As promised, (almost) live blogging from the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre in Victoria where Jedi have come for what is essentially Pony Club camp for grown ups!
It was certainly a long, hot drive down from Dragonwood, for both horse and human. The temp topped 36 by the time we hit Holbrook and I took Jedi out for a little leg stretch and drink. This was the first long haul we had done together so I was very impressed with him when he stayed pretty chilled, drank a bucket of warm water and munched on some hay while I choked down a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich. Considering we'd parked next to a truck stop in heavy use he was downright awesome!
We got here around six at night and he went into a little yarddock (a paddock that's really the size of a very large yard!) while I met a couple of my clinic buds and settled in. First lesson at 9:45 am with Manuela Mclean.
The next morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed, I led Jedi into the arena. I was a little concerned how Jedi would go in the big indoor but he was a real star. A bit of a spook here and there but nothing catastrophic. I could release the breath I'd been holding since we got here.
I have to admit to being quite proud of how good Jedi has become at the basic stop, go, turn buttons. Considering how crappy and unfair my training has been (more on that later), he has shown remarkable train-ability and resilience. He was soft but not ducking behind the bit, attentive (in general!) and good off the leg.
Manu picked up immediately that he was not straight. She talked about needing to have his poll in line with his withers to ensure straightness and it was clear his was always a good few inches one way or the other!
The cure? Using the reins to turn him back to straightness. It worked a treat. He often carried his head to the outside when on the right rein (so, left), and Manu had me close my inside hand, open that rein off his neck at times and use the outside rein as a guide to hold him to his line. Within a few minutes he was straight and started slowing down of his own accord to a really nice rhythm.
Keeping him straight turned out to be the key to a range of Jedi annoyances like chucking his head around, resisting the leg, lengthening and tension. He was, after 20 mins, bloody supple compared to the horse I was used to riding!
She had me do a 'shoulder yield' using an indirect turn to push his shoulder over like a leg yield. No leg involved, just rein and the aim is to have shoulder leading across the diagonal line to the side of the arena. It was an interesting exercise as Jedi was great to the right but literally led with his quarters to the left. It took some very obvious and initially heavy direct turns left to get him to lead with his shoulders, like most horses would in a turn! Poor Jedi. But he got it fairly quickly and felt great once we got a couple right.
Back to my unfair training. The last few weeks I think I've been de-toxing from Tuxedo and this has flowed through to Jedi in a very negative way. Firstly, I have had such a high tolerance for tension and stress in the horse I'm sitting on that I barely notice when Jedi is tense or freaking out. Or, I do notice but don't give it much thought. It's normal to me. Or was. Jedi lost his mind completely just over a week ago, bucking and rearing, almost taking us through an electric fence until I fell off and he could get away. He even jumped on my leg (with me literally having to roll out from under him as he panicked and kept jumping around). This, in hindsight, was completely avoidable had I simply rad the very obvious signs of increasing stress and gotten off him.
He was worried about leaving his herd and already quite adrenalised. Then I saddled him up and he finds the H girth quite aversive ( the back strap sits a bit further back than a normal girth and he had been humping a bit when it was done up). Then Murray the shed guy turned up just as I got on, with his loud truck and bits flapping on it. Jedi gave me lots and lots of warning, let me tell you! But I just ignored all those signals and gave him a kick to get him going forward. Idiot. But hindsight is 20/20 isn't it?
So, being insensitive has resulted in at least one training session where the end result was a very upset horse and a very frustrated rider. Not good.
The second big error I've been making is having a real lack of clarity about what I'm trying to achieve in my training. This flows into what I am asking Jedi to do and how I can reduce the complexity of that training rather than constantly trying to get him to learn 2 or 3 things at once. Poor training by me, for sure.
I'm not beating myself up too much, though. I have been quite stressed with work, uni, life things and didn't give the thought and consideration to my horse training that I should have. That being said, I love the phrase, 'when you know better, do better' and I will certainly be doing better from now!
So, more blogging later today, hopefully with pictures! More in equitation theory and some interesting things I learned about tails too...
Monday, 20 January 2014
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Happy New Year!
Well, it's been a lovely break in typical Aussie Christmas weather - hot and dry. Our place is very dry at the moment and we're all doing our rain dances in an attempt to bring on a mini-monsoon to fill our tanks. We just put in a huge 130,000L tank (not the best time of year, obviously!) and hope to get some water into it soon. One of our other three large tanks is already empty.....it's a worry, that's for sure.
We drove down to Melbourne in our little car for Christmas and spent four days away from the farm and the furried and feathered kids. It was lovely to come home even though we had a great time. The kids were champions during the long drive and we all felt pretty chipper at the thought that 2013 was finally drawing to a close. Turning over a new year seems wonderfully refreshing!
On an equine note, Jedi seems to be doing better and better in his new barefoot state. It's already possible to see the ring of change just starting to show below the coronet band showing the stronger, harder, healthier hoof beginning to grow. It's only just gone 4 weeks since his shoes came off and I think he's doing smashingly. I'll post some pics of the changes in my next entry.
