Red's Rehab Slowly Progresses . . .

Our vet/chiropractor was out today to see how Red's healing from his injuries in coming along.  The answer is that it is coming along, although slowly, as is often the case with soft tissue injuries.  Now that the swelling in his hock is pretty much gone, it's possible to feel (although really not see) that there is a bit of residual swelling along the lower end of the Achilles tendon just above the point of hock, and the point of the hock itself is very slightly swollen to the touch (not visible to the eye).  Here's the anatomy of the hock - the Achilles tendon is part of the structure labeled tendon of gartrocnemius (top right) in the diagram:

He also has just the slightest bit of remaining sensitivity of his inner sesamoid ligament - the very short ligament under the sesamoid bone which attachs it to the pastern bone.  His walking downhill is much improved, although on a steeper hill he will drag the left hind toe and tend to break over at the pastern joint more quickly.  When moving on the level he also tends to preferentially slightly weight the outer side of his left hind hoof.  All of these behaviors, as well as his being more off when trotting to the right on the lunge, are consistent with the remaining areas of slight soreness.  The tightness in his hindquarter muscles is now gone.  It's likely that all this is the result of the original injury when he stepped in a hole in the arena and almost fell with me.  The subsequent kick to the outer hock, while resulting in ugly swelling and cellulitis, probably didn't make anything worse.

Here are two diagrams that shows the location of the sesamoidean ligaments - which run from the underside of the sesamoids - the pair of bones protruding from the back of the pastern joint, to each side, and covered by the suspensory ligaments.  For some reason the first diagram omits the suspensory ligaments.

So we're to continue on track with our rehab - continuing daily turnout, since he's careful to protect the injuries in the way he moves at walk, trot and canter, and the use of the leg should result in stronger (although some slower) healing, some icing of the two remaining slightly sore areas - the rebound of blood to the area after icing should aid healing - rubbing in arnica gel, and what we've come to call "pasture patrol" - hand walking around our pastures and up and down their hills. Every week or so, I'll stick him on the lunge for a few minutes to see how things are coming.  No riding until everything seems to be healed up, which could be several more weeks or perhaps even a month or more.

It's been about 5 1/2 weeks, and I hope to be enjoying riding Red for many years to come, so a couple more weeks, or even longer, won't be too hard for either one of us.  These sorts of injuries can be very persistant and slow to heal, and although to many eyes Red would appear to be only slightly lame, it's advisable to take our rehab slowly.

News Updates

We've finally got some decent weather - temps in the 80s instead of upper 90s or over 100F.  Dawn and I have had some nice rides - she's been extra snuggly - lots of "head rests" while I'm grooming her. I rode her in the indoor this morning - a very nice ride although she was very snarky to the other two horses in there - lots of ear pinning and ugly looks.  Dawn has about a 10 foot personal space bubble, so this wasn't surprising.

Pie and I had a very nice 2 1/2 hour trail ride with two other boarders this morning.  Pie was Pie, which means that he was relaxed and very good.  We even did some cantering in company, and he was just fine with that - good Pie!  He's perfectly happy to lead or to follow, and I think he's growing into just about the perfect trail horse.

Red and I are still doing what I call "pasture patrol" - I lead him out to one of the pastures and we do a careful check all over - fencelines, pick up any trash or debris, and stop and watch anything interesting. He really appreciates having an important job to do.  Then we spent some time in the indoor just standing around - his only job then is to stay out of my space - while another horse was worked.  He did great with everything.  He's seeing the chiropractor on Monday, and I'm hoping we'll be able to start walk work under saddle at the end of next week.

And in sad news, my 90 year old father died peacefully in his sleep yesterday afternoon.  He'd been fading, but he was in his own home and his own bed and had a very good week right up to the point he went to sleep and didn't wake up.  I wish for such a good end, for us all.

Looking for Hay - Please Respond if You Can Help

We've been having a severe drought in our part of the country - Northern Illinois - and as a result hay is in short supply, if it's available at all.  Many hay farmers will not get a second cutting this year.  To help out our barn owner, I'm putting out a request to all of you - if you have the contact information for sellers of good quality grass hay - squares or rounds - please e-mail me privately.  Our barn owner is willing to buy large loads from whatever distance - the whole middle of the country is fair game - our barn is large and we use a lot of hay.

Also, on a personal note, if you have experience feeding horses when access to hay is limited, please let me know what you fed, how much and what your experience has been.  I've used Purina Senior as a complete feed in the past, either with or without beet pulp, but I'd like to find a lower NSC option.  For now, since hay at our barn is still available but not in the unlimited quantities we're used to, I'll be starting my horses on Purina Ultium to provide extra calories.

