Riding Reflection: Speed and Stretch

Even though our schooling show experience was just that, a schooling experience, I felt a little disarmed the week after.  I gave Harley Monday off and took him for a short ride on Tuesday, but he didn't feel good to me at all.  He didn't want to maintain gait, especially in the canter, and he just did not feel confident.  I guess that was the same way that I was feeling.  This was clearly a chicken and the egg situation, so rather than try to figure it out, I just decided that we could both use a few days off.  I focused on grooming and hand-grazing for the week, as well as my summer riding students, a graduation party, and a new addition to the family!  Harley has a new human cousin and I am an aunt for the first time.  Pretty amazing and a nice change of focus after a hectic week.

By the time Monday rolled around, I was itching to get back in the saddle.  A girl can only go so long without a ride, but Harley's feet needed a trim and I could not let it go even just one more day, so I ate a banana, trimmed all four feet with sweat dripping off my brow, and then tacked up and rode.  I thought that Harley might not feel like focusing after standing for over an hour to have his feet trimmed, but he also wanted some action and was eager to ride again.

I decided to allow the schooling show to do its job and show us what we needed to work on, even if there were some hurt feeling associated with the judge's bedside manner.  I put that out of my mind and focused on productive feedback only:

Suppleness over the back and speeding up in the stretchy trot (and not stretching)

Those two observations pretty much sum up Harley's nervous reactions: become tense and speed up.  Thanks to many years of working together, Harley does not display these characteristics as much at home as he used to and he is much, much easier to console and bring back down to Earth than when I first began riding him.  He used to turn into a nervous wreck after the first canter.  I believe that this came from some initial barrel training that he received as a young horse and I use the turn "training" loosely.  He came to me with a barrel saddle that had been won in some kind of competition, but I do not know the story behind it.  All I know if that my horse was very, very difficult to retrain to a nice canter, especially on the left lead and man can he get strong.  I have ridden some big horses: draft crosses, warmbloods, Fjords with huge necks, and a full Percheron, and none have felt as strong as Harley feels when his engine is revved.  The power is exciting, but I would happily trade the speed and excitement for carrying power.  That is how I want Harley to use his gift.

Noting these observations, I decided to ride with suppleness and tempo in mind.  At the beginning of the ride, this was no problem.  Harley moved into the bridle easily and warmed up with a moderate tempo.  I added some transitions between trot and walk and trot and canter to bring up his energy and increase the challenge.  This was when I got a chance to feel some tension creeping in.  Harley did want to tighten his neck (and therefore his back) here and there, so I kept my outside rein ready and kind of caught him with it each time that he wanted to tighten and therefore shorten his neck.  I was careful not to pull his head and neck down, as this would be counter productive to balance, but I did take a strong hold on the outside and I used my outside leg quite a lot to keep him in that rein.  I know that the Dressage Central Dogma (molecular bio reference for the science fans!) is "inside leg to outside rein", but outside leg to outside rein keeps Harley on the bit and balanced more effectively.  Too much inside leg seems to tip him over and encourages me to collapse the inside of my ribcage.  Keeping him on the outside rein helped him stay soft over his back, but it was a lot more work for me than I expected.  I could see where I needed to step up my rider effectiveness.  I was not being careful enough about my seat and feeling the energy starting at his hind legs.  I feel like I am always working for better basics, but how did I miss those?  That is dressage for you.  One thing gets better and then another thing looks worse, repair that and something else pops up.  The rider has to remember to look back at the whole picture, because chances are the general picture has improved, but it is hard to see that when you are working on one little thing at a time.

Besides feeling much more effortful for me, I also noticed that Harley felt heavier in the bridle as we worked on really letting his back go.  I was not crazy about this, but I decided to accept it for the time being.  I did not want to confuse him or invite tension in his back by insisting that he lighten up in the same ride.  I had flashbacks of riding the big Mare who used to hang on me and gave me huge biceps, but I shoved them aside for now.  One thing at a time.

Once Harley was feeling consistent and before I got too tired, we took a walk break.  I thought about our next objective: tempo.  Tempo is not something that I can forget, even for one ride.  I feel like that is something that I work on all the time, especially because I have a horse who likes to scoot ahead rather than carry behind.  His tempo had felt pretty good so far and I wondered if maybe that had just been a side effect of the lack of suppleness over his back, but then I made a discovery.  I started trotting Harley around with a nice connection and then I softened the reins.  I didn't throw them away.  I didn't extend my elbows.  I just lightened the feel in my hand a little tiny bit. 

And guess what he did?

He sped up.

