Summer Shows, and New Baby Horse and Everything

Holy no blog.  I wish I had been inspired to write the last couple weeks because lots of fun things have been happening, plus a few cute things (LEADLINE) and one not so fun (MRI). BOOOOOO

But let's do the 60 second rundown, shall we?

Thunderbird.  Both boys went up to Tbird in August for both weeks of showing.  Windsor was a superstar.  He did one warm up class with the pro, looked bored, and then didn't come out again until the Derby, which was in a different ring and in hindsight, he was WAY TOO FRESH. 

Bored, but also fresh? V V Confusing

Whelp, lesson learned.  He overjumped everything, and while it wasn't his most fluid course ever, the 72.5 base score drew confused gasps from bystanders who aren't as biased as I am. It's the first time he hasn't made the handy... had to happen sometime!

Then it was my turn.  We did our equitation and managed to win a round and get second on the flat out of about 22.  I was thrilled. 

Turns out Pilates actually works.

Winds was awesome, and our courses were actually interesting.  We were champion.

All of my ribbons have been chewed on.

Quiz made his debut in the Baby Greens and won his first class each day and was SO TIRED in his second that some baby mistake usually came out.  But he is a DUDE.  Didn't bat an eye at anything.  No lunge, no extra rides, prep, voodoo, nothing.  He's just a solid citizen.  He peeked at the flower boxes exactly once as he hopped over and never batted an eye after that.

Best. Baby.

Week two was much the same repeat.  Quiz rocked the Baby Greens again, Windsy packed me around the Eq and the Hunters. 

We repeated our performance in the Eq - and had a nice finish to the show in our Hunters, winning one round, nabbing a ribbon in a HUGE flat class and getting our proverbial shit together in the classic to get 2nd (due to an 85 in our second round).

Also, I fell slightly in love with a Nations Cup rider, who I may have stalked a teeny tiny bit (equal interest in his horse, let's be real), bought a new show shirt, oh and débuted my new Burgundy show coat from AA.  It was a good show.

(He's 20 and decidedly NOT single, but a middle aged girl can dream)

At home, Quiz has continued to be a total stud.  He learns every ride, has yet to get grumpy or say no, and even with a lot of rides by yours truly - is finding his balance and fitness.  I have yet to really fault him for something.

Winds was stepping a bit short at the end of the show, so Paranoid Polly over here had the vet out once we were home.  She confirmed that he was looking slightly off on the LF again, and that it did block out in the foot.  So we headed south for ANOTHER MRI to see what's up. 

Are things continuing to heal? Did he re-injure it? Is this the new status quo and I need adjust his management and schedule accordingly? Who knows. 


Well, Hopefully, I'll know - as soon as my vet calls.  Still waiting for the official report...


OH, and the kid did her first deadline class.  It was insanely adorable and there are so many photos that I need to do a separate post on that.  Hopefully I'll get around to that before she turns 16. 

Onward!

Slow Spring Start

As the close of Q1 looms large on the horizon, I realize that we haven't really done much. 

Winds ended up with about 5 weeks off during the holidays (not the worst thing that's ever happened), but more than the time off - there has been a slow (inconsistent) return to work and that's left us nowhere near ready for show season. 

But we are 100% ready for Leadline

We think that Winds' left front was nagging at him.  And that it might have been the culprit of the not-so-spectacular performance in Paso, as well as what was driving the moments of cross leads and seemingly random inconsistencies last summer. 

His symptoms never got objectively worse with work (and there was a LOT of work)..

They also seemed to crop up randomly (though usually in smaller arenas..), which made it really tricky to pinpoint. He wasn't always worse after two weeks of showing.  Sometimes it was day one.  Sometimes he was great the whole time.  Sometimes he was stiff at the end... I sliced and diced and tried to come up with constants that could predict the cross lead - but alas, no strong hypothesis.

The upside of the randomness, is that he never steadily got worse, and the flares stayed small and short lived.  But they were there, and that was always in the back of my head.

So, time off. 

And ooooh boy does he feel rested and strong.

