The tendon post

It's the post you've been waiting for.......TENDONS.  How they condition (or not), how they heal (or not), and what you can do to prevent injury (or, unforunately.....not).

I've been putting this post off because I felt like I didn't have the time or energy to give the topic justice.  However, in the last week I've written 3 separate emails where I've touched on tendons and the conditioning process....and decided whether I feel like I'm "ready" or not, it's time for the topic to be discussed.

I DO have references and literature for this topic and if you are interested. I can't include links to the full documents because many are copyrighted for my personal use only through the school, however I can give you citations and abstracts.  This post is a bit repetitive in its main points - however I had a hard time wrapping my mind around some of these concepts in school since it contradicted what I had read for many years, and hearing the same concept in many different ways helped my understanding, and I hope it helps yours. :)

Tendons.  Let's start with the basics.  Tendons hold bone and muscle together.  Tendons are composed of organized fibers of collagen. 

There's a saying that I heard multiple times as a newbie endurance rider - muscles/cardio condition in 3 months, tendons in 6 months, and bone in a year.  The structures continue to strengthen and adapt to the amount of work and grow stronger over the years, unless you screw up, overload them, and end up with an injury, either through an acute event (ie - a wrong step in a hole) or through chronic fatigue (overriding a horse over the course of months or a year and ending up with too much micro damage too fast for the body to heal and adapt, leading to injury).

Turns out this is mostly true (and in the case of bone, doesn't give enough credit to how AMAZING it is as it adapts).....except for tendon. 

Here's the interesting thing.  I just finished the musculoskeletal block and we were taught (and I clarified with the professors) that no "conditioning" of the tendons actually occurs.  Conditioning/training actually CREATES these little lesions (fiber disruption - which is a sign of tendon injury) in the center of the tendon, and causes the collagen fibers in the tendon to change in apparance - they get smaller and more irregular.  This is NOT good and are considered degenerative changes.  As the horse ages, the tendon undergoes degenerative changes - exercise accelerates this process.  It doesn't matter whether the conditioning is "appropriate" - this degeneration occurs regardless.  In summary: There are differences in tendon anatomy/physiology as the horse ages.
Exercise accelerates this process and this process results in a weaker tendon


In addition to the fiber bundles changing shape and the fiber disruption in the center of the tendon, the cross sectional area of the tendon (how "thick" the tendon is) can increase.  While I found a paper that hypothesized that this was an adaptive change that made the tendon stronger, the majority of the more recent papers do NOT attribute this change to increased strength.

In summary, exercise/conditioning actually sets the tendon up for injury, even if you are doing it "right".  You are not less and less likely to get tendon injuries as the seasons pass - in fact, it's even more critical to examine bone and muscle conditioning and not override, or over-fatigue the well conditioned horse.  The golden rule remains - do not ask for in competition what you have not prepared your horse for in training, no matter how experienced or fit the horse is.

Tendons are injured when they are overstretched.  The fiber pattern becomes "disrupted" as fibers break.  I'm simplifying, but bear with me - trying to keep this succinct and "readable" to a broad audience, and also get to bed before 9:30 tonight!  Especially considering that a conditioned horse may already have a compromised tendon due to degenerative changes to the fiber pattern and collagen size... the trick is to protect that tendon as best as possible.

How do you protect a tendon?  Don't fatigue the support structures (muscles) to the point where the tendon is taking more load than it should - because the tendon will fail in that situation.

It is NOT about conditioning the tendon.  It's about conditioning bone and muscle to "take the load" off of the tendon and not subjecting the tendon to any more load/stretch than necessary.

Wanna hear a terrifying fact?  They have calculated the strain a tendon can take before it fails (specific to the tendon - for example, the SDF of the front leg of an equine).  At maximal exercise (like a gallop), that tendon is being strained almost to the failure point.  It would have been nice for Mother Nature to have given a little bit more room for failure.......

So it's a bone and muscle conditioning issue.  The trick is to not overload the bone to the point of stress fractures, and not overload the muscle to the point of tendon injuries (because the muscle is too fatigued) - and NOT actually about conditioning the tendon themselves.

Let's talk briefly about how a tendon "heals".  Assuming it's not a absolutely horrifying injury and it's a more typical chronic strain injury, assume you have fiber disruption.  As the tendon attempts to reconstruct the fiber pattern, it lays down a collagen type (there are many different collagen types in the body) that does not handle strain as well as the original collagen type.  The final remodeling of fiber pattern and the replacement of "temp" collagen with the correct collagen takes place late in the healing - a year or so - and can continue for a while, especially as the horse returns to work.   Ideally the fibers align on the correct plane and the tendon gradually progresses to a "normal" looking fiber pattern. Rarely does the ideal situation occur.  Normally, not all the "temporary" collagen is replaced with the "correct stuff", the fibers don't always align well, and other fibrous tissue components can remain in the tendon, which weakens it.  This "healing" process is why degenerative changes in the tendon due to age/exercise are so worrisome - even if there is no clinical lameness.  Tendons don't heal well.  Even repaired tendons that look normal on ultrasound have a disrupted fiber pattern under polorized light, which shows the "kink" or "wave" of collagen fibers.

