When Baby Says No: Encore Vs. Round Pen Pt II

The helmet cam is so much more than XC courses!  I put it on a week or so ago to tape Encore in the round pen, where I was briefly going to work him before riding him.  However, someone had had the audacity (according to Encore) to place a bright blue bottomless pit harboring zombie cows right next to the round pen.  End result:  no riding, but a repeat of our last round pen escapades with a twist of anxiety which melted in the heat into stubbornness.

I first led him around the pen and let him stare at the Blue Pit for a few moments, giving him a fair look at it and leading him back and forth by it a few times.  Then I turned him loose and said, "Ok, buddy, you're own your own to work this out.  Go."  He then goes to what is becoming his textbook response of (a) rush through thing I don't want to do and pinning my ears, (b) pulling out all evasion tricks to avoid said thing, (c) finally, unable to think of any other ways out, giving in.  For today.

Ridiculous commentary in my horrible video voice provided free of charge, as I walk you through my approach, although you will have to turn your volume all the way up.  I'm still working on finding the perfect mic settings for the camera.



When he is still in the "no" phase, but he is getting hot and tired, watch him hunt for the stop near the gate opposite the Blue Pit.  It it critical that I do NOT let him stop here in a place HE has decided is safe.  He may only stop or relax when he enters the space which I insist is safe, despite any zombie, real or imagined.  You can see, it's like a switch flipping, when he decides it is too much work saying no, so he might as well just play along.

This second video is the last two minutes of our work in the other direction before my battery died.  He was much more difficult to the right and threw out every evasion he could come up with multiple times, which are caught here, including turning his butt to me, shoving his head over the fence, looking away, trying to switch directions, backing up and so forth.  LITERALLY ten seconds after the battery died, he dropped to a walk, dropped his head licked his lips, sighed, and said, fine, you win.  Of course.  You can see that moment begin right as the video stops.



*SAFETY FIRST.  At all times, I am conscious of his body language, just how belligerent he is feeling, where his body and feet can go, and where my feet and body are.  I stay focused and on my toes and am ready in a moment to drop or back off should feet start to fly.  I would like to say he is too kind to go for that option, but a horse is a horse, so if you engage in asserting your leadership, BE CAREFUL and be sure of your plan before you walk in the pen.  And plans B, C, and D.

You are now free to discuss at will... 

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Look Whose HelmetCam I Found??!

Remember how I said back here that I had tried and failed to turn the helmet cam on in mid-course at full TB gallop? 

Well, guess what?

I discovered last night that I didn't fail!

So hang on for the ride, because here are XC jumps 5-15 of Encore's very first Novice completion this spring!

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Away Again IS Away Again!

That's right, baby Flying Solo is back in business and got the seal of approval from David last Saturday at our lesson.  I had hauled Encore up to Virginia where he was giving a clinic at a friend's farm because it was exactly three weeks after his injections, when the vets told me to evaluate -- I figured who better to evaluate than the man who had given me the plan in the first place!

A lesson with David is never easy, but he has an unfailingly quick eye and his worlds (literally) of experience always gets you where you need to go.

You start with what I like to call the David Circle Of Death -- while it looks deceptively easy, you are working HARD and it usually leaves me panting desperately, chanting Do not fall off your horse in front of him, do not fall off your horse in front of him....  I could still breathe at the end this time, which leaves me wondering whether my protein shakes are indeed working or David was just being easy on Encore.  I'll pretend it was the first one, it makes me feel better.



I barely managed to not squeal aloud with glee when David pronounced him better, but I couldn't contain a completely foolish grin of joy.

You then follow with an alluringly simple gymnastic, which you unfailingly override and then feel like an idiot.  But the horses do fine and get to thinking about picking up their feet and putting the jump in the middle of their bascule.



Next you begin to work a few lines.  As noted on the video, I really struggled with the grey oxer -- something about the colour and arrangement of the poles made it impossible for me to read and Encore seemed to struggle with getting a line on it as well.  It was a very odd feeling to turn the corner and see...nothing.  That has never happened to me before and as a result, I proceeded to mess it up many times.



Once your horse is traveling well through the lines, you put some courses together, increasing in complexity.  The jumps stayed low this time since Encore hasn't jumped in over a month, but he felt good and when I wasn't doing ridiculous things on his back, he jumped well.  No rushing, no anxiety -- the problem really WAS the pain and not my training.  Which makes you feel good.  Then bad.  Then good.  Then bad.  Then you just try to stop thinking about it.



During our last course, Encore's weak side got tired; you can see he struggles to pick up his left lead.  David still never fails to have a simple fix for me.  Everything goes smoothly when he is around -- I just need to somehow kidnap him and haul him around in my trailer to horse trials.  Except his wife would most certainly murder me in the night.  Dangit.

Thank you so much to Sue, the farm owner, clinic hoster, and mad tough eventer, for taping us!  After being gone all week chasing fish, I hope to spend the weekend getting back in the groove while trying not to die of heat exhaustion.  The lake just might win me over, though, when the Carolina sun gets brutal around 3:00 in the afternoons...

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Equine Psychology And The Meaning Of It All

This will be a long one.  Hopefully it will not fall into the TL;DR category, but my brain has been busy in last 48 hours and we've made some exciting progress.

So now, I'm going to tell you what the meaning of it all is.  The meaning of life?  Ha, no, I am sorry, as a biologist, I must inform you that life itself has no meaning other than a fervent race of genes to survive amidst a sea of incomprehensibly random events.  I know, the truth hurts.

Rather, consider, what the meaning is behind all these tricks we do, all these little steps and coercions and coaxings that we present to our horses in the name of "training."

A friend of mine, a horse trainer for decades, encapsulated it in two words:  horse training is directing choices.  You have to think, to plan, to set a horse up to succeed and to find the right answer to your question.

Every step is a fork in the road.  If you choose the wrong fork, I will pelt you mercilessly with water balloons.  It won't hurt you, but it will sure as heck be annoying and soon you will miserably concede that you went the wrong way.

If you chose the right fork, I will instead walk quietly with you hand in hand, the sun warming our backs in a companionable silence.

When presented with these options, unless you are heinously stubborn and just want to prove a point (i.e. if you are pony, a mare, or simply a pain in the ass.  Or me.), you will quickly (or if you are Solo, eventually) choose the quiet sunshine over endless irritation.

