And I'm still giggling...

Another great day with Flecky. I left Dan at home this time and met Liz and Swing and Peri and Sunny. We had a blast! They were all hilarious little horses today!

So we started off and hit the woods. We were doing okay and then we hit the creek. Sunny decided he needed some ....persuasion. :) He was a good boy and Liz and I didn't mind hanging out. I told Peri she may have to return the favor with Dan at some point. So... while we were chilling and letting Sunny figure it out on his own, Fleck and Swing started being silly. Well, maybe just Fleck at this point. First there was a bug... and he was all intent on staring it down. Hee hee.. He followed it for about 3 minutes before it buzzed off. Then he decided his head was itchy, so he started rubbing it on this nice patch of moss... and eroded half of the ledge. Dingbat!! He had clumps of dirt wedged in his bridle and around the buckles. Goofy...

 

So then Sunny went over and we carried on. We had a few more creek crossings and Sunny got better each time. Then we went to the lake. Fleck went in a bit deeper than normal and Swing got in too. They were both splashing around. Well, then Sunny walked in. Peri thought he would just go in to his knees, like the others. NOPE!!! Surprise... Sunny just marched right in and went for a swim!! Ha ha... Poor Peri got soaked up to her armpits and Sunny was having a blast. Hee hee... So she got him back on dry land and they hung out up there for a bit while Liz and I tried to get our ponies in deeper.

 So...then Fleck was pawing and splashing and did that thing where he splashes with his nose. And then both Liz and I watched as he quit splashing, looked right at Swing and then aimed a huge splash right at her. It totally smacked her in the face and drenched her. Hee hee... We were both like "Seriously?! Did he just do that'!?". hee hee... Poor Swing. Then Swing decided she was going to take a nice roll... hee hee.. She got down to her knees but Liz was quick and got her back up. Hee hee.... I couldn't stop giggling at this point.

So then we carried on and headed up back to the trailers. We untacked and hosed the ponies off and chatted while the ponies grazed. A GREAT day with GREAT friends.....

Ahhhh, the soul saving of a good ride

It's amazing the difference a few hours can make. This morning... I was despondent again. In that horrible place where I'm considering buying/leasing another horse because I feel like Fleck is always going to hurt. And how fair is it for me to keep asking him? He owes me nothing... He's given me his entire soul and being and... how cruel of me to keep asking. Even if he does feel better.. it doesn't change the fact that he's got arthritis. And sure okay... I overdid it and my feet hurt today but not enough to stop me from doing things.. just enough to notice. So maybe it's only that bad, but... maybe it's not. He can't tell me. So... why should I ask?! So... I was feeling awfully blue...  My sweet loving kind caring healing generous giving horse... and I'm thinking about cheating on him and getting another. I think that would break his heart! So yep.. I was blue.. horribly blue.

And then... it was time to ride. I got the boys loaded up and headed to the beautiful Ashland farm. My friend ended up oversleeping and didn't make it, but maybe it was better that way. It was just me and the boys and the dark skies.. the occasional thunder rumble.. and nature. Oh, and a few tractors. ;) And we had a blast!!!!! They cracked me up. And Fleck felt pretty good!!

He was forward, happy, and even bossy!! Anytime Danny got slightly ahead of my shoulder Flecks head snaked back so quick.. ears pinned and evil grumpy face on. Hee hee... Poor Dan.. he really didn't even deserve. But it made me happy to see Fleck being so bossy!! Because when he was hurting.. he wasn't picking fights with Danny. And that broke my heart a little. So despite poor Danny getting it, I was glad. Fleck was feeling pretty good! We did some trotting and he was sound!!! He was happy to go forward and energetic. And yes... there was a funky step here and there, but it was so intermittent I couldn't really tell if it was typical Fleck stumble or real. Of course holding onto Danny too makes it harder to evaluate.

But yay... Fleck really is a "healing" horse... He took my mood and heart and soul and fixed it today. And yes, it doesn't change the fact that he may have to be retired, but dangit we can still have a blast!

