Yesterday as I was riding (we in Massachusetts had Monday off for Patriot’s Day) a dad and his two daughters stopped by the barn.
The older girl was about ten or eleven, and the younger was maybe three. The dad spoke with an accent (maybe Latino?) and said he had taken his daughters out into the country to look at animals. He said it is no good to bring up children inside the house all the time; that they need to get out and have contact with animals and the outdoors.
They patted Champagne, were very interested in everything about him, and had lots of questions: Did I own him? Did I own all the horses in the barn? Who did own all the other horses? Where could someone go to rent horses? What kind of horse is he? On and on. I gave them a carrot chunk to feed him, which was a big hit.
They asked if they could go over to the paddocks to see the other horses, and I said sure. So they wandered down and patted Thor and Neils, who were very glad to get some people time. Thor’s owner Mary came out and gave them a carrot to feed Thor, and they spent maybe half an hour soaking up horseness.
Meanwhile I finished my ride and went on a walk around the property perimeter to cool off. I met up with them as they were leaving. I asked the older girl if she’d like a pony ride. Oh, my, is that even a question? She asked her dad for permission, and he said it was OK since I had offered. So good, patient Champagne walked around the ring a couple of times with the girl on board, and the Dad snapping photos right and left. Then he asked if the little one could ride Champagne, just for a photo. Sure.
By the time they left they were just glowing, and the dad said their mother would be amazed when they told her of the adventure and showed her the photos.
I know what ecstasy such an event would have been for me at that age and I’m pretty sure the girls will remember that outing for a long time. I think sharing Champagne with others is pretty much as much fun as riding myself. If I weren’t so over scheduled, I’d love to volunteer at one of those therapeutic riding places. That really calls to me as a way to give back for my great good fortune in owning and loving Champagne.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Good for man and beast
I was reading the April Aging Well e-newsletter like a good little gerontologist, which was talking about probiotics. I was surprised to read this:
For many, the first encounter with probiotics occurred with Jamie Lee Curtis advertising Activia yogurt. She outlined how this yogurt has eased some digestive concerns related to irregularity. But my introduction to probiotics was slightly different. My epiphany occurred when my 18-year-old horse began losing weight and appeared out of sorts. Over the years, he’s been on and off an anti-inflammatory medication for an old knee injury and various antibiotics for other unrelated injuries. A veterinary technician suggested a probiotic supplement to help him regain healthy bacteria in his gut. After adding it to his diet, the supplement helped my aging equine.
This is from “Probiotics — Gut Reactions” By Jennifer Mellace, in Aging Well Vol. 2 No. 2 P. 12, available on line at http://www.agingwellmag.com/030209p12.shtml
Maybe this can help more older horses who are failing to thrive!
For many, the first encounter with probiotics occurred with Jamie Lee Curtis advertising Activia yogurt. She outlined how this yogurt has eased some digestive concerns related to irregularity. But my introduction to probiotics was slightly different. My epiphany occurred when my 18-year-old horse began losing weight and appeared out of sorts. Over the years, he’s been on and off an anti-inflammatory medication for an old knee injury and various antibiotics for other unrelated injuries. A veterinary technician suggested a probiotic supplement to help him regain healthy bacteria in his gut. After adding it to his diet, the supplement helped my aging equine.
This is from “Probiotics — Gut Reactions” By Jennifer Mellace, in Aging Well Vol. 2 No. 2 P. 12, available on line at http://www.agingwellmag.com/030209p12.shtml
Maybe this can help more older horses who are failing to thrive!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Smart guy part II
The WBH may also now be the World’s Smartest Horse.
Yesterday after my ride I had Champagne in the cross ties, waiting for Kathy to come help me put the chemotherapy cream on his lip. I could see he was anxious. His eyelids were crinkled up just like a person’s forehead would be if she were fretting about something.
Kathy said that as long as we were giving him a treatment he doesn’t like we might as well give him his worming as well. Last time he was very resistant to the worm medicine, tossing his head, backing up strenuously, and spitting out the medicine. He has actually broken cross ties by backing up and pulling.
Well, yesterday we showed him the twitch, and he very patiently let me apply the cream. Then Kathy funneled the worm medicine into his mouth with a syringe. He chewed and tongued, but swallowed and didn’t spit anything out.
It’s like he has thought it over, and decided that although he does not like the stinging cream and the worm medicine, he doesn’t like the twitch even more, so oh well, he’ll take the lesser of the evils. No fuss. Decision made, that’s that.
It has all been accomplished without ill feeling on either side, as far as I can tell. I have to remember that . . . Champagne has definite opinions, but if it is clear that the person thinks differently and is willing to insist, he’ll go along just fine. I so love that horse, and he is so teaching me lots of things I need to know to be an effective rider and horse partner.
