Just Quiet, trying some things, slowly

Well, I haven't posted much. Again.

But I have been off and on working with Arabee.

For 2 nights in a row I've longed her, then rode for a few minutes.

Anyone ever read any of Mary Twelveponies books? I recently read Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage, which I requested via my local library system. I very much enjoyed it - it talks about how dressage training is essentially the basis (or can be) of all other riding. That, if you start with basic dressage principles, you can end up with a all-around, good, well-trained horse that you can go in nearly any direction with (of course, depending on its natural abilities) - jumping, western events, trail riding, whatever.

Also from the library, at the same time, I checked out Equine Fitness: A Conditioning Program of Exercises & Routines for your Horse by Jec Aristotle Ballou. Also a good, informative read - describing how to safely and progressively bring a horse along from unfit to fit, describing different tools and exercises to use depending on the horse's maturity as well as current level of exercise. One of the main things the book stressed was that even if you were going through the motions of the exercises in the proper order, for the right amounts of time, you would not be benefitting the horse UNLESS it was travelling in the proper posture. It essentially stated that if your horse was not moving properly (back up, haunches down) you could not expect to achieve fitness, just a sore, unhappy animal. (I originally stumbled upon this book when I searched info on building stronger stifles)

Okay, well, how to get my horse moving properly? I don't want a "headset" (which unfortunately is what I suckered myself into getting when I started Arabee when she was 4 years old). My goal is a horse who is engaging it's rear-end, light on the forehand, using it's back and neck in a fluid, supple way. You know, on the bit.

Hmm.

But.....don't I (and Arabee, too) want to ride bitless?

Yep. Hmm...

So back when I posted about the cousins riding, I had both girls riding in my rope halter that has a place on each side to clip reins. Arabee actually yielded to rein pressure very very nicely. It was beautiful to watch her engage for those girls, and she did very very well. BUT, in order to achieve that posture/frame, Arabee had constant (still gentle, but constant) pressure on her nose. I'm really not describing the details of why very effectively - but to me it was clear that for riding work in which I'm looking for a specific frame/body position from Arabee, that riding in that rope riding halter isn't ideal.

Okay. So I tried my Dr. Cook's bitless bridle again. Well, same thing - she went very well in it, and did yield pretty well - but I'd quit riding in it a loooong time ago - for the reason that there was no release from pressure - once the cross-under straps got tight, they stayed tight.

I have an S-hack, too. So I rode in it a few times again, hoping that I'd be able to achieve a light feel in the proper frame. Well, I could get a sort of high-headed, probably false "collection" - but anything resembling steering was out the window - and it seemed that Arabee just could not relax and get long and low in it, no matter how loose the rein.

So that left me out of bitless options to try. None of them seemed appropriate for the type of work I was wanting to do - retraining my horse using dressage principles, to achieve correct body carriage, to be able to properly work through some of the fitness and conditioning exercises laid out in the Equine Fitness book, in order to gradually and in a "makes-sense" sort of way bring my pasture potato to whole-body fitness - able to do long trail rides away from home without getting exhausted and sore.

So, I guess, what I'm really trying to say here....is that...I'm working on retraining my 14 year old mare to a snaffle bit again. Something that if I'd have just taken the time to do it right the first time (rather than look solely to head and neck carriage for a "headset") I could be done with all that and just be enjoying my super well-trained, all-around good horse.

In future posts, I intend to lay out details of exactly how I aim to go about doing this, what I'm doing, what my goal is with doing just that - progress, etc. It will very likely take a LONG time, due to my on-again, off-again riding schedule. But you know what - I'm having fun doing it, and Arabee still whinnies when she sees me, so I guess she's not tooooo perturbed about the whole bit thing.

We Meet Again...

....the ground and I.

It's been awhile, the last fall I had I believe was Fall 2002 (fall as in, the season that comes after Summer, before Winter....not..."the fall of 2002"). Although, that one was a doozy - a spook over a trail map dumped me off and resulted in a compression fracture in my spine.

This time we were trotting out very nicely, a nice ground eating, yet relaxed trot, and up ahead was a fallen tree. I notice my horse is eyeing said tree, but figure if we give it a nice berth, no problem. Well, that is, until a SPARROW or some other small bird made the bushes nearby rustle. Horse leaps to the right, I come reeling left but I almost pulled it together, and then she did another little leap which put me really off balance, and I try one last valiant time to hitch myself back up to the center, using my right leg...when I [accidentally] kick her (hard) in the rear end in the process of trying to get back on. This puts her into a sprinting gait I've never experienced in the saddle, let alone off to the left of the saddle! I try to holler "whoa!" but it did me no good, and I just decided to bail (or the decision was made for me, it's not exactly clear at this point). Of course, this all happened quickly, maybe 5 or 6 strides; it took way longer to write it and read it than for it to actually take place.

So as I am falling to the ground I decide I'm going to hang on to the reins, so she doesn't run away. Sure....everyone says not to do that because your horse will drag you and it's dangerous....but MY horse is DIFFERENT. ha. So I land on my left hip/back/butt/side area, then am quickly dragged over and ended up with dirt and grass stains all over my back, and right hip. I hung on to the reins for probably 3-4 strides before I realized "she's not stopping" and let go. THANK GOD I did, because as I let go of the reins I turn to look and Arabee had just fallen down as well. In retrospect, I realize she probably fell because as she was dragging me she had to pull pretty hard, then when I suddenly let go, she lost her footing. So essentially, I probably caused my horse to fall, and while at the time I felt somewhat vindicated "haha, I fall, you fall TOO" I quickly realized that she could've fallen ON TOP OF ME....and I felt badly that I likely caused her wreck, even if it was accidentally, which probably just scared her all the more of fallen trees and little birdies that make rustling noises, and she likely didn't learn anything other than that from the episode. But anyway - she quickly stood up and proceeded to gallop off towards the river. Uh oh.