TREATMENT!!!!!

Yay!!!! Flecky got his first IRAP treatment today!!! And his fourth laser treatment. :) Hoping it helps! Two more rounds of IRAP to go!

Optimistic again!

Whooo hoooo!!! I'm allowing myself some optimism. Cause I'm happier that way.

Fleck seems to be in a much better mood and also seems to feel better!! And this is despite not having any true "treatments" yet. His IRAP is still on back order and he just got his first laser session today. In the meantime, he's had time off, light trail rides, and I've increased his glucosamine and pentosan dosing schedule. He also had about 8 days of previcox and is now on BL solution and MSM and Recovery EQ. And he seems happier. Perhaps it's just that we've stopped poking and prodding him and trying to make him lame. ;)

But we've been having fun. We've been trail riding galore. And quite honestly... it's HOT and miserable, so trail riding is just fine. Like... 111 degrees HOT!!! We went to Ashland and went swimming. Well, Fleck went in up to his barrel, but we'll get there. We've got to the horse park and Charlie Elliot. We took Dan along and did some walks with him. So.. yep, we've been having fun.

 

The laser therapy is pretty cool and I'm hoping that between that, the IRAP, and some hard core religious maintenance and management... we'll be back in work soon. If not.. well, those trail rides will still be fun long term.

But again, I'm allowing myself to be highly optimistic. He cantered happily today... not asking when he could stop. I had to stop him! And I sorta think he was partially trying to buck me off :)

Yay!!!! In the words of Jason Mraz.....

When I look into your eyes

It's like watching the night sky

or a beautiful sunrise

Theres so much they hold

just like them old stars

I see that you've come so far

to be right where you are

How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us

even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love

I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space

to do some navigating

I'll be here patiently waiting

to see what you find.

Cause even the stars, they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No I won't give up

                        I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily

I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make.

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use

the tools and gifts we've got, yeah we got a lot at stake.

And in the end, you're still my friend, at least we did intend

for us to work, we didn't break, we didn't burn

We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in

I had to learn what I've got and what I'm not,

And who I am

.

No, I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough.       
I'm giving you all my love, I'm still looking up.
I'm still looking up.
I won't give up, God knows I'm tough enough
I am tough, I am loved,
We've got a lot to learn, we are alive, we are worth it.
God knows we're worth it.
I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough.
I'm giving you all my love, I'm still looking up.
I'm still looking up.

Oh Happy Days

Just wanted to post some of my favorite photos of Flecky....

This was back when I first got him...

 and our first ride together... before I even owned him....

Our one year anniversary and schooling at Diamond M.

Our first Training Level show... schooling show, but we WON IT!!!

Novice AEC's in Illinios. We sucked, but we had a blast!!! Can you tell? :)

Okay... I'll stop now. :)

Listen to your heart

So yeah.... I should have listened to my gut... Fleck was hurting... pretty badly. Although I can try to make myself feel better and say it didn't really start until April. But knowing what I know now.... I think the recent stops at jumps were related, the stopping at jumps he couldn't see what was coming up was related... and perhaps even some of the tripping.

Basically his vet work up showed that he's got "moderate arthritis" in just about every joint in his front limbs. :( To the point where the vets were surprised he moved as well as he did considering his rads. Sigh... My poor poor guy...

He's got a chip in his right knee, bad knees, bad pasterns, bad ringbone, and... who knows what else?! I think we stopped with that, because, quite frankly, that's enough! BUT... the good news is that he's tough, and not every horse reads the book. I've always told owners that x-rays don't always correlate. I've seen plenty of dogs with horrible spondylosis that still run and romp and others with the tiniest bit that can barely move. Because it's an all over kinda thing.. the plan is to lube him up as best as I can and take it by ear. If he's happy, then ride and enjoy him. It will progress.... but it will regardless of whether I retire him now or not. Plus, if I keep him fit he's relying more on muscle than his joints.

