1. my saddle doesn’t fit any more
2. he’s allergic to … well … something

I swear, with everything our horses put us through, it’s gotta be like raising kids sometimes.

Saddle Selling and Buying

Ace is a tough on saddle fit, because he’s got such a high, long wither. I was so fortunate that the saddle I had fit him, as a new one wasn’t really in the cards. It was narrow enough to fit his back well and sit up off of his withers just enough. But with a few white hairs starting to show up on the slope of his withers, my lovely saddle isn’t working any more. The second those showed up, I stopped using it. The hairs are the only indication the saddle was an issue, as he’s been behaving and moving just fine, and to eye it up it looked good. Unfortunately, it looks like my weight added to the saddle drove the twist right down onto that bony back.

Fortunately, I do have enough in my new saddle fund that if I can get my current saddle sold, I’ll be able to get a new one. My plan is get a Stubben jumping or all purpose saddle (with a jumping flap). I talked to one of their reps at Equine Affaire and learned that they will come and do a complete saddle fitting for free if I purchase a new saddle through them. So, not only are their saddles good, long-lasting, and in my budget, I’ll be able to ride in various models and get an experts opinion on which style and size will best fit Ace. They’ll even adjust the flocking if needed.

So I’m excited, but super anxious to get this saddle sold. Fortunately, my mom had one I could borrow in the meantime that is a decent fit and definitely sits plenty high off Ace’s back and withers. It’s kind of old and starting to fall apart, but it will work well for the short term.

Treating and Preventing Hives

On Friday, I pulled Ace from his paddock and the poor boy was surrounding by bugs – and covered in bumps. They were small hard knots; a few on his face and spread out across his neck and sides. I’m used to the sensitive Thoroughbred skin, so I figured they were bug bites.

Saturday morning I went out early to put on his fly mask and cover him in fly spray. By Saturday evening, he had a full-fledged case of hives.

Our best guess is that he had a reaction to the bugs (or a slight possibility something he ate in the pasture as they are starting to get some grass turnout), and that the fly spray aggravated it. I doubt it’s a reaction to the fly spray, as it’s an all-natural kind I used all last year without any problems.

Ace got a nice cool bath with a gentle shampoo to wash off his skin and sooth any itch or pain he may have had.

Sunday the hives were down by about half, and this morning while still present they’re down by about half again. Fortunately they didn’t seem to bother him at all, but he looked absolutely terrible. At their worst, his whole body, including his legs were covered. He was his normal happy self throughout – and probably enjoyed the time off over the weekend.

I’ve kept him stalled until the hives are gone, and then he’ll get to go back on turnout with the new fly sheet I’m going to go buy for him tonight.

Feel free to share any thoughts, tips or tricks, on either the saddle fit or hives issue. I’m always interested in hearing your experiences!

Oh, and mom and hubby, I didn’t really mean it about not needing kids. Just wanted a catchy title.

Oh, and anybody want to buy a nice used close contact jumping saddle in excellent condition?

And it wasn’t because Ace presented with yet another problem. It was because for the first time in nearly three months he was completely sound!

I lunged him walk/trot to watch how he was going, and as hard as I tried to find something wrong, I just couldn’t! And on top of that, my typically mellow boy was goofing off big time. He took off into a canter and would hop around at the end of the line, come back to trot and then do it all again. I didn’t feel like discouraging the behavior because he wasn’t pulling or doing anything dangerous, and it was great to see him feeling so good.

It was the best I’ve felt in months. And I couldn’t stop grinning all night.

After about 9 days of cleaning, packing with Metronidazole, and wrapping the previously infected foot, the vet said to quit wrapping, clean it out well once a day, and treat with Kopertox. At that point, the deepest spot of his frog that had to be cleaned out was still pretty soft and tender. But within three days of the new routine, it’s hardened up, isn’t sensitive to the touch, and my horse is sound.

