Unfortunately, I saw a pretty clear decline fairly quickly this week while waiting for the farrier appointment that was planned for today (Friday). I didn't want to work him this week just because knowing that he wasn't moving correctly (tending to go toe first instead of flat or heel first) bothered me a lot. All I did was walk him and trot him some in hand. Last night I was curious how he was trotting because I thought I was seeing some discomfort in his other movements on uneven ground and turning around. I lunged him at the walk and trot and oh man was he shuffle-y - it's like we were back to square one and he didn't want to pick up his feet at all! *sob* :'(
I could not WAIT until this morning to get the bar shoes back on. He definitely prefers them right now. He wasn't PERFECT tonight, but he felt nice under saddle walking and trotting. I tried a canter to the left and he did try for me, but it didn't feel quite right so I asked him to trot again and left it at that. I watched him walk and trot from the ground once he was warmed up and it was considerably better than last night. There were not puffs of dirt with every stride, just occasionally. He was definitely moving out more and picking up his feet more. I suppose it's not a miracle fix, and it'll probably take a couple or maybe a few days for his soreness to cool off just like it did to develop with the other shoes. Tonight, he got tucked in with his favorite fruit flavored treats and some packing of magic cushion to help relieve any discomfort he might still have.
Just some details that I want to remember if helpful later on: the farrier mentioned that his right front hoof seemed to be growing more than the left. He had to trim that one a bit more than the other. The heel of the right hoof had grown down more, which from what he explained might be because he was avoiding using that heel. I thought that was interesting since it seemed to be his left front giving him the most trouble and landing heaviest on the toe. But from all this I know that not everything is as it seems - a lot of times the answers are the opposite of what the obvious is.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Sunday, January 10, 2016
6 Month Update
I know it has been a while, but I do have a good update and we seem to still be on the right track.
Shorty has done well since November. We have started trotted more and integrating 3-4 trot poles in our exercise. We work on shoulder fore/shoulder in, side passing, turn on the haunches, and transitions. The only thing I have noticed developing since then was resistance bending to the right. On Dec. 26th, we decided to try regular shoes! It did not seem to change anything for a while. About 6 days later, however, Shorty had a day where he was acting really on edge, spooky, and unfocused. I knew something was not right. I did some ground work instead of riding since he was acting so funny, and he eventually showed me he looked sore and really hesitant to go forward. I haven't seen that in a while :(
He was due for his monthly dose of Pentosan, so I gave that to him that day. I have also added 10,000mg of MSM to his feed daily since then. I think both have been helping him. The next day he seemed okay again, thank goodness! Then our next ride was surprisingly really nice. I lunged him first walk/canter and I was concerned about him going to the left as it looked like there was a hitch in his stride at the canter. But when I got on we had a super ride! Besides his resistance to bend right, he was super light and offering roundness, stretchy trot, responsiveness, and he was even offering halt to canter transitions! He felt amazing. That was a fun ride.
Even so, I planned to have the vet out for a check-up to see about his right side. This was the best check-up so far. Shorty did not need acupuncture! There was no hock reactivity this time, but there was with his left front. She was able to adjust the spot on the right side of his neck that was most likely the culprit for his hesitation to bend right - he looked really ouchy there before fixed, poor boy. Most of his issues though were located in the thoracic/wither area under the saddle. He had some wither stuff last time, but not that much soreness under his saddle area. The 3 things that would contribute to that spot are: 1) ulcer/stomach issues which were ruled out, 2) saddle fit, which we checked and ruled out, and 3) compensation for some foot pain. Oh boy...I am going to have my farrier check the balance of his feet next week, and then if that checks out then we will put his bar shoes back on. Unfortunately, the vet noticed that he was very slightly walking toe first in the front. My main goal right now is to make sure we fix that and get a heel first landing; if he needs the bar shoes to continue supporting his neck and keeping him right, then that's what we'll stick with for now.
