Ulcers

4/29/14 - evening

• Coat: Dull, still shedding
• Ribs: can see ~5, feel more. Hips do not show sign of losing muscle. 
• Girth: 5 on left, 3 on right. 
• turnout: none for two days
• Grain: Full amount - with pumpkin seeds, aloe, oat flour, SmartPak (w/mare harmony, single serving G.U.T.)
• Hay: Second cutting, fed both prior to and after grain
• Ulcer treatment: 10 Tums before work, 10 tums after
• Additional treatment: Sore-No-More at withers, loin, hamstrings
• Ground observations: 
• Grooming: Did not bite at girth currying, indicated hips were sore and wanted massaged. 
• Ear flick, slight turn of nose at saddle pad. No reaction to saddle placement for trip to arena
• on lunge - normal trot. difficulty picking up left lead - got it first time, counter-cantered three times after then picked up left lead. Back hind (not sure which) stumbled once. 
• Expressed displeasure at saddling, pad adjustment, girthing but not severe. Flattened ears, threatened to nip as per usual. 
• Under saddle: 
• Loose trot, easy and forward. Offered buck twice in picking up right lead, cantered multiple loops no problem. Second right-lead canter much smoother - no bucking/kicking but light ear pinning. Rounded back for rein-back. Left lead canter transition was hollow, half-buck attempted, then easy rounded canter. Several loops around arena. Spooked at lightning. Asked for canter again and picked it up easily (for her).
• Still very stiff going left - bend is bracy

5/1/14 - evening

• Coat: Dull, still shedding
• Ribs: can see ~5, feel more. Hips do not show sign of losing muscle. 
• Turnout - early morning 2 hrs. 
• Girth: 4 on left, 3 on right. 
• Grain: half-amount with pumpkin seeds, aloe, oat flour, SmartPak (w/mare harmony, single serving G.U.T.)
• Hay: Second cutting, fed both prior to and after grain
• Ulcer treatment: 10 Tums before work, 10 tums after
• Additional treatment: Sore-No-More at withers, loin, hamstrings
• Ground observations: 
• Did not bite at girth/barrel grooming. Did want massaged. 
• Ear flick, nose turn at placement of pad, saddle. 
• Under saddle: 
• Lovely. Used light requests for canter both ways. No issue. No lungeing. 
• rounded back for rein-back
• easy off leg, very little fuss. 
• Still very stiff going left - bend is bracy

5/6/14 - evening

• Coat: Dull, still shedding
• Ribs: can see ~5, feel more. 
• Turnout - late afternoon, 2 hours.  Brought in to eat and then ride. 
• Girth: 4 on left, 3 on right. 
• Grain: half-amount with SmartPak (w/mare harmony, single serving G.U.T.).
• Hay: first cutting, fed both prior to and after grain
• Ulcer treatment: 10-15 Tums before work, 10 tums after
• Ground Observations:
• VERY PISSY when grooming girth, barrel, pinned ears, wrinkled nose. 
• Wanted hips massaged
• VERY PISSY Tacking up. Bit me
• Bolted outside when caught sight of ? stepped on and broke both reins. 
• Ok for tightening girth and mounting. 
• Under saddle: 
• Ok in-door, ok-outdoor until barnmate passed by. Threw fit for 45 minutes. Instead of small circles and lots of transitions, we rode 20m circle. Allowed her to throw fit while offering safe place to work. at end of 45 we had good walk, good trot. VERY bracy halt. 
• spooked once
• Very fussy. Did not canter. Very bracy. responded sulkily against leg. 
• Worked on softness in halt. bwahahahahahah. ok. but we'll get there. 
• Still very stiff going left - bend is bracy
• Sore-N-More after workout. 

5/11/14 - afternoon

• Coat: Brighter - massive shedding
• Ribs: Can still see some, much more coverage
• Turnout: Probably none Saturday, was stalled when I arrived at 2pm. Turned out afterwards
• Girth: 4 on one, 3 on other
• Grain: none before riding
• Hay: one flake alfalfa blend before tacking up/grooming
• Ulcer treatment: 15 tums before going to indoor. 
• Ground Observations:
• Pissy when grooming chest
• Lightly pissy when grooming girth
• Lightly pissy when grooming barrel. Includes flicked back ear, wrinkled nose, swish of tail
• Wanted hips massaged
• Lightly pissy when placing saddle
• barnmates were turned out just as we were heading to the indoor which led calling, pawing, circles around me. Spent 30 min on lunge and walking. 
• cross-cantering both directions but did not take long to switch. 
• Lots of hand-walking and small circles brought her attention back to me. 
• Under saddle:
• Very soft, moved off mounting block while slinging leg over - halted immediately. 
• Did not spook at anything
• Softly asked for right lead, got it almost immediately with both ears flicked back. Trotted into it. 
• Softly asked for left lead, got stop and buck. Picked up right lead, changed direction, brought back to trot, asked for left lead, got it no problem. 
• Willing to use back, some bracing at halt
• Asked for right lead again, flicked ears, sucked back just slightly, no other issues
• Asked for left lead, ditto. 
• Still very stiff going left - bend is bracy

Here's where I went off record with graduation and Vegas but we ended the natural ulcer remedies, added in Redmond Clay, and took her off SmartMare Harmony. She started getting 2-4 hours of turnout when it was nice and we had great rides. Still giving her Tums for the heck of it (won't hurt) but I think the Redmond is helping. She's much less pissy when grooming barrel and tacking up. Got lots of great canters, no bucking.