I’m being quite anal about hoof cleaning these days, as his “good” three feet are presenting with some issues that could also lead to thrush or white line disease. I’m keeping them super clean and also treating them periodically with Kopertox to stave off any more infections.

It’s still so weird that Ace is having this hoof trouble, because I’ve been so vigilant about his hoof care. Ah well; the good news is the worst is behind us. And if he stays sound, I’ll probably get to start some light riding this week!

After feeling all over his leg, and using the hoof testers and flexion tests with no results, we did a nerve block. Because the vet agreed that it seemed the problem was higher in Ace’s leg, he did the first nerve block above his fetlock instead of starting with his hoof. To our surprise, Ace was nearly sound with his lower leg blocked. The vet took xrays to rule out arthritis or other bone damage. Much to my relief, they were clean.

The next step was to trailer Ace to the vet clinic for an ultrasound, to confirm the vet’s belief that it was a suspensory branch injury and determine the extent. The vet recommended proceeding with that diagnosis for now and putting him on strict stall rest with a little handwalking. Definitely not Ace’s favorite thing!

We finally got to head down to the vet for the ultrasound today, which was actually a bit of a fun experience. It was my first time taking Ace anywhere, and not only was he a total star with the trailer, he was a star about being in a new place and for all of the things the vet did with him. He got off the trailer calmly, took a look around, and quickly settled into his usual self. I was thrilled about that!

The first thing the vet did was have me trot Ace out to see if he was moving any better. I didn’t get a good look since I was huffing and puffing next to my horse, but I don’t think it was any better. He next put his hands on Ace’s fetlock, and discovered that he had a strong digital pulse that he didn’t have before. That got him thinking maybe it was in the hoof after all. The vet used the hoof testers on him, and Ace did react to the pressure around his heels.

The second step was to do a nerve block of just Ace’s hoof. He stood quietly while the vet cleaned the area and stuck him with several needles. After giving it 15 minutes to kick in, I trotted Ace out and lunged him a bit. He wasn’t sound, but he was a lot better.

Better enough to rule out a suspensory and start looking at that hoof.

Xrays were third on the docket. After taking one shot, the vet decided to grab a hoof knife and clean up some excess tissue on Ace’s frog before he got more shots. He found the source of our problem almost immediately. Ace had a pretty nasty infection that was inside his frog, eating away at the soft tissue. Because it had started under the frog, it wasn’t visible (or smell-able) until he trimmed off some of the excess tissue. The vet took off all of the bad, gunky tissue, packed it with antibiotic and wrapped it back up.

He said that the infection was caused by moisture and dirt getting trapped in his hoof. He also said that Ace had “redundant frog” that helped create conditions where junk could get trapped. When I asked him if there was a technical term for what Ace had, the vet said if he had to call it something he’d call it thrush.

It was exacerbated by Ace being on stall rest, during which he walks constantly and gets lots of crap packed in his feet despite having them and his stall cleaned multiple times a day.I don’t like that it got worse over the last week, but it also finally gave us the signs we needed to find and fix it.

I have to redo the packing and wrapping daily for the next week, and see if his movement gets better. I’m to call the vet in a week with a report, and we’ll go from there. The worst should be behind us. The dead tissue has been removed, and packed with antiobiotic it should heal quickly. If it got worse, all that would happen is it would abscess.

Because it’s often chronic, the vet said to keep close tabs on his feet and consider regular treatments with Coppertox.

Ace should heal up and start growing frog in the next few weeks, and then we should be able to start riding!

I will definitely take even some nasty thrush over arthritis or a suspensory injury. I will be seeing lots of vet wrap and duct tape over the next week!

It’s a big deal, so I’ve been sharing about it over on my main site. See the vet visit in pictures, and be sure to check back for all the details on adventures in teeth floating and his injury.

1. Under Saddle Training

Ace  has grown very sensitive to my legs and takes very little pressure to respond appropriately. We are now doing walk, trot, canter regularly and have even gotten some transitions straight to canter from a walk. He is very energetic and forward at the trot especially. He’s starting to pick up his energy and pace at the walk too.

