12/10/15 - I love my horse!

This week has unexpectedly been a really good week!

Last week I wrote of my suspicion that Jack has ulcers, well I decided to treat him as if he did without getting him scoped at this stage.  I much prefer a natural approach to treating both myself and Jack so I did some research and found a lot of info on ways to treat and then prevent ulcers with natural products.  From this I ordered an all natural charcoal based supplement - equus health gastro-kalm and some dengie healthy tummy both designed to help reduce excess acid production, sooth inflammation in the stomach and aid digestion.  I have to say so far I am very impressed with the effect they seem to be having on Jack in just a week, he is much happier, no ears back/face pulling or head throwing when I do up the girth and is also more forward when I ride, since I started feeding him them he has not done his usual trick of not wanting to do the first walk - trot transition. So in terms of the experiment so far so good.  I'm not ruling out getting Jack scoped or a course of treatment with gastrogard in the future, if he needs it then it will be done but I'm really pleased to be having such positive results already.  

Following Jacks crashing fall just over a week ago I had planned on giving him an easy week and time to recover but surprisingly he had other ideas, perhaps down to his tummy feeling better??
As in my last blog I gave him a little lunge and some nice easy stretch work on Monday, other than a little stiffness on his left hind Jack appeared pretty much unscathed from his fall.
I had arranged to go and view the images from my recent photo shoot with Chrysalis photography on Tuesday after work so Jack was going to have the day off anyway, usually I would have been bothered about giving him the day off but as he was a little sore anyway I was happy to give him the time to recover. 
On Wednesday evening I decided to give him a little loose school as I often do on a Wednesday, if he had been reluctant or looked uncomfortable I would have stopped but there was not a bit of it, Jack bucked and kicked around the school and flicked his toes all over the place - obviously not feeling any ill effects and probably in need of some work!
Based on his performance the night before Thursday I decided to ride, there were a couple of people about to watch us and see if they thought he looked uncomfortable but Jack seemed happy and more forward than usual.  I just did half and hour but he worked very nicely, particularly in the canter where he felt much more up through his shoulder and rounder in his neck, coming through better from behind and was really on my seat aids and lovely and soft through his back.  Also of note - there was no hesitation in the first walk - trot transition :) I was so pleased with how he went, it has to be the best canter we have had so far so an awful lot to be happy about!
Friday I decided to go for a little hack on our own again, time to face our demons down the canal path!  We headed out and Jack felt relaxed and happy, I wasn't sure if we would canter down the canal path after what happened last time but Jack was up for it so we did a controlled canter, he was a little spooky just where he fell last time so I brought him back to trot for a bit until he settled again then cantered home happy and confident we had put the previous experience behind us - another good day.

Usually on a weekend I like to avoid the ménage but I couldn't get to ride until 6pm Saturday so I had no option as the light was already fading fast! I took Jack in the ménage for the 2nd time in a week (the first time I have done so during his rehab!) I hoped he wouldn't be too upset at being schooled again!  I needn't have worried he was on fire and he worked beautifully.  His back is feeling strong and supple and he is much more forward and on my aids.  I was able to spend time refining what I was asking him rather than just trying to get him to go forward and long and low.  The work he produced was definitely the best he has done post op, he is just getting better and better at the moment and I'm really excited about how well he is responding and his attitude at the moment.  It seems like its all falling back into place at long last!

I wish there had been someone there to capture some video of me riding so I can see if it looks as good as it feels!

The plan next week is to take him to a show jumping training show on Friday and I'm now really looking forward to it :)

5/10/15 - Too good to last!

