Week #6

Tuesday:
More of "the usual": cleaning, turnout, rolling, running. Fun stuff for Badger.
It's funny, now more and more I'll find him quite distinctly looking in my direction, usually when he's wanting something and I'm further away. Patient, not making any kind of fuss, but with a very specific "Hey, are you there? You didn't forget me, did you?" kind of look. You can wait there! I'm scooping your poop!

One pleasant surprise from today was finding out that Tracy had stopped giving him the bute (horse "aspirin") quite a while back; she'd noted he didn't really seem to need it. I had no idea, since he was always pretty darn happy to get out there and wander around, and would get excited and trot with me, and enthusiastically roll around in the turnout. If he hasn't had any bute for a while and he's that energetic, I guess this means he's pretty pain-free! We're still going to give him a little on days when he gets more exercise, since it's getting colder and that might mean some stiffness.

I don't know if this is something horses normally like, but Badger seems to actually enjoy running with company. Whether in the turnout area or out, if I see him pick his head up a little and I start walking faster in response, he usually breaks into a trot as I start jogging. Inside the turnout, I still have to slow him down occasionally, because I can see him visibly get more excited about running around and the trotting gets more enthusiastic...

If he keeps up this way, he's going to be a handful by the time Spring rolls around. Not that I mind. I'm thrilled that he seems to be having so much fun...in any animal it's a pretty noticeable and inspiring change. On a side note, he's working on developing those jiggly fat pads on his thigh areas now too, heh heh.

Oh, and today I found out that his doppelganger neighbor Tio is actually a pure Thoroughbred. Explains why they look so similar, seeing as Badger is such a high-TB-percentage Quarter Horse himself.

Saturday:
Went to a garage sale to find some deals on used tack and whatnot, although by the time I got there it was an hour past 'start' and most of the stuff was gone. Ah well. Still managed to get a lot of stuff for $60; two fairly good condition leather bridles (one with rawhide and silver decorations), a dusty but good halter, a body brush and a hair brush both in good shape, and a fancy saddle pad. I figure whatever I don't end up using, the rescue can probably make use of it all.

Since I was delayed getting there, I thought I'd be smart and save some time by cleaning his stall before I took him out to the turnout. Well, halfway through the shoveling, I start hearing "...clang. K-tang. Clang." I turned around to see Badger poking at the gate with his lip. He turns back and looks at me, then looks at the gate again. Clang.

Funny guy.

Since time was short, I took him out and started cleaning him off. Today was the first day he really let me get all the way into his hooves, and I noticed his rear hooves are really deep, despite their short outer appearance. I don't know what this means, exactly, but I'm going to take photographs and ask. Better to be paranoid than regretful.

Despite any of my concerns, boy, he was extra-springy today. Maybe it was nice to get the extra junk out of his feet? He happily trotted around while being led, and when he went into the turnout, not only did I get to see him roll around, I also saw him in full-out gallop. Not a casual canter, but running! He danced around and kicked up his heels, flapped his tail, and off he went, fully stretched out in what I can only describe as a bouncy sprint towards the far end of the pen, neighing at the horses in the neighboring corral. Then he came thundering back. Then off to the far end again.

When he seemed finished, I called him and entered the turnout with the halter and lead. Since he was at the far end, I figured I'd have to walk all the way there, but he surprised me again by turning away from the other horses and walking to meet me in the middle. As an experiment, instead of haltering him right there, I turned around and walked back to the gate...and he followed right along. How sweet!

Sunday:
I went back today because I didn't get to do as thorough a job with cleaning as I'd wanted to. I was also still not feeling sure about the condition of his hooves, so I wanted to check. Thankfully Tracy was there and we looked him over, and while it's not bad, I do definitely have to work on making sure his hooves get thoroughly cleaned out since he does have a tiny bit of thrush going on. Bleh. At least since it's so dry here, if Tracy's not worried then I'm not going to be either. I am, however, looking forward to meeting the farrier and finding out more about foot care from him too.

Hooray for FINALLY getting to take some photos! He was a little stiff in the hind end, probably from his big run yesterday, but otherwise fine. I took photos in the turnout arena today so he's uh...rather dust-covered since I couldn't get out the camera before the big dramatic flop-n-roll.

It's like he's a Thoroughbred who's slowly getting to put his Quarter Horse pants back on.

"...What?"

I'm skipping next week's update since I have to go out of town for a week, but I expect to be able to update on Badger again right after Thanksgiving.