It's a novel way of looking at tendons for me.  Instead of being less worried about tendons as the years progressed, I should stayed concerned and conservative.   Instead, I think I became a bit relaxed after not having a tendon injury in over a 1000 miles of competition - thinking that my tendons were "conditioned",  just like the other structures.  It didn't matter I had gone 4+ years without incident - because she was in training, conditioned, and being exercised, it was likely that degenerative changes were present, even discounting the previous healed injury.  Of course, in my favor and protecting the tendons were the bone and muscles that were better prepared to handle the work after years of competing, a horse that was less likely to misstep due to experience, and a rider that could read the trail better than 1000 miles ago.  But it's never OK to push past a certain level of fatigue because THAT is what bows tendons.  Here's what could have happened at 20MT in 2010 (there are many different scenerios, but this is a plausible one and illustrates the concept I'm trying to get across).   Sand tends to fatigue the apparatus in the horse's leg that's responsible for the return of energy and is why horses move more efficiently through the sand than you and I.  After cramping early on in the ride and traveling more on the forehand, combined with sand and soft footing, the muscles in the front legs probably became fatigued as they are now performing work they were not conditioned for (I don't typically train my horses to travel on the forehand for 100 miles).  At mile 92, the muscle was fatigued enough that it forced the tendon to carry additional load.  And......boom - I'm out for a year.  

In summary, muscle fatigue kills tendons and it's impossible to "condition" a tendon to perform under those conditions (that of muscle fatigue of being pushed further, faster, over different terrain etc than what the horse's muscles/bone were conditioned for).  Pushing through this type of fatigue at any level is when injury will occur - no matter what base I have put on my horse.

Does this make sense?  The same principles hold true that I've always believed in (condition for ride conditions, condition slowly and carefully)- BUT you are not protected from tendon injuries by virtue of time or distance - only by how well you have conditioned the rest of the animal (bone, muscle, heart etc.).



What does this new (to me) knowledge about tendons mean to me as I bring Farley back into the sport?  My response may surprise you.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - It's 9:45p and I'm going to bed. 

Disclaimer - first year vet student that talks to as many professors as possible about issues like this, but is certainly not infallible.  :)  Just a curious endurance rider who SWEARS she's not going into equine practice. 

Other tendon facts to consider:

•  Initial exam for a tendon injury should be performed 4-5 days post injury.  It's difficult to ultrasound to pick the extent of the injuries prior to this.
• Long heels, short heels etc dramatically impact the lever system of the horses' leg and HUGELY affect the strain the the SDF (for example) tendon is under.  One way to take pressure off of a SDF tendon that is too weak to support the fetlock (so the fetlock is drooping) is to put "sliders" on the hoof, that extend behind the hoof several inches.  It's crazy - but by just having this piece of plastic sticking out behind the heel, the SDF is under less strain and is able to raise the fetlock to a more normal position.   This brings up an important point about hoof protection.  A Hoof boot (or shoe) that extends the heel behind (or in front) of the "normal" heel of the horse will dramatically affect the tension and strain that the tendons are under - maybe for good, maybe for bad.  I think that ANY kind of hoof protection that changes the lever arm of the hoof (such as extending behind or in front of the hoof to any significant degree) is cause for pause and contemplation. 

 

If you are interested in a bit of light reading,  here's a nice review article:

The response of bone, articular cartilage and tendon to exercise in the horse.
E. Firth, 2006, J. of Anatomy, volume 208, issue 4, pages 513-26

This article states exactly what I was taught, and what was said by my professors when I talked to them individually.  It mostly addresses tendon response to exercise during growth, but mentions the response of the tendon to exercise as it relates to age generally as well.

I also recommend:

A review of tendon injury: why is the equine superficial digital flexor tendon most at risk?
C. Thorpe, P. Clegg, H. Birch.  Equine veterinary journal 2010, vol 42, Issue 2, pg 174-80

Contains some nice general information about tendon and injury and it's response to loading forces that could cause injury.

