Progress!

Still miserable and sick yesterday, but I had to go out to see how the Wondermare was adjusting to her new situation. Also to see if she'd killed any of her pasture mates yet. Or been grounded. Or any number of possibilities that would not have surprised me.

As I drove up, I noticed that she was still out in the pasture and things looked peaceful, which at least meant that no one had caught her doing anything to awful yet. The barn owner told me that Izzy had instigated a massive and intense play session last night, complete with galloping and bucking like crazy. Hooray! I knew she needed that.

I got her out and was pleasantly surprised that she came up to meet me. Good. I gave her a treat, then took her off to the barn to feed her grain. Her self-appointed boyfriend was heartbroken that she was leaving him, complete with trotting the fence line and whinnying for her. She didn't even flick an ear. It was just, "Really? That guy? So not my type. Clingy, needy, not real attractive. Can't believe he's trying to embarrass me by talking to me in public."

I felt her pain. Poor thing. ;-) I was too sick and achy and un-energetic to ride, so I just gave her a thorough grooming (no surprise--there isn't a new mark on her) and then took her to the indoor to lunge. This whole winter we've struggled with the walk, whether on the lead, on the lunge, or under saddle. Magically, we had a lovely walk yesterday. I suspect it's a combination of "hooray new environments are exciting!" and the constant motion she's allowed in the pasture. She did have a run on her stall, but it wasn't very big.

Anyways. She was loose, fluid, free, and forward on the lunge. I love it. If I hadn't been so miserable, I'd have ridden for sure. She looked amazing. After a final grooming, I took her back to the pasture. As soon as Duke (the wanna-be boyfriend) saw her, he started screaming for her again, despite the fact that he'd been fed dinner in her absence. He came running up to her when I opened the gate and tried to crowd up to see us. She promptly spun around and started double barreling him until he had the sense to back away and give her space.

Sigh. Mare. She caught me totally by surprise, so I did not really react at all. The next few times, I think I'll carry a dressage whip, both to keep other horses away and to remind her that I'm the boss, not her.

Also, I sold my dressage saddle last night to someone local. For the first time in years, I actually only own one saddle at the moment.

Unless, of course, you count the one that's coming to me in the mail to try. Very exciting.

Sort Of Win

Yesterday was the big day--we were going to find out if Izzy could be a pasture pony.

Answer: Yes.

The first thing she did was pin her ears and move each boy away from her. Ok. Queenship established.

Next, she galloped the whole length of the field, which is about a quarter mile, complete with some very acrobatic bucks.

Then, she had a good solid roll in the mud.

Finally, she marched out to the grass part of the field and munched away. In the picture with her is Duke, her new boyfriend who is allowed to graze at a respectful distance from her. He's an 8 year old palomino paint gelding.

This is Spot, her other pasture mate. He's a leopard Appy who doesn't get what the big deal is about grass, but thinks it's great that the other two are skipping their dinner. More for him!

Both the boys are super laid back and I have a feeling that they're just going to ignore any of Ms. Mare's antics, so hopefully it works out well. It's just a trial for now, but as long as the three of them can live harmoniously, it will become permanent.

So far, so good. I'm looking at getting Izzy a rain sheet to keep her relatively dry and clean for the rest of spring. The boys don't seem too mouthy, so hopefully it will go well.

Oh, and I have a nasty bug right now. Ick.

Case of the Mondays

All was going swimmingly yesterday. The sun was up, the sky was semi-clear, I was looking forward to a hopefully good ride...

And then my husband called me. Usually, this is a good thing. I'm crazy about the guy. ;-)

"Hi," he says, "someone hit me."

"Are you ok? What happened?"

Basically, he was driving our lovely paid-off car to work and some idiot girl ran a red light and t-boned him. The car is pretty well ruined. He is ok, but definitely feeling the effects of that level of impact. I spent the rest of the day doing insurance and doctor related stuff with him, and yes, the first day in March that it did not rain, I didn't get a chance to go see my pony.

Boo. About the wreck, the car, insurance in general, and doctors. Also the weather. It's cloudy and overcast again today.

I'm emailing about a couple of saddles, but I can't move on anything until we know more about the stupid insurance today. At least Brent is ok--it could have been a lot worse.

