I rode! And the new x-rays are here.

That's right--I rode last night! It was balmy and a bit breezy--great riding weather, even though I had to ride in the indoor arena. I am still sick (chest cold this time, ick) but felt that the ride would do me good. Besides, of course, I've been dying to ride Lim since she showed me how good she felt on her feet last week.

I was expecting her to be somewhat cautious on her feet with the extra weight of a rider and tack, but she went far beyond my expectations. I asked her to walk, and she jigged. I asked her to trot, and she quickly bored of that and wanted to canter. I (reluctantly) asked her to canter, expecting the worst, and she was perfect. If anything, after two laps around the arena she decided it would be fun to try to grab the bit and run (which I didn't allow, of course, although it pleased me). She was wary of the Scary Arena Door moving in the wind, and she was ever-attentive and alert to environmental stimuli.

I was so focused on trying to sense how comfortable she was that I ignored all of her shenanigans, which struck me as ironic later (an uncomfortable Limerick wouldn't spook). In short, Lim was her old self.

After a half hour I jumped off and removed her tack, allowing her to roll in the arena dirt. What a wonderful return to riding! I am hoping to do it again tomorrow night.

 Getting up from her roll

 "I'm ready to go in and eat dinner now!"

 "Why are you standing around the corner?"

I love that nose!

Also, my vet emailed me the radiographs of Lim's fore hooves and here they are. I've included the one taken of her left fore in January 2011 for easy comparison. Overall things look better--the rotation of her coffin bone, P3, (in my opinion) has reduced slightly, and her toe looks much better. It was far too long last year!

The bone remodeling at the tip of P3 looks no different than before, and if you ask me it appears the bone has reinforced itself somewhat there, because if you compare it to the old radiograph, it appears more solid now. But then again, I am not a vet so I am just theorizing here. I know that is still a sensitive part of Lim's foot and we need to be careful to not remove any of the hard-earned sole underneath that bone when her feet are trimmed.

If you look at the radiograph of Lim's right fore, that is how your average, ideal, healthy horse hoof and coffin bone should look. So clearly her left fore has gone through a lot in its lifetime, but those hard years are well behind us. Nevertheless, that will always be an area to pay special attention to.

January 2011, left fore

January 2012, left fore

January 2012, right fore

Sweet night!

There's no better cure for a sorry week than your horse surpassing your expectations by not only giving you a great, springy trot, but also a hard gallop, a lot of bucking, and the very picture of a horse having fun!

Okay, maybe no riding this time

No, it isn't Lim--her tootsies are just fine, and sparkling clean thanks to all the turnout time she has in the snow (but maybe not as of tomorrow since all that snow is melting into a muddy mess).

It's me--I came down with a mystery virus sometime late in the week, and awoke Saturday feeling like an invisible python was wrapped around my neck. I was also exhausted, and from past history knew better than to try to ride or go for a run....grumble grumble!

So I stayed inside for most of the weekend.

I am feeling somewhat better today, so I hope to resume running (on the treadmill! I don't think I need to be sucking down cold air right now) tomorrow evening if my health continues on this upward slope. And the ride? Postponed for this weekend.

Improving feet and vet appointment next week

I'm happy to report that Lim's feet appear to be much more comfortable. I free-lunged her at the walk and trot last weekend (I didn't want to ask for the canter just yet) and I was pleasantly surprised by how well she moved. She moved freely and quietly, with no discomfort.

However, I do know that the arthritis in her left hind hock is bothering her. So with all this in mind, I've decided to try riding her this weekend at the walk and trot. She appears comfortable enough for it and the extra movement will be helpful for her arthritis.

I also made an appointment with the vet for Thursday the 19th. I asked that she give Lim an Adequan injection booster and also requested lateral radiographs of each fore hoof.

Fingers crossed that Lim continues to improve and I can ride her again regularly. I sure miss being on my silly mare's back.

Farewell, Indian Charlie

Twice this year, my husband and I had the chance to be enamored by two different horses. And this year, we lost them all too soon. As fate would have it, both horses were of the same family--a great sire and his champion daughter.

A few months ago I posted about the loss of Fleet Indian, and this morning her sire, Indian Charlie, passed away.

Airdrie Stud was the first stud farm we visited in Lexington over Breeder's Cup weekend. The visit was a stark contrast to the hubbub of the open houses later in the day. Rather than a milling mess of people, it was just my husband, his friend, the stallion manager, the barn cat, and I...and of course, the horses. And rather than seeing stalled, perfectly-groomed stallions on display, we were free to roam the property of Airdie and see the stallions at their best--as happy, muddy horses.

