Stalled for 30 Days

Stalled for 30 days

By Kimberly Rivers

Ozzie, Fri, April 25 - "That was a short walk."

In the stall for 30 days

By order of the vet

Ozzie’s leg today was sore

He’s more upset than me, I bet.

On Wednesday he walked out fine,

Stretching legs, and settling in

But now he’ll be stuck in 12 x 24

And I’ve told him rolling is a sin.

We’re contemplating tranquilizing

Figuring out what’s best.

To keep him quiet, calm and still

That will be the test.

The leg must heal all the way

It must, It must, It must.

I’ve shed some tears from worry

And he’s learning he’s got to trust.

The injury will heal

It will, It will, It will

The bone become whole again

And the team will hit the trail. 

This video was part of our walk on Wednesday, April 23. He walked out great as you can see. But today, Friday, April 25 he was quite sore. A call to the vet with the update resulted in Ozzie being "stalled" for the first 30 days of his 90 days off. 

Ozzie, April 25

Ozzie's injury, Wed. April 23

Defining Endurance

Endurance Defined

“The fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.”

So, it’s not endurance if it’s too easy, right? So the journey of learning endurance is bound to have ups and downs, and when you add the horse element, there is an element of unpredictability that may be the only thing you can predict.  

So here’s the Lost Padres story-

This was the plan: 100 miles, two days, first ride on my own horse, the horse that I own.

ON Friday, got a fabulous trailer ride up to Rancho Santa Margarita with Brooke and her horse Spirit. Unload at the gorgeous green base camp. Ozzie is a great traveler, trained well, and loves travelling with Spirit. He settles right in with this hay bag, evening bucket and drinks like a champ.

entering Rancho Santa Margarita

We tack up and go out on a little pre-ride for the horses to stretch their legs. I’m sure you have all heard of the vicious, horse eating, stump monster. Well, we had an encounter. Spirit was in the lead, and just side stepped a tad off the single track. The mossy valley oak trees in the canyon were swaying to the breeze and Ozzie seemed to think that stump was going to lurch past Spirit and get him. I was distracted. And as I gracefully became separated from the saddle, I just hoped Ozzie wouldn’t take off. Thump. My graceful fall ended in a flat landing in what I hoped was not poison oak. Ozzie stood next to me, staring at me and seemed to say, “How’d you get down there?” And we finish the pre ride.

Ozzie on Friday looking great and ready for the ride

As the sun moves behind the hills, the temperature plummets. The fabulous old school, wool and canvas blanket (or rug as my British friend calls them) given to me by Elizabet fits Ozzie like a glove. And he looks like a rock star in it. We fill out our rider card, enjoy a fabulous dinner by Annie, Juan and crew, enjoy a cool Corona, listen intently to the Duck at the ride meeting and hit the sack early.

And yep, it’s hard to sleep. I’m pretty calm about the ride, but the responsibility of the horse outside tied to the trailer keeps me waking at any odd sound.

I had gotten up around eleven to put the fleece cooler on over the wool blanket cause it had chilled down quite a bit. Then back to sleep.

The whinny of horse wakes me around 1:30. These endurance horses, most of them anyhow, are trained well and used to travelling and living at the trailers all night, camp is usually pretty quiet. So I sit up and look out. I see two horses where one should be. Ozzie has gotten loose and is standing near his new friend Spirit.

I slip on my “night” shoes (easy to put on, no tying for quick exit), put on my sweatshirt, and grab the flashlight and slip out into the gorgeous moonlit night.

Both horses are standing very quietly and seem perfectly content to stand next to each other all night, perhaps a little love affair is brewing. I walk over to Ozzie, in the dark, and pet his neck saying something like “silly horse”, grab his halter and go to lead him back to his spot on the other side of the trailer.  He doesn’t want to go.

Now some horses might hesitate when you start to lead them, not Ozzie. One his things, that needs a little work, and I’m working on, is that he is a tad pushy when you are hand walking him. So this raises a little teeny tiny red flag to me. I tug him, and say “come on,” he takes one step, and then his right front leg is lugged forward. He doesn’t bend it.

My breath stops.

Ok, so it’s pretty dark, I have not used the flashlight cause I can see well enough so far. In my mind I envision a leg, with bones protruding, snapped in one of the horrible ground squirrel holes that are spread across the valley.