I sit up after somewhat checking myself over (I'd fallen and been dragged across corn stubble....which really isn't the best stuff to get dragged across...although better than pavement!) and holler "Arabee!" and she stops and whinnies. She's confused and scared and lonely....I am her herd!!! So I get on my feet, call for her again, and whistle like I usually do when I'm calling her in from the pasture, and she begins to trot towards me. YAY! So she trots up to where I am and stands still, like she usually does, solid as a rock, almost as if nothing had ever happened. I check her over, no damage apparant...aside from some mud on her right side where she'd landed in the dirt. I put my foot in the stirrup to get on, and she jumped forward....I said whoa, then got back on, she was a little more jumpy than I first realized. And wow...I was stiff, and sore already, this wasn't going to be good!

So, we practiced "whoa" means WHOA, and then walked back home. I had a JUMPY horse! We were probably feeding off of each other, we both were uptight after the incident, she'd jump at a rustly noise, I'd get tense.....and so on. But we made it home. I never did work up the nerve to have her trot much, but we made it back and even in the barn lot she was still jumpy. So I walked her around, and turned and flexed her until she was calm, then got off and headed back to the house.

I'm not injured, at all. Maybe a little embarrassed to tell the story...but I figure it happens to everyone eventually if you ride long enough. I will say that those corn stalks were mighty hard on me....and I am pretty sure I have chunks embedded in my skin to prove it. My right thumb STINGS where the thumbnail was bent backwards, and the rest of my hand where I foolishly tried to hold my horse. And it wasn't really too much fun to ride home with dirt sandwiched between my butt and my breeches.....but no serious harm done. I'm glad I DID ride home instead of lead her in.

The thing of it is.....I'd have had a totally different story for you all had the fall not occurred. It was a GREAT ride (other than that one little blip that ruined the last portion...). I had awaken early to get a daylight ride start. Saddled up in the dark. Had a nice route planned out. Took her across territory she'd NEVER seen before, she braved things that she really, really was unsure about, and until that point I'd have said this was a really really good ride that was a good partnership building thing. Maybe it still was, I just hope that this one fall wasn't enough to shatter my confidence enough to make her lose her confidence in me.

Anyway, yesterday I'd posted about Arabee being off on one trotting diagonal pair. I was very cautious about tacking her up this morning, checking her over carefully. All 4 legs were somewhat stocked up from standing still over night, not hot...just stocked up. That went away after I walked her in her circles before mounting....but something wasn't right still....so I trimmed that little chunk off her frog so there wasn't a pressure point (on her left hind) and that seemed to take the ouchiness away. The route I'd planned had minimal road/gravel - it was mostly dirt riding so I opted against booting since I hadn't had the chance to try them on her yesterday. But I will have her booted at least in front next ride, just to get her used to them if nothing else. Anyway, she showed no signs of that switching diagonal thing from yesterday and didn't seem off at all this morning during the ride, so maybe it was just a weird one-time thing. Anyway, I'm still keeping a close watch on her.

Regardless....I'm sending myself to boot camp, which I'd declared before I even left the house this morning..... It is a TIGHT squeeze to pour myself into these breeches.....here's hoping if I run/jog/walk every day from now until my first LD that I'll be able to comfortably zip my pants, besides the added fitness benefits.

So....I feel it is necessary to recap the most important lesson learned from my ride today:


If you fall, never try to hold onto the reins! No matter how good, loyal, well-trained, devoted, or (insert your adjective here_____) you think your horse is.

I'm just glad no serious damage was done, although it easily could have been!

A Little Bit Off

Rode Arabee yesterday.

It was hot, in the 80s, and she still has most of her winter coat.

Even so, we mostly trotted.

On the side of the road saw a crazy, spiky, curled up "thing" - I decided later that it was the skeleton of a snake that the buzzards had picked clean. Yuck. Passed it going away and coming back....and it gave me the creeps both times but then it hadn't sank it just yet what it was. I am so afraid (unrationally) of snakes that I cringe even seeing them on tv.

Anyway we trotted a lot, and it was a big heat workout for Arabee, who sweated a lot. I'm just really thankful for the BIG wind - I think that was what kept her trotting as long as she did because I know she's not used to the heat.

But here's the important part of this post: about halfway into the ride Arabee started to feel OFF. Only at the trot, and it was worse on the road vs. in the fields. What was happening was that I would be posting: rising up with the left front leg, and before I knew it somehow the mare had switched my diagonal FOR me! I could easily post with the right leg, but anytime I tried to post on the left diagonal, 2 or 3 strides later I'd find myself on the other! So.....if she didn't want me to post with the left diagonal....Which set of legs was uncomfortable for her?

It wasn't like she was reluctant to trot...just didn't want me posting on that diagonal. And it disappeared when we were on dirt.

Any ideas?

All in all I rode for about 1 hour and 10 minutes....and this was probably 80% trotting. Had the weather been cooler and this weird gait thing not occurred, I think she'd have been capable of more.

Getting Closer

It seems the going is slow! After my last post, the next day I trimmed Jack's hooves with the hoof grinder as well, and he behaved well also. The fact that he's thousands of years old (ok...will be 30 in 2010) and can't hear probably helped! His hooves are black, and quite a bit more firm than Arabee's mostly white hooves, and took a few more passes with the grinder (or else the wheel wasn't as sharp after being used on Arabee) Either way, they were much nicer to look at after the trim than Arabee's - I'm going with the operater's skills had improved with practice.

Recently the temperatures have been much too cold for taking my kids outside, especially the baby, so I had been staying inside almost constantly. My husband and father in law have been doing the feeding chores (horses, goats, and our LGD) instead of me since before the baby was born, and we had moved the goats around and several have been born - I didn't even know what to feed my own animals anymore! So we took Cora and Luke to their grandparent's house last night and Matt taught me how to feed the animals again. It was fun!

My plan is that I will do chores at night, and work on soaking a pair of hooves at a time. When we trimmed them the other weekend, I discovered a bad case of scratches on Arabee, and I want to renew thrush treatment on Jack, to make sure he keeps the progress we made in the fall. I have a pair of Easycare's soaking boots, which are really nice - your ornery old gelding can't pretend he accidentally stepped out of the rubber tub you were soaking his hooves in - they are strapped to his pasterns!

So, the only thing I need now is a good tying spot. I got away with not having a place to tie my horses for several years, mostly because Arabee will stand ground tied, but if I'm going to try to soak hooves and be doing other things, I need a safe, secure place to tie.

