Getting Back Into a Routine
Ro is doing well.
The vet was back out Monday and we changed treatments; the shots we had been giving her to help with the allergies just weren’t doing anything. He wanted to go the drill-and-drain route, which we’ve talked about before, but we going to try one more thing first.
I moved her to the new barn Monday night. Since it has grass instead of dirt paddocks, it is much less dusty than the old barn. I want to see what a change of environment plus a strong course of antibiotics does—I’m hoping it’ll clear her up and keep her clear. If this doesn’t work, we can drill and drain.
Of course, that means I’m having to resist the temptation to put a paper bag over her head every time I take her out of her stall: Snotty horse? What snotty horse? I don’t see a snotty nose, do you? I did put a sign on her stall explaining that she has a sinus infection and it’s not contagious. Although I’ve gotten a look or two from other boarders, I haven’t seen a lynch mob yet.
She’s settling in better than I expected. While she’s pacing in her stall and calling out a lot, she is not trying to tear the barn down. I consider this progress. I put her right into work; I know some people give them a couple weeks go adjust, but I want her to learn she can go new places and cope with a new environment while she focuses on the job at hand. She is a lot more distracted here than she has been when going to my trainer’s, but I think that has to do with her buddies being on the property. She’s going to have to get over that; it’s likely we’ll take these guys to a show together, and they have to learn to deal with new environments, being near each other but separated, focusing on work, etc. We might as well use this opportunity to work on that.
All in all, I’m much happier today than I was on Friday, or even on Monday. The antibiotics are working, she’s settling in much better than I had hoped, and we’ll soon be back in a real routine. She is thrilled with the larger paddocks and the grass—so much so that she and her buddies didn’t want to be caught this morning. Never fear: I remembered the magic carrot sticks. They worked just as well this time as they did before.