Booboos
Well-Known Member
Another year in France and another dead competition season. This time round there are 5 competitions within an hour's drive for the whole year...and the first one got cancelled two days before it was due. I did manage to get to the second one and Freddy was a super star (more of this later) but I am beginning to lose the will to live. My lorry is costing me a fortune and just sits around doing nothing while I spend more money of lessons practicing tests I never ride. Thank goodness for Dressage Anywhere for livening things up a bit.
Back to Freddy then. The last year has seen quite a few changes. I am more on top of his EPSM having had time to trial different versions of his diet and I've had a lot of support from a very knowledgeable group of owners on FB. He is now on ALCAR (miraculous for him), vit E, magnesium, salt and Cool Stance Copra. The Spring grass has given him that final push of energy so he managed to arrive at the first test since last September and be both supple and forward going. The test (about elementary level) was just a joy to ride and I didn't really care what the judges thought I was so pleased with him. Cherry on the top, the judges agreed and he won with 68.25%.
Considering two years ago we were getting eliminated because he was stopping and reversing out of the arena all this is nothing short of a miracle. I do feel very guilty though that it took me so long to find out what was causing his problems and I dread to think what damage has been done to his muscles in the meanwhile. Poor little horse, if only they could speak.
Every day is still a learning curve with his condition, although I appreciate I am very lucky he is mildly affected and can still be ridden. Lack of knowledge is still very frustrating though. Two years ago when I had first stumbled onto his diagnosis my vet recommended cortisone injections in his back which were duly done and he had the worst regression ever - he was completely stuck for six months. This year she mentioned the injections again so I said it had gone wrong last time and it occurred to me to ask what was in the injections...cortisone and glucose apparently! The vet, knowing he has EPSM, had effectively injected his muscles with sugar! You just have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. We did decide to skip the injections this time round.
In related good news I have a new trainer (lovely, previous trainer moved up north). The new perspective helped as she tried a new bit with him and he adores it. I spent a morning playing around with different bits with him, but the Trans Lozenge is the only one that will do apparently. Another lesson learnt, even if you have had your horse for 9 years and played around with loads of bits before settling on one there is no harm in rethinking the decision. My aim for this summer is to master flying changes, which he will do with the trainer but not with me, and finally do a few mediums with him.
In other news Rusky has been screaming at everyone else being ridden so he is back out of retirement for a bit of, sedate, fun for the summer.
Back to Freddy then. The last year has seen quite a few changes. I am more on top of his EPSM having had time to trial different versions of his diet and I've had a lot of support from a very knowledgeable group of owners on FB. He is now on ALCAR (miraculous for him), vit E, magnesium, salt and Cool Stance Copra. The Spring grass has given him that final push of energy so he managed to arrive at the first test since last September and be both supple and forward going. The test (about elementary level) was just a joy to ride and I didn't really care what the judges thought I was so pleased with him. Cherry on the top, the judges agreed and he won with 68.25%.
Considering two years ago we were getting eliminated because he was stopping and reversing out of the arena all this is nothing short of a miracle. I do feel very guilty though that it took me so long to find out what was causing his problems and I dread to think what damage has been done to his muscles in the meanwhile. Poor little horse, if only they could speak.
Every day is still a learning curve with his condition, although I appreciate I am very lucky he is mildly affected and can still be ridden. Lack of knowledge is still very frustrating though. Two years ago when I had first stumbled onto his diagnosis my vet recommended cortisone injections in his back which were duly done and he had the worst regression ever - he was completely stuck for six months. This year she mentioned the injections again so I said it had gone wrong last time and it occurred to me to ask what was in the injections...cortisone and glucose apparently! The vet, knowing he has EPSM, had effectively injected his muscles with sugar! You just have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. We did decide to skip the injections this time round.
In related good news I have a new trainer (lovely, previous trainer moved up north). The new perspective helped as she tried a new bit with him and he adores it. I spent a morning playing around with different bits with him, but the Trans Lozenge is the only one that will do apparently. Another lesson learnt, even if you have had your horse for 9 years and played around with loads of bits before settling on one there is no harm in rethinking the decision. My aim for this summer is to master flying changes, which he will do with the trainer but not with me, and finally do a few mediums with him.
In other news Rusky has been screaming at everyone else being ridden so he is back out of retirement for a bit of, sedate, fun for the summer.
