Slow rehab waiting

It’s one of those days when you realise it’s been well over a month since the last blog update!

*sigh* I’m still waiting on Copper to be fully sound again. ‘Coz if bad luck comes in threes – than we’ve had it!

End of January: Copper comes in lame with a puffy tendon on his off fore.

Beginning of February:  Copper has been kicked above his knee resulting in puffiness and swelling on – you guessed it – his off fore. Same leg, two injuries. D’oh!

End of March: Copper is almost sound in his leg, but wrenches his back/croup running around in slippery mud and is extremely sore.

So here we are, well into April and I can’t believe it – my horse has been off work and lame for over two months! (O_o)

I have to say this is fairly unexpected, usually it doesn’t take so long for him to be sound again, but oh well. I’ve been feeding him, grooming, poulticing and the like, and I think he’s enjoyed the extra attention? I don’t really know – he’s not so much of a horse that you fuss over.

He’d rather be in the paddock eating grass with his pony pals rather than getting fussed over. Which I guess is fair enough. ; )

Hopefully we will soon see an end to this rather extended break, I’m itching to get back into the saddle for some real riding!

See ya,

bonita

Training Tip: A Dressage Hack–Hill work

The other day I was out and about doing some warm up with Copper and I was delighted to find the most powerful, spring-y, suspended walk strides that I have ever felt from him. I mean, that boy was really sitting on his haunches and engaging his hind engine – he was so collected and elevated!

Thus, my secret hack for a sport we all know has no short cuts… Hill work.

How to do it:

I was warming up Copper, so I focused on allowing him to swing freely over his back. To do this, I sat in two-point and gave him his head so he could walk freely up the hill. At the top, I turned him around and sat as lightly as possible through my seat as he went downhill.

I did that until he felt sufficiently free-striding, then shortened my reins to take up contact. On the way back down, I rolled my hips with the swing of his barrel (sometimes this is described as a figure of eight motion, sometimes a ‘C’ shape, sometimes a side-to-side movement. I like to think of it like bicycling my hips in time to his swing.) and sat down into his movement.

At the same time, I kept my hands steady, and light, with an elastic, supple connection through my elbows. I literally was thinking “Lift up, lift up” asking him to lift through his shoulders. He responded by doing that and really sitting on his haunches. Man, it felt so good!

I was like *gasp!* “We can dressage!” and Copper was all *gasp!* “HARD!” and lost it… Haha. 

Still, it was one of those lovely moments when you know that you are doing something right because you felt that next level dancing tantalizingly just out of reach. I love it, because it gives me something to aim for. I know the movement and ability is there, I just have to unlock it.

I called this post ‘hack’ though for good reason, because honestly, I think it easily could have been months, maybe years before I felt that kind of movement from him in an arena. Having the benefit of the hill to encourage Copper to sit deeply and engage his hindquarter engine is invaluable.

Though we know there really aren’t any hacks to true collection, I think we both benefited from feeling that true elevation. Hill work is a great tool to have in the dressage training toolbox as it’s a long path, but so worth it.

See ya,

bonita

Rehabilitating Tendon Lameness for a Paddock-Kept Horse

It’s been two and a half weeks since Copper came out of the paddock lame. He has been out in the paddock for all of that time because he wasn’t that visibly lame when he was walking, and also because the pens we have aren’t really suitable for keeping a lame horse in.

The pens are too big, so when the herd disappears out of sight, your patent spends their time pacing (or running) up and down the fence anxiously waiting for the herd to come back. Not ideal for a fast recovery!

So what to do when rehabbing a lame horse and you can’t pen or stable them?

Well essentially, I just let time and nature do it’s thing. I poultice Copper’s leg with Tuff Rock, a great clay mineral poultice that you slather on their leg and can either wrap or leave it as is.

I didn’t wrap because 24 hour paddock turnout and bandages really don’t mix well. You can do it, but it’s a pain.

So I pulled him out the other day, and wasn’t overly surprised to see that there was still some puffiness and tiny bit of heat in his tendon. I saddled him up anyway, he was walking fairly easily and I wanted to see how he felt.

