Oh we gonna work, work, work, work , work

I am a little behind on Bacardi updates, so I am going to do my best to recall the two rides I had last weekend.

First, they were beyond wonderful.

I really needed some uplifting rides, life has been stressing me out and running me into the ground. Why did I think double masters grad school was a good idea?

So Saturday ride first, which was flat work.

It was a mucky gross day, but I rode outside anyways, sorry Supertrainer, don't hate me.

Really, I just wanted a few good videos to take some stills from. Indoor fuzzy pics are getting old.

B was incredibly chill and we got to work right away. The ring was atrocious, so I kept our ride mostly on one end in a 20 meter circle, and theres only so much one can do on said 20m circle before one gets bored.

SIDENOTE, I rode in my bargain FITS breeches I got off ETT for $60, They look like jeans and they're amazing. I wish I could afford MOAR

However, He was working quite well. So well, I didn't really know what to do with him actually. I was like, oh okay, trot transition perfect, forward in trot, tracking up, relaxed, lets try canter, OH OKAY no sass today? Um alright, lets collect? Oh snap that feels great. Ok, flying change here, BAM wow okay then, lets do another, WOW okay B stop blowing my mind, lets trot, Extended trot? okay fine, you're being amazing we can walk.

Fancy trots left

Fancy trots right

Canter right

Canter left

flying change

NBD

So after a few flying changes and some more trot transitions I just sat there and was like welp, I don't know what else to do, he's being perfect. Soooo, lets end it there.

So productive, I know.

So heres a few more pics of our very excellent, uneventful ride. Enjoy. Also don't judge the jump bridle, my dressage bridle/bit are in the leather shop getting fixed.

FAVORITE

Such uphill. Very canter.

Then Sunday was jump day. I think I am going to try and make early Sunday morning rides a thing now and work on jumping that day specifically. It just works out with my schedule and barn slave videographer schedule.

There was a very unique exercise set up, one I had not done in a while. If anyone has every heard of "thread the needle" you know it can bring about feelings of anxiety and claustrophobia.

First, we just dabbled with the outside lines of the exercise. He was a smidgen strong on Sunday, but I wasn't mad about it. This time last year he was refusing fences left and right so...not mad.

But he did about haul my left arm out of its socket. I was sore until Wednesday!

After that we increased the height to the smallest verticals and I ran through the outside lines a few times, then switches it up to angling them. You can't really tell in the video, but I did. He handled the angle jumps easily too, which made me a happy momma. Then, we worked on threading the needle, which means we jump all four jumps, with only about 2 feet of room. its hard to explain...watch the video.

Talk about anxiety. I don't know why but riding that made me so nervous and B was just like um, r u ok? I got this ma.

After that, I added a boxy oxer on the outside line to test his scope a bit without going too crazy. I still have a healthy fear of anything over 3'3 and Supertrainer prefers we don't jump over that while she's in FL anyways. Happy to oblige.

I was pleased with his efforts and also cut that ride short.

He has really been making improvements in leaps and bounds (literally) and it makes me so happy to finally have a horse that shows up to work everyday. He is beginning to feel like home. You know what I mean? Like when you sit in the saddle, you know thats where you're meant to be. Yankee has always felt like that to me, but I am beyond happy that Bacardi is starting to feel the same.

Teamwork

Ride for Olivia

Quick sidenote, I can fully get behind this hashtag. Maybe with this tragedy the eventing community can make some much needed changes...

My two favorite pics of my beloved OTTBs

#RideforOlivia

Spoiled AF

Much has happened in the last few days, and I am struggling to stay afloat with school, work and the horses. I haven't read a single blog in 3 days, so apologies to everyone! I still see your comments and love them to death and can't thank you enough. 

This will be a rather quick, disjointed update so I'm hoping my next few posts won't be all over the place or done with a mobile phone. 

Besides riding, Bacardi got treated to another massage day last Monday (posting a week late, HA). As some of you may know, I am not the biggest fan of voodoo things like Chiro, massage etc...but I will say, trying the massage once, and now twice...I am a believer.

The first session was an overall body work for B. That was about 8 weeks ago and Magic Therapist (MT for short) solidified my spidey sense that his neck/shoulders and hips were routinely sore/problem areas. If you know us from our flailing days, you know he specializes in giraffing and holds literally all tension in his neck/shoulder area. His special talent.

