Recovery week 26 - 3/8/15

I am actually quite excited writing about this week as it has been a brilliant one and just what we both needed after a frustrating few weeks of making little or no progression!
As I blogged last week we finally got all 4 feet off the ground (intentionally) for the first time in approx. 9months.  Since then we've have a great deal of fun :)
We started the week on the Monday with lunging session on the pessoa and Jack was fine if slightly lazy!  While I was there our YO was putting some xc fences out in our big field now the hay has been taken off and we can use this for the next few weeks until the cows arrive to graze on there for the autumn.  So no time like the present we headed out to have a look at them on Tuesday my friend Jo with her lovely sensible horse Toby giving us a lead.  We had a walk round the field and showed them the fences, which were only upto 60cm so nice and easy, and then had a trot and canter round to warm them up. Jack was keen but behaved himself and managed to contain his excitement even when the cows in the next field all ran over to the fence to see what we were doing!  We then trotted over the first fence, which is just a little cross pole to get you going, then circled away coming again and doing fence 1 again followed but the next 2 which are small but solid xc fences.  Jack was jumping brilliantly and Toby was giving us a fantastic confidence giving lead so we carried on and jumped the line of 5 no problem - I was grinning from ear to ear.  Jack has never jumped so well the difference in his technique since his operation is amazing, his jump is so smooth and easy to ride and he was really coming up through his shoulders, he was also wanting to take the fences on and I didn't have to kick him at all I was able to just sit and let the fences come to us.  What a difference!  To finish, as Jack was being so good, I decided to try taking him in the lead to see what happened and was absolutely thrilled when he just jumped through exactly the same full of confidence, full of enthusiasm and really enjoying himself.  I was on cloud 9, I honestly was doubting if we would ever be able to trust each other and enjoy ourselves like that again in recent weeks and I was absolutely blown away with how great it felt.  This was just what we needed to get us back on track after a frustrating time feeling like nothing what getting any better of late.
As is the way with horses having been on such a high on the Tuesday Wednesday brought bad news, Jack was slightly lame :( There was no apparent reason and I couldn't find the cause.  We have just moved them into a different field and there are a lot of stones so I was hoping it was just bruising from standing on a stone and not anything to do with the jumping the day before.
He trotted up sound on the Thursday so I took him for a little hack round the block for 30minutes and he felt fine again.  We had a trot and canter back along the bridle path and he felt sound thank heavens!  It was one of the nicest rides I've had on him on our own, he wasn't spooky or silly at any point and we had a relaxed and fun time.
On the Friday I was planning on going out into the big field again but not jumping as I was on my own.  The field is on a gradient and there is a bank down one side so I was going to go up and down the bank for a bit of 'hill' work (we don't have any real hills round us!) but as I was tacking up my friend Marie arrived to ride and she wanted to join us and do some jumping.  As we had had so much fun on the Tuesday I didn't take much persuading to jump again!  The only thing was this time we would have to be the lead as her mare has only young and has just started jumping so the pressure was on he behave and be a good lead.  The jumps where already really small as one of the other girls had used them earlier so they were ideal for a young horse.  Jack bless him was so good giving her a great lead never hesitating or deviating from the line.  He was growing in confidence and started taking strides out :)
Once Marie was happy with what she had done she put the adjustable fences up for me so I could jump through something a bit bigger.
Jack was a little reluctant to go away from his friend but he didn't do anything wrong he was just a bit reluctant.  Once we got nearer the bottom of the field he perked up and when we turned to the jumps he was flying again he cleared 1 - 4 beautifully seeing a flyer at the 3rd, then all of a sudden between fences 4 and 5 he slammed the anchors on and started to bronc.  I had to slip the reins to stop myself being pulled over his head but this gave him more chance to get his head down and buck!  I managed to stay on and grab the reins back to pull his head up gave him a good few kicks and shouted a few profanities and as quickly as he started he was off again and flew the last fence like nothing had happened!  Little monkey!!  I was still absolutely thrilled with him and I think it was just excitement getting the better of him.
I had to give him the day off on Saturday as I had planned to ride in the evening but unfortunately it threw it down which wasn't forecast and I didn't have time to get him in a dry in time to ride so we had a quick loose school instead.
On the Sunday I got down to the farm early and took him out to the field again on our own and we did what we had planned to do on the Friday using the bank and gradient of the field to help get Jack using his back end more and strengthen his back and quarters.  He was a little hesitant to go down to the bottom of the field out of site of the yard on his own but with plenty of reassurance and calm persistence we got there and then did 20minutes of trotting and cantering up an down the bank and up from the bottom of the field.  He was very good and I could really feel him having to work over his back to power up the hill :)
That afternoon I went over to my best friend Lucy's to ride Jay for this first time since I took him to the show, we set up a little course of 3 jumps in their ménage and jumped him round a few times and he was ace as usual.  I love jumping his little guy he is so honest its really nice to ride something so straight forward!  He's inexperienced but he never says no even when he's not sure and he's great fun.
Lucy got some pictures of us in action, it's a shame I've not got any of me jumping Jack yet.  I will try to get some next time :)