There are a couple of interesting developments in Jedi's hooves which I hadn't seen in Tux when he transitioned to barefoot. The first is the big changes in the soles of Jedi's feet. In the first couple of weeks, the soles seemed to become polished as they were exposed to the hard dry ground of our property for the first time. Then, in the last week, the front third (from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock if the frog points to 12 o'clock) of the sole has been flaking off in quite thick chunks. I accidentally flicked off the first chunk with the hoofpick as I was cleaning out the channels either side of the frog known as the collateral grooves. I noticed dirt underneath other parts of the sole at the apex of the frog and those bits easily came off on the hoofpick too.
The sole underneath is quite pristine, no seedy toe or other fungal problems. I wonder if this is new sole growing under what would have been very packed calloused sole. He has been slightly more sensitive but not a lot so I'm going with that explanation. A thicker, healthier sole is the ultimate goal.
The other observation I've made is in the way Jedi moves. At the moment, he generally lands toe-first in the front and that is probably due to foot sensitivity. At least, that's what I've always been told. I'm not 100% convinced as I also noticed that, when he's being led over the gravel drive to get to his paddock, Jedi will walk correctly (ie heel-first), albeit gingerly. I actually wonder if being shod has changed the way he moves to a toe-first gait. I will watch this over the coming months and see if his movement improves.
The big gouges out his feet are slowly growing out and the seedy toe appears under control. The hot dry conditions definitely help here!
I rode him on the woodchip-covered arena at my friend's place over the road for the first time since my first proper ride with him barefoot and the change is massive. He showed barely any sensitivity on the surface and was putting out a lovely long-strided trot. Very heartening!
I have also found out a bit about his history, thanks to having his microchip number courtesy of my favourite vet, Rochelle Joyce. It turns out Jedi is indeed an unraced TB but has quite a decent pedigree, by racing standards. He is by Not A Single Doubt, a stallion by Redoute's Choice. He has a fair bit of Northern Dancer in his bloodlines too, and his dam is an Irish TB from some decent older lines. He was sold at the Magic Millions as a yearling for $91,600 (I was floored by the fact that he was only a mid-priced yearling - the money some people put into these nags!), but I am yet to find any reason why he didn't race. Maybe some more detective work is needed.....
The next few months will be pretty busy for us with the AEBC intensive clinic coming up in just over 2 weeks, followed by Wallaby Hill HT at the beginning of Feb, the Andrew Mclean/Lucinda Green clinic the week after, then Canberra HT mid-March and on and on it goes. Jedi ain't gonna know what hit him! And neither is my bank balance!
Uno is looking a picture (a very BIG picture) and seems completely recovered of that fracture. The swelling on the front of his fetlock stays, however, but he seems quite sound. Hopefully, that's the end of his dramatic injuries. Are you listening, Uno??
Uno's mum Rose is also looking lovely, though her feet are still dinner plates after pregnancy and some deliberate neglect as we couldn't put her through standing on 3 legs late in her pregnancy. But they're coming good, and she'll be starting some very light work in a month or so (which means I'll have to actually break her in - meh, she practically backed herself as a 2 year old!!). The plan is to just start walking her back and forth across the paddock on a hill for a few minutes each ride, building to 20 minutes or so just before Uno is weaned. That'll give her body a chance to strengthen slowly and it will help her pelvis stabilise and prepare for some work. Uno will benefit with that exercise too!
So, onwards into the new year. 2014 is shaping up to be a cracker!
We drove down to Melbourne in our little car for Christmas and spent four days away from the farm and the furried and feathered kids. It was lovely to come home even though we had a great time. The kids were champions during the long drive and we all felt pretty chipper at the thought that 2013 was finally drawing to a close. Turning over a new year seems wonderfully refreshing!
On an equine note, Jedi seems to be doing better and better in his new barefoot state. It's already possible to see the ring of change just starting to show below the coronet band showing the stronger, harder, healthier hoof beginning to grow. It's only just gone 4 weeks since his shoes came off and I think he's doing smashingly. I'll post some pics of the changes in my next entry.
There are a couple of interesting developments in Jedi's hooves which I hadn't seen in Tux when he transitioned to barefoot. The first is the big changes in the soles of Jedi's feet. In the first couple of weeks, the soles seemed to become polished as they were exposed to the hard dry ground of our property for the first time. Then, in the last week, the front third (from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock if the frog points to 12 o'clock) of the sole has been flaking off in quite thick chunks. I accidentally flicked off the first chunk with the hoofpick as I was cleaning out the channels either side of the frog known as the collateral grooves. I noticed dirt underneath other parts of the sole at the apex of the frog and those bits easily came off on the hoofpick too.
The sole underneath is quite pristine, no seedy toe or other fungal problems. I wonder if this is new sole growing under what would have been very packed calloused sole. He has been slightly more sensitive but not a lot so I'm going with that explanation. A thicker, healthier sole is the ultimate goal.
The other observation I've made is in the way Jedi moves. At the moment, he generally lands toe-first in the front and that is probably due to foot sensitivity. At least, that's what I've always been told. I'm not 100% convinced as I also noticed that, when he's being led over the gravel drive to get to his paddock, Jedi will walk correctly (ie heel-first), albeit gingerly. I actually wonder if being shod has changed the way he moves to a toe-first gait. I will watch this over the coming months and see if his movement improves.
The big gouges out his feet are slowly growing out and the seedy toe appears under control. The hot dry conditions definitely help here!
I rode him on the woodchip-covered arena at my friend's place over the road for the first time since my first proper ride with him barefoot and the change is massive. He showed barely any sensitivity on the surface and was putting out a lovely long-strided trot. Very heartening!
