Good News

Choctaw Lily 1 Response »
Jul 182010

I rode Lily last night. I hadn’t ridden her since May 1st, when she was very lame on a trail ride. It’s been paddock rest and numerous vet visits since then. The last ultrasound on Friday looked very good and my vet does not think that she has DSLD/ESPA. Yay! Since her healing had gone so well these last two months, he gave me the go ahead to take her out on short, flat, walking rides.

One of our fist rides in the Black Forest back in May.

One of our fist rides in the Black Forest back in May

It turns out that Lily has a bone chip in her right hind leg. Specifically, it is an avulsion fracture at the top of the cannon bone, where the suspensory ligament insertion is. It is at the lower part of the upper attachment of the suspensory ligament. There was a shadow of it on the last ultrasounds, so we x-rayed and it all looked really clean, only slight, normal spurs on a couple of hock bones. It didn’t show up on x-rays then, as it is tucked in between the splint bones at the top of the cannon. Chris did three separate ultrasound images of it Friday and they were all consistent.

Riding in the FreeForm SB last November

Riding in the FreeForm SB last November

It was just starting to get dark, so I just brushed her saddle area and tacked up. She looked a bit confused, but went along with it. Once I mounted up, she was confused no longer and stepped right out. I pretty much let her choose the way, which meant that we followed the local gravel roads, visiting all the other horses in the neighborhood. She wanted to gait a few times, but I asked for a long walk instead. Walking is going to be good for both of us. The few months that I had ridden her last spring, she had lost her long walk. It was short a choppy instead. So this was really nice. I started to get a good feel of her back feet, something that’s been hard for me to tune into before. Short rides will be good for me too, as I am very out of shape!

So now, with these walking rides, I will have a chance to break in my new Black Forest saddle and decide if it will work out for us. I do think that it puts me in a much better spot than the FreeForm did, so that’s a good start. I do wish that I could find a sheepskin seat for it. I suppose that it will get more comfortable with time, but for now, there are a couple of creases that would not do well on a longer ride.

I flipped the photo from last November for a good comparison of where the saddles sit on Lily. I checked her today and she free lunged sound! I’ve been treating her legs with Sore No More and doing some massage on her back and haunches. This seems to help her comfort level. I hope that this first month of walking rides continues to go as well as the first one.

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Posted by Simrat at 3:36 pm Tagged with: , ,

Resting and Waiting

Choctaw Lily 4 Responses »
May 092010

Lily at 3 years old

I was going to wait to post an update until our next vet visit, but questions are coming in from friends about Lily, so here’s the latest.


I went back and forth about putting shoes on Lily. I used boots for a couple of rides after the last vet visit. She didn’t move much in her paddock and when I ran Vinnie around to take his movement video, I could really see the contrast when she moved. She was in pain. It was subtle, but I could really see it in comparison to him. So I went ahead and ordered Ground Control plastic shoes and had my trimmer put them on her front feet. The do not have the concussion that metal shoes do and they leave room for her heels to flex. She was slightly better with them, but still not 100%. I wanted to see if they made her move any better. It was only very slightly better.

Since then, she turned up very lame in her left hind while out on a trail ride. I had to hand walk her back the last 3 miles or so, stopping to rest frequently and massaging her rump to help the spasms relax. Two massage therapists looked at her and we all thought that the most pain was in the muscles around her hip joint. When I went to load her to go home, she winced every time she tried to lift that left hind. I gave her some Banamine and that made it easier for her to load.

Lily last weekend. See how she is standing differently?

The following Tuesday, my vet had a clinic at the barn down the road, so I took her for another lameness exam. He did flexions and palpation. She resisted the flexions on her hind legs, but trotted off relatively even. She was very short strided though and stands with her hips tucked more than she used to. All these things are subtle and would likely be missed on a pasture horse or broodmare. I can tell when I ride her, as her gaits (all of them) are choppy with a hitch, not her usual smooth, reaching strides. It actually hurts my back.