Shorty has changed so much since August which is a good thing! He continues to change and hopefully his body is normalizing to how it should be. The fact that he didn't need acupuncture is great! I was happy about no hock reactivity and the issues in his back end have stayed away - I have always thought that part of his issues have been from compensation from back there.
It rained quite a bit this last week and it has been so wet! I am going to go out again this afternoon and see how he's doing! I hope to ride :)
Shorty has done well since November. We have started trotted more and integrating 3-4 trot poles in our exercise. We work on shoulder fore/shoulder in, side passing, turn on the haunches, and transitions. The only thing I have noticed developing since then was resistance bending to the right. On Dec. 26th, we decided to try regular shoes! It did not seem to change anything for a while. About 6 days later, however, Shorty had a day where he was acting really on edge, spooky, and unfocused. I knew something was not right. I did some ground work instead of riding since he was acting so funny, and he eventually showed me he looked sore and really hesitant to go forward. I haven't seen that in a while :(
He was due for his monthly dose of Pentosan, so I gave that to him that day. I have also added 10,000mg of MSM to his feed daily since then. I think both have been helping him. The next day he seemed okay again, thank goodness! Then our next ride was surprisingly really nice. I lunged him first walk/canter and I was concerned about him going to the left as it looked like there was a hitch in his stride at the canter. But when I got on we had a super ride! Besides his resistance to bend right, he was super light and offering roundness, stretchy trot, responsiveness, and he was even offering halt to canter transitions! He felt amazing. That was a fun ride.
Even so, I planned to have the vet out for a check-up to see about his right side. This was the best check-up so far. Shorty did not need acupuncture! There was no hock reactivity this time, but there was with his left front. She was able to adjust the spot on the right side of his neck that was most likely the culprit for his hesitation to bend right - he looked really ouchy there before fixed, poor boy. Most of his issues though were located in the thoracic/wither area under the saddle. He had some wither stuff last time, but not that much soreness under his saddle area. The 3 things that would contribute to that spot are: 1) ulcer/stomach issues which were ruled out, 2) saddle fit, which we checked and ruled out, and 3) compensation for some foot pain. Oh boy...I am going to have my farrier check the balance of his feet next week, and then if that checks out then we will put his bar shoes back on. Unfortunately, the vet noticed that he was very slightly walking toe first in the front. My main goal right now is to make sure we fix that and get a heel first landing; if he needs the bar shoes to continue supporting his neck and keeping him right, then that's what we'll stick with for now.
Shorty has changed so much since August which is a good thing! He continues to change and hopefully his body is normalizing to how it should be. The fact that he didn't need acupuncture is great! I was happy about no hock reactivity and the issues in his back end have stayed away - I have always thought that part of his issues have been from compensation from back there.
It rained quite a bit this last week and it has been so wet! I am going to go out again this afternoon and see how he's doing! I hope to ride :)
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Four Month Update!
We are now 4 months into treating for neck inflammation and overall wellness, and after 3 treatments of chiro and acupuncture, things are still looking up!
Shorty had 2 appointments this last week. First, the vet came for his second check up since the end of July. He is still showing much improvement *happy dance!* She also commented at how great his coat is and how healthy he looks. His winter coat is like velvet! I don't remember him ever being SO soft. For this visit, most of his issue was in his lower back; he was actually very tight back there. Only one side of his neck at the base needed attention, and on the right side of his withers. She still suspects some soreness in his right hock, and possibly his left front. I am hoping the Pentosan will help manage and improve those spots, but so far he has done nothing but improve and is moving better than he has in a long time. He is unfortunately still looking a bit short at the trot, but his back was pretty out of whack and I think I already see improvement. My farrier says that once we feel good about trimming him differently and not so short that it will help him have a naturally longer stride. Especially if he keeps improving like he has.
We did have a day or two early on last week where he seemed a little off. He was just slightly bobbing at the trot when I rode. He seemed normal by Wednesday and Thursday. Gah, these horses! That was quite upsetting though.
