We Hit A Dead End

 A few weeks ago, with a heavy heart, I took Echo to his new home.  

His foot just wasn't getting better.  When he first started having problems, I said I'd give him a year, trying to give myself some boundaries since I don't have unlimited resources.  I gave him a year & then I gave him more time after that.  The vet & farrier & I poked & prodded & tweaked & tried, but there didn't seem to be any real progress.  I found myself, emotionally & financially exhausted, at a crossroads.

I'll miss this face

There wasn't much more we could see down in that foot without doing an MRI, which was well beyond what I was financially capable of & even if I did it anyway, there were no guarantees it would even offer any information we could do anything about.  Echo wasn't comfortable doing work, but he didn't have any problems enjoying himself in the pasture.  He'd take a wonky step or two on a hard spot, but otherwise was perfectly happy to play with his friend, canter in for meals, & be his bright-eyed, goofy self.    

So after much agonizing over the spring & summer & finally admitting that denial wasn't going to magically become productive, I decided to try to find him a new place where he could just be himself & do what he was best at:  making friends & looking decorative.  He'd turned out to be a really good companion horse:  he submitted to authority, he didn't have an aggressive bone in his body, he loved to play so would be good to keep a senior horse active, & he loved human attention & was pretty easy to handle on the ground.  

I put my nose to the ground, in search of the right person, while making sure I was clear on what he needed & what his limitations were.  If I was unsuccessful, I'd have to re-examine my options, but it was worth a shot.  It took time, but we finally met a wonderful person who is exactly right for the Baby Monster.  He is living his best life with another TB-lover who adores his ridiculous personality & her older mare, who was going to lose her aged companion, is enamored with this flashy new boy-toy.

I feel so grateful & fortunate to have found a place where I know he will be safe & loved.  But this gratitude coexists with the inevitable sadness & my own frustration that my time with Echo ended this way.  Apparently, sometimes these foot injuries just don't resolve cleanly no matter what you do & it's difficult to predict when that will be the case.  I'm sure his physiology didn't necessarily do him a favor & I learned that I won't buy a small-footed horse again -- sometimes they do fine, but not this time.  It's just a bit gutting after working so hard.

It is possible that eventually, Echo's body will find a new equilibrium & heal or compensate successfully.  I hope that's the case for him, but even if it isn't, his new mom will still take great care of him.  If he does come riding sound, she got the horse bargain of a lifetime.  I had intended to sell him anyway once I'd realized he wasn't quite the right fit for me.  I certainly learned that one should immediately sell a horse upon discovering this & not wait for them to hurt themselves & lose all value.  Hindsight...

I do get some consolation in knowing that I improved Echo substantially.  I taught him to be a good farm horse, so you can throw blankets on him, handle him easily, do weird human things around him.  He definitely has a lot more skills under saddle.  His body condition finally blossomed - he grew to be a lovely horse, filling out his body, with a shiny, dapple-y coat, & I was finally able to reduce his feed a bit from "infinite."  I worked out the huge, deep knots in his hips & got his SI back where it belonged.  His back feet looked pretty darn good & even his mismatched fronts were vastly better than where they started.  All that took a very long time, but it's not nothing. 

Looking damn good this past June

Now it's time to try & look forward.  It's hard to do in my demographic of "fiscally challenged," but I'm keeping my ears open for a cheap, kind (sound, with proper feet!) gelding who is probably green but is looking for a good life.  Solo has the temporary company of our borrowed neighbour gelding, Gabe, but I  know he will be happy when he can be the boss again.  I'm trying not to get too frustrated with the crazy horse market right now, telling my stir-crazy brain to try & be patient while I find the project it desperately needs.  

Life would be easier if I could just care about something like knitting.  Doesn't make nearly as interesting stories though...    

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A Different Perspective On Mouthy Horses

Since everything here is soup -- well, after 22F last night, it is chunky soup -- thanks to what I will generously call "excessive precipitation," I have taken to poking around for mental entertainment in places I don't usually look.  In the context of this blog, that means YouTube videos about horse handling.  In general, I don't personally find video to be an effective way for me to absorb information.  I prefer to either read or talk to a human in person; I also often find videos tedious, as I get fidgety waiting for people to get to the point.

 

Yes, for those of you who know me, I recognize the irony, in that I myself am incapable of getting directly to a point, however, I have not yet discovered a way for me to escape from myself, so we'll just accept that dissonance & move on, shall we?

Farm soup

I have made a pleasant discovery though, an exception to the norm; namely, Warwick Schiller's channel.  I know this is old news to many of you, but I like to stay true to my style of being either wayyyyy ahead of the curve or astonishingly far behind it.  Someone has to keep that bell graph interesting.  For the uninitiated, Schiller & his wife are both high-level reiners & have also created an enormous amount of educational material about handling & training horses. 

 

I'm going to try to avoid too much background discussion for the sake of relative brevity, I will just say that I do approach any trainer (or really, human) with a healthy of dose of skepticism while I explore whether they pass the sniff test:  are they ethical?  Do they do their research? Are they compassionate? Are they willing to admit & learn from mistakes?  Are they just another marketer who wants my imaginary money?  