He felt good walking out and warming up, but when I went into the arena he didn’t not like turning or bending much. I immediately hopped off to check his leg ‘coz I was all like “Oh no! I just made him worse!” but to my surprise the swelling had gone down and the leg had tightened up nicely. There was much more tendon definition, and the secondary swelling around and underneath the puffy area had all disappeared.

I assume that his leg had stocked up, and there was a bit of blood pooling around the area, but the exercise helped move that away.  I hopped back on, but ditched the arena and took an easy amble around the jump paddock for another ten minutes and then hopped off again.

It was a short ride, but it served it’s purpose to get him moving and help me figure out where his leg is at. If I recall correctly I think it took Joey six weeks to fully recover from his tendon lameness when he pulled a muscle above his off-hind fetlock. I did pen him for a week or two because he was initially worse off than Copper, but the whole pacing thing did not assist with the recovery which is why I turned Joey out earlier than I would have liked too.

I think it’s probably easier to rehabilitate this kind of lameness in a stable or a smaller pen than what I have access too, but it can be done. It just takes time, a break, and then careful riding as you come back to avoid anything that could cause the injury to flare up again, such as concussion on hard ground/fast work/circles (which can put excess weight and strain on the injured site).

Of course, I’m not a professional vet, so if you’re ever in doubt, call your veterinarian! This is just my experience with low-level, grade one lameness.*

See ya,

bonita

*Grades of Lameness

Grade 1:

    The lameness is not recognizable at the walk, but is evident at the trot.  Usually, with a forelimb lameness, the horse's head drops down when the sound foot lands and raises up to its regular height when the affected side lands.  There may be an asymmetry in the gluteal rise with hind limb lameness.  There also may be an audible difference between the landing of the sound foot versus the lame foot (i.e. the horse lands with less weight on the lame foot).  Grade 1 lameness' are most typical in chronic, nonprogressive diseases.

Grade 2:

    The lameness is barely perceptible in the walk, and very apparent at the trot.   Head movements, although not often visible at the walk, become obvious at the trot, with some head and neck lifting as the lame foot hits the ground.  This is an attempt to reduce the weight bearing on the affected limb. 

Grade 3:

    The lameness is apparent at both the walk and trot.  Head and neck lifting are obvious with the forelimb lameness and with a hind limb lameness, head nodding is apparent when the opposite forelimb hits the ground.

Grade 4:

    With this degree of lameness, the horse will not place the foot completely flat during weight bearing.  They will be reluctant to jog.

Grade 5:

    This is a nonweight-bearing lameness.  This is often associated with fractures, subsolar abscesses, severe tendonitis, and septic arthritis. 

That Thing That Happens

Y'know, when you go and get your horse out of the paddock, bring them in, start grooming with picking out their feet, only to run your hand down their front leg and feel a puffy warm spot on the tendon underneath their knee?

Yup. So that happened.

It was last Saturday, my Mum (Nonna) was babysitting and I had all the time in the world to ride, but those plans were quickly derailed. I did saddle up in the hopes that he wasn't actually lame, but no go. I walked him around and he was off in the front. The swelling was on his off fore, and I did some chiropractic adjustment (nothing hardcore; just stretches and lifts to loosen things up) to make sure he wasn't out. Copper often is a bit off in his pelvis, but this time it was something in his shoulder/neck region.

He did feel better after that - I re-mounted and walked him some more, but he was still sore. Not noticeably lame, just stepping short. My guess is that he was derping around in the paddock and wrenched his leg in some sort of hole. The current field they are pasturing in is rife with rabbit holes - there's a big (old) warren in/around a gum tree in the middle of the paddock.

So it ended up being a grooming day - I clipped his jaw, taco-clipped his ears, did his withers, and tidied up his tail. Polticed his leg, sprayed his rain scald*, and applied some topical treatment to his not-quite-but-threatening-to-be mud fever. *Whew!*

This ended up taking much longer than riding, but was it all good. He's on paddock rest at the moment, and with the 38+ degree weather we are experiencing, I am just fine with that.

See ya,
bonita

*Best rain scald treatment ever:

Mix 50% water and 50% vinegar in a spray bottle. Pick off the rain scald scabs, either with your fingers, or a brush, such as a plastic curry brush. (Afterwards, DON'T use the brush anywhere else on the horse until you have dis-infected it. Rain scald is highly contagious, and the bacteria will easily transfer from surface to surface.)

