2 years ago, on July 8, I signed Lily's bill of sale for $1. Charles gave me the $1 so he could officially say that he bought me a horse for my birthday. :)
On July 8 of this year, we didn't do much because I worked all day. After work, Lily received a trim from moi, which I'm still fine-tuning. I rode her in the Alta Escuela, and I don't know if it was the trim, the saddle or a combination, but she gave me the best ride yet. We're down to 2 mls of ace.
Yesterday dawned ugly, overcast, muggy as hell, and drizzling. By the afternoon, it had cleared up, so I went to the barn and started out riding Lily in the outdoor. It was less buggy than it's been, so after one turn of the outdoor, I took her out into the big field.
We did it! We did our entire session in the big field. It started to get buggy again towards the end, but we were able to do 25 minutes of walking and our two 2-minute trot sets out in the field. It was nice to get out there because the field slopes gently, so in theory, Miss Mare got a light hill workout at the same time. We did more downhill during the trot sets than uphill, for which I did sitting trot and she just jogged down the slopes. She was calm, almost bored. I had to tap the dressage whip against my leg a couple of times to wake her up. She's perfect about the whip again-even let me mount up with it in my hand without any flinching.
We did our final 5 minutes on the buckle in the outdoor arena.
These photos are not edited; the light really did come out that way.
Work was weird. I swear all week we've been having delayed effects of the super full moon from last weekend. Our current class of veterinarian interns is finishing up, and the new class just started this past week. Yes, a whole new class of baby doctors to train (if you're a tech working at a teaching hospital, YOU will be training the next generation of veterinarians. Not everyone is cut out for this, but I love training baby doctors and watching them grow, until they get to the point where they know more than we do, and can stretch their wings and fly! :) It's exciting stuff.) One of our more laid -back new baby doctors was spending time in the ER. These interns are SO new out of school that their licenses haven't even kicked in yet-they get to watch and help out as techs for their first 2 weeks, until their licenses start on July 1st. Then the fun begins. The new intern with us on ER, C, had proven to be a huge help, eager to learn, with a happy and outgoing attitude. If she is able to retain those qualities through the most challenging year of her career, she will do fantastic.
On ER we take client phone calls. We had one phone call in particular where I was vaguely warned by the operator beforehand, something that rarely happens. With some trepidation, I took the call. Here is my side of the conversation:
"Yes, that is a normal color."
"As long as it goes back in, it is fine."
"Yes, that is completely normal."
"You may want to consider taking the teddy bear away from him if he's getting that excited about it."
"It can get stuck and then you might have a problem requiring an emergency visit to the vet's office. In a worst case scenario, surgery might be required. Definitely take the teddy bear away."
"If you can't handle him around other dogs, you may want to consider obedience training." I gave examples of places that offer obedience classes and even suggested books.
"Yes, I think neutering is an excellent idea. It will certainly help with the behaviors you have mentioned." I gave helpful suggestions of where she could have her pet neutered at a lower cost, ranging from the local Humane Society to any regular general practitioner vet.
During the beginning of the conversation, I watched C cover her mouth to keep from laughing, while I face-palmed. I was complimented on handling the call well. I've handled some pretty random and downright bizarre phone calls, especially during my brief stint as hospital receptionist while recovering from an injury, but this one was pretty awkward. It really did sound like a prank phone call, but as far as I know, it was the real deal. No radio show host announced a prize at the end of the conversation...
I'm constantly astounded by the number of people who decide to get a pet without doing any kind of research on their behavior and care beforehand!! At least this client was asking questions, though, and she was trying to make the right decision by neutering her oversexed dog.
That afternoon, I went to the barn with the intention of just taking Lily out and hand-grazing her. I put the rope halter and lunge line on her, and took her into her paddock to eat grass. 15 minutes into hand-grazing, I decided I would let her trot for her 2 minutes. Remember now that she's sober. I had her walk for 5 minutes on the lunge, then asked her to trot, going to the left first. She did great-we did 1 minute. Then we changed directions and I asked for the trot to the right.
