It's too damn hot

 Today was miserable! I desperately needed to sleep in and I don't think it would have mattered had I gotten up at 5 am. The humidity is so bad today. This morning was like being in a fish bowl! And then it just got hotter and not much less humid. So... we didn't ride today. At all. I didn't do much today. Well, I loaded and unloaded 23 bales of hay and washed the horse trailer and two blankets. But I did do some work with Dan. Because... priorities. The girls got the day off. 

 

I took Dan up to the arena and we did some more lunging. I put the bell boot on his right front this time. And I put the reins in the top ring which I liked better. He's so smart! He did awesome and I was better at it too, so we actually had a decent connection too. (To the sidepull, but still). He was mostly in pillar 1 or at least not bracing during our session today. And I didn't have to crank on his neck today. Maybe once... I even got him to go "out" in the circle and square himself up and bend around an imaginary inside leg and use his outside shoulder effectively. I didn't have any poles out so we just lunged. He looked better in the beginning and got fatigued which showed the lameness more obviously. And it's definitely worse tracking right. But... maybe a bit better in the beginning. I did ask for a short canter... like not even a full circle each way. The left side was decent but he fell out of it pretty quickly. The right side was still a struggle and he had to fight to stay in it and couldn't hold it for long at all. But good try buddy! Good try!

 

So then I did some electro and he was very reactive! I don't know if it's because the K tape was still there or the flies were out... or what. But we managed to get two needles in with electricity and a almost the whole 15 minutes. I also tried to get him to turn his head right and left and do the "nerve glide" while we did it but that only happened a little bit. Then I rinsed him off and at that point just pulled the K tape off as it was peeling off anyways. 

 

As far as I can tell so far.. it does still appear to be atrophy of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus. It's impressive how long Dan's scapula is! And he is still striding short and not coming past the point of his chest/forward in any gait. (Except for when he paws at the lake.. then the reach is impressive, so... is he recruiting other muscles when he's standing still? Is it a weight bearing thing vs non-weight bearing... or is it a legit true lameness in the foot or something, ie a weight bearing lameness?) But from what I can tell, that fits with the short stride... and so far.. the best treatment is pillar work and electro and pneumo and all the things I'm doing... chinese herbs, PT, and acupuncture. The only one I'm not sure about is shockwave. Should I actually shockwave the atrophied muscles? Should I shockwave the point of the shoulder to help calm (or maybe anger) the supraspinatus nerve? Or should I stick to shockwaving the lower cervicals and surgical site which is in theory, where he injured the nerve (or more likely a branch of the supraspinatus)? I don't know the answer to this. I did ask Dr. Kate... and I guess if I don't hear back by Friday, I'll just do it and see what happens. Well... actually, I won't see what happens because I'm leaving Friday afternoon, but... I guess I can do it and... hopefully have Allison tell me what happens?! 

Good pony though! 

Hydrotherapy for the win!

 Ahhh, today did my heart good!

 

I rode Funny and Lyric this morning and worked on Marvin. And then... I decided that Dan was a priority and grocery shopping and going to AT&T could wait... so I loaded him up and we headed to Ashland for rehab therapy. :) However, before that.... I watched him canter across the pasture and do three flying changes. Clean flying changes. So that's exciting!! (Clearly we've entirely given up on the whole stall rest thing and even the "stay calm and behave" thing... and since he's stopped eating his trazadone, we're not even doing that!). And then when Marvin was getting worked on there was much antics going on. And somehow... Dan turned into a pumpkin! Ha ha... He was SOOOO orange. Like neon orange. I'm guessing he had a good roll in the red clay by the arena. And since we got rain yesterday evening... it stuck good! Doh! 

 

We got to Ashland and we headed out to the lake. I let him have a few snacks on the way. We took some of the hilly paths and went through the woods, so there was terrain. There were a lot of roots that I noticed today so hopefully that gave him good proprioceptive feedback. We got to the lake and he just stood at the edge. Dan... come on sir! So, fine... I doubled up his lead rope and walked him up to the mounting block and hopped on. Ahhhh... I've missed you sir! Then he went into the lake and splashed a bunch. He got me soaked! He even went for a very short swim/almost swim. So of course, now my boots were drenched and my shorts and half my tank top were drenched. Then he tried to leave the lake and holy cow... he was slick! I almost slid off. I also had one hand on my phone and no real reins (just the lead rope tied back to the halter at the knot under his chin), so... he managed to get back up on shore and because hew as so slippery, I just slid off. 

