Back to the vet

As a result of the recent MRI scan Filly had to go back to the vet yesterday for more injections. They couldn't be done at Manor farm as one of the injections, Tildrun, is adminstered slowly via a drip. The drug can make horses colic so it was felt that being under constant observation at the vet was a good idea.

She had to be there be 08:30 which meant an early start. Trailer loading did not go as well as in the past. Purely my fault. I should have left more time and even though I tried to be calm and patient I must having been giving off hurried signals. The result was trailer loading took longer than if I had left more time and been more patient. Her problem is still getting her hind feet over the junction between the ramp and the trailer. She finds this mentally very hard to do and lots of patience is required to give her confidence.

As usual the journey was not good. She arrived at the vets very sweaty. I can't sedate her on the way to the vet as they will be doing that there for the procedure and a double dose would not be a good idea. I always try and let her calm down before letting her off. I'm looking for her muscles to relax and for her to start eating hay in a calm, not frantic, manner. Then I let her off, but almost immediately ask her back on again. I want her last memory of the trailer to not be escaping it after a bad journey, but quietly walking on to it and eating hay. This makes the next loading much easier.

I left her in the very capable hands of the vet and his assistants and went to do other chores.

Returning at around 1pm I was told it would be wise to wait a little longer as the drugs had caused her mild colic. So I stayed and had a lovely cup of tea with one of the equine staff chatting about natural horsemanship. She was very open minded and interested.

Once Fillys' stomach had settled it was time to load her again. With as much time on my hands as I wanted my personal energy was very different. As a result so was the loading. Very patiently I waited until she was ready to put those hind legs in the trailer, then I asked her out again. She actually did not want to leave the hay net so reloading then went much easier.

The journey home was again difficult, but maybe not quite as bad. I took my time over the unloading, again reloading her repeatedly until she walked calmly on and ate hay. Job done for the day I tidied up and went home to prepare for my evening of aikido training. A very busy day :)

Result of MRI scan

A long day yesterday. We had to get Filly to the vets by 9am for her MRI scan. That was a one hour drive. She loaded ok, but again the travelling was not great. When we arrived at the vets the staff there took one look at her and ran to get a bucket, sponge and scraper to wash the sweat off her. They were so nice and helpful it gave me great confidence in them looking after her for the day. I had been prepared to spend the whole day looking after Filly, but when we saw how compassionate the staff were we decided we could leave her in their capable hands.
It then occurred to us that we were half way to JRFS so decided that rather than hanging around the vets we would go and see our friends there.
We had a great day watching Josh playing with 5 colts, some of which he rode and some he did ground work on.
He really fired difficult questions at us this time. Not just about horses either. He would give a scenario of a rider and a student and ask what patterns would be best for them to practise to progress. That made us really think about the purpose of the patterns and how to use them to help the rider and the horse. In the past as we were the rider we only had to think about the horse. Thinking about both was much harder to do as the pattern had to match the needs of both.
We had arranged to be back at the vets by around 17:30 in the evening. When we arrived we found Filly back in her box and wide awake. As soon as she saw me she gave a huge shout and got really excited, which was a great welcome.
Before we left the vet, Bruce, showed us the MRI scans for her front legs. They had taken a scan of both front hooves. They showed that both the front navicular bones have small chips that have aggravated the soft tissue in the area causing soreness. In addition the front right "deep flexor tendon" has a small amount of damage. The suggested treatment was for a hydro-cortisone injection into the effected area on the right hoove and a course of tildren ( a drug that helps prevent bone degeneration). The vet seemed optimistic that the treatment would help her and she would probably be rideable again.
I hope this turns out to be the case, but if not she will still be my online and liberty horse so out story is not over yet !
For the journey home I prepared her for loading as usual. The surgery has a lovely sand school that I used to prepare her for loading using the usual games. It was noticeable that on this lovely sand she moved so much better than in the school at Manor Farm.
The loading went very well. Again I used a lot of patience and as one of the staff watched us playing with the trailer Filly suddenly self loaded. This resulted in the staff member asking us loads of questions about our methods. She said she had seen many ways of loading a horse, but ours seemed to be very gentle.
We had given Filly a mild sedative for the drive home and she was very very chilled. She ate the whole way and arrived at Manor Farm dry and without having done a single dropping. She also unloaded very calmly and settled into her stable with very little fuss.
The farrier is coming today to put the shoes back on that had to be removed for the MRI. Hopefully the injections can be performed on Friday, but we have to go to the local vet surgery for that.

Trailer loading

Tomorrow is a day I am not looking forward to. Filly has to go to a vet about an hours drive away for an MRI scan on her hoof. The result of this will determine our future.
But to prepare for the journey trailer loading practise must not be ignored. It would be a shame not to be able to get her to her appointment. So the afternoon was spent playing with the trailer.
It's best not to focus on the trailer as a means of transport when doing this as I get too focussed on getting her in, and not focussed on improving our communication. Today I decided to really work on my skills at feeling her slightest try. As luck would have it I have just read Mark Rashid's book "Horses Never Lie" again. That must make the fourth reading. In it he describes closing his eyes to see if he can feel a "try" even better than in the past. I decided to give the idea a go.
The feel I wanted was of the porcupine pressure I was applying to the lead rope to ask her to enter the trailer. To do this I had to be standing in the trailer of course, but on the side another horse would occupy.
I started with my eyes open as she was a bit worried and played very gently until she relaxed. Then I closed my eyes.
That takes a lot of trust ! But Mark was right. As soon as I closed my eyes I could feel communication down the lead rope I had never felt before. I can't even describe some of the feelings that were sent to me. But it was intuitive and obvious as to when to release the pressure. I had to feel it, I couldn't see it. Filly became softer and softer. Even her eye changed its intensity and became soft.
This softness lead to me discovering that what she was really worried about with the trailer was not getting on, it was getting a back feet over the lip of the trailer and onto the ramp as she got off. She feared the metal strip, which to her metal shoes felt slippery. We spent a long time just letting her "pad" her hind feet around until she became more confident with the transition from trailer to ramp.
As that confidence grew, so did her confidence in getting on. Without the calm softness we had developed when I closed my eyes I am not sure I would have noticed the problem.
Maybe I should play with her more with my eyes shut :)