Journal


 * TOTAL HOURS: ** **25 1/2**

**12.15.10** I have made a lot of progress with Tabby since the first time I got on her, she has calmed down a lot and is more responsive, and I walked her for the first time without my mentor leading her. She can become full of herself easily and has a habit of shaking her head when she is frustrated or bored which makes it hard to handle her. I have learned that racehorses are trained to listen to natural aids almost backwards. A huge struggle that I'll have to work through is being patient with Tabby and reteaching her that when i pull on the reins, it doesnt mean take off, or if i put pressure on her with my seat and legs, it won't mean bolt. **12.2.10** Yesterday I got on Tabby for the first time. She was nervous when I walked her up to the mounting block, so I had my mentor stand with us and lead us around at first. She started throwing her head and wouldnt let me on, but once i put my foot in one of the stirrups she settled down. I didnt get on her right away so she realized that there would be weight going on her back. Once I was fully on we just walked up and down the driveway a few times and I repeated the voice commands that I practiced on the ground with her. Tomorrow I'm going to try and walk her on my own with the reins and see how she responds to contact. **12.1.10** Tabby has improved drastically with accepting her tack, she no longer kicks or and flinches rarely when i put her saddle and girth on, and i finally was able to get her bridle and bit on. After i did this i walked her up into the riding ring with her tack on so she would realize that when her tack is on, it is time to work. I was planning on getting on her for the first time today, but the weather is stormy, so i dont think that will be happen. **11.24.10** The last week or so I have been working on getting Tabby used to having tack on her again. She flinches when I put the saddle on and bites and kicks when the girth touches her stomach. All i can do to break this habbit is to continue to put on the saddle and girth and take it off, while rewarding her when she doesn't bite or kick. Getting Tabby to accept her bit is another problem, I fitted her bridle to her the other day with ease by sliding it over her halter with out the bit on go size it right. To start off i took the bit by itself and put it on my hand with treats around it so she would learn that it is good to touch the bit with her mouth and to accept it. We did this repeatedly for about 10 minutes, then i took the bit and attached it on the bridle. Tabby would not touch the bit and threw her head up over me so I couldnt reach her. **11.09.10** Last week I worked with Tabby in the round pen twice, once on Monday and once on Wednesday. The progress she is making is significant. From when i first reintroduced her to the round pen, Tabby had forgotten all basic voice commands and how to stay on the rail of the pen while on the lunge line. As of Wednesday, Tabby was responding to "walk, trot, canter, and halt" all on the lunge line while staying on the track. She does tend to get tired after working for more than about 5 minutes and will bolt out in frustration, which makes it difficult for me to work with her alone anymore because she kicks out, rears, bolts, bites and charges. This doesnt happen too often for it to be an issue, but it is dangerous enough that I need to have someone watching just incase. This week I'll begin to lunge her with her saddle on, and introduce her to her bridle and bit. My goal for now is in about two weeks, to mount her in the barn yard. I put about **4 hours** in this past week. **10.26.10** The last few days have been completely hectic with college visits, lots of projects, finishing off my polocrosse season with Scotty, and applications so working with Tabby has been squeezed in barely, but got in there. Tabby came up completely sound on Friday evening, so I began putting her back into work on Saturday. I still have been keeping up with scrubbing her legs and giving her antibiotics every night, in which has completely reduced all of her swelling and heat, and the warts on her pasterns are disappearing, which I am so excited about. Not only has Tabby gotten physically better, but her manners with accepting the syringe and taking the antibiotics orally has improved drastically, as well as her patience with me working around her hind end, which she would consistantly try and kick me because of the pain and sensitivity. Now Tabby stands quietly barely flinching when her legs are scrubbed, and on the rare occasion will try and kick out at me. Saturday I took Tabby out into the round pen for the second time. Before I began working her I took her through stretches that would help loosen her back and let her move more comforably, keeping her sore back in mind (will post a video). I walked with Tabby around the perimeter of the pen on a lead rope, giving her treats as she followed me next to my shoulder on the track. After a few minutes i took the lead rope off, I let Tabby walk around in the pen. She wasnt focused at first, trying to eat grass so I used the lunge whip to keep her moving (a lunge