Milestones and spring checklist

Today I achieved not one but several milestones with Charlie: not only did we ride in the outdoor ring for the first time, but we also successfully rode with another horse in the ring, and one that was working at the same time. All firsts! There wasn't even a hint of bad behavior. Although Charlie looked at a few things, he never spooked and he did everything I asked without a fight. We got a nice calm walk, trot and canter in both directions and every time I asked him to come back because he was getting forward and excited, he did. I was on cloud nine.

Can you believe it?!

In other news, Charlie got his spring shots on Wednesday afternoon. They actually wiped him out much more than expected, which was a little scary. For several hours after receiving the vaccines he didn't want to do anything but lay down (my BO tried and couldn't get him to stand up), wasn't interested in any food or treats (he's normally a pig) and was just generally out of it. I was at work all evening so my BO said she'd keep an eye on him and let me know if anything changed for the worse but said he didn't seem painful or colicky, just tired and off.

When I got there around 9:30p Charlie was up on his feet, which was good, looking tired but generally ok. He came right over for a face massage, his favorite, and I noticed all of his hay was gone (also good). Since he didn't seem warm and he'd pooped and peed I offered him some grain and he eagerly gobbled it up. I gave him the rest and waited around for awhile, just to make sure he seemed ok, but he appeared to be acting normal again. Since then there don't seem to be any lingering effects, but eeek. I did free lunge him in the outdoor ring for awhile that morning and then I got on, pretty much just to cool him down, but I think I'll hold off on doing any of that next time in case it is why he was so wiped.

Also this week I finally did winter blanket laundry. We've had a stretch of several warm sunny days so I got out the hose and scrub brush and set to work. The blankets still smell like horse, and my arms hurt from scrubbing, but at least the majority of the stains, dirt and hair are gone. Phew!

(Mostly) clean blankets on my makeshift drying rack