Oh, we are having so much fun riding. It was such a long winter and late spring, that this year, we truly appreciate being able to get out and ride on the trail. April has been fairly dry, so we haven't even had problems with the river. We are working on building up their condition by gradually increasing the time, speed and duration of the rides. (A good point to remember-increase only one of them at a time.)
So now, Ellen and I are collaborating our vacation schedules. We started out with a couple days in the middle of May. We can't wait.
Looking for some awesome photos of Alaska and out west? My brother is a terrific photographer, and he is now offering some of his photos for sale. You can look at them at this website: www.rockylandscape.PhotoReflect.com
In early April, the vet came out to examine Cruiser's bowed tendon. The news was good, but not surprising. He had been doing very well working in the arena at a walk and trot. There has been no heat or swelling, and Cruiser showed much enthusiasm in his work.
The vet said that we didn't need him anymore unless Cruiser has a problem. The tendon looked great. We are now allowed to integrate some cantering into our program, and we can go down trail. I was thrilled to hear this.
At our next opportunity, we headed for the hill. I brought Ellen along on foot. I know I could have done it by myself, but I just like to have Ellen along. Cruiser was very happy to leave the driveway and head down the street. We walked down the hill and trotted the flat stretch at the bottom. He trotted very fast and was quite excited.
Our hill doesn't go straight down. It is level at the beginning, goes down a slope, is level in the middle, goes down a slope and is level at the bottom to the river. We can trot and canter on the level areas. I used to do it on the slopes, too, but not since he bowed his tendon.
We did two trips, and since we had been doing trotting, I was ahead of Ellen. I figured I would try our first canter when she wasn't looking. She didn't know we were going to do it. I didn't want to tell her because I didn't want her to worry.
We rode just past a muddy section, and I said the word. Cruiser's head went up in surprise and away we went-very fast. I started to slow him down as I neared the end of the trail, and, much to my surprise, he dropped his head and tried to pull the reins out of my hands-swinging his head to the left and right, slowed down and tried to buck!
Since he didn't get his head, it wasn't much of a buck. I laughed. It has easily been a decade-maybe more-since Cruiser has tried to buck while I was riding him. He felt good, and he was trying to express it in the only way he knew how to. I had one happy horse.
He never tried anything like it last year when the vet originally told us we could canter before he reinjured his leg this winter. When I asked him to canter, then, he went slow and carefully. I think it is the new low carb, low sugar diet. He really is feeling better. We can tell just by looking at him-he looks younger. I guess it only make sense he feels younger, too.
Finally, I was able to get Mingo out on the trail. We have had such a rough winter-not so much with cold and snow. I can deal with that. The problem has been ice. I just don't like to risk the horses on an icy driveway.
I knew he would be hyper the first few times. For as quiet a horse that Mingo is, he can't resist the excitement of getting on the trail after a long break-and the excitement of going back home. The first time I took him out in March, the footing was a very slippery and snowy. It meant walking only, which wasn't a bad idea anyway on the first time out. We walked slowly down the hill to the frozen river, turned around and walked quickly back up. Not too bad.
We turned around and walked slowly down, again started back up. At the foot of the hill, he tends to misbehave. It is the steepest part of the hill. I think he has the idea that it is best to charge up it. Sure enough, he tucked his head, grunted and did one of the classic huge Mingo bucks that he is so famous for. They make me look like such an accomplished rider. Honestly, they are very easy to ride because they are so straight and clean. His buck feels no different than a large canter leap.
From then on, he kept trying to trot. It was the last thing I wanted since it was so slippery. I knew that if I did trot him one trip up the hill, it would settle him right down for the rest of the ride, but I just didn't think it was safe. Usually, in a situation like this, I would turn him around and make him go back down the hill. I did this a few times, but with all the snow, I was unsure where the trail edge ended and where the drainage ditch that runs alongside the trail began. I used an alternate technique. I would ask him to walk a few steps and then ask him to stop and stand-hopefully before he started to trot. In the beginning, I had trouble, but eventually, I was able to stop him before he started trotting.
It took a lot longer to get to the top of the hill, but by that time, he was walking. We went home.
The following weekend, we had a huge, huge snowstorm, so trail riding was out. Something else happened that weekend-daylight savings. I now had time to ride on the trail in the evenings after work.
As soon as the snow melted enough to be able to negotiate the trails, I took Mingo out for a trip down the hill for an evening ride. Since the snow was melting, it was very slippery, so I had to stay at a walk. Once again, on the way home, Mingo disagreed with me. I sighed. As we headed up the hill, he kept trying to trot, so I started to work on walk/halt transitions. It worked much faster this time. Halfway up the hill, he decided walking was a better idea. I must confess I was a little nervous when we got to the herd of deer just off to the side of the trail. In his mood, one sudden move from them would make him go flying. I did more transitions-trying not to startle the deer, and he was fine.
