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First off, Badger's evaluation happened while I was out of town on a trip, so I didn't really get to talk to the vet directly about any questions I may have had. The prognosis for now is that Badger is fine but he looked a little sore on his feet, so he's back on the bute for a while to see how he feels. He'll probably be fine with light riding to get him back in shape, but we're going to be really careful with him and start slow (perhaps with a really light rider first? Although I don't know how much difference ten or twenty pounds of rider weight can really make to a horse that weighs 1200 pounds, I don't want to push things too much just yet). Come to think of it, I don't even know *how* we'll start him in riding, because heck if I have a bit/bridle for him, or even know how to fit him for one. Oh well. Always learning!
Part of the reason my update is small this time is because I've been out of town, and so only had a single visit right before I had to go out of town AGAIN. So no more Badger time until the beginning of May. :(
Funny enough, though...when I came to visit him on Tuesday, he and I did the usual grooming before walking around. As soon as we were done with the grooming and I took him to a large open area to walk, he picked up his head and was all excited...he looked like he wanted to trot, so I started to jog with him. BOY, he wanted to GO. I kept up with him as best I could, but out of the corner of my eye I could see his legs moving faster...and faster... (Again I am SO glad he listens and will stop when I ask him to, because otherwise I think he would have just plain run off with me!) Then I put him in the round pen (the main turnout was flooded again...crazy late-April Bako rain! What the heck?) and he throws himself on the ground and rolls, with much drama, and then bounces over to the edge of the pen to socialize with the nearby horses in their paddock.
Hey Badger, weren't you supposed to have sore feet? Stiff legs? What's with all the perkiness?
Maybe he missed me. I don't know. But I'll certainly be glad if he's feeling that good when I get back, because that's certainly NOT what I was expecting from the way the vet's message sounded!
Oh, and a fun PS: Badger's going DARK! Super liver chestnut time! What I thought was still the bald patches on him from a few weeks ago is already hair that's grown back in.
It's so weird how now he looks completely different from Tio, where before they were almost exactly the same shade. Not really doppelgangers anymore...though they're still buddies. Except at snack time when they're slightly rivals...
(This looks like a sedate picture, but right before this Tio was bobbing his head up and down trying to get me to give him juuust one more baby carrot, and Badger had flicked his ears back at Tio being a doof. Kissy noise and then take the photo...ahh, now they're listening.) Looking at this pic, it's hard to believe these guys were almost the same color only a few months ago!
And just because I can, I'm gonna be a doting horsemommy for once and put up one more pic of Badger in the round pen, posing all nice and proper. :) I think this is my best shot of him so far...hopefully I can get him to duplicate 'the look' when he's fully shedded out and shiny.
