His health continues to improve!
Still not a $40,000 show horse, heheh, but his conformation looks a bit better than it did when I met him.
You can still clearly see his jumper's bump, and in this photo you can see the injury on his lower left leg that left him with a swollen tendon that the vet says does not seem to bother him.
Who is that peeking behind him?
Solomon has a new friend! Here you can see that he actually is kind of a big boy compared to other horses. Not as big as a Hanoverian or a draftie, but still pretty good sized.
Today Solly didn't want to leave his pasture, and when he saw that we were headed for the gate he locked his legs. :p I put my hand on his back behind his withers, and that got him to move a few times. I tapped his butt with the lead rope a couple of times (not whipping, just tapping) and that got him to move a few times, but it wasn't getting us very far. Well, who can blame him? He wasn't sure if he was getting moved to yet another strange place, and he rather liked it in the pasture!
Out of my bag came an apple, which I nonchalantly began to eat. Suddenly Solomon was my best friend and wanted to go wherever I went. He wasn't rude enough to try to TAKE the apple, mind, but he had that "maybe she'll give some to me if I am good" look on his face, and there was a serious spring to his step.
Out the gate we went, and down the road that is scary because sometimes there are TURKEYS or even DEER!
Then he realized that I was taking him to the Other Good Place, his paddock which is shady and cool and which has tasty things to eat sometimes. In he went, and he got the rest of my apple, a couple of carrots, and some LMF Senior Feed in his grain bin. His hooves were picked, a call was made to the farrier (I had to leave a message) and he got a nice brush-down. After all that he dozed with his head hanging over the paddock into the empty one beside his. The nice lady from the retirement community who volunteers out there remarked on how relaxed Solly was. Yes, he's a good boy. :)
So. They fed him dinner in his paddock, which I gave him three hours to eat. He didn't eat it all, but I think he ate until he was full, and then just nosed the rest around for a while. Good, good, hopefully he won't overeat, then. We will still need to watch him in the spring when the grass in the pasture is all soft and green. the new BO says he has a lot of thoroughbred in him, which is good, but the quarterhorse side of him might make him want to pig out.
Once he was done eating, I took him out to the pasture again. This time he went calmly and he did not freeze up or whinny the whole way. Yay!
Solomon is now one happy hoss!
1 comment:
If your horse ever plants their feet and won't move, don't turn around to look at them. It pretty much guarantees they'll grow roots if you're facing them.
If you still can't get him moving, try getting him to move his feet by pulling him towards you or pushing him away. If you pull him to the side and get his feet moving, you may be able to keep up the momentum and start going forward. Sometimes it just takes that first step, even if it's to the side.
Just some tips from leading stubborn old lady lesson ponies! He'll probably be better now that he realizes you aren't going to ship him back where he came from, lol.
Sol is looking great :)
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