I’m on my way to freezing cold Philly this morning for AETA! Yes I packed every long sleeve shirt and jacket that I own, which juuuust fits in a carry on, puffy jacket and vest included. I fear I am woefully unprepared. Oh well, we’ll call it an arctic adventure and keep the heat cranked in the hotel.

I wish I could say I had super detailed info on the daily omeprazole like I did with last weeks update, but basically it rained buckets last Fri/Sat, then we moved barns on Sun, then I didn’t go the barn Mon/Tues. So… I’ll just write what I can. He is super easy to dose and has been all along so I won’t even bother saying how we was for that part anymore. It must not taste that bad because he takes it willingly enough and swallows it on his own now.

Day 15 – Groomed

Really I just scrubbed the bird poop off his head (seriously), picked his feet, gave him his omeprazole, and left. He was pretty cheerful.

Day 16 – Groomed

Again “groom” is probably not quite accurate, I knocked the dust off with a towel (he didn’t protest, but he was also preoccupied with his rice bran) and gave him his omeprazole.

Day 17 – Moving day

He very happily and enthusiastically grazed for a while before we loaded up. He settled in really well but I still gave him a little bit extra of his meds that day, especially since it was still too wet for them to go out. Plus we did go on Walkabout and he chomped like hell on his bit for the first half, so although he didn’t express it beyond that, it did stress him out a little.

Day 18 – No barn

He still got his meds (YAY, a BO who can be trusted to give a horse it’s meds!)

Day 19 – No barn

He still got his meds (YAY, a BO who can be trusted to give a horse it’s meds!). It was also dry enough for them to be turned out. According to BO he ran a few mighty impressive laps around his turnout and then settled down into the round bale, which is pretty much where he’s been ever since.

Day 20 – Groomed and rode

What? I ride? Sometimes. He was good for grooming and tacking up, but I wore spurs which was a mistake. If he’s kinda fresh and you wear spurs, he just gets SUPER oversensitive and tight and backwards. That was my stupid mistake. Halfway through I ditched the spurs and he got better, but still never really felt that relaxed.

Day 21 – Groomed and rode

I think he has readjusted to life as a horse with lots of turnout, a round bale, and a buddy, because when I went to bring him in for dinner he was pretty much passed out asleep in the sun. I was slightly alarmed for a second because normally he comes to me in the pasture, but once I went and got him and he realized I had cookies he perked right up. I rode him in his sidepull and decided to jump him, since the day before he just kind of caved in on himself mentally, and the sidepull + jumping is his favorite thing. He was really fantastic in the flatwork and jumped everything in the ring without a second glance, including the skinny off a tight turn and a vertical on a pretty sharp angle. He was happy, he was bright, and didn’t even so much as flick an ear when I groomed him. He would like to petition USEA to allow bitless dressage, please.

 

Summary of week 3: he definitely remains better to groom and has started to put some bloom back on. Sometimes I think I definitely feel a difference under saddle, other days not. One more week on the 4x treatment dose, then 2 more weeks on the 2x.