A Spoonful of Sugar

Full Confession- I have loved Mary Poppins since I was a child. Loved the books (although I haven't read them in decades) and adored the movie. A couple years ago we went to a local theatre putting in on and it was fabulous. 

I was pretty much laid out after the ride on Sunday (the really flu kicked my butt and I was unable to return to work until Weds). Sunday night Ed asked me why I went.
Weren't you having trouble with her? 
Yes I said but things have been better since I started treating her for ulcers. I explained what I had been seeing and when I thought it all started. He listened carefully and nodded. I said that I was going to call the vet to discuss perscription meds.
It's not like you can stop showing her or going to clinics. 
No. Well (I stopped, thinking that he was asking me), I could but....
No,I mean that of course you're not going to stop going to shows and clinics. 

Isn't he awesome? On Monday I called my vet and outlined what my concerns were. He listened, asked some questions and then agreed that it sounded very plausible that Carmen had ulcers. I had two alternatives 1) take her to the next province to the vet college (a long haul) for a scope or 2)treat and see if it made a difference.

I opted for door #2. Partly to save money, partly to avoid the stress of a long haul (I've never done one before) and mostly to save Carmen the stres of the procedure. My vet was fine with that. Can I just say that I love that my vet returns calls and is willing to consult over the phone with no fee?

Two hours later I had a call that my perscription was ready and Ed went to pick it up.

this represents a lot of saddle pads.....

Ed told me the cost and then shrugged and said 'well it's not like it was optional. She needs it. And I am fortunate, because our vet's stock a 'generic' omeprazole in place of Ulcer Guard. Still it is not cheap. The bottle of Sucralfate is almost $200. The tubes are 4 weeks of treatment (combination of Omeprazole and Aloe Vera).

The plan is: 5 days of Sucralfate (2 doses a day not with meals) and one tube of ucler treatment at least 2 hours from the sucralfate. 

I looked at this and had reservations. You see when I first had Carmen deworming her was an adventure. She was very resistant. I now had her that she tolerated it but I looked at this and thought oh dear. I can see where 5 days of three tubes a day was likely not going to go over well. 

I filled up the syringe they gave with the 50 ccs of Sucralfate, grabbed a halter and an apple and headed out to the field to give her her dose before dinner. It's not that Carmen was bad, she wasn't. But there was a lot of head tossing. That, coupled with the fact that the syringe was too big for me to use one handed and that the liquid was very thin, resulted in both of us being flecked with the medication but I was reasonably sure that at least some had gotten in. Fortunately it has a light vanilla flavour (yes I tasted it, not compltely voluntarily). 

Irish watched this fascinated. I could see him thinking hey, I'm the one who usually gets the special treatment. What's going on here?! 

 The tube of Omerpazole was much easier and she took it without fuss. But I realized that I needed a better method. The vet was clear that she couldn't have it with her feed. Also, there's no way that she's taking it on an empty stomach because she's out grazing all day and has a slow feed hay net at night. Really, other then posibly in the morning, she does not have an empty stomach. And that is not recommended for horses with ulcers anyway. 

Realizing that it tastes kind of sweet in the morning I tried putting in her dish to see if she would slurp it up. She stuck her nose in it and then looked at me with a milky mustache and a quizzical expression. So I dumped her fat and fibre pellets on top and she ate it all. 

That morning I did some more thinking. I realized that I had some hay nuggets that I've been giving them at night (in place of the beet pulp). I've been thinking of transitioning Carmen over to those exclusively but haven't made up my mind. They can be fed as a hay replacement or in addition to hay. They are balanced with vitamins and minerals so you don't have to worry. So that morning I soaked a few nuggets and in the afternoon (about an hour before dinner) I added in the liquid medication and stirred it. I took it out to Carmen and she gobbled it down (don't worry I fed Irish an apple while she ate. He's even more confused then ever now).  My thinking was that if it's okay for her to have it and eat hay, then it should be okay to have it with hay. Feel free to pile on and tell me I'm wrong but I think my logic is sound. And it's not interfering with her taking the Omeprazole treatment

We're on day 3 and I can see a real change in Carmen.  It could be a placebo effect but this is what I see:

• she's not tearing into her food like before. She used to 'attack' her hay net and feed quite aggressively. You could hear the hay hoop rattle as she pulled on it. Now she nibbles without the franticness. Same with her morning and evening rations. 
• She's not as uptight and tense. Far more relaxed. 
• she comes up to me in the field and when I'm walking the dogs rather than ignore me. 

She's just softer overall. Now I don't think that she will become a Magical Zen Unicorn. 

you can find anything with google!

But seeing her look content and relaxed is lovely. Here's a shot that warmed my heart:

Let me tell you what the big deal is about this photo. Carmen is in a section of the field that she has refused to go into for the last 3 years. She's surrounded on 3 sides by brush and it's blowing. Can you see Irish looking into the next field? That's because there's a giant doe there also eating. Carmen looked at it, shrugged and went back to eating. The dogs are running in and out of the bushes as we walk and she gives zero fucks. She has ventured into this part of the field before but she also zooms away when we come walking by and I've never seen her that far in. 

I have not ridden her. Even if I wasn't sick I wanted to give things a chance to settle. When I do start back it will be light and easy and I will monitor. 

Intermission

My friend Cindy posted this cartoon to her FB page and it made me laugh. It reminded me of a certain mare who, while not as 'fluffy' as this one, shares this sentiment. 

After writing my last post I realized that I really need to get a handle on my self-judgement.

You see I've been feeling a bit guilty about not riding lately. Which is rediculous- the footing and the weather have made it impossible. But I have that voice in my head that says 'if you really wanted to ride you would find a way. You are being a chicken".  I really don't like that voice.  So one of my goals this year is to try to get that voice to shush.

