Rested, Restored, And Ready To Run?

Yes please.

Dr. Bob knows how hard I work for my horses.  He knows the hours I spend toiling, studying, watching, searching, and fine-tuning every aspect of their existence to give them the best I can.  So it made me feel a little less paranoid when, as he stepped out of his truck Tuesday morning, he said, "I'm hoping I can give you some good news for a change today so you can finally catch a break!"

You and me both, buddy, you and me both.  At least it wasn't just me who felt like the dice kept rolling against us just enough to keep us from, you know, actually doing anything.  I could only keep chanting my life mantra:  nothing lasts forever, nothing lasts forever...

Stuff blew out everywhere.

I had spent the last six weeks dutifully feeding bute, painting on Durasole (thanks for the reminder of its much-loved magic, Yvonne!) and strapping and re-strapping fly boots (thanks, Allie!) and examining every surface and crevice on Encore's four bruised-up feet for any signs of emerging abscess or other "nasties" (hey, that's the term my vet uses, so it's real now!).

As directed, I'd kept him in very light work on grass; even though we knew his hips were out of whack and he was sore, he still needed to do some gentle walking and trotting to keep the blood pumping in his feet, speeding healing and exorcising all evils.  He was all kinds of cattywompus, but after three to four weeks, I felt the footiness subside until all that remained was his out-of-whack hind end and poll.

Check out where that back meridian on top goes!

The latter two were a result of his compensation for his foot soreness.  Interestingly, because of the way the muscles and nerves work, many times a hind end lameness can manifest through a jammed or resistant feeling in the horse's poll on the opposite side.  Even the ancient rules of acupuncture acknowledge this connection, which is pretty remarkable if you consider acupuncture itself dates back to the Stone Age and the use of metal needles dates to at least 113 BC!!

I told Dr. Bob that I believed that he had finally worked out that last significant bruise in his left front foot and, miracle of miracles, had not developed abscesses in any of them.  At times, I am hesitant to make any assertions, as it can be difficult to detect small things in all the colours and dirt layers of a hoof.  But the hoof testers backed me up and I had to let out a giggle of excitement.

Next we had Encore's long-awaited chiropractic adjustment to put all that cattywompus back where it belonged.  Dr. Bob had informed me that yes, he could have adjusted him two weeks ago when we were at the clinic, but it would all get thrown right back out again since Encore was still compensating a bit, so instead of wasting time and money, it was better to hold tight until his feet felt good (this is a vet you keep!).

Not Encore, but that is his favourite stretch!

My big brown beast leaned into the stretches with relish, licking his lips as joints popped and settled from his poll to his tailbone.  Happily, his mid-back was solid so his spring vertebral injections were still doing their trick and his withers and hips quickly fell into line.  I was glad we had decided to inject his hocks six weeks ago; even though they do not have arthritic changes, they were sore from compensatory motion and were now swinging freely and their range of motion was as good or better than ever!  It was with great satisfaction that I watched him trot off across the pasture already looking pretty darn normal again.

Dr. Bob went merrily along his way (significantly more financially merry) after a hearty congratulations and Encore was free to rest and meander around his pasture.  The latter will get today off in case of any soreness from the adjustments and then, I will swing a leg back over to....dare I hope?...bring him back into work.

Don't leave us behind, fall season, we're trying to catch up!!

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Contest Winners For The Win!!

I plead guilty; this particular eventer has been buried in busy, putting out fire after proverbial fire.  I barely dare to hope it, but we do finally have some positive news:  Dr. Bob inspected and adjusted Encore this morning and pronounced his feet no longer sore, the bruises healed, and his body on the upswing at last!!!  I'd tell you about the show I want to enter but I know what that would cause!

First, however, I owe you entertaining contest winners who will each receive Absorbine goodies, as announced at the end of July.  We had some valiant pieces of gear, still working hard despite taking an awesome beating!  So without further ado, I give you the winners of our 2013 Absorbine TryPak "My Crap Is Redneckier Than Your Crap" contest!!  If you are a winner and you want your swag, drop me an email with your name and shipping address and stuff will be drop-shipped from Absorbine.

East Bound shares her paddock boots (and badass lime green socks) complete with holes, broken zippers, broken snaps, and the tried and true attachment method of "eh, the spurs will keep them from falling off."

Jana shares my dedication to a good pair of gloves.  Who needs ten fingers anyway?

 

Andrea built a chambon out of....I don't even know how many random parts!  Win for ingenuity!

Stephanie is determined to just keep patching her blankets!  Why get new ones when these are good and broken in?

 Rebekah combined bedraggled half chaps with hay-string cobbled boots for a stylish schooling look!

And our friend, CalmForwardStraight, personlizes her arena drag.

 

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who sent in a picture!!  If you could please send me your shipping information by the end of this week, as I've kept Absorbine waiting long enough!  Keep on styling and you will always be a Rider With Character!

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Clip Clop Clip Clop BANG BANG Clip Clop...

Know what makes that noise?

Wait for it....



...an Amish drive-by.  HAHAHAHHA.  Ok, yes, I love jokes in poor taste, it is a weakness.

That is also the sound of a llama TB speed racing over trot poles.  Bugger.

In good news, he is looking and feeling sounder on his feet.  I still have not seen anything blowing out of his front hooves, but he does seem more comfortable on them.  We had a nice little ride on the grass on Monday.  Of course, he is also getting daily bute, so...