 

In that light, things I am liking about Schiller:

• He doesn't try to sell me any special crap in his videos.  He talks about his preferences, but treats a viewer like a responsible adult who can do whatever they want with that information.  THANK YOU!
• His default approach to both horses & humans appears to be kindness, listening, & empathy.
• He openly discusses how his approaches have changed over time as he has learned & made mistakes.  I have a huge amount of respect for people who are intellectually honest enough & brave enough to own that they are imperfect humans & are learning along the way like the rest of us.  I think this is something that is a win in just about any situation in life.
• He talks about the importance of looking within himself & working on his own issues as an integral part of improving his interactions with other creatures.

We all have issues...

These points show me a person who puts a lot of thought into what they do & who also remains open to learning new things, which are both important to me.  And someone who embraces listening & empathy is exactly the type of person I want to hear more from.

 

Hot Topic

 

One topic in particular caught my eye like a flashing red light in the dark:  dealing with the mouthy horse.  As I have mentioned on here, Echo takes this role to a level I have never before encountered.  He seems to process the entire world with his mouth, nosing, licking, chewing, eating, sucking, & snuffling his way through everything he encounters.  I have successfully explained to him what the boundaries are (no teeth on the human) but he remains incredibly "mouth-curious."

 

I am intrigued by Schiller's unique approach.  You can watch a video here (there are multiples on this topic).  In essence, he states that this is generally just a horse who wants to engage with you, which I agree with.  His response is what is completely new to me.  He recommends that instead of discouraging, to go ahead & rub & handle the horse's muzzle whenever it reaches out to you.  The videos explain what the parameters for safety are (keep an eye on space, watch your fingers, etc).  This makes it a positive conversation:

 

Horse: "Hi, person, who are you? I am me. Would you like to be friends?"

Human: "Hi, horse.  I am also me.  I see you & reciprocate your recognition.  I am friendly & a source of pleasant things."

Horse: "Yay! This makes me feel safe & relaxed."

Human: "Everybody wins."

 

Do you see how that conversation is different than if we respond to the horse's initial greeting by rebuffing their gesture, saying, "I am not interested in recognizing you."  That's like when you go to shake someone's hand (in the Before Times) but they leave you hanging & then you awkwardly try to cover it up & spend the rest of the day worrying about it (No? Just me?).  Not a great feeling for anyone.

 

How Echo meets the world...

What should happen with the muzzle rubbing is that, as the horse recognizes that you are listening to him & you offer a positive experience, he expresses signs of relaxation:  licking lips, chewing motions, yawns, & sighs.  As we know, these are metaphorical clinks of coins being deposited in your "relationship equity" bank, which is the place where you store the trust & connection you need to carry your partnership through challenges in the future.  

 

Trying It Out

 

So I am going to experiment with this with Echo.  According to Schiller, he has seen dramatic cessations of mouthy behaviour when he does this every day.  Like anything else, it takes time, but it's easy to do & it doesn't cost me anything.  It makes intellectual sense to me:  I don't want to punish a horse just because he experiences the world differently than I do & has a different way of interacting with it.  I get very angry when humans do that to other humans, why would I do that to my horse?

 

And it's also obvious to me that for Echo, he is looking for something that remains unsatisfied.  I have handled him "normally" for several years now, so apparently that alone has not answered his need.  I tried out the new approach this morning, after he finished his breakfast, during which he'd gotten a little high-headed & snorty, suspicious of a flake of hay blowing in the wind.  He was, naturally, thrilled that I finally agreed to fully respond to the nose touching.  And lo & behold, within a few minutes, he started licking & chewing.  In a few more minutes, we got some big yawns & contented sighs.  After about five minutes, he wandered off with his head down, completely relaxed, to eat his hay.  Fascinating. 

 

It's not that his mouthiness is causing any unsafe situations, nor am I trying to change who he is.  I don't know for certain if it comes from tension or not.  But if I entertain the hypothetical, like a good scientist must - what if he IS expressing some latent anxiety or other form of mental unrest by compulsively grabbing every lead rope, rein, fence wire, tree, or other object he can nab at every possible opportunity?  Why WOULDN'T I take the chance to possibly release that tension & allow him to discover a little more mental peace?  

Cuddles should never have a limit

If it doesn't work, I have lost nothing -- it won't make him worse, I will still be clear with him about the boundaries, & time spent interacting with your horse is never a bad thing.  Echo lives in my yard & I have nowhere else to go, so rubbing my horse's nose for a few minutes every day is not going to unduly disrupt any schedules.  I don't have to take off my nice warm gloves.  I even get a little giggle, because I have the mental image of a horse laying on a therapy couch, being asked, "Awww, did your mommy not rub your nose enough when you were a foal?"

We shall see... 

Yes, that mental image

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Mortal Sin

 What, you may wonder, constitutes a mortal sin on Flying Solo Farm?

Well, pretty much at the top of this list is:  hurting The Solo.  

And that is the sin that Echo committed on Saturday

What Happened

 

We were out on our usual weekend trail ride, ponying Echo alongside.  Echo has gotten particularly feral the last couple times we have gone out & it seems like he just has more energy than he can contain.  He spends the whole time trying to entice Solo to play with him, which consists of air-nipping (at least I can successfully enforce with the crop that the teeth are not to make contact), prancing, plunging, head-shaking, & firing out back feet like pistons, which he uses as a relief valve for Obnoxious Teenager Kinetic Force.

