Joint Support Verdict

the actual cutest.

Previously, I mentioned that Tristan has been stiff behind, and that the barn manager mentioned that something called OsPhos, which other horses in the barn were getting, might be a solution for him. I was a bit wary, based on my research in the COTH forums.

Then, I read Austen's excellent overview of her use of Estrone for Guinness's stifles.

That spurred me into action, so I emailed my vet and asked her about both OsPhos and Estrone for Tristan.

Being the sensible and clear-headed person that she is, she said she'd want to take a look at how he's actually moving first before prescribing things. (grumble, grumble, stymied once again by the intelligent professionals around me) She wasn't wild about either of the things I suggested, though.

I tried to describe as best I could how Tristan was traveling, and what my concerns were. I told her that bute hadn't made a huge difference, nor had our Previcox trial. He was actually overall going really well and looking great, but I just wasn't thrilled with the way he was using his hind end, and the stiffness starting off.

A few emails back and forth later and we had a surprisingly simple solution that I was really happy with.

It turns out that many vets often recommend doing a loading dose of Pentosan annually. So in addition to the monthly injections that he's already getting, once a year Tris could do a month of weekly injections.

Pentosan works out to be about $12 a dose, and I already knew it works well for Tristan. SOLD.

So, this past Tuesday, Tristan was due for his monthly injection, and that will be the first of four weeks of regular injections. I re-upped his prescription at Wedgewood to make absolutely sure he had enough (though he still had probably 5 doses left in his old bottle). We'll see where we go, but I'm really optimistic. In the past I've been able to feel pretty clearly when he was getting ready for some help, and the idea that we could get back to a great baseline makes me really optimistic!

Pentosan FTW

Tristan is halfway through the loading dose of Pentosan, and Saturday night was my first chance to get on him in a proper dressage school to test his new stage.

I'm thrilled to report that I noticed a HUGE difference.

Incremental changes are always the hardest to keep an eye on: over the years, Tristan has been ageing, and getting less fluid and supple, even with long warmups and all the exercise I could do for him. His long layup before and after surgery didn't help. It was hard for me to confront the fact that he's ageing: not that I ignored it, but more that I redoubled efforts to help him work through it, not quite acknowledging why.

Saturday night I got on, and we walked at a good clip for 15 minutes on a long rein, our usual. I picked up the reins and started in some basic lateral work to loosen him up behind the saddle: again, usual.

ZOOM.

I put my leg on and I had a fluid, through horse. His leg yield was so fast and so scopey I completely forgot to manage it and I'm afraid it wasn't very pretty, but whooooosh we went across the entire diagonal. Then we went back. Then we zigged and zagged back and forth. Then we did shoulder-in and haunches in and he was stepping waaaaaaaay over in the back.

Then we went for the trot and immediately he felt straight, through, and springy through his hind end. Same thing laterally: zooooooom across the diagonal in the leg-yield, stepping under through shoulder-in and haunches in.

Then canter: up and down instead of that flattish gait we'd been working to improve. Near-immediate hints of softening through the topline to the right.

To say I was ecstatic would be putting it mildly!

Let me be clear: it wasn't a great ride. I was so taken aback by the horse I had underneath me that I flubbed many things. There were suddenly many more things to gather up and different ways to ride. I played a bit with some of our cornering exercises, controlling the outside shoulder, and we made some progress.

But after 35 minutes, I stopped. He had gone farther in his warmup than he has after a full hour in recent weeks. I had been adding leg-yield responsiveness in slowly over the last few weeks, hoping to work up to going across the diagonal, but he just wasn't crossing over sharply enough even after warmup. Saturday? ZOOM. Right away.

We finished by going outside to the outdoor ring and doing our first long lazy trotting and cantering around, nothing much, just to say we were outside. The footing is still a bit deep but nothing terrible, and it is drying out beautifully.

We'll take it a bit slowly, because with such dramatically increased flexibility and range of motion comes  new torque on his muscles. New ways of going, new building that needs to be done.

And we're only halfway through - who knows how much better he'll get?!