His other appointment was with the farrier this past Friday and now he only has bar shoes with no wedge or pad at all. I can't believe we're finally back to this step! I've had this whole plan laid out working our way backwards to being somewhat normal and it's finally happening! If he passes the next 6 weeks with flying colors, I am thinking we'll be ready to try regular shoes and hopefully more of a dressage trim for his next visit. Our six week farrier visit will be right after Christmas. It will be such a great Christmas gift to me if Shorty is able to try normal shoes again!
I wasn't sure how well he took all the changes on Friday evening, but he looked really good working on the line Saturday evening, and even better tonight! He picked up the canter quickly when asked and looked really relaxed, rhythmic, and held it until I asked for the down transition. No bolting, rushing, and no laziness, but just right! He felt good undersaddle trotting as well. As of right now, we're still definitely on the right track :)
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Sooo excited!
I have read that Pentosan probably won't show clinical improvement until after the 2nd/ 3rd dose. I just gave him the 2nd dose today - all by myself, too! I have been dreading having to give shots in fear of messing it up or doing it wrong, but I have had several people show me in person and I watched lots of videos so I could see several approaches. It went just fine and I feel like a million bucks! Whew!
Whether I am seeing clinical improvements from Pentosan yet or not, I am THRILLED about how he is doing. Shorty continues to be one happy and good looking boy. I saw him earlier this week on Wednesday just to brush him and see how he was doing. I thought he was moving around great, specifically turning exceptionally normal! :D
I thought today was the same, if not even better! When turning in a small circle, there is not a single limp to be seen and he is finally reaching and stepping under his center of gravity with that hind inside leg. No more shuffling or awkward movements. I thought he was lifting up his back legs higher today as well. I am just ecstatic and overjoyed!
It has been raining since Thursday night and the horses have had a lot of inside time lately, so when I went out late morning today after he finished his breakfast hay, he was happy to get out. He was especially happy to have his head scratched all over and was such a ham! After I cleaned him up and gave him his shot, I hand walked him around 20 minutes and let him eat some grass. When I led him down the barn isle to go walk in the back pasture, he was walking so briskly and confidently, clip-clopping rhythmically as we went - what a change from a couple months ago when he was almost limping down the isle! When we walked out the back door into the pasture, he began prancing like a racehorse ready to go! Once he realized I wasn't letting him go, he settled right back down and walked with me like a good boy, but man I am sure he would have had a nice bucking gallop! It's just too wet though and we're trying not to tear up the grass right now, especially with his shoes.
I am interested to see how he rides next time. Just in case he is feeling extra good, which I kind of expect he will, we will definitely be doing some lunging workouts before rides. That way I can also see if there is marked improvement with his movement.
I am just at a loss for words right now, knowing where we came from. I really hope our lowest low is well behind us!
Whether I am seeing clinical improvements from Pentosan yet or not, I am THRILLED about how he is doing. Shorty continues to be one happy and good looking boy. I saw him earlier this week on Wednesday just to brush him and see how he was doing. I thought he was moving around great, specifically turning exceptionally normal! :D
I thought today was the same, if not even better! When turning in a small circle, there is not a single limp to be seen and he is finally reaching and stepping under his center of gravity with that hind inside leg. No more shuffling or awkward movements. I thought he was lifting up his back legs higher today as well. I am just ecstatic and overjoyed!
It has been raining since Thursday night and the horses have had a lot of inside time lately, so when I went out late morning today after he finished his breakfast hay, he was happy to get out. He was especially happy to have his head scratched all over and was such a ham! After I cleaned him up and gave him his shot, I hand walked him around 20 minutes and let him eat some grass. When I led him down the barn isle to go walk in the back pasture, he was walking so briskly and confidently, clip-clopping rhythmically as we went - what a change from a couple months ago when he was almost limping down the isle! When we walked out the back door into the pasture, he began prancing like a racehorse ready to go! Once he realized I wasn't letting him go, he settled right back down and walked with me like a good boy, but man I am sure he would have had a nice bucking gallop! It's just too wet though and we're trying not to tear up the grass right now, especially with his shoes.
