Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Rachael

September and October Update

So the past few months have been very up and down for me and my horses. The showing and side saddle season has come to an end and Sleet has been diagnosed with something I never would have expected!

We started out with a great trip to Burghley on the 5th September. Lots of walking was involved obviously, as I dragged my father round the cross country course, but I think he soon came to realise the joys of watching these talented riders leap over some extremely substantial fences! We paid a visit to the lovely Andy at the S.Milner and son saddlery stand and then moseyed round the Land Rover stand dreaming of upgrading good old 'Thomas'. It was a great day; I didn't spend too much, and saw some great riders in action.

On the 9th September we attended the BSHA Hunter championships at Addington. After an extremely early start (4am), we made it to the venue with plenty of time and we were ready and looking good for our first class. Kingsclough Masquerade (Marcus) was an angel as he went beautifully for myself, and the judge, and we were placed in both the HOYS Ladies class and the Great Scott Hunter of the year. When it came to our evening performance, Marcus was great. He was a bit strong, but he was only enjoying himself in the atmosphere. In the end we came 7th in the HOYS and 6th place in the Great Scott Hunter of the year! I finally made it home at 12:45am. A huge thanks to owner Amanda Chatfield, and husband David for your continued support!

September also saw our article for the Petplan Equine customer magazine 'Paces' published. It was great to read the finished article and see it in print. I have a box of them and proudly handed them out to friends and family. The article covers the session Russell Guire of Centaur Biomechanics. We worked on a trot up evaluating Sleet's movement and then a ridden evaluation of us as a pair. Russell was great to work with and Sleet was the most amazing I've ever known him! He stood with sticky dots on for hours while the photographers took seemingly endless amounts of photos. The backdrop was blowing in the wind and the flash was going off randomly. Seeing the article has reminded me how awesome my horse is.

On the 13th September I made my first competitive venture out on Lord Gale (Lordie). We went to Hargate Equestrian and rode the walk and trot dressage test. I made the decision to go HC so I could leave his overreach boots on. The problem with Lordie is that he has such a huge over track he collides with himself regularly, so I took the option of having him out and getting the experience for him, but saving his legs and going HC. He was great in his test, only one big wobble in the HC corner, but we scored 62% which I was really pleased with for his first test.

Sleet had great fun on the 20th September competing in the ODE at Eland Lodge which was a team event. Sleet went brilliantly as always with a 37 score in dressage (reasonable for him on the relatively hard ground), then flew the show jumping and cross country as always! He was truly a great ride and attacked everything on the cross country course in his usual 'leave me alone I know what I am doing' manner! As a team, we weren't lucky enough to get placed, but all enjoyed the day.

On the 26th September I had a lesson booked with Rick Orton at Diamond Equestrian. Sleet strangely still seemed a little stiff after the ODE, so I took Lordie instead. He was very well behaved and even managed to not break out in a horrid sweat on arrival.

During the week commencing 28th September, I still wasn't convinced about Sleet's soundness as to me he was unlevel on the right hind, and becoming sore through the back, mainly in the lumbar region. I called the vet out for a lameness evaluation and he concluded that Sleet was possibly slightly lame on the right. I knew my horse wasn't right so I pushed for a full work up at the vets. A week later he went in and this was possibly the most heart breaking and upsetting day I've ever had with this horse. Sleet is my horse of a lifetime, he's given me 110% in everything I've asked of him, and after ten years together I owe him everything. I sat in the car and waited for him, even though the vets said he would be there all day. After a few hours, the vet called me in. Sleet was sedated and looking very sorry for himself. We went through his x-rays and scans and the vet explained that he had arthritic changes in both hocks (which I had suspected anyway) and the spinal x-rays showed the presence of 'Kissing spine syndrome' (DSPI – dorsal spinous process impingement). He has one pair contacting, so it could have been a lot worse, but to me it was devastating news.

A couple of weeks later, Sleet went back to the vets for his treatment. The hock joints were medicated, and he had a round of Equidronate. With medicating the hocks the hope is that he will work slightly better from behind and begin to redevelop the muscle along the topline. This should support the spine and therefore aid in separating the contacting processes without the need for surgery. A rehab program was discussed with vets of long line, lunge, pole and water work, and with my knowledge of rehabilitation, we are hopeful.

A rehab diary for sleet is currently underway, and will be available for reading at www.optimalequine.co.uk/about-us/sleets-rehabilitation.

On the 11th October, a few days later, Lordie went out to do some more dressage. This time it was Eland lodge, and another walk and trot test. We rode competitively this time, and although he had a small stress in the warm up (mainly at seeing himself in the mirrors), we achieved a good score of 64.1% with some nice comments. An improvement on our first test and we finished in 5th place.

Over the last few weeks, I have been focusing on working my horses from home; Sleet on his rehab programme and progressing Lordie's ridden career. All of them are now clipped, including little Tristan, as he was getting very sweaty with all his playing in his big woolly coat!

Top tip for the festive season

I know that many people struggle with fireworks and their horses; fortunately I've always been lucky with mine. When I first bought Sleet I used to stable bandage and give larger banks in the stable. Now, when the first few go bang, he just has a look out and then goes back to munching. Last year was Tristan's first year of fireworks, and we didn't know what would happen. He seemed to not be too fazed, and again after the first few, went back to munching. This year I play it safe with Lord Gale, as he is unknown to me in this situation.

I will always keep horses in on bonfire night so they cannot be hit by falling fireworks or lanterns. I start playing a radio reasonably loudly, quite early on in an attempt to drown out the fireworks and I provide my horses with plenty of distractions in the form of treat balls full of nuts and carrots Finally, if you're worried your horse will climb the walls or doors, stable bandages or even travel boots all round will minimise any damage they do to the limbs.