moving forward

Another positive change that I am attributing to the GastroGard became evident yesterday:

I hadn't ridden for three days, and L had been in half the day yesterday because it started down pouring in the early afternoon. I had a terrible day at work yesterday and all I wanted were some pony snuggles. I did chores at the barn and then pulled Lu out of her stall. She looked calmly at me and breathed out a deep sigh. I knew just how she felt.

I took a gamble and tacked up and mounted up without any lunging. We meandered around on the buckle for about 20 minutes before I even picked up any contact, and then we had a lovely w/t/c ride, mostly with very light contact or a long rein. She was so good! It just blew my mind that she behaved so well despite not being lunged or ridden for three days. She is so awesome.

I also noticed that she was WAY less touchy on the crossties than she normally is.

She is getting weighed this weekend and I am very excited to see how much she's gained. In my opinion she looks borderline hunter fat, which I never thought I would see, especially since she gets very little grain now. She is eating all of her hay, which she gets 8-10 flakes a DAY of, and I think that is making a huge difference. She is doing so well that I decided to "break up" with hay stretcher. She was getting a big scoop of it with her AM grain but she ate around it most mornings, concentrating mostly on the grain, rice bran pellets, and sunflower seeds. Hay stretcher is highly processed and she was gaining weight so well that I decided she didn't need it anymore. It has been about two weeks since we ditched the hay stretcher and she still seems to be packing on the pounds. :)

Also, I've entered Lu in a contest on Facebook to have her "felted". It would be awesome if you could vote for her!

Click here to vote for Lucy - just "like" the photo and that's all it takes!