I am interested to see how he rides next time. Just in case he is feeling extra good, which I kind of expect he will, we will definitely be doing some lunging workouts before rides. That way I can also see if there is marked improvement with his movement.
I am just at a loss for words right now, knowing where we came from. I really hope our lowest low is well behind us!
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Pentosan is here!
My Pentosan just arrived from my vet today! We will begin tomorrow morning and then he will receive one dose each week for the next 3 weeks. After that it is monthly or as needed. So far I am just grateful that everything has gone as planned. I wanted to begin the Pentosan earlier this month because the Previcox is almost gone. There are only a few days left of that now and I pray that Shorty will not decline without it. Fingers crossed!
The end of this month will be 2 months since we have seen our vet and so I will probably be scheduling that soon. I am anxiously looking forward to seeing how his check-up goes after the changes so far.
We had a nice relaxing walk ride in the dark last night. It is getting dark so quickly now :( There is some lighting enough to get on and get around. I personally think it is such a weird and kind of scary feeling cantering around in the dark, so nice and easy walk ride yesterday with some shoulder-in and leg yielding thrown in.
The end of this month will be 2 months since we have seen our vet and so I will probably be scheduling that soon. I am anxiously looking forward to seeing how his check-up goes after the changes so far.
We had a nice relaxing walk ride in the dark last night. It is getting dark so quickly now :( There is some lighting enough to get on and get around. I personally think it is such a weird and kind of scary feeling cantering around in the dark, so nice and easy walk ride yesterday with some shoulder-in and leg yielding thrown in.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Fall is here!!
The weather is great! Not too cool and not too hot. I will enjoy it while it lasts, but soon it will be way too cold for my taste, brr! I'm definitely a summer girl.
Shorty has been great! He spent a few days without his left shoe because it came off during a ride last week. He trotted a bit off because of having one wedge and shoe on and one off, but otherwise it didn't bother him at all! He walked briskly and normally around and down the barn isle. That makes me so glad because I had feared him not being able to ever be barefoot again after all of this due to pain or discomfort. Losing the shoe sucked, but I was glad to find out he is not tender footed, yay!
Luckily, the farrier was scheduled to come out at the end of the week and he said he has REALLY good looking feet. The left hoof used to be wider from bearing more weight, and now his feet look more identical. This means he has been bearing equal weight for a while now and it shows!
We only did a 1 degree wedge this time. The pad doesn't even go all the way around - it's just on the back of his hoof. If he stays well, we will go to only bar shoes without the wedge, and then the next step is to try regular shoes!! I am crossing my fingers. A bit of normalcy would be so nice.
I will get some Pentosan joint supplement (injected into muscle) from my vet soon to replace the Previcox. Previcox is an NSAID so it is like taking aspirin every single day. I really want him to be able to get a way from that. Pentosan has a lot of super reviews and would be an alternative to purchasing a feed through joint supplement, which, we all know the controversy on that for how much horses actually benefit from eating glucosamine, chondroitin, and HA. Pentosan will help with any inflammation and is known to actually prevent and improve arthritis.
I've added Omega Horseshine (flaxseed) to his grain and I think he is happy to have his flax back! He thinks it is very tasty. He is still getting 8,000 IU of vitamin E per day and since it is just a super good value I will probably continue that until someone tells me to stop ha ha. He looks soooo good right now so I must be doing something right!
