Please think good thoughts for Strider

misstux · Please think good thoughts for Strider

Some of you know that Strider has been under the weather due to an injury 2 1/2 +/- months ago. He was in turnout playing with the horse over the fence (hot tape). He managed to get a foot through the fence and pulled back hard enough to break the tape and stretch it out perpendicular to the fence all the way across the paddock. Afther the injury I tried riding him lightly, just to keep him moving a bit, but he did not get better. After that I laid him up for 6 weeks. In the meantime he has been chiropracted 3 times; he was a chiropractic mess after the accident. He has also had other bodywork and all the spasming in his body disapppeared. I did not have a vet look at him after many many bad experiences with local vets, and also vets at UC Davis and Pioneer Equine Hospital. About 2 weeks ago I put Strider back to very light under saddle work (wearing his brand new outfit from Crest Ridge Saddlery). He was not OK. I made arrangements for Diane Isbell DVM (the only local vet I would even try - she specializes in lameness and is a track vet) to see him, had to postpone a couple of days due to my getting food poisoning. That appointment was yesterday (Thursday), but was not complete due to her being very late because of the horses who came before; she spends the time it takes, never tries to rush.

The parts of the exam that did get finished yesterday were lameness exams with and without sensors. Strider wore a very stylish cap with gold and rhinestone trim (added by the vet tech) along with a sensor, a sensor stuck to his croup and also something (maybe a sensor, maybe a transmitter) on a lovely simple black ankle "bracelet" on his right ankle. These transmitted directly to Dr. Isbell's computer and gave information about gait irregularities. The result of the physical exam - Strider is lame right hind and left front from the pull back incident. The diagnosis - high suspensory right hind and probably suspensory left front. Tomorrow (Saturday) is the ultrasound. After that I will get the prognosis and treatment.

Dr. Isbell told me not to research rear high suspensory lameness. She told me that I would most probably find only a 50% recovery rate, but that she knows someone who is getting an 85% recovery rate with a long (one year) carefully monitored exercise routine. However, there is a horse at the barn, a special friend of my late Dusty's, who had that, actually only has one good leg, and is only sound to ride around the barn at the walk.

Of course I am scared. I am afraid that my wonderful boy, my life partner, will not be able to do much for the rest of his life. So I am asking for good thoughts for Striderman. He is such an awesome horse.

Copious_Amour

Having personally met Strider, and feeling his incredible presence and love through the stall and sucking in my breath hard at his stunning looks, I can attest to how amazing he is. One incredible horse you have Misstux, one of the most beautiful horses I've ever laid eyes on and I hope he recovers quickly. So sorry to hear about this. *hugs*

CoolsLadyInRed

Thoughts and prayers are with you and Strider.

sebocat

What a stressful thing to have to go through, I hope he heals quickly and thoroughly.

I'll keep you guys in my prayers

ElaineW

praying for strider and you!!!

PasoBaby_CarolU

How very scary. I will keep all my fingers and toes crossed for him. Some people are working miracles now. Sounds like he will be in the best possible hands...Good luck.

bit

Every horse is different. It's going to be some of his will to heal, your will to heal him, and time. I think he has a wonderful chance for recovery. You can learn some massage, some t touch, and whatever else might help him, right? You'll be even closer when this clears up, and both be relieved that he's feeling better. That's your outcome Miss tux. Got it? Put your focus and intent there, and do what you have to do. It'll be just fine. Sending healing thoughts your way.

jackspark

Things will work out, they always do. All my best wishes are with ya

misstux

Quick update. The rest of Strider's exam has been postponed and will probably happen some time tomorrow (Sunday). Got a text this morning from Dr. Isbell saying she would be at the barn in about an hour. Unfortunately just as she pulled in, she got an emergency colic call and had to turn around and leave.

learningthedance

Adding my best wishes and sending lots of positive vibes your way.

misstux

Strider had his legs ultrasounded today. He is now sporting the fashionable feathers on diagonal legs, bald on diagonal legs look. The results were better than I hoped. Suspensory enlarged at the top left front. Suspensory enlarged both ends right hind. No tears!!!!