I confess we did have a terrible ride last night.  I should just not get on when I am tired and it is heinously humid.  Things degrade quickly, we end up frustrated and I ponder a hobby of goldfish.  Or rocks. 

Part of the problem is that right now, I just do not have the money to take the lessons I should have with the trainers whose eyes I badly need.  David is a two-hour haul -- well worth it, but hard to find the diesel money at the present time.  The truth is, as I know I've said before and as became very obvious to me with Becky this spring, to make real progress, you simply must have that pro time.

There are some more local options to explore.  The simple fact is, I'm not having fun right now, which then saps my motivation.  Therefore, the point is being missed!  Whenever I catch this phenomenon occurring, I know it is time to take a step back, inhale, exhale, and plan something light-hearted, relaxing, and...FUN.  I am fairly exploding with impatience to get back out on the trails, the Devil Belly-Stabbing Bugs need to hurry up and go away.

What do you do when this happens?  How do you uncoil those springs and relax with your horse, rediscovering that oh yeah, my hobby is supposed to make me happier?  How do you keep working towards your goals yet take some of the pressure off so the pot doesn't blow its lid? 

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I Could Fund Dr. Bob's Retirement. I Probably Do.

Stomp.  Stomp.  Stomp.  Stomp.

With that, we were down for the count again.  If you follow us on Facebook, you already know that Encore has the dubious distinction of managing to bruise all four of his feet at once.  While I felt rather relived when Dr. Bob pronounced his diagnosis, as it was far better than whatever mysterious thing my brain was dreaming up, it was still frustrating and a bit disheartening whilst in the middle of it.  Bite me, fall schedule.

This year has been akin to hoof  murder for many, though.  It went something like this:

Enjoying dinner in a ditch in mismatched anti-stomp finery.

Wet
Dry
Wet
Wet
Wet
Dry
FLIES FLIES FLIES
Wet
Wet
FLIESDRYWETFLIESAGH!

Shoes came loose, muscles got sore from ground concussion, and everyone ended up aggravated.

Sometimes it seems like my sexy brown horse is bent on getting out of work.  Each time we get into the swing of things, we crash into the wall.  Even Dr. Bob shakes his head a bit because Encore has great conformation, wonderful athleticism, and worlds of try.  And there is certainly not anything wrong with him outside of his back's arthritic changes, which have done great with injections and caused no further issues.  He just seems to have picked up his owner's penchant for hurt-yourself-just-enough-to-be-annoying.  Naturally, Mr. Solo Of The Wussy Feet...is fine.

Making a list of his creative ways of hurting himself does make me feel better though.  Yeah, that sounds odd, doesn't it??  But it does remind me that they are all just poorly-timed little things.   A pulled ligament, a foot bruise (psh, who does just one, go big or go home!), a sore muscle.  Irritating, yes, but undeniably a part of owning the sporthorse!

His back feet have already blown out their abscesses.  His hocks were a bit sore from compensating for sore feet and more stomping, so we injected the lower hock joints to tide him through healing (heck, he raced for three years, it's not like he's never had a joint injection) by reducing soreness and letting him move more smoothly and naturally.  Interesting tidbit:  I asked Dr. Bob if there was any data about hock injections in terms of future prognosis, as I know he keeps up on his science.  I was very happy to learn that with hocks, the injections do not exacerbate any issues or limit your treatment window in the same way that coffin or fetlock joint injections can.

He'll stay on his bute until his front feet decide to erupt, remaining in a light riding schedule on grass to help keep the blood pumping in his feet and encourage those bruises to move out and heal.  And of course, I broke out my Durasole and introduced the two of them, along with my fly boots!  I already know from his radiographs that he has lovely, thick soles, they just need to be a bit harder this year to battle the crazed weather on top of hard ground in which rocks are a cash crop.  I also picked up this nifty little battery-powered fly mister for the run-in shed.

Keep an eye on those tootsies, folks, and don't forget, proactive is always better than reactive!  And less expensive, sigh...

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Changes Afoot

Naturally, after I celebrate Encore's awesomeness and plan a fantastic trip down to Southern Pines to visit his CANTER MA aunties and ride with David...

...he shuts that down a few hours before we depart.  Apparently, I never learn!

I arrived on Saturday morning to find his shoes all jacked up from stomping endlessly at flies and his withers and butt sore from the repeated concussion.  The rest of his back seemed fine and I tried to ride the soreness out with stretching but it did not go well.  In addition, the stomping plus a hoof growth spurt from new grass made him grow insane amounts of hoof wall all over the place; his feet did not even closely resemble their normal state!  He had two loose shoes and the barn farrier, who happened to be visiting, tacked them back on for us and also made a few suggestions, which got my brain churning.  He didn't know any better, haha.

Regardless, no trip for us.  Sadness.

Both boys were due for their vaccinations and our farrier was visiting yesterday, so I hauled them down to Dr. Bob's clinic.  While we there, I decided to redo the lateral radiographs of Encore's front feet that I had taken almost two years ago when I brought him home.  I was curious to see if there had been improvement in his P1/2/3 alignment (it felt like there had not), if there were any arthritic changes (I hoped not!), and what his soles and toes looked like (I already knew he grew a ton of toe).

Dr. Bob agreed it was far more useful to shoot the pictures than try to guess, so we made the boy some nice wood platforms and had a look.  Turns out, my instincts weren't totally wrong.

Left front foot.

