Breathing is Good

Earlier this year, I started Phantom on Ventipulmin when she is ridden. It has helped her significantly - she has barely coughed while under saddle, and her recovery post-ride has been great. She isn't really fit, so she gets puffy during the ride (especially during canter) but there is big difference between not fit puffiness and asthma can't breathe puffiness.

Cisco's paddock mates were all having a snooze in the sun when I put him back out.

The initial bottle of Ventipulmin is almost empty, so I finally returned the email that the vet sent me three months ago inquiring how it was working for Phantom. I asked where we should go from here - keep her on the Ventipulmin as it seems to be working, or get the bronchoalveolar lavage done? I kind of think that getting the BAL done later in the summer might be the better option, as that is when Phantom is traditionally at her worst, and I've wondered if it is more of an allergy thing.

He agreed with me. So she is staying on the medication for now.

The side effect of the drug appears to be that now that she can breathe, she's feeling pretty fresh. Ugh.(I suppose the lack of consistent exercise could also have something to do with it.)

Wednesday got really hot out. It hit 31 Celsius, which is July/August temperatures, not May.

My car actually said 34 just before I took the picture. I guess the sun felt warmer.

I was off for the day and tried to get out to the barn early so that I could have the riding done early. But I slept in a bit. By the time I grabbed Phantom it was pretty warm and I thought that she would be pretty mellow.

Nope. She wasn't as silly as she was on Sunday, but it had potential to go that way.

I didn't realize that I forgot to put on my half chaps until I got to the arena. I rode shockingly well without them - usually my leg swings everywhere. 

She was really happy to go forward, but I wanted to make sure she was listening to my half halts, so I did the accordion exercise at both trot and canter - 8 strides getting bigger with every stride, and 8 strides getting smaller. I have a terrible habit when asking for the lengthening of just gunning it which makes the horse shoot off, lose their balance, and end up on their forehand. I have to make myself slow down a bit and think about making each stride 1" bigger than the previous one and think about the quality.

Phantom actually did pretty good with it. I know her hocks are a bit uncomfortable, and since I don't have to worry about her teeth for a few more months getting her hocks injected is next on the list to spend money on. So I don't really expect her to do too much sitting or pushing behind. I'm good with short attempts as I know that if I push it she'll compensate and end up sore in her back.

Phantom's symmetry score has been steadily decreasing, even though she doesn't feel too bad. I'm interested to see how much this changes after she gets her hocks injected. 

The ride was short and sweet - although I was inside out of the sun, it still felt warm. We finished up with a quick walk outside, for which Phantom would have loved to do more than walk in the sun but behaved when I told her no.

This was supposed to be the worst of the heat for the next little while - the temperature starts dropping again tomorrow. I'm really hoping that this heat brings in a storm overnight as we really need the rain so that hay prices don't rocket at the end of the summer.