FOUR posts in two days!

Just wanted to mention that I went out and fetched Trigger out of the pasture.  He looked happy to be there, but he came up to me eagerly, too, and walked happily along back to the barn, though not without checking out the little pumphouse thing again.  I made the mistake of hissing/spitting when a fly landed right near my mouth, just as he was wondering what that thing was, so he startled.  Oops.

I ran my hands around his rump and back legs, where he'd been kicked, but has has no lumps or bumps, other than one abrasion that I actually think is probably from standing up after rolling or something, but who knows.  It's not hot or puffy, so it's fine regardless of the cause.  (I watched him walk and trot immediately after and he was fine, and stayed long enough to figure they'd gotten it out of their system, or I wouldn't have just left him there.)  He did have some tiny bumps on the inside of one thigh, but not the other, so I guess I missed a spot with the fly spray.  :-(  I'll have to ask the barn ladies to spray him when they turn him out.  I should recommend that they get some fly predators.  I've heard they work wonders.  I think I'll order some fly repellant neck and leg bands--they supposedly last for two months, so even if that's not quite true, it's probably worth it for however long they do last, if he's going to be spending time in the pasture every day.

His stall had been "fed" while he was out, so he was happy to chow down.  I stayed and fussed with him a bit--I removed the braids and combed out both his mane and tail thoroughly, and brushed his body and checked his feet, as well as checking his hindquarters like I said before.  I hadn't noticed the other day, but once he'd snarfed down the first few bites of hay and gulped a few swallows of water, he proceeded with more care, taking a bite of hay into his mouth, then dipping it in his water tub, and then finishing chewing it and swallowing it.  He's not as messy as some horses who do that, though, and in fact, cleaned up any stray hay that had been floating on top of the water.

I rubbed along his spine some, trying to find the spot that hurts him, and there is a spot that makes him flinch, but I finally had the idea to watch some YouTube videos on saddle fitting today, and that particular spot might just be a pressure point that's guaranteed to cause a reaction, and not an actual spot on him (though if the saddle presses there, that's not good).  We'll see what the chiropractor says in a week.

Oh, and Trigger's hooves look amazing after a few hours in the grass--the outsides of them look like they had a mild polish or dab of oil or something--healthy and shiny.