Airs above ground ensued, including the following:
Ballotade
Courbette
Because this is TOTALLY what a horse with a hind leg ligament injury should be doing...
I kid you not. This is what you get when you cross a Thoroughbred with an Andalusian!
She was playing. She wanted to play SO bad, and had this uber-goofy expression on her face while trying to change the energy of our interaction. I remained calm. "Trot" I said patiently, each time her feet touched the ground. After the 4th attempt, calmness won, and Lily conceded to simply trot around me to the right for 1 minute. I had her walk for 15 minutes after that, and then moved her to the really good grass outside of the paddock and let her eat for 20 minutes.
I am the owner of one seriously athletic goofball.
I don't think I'll be riding her sober anytime soon, that's for sure!
And I don't think we'll be repeating this day's stunt sober, either.
Friday
Sedated her with 3 mls of ace IM, and covered every inch of her with fly spray. Switched out her blingy browband for her mosquero browband.
Fancy, yes. But this kind of browband is a staple in traditional Spanish tack, and its main purpose is to keep flies off of the horse's face.
Then took Lily into the outdoor. We did one lap around the arena, and then I took her into the big field again.
She felt funny...because she was so sound!
We had taken maybe 5 steps into the big field when it started to drizzle. We rode around for 5 minutes, but the drizzle started to get stronger. I turned Lily towards the indoor, and as luck would have it, one of our awesome boarders came running across the indoor at that precise second to open the gate for us!
The skies opened up for real at that moment, and it really started to pour. We had seeked shelter with perfect timing.
We worked the rest of the 25 minutes in the indoor. Lily's trot was, to use my fave of Beka's adjectives, amaze-balls! She's going so well in the mullen mouth pelham right now, too. She still leans a little on the bit at times, but is starting to just stay where she's supposed to. I've been riding her off of the "snaffle" reins of the pelham more than anything.
She even allowed me to take a dressage whip from the rack on the wall without dismounting, and without freaking out over the fact that I had a whip in my hand. (We haven't practiced this in awhile.) It was pretty funny actually-she knew it was there, in my right hand, and kept her right ear cocked in the direction of the whip and was fine with it 99% of the time...until we would walk past the outside gate of the indoor tracking left, when the light would hit the whip (it's just a normal dark green dressage whip; it's not like it's white...). At this moment, she would warily half pass 3 strides towards the center of the arena, in a subtle attempt at getting away from the whip.
Silly mare. If I turned her nose in to the left more, and kept my left leg on, she couldn't focus on the whip anymore, and relaxed. So afterwards, we approached the gate in a shoulder-in around the corner. She was a good girl.
A year ago, Lily used to bolt if she realized I had a whip in my hand.
Afterwards, I took my time grooming her, since it was still pouring outside and I didn't feel like getting wet in the rain. I continue to check her back after rides to make sure she's still feeling good. I got this little video for you guys:
What a pain-free back looks like. :)
Back when I had her on Previcox only, just running a fingernail lightly down her back like I do in the video would elicit a flinch and twitching. Not anymore! And I can press all down her back without any more flinching.
Robaxin is da bomb. I used to think it didn't make a difference for sore backs. I am happy to say that Lily's results have proved me wrong! She has been on Robaxin only (no Previcox since discovering her ulcer signs) for the last 2 months.