I have also found out a bit about his history, thanks to having his microchip number courtesy of my favourite vet, Rochelle Joyce. It turns out Jedi is indeed an unraced TB but has quite a decent pedigree, by racing standards. He is by Not A Single Doubt, a stallion by Redoute's Choice. He has a fair bit of Northern Dancer in his bloodlines too, and his dam is an Irish TB from some decent older lines. He was sold at the Magic Millions as a yearling for $91,600 (I was floored by the fact that he was only a mid-priced yearling - the money some people put into these nags!), but I am yet to find any reason why he didn't race. Maybe some more detective work is needed.....
The next few months will be pretty busy for us with the AEBC intensive clinic coming up in just over 2 weeks, followed by Wallaby Hill HT at the beginning of Feb, the Andrew Mclean/Lucinda Green clinic the week after, then Canberra HT mid-March and on and on it goes. Jedi ain't gonna know what hit him! And neither is my bank balance!
Uno is looking a picture (a very BIG picture) and seems completely recovered of that fracture. The swelling on the front of his fetlock stays, however, but he seems quite sound. Hopefully, that's the end of his dramatic injuries. Are you listening, Uno??
Uno's mum Rose is also looking lovely, though her feet are still dinner plates after pregnancy and some deliberate neglect as we couldn't put her through standing on 3 legs late in her pregnancy. But they're coming good, and she'll be starting some very light work in a month or so (which means I'll have to actually break her in - meh, she practically backed herself as a 2 year old!!). The plan is to just start walking her back and forth across the paddock on a hill for a few minutes each ride, building to 20 minutes or so just before Uno is weaned. That'll give her body a chance to strengthen slowly and it will help her pelvis stabilise and prepare for some work. Uno will benefit with that exercise too!
So, onwards into the new year. 2014 is shaping up to be a cracker!
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Uno - the vet's verdict
The lovely Ian Neilson came out again yesterday to look over Uno with his very experienced eye. Uno had been out with his mum in the herd (by 'herd' I mean an old broodie, a tiny shetland and now Jedi who's staying about 200m away at all times), for two days by the time Ian came. He'd been getting diarrhea for a few days, gradually worsening with no fever, loss of appetite or other changes, so I gave serious consideration to the stress he must be feeling not being able to run around.
I took the plunge and put him out for the day with mum, who promptly galloped off for five minutes while my heart leapt into my mouth where it stayed for the whole time watching them run around with gay abandon. But, she's never been big on running around for no good reason (or running at all, if I'm to be brutally honest), so within a short time she was munching on the first grass she'd had in over a month. And Uno was still sound. Fingers crossed with the diarrhea, thought I.
Sure enough, no diarrhea all day and a happy little dude. I brought them back into the yard overnight and, by the time I got out there in the morning, the diarrhea was back and he was looking listless. Still no temperature, though, so I put them back out and there was no running around which was great. And no diarrhea. He's been out ever since.
I was a bit concerned Ian might chastise me for letting Uno out over a week early, and without his OK. But quite the opposite! Ian was quick to point out that recent research shows that over 70% of foals confined develop ulcers in the first week of confinement which is a clear indication of the stress they feel. He was completely fine with my decision and thought Uno looked really good.
The knee has essentially healed, the fracture is no more, though the effect the injury may have had on the future development of soft tissue and the structures in the joint will not be known for a few more months. But basically, Uno is in the clear from the fracture. Bloody awesome. AND his front legs are, in Ian's words, 'straight'. Lots of leaping for joy.
BUT. And there's always a BUT with horses, isn't there? He appears to have injured the extensor tendon in the fetlock of the same leg the fracture happened. More interestingly, Ian thinks there may be an underlying iodine deficiency that is affecting those tendons in all four limbs and that may have even gone some way to explain the original injury.
The extensor tendons are the ones that run down the front of the fetlock and pull the hoof and pastern up and forward in the swing phase so the hoof lands heel-first on the ground. If that tendon is damaged or weak, the horse can't control that hoof and walks on his toes. For a time, anyway. Apparently, the injury simply resolves as the horse learns to flick the hoof forward in another way and the lameness or problem goes away. Very interesting.
In the case of an iodine deficiency, the tendons don't function or develope properly and the foal can start to walk on the fetlocks themselves in severe cases. Uno is definitely not that severe. However, it is noticeable that he walks a little oddly, almost throwing his front legs up and out with pointed toes before placing them on the ground.
Ian suggested feeding Uno and Rose (his mum) seaweed meal which is rich in iodine and see what happens. The problem is just subtle enough for Ian to be less than 100% sure it will work, but we are both very interested to see what happens.
Robyn Larson-Shelton came out the day before Ian to do some bodywork on Uno and Jedi. She was really pleased with Uno's progress and said if he was her horse she'd be over the moon with how he was doing. I was stoked hearing that. I'd followed her plan pretty faithfully (he just would not stand still for all those acupressure redlight points....) and we were rewarded. She did say he was extremely tight through his back and neck from holding his body upright off that leg. It'll be interesting to see if the iodine makes a difference there too.
All in all, a really amazing outcome. Uno is turning into a very big but handsome young lad and such a sweet boy to deal with. I'll post pics in the next post. Such a relief to have this worrying and time-consuming period over.