Ideally, it will be all of these things:

• Level
• close to electricity and water
• have footing that won't get muddy
• be secure enough that if I have both horses tied to it, and they pull back at the same time that it won't come down
• wither height
• have a lighting source
• be reasonably close to my tack room
• free of obstacles/sharp things to get hurt on

Can anyone think of other important criteria to have in a tie area???? Let me know, I'd appreciate it!


I think I might have my husband really glad to have a good idea of something to get me for Christmas and my birthday, and I will be thrilled to get it! Until then, both horses are in serious need of mud and mane tangle removal, so it won't be a bad thing for me to babysit them while they soak.

So, with these cold temperatures, chores and soaking and hopefully handwalking is what I'll be doing with Arabee for the rest of December. I'm starting to really look forward to riding again, but my stomach muscles have a long way to go before they'll be strong enough to keep my butt centered in the saddle during a big spook, so the grooming and groundwork will be good for me.

Update

Haven't posted in a while again, so I thought I might mention that Arabee is going sound again (yay!) but the hole in the bottom of her sole has not yet closed up, so she still requires a bandage to keep the dirt out until it closes up. So she's still in her stall, and not too thrilled about it, either.

This beautiful fall weather has me just itching to ride! But, of course I won't be doing any of that for a while, anyway, between being very pregnant and Arabee's abscess.

I finally had to give up trimming hooves myself, and now Matt has taken over. So far, he's only trimmed Arabee, and Jack is going to get his hooves done tonight. All in all, he's done a great job, especially considering he barely knew how to pick out a horse's hooves, let alone handle them long enough to trim them! If he could just take the hoof off and trim it, he'd do great, as it is, Arabee is especially good at testing him with her hind feet, and let's face it - it's disconcerting for anyone, let alone a beginner, when a horse jerks their hind legs at you!

With all the stall rest, her walls were plenty long, and we did try using an electric grinder on the hoof. She handled the noise and vibration well, but there was just too much material to take off to use it for a whole trim. I may be able to take back over the trimming if I use the electric grinder about once/week - just a few passes over the hoof should keep things in pretty good shape at that frequency. It's just that bending over for any length of time is not my favorite thing to do, and our baby doesn't like it either judging by how often I get kicked in the ribs when I try!

Arabee has an Abscess

Yesterday I hauled Arabee down to a new vet - not new to the area, but new to us. We/I decided it was a good idea to switch our equines to someone who specializes in equines, and I have to say it was a good experience yesterday. It was nice to deal with a vet who wasn't afraid of my "large animal" or who wanted to handle her like a cow.

Drove the almost 45 minutes down there, stopped in the office and found out I had driven too far, that I'd need to back up about 75 feet, around a curve, and then drive around the barn to the horse examining area. Interesting, because backing isn't really my thing! But, I was very slow, and actually VERY successful doing so! In front of us in line was a pair of gray geldings - the trailer hauling them in had Henryville, IN written on it, and Rocky Mountain Horse stickers everywhere. They were getting their teeth floated. They left, I pulled the truck and trailer up a little bit farther, and waited until they were ready to see us. (it's so funny...I'm used to taking my daughter to her well-child doctor's appointments, and I am using the same language as I am now talking about taking my HORSE to the VET! "...they were ready to see US")

So the tech came out and asked me what was going on, I explained that on 8/2, the rescue 20 helicopter had flown overhead very low, and that evening she'd come in pretty lame on the left front/right hind, so I figured she hurt herself trying to get away from that, but she had significantly improved the next day, and incrementally gotten better each day after that, so I assumed she was on the mend. We left for vacation on 8/8, got back 8/15, and she still had a slight lameness. Towards the end of that week, she was getting progressively worse again, and that weekend was very obviously sore on the left front. I called the vet and set up an appointment, and as soon as they could fit us in, we came.

She had me unload Arabee, and take her into the exam room. They had a stall, a tie area, two sets of stocks, and rubber floor mats. Another horse was in there, with his feet being soaked (for abscesses, go figure!). Arabee was glad to see that other horse, and quickly calmed down and stood quietly. The vet came out and had the tech walk Arabee so she could see - she was tense and hiding the lameness a little, but it was still obvious. Brought her back in the building, and felt her leg and hoof carefully, then picked up the hoof and started cleaning it, used the hoof testers, and started cutting sole away. I asked if she had a hunch of what it was at this point, and she was pretty sure already it was an abscess. She'd already found a little hole at the bottom of her sole that when she squeezed the hoof next to it with the hoof tester, would ooze liquid.

Apparantly an abscess is good news. While it does cause big time lameness, it's temporary, and she said that with this wet summer, that they've seen a LOT of abscesses locally. She said there wasn't much you could do to prevent them, aside from shoeing your horse, but even shod horses can get them. She asked who my farrier was, and I told her I'd been doing the trimming myself, and the hope was to keep her barefoot, and boot with easyboots or renegades when needed.

She slathered a piece of cotton with Magnapack, an epsom salt gel poultice-like green product, and then wrapped the entire bottom of her foot up to her pastern in cotton batting, then vetrap, then duct tape across the bottom of the hoof. I am supposed to soak her leg, bandage and all, in warm water with epsom salts once/day, and change the bandage every 3-4 days. So unfortunately for Arabee and for me, this means stall rest. Again! She just really hates that, and I do too, since it means hauling water buckets and manure, and hay. Oh well, if it will keep her foot clean which will get her sound faster, it'll be worth it.

I am seriously considering purchasing a pair of Easyboot Soaker boots. Not just for this application, but since I've been soaking Jack's feet for thrush once weekly, and probably will start doing Arabee's too, it'd be way handier to use these boots than try to get them to stand in that rubber tub.

I still want to do a thorough web search of how to treat abscesses, especially barefoot hoof style abscess treatment. If anyone has any helpful links or knowledge, send it my way, please!

Thrush Treatment

Well, now that I've been treating Jack's hooves for thrush for a couple of weeks now, I might as well post about what I've been doing and how it's been working.

First, I'll admit that I sat around and waited waaaaay too long and allowed the problem to get much worse than it ever should have. His frogs were in BAD shape by the time I got serious about treating it, and for that I am ashamed. But, late is better than never, and the treatment I've been using has greatly improved his hoof health.

