A long week!

I didn't really feel like blogging this week, lots to do and not enough time. The temperatures have been dipping down to as low as minus 20C overnight where we keep the boys. Sometimes we find them with icicles in their ears, frozen whiskers and stiff rugs, but they seem happy to be out as long as they have hay and water :)

I got a call from Kate on Tuesday to say that Quadi came in on three legs, but she didn't want to call until she'd had a look at him. No heat in his leg, no swelling, but a really stinky foot! Seems underneath his frog had gotten infected. The frogs on his hinds have looked 'turgid', for want of a better description, for a while. He's usually more stoic with abscesses and the like, but infections in his feet are, according to Quadi, crippling. Kate soaked his foot and removed the icky frog and he walked out to the field feeling better already. I'm just grateful it wasn't a busted tendon or ligament, by comparison abscesses and infections get two thumbs up!

I stuck to physio stretches in the stable for the next couple of days, he's tight around the shoulder in his off-fore. Our equine bodyworker, Liz Briscoe http://www.equineinmotion.co.uk/, is coming to see the boys between 16th and 20th. Both boys are overdue a visit from Liz and Quadi now finds the whole process very relaxing.

We went up a few night later to find Quadi resting the OTHER hind! Same thing as the other foot only not nearly as bad. All taken care of now and am back to disinfecting his feet with a spray of iodine and hydrogen peroxide until further notice.

Since he's returned to soundess we went for a hack this afternoon as the sun was setting. Quadi seemed happy to lead apart from when people appeared on the horizon, but he's improved greatly in his confidence. We had a couple of cheeky canters, and apart from my not having too much in the way of brakes he was fantastic. There were a few fallen branches and trees which Fin didn't want to go over or through, whereas Quadi set his ears back, stuck out his chest and cleared a path. Of course we both got covered in snow in the process, I took several tree branches to the face and we got a little lost in the dark with only headtorches and the snow for guidance. A great hack, I laughed so much I was in tears :D Hopefully more of the same tomorrow, and I'll be better about keeping my blog up-to-date.