And I said, HEAL!!

Large white horse was on stall rest. Large white....well, with the weather change, and with his shedding, I've noticed some more black spots appearing. Now, I know that "flea bitten" is less desirable in the Percheron world than "dappling", and here's a pictorial difference:

 Flea Bitten, above, is like white with little black dots, some faint, some strong.

Dapple, or Dappling, is like a gray or black background with white patches.

Altivo seems to be changing his spots again, and it's interesting to see the metamorphosis. So I've been saying, "Large White Horse" and "Large Gray Horse", but really, maybe I'll just switch to "Large Horse".
Large Horse was on stall rest, he played with his Jolly Ball for a day and then kicked it into a corner. Now it gets moved around when it's in the way and that's about all. I made sure to hand walk him every day, as prescribed, and he never limped. Secretly, I think it was his way to get out closer to all of the tall grass out in the back field.
After his handwalking was successful, we put him into the round pen and had him go at a trot briefly, to see if limping came back. None!!!
Yaay!!!
So, I am allowed to ride him, at a walk only, for the next couple weeks, and then we'll start having him trot while bearing weight. Hopefully he will be well enough for our next trail ride.

Speaking of trail rides, I went on a loaner horse last weekend!!! We did the same loop that Altivo and I did last year, only I went on Chinook. He's a Tennessee Walker, so he's gaited, and way forward. Gaited means that he has another type of movement other than walk, trot, and canter. When a horse is "forward", it means he likes to go. Altivo is NOT forward. Altivo is backward. Ok, so backward isn't a real horse term but I don't care.

I found out that the loop we did was about 6 miles, which is just perfect. I'd like to be able to go further, but I'm too out of shape still. Soon, though.
Being a forward horse, all I needed to do was nudge him ever so slightly with my leg and he'd start off at a quick pace, and being gaited means when he trotted, he actually gaited, and you would just need to stay put. No posting, where you go up and down to be a shock absorber, you just sit. 
We meandered through the woods and into the field, where one of the other girls I was with wanted to canter. We all ended up cantering for the fun of it, and
A: I cantered for the first time!
B: I stayed on!
C: I had fun!

I missed my own horse, but it was good experience, just like when I go on Tanna, and any experience is helpful.

Oh! And this Friday night, I'm going to be attending Gymkhana Practice. Gymkhana is a timed event competition, where you do certain things on your horse, get timed and judged, and have fun. I'll have more on that later!

This is Lame!

Yeah. He's lame.

So last week, I went out to torture inconvenience ride the Big Grey Horse. I got to the barn, and it was noted by a couple people that Altivo had been running around like a nut in his paddock, since a new horse got put into the enclosure next to his, and there was playing and running and general merrymaking going on across the fence. My horse decided to join in, and all that witnessed this were in awe that such a big lazy lug could run and play like the teeny arabian that was performing Olympic style backflips and perfect 10 landings. Ok, so I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean.

I listened to these tales, and wished I could've seen him, but then soon forgot about it when I started pulling a dozen cats worth of hair off my beast. I took him into the arena to poke about on him, and poof!! A limp, just for a step or two. Not prolonged at all.  I hopped on him, thinking it was nothing, and he refused to go forward. Altivo, as lazy as he is, has NEVER once refused to go forward. In fact, he's been doing so well these past couple months, and had yet to refuse anything I have asked of him.
Yet here he was, flatly refusing to walk. I got off, and started to lunge him, wondering if that one limp had anything to do with it. At the trot- limping like crazy!!

I assumed his merriment from that day had perhaps bruised his hoof....I put him away and returned two days later, to a limp all the time pony who didn't want to bear weight on his hoof. No signs of abscessing, no signs of obvious trauma, no signs of anything, except a very sad horse who didn't want to walk.

For those of you who may be concerned, have no fear- he was still eating and his appetite was normal. (Remember, if he's still eating, he's not in danger- this is Altivo we're talking about here.)