Izzy is supposed to start trying out pasture board today or tomorrow. Cross your fingers for us. I hope this works.

A Long Post

Proof that we still have and use our jumping tack. We only did one trot pole, but it was a nice switch.

She is so freaking amazing. I love this mare.

Anyways, Izzy was forward and happy in her work. We figured out some stuff regarding the right lead, which she still didn't want to take. I had to keep her forward and stretching down and then quietly ask with my seat and then about 30% of the time, she would take it.

Sunday was much better. She took it every time I asked. I'm thinking her resistance was just because she remembered that it hurt before and anticipated that it would hurt again, even though it didn't.

Her massive injuries:

Left shoulder.

Right shoulder. She just took the hair off and it didn't even bleed, but she thought it was very dramatic.

The saddle hunt continues... well, actually, it begins today. I am mostly internetless at home, so I didn't get to do much over the weekend aside from obsess about it and drive my husband nuts. My local tack store did not have any Passiers in stock and they do not plan to carry them at all. Thanks, guys.

Here's what I'm looking for: 17.5" or 18" Passier with a wide gullet (or bought from a tack store that will adjust it for me with the purchase). I think I want to spend $750-1000 so that I can resell it for the same I paid for it if it doesn't work out... I'm currently following up with listings that interest me. It's kind of bizarre to be looking at saddles with a budget and there are actual listings.

My advantage is that Izzy is just not super hard to fit. She has withers and big shoulders and she likes a generous amount of room around them, but other than that, there aren't any big issues. She has a normal back and no particular hollows or bumps to be concerned about.

And, for good measure, here's a picture of how adorable my dogs are.

Quick Weekend Update

In no particular order:

1) I rode Thursday and Izzy was great--forward and relaxed. Hmm. That makes me very, very suspicious of a hormonal problem. I'll be watching to see if it reoccurs in roughly a month.

2) There is an opening for a pasture board horse, so Izzy is going to give it a go. I love having her in a stall with a run because she stays clean and dry, but then I feel guilty if I don't get her out every single day. This might be a good compromise. Of course, it will be a pasture with two other geldings, so we'll see how that goes.

3) My friend tried out my saddle yesterday. It fit her horse perfectly and she totally loved it. It remains in my possession until Friday, at which point we make the happy switch.

4) In an odd twist of fate, I am now looking at various saddles online and actually enjoying the search. Something about actually having a budget just makes my inner miser very, very happy. Plus, since I'm starting with a budget, I can actually look at nicer saddles than before, which makes my inner tack-whore happy.

5) I'm actually very interested in Passiers. About to skip off to my local tack store to see if they have anything in that brand available to try on Izzy.

6) Speaking of the problem child, she somehow magically skinned up both of her shoulders. I'll post pictures on Monday. I think she lunged over the fence at someone, but regardless, when I turned her out in the indoor, she was far too gimpy to ride. Then, when I led her over to the turnouts, she had this big, gorgeous walk. Uh huh, Mare. I'm not convinced.

Saddle Advice

So... let's talk more saddles.

I have a Collegiate Convertible Dressage Saddle. It fits Izzy ok, it fits me ok. I like it, don't love it.

I have a friend who wants to buy it for a little more than I paid for it.

Conundrum: do I sell the saddle that mostly works and look for something I like better or do I just put up with it and let her do the looking?

Hm... wither tracings and Trumbull Mountain are calling my name.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We had insane winds here Sunday, followed by a ridiculous rain storm on Monday, so I didn't even go out to the barn.

Yesterday I was so exhausted that I just went out and lunged the mare. She looked good, happy, and forward, which made me wish I was riding. Then I realized I'd have to change into breeches, fight with my stupid dead boots, and saddle up, and I decided I would just turn her out instead.

I don't know what to think. I'm looking into cheaper ways to get omeprazole for her to treat for ulcers, but if she maintains her current behavior, then I'm pretty sure that we're dealing with a hormone issue. If it's hormones, then I've heard very good things about raspberry leaves, which are relatively inexpensive but I still don't want to spend money on anything until I have a better idea of what's going on.

Oh, and it's supposed to rain the rest of the week. Ugh.

