Back in the arena

Well, we haven't completely forgotten how it's done :D

He was a bit unstable on the bit in the beginning, but after a while he seemed to settle into the work, and was very cooperative. Lots of transitions between walk, trot and halt. A little lateral work in walk. His gaits felt good, although I had to remind him to stay forward off my leg a bit more sharply than was necessary before the break, but there was a big improvement just during this short ride, so I'm not worried about that.

His strength and endurance will take a while to build back up of course, but training wise we haven't lost much, just a little fine tuning.

On our trail rides I've been very careful to give him 15-20 mins walk warm up before any trotting, and I can feel it has a good effect. A longer walk warm up loosens him up really well, and something I'll make sure to continue doing - but 15 mins of walk feels like a really long time in the arena! I checked the clock today when I felt like, OK now I'd normally start my trot warm up, and we had only walked for 7 mins - I thought it was more like 12! So I need to be very careful to stick to at least 15 mins on dressage days. I think I'll just walk him in the woods before and after dressage training whenever possible - I normally only ride him after dark once a week anyway so shouldn't be too hard. It'll give him a little fresh air even on non-trail days, and I don't get bored so quickly outdoors ;)

More Bucks!

Oh boy, he's feeling good :D

Headed up a hill, Barokko asked if he could canter, I said OK, go, we got to a bunch of little sticks and stuff, I started bringing him down in tempo worried he might trip (today is the anniversary of my bad fall last winter, didn't want to make being injured a New Year's tradition!), when all of a sudden his head went down - aaargh don't fall, don't fall! wait... he's not falling, he's BUCKING!!! once, twice, thrice in a row, oh what the heck, here's another one :P

Two days in a row, looks like this is getting to be a habit ;)

Tomorrow I won't be at the barn before dark, so we'll try a little dressage - feels like it's been years and years, wonder if we'll remember how it works :P

Having fun!

The ground has finally dried up enough to let us get away from the paths and into the undergrowth, leading to much more fun rides. Still mostly walk, but I'm gradually adding more trot sets, and today I asked for canter for the first time - wow, he gave me a perfect depart, and an awesome round, uphill canter :D

I rode out with M on S today, we were just about to start trotting, when all of a sudden S spooked at something behind us and leapt forward - and when he jumps, it's big! so he was very quickly far ahead of us. Barokko curled up tight, bucked hard 3 times in a row, and then off at a gallop - looks like his energy is returning ;-)

We jumped a few little fallen branches (ca 25cm high) and hopped over a couple little ditches, he's getting to be very reliable in different terrain, and seems to enjoy the little obstacles I find for us to forge.

Brrr it's cold!

Trail ride with M today, just before dark, the woods were so quiet... We did 2 brief trot sets, Barokko seemed energetic and gave be real quality trot, soooo happy to feel his gaits returning!

When we got back I noticed he had tiny icicles in his beard :D

EPSM?

I've been doing a lot of research on tying-up recently, and in the process have also come across a lot of references to Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (abbr. PSSM, EPSSM, or, most commonly, EPSM).

According to wikipedia: "EPSM is a genetic predisposition to fail to digest grains properly in the horse. The result leads to damage to muscle tissue during exertion. It is estimated by DNA testing that approximately 2/3 of all draft horses have the predisposition for EPSM."

EPSM is now thought to be one of the most common causes of tying-up in situations without extreme over-exertion - such as was the case with Barokko. Starch:work ratio is still the trigger factor, but EPSM horses will tie up with less provocation than other horses, and these are typically also the horses with chronic tying-up problems, and slow recoveries.

EPSM is primarily controlled through diet: low starch, high fiber, high fat (usually via vegetable oil).

Looking into EPSM, I realized Barokko fits really well into the EPSM profile. EPSM can only be diagnosed through a muscle biopsy, but alternatively it's worth a try to just put the horse on an EPSM diet, and see if it improves. If it does, keep it on the diet, if not, it's probably not EPSM, so off to find another diagnosis. Non-EPSM horses will often also benefit from an EPSM diet, and under any circumstances it won't harm them.

So I'm going to try adding oil to Barokko's diet and treating him as recommended for EPSM horses (re exercise etc). If it works and prevents future problems, great. If it doesn't have any effect then there's no harm done.

Walk walk walk

This week's grand plan is walking :D

I started in the indoor arena the first few days, to get him started without too much looky-jumpy-sillyness, I'm completely paranoid about avoiding over-exertion :-/

Yesterday and today we went out in the woods with a steady-eddie companion - walking is so much more interesting outdoors ;) Yesterday he was completely calm, today he was a bit more frisky, pulling ahead in a brisk trot every now and then, but no serious shenanigans - of course that may come when he starts getting a bit more to eat:-P

Diet change

I rode a little bit yesterday, he felt normal at the walk, yeah :D He was a little stiff at the trot still, but that's to be expected, it felt like "just" stiffness in the muscles, he didn't seem sore or irritated.

I'm going to slowly put him back into work now. I'll work out a 3 week re-training program to get him back up to full training, but plan to work him at a slightly lower intensity thru the winter than he was at before he started having problems.

I also had a long chat with the feed store's consultant, and we worked out a diet plan for him with less starch, more fiber, and extra vitamin E, all of which should result in the same amount of energy etc but less risk of tying up again.

Getting Better

Barokko's starting to act up a bit when I hand walk him, I'm taking that as a good sign that he's feeling better :D His gaits look normal again when he's turned out, too, and he's been very playful the past two days. I'm going to hop on tomorrow and see if it feels like he's ready for a little walk work yet.

Knowing what's wrong is such a huge relief!

Tied Up!

He tied up! :( Poor guy... It wasn't a serious case, so even if I had known what it was, the treatment would have been what I've done = take him out of work until he feels better.

The blood test showed his muscle values are returning to normal, and he should be OK within a few days, and then ready to be put slowly back to work.

I'm trying to adjust his feed to get less starch, it's hard when the only two feed options we have both have 20-25% starch :/ I think I'll talk to Brogaarden, a feed store that delivers to the barn, maybe their consultants can give me some good suggestions. While he's still poorly I've cut the grain down to half, and added extra hay, carrots, and lucerne, then hopefully I'll have a good plan for him by the time he's back in full work and needs full feed again...

Infection?

Had the vet out to take a look at Barokko today. He immediately said "He's not himself!" when I put him on the longe, I was so glad I wasn't just hallucinating!

Anyway, he didn't think it looked like something wrong in his legs or back, and instead suspects that he has some kind of systemic infection - he's had a cough for some days now, maybe it's all connected.

He took a blood sample, I should get the results Thursday. Until then it's more of what we've been doing the past week, working on the Horse Gym to keep him toned, and turning him out to keep him happy.