Quick Update

I am not immune to the tremendous outpouring of support. I really appreciate each and every comment. I have a quick update on Brego, since so many people have pinged me privately to ask if he is ok. I am relieved to say that he is doing very well!

We pulled the steel shoes and found close nails on both fronts. The farrier came out that evening, was very professional, and helped us to glue the shoes back on to see if it was the weight of the steel or if it was a close nail that was making him look strange. There was some question because normally being quicked causes three-legged lameness and Brego was just not lame. Anyway, he did much better with the glued on steel shoes so we feel like it was the nails that were causing the issue. The farrier was floored at Brego's pain tolerance, but I was not surprised. That horse has tremendous heart.

The steel shoes fell off after a single ride, but I got the evidence I needed so I didn't mind the cost and effort of gluing them back on.

Since his steel shoes were off, I took the opportunity to order him some composite shoes. It was hard to find some that came in his size, but I found a brand and ordered them and lo' they are too small. So, I've been riding Brego barefoot and over the course of a few days after the shoes were removed, he was back to 100%. To finish up the investigation, I had a chiro out and he passed just fine. She did not find any issues up front. His left his is a bit sticky as always. I am going to up his lateral work to strengthen that left hind.

On Wednesday, I am getting a blood panel drawn and a Lyme test just to finally and conclusively say it was his too-tight nailed shoes. I rode him at the hunt barefoot on Saturday over a less rocky fixture and he was foot perfect, keeping up in the gallops, jumping 3' coops and even leading the field twice over fences when the master begged off. Such a star!

To help him with the increased load from hunting, I've added electrolytes to his breakfast and I just finished a full body clip. That horse has a lot of surface area!

Tomorrow we go cross country schooling, Wednesday it's back to hunting, and there may be a show or two before the end of the year. I am still willing to try properly fitting and nailed steel shoes to help with the rockier fixtures for hunting, I just need to coordinate with my farrier whom I still respect and trust.

Whew, now we're all caught up. I am still slow on the blogging, but I wanted people to know that Brego is doing very well and to thank you for your well wishes, thoughts, and prayers. I have learned a ton through this experience, both about Brego and myself. Brego continues to be challenging to fit, but he is willing to work and has so much heart. He amazes me daily.

The Turning Point at the Pace

On Friday, Brego and I had a jumping lesson in the neighbor's jump field. He was a bit naughty, running and bucking, but he has an excuse. For the last week, we've been stumping and grading his pasture, so he's been in a tiny pen. One thing I have learned over the years is that Brego needs his turnout to play and the way he plays is by kicking up his heels and running. If he doesn't get his turnout, he plays under saddle, which is a lot less fun for Daun.

Anyway, he jumped very well, very strong, even overjumping the smaller fences. He was perky to the fences, forward, ears forward and then would blast off the ground. I've said it before, but I really think he enjoys jumping. I got some good instruction on my leg and my balance and riding from a safer position, but mainly the lesson was to get him out and jumping before....

Today we went to our second hunter pace. The course was over 10 miles long and very rocky, as in mind-blowing rocks everywhere. I put the epoxy shoes on Brego plus some sole guard to cover his soles from all the rocks. When your foot is 8" wide, there's still plenty of exposed sole to get poked by a protruding rock, even with protective "shoes" around the perimeter. The whole epoxy and sole guard application took about three hours to apply and cost $90 in materials (I did the labor myself). Ouch.

Brego started strong, but halfway through, he lost the sole guard from his right foot. Then he lost half of the epoxy border from his left hoof. And then it all went downhill from there. We were five miles from home, in the deep woods, and we were suddenly barefoot in the worst terrain we have ever ridden at speed over. Brego was a soldier and we got home safely and he even jumped gamely two hours into the ride, but I could tell he was foot sore and I was really upset. We finished with the slowest time and dropped our team to dead last. That is unfortunate, but the worst part is how bad I felt asking Brego to work. He was never three-legged lame or gimpy, but I can feel him and he was uncomfortable.

Riding a foot sore horse is NO fun, and it's unfair to ask him to work under those conditions. So I have resolved to put steel shoes plus a sole pack on him for the hunting season. I have a good farrier, whom I trust, that works with Hobby and she's never looked or moved better. Three months of not worrying about Brego's feet during the hardest work of the year is worth the money to me (and shoeing a draft is twice as much money as my Thoroughbred).

The plan is to get him shod this week and see how he likes shoes. This will be the first time he has worn them his entire life. Then we will pull them for the winter and reevaluate in the spring. Maybe it was the record rainfall and less than ideal pasturing situation. Maybe he really can't stay barefoot in the North East. Maybe he can't stay barefoot with the increased workload. I don't know, but I do know that he is too good a horse to keep gambling with solutions that can come off at any time. Boots don't fit him and I have tried the synthetic epoxy route, so now it's time for shoes. It's not a decision I make lightly, but I think it's a good one for what he needs to be comfortable as he works.

On Monday, I start my new job. I will be out of state for four weeks for training before I start working out of my house. I will be back on the weekends to hunt and tend to the farm, but I will miss riding during the week. And I will miss Brego.

Prepping for Dressage Show

This Saturday, Brego and I will be competing in the Open day of the Arabian Horseshow across the street at the fairgrounds. I can't tell if I am excited because we haven't shown in awhile, or because we will likely be facing off against Arabians (the very mental image makes me squeeeee with delight!). Lest someone read too much into that comment, please realize my beloved childhood horse, Ben, was a purebred Arabian. Regardless, I am excited.

