I know, it has been a while since I posted… Mainly because 2020 has decided to laugh at me and my plans. Not only were the bulk of our ride options cancelled, but so far two of the ones I could get to and signed up for I had to pull from due to lameness 😢 Knock on wood & fingers crossed that the third time is a charm because we are signed up for another on 10/10! Right now planning for it to be our first 50… 😮

Sully stayed barefoot until early September to let him “reset” after the last round of lameness due to hot-nails in July. Sept 1st I hauled him to the vet for a new set of front x-rays and we didn’t see anything particularly alarming (thankfully!). Jarred came out on 9/3 and got Sully back into the Blue Pegasos shoes (a few frustrations with the clinching but overall he said they were easy enough) and trimmed up Prophecy. I promptly then took Sully out for 2 days in a row of riding and he was great! We did some easier terrain the first day, then up to Graves the second, right about 9.5 miles each time. He was nice and strong, not a hint of hoof pain (we did some road riding and other rides in boots while waiting for him to grow out). I had planned for a longer afternoon ride the following Sunday, but alas I came out to feed breakfast that morning to him lame on the Left Front. Of course he was fine for dinner Saturday! I checked all four hooves and found a just burst abscess at the coronet band on the LH and some heat in the LF. Jarred returned that week and we checked for a nail that maybe migrated in a turn-and-burn moment, then pulled the shoe off all together and poor guy was visibly worse bare. In the end, he found a sub-solar abscess on the LF from a toe crack that had started with too long a cycle in June-July; must have gotten something in there to aggravate and voila….abscess. He cleaned up as much as he could, and we decided to put the shoe back on since it did make Sully more comfortable to walk around. The treatment = Soaking and poultice wraps and see if it pops within a week. If not, he’d come back to pull the shoe to make it happen faster. So we missed the CTR that was planned to attend in MD on 9/19. I pulled off a poultice bootie at lunch on 9/21 but didn’t get a chance to lunge that eve to check if was in fact doing better as it appeared so, but breakfast on 9/22 he came blazing up for breakfast looking sound – happy dance! ✨ Now to get on at home and see how he feels riding, then get out some the next two weekends at least in prep for 10/10! Of course I won’t overdue it as rest is important, which he gets plenty of since my weekday riding is slim.

What else has been going on? Well school officially started 9/8 – all virtual – for both of them, and they had their Birthdays! I now have an 11yr old in 6th grade and a 8yr old in 3rd! Much lower key than prior years when it comes to either a party or family outing, what a weird year! They seem to be adjusting well to doing things online, although I know they would prefer to be with friends in person at school.

Asher bumped up to the challenge team in soccer this year and the boys are learning how to play more as a team after a tough first game loss (against a team that has been playing together longer). Skyler continues to take lessons and play recreational soccer.
I’m still looking for that unicorn of a first horse/pony for Skyler too…