A vet who is also a rolfer (as I understand a rofler is someone who manipulates deep tissue) came to our barn today, thanks to Kirsten. He was running a teaching session for 6 trainees and Tetley and Flash were the lucky patients. Tetley was extremely well behaved. It must have felt good or he would not have stood still for one and a half hours! Because of his wound I can't ride and though he is willing to trot - I have even seen him canter in the field - he is not sound, probably just because the wound itself hurts. A month ago I cut my thumb deeply and it was ten or more days before it stopped oozing blood, more days than that before it didn't hurt. Anyway I could not lunge or ride to see if he felt different but Kirsten swears by this guy. At half price I thought it worth a try.
Then Suzie, our British saddle maker/fitter, checked Tetley out. By the end we were hugging each other and exclaiming great praise for our special Tetley. In just a year he has almost evened out his back. He was even last visit in front but now he has put on some muscle, still it's even! In back he is only 0.5 cm different so we don't need the shim anymore! Pretty exciting that he can change his shape at 15. Fitting the saddle to him, and changing it as he changes is probably the biggest help but I have also done some PT, some acupuncture and then we had his hocks and SI injected. He was very pleased with himself today!
I will set up a vet visit for Wed, hoping to get his stitches out.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Six Days To Go
Most days I have turned Tetley out but this morning the ditches had water in them. I have seen Tetley stand in water many times so I hand grazed him, turned him out for about half an hour then brought him in. With the wound not fully healed I can't chance him standing in dirty water. Luckily Zhivago is still in from his wound so at least he has company of sorts.
I will change the bandage today, for the last time. Saturday I am taking part in a rolfing clinic, then Suzie will come to check saddle fit. Both of these things I can do with him still being bandaged. Stitches come out in six days. I will ride him easy for a few days then I might have a lesson the Saturday after that from a new person, Dolly Hannon, a dressage judge, so that will be interesting.
I will change the bandage today, for the last time. Saturday I am taking part in a rolfing clinic, then Suzie will come to check saddle fit. Both of these things I can do with him still being bandaged. Stitches come out in six days. I will ride him easy for a few days then I might have a lesson the Saturday after that from a new person, Dolly Hannon, a dressage judge, so that will be interesting.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Speedy Recovery
Tetley is doing very well! I turned him out today after the excitement of first being turned out died down for all the other horses. I watched him for a while. He has a pattern of a bit of exploring, then the mutual back scratching, then rolling, then grazing. There was a lot of back scratching today. He is so social! There is a bit of water in the ditches plus there is always the possibility of him galloping around but today was 88, too hot to do much in the way of high energy activities. So I left him for almost the whole time in the field. I know he appreciated it! Even if he got the bandaging wet I knew I was going to change the bandage today anyway so I wasn't too worried. I got him just thirty minutes before his normal coming in time to avoid any hanky panky. These days he runs to me when he sees me! I don't know what that is all about but it's so convenient as by the time I get to the gate he is there too. I changed his bandage. He stood still as a rock for me. The wound looks better. It's still kind of gross but definitely improving. He is not lame at all and I can't wait to ride again! There are some interesting things coming up at our barn that we can be part of this summer so I am excited.
Friday, May 25, 2012
2 Week Delay
I was just getting ready to go to the barn Wednesday morning when Ismael called and said that Tetley had cut his foot. So I hustled out and had a look. Tetley was a very good boy and let me swab it out with betadine. I had enough of a look to know that I should call the vet. I called a different one this time, closer, with three people in the practice. Christy came out within half an hour and did an excellent job stitching up a rather rough edge. So he is on antibiotics and bute with several bandage changes in the near future, first one tomorrow. I am sure he will be good and stand relatively still for me while I try and do the same neat bandaging job that Christy did. 14 days total for the stitches to stay in.
