Wizard Rides 394, 395, & 396: Staring At The Wall

Saturday, 8/11/12

Kris and I took a ride in the Assunpink, starting out in the field behind the barn and then crossing the street to the Hunt Club side. We did just a little trotting down the long lanes, and rode straight out past the lake to some wooded trails. Due to the recent rain, the footing was a little sticky. Sunny and Wizard both handled the logs and inclines very well. Wizard was a little bottled up because Sunny walks at a more leisurely pace than he does, but he behaved himself. I was able to ride him behind her for parts of the ride, which shows great improvement over the old Wizard, who always wanted to be the leader. We rode for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Wizard’s weight is holding steady at 966 lbs (weight taped), so we increased his grain. He’s getting a little over 8 lbs per day now, plus 24/7 pasture and hay. Even though he’s relaxed in his pasture, he is still a very active horse, and I think he just burns more calories in this lifestyle. Thankfully, the barn owner is very willing to work with us until he gets back to his ideal weight.

Sunday, 8/12/12

Kris and I went out on the trails again, this time heading through the little creek (pictured above) and out to the old sheep farm. We rode through the soybean field and out to the road where there is a little cross rail (thank goodness for landmarks!) and then we turned back home. We headed back through the Bowling Pin field. We were out for about an hour and a half, walking for most of the ride with a little trotting in the beginning.

Monday, 8/13/12

For the first time in months, I rode Wizard in the outdoor arena. I did not feel any hint of unsoundness (HOORAY!!!!). With all the hours we’ve logged on the trail lately, I learned a few things when we returned to the arena:

– Wizard is fitter than he looks. Even though we mostly walk on the trails, it has put him in very nice condition, and he did not break a sweat in the arena.
– The trail work developed Wizard’s confidence. He did less of his nervous chewing on the bit than he usually does.
– At the moment, I am fairly fit as a rider, but RUSTY. I need to practice my equitation on the trails more.
– I sure do enjoy the scenery on trails- I’m becoming less of an arena-lover now that we’re at the new barn.

In order to avoid him hitting himself, I booted Wizard in his front and hind EquiFit T-Boots. So far, I’m really happy with them. We just did a little walk-trot-canter work since the sun was setting. By 8:30, it was pretty much too dark to keep riding. I gave him a senior feed snack after our ride, and put him to bed in his pasture.

I Wanna Be Sedated: Wizard’s Veterinary Appointment

After a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend in Georgia, it was time to get back to business with Wizard. Yesterday, the veterinarian did a lameness exam and floated his teeth.

The exam began by watching Wizard trot on a longe line. I probably should have anticipated that Wizard would be a little fresh since he is fit and has had so much time off, but instead I was surprised when he came close to pulling me off my feet as soon as we began longeing! The halter with the longe line snapped to the chin ring is normally just fine for control but he was feeling his oats yesterday. The vet pronounced him sound in both directions. I asked her about his high action and she said it’s likely a combination of animation and a loose, flexible way of going.

She performed flexion tests on all four legs and the prognosis was good. She heard a little creakiness in the right front knee when she folded it, but it is probably a touch of arthritis and nothing that should keep him from the level of work we’re doing. His left hip is dropped a bit, which is in line with what the chiropractor mentioned about the tight muscle tissue in his hamstring and pelvis. I’ve known horses whose hips are dropped far more than his and they have gone on to perform well with correct strengthening work. The vet recommended more work with ground poles to help Wizard’s topline and hind end strength. His right hind leg also showed a little stiffness with one of the flex tests, but nothing that caused concern for his current workload. Wizard quite enjoyed the jogs on the dirt road and was arching his neck and throwing his head playfully.

The vet examined his back and carefully went over his acupressure points. No back pain and just a little tightness in his pelvis. She evaluated my saddle fit and said it looks good.

The veterinarian’s advice? Get back on Wizard and try riding again. If he still is showing signs of distress under saddle, treat or test for Lyme Disease. She also suggested doing another 4-day bute test (as a diagnostic tool, not as a treatment). If both fail, further evaluations will be needed, like x-rays or blood tests. But so far, everything looks good.

Wizard also had his teeth floated. All of the hooks have been fixed and more corrections were done to his wave mouth. She was pleased with the way his mouth looks and said he can have his teeth floated next in a year- hooray!

While Wizard was under sedation, I cleaned his sheath, clipped his bridle path, and pulled his mane. I LOVE how he looks with the pulled mane- it does my hunter/jumper heart good :^) I did a combination of traditional mane pulling and a little thinning with scissors by teasing the mane up and cutting the excess vertically with scissors. I did not want to subject the poor guy to an entire mane pulling- he had almost a foot of hair and now it’s the length of a pulling comb.

Thursday, Wizard has a farrier appointment. I hope to be back in the saddle very soon.

Wizard Session 74; JR Session 29: The Easter Parade

Sunday, 4/13/09

A sunny, brisk Easter morning at the barn :^)

My barn buddies prettied up their mares Miss Tuesday and Mary and we had a short photo session. Both owners were looking for nice headshots so I worked my magic with my popular black background doorway portraits, as well as a few other pretty headshots on the property. In the morning, the lighting is backwards from the usual evening light so I had to get a little creative. Fortunately, the property has a lot of pretty scenes so it’s not too hard to find a good spot.

Here’s Miss Tuesday, a Thoroughbred mare who is a granddaughter of the mighty Storm Bird:

And Mary, a 7 year old Morgan mare:

Just a day or two ago, Mary’s owner received her order from Simple Change Browbands and Mary modelled it for the camera. Isn’t it lovely? The browbands are strung together on a strong chain with clips on both ends so a rider can change the beads- you can have a different browband for every day of the week ;^)

Wizard and JR (barely) stood for some basic conformation photos, which I’ll post tonight or tomorrow. Both boys were a little wiggly, Wizard wigglier than JR, but I got the photos I needed to monitor their progress.

I longed both horses. JR was good in the indoor arena, and he was way better than he was just a few days ago. He did a few little loopy circles, but nothing bad. Wizard was FULL of run! He broke into a canter immediately and went around several times this way- I think he was feeling pretty silly because he was locked in his stall the day before due to the rain.

After longeing, I dosed Wizard with bute as an experiment and as a diagnostic tool. I’m going to see how he reacts to grooming and work Monday night when he has bute in his system. If nothing changes in his behavior, then I can narrow down a few possibilities.