 

Okay... let's try again. And since I was so soaked already, I just walked in the lake with him. And then he had fun. We splashed... and he's so smart. He pawed and then when I told him "the other foot" he swapped and pawed with the right front. YES SIR!! That's how you activate those muscles! Although honestly... the reach he was getting with that limb was impressive! Kind of makes me wonder.....  But seriously though... his atrophy is back but he seems... longer than his scapula. So like... is it actually his supra and infraspinatus that atrophied? But I think it has to be. I mean... you could feel his scapular spine. I think he's just got a really big shoulder! But I also started thinking... okay, maybe the shortness is pain vs nerve/muscle.. because he can clearly reach that limb forward, so... maybe it's a weight bearing thing now? Sigh... so now I'm wondering if he needs his coffin joint injected.. or foot rads... or ??? But... we'll keep rehabbing for the week and then I'll see what I have left when I get back. 

    

But Dan and I had a blast... splashing... and then he went for another almost swim. And then... he decided he was done. I didn't want to overdo it because... that was some violent work sir! So we walked back home. I let him go in the field instead of the woods because of the bugs and I figured he could graze a little and then we could do the hills. We also took advantage of two of the logs and walked over those. He did the cutest little jump over the first one. But he did reach over with his front right first. So yay!

 

I did give him a good rinse to get the lake cooties off and to get rid of some of the red clay stain. It helped a little. Then we headed home and before dinner, I k-taped his shoulder. 

But yep... I was singing God's praises today. I really really really think the surgery was a success from a nerve point. Dan has seemed much happier to see me... his ears are pricked much more consistently. He is coming up to me in the pasture. And clearly he feels good and is playing. His posture also looks better most of the time. Thank you God!!! And, while the biggest goal was to get him comfortable... I would like to ride him again too. And at this point, I think I can. I don't know that I can jump him... or that he'll be competition sound, but... I would feel comfortable hacking him. So... thank you God for blessing me with more time on Danimal. And thank you extra because... he's already starting to wreac havoc on my farm without being in work. :) Another benefit to the field trip today. I think his brain was happier to be out and about and have a trailer ride. 

It's almost silly how much I love his ridiculous self. 

 

 

I can be smarter!

 I outsmarted Dan today! Mostly. :) 

I decided that I was going to do my part. We were going to try to rehab him so that he's using himself correctly and hopefully reminding his brain that his scapular muscles still exist. Because dangit... I really think the surgery was successful. He seems so much happier and less angry and guarded when I walk up into him the pasture and overall. So... dammit.... if it worked.... I'm not going to let some sweeney get in our way! And... I'm praying hard that God puffs his muscles back up again too!

 

So... I thought I would try double lunging/long lining. Plus we'll do the equiband. So I gathered all my things (and apparently dropped my bell boot for proprioception). We headed to the arena. And of course by now it was MEGA humid because it was threatening to storm and hot, but... oh well. We wouldn't be out here long. I definitely don't want to overdo it. 

 

I hooked him up and I'm so darn proud of him! He remembers... All of it. I was even able to direct him without having to be behind him.... like.. just by steering with the reins and using voice commands. My pony is so smart!! Smart enough that he grabbed the outside rein a few times and tried to play tug of war and take off too. :) Ha! BUT... because I had the double reins (attached to the cavesson, not a bit) I was able to haul him around. Not ideal for his neck.... ugh. But, I only had to do it a few times. I do need to figure out how to best do the lines. I pretty much just went from his cheeks to the side rings on the surcingle, which is a nice inside and outside rein, but... maybe too much like side reins. Maybe I need to go up to the higher ring? I'm afraid if I run them from the side ring to the bit and up through the upper ring I'll have too much leverage... I don't know. I'll have to think on this. 

 

But today was mostly just testing the waters. We mostly walked and focused on getting the hang of things again. Except Dan wanted to trot some... so I let him. And we walked over poles. Even the 4 in a row in a straight line!! I did try to get him straight and off the forehand and stepping into the outside rein, but... I'm not sure I accomplished it for most of the workout. But I tried. And I think we'll get better. 

We finished up after 20 minutes because that is plenty! And he seemed happy and content. And had good butt foam. Granted, it was hot and humid, so...  He got a nice rinse and a carrot for being such a good boy. After his rinse I did a few hannah somatic stretches to remind his brain that that leg can go forward. He was too busy trying to mug me for treats to really focus, but.. I'll definitely keep doing that. 

