Rehabbing is my life: Carmen update (also horses are expensive)

 I realise that I am overdue for an update on Carmen. In my last post about her she was lame with heel pain, possible inflammation and back soreness that could be from her foot and her saddle. I had a long plan given by the vet and I've been picking away at it. 

With the lack of exercise Carmen has packed on far too much weight. Since that visit I cut out her grain ration completely and replaced it with a low-calory top dress to provide the nutrients/vitamins she needs. I have also been more careful about how much hay I give her overnight. As of this week I have her weight down by approximately 50 pounds.  She's looking so much better. I want to get her down at least another 50 pounds.  She's actually handling her diet fairly well. Although I'm sure when I first gave her the new 'feed' she looked at the amount and looked at me saying 'seriously? Is this an amuse bouche? Where is the rest of my meal?!"  I may or may not have run out of the barn without making eye contact. 

Carmen: omg everyone send snacks
before I die of starvation

My farrier is great and as soon as I contacted him with the information he booked a time to come out on Monday (vet appointment was Friday) and reached out to the vet. She has new bar shoes with a wedge pad and cushion injected underneath.  She is now in bell boots to make sure she doesn't tear them off. 

while waiting for pre-made shoes he 
made these so she didn't have to wait. 

I had already started the hunt for a new saddle so that was able to go fairly quickly. My fitter had measured her and had some ideas so when she came the first saddle she plunked on looked like it was made for her. 

ta-dah

 I had money from selling my Spanish saddle and from trading in Carmen's so that helped with the cost. It's a Hastilow Bentley and it's the first deep seat I've had (not counting the Spanish saddle). I find it to be comfortable and not restrictive at all.  I found that I had to drop my stirrups another hole.  It has the changeable gullet system so I can change if her weight loss results in a change in shape. 

Carmen was prescribed previcox and we're on the weaning process. I also purchased an infrared wrap to use. There are some indications that infrared helps with circulation and improves joint function (at least in people). But I figured that it wouldn't hurt so why not try it.  I mean, at this point what is money anyway? 

So with new shoes, new saddle, and treatment I was able to start exercising her. We started with hand walking. Once the saddle was purchased I began with riding. And she felt good. 

yay

I started with just 20 minutes of walk. Then increased to add some bits of trot on the long side. The first time I asked her she was like YES, LET'S GO! Which was cute. I've been gradually increasing the amount of trot and felt super brave when I asked for a short canter. I realised that everything was done that could be done and she would either stay sound or she wouldn't. Which doesn't mean that I was all hee-haw or worked her hard but I began to ask her for more. I had Quaid in a clinic last weekend (stay tuned) and I brought her one day to ride her for 30 minutes in the arena.  She felt really good. 

I rode her yesterday and she felt amazing. In fact she felt good enough that she started to pull her signature big spooks and trying to take off.  I didn't, of course let her be that silly and kept a lid on it. Inside I was equal parts irritated and delighted. 

Carmen: I regret nothing and 
10/10 will do it again

So things seem to be on an upward trajectory and Carmen is not retiring yet. I know that nothing is guaranteed and I will adjust as needed. But for now I'm going to enjoy the moment.