Time tells all

Kel has really flourished over summer. He's actually looking like a horse instead of a colt.

For comparison, here he is in April of this year:

And again as of today, before the farrier visit:

Damn, he's looking good! spring vs summer coats aside, there is just so much difference in his shape. He's really developing a topline now and while his quarters need some more definition, he's certainly filled out in the shoulders. He's got this really lovely Iberian look about him now. His mane and tail are also considerably longer. He just looks like a completely different horse.

On to other news, Tralee has developed an enlarged hock. We think this is from where he rests his ringbone leg all the time and now has a form of oedema. Doesn't seem to go down with hosing of the bute, but not making him any more lame than usual. So we're just keeping him going as normal with the hopes that it's not a sign of anything else underlying.

Kel suffered a bit of sweet itch earlier this month and thinned out a spot in his tail. Annoying but we double wormed to make sure it wasn't that and then lagged his tail in Vaseline which seems to have soothed it for now. I took him to go look at a small hunter trials show the other evening. He certainly lived up to his name. :/  Thankfully I was on the ground but he looked quite the spectacle prancing around with his tail kinked over his back. He eventually calmed slightly but he's definitely going to have to see more shows before I think of doing any ridden classes.

We had the vet out to sign Nell up for bute as she's so often on and off lame. We also asked Steve whether he thought she may have navicular as Emma Richards pointed out that she was standing like she does in the field one day. Steve checked her teeth, telling us she was 20 something and may be quite a bit older than her passport says, picked up on her bowed tendon and said that it was perfectly possible for a mare of her age and symptoms to have navicular. As it is, we're doing everything any other person with a navicular sufferer would usually do; she's barefoot, ridden lightly and gently, buted when she does go out et al. So he gave us some signed her up for bute anyway, writing it down officially to be used for her bowed tendon.

Anyway, that's pretty much all for now. I'm going to try and get some more nice photos of the other horses while they're in their summer coats for the next blog.