Fun With Locks

Hi all!  I have good news!  Alex has been doing really well.  He's quieter, seems much happier and is eating up a storm!  By quieter, I definitely don't mean he's now a dead head... Alex's personality is very much still intact.  The nice thing is that our rides are actually feeling productive and we don't hate eachother :-)

Tonight, I got to have fun with the lock on my tack trunk, which randomly decided that it no longer recognized my code...

I tried two sets of bolt cutters, like the ones below, without any success and almost gave myself a hernia.

It took a while...but ultimately I won... I always do :-)

All it took was the Dremel... there were sparks and heat... it was awesome!!!  It's scary when you have a good time with the power tools!

Happy Riding :-)

Hello My People

Why are there no treats?

To put it plainly, WINTER SUCKS!  The weather hasn't left me much in the mood for blogging, so rather than put up a bunch of half-hearted posts, I took some time off.

So let's catch up a little bit... At the beginning of February, I changed Alex's feed to Hallway Fibrenergy.  I'm happy to report at Alex absolutely loves this feed, like attack me when I walk in the stall with the scoop, love.  I had also started Alex on Succeed, which seemed to have some limited benefit, but ultimately not enough for me to continue.  In place of Succeed, Alex is now on the EquiVision Hind Gut Health Program, and I'm pleased to report I've noticed some very positive changes.  Finally, in addition to the change in hind gut supplement, I've also put Alex on Magnesium.  I've been suspecting a deficiency for some time now, but being me, who hates to over supplement, I just couldn't bring myself to buy it.  

See, Alex and I also had another first while I was on a blogging hiatus... he bucked me off.  Luckily, I wasn't seriously hurt... He did it in the outdoor arena, on the rail next to the fence tracking right and I went off to the left, landing hard on my left shoulder and hip.  I sort of knew it was coming (you know how you know) but I didn't want to dismount and let him win.  After the fall, I got back on... but then I didn't get back on for nearly two weeks.  I didn't think it was wise to be riding around on a potentially difficult horse with a weak shoulder.

The day Alex bucked me off, was his first on the Magnesium.  Prior to that day, he had been wild... I mean wild.  Never working down, wide-eyed, seeing monsters in every corner, rider hating wild.  Every ride was a fight, every ride just battling to keep moving forward, trying to stay in the saddle and stay in control.  I was desperate, sickly thinking to myself that if I couldn't find the missing piece of the puzzle, couldn't find a way to even him back out, I'd have to find him a new home.

Now I don't want to jinx myself... but since we completed the loading dose, Alex has been much quieter.  I feel like I am starting to get my horse back.  We're moving slowly, but I hope the progress continues.