I am so glad that I have my riding horse back, but now we are having those normal issues with being one-sided and not wanting to jump into the canter correctly to the right - left is good! He is majorly falling into the circle during trot-canter transitions and trot work, especially where there is not a fence to guide off of. He can be quite rushy at the trot still, but he takes half halts well, so as long as I keep communicating with him he is still very responsive even though he obviously feels really good. It feels like we are on our way to working those types of things out, though (again!!). Right now it is walk, canter, and some circles of trot each ride. Not too much collection or anything now, but I have started asking for shoulder-fore quite often at the walk the last few rides to kind of get back into things. As soon as we go up to trot/canter, he kind of falls apart! We have a lot of conditioning work ahead, but I am looking forward to it :)
Shorty has been great! He spent a few days without his left shoe because it came off during a ride last week. He trotted a bit off because of having one wedge and shoe on and one off, but otherwise it didn't bother him at all! He walked briskly and normally around and down the barn isle. That makes me so glad because I had feared him not being able to ever be barefoot again after all of this due to pain or discomfort. Losing the shoe sucked, but I was glad to find out he is not tender footed, yay!
Luckily, the farrier was scheduled to come out at the end of the week and he said he has REALLY good looking feet. The left hoof used to be wider from bearing more weight, and now his feet look more identical. This means he has been bearing equal weight for a while now and it shows!
We only did a 1 degree wedge this time. The pad doesn't even go all the way around - it's just on the back of his hoof. If he stays well, we will go to only bar shoes without the wedge, and then the next step is to try regular shoes!! I am crossing my fingers. A bit of normalcy would be so nice.
I will get some Pentosan joint supplement (injected into muscle) from my vet soon to replace the Previcox. Previcox is an NSAID so it is like taking aspirin every single day. I really want him to be able to get a way from that. Pentosan has a lot of super reviews and would be an alternative to purchasing a feed through joint supplement, which, we all know the controversy on that for how much horses actually benefit from eating glucosamine, chondroitin, and HA. Pentosan will help with any inflammation and is known to actually prevent and improve arthritis.
I've added Omega Horseshine (flaxseed) to his grain and I think he is happy to have his flax back! He thinks it is very tasty. He is still getting 8,000 IU of vitamin E per day and since it is just a super good value I will probably continue that until someone tells me to stop ha ha. He looks soooo good right now so I must be doing something right!
I am so glad that I have my riding horse back, but now we are having those normal issues with being one-sided and not wanting to jump into the canter correctly to the right - left is good! He is majorly falling into the circle during trot-canter transitions and trot work, especially where there is not a fence to guide off of. He can be quite rushy at the trot still, but he takes half halts well, so as long as I keep communicating with him he is still very responsive even though he obviously feels really good. It feels like we are on our way to working those types of things out, though (again!!). Right now it is walk, canter, and some circles of trot each ride. Not too much collection or anything now, but I have started asking for shoulder-fore quite often at the walk the last few rides to kind of get back into things. As soon as we go up to trot/canter, he kind of falls apart! We have a lot of conditioning work ahead, but I am looking forward to it :)
Saturday, September 19, 2015
No News is Not Great News
I haven't updated lately because 1) I have been really busy, but also 2) we seemed to be having issues :( Don't worry though, this posts ends on a good note!
Since Shorty had those several days where I wasn't sure what was going on...whether he was trying to buck or crow hop because of excess energy, discomfort, or whatnot, I had found out that he went much better in a different saddle pad with my western saddle. The pad I was using was missing a couple layers in one spot because the squirrels got to it this past winter. They did not manage to eat through it, and I didn't think it was enough for it to make a big deal, especially since I was using a Navajo pad over it.
Anyway, I asked a friend if I could try her saddle pad and that night we had a FANTASTIC ride. He had also been going into a fast trot instead of going into a canter and usually when he does that I think he is having a bad day. That was Sept. 2nd.
There was a tack sale at a local arena last weekend where a LOT of used tack was going for some really decent prices. I got a Pro Choice 20X pad (used of course) for $20. It looks great on him and he seems to ride well in it.
