Day 119

As you may have guessed, progress on Doc’s legs has been slow.  The daily doctoring sessions are a pleasure to do because of how wonderful our patient is, but I look forward to the day when we see a major change in those legs.  The amount of exposed tissue is a lot less than it was when we started, but the masses of scar tissue that have taken over are worrisome.  I don’t know if it is possible to surgically cut all of that away, but I sure hope that we can make it smaller.  I would love to allow his legs to move more freely without the burden of such huge scars.

We have continued our walks in the woods, and Doc can’t wait for Alicia to fit him with boots so he can come comfortably on some longer rides with the big boys.  For now, we keep the walks mainly on soft dirt and away from gravel roads that can be painful to tender feet.  

A couple of weeks ago, Doc had his first experience with a hose.  Alicia was bathing Rudy, so we used the opportunity to get Doc close to the water with an older, experienced horse there to set the example.  I can’t say that the hose was his favorite object, but he managed to maintain some of his dignity when the mist hit him in the face.  Next time we will take the sprayer off and spend a decent amount of time on getting used to the idea of a bath.  Our boy could certainly use one!





Yesterday was a lesson day at Cottonwood Creek, so Doc came along to play in the arena with Cohasset before class.  Since we were the only ones there, I let the boys run loose for a while to get to know each other.  The first thing that Cohasset did was find a nice soft spot to roll…

I expected Doc to roll as well, but he was much more interested in finally having a chance to interact with Cohasset as another horse without me in the middle interfering.  Up until now, I have only allowed them to sniff each other briefly before putting them both to work.  Now they had some freedom to establish a hierarchy between themselves.  I expected Doc to simply submit to Cohasset as the obvious leader, but was surprised with how persistent Doc was about challenging that role.

Talkin' it over

After they decided to be friends, I took Doc to the round pen for his first "real" lesson at liberty (without a halter or lead rope).  We made some excellent progress in maintaining direction and gait and I managed to use plenty of teaching moments.  In the end, he was moving from a walk to a trot, then gallop, and back down again with a lot of attention to my cues.  I really enjoyed watching him move for a prolonged period of time.  It was the first time that I could actually watch his trot and lope to see how much his movement was affected by his legs.  Although you can definitely see stiffness and a short stride in both hind legs, I must say, the boy can move!  Watching him collect himself and run like a wild mustang was a thrill... although it wasn't exactly what I was asking from him at the moment J

We ended our session with a nice ride around the property with our friend Amy riding Bozo and ponying Archie.  Doc was very well behaved, and even went through the cowboy curtain for the first time!

Friends at last

With the warm weather we are having, it is easy to get spring fever and be excited about fixing those legs.  The reality is that we still have a few more months to wait.  Thanks for hanging in there with us until then!

~Jackie

Day 98 and 99 - a couple of firsts....

 Friday, Jan 14, 2011 - Doc (finally) received his first hoof trim. It certainly wasn't picture perfect, but it was great for a first trim. He's still sporting a large amount of toe flare, but he's growing in a new hoof with much better wall connection. I'm going to fit him for boots on those front feet. He's been a little ouchy on the rocks.

Saturday, Jan 15th, 2011 - Doc went to his first Parelli Study Group at Cottonwood Creek Equestrian Center....even though our arrival time was an hour late, Doc refused to get in the trailer, but after much schooling, to the point where he was huffing and puffing, he decided it was a lot easier to get in the trailer. He was really testing me and tried to come over the top of me twice, I had to really get after him a couple times... he seemed a little surprised at that. For support (and because I wanted to RIDE) 'Papa' Rolex came along.
Everyone commented on how awful his legs looked, "it's so much worse looking in person!" ... but actually his legs look A LOT better!
The goal at Study Group was Circling Game, and so we circled all around the arena. We walked over logs, weaved a line of barrels, even backed around two barrels in the figure 8 pattern. Somebody's son was waiting outside the arena, and would pop up over the fence every once and a while, Doc was pretty sure he was a horse killin' kid! We did lots of squeeze game there until he realized kids don't hurt horses. Then I locked him in a small pen while I tacked up Rolex, and Doc hollered and screamed for his Papa Rolex to come back!!! Everyone was very tolerant!
I handed Doc over to Gail, then Jennifer showed me how to teach Rolex to move over to the fence for easy access (Thank you Jenn!)....and I took Doc from Gail and began our adventure. Doc did GREAT! His only downfall is trying to nibble on Rolex, which mostly went away after Rolex swung around to bite him! We trotted and briefly loped in the arena, then we went outside the arena and explored.
This week is supposed to be sunny, so I hope to fit in some more riding and ponying in!
And yes, I know I should have taken pictures... please forgive me...
~ Alicia

Day 91

I am afraid we didn't get to our ponying adventure today, but Doc and I took a little tour of the back-woods around the neighborhood anyway.  He maintained his composure the whole time, and even learned how to slow down and walk across the creek crossings instead of making a giant leap over them.  That was very encouraging!  Although I enjoy seeing him jump, I know it isn't the best habit to develop if we will have any future of riding together.  Gail has given me a new goal to start working towards:  Putting a saddle on!  Hooray!!  (Of course, he won't be ridden for at least another year, but the sooner he gets used to carrying a saddle, the better).  Everyone please cross your fingers and pray that he will be a sound, rideable horse someday.  That is the goal.