That first session was almost two hours and I loved the dedication she had for my horse. As an upper level dressage rider, she understands what we as clients do with our horses and what would help them the most.

Our second session was a little different. I only had about an hour total to spare from work and MT got to work on B and discovered he was extra tense in his shoulders. As in, very tense. 

She spent a good deal of time working his neck and shoulders with her hands and even added in the laser after his mild protest of just hands. It was curious to watch, because you could clearly see he was enjoying it, and then MT would move to another area and he would be like "OW OW OW ouchhhh!" and then relax after about minute.

MT spent about 30 minutes on just his shoulders and neck before moving to his hind end. Not noticing anything particular about his spine, she moved forward with addressing his hips. Cue surprising small meltdown from Bacardi. Apparently his hips were extra ouchy and he let us know. He did this little buck hop thing with both legs, never actually kicked out, but his tail was a' swishin'.

I always find it interesting how horses can communicate to us handlers what they are feeling with simple flick of their tail or leg raise and we can accordingly adjust our actions.

After about ten minutes, MT moved back to his shoulders to wrap up with some more massage in his lower neck. 

I know it's "just massage" but I truly do feel it helps him. Especially with him being such a tense horse, the bodywork  truly releases some tension and he's a much different horse afterwards. He just feels a little less "stuck" and gives more effort in all he does after a session. Swings through his back and hips more, jumps rounder and nails his changes. I know I feel better after a massage, and I know he does too!

Next up, weekend jumping fun x 2!

We Have Work to Do

So it's now been 2 weeks since Yankee's ordeal began, and it's starting to feel a little bit normal again. Only a little bit.

Forever grateful for the outpouring of concern and well-wishes my big guy has received. He's my OG, and i cannot imagine my life without him in it!

Leaving the hospital

I've been adjusting to the fact that I will soon go from riding one horse exclusively, and boarding (I've gotten spoiled),and will now go to caring for two special case OTTBs and continue riding Bacardi. Let's face it, he's special too, haha! ALL THE OTTBS!

As soon as I got used to the idea of Yankee coming home to our farm, and all that entails, I was sent full body photos of my dearest thoroughbred by his caretaker. 

I staggered. I gasped. I almost cried. 

He looks atrocious at best. 

That topline, I cried

Not only did he drop a significant amount of weight, his coat and hair look scraggly and he has lost all muscle tone. We have a lot of work to do. 

tears

Luckily, his caretaker is actually a vet student who's outside her clinicals and almost a real vet, and very well equipped with brain knowledge on how to assuage his poor body condition. She's been an absolute Saint, tearing him like her own and sending me daily updates and pics. Also, his surgeon conveniently boards at he same facility, so she's able to monitor him as well. Handy.

For now, he's secluded to stall rest and minimal hand walking to graze. He's loving that option, and I've been told he's eating his hay like a champ. All digestive systems seem normal, but he still can't have grain. He's getting about a handful a day right now. 

In addition, he's being treated heavily with gastroguard (bye the rest of my money) so hopefully this repairs whatever ulcers he had. I believe the vet said we need to utilize this treatment for 3 more weeks.

I can't help but feel responsible for all of this. Never in my life have one of my creatures ever look like a neglect case. Of course, he underwent major surgery, but I was not prepared for the end result and having to start from negative square two in our weight gain journey (again). Luckily, Yankee hasn't been the problem child with weight gain, so I am hoping as soon as he's cleared to eat grain, we can fatten him right up! 

I'm used to this Yankee

Post op plans are as follows, directly from his surgeon;

Mar 1-20: stall rest,  light hand walking and grazing
Mar 21-April 20: Small turnout, and extended handwalking (this is when he can potentially travel to Ohio as well)
April 21-May 20: Turnout in pasture allowed
May 21-June 20: Light flatwork can be introduced, increasing steadily
After June 20th if healed and strong, can resume jumping

So this is promising. I've done extensive research, and most horses return to normal work afterwards. I am incredibly nervous about reoccurring episodes of colic and the financial burden of that possibility. He sadly no longer qualifies for insurance, and he is showing a steady pattern of colic becoming a happenstance. Nervous horse mom is nervous.

Overall though, I am eternally grateful to all the horsey gods for keeping him with me. I am excited to smush his face again, as I have missed him! 

Lets get back to this!

