vet | Red on the Right

A certain blonde creature that we all know and love, who definitely has opinions, also seems to be a discerning food critic. Treats go out of popularity quite quickly these days, and getting meds into him? Fuggedaboutit.

Now, I haven’t exactly run the gambit of coaxing (or tricking) him into eating his meds (right now a basic anti-histamine for clearing up his nose). The first day he actually accepted his now-weird tasting food with aplomb. But since day 2 he’s been leaving about half his breakfast (which was wet and mixed up to “hide” the medicine) behind. Not good for a pony that I’ve been working hard to fatten up these last couple months.

Grump

Last night I tested the apple sauce idea, just to see if he’d eat it mixed with grain (no meds yet). And that too got a weak nope from Jack.

Riveting material here

Short of mixing his meds with a little water and squirting it down his throat, what can I do? I would like my horse to still like me when it’s all said and done. But it’s important for him to get his meds as well.

What tricks do you guys have for masking medicine? Any tips for hiding icky flavors? Or treats that won’t turn noses?

Foster had his chiro appointment Monday, and the results were both encouraging and somewhat as expected. He was a bit back sore, so the vet examined the saddle fit and found that the soreness is due to his pelvis being out-of-whack rather than due to tack. Always great to hear, because I’m not quite ready for another saddle flocking.

No new photos, so here are screenshots from the lesson

Other than a small adjustment around his withers, all of Foster’s issues seems to revolve around his hips and pelvis. She noted that his pelvis was particularly wonky, and I should expect him to travel straighter as a result of her adjustments. After getting the day off yesterday, today will be a return to work and it would be great to see some improvement as a result of the chiro session, which did not come cheap, sadly. A possible recheck in 2 – 4 weeks may happen as well.

Learning self carriage- better hind end muscling will only help!

Both vets have wanted to start introduce exercises into Foster’s regimen that will help him develop his hind end. Essentially, hills or cavaletti work. Since I am both adverse to trail riding and not familiar with where the hill in my area is (not to mention not having daylight during the week to get outside the arenas), I’ll be looking into incorporating cavaletti into our schoolings. Also, I need to get him to lift his back as we groom, working up to lifting his back 5 times for 5 seconds each, in order to strengthen his back muscles as well.

Can anyone out there point me to a good resource for cavaletti and pole exercises? Of course we will still be jumping occasionally, but other recommendations for hind-end exercises would be great!

Foster may look like a body builder by the end of the year with all this muscle growing! Now I just need to hit the gym to keep up!