30/11/25 Stronger, better, faster!

At almost 10months post surgery Jack has been going from strength to strength in recent weeks, he honestly is feeling better than ever and I smile every time I ride him now, it's a pleasure to ride him and with every ride he improves and exceeds my expectations.  With the shorter days we are becoming increasingly restricted to riding in the menage, while I know we are very lucky to have a floodlit menage I have always found Jack rather switches off with too much time schooling in there.  Since his surgery in Feb I have rarely ridden in the school limiting ridden schooling sessions to once a week at most but now if I want to ride in the week it has be the school or nothing.  I was concerned Jack might switch off but with a bit of planning and imagination I've kept our schooling sessions fairly short with lots of variety to keep him interested and listening and so far it's working a treat!  My current weekly winter schedule goes something like this:

Monday - lunge in pessoa sometimes with poles
Tuesday - school
Wednesday - in hand ground poles
Thursday - school over poles
Friday - short hack or short ride in field
Saturday - jump
Sunday - hack

I swap and change days around depending on time, weather etc and I don't want it to become too predictable!

With how well Jack has been schooling we tried 2 more things we had yet to do since surgery, simple changes and lengthened strides.  He tried so hard and even when he got a bit excited and uptight he didn't put a foot wrong.  His walk to canter transitions felt so much better balanced and through than pre surgery.  He used to pull himself forward and down onto his forehand but now he was able to sit wait and step under himself from behind producing a lovely forward, balenced, uphill transition with lots of impulsion, activity and lightness.  He was so adjustable and rideable :)
I have to watch he doesn't try to avoid using his left hind correctly, which he does by pushing his left shoulder in, as long as I keep the flexion to the left and keep him soft down the left rein he is super!
When I asked for some lengthened strides in trot I was thrilled with his response, he felt so strong and powerful.  He's always been able to lengthen but he would end up on the forehand and rushing as he couldn't maintain it.  The biggest difference is in the transition back to collection which was just so much easier because I wasnt having to try to rebalence him from running onto the forehand!!

I also braved the 50mph winds yesterday afternoon to take him for a hack on our own, we've not been out for a couple of weeks due for various reasons so I expected him to be a little lively and had a neck strap ready but I really didn't want to school again!  We didn't go far and there was quite a bit of spooking but with good reason to be fair.  I would never have dared take him out in those conditions on our own a few months ago so it really goes to show the trust between has really improved :)

I have another lesson booked for early Dec and all being well our first competitive outting in over 20months will be mid december - eek!

A picture popped up on my Facebook timeline this week from 4 years ago:

These were our 2011 dressage champions trophies from a local riding club.  We were actually dressage champions of 2 local riding clubs that year, we were unbeaten all year in every test we did plus we were working Hunter champions of one of the club's too!  The following year jacks back problems began although it would be almost 2 years before we got a proper diagnoses.  This just reminds me why through all our troubles I always thought my little horse was worth it and he feels better now than when we won those trophies so the future is very exciting :)

Finally I am truly shocked and honoured to have been short listed for the title of hay net equestrian blogger of the year on www.hay-net.co.uk the winner is picked by public vote and you can vote for me - Hannah Arscott - by following this link:

https://surveyplanet.com/56447ea18535760f1475ecfe

Thank you to anyone who enjoys my blog and takes the time to vote :) we are up against some very strong competition so just to make the shortlist is a big surprise!

20/11/15 - Things are starting to come together :)

In the last few weeks although he has had a holiday Jack has really improved and we have had some great schooling sessions and hacks, we've also been out to a show jumping training evening had a really positive physio session and a wonderful arena eventing style jumping lesson!
I always feel much more positive after Jacks had a session with our fab physio Tamsyn to confirm that he is working better and not in any pain!  She came out to us earlier in the month and while he feels fab but I really like to have that conformation from her that Jack is working correctly and is not hindered by pain!  She said how even he is moving behind now and built muscles back in all the right places :) he did have a little tightness in his hip flexors which is due to him now working correctly from behind and putting them under a bit more strain than in the past but she was able to loosen this off for him and it confirms he is working correctly and using himself properly.  She also said I can start asking for a bit more from him now as he is physically able to do so.

The ulcer treatment/management that I have put in place continues to keep Jack happier and more settled and this really showed when I took him out to a new venue for show jumping training a few weeks ago - he didn't have the usual volume of sloppy stress poos!  While he was not perfectly behaved and we did have a few problems, which resulted in me becoming rather stressed out, over all the evening was a success and we were able to take a lot away to work on.  Jack was quite unsure to begin with about the scary fillers but after a look at a few of them he jumped a beautiful clear round jumping everything with ease.  His jump has really improved since surgery, pre-surgery he was reluctant, had a very jerky jump and would often take poles off with his hind legs as he didn't release behind.  He now has a lovely smooth jump and is generally more keen.  I don't want to tempt fate too much but he's not refused or knocked down anything yet although I've not asked him to do any big fences or complex exercises as I want him to enjoy it!
He has also been schooling really well and he feels so much better in his canter, he is more adjustable, forward going, lighter and freer.  All this is how he feels as I never have eyes on the ground to tell me if he looks as good as he feels!  I really enjoy and look forward to riding him now, he feels easy, how it should be, and he is behaving beautifully and trying so hard to do everything I ask him to.  It is a total turn around and at the moment every time I ride he feels better and stronger.  I'm really excited by how he feels at the moment!  It is beginning to feel like he is going to be able to be the horse I always thought he could be - only time and training will tell if we will ever event but on current form it is looking like it could be a reality!

With things going so well I managed to book myself onto a arena eventing style jump training session with our instructor, who we have not seen in a year, last week.  I was unsure how he would react but felt the time was right to start asking a little more and as Tamsyn our physio had  agreed there was no time like the present.
The day of the clinic it was howling a gale and the rain was thrashing down - great start!  I got Jack ready and he loaded first time without hesitation.  We arrived at the venue to find they were running about and hour late due to the weather but thankfully the rain had stopped.  The ménage was rather water logged but meant for good water schooling!  As I warmed up Sue our instructor commented how much looser and freer Jack was working over his back and from behind even though I didn't feel his was working as well as he had been at home.  Probably due to being somewhere different and all the water!  We did some easy exercises to begin with and Jack found these so within his comfort zone we soon moved on to more complex exercises.  The jumps were kept small but the lines were made tricky to get jack quicker with his feet and thinking for himself.  We ended jumping a line starting with a barrel in water on a curving right turning line 3 strides to another barrel and then another curving left turning line 3 strides to a 3rd barrel in canter with a change of lead over each barrel.  Jack jumped through with confidence making it feel so easy.  He far exceeded my expectations, I really didn't know what to expect but prior to surgery there would have been refusals, spooking and bucking and rearing for sure!!

We have another clinic in a few weeks which will be working on show jumping course riding, in Dec a arena eventing competition and in January we are planning on attending a 3 day camp working on improving the 3 eventing phases.  I can't wait for that, all being well we might even have a crack at a ODE next season :)

12/10/15 - I love my horse!

This week has unexpectedly been a really good week!

Last week I wrote of my suspicion that Jack has ulcers, well I decided to treat him as if he did without getting him scoped at this stage.  I much prefer a natural approach to treating both myself and Jack so I did some research and found a lot of info on ways to treat and then prevent ulcers with natural products.  From this I ordered an all natural charcoal based supplement - equus health gastro-kalm and some dengie healthy tummy both designed to help reduce excess acid production, sooth inflammation in the stomach and aid digestion.  I have to say so far I am very impressed with the effect they seem to be having on Jack in just a week, he is much happier, no ears back/face pulling or head throwing when I do up the girth and is also more forward when I ride, since I started feeding him them he has not done his usual trick of not wanting to do the first walk - trot transition. So in terms of the experiment so far so good.  I'm not ruling out getting Jack scoped or a course of treatment with gastrogard in the future, if he needs it then it will be done but I'm really pleased to be having such positive results already.  