Jedi is doing really well. Lucy the Dentist came out to see him and said his teeth were quite neglected. They possibly had not been done since he was sacked from racing (or trials, still don't know if he raced). There's 3 or 4 years of neglect there and he has developed 'ramps'. I had never heard of these before. Basically, she said he had been stabled for some time as a young horse and fed up high, not on the ground, and this causes the lower jaw to move forward against the upper jaw, leaving a gap at the back of the mouth where a hook essentially grows up on the last tooth like a ramp (front to back). He'd need sedation and power tools to deal with it, meaning we'd need a vet to come and sedate him. Bugger.
Given the time of year, it wouldn't happen til at least after Christmas, but more like New Year, meaning not much riding over the holidays. Pooh. It also explained a lot about his unhappiness in the contact and unwillingness to round up properly. He physically can't...the ramps stop his jaw from accommodating the correct working outline. Lucky I hadn't been asking for more than long and low! That did explain why his mouth was so cut, though. Previous riders may have tried to force him to come round and he couldn't. Poor guy.
So, I tried to find a vet that could come out when Lucy could, after we got back from Christmas hols. Not easy. Eventually, I just rang Brindabella Equine and was thrilled to find out they could fit Jedi in before we went away on Christmas Eve. Woohoo!
Jedi's bodywork was also revealing, but in a good (ish) way. He's in generally good shape and Robyn liked him. A bit weak in the left hindquarter, his feet probably weren't helping as he is still a little sensitive. A bit stiff but some carrot stretches will help. Getting his teeth done will do a lot to help throughout his body. Who knew everything was so connected?
Jedi's feet are getting better and better. I've moved him in with the girls and Uno now Tux has gone and their paddock involves a good 150m laneway of hard packed dirt up to the water trough. In this heat they'd all need to travel up and back two or three times a day which is all good exercise for his hooves. They're hardening up nicely and getting less and less sensitive. He's quite good to ride on grass now and I gave them a quick balancing trim this morning. Really pleased with his progress so far. More pics in a couple of weeks. There isn't too much obvious change at this stage, though I think the hoof wall is growing quite quickly now with all the stimulation and change of feed.
As always, I'll keep you posted.
Have a great Christmas everyone. This has been one hell of a year, good and bad. I hope next year is a bit more....umm....sedate? :) Come back after Christmas for the next instalment!
I took the plunge and put him out for the day with mum, who promptly galloped off for five minutes while my heart leapt into my mouth where it stayed for the whole time watching them run around with gay abandon. But, she's never been big on running around for no good reason (or running at all, if I'm to be brutally honest), so within a short time she was munching on the first grass she'd had in over a month. And Uno was still sound. Fingers crossed with the diarrhea, thought I.
Sure enough, no diarrhea all day and a happy little dude. I brought them back into the yard overnight and, by the time I got out there in the morning, the diarrhea was back and he was looking listless. Still no temperature, though, so I put them back out and there was no running around which was great. And no diarrhea. He's been out ever since.
I was a bit concerned Ian might chastise me for letting Uno out over a week early, and without his OK. But quite the opposite! Ian was quick to point out that recent research shows that over 70% of foals confined develop ulcers in the first week of confinement which is a clear indication of the stress they feel. He was completely fine with my decision and thought Uno looked really good.
The knee has essentially healed, the fracture is no more, though the effect the injury may have had on the future development of soft tissue and the structures in the joint will not be known for a few more months. But basically, Uno is in the clear from the fracture. Bloody awesome. AND his front legs are, in Ian's words, 'straight'. Lots of leaping for joy.
BUT. And there's always a BUT with horses, isn't there? He appears to have injured the extensor tendon in the fetlock of the same leg the fracture happened. More interestingly, Ian thinks there may be an underlying iodine deficiency that is affecting those tendons in all four limbs and that may have even gone some way to explain the original injury.
The extensor tendons are the ones that run down the front of the fetlock and pull the hoof and pastern up and forward in the swing phase so the hoof lands heel-first on the ground. If that tendon is damaged or weak, the horse can't control that hoof and walks on his toes. For a time, anyway. Apparently, the injury simply resolves as the horse learns to flick the hoof forward in another way and the lameness or problem goes away. Very interesting.
In the case of an iodine deficiency, the tendons don't function or develope properly and the foal can start to walk on the fetlocks themselves in severe cases. Uno is definitely not that severe. However, it is noticeable that he walks a little oddly, almost throwing his front legs up and out with pointed toes before placing them on the ground.
Ian suggested feeding Uno and Rose (his mum) seaweed meal which is rich in iodine and see what happens. The problem is just subtle enough for Ian to be less than 100% sure it will work, but we are both very interested to see what happens.
Robyn Larson-Shelton came out the day before Ian to do some bodywork on Uno and Jedi. She was really pleased with Uno's progress and said if he was her horse she'd be over the moon with how he was doing. I was stoked hearing that. I'd followed her plan pretty faithfully (he just would not stand still for all those acupressure redlight points....) and we were rewarded. She did say he was extremely tight through his back and neck from holding his body upright off that leg. It'll be interesting to see if the iodine makes a difference there too.
All in all, a really amazing outcome. Uno is turning into a very big but handsome young lad and such a sweet boy to deal with. I'll post pics in the next post. Such a relief to have this worrying and time-consuming period over.
