Poorly Unicorn Progress *happy dance & pics*

nikkimariet

nikkimariet

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With reference to my earlier thread: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=464973 I am pleased to report that small progress has been made..... :cool:

Got on today to ride (after a half dose of NAF energy) with the mindset that I would probably end up crying...........but I didn't. Bruce.....nearly felt like Bruce today?!! Hurrah! :D I didn't have to fight to change gear, or direction....or speed..... The contact is still uneven, with him being heavier and tuggyier than his usual self. And his movement not as springy, bouncy or balanced as usual. But OH MY LORD. The difference.... I could school, not just play passenger. I felt like we were working together. He felt more relaxed and supple and soft today.

I know some of you might be thinking 'Wait, your horse has one off day and you act like it's the end of the world?' Well no, because when I left beginning of May Bruce was at his best. Then from the week after....it all went downhill, without me even being there to witness and experience.... And then I come back to a different horse? :confused:

Played with super long and super low, picked him up slightly and spiralled in/out of circles in walk trot and canter. Trot and canter LY. Really getting him off my leg and into both hands. Practiced halts and transitions to get him off my hands. Also went for a canter in the field afterwards for a wee bit of fun :) So just a few pics to share, I don't want to bore anyone but I can't help but feel happy about it. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something I've been doing, or haven't been doing and trying to figure out if it's me basically. I can def see a difference even in the pictures from today and yesterday can you??

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I was doing the A of the YMCA. We will collaborate an album soon ;)
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Woohoo!
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And my favourite picture of the day:
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I hope this is the end of his funny turn. I am of course, keeping my eye on every second of his life at the moment just in case, but fingers and toes crossed please :)
 
Love the a pic, he has a real look of 'she's not with me, i dont know her' on his face :D
Lovely pics as always. Fingers crossed your on the right track to finding out why he feels so flat and off, its always horrible when you know they are just not quite right
 
His eyes still look a bit dull to me and he's still missing that sparkle :o

In all honesty (not getting at you here) I'm not sure it is a true test if you have given him an energy booster because IMO that could Mask any issues he may have. That said I hope it is the end of his 'funny spell' and he will be back to his usual bright, bouncy self soon :)

Just a thought, if it is a virus (all the signs are there) then the sooner you act the sooner it will be sorted, I leant that the hard way, my horse played up for a while before I got the vet out! He had a virus and as it had been left it had gradually got worse and he needed longer off to recover, in all he had to have 8 weeks off and 4 lots of bloods done.....
 
3Beasties said:
His eyes still look a bit dull to me and he's still missing that sparkle :o

In all honesty (not getting at you here) I'm not sure it is a true test if you have given him an energy booster because IMO that could Mask any issues he may have. That said I hope it is the end of his 'funny spell' and he will be back to his usual bright, bouncy self soon :)

Just a thought, if it is a virus (all the signs are there) then the sooner you act the sooner it will be sorted, I leant that the hard way, my horse played up for a while before I got the vet out! He had a virus and as it had been left it had gradually got worse and he needed longer off to recover, in all he had to have 8 weeks off and 4 lots of bloods done.....
Click to expand...

Agree with that, put it much better than I could have!
 
Thanks all - by no means is he 100%, and yes 3b his eyes and general presence is not as mega as it usually is.

I tried the energy shot, if you like, to see if it was his energy dragging him down, as opposed to him being stiff and/or sore somewhere along the lines. My theory being that if he was in pain, his movement would be affected no matter how much energy he had...make sense?

Whilst he is more set in his neck than usual and shorter through the stride, this got much better the more warmed up he was. So it may be that his lack of energy (possibly due to a virus) is causing him to be unable to put as much effort into softening and bending etc etc hence the difficult rides he's been giving.

Vam - my OH often has this look on his face 'Don't know that crazy person'
 
Glad he is improved!! He looks much brighter, but still not right. Hope he gets over it soon. I would still be tempted to get the vet out if he is no better tomorrow.
 
I don't think he is in pain - but he still looks a little dozey tbh :( His eyes are very dull and he dosen't seem to have the presence that he normally has :(

I like brucey (although I see tail and think scissors :p :p) and some horses react differently to viruses - friends horse was more puffed than usual at the end of a jumping course and coat was a little dull (nothing major) and turned out he had a mild virus!

LOVING the ymca photos - i think you should have a siggy with you doing each of the movements in order :D
 
to be fair, if it IS a virus, the vet is only going to say rest it, or give it a pick me up and see..........so if the latter doesnt seem to be helping by thur/fri, we will switch to the former.

if he was *that* bad, do you really think half an energy shot would mask it?

he was a lot better today, from the second i walked in to the school it was obvious, neither of us are idiots and we arent going to keep pushing if he isnt improving!

if we lose £20 of entries for sat, well, we lose it, not much in the grand scheme is it!
 
Yeaaa more Bruce the unicorn updates, i do believe there is no such thing as to many Bruce updates lol :D ... I think he looks more swingy and content today. Especially in the troting picture (num 3 i think!!) looks more supple through his back. Your theory with the energy boost actually sounds like a smart idea as atleast you will know for deff if he is sore.

PS ... glad i didnt offend you in previous thread :D as some things can be taken wrongly in typed format lol
 
NicoleS_007 said:
Yeaaa more Bruce the unicorn updates, i do believe there is no such thing as to many Bruce updates lol :D ... I think he looks more swingy and content today. Especially in the troting picture (num 3 i think!!) looks more supple through his back. Your theory with the energy boost actually sounds like a smart idea as atleast you will know for deff if he is sore.

