Wizard had a little unplanned time off because he managed to throw his left front shoe twice in three days. My always-patient farrier tacked his shoe back on both times. My friend and I found the shoes in the paddock, one up on the hill and one in a galloping footprint. My best guess is that he was running with Buck when his paddock buddy Cisco was out for a ride.
On Saturday, he had all four shoes back on, and we went for a short hand walk in the Assunpink, accompanied by Kris and Sunny. We walked up the “bowling pin” hill and back down the hill, past the hunt club, and back home. At the barn, I longed Wizard in the indoor with our customary two lines. On the longe, Wizard was REALLY soft and relaxed. His trot was stretchy and his canter might be the nicest I’ve ever seen, cadenced and balanced. Now if only we can translate this to his under saddle work. That is, if the saddle EVER gets here.
Sunday, 3/10/13
On Sunday, we repeated our same trail walk with Kris and Sunny, and then I set up one line of trot poles all the way across the indoor arena. This meant that with each rotation around the ring, he crossed the pole twice. Wizard free longed the walk, trot, and a little canter. Knowing that it tires him more quickly than the regular long line work, I kept the session very quick. He flubbed the canter over the pole a few times, but once he got the hang of it, I saw him relax and settle into a rhythm.
On Monday, he got a new set of shoes (we waited til seven weeks since he was not growing a ton of foot over the winter. The farrier was very happy with how the sole and heel looked on the left front, and, as expected, the right front was not as impressive, but looked pretty good.
I started Wizard on a month of omeprazole at the beginning of the month (made SO MUCH EASIER by using this method)- I wonder if that could be part of what I’m seeing in our wonderful ground work. Only time will tell, and hopefully that saddle is being shipped by plane and not on the Titanic.
On Monday, May 7, the farrier shod Wizard. We are trying leather rim pads on his front feet.
On Tuesday, May 15, I began Wizard’s 28-day treatment with UlcerGard. On May 16, I shot a few video clips of Wizard trotting on the longe. Bad news: he’s still losing weight. Good news: whatever unsoundness he was dealing with has shown improvement. I spoke with the barn owner, and we’re going to make a few changes and see what helps him. We bumped up his grain (short-term solution to him worrying off so many calories when Sunny is separated from him) and are slowly increasing his grass intake.
On Friday night, Wizard and Sunny were moved from their quarantine paddock to a small grass paddock. During the day, they are turned out on a two-acre grass paddock, and at night, they have grass in more limited amounts. We are still acclimating them to 24/7 pasture. Wizard’s cribbing has not stopped. On the 2-acre paddock, he cribs very infrequently, but in the smaller paddock, he still cribs with some regularity.
I tried another jogging video on Friday morning, this time down the pea gravel driveway. He looked pretty good. I think it’s a combination of the time off and him doing less of a freakout when Sunny is separated from him.
Saturday, 5/19/12
I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. The move from the quarantine paddock to the new grass paddock basically put Wizard back to Square One with his stress level. He was just as bad as he was when he arrived at the farm a month ago. I tacked him up in the outdoor tackup area, and he paced and whinnied each time Sunny called to him. Sunny must have also been stressed, because she did not stop calling for him for my whole ride.
Our ride was one of the worst rides in my 3 1/2 year history with Wizard. It took 15 minutes just to get him quiet enough to get in the saddle. I did not want to longe him because I was afraid to twist or strain whatever is wrong with his leg. I’m treading a delicate balance between wanting to keep him focused/working and resting whatever soundness/stiffness/arthritis issue he is having.
The moment I settled into the saddle, Wizard was cantering in place, snorting, sweating, champing on the bit. My plan of quietly walking the short sides and trotting the long sides was thrown out the window. The only way I could keep him under control was to work him. We kept the ride to walking and trotting, but it went longer than I wanted, and we did more turns than I wanted. He never truly settled. Every time Sunny called to him, his entire body tensed. He threw a few tantrums when we rode away from her, and I could feel the gravitational pull when we rode toward her. He was so amped up that I could not tell if he was sound or not. I can say, though, that he did not feel lame, for the few stutter steps that I could count out a tempo and feel straightness.
