Trail Ride from Heck

Mon Apr 10, 2006

First BIG Trail ride of the season this past Sunday morning! Well, more than three horses anyway! Hadn't ridden Quzqo in THREE days, but he'll be finnneeeee!

While I waited for the other ladies to get tacked up, I took Himself to the outdoor arena (nice deep energy-sucking sand footing) and rode him ragged, lots of fast trotting and nice cantering, backing, turns on the hindquarters, doing the trail obstacles, and he was good as gold! What a GOOD boy my Arabian Horse is!! (Smug Alert! Smug Alert!)

Finally the rest of the ladies show up...the barn's resident trainer (the one I've been taking lessons from all Winter) riding a client's TWH mare, another woman on a TWH, Another lady on a QH and her daughter on a green-broke 4 yr old QH gelding (the little booger that I've seen chewing on Quzqo's head, including that morning!), another lady on a QH, and my friend on her Paint mare! A pretty good crowd, and a beautiful clear sunny warm (well, if you want to call 50 degrees warm...around here, we DO!) day! And off we go!

No Barn-Sour Hissy Fits from Himself as we leave the barn property, that's a good sign...usually just as we reach the property line and if I turn him right (towards the Big World) instead of left (back to the barn), I'd get balking, rearing, spinning, head-tossing, tail-cranking and a whole bunch of 'tude! But not that day...too many horses to follow! (including his Lady Love, the Paint and his pasture pal, the 4 yr old "Buster")

Lucky we were also the slowest horse, so we were at the end of the column when the DIRT BIKE came blatting up the dirt road we were approaching! The first four horses spooked at the dirt bike, the others spooked because the first four spooked! Yeehaw! Buster the QH TORE off down the hill at a gallop with his young rider (well, she's mid-teens) (and a bosal, no bit)... both her mom and the trainer hollered about pulling him in a circle with one rein...she did just that and got him stopped pretty quick! PHEW! Everybody got their composure back, and after some shying and spooking as we got onto the road (might be more dirt bikes, you never know!), things calmed down and we got to enjoy the beautiful spring day (maybe some day there'll be green growing things! Not much in sight yet!)

Did a bit of riding the trails, did a lot of brush-poppin' because Deb, the trainer, HATES being limited to trails or roads and likes to make her own. All I could worry about was Quzqo's cool white horsehair shoo-fly tassel hanging from our cinch...didn't want it to get torn off by a branch or something! Eventually we made it back to the Michigan Shore-To-Shore trail (NO motorized vehicles allowed, hoorah!), down the steep hills, across the cool wooden bridge that spans a fast-running woodland stream, up the steep hill, down the narrow two-track, across the paved road, down more one-horse-wide trails...about that time I think the horses were getting bored, because they pretty much all started causing shit. One of the QH's got too close to Quzqo, so he kicked it with both hooves. Buster got too close to Quzqo, so he kicked HIM in the chest! Buster BIT my friend's Paint mare in the butt and got kicked for his trouble. The gal on Buster thought it'd be fun to TROT down the hill trail (trail is about 3' wide with trees on both sides and curvy!)...which meant Quzqo felt compelled to CANTER! He's due to have his feet trimmed Saturday, which is probably why, 2/3 of the way down (with me closing my eyes and praying) he TRIPS and stumbles...thankfully neither of us went down, but I got to bounce my head off the back of his neck! Was NOT saying kind things to that horse!

No, couldn't stop him...there's that point where a horse doesn't care WHAT you've got in his mouth or wrapped around his nose, beyond all reason and sense...that genial and golden horse earlier who would back off the trail course bridge and do a sweet turn on the hindquarters was no more. Instead I was astride a mindless, thrumming bundle of Instinct and Energy! Hoo-RAH!

I might as well have gotten off and walked, for all the mind he paid me, LOL! At least I knew he was too lazy to run off and wouldn't leave the rest of the "herd", but since the lead horses were smug people on TWHs ("Why Post When You Can Coast"?), we never got into a good distance trot or canter...pretty much hours of stop/start/stop/start frustration. Since the trainer was leading us, she took us to parts unknown...if I knew the trails, I would have moved to the front of the line and said "see ya later, we got some trotting to do!" but alas, no.

