App update - it's his birthday!

So fresh, so CLEAN! Fresh out of the bath

The good news is App is chugging right along. He has come out of winter a bit harried and thin, he had definitely lost weight since January, but the barn manager is letting him free roam on the spring grass and he is slowly picking it back up. He is now probably only apx 50-100lbs underweight.

When he wants to nap, he just naps. At lest it isn't IN the driveway?

He has decided he likes neither Cool Calories or rice bran anymore, of the pelleted or powder variety. I am currently taking advantage of Smartpak's Sample program to see if we can find a weight supplement he will eat. He starts SmartGain today, then moves over to Smart and Simple, then FatCat. If these three are a bust, we will keep moving down the list!

App says "Do you have treat? I like treats, not supplements"

He is definitely FEELING good, even though he is thinner. I went to catch him just this week to put fly spray on him. He ran past me (literally trotted), waited until I approached again, and trotted the direction we just came. When I went to get him AGAIN, he literally cantered himself back to the barn. So....he may be broken, but he will still move and be a little snot when he wants to be! His mind certainly isn't broken haha!

Nom nom nom, grass outside of fences tastes much better

Unfortunately his shoulder IS causing issues though. We are currently at the point where we are still having an extremely hard time trimming his feet. The vet was out for spring shots when the farrier was out last time, so she got to see the difficulties. She had us try giving him some Ace, hoping that would sedate him just enough to let us work on him.

We tried trimming him while he was laying down

It helped....some? Barely? We were definitely able to trim him the best we have been able to since January, but it was still super difficult. I ended up being an App-stand (kick stand), and was holding his butt up to keep him from trying to sit back while his front feet were worked on. The vet's recommendation for the next time was to take him off of Equioxx, put him on 2g of bute, 2x a day, and give him banamine for the trimming. We tried that on Saturday, with minimal success. We even tried trimming outside in the grass, and some while he was laying down, but he was NOT cooperative. At. All. And my thumb will probably have a scar to remind me of that fact. *sigh*

It was only slightly successful. He is also trying to nap while we did this.

But the bigger deal is that today is his birthday! He turns a big 26 today, and is having a good day on grass. He got his first bath of the season on Wednesday, which he did not seem to appreciate, and has now shed most of his winter coat. He is definitely having a red year, I was wondering if he would be more white or red since his winter coat seemed to be white.

He is at least LOOKING better

Happy 26th birthday big guy!

So raise a glass and have a drink for App. I am glad he is gaining weight on spring grass and still LOOKS good, even if he isn't always comfortable. His spirits are high, as is his sassiness, so life seems good for him for now. Happy birthday App!