March 31, 2012 - Helping with paddock renovations

Rory's paddock was split in two today.  A new fence was put up down the middle.  Rory, Totyo and their older buddy kept a close eye on things until they got bored.  They had to check out the contents of the pickup truck at one point.  Rory found a bag of insulators (for electric fence) and picked it up.  The noise spooked them all, but Rory didn't actually drop the bag until after he'd spun towards the other two horses and rattled it in their direction.

Totyo, buddy and Rory inspecting the truck contents

Rory inspecting one of the new fence posts

The three of them won't be in the reduced paddock for very long.  The barn owner is going to put in another fence to make a new paddock for Rory's bunch.

 I rode Rory again this evening.  Not for long, a little under 15 minutes.  We were in the sand ring again and he was very good.  I was quite pleased with how he relaxed and started to lift his back a little bit.

March 24, 2012 - Let's try that again

I got on Rory today for the first time since he bucked me off. It will be nine weeks on Monday. My tailbone is still not 100% but is much better and I really felt I needed to get on him again. I was a bit nervous, especially when he put his head down, but he didn't get into tossing his head up and down like the day he bucked me off. I was ready to catch him if he did dive. We actually got outside in the sand ring and trotted a little bit each way. I rode for less than ten minutes but he was good - he even knocked the block over as he walked off and didn't mind at all.

I rode brat today as well - before Rory this time.

March 22, 2012 - Oh, THAT's why warmbloods wow dressage judges at training level...

Took Rory out to the arena for a little longe and in hand work. He was feeling a bit lazy and I was pushing him for more trot... then I looked at his feet and realized that even in his draggy, lazy ass trot he's over tracking*...

*A horse is said to be "tracking up" when his hind feet land in the hoofprints of his front feet.  Tracking up is pretty much the minimum required in Training level dressage.  Under tracking, or the hind feet landing behind the front hoofprint, indicates a horse that is not pushing with his hindquarters - the basis of all dressage work.  Over tracking happens when the hind hoof lands further forward than the front hoofprint and is highly desirable in a dressage horse's natural gaits.

March 20, 2013 - We're having a heatwave!

Almost as tropical as it gets around here.  The weather has been unseasonably warm this week - forget warm, it's been downright hot!  The highs have been in the upper twenties (celcius) with lots of sun.  Rory got a bath today!  This is notable because we don't have indoor wash facilities, only an outdoor wash rack.  Bathing a winter fuzzy horse not only needs warm tempratures for the horse to be okay soaking wet, but also because they take a long time to fully dry afterwards.  I don't think I've ever managed to bath a horse this early in the year.

March 17, 2012 - Still swimming...

I took brat for an almost half hour road hack today. We went round the block mostly in trot and canter. Walked the last bit home which was hard on my tail, but was worth it to get out again.

Rory and Totyo at play

 I worked Rory a bit on the longe and in hand yesterday and he was very good. Started to get the idea of shoulder-in. He seemed to be enjoying the outing.

A misty morning in March!

His poop juice issue has been better in the last couple of weeks. We should know around the end of April if the biopsy gave us the right answer. At any rate I might be convinced around then if he's been clean for a month.

March 12, 2013 - About that hindgut biopsy...

Yep, that nicely filled out, healthy looking body houses a nasty worm load.

 If you're wondering about the biopsy, the results suggested encysted strongyles - apparently Rory is very sensitive to some phase of the burrowing in or out (unrelated to egg laying, so they don't necessarily show on a fecal at that time which is what fooled us into ruling out worms) and doesn't have a heavy enough infestation to have a constant problem - thus the intermittent nature. Anyway he got dewormed with Quest today after an oxybendazole dewormer knocked off the bulk of his active wormload two weeks ago. We recount in about six weeks and see how he's doing. If he's okay I'll deworm for tapeworms then. But it looks like I'll have to make Quest part of his regular dewormer rotation to keep on top of the encysted worms. I used Quest when it first came out and didn't like it from a user perspective. I found the horses spat more of it out, so I haven't used it since - until now. Rory will be getting it at least once a year from now on.

February 29, 2012 - Back in the saddle, but not on Rory

I rode brat for ten minutes today!!  Just for a little two point/hunter perch toodle around the neighbour's snow covered hay field, but still! He was very good about slowing down when I told him galloping was
not happening today, but he did keep trying to increase the pace a little bit.   I think I could have managed
another round but opted to stop before my weakened unfit leg muscles started screaming in pain.  I hopped off and handwalked for a few minutes when we got back - it's easier to not sit at faster than walk speeds. Brat seemed disappointed that was all we did, but we were both happy to get out again. I'll go again tomorrow if I'm not too sore and the weather cooperates.

I did shorten my stirrups a hole to make the two point/half seat easier.  I'm not ready to handle any antics from Rory just yet, but it's progress!

This is Brat.  He is my thoroughbred Quarter horse cross.
He's a Rockstar in all things and has set the bar pretty high for Rory.