Equine psychology itself fascinates me -- what on the surface seems to be a basic herd animal is actually, upon further exploration, a personality with complex, unique behavioural patterns with whom, if you take the time and effort, you can build an amazing relationship that will change your life forever.

What brings me to all this esoteric pondering today is a 15-20 minute session I spent in the round pen last night with Encore.  Like Solo, I have no idea how he was started or how many owners he has had.  Because he was a racehorse, I can make some educated guesses and based on what I have been told by CANTER and what Encore himself tells me, his trainer was a good egg and he has not been beaten or mistreated at any point during his life.

Not my round pen.  I wish.

This was only his second visit to the round pen.  Let me tell you how much I love round pens:  perhaps my favourite training tool, I haven't had access to one for three years.  But it was invaluable during my early years with Solo and building our relationship.

With Solo, though, in the pen I was dealing with fears and anxiety.  A three-year stint of "I promise I will not beat you with a whip EVER."  Defeating blue tarp terror.  Showing him a leader could be a benevolent friend and partner.  As a result, he gave me his whole heart and trust and we have never looked back.

Encore is different.  In our first session, it was clear that he had no concept of round pen work, it was just a small circular paddock to him, around which he trotted randomly while watching the other horses over the fence.  I felt him out, introduced him to the very basics of changing direction and stopping at liberty, noted his marked resentment toward the longe whip, and left it at that.

Last night, I focused on one goal:  you will not move into the pressure of my aids and you will stay out on the rail ALL THE WAY AROUND the pen.  He likes to trot the rail on one half, then cut across the other half on a dividing line between me and the rail.  If I push him out with my body, he just gets mad, pushes back and rushes by.

Now, I know how to round pen a horse.  I know how to train a horse to give to pressure (about which Encore is excellent in hand) and I know how to read a horse's body language.  I know how to wait the horse out and achieve the important "join up" moment in which the horse has recognized and accepted that you are, in fact, in charge and he is willing to concede the point and trust your leadership.

Yeah, pretty much like that.

But his belligerence about staying out of the center had me a bit puzzled.  He clearly did NOT respect the pressure of my aids and pushed right back.  And when I say pushed back, I mean he pinned his ears, wrinkled his nose, dropped his head and let fly with bolting bucks of rage like a rank two-year-old, both back feet pointedly flying in my direction at about my head height.  This is the equine equivalent of saying, "Lady, go f*ck yourself."  Not exactly what I expected from the doe-eyed pleaser and an obvious red flag that our partnership was not quite there yet.

One of the ladies riding in the ring next to us commented, "Oh my, doesn't he feel good tonight!"  I laughed quietly and said, "Well, he is certainly throwing an impressive temper tantrum!"  I am quite sure that to everyone in the arena, it looked like I was simply standing there while my horse frolicked around the pen, instead of the complex psychological dance that was actually occurring.

My response was to do nothing.  I simply stood still and maintained my body language of "I don't care how you do it, just keep moving forward in the direction I tell you."  I didn't have the longe whip this time; after a conversation with lifeshighway about a stallion she used to own and a lot of thinking, I decided to just use my longe line as a throw rope.

Horse is not thrilled with request.

After each bucking fit, he would return to the rail and trot quickly, head pointedly turned to the outside in case I didn't catch the fact that he was giving me the finger before.  Then, halfway around, he would swerve and cut off the end again.  I would take one quiet step towards his ribcage and swing the end of the line towards him about a foot; even these small aids were very clear to him.  This would set off another fit of bucking fury back to the rail -- he quite pointedly resented my assertion that I wanted to be the clear leader of the partnership; I wanted more than just him mostly going along with me simply because he is a kind, workmanlike type of horse.

This continued for about five minutes.  I admired his cat-like athleticism, but stayed completely nonreactive to his antics and just kept him moving in either direction I wanted with a simple step or a tiny swing of the rope.  Sometimes he would try to change direction on his own, another attempt to push back at me, which requires a quick response of cutting him off and keeping him traveling the way I chose.

Then, somewhere in his clever little brain, the switch flipped.  In the course of four strides, he sighed, his trot slowed and relaxed, his nose dropped and he conceded the point by continuing quietly on the rail all the way around the pen.  I quickly praised him profusely while keeping him trotting.  He dropped to a walk, chewing and flicking an ear towards me and I let him, accepting his relaxation by releasing a little bit of pressure, showing him that yes, he made the correct decision.

Photo by horsecentric.  I hope she doesn't mind me using it, it's an excellent example of submission from her great work with her horse.  I will remove it if requested.

I changed his direction and lifted him back to trot.  He pinned his ears for the first few steps, then his eye softened, his head dropped again and he agreed to trot quietly around the rail, even splashing through a puddle.

I waited; I wanted three things:  I wanted chewing, I wanted the inside ear locked on me, and I wanted his nose on the ground.  I wanted him begging to be allowed back in my herd.

Always a smart one, it didn't take more than a few minutes before I had them all and I quietly said whoa and removed all pressure by turning my back to him and staring at the ground.  He turned, walked up, then stood beside me with pricked ears, expectant, but unsure what would happen next.  I walked around his body, running hands and line over him.  Then I asked him to follow me at liberty in a few small circles, which he readily did.  But when we stopped, he dropped his head to snatch some clover, breaking his attention and showing me he wasn't quite done.

Not me.  White clothes around horses is crazy.

I drove him softly away again, getting another ear pinning and a wrinkled nose, but they were half-hearted now and his trot remained slow.  It didn't take more than a few laps before he showed me he was ready and I let him come back in.  This time, I could walk around him and control not only his head, but his hips and his feet with my eyes and body without touching him.  I could pivot him on the forehand or back him up or lead him forward in a circle and he stayed focused on me without my touching him or using a rope.

This was mission accomplished and it both thrilled and fascinated me.  While my sessions with Solo had been about luring an anxious horse into trust, this had been convincing a confident, sassy horse to accept and give over his body control to me.  Two different horses, two different personalities, and two different dances, but both partnership negotiations successful thanks to one small pen.

This won't be Encore's last session.  We will repeat it a few more times and each one should get shorter.  You may ask, why bother?  Just ride and train him.  To me, the psychology IS part of the training.  The partnership I want with my event horse includes his mind, his heart, and his trust.  This is the best way I know to acheive that, so I consider it an indispensible step in what I hope will be a long and fruitful journey with this continually surprising, ever-intelligent, unfailingly curious, and always wonderful horse.