Coupled with a week of sun (unheard of!), our rides have become downright joyous. We've been practicing on the turf of the fairground's parking lot (the best drained field in all the land). Sunday morning we had a nice dressage ride, working on the left canter transition. Yesterday, we just hacked, trotting and cantering around the 50 acre field. Brego was feeling good and strong, and I wanted to let him stretch out between our dressage sessions.

Someone asked in the comments what I did to keep Brego interested and willing in work. I've thought long and hard on this topic, and I think there's a couple of things at play. First, I am lucky enough to have a bright, intelligent, playful horse with no previous abuse history (that I can ascertain, anyway). Brego, himself, is always up to something. While my old TB mare can stand around flatly in a pasture and just enjoy the sun, Brego is always getting into something, exploring or destroying, depending on his whim.

So I take that observation with me under saddle. I try not to do repetitive tasks, but take a little bit of progress and then move on. I keep my rides relatively short, aside from necessarily involved conditioning rides. If he's good and on the aids, we're done in 15 to 20 minutes. Usually, our rides are 45 minutes, but we walk often so I can scope out my SO riding. He gets rewarded for short, dedicated periods of focus. Also, as a ostensible eventer, we also switch up what we work on. Some days we hack and go fast, some days we jump, some days we work on dressage, some days we play, some days we longe, some days we swim, some days we skijore(??). I think this variety keeps things fresh. Personally, as a rider, I like the variety for myself. After a week of nothing but dressage, I start to pick apart Brego and myself, looking too much for that perfect transition or that perfect cadance or what the hell is wrong with my hands?? I need to clear my head. Finally, due to our current farm, I have to hack out to every arena or riding area. Even the neighbor next door requires a short hack through the woods to get there, so there's always a period of down time, on the buckle riding, warming up and cooling off.

Riding is the hardest thing I have ever tried to master, and I will never master it. However, as an adult amateur, riding must, first and foremost, be fun. Brego is a very fun horse to ride, if I give him an opportunity to be himself and enjoy his work with me.

Broken Brego

As I suspected, Brego was broken. Although he was doing well on our rides, and eager to go, he just couldn't hold that left lead together. The chiropractor confirmed it today: left hip.

The good news is that she was able to get it mobile again and she flexed the hock and believes that it is clean and clear. She suspects that the hip was the result of his falls, and not necessarily favoring the hock. She did not seem to think there was any real muscle loss.

The bad news is that I dropped the ball. I should have gotten him to a chiropractor before the end of last season, certainly before he sat all winter. I am sad I let him down. I knew he was having trouble on that left lead and I let my finances dictate timing to get him looked at.

Never again. I will beg, borrow and/or steal to get the cash.

The chiro thinks there's no irreparable damage and Brego will be fine, but I still feel guilty. Any fall and he gets looked at, although hopefully we will not fall again. Additionally, I think I will get him looked at every 6 months until I am sure he stabilized.

A Lot Less Hair

It's Spring and that means helping Brego shed out his coat by clipping it all off. The boy would be shedding into June if I didn't do something about it, and with his increased workload, he would long have overheated.

Yucky coat, dumpy horse.

Now that's what I am talkin' about!

So the first dry patch of weather, I tied him to the trailer and got to work. It took about an hour to get the rough cuts done. He needs a little cleanup along the lines with his full coat, and of course, his mane. I roached it once again and this time I also roached his forelock. I always love the way he looks with his forelock braided up tight, so I thought I would save the manual step and trim it off. Needless to say, I immediately regretted it. Brego looks like a mule. :)

But regardless, he is much happier without his coat, even with lows in the upper 30s.

I did not video the fun, but you can revisit this popular film from last time I clipped him.

Brego is angry from being tied to the trailer for so long. A front was blowing in and he was feeling it.

Chasing the mare in the new sacrifice area.

I see canter pirouettes in his future...

Considering the amount of time he spent on his hind end, his hocks do not appear to be bothering him.

Additionally, we finally laid down enough stone dust (about 30 tons) for a sacrifice run to make it through the spring rains. I would say sacrifice "paddock" but it's actually quite small, about the size of a good run: 100 x 30. It's not ideally shaped, but I trust my two horses not to corner each other.

Both of them were very happy with the upgrade in footing, after standing in mud the last week, but they are not thrilled with the size, for obvious reasons. All the more incentive to get Brego out and worked every day while the forest pasture is being logged, graded, raked, seeded and allowed to rest. It is an inconvenience for the horses to be in a run, no doubt, but they will be happy when their pasture is done and is grassed.

Pretty mare, she's looking good in her new program of food and good riding.

Got Hay?

This will be my first winter in New England where I am 100% responsible for the horses. Previously, I boarded and hay was included. So when it came time to think about hay, I figured 2% of body weight of the two horses would come out to about one 50 lb bale a day. Then I looked at my rail thin Thoroughbred and decided that I never wanted her to go without, so I multiplied that number by 1.5. And I decided that I didn't want to buy hay again until I could get second cutting, so next August up here, at the earliest.

So I bought 10 ton of hay. 500 bales of hay, if you average 40 lb bales. Timothy. From Canada.

And it all came today. Wouldn't you know it, 500 bales of hay takes up a lot of room. I am sure I will look back on this and laugh, but I seriously think I went overboard. Those that know me personally know I never half ass anything. And I can honestly say I did not half ass buying hay.

So now there's hay in my garage. I removed the light bulbs that would be close to the hay. I put down a layer of pallets over the cement floor. Then I put down a layer of cardboard boxes broken down to lay flat (I just so happened to have some moving boxes handy) to soak up the moisture from the cold floor before it ruined the bottom layer of bales. Then I started stacking. And stacking. And stacking.