February 26, 2012 - He's grown again

So my little man is now officially my taller horse. I sticked Rory yesterday and he measured 15.3 1/2 (actually 3/4 but he needs a trim so I'm knocking 1/4" off  ). Brat is 15.3h when fit. So he will be over 16h. Now I have to hope he doesn't get as wide as my QH...

At 16.1h and over 1300lbs in competition weight I found my QH was a little too wide to be really comfortable for me.  Brat is the perfect size.  Hopefully Rory ends up closer to Brat's width.

February 22, 2012 - Free running

Today Rory got some free time in the arena.  He cut loose and happily ran back and forth for a while without any encouragement.

February 18, 2012 - On the longe and in hand

Today I longed Rory before doing some in-hand work with him.  He was full of beans again, but once he'd had a little work on the longe he was able to settle and concentrate on the in hand work.  We did a little leg yielding and he was very good from the left.  From the right he wasn't as sure about what I wanted, and there were some noises from outside that distracted him, but he tried.

If you're wondering, yes, I'm wearing my helmet and no, I didn't ride or have any intention of riding.  I decided to wear it just in case Rory was spooked and bumped into me.  He doesn't tend to invade my space, but I really don't need another bump to my brain after getting knocked out just over three weeks ago.

February 16, 2012 - Hindgut biopsy

Rory needs some good luck. He had the biopsy of his hind gut done today to be sent off for examination. I really hope it shows something that we can resolve fairly easily to fix his poop juice issues.  I had the vet pull some blood too.

The process was quite simple.  The vet had brought a sterilized metal bottle cap (yes, a beer bottle cap - it had a beaver and a maple leaf on it) which she used to pinch off a sample of his gut wall.  Rory was really good about the biopsy though he did keep trying to twist around to see what she was doing. I was holding his head and his tail at the same time and remembering when I could put one arm round his chest and the other round his bum at the same time. I was stretching to hold his tail today.

February 14, 2012 - Free Jumping

Rory Was full of beans today and went straight to canter with jumps and bucks on the longe.  He settled and did some easy trot and longer trot on the right after I reeled him in to get him to walk a few times.  I free jumped him after longeing. He wasn't very good at it and banged his toes and knocked the jump down several times.

I set up the chute and run the horse through it without any jumps the first few times just so they know what they're expected to do. Rory went through twice and the second time stepped on a ground rail, knocking it out of position. I went to put it back and he ran round, came up outside the chute... and jumped in!  So I set up a jump in the chute, which he knocked down while I was picking up the pole he'd knocked down jumping into the chute. He did manage a few respectable trips through at the end and seemed quite pleased with himself afterwards.

I'm having trouble embedding the youtube video in my post today - I'll try to fix it later, but here's the direct link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF-aSPrilb4&feature=youtu.be

February 11, 2012 - Itching to ride

 Okay, I'm finally itching to ride. My tailbone still hurts though.  I worked the boys on the ground on Thursday and they were both good. It was really windy and the arena was creaking and banging which made Rory jump (and play buck) a few times, but he quickly settled down. It makes me wonder if the bucks that got me off were sparked by an ice slide and he's just forgotten that he doesn't need to worry about such noises since he hasn't been in there much this winter. Anyway, I've decided they need to do something so my goal is to get them out working a few times a week while I'm grounded.

This was Rory's reaction to his first Barny's horse treat.  He came back for the rest of it.

Playing in the paddock

January 24, 2012 - Off with a bang... maybe that should be "Out with a bang"

Well Rory finally bucked me off yesterday. I'd expected to come off him a whole lot sooner, but he's been good. I don't know what got up his butt yesterday - he hadn't even kicked his heels up on the longe line.  He was a little fussy when I first got on, tossing his head non-stop for the first half circle.  Then he settled, I turned him onto a circle to the right and off he went.  It took him five bucks and a deke sideways on the last to unload me. Head down, bronco bucks (people do this for fun??) too.  He was going in a straight line and I was landing right back in the saddle each time, so on the fourth buck I tried to pull his head up but just succeeded in pulling myself out of position.  That made him go sideways on the fifth buck.

I got knocked out - a first for me. It was weird. At least I know I was out for about four minutes because I had the video camera on, and he dumped me in full view. Rory was a little freaked out by the whole thing, and didn't go anywhere near me while I was down, but he came back quickly once I started to get up.  He was a bit panicked by being in the arena all alone, and didn't recognize me as me until I was walking again.  When I patted him he heaved a sigh of relief and completely relaxed.

Totyo and Rory

I am mostly okay. Sprained (probably) wrist, bruised (hopefully) tailbone (from him smacking the saddle into my butt), and a couple of other stretched or bruised spots. Head is okay if I don't move it too fast - and yes I got a nurse to check me out right afterwards.  Probably minor concussion.

Aaand now I need another new helmet.  I should have ridden the brat first... I won't be riding anything for a few days at least.

