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We Are Flying Solo

June 4, 2014

My Horse Has Itchy Intestines

Encore Wound
Lovely
Apparently.  Since on Sunday afternoon, I was presented with the delight you see pictured.

While I spent THREE HOURS clipping and probing and tweezer-ing and hosing and de-ticking (at least he’s patient), I told him next time he had an itch, he could just politely point it out so I could take care of it instead of over-dramatically experimenting with self-gutting on his own.  He already looks like burn victim, having used every reachable surface to scratch half the skin off his face.  He’s that little kid that you have duct-tape oven mitts when they get chicken pox so they won’t claw their skin off.  Only I don’t have enough oven mitts for every post.  And tree.  And rock.  And his entire body.

Ah well, I hadn’t used the emergency vet number in a while.  It was just hot enough and swollen enough and oozy enough that I wanted to make sure I had covered all my bases before someone came to check it out Monday and give him a (naturally, expensive) steroid shot.

Here I would like to pause and note the already employed strategery.  This adorable, wonderful, maddening horse is wearing fly boots, fly sheet when it’s not too hot, fly mask, eats garlic, gets fly spray, is treated with a tick drench, and is groomed often.  I will also note that Solo, aka I Used To Be A Giant, Accident-Prone Parasite Magnet…is fine.

He got his shot and I got permission to spend even more imaginary money on things that aren’t even fun, like antihistamines for the season.  He likely got a bit itchy from tick bites, started scratching on the TREE WITH THE FATTEST POISON IVY VINES and then the oils worked their way into broken skin and it all became a systemic cycle of itchiness.  I moved him out of pasture with said trees but then jinxed myself by observing on Saturday that he was healing nicely.

*pause for multiple eyerolls*

3'7 0 01 23-30
Remember this horse (2012) casually loping 3'7" in the chute?
On the plus side, he had the good grace to at least injure himself in a “no tack goes here” spot (I had noticed the scabs and thought movement from a ride might work out the fluid of the swelling; it did, but by the time I got the saddle off, it blew back up and on closer examination, the depth of drama was revealed).  Time is hard to come by at the moment, but I was determined to carve out 20 minutes, climb on and at least remind Encore what standards look like.
 
That ride…was our first proper jump school in – I’d actually have to look in my own archives it’s been so long – at least seven months.  We hacked next door to Trainer Neighbour’s Jump Field, adjusted a few rails, and assured Encore he would not die alone while OTHER HORSES DID INTERESTING THINGS RIGHT OVER THERE!

After perhaps two or three dressage schools over the last two months and a couple good trail rides with hill work:  The Pro still has it!  I channeled my inner David O. voice, focusing on being patient, consistent, and soft in my hand while not forgetting I have legs (what, I STILL have to think about them?) to keep his butt engaged and his poll up.  When Encore got antsy, I heard Becky in my head repeating, “Don’t torture him, give him something to do with that energy!”

C'mon, let me take you for a ride! (High Time Photography)
Reward:  Encore didn’t touch a rail, and our final jump was a 3’4” vertical from a solid rhythm where I stayed soft, kept my shoulders up over the apex, kept my butt off his back coming down, and we cantered away forward, but relaxed.  That arc where we both get it all right at the same time – I have a vague memory of that feeling.  Definitely time to get off now and don’t screw it up!  

Maybe we should all spend a little less time beating ourselves up for not riding “enough” (who defines that anyway??) and lower the pressure by just enjoying time on the back of a horse.  Letting ourselves be pleasantly surprised when picking just a detail or two for focus results in an improved bigger picture.  It doesn’t have to be a jump.  It can be a transition into a trot, three steps closer to that horse-eating tree stump, a more responsive halt, a more accurate turn, or even an anxiety-free hack in the woods.

That's a challenge for all of us -- let me know how it worked out for you!

5 comments:

  1. The jump sounds lovely! The skin-eating-bacteria/leprosy/Ebola-of-the-skin sounds not so lovely. Have you tried spirulina? It is truly a miracle--I use it for both myself and Salem for our seasonal rashes of death, and it works amazingly well. It has natural antiinflammatories (and IIRC works even better when given w/flax and/or MSM).
    Glad you had such a nice jump school after that!

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  2. No more things, LOL!! I'll just put tape around everything and he'll have to learn to scratch on his pasturemate...like his brother does!

    Thinking of you and Salem!!

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    1. Ha! Another idea that I saw on COTH--someone got, like, a huge brush that they use to clean roads or something (from the county) and then somehow stuck it in the ground and the horses could scratch themselves up against it.

      Salem needs some jingles! Had regular vet out yesterday, no answers yet (but he pulled blood for Lyme & EPM, so we will get those results next week), called specialist $$$ vet today, but he couldn't make it so is coming out Monday. In the meantime, I'll have to, like, sell 1.5 of my kidneys to pay the bill, lol.

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  3. Hooray jumping!! :-) Glad you are finding time to ride occasionally.

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    1. Thanks, it was fun! I guess it's not so much a time issue, the time is there; but dealing with some personal stuff, it's hard to find the energy and then get it to coincide with a good time -- say not feeling the energy when I'm at work. They don't seem to like it when I just leave while announcing it's time to ride my horse!

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