Updates!!

Okay we finally got Rosemary's biopsy results. Her tumor was in fact a sarcoid. So far no sign of regrowth, but we have to keep watching. She is on a schedule for dosing the thuja, a holistic remedy. 3x a week for 3 weeks, then 1x a week for 3 weeks, then 1x a month for 3 months. Now we have to get my sister on the same schedule since she keeps giving Rosemary doses on off times. A little Vitamin E oil helps keep the scar over her eye soft and you can barely see where the stitches had been. Keep your fingers crossed that she does not get another sarcoid on her eye.

The Tiny Terror, Roscoe has started learning that we are not play toys. We have learned to make our point and mean it with Roscoe. Today he did his normal challenge poise, head up, neck arched and he looks down his nose like saying "Bring it." Mom carried our crop and stared him down like saying "Think again." Not long after his head came down and he decided he would go into the barn. Good idea. Tonight he did not even try anything. He is such a quick learner.

Lets see what else has happened. Oh yes, Winston decided that it had been too long since the vet had visited and came in with a nearly closed swollen eye. Dye test showed no corneal scratch. Cotton swab under both lids did not show any foreign objects. So we have no idea why his eye is swollen. Two days of eye ointment containing steroids and the swelling is down, but still around the bottom lid. That mystery is on going. While she was at the barn, the vet thought we had gotten another pony. Then she realized the "pony" was Roscoe. She can't believe how much he is growing.

We have had heavy rains 2 out of the last four days, so the ground was too wet to ride any of my horses. Since Peggy has a sand arena, I could work Comrade. We started at a great working walk, using bell curves to warm up. Then it got interesting. I have mentioned Comrade's dog distractions before, but today they reached a whole new level. Shadow and Kayla we racing around through the puddle in the arena, outside the arena and through the woods. Comrade decided he really needed to keep track of them. His head went up and he snorted and pranced. Okay this is normal. I start bending him to try and get his attention. He is not going for it today. Instead he gives me bounce. Seriously, I had to look down and make sure I was still riding a Welsh Cob, not an Arabian. Peggy said he looked like he was trying to passage. I decided to use all that extra energy he was providing. So over the cavaletti and little "X" and into canter was next on the agenda. He did get a bit strong in the canter but the poles brought him back. Boy did his canter have impulsion. With the great canter, I pointed him at the line: raised pole, little "X" and 2' or so vertical. Last week he could not even canter the first two parts, let alone the jump. I would ride what ever he gave me. Today he cantered over the pole, maintained the canter over the "X" and surprise, surprise continued over the vertical. It was probably the best jump line he has ever done and his first all the way through at canter. We ended doing trot work around the arena. The trot he gave me must be what a "Cob Trot" feels like. It was amazing. Comrade will probably wake up tomorrow and wonder what the heck happened to him.
Hopefully Sunday will bring better footing so I can ride the others. Oh well, we'll see.