Echo likes to play the "look, I'm not biting" game

All at once, I simultaneously heard an impact & felt a reactive force through Solo's body.  Echo, however unintentionally, had caught Solo's right hind leg with a flying hoof.

My first instinct was to leap off & beat Echo within an inch of his life.

I did actually leap off, but had to attend first to the higher priority:  Solo.  

He was holding up his leg, but remaining still with his trademark patient stoicism.  I didn't know where exactly Echo had connected.  I saw no broken skin or missing hair, so I felt around to see if I could detect anything obviously awry, my heart pounding with fears of fractures.

I couldn't elicit any fresh reaction from Solo after some fairly through exploration, which gave me a little hope, & everything felt solid, with no resistance to any plane of motion in any joints.  He continued to hold his leg in the air, but that was to be expected after being nailed by The Monster.  Naturally, we were at the farthest point from home (NATURALLY!).  

 

We were going to have to walk back, after I gave Solo a few minutes to let the sting wear off.  I was at least boundlessly grateful that Echo is barefoot behind, otherwise that may well have been the end of my best friend.  And if you kill Solo, well, that is something I cannot forgive.  

 

We slowly began to work our way home & I was even more relieved to see Solo quickly improve as he "walked it off."  He was still limping, of course, but had pretty normal range of motion, no toe dragging, no other deviations in gait that might suggest some horrible mechanical failure.  At the same time, I know he is The Most Stoic Horse Ever, so even limping means its hurts a whole damn lot.

 

Recovery

 

By the time we got home, I was cautiously optimistic that Solo was not in immediate danger & had lucked out of catastrophe.  Nonetheless, I put him on a couple days of bute to ensure he would be comfortable enough to keep moving & get up/down.  Since I know he is sensible with himself in the pasture, I was not worried about him doing anything stupid & left him loose to practice a horse's best healing therapy:  motion.   

Gratuitous Solo pic

I didn't hose or ice him only because he never developed any heat or swelling, so I didn't know where to direct it.  And if there is no inflammation to cool, all you are doing is wasting a finite resource (i.e. water).  

I am glad to report that as of today, he appears to be fine, just like the tough bugger he has always been (at least ONE of my horses is).  I took him off the bute Monday to see how he felt & he cantered up for dinner that night.  I haven't seen any wonky steps in a couple days & he is laying down for his lunchtime naps.  My best guess is that Echo hit the front of his cannon bone, better at least than hitting a joint.

Echo is being prescribed some remedial groundwork.  Once I get over the urge to commit enraged equicide.  Yes, I intellectually know it was not intentional, that horse doesn't have a mean cell in his body, he is just a big, incredibly obnoxious child.  He has at least taught me that I am not really a big fan of obnoxious horses.

I will then have to bridge that groundwork to the ponying work, which I'm still thinking on.  Suggestions welcome.  I will also no longer pony without putting my thickest polo wraps on Solo - this probably seems obvious in retrospect, it just never occurred to me.  Encore was so easy to pony, but then, he had a 4 year racing career to get the hell over things & choose an easier path in life, whereas Echo had a 4 RACE career & "easier" generally loses out to "more entertaining."

I'm still keeping a close eye on Stoic Solo in case anything crops up, it's hard to let go of worry, but so far he has said he is my Timex horse:  takes a licking & keeps on ticking*.

*If you are not old enough to understand that reference, you don't have to make me feel geriatric by telling me, heh.

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Unbridled, Now With Less Drama

I think most of us have an idea of a horse who is pleasant to work with:  he stands when tied, he picks up his feet when asked, he takes a bridle politely, he stands by the mounting block when we get on.  By themselves, these are small things that you might not think about much...until one of them is a problem.

News-flash-that-is-hopefully-not-a-news-flash:  horses are not born with manners.  Someone has to install them & if they are to be successful, that installation needs to be done in a thoughtful way that makes sense to the horse.  It's not rocket science though & there (usually) is not an age limit for the horse; if there is a habit or a skill you want to improve, it just takes doing.

When Echo came to me, he had some basic horse skills since he had successfully (although the word "success" is relative here, ha) made it to the finish line of a few races without killing anyone (that I know of) or himself.  But he was still just a long 3 year old - a short life & a niche career hadn't yet given him a chance to develop much polish on that skillset.

One of the things I quickly discovered was a habit to jerk his head up & back when I took the bridle off.  Being a sensitive creature, he was pre-emptively reactive to any bit-clanging on his teeth.  Which, looking back now that I know him better, is rather amusing considering one of his favourite games is to clang or rub his teeth on metal because the noise entertains him.  Goofball.

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Aside from the head-jerking being annoying, I also didn't want to get whacked in the face by horse, x-ties, or other bits flying about.  And Echo was just creating a negative cycle for himself because even if the bit wasn't going to knock his teeth, he ensured it did by flinging his head around.

Since I didn't have prior experience with this issue, I had to ponder for a bit as to how to best convey to him that less drama would make everyone happier.  It's physically impossible for a human to hold a horse's head in place, even if I didn't already know that force solves nothing in horse-world.  Punishing or scolding him after or even during the head-fling also wouldn't work -- it would just pile on another reaction to the scold, escalating instead of quieting the situation.  