Following Jacks crashing fall just over a week ago I had planned on giving him an easy week and time to recover but surprisingly he had other ideas, perhaps down to his tummy feeling better??
As in my last blog I gave him a little lunge and some nice easy stretch work on Monday, other than a little stiffness on his left hind Jack appeared pretty much unscathed from his fall.
I had arranged to go and view the images from my recent photo shoot with Chrysalis photography on Tuesday after work so Jack was going to have the day off anyway, usually I would have been bothered about giving him the day off but as he was a little sore anyway I was happy to give him the time to recover. 
On Wednesday evening I decided to give him a little loose school as I often do on a Wednesday, if he had been reluctant or looked uncomfortable I would have stopped but there was not a bit of it, Jack bucked and kicked around the school and flicked his toes all over the place - obviously not feeling any ill effects and probably in need of some work!
Based on his performance the night before Thursday I decided to ride, there were a couple of people about to watch us and see if they thought he looked uncomfortable but Jack seemed happy and more forward than usual.  I just did half and hour but he worked very nicely, particularly in the canter where he felt much more up through his shoulder and rounder in his neck, coming through better from behind and was really on my seat aids and lovely and soft through his back.  Also of note - there was no hesitation in the first walk - trot transition :) I was so pleased with how he went, it has to be the best canter we have had so far so an awful lot to be happy about!
Friday I decided to go for a little hack on our own again, time to face our demons down the canal path!  We headed out and Jack felt relaxed and happy, I wasn't sure if we would canter down the canal path after what happened last time but Jack was up for it so we did a controlled canter, he was a little spooky just where he fell last time so I brought him back to trot for a bit until he settled again then cantered home happy and confident we had put the previous experience behind us - another good day.

Usually on a weekend I like to avoid the ménage but I couldn't get to ride until 6pm Saturday so I had no option as the light was already fading fast! I took Jack in the ménage for the 2nd time in a week (the first time I have done so during his rehab!) I hoped he wouldn't be too upset at being schooled again!  I needn't have worried he was on fire and he worked beautifully.  His back is feeling strong and supple and he is much more forward and on my aids.  I was able to spend time refining what I was asking him rather than just trying to get him to go forward and long and low.  The work he produced was definitely the best he has done post op, he is just getting better and better at the moment and I'm really excited about how well he is responding and his attitude at the moment.  It seems like its all falling back into place at long last!

I wish there had been someone there to capture some video of me riding so I can see if it looks as good as it feels!

The plan next week is to take him to a show jumping training show on Friday and I'm now really looking forward to it :)

5/10/15 - Too good to last!

Things have been going really well lately, Jack seems to have fully recovered from his KS surgery, rehab has gone quite well with just the odd blip but nothing major and Jack been growing in confidence in both himself and in me again.  We have enjoyed lots of nice rides and our schooling has been improving steadily however I have felt that there was still something bothering him.  His back is great and he doesn't appear to be having the SI pain that he had early in his rehab but he is still reluctant at the beginning of a ride, almost every time I ride him he resists going from walk - trot the first time I ask, he just doesn't go forward and stays in walk until I really boot him!  Once we get that first transition out the way he is then ok, also he can still react to the girth being done up, ears back and throwing up his head when it is tightened.  Having pretty much excluded everything else this behaviour is now making me think ulcers are the likely the culprit.  Jack is highly likely to suffer considering his previous management (before I owned him) of being stabled for long period with no food, the pain he has endured with his KS and the stress he has been through with numerous trips to the vets and the surgery then prolonged box rest.  Considering this it would not be a surprise if he has some ulcers and his symptoms fit.  I have discussed with my vet who don't scope themselves and I have 3 options 1) Get a referral to have him scoped by another vet 2) My vets could prescribe gastro-gard based on a presumptive assessment or 3) try treating him with natural remedies and commercially available supplements and see if there is any improvement.  Since I have owned him (4 years) he has lived out 24/7 most of the year and when he is stabled always has access to hay.  He is fed a high fibre diet and is never left for prolonged periods with no access to forage.
There are many products available to treat and prevent stomach ulcers in horses but I prefer to treat naturally where possible and have had good results using spirulina to build muscle and Tumeric to ease arthritis so for now I have decided to treat naturally along with feeding Dengie healthy tummy and adding equus health's Gastro Kalm to his feeds for maintenance.
There are lots of natural products that can help neutralise acid and some which also reduce acid production which is what is needed in the short term to aid healing so my next step is to purchase the ingredients needed and then persuade Jack to digest them!  He can be picky about things in his food so that is likely to be the biggest challenge.
Hopefully with a 2 week course on an acid reducing cocktail his stomach will be healed and I can then manage with healthy tummy and gastro-kalm to prevent further occurrences.
I shall report back if there is any improvement in a couple of weeks and if no improvement is seen then I will have another chat with my vet and reconsider scoping him.

Anyway onto this weeks activities, we started the week with a lunge session over poles which went very well, Jack was well behaved if slightly lazy to start with and he was working over his back and stepping evenly over the poles.  This sort of work is really helping build and strengthen his back end and he seems to enjoy the variety in his work too.  Following this I schooled him on the Tuesday with 3 poles in a straight line at a canter stride apart and raised at alternate ends.  Having warmed up thoroughly with the usual resistance to trot I then walked trotted and cantered over the raised poles, Jack was doing the poles really well in a good balance nice and forward and in a good shape using his back end to skip through the poles neatly and confidently.  I was tempted to turn the raised poles into a little grid of x poles but I resisted as I was so pleased with how he had worked I didn't want to risk spoiling things pushing for too much.  Instead I sat up and picked him up in the canter and was thrilled with how responded coming light and up in his shoulder, bringing his hind legs under and producing the best canter I think we have ever had :) I was so so thrilled with this!  If this is a glimpse of  what he is capable of when he is more confident and stronger then I'm very excited!       
He had a easier day the next day with just a little loose school.
On Thursday we went for a hack with my other half Dan running along side us, we did 4.8 miles of trot and canter along the bridle path and back on the road and Jack felt fit and full of running.
Friday I went out into the stubble field and Jack was much more confident than the previous week, he still has a little think about going into trot the first time but after that he was a lot more forward and we did some good gallops without me having to really kick him to go like I did last time.
I didn't get to ride Saturday as I was very busy and at a wedding in the evening so Jack just got fed an apple of the gate and his rug changed!
Then Sunday afternoon I had the chance to ride with one of the other liveries, this very rarely happens at the moment so I rushed through my other jobs to be able to meet her only to get there, get Jack in and ready to discover she was no longer coming as she had not got my text!  As I was ready to go I made the fateful decision to head out anyway, I didn't think anything of it as we hack alone 99% of the time these days anyway.  As we wandered towards the village I was undecided with route to go but eventually made up my mind to just have a short hack and get back as I still had a lot to do at home.  Jack was behaving and was relaxed and enjoying himself if the lovely sunny weather.  When we got to the bridle path we picked up canter as we always do on the wide grass verge between the tarmac footpath and the canal, we set out at a pretty fast pace but I slowed him down as we approached some people walking on the path, it was a good job I did or what happened next could have been worse as a split second later Jack spooked at something on his right shooting left at high speed towards the tarmac, I knew it wasn't going to end well, there was no way he could stay upright on tarmac at that speed. I tried my best to stop him, put my left leg on and holding him with my left rein but it was too late he hit the tarmac with all 4 hooves going sideways and still in canter. The next thing I knew we were on the floor, me still on board somehow and Jack on his stomach.  I feared the worse, I imagined broken legs and was about to jump off when Jack tried to get up.  I sat as still as possible as he scrambled to his feet shaking.  A family who were walking towards us came to our aid and checked Jacks legs, somehow he had managed to escape without serious injury, he had some pretty deep grazes to both his fetlocks and both stifles but other than that he seems ok I walked him around for a few minutes to check he felt ok and trotted him but he felt fine, he even decided he wanted to canter home!  I think that must have been the adrenaline pumping!
At home I hosed his legs off and washed the grazes with hibiscrub, some of them were pretty deep but they were clean so I plastered wound cream all over them to protect them from the flies and mud before turning him back out. 
When I went back to check on him later and to rug him up he looked fine I just had to leave the leg straps off his rug to stop them rubbing on the sores on his stifles.
I checked on him again this morning and expected him to look a bit stiff or sorry for himself but he walked over to me without a hint of discomfort!
When I brought him in tonight he was keen to come in and was walking on a mission!  There was no heat or swelling and the grazes had dried up and looked healthy and healing.
I decided to give him a little lunge just to see how he was moving and he was slightly stiff, unsurprising really considering he was legs akimbo on the tarmac the day before but to be honest I expected him to be far worse than he was, there was only the slightest stiffness in his near stifle.  I believe getting them moving with gentle stretching and exercise is the best thing so we did some carrot stretches and a bit of in hand in the school to help loosen him off.  I can't quite believe how well he has come out of a potential disastrous accident!  
So I will now be giving him a bit of an easier time of it until he has been seen by our physio and I can be sure he is recovered from the ordeal. 
Poor Jack!

