June 2007

Wednesday evening I tried Roo in the Sportsaddle and established that it would work find, but by a stroke of good timing, last night I took delivery of the Sensation Hybrid saddle demo. Given that we're doing Nevada Moonshine Saturday night, this is almost perfect timing (unless it turns out that his rubs need to heal more. All loops come back into camp, so I will be being ridiculously vigilant over his back and have the Sportsaddle ready if I need to swap - I think the more structured construction of the Sportsaddle should alleviate pressure on the rubbed area if needed).

I played with the Sensation for an hour or so last night, fiddling with stirrup placement as well as knee rolls and bolsters. It's very cushy, but felt a little slippery - not least because Zini was loose and doing gallop-bys.

So tonight we left Zini locked up and went again. This time I put my sheepskin cover on (much better), and rigged up my pommel bags. All worked very well:

Roo is definitely ready for his 50 - once again he's overfed and under-ridden, being very cheerful. He wasn't the most cooperative of pones and gave me another good workout in the saddle, learning new balance points and how to keep my weight where I needed it to be to stay on top.

There are so many variations on this saddle, it takes a while to get it "just so".

Tomorrow he gets a bath and then I plan to put Nu-Skin on his rubs to protect them. Hopefully my riding won't change enough to cause any muscle soreness.

I got really wet in the first half mile when it *poured* with rain.
Management should do something about that.

When the rain abruptly stopped after half a mile, I dried out quickly enough that I didn't get cold and didn't need to change my clothes and, other than adding a sweatshirt when we left on the last loop at midnight, I wasn't able to wear any of the big bag-full of clothing I'd brought with me "just in case". What a waste.

There was a part on the trail on the middle loop where it was "a bit cool" and I wished I wasn't wearing just a t-shirt (at ~11 pm).

The moon didn't come up early enough and we were forced to ride the middle loop in pitch black, which made us giggle since we couldn't see the whups in the trail and we had to squeak a lot.

Because we weren't able to extended-trot that middle loop, two people overtook us as we were coming in ruining our chances of top-tenning (we came 19th... *see*!?).

There wasn't a *single* ribbon on the trail.

Those 100 blue glo-sticks weren't quite as bright as the 200+ green glo-sticks - next time please use ones that we can see from half a mile away, rather than only a 300 yrds.

I didn't have to use those EZ boots I brought with me. Those things are heavy. If I'd known the footing would have been so perfect in places that I wouldn't need them, I could have left them at home and saved on gas.

The moon was too low as we left on the third loop and it shone in our eyes a bit, which reduced our ability to admire the twinkly Reno lights in the distance.

There were too many water troughs/ponds and we all know Roo must stop at all of them to replenish, so it limited our forward progress.

My horse wasn't tired enough at the end, so he pulled on me and wouldn't slow down.

My horse got loose after the ride and came wandering over to the PnR area where we were hanging out afterwards. He seemed to want to see if there was any more of that yummy hay. Please provide less food next time, so he's not tempted to escape.

The ride awards of collapsible buckets/scoops are too useful and I'd just gotten around to training my horse to trot with a plastic milk-jug bopping on his flank, and now I won't need to. What a waste.

Breakfast was too yummy and I had to have three courses (pancakes, b'fast burritos, yogurt) and now I'll get fat.

Since it was dark, I only got one photo of him scarfing beetpulp slurry during the hour hold (11pm-midnight),

but I did get him when we got home - here's Roo's "getting out of the trailer video" (870 kb):

Earlier in the week, Sheila emailed me to ask if I wanted to be a "demo rider" for Jec Ballou at Horse Expo. Jec was doing a talk on "Dressage for Endurance Riders" and needed some handy endurance horses.

Since this was "public people", not endurance riders, I spent an hour or so this morning doing what's important to "public people" - shampooing Roo's mane and tail so they wouldn't look orange. Although I wasn't able to get the number off his butt, he still did a fine "My Little Pony" impersonation, with pearly white flowing tail - and then ruined the effect by refusing to load up and slipping over and falling down when I demonstrated that the choice was "work or get in the trailer" <sigh>. At least he didn't lame himself.

We got down to Cal Expo around 1:15 and I took him for a wander around. We inspected the outdoor arena where we were due to ride, watched other horses go in, listened to audience clapping, watched gaited horses go past, and he was generally very disinterested, so we went to graze for a bit (which Roo thought was the best part).

