opening new eyes to old problems

Yesterday we had the acupuncturist/vet out for the pony's second acupuncture session. This time she had me lunge the pony at a walk/trot in each direction so she could take a look at his movement, demeanor, and overall willingness in the arena. What she saw was a decent representation of the issues we've had with the Little Man.

He is a sharp looking pony, and he can be absolutely stunning both in the field and under saddle. He is talented, and a good soul, but he can also be stubborn and tense.

After the movement, she did a physical examination of his hind legs. She found mild soreness in the hocks, primarily in the left, and feels this is not due to a recent occurrence, but something he has been dealing with for a while. She thinks we may be looking at mild arthritis.

I was shocked. This pony is 8 years old. He's had many, many people involved in his care and training and performance. No one has ever looked to the hocks as the source of problems. I suspect we've been fooled by the good and bad days he has. When it's good, it's really good. And when it's bad, it's not bad enough to assume something is really wrong. We have never gotten past the 'pony' attitude or the tightness in his neck and shoulders. We never looked at what might be "behind" these other issues.

After I got over the shock yesterday, I began to think of things he does from a new perspective. He stretches his hind legs straight out behind him on a regular, near-daily basis. I've never seen a horse do this before - it looks like he is doing pony yoga. That now makes perfect sense. Think of the older folks you know with arthritis in their hands, and that measured, drawn out stretching they do with the wrists and fingers. It's exactly the same thing.

His grumpiness makes perfect sense if he has been experiencing mild pain. And the fact that he comes out of the arena soft and mellow fits perfectly as well. Once the hocks are moved and warmed up, they feel better.

I began to note how he stands, the way he shifts his weight, and suddenly it all clicked.

This vet specializes in Chinese medicine, and has a background in dressage. She asked me to try to view everything to do with the pony from the perspective of his hind legs - and the instant I did that, I began to see many, many things I hadn't seen just one hour before.

She suggested we continue with his work under saddle, but that we pay close attention to the warm-up period, that we let the hocks guide us. Walk him in big figures, with no sharp turning, until the stride lengthens from behind. She assigned me the task of watching for this while my daughter rides. Once he's not only tracking up, but getting some over-reach, we can move to trot work. And the trot work should continue until I see that lovely, soft swinging tail that makes the S-shape as it moves. It will only make that shape if he's moving through, with balance and rhythm and suppleness. Only then can more "work" be done.

I knew exactly what she meant. I've noted that tail movement before when my daughter rides, but not realizing what a useful clue it is in assessing soundness.

For now, as we continue assessment and treatment, which will include acupuncture and probaby x-rays, we'll back off jumping and galloping.

I feel relieved and grateful that last year when he was jumping 2'9" and then went sour to jumping, we LISTENED. There were a few folks who felt he should be made to do the work, but we backed way off. I wonder now what damage we would have done, both physically and emotionally, had he been made to continue jumping that height.

We did the warm-up exercise this morning. It took nearly 30 minutes for the walk stride to track up. It took 10-15 minutes for the trot to become balanced and the tail to swing in that characteristic way.

The vet also suggested that we apply moist heat to the hocks, mostly to let the pony know we now understand where the issue is. She said when he realizes we understand where the pain is, and show him that, his trust will increase, and he will relax and allow us to work with him to make things better.

My daughter and husband applied the moist, warm towels yesterday afternoon in the back field. The pony loved it, they said, and stood calmly while they wrapped his hocks in what I hope transmitted warmth, love, and the nurturing attention that comes from being heard - not only by the hock, but his whole pony self.

the week thus far

We've got a pony getting ready for an October full of Pony Club happenings. My daughter is keeping him busy with riding and practice loading onto the trailer. She loaded him 3x on Monday, and by yesterday afternoon's third time he walked onto the trailer with her without a halter or lead rope and stood there until she asked him to get off again. Pretty amazing, considering last year this time he was just recovering from some trailer trauma imposed by a few folks who thought forcing a pony onto a trailer with a rope behind his butt and waving a lunge whip around was the right way. We like ours better.