Fear

Never have a read such a succinct, fabulous post on fear: http://howgoodridersgetgood.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/the-many-faces-of-fear/

Those long term readers to this blog know that I deal with fear and anxiety in a variety of forms, and I've worked hard to work my way through the mental forests that pertain to various horsey situations.  I understand if you are scared to ride but because it's so much a part of you can't stay off a horse.  I understand being paralyzed by fear or having significant levels of anxiety because a of certain theoretical situation that might happen.  I get it.  For me, it's not about getting rid of that fear - it's managing it to a point where I can still doing the things I love - like galloping, and riding 100's, and riding in the dark, and doing crazy things on horse back - which are actually extremely calculated risks that have been built up slowly, with me totally in control (or at least, as in control as I need to be to keep the demons at bay). 

It's about flooding your brain with so many good experiences that the bad ones become an anomaly.  It's about not pushing too fast too hard.  It's about getting bored and then deciding to step it up to the next level on your terms......It's NOT about ignoring the fear, pretending it doesn't exist, or deciding you can never do what you love.  Want to ride and are scared of your horse?  Buy the most dead-broke, boring nag you can find.  I see so many people that are overhorsed because they wanted a young, big, horse with a lot of personality and flash.  And now, they are confused and scared and doubting that they ever loved horses.  And let me tell you - horses are FABULOUS.  Horses are my lifesaver.  Horses are extremely special and touch the heart and soul and imagination in a way that no other animal does.  Life is too short not to experience that passion  - decide where you need to start today in order to ride like you want tomorrow. 

Going out of town for a couple of days - have a great weekend and I'll see you'all on the other side of a fabulous 3 day weekend.

Training tips: distance versus time

During conditioning rides, do you ride for time or distance?

When I was training for marathons (before I got smart and realized I could do this from the back of a horse....) I followed a program that believed that time spent hitting the road mattered more than the actual distance that you did.  Galloway said that the mileage of 26.2 miles isn't hard - it's the 4 hours or so you spend on your feet moving.  To condition for this, he suggested spending more effort getting the time in instead of focusing on the miles.

This worked well for me for several reasons.  I was running without a GPS or mapped/measured course, and which wasn't a huge set back -  I did enough miles on the track that I got a good sense of my pacing (even if I was run/walking).  However, planning for time rather than distance was an advantage mentally.   I planned my long runs for the time it should take to complete them - for example, 11 min/mile pace wasn't unreasonable for a 10-15 mile run.  If I needed a 10 mile run, I would plan a 2 hour run - if I needed 15 miles, I knew I would be out there for 3 hours.  In most cases, it didn't matter whether I was running for time or distance - both got accomplished.  However, if something went terribly wrong I didn't worry that I was going too slow to get in the miles - I just knew I had to suck it up for "x" number of minutes.  And somehow, it's easier to say "I can walk for another hour and be done", then to say "I have 5 more miles to go - and so that's 1-6 hours depending on whether I run it or crawl it...".  It gave me the freedom to not push past that margin of safety that kept me from getting hurt, because I was running for time, not distance and could go as slow as I needed to get that time in without the pressure of getting the miles in.

Usually every 3rd long run or so, I would completely hit the wall and do significantly less miles than planned, but still got the time in.  It never hurt me and my next long run always went well - but more importantly, my motivation remained high and I didn't get mentally burnt out. 

The other training philosophy I followed once I had a few completions and I was interested in going faster, was: you train for speed, and you train for distance - but you don't combine the two until race day.  ie - I never ran a certain number of miles in a certain amount of time.  I either did speed runs that had a specific time and reptitions associated with them, OR I did long runs of a certain number of miles.  Only on race day did I try to run X miles in X time.  Done improperly, this can be a recipe for injury and disaster.....You have to be damn sure that your speed and distance work is preparing you for your goal distance and time, and that your goal is reasonable considering your base and past history.  As confidence boosters and "check points", I ran several races before the "big one".  For example, if I was training for a marathon, I would run a 10K or a 1/2 marathon throughout my training program to see how close to my target I was, and how I felt at those distances at speed.  Based on the results, I would adjust my training program.

Humans and Equines are very different species and it is NOT a good idea to extrapolate too heavily from a human performance program to condition the endurance equine.  However, I think there are several concepts in my running background that have helped me when preparing Farley for an endurance ride.

1.  Focus on time in the saddle rather than distance during a conditioning ride.  Often the trail doesn't turn out to be as "ridable" as I thought, or weather makes the footing icky, or I need to work through some training issues, or the trail is too steep/rocky to go at an endurance pace.  I may have an idea of the number of miles I would like to get in a particular ride (15, 20 miles), but I'll plan for a 3 or 4 hour ride.  This is why I rarely use my GPS during conditioning rides and don't regular report my average speed, or distance.  I mostly use the GPS to track speed - I don't want to go over 10 mph at this stage and Farley has a "sneaky" trot that is 12mph before I realize it.  Focusing on time helps me not push Farley or myself too fast or too far in a situation that is unrealistic to get in the time/miles that I want.  Developing this philosophy during training is essential once I get to a ride (see point number 4 below). 

