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glenatronToday was my 31st birthday and I did my first bit of cantering on my horse. Also the first bit of cantering I have ever done on any horse. Best present he could possibly have given me.
He was generally continuing with his mission to prove himself a total star, finally deciding I was competent enough to be allowed out on his fast trot which feels amazing and really goes places. My riding felt a lot better too, after videoing myself and seeing my many horrendous failings last time I rode I was really trying to keep my requests simple and clear. I still have to think about too many things I'm doing, which means I tend to forget some of them at any given time, but I felt a little less inept than I have.
It was a generally fantastic birthday - I had a good lie-in, Lou made me a tasty fried breakfast and then we visited my parents (my mum just got back from Timbuktu and is now a strong advocate of visiting Mali) before going onto the yard where the people we like were around and the annoying small children were not. Both ponies were very good (with the possible exception of Othello wanting to have the fight over whether I'm allowed to pick up his hind feet again) and riding was absolutely brilliant for me.
Me, trotting on Othello.
Lou about to strike off into canter on Othello.
A bit blurry but it gives a good idea of how much hair is in motion when Othello is cantering.
Ponies under a February sky
I almost got a nice picture of Joe against the dramatic sky, but he was too interested in what I was doing and kept sniffing the camera and then sniffing me and then numbling at my coat to see if that would make me give him snackies, so I mostly just got pictures of his nose very close to the lens and quite out of focus.
Otherwise it has been a mixed week with the ponies- we had the vet out on Tuesday because Joe has been feeling a bit off colour for a few months. Flexion tests showed nothing more, but there is a clear lameness on his left fore. Her diagnosis, in accordance with our fears, was that it's probably arthritis and it's probably in the shoulder although we'd be in a world of tests to find out for certain. He's only 13, so he's quite young to have been hit by it, but from what we know he was being ridden by the time he was 2 1/2 and on a heavy-set horse like him that's a great way of causing future problems. Not that it's right to be riding any horse by that age.
Consequently Joe has been on bute for the last few days, morning and night. The difference in his behaviour and movement are striking, which means we feel even worse because he must have been uncomfortable for a very long time. The trouble with degenerative disorders is that you just don't see the change day by day until it becomes really noticeable. He is Lou's horse and her adored companion so she is absolutely devastated, feeling guilty for not noticing sooner and very worried about his future.
We also had the vet look at Othello's weepy eyes while she was visiting anyways. She said he's probably got blocked tear-ducts, which may be flushable but probably aren't because they weren't treated when it first happened (we don't know when that was, maybe with his previous owner, maybe before) in the meantime he also has a bit of conjunctivitis which means I have anti-bacterial eye ointment that needs to be administered twice a day. The vet didn't have a problem administering it and I have no idea what she did because whenever I try and do it we get giraffe-horse, followed by intensive headbanging and generally doing everything he can to stop me putting the nasty stuff in his eye. I don't get in the slightest bit annoyed about this because I totally appreciate that I would hate having anyone poking around with my eyes, let alone holding my eyelid open and squeezing ointment into it. It does mean that we have approximately a 30 minute wrestling match morning and night.
He was generally continuing with his mission to prove himself a total star, finally deciding I was competent enough to be allowed out on his fast trot which feels amazing and really goes places. My riding felt a lot better too, after videoing myself and seeing my many horrendous failings last time I rode I was really trying to keep my requests simple and clear. I still have to think about too many things I'm doing, which means I tend to forget some of them at any given time, but I felt a little less inept than I have.
It was a generally fantastic birthday - I had a good lie-in, Lou made me a tasty fried breakfast and then we visited my parents (my mum just got back from Timbuktu and is now a strong advocate of visiting Mali) before going onto the yard where the people we like were around and the annoying small children were not. Both ponies were very good (with the possible exception of Othello wanting to have the fight over whether I'm allowed to pick up his hind feet again) and riding was absolutely brilliant for me.
Me, trotting on Othello.
Lou about to strike off into canter on Othello.
A bit blurry but it gives a good idea of how much hair is in motion when Othello is cantering.