I opted for a similar approach to the one I use under saddle:  don't complete the task unless it is done correctly.  Once it IS done correctly, BE DONE as that is the release & reward -- don't drill it, especially not with a smart horse who hates drilling.  

Breaking It Down

I had previously taught Echo to lower his head in response to a finger or two pressure on his poll, as part of the basic yields & also to make bridling easier - he is tall with a long neck.  Step one was already done.

Time to take off the bridle.  I undo the straps & ask him to lower his head, which also taps into the natural equine relationship between head going down & relaxing.  Standing on the left side of his head, I wrap my right arm under his throatlatch & put my right hand on his poll gently, as a reminder for where I want his head.

Keeping my own breathing easy & steady, when I have his attention, I give him a soft verbal command of "easy" (I'm creating a routine with a trigger here) & slowly ease the crownpiece off his ears with my left hand.  If he starts to lift his head, I will stop the bridle where it is & with my right hand, ask his head to come back down & relax.  I will try to let him drop the bit on his own & match that with the motion of the bridle to minimize any tooth-bit collisions.

At least putting on the bridle is easy

Echo being Echo, at first he would often get distracted or in a hurry & just pop his head up anyway, catching the bit on his teeth & flipping his nose to fling it out.  No problem, I didn't react except I calmly said "nope" & IMMEDIATELY put the bridle back on to start over.  No scolding, no rushing, just rinse, reboot.

 

This is yet another horse task that you have to give as much time as it takes & make sure you don't start it unless you have time to finish it.  And it's important to be consistent EVERY TIME -- don't skip correcting the behaviour you don't want one day because you're in a hurry or else you'll just erase your own progress.  I didn't want to make a big deal out of it or make it A Thing, I just wanted to clearly "explain" to Echo the correct way to exit a bridle, the way that does not involve injury to the Bringer Of Foods (which should be every horse's top priority!).

 

It didn't take him long.  The first time, I had to put the bridle back on twice.  The third removal wasn't perfect, but it was 90% improved & reading my horse told me that pushing him further during that session would cross his frustration line.  On the other side of that line, there is very little learning or retention.  Time to take progress & build on it later.

 

After that, I usually only had to put the bridle back on once before he would let me remove it without flinging his nose around.  I could tell by watching him that he was starting to understand & within a month or so, I rarely had any do-overs.  I still, to this day, put my right hand on his poll & say "easy" when I'm going to take the bridle off, to collect his busy brain cells & remind him of the routine.  He notices the cue & we are now able to exit the bridle fling-free.   

Did I mention...goofball

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Belly-cosity: Dealing With Troubled Tummies

About a week ago, I went out around 11 pm to give the guys their "midnight snack," a winter routine where I take them warm soaked alfalfa pellets to provide some comfort food when there isn't much grass to nibble on overnight.  As per usual, Solo met me in the shed with a nicker, well-knowing what it means when I come out the back door in the dark, & I waited for Echo to wander in, as he is generally off amusing himself in a farther corner.

 

He was slower than usual & when he did step into the light of the shed, I noticed that his general attitude was a bit off.  He didn't come all the way up to the front of his spot & he stood with his head down, pawing at the floor, which was also unusual - I watched him more closely.  As Solo dug in to his mush with relish, Echo stated he had no interest in his treat.  Then I noticed he was panting beneath his sheet & I was fairly certain of my answer at that point:  he was feeling colicky.

Some random pics of when he's feeling better

My Colic Protocol

 

The first thing I do in response to any equine condition aberration is run through a quick timeline of (a) when things changed and (b) what the possible variables are.  In this case:

• Echo had cleaned up his entire dinner at a normal rate about six hours earlier, appearing bright-eyed & bushy-tailed at that time.
• He had not yet finished his hay in his net from dinner.  This isn't necessarily unusual by itself, but he had left a bit more than I would expect.
• I had seen him take several good drinks with dinner & he is generally an enthusiastic drinker, so I didn't yet fear dehydration.
• After putting him on x-ties, I walked his paddock with a flashlight & found some pretty fresh poo that looked normal.  Returning to shed, I saw he had also pooped in x-ties & that looked normal, so I didn't have immediate impaction concerns.

I took his temperature to confirm it was normal.  In a rare lapse, I didn't have my phone on me to time things (I like to keep it on me primarily for equine response needs), so I couldn't take a true pulse, but I was familiar enough with his baseline that I could tell it wasn't terrible, maybe just a tiny bit elevated. 

 

Normally, at this point, I call the vet to have him on the radar.  Here, I made an exceedingly rare exception, based on my past experience & knowing the horse.  I have a very long-standing relationship with Dr. Bob, so I was 100% (another exceedingly rare thing for scientist me, heh) certain of what he would tell me to do.  Presented with a horse showing obvious signs of intestinal discomfort -- poor Echo looked EXACTLY like I feel when I have eaten something that has gone horribly wrong -- with no other signs of infection, with poop functioning normally, not dehydrated, not sweating, not rolling around, he would tell me to give bute to ease the belly cramps & monitor.

So I had our phone call in my head as I made up a syringe of bute.  I've learned you can't get a horse who doesn't want food to eat it, so I put the powdered bute in a dosing syringe, mix it with water, & squirt it in their mouth.  You could also use applesauce to make the horse happier, I just didn't have any. 