Saturday
Work was horrible. HORRIBLE. Not in terms of caseload, but in terms of what we saw. It was the single most horrible day in my veterinary career so far. I left work supremely upset with the human race as a whole. I really do do my job for the animals, not so much for the clients. But it just breaks my heart into tiny tiny little pieces when we can't do more for them. When we can't save them. When their owners just suck and it's the animal that pays the price. We see less of that here overall than in South FL because owners in general are better educated, more financially stable, and more willing to do what is best for their pets. But Saturday took the cake. I spent most of the day with my hairs on end because I was so, so, so disgusted and horrified, I was having a physical response to it. My skin was literally crawling from the horror. I foresee nightmares in my near future. :( Both Mare and L.Williams have written about this subject when it applies to horses, but it is just as awful when the same thing happens to cats and dogs. With cats and dogs, I do have a problem with convenience euthanasias IF the animal is young and/or healthy, ofgood temperament with no behavioral problems, with an issue that can be resolved fairly easily/inexpensively. That person should not have pets, period. If you can't handle minor issues in the road of pet ownership, don't have pets! Cats and dogs are much easier to rehome than horses, especially when they are in the condition I mention above. *If* you have tried it all and still can't find your pet (cat or dog) a home, then consider euthanasia. However, you might have a problem finding a vet that will euthanise a healthy dog or cat. But, in attempting to do so, you might find a vet or tech willing to take that animal on as their own pet. I have witnessed this countless times in my 6 years as a tech. This actually happened today, too. We weren't going to kill the healthy pet, we weren't going to let him get dumped in a shelter to be killed all alone, and we weren't going to have him be released onto the streets to try to figure out how to survive on his own.
Because there are things worse than death. One of the cases today was a living example. The dog had been suffering for God knows how long, completely neglected despite living in his owner's yard. In my mind, some people really should be required to have a license to own a pet.
I told Charles about the 3 horrible cases we saw, and he asked what ethnicity and social class they were. In case you are wondering, they didn't fit the norm: all 3 pets were owned by middle-class white Americans.
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The highlight of my day was the thought of going to the barn and riding Lily. Back in December, I had ordered the sheepskin cover for the Alta Escuela saddle, called a zalea.
Traditional white zalea
I had originally ordered it in black, but we were in June and still no news about it shipping from Spain. I couldn't fathom that it would take longer to make the sheepskin than it would to make an entire saddle. I spoke with Lisa at El Sueno Espanol, who was in charge of the order, and asked about just getting the traditional white sheepskin zalea instead, figuring Ludomar *should* have that color in stock (black is special order). As it turns out, they did have it in white, so white is what I got. I was excited to put it on the saddle and try it out. Yes, it will be a dirt magnet, but that's what stuff like Leather Therapy Laundry Solution is for. (It really does work!) Mattes Melp works great too.
Lily happily came to her stall door to greet me. I was carrying the zalea in its bag and she sniffed at the stuff I was carrying, until she realized I had a Bag of Death. She snorted and backed away, coming back when I continued talking quietly to her, but she refused to sniff at the bag again. Silly, silly mare. Yes, we have done bag desensitizing in the past. The list of Stuff To Do When Lily Can Be a Horse Again just gets longer and longer...
Lily was really good for her ace injection (3 mls again). I hung out with her afterwards, like I always do, scratching her withers and loving on her. She was a little tense overall, but okay. I left the stall to get my stuff set up and grab my grooming tote, set up her haynet so she could munch while I got her ready, and entered the stall a 3rd time with a currycomb to start grooming her.
We go through this routine every . single . ride. Today, however, Lily gave a huge startle when I went to start currying her. She had been 100% aware that I was going to touch her-I had not surprised her, had not moved suddenly, had not made any weird noises. Just raising my arm slowly caused flinching today. I think I have repeated on this blog ad nauseum that I have never, EVER struck this mare.
With a sigh, I proceeded to do more Kermit the Frog desensitizing, in the stall this time. When she stopped flinching (after 30 seconds; she just needed a reminder), I continued on into a (quiet) Russian dance.
Or as much of that as you can do in an 11x14 stall while still keeping a 4' distance from your mare...Oh yeah, and I didn't do any of those insane jumping jack stunts that occur around 3:00.