Uh-oh.  That is a big dressage no-no.  How did this happen?  Has this been the case for a long time or is this something new?  By the way, that is not how I have been asking him to do his big trot, which requires a stronger feel on the reins.  Whatever the case, it became obvious right then what we needed to do.  I started repeating the exercise of softening my hands and looking to see if he changed tempo, which he did over and over again.  Then I added a half-halt after the softening, followed immediately by another release of the rein.  We must have looked like a new driver trying to figure out a stick-shift car, because there was a lot of speeding up and then stalling and then speeding up again.  I did not punish him for speeding up, I just decided that I needed to explain to him that he was not supposed to change tempo, even if I gave him the reins.  His nose went forward, which is good, but he was losing his balance every time that he changed tempo (or the tempo change was revealing that he was not balancing as well as I had hoped).  Eventually, he began to understand.  The half-halt came through more quickly and he maintained trot, but shifted his weight back.  I gave the reins slightly and he did not speed up.  Excellent!  Walk break and pats.

I realized at this point, that the stretchy trot would be the ultimate test of suppleness and tempo control.  If Harley was not released in his back, he would not stretch.  If his balance was not back or he was not responsible for his own tempo, he would speed up instead of stretching.  I had to think of speed as the enemy of stretch and I did my best to keep my balance back by sitting tall.  The game became "How slowly can you stretch, Harley?"

I saw some improvement and ended on a good note, but I can see that this game needs to be added to our routine in the second half of our ride.  I usually practice stretchy trot in the warm up, but he feels like a completely different horse then: relaxed and mellow.  Asking him for the same exercise after canter-work is an entirely different thing.  I need to go there every ride, if we want to improve in this area.

And we do!

Stretchy trot fail at the July 2012 show: Harley says, "Not today, lady."

Harley showing nice stretch in the lengthen stride at the October 2011 show.

Equine Health Report: Allergy Shots

"Hi.  My name is Val and my horse has allergies."

Detail-oriented readers may have noticed that I have mentioned here and there that my horse has allergies, but I have never written very much about it.  There is a reason for this.  I have been so worried about his allergies, that I have been too paranoid to even write about them.  I was also worried that his treatment would not work or that he would fall into the tiny percentile of individuals who have an adverse reaction to immunotherapy.  Yesterday, we reached the twenty-second injection of Harley's treatment and I finally feel confident enough to write about the experience.  My hope is that this post may be helpful to someone else facing a pet with allergies.  There is no cure for allergies, but now I feel that there is hope!

Truth be told, I have always suspected that Harley had a little bit of seasonal allergies.  Each spring, while I was helping him shed his thick, winter coat, he would kind of "whoof" and sneeze a few times during our grooming sessions.  Since these symptoms were short-lived (a few weeks) and never escalated beyond one or two snorts, I did not worry.  I still noticed it, though.

Fast forward to this past November (2011).  In an effort to help my hardkeeper maintain weight over the winter, the barn owner and I decided to keep Harley in his stall at night, even though he had been on 24/7 turnout for the past three years.  This lasted about three weeks, and then he started coughing and we threw him back outside with a blanket.  I thought the problem had been averted, but that seems to be the starting point.  Come December, my usually healthy horse developed some sort of illness and his legs swelled up alarmingly.  Blood-work showed that he had suffered a virus, but I cannot help wondering if it was really a huge, allergic response.  Follow-up blood-work showed no secondary infection, but he had started to cough: in the cross-ties, in the paddock, and under-saddle.  With my consent, the vet ordered a full spectrum of allergy testing, which was not cheap.  Not in the ball park of thousands, but definitely a round of hock injections, for comparison.  The results came back several weeks later revealing that my horse was allergic to at least twelve different things, tree pollen being at the top of the list.  It seems that the warm winter and temporary confinement in his dusty stall had aggravated the allergies, which had only caused mild symptoms in the past.  Suddenly, I was faced with a horse with a respiratory problem.  A soundness of wind, problem.

In the past, I had read about COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, now called RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction) so as not to confuse with human COPD), also called "heaves" or "broken wind", and my vet told me that allergies which manifest as a respiratory response can develop into COPD/RAO if not managed properly.  To say that this shot a cold, hard spear into my heart would be an understatement.  Just watching a few videos of horses struggling to breathe on YouTube makes me cry.  If something could be done, I was prepared to do it, so my vet explained the rational behind immunotherapy or allergy shots.  The biomedical laboratory would formulate a serum of all the antigens which elicit an allergic response in my horse.  The serum would be given to my horse by subcutaneous injection, beginning with very low volume "challenge" doses until the highest concentration dose or "maintenance dose" was reached.  The antigens in the serum "train" the immune system so that the white blood cells, which normally handle viral or bacterial infections (Immunoglobulin G (IgG)), mount an attack against the allergens before the white blood cells responsible for allergic reactions (Immunoglobulin E (IgE)) can have a go.  Apparently, IgG responds faster than IgE and should effectively prevent a strong allergic reaction.  I believe this is also called "tolerizing" the immune system.  If the allergens are in my horse's bloodstream all the time, they are not seen as foreign.  This is an oversimplified explanation, I am sure, because receipts of organ transplants have to take anti-rejection drugs for their entire lives, which contradicts the "tolerization" reasoning.  Immunotherapy is nothing new.  Many people receive "allergy shots" for seasonal or pet allergies.  People who have life-threatening reactions to bee stings often receive immunotherapy as a preventative life-saving measure along with the immediate response EpiPen.

