The Cob Mary

08/12/2023

Oops forgot to update post-vet visit! Nothing too interesting to report. Moomins got her vaccines and her hocks injected with a new cortisone and arthramid.

It'll be good to see how she's feeling on the downhills this Saturday! She trotted up really nicely for Ryan before we started. He said that's probably the loosest he's seen her look on a trot up, so the 24hr turnout is definitely helping.

I flagged my concerns about ulcers and her reactivity to her saddle, but he couldn't feel anything in her back and she didn't react to him. We'll put a pin in that for now and keep going with the ulc fix supplement.

I took two big buckets of poo out of the barn yesterday so the boys must have stayed close while Mary was stabled, bless them!

Looking forward to a ride Saturday. Fingers crossed she's feeling good 🤞

01/12/2023

The look of a mare that guesses she'll interact with you ONLY if a feed is involved, otherwise bu**er off! 🤣

My furry bear has gone feral 🐻 It does make me very happy that she's disowned me as it takes any guilt away about her being out in the cold weather! ❄️

24/11/2023

Little Finn is growing up fast 😍 The stud have been doing some halter work with him this past week, and now he's back out to relax after all his hard work 💪

20/11/2023

Mary is living her absolute best life as queen of the ponies 👸

I went up to see her last night (first visit in the dark!). Whilst she was interesting to see what I might have for her, she was definitely more than happy being out.

I popped her headcollar on and tied her on the hard-standing to check her feet and legs. I used a little bit of MTG, and was really pleased to feel that her mudfever had almost entirely cleared up 🙌 Just a little left on the fronts of her legs.

The ponies were very helpful in their explorations of my grooming box 😊 Stormzy also helped to oversee Mary's leg oiling, to check I was doing a good enough job 😁

After I took her Mary's headcollar off she happily walked off into the field, until she realised post-grooming treats were being handed out.

All-in-all she seems completely happy and settled with her new arrangements. I'm excited to see how she feels under saddle at the weekend 🤞💪

11/11/2023

Mini ba****ck hack, spa day, and new headcollar for the Moomins today ❤️

We escorted the lovely Imogen & Dudley on the 1 mile loop hack, then came back and gave Mary the works! We got the hotwash out and gave all four feet and her tail a good scrub with head&shoulders.

After her legs dried out a bit, I trimmed some of the hair away under her ergots, and put on a couple new potions - Lincoln muddy buddy ointment and Keratex mud shield powder. Hopefully that'll help with the mud fever flare ups we've been having 🤞.

I was really pleased to see nothing was sore or scabby after they'd had a wash. So worst case scenario, keep doing what I was doing with the MTG oil.

07/11/2023

Moomins had the lovely Simon visit her today for new shoes 👠

I was pleasantly surprised she didn't feel particularly stiff in the arena. I took her up ba****ck for a little walk around over some poles.

Sadly she's got a spate of mudfever so I've used the MTG oil tonight to try and soothe it and create a bit of a barrier for her going out for the night.

I've bought some proper mudfever ointment to arrive for the weekend. I'll give her legs and tail a good wash with head&shoulders, dry everything, and trim some of the hair back underneath the bulk of the feather before applying the ointment. 🤞that does the trick while it's a bit dryer this week!

05/11/2023

Ah this old chestnut getting traffic again as the winter sets in haha

05/11/2023

Fluffy bear today 🐻

I've decided to not clip until after Christmas as she's not doing enough work to be sweating. Her mane sausages are back for the winter 😁

We did a short 1.3mile hack today, up to the woods and back. I can't tell if she's struggling or just taking the p**s 🤷🏻‍♀️ Luckily we have Robyn on Wednesday so I can get that ground perspective.

01/11/2023

Throwback picture because I didn't get any tonight.