I also discovered the other day that Ace will turn with just leg cues. I still have a lot of trouble with bending him properly in the arena. He goes through the corners with his head to the inside and throwing his shoulders to the outside. I’ve been working hard to correct this by using my legs to adjust the position of his shoulders and hindquarters and the reins to keep his head straight. Last week I popped on bareback for a little bit, and discovered that he would turn beautifully around my legs. With my inside leg at the girth and outside leg back (still have to exaggerate the cues) and the reins sitting on his neck, we walked three perfectly round circles.

We’ve worked out in one of the pastures several times since it hasn’t rained much and the ground has hardened. It’s nice for my big boy to not be constantly turning in the smallish arena. There’s also a slight slope on the long side, so we’re working up and a down a hill. Ace likes working out there much better and we have been able to do some good canter work, and have even started establishing some flexion. We’ve gotten used to traffic buzzing by on the road, the neighbor dog running up to the fence line and barking her head off, and birds flying out of bushes. The first time I asked for canter in the pasture, Ace gave me a little buck. He must have thought it was fun working out there, because he came to a dead halt outside the arena and refused to go back in when we were finished.

2. The Health Department

Finally having green grass to eat has done wonders for Ace’s weight. He’s a big boy and it’s been tough getting his ribs covered and his butt to fill out. After a month of grass, he’s sleek, shiny, and not showing any more ribs. I can always tell when he’s gaining weight because he gets thicker through his withers and across his back. It’s a beautiful sight!

He’s still looking a little ridiculous as he finishes shedding out. I’ve learned that horses must have a thick, short undercoat during the winter, like ducks have down. I was never really aware of this before. But Ace made it really obvious, because his “down” is nearly black. When he started shedding out his light bay winter coat, he was very dark underneath. He was light with all these dark patches. I thought it was just his summer coat.

Then he started getting light patches under the dark, because he was shedding the dark hairs too.

So, his summer coat is a lighter, redder bay than I originally thought. And he still has a few goofy looking dark patches that need to shed out.

I got him at the tail end of summer, so the dark hair I thought was his summer coat was apparently his winter liner starting to grow in.

Who knew.

Oh, and all of those old cuts have healed up pretty nicely. He has a nice jagged scar under his chin. I tell him it makes him look like a pirate.

On one backwards note, my tack started to rub the top of his gigantic withers yesterday. We’ve never had a problem before, but yesterday I found a spot the size of the dime where the hair had rubbed off. That’s going to be fun to deal with, considering he’s very high-withered even compared to high-withered horses. My saddle does sit several inches above his withers, and I’m using a wither relief pad with a regular square pad underneath. I think part of the problem was that the saddle slid back some as we rode. Any suggestions you might have will be very welcome.

3. House Stuff

We have a contract on a house we love, and are just waiting for the sellers’ signatures. Securing our mortgage and scheduling inspections is next. I’ve got some pictures of the house posted on Flickr.

And because I get this question a lot, no, we are not looking for a house with room for Ace. First, I dont’ want to have my horse at my house. I like to board. I like the freedom it offers, I like that Ace has buddies, and I like that I have buddies. A big part of the fun of being around horses is being around other horse people. Second, a farmette isn’t in the house budget this time around. Third, Tracie might just kill me if I took Ace away. She’s kind of attached to us.

Ace gets a cookie for behaving so well for his bath. I gave him one the day after I bought him last fall, and he wasn’t thrilled. He stood well for the hosing, but backed up and wouldn’t stand while I scrubbed. Months and lots of work and trust-building later, he was a perfect gentleman. (we don’t have a wash stall or anything, so Dave, Tracie, and I tag team scrubbing and being a hitching post in the driveway).

Ace was absolutely filthy, but it was a deep down dirt so I just couldn’t get any “before” pictures to really do it justice.

In these few “after” pictures, you can see how ridiculous he is looking mid-shed. I have never seen a horse look so motley while he’s shedding, and that’s saying a lot.