The pony has his second acupuncture treatment today. I think we are already seeing some change in his demeanor and movement. I'm eager to see how he does after this second session.

We have a donkey who has figured out he can ROLL even with his cast on! Rafer Johnson lowered himself to the ground two nights ago and proceeded to do his favorite donkey grooming duty. I was shocked to see that he managed to get the casted leg up and over so he could rub both sides of his body in the dust. This Friday marks the 3-week point since he was cast - halfway - and the plan is to radiograph and re-cast at 6 weeks with something smaller. My secret hope is that he will be so healed we might not need another cast at all. We'll see how it goes!

Keil Bay and Salina got chiropractic work on Monday. It wasn't supposed to be Keil Bay's turn, but as usual, he backed his big rear up to the stall wall and convinced me he needed a look. And as usual, the Big Bay knows his body and knows when he needs something. He had several fairly major things out, and he closed his eyes and let the chiropractor do her job. By the end, he was smiling.

Salina had one big thing out and she too was smiling by the end of her adjustment.

The chiropractor and I decided that when Rafer's cast comes off she'll take a look at him to make sure things are in place.

Cody did a wonderful job free-lunging on Tuesday, and also getting loaded onto the trailer. With all the characters we have in this herd, Cody is the picture of reliability and balance. No drama. Just doin' my job, ma'am. I think every herd needs a horse like Cody to balance things out.

Last night a cold wind blew in, and it's still here this morning. I was shivering as we sat in the barnyard, listening to Rafer Johnson and Salina grazing, while the geldings munched hay in the paddock. We listened to the night creatures, and my husband pointed out a satellite moving slowly across the sky. My daughter was talking about Halloween, and suddenly it felt like summer is truly gone.

the autumn equinox

I know the lands are lit,
With all the autumn blaze of Goldenrod.

-Helen Hunt Jackson


Today is the autumn equinox, a time of transition and opportunities to make changes in one's life. It is also a time of harvest, reaping what has previously been sown.

For me, autumn is a favorite season, and I always feel energized and excited. It's more of a "new year" feeling for me than the beginning of our calendar year.

Lately the labyrinth path has been marked by the tall, swaying goldenrod, which is said to have healing powers. Ted Andrews says that goldenrod helps us discover our own sacred quest, strengthening the aura so that we can remain true to our essence and our dreams.

On Friday, my daughter and I found an owl pellet in the dirt paddock. Owls swallow their prey whole, and the indigestible parts (fur, bones, claws, teeth) are regurgitated in the form of pellets. I noticed the pellet thinking it was an odd-looking piece of horse manure, and when I saw the white, I wondered what in the world one of my horses had gotten into. Upon closer inspection I recognized it - the fur, the tiny joints and claws - as the remains of an owl meal.

Ted Andrews says the owl regurgitating the pellet is a very symbolic act.

In the swallowing of the prey head first, the owl takes into itself the wisdom and energy of the prey. The regurgitation reflects its ability to eliminate those aspects that are unbeneficial and unhealthy for it.

This was the perfect thing to find on the threshold of the autumn equinox, the symbol of taking in and letting go, transmuting.

How well I know what I mean to do
When the long, dark autumn-evenings come.

-Robert Browning

rafer's big adventure, and how can anyone not believe in fairies?

Yesterday afternoon late, a series of earth moving machinery arrived at our neighbors' house, along with a huge dump truck load of red dirt. As we were also having a group of kids and parents over for a gathering, I decided I'd better check on the equines and see how they were handling all the commotion.

Keil Bay was on the near side of the barn, having a fit because he was separated from his herd. His hyper-alertness was getting Rafer Johnson all wound up. I decided to move Keil over to the back paddock with the pony and Cody, open up the back field, and let them remove themselves from the barn to graze. That calmed things down quite a bit, but Rafer was just too wound up inside his stall - he couldn't see what was making all the interesting noise, and it was making him crazy!