The trainer had the genius idea of watering the horses at the edge of a small lake...there's a short slope (about 45 degrees) from a two-track to the water, with a sandy bottom...AND a couple of guys fishing in a boat, which meant they'd parked their pick-up RIGHT by the slope, leaving half a two-track's space of room to get the horses. Those who dared ended up with their horses' rumps on the two track, and the fronts 45 degrees down into the water. The girl on Buster tried to get him in the water, but, hey, guess what? This was Buster's FIRST TRAIL RIDE and he'd never even SEEN water before! (well, other than puddles, that is). I could imagine the thoughts of the fishermen as they saw this big tan horse tap-dancing inches away from their shiny black truck, LOL...never mind the earlier splashing of the horses, probably scared away any fish in the area!

Fortunately they didn't force Buster...Quzqo and I watched from a distance (wasn't even going to try, especially with the truck there!!)...he decided we'd watched enough and began to turn back...and rear...and spin...and fuss, and spin...and rear, and spin...and fuss....the instant the rest of the horses came back, they ALL knew...we have turned back...we are going...HOME!

A RACE TO THE BARN! Of course the trainer knew "short cuts", which included more brush-poppin' and...a stream crossing! I wasn't worried, Quzqo loves water...but we were all worried about young Buster. The first horse to approach the stream got stuck (briefly) in the fetlock-deep black muck along the edges, but managed through...the stream was about fetlock-deep with a nice pebbly bottom, no worries. Quzqo and I stood back and observed, and when I deemed we should give it a try, the little booger marched right on through the muck and into the stream, stopped, pawed at the water, dipped his head, but I think the movement of the water baffled him...by that time they were trying to convince Buster to cross, so we moved out and up the opposite bank. Oh, let me correct that...we JUMPED from the damned stream bed UP the three or so-foot dirt bank to the grass! Couldn't WALK up like the other horses, noooo, we had to SPRING like a damned kangaroo!!!

Let me say at this point that I adore my deep-seated trail saddle, and adore my suede chaps which helped me stick to the saddle so nicely.

Well, they never did convince Buster to cross that sparkly stream of water, so the teen, her mom, and the trainer had to double-back and take the extra-long way around, and the rest of us continued up the track and waited on the dirt road for them. Not too awful long a wait. I kept Quzqo busy by working on our lateral work and turns on the forehand. Little shit didn't deserve a rest, LOL!

The ladies discovered that it was now 2:20 in the afternoon (we left the barn at 11:30 a.m.), and the vet was going to be at the barn at 3:00 to do something or another. So now the HUMANS were in a rush as well as the horses! Off we go again, but now we're HURRYING! Oh, let's TROT! Let's brush-pop and trot through the hardwood forest, it's fun! That's when Quzqo got kicked by Buster, and Buster bit his rider's mom's horse in the ass! I might as well have thrown away my reins, for all the horse was paying attention to me! We're busting through the woods, there's a tree across our path, everybody walks across it or high-step trots over...except for...Quzqo...no, he had to JUMP the damned thing! NO warning, I was trying to slow him so he could step, no, he had to JUMP, my butt went airborne, I went forward, but thanks to my saddle and my chaps, I didn't leave permanently and bounced back into the seat! Next log across the path, the same thing, the horse JUMPS over it! We're not talking a little hop, a little bobble, we're talking Grand Prix Gem Twist Lonesome Glory LEAPS into the AIR and coming down and cantering off and bouncing Sue out of the saddle! We're talking logs maybe a foot high here...nothing that requires a horse to sprout wings and LAUNCH skyward!!!

Time must be running out, because the horses up front began to lope...yeah, nice, civilized, well-behaved horse loping. Behind them we had the CRAY-ZAY OMG We're Going To The Barn faction, lead by Himself! Despite my efforts to keep him to a trot (I've got the sore legs and arms to prove it!) Quzqo broke into a canter...and look, there's a LOG ahead of us! Shiiiiiiit **BAM** skyward we flew OVER...before I could recover (I think I was slightly sideways in the saddle) ahead of ME is a tree trunk, in front of US was a fallen tree and we were headed right for it...the horse ERUPTED beneath me and we both FLEW over that tree and again I was nearly bounced out of the saddle when we hit the ground and cantered on! I yelled at the bouncing brown horse butts ahead to slow down a minute...the ladies glanced back like "huh? what?" and the gasping and giggling gals behind me were "Oh MY GAWD Did you see THAT!" "What did you DO!" "I don't believe it!!"...that danged tree/log/branch/dead fall that Quzqo flew over was at least 3 feet high at the point he jumped (it was about 4-5 feet what I saw!)(it went down to a foot or so where the other horses had the good sense to cross over it!). My friend with the Paint confirmed
that he just FLEW over it, tucked his hind legs up so nice and cleared it with no problem (except for the rider!!) GAH!