whip is a long whip with a tail that is used during longing to coax the horse to keep moving. It is not physically used on the horse, but used to be cracked behind the horse to keep them moving). Soon Tabby figured out that I had treats in my pocket, so she would come off the track and run towards me and practically take me out trying to get me to give her treats, so at this point I put Tabby on a lunge line (a long lead rope thats length is about 25') which i wasnt planning on doing until sometime this week. Surprisingly, Tabby responded well, listening to my voice comands of "walk on", "halt", and "woah" and listening to the whip commands to keep walking around the track of the pen. She would have her moments where she would charge towards me out of frustration of not understanding what i was asking, or kicking out when the whip would crack, but within about 15 minutes Tabby caught on. It was like a lightbulb went on in her head and she remembered from doing it before. After working her at the walk getting her to stretch out and work on transition commands, at the end I asked Tabby to trot, and she took off bolting and kicking around the pen. I slowly had to talk her down to come back to a walk, then ask again for a trot. The third time, she picked up the trot smoothly and needed only a little bit of reinforcement with the whip. We did this for only about 5 minutes, I didnt want to overwork her after being lame for so long. I finished up by taking off the lunge line and letting her walk around freely before going into the barn. She has a lot to work on before I add tack to the equation but I am thrilled with the progress she has made in only the two times i have worked with her in the round pen. I'll add new pictures and video soon! I put in **2 hours**. This week has already been more than busy, I have continued treating Tabby twice a day since Saturday and the progress she has made is greater than i had expected, although the process each day is overwhelming to keep up with. She is no longer lame, but only stiff in her right hind leg. The swelling in both legs has decreased significantly and the heat in her left hind is gone, while her right hind is only warm instead of hot. The scrubbing with the antibacterial has began to take effect, and the warts are beginning to fall off, and the size of them has began to decrease. The warts may never be rid of, but as long as they are regularly treated they should not cause irritation and will decrease significantly. I should be able to put Tabby back into work this weekend if when I trot her out tonight she shows no soreness or favoring. I'll continue to wrap her at night or after work using a standing bandage to keep her wind puffs and swelling down, since any kind of work for her at this point is strenuous, and off the track thoroughbreds have weak and injury prone legs. I am more than happy with the progress she has made, I was worried that this would put me off track of reaching our end goal. Over all, this process every day takes me about two hours alone of just giving her the antibiotic, cleaning, hosing and wrapping her legs. I have discovered another problem that may be a setback in retraining Tabby. As i was grooming her over the past two weeks each day i have been palpating (using hands and stretching) Tabby's back. Whenever I take the brush over her back she hollows her back out, avoiding the brush. This is common in thoroughbreds because they have very fair, thin skin, so grooming can be uncomfortable for them in some cases, but in this case it is a sign of her back spazming. When I palpate, or run my fingers down her spine, I look for any flinching, shifting of weight, muscle spazms, or pinning of her ears as signs of discomfort. Tabby shows shifting of weight, flinching and pinning her ears. This could be because of the birth of her last foal leaving her sensitive on her sides and back, or it could be because of lack of strenght to support weight on her back or stiffness. So I will be working on also rehabilitating her back so it will be ready to support the weight of a saddle and rider by the time she is ready to be mounted by working on stretching her out and strengthening her core muscles. I have put in **2 1/2 hours.** **10.18.10**  This weekend I spent almost all of my time at the barn, since Friday night Tabby came up two legged lame in her hind legs (having stiffn  ess or soreness in limbs, incapable of moving freely). When I got to the barn Saturday morning Tabby was turned out in her pasture, but barely able to walk. Tabby has recently suffered from cellulitis in September from warts growing on her lower legs, around her fetlocks and pasterns, most likely caused by the birth of her last foal. The bacteria from the warts has spread into the deeper layers of her skin and into her blood stream, causing irritation and swelling (if going untreated, this can be deadly). Fever is common in cases of cellulitis but I took her temperature twice a day all weekend and her temp was normal, averaging around 99.1-101. The last time Tabby was diagnosed with this condition she was prescribed to take 15 SMZ antibiotic tablets twice a day