Here's my basic strategy:

Pick hooves twice daily.

Soak a pair at a time in Borax solution. Fronts one day, Hinds the next day for 5-7 days, Applying "Pete's Goo" immediately afterward. Trim diseased frog away, to keep dirt and bacteria from getting packed in.

Continue twice daily hoof picking followed by "Pete's Goo" until frogs begin to appear healthy again

Continue twice or at least once daily hoof picking forever after.

Recipe for "Pete's Goo"
Equal parts of (triple antibiotic ointment plus) and human Athletes Foot Cream (1% Clotrimazole) applied with a syringe into deep parts of hoof.

Shopping List:
Big flexible rubber tub for hoof soaking
Triple Antibiotic Ointment
Athletes Foot Cream - 1% Clotrimazole
Lysol or Borax

So, I began the twice daily picking of Jack's hooves the day of the July 7th post asking about thrush remedies. By Wednesday evening I had assembled all the stuff on the shopping list, and Thursday evening I soaked his front hooves for about 20-30 minutes. Friday morning I soaked his hinds. Then on Friday night I soaked his fronts and trimmed away extra frog on his fronts and applied "Pete's Goo". I had to trim away a lot of material, he had big cracks and the central sulcus was really really deep. Saturday morning I soaked his hind feet, and did the frog trimming and put "Pete's Goo" on them. Sunday evening I soaked, re-trimmed the frog, and "goo-ed" his front feet, and Monday evening soaked and "goo-ed" his hind feet.

After that the week got super-busy, and I didn't take the time to soak his feet anymore, but continued with the twice daily hoof picking, and put "Pete's Goo" on one pair of feet daily for the rest of the week. Now I've run out of the goo, but am still doing the twice daily hoof picking.

I have seen a lot of improvement in his frogs - the central sulcus is not nearly as deep, and the frog is beginning to grow back healthy and nice. He quickly began to be much more cooperative about picking up his feet, I think because it quit hurting every time I tried to pick the dirt out of them. It took a LOT of hard work to get to this point, especially with this big ol' belly I'm getting, but definitely it was my fault that they got this bad to begin with, so it was time well spent. I'm hoping to be able to soon cut back to once daily hoof picking, but I will wait until his frogs are 100% healthy again.

I'm glad that Jack's hooves are on their way back to healthy. At 29 years old, he's got his share of problems, and I'm glad that finally his hooves won't be one of them. Now if only I could just keep weight on him! All day grazing, twice daily pelleted Senior horse feed, and regular worming is not enough for him!

One and Three Quarters Sound

No, this is not good news. (although I'm hoping not terribly bad news, either!)

Went out to do chores last night, and as I rounded the corner of the barn, I found my mare holding her left front leg up. Uh oh. I poured Jack's feed in his bucket, and had her move to the other side of the gate as usual, and it becomes clear that it is not just the left front that is sore, but also her right hind.

So Arabee is hobbling around on two good legs. The 3/4 comes in because the right front is the hoof that she cut back in April, and the cut in the hoof wall is still growing out (a little over halfway through). She doesn't walk lame on that leg, but it sure is at least visually compromised, and likely if she were in work, she'd be touchy there.

She looks much better this morning than she did last night, and actually trotted and threw in a couple gallop strides on the way out of the gate into the pasture, but she is still CLEARLY lame.

I picked her feet, checked them and they're not hot at all. I picked up her leg and squeezed around on it, and there were no obvious signs for me to tell where she hurt it.

The only thing I can think of is that she was trotting around in the pasture yesterday, and found a slick spot, and strained/sprained that diagonal pair. Actually, the Rescue 20 helicopter flew overhead yesterday just as the dew was mostly dried off, and they were flying pretty low, I assume looking for their landing spot. I didn't notice any activity in the horse pasture, but then I was looking up in the sky at the helicopter. It wouldn't surprise me if the chopper scared her and caused her to startle, and slip.

My plan was to wait a day or two, since she is moving much better now than last night. I think she'll work it out on her own, without having to call the vet. Any other opinions?

Thrush Treatment

I trimmed Arabee's feet over the weekend - they look great. I may or may not post the pictures I took....we'll see how ambitious I get!

Jack, on the other hand.....well, his frogs are in terrible shape. I need immediate thrush treatment on his feet, and it needs to be effective!

First, I need to start cleaning out his hooves daily, or twice daily, no exceptions. Typically, after a trim I start out good the first week or two, then forget the daily hoof cleanings. Daily hoofpicking is a must.

Second, I'm hoping to find a "safe" thrush treatment I can apply to his hooves. I don't want to use a harsh chemical since I'm pregnant, but his thrush has gotten to the point that it NEEDS attention. Has anyone tried anything that they recommend? I'll be doing an internet search later on, but would love to hear suggestions if anyone else has tried something that works well.

Hoof Trimming

So this week's task was updating the barefoot trims on Jack and Arabee.

((WARNING: at the very bottom of this post is a picture of Arabee's injured hoof. So, if you don't want to see it, don't scroll down too far! There are 2 pictures of Jack, and 3 pictures of Arabee before the injured hoof shows up.))

Here is Jack's "Before" shot of his fronts from his right side taken on Thursday evening:

And shown here are his "after" shot taken on Sunday afternoon:
I've had Jack since he was 15 years old, he is now 29. He has ALWAYS had front feet that quite resemble a ski slope - long and flared toes. When we still lived with my parents, we went through quite a many farrier. He usually wore shoes during the summer show season, and went barefoot through the winter. He's not been ridden regularly since 2002, not been ridden at all since 2005, and although he always enjoyed going for a ride, just 5 minutes at a walk was all he could handle due to arthritis. Jack has been known to look long right after being trimmed, and was doing okay hoof-wise with the same farrier since 2005, but I've seen great improvement in his hoof shape since I started taking the rasp and doing his trimming last August.

This last time I really worked on backing up the toe, and hope to continue bringing his toes back gradually until he no longer has that "ski slope" look. I am also working on a long-time battle with thrush with him, which I think will improve now that we're able to have the horses on pasture and not in the "dry" (usually muddy all winter) lot. Improving his frog health should probably help his overall hoof shape gradually. I'm currently using a chemical that I bought at the local Tractor Supply Co., green, and I am interested in trying a more "natural" thrush remedy. Any suggestions??