Strider will have oral medication, topical medication and shots. I haven't given shots in about 10 years, but will be back in practice soon. The shots will continue for 10 months. He will also have shockwave therapy to give his healing a jump start. Hand walking for 3 weeks beginning with 30 minutes and increasing each week. After 3 weeks I will start riding him at the walk for 20 minutes. Re-check exam at 6-7 weeks. Dr. Isbell said if all goes well, Strides should be as good as new in 6-8 months and fitter than he's ever been

. I was going to take lessons on one of Gaye's horses while Strider is on the DL, but obviously I won't have time.

bit

Good to hear! He'll be better, you'll be better together, it'll all be a blessing.

bit

Good to hear! He'll be better, you'll be better together, it'll all be a blessing.

Blue Flame

Lame you say

. . . . that's more exercise than my "sound" horse gets by a long shot

misstux

thelmanelle

Wonderful news!

misstux

Strider's not so keen on the hand walking, which I already knew. He's a mosey kind of guy and Dr. Isbell wants him marching out. Plus we are just walking around and around and around the barn. BORING. But there's just not 30 minutes of fairly level ground around and he's not ready for hills. I am having to encourage him to keep him moving. So not what the Striderman wants to do. We do stop and hang out at the water trough a couple of times. I will add in the little bit of fairly flat trail across the street on quiet days. With the lack of real exercise, horses in the arena up the hill (and consequently over his head) are VERY exciting, leading to prancing and dancing, which he is NOT supposed to do. We are luckier than the 2 other horses here on hand walking in that he can sometimes go across the street. Dee is having trouble walking around the barn, and Bailee is fine going around the barn but loses it across the street.

PasoBaby_CarolU

I know the feeling...I've hand walked Bien for the better part of three years now. At fist it was for founder and then to stave it off. After she blew her tendon it is so she doesn't PLAY hard...which is how she messed it up in the first place. Can't do much else with her....and love her and brush her. She likes that.

It is boring...less so when I remember my phone and listen to TED or something while walking.

becdubie

Catching up here.. Lots can happen in 5 day.
Sooooo......glad to read through this thread to find that you are on a path to recovery for Strider. It never ceases to amaze me how long it can take a horse to recover from an injury, or sickness.

So happy for the goodnews..but it does sound like you have a busy few months ahead of you.

Katharine

I am just catching up too. Sorry you have to go through this, but glad there is a treatment for him.

To counteract the boredom I suggest walking to music that you both can hear. Alter the beat to help with picking up the speed.

Good luck! Sending healing and energetic thoughts your way!

Blue Flame

Copious_Amour

Great idea on the treasure hunt!

misstux

Yep, I second the great idea on the Treasure Hunt. I've got lots and lots of buckets and can plant them around the property with cookies in them. Thank you for the idea!!!!!

CoolsLadyInRed

GReat news!!! So glad for you both. Again it will be a good time for bonding, massage, and all that good stuff.

misstux

Strider got his shock wave therapy today. Dr. Isbell had thought he would need to be sedated because he is so reactive to clippers (although much better than he was), but after a couple of minutes of listening to the sound and some approach and retreat, he was good to go. He did get a little worried about his hind leg, so I stuffed some cookies in his mouth. That worked really well. The shock wave was more than 2 hours late, so I got to spend lots of undemanding time with Mr. Strider sitting in his stall; we had a really nice Reiki session. His Surpass arrived Friday night, so I started him on it today (Saturday). The Adequan and Firocoxib are winging their way from Nashville.

We have started some clicker/trick training. He's really starting to get the hang of giving me a kiss, just beginning to get wait, so I started hug with him today. I have also made him a toy from one of those baby toys that are rings that you stack on a post and one of the plastic covered chain stall guards. There was a lovely lime green, hot pink and lilac colored hoola hoop at Safeway today that jumped in my cart that I think we can have some fun with without getting rowdy.

becdubie

You're getting very creative. The whole experience, while unfortunate, will be great for your relationship.

