The bugs are horrible at our place right now. We've been getting a lot of rain, and with the creek and floodplain, there's a lot of standing water which means mosquitoes galore. It's insane. I'm so glad I got those fans this year. Most of the time, Max doesn't even come out of his stall to greet me like normal. He's always ready by the gate to come in from pasture in the evenings. I think he just gets sick of the bugs. I've been slapping him to squish bugs. This is partly to desensitize him for future trail rides. The Brown County trails always seem to have a ton of horse flies and we try to kill as many as possible when they're around the horses. They're nasty buggers. I would rather he stand and let me slap those suckers dead than flip out and buck like I've seen some horses do. I want to work with him, but those mosquitoes scare me away. I won't even go back in our woods right now.
The farrier was out last week and mentioned Max had a broken bar in his hoof. She didn't seem concerned, just wondered how it happened (I have no idea). I don't know that much about hoof conformation and all that, but Google tells me it's not a huge deal. He's not showing any signs it's bothering him.
Cinderella seems to keep getting better. She's limping quite a bit, but is putting weight on her foot. She got out the other day and we ended up herding her back to the barn. She was moving too quick for us to walk up to her, but I didn't want to pick up the pace and make her work harder. The vet is coming out next week to take the bandage off and see what's going on with the leg. Hopefully it's healed and she will continue to get strength back.
This was our back yard a couple of weeks ago. The creek is past the wood line. Normally, you can't see it at all from the house because of how far back it's set. You can just see the edge of the shed to left. The barn is farther up.It's been a lot higher than this, but not for a couple of years.
i'm glad to hear Cinderella appears to be heeling - fingers crossed! also, i wonder if Mad would be fine with a fly whisk? they're traditionally made from horse hair and i've never actually seen a horse take offense to them... might help make working with him a little more bearable?
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