No, the story doesn't end...we finally got back to the trail, with two more fallen logs across the path..the EXACT SAME LOGS HE WALKED OVER on the way out...no, we had to JUMP the damned things...I was ready this time, but he popped straight up like bread from a toaster, and let's face it, a trail saddle (basically a Western saddle w/o a horn, thank GOD for that!!!) is NOT
constructed for jumping, and again I fell forward and bounced back into the seat. I should just use the friggin' English saddle next time at this rate!!

Somewhere on the last jump I did lose the spur on my right foot (not that I even needed spurs, LOL), so tomorrow night I'll have to go back out and look for it...luckily it wasn't lost TOO far from the barn). When we got to the dirt road, Quzqo was wound up tighter than a watchspring, and I trotted him on ahead of the others..we FLEW baby, you better believe it! Had a heck of a time turning him around (rear/spin/snort), and we cantered back to the other horses, turned around, trotted down the road, turned, met the others, and I tried to make him WAIT so we could join the back of the line...oh my gosh, he was REARING and spinning and causing such a fuss...the look of fear on the face of the Mom was priceless, LOL! I was laughing and shouting "WHEEEE!"...what a maroon (the horse, or the rider??)! No wonder he sold at auction for $100!!!

Finally at long last, after 3-1/2 hrs on the trail, Quzqo got to go back to his pasture...he got a long drink, rolled in the dirt, got up, and cantered off into the distance without even a backwards glance...I could have died on the spot for all he cared, LOL! For all I cared, he could just stay out there, I wasn't coming back to bring him in at night. And apparently he DID stay out all night, because today after work, he was ZONED, BWAHAHAHAAA...(he never sleeps well out in the pasture)...Didn't ride him, just brought him in, brushed him (new chew marks on his face), and put him in his stall...last night's grain and hay was still there, I could tell he hadn't been in his stall due to the dried remains of his bran mash on the sawdust.

Tomorrow I think I'll set up some jumps in the arena...if we're going to be jumping, we'd better practice!!

(Why did I find broken twigs in my boots I wonder!?)

Hi Yo Quzqo Awayyy!

Mon Apr 3, 2006

Yep, Quzqo and I went for a trail ride yesterday, all by ourselves, which is kind of relaxing and actually more fun than going with others...got a LOT more trotting and cantering in, and since we were alone, the horse paid more attention to ME rather than what the other horses might be doing! Course the little shit started his hissy fits literally as soon as we set foot off the barn property...not much, just a half-rear and spin on the haunches, which earned him his head yanked back around and some input from the Spur Twins (I left Mr. Whip back at the barn)(I have to be careful not to use that phrase when I'm with my friend with the Paint, because her last name IS "Whipp", and she might think I'm referring to her husband, LOL!)

Well, from that point on, it was pretty much an exercise in keeping the horse moving forward, because the INSTANT I relented and let him slow, he'd jam on the brakes, rear up and start spinning! Stop, Rear, Spin...I tried to not let him get past the stopping part, but he got a couple of good rears in, and of course I just hauled him to the side and a good jab with the Spur Twins and forward we went. He's got his certain areas where he tries that shit, and I'm glad I know where they are...in my farrier's hay field...up on the dirt road...through the woods...then I get a respite as we cross another field and go through some thick woods, but as soon as we get to the next dirt road, it all starts again (the little goober tried it as we were crossing a PAVED road...not impressed). I was just glad I know what I'm doing (and what he's doing), and I can see WHY they probably put him up for sale, LOL! If I were a timid sort, I sure wouldn't want a horse that did that!

He reminds me of another horse owned by a lady at the barn...she had a fat Appaloosa named "Larry", and one day she came on a ride with Tez and me. We got a few miles from the barn when Larry decided he'd gone far enough and started rearing and spinning!! The lady was TERRIFIED (for the record, she's the same lady who got bucked off Thursday night), and totally intimidated by Larry, and we ended up turning around and going back, which is what Larry wanted to do, of course. A few days later we went for another trail ride, and this time we barely got 200 yards from the barn when Larry started rearing and spinning, rearing and spinning (not fast or high, about the same ferocity as Cusco). She wouldn't kick him, she wouldn't turn him, she REFUSED to carry a crop (which was my first bit of advice for her...Tezlu never reared, but he was expert at the stopping and spinning bit, LOL). Well, she ended up selling Larry, he was just too much horse for her and she couldn't deal with his barn-sourness. Probably the same thing with Quzqo.

