Cellulitis

Sitting at work at the beginning of an eight-hour shift on a Saturday morning, I definitely wasn’t expecting any news from the barn. But I got some, Stryker’s hind right leg was swollen. UGH! I had just gotten done dealing with the vet that Thursday because he’dbeen off and on lame on his front feet. Luckily the front-end problem was an easy fix, thin soles. However, the hind leg would not be such an easy fix. I rushed out to the barn after work, and came to find Stryker’s leg was definitely swollen. Not just a little stocked up, like, his leg was close to twice the size of his other hind leg. So many things were going through my mind, “He got bitten by something, he hurt it in his stall overnight, he hurt it yesterday in the pasture, he couldn’t have broken it…. He’s putting weight on it, which means it can’t be broken… right?”

Not Strykers leg, but he had similar swelling. 

He was obviously stiff on the leg, but he was putting weight on it. What worried me most was that he didn’t want to bend his hock; instead he was trying to swing the leg around to walk on it. I took him into the wash rack and ran my hands up and down the leg. The swelling began around his stifle area and went all the way down the leg, and where there was swelling, there was heat, lots of heat. The hottest area was centralized right around his hock, where he did have a small (small as in tiny) hock sore. I cold hosed the leg and called the vet. After describing Stryker’s situation the vet immediately came up with Cellulitis. Now, I for one had no clue what Cellulitis was, the vet (who seemed unalarmed by the whole thing) recited how I should care for it and set up a prescription for him. I hung up the phone, at ease since the vet didn’t seem to be worried, and immediately googled Cellulitis. In the simplest terms, Cellulitis is an infection of the subcutaneoustissue (tissue just beneath the skin). Often Cellulitis causes swelling, heat and tenderness in the affected limb, and once contracted, the horse can be more susceptible to the infection in the future *face palm*.

So, the route I chose to care for the leg was rather simple, just time consuming. In the beginning when the leg was at its worst, I gave him a dose of UlcerGard every day, and supplemented with Bute on the bad days. Everyday would cold hose the leg for about 10-15 minutes and wash the leg with something similar to Betadine, hand walk him,medicate his small cut, and poultice the entire leg. Although most say to wrap poultice with standing wraps over the quilts, I wrapped with vetrap. DON’T WORRY, I was very careful to not tourniquet my horse’s leg. You may think it is impossible to turn a horse out with a fully wrapped leg (yes including the hock) but you, my friend, are incorrect. I didn’t want Stryker standing in his stall, I couldn’t imagine how stiff the leg would get with no movement, so we put him out in a small paddock with a buddy, and I had no problems with the wrap. By the way, I spent 6 months in Florida, and I really thought I was good at wrapping, but let me tell you, wrapping a wounded leg from top to bottom every day for 3 weeks really brings out the inner wrapping-queen that’s in us all. Anyway, like I said, I wrapped everything that was hot after cold hosing. So the whole leg was wrapped for about 1 ½ weeks, and then it was just the hock plus directly above and below it for about a week and then the hock was wrapped by itself for another week and a half. Then I took the chance and let the leg go. About every other day I would throw some poultice on for a night with no wrap. But all in all, the leg was feelingnormal. Except, of course, for a small rash he got because of all the wrapping. That was an easy fix though; clean the leg, dry the leg, medicate as needed.

Wrapping in action. 

Now it was time to try to get back to work. I had been hand walking him and there was no lameness in the walk, some occasional stiffness, but nothing that really worried me. So, it was time to trot. I took him out on the lunge and on day 1, he was lame when going left with the bad leg on the outside, but with the leg on the inside he was fine. I gave him a few days and he looked stiff going left but no limp. Another few days later and I pushed him in the trot and saw nothing at all, he practically told me he was feeling better with the upright tail, snorting and prancing (definitely a sight for sore eyes). Today, another week later, he is back to work on the lunge with side reins. At this point I’m focusing just on forward, stretching and obedience. Yes, he still has an attitude. I plan to get on in a few days and get him back to work to rebuild and get back to where we were with his training. Unfortunately, I missed the schooling show in September, but I’ll be able to make it to a clinic at the end of November, which is when you can expect another post.

Oh yeah, I'm home!

