Thrush

Camera held at eye level from as close as I could
get to Walker's paddock.  His gate is way at the back of
the photo.

Yes. That's right. Walker has thrush. Imagine how thrilled I was to find that out when I got back yesterday. It's not bad or anything, but I'm still pretty angry. Another horse has it too. I wouldn't be angry about it except that they haven't been turned out for 2+ weeks so they've been just standing around in their own manure.  It's no surprise where he got it from.  That being said, I put some Fiske's on, which seems to be working quite well, and shortly after I told my barn owner about it, she told me that Walker has an appointment with the farrier on Thursday so he can check things out.

In other news, I scouted out around the property to figure out why the horses haven't been turned out now that there's plenty of snow to cover the ice, and as you can see from the pictures, the snow is the new problem.  It is chest high in some places and although a plow comes through and does as much as it can, it's still piled up high around the paddocks.  My trainer (who is pregnant) can't shovel around the gate, but it really wouldn't matter because Walker's paddock is the one in the picture to the left.  To get to it, we would need to shovel 40 - 50 feet through waist deep snow.  Without a plow, it's simply not doable.

the outdoor arena: Walker's new turnout (as far as I'm concerned)

With that thought in mind, I decided that the outdoor arena was a much better option because the snow plow goes past there anyway, meaning that there was only 5 - 10 feet of waist deep snow to get to the gate.  I enlisted the help of two girls at the barn whose horses get turned out with Walker and who are also semi-furious that they are not getting turned out.  So today we went out, shovel in hand, and worked our way towards the gate, managing to shovel enough around it to get it open and get the horses in. The wheel on the gate was literally frozen into the ground, but another girl arrived shortly afterwards with her boyfriend who was strong enough to get it out.  I am literally exhausted from the effort, but it was well worth it!  Walker was ecstatic about running in the snow, and the three horses were galloping all over the place.  It was like a picture out of a catalog.  Of course, they were all soaking wet when we finally brought them in, and I forgot his cooler at home. :S  I managed to get him dried off with a towel, and then I borrowed one of my barn owner's coolers just to finish him off.

Walker enjoying his romp in the snow

Although my barn owner or someone she hires should really be the one who makes turnout possible, whatever that entails, I'm simply sick of excuses.  I realize that there is a lot of snow, but we live in a place where that is no surprise.  Usually, at this time of year, we have more snow than this.  And while I know there are other factors at play (my trainer being pregnant, some horses getting priority because they're in straight stalls, the snow literally coming all at once in two weeks, etc.), I'm a "get things done" kind of person.  When I get something on my mind, I'm pretty much going to make it happen, come hell or high water.  When my trainer's husband came to the barn to do feeding tonight, one of the girls I was shoveling with pretty much cornered him and said, "I don't care who gets turned out up in the outdoor arena that we just cleared a path to, but our three horses better be in there too!"

Walker's girlfriends

Also, Walker was a speed demon outside today.  It was hilarious to watch my little Western Pleasure quarter horse outrun the thoroughbred.  When the two mares would take off ahead of him, he would gun it and pass them in no time.  Who knew?!  Maybe he's got more speed in him than I give him credit for!

Tomorrow is supposed to be the clinic.  I say "supposed to be" because it is 8 PM and I still haven't heard a schedule of times yet for when we all ride.  I know that my barn owner has been overwhelmed with the holidays and other things lately, but um, I have absolutely no intention of getting up and going to the barn earlier than I have to.  I love my barn owner, I really do, but by now she must know how OCD I am about these things.  I'm not even going to bother to call/email/text her about it.  I usually try to avoid human contact when I'm perturbed. :S

The next paddock I intend to tackle