So, the vet came out, did a bunch of diagnostic observation, and didn't find anything wrong with the hoof. He couldn't feel any bone injuries or obvious muscle issues. He then did a nerve block, which is where they numb certain parts of the leg, starting at the ground level and work their way up, to see at which point the pain or limping stops. This then tells the vet what part of the leg is having problems, and allows them to figure out which tendon or ligament is hurt.
I know nothing about this subject, so my friend, Google, came to my aid.
I found a really helpful article from UC Davis about Suspensory Ligament issues...if you're interested, here it is:
Suspensory Ligament Brochure

And here's a picture from The Horse.com showing the ligament in question:

So the vet prescribed what is called "Bute" or Phenylbutazone, which an anti-inflammatory medication for horses, twice a day for a week, and then once a day for a week.

And stall rest. 30 days. I broke the news to him with an orange. He didn't listen to me, he was too busy chewing, but he'll figure it out soon enough. The vet said after 3 weeks or so he can start to be hand walked, so I'm going to get him a couple stall toys, like the JollyBall or something to try to keep him occupied. He's going to go crazy. Or break the barn down. Or both.

This is going to be interesting.....

An Indian what??!?

Ok, so I learned about a new device, well the device itself is NOT new, but I had never heard of it:

An Indian Bosal.

It's a type of noseband that allows you to control your horse without a bit, and is still gentle enough on their face. Some people think they're the best thing in the world, while others think it's horrible torture. I wanted to see how he'd behave, and being so inexpensive (you only buy the noseband, not the whole halter, and attach it to your bridle.), I figured, hey, why not? He hates being bitted- He was in a plain snaffle and seemed to not give in to the bit and rein cues enough, so I switched to a twisted snaffle, and he improved a great deal.

The only problem is at anything faster than a walk he tends to just go straight - the faster the speed, the more likely he is to ignore directional cues. It's like his brain shuts off at higher speeds and he just falls into the gait you ask for, and goes straight.
But because he hates being bitted, I thought for the rainy (or lazy) days when we're just going to poke around in the arena, why not see if he can go bitless?

His signature color I decided, is burgundy. I LOVE purple, but it seems too girly of a color. I asked Altivo what color he preferred, and it went like this:

Me: Hey, fat pony, what color do you like best?
Altivo: I like oranges.
Me: Well there's red-orange, bright orange.... Any specific shades?
Altivo: Shades? No shades. Oranges. And apples, and pears, and candy canes. Do you have any snacks on you?
Me: You really are of no help.
Altivo: Do I get any food for answering your question?
Me: No.

Since he had no useful opinion on the subject, I bought a burgundy and black one. Burgundy is a regal color that doesn't show too much dirt. My reins were a gift, and I've been happy with them, but they're red, so eventually I'll replace them with some plain black ones. Until then, forgive the un-matchiness of this photo-

After fitting it onto his bridle, then on to him, I got on in the arena and did the "flexion" exercises. This is where you encourage the horse to learn to respond to the rein tug with a soft mouth, and turn his head without resistance. He responded better than I thought he would, and since he's picked up on leg cues more, I found that at a walk I really only needed to press with my leg and lightly gesture with the reins.
I asked for a trot, and about half the time, I got a freight train, powering straight forward, and half the time I had a flexible horse who was paying attention.....hmm... It seems to me he needs some professional training.
(Ok, so Pro training was recommended to me a while ago, so it's not like I just realized this, but now that I'm asking and expecting more of him, the idea is making more sense to me.)
And even though snow, yes, SNOW was predicted, he has started to shed out like crazy!!! It's kind of a gross picture, but I had to snap it, just for shock value-

Yep. That's his pile o' shed. And while it doesn't look too scary here, it was the size of a barn cat. In fact, all raked up like that, it looked like a sleeping barn cat. Yikes. Even yesterday, it's still just coming off him like crazy!!

He's way dirty right now too, since his idea of a good time is rolling in any mud, dirt, or sand he can find. But during one of my trips to the farm store, I found some white horse shampoo on clearance...so as soon as it warms up, I'm bathing him, just so I can have a clean horse for a couple hours.
I find that almost a year later, I still like going to the feed stores around here and just staring at the horse aisle...still in awe that I might, just might, have a need for any product on the shelf....not that I do have a need for any product on the shelves, but that I have a horse- a reason to be in the horse aisle of a feed store.
I remember when I was younger, I would stare at the horse products- the halters, the bottles of various things, and the saddle soap, and I'd be jealous and sad that I didn't have a need for it.

