The Attack of the Yearling...

...in a six year old body! I'm pretty sure my horse is really a giant yearling. Or he's teething? He is just mouth-crazy these days! Yesterday he had his weekly massage and he was so naughty. His normally calm and collected therapist was even reaching the point of frustration with him. He just would not stop with the bites. His leadrope, the fence, your coat, my coat, boots, hands, whatever.

I think he's bored. He needs some serious work. It seems like his body is getting back in alignment and we are ready for some work again. We did some light lunging yesterday with 5 walk/trot poles. I had him in a surcingle with pretty loose side reins. He seemed to enjoy the challenge of the trot poles. He's pretty silly to watch going over trot poles because he is just so unsure of where his feet should go. He managed to get it sorted out pretty well yesterday and made it through a couple of times with not even a knock a pole! Which for him is a tiny miracle.

I took him out to the end of the driveway to work on backing up a hill, the only hill we really have to work with. He was not too sure about the whole thing. He was interested in the road and the cars and bicycles speeding by. He definitely did not want to turn his back on them! It took probably ten minutes to get him to stand with his butt to the road. We did a couple of sessions of backing up, no more than about four steps each time.

One think I learned yesterday is that my horse may not officially be clicker trained, but I think he's mint wrapper trained. I used empty mint wrappers in my pocket to encourage him to "do the right thing". When he was spooking at bikes and cars being behind him I scrunched up the wrappers for their great little plastic sound and he instantly relaxed and paid attention to me... I didn't know he'd been eating so many mints!

Back to the Track

Rusty seems to have taken about 10 steps back in training in the past week and a half. When I first brought him home he was so mouthy, always had something in his mouth. His lead rope, my boots, the radio, my shirt, my hair, the cross tie... Basically anything. He didn't bite per say and left not a single mark on me. He was also a maniac to lead around. He'd kick, rear, whirl, buck, run into you, bolt forward, all the tricks in the book and usually in quick sucession. Over the first few months we came to an agreement on the mouthiness, it became minimal and mostly directed at non-human objects that needed some "exploration". His leading progressed to barely ever a problem. We had long walks with the stud chain and a crop and learned that the bucking, rearing, biting, bolting behavior wasn't actually fun.

Fast forward to the last week and a half. The chiropractor was the first night he started back on his past routine. I could not keep his mouth off of me, or the chiro, or the lead rope. What has always been frustrating about his mouthiness is that if you reprimand him he goes into play mode. So say I back him up because he grabbed my coat... he backs up... stands quiet for a second and grabs it again. And he'll do that all night. He loves it. He plays that game in the pasture with his friends. He and one of his barnmates have shredded multiple lead ropes playing tug-of-war games. But as I said earlier we had come to an understanding on this and it wasn't happening anymore.

This weekend's myofascial session wasn't much better. He was trying to grab his therapist all morning. Ramming into her with his full body... It was no good. He slowly relaxed into the session and settled down the mouth and the body. After it was over we let him free to wander around and feel good and loose and relaxed. He walked, trotted, and cantered and it was BEAUTIFUL! I haven't seen him trot like that since I got him. His hocks were moving, his pasterns were moving, his toes weren't dragging. He looked great. He got him self a little wound up and had to be caught before he ran out all the good that had just been done. This is the point where bad behavior number two comes back...

I opened up the gate to lead him to the pasture where his friends were and he absolutely lost it. He bolted past me spun and reared. He reared higher than I have ever seen him rear. Came down and plunged forward. I backed him and growled and did all those regular things. What does he do?! Grabs the lead rope in his mouth. We regained our composure and practiced in and out of the arena a few more times, gradually getting better, until we could finally walk out without a bolt.

I guess the myofascial release must have him feeling pretty darn good. Or at least that's what I'm going to think. It's also the first few days of nice warm sunny weather, so perhaps he's just feeling his oats and sun on his back. I know that at the social service agency I work at the clients get a little wacky when the sun comes out. Maybe it's just the same for a horse? At least I know we've come a long way when he reverts back to these previous naughty behaviors. This week he can go back into some regular work, so I'm looking forward to giving him some solid work. He needs it.

