Oh my goodness. Where to begin. There
is about five blog posts I want to write but I don't have time so
this will be a 'quick' overview. Side note, on the non horse front I
am changing jobs. I am going back to work as a graphic designer, what
I used to do before kids. I started some training from home and on
call work the beginning of August and in September I will close my
daycare and work full time as a designer. This means I am super busy
right now. Now back to the important stuff...
After our trip to WSU in June, Bunny
and I got to work with our rehab program. She looked better and
better. I would email the vet videos each week and she agreed, she
saw lots of improvement. Before I went to camp she commented that she
saw a lot of impulsion in Bunny's stride and that was great to see in
a horse with an old back injury like Bunny is dealing with. She said
sometimes it took those kind of horses a long time to see that much
improvement.
Rehab consists of exercise six days a
week. Working on a lunge line at a walk and trot, focusing on getting
her to stretch down and engage her back. About an hour of work and
then stretching three times a day. Later we moved her into working in
polo wraps, not on her legs. You attach them to the bit, run them
between her front legs and tie them up on her withers. She loves that
since she is a horse that likes connection that worked great for her.
She stretches into the polo wraps well. I'll get a picture when I
have a minute.
About three weeks into Bunny's rehab I
went to camp for just over a week. I felt like I needed to go to
camp. I had agreed to do it a long time ago and it's a ministry I
really believe in. But I wanted to keep up with Bunny's rehab work.
Bless her heart, my friend Kandi did all of Bunny's workouts while I
was gone. She came and worked with me several times before I left to
learn what I was doing and get the hang of it.
During those sessions I learned
something. It's a whole different view from the outside of the
circle. Obvious but easy to forget. I saw things I never noticed when
I watched Kandi work her.
Kandi said that all the work outs went
great while I was gone. Consistent progress the entire time. Bunny
had that Saturday off, I got home Sunday and the vet from WSU visited
Sunday to check her progress. Well I don't know what she did but
sometime between Friday when Kandi worked her and Sunday afternoon
she messed herself up. Her left hip was so sore she didn't want you
to stretch it all all. That was normally the side she was better on.
She was sore just to touch it and she was not sound on it at all at
the trot . And that was her good side...
To say I was bummed out would be a big
understatement. The vet pointed out all the areas she saw improvement
in, which was pretty much everything else but boy was that hip sore.
The vet said if she had continued to look like she did in the videos
she would have had me start riding her. Now because of the hip we
needed to just walk, cut way back on the time and see how long it
took to get better.
Talk about discouraging...
The next weekend Kandi and I crewed at
Tevis. Boy was that awesome, that's one of the other blog posts I
want to write. Everyone agreed Bunny could use a few days off while I
was gone.
My friend Kandi and I at the finish line at Tevis. So cool!
When I got back she looked better so I
added back a bit of trot. I also scheduled another visit to WSU. The
following week she didn't look as good, my guess was overdoing it on
that hip.
So back to WSU. The verdict, everything
was improved, a lot. But the hip was still a problem. What on earth
did that horse do? She is only in her little paddock, no turn out
time. Sigh...
The vet tried to keep reminding me of
all the other areas that showed vast improvement. She had regained
flexibility every where. The vet could see improvement in the joints
themselves when she took a look via ultra sound. Bunny was more
comfortable in her stride, had nice self carriage again. She was much
more even in her stride. You could tell she felt better. Her topline
looked so much better and she was willing to eat more, she had gained
64lbs in 6 weeks!
So another round of injections. This
time in her back, hip and neck. And after a few days to recover, back
to walking for two weeks and then we will decide if that hip has
healed enough to go back to trot work.
The vet also took a close look at her
and palpated rectally to make sure the injury to the left hip was not
more significant. It wasn't so that's good. She apparently just
pulled a muscle and made herself really sore.
When I asked the vet about returning to
endurance next season, looking to do at least 50 mile rides she
didn't hesitate, she said, “Yes, she thought that was a very
realistic goal”. That's good! I really want to ride more miles with
this horse.
This whole Bunny being laid up thing
has been super tough for me. I didn't realize how much of a stress
outlet and a source of enjoyment my endurance time had become. With
it gone I kind of feel like I have no goals in life any more. I know
that's silly. I have more to my life then endurance. I have good
friends, a wonderful husband, two great kids and lots more but at
the end of the day it is still a HUGE loss for me. I had big plans
for this season. Bunny was just getting better and better as an
endurance horse! I was looking forward to riding the national
championships with her, possibly Tevis next year. Now everything for
this year is off the table and next year is a bit question mark.
If there is one thing I have learned
from this whole ordeal it is the importance of watching your horse
move on a regular basis. On the lunge line is a great way to do this.
I used to make this a priority and worked Bunny on a lunge line at
least once a week. Somewhere around last summer I quite doing this.
I'm not sure why. I started doing other things with her and that
slipped. When I started to realize something wasn't quite right with
her I focused on the digestive end of things and didn't really watch
her from the ground. That was a mistake.
Bunny is a hard worker. When I watched
her at WSU I was floored. How could she look so bad on the lunge line
and still feel good under saddle, often fantastic. I think the key
was that she wanted to go, so she just kept doing it. Her motivation
on the lunge line is different, she doesn't try so hard, she just is
and boy could you see a difference.
So my advice, take time each week to
really watch and analyze how your horse is moving. It doesn't have to
be a huge amount of time but do it. As you do this you can also spot
weaknesses and start to work on those hopefully heading problems off
before they start. Once in a while have a friend work your horse and
you watch from the outside, then you will see things from a different
perspective.
Someone asked me if I regretted getting
an ex-race horse who has turned out to have chronic issue from her
racing days. My answer is NO!
When I got Bunny I was a different
rider then I am today. I thought I could ride 50 miles but that
seemed like a long ways. Bunny has given me wings. She allowed me to
dream beyond what I thought would be possible for me at this stage in
life, given my limited resources and limed time. She has not only
allowed me to dream big but to realize those dreams. I owe her so
much. I am a better rider and a tougher person because of her. She
has made me brave.
So I am trying to keep my head up. To
enjoy the time I spend with her each day and to hope and dream that
we will get to hit the trails again because when that girl is on she
is nothing short of phenomenal.
See you on the trail in 2017!
