On being proactive

<----------This?

This is the face of a horse who would never worry his owner.
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Which would be true if he were a cartoon character, or a stuffed animal, but he is not. He's a living, breathing, money eating machine that seems to thrive on giving me grey hairs and high blood pressure. But I love him all the same, mostly.

But this is the curse of horse ownership right? That constant balance between the high you feel after a great ride or the feeling you get when your horse nickers at you and the lowest of lows when your horse is so desperately trying to tell you something hurts and you can't figure out where or why.

If only you could talk!

But the thing is... owning a horse is more about the grey area. The days of mediocre rides and small break throughs, pulled shoes and mystery lamenesses that leave us scratching our heads. And our role in all of that is to be the very best advocate we can for them.

I realize that this varies, WILDLY amongst horse people. There are the "wait and see" types, the "bubble wrap the horse" types, the "let's call the vet every-single-time" types, the "I'm going to post this on OTTB connect and get advice" types, and everything in between. If I had to describe myself I'd say that I'm a bit old school about some things but I'm also very cautious.

I take what I know about my horse and try to apply my knowledge base around that horse's particular issues. Some horses are stoic (mine is not), some are prone to certain types of issues (cough, cellulitis, cough), some never tell you anything but you have a gut feeling that they are not quite right (I find those the most frustrating).

And when I say I'm cautious I mean that I probably build more recovery time into my treatment protocol than some. For example, after Scout got cast and developed a nasty vasculitis I kept him on stall rest judiciously, and turned him out slowly. And while he seemed sound, I did not push his training schedule because he was not completely 100%. I gave him a little more time (an additional week of turnout and no riding) and it was worth it to see him moving like this:

Strong and stepping evenly (and happy!)

And so when he came in from turnout with a big fat leg two days after these photos, my proactive protocol kicked in once again. Vet worthy? No. Needs immediate treatment and care? Yes.

Who me?

What I thought was just mud is actually a gross scab + fat leg

Once I got under all the mud and scrubbed the leg I saw what appeared to be a gross scrape. No biggie, BUT since I didn't know how long it had been there (I had been away from the farm for two days) and given the mud, I opted the best course of treatment was a 5 day cycle of smzs, a day of stall rest, and overnight wrapping. The antibiotics are to keep any sort of cellulitis from developing hopefully. He did have a slightly elevated temp (but like a half a degree), and given his history it's better to treat this judiciously. And while he was sound on it, there was no reason for me to push him to work on it.

Cleaned up but gross

And he'll be fine. The cut will heal, he will hopefully not develop a cellulitis, and he'll be sound and happy again. And that's the end goal for me... keeping him happy (first) and sound (second). But they go hand in hand I think.

I think at the end of the day it's hard to trust that we are always doing the best by our horses. What happens when you don't trust yourself to make a decision? Do you have a good support system to bounce your ideas/worries off of? What happens when you don't agree with or worse, you don't trust your vet? How do you know where to start or stop with treatment? How closely do you listen to what your horses needs?

Maybe I listen a bit too much (to my horse, to others), but that's my prerogative. Your protocol is yours. While some might find me too cautious, I might find others too cavalier. But it's all a learning experience in the end. 

And God he's worth the worry. <3

#NOBADDAYS

People that know me closely understand that I have a pretty sarcastic wit about me, I'm much more serious than my online persona may reveal, and that I am unabashedly optimistic and idealist.  I don't know how the last part developed because I've had enough strife and heartache in my life to turn me into a hateful, negative person... but what remains is someone who is constantly looking for silver linings even in the face of defeat. I try very hard to keep a positive attitude about things (and yes, I struggle and fall apart sometimes too) and I try to lift people up around me. I've spent the last several years culling the fat of toxic, negative people out of my life because to me, it's just not worth having people in your life that don't want to see you happy, or that try to bring you down into their negativity.

So, maybe it's just a result of getting older (hell, I'm pushing 40 this year YIKES) or wiser (doubtful) but lately, I've been feeling less stressed and more certain about the future.

<3

This feeling relates directly to Scout because since I've owned him, I think my whole outlook towards riding and horse ownership has changed. I have goals yes, but they are small... all I truly care about is having FUN. Hence the hashtag #NOBADDAYS. He makes me smile and laugh and is constantly worming his way closer into my heart. He's easy on the eyes and kind. He's a good mover, has a nice jump and good work ethic. What more could I want?

