First day out

I had been chatting with the barn owner and asked her if she thought the outdoor arena was ok for riding. She told me yes, it had been for awhile. 

Well damn! I hate to miss a good opportunity. So even though the weather was cool and cloudy, I went outside to ride Phil. 

We lunged first and he was a bit distracted by the new horses in their pasture next door. But all in all he was working really well. 

That is, until the two geese in the pond 25 meters away from the arena decided they needed to go someplace. They flew off in a fury of flapping and honking that sent Phil over the edge. He bolted and ran. It was all super exciting! 

We got ourselves back to work and he was really good again. Nice recovery, my boy! 

If you zoom in you can see one of the birds came back, and then walked towards the arena! Phil was not amused. 

Then we went inside and before I could get the bridle off of him, he rubbed his fave on the wall. Of course he caught the bridle on a hook, and of course, it broke. 

Good thing I have that bridle my sister got me for Christmas! Luckily Craig can stitch it for me. 

Let's hope we can ride outside tomorrow too! 

(I'm using the Blogger app. Let's hope everything doesn't look weird) 

Kaswyn's Birthday Bash - Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

Kaswyn was slowly recovering from his fall. I heard him start to chew and then he swallowed. He seemed steadier, and was able to look at me. I made sure he could see out of both eyes, and hear out of both ears. Then I walked around him and ran my hands down his legs. Everything seemed to be in the right place. The only injury I could see was on his upper lip, which he had somehow taken a chunk out of. It was pretty superficial and wasn't bleeding so I wasn't really worried about that. 

I ran my hands down his back, and he started to walk around me. Since he was willing to walk, I walked him around. He seemed very sound, and was becoming more alert to his surroundings. I walked him in a small circle in each direction and that's when I noticed that he didn't want to bend his neck. He was holding it absolutely straight out in front of him. 

My phone rang with the vet on the other end. She asked questions about what was going on with him, and had me apply pressure to him in certain places to determine where he had pain. In the end she said she could send someone out to x-ray his neck, but said that due to where I said he was sore, that he probably didn't break anything and had just really wrenched his neck muscles. She said that if he had a neck fracture that it would be difficult for him to stand, and that if he could stand he'd at least be exhibiting some neurological symptoms, which he was not. I decided not to have her come out, but that I would give him bute and if he didn't improve in an hour, or got worse, that I would call back. 

My farrier arrived just as I was finishing my call with the vet. I explained to him what happened, and he watched him walk away from him, then back towards him. Then he took Kaswyn's tail, and pulled him to the side. Then he asked me to do the same. What I felt is that Kaswyn resisted and pulled back against me when I pulled his tail. My farrier said that was a good sign. 

In the end, all that happened to Kaswyn was a very sore and pulled neck. His mouth started bleeding, so it's likely that the pop I heard when he fell was hit biting his tongue! So he got a few days of bute, his hay in a haynet for a bit, and lots of love. I was very lucky that he didn't hurt himself more seriously. I don't need any more scares like that! 


Three days later, he's outside in the sun, cute face and all. 

Kaswyn's Birthday Bash - Part 2

Part 1

Kaswyn had just completely wiped out in the arena. 

I ran over to Kaswyn and he lifted his head up. He looked dazed, and was shaking. I told him to whoa as I clipped the lead rope to his halter, but he really wanted to stand. Before I could stop him he heaved himself to his feet, but he wasn't really standing. All four legs were still very bent and he was close to the ground. I was convinced that he was going to fall over. I just kept telling him "Kaswyn, you're ok, lie down, it's ok, you don't have to stand, whoa sweeite..." There was blood coming out of his mouth, and he still didn't look like he was clearly aware of what was going on. 

In between reassuring him, I shouted for the barn owner. She had just been in the barn feeding and I was hoping she was still there. I didn't hear her answer, so I called the vet. I told them I needed someone out right away, that my horse had fallen down. They told me they would have a vet call me back right away. 

As I waited for the phone to ring, Kaswyn slowly began to straighten his legs. Eventually he was able to fully stand, but he was really wobbly and his eyes looked very glassy. I still really wanted him to lie down but I know that horses feel more comfortable standing if they can. There was blood dripping from his mouth. 

I held onto his head, gently petting his neck and talked to him while I waited for the vet to call me back. 

To be continued...


Part 3

Kaswyn's Birthday Bash - Part 1

Kaswyn turned 24 on April 23, 2015. It was a regular barn day for me, so after work I headed out to the barn as usual. The only difference is that I wouldn't be riding because the farrier was coming out to take care of the boys' feet. 

When I got to the barn I knew that the farrier would be arriving within a half an hour, so I decided to turn Kaswyn loose in the arena. He loves to roll in the sand, plus sometimes he likes to herd me and chase me around. That day he decided that rolling was his first priority, but he was reasonably clean so I kept him moving instead of letting him roll. Then he gave up on rolling and started trotting around and enjoying himself. 

I took this short video of him at the trot because he was looking so great! 

He would stop every so often and look out the window or sniff the manure bucket, then he'd trot off again, occasionally cantering off halfway down the arena. He had taken a few bad steps with his back legs at the canter that day, and they looked like steps that hurt but he was able to quickly get his weight off the leg and recover just fine. I already knew that his suspensory ligaments were in bad shape, so I wasn't surprised that he had occasional pain at the canter. I was watching him the whole time, so I clearly saw what happened next. 

Kaswyn had just cantered by me, when his back legs gave out. They slid completely under his body, and his front end came off the ground. His momentum carried him forward on his back, until somehow he flipped completely over backwards. I heard a popping sound just as he landed. 

To be continued...

Part 2