When I said he grows a ton of toe, I meant it!  This is at 4.5 weeks of this crazy cycle, our grass has been off the charts.  So try not to judge the heinous hoof wall too much, even though it looks uuugly. 

On the positive side, his joint spaces have remained nice and clean, as has his navicular bone (nestled in the back between P2 and P3 (coffin bone).  While his coffin bone shows some remodeling on the palmar (facing the ground) and rear edges, it is nothing outside of the normal range.  His sole thickness, which was already great, had increased a bit more, yay!

However, there has not been any improvement in the P1/2/3 alignment.  The heel end of his coffin bone still sits a little too low, which lets the bones sink slightly out of alignment.  This also creates some bruising on the palmar surface of the coffin bone, in the center of the foot (I thought this sounded horrible, but Dr. Bob assured me it was minor). 

Right front foot.

His right foot told much the same story (this was one of the two reset on Saturday, hence different nails).  Still clean joints, navicular is fine, sole excellent.

Same verdict on bone alignment and coffin bone angle.

We also discussed his back feet.  Encore travels very base narrow behind and twists his hind feet, especially his left hind, when he pushes off the ground (very common).  His front feet also hit the ground before his hind feet if he is not fully engaged, creating his nice four-beat canter, heh.  However, he does not grow crazy toe back there, his hoof wall behind is very  nice.

Now it was time to create a new shoeing prescription!  He was wearing Natural Balance shoes up front, which farrier alternated with keg shoes when he felt it was appropriate, and a normal keg shoe behind.  So what is he wearing today?

Up front, he has an aluminum wedge shoe that lifts his heel 2 degrees to help correct that coffin bone angle (as we move his toe back, this will help too).  I HATE HATE HATE pads, as Solo wore them once and they gave him horrible thrush, bleh.  So I was happy to use a wedge shoe and farrier rolled the toe with his rasp to speed breakover even more.  He moved the toe wayyy back and the narrower shoe let it sit closer to the frog than the NB shoes could.

Behind, he went to a size larger keg shoe to both widen his stance, help the foot to land more quickly, and reduce the twisting of the ankle.  There was also an option of using a trailer on the outside branch of his old shoes, but farrier felt that since we needed to use studs, the larger shoe would make that easier on Encore, as the trailer would change more forces on the leg and that added to the studs might be too much change too fast.

So we will see how he responds to all this.  I am very glad I decided to go ahead with the radiographs -- it 100x times more helpful for the farrier to be able to see all the details and we can KNOW what Encore specifically needs help with and what he doesn't; that is worth a great deal!  He is also now wearing four fly boots that I dug out from my stores to reduce some of that stomping.

And you know, why not try to spend as much money as possible in one day!!!

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Sometimes Disappointment Is A Good Ending

That was one of the reasons I have always loved Audrey Hepburn's classic Roman Holiday:  there is no perfect bow and there is no closure except goodbye.  Life doesn't wrap itself up in a nice, neat little package where everyone always ends up exactly where they wanted to be in the first place.

But before we go there, I will give you the answer you've all been waiting for, the question that has held you captive since Tuesday's Hoof Quiz:  half of you are right and half of you are wrong.

Hoof A has a robust, heavy wall and a sole that is concave, thick, and hard as a rock.  The frog is giant and the heels are strong.  There's a teensy bit of a thrushy crack, always a project.  Hoof B is narrower, with a sole that is almost flat, has little callous and jerks back dramatically in response to contact with the tiniest bit of gravel.  The middle of the frog got thrushy (grrrr) from a muddy pasture.

So who was right?  *drumroll*  A = Encore and B = Solo.  So Val, Amy, Beka Burke, Abbie, Lyndsey and RiderWriter got it right!

This has taught me the huge role that genetics play in hoof quality and integrity.  That old saw that OTTB's have crappy, shelly feet?  Well, buy one with good feet and you won't have that problem.  My QH has wussy, cracky feet that need constant attention despite six years of me obsessing over them. 

As for that little horse trial we went to...

Overall things went smoothly.  Although, there was this one time, in middle of downtown Raleigh where I clenched the steering wheel and yelled a string of very bad words, realizing in the complete chaos that was my Friday that I had remembered everything....except feed for my horse.  Fortunately, there's a lovely feed store in Southern Pines which is open for Saturday morning panic shopping runs.

Encore is a very smart horse.  As soon as he unloaded, you could see the lightbulb go on as he remembered the Horse Park and he knew what he was supposed to do in each section we rode into.  He warmed up for dressage rather well, but I still have not completely figured out what he needs.  More canter?  No canter?  More suppling?  A different rider?  I know I slipped into an old habit and tensed up as we rode in the ring.  As a result, he never relaxed and rode up into the contact, and we ended up with a mediocre score of 41.

The judge was fair and accurate and I am sure that our results were a mix of greenness and Encore just having a week and a half off due to injury.  We had ONE dressage ride in the last two weeks. 

Cross country followed and you can hate me because I forgot to turn on the helmet cam.  I'm going to start writing it on my arm.  I will post a virtual course walk when I get the pictures organized.

Now that we were running Novice, I was finally able to let Encore run a little.  Wow, does he have a powerful gallop.  It took everything in me to slow down and balance enough for the fences.  But he was bold and solid -- baby sunken road, water, trakehner, bank, combination, HUGE brush -- he gave it an excellent run and responded to everything I asked immediately.