I only have "after" photos of Arabee. I did her fronts on Saturday morning, and her rear feet Saturday afternoon. All pictures were taken on Sunday afternoon, after I hosed off her muddy feet, which is why her legs are wet looking.

This is her front feet taken from her left side:

I need to try to wait a week between trimming Jack and Arabee, since their feet are so different. I feel like I got way too carried away with the left front hoof at the toe, almost like I was still in the mindset of trimming Jack the Ski Slope. I felt awful after the trim with the LF, since I actually rasped so much wall away at the toe that she's almost totally walking on her sole for the front 1/4 to 1/3 of her hoof. But the longer I look at the pictures, the more I start to think that the LF is the more correct trim, perhaps not quite enough of a roll on the RF hoof. Maybe I didn't rasp quite enough on the RF because of over-doing it on the LF. She is sound, I longed her a bit right after the trim and I could not see any "off" movement. Any input on this??

The bottom of her right hind hoof:

Another shot of her front feet, showing the difference between the RF and LF:

The LF is resting on the sole for the front 1/4 to 1/3 of the hoof. The RF has some wall touching all the way around the hoof. Which is more correct? I am thinking perhaps somewhere in the middle.

She's lost some concavity in her hooves since her stall-rest and not being ridden. I hope to get on and ride some this week if the weather cooperates, and I might have found someone who will ride her a little this summer, Matt's cousin who's in high school, but I know she might get busy. Anyway, I hope her concavity returns with some work, either under saddle or in hand.


Okay, last warning! Next picture is of Arabee's injured RF hoof.

It shows me holding it up. At the top of the leg you can see some scabbing, that has nothing to do with the actual injury. I suspect it is scratches, unfortunately. Below the scabbing is the actual cut on her pastern, which went through the coronet band, and into the hoof about an inch. You can see the ring around the top of the hoof where it has started to grow out. At one point, her leg was so swollen and puffy that her hoof started to curl away from the coronet band, so it looks like it's starting to grow back well. I am still concerned about the part of the coronet band that actually got sliced through - I hope that hoof growth returns to normal there.

For now I have been trimming as usual, just restoring the mustang roll around the wall to the level of the sole. While her hoof is healing, is there any sort of trimming I should be doing differently?? Especially as the injured part grows down and out.

Got My New Saddle Pad

My new saddle pad came in over the weekend. Back in February, I ordered a demo Skito pad from Trumbull Mtn. Saddle shop, since they are a dealer for both Skito and Toklat pads. I figured they’d be an unbiased source, and they suggested I try the demo before I purchased a pad.

I’m glad I did, because while I did find the Skito to have several very nice qualities, I had a hard time believing it was truly worth the price tag. I called them back and ordered a Toklat pad – a Coolback pad, based on their recommendations, and they said it would take about 3 weeks to get it from Toklat and then to me. Graciously, they allowed me to continue using the demo Skito until my new pad arrived.

I received a call last week saying that they received the pad, but that rather than being black, as I had requested, it came in as blue. Apparantly Toklat misread the abbreviated “BL.” She offered to either re-order the pad, or give me a discount on the blue pad. I went ahead and bought the blue pad, since after all blue is my favorite color (sky blue, although the pad is more of a royal blue), and I love a good discount!

It won’t clash too terribly with the 2 Jade green Renegade hoof boots I have, and maybe by the time I get ready to order a second pair the company will offer blue ones – it might be kinda fun to have the trotting diagonal pairs matching colors – Green on left front, right hind, and blue on right front, left hind. I plan on selling the used pair of Easyboot Epics I bought, since I do like the Renegade’s so well and I won’t be using them at all until next year anyway, I thought I’d let them find some usefulness somewhere else. So, if anyone is interested in a pair of size 0’s, just let me know!

I hope I do get to ride a few more times this summer. I’m afraid though that by the time Arabee’s healed enough to ride, I will be too big and pregnant to get on board! Arabee’s cut is looking worse, but even so I think it is healing well. Sometimes injuries start to look worse even though they are getting better. I just wish the ground was dry and I wouldn’t have to keep her in her stall to keep her wound clean – in addition to the swelling around the cut, all four legs are stocking up slightly, adding to the awful swelling around her coronet band. Poor girl. I’m going to give her a few minutes of hand walking pretty soon, then get her out again for a longer walk this evening to try to keep the swelling down to a minimum. Hope it’s not pouring down rain now like it was earlier!

**Update: I walked Arabee for about 10-15 minutes briskly, put a fresh pillow wrap on her leg, and it looks *much better* than it did last night. I didn't put any nitrofurazone/dexamethazone on last night, or today, and I think it was good to give her a break. Seems the oozy wetness of the ointment might have been irritating the surrounding skin. Her cut looks good, and is closing up well. Still open flesh, and still predicting rain, so it is hard to say when she can be turned out, but until then, things are improving!

Stall Bound . . . Mostly

Arabee has been in her stall mostly all day and all night since Friday when she got her cut. At first she was pretty tense, and I could sense she was seriously considering rushing over top of me when I opened the stall door to get out. Thankfully she didn't do that, and has calmed down. She gets at least (usually much more) 10 minutes of hand walking and jogging every day, and I'm changing her bandage every 2 days as recommended.

I'll change her wrap again this morning very shortly. I'll first hose it clean, and I plan to trim the long hairs around the edge of the cut this time. Before it seemed much too tender for her to allow me to do this, but I am hoping now she'll allow me to do that. It looked much improved already on Monday morning, so I am hoping for even more improvement today.

Last night my husband set up a temporary fence in a grassy area for Arabee. I wanted to give her the chance at some unrestricted movement (Freedom!) after being stalled for so long, but the pastures are not yet ready for hoof traffic. It's much too soft and any large animal (horse or cow) moving over it would just tear up the grass, and pasture management is important now - the better you take care of your grass the less hay you end up having to feed in winter. So we set up the temporary fence in a section of a field entrance that is close to 1 acre that has well established, never been grazed (since no real fencing) grass. It is sturdy enough that her hoofprints wouldn't have hurt it, and at the same time, all we'd been doing was mowing that section anyway, so any grazing we get out of it would be good.

