somewhat Better living through modern pharmacology

Lance has been on twice-daily oral prednisolone for a couple months now. It has not been a magic cure; his breathing still isn't 100%, he still lacks energy, and he's still losing muscle mass, albeit more slowly.

Case in point: The day we got back from Omaha was beautiful, so I turned out Lance and Oliver in the arena to burn off steam. Lance hadn't been out in a week and a half, but what you see in the photos above are the sum total of his energy expenditure. He dropped and rolled, got up and hopped once followed by a bit of canter. After that he shuffled around at a walk or jog while Oliver continued to race around.

I continue to ride him often but briefly. Asking him to do very much makes me feel like I'm 'beating a dead horse,' but not exercising him at all would be even worse for him. So we keep it short and effective; touching on the knowledge that is there, refining it a wee bit each ride. I'm glad to have the exercises learned at the Expo in our toolbox!

His ears aren't really THAT big. ;-)

Finally, this week Rick did a lung lavage in order to check cytology. Poor Lance; even though he was sedated, the sensation of the silicone tube going down his bronchial tube and into his lung made him cough so violently his eyes watered! Fortunately, it didn't last long. Like most of the other tests Rick's done on Lance, the results came back pretty normal, other than some plant material present (probably hay dust). We've added once-daily Ventipulmin syrup (clenbuterol) to his regimen; that helps him clear his airways better and seems to have perked him up a bit. Once the bottle is used up, we'll have to look at something more suitable for long-term use; clenbuterol can affect his heart.

So that is what has – and has not – changed in my Camelot. The Holy Grail of perfect health is elusive, and its quest has been an overarching burden on my mind these many weeks. But I still have my Lancelot, and he has me. That is enough.

Long overdue

Sorry for the radio silence. A lot has happened since my last post – and not much has happened. What hasn't happened will probably take longer to tell than what has, so I'll save that for the next post.

On March 24 I hauled Lance down to the NW Horse Fair & Expo in Albany to participate in Jec Ballou's session on "Cross-Training Exercises for the Dressage Horse." I do a lot of cross-training, so this sounded right up my alley. But that session wasn't until 3:00, and Lance had to be there from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Thankfully, a friend came to help me pass the day, and we attended Jec's classroom lecture at noon. It was very good; I wish I'd taken better notes. I did take photos of some of her slides, though. Some take-away messages were:

1) Several different veterinary university studies have confirmed that it takes a minimum of working four days a week to keep a horse in condition. Considering how long it takes to get a horse fit, it behooves us riders to keep them fit! I feel pretty good about my long-standing policy to not let Lance stand around more than two days in a row, but am being more intentional about riding four days a week now.

2) Trail-riding, schooling, and conditioning exercises all need to be part of the mix; a well-schooled horse isn't necessarily a well-conditioned horse.

These points were confirmed in the riding session. Lance and I were one of three horse and rider teams that Jec used to demonstrate some conditioning exercises. The good news for an energy-conserver like Lance is that a lot of valuable work can be done at the walk.

Just a few days later (with no time to ride again), we flew to Omaha, NE to attend the FEI World Cup (and see family and friends). What an experience! I cannot accurately convey what it's like to see that many world-class horses and riders up close and personal; when the Grand Prix competition started, I actually teared up. Not that all the rides were beautiful to watch; I wanted to rescue some horses from harsh hands, and was once again struck by how gracious horses are to allow us on their backs. I took photos of every single test (SIXTEEN in a row!!!), but you can see far better images taken by professionals elsewhere, so I will spare you the long slideshow. I did share a few excited images on Instagram – you know, as proof I was there. ;-)

Other high points were getting to meet a blogger whose posts have inspired and challenged me, and reconnecting with an old friend I haven't seen in 26 years. There were also celebrity sightings (I kinneared a couple) in the extensive vendor area:

No shopping for me except for a few small thank-you gifts; "all I want for Christmas" is a healthy, happy horse!

And with that, I will segue into the next post . . . .

Checking in with Spring

. . . to a new season!

I'm still here, schooling and conditioning my pony, teaching and trail-riding with my student (and her mom), prepping and primping for our upcoming demo ride (this Friday!), and coping with challenging life circumstances better thanks to the mental and physical self-discipline of dressage.

Sometimes, we even have witnesses!

Gym equipment

Lance and I have been working in SPITE of the weather. No time to ride the two days after our lesson, and by the time I could claim some time in the saddle on Sunday we had to brave the dark with a "wintery mix" falling. I set up my four caveletti, but Lance struggled to maintain the trot on the smaller arc that created. Note to self; remove one next time we ride. We didn't ride long; the conditions were less than conducive.

Snowflakes on the saddle pad; glad for my synthetic saddle!

We woke up to 2" of snow Monday, but by Tuesday we were able to slosh around in the arena again.

I rearranged my poles into this "turkey foot." It gives me the three trot poles plus a high trot pole/low jump pole to mix things up a bit.

We schooled again on Wednesday, this time with company:

The sun is actually shining this morning, so I need to scurry through some cooking and cleaning so I can shoehorn in a ride. No time this afternoon; like every Friday I have to drive to Salem to pick up my son and take him to Newberg for a violin lesson.

Awesome sauce!

Lance and I had a lesson with Julie on Thursday. As soon as she saw him, she remarked that he had regained some weight; it was nice to have confirmation. I had already warmed up, so we went to work. Julie specifically brainstormed exercises that would maximize our benefits for the amount of energy expended, given that Lance is an energy-conserver at the best of times and oxygen-compromised at the worst of times. One of her suggestions was to capitalize on the energy he offers when I shorten my reins, and when he needs a break (often), use it to practice free walk on a long rein – no in-between.

I've been feeling confident that in spite of the set-backs, Lance's training has slowly progressed; our lesson confirmed that, too. His walk-canter-walk transitions have gotten more dependable, so we worked on refining them. Using the whole arena and doing simple changes from one lead to another, Julie had me ask for a bit of opposite leg yield before the downward transition to get him straighter.

Then we worked on making Lance's trot more adjustable by working over three trot poles laid out like bicycle spokes. Taking the inside track requires a shorter, more collected stride; taking the outside track requires more energy and reach. Lance hardly placed a hoof wrong, rating himself extremely well and requiring the outside ends of the poles to be spread farther apart to challenge his surprisingly large stride. Then she had me use the physical advantage the poles gave us for downward and upward transitions right after and right at the last pole.

Finally, we worked on adjusting Lance's canter stride on the circle without poles, using the open side of the circle to lengthen, then asking for collection when approaching the side of the arena. Julie said that she saw Lance truly "sit" for the first time during this exercise; exciting stuff!

Julie had me shorten my stirrups a hole because of my tendency to ride with my legs too far back and not keeping good contact with the stirrup pad. She really liked my hand position; I'm getting better at pushing them forward instead of pulling back.