Until Jump 16.  Three strides from the finish line.  The last jump on course.  It was a simple rolltop, although a bit narrow, and newly built out of light, treated lumber.  I knew it was a steering question and it came off an odd turn, as the whole second half of the course lacked flow in its design.  But I aimed for the middle and closed my leg.

See, the smurf has no problem with it.

Encore is a very quick and athletic horse, as I'd already learned in Februrary.  He slipped out to the left at the last second.  I was stunned.  We had already done all the hard stuff!

Then I made the mistakes that did us in.  I simply rode at it again, thinking he would just jump it the second time.  He didn't.  Then I did the same thing the third time with, unsurprisingly, the same result and that was our endgame.

What I didn't do is get proactive fast enough.  The second time, I should have switched the crop to my left hand, dug that left spur in and used a right opening rein to close the doorway he found.

But as I walked back to the barn and commenced the "Saturday Pack of Shame" of those who get eliminated on the first day, I wasn't entirely unhappy.

I was unhappy with my failure to get the riding job done, yes.  But when we were warming up for XC, I had noticed that while Encore jumped the XC jump very well, he rushed the stadium fences, getting flat, hard, and fast in the last three strides.  I didn't like it and I am fairly certain that it is a training issue that I have caused.  I have some ideas, but I need some video or sharp eyes on the ground to solve it. 

But it needs to be worked out and I did not want to run him around the stadium course like that, as that could potentially make a problem much worse and become a negative experience for us both.  As a result, I was thinking of withdrawing after XC and going home to up our show jumping game.

In the end, the choice was made for me.  So while I have a bit of wounded pride for an E on Encore's record (it doesn't stand for "excellent," folks), when I take a step back and look at the big picture and what is best for Encore's career, I see that we achieved experience in the dressage arena, got both our leads and were fairly accurate, and had a great schooling run around a Novice XC course for jumps 1-15 on a horse who was at his second real horse trial and his first go at Novice.

The experience matters.

Like Gregory Peck, I didn't get the princess completion I wanted in the end, but I got an invaluable experience for my horse and I feel comfortable knowing that our show jumping round (in the rain) today could very well have not been what it should.

And that is what makes eventing a challenge and a long game if you want to build an eventer who is confident in his rider and knows how to get his job done.  It's not all clean rounds and sunshine, but it's the hard decisions and how fast you can roll with the punches that sort the wheat from the chaff.

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Up For A Little Quiz?

But before the question, I have some gleeful news to share:

I rode Encore last night in the arena and he was SOUND AND FRISKY AT W/T/C!  In fact, after I got off, his leg was cleaner and tighter than when we started, which is what I was hoping would happen once he got moving.  He kicked out with a giant buck picking up one canter, I think it was part exuberance and part annoyance at having just one leg wrapped in layers (I didn't want arena grit in the scab).  I have many smiles, it feels good.

Now, on to your quiz.  It's a simple one...or is it?  These are pictures of my horses' feet.  Both are back hooves on brown legs, both have been barefoot with the same farrier for roughly the same amount of time and both get the same management and same base feed.  No hoof supplements.  Size is irrelevant, the camera was just a different distance from the hoof.  So -- which one is a shiny Quarter Horse and which one is a doe-eyed OTTB?

 If you answer correctly, you win.....

AN ALL-EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO -----

wait for it.....

READ THIS BLOG SOME MORE!

Yeah, I know, best prize ever right.  *insert self-deprecating snicker here*

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So, How Was Your Day?

Plan:  Wake up, load up, leave farm about 9:00, take Encore and Pete along with me and lifeshighway to the Moss Foundation on a perfect riding day in the beautiful pine savannah.

Reality:  I should have stayed in bed.

Episode 1:  I am backing out of my driveway, as per usual.  My street is narrow but has very little traffic, it doesn't even have a middle line.  I'm not really paying attention, I do this every morning.  Until I feel the passenger rear wheel suddenly sink into the ditch, that deadly point of no return where your axle is riding the ground.  *insert many bad words here*  Plus the grass was JUST slick enough from a light frost that there was no hope of a lucky surge.

However, I AM a lucky person in that I look forlornly out my windshield and my eyes lock on to my work truck sitting in the driveway.  Which just so happens to have a 9,000 lb winch on the front.  As furtively (please, let the neighbours be sleeping) and quickly as possible, I dig out winch controller, pull out cable, attach to tow hook, wrestle with poor plug placement on front of work truck, curse many times, then hit the go button. 

Like magic, my precious is gently removed from the ditch and ready to go once more. 

My brain, however, said beware a bad omen at the start.

Sometimes, I'm a poor listener.

Episode 2:  I had heard my phone ringing while hooking up the winch, but I blew it off in favour of the task at hand.  Upon recovering truck and normal direction of travel, I see call was from BO and I call her back.

"Um," she says.  "Encore has a cut on his leg and it is swollen, is it ok if I take him out and cold hose him."

More cursing.

I know exactly what happened.  Encore was put out last night with his normal pasturemate PLUS another horse who he is not usually with.  Other horse gets quite aggressive at food time and it's not hard to surmise that hooves started flying at breakfast time and Encore got the blow trying to get away (he's mostly submissive in the pasture).

I get there and find a deep slice and leg swollen hock to ankle.

Where is my tendon?

Deceptively small.

My hocks are two differently sized turkeys.

So much more cursing.  Horse trial in two weeks.  Why, cod, why? 