You can see the lane at the right, and there's woven wire fence along the tree line, and a good section of woven wire along the road, and a gate at the lane. We put up a single strand of 1" wide electric tape (which you probably can't see in the picture) with a few step-in posts and made a triangle. I stayed out w/ Arabee for about 20 minutes (it was COLD and WINDY last night!) and if I wouldn't have chased her around I do believe she would have stood in one spot and ate all the grass there.

She was pretty greedy - huge mouthfuls of grass, and when she'd lift her head up to stop to chew (it's a wonder she ever did!) I'd ask her to trot out a bit. Then I'd say "easy" and she'd immediately drop down to a halt and stuff as much grass into her mouth as possible. She wound up getting decent exercise - more freely than if she'd been on the end of a lead rope, and I think she greatly enjoyed the grass!

Off to go dress the wound!

Friday's Story

My original plan was to ride at daylight Friday AM, but with it having been pouring down rain all night, and winds gusting to 40+ mph, I decided to postpone since the forecast showed the winds laying down a bit later in the afternoon. When I finally decided I couldn't wait any more, at 4:30pm, it was still plenty windy, but not as bad.

I decided I needed to use the rump rug since I'd planned on putting a good hour of trotting in on her, which would've gotten Arabee nice and sweaty, and I didn't want her to chill with that wind. She acted as though she'd never seen it before! I always flap it around her while she walks a circle around me to make sure she hasn't forgotten what it looks like when the wind catches it, and she finally was okay with that, but on the walk to where I'd planned on mounting up (about 100 ft) she spooked 6 or 7 times from the wind catching the rug! This mare if she's spooky on the ground, you can count on her not paying a LICK of attention under saddle.

So, rather than risking my neck, I decided to free longe her for about 20 minutes in the paddock with all her tack on, getting the fresh off since she was so jumpy in the wind and hadn't been ridden in about a week. She was nice and calm - obeying perfectly my walk, trot, canter, whoa commands - calmly and without rushing. We'd been going this way for about 15 minutes, and I was about to call it quits and hop on, when out of the blue she just took off - tucked tail, ears flat back and she RAN away. I have no clue what it was that caused her to do that.

When she got to the end of the paddock at the full out run, she slid into the fence panel, then I kept her going a round or two at a canter. All that running had caused the stirrup to fall off the saddle, so I stopped her to put it back on, and when I did that the bright red mud down by her foot caught my eye. So she'd been cut, but I couldn't tell at all how badly, since she had mud up to her fetlock, so I brought her out to hose down the leg, and it was pretty nasty. (I decided not to post the pictures up, but if anyone really wants to see, put your email in my comments and I"ll send the pic to you. it's ouchy looking).

At the same time I discovered the "red mud" my husband called me and said there was a heifer that needed help calving - he and his dad were able to get her in, but it was obvious she needed help with the calf. Since Arabee's wasn't life threatening, after I hosed her leg and took her tack off I put her in her stall until we were able to pull the calf (he was BIG!) and then we took a better look at her. The last post said we planned to take her to the vet Saturday AM, which we did.

I felt silly, since all he actually did was pretty much what I would have done: nitrofurazone on gauze, wrapped with cotton, then held on with vetrap (only I would've used my washable quilts and a leg wrap). I just have never dealt with a hoof injury before, so I was unsure of myself. He did also give her tetanus and penicillin, and we brought Jack along and they both got their annual vaccines, so it was good we went. He did also mix something (dexamethasone??) with the nitrofurazin ointment.

She's been in her stall since then, and has NOT been a happy camper about it, either. I just can't let her in the lot with that fetlock deep mud at this point. I'm supposed to change her bandage every 2 days, so right after I post this I'm going to go unwrap, hose down, hand walk her for at least 10 minutes for exercise, then re-wrap her leg.

Fortunately, she has not been favoring that leg, but I just can't see trying to get on the trail since I know there will be spots with really deep mud that would just grind into her cut. So conditioning is on hold for now. The ride on April 18th is absolutely out for me bringing Arabee, but I am going to see if ride management needs any volunteers so I can still go and learn that way.

Do you see that huge divot that goes almost 6 inches on the other side of the fence? Also, do you see that little tiny edge of rod that sticks out below the rest of the fence panel?

The divot was made by my dear Arabee's right front hoof. The tiny rod that pokes out below the rest of the fence left a nasty divot in Arabee. Left a 1/4" deep x 1/4" wide drag mark that starts 2-3 inches above her hoof, through the coronet band, then even cut into her hoof about an inch.

I hosed it clean, and called the vet's office after hours and left a message. While waiting for them to call back, I hobbled Arabee to graze, while we ate dinner and watched her out the window. The Dr. called back and suggested I just wrap the leg with a cotton pillow wrap and we plan to bring her in for an appointment at 8am. He won't stitch it, but I wanted tips on how best to care for it since I've neve dealt with a hoof injury, and she'll get some shots (penicillin and tetanus). Both horses are due for their annual booster in April sometime anyway, so I'll take both Jack and Arabee for that too and save a trip.

She doesn't favor that leg, but I don't want to take any chances for proud flesh or some other complication, so we're taking her in.

Here she is waiting while we cleaned out all of the sawdust from her stall. I wanted straw in there instead so she would less chance of getting her wound dirty. I'd already wrapped her leg, and Jack is standing by.

Since I didn't even get to ride tonight, and definitely won't get to tomorrow, it is strongly looking as though our first 25 mile ride will be postponed. I'd hoped to ride in the Chicken Chase at Clark State Forest in Indiana on April 18th, but thats really not an option anymore - it'll be quite a while before this wound heals well enough for me to be comfortable with allowing mud anywhere near it, which means she'll be off the training trail for who knows how long.

Disappointing, but there's always next year. (more on that to come next week!)

New Stuff/Hobbled Grazing

UPS left Arabee's new girth on my front porch today. Can't wait to try it out.