I make him walk, one horrible, painful step at a time to his spot. And reattach his lead rope with the brass clip that should not come undone. I close my eyes to the darkness and begin to run my hands slowly, gently down each leg. I expect to feel a hard naked bone protruding at any moment.

Relief when I don’t feel anything.

I can just barely make out two spots on his hoof. Blood. I get out my flashlight and search his legs. On his right front leg I find a curved cut about one inch long, about two inches above his knee. When a friend asks the next morning if he could have been kicked, I immediately know that is the mark of a tip of hoof.

When I find the wound it is still bleeding a little. No visible swelling. I get some water and a sponge. And some antibacterial cleaner and ointment. Clean it, disinfect, put a bit of gauze, and wrap it.

By this time Brooke has woken up and asks, “Is Ozzie ok?”

“No, he’s got a cut on his leg. I’m not riding,” I think I said.

I'm able to sleep a bit. And wake up at dawn with those getting ready to ride. It is a misty morning with a chill in the air.

Saturday am

I go to the ride manager camping site, and ask if the ride vet can come check him out when she gets a chance. Annie will send her over ASAP. The vet had (in addition to the Duck) was the fabulous Alina. Originally from South Africa she spent several years working with race horses at Del Mar and Santa Anita. Ozzie was in excellent hands. 

The vet finished up her duties in the am and then comes over. She also thinks he’s in much more pain than is warranted by the little cut, but his leg flexes fine, and she can’t feel any movement in the bone when she presses pretty hard all around the spot. A friend of mine, before she left on her ride, used a heat gun to search the leg and shoulder on both sides for heat. And that basically confirmed he had no other sore spots, as the only heat was at the spot where we could see the injury.

We discussed options. A weekend visit to Alamo Pintado (high caliber large animal care nearby) as the gold standard for an x-ray right away, Brooke was willing to take me. Or we wrap up the leg good, keep him still at the trailer, and see if there is any improvement by the next morning. I feel comfortable monitoring for 24 hours. The vet told me about a “saucer” fracture. Where a slice of bone may have been partially clipped away from the bone, and a minor surgery is done to cut the slice out, allowing the bone to heal. The prognosis would be good for that. So we started him on antibiotics,  kept his whole leg wrapped, and he got a little walking and grazing  as he improved a bit but mostly had his fill of three kinds of hay, his daily mash and watched the horses come in and out on the rides. He moved a lot better the next morning, still sore to the touch. So we kept him quiet, a little walking and settled in. I feel it was actually good for him to stand tied for those two days. 

all wrapped up and enjoying unending hay

I spent my weekend enjoying the gorgeous spot, helping out at lunch check (the lunch vet check was in camp) and at the finish line, and enjoying a cool margarita mixed by the famous Juan.

The short story is he walked better each day, and after an uneventful trailer ride home I was able to get Dr. Charles Liskey to come out within an hour of arriving. I think invoking the name of the The Duck helped, as in we were at a Duck ride. The x-ray showed a very minor radial fracture – he showed me different views of a short line in the bone. He explained that he expects 100 percent recovery, good as new. We are very lucky, a couple inches lower and his knee would have been toast. Ozzie will get 90 days off (at least), has to live in a smaller stall to keep him from trotting and goofing off to let that bone heal well. And he’ll get as much hand walking as I can do. Here we go, the endurance journey is just beginning and I’m tucking a lot of learning and experiences under my belt for the long ride.

So I'll be getting a bull nose clip on a lead rope and wrapping it with duct tape at all rides in the future. There will be no more escaping, I'm done with that.

By the way, on Monday Ozzie turned 12. Happy Birthday Oz man. 

Camp

Adventures with Ozzie

 So my hubby thought Ozzie was named after Ozzy Osborne, and that is the only Ozzy I could think of, but our fabulous farrier Mr. Ed Spitzer (Thanks Ed for making the trek out and agreeing to take us on!) said “Oh like Ozzie & Harriet,” that made me smile. Yep, that’s it. I did not give him that name, but I think it’s growing on me.

So we’ve had a couple ups and downs, and we are back up again.