I call vet -- I'm taking no chances.  Robin is on call, so we meet him at clinic.  Summary:  the shoe slice itself is just forward enough to have avoided anything nasty, it's just made a pocket where it cut the flesh.  The concern is the cellulitis, which sets in very quickly, so just in case the swelling IS that (instead of just a trauma reaction), to SMZ-ville we shall go. 

Thankfully, Dr. Brian says we should be cleared up within a week and have no problem getting to our trial.  I am relieved but still anxious until I can kill the swelling.  I leave with assignment of Furazone/DMSO sweat for 2-3 days, 5 days of antibiotics, and standing wraps.  I will also sneak my Animalintex in there because it is magic.  I was glad I went, because had I waited two days, we might have been in a world of hurt. 

On the good side, Encore is not lame at the walk and is very generous about letting us mess with it.  When I poke it and cold hose it, he just holds up the leg as if to say, Fix please, mum.

There was nothing more I could do for him so I turned him out and we loaded Solo on the trailer in his stead.  We would not get to enjoy our lovely sandhills, but there are some nice (hilly!) bridle trails in a local city park, so we went there instead.  It would be good for the hippo slug Solo to work off some fat.

Episode 3:  We were just at this park last weekend.  They held a 100 mile foot race (why anyone would voluntarily do such a thing, I have no idea, but whatever).  Since then, they have put down a bunch more gravel on the lovely, smooth bridle paths which are usually just screenings.  Evil.

Both Solo and Pete are barefoot behind (I put Solo's old easyboots on his front feet).  It made for a long ride.  There were some stretches we could get some trot work in, but you had to come to a screeching halt and pick your way through some sharp-edged, hoof-poking #57 approximately every 5 minutes.  We decided to call it interval training and all parties were overjoyed to get back to the trailer.

I don't think Solo will ever let me catch him again, but Encore let me take off his wraps and hose his leg tonight, dose him with his SMZ's, and wrap him back up without complaint. 

Now, I am drinking a beer and I am considering never leaving the house again.

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I Am Not A Vet

I just wanted to share a brief summary of the 4,000th time Dr. Bob has saved me from myself.  I got both Batman AND Robin today actually, I felt quite assured they would fix my boys.

Solo's big ol' hole that was all mushy and gross and I was sure would lead to coffin bone infection and surgery and imminent death?  It was an abcess that blew right through the frog.  Dr. Bob was able to carve the whole thing out and all is well again.  I never saw Solo limp though, so he snuck it by me!

Encore got a check-over by Batman to follow up on his sidekicks work and a thumbs up of approval was given.  Dr. Bob did a little more work on his poll and then two fluid acupuncture injections behind his ears, which I had never seen before.  Basically the fluid is a saline mixture (I forget what it was mixed with) that puts pressure on the nerve endings.  Encore was completely unphased by big needles going into his skull -- he was fixated on the fact that the whole clinic smells like cows (Dr. Bob raises beef you can buy on the hoof) and nothing else mattered.

So I brought home two repaired ponies and hopefully, with the holiday weekend, I can, GASP, actually ride them!

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Oh, Solo, Now I Have To Call Batman Too?!

Solo has been out on a pasture which has a giant mudpit by the gate from this winter.  It's a boggy area that never really dries all the way except in drought.  Unfortunately, horses also like to hang out by the gate.  Also unfortunately, due to some genetic flaw, Solo has wussy feet.

I'm sure it doesn't take you long to make the leap:  thrush.  I was not a happy camper.  My horse has NEVER EVER EVER had thrush and I work so hard at foot care.  But there was little I could do except treat the snot out of it, which I did.

At the end of last week, it was ok.  Not great, still mushy, but I kept pouring stuff on it and Robin had helped by carving out some flaps of frog that were trapping bacteria.

Sad foot is sad.

Tonight, I had decided to give Encore the night off after a tough weekend of MAJOR trail/hill/roadwork on Saturday and a dressage lesson on Sunday.  My plan was to ride Solo.  That is, until I picked up his right front foot.

He's barefoot right now, since he's not doing much, so his feet don't trap much dirt.  But as I went to scrape out the mud trapped on his frog, my hoof pick sunk in.  Deeper.  As I picked, it went even deeper and dug out white mushy stuff.  My heart sank.

I shoved the ThrushBuster neck in as far as it would go and filled it with purpleness.  I made sad eyes at BO and said, can Solo PLEASE stay up in the dry pasture tonight so I can take him to vet tomorrow?  Happily she said yes, so he will be accompanying his little brother to see the Dynamic Duo (Encore's getting some follow-up accupuncture on his poor stuck poll).

Did I mention I just had to take my blue-tongued shink to the vet on Friday?

It never ends....

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It's Hard Work Being This Cool

Decked out and patched together in a mayhem of, let's call it "repurposing," with a touch of shabby chic.

Rockin' Solo's old sneaks for happy hoofies.

Why yes, that is a stirrup leather tied together with hay string to make a bombin' neck strap!

The black tape gives you ninja powers.  My sports medicine guy likes experiments...

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X Is For Xray, eXpensive, and eXplode

The first is what Encore got, the second is what the credit card got, and the third is what my head did.

Hold on, back up....what?

Oh yes, my theory holds.  And by that I mean my theory is that if you have one horse, you will just have a lame horse and no spare; if you have two horses, you will just have two lame horses and no spare; three horses, yep, three lame horses and no spare...you get the picture.