When we got nearly to the end by the street, he started trotting. No way was he going to get away with that. We turned around and went back down the hill. (Actually, I planned to do it again, anyway.) We didn't go as far as the deer herd, though. Rather, we turned around and headed back up.
He tried to trot again at the top, so I decided to just work the top of the trail for a bit-I wanted to ride longer, so it worked out fine for me. Finally, he did that section of the trail perfect, and we went home.
Springtime is a rough time for all of our horses. I can't ride Cruiser in the snow because the vet wants him to wear eggbar shoes to support his bowed tendon, but when I get him out, I'm sure I will be experiencing a similar situation with him. I know Ellen has gone through it with Ranger in the last few weeks. It didn't help her when a huge tree branch fell right behind Ranger. The horses will be even worse when we start riding them together.
I honestly think that one of the reasons we have more problems than most people is because we like to ride our horses fast. If we walked them all the time, and that is all they knew, they wouldn't get so excited. Since we trot and canter so much-which is no problem at all once they settle down-they anticipate going faster-and love it. This is a small price to pay for all those wonderful canters down the trail that we get the rest of the year.
This has been the worst month of March for riding weather-ever. We had ice storms, snowstorms and deluges that flooded the river. We are finally able to do some hill work, and they are settling down. I'm hoping April will be the lovely month that it usually is.
The vet is coming out to see Cruiser to check out his leg tomorrow. I believe he will jus tell me to have a great summer. Cruiser is trotting beautifully and looks terrific. His new diet is doing him wonders. We even got him down the hill, yesterday-though not the whole way since there is still snow on the bottom.
The other day, I was riding Mingo in the arena with Ellen and Ranger. Kevin came in and started leading Starry around. I told him that he should practice walk/halt transitions-just so they had something to do other than wandering around aimlessly.
Kevin then mentioned how I used to be able to stop Mingo and walk away. He wondered if I could still do it. In response, I quickly dismounted, told Mingo to stand and walked away. Kevin was amazed. I walked a few circles around him, and then I told him what a good boy he was and rubbed his neck.
It isn't hard to teach a horse to do something like this. Cruiser learned the same lesson long ago. I just take it for granted that they will stand on command. Now, honestly, it doesn't work quite as well when we are on trail and there is food surrounding them in all directions, but it still helps.
I taught both horses to stand quietly when they were young, long before I started riding them. It was just another of our many ground exercises. A horse of any age can learn it. I would either have a lounge line or a long lead rope. We would do some lounging or leading-whatever was scheduled for that day. Towards the end of the lesson, I would ask my horse to whoa. Once he stopped, I would tell him to "stand" and walk a few feet a way-still holding the rope. If he tried to walk, I would go to his head, back him back to the spot he was originally told to stand and repeat the lesson.
I believe that returning him back to the spot I wanted him to be at is very important. I don't want him to be inching in the direction that he wants to go. To allow him move to a new spot and stay there, I would be rewarding him. By gently returning him to the original spot, I would not be rewarding him-but it certainly isn't a punishment. When he listens, praise him. I spend a lot of time walking back to him and petting him-telling him how good he is.
I then go out to the end of the rope and walk all around him-letting the rope rub against his sides; flicking it about-just a little bit of sacking out. If it makes him step away, I correct him.
A horse isn't ground tied if his head is on the ground looking for something to eat. His head needs to be up, and he needs to be paying attention to you. If he drops his head, shake the rope until he picks it up.
I find it useful to be holding either a lounge whip or riding whip. I keep it in the air, and if my horses attention seems to be drifting, I get his attention by waving the whip a little and talking to him.
The next step is to drop the rope and move a little away. If he moves, correct him. If he stands well, praise him. Usually, a horse will lower his head. When they do this, I gently tap the whip on the ground near their face. Don't do this if you have a skittish horse who will be surprised and take off running! If that is your horse, you would be better off walking up to his head and pulling it back up.
If you do this often enough, your horse will understand the word "stand." It has added benefits. Even if you are holding the reins, imagine how much easier it is to mount or adjust your tack if your horse knows the command. How about checking his feet for a stone out on the trail, walking up to a water fountain to get a drink, picking something up that you've dropped, pulling a large stick out of his tail...the list goes on...
It sure has been a rough March. We have had a record amount of snow for the month, lots of rain and ice. I have finally been able to get Mingo down the trail, but only to the river--it is either icy or too high. I'm hoping that this weekend, I might be able to cross. He is starting to settle down on the trail, but that is only this side of the river.