Apply the water-vinegar mixture liberally, either by spraying it directly on the infected spot, or by spraying onto your hand and rubbing it on if your horse is sensitive to spray. Do this until the rain scald goes away, and if your horse is susceptible to rain scald, you can keep applying the spray treatment to kill off inactive bacteria.

Also, this treatment works well for clearing up general skin-scurf. It's not too harsh, and the natural ingredients stop it from doing too much damage. Just be careful not to go over board as this treatment can potentially dry out the skin, particularly in hot, dry weather.

Working On A Standardbred’s Trot

 
I’ve been trying some new things with Copper to hunt down that elusive soft trot that I know he has in there somewhere. I know it because just the other day I actually found it for once!

We were out on the trail loop that goes behind our horse paddocks, and he was buzzing – his energy was so high.  I tried a few short trot ‘sprints’, with little success, and then we came to the part of the trail that drops into a ditch.

Well, it’s more like a gulley, where the feet of two hills meet. It’s not altogether that steep or deep, but it’s fair stretch down and we usually walk it on a bit of angle.

Not this time though! Copper charged down it, and when he reached the bottom, snatched the bit and took off up the other side. I had anticipated this, so I stayed with him and when we reached the top, steadied him down to a medium-fast canter.

I didn’t even bother thinking about pulling him up. So not worth it. He dropped back to a trot himself when we reached a rocky part of the trail, and then I asked him to walk which he did quite willingly.  I guess he needed to blow off steam or something…

At any rate, I got the bright idea of making him do some work to combat all that excess energy!

There’s a nice level piece of ground that our trail goes past that is about 150m x 70m (roughly – it’s a natural stretch, so this is just a guesstimate!) and is relatively stone and grass tussock free; great for doing some schooling out on a trail.

I started with lateral work at a walk.  Leg yields, shoulder-fores, and ended with two/three steps of shoulder-in before we moved onto trot circles. He wanted to canter, so I said, “Sure, you can canter Copper, but I’m going to make you work for it!”.  

We did slow, uphill canter circles for a bit and when he finally figured out that that was HARD and a trot was easier, I got the softest trot from him I have ever felt!

What’s more, he was so round, supple, and through, that he felt like he was doing an actual medium trot worth a score. It was powerful and energetic, but so soft. It’s really hard to describe, but it’s like you’ve tapped into this circle of power, and you’re holding it together between your legs and your hands and letting it flow through your seat, into your back and out again.

I was thrilled!

And then, even better – I found it again.  This second time was the ride directly after a not-so-successful ride where I wanted to take it easy, but he wasn’t having any of it. Small, balanced canter circles was the result of that, and it paid off on the very next ride!

I had done a lot of lateral work – we ‘warmed up’ at a walk for close to half an hour. We went through all of our lateral movements, adding some turns on the forehand for fun, halt transitions, backing up, 20m circle spirals with leg yielding in and out, serpentines from the end of the arena to the top and back again - and we had such a good ride I was all like, “Eh, do I want to stop here? If I ask for a trot I might ruin on the relaxed-ness I’ve just spent 30 minutes working for! But I neeed work on his trot… Ugh.  Here goes nothing!”

I asked him to trot right before the corner so that once he was trotting, the first thing he needed to do was balance himself for the corner. This was reasonably effective to stop him from just taking off willy-nilly.  Next, I kept my seat super light by leaning forwards slightly in a half-two point position.

Then I tried something I read somewhere, opening my hands wide, but keeping my elbows tucked in and steady. That was the final key to the puzzle – lightening my seat allowed him to come through over his back, and opening my hands unlocked his neck and shoulders and allowed him to work fully from back to front.

Yes, his frame improved almost instantly, but at this stage that is a secondary concern for me – I am really only interested in his looseness (suppleness and relaxation) or Losgelassenheit, his “throughlettingness” of the aids, or Durchlässigkeit and his free flowing movement and energy, or Schwung.*

And I had all the beginnings of that.  I had it twice – once with far more energy and impulsion on the trail and the second time with more relaxation and attentiveness in the arena.

It’s been nice to have this breakthrough – I now know that I can actually achieve a decent trot from Copper, and I have a some new keys on how to go about doing that. 

Boy, he’s a tough ride sometimes, but I am learning a lot!