 

At that point, it was time to just wait, there was nothing else to be done.  The least stressful thing I could do for him was leave him be in the quiet night, where he could hang out with Solo & let the painkillers do their thing.

 

Waiting

 

It's always a long stretch, staring at your bedroom ceiling, turning things over in your head while your brain imagines all kinds of nightmarish scenarios.  All I could do was just repeat to brain that we covered all the bases & patience was the only option.  I did send an email to vet, so they would see it first thing in the morning -- because of course this was a Thursday night before an ice storm, so if I did need any kind of service the next day, I wanted them to have the info.

 

As soon as it was light out, I went back out to check on Echo & found that logical brain was validated & emotional brain was once again vanquished -- Baby Monster was back to his normal, obnoxious self, clamoring for breakfast by chewing on anything that I didn't want him to chew on.  To be safe, I gave him only a reduced ration, made into soup with lots of water.  I kept an eye on him through the day, but he was fine, the passing cramps having thankfully gone away.

I'm not sure what triggered this incident; there was a big weather change, but both horses are generally pretty stable digestively with that sort of thing.  I did use a different cut of hay, I'd gotten a few bales to fill a gap while waiting for a new delivery, & while it didn't bother Solo, it's certainly possible that something irritated the more sensitive Echo.  But it's hard to say.   

Being Ready

 

It's pretty inevitable for any horse to have some colicky episodes; even Solo, my Iron Horse, has had a crampy instance or two.  Many of these will be relatively mild, but as we know, they can go unpredictably awry for innumerable reasons & this can happen with even the very best of care.  While there are never any guarantees, because horses, you can try to stack the deck for yourself by:

• Learn your horse's routine -- how does he approach his food, what is his energy level, what is his normal expression?  This can help you catch things early, although I recognize that it's trickier if you are boarding, but you can still build a good staff relationship to help monitor these things.  
  
• Familiarize yourself with his baseline vitals:  temp, pulse, respiration rate.  Learn the normal colour of his gums, his normal capillary refill time, & his normal water intake.
• Talk with your vet in a non-stressful time to outline an appropriate general response plan that's right for you.  This is the time to ask questions about when your vet would like you to call them, data they would like you to have ready when you do call, supplies you should have on hand, & any other steps they would like to you to take.

Normal equine values from Horse Side Vet Guide

Hopefully, you won't have to use this plan, but if you do, I've found it improves my ability to mentally & emotionally manage the situation if I have a checklist & some sort of decision tree thought out beforehand.  Are there any other tips you would add?

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To Build A Fire

Since there seems to be a widespread desire for projects one can do at home, I thought I'd share a recent one of mine.  Perhaps not directly horse-related, but I can enjoy it while looking at my horses so I say that counts.

I have some things on the farm that can use burning:  fallen branches, old rotten pallets.  A co-worker recently inspired me when she told me she'd built a fire pit in her backyard & I thought, "Well, that would make said burning much more enjoyable!"  So here is my step-by-step guide to create your own safe, easy, cheap fire pit & enjoy the crackling warmth of a cozy-marshmallow roast at home.

My pit o' fire holding

SAFETY FIRST (duh, y'all know me):  choose your spot carefully!  Check your local rules for your property, which may have specific guidelines for outdoor fires.  If there aren't any, you should be at least 25' from any structures & do not place your fire underneath trees.  Get to know your prevailing wind patterns, if you don't already & think about where sparks may be carried (this also will inform where you want to sit).  I used to be a wildland firefighter, so I spent a couple of weeks evaluating different spots on the farm & thinking about fire & wind behaviour.

Working a prescribed burn on a federal wildlife refuge

I perused the interwebz for design & materials ideas & decided to go with simple hardware store pavers, some of which I already had.  I used 12" square flat blocks for the base & textured retaining wall blocks for the sides.

I very cleverly decided to employ tractor bucket to carry the blocks for me so I didn't have to make a bunch of trips (it's been raining a lot & I didn't really want to make ruts driving the truck all over).  

Reason #457 longbed truck is awesome

And then once I got all the blocks unloaded in my desired spot, naturally, I promptly changed my mind about where I wanted it.  But I didn't feel like getting tractor back out, so I just carried them all by hand anyway.  Net effort saved = 0.  Because this is how I roll.  Apparently.

I weedeated the grass down as short as possible.  I did not want the ground to be level, so it would drain, so I did minimal raking.  Then I set the 12" pavers for the base in the center.  I left a small gap between these pavers for sand, which will help prevent them from shifting & provide a barrier between fire & ground.  I ended up changing the arrangement after the initial picture to make them fit inside the circle.

The most thrilling photo ever

Next, the retaining blocks went in a circle for the walls.  Plan on plenty of fiddling in this step.  My ring is approximately 36" wide.  I just set the blocks on top of each other, with the 2nd layer set slightly to the inside because they have a lip on them.  I did not use any mortar or anything because that would cost more money & take longer.  It's not like concrete blocks are going to blow away.  I filled in the gaps around the edges with rocks that I collect in my pastures & pile around fenceposts for later use.

Other people cut square pavers to fill the gaps, I felt that was too much work

Final step:  add a bag of paver sand.  I dumped the whole bag in there & started with my hands, rubbing it back & forth over the seams to push it into the gaps.  I followed up with a broom, sweeping back & forth again to allow the fine silica sand to pack in & then pushed the rest to the edges.

