So, on Thursday morning, my vet called and said he could come and see Violet, so I went out to the barn and collected my herd. The vet came and listened to her lungs and took some blood. He said that her lungs sounded perfect, just great. They were quiet. We put a big plastic glove over her nose to make her want to breathe deeply and when she did, the breath sounded wonderful and clear. He said that her little inflammation did not turn into an infection. And he gave me four packets of dexamethasone to help treat her, if she ever had any troublesome outbreaks of inflammatory airway disease again. If she coughs roughly or had the motorboat breathing, we can put a packet on her feed and she'll be more comfortable. But he said that he didn't think that we'd have to do much more for her -- that seemed healthy, comfortable, and happy. So, I hope that's how it turns out. She had the breathing difficulty on a day that she was indoors all day and had to go through a blowdown and had flakes of new hay. And she's been on a change of bedding over the past month, so she might have just had an allergic reaction to everything. And what's super nice about St. George is that they paid attention to what the vet said and helped me develop a plan. And they are being very careful about making sure Violet's environment is low of pollutants and that she gets lots of fresh air and turnout. I feel blessed to be at St. George.
Anyway, that night, I rode in our usual Thursday night lesson with Sophie, Reaghan, Nicole, and Lex. I was determined to just be quiet and relaxed and soft and sweet with her. And we had a wonderful ride, everyone did! We were having lots of fun with upward and downward transitions and leg yielding through cones and going over cavaletti and ground poles. And then we jumped a bounce with two close bounces, a single stride, and then a double stride to an oxer. It was wonderful! And then we had to go through the course backwards without reins. The entire time, Violet was relaxed, easy, soft, and happy. And best of all, she did NOT cough even once. She'd had lots of love from her trainer, owner, vet, and barn manager and barn friends. She'd had lots of outdoor turnout. And she was doing great! That Thursday ride was such a relief!