Things have been going really well lately, Jack seems to have fully recovered from his KS surgery, rehab has gone quite well with just the odd blip but nothing major and Jack been growing in confidence in both himself and in me again.  We have enjoyed lots of nice rides and our schooling has been improving steadily however I have felt that there was still something bothering him.  His back is great and he doesn't appear to be having the SI pain that he had early in his rehab but he is still reluctant at the beginning of a ride, almost every time I ride him he resists going from walk - trot the first time I ask, he just doesn't go forward and stays in walk until I really boot him!  Once we get that first transition out the way he is then ok, also he can still react to the girth being done up, ears back and throwing up his head when it is tightened.  Having pretty much excluded everything else this behaviour is now making me think ulcers are the likely the culprit.  Jack is highly likely to suffer considering his previous management (before I owned him) of being stabled for long period with no food, the pain he has endured with his KS and the stress he has been through with numerous trips to the vets and the surgery then prolonged box rest.  Considering this it would not be a surprise if he has some ulcers and his symptoms fit.  I have discussed with my vet who don't scope themselves and I have 3 options 1) Get a referral to have him scoped by another vet 2) My vets could prescribe gastro-gard based on a presumptive assessment or 3) try treating him with natural remedies and commercially available supplements and see if there is any improvement.  Since I have owned him (4 years) he has lived out 24/7 most of the year and when he is stabled always has access to hay.  He is fed a high fibre diet and is never left for prolonged periods with no access to forage.
There are many products available to treat and prevent stomach ulcers in horses but I prefer to treat naturally where possible and have had good results using spirulina to build muscle and Tumeric to ease arthritis so for now I have decided to treat naturally along with feeding Dengie healthy tummy and adding equus health's Gastro Kalm to his feeds for maintenance.
There are lots of natural products that can help neutralise acid and some which also reduce acid production which is what is needed in the short term to aid healing so my next step is to purchase the ingredients needed and then persuade Jack to digest them!  He can be picky about things in his food so that is likely to be the biggest challenge.
Hopefully with a 2 week course on an acid reducing cocktail his stomach will be healed and I can then manage with healthy tummy and gastro-kalm to prevent further occurrences.
I shall report back if there is any improvement in a couple of weeks and if no improvement is seen then I will have another chat with my vet and reconsider scoping him.

Anyway onto this weeks activities, we started the week with a lunge session over poles which went very well, Jack was well behaved if slightly lazy to start with and he was working over his back and stepping evenly over the poles.  This sort of work is really helping build and strengthen his back end and he seems to enjoy the variety in his work too.  Following this I schooled him on the Tuesday with 3 poles in a straight line at a canter stride apart and raised at alternate ends.  Having warmed up thoroughly with the usual resistance to trot I then walked trotted and cantered over the raised poles, Jack was doing the poles really well in a good balance nice and forward and in a good shape using his back end to skip through the poles neatly and confidently.  I was tempted to turn the raised poles into a little grid of x poles but I resisted as I was so pleased with how he had worked I didn't want to risk spoiling things pushing for too much.  Instead I sat up and picked him up in the canter and was thrilled with how responded coming light and up in his shoulder, bringing his hind legs under and producing the best canter I think we have ever had :) I was so so thrilled with this!  If this is a glimpse of  what he is capable of when he is more confident and stronger then I'm very excited!       
He had a easier day the next day with just a little loose school.
On Thursday we went for a hack with my other half Dan running along side us, we did 4.8 miles of trot and canter along the bridle path and back on the road and Jack felt fit and full of running.
Friday I went out into the stubble field and Jack was much more confident than the previous week, he still has a little think about going into trot the first time but after that he was a lot more forward and we did some good gallops without me having to really kick him to go like I did last time.
I didn't get to ride Saturday as I was very busy and at a wedding in the evening so Jack just got fed an apple of the gate and his rug changed!
Then Sunday afternoon I had the chance to ride with one of the other liveries, this very rarely happens at the moment so I rushed through my other jobs to be able to meet her only to get there, get Jack in and ready to discover she was no longer coming as she had not got my text!  As I was ready to go I made the fateful decision to head out anyway, I didn't think anything of it as we hack alone 99% of the time these days anyway.  As we wandered towards the village I was undecided with route to go but eventually made up my mind to just have a short hack and get back as I still had a lot to do at home.  Jack was behaving and was relaxed and enjoying himself if the lovely sunny weather.  When we got to the bridle path we picked up canter as we always do on the wide grass verge between the tarmac footpath and the canal, we set out at a pretty fast pace but I slowed him down as we approached some people walking on the path, it was a good job I did or what happened next could have been worse as a split second later Jack spooked at something on his right shooting left at high speed towards the tarmac, I knew it wasn't going to end well, there was no way he could stay upright on tarmac at that speed. I tried my best to stop him, put my left leg on and holding him with my left rein but it was too late he hit the tarmac with all 4 hooves going sideways and still in canter. The next thing I knew we were on the floor, me still on board somehow and Jack on his stomach.  I feared the worse, I imagined broken legs and was about to jump off when Jack tried to get up.  I sat as still as possible as he scrambled to his feet shaking.  A family who were walking towards us came to our aid and checked Jacks legs, somehow he had managed to escape without serious injury, he had some pretty deep grazes to both his fetlocks and both stifles but other than that he seems ok I walked him around for a few minutes to check he felt ok and trotted him but he felt fine, he even decided he wanted to canter home!  I think that must have been the adrenaline pumping!
At home I hosed his legs off and washed the grazes with hibiscrub, some of them were pretty deep but they were clean so I plastered wound cream all over them to protect them from the flies and mud before turning him back out. 
When I went back to check on him later and to rug him up he looked fine I just had to leave the leg straps off his rug to stop them rubbing on the sores on his stifles.
I checked on him again this morning and expected him to look a bit stiff or sorry for himself but he walked over to me without a hint of discomfort!
When I brought him in tonight he was keen to come in and was walking on a mission!  There was no heat or swelling and the grazes had dried up and looked healthy and healing.
I decided to give him a little lunge just to see how he was moving and he was slightly stiff, unsurprising really considering he was legs akimbo on the tarmac the day before but to be honest I expected him to be far worse than he was, there was only the slightest stiffness in his near stifle.  I believe getting them moving with gentle stretching and exercise is the best thing so we did some carrot stretches and a bit of in hand in the school to help loosen him off.  I can't quite believe how well he has come out of a potential disastrous accident!  
So I will now be giving him a bit of an easier time of it until he has been seen by our physio and I can be sure he is recovered from the ordeal. 
Poor Jack!