Hip Cracking

Rusty had a visit with the chiropractor tonight. He was not a big fan of the chiro work, but I think he'll be happy with the results. The chiro adjusted his sacrum and pelvis first. They were the most out of place and were probably responsible for most of the stiffness and lack of freedom in the rest of his body. Rusty spent most of the adjusting time trying to figure out how to best bite the chiropractor, preferably grab his jacket and distract him from all the ouchy adjusting.

The chiro said that it is very likely that this will be an isolated problem and we won't be looking at long term need for adjustments. Which made me happy! He also said that it should make a big difference in his attitude and in his overall freedom of movement. I'm not to ride him for a few days and then just some light work after his next myofascial work.

It was pretty incredible how all the little things I had noticed over the past few months all made sense with what was going on with his hips. The bobble in his left hind coming down from canter to trot was due to that right hip being stiff so the left had to compensate. He would only take a 1/2 step with his left front when backing, again due to the right hind not wanting to bear too much weight and lacking flexibility. His giraffe neck and bucking routine, obviously doesn't feel good to move forward with some fool riding you when you can't use your hind end. His sides and girth area being super sensitive were related to the hip thing too! I guess when the hips are out and the horse is compensating by dragging themselves around with their front ends it causes all sorts of crazy sore spots in weird places.

I'm really looking forward to the new "adjusted" Rusty. The chiropractor made good points about how even when we remove the physical pain we're still left with the mental barriers that might provoke similar behaviors. We will have to work to rewire his reactions to gain some positive behaviors.

Trotting!

Our trainer didn't show up today. No email or phone call, so I'm not really sure what happened with that. I had Rusty all warmed up and ready on time for his lesson, after waiting a half hour I decided we might as well do some light work while waiting.

Things did not start off well. He refused to walk. Great. Now we can't walk or trot. I had the whip with me, but refrained from using it and just urged with my seat, legs and voice. It usually took more than a few squeezes before he'd inch forward, but as soon as he did I released all pressures and praised him. We did this for about 20 minutes. A couple of times he began the head up, back up might start bucking routine, but instead of popping him with the whip I just gave him a negative verbal feedback and he'd scoot forward. We started to get some good walk transitions and then out of nowhere he's nice and relaxed, accepting contact, swinging forward and he voluntarily picked up a trot!!! It was fantastic!

At this point I don't really care if I didn't ask for it at that moment, I'm just thrilled that he's offering it. He willingly came back to a walk for a couple of strides and then picked up the trot again. And it was a beautiful trot, he was forward, his neck was relaxed, he was seeking contact and most importantly it was quiet and kind. We did a number of transitions and then took a break for 10 minutes or so. I was hoping the trainer was going to show up, but soon decided to give that up. I was nervous about moving back onto the circle after the break, that he might not be willing to move. He was not excited to move into a walk and we had to have a discussion about that, but after that he was right back where he had been before the break. Willing to trot both directions and relaxed.

I couldn't have asked for a better ride today! In retrospect I'm glad the trainer no showed, it allowed us to take it slow and not push him to a point where he became frustrated. I'm not sure what this breakthrough means. I have a couple of theories... 1. He hates the dressage whip and it should rarely be used. 2. The couple of rides with the back up of a person on the ground allowed him to make positive associations with trotting. 3. His myofacial release has him feeling a little more free through the body. 4. A combination of all of the above! I think this is the more likely answer. It wasn't just one event, but a variety of events that allowed us to make this little breakthrough.

Tiny Victories

We can trot! Well, we can trot if someone stands in the round pen with a lunge whip. Last night we saddled up for a very quick ride and it was our best ride in weeks. We did probably 5 transitions each direction and there was very little threat of bucking and even some downright enthusiasm for trotting! I'm going to try and recreate last night this afternoon in preperation for our lesson on Saturday.