In fact, he looks pretty awesome.  He's put a little weight on (probably more fat than muscle, but me too..) and it looks like he has sorta grown into himself over the last year. 

His butt is bigger, his shoulder is filled in, and he just looks more mature than he did when he walked off the trailer 16 months ago. 

On top of that he feels AMAZING.  His trot feels looser, his shoulder feels swing-ier, and like he's reaching through the bridle instead of leaning on it.

That said, it might be time to put a spur back on... my heel is working overtime trying to nudge him along.  oooof



So that's neat, I think we're on a good track, and now that we know he can feel like this, maybe we can figure out how to keep him here.

Sadly time off hasn't had the same transformative effect on me.  In November, I felt ready to step straight into the 3' ring.  Today I feel less capable (both mentally and physically) of that particular task, and am lacking the urgency I usually feel this time of year about tackling new goals.

I'm not sure what exactly that means - but it has me feeling less pressured about where we're going and what we'll be doing when we go there.  (though, knowing my tendencies, that will likely change as soon as I get a whiff of show season).

Our Spring schedule is looking quite a bit difference than last year.  Our first potential show isn't until the end of April, and it's possible we'll wait until May. 

If we make it to April, it'll be back to Thunderbird, for what will most certainly be a rather wet week.

Winds would do a very light schedule, maybe not even any full divisions... but it would be a road trip and check-in to see where we are at while taking advantage of nice big rings to do it in.

Stay tuned for more schooling updates as we inch closer to the back gate! 

Red Light, GREEN Light!

Our Rehab/Training schedule these days feels a bit like a school yard game of Red Light/Green Light.  One minute we're in a holding pattern, the next we're back at it....

Prair's check up today was great.  She was a tad stiff starting out, but we experienced that earlier in her rehab and it seems to be a direct result of standing in a stall.  all..... day.... long. 

There was no sign of the weight bearing reluctance on that left front and Prair happily (and evenly) trotted tiny figure eights.

So, the current plan is - back to normal.  Still holding at 2'6", but full work to that point should be good. 

We did discuss her shoeing a bit.  I've had some concerns about how quickly her heels are contracting in the bar shoes, and I know that while the bar provides support... pinched heels cause their own heel pain.. which is counter productive...

Vet agreed, but doesn't want to change anything crazy before a show, so at her next trim, Prair will try normal shoes again, and possibly a shorter trim cycle to try and stay ahead of those heels.. Prior to the bar shoes, our farrier did a really nice job opening her heels up so I'm hopeful that will be a fairly easy process again...

Also, in really, really exciting news - Prair has been CLEARED FOR TURNOUT. 

She won't get to enjoy it until next week since we decided maybe put her back to work for a couple days (get some of the wiggles out) then let the mare go in a (small) paddock and enjoy the sunshine. 

I'm excited for her.  It's been so long. 

10 Days to Thermal - Status Report

I realized I haven't updated on Prair (or me) in a while, which is partially because I have no great videos or pictures of our rides, but also because I'm still crossing all my fingers and toes that all is well and rehab is on track.  Somehow not-talking-about-it seems like it might help...

The next step in maintaining our "all clear" status is another ultrasound currently scheduled for February 11th.  It's a totally proactive measure, meant to see if any of the aggravation or tissue disruption has started to return after 5 weeks of working over (small) fences again. 

That said, Prair has been feelings really (really) sound.  There is still a subtle difference between her left and right leads, but now it's feeling more like normal horse-one-sided-ness and less like "oh crap what's wrong with the left lead."

The horses are scheduled to ship in 10 days, for a three week go down in the desert and Prair's name is still on the list.  Frankly at this point we've got enough sunk costs into the show that even if we can't show over fences I'll probably still ship her for some flat classes (lol) and general experience.  The Boy has his PTO approved, and my parents have rented a house for us all to share - so showing or not - the family is headed south, so the mare might as well be there too.

doing more of this would be fun

So aside from crossing all my fingers and toes, what have we been doing?

Well, Prair has been working her little fanny off with N and just being a stellar girl.  We're carrying her frame and balance a bit higher now, which is giving us much softer, rounder jumps.  This adjustment was relatively easy for Prair, but is proving harder for me to get used to.