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Stop The Vampire!

Now that Solo has settled into his new home and stopped using Encore as a security blanket, he has gone back to being his old, bossy self -- which means he is a vampire, sniping pieces of Encore's skin when no one is looking.

You might wonder how a fit, young, clever, agile racehorse would fail to dodge the swipes of a teenage stock horse with a stiff back, but you see, Solo is a stealth vampire.  He will graze along, sweet as can be, and then BAM! with no warning, he strikes like a snake and then goes back to grazing like nothing happened.  If you blink, you'll probably miss it.

A poor photograph of both horse and sheet.

Since I prefer not to have Encore looking like a piecemeal blood donor who turns into a SWAT appaloosa after grooming, I am trying the flysheet approach.  I just had to wait until a quality one went on sale low enough to appease my budget. I knew my $20 cheapo in the trailer wouldn't last a day. 

I put it on with a sigh tonight -- it's, well, PRETTY, so I asked Solo nicely to please let me keep pretty sheet pretty. 

Only time will tell if the vampire can show mercy.

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Baby's Got Back

Injections, that is.

I wanted to talk a little bit more about what steroid injections do, about where the science is today, & about what my experience has been within my sample size of n = 3.  Full geek-out links are included for your reading pleasure.

Yes, I used to be one of those people who said you should never puncture a joint capsule & introduce bacteria unless your horse was at death's door & blah blah blah.  I fully admit my lack of education on the topic & can gladly say that time, careful research & thought, & experience has changed my position somewhat.

While I still don't believe in administering "preventative" joint treatment, I have learned that, in a problem area, steroid injection can be a very powerful tool to keep your horse doing his job happy & comfortably over the years.

Why would I want to inject my horse's joints?

Most sporthorses (and humans, sigh) will experience a deterioration/roughening of their joint surfaces & sometimes a reduced production of synovial fluid (joint lube).  The results can vary from just a little extra warm up time to reduced range of motion & pain.

Sometimes that can be treated with a reputable feed-through supplement (I have gotten good results with SmartFlex Senior) or an intramuscular injection which addresses the body as a whole, such as Adequan.  These can increase production of synovial fluid & even help repair cartilage.

However, sport is demanding on both our bodies & sometimes we need targeted relief.  Arthritis is technically defined as joint inflammation, which causes the pain, & if you don't break that cycle of inflammation, the body will compensate, causing problems in other areas & the horse (or person, ow) will continue to degrade in condition.  So the key is breaking that cycle at the source.

What do they shoot in there with those big, fat needles?

The fluid injected is generally a mix of broad-spectrum antibiotics to prevent infection mixed with a corticosteroid.  For example, my own spinal injections were done with dexamethasone.  Encore's were triamcinolone.  If I remember correctly, Solo's hocks got cortisone.  All are the same type of drug & reduce the inflammation in the joint.

You can also include hyaluronic acid if you'd like to drop another $300 per injection, however, Dr. Bob says he sees little difference unless you are competing at the very top levels of your sport, i.e. if you are the 1%.

That sounds expensive.  Oh wait, it's a horse.

It can feel expensive.  A set of hock injections (doing both high & low hock joints) here will be $300.  That breaks down to $50 per month.  The cheapest I have found Adequan is $36 per dose & I used that approximately once a month, so the prices are not far off & the IA (intra-articular, or in the joint) injections were effective immediately & worked better.  A back or SI injection may range from $350-500.

Try to think in the long term & make fair comparisons.  That feed-through supplement may sound cheaper, but it may be costing you $40 a month & results may be something you can feel maybe if you close one eye & hold your tongue just right.  So it's all relative & in the grand scheme of a horse's career, it may not be as expensive as you think.

What's the point if I just have to do it again later?

Each horse is unique & each joint is unique.  Some horses can get one joint injection, the cycle is broken, & that joint will perform pain-free for the rest of their lives.  Others do have to be repeated.

For example, to compete, Solo needed his hocks injected every six months (a fairly standard interval for horses with mild to moderate hock arthritis).  But it is impossible to predict, because just like humans, the results will vary with each body.

I really want a full set of knitted bacteria...

But by breaking the joint capsule, am I not taking this huge risk of bacteria getting in there & killing my horse?

Every puncture of the skin can open a passageway for bacteria.  A fly bite, a scratch, a shot, all create a chink in the armour.  But any worthwhile vet should take every precaution to make sure your horse is safely injected.

As I mentioned before, antibiotics are usually included in the injection itself.  The horse's skin is washed & scrubbed repeatedly to sterilize it.  Often, the hair is clipped away to create a clearer work area.  It should never be a procedure taken lightly or performed quickly.

How soon will I notice a difference?

Like every biological process (engineers hate talking to us), it depends.  For Solo, within three days, he had power & loft back in his trot.  For me, the first 3-4 days after the injections were intensely MORE painful, then over 7-10 days the pain decreased rapidly, although there was some bruising, & by 2-3 weeks, I felt pretty darn good  That was a year & a half ago.

Encore is about 10 days post injection; he still has a sore spot or two if I hit it just right with the curry & if there are bone or connective tissue bruises as the vets suspected in the stifle or hock, those will take a few weeks to heal (yeah, I had those too last year, we REALLY match).  There were some really promising moments in the trot on Saturday, but I am taking it slow & easy & demanding little.  At three weeks, we will know more.

How do they know the needle is in the right spot?

Some injections, like hocks, stifles, & fetlocks, can be done by feel by an experienced vet.  Others, like vertebrae or SI joints can be guided by radiograph or fluoroscope (live video radiograph) because the target is small & surrounded by large muscle groups.

I hear all these condition names thrown around with injections, what do they really mean?

Science is a continuum -- it is forever evolving & forever learning.  Often, when something is not completely understood, vets toss it into a pre-existing bucket so that clients can have a label to hold on to.

Take "navicular" for example -- this is a convenient bucket that can contain all manner of arthritic & bony changes & inflammation to the navicular bone.  Some are very serious & career ending, others simply require a change of hoof angle or shoe.

Another growing bucket is "kissing spine" -- this is the one Encore got tossed into.  Right now, it is being used to contain cases where either arthritic changes or simply conformation or genetic misfortune cause the spaces between the vertebral processes to be narrower than normal.  The degree & effect can range from zero to 15....on a scale of 1 to 10.