As I told Quzqo the first time I took him out on the trail and we got about 150 yards before he started rearing..."I owned Tezlu for 15 years, you ain't NOTHIN'!", LOL! (Heck, Tez dumped me 8 times the first year I owned him, Quzqo's only done it once!). We got some NICE trotting on the long, straight dirt road, even some cantering on his least-favorite lead (the left, for the record)...down a two-track into the forest, onto the Michigan Shore-To-Shore Riding & Hiking trail, and O, mercy did the hissy fits begin THERE! Only with the added bonus of big trees on all sides (yeah, I had my helmet). He did NOT want to go down the hill, there was no way he was going down the hill, I could just drop dead and go to HELL, he was NOT going down the hill, we're going to rear, we're going to spin, we're going to squeeze between beech trees and try to get back up the hill, we are NOT going down! Yeah, he eventually went, he wasn't happy about it...lucky for him there was a lot of ice-snow further down in the swamp, so we did turn around on MY say-so, and came back up to the two-track.

Wasn't ready to go home, so we turned right and went further down the two-track...but gosh darn it, there was another hill and By God we are NOT going down there! Oh, NO ma'am, we're going to stop and REAR and Spin And snort and Rear and spin and back up and snort and freeze and stare and snort and back...then for bonus we'll turn and clamber UP the steep dirt roadside and go through the trees before The Spur Twins convince us to get back DOWN the bank back onto the road, and then we'll be more convinced to go down The Scary Hill! OOOOOH! What a maroon!

We made it as far as the little stream that runs through the woods, rested there a bit, then, on MY say-so, turned (nicely on the haunches), and orderly, and slowly, walked like a civilized horse (and rider) back to the top of the hill. Then we TROTTED pretty much the entire way out of the woods, BWAHAHAHAHAaa...I MADE him move his fat butt whether he wanted to or not, LOL! He'd start out VERY perky and Tezlu-esque but within the minute start petering out, 'til I squeezed him and he'd jump up and move out into a very nice ground-covering workmanlike trot. No worries about diagonals or headsets or anything, just to be moving!

For all that carrying on and Drama Queen antics, I'll say he didn't spook ONCE...guess it's better to have the predictable antics vs the unpredictable ones! It's sure nice to be able to just get up and go and NOT have any fear or uncertainty (like this time last year, let's say). I also noticed my back didn't hurt either...sure bugged me during the lesson Saturday, that could have been
tension though. Like I tell people...Arabians are "Interesting" to ride, LOL!

Well, today the high temp was 40 and we had an inch of snow with 40 mph winds all day! The horses were out, of course, but Quzqo has REALLY lost his fuzzy winter coat, and is down to what equals a Light Spring Jacket, fur-wise. When I got out there tonight the poor guy was SHIVERING!!! The sun was out and he was pretty much dry, but he was so chilled! He got his comfy cooler on and I mixed some hot water into his grain (have to remember to tote some bran out there for such emergencies). Poor guy...he obviously hadn't gotten a drink all day either, because he was trying to drink from the poopy mud puddles again...thankfully once he got to the trough he sucked that down an inch or two!

When I got him in his stall & took the cooler off, THEN I see the two LOVELY bloody red scrapes on his left hind...he's got a good inch+ of skin missing from the hock, and about an inch-round chunk missing from his knee, with a 1/2" of flapping loose skin! Oh, ter-fricking-riffic!!! No blood, nothing was bleeding, and he let me touch them...I put some anti-bacterial ointment on them, and there was some oozing from the round wound (I suspect the cold and wind might have kept any bleeding down). Great. Poor guy, can't imagine how the hell THAT happened, unless he slipped in the snow, which is a possibility. Thankfully it's all pretty much melted by now and no more in the forecast, but still...

He was in a VERY bad mood tonight..."I've had a shitty day, alright!??? Now leave me alone!!", LOL! Poor guy. He'll get bugged tomorrow.

Wear Your Helmet!!

Thu Mar 30, 2006

No riding lesson tonight because one of the ladies' mare decided to start bucking, the woman lost her seat, got thrown off INTO the metal stock panels of the round pen and got hit by the mare's head right in HER head! No, no helmet, *sigh*. She's okay, just had the sense knocked out of her and a bloody nose, but she's going to be sore tomorrow I bet.

