One lame beaver

So what do you want first? The bad news or the bad news?

Bad news first? ok!

So I lunged Hampton on Monday assess his soundness. He was glorious!! He was free, swinging and SOUND. I was looking forward to riding on Tuesday.

Tuesday I tack up and hop on. I go to trot and ....... LAME. Like the most lame he has ever been in his life. While riding, it felt like the right front but I wasn't sure. I hopped off and removed all of his boots. I checked his legs. No heat. No swelling. No cuts. No signs of scratches. He did not react at all to me touching his tendons, or picking his feet. So I untacked and put him back on the lunge. He was nearly sound going to the left. But going to the right, he was favoring the right front. No quite head-bobbing, but limping for sure. Very short strided. Argh. HORSE!!!

Checked him again today and he was maybe a touch better, but not much. It may have been my hope getting in the way. Again checked his legs. I may ... MAY have felt a little heat in his right front hoof but again I can't be sure. Again I poked and prodded and he did not react at all. His shoes were secure and have no moved or lost any nails. I examined his hooves closely for any sign of an abscess brewing. I could not find anything but I am no expert. All of his legs are cool and tight. He does still have that little scrape/puncture healing up but I don't think that's the problem.

I am going to give him the rest of the week off and see what happens. Perhaps he just tweaked himself out in the field? Could be an abscess. Could be something worse. Of course all of the possibilities have run through my head. If he is not better by Monday then I will call the vet (or if he gets worse).

Now for the bad news! :)

Hampton now a beaver

So the barn manager called me to inform me that Hampton has been eating the fence out in his field. She said that there are chew marks EVERYWHERE around his 20+ acre field. And he is getting the blame for all of it. The barn owner is very angry. We are going to try putting out more salt blocks (he will get a new one in his stall, too). And I am going to repaint the fence that has been chewed. If this does not work, he may have to wear a muzzle. Or he can be out 24/7 in the gelding field that has only electric tape around it. *sigh* I guess they were out watching to see who was chewing and Hampton was busted in the act. I certainly do not want to piss off the barn owner. The beast may have to be muzzled. Booo. Any tips on how to stop this? He has plenty, and I mean PLENTY of green grass to eat. He gets hay when he comes in for the day. I have no idea how long this has been going on. Nor do I really have any idea if it has been only him chewing on the fence.

So yeah it appears our dressaging is on hiatus for the moment. There is a pony type fellow at the farm I can hitch some rides on though. We'll see how the Hamps is doing next week.

In some GOOD news - I did get moved into a wonderful apartment. No more living out of my car! Boy did that reduce the stress in my life by about 80%.

And Happy Derby! (not going this year, but certainly drinking. lols)