Hope some of you have contacts to share privately or complete feeding strategies to share in the comments on this blog . . .

Like Walking the Dog (Except Even Better)

I've had some really good times with my three horses lately.  The weather has stayed hot, but just short of awful, although tomorrow we're supposed to to 100F yet again, but I think for only that one day.

Dawn and I had a very nice ride this morning.  We worked for a while in the indoor arena, which had been freshly dragged - I love being the first one in there and defining our diagonals, center line and circles - like being the first one to walk in fresh snow.  Her softening work at the walk and trot was more consistent - she's got a sore area on her mid-neck that I spent some time massaging before we rode and I also concentrated on keeping my posture up and open - if I'm stiff in my neck and upper body it's guaranteed that she'll be stiff and braced in the same areas - and on breathing deeply, which made a big difference to her. Then for fun we rode out into the mare pasture - Dawn is good about opening gates - and had fun trotting and cantering around on the parts that weren't too steep.  Dawn seemed to enjoy the canters out in the open and was very forward and responsive.

In the afternoon, I had a fun outing on Pie with two friends. We did the short trail around the pastures - that's probably a mile or so - and then we went into two of the pastures that weren't in use but that had been recently mowed.  The footing was good, there was a breeze and we had lots of fun trotting all over in a group - sometimes in a line and sometimes abreast.  All the horses - Pie, a Freisian and a Kentucky Mountain gaited horse - seemed to have a really good time. (When I was a kid I loved to pretend when I was riding my horse that I was in one of my favorite Westerns - like Rawhide or The Virginian - that gives away how old I am for sure.  Today it felt a bit like riding in one of my favorite movies that involve horses - lots of fun!)

Then Red and I had a good grooming and massage session and went for our hand walk.  Today, we did the entire perimeter of the mares' pasture on the inside - this involved some uphill and downhill which he negotiated well, although he tends to scuff the toe of his left hind when going downhill.  We hadn't done this full perimeter before, and it takes us close to some houses and treelines. I like giving him a job - like checking out the pasture and its fenceline - so our walk has a purpose for him.  We found a cast shoe yesterday and a fly mask today.  He was great, walking along just perfectly - he did spook slightly and spun around me in a half circle at one point, but we just kept on walking calmly after that.  This is a remarkable improvement from when I first had him, when he would spook and bolt and pull and fuss on the lead even leading the short distance from the old barn to its outdoor arena.  Now he leads beautifully - he seems to have confidence in me and my leadership now and to have really bonded with me.  I've had mares and geldings, and this to me is more like the very close relationship I now have with Dawn.  Pie on the other hand, although he acknowledges me, is more aloof and distant and less overtly interested in interacting with me - I don't mind this at all since it's who he is.

Red seems to really enjoy our daily interactions - he seems to me almost like a big red dog - he's very engaged, and alert and interested in what I'm doing, and really wants my attention and time.  If he gets enough attention and interaction, he's happy, if not, he's upset and calls and even bangs on his stall door.  This has nothing to do with food, since I don't feed treats to any of my horses and Red prefers to stay out of his stall with me even when there's hay available.  Red is one of those horses who really looks you in the eye - there's a real intelligence and presence there.  I'm very honored by his developing trust in me - when I got him he didn't trust people to keep him safe and always felt he had to be in charge to stay safe - now he's willing to listen and relax.  A huge change - Heather had a lot to do with that, for which I'm very thankful.

Dawn Works on My Breathing

Dawn and I had a good, intense work session this morning.  It was already getting hot and humid, but it wasn't scorching, so we were happy with that.  And we got a blessed 2+ inches of rain last night, which was wonderful - even seeing clouds was wonderful as we've had innumerable very hot, very sunny, and very dry days for months now.  Our drought is still very bad and we're way behind on annual rainfall, but every inch helps.  Dawn and I did a lot of work on a loose rein.  This is really useful for both of us - she has to balance and carry herself without leaning on my hands, and I have to help her stay quiet and relaxed by keeping my body very quiet and relaxed and also breathing regularly and deeply in rhythm with her strides.  If I start to tighten up, even to the slightest degree, or don't breathe properly, she immediately gets tenser herself and speeds up and gets strung out - I can tell how well I'm doing by the degree of her relaxation and rhythm.  Also, if I'm not breathing properly or I'm doing too much, I get out of breath - if I'm breathing normally, and not out of breath, when we're back at walk, then I'm doing something right.