I've been noticing that Encore has a bit of a bobble on his left front at the trot.  Not always, but I can see it and I can feel it, especially on the longe.  Well, he's an underweight, undermuscled, crooked ex-racehorse with bare feet in recovery who flexed clean so it was hard to say it was a true lameness.  But last night, it was a definite, though slight limp (insert head explosion here) and I decided to take him to visit Dr. Bob (or rather Dr. Brian, the sidekick of the very busy Dr. Bob when you call last minute) this morning.

Of course, by the time I parked my truck in my driveway yesterday evening, I was already sure that he had ringbone and would either (a) never jump again or (b) snap off his leg and die. Cue Anxiety Girl.

We flexed again and we shot a couple radiographs and then we tucked Anxiety Girl back into her bed:

(1) Despite my diligent, yet sporadic application of Durasole, the sole on his left front was soft enough that you could see it flex beneath the pressure of Dr. Brian's fingers. Owie, so not comfortable. You're getting front shoes, my boy!

(2) I wanted a lateral view of each front ankle and foot anyway -- the rads are such a powerful tool for understanding what exactly you are dealing with mechanically. Both fronts were remarkably clean. There are a couple of osselets on the right front that are old and set and a small P1 bone spur on the left, also old and set, no problem. Otherwise, P1/P2/P3/navicular bone have clean joint spaces and nice edges, yay!

(3) I would never guess it from looking at his feet from the outside, but Encore has a TON of toe which needs to be lopped off. Said lopping will hopefully go along way towards correcting...

(4) P1/P2/P3 should line up on a nice straight axis. They don't -- each has its own angle in there (can we say cattywompus?!). The rear end of his coffin bone sits too high and things are jammed up. By slowly changing the hoof angle, we can realign this whole support structure to avoid problems in the future (cattywompus = bad).

All in all -- fixable. No ringbone, no legs snapping off. We will put our lovely farrier to work and hopefully go on about our business. And may farriers who don't pay attention to bone angles find their underpants invaded by fire ants -- no one likes to fix your messes!

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The Ubiquitous Foot Post

Brought to you by the cutest face, which I finally managed to capture!

It's impossible not to love me.

Two brothers meet at last.  I hope Solo didn't tell him too many stories in the trailer ride.

Unskippable cuteness out of the way, I shall move on to the Encore Foot Examination 2011.  The study of hooves is fascinating to me.  They are constantly changing with their environment and physical demands.  Encore came to me barefoot, I believe his racing plates were pulled when he came off the track in December of 2010.  I wish I had taken baseline pictures the day I brought him home, because believe it or not, they have already begun to change.  In five days.  Mind-blowing.

His hoof walls look good -- they are strong, smooth, and fairly even.  They were a little chipped up until last night when farrier cleaned up the edges a bit and balanced the heels, but just nothing further than cosmetic issues.  He'll finish the trim next week when he comes back for Solo. 

When you pick up his feet though, that all changes.  Up front, it's not too bad -- his frogs look decent, although his heels are still contracted and he's got some thrushy bits living between them, ewie.  Racing plates rarely do any favours to horsie feet.

Left front

Left front solar view

Right front

Right front solar view.  This one has smashier heels and there's some goop down in the crack at the center of them.

 Then you pick up his hind feet and it's a different story.  I know you probably won't believe me, but there has been a big change in these already.  Both had thrush in the grooves along the frog and the heels were crammed together very tightly with more thrush between them, even more ewie.  I kid you not, those creases between the heels were crammed together tighter than gator jaws, not even space to stick a hoofpick in.  And the frogs were dry, tiny, and shriveled; they definitely were not performing as they should.

These pics (and the ones above) were taken this evening and his heels are ALREADY spreading, opening up that central crack.  His frogs?  Suddenly revived and looking plump again.  The farrier did almost nothing last night, just cleaned the edges and took a bit off the heel bars, I swear.  He has worked for four days on harder ground and coarse arena footing, quite a change from the sandhills!  But he shows no soreness.  The saddest part is that his soles now look as good as the BEST Solo's ever were barefoot.  Poor wussy Solo feet, just couldn't hack it.   

Right hind

Right hind solar view

Left hind

Left hind solar view

I can't wait to see what happens next!  I will probably need to shoe him eventually, but for now, he will stay barefoot unless he tells me he needs otherwise.  I've gone to town with the Thrush Remedy and the Durasole, so we'll all be goopified for a while.

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It's A Bird. It's A Plane. Oh, Wait, It's SuperVet!

That's right, it's Episode 59 of Dr. Bob Presents.

It was time for fall shots (a perennial favourite of Mr. Orange Wimpy Pants) which is code for time where I stockpile all my equine questions in a marathon Dr. Bob Inquisition. Only there is no torture. Unless you consider me asking questions torture. Which he might. But I pay him. So too bad.

Question 1: I've noticed Solo's heels tend to underrun. Should I be concerned? Should I try to fix this? Can it be fixed?

Dr. Bob's Treatise On Feet (may be cropped to fit this screen and typing energy level): When a horse's heels get crushed by bad farrier work, they cannot always be fixed. Which is why I freak out when I see this happening. The heels will, over time, continue to grow at the new, undesired angle and you can cause more damage and spend a horse's whole life trying to fix it. What is important is that the heels are fully supported, the toes are kept short, the angles of the whole foot and leg are balanced, and the horse is comfortable.

Question 2: My massage fingers are paranoid. Is this part of his butt supposed to feel this tight and is this part suppose to twitch when I press on it and does his ass feel better?