When the garage was full, I started stacking in the loft in the barn. There's enough ventilation in the barn, in fact too much (I found a hole in the roof tonight when it rained). I got 100 bales in the barn.

Then I moved to the trailer. In my three horse trailer, I stacked the remaining 20 bales.

Lucky for me, the horses like the hay. Lucky for them, they will be in hay until, oh, January 2010. Unlucky for my twelve year old car, it will not be garaged this winter. It's only fitting, since the hay cost more than the car.

I will likely try to sell some of the hay since I really don't want to feed the horses hay that old next fall. But until then, bon appétit!

Diet Update

Brego's diet has been slowly evolving. I dropped the Rice Bran and added a nutrient-dense light feed. Last time I updated the diet was June 1. So here is the most recent makeup of his diet:

2 parts Triple Crown Senior
(14% Protein, 10% Fat, 11.7% NSC) = $16/bag

2 parts Kent Feeds Omegatin
(15% Protein, 20% Fat, 22% NSC) = $29/bag

1 part Triple Crown 30% protein supplement
(30% Protein, 3% Fat, 9.8% NSC) = $29/bag

1 part Triple Crown Light
(12% Protein, 3% Fat, 9.3% NSC) = $16/bag

[I've posted the rest of this content before, but it is nice to repeat for new readers. I've been wrestling with diet for awhile.]

He gets good quality timothy blend hay, but not free choice (which is a very good thing). I also occasionally give him a few pounds of Triple Crown Safe Starch (11% Protein, 6% Fat, 8.8% NSC) as additional forage. I don't think he needs it, but it's conveniently packaged for trailer rides and shows.

NSC stands for Non-Structural Carbs which is, in general, the main component you are trying to lower in an EPSM-related diet. Conventional horse feeds contain 30% or more. Brego has never shown any symptoms of EPSM, so we are less strict about NSC. Some owners target for 10% or less which is really hard to do with packaged food. There's a lot of discussion about the EPSM diet, and I don't think we have the final answer yet. I believe a healthy diet has more going on than just the NSC count, such as fats availability and exercise level. I basically listen to what Brego tells me and am not afraid to adjust ingredients up and down.

I should note that when I switched to giving Brego monthly Adequan shots, I dropped his SmartPak entirely (Dare I mention that his "blackening" supplement failed to deliver as promised?). So he is no longer getting any other supplements. Besides apples, that is.

Pick Your Poison

A reader asked me to elaborate on my worming protocol and I was surprised to find out I have never really addressed it on the blog. Huh, and I thought I rambled on endlessly about every aspect of Brego...

Anyway, when I first got Brego, he had all the classic signs of being wormy and I completely missed it. Long, frazzled coat, no top line, poor condition, big belly, no energy, etc.

I took Brego to my vet for a chiropractic adjustment and she damn near pulled an intervention and gave me the scoop on worming. Like all vets, she can tend to be an alarmist, but unlike most vets, she researches the latest and knows her stuff. She maintained that most horses (in Texas anyway) carried worms that were largely Ivermectin resistant and so to not even bother with the "cheap stuff". She also said that larger horses run a greater risk of carrying a parasite load because people cheap out and buy them one tube, even if their weight calls for more.

So here was Brego, wormed with a single tube of Ivermectin on who knows what schedule his entire life. Classic.

So we got to work. She recommended a Panacur Powerpak to get rid of the blood parasites and heavy worm load. This is her protocol verbatim:

Protocol for Treatment of Blood Parasites

Give one box of Panacur Power Pak dewormers, 1 tube per 1000 lb horse
per day for 5 days

Wait 10 days

Give one tube of Quest Gel or Quest Plus per 1000lb horse

Wait two weeks

Give one tube of Quest Gel or Quest Plus per 1000 lb horse

Wait at least 5 days after the last dewormer to start Sefacon
treatment (for EPM, if necessary).

You can deworm the horse every 2 months with Quest or Quest Plus and
if you choose to rotate wormers, you can give Equimax every third time
instead of Quest. You can also give Anthelcide EQ every third time.

I have modified the protocol slightly. I always rotate between Quest Plus, Equimax, and Anthelcide EQ. I also ALWAYS give the proper dosage which gets very expensive because I basically need to buy an extra tube of everything. I am careful not to overdose with Quest, but I do occasionally double dose Equimax, as I recently reported.

I did talk to my vet about daily wormers and she was not fond of them. She saw parasite loads in horses that were supposedly on daily wormers, some of which may be unreliable barn help. I know we had lots of trouble at previous barns getting the help to deliver supplements daily. So now I give paste wormers and record the data in a calendar so I am sure Brego is being wormed. I also switched from oral joint supplements to Adequan IM for partly this reason.

I also support Brego's system around a worming by adding priobiotic to his feed, making sure not to overwork him, being sensitive to foot soreness or other side effects. I have also given holistic remedies in the past to support the kidneys and livers as they help flush the toxins, but I am out and have not replenished the supply.

After I switched to the more aggressive worming protocol, Brego started to grow a better coat, dapple up, get a topline, get more energy. It was a complete 180 degrees. I am no longer ambivalent about worming, even though I tend towards more holistic care. It's a necessary evil to keep Brego as healthy as possible.

Not Broken

Just a quick update...

I rode Brego tonight. We did a little dressage work, mostly just forward trotting while asking him to stretch. We worked on bending at the walk. He seemed his usual "I've been out of work for three days" resistant but not sore or otherwise broken. His legs were tight and clean.