The light hairs are his winter coat and the dark ones are his summer coat. It’s like having two different horses in a science experiment gone wrong. Just look at his face! And the color difference is even more pronounced than it looks in these photos.

And look at the weird spots he’s got on his neck and side:

He has ridiculously long, coarse winter hair, too. Just look at the ones that are still hanging on blowing in the breeze post-bath:

And here’s an example of why I have such a hard time getting pictures of Ace to illustrate his blog:

I can’t keep him far enough away from to get a decent shot!

Quick Injury Recap

Ace caught the inside of his left front leg with his own hoof during a stupid moment and banged it up but good. He had a nice, bleeding cut, some swelling, and was quite lame. He was hosed, bandaged, and kept on stall rest for four days. Then he was looking good and moving sound, so he went back out on his regular turnout schedule for two days.

Then he developed some heat and swelling around the cut. It was a weird swelling. It wasn’t soft to the touch. It was an isolated thick area accompanied by a hard lump on the back of Ace’s tendon. I put him back on stall rest and bandaging.

It was better after a few days. Then it was hot. Then it wasn’t. Then it was a little swollen. Then it wasn’t.

That lump freaked me out a bit, because it wasn’t any kind of injury I’d seen before. I knew it wasn’t a bowed tendon, but I didn’t know if it could possibly be a tear. Horses can be sound on a minorly torn tendon, but that’s a serious injury that takes months of recovery.

I also figured it could be just a bruise, or caused by his cut, from cracking himself so hard.

I took the precautionary route with strict stall rest and stable bandages with a little bit of handwalking until I could get the vet’s opinion.

Good News From The Vet

Dr. Continni finally arrived this afternoon and took a look at Ace’s leg after I filled him in on the injury history. He had me trot Ace to see if he was sound, and he looked completely normal for the first time in three weeks. He’s been sound, but he hasn’t looked quite right. Today the spring was back in his step.

The vet got down and started feeling around Ace’s tendon. He pulled off the scab because it was interfering with his exam. He really dug those fingers in checking it out.

The he stood up and said, “He’s fine. You can start him back in work.”

That was the best news I’ve heard in ages!

Dr. Continni said that Ace’s tendon and tendon sheath felt fine and there was no swelling in either. He said that the lump was probably just a skin issue resulting from dinging himself so hard.

Ace then behaved himself while he got his shots, and only backed up a few steps while the vet checked his teeth (which need floated this summer).

Happy Horse, Happy Owner

I didn’t waste any time in releasing Ace from his prison. The worst part of his injury was being stuck in his stall, which he loathed, and I hated in sympathy for him. So I turned him loose in the arena, fully expecting him to go for a good roll and then go for a run and buck session.

He walked out of his stall, turned around, and stuck his nose in my chest.

I tried to chase him away so he could work off some of his energy with no success. So, I bolted for the far end of the arena myself. Ace tossed his head, did a mini-rear, and took off after me bucking. I stopped and turned to him just in time to see him stop five feet away and pop up on his back legs and crow hop some more. For about ten minutes I walked and ran around the arena with Ace close behind. He’d buck, spin, rear, and play, but always stay with me.

I’m starting to think he loves me just as much as I love him.

When I unwrapped the bad leg and ran my fingers down, there was nothing there but a scab!

The lump that was on his tendon and extended around the side by his cut was completely gone. Other than a scab from where his cut is still healing (very nicely I might add), I’d say his leg was 98% normal. No lumps. No swelling. No heat. And he was walking pretty well on it too.

I sure am glad it looks like it was just annoyed and not any serious damage or infection.

I’m going to keep him stalled and wrapped for a few more days, and start working in some hand walking as long as the leg remains good. Hopefully we can take it easy for another week or so and stay healthy. I’ll take a few weeks off versus the months it would take if he had hurt that tendon!

In the meantime, I may have to get Marahute riding again and play with her over my new poles (which I don’t quite have yet, but will soon) and jump blocks.