Yesterday after my ride I had Champagne in the cross ties, waiting for Kathy to come help me put the chemotherapy cream on his lip. I could see he was anxious. His eyelids were crinkled up just like a person’s forehead would be if she were fretting about something.
Kathy said that as long as we were giving him a treatment he doesn’t like we might as well give him his worming as well. Last time he was very resistant to the worm medicine, tossing his head, backing up strenuously, and spitting out the medicine. He has actually broken cross ties by backing up and pulling.
Well, yesterday we showed him the twitch, and he very patiently let me apply the cream. Then Kathy funneled the worm medicine into his mouth with a syringe. He chewed and tongued, but swallowed and didn’t spit anything out.
It’s like he has thought it over, and decided that although he does not like the stinging cream and the worm medicine, he doesn’t like the twitch even more, so oh well, he’ll take the lesser of the evils. No fuss. Decision made, that’s that.
It has all been accomplished without ill feeling on either side, as far as I can tell. I have to remember that . . . Champagne has definite opinions, but if it is clear that the person thinks differently and is willing to insist, he’ll go along just fine. I so love that horse, and he is so teaching me lots of things I need to know to be an effective rider and horse partner.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Good news for the boy and me!
The vet saw Champagne again yesterday, to give him a booster for his immunization and to follow up on some issues. Good news all around!
She was very happy with the area we are treating for a sarcoid. I now will restrict the cream to just one small area every other day, and when the cream packet is finished, no more applications until we see what happens next. Wouldn’t it be great if that fixed it? Champagne was so funny. He strongly disapproves of having the cream applied, and we have had to use a twitch to make him hold his head still. Yesterday he was tossing his head and making it hard for the vet to look at the area, so Kathy, the barn manager, got the twitch and showed it to him. Suddenly he was willing to stand quietly to be examined; no need to apply the twitch at all. Smart guy.
Also, the vet has taken a look at his “insulin panel”, which showed a high, but not astronomically high, level of insulin. As well, she looked at the supplements we’ve been feeding him. (He gets no grain, poor thing, but an odd mixture of supplements, sunflower seeds, rice bran pellets, and flax bran.) The vet said we’ll wean him off everything but the joint and vitamin supplements, and introduce a special low-carb grain made just for easy keepers. For the first time in years he’ll be eating like a real horse, not like some kind of feathered thing at a bird feeder. That will make us both happy! And since there is another horse in the barn with the same issue, Kathy will get this type of grain for the two of them, and my feed bills will go down.
Tonight I ride! A three-day weekend is coming right up! (Patriot’s Day all Boston will be watching the Marathon, but I’ll be out on the trails.) Cath says Sunday I can begin using spurs! (I want to eliminate the use of the crop anyway . . .) so things are looking quite rosy right now.
She was very happy with the area we are treating for a sarcoid. I now will restrict the cream to just one small area every other day, and when the cream packet is finished, no more applications until we see what happens next. Wouldn’t it be great if that fixed it? Champagne was so funny. He strongly disapproves of having the cream applied, and we have had to use a twitch to make him hold his head still. Yesterday he was tossing his head and making it hard for the vet to look at the area, so Kathy, the barn manager, got the twitch and showed it to him. Suddenly he was willing to stand quietly to be examined; no need to apply the twitch at all. Smart guy.
Also, the vet has taken a look at his “insulin panel”, which showed a high, but not astronomically high, level of insulin. As well, she looked at the supplements we’ve been feeding him. (He gets no grain, poor thing, but an odd mixture of supplements, sunflower seeds, rice bran pellets, and flax bran.) The vet said we’ll wean him off everything but the joint and vitamin supplements, and introduce a special low-carb grain made just for easy keepers. For the first time in years he’ll be eating like a real horse, not like some kind of feathered thing at a bird feeder. That will make us both happy! And since there is another horse in the barn with the same issue, Kathy will get this type of grain for the two of them, and my feed bills will go down.
Tonight I ride! A three-day weekend is coming right up! (Patriot’s Day all Boston will be watching the Marathon, but I’ll be out on the trails.) Cath says Sunday I can begin using spurs! (I want to eliminate the use of the crop anyway . . .) so things are looking quite rosy right now.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The engineer rides
It is so funny to me, seeing the difference between Ken’s equestrian experiences and mine. I guess it all stems from having an engineering perspective.
I always have to remind myself not to keep looking down at Champagne. He is such a miracle to me that I always want to look at him, see how he is doing, and revel in the feeling of me-on-horseback. Ken just looks up and out to see where he’s going.
