Weekend Update

 Over the last five weeks, I've had only one night where I didn't go out to the barn.

Cisco wore his diaper/Vetrap/duct tape boot for three weeks until we were given the all-clear from the farrier when he had his feet done on the 6th. She said that things had healed up and his foot was nice and hard so she had no concerns about him going out without a hoof wrap, however, I shouldn't be shocked when his sole eventually falls off.

I took the next night off from the barn and basically sat in a semi-comatose state on the couch for the evening. It was glorious. 

I got a couple of rides in over the weekend on Cisco, with nothing exciting to write about. He was pretty relaxed on the first day, but was a bit concerned about the noises the arena made with the wind on the second day. I had washed his soundproof ear bonnet the day before and they weren't dry yet, so that ride was a wee bit more exciting than it needed to be. 

However, the weather was beautiful, and I made sure that we got to go outside for a walk in the sunshine on both days, which Cisco was perfect for. He also got hosed off for the first time of the year and his tail was taken down from its winter cocoon and trimmed. 

Phantom had been put back into work while Cisco was laid up, by which I mean she got ridden for 30 minutes three days a week, most of which was at a walk. She feels like an old horse these days, a bit creaky, a bit stiff behind and in her neck, but she still has lots of sass and keeps threatening to take off with me. Some easy movement is good for her though, I just have to ignore her not feeling like she used to. Her 20th birthday is next month.

She was guaranteed this last week off though due to her annual temporary boob job. The horses got their vaccinations on Monday, and in typical form, Phantom had a big reaction at the injection site. She was feeling pretty sad and sorry for herself for a couple of days. That meant that I had to go back out to the barn every evening to give her bute and cold hose the big lump. By Thursday night she was feeling well enough to canter away from me when I turned her back out, (which she never does) so that was her last night of bute. 

I thought that Cisco might have a big reaction to his jab like he did last year, and it seemed that it was going to go that way when the muscle in his pecs where he had gotten the jab started twitching only a few minutes later and started to get a bit puffy, but no, he was looking pretty good the next day. He had an easy ride on Friday. He's been feeling pretty good in his body, he just needs to get fitter and stronger.

Hopefully, this week is the end of unplanned time off for the horses, and we can get back into a somewhat regular routine again, which includes me being able to take a couple of nights off a week and rest my aches and pains. I'm currently dealing with a bit of either sciatic or piriformis pain - either way, it's literally a pain in my ass.