Love the tactic to distract by shoving cookies in his mouth.. LOL Good job on the approach and retreat.

PasoBaby_CarolU

If you wouldn't mind explaining the shock wave therapy. Who does it if not your vet. Etc.

misstux

misstux

Strider had a minor setback last night. He pulled loose while I was handwalking him and ran off bucking and kicking, managing to get me a good one in the calf. Fortunately for me, the bruising isn't that bad and it doesn't hurt very much at all even though the bruising covers a 9"x4" area. I emailed Dr. Isbell's office last night and heard back this morning. We are going to have to drop our hand walking down to 25 minutes and we will not be starting under saddle a week from Sunday as originally planned. On a good note his Adequan and other med were on my doorstep last night when I got home, so he is starting those today.

I can't fault Strider for pulling loose from me last night, most horses would have given the cirumstances. Really really bad. A horse at one of the hunter jumper barns (we are in a 166 stall facility with multiple barns, 2 round pens, and 3, soon to be 4 arenas) was having a simple vet procedure done. The vet gave it a shot, it had a really bad reaction, scrambling really badly and falling. The horse died within a few minutes. We were walking past on the outside of the barn just as this happened. This is the second death at the barn in as many weeks. The other horse, a sweet sweet girl, colicked; it was a twisted gut. We are all reeling.

misstux

Strider and all the other horses seem to have recovered from Thursday night's incident. Friday and Saturday he was really skittish, which is NOT normal for him, even on lay-up. Gaye, my trainer, gave the shot on Friday because I was still very shaky; she is a physician's assistant for her day job. I am hoping that since he is only getting shots every 5 days that he won't get too upset about them. Tomorrow, Monday is the last day he will have to have his Surpass on twice a day! Dr. Isbell is going to be out briefly on Tuesday; I am LOAing a good report. I do know that he won't be ready to start back under saddle next Sunday, but since there's going to be quite a bit of construction around the barn for the next month (and especially the next couple of weeks), that may just be a good thing. Footing is getting replaced in the outdoor arena and all the turnouts and a new small arena is being built for the theraputic riding program.

misstux

Well Dr. Isbell looked at Strider briefly last night (Thursday) instead of Tuesday. Great news! There appears to be no significant setback from the incident a week ago. She had us move up 1 lap around the property last night instead of tonight and told us to move up another lap in a few days

While I won't be back on top as soon as originally planned, I will be back up about a week sooner than I thought I would

On another note, the necropsy report came back for Allistair, the horse who died. The vet accidentally punctured the pericardeum while withdrawing bone marrow for stem cell treatment. Just reinforces my gut feeling not to try stem cell therapy, which my vet says isn't ready for prime time yet, but will be some day.

misstux

We had our first ride today!!!!!! 20 minutes at the walk, lengthening stride, shallow serpentines in the indoor where Mr. Strider is most comfortable. He was really excited at first, then after about 10 minutes realized it wasn't going to be exciting. Strides would really prefer to go out on the trail, Diane said we could go, but needed to ride on the flat. Only thing, there's no flat trails around here

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'll put his boots on and start in the arena to make sure he's quiet and then do the barnyard cruise. Although that has been a little exciting from time to time - leaps and rears.

becdubie

Chablis

Sorry to hear that Strider is not well, Misstux. It does sound like your vet has given you good advice to get him well again though.

Wishing you all the best with Strider's recovery.

misstux · STRIDER UPDATE - GOOD NEWS!