Our rides together have been a steady progression, dotted heavily with idiot amateur mistakes. 

The theme of the last month has been for me to ride Prair like a finished horse, not like a nervous, bolty, green bean. 

Turns out when I ride her like she knows what she's doing, she... well.... acts like she knows what she's doing. 

The problem is I have lots of bad habits and I struggle to keep them in check.

Example. 

N made the observation a few weeks ago, that the softer she rides into a fence with Prair, the softer Prair lands on the other side.  Most people would file this in the "duh" category, but when you've been jumping this mare for almost two years now (whoa), and trying to mitigate her taking off after every fence, it's very hard to tell your brain to ignore the PTSD and trust that she'll be good.  "trusting that she'll be good" is exactly the sort of thing I expect to do right before I get bucked off, or taken advantage of, or stepped on, or some other sneaky thing mares like to do when you're dumb enough to "trust they will be good."

Turns out though, Prair really wants you to just "trust" her, and when I ride like I'm holding the (god damn) cube, and soften my legs like I'm riding bareback - things go much better.

These two adjustments have made our coursework completely different from a year ago when we were prepping for Thermal.  Prair's landing soft, rebalancing easily, and nearly automatic on her changes (if I hold myself accountable and keep everyone straight).  Things fall apart when I lose my Cube-Hands and go back to fiddling with her head, worrying about distances and managing the front end more than the hind end. 

We got in a monster fight over a puny white gate last week where I could NOT find a distance to save my life and I actually pulled the mare up twice before we got over it. 

I PULLED HER UP.

wtf.

I was totally in my own head and got busy managing Prair's head and admittedly long neck, rather than riding the hind foot and really adjusting her within her stride. 

When I stopped being a moron, we did ok.

The struggle the last few weeks has been to find balance in keeping my hand quiet (and up) and my hips and thighs relaxed, without losing our impulsion and bounce.  It's a semi-consistent theme, but when I try to be soft and enjoy Prairie being relaxed, I often take it too far and end up with an underpowered, totally useless canter that gets us into trouble.

My other realization over the past couple of weeks has been that Prairie totally tattles on her rider.

Turns out, when you ride her well, get a nice distance with a good, powerful canter and don't get in the mare's way - she's lovely.  Beautifully soft and round and lovely. 

BUT if you fail on any of those counts, she will very quickly notify you of her displeasure by getting obviously tense and launching herself across the jump.  It's really easy for N to tell if I'm bracing, or fiddling, or doing any of my other bad habits as the mare amplifies all my faults. 

sigh.

At least I'm getting a better sense of what it takes to keep her relaxed in her work, and she's making me a more honest and effective rider.  The shorter frame and more uphill balance is starting to feel normal, as is a quieter hand that lets my leg push to contact rather than fiddle around too much with my inside rein.  (I love that inside rein.  So much.  Such a tragic love affair..).

Basically we've got two (ish) more weeks of work at home, one more checkup to see how the LF is doing in full work, then three weeks at HITS to play around.

I'm hoping we get to at least be jumping 2-2'6" without risking the mare's soundness.  I'm slightly nervous about showing in a big, windy, outdoor since the mare truly hasn't spent time outside (aside from hand grazing) since JULY.  I'm told that if all looks good, then Prair can start being turned out again in March.  My vet is very cautious about unsupervised playtime before everything is confirmed to be healing well in full work....

So that's the Prair update.  We're doing well.  Prair's great, I'm learning how to adjust my mental approach with her and fingers and toes are still crossed that we get to do more than hack around at Thermal... 

The Boy is already strategizing how he will be snack dispenser, baby watcher, camera man and moral support at the same time... he's the best. 

Oh and seamstress, he also acts as seamstress.

Bubble. Wrapped.

One of my profound abilities as a horse owner is to *always* find something to spend dollars on.  Always.

It is my inalienable truth.  Money.  Spend it.

Overlay this with my (totally inaccurate) notion that a horse on stall rest is somehow "saving" me money.

