And we are off - to five minutes of tack walk

I'm thanking my lucky stars that Remy is such a patient patient (hmm, the joys of the English language). So far so good. Today we are on marker 25 min. handwalk and 5 minutes tack walk. I wasn't sure what I would get under saddle but Remy kept his wits together. Whew! I tried to keep it interesting and walked him over a variety of surfaces.

Definitely no DQ (Dressage Queen). Somehow the casual get up makes me think of pony club

Is there a pony club for 'mature adults'?
Preferably with stiff drinks instead of cupcakes when someone falls off!

Speaking of variety of surfaces - recently quite a few clients have asked about 'proprioception'. I have put a summary together that covers tips for tack walking as well as proprioception exercises.

Here we go - but first the disclaimer: If your horse is on a rehab program or has any issues get approval from your veterinarian before embarking on any exercises.


Proprioception

“Perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body” Proprioception refers to the horse’s awareness of his body’s position and movements, including limb and foot placement. Unconscious proprioception coordinates a horse’s posture and basic locomotion, whereas conscious proprioception facilitates more complex locomotor tasks.


Simple progression of proprioception exercises

1)    Different Surfaces: An easy start is walking the horse on different surfaces, such as grass, sand, dirt roads, asphalt. To keep it interesting for Remy, I added walking over pool floats and yoga mats (stabilized by blocks) in the outdoor arena.

2)    Shifting weight: With the horse standing square lift one limb at a time and hold for 10 seconds. Start with the front limbs then go to the hind limbs. Watch for any compensation changes.

3)    Shifting weight with increased challenge: Increase the difficulty of the above exercise by leaning into the horse, while lifting one of its legs. Lean into the side with the lifted leg and move your weight gradually from side to side to make him work harder to balance.

4)    Poles: A useful technique for restoring the limbs’ range of motion and muscular strength involves using ground poles. Eventually they can be raised as high as eight inches and (later in the rehab program – after cleared by veterinarian) also done in the trot*. Poles stimulate a greater increase in joint flexion. The horse is required to elevate the hooves to ensure clearance whenever poles are present.

*Trot over ground poles placed 4.5 feet apart

Our set up for walk over -repurposed- pool floats and yoga mats 

And we have a plan - and no stranger to multi-tasking

Dr. Miller checked in on Remy leg on Wednesday. She was happy to note that the swelling was quite reduced. I held my breath while trotting him for her: Sound or not?? Yay, sound!

So, we have a detailed plan: Starting with 10 min. hand-walking per day, which gets increased by 5 min./day.

"Frequent snack breaks are very important for my mental health", says Remy

Once we are at 25 min. hand-walking we can do five minutes tack walking. The tack walking gets increased 5 min./day until we are at 25 min. Then we add trot, also in five min. increments. After the 25 min. trot marked is reached we can introduce trails again. Turnout is one hour to start and increased incrementally, but in the smallest pasture, and definitely not when it is close to feeding time. We reduce ice boot usage to once per day, poultice every night for the next five nights, and then reduce to every other night. Uff! Remy needs his own appointment book so we can keep track of everything.

Add to that my client appointments and the respective paperwork, keeping track of Chambord's Adequan shots, the farrier schedule, getting hay, making sure Ziggy has his play time in the woods, taking the cats for the vaccinations, keeping up with the Equine Physio webinars, and the class on "Arthritis and other causes of Lameness"... and yes, also making Erdbeer-Rhabarber Gsaelz (Swabian for strawberry rhubarb jam), and I'm glad that I am no stranger to multi-tasking!

"Hey, I saw something!" 

Two steps forward, a setback - and Vatertag

All went well with Remy's rehab and he got cleared for last Thursday for tack walking. We gave it a bit more time, and set out on Friday for a gentle hack. I had crossed my fingers that Remy didn't have too much pent-up energy, but all went well. So far so good.

