Update and 2013 in Review

2013 was a great year.  In 2011, Pie and I had our Very Bad Accident (three broken bones, a severe concussion, a multi-month recovery and serious loss of confidence in my case), and we also entered into a period of dealing with EPM (all three horses) and Lyme (Pie).  2012 was a year of big changes - new barn (with an indoor and where I didn't have to clean stalls or do daily turnout) and where I really rededicated myself to becoming the better horse person I needed to be for my horses.  Red and Pie went to stay with Heather, and they and I trained with her - for about 45 days in Pie's case and 90 days in Red's case.  Pie and Red and I rode in the Mark Rashid clinic that spring.  Substantial progress was made by all concerned, but particularly by me in terms of my body position and mechanics.  In 2013, I was able to ride consistently all year, with all three horses, and we made great progress in terms of connection and softness, and I continued my exploration of how to ride better so I could stay out of my horses' way.  Here are our rides for 2013: total rides: 673; Dawn: 200, Pie: 223, Red: 250.  Some of those rides were short, or only at the walk, but we showed up and we did it together. In June, I also had the wonderful opportunity to take a private lesson with Mark Rashid, and I've been working on his "less is more" assignment to me ever since.

My horses continue to be my best teachers, and every time I ride, they help me ride better - we've been working a lot on my body position lately and on freeing up their movement.

Updates: Red's corneal abrasion healed up without incident, in less than a week - whew!  And I've purchased a new saddle for him - an About the Horse #2 tree light trail saddle, 16" seat - very much like the one I've already got, but a #2 instead of a #1 tree, and black instead of brown.  I dealt with a very nice lady in Minnesota, and the saddle was shipped last Monday and should be here soon.  This is my second purchase of a used saddle over the internet - in both cases through the used saddle section of the About the Horse web site, which makes a big difference I think - and my experiences with the sellers have been excellent. I have 7 days to try it out once it gets here, so I'm keeping fingers crossed - Red will let me know if it fits, but Heather has a #2 tree saddle that fit both Red and Pie well, so I think it'll be fine.  If it's good, Red will need a new, black, bridle . . . I don't get to shop a lot for new horse stuff as I have so much already, but there are exceptions . . . Here are some pictures of the new saddle:

The saddle looks to be very well cared for and in very good condition.  I think Red will look very good in black, don't you?

My goals for 2014 are more of the same - more riding - every chance I get - and more improvement in my position and softness so my horses can offer me more freedom of movement, connection and softness.  I feel a very strong bond with all three, very individual, horses, and I'm looking forward to spending as much time as possible with them in the New Year.

I think there may be some posts coming on my answer to a boarder's question to me last week: "why are your horses so calm?" . . .

A very happy New Year to you and your equine companions!

Blog Pause

As we get closer to the holidays, this blog is going to go on a bit of a pause - less frequent posting and perhaps few if any posts until after the first of the year.  Happy holidays to all of you and your special people and equines!

On Springs

All three horses were on springs today - don't know what about the weather got everyone going.  All three horses were very, very good, despite their excess energy.  Dawn was very forward and not particularly relaxed, Red was extra forward and very distractible and felt like a bundle of nerves, and Pie was unusually forward (for him) which made our ride very easy for me - I just had to direct his energy.  Both Dawn and Red held things together for me, but we didn't get a whole lot of softness going.  Maybe it was the snow that fell all day, or the much colder weather that we've got coming tomorrow, or that I was a bit tired - who knows?  I'm just glad they all were such excellent horses.

Riding Again, and Red Sees the Vet

When I was taking care of horses yesterday afternoon, I noticed that Red's right eye seemed a little irritated, it wasn't open quite as wide as the other eye, and the eyelid was a bit puffy.  But no squinting or tears, which was good.  I put in some eye antibiotic (without steroids - very important in the case of a corneal injury to avoid steroids) - he was very cooperative which meant he agreed medication was a good idea - he's very smart about this.

After I rode Dawn this morning, I walked out into the pasture to say hello to the boys and check on Red's eye.  It didn't really look any better, although not worse either.  In the bright light, I could see a fairly sizable abrasion on the surface of his cornea over the iris.  The margins looked clean and there was no cloudiness, which means it probably isn't infected.  He was very cooperative for me to put in medication.

I called the vet to get them to come today - I generally do for eye issues if I can see anything on the surface of the eye, or if the horse is squinting or tearing, or if a minor irritation isn't showing substantial improvement within 12 hours of starting treatment with antibiotic ointment.  Red's squint was minor, and there was no tearing, which meant he wasn't in much pain, but he met the other two criteria so I called the vet.  Eye injuries are nothing to mess with, and my supply of eye medication is also a bit low.  Red had a corneal injury to the other eye back in 2011 that took almost three months to resolve, with medication required several times a day, because he developed an abscess that really didn't want to heal - what's called, in veterinary terms, an "indolent ulcer".  I'm hoping to avoid that this time.