 

Earlier today he got his feet done and Patrick agreed that he was definitely atrophied. He also struggled a little bit with balancing with his feet up in the air for getting his shoes on. But... he wasn't terrible. Then I talked to Amanda this afternoon and she gave me some suggestions. So I did some fascial work over the atrophied muscles. And I got lots of releases. Whether or not it'll wake up (or calm down and organize) those nerves to help those muscles... I have no idea. But, I have no idea how to help him best, so... I will just do all the things! Which means that he will get more acupuncture/electro and maybe more pneumo... and K tape. AND.... I think I'm going to start taking him to Ashland to paw/splash in the lake to help stimulate the forward movement of that limb. And someone suggested going "nerve glide" while I do that, which means basically turning his head to the right and then to the left while he paws. 

While I was doing his fascial work, Funny got some payback! Ha ha... 

 

 

Better!?!

 I think he's a hair better! He's definitely not dragging his toe other than maybe every once in a while. But definitely not every step or even frequently. And he looks less neuro. He's still a bit short strided but it's not as obvious unless you're looking. 

 

This morning Funny broke free from being led back to the barn.. chaos ensued... ultimately causing Lyric to go galloping off whih meant that Dan also cantered around a bit. It was hard to tell from far away but.. no falling down. I couldn't really see enough to say if he looked sound at the trot or the canter was normal, but...again, he didn't fall down. 

 

He's also much happier now that he's out. I think it was the right choice. I get it.... But, honestly.. he was getting depressed.. he wasn't eating (though that could be the chinese herbs or the trazadone pills) and he was just getting angrier. And I was struggling with having to add all that extra time. And at least if he's out, he can move around on his own accord and do his own rehab. 

We did get to do a little bit of rehab today. We did our culdesac walk with pillars. His scapula is still inflated although maybe starting to deflate a little bit again. He is able to do pillar 3 although not great. It almost looks as if he's "throwing" it over vs picking and lifting, but we'll keep trying. And he's definitely better about stretching to both sides for cookies. And the downhill seems better. We also did our ditch zigzags. Although... at one point a few crows jumped out cawing and scared the tar out of us both. He jumped and when he landed, his hind end looked a hair neurologic. It was so quick though I can't really say for sure. 

I plan to try to electro him again tomorrow or thursday and may also try to lunge him. I just didn't want to dash my hopes today, but... I am hopeful again. And... no reason to push it. Though it's really hard for me not too!

More Treatments... and some giving up

 Sigh....

so... I did more acupuncture.... because now he has sweeney. On that right shoulder. So... I found out which channels were affected... balanced them out with the balance method... which, he didn't give me quite as many releases, but... 

 

then I did electro over the atrophied area. And he was a bit concerned but stood, especially because I was feeding him cookies. though in retrospect, I may have done it too much. Someone else mentioned that I needed to not get a visible response because it works better if I don't. I'll have to reread the why.. something about afferent fibers vs pain fibers. Doh. then I was brave and did pneumo.... it still creeps me out. He looks SOOO much better but it's all fake. 

 

But then... he's now super lame again on that limb. Sigh.... he's dragging his toe. can't advance the limb. Sigh... dammit. I thought I was helping!

So I had a meltdown.... talked with God.. here I go again.. trying to fix things instead of just trusting... but how do I know when i'm supposed to "pick up the shovel and start digging" vs... just sit and wait. sigh..

So... this afternoon.. he just seemed unhappy. It's hot as molasses... Or hotter... whatever is really hot... and I just.. turned him out. I figured he was so sore still he wasn't going to be stupid.. maybe movement is better?? (Although maybe more rest is better because clearly stimulating it with EAP didn't help).... but I'm tired.. he's tired... we're both grumpy... so I just turned him out. He wandered out... and was just grazing. But maybe walking better today.. so maybe the EAP was just a bit much and he had to recover. I'll give him today off from it and do it again tomorrow but MUCH lighter.

So then I went back out to check on him and he was laying down in the sand pit. And Lyric was pawing at him (just about). I went out to check.. he was fine. I think he was sooo happy to lay down and wallow... but he wasn't quite sure of himself so he didn't try to roll all the way over. Or he did and I missed it. He groaned a bit and finally got up. Then walked up to the hose and tried to rip it off the fence. Okay... phew.. you're still Dan.

I ended up leaving them out but he basically went and put himself back in a stall because it's hot as all get out. 90 plus. and feels like 97. It's gonna be like this all week too. UGHHHHH.

So... i just let him out in the big field tonight. it's easier.. better water system.. the hills will be rehab because I backed off on the lunging for now... and it's just.. going to make his heart, head, and gut happier. And my life easier.