Then, even more recently, he began bolting away from me when I lunged him on the line in the arena. He did this only at a canter and only going to the right it seemed. He has always done this occasionally since I have owned him, which is why I have never trusted cantering him in an open space with other people riding unfortunately. We found out that he would only really pull away if the line was long enough, and so keeping him on a smaller circle when asking for the canter kept him from even trying. He looked fine, and especially with draw reins, doing it this way has made our latest lunging sessions go just fine. I think he just got my number here, and did it because he knew he could get away. He would even start out going really nicely and all of a sudden just rip away from me and go galloping to the opposite side of the arena, snort/blow towards the other horses, and then start walking back. There was one time where he kept galloping down the long side back a forth several times before I convinced him to come to me.
He has also been eating from a slow feed hay net at night. He has to kind of poke at it repetitively to get the hay, and even though his hay lasts longer, I decided to put his hay back on the ground for him to eat just in case it was not good for his neck for him to be eating it that way every night.
Tonight, we got to ride down into the big pasture because the night horses hadn't been turned out yet. There's a new subdivision of houses going up on the other side of the fence, people walking, and cars driving by. He did well and he always enjoys getting out and looking around at new sights.
In the arena we did some 20m canter circles and he popped right into the canter from a walk. We did some trotting at the end of our ride and he was quite rushy so we worked on finding a good tempo and keeping it. He actually broke into a canter a couple of times like my last horse used to do. We would be trotting along and then he'd just break into the nicest canter. I know there are issues when he doesn't want to canter or when he is lazy. He was neither of those tonight and was nice and forward in both directions - yipee!
He got a carrot and nice cool rinse down after the hot day. He is such a good boy and he makes me so happy!!
Since Shorty had those several days where I wasn't sure what was going on...whether he was trying to buck or crow hop because of excess energy, discomfort, or whatnot, I had found out that he went much better in a different saddle pad with my western saddle. The pad I was using was missing a couple layers in one spot because the squirrels got to it this past winter. They did not manage to eat through it, and I didn't think it was enough for it to make a big deal, especially since I was using a Navajo pad over it.
Anyway, I asked a friend if I could try her saddle pad and that night we had a FANTASTIC ride. He had also been going into a fast trot instead of going into a canter and usually when he does that I think he is having a bad day. That was Sept. 2nd.
There was a tack sale at a local arena last weekend where a LOT of used tack was going for some really decent prices. I got a Pro Choice 20X pad (used of course) for $20. It looks great on him and he seems to ride well in it.
Then, even more recently, he began bolting away from me when I lunged him on the line in the arena. He did this only at a canter and only going to the right it seemed. He has always done this occasionally since I have owned him, which is why I have never trusted cantering him in an open space with other people riding unfortunately. We found out that he would only really pull away if the line was long enough, and so keeping him on a smaller circle when asking for the canter kept him from even trying. He looked fine, and especially with draw reins, doing it this way has made our latest lunging sessions go just fine. I think he just got my number here, and did it because he knew he could get away. He would even start out going really nicely and all of a sudden just rip away from me and go galloping to the opposite side of the arena, snort/blow towards the other horses, and then start walking back. There was one time where he kept galloping down the long side back a forth several times before I convinced him to come to me.
He has also been eating from a slow feed hay net at night. He has to kind of poke at it repetitively to get the hay, and even though his hay lasts longer, I decided to put his hay back on the ground for him to eat just in case it was not good for his neck for him to be eating it that way every night.
Tonight, we got to ride down into the big pasture because the night horses hadn't been turned out yet. There's a new subdivision of houses going up on the other side of the fence, people walking, and cars driving by. He did well and he always enjoys getting out and looking around at new sights.
In the arena we did some 20m canter circles and he popped right into the canter from a walk. We did some trotting at the end of our ride and he was quite rushy so we worked on finding a good tempo and keeping it. He actually broke into a canter a couple of times like my last horse used to do. We would be trotting along and then he'd just break into the nicest canter. I know there are issues when he doesn't want to canter or when he is lazy. He was neither of those tonight and was nice and forward in both directions - yipee!
He got a carrot and nice cool rinse down after the hot day. He is such a good boy and he makes me so happy!!
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