Lily initially cowered in the corner (also for about 30 seconds), then relaxed when she realized I was not coming any closer to her. The second she showed the slightest sign of relaxation, I stopped and held still, praising her, "Good girl!" With each "Good girl," she'd turn her head to look at me and give a huge snort, "You are CRAZY, woman!" I couldn't help laughing.
Within 5 minutes I could Russian dance with jumping jacks while doing Kermit the Frog arms, and she didn't care. No more flinching when I touched her, either. I turned her around so I could do this again from her left side, and that only took a minute. She finally relaxed enough to completely ignore my antics and dig into her hay.
Life with the Tiger Lily, I tell you. Sometimes I wonder if I had chosen to nickname her Tiger instead of Lily if her temperament would have been different. Braver overall. I had chosen Lily because it was similar to Lely, her original name, and the name to which she responded. She will turn and look at you when you call her Lily.
I felt better when Jackie stopped by to say hi a few minutes later, and mentioned that the other night while picking Lily's stall, the mare had become extremely nervous for no apparent reason. Lily loves Jackie, and is used to other people going into her stall with her in it to clean it, so there is no real logical explanation for her behavior. Jackie is good around horses, too, especially nervous high-strung creatures like Miss Mare. Jackie had not witnessed any of our most recent interaction, as she had just arrived from work, so I told her about what had just happened. (I was thrilled to realize that Lily continued to eat her hay calmly while I demonstrated the crazy arm-waving I'd been doing). I think Lily is in heat again and might be hypersensitive due to that, but I'm thinking I'm going to have Dr. R check her eyes when she comes the first week of July for summer shots.
About 40 minutes after the ace injection, Lily was starting to look sleepy. I put the zalea on the Alta Escuela (it is a perfect, perfect fit since it is made by the same saddle company specifically for this saddle) and tacked up.
The saddle looks huge with the white cover on it, and Lily has lost a lot of muscle that we are slowly putting back on, so I think this makes it look even bigger! But she worked as well as she always has in the Alta Escuela. We rode in the indoor, since there are less distractions there and she had been so wired prior. Alex was playing soccer outside with his daughter and Kristin, our one single child boarder, and Lily was a little distracted by this whenever we walked past the outside gate of the indoor, but she just looked curiously and carried on.
She did great and towards the end, I simply looped the pelham "curb" reins over the Alta Escuela pommel and rode her off of the "snaffle" reins only. Here's another video of that, riding one-handed. Much easier with one set of reins than two!
Afterwards, I took this little sequence of photos:
It is always hard to get her to pose for photos because she always wants to be close to me.
"What are you doing over there?"
"Come over here, or I'll come to you."
As she slowly turns on the haunches, all by herself...
"What are you doing? Stop taking photos!"
:)
One Headlight by the Wallflowers was playing on Pandora at that moment, so I had Lily follow me around the arena while I danced to the music playing through the headphones. Which she can hear, of course-she always flicks an ear when the music changes while I'm riding her, despite playing it low enough that I can hear outside sounds.
Come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me and Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight.
Dancing involved lots of gentle arm waving to the beat of the music while having her follow me, then reaching over slowly and petting her face. She started out rolling her eyes whenever I waved my arms, then stopped reacting when she realized she would get petted every time.
So silly. I love her.
I set up her mush to soak while I groomed her, and she wanted to nuzzle, so I took off the crossties. She nuzzled and sniffed at me, then tried to walk into her stall! I put her back on the cross ties, but with only one of them attached, and she kept turning her head around to watch me, impatient:
Pouting.
"Why are you taking so long? I want my [second] dinner!"
When I was finished, I let her go back into her stall to eat while I put away my stuff.
It was a good ending to an otherwise awful day. This is why Charles is all for me owning a horse, despite our student-loan-poor situation: it is better for me than a psychiatrist!