Dr. Bob's Treatise On Equine Musculature (definitely abbreviated to allow for approaching bedtime): This muscle group goes this way and this muscle group goes this way (lecture on muscles and fascia commences which is fascinating, but too long to type). Yes, this part is supposed to feel tight and yes, that is supposed to twitch, and yes, he feels much better. Your massage work is excellent! (here I throw a self-congratulatory internal party)

Question 3:  I would like to bring Solo back to competition at Novice level in early October.  We will not go Training again until at least late November; I will not rush him.

Dr. Bob: Sweet. Sounds good. Thumbs up. (Hey, it's not all treatises.)

Question 4:  My friend's horse is a chunky, black, PerchieX and he has terrible anhydrosis.  He's been on OneAC for months and they are both miserable.  I heard a rumour about accupuncture helping -- can you fix him?

Dr. Bob's Treatise On Anhydrosis (I've already heard the accupuncture treatise): Sure, I can staple his ears; this commonly is very successful. I've had a horse start sweating within 15 minutes of staples going in. I've never had much luck with OneAC. Thyroid supplements also often help, but take about a month to start working.

From here, we launched into a discussion of the equine glandular system and feedback pathways throughout. I don't think it's good for business to let science geeks talk to each other, we have notoriously poor time management skills. In fact, Dr. Bob's lucky I don't have any money or else I would schedule appointments just to peruse his seemingly boundless collection of horse knowledge.

Your summary: Solo's healing. His feet and muscle look good and a comeback looks hopeful. I can begin adding more jumps to our rides while keeping up the massage. Solo was a week overdue on worming and his fecal was at a 2 for worms, so we obviously have undead zombie worms on the farm and I shot that wormer in as soon as we got home. Of course, he spit it out, so I scraped it off the floor and shoved it back in. He swallowed that time. PerchieX needs some ear staples and my bank account needs CPR. But it was worth it.

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The Studs Are Here!

Sadly, no, not that kind.

Friday was a busy day. Solo and I met with P to review the Training Level dressage test we'll be doing in Virginia. It started ugly, with Solo insisting on being a redhead, throwing himself around and whining in protest. I stopped, took a deep breath, replaced the rage with zen and we started over.

The test is far more complex than we've done before -- which turned out to be a good thing! Figures and transitions fire in rapid succession, which means Solo never had time to get all stiff and brace-y, which means all of a sudden, I had a supple horse on my hands!

In bigger news, though, Friday was Stud Hole Installation Day. And I don't mean a pit filled with cabana boys. Although that would have been exciting too.

Having never seen the process of drilling and tapping shoes, I of course had to whip out the camera to capture Stud Master Johnathan (aka Hoof Shaper Extraordinaire and Fixer Of All Solo Foot Problems) as he single-handedly wrestled uncooperative steel shoes into submission. It looked strikingly similar to convincing Solo to do dressage.

First you drill the holes.

Then you use the tap to cut threads in the steel.

Solo supervises.

Then you install the shoe while the dogs mug you for hoof bits.

This process was HARD work. I suspect that Johnathan may have chased me off with the hoof nippers if I had asked him to do all four feet. Luckily for his shoulders, I did not want to stud the front shoes -- I do not want to slow down Solo's front feet while galloping and jumping as that would seem to court disaster for over-reaches and blown out tendons.

The end result: four nice neat holes, shown here with plugs intact.  And of course, four lovely reshod feet, which is a typical result when Johnathan applies his awesomeness to the Shiny Red Beast.

Yesterday, I screwed in four road studs for our jump school just to see how everything worked. Lesson: screwing in studs is a meticulous process that takes a long time. Will not be doing that unless I have to!

I am now off to read even more about studs while hoping that I don't manage to make any giant mistakes and hurt my horse. No pressure or anything.

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Tranformation To Real Event Horse: 95% Complete

Protective body armour for rider: Check

Air-cooled, carbon-fiber-lined tendon protection for horse: Check

Colour-coordinated cross country outfits: Check

Helmet cam: Check

Ability to leap ditches in a single bound: Check

USEA member cards for horse AND rider: Check

Two trainer, two saddles, two bridles, two girths, two shirts, two...: Check

And now...

Why yes, now that you ask, that IS a perfectly organized stud kit.  In a blue box.  With blue duct tape for holding boot straps in place.  And a blue hoofpick.

Solo gets drilled and tapped behind on his next visit from Johnathan the Wonder Farrier in early May. I have decided to make the commitment since I already know that VA in May can equal wet grass on very hilly terrain. With the added challenge of the move-up to Training Level, I want Solo to have as many tools as I can give him. I'm not drilling the front shoes; I do not want to do anything that slows down his front feet even a tiny bit while jumping or galloping. The last thing we need is a blown tendon or cut up pastern.

I have a lot to learn about studs but I've been reading till my eyes cross. But I'll save that for another post...

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Take The Time

It is so important to do the little things to keep your horse sound and mentally and physically fit no matter what his job is. Far too easy is it to get lost in the rushing and scheduling and riding that consumes us on a daily basis. But it's those tiny tasks, many that take only seconds, that collectively add up to a well-managed horse. This is what makes a horse(wo)man, not just a rider.

Take the time to palpate your horse's neck, back and haunches before and after a ride to look for tender spots. Just running your fingers down the big muscles with medium pressure can tell you a lot.

Take the time to run your hands down each leg so you know if that knot is new or old.