This may sound frustrating, but it's because we are still learning.  But clients want a name, they want a definitive answer, heck, I want a definitive answer. Even though the name may not be a very accurate one, nor truly fit the original description of the condition.

I have come to really like a plain big ol' cut:  I can see it.  I know what's wrong.  I know how to treat it.  I can watch it heal.  And I know when it's fixed.

This internal stuff, well, I'm kinda over it.  Actually, I'm WAYYYYY over it.  From a scientific perspective, it is fascinating.  But I'd rather be fascinated by someone else's horse, thank you.  However, I hope this treatise, which escaped me & ended up longer than intended, can help you understand a little bit more about the process & why steroid injections can actually be your friend.

Or in the case of my back, your true love.

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(Much Needed) Good Times With Good Friends

While Encore was pacing in his prison alone (so he says), I ran away like a rabbit with fire ants on its tail to the mountains.  The legendary bromance duo of Solo and Pete were reuinited, their love/hate/love no less diminished by time nor distracted by the addition of a lovely TB mare named Kate.

Matched bays survey the top of the mountain.  Crystal riding Kate and of course, lifeshighway riding Solo's incorrigible Arabian best friend, Pete.

The mighty eventer, he is fire, he is speed, he is....oooo, beet pulp!

Old lovers often reunite over...beef jerky. 

A break is the optimal time to mug any immobile humans for plastic bags with food potential.

Did you hear that?  BAG!!!!

Crystal and her mare, Kate, both lovely in the shade.  Kate has an amazing story of being rescued multiple times.  Born a throw-away baby with deformed legs, 13 years later, she is an endurance prospect and Crystal has turned a sour and frightened mare into a good-minded horse with a bold walk and a bright future.

Pete the amazing 50 mile endurance racer.  If a carrot snaps in the woods, HE can hear the sound.

Of course, the smurf must have his moment with the top ten 50-mile racehorse!

What happens when I try to take a picture of Solo while sitting down.

My heart is full, chasing adventure with my partner and friend, and he did well!

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Diagnostic Geek-Out Imminent

After I left Encore at the NCSU Equine Hospital on Wednesday night, things proceeded roughly like this (italics are me):

Wednesday night:

He's not lying in his stall, whinnying in anguish.  He is not lying in his stall, whinnying in anguish.  Dr. Newman said he would call on Thursday when Encore was going into his bone scan tomorrow, so I will just try and breathe deeply till then.

Thursday:

Did my phone ring?  How about now?  Now?  How about now?  Ahh, I have to pee, I'm taking my phone with me.  It still didn't ring.  How about now?  Well, I guess they would call me if he died.

Friday:

10:30 am; Dr. Newman calls with results of bone scan -

"Overall, he looks pretty good.  There are three hot areas, in his left stifle, left hock, and the spinous processes of his thoracic spine.  So I would like to do radiographs there, unless you prefer to try blocks first.  I'm not sure if it's just his back or if there are any surgical lesions on his hock or stifle"

When looking at bone scan images, darker areas indicate where there has been greater uptake of the radioactive isotope into the bony structures.  This can mean a potential problem area, but keep in mind, that it is only an indicator to help zero in on spots, because it will show you EVERYTHING.  Dr. Newman said almost all horses will show up hot in their sesamoids, withers, and some elbows.

A nice matched set of knees.

Pretty  matchy scan on the hind feet too.

 ZOMG, you said the "s" word.  No problem.  I'm totally not freaking out right now.  It's only $600 more, radiograph away, my friend!

11:00 am:  Dr. Newman informs me that Encore is going into radiology.  At this point I realize my horse has basically just gotten to be high for two days and I start to feel less bad for him.

11:30 am:  Dr. Newman calls with the results of radiographs -

"His hock and stifle are lovely and clean, so I suspect there is just some bone bruising there or bruising at tendon/ligament attachments.  His neck and cervical spine are beautiful and some of the cleanest we've ever seen.  What Dr. Redding and I feel is causing the problem are the arthritic changes between his vertebrae from about T15 to L1 and we'd like to inject those."

Look at that hock -- pretty darn clean, I can't ask for much more than that!

Left stifle.  Radiographs fascinate me.  But you can see the joint edges are pretty dang clean and smooth.

So no surgery?

"No, no surgery."

OMG, my horse and I are a perfectly matched pair.  This is the same procedure I got last year, only I didn't get to be doped out on xylazine.  Go get 'em, vet-man.

Shortly after that, I was able to pick Encore up and take him home for three days of pen rest, after which I am slowly bringing him back to work over the next 2-3 weeks.  If there are any lingering issues at that point, we can poke and block and see if we can chase them down.  Dr. Newman also sat down with me when I arrived to rescue the pony and went through the imagery with me.  It was easily apparent (if your entire career has been training to look for small differences in details) where the problem was.

Bone scan of happy withers.  Notice the spinous processes above the vertebrae are clearly defined.

Now compare that to his thoracic spine (back of the saddle) -- the processes are dark and indistinct.

Radiographs confirm -- see the nice spaces between the processes at his withers?  Happy withers.

Back to his thoracic spine and you can see the uneven edges of arthritic change and that the spaces between vertebral processes have shrunk.  Very common in riding horses, especially short-backed horses.

Four injection needles inserted and position checked prior to injection.  This one gave me shuddering flashbacks to the horrific pain of my own injections but Encore got sweet sweet drugs, so the vet said he didn't even flinch.

So, best case scenario, I bring him back in 3 weeks, he is fixed, I jump up and down and I never have to talk to you again?

Dr. Newman:  "LOL, yes, that is the most likely outcome."

Now, my goals are Training Level long format events, which are 3'3" jumps.  We're not asking for Rolex, but will he have a problem with this?

"No, he should do just fine."

If I didn't have massive personal space issues, I would hug you right now, but I do, so let's just pretend.

Is it just me, or did his laugh sound relieved?

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Unscheduled PSA: Don't Be An Idiot; Don't Kill Your Horse

I know you have earned an Encore update, but I have some amazing images to upload and organize first.

At the moment, however, I have something to say.  I preface by saying that, in the National Forest where we spent the weekend, there are a variety of equine campgrounds, ranging from a gravel lot with no electricity and no permanent equine enclosures to a lovely bathhouse, cabins, grassy campsites, multiple barns and pens, and washracks.  There is a reason I pay extra to camp at the latter, although even it is not immune to idiots.