We did the most trot in the school so far. She seemed to cope well so we'll do this again Friday, hack over the weekend, and then we've got Robyn next week to see how we're doing 🤞🤞

31/10/2023

When the hits right 🥰😴

Evie Bennett Veterinary Physiotherapy

29/10/2023

A rather wet but good hack today! 🌧️🌈🦄

Despite the weather I knew I needed to get Mary out for a ride today after her antics yesterday. Surprisingly she didn't feel stiff walking out of the yard, and felt fairly even the whole ride, allowing for uneven footing.

We had a nice long trot along the soft, flat, straight school drive. Big thank you to Michelle Clarke for filming us. I think I can see her skipping with her hind every so often. She's got INDIBA on her hocks Tuesday so we'll see if that improves things. I'll get her hocks re-injected before the Christmas holidays too.

All in all a good weekend! Now the clocks have changed it'll be very dark after work so Mary can take it easy in the week and work on our weekend hacks instead 💪

26/10/2023

so incredibly grateful to for these amazing waist-height white strip lights 😍✨💡

For the first winter I won't need to make sure my head-torch is charged and working 🙌

19/10/2023

Happy 6 months Finn my boy 💕

Can't wait to see you this weekend 😍

18/10/2023

"no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing" 🤣💪

Mary and I braved the weather to pop out for a short mini hack up the farm track and back. I was going to trot in the school on the way back, but the rain had made the sand a bit deep and sticky where it's been so heavy. No point risking her recovery!

18/10/2023

Happy 6 months Finn!

A lovely, completely black c**t arrived this morning. What a beauty 😍

16/10/2023

Wasn't it summer a minute ago??

Mary and I went in the school tonight and worked on our trot. Our arena is on a slight incline, so we did 6 lengths of the long side, uphill, walking before the corner and changing direction after every trot. She felt really good. It made me want to keep going around the arena but I wouldn't. Slow and steady will win this race 💪

09/10/2023

Sunday was a lovely day 🙂

After a cheeky morning at Felcourt xc with Daisy Drawers the sasspot, I took Mary for a short loop with our tension band on. It was really interesting bringing her down the road and feeling the difference from Saturdays longer hack to Sundays short one with the band. She seemed more thoughtful and considered on Sunday with the band. Whether it's strengthening anything or just providing some proprioception it definitely helped.

Bonus pictures of Daisy and I jumping, plus Mary's nose looking like it's healing great this morning! 💪🙌

07/10/2023

Looking soooooo much better ❤️

Bless her, she was so relieved straight after the vet came to pop & flush it. Now we're just keeping it clean so it can heal from the inside-out x

05/10/2023

Little after work hack for the Moomins tonight. She was really striding out on the flat and uphill but definitely still struggled a little coming down. We just took it nice and steady. We'll do something a little easier tomorrow and have another hack at the weekend 💕

21/09/2023

Having a super time at Little Lodge Farm with Poppy this week ❤️

Bittersweet having booked this a year ago for Mary's 20th. We first came here around 2008/9 when Mary was 5/6 years old (3rd picture), then again in 2013 when she was 10 (2nd picture).

After a decade since our last trip here, it's been amazing reliving all the riding (and the hot tub 🤣). Poppy has been super and can't express how grateful I am to Jay Jay, for letting me take her in Mary's stead AND stay home to make sure Mary is happy and well after her treatment 💕

19/09/2023

Mary had her stifles injected today alongside a nice drip bag of Tildren. Fingers crossed that'll do the trick now 🤞 to get her back on track!

She gave me a bit of a scare by getting really shaky after the sedation was out of her system. After throwing three rugs on her, she soon warmed up. She'll be in tonight with the lovely keeping an eye on her ❤️

18/09/2023

15 years ago ❤️

06/09/2023

Happy 20th birthday Mary 🎉

19 wonderful years together, you really owe me nothing and I owe you the world 🌎

〰️〰️〰️

I've been quite quiet lately so a bit of an update; after coming back from Liphook on the 27th she's had her front coffin joints injected with steroid and arthramid on the 1st. She's also booked in to have her stifles and sacroiliac done on the 19th, plus Tildren.

