The Vet, Mud Puddles, and Gelding Potty Talk

This is what spring rains can do to your almost dried up horse pasture!

My Boy's vet appointment went as expected. He is such a big baby. He is so scared of her. Head up, snorting, shaking his head. He finally calmed down and she was able to check out the little bump on his face, which I'd noticed last week. She also scoped his eyes. She said the bump might just be inflamed tissue from an insect bite, it wasn't an abscess, but to make sure it didn't get any bigger. His eyes showed no structural abnormalities. Whew.

Then she had to get out the big bad twitch for the strangles booster. It took her longer to get it on him this time. We don't have a stall corner to back him into so can move around and that works to his advantage. The poor woman raked her knuckles across his teeth at one point then bled all over him. But we got it done.

The vet also told me about a product called Surpass. I ended up buying a tube. Have you heard of it or used it on your horse? It is only available through your veterinarian and costs a pretty penny. Now I will be eating Top Ramen for a month. No worries My Boy, you are worth every one of those high sodium noodles. It is a topical anti-inflammatory. She thought it might work well instead of the bute, for pre-farrier work or for long rides and situations when he might be sore. You just rub it into the hocks. The vet said she uses it on her own back and it works wonders (but you didn't hear that from me.) Supposedly it is safer than bute, because less is absorbed into the horse's system.

After the vet left, I let My Boy eat some grass for a bit so that he could associate something positive with such a horribly terrifying experience. My mom had recently given me her nice memory foam contoured saddle pad as it caused her saddle to be a little too shifty. I wanted to try it out so I saddled up My Boy. The pad was a little smaller than I like, but my saddle seemed to fit with it fine. And it is in the colors I like best on My Boy, boring neutral brown. As you can see, he still has on his pouty boy face from the vet visit and refused to smile for this picture.

Since he was saddled and the rain was holding off, I decided to ride. I had already lounged him out a little before the vet came. We headed back up to the arena. Because of the slippery footing, we just walked and jogged. Here we are by the new lake in the back of the arena. I seriously contemplated casting a line and seeing if we could reel in something for dinner.

Notice that I am wearing gloves, polar fleece, and muck boots. And I am riding in June. I think. Wait. Perhaps I took this picture in November and pulled it out of the wrong folder? Nope. It is really June and it snowed in the mountain passes last night. People, what is going on with the weather these days?

This would have been a nice shot of my horse's head had I not had that distracting halter under the bridle.
My Boy is feeling less pouty about the vet now and is being a poser again.

Now, please do not tell your horses about the next part of this post. Do not let them tell their horsey neighbors, who might tell their horsey cousins, who might tell that bay mare down the road, who might inform My Boy that the whole country is talking about his, uh, bathroom etiquette.

When I was leasing My Boy last year, we would often ride to some reservation land trails that were about two blocks from the trainer's house. In order to do this, we had to cross the road her property was on, ride along the grassy shoulder for about two blocks, turn down a side road, and then ride about half a mile to the trail head.

I'd often lead My Boy, as I did not like riding alongside the road. My Boy's paddock backed up against this same road so he was well-desensitized to car traffic, but it still made me nervous. There are always rude drivers that don't slow down or even give you and your horse a wide berth. Anyway, back to my point. Every time we started down the shoulder, My Boy would stop and urinate in the grass. I would always have to ask everyone else to wait so we didn't fall behind. We would always laugh about it, it was just funny how he was so predictable.
My Boy still does this. On the way to our grooming area by the garage, we cross a section of my sister's lawn. It has a horsey path tromped in it now, as it is also the path the feed cart goes every morning and night. After I catch My Boy and lead him out of the pasture to the grooming area, nine times out of ten, he stops, stretches out, and relieves himself in the grass.
My sister read somewhere that geldings do not like their urine splashing up on their legs, which is why they like to use grassy areas as their personal toilets. This makes sense to me. Has anyone noticed this preference in their gelding's potty spots?

Here is another one, in another grassy area. I promise, this is the last horsey potty picture I will post!

I might need to inform My Boy that although he thinks he's contributing to the fertilization of the green stuff, he is probably actually killing it off!

Black eye update. Oh goodness, it has been like Christmas every morning, running to the mirror to see what color my eye is. Today, the part that is purple and red is still purple and red. But the rest of the under eye is now turning a sickly yellow-green. Hmmm. Is that normal? I have realized that this is quite the conversation starter. The checker at the grocery store tonight had to crack a joke. I am thinking I could use this black eye to my advantage right now.....

And in the near future, I plan to write about the why, how, and where regarding Pony Girl's "Quest for a Cowboy!"