When I untacked him, he fought his tie. He was “checked out”, mentally. When a bug landed on him, he threw several bucks in place. When the lead draped over his head, he reared up a little. I am still using the Blocker Tie Ring, so hopefully if he really gets himself in trouble, it will release as needed.
I hosed him off, gave him his ulcer meds, and put him back in his paddock. My arms were sore, my arms were bruised, and my hands were blistered.
Sunday, 5/20/12
The TDN fates were on my side on Sunday, and I slipped out of work well before dark and headed to the barn. I had two human/equine pairs for my ride this time: Cathy/Miss Tuesday and Kris/Sunny. We all tacked up in the indoor arena since there was a chance of showers. Wizard was very anxious from the very beginning, pacing nervously when he was tied, swinging his hind end from one side to another and swiveling his entire body. He could see Sunny, but he was still stressed. He was worse than he was when we first moved to the new barn.
I let him swing around for a few minutes, for my own safety. Cathy suggested longeing him, but I was trying to avoid stressing whatever issues he has with soundness. As he got more and more worked up, I relented and asked him to trot a few rotations on the longe in each direction. His lameness is subtle, but I definitely saw it more on Sunday than on Saturday. His head dips just a bit each time his left front foot hits the ground. Despite my misgivings about the physical strain, the longeing helped him mentally. He was able to stand reasonably quietly while I tacked him up.
He stood WAY better when I got in the saddle than he did on Saturday, and walked off much more quietly than his performance the day before. But with Sunny in the arena, he began to throw little tantrums when she was out of his sight or passed him in the opposite direction. He does not outright buck or rear, but he leaps around, cantering in place and jumping imaginary jumps. Now that I know him, I can sit his antics reasonably comfortably. If they got worse, who knows ;^)
It took about 15 minutes for him to settle and focus on me. By the end of the ride, he was actually pretty good, seeking contact with the bit and responding well to my leg. His canter was NICE. His trot was pretty good, too. I tried to avoid tight twists and turns and do some of our original plan of walking the short sides and trotting the long sides.
After our arena work, we all decided to take a quick walk into the Assunpink. I hand walked him, since he has a freakishly fast walk. If I had ridden him, I would have had to circle him around or stand a lot while the horses caught up with him, and that would have rattled his fragile brain. Wizard surprised me with his calm demeanor in the park. He strided out confidently, and nothing spooked him at all. The waist-plus-high grass had me wishing I had ridden him after all! He had one mental blip, and that was when he lost track of where Sunny was for a moment.
When we returned to the barn, it was just about dark. Wizard was able to stand quietly while he was tied, resting one hind leg, with one eye always on Sunny. We untacked in the indoor arena and I put Wizard out in the paddock before Sunny went out. He circled at a frantic trot and canter, calling and snorting until Sunny was back in the paddock with him.
All I could imagine was him twisting an already strained leg. I don’t have any diagnosis on what his problem is yet. All I know is that it’s subtle and consistent. It seems to get a little better with rest. It does not bother him at all- he’s very forward and responsive under saddle. I need to try to get a better video of it so the vet can see it. Normally, I’d have the vet out right away to look at something like this, but I just shelled out big bucks for our ulcer scoping, Lyme Disease treatment, etc etc etc, so I’m monitoring it for the moment and will talk with the vet and see what she thinks. I’m happy to rest it if that is what he needs.