Our recheck was supposed to be this Saturday, but when I told the vet's office about the big Festival at the barn - bands, food, riding demos, booths to raise money for the theraputic riding program, the date got moved to Sunday. Then yesterday right before lunch I got an e-mail saying that Diane's schedule had changed and could we do it that night at about 5:30. Time for the visit came and went so I took Strider for a walk. They have been replacing the footing in the arenas and there were lots of construction vehicles manuevering madly trying to get finished before the weekend; set-up starts today in the indoor for the vendors. The walk didn't last long as I had a 1000 pound kite on the end of the lead rope. I wasn't expecting much as we have had quite a few experiences like that. Diane got to the stable about 7:40 and we set up in the barn farthest barn away from the commotion. The results - everything looks great! There is still a small amount of thickening in one spot, but that is all. I got told to bump him up right away and also to start gaiting a bit. Every week we will add 5 minutes to our time and 2 minutes of that will be at gait. Program is walk for 15, gait for 2, walk for 5, gait for 2..... If we have to ride in the arena rather than on the driveway, we can only gait every other day.

PasoBaby_CarolU

misstux

Cooler weather (60s) and rain are here. Strider's brain is on holiday. Six minutes of very slow gaiting is NOT enough exercise. We can't do lateral work or gaiting until we are well warmed up, 20 minutes of walking first, so no groundwork before riding. The end result is not good. Last night there was light rain. Strider went airborn 6 times. When people started coming into the indoor to ride, I left and handwalked the barn aisle circle. Had to open one of the doors wider. That was too much excitement for Strides, even after more than 20 minutes of walking, and he skittered through sideways before wheeling to face me. Hand walked a total of 50 minutes, then went to make his tasty mash (timothy pellets, LMF Low Carb Complete and supplements). When I got back to his stall, there were 3 people standing in front of it worried because he was pacing constantly. Emailed the vet when I got home. Strider will be having better living through chemistry. Not only is he not rideable, without the drugs he also runs the risk of delaying his recovery and/or re-injuring himself. I really don't like the idea of drugging him, but don't really have a choice. He got his first shot of long acting knock a little bit of the edge off tonight.

Copious_Amour

Oh Melody I am so sorry to hear that he is so pent up. How is his healing going?

becdubie

Well shoot, sounds like a bit of an uphill battle for the time being. Hang tight. when you say drugs...what kind? Is it sort of like sedating him to keep him calm for the time being?

misstux

Reserpine for long term - it last 7-14 days, takes up to 2 days to really get in the system, can give them projectile diarrhea. Ace tablets for when that is not enough. Unfortunately it is the only way I can follow the controlled exercise prescription, which is his best chance for getting well.

There are times when he seems just fine while I am brushing him and when we go to walk, I am flying a 1000 pound kite. There are times when he is antsy while I am grooming him, but he is perfect for walking and riding. We need to get to a place where he is getting a decent amount of exercise before his brain decides to make an appearance.

I just hate drugging him.

becdubie

misstux

Strider is doing pretty well. He is off the long term drug, at least for now. He does get an ace tablet as needed. The last recheck went pretty well. There was some damage from his pull back episode in the wash rack (while I was cold hosing his leg which was hot from a previous episode), but not enough to set his exercise program back. We are now foxtrotting for 15 minutes!!!!! 3 - 5 minute sessions with 5 minutes of walk between, warm-up at the walk for 15 minutes and cool down at the walk for 10 minutes. In another week, we will move up to 7 1/2 minute sessions of foxtrot with 5 minute sessions of walk and will also be able to do lateral work at gait. 2 weeks later we will move up to 10 minute sessions of foxtrot with 5 minutes of walk between sessions. Then it is time for another re-check to make sure we are ready for canter. However, as I told Dr. Isbell, we have already cantered a few strides when some birds skittered across the arena roof right after I got on. After he has been cantering for a week, I will be able to turn him out!!!

2 days a week we hand walk. Strider let me know in no uncertain terms that he wanted a new lead rope during one of his walks. I have gotten him all new tack; even got him an alligator trimmed bridle when I went to Texas recently (my first vacation in a lot of years). He is bored walking around the barn and the other night managed to get the clip undone on his lead rope while we were walking. All of a sudden my lead rope fell to the ground, but he kept right with me

I ordered a new one with just a looped end for him

We have had a few "moments" since the weather dropped overnight from the 70s to barely 60, but his brain comes back after I ask him to pay attention. We still can't do small circles, but shallow serpentines every few strides seems to do the trick.