Her shoes have been off since the MRI at Liphook so she's had her scoot boots on. She's due to be shod again Sunday. I went to finally ride her again last night and her boots had rubbed her so I had to take them off and turn her out. I'm hoping I caught it early enough that I'll be able to use them Thursday, maybe with different straps.

She's looking fat. I could really see her fat packs coming in last night, so that's another concern. Her feed has been cut down but the grass is good, and the lack of exercise will be the main issue.

The days are getting shorter so I'm running out of time to get her rehabbed before winter. In the past we've seen improvements within a few weeks of treatment, however we're not directly treating a problem hock, so this might drag on.

I saw an old story today of her going amazingly over some trot poles on the 12th April; 22 days after this year's hock injections, 36 days before she pulled her anular ligament on a ride. She was going so well before the injury. We'd even been to Felcourt xc and she was flying. The positive from the MRI was that there was no soft tissue damage at all, just all the compensatory arthritis issues that followed.

30/08/2023

Poppy The Popstar has been keeping me sane while Mary is waiting on her vet visit Friday morning ❤️

24/08/2023

She's checked into her hotel for the next few days ❤️

Thank you for coming with us and driving home ❤️❤️❤️

16/08/2023

Boop that snoot

Loved getting this from today 😍🥰 Smooching that Moomins ❤️

13/08/2023

I know I'm biased but dammmnnn she's a sexy moo bag 😍

08/08/2023

What a fabulous ride around Windsor Great Park this weekend! Despite getting so wet in the rain that I had to empty the water out of my riding boots, we did have a lovely time. After waiting literally YEARS to do this ride again it did not disappoint! Only slightly gutted Mary couldn't join us, but baby Poppy was a superstar as per usual ❤️ Big thank you to Jordan for continuing to let me play with her big baby horse

26/07/2023

So Jess and I have been looking over mum and dad's breeding to decide on what Finn's passport name will be and we're struggling!

He's definitely going to be Finn or Fynn. Long name possibly Finnigan, Finnan or Finnian. Also needs to start with "Capeston" as that's his stud. I'd love to have a little nod to his dad Spellbound in there as Finn is from his last batch of foals before he sadly passed last winter.

All ideas welcome! 🦄

23/07/2023

Mary had a fairly chill weekend, 2 rides of 2.6 miles up to the school gates and back. Saturday I took her out before the rain started and today my lovely nieces came with me 🥰

16/07/2023

Meeting this little man for the first time 🥰

After a bit of light bribery with mum Betty, Finn started a little shy but before long was enjoying double butt scratches from me and aunty Jess ❤️ Big thank you to Jess for catching these precious moments on camera ❤️

13/07/2023

After taking Mary for a little 1 mile, 20min hack I had a lesson on Poppy. snapped some absolutely fab pictures of us working on our connection 😍 It's been so valuable getting to ride Poppy, not only to practice riding a larger youngster, but just to work on my riding with different movements and preferences.

It was very strange getting back on Mary. She feels so tiny now! I couldn't tell if she felt uncomfortable or just lazy, so tonight I'm tempted to ride ba****ck to get a better feel of her. We'll do another 20-30 minute walk hack tonight and tomorrow before she gets the weekend off 🙂

10/07/2023

Sorry for the radio silence lately, there's not been much to report! Mary has our vet follow up tomorrow morning so we'll see where we go from there.

She's been relishing her time off and is starting to get fat. I'm hoping the vet will say she needs to start strengthening work so we can start walk-hacking at least. If she needs more time off she might need to live out somewhere to help control her weight.

She's looking a lot better to me. She also had a chiropractic treatment Tuesday last week which corrected a rotated pelvis. I think she healed quite well from the original injury, but started moving incorrectly higher up the leg to compensate for the lower-leg pain. That compensatory movement is what I think is making her look lame the last few weeks.

Fingers crossed for good news tomorrow 🤞🤞🤞