Happy Fall Y’all 🙂 The weather has broken and therefore also put my mind a bit calmer about Sully in the field and under saddle.

I guess I owe a bit of an update! Since the last post, Sully has regained weight, was ridden a little bit more, and had his appointment with Dr. Hancock at True North Equine. He is an “interesting case” as he is showing lame on the same side she found issues, where normally it is expected to see it on the opposite side due to compensation. His whole right hind end was a bit out of whack and bound-up. She released a lot internally & externally and freed him up to move better. When we did the post adjustment check, he was no longer interfering behind but back to a more wider gait moving under himself and his typical over-reaching. Not a whole lot found with the stifles themselves, which again leads us down the path of not just arthritis going on, or maybe not even that joint being the cause. Given what she saw then, she felt he will remain ridable and possibly get back to LD level in the future. We are to do a lot of walking under saddle and he has a recheck in mid-October to see how things are holding, and then we can look at further diagnostics if needed. She also did not find any reason to suspect EPM or Lyme, though the one Lyme titer always in “equivocal range” has us all stumped since he hasn’t been vaccinated for it.

It took nearly 8 weeks but Sully got back to a good weight and just needs a bit of muscle rebuild as his topline isn’t as strong as it was. He has remained barefoot, and we had mostly good luck with his Scoot Boots until the Fleetwood ride! (more later). The sweating has been and on & off thing with good days and bad, but manageable. They have a solar fan installed in their shelter now and were seen often enjoying the breeze on the hotter days. He did get clipped again body & neck as we had a resurgence of 90s and he had gotten a bit fuzzy, but now we are in store for some nice fall temps and things will be easier on him – but that means I get to be blanketing more this year! 😛 He still enjoys getting out to ride, just not with the zest like last year and I’m really missing that ‘fire-breathing dragon’ side sometimes. We have good days and bad when it comes to riding too, which can really wear on my emotions as my fellow horsefolk understand.

Other updates include the return to school as 8th & 5th graders, 2 birthday celebrations, Dash (turtle) getting an upgraded home, discovering Luna likes popcorn, and Skyler & Scooby’s first camping trail ride with me at Fleetwood in Massies Mill, VA – story below.

So 6-months later (I’ve had the panel pieces since March when I was going to do the intro at No Frills) I finally got around to completing the 4 portable panels for camping with Scooby to use, which gave us 12 total for the boys to share or be split apart, with electric add-on just in case. Quite a bit delayed from my ‘plan’, we were finally able to commit to a ride to go camp at together. I chose the Sat/Sun only option so Skyler could get a taste vs. the full 3 days/2 nights. Additionally, I wasn’t sure how Sully would do riding 2 days, but I knew I had folks there I could let her go ride with if I needed to hang back.
Of course the week leading up I had something on my “to-do list” each day to get ready. Getting the panels hung and strapped down on the trailer mounts, saddle pads washed (and put back!), food for them and us, and general packing up to name a few. We had to hit the road about 7am on Saturday to be at the ride by the 830 opening to find a spot to park and then tack up for the day’s ride. We rolled out about 715 without issue after the boys had breakfast under a beautiful sunrise. Easy drive, camp was packed with trailers and we parked to walk around and find a permanent spot. Thankfully there was room for us and Megan who pulled in right behind me, to camp with the group we usually ride with. We got the boys out and tacked up and headed out on the shorter loop (13-16miles) so we could ride both days, but quickly fell back and were on our own together.

Overall, the ride was a success. Skyler and Scooby had their first camping experience and handled it well. Fleetwood was also the first mountain ride they have been on, and Scooby’s first major water crossing (more than 10′ wide). He did great, leading us up the hills and taking great care of her and himself for the 14miles. He ate well at the lunch break, drank at the river, and was happy and game to keep on going down the trails all day. Additionally, Skyler has gotten so much more confident on him, and I can see how well he takes care of her, that I was able to send her off without me or Sully (riding with trusted friends) for the first time on Sunday to do another 10miles.

The ride also was very trying for me… For one, I had put Sully’s boots on the night before so I wouldn’t have to worry about doing that once we got there in the morning, and he has been doing well barefoot and the boots overall, but this ride proved a bit more of a headache for me! The horses had been trimmed about 2 weeks prior, and I guess we tightened up the hinds enough that he was twisting them often, and completely came out of a boot, even with the mud strap. I have never gotten on and off a horse so many times to adjust boots before. Every time we hit mud, or an incline where he was ‘pushing off’ behind, they caused issues. If I had known they were that “loose” I would have added the shims to take up the space. 😒 Only once we had a front boot twist … We lost (literally, had to wait to Sun to find it) his RH boot within the first mile of the ride… and then by mile 4 I took his LH off too. I knew he had hard feet, but this was really going to test it. Thankfully I can say that he doesn’t appear to have gotten any stone bruises or other lasting issues from going bare on that trail!
Secondly, Sully was just not as game as I hoped. We struggled on the hills a lot. Even when I would get off to hike it, he would become difficult to move forward (was not tying up). We did have a few spots where he was game to move out and trot a bit, which really helps him (and me) loosen up. He had some swelling Sunday morning from the concussion, so even though we might have found boots to borrow for his hind to go back out, I decided better of it and sent Skyler off without us. Sully and I hung around camp, took walks and he did some grazing, I got to chat with some folks, and got mostly packed up while we waited on their return. Jennifer returned first, and had found our missing boot ❤️; Skyler, Anne & Megan returned shortly after her with smiles all around. We finished up packing and headed out; we even beat the rain and were unhooked and inside before it hit home.

So, what’s next? Well, we continue to just walk, tackle smaller hills, and see what his October appointment has in store… That will likely be the next update.