For obvious reasons, this is not the case.  Just because we're not showing doesn't mean we aren't still eating (lots), and racking up vet bills (see previous post) faster than I could ever spend my funds at a show.

Anyway, a compulsion to shop, plus *feeling* like I'm somehow not horrifically over budget means Prairie gets a care package.

Mostly I can blame this one on Supermom, since when having lunch with her last week and listening to me ramble on endlessly about Prair's foot, and omg what about her back, and did you know MRIs are so subjective??? I didn't, but that's horses, does navicular make sense to you? I guess it does to me, but I just don't want to deal with a horrible soft tissue injury.... blah blah blah"

So amid that, somehow she interrupted me and asked if I wast getting my Back on Track wraps on the mare.

And somehow I stopped talking (and eating) long enough to say "huh?  No."

But she had a good idea.  With both the soft tissue strains, and the navicular fragmentation, our challenge is increasing circulation to the area in order to promote healing.

Which.... is just what BoT claims their products help do.  (face smack).

I shot a text to my vet to just make sure she didn't have any concerns with me covering the mare in BoT and then promptly got my ass on SmatPak.

So, Prair is now wearing her BoT Mesh Sheet at night (we already had one of these for her back), and then wearing her new Quick Wraps and Bell Boots during the day (except for when she's walking).  That would give nice BoT coverage for everything we may or may not be concerned about while she's all cooped up.

Naturally I ordered everything in every size and spent the morning down at the barn treating Prair like Cinderella until we sorted it all out.

bubbled.

The mare was convinced that wraps = trailer, so she promptly got all excited and circled around like a crazy lady until I produced a handful of treats.  Baby and I finished grooming the mare to a shine, did some carrot stretches for her back, and then watched some other ponies get worked before heading home.

Prair is scheduled for her second shockwave tomorrow, which I'll miss since I have some meetings, but so far stall rest is going well.  If you didn't know she was on rest, you'd never guess.  She's fat, and shiny and looks like a million bucks.  Also, her brain seems to be doing okay as well.  She's still calm and happy and social in her stall - no signs of craziness or anxiety.

Onward!

Prair Prognosis

Alright.  One month (and apparently a lot of cash) later, we have more info on Prair and her bum left paw.

As predicted, the two radiologist that looked at the MRI had shockingly different opinions (I guess that's why you get two?).  They both identified the same issues, but ordered them differently in terms of relevance and importance.

As with anything, if you start taking pictures, you find all sorts of crap, some good to know, some scary and some not relevant at all..

The WSU vet identified the primary issue as the sagittal tear in the medial oblique sesamoidean ligament on her left fore.

Our second read agrees that the ligament has irregularities, but thought it was more of a "strain" and not a ful tear (yay).

Instead, Second Vet thought that the "mild fragmentation" of the navicular bone, and some strain on the DDFT was more concerning and the primary issue.  I'm eager to learn more about this since the navicular looked clean when we took a radiograph back in April... I'm hoping that means its *really* mild, and not something that's shown up over the last couple of months.

Prair has already had a month of (mostly) stall rest with walking in her Eurosizer every day, but the current prescription is to take another month off, get a series of shockwave done during that time and see where we are.

My primary vet seems rather optimistic about returning to her normal job, and while I know there are no guarantees, it's nice to hear.  Frankly I was mentally prepared to hear that Prair would need six months to a year for the ligament, so the notion of another month before starting back to light work sounds downright speedy.

Obviously we don't know-till-we-know... but I'm feeling more upbeat about things than I did over the weekend.  I spent a lot of time staring at the report from WSU (trying to fill in the blanks) I started thinking about how I would stay in the saddle if we were looking at a seriously long, hard road to recovery.

I know we still have a lot of finger crossing and time between us and getting back to the show ring, but I'm going to cling to the notion that my vet wasn't all doom and gloom when we chatted today.

Leaving baby Cayla James with my mom tomorrow so I can go down to the barn and cross paths with my vet in person and be there for the first shockwave treatment.  Also we are going to try to come up with a plan to maintain as much back support/strength as possible so we don't lose ground on the kissing spine during this ordeal....

sigh.