New Routine

I met another vet from the practice my barn mates employ. This vet owns the vet practice and I like him a lot more than the new, young vet that came out to give Regalo his yearly shots. As glad as I am to know this man, I'm not very happy that I needed to meet him.

Regalo's been losing weight at least since the beginning of October. I wormed him on the 3rd, but he still looked a bit skinny and his coat looked a little dull. I wormed him again around the 15th, this time with Equimax. After a week with no change despite significant increase in food prior and during the post second deworming week, I took a fecal sample to the vet clinic. It came back clean. So, why is my horse, who was always an easy keeper, now losing weight so fast despite grain, pasture, and recently hay?

The vet floated Regalo's teeth, but they're not the main culprit. It seems that Regalo, aged only 13, is indeed aging. His small intestine does not absorb nutrients as well anymore. Blood work confirmed that he does not have liver or kidney problems. The vet mentioned looking out for signs of Cushing's, but I truly hope that is not the case.

New Routine:
Equine Senior twice a day
Stalled at night with night feed and hay (water of course)
Fed and turned out in the morning

I'm the morning care giver since work prohibits me from consistently coming out at night to feed. I don't like stalling him, but there are some good things. For instance, he can eat hay without being run off by one of the pushy ponies in his pasture.

Hopefully he'll show some improvement in the next month and I can post before and after pictures. Some other good news: I can and should ride him now, even before he gains back his weight. This makes sense, but the vet confirmed that riding will help keep him in shape. If the rain holds off I will ride him tomorrow.

Endorsed

Apparently Jatamer had a career as a model. He doesn't like to talk about it.

Unleashed!

Chorni's behavior and attentiveness to our commands has improved since he and Nicholas started obedience lessons. I'm hoping my schedule will allow me to take Jatamer next semester, but this is really a side note. As many of you know, greyhounds are an ancient breed that do one thing very, very well, and that is chase and kill small animals. Because of this deeply inbred drive they must be kept leashed unless fenced or coarsed. In fact, even when coarsing the hunters normally do not "slip" greyhounds until they spot prey. We live in the city and while we have a fenced back yard and walk our dogs frequently, Jatamer's never been able to just run around off leash like Chorni. The boarding facility where Regalo lives has nice diamond wire fencing around the perimeter of the pastures. Today we decided to try Jatamer off leash in Regalo's pasture.

I felt like we were on a family road trip. We loaded got the explorer ready for the dogs, loaded the dogs, got the dog toy, Jatamer's basket muzzle, and finally set off for the barn. Why the basket muzzle? Remember the thing about greyhounds being good at chasing and killing small animals? That includes barn cats and sometimes even very small dogs (though he completely respected a chiuauah that lived with us for two days). He's comfortable with it since he raced with this type of muzzle and its a simple, cheap precaution against him hurting someone else's animal. Though he wore it most of the time at the barn, he never really seemed to need it.

Before letting him run around in the slippery mud we let him run around a nice flat, sandy arena where he happily zoomed a bit. Then we took him into Regalo's pasture. Things went well partially because most of the horses were on the other side of the hill from the pasture entrance. Regalo came after some calling and brought two of his buddies, who fortunately moved away when waved off and did not mind having dogs around. Chorni even helped me keep one away from Regalo and backed off when I told him to do so. I was very proud of both dog and hound today! As a side note, Regalo is great with dogs and now even seems to like the cats.

New Mounts

Nicholas and I finally started taking lessons. We've had one so far. After riding informally for 10 years or so I recently found that I do almost everything incorrectly. Joy! Nicholas posts much better than I do right now. He's more relaxed and does not automatically crouch into fetal position when the horse speeds up. I now have an excuse to spend more time in the saddle. Unfortunately, that time must be spent with another horse. All right, so riding different horses is actually a good thing. I just enjoy riding Regalo a lot more.

Since moving to Harris Heights I've become more confident and more assertive. Regalo pushed me around before and riding always involved a fight. Now everything is easy. He ground ties, he usually (still working on this) picks up the pace when I ask for it, he generally doesn't fight me much anymore. He'll still try to go to the barn instead of in the arena after a ride around the perimeter, but his resistance is very mild and very short. Riding Regalo is fun again. After some practice and a few more lessons perhaps I'll find riding other (non-gaited) horses fun as well.

Fly Like an Eagle

I saw Summer Bird at the Arkansas Derby. In the saddling paddock I stood right in front of Old Fashioned, my favorite for the race, and his trainer Larry Jones. When the horses began leaving the paddock I watched Summer Bird. "Wow, that horse is built well!", first came to mind as I watched him leave the paddock. I almost put money on him, but decided not to, after all, nothing in the Form suggested I should. He looked great though.

Summer Bird ran last most of the race, but then moved up to finish third. He did not look spent at the end and I hoped to see him run a longer race. Today, my wish came true. Summer Bird won the Belmont today. Perhaps the blinkers did help him focus, but I believe he likes distance period. Perhaps the owners will see fit to try him on turf.


I apologize for the poor quality, it was taken on a cell phone. Old Fashioned and his trainer Larry Jones and assistant trainer stand in the foreground. In the back left corner you can see Summer Bird ( I believe that is him) coming around. I'm sorry that I do not have a better picture of him that day.

New Blog Title

OK, I'm finally ready to start the new home front blog, but I cannot come up with a good name. HELP!!! Suggestions, please!

Some quick facts:

Our house is about 80 years old
None of the doorknobs work inside the house
We're in Belhaven Heights
Our house still has sash weights, none of the doors fit perfectly in the door ways, and our bathroom is completely "rigged" right now.

The Pants

I've made a deal with myself that if I return to a size 6 (pants) then I can buy a new pair of good, possibly plaid, breeches for my birthday. Without conscientiously trying, I've managed to shave off a couple inches this past week. I credit work, walking my dogs, and a mostly vegetarian diet. None of these things will change in the next week, and hopefully progress will continue.

This weekend I added running. Walk breaks help me run a decent distance, which is fine for now. I really want to run, not injure my joints trying to go too far too fast. A new pair of running shoes hinges on an up coming 5k. Nicholas will run a half marathon that day, but he runs half half marathons most days.

Friday and Saturday I took off from the barn. Friday I worked until 6:30pm and just did not want to make the drive. Saturday Nicholas and I enjoyed being urban. We walked the dogs, bought him new running shoes, ate at a local restaurant, discovered a furniture store with modern design, visited a local art gallery/store, and visited the Raoul Dufy exhibit. Saturday was fantastic! Today I'll head back out to the barn and ride.