Our demo started at 3 pm and my legs felt a little jelly-like first going in to the arena in front of all the people, but muscle memory cut in, and at least I felt at home on the pone, so we both settled down. Roo didn't think the loud-speaker system was a funny joke and was sure not to go anywhere near the audience, but otherwise didn't do badly. He demonstrated the giraffe-look that arabians are so good at, but did drop his head a little more level as time went on.

Jec had us trot around, which he managed to do without embarrassing either of us too badly and when it was our turn to be focused on, the main thing she worked on was slowing the tempo so he could get his balance and drop his head. She complimented him on his neck muscle - can't remember the name, but it's the one that starts about half way down the neck and ties into the withers. She said that's the one that helps them raise their backs and get their butts under them more, instead of trailing along, back legs behind, leaning on the forehand. She said I must have done my homework in the arena... and I giggled and said no. But thinking about it, I do work on him dropping his head when we're out there. Another thing she pointed out was a dimple in the horse's side just in front of the stifle - she said this shows he was working his abs.

I still need to ask her more about them engaging their back ends, but couldn't today since I didn't have anywhere to put the pone, unless I left him tied to the trailer unsupervised which I wasn't willing to do. I'm going back tomorrow, so will try and find her then.

She has worked with FEI endurance riders to better improve their way of going and avoid injury.

Afterwards, Roo and I wandered the halls - visiting anything we were able to visit with a horse in tow, which wasn't too much. He was an exceptionally good boy and took everything in his stride, so I was very pleased with him.

Watched a demo by a lady named Wendy Murdoch who showed two riders how to find their "power spot" (i.e. how to avoid falling off) by breathing low and changing their posture. When she started with them, she was easily able to yank them out of the saddle, but by the time she was done, she could pull the horse along by pulling on the reins attached to the rider's hands and pulling them down through the horse, which was pretty interesting.

Afterwards I went to talk to her about my lopsided posting problem. We agreed that it was probably due to my knee surgery and that I'd learned to work around it. Ended up buying a book on the Feldenkrais Method which I think should help both pft and I get more balanced. It was pretty interesting stuff.

Watched another demo by Jec Ballou - this one showing that not all horses should be worked in the classic shape you think of for dressage - that many horses will go better in a less rigid frame.

Afterwards I went to talk to her about what I could best do with Roo. She suggested that I work on speeding up and slowing down at the trot with him - to work his sacroiliac area and persuade him to drop his head. She said with the pelvis tilted down (from a high head and hollow back), they tend to stab their back legs into the ground and will get problems from that. She also said that walking hills developed the best muscling. She said you'll often see endurance horses with a line down the center of their hips, dividing the two sides of the muscle - probably because they've been trotting up hills and got strong, but not uniformly so. She said you're aiming for a nice round muscle.

She occasionally gives lessons, so I might think about taking one with her next time she's in this area.

This time I was able to watch Linda Tellington-Jones work with Sheila's horse Giorgi. Linda ended up riding Giorgi and taking the bridle off and just riding her in a lariat loop. The really nice thing about this was how well Giorgi blossomed like that - she looked so much softer and happier minus the bridle.

Linda said using a rope or strap around their necks as a balance string can help raise their backs, so I might borrow Sheila's and see how it affects Roo (she also said it was a good way to teach neck reining, so that's handy too).

pft took the truck down to the Bay Area to pick up some stuff from James' garage.

When I finally dragged myself into consciousness, I managed to construct an "inner chamber" out of chicken wire in the big chook house for the little chooks to live in. They have more or less outgrown their cardboard box, so it was time for them to move to more spacious accommodation.

Tonight is their first night outside and they are huddled in a pile. The big chooks were a little leery of going to bed, because of the strangeness, but they took no notice of the little chooks. They still need to grow a bit before I can put them all in together, though.

The other thing I had to do today was check out the "hard-use attachment" on the Sensation saddle before sending it back next week. This is a buckle attached to the saddle flap that you buckle your stirrup leather onto so that the weight is distributed between the top attachment and the whole saddle. It's most likely how I'd have the saddle rigged for endurance riding to avoid pressure points.

Last weekend I'd used my fenders from my Barefoot saddle so really needed to check out if the hard-use attachment was where I needed it to be. The stirrup leathers that came with the saddle were just a smidgin too long, but I took Roo for a five mile saunter late this afternoon to try it out anyway, riding on tippy toes. The result was that it pulls my stirrup too far forward and overbalances me, so I need to ask for it to be set back a little.

