Horse Women Unite!!!

my beautiful boy.  rode all thru chemo. contralat mx 5 wks ago and just got permission to ride and he's lame r front. going on 3 wks but getting better, 3 legged lame left front over spring, thought it was abcess but never popped. vet's coming out for xrays on thurs to rule out navicular. But another vet told me shifting lameness, rule out lyme, which is all over maryland where we are. so I'll get him checked for that. can't believe it could be navicular, lyme making more sense to me. he doesn't have navicular confromation and has always been so sound. I want to cry

tried to copy his pic from photobucket but it vanished when I submitted post.

Hello all!

 I'm so happy to find this thread!  I had looked for a horsey thread way back, but didn't find one.  Now I've added y'all to my faves.  I haven't been on BCO for a little while with the holidays and all.

I started riding when I was 5. Rode Western then Saddle Seat, Quarter Horses, Arabs, Saddlebreds, Morgans.  Rode on the Purdue Equestrian team in college and learned to ride hunter/jumpers, some limited fox hunting - TB's, more Quarter Horses, Warmbloods.  My horse now is a show hunter, a 9 YO German Warmblood named Thornie.  He has an Owen Wilson personality, very social and easy going.  We mostly go to A/AA shows in the TX area.  My guy doesn't spook easily and is very kind with lots of personality, although my trainer and I joke that he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that's not always a bad thing.  I have ridden him through recovery from a radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer in 2008 to recovery from a BMX in 1/2011, and chemo last spring.  He is a love and has been such a good boy through most of it!  Anyway, glad to find you all, horselovers, and happy 2012 - may it find you healthy and horsing around!

How long did you wait till you started, say, brushing, after a BMX with sentinel node removal?  Thats how I get to spend my day tomorrow.  Not happy about not being able to do barn chores etc!!!

Funny you mention good riding as good therapy Cheryl.  I unfortunately do not have my own horse (although I do know folks who do nearby) but just recently learned about a facility called Great Strides here in MD that offers therapy along with riding/bonding with horses!   After my recent scare (got the NED news today, hurray!) I am planning on calling them TOMORROW to see when I can get there.  Winter is not the best time around here for riding, but even just nuzzling, petting, grooming would make me feel good right now.

Take care all,
Sharon

Pup, good news for you!! Yea!! I was following your posts to see how everything turned out.  Horses can be very calming, any animal really.  I am in process of trying to find one. Unfortunately since I had to send my last horse to a rescue farm I lost money and have to start over. I am hoping to find a lease to own option with the right horse.  I hope you can go to the stable and ride and groom and bond, horses are wonderful animals!!

Oh and if come on here and just ramble it is because I am shamelessly bumping this thread to the top again!

SuperSally - so glad you got through that with just bruises! 

I try to keep all of my spills from my dh.  He would just worry and tell me to sell my horse and that it is just too dangerous to ride her.  So mum is the word unless he actually sees the spill like he did in October 2009 when I broke my arm in 3 places at the shoulder joint.  Yah....had to listen to him gripe for 3 hours straight about how dangerous the sport is.  I told him that he needed to quit mountain biking because that was also dangerous.  He shut up really fast.

The weather has been beautiful for us here - so unusual for winter time.  I rode yesterday and my horse was so relaxed, so gentle, and just a sweetheart.  The best thing I could have done for both of us was to move her back to the place she was at previously.

Of course she wants to be the alpha mare and there is some other mare that is pretty rude to her and yes..I feel bad for her but then again she has to learn to submit.  The other horse constantly runs her off if she tries to sweeten up to some other horse.  There are 2 foals in the turn out with her - one is 7 months old and the other is 8 months old.  Then there are 3 grown up horses that are also in the same turnout.

Jazzy trusts me to never put her in a dangerous position.  In other words when I bring her in from turn out and there are horses all around her I will just put the lead rope around her neck and lead her but she knows I will let go of her if she needs to turn around and defend herself.  That mean horse tried to bite her as I was leading Jazzy to the gate so I turned her loose and Jazzy was able to run free and away.  However, all I have to do then is walk up to her a 2nd time and she will always let me catch her.  I know that seems odd to do this but rather let her get free and get away from the mean horse versus them ending up having a kicking match at the gate. 

Hi everyone!  I was gone for my last week of the animal chiropractic course.  (Total of 5 modules over the past 5 months.)  Glad I don't have to fly up to Milwaukee anymore, especially in this cold!  I was hoping to get on BCO while I was up there but I was just too busy.

supersally, glad you're ok!  I can't remember my first fall following my surgery.  Oh wait, now I do; actually, I think I made it a LONG time (well, 10 months, but that's a long time for me, considering I was eventing and was not in great shape, and I seem to fall off more than I ride....)  I was wearing my safety vest so my foob was fine. ;-)  You could consider wearing a vest while you're jumping for the next few months or year or so.  I know lots of people that wear them whenever they jump anything, not just cross county, or when they are riding green horses.

