months.

As tempting as it is to trot and canter, we are sticking to strict walk-only routine for this month. So we walked and walked…and walked. She got a little sticky at the beginning, one of the arena bay doors were open with stuff piled up outside, and she tried giving it a 20-foot passing berth at first. We had a talk, smart mare figured it out and it was not a problem again. We called it a day after about 15-20 minutes. I palpated her legs when I hopped off, no reaction and RF was cold and tight. It was a very good first ride back. Quest seemed happy to work a little, though just as happy to return to her boyfriend in pasture. 

Our second ride was last night. When I arrived, Quest was standing in the middle of the pasture, gave the cutest whinny and trotted over to me by the fence. I didn’t see Harley anywhere and guessed that S had pulled him out for a ride (according to his owner, he hasn’t been ridden in almost half a year so NOT seeing him in pasture is unusual).

In the past, lonely Quest means pacing Quest. While still anxious, the mareface wasn’t running the fence though (at least when I arrived). I’m really hoping she has started to figure out that being alone for a couple hours is not the end of the world. And she does have friends over the fence line to visit with, so there. Tonight Quest did want company though and she tracked my every move as I grabbed tack and grooming things. She can be rather aloof at times so seeing her stick to me like glue was a nice change.

I got her tacked up and we headed back into the indoor arena. S was there riding with Harley and talking to a girl, who introduced herself as A. I hopped on Quest and we got back to our walking. Two more people came into the arena shortly after, one of them was taking a lesson so I made sure to get in my 2ptober baseline time (2:20!) before finishing up our walk to stand and watch from the middle of the arena. The trainer J didn’t remember me from when I leased Rori and had his hands full with his student and later on helping S with Harley (he was bucking at the canter). It was interesting to watch and good for Quest’s brain to get used to working around and standing still with other horses trotting and cantering (and bucking).

All in all, two great rides so far. Back in the saddle for the first time in six months and it was a complete non-event. I never thought otherwise but there is always that 0.00001% chance. I'm so happy I got my mareface back <3

Six Months Later

It's been half a year since Quest's mysterious lameness was diagnosed as a RF suspensory injury. The journey so far was a rollercoaster ride of emotions but the overwhelming stress I felt at the beginning has gone down to something more emotionally manageable over time.

The blog has been quiet lately but much has been going on behind the scenes. After the vet's suggestion to let her rest in pasture for a month back in mid-June, I decided to extend the time by 2 more months since 24/7 full turnout access would slow healing/recovery period and push back when we began the "active" rehabilitation phase. In our case, the decision to give Quest the extra time off was the right one. This past weekend I palpated LF and RF legs and didn't note any difference in reaction. The cooler autumn weather was also giving her that extra pep in her step and Quest was sound sound sound.

Most rehabilitation plans reintroduce undertack walking at 3 months after injury and as the half year mark loomed closer and closer, I kept a watchful eye on her progress to determine our next course of action...not wanting to jeopardize our hard won progress by rushing forward with too much too soon. Fate is rather funny though. As if to answer any doubt about the mareface's ability to  handle a undertack walking rehab workload, the questions were dashed in the next instant.

I had only just put Quest back out in pasture when she first picked up a trot then suddenly began to full out GALLOP through the pasture like a wild hooligan. The entire galloping herd then suddenly appeared from the lower pasture. Quest joined up with them and they all thundered up and down the hills while I stood watching by the paddock gate trying not to have a heart attack. Thankfully the herd soon came to a stop by the upper paddock and I was able to observe Quest move afterwards. No head bobbing. I let out a sigh of relief.

Near heart attack aside, being able to see firsthand her moving that freely did my soul much good though and I finally allowed myself to feel a sliver of hope that hid itself away for many months.

After 3 months of pasture, Quest is definitely on the rounder side...but nothing that slow steady tack walking won't cure though. I'm happy, still cautious, but happy. We're a long way from where we were before but hopefully things are on the upswing. Fingers crossed for continued improvement!

Degrees Removed

All quiet on the mareface front...which is always good news.

I went out to see Quest this past weekend and took my sweet time at the barn since everyone was gone at OD. The weather was gorgeous and actually cold enough to warrant a hoodie. Mareface was hanging out with the rest of the herd when I went to go fetch her from the field- the sight of her so relaxed and happy never fails to reassure me that I made the right choice to move her to 24/7 pasture turnout.

Quest got all groomed and pretty, slathered the bug bites with ointment. I spent extra time scratching her itchy ears and was awarded with the world's tiniest lower lip wiggle...Sigh, such a stoic. Then hand walk. Fortunately she wasn't super distracted this weekend. It made everyone's lives much easier and 15 minutes didn't feel like an eternity. And as per routine, a nice hand grazing session reward was had at the end.

It still does suck to be grounded and the weather now is almost too perfect. At least Quest doesn't seem to mind the time off.

Walkabout

Everything feels tediously slow...but Quest is doing better. She wasn't handling the stall rest well and while not ideal, the only other option was allowing her to rejoin her friends outside. The pasture turnout has done a world of good for her mentally and she has gained back most of the weight she lost last month.

And to my huge relief, mareface has been behaving and keeping all four feet on the ground during handwalks without any extra doping. The vet gave her an long-acting sedative with 3-4 week acting strength the first week in May during the follow up exam; she totally overrode the same sedative  in April when she was confined to "stall rest" though so fingers crossed it helps take whatever edge off to keep her calm and quiet for as long as possible.  

I also touched up Quest's feet for the first time in awhile. We haven't been on the trails in almost two months though meandering in pasture has kept them in decent shape for the most part so it was quick work. Second shockwave treatment will be happening later this week with vet follow up visit in about three weeks time when we conclude the third and final session. Fingers crossed that we hopefully get the okay to start walking undersaddle by then.