28/9/15 Back to normal

Back to full health this week I really wanted to crack on and do some good work with Jack having had a very easy time of it last week!

I set out the week with our usual lunge session in the pessoa on Monday including 2 ground poles on opposite sides of the circle, Jack lunged well, he was nice and forward and stepping through behind better than he has been doing.  He was also more even stepping over the poles, in the past he has favoured stepping over the poles with his right lead first which would make sense knowing that he was slightly uncomfortable in the left over his SI when Tamsyn our Physio has been to see him.  This has been getting better as the weeks have gone on and he has improved each time Tamsyn has seen him.  He must be feeling better if he is stepping with the left lead now as before he was very clever at judging his stride to make sure he got there on the right lead so I was really pleased the split was now more 50/50.

Following the success over poles on the lunge on Tuesday I put some poles out in the ménage to ride over and I was really impressed with how Jack felt, I set up 3 poles down one side at trot distance and 2 poles on the opposite side at canter stride distance and then getting a bit carried away a small cross pole on the centre line!  He was awesome, we warmed up then walked the poles first before progressing to trot and canter and then also jumping as he was feeling so good taking me over the poles in good balance and rhythm :)

Wednesday he managed to pull off a front shoe and had the day off but he seemed ok so Thursday I took him for a short hack with some nice canters and he was again very well behaved, I think we have now cracked hacking alone again.

The plan was to go to a show jumping training session on Friday night but with no shoe on one front hoof and child care issues we had to give that a miss (we will be going to the October one instead) and instead decided to utilise the freshly cut stubble field for a bit of fast fitness work, this then got scuppered by the farmer deciding to cut the hedges in the field!

I didn't really want to hack again with no shoe but we headed out and Jack was fine and this time we had the company of my friend Cherry's daughter Jess and her little pony Alfie, Jack wasn't to keen on going slowly so poor Alfie was shattered trying to keep up on legs half the size but we had fun and while Jack and I cantered along the bridle path Alfie and Jess had to go flat out!

Finally on Saturday I got to take Jack into the stubble field!  He was a little unsure to start with on his own and took a while to settle down and listen as the horses in the next field were galloping about but he did calm down and we had lots of fun galloping up and down the field :)

I also went to jump my friend Lucy's pony Jay on Saturday and he was in fine form, Lucy has injured her left arm and Jay has been a little cheeky taking advantage of her weaker side and not working properly so I did some work getting him more supple and soft to the left before jumping him. He loves jumping and we had a lot of fun together

Following this Jack had a easy day Sunday with a bit of ground work over poles and a little loose school.