28/9/15 Back to normal

Back to full health this week I really wanted to crack on and do some good work with Jack having had a very easy time of it last week!

I set out the week with our usual lunge session in the pessoa on Monday including 2 ground poles on opposite sides of the circle, Jack lunged well, he was nice and forward and stepping through behind better than he has been doing.  He was also more even stepping over the poles, in the past he has favoured stepping over the poles with his right lead first which would make sense knowing that he was slightly uncomfortable in the left over his SI when Tamsyn our Physio has been to see him.  This has been getting better as the weeks have gone on and he has improved each time Tamsyn has seen him.  He must be feeling better if he is stepping with the left lead now as before he was very clever at judging his stride to make sure he got there on the right lead so I was really pleased the split was now more 50/50.

Following the success over poles on the lunge on Tuesday I put some poles out in the ménage to ride over and I was really impressed with how Jack felt, I set up 3 poles down one side at trot distance and 2 poles on the opposite side at canter stride distance and then getting a bit carried away a small cross pole on the centre line!  He was awesome, we warmed up then walked the poles first before progressing to trot and canter and then also jumping as he was feeling so good taking me over the poles in good balance and rhythm :)

Wednesday he managed to pull off a front shoe and had the day off but he seemed ok so Thursday I took him for a short hack with some nice canters and he was again very well behaved, I think we have now cracked hacking alone again.

The plan was to go to a show jumping training session on Friday night but with no shoe on one front hoof and child care issues we had to give that a miss (we will be going to the October one instead) and instead decided to utilise the freshly cut stubble field for a bit of fast fitness work, this then got scuppered by the farmer deciding to cut the hedges in the field!

I didn't really want to hack again with no shoe but we headed out and Jack was fine and this time we had the company of my friend Cherry's daughter Jess and her little pony Alfie, Jack wasn't to keen on going slowly so poor Alfie was shattered trying to keep up on legs half the size but we had fun and while Jack and I cantered along the bridle path Alfie and Jess had to go flat out!

Finally on Saturday I got to take Jack into the stubble field!  He was a little unsure to start with on his own and took a while to settle down and listen as the horses in the next field were galloping about but he did calm down and we had lots of fun galloping up and down the field :)

I also went to jump my friend Lucy's pony Jay on Saturday and he was in fine form, Lucy has injured her left arm and Jay has been a little cheeky taking advantage of her weaker side and not working properly so I did some work getting him more supple and soft to the left before jumping him. He loves jumping and we had a lot of fun together

Following this Jack had a easy day Sunday with a bit of ground work over poles and a little loose school.

It's,been a really good week and I'm feeling positive and optamistic about the future now as we grow in confidence with every ride.

He gets shod today so will be able to do more hacking without worrying about his feet again

21/9/15 - A quiet week

Following the excitement of last weeks post about the fun we had on the charity ride this weeks blog is rather boring I'm afraid!

I gave Jack a day off the following exertion of the 12 mile ride but to be honest I don't think he really needed it, he was fresh as a daisy but it did give me the chance to catch up on a few jobs that needed to be done like poo picking the paddock, weeding and tidying up my hay and stable area.

On the Tuesday I clipped him and then gave him a loose school and he was showing no signs of any stiffness or soreness.  I am really enjoying doing more ground work with Jack and he seems to like it too :)

The plan was to get back on a ride on Wednesday evening but in the afternoon I started to feel very ill and by the time my other half got home at 5.30pm I was laid up on the sofa feeling very sick and no way I could ride and this carried on Thursday too.  By Friday afternoon I was feeling up to riding again and thought I would just take Jack for a gentle stroll round the village after work, that was until I got a call from my little boys nursery that he was now ill and needed picking up!  So Jack got another day off in the field and I nursed a poorly boy instead!

I did manage to lunge him a couple of times over the weekend but other than that Jack has had a very easy time of it, hopefully we can get back to normal this week.  The plan is to take him for some show jumping schooling on Friday night

This pic popped up on my facebook time hop this week - Jack as a 4year old at our first competition, how much he's changed!

14/9/15 - Jack is recovered!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged as I have been away sunning myself in Mallorca while Jack has been enjoying a nice break in the field.  If money were no object I would have ideally preferred to send him back to Tim and Isla Bennett of Bennett equine rehabilitation centre for a top up week on their aqua treadmill, unfortunately at the moment money is a rather large object so this couldn't happen.
Of course Jack managed to injure himself while I was off too but luckily it was nothing serious, he must have managed to get his hind hoof caught on something (heaven knows what!) as it was quite badly cut above the pastern and on his heel.  When I returned from holiday the injury was already few days old and hadn't been spotted by my friend who was keeping an eye on him as it was in a pretty inconspicuous area so had not been cleaned or treated so it was weeping and oozing a bit, I gave it a good clean up and after a couple of days it was looking much better.  He wasn't unsound on it so I wasn't too concerned.
I have had some good rides since our little break and Jack has been behaving and working well both hacking and in the school.  I have schooled a couple of times and approached it in a slightly different way.  Rather than worry about getting him long and low and stretching his back at the start of the session I have simply got him moving with no pressure on his mouth at all.  I have walked trotted and cantered on the buckle end in a light seat so he can move freely forward and encouraged him to open up more and get going regardless of the shape he is making as long as he is going forwards.
This seems to be working and he then picks up much better and works better into the bridle and we have had no discussions about the forward transitions which is a big improvement :)
He has also been hacking well and behaving himself when out on our own.

Back in the autumn of last year i was lucky enough to win a photo shoot with my horse thanks to Becci Harrold Eventing and Chrysallis photography, after having to rearrange the shoot a couple of times due to typical British weather we finally got the shoot done this week and had a lot of fun.  Jack wasn't so keen on having a bath in the colder weather we've been having but he scrubbed up well.  I've not seen the edited photos yet but I'm looking forward to going to the studio in the next couple of weeks to pick out the ones I want to have printed and framed for the wall.  I've never done anything like it before but Chris was great and made me feel at ease and Jack helped out looking pretty and pricking up his ears for the pictures, I will post some pics when I've got them.