So, no lesson tonight. Because of that, and the fact the barn owner's granddaughters were riding (5 & 3 yrs old) and very in-the-way, and 4 other people were riding...too damned crowded.

The woman admitted she just can't react quick enough...that horse bucked around 6 times before she got her off...she had plenty of time and room to yank the horse's head around, and we were yelling at her to do that very thing...but by buck 4 there was lots of daylight between her and the seat and that was all she wrote.

Make-up lesson will be Saturday afternoon. *sigh*.

(Should I feel insulted that Bob told me that Quzqo is turning into a fine Quarter Horse because his butt is so big, LOL!)

More Fun at the Trough and Trailer

Mon Mar 27, 2006

Happy to report yesterday's TERRIFYING EPISODE at the water trough (where I moved the pipe that feeds water to the trough and scared Quzqo out of his shoes, if he was wearing shoes, that is) did not leave any permanent scars. Today he drank almost readily from the trough, which had the scary PVC pipe in place (but not moving). It was filled to the brim, so he got to enjoy cool, clean, fresh water! I noticed he didn't drink as long or as deeply, so maybe, just maybe, he'd already come up for a drink earlier in the day! Hope Hope Hope!

Bob, the barn owner, looked at me like I was crazy, even after I explained the problem...not my fault the horse wants me to bend over with him to get a drink, LOL (it's true...if I straighten up, he backs off and looks worried...if I bend over the trough, he lowers his head with me, LOL).

AND...today we began our working on backing out of horse trailers! I borrowed Bob's big gooseneck stock trailer which was conveniently parked right outside the barn (and safely hooked up to his truck), and using the clicker and a pocket full of carrot chunks, got Quzqo to walk up to the trailer and relax...which was an achievement, because when I tried to walk him near the thing, he got...er...um...very upset (he acted like it was a water trough, EE!). But lots of pats and quiet words and an occasional click & carrot, pretty soon he was standing calmly with his knees inches from the trailer, and was curiously nosing around, sniffing the poop inside. From there we worked on backing away and getting a carrot/click, then walking back forward, resting, sniffing poop, backing away. He relaxed because I was relaxed and in no hurry (unlike when I normally have to load him in a trailer, LOL...HURRY WE'VE GOT TO GET TO THE HORSE SHOW AAAUUUGH!!!)

Eventually he WANTED to put a hoof in the trailer (it's a step-up, no ramp), and I got one hoof in, then backed him out...we did that a couple of times and then he got TWO hooves in the trailer, and we paused and he got a carrot and a click, learning he doesn't have to literally LEAP into the trailer (which is what he was doing last year). Backed him off, gave him a treat/click, then brought him back up in, but only the front feet. We did that four times and he started to get distracted, so that was enough for today! Might repeat it tomorrow, and maybe Wednesday go for all four feet and hopefully backing out. Hopefully. But considering last year I couldn't get him to back up out of the barn (that scary 2" drop to the dirt!)...I'm hopeful.

Quzqo Drinks!

Fri Mar 24, 2006

Tonight after work Coos and I visited the water trough, and I KNEW he was thirsty (mostly because he made a dive for a muddy puddle, but I wouldn't let him!). So we came up to the trough, and I got him as close as I could (his legs about 3 feet away from the trough), and I crouched over the water and played and splashed my hand in it (the level was down 2/3, so it was actually pleasantly tepid from the tank heater on the bottom), and splashed it up to his muzzle, and cooed and cajoled and praised and soothed...slowly....slowly his head lowered.... lower...lower...to the level of the tank, but he didn't want to put it IN the tank...I fladdled more water up on his lips, and after some hesitation, he lowered it into the tank, got about 6" from the actual water surface, about 1/4" of pink tongue comes out from between his lips...he slowly (painfully so) lowered his head another inch...the tongue came out...and started lapping at the air above the water! BWAHAHAHAAA...I tried to not laugh TOO loudly, that poor pathetic thirsty horse...after half a minute or so, he tentatively lowered his head more and made contact with the surface of the water!

He drank...and drank and drank and drank and drank...the second he touched the water, he was done for, there's no way he could have stopped drinking, he was SO thirsty! I swear, the level of the tank went down an inch, easily! He drank and drank and drank and drank some more! Poor guy! Finally he came up for air, raising his head and swallowing...looked around a bit, then without hesitation lowered his head back to the water and drank and drank and drank some more! HOORAH!!!!