Here are the wound pictures I promised.  The first one is from his first day with us:

Day 1

 And here they are today:


Day 91



Day 91

The wounds themselves look much smaller to me, but his right leg continues to be a concern because of the swelling in the leg below the wound.  I massage it daily, and am hoping that the exercise will help to get the blood flowing better down there too.  Although that wound looks better than the left one, it continues to be the more painful leg for Doc.

I am looking forward to springtime when Dr. Jen will re-evaluate his wounds and see what can be done surgically for him.  Hopefully she will be able to cut away some of the scar tissue and take off some of the bulk of the tissue.  I know she won't be able to close them all of the way, but maybe she can make them smaller so they can heal to a more "normal" size.  Obviously, he will always have some horrific scars on those legs, but as long as he is not in pain, we can live with it.

Goodnight all!
~Jackie

Day 90?!

Doc and I have had a couple of great days.  Yesterday we went for our walk down the "back 40", and we had a wonderful time, as usual.  He was perky and willing to go anywhere I asked him to.  For some reason, soft ground makes him incredibly frisky though.  I think it is just plain hard for him to walk in, but nonetheless, he starts moving very quickly:  bucking, and leaping around like a fool.  On the one hand, I just want to laugh and watch him, but on the other, I feel the danger of the situation with my arm holding the lead rope only 6 feet from my body!  We can be walking through the woods calmly and  under control, but as soon as we hit a clearing with squishy ground, off he goes!  It doesn't happen every time, but usually at least once during our walk.  I have learned to anticipate his silliness, and can usually shut him down before he gets to that point, but every once in a while, he surprises me.

Today we went to the arena again.  My lesson with Cohasset was at 6:00, so we tried to get down there early enough to have a good pony session.  After about five minutes of trailer loading review, we were on our way.  When we got to the arena, Doc was very excited.  I managed to brush him, pick his feet, and clean his wounds, but then he needed to get moving.  The first thing he did when we got into the arena was roll.  The soft, dry dirt must feel so good to him. 


Feels so good!



After his roll, I turned him loose to let him stretch his legs.  At first, he followed me around like a puppy dog.  That made me smile  :)  But when he finally challenged me, I sent him away for a run.  I have never seen him run flat out before.  What a wonderful sight!  He had his tail up, and was bucking and farting with all his might.  His hind legs didn't seem to slow him down one bit; that is for sure!  He did have a bit of a bunny-hop on the back legs, but not too bad, considering.

Runnin' free

Once he had almost completely worn himself out, we did some real ground work.  I was certainly glad again for Gail's advise on a good ground session before trying to pony.  He still had some high energy to work out, and I had to prove myself again as his leader.  Once he is reminded of how to follow, Doc is quite the gentleman.  It just takes a gentle reminder in the form of our seven Parelli games to get back to that happy place.

Gettin' frisky!

We finally were able to get Cohasset out and start our ponying session.  In the meantime, Gail brought one of her horses in the arena to work with.  This added a new layer of energy to the situation, but both of my horses handled it like professionals.  Of course, Cohasset is used to having other horses worked around him, but I could see a heightened level of awareness in Doc.  He never let it get the better of him though.  Cohasset acted as the perfect teacher for his pony, yet again.  When Doc got a little too far forward, Cohasset gave him a little warning nip to put him back in his place.  This was a great supplement to my own corrections, which were sometimes not effective enough.  Thank you Cohasset!

Checking out the "cowboy curtain"

Here is one wound picture for today.  I promise to get more for you tomorrow.  I think the open part of the wounds are much smaller now.  It is such a slow process that it is hard to see any change from day to day.



Maybe tomorrow we will try to go on a ride around our own neighborhood!

Until then,
Jackie

Day 85

Happy New Year everyone!