I, however, am a wreck. Sharp pain from my hip to my shoulder on the left side. I was most irritated. The rest of the soreness is gone, so I am hoping this is just some deep bruising. I fully intend to ride the rest of the week because I am close to figuring out my jumping form. More on that later.

Sometime last week, I discovered several hard little nodules in Brego's skin. There was no hair loss but they were clustered exclusively under his saddle pad. I remembered in the farthest reaches of my addled brain when my Thoroughbred mare had these and they were caused by worms. Ew.

It's very wormy right now. The grass is nearly all gone and the horses are scrounging around in the dirt for food. There's about ten horses on five acres and the pasture is not picked, so it does tend to be conducive to worms.

Our usual worming cycle is every two months and I rotate with Quest gel, Equimax, and Anthelcide EQ. I give a Panacur power pack in the spring. Although I had wormed about 4 weeks ago, I went ahead and gave Brego a double shot of Equimax and in two days, the nodules are noticeably smaller or absent. I will double Equimax him again when he moves to our new farm in about a month. Then we'll go back to the regular rotation.

And for all of you who made it though my very boring discussion of worming protocol, I will treat you with another cool picture from the hunt last weekend.

Brego Salon

I decided to body clip Brego on Thursday. Once I got started, I realized it as a bit premature. His hair was not as long as I thought, but once you make the first cut.. you're committed. Anyway, since it is still early in the season, I went with a full clip, minus legs. As it gets colder and his work winds down, I will go with more conservative clips. In Texas, I clipped him about once a month. I am not sure how often I will need to clip here, but since I jumped the gun, probably more often at the beginning.

The whole initial rough cut took about 40 minutes. I used the big Andis Progress Horse Clippers. After a day of the hair settling, I will go back with little battery-operated clippers and clean up the lines. I like to do the clips over two days so you can see the results better.

I made a short time-lapsed video of the rough cut. It's not too exciting except it's fun to see how busy the barn is and how nicely Brego stands without drugs or twitch for the whole 40 minutes. Public Service Announcement: I know my jeans don't fit well and yes, crack kills, so avert your gaze if you are troubled. :)

Winter Body Clip from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.

The barn owner happened to catch a few pictures of the cute 3rd grader on Brego with her iPhone. She sent them along so I can post them. I do not own these pics, their copyright is held by someone else, yada yada yada. Enjoy!!

Have Bend, Will Travers

Brego is a new man, er, horse after his chiro work. His left canter is much improved and he feels so bendy and relaxed. I've had two fantastic dressage rides on him since the chiro work on Monday and he just gets better and better.

Our big mental breakthrough was getting a couple steps of haunches in (travers). I had been attempting to teach Brego how to step in the direction of bend as opposed to shoulders in (where the horse is moving in the opposite direction of bend). He was not getting it at all. I tried working in hand, I tried getting the bend from a standstill and then pulling my outside leg back and asking him to move his haunches. I tried a bastardization of turn on the forehand. Admittedly, I am not an experience dressage rider, so I am sure my weight was all wonky, etc, but Brego usually manages to figure out the intent of an exercise despite my muddled clues.

Well I went back to my books and really thought about the exercise. I got a crazy idea on what to try next. So today I spent a lot of time working on shoulder in at the walk, until it was very light and the bend was true and not on my inside hand. Then I opened my outside rein and used a little indirect rein on the inside hand to move his shoulders back to the track while keeping the bend with my inside leg, then in the same motion, I dropped my outside leg behind the girth and asked him to step over with his haunches. And he did it!! I couldn't believe how easy it was for him to understand keeping the same bend but shifting his body so that he was suddenly moving in the direction of bend. In my mind, it is a very advanced thing, but it must be easy for him to understand.

I got two good steps in haunches in, then deliberately asked him to straighten. I am really focusing on not "petering out" my aids when he does something right and we stop the exercise. I need to train myself to have crisp transitions into and out of each movement. Strangely, Brego was much better on the left bend in this shoulder in to travers exercise than the right bend. His right bend is usually his strongest. I will need to ponder more on what that means, but I am just so jazzed that he got it! And I taught it to him by myself, just by understanding balance and the purpose of the exercise. I feel like I am really starting to learn dressage, not just practice the patterns.

On a somewhat related note, Brego's swelling on the right hind is completely and totally gone. Vanished. My friend in Texas surmised that it was lingering because of Brego's pelvis being tilted to the right and he was "overusing" that right hind. Now that he is straightened, the strain is off his leg. Sounds pretty interesting to me, but I can't help but wonder... It had been getting better but seemed to stabilize into a wind puff type swelling with no heat. Then the chiro work on Monday and *poof* it's all gone. I don't know, but I am happy to have Brego's clean legs back!

The saddle fit went well, both saddles were spruced up. Wow, what a difference! It was much easier for me to ride the canters and no uncomfortable girl parts!!

As for this weekend, I was supposed to have a schooling show, but I scratched the show so I can go hunting instead. I feel like I am playing hooky from school, but I just want to go run around and not worry about competition. Plus, if I go hunting, I can pay them my membership dues and be an official member of a hunt!

The house inspection went well so we are full steam ahead for me to buy a farmette at the end of October. I can't wait to have Brego at home. Once the deal is done, I will have updates with pictures, etc, as we explore our new world.

Mystery Solved!!

Brego got a visit from the chiropractor today. I was excited to hear what she would find considering Brego's recent pronounced favoring of his right lead and his intermittent cross-firing at the canter.