We had a really busy weekend at work and by Monday my back was bothering me quite a bit. On Sunday it seemed like every large, unruly dog and his brother had eaten something they shouldn't, and all of them needed x-rays. Every single one of them was naughty on the x-ray table, and even though I know how to lift with proper technique (abs and legs), sometimes it is inevitable to use your back when you have an 80 lb wiggling and kicking patient that you're trying to pin down on a table that is wider than your upper body is long, while reaching over with a foot to hit the pedal that will take the view. If you work in veterinary medicine, you will know that that pedal will always, 100% of the time, manage to be out of reach of your foot no matter where you are standing!
A brief description of how radiographs are taken in veterinary medicine, since most of you will not know:
We use a human radiology table. Same size and dimension. Most veterinary hospitals nowadays are equipped with digital x-ray capabilities, which is a godsend. This means that a computer with a special digital radiology program is attached to the machine. I've done the old-school method of having to manually process the films, and it is a pain in the ass, especially when after 20 minutes of developing, you realize you need to re-take the view, either because the animal moved or the contrast is poor! With digital, you place the patient on the table and there is a special plate underneath the table top that captures the image. You have a pedal that you can hit with your foot (or put on the table and press with your hand) that will take the shot. This pedal is often tricky-you have to press it first to get the rotor of the machine whirring (this sound with the accompanying vibration will make the patient jump almost 95% of the time!) and then you really step down to take the shot, at which time the machine will beep and you know it was taken. Then you look over at your computer screen, which is always set right next to the x-ray machine, and you will see your radiograph.
That's the easy part. The difficult part is manipulating the patient into cooperation so they can hold still long enough for you to take that view. For abdominal and chest radiographs (the most common views), the patient is first placed in lateral recumbency (lying on their side, right side down), and stretched out comfortably to allow the best possible view of their organs (you don't crank on their legs. Ouch! Plus old dogs tend to have arthritic elbows and hips). If we're taking chest rads, the doctors often want a left lateral view as well, so we have to carefully flip the patient to the other side to get it. Then the best part (NOT!) is the VD shot (ventral/dorsal) which refers to a shot taken through the ventrum (underside) of the patient. This involves placing the patient belly-up on a V-trough (a V-shaped tray made of foam and covered in soft plastic, very much like a school gym mat, that allows for easy cleaning), and held with front legs extended over their heads, and hind legs extended back. This is often terrifying for patients-per their body language, it's like you are forcing them into submission. We are very gentle with them, and we take it slow, and we don't hyper-extend their limbs, and most of the time we can get them to settle by talking baby talk to them and petting their heads or their chests until the second we have to take the shot. This is the part, however, where techs often get hurt with strained backs and popped discs while trying to flip a huge struggling dog onto his back, and it is also the view most likely to cause the patient, whether cat or dog, to try to bite. Sunday was one of these days-every single patient struggled, and I'm fairly short (5'4") and light (125-130 lbs) so an 80 lb intact boxer is certainly going to have an advantage (testosterone gives boys superpowers, I swear!).
Techs restraining a Corgi in lateral recumbency for an abdominal view. Note the correct use of protective equipment. This makes it extra-cumbersome to restrain patients, but it is a must! Photo from the Spanish Trail Pet Clinic website.
Overall, however, I'm always surprised at how much patients DO cooperate, as all I ever think about when I walk into that radiology room is an alien abduction. I can't imagine myself cooperating at ALL if I were placed on a whirring, vibrating table by creatures who don't speak my language, and then made to lie with all of my most vulnerable parts exposed. I would be a VERY BAD patient!
"Now hold still while we shine this-here radioactive light on you so we can observe your innards better!"
Uh, yeah - F that!
Oh, and orthopedic shots? Those are a whole other ball game, and they sometimes involve some crazy contorting of the patient just so you can get a leg straight in the view. For these, heavy sedation is often used, unless it is a very cooperative or very sick patient.
So if your vet recommends sedation for your pet during radiographs, or you're going to a clinic where every patient is sedated for radiographs (some hospitals do this) please don't argue about the cost. You are doing the hospital staff a favor, but most of all, you are helping your pet in a scenario that can be very stressful!
