Diary of Prince Charming's Rehab Weeks 17-19

Week 17

In addition to being slightly sore in his front feet, especially the left, quite often, the barefoot Prince seemed to me to be working against himself somewhat because his feet were so narrow. His breakover, instead of following the relatively straight line suggested by his shoulder, knee and fetlock conformation, had a bit of a twist.aHe was striding from the inside edge of the bars to the outside edge of the toe, instead of landing squarely on the heels and breaking straight over the toes. Functionally, he was moving like a pigeon-toed horse, which he is not.

As his posture and movement evolved and improved, his feet seemed to be impeding his progress. Also, I began to be concerned that because his lower-limb movement didn't seem to match his conformation, he was putting unnecessary stress on the joints of his forelimbs, from shoulders down. So, I discussed with the farrier the wisdom of putting on a light shoe that would provide some support on the sides where structure was missing. That's just what we agreed on, and Prince's new shoes give him that support at the sides and heels.

The results have been quick and interestingly broad-based. First, he has once again started nickering at me and meeting me at the gate, eager to get to work. He was always willing to come out and be with the humans, but's it's nice to see his enthusiasm for our interactions return. He had become a bit stubborn about walking in some parts of the property where the ground was more rocky; now he goes happily wherever we need to without hesitation. He's lighter on the forehand in groundwork and holds the bend better on a circle, both on the line and at liberty, both of which put less wear-and-tear on both of us. And he's having way more fun in turnout, stretching out and running to his heart's content with his buddies, who have started taking turns playing with him because he just wants to go and go.

Find useful information about hoof care, including anatomy, function and specific lameness issues online on my favorite farrier sites, listed on the Resources page under "Feet and Farrier Info."

Week 18 - November 2007

back_up.JPG (31916 bytes) I expected Prince to make good progress now that his front feet are no longer sore, and he hasn't let me down. This week has brought a few milestones. First, he has mastered cantering on the longe line both directions, though he's still a bit more supple and soft to the right. He still struggles with about 1/3 of the left-bend circle, but has progressed from pulling on me pretty hard to just being heavy in that part of the circle.

Second, he is back under saddle and being a good boy, though I can tell he is still being a bit conservative in his movement to the left. I wonder whether he expects to stop on a rock and feel sore, and I'm very glad I decided to stop his under-saddle work until he was comfortable in his shoes. Third, he is continuing to move better and better. At liberty, he's actually offering to lift his back and both his trot and canter departs have gotten softer and smoother.

And last, but for Prince surely not least, he has finally been able to satisfy his curiosity about what's outside the arenas, outside his pen, outside the bounds of the paths we've been walking from barn to tackroom to workspace. We can walk all over the property and in the desert outside the fences, and the big grey busybody thinks that's just great. I noticed early on that when in turnout, he spends time standing at various spots along the fence, gazing across into the distance. Now he can walk and sniff and sample the vegetation (sadly for him brown and dry in autumn) and satisfy his curiosity about those spaces.

Week 19

More milestones for Prince this week, which connects with conversations I've had recently with clients about what "progress" means in the context of a rehab or in learning to ride. Sometimes it's really a "one step forward, three steps back" sort of process. I've learned that with both physical and mental issues; sometimes things simply have to get worse before they can get better. Think of how ugly a deep bruise looks during that phase of healing when the skin takes on a sort of greenish purple caste. Looks worse than when it started, but it means the body is doing its repairs as needed. For a rehabber (and a riding instructor), the trick is figuring out when the "steps back" are just preliminary to some sort of breakthrough, large or small, for horse or student, and when they are signs that something is wrong. The only way I know to develop a sense for this is to pay attention, to notice everything, to be open to exploration and experimentation and to learn from experience.

This week's "one step forward" for Prince was several weeks in the making. He can now canter an entire circle on the longe line in both directions without pulling on me! That's a great feeling, to know I helped this horse overcome a balance challenge and learn a skill he'll be asked to use the rest of his life. Time spent on the basics at this point in his training means he always has the knowledge and experience to help him be more stable and correct on the longe and means all his future handlers have the opportunity to longe this horse without wear and tear to their bodies. And the payoff is evident in the horse's body right now. I went back and pulled photos of Prince's topline from June (top) and September (middle) and compared them to November. What a difference!

The "one step back" came when I was asking him for walk/trot transitions under saddle. He would trot a few strides and then fall out from under me onto the forehand and break to the walk. No matter how I tried to help him keep his back up, he seemed unable or unwilling to continue to trot. No nastiness - head tossing, teeth gnashing or offering to rear or buck - just very pointed lack of movement. While I was considering how to address this, I remembered noticing when I was free-longeing him last week that the saddle seemed inclined to slip forward (you can see that in the photo above), which hadn't happened before. So, I did a saddle-fit check, and realized that with his new topline musculature and greater ability to lift his back, the gullet of the saddle that previously fit him was touching his withers at the pommel. After a tack change and a bit of shimming, his withers were free and he was back in motion, happily walking and trotting and bending with more freedom and impulsion than he had done with the other saddle. Progress! (And a reminder to us all that we should check saddle fit fairly regularly.)