     

Recovery week 18 - 8/6/15

This week has brought up yet more challenges as I continue to try to find a way to help Jack use himself correctly, without pain and recover fully from his KS surgery in Feb.

We are now just over 4 months into his recovery and its fair to say it's been a roller coaster of a journey so far - the 6 weeks full box rest went largely uneventfully and both Jack and I coped far better with it than I expected, his hydrotherapy rehab was very successful as was lunging/long reining.  With everything appearing to go so well hitting problems under saddle was unexpected but unfortunately Jack found ridden work in the ménage difficult and it appeared very little had changed in this respect from before his surgery.

Following on from his physiotherapy just over a week ago which found him in pain behind the saddle the plan for the last week has been to work him long and low at a slow pace in straight lines to try to keep everything relaxed and stretch out the muscles which he was struggling with.  Unfortunately the horrible weather rather spoilt the plans as Jack isn't the best in windy weather especially on his own so he ended up have a few days off until the weather settled back down as I didn't fancy having a argument unnecessarily.  I have discovered on this journey rehabilitating a horse is definitely a marathon not a sprint and it will take as long as it takes so a few days off while frustrating is not the end of the world!  We managed to get some company for our first venture out since the weekend and although Jack was a little fresh he behaved and we had a relaxed and enjoyable walk down the canal towpath and back through the village.  The next day we were alone so I decided to keep things as simple as possible and take the same route we had done the night before, as we set out Jack was very relaxed and I thought we would have a nice ride although the wind had picked up a bit again.  As we got to the bridle path down the canal I popped Jack into trot on the grass to see how he was feeling, he showed no resistance to going up a gear and as we trotted along I was thinking just how lovely he was feeling, he was forward and making a nice long and low shape, stretching over his back and pushing evenly behind when all of a sudden from nowhere he stopped dead and refused to move.  If I pushed him on he reversed and several times tried to spin and go home.  If I gave him a stronger kick he would rear.  This went on for 15minutes and we were getting closer and closer to being back at the road!  I was starting to think we might be there all night when as quickly as he stopped he started again and once he was going in the right direction it was like nothing had ever happened, he completed the rest of the 30 minute hack without putting a hoof out of line!  Looking back I realise that at the weekend I only went halfway down the bridle path before turning round and going home (something that I've never done before but my mum was walking with me and struggling to keep up so we turned round instead of going the usual route.)  I think this may have been why he hit the brakes this time as it was at the same point we had turned back the last time he had gone that way on his own.  Anyway we got through it in the end and neither of us were hurt. 

The next day was Saturday and I had hoped to take him back down the same route again to reinforce the fact he can't just stop and have a strop whenever he thinks it time to go home.  Unfortunately the weather had picked up again and it was extremely windy all day, we didn't have a hacking buddy so in the end I decided it was not worth taking him out in those conditions as it just makes him jumpy and spooky, I don't feel the need to risk taking him out in conditions that are more likely to lead to us having problems.  As I had use of a car with a towbar and I had been asked to move my trailer I thought it would be a good chance to do a bit of loading practice instead.  Since the only time Jack has been in the trailer in the last 18months is to go to the vets he has become rather negative about it and although he doesn't do anything wrong he takes ages to decide he is going to load.  So I hitched up the trailer pulled it out on to some flat ground opened both ramps and the jockey door to let in lots of light and got a bucket of food and the pressure halter out.  It took Jack about 10 minutes of being planted at the bottom of the ramp before he loaded the first time, he had a few mouthfuls of food then I unloaded him and tried to load again, this time he went on in about half the time so again he had a bit of food and was unloaded again.  The 3rd time he only planted for about a minute and after that he loaded about 10 times with no hesitation at all - hurrah!  He even loaded without the lure of a bucket of food so good progress made :)