Dr. Camp found that her hind tendons were both sore. DSLD/ESPA usually shows up bilaterally, so that could be a reason that she trots off evenly. Both legs hurt equally. She was still slightly off in the right front as well. We are going back to the clinic on the 17th for ultrasound of her right front foot and hind suspensories. He will also x-ray her hocks. He felt that she should have shown more improvement with shoes than she did. He thought that she may have a soft tissue injury low in her right front, possibly the insertion of the deep digital flexor tendon, or possibly hock problems, and he also admitted that she could be showing early signs of DSLD/ESPA.

So she is on stall/paddock rest, no riding…

She’s currently getting Thyro-L, MSM, Mag Ox, flax, whole psyllium and Equerry Plus supplements in a bit of Triple Crown Low Starch and I’ll be adding the herbs that are being used experimentally with D/E horses as soon as they come in the mail. I’ve been learning about D/E for the last year or so, as I had the suspicion in the back of my mind about it. This yahoogroup is a wealth of information. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DSLD-equine/

I certainly hope that it is something other than D/E. Something that is treatable would be really nice. If it is D/E, then I will be on a search to find out the source in her pedigree. I hope that research will soon produce a genetic test to see if a horse is a carrier or not. If our breed does have D/E in it, it should be discussed.

Posted by Simrat at 10:11 am Tagged with: , , ,

Looking forward to being together

Thankful Thursday 1 Response »
Feb 042010

“Horses should be trained in such a way that they not only love their riders, but look forward to the time they are with them.” Xenophon, 400 BC

I know I feel similarly about my horses. I visited with Lily and Vinnie this evening. Now that I am home, I miss them already. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have two such wondrous beings to share my journey this time around. I can only hope that they look forward to our time together as much as I do.

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

  • Sit back and consider what you have to be thankful for. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do.
  • Post about gratitude on your blog. If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.
  • If you blog, please link back here or leave a comment.
  • Feel free to tag other bloggers, if you like to do that, but it’s not necessary. This is not a meme that obligates you to do anything, but look for gratitude. Oh, and link back, and comment, that’s all I ask.
    • Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:

  • Tired Dog Ranch
  • Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch
  • Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs
  • The Pony Expression
  • From the Horse’s Back

    • Posted by Simrat at 11:09 pm Tagged with: ,

    In-Utero Foal for Sale

    Choctaw Lily, Paisano No Responses »
    Jan 112010

    Are you looking for a quality Spanish Mustang foal? I am offering an in-utero sale of a foal by Paisano and out of Choctaw Lily. The breeding would take place in the spring of 2010 for a 2011 foal, and would be performed at the clinic where Paisano’s semen was collected and frozen. This offer is available through April 2010.

    Paisano SMR 3313

    Paisano SMR 3313, HOA 1418
    (War Dancer x Wyoming Dusk)


    Paisano has proven to be an excellent riding horse. He was graded First Premium by the American Sport Pony Registry (ASPR) as a two year old, judged against dressage and eventing performance standards. He has an excellent personality to go along with his correct conformation, smooth yet animated gaits and sweet nature. He has been ridden bridleless and at Expos in front of large crowds and fully enjoys the attention. Paisano is homozygous for black, negative for LWO and also exhibits LP (appaloosa) and Sabino-1 pinto patterns. Paisano stands 13.3 hands tall, with the build to carry a full sized rider.

    Lily on the trail course at the Oregon Horse CenterChoctaw Lily SMR 3150, HOA 1318, AIHR O-3887
    (Choctaw Three x Irish Lassy)

    Lily is a multi-gaited mare and an excellent riding and trail horse. She has been called a “confidence builder” due to her gentle and forgiving temperament. Yet, she is also sensitive to the aids and ready to pick up her pace with a confident rider. Lily shows several lateral gaits besides walk-trot-canter. These will be refined as her training continues. Lily is solid bay dun with one sock and stands an even 14 hands tall.