2.  On shorter rides ("tune up" rides) that usually happen around home and are usually 30-60 minutes long, I do go endurance pace, or even a bit faster (for example, if I'm working a dressage canter).

3.  At some point during the training, usually once she can go on a 4 hour ride at a walk/trot on a decent trail that allows for a significant amount of trotting, I make an effort to either set up a "fake" LD, or go to a real LD.  Depending on her performance, I adjust my training and my goals. 

4.  During a ride, similar to the conditioning ride, I'm out there for a certain number of hours (whether that is 6 hours for an LD, 12 hours for a 50, etc).  Whatever miles we accomplish in those hours depends on how rideable the trail is - if the trail conditions are really tough, we may come in overtime What matters is the training and conditioning - not the completion.

The important thing to remember when I train using this philosophy is that during a ride, if the terrain is much more "ridable" than what I train on at home (and that is usually the case), thus the trail is capable of greater speeds than the normal walk/trot I have to do at home - I do NOT take opportunity to go faster.  

2 things can go wrong at a ride (my personal experience/fallacies)
1.  When I have come to a ride with a horse unprepared for the rigors of the trail, it's usually because I've focused on miles, rather than time in the saddle - and thus chosen easier trails that I can go endurance pace without a ton of foundation/base work, and thus when I get to a ride I can't navigate the trails at an appropriate speed.  

2.  When my horse gets injured at a ride or before a ride, it's usually because I've focused on miles, rather than time in the saddle - and tried to go faster on trails than I should have, in order to try and get a certain amount of miles in a certain amount of time. 

Your mileage may vary :)

*Drum Roll* please

Two very important things happened today.

*Drum roll please......*

1.  I reserved my hotel room for the AERC convention.  I've been going back and forth about whether to go or not.  I don't have school Thursday, but I have school on Friday - including a cool neuro lab where we get to bring our own dogs in for a neuro exam.  AND I have a MAJOR test (ie - a final that's worth 50+% of my block grade) on Monday and Tuesday.  However, since the convention is Friday/Saturday, I have all day Sunday to study.  Not to mention the networking opportunities for both career and personal, and a SERIOUS motivation boost for the upcoming season is just too much to pass up.  One concession I am making - I am not prebuying my tickets.  If the weather is terrible over the pass, I'll cancel the rooms and not be out the ticket price - which is worth the extra ten bucks I'll pay at the door.  Cross your fingers it doesn't snow.  And I pass my test afterwards.  And I come up with enough disposable income to buy a little something at the convention for myself :). 

2.  I bought a pair of tights.  Tropical riders, in navy blue, with a deer skin patch.  I was briefly tempted by the extended patch, but because I sleep, ride, and do yoga in them, decided that the regular patch (which is longer than a lot of other brands) would suffice.  I'm so excited!!!!!!!!  I got in ALL my rides and ALL my runs since penning them in and I'm incredibly excited to be back in the saddle.  I was SO TEMPTED to get another pair of carbon....but it just seems wrong to own 2 pairs in the same color.  :) 

So....WHO WANTS TO GO RIDING??????????????  AND WILL I SEE YOU AT THE CONVENTION?????????? 

Because somehow those 2 important questions are a FAR bigger priority than how the autonomic nervous system works and all that pharmacology terminology that whizzed right over my head in the last couple hours. 

Training Tips: Riding Tights

Fair warning - The real point of this post is the justify a new pair of riding tights for yours truly.  :)

How can you revitalize your riding?  Make sure you get your rides in on the days they are scheduled?  Make yourself feel like a "real" endurance rider?

It all has to do with the tights, and it comes down to one very simple rule.

Wear your tights on the days you are suppose to ride, until you get that ride in for the day.

Why should you implement this strategy today?

1.  I am more likely to ride that day because I'm already dressed for riding. 

2.  You will have to explain to people why you are wearing riding tights - you will have talked about riding so much that day that you simple MUST go riding or be exposed as a fraud.

3.  Now that you are wearing them for a substantial part of the day several times a week, they qualify as a regular wardrobe item.  You can justify buying another pair, now that you'll be spending more time in them and it doesn't seem nearly as ridiculous to spend a hundred bucks on a pair.  

4.  You can do all your regular activities in them - whether it's going to the gym or sporting them as fashion tights under a sweater.  Since I prefer the knee patch tights as opposed to full seat, I even do my runs in my tights. 

5.  I feel like a real horse person when I wear my tights.  It's a reminder that the real me awaits back in the pasture. 

6.  They are way more comfy than any other pants in my wardrobe.  And life is too short for clothes that don't feel good, cheap underwear, and non-fabulous socks. 