Just goes to show you- keep dreaming and you can make it happen!

We're famous!! Well, maybe just a little...

Big, huge, massive thanks to the Copper Gazette online-

I was asked to write up a small piece for their online news site. Copperopolis (yes, that's a real town!), is one of the many towns in the Sierra foothills of California- and their news site has lots of local community info, with fun little stories thrown in.
And I'm in it today!! Wooooooo!!!!

I wrote a completely stand alone piece for them, since I felt like I'd be cheating if I used a blog post. So I figured I'd sum up the past 8 months of horse ownership in an open letter to Altivo. Not that he cares, but if you do, here's the link to my article.. 

BigGreenGirl goes Editorial!

Also, last weekend, I went on another trail ride on the OtherHorse. We had a trail ride scheduled for a big group, but the ick is going around, and our rig driver came down sick the morning we were supposed to go. So no ride on the dirty marshmallow horse...which was sad for me, since the trails are really calling to me, and there really is a difference in being on your horse as opposed to someone else's. He knows my signals, I know his body language, and there's just a little more communication there that you and an occasional loaner horse just don't have.


Now, don't take this the wrong way, since Tanna is a great horse- she's very forgiving of a green rider, has a big heart, is very personable, and has a smooth trot and canter...we'll come back to that in a bit.

It's very different grooming and tacking up an OtherHorse, especially this one- she's a Quarter Horse, and I'm used to a Percheron, and that's just one tiny (ok, BIG) difference. Well, their butts are probably the same size.
Oh! So the canter....well, there we were, Tanna and I following HorseFriend and her horse, Freeman. (Kudos to anyone who can guess what breed he is!)

HF says she wants to trot up a hill, and knowing Tanna will follow her, she made sure I was comfortable with it. Trotting isn't scary, so I agreed, and off we went. In her effort to keep up, Tanna switched to a canter, and whoosh, we were flying!! For about 2 seconds, then I slowed her down, scared out of my wits!! Ok, maybe not that bad, but wow, that was a shocker!
HF heard hoofbeats behind her, slowed her horse to turn and look at us, and off flew her sunglasses, inches from the horse's hoof! She hopped off to grab them, and we realized that we were standing in an open field, no rocks or high points in sight...and we ride her horses with nothing but bareback pads. Silly, silly trail riders.

But wait! We put our two horses together, I flexed my foot, and she stepped up, using it as a mounting block. Ta Da!!! One rider up, thank you very much!

So, all in all, it was a good time, and hopefully in a few weeks, I'll be able to take Altivo up and we can go trail crazy!

Until next time!

Cheating again!

Dear Altivo:

I know, I cheated on you again. But I NEVER said I wouldn't! And besides, you probably don't care anyway. Although on our last ride, you had more energy than I've ever seen, almost more than I care to have in a horse, and it was certainly fun to turn you out into the arena and watch you buck and fart your way to a gallop, which you held for 3 laps around!!!
But still, the opportunity to ride trails was too enticing for me, even if you couldn't be there with me.
You've never met Tanna, but she is a little like you. She's friendly and calm, and has a big butt. She's a quarter horse though, so she's way smaller. The ground isn't so far away when I'm sitting on her.
I took a mean face picture, channeling my inner jockey, pretending I'm astride Zenyatta at the finish line- so you can see how much fun we had.  I promise I'll bring you another of my leftover candy canes to make up for this.
I'll be back to inconvenience your life soon, Big Lug!

