Hunger Strike

Now that we have Eli cleared for reconditioning, all injected and sound and not ouchie on his front hooves, he has decided now would be a great time to go on one of his little hunger strikes. Initially, he stopped eating the barn grain the day after his appointment that involved a lot of poking a prodding, so I figured he was just being “sensitive.” Ha.

He eats cookies, “cookie” supplements, hay, grass … his teeth will be attended to in October and are otherwise fine. He has no fever, regular respiration and heart rate … He just doesn’t like the taste of the barn grain anymore. The SAME barn grain that he decided he would eat instead of Purina Senior. However, I offered him a handful of the barn senior feed — which he had turned his nose up at right before he started eating Purina Senior — and he gobbled it. Turkey.

Even more special, the barn senior feed is kind of hard to find in this area. I have to call around today and pick up enough bags to get Eli to the end of the month because the barn orders just enough of the feed every month to cover the horses that eat it. So Eli’s an extra horse and if he gets it, it won’t last through to the next order. After that I will just pay the upcharge and the barn will order enough for an additional horse, I guess? I hope so.

Other than that, Eli has been doing well and feels very good under saddle. We have now cantered without incident! I am not riding him for very long yet, just about 15 minutes total of w/t/c. I will add more time as the weeks go by and hopefully we’ll both get back into shape.

I also got to ride my trainer’s mare a few more times. She is the least mare-ish mare I have encountered. Her canter is a dream. She’s easier on the ground than Eli, that’s for sure!