Jedi is doing really well. Lucy the Dentist came out to see him and said his teeth were quite neglected. They possibly had not been done since he was sacked from racing (or trials, still don't know if he raced). There's 3 or 4 years of neglect there and he has developed 'ramps'. I had never heard of these before. Basically, she said he had been stabled for some time as a young horse and fed up high, not on the ground, and this causes the lower jaw to move forward against the upper jaw, leaving a gap at the back of the mouth where a hook essentially grows up on the last tooth like a ramp (front to back). He'd need sedation and power tools to deal with it, meaning we'd need a vet to come and sedate him. Bugger.
Given the time of year, it wouldn't happen til at least after Christmas, but more like New Year, meaning not much riding over the holidays. Pooh. It also explained a lot about his unhappiness in the contact and unwillingness to round up properly. He physically can't...the ramps stop his jaw from accommodating the correct working outline. Lucky I hadn't been asking for more than long and low! That did explain why his mouth was so cut, though. Previous riders may have tried to force him to come round and he couldn't. Poor guy.
So, I tried to find a vet that could come out when Lucy could, after we got back from Christmas hols. Not easy. Eventually, I just rang Brindabella Equine and was thrilled to find out they could fit Jedi in before we went away on Christmas Eve. Woohoo!
Jedi's bodywork was also revealing, but in a good (ish) way. He's in generally good shape and Robyn liked him. A bit weak in the left hindquarter, his feet probably weren't helping as he is still a little sensitive. A bit stiff but some carrot stretches will help. Getting his teeth done will do a lot to help throughout his body. Who knew everything was so connected?
Jedi's feet are getting better and better. I've moved him in with the girls and Uno now Tux has gone and their paddock involves a good 150m laneway of hard packed dirt up to the water trough. In this heat they'd all need to travel up and back two or three times a day which is all good exercise for his hooves. They're hardening up nicely and getting less and less sensitive. He's quite good to ride on grass now and I gave them a quick balancing trim this morning. Really pleased with his progress so far. More pics in a couple of weeks. There isn't too much obvious change at this stage, though I think the hoof wall is growing quite quickly now with all the stimulation and change of feed.
As always, I'll keep you posted.
Have a great Christmas everyone. This has been one hell of a year, good and bad. I hope next year is a bit more....umm....sedate? :) Come back after Christmas for the next instalment!
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Barefoot Jedi - Day 3
Jedi has now been barefoot for 3 WHOLE DAYS, and he's getting a bit more used to it. We had our first ride today and all. He's still quite sore over the gravel or any rocky ground (that will take months I imagine), but he's getting better all the time. I took him for a walk down the end of our property yesterday to catch my son's Shetland, and he coped really well. He's still walking a little short, but seems way more comfortable than the first day.
Jedi spends the entire time in a large-ish paddock with Tux (who hoons around and makes Jedi move, bless him), where there is a wide variety of terrain, from soft grass to rocky clay. It's perfect for Jedi at this stage.
I called up Michael at Easycare Downunder to ask about boots. He advised it would be a complete waste of money getting them until after the first trim cycle (4 weeks!!) as the foot would change shape so much. Also, Jedi's front feet are wider than they are long by more than 2cm which means no boots will fit him at this point. Sheesh.
But I wanna ride, dammit! So, given Jedi's discomfort, I dug out an old pair of Cavallo boots I'd bought Assegai, a warmblood I first got introduced to barefoot with. They fit Jedi's hooves quite well, but were a little loose around the pastern but they stayed on and would be just fine for me to lead Jedi over the road to our friend's arena with.
All went well, though Jedi was still choppy in the trot on the arena and very Pepe Le Pew in the canter. For the 3rd day, though, I was pretty impressed. I think this will be a shorter transition than I imagined. Fingers crossed!
Luckily, it's quite dry and windy out here today and there's no rain in sight for a little while, giving his hooves a chance to harden up and fight that seedy toe. He's quite stoic, as are most TBs, so he's giving it his best shot.
Pics below of his hooves as of today:
From here, it's just a case of doing what we've been doing. Exercise over varying terrain, low GI diet, regular trimming every fortnight or so (I do the touch up trim in between Kirsten the Wonder Trimmer.
I've asked Kirsten to keep the wall a little longer than she normally does on other horses to minimise this issue of soreness post-trim. I have a real issue with it and certainly the majority of trimmers today seem to see it as acceptable. I vehemently disagree and have found that asking for a longer wall (most trimmers will take the wall back to even with the sole and trim the sole too) means my horses are never sore post-trim. Which I think is essential to from an ethical and riding point of view.
I'll take some more pics in a week or two to document the changes. Next blog will be about Uno - he's getting an assessment from the vet next week to see if he can get parole. Fingers crossed for us!
Jedi spends the entire time in a large-ish paddock with Tux (who hoons around and makes Jedi move, bless him), where there is a wide variety of terrain, from soft grass to rocky clay. It's perfect for Jedi at this stage.
I called up Michael at Easycare Downunder to ask about boots. He advised it would be a complete waste of money getting them until after the first trim cycle (4 weeks!!) as the foot would change shape so much. Also, Jedi's front feet are wider than they are long by more than 2cm which means no boots will fit him at this point. Sheesh.
But I wanna ride, dammit! So, given Jedi's discomfort, I dug out an old pair of Cavallo boots I'd bought Assegai, a warmblood I first got introduced to barefoot with. They fit Jedi's hooves quite well, but were a little loose around the pastern but they stayed on and would be just fine for me to lead Jedi over the road to our friend's arena with.