Well this is a bit overdue, but I'm home!
It's actually been just about a month since I've returned home and I'm finally starting to get into a routine. It was just as much of a shock coming back home as it was leaving, and I actually have felt a little homesick for Florida. Don't ask me what it is about the early mornings, 12 hour days, Florida heat and non-stop labor, but I really did enjoy it. I think it was because I didn't have to try to enjoy it, I mean yes, cleaning multiple stalls at the crack of dawn is not my idea of fun, but spending everyday around beautiful horses, talented riders and in the midst of friends who understood my love of the farm brought me peace.
At the same time, it is so wonderful to be home. I missed my family so much, and I got home just in time for my baby nephew Noah to be born. It feels good to be able to take a weekend and spend time with my family out at my parent's farm, or to drive to Denver to spend a weekend with my big sister. I did miss the freedom I have here at home, but I can feel myself not being as disciplined, which annoys me. Right now I am finally starting to settle into a routine of riding 5 days a week, and I've started taking lessons from a really great local trainer. The boys seem happy to be home, they both have gained a bit of weight since leaving, which they needed and I think the quality of my riding has remained like it was in Florida. I have tried to make myself wake up early most days, because while in Florida I really appreciated how much of the day I got when I woke up at 6:30. To be honest I have compromised slightly, and have been rising around 9:30, but hey it's summer vacation! 
In other news, I have this terrible habit of obsessively tracking the Job Search page on Yard and Groom looking for opportunities. Then I find one and realize that it's too soon to commit to something again. I am already enrolled for the Fall semester and if I take on a different position it would be more long term (and preferably by the ocean!).
That's all for now, I'm taking it day by day, just doing what I know, which is caring for my horses and keeping myself busy one way or another. I will try and update again soon, I want to keep this blog as a sort of training journal, so that I can look back and know how I have ridden in the past. 

Cold Weather, Clipping and Riding!

     Stryker has been bundled up to his nose, he is now the hairless pumpkin. It may be a typically indecisive Kansas winter here in the midwest, but it looks like its been sunny, warm and humid in Florida so I clipped last week. I decided to wait on clipping his legs and face because last week it was a whopping 16 degrees out (not including wind chill). This week is much better for him, in the 60's and sunny. When I first finished clipping I stood back and could have slapped myself I thought he looked so horrible. After taking off his blanket on Saturday, however, the clipper tracks all seem to have smoothed out and it turns out that I did a damn good job!

Before: At his fluffiest

After

     I still haven't heard about whether or not Galaxy is coming with me to Florida. It depends on two things, can my parents afford to ship two horses to Florida and back, and can the Poulin's spare another stall for him.

     As far as riding has gone, OMG breakthroughs! It's like we've hit the reset button on my boys. The way I'm approaching picking up the reins and putting contact on the bit is completely different. With Stryker I have a horrible habit of falling into his traps and succumbing to fighting with him. He gets me forgetting about his hind end and then 10 minutes later I'm staring at his head with a backward hand and tight shoulders. What I've been doing recently (with Stryker) is picking the reins up so that there is no contact, but the reins aren't completely loose. From there on out, it is the horses responsibility to seek out the contact on the rein. I only make sure that the hind end keeps moving and that the front end isn't out running it. Now don't get me wrong, this is some tedious work. I have been working on this for the past three weeks, and I am still spending about 10-15 minutes at the beginning of my ride simply reestablishing my point. What do they say, it takes 6 weeks of consistent work to make it a habit for a horse? I don't know, maybe I'm making that up. However, it's yielding great results, Stryker is giving me this cadence in the trot unlike anything I've ever ridden, and his self carriage looks and feels effortless.
     With Galaxy I have a slightly different approach, I have to keep him on a much shorter rein and do need to take the contact sometimes (primarily on the outside rein) and he is much more apprehensive about really lifting his shoulders and working his hind end, but he is responding and he will get stronger so that it's easier. Galaxy is older and him and I have a much stronger history, which is beneficial most days. However, we also have much older habits and trust me when I say, this horse would rather walk around with his neck inverted and back dropped like some kind of llama then use his hind end. He doesn't give in as easily as Stryker and that's because of our history, we have learned to work with each other in a way where we have compromised things and have negotiated what I will let him get away with and what he will let me get away with. Now, he is a wonderful horse, often described as a "worker bee," but he is also smaller and not built as well as these Warmbloods you see born climbing an imaginary ladder, so dressage is hard for him. With this new approach though, he is accepting this new level of harder work since I am giving him more freedom in the front but also applying more pressure on his hind end.
     It's amazing how quickly horses will respond when they understand the question, and when it is a fair request. I think that may be the most important thing to think about when riding a horse. You must know what you want from the horse, otherwise there is no hope for the horse to understand what you want. There will be no progress made and in most cases I feel that I fall backwards in my progression when I don't have a clear and focused idea of what I want to be doing and achieving in a ride. One of the most important things I've learned while riding Dressage is that if you are having a bad day and you feel rushed and flustered and you're frustrated and anxious before even getting on your horse, then don't. Either go on a trail ride or just bring your horses into the barn and groom them and give them some treats then put them back out, quality over quantity. I find it very important to always  remind myself that I am the thinking part of the relationship, so it's up to me to make decisions based on the health and happiness of both me and the horse.
That's all for now.

xoxo,
Caitlin