That part wasn't too hard - with Dawn the harder part is taking up rein contact again after she's really been moving forward at trot and canter.  She immediately wants to brace and lean and starts to rev up - unless I'm able to establish a dynamic soft contact at the point of resistance, which means I can't brace against her with my hands and body.  If I get it right, she's able to soften while still really motoring along in forward.  Having her not anticipate canter while we're trotting is also hard - she's ready to leap into canter and starts getting excited about the prospect - the only solution is to keep all thoughts of the canter, or the rhythm of canter, out of my mind and keep my focus firmly on the rhythm of trot and my breathing in time with that.  Then, once she's softer, all I have to do is just start to think 1-2-3 and she steps into canter.

Riding Dawn is like having a finely tuned instant feedback machine - this is really true of all horses but it's easier to feel with Dawn because she's always hyperresponsive to the slightest change in anything - thought, breathing, energy - physical cues are almost never necessary with her once she learns something.  This makes her a real challenge to ride well where we both achieve softness, but it also makes her a wonderful teacher for me at this stage in my riding journey.

Slowing Down Red's Rehab and Other Equine Doings . . .

About three days ago, I trotted Red briefly under saddle to see if that would help or hurt his recovery.  Today when I put him on the lunge, he was slightly, but only slightly better - when he was moving out in a straight line the unsoundness at the trot pretty much went away, but as he started out and slowed down, or moved on a curve, it came back.  As my vet/chiro says, sprains/strains take about 6 weeks to heal, and it's only been about 3 1/2 weeks.  So Red and I will be slowing down his rehab.  He'll still go to daily turnout and will self-exercise out there - he freely trots and canters on both leads and it may be that my weight plus that of the saddle is enough to make things too hard for him.  Moving at liberty in turnout may slightly slow down his recovery, but should result in a better recovery long term - his injuries aren't that serious. For about the next 10 days I'm not going to ride him, even at the walk.  This presents some challenges - he's very insistent about having his daily work session - calling to me and even banging on his stall door.  He's very interesting in getting out of the arena and exploring, so we'll be taking some hand walks - down the paved driveway to stimulate his feet and also around the various pastures.  We'll see how that entertains him . . .

Pie and Red actually got into a little altercation two days ago.  I was leading them in together, as I often do, and all of a sudden Red bellows and kicks out at Pie, connecting with his right hock - thankfully, only a glancing blow resulting in a small cut.  I told Red in no uncertain terms that this was never acceptable when he and another horse were on the lead - I think he got the message.  I suspect that Red was playing with Pie - nipping him - and Pie bit back, causing Red to kick out.  The boys seem to be the best of friends again today, and Pie's hock looks fine and he's sound, which is certainly a relief.

Dawn and I have had several really good early morning work sessions.  Today, we did lots of canter work on a loose rein - she just floats around the circles in a lovely, balanced, forward but relaxed canter.  She does tend to accelerate when we go straight, but then we either circle again or come down to trot.  Now I'd like her to stay calm and not rev up with rein contact - we're getting there . . .

Thanks to all who commented on the blog reorganization . . . need to get to work on that.

Blog Reorganization - 10 Tabs

I'm thinking about doing a reorganization of the blog, so that there are more pages with specific topics, some of which will link to outside resources or posts.  This will allow readers (not sure how many of those there are these days) to find things more easily, and allow me to clean up the sidebars.  Blogger allows up to 10 separate pages/tabs (including the live post page), and here are the ones I'm thinking about doing:

1.  Horses page, with pictures of the crew and brief histories.  I may put some of my "Steps on the Journey" links there.

2.  Mark Rashid clinics page, with links to clinic posts.

3.  Recommended books page, with links to my reviews and outside links.

4.  Work log - I stopped doing this for a while, but it's very useful, at least for me.

5.  Horse health page, organized by topic (including nutrition and hoofcare), with links to some of my posts as well as outside resources - I'm not a vet and don't purport to be an expert, but maybe some of my experiences and learning (gained the hard way) might benefit someone else.

6.  Horse color genetics page, with links.

7.  In search of softness page, with basic exercises (I'm not a trainer, but hope some of my learning will help others).

8.  EPM page - I'm hoping we're all done with that, but I plan to leave this page up as a resource.

Pages do allow comments, so I'm hoping people will be interested in commenting there.

It's hard to know what readers are interested in - I get very few comments.  Let me know if you have other ideas - what topics interest you most?  Least? Every horse blog/blogger is different, but let me know if there topics/ways of presenting material that would interest you.  (I know I need more pictures/videos . . . but finding the time/assistance to do those is hard . . .)