Chablis

It's wonderful to hearing Strider is going so well.

misstux

Strider went back on the reserpine today

I almost got bucked off last night. He was high but manageable with lots of change of bend for the 1st 15 minutes or so. We have to walk for 15 minutes before we start gaiting to make sure everything is all warmed up and can't do groundskills first for the same reason. After only a minute or 2 of gaiting, a horse ran snorting and bucking out of its stall into its paddock just as we passed. Strider took off bucking. When it was all over, I got off and took him into the indoor, where there was a killer mirror propped up against the mirrored wall to replace one that someone kicked. Strider ended up ok, I let him look a good long time, then mounted and went closer each time until I was able to walk and gait past no problem. We went out and gaited around the barn in the dark for our last session; we are doing 3 - 7 1/2 minutes sessions of foxtrot with 5 minutes of walk between each session. That adds up to 22 1/2 minutes of foxtrot.

Today I went out in the afternoon after my emergency dental visit for a broken loose filling. He was high, but settling down with lots of bending changes. I was on for about 5 minutes when it started to rain and I felt Mr. Horse ball up underneath me. Immediately got off and not a moment too soon. Up he went. He reared up a couple of times before I got him out of the arena. I took his tack off and started hand walking him in the outdoor. It has lovely footing imported from germany that can get pretty darn wet before the arena is unusable. Multiple rearing episodes, but finally got him settled down once we had been walking long enough to start some ground skills. Then it stopped raining and one of the hunter jumper trainers came in to jump, so we went to the covered arena. He was nervous and looky, but ok until a horse walked by outside the arena. More rearing episodes. This after 45 minutes of walking. I took him back to his stall, just didn't have it in me to deal with him. Dental work does not agree with me.

I can hardly wait until he is cantering in a month or so. After 1 week of canter, I will be able to turn out Strider, which should help a lot. It's a bit discouraging to have him getting this much exercise and still be so volatile.

misstux

After discussion with the vet, we are dropping the reserpine from 1 ml to 0.7 ml. On nice days he is so quiet that by the 3rd gait session, I can barely get him into a flat walk. I am not sound and my leg is hurting so much that I have asked my trainer to ride him once a week and I will ride him every other day. We are going to do this for a month to give my leg a chance to settle down. It is very close to the point where I will not be able to ride at all unless I do something.

That being said, I will have to give him an ace tablet if it rains. Something about the rain pushes him over the edge right now. As sweet and kind as Mr. Strider is when he is in full work, now I totally understand why the people who bought him before me returned him. I went out today (I have the flu and feel crappy) and hand walked him. After 45 minutes I took him to the covered arena, it was quiet and I wanted him to have a good experience there. He has been a tad "unsettled" there since his injury; a lot of people won't ride there as there is a lot going on as it is directly across the street from the staging area for the park. The barn is at the end of the road directly across the street from Diablo Foothills, which connects into Mt. Diablo State Park. I started with a circle and gradually went larger until we made it all the way down to the end. Strider's lead rope is brand new and still clean and slippery; he managed to get the snap on his Parelli rope undone one night recently while we were walking around the barn so I got him a new one without a snap. He pulled away from me and ran down the arena bucking. I collected him up and gradually took him back to the scary place, stopping every few feet and letting him chill carefully watching to make sure I didn't overface him. We got all the way down to the end again when a woman came walking by with her horse. She was heading to one of the turnouts. Last Friday it was a woman just walking past that set Mr. Horse off, so I asked her to let me get out of the arena before she turned her horse loose. She looked at me like I was crazy because Strider was standing there looking very quiet, so I asked her to trust me on this. I moved off casually with the Striderman, keeping everything low key. Within 20 feet or so, he had his head straight up in the air, his tail over his back and was snorting. We managed to get all the way to the end of the arena and I thought we had it made. I asked him to slow down just a bit because there is a short steep dip that feeds to a drain that was slippery from last nights rain. NOT the right move. Once again Mr. Horse pulled free and ran off bucking. I hope this didn't set him back. We will find out at our next visit with Dr. Isbell.