I Believe in Magic

I have updates on updates on updates, for real and only so much time and attention to divulge to said updates. Luckily, I got some media this weekend, so I have pics and video! 

I shall give a proper update on the Yankee later this week, with pics, and also a rundown on Bacardi's massage today, with pics! (and video!). ALL THE MEDIA.

Lately though, despite my lack of blogging, I have been riding. Like a bad eventer, I have not technically ridden in my dressage tack since he snapped my new bridle and I got new saddle, but hey, we are riding! I am LOVING this new saddle too, and I feel like we are adjusting well. Bacardi seems to have really taken to it, and feels wonderful in the shoulders. I am having a tough time getting used to all the room I actually have, after riding in a 16 inch for a literal decade, so don't judge my flopping everywhere!

What I really wanted to share though was the absolute magical powers that Liquid Titanium seems to have.

Behold, the Bonnet of Glory.

Its actually very plain, and try to ignore the giraffe ears, but it is real magic. 

Jackie suggested it after hearing testimonials from other people and how they swear by the Fenwick Farm products. I was skeptical of course, obviously, but after BOT products...I decided to "splurge" with my tax return. In addition to purchasing another BOT pad in white for dressage, I also snagged a bonnet from Fenwick. Here's the link if anyone wants to read about it.

When I first used it, I felt like it was a fluke because it was a warm day. He's generally better on warmer days, but they had also been in about a week due to weather and rain, so I wasn't sure.

The real truth came last week when it was freezing, windy and cold and he still was just, "meh, whatevs" about literally everything. Its like an actual calm switch and I am a true believer. For-rills.

So with my little friend, we have had some incredible rides lately. He's been nailing his changes, staying mostly relaxed through up and down transitions and truly showing up to work overtime. No battles of anxiety, no explosions. Its eye opening. 

Love. this.

Here's a little video I put together of our schooling on Sunday. the fun part is in the middle over the jump course, so if you have ADHD with blogger videos like I do, scroll forward to about 30 seconds in. If you dont like how tiny that video is, here the link for the youtube video.

So we took advantage of the nice day after running through the course set up inside a few times. I have a horrendous chest cold and literally suffocate while trying to do anything but sit still, so I was attempting to not die the whole ride.

Speaking of not dying, he slipped after jumping the ravine and somehow scrambled and saved us from eating dirt. Go pony.

He was totally game to splash through the water and jump the ravine and didn't bat an eyeball at them. I was thoroughly impressed with my lil eventer. Here we come USEA BN level (if we can afford it *giggles with anxiety*)

After playing in the water a bit (sorry Supertrainer) trying not to tear up the ground too much, we headed out to the field to do a little flatwork in our jump tack.

Hello uphill canter. We played with this canter and dabbled inlaid changes on the flat, in which he was only sassy once. Love. this. horse.

Overall, fantastic ride that has been our recent norm. Up next is a Yankee update and then the rundown on Bacardi massage therapy. Stay tuned and happy Tuesday!

Stress Level Britney

This has been a rough couple of days, but Yankee is steadily improving! I think I am losing my damn mind when it comes to coordinating his care in MO before he is strong enough to travel home to Ohio. So again, this will be disjointed at best.

I have LOVED seeing the outpouring of support, and again I am sorry I haven't been individually able to respond. 

He is now eating hay freely, still on antibiotics and IV though, and we have yet to know what caused the infection in his bowels. However, he can be released to the rehab farm this week! A whole week early- go Yankee!

Not only did I have to solidify boarding plans, but also transportation, care, grain, hay AND a farrier appt, since he is now almost overdue. I have been in constant contact with over 10 people regarding this mess and I might actually rip my hair out. In addition to MO plans, there's also the preplanning required for his arrival in OH. He will need limited access to pasture for 60 days, so I have to rebuild our paddock fencing (we tore it all down when I moved B and sold Lilly), locate a hay supplier, reorganize my barn/clean it out (it is now full of tractors, lawnmowers and my dad's shit) and get bedding and buckets. Not to mention, carving out time with work to go and get him when he can come home ...

Oh my god. I'm going insane. Please, don't let me shave my hair...

flashback to 2007

Anyways, with all of this going on, I am happy it for a good reason. Yankee is doing well and CAN go home. I always need to take a step back and remember how lucky I am to have him still in my life.

Also, luckily, thanks to an old friend, she saw my last post and gave me the contact information of a person with an OTTB who is unsound to ride, but still young in years and in need of a temporary home. 