It took me maybe six months to get that change of posting diagonal right. Ken just does it, and it isn’t complex at all. He just sits two bumps and he’s up again. He counts, he posts.
When the instructor says, “use your right leg”, Ken uses his right leg. Me, I have to think which one that is.
He seems to be learning quite fast. All he needs is to have the task explained to him in a series of steps, and he follows those steps. Sure, he’s wobbly at times, and at times is searching for his balance, but his hands are quiet (even if not low). I’m learning a lot from watching him get his lesson each week. It is very fun for me!
I always have to remind myself not to keep looking down at Champagne. He is such a miracle to me that I always want to look at him, see how he is doing, and revel in the feeling of me-on-horseback. Ken just looks up and out to see where he’s going.
It took me maybe six months to get that change of posting diagonal right. Ken just does it, and it isn’t complex at all. He just sits two bumps and he’s up again. He counts, he posts.
When the instructor says, “use your right leg”, Ken uses his right leg. Me, I have to think which one that is.
He seems to be learning quite fast. All he needs is to have the task explained to him in a series of steps, and he follows those steps. Sure, he’s wobbly at times, and at times is searching for his balance, but his hands are quiet (even if not low). I’m learning a lot from watching him get his lesson each week. It is very fun for me!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Them wide open spaces
Yesterday evening I rode outside again. We did our usual routine in the outdoor ring, practice, practice on listening to my leg, being responsive to requests for gait changes, working up to the canter in each direction, staying in a frame, etc.
Champagne is no longer startled by the mirror, and seems calmer about the fact that by that time of day all the paddocks are empty of horses. There was quite a gusty wind, but that doesn’t bother him outside the way it does in the indoor with all the creaks, rattles and flapping doors. A man came with a truck to haul away the accumulated manure, and that was fine with him, too.
Instead of walking around and around the ring to cool down, though, we went out toward the fields. He walked along the road near the little hollow, and was fine about that (whereas the first time we went that way he thought it was seriously threatening). We went as far as the stone wall, and he was interested but not really spooky. He was pretty sure we would go see the cows, and was ready to fight me about it, but since my goal was to cool down, I didn’t ask. I just took him up the road until it was clear he was being obedient, and then very clearly asked him to turn back.
On the way to the barn I saw the beautiful great blue heron stalking a little pond for frogs and fish. He watched us, but didn’t startle.
There is something enlivening about being out in the world on the back of a horse. It seems to come from the cool air and the wind and the sun and the freedom. For a non-athlete like me, it feels the way I imagine it would feel to be physically gifted. I drink the energy from the environment and swiftness, agility and strength from the horse so it is as if I myself embody vigor and competence.
Even after I leave the barn, that glow lingers. Imagine: a high that’s actually good for you! Me and my critter; we’re becoming a team.
Champagne is no longer startled by the mirror, and seems calmer about the fact that by that time of day all the paddocks are empty of horses. There was quite a gusty wind, but that doesn’t bother him outside the way it does in the indoor with all the creaks, rattles and flapping doors. A man came with a truck to haul away the accumulated manure, and that was fine with him, too.
Instead of walking around and around the ring to cool down, though, we went out toward the fields. He walked along the road near the little hollow, and was fine about that (whereas the first time we went that way he thought it was seriously threatening). We went as far as the stone wall, and he was interested but not really spooky. He was pretty sure we would go see the cows, and was ready to fight me about it, but since my goal was to cool down, I didn’t ask. I just took him up the road until it was clear he was being obedient, and then very clearly asked him to turn back.
On the way to the barn I saw the beautiful great blue heron stalking a little pond for frogs and fish. He watched us, but didn’t startle.
There is something enlivening about being out in the world on the back of a horse. It seems to come from the cool air and the wind and the sun and the freedom. For a non-athlete like me, it feels the way I imagine it would feel to be physically gifted. I drink the energy from the environment and swiftness, agility and strength from the horse so it is as if I myself embody vigor and competence.
Even after I leave the barn, that glow lingers. Imagine: a high that’s actually good for you! Me and my critter; we’re becoming a team.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
It's always something
Last night’s ride was interesting.
I’ve been getting very good turns-on-the-forehand, and with a lot of ground work Champagne’s turns-on-the-haunches have actually begun to succeed. He doesn’t have a lot of extension as his inside front leg crosses over the other one, but at least he moves his shoulders when I ask, which is newish, and can be achieved both from the ground and mounted.
Last night we worked at leg yields, which are coming along, although he tends to get over bent and slow. But last night even leg yields at the trot were working pretty well. I also got canter response both ways after a relatively minor struggle, and I can envision the canter depart becoming routine. We also worked at staying in a frame, and he is SO pretty when rounded up (I peek in the mirrors).
