Holistic vet visit

Possum had a visit from her holistic vet on Saturday. Dr D. offers a range of unconventional treatments including acupuncture, homeopathy and Chinese herbs. Coming from the US, she says this is normal for vets there, but is quite unusual for NZ at the moment. While I am a scientist by training, some of these therapies are a bit borderline, but I am prepared to give anything a try to make my Possum well.


The first thing she said was that P's spine was out. This doesn't surprise me as this is an ongoing problem for her. And me too, I have discovered recently. I decided I should take better care of myself and so have taken on a chiropracter to "crunch my neck". I have been impressed with the difference in Possum after she has been adjusted and so thought it might make me less cranky too. Turns out having your spine badly aligned can cause all sorts of things from headaches to sleep problems. My neck hasn't been this good for years! Interestingly, both P and I have a tendency to be out at C1 and C2 (top of the neck)- it that related?

So, after some fairly serious crunching and re-checking, the vet moved to other issues. I explained about the hormone thing and my concerns there. Not to worry, says the vet, I can give her some herbs/homeopathy for that! Phew, so no surgery then? She now has Apis (bee venom)



and Lilium tigrinum (tiger lily) to take for the next few weeks and I am to report back after 14 days on her progress. I think she is due to cycle again about the end of the month, so will see then I guess.

I had to look up the potions, and was interested to see that they are both recommended for "female problems". Amongst other things. As a scientific sort, I am a bit skeptical, but then there have been drugs such as Asprin, developed from herbs. It is just the whole dilution question. But there are more things around than what we undestand and I feel better for having done something so I guess that is a positive. And surely the placebo effect can't work on a horse?

The ODE that wasn't

We were entered for the Havelock North Pony Club ODE on Sunday. This has a great little cross country course, complete with a little gully so you aren't just on the flat. This is a bit of a problem in Hawkes Bay, we are a bit short of hills. It is great fun, even if the Pony Club kids sometimes need a smack. There is quite a group of us older ladies who compete at this level and we all cheer each other on and commiserate if necessary.

Anyway I had just put us in the Intro Horse class which is only 65 cm jumps because P is so weird about jumping at the moment. If we could do a half-way decent dressage test, we could be in the prizes as there aren't many that go double clear at this level. Not that I was pot hunting, but it would be a confidence boost to actually complete something this season.

After much soul searching, and stressing, I decided to scratch our entry on the Thursday night. I rode Possum and popped her over some little jumps at home. She is still slightly uneven, not really lame or anything you can put your finger on, just a bit odd especially on the diagonal that has the sticky hock. She seemed to jump happily enough, tanking off and showing enthusiasm and a tendency to stay on her favourite canter leg. But she wasn't picking her hind end up very well and touched a few poles. I had to admit it wouldn't be fair to her to push her round a day at an ODE.

So we scratched and I might get my entry fee back, which would be nice. That can go towards a vet visit. I have made an appointment with our local holistic vet who in addition to the conventional, also offers alternative treatments. She is a real character and her visits are always entertaining if nothing else. I hope she might be able to shed some light on what is going on with my girl...

On the ovary front, no progress as the vet I really need to talk to is on holiday. He is the local expert on reproductive matters and so we will have to wait. I guess her next season will tell us something. Will keep you informed.

I'M ON HOLIIIIDAAAAYYYY!!!!

Yay! Two whole weeks when I don't have to go to work, or turn my work phone on, or think about the place!
Just me and lots of time to do what I want.

4 x 4

Bit stuck for inspiration, so thought I could do a meme.

1 Four places you have ridden a horse

• Waimarama beach, Hawkes Bay
• Tasmania
• Fiji
• Fitzroy beach, New Plymouth
  

2 Four favourite horse books/films

• Black Beauty
• Summer Pony
• Phar Lap
• Tug of War
  

3 Four horses you would like to own

• Charisma
• Alerich
• Theodore O'Connor
  
• Mr Ed

4 Four can't-live- without things

• horses
• chocolate
• coffee
• wine

Sending this out to four of my fellow bloggers:
Beckz
Kate
Andrea
Raven

Back to normal?

Her majesty seemed to be fine last night, all the swelling has gone and she has no other symptoms.

