Ummm....just a little off subject

Not remotely horse related, but too funny not to share!

Back to studying!  Or rather...to bed.  Will continue studying in the morn.

Deep, dark, hole

I'm ducking into that deep, dark, hole that comes 5 days before a HUGE exam.

Of course, last time I said that I ended up posting on all sorts of interesting subjects to avoid as an alternative to studying. 

Maybe I'll finally get the motivation to post on the bone, muscle, and tendon conditioning subjects that were reader requested a couple weeks ago.

BUT - if you don't hear from me for a week or so, you can feel good knowing that I'm probably studying.

Or playing with Tess.

Or writing posts for Tess's blog.

Or working out.

Or eating cookie dough.

Or randomly organizing my bike bags.

Or doing boot fittings.

All of which I did this weekend, while I was suppose to be "studying".

See - this is why none of you are going to pay me as a veterinarian when I get out of school, because you know what I REALLY did during the most important/relevant block to equine medicine!!!!!!!!  (muscle, tendon, bone, and locomotion).  Do you REALLY want someone to treat your horse that doesn't currently know the difference between the ulnaris lateralis m. and the common digital flexor m.?

I didn't think so.

I don't even know if those muscles EXIST on a horse.

I do know that the common digital flexor m. flexes the digits and in the dog divides for the number of digits (4) below the carpus.

And the ulnaris lateralis m. abducts the limb.  I think.  

Maybe I won't fail this exam after all.

Rate this on the fun scale

Please rate this scenario from 1-4 on the “we are having fun” scale.

It’s dark, raining, and windy.  The pasture has a layer of water on it and is slick as snot because of the gazillion inches of rain dumped on it.  The horse is cold, shivery, and trembling.  Your equipment - a flashlight too big to fit in your mouth, a water resistant coat, rubber boots (muck boots with no tread), and a heavy weight turnout blanket.  On second thought you grab a halter and lead rope.  Wind is gusting, sustained at a gazillion mph. 

It took me 5 minutes to catch Farley.  At first it looked like she was going to come right up to me - we’ve both been through this drill and she knows that a blanket means comfort, but then she couldn’t decide if I was actually crazy enough to try and ride her, and played keep away around the pasture’s “island” of fenced off trees.  Finally I was able put a halter on her, get the gate open (no easy task in the gale that apparently decided to start up, and lead her to an area less slick. 

I’ve put blankets on in the wind and I know it’s a b*tch.  Usually you *almost* get it on, the wind picks up and flaps it all over the place, the horse steps sideways, the blanket drapes over you and you run around like casper the ghost.  Farley hadn’t seen a blanket in a year.  It was dark, raining, and slick.  With her behavior over the last couple of weeks, I was really hoping she didn’t spook and then squish me into the mud, damaging various parts that would require me to find out how good my health insurance was.  Did I mention that my hands were so cold and I was struggling with the blanket and could not hold onto the lead rope? 

Farley stood absolutely still, our butts to the wind.  To do anything else would have been a battle.  Just as I found the front of the blanket and tossed it over her back, a sustained gust of wind came up.  The trees bowed, the roofs creaked, and the blanket attempted to invert itself over both of our heads.  Farley stood still.  I had chosen the heavier blanket in part because I thought it would be easier to put on in the wind.  But the wind of was strong enough it picked this one up, no problem. 

The wind continued to blow and blow and blow.  I stood there with my arms around Farley's neck, trying to hold the blanket in place, slipping in the mud, and it was at this time that I contemplated that I might need help to get this done.  Getting help would have required me to take the blanket off, struggle with the gate to put Farley away, and then find someone (turns out Dad was asleep in his chair so I was out of luck).  I decided to just hold on.  The blanket flapped around her flanks and around her poll while I struggled to hand onto the front and try to smooth down the back.  She stood perfectly still. 

Finally the gust broke and I started fumbling with straps.  I got one chest strap on, and then went to the back.  Finally got all the straps on just as another gust picked up.  I got her put away (d*mn aluminum gate catches the wind and then pushes you through the slick mud), threw her a fat flake of alfalfa and called it a day. 

It’s moments like these that make me think there’s still a rock solid relationship there.  When it counts, Farley behaves.  She didn’t hurt me, didn’t spook - didn’t do all the things she had a right to do considering the circumstances.  It gives me hope that the solid little mare that I rode through Tevis is still under all that naughty behavior and that we will see the endurance trail again. 

