the everything pony
who would really much rather eat all day
So…how has she been?
Amber seems to be doing okay. I think she’s finally settling a bit. It could be a number of things, but she’s seemed more content these days than before. Perhaps she’s realizing that it’s “the life” to just eat all day and get loved on and get tons of scratches? Probably lol. Her big nickers for scratches have increased in volume and intensity lol, and she’s gotten very smart about it. She gives me 2-3 minutes to finish scooping poop before she leaves her alfalfa to beg for scratches. Silly girl haha. We’ve gotten into a bit of a routine now, though it’s a small routine and we’ve changed a few things for her.
First off, I’ve switched her from bute to Equioxx. I think she’s doing better on that – she just looks a little happier in general, so I’m going to say that it’s helping her feel better and isn’t as harsh on her stomach even though I’m totally not 100% sure lol. The sore on her left side has been slowly but steadily healing, so that tells me that she isn’t laying down as much and the soft rides are really helping her be more comfortable standing.
Diet. Ahh, poor girl lolol. She is NOT a fan of her new diet and the fact that her human bought a fish scale to precisely measure her hay has her pretty upset. Okay, so some days she get a half pound extra haha. But most days her diet is strict. It’s almost easy actually, because she’s a lot more comfortable if I put her hay in a net so it makes for a perfect opportunity to weigh it. She’s on 18 lbs now to start so she can get used to it before I take her down to the vet’s desired amount of 16lbs. She does not like this haha. She gets quite hangry and I don’t blame her. I usually try to at least eat less and get fitter and then what happens? It’s international doughnut day, or my friend buys pizza and wine and coconut dream cookies for an impromptu tv show binge night, or I get offered tacos and say yes because of course I want tacos. So, I feel Amber for wanting more food and not being able to eat any lol.
I have trimmed her mane shorter, and leave her tail out of its bag. I brush both every other day, and she loves the attention. I took about 2 inches off of her mane to not only even it up but she gets so hot in this weather that I’m still debating whether or not to really trim it short. I can’t bring myself to do that yet, since I just love her longer mane, so that gets brushed whenever her tail does. They get washed every week, and she’s been less itchy with that. And every weekend, she gets a break from her annoying socks and boots. She’s gotten pretty good at leaving that left hind foot where I place it so the towel can help it dry before it goes back into the boot. She tries to tell me otherwise but I think she secretly LOVES it when I bathe her and pamper her haha. And she deserves it too!
Once I’ve used them up I’m going to take her off of her supplements. She really doesn’t need them anymore, but she still gets ulcerguard pellets – the only thing I’ll probably keep her on. She’ll probably still get a few of her other things – flax and salt, but the other stuff is just money that I don’t need to spend anymore. I’ve been thinking of switching grain too, just to something perhaps more formulated to a laminitic horse. She really doesn’t need the ultium competition grain anymore even though both she and I love it haha.
Otherwise, it’s been quiet around here. We’re just plodding along day by day, waiting for Amber’s next appointment at the end of September. Since Amber will be due for a trim at the time of the appointment, I’ve got the vet and farrier scheduled so that they can chat about where to go from there and have a plan for her feet. Good to knock out 2 birds with one stone.
I’m super excited for my lesson Saturday; I’m just really hoping I’m not absolutely horrid since I honestly haven’t ridden in like…4-5 weeks or longer and am so out of shape lol. It feels shorter since time has really flown by recently, but I’m hoping I’ll have a little more opportunity to lesson in the following months. Also, I’m super excited because I FINALLY get to try my Cambox helmet camera for a lesson! Let’s just hope it doesn’t record me falling off haha!
7 Comments on “So…how has she been?”
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the everything pony 
Aww she seems to be doing well! I feel for her with the reduced diet. That’s zero fun..
I’ve found Equioxx to be far more gentle than bute and easier to use for the long term. I hope you have the same experience!
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I think it’s definitely helping better than bute but it’s hard to tell sometimes so I dunno haha. I felt guilty today because my poor horse is on a strict diet and I had like 2 doughnuts…….lol
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i am glad she is doing okay (hangry aside). LOVE CHOCO in the wheelbarrow. What a good little helper she is 🙂 HA….
Fingers crossed Amber continues to improve.
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She’s gotten used to it now because she gets slow and tired, so I put her in there and she’s realizing that it’s kind of fun and she doesn’t have to walk LOL! She’s so lazy hahaha!
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aw, glad to hear that she’s feeling good and seems happy. it’s so hard to manage the care for a horse when what they need isn’t exactly what they want…. glad your small changes seem to be helping her out tho! fingers crossed you get good news at her next foot appointment, and even more exciting that you have a lesson coming up soon! also fwiw, my former barn mgr had a senior chronically laminitic horse (so obvi a little different from Amber’s case) who did really well on Nutrena’s safe choice feed.
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Oh thanks for the safe choice suggestion! I’ve been shopping around a bit so I’ll go check it out. She wishes she could eat all the time lol then again so do I so we’re very similar 😂
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Glad she’s doing better on the Equioxx
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