If you travel with your horse, even if you are "only" trail riding, you have the following obligations:

-Your horse must have a safe place to stay overnight, with clean and safe footing, free of hazards, where he can lay down and rest after hauling your butt up and down mountains all day.

-Your horse must ALWAYS have water to drink.  Yes, really, always.  It is your responsibility to check his bucket periodically to make sure it stays full and clean.  I don't care if the bucket is heavy, your arm will not detach.  You can always use several smaller or half-full buckets to top it off.  If we have to fill your horses' empty buckets when it is 90 degrees and they slurp down the entire thing in one go, they have just told on you.

-After you have ridden, I don't care how hot you are, how many beers you want to drink, how long you want to practice your redneck yells, which of your handguns you want to play with, or which of your shirtless neighbours you want to flirt with (all of which I saw when we rode through aforementioned other camping areas).  Your first responsibility is to make sure that your horse is hosed off, cooled out, his feet and body are checked over and returned to safe place where he can rest with water.  Only after all this is completed may you attend to whatever else it is you want to do.

-Even after you have put your horse away, you must go check on him 30 minutes to an hour later; he may have guzzled his bucket of water after hauling said butt up said mountains and need a refill.  Or he may be showing delayed signs of heat stress or colic or other problems.  It is your job to know and respond.

-If your horse's back is shaped like a U, his pelvis is rotated on the end of his spine, and the top of his rump sits 4" higher than the low point of his back and all of his back muscle is completely atrophied, leaving a ribby, dangling belly between normally muscled shoulders and haunches, for the love of cod, your saddle does not fit, your horse's back has a major problem and you should not be plopping yourself up there without addressing it.

-If you have failed to do these things and I have to ride through your equine ghetto of a campground and see your dead/dying horse lying in his shoddily constructed "enclosure" of ancient tape around trampled manure and mud while you peer at him from 20 feet away and then wander back to your trailer without a peep and if I have to wonder whether your potbellied shirtless neighbour is actually going to try and shoot your horse with the 9 mm handgun he is playing with on the other side of me, it is going to take every ounce of willpower within me not to leap off my horse and push you in front of the next passing logging truck.  Or possibly attempt to stab you to death with the dull knife in my saddle bag.  If I have to ride away as quickly as possible, praying I don't hear gunshots behind me, I am going to wish upon you the worst karma I can think of and then I'm going to get even more creative than that and wish that.

The horses don't get a choice (although I would be deeply gratified if they trampled you the next time you came in the pen); therefore, you don't have one either -- you must attend to their safety and needs before all else.  Then I don't care how many beers you drink or how little clothing you wear as long as it doesn't wake me up.

End PSA.

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Horses Are Horses And There's Not A Damn Thing You Can Do About It

I've been posting running updates on Encore on the TFS Facebook page, but I wanted to talk a little about the underlying issues.

I know there are people out there who will say, ha, I knew it, all OTTBs have issues and I will never buy one.

Well, you would be missing out.  Because you want to know the 100% honest truth?  You can never predict which horse will be sound throughout its career (pretty rare) and which horse will have issues on and off and which horse will have to be retired prematurely. 

You can buy a beautifully perfect two year old warmblood with impeccable bloodlines who has never been touched and it can try to reach the wrong clump of grass and break its silly neck in the gate.

You can buy an 18-year-old campaigner who's evented through Advanced and been working since he was 3 and he can never have a problem and you can show him until he's 30.

I know (well, online "know") an excellent breeder/owner who produces beautiful eventers and raises them exactly the right way.  They start out with road work and cow work on all types of terrain, they build their bones and soft tissue, they don't start jumping till they are four or five, I mean EVERYTHING right.  Yet one of her horses still suffered a catastrophic bone shatter on course after reaching the top levels of the sport.  It's a cruel and horrible thing, but there is no insurance that says your horse will never have a problem.

Horse ownership is a risk, plain and simple.  When you start to compete, you (exponentially, I have concluded) raise that risk as you ask more from the horse and his body.

Encore raced steadily for three years and 26 races and as far as I know, did not have issues.  Parklane Hawk, who is currently taking William Fox-Pitt on a run for the eventing Grand Slam, raced 144 times and is insanely athletic and brave and takes on the biggest, baddest jumps there are and keeps on winning.

Some of it is heart, some of it is luck, and the rest is just...horses.  Each one is unique and (if you are a pushover like me) each one is special and has something to teach. 

So my advice to you is to never walk away from a horse just because "it's an OTTB" or "it needs a hock injection" or "it's over 10" or any of those types of reasons.  There are so many great diagnostics and treatment options out there and OMG, BUY INSURANCE and when you find a horse that you click with, give him a chance to be the best he can be and I promise that you will have time of your life, even when there are speed bumps.

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Horse Hospitals Are Even Slower Than Human Hospitals

Hard to believe, isn't it?

Remember the Flying Solo Test Of Horse Ownership Preparedness?  Oh yes, we're at it again.  Actually, when I called my insurer to give them a heads-up on what was going on, I swear I heard them sigh in despair when I said NC State.  They just sent me the kick injury check last week.  They are not thinking I am a good investment at the moment.

All surfaces hoseable...

Since Encore was NQR (Not Quite Right, for the uninitiated) at our lesson, I followed David's advice and so today found us meeting with the head orthopedic diagnostic guru at NC State University's veterinary hospital.  He and his flock of undervets and minions flexed and jogged and watched Encore under saddle and videoed and scribbled.  Oh, and this was all around 1:30ish.  Our appt and arrival time was at 10:30 am.  Ha.

I had given Guru a strict lecture -- I am a state employee and Encore IS insured, but there is still a 30% copays for diagnostics.  Guru turned to his head undervet and said, "what would you recommend for this horse?"

Undervet replies as dreaded:  "Bone scan.  But I think it's going to be a hard sell."

"Why is that?" asks Guru, "Just because it's money out of her pocket?"

Gee, thanks, man.  Oh well, just fix my horse.

The equine version of those little bracelets

Guru did agree with my assessment that Encore's limbs were fine, but there was something going on higher up.  And he wanted to scan his whole body since that pesky little LF limp step was showing up -- it's been there since the beginning, but I figured it was a bad foot thing and it goes away after a few minutes of warmup.

I did tell them that I already have radiographs of his front feet and his hind leg where he was kicked, so there's something...and I just paid his insurance deductible thanks to the lovely kick injury.