Every September our local rotary club puts on a charity ride, our yard owner is heavily involved and we have been a number of times in the past.  I was unsure this year about going as a 12 mile ride seemed like a lot after quite a bit of time off lately, I wasn't sure how fit Jack would be and didn't want to give him a bad experience asking him to do something that was going to be too much for him.  After much deliberating I finally made the decision at 8am yesterday morning to go and do the ride with my friend Claire on her cob Rango, they would not be going flat out as he is not built for speed so we could take it quite easy and she was happy not to jump and take the shorter 9mile route if need be.  So at 9am we were down the yard getting the boys ready!  I was a little nervous but excited too!  To be on the safe side I gave Jack a good spray with the instamag instant calmer to help keep him from getting too excited, it is after all a year since he had done anything like it!  In fact the last  time he went anywhere other than the vets or rehab centre was this ride last year!
He loaded up straight away with no fuss or hesitation and we were on our way, it is only about 10minutes to the ride so we were there in no time and tacking up.  The boys where both calm and behaved while we got sorted despite the busy car park and buzzing atmosphere.
The last time we had done the ride the previous year we had been in a group of 4 and the horses were all quite hyped up but this time they seemed calm as we headed down to the start.  We were joined by 2 others from the yard so we set off as a group of 4 but soon split back up as we were going faster then  they wanted to go.  All was going well and Jack was behaving despite there being lots of other horses in front and behind, that was until a group of 3 behind us decided they would like to over take and canter off in front.  That was too much for poor Jack and he spent a lot of time snorting, stamping his foot and dancing about but bless him he never did anything wrong although it was obvious he was upset and really wanted to go!  we held back until we had got a good gap between ourselves and the ones in front and behind and then had a trot and canter to try to settle Jack back down.  He jogged most of the way round but managed to behave!
When we came to the first real open field we had a good gallop up the hill where there were 2 small xc fences at the top.  I had pretty much decided I wouldn't jump as had no dependable lead horse and no whip (claire def wasn't jumping) and I didn't want to put myself or Jack under any pressure, however to my delight Jack spotted the jumps and just took me to them jumping them beautifully.  I was over the moon, he felt amazing!  After that we didnt look back with lots of canters and gallops and Jack and i jumping all the fences on the way round the ride full of enthusiasm and confidence, we had such a good time and even gave others a lead he was flying and feeling so good :)
We finished the 12 miles still galloping with more in the tank!  It was a wonderful feeling and I was grinning from ear to ear!  Jack is obviously fitter then I realised!
What a great decision it had been to go along, I can now confidently say Jack is physically recovered from his kissing spine surgery!!
For the first time since all his problems started I can actually imagine us back out eventing again next season - woohoo!!!

 

Recovery week 29 - 24/8/15

Wahay another good week under our belt :) this is becoming a habit I could very happily get used to!
Jack is still not forward when we start and takes a bit of time and encouragement to get going and working properly but the ability is there and bad behaviour isn't so I'm not worried at the moment although I am considering whether something like a massage pad on before being ridden to warm his back muscles up might help, I will discuss this with Tamsyn our physio when she comes later this week to give him a check up.
I started the week with our usual lunge in pessoa and I worked him hard getting him to really open up and move forwards hoping to give him the confidence to do the same under saddle.
On the Tuesday the weather was windy and we had no one to hack with, the big field is now out of bounds as the cows have arrived so I decided to tackle a bit of schooling in the ménage for the first time in a couple of months.
I gave him a good warm up in walk doing lots of stretching and long and low and lateral before picking up trot.  Jack had other ideas and felt that he would rather just keep walking thanks very much!  So after a little discussion we were trotting, it was slow and behind the leg but he was going at least!  We did a few more trot walk trot transitions and then he brightened up and started to work properly.  A spook at the bottom of the school resulted in us picking up canter and as he was feeling happy and forwards I sat and allowed the canter to continue.  I then changed the rein and asked for canter the other way and got it without any hesitation :) after that he felt so much better and was giving me some really nice work! I then did some figures of 8 in canter changing leg through trot over x and he was just awesome coming back easily and then picking up the correct lead everytime with no issues and not the slightest hint of hesitation.  Thrilled was an understatement!  I was grinning from ear to ear as I cooled him down :) I wasn't sure what to expect but he surpassed any expectation I had!
On Thursday I took him for a hack and we did the longest solo hack we have done since his operation.  We went all the way to the end of the bridle path and back, about 4 miles in total, mostly trotting and cantering with a bit of walk where the ground was a bit deep and sticky.  Jack tired towards the end but we had a lot of fun and he behaved beautifully all the way even through the roadworks with lots of spooky signs, cones, barriers and tape to look at.  Another good day :)
Friday is always a bit of a rush so we just did the shorter hack that day, again on our own, going solo doesn't seems to be an issue at all now and again we had a lovely relaxed hack finishing with a lovely canter all the way back on the bridle path, Jack is obviously feeling fitter as he was keen and pulling all the way and still bright as a button when we got home.
I had to ride alone again on Saturday and didn't fancy another hack on the same route so with a free paddock I decided to try schooling out in the field to see if he felt any different.  It was very very warm and the ground was pretty hard so I was planning on sticking to walk and trot. Also the paddock that was free is not flat and contains a public foot path so I took things steady.  Jack felt lethargic and his walk was very flat and sluggish so I tried to liven him up a bit which he didn't appreciate, he didn't do anything wrong just stopped dead and refused to move at anything other than the pace he was happy with!  When I insisted he did give me some better work but he was hard work and didn't feel like he wanted to do it much at all so I didn't do too much.
There could be a number of reasons, lower energy levels due to poor grass, the heat, the hard ground, being away from all the other horses etc.
I will have a discussion with Tamsyn about it all when she comes next week and see if she can identify any issues or provide any advice on it.
Hopefully there is nothing too worry about and he certainly doesn't appear to be in pain or unsound.
The issues with his near hind have disappeared completely.
Fingers crossed he is back to feeling on form after a holiday as we go away for 8 days at the end of the week and he will be chilling in the field for the duration which I think will do him good.

Recovery week 28 - 17/8/15

It's been a pretty quiet week for Jack as I have been away on a little family holiday since the early hours of Thursday morning and so I don't have an awful lot to update!
He has been ticking over nicely lately and I'm still really pleased with his progress of late despite the ups and downs. 
The biggest and most pleasing progress is the change in his attitude and confidence which is continuing to build all the time.  I think he is beginning to believe in himself and me again and realise its not going to hurt him anymore.  He is still a little hesitant at first sometimes but with a bit of gentle persuasion and patience he soon begins to work at his full ability.  I'm hoping given more time that early hesitation and uncertainty that he still has when I first start working him will disappear completely.
I worked him on the pessoa on Monday and took him for a nice long hack with my friend Jo on her lovely boy Toby Tuesday before a manic Wednesday which involved having to leave work early to pick up my poorly little boy from nursery whilst attempting to get all the work I needed done and pack the car etc ready for a 5pm depart the next morning!  Poor Jack got a quick glance over in the field and a carrot before I had to dash off - not the nice hack I had planned but, best laid plans and all that!
He has been in the field since then and been kept and eye on by the girls I share the field with, Jo and Claire.  They report he has been fine but slightly mift at not being brought in every day for a bit of attention and food - I hope to rectify that tonight!
We have a slightly more normal week this week so I should be able to work him well before I go away again for our main family holiday at the end of the month.  Before then we have a bit of XC schooling planned at our local course with my friend Jo and Toby to give us a good lead ( as long as the ground is good!) and we are going to box them up and take them to a local all weather gallops for a good blast too.  He is also going to been treated by Tamsyn our fab physio again just before I go too so it will be interesting to see the difference a bit of time off has had on him. 
I have not seen him yet as we didn't get home until almost midnight last night and was running rather late for work this morning so I wont see him until after work tonight.  Hopefully there will be some improvement in the lump under his off hock and he has not managed to damage himself in any other way while I've been away!!
The plan will be to lunge him tonight and see how he is.
I also finally got paid by my insurance co for Jacks stay at Bennetts rehab centre for Hydrotherapy back in March!  They deducted an awful lot more than I was expecting but at least I have been able to clear my vet fees at last and no longer have debts hanging over me!
I am now in the process of putting together a big complaint to E and L for their appalling customer service and processing of my claim.
I do not hold out and awful lot of hope in resolving the issues or getting an sort of compensation although I am confident I am owed some after their catalogue of errors, suffice to say when my renewal comes through I will be changing to an alternative provider - I've already been in touch with a few and decided who I'm changing to.
I will never deal with E and L again and strongly advise against anyone insuring anything with them after the troubles I have had - the slightly cheaper premiums are simply not worth the agony you have to go through when you need to claim!
Obviously there will be a fair bit of him that is not insurable now :(

Recovery week 27 - 10/8/15

We are now just over 6months since Jacks surgery and things are going really well at the moment, there are still good and bad days and lots of ups and downs almost daily but in general Jack is happier, more relaxed and beginning to enjoy himself again.  His ridden work is becoming more consistent and the negative behaviour is occurring less and less. 
There is a big difference which I realised this week - I am enjoying riding again!!! :) I look forward to riding and can't wait to get to the farm everyday to see my horse, this is how it should be and what I have been missing for so long!
Last week I mentioned Jack had had some slight lameness in his off fore but this seems to have just been some bruising and has not reoccurred since - yay!
So just to keep me on my toes I then found a rather alarming lump on the outside of his off hind just below the hock (see piccies below of the off hock on the left with the lump and the near hock on the right to compare although I didn't get the same angle so they don't show it so well!)