The vet came, stained his eye and confirmed that there was an abrasion.  The good news is that it's very shallow, so it should heal quickly - probably within a week - and without complications.  I have a new supply of triple antibiotic for his eye, and will be putting it in at least three times a day.  Red was a very cooperative patient - he's smart and knows when someone is helping him, and he also knows our vet, who has an excellent way with the horses.

And, finally, some riding again!  I rode all three horses - Dawn in the morning, Red while waiting for the vet to arrive, and Pie before and then again after the vet visit.  All three horses couldn't have been better, despite having had three days off (Dawn) and an entire week off (Red and Pie).  I just got on and rode and they rode just the way they always do - what a delight!

I'm hoping for three rides again tomorrow . . .

Wild Horses

All the horses stayed in until about 10 this morning due to the extreme cold - wind chills of at least -20F.  By 10, wind chills were still below zero, although the sun was bright and glinting off the snow on the ground.  I was at the barn, so I turned my three horses out.  They were clearly excited to get out - they're used to being out from early in the morning on - and Dawn had been in since mid-morning the day before.

But all three were very well behaved despite their pent-up energy.  I took Pie and Red out together, which meant that Pie had to wait while I sent Red ahead through the narrow door into the arena - he rotated nicely once inside to face us.  We led through - Red was excited and wanted to forge ahead but listened well to me - and got to the pasture gate.  I led them through, rotated them around and closed the gate, and then let Pie, then Red, go.  They stopped briefly to take a big drink from the water tank - I suspect this is a regular part of their morning ritual - and then galloped off together - down the hill, then up the other side to where the hay bales are set out.

I turned Dawn out next - she was very much on her toes - other mares were out and running and cavorting in the pasture that she could see through the arena door.  I elected to undo her halter by unbuckling the crown piece, and she half-reared and sprang into a gallop as she went to the pasture.  She then cavorted and ran a bit with the other mares before they settled to the hay.

Both Dawn and Pie seemed satisfied with their turnout today.  Red was still very antsy - he nickered loudly to me when I got there in the afternoon, and was somewhat alert and nervous, although very well-behaved, on the cross ties.  I think he was worried about having to stay in tomorrow - they only got a little more than 3 hours of turnout today - the good news is that things are warming up (slightly) tomorrow, so all the horses should be turned out all day and perhaps we'll be able to get back to riding . . .

More of the Same, and a Note on Lyme

As I write, at about 5 p.m., it's 5F with a wind chill of -6F.  Tonight's the coldest night yet - here's the forecast:

Tonight - A slight chance of flurries after 3am. Increasing clouds, with a low around -6. Wind chill values as low as -23. West wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. 

Thursday - Partly sunny, with a high near 19. Wind chill values as low as -14. West southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

It looks like Friday may be a bit better, and we might even get to ride - I can't wait as I'm in withdrawal after no riding since last Friday . . .

On the topic of Lyme, I was talking to one of the boarders about her horse.  She's had him for 7 years, and he's been on and off unsound ever since - he's been looked at by numerous vets, had joint injections, been on joint supplements, and nothing worked - he was never quite right and often had issues as well with his back.  Recently, she had him tested for Lyme, and guess what, he came up strongly positive for a long-term infection.  Due to the fact that he'd been infected for a long time - probably the whole time she'd had him - she opted to treat him with IV tetracycline - the vet came to the barn for a number of days to do the infusions.  He's now 100% sound and starting back to work - he moves great and looks like a much happier horse.  She's excited - she's finally got the horse he's supposed to be.  I expect there are a lot of horses out there being treated for all sorts of things who really have Lyme - now that the new Cornell test is available you'd hope more vets would recommend testing, if only to rule that out.

Not Much Riding Coming Up

It was about 6F with a wind chill of -18F when I went to the barn this morning - it did warm up a bit in the afternoon but not that much.

Doesn't look like there's going to be much riding over the next few days - here's our forecast:

Tonight - Snow after 1am. Temperature rising to around 16 by 4am. Wind chill values as low as -6. West wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of around an inch possible. 

Wednesday - Snow, mainly before 1pm. Temperature rising to near 17 by 9am, then falling to around 5 during the remainder of the day. Wind chill values as low as -14. Blustery, with a northwest wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible. 

Wednesday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around -5. Wind chill values as low as -20. West wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. 

Thursday - Mostly sunny, with a high near 16. Wind chill values as low as -20. West southwest wind 10 to 15 mph. 

Thursday Night - Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13. Southwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

The good news is that the horses should be able to go out for a few hours tomorrow morning, but Thursday doesn't look promising.  Dawn only managed a couple of hours today and was happy to be brought in - the boys stayed out all day and seemed fine.

But we're having some nice, relaxed grooming sessions, and since I love grooming and all my horses enjoy it too, life isn't too bad.