I wasn't alone though -- a girl just a bit younger than me was handgrazing her horse on the front lawn as I walked by and asked me beggingly, "Please tell me good news!  I just need to hear someone has good news."

"Sorry," I sadly replied, "I have none.  Horse ownership is pretty much a period of dealing with issues punctuated by brief interludes of bliss doing what you actually love."

We sighed together.

So Encore must stay in the hospital until Friday and will be released once he is no longer radioactive.  If you are curious about bone scans, you can read the layperson version here or the total science nerd version here.

I had read about bone scans and the procedure, but I suppose I hadn't really processed that I would have to leave him there and drive home with an empty trailer.  Undervet apparently recognized the blind panic on my face and suddenly became a great deal gentler.

"Don't worry," he said, "We'll take very good care of him and we will call you with any updates and before he goes in for scanning."  He took down feeding notes and had I been a bit younger, he might have patted me on the head.

Do not like.  Take home now, please.

I went to say goodbye to Encore, who kept trying to sneak out the door in a nervous lunge to please not stay here, mum!  I gave him a hug and told him to be a good boy and promised I was coming back for him (ok, maybe I cried a little, but no one saw it so it can never be proven) and took a deep breath and walked away.  It was a very loooong walk back to the trailer, with a brief pause at the checkout to give away a massive sum of invisible money.

They tell me images will be available on Friday morning, so we will know more then.  I have fearful suspicions, but hope that they are very wrong.  I do want something to show up though, because if it doesn't show up on a bone scan, that means it's soft tissue, which is far harder to pinpoint and treat.

All around though, I can assure you, hospitals still suck no matter what species you are.  At least in a person hospital, it's just me that's nervous.  In the horse hospital, I am nervous, Encore is nervous, then I am trying to be not nervous so he will not feed off my nervousness, then I get nervous that he looks more nervous...really, they should just give out Xanax at the door and be done with it!

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All Work And No Play

It's not really like me to sit around and sigh for long when I can't ride my little project.  It's not as if there is ever a shortage of things that need tending to!

I always work very hard to make sure that I keep my BO's happy no matter where I am.  While Solo has become a very easy horse to take care of, Encore practically needs his own wait staff.  With five kinds of food, a wheedling plea for better hay, and constant adjustments to try and get back all the weight he dropped in the farm move, I want to simplify and contribute as much as I can to the farm.  I will bend over backwards and work all day long to make my boys' home the best it can be.

Feeding spreadsheet duct taped to bins on waterproof paper?  Check!
Supply my own shed for all my eventing crap so I take up zero barn space?  Check!
Prepare the next feeding myself whenever I am there so the next feeder has life easy?  Check!
Perform archaeological dig in shed, cleaning it, and add some gravel and stall mats to stabilize the floor?  Check!
SmartPak it up so there is no supplement scooping or buckets to fill up the shelves?  Check!
Cap all the t-posts?  Check!

I even go further.  Given that the boys are now on full pasture board and the pasture horses are fed via gator feed transpot, I provided colour coded buckets with their own labels thanks to SmartPak's ingenious covers (seriously an awesome invention)!  You can't tell in the picture, but yes, their names are embroidered in TFS powder blue.

 
 And while I liked my shed, divided neatly in half so I could imprison Solo and Encore could eat his dinner in peace, its open sides meant it only really provided shade at oh, noonish, and only was a rain shelter if the rain came straight down with no wind (pretty much never).  So while the BO had offered to enhance the shed construction when he had more funds in a few months, I decided to take an afternoon and give the boys some sunblock on their western wall.  The BO can consider it his early Christmas present. 

Of course, I had forgotten that sheets of treated plywood weigh 47,000 lbs, so everyone in Lowe's got to see me fall flat on my face when one dragged me over.  Oh, and also that lumber costs a gazillion dollars.  And I invented some pretty interesting rock climbing moves to get the top crossbeams up.  But I conquered it all myself except the two top sheets of plywood (yeah, you try it!) so I roped in one of the women who works at the barn (horsewomen are awesome and can do anything) to help me lift and screw in the top sheets and cover boards for the seams.  Four 4' x 8' sheets of plywood, four 2 x 4 x 10's, a box of super-magic treated lumber screws, and a lot of acrobatics and "magic words" later... 

Before.

After.  The prisoner entreats in futility.

 These horses better freaking love me.

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When Is Naptime Again?

There are so many things I want to write for you, so many "almost ready" posts to breathe life back into the blog.  I am just trying to figure out how to do that while trying to be four people at once. 

I am, for some reason, expected to show up at work in order to get a paycheck (entirely unreasonable, I think), so there goes 40 hours.  The horses, well, who knows how many hours that is. 

Dealing with life itself, that can't even be counted in hours.

If you haven't already clicked over to Facebook to follow Team Flying Solo there, I am putting up extra content for you to have fun with because it's just a little bit faster. 

Everything Encore is pretty much in slow motion until a thousand million seconds pass and we meet with the Equine Sports Medicine Man at NCSU.  And after tonight's ride, I know we'll have to keep it slow until then.

Which means I have some time to get on Solo again; Solo, who has reduced from hippopotamus to normal horse size since the move, which is nice (unfortunately, Encore has been subject to the same phenomenon, dang TBs) so a little work has been done for me. 

So I think tomorrow, we'll put his boots on, I'll swing a tired leg over his back and settle into my favourite home for a very familiar ride. 

I can't wait.

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Full Stop

It was madness on Friday.  Dashing 100 miles from our last field site of the day home, changing bags, changing trucks, only to dash again to the farm and pick up Encore and wind our way up into the Blue Ridge of Virginia.  We made it to our friend's farm around 9:00 pm, I tucked Encore in in his pasture, then passed out shortly after.

I played video and pole girl Saturday morning; it was interesting to watch the lessons I taped.  The first, especially was tackling the same problems I was having and I laughed as she finished, "I think you just got my lesson!"

We had a quick lunch with David and I was excited to saddle up Encore and show off how far he'd come.  We started our typical Warm Up Circle of Death, but as soon as we got to the canter work, I knew something was wrong.  Encore was falling out hard behind and kept doing a strange hop step with his hind feet on his left lead.  David watched carefully and said, "I don't remember this horse doing this before."

"No," I said, "he's been uneven but this is the worst it's been."