Rusty also has a date with his equine myofacial release therapist on Valentine's Day for some intensive work on his body. She did an intial evaluation of him on Tuesday night. She felt some sore spots, but said his back is in great shape! He had some soreness across his croup and in his neck and shoulders. She also suspected that he had a rib out on one side. The soreness in his rear end could very well be the reason for his mystery lameness over last weekend. On Sunday she wants to observe him under saddle, so we may go for a quick ride so she can see his resistance in real time. Although, I'm holding out hope that he will be somewhat over it by Sunday. That may be a little overly optimistic, but I'm okay with optimism right now.

I'm getting my horse a massage?

Rusty is getting his first massage tonight. Actually, equine myofacial release would be the proper terminology. I'm hoping for some answers to his resistance in moving forward. I worked him on Sunday and was able to identify that he seems to come up short in his left hind leg when transitioning down from the canter to the trot. He remains off for about a quarter to half circle and then appears normal again.

I jumped on him bareback briefly on Sunday to try my voice only, no whip commands to see if he might relax into some nice transitions. No luck, he was absolutely against it. He was threatning to rear and buck and actually completly stopping movement. I had one of my barn friends come into the round pen and pick up the lunge whip, at which point we had beautiful transitions. As soon as he left the round pen Rusty immediatly began his routine of refusing to move. So I asked my new assistant to come back in and pick up the whip again. Again transitions were back to perfect. We worked like this for a couple of transitions, than my assistant dropped the lunge whip and remained in the round pen, transitions remained nice and slowly the assistant left the round pen and we were able to continue with a few more nice transitions walk-trot-walk. So I called it quits. I suppose that's forward progress and I'm aiming to do a couple more of those works this week where there is support given by lunge whip at times to reinforce.

We'll also evaluate his body tonight just to see if there is a pain cause for all of this behavior. I suppose both of these give me a glimmer of hope for now...

Lame or Not?

So one thing will become clear quickly, I worry. Right now I'm worried that all this bucking and dislike of moving forward is coming from a physical ailment. Rusty has seen the chiropractor, he's had his teeth checked, and he's been evaluated for any lameness issues... but I'm still worried that the behavior is linked to something physical.

Today while I was free lunging him in the round pen he seemed off in the rear end, he was really clearly off for about halfway around the pen (this was after appearing fine for 15 minutes) and then just slightly off after that. He bucked a couple of times in a way that just didn't seem normal and had his ears pinned back, which is not usual for free lunging. Of course this led to me not riding him and instead hosing his legs, analyzing his reactions to my poking and prodding and generally being worried. There was no heat anywhere on his legs, no odd swellings, and no reactions from him. I think I'm going to have a different chiropractor out, one that specializes in dressage. I'd like to hear what she thinks about his issues. I've also been thinking more and more about the potential of ulcers causing some of his resistance. And then there is the ever popular, he's just being a brat and we'll have to work through it. Or, hey it could be all of the above. Too bad he can't talk.

The farrier was at the barn today and gave his hooves a thumbs up. He had some cracking issues over the summer and I ended up having to put shoes on him for a few months. His feet are looking great right now, he's been shoeless since September and he's finally lost the racehorse hoof shape.

I'm starting my new side job cleaning stalls at the barn tomorrow. I'll only be doing Sundays. I'm really excited to do it. It helps out my bank account and has the added benefit of some physical exercise. My everyday job includes a lot of sitting behind a computer. I also miss cleaning stalls. Silly, I know. This is the only time in my life where I've been able to have full board and I don't think I could have a horse right now if that weren't the case. But, there is something nice about spending a morning in the barn and I'm looking forward to getting back to that.

Off to the races...

It was freezing cold the morning I stood on the backside at Portland Meadows and scrawled out a check for a big grey thoroughbred. If you minus time off for a bone chip surgery and the fact that he was coming off the track mid season due to my new found ownership, Smokey Rhythm had raced for roughly two seasons. I handed over the check and immediately thought, "What am I doing?". I hadn't even handled a horse in the two years since my mare had died and I was buying a racehorse!!! I didn't even have said racehorse vet checked!!! I was doing everything "wrong".

