"To Everything There is a Season"

When Mom told me the news that Byrds song came to mind. We know the time will come for all our horses but it is still sad.

So big, but so sweet

For Dottie, she has moved into the next season of her life: Retirement. The sad fact is that these big horses age faster and gravity is much harder on them. Mom had the chiropractor out to work on her and Deliah. We worried about the fact that Dottie had not been rolling as often and was stocking up more. We know she has issues in her neck and hind end. And everyone knows that "no hips" means "no horse." Not surprising the chiropractor found arthritis in her neck. What was surprising was that the arthritis in her neck was causing ataxia in her hind end. This causes her some instability and the end ridden work. The kids can still play with her, but no more adults. Plus the ataxia has probably lead to the loss of muscle we have been seeing. My sister, who is Dottie's main rider, worried she caused it by not riding very often. Our chiropractor made sure to tell her that was not the case.
Dottie was full of acupuncture needles and they must have released some blockage because she peed in the aisle. That lead to another revelation when the pee had mucus in it. The muscle loss has caused her girly part to recede and create a shelf, so she must have some back wash. Fortunately, the vet today said there is no infection. Anyway the chiropractor said the needles stay in longer for Dottie because she is an Earth Horse. Ha, I pinned her right. Some definitely were painful at first, but Mom said she relaxed as the pathways opened up.
We don't have to make the tough decision, but it is closer than I would like. This winter will be telling. The vet today put her on Previcox to help her feel a little better. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies have figured out they can get twice as much money from us by making an equine formula. Thanks a lot for making it harder to provide pain relief. I am going to try and order a bunch of Previcox before Winston's prescription expires so that the cost is lower.

So Dottie moves into the purely pampered pony category and will hopefully feel much better. She already has rolled more. I was never so happy to see a dirty horse before.

Dirty Dottie :)

On other news, the entire barn is now fighting the cold virus. As ugly as it is, we can only just keep doing the supportive care and let it run it's course. Ember was checked out by the vet today and got a thumbs up except for a wormy belly. A fecal will help us fix that problem.

Nothing cuter than a baby in a blanket

And finally Roscoe's oldest foal, Castleberrys Debonair, finished the Royal in Canada as Reserve Champion Cob. He came in second to an awesome mare who was bred in PA and used to show against Roscoe. The funny thing is, he seems to dislike baths. That is a trait he shares with Daddy. Roscoe has improved over the years but it will never be his favorite activity. PC for photos: friends of Debonair's Owner

Getting Readjusted

Hot and humid continue to plague our area, but we learn to live with sweat dripping. The horses get that lovely white dried sweat that is oh so attractive. When they are dry, grooming is normal, but if they are  sweaty then we go to the great summer grooming tool: the hose. Roscoe was looking rough and sweaty so I gave him a shower before bringing him into the barn. As I worked on braiding his Shoo Fly tag back into his mane, I came to the decision to utilize the heat and work Roscoe. His reintroduction to the herd went smoothly, so it was time to see how he would be under saddle.

"Let's Go!"

Unfortunately his bridle did not fair well not seeing the light of day for two months and is not usable. I put on DaVinci's bridle thinking it would work for now. Well Roscoe has a wide head, but it is still not quite long enough. It was workable though so we headed to the arena. I shut the gate and hopped on. He turned and asked "Where's my Sugar?" Oh yeah, he was back. Roscoe set off with that huge, swinging walk and I just sighed. The bridle was okay for walking, but nothing more. But just walking was showing me my pony missed working. He was listening and moving off my leg better than he has before. Not sure where he learned that. I was pretty impressed and now know he has a ton of energy to burn. As I started to melt and began thinking about ending, he would move on as if saying "Uh no way, I am not ready to end the ride." My second ride went about the same, only we did a bit of trotting on straight sides. When I halted him to get off, he walked forward after I dropped my stirrups. He never does that. I hopped off and told him we had to be done. Then to pacify him, I had him trot with me. I did a little circle and he did a bigger one around me both ways. He is definitely ready for some serious work. Now I just have to be ready to handle it. I just found out I got a higher position at work, which will mean a little more pay. Hopefully, it will be enough to start some lessons.
While Roscoe is getting readjusted to being back at home, Comrade, Rosemary and Griffyn were literally getting readjusted by the chiropractor. They were over due and I could tell Rosemary was having some issues. Plus Comrade has had this mystery lameness. He has a head bob at the trot, but just barely, and is working great. The best we can see is it is in the left hind.

Griffyn, red at front, patrolling the barn

Griffyn, our corgi, has really maintained well and has so much less atrophy in his right leg. Even my Dad raves about how much better he is acting. Due to the severity of his injuries, he will never be 100%, but he is definitely in less pain.

