How has our intrepid hero fared while I have been stepping out with other horses? He’s missing a shoe at the moment but overall he is bouncy and happy. I might have good news about his mental state.
With her newly floated teeth, Mathilda is likely to get more from each bite and therefore to require less food. With any luck, a reduced diet will allow us to cut out her lunch meal, freeing us – mostly me – from having to be around the house every day at 2 pm. Can I get a hallelujah!
While we were changing diets, I decided to reduce Rodney’s stomach meds [Say Aaaah!] to see if whatever ailed him had been cured. Around that time, Rodney was seen chewing on the boards and even gnawing on the roof of the barn. I put it down to wanting to be out of the rain &/or simple Thoroughbred weirdness. My crack in-house medical staff realized that equine mouth activity can signal stomach upset. He upped the meds beyond previous levels.
Astoundingly. after 2 1/2 years Rodney has finally relaxed to the point where he is reacting like a normal horse. Monday morning he escorted me to his feed bucket to make sure I was serving correctly. Gone was the lingering trace of frantic that has been his lietmotif. He still spooks at this and that. He will always be a TB. His change in attitude has revitalized mine. It is the slight but enormous shift from ‘This horse is a wingnut. What now?’ to ‘This horse is a wingnut. I got it covered.’ I find myself looking forward to working with him.
In raising his meds to therapeutic levels, Hubby switched Rodney to 3 times a day. Mathilda’s lunch is safe. I don’t mind. If getting Rodney to be the horse I think he can be equals being around to give him a dose of equine Zantac (R) three times a day for the rest of his life, sign me up.
He has been on his stomach meds since October 2011. His behavior had massively improved since then. Adding a third dose shouldn’t have made this much difference. However, it would be consistent with what we are learning about his attitude. Back when Hubby was lunging him, Rodney had to be coated with flyspray lest he go mad from the torment. We know liniment makes him nuts [EEEE-ouch!]. My first horse was a hypochondriac. Previous Horse flat out made s**t up. This is different. This is sensitivity with the receptors dialed up to eleven.
Maybe. Possibly. It could all be wishful thinking intersecting coincidence. Check back with me next week.
Virtual Brush Box 
Hallelujah!
Blacksmith appointment. Vet & blacksmith are the only times R gets taken outside of the pasture. Today, he was difficult to manage … because I couldn’t drag his nose out of the green grass, not because he was a nimrod about being outside the fence.
I’m starting to think that maybe, possibly we have turned a corner.
Hallelujah from here too!!
I’m sure he’s singing Hallelujah too!