All went well, though Jedi was still choppy in the trot on the arena and very Pepe Le Pew in the canter. For the 3rd day, though, I was pretty impressed. I think this will be a shorter transition than I imagined. Fingers crossed!
Luckily, it's quite dry and windy out here today and there's no rain in sight for a little while, giving his hooves a chance to harden up and fight that seedy toe. He's quite stoic, as are most TBs, so he's giving it his best shot.
Pics below of his hooves as of today:
 |
| The clunky clacky Cavallos |
 |
| Off hind that had the very nasty crack, it's now been re-sected to remove seedy toe |
 |
| Near fore re-sected to remove seedy toe. Very boxy shape but good integrity to the hoof wall |
 |
| Underside of off fore. Looks pretty good really. Heels will let down and frog will grow a bit. |
 |
| Near hind that had the big chunk out. Still does! |
 |
| Underside of near hind. The chunk missing has encouraged flare on that side to compensate. Great frog though. |
 |
| Frankenfoot. The off hind up close. |
 |
| But underneath it's not so bad. |
 |
| The good hoof, near fore. Still boxy, but no major cracks or chunks out of it. |
 | |||
| That integrity is borne out underneath. Some sole to flake off but a good sized frog and wider heels than the other front. |
I've asked Kirsten to keep the wall a little longer than she normally does on other horses to minimise this issue of soreness post-trim. I have a real issue with it and certainly the majority of trimmers today seem to see it as acceptable. I vehemently disagree and have found that asking for a longer wall (most trimmers will take the wall back to even with the sole and trim the sole too) means my horses are never sore post-trim. Which I think is essential to from an ethical and riding point of view.
I'll take some more pics in a week or two to document the changes. Next blog will be about Uno - he's getting an assessment from the vet next week to see if he can get parole. Fingers crossed for us!
Sunday, 8 December 2013
'Shoes off' Day for Jedi
The day finally arrived - Jedi's first taste of barefoot in what seems quite a while. You can see from the pics below that his feet had started to show the effects of shoeing over a period of time, with cracks, large chips, under-run heels and an unnatural shape starting to really compromise the effectiveness of his hooves:
 |
| Off fore, very upright and boxy but otherwise ok. |
 |
| Near fore: a lot more problematic. Big chip and quite a bit of flare at the base. |
 |
| Near hind. The massive chunk out of it turned out to hide seedy toe |
 |
| Off hind. The big crack is a worry. The angle is a lot lower than the front feet. Should be the other way around. |
 |
| The crack in glorious close up. |
 |
| Front heels. Not too bad for a long-term shod horse but still contracted. |
 |
| Off fore. Not too bad - heel still quite big, heels not very contracted at all. |
 |
| Excuse the poo! This is a hind foot - see the contracted heels? |
 |
| Near fore heels are a bit more contracted |
So, Kirsten the Wonder Trimmer pulled Jedi's shoes and found seedy toe in a couple of hooves, the ones with the big crack or big chunk missing. After resecting those hooves and blasting them with some hydrogen peroxide they look a bit sore and mangled. Hopefully, the seedy toe will die in the dry heat of the summer. It's horrible stuff!
Jedi is quite tender and walked very gingerly back to the paddock, as expected. He was quite good on grass, though stepping a lot shorter than usual, but very sore on the gravel road when we had to cross it. Early days, but I'm going to get some boots for his front ones at least for the next couple of months. There's a lot of riding to be done this summer with training, clinics and the first couple of comps of next year happening in February/March. Riding and exercise really does make a big difference in rehabilitation time, I've found, so I'll be booting him to help him out.
Some photos post-shoe pulling, with late afternoon shadow thrown in for a higher degree of difficulty:
The hooves look pretty much the same as when shod. A few weeks to let the hooves settle will probably result in some noticeable changes. Will keep you posted!
Friday, 6 December 2013
Uno's knee - the halfway point
Well, it's about time I provided an update of the knee that stopped the nation....well, my life, at any rate! We've just passed the 3 week mark, meaning about 3 weeks to go, unless he gets parole before then.
I've kept up a twice daily regimen of redlight and pink goop, the Bowen every other day and attempted the acupressure and Ting points too, but he's less helpful about those! I've also managed to give his front feet a very slight trim about 3 times over the 3 weeks and I think you'll agree there is a marked improvement to the deviation of those front legs:
I've been careful to keep the hooves balanced, not deliberately rasping off too much outside edge, just keeping the outside flat so the problem isn't exacerbated. He's straightening up really nicely, though with the way he has to spread his legs out so he can reach the ground and eat means he will probably have a little deviation for a while.
This is Uno in his current condition and growth phase. He looks fantastic:
Little bugger has become quite independent already and has done the bolt on his mother and I twice, now. I've had to use all four of the yards in an effort to keep them out of mud and muck, so in the process of leading Rose around to another yard in the last week he's just nicked off at a rate of knots. Whinnying, bucking and carrying on to boot!
So, there am I screaming at him to come back in that voice only reserved for panicking mothers when their toddler runs to the edge of the road. But he just merrily cavorts around on that busted knee. Little bugger. I finally corralled him and put Jellybean's (the Shetland) halter on him and wrassled him into the yard with his very revved up mother. And spent the next ten minutes calming myself down and watching him like a hawk to see if he'd done any damage. Apparently, not.