I hope riding tonight won't push her too fast. There are little tiny hairs beginning to grow back on her bare patches, and the skin looks pretty normal. It doesn't look like it's "peeling" anymore, like a sunburn the way it used to - now it looks just sort of flaky, but mostly normal. I'll at least go out and try the saddle and girth on to see how it looks, adjust the breastcollar since the girth doesn't have a D-ring, and what have you. Whether I actually ride or not will depend on both the mare's skin and the weather - rain is forecasted.

Those of you who've dealt with girth chafing problems before - how do you know when it's safe to try riding again??

I also ordered a helmet - a Tipperary. The helmet I'd been wearing was near 10 years old, and had never been very comfortable. It always dug into my forehead, and had started to give me headaches if I wore it for very long (like more than 2 hours). I decided that if distance is the sport of choice, then a comfier helmet was necessary. I really like the Tipperary - I wore it while making macaroni and cheese right after it arrived! Hopefully I get to ride in it today. I had my husband try it on - and he said it didn't feel like he was wearing a helmet, more like wearing a hat. Pretty accurate. But then, my old helmet may have just been that poor of a fit!

_____

Yesterday, 29 year old Jack (my first horse) learned a new trick. I taught him how to stand hobbled, and he acted as if he'd done it all his life. First I used the lead rope around one foreleg at a time to move it around, then used the rope as hobbles, and when he'd proven that didn't phase him and that he understood giving to the pressure - I hobbled him up in the grassy yard. He GREATLY enjoyed this, and will likely begin having grazing sessions like this much more frequently.

Arabee is sure she got the raw end of that deal. Not only did she have to stay in the paddock by herself, but she also had to endure watching that gelding eat grass and get groomed while she whinnied and bucked and snorted to no avail! After Jack had proven he was comfortable with the hobbles, she got some exercise. What I'd hoped was to sort of free-longe her in the paddock, what I got was a tail-over-the-back prancey trot, occassional leaps over muddy spots, and a way way too out-of-breath horse. I should have known better since she was so indignant that Jack got priveledges she didn't, but I think she quite enjoyed herself (and I enjoyed watching her!).

More In-hand Work

Yesterday I walked Arabee in hand about 2 miles. Really easy for her, but good to help keep (get) me in shape since I haven't been riding since Thursday due to the girthing/chafing issues. Also good for her to familiarize with the area around that I'd like to be riding for training rides once we both get comfortable. I am just such a big chicken when it comes to riding, I want to know it's going to be as safe as possible, even though I'm sure I could've saddled her up and got her around the same 2 miles that way, I'm hoping preparing her this way will prevent some spooking under saddle.

Towards the end of the walk we worked on crossing this ditch - typically she jumps over these things the first couple of times, then will walk through them. Well, this ditch was a lot softer and muddier than I realized, Arabee just would NOT calmly walk all 4 feet across. She'd walk her front legs in, then leap across, and actually as I continued working with her on it, she began doing spectacular standing leaps across the whole width (easily 10, maybe 15 feet!). She was sinking in pretty deep, so I decided to let that one rest, and I was able to get her to walk through a more shallow section of it that didn't have quite the hoof-sucking mud that the other section did. This was actually a good workout for her! She started to sweat, and was certainly breathing hard. Unfortunately, I'm thinking it was a strength training (anaerobic) workout rather than aerobic conditioning, but it couldn't have hurt anything to build some strength.

We finished up and I hosed her muddy legs off, and paid special attention to her girth/elbow area. I applied some aloe, hopefully that will help some. All the swelling is gone now, and the chafed areas do not seem to bother her as much when I touch them.

My new girth will be here on Thursday. I really can't afford to wait until then to get some good riding time in - I'd like to put in a good hour or two on her tonight, and I could try the fleece backed girth. BUT, if I try that and it rubs her raw, then I'm back to hand-walking. I can't afford to let this problem get worse, but at this point with such little time left, I have only 2 weekends left of training time before her first 25 competition miles, so I need all the ride time I can squeeze in. I hope I make the right decision.

In Hand Work on Friday

Just below is a picture of Arabee's girth area - hairless and swollen. Which, is the reason that rather than riding for 2 hours around the farm expanding our territory, I decided to walk her (with some jogging) in hand to accomplish some of the same goal. It was NOT a workout for Arabee, she never even got her breath up, and certainly didn't break a sweat. (but I did...and had a stitch in my side starting about 1/3 of the way into the mile and a half walk~it was good for rider fitness, anyway) I just hated the idea of trying to ride her, even with the too-big, fleecy girth and making things worse, or raw - and then it would have probably taken even longer to heal. Playing it safe and hopefully can get back on the trail early next week. I will phone order a girth today, it should surely be here by mid-week, and I think if the swelling goes down (which it hadn't yesterday, but looks much better this morning) I could try the fleecy girth for short rides until the new and improved material girth arrives.

Hard-to-see photo of daffodils and honeysuckle in the fenceline along the road. (I didn't take pictures of the beer cans and wine bottles lining the sides of the road.....and judging by the number of Bud Lite cans, that is the beer of choice for "booze cruises" in my neck of the woods....I hate that people do that - I don't mind drinking, and I don't mind driving - but PLEASE, please, don't combine the two, ESPECIALLY at the same time!!!)

This shows a 1/4 mile flat farm lane that goes straight towards the river (river follows the tree line) - good opportunity for wind-building gallops after Arabee is familiar with the area!

We hiked across the soybean stubble and you can see the rows of the harvested corn in the background. The fields follow the river and we stayed close to the cow pasture fenceline. Arabee's looking straight at the barn - Jack didn't appreciate being left behind and was letting her know!

The green field is filled with wild onions sprouting, and we're at the top of the hill, the camera is looking down at a deep ditch we crossed, and the gray field is the same bean field the previous picture was taken in. This hill is pretty hefty and long! We stirred up several deer in the woods on our way up, too. You can't really see it since Arabee's in the way, but just to the left of Arabee's mane in the photo is an old Indian mound - some of the tribes in our area used to build hills, or mounds for burial. I guess people used to find a lot of arrow heads and such here.

It was fun, and nice to be able to show her some of the areas I hope to be riding on soon. I'm working on getting her more and more confident going farther and farther from the barn. She was upheaded and observant, but quite content to stay by my side.