The weirdest thing is that the horse immediately next door, Zhivago, did exactly the same thing four days before. We think we know what they did it on - a long bolt extending in the plane of the pipe fencing around their runs. The bolt fastens the gate to the fence. It's pretty tricky getting a big foot in there to injure it but they are very good at things like that, as you know. I taped mine up with electrical tape until I have a better idea - maybe tight dense foam or rubber covering the rough end. Oh well, at least we could stitch the cut and I am on semester break and we got to the show before! I go out three times a day to walk and graze him. Today I turned him out in the field, after all the horses settled down. The main issue out there is water. The ditch is flowing and Tetley should not get the bandaging wet. Of course, in this semi-arid climate we live in, we had a downpour the other night but I had just raked and leveled his run so there were not puddles in the morning. Lucky! Today I walked him out to the horses so he would not feel the need to run and we were well past the ditch with its temptation. He was so happy, first he and Finn scratched each other's backs and then Tetley rolled and rolled and rolled. I saw him go over three times. I left him for about 15 minutes grazing peacefully then I brought him in. He was puzzled but a carrot helped ease the disappointment of being brought in so soon.
Kathleen did come out today to give a lesson to other women. Knowing that she was coming I brought my test sheet with comments and scores and she had a look. She knows the judge, in fact they trained for "L" judge together. Kathleen said that she was always getting in trouble for scoring too hard. But I told Kathleen that I didn't mind the tough scoring at all, that I want a realistic assessment of our performance. This all might be true about the judge but Kathleen is so nice she would say that anyway.
The weirdest thing is that the horse immediately next door, Zhivago, did exactly the same thing four days before. We think we know what they did it on - a long bolt extending in the plane of the pipe fencing around their runs. The bolt fastens the gate to the fence. It's pretty tricky getting a big foot in there to injure it but they are very good at things like that, as you know. I taped mine up with electrical tape until I have a better idea - maybe tight dense foam or rubber covering the rough end. Oh well, at least we could stitch the cut and I am on semester break and we got to the show before! I go out three times a day to walk and graze him. Today I turned him out in the field, after all the horses settled down. The main issue out there is water. The ditch is flowing and Tetley should not get the bandaging wet. Of course, in this semi-arid climate we live in, we had a downpour the other night but I had just raked and leveled his run so there were not puddles in the morning. Lucky! Today I walked him out to the horses so he would not feel the need to run and we were well past the ditch with its temptation. He was so happy, first he and Finn scratched each other's backs and then Tetley rolled and rolled and rolled. I saw him go over three times. I left him for about 15 minutes grazing peacefully then I brought him in. He was puzzled but a carrot helped ease the disappointment of being brought in so soon.
Kathleen did come out today to give a lesson to other women. Knowing that she was coming I brought my test sheet with comments and scores and she had a look. She knows the judge, in fact they trained for "L" judge together. Kathleen said that she was always getting in trouble for scoring too hard. But I told Kathleen that I didn't mind the tough scoring at all, that I want a realistic assessment of our performance. This all might be true about the judge but Kathleen is so nice she would say that anyway.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Back to Work
Tetley enjoyed a well-deserved day off yesterday but it was back to work today. First thing this morning I rode him, along with my friend Tracy on Parome. Although it is a hot day, (90 now) we had cloud cover in the morning which made for perfect riding conditions. Having seen the movie of my show tests and skimmed the comments (I need to study them) I asked more of Tetley today. What I actually asked more of was free walk and stretchy trot. Those are movements that I know he can do well, gain points on, and not strain his hocks. His left lead canter feels very good to me right now. Right lead not as good but passable. Leg yield feels much easier than before but still the leg yield to the right is easier for him than the one to the left. As you see, I am picking apart the tests into movements or sequences of movement that need improvement.
I actually have a lesson on Friday with Kathleen, who taught us last winter and before. I will show her my score sheet and comments from my second test and see how she can help me improve the movements.
I also called the saddle fitter today. In a week or two she will come down and check Tetley's saddle again.
More on the comments on my test tomorrow.
I actually have a lesson on Friday with Kathleen, who taught us last winter and before. I will show her my score sheet and comments from my second test and see how she can help me improve the movements.