As the boys seemed settled nicely we decided to let Remy out with his friends - so not a good decision as it turned out. Chambord led the charge, galloping up the hill towards the barn, followed by Remy. Sure enough, the leg blew up and looked worse than when he first injured it. I was sick to my stomach with worry. I continued the icing/poulticing/Voltaren routine, and emailed the vet. Dr. Miller called back from her weekend off and advised to continue what I was doing. She didn't seem overly freaked out (well, I guess that comes with the territory - she needs to keep the worried horse mothers calm) and said she'll check in with us on Monday.

So Remy is back to social distancing, kept entertained by hay, and the frequent nurse visits to ice, poultice, bandage, and also to disperse the necessary horse cookies. He also is allowed to hand graze. I'm just happy that he is home, I don't know how I could have handled the care with the commute to a boarding stable. I've been busy working this weekend, and I think I saw my tallest client so far - this big boy exceeded 18 hands. Luckily for me he was a gentleman.

It's father's day today. I do miss Emil - a lot.

 Ziggy had a special father's day gift for JP:

Best Vizsla Ever :-) 

And some food for thought:

Don't let your ice cream melt because you are counting someone else's sprinkles.

To bling or not to bling - and it's great when things come together

Good news: Remy's anatomical Schockemoehle Equitus Beta bridle arrived at Sporthorse Saddlery. Bad news: It comes with bling - and I don't do bling! The plain browband I wanted is on backorder, probably somewhere stuck in Germany's Covid-19 abyss.

Anna and Carrie at Sporthorse tried to convince me that Remy will look very nice with the sparkle - as Carrie put it "he's a plain bay, he can use it". Perhaps he can, but I can't. What's next? Frilly blouses?? I did like the rest of the bridle so I took it home and tried it on Remy. And wouldn't you know it - JP loved the look. Go figure. And I (very grudgingly) had to admit that yes, it looks actually quite sharp on him. Still no bling or frilly blouses for me, though!

Remy rocking the bling

Paulette called yesterday, her neighbor in Wellington is getting out of horses and has a lot of very nice horse things to give away, mainly winter blankets, not exactly a hot commodity in Florida. Paulette knew about my volunteering at TRI and asked if they would be interested. I contacted Jenn, and yes, of course, they are. So then, how to get a trunk full of horse stuff from Florida to Michigan - low cost, of course? On the off chance that there are still horses being shipped (as the Florida season has ended) I contacted our shipper, Jan, and it turns out she indeed has a load going this month.

So, here's the plan: Paulette will drive the trunk from Wellington to Ocala, Jan will pick it up and ship it with the horses. As this is for charity, Jan has generously offered to waive the fee. I will pick it up at Jan's place (and give one of her horses a bodywork session as thank you) and then deliver it to TRI in Ann Arbor. Et voila: When great women work together things get done!

Multitasking:
 Hand-grazing Remy,
concocting a tack shipping strategy with Paulette on the phone,
and finding a 4-leaf clover

Upstairs Downstairs - and grateful for my work

We are on day 3 of stall-rest. So far, so good. Remy is keeping his wits together, and I'm trying to keep him entertained. Not easy. He is like a little kid that sees his friends playing in the street and he has to stay indoors, looking out the window.

I'm shuttling between house and barn, good thing it's walking distance! It really reminds me of the Upstairs Downstairs (or Downton Abbey without the intrigues) scenario, where I'm definitely Downstairs, waiting for the bell to ring. Don't get me wrong, I'm writing this tongue in cheek!

When I hosed the poultice off this morning the leg already looked better, less swelling. I'm definitely becoming a pro at poulticing and wrapping. Of course, as luck would have it, I now have to send the two rental bits back without trying them. And his new bridle arrived, so at least I can fit it, but we won't know if he likes it. These, of course, are very, very minor issues. To be honest, it's good for me to fret about those a bit because when I look at what's happening in this country … there is not enough of Emil's Schnapps left to get me through this. Perhaps I should ask JP to build us an Ark??