It's,been a really good week and I'm feeling positive and optamistic about the future now as we grow in confidence with every ride.

He gets shod today so will be able to do more hacking without worrying about his feet again

21/9/15 - A quiet week

Following the excitement of last weeks post about the fun we had on the charity ride this weeks blog is rather boring I'm afraid!

I gave Jack a day off the following exertion of the 12 mile ride but to be honest I don't think he really needed it, he was fresh as a daisy but it did give me the chance to catch up on a few jobs that needed to be done like poo picking the paddock, weeding and tidying up my hay and stable area.

On the Tuesday I clipped him and then gave him a loose school and he was showing no signs of any stiffness or soreness.  I am really enjoying doing more ground work with Jack and he seems to like it too :)

The plan was to get back on a ride on Wednesday evening but in the afternoon I started to feel very ill and by the time my other half got home at 5.30pm I was laid up on the sofa feeling very sick and no way I could ride and this carried on Thursday too.  By Friday afternoon I was feeling up to riding again and thought I would just take Jack for a gentle stroll round the village after work, that was until I got a call from my little boys nursery that he was now ill and needed picking up!  So Jack got another day off in the field and I nursed a poorly boy instead!

I did manage to lunge him a couple of times over the weekend but other than that Jack has had a very easy time of it, hopefully we can get back to normal this week.  The plan is to take him for some show jumping schooling on Friday night

This pic popped up on my facebook time hop this week - Jack as a 4year old at our first competition, how much he's changed!

14/9/15 - Jack is recovered!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged as I have been away sunning myself in Mallorca while Jack has been enjoying a nice break in the field.  If money were no object I would have ideally preferred to send him back to Tim and Isla Bennett of Bennett equine rehabilitation centre for a top up week on their aqua treadmill, unfortunately at the moment money is a rather large object so this couldn't happen.
Of course Jack managed to injure himself while I was off too but luckily it was nothing serious, he must have managed to get his hind hoof caught on something (heaven knows what!) as it was quite badly cut above the pastern and on his heel.  When I returned from holiday the injury was already few days old and hadn't been spotted by my friend who was keeping an eye on him as it was in a pretty inconspicuous area so had not been cleaned or treated so it was weeping and oozing a bit, I gave it a good clean up and after a couple of days it was looking much better.  He wasn't unsound on it so I wasn't too concerned.
I have had some good rides since our little break and Jack has been behaving and working well both hacking and in the school.  I have schooled a couple of times and approached it in a slightly different way.  Rather than worry about getting him long and low and stretching his back at the start of the session I have simply got him moving with no pressure on his mouth at all.  I have walked trotted and cantered on the buckle end in a light seat so he can move freely forward and encouraged him to open up more and get going regardless of the shape he is making as long as he is going forwards.
This seems to be working and he then picks up much better and works better into the bridle and we have had no discussions about the forward transitions which is a big improvement :)
He has also been hacking well and behaving himself when out on our own.

Back in the autumn of last year i was lucky enough to win a photo shoot with my horse thanks to Becci Harrold Eventing and Chrysallis photography, after having to rearrange the shoot a couple of times due to typical British weather we finally got the shoot done this week and had a lot of fun.  Jack wasn't so keen on having a bath in the colder weather we've been having but he scrubbed up well.  I've not seen the edited photos yet but I'm looking forward to going to the studio in the next couple of weeks to pick out the ones I want to have printed and framed for the wall.  I've never done anything like it before but Chris was great and made me feel at ease and Jack helped out looking pretty and pricking up his ears for the pictures, I will post some pics when I've got them.