See ya,

bonita

*This page on dressage terms has a more through explanation of these German words.

Equine Lingo – a break down

Important Horse Terminology:

Event Prospect = Big Fast Horse
Dressage Prospect = Big Slow Horse
Hack Prospect = Pretty Color
Sporting Prospect = Short Fast Horse
Barrel Prospect = Fast Horse which can turn
Endurance Prospect = Fast Horse which will turn sometimes
Flashy = White Socks
Stunning= Makes you say "Good god, is that thing a horse?!"
Attractive = Bay
15.2hh = 14.3hhh
16.2hh = 15.3hh
To Loving Home Only = Expensive
To Show Home Only = Very Expensive
Needs Experienced Rider = Potentially Lethal
Elegant = Thin
In Good Condition = Foundered
Free Moving = Bolts
Very Responsive= Sit still and hold on tight
Rescue horse= most likely crazy, dangerous and untrusting
Quiet = Lame in Both Front Legs
Dead Quiet = Lame in All Four Legs
Good in Traffic (Bombproof) = Lame all Round, Deaf and Blind
Loves Children = Kicks and Bites
Kids horse= Stubborn and never moves
Pony Type = Small and Hairy and stubborn
Arab Type = Looks startled
TB Type = Looks Terrified
Quarter Horse Type = Fat
Warmblood Type = Big and Hairy
Draught Type = Big and Exceedingly Hairy
Easy to Catch = Very Old
Great prospect= Spoiled pasture pet
Great Project horse= Dangerous and time consuming
Greenbroke= Someone once sat on it
Very people friendly= Thinks it's a dog
Best when lounged first= This horse is a ticking energy bomb
Must Sell = Wife has left home and taking kids
All Offers Considered = I am in Traction for 6 months
Reluctant Sale = Comes with Title Deeds to Sydney Harbor Bridge

As found on Tales of Terror, Disgust and Amusement: My Life as an Equestrian – click for the rest of this hilarious post – Things that only horse people find funny.

See ya,

bonita

2014 – New Beginnings

Well, I don’t know what happened to the last year, but I suppose that comes of having a baby.  Our second child was born in April, so what with the first six months of new-baby-zombie-brain, I guess that accounts for most of the year!

Then Joey bucked me off, I broke my elbow, decided to sell him, rode him around with said broken elbow, sold him and started discovering fun things with Copper, like I needed a new saddle. Bought a Wintec 500 All Purpose saddle, had some great rides, (lateral work for the win! Shoulder fore, shoulder-in, leg yields and turns-on-the-forehand have been a regular part of our schooling routines recently, and for good reason, as they really unlock my ex-trotter, softening and suppling him up) and some terrible ones – in which we learn never to try and tire out a Standardbred. Don’t try this at home kids. Just don’t.

So with 2014 shaping up to be a quiet year on the equestrian front – I think I’ll pop down some goals to work towards, but they will be very prosaic I’m afraid.

Copper:

- Find his relaxed trot, and make it consistent. That’s a hard ask, but it is in there somewhere, so this is my foremost goal. He must learn to relax while he trots.

- Do some jumping. As previously mentioned, we haven’t done this in ages, but I really want to do some with him again.

- Maybe go to a dressage show??? I don’t have access to a float anymore, and unless we put electronic brakes in our car before the end of the year, I don’t really see this one happening, but I can try nonetheless.

Me:

- Work on developing my seat; primarily focusing on allowing Copper’s back to soften, and his energy to flow over his back from his hindquarters.

- Keep my hands up and elbows bent! I am a shocker for dropping my hands and locking my elbows, it’s my worst habit.  I have been working on this, but I really need to concentrate on eradicating this dreadful form.

- Never, ever, resort to a battle. When something isn’t working, change your approach! Every once in a while I forget this, and that’s when we have our shockers. I need to stop, take stock and change tack if it’s not working, rather than figuring out the solutions when I’m off the horse and it’s too late to help with that particular ride.  Sure, it’s good for the rides following, but I’d rather not leave it that late if I can help it.

 

So that’s me.  I want to try a get more videos of my riding this year to help critique and improve my equitation, but that’s a bit hard, so we’ll have to see how we go.

What are you planning for the new year?

See ya,

bonita