Fingers crossed Ian Neilson gives him the thumbs up in a couple of weeks. So far so good, I think.
On another note, Jedi will be having his shoes removed this Sunday and there'll be lots of pics! Stay tuned....
I've kept up a twice daily regimen of redlight and pink goop, the Bowen every other day and attempted the acupressure and Ting points too, but he's less helpful about those! I've also managed to give his front feet a very slight trim about 3 times over the 3 weeks and I think you'll agree there is a marked improvement to the deviation of those front legs:
 |
| Day 1 |
 | |||
| Day 23 |
This is Uno in his current condition and growth phase. He looks fantastic:
Little bugger has become quite independent already and has done the bolt on his mother and I twice, now. I've had to use all four of the yards in an effort to keep them out of mud and muck, so in the process of leading Rose around to another yard in the last week he's just nicked off at a rate of knots. Whinnying, bucking and carrying on to boot!
So, there am I screaming at him to come back in that voice only reserved for panicking mothers when their toddler runs to the edge of the road. But he just merrily cavorts around on that busted knee. Little bugger. I finally corralled him and put Jellybean's (the Shetland) halter on him and wrassled him into the yard with his very revved up mother. And spent the next ten minutes calming myself down and watching him like a hawk to see if he'd done any damage. Apparently, not.
Fingers crossed Ian Neilson gives him the thumbs up in a couple of weeks. So far so good, I think.
On another note, Jedi will be having his shoes removed this Sunday and there'll be lots of pics! Stay tuned....
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Jedi the impulse buy
Well, once again its been a seriously over the top time since I blogged last. I've managed to buy a new horse, exhaust all known options for Tux's future, and little Uno has improved more and more. And I've popped a bit of judging in there while I'm at it!
First things first....Tux. After a week of work at Ben Netterfield's place, Ben rang me to give it to me straight. The horse is unbelievably reactive, quite tense the entire time, and pretty much unsalvageable. Ben was incredulous that I had gotten around several horse trials on him. I guess when you don't have any other options you just kinda keep doing what you're doing.
The gist of my conversation with Ben was that the horse was pretty much a write-off and probably dogmeat. Extremely depressing.
While mulling over my options, I did the only thing a horse person can do to feel better, window shop some horses. I ended up giving James Arkins a call about a prospective pony he had for sale for a reasonable price. James is a World Cup showjumper with a nice place up near Moss Vale. No, that horse was sold, he said, but he had a couple of others I might be interested in, one in particular that was a lot more talented than the one I'd seen advertised.
Well, I thought, I'm going to be up at Berrima on the weekend judging anyway....maybe I could pop out to have a look. No harm in that, surely! And as we talked a bit more, I told James about Tux. He knew Tux's breeder and full sister and maybe I should bring him up for James to try out while I'm off judging....Sure!! Suddenly things were looking up for Tux. After checking the plan with Ben (I had not come across James before so wanted a bit of a reference), who said James was a fan of crazy ponies and was really very good at riding them, I thought screw it. Let's do it. So, I picked Tux up from Ben's yesterday morning and drove up to Moss Vale where I left him for the afternoon.
Judging was a pretty fun deal. A good class with some quality horses, though it got a bit hot with not much breeze. I still marvel at how many riders throw away marks for nothing - don't maintain their halt for 5 seconds, don't show any lengthening (not medium, just lengthening people), don't show a clear transition between free walk and medium walk....meh, accuracy is always the bane of my existence too.
After judging for 3 hours, I got a call from James. Tux was a no-go. Bugger. Basically, James has two categories of horse he takes on: the ones quiet and calm enough to sell on, and the ones that are pains to ride but are freak jumpers and therefore worth the effort. Tux didn't fall into either category, even for free. Bugger.
Ah, well. We tried. So I drove back up to James' place and thought I'd just have a ride of a couple of his horses to see what he had and keep my hand in. At this point, other than trying out a very unsuitable TB in Wollongong last Wednesday while I was there for a conference, I hadn't ridden for over 3 weeks.
I hopped on the first one but he was very green, very OTTB. Nice enough but I knew after 2 minutes he wasn't worth pressing on with. In the meantime, I was plied with beer and really lovely company and was having a really good time. It was a good end to a long day.
Then we saddled up Thunder (the boys really do know how to name their horses....they even have one called Doreen). James hopped on (without a helmet!!!) and showed him off. I could tell he really liked the horse and I immediately saw why. They'd only had him a couple of weeks, bought him unraced at the sales, but he was already showing softness, rhythm, balance and straightness beyond the norm. And with really quality movement to boot. My interest grew.
Then James started casually cantering around and popping over some jumps. These guys have a very different reality to you and I (unless you're a World Cup showjumper too!). He thinks a small jump is a metre. So, he's popping over jumps and asking us to jack them up and suddenly the jumps were over 1.20 and at least as wide. Thunder has no trouble and jumps them just the way he'd been jumping the smaller ones. With no heat, fizz or stress. Very interesting.
I hopped on (with 2/3 a beer under my belt by now) and felt this supple, attentive horse under me. It's a massive difference sitting on a decent horse after Tux and all his craziness! Bit of a trot, nice and forward, holding the rhythm fairly well, adjusting his stride a bit with no fuss. Some transitions with no fuss. Popped him into canter (still working on that transition but hey, who isn't!) and it was so balanced and comfortable. I was really liking this guy....then I jumped him. Just once. But it was awesome.