Pony Ride Duty, such a pretty Cob

Rosemary did need readjustment in her neck and pelvis. I think she has a long standing issue that we will always have to deal with, but the chiropractor said she was still better than the first time. Mom said Rosemary practically fell asleep during the work. Can't wait to see how she feels now.
I asked Peggy if they found anything on Comrade that might explain the lameness. She said "Maybe." The question is whether the tilted pelvis (up instead of flat), is the cause of the lameness or the result of it. So that will be another wait and see.

One ride is NEVER enough, so Dottie was up

The chiropractor, who is a friend too, looked at the other horses and answered a long had question of Mom's. Dottie always carries her neck low and has some hard bumps. We massage and stretch, which helps her, but it is never gone. The chiropractor confirmed it is arthritis and Dottie most likely injured it in the past. Not too surprising since she used to be a fox hunter. I wish I could afford to get everyone a chiropractic visit since the results are so good. Ah well, we do what we can.

Free Day/ Catch Up

I have worked enough hours recently that I had to take today off. Oh, darn I got more time with the ponies :) That means I have time to share recent pony escapades.

Roscoe took the next step in his driving training by pulling the PVC drag. At first he was a bit nervous, nipping at me, but soon he settled and his big walk kicked in. Once he decided the drag was not going to do anything to him, he acted like the drag was not even there. We did wide turns and tight turns where he had o push against the shafts. Even that did not phase him. I asked him to trot and he tried to just go fast. Then he went into work mode. Amazingly, I was able to ask him to trot and he did so on a circle. That means he constantly had to push the drag on the inside. For him he only cared about doing what I asked. The challenge of the drag did not supersede his purpose of following my instructions. All of us were impressed with his reaction. He needs to do the drag on the road for desensitization, but I think we can hook him to the cart pretty soon. The next day he was so satisfied mentally that I took Comrade for a ride and did not get glared at once.

Comrade's ride was one that developed as we went along. I put him in the 3 pc snaffle to see if the boucher really had an effect. It definitely did. Comrade was heavy in the front. I added some rein backs to put him on his hind end. He did them well, but in typical Comrade fashion he started to anticipate. I asked for a halt and he would immediately back. So I gave him what he wanted, we backed. Not just a few steps. We kept backing and I threw in some curves. Heck, he was moving better backwards than forward. That evil plan came from Clinton Anderson. It paid off by lightening his front end and getting him to listen. Now that he was at that point I took a page from George Morris by doing walk to canter transitions at varied number of strides. The rein back work made his transitions much cleaner with less trot steps needed. 'They only improved after doing a few. Asking at different stride counts kept him from anticipating. Knowing he probably could not do it, I went ahead and tried a counter canter. As I made the turn Comrade said "Nope, not happening" and did a lovely simple change. He repeated the action when I went the other way. I just laughed and enjoyed his correctly done evasion.

Yesterday Comrade had another chiropractic visit. She was pleased at how he is maintaining. He had a bit of stiffness on the left side base of his neck that she worked out. The chiro work has made a big difference. Mom had her also look at Rosemary since she has had that on again, off again lameness. Surprisingly, she did not find anything major. No inflammation around the stifle, no back soreness or anything else. She did realign her pelvis though and work on her neck. They took her down to the arena so she could watch her move. Rosemary is very flashy and big in her movement, especially at liberty. After watching her move the chiropractor believes her big movement combined with the slippery mud causes her to slightly injure herself. She told us to work her, walk out on trail for the most part and do belly lifts. So today, I bundled up and put her quarter sheet on and went for a trail ride in our 20 degree weather. The ground was a bit hard causing her to be on the cautious side, but she seemed straighter and not all over the place. I look forward to warmer weather to really get a good read on her movement.

And that is the pony highlights. Time for bed, have to get up early for inventory prep at my normal store. Stay warm everyone!

Chiropractic Show

2 more days left to get a chance to win an EIS shirt by answering CPEAP trivia.