So this weekend even though I had ridden him ONCE since he got cast (if you're counting it was a solid month) the day before being invited, I jumped at the chance to take him on a fun hack with blog friends on Saturday.

And he was a perfect gentleman. It was the first really nice day we've had in weeks and it seemed foolish to stay at home. The two horses we were meeting up with are also rehabbing/coming back into work, so it was going to be a quiet ride (perfect!).

I went into the ride thinking we were going to have a great time and lo and behold, we did. The ponies were terrific, the sun was shining and everyone left with smiles. #nobaddays

Love these perfectly manicured trails

Love that my horse doesn't care where he is in the group

Love that he doesn't care about riding next to the road

They were all looking around quite a bit when we first arrived, but since it was a nice day the park had lots of families rolling in to enjoy the weather too which the horses found very interesting. Scout responded with his telltale teeth-grinding (that's primarily how he communicates tension) but was flat footed once I got on (really need to get that ironed out).

The loop around the park takes about an hour, so it was plenty of time for all of them to settle in and cruise along at a nice pace. We chatted about horses and life and everything in between. Laughed at our horse's individual personalities. I made a new friend and Scout fell in love.

Lovers

Mocha's side eye is REAL

Just a couple of handsome fellows

Sebastian slobbered all over Scout's neck and was whispering sweet nothings into his ear!

Something as simple as an hour long trail ride on my wonderful horse was enough to remind me that sometimes the best days are spent in the sun, with a couple of horse crazy women and their horses just walking around a park. And I was reminded again just why I love my horse SO much.

LOVE HIM

YAY NEW FRIENDS AND OLD FRIENDS AND HORSE FRIENDS!

I'm looking forward to continuing this trend of #nobaddays and I hope I'll see some of you out there in the bright future that lies ahead.

Status Report

Sass Wagon

Are you guys tired of Scout progress posts? Because I am.

But here I am typing up more boring notes on how he's progressing. He's been turned out for a little over a week and the leg swelling is staying down. There's still some residual heat which I'm hoping dissipates over time (it took his fetlock quite a while to finally stay cool and tight). So I stuck him on the lunge with some keep-your-shit-together parameters (Ahem, Pessoa rig).

And thank god he's got a good education on the lunge. He was feeling very good about life and tried pretty hard to keep a lid on things, but he was enthusiastic and spicy to be sure. Luckily, I'm well adept at lunging a wild horse, video-taping and holding a whip (#skillz).

That trot, I'm not mad atcha

Moving pretty nicely at the trot

At the trot he was moving out beautifully. Even in both directions with nice over tracking. At the canter he was still noticeably stiff on his RH. In fact, tracking left he was not subtle about his annoyance of having to put lateral pressure on it.

Tracking right, which is normally his tough direction he was quiet and balanced. Ultimately, I just wanted to get a sense of WTC in a controlled setting. The footing was slick and deep, so I didn't want to do too much with him but I was pretty pleased with how he looked overall.

Going forward, I'll start legging him up like I did in September with some long and low walk-trot until the strength in his right hind improves. I was admittedly a little bummed when I saw how stiff he was, but he'd only been turned out for a few days at that point. So maybe I need to recalibrate my expectations and just be patient.

And, if there's a bit of a silver lining about this whole experience it's that his condition is looking REALLY good! Let's give a big shout out to alfalfa for helping him get there:)

Closest thing I've got to a conformation shot for now

Here's to keep on keepin' on.

Sweet Freedom!!!

SO BORED

After 13 days of stall rest both Scout and I were desperate to get him out and moving around. Hand-walking was occasionally quite scary (think, horse-shaped kite), or he'd be foot perfect. His leg continued to stay cold and tight, though his fetlock was still carrying some residual fill most likely as a result of being stalled. He's definitely prone to stocking up when he's not moving around too much, so I'm not super concerned about it. My vet and I spoke about a turnout schedule and given the weather, she highly recommended some drug-assistance.

We went from highs in the teens and everything covered in a sheet of ice to driving rain, wind gusts over 40 mph and highs in the 60s. I figured Friday was the best day to try to put him out even with the rain as I thought the warmer temps would keep everyone a bit quieter. 

So, armed with Ace and Xylazine I got him doped up and prayed he'd keep a lid on it. The ground was still completely frozen, just now covered in greasy mud and all I could think about was him running around and wiping out like a fool. 

