A Favorite Place

Otoelene has been lame for a month.  She goes sound on Bute (NSAID), but lame again when I take her off.  It started right before her shoes needed resetting last month.  She has terrible hoof walls that flake off and don't hold nails well.  I was visiting E in Idaho when the farrier came and I think she had lost the shoe.  I have been hoping that rest and new shoes would help but not yet.  It is still possible she has a small abscess.  Hank did that once, was lame for several weeks before it finally worked out.   The farrier was here a couple of weeks ago and checked her with hoof testers and didn't get any tenderness.  There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the rest of her leg and she is just standing in the barn lot.  I will give her a little more time before I call my equine vet friend to come check her out.  

Meanwhile, Draper has been getting all of the riding attention to herself.  Riding her 3-4 times a week instead of 1-2 times has made a world of difference.  She is gaining confidence and I am gaining confidence in her.  I am pretty much taking her anywhere I want at this point.  Plus, she is improving on her arena work.  Today, I rode up Chaney Branch, then the back side of the back 40.  It is always nice and cool and quite along here.  You can't drive to it and walking to it is a lot of work.  But it is a great place to ride a horse.  One of my favorite places on the farm.