I will be really glad when he can be turned out again. Turnout and canter will return a lot of what is missing from between Mr. Horse's ears right now. I told Gaye what happened and not to ride him in the covered arena; that we will deal with this when he is better if it is still an issue. Strider was a little unsettled in that arena at night when I first got him, but we spent a lot of time there because of that and he got over it pretty quickly.

Copious_Amour

What about the big arena that is covered but isn't all the way indoor? The one that is there when you first pull in? I think that is the one with the drain you are mentioning if I am remembering correctly. Man, he sure seems like a lot of horse

I am so glad Gaye will be riding him, she is so incredible and maybe will be able to "put him in his place?" Though I've seen the video of you riding, you are very capable

Sounds like he is going stir crazy and you're just about done having to deal with it. I know exactly how you feel. *hugs.* I hope your tooth is feeling better too.

Will he be allowed to be turned out into anything bigger than is what is attatched to his stall? When he's able to canter under saddle for a week?

Woo-hoo on the fox trotting! Goodness, seems like just yesterday you couldn't ride. You are both coming along so well. I hope your leg gets fixed soon, its such a bummer to be in that much pain AND not be able to ride.

Sending healing thoughts.

misstux

That's the boogeyman arena Emili. Gaye thinks we should wait on this too; we are risking setbacks in his recovery when he loses it.

The turnout paddocks are 25x100 for the rectangular ones and the others are more square. maybe 50x75. The really big turnout (relatively speaking) got made into a small arena for the new therapy program. It's good that the therapy program has its own arena, but we used to put 2 or 3 buddy horses out there together to have a really good play.

Strider is most definitely going stir crazy; he is a trail horse at heart. We are right across the street from thousands of acres and can't go yet. We absolutely will not mention my 2 teeth, which are still not good.

misstux

Cutting back on the reserpine did NOT work for Mr. Horse. He got projectile diarrhea and I ended up having to give him 2 ace tablets and waiting an hour to be able to ride him. I gave him his shot a couple of days early; he is on a 10 day schedule and I gave a full shot at 7 days. No diarrhea. No bad behavior. Our re-check is in 2-3 weeks and I am hoping for a good report so that we can start cantering and then have turnout. However, given that he had multiple bolt and buck sessions along with quite a bit of leaping this period, I a little bit worried about the outcome. However, I am trying to believe that it will happen.

Copious_Amour

misstux

Yep. The first time was before I gave him his latest shot. He pretty much trampled me when she put his saddle on, then wouldn't stand for her to mount. The bad behavior ended not long into his work session. There was no excuse for the saddle thing. I had just taken my saddle off because he had reared so many times while I was walking him around the barn. We make a tour of the upper barns and arenas while I cinch him up. This was with ace on board. She also rode Wednesday night in the windstorm - no ace, 2 days after his full shot, no problem. I rode him tonight, no problem, in 2 arenas and around the barn in the dark. A full shot of reserpine is what works for Mr. Strides. Now the only problem is my soundness; I may have waited too long to ask for help.

misstux

Strider had a re-check today. Mr. Horse had to be sedated for his exam even though I had ridden him for about an hour including 30 minutes of gaiting beforehand. There is still an issue with one of the areas, probably due to all the bucking and bolting, and leaping and rearing. However Diane gave us the go ahead to start canter as we are hoping it will help Mr. Horse keep 4 on the floor. Originally he was going to be able to go into turnout a week after starting canter, but since there is still an issue, it will be 2 1/2 weeks after starting canter. We will do 2 weeks at 2 1/2 minutes of canter, then move up to 5 minutes. After he has cantered twice at 5 minutes, he can be turned out after being ridden. First canters are to be done in the round pen, on-line because Diane wants to ensure my safety. Still no trail

I am really looking forward to the end of March when the weather warms up and Strider's rehab brain syndrome, aka wind tunnel between the ears, clears up. Although I really really hope that being able to canter and to be turned out fixes it before then.