It's pretty impressive but it doesn't seem to bother him at all and he is not lame on it.  It's hard and there is no swelling or heat so it's a bit of a mystery what he has done but I'm trying not to worry about it as it's not bothering him at the moment.  Next time the vet is at the yard I'll get them to have a quick look and obviously if it starts to be an issue I'll get it checked out sooner but for now I'm trying not to worry about it (easier said than done after all we've been through!)
We've enjoyed lots of hack both alone and in company this week but taken things slowly due to the hard ground.  

We even got to go for a run with my other half and our little boy!

Behaviour wise Jack has been brilliant, he has been relaxed and calm even hacking alone where he is usually a bit on edge and can be spooky.
I hate to wish for bad weather but could do with a bit of rain to soften the ground up so we can get back out in the jumping field again, I just daren't risk it with the ground so solid at the moment :(
We've not much grass at the moment and I do think his energy levels are suffering a bit, we should have a nice rested paddock to move him and his 2 field companions onto but one of the other liveries has been using it and it's not been rested so we are now struggling a bit.  She has now moved back onto her own paddocks so hopefully in a couple of weeks the grass will have recovered a bit and we can move them over to some better grazing.  Although he is hungry and lacking a bit of energy it is doing his waistline good as keeping him trim is always a battle and I have holiday booked end of this week and again at the end of the month so he is going to be out of work for a couple of weeks!

Recovery week 26 - 3/8/15

I am actually quite excited writing about this week as it has been a brilliant one and just what we both needed after a frustrating few weeks of making little or no progression!
As I blogged last week we finally got all 4 feet off the ground (intentionally) for the first time in approx. 9months.  Since then we've have a great deal of fun :)
We started the week on the Monday with lunging session on the pessoa and Jack was fine if slightly lazy!  While I was there our YO was putting some xc fences out in our big field now the hay has been taken off and we can use this for the next few weeks until the cows arrive to graze on there for the autumn.  So no time like the present we headed out to have a look at them on Tuesday my friend Jo with her lovely sensible horse Toby giving us a lead.  We had a walk round the field and showed them the fences, which were only upto 60cm so nice and easy, and then had a trot and canter round to warm them up. Jack was keen but behaved himself and managed to contain his excitement even when the cows in the next field all ran over to the fence to see what we were doing!  We then trotted over the first fence, which is just a little cross pole to get you going, then circled away coming again and doing fence 1 again followed but the next 2 which are small but solid xc fences.  Jack was jumping brilliantly and Toby was giving us a fantastic confidence giving lead so we carried on and jumped the line of 5 no problem - I was grinning from ear to ear.  Jack has never jumped so well the difference in his technique since his operation is amazing, his jump is so smooth and easy to ride and he was really coming up through his shoulders, he was also wanting to take the fences on and I didn't have to kick him at all I was able to just sit and let the fences come to us.  What a difference!  To finish, as Jack was being so good, I decided to try taking him in the lead to see what happened and was absolutely thrilled when he just jumped through exactly the same full of confidence, full of enthusiasm and really enjoying himself.  I was on cloud 9, I honestly was doubting if we would ever be able to trust each other and enjoy ourselves like that again in recent weeks and I was absolutely blown away with how great it felt.  This was just what we needed to get us back on track after a frustrating time feeling like nothing what getting any better of late.
As is the way with horses having been on such a high on the Tuesday Wednesday brought bad news, Jack was slightly lame :( There was no apparent reason and I couldn't find the cause.  We have just moved them into a different field and there are a lot of stones so I was hoping it was just bruising from standing on a stone and not anything to do with the jumping the day before.
He trotted up sound on the Thursday so I took him for a little hack round the block for 30minutes and he felt fine again.  We had a trot and canter back along the bridle path and he felt sound thank heavens!  It was one of the nicest rides I've had on him on our own, he wasn't spooky or silly at any point and we had a relaxed and fun time.
On the Friday I was planning on going out into the big field again but not jumping as I was on my own.  The field is on a gradient and there is a bank down one side so I was going to go up and down the bank for a bit of 'hill' work (we don't have any real hills round us!) but as I was tacking up my friend Marie arrived to ride and she wanted to join us and do some jumping.  As we had had so much fun on the Tuesday I didn't take much persuading to jump again!  The only thing was this time we would have to be the lead as her mare has only young and has just started jumping so the pressure was on he behave and be a good lead.  The jumps where already really small as one of the other girls had used them earlier so they were ideal for a young horse.  Jack bless him was so good giving her a great lead never hesitating or deviating from the line.  He was growing in confidence and started taking strides out :)
Once Marie was happy with what she had done she put the adjustable fences up for me so I could jump through something a bit bigger.
Jack was a little reluctant to go away from his friend but he didn't do anything wrong he was just a bit reluctant.  Once we got nearer the bottom of the field he perked up and when we turned to the jumps he was flying again he cleared 1 - 4 beautifully seeing a flyer at the 3rd, then all of a sudden between fences 4 and 5 he slammed the anchors on and started to bronc.  I had to slip the reins to stop myself being pulled over his head but this gave him more chance to get his head down and buck!  I managed to stay on and grab the reins back to pull his head up gave him a good few kicks and shouted a few profanities and as quickly as he started he was off again and flew the last fence like nothing had happened!  Little monkey!!  I was still absolutely thrilled with him and I think it was just excitement getting the better of him.
I had to give him the day off on Saturday as I had planned to ride in the evening but unfortunately it threw it down which wasn't forecast and I didn't have time to get him in a dry in time to ride so we had a quick loose school instead.
On the Sunday I got down to the farm early and took him out to the field again on our own and we did what we had planned to do on the Friday using the bank and gradient of the field to help get Jack using his back end more and strengthen his back and quarters.  He was a little hesitant to go down to the bottom of the field out of site of the yard on his own but with plenty of reassurance and calm persistence we got there and then did 20minutes of trotting and cantering up an down the bank and up from the bottom of the field.  He was very good and I could really feel him having to work over his back to power up the hill :)
That afternoon I went over to my best friend Lucy's to ride Jay for this first time since I took him to the show, we set up a little course of 3 jumps in their ménage and jumped him round a few times and he was ace as usual.  I love jumping his little guy he is so honest its really nice to ride something so straight forward!  He's inexperienced but he never says no even when he's not sure and he's great fun.
Lucy got some pictures of us in action, it's a shame I've not got any of me jumping Jack yet.  I will try to get some next time :)

     

Product review - the bobble hat shop

In a very different blog post to my usual Jack updates I was lucky enough to be asked to review a fur bobble riding hat silk for The bobble hat shop.

I was excited to receive a lovely burgundy silk to try out in a variety of riding situations which is of excellent quality and looks fantastic.

If you want to stand out from the crowd then one of these silks is just what you need!

