As promised, work has been rather insane this month. I’ve
worked 18 out of the last 20 days and many of those days were 12-16 hour days. This
included work travel which was almost 24/7 work for 5 days. I can honestly say
I haven’t worked that long/hard since grad school. Dislike!
This was the bed I had to sleep in on my work trip last
week.
The food wasn’t much better.
On a positive note, I have 3 days off before starting the
next stretch of almost no time off. I started last night by catching up on some
email. I’ve dropped the ball on a couple things but I’m trying to pick them up
again. I’m not used to making mistakes, so it’s been a hard go in that respect.
The issues I’ve had with Willy and his bit sensitivity/mouth
issues have, unfortunately, not been resolved. I’ve tried just about everything
with limited success. I have thought for a while now that there is something
else going on and his owners agree. The question is, what? At first we were
reluctant to have the vet out again since there wasn’t anything obvious or
acute to report. I did manage to catch my vet while he was out for someone else
and fit in a couple words about Willy (somewhat of a no-no, but I did it
anyway). I said he was displaying new, worse behaviour (the head tossing, etc)
and planned to try bitless for a couple weeks. He thought that was a good idea.
But it has been several weeks with no change (without and with bits) so a vet will
be out to see him Sunday.
Right before I left for my trip last week, I noticed a lump
on his cheek/jowl area a little smaller than a golf ball. It seems superficial
but was not there the day before, so I was very worried to be going away. I
returned to a horse that ignored and even walked away from me when I went to
get him. Will never does this. He always watches me, even if he doesn’t come to
me, and he never walks away. He was also missing both hind shoes and was
covered in sweat head-to-toe with just a rainsheet. The temperature was an
uncharacteristic 15-16 degrees, so it was understandable, but I still felt like
a horrible horse mom.
The next day, I was told that after I left Willy stood in
his turnout pawing the air, often with his head cocked to the side, for about 3
hours. The owner went out to check on him a couple times and he stopped while
she was there. Nothing seemed amiss and he wasn’t even digging! He would start
up again soon after she left.
The riding has remained pretty much the same – not normal
with his head/mouth but he seems to be trying. He doesn’t really head-toss
under saddle anymore but he will do it on the crossties, in his stall, and in
turnout. His temperature has been normal and he is eating well and playing like
normal.
I will not divulge my secrets!
Today he had his feet trimmed and reset. I wasn’t there
until a bit later and was told upon arrival that both his cheeks are now
swollen. So it seems that the swelling isn’t directly related to that lump on
his right cheek (which is still there and possibly bigger than a couple days
ago). I couldn’t bear to ride – I just felt too guilty even thinking about it.
So I free lunged instead. Although neither of us have ever done it, he was
brilliant. He mostly acted like he was on a lunge line and responded well to my
verbal and body cues. Good boy!
All I can say is that I really, really hope the vet can find some answers for me.
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