How. Freaking. Perfect.

So as of now, Yankee even has a buddy lined up! I really hope everything transitions smoothly, but as we all know, with horses, that may not happen.

Introducing, Yankee's possible buddy and Bacardi's twin, Braggles!

Doesn't he look EXACTLY like B??

I think I have everything in order, but I also think the stress has caused me to fall ill...I have some insane upper respiratory thing going on and I might actually drown in my own mucus.

Bacardi is doing well too, and we've actually been riding. More on that later, but here's a pic of him doing what he does best, looking like a giraffe.

Colic Surgery Rundown

If you're not all caught up, The OG had colic surgery late Friday night and is now slowly recovering. Quite possibly the worst 24 hours of my life, and nothing I want to repeat ever again. The second Yankee went into surgery, I went on Smartpak and played with Bacardi's supps and applied for ColiCare. He was approved and coverage starts next month, and I feel a little relieved with that. We had actually just cancelled Yankee's insurance, so that was a major learning lesson. Unfortunately, he is never eligible again for colic insurance, since he had surgery and now is considered high risk, which is frustrating.

Again, thank you all for the well-wishes! I haven't been able to respond to everyone, but I have read them. Thank you!

So for those of you who've never been in this situation (praying that remains) I'll give a brief rundown of how it unfolded. The worst part was that I am 4 states away from The Precious, and Jackie was calling/texting, the vet was calling me and my mom and we were all trying to stay in the loop and make decisions. That was the worst. Jackie might be the real hero here, since she made the wise decision to take him to the hospital, kept her cool, and essentially stayed awake for 48 hours straight. SAINT.

It all started about 9 AM on Friday when Jackie texted me after receiving a call from her barn that Yankee was down in the field, colicking and she was leaving work to go be by his side. The vet was called and it looked grim. In all my previous bouts of colic (7 with my own horses unfortunately, 4 with Yankee) it was mild and generally cleared up in a a few hours. Its always scary, but this was horrifying. 

I cant even explain the jolting terror coursing through my body when she said that the vet felt torsion of his gut and a displaced spleen. They weren't sure about impaction either, so the vet oiled him, and tried to manually rotate his organs back in place through a rectal exam, and the plan was to wait a few hours and see if he improved. 

My guess is the wild temperature change caused him to begin to colic and then being out all night, he just rolled his insides out of place. Horses, y u so sensitive??

He was worsening by the hour, and Jackie made the snap decision to take him to the hospital. Its about a 3 hour drive, so the sooner the better. I believe it this time it was about 3PM. I was quite literally, panicking. 

This entire time, I was at work, pretending I was't dying of anxiety. I ended up charging my phone 4 times that day, I was on it so much texting back and forth with Jackie and my mother. Also, my heart was racing all day with worry. I have a FitBit and it captured all the drama with my HR monitor; the spikes in HR prove a pretty accurate timeline of all the news I received throughout the day.

Kind of cool? Stress is tracked hahaha

Then, of course, a tire on the trailer blew on the way to the hospital. Fantastic. She told me this and I literally wanted to die. Like, what else? I felt terrible she was having to deal with this and I was completely useless all the way in Ohio. They had to unload him in order to change the tire, and he was a true champion and didn't bat an eyeball. I seriously love that horse. I don't think Bacardi would cooperate like this.

By 6:30 PM my time, they finally arrived at the hospital. Jackie said the vets swarmed immediately, and he just stood there, being poked and prodded all over. She said at one point he had a tube down his nose, his belly was tapped, they were giving a rectal exam and getting an IV on him and he just stood there, lifeless. 

Around 7:15 PM my time, they had him stabilized and called us with updates. Mom and I were at dinner with some people, trying to seem normal, but we got the call and rushed to the bathroom. They were explaining what they found with radiographs, X-rays and other preliminary tests. The belly tap showed elevated levels of white blood cells and fluid in the abdomen. With the X-ray/radiographs, they confirmed his organs were out of place. Usually, the trailer rides jolts the spleen back in place, but it did not. They also explained they were giving him a drug to raise his blood pressure and hopefully get the spleen to fall back into place. I was holding back tears as they ere explaining that in 10% of "older" horses, it causes them to bleed out. She then asked what our monetary cap on euthanization was. At this point, I literally blacked out. I don't remember what was said, or done, I just remember later my mom hugging me and telling me it was going to be okay and she wouldn't let Yankee die. They then said they were going to observe him overnight and call in the AM regarding possibly going in for surgery. It seemed all was settling down. I tried to calm down.