I haven't been able to get Cruiser out--he has to wear eggbar shoes to support his tendon, and you can't ride a horse in snow with shoes--particularly eggbars. We have been working in the arena, and he is doing very well. The vet has allowed us to trot for about 6 weeks, now. He is looking really good, too. The new sugar free-low carb diet is doing a great job on him. (He's recently diagnosed insulin resistant.)
I hope you are getting some good winter trail riding. That's not the case in our neck of the woods.
I don't ever remember a winter where I rode less on the trail than this one. Most winters, my riding is limited to just going up and down the hill because the river is frozen. This winter, I haven't even been able to do that. The problem? Ice. The driveway has been too icy to walk safely down it to get to the trail. It has been very frustrating. Since I am limited to weekends, I have only been able to get Mingo down the hill just a few times this month. Consequently, I won't be writing much about trail riding, this time.
When Mingo had his hoof abscess problem, you got to hear all about it. Then, you learned more about bowed tendons. We have a new subject now-Insulin Resistance.
Be sure to stop at my brand new website. There, you can look at my pictures and sign my guestbook. It is www.trailtrainingforthehorseandrider.com
Feel free to forward my newsletter to your friends and encourage them to sign up. If you bought and enjoyed my books, spread the word. I don't have much a marketing budget, and I can use all the help I can get.
Cruiser has had a tough time over the last year and a half, or so. He bowed his tendon quite seriously when he was chased by a dog and jumped over a ditch. Healing went very slowly, but at least I was riding him through the majority of it. After a year of physical therapy-most of it on trail-the vet said we could ride as much as we liked. Slowly, I increased his work, but before we could get where we wanted to be, the weather became winter like, and I ended up riding less.
In December, during a pretty easy ride with only about 10 minutes of trotting, he hurt his tendon. The vet checked him and said there were no lesions. That was a relief. I was told to give him a month of stall rest. After that, I did a month of walk-only riding in the indoor arena.
It bothered my vet that he hurt his tendon so easily, so he suggested testing him for Cushings Disease and Insulin Resistance. I knew that they both caused complications in a horse's health-the worst being laminitis-but I didn't know that it could cause tendon issues. Since Cruiser's tendon vet is one of the best tendon vets around, he has had plenty of experience.
Both diseases have similar symptoms with different causes. Cushings is a pituitary gland problem. Insulin Resistance is an insulin problem similar to Type 2 Diabetes. Some horses have both.
Cruiser didn't have any other obvious signs of the diseases. The most typical one is a long, wavy coat that doesn't want to shed out. They will also get a cresty neck. Cruiser's neck is only slightly cresty-nothing real obvious. Another thing to look for is obesity-not Cruiser's problem. There is some loss of the topline muscles-Cruiser has that. I but I thought it was due to his age and lack of condition because of all the time he had off for his bowed tendon.
Other things to look for is a pot belly, fat deposits over the eyes, a thickened dorsal topline, chronic infections, periodontal disease, skin infections, hoof abscesses, lack of estrus in mares and abnormal mammary gland development. Increased thirst is common. Worst of all-laminitis. Vetrinarians now believe that most laminitis in older horses is caused by Insulin Resistance or Cushings Disease.
These conditions are most common in older horses with the average age of 20. If your horse is showing these symptoms, it would be wise to get him checked. By treating it as early as possible, you can possible prevent complications down the road. The way the vets test for it is with a blood test. Beware-it is fairly expensive.
My vet told me that a tendon bows for a reason-they just don't bow. When he initially hurt it, there was a reason, but this second time, there wasn't one. In situations like this, my vet has found that the horse could be a victim of Cushings or Insulin Resistance. He had one horse that was bowing a tendon who was not being exercised and lived in a standing stall. Turns out-he had Cushings Disease.
I held my breath for 2 weeks until I couldn't take it any more. To make the long story short, I ended up breathing a big sigh. He had the lesser of 2 evils-Insulin Resistance. Rather than an expensive medicine, he is going on the Adkins diet. We are switching his grain to Safe and Easy-a low carb grain. I bought some sugar free peppermints for treats and no more of anything else. This should give his tendon a chance to heal, prevent him from getting laminitis and I bet he'll be feeling really good.
This was probably the problem from the beginning. His tendons were weakened due to the Insulin Resistance when he leapt the ditch; causing the injury. Most likely, that is why it took so long for him to heal and I'm sure that is why he reinjured it. I'm so happy we got to the bottom of it. After all, he is only 20. We still have a lot of trails to ride.