Every September our local rotary club puts on a charity ride, our yard owner is heavily involved and we have been a number of times in the past.  I was unsure this year about going as a 12 mile ride seemed like a lot after quite a bit of time off lately, I wasn't sure how fit Jack would be and didn't want to give him a bad experience asking him to do something that was going to be too much for him.  After much deliberating I finally made the decision at 8am yesterday morning to go and do the ride with my friend Claire on her cob Rango, they would not be going flat out as he is not built for speed so we could take it quite easy and she was happy not to jump and take the shorter 9mile route if need be.  So at 9am we were down the yard getting the boys ready!  I was a little nervous but excited too!  To be on the safe side I gave Jack a good spray with the instamag instant calmer to help keep him from getting too excited, it is after all a year since he had done anything like it!  In fact the last  time he went anywhere other than the vets or rehab centre was this ride last year!
He loaded up straight away with no fuss or hesitation and we were on our way, it is only about 10minutes to the ride so we were there in no time and tacking up.  The boys where both calm and behaved while we got sorted despite the busy car park and buzzing atmosphere.
The last time we had done the ride the previous year we had been in a group of 4 and the horses were all quite hyped up but this time they seemed calm as we headed down to the start.  We were joined by 2 others from the yard so we set off as a group of 4 but soon split back up as we were going faster then  they wanted to go.  All was going well and Jack was behaving despite there being lots of other horses in front and behind, that was until a group of 3 behind us decided they would like to over take and canter off in front.  That was too much for poor Jack and he spent a lot of time snorting, stamping his foot and dancing about but bless him he never did anything wrong although it was obvious he was upset and really wanted to go!  we held back until we had got a good gap between ourselves and the ones in front and behind and then had a trot and canter to try to settle Jack back down.  He jogged most of the way round but managed to behave!
When we came to the first real open field we had a good gallop up the hill where there were 2 small xc fences at the top.  I had pretty much decided I wouldn't jump as had no dependable lead horse and no whip (claire def wasn't jumping) and I didn't want to put myself or Jack under any pressure, however to my delight Jack spotted the jumps and just took me to them jumping them beautifully.  I was over the moon, he felt amazing!  After that we didnt look back with lots of canters and gallops and Jack and i jumping all the fences on the way round the ride full of enthusiasm and confidence, we had such a good time and even gave others a lead he was flying and feeling so good :)
We finished the 12 miles still galloping with more in the tank!  It was a wonderful feeling and I was grinning from ear to ear!  Jack is obviously fitter then I realised!
What a great decision it had been to go along, I can now confidently say Jack is physically recovered from his kissing spine surgery!!
For the first time since all his problems started I can actually imagine us back out eventing again next season - woohoo!!!

 

Recovery week 29 - 24/8/15

Wahay another good week under our belt :) this is becoming a habit I could very happily get used to!
Jack is still not forward when we start and takes a bit of time and encouragement to get going and working properly but the ability is there and bad behaviour isn't so I'm not worried at the moment although I am considering whether something like a massage pad on before being ridden to warm his back muscles up might help, I will discuss this with Tamsyn our physio when she comes later this week to give him a check up.
I started the week with our usual lunge in pessoa and I worked him hard getting him to really open up and move forwards hoping to give him the confidence to do the same under saddle.
On the Tuesday the weather was windy and we had no one to hack with, the big field is now out of bounds as the cows have arrived so I decided to tackle a bit of schooling in the ménage for the first time in a couple of months.
I gave him a good warm up in walk doing lots of stretching and long and low and lateral before picking up trot.  Jack had other ideas and felt that he would rather just keep walking thanks very much!  So after a little discussion we were trotting, it was slow and behind the leg but he was going at least!  We did a few more trot walk trot transitions and then he brightened up and started to work properly.  A spook at the bottom of the school resulted in us picking up canter and as he was feeling happy and forwards I sat and allowed the canter to continue.  I then changed the rein and asked for canter the other way and got it without any hesitation :) after that he felt so much better and was giving me some really nice work! I then did some figures of 8 in canter changing leg through trot over x and he was just awesome coming back easily and then picking up the correct lead everytime with no issues and not the slightest hint of hesitation.  Thrilled was an understatement!  I was grinning from ear to ear as I cooled him down :) I wasn't sure what to expect but he surpassed any expectation I had!
On Thursday I took him for a hack and we did the longest solo hack we have done since his operation.  We went all the way to the end of the bridle path and back, about 4 miles in total, mostly trotting and cantering with a bit of walk where the ground was a bit deep and sticky.  Jack tired towards the end but we had a lot of fun and he behaved beautifully all the way even through the roadworks with lots of spooky signs, cones, barriers and tape to look at.  Another good day :)
Friday is always a bit of a rush so we just did the shorter hack that day, again on our own, going solo doesn't seems to be an issue at all now and again we had a lovely relaxed hack finishing with a lovely canter all the way back on the bridle path, Jack is obviously feeling fitter as he was keen and pulling all the way and still bright as a button when we got home.
I had to ride alone again on Saturday and didn't fancy another hack on the same route so with a free paddock I decided to try schooling out in the field to see if he felt any different.  It was very very warm and the ground was pretty hard so I was planning on sticking to walk and trot. Also the paddock that was free is not flat and contains a public foot path so I took things steady.  Jack felt lethargic and his walk was very flat and sluggish so I tried to liven him up a bit which he didn't appreciate, he didn't do anything wrong just stopped dead and refused to move at anything other than the pace he was happy with!  When I insisted he did give me some better work but he was hard work and didn't feel like he wanted to do it much at all so I didn't do too much.
There could be a number of reasons, lower energy levels due to poor grass, the heat, the hard ground, being away from all the other horses etc.
I will have a discussion with Tamsyn about it all when she comes next week and see if she can identify any issues or provide any advice on it.
Hopefully there is nothing too worry about and he certainly doesn't appear to be in pain or unsound.
The issues with his near hind have disappeared completely.
Fingers crossed he is back to feeling on form after a holiday as we go away for 8 days at the end of the week and he will be chilling in the field for the duration which I think will do him good.