Sunday was a lovely day so I waiting until the cooler evening weather to ride, grateful there was no wind we tackled a hack on our own.  I did the reverse route going through the village first and then back alone the canal path, I prefer this way as the return along the canal path is slightly uphill so gives a better workout, I also thought the spot we had trouble in would be on the way home so shouldn't be an issue, I was right he hacked beautifully all the way round and we have a lovely trot along the last part of the canal path. 

Jack is still having bute but I have now cut this down to 1/2 a sachet a day and I continue to do his carrot stretches and pelvis stretches before each ride to help him be as relaxed and supple as possible.

Now our week of straight lines is done I can start to bring in some lunging and schooling to see if any improvement has been made.          

Recovery week 17 - 1/6/15

The last week has been both interesting and frustrating in equal measure!

As I felt Jack was not as comfortable and confident in the ménage as I would like and after discussions with my vet we have just been hacking until my physio could get out to see us.

He has done so well so far and an easier few days will certainly not do either of us any harm despite my desire to get back to normal (whatever that is....its been that long since we were 'normal' I've forgotten what normal feels like!)

We have been taking it nice and easy and on a hack Jack feels fine, he is forward and keen with no sign of any discomfort unlike in the ménage where he is stuffy, reluctant and generally hard work!  Although he shows no sign of lameness and is level he has been doing something slightly worrying with his left hind while I pick that hoof out.  This was first witnessed while he was still at rehab several weeks ago and I mention it in my blog at week 12 at the time a physio session found him to be tight in the hamstring and once loosened off was fine for a few weeks but it has slowly started to show itself again.  It is only apparent when he has been stabled over night.  I have to admit I was a little concerned as it was very similar to a horse with shivers however I was assured it was not this as he could perform the other tests of shivers without difficulty i.e turning on a tight circle and backing up.  The other possibility was fixation of the patella but again the symptoms didn't really fit.  As the physio was already booked I felt confident she would again be able to find the issue and help resolve it for Jack.

Mostly our hacks have been uneventful except one, we ventured out alone for a 30 minute stroll around the village and all was fine until we turned for home and had to deal with a very very loud motorbike, a lorry setting off its air brakes, a man dragging his pukka pie sign, a cardboard box blowing under our feet and 3 other horses trotting past a speed all in the space of about 500 yards!  This blew Jacks mind a bit and he jogged all the way home tossing his head and whinnying like mad!  It could have been much worse!

Saturday morning was a day I had been looking forward too for over a week as Tamsyn our new physio from the rehab centre was coming to give Jack a once over.  I felt sure he would be sore in places and feel better for a treatment.  I told her what we had been doing since she last saw him just before we came home almost 5 weeks previously.  She started by watching him picking up his feet and he demonstrated the near hind issue beautifully for her!  We next walked and trotted up in straight lines then on a large circle, confirming he is sound :).  After that he was turned on a tight circle and backed up again demonstrating he can do these with ease and confirming he is not a shiverer!  She checked his patella too and found no issue there again as expected.  She then checked all down his spine and found him very reactive in the sacroiliac on both sides and set about releasing the tension in this area.  Jack was finding it very uncomfortable and spent a lot of time trying to kick, buck and spin away from her as she got the tight areas moving.  Poor Jack had been in quite a lot of discomfort, no wonder he had been so reluctant in the ménage.  As she worked out his tight muscles we chatted and she assured me that it is quite common for them to get referred pain following surgery and not to worry about how bad he seemed.  Once she had finished Jack was totally relaxed and she was able to palpate the area with no reaction at all and the muscles were soft.  We then worked out a plan for the next few weeks.  As advised previously by my vet I am going to give Jack some bute to help work him for a few weeks this will help him work through any muscle tightness and soreness, we are doing another week of gentle hacking before trying the school again.  After the first week lunging can also commence again.  I have been given some stretches to do with him before and after riding.  He will also be having a nice hot water bottle on his sacroiliac muscles before work to help warm and soften up the muscles.  Tamsyn will return in 3/4 weeks to see how we are getting on.

