I’ll try and be brief, but there’s a lot to report:<\/p>\n
Leg update<\/strong> Weight update<\/strong> Turnout update<\/strong> Exercise update<\/strong> Lumpy update<\/strong> Photo update<\/strong> Not too shabby, I hope you’ll agree?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Time for a bit of a Prem update, and because it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, the update comes in a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stuff","two-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe most recent ultrasound scan shows that Prem’s injured leg (torn superficial flexor tendon) has made a near-perfect recovery<\/p>\n
\nI’ve been keeping Prem’s weight slightly light, instead of keeping his weight up (and therefore putting pressure on his limbs while he was standing in 24\/7). Now that things have taken a turn for the better I’m gradually bringing Prem’s weight back to where it should be<\/p>\n
\nI started introducing Prem to turnout very gradually. He didn’t have turnout as a racehorse, and he hasn’t been out of a stable since his injury in March 2017 – 8 months ago. In October I started him on ten minutes on grass, in a 10m by 30m post and rail enclosure, seven days a week. Very gradually I brought that up to four hours a day, then moved him to a 20m by 40m turnout five hours a day. Prem is now turned out 7.30am to 5.30pm in a 2 acre paddock<\/p>\n
\nI picked up Prem’s exercise very gradually. Ignoring the horsewalker I started walking him out in-hand, in the arena, in August (before he started on turnout), for ten minutes a day. We stayed at that level for three weeks, and then stepped up to 15 minutes a day for two weeks. And then to 20 minutes a day for two weeks, and then increasing by five minutes a fortnight until we got to 45 minutes. When we got to 45 minutes a day of walking in-hand I started sitting on. We brought the duration of sitting-on walking down to 20 minutes a day, increasing by five minutes every two weeks. After six weeks I introduced trotting for a total of 5 minutes each day. We’re now at an hour of ridden exercise a day, and ten to fifteen minutes of trot work<\/p>\n
\nThis is a puzzle. Prem has had two outbreaks of lumps. The first outbreak saw lumps over his back, neck, and a huge\u00a0haematoma on his belly. The vet put the first outbreak down to an adverse reaction to a broad-spectrum wormer. Prem was on antibiotics for a week (have you any idea how difficult it is to get two large sachets of antibiotics a day in to a fussy eater?), and the lumps cleared up. The second outbreak was six weeks later. This time the vet couldn’t put his finger on anything. He said ‘Maybe he’s just a sensitive soul’. Hmmmm… Anyway, Prem had a shot of cortisone and is currently back on antibiotics for another week<\/p>\n
\nI’ve been spending some time tidying Prem up; his tail is looking smarter, and his mane is starting to look less like he’s borrowed it from a wild zebra. With the ridden work he is now beginning to muscle up and take proper shape again. And he loves being groomed. So after all this time, and after all these changes, the ups and the downs, this is how he looks today:<\/p>\n![\"Premier](\"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1.jpg\")