Waiting for the call back on when my horse vet will be coming to the farm.. Caleb has slipped on the ice and he has (I think) pulled a muscle or tendon on his front right shoulder area. He is currently lame, with a really good limp.

Its not a little hmm, give that a few days or a week and watch it, its a call the vet and get it looked at and confirm what is going on.. and get a overview of what I should be doing about it..  He is eating, drinking and such well but he is also off, you can see that he is feeling it..

I have been using a heated salt sock to put warmth on the sore spots and giving a massage to the area, it does seem to help provide some comfort, so that is good.. I have never really understood why heated salt feels so good.. it holds the heat well and it does seem to draw pain out..  My mom loved it for sore ears, and I will admit that when I have wind sore ears, I still love how a hot salt sock can just take away the pain so well.

I have one horse basic massage booklet, and I did take a very things in my Equine first aid course and I heard about Jim Masterson at my half day horse event on Saturday this weekend that I got to..  and so I did order in his book, so that I can do follow up on this for Caleb, as I expect that I will need to learn a lot more on how to help him while he heals from this.

I got a great email from his old owner and it would appear that this is both a new “just happened” injury and a renewal of a old “injury” at the same location, he slipped and hurt that same shoulder area many years ago and it healed up, taking months to do so and he was and has been great for years with me..

Bad luck but as we all know, once a area has been hurt, its just easier to hurt it again.. the question on many things are unanswerable at the moment.. so I will not guess to much..

But I will say that I expect that my riding season with him this year are up in the air.. but lots ground trick training, lots of hand walks and such are still very much on the table when he is ready for it..

IF all goes really well, and if it what I think, I am hoping for fall riding.. we will see..

Which brings me to Bojangles..  we had a nice training session yesterday.. he is such a good boy.. we are learning about each others. The only dry and safe place to do any kind of foot work near my farm is the road..

Bojangles, is so honest and willing but I love this photo that is showing him listening and doing what he is asked but at the same time, not being connected with me.. We worked together for 45 min but turns out the only photo I took was this one..  So be it.

It would appear that Hubby an I will be a sharing Bojangles as the main riding horse for the next while, so combo of bonding, learning each other, ground work and conditioning are all good things..   Let me tell you.. I am used to my bigger horses, they love their walk and they will move up to a nice slow trot or when we really move out, caleb has a flying ground eating trot..

But Bo.. o my.. Bojangles loves to trot, he moves into a flying trot that looks effortless.. he is very light on his feet..   The temps this coming week are wonderful, all above 0, ok, not by much but its still melting and not freezing during the day. Its a good time to try and get extra outside work done.

Will keep you updated on what I find out..