Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Improvement

Slowly, but surely Riyah is improving! Those first few days were very scary to me, but Riyah has remained in good spirits, eating and drinking like normal all week. She is "stalled" in the barn aisle, with a small mesh hay net to nibble on all day. The first few days she didn't attempt to move around much at all; she flatly refused to walk on her right hind. On the third day, she began to put her hoof down and by the end of that day she was bearing some weight on it, although she was not walking on it yet. But now she walks and rests on it. She is still lame, but nothing like she was a few days ago. I am incredibly relieved. I think she is going to be OK.

Today was to be her last day on Bute. We'll see how she is in the morning. I have been using the liniment on her hock still, but should be able to discontinue that soon also. Tomorrow is the seventh day of stall rest with three to seven still to go.


Thursday, June 23, 2011

Vet Trip


Today was scary. After a meticulous and lengthy exam of her entire leg, hip, and pelvis, including 11 x-rays of Riyah's right hock, the vet determined that she had no fractures, but rather a soft tissue injury in the hock itself. There is some fluid in the joint, and it is slightly swollen. I was so relieved I was fighting tears. It is still painful for Riyah, but soft tissue injuries are better than fractures most of the time. Dr. Wallberger injected her hock with cortisone and lidocaine, slathered on DMSO/furazone and applied a supportive wrap from her hoof all the way to up above her hock. He also administered an injection of Bute. She will be on stall rest for 10-14 days! I am sad about that, but relieved that he thinks she will be OK eventually. I will keep her on Bute for 5 days, and monitor her closely.

This was a very sudden, mysterious injury and difficult for the vet to diagnose. I really think something must have happened when the bull spooked her yesterday and she took off. I am so grateful it wasn't worse. This afternoon I was cleaning out the hay side of the barn, and Riyah was resting quietly in the aisle-pen. I looked over and she was standing standing square, actually bearing weight on the right hind. It might just have been the lidocaine talking, since it kind of numbs the joint, but she was obviously getting some relief!

I spent the evening with three high school cowboys hauling six tons of hay and stacking it in the barn. Excellent hard workers, all three. They had the 30' flatbed trailer loaded (picking up the bales in the field with me driving) with 200 bales in 45 minutes! They tied it down and we hit the road to come home. Stacking it in the barn was cough-inducing, dust-choking work, but they got it done. I'm glad that chore is taken care of! It's midnight now and I'm so tired I can hardly think!

My oldest daughter is getting married in a week and I am busy with wedding and reception details. My youngest daughter came home from university today and will see the doc tomorrow for testing to solve gall bladder/ulcer issues. I have out of town family coming to stay for the wedding. Without all these extra things happening, I would be depressed about not riding, but at this point I will just be caring for Riyah and praying she makes a quick full recovery. I have fallen in love with this girl and I desperately want her to be OK.


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Lameness


Riyah has suddenly (very suddenly) come up extremely lame on her right hind! I am beside beside myself with worry. She is in obvious pain, and I don't have any idea what happened. I have a vet appointment, but not until nine in the morning!

Riyah and I were playing down at the fairgrounds this morning. I had intended to ride her in the arena, but the footing was heavy mud and hadn't been worked since the rain a few days ago. Instead of riding, I just played some of the Parelli games, basically making her think about what we were doing as opposed to what that big tractor over there was doing and what that noisy train was choo-chooing about, and what the dump truck was doing with the trash can, etc. (There are lots of things to see at the fairgrounds!) I sent Riyah over a couple of logs and up onto the dirt bank thing (see photo)and off again(and even here she is resting her right hind, but she showed no signs of lameness at this point.) . We went around trash cans, gates, poles, the calf shoot, and everything there was to look at or go around.

She was interested and thinking. That is until a bull in one of the pens stood up and spooked her. Riyah actually yanked away from me and took off about 40 yards across the parking lot where she suddenly stopped and realized the bull wasn't actually chasing her. She snorted a few times to test him then she came back to me as I walked toward her. (That might be a little thing, but it was a big thing!) Luckily no train was blowing by and the tractor was on the other side of the stadium. Whew.