I'm looking forward to riding tomorrow and maybe even doing a photoseries for It's In The Bag. (If you haven't heard of them, go there and buy away! I'm a tightwad poor person and I got a gorgeous three tube tail bag. Love the quality, love the product, love the cause.)

A Step Forward?

Again, thank you all for your comments. I went out to ride Friday, thinking that I would try the western tack to see if that made a difference, then up her ulcer medication if she behaved the same way she had been. Before tacking up, I turned her out in the indoor where she proceeded to gallop like a maniac and take the right lead at will.

Huh.

I tacked up and off we went. She was really, really good. I had the most impulsion at the trot that I've had in months. She happily and willingly took the right lead without any of the head-flipping fuss she'd been giving me. So. Weird. Was it the saddle change? Was it the emergence of spring grass that is somehow supplementing her diet? No clue. I decided against upping the medication and went home.

Saturday, I took Izzy out for a nice long hand walk down the road. Anytime she got nervous, we would just stop and look at stuff until she relaxed, then continue. It was great. Western tack again. We started riding over to the indoor. She would not go forward AT ALL. (Oh, and did I mention it was snowing? Yay.) Then, as we crossed the road, she stopped. With a car coming. Would not move. Grrr.

I finally got her off the road, but she was distracted and hard to deal with for the next 10 minutes. I got off after she gave me something decent and called it a day.

She went from magically fixed to magically unfixed in the space of a day, which again makes me think ulcers. That sporadic behavior is very characteristic of her last bout with them.

A couple of notes:

1) Izzy gets fed two large meals a day. She is a pretty moderate eater, so that works out to her constantly having hay in front of her to dispose of at her leisure. She doesn't tend to bolt her food, so nibble nets etc are not a huge deal for us.

2) She has been on Ugard this entire time. Just the maintenance dose, though. I will up it to the loading dose for now, but we can't do Ulcerguard until my budgeting improves. It's looking up right now, but we're talking next month at the earliest. I can increase her turnout time and have more alfalfa added to her diet, though. That should help her out.

An old picture, but the problem pony is just as cute as ever.

Short Term Plan

Thank you for all your comments. You've certainly given me a lot to think about. The general ideas presented are here:

1) Some sort of internal infection

2) Hoof problem

3) Hock problem

4) Cycle/hormone problem

5) Ulcers

Hm...

Based on my knowledge of Izzy, I would say that I think #4 or #5 is most likely. An infection is possible, but I would expect other symptoms, maybe general droopiness, dull eyes, more discomfort. Her feet look good. It's not just me saying that--every farrier I've ever had work on her feet (4 different ones) thought she was pretty ok, especially in the back. She's sounds and moves relatively well, which is also why I doubt it's a hock problem. She's sound and even. She is genetically predisposed to be sound (yay!), she didn't work hard as a young horse, and I've brought her on slowly. Those options are possible, but I'm not thinking they are most likely.

Which brings us to hormones and ulcers.

Hm.

Izzy never gave me any trouble in her cycle until her last one last fall, which I mentioned in the appropriately named post, PMS Pony. She is also 7, almost 8, so she is in a prime time of life to be having these problems. Since her last cycle was rough, it's definitely possible that her first one this year is correspondingly rough.

The other obvious possibility which I had overlooked is that her ulcers are acting up again. Hm... this one strikes a chord with me. Specifically, Izzy's ulcer problem started last summer when she was confined to her run except for a few minutes a day when I was able to turn her out in the arena. We're at a much better place now, but all the rain and snow and yuckiness has seriously cut in to available turn out time. It could easily be that this nasty lil' problem is cropping it's head up again.

Hm.

Ok, our current short term plan is as follows:

1) switch to the loading dose on her ulcer medication

2) try to maximize turnout as weather allows

3) tack change: ride in the western saddle outside the arena at a walk to see if there's an element of being arena sour going on--maybe she just needs out

4) continue to monitor for any signs of cycling. Her back legs were a little messy two weeks ago, but I haven't noticed it since and she hasn't been presenting herself to geldings that I've noticed.

5) I'm considering having a massage therapist out to work on her. That would maybe indicate any more specific pains and would rule out a serious personality conflict, which I don't think is the problem, but would cover my bases.