So weird. I am hoping this is just an abberation, a little hormonal blip and nothing more will come of it. But then it might explain why she suddenly stopped wanting to jump. If there is something going on, it would be best to know and figure out where to go from here. The prognosis is not very good, with the recommended treatment to take out the growth/ovary. I can't imagine that is going to be very cheap.

Penny says "I don't feel so good. What is happening???"

Calling the vet on a Sunday

I had quite a day yesterday. First the youngster barged through the gate, knocking me flying and catching himself in the stifle. Then when I got Possum out to do her feet, I noticed her udder was really swollen.

Additionally, she was sweaty all up the back of and between her thighs. Her udder was hot and very firm to the touch, although it didn't seem to be hurting at all. Now, she has been in season, and was out with the boys that morning on quite lush grass. But I couldn't think why this would make her "bag up". She looked quite sorry for herself and I thought she was breathing more rapidly than usual. I grabbed everyone else who was at the paddock and got them to take a look in the hope that someone would have seen this before. No joy there, and so I called the duty vet and asked him to come out.

Fortunately he arrived very quickly - it has just occurred to me that the poor guy was probably happily watching the motor racing at Bathurst. Oh, well, that's the breaks if you are on call, I guess. We trotted her up, and she wasn't lame but he agreed the swelling was unusual. He said he'd only seen it before in maiden mares during their first pregnancy. She was also showing swelling in her hind legs from the fetlocks down.

In the end, he decided that it was probably due to a hormone imbalance. The leg swelling is possibly secondary to the udder swelling, or because she was standing around rather than moving as usual. I couldn't remember how regularly she comes into season (it's not something I keep track of) but I think she is fairly regular. He gave her something IV to reduce the swelling and pain and told me to let him know if it didn't improve or got worse. Then he told me that it might be due to a tumour or cyst on an ovary! I will have to do some research on this, but it might explain why she has suddenly stopped jumping. It would be good to know, even though the thought of such a tumour is giving me the heebie jeebies.

I gave her some Devil's Claw as well, rugged her up and hugged her. She was uncharacteristically soppy and let me! Another sign she is not well.

This morning, the swelling had gone but she still didn't seem herself. I am off to check her now and see how she is. More to follow...

Barefoot trimming (part 1)

Nice feet, eh? Not actually Possum's as I am too embarrassed to post hers at the moment. A small case of long toes and high heels that I am well aware of. Now that it has stopped raining, I might get a chance to trim them.

Actually, now I have another look, they don't look so great. Is that a big hole at the toe? Don't remember seeing that at the time. And the heels look contracted and squished. Sigh...

But this is in introduction to talking about the trimming course. A, the instructor (for want of a better word), started with a brief talk on all the background things. This covered anatomy, physiology, physics, biomechanics, history and other big words. Luckily, there were lots of photos in the presentation - so it was all good! I'm not here to give a lecture on the pros and cons of barefoot trimming, so I'll leave you to your own research - let me know if you are interested and I can post some links.

Anyway, none of my horses that I have owned have had shoes. Not that there's been many of them when it comes down to it. Although I love the sound of shoes on the road, I am starting to think that horses are better off without them. At the level I am riding, there's no need for studs to give grip and we don't do huge miles on rough terrain, so my horses don't need them. All I have learned about the form and function of horses leads me to think they need their feet to be able to expand/contract, to provide shock absorption and feeling.In summary, the way they are designed is the best way for them to stay.

I started doing my own trimming about a year ago, after a not-so-great experience with my former farrier who failed to point out and treat some seedy toe. I knew he was doing just a paddock trim, but was too scared to go down any other road or have a go myself. But after that, I thought I probably couldn't do much worse. I couldn't find a local trimmer but lucked out and got some one-on-one instruction with a well qualified trimmer who was visiting. Most of it has been learning the hard way, and reading lots and meeting some great people on a forum who have helped.

The way A. trims is a bit different to the way I was taught. But as that method is pretty harsh, I am happy to go to a less invasive trim. It is all about balance, looking at the hoof and reassessing as necessary. All the schools agree about the importance of reducing heel height and toe length. When you first see barefoot hooves, they look horribly short, but now I am used to it, shod feet look horrendous!

I now want to get away from the computer, and get my trimming gear out. More to follow!