Anyway we went back to check out the bulls to let her see they were penned up and ugly and certainly not worth getting excited about. She was mostly fine with that, so we continued our tour of the fairgrounds. Every time she got a little high-headed or too close to me, we stopped and backed up. Lots of backing and sideways stuff today, but nothing she doesn't do all the time these days! And virtually all of it at a walk (except when she took off to get away from the bull--that was at a gallop, but it was short.) About 100 yards from the trailer, she noticed a horse and rider in the arena. Her head went up and she started to let her attention drift so I backed her up to the end of the lead rope and we just camped out for a few minutes till she got back to being more left brained about things. It didn't take long--five minutes, tops, but when we walked off again she was not wanting to bear weight on her right hind. At All. Riyah hobbled to the trailer and managed to get in. It was painful to see. I drove straight home with my heart in my throat.

I was afraid she would fall out of the trailer while unloading, but she managed to stay on her feet. Three feet. I cold hosed her leg for 15 minutes right there. I then palpated the whole leg: hip, stifle, hock, tendons, bones, joints--everything looked OK. No heat, no swelling. Her hoof and pastern looked fine. No scrapes, cuts, etc. I called Tammy to come see if she could see anything. She came right over, but there was nothing obvious, unless possibly the inside heel bulb may be a little tender, but Riyah didn't really flinch--she just picked her foot up a little higher, and not consistently.

I gave her two grams of Bute at 11:30am and coaxed her into the barn. She ate her hay and drank, but didn't try to move around. I checked on her all afternoon. No improvement at all. I couldn't tell that the Bute had made any difference. At 3:30 I called the vet.

Tonight Riyah is still penned in the barn aisle; she is eating hay with Keno nearby keeping her company. She doesn't seem too stressed, but she definitely hurts. She is not walking. Her toe is resting on the ground, but she's not really putting weight on it. I feel so sick.


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Yesterday Riyah and I had another wonderful ride in Dog Valley. I just can't get over the wild flowers this year; the desert is really amazing.

I was in the saddle at six in the evening and rode for an hour and a half. Riyah was great: calm, energetic, and listening. I tried to work on half-halts and transitions. She is so smart and catches on easily. The challenge is keeping her mind thinking when she becomes excited around other horses because when we are alone, she listens well. We walked and trotted as well, and both of us worked up a good sweat. We had one long canter stretch, coming out at the top of the hill to enjoy a fabulous view of the snow-covered mountains in the distance. On the way back to the trailer we took the dirt road and did lots of circles, figure eights, and leg yields.

Today I took Keno around the Ponderosa trail with four friends. (We were celebrating a couple of birthdays.) The trail was pretty slick in places--like trying to climb a hill covered in Crisco! Two steps forward, slide back three! But Keno is valiant and handled himself well, of course. We had to shoo the cows off the trail and watch out for bears, too!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Big Girl Pants

Today Riyah had to put on her Big Girl pants. I headed up the Ponderosa trail at 9:30 this warm sunny morning with two good friends. Once we got across the river (still high and fast!) we had a six mile gorgeous mountain trail loop ahead of us.

We followed the gully up through the canyon toward an old pioneer salt mine. There are several ledgy places, and I had to remind Riyah to keep her mind on her job and watch her feet as she was totally intent on staying directly on my friend's horse, Sam's, tail. (Sam is Judy's horse, and Riyah lived with them for several years, and she really wants to be glued to Sam's butt apparently!) The spring at the salt mine keeps a trickle flowing all summer, but right now it's a small stream with muddy banks. The trail runs right up the middle of this stream for about a hundred yards.

The trail became pretty steep soon after we passed the salt mine and the horses barreled up the mountainside in a hurry. I would have preferred to slow it down a tic as Riyah was a bit anxious making sure she stayed very close to Sam. I will be glad when I am seen through her eyes as the undisputed Leader-At-All-Times.) We kept going, coming out on the high mountain meadow covered in thick green grass. By the time we made it to the cattle tank I was sure Riyah would want to drink; she was pretty sweaty. Although the tank is full and over-flowing, the horses didn't want to drink at all.