Love, BGG

In Altivo Update World-

I have one of the barn girls ride him about once a week to keep him focused and make him work harder than I ride him, since I'm so green we don't exactly gallop about the countryside if you know what I mean..  ;)
Well, she reported that he had tons of energy on their last ride, and when I hopped aboard on Friday, he just couldn't stand still!! I never lunge him before we ride since he's so laid back as it is, so I just mounted and started poking around, and he was just amped! I gave him just a little bit of leg and a "let's go" and he started walking in high gear...so I asked for a bit more, and poof! The fastest trot he's ever given me, so fast that posting got difficult, so I sat for it....and I let him go until I felt him start to slow, so I pulled him down into a walk. But wow!! Then after our ride, I put him into the arena so we could do a little groundwork, and he charged around 3 times, so I told him to head the other way, which he did for 2 more laps!!! A thundering Percheron is an awe filled sight indeed!
The only change I can think of is that we've been doing our horsie yoga and he just had bodywork done last weekend.
What a difference! I'm going to visit him tonight or tomorrow night, so I'll see how his energy level is at that point. Ya know, when your horse is healthy, life is GOOD!

Sick horsie....

So it happened. The C word.

Colic.

But don't worry, he's ok now!!
Sorry, didn't mean to totally scare the heck out of you, but trust me, I was terrified. I got a call from my barn manager on Saturday- "Horse isn't acting right, rolling alot, not feeling well and not wanting to eat. The vet is on his way down."
She called the vet for me, and I raced down to the barn, which was the longest 30 minute drive of my life, considering in my panic to get into my car, my jacket caught on the turn signal lever and SNAP, awesome, my left turn signal was now stuck ON.
Me, driving as fast as legally possible traffic would allow, with my left ticker on the whole way.... tick, tick, tick, tick....."eye twitch".

I grabbed my husband for moral support and we got to the barn to find my kid standing in the round pen. Just standing. I walked up, and gave him my usual greeting. He didn't move.
Didn't even twitch. Just stood there, head down, tensed lips, ears back. He rolled a couple of times, and finally settled to the ground, just laying there. Thankfully the vet arrived right then, or I would've started crying, seeing my big guy like that.
The vet checked his gut, and found a huge gas bubble on his right side, and let me listen to it. He had Altivo stand, and then got the long glove out. Rectal exam time, sorry horsie!!!
He didn't feel any impactions, so he gave him a shot of pain meds, and then some mineral oil through a tube in his nose that snaked down to his stomach. Altivo felt so cruddy that he didn't even fight any of this, just stood there stoically. The vet told us to observe him, and let us know how he progressed, since he had to rush to another horse colic. We put him into a stall and offered him some food, and by now, his pain meds were kicking in, and he seemed interested in the pellets we offered. Husband and I needed to grab some food, so after watching him for a while, we decided to go get something to eat and come back immediately. Horsie seemed ok, not rolling or thrashing, so we decided to run in to a store really quick for some cat food (cats do NOT appreciate starving just because a horse is sick.) and around that time, got another call. Altivo was down again, rolling and kicking at his belly. Barn manager offered him a nice mash with tasty things in it and he turned it down. One of the barn girls was handwalking him while the vet was called back and we rushed back down to the barn. Sorry kitties, you have to wait on dinner!!

We got back and the vet had arrived shortly before us. He said his pancreas seemed a little swollen, gave him more pain meds, and another rectal exam. He pulled out some icky stinky feces and said there were still no impactions, and that things should start moving soon. If they didn't start moving, our next step would have been surgery. For those who don't know, surgery for colic is ginormously expensive. Like, more than 4 grand expensive. Yikes.

I walked him around the arena, since, oh yeah, it was storming like MAD and freezing cold to boot. We walked for a few minutes, and I hugged him and told him to get better or else.

The pain meds made him mildly loopy but he still wasn't feeling great. I put him back in his stall and we ran home to let the dogs out, feed them, and put on warmer clothing. Husband was wonderful, and even though he probably could've found a million better things to do, he insisted on going back to the barn with me. We sat at the barn for about 3 hours, watching my horse's every single move. I looked up from checking my email at one point and didn't see a horse standing there, so I peeked into the stall. It's not a great picture, but here's something showing sick pony-

Normal Altivo: hungry, mouthy (bad habit), hungry, outgoing, hungry, interested, hungry, curious, hungry, and friendly. Oh, and hungry.