After the obligatory comment that "That's a lot of weight to be jumping..." (see, Stacey? You are not alone) she got to work. I guess this vet of fifteen years has never seen a big jumping warmblood. Anyway... Brego's front end was fine. His knees and shoulders checked out. He was blocked on the right side of his neck on his C2 vertebrate and his pelvis was twisted to the right and rotated forward.

What tremendous news! It was exactly in line with what I was seeing and feeling. Brego was very stiff to the left, like he couldn't stretch the right side of his body. And his left lead was flat and labored, while his right was powerful and easy. So the diagnosis made perfect sense.

She was able to set him straight and then, because saving for my new house is so BORING, I sprung for the acupuncture treatment after the adjustment. Brego soaked it all up, yawning and chewing, enjoying his endorphin high. Even an hour afterward, the horse was relaxed. His whole energy was relaxed. It was very cool.

So Brego obviously got the day off and I will do some light stretching tomorrow. The chiropractor recommend lots of forward work and no collection. Easy enough! Then Wednesday is my house inspection, so another day off. I will probably not jump him again before the schooling show this weekend. I want to give his hind end enough time to settle into the adjustment and hopefully hold it.

So even after the initial comment about jumping Brego, the chiro found nothing wrong with him that screamed ABUSE! DRAFT HORSE JUMPING! ABUSE! She even checked out his puffy right hind, which is decidedly less puffy these days, and couldn't find anything. In fact, he was better off than my Thoroughbred. The chiro is a former vet, so that's reassuring.

Now I can't wait for the saddle fitter later this week. Losing 8 inches off his girth and getting fit has really changed Brego's back, making it much narrower at the withers. My two saddles sit too low in front and it is causing some, er, "uncomfortableness" in my girl parts (Sorry, TMI!). So a nice adjustment... properly fitting saddles... we'll be all good.

All the Buzz About Brego

Even though Brego looked like he was slicking out, after the conditioning ride yesterday I could tell he was carrying some extra hair. So I brought out some new blades and clipped the big boy. There's a lot of surface area on that horse.

It took about three hours, but I removed three shovelfuls of clipped hair. I also took the opportunity to re-roach his mane. We don't have any impending shows, except maybe this hunter jaunt, so I was buzzed it pretty rough. He looks a lot better though, all close cut and you can see better muscle definition.

A couple things about this picture, which was taken in mid clip. His mane was not done yet. Yes, he is really that shiny. I blame his diet. And yes, he is that brown. *sigh* He's faded pretty fast from even a couple of weeks ago. He also wanted to show his supreme boredom after standing in the cross ties that long with his dangling lower lip. It's almost like he's part marsupial with his lip pouch, waiting for me to stuff it full of cookies. You know, 'cause that's the way he rolls.

That is the best picture though, because you can really see his coat bizarreness. Along the top of his back is a year old hair that is left from his old saddle-shaped patch. Then below that, you can see the outline of the flaps of the "saddle pad" which had more hair and so did not bleach in the Texas sun. Around the saddle patch, you can see his dead, truly yellow hair which was badly damaged by the sun in Texas. Then along his neck you have new, less damaged hair. But at his shoulder you can see some prominent fading spots where it is a lighter brown. The horse is freeky deeky.

Unusual Coat Color

Long time readers of this blog know that I have struggled mightily with Brego's coat color. Well, the strangeness has reached all new levels with his spring coat grow out. His new hair is black, as it should be, but it's not coming in uniformly. As a result, Brego looks a bit like some fatty Appaloosa.

Poor guy.

The picture above was taken one day after the pictures of his longe lesson. He looks a lot, er, chunkier when he's not in motion. I think he lets it all hang out when not on duty. Brego takes relaxation to an all new level.

The Inner Side of Brego

Brego got the week off of work because he was still sore from his float. So there is nothing to report from a training or conditioning perspective. But I did get an excellent vet out to take digital radiographs of his hocks and feet in order to assess any issues he might have with the upcoming season. He may not look like it these days, being a couple of weeks out of work and rather, er, squishy, but I have high hopes for that boy.

So I requested xrays of his hocks and front feet and the overall read was they are very good. He has some slight changes evident in the joint between P2 and P3, but the vet was not concerned at all. He also had a slight lipping of one of the joints in his hock, but again the vet was not alarmed. He did show pretty significant sidebone, but surprisingly, the vet seemed to think it would not cause him any problems and was pretty normal for a horse of his size. He thought he had good feet and excellent balance, thanks to my excellent trimmer, and was pretty optimistic about him in general. If this was a pre-purchase exam, Brego would have passed with flying colors. Granted, he did not give me the green light to go out and jump 4', but he certainly didn't think Brego was suffering in any way from his current work load or last season. The real test will be to see the same set of rads taken next year. Will a year of improved work and more showing accelerate any changes?

He did recommend we drop the supplemental joint medicine and switch to IM Adequan. After doing a cost comparison, it was actually cheaper to make the switch and he felt it would be a good prophylactic to minimize changes. He stated there was more research and studies done showing the efficacy of Adequan over feed-through joint supplements. I had not really looked into Adequan, because I felt it was one of those "pharmaceuticals" burnt-out hunters needed. I did not realize that it wasn't a drug at all. Anyway, Brego got his first dose tonight and my SmartPak is going to be radically changed.

Finally, he confirmed that although Brego is sore from his float, it was good dentistry and that his TMJ is probably just sore from having his mouth open for so long during the procedure. He agreed with my decision not to ride until Brego is 100%. (I hope to start riding again soon... The spring show season will be here all too soon...)

