Friggin Freezing

Temps have severely dropped here this week, brrrrr, it's cold!
Only saw the themometers as i went to work a few days this week, but those I saw were anything but encouraging!
Wednesday -10 C
Thursday -12 C
Friday -13 C

With a forcast for -20 C tomorrow and snow galore on Sunday. Yikes!
All in all I'm glad the osteo was out to herself today and so it's monday before we can do anything that might resemble work!

Besides freezing my backside off, what have i been up to since i last posted...well in all honesty equine-wise; not a whole pile!

New degree has taken up all my evenings and all available time at the weekends as am 2 weeks behind due to paperwork delayed start...so trying to play catch up and not really succeeding!
Thankfully I have a yard friend who works across the street from me and goes multiple times a week during her lunch break, so i get a spin to and from the yard. Door to door service, better than i'm used to as typically it is my own feet that take me to the yard as it's only a 10min walk from my house...so i'm not complaining really (although this week it has been a bit more of a refreshing stroll than usual - teehee).
Anyways, so I had been going on my lunch breaks to let Kika and her field buddy L's mare, O, out to the field or bringing them back in as the case may be.

Well not as of Monday/Tuesday this week when Kika decided that she no longer wanted to stay in the turnout area we have for them.
Monday i got a call from Yard Owner saying someone had passed the field that the wire was down and they couldn't see the delightful beasties!
Cue slight moment of panic from me, but thankfully i was not in work so was within 5mins of the barn as my lovely mother was also home and opted to run me up and help me search for the little darlings. Thankfully it had snowed on the Sunday night and as the two girls were in blue/navy rugs they were readily spottable against the white backdrop! Thankfully they had decided to head in the direction of home and not down for a stroll in the woods! As typically we don't leave them out with headcollars on as we don't want them getting caught in trees, panicking and hanging themselves or taking out an eye or what-not...
Caught them anyway, they were good and came up to me which i was presently suprised about as typically when Kika gets a bit of a notion about herself under such circumstances she'd normally run a mile at the sight of me...but i guess they realised it was cold and i meant the quickest route back indoors to comfy stables and hay!
So the Mammy and I fixed back up the wiring as best we could and attempted to make some natural barriers where they made their escape by dragging old christmas trees and fallen branches and anything and everything we could find to create a deterrant as we'd no electricity on the wire there wasn't much else to stop them wandering otherwise...We hadn't put current on the fence keeping them in as they both wear rugs and as such wouldn't feel electricity through them so I didn't think there was much point in "wasting" the battery - Bad Owner = me, I know...but of the same token i know my horse and when she has her winter rug on up to her ears she cannot feel current - fact from winters in Ireland  where Kika in full view of the kitchen window could frequently be seen brazenly leaning right across the electric wire to get at more hay just because there were others in her way at the hay left out for them *roll-eyes*

So that was Monday...Tuesday L and I decided to chance letting them off again but for a shorter period of time this time. They went out for an hour while L walked her two dogs and by the time she came back to bring them in Miss Kika was outside the field, happy out with herself - this time I'd left the headcollar on her just in case of such an occassion as again from past experience I knew that once she'd gotten a taste of "freedom" and found a way out she was not going to stay put for much longer. Oddly L's horse, O, did not venture out the second day - she unlike my dumbo had a healthier respect for fencing stretched infront of her.

Needless to say that Miss Kika has not been out since!

Monday I'd loose lunged her before turning her out to knock some fizz out of her so that she wouldn't go do-lally at the sight of the snow. In doing so i thought she was moving a bit oddly and not cantering smoothly - she almost looked dis-united at times and was inclined to snake her head/ neck about and not really want to motor. Distracted by the break-outs the next two days i didn't think much more of it until I lunged her on  Wednesday when she was just awful in herself. Matters were not aided at all by the fact that an army (well at least 4) farriers were at work in the grooming area outside the arena we were attempting to work in, so that in itself had madam's neck craning in their direction and stiffness in walk and trot - which she listened to the cues for but no way was she paying any attention to the canter request - she insisted on dangerous fast-terrified-looking-trot like a demon was after her. So i brought her back and worke don transitions till she settled, stopped listening to outside and was properly listening to me...although still then her canter was far from good.

Decision made, it was time to call the osteo back out to see what was going on under the hood. I had spoken to L the previous day as she'd ridden her Friday and Saturday last week and said she had a bit of a fight on her hands, particularly the first day. She was quick to insist that Kika did not stand upright as she has done to both of us in the past, however she had threatened to rear, lifted her front feet a small bit off the ground, but mostly head tossing and refusing to turn when being asked. L rightly in my opinion got off, got her on the lunge and reminded her what manners are for - hopped back up and said that she behaved well after that. The Saturday L hopped straight up again and Kika went to throw a wobbly but a reminder from the stick and she went about her business, however L still mentioned that she too found her stiff and not as maleable as usual.

Long story - not so short (as usual), osteo came out today and found a few trouble spots in Kika's neck and a vertebrae out in her back under where the saddle sits - nothing too strange or startling. Osteo reckoned she may have done it at any stage messing or getting up and down. She can be expressive when she gets up from a roll and takes off bucking and farting have a great time for herself.
This was the same osteo that had seen her for the first time in November/December and had said she needed a lot of work on her neck and along her back to muscle her up to help her carry herself better - hence our return to more frequent pessoa work (on a different setting to last year) and the introduction of pole work while lungeing and increased pole work under saddle also combined with more stretching after ridden work...all in all it would appear we were doing something right as the osteo said her neck was much improved and Kika's muscle development was after considerably improving since her first visit - Happy Days. :-)
Fingers crossed now that after the next two days of hand-walking/walker/ loose lungeing - no ridden work or lunge work. That when we get back to work on Monday I'll have a better behaving horse again and that her rearing threats were "just" her way of expressing to me that something was amiss. Doesn't mince her words my girl, nope, something's up with her and she'll let you know in no uncertain terms that she has a niggle *nod*

Will keep you posted with how we get on from here, thanks to anyone who has read this much of my waffle. Fingers crossed all goes well and that temps pick up a bit!
Brrrr!!!