Well this weekend I believe we got our final Big Hoorah for snow for the year. The avg overall was about 12″-14″ but it blows so hard out here in the Plateau of Jamestown that most of it didn’t stick (which is why you can see my driveway in spots) but instead it just blew into HUGE drifts. So I got a wild hair up my who-ha and grabbed Trav and slipped a headstall on and hopped on…

We rode around for just a few minutes and he did great! I can’t wait to ride him more (after the baby is born of course) and I really think he’ll be fine. Maybe not 100% all of the time, but that’s fine with me! Here’s a video clip:

More specifically, I had turned him lose the other day to graze a bit in the yard while I cleaned out his pen. Now you see, that practice was much more widely accepted over at my folks’ place, because I *knew* he wouldn’t go anywhere. Doing it here was a bit risky, but I felt confident if he DID decide to go somewhere he’d be back or I could catch up fairly easy. I got a bucket of grain ready (just in case) for a quick grab and shake. Now I drove by him 6 times to dump the little bucket of manure in the field and it was nothing. The 7th time however was a different story. All of a sudden it was a horse eating monster and he starts trotting off thru the yard and stopped at the edge of the bean field and literally looked back at me over his shoulder like “hmm, should I go for it?” and then he took off trotting thru the field in this great big airy dressage horse type manor. I hollered at him a couple of times and then darted for the easy-grab grain bucket so I could shake it but was still watching him, and he literally made this reining sliding rollback type move out in the field about 50yards out, and NEIGHED as loud as he could and came RUNNING back. Like “HEY lookit me, I’m free!!!….. wait, if I’m free, that means MOM isn’t here anymore! MOOOMMMM!!” So to say the least, I got to see him really moving at all gaits, and he never ONCE took a wrong step! I was so happy! I’m pretty confident that he’ll be riding safe (for basic/light riding and trails) later this summer. In the mean time I need to get some more weight on him, and am looking for ideas on adding more weight/muscle to ONE side vs. the other. He may always have a deficit over his right side, but as long as it doesn’t hinder him, I’m fine with that. So after his little escapade, I snapped a couple pics and had Aaron do a quick video. It’s not very good quality and please excuse the lack of up-close zoom but you should be able to see him moving. If you pay close attention you can see him picking his feet up (instead of dragging his toes like he was doing last fall) and tracking under himself really good. He needs his feet trimmed but I’m not too concerned yet. So without further ado, here’s the vid!

Also, here are a couple pics.  You can see how he still has some neurological problems following through with his stance.

One of these days she’ll put as much effort into runnin hard as she will bucking!

Jaron also got to ride his very first barrel race on his brand new Pony!

All in all it was a really good day.

Then I drug a 4×4 pole over to the grass and started working him around on it.  We walked over it some and he picked up his back feet really well to step over it.  We crossed it back and forth several times and then I tried backing him over it.  He backed up until his ankles hit it and he didn’t seem to want to or know how to cross it going backwards, but I really encouraged him and when he finally got one foot over, the next one went relatively easy, so that was really good.  The one negative thing I noticed was when he trotted, he still seemed to be crossing over so much in the back (only sometimes tho, not every stride), that he would knock himself (ankle to cannon).  If anyone has any comments on the crossing over I’d love to hear it.

We’re also still plugging away at the additional feed and weight gain and playing with supplementation ideas.  I’m trying to decide what route to take next also.  Ideally I’d like to get a larger area fenced in for him over here so he can work some of this out on his own, but that requires more money (for fencing) and time/effort.

I’ll keep everyone updated and will get pics and videos as I get some new ones taken.

Our awesome neighbor, Billy Dean of Dean Brothers Excavating in Jamestown, Ohio (note shameless plug), came down to help scrape some mud out of Traveler’s pen and shove some gravel in there instead. It really helped out, it was right where Trav stood most of the day. You may be able to see it in the video if you look close. But as I got him out of the pen to tie him up, I noticed something strange: he wasn’t dragging his back toes. His back end was still wobbly and the best way I can describe it is it was like watching someone who’d been semi-paralyzed try to walk again for the first time, very labored and “on purpose”. Where we take walking for granted as it comes almost subconsciously to us, to him, it was as if he was forcibly trying to walk. But the point is that he wasn’t dragging his toes. They were actually clearing ground. I couldn’t believe it. I got some video of it earlier today but have been down for the count with strep throat and a migraine. But without further ado, here’s the video.

Here’s for hoping this is the first sign of many improvements to come.

I also got a couple shots of his rump, where you can clearly see the muscle loss.

Smile!

K we’re gonna run the pattern.

Get ready Mom, cuz when I start he’s a maniac. See?

Gotta get us a runnin’ start.

Go go go! (Yeah we’re haulin. *rolling eyes*) lol.

And we’re done.

Hey did the other horses see me runnin fast?

Who cares, as long as Momma did.

Now you whoa while I take your boots off.

My boy.

Please don’t leave me. Not yet. We have another 10 plus years to enjoy together! Dogs and barrels to chase. Fields to run through. There’s so much we haven’t done yet. Winning senior barrels at Congress. Learning how to jump. Pulling Mammaw’s One Horse Open Sleigh. And don’t forget, you’re supposed to carry my SON’S wife down the driveway too (yearsss from now). So see? You can’t leave. You have to get better and come back to me like you were just a few short months ago.

I snapped a couple of shots this morning of him in the snow.

He’s been doing alright since the fall. I’ve started him on a new feed ration, thanks to a very knowledgeable TB owner, who’s rehabbed 2 OTTBs and has 3 total. She suggested I keep Trav on the Strategy and just supplement with beet pulp and wheat bran. So I’ve been doing that for him and since it requires soaking, I’ve been mixing in hot water so it forms a warm mash. He’s getting used to it. LOL!

So after he got up and hobbled around some, and nothing seemed broken, I stood there and let him lean his head on me. I fixed his mane that always gets roughed up and falls half on one side and half on the other, and asked him what I was going to do with him. Then I found myself on my knees next to him crying and praying for him to get better. I can’t watch him like this. A little of me has died inside right along with him. I thought losing Victory was the hardest thing in my life I’ve ever been through but for some weird reason, I was wrong. As much as I wouldn’t admit it, Traveler is more my baby than Victory was. He’s been with me since the first time he opened his eyes. I can’t imagine not looking into those big golden eyes. I just don’t know how to go through this waiting and wondering if he’ll get better, but I know I’ll never give up on him.

After that I felt bad for him so I took him out of his pen a little later on and walked him around. I figured if he was feelin’ good enough to try and buck, he’d be okay to go for a walk. As usual he tried to powerhouse his way around, and at a Speedy Gonzolas walk I noticed him crossing over in the back so much he was knocking himself, even on a straight line. So we stopped walking and I let him graze down by the front of the property where the grass is nice and grassy in the ditch by the road. He was happy for that. Afterwords, I videoed him for a few minutes, so I apologize that the following video was slightly dark, but the sun has started going down before 6 here.