I'm SO pleased!! Of course once he was finished, he was like "oh, hey, yeah, no big deal, I knew it was safe, oh, yeah", LOL!

What a goof!

Hydrophobia!

Mon Mar 20, 2006

Quzqo is now terrified of the water tank in his pasture. He didn't mind the old tank, but they switched out to these new ones late last Fall, and he hasn't taken a drink since. Some theorize he got zapped by the fence, because at one point the wire WAS touching the tank and the horses were getting shocks (great!). So he went ALL winter w/o drinking a drop, he'd just eat his hay, and come in in the evening dying of thirst and suck down a bucket of water in one slurp!

Well, the snow's gone, so he can't eat snow for moisture, so I began in earnest trying to convince him that the water tank is safe and good for drinking! When I got to the barn this evening after work, I got outside just in time to see Himself ambling down towards the gate with a few of his pasturemates. His pals all came up to the tank and got good drinks...he hung back, and much to my horror, dropped his head and began sucking at a DIRTY STAGNANT PUDDLE OF POOPY RUNOFF WATER! NOOOOOO!!!! I hurried out there, and couldn't get that dang horse to stop sucking at that greeny-brown NASTY stuff!! I managed to shove him away, so he swung around to the other side and dropped his head and started drinking (I mean, you could SEE the chewed-up grass from the manure swirling around in it!!!). I had to loop the lead rope around his neck and haul him away!! GAAAH!

We went to the water tank, and in a milestone, I got him to actually approach it within drinking distance...the other day he refused to go NEAR it, even rearing up in protest!! He acted like he WANTED to get a drink...it'd just been filled, so it was full of lovely clean, fresh water. I even dipped my hand in it (COLD!!! 29 degree air temperature...water was probably 33 degrees!) and splashed it around, and he licked it from my hand, but the most he did was sort of bobble his head downwards, but not anywhere near the actual water. It was obvious he didn't trust the WATER...he was fine with the tank, the pipe they use to fill it, the mare on the other side of the fence...it was the WATER he didn't trust. Poor guy.

We gave up eventually and he sucked down 3/4 of a bucket while I brushed him (shedding like crazy! About time!). He wasn't at all pleased when I started rubbing liniment on his tailhead (vet recommended it), LOL, I think it was the fact I was rubbing it (gently), because once I worked it down through the thick winter fur, *I* could feel it getting warm, and he settled down, started yawning and cocked a hind leg, LOL. Goofy lad.

The liniment is a new "herbal formula" from Absorbine (a gel), so he smelled minty in the front AND the back, ha! I just hope his new minty-fresh butt doesn't attract more chewers!!! Well, hopefully the smell will disappear by morning...he sure seemed to enjoy it!

Quzqo Breaks His Tail

Sat Mar 4, 2006

No other explanation for it. My horse has major pain in his dock, and his tail is totally paralyzed. Have NO idea how it happened, when it happened, or what, all I know is this afternoon he flinched when I brushed his butt, and his tail is as limp as a noodle. It didn't dawn on me that something might be wrong until I went out there tonight to ride, and was lunging him, and he was trotting right along, with his tail totally flaccid, flopping around between his butt cheeks. I even tried spooking him, but no tail action whatsoever.

He's walking normally, backs up fine, even can cross his hind legs. He's eating, drinking, pooping...haven't seen him pee yet (which usually involves lifting of the tail), but he sure flinches if you touch his dock.

So...gave him some bute, and put cold compresses on his dock (well, ZipLocs filled with snow)...don't know what else to do. I asked that he be kept in tomorrow and I'll head out in the morning....

Shit.

Well, my Dalmatian broke her tail twice, and it healed up on its own...(not like you can put a tail in a splint, so said the vet). Can't imagine what the hell happened, unless he rolled wrong...or maybe somebody reared up and came down on his butt...can't imagine he could have gotten kicked (he's short but not that short). He's acting perfectly normal otherwise...I should have noticed when I was brushing him this afternoon, how he kept looking back at his butt.

He WAS very itchy on his right buttock, and as I was scratching it, he curved his butt towards me and made a pooky lip, so his back per se must not hurt.

Tsk, I was sniffling in his stall, and he came over and started licking my hand...what a sweetie.

Horse + World = Something going wrong.