While I'm disappointed and frustrated with myself for pushing him too hard I feel so relieved and glad that we have been able to find such a fantastic physio to support and work with us through the rehabilitation journey, she is so knowledgeable and gave me a lot of confidence that the problems we have experienced are totally normal and nothing to be overly concerned with.  I am now more confident that with Tamsyn's support we can rehabilitate Jack successfully.  I just need to be mindful that this is a long journey and will no doubt be an up and down one along the way.  We have an awful long way to go and I must be patient.  It is a catch 22 situation, you have to push them to work the muscles correctly but in doing so the risk is making them over use muscles that have not been working correctly for a long time and making them sore and uncomfortable and then the more you do the tighter and more uncomfortable they become so they then can't use the muscles.  Luckily with correct physio, short term pain relief and the correct work we should be able to break the cycle.

The positive news is he is showing no pain or discomfort in the area where his kissing spines were!  He was also a lot more comfortable bending to the left which had been an issue Tamsyn had had to work on with him previously.  The carrot stretches must be working :)

Rehab is a real eye opener for me and such a steep learning curve!

It all sounds so easy on paper but I suppose you cant anticipate what will happen along the way.

So having had the day off after his treatment in the field Jack felt really up for it on his hack the next day!  I am struggling to get him to eat the bute and thinking about a change of feed, he's currently only fed dengie hifi lite and speedy beet with a broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement, a joint supplement and oil but he is leaving a lot of it so I think I shall change him onto a lite balancer and a different chaff, I can then cut out the vitamin and mineral supplement and oil and hopefully he will find it a little more interesting and palatable.

I'm also hoping that we get our towing car back this week after it was crashed into a few weeks ago by someone being chased by the police in a stolen car!  Once that's back I hope to take jack back over to the fabulous Bennett equine rehab centre for a top up session on their aqua treadmill.

He is looking in pretty good condition for a good doing 1/2 native    

Recovery week 16 - 25/5/15

Wow I can't believe we are 16 weeks post op already - those first 6 weeks on box rest felt like a lifetime at the time but now they are a distant memory and we are already 10 weeks on from there!

Anyway those of you who read my last post will know that we have had a bit of a blip when it came to trotting in the ménage and I had decided that a physio session was needed to check Jack over before pushing the issue any further.  Well unfortunately the physio has been that booked up she has not been able to come yet so the plan until she can come at the end of the week is just to take things a bit easier.  I have also discussed my concerns with my vet and rehab centre manager and they both agreed a change in his work until he is seen by the physio is a good idea so we have been doing a lot of gentle hacking and no schooling or lunging.  This change in work has lead to a lot of firsts again this week including first hack alone, first canter (unintended by still great!) and first loose jump.

I had not intended on tackling our first solo hack so soon as we had only been on 2 accompanied hacks but I had arranged to hack out with one of the other liveries who then had to cancel at the last minute, as I was already ready to go and we used to hack alone a lot prior to surgery I decided there was no time like the present and to just man up and get on with it, we didn't go far but Jack was foot perfect the whole way and felt very relaxed and happy what a good boy and no need for me to worry!

We also went for a little hack with one of the liveries daughters on her pony, Jack was not too impressed at being asked to slow down and wait for a littleun!  We trotted back along the grass on the bridleway on the way home and Jack was really going for it again and felt so keen that near the end I decided to let him go and see if he would canter, he picked up straight away and cantered to the end so that's another huge milestone under our belts and I'm thrilled there was no dramas about it!

Over the busy bank holiday weekend I was rushed for time so on one day I didn't have time to ride but still wanted to give Jack some exercise so I decided to loose school over a little jump and see how he went. I didn't want to put him under too much pressure so I only put up a little cross pole and let him decide if he was going over it and at what pace.  Well he just cantered off round the track and popped over the cross pole over and over again with his ears pricked and a smile on his face!  I have never seen this horse jump with such enthusiasm!  He was taking strides out and really giving them some air!  The biggest difference I could see from before his op was how he released over the fence with his back end, in the past he has been sticky and stuttery in his approach preferring to chip a little stride in than stand off and often rolling a pole from dragging his hind legs over, presumably due to the tightness and pain in his back.  There was none of this now, he was making a great shape and didn't touch it once!  The other huge difference was his attitude and enthusiasm, he was flying with ears pricked and looked smooth and comfortable, looking for the fence and needing no encouragement from me to keep jumping.  I didn't want him to do too much so I had to stop him!

