A few of you who have coped with keeping horses at different barns shared how, in some ways, it made the time with the retired horse more special and intentional.
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| picturesque -- looking across from charlie's paddock #3, over to #2 and #1 in the far distance |
I can officially confirm --- that's definitelythe case with Charlie these days!
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| look at all that grass tho! |
I've been diligent about keeping the same high frequency visit schedule he's accustomed to... Bc we all know how needy he can be LOL. For years now I've been hypersensitive to his needs, keeping him groomed religiously lest he try sticking yet another limb through another fence...
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| chart not to scale, obvi, and paddocks rotate often. charlie and avi have since moved in with Dom in #5, yay friends! |
Go figure, tho. At this new farm, with a higher degree of land management, and a turnout schedule in sync with weather conditions... The horse is suddenly... Just having a better time of things. He's less crusty and grimy from sweat. And wayyyyyless bug eaten. We likey!
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| stalls are quite large with lots of ventilation and fans |
He's easing into the routine, too. Change is hard. Horses f*cking hatechange. And in a weird way, I'm glad that I had to move Charlie first, and get that reminder with my best boy that... Actually, there's an adjustment period and the horse will be stressed.
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| it's a traditional rustic style barn, a lot of horses have lived here over the years |
Charlie and Avi were a bit co-dependent and attached for the first week or so, as can be expected. But I kept up with the daily visits, including pulling Charlie out for grooming sessions, despite their mutual protests at separation.
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| cute grooming bay! |
And ya know. They get better. Routine is a helluva drug, even if it's just for low key grooming sessions. Plus, the boys have since graduated to having a third in their group! All the better, as far as I'm concerned, esp since Avi is still a working riding horse and needs to be able to come and go without causing mayhem.
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| charlie likes being able to spy on the paddocks out the doorway |
The paddocks at this farm are so communal, tho, they're all nestled right up against each other, with really clear lines of sight in almost every direction. So it's almost like two bigger herds on either side of the barn, just with fence lines in between them all.
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| outdoor ring comes with a view! |
The people have been wonderful so far, too. Really great vibes, really friendly energy. It's hard to know what to expect coming into a smaller barn --- I've honestly only ever really done big barns. But this just seems like a cool place with people who just love their horses.
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| attached indoor is modest in scale, but has a lot of natural light and modern fiber footing |
Riding remains off the table for Charlie at present, as he's been a little unsound. Tho, mercifully, there appears to be a direct and simple explanation for his current woes --- a touch of thrush under one of his leather pads.
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| three's company!! out in #5 here |
It's been a weird spring, with strange swings from wet conditions to very very dry conditions, then a torrent, then dry again... I imagine the bacteria in the dirt is doing all sorts of funny things. It's apparently the year of La Niña? Sorta strange weather patterns.
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| avi is a little co-dependent still, but charlie is a lot more zen with the extra friend. also look at this nice stone dust footing in high traffic gate areas! |
A bunch of horses I know all came up with hoof complaints right around the same time, so I'm chalking it up to that.
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| even the halters get a nice house <3 |
I've been treating with Thrush Buster since that's.... what I already had lol. But I'm never sure if it's particularly strong medicine, tbh. Most folks I know who have dealt with significant thrush seem to gravitate toward Tomorrow, the mastitis treatment. I have some on order so will switch to that when it arrives, and might also ask my farrier about ditching Charlie's leather pads at his upcoming appt.
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| meanwhile, bc charlie will be charlie, our latest little 'ding' is a touch of thrush.... |
I never love soaking a hoof with the pads anyway, so hopefully we'll just have more options overall. Lmk if you have any go-to remedies for thrush too!
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| homeboy is looking handsome, tho! |
He also possibly has another weird little summer sore on his LH pastern too... Sorry I didn't grab a pic of it. It's another weird sorta crusty / weepy / circular wound that just isn't behaving totally normally, and the flies were going nutsover it.
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| i'm enjoying the extra time dedicated just to him <3 <3 |
Tho, I'm not entirely sure since it went 24hrs without weeping after a betadine scrub and treatment with Swat... But I went ahead and ordered two tubes of moxidectin anyway, one for an oral dose and the other for topical treatment. Probably won't hurt, right?
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| and he's enjoying his well kept grassy paddocks and tidy automatic waterers! this view is looking across from #5 back to #3 (see the shed), past the attached indoor visible middle left |
So yea, that's basically the state of things with Charlie right now. I'm feeling pretty positive about his arrangements, and more hopeful than ever that maybe we can get in some toodling if at all possible.
