The Journey Back Begins

It certainly has been a long and trying road with Roze, she's been off for nearly two years and was dealing with issues for two years prior to that. We are extremely hopeful that we have resolved her soundness issues once and for all and Roze can get back in to shape and accomplish what we set out to do all along.

Roze is currently 6 months post op and is doing fantastic. She's improving weekly and getting stronger and back in shape. The video above is from our second lesson since Roze has been back under saddle. In my opinion she looks better than ever. She's extremely happy to be back to work and once again the center of attention.

Back on Track

Roze has now been working lightly under saddle for a little over a month. I've slowly been pushing for a little more and a little more. Our time to work on the trot is brief, per vet's instructions, so I've been trying to behave and not push too much. I usually warm up at the walk with some lateral work. Then I move into the trot for just two or three laps around the arena each direction. The last two rides I have truly got some amazing, albeit brief, trot work from Roze. She rises through her back and drives with her hind end! It's been at least two years since I've felt her this good. I am so excited for what her future may now hold and anxious to get back to the vet for the official all clear. Roze certainly has the heart of a champion and has proven herself to me even if she never sets foot in the show ring again.

Roze's First Lesson Since Surgery

Discussing the game plan

So Roze has been slowly working back since her surgery in March. We put shoes on her front feet this week and decided we could take a half hour lesson with Sarah to begin getting her back in gear for full work. She jumped on the trailer as if she knew she was going somewhere fun. In typical Roze fashion her entourage (and my friends) came out to cheer her on. She did very well and seemed happy to be out and working. We worked on some leg yielding and a little trot, nothing spectacular, but quite amazing for a horse who I had contemplated putting down last summer because she was so sore and miserable. It was nice to reach this milestone today and hopefully there will be many more in the near future.

Remebering leg yield

Looking a little like her old "show pony" self

Recovering Again

This time Ty gets to be the patient. He had surgery last week to cut his annular ligament. After the injection into the tendon did not prove helpful and careful consideration we opted to proceed surgically which has a high success rate. We're hopeful that once rehabbed Ty will be able to continue his training and be ready for First level next spring.

On the plus side Roze is doing excellent under saddle at the walk. She gets shoes on this week and I'm hopeful that she'll be happier and ready to do a little more serious work. Looks like this winter we won't get quite as much done as we had hopped, but we'll try to be productive.

2010 Show Season in Photos

Double click on the photo to view the entire album.

Back to Work

After not getting to the barn for two days, I put Roze and Ty to work today.

Ty got lunged and he looks 100%. He was still a bit naughty, having not been worked in a month, he'd let out an exuberant buck or hop on the lunge. After a bit I decided it was time to hop on. He was a bit tense, and threw in one buck but we got a quite a bit of walk and a little trot. I think in about a month or so he should be back to where he was.

I put Roze on the lunge today outside and she acted as if she had never been lunged before, even though she was on the lunge just two days ago. Deciding that we'd had a enough of lunging I just jumped on her bareback. She was a perfect angel. Put her head down and went to work, the diva is officially back. I'll continue to work her back slowly, hopefully she'll be back in the show ring next year!

It was a great day to have both of my horses back to work.

There's Hope Yet

Yesterday was our much awaited follow up visit to Manor Equine for Roze and I took Ty along for a second opinion.

This was Roze's first vet follow up since her surgery in March. She has been feeling well and misbehaving in the pasture so I was confident she was doing well. The vet began by flexing her hocks, surprisingly she trotted off sound on her right hind, which is something she's never done in her life. The vet was also very surprised that she was doing so well. We then took a few x-rays just to see what was going on. Her hock is fusing very nicely. As a precaution to help with any inflammation left we injected her hocks to help finalize the healing process. The vet is going to consult with her surgeon at Purdue, but he feels it would be good for her to start work in a week or two when she's recovered from her hock injections.

I also took Ty along to get a second opinion as my local vet had diagnosed him with a hairline fracture in his front right pastern, which is club foot. When he was flexed he trotted off better then he had a month ago so at least he had recovered some since going on stall rest. The vet reviewed the x-rays from my local vet and also took a couple more of his own and found that Ty had been misdiagnosed, he has no fracture of any kind. He suspected an issue with his tendons or ligaments which we confirmed with an ultra sound. Ty has a tear in his annular ligament. A side affect in some ways from his club foot. We suspect that at some point he must have over flexed his foot and aggravated this tear. We injected Ty's joint/ligament and the vet recommended he resume normal activity in about a week. I also discussed at length his opinion of Ty's future soundness and he indicated he was very optimistic.

Needless to say I'm very relieved, although a bit frustrated with a misdiagnosis on Ty. Hopefully in a week or two both of my guys will be back under saddle. I may try to take Ty to one more show this fall. We'll see how quickly he comes back around but I am hopeful that we'll get one more in and Ty will continue to progress and excel in the dressage ring.