    The foal may be black, bay, dun or grulla and may well be multi-gaited. He or she may be either solid or show LP traits and/or sabino pinto. Your foal would be halter trained, load in a trailer and be well handled prior weaning at no extra cost. The foal will be eligible for a number of registries including, but possibly not limited to SMR, HOA, AIHR. The foal’s SMR registration will be included in the sale. He or she would be a full sibling to the two horses below.

    2009 filly, AR Margarita de los Prados SMR 3886

    2009 filly, AR Margarita de los Prados SMR 3886

    2006 gelding, AR Cirro SMR 3613

    2006 gelding, AR Cirro SMR 3613

    Some details about how this in utero foal sale would work

    The sale of the foal would be live foal guaranteed. We would agree on a purchase price, and the deposit (50% of the purchase price) would be paid at the time of signing a contract. If the foal were to not survive to the foal’s 7th day of age, the deposit would be refunded in it’s entirety to you. The deposit on your in-utero foal is refundable only if the mare does not produce a healthy foal (in the opinion of a veterinarian) and deliver it safely to stand, nurse, and be insurable at 7 days of age.

    When the foal reaches 7 days of age and is insurable, any remaining balance of the original purchase price will be due. Time payments may be arranged prior to the foal’s birth. There will be no charges (no board) for the care of your foal until weaning. Veterinary and farrier expenses, (as well as mortality, major medical, and surgical insurance, which will protect your investment) will be the buyer’s responsibility.

    If you are interested in discussing this further or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

    Posted by Simrat at 8:56 am Tagged with: , , ,

    Heavenly

    Choctaw Lily 2 Responses »
    Nov 232009

    This is about where we turned around.

    This is about where we turned around.

    It was supposed to rain all day yesterday. Instead the sun shone and I had no problem picking up a ton of hay across town. Hargobind came along for company and Gurunam and Shabd met us to help stack. In time, I will be able to take one of them out riding with me. Vinnie needs a bit more under saddle time first. The rest of Saturday’s photos are here.


    My helpers left and I went for a ride! Lily is so game to get out that it makes riding 100% more fun. I ran into Lisa and Laura, so we swapped my camera for photos. I’m really having fun with this new point & shoot. That it takes video is an extra bonus.

    Lily is out of shape, so we didn’t go to the top of Mt. Pisgah. I did dismount and lead her part way up the gravel walking trail, so we passed lots of hikers and dogs. I think that we were out for nearly three hours. We did quite a lot of wandering around. It’s quite fun to let Lily see where she wants to go. It’s usually farther away from home, instead of back to the barn.

    Mohter & Son - with no time to comb manes

    Mohter & Son - with no time to comb manes

    Sunday, I zipped out of the house when the sun showed it’s face. This time, I took Vinnie out too. He had no issue being ponied down the road with cars passing, including trotting across the bridge. I didn’t want to tackle the single track trail right away, so we rode down below in the gravel road and in the meadow. The road is .6 miles and I wanted to see what pace we could keep at a big trot. We did it in 3 minutes. By my calculation, that is about 12 mph. Not bad, considering Lily broke to a canter a few times. That slowed us down, as it was not as fast as her trot. I also had to contend with Vinnie mostly cantering alongside.

    In the meadow, we had a nice gallop. That’s a rush while ponying another horse! Both of them seemed to enjoy it, though I did see some competitiveness showing up. Not the best thing to occur when one horse really needs to stay behind the other. We ended with some controlled slow canter. All the while, rain drops were starting to spatter down.

    Window

    Window

    Thankfully, they let up as we headed up the hill. The small window of blue that I saw from the meadow opened up to this dramatic sky. Many of the trails there are small streams this time of year. Under the water in most places, it is solid and sound though. Vinnie did well following behind on the single track and through the woods, twists and turns. At the first meadow, I took a break and let them graze. They enjoyed the view at times along with me.


    This all was well worth missing laundry and dishes for. I’ll just stay up a bit later tonight and get that done too. Trail euphoria will carry me though…


    Today’s photos are here.

    Posted by Simrat at 12:02 am Tagged with: ,
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