All done!

And that's it!  In another "of course, because it's a Me project" feature, I ran out of wall pavers, so I have a, uh, "handicap accessible" gap in case I have any visitors less than 8" tall.  I originally was going to pick up another block at the store to fill this, but for now, I am finding this is kind of a useful spot to lean over & start/tend to fire, making it a little easier on my arthritic back.

So far, I have made two smokey fires, because everything is saturated & it's raining again today.  But it worked REALLY well & provides nice peace of mind that everything is contained by blocks.  After a fire, I do spread out the coals on the base before I go in the house so it will cool faster (doesn't take so long in Dec) & I go back & check them when I give the horses their late night snack.

Delicious & delightful

The whole thing took me maybe 2 hours and was less than $70.  Since I have to burn some things anyway, having this safe spot to do it is definitely worth that & then some & now I also have a nice activity to enjoy, say, while I watch The Great Planetary Conjunction (which was pretty neat)!

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Rehab With A "Porpoise"

In this case, the porpoise defeated the purpose.  

I've been sticking to very light work with Echo as his feets continue to heal, alternating between longeing & walk rides; we're not working every day.  Saturday morning was lovely & he was looking pretty comfy in his paddock, so I decided to ride & add a little trot to the mix.  Thursday & Friday had been drizzly & overcast, so the ground was soft, making things easier.

It went like this:

Me:  Ok, Echo, starting at walk, let's make sure we still remember how to go & turn & stop nicely & in balance.

Echo:  Gots it, no problem!

 

Me:  Good boy!!  How about leg yields & bending & moving shoulders & HQ separately?

 

Echo:  Simple basics, let me show you how easy they are!

 

Me:  Excellent job!!! I don't really feel any limping either.  Let's see how a little trot feels, it doesn't have to be anything big.

 

Echo:  WHOOOOOO-YEAAAAAAH, I'M SO OVER WALKING, HOW 'BOUT LET'S GALLOP!  OR LEAP AROUND!?? OR BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!!  I'M  HEALED, BRING THE NOISSSEE!!!  

   

Me:  A little less would be fine...

Oh look, I did get it on camera...

I tried to convince the Baby Monster that bucking like a porpoise was not what the vet had in mind & would no doubt be regretted by the end of the day, but kids never listen.

Lest you are wide-eyed at the thought of having to hang on to an exuberant 6 yr old bronco, I can assure you that Echo's own impression of his wildness far exceeds reality.  One of the great things about this horse is that he doesn't have it in him to really be naughty, so while you sit on top of the smoothest mini-bucks I've ever felt, you just...giggle.  

 

Then you say, ok, STOP.  And he stops & goes back to walking on a loose rein.    Reason #4,957 why a good, safe brain is my top priority in a horse!

Naturally, afterwards, he ripped off one of his front shoes (at least not the broken foot), because Echo...

He just couldn't wait THREE DAYS for farrier appt

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The Meanwhile Rides: Part II - Finding My Seat

Next came Hunter -- in his late teens (I think?), this rangy 17 h TB sets a new bar for quirky.  I don't have a picture of him right now, but just picture a tall dark bay with solid bone, no white, & a truly noble face.  He ended up giving me something very valuable.  First, some background...

  

Hunter is another of TN's personal horses.  Most of her horses, Rocky being the exception, come to her because everyone else has given up on them.  They have been labeled "unrideable" or are rife with physical issues.  TN truly has a gift for these horses, no small part of which is her seemingly endless patience (seriously, I am in awe of this woman's capacity for calm).

I only know bits & pieces of Hunter's story:  he did event, has done some dressage.  He's a sensitive horse, particularly emotionally.  He has definitely had some rough patches in his life.  As a result, he had become volatile, which is understandable as I got to know how particular he is.  So he carries baggage, which I certainly don't begrudge due to my own familiarity with the concept.  You can't put the reins over his head from the front, you probably can't catch him if he doesn't know you, you can't carry a whip around him, & if another horse canters up behind him in the ring, he might tuck his butt & scoot.  And as we recently learned, a brand-new, stiff saddle pad is akin to torture & he will be unable to trot & will carry his back somewhere around his navel.

Hunter is Special.

Despite this, he has a deeply kind & patient nature.  He likes to be ridden a very specific way, but as long as you don't get aggressive, he will wait for you to figure your shit out.  Even if you are a slow monkey like me.  Thanks to TN's years of work with him, generally the worst he'll do is give a kick out if he thinks you have used too much spur or asked something unfairly, which I have no problem with.  When you do finally sort it out though, he'll give you a nice, respectful contact & a delightful canter.

Some days I feel like this...

As I mentioned, I was looking forward to the opportunity to work on my seat.  It's workmanlike, I think, but I know there's a lot of room for improvement.  It's something that is difficult for me, in large part because I have facet joint arthritis from about L13-S1, so things stay a little stiff, lopsided, & creaky in my lower back/pelvis region.  I never could convince the PT to take up residence in my spare room, sigh.