Without further ado, here are the rads, for your viewing pleasure (Click on each one to see a larger version).

Left Foot Lateral



Left Foot DP


Right Foot Lateral


Right Foot DP


LR Hock Med Lat Oblique


LR Hock DP


LR Hock Lat Med Oblique


LR Hock Lateral


RR Hock DP


RR Hock Lat Med Oblique


RR Hock Lateral


RR Hock Med Lat Oblique

Divergence in Training

On Saturday, something unfortunate happened at the barn. A dog belonging to one of the workers chased a doe into a fence and she broke her neck. Luckily, someone was there to dispatch her as soon as possible so she didn't suffer long. I let the worker know how displeased I was to have a dog chasing game for sport, so senseless. I am not a hunter, but I don't judge those who are. If you're going to shoot them, make it quick and use the carcass.

Anyway, as squeamish as I was, I decided to turn this into another learning opportunity for diversifying Brego's resume. I asked for temporary use of the deer and conditioned him to the smell of blood and the dead body. He was pretty alarmed to begin with, understandably, but after a few moments, I could lift the deer onto his back. Thus, my would-be event turned back-country game horse.

After that "positive" experience, I hosed the blood off of him, suited him up and we had a lovely ride working on moving truly forward and adjusting our pace within gaits. It went very well, he was able to bring his brain back from the truly bizarre experience before and go right back to work.

Many people think I am crazy at the barn for putting a dead deer on my horse. And, I admit, I probably am. But I think constantly about the future for Brego. Despite the optimism in this blog, the reality is if something was to happen to me, he would not be snatched up as an eventing prospect. And we all know that the best way to keep him off the truck to Mexico is to make him valuable at *something*. Sometimes, being a good riding horse isn't enough anymore. So I go out of my way to give him lots of different experiences because I don't know what he may be asked to do in the future, with or without me. Sure, a dead deer I can carry myself is a little extreme, but it's a good learning experience. We do camp in the mountains a lot. What if he needs to pack a dog, or a human and the smell of blood overpowers him. He mastered his fear with the deer and we built trust. He will be able to do anything I ask of him once this eventing lark is over.

Brego has done quite a bit in his short life already, sort of a jack of all trades, master of none. He has gone swimming bareback, overnighted in the mountains, followed the hounds, performed dressage tests, jumped a clean round. And now he's "packed game". One big thing left on my list which I have not done yet is move cows. Any horse in Texas needs to be able to move cows.

Back on target, we ended the day heading to the vet for a float. He had some nasty hooks and hopefully he will feel better now. The vet also aged him at 6 1/2 so he is probably a late spring, early summer 2001 baby. Would I had the papers on this boy!

Trimming XXL Feet

The long awaited trimming post has arrived! I am going to detail as much of the trim as I can, considering I am not the primary trimmer. I will relay any specific questions to the main trimmer and answer them as best I can.

To my knowledge, Brego has never worn shoes. Or if he has, it was very early in his life. I know his history from 3 years old and on, and he has been barefoot the entire time. When I bought him, he would not pick up his feet and his hooves were extremely overgrown. His previous owners had taken good care of him, and he was in a good weight, but his feet were pretty neglected, with severe flaring all around the hoof capsule, from the toe to the heel.

In his third year, before I got him, he was housed on a sand paddock and not ridden at all. In fact, the people I bought him from were pretty intimidated by him. They told me the story that the people they had bought him from said he bucked under saddle so they never really worked with him. The end result was that his feet continued to flare on the soft ground and there was no natural wearing or chipping action to help alleviate the overgrowth.

When I bought him, I knew very little about feet. I noticed he had no contraction of his heel and nice large frog and was largely satisfied. My first few trims were a learning process, where I just trimmed his hoof wall back to stop the flaring and did little to balance his foot overall. He has always been sound, even with the incredibly long feet, and he was sound after my trims so I was not too concerned. During the first year and a half that I owned him, he was turned out on 80 acres of black-land prairie which gets quite hard in dry conditions. He was in a large herd of horses so he moved around quite a bit, and I think that had a lot to do with his feet remaining good and sound, even with my uneducated trim.

Last January, I moved him to a "better" facility which had arenas and jumps for training, but he was in an enclosed paddock, just 2 acres, with 7 other horses and 3 donkeys. The ground was terrible, a thick mud, and the paddock was never picked, so he ended up standing in manure and urine and had very little movement. I fought with the barn owner for turnout, as they had originally advertised, and I was lucky if he got turned out into a 10 acre pasture for a few hours five days a week. His feet completely degraded and he lost a lot of conditioning. His hoof wall would flake and peel, completely corroded, and his sole dropped to the ground. He lost the concavity his feet had gained the previous two years. For the first time, he started to be sore over rocks. It was during this time that I found a better trimmer for him, since I doubted my ability to keep him going under those conditions.

Last August, I moved him to a new facility, where he has a 7 acre grass pasture that he shares with only Hobby. This means that with proper rain, the pasture will continue to hold grass and not descend into a muddy hole. He also has more movement, although not nearly as much as he had in the herd environment on 80 acres. His exercise level has vastly increased, as he has come of age and I have put him into serious training. It has taken about 6 months of careful conditioning over rocky trails to begin to get back some of his ability. He still gets foot sore if the rocks are too big, but he can handle a typical Hill Country trail for 12 miles at least, when his feet are dry.

