They're out!
My electric fence posts arrived today and I have set up a small paddock which is directly accessed from the stable yard. I left Zippy in his stable and turned Jazz out, and he was quiet and lovely, just enjoying being in the fresh air. I put Jazz on a lunge line and let out Zippy, who ran up and down terribly excited, but Jazz didn't even try to join him. What a star he has been! I let Jazz off, and the two of them have grazed quietly and wandered in and out of their open stables for several hours today. They are now back in the barn for the night. What a success.
I know that it's a week earlier than I had been told*, but he was being so quiet that I simply couldn't see the point of keeping him in the barn full time any longer. That and the fact that he is obviously so robust and has healed so well. The paddock is about 50 metres long,pretty flat, but very thin, so if they canter they can do only 50 metres before they have to stop because it's not wide enough to turn and carry on. That's deliberate to stop them from gaining speed. I will make it wider in a few days, when I think they are ready for it.
Jazz has been an absolute star through this whole process. He has been so sweet, so kind and so forgiving of being restricted. I think he's wonderful. The barn has been such a huge bonus too - if he had been confined to a stable instead and not been able to walk about freely (and even trot if he wanted to), then I think his mental state would have been rather more fraught. And he would certainly have lost a lot more muscle tone than he has.
I've removed all the staples and the wound looks fantastic, just a thin pink line of new skin. Hopefully, all we have to do now is wait another three weeks and then when I get back from my holiday I shall start riding him. That'll be more than a week "early" too, but I'm blowed if I can see why he shouldn't do some schooling in walk in the barn where there is no risk of getting out of control, can you? I'm so looking forward to it!
C
*actually, on the phone before the operations the surgeon told me two weeks box rest then two weeks in a small paddock. Then they did the operations and said everything went very well indeed. Then on his release notes it said 3 weeks box rest and 3 weeks in a small paddock, but no-one explained why this had been increased, given that everything went as expected. I'm guessing it's because I told the surgeon what big hills we are on, but it annoys the hell out of me that I am having to guess and no-one talked to me about it. The surgeon wrote the release notes and doesn't let customers know his phone number, so I can't talk to him about it. (But that about sums up the operation completely really.) So SH and I are using our own judgment, in the light of how wonderfully Jazz has behaved. For today at least I am certain we did the right thing.
posted by cptrayes @ 5:36 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Let us hope things continue to progress quietly. I would tend to still be paranoid about keeping an eye on them at all times, though.
What was the deal for when you are on holiday? By then he will be on full turnout?
I am so glad all is going so well. I know how worried you were about the surgery and how frustrating it's been. But, the outcome looks promising and so far Jazz is being a star. If Tucker and the ulcer medication are any indication, I'd have to presume some of Jazz's bad behavior might be attributed to his having trouble breathing. Can you imagine how unsettling it would be to him to suddenly feel he just couldn't get enough air. Scary thought! Maybe some of his misdeeds were just attempts to tell you he was physically miserable. Poor kid.
I'm not taking bets on it improving his behavious Jean. His hacking and jumping were both on a steady plane of improvement exactly as his breathing was deteriorating by the week. The interesting thing from watching him in hand is to have realised just what a baby he is in his other behaviour. He's never been one for running madly around a field, it's only Zip that sets him off, so I'm not too worried about him being out in a small area.
C
The beauty of the poles that I have bought is that they are so easily moved. I plan to make them a bigger paddock bit by bit, and if I'm sure that I can trust them not to be absolutely daft then I will remove the fence completely on the morning that we leave.
C
I've seen portable "corrals" here in catalogs. Wonder if your posts are like that? I always thought it would be a handy thing to have.
I will still be curious to hear if Jazz changes now. Then again, he may have rocket fuel in his hoofies. That could be interesting.
Glad to know he is the sensible one about the turnout. As I've said, Zip is bit more on the Tucker side of life. *G*
Modern electric fencing should be up there with the seven wonders of the world ... I just do not know what I would do without plastic posts, tiny torch-battery energiser, the lot. I've just upgraded to a solar-powered energiser.
Glad that Jazz has recovered well from his op. Caroline, if you're ever taking stitches/staples out again, you might find it useful to know that we medics often like to take out every alternate stitch/staple a few days early if healing is going well. I've found human practice usually works just as well in animals!
Michaela
Yup those posts are brilliant Jean, plastic with holders for electric tape and a nine inch spike on the bottom to dig them in with, and a thing to put your foot on to push them home. And as Michaela says, you can power a fence unit with a tiny battery. It's 5000 volts, SH tells me, but for so short a time that it actually hardly takes any power to run one. It helps if you turn it off when you are trying to work with it though, which I failed to do yesterday :-))))
Michaela thankyou, that's so logical about the stitches. I thought it didn't make much sense just to remove the whole darned lot at once - or if it does, then that seemed to me to infer that at least some of them were no longer needed and just begging to provide an excuse for infection.
C
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