This is why you trust your gut when it comes to your horse

I made the mistake of giving in. I gave in to the pressure of just WANTING PEACE at the barn.  To make a long story short, I had to use the BO's farrier. I used him TWICE. He managed to ruin my horses feet in that time. It took 18 weeks for me to freak out to the point of calling my old farrier and begging him to come back! Luckily, he is awesome and agreed.

America's feet went from this:

To this....

::shakes head::

I had a bad feeling about it the entire time. After the second shoeing, I freaked out. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what in the world he was doing. I hadn't seen him butcher any other horses feet, so why on EARTH did he do his feet like he had. Now his heels are really bruised. He was completely out in his SI AGAIN, even though I had him adjust less than a month ago. Keep in mind, it took a year for him to need to be adjusted last month. It only 11 weeks for him to need to be readjusted because of a shotty farrier job.

So my lesson to anyone who reads this is this:

Trust your gut and ask lots of questions. If you don't like what you hear, find someone who makes more sense and falls in tune with what your gut is telling you. Not only your gut, but  your horses body. Your horse will always be honest.

Here is where we are now. Much better.

And the Derp is looking very handsome! (excuse the stance, this was one of the things that told me his feet were wrong!)

My sorrel is actually a bay. Surprise!

Boy do I know my horse!

Well I was right. America was definitely sticking in his SI joint which is why he was so uncomfortable. The vet said I need to try to get him adjusted chiropractically every six weeks or so. Honestly, I don't know if I can afford that, but I will try to get it as close to that as possible. He also said that if I don't see improvement at every six weeks I might need to get him done every 3-4 for a while. HOLY $$$$....but if it will make him more comfortable, i'll do what I have to do.

So here is what was happening:

His right side gets stuck down and forward, while his left side compensates by being left up and back.

Along with that, he was out in a couple of other places. After getting these places adjusted he was just licking and chewing and licking and chewing so it must have felt good.

I am really glad I got his saddle fitted to him. Hopefully, with the adjustments and good saddle fitting, he will be much more comfortable. Now I need to get myself adjust so I don't mess him up! Does someone want to send me a money tree??? I could use one!

A bit of an upsetting part though. The vet wants to test him for Cushings. He is concerned because of the mass of fur he still has and how much he grows. I guess it is more of a precaution, as he doesn't show many other signs. He is a massive sweater though. So lots of good jingles that he is just a super hairy beasty and doesn't have Cushings!

 

He is such a ham...

Vet day / Chiro day

After our last lesson, I  had decided that America was off. I scheduled a vet appointment for this afternoon. I have actually given him probably close to three weeks off of work to just relax. I didn't want to push it and take the chance of injuring him. Since he was off not only in canter (mostly in the canter) but a little in the trot too, it just wasn't worth it to me. I upped  his MSM as well to try and help if there is any inflammation. Which I am pretty sure there is some on the right side of his SI joint.

Well the vet is also a chiropractor. So I am going to see what he can do in that field. I am also going to ask if there is something I need to think into the future about. Whether he needs something extra to prevent him from being uncomfortable. So we shall see!

I was away all last week and finally saw Mr. Derpus yesterday. I missed him so much. I was ridiculous! I am ready for him to feel 100% again though. I also realized that the farrier had scheduled him almost 8 weeks from his last shoeing. No way Jose! Not again. He is overdue! Long and his heels are running under. It's crazy how much happens in the week you are gone!!!

Anyways, here's a Derp, begging from one of his favorite Aunties.

Fingers Crossed!

May Update

Ok first and foremost, bask in his adorableness!

Now that that's over. I haven't blogged in a while about Mr. Derp. (I feel like every post starts with that). I have been so swamped with school. OMG! But I am now one small assignment away from being DONE WITH MY COLLEGE CAREER! Holy crap batman!

So as for Derp. We didn't do much this winter. I started riding a bit more in the Spring but still nothing substantial. We were going to go to a fun show.....just for fun... in late April. But the lesson the day before he told me quite loudly that he was not feeling well. He actually bucked with me. See the thing with Mr. Derpypoo is he doesn't buck. He just doesn't do it. When he doesn't like something he goes into giraffe mode and opens his mouth. He'll speed up or get all choppy and flail his legs around everywhere. That's how he shows me he doesn't like something. So when he bucked, which was a pathetic buck at that, I knew something was up. I had noticed earlier that he was fine at the trot to the right but totally discombobulated to the left. Which is strange because on a normal basis we are the opposite. So we got to poking and prodding him and watching his movement and he is definitely out in his SI. This is the second time. I am concerned that I am going to have to think further ahead and think about possibly having to think medication or injection. Or if he just needs chiro work more often. We've got an appointment on the 13th with the vet who also does Chiro work. Fingers crossed it's that's simple.

But on another note, he's looking amazing. You can kind of see his dapples in that picture above but here's a better one. You can also see how he stands when he's uncomfortable.

So he looks amazing. Just need to get those insides fixed. He is also amazingly soft!!!!! So one foot in front of the other! We hope to do a few small fun shows soon.

Happy Riding everyone!

To my animal loving friends....please be aware.

To all of my animal loving friends - were you all aware that it is actually illegal for Vets to carry controlled substances with them to your location. What this basically means is that if your animal is too sick, broken, injured, etc...to travel to the Vets clinic, they are actually not legally allowed to carry any sort of substances out to help that animal. This includes euthanasia drugs. This is probably one of the stupidest laws I have ever heard of. Obviously most vets agree because I haven't seen many that follow it. But they shouldn't have to be concerned with whether they will be "caught" or not. They should be allowed to do their job to the fullest. This includes being able to carry the necessary drugs to put an animal down if need be. I don't know what the stupid lawmaker that inacted this thing thought people with sick horses or cows were supposed to do. It's time to move out of the 1970's....let's get this changed! 

 

This is a link to a site that allows you to write an email or letter to your legislator to ask them to take some action to end that. Sign it and send it. For the sake of our animals. 

http://www.capwiz.com/avma/issues/alert/?alertid=62592206#.UXEu-GDqc84.facebook

Everyone should watch this...Miss Representation

This is a little different from what I usually post but....this is really important. For everyone. We need to realize just how much the media is sabotaging all of us. It's manipulating and warping and changing our brains. This needs to be realized.

I wish I could quote one part of this to show how inspiring and how important this is but really, it's all 1.5 hours that is important. This needs to change. Children need to be children. Girls need to learn to love themselves, not be bombarded by messages that they have to be this certain way. We are getting farther away from ourselves. We need to go back. Let's work on this.

I've watched this change so much just in my 30 years. It's sad. It makes me sad. And i'm guilty of this myself. It's hard to realize how much our brains have been affected by this poison. But it has.