One size fits all and I have a very small head but the silk fitted my size 1 skull cap well. The pom pom is so soft and is attached with a strong popper so it stays in place when you want but can be removed for storing, washing (the hat silk is actually satin and machine washable) or in bad weather.  I imagine a drenching from the British rain would rather spoil the fur.

You have to be careful when removing the Pom Pom not to pull the fur as it does come out and there is the chance of ripping the hat silk too as the popper really is quiet strong.

I have ridden in it in a variety of situations including fast canter/gallops in open fields and xc schooling and there was no interference or movement from the bobble or silk and despite the large size of the fur bobble it is so light you don't know it's there even at speed.
It stayed put in high winds too.

It also still looked good after being a bit battered by leafs and branches from low trees while out hacking.

It does seem to be a bit like marmite and people I've shown it too either love it or hate it!  Personally I love it and it has certainly caused me a lot of attention so far, I've not seen another one like it yet!

I've only had it a couple of days so I don't know how long before the fur begins to look worn but hopefully if looked after it will last well.

It's a high end product made of quality materials and the price reflects this.  I think it would look great out of the cross country course with a colour matched top, you would certainly be easy to spot!  You can even choose a different coloured pom pom to really customise it.

I would say that due to the price it would probably not be an every day hat silk and be better kept for special occasions.

Horses seem to be quite keen to try to eat the Pom Pom so with it being detachable it needs to be kept away from their teeth!

You can see there range of riding hat silks currently available to purchase here http://www.thebobblehat.co.uk/product-category/riding_hat_silks/

Recovery week 25 - 27/7/15

I seems to me that everyday is a mini roller coaster at the moment with as many highs as there is lows.  This is better than all lows but I have to admit to finding the 50/50 ratio a little disappointing, it would be nice to have more highs and less lows!  Hopefully over time that will happen for us.

Back at the start of last week I planned to lunge in the pessoa on the Monday as I usually do, time is limited on a Monday and doesn't usually allow for riding!  Anyway I also had to fit in a dentist appointment which would have been ok if it not for the fact I was left waiting 40minutes for my appointment and then another 15minutes after waiting for my paperwork to be send to the receptionist so all in all for a straight forward check up that usually takes about 5minutes I was in there over an hour!  Thanks to this I was left with no time to do anything with Jack other than check him over so he enjoyed an unplanned day off in the field.  On the Tuesday I decided to take him out into the large back fields which have just been cleared of hay and currently empty.  There are some nice flat areas which you can school on plus a bank to ride up and down and if you go right to the far end of the field you can have a nice long slightly up hill gallop back (great for getting them fit for eventing or just having a good blast!) you can also get down into the river for a bit of water practice too!  Anyway not being quite ready for uphill gallops just yet I decided to just try a bit of schooling in the open and then have a walk round the field and use the back to do a bit of walking up and down hill.  I was really pleased with Jack, he was more forward in the open and actually did what felt like some really nice work, he was much softer to the left than normal and was staying straight and going forward most of the time which was so different to in the ménage.  We only walked and trotted but was happy with the session.  I cooled him off with a walk round the edge of the field and up and down the bank a few times.  The newly located xc jumps were really tempting but we just walked around them, I didn't think our first jump in about 9months should be over solid fences out in the field on our own! 
Wednesday and Thursday were lunging days in the pessoa, Wednesday on the flat and Thursday over raised poles.  Jack was a bit reluctant again but once warmed up and moving lunged well especially over the poles. 
Friday was an exciting day as it was the day we were booked to have a photoshoot with Chrysalis photography which I had won on their facebook competition last autumn.  I booked the afternoon off work and arrived at the yard at 11am to begin the mammoth task of cleaning up Jack!  The weather forecast was awful but so far the rain was holding off so I bathed and brushed and trimmed Jack to a presentable state and then dashed home to get myself ready.  Then the rain came and it didn't stop, Chris the photographer arrived and we sat and waited for a bit but with no sign of the rain stopping we decided to rearrange the shoot for another, hopefully less wet day!  I gave Jack a little loose school and then went home and used the few free hours I now had to catch up on a huge pile of ironing - exciting eh!
I arrived at the yard on Saturday afternoon with the plan I would put a little jump up in the field and see how Jack felt about jumping.  Just as I arrived Claire one of the other liveries pulled up and she had the same idea as me so we carried a couple of poles and barrels out to the field and constructed a tiny cross pole!  We walked them round the field together then split up to warm them up properly, Jack was reluctant to go away from Rango Claire's horse but he didn't do anything wrong just needed a bit more leg where as heading towards him he was much more forward!   As this would be my first time cantering Jack in a few weeks we decided to canter together to encourage Jack to get moving a bit.  The first canter was away from home and nice and sedate with no rushing, racing or silly antics.  We turned for home and picked up canter again but Jack was much more forward this time racing ahead and enjoying himself then all of a sudden he stuck his head down and started broncing on the spot!  This has happened before so luckily I was prepared and I managed to sit up and get his head up to stop him before being deposited in the dirt and was quite glad I had decided to wear my body protector!
At this point I put him on a 20m circle around rango and Claire and cantered him on both leads to get him settled.  He was fine to the right but less than enthusiastic to the left and took a lot of leg to get him going.  It wasn't pretty and he was crooked and in counter bend for most of it but the important thing for me was that he cantered when asked and didn't misbehave which we managed.
So after this it was time to tackle our long awaited first jump since Oct 14.
The jump was tiny, he could have stepped over it if he wanted to!  Claire positioned herself the other side of the jump so Jack would be wanting to go that way back towards his mate, I trotted into it was over we popped no hesitation, no drama, no messing just trot - jump - trot like it was nothing I gave him a massive pat and took him over on the other rein, this time he was more enthusiastic as he now knew we really were jumping he picked up canter himself a few strides out and popped over beautifully.  I was so chuffed with him.  It is a major milestone to get this first jump done and I never expected it to go so well.  I didn't do anymore with him, it's always tempting to push for more but I am very cautious of not doing too much too soon so Claire had a little jump too then we walked down to the river and back to cool them off.
Our yard owner is putting a line of xc fences in down the length of the field next week and hopefully we will get to use them over the coming weeks!
Sunday was appalling weather so Jack ended up with a day off again making sure he got rid of any clean patched left from Fridays bath!
I took some pics of him as he looks now as we are about to start using Spirulina to see if that can help support his topline development.  I will take some more in a few weeks to see if it is having any effect.
I am starting to worry about his continued reluctance to work, he is fine hacking out so I am really hoping it is just a matter of time and not anything more serious.