So.. the plan is to try IRAP, joint injections as needed, and then continue his maintenance but be a little more obsessive about it and much much pickier with what I do with him. Extreme management. I honestly think he enjoys it too, so as long as he stays happy and forward.. we keep playing. If he starts acting ouchy or stopping or sluggish...we back off.

I'm actually sorta okay with this. It's not a life threatening thing... and even if he has to retire from eventing, he should still be good for dressage, and then trail riding.

So... fingers crossed I can make him happy. He's already feeling better with some minor changes to start, so I'm optimistic. His heart is so big... it makes up for a lot. I just am going to watch him like a hawk and do my damndest to make sure I'm not taking advantage of that big ol' heart of his.

He really truly is such a generous giving horse. I'm lucky to have him!

Summer vacation... still!

Flecky is still enjoying his vacation.... Well, actually, I don't really think he is enjoying it that much. I think he's bored... and pouting.. and feeling left out. So I've been trying to do some fun rides when I can.... until we get him figured out. We did enjoy a lovely ride with our good friends Missy and Zhar and Marty and ...oh, brain fart... the paint! We went smimming :) Well, Zhar and Missy went swimming. Oh, Toby!!! The paint. Toby and Fleck went in but didn't swim. They did enjoy splashing like crazy though. It was super fun and just what Fleck and I both needed to help mend our bored little hearts :)

 

So... We also saw the animal commmunicator during his vacation.  I won't get too much into the details about the animal communicator because... well, it's personal. And despite that fact that I am pretty sure this blog is only read by me... its' personal. But basically she told me what I already know/knew.

That Fleck is an amazing, wonderful, generous horse. Basically she said that I was incredibly lucky to have him because he was a healer. And you don't find many horses like that. He WANTS to help heal me and make me happy. But of course I knew that. She did say that he likes my laugh and he adores me. He wants me and only me to ride him and it is favorite thing to have me riding him. The bad news is that she said he was hurting but that he was afraid I'd stop riding and get rid of him if he didn't keep going, so he didn't want me to know. So yep... I've pretty much always said (minus my small bout of loss of faith... for which I feel HORRIBLE about!) that he does whatever I ask, or at least tries. No matter what... I really am a lucky girl! But again, I already knew that. :)

So.. he's still on vacation and he has an appointment to be worked up next week, then his appointment with Stan, then his appointment with Kathryn. I'm doing everything I can to make him happy and comfy again so we can keep riding and having fun together. And I made darn sure I told him that he was stuck with me forever and there was no way he'll ever be replaced. Even if all we do is hang out or just trail ride. But I'm hoping that's not the case!

I did hop on him yesterday because he seemed sad and grumpy since he hadn't been worked in a bit and he's got an appt Wed and I sorta wanted to make sure he was a bit ouchy. Because I'd hate for him to feel better and not be able to find what was bothering him! So we did about 40 minutes of hacking. Nothing too crazy, just walk/trot/canter. He was better than before but still a bit behind my leg. So then I decided to try him without my saddle. I took it off and just about then the deer spooked him. So, I got back on without the saddle but he was still on edge from the deer and a bit spooky. Great.. I couldn't tell if he was happier and more forward because of the deer or the lack of saddle. But he was definitely more in front of my leg and seemed happier.

I'm going to feel way stupid if it's the darn jump saddle... after all the stress, tears, frustrations, etc...  It was checked in January though! And deemed A-OK. Although afterwards I did start to think it was getting to low on him while I was riding... and then it sorta seemed to fit with all his symptoms... I just didn't put two and two together. BUT.. maybe it's more than that... I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it would almost be awesome if that was the main problem... I can fix that! Yes, I love that saddle, but I'd much rather replace it then worry about him and how to keep him comfy.

So... we'll see. I plan to ride bareback the next few rides and see what happens. And then he'll have his week of Spa treatment... or something.. ;) Vet, Vet, Farrier, Chiro, bodyworker. :)

Fingers crossed I can make him happy again!