I'm so happy that I can work and I have great clients. My jumper clients on Saturday made my day, especially one young, and very tall and powerful Warmblood. In his first session a few weeks ago I was relieved to just being able to get out of his stall unscathed, and this time he was like a little puppy dog during the entire session, just loving it. Very cool!

The company I used to work for had a reduction in work force, and some of my former sales team members were laid off. I have been helping with resume reviews, and also trying to find connections for them within my client base. It's interesting to see how different personalities are coping with this, and I do admit that I haven't mellowed much with people, especially those that don't show any drive and go the 'poor me' route: The short fuse (that's Schachtelteufel for you, Stephanie!) is still there.

Luckily, this only applies to my human interactions. The great benefit of working with horses now: I am completely calm, relaxed and tuned into my equine clients - bet JP sometimes wishes I'd see him as a horse :-)

"Hey, can I try your beer? Whaddya reading?"

Hanging out with Remy in the outdoor arena (during a break from his stall rest)

Never a dull moment - and Remy gets a room with a Terrasse

After a good week of training with some new cool exercises, like trot half-pass to passage(y) -meaning the start of passage-, and super canter work I was looking forward to our last lesson of the week.

It was not to be. When I brought Remy in from the 'holding pen' (a smaller paddock attached to the big field) I noticed swelling in his left front. It was also definitely warmer than the right. Uh, uh, not good. He was sound in the walk, but definitely lame in the trot. So no need to continue beyond a few steps. I had worried for a while about the turnout at 'school' as it was very deep in some places, and the rain didn't help. Add some playful horses to the mix and there you go.

Out came the phone to get a vet appointment. Not so easy, with all the pent up demand the earliest I could get our regular vet was 10 days from now. Luckily one of my clients, who just happens to live down the road, had an equine chiropractic appointment I had recommended, and Dr. Kim was able to squeeze us in afterwards. The relief was that the Ultrasound confirmed a DDFT (Deep Digital Flexor Tendon) strain, not a tear. Strain versus tear means two weeks stall rest, not months.

We had set up Saumur after his colic surgery with a small turnout attached to his stall, and luckily kept all the round pen panels we used at the time. So JP had set up Remy's condo in no time. That way Remy is not stuck in a stall, he can move a bit and see his buddies.

Add to that the concierge service he will get in the next weeks: Twice a day 15 min. hand walks, alternating ice boots, Voltaren cream, and poulticing, with cold hosing. Plenty of hay and snacks (better find some lo-cal ones) served during the day, evening, and at night check. All this topped with light bodywork and massage. One could wonder if he just wanted a luxury vacation??

Remy's rehab room comes with a Terrasse

A week of 'mixed bag' experiences - and a Pfingstritt

It's been quite the week. Tuesday we went to Brandt's for 'play-time' with Remy and Chambord. While Chambord was quite the star, jumped a small course, went into the pond, and answered any question presented correctly - Remy lost his marbles.

It was a super hot day, and we learned that hard way that Remy's 'stay-at-home' came at a price: He and Chambord became joined at the hip. So when Remy couldn't see Chambord and was asked to gallop in the field he lost it, bucking, threating to rear, screaming - a two year old at the check out counter in the grocery store had nothing on him. At least he didn't threw himself on the ground!

Once other horses were back in sight all was well again. Lesson learned: Time to get back to work. And the dressage lessons with Roz went very well, no issues, no resistance, nice and soft - and focused.

It's Pfingsten in Germany (Pentecost, Sunday/Monday). It was/is customary to go on a Pfingstritt on that weekend, often organized by the large riding stables and clubs. It means long trailrides -sometimes both days with overnight stays- good food, drink, and camaraderie. I do miss the social aspect of riding, here it is very 'individual'. Not to worry, though, the four of us had our own Pfingstritt today.. Everyone had a good time and was on his best behavior (hers -yours truly- is always good :-) )

What a view!

 JP build the table, large enough for 'social distancing'