I made James an offer. He accepted. And, after another hour of hospitality (no more beer but plenty of garlic prawn pizza!), I was loading Tux and Thunder (who I immediately re-named Jedi) onto the float.
Crazy or what. But hey, the usual rigmarole of vet checks and second rides hasn't worked for me so well in the past. This wasn't a huge amount of money. Not small, but not huge. So....fuck it. Ha! This is a pic from this morning:
Uno is coming along pretty well. Latest pic of his wonky front legs:
Currently, he's on a pretty intensive treatment regime of redlight twice a day with pink goop applied after and Bowen therapy on his knee and redlight on his Ting and acupressure points every other day. He seems a lot less sore on it and is starting to put his weight on it while he paws with the other leg. All good signs. Happy days.
First things first....Tux. After a week of work at Ben Netterfield's place, Ben rang me to give it to me straight. The horse is unbelievably reactive, quite tense the entire time, and pretty much unsalvageable. Ben was incredulous that I had gotten around several horse trials on him. I guess when you don't have any other options you just kinda keep doing what you're doing.
The gist of my conversation with Ben was that the horse was pretty much a write-off and probably dogmeat. Extremely depressing.
While mulling over my options, I did the only thing a horse person can do to feel better, window shop some horses. I ended up giving James Arkins a call about a prospective pony he had for sale for a reasonable price. James is a World Cup showjumper with a nice place up near Moss Vale. No, that horse was sold, he said, but he had a couple of others I might be interested in, one in particular that was a lot more talented than the one I'd seen advertised.
Well, I thought, I'm going to be up at Berrima on the weekend judging anyway....maybe I could pop out to have a look. No harm in that, surely! And as we talked a bit more, I told James about Tux. He knew Tux's breeder and full sister and maybe I should bring him up for James to try out while I'm off judging....Sure!! Suddenly things were looking up for Tux. After checking the plan with Ben (I had not come across James before so wanted a bit of a reference), who said James was a fan of crazy ponies and was really very good at riding them, I thought screw it. Let's do it. So, I picked Tux up from Ben's yesterday morning and drove up to Moss Vale where I left him for the afternoon.
Judging was a pretty fun deal. A good class with some quality horses, though it got a bit hot with not much breeze. I still marvel at how many riders throw away marks for nothing - don't maintain their halt for 5 seconds, don't show any lengthening (not medium, just lengthening people), don't show a clear transition between free walk and medium walk....meh, accuracy is always the bane of my existence too.
After judging for 3 hours, I got a call from James. Tux was a no-go. Bugger. Basically, James has two categories of horse he takes on: the ones quiet and calm enough to sell on, and the ones that are pains to ride but are freak jumpers and therefore worth the effort. Tux didn't fall into either category, even for free. Bugger.
Ah, well. We tried. So I drove back up to James' place and thought I'd just have a ride of a couple of his horses to see what he had and keep my hand in. At this point, other than trying out a very unsuitable TB in Wollongong last Wednesday while I was there for a conference, I hadn't ridden for over 3 weeks.
I hopped on the first one but he was very green, very OTTB. Nice enough but I knew after 2 minutes he wasn't worth pressing on with. In the meantime, I was plied with beer and really lovely company and was having a really good time. It was a good end to a long day.
Then we saddled up Thunder (the boys really do know how to name their horses....they even have one called Doreen). James hopped on (without a helmet!!!) and showed him off. I could tell he really liked the horse and I immediately saw why. They'd only had him a couple of weeks, bought him unraced at the sales, but he was already showing softness, rhythm, balance and straightness beyond the norm. And with really quality movement to boot. My interest grew.
Then James started casually cantering around and popping over some jumps. These guys have a very different reality to you and I (unless you're a World Cup showjumper too!). He thinks a small jump is a metre. So, he's popping over jumps and asking us to jack them up and suddenly the jumps were over 1.20 and at least as wide. Thunder has no trouble and jumps them just the way he'd been jumping the smaller ones. With no heat, fizz or stress. Very interesting.
I hopped on (with 2/3 a beer under my belt by now) and felt this supple, attentive horse under me. It's a massive difference sitting on a decent horse after Tux and all his craziness! Bit of a trot, nice and forward, holding the rhythm fairly well, adjusting his stride a bit with no fuss. Some transitions with no fuss. Popped him into canter (still working on that transition but hey, who isn't!) and it was so balanced and comfortable. I was really liking this guy....then I jumped him. Just once. But it was awesome.
I made James an offer. He accepted. And, after another hour of hospitality (no more beer but plenty of garlic prawn pizza!), I was loading Tux and Thunder (who I immediately re-named Jedi) onto the float.
Crazy or what. But hey, the usual rigmarole of vet checks and second rides hasn't worked for me so well in the past. This wasn't a huge amount of money. Not small, but not huge. So....fuck it. Ha! This is a pic from this morning:
Uno is coming along pretty well. Latest pic of his wonky front legs:
Currently, he's on a pretty intensive treatment regime of redlight twice a day with pink goop applied after and Bowen therapy on his knee and redlight on his Ting and acupressure points every other day. He seems a lot less sore on it and is starting to put his weight on it while he paws with the other leg. All good signs. Happy days.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)