Last week we got a chance to get the horses out of the sandbox.
I try my best to get Stanley out of the ring on a semi regular basis. During the summer the pastures are open during the day so I am able to put in more field rides. Since we switched turnout to daytime it’s been tougher, but we had a free Sunday to go find a trail.
We chose to go to the Saratoga Spa State Park, a lovely place right in the heart of Saratoga Springs and about a 15 minute drive from us. The park is quite busy. There are museums, pavilions, mineral springs, the Roosevelt Bath houses, Hall of Springs, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, hiking and biking, actual golf courses disc golf, and so much more. I’ve always been wary about coming here and have never been with the horses because of how stimulating it promises to be.
We went early in the morning. Stanley was notably tense but keeping himself under control. We walked around and looked at everything. As we entered the wooded area he took a giant exhale and started to relax. We traversed bridges without hesitation and walked on a loose rein. We saw dogs, walked through parking lots, walked past a geyser, past pavilions, and saw some disc golfers. They were pretty relaxed through it all. As we passed a playground I noted a family off to the side. Their son had a bike and they brought ramps for him to play on and he was rocking one back and forth. It wasn’t very alarming but I knew Stanley took note too. We had a large pavilion to our left, the family to our right, Tiger and Suzanne were behind us, and we were walking toward a large rock the size of a car. I noticed the building tension in Stanley as we approached the large boulder, so I said out loud “Stanley doesn’t like this scary rock.” In agreement Stanley instantaneously dropped down, dug in, and spun sideways in the most dramatic spook I’ve had on him (He’s normally the “4 on the floor” type”). He spun so fast he came out from under me and I landed on my feet still holding him in nearly the same spot we had been. We were so caught off guard we began to laugh hysterically, how funny that must have looked…and the family off to the right saw the whole ordeal. I took Stanley to the rock and he reached out to lick it. Just like that, Stanley and the rock became friends and I used it for a mounting block.
Before we got finished with our 90 minute walk through the state park we had a short jaunt uphill at a trot. It was so cool to feel Stanley so engaged and forward thinking. I could feel his power as we ascended the hill.
When we returned to the trailer he was quite happy and proud of himself. He was relaxed, eating hay, and smiling relentlessly for treats. For years I’ve wanted to exxplore the park and this was an excellent introduction to it.
The following day presented a different story. We were scheduled to have a dressage lesson. We warmed up as normal and he seemed fine. When our instructor arrived she put a band on me to get me sitting deeper into my seat and more straight up. Stanley transformed quite drastically…his head was high, he was unwilling to relax or move out. His strides were choppy.
We gave him some time to relax. Without the bands he was ok for a minute or two but soon began to run around with choppy strides and high head carriage. What?
We removed the saddle and couldn’t find immediate soreness along the back. Moving down the back we found a single point on the right side in the lumber area but quite a bit off the actual spinal region. Holding it made the whole back ripple and spasm. Yikes.
We tried to see if riding bareback would be any better…unfortunately not.
I put him away with a muscle relaxer, some bute, and his back on track sheet.
So strange that soreness like this came on so acutely.
Tuesday I opted to have an in-hand session with him to loosen him up without much stress on his back. I worked the rest of the week giving him time to chill out.
I had signed up to ride with Beth Baumert on Sunday. Would he be ok to ride with her by then?
When I arrived at the barn after work Saturday night I wanted to check him. The spot wasn’t as easily palpated but he gave me an alarming response when I put his saddle on him. I didn’t girth up. I knew he wasn’t 100% right then and there. I felt his legs. The right hind was a different temperature than the left hind….not hot, not swollen, just warm versus cool. Subtle. He had a temperature of 100.0F…only half a degree off his normal.
It wasn’t sitting well with me to take him to the clinic and it wouldn’t benefit either of us. After a few calls and “sleeping on it” I convinced Suzanne to take my spot and ride Tiger. Same time, we were both going anyway, we simply flip flopped the rider versus guest.
The clinic went incredibly well; Suzanne enjoyed it as much as I knew she would. Beth really loved Tiger which sent me over the moon. They worked on his canter transitions. There were several exercises that I’d love to work on someday once Stanley is feeling better. Compliments are not cheap from Beth but the pair received several.
It was wonderful to see my friends at the host farm and from ENYDCTA and I felt right with our decision.
On Monday we had an appointment with our vet for dental. They each had small sharp points but were overall doing very well since our last appointment. While Dr. Catalino was there I asked her to pull blood for a Lyme titer. She agreed with my assessment that it could be Lyme, ulcers, or a pulled muscled after our trail ride. We’d been giving him omeprazole for a week or so already.
On Tuesday we had an appointment with their chiropractor for adjustments and acupuncture (we keep busy). Although Dr. Navin could find soreness (deep) she didn’t find anything notably wrong. Nothing stood out as something to worry about. Stanley thoroughly enjoyed his acupuncture and had a relaxing nap.
For the rest of the week we followed a vet prescribed round of methocarbamol (muscle relaxers) to give him extra time and help to recover.
The lab tests came back on Friday negative for Lyme. I’m glad we tested and I’m glad we didn’t start treating blindly. I should note that I made an appointment with our saddle fitter but it’s still a month away and the soreness came on so acutely I am less inclined to suspect that being the problem. That said I still needed her to come back out for a reassessment which we will do in December.
Stanley will still be a mystery when this post gets published. He’s had all week to rest while I work long hours and he will be checked over the weekend. We have a special lesson scheduled for Monday and I’m praying all of our work and actions have helped him so that we can take part!
The Green Horseman 
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