Whatever the weather....

Gotta love spring in NZ!



Saturday was fine, a bit windy and we had to move inside to avoid sunburn.

Sunday it rained. And rained. And rained.

Monday it was cold and rainy. Cold. It was snowing on the ranges.

Today the rain has stopped and we can see the snow on the hills. There is a piercing cold wind that goes straight through you and feels like it comes directly from Antartica. So the horses are still in their 200 gram fill rugs and have had hay to keep them warm.

The forecast is for a grandaddy frost on Thursday morning - that is one way to reduce the grape harvest for next year!!! I am not looking forward to that.

This is sort of what the ranges look like today.
Only, more snow, and this is supposedly spring!

Saddle fitter (III)

Another visit today from the wonderful Sarah.

I am as slack about doing Miss P's massage as I am about my own physio exercises. Well, maybe not that slack. But work has kept me away for several days last week and meant a disgustingly early start today. I have been struggling with the change to daylight savings time and my neck was out, giving me a three day headache.

I know - excuses, excuses.

Here is Possum, having a lovely sleep after her aromatherapy session. In all the time we have been together, I have never seen her lie down flat out to sleep. Must be something to it after all.

Note the Dratted Pony also having a nap - I thought one of them was supposed to stand guard?

EDITED TO ADD:
So, got a big tick for doing my homework, although have not been as swotty as Bron. However, she works from home and has lots of time to go out and massage. Some of us are stuck in an office 40 hours a week, you know! Anyway, we got some more stretches to do, and can now use a special magical massage tool (aka a tennis ball) for advanced moves. Sarah re-measured P's back and she has filled out especially the big hollow on the near side. It seems amazing to have made such a difference in only a month, so the long term effects should be incredible.

Possum has been having a bit of a holiday with very little riding. She has had a few little hacks and is on Devil's Claw daily and I think she is a bit happier. I am still hopeful that we can get her sorted out and find a suitable dressage saddle. Then we could be back in competiton! I have entered us in the Havelock North PC one day event, but that is only on the 18th, so will see if that is too soon...

Trimming course

This Saturday I will be attending a course on barefoot trimming.

I have been trimming Possum for about a year, but still don't know much. I have had some training and have a great trimmer who I see occasionally. But most of it is up to me.

Interestingly, there is an interest growing here in barefoot. People have been asking me for help - Yikes! I would hate to put anyone wrong and don't think I could be much help as I am still very much a beginner.

But one of the locals has organised a course that will cover anatomy, practical aspects and all the rest. I am really looking forward to it, if only for the opportunity to meet some like-minded horse folk. Hopefully we will have some cadaver legs to trim and dissect. I know that is awful as that is someone's horse lying dead, but at least they did something for the benefit of other horses? I am very brave now, but the reality might be different. It has been a few years *cough*decades* since I did zoology and I might not feel the same now.

I might be able to post some gory photos of the dissection...
Watch this space!

Hairy Horse Show

Our first red ribbon ! Naturally, we won the Hairy Horse Class. No competition!
July 2007

Can't remember what this was for, but same day. Miss P. doesn't look too impressed
(showing is not her thing - too dull by far).

At the beach

I didn't grow up here. Where I come from, the beaches have black iron sand and crashing waves from the constant onshore winds. I remember visiting here when I was a kid and being amazed by the pale "sand"-coloured sand. That colour had never made much sense till then! Sadly I don't have any photos of us riding on the beach in the 'Naki - it was before the days of digital cameras.


The beaches north and south of the cities here are brilliant riding beaches. The closer ones unfortunately are not horse friendly and frankly dangerous with waves that take small children, and pebbles instead of sand. So you need to load up the float and drive about an hour, but then you get this...

Waimarama Beach, in winter (you can tell by the Hairy Horse)

Sometimes there are obstacles - this is actually a log that has been made into a seat. Apologies to the locals, but we just saw a jump!




The long, flat beaches are fabulous for going for a gallop on. This is locally known as "hooning" or "going for a blat". As long as you don't run over the other beach occupants, no-one minds. It pays to watch out for the fishing lines but you are usually pretty safe. If you get out of control you guide your horse into the deep, soft sand or the sea. My little Possum tends to run out of puff before we run out of beach!

I'd love to be there now...