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I GOT TO RIDE MY PONY YESTERDAY!!

It was awesome.

I dosed Dino with a syringe full of generic Maalox and let him eat about half a flake of hay before our ride, just to be sure his tummy would be happy. I might be going a little overboard, but whatever.

He was EXTRA perky. So, so bright, in my face, begging for food, and very aware of everything that was going on around him. The icing on the cake, however, was a distinct reduction in the level of girthiness. Dino's always been girthy. I chalked it up to a bad habit engrained by years of unhappiness in his work and pain from PSSM. But after two weeks of ulcer treatment, homeboy was much less irritated by his girth than normal. When I walked around to tighten the girth, I could see him preparing for it, but when I pulled the billet up, his face and ears suddenly relaxed as if to say, "Well, huh. That didn't hurt. Cool!"

Ulcers better be the last dang chronic problem this pony has. I think I've fixed all of his diseases now. Knock on wood.

Our ride was great. I just did some stretchy work in the ring, walking and trotting on a nice loose rein, doing some loopy circles and single poles. Dino seemed happy to be working again, and was very forward and bright. I wasn't planning on cantering him at all, but he just felt so good I let him go a lap in each direction. D-Money really wanted to move! It made me so happy to feel him so joyful.

After the ride Dino got his first meal of soaked alfalfa cubes, and greedily slurped up the whole thing, complete with green, sloppy alfalfa-nose afterwards. I'm curious to see if the additional protein from the alfalfa will affect his muscle development at all. From my research, it seems like this addition to his diet will be a win-win both on the ulcer front, and in terms of giving him the nutrition he needs to perform.

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