I also called the saddle fitter today. In a week or two she will come down and check Tetley's saddle again.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
1st and 2nd!
Amazing day we had. It started with taking Dave to the bus at 5 am. Not a bad plan actually as it easily got me to the barn by 6:30 after breakfast and a few chores, mostly horse related.
I braided Tetley's mane! It didn't take long to get the hang of it. He was patient, though he kept backing up so he could interact with me more. When I was standing in front braiding his forelock he had his big nose right in the waist pack where I had all my supplies - big help that was. I had put most of my tack and supplies into the trailer last night so there wasn't much to do there.
Then it was back home, pack a few more things, then Gus and I went to get the truck. Although it was Sunday morning there were 6 people ahead of me in a very slow moving line - not exactly a relaxing experience. Eventually we got the truck and drove back to the barn. We hooked it up and loaded Tetley and then drove to the show, about half an hour down the road.
Although Tetley had never been there he was very well behaved, not exactly relaxed but obedient as always. We warmed up and rode our first test. We are never relaxed for our first test and our score of 53.3% reflected that. However, we managed to get first, out of three. The next test, about an hour later was much better. We felt more connected and precise and our score was much better, 62.4%, only 0.5% off the winner for second place. Gus filmed us and I can see that we have a lot more work to do. We need to work on "acceptance of the bridle" and "engagement of the hindquarters". Still, this was our first real show and my scores and placement show that we are not far off.
I braided Tetley's mane! It didn't take long to get the hang of it. He was patient, though he kept backing up so he could interact with me more. When I was standing in front braiding his forelock he had his big nose right in the waist pack where I had all my supplies - big help that was. I had put most of my tack and supplies into the trailer last night so there wasn't much to do there.
Then it was back home, pack a few more things, then Gus and I went to get the truck. Although it was Sunday morning there were 6 people ahead of me in a very slow moving line - not exactly a relaxing experience. Eventually we got the truck and drove back to the barn. We hooked it up and loaded Tetley and then drove to the show, about half an hour down the road.
Although Tetley had never been there he was very well behaved, not exactly relaxed but obedient as always. We warmed up and rode our first test. We are never relaxed for our first test and our score of 53.3% reflected that. However, we managed to get first, out of three. The next test, about an hour later was much better. We felt more connected and precise and our score was much better, 62.4%, only 0.5% off the winner for second place. Gus filmed us and I can see that we have a lot more work to do. We need to work on "acceptance of the bridle" and "engagement of the hindquarters". Still, this was our first real show and my scores and placement show that we are not far off.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Twas the Night Before...
the horse show, and all through the house, preparations were evident for travel and show.
Dave leaves tomorrow morning around 5 for Japan so he had to get ready today. Both boys are here so there was lots of activity relating to VW bus repair, motorcycle repair, bicycle repair, guitar and ukelele playing and, of course, eating. I spent the morning at the barn, riding and generally getting things ready. Upon arriving home, thoughts of a nap were uppermost in my mind but I successfully resisted and instead got to work cooking the second rhubarb pie of the season, along with a tasty sauce for refried sweet potatoes.
I excavated and found my old boots. While they do have holes in them and some of the eyelets are ripped out they really don't look that bad and are fairly comfortable. So I rode in them today just to get used to them again. Tracy lent me a tie and pin, Karen lent me a shirt... This is not a one man affair.
Dave leaves tomorrow morning around 5 for Japan so he had to get ready today. Both boys are here so there was lots of activity relating to VW bus repair, motorcycle repair, bicycle repair, guitar and ukelele playing and, of course, eating. I spent the morning at the barn, riding and generally getting things ready. Upon arriving home, thoughts of a nap were uppermost in my mind but I successfully resisted and instead got to work cooking the second rhubarb pie of the season, along with a tasty sauce for refried sweet potatoes.
I excavated and found my old boots. While they do have holes in them and some of the eyelets are ripped out they really don't look that bad and are fairly comfortable. So I rode in them today just to get used to them again. Tracy lent me a tie and pin, Karen lent me a shirt... This is not a one man affair.
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