We came out to the same Corral Road I posted about the other day, and followed this for a quarter mile or so. As we were approaching the cut-off trail to the Elk Pasture, I sort of off-handedly commented that I wondered what kind of condition that trail was in. (It sees far less traffic than the Ponderosa Trail, although not many people have been up here yet this year, either.) Judy suggested that we check it out. Agreed.

I hadn't been down to the Elk Pasture in several years. This side of the mountain trail was fairly dry, but super-steep in places. I got off to hike at one point as it was so steep I worried about my saddle going over Riyah's withers! (Need to get that crupper!) We dodged over-hanging branches as we followed the very twisty narrow trail down, down, down into the bottom of the canyon where we came out into the greenest, prettiest meadow I have ever seen. It was paradise to the horses with lush green grass, flowers, and lots of streams.

Lots of boggy spots, too, we found as we headed across the meadow to connect to the trail leading back up the other side of the mountain toward the Ponderosa Trail. Some real heavy-duty boot-sucking bogs! No worries, though. Riyah's EasyBoot Gloves never shifted. She went through every stream and bog, sliding and scrambling as needed (!) but her boots were good. That's why I use the Gloves. So I don't have to worry.

Climbing out of the Elk Pasture was a tough job. The trail is straight up--a long, rocky side-hill with an incredible view for those brave enough to take their eyes off the trail to take it in! The horses were all puffing pretty good by the time we came out on top! Riyah just put her head down and dug in. She is strong and getting very fit. Anyone who doesn't like steep terrain better avoid this trail. It was all steep!

We eventually made our way back to the Ponderosa Trail which is pretty easy compared to what we had been through already! We still had some steep trail to cover, but the trail was in pretty good shape with only a couple of downed trees to skirt. Riyah can handle the hills; I've never ridden a smoother down-hill traveller!

In fact, I have to say Riyah can sure handle herself in the mountains, period! We covered some really rough stuff today, and she never said, "No, that's too hard," or "No, I don't want to do that." She was pretty amazing. She has more than doubled her water experience in the last two days, and I can confidently say she "does" water now! Rough rivers, muddy streams, and sticky bogs. We finished the ride by crossing the rushing river and headed back to the trailer. We loaded up and headed home to an extra feeding and a day or two of rest. Riyah probably covered 22-25 mountain miles in the last two days.

I am proud of Riyah's performance these last two days. But I will be happier when we reach the point where she won't stress about getting left behind by another horse. I know this is a leadership/confidence issue, and I am working on this with her. It's really the biggest struggle we are having, and when we get past it, she's going to be incredible!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Riyah On the Ponderosa at Last!


Wow, what a ride! Crystal clear blue skies, and early summer green mountains all around--it was truly spectacular! Gail picked me up and we decided to ride up the Corral Road in the canyon thinking that we would catch a short loop of the Ponderosa trail from the top. That way we could see a little of the trail but we wouldn't have to cross the "raging" river. We would just ride back to the trailer the way we came.

But it was just so gorgeous, and Riyah and Annie were being so good, we decided to be flexible. We rode the four miles UP (up and more up)the Corral Road, adding in a little off-shoot trail for a mile or so, then we caught the Ponderosa trail just beyond the cattle tank and rode all the way down (through the bogs, and muddy Salt Creek) three miles to the river.

The river has gone down some, but it is still very fast and strong. Riyah was too anxious to go first, but she boldly followed Annie across! Woohoo! For as little water practice as she has had, she did great! I was very proud of her. Both horses made it safely across, and Gail and I headed down the paved canyon road four miles to the trailer parked down by the cattle corrals. What we didn't expect was traffic in the form of dump trucks carrying gravel for road repairs! The one driver didn't care about speed limits or horses in the road and the two times he passed us he popped his air brakes as he went by to see if he could cause some excitement. Don't you just love people like that? Anyway, it didn't work as Riyah and Annie were very good about the trucks. Riyah was far more concerned about the "trucks entering highway" sign with two orange flags! I mean, who cares about ten ton trucks rumbling past at high speed when there are two orange flags out to get us?!
It was a great ride--good conditioning for the horses, LOTS of training ops (rocks, bogs, creeks, the big river, noisy trucks, and flagged road signs!), not to mention spectacular mountain views, wildflowers arou
nd every turn, and great company!