The Quiet Still Point

I've had a busy, difficult week. Deadlines are crowding my brain at work. Evenings have been filled arranging details for something that might come to fruition next week - but has been stressful and worrying in the meantime.

Last night, I made it to the barn at 7pm through sheer force of will. I put one foot in front of the other, and I kept going. I told myself I'd just keep going and I'd go as far as I felt comfortable.

I got the grooming box. I pulled off his sheet (thanks, Vermont, I thought we were done with those?). I curried, and curried some more. I used the shedding blade. I chatted with the barn manager on the phone, who had called to update me on a few things.

45 minutes later, the muscle ache in my face and jaw from grinding my teeth had faded. My shoulders had loosened, despite grooming hard. I could breathe easily again.

I never did get to ride, but I didn't need to. I just needed to escape.

The barn manager's news was great - she gave Tristan his second dose of Pentosan on Monday, and used him in a 30 minute beginner walk/trot lesson on Tuesday. She couldn't stop raving about how forward and fluid he'd looked. She said she'd never seen him like that.

I won't be able to ride until Saturday night, but that was awesome news to get. It sounds like the Pentosan is helping. I'll report back if that's the case.

Sunday: drop off the trailer at the mechanic
Monday: saddle fitting

We'll see what next week brings. Just keep swimming.

Mud Season Hack (Again)

Sunday was an hour of road hacking with a friend - up, down, up again. Tristan was jigging his way downhill again so I did get off and handwalk him. I am a bit frustrated by finding the balance between "nice big forward walk home" and "jig jig jig until you trip." Sitting deep and quiet is one thing; hauling on his mouth to no effect is another.

That said: at about the 45 minute mark he gets much better. He eases into it and focuses on the road ahead instead of the barn behind. The solution here might be just to keep him out for longer. Possibly this Sunday we can hit another road and do 45 minutes out, 45 minutes back.

Before then, we need to get back in the ring. I haven't schooled him outside of a lesson in 3 weeks, yikes. I am the worst. I just keep getting to the barn and tacking him up and then being physically unable to set foot in the ring, so we head outside instead.

Monday was shot #2 in his loading doses of Pentosan, and this should start to be the tipping point of feeling better - this week or next. We'll see. Tonight the temperature will drop about 40 degrees and we'll get an inch or two of that-four-letter-word-that-starts-with-s. Then tomorrow spring will arrive for good. (I know I keep saying and thinking that, but eventually it has to be true, right?)

In Just-spring

when the world is mudlicious
and puddlewonderful

says e.e. cummings, to continue the poetry kick.

Two very good rides. Long road hack on Sunday, with some short bits of trot interspersed. We stopped at a big puddle of runoff to see if he would want to take a drink (he loves his puddles), and he took a long drink, then splashed and splashed with his nose, curling his lip in disgust every other splash when water went up his nose. I forgot to turn on the GPS app, but I would estimate we were out for about 60 minutes.

Monday, a lesson. We focused on hind end action: both in flexibility and in push. WT put out poles, and wanted me to capture the feeling of that push and that activity in going all the way around the ring. When I was losing it, and falling into nagging, I was to go back over the polls. It worked really well. He was really motoring around, and sitting back, and lifting through his back.

In between, the focus was on really.going.straight. Lining everything up and not letting him trick me into overbending instead of really stepping through in the shoulder-in and haunches-in.

In all, I felt really good about where I had him. I felt less good about the consistency of it: keeping him there. And I felt not so good about my own position, which was sloppy at times. In particular, heels! I've usually been pretty good about them, but I am doing far too much pointing with my toes and pushing off the balls of my feet.

After the lesson, the barn manager gave Tris his first Pentosan injection. It was a lot - 6ccs - in the muscle, and I had bought a slightly larger gauge of needle than is usual (20). So he definitely felt it, but was very good. I think we'll have to get further into the loading dose before he shows any results, but I'm optimistic.

Rest of the week:
Tuesday, rest
Wednesday, longeing (maybe? work event that might keep me late)
Thursday, hack
Friday, dressage school
Saturday, rest