Consistency Proves the Winner

Yesterday I went out alone and spent some time mono a mono with the Choo. He was very perky and upbeat while I brushed him, pretty animated and happy....until the Bute came out. I dosed him up with a gram before even looking at how he moved in the round pen so I wouldn't forget later.

Once the bute happened a carrot followed so he would swallow it all down...and one carrot went down, then he suddenly realized at the second carrot (while we were stretching) "AHH! THIS CARROT TASTES LIKE BUTE!! WTH?!?" and BLEH! out it went all over the aisle. From that point I tried and tried to get him to stretch, and he just looked at me out of the corner of his eye in the saddest, poutiest, mopiest way. Like a little toddler who folds his arms across his chest as the giant tears roll down his cheeks, feeling betrayed as ever that Mom put cough medicine in his apple sauce and he didn't notice until it was too late. Poor little Jimmy.

Somehow, taking out peppermint snacks that Lucy brought him changed his tune, and he was more than willing to show me 'what he's got' in his flexibility department. Thank goodness, I was starting to worry that now he's so stiff he can't even touch his elbow. Not the case, just needed a different flavor ;-) Yay.

After stretches we booted up and went to the round pen for the pain diagnosis. Since he can't answer "On a level of 1-10, how severe is your pain?" by stomping his hoof, I resort to lunging. His first few steps in the over reach boots were straight out of a comic strip, I swear. I was almost crying from laughing so hard. The whole walk down to the pen, he picked his toes up to his chest trying to figure out what the heck is on his feet. It. Was. Hilarious.

We got into the pen and he walked right out to the end of the line, put his head down, and went into a working trot. .....wait, what?! My horse, Jimmy Choo, hasn't 1. Gone to the end of the line willingly in months because 2. That means work, something that is a foreign concept and foul word to him entirely. So at this point I took a second and went, "Who are you?!"....then I saw what I had to blink a few times to comprehend. Sound?!.....my horse.....is sound?!?

He isn't quite 100%, but he's at least 85% improved. He is on the right path!! HE IS GETTING BETTER! In the videos below, you'll see that to the right he looks wonderful and the left he's still taking a short step every so often, as though he's "sore". I will take "Sore" over "LAME" any day!!!!

I think the consistency of bute daily, poultice, and wrapping the bulb of that left front heel has proved to be the best thing for him. Shoes were just a minor hiccup in the process, and he's proving MUCH happier without them. The over reach boots he will be wearing all the time. I'm going to watch to be sure they don't irritate his precious little hairs and skin over time, but this all seems to be the winning combination. Once he is really feeling all the way better for a few days I will wean him off the bute and the poultice. HOORAY! PROGRESS!!!!! Here's a snapshot of him from one of the videos. *drool* I love him.