I used my new wool pad. The inserts still need trimming a little to make more of a gullet, but it worked pretty well. Best of all, it fits the Sensation, shape-wise, perfectly. I had to guess and thank goodness it worked out.

Zini has been lame now for a year, which is pretty frustrating, since she hasn't really been ridden in a year, except for the odd putz now and again. This was definitely one of those instances where turning her out and forgetting about her didn't make her better.

In February I took her to vet Larry Goss in Auburn. He blocked her foot and then her fetlock (which sounds simple, but considering the hissy she threw, wasn't in the slightest) and all we found out was that she got lamer, but were no nearer to any diagnosis. Dr Goss told me to shoe her in pads and see if that helped any. It didn't.

So then I played phone tag for the last two and half months, trying to get Zini a vet appointment with Marty Gardner who works out of Great Basin in Gardnerville, NV, but occasionally comes to CA to service large training barns. And this morning, Ann and I took her down to Ione, which is about an hour and half away.

First we trotted her in the round pen. She was a little off, but not yet really doing her ultra-lame pogo leg impersonation. Marty palpated her and said it kind of looked and felt like a suspensory injury - high up, where the suspensory ties in to the back of the knee. <sigh>. This would be my fourth suspensory injury on three horses on three different legs, so I was pretty bummed. But he also said that might not be all it was.

He blocked her behind the knee (and she didn't have a melt-down) and we trotted her again. The vague lameness was gone, but she began to pogo her leg, hopping along on three legs and short-striding/jamming the

toe on her LF. Hmmm, he said.

We watched her for some time and she didn't get better, so he palpated her more - up around her shoulder. I'd had her checked by a chiropractor about two and half months ago, who found no limit to her range of motion. He wondered about a bursa on the point of her shoulder, so that was the next thing that got jabbed - a bit of HA and some local anesthetic.

Back to the round pen... no better... wait ten minutes... no better. Hmmm. By now she's starting to get crabby and sneery.

The interesting thing was that when she trotted out speedily, you couldn't see any signs of lameness, it was only when she slowed down - almost at the walk or a slow jog that she'd take her really short strides and gimp badly.

So he said OK, maybe it is related to her foot, although he didn't think so - best way to find out is to block her. Hah. And here the melt-down reappeared. Up until now, Zini had been pretty much unconcerned by being jabbed, but try and stick that little needle in her fetlock and you're in trouble. She leapt and bounded. The twitch was fetched. She leapt and bounded, she reared, she threatened to fall down, she tried to hang herself from the bridle racks around the wall, she twirled, she hyper-ventilated, she was taken outside while Marty fetched more anesthetic (not sure how much he wasted, but I think he went through about 7 needles). Tracey, Marty's long-suffering assistant, looped Zini's lead through a heavy iron rail and managed to get her jammed up against that. I held the lead rope, Tracey held the twitch, and Marty struggled to try and get the needle in and the syringe attached to the needle. A few more needles flew, and eventually the deed was done. Anyone would think we had been killing her, the fuss she made.

Back to the round pen... she was lamer still. This was starting to be a repeat of last February. Argh. Round and round she went, pogo-ing on her leg, being crabby. Marty mentioned that sometimes higher up injuries get worse when you block the foot - something to do with how they compensate. But he was still bothered, saying that although she was a little sore in the suspensory, the way she was short-striding on that leg didn't suggest a suspensory injury - it was more a limit-of-motion type thing.

So now it was time for ultrasounding. The back of her leg got shaved without incident - apparently it's only the foot/fetlock that can't be touched - and we took a look. She had a bit of suspensory strain, but he said it was old (not surprising, given that she's been lame for a year) and not that significant looking. <sigh>. So what was it?

Marty sat and thought for a bit and decided to x-ray her foot, but they showed up clean and her coffin bone was properly aligned with her pastern (she's a little clubby on that side and the foot is smaller and wimpier than the other), so that wasn't it.

Marty sat and thought some more and decided to x-ray her knee - and bingo - problem found. Finally!

If you feel the front of her knee, there is a little bit of thickening, but nothing significant. He said a couple of times he wondered about the knee, but dismissed it as not being obvious enough.

I always thought the cannon bone went straight up to the knee, but didn't realise there's another bone in there - stacked on top of the cannon bone, below the knee. Very similar to the hock set-up, there is a narrow gap between the two bones and this is where she was showing some signs of arthritis.

