Hopalong Cassidy ..........
Tetley has paid for the advanced work that he did yesterday. Today he is lame in both back legs and has a head-nod to cap it off. That’s a first – he has never had a head nod before :- ( ! I had a conversation with Superhubby (during a break he took from repairing the lorry steps (:- ( ) and we agree that it is best to do what he can do on the day, even if it makes him lame the next. The cure is inflammation; inflammation is caused by work - so do what work he can comfortably do and stop when he can’t, is how we are going to play it. I am surprised the reaction is so severe because he seemed to find it very easy yesterday. He grinds his teeth and sweats if he is in pain, and neither of those happened. Perhaps the extreme wet is not helping either, though it is unfeasibly warm too. This disease is a real challenge, isn’t it? I hope that the daily up and down is at least interesting to people if I share it as it happens.
Tia has had the day off but I am so glad that I have still got her and am able to keep her. It does so take the pressure off Tetley’s situation.
Caddy went out for a hack and was a good boy. He tried napping for home several times but each time I flicked him with a short whip just behind the saddle flap (without having to take a hand off the reins) and he just went forward again. He is a good boy, he doesn’t even try to rush when we turn for home. At one point I asked him to step into a puddle and he said very politely “I don’t think you understand. I am not a water-polo-pony. I am a racehorse. I don’t DO puddles”. :- ) But it didn’t take long to persuade him to try and he made no real fuss about it once his feet were in. There were loads of bike riders out on the Cheshire Bikeathon and he got quite a few admiring comments. He has gone a superb red colour for the winter, with a metallic sheen – very pretty!
I have given up with Caddy and food! His eating style is “ if I smack this bucket really hard on the edge with my foot, then I can make ALL my food fly ALL OVER the stable – wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”. I am now feeding him from a plastic sheet! It’s not that he didn’t eat it, it’s just that I can’t abide seeing good food treated like that!!!!
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 7:44 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Food all over the stable. Yes, my horse does that. If he is clever he can flick the feed bowl completely over and deposit the lot on the floor. Sometimes he just likes to paw at it it get it inot a better position.
I know that at the stud where he was born they feed all the young horses with a small heap of feed on the floor, so I guess he got used to eating it off the earth.
He doesn't do it so much with the Simple Systems feed he is currently on - but don't get me started on FEEDING. That is another headache!
Judith
Ouch for Tetley, but you are right about the inflammation. Frustration is not even a strong enough word to describe the process. Give him a hug and a carrot.
The weathere here was beyond gorgeous, so I went to the show. Tucker was a bit underpowered and tending to drop on to his forehand, but that's OK, as I hadn't really been working him hard for engagement with all the miserable weather we've been having. The consequences in the judges' eyes gave us a 55.7% and a 56.9%. Not exactly gold, but considering that last year at this time I couldn't even get him into the warmup arena without risking life and limb, I will not complain.
I know exactly what we need to work on and I have a month until the next show. The key today was getting him into the ring and fairly relaxed about it. Mission accomplished even in the big arena by the grandstand. He was a good boy. Now I just need to get his body looser and more forward. (Does it sound like Caddy? A bit not "off the leg?" *G*)
Poor tetley.
In my role as devil's advocate:
I'm a bit confused because although I know spavin needs hard work to fuse I was under the impression that inflammation isn't the healing bit it's the destructive bit? So it's a balance between hard enough work to encourage the spavin to fuse but not so hard that you get the violent inflammation/pain reaction?
I'd have thought hard consistent work would be more beneficial than advanced work one day meaning you can do nothing the next.
Or am I way off track?
Caddy sounds like a gem..!
Cassie
Hi there - its Alice (with Levi) from EE. Sorry to hear Tetley still having probs with hocks. I hope things improve. I wanted to chat to you re WOW if thats possible? Can you email me? grahamalice@aol.com
thanks
alice
Cassie, I do agree with you that a more consistent reaction to his work would be best. I was just caught out by the severity of how he has responded to what was only a half hour session. I did 6 canter changes, only one of which he “flew”, and three tries at collected trot/passage, a total of about 200 feet maximum. Most of the session was walk, and there was some warm-up working trot. Half an hour max. I wonder if it really was the work or whether he is finding it too hard to move around on the field in all the wet? It’s very sloping and it must be putting terrible pressure on his joints.
The idea of the disease, I think, is that you have to have cartilage destruction before the joint can fuse. So inflammation is a necessary evil, but I would prefer not to get a reaction like that again if I can avoid it. Keep up the devil's avocate, it does me good to make me think.
Alice, done. I'm away tomorrow and I'll answer whatever you write to me on Weds. (Dear burglar, house-sitter is booked)
Ann, Judith - aren't these self-apointed "Royals" a grin???
Jean, sounds like you are making good progress to me.
C
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