"Take it easy"

Before I went to the barn today I decided that today would be Holden's day "off". I put quotes around the word 'off' because while he hasn't been into any work, I figured it would be nice for him to just have a day to himself. This did not mean that he was relieved from grooming, however!

Holden's leg, looking good.

Holden was in the paddock munching away, and at a preliminary glance his leg looked absolutely superb. To be fair, I am not sure if it was the Surpass I applied on it yesterday or if his leg just goes through phases and being out made it go down. I made him trot around the paddock briefly and he was very sound, which was relieving to see. I am interested to see what tomorrow brings in terms of his leg - will it be the same as today, or was it Surpass that was the "miracle" swelling reducer? My money is on the Surpass so we will see tomorrow. The farrier will be out to pull his hind shoes tomorrow and reset his fronts - and I can't wait for him to have regular "riding horse" shoes. I really am not a fan of aluminum shoes unless the horse needs them. Holden's hoof quality looks great so I am going to forego hind shoes - he is in such light, moderate work that I really see no need to keep hinds on through the winter. 

After watching him trot briefly I caught him and brought him towards the barn - and he balked and wanted to look at the horses that were on the other side of the barn and didn't want to enter the barn. There have been a few times where I've noticed him stop and look elsewhere - but today was longer and more insistent than usual. I personally think he has finally adjusted himself to the barn and has finally become comfortable with his "house" - and I think he prefers being outside with the other horses rather than isolated in an empty barn at night. To me, it makes sense he'd prefer being in the company of others. 

Fidgety.

I brought him into the aisle and spent a half hour grooming him. I worked on really scrubbing the scurf/scratches/rainrot from him - I applied a medicated shampoo yesterday and the directions say to only apply it 2x a week, so I will save reapplying for another day. I also curried his belly and paid attention to his elbows, which are somewhat chaffed. I put some antibiotic cream on the scrape on his hock and also applied some to the rubbing under his jaw from his halter. I don't think a lot of elbow grease went into his grooming at the track! 

He was good through out this, but a little fidgety. Towards the end he kept wanting to take a few steps forward (towards the paddocks) until I corrected him -- and he kept looking longingly out the barn doors, probably to where his friends are. While this wiggly behavior isn't ideal, I'm happy to see this side of him awaken - it means that he believes he belongs in a certain place (the paddock), which is just one step closer to him being completely comfortable that this is (or rather, I am) his permanent residence.