I have included this information, because environment is 50% of the battle with keeping a horse comfortable barefoot. There are some environments where a horse cannot be barefoot, no matter how good the trimming or how naturally predisposed the hoof is. Very prolonged wet conditions, or conditions where the horse cannot have adequate turnout really work against the natural mechanisms needed to keep the hoof healthy. Also, the goals of the rider are also a factor. If the rider desires the horse to be able to go 50 miles over rocks barefoot, then they must expend considerable energy conditioning and acclimating the horse to rocks. It is possible, but it's very hard. Better to go with shoes or boots to protect the non-acclimated hoof. If the goal of the rider are to be sound in a sandy arena and well groomed cross country course, the conditioning is much less severe, but traction must always be a consideration.

I have ridden Brego in knee high wet grass at a canter and never felt a slip, but I would certainly scratch before I did any jumping or speed work at a competition in those conditions. It's about priorities and being realistic. I believe a well conditioned barefoot horse gives me the most options: I can put on boots (if they will fit), I can put on shoes for studs, I can leave him barefoot, etc. So I try to keep him barefoot and progressing, but I am very realistic about his abilities. Once you put shoes on full time and lose the natural conditioning, you must stay with shoes or boots and you have fewer options. Not a big deal for full-time show competitors, but a big deal for me because I have many interests and activities with Brego.

I won't go into all the arguments for or against barefoot, just say that I have done my research and am seeing how things go. I am not close minded one way or the other, and Brego will tell me what he needs to be comfortable.

Ok on to the trim, which was performed on December 17, 2007 (Click on the pictures to see larger versions):

Here are Brego’s feet pre-trim.

He toes in significantly, which is common in draft horses. His is also base narrow and tends to paddle. Draft horses are purposely bred this way so they can walk comfortably in a furrow. Great for plowing, not so great for everything else.

His feet are 7.5 inches in width and slightly less in length, which is why most boots do not fit. Most horses feet are longer than wide, but Brego and a couple of the other drafts I have known are the opposite. These boots are shaped more appropriately for horses like Brego and I have ordered the largest size they have which just might work. I will keep you all posted.

He has an old injury on the outside side of his left foot. It looks like it was some sort of injury to the coronet band that has altered growth of the hoof wall on the lateral side of his hoof. While the injury has not completely “grown out” in the two plus years I have had him, it does appear to improve with new wall growth.

Brego’s feet are trimmed approximately every four weeks. Between trims, we bevel around wall to promote breakover, hinder flares, and prevent wall chipping. Pre-trim, you can see that his feet have flaring all around. We will focus on his left front for a specific trimming explanation.


Here is the lateral side of the left front before the trim. You can see the injury area near the edge of the hoof wall.
Halfway down the hoof on the toe, you can see where the flare starts. We have been aggressively addressing his flares, and this seems to be working as the top part of the wall is more straight. We address the flares by keeping the hoof wall short and beveled.
The heel is very long and run forward.

In the heel picture, it looks like the medial heel of the hoof might be a bit longer than the lateral side of the hoof. This is consistent with the front picture of the foot, which looks like the coronet band is angled upwards on the medial side and not level.






Here is the post trim of the front feet. Flaring has been removed on the lower third of the feet.









Here is the lateral side of the left front. You can see the flare that has been removed. The heel has been lowered. His injury is causing the significant float in the quarter area. We are hoping that this continues to grow down properly so that the hoof wall can be in ground contact all around, with only the *slightest* quarter scoop. Hoof care practitioners disagree on the need for a quarter scoop; some argue that hooves need a quarter scoop for hoof expansion purposes. If the coronet band bulges upward in the quarter area, the trimmer puts a scoop there to help straighten the band. If the band is straight, she bevels the wall and adds a very slight scoop depending on the horse.

In the post-trim heel picture, the medial heel has been lowered so that it is more in balance with the right heel. We have also cleaned up the frog flaps and opened the central sulcus area of the frog so that thrush or fungus does not get trapped in the area.

You can see that Brego’s soles are quite flat. We would like to see more concavity built up. This is the loss of concavity I talked about above, where he stood in mud for months with his feet breaking down.

We have taken the advice of Brego’s osteopath to rasp a 45 degree bevel into the medial heel so that he is weighting that heel more forward than the lateral heel. This is supposed to help with the toeing-in and the paddling when moving. While I have never heard of this, we are trying this for a few trims.

I must stress that “fixing” toed-in feet by trimming or shoeing can cause serious problems if you end up putting stress on the limbs. I asked the osteopath about this, and while he agreed that Brego’s feet will always toe in due to confirmation, he thought that some of the toeing-in was excessive. We will keep you updated on this, and I will ask the osteopath for more information on this method when Brego sees him in March.

I am also going to get a full set of films of his feet done this week, before we start spring training. The best way to keep track of his progress, or lack thereof, is to get baseline xrays and then checkpoint with them annually. Plus, they should be useful to my trimmer, to help her see what his feet are doing on the inside.

A Hot Day's Fun

It was another 85 degree day here on Saturday (yes, in December), so I spent the morning body clipping Brego yet again. He has been sweating in the field. Then we hit the trails and had a relaxing ride through the baking Texas Hill Country.

At the end of the trail ride is the much anticipated gallop track. I had Brego going at a pretty good clip, but as we rounded for home, we both lost some steam and he dropped back into a canter just in time for the photographer. So the pictures were not nearly as exciting as I had hoped, but they're still fun! He may not look like he is going fast, but please note the excess reins flying back. Also, I look terrified in the pictures, but I wasn't. The only thing scary about that ride was how out of shape I am, my quads were burning.