The river doesn't look so big here, but it is challenging; it's always rocky, but with the high spring run-off you can't see the rocks. We actually crossed in a fairly wide area and it wasn't too bad. We followed the river as we rode back to the trailer and it's amazing to see the power of the water when it narrows. Definitely a place to be cautious.

Saturday, June 11, 2011




OK, so I know this blog is supposed to be about Riyah, but I couldn't resist posting about the fun ride I had on Keno this morning. We finally got out on the Ponderosa Trail up in the canyon! We're late this year because of the high water in the river. Crossing the raging river to get to the trail promised to be a little tense, and I was not ready to ask Riyah to face that challenge, so Keno was chosen for this mission. He is an excellent trail horse and had no trouble with the high, swift river, but he was absolutely full of it today! Piaffe (i.e. jigging in place!) on the trail might be fun for a little while, but after that I had to tell him to get a grip and settle down. We had a mountain to climb! Parts of the trail are still quite wet from spring run-off. We confidently faced the rushing river, bogs, greasy ledges, the rocky, muddy Salt Creek, and long, steep climbs--all in EasyBoot Gloves (with a couple of fairly worn-out gaiters, no less!) and had NO boot failures at all! Keno has been wearing Gloves since they came out, and absolutely swears by them!

The wildflowers are out; the grass is tall, and it was a gorgeous day to be out on the trail with friends. Riyah will eventually become quite familiar with this territory since it is the best summer trail around for views, beauty, challenge, and conditioning.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Dog Valley in Bloom!



I decided to take Riyah out to Dog Valley this morning instead of going up the canyon since I get a cell signal out there (she had not been ridden in two weeks after all!) I am so glad I did! The wet spring payoff is here at last! Indian paintbrush, larkspur, wild flax, daisies, slippery elm, and lots of others whose names I don't know are blooming everywhere. It is really quite amazing to see the desert so colorful. I know it won't last, but I plan to enjoy it while it's there.

Riyah was quite energetic after hanging out at home while I was gone, and she was definitely looking for something to spook at. Luckily she didn't find much! I would really have to say she behaved herself very well even though she was pretty high-headed. We rode eight miles through some rocky/hard, dry trails, trotting and walking for one and a half hours. Her trot was very animated and bouncy. We spent some time working on transitions, halts, and leg yields. I actually did a lot of leg yielding at the walk and trot to keep her mind focused on me, and she was very responsive. We also worked on standing still for me to mount (since I kept getting off to take pictures!) as well as mounting from the off side. This is a great exercise for me to practice when I'm alone since I'm pretty uncoordinated about it!

Thursday, June 9, 2011


I'm back! After a warm, glorious vacation in sunny Florida I am home and ready to ride! Between beach trips I did actually get to go out on a trail ride with my sister last week. She trailered her two palominos up to Sebastian and we saddled up at the trailhead. I didn't expect to ride while there and hadn't packed riding clothes, so I rode in the one and only pair of jeans I had with me (I never ride in jeans!) and my niece's well-broken in Fatbaby cowboy boots along with a pair of socks I borrowed from my mom. (Thanks, guys---without you I would have been stuck with my swimsuit and flip-flops!) I also rode in her beautiful Western show saddle! Yep, nobody would have recognized me, but I was actually quite comfortable. Sweaty, but comfortable.

It was hot in the palmetto and pine woods. Sandy trails and sunny skies radiated the heat, but coming from our cold, wet spring, I thought it was great. In fact I was having a really fun time until my sister mentioned how nervous the canal we were riding along made her. She reminded me that alligators can move extremely fast when they want to. The fun factor dropped a few million points until we got away from the canal! You have to assume that any body of fresh water in Florida does have alligators.

I was glad to see my horses when I got home last night. They look good and rested and ready to get out and enjoy some serious saddle time! I drove up the canyon this evening to check the river level and the water is way too fast to safely cross on Riyah so we can't get to the Ponderosa trail just yet, so I am going to take her out in the morning to the Corral Road. At least it is in the canyon, but we won't have a raging river to cross!