I'll have to ask Tracey to send me a copy, but on the x-rays, you can see she has some bone spurs top and bottom and some odd lumps and holes in the bone. The reason it doesn't show up as a standard knee problem is because the only time it hurts is when it's hyper-extended and she puts her weight on it - since it's right at the front of the joint. When she's trotting fast, the knee hyper-extends out in front of her, with no weight on it, so she's not sore. It's only as she slows and the leg is right under her that it shows up.

He said because of the location, it's more than likely an injury from falling down or similar, not a chronic "wear and tear" injury - which was a relief to hear. He said if the whole joint was arthritic, she wouldn't have such a good prognosis, but this was very localised and probably from some trauma.

So her knee got injected with some cortisone and some lubricant (not sure of the name - Aflex? or something similar?). She has to have some rehab for the suspensory - riding at a walk 30 mins to an hour every day for about three weeks, followed by slowly loading her up - a couple of minutes of trotting, increasing by a couple of minutes each week. If she comes up lame at the end of the three weeks, we're to continue walking and then get her rechecked at six weeks (if the shot doesn't help her, he has another thing to try). If not, call and see how to progress.

He said she might continue to have some pain from the area because of the arthritis, but eventually that joint would fuse. Unfortunately it's not in a good spot to fuse very quickly, so it could be a couple of years before that happens, but in the meantime, the only way to make it fuse is to ride her and aggravate the area.

He said if we just turned her out for three years, she'd be exactly the same at the end of the three years.

He said her prognosis was pretty good, though. Given how good her feet look, he said there was no need for any elaborate shoeing - indeed, he said she didn't need to be shod at all - even complimented her on her feet (which surprised me, since they look like cr*p at the moment, with all the quarters broken out). The suspensory needs to settle down, so she's going to be on 1g of Bute a day for three weeks - which he equated to a person taking an aspirin a day. It'll be enough to help with the inflammation, but not enough to mask any real problem. And she needs the rehab to get those fibres sorted out. She doesn't have to be confined - except for the next 48 hours just to let the area recover from today's insults.

She looks like a war veteran, with blood and iodine all down her leg from various jabs. They wrapped her leg for tonight, just to prevent any filling from occurring, but that can come off in the morning (it's a pretty deep purple colour, though - suits her).

So there you have it. I don't think many vets would have figured it out. Once again, Marty Gardner's tenacity and eye for detail - not just throwing expensive machines at her - came through. He wasn't satisfied, based on the way she was moving, that it was just the obvious thing - and he was right. Many vets would have just stopped at the first thing

I can't say it was cheap (argh... not cheap at all), but at least it means we're going to get Zini back and get to ride her. Yay!!

"Carpal-Metacarpal joint arthritis, mild chronic proximal suspensory desmitis".

When I took her in to see Larry Goss, I was low on my stash of bute, so I bought some apple-flavoured powdered bute. It was only later when I was talking to the vet assistant in Cool that they told me that stuff is compounded, so has a shorter shelf-life than the normal bute tablets. <grrr>

Sure enough, the apple-bute expires this month (and I hadn't even opened it! ack). But the good thing is, Zini should use up a goodly amount of it in the next three weeks - and even better, this morning I just put it in a pan of BP + LMF and she gobbled it up, so we don't even have to syringe it into her.

Poor Jack may not be quite so eager to get in the trailer after this last trip. He was still over at Ann's, so I had to fetch him on the way to the vets' in Auburn. Polly Martin (who saw Zini last summer when she had her hock problem) was going to perform the deed and asked me if I'd seen them use the drill before. ?? I've never seen any castration done and was mentally jumping through a few hoops trying to figure out how you could use a drill to geld a horse. It would soon become clear.

She dropped him on the grassy area next to the vets' shiny new building. We picked a nice shady spot, which he completely missed stumbling around fighting the anesthetic, determined to stay upright even if it meant having one leg stuck out at right angles. Luckily his legs are so short he wasn't very far from the ground when he finally succumbed.

And then the fun began. First she tucked a towel over his face to protect his eyes while he was out. Next she trussed him up like a chicken - rope wound around his back hoof and pulled it forward against his belly and tied around his neck to keep it there to cleanly expose the area to be worked on. He had one testicle completely there and the other was half-descended. She made about a 3" incision over the first testicle (there was an incision for each one), slicing shallowly through the outer layers of skin before exposing it (about the size of a long tangerine). From there she had to strip back the fibrous stuff along the stalk (I think she called it "the tunic", but then again, I'm not 100% sure which part she was referring to when she said that <g>).