But the turn on the haunches seems to have fallen out of his repertoire again. Nothing seems to stay fixed! All in all, though, I’m feeling that slow progress is being made.
I’ve been getting very good turns-on-the-forehand, and with a lot of ground work Champagne’s turns-on-the-haunches have actually begun to succeed. He doesn’t have a lot of extension as his inside front leg crosses over the other one, but at least he moves his shoulders when I ask, which is newish, and can be achieved both from the ground and mounted.
Last night we worked at leg yields, which are coming along, although he tends to get over bent and slow. But last night even leg yields at the trot were working pretty well. I also got canter response both ways after a relatively minor struggle, and I can envision the canter depart becoming routine. We also worked at staying in a frame, and he is SO pretty when rounded up (I peek in the mirrors).
But the turn on the haunches seems to have fallen out of his repertoire again. Nothing seems to stay fixed! All in all, though, I’m feeling that slow progress is being made.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Canter on/canter off
We had a couple of nice rides over the weekend. I worked on getting Champagne into a frame, and I can do it for maybe ten minutes at a time, but that leaves me sweaty and huffing. I wonder if it is as much work for him? He doesn’t seem at all heated when we finish the ride.
I also worked on canter transitions, and he was pretty much willing to canter when asked (after being asked once, not doing it, receiving a correction, and then being asked again . . . in each direction). We did some transitions, all fine, and I took a break. Then I asked again and , he. would. not. canter. I think he thought, “Well, we did the canter portion of the ride, and now we’re done.” Oh my. Cath got on and he also refused her a couple of times, but he didn’t get away with it for long. He has me figured out, I’m afraid. Plus, I’m not as good a rider as Cath.
On the sarcoid front, Champagne has gotten so resistant to having the cream put on that we have to use a twitch. It is a two or three person job: one to hold his head while the twitch is applied, one to apply the twitch and hold it, and one to apply the cream. I really, really despise this process! Yet he needs the cream, and it is effective. The place where the sarcoid has been now looks like a pizza about the size of a silver dollar, and most of the warty tissue has sloughed off. Oddly, once the cream is applied he gives absolutely no sign that the area bothers him.
I’ve also been working on love puddle issues. Champagne still isn’t as people-centric as many of the other horses in the barn, but we’ve made some progress. He came several steps toward me in the pasture yesterday as I went to catch him. He comes to his stall door when I get to the barn and pokes his head out looking for carrots. When I groom his face I talk softly to him so he equates that with the pleasure of having his face groomed. I’ve also been hand grazing him. Next step: getting him to lean his head on me without bumping me with his nose.
I also worked on canter transitions, and he was pretty much willing to canter when asked (after being asked once, not doing it, receiving a correction, and then being asked again . . . in each direction). We did some transitions, all fine, and I took a break. Then I asked again and , he. would. not. canter. I think he thought, “Well, we did the canter portion of the ride, and now we’re done.” Oh my. Cath got on and he also refused her a couple of times, but he didn’t get away with it for long. He has me figured out, I’m afraid. Plus, I’m not as good a rider as Cath.
On the sarcoid front, Champagne has gotten so resistant to having the cream put on that we have to use a twitch. It is a two or three person job: one to hold his head while the twitch is applied, one to apply the twitch and hold it, and one to apply the cream. I really, really despise this process! Yet he needs the cream, and it is effective. The place where the sarcoid has been now looks like a pizza about the size of a silver dollar, and most of the warty tissue has sloughed off. Oddly, once the cream is applied he gives absolutely no sign that the area bothers him.
I’ve also been working on love puddle issues. Champagne still isn’t as people-centric as many of the other horses in the barn, but we’ve made some progress. He came several steps toward me in the pasture yesterday as I went to catch him. He comes to his stall door when I get to the barn and pokes his head out looking for carrots. When I groom his face I talk softly to him so he equates that with the pleasure of having his face groomed. I’ve also been hand grazing him. Next step: getting him to lean his head on me without bumping me with his nose.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Giant tick
I was grooming Champagne last night, and when I got to the area where his hind leg attaches to his flank, yikes: a huge swelling bigger than my fist, and just above that a swelling the size of a walnut with a bead of blood as big as a marble on top.
Kathy, the barn manager, said to wash off the blood and see what was under it. I did, and what was under it was something dark and weird, which everyone (big crowd around at this point) agreed was a tick.
I soaked a cloth in hydrogen peroxide and pulled out the tick. It was the size of a black sunflower seed and had not really gotten engorged with blood yet. I cleaned out the hole (it was a hole/crevasse I could but the tip of my little finger into) with non-sting iodine.