I don't remember the "oh crap, I'm off" moment from yesterday - you know that moment your brain recognizes that you're coming off and you can't do anything about it. I don't remember the first hop, only the three bucks in between. And those bucks only came back after I'd gotten up and was walking Rory back to the door.  No, I'm not going to post the video of my fall - that's something my mother definitely does not need to see.

January 13, 2012 - Back on board, but...

I rode Rory today after a quick longe.  I did have to remind him about standing still for mounting.  He fussed at the mounting block, not wanting to stand still and swinging his bum away then backing up.  He was okay the second time.

I rode for almost fifteen minutes.  Started with walking and asking him to give me a nice yield to the rein as we turned.  He was better on the left rein.  Walked over the poles a couple of times.  His trot was a bit lazy at first, and he was shaking his head when I pushed him more forward.  He did settle, but seemed not quite right.  Not lame, just not his usual self.  I asked him to do a few steps of leg yield which he did willingly enough.  By this point he was yielding to the rein better as we turned.

I hopped off and moved the video camera down to sit on the mounting block so I could tape him walking and trotting away from and towards the camera.  I didn't see anything off in the video, but there was something wrong today.

January 1, 2012 - Happy New Year

Rory's leg is about back to normal and I took him out yesterday to get him thinking about working again.  I worked him in hand looking for him to focus on me and show good manners.  We trotted in-hand, then trotted over poles in-hand, and got him backing up, and moving his body as directed.

I set up my rein hold for an in hand leg yield.  Rory got distracted by noises from outside at first, got quite snorty and even did a bit of trot leg yield along the wall because he was worried.  I turned on the radio to cover the outside noises and he heard something that set him off and he broke away.  He trotted around the far end once then came back to me when I walked out into the middle of the arena.

We went back to walk, halt, turn, and back on the lead.  After some quiet walking with lots of turns and direction changes, Rory started to settle a bit.  We went over the poles again.  I finished with a little leg yield in hand, but he wasn't really focused enough to work in hand on the reins.

Today we did some more in hand work before I let him loose for some free play.

December 2011 - Hockey nets for horse hay

In an effort to reduce hay waste and test out the benefits of slow feeder the barn owner was investigating the round bale hay nets.  They were pretty pricey for something with an uncertain value so for about half the price (or less) we got some hockey nets and made up some giant net "bags" to put on the round bales of hay.    We ended up with nets from Canadian Tire ($25), Pro Hockey Life ($35), and Walmart ($20).  We'll see how long they last.

Rory munching on his hockey netted hay

The horses all had an initial reaction of "what is that THING you dumped in my hay feeder?" but very quickly figured it out.  I watched them eat and the action mimics that of grazing  more than just eating a pile of hay does.  They can only tease out a few stalks at a time through the small holes, but seem to be quite happy doing it.  They still try to eat the middle of the bale first, but the net stops those so inclined from eating a head sized hole and burying their heads deep in the bales.  They ended up eating a large shallow bowl shape in order to get the middle of the bale out first.

December 2011 - Tunnel vision

I felt like I spent the whole month focused on what was going on under Rory's tail.  The swollen fetlock took a while to go down, and I didn't do a lot of riding.  This poop juice thing is stealing my energy and worrying me more than ever.  Everything we try seems to help a little bit, but doesn't get anywhere near resolving the problem and it takes weeks to figure out how much of a difference anything made.

 The Equi-Shure didn't work as hoped, but the three week cycle has been disrupted.  He had a dirty bum for three weeks straight in December.  His tail bag is disgusting, and his poor bum coated most of the time, and it's too cold to clean him up properly.  I'm sure there must be some pain or internal discomfort for him too.

Rory checking out the barn kitten

Right before Christmas the vet came out for another check up and discussion of options.  We eventually decided to try him on 5 Prednisone tablets per day and see if it would relieve any inflammation in his hindgut and give his body a chance to heal properly.  But we also agreed that if he failed to show significant improvement the biopsy would be our next step.

December 4, 2011 - Could you pick another leg?

Rory's left hind fetlock was quite swollen today.  Why he keeps banging up that leg is beyond me.  It was a bit warmer than his right hind fetlock.  I opted not to ride and just took him out to the arena to see if he was sore.  He was quite happy to tear around.  It took some persuading to convince him to trot long enough for me to study his gait.  He looked sound and managed a nice controlled free longe to the right, but kept getting distracted to the left so I put him on the line and he behaved.

Group sleepfest

His bum was nasty again today - I washed off the worst of it.

November 23-30, 2011 - Little steps

Nov 24 - Rory felt like playing in the snow

 The rest of November was pretty much status quo.  He was a good boy under saddle and we continued to look for better in everything.  He's getting a better understanding of what I want with the leg yield from the left leg, and is finding it easier which allows me to improve his form without confusing him.  We started working on the leg yield from the right leg as well.

 His bum was off and on dirty.  I braided his tail up, hoping to keep it from getting so nasty on his dirty days.