for 3 days, while scrubbing her legs with Betadine solution once a day until the warts were gone. All of this occurred before Tabby was put under my care and none of this was kept up with so it is no surprise that the infection came back. Saturday morning Tabby was given 1 dose of Banamine paste, which is a temporary pain killer, to relieve some pain she was feeling in her legs since she could barely walk. I called the vet to ask for a refill of the SMZ antibiotic and began giving her 15 tablets twice a day again. This i will continue for 10 days instead of 3 to ensure that the bacteria is out of her blood stream and does not penetrate any further through her skin. Since giving 15 large pills to horses is not an easy task, I crushed up the SMZs and mixed them with water and then poured the mixture into a syringe which was given to her like a paste through her mouth. This process alone takes about a half hour each time. At night, I scrub Tabby's legs with the Betadine solution which is a surgical solution used on animals usually by vets before a surgery. This will help over time reduce the warts. The warts aren't exactly topical, so this is painful for Tabby having her legs cleaned, which makes it difficult for me not to be kicked. This takes about 20 minutes minimum. After she is scrubbed I cold hose her legs for about 5 minutes to reduce heat and swelling before i wrap them using a simple stable bandage process, which keeps the infected area clean from dirt, dust, and anything that can irritate the legs in her stall. This also keeps her legs compressed which will prevent more swelling and stocking up. After doing this process all of Saturday and Sunday am and pm, Tabby is already moving more freely, still lame, but not in as much pain. I will keep up the antibiotics for 10 days and continue scrubbing her legs long after i can get the bacteria to subside. I also have decided that since her legs are so sensitive, after being in work each night i work with her I will continue to wrap her legs to keep swelling down and prevent her from stocking up over night. Hopefully this whole process will lead her to become completely sound and healthy again so I can put her back into work. After treating her Saturday am & pm, Sunday am & pm, and Monday am, I have put in **5 hours**. **10.13.10** Today I took Tabby into the round pen for the first time. At first she was unfocused, stood at the edge of the pen and called back to the barn. After I had her begin to walk along side of me around the perimeter of the pen she began to focus her attention. I used treats to reward her when she stayed focused and would stay in a steady walk until we reached the other side of the pen. After she followed me steadily for about 10 minutes i removed her lead rope and she began to follow me wherever i walked. I would periodically go from walk to halt to reinforce her attention to stay focused on me, and at first she would walk right through me. After another 5-8 minutes she began stopping when i stopped at her shoulder. I did this with her for about 20 minutes before we began to work on her trot. Since it was her first time in real work i let her trot wherever she wanted to stretch her back and legs out, and after about 10 minutes i put the lead rope back on and had her follow me at the trot, and worked on trot to walk to halt transitions for 10 minutes. Tabby is completely out of shape and it will take her about two weeks to be able to stay in a working trot comfortably, so I kept her trot work to a minimum, and will for the next week. I was more than pleased at how she focused after a few minutes and was completely willing to do what i asked. I put in **1 hour**. **10.12.10** I just returned home from American Polocrosse Association 2010 Nationals in Harvest, Alabama with my horse, Scotty. Our season has finally ended and I can begin to focus almost all my attention on Tabby and give Scotty a break for a month or two. While I was gone, my friends at the barn set up a round pen for me in one of the fields so i could begin work right away with Tabby when i got home, which i plan on using starting tomorrow! I'm very excited to get Tabby out of the barn and in work. So far Tabby has : Tabby has been at our barn since August so she is well adjusted to her surroundings by now, which will make putting her into a working setting easier, since she will not be as distracted. Not only will i begin her lunge work in the round pen, but i will slowly begin re-introducing her to tack (bridle, saddle, etc.) during grooming each day. Tomorrow i will start her free lunging- working in the round pen getting Tabby to work along the perimeter of the pen freely, with lunge whip in hand. Tabby has a very sore back from her last foal, so this will help her stretch out her muscles in her back and legs and will begin the process of redeveloping her muscle tone and fitness.
 * Tabby's cellulitis has subsided for the time being, and is completely sound and free of swelling and pain in her hind end. Her back is significantly less sore than when i first started.
 * 10.20.10 **
 * basic grooming manners
 * halt, walk, and trot in hand
 * feeding manners