Derpy Days needs a new name

So my website, and small "company" need a new name. I don't think that Derpy Days is very inviting or shows what we do at all.

www.derpydays.com or www.facebook.com/derpydays

I make handmade horse things. Right now, i'm working mostly on Stirrup covers aka totally useful for everything bags. But I will be venturing into other avenues eventually. I customize them as necessary and will add extra bling and such for customers who ask.

So with that said, does anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to keep the name Derp in there as he is my inspiriation. :D

Another day

Tomorrow the trimmer comes. I'm very excited about this as I feel this is a great step for us in the direction of soundness and balance.

We went for a short ride last Thursday. I'm sure some of you have heard of when you get on a really weakbacked horse or a heavy horse or a horse that's just unbalanced in general and they feel like two different horses front to back. Well he felt like two completely different horses left to right. It was so wonky and off feeling. Just so unbalanced with one super tall foot and one super short and underrun. Hoof soreness though, he was probably a 3 on a 1-10 scale so not too bad. Really he was just short. We didn't do anything, ended up doing some stretching and walking. Did a few trot strides but not much. I felt like he needed a little movement and circulation to those feet though.

I'll be super interested to watch his shoulders even out once his feet get evened out. Right now he's still got one super wonky large shoulder and one regular one. It's also going to completely change my saddle fit but once we get that far, i'm going to take it as an accomplishment and a huge step in the right direction!

Update on OFTF!

I got pictures of his feet. They don't look horrible but his right is really bruised in multiple places, toes are long. Left heel is underrun. Meh, it's to be expected. But we are at the beginning of our two weeks of "relax" with his feet. I also ordered some Keratex to help harden his soles as well. And the adventure begins!

Only five days until the trimmer comes. Looking forward to seeing what she thinks of his feet.

LEFT FRONT

 FRONT RIGHT

 The Keratex is helping tremendously. I tend to veer away from putting anything on my horse that is full of chemicals, but i've come to realize that sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone if it's something that will help. And this stuff helps! In all the time he was barefoot before, I never once saw him this comfortable. He's still got a little ways to go but I now have no doubt that we will get there!

Keratex

Operation Fix those Feets!

Well today is the day. Another farrier has been kind enough to pull America's shoes for me to give his hooves some time to grow out before the trimmer comes in two weeks. This is step one in Operation Fix those Feets!

I'm so looking forward to having a sound horse and I truly believe that his highest possibility of getting there is through being barefoot. I've already noticed his heels getting underrun. I realize that wedges and pads would take time to fix this negative palmar angle, but in one shoeing, his heels are worse than they were. I also do not notice much, if any, change as to the angle of his hoof. I'm terrified of what I am going to find under that pour in pad. I am so worried it will be thrushy under there, or something. But I will not know until this afternoon. Fingers crossed. I will also be taking some pictures this afternoon to compare.

*We have also had a bit of a hiccup with his diet. He was on only fescue hay and it really irritated his stomach to the point where his anal leakage aka wet farts were horrible. I believe it was also partly my fault because I misjudged his bodies ability to handle change and changed too much at once.  So we took a huge step back, and made everything super simple for a while. I changed him to only orchard hay. Removed the TNT for now, went back to just Dynamite and his other basics. Give his belly time to recover from the fescue. I know a lot of horses do just fine on it, but he just doesn't for some reason. It doesn't matter why, just matters that I figured it out (with the help of some nutritionally savvy friends). This is working wonders. Once I feel like he's better and has healed, I will slowly transition him back onto the TNT.

(If anyone ever wonders why I make a blog that barely anyone reads, it's because it helps me remember things. haha)

*We haven't ridden since Christmas. I am hoping after this 7 degrees we have coming tomorrow that we will get back to it, depending on his feet of course.

Oh and America turned 15 on the 2nd! Happy Birthday to my Derpy!!!!

Playing Catch up

A lot has happened since the last time I posted in October.

• The vet came out. I had planned to have xrays done on America's front feet to see how his soles were doing and to have his fall shots done. We did all that but the outcome of results I got was not what I expected.
  
