Swollen Hocks..

I am convinced that when you are just starting to feel financially secure horses know that they should have something go wrong. Their main goal in life is to make sure the bank account doesn't stay above a certain mark.

Ms. Rosie the Riveter "Tugboat" Massing could teach a class on this technique.

(Funny, though the one and ONLY time she made money for me was when we placed at Farm Show several years ago. She made $68. I told her I was keeping it for fuel and and to cover her expensive hay habit. )

But, for the past 6-7 weeks I've noticed that she has had some heat and swelling in her hocks, and has been dragging her back feet a bit. Nothing terribly alarming, I just thought she looked a little more stiff than her normal lumbery self usually  does.

There is really no reason for this. She is outside about 18 hours a day, is in very little work because I am laid up, and she is on 1 gram of Bute a day and a joint supplement to help out her front end, which is an entirely different story. So, as you can understand I am perplexed.

I've tried everything. I cold hosed, use liniment, massaged,  increase Bute,etc and the swelling still persists. It stays about the same, and is usually a little more severe on her off side. She's not off when I work her on the longe, but you can tell at some points she is uncomfortable.

So, I broke down and called the vet. Ms. Rosie has an appointment with Dr. Dill on Thursday, Oct 6.

I believe Rosie is trying to eliminate all possibility of her return to work and somehow become enrolled in the Massing Disability Plan. Which, essentially means she will be a pasture puff the rest of her life and we will be paying her bills. But wait , "How is that different than now?", you may ask.

Well it's..
And then there's..

Oh, ok! She does live a pretty easy life right now, too. She won the pony lottery if you ask me, just like the rest of our animals did. When do I get to win the lottery?

* As promised here are the tunes of the night: The Weepies - Gotta Have You