H2o, Agua, Water......

This morning when I got up I checked what the weather was suppose to be. Thunderstorms again pffffft. Yesterday it was suppose to thunderstorm and all we got was a sprinkle in the late afternoon.What a joke. So I figured they would carry the weather over to today. 97% chance of thunderstorms, no specific time. I waited until noon. I looked out side and this is what I see.....

Uhhh-huhhhh. I grabbed my saddle and was out the door. I wanted to do a few new jumps before the show. I kept them low and we did them only a few times. Just as a last ditch attempt.

"ditch-water" jump

Jumping Video

After hitting the jumps a few times we went out for a hack. I had to find a new place to ride since Saturday I got yelled at by a guy that was probably half my age learning to be a farmer because I was riding in a field that looked like it was growing grass. Now, I have been paying close attention to the farmers fields because I am deathly afraid to ride in their crops. Well, I guess they all learned from the Dust Bowl decades ago, because they no longer till the soil. Missed that one. So the "grass" I saw...yeah that was actually rye. Oops! Here is the catch though, I was riding in the non-growing area. I know that sounds silly, but I really am cautious of where I ride. I never ride on land unless I ask permission first and not in crops for sure. Let me show you....

Rye Field Video

I know it looks like in the video we are heading right for the rye, but I assure you we did stop and move to the side of the road. Anyway....
So, we went back on the trail under the powerlines. I just know one day I will glow from all the powerline riding.

We crossed the snake filled creek,

At the bottom is the creek, I know it is so small the picture doesn't even recognize it...sad.

 and as we were heading to our ususal trail, I saw a road that the hunters use. I have been down there before and thought I think this comes out to the road. Let's try it. Just about this time my camera battery died. GREAT! *note sarcasm* As we are walking down this lane I see a HUGE rut from the trucks and it is filled with water. Hmmmm...this would be good xc stuff. Note to self, on the way back canter through! We walked through to make sure it was safe to canter on the way back. We went down the trail and to the road. There wan't much room on the shoulder but we kept our eyes on the look out and used the space wisely. We crossed a bridge which had NO shoulder, and suprisingly Olly kept his cool the entire time. Sometimes if there is a big truck that whizzes by he shudders a bit, but not today. Good Boy!! We went roughly 2 miles before we turned around and headed back. Remember the huge puddle? I did! We started out trotting down the lane and as we rounded the corner I asked for a canter. PIE! He cantered right through without a hiccup.

Now, you would think that I would be geting used to Olly doing the "right" thing. I really do make a big deal of him doing what he is just suppose to do. Why?? Because his self-esteem is the size of an acorn. Honestly, it took A YEAR for us to do these things. A YEAR! I love my boy, but I am ready for a struggle when it comes to new things. I guess that is something I need to get over.

We headed back to the house for some sugar cubes and a good currying. Before tacking and after untacking Olly I always curry and then brush him. As I was brushing, I noticed that his sheath was inflammed. !!!!!!!!! WTF? I didn't notice it BEFORE the ride.  How could that happen? Did I just miss it? Seriously? Either way it was there now and I had to address it. As a veterinary technician I instantly had a slew of questions pop into my brain.

Is is painful? Did it seem to affect his ride? Fever? Was he eating? What could have caused it? How do I treat it? On, and on, and on! No, I didn't notice any change in his riding, it definatly was inflammed, but it didn't seem to be warm to the touch, or warmer than normal horsey temp. And he didn't seem bothered by it. He generally doesn't like me to clean his sheath and puts a fuss when I do. Same this time as I checked around. Nothing unusual. I ran inside to do a bit of recon on the computer.
I grabbed a bucket of water to make a compress. Now I have never come across this problem. My first reaction was to call the vet, but seeing that it didn't seem to bother him, I took a breath and tried to remember what has changed that could cause this.
Hay-I recently got a round bale instead of feeding square bales. He now has  24/7 access to hay. Increased protien can cause swelling, since it is the lowest hanging area, fluids tend to gather there.
Ticks-I found 5 ticks in that "region" that I had to pluck off. Ewwwwwwww! I know that Lymes and Ehrlichia is prominant here, so I hope that we don't see anymore signs of that.
Exercise-He gets plenty of exercise, but I hadn' ridden in the past 2 days and he was standing eating himself into a hay belly.
Wouldn't ya know that those are 3 out of the top 5 problems associated with sheath swelling. The other two? Cancer and dermatitis. I did take his temp, normal, so I kinda ruled out the dermatitis for now. And I didn't see any funky looking lumps or bumps to indicate a cancerous yuck.
My main concern after finding out that he wasn't in pain was peeing. I am totally busy and hardly ever see him pee. While I was "checking" the area I made sure that the inflammation wasn't so bad that he couldn't drop and go pee. The swelling seemed to be just on the outside. It didn't appear to affect the inside. Gross, I know, but a mom has to do what a mom has to do. I debated on giving him bute. I have mixed feelings about it. I held off and am waiting to see what tomorrow holds.
I did pay more attention to his behavior while I was in the house. I can see his paddocks out of 5 of the windows. He seemed totally content with the Chincoteague by his side. Munching away at the grass and hay and defending his paddock from the goaty-goat. He doesn't like her in his space.

This weekend is the Hunter-Jumper show. I feel that Olly is in good enough shape to show. If something changes I will totally pull him out. I am keeping an eye on his nether-regions.