This has pleased me no end, by far the biggest improvement since his op and very exciting to see!

Im afraid I wasn't quick enough to get any pics or video to evidence his jumping doh!

Onwards to next week the plan is more gentle hacks letting Jack choose how much or little we do until the physio visit.

Here he is modelling his new fly sheet one of the bargains I picked up from chatsworth horse trials last week

Recovery week 15 - 18/5/15

This weeks big milestone was trotting under saddle and whilst it has not gone quite as smoothly as I had hoped over all I'm pretty pleased with our progress and Jacks work on the lunge continues to be excellent.  I suppose I was expecting something to go wrong before long as it had all been going rather too easy so far!

Having had last weekend off I began Monday by lunging him in the pessoa, he was working well and was settled despite the break so we progressed to 4 ground poles on a circle a bounce stride apart and he popped over them in walk trot and canter nicely using his back end and keeping a regular rhythm. As he seemed to be finding this all very easy I decided to up the difficulty again by raising 1 end of the poles slightly to get him picking his feet up a bit more and really having to use his back end.  Jack didn't disappoint and popped through on both reins again in walk, trot and canter looking comfortable and keen but maintaining a good rhythm and shape.  I was really impressed with how well he worked and even managed to get some videos and pics of him whilst lunging, not the easiest task trying to hold and film on a phone while holding a lunge line and whip and keeping him going!   I wont win any awards for the footage or pics but they will be useful when reviewing our progress.

The next day one of the other liveries was hacking out in the afternoon so we were able to join her for a nice relaxed pootle round the village and back down the canal tow path home.  In the past we usually canter/gallop along the wide grass verge at the side of the tow path and both boys were a bit keen as we walked along so I thought a bit of a trot might help them settle.  With Jack in front we set off and they were keen to say the least but we managed to stay in trot, just!  Jack felt awesome!  He was doing a beautiful extended trot pushing from behind and swinging through his back, it felt great and my friend commented how well he was moving too - good Jack!  We managed to get them back before they boiled over and walked the rest of the way home.  So first trot done and another milestone ticked off on our journey back to full recovery :) big smiles and lots of pats all round!

I followed this up the next day with a pessoa session of the flat which went well.

Thursday was an altogether more interesting day!  Jack is turned out during the day with a muzzle on because our grass is rather too good and plentiful at the moment, he hates it but other than not being to cooperative when putting it on and trying to rub it off he doesn't usually bother with it too much. He is also often in the paddock on his own in the day as the other 2 come in during the day for a break from the grass, he is next to others though so not lonely.  He has never been a problem to catch or bring in up until now but today he decided as we walked to the gate that he was going to rear up and spin round catching me totally off guard and ripping the lead rope out of my hand in the process, he then disappeared back up the field at high speed with the rope dangling round his legs.  He has never done anything like it before the little monkey.  He wasn't difficult to catch again as all he wanted to do was stuff his face now his muzzle was off!  The only problem now was he had managed to break his headcollar and lose it somewhere in the field.  I managed to locate it and get it on him again and lead him back down the field only for him to do the same thing again when we got to the gate!  I was ready for him this time and held on but unfortunately the headcollar repair gave out and off he went again back up the field leaving me stood holding an empty headcollar!  I was by now getting a little frustrated and decided if Jack wanted to behave like that so that he could eat the last thing I was going to do was let him graze, so he I chased him!  He then went galloping round the field like a loony for the next 10 minutes!  I have to say he looked great and certainly could move!  So now, running very late and feeling pretty frustrated, I grabbed a bucket of chaff and a complete headcollar and managed to get the little pig in!  I had planned on getting straight on him but due to his behaviour I though better of it and gave him a bit of a lunge first but he seemed to have got it all out his system in the field so I hopped on board.  After doing lots of stretching and walk halt walk transitions I decided to try a trot in the ménage, this is where he had been struggling pre surgery so it was a big test to see how he would react.  He was a little hesitant especially on the right rein where he went crooked and threw his head up first and needed quite a bit of encouragement but did a few transitions on each rein so I was really pleased and left it there for the day.