I'm melting......!!!!!

It's raining.  It's suppose to rain for the foreseeable future. 

I guess the timing is good - I have another hideous final next Friday and I really should spend all of my time studying (with puppy breaks of course).  Farley gets a reprieve! 

I'm pretty sure my horse is melting too - but since there's no wind, she's fuzzy AND plump, she gets to be happy with a "happy flake" of alfalfa and no blanket. 

GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!  All those nice endurance "learning" experiences are paying off!  We have a small group project due next Wednesday where we had to come up with a clinical case related to a muscular disease, either real or made up.

I offered up all my records related to Farley tying up 2 weeks post Tevis 2010 - vet card, blood work before, during and after, physical exam records etc.!!!  It's fabulous.  I even have pictures.  See - that hoarder tendency paid off - not to mention the $1,500 vet bill the resulted from THAT particular episode.  Getting an A on a project while exercising minimal effort and creative ability?  Priceless. 

I'm not quite sure that I was referring to this scenario when I said that endurance prepared me very well for vet school.....

BTW - Heads up, next couple posts will probably be over on Tess's blog.  I have a soap box that I need to get out of my system....you face book people know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. 

It was so cold....

... this morning the manure balls "plinked" into the wheelbarrow.  Crazy!  Got down to at least 19 degrees last night.  The last time Farley and I saw these temps was at Death Valley doing the multi-day ride in 2008.

Farley was naked last night and continues to be naked.  Guess that answers the question of whether she needs a blanket just because it's cold.

Last winter was the first time she was blanketed, and I only did so because it was a service the barn included in the care, and I thought "why not?".  In hindsight, I'm not sure that deciding to blanket was such a good decision - especially considering that there aren't mitigating factors like her weight (she's quite plump now). 

How much of her inability to deal with the cold temperatures at 20 MT 2011 had to do with my decision to blanket?  It didn't rain - we were strictly dealing with air temperature at that ride.  I had hind end cramping issues that seemed to be related to her getting cold.  How much of the fatigue and compensation for the cramping contributed to her injury and lameness?

Every time I decide to do "more" for my horse, I end up going back to the fundamental concept of less is more.  The more I can mimic a "natural" lifestyle for the horse, the better she seems to do.

There are some exceptions - blowing rain warrants a blanket.  She isn't out with a herd, and doesn't have adequate shelter or a windbreak that will protect her from just being wet and cold, with her coat plastered against her body.  Because I can't provide her a way to deal with that kind of weather condition "naturally", I feel like I do need to supplement her care.  It would be best to supplement her in a way that she could "take it or leave it", but it isn't possible to be perfect all the time - sometimes I just do the best I can with what I have.  :)

Here's some other ways that I keep Farley that attempt to provide as natural an existence in the hopes that it will have a health benefit that will directly correlate to a sucessful endurance career:

- keeping her barefoot as much as possible.
- let her have a natural coat that responds to the seasons and the weather.  
- giving her enough space to move around in, that ideally doesn't make her come to abrupt stops or turns because of coming to a fence (Not there yet, but better than a year ago!).
- Attempting to keep her feeding as natural as possible - free choice when possible, grass hay, fed at ground level (in a fruit bin).
- providing a social herd structure (currently a dismal failure)
- providing freechoice, loose salt (still not convinced that loose is better or worse than a block)
- Encouraging movement throughout the day, every day but the construction of pastures, placement of feed and water etc. (again - not there yet, but it's in the plan for some day)

Does this mean that I don't believe in vaccination, riding, shoeing, trailering, vet care, worming or any of those other "modern" ways that we use and keep horses?  Absolutely not!  I think that Good Sense is walking the line between believing we can (and should) give horses a total natural existence (complete with cougars and disease), and picking those things that give us the most "bang for our buck" and allow the horse to reach it's full potential as it does it's "job" for us.

This is 100 miles looks like in the beginning

It’s been an uncanny winter - full of clear skies, sunshine, and the highs in the 60’s. 

Can’t say I’ve been complaining - it’s allowed me get some riding in, get plenty of sunshine, and put off dealing with muddy puppies, soft hooves, and where the heck to store coats and winter gear for use.  Can you believe I haven’t even unpacked my plastic bin of coats and other over layers yet? 

Not to fear!  Rain is coming and from what I’m hearing from the “experts”, the last time we had a Dec/Jan this dry, by the end of Jan we were flooded. 

