day with the chiropractor!

Today we drove 2.5 hours to see Dr Randy Huenefeld near Kansas City, Missouri. He's one of the best equine chiro's in the area, and we were fortunate enough to have him work on Shaun today. He said he'd probably been worked on, being a race horse. Shaun seemed to know Dr. Randy was trying to help him, and was a great patient. Most of the time his eyes were soft and he tried to stand still so he could be helped. There were a couple of times I know things hurt. I've been to the chiro, so I know. We took home a pretty pricey rx for ulcer's, which will take about a month to get things where they need to be. It's fairly typical for a race horse to have ulcers, but hoping it will be a thing of his past real soon.

Any horse that gets a couple of flakes of hay doled out to them a.m. and p.m. will have tummy issues. Add a ton of grain, lots of sugar content and a crazy lifestyle? You get ulcers. Horses are built to graze 24/7, head down, and moving. And that's exactly what Shaun has been doing for the past 6 mos. Dr. Randy said it was the best thing that could have happened to him. Yeah, I know. This was Shaun's miracle.

He said that Shaun may be compensating for his injury, even though the injury has healed. That's what got his body all crooked, and his fear of moving is keeping it that way. Now I have no idea where he was after 2007. I know he didn't get enough to eat. I know where ever it was, he wasn't able to heal his body properly. And now, he's exactly where he needs to be.

We have the ok to start training, and that will get that his muscle mass back where it needs to be, and then...flying lessons. I can't wait. We will fly, again. And this time, it will be a joyful thing.

day at the dentist

I guess we are extremely fortunate to have an equine dentist who is such an amazing horseman, never uses drugs (doesn't have to) and only charges the most minimal of fees to float my horses teeth. He is a gift. Today Ed came out to float Shaun's teeth. I noticed he was dropping a lot of food and thought those pesky back teeth just might be the problem. The minute Ed put the spec on Shaun, he closed his eyes and acted like he was getting the best massage EVER. He waited patiently, sort of, while Bit got her teeth done. Helped that I did some tick removal under his throat latch and then scratched all his boo boos throughly. If I stopped, he asked for more. We passed the time just fine.

I've used the excuse of too thin, no top line, sore feet, not ready yet...because I guess I'm treating him like a fragile child. Ed noticed today that he was more confident, and bit frisky...ok, completely full of himself. It got me thinking it might be time to get him back to work. I called a chiro to schedule a treatment, and I'll see what she says about what I can do with him. His top line isn't something I'd want to sit on bareback, lol. I do think he is saddle ready. Depending on what the chiro says, I guess it's time to at least start him on some ground work.

looking better

Shaun's top line is looking almost rideable. The atrophy he had is gone, replaced by a good coat of winter fuz and muscle. The supplement,, formula 4 feet has made a huge difference in the quality of his hoof wall. He's holding a shoe and the dry line cracks going up his feet have stopped right at the growth place where I started him on the supplement. Very dramatic difference, and you can really see it in his coat. He's actually growing a lot of tail and mane, too. I don't pull manes, or trim a bridle path. Lol, hippie horses in this heard. He's doing reall well.

Three inches of rain on the way for Monday, so he'll be sporting his Matrix like rain sheet since it will be a cold rain.

I think the best part of all is how loving and connected this horse is. Always checking in, happy to see you, runs in for breakfast every morning, and loves human company. He trusts me. When I whisper that I love him, his eyes soften and he breaths me in. It's a love affair that both the man and my life, and my daughter envy. He is such a gentle soul. I'm so glad he's here.