I wanted to hack Friday but there was no one to ride out with and I didn't feel ready to go solo just  yet so lunged instead.  I put poles out again and in the pessoa lunged over 4 poles this time spread out evenly round the circle.  After a warm up he walked trotted and cantered over the poles on both reins getting a nice even 3 canter strides between each pole.  As he seemed to be finding this nice and easy I again upped the difficulty by raising the outer end of each pole and he rose to the challenge cantering over them beautifully - clever pony!

He had a day off Saturday as I was at Chatsworth horse trials for the weekend - fantastic and fairly local event which I love going to and usually pick up a few bargains too!  I did manage to ride Sunday evening when we got home.  I considered lunging first but decided against it and hopped straight on board.  I was pleased to realise he had not been swinging his quarter away from the fence when mounting since he's come back into work - before his op he would always make it difficult to mount by swinging his quarters away from the fence or mounting block or backing up but he's not done that once since I've been riding him again so I am taking this as a good sign!  Anyway I warmed him up in walk doing lots of big circles changes of rein transitions to halt and serpentines before trying trot again.  He was being quite behind my leg and was reluctant again to trot going crooked and throwing his head up and when I insisted this time he reacted a bit more to my request by planting himself and threatened to rear.  I felt like I had been transported back in time, this is exactly how he had been before surgery.  I quickly turned him on a tight circle to stop him and gave him a smack with my whip to let him know I wasn't going to put up with that and when I asked again he was much better.  After that he did some good transitions and was much more forward so I was really pleased.  I am hoping the reluctance is just out of habit and memory pain and that riding him through it he will come to realise in time that it doesn't hurt anymore.  Just in case I have also arranged for him to have a physio session to relieve any soreness he may have and make sure he is as comfortable as possible.  My vet has also suggested giving him bute for a couple of days to help if he is sore.  He will have an easier time now until the physio has seen him.

I am now trying hard not to convince myself that there must be something else wrong!  Am I doing the right thing by trying to ride him through the bad behaviour?  Is it really just memory pain or is there something else bothering him?  Should I get the vet out? 

I am hoping the physio will be able to give me some answers and advice! 

This kissing spines journey really is a roller coaster!
   

Recovery Week 14 - 11/5/15

Its been an exciting week as this week I finally got to get back on board Jack for the first time in about 4 months!! 

My last post details the events of the first ride but to be honest it was actually very uneventful and Jack behaved beautifully, hurrah!

I am surprised everyday with just how easy Jacks recovery has gone and how laid back he has been about being back in work.  When I think just how horrendous his behaviour had become prior to his surgery in February I keep waiting for it to all go horribly wrong again but so far he has taken everything in his stride and behaved impeccably.

His surgeon said to me before going ahead with the surgery that all being well there was no reason why we could not be back to full fitness and competing, even eventing, before the end of the season.  Whilst it was a possibility I am very aware of the fact that a lot has to go right for this to happen and I didn't ever think that we would be lucky enough to not hit any bumps in the long road back to full recovery.  So far Jack has far surpassed all my dreams and expectations by being absolutely wonderful!!

It is still very early days in his ridden rehab and I am very aware of the need to take things nice and slowly to give him time to adjust, build up muscles and to realise the pain he has lived with for so long is no longer there.  I have now ridden him 3 times, twice in the ménage having had a lunge first and once on a little hack where I got straight on no lunging beforehand.  Each time we have remained in walk the first session was simply just walking and halting with no pressure on what shape he was in etc. but he felt rideable, listening and pretty relaxed so the following 2 sessions I asked him to work in a long and low outline and he obliged without resistance, good pony!  I was particularly pleased with him during our first hack, he was relaxed and forward taking the lead and listening the whole way.  The only slight issue being the huge decorative wheelbarrow that has been placed near to the entrance to the farm by the village in bloom team!  Both Jack and his hacking buddy where very unsure about the whole thing and took a few minutes to get close and have a look at it and realise it wasn't about to eat them!   