This alone was a wonderful treat, but the first stallion we made a beeline for--and the number one reason we were at Airdrie--made the visit all the more special. He was Indian Charlie, and his personality was larger than his gigantic frame. He ran, he made us laugh, and he happily posed for our zillions of photographs. He also reminded me very much of Fleet Indian, and it was clear where she had acquired her looks and sweet temperament. Indian Charlie was a stand-out from the other stallions there and such a pleasure to visit that if we had packed up and left for Illinois right after Airdrie, I would have been satisfied.

"We must see him again next year," I told my husband as we were leaving, and he wholeheartedly agreed.

Upon learning of his passing this morning, my husband I were extremely saddened. We both feel very fortunate to have met both sire and daughter this year. If only we had more opportunities with them in the future. Rest in peace, Indian Charlie.

My husband photographing Indian Charlie

 

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2011/12/15/indian-charlie-dies.aspx

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/66607/indian-charlie-loses-battle-with-cancer?source=rss

Barn etiquette and an update

No, I still haven't ridden, unfortunately! I guess it's not so bad to not ride during the winter, though....not! I would give anything to ride Lim right now. However, I have to wait. She is still barefoot and still sore after trims--not as sore as she was when she had the abscess, but still sore enough to push aside any hopes of riding her.

I don't know how long it will be, but it'll be a while. Sigh.

Lim had a chiropractic appointment on Friday; it was a last-minute thing after I found out an equine chiropractor would be at the barn that day. I had been thinking about having this done for a while with Dr. Heinze but I figured I would give this vet a shot since she was already there. I will post more details at a later date, but it was an interesting session.

And now, the subject of barn etiquette. A little over a week ago, I arrived at the barn and found a couple key items in Lim's stall in a disarray--her stall guard was looped up in a way that I would never do, and even worse, her rubber feed pan was located across the aisle by another horse's stall. Needless to say, I was furious!

After texting different people, I could not figure out who had moved her feed pan. So the next step was to talk to the barn owner. She did a little investigative work of her own and pinpointed a particular person, but this person denied everything. I will not go into detail here, but I have decided to drop the whole thing for now. If it happens again then there will be hell to pay, but in the meantime I simply let this person know that "no matter" who moved/used Lim's feed pan, it would not be tolerated. I also updated the info sign on Lim's stall and added a new sign stating that her stuff should not be used or removed without permission and placed it in a prominent location. Lastly, I wrapped her feed pan twice over with bright green tape and wrote her name in black marker all over this tape. There had already been tape on the bottom of the pan, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to make it more clear that the pan belonged to Limerick.

Hopefully this takes care of everything, but really? I find it amazing that people are so inconsiderate and rude that I have to do this in the first place. What happened to "if it's not yours, don't touch it" and other basic, common-sense rules?

While I love this barn and am happy Lim enjoys it there, at the same time, incidents like this make me want to move to my own place that much more.

No riding for all of November! Or nearly so, anyway.

Sadly, my great riding streak ended in October. I rode on the 1st and 3rd of November but not since. I sorely miss riding but I need to wait a while before I can hop back on Lim.

You see, she had the Perfect Hoof Wear removed on November 4. Later that same day, she developed an abscess in her right fore hoof (possibly caused by running herself silly in turnout after the removal of the PHW--too much, too soon!). Fortunately it was minor and disappeared fairly quick. But that aside, I also get the impression that she is protecting her feet somewhat. I have only seen her trot a couple times--once to free-lunge her after the abscess resolved in order to see how well she moved, and again on Thanksgiving when she was turned out in the outdoor arena while I cleaned her stall. I caught her trotting around and putting on a little show for the pasture horses that were watching her from the fence line, silly girl!

She moved fine, but not with her usual lengthened stride and flair. At her best, her trots are not unlike that of a Standarbred's, or perhaps even a dressage horse in full extended trot. Lim is something to see then, particularly if her tail is flagged.

However, a ride will tell me so much more, and I was debating riding her over this past (Thanksgiving) weekend. But after noticing how tense she was on her left side during a grooming session last week, I decided to put the ride off. Instead, I gave her a massage that very day after grooming, and a second one over the weekend. I will massage her yet again either tonight or tomorrow, and also free-lunge her again tomorrow.

If she isn't tense/sore and she moves okay then a ride will be the definite next step. If she is still tense then I will likely make another chiropractor appointment for her; I can only do so much with massaging. Since she was sore in her right fore hoof, it is not a huge surprise to me that she is now sore on her left side.

It seems like a lot of waiting for a ride, but I have learned that this is the best way--if you want a happy, willing horse then you must not force him or her to ride when they aren't up to it. Your horse is your partner, not your slave.