I have 1 pair of riding tights I REALLY like, and another pair that are doable.  Of course, the a pair I really like I getting faded and have a small hole in the thigh that has surprisingly stayed small.  I haven't bought any of my tights new - but now that I have a pair that fits perfectly, it durable, and feel SO GOOD in the saddle, I wondering whether I could possibly justify the cost?

Here's the pair I'm in love with: I have it in Carbon color with the regular deerskin patches.  $95...but I could get a pair for $55 without patches and just put my (still in excellent condition) patches on them....but my pair is still wearable and the whole point is I need ANOTHER pair of tights - not just replacements. 

Here's the pair that's just "OK"  - but they aren't quite as "bare all" since they are less shiny (so things like underwear lines and *clears throat*....cellulite.... aren't as visible).  They've held up fairly well, but I find myself pulling at them just a bit as they want to sag, and tend to pill in the high friction areas.  From the looks of the website, I'm not even sure they are in business anymore......

So what do you think?  After 6 seasons of endurance riding do I deserve a brand new pair of riding tights?  Any advice?  Should I buy a pair of tropical riders? Or continue to make due with my ragtag collection of tights - after all they still technically cover my bum well enough that I'm not being given indecency citations....

Announcement

Sorry to Spam you'all - but I'm placing my February Renegade order and if anyone wants me to order something to have at the convention - now would be a very convenient time to tell me!  Of course there's still time for last minute orders in the coming weeks - so this isn't your last chance :)

Penning in the dates

Upon hearing that I would NOT be going to ROM on the back of Farley, Funder had this little piece of advice for me: Plan your rides and write them in PEN on your calendar.

What a novel idea.

I have literally NEVER pre-planned my conditioning rides.  Oh sure, I've always had a general idea of what needed to happen before a ride, and I made sure I made time for a 20 miler 3 weeks or so before a ride, alternating easy and hard weekends, and made sure I hopped on a least a couple times a week to see how things felt and to keep her moving.

Preparing for ROM, I tried to continue this philosophy.  The plan was, on the days during the week that I got out of school early, I was going to ride for 30-60 minutes.  On the weekends (~2/month)  I would trailer out and go out for a couple of hours.

The problem is this.  The only reason the system worked before was because the question was not WHETHER I was going to ride any particular day or weekend, but WHAT we were going to do.

Nowadays, I need to treat my riding more like when I trained for marathons - put the rides on the calendar, along with the goal and stick with the plan.

Last night I sat down with my calendar and marked in the weekend conditioning rides that I need to do Cache Creek LD in mid-May.  Then I looked at my school schedule and chose one day a week that I could hop for 30 minutes or so.  Then I chose another day for chores and a roundpen/lunge line soundness check.  IN PEN.

And then I went riding. 


One of many things that sabotage my riding plans is manure and stacking hay.  I go over to see Farley with FULL intentions of riding, but get distracted by the chores that need to be done....which I do first.  Then I don't feel like riding.  Or maybe I didn't feel like riding in the first place, which is why I did the chores first - Farley hasn't exactly been a joy to ride lately.  Yesterday I went over with a load of hay and decided that riding is the priority and from now on a ride first.  I hopped on and had one of the best rides I've had on her since her injury.

Our speed discussion was NOT a yelling match for once - it was a calm negotiation.  After spending 25 minutes walking and trotting up and down the roadside, I turned onto my parents road, which is hard packed dirt/base with just gravel to let it drain.  It’s ~1/3 of a mile (?) and I felt I was ready…..to canter.

Straight line, warmed up horse, good footing that was just a little on the hard side (better for tendon rehab).  A horse that hadn’t tried to buck me off and seemed amiable to the suggestion that we try a different gait.

Why did I canter?  I don’t condition at a canter, I won’t be cantering in our LD - in fact I’m dedicated to the “10 mph or less” rule for the first year at least.  Here’s why I took the chance -

1.  She’s trotting with her head high and her neck tense.  I know from dressage that its easier to get Farley on the bit, over the top, and relaxed in the back in the canter.  She needed to stretch her back.

2.  Cantering is a relationship check.  She often bucked in the transition from trot to canter before we started dressage.  It’s an increase in speed and thus an increase in naughty opportunities.  With her attitude towards coming home at a trot improving, I wanted to go to the next relationship check - will she canter on cue with theatrics?

3.  I’ve had to pull on her EVERY time she’s cantered so far because I’ve been asking for a trot and the canter was a naughty behavior.  I don’t want to say no to the canter too many times in the beginning because I have worked so hard on the canter.  For the first couple YEARS I owned this horse I could not reliably get the canter on cue, and she didn’t know her leads, and would not pick up her right lead.  By occasionally saying yes to the canter at these early stages, I hope to hold onto some of the training I’ve put into this horse, and not reinforce that the canter is always naughty.