Sick Altivo: listless, disinterested, sad, and sadly, not hungry.

Around 10:45 that night, I grabbed about a cup of pellets and threw them into the feed bucket. He was standing, and heard the pellets drop. He turned around, sniffed them, and then dove in like a crazy person horse, chomping and munching until they were gone. He looked up, and said, "got any more?" I gave him a little bit more, and he drank some water after eating them. We were cold and exhausted, and decided to head home for the night. Barn manager is an angel in disguise, since she got up a couple times that night and checked on him, and he was fine each time.

We got back to the barn early the next morning, and walked up to the stall. He nickered, walked up to the front of the stall door and tried to search me for food. "He's back!" we said. I walked him around and then gave him more food. He was the Normal manifestation of my horse. During the day, we had a commitment to go to, and the barn kept an eye on him. He had a relapse of rolling and unhappiness, and I was too far away to get back to the barn to be of any use (I'm fairly useless in a barn anyway, lol) so I had him walked and my barn manager gave him some electrolytes and he seemed better but still ill. We finally headed to the barn and when we got there, he was seemingly well, wanting food, and I gave him about a handful, knowing the barn staff had been feeding him small meals, and I didn't want to throw a wrench into his diet. (Though he would probably try to eat a wrench if I did give him one...)
He couldn't eat those few pellets fast enough, and was drinking and wandering around his stall, so when he finally settled down and took a nap, we went home to sleep and get ready for work the following day.

The next day, it was as if nothing happened. He was bucking during his turnout, eating like a champ- trying to eat everything and everyone, and had no issues. I went the following day to see him, and he wanted to know where his treat was.
So where does that leave us?
Well, apparently, an enlarged pancreas can either be an angry pancreas, a pancreas getting shoved around by intestines that are gassy, or perfectly normal in certain horses. This means that this issue could rear its ugly head later on, or it may never be an issue. We won't know until it decides to happen again, which could be never.

It was heartbreaking to watch him in pain, and not be able to do anything about it. I now know the signs of colic, what to do while waiting for the vet, and what to do after the vet has come. I'm grateful I have a support network of horse people to help me out during these things, since I had NO clue what to do, ask, or anything.

This is just a reminder of how much I don't know.

The MakeGoStick brings guilt

So it's been raining off and on since I posted last- I was soooo bummed that we didn't get to squeeze in one more trail ride before the rains came- and the worst part? We cancelled the ride, let everyone know, and the day came, and the sun came out, and it was a great day after all. GRRRRRR.

I'm plotting when I'll be able to get back out on to the trail again...I know Altivo is bored with the arena work, and I know I'm getting there...

He had some more body work done, and his hock was sore, so he's been on a "no tight circles" regimen.

He seems to be testing me more lately, and I have read/heard it said that when your horse is being "naughty", it's usually because you're not doing something right. I wonder about that...sometimes he seems to test me just to test me. Like today, he decided that he was going to dance around the mounting block as opposed to holding still like usual. Not like a spooky dance, but more of a, "I'm going to wait till you get to the top of that thing and then sidestep all over the place, haha!"
I did something I've never personally done to him....and I felt SO guilty! After resetting him a couple times, then moving the mounting block a couple times, I got frustrated. I had his reins in my hand, so I hopped off the block and made him lunge around me a few times while waving the riding crop at him. I then put him back next to the mounting block and he stood perfectly still.
I still felt bad, since I knew that part of me had reacted in anger, and first off, it wasn't something that should have sparked my temper, and second, training isn't the right setting to be negatively emotional. He seemed put off that I actually punished him and that made me feel worse. I made sure to give him lots of praised and encouragement during our ride, and he was super good for the most part. He tried jumping head first into a tree to grab some leaves, so I made him walk by it several more times, and I only had to swing the riding crop between him and the tree once to give him the idea that the tree wasn't worth the effort.

I've decided next time I head out to see him, I need to just sit for a moment and clear my head and calm my nerves, because I'm not usually like this with him. Maybe I'm the one having an off day?