Any other thoughts? I'm thinking we'll stick to this for about a week and look for improvement. If she's still acting weird, the next step will be to call a vet, but that's expensive and my faith in conventional medicine is only so-so.

Frustrated Again

I am not going to recap the Jimmy Wofford clinic today. I had every intention of doing so, but something else came up. To prove I was actually there, here is a picture from it.

Jimmy is the guy in the foreground, obviously.

Sorry. I will do it this week, but I'm just really frustrated right now. Izzy's follow-up chiro/acupressure appointment was yesterday morning. She reacted so poorly to the last one that we added a magnesium supplement and a vitamin/mineral supplement, let her take it pretty easy for two weeks, and decided to try again.

Fail.

Izzy was WAY worse yesterday than she was the first time. We got less reactions as far as rearing and leaping just because she was even easier to read. She normally stands quietly. Not so yesterday--as soon as Toni would touch her, Izzy would start pawing and shaking her head and stress-biting the lead rope. She was fussy about everything and wouldn't let Toni get anywhere near her rear end. Period. Forget it.

Izzy didn't even want to stand still. If Toni moved, Izzy moved away from her. So weird.

I just want to scream. Something is obviously wrong. Izzy doesn't even like to take her right lead when she's loose and she fusses about either lead under saddle. She doesn't want to go forward under saddle. At all. The saddle is fine--I'm pretty in tune with her 'I hate this saddle' reaction and that's not what she's giving me. Instead, it's a total reluctance to push off her hind end at all. Something is wonky and she doesn't want to aggravate it.

I'd say she's just being pushy except, as I mentioned, she's the same when she's loose. She doesn't want to go forward, doesn't engage her hind end, and she's a horse that's pretty happy in her work most of the time.

She isn't lame. She isn't off. She isn't even short. All legs are functioning well. She's not really an arthritis candidate, and even if she were, she's not acting like an arthritic horse. Her back under the saddle is fine--the problem is in her lower back somewhere. Over the kidneys, basically. Her hips are fine. She likes a good, hard curry.

Every time I groom her, she scootches over to the left, pushes her right hind leg as far forward as possible and reaches back with her nose to indicate it. I've tried undoing the crossties to let her scratch something--no. She just wanders off to eat. She wants me to fix something and I don't even know what it is.

We tried cross tying her to see what would happen. She showed the same response she's been giving me (something's wrong, mom. fix it), but still didn't want Toni anywhere close to her. Toni stepped back and handed me a soft brush out of my grooming kit. Under her instructions, I worked up and down Izzy whole leg, which she really seemed to like, complete with licking and chewing. Then Toni tried to have me set my hand on Izzy's lower back with my other hand on her stifle. Izzy tried to cow kick me. We tried just using the soft brush. Same response. I stepped back and looked at Toni. We just stood there for a couple minutes, trying to give Izzy a break.

Finally, Toni looked at Izzy and said, "If you want to be done, you need to start licking and chewing."

Izzy started licking and chewing almost as if on cue. I swear that horse understands english. We decided to be done. I stood by Izzy's head and was talking to Toni, who patted Izzy on the neck. That was fine--Izzy doesn't mind Toni touching her as long as she isn't doing anything. We Toni started to rub her neck, Izzy pinned her ears and started pawing.

So. What now? Toni is just as confused as I am. She's never hurt Izzy in any way. Izzy does not usually act like this AT ALL. I can curry pretty much her entire body and get no negative reaction. She likes it. I guess now I can brush her right hind leg more and see if that does anything but otherwise I'm totally baffled.

I could call the vet out and say, "Hey, my horse is totally sound and in fabulous condition. I have no reason to suspect anything is wrong but something isn't right. Will you please charge me several thousand dollars to tell me that she's fine?"

Seriously. No heat, no pain, no swelling, no unsoundness. She doesn't even stock up in her stall. A fellow boarder mentioned that she's a mare in spring and maybe it's hormonal and she needs more magnesium. I could go for that, except that she's been on magnesium for two weeks and nothing has changed.

So... any ideas for the completely clueless owner? Really. If you have ever owned a mare, please contribute an idea. Even a dumb one--it's more than I've got right now.