4.  Confidence booster.  Riding Farley recently has not been fun.  It’s been work.  She hasn’t even gotten close to getting me off  but she still keeps me on my toes.  It’s been discouraging because with this sort of behavior we aren’t even CLOSE to being able to do a ride.  I can’t even look forward to doing a ride because all I can think of is how I’m going to have to fight her for the first 20 miles.  And I don’t want to fight her - I want this to be a 2 way relationship, like we used to have.  I’m not afraid of riding her - but I’m definitely more cautious right now, and I don’t feel like riding with friends and other people because I know it will be a lot of work.  Especially with my background in cantering (or rather NOT doing it!), getting that nice canter is a huge confidence booster that I haven’t lost “it”, and is proof that there’s real improvement and hope in our relationship.

Procrastination

I have a neuro test on Friday.  I should be studying.  Instead, I'm going to write a humongous post in which I'm going to strive to get caught up on the million rough drafts sitting in my journal software that I use to manage draft posts. 

1.  Only 300 more posts before I can officially declare google reader bankrupty, click "mark all read" and start over.  Get to writing people! 

2.  ROM - In all likelyhood I am NOT going to Rides of March LD....at least not on Farley.  I'm still going to support Funder and get my butt out to a real endurance ride so that my motivation can remember how much FUN it is.....With the weather that has come in, I haven't gotten the miles in on Farley that I should have and I just don't want to risk it.  Now......I wouldn't say no to a mount for ROM.....if you know someone, or have a horse and want to help out a ride-starved vet student!

3.  Last year in March I posted on dealing with the stress of vet school.  A current vet student commented that it was really hard to say whether this sort of advice was useful, because I wouldn't actually know until I was in vet school what it was going to be like until I was there.....I made a commitment to go back and revisit the advice once I was a vet student and make a judgement.....and let me tell you, that person from SDN was a freakin' genius.  At least for me in this curriculum they are SPOT ON.  I would probably be more productive and feel less stressed right now it I hadn't skipped working out for the last 2 weeks, and started skipping meals again.  Up until ~2 weeks ago I was REALLY good about following this advice and then fell off the wagon.  Time to get back on - the 10 steps to a happier and less-stressed vet student really are true. 

4.  Do you have a purpose driven horse?  I read an interesting article over a year ago (this is how long this topic has been a draft....) about certain horses being "purpose-driven", versus those who aren't, and how that can determine which sports they enjoy and really excel in.  Farley is a purpose driven horse.  She sees the trail, the vet check, the horses in front of her and takes over the endurance ride as her job.  She LOVES jumping - she sees the jump, she wants to go over the jump.  She enjoyed working calves in the roundpen.  Now let's talk about things she does not enjoy or has very little motivation for: dressage, random circles, repeats, patterns of any kind, showmanship.....The article stated that purpose driven horses tend to excel at sports where they can clearly see the object of attention - such as cutting, endurance riding, jumping.  Horses that are less purpose driven may enjoy dressage and other more "abstract" sports.  I hadn't thought of categorizing horses in this way, and it was very interesting to consider the implications.

5.  What was your hardest concept to learn in equitation?  Apparently I had an idea of what mine was, since at the time I put this question into my drafts I was taking regular lessons and remember having quite the epiphany....too bad I can't remember what it was......I think one of the most memorable concepts that took me YEARS to figure out was that gaits in the horse are NOT like gears in the car.  For example, if I wanted to get a horse to canter from a trot, I would "kick the horse forward" into the gait, going faster and faster until the horse "shifted".  A major revelation was that a gait change was a FOOT PATTERN CHANGE, not necessarily a speed change.  Yes, a speed change could, and usually did occur, but it was not a prerequisite or a necessary part of that gait change.  You were asking the horse to do something different with his feet, and use his body differently.  I think I saw it mostly clearly on a jump course at a cavalry competition.  Some competitors were going around the course at a nice canter, others trotted, and others trotted but really wanted to canter - so they kept going faster and faster, rushing the jumps, trying to get their horse to canter.

6.  The importance of a stable.  I was at a boot fitting several months ago that was at a boarding stable.  As I stood there on a Saturday morning and watched everyone around me interacting, getting their horses ready, and socializing - I realized how much I miss that dynamic, and how much that dynamic really motivated me to ride on a regular basis.  Nowadays I show up at Farley's pasture and instead of riding I find other horse-related chores to do.  There's no one to share the excitement or wonder of riding, and that "air" or "feeling" I get walking into a barn isn't there.  I find myself making excuses - it's too windy, or too cold, or getting dark.  Things that wouldn't have stopped me before.  I'll probably end up boarding again in the near future (the pasture she's in will likely not be available past this summer) and I've certainly appreciated some of the management things I've been able to do with the total control I have.  Until I do have access to a stable and regular access to other riders, I need to go riding with people and trailer out to places that will motivate me.  On Sunday I get to go riding with a local reader and see some new trails!