 

To get to the point of a story which is in danger of rambling out of control, Hunter showed me how to really sit the canter.  Of course, I have long been able to sit ON a canter, but I never felt like I really mastered that supple, following seat which just flows with the saddle inseparably.  It really frustrated me for years because I just couldn't put my finger on why I was failing at this.  I knew it was one of those things that you have to feel to understand, but I didn't know how to stumble into that feel.

 

Enter the gift that Hunter held.  TN was talking me through our initial ride as I learned what he liked & what he didn't.  One of TN's other strengths is a fine-scale eye for body alignment & feel.  She had me put Hunter on some 10-15 m canter circles, where he found his cadence & gave me a soft, receptive back to sit on so I could focus on following his motion with my inside hip.  And "suddenly," there it was -- my hips were part of his back, with no intermittent gap between ass & saddle, with the two of us completely, finally, moving as one.

 

I put "suddenly" in quotes, because as I'm sure many of you know, that was actually really hard work.  I've had to learn what I call "Hunter Time," which means "Super Slow & Patient" because Hunter does nothing in a hurry & gives nothing away for free.  Of course, me being me, I yelled out, "OMG! THIS is what sitting the canter is supposed to feel like!!  This is what I've been looking for for YEARS!!!"  I figure TN can at least have some free entertainment while she's on crutches.    

On that day, it felt like this

I've kept working on this in subsequent Hunter rides whenever he is cooperative (he doesn't always agree that anything which might outpace a snail is necessary nor should he indulge your tiresome human whim to continue at the canter).  And I've found that I'm able to carry that feeling, that seat, to other horses now.  It's not perfect, but a HUUUUGE leap forward for me & I'm really excited about it.  

 

At present, I can't break it down into words & I don't have any magic analogies for you, I'm really sorry about that.  I will keep thinking on it & if I come up with something, it's yours!  But I can say this:  when you have the opportunity, ride different horses.  You never know what gifts they may give you.

To be continued...

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The Meanwhile Rides: Part I

I think we can all agree that there is never a good time for your horse to hurt himself.  However, throughout the course of Echo's travail, there have definitely been some aspects of timing serendipity.

Normally, spring/summer/fall means lots of work travel for me, chasing wildlife across 1/3 of the state.  Which would have exponentially ratcheted up the stress of having to care for him off-property (yes, next-door, but still another place I needed to be).  But the pandemic meant drastically less field work due to logistical difficulties & virtually no overnight travel.

It also turned out that Echo wasn't the only one who needed me around.  In one of those in-a-flash mishaps that horses excel at, Trainer Neighbour (TN) broke her leg.  Luckily, it didn't require a cast, just six weeks of crutches, but that really puts a kink in your ability to feed a boarding facility -- & ride your training & personal horses.  I finally got a chance to feel like a Really Useful Neighbour: not only can I give a horse a schooling ride without constant supervision, I can schlep feed buckets around with the best of them & thanks to Echo, I was there every night anyway.

I actually started picking up the occasional ride before TN got hurt.  She had a full schedule & needed some help keeping her lesson horse in shape & I needed to not lose all my riding muscles to sadness & atrophy.  The bonus for me was that said lesson horse was Rocky:  the kind of horse who makes it impossible not to smile.

Only Rocky pic I have - during which he took a nap

Rocky is a 26 yr.  old Quarter Horse & reminds me in some ways of Solo

• He has a long back & a big spring in his trot.  
• When you ask him to canter, you can feel him go "yippeee!"
• He will attempt to convince you that his butt is only there to hold his tail on.
• Nothing makes him happier than a jump (or something he can pretend is a jump...like a puddle)

And just like Solo, he is a kind chestnut with a big heart who will never stop trying for you.  He has a sweet, pocket-pony personality & he makes the most adorable treat face you ever saw.  Yes, he is a priceless gem.

You might have read "old QH who is the primary lesson horse" & thought, oh, that sounds like a dull ride.  You would be completely wrong.

Rocky makes you smile just by being precious when you are near him, but once you start riding, that smile becomes a grin.  Because he is wonderfully responsive to light aids & can give you as much forward as you may desire.  And since he is 26 & honest, you have the option of letting him do his thing so you can work on yourself.

This allowed me to do things like spending an entire ride focusing on riding turns & bends off my outside aids.  Or making tweaks to my position or balance without having to remind the horse to keep going.  Or experiment with different corrections to see which gave a better result.

Bc riding Baby Monsters sometimes doesn't include perfect equitation, lol

It also allowed me try different exercises to tune up areas where Rocky tends to get sloppy, like falling out of the canter into a racing pile of forehand or snatching at the bit when asking for halt.  Playing with my toolbox & finding new pieces to add.

And of course, this was all re-tuning me, rebuilding lost muscle, & with his trot suspension, kick-starting my core re-development.  Which prepared me for the horse we added next -- a horse who actually cares what you do with your seat & just might buck you off if you don't listen, a prospect which both interested me & dismayed me, because seat finesse is what I have the LEAST of.  Similar to Solo's belief about his butt, I feel that my HQ only exist to hold my legs on.

How it went comes next...     

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In Which We All Co-Habitate Once More

That's right, Echo is finally back home!  

I decided to go ahead & bring him home this past weekend since we were supposed to get rain this week.  He was doing well in his enlarged pen & I didn't want him to backslide if I had to pen him back up just to keep him out of mud.  His own paddock here drains very well & doesn't get muddy.

