The Horse Talker: Trooper And His Horsey Crew

I have ridden Trooper about 5 times this week trying in between the rain and heat! This morning it was a bit rainy so we went in the indoor arena. He coughed a few times and was stretching his neck out. I have had no problems with his breathing riding in the outdoor arena so I went out there instead and he was fine. I have only been giving him one scoop of Winergy Ventilate so he might need to go back onto two. I think over the winter he might need to have two every day as he will be ridden inside most times. Once I had got into the outdoor school he went lovely again. He is going very calmly and doing some lovely walk to canter transitions. His downwards transitions are still a bit all over the place. I am going to do a little bit of jumping next week and see how he goes. Since I went to university 3 years ago he has only done a small amount of jumping so he is not used to it any more and neither am I! I might try and book a lesson for next week too, with everything that keeps happening he has not been fit enough to have a proper lesson so hopefully I will get one soon.

Another slight problem we have had this week is that when we brought him in a few days ago he had a nosebleed. This was just out of one nostril and only a few drops of blood. If it was out of both nostrils it would have been more to worry about but one nostril usually just means a burst blood vessel. He has had nosebleeds recently from this same nostril so I think he might have a weak blood vessel in it. I was careful when I rode him and only walked and trotted the first time and he didn't have another nosebleed. I gradually increased the amount of work he was doing over the week and he has not had another nosebleed. I might look into this more and do a post on it.

Below is a photo taken on my phone so it isn't very good quality from when I turned Trooper out yesterday afternoon. This is Toby who he has been grooming a lot recently. Toby is out in the field during the day and in over night and Trooper is the opposite so they only get a short amount of time together at the moment.

Trooper and Toby.

Trooper's best friend is called Joe. He is always with him in the field and every morning Joe follows me up the field and I bring him in. Joe is very well behaved and walks round to his stable and waits to be let in without wearing a head collar. Trooper on the other hand escapes at the first opportunity. Joe is a few years older than Trooper and they have been best friends for many years. They both stay out of trouble together and don't like to join in with the other horses stampeding. Below are some photos of Troops and Joe.