With Ace, I’ve got two out of the three.

He Loads

Ace had been standing out in a pasture for two years before he came into my life. Dave went to pick him up and bring him to the barn, and he walked right on to the trailer like he did it every day of his life.

He Clips

Last night I pulled out the clippers for the first time. I just couldn’t take the 4-inch hairs growing out of Ace’s chin any more. I let him have a good sniff and rubbed his nose and face all over with the clippers off. He was a little concerned, but let me do it. I turned them on, and he just stared at the little buzzing things. I held them there in front of his face, and he inched his nose closer and closer until he touched them. It tickled of course, making him jump just a little. He took a good look, and when he didn’t give me more than a concerned look, I went at the whiskers on his nose. He jerked his nose a bit when they touched him, but his feet never moved and he was pretty good about letting me clip his muzzle. Ace took a nap as I spent some time clipping under his chin, and even the long hairs down his neck.

I was very pleased with how well he behaved for his first clipping session. I didn’t want to push my luck too much, so I left his ears for another day. He likes to have his ears rubbed and wasn’t too worried about the clippers, so I think he’ll be OK.

And he looks so much better! Check out these before and afters of my winter hairy beast:

I should have done this ages ago.

He’s Ties? Eh, Not So Much.

Ace is a little iffy about being tied. As long as all is quiet and I’m just grooming and there’s nothing to excite or scare him, he stands like an angel. But if something out of the ordinary happens and he starts to panic, he loses his head. It happened twice early on. No bigee, I always tie with slip knots so I let him loose as soon as he pulled back or reared, and he immediately calmed down. We worked up slowly to being tied in a stall and he’s been good for months.

Last week, something spooked him. He jerked his head up and caught the end of the rope. He jerked his head down (giving to the pressure, good boy!). But in doing so, he conked his nose on the wall, which I’m sure sent him over the edge. He then pulled back and started rearing, flailing his legs. Dave was in the stall with him and managed to get him untied, which caused him to settle.

But in the process, he caught the inside of his left front leg with a flying hoof and cut and bruised himself but good. He didn’t seem to do any major damage, but boy was he sore! The cut just below his knee was bleeding, but not deep enough to need stitches or anything. I cold hosed it, covered it with ointment and gauze, and wrapped him up in stable bandages for the night. The next morning there was heat and swelling just around the cut, but the rest of his leg was slim and cool. He was still really lame though.

He spent the next few days wrapped up and on stall rest so he didn’t stress it. By Sunday morning the heat and swelling was completely gone and the cut was healing up. He was starting walk more soundly also.

Of course, Ace did this the night before I left for Equine Affaire. I did his initial treatment that night and the following morning, and then had to survive on twice daily updates from Dave. Dave took great care of him while I was gone.

I finally got to go see him for myself last night, and was glad to see he was much better. He’s still a little off, but not that noticeably unless you really know him. My best indicator that it still hurts is actually watching his face rather than his movement. He’s super expressive.

So, he’s definitely sound enough to be turned out again, but not ready to be ridden just yet.

And now we have something new to focus on: learning to tie.

Despite some family issues and things going on, I’ve been consistently working with him 3-5 days a week and we continue to have little successes every time we’re out.

Ace and I have had two major successes, though, in the last week.

1. he’s shedding like a mad-man
2. we’ve officially started canter work

Just Call Me Pigpen

Ace started shedding about a week and a half ago, and I’ve been referring to him as Pigpen (from Peanuts) ever since. I feel like Pigpen when I brush him. You know, the dust and hair that floats around us in this little circulating cloud. I have managed to keep my mouth closed so I haven’t eaten much of it so far.

Ace looks pretty motley right now mid-shed. It’s like I have two different horses; the summer Ace and the winter Ace. His winter coat is long, shaggy, course and a light red bay. His summer coat is soft and sleek and very dark brown with no hint of red. Right now, he’s somewhere inbetween the two. His neck, back, and croup are shedding out well, but he still looks like a yak under his belly and down his jaw. It’s very rewarding to go at him with the shedding blade and take off tons of hair. I’m glad he’s shedding, but I’ll be glad when it’s done and all we have left is summer coat!

