B has lots of yawns when I bring Odin back up to the barn. Often we go up front to work on the gravel driveway and away from his lounging area. Up front is out of B's sight. At first he protested loudly and frequently. Now he protests a little and less frequently but clearly O's absence gives B a lot to think about. In fact, B was yawning when I fed breakfast this morning so I'm not exactly sure what happened during the night to give him deep thoughts. Maybe he was still pondering that he's okay in spite of O's temporary absence. I really don't know.
It's hard to see but I have B's right front foot wrapped as he's had a deep abscess that is taking a long time to heal. The vet was out about 10 days ago and dug a little channel for it to drain then wrapped it in layers of poultice, vet wrap, duct tape, padding, elastikon, and more duct tape. This muddy area between his stall and his lounging area isn't ideal for his fragile feet but it's what we have for now and this layered wrap stays on for several days. He very well could be feeling better because this morning he went for a roll, a buck and a fart before returning to his breakfast. The buck and fart lifted my heart a bit.
In yesterday's post, I mentioned some advice I received from trainer Melissa Deal about treating him for ulcers. I couldn't find a source I liked for the product she mentioned so I reached out to a multitude of sources and started feeding him a little bit of slippery elm (one of Melissa's suggestions), Redmond Daily Gold, and am waiting for Ultra Guard from Smartpak. At first he didn't like the slippery elm so I disguised it in his dinner with soaked beet pulp. He seems to like the Daily Gold so I will likely keep that one. What I'm hoping for is to reduce or eliminate all his bodily dysfunctions so that his brain can work. How many of us have clear thoughts when we're distracted by a belly ache or sore foot?