This separation anxiety with Sunny has me getting pretty anxious myself. At the old barn, Wizard was the OPPOSITE of a typical herd-bound horse. He could be the only one in the barn, the only one outside, ridden alone in the arenas, ridden alone on trails, without a peep. He was turned out with geldings and they played quite a bit. The last month that he was at the old barn, he was turned out by himself, and was surrounded by mares. I heard from the people who had to work with him that he was a bit of a handful. I’m wondering if he might need to be out with geldings only. I don’t have a lot of evidence, but it seems like mares cause him to lose his mind. I have a particular distaste and lack of tolerance for herd bound horses, so this needs to be nipped in the bud. I can put up with a lot of quirks, but we need to fix this one.
For now, we’re keeping him with Sunny and slowly introducing him to other pasture buddies. So far, it’s a non-event. Cisco was in the same paddock, and they barely even looked at each other after they were introduced. The barn owner is hoping that once he’s in a small herd (4 horses), he will not look to Sunny so much for everything. Since the move to the new barn, she turned into his security blanket. We used to ride all over with Sunny at the old barn and there was zero attachment. This all started with the move a month ago.
My training plans are vague. Balancing a physical issue with a training issue is very difficult. Wizard does well with more work and handling, but the work that he needs involves circles and transitions. Quiet walking is not in his vocabulary right now. I really would like to get a diagnosis on what is bothering his leg so I could figure out how much work we can do. If I leave him alone to hang around with Sunny, he will just get worse, I fear. He had last weekend off while I went away for a quick trip, and he was pretty anxious when I worked with him after I returned. It’s a delicate balance, and we’re working hard to find it.
I’m lumping these two days together as one since I basically just turned Wizard loose in the indoor arena and let him go bananas on Thursday. On Wednesday, we had a little more of a planned routine, with some clicker work and free longeing. It rained for two days, so the horses were pretty stir-crazy in their stalls. Wizard was so cute when he was turned out in the arena- the footing was perfectly groomed, and by the time he was done, it looked like I had ridden him for an hour with all the hoofprints in all directions.
Friday, 11/18/11
Wizard had a VERY busy day on Friday. One of his paddock buddies was swapped out for Gatsby, a handsome Camelot Auction graduate. Wizard and Gatsby have very similar personalities, and got along like peas and carrots. They played all afternoon with no excessive biting or rowdiness. With JR, they played hide and seek, tag, and “who can rear up the highest”. After romping all afternoon, Wizard was pleasantly tired for the chiropractor- she was not my regular chiropractor, but she did a nice job and Wizard loved her. He really enjoyed the body work, and was quite receptive to her. She said his atlas was the worst area on him- worse than his back, pelvis, neck, etc. All the crookedness she felt in his pelvis felt old and fused, so she was actually not too worried about it. She said he had a decent amount of flexibility in his pelvis, spine, etc. She was amazed at his Gumby-like ability to stretch his legs, and asked if he had any ligament issues (knock on wood). She also asked if he was definitely 15 and definitely a Thoroughbred. I think she was wondering if he was older due to his teeth and maybe gaited due to his limber movement :^P She looked at the saddle fit and thought it was reasonable fit. She did not think it was too wide or narrow, but recommended shims for his wither pockets. After his adjustment, I lightly longed him to help him hold his adjustment. I put his sheet on him, since it was COLD out, and put him to bed.
Saturday, 11/19/11
The weather was milder on Saturday. I longed Wizard for just a few minutes to loosen him up. Then, I saddled him up… AND RODE! Hooray! Wizard went out with Zeke and Lily on the trails. For the first half of the ride, he was doing his same ear pinning, belly kicking, tail swishing routine. But about halfway through the ride, shuffling through the dirt and leaves, it subsided. We even rode to the hot dog truck, and he was very good. The only thing that caused concern is that he’s still tripping/stumbling on occasion- he did it maybe 4 times during the trail ride. When we got back to the barn, I brought him into the indoor arena for a little ride. There were trailers and people bustling around the arena, preparing for barrel racing. All the activity was PERFECT- it distracted Wizard enough to forget about his ear pinning and fussing :^) We rode for about 15 minutes at a nice, swingy trot, across the diagonals. He was perfect, he stretched into the bit, and I tested him with a good amount of leg. He was responsive and happy.