Recovery week 24 - 20/7/15

This week was all about Jacks follow up physio appointment, 6 weeks ago when he first saw our new physio Tamsyn since coming home from his hydrotherapy rehab at Bennetts he was very sore in his SI and Tamsyn had her work cut out helping him loosen off.  Since then we have done some lunging, lots of hacking and schooled just a couple of time but have been really happy with his progress.  I have just been lunging in the pessoa for the last couple of weeks using lots of ground poles to help get the SI joint loose and moving and strengthen all the supporting muscle and ligaments in an attempt to prevent him getting in the same state again.  I felt the signs looked good as he has not been doing the odd leg lifting with his near hind for a few weeks now and he is not struggling over ground or raised poles.  He was still slightly shorter with the near hind over poles but nothing like he had been before her previous visit where he was hopping over poles rather than stepping through.
On the Monday and Tuesday I lunged him again doing ground poles on the Monday and raised poles on the Tuesday and felt pretty confident Tamsyn would find an improvement from her last visit.
Wednesday morning Tamsyn arrived and we started by having a chat about how he was getting on, I told her about his little incident on the yard where he was spooked by something and had become trapped by his headcollar and panicked so I felt sure he would be sore in his neck/poll area.  I also told her about him being slightly shorter with the near hind over poles.  I showed her him picking that foot out to demonstrate how much better he was with that than the last time.  We then took him out and walked and trotted him in straight lines, turned him on tight circles and backed him up all of which he did fine we did both notice that he was not crossing his off hind under himself as well on a circle as he was his near hind which was slightly odd as I expected it to be his near hind he'd struggle with.
Next Tamsyn gave him a check over and found that he was indeed tight and sore in his poll area, then she checked down is spine and he was fine.  He was also not reacting in the SI area like he had the last time - she had barely been able to touch him last time without him trying to get away, kick or rear!
It was such a huge difference to his previous treatment, this time he just stood trying to groom anything within reach and then fell asleep :)
Tamsyn was really pleased with his progress and commented on how much muscle he has developed in his SI area since her last visit. 
I am to continue doing all the stretches I am currently doing with him and she is booked for another visit in 6 weeks.
Following the treatment he had s couple of days off for everything to settle back down before doing 2 days of lunging then I could ride him again :)
So Thursday he got to chill in the field before having a gentle lunge in the pessoa on Friday and Saturday.  He seemed a little stiff to start with but once loosened off worked well.
Then Sunday I got back on board for the first time in weeks!
I was on my own so I thought it would be best to stick to the school for the first ride in a few weeks just in case!  When I got on Jack there was no reaction so I started by warming up in walk with some walk-halt-walk transitions and then some leg yields down the long side.
After about 20 minutes in walk I tried asking for trot but all that happened was some head throwing!  With a bit of encouragement he did get going and for a few horrible moments he felt unlevel behind and very reluctant to go but once we got moving he did loosen off.  After a few more transitions the trot really improved and I was able to pick the contact up and get him working.  I felt a little disappointed that his ridden work still doesn't seem to be improving much despite him appearing to be much more comfortable.  I am hoping it is all just memory pain affecting his confidence and not more issues somewhere else!  I suppose only time will tell.  I have also change his food and put him onto Top Spec lite balancer and ordered some spirulina to help build his top line.
I will continue to mostly hack and lunge this week and maybe school once a week just to measure if there is any improvement.
Finally I received a picture of Jack as a 3year old from his previous owner today - how much has he changed!

 

Recovery week 23 - 13/7/15

This week has been a bit of a boring one on the Jack front as no riding him while I wait for our physio to return from her holidays and give him a treatment.  While I'm not overly concerned as he still seems able to work well on the lunge and is currently not doing the odd leg lifting thing he has done before with his near hind I have noticed he is slightly shorter on that leg when doing pole work on the lunge and so would like him checked over before riding him again. 
I'm pretty sure he would be ok being hacked out but with all he has been through I really want every ride to be as comfortable and fun for him as possible so he is not having any negative ridden experiences to put him off!  He's had enough pain and discomfort while being ridden before kissing spines where diagnosed and the psychological effects are taking a while to overcome so I really want to make every ride now a nice one for him that he enjoys.
So I have lunged him most days instead in the pessoa and done various different pole exercises on the lunge to get him working his back end and keep things a bit more interesting.  He's lunged well although he has needed quite a bit of encouragement from me to really use himself!  I am wondering whether he needs a bit more energy as he seems quite lethargic at the moment  I'm also considering putting him on spirulina to help build top line, I know lots of other people who have used it during rehab for KS and recommend it.  While I usually shy away from using supplements unless they are absolutely necessary it does seem that a lot of people rave about spirulina for building top line in horses recovering from KS.  I think I'll give it a go, it can't hurt and if it helps build the muscles Jack has struggled with and needs to support his back and strengthen his core then its got to be beneficial.  The cost is not the usual inflated prices of main stream equine supplements as it can just be brought from health food shops/internet.
I will continue with the lunging for the next couple of days before Tamsyn comes on Wednesday to give him a treatment.  I'm really interested to see how he is this time compared to his previous treatment, that was 6 1/2 weeks ago, and I am pretty sure he wont be as bad but only Tamsyn will know for sure so fingers crossed!

When Jack had his surgery back in Feb 15 my best friend asked me if I would like to jump her pony while I didn't have a horse to ride with the aim of taking him to his first show yesterday (12th July) he is only young and Lucy doesn't like jumping but he does so she wants him to get experience and have some fun!  I have been going over to her's every few weeks (it's over an hour away) to jump him and over the months have done different exercises to get him ready.  He had only ever done a few tiny cross poles with her and jumped a few small xc fences with me last summer so he needed a lot of work to be able to tackle a course.  Its not been ideal preparation as I can't get over as often as I'd like but he is keen and genuine and really enjoys his jumping.  He has really gained in confidence with every session and tries so hard, he really wants to please!
The day finally came for his first show and Lucy did a lovely job of cleaning him up, she lead Jay to the show ground as she has no transport but the show ground was within hacking distance.  When they arrived the rain was pouring and we were all soaked before we even started!  The forecast was for it to be dry so I had not even got a coat just my show clothing!  I had to walk the course for the eventer trial in torrential rain!  I entered the 60cm Eventer trial and the 65cm show jumping.  I wanted to keep it small so it was easy for him and nothing too scary so he could enjoy his first experience of a show.  We all had no idea how he would be at a show ground as the only thing he had done similar before was a couple of hunts before Lucy brought him!  He was very well behaved and warmed up leaving his yard companion and not getting too worried there was just the odd whinny but he listened and jumped the warm up fences nicely.  I was waiting to go in with 2 horses before me when I noticed the course was not the same as I had walked!  The girl in front of me said the same and we both had a bit of a panic!  I had commented that the line from 5 - 6 was very strange to some of the others walking the course with me and we all thought the same so they must have changed it after I had walked it although they said they didn't, anyway 5 was now 5 a,b & c on an S shaped curving line - we had not practices trebles let alone on a curving line so this would be interesting, you could ride it straight if you jumped the jumps on the angle but again this was not something we had ever practiced however I knew Jay would be honest and try his best as long as I kept kicking so on a wing and a prayer in we went. There were other things we'd not practiced like water trays and skinnies but I felt we could cope as the size was never going to be an issue this pony has plenty of jump :)
So in we went and I knew I needed to keep up a forward canter to get close to the optimum time.  When I entered the ring I walked him up to the planks at 2 to give him a look as I thought he might be a bit spooky at them, he was unsure so I was glad I'd given him a look before hand.  We set out and he jumped the first 4 beautifully, 1 was a simple spread, 2 the planks then related distance 5 strides to 3 an upright then 4 was a skinny water tray.  I came back to trot for the water tray as the turn was tight and it was pretty narrow so I didn't want to risk a run out.  I then picked up the pace round to 5 but as we made the turn Jay napped towards the collecting ring and we were not on the ideal line, I had wanted to try to jump the 3 angled fences straight but we were too far past the line so we had to jump, turn left , 2 strides, jump, turn right, 2 strides and jump again.  Bless him poor jay was pulled about a bit and I had to ride pretty strong but we got through and were still clear!  6 was a skinny then the next few were quite straight forward 7 a parallel, 8 and upright and 9 a skinny all heading back towards the collecting ring.  The final fence was another skinny water tray right by the entrance to the collecting ring and unfortunately Jay was getting very strong and heading for the exit, I tried to bring him back and turn him but we were going too fast and he ran out through his right shoulder so we had to circle and regroup to jump it which he did.
Both Lucy and I were thrilled with him and couldn't have asked for more.  When the results came through we were 5th just missing out on a rosette which only went to 4th.  Without the run out and circle we would have been very close to the optimum time and 2nd so a great result.

We had a long wait for the show jumping class so we got drinks and took it in turns holding the horses.  The rain finally stopped and it actually became quite nice.  We watched the class before mine and thought the course looked quite easy, nothing too scary or complicated but it was quite slippy and in the end they decided to remove a fence as too many were slipping on the turn to it.

Eventually it came time for us to walk the course and I felt it was going to ride well.  There was a couple of related distances and 1 double but nothing difficult! 