Ponies under a February sky
I almost got a nice picture of Joe against the dramatic sky, but he was too interested in what I was doing and kept sniffing the camera and then sniffing me and then numbling at my coat to see if that would make me give him snackies, so I mostly just got pictures of his nose very close to the lens and quite out of focus.
Otherwise it has been a mixed week with the ponies- we had the vet out on Tuesday because Joe has been feeling a bit off colour for a few months. Flexion tests showed nothing more, but there is a clear lameness on his left fore. Her diagnosis, in accordance with our fears, was that it's probably arthritis and it's probably in the shoulder although we'd be in a world of tests to find out for certain. He's only 13, so he's quite young to have been hit by it, but from what we know he was being ridden by the time he was 2 1/2 and on a heavy-set horse like him that's a great way of causing future problems. Not that it's right to be riding any horse by that age.
Consequently Joe has been on bute for the last few days, morning and night. The difference in his behaviour and movement are striking, which means we feel even worse because he must have been uncomfortable for a very long time. The trouble with degenerative disorders is that you just don't see the change day by day until it becomes really noticeable. He is Lou's horse and her adored companion so she is absolutely devastated, feeling guilty for not noticing sooner and very worried about his future.
We also had the vet look at Othello's weepy eyes while she was visiting anyways. She said he's probably got blocked tear-ducts, which may be flushable but probably aren't because they weren't treated when it first happened (we don't know when that was, maybe with his previous owner, maybe before) in the meantime he also has a bit of conjunctivitis which means I have anti-bacterial eye ointment that needs to be administered twice a day. The vet didn't have a problem administering it and I have no idea what she did because whenever I try and do it we get giraffe-horse, followed by intensive headbanging and generally doing everything he can to stop me putting the nasty stuff in his eye. I don't get in the slightest bit annoyed about this because I totally appreciate that I would hate having anyone poking around with my eyes, let alone holding my eyelid open and squeezing ointment into it. It does mean that we have approximately a 30 minute wrestling match morning and night.
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no subject
Date: 18 Feb 2007 00:05 (UTC)Poor Joe. It is sad when those things happen but worse when the horse is so young :-(
I feel for Lou, I really do. There are some treatments out there though other than just pain killers, but I dont know anything about them. Trouble is though you are prolonging the condition and it will get worse, you know it. Its just a case of how long you can keep the quality of life going. Many horses start off only needing pain killers when its cold or they are doing hard work. As soon as the good weather comes out many feela lot better, just like with people who have it too. Don't write him off just yet, he could still have many years ahead of him as a companion and hacking out.
Happy Birthday too! I hope you had a good day in all. Congrats on your first canter! I'm very happy for you! Doesn't it feel fantastic, and about 100mph!!! :-)
no subject
Date: 18 Feb 2007 00:56 (UTC)no subject
Date: 18 Feb 2007 13:12 (UTC)vets have super powers of animal control - ours once managed to cut Mozzarella's toenails, which on a grumpy wriggly hamster is no mean feat
no subject
Date: 18 Feb 2007 15:08 (UTC)I shall check it out for you
no subject
Date: 19 Feb 2007 15:03 (UTC)Cortaflex works best according to my mum but cider vinegar in food is another (non druggy) treatment (so can be combined)
no subject
Date: 19 Feb 2007 15:49 (UTC)no subject
Date: 19 Feb 2007 08:44 (UTC)no subject
Date: 19 Feb 2007 11:21 (UTC)no subject
Date: 19 Feb 2007 13:01 (UTC)1. Put him in cross ties or have someone hold him.
2. Get the ointment ready.
3. Let him know I'm coming for his eye by placing my hand near his ear and moving down.
4. Gently rub my hand over his eye a few times without doing anything. I may pull away and do this a couple of times if it's a particularly bad day.
5. Put ointment in eye.
6. Gently massage eye so that the ointment actually makes it into the eye and doesn't just rest on the eyelid.
7. Praise and treat pony.
it works well. Most days, Sam is very easy and I just pop the stuff right in there with no troubles.