The results from the poll so far show that readers want more pictures and video and I am happy to oblige. One limiting factor though is that I work a full time job and by the time I go out to ride during the week, it's too dark for capturing images. I do ride in a lighted arena, but sometimes I wonder if a full moon might illuminate things better. So I will try hard to get some good pictures and video on the weekends, when I can ride under the full blazing sun.

Since it is winter and I am limited on what I can work on during the week, I am not going to try to push Brego's fitness up a notch and just hope to keep him at this baseline and work on suppling instead. He galloped fine, but we both were more tired than we should have been afterwards. So there's a wakeup call for the spring. Over the next couple of months, I will hope to ride 4 times a week, where 3 rides will be dressage for 45 minutes or so and then one trail ride or schooling. I hope to spend one night a week working Brego in hand to up his responsiveness. So from a conditioning perspective, he's not getting much work. The dressage is working his topline right now, but not his heart and lungs. That will have to come when I can ride for longer in the spring.

I am also going to try to take better pictures of Brego's feet to chronicle his trimming progress. He is doing really well barefoot, traveling miles over rocky trails without a problem. But we still have flares to fight and some unevenness in his heels. It is one area of his care that I have not detailed a lot on this blog, mainly because I am not the primary person who trims Brego. I will get some pictures (and perhaps a guest blogger!) to start including hoof care into the blog.

Bulging Out At The Seams

Brego is starting to mature into his hefty self at a ripe ol' age of 7. I don't have any papers on him to know his birthday, but I was lucky enough to get him accurately aged at 4.5 and have thankfully kept track as time goes on. I am not thrilled about him bulking up, because I will get to make some tough decision about his jumping career. On the other hand, though, I am glad Brego is growing into his genetic potential. I can throw an eventing saddle on him, but at the end of the day, he's a draft horse, and he should never look like a Thoroughbred.

So good for porky Brego.

However, his blankets have started to look like some pop diva, way past her youthful prime, at her unfortunate return to the stage. In other words, a little tight. No one wants to see that. And since his body clip is almost grown out, and it's a balmy 70 degrees here in Texas in December, he will get clipped again and will need to be blanketed on the off chance we get some winter weather here.

Last winter, I bought him an 84" WeatherBeeta Arion (now discontinued) in medium weight, an excellent blanket with lots of features I enjoy. This year, the blanket has started to look a little, er, tight across the chest. Also, since he is clipped, I wanted to get a plain turnout sheet as well, for milder days. And maybe a heavyweight. Oh, and I need a cooler because he is still an active sweater. You can see where this is going.

Turns out, it's really hard to find a blanket much bigger than 84" off the shelf in all the popular brands, and those that you do find are cut for some mammoth Thoroughbred who is long and skinny, not broad through the chest, barrel, and butt like my guy.

Enter, Schneider's "Big Fella" line of blankets. It still makes me giggle to type "Big Fella". They've got sizes that go up to "Elephant" and they are cut to be broad. I bought a turnout sheet for my "Big Fella" and it is backordered, so I couldn't check the fit. I then ordered a heavyweight and hoody in 84", and it came in yesterday (very fast shipping). It's really well built, has some nice features, and an excellent price point. I am happy to say, it was made to fit Brego. So, unless he grows more (please, don't grow more), I will not need to venture into scary 87"-90" land.

I also bought an 84" Rambo Newmarket cooler so Brego wouldn't feel left out from the Cool Event Horse clique. It's what all the hipsters are wearing this season. Unfortunately, Schneider's doesn't make a "Big Fella" (hee hee) fleece cooler. The Rambo fits adequately, but it's too snug in the chest (and non adjustable, duh!) for long term use due to rubbing. Since I have the heavyweight "Big Fella" though, I should not need to double its use as a liner and it's fine for just cooling him out. Somewhere along the way, I also bought an 84" non-"Big Fella" fleece cooler from Schneiders and that didn't come close to fitting Brego. It now dwarfs Hobby who looks like a little sister waiting to grow into her big girl clothes.

Someday soon, I will replace the WeatherBeeta medium weight with another "Big Fella". It's time to stop denying Brego needs to shop at the Big & Tall store. That's ok, there's just more of him to love.

Holy Butt Dapples, Batman

I finally got to see my boy during daylight hours today and he has exploded into a serious rash of dapples. Must be that new diet!

That is one greasy fat horse! :)

(I admit it. I have a thing for butt dapples.)

Those of you with a good attention to detail will notice the lovely spur rubs on Brego's sides. Yep, spurs are now banished until such time as I can control my leg. Even though I wore tiny nubbin spurs, there is no excuse for a rub, body clipped or not.

So sans spurs, I rode. Brego did exceedingly well without them. His "go" was maintained through a squeeze of the calf. Some of our lateral work required more leg, but I can fine tune that. In general, I am happy to be rid of the spurs, since they should never be used for forward anyway. Now I can focus on improving my leg without inadvertent rubs.



For having over a week off, Brego did awesome. Normally, even with a few days off, it's back to square one with asking him to listen, and move off my leg, and bend, etc. Today, he must have felt great, because it was like we never took a break at all. He was listening and moving off my leg and did reasonably well with bending. It was really great to be riding. Even the short time off made me really miss his big trot. I felt right at home once we started out across the arena.

Ah, and being the oh so clever person that I am, I found a 7" loose ring for $25 shipped to my door from drafttack.com. So now I get to check the sizing on a "throwaway" bit before shelling out for the Kangaroo bit in the UK. So between my 6" KK and my soon-to-be-delivered 7", I will know whether he will be more comfortable in a 6.5" or a 7".