So high

So sleepy

Turns out my giant baby is a bit of a lightweight. And apparently, completely attached to me now since he's been stall bound for such a long time. I literally had to White Fang him to get him to go with his friends.

And his herd mates were pretty cute about the whole thing. At first no one noticed him, and he went off and grazed alone. Then, they all realized he was out there and came up to investigate.

SOOOO happy the boss is back

He's the unanimous herd leader and they were all very happy to see him. Scout? Not so much. There was lots of sass, lots of derpy running around. He kept trotting back over to me which kinda made my heart burst a little.

So sassy

 

Much derp

The temps dropped quite a bit overnight, but I followed suit with the same protocol for day two. He was a perfect gentleman and the whole thing was super low key. 

Best buds

HAHA, JK

On the third day I instructed the morning person just to turn him out last with a quiet buddy and she said he was super chill. Phew! My plan for this week is to get him moving a little on the ground and assess how he's moving and then leg him back up at the end of the week.

He really gave me a heart attack with this one I have to admit. He was SO lame the first day that I was certain his leg was broken. But if there's any silver lining to him being on stall rest it's two fold. One, he and I have REALLY bonded. Despite the weather being horrifically cold, he tried really hard to be a good boy about everything. I never once heard a negative word from any of the barn workers and he tolerated all the wrapping, medicating and hand-walking like a champ. He looks to me for guidance and boundaries and it's really helped our relationship blossom. The other positive takeaway from stall rest is his condition!

He's filling out

And dapple-y!

I actually cut his feed a little so he wasn't bouncing off the walls and added alfalfa twice a day to his hay. I think we've found a magical combination of hay and feed finally! 

Thanks again to everyone who has reached out to support us, we've definitely appreciated all the love and good vibes! I absolutely adore this horse but man, but the reality of how freaking fragile they are is so real sometimes. I think though, despite the heartache and worry that seeing his face hanging over his stall door is enough to remind me how much it's all worth it in the end.

Two Days In

Good news:

Scout is responding well to meds. His fever is staying down and we switched him from banamine to bute (to wean off over the next 6 days). The antibiotics are doing their job so far and he's being a pretty good patient about having syringes shoved in his mouth and having his temp taken all the time. His neighboring stall buddy is staying in to keep him company, so that's quelling the building #FOMO (for now). He's bright, alert and back to his normal personality of HI, HELLO, HI, TREATS?

ALERT + bright eyed

Bad news:

His leg is still very swollen. It's less hot and much less sensitive to palpation and touch but it looks scary. The vet said I could try DMSO, but it could potentially aggravate him (any suggestions for topical anti-inflammatories) plus it's not fun to mess with. For now I've been instructed not to wrap it and luckily the LH isn't any worse for the wear, fingers crossed that continues.

Like where is his hock?

Good news:

He's much more comfortable on the limb. He's not favoring it at all. I hand walked him this morning and he came out of his stall much less stiff. If you didn't know him you probably wouldn't think he was lame at all. I can see the difference in his gait and the shorter step he's taking with the left hind to support the right. He's in very good spirits and seemed to be feeling VERY full of himself out walking (it helped that the other horses came galloping up screaming).

Bad news:

I'm not sure how the next 12 days are going to go. While I'm grateful for the cooler temps in terms of helping reduce the swelling, Scout is already fed up with being inside. I've rarely used a chain on him for anything ever and today I preemptively put one on him and I'm glad I did! When all the horses came running up, he started screaming his God Damn head off and dancing around. A quick reality check and I asked him to keep all four on the floor and act like a gentleman. It helped that I had a pocket full of treats to help bribe him when he was being quiet.

WHERE ARE MY FRAAAAAANZZZZ?!

So, time to invest in some stall distractions and maybe scale back his grain intake just a little to keep a lid on things. He's also convinced that the only good hay in the world is alfalfa soooo there's that.

I'm being cautiously optimistic about his recovery. He's got at least another 12 days of Baytril to go, and a lot can change in terms of swelling etc. After dealing with his fetlock I feel like I'm more equipped emotionally to deal with the slow recovery process. Scout continues to impress me with his good natured attitude about everything and he doesn't seem the least bit worried about getting cast again, as evidenced by his constant need to roll in fresh shavings.

Stop giving me a heart attack!!!!

I'll try to update more on his progress in the next two weeks, but I don't want to monopolize the blog with debbie downer content, so I'll try to sprinkle in some back burner posts I've been sitting on.