Our Biggest Accomplishment So Far

Two months ago, Ace wouldn’t take a step forward. Yesterday, he picked up a canter four times when asked … and maintained it.

We continue to focus on forward and straight. I’m not having any balking issues anymore, but Ace is still a bit on the lazy side. It takes lots of reminders for me to keep him moving with energy. I think a lot of that is just that we’re both getting back into shape. His transitions are responsive and light, though.

Ace is slowly starting to better understand how to respond to my legs when I use them for straightness and bend. He’s very light on the bit, so it takes hardly any hands to ask for flexion, but he has a habit of turning his head and neck too far while running me into the wall or overbending. I’ve been working hard on using just leg for turning and only using my reins to keep his head straight. I’m getting much better control of his shoulders now and he’s starting to get it.

About a week or so ago, I was just playing around and asking Ace to pick up the tempo in the trot. He was feeling good, and was responding very well. So I figured it would be a good time to see if he’d be willing to give me a canter. It took a few tries for him to figure out what I wanted, but he did it! I’d get the trot to canter transition and then just go a few strides. We only did it 2-3 times, but it was a good start.

After that, I worked him on the lunge a bit to practice canter transitions without me on his back. He did them beautifully. He also responds to voice commands like a star these days. I don’t need to raise the whip or anything; just one “tee-rot” or “cannnnteerr” and off he goes. And goes. He was actually acting quite thoroughbredy and energetic the other day. I was quite proud of him for it, too.

Yesterday I officially started working on cantering under saddle. At first it took a couple tries to get the canter transition, as he wasn’t completely sure what I was asking. After a few successes, and keeping him going a time or two around the ring, I could tell it was starting to click. I have to be careful to keep a deep seat and make sure that he’s balanced just right if we’re going to be successful. It’s a little rough right now because he’s just learning, we could both use better conditioning, and he’s a big horse in a narrow arena. In the process I’ve also learned that my horse has an incredibly comfortable canter.

(Sidenote: learning to ask for a canter transition was one of the biggest struggles of my early riding career. Rephrase: it was THE biggest. I had such a hard time learning how to do it, and getting the proper feel. But now it’s one of the things I’m best at, probably because I had to work so hard for it. It’s exciting to see how far I’ve come …. from the girl who couldn’t do it on an experienced horse to one who is teaching a green horse to do it.)

New Experiences

After I wore both of us working on canter transitions, I took us outside to ride around the pasture and get out of the confines of the ring. Ace, like the star he’s been lately, let me open the arena gate from his back. He walked right up, stopped, waited while I unlatched it, and then went sideways while I swung it open (and it was even his bad direction for sideways!). Gold star for Ace on his first gate-opening effort; you would have thought he was an old pro!

We headed out the driveway, walked between the trailer and the barn, watched some traffic and a biker in a neon-yellow shirt go by, and headed into the pasture. We walked past a rock bigger than Ace, along the fence line by the road, up the long side by the neighbor’s house with the barking dog, and back down towards the gait.

Ace didn’t bat an eye at any of it.

We’ve worked exclusively in the arena since I got Ace back in September. At first, it was the safe, enclosed area, and then it was too cold and icy to go out.

But now that we have a decent level of communication and it’s getting nice out, it was time to try some new things. Ace wasn’t at all hesitant about leaving his herd and heading outside somewhere new (although Marahute hollared for him the whole time we were gone). All the new sights and sounds and movement didn’t bother him.

I really am enjoying having such a sensible horse.

And he’s still enjoying all of the attention. Despite the fact that I’m making him work, he’s always happy to see me and expresses interest in what we’re doing.

We’re coming out of the long winter better than we went in, just imagine what we can do now that the weather is turning and we can do more.