PasoBaby_CarolU

That is good news. I can certainly understand Diane's concern. It would be pretty easy for him to injure himself after all this rehab time. I had the same Bien after recovering from laminitis. Once she felt better she wanted to MOVE...and that is how she blew a tendon in her back fetlock.

Oh, and that was when I turned her loose after a 20 minute warm up and work out. I cried. It had been a year of hand-walking and then on-line work getting her back 100% to ride-able again.

That fetlock has scar tissue in it and she'll never be 100% again. But, she'll always be loved.

misstux

Got an email from Diane on Christmas Eve. Strider has permission to go on the trail!!!! I wasn't sure it was going to be able to happen as he was really sore and couldn't canter Christmas Eve, but he had one foot really out of balance. I fixed the foot, then yesterday he had no problems other than having trouble maintaining the gait for 2.5 minutes. The canter was clean!!!!! Gaye's gonna take him out the first couple of times as he hasn't been on the trail since maybe early May and he will probably be just a tad spunky. Now I have to have a talk with his trimmer because his hoof wall is thicker inside front corner of his left hind and he doesn't wear it as quickly so it gets high. I lowered the high spot and thinned the wall to match the rest of his foot so that it would wear evenly.

misstux

Strider was a star for his first trail ride since May! It was almost full dark by the time Gaye and Alex got back. Strider walked, gaited and cantered out in the hills. Gaye said he was high for about the first 5 minutes, then settled right down, even letting Alex and Banshee canter away from him at one point. There is one happy tired pony munching hay in his stall right now

PasoBaby_CarolU

That is SO AWESOME. What a trial you've both been through. It makes you appreciate what you have more when you've come so close to loosing it. I'm so happy for you...

misstux

Strider had his re-check today. Diane was 2 hours early this time, but fortunately I got there about 5 minutes before she was done with Beylie and had time to change out of my work clothes. Good news! Strider is done with his prescription exercise program! He HATED it. I wasn't too fond of it either; I am not sound and it literally made me almost unable to ride at all and I had to increase the number of times Gaye was riding him per week. There was still a little bit of thickening lower right hind, so Diane wants to see him in 2 months to make sure everything is going well.

The trail rides and turnout gave me my horse back - no more drugs for quite a while now. Out of control dogs on the trail? No problem. Power washing the stalls in one of the barns after one of the trainers moved to a new barn? No problem, we rode right by at the start of our ride when another horse was unable to pass after its ride. Horse tied to the trailer out of sight of its travelling mate during the Ride A Test clinic, dancing and whinnying? We had to stop for a couple of minutes before proceeding. I had forgotten about that clinic and scheduled our trailer practice for that day, but couldn't get to my trailer, so Strider lucked out. He is taking rides around the barnyard now. Definitely NOT his favorite way to spend the day, but he is getting better and can stay in the trailer and finish the mash after his ride :-)

It will be much easier for me to ride Mr. Horse now that he is not on his program. His walking periods were not rest periods, he had to walk out. Now I will be able to take the breaks that I need. We will also be able to start gaited dressage lessons with one of the dressage trainers at the barn. I told her about my limitations and she is willing to work with me.

WOOHOO!!!!!

PasoBaby_CarolU

Wow...what a story. I think of all you've been through with him and it's really something. I'm so glad he's back - and just in time for spring and summer. That is quite the SAVE.

Pat yourself on the back girl!

misstux

Thanks Carol. I am really looking forward to having fun with Mr. Horse again. It's been a long haul for both of us.

Please think good thoughts for Strider

STRIDER UPDATE - GOOD NEWS!