So with the help of the always-fabulous Erica, we marched Gabe, Solo's substitute buddy, back home next door & returned with an (aced, just so I didn't get accidentally trampled in exuberance) Echo.

True to his good nature, he has transitioned back seamlessly to annoying us here instead of next door, ha.  It took him about 14 seconds to pounce on Solo's head for some Face Tag (during which Solo looked at me going, oh yeah, now I remember how annoying this kid is...).  After which, he returned to his normal pastime of meandering around his paddock & watching the world exist.

Echo in full meander

I'll wait a week before allowing him & Solo to be together again -- Echo has not been able to play with another horse for 4 months, so we didn't want to throw it all at him at once.  

I did sit on him once last week, just walking around for a few minutes.  It didn't feel great -- his feets are sore from not being on grass & his whole body felt tight.  But he seemed to enjoy getting out & doing something, even if he did get bored in about three minutes.  I at least know all the buttons I installed are still there.  And he behaved completely, which was the most important part.  He really tries so hard to be good.

No muscle, but shiny. I wore my vest just in case, but he was uber-chill

Moving forward, I will probably just stick to light work on the longe.  It's not really necessary for me to sit on him at this point & it will allow me to watch him.  I will just see what he tells me he's up for.  Right now, that is essentially walking.  But hey, it's walking AT HOME & it's walking WITH NO STALL CLEANING anywhere in the vicinity.  Vast improvements...

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The End Is Near!

 By which I mean...the end of cleaning that bloody stall!

To my relief & no small amount of surprise, Dr. Bob actually got to give us GOOD news on Tuesday:  Echo's fracture line is completely healed!!

 *pause for strange feeling...is that...dare we...hope?*

We are not completely done.  Echo still has some bruising in that area to heal & the lytic area around the toe is still filling in.  But now he is a "bruise horse" instead of a "fracture horse," which is somewhat less terrifying for "owner of horse."

The schedule is to let him out on a little larger paddock area (already done with success!) for the next two weeks.  If nothing untoward happens during that time, he can then come home & be in his paddock here for two more weeks & wean off the Equioxx, after which he can go back to regular turnout.

First grazing at liberty since July

I can also begin sitting on his sorry butt (well, technically, his sorry back) next week & tack walk him.  I'll bring along my friend, Ace, for the first attempt, of course -- I know he will try to be good, but he is holding in four months of PLAY-PLAY-PLAY, even a Very Good Boy can only contain so much.

Dr. Bob had us go ahead & transition out of his "fracture shoe" that farrier had devised, consisting of an extra sturdy draft horse pad, into a medium-soft EquiPak pad (forgot to take a pic of that), to provide a softer cushion for the bruising.  

Cut-down draft horse pad

I'm a long way from not holding my breath anymore, but it's a big step forward, so thanks for all the good vibes because they worked!!

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The Hits Keep Coming

Poor Echo. 

Baby Monster has been on small pen rest since July. His shoulder was making progress, but there was an element to his limp which persisted in a way that nagged at me. I scheduled radiographs with a secret hope that Dr. Bob would tell me I worry too much & everything looked fine. 

That's not exactly what happened. 

I did, however, get an answer. Echo, at some point (same time as shoulder? Hard to say), fractured his left front coffin bone. No horse owner wants to hear that particular f-word (it prompts even heavier use of the OTHER f-word). I did what I do - research.

Coffin bones are heinously slow to heal (of course), but, as long as the fracture doesn't extend into the joint, the prognosis for full recovery is very good. Echo's fracture does not extend into the joint & that whole joint is very clean.  This is good as long as it doesn't change.

He needed to be restricted, though, & I didn't have the setup to do so for 4-6 months or more. Thanks to my very kind neighbor, he is staying next door instead while I once again borrow Gabe, who kept Solo company when I sold Encore. 

At least he got a chance to learn about pigs...

This means that every day for the past 4 months, I work, then I walk next door & feed/muck out the Pig Boy, who loves nothing more than to walk in circles in his poop & mince it into a shavings jambalaya. I come home & have just enough energy to check out, which is why it's taken me so long to write this. 

Dr. Bob comes tomorrow to do follow up rads & see where we are, if it is healing, if it has spread - given our luck, I give it about 50/50 at this point. Obviously, I am hoping for some good news. I keep giving this horse chances because he really is something else. This 6 y.o. TB has been in this stall/pen for 4 months, only coming out a few times a week for hand grazing. And I can take him out in his regular halter, no chains, no drugs, he is obedient & sensible & as adorable as ever. 

One of many chill graze sessions

I had been originally hoping to try & sell him this year -- he is an exceptional horse to handle & ride, but he shows little to no talent or enthusiasm for jumping.  He does have, however, an amazing potential for serious dressage, which I have neither the money, the inclination, nor the facility to pursue.  But this will all have to wait for him to hopefully finish healing. 

In case you are wondering what kind of crappy horse owner doesn't realize their horse has a fractured foot -- there was never any heat, no swelling, no digital pulse.  He wasn't terribly lame; it could easily have been an abscess or bruise.  So my advice to anyone who has a mild mystery lameness that doesn't sit right with you:  do the radiographs sooner rather than later.  

We could use some good vibes if you have any to spare.

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