His lunging is going from strength to strength and he is now happily lunging over raised poles in walk trot and canter on each rein and seems to be really enjoying himself with it!

He had to have an enforced break over the weekend due to my OH, his parents and my BFF all being away on the same weekend (how dare they!) so no childcare meant Jack enjoyed some extra time in the field (with a muzzle on the little piggy!) I don't think this was a bad thing as it has meant even if I wanted to I couldn't over do things to soon!

I will be continuing to ride and lunge alternate days over the coming weeks, still taking things steady and hoping to avoid pushing Jack too quickly and risk upsetting him.

To say I'm thrilled with his progress would be a massive understatement, I am immensely proud of how he has dealt with everything thrown at him and has just got his head down and worked so well when he could easily have been tense, stressed and difficult about it all.  He really is such a trooper, doesn't make a fuss and gets on with things, what a horse :)

The big day 5/5/15

Finally the day arrived when I would be able to ride Jack for the first time since before he had his surgery 3 months and 3 days earlier.  I never dared to dream he would recover so well and so quickly!

The saddler was booked for the afternoon and I was slightly concerned that the weather was so bad, the wind was really howling and when it rained it was absolutely torrential, not great weather for riding a fresh horse that's not been sat on for months! 

I dashed to the farm from work to drag Jack in from the field and typically he was filthy having had a good old roll in the wet mud!  So I quickly scrapped as much of the mud off him so he was slightly respectable looking and then set about cleaning up my saddle that's not had its cover taken off in about 4 months!  I was so annoyed to discover that while my saddle has sat covered and unused for months the cats have decided to start using it as a scratching post and it was covered in claw marks !!!  There were several swear works said and much ranting!  Once I'd given it a good clean it looked much better and luckily most of the claw marks were not deep into the leather but I could still kill the furry beasts!

I then got a call from the saddler that she was running a bit late so I set about cleaning up Jacks  stable and filling haynets etc. while I waited.

When she arrived the heavens had well and truly opened, it was awful, so we are very fortunate to have a covered yard for this sort of thing.  We started by having a chat about what Jacks had done and where we are in his recovery and then she took his measurements.  Unsurprisingly there is a significant difference between his last measurements and the current ones, he is slimmer (hurrah!) and there is more of a dip behind his withers.  I explained that I would like to keep my saddle if possible as it is so comfortable but would change if needed.  She very gently placed it on his back and I watched carefully for signs of him being painful or uncomfortable but he didn't seem to notice anything had happened!  She had a good look at it on his back and felt that with a little adjustment we would be able to keep our current saddle, although she did recommend using a half pad for a while until he builds the muscle up a bit more which will happen as his work increases.  After making some adjustments and in a brief gap in the downpours we dashed out and lunged so she could see it on in motion and make sure it was still a good fit and again Jack didn't seem to notice he had a saddle on for the first time in months.  Still happy with the fit it was then the moment of truth, time to get on board at last!  This would be a big test in seeing whether the surgery has really worked and I really felt the pressure! I lead him to the mounting block fully padded out with my body protector was please that he didn't swing his quarters away like he was doing before the surgery, I gingerly leaned over him and nothing - no reaction at all he just stood there !  So I swung my leg over and sat up and she checked that the saddle was still sitting correctly before we had a little walk around the ménage.  Would this be the moment he exploded? No we walked round on both reins doing a few circles and walk - halt -walk transitions.  Jack was perfect he walked calmly and smoothly round the ménage listening and soft and relaxed - phew!!

That was enough and I was on cloud nine so I hopped off gave him a few mints and un tacked him.  The saddler checked his back to make sure the was no sign of anything rubbing and then she left happy that it was fine for now but would need checking again in a few weeks.

I will gradually increase his work over the coming weeks and keep everything firmly crossed that he continues to do so well :)

It is a huge relief to get that first ride done and find that he doesn't appear to have any issues/pain at the moment.  There is still plenty of potential for the wheels to come off as his work increases and he finds things harder, to be honest I can't believe its been this easy and I'm convinced it will all go horribly wrong at some point.  I'm hoping to keep his work easy and fun so that doesn't happen but we can't stay in walk forever if we want to get back out eventing can we!!