Girth Issues

Arabee has just RECENTLY developed some pretty serious girth problems. Or, it might be the girth, or the breastcollar strap.

I first noticed some small bare patches on Tuesday March 17 that could only be found by her putting one front leg forward, then me gently pulling the skin at the elbow towards the front, so, I'm calling that her armpit. Basically, it was bare of hair there - but the skin didn't seem too bad - slightly tender, but not raw.

The thing is - nothing really changed! Same saddle, same pad, same breastcollar, same girth, same rider......the only difference I could come up with was that it was getting consistently in the 50s and 60s when we ride, and she's been really shedding out alot.

So I have been keeping a close eye on that spot, and I emailed The Distance Depot and they called me back to ask about the mohair girths they have. We talked about it alot, and decided it was probably just her rubbing and shedding in the sweaty areas. I mentioned I might try Desitin, or vaseline, or body glide, to lube her up if she was producing the friction herself. She thought that was a great idea, the Desitin, since then I'd be able to see whether it was the girth or not since it would be white everywhere.

I went ahead and tried the Desitin for our training ride on Tuesday, even though her armpit stayed the same after our 15 mile ride at Versailles (I'd have thought it would have gotten worse at that distance if it was the tack!) so I was pretty convinced it was just the way she was moving (or the extra layer of fat she has!). She even had similar issues between her hind legs. I put a not-so-thin layer of Desitin on the bare spot, and while I tried to keep it just there, I ended up basically just smearing it all over her....not pretty, but I figured it would be soothing.

Sadly, I think that since I was inept at staying in the lines, I will not be able to tell if it was from the tack or not - after Tuesday's ride I had white, smeary goo all over that horse from her shoulder, across her chest, all over the breastcollar strap, on the girth, on the billet strap. So was it the tack?? Maybe, but since I didn't keep the Desitin "in the lines" I feel I can't be sure. (I never was good at even coloring in the lines...) I checked her closely after riding on Tuesday, and other than the Desitin mixed with sweat and dirt ALL OVER HER she didn't appear any worse at all.

She had Wednesday off, and all day Thursday until I went up at 5:45 to tack up. Whoa! Big swelling, both just in front of her girth on her barrel, up between her legs, and it was warm and firm to the touch. Not good! The only thing I can think of is that trying the Desitin on Tuesday and leaving it on (I thought to soothe her skin!) just made things worse. She didn't seem worse after the ride Tuesday, but right away when I pulled her out of the paddock today to ride, it was obvious. I had checked her on Wednesday at the morning feeding, and didn't see anything unusual. What's going on here?

So Thursday I debated whether I should even ride. I groomed her very well, and checked her swollen and hairless areas carefully - she didn't seem affected when I touched, scratched the mud off, or palpated the area - so I decided it wasn't too uncomfortable, and I'd see if I could get the girth farther back to stay off that spot. No problem. I also loosened the breastcollar strap that goes between her legs to the girth so it would hang loose. So I rode for an hour, counting warmup and cooldown. I got off and checked her once about halfway, the girth had stayed in place, and the swelling had gone down slightly, so I kept going. Somewhere between when I checked her and when I quit riding she must have found a new way to rub hair - this time directly underneath the girth. Shoot! So I untacked her and hosed her down between the legs and made sure to get that area really really clean, (as opposed to really clean as usual) but the swelling had already decreased when I'd checked her, and had stayed down.

Again, she didn't seem uncomfortable, but I know it could very easily get much worse. The girth I've been riding in for a month now has been a 22" nylon cloth dressage girth with elastic ends. The breastcollar is a beta biothane from Running Bear (I love it!). After Thursday's ride I put everything but the saddle in the washing machine, including the much too big 30" fleecy backed dressage girth I have. If the swelling stays down tonight, I'll ride her with the fleecy girth, and put a bit of vaseline on the new bare spot. Hopefully she hasn't lost so much weight that her girth is useless (it was too long 2 months ago, and she's really trimmed up since then). But, if the swelling has increased, I definitely won't try and ride. Instead, I'll hose the area down again, and hand-walk/jog along the farm lanes. This won't be completely lost time, since she needs to become familiar with them anyway, but I'm really not fit enough to go as far as she needs to!

Any suggestions? Do I need to switch girths or was it just a freak bad reaction to the Desitin??

*****
It's weird that with all that going on, we still had a GREAT ride. Arabee didn't show any signs of discomfort, and I started off in the barn lot. Matt opened the green gate for me to the pasture where I normally train, and I had him wire it OPEN. This allowed me to work in the barn lot, then trot across into the pasture, work in there on the hills and creeks and mud, then trot back. When I'd get her good and blowing, I'd head North to the new territory that we explored in hand on Tuesday at a nice walk to let her catch her breath. We experienced having to wait on a lot of traffic, from cars, trucks, SUVs, joggers, a horse trailer (with a horse!) and she handled it all very well. Fortunately the only vehicles we met while actually riding on the road (as opposed to waiting in the gate for the traffic to go by) was my husband in his little truck, so he was nice and slow, and she did fine.

I'll probably boot her tonight, all around, if I end up riding. Funny, on training rides that we've hauled out for, she moves right out on the gravel, but at home (w/ no other horses to pull her along!) she is short strided and choppy. I'm still learning my horse, but it's amazing that she'd perform SO differently on the same type of surfaces just because of the presence of other horses. I guess they aren't kidding when they say "ride your own ride" but it looks like it's going to be tough to do that since Arabee does seem to be so "magnetized" to the other horses on the trail - either slowing down if she's in front, or speeding up if she's behind.

Plan A for this weekend was to ride 20 miles w/ Jacke at Versailles, but with the forecast calling for THUNDERSTORMS on Saturday, we were going to do Plan B and try to ride together at her place on Friday, to work the horses together at a faster pace on hills, either 15 or 20 miles. But I wasn't able to find a sitter early enough so rather than haul 2 hours roundtrip to get to ride probably an hour and a half, I decided to stay here and work at home (Plan C!). But, if her girth is worse or the same, I may have to resort to Plan D and work her in hand. Man, oh man - what's next?? Sometimes it seems like it's always something!