It was a beautiful snowy morning in Cottonwood.  What a wonderful way to start the new year:  with a fresh, clean slate.  :)

Doc and I have had quite a few adventures in the past week.  I can't begin to tell you how much fun the daily excursions have been for both of us.  Leaving home is not always easy because he doesn't want to go away from his herd.  However, once we get past the magnetic pull of home, we venture out into the woods and the fun begins. He perks up instantly and is much more willing to go.  He gets a spring in his step as he looks around at his environment, just taking it all in.  Doc seems to enjoy the scenery as much as I do, and we feed off of each other's adventurous spirit.  We tromp up and down hills until we can barely see our way home, and I am always sad that we don't have more time.  I can't wait for daylight savings to start again!  On these walks, Doc is not only being exposed to a lot of new sights and sounds, but the movement of going up and down hills, under branches, over logs and creeks, etc., is really helping his legs to gain blood flow and slough off more dead tissue.  I don't even need to mention all of the training that is taking place every minute that we are out.

We also took a field trip to Cottonwood Creek Equestrian Center on Thursday!  I had an early lesson with Cohasset, so I took Doc along to practice ponying in the arena.  That turned out to be one of the best "bright ideas" I have had in a long time.  I definitely needed more practice with ponying in a controlled environment.  Doc wanted to get very pushy with Cohasset, and constantly tried to trot out in front of us.  Cohasset proved to be a wonderful partner for me, and was right there with the discipline.  I went ahead and let him correct Doc, and between him and Gail's voice in my head saying, "correct sooner so that you don't have to make such a big correction," I finally figured it out, and things improved drastically.  Soon we were trotting around the arena like a few old pro's. 

The arena was extremely busy that day, so Doc got some wonderful exposure to other horses with a lot of activity going on around him.  The energy was high, and at first, Doc was a bit nervous.  After some basic ground work (thanks Gail!! ;) , he soon calmed down, and even rolled in the middle of the arena with me holding the lead rope!  When he was finished rolling, he sat on his side for a while, and let me rub his back before he got up.  This was a first for me, and I am still grinning from ear to ear!

Best wishes to all for a wonderful 2011!

~Jackie

Day 79





On Christmas Eve, I planned to try my hand at ponying again, but time sure can get away from you during the holidays.  It takes a lot of time to load Cohasset in the trailer, drive up the road, then tack up and get two horses ready to go.  Instead, I put the halter on Doc and we went for a nice long walking adventure into the woods behind Alicia's house.  We tromped up and down some very steep hills, and he was so brave about going wherever I led him.  The only hesitation he had was some steep creek crossings that we had to jump over.  But after some coaxing, he took a big leap of faith and came on over to me.  We sure have come a long way since trailer loading lessons!

Jumping the creek

(Sorry, it's not easy to take jumping pictures when you are holding the lead rope!)



It was so much fun to go exploring with him, and we gained a new level of trust between us. 

I am constantly amazed at the bond that develops between us humans and these amazing creatures.  Every day is a new lesson, and a new depth to be discovered.

My 6-month old puppy, Kaia, came along too.  It was her first adventure out into the wild, and what fun she had!  I can see that we have many years of exploring ahead of us. 

Kaia



As for Doc, I hope to make our walks a daily event, but where we go will have to depend on the weather.  Tonight we just strolled on down the road since it was dark and rainy.  We walked through as many puddles as we could find, and worked on leading softly.  He is such a willing partner; our lessons are always a pleasure... and good therapy too.  :)



Happy Trails to all!


~Jackie

Day 70

My wish came true, and the rain held off just enough for me to ride Cohasset up the hill to visit Doc again.  It sprinkled off and on, but the rain waited until daylight was fading to start really coming down.  I decided to take as much advantage of the weather as I could, and bring my mare, Dixie, along for the ride.  She needed exercise very badly since she is also neglected lately due to Doc.

This turned out to not be the brightest idea I have ever had.  Dixie decided to spontaneously come into season as soon as she got a look at our handsome man, Doc.  Of course, I didn't let them anywhere near each other, but I did have to pass behind her at a distance.  This was close enough for Dixie's liking, so she would swing her backside around and give Doc a good look at her business.  She even squirted at him a few times!  (Gross!)  The good news is that Doc didn't give her a second glance.

As for our ponying lesson for the day, it ended up being short and semi-sweet.  Like some of our lessons in the past, it was time to hit the brakes and go all the way back to the beginning.  There were plenty of other distractions in this environment, so Doc was a little more anxious than he was yesterday.  We started off well enough going down the driveway, but both Doc and Cohasset resisted leaving home and Dixie behind.  I decided that it wasn't worth fighting two horses to leave home, so we settled for making circles around the house.  Since it was obvious that we weren't in the best situation to try and make a productive lesson out of it, I decided to be happy with a good straight line with both horses in perfect position with no resistance.  We stopped at that.  Now lets all just hope for a break in the rain, and I will do it all again without one ingredient: Dixie.   :)

Stay dry and safe out there...

~Jackie