I'm hoping I can ride tomorrow.  My horse has been off and on sound (more off than on) the last couple weeks, after he ran around in the field like a moron, grabbed his heels of his RF badly and tore them up, and also pulled the shoe off..  Then was limping.  The barn manager had taken Em's buddy out of the field and into the barn (they were in the farthest field out) and then took a while to go get him when he started running.  I'm actually upset about it; he usually brings both in at a time.  It was better when there were 3 horses out there, but their other pasture buddy moved. Anyway, he looked sound at the trot on the grass (partially frozen) today so I'm hoping he is tomorrow too!

SuperSally - I had 4 broken ribs in 2010 -  yep....a  fall from my horse.  I knew they were broken due to the extreme pain but the first x-ray didn't show the fractures.  I thought there was no way my ribs were just bruised.  I had another set of x-rays done 4 weeks later at the request of my PCP and sure enough I had 4 fractured ribs.  I couldn't laugh, sneeze, or carry anything that was more than 10 lbs.

After that fall I immediately bought a cross country vest and wear it at all times even though I am riding dressage.  I don't know of anyone else that rides dressage in a cross country vest but I don't care.  At least I know my ribs and somewhat my back will be protected the next time.

I was even considering a Hit Air vest but the cost was so much and my funds are limited.

My show coat is a size 14 so that I can wear my vest underneath.  I will have to say it does keep me warmer on those cold days of riding.

Horsedoc - I also had issues with Jazzy tearing up her front legs when she is acting like a maniac in turnout so I always have bell boots on her.  I have not had a problem with her nicking her front legs via back legs ever since.  Her confirmation is not such that she requires them but when she is running, bucking, and flat out crazy she will hurt herself.  I use them more as a precaution than anything else.

Lynn died on December 29th. The link below will take you to a video clip of her at one of her proudest moments. She had to work hard to get to the point of riding her pony Sailor around the ring and had to work harder still after her right leg was paralyzed. In this video she is taking part in an event called Jump For Hope which was a fund raiser for the Cedars Hospital oncology department. All the participants were given months of training on everything from riding basics to the introduction to show jumping. This was the result. I still don't know how she stayed on with only one good leg.

I hope this link works http://youtu.be/57HtkIFqm48

SuperSally - I so know about riding in the heat in Dallas - did it for YEARS.  The clients would fight to get the latest appointment at 9 pm when it was maybe only 90 degrees instead of 100 degrees.

Several things I did to make my riding more comfy from the heat:

1.  I would wet a bandana and tie it around my neck.

2.  I would hose off my head with cold water until the water was dripping down my front and back.

3.  I always wore a white schooling helmet that was vented.  Inside the helmet I put in cool packs that I kept in the freezer overnight.

4.  I rode with full length chaps and underneath I had long stretchy shorts - like bicycle shorts but without the padding.  This way I could tear off my chaps right after riding and not have to put them on until right before I rode.

5.  I always had water or gatorade with me and would set it on a jump standard so that I could grab it when I got cotton mouth.

I was told - of course I haven't hit the heat of the summer here since I got my vest - but you can dip it into a bucket of water and put it on wet.  It will keep you cooler.  By the time you finish riding your vest will be dry again.  It does not hurt to soak them with water.

I don't wear a show jacket unless I absolutely have to.  Here, if it gets too hot then jackets become optional at the shows as it should be because otherwise you deal with the possibility of heat stroke.

I have found out that riding in an indoor area is cooler than riding outside in the summer as you don't have the heat of the sun beating down on you.

However, I only know of a few facilities in Dallas that even have indoor riding arenas.  Here it is pretty standard due to the snow.

Haltsaluteatx,   I'm getting there, thanks for asking.  Its 2 weeks today since my BMX, I was floored by the lack of arm strength!  I still am!  Limited range of motion and I couldn't imagine being able to hang on to a horse feeling fresh in the winter weather.  I haven't seen my boy in two weeks, I have a wonderful young woman taking care of him for me and she updates me and sends me pictures, but I have never been away from the barn for this long before!

 I know I couldn't tack one up, let alone mount! 

Just an FYI - there is a website that has daily deals on tack.  These items are brand new and typically just overstocked items.  You just can't beat the prices, however, there are only 2 items per day on the website to purchase.  Some of these items you may already have, or might need them in the future. 

I have had nothing but great experiences with this company.

www.tackoftheday.com

You can sign up for daily emails so that you don't forget to take a look at it.  Today they have a Goode Rider Equestrian Jacket that looks awesome - normally $299 and today you can purchase it for $114.  The daily deals are always good until 12:00 noon EST on the following day.

My favorite catalog is "Back in the Saddle"

For special dressage things I use www.dressageextensions.com