In trying to find the ideal spot at Aliso Ranch for Ozzie he was first in a shared paddock with one other gelding. A large quarter horse named Teagan, all seemed find at first. Friendly Ozzie just wanted to share feed bins, and meet all the horses next to him. But then Teagan was keeping him hopping. I don’t mind a horse that keeps his paddock mates moving, that’s why we want them in a big paddock, but Ozzie just couldn’t relax, and was getting chased a bit too much. So we put him in a smaller private stall for a couple days, and then into another paddock.

The paddock was bigger, and with two other geldings, Bo and Cuervo. Cuervo is a golden palomino, Cuervo Gold, and Bo a pretty, large paint. At first all seemed well. Cuervo and Ozzie made fast friends, again Ozzie just wanting to get along with everyone, share food and space and have fun in a herd. Well one evening I got a call from the stable manager that another boarder saw Bo really going after, and he was getting some significant bite marks. So they decided to pull Ozzie out, and apparently had to pen up Bo, just to get him off of Ozzie. Poor Ozzie.

So they put him back in a private stall, and I made it out the next morning.  

Ozzie got bit up pretty bad on his rear end, and two spots under the saddle. Damn, well that will mean several days of no riding. He was pretty tender to the touch, and very sensitive. One bite was visibly swollen. I cleaned them off, put some magic salve on it, and gave him a little Bute. Fabulous Auntie Vicky palpated him, and mentioned that his rear end was pretty tight too. I gave him a light workout to keep him lose and just hoped he healed up pretty fast cause Lost Padres is coming up.

So that was all last week, he had about 6 days of no riding, starting with light workouts and turn out in the fabulous green turn out pastures, progressing to harder workouts to yesterday, when I checked his back. No swelling, no apparent tender spots. So I decided to put the saddle on, and just lunge him a bit and he how he felt.

He felt great, after lunging for a bit, both directions, going easy first, then a bit hard he just kept looking at me, “Aren’t you going to get on?” he seemed to ask. If you read my first post on this blog, you’ll recall my sense about him is that he asks you to get on his back. He can be a bit pushy hand walking (just a tad) and seems hotter when he’s not under saddle. But when you get on him, he settles.

So I got on up, did a pretty hard arena work out, and then decided to stretch our legs on the trail a tad.

Ok, so several weeks ago I tried to go out on our own. Well, we ended up hand walking. At one point, I had to work for about 20 minutes to get him past a certain spot. When I spoke with our trainer afterwards she asked if I had a crop. Yep, I did, and carried it with me this time. Just a light tap on his haunches let him know I really meant that we were heading out, and he went just fine.

So now we are looking down the line at Lost Padres. Registration confirmed. My friend Brooke will be trailering us. Going to be fabulous. So I’m making my packing list, and shopping list. Ozzie’s gained a bit of weight, but we’ve settled in well. He is now able to cruise by a bunch of cows mostly un-fazed, mostly.

I’m planning a longer ride later this week to ensure all the tack is adjusted properly. I’ve adjusted the breast plate numerous times, lowered my stirrups, bought a couple different nylon latigos to adjust my center rigging, and am super excited to put on the new saddle pad. It’s the same kind he was going in before I bought him, and boy is it pretty. Ah the simple joys in life. And so the ride continues. Cheers.

Balance on a shoe string

So I’m settling into horse ownership. There’s a bit of panic involved at times – Oh my God, what am I doing, and then a breath and the thought that it’ll be all right.

I’m not able to ride as much as I want, that’s just the way it is right now. Having to balance family and work with horse time. That is why it was important to me to find the ideal boarding situation, where I would be comfortable having him live – knowing that if anything is amiss folks will be in touch with me, and where he’s got room to cruise.

I don’t want my family think I’ve deserted them all the time to go riding on the weekends, so I’m keeping my riding time during the week, and during school/work hours. I have to make sure I finish my billable work within a certain timeframe so that my riding days are totally free and I spend the day at the ranch. I just have to let my self adjust to that, and then build on it where I can. Balance.

And then the shoestring part. While we live a very comfortable life my intention with my horse activities is that it not put any stress on my husband. So the funds for everything equestrian related - is all me baby. I’m keeping an emergency fund in reserve, for, well true emergencies, and making a list of must haves – and then seeing how it goes. I’m splurging a tad on the boarding (although luckily in Ventura County the going rates are much less than in many parts of Los Angeles County), and have to spread out the other costs. BUT I’m truly overwhelmed by folks who offer and give. I’ve learned in other areas of my life that it’s ok to ask for help, most folks are itching to help others and pay it forward – and in the endurance crowd – and non endurance riders I’ve been blessed to connect with - this tendency is especially apparent.

