Quick Little Lungeing

And the Winner Is: Toby By a Trot!! 

Toby seems to look just fine without shoes--so far.  I gave him a short lungeing session and he trotted off with his usual big strides, and looked great.  He was pretty good about letting me catch him too.  That doesn't mean it was easy.  He was in his stall and as soon as he saw the halter, he marched off into the paddock and started to play hard to get.  This consists of walking away from me as I approach, or trotting around in circles trying to keep the other Boys between him and me so I can't catch him.  But he quit that pretty quickly and allowed me to halter him for his short workout.

Tucker was another matter. When I first got him, he was no trouble at all to catch and would more often than not  come to me.  But Toby sets a bad example.  And Tucker has learned to play the "catch me if you can" game at least as well as his elder example.  We spent at least ten minutes all over the place with me just following him.  He started chasing Chance in the process and finally the two of them ended up in the pasture.  At that point, I stopped, turned my back and started walking backwards towards Tucker.  That did the trick, and it was clear that he really didn't care whether I caught him or not as he simply stood there and waited for me to back up to him  Even when I turned to slip the halter on, he was fine about it.  If I take treats out when I go to get him, he's right there, but I don't always want to rely on that technique.

I think he thinks the whole thing is a game, actually.  I guess I broke the rules by backing up.

I lunged him for a few minutes as well and while he looked pretty sound, every now and then he took a suspicious step.  I called Scott to get the shoes put back on and hopefully we'll do that soon. I don't want to risk a long layup again like I had last Spring.

Then I went to get Chance and he too started the "catch me" game.  He's always been easy to catch, but I'm afraid he's learned the same bad habit. However, once he went into the paddock, out of the arena where the other two Boys were hanging out, he waited for me so I could take him in.

He has a sore on his front leg, much like a hock sore.  I'm pretty sure he got it by by catching himself on something as it's definitely and injury. But he's not sore on it, so I've been cleaning it and putting antiseptic cream on it.  It's on the side of his knee, so it's in a very hard place to bandage.  I will keep an eye on it, as I can manage a bandage if I really need one, but I think it will be OK.  This is the time when a Bandaid would be perfect. I actually have some of the really big ones and may try one just just to cover the sore. It probably won't stick, but it's worth a try.

I'll have to put the Boys' winter blankets on again tonight as it's supposed to get really cold again.  They've been in waterproof sheets for the last two days. Once again, winter refuses to surrender.