Anyway, today the weather was warmer and the snow was soft so decided to ride.  Carmen seemed to be quite happy to be brought out and tacked up. The girth is on the same holes as this summer so that is good. I put her on the lunge line to evaluate her mood and the depth of the snow. It seemed to be really good except for one end which was a bit deep.

I hopped on and we went to ride. I am continuing to work on the goals of keeping her on my aids (which means I have to be making sure I'm directing her), not adding to the tension and not hang on to the rein too tight.

The interesting thing about riding in the snow is how it encourages the horse to really step up. On the lunge Carmen was really pushing. How that feels in the saddle is incredible. I realized that I have more fitness to develop in order to sit that. Initially she was a bit tight and looky but as we walked she became more relaxed and listening. There was a lot of power in her trot and it caught me off guard at first. My first thought was 'wow'. My second was 'oh my core'.

She started to blow out and I could feel wanting to GO. Like really go. I didn't let her - maybe I was chicken but I didn't want her slipping in the snow and injuring herself. So instead I said 'let's work on control and power. Speed can come later'.  I was really impressed with our work to the right- there wasn't any hesitation in picking up the trot like there used to be when we started back to work. We finished with a lovely canter in the snow. Again there was real power. Carmen wasn't even breathing hard.

I still suck at selfies. 

Back in the barn Irish was feeling a bit sassy. I looked at him and thought hmmm. I got out his tack and saddled him up. Carmen was funny- she was outside eating and then she realized what I was doing and started to freak out a bit. I mean I don't ride Irish. I ride her. But Cynthia is gone and Irish needs work so up to the ring we went.

Are you sure about this? 

Irish was a bit excited. I didn't want to put too much a strain on him with the snow. When I asked him to trot he gave a squeal and hop. Young Irish would have been a handful. Old Irish though can't do too much so I laughed and then he became insulted and finally we settled. He also wanted to GO and I let him pick up a canter. A couple circles took the wind out of his sails and we could do some work. I noticed that between E and C he was counterbent and looking out. I realized that this was what Carmen was doing too. 

Two very different horses, same issue. I wondered if there was a common denominator......

Yeah. Me. I realized that I was clamping with my left hand and thigh. So I fixed my position and surprise, surprise he became straight. This is a good thing about riding different horses. While I was riding Carmen just ate her hay- so obviously she wasn't too stressed. 

you can see her down at the barn

I really want to have a lesson (or two) but I need things to thaw. Come on spring.

The Great Lysine Experiment

I seem to be avoiding writing my 'goals for 2018' post.

Or I am still mulling.

Let's go with mulling.

We are getting hammered with another winter storm. For us it is all rain- no snow. Which is actually more difficult as the ground is frozen and not able to absorb it. I had to make sure that it had a path to flow so that the barn won't flood. I was probably worrying unnecessarily but hey, that's me and I need to go with my strengths. If it makes me feel better to be out in high winds and driving rain sticking a shovel into frozen ground to make the drainage pathways larger who is going to argue?

Not these two.

no more snow, just water running everywhere. 

As long as I'm not late with dinner.

Hiding inside from the weather gives me time to write an update on the red headed wonder: Irish.

Back in August I wrote a post about Irish and his incontinence. I purchased the boots and they worked really well to protect his legs from the scalding. His legs healed nicely and he was feeling perkier. But (why is there always a but?) wearing them 20 hours out of 24 was not good for his legs. He started getting some rubs from the boots. They also became very foul smelling (logical I know) no matter how often I washed them. So I went and purchased the Keratix Mud Shield powder. Now I do a boots every now and then and use the powder a lot. His legs look gross but it actually just rinses right off (unlike before).

Kris at Dancing Donkey suggested that some diet changes might help. She and I exchanged some emails and she suggested lots of things, the key being amino acids. These might be lacking in his diet. I am very careful with Irish's diet - given his history of ulcers and colics I don't make changes lightly. I did a lot of my own research. One issue is that getting supplements here in Canada is difficult , especially if you want a reasonable price.

Fast forward a bit and Cathryn at Two and a Half Horses did a post about her vet recommending Myoplast to help build Annie's topline. Reading that post and all the comments led me back to exploring some options for Irish. I then found a reasonably priced source for pure lysine in Canada (apple saddlery). I purchased it and have had him on it since November 8, 2017. I took some photos to document his progress.

Within a week I noticed something pretty amazing. Irish has always been a 'fussy' eater. In the winter he gets a lot of oats, fat and fibre,  free choice hay, soaked beet pulp and  alfalfa. Essentially he had food available 24/7. Rarely did he ever complete his grain/pellet ration. Nine out of ten mornings I threw out left over feed/beet pulp/alfalfa.

Now he finishes everything and is impatient for his breakfast and supper rations.

Guys this is huge. Irish never finishes his feed or hay.

In six weeks he put on 40 pounds.

Another thing I noticed (although not as quickly) was that his incontinence significantly reduced. It's not gone but it's so much less. I also think I see a difference in his topline- even though he's not getting exercised.

This week I checked him again. He hadn't gained any more weight which I found disappointing until I realized that this is the first time he didn't drop weight when the temperatures plummeted. He's maintaining his weight at 1098 (according to my weight tape).

 I don't know if the photos show anything at all. His topline looks better to me but I also want to see it. A few weeks ago when Shanea visited and Ashley was riding she commented that he looked good compared to the last time she saw him.

I have no idea what the scientific explanation is. My theory is that he was unable to extract the nutrients he needed so wasn't interested in eating. The lysine is helping him to do that. I cannot see it as a coincidence that after 6 years at home he suddenly decides to start eating (and longer than that but he was boarded so I can't swear to it).

Letting him build up weight and topline should make it far easier for him to be worked too.