Weeeeee! Horse ownership! #FAIL

No one said horse ownership was easy, right?

Right.

Well, Riley is lame. But let's back up... before I purchased him he had a hoof bruise (LF) which developed into an abscess. It ruptured quite easily, but he was very lame because of it. Fast forward to post-rupture and a visit from the farrier and he was much improved. In fact, I rode him on two paper chases over varying terrain and he never took a weird step. Furthermore, he did not react positively for hoof testers at the PPE, not even a tiny bit. He had his feet done last Tuesday or Wednesday and the farrier said everything looks quite good, though he'll be even better after a few cycles. The spring grass has been good to his feet, they're growing like weeds! But she did notice another bruise on the LF. E told me that it may have been aggravated by the trim, and that she'd keep an eye on him for me (see: I am insanely busy), she applied some Keratex, and has done a few cycles of Magic Cushion to see if it will improve. We're thinking it's likely another abscess, but it could simply be a bruise. Time will tell for now... I went to see him Sunday and his hoof was neatly wrapped up from E's visit in the morning (so I left it alone), but I brought him in for a once over and a nice grooming. He still has these weird 3 inch long hairs growing all over his belly, seriously? Just shed out already! Anyway, I stuffed him full of treats, attempted unsuccessfully to apply Corona ointment on his nose (still scabby and sore) and worked away at his perpetually fuzzy body.

UGH.

And then I noticed this --------------------->

So he has hives now. Perfect. They were pretty much localized to his ribs and flank, but they did not look very nice. They didn't seem to be itching or bothering him, so I shot E a text, she confirmed that she saw them in the morning and that we'd keep an eye on them. Sigh. Most likely cause is either flies or a buttercup sensitivity. Today she told me that his lameness is slightly better, and his hives aren't nearly as bad. It's time to invest in a good fly sheet I think. He lives outside 24/7 so any recommendations would be great. He's fairly good about not ripping his clothes or instigating fights (he's only out with one other horse). Tomorrow, I'll run out after work and see how he's holding up.

Soooooooo cute.

I would have the sensitive red head! Ah well, the only silver lining about his lameness is that I'm so busy that I can hardly think straight so riding him is really out of the question for now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he's done with the dramatic issues for awhile!



ps. I haven't forgotten about the Absorbine Giveaway -- it seemed like a lot of bloggers were offering it at the same time and I wanted to wait a little bit.