Take the time to lay a palm on each hoof as you pick them to check the temperature.

Take the time to wiggle each shoe to check for tightness when you lift his feet.

Take the time to really notice the colour, shape and texture of his frog and sole so you know if they change.

Take the time to run your fingers up the back of his pasterns to check for fungus like scratches.

Take the time to take him out on a hack to condition him on hills and uneven ground at the walk and trot, getting him fit the RIGHT way. Don't get trapped in the sandbox.

Take the time to watch him walk away from you as you turn him back out to watch for any stiffness or unevenness.

Take the time to give him a day or two off for a grooming spa or some quiet handgrazing so his body and mind can rest each week.

Take the time to dip his bit in a bucket of water after your ride so there are no sharp-edged crusties next time you tack up (and you don't have to scrub later!).

Take the time to lay out your girth and saddle pad after riding so it can dry and stay mildew and fungus free.

Take the time to glance into his feed bucket -- is he cleaning it up? Sorting out the supplements he doesn't like?

Take the time to watch him eat hay or grass. Is he chewing easily and evenly or does he just mash it and let it fall out of his mouth?

Take the time after you pull his saddle off to curry the matted, sweaty hair, letting air reach the skin and re-fluffing his coat.

Take the time to inspect his manure and watch him pee. Is everything normal coloured? Is the flow and consistency of all his waste the same every day?

I am sure there are others; the take-home message is that these seemingly miniscule things can catch a problem early, saving you potential headaches, vet bills, and missed competitions. They also help make your horse's job more pleasant so he doesn't resent what you ask him to do. Keeping his body and mind fit is 100% vital to keeping him going year after year, not to mention it goes a long way to keeping your maintenance costs down. Fight the urge to rush, be a horse(wo)man, and train yourself to a routine that incorporates getting to know your horse's body and habits so that when something does change (oh yes, we know it will), you will be the first to know. The faster you notice, the faster you can fix it and get Dobbin back on track, which only gives you both more time to enjoy the good stuff!

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A Brief Update

I will interject again with a brief Solo update!  Because this is the Solo blog!  So I must talk about Solo!

Hmmm, I think my blood sugar is too low and it makes me crazy(er than normal).

So, since we have a ton of stuff coming up in October, including big horse trial, our dressage saddle decided to enter the phase of catastrophic-failure-to-fit-at-all. Fitter (#4) tried valiantly for a total of about five hours. Bless her. It is now to the phase of adequate-but-still-kinda-sucky (these are scientifically verified phases, I swear). To my dismay and horror, we must (a) replace saddle or (b) not ride.

Since (b) will result in descent into never-ending despair that terminates only with inability to keep breathing, I am forced to choose (a).

Now I must find the perfect dressage saddle before October 28th. And in all, likelihood, I will have to ride in the sucky one at our clinic coming up next weekend. Argh. The timing on these things...

Other than that, Operation Belly Burner has been 95% completed with success. Our hemoglobin problem is under construction, Dr. Bob has declared our supplement choice an excellent one after reading the ingredients and we are due to check blood count in late October. Solo's feet are hanging in there, surviving a dry Carolina late summer by the grace of Keratex.

I still think we are going to need fairy dust to get October to go off the way I'd like it to!

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We Have Finally Achieved Normalcy!!

It only took four years.

You can read about our struggles to conquer Solo's abusive longeing past here. If you are not familiar with the story, it will help you understand why I led my horse back to the barn with a huge grin on my face today.

We have received an ungodly amount of thunderstorms over the past few days, everything is wet and I have two long days at work ahead of me, so I decided to just put Solo in the vienna reins and give him a longe workout. There was a ground pole up in the arena, so I just incorporated that into our circle to let Solo work out how to fit it into his stride on his own at the trot and canter, which he did.

And why is this so exciting? Because MY HORSE CANTERED CALMLY IN MULTIPLE CIRCLES IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. This is a BIG BIG BIG deal. Even when he was thrown off balance the first few times cantering over the pole -- he didn't get the distance right and ended up in a lopsided cross canter -- he broke to trot, I gave a quiet kiss and he stepped right back up into a rhythmic canter.

No bug eyes. No flinging self about. He had one nervous moment where he stopped, but I put him back in a trot and he calmly picked up the canter shortly thereafter.

And after cantering, no racing about in crazy trot, anticipating the terror of yet more canter! We calmly resumed a metronome of a trot, spiraling in and out from 5-20 m circles and I'll be damned if he didn't keep a perfect rhythm the entire time.

I try to be a good horsey, mom!

Modeled here (besides, of course, Mr. Shiny Pants' big fat cute nose) are also Solo's brand new fly boots! I had an old pair, the cheapie four pack that I think I got from Horse.com or somewhere, they were HORRIBLE and I threw them away. They sagged down around his ankles like worthless slouch socks (ah, 1986, how I remember your glory). I picked these up from Dover, they are "The Original Fly Wraps" and they are so far (ok, days used = 0, but we'll go with initial impression) soo much better! They do have plastic stays so they do not sag, nice velcro with stretchy bits for give, lovely fleece binding, and you can pick lots of fun colours! The set of four is still only around $40. These will go along way to reducing summer hoof cracking!

I am going to confess a little secret, I was, ahem, almost irresistibly tempted to buy purple ones (or blue, OMG, how am I supposed to resist our official colour!), but I had to give in to sensibility and stick with the nice, heat dispersing white.

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