Photo Credit: Bonnie Foster

5 years ago Griffyn was neutered and had to be on a leash. Unfortunately, said leash got caught up in Winston's legs and Griffyn became a puppy kite. One of the worst calls I ever got was hearing he was hurt. Turned out he had broken both back legs and required surgery. Since he has short corgi legs, he needed pins. With all the trauma, he did not pull out his stitches though.
He had a cast on the leg with a lower break, but none on the one with a high break. Amazing what science can do. As he hobbled along, we knew he would have issues long term. He has been on Corta flex or another type of joint medicine since that time. Griffyn has been very protective of his body and growls if he is bumped or jostled. Recently he has been very touchy about his ribs.
We have long promised him a chiropractic session, but other emergencies have kept us from keeping that promise...until today. Peggy made him an appointment with Comrade's chiropracter, Nikki. She is a vet who now focuses on chiropractic sessions. As sore as Griffyn is, I did not think she would get to do too much. Surprisingly Griffyn did really well. Nikki worked his neck area first to get him comfortable. All of us, including Winston, settled in to watch the show.
Nikki was great about being careful in is ouchy areas. We could see the progress by watching Griffyn's face. If she was in a problem area, he got bug eyed and had his mouth closed. As she worked, he relaxed and started panting. Many of the leg stretches we use on the horses, she used on him. She found that his spine is crooked from the years of compensating for his weak legs and his left rib cage is the problem area. She said there are nerves that cause sensitivity. Griffyn only protested when she had worked on him for 30 minutes or so. He said he was done.
Good timing too, because Comrade was trying to open the stall guard so he could get his turn. We asked Nikki if we should put him on some pain meds. She said at this time, no. If he was on pain meds he might actually do more than he should. So for now we will watch him and set up another appointment. Mom and Peggy both thought he stood straighter and seemed less tense the rest of the day.
Comrade got a thumbs up and only had a stiff butt. Maybe from getting rammed by a certain little boy ;)

Only the Distance From Back Leg to Back Leg

Deliah, the barn supervisor :)

As promised a post about Comrade. In between snow and rain storms I have managed to get some rides. The first couple with Comrade were bareback. Boy did he make me work. He was so frisky, but the footing was not that which I would feel comfortable just letting him burn it off with speed. So I resorted to Squirreling, aka a shitload of constantly changing lateral work. I had to keep him thinking and the hardest part waiting for instruction. He has a tendency to say "I know what we are doing!" With the second ride, my thighs were shot. I did not have it in me to get the lateral movement and stop his evasions. My Mom came to the rescue by getting on him and working through that squirreling session. Comrade's biggest evasion is to overdo the movements, like swinging his butt too much. This time he also decided to try and sit down and then attempt to canter. I guess we could be happy he was pushing off his hind end.
I take full advantage when I have Mom around. Nothing beats eyes on the ground and she has sharp ones. I got back on to work on Comrade's shoulder in. She helped me by telling me when he was cheating. To help prevent him from just swinging his butt instead of moving his shoulders, she had me put him on the fence. This way the fence blocked him and I could focus on the shoulders. All good right? Not quite, then she had to work on me. At times I was asking for too much. She told me to picture his back legs and the distance in between. That distance is ALL I need to ask for. Less for a shoulder fore. With the fence for physical help and the picture for mental help, we both did shoulder in cheat free.
Another exercise she had me do to help with this was to circle. As I reached the fence and he just came off the track, we moved forward. In both methods I knew immediately by Comrade's body language we were doing it right. He slows down, which means he is working rather than running through the movement. Mom told me not to rush to push him and let him figure it out. So I used enough leg to keep him moving forward, but not beyond his comfort zone.
Well, both of these rides ended on a very high note. Comrade gave me the most awesome trot ever. The energy circle was complete and unblocked. Being bareback, I could really feel the push from behind. My seat did that great lift movement at center and Comrade maintained the connection through his shoulders, neck and head. Both directions too.

Sweaty, but happy boy after being double teamed

Still riding high from those two rides, I put a saddle on the next weekend. Still had to use the squirreling method to get him thinking and working, but it did not take as long. His work still felt great. The next day, the pony decided he wanted to warm up doing canter laps. The footing was much improved so I let him. Oh and I must not forget that the pony also did some smooth flying changes during those laps. Even to the right. Then he was ready to work. Four rides in a row that produced awesome, consistent work. He has definitely turned a corner.
I had hoped Peggy would come to watch so I could get pictures or video, but she was painting the tack room and missed the whole ride. Ah, well maybe next time. One of the biggest differences all of us have noticed is in Comrade's walk. A horse uses his head and neck at the walk and canter, so the rider's hands must follow. That was not the case with Comrade before his chiropractic visits. Now after 3, maybe 4, visits his front end is so different. His walk is true and through. He can maintain contact at the walk and my hands have something to follow now. I told Peggy that all the money she has spent ($150 each visit) was worth seeing these results.
I was so impressed I took a short video from his back at the walk. He does lift his head because the scary dog he lives with came running into the arena, but then finds his groove again. Notice the lovely floppy neck, nicely lowered and long. That right there is worth every cent :) Jen at CobJockey commented when I posted it to Facebook that it reminded her of Connor. One of these days I would love to get the brothers together. They seem so similar.
These rides also motivated me to finally start the exercise program my brother talked me into. It has been painful, but promising. I am taking it day by day.