I got my name down quickly so we were 5th to jump as the class was huge!  Jay went in and again I showed him the planks before the bell went.
He started out well but was strong!  1 - 2 was by the entrance and again Jay napped but made the turn and jumped cleanly, 3,4 and 5 were straight forward and he jumped 5 the planks no problem.  6 was the double and he had a tap on the 2nd part but cleared it and then napped a little again towards the collecting ring before going on and jumping the final 2 fences nicely, so we were clear and into the jump off!  We then had another long wait until the 16 horse jump off!  Clearly the course was riding quite easy!  We had qualified 9th to go.  A few before us had poles but the time was around 22 seconds which I thought might be a bit beyond us as the final turn was very tight.  There was only 4 fences and none near the collecting ring so I though we could keep up a good rhythm.  We jumped clear again but were not very competitive at 24 seconds, the final turn was just too tight for Jay and we had to go wider than most to make it.  We finished a very respectable 8th out of 16 and could not have asked for more, Jay was brilliant and really gave it his all, with a stronger bit and a bit more experience he will be competitive as he really wants to please :) some piccies below

   

Recovery week 22 - 6/7/15

Wow another good week with lots of positives and we have now reached 5months post op!

In that time we've done:

6 weeks box rest
2 weeks paddock rest
4 weeks hydrotherapy rehabilitation on an aqua treadmill
1 week lunging
2months of ridden/lunging rehabilitation

Things have not always gone smoothly but I'm really happy with where we are at this stage of his recovery and believe that most of his "issues" are psychological rather than physicological which given time I'm sure will improve.

I've worked really hard to try to do jacks rehab right, I've spent a lot of time and money trying my best to give him the highest possible chance of a full recovery.  I've also done a lot of research along side professional advice from my vets at oakham equine hospital and home farm, Tim at Bennett's rehab centre, my physio tamsyn and saddler to ensure I'm giving him every chance. It can be quite confusing as the more people I talk to the more conflicting advice I seem to get but I always put my vets advice above all others.  Other than having a recurring slight niggle with tightness in his SI which just needs physio treatment to help relieve physically Jack has recovered really well.  His scars have healed and he has no visible signs of the surgery on his spine.  Mentally he still has a bit of a way to go but he is getting better and growing in confidence all the time.  Time is the minds greatest healer and I'm in no hurry so Jack can take as long as he needs to recover.  The only time his issues manifest seems to be in the school so with that in mind I'm consciously not riding in there at the moment!  He is the most resilient little horse with great character and I know with time he will be better than ever so for now I want him to have fun, build and strengthen his core to enable him to work correctly and pain free and just forget about the pain and discomfort he's been in in the past.

Anyway onto what we've been up to!  It's been a scorching week which has starting out with a progressive pessoa session on the Monday, an enjoyable and stress free solo hack on the Tuesday another lunge on the Wednesday late evening when it had cooled a bit over 2poles on opposite sides of the circle, a short lunge on the Thursday due to the horrible weather and a unplanned but lovely loose jump on the Friday.  I had intended to attempt some join up with Jack on the Friday and so I'd built a home made round pen at one end of our ménage with barrels and poles on a curved line across the school and poles across the 2 corners to make it sort of round!  Jack soon put paid to any attempts of joining up by repeatedly jumping out of the pen, then back in, then out again!  As he seemed to rather be enjoying jumping and doing it without being asked I decided to ditch the pen and built a jump instead, I kept it small (around 65cm) as didn't want to push him and I let him choose his pace and how much he did but he happily cantered round on each rein and cleared the jump with ease over and over again :) his little ears were pricked and he seemed to really enjoy it!

Also on Friday I was treated to a cuddle with a very sleepy Jack in his stable!  In 4 years of owning him I have never even seen him lying down in his stable let alone been able to go in the stable and sit with him!  He has always jumped to his feet the moment he's heard the gate opening but today, perhaps because of the heat, he was out for the count snoring away and even when I walked into his stable and stroked him he only lifted his head!  I was able to sit with him for ages and even got a piccie having cuddles with him lying down.... so cute!

He's due a physio appointment but Tamsyn is away so she's not coming until the 15th and unfortunately my usually sensible pony decided to freak at something while tied on the yard and slip. He doesn't seem to have caused himself any serious damage but I am going to air on the side of caution and having had a couple of days off in the field I am just going to lunge him if he is up to it until she's seen him next week.  It wont do him any harm to do a bit more on the pessoa, he works well in it and the use of ground and raised poles will help to strengthen his back and core muscles further.  Hopefully Tamsyn and give him the all clear and I will ride him again after the 15th :)

Recovery week 21 - 29/6/15

I am really pleased that todays blog is another positive one, that's 3 weeks in a row now woop!  It really feels like Jacks confidence is building back up with every ride and lunge and he is actually enjoying his work again :)

The week started well with a lunging session in the pessoa and I decided as things had been going so well it was time to introduce some pole work again.  I put out 3 poles 1 stride apart on a 20m circle and then warmed Jack up in walk, trot and canter before moving on to using the poles, I watched him closely as he walked over the poles to see how he was using his back end, before his last physio treatment he was struggling behind with poles but now there was no sign of any difficulty so we moved on to trot and again he was moving well with no signs of any difficulty or discomfort.  As things were looking good and Jack was happily taking the poles on in a lovely forward rhythm I decided to try canter too and was soo pleased with his attitude and ability, he popped though over and over again adjusting his stride as necessary to meet the poles right without needed any interference from me and kept a lovely forward rhythm throughout.  It was the same on the left rein so before he got tired or made a mistake which could knock his confidence we stopped on a really positive note :)

The next day we had a little hack on our own just through the village and back down the canal path, Jack behaved beautifully and we had a really confidence boosting ride which is just what I wanted!  We had 1 really testing moment which could have spoilt things, as we were enjoying a nice canter back along the canal path home we came to the corner about halfway and were met by 2 other horses cantering along the other way, they were right on top of us so I quickly had to pull Jack up and move onto the path to let them past, they did slow to a trot to pass us and then cantered off again as soon as they had got passed us.  Jack did understandably become a little upset by this and for a few seconds he stopped, snorted and thought about taking off after them!  Luckily for us we were on the home straight and I think the desire to get home helped him decide to keep going in the right direction rather than turn round and give chase!  I was so proud of how he coped with this situation he was really grown up and he trotted the rest of the canal path and home without any issue.  If there was any moment he could have napped and reverted to being a rearing, bucking spinning monster it was this one and he did give it some though but he didn't do it, this feels like a huge accomplishment :)

He had the Wednesday off in the field with his mates.

Thursday I decided to try him in the ménage again, once a week is all I'm doing at the moment, this again was a bit of a test for him as there were tractors and bailing machines in the field next to the ménage bailing haylage into its plastic wrapping!  The noise and sight of the huge bales spinning round and round and the big plastic sheeting peeling off the roll would be enough to make even the most placid horse have a bit of a look!  Jack did find it all a bit much to start with so we kept to a 20m circle at the far end of the ménage at first and slowly worked our way down the ménage until he was going the round the full ménage without reacting too much!  We stuck to walk and trot again and did a few poles in walk as they had been left out but he felt great and the trot work especially was the best it has been in a long time, he felt forward, strong and started to get a bit of spring back in his step :) I was thrilled but just kept to half and hour not wanting to push too far and risk spoiling the great work we'd had.

On the Friday I didn't have enough time to ride so I lunged him in the pessoa again and this time did 4 poles on the circle 1 stride apart.  After a good warm up we did the poles in walk, trot and canter on each rein and the work Jack produced was just brilliant!  He was really taking the poles on stretching and using his back end much better than ever before.  I managed to get some videos and took some stills from these which really show how well he was working over the poles in trot and canter :) what a massive difference!

I am absolutely thrilled with the strides forward we have made lately, Jack seems to be enjoying his work, not restricted by any pain or discomfort and is gaining in confidence every day.

He has had the weekend off in the field as I went to Hickstead for the weekend to see the Derby for the first time, I had an amazing time and am inspired once again by the horses and riders I saw, maybe one day soon Jack will be ready to jump again!

Fingers crossed for another good week with my boy!