I elected to keep all my body parts intact and did NOT ride yesterday.  A new system is blowing in and Farley was HIGH.  Doing her best impression of The Black Stallion (you know - those stylized images used in the books?  With the tiny head and the mane blowing in the wind?  With the body poised for flight?), I decided it would be a round pen day.  After doing some walk/trot I dug out a lunge line and decided to do that instead.  She can make a bigger circle on the lunge and is more balanced at a canter on a lunge, a compared to the round pen.  She cantered and bucked, and galloped, but generally behaved herself.  It was tricky because the ground is so hard, and there’s dry grass, AND her bare hooves are a bit slick right now, so I was trying to keep her under control enough that she didn’t slip and go down, and (of course, preserve the integrity of that LF). 

Where we are:

Attitude
We continue to make progress towards a well-behaved pony.  I think if she was 100% and not in rehab I could get to where I need to be in about 2 days (with of course reinforcing the point in the weeks/months afterwards).  As it is, I think it’s going to take me  closer to a month or two because I won’t increase duration or intensity, and I only see her ~3x a week.  Although I’m choosing a slower way, I still make noticeable progress after each session.  After session 1, she no longer crowded me when I had a feed pan in my hand and didn’t even threaten to turn her hindquarters towards me.  After session 2 she started watching me when I came onto the property.  After session 3 she started walking up to me in the pasture.  After session 4, she started asking to get into my personal space, and didn’t even DREAM of coming into it on the lead yesterday, even when she was SURE the horse eating trees blowing in the wind were going to come after us ANY SECOND. 

Hooves
After getting trimmed by Wayne in the first week of January, and getting out a couple days that week, her hooves have changed SO FAST.  I think Wayne is going to be surprised by the how quickly she loosing retained sole, especially in the heels, and regaining that nice concave sole.  Maybe like cardio fitness, hoof fitness comes back faster if you were once already there….

Soundness
She’s not 100% sound/even under special circumstances (that’s vet lingo for going in a circle….).  There’s a couple of confounding factors, which is why I’ve elected to continue riding and working her.  She has arthritis in her LH.  This kind of arthritis does better in warmer weather and when the horse is worked regularly.  Farley has been off for a year, and I’m restarting her in winter.  If the unevenness is because of that LH hock, then working her in a slow and gradual manner is actually beneficial.  I’m not ready to inject her hocks again - it’s expensive and until I’m doing something that I feel exceeds my ability to manage the it by long warmups etc (like training for a dressage competition, or doing 50’s or above) than I’ll hold off.  The Left front continues to stay tight and cold with no pain on palpation, and each time I throw her in the round pen she’s a little more even.  There’s no head bob and it’s very very subtle - hard to see unless you have a round pen with regular, evenly spaced markers that you can count the strides on.  At some point, before doing a 50 miler, she’ll go to the vet for an evaluation and hock injections if necessary.  I need to walk the fine line between giving it enough work, but not increasing inflammation, and not putting her at risk for a compensation injury.  Of course, waiting to have it looked at, and continuing work assumes it continues to improve with work, or doesn't start to look like something other than that hock!

Competition?
I’m looking at a March or April LD.  A lot of it depends on the weather.  The March LD would be with a blogging friend in Nevada - which highly depends on my ability to get over the pass without chains.  Especially if the weather turns bad in the next couple of weeks and I’m unable to condition, that first LD will be pushed to June or later.  Here is my criteria for doing the LD:
1.  Good weather
2.  Good footing.  Hills are OK, sand is not.  Some rocks are OK. 
3.  At least 2 20 mile conditioning rides at least a month apart that I have ZERO concerns about afterwards in terms of soundness.
4.  Farley will calmly, on a loose rein, canter home.  I’m not talking about conditioning her at a canter - all I want is 10-15 strides on the way home that lets me know that I have the degree of control I need for the ride.  LD’s have especially been a challenge for me and Farley - mostly because Farley doesn’t think they are a challenge…..
5.  During our conditioning rides, she will maintain a speed of less than 10mph without a fight. 

Lucky readers - those of you that joined me after I had already completed my 100’s and thought “I could never do that!”, get to watch me start all over again!  I wasn’t blogging in the very very beginning, so it will be good for me too to relive the LD and that first 50. 

Google Reader fixed!

Looks like google reader is working again, so something I did last night must have reset something (how's that for preciseness?).  Yeah!  I wondered where you'all went and it's been mighty quiet and lonely out here! :)