So was it the three weeks off from riding? The new saddle? The longeing? The new shoes? The chiropractor?
And, more importantly, will it be the same tomorrow?
Wizard had a short longeing session under the lights in the outdoor arena. I think the new shoes are helping him to be less “chicken hocked” in his movement. His action is not quite as snappy and is a little more smooth and flowy. The footing was dry and a little sandy, so it was not the perfect test.
He did not put a foot wrong the entire time. He longed like an absolute champion. When I tacked him up, he got a little snarly when I was tightening the girth on his right side, and did not really care about the left side.
My plan is to keep working on strengthening Wizard in his new shoes before resuming under-saddle work. We’ll be riding again soon enough.
The dentist floated his teeth on Thursday. I was not there for the appointment, but my friend babysat Wizard and said he was a good egg. He still had signs of a little bit of his “wave mouth” on one side, but the dentist worked on it, and said it was not too bad.
I did another longeing session with Wizard, this time incorporating a trot pole into the workout. We worked in the indoor arena, and did some spiraling, plus work with side reins. I saw him trip one or two times, and it looks like he grew a lot of toe. I put a call in to the farrier to come out a little early in the shoeing cycle since he grew a lot of toe.
The farrier shod Wizard on Saturday (11/5). Our typical shoeing cycle is 6 weeks, but in the summer I do 5 weeks when it looks like his feet are growing quickly. The farrier did a lot of work on bringing his toes back. There was a really interesting recent discussion about negative palmar angles on COTH, and I’m wondering if working on his toes might help the hind end issues.
This is what caught my attention…
Here are some “diagnoses” that are highly suspect of negative hind palmar angles:
Sore back
Sore stifles
Sore withers
Sore hocks
Other signs:
Mild hind lameness defying diagnosis
Stopping at jumps
Missing leads
Cross cantering
Heavy on forehand
These are some areas that can either be caused or exacerbated by negative palmar angles behind.
Even more signs:
“My horse needs regular hock injections”
“My horse gets regular chiropractic/acupuncture/massage therapy”
“My horse needs a saddle fitter”
“My horse needs regular Adequan/Legend/(Other) injections”
M.W. Myers, DVM
Wizard also get a set of shoes that are lighter in weight and appeared to be smaller. On Sunday, my friend came out and massaged him. He was REALLY touchy in the beginning, but in more specific places. Last time she worked on him, she said he was basically sore all over. He was really resistant in the beginning on Sunday, but once he got into “massage mode”, he was back to being his usual responsive self. I’m going to do a few more longeing sessions and see how he feels to get back in the saddle.
Saturday was the summer day that fills our daydreams in January. Temperatures were in the 80s, the sun was out, and the air was dry. Rachel and Lily accompanied Wizard and me on a ride to the tree farm. The flies were not as bad as they were in previous days since we rode in the middle of the afternoon and there was a dry breeze to keep them moving.
As I had hoped and expected, Wizard was even better on his second ride to the tree farm this year than he was on his first ride. He was more focused. The walk through the neighborhood went off without a hitch, and he carefully walked on the shoulder of the road for the brief bit of road riding that we have to do.
At the tree farm, we hopped over our favorite three logs in a very haphazard fashion. Then, we walked over the wooden bridge and rode the horsepath at a trot and canter. Here’s Wizard crossing the bridge:
The trot and canter work was very exciting for Wizard, and he gave my arms a workout, learning on the bit in earnest, hopping and swapping leads as we bounded along. He has a soft mouth, and he did not take off, but it was clear that he wanted to GO.
The horse path is maybe a mile long with a few very gentle hills, and it’s a lot of fun. After our little joyride, we walked the rest of the way through the tree farm. We ended up on an unfamiliar trail, and I dropped the reins as an experiment. Wizard successfully got us back to the main trail, by way of a pretty crazy trail that we’ve never taken before.
