A fungus among us...

*sigh*

Flash has had this weird spot on his back for the past few weeks. It's right along his spine and is flaky and itchy and the hair is starting to come in white there. At first I thought it was no big deal... a little dry skin and it didn't seem to bother him when I touched it. I decided to put some ointment on it and see what happened. I rode him last Thursday and he was fine and the spot seemed to be about the same.

Happy horse ready to move out...

Halfway through the ride and still a pretty happy horse...

Last night when I pulled him from the pasture to ride with Honey I checked his back again. This time when I touched the spot he flinched... and not just a little. A lot. And then he gave me a look like "Don't touch that thing, woman... it hurts". So of course I did what any mother does, I pushed on it more. I mean, this is the horse that has never had a sore back in his life. Never.

After consulting with Honey, we decided it must be the new pad I bought him back in June creating a hot spot. Which sucks because that thing was expensive. The pad I had been using was just a cheap fleece thing. Guess I'll be looking for something different. But for now he's going out to Hutch's place to hang out with Commander and Melody while I bring Scout back to my place and put some rides on her.

So last night, I ended up riding one of Honey's horses... Frank. He's a good boy that was more than happy to go in any direction I pointed him. Honey rode bobble-head and we had a great time.

Can you tell I've lost weight? I'm down 11 pounds :)

Plus I'm on a tall horse... that never happens.

View of the river through Frank's ears...

Honey enjoying a ride, some wine and the sunset...

So now that I'm down a riding horse or two, I have some things to think about. Storm has come up lame again. Years before I got her she had an injury to her stifle and it fused. This past year it was doing pretty well and then in the last few months she's taken a major turn for the worse. I had the vet come out and do another injection, but she is still dead lame and the vet doesn't give her much of a chance of ever being sound again. I'll offer her back to the previous owner, but if she doesn't want her I'm considering putting her down. It does sound harsh, but if she's not going to improve then it seems the kindest thing.

And then there's Goodwin. He's doing just fine and seems to be growing up rather than out (which is too bad... I like my horses low to the ground in case ass and saddle ever part ways). He has a good personality and seems pretty trainable. I need to start putting some serious work on him and will probably bring him back to my place in November and get working on that. However, in the meantime I stumbled across another Arab that has really caught my eye. His price is right and he's already started. I guess we'll see where that goes.

In the meantime, Scout and I will be blazing the trails together. Should be fun...