Thank you to Honor & Dura, Vicky, Charlene, Brooke, Sandee, Sandy, Laura, Imme, Barbara, Tammy, Elizabet, Nina, Juan, Cynthia, Rebecca, Felicia, Larry and I must recognize the value of the crazy world of facebook. (Last names withheld to protect the innocent).

These folks have helped in so many ways, many of them maybe don’t even realize the extent to which they have contributed to me getting back into the saddle and making a dream of mine come true. I have been loaned tack, GIVEN tack, been given keys to tack rooms so I can access all of there STUFF so I don’t have to NEED anything right now. I have offers of rides (trailering), help, folks offering support and help, suggestions – and all given with a kindness to let me figure it out too. I’m the type of person that wants to do it RIGHT, but also wants to figure some things out on my own, I learn best by doing it, feeling it – feeling when it is WRONG, making an adjustment and getting it right.

I’m also persnickety about having the proper equipment – Ozzie goes best right now with a German martingale, helping to teach him to carry his head a tad lower etc. I rode him a few times last week without one -  while I waited for may bank account to take in another deposit or two – and he did fine, but I could tell that we were both a tad off and needed that aid. I searched a bit online for a used one, even though I knew the NEW one I wanted (Trail-rite.com). But then I discovered that the $1 breast collar I had bought at a tack sale before I bought Ozzie was way too big, the center of it fell to between his legs – so I just posted on an endurance tack page on Facebook that I was looking for one, synthetic material, any color, and just in usable condition. That I wanted a CHEAP one basically that would work for now (on my shoe string budget), well low and beyond a fabulous woman from NEW YORK offered to send me hers – and it just happened to be my color – for free, she just said ‘pay it forward’. And the breastplate has some good Tevis mojo on it.

And yes Charlene I need a crupper – it is on my must have list, even though Ozzie and I are not big fans. But that is the next purchase, I want to keep him comfortable with that bit of tack.

Getting to know MY horse: First Bath.

The importance of the first bath will not be lost on those who know me in the BIRTH world. Another hat I wear is of a certified doula, labor support during birth. All you horse people do this with your mares when they are birthing their foal, and just so you know, there is the same thing for humans. Check it out. But anyway, the first bath is important for a bunch of reasons, at least it is to me.

So during the time I was figuring out if I was going to buy Ozzie, I got to ride him a lot. On two endurance rides, and several training rides before that, and due to weather and timing etc. he never got a bath after riding when I was around. Now, this might seem funny but I LOVE giving horses baths, and I LOVE it when they LOVE it. It’s a pet peeve of mine when a horse does NOT like baths. And I have another little quirk; I like horses who like their faces rinsed with the hose.

A lot of the polo ponies I worked with in college would stick their nose forward, ears back – so water wouldn’t get in – open their mouths and let you spray that luscious cool water all over their sweaty heads, in their mouths – aaaah the joy.

So, the weather has been warm the past week. In the 80’s even. Ozzie and I had a nice ride, some work (yes boring – neither of us like the arena very much) in the arena – and we were both a bit sweaty and I had made sure we had time for a bath and to dry off.

Turn on the hose, adjust the pressure and start at the feet. He just stands there, turns his head to look and stands perfectly still, letting the cool water run over his body – dirt and hair coming off, he turns his head back facing front and sort of closes his eyes. I smile. He lets me hose off all of his body parts; nether regions and scrape a lot of lose hair off (that Canadian winter coat is shedding fast in this crazy California “winter”). And then we get to the face. 

I adjust the spray nozzle to lesson the pressure and emit a fine sort of mist. He turns his head and sticks his nose forward, ears back. And I just spray his face. He loves it. Mouth open – letting me spray his face all over, up on his forehead, in his mouth, swishing his tongue around. I add a little pressure for more flow and he just loves it. I use my hand to work on some of the hair around his ears and helping to slick out the thick hair under his jaw.

Then he gets his bucket while he dries in the sun. And I enjoy my sandwich. Both of us munching at the ranch. Happy & Content. And back to the barn today. Happy Days.