On the way home, Wizard walked with a purpose, but was relaxed enough to stop when a family wanted to pet the horses in the neighborhood. Lily was much more gracious and walked right up to the porch for her attention, but I was proud of Wizard for standing reasonably still :^)
As we reached the last leg of the ride, I heard a ka-CLINK with each step that Wizard took. It became more pronounced when we walked on pavement. Wizard’s shoe is loose. He’s actually a week overdue for the farrier (bad Sarah!). I checked out the shoe and it’s not loose enough to pull- just a tiny bit wiggly.
A crisp, cool and sunny May afternoon… perfect for a ride. The arena was a little damp from recent rain, so the footing was superb. And superb footing tempted me to set up a little cross-rail and some trot poles for our ride :^) Mom was at the barn so I recruited her to be the photographer- she got some nice shots to show Wizard’s progress.
We started with some walk and trot work. Wizard’s coordination at the leg yield is improving and he is becoming more responsive and less resistant to leg pressure. We did some circles, serpentines, and big-trot-little-trot work. He started out on the energetic side and settled pretty nicely into work, even though it was feeding time.
Once I got a little impulsion and a little contact with the bit, we headed over the trot poles a few times. Once, he leapt over the last two poles and cantered away, but for the rest of the trot work was quite good with nice rhythm and balance. We trotted over a cross rail twice, and he was wonderful. He broke into a canter after the second jump, and felt round and willing.
After the jump, we did a little canter work on each lead. He picked up his left lead perfectly, and took only one effort to pick up the right lead. We cantered a little more than one rotation in each direction. He is quite springy at the canter and improves with each ride. He gets a little nervous, but settles as be becomes more balanced.
It feels greatly rewarding to have such progressive and fun rides after all our work. I love it when a plan comes together…
What do you do with a horse who has not been regularly ridden since November? If you said, “ride him on the trails by himself at dusk”, then you get a gold star.
Now that Wizard has his hind shoes, I’m giving him another crack at under-saddle work. The indoor and outdoor arenas were busy so I decided to try him on the trails. He’s a fairly sensible sort on the trails, so it was not a totally crazy idea. Only a little crazy.
I led him out for about a mile before I mounted up on a sandy bank and rode home. On the way out, we encountered a little creek of runoff water from the massive amounts of rain we’ve gotten. The water was about three feet wide. I stepped through it, sort of hopping. Wizard gathered himself like a cat and LEAPT over it. That boy can jump! Time to work on walking THROUGH things with him.
Our ride was pretty good- he was a little hot, but I sort of expected it. He was walking, but chewing nervously on the bit and swishing his tail. I sat quietly, talking to him and keeping my hands soft. We rode for about a mile, and I dismounted before we got back to the little creek. He LEAPT over it on the way back as well.
I was happy with our maiden voyage. My crazy plan worked.
That’s right, I RODE!!! First ride since January 28. I rode like a sack of potatoes, but Paris was kind enough to tolerate me. We did a little walk-trot and I rode for about 20 minutes. Whew, it was nice.
Wizard got himself a nice set of shoes. I’m looking forward to another try in the saddle with him as well. Don’t you just LOVE springtime?
Who: The Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit’s Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee/Grayson-Jockey Club
What:The Hoof: Inside and Out, a full-length educational DVD/digital file.
Where:Download online or a DVD can be obtained free of charge (limit one per customer) by contacting Cathy McNeeley at (859) 224-2728 or cmcneeley@jockeyclub.com.
When: Available now.
Why: The 65-minute DVD includes seven segments:
Introduction and Overview
Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit
Physiology — The Equine Limb
Basic Hoof Care and Trimming
The Basics of Horse Shoeing
Types of Shoes
Farrier’s Role and Communication (with Trainers and Owners)
Rock and Racehorses: Sarah K. Andrew 