PS ... glad i didnt offend you in previous thread :D as some things can be taken wrongly in typed format lol
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I like to think there is no such thing as too much Bruce, but I'm sure there are those that would tell me otherwise lol!! Does look much happier today, hope this continues tomorrow! Not 100% no but yes, I did think the energy boost theory was fairly sound (excuse the pun).....

;) Even I'm not that sensitive!! Oh yes....and don't I know it!! :rolleyes:
 
He definitely looks a lot better although as you said, still not quite right.
PrincessSparkle - you're right, if it's a virus all the vet will say is to give him a rest to recuperate so unless he worsens or is clearly in pain you probably don't need to get the vet out.
Hope he continues to improve.
 
Thanks guys!! He is having a day off today, and looks totally content stuffing his face in the field and pestering one of the others for playtime!!

I'm glad you can see the difference as well and it's not just me and my rose tinted specs!

MD - lots of elbow grease! I think keeping him mostly clean all the time makes it easier; he is never allowed to be FILTHY. Legs, moobs and head wash every day and wears a tail bag in the field etc etc

only_me - HAH that is such a good idea! On that!!
 
glad Bruce is feeling better - i can go back to stalking you guys as i drive past:D
tell F that Rubes is MUCH hapier in new instrument of torture altho she is clearly trying to work out ways of removing it lol
 
I think I have sussed the problem!!

In the last set of photos you weren't perfectly colour co-ordinated. Sure the bandages went with the pink pad, but they weren't pink as well. It was obviously upsetting him.
Today you have gone for a lovely set of solid brown, and he is obviously much happeir with that. The remaining reluctance is due to the fact that there is only so much excitment you can muster up for brown.

Maybe you could try his lovely sky-blue set with extra bling?
 
Just a thought but have you tried giving him a change of scene?
Totally different discipline, but Maggie gets a similar look on her face if she just does solid fitness training (she's an SB pacer) in the field - round in loops everyday, you can just see her going blah, bored, dragging her feet and generally can't be ar*ed no sparkle etc. Road work's not really an option with her as none of the riding horses are in at the mo and both the harness horses are WAY too spooky on their own. So a couple of weeks ago we boxed them up and took them to an all weather gallop, no harness on, no hopples or any gadgets just rode them and let them do their own thing whether that was in gallop or pacing, and let them play.
Next time we worked her - totally different horse, bright perky and looking forward to doing her job again. Maybe something similar might bring Bruce's sparkle back?
 
MagsnPaddy said:
Just a thought but have you tried giving him a change of scene?
Totally different discipline, but Maggie gets a similar look on her face if she just does solid fitness training (she's an SB pacer) in the field - round in loops everyday, you can just see her going blah, bored, dragging her feet and generally can't be ar*ed no sparkle etc. Road work's not really an option with her as none of the riding horses are in at the mo and both the harness horses are WAY too spooky on their own. So a couple of weeks ago we boxed them up and took them to an all weather gallop, no harness on, no hopples or any gadgets just rode them and let them do their own thing whether that was in gallop or pacing, and let them play.
Next time we worked her - totally different horse, bright perky and looking forward to doing her job again. Maybe something similar might bring Bruce's sparkle back?
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Can't do gallops, don't want to stress his previous double front suspensory injury. Same thing goes for jumping too. I don't think he's bored, gets plenty of variety (school work, field work, road and field hacking and with different people depending on who's around!). But am obvs keeping both eyes on him and will see how he is on Thurs when I next ride him :)
 
Felicity_09 said:
I think I have sussed the problem!!

In the last set of photos you weren't perfectly colour co-ordinated. Sure the bandages went with the pink pad, but they weren't pink as well. It was obviously upsetting him.
Today you have gone for a lovely set of solid brown, and he is obviously much happeir with that. The remaining reluctance is due to the fact that there is only so much excitment you can muster up for brown.

Maybe you could try his lovely sky-blue set with extra bling?
Click to expand...

Pwaha!! I will try my best for blingy and blue on Thurs ;)
 
See, I know you said he's improved, and the variable you think that has caused this improvement is the energy shot. However, the other variable that changed was the bandages. I said it was the pink!


Felicity_09 said:
I think I have sussed the problem!!

In the last set of photos you weren't perfectly colour co-ordinated. Sure the bandages went with the pink pad, but they weren't pink as well. It was obviously upsetting him.
Today you have gone for a lovely set of solid brown, and he is obviously much happeir with that. The remaining reluctance is due to the fact that there is only so much excitment you can muster up for brown.

Maybe you could try his lovely sky-blue set with extra bling?
Click to expand...

I would look back at your photos, look at him being all sparkly and good, and put him back in that co-ordinating combo. He'll be right as rain in no time ;):p
 
Glad he's feeling better, love seeing brucey pics, especially the happy ones :D
Cheeky question but what make is your bridle? looking for new dressage bridle for the grey-pony who has similar type face to bruce and bruce looks so handsome in it :p
 
I am very jealous at how smart and coordinated you always look....my outfit usually consists of whatever i've worn to work that day haha or a scraffy pair of jeans. Oh to be stylish hehe :)
 
Pleased as I am to read Bruce is feeling better, can I ask nicely you to look at all of your recent pics? There doesn't appear to be one where you aren't digging into him with those spurs... perhaps some work making him lighter to your leg may improve things?
Not a bitchy comment, genuinely a constructive one...
 
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