Another Vet Bill for a {Champion} Horse

A few days ago, I started drafting this blog entry:

Can you believe it? Nothing has been wrong with the horse for at least a few weeks!  {I am probably jinxing things by even mentioning it}.  We're so excited to watch him perform in his first Dressage Show@ Indian Hills Ranch this Sunday.  We're going to be the dorkiest Horse Parents.  I'm about this close to making t-shirts and posters for cheering him {and his rider} on!

But before I even had a chance to post, Ronin had to see the vet, AGAIN. 

We went up to help the ferrier so that Ronin's shoes would be perfecto for his big day.  The shoeing, miraculously, went super quick and easy, but the ferrier noticed that Ronin's lip was swollen.  WHUH?! OMG it was HUGE!  {and really gross too}.  Luckily I happened to spot a vet, who was up for a clinic and squeezed Ronin in for a look.  The vet diagnosed him with a fungal infection.  Ewwwwwwww!  Anyway, he gave me some "stuff" that should hopefully fix him up. 

Luckily, this didn't hinder him from being ridden the next day.

So, the show was on Sunday, and we busted our butts to get up there in time for Ronin's first ride.  We were in such a hurry to leave that we forgot our camera! *lame*.  But you can view some pictures here {Ronin is in pictures 30-36, and Rogér and Rowan are in picture 253}:

 http://kathycolman.smugmug.com/Dressage/Equestrian/Indian-Hills-Ranch-Dressage/16676029_K84BRd#1257468699_px2V2T8

I was SO proud of Tiffany {Ronin's rider}.  She cleaned Ronin up so well, and looked calm and composed through the whole thing.  After Ronin & Tiffany's rides were over, we stuck around for maybe an hour.  I'm so glad we did because we got to hear the winners announced and, who woulda thought, Tiffany and Ronin placed 1st in one category, and 2nd in another!

WooHoo!

Horse Whoa's - Swollen Belly and Sheath

Ronin doesn't give us much of a break between his issues and ailments!  Last night, Rogér was scheduled for a riding lesson, but ended up with a lesson in horse hygiene instead.  Of course, he didn't have to do any of the dirty work!

Right before saddling up, I noticed that Ronin's sheath was swollen.....great.  Then I realized his belly had some swelling too.  Towards the back on the right side and a little towards the front on the same side too.  All I could really think to do was to clean his sheath and check for any abnormalities, so that's what I did. Ronin was actually pretty good, considering I've never done this with him before (I had the vet do it once, cuz it's not a fun job).  I didn't find anything either.  When our instructor came, I told her about his symptoms and she suggested we take his temp.  Apparently, there's an illness called Pigeon Fever that can cause this kind of swelling.  Four minutes of an antique thermometer up Ronin's butt revealed that he did not have a high temperature.  Phew!



Rogér on Ronin Summer '09

We put him back and went home and, of course, checked the internet for these symptoms.  This should never be done!  But I always do it.  Well, according to the internet, Ronin had either nothing at all, or limes disease, or liver or heart failure and would surely need to be put to rest within a month or two.  In my internet search, I did come across one sort of amusing instructional.  You can read all about it here...if you're interested. We called the vet this morning and she didn't seem too concerned just yet, so now it's a waiting game. Let's all hope that it goes away! 

Fun times!  We can always count on our animals to throw us for a loop.  Can you believe we're adding a kid to the mix? Oh boy.

Horse Whoa's - Our Poor Farrier!!

Our 6 yr old TB horse, Ronin, was scheduled to get his shoes done today.  Up until a couple months ago, this was no big deal because our farrier (horse shoe-er), Nick, would just take care of all of it and all we did was leave him a check.  Like I said, that was up until a couple months ago when Ronin suddenly realized that he's an ex-race horse, and decided to pull some typical TB off-the-track BS.  He flipped out while cross-tied and practically took out Nick, and almost killed himself.  Keep in mind, for the last two years, we've been cross-tying him without any trouble. 

Since then, he's also discovered flipping out at the regular tie post.  We've started using a cinch buckle as blocker tie ring (it's a great, cheap solution!), for everyday tying, but getting his shoes done adds a whole 'nother level of difficulty.  Nick asked that either Rogér or myself be there to hold Ronin during shoeing, which is perfectly legit.  In fact, after witnessing Ronin getting his shoes done today, I'm surprised Nick is willing to do Ronin's feet at all!  I wouldn't.

I even gave Ronin B-Kalm (tryptophan) 1.5 hours before the ordeal, hoping that this would help take the edge off.  Didn't work.  The only thing that did work was to distract Ronin with the one thing he values more than life itself....FOOD.  Nick had a bag of little treats, which distracted the beast so well that his shoes were done in record time!

This might take a little work, but I hope that one day, Ronin will be able to stand still and quiet for the farrier and for us!