Say what?

Hello there, my meaty mustang!

(This is one of my new favorite photos of Lance, inspired by all the great photos Alanna shares of Emi just standing there. I got lucky; Lance doesn't usually cooperate when I "park" him like this to get a photo!)

I've been trying to get Lance out for exercise more often because he's FAT. He's also coughing some so may not feel like exerting himself, but there's no benefit to being a stall-potato. Last night I didn't have time to ride, so I worked him on the lunge-line for 20 minutes or so. Today I'm hoping for a longer ride than usual....

In my last post I mentioned that Lance took a couple of odd steps during our ride that day. The next day (Jan. 4) on our way home from school, Brian mentioned that when he entered the barn that morning Lance was laying down in his stall. When Brian went in to clean, Lance got up and staggered around "like his hind legs went to sleep," then leaned against the door frame briefly before walking out (normally) into his paddock. Mental warning bells went off; I started quizzing Brian for all the details. After determining that there really had been an ataxic episode of some kind, I called Rick. Fortunately for me (but not for our bank account), he hasn't been busy, so he made time that day to exam Lance.

The verdict? Move along; nothing to see here (at least right now). Lance checked out completely normal, even though he was a little hard to evaluate during flexion tests because he was a silly, playful TWIT who would not trot off in a straight line! So we've been just keeping on keeping on.

Saturday afternoon I squeezed in a quick ride between our busy comings and goings – it was just too beautiful not to. The mountains were glowing in the late afternoon light on our way down the lane, and on our way back home even the "elephant in the neighborhood" looked lovely:

Mt. Hood rising out of the clouds

A little closer and rosier

Mt. Jefferson

Brooks Winery