Since I know that diseases (including Lime disease) can be spread by ticks, and since horses do get Lime disease, I am concerned. Oh my. I don’t think he’s been vaccinated against Lime! However, it didn’t seem to be a deer tick, (they are the main culprit), because it was too large.
Having a horse is a lot like having a little kid, in that they are subject to all kinds of pains, illnesses and issues and they can’t really tell you what’s wrong. So you the owner/parent have to be eternally vigilant about injuries and anything other than normal, while needing to stay calm and matter-of-fact so the child/horse does not become concerned as well. Deep breath.
Kathy, the barn manager, said to wash off the blood and see what was under it. I did, and what was under it was something dark and weird, which everyone (big crowd around at this point) agreed was a tick.
I soaked a cloth in hydrogen peroxide and pulled out the tick. It was the size of a black sunflower seed and had not really gotten engorged with blood yet. I cleaned out the hole (it was a hole/crevasse I could but the tip of my little finger into) with non-sting iodine.
Since I know that diseases (including Lime disease) can be spread by ticks, and since horses do get Lime disease, I am concerned. Oh my. I don’t think he’s been vaccinated against Lime! However, it didn’t seem to be a deer tick, (they are the main culprit), because it was too large.
Having a horse is a lot like having a little kid, in that they are subject to all kinds of pains, illnesses and issues and they can’t really tell you what’s wrong. So you the owner/parent have to be eternally vigilant about injuries and anything other than normal, while needing to stay calm and matter-of-fact so the child/horse does not become concerned as well. Deep breath.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Working trot/rounding up
Last night, something clicked on my ride.
Last week Cath rode Champagne after my lesson to get him cantering a bit. I was feeling a little tentative to canter because of my still-healing finger. When I saw her ride him he looked gorgeous, all rounded up, neck nicely arched, poll the highest point; he looked like a seriously beautiful animal instead of like a long-backed run-of-the-mill horse. I asked her why he looked so great, and she off-handedly said, “Oh, I just put him in a frame.”
I was still a little reluctant to canter last night, but the ring had been freshly groomed and we were the first to track it up. He was listening to my legs and doing nice light walk-stop and walk-trot transitions, so I decided to try putting him in a frame myself.
Now, Cath has many times told me that you push the hindquarters forward with your seat and legs and gather up the energy in your hands through the reins. She also always reminds me to sit up straighter and sit deeper in the saddle. Well, I try.
Last night, though, I took a firm grip of the reins, which I had shortened more than usual, pushed with my calves in a rhythm with his stride, took the concavity out of my lower back, and rode.
At first he thought I was going to ask for a canter, but then he really got it. He put his face perpendicular to the ground, rounded up, and stepped into a very energetic working trot . . . and kept it up, both directions! There would have been a canter available, too, if I had asked. I could feel for the first time the sense that the power generated from behind was surging through his body into mine, and I was keeping it focused and channeled with my hands through the reins. This is a more energetic form of riding than I’ve been doing, I guess, but it also feels very cool.
Can I replicate that again this evening? Can I extend it to the canter? I guess I’ll find out.
Last week Cath rode Champagne after my lesson to get him cantering a bit. I was feeling a little tentative to canter because of my still-healing finger. When I saw her ride him he looked gorgeous, all rounded up, neck nicely arched, poll the highest point; he looked like a seriously beautiful animal instead of like a long-backed run-of-the-mill horse. I asked her why he looked so great, and she off-handedly said, “Oh, I just put him in a frame.”
I was still a little reluctant to canter last night, but the ring had been freshly groomed and we were the first to track it up. He was listening to my legs and doing nice light walk-stop and walk-trot transitions, so I decided to try putting him in a frame myself.
Now, Cath has many times told me that you push the hindquarters forward with your seat and legs and gather up the energy in your hands through the reins. She also always reminds me to sit up straighter and sit deeper in the saddle. Well, I try.
Last night, though, I took a firm grip of the reins, which I had shortened more than usual, pushed with my calves in a rhythm with his stride, took the concavity out of my lower back, and rode.
At first he thought I was going to ask for a canter, but then he really got it. He put his face perpendicular to the ground, rounded up, and stepped into a very energetic working trot . . . and kept it up, both directions! There would have been a canter available, too, if I had asked. I could feel for the first time the sense that the power generated from behind was surging through his body into mine, and I was keeping it focused and channeled with my hands through the reins. This is a more energetic form of riding than I’ve been doing, I guess, but it also feels very cool.
Can I replicate that again this evening? Can I extend it to the canter? I guess I’ll find out.
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