He put us through a low bounce gynmanstic.  After we did it for the fifth or sixth time, I knew he was concerned.  We never work through a gymnastic line that many times.  We tried a couple of small courses, but every jump was odd.  I stopped and said, "David, I can't see anything, it doesn't feel right, I feel as if I've suddenly forgotten how to ride, there's nothing there?"

"That's because there is nothing there, you have no canter," he responded.  My heart sunk.  "You know," he said, "I had a whole plan for this horse today but as soon as I saw the canter issues, I had to throw it all out the window."

It was like a knife to the heart but I knew he was right.  And I couldn't say it was a total surprise either.  I'd been watching Encore for a few months, not sure if it was strength issue or something else, as horses are often uneven behind until they get stronger.  But as the work got harder, the issue became more pronounced.  Our dressage trainer noticed his left hind didn't flex as well as the right and even Dr. Brian asked if he'd ever had stifle issues.  David was just the one who came right out and said, "You have a mechanical problem."

"I've just been really hoping he just needed to be stronger," I pleaded.  "I've been gun-shy since the Solo Incident."

"I completely understand that," he said, "but there is nothing to be gained by being an ostrich.  Go do your diagnostics, pinpoint the problem, then you can fix it and move on with the myriad of treatment options available today."

I was disappointed, yet at the same time, very grateful for his direct assessment and the recommendations he offered.  It gave me a concrete game plan to step forward and address the issue and his eye gave me credibility to take to the diagnostic center.

Sorry, mom.  But I wanted to make sure the insurance was worth it!

My money is on the left stifle and I am hoping it is something simple.  I've known several other horses with similar issues and a simple stifle injection or something similar had them back on track.  Well, I am really hoping it is nothing, but anyone who's been in horses long enough knows they are horses:  it is not if but WHEN you be looking sorrowfully at your lame partner.  It doesn't matter what breed or type -- they are all walking suicide machines (except for Shetland ponies, but I believe evil sustains them).

On the plus side, he is not out of riding commission, so we can still work on things and do fun rides, but we cannot step forward in training until we resolve this and he is able to even up behind.  At the very least, our spring eventing season was done anyway, my summer work schedule is picking up, and we had no horse trial plans until the fall.  So I suppose if any timing is ever right, this one is.

Tomorrow morning, I shall consult the Batphone and we shall see what there is to be seen.  This, indeed, is why I insisted on insurance for the first year!

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Just A Few Notices

(1)  I have finally broken down and made a Facebook page for TFS.  I admit, the curiosity got the better of me, even though I don't use Facebook much anymore.  But there are often quick things I'd like to post and it offered a faster medium than writing a whole blog post, so there will be extra content, fun pictures, videos, polls, and more -- so find the link here or the permanent link in our sidebar and have even more dorky ridiculousness in your life!

(2) I still have some times for sale on the "Sale" tab, so check them out.  Thanks to those who have purchased and I hope you have fun with your new Solo karma!!

I do remember these books though!

(3)  I NEED YOUR HELP!  I am clearly a moron and suddenly am incapable of remembering to turn on my helmet cam in the XC start box.  Help me come up with a clever solution that even an amoeba could remember and post it in the comments!  I thought to sharpie it on my arm, but that requires remembering the sharpie and remembering to write it.  I did have a sharpie with me, but did not remember to use it.  Life stress really reduces brain function!

You do get extra internet karma if you test your solution on an amoeba and it works.

EDITED TO ADD:  Pictures from Encore's run at the Carolina Horse Park this weekend are up for your entertainment.  Although he was tense in the dressage test, he still had some good engagement behind.  He definitely still jumps like a greenie, but he looks damn cute on XC!  You can view them here.

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Lessons

Yes, I am lax in my posting.  Field season pulls me away 2-3 days per week and I've been gone every weekend.  I never want to drive again.

I am also a moron because I keep forgetting to turn on my helmet cam.  This weekend, I did remember at jump 3 and made a valiant attempt to turn it on there.  Unfortunately, Encore had just settled into full TB gallop and those jumps just aren't that far apart at that speed; one handing the XC course did not feel like a good idea.

I know, no cam, what's the point, right?  But we did get some good mileage.

Lesson:  Encore is great in the dressage warmup; I am finally learning what works for him and I had him soft, responsive, supple, and ready to go.  Then we left the warmup ring and entered the dressage arena at A, at which point Encore threw his head up, startled that he was suddenly alone and stared at, and I was unable to unlock his jaw for the next five minutes.  To my aghastment (it's a word now), we still scored a 36.09.  :-o  It felt more like a 45.  But baby needs a lot more mileage so he can get comfy and relax his topline in the arena and we will be hitting the dressage schooling circuit this summer, instead of the schooling HTs I had originally planned.  Not as fun, but cheaper.  The boy already knows how to jump, I'll save those jumps for the fall.

Lesson:  I was starting to figure out a few things in the SJ warmup.  I kept my leg on all the way to the base of the fence and over, hooking a finger through the martingale strap so there was no mouth catching, and we got some LOVELY jumps.  Once we got in the arena though, any place where there were two jumps in a straight line, he charged like a bull and I was left to try to half halt and be soft at the same time.  I think I have at least partially created this problem.  Basically what happens then is I end up trying to hold him to the base of the fence instead galloping through it, which will almost always mean back rails get pulled behind, and I forget all about keeping my leg on.  Hopefully, David will fix us this coming weekend.  If there is a turn or corner to use to balance, we do fine and I can focus and get him back.  A friend was nice enough to catch the rail bowling jumping round on her phone for your entertainment (I would recommend full screening and maxing the resolution)!

YOU ARE VANQUISHED!!!

Lesson:  Encore is getting more confident on XC, yeah!  And WE JUMPED THE LAST JUMP.  Oh yes, the bright rolltop nemesis was defeated with a holler and a smack.  I don't think I would change a thing about his course.  It was the same funky course as Longleaf, which I still think doesn't work well for Novice horses in several places, but it made my coursewalk much easier.

The point of SCHOOLING horse trial is SCHOOLING and I am very happy with the experience we got.  Encore feels a little more sure of himself each time out and the horse trial itself did its job of showing me where our weak spots were.  So to the drawing board we go, to come back in the fall with a big fat BANG!

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Moving On

For a variety of reasons, the time came for Team Flying Solo to find a new home base.  Thus began the hunt for the perfect combination of facilities I need to train, space for my horses to move around, and no drama.  Ha, well, two of three can't be impossible.

