When the snows start at the beginning of winter, we always shut down the electric fences since the snow weighs them down so much they just ground out on the other wires anyway. There isn't anything on the other side of the fence the horses want during winter so it isn't a problem. Most of the snows have melted now and after spending three days in the shop, hiking up to the top of the bluff sounded like a perfect way to spend an hour and help my back to feel better. While I was up there, I cleared a number of grounds in the fence and re-tightened the stretched wire. And I breathed clean, spring air that let me see to the mountains beyond the mountains.
For the second part of my rehab day I decided it was time to torture Griton a bit...not that he minded. He received a serious grooming to remove dead winter hair, after which I got out his saddle and put it on him for the first time since last November. Even though I am not riding him, having these little refresher courses is good for Griton since he came here with a serious fear of saddles.
That boy always has an opinion about things. The irony is, here he is with all of his lovely tack and I don't know yet if he will ever be sound enough for me to ride him. Shortly after he came here, he injured both stifles in a play accident. Since then he has had chiropractic, acupuncture, prescription exercise and joint supplements. And still, there is that slight catch in his stifles that probably only I would notice. As soon as things settle down with Mike's new job, I'm going to have our wonderful new traveling vet, who is very experienced in treating stifle injuries, come out and do a consultation. I want to know first, is he sound enough for work without making them worse, and second, would injections for strengthening the ligaments help?
His lovely bridle with its brass nameplate was bought for him...the saddle and colorful pad he inherited from my black horse, Star. After he died, almost all of Star's other gear was donated to rescues and some of it went to friends whose house burned. The saddle and my favorite pad were saved and adjusted to fit Griton. I can't imagine Star's saddle on any other horse and if it turns out Griton can't be ridden, that will be fine. That big gray boy carries my heart and that's enough for me.
4 comments:
Griton looks so handsome in his tack, he's a beautiful boy! Have you ever looked into red light therapy for his stifles? You can get units to use yourself, it might be worth asking your vet about!
Pam, Griton says 'Thanks!' We've pretty much exhausted alternative treatments which is why I'm looking at a vet treatment with a fairly good success rate. It certainly won't hurt him and if she says riding him won't hurt him or make it worse, then I'll be fine with that.
He looks gorgeous!
Griton is beautiful -- and so is the mountain.
Post a Comment