Thus, on Monday my back was sore from having to twist with patients-my middle back on the left side, wrapping around to the left side of my rib cage. My scarred hip, of course, was super-tight too, so it was all related. I was exhausted as well, but I figured I'd see how the two girls were doing, as I was scheduled to ride Jezebel again.
I went to get Jezebel in the field. The whole herd was at the very back of the field, so it was a long, long hike to get to her. She waited for me to come to her, and came willingly, so we made our way down to the chute.
The chute was very, very slimy and deep-my feet were sinking ankle deep in sucking mud. I was trying to pick the best way through so that neither Jezebel nor I would get hurt or twist an ankle, or God forbid wrench my back further, and slipping and sliding in the process, when I heard a big snort and a horse came up behind Jezebel. I looked back and stopped, assuming that this was the start of a stampede. But no, it was a single gelding whom I'd never really paid attention to before, who had decided that right NOW he had to come attempt to mount Jezebel! I had heard about one gelding in particular doing this, but I never would have dreamed he'd attempt it while a person was trying to lead a mare away! I had no idea how Jezebel was going to react, and afraid of getting trampled or kicked between the two horses, I tried to shoo him away. He was not leaving Jezebel alone, and kept circling around us like a shark and trying to come up behind her. I was terrified of getting hurt or the mare getting hurt, between the mud and the gelding and trying to not slip and fall. I ended up having to hit him several times with Jezebel's lead rope and yelling at him to get him to go away; I was in a panic. It took me over 15 minutes just to get through the chute during this struggle. He finally gave up and trotted away. I haven't been that scared around a horse in a long, long time.
Once in the barn, I put Jezebel on the cross ties and proceeded to groom her. While brushing the mud off her legs, I noticed a bleeding cut on the inside of her left hind fetlock. It was fresh-the trickle of blood from the cut had just dried but was still bright red. I put her in the wash stall and hosed off all 4 legs, noticing that she lifted the left hind when the water touched it. Back on the cross ties with clean legs, I checked it again. It was skin deep, going through all the layers of skin, but very small, about 1/2" in diameter. She didn't flinch when I touched it, and there was no swelling yet, but I noticed her resting the foot. I texted Sally to let her know what had happened, and we decided I'd try getting on and playing it by ear.
Jezebel was sound at the walk, but felt off at the trot, and did not try to zoom around. She actually seemed reluctant to break into a trot, for once. Concerned, I hopped off and put her on the lunge. There was a slight bob to the right, but it was so slight that I was second-guessing myself. I wasn't sure what to do, so I called Sally. She was around the corner. Once she arrived, I lunged Jezebel again, and she saw what I was talking about, which made me feel better-I'm not crazy & imagining lamenesses. We agreed to give Jez the day off. She was in RAGING heat, too-she would stop and squirt if she so much as smelled a boy!
I fetched Lily from the field and tacked her up. She was pretty wound up when I got on, enough so that I decided to get off and lunge her for a bit. Charles had shown up around then, and he took all of these photos.
She was really distracted right off the bat
Circling in shoulder-in
Shoulder-in down the long side of the arena
Trotting on a loose rein, trying to get her to lengthen, as her trot was really short and choppy.
I gave up, dismounted, and lunged her for about 10 minutes to let her release all of that excess energy.
Then we played around with groundwork. The previous night we had been practicing yielding at the trot, and Lily had just started to get the idea. We attempted it some more here.
Here she was doing more of a shoulder-in, and I was trying to re-align her body while keeping the contact light.
I think it's cool how in almost every photo our legs match!
Nailing the yield at the trot
And again.
And again!
And one more time!
Success! Walking towards the camera, and our legs still match!
Back in the saddle-a much calmer mare!
I decided to just have fun. So since Lily was feeling peppy, we cantered a lot and had a blast, despite my sore back.
Not sure why I was sticking my tongue out in this one. Can't do that while riding!