My vet explained to me that immunotherapy does not usually completely stop symptoms like coughing, but it does reduce them and may prevent progression of the problem to COPD/RAO.  That was enough for me.  I am all about treating the problem, not the symptoms.  I do not want to just give my horse steroids, so that I can ride him.  I want to give him the closest thing to a cure that I can.  Since there is no cure for allergies, immunotherapy is just that thing.  Work with the immune system and hope that science comes through for us.  So when my vet asked if I would be comfortable administering subcutaneous injections, I did not hesitate with my answer:

"Yes.  Now, please show me."

I had never given so much as a Banamine injection, before last January.  Since then I have given a ten-day round of intramuscular steroid injections and twenty-two subcutaneous injections.  I have made a few mistakes, like piercing his skin through the "tent" twice and watching the serum leak onto his fur.  Oops.  But, thankfully, Harley is an excellent patient and being a former laboratory chemist, I have better than decent fine motor skills and practice with vials and pipettes.  My vet showed me the safe triangle of muscle on his neck and how to give my horse a warning that he is about to get sticked.  For as sensitive as he is, Harley rarely budges and stands without a handler in the cross-ties.  I truly believe that animals know when you are trying to help them.  He appreciates the carrot or cookie afterward.  Of course!  Don't little kids get a sticker or lollypop?

So the big question is,

"Is it working?"

I think the answer is "yes".  He coughs infrequently and a strong coughing fit (walking backwards and curling up his neck) is now rare.  He is very rideable, with a few coughs in the warm up, but these are not always even present.  Warm, humid weather, ironically, seems to be our friend.  Dry, dusty conditions are definitely our enemy as is pollen season and very cold, dry weather.  Harley absolutely must lead in a trail ride, because dust kicked up from a horse ahead of him reliably sends him into a coughing fit.  Being in the lead suits him just fine, so this is hardly a negative effect for us.

I have tried to combine his immunotherapy with other support like a breathing supplement with MSM and herbs that benefit respiratory health (which he, unfortunately, just decided that he doesn't like anymore), 24/7 turnout, and watering his hay and stall bedding, as he eats his grain in his stall twice a day.  Watering the stall seems to help cut down on coughing during mealtime, but we had to give up watering the hay, because it was creating a stinky bog in the paddock.  I have not noticed a difference in his symptoms before and after watering the hay, so I guess it was not really necessary for him.  I do my best to reduce his exposure to dust by keeping him outside during any aisle sweeping or stall cleaning and not riding him in the arena when it is very dry.  I have noticed that he will cough in response to chemical smells like diesel fuel and tarry hoof applications, so I keep him away from those things.  My teacher also showed me how to encourage him to stretch his neck when he coughs rather than curl it up and lean back, as she says that body posture is closing his airway and making it more difficult to for him to cough productively.  Her suggestion must make him feel better, because he usually stretches his neck now when he needs to cough.  To his credit, he does not panic during a coughing fit and will try to lower his neck when he feels me tug on his halter.  He seems to have good coping skills.

Last week I had two cough-free rides.  One was the horse show in the rain, so I guess that is a positive for an otherwise dreary day.  The other was a very humid schooling day.  He did cough once, but it was two-thirds of the way through the ride.  I was concentrating so much on what we were doing that I actually forgot that he had allergies until he let out one little cough.  I could not have been happier.  In January and February, there were a couple days were I actually had to get off his back after five minutes, because his cough would not subside.  I was in tears and wondering what was to come in the future.  That was when the vet started a round of steroids to get the inflammation under control.  I felt for all the bloggers I have read about who had trouble with leg or hoof lameness in their beloved horses.  I had to face it in a different form and my horse, thankfully, was sound of limb, but it was still heartbreaking.  At the time, too heartbreaking to even put into words.

August has begun, and I feel like I can finally breathe a little easier.  Hopefully, the immunotherapy is working and will continue to lessen his symptoms.  The real test will be the next pollen season.  Amazingly, the cough has not lessened his enthusiasm and he remains my wonderful riding partner, eager to learn and try every time.  I just cannot believe what this horse does for me.

Harley.  You are the best!

News Flash: Dressage Is Mainstream

Stephen Colbert finally gets it!  Truthiness prevails once again.

I give him major credit for riding the beautiful mare.
Satire or not, that had to be a little scary.

Michael Barisone and Conchita were both very good sports.

Long Valley is next door to my hometown, so it was neat to hear that part of New Jersey mentioned on mainstream television.

FYI, Colbert.
There are those of us who do practice dressage without expensive horses or tiaras!

Who says dressage is without a sense of humor?

Now someone just needs to explain to him that "horsie-walking-sideways" is called half-pass.  ;)

Enjoy!

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