So I let him come into the barnyard with Salina, which seemed to do the trick. Once I made sure things were settled, I dashed up to the front porch to let everyone know I would be hanging out at the barn for awhile. When I got back to the barnyard, there was Salina, but Rafer Johnson had disappeared!

I kept looking over the barnyard, left to right, along the edge of the woods, behind the trailer, making sure he wasn't blending in. I checked the stalls. I checked the little barnyard, both paddocks, the back field. He was nowhere to be found!

Then suddenly I stopped my mad dashing and simply looked at Salina. When I followed her gaze, there he was. He had gone into the arena, marched all the way to the end, and was completely intent on watching those earth-moving machines. I opened the gate so Salina could join him.

There was no way he was coming back to his stall right that moment, and I figured since he was calm, we might as well sit and enjoy the show. I pulled up a dressage marker bucket and sat. We watched three abreast. I have never seen such focus - Rafer could not take his eyes off those machines!

When the workers took a break, Rafer went and got himself a dressage marker bucket, tipped it over, and rolled it around the arena. He went over to the back side of the arena to say hello to the geldings. He marched through a stand of weeds at the arena's edge, letting them tickle his belly. He stepped in a fire ant mound and immediately trotted over to me so I could get the few off that were on his leg.

And yes, you read that correctly. Rafer Johnson was trotting around in his cast. I convinced him that a walk was more suitable, and then panicked when he marched up to a cross-rail jump my daughter had left up. He walked right up to the X, looked back at me, and then casually walked around the jump.

I eventually managed to get he and Salina back to the barn doors where I could muck his stall and get it ready for the evening. By that time it was nearing the barn dinner hour, so I got Rafer's halter on, and began to walk him to his stall. Salina, in an uncharacteristic move, surged in front of us and pooped in the middle of Rafer's stall - now, this sounds pretty rude, but it was the first time she's been able to do this since the accident, and Rafer Johnson was beside himself with excitement. FINALLY - he could march in and deposit his contribution on top of the pile! He was ecstatic. I opened his back door, hurried Salina out, and turned just in time to see her hind hoof kick the full bucket of water over. Rafer was in the midst of depositing his pile, and a solid sheet of water went cascading toward him.

He skittered out of the way, and I got the water up.

Needless to say, when I went out to the barn today, this is what I found:



And, apropos of nothing, look up top at what replaced the sunshine mushroom literally over night! Nothing but the work of fairy folk could possibly have made that happen.

uniquities

Yesterday was one of those days when everything seemed new, special, and unique. My daughter and I headed out to the barn mid-morning and didn't get back inside until dinnertime.

One of the first uniquities I discovered yesterday was what I'm calling the sunshine mushrooms. We have many unusual things popping up this year with all the rain, but this one is my favorite. There was a smaller one that looked even more like nature's rendering of the sun, but I lost it!

Apache Moon got his first acupuncture treatment. I was pleasantly surprised to see the "needles" - they actually resemble very thin pieces of wire. He was a good patient, nervous a few times, but willing to work through that. At the end of the insertion he had a double row of needles going from wither to rump. It was quite odd to see, but within about 10 minutes he fell asleep!

The needles in the areas that correspond with the triple heater meridian came out extremely bent and twisted. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. The others came out perfectly straight. So Patsy was totally on target with her kinesiology results. The acupuncturist/vet also pointed out to me that he tends to stand right foot slightly forward, and that his left front hoof is wearing unevenly to the inside. Given that the massage therapist found tight shoulders, all of these things are beginning to fit together. We arranged a schedule of treatment to see if we can clear this blocked meridian and impact his overall movement and comfort.

Interestingly enough, when I tacked Keil Bay and rode him yesterday afternoon, he did beautifully at the walk, but at the trot it felt like something was going on in the right front. We did a little more trotting and then ended with some lateral exercises and stretching. Will keep an eye on him.

On a different note - we got a truck! I can now haul more than just the pony!

And finally, a favorite sign of approaching autumn: