Well, I have ridden 5 times in the past six weeks. Yep.

Not real happy about it.

First, we hadn’t been jumping because Frankie needed his hocks injected. Finally got his hocks injected that was a week off. Then 2 days back to work and he comes up dead lame. I mean three legged at the walk. I freaked out. No swelling, no heat, just dead lame. The vet couldn’t get out for a week. Yes I had to wait a week, freaking out that Frankie was done.

The night before the vet came there was finally heat in his foot. Yeah an abscess, I hope. Sure enough, vet diagnosed abscess or stone bruise. A week and a half of hoof packing and he was good to get a shoe put back on. A few days later he was ready.

Gotta take it slow. There is nothing worse than injuring a horse after they have had time off and you start right back where you left off. I ride for two days and Frankie goes off his feed with a nasty bout of diarrhea. That was 3 days ago.

No fever, just off feed. Then he colicked. Not terrible, but bad enough. Banamine, walking, and waiting. He pulled out of it, but he was not feeling good. Totally disinterested in food, depressed, not drinking well. Since there was no fever the only assumption is a change of feed, bad hay, or he got into “something”.

Ahhhhh!

I was thinking I was going to have to take him to a hospital because he had become so dehydrated. He was drinking, but not much.

Tah-dah. Frankie was blessed by the poop fairies and had normal manure AND he started drinking this morning. He ate some hay and a little grain plus a bran mash this afternoon. I think we are back on track to health. But we will see over the next couple of days.

Cross your fingers for good poop, lots of drinking and eating.

Maybe we will be riding by the weekend…though jumping seems very, very far away.