Chiropractic Revelations

What a great day today was. It was warm, I finally got real work done at the barn and I got to ride Comrade. During the week Comrade had his second session with the chiropractor. Peggy told me about the visit as we chipped him out of his hard mud coat.
The vet thinks Comrade may have some arthritis in his neck. I am not too surprised because I have always felt a blockage in that area and he did not use his neck in the walk or canter. She does not feel he is at a point where he needs shots. The joint medication is doing fine for now.
This visit Comrade realized she was helping him and did not fight what she was trying to achieve. He even helped her at points. I have heard that before from when our vet used to work on Barry and Sherman. Animals are easier to work on than humans because of that attribute. From the sound of it much of what the vet did is similar to the stretch work we do with our horses. The difference is, she has the knowledge of a horses body and how to push or pull.
He responded more to the tail pulls this time and she worked to get him to touch his hip on both sides. Left side, not much of an issue. The right side she had to work his neck, pop, pop before he was even able to go past his shoulder. He did in the end touch his hip. Such simple exercises that show so much.
After hearing the recap, I really wanted to see how he worked. Unfortunately it was too dark to get any video. So was there a difference? Oh YES, right from the walk. He felt free and he started using his head and neck in his walk. Plus he was more engaged overall. At the trot he had suspension, to the point of feeling bouncy :) He still tried to get fast to the right at times, but he needs to build that muscle. His canter work was great too. To the left we even managed a canter spiral. He tried to the right but could not carry it. I ended letting him open up down the long sides, getting off his back. Then I had Peggy get on so she could feel the change too.
Now we get to see how he maintains. He has another appointment next month.

Switching gears here are the 3 pictures I sent in for the photo contest that will take place at the Welsh annual meeting:

In the "Selfie" category

In the "Stepping Out" category

 

In the "Life is Good" category


Hope everyone enjoys this weather while it lasts :)

Born Crooked

I finally made it out to see Comrade today. Unfortunately, being sick has sapped my energy. I knew he would be frisky after not working for over two weeks. So I decided to work him on the line. As I was brushing him, Peggy told me he got a chiropractic visit. The vet said his left side was not too bad, but his right was locked up almost the whole length. She said as drastic as the differences in his sides was, he probably was born with the issues. It is amazing how much he has given us over the years despite his body. I think he will respond well to the chiropractic treatments considering the changes we have seen since finding his uneven back muscles.
He has another appointment on Friday. Then we will see how long the treatment lasts to see how often he will need further treatments. What will be really cool is that another vet has an app that will take video/pictures of Comrade at his different gaits. Then it can slow it down to show when he moves unevenly and where. Peggy needs some good weather to get this done, but it will be worth it.
I took the wild boy to the arena and did a little Clinton Anderson exercises. His lunging manners are basically nonexistent, so this all went toward a common goal. First I worked on him yielding his hind end. Left side he crossed over nicely without me having to make contact with the whip. The right side he did need the whip to encourage crossover. When he responded quickly to my cues, I moved him out on a circle. He of course picked up a trot and took off. I let him go a few times around before asking him to yield his hind quarters. Shorten the line, step toward the horse, look at the hip then swing whip towards hind end. I tend to make a whistling sound to help my timing, plus the horse hears and knows what is coming. This exercise made me wish for a rope halter to help stop his front end. I had to tug the lead line a bit more than normal, but he did have some really nice yields. He is nowhere near ready to do the rollbacks that Roscoe and Rosemary do to change direction. They have more time with the method.
In typical smart horse fashion, Comrade started anticipating my directives. He would change direction when I was going to stay in the same direction. I had to think fast and get him thinking. So I did a "C" pattern where I stayed in one place and when he passed me, I asked him to yield, then change direction and repeat the other way. He did really well with that exercise only going too far a few times. When he settled and did what I asked promptly, I ended the work. He was not sweaty, but he was huffing.
I decided to desensitise him. My guys fall asleep during this exercise, so I figured it would be good for him. Well, lets just say the reactive pony took over. I had to let him run off because when I get sick I get a rash on my hands which is painful at times. He cob trotted away basically flipping me off. Undeterred, I walked over to him and started over. I made sure I was placed correctly to allow him to move around me and I focused on my rhythm flipping the lead. It took a few minutes of him moving before he realized I was not stopping. Then he stood while I was able to flip the lead over his back and butt. We repeated the process on his other side.
He was definitely more frisky then I expected, but I was happy with the work he did. We ended taking the dogs for a walk in the woods. Hopefully I will feel up to riding tomorrow.
Also today is Griffyn's 5th Birthday :)

Birthday Boy