Ooof! Not updated here for a while, although I think I did post an update on a different thread.
We’ve been taking it easy a bit recently. Before Christmas Dino seemed a bit off – quite lethargic and lying down a lot. We had some blood tests run and they showed nothing, and then put him on a single Bute for a week to see if that made a difference and it didn’t so, although I’m keeping a close on eye on him, the working opinion is he’s just a bit fed up. We’ve ditched the school work for a bit and instead have been doing more hacking (or what passes for it round here!) and free schooling over poles and jumps. He seems to have perked up a bit. M took him with a friend to the nearest place you can have a proper decent canter on Christmas Day and this seems to have opened him up to the joy of quick movement with a human on board!
Last week my friend Claire and I took him Dino and his mate Bug out for our usual Wednesday morning hack and when we asked for a bit of canter along the bridlepath on the way home they *both* took off at flat out gallop!!! 😮 It was good fun and they obviously enjoyed it. Today’s hack was on the road with Claire and her daughter’s horse Jester. Now whilst Bug is the perfect hacking partner and not phased by anything Jester is a bit of a silly boy so Dino had to be grown up and go in front (1st time ever), past a double decker bus (1st time ever) and he was amazing! Calm as anything. :wub: Really pleased with how he is out at the moment.
We’ve also been working over poles and small jumps – mostly loose, but I have hopped on a couple of times and we can do around 2ft from trot quite nicely now :db: He’s not cantering in the school yet – but he’s getting much more balanced over a small fence with a rider and he really enjoys that too so I think we’re moving the right way.
*touch wood* No sign of mud fever yet this year either. His heels were looking a bit pink on Saturday so we kept him in Sunday but they looked fine after that. We’ve got some barrier cream on but the fields are awful at the moment – about 6 inches of muddy water more than anything else. They horses don’t really like being out in it and I can’t say I blame them. I called Dino in the other week and he was sooooooo happy to come up the field he appeared at flat out gallop with the whole herd behind him 😮 Quite alarming to have half a dozen big horses bearing down on you at speed so I quickly put myself on the other side of the gate!!! Our outdoor schools are pretty water-logged too right now so I don’t think we’d be doing much schooling anyway. I really would like the rain to shove off for a bit 🙁
Anyway, I’m feeling quite good about where we are at the moment. There’s lots I’d like to be working on but I think the hacking and popping about over fences is doing him so good and he’s not been lying down as much and has some energy under saddle again so *fingers crossed* there’s nothing sinister going on. No more big vet bills please Baby!!! :laugh: