The abscess
So Leo came up lame last week, a couple days after he got shod. We pulled the shoe and have been treating it like an abscess for the past 6 days: Epsom salt soak, followed by a salt based poultice and wrapping the hoof. I'm freaking out because next weekend we leave for Aiken. Before the abscess we were struggling to ride because of the cold weather. Then last week we got hit with a February thaw and Leo went lame. Ugh.
We're scheduled to compete at Pine Top on March 19 & 20. Even with the lack of work, Becca thinks we'll be fine since we're only running beginner novice and its at the end of the 2 weeks we're in Aiken. He won't need a lot of conditioning to run beginner novice, but I really wanted to hit the ground running when we got to Aiken. Now I'll have to take it slower than I originally intended.
Oh well. At this point, I'm just hoping on Friday the shoe goes back on and he's sound.
The only good thing about the abscess is that I have seen a whole new side of Leo. The first day I soaked his foot, he didn't seem to get it. He took his foot out of the bucket a couple of times and I kept putting it back in. It finally clicked and he stood there quietly. The next day, he knew exactly what to do. He'd move around and adjust himself, but always left his hoof in the bucket. I could wander around the barn, clean his stall and just busy myself while he stood by himself in the wash stall for 30 minutes. What a smart horse!
Before he went lame, I managed to jump him once in a lesson with Becca. The first time we jumped since the Boyd clinic. We practiced the same concepts: slow, relaxed grid work. Even though a month had past he still remembered! We did a crossrail, 1 short stride, to a vertical, 1 short stride to a third vertical. Then we added a cantering fence after the grid and Leo managed to stay calm and not charge the fence. He is a quick study. I'm super impressed with him.
We're scheduled to compete at Pine Top on March 19 & 20. Even with the lack of work, Becca thinks we'll be fine since we're only running beginner novice and its at the end of the 2 weeks we're in Aiken. He won't need a lot of conditioning to run beginner novice, but I really wanted to hit the ground running when we got to Aiken. Now I'll have to take it slower than I originally intended.
Oh well. At this point, I'm just hoping on Friday the shoe goes back on and he's sound.
The only good thing about the abscess is that I have seen a whole new side of Leo. The first day I soaked his foot, he didn't seem to get it. He took his foot out of the bucket a couple of times and I kept putting it back in. It finally clicked and he stood there quietly. The next day, he knew exactly what to do. He'd move around and adjust himself, but always left his hoof in the bucket. I could wander around the barn, clean his stall and just busy myself while he stood by himself in the wash stall for 30 minutes. What a smart horse!
Before he went lame, I managed to jump him once in a lesson with Becca. The first time we jumped since the Boyd clinic. We practiced the same concepts: slow, relaxed grid work. Even though a month had past he still remembered! We did a crossrail, 1 short stride, to a vertical, 1 short stride to a third vertical. Then we added a cantering fence after the grid and Leo managed to stay calm and not charge the fence. He is a quick study. I'm super impressed with him.
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