Recovery week 28 - 17/8/15

It's been a pretty quiet week for Jack as I have been away on a little family holiday since the early hours of Thursday morning and so I don't have an awful lot to update!
He has been ticking over nicely lately and I'm still really pleased with his progress of late despite the ups and downs. 
The biggest and most pleasing progress is the change in his attitude and confidence which is continuing to build all the time.  I think he is beginning to believe in himself and me again and realise its not going to hurt him anymore.  He is still a little hesitant at first sometimes but with a bit of gentle persuasion and patience he soon begins to work at his full ability.  I'm hoping given more time that early hesitation and uncertainty that he still has when I first start working him will disappear completely.
I worked him on the pessoa on Monday and took him for a nice long hack with my friend Jo on her lovely boy Toby Tuesday before a manic Wednesday which involved having to leave work early to pick up my poorly little boy from nursery whilst attempting to get all the work I needed done and pack the car etc ready for a 5pm depart the next morning!  Poor Jack got a quick glance over in the field and a carrot before I had to dash off - not the nice hack I had planned but, best laid plans and all that!
He has been in the field since then and been kept and eye on by the girls I share the field with, Jo and Claire.  They report he has been fine but slightly mift at not being brought in every day for a bit of attention and food - I hope to rectify that tonight!
We have a slightly more normal week this week so I should be able to work him well before I go away again for our main family holiday at the end of the month.  Before then we have a bit of XC schooling planned at our local course with my friend Jo and Toby to give us a good lead ( as long as the ground is good!) and we are going to box them up and take them to a local all weather gallops for a good blast too.  He is also going to been treated by Tamsyn our fab physio again just before I go too so it will be interesting to see the difference a bit of time off has had on him. 
I have not seen him yet as we didn't get home until almost midnight last night and was running rather late for work this morning so I wont see him until after work tonight.  Hopefully there will be some improvement in the lump under his off hock and he has not managed to damage himself in any other way while I've been away!!
The plan will be to lunge him tonight and see how he is.
I also finally got paid by my insurance co for Jacks stay at Bennetts rehab centre for Hydrotherapy back in March!  They deducted an awful lot more than I was expecting but at least I have been able to clear my vet fees at last and no longer have debts hanging over me!
I am now in the process of putting together a big complaint to E and L for their appalling customer service and processing of my claim.
I do not hold out and awful lot of hope in resolving the issues or getting an sort of compensation although I am confident I am owed some after their catalogue of errors, suffice to say when my renewal comes through I will be changing to an alternative provider - I've already been in touch with a few and decided who I'm changing to.
I will never deal with E and L again and strongly advise against anyone insuring anything with them after the troubles I have had - the slightly cheaper premiums are simply not worth the agony you have to go through when you need to claim!
Obviously there will be a fair bit of him that is not insurable now :(