  WE did manage to gain significant sole growth. Hopefully that holds on. But what we didn't realize is that America's feet have gotten worse every other way. He has a negative palmar angle on his left front that is going to take extensive work to correct. This also explains his huge left shoulder. The vet made a plan with my farrier to put a wedge on that front left and pour ins on both. The completely change how he has been trimming him.
  
  I will not get into detail on here why, but I have decided to change all of this. It has felt wrong to me from the start. So i've decided to go the more natural but slower fix and take his shoes off all together. I've consulted with 3 different farriers/trimmers and they have all said the same thing. That he would be better for me to take his shoes off and fix it naturally with trimming properly. I will just have to buy him boots.
  
  Once I made this change, I literally exhaled for what felt like the first time in weeks. This may be a longer process, but this feels right. So I am going to go with it. My instincts are sometimes very loud, I tend to listen to those.
• I changed up America's diet just a bit. I added TNT into his diet and eliminated a few of his other supplements and also lowered the dosage of the rest. TNT is amazing. It's got a lot of supplements in it plus a bunch of others.
  
  "Each 1 1/3 cup of TNT contains a synergistic combination of Dynamite, Easy Balance, Izmine, Free & Easy, Excel and HES. This product is the ultimate supplement. Because it contains some of our most popular products all-in-one, it is easy to feed and produces amazing results." https://www.dynamitespecialty.com/ABCompany
  
  "Dynamite went WAY beyond the basics when formulating this awesome product. All-natural ingredients support healthy metabolism, behavioral balance, joints, and daily detoxification; all in addition to an array of amino acids, vitamins, minerals and trace minerals for optimum results you will see in your horse."So far, I have been very pleased with this diet change. America has only been ridden once but he was more fluid. His stiffness was almost nonexistent PLUS he was relaxed and calm.
  Look at this stretch! (not me riding)
  
• America had a minor colic last week. It was only a gas colic, thankfully and passed on it's own. He was fine and back to normal within an hour of being found. A little lethargic but good otherwise. :D Counting my blessings.

Routines

This is my problem. I know what it is. I have no routine. I am a 30 year old with no routine to my life. I like to think that it's because I live spontaneously. And I think that was ok in my early 20's. But I need more stability. More routines and schedules being kept. Right now, I feel like what little schedule I have ever had has been tossed around some. I think this all connects back to the end of my last post. I need that determination and drive that makes people do badass things.

I think the beginning of that is establishing a routine. The only routine I have right now is going to work Monday through Friday. My schedule literally doesn't go any farther than that.

I really need to work on this. I need more routine in my life. I need to not throw what routines i have down the drain if they get slightly disturbed. Part of this needs to be getting out to the barn more often.

I'm going to try to work on this.

Spiralling downwardly and fastly

I feel like i'm spiralling down faster and faster here lately. My health is down the toilet. I've gained 10 lbs. I feel like poo and I cannot stop. I barely ride. I don't exercise and I can't seem to pull myself out of this slump. My stomach issues are getting bad again. My skin is horrendous. Dermatitis and roseacea up the wazoo.

I want to feel good.

I want to feel good about me.

I want to ride and enjoy it.

I want to lose weight.

I want to feel schmexy again.

Most of all, I want to be healthy.

I don't understand how I can't make myself be better. I KNOW the cause of all of my issues is eating healthy. I don't put good stuff comes in. It reflects out. I mean seriously. Why is it that I have no problem working endlessly to make America's outsides glow by having him on the best possible diet but I can't do this for myself. Where is it people get that banging determination and will power from? Because I would like it please!

BLEH!

But America is doing infinitely better. His lymphangitis is gone. That sweating it really pulled that last little bit of lingering swelling out of his leg. He had his feet done and had a chiropractic adjustment last week. He's like a new horse. So I am trying to get out to the barn to work him more, I just find myself lacking umph to do that. He needs it though or we're never going to get him back to where he was. He doesn't look bad but I can see a difference in his muscling. He's happy though.

But anywho, here's this cute thing. She is seven months today. :)