The kicker was the money. I obviously could not afford a $7000-9000 surgery and they wanted the money up front before surgery was even started. My parents stepped up without me even asking,  taking in the burden and footed the bill, for which I am eternally grateful. There are no words to explain, I think everyone knows how harrowing of a decision that could be. My mother especially loves Yankee, and he's been with us for so long. On my own, he most likely would have been put down, which I can't even begin to think about. Sure, he's "just a horse" to outsiders, but Yankee has been my everything for 11 years. Sure, he was 4 states away, but he will always be my heart horse. What kind of person is able to make that decision under such pressure? I sure wasn't.

Anyways, 30 minutes later they call us stating he was down and they wanted to operate. His blood cell count had dropped too low and he was showing even more signs of distress. They needed to operate immediately.

Again, I blacked out. I was oddly calm. Like it wasn't real. I set my fork down and said "I need to go home now", and drove home. I pretty much sat on the couch, paralyzed with fear I didn't feel until I slipped into sleep around 1AM. Mom shook me awake at 2AM letting me know Yankee made it off the table and I finally felt OK to go to bed.

Belly banded

The next morning, we got another call, Jackie sent pictures and we learned a lot of things. Not only did he colic, but he had some sort of bacterial infection, horrendous scarring in his bowels and stomach ulcers. The scarring we were told could have been from anything. Ulcers from the track, previous colic, even parasites. I was dying inside, thinking what a terrible owner I was for letting this happen. How dare I send him away from me. I was the worst. 

I had been sure to always worm him and rotate medications. He has been treated yearly for ulcers, since we know he's susceptible to them after we scoped him as a 5 year old. I was at a loss, I thought I had done everything.

As if reading my mind, the vet said there was no real cause to this episode, this was just side issues they discovered in surgery, which was extensive. He would pull through, just need more maintenance later on.

As for how he was doing, he was weak, hot and tired. It was still 75* there, and he had a full winter coat. Recovery was slow ad he did not want to eat. The entire weekend I spent trying not to wallow in despair. We also didn't know what was going to happen from here.

Recovery time is about 90 days. 30 of that he MUST spend in MO, since he is not fit for travel. They wanted to keep him at the hospital another 2 weeks as well. Obviously, he won't compete this year, at least at Training level, so we needed to think about what was best for Yankee. I advised Jackie he most likely would be coming back to OH and that competing was out of the question. Luckily, she understood, I just felt terrible. She just got him and was so looking forward to the season with him...which is shitty and I feel guilty about.

So for now, he is tentatively coming home in 4 weeks. Thats an 8 hour trailer ride, and it has to be approved by the vet. Until then, on he is cleared to leave the hospital, he will stay at my old barn that I boarded at in college. Everyone there has stepped up and offered to care for him until he is ready to make the trip home, and I am again, so grateful. I've been researching the fuck out of "post-op colic surgery" and most horses recovery fully and to their previous fitness level just fine within 6 months or less. Even at 14, his prognoses is good. The downside, is he will now be even more susceptible to colic, which makes me NEVER want him to leave my sight again. Ever. 

The real truth though is that I cannot afford to show two horses, let alone one now, or even board two. For now, he will be okay at our home when he returns. Actually, it is the perfect place for him. He's familiar with it, I will have eyeballs on him daily and we have small turnout pens in addition to large pasture, which are required for rehab. Finding him a buddy will be tough, but we have 4 weeks.

Eventually, I would like to get him in my trainers lesson program, or lease him to a Young Rider and have him stabled at EME so both my boys are together, but again we will cross that bridge soon enough. 

For now, I need to focus on making our property as horse friendly again as possible (we kind of tore down everything) and finding a hay supplier. 

I am actually kind of excited, despite the financial burden (aka, may not get to show Bacardi this year now), to have my boy back and take him for his rehab rides out back in our fields. Just relieved he is still with us and looking much better today...

This morning, looking perky

I was alarmed at the amount of weight he's lost and how terrible his coat looks, but again, just happy he's here! By the looks of it, he's able to get had walked as well and nibble on some winter grass.

Positive thoughts for a swift recovery my man!