7.  Stupid questions.  THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A STUPID QUESTION.  This of course, came from vet school.  In order to determine whether your question is stupid, and keep people like me from having to breathe deeply and eat copious amounts of chocolate while you waste 136 other people's time with your question.....please ask yourself the following - Can you look it up in a book?  You should ask questions:
-To clarify uncertainties in the literature or get an opinion
-To get help developing a system to order a complex set of ideas.
There ARE such things as “stupid questions” - these questions enable continued ignorance and stupidity because there is no cognitive effort required by the asker.  Feel free to ask if you don’t understand…BUT recognize that if you have not put forth any effort to answer the question yourself before turning to the oh so convient professor in front of you, you are doing yourself (and those around you) a disservice.  This originally was going to be an entire post rant.  Aren't you glad I was able to constrain myself to a single paragraph?

8. So you want to be a vet ….and you are a small animal person.  Want to leave a good impression on your non-small animal professors and fellow collegues?  Follow this very simple advice.  Food animals are not dogs.

Sheep, goats, cows, horses (which cross the line reguarly between pet and livestock) - Here's the thing about these animals.  *Most* of these species are stressed out by petting and human contact.  As a general rule don’t “mess” with the food animals until it necessary for your physical exam.  While the occasional one may like to be scratched under the chin, in general, they want their space, and if you are the 3rd group to rotate to the calf station in the span of 2 hours, don't hang on them like they are an oversized Fluffy.  Some horses may be a cuddle-bug just like your sweetie pie back at your stable - but recognize that MANY horses that come into the clinic or that are used for palpation/physical exam labs are NOT.  It's best to error on the side of a caution and have a hands off approach.  Another clue is to look at your client or the animal caretaker - are they casually petting the sheep?  Hanging on the horse?  Scratching the calf's back?  Most likely no - a food animal that is being seen by a vet is mostly likely injured, sick, and not feeling good, and isn't going to want to be continuously touched. 

Part of being an animal lover is to read and respect the animals mental wellbeing.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to witness in an exam room a clueless student who can't keep their hands off Fluffy, even though the exam is done.  I'm not sure if they are still physically touching the animal because it makes THEM feel better, if they think the animal likes it - but considering that the animal is trying to move away and just finished trying to bite the tech during the ear exam, and is obviously uncomfortable with overt affection, it's not appropriate.

In general, I think you can't go wrong with a hands off approach, unless you know the animal well.

9.  Due to the "technical" nature of today's society, a LOT goes on in school about what is appropriate to post and what isn't.  There was a lot of talk about "transparency" at the beginning of the fall term and some people felt that the rules that the school imposes about posting pictures etc in public places is retrictive and limits the transparency of the process.  In some ways it's frustrating to hear the back and forth because it seems obvious to me.  I've had a substantial online presence for a couple of years and I've never posted anything I've regreted, or that caused lasting harm to my reputation or career.  The rules that I follow seem obvious and common sense....but then I remember how scary it was when I started this blog - I REALLY didn't want my full name associated with my blog and I obsessively checked that it wasn't for months.  Here's my personal blogging rules that have served me well:
-Keep it focused
-Consider your overall goal/breadth and your specificity level.
-Wait a week if you aren’t sure.  If you still aren’t sure, don’t say it.
-Think really hard before burning bridges.
-Keep it civil and professional.  That doesn’t mean you can’t say controversial things.  Or be honest.  Or disagree.
-Be as transparent as possible.

10.  Endurance prepares one very well for vet school.  I think that would be true of any strenuous activity worth doing.....the focus, commitment, overcoming failure, the feeling of success, stress management, getting lucky, getting unlucky, reevaluating your beliefs and principles often (is it still working?  Is there something I'm missing), problem solving, having contingency plans, know how to put your nose to the wheel and pushing that last iota of effort into something worthwhile.....all that and more.  Before endurance came along I don't think there was anything else I wanted to do bad enough that I was willing to push through even the really hard stuff.   Maybe agility people feel the same way, or those people that do motorcross, or who quilt, or a myriad of other stuff.  For me, vet school would not be as rich an experience if it wasn't for the time I spent on the back of a horse on the endurance trail.  (Doesn't this sound like a rough draft of an AERC article?  It's on my list to write one.....eventually).