Through an eventing friend, I learned of and visited a farm up the road and as I stepped out of the vehicle, I immediately felt calm and content (I am big on vibe).  It's an old Walking Horse farm, so it had a long low barn with no windows, surrounded by hotwalkers, several round pens and a sea of paddocks.  I wandered around and peeked in stall doors and kicked some dirt and sniffed some hay.

It wasn't glamourous, most of the fencing was high tensile wire and grass was cropped short and sparsely scattered.  But each pasture had a fluffy, nice round bale or two and I could find no manure just lying about.

All of the horses were in good condition, their feet were taken care of, and everyone was perky and bright.  No cribbing collars, no stall weavers, and every horse got at least 12 hours of turnout a day.  There was an arena with lights, a dressage arena measured out in the back, and a freshly built set of jumps.

"Can I have a pasture with a shed where my horses just live 24/7 and the fence gets a strip of white hot tape added?"

"Absolutely, no problem, when do you want to move in?" the owner replied.  He is just a SUPER nice guy, answered all my dizzying questions, and my board costs got cut in half then and there.

I'm not sure they've ever had a sporthorse boarder, as there were plenty of giggles at my detailed feeding spreadsheet and Encore's Mt. Everest of food.  The owner breeds VERY nice old-style Walking Horses, the ones I loved to see when I was a kid:  compact, sturdy, balanced, and built to last forever, with a willing, honest brain and solid feet (the new anorexic looking ones with deer legs make me sad).  In fact, the boys' new neighbours is one of the broodmares with her week old overo foal (SQUEEEEE!) who hops like a kangaroo and squeals to amuse himself.

The half-built shed.

The owner shows all flat-shod walkers now (hooray!) and has gotten enthralled with the versatility classes (horses do their regular gaited stuff, but also have dressage tests and jumping courses), so he is excitedly learning about dressage and jumping from my eventing buddy and applying it to all his training horses.

So as of Saturday, this is the TFS new compound.  I've built a tack locker by my horses' paddock so between it and the trailer, I just have my own space and my own end of the farm with the dressage arena and fields for hill work and XC schools.  As soon as I got the boys settled in, I realized this was going to be EXCELLENT desensitization for Encore.  Yes, he's already seen all the stuff on the track, but now he is seeing....

-miniature spotted donkeys braying for their dinner
-horny ducks who like to mate repeatedly while the pervy geese circle them and honk
-peacocks who call from the trees and leap on top of his round bale to squawk to the hens
-ponies whose main job is to kick the yearlings and teach them some manners
-and my favourite....

Meet Rocket, the mini stud who lives across the lane/fence.  He comes up to, oh, a little above my knees, but he reckons he can take on both those chestnuts and show THEM who's the boss.  He came "for free" with a recently purchased mare, but is actually a very nicely put together little horse and will do some breeding of his own and take over teasing duties from the owner's stud.



He paws like a little bull and assures us all that he could beat all our asses in a 'fro contest.

Solo and Encore, happily, put their trust in each other and rolled about the pasture together in an ADD frenzy, unsure of whether to be fascinated or concerned about the shrunken denizens that surrounded them.



They even showed off a new pairs routine they'd been working on, in beautiful synchronicity.



But by the time I came back on Sunday, they were relaxed and chowing down on clover and hay, the novelty of birds and stallions and donkeys having already worn off in favour of working out what the new breakfast and dinner schedule was. 

It's a big change for us, but so far, a happy one.  I've got a few projects to finish, including matting the shed and some pasture management, but in a few weeks, they'll be set and settled and I can take a deep breath and just enjoy the peace!

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Your CHP Novice Coursewalk

Team Flying Solo basecamp

Mea culpa for no helmet cam, but I CAN give you a coursewalk, plus a few bonus bits of fun.  So take a deep breath, put yourself in the Carolina sandhills, and gallop out of the start box for your horse's first Novice course.

A simple log pile to get things going.  Then a huge U-turn to...

The ubiquitous CHP cabins.  Run down the hill to...

The BIG brush.  It has wide steps on both sides.  Say hi to our buddy Sue!

Gallop up the hill to the coop.  No visual distractions here.  Focus on your jump.

Run through the tree tunnel to 5 & 6.  Since they are numbered separately, you ARE allowed to circle between them.  But I want to challenge my horse, so we ride straight through.

The course had a nice flow up until 6.  Then it went all wonky.  You galloped down a steep hill and wound through several tree paths and made an odd turn to the table at 7.

Now you immediately rebalance down the hill so your horse is ready for the baby sunken road and rolltop at 8.  Sue is getting tired of being in my pictures.  Too bad!

Down another steep hill to the trakehner.  Encore had never jumped one before so eyes UP, light tap with the go stick and LEAP over and charge up the hill to wind another crazy line to 10.

Sue insists on being the human element for scale.  Now that you have found 10, it's a simple cabin, than a hard left turn.

The water at 11 is a simple run through, keep your eyes on your next jump and don't ogle.  As an aside, this is only HALF of the big water complex at CHP, is it not amazing??

Sue threatens to tackle as you pick your way through the trees at an angle to 12.  Encore knocked a hind leg here, it was an awkward turn and he got an off stride, but he made it work.

Now you get your stirrup back, dodge a few more trees and go down another steepish hill to 13, and immediately balance so...

You can run through the second water at 14.  Don't miss your line because you have charge up the hill to...

15 A & B.  This is a combination so NO circling.  Up the bank, one stride, jump, then a horrible right turn IMMEDIATELY to...

Our not-so-friendly 16.  But it was a terrible line.  You can see the finish flags right behind it.  Sigh.

Then, ostensibly, you have done it!  As I noted earlier, after jump 6, the course notably lost its flow.  For a Novice horse, he should be able to gallop nicely through it in a rhythm and the jumps should come up naturally, as they did with our previous, much beloved course designer, Jeff Kibbie.  But he has moved on, sadly, so it will be interesting to see how things develop.  I will send in my event evaluation to provide some feedback, organizers do value those, so send yours in too!

And just for fun, Indian Smurf made some new friends:

Our VERY favourite starter, Bill -- you can often find him at CHP and several of our area schooling trials.  He always makes you laugh and relax before you set off and was recently featured in EventingUSA magazine for his awesomeness!

Our TD and friend, Cindy (who is also our national Adult Rider coordinator) and her apprentice TD, Tim, enjoying the shade of the golf cart and having a smurfy good time!

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