Just a quick history of myself so you don't think I'm some nut buying a horse off the track with no knowledge. I've been riding horses for 18 years. I primarily focused on dressage during my teenage years. I went off to Oregon State (because they have a horse barn) and was able to be a head instructor in their riding program and assistant farm manager. I worked many summers as a trail guide, ran a horseback program at a summer camp, trained QH's and Paints in basic western skills, held a level 3 CHA certification in western and english, and had owned my mare for 14 years when she died. I had been on a break from horses, but I wasn't coming into this green.

Smokey Rhythm, or Rusty as he likes to be called, arrived at his new barn 3 days later. He was lucky enough to be moving to a beautiful private barn that housed four other OTTB's (off the track thoroughbreds) and one TB yearling filly. He would fill the sixth and final stall. I'll spare you the details of hauling him, except to say I would warn against using a straight load trailer with a horse used to running straight out of a starting gate. It didn't make much sense to him to back out.

He settled in nicely with his new barn mates, quickly proving himself to be very much the lover and not the fighter. We took things very slowly at first. Countless hours were spent on the basics. When you are brushed behind the girth there is no cow kicking allowed. When brought into the grooming bay it is not acceptable to run over your handler to escape the tickle torture of brushes. To bite your human friend is not an act of kindness. And the biggest lesson of all... Rearing, bucking and spinning are not acceptable when being led away from your friends. I remember thinking we were never going to master any of these "simple" lessons, but over time they slowly came to be and now I have a difficult time remembering it ever being all that bad.

Within a few weeks we were onto lunging. The barn possesses a very nice round pen that worked well to control his learning, Rusty took to lunging as if he'd been doing it forever. He must have had pretty solid training in it when he was being broke for the track. He was quickly responding to voice commands and allowing himself to be saddled and bitted up. By late February it felt like it was time to give him a ride.

Our first few rides were beautiful, he has a very soft and kind mouth, his gaits are splendid and he tried very hard to do what he thought I wanted. He was rather dead to the leg, but after urging would move out. We attempted to walk around the property on occasion, but this often ended in temper tantrums and frustration. At some point his willingness in the arena took a turn for the worse and he started to become very difficult to move. No amount of urging with leg, seat or dressage whip seemed to move him forward at an acceptable rate. He also started spooking. At everything. At the trees in the corner of the arena, at the hayfield, at the other horses, at the chickens, at anything. Basically, things started to fall apart. So we took a break.

A few months later I started taking riding lessons. Rusty and I had started up riding again. It was moving along all right, but nothing seemed like it was really clicking for us. The trainer I was working with had an open slot to take a horse on for a month so we agreed that it would be a good chance to get Rusty in and assess what his needs were. He spent the next 45 days in training and we had some really great rides. He seemed to really kick into gear for a few weeks and then toward the end his little oddities started coming up again. Now they seemed even a little worse. He wanted to buck instead of trot. Rear instead of canter and he does this amazing move with his head where he lifts it straight up and then sticks it sideways. We were still getting good work, but he was growing frustrated with something and I didn't know what. His saddle fit well. He'd been vet checked since I bought him, had a visit from a chiropractor who found nothing wrong, and had his teeth checked.

So this brings us to where we are now. He's at home again. We're not able to ride much due to the rainy, dark Oregon winter and the lack of a covered lit area. We have a trainer coming out weekly to give us lessons. We've managed to come to an agreement on the head, he's still trying to figure out the perfect spot, but he's definitely not nearly as much of a giraffe. Our transitions and forward motion are still just not there. During a transition he wants to stick his head straight up, shorten his stride and fight into it potentially even really objecting with a buck. Once we're trotting we might sustain a nice gait for a short amount of time, but will often end up in a battle over continuing forward again resulting in a potential buck or two. A canter is difficult to get to, but once he does it is quite lovely and his whole being is much more relaxed at that gait.

I've found when looking though various stories about OTTB's that people often share wonderful tales of the easy transition off the track and the miraculously easy going nature of their OTTB. I felt the need to share my story. I love Rusty he is a kind, sweet. and comical horse. He's a quick learner, but he's also a challenge with his odd habits and training dilemmas. I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to track our progress, share it with others and hear from anyone who wants to share their questions or tips or stories with me!