I think 10 topics is enough for now.  It may have to last your for a couple of days until I get past my test, so make sure you savor it!  More posts to come.....(only 21 draft posts left...)

It's been a rough couple of days

Social life includes all relationships - animal and human.  Good grades is defined as still being scholarship eligible (usually around a 3.0).  Enough sleep is defined as that amount which is biologically necessary (7-8) and not what you function best on (can anyone say 9.5hrs?).


*raises ice cream container* - here's to a more balanced, healthy week!

No title

Thinking up a title would require more brain power than what I currently possess. 

Now is the time I have to trust that UC Davis knows what it's doing as it attempts to turn my class into vets.  We got hit with the anatomy of the brain, head, skull, and the cranial nerve organization at the beginning of this week and my first instinct was to stare stupidly at my computer, as I realized that it now had more valuable information in its memory, than I did. 

One VERY important thing to remember about this new block system is there is NO PROCRASTINATING.  I thought the quarter system kept you on your toes....in this new block system the longest block is 8 weeks long.  Most are shorter.  Which means you get new material/topic introduction in week one, followed by advanced concepts, and then in 8 weeks or less you are tested on all aspects of that subject, and then you move on to a new block. 

The good: I get to focus on one subject at once and immerse myself in it fully.  I don't (theorictally) have time to forget anything.

The bad: When the subject requires you to memorize a list of 400 new terms and structures, you don't have the luxery of a couple of months to do so.  You have weeks. 

I'm trying to stay focused and go through everything methodically.  I think this is going to be a continuing trend in vet school - get comfortable with the material and then get hit with a bunch of new stuff.....get comfy with THAT and then get hit with even MORE new stuff.  I just have to remember that I felt this way in each of the previous blocks - that I would NEVER be able to stuff it all into my head, and then by the time the end of the block came around, I could actually speak the language of the subject. 

On Monday I stared stupidly at the damn dog skull and could barely keep my eyes open because all I wanted to do was take a nap because I was so overwhelmed by the number of structures and funny names (bulbar?  styloid?  Hyo? pestrosol?).  It was at that point I suspected I might be too stupid to be a vet. 

On Tuesday I stared stupidly at my computer, swearing I could NEVER get the cranial nerves straight and realized that indeed I was too stupid to be a vet. 

On Wednesday I actually sat down with the nerves and tried to map them out.  I got through half of them and realized that there just might be hope.

On Thursday morning I realized I wasn't hopelessly overwelmed - just determined. 

Neuro so far is a fabulous block.  The material isn't easy, but it's well presented and the block leader is doing a GREAT job.  In the past I've scooted past brain and nerve stuff by rote memorization and test-question-predicting.  It's not a subject that is intuitively easy for me.  However, so far it is the subject that has "resonated" with me the strongest.

Because behavior is so rooted in physiology and anatomy, I do wonder why more vets don't address behavior problems in much the same way as they address other medical problems.  Maybe because there's more confounding factors?  There's plenty of non-vet dog and horse trainers - some of whom are good, and some of whom aren't.  I'd love to integrate behavior, training, and medical care - call it animal psychology or psychiatry - as an integrated approach....I think the idea intrigues me because of the amount of client education that is involved.  

Breeches hint

I saw Farley a total of 15 times in the month of January.  She was ridden 4x. 

Considering I saw her 6x in December (rode once), 6x in November (rode once), 3x in October (rode twice) I'm actually quite pleased. 

With the days getting longer and the weather holding, I'm going to try and do even better in February.  This block has a lot less 8a-5pm days which should help!  (I have to leave my house at 6:15am to make it to school by 8, and I get home ~7p if I get off at 5).  When my LD is scheduled will depend on what kind of riding I get done this month - which will greatly depend on the weather holding. 

When I joined USDF, I was pleasantly surprised with their organization magazine - the USDF "Connection".  It is really well written and has a number of interesting articles each month.  In one of the last magazines I received (I'm not renewing my membership since I'm not showing) they had an excellent article on breeches.  They covered fit, materials, full seats versus half seats, and whether you should invest in leather. 

At this point in my equestrian life, most hose magazine articles are predictable and decidedly non-helpful - which is why I make whole posts out of mocking them.  This article made a couple of points that I had never seen before!

One of the most helpful had to do with getting the right size - specifically that if you have a long femur, you might be more comfortable in a pair of "talls" than regular or shorts - even if you have short legs.   

I've never even considered trying on "talls" - I have very short legs, even for my height.  BUT, I have a long femur.  It can be difficult for me to find a saddle that fits my leg well because of this, and it's impossible for me to get a pair of breeches where the patches sit well on my leg that aren't too big around the waist. 

From now on, if the waist band, hip and butt fit - I'll try the talls before moving up a size!