Phase Two

Well wouldn't you know it would threaten to rain and be gross on the day I FINALLY get to trot Forrest! But being as determined as I was it was gonna happen rain or shine. I had already pre-planned to get his rain sheet, cover the tack and ride over it. But luckily for both Forrest and I the rain held off a couple more hours.

I have been looking forward to this day for a quite some time. Hitting this point means that Forrest has passed on of the harder parts of rehab, building and strengthen the fibers in his leg. We had slowly worked our way up to walking under saddle for 30 minutes and incorporate half passes and turn on the haunches to really strengthen the ligaments and tendons.

I must admit I was a little apprehensive about trotting yesterday. Now that we have hit this phase it means Forrest is truly “back in work” and I was wondering what he would think of it. The game plan from this point on is to walk 10 minutes and really make sure he is focused. Then we trot 30 seconds one way and 30 seconds back and add 30 seconds each way until we hit 10 minutes. For now we are stuck in the “walking” ring, but my trainer placed some flags and markers up so I would know what path we should take. Once we hit 5 minutes we will move to the front field by the road where there is a 5 minute stretch that he can trot without having to constantly turn around every 30 seconds.

So yesterday Forrest and I walked our 10 minutes, which after spending the last couple weeks at 10+ minute breezed by, and then it was finally time to trot. I almost didn’t want to. Why you must ask? Well our walking area isn’t the flattest place which is great for what we are doing to build strength, but part of the “course” that was marked had a short steep hill and not knowing how far 30 seconds would take on my course made me nervous about trotting down that hill with his leg. So instead of starting at the top of the course, I started below where it was flatter and hoping the chance I make it to the hill, more near the top of the course, would be before I hit 30 seconds.

 Well wouldn’t you know that just after the hill marked 30 seconds! So we trotted up the little hill and since I was very apprehensive of trotting down I made him walk down the hill pick up the trot and trot a little longer on the bottom of the course past the flags to make up the time. I think we’ll save the hill for another day, you know like 5-10 minutes! But of course I am sure you are wondering what Forrest thought of his trotting abilities now? Well he lets just say he was SUPER happy! He stayed on the frame, but definitely leaned on me and wanted to just GO, but I just held on and let him go. As long as we were doing a slow sitting trot I didn’t want to fuss at him to much since he has a short temperament for some things and last think I needed was to fight my horse on the first day of trotting. His forwardness was a combination of excitement to do something other than walking and not having done it in several months with a rider. But he was a superb boy and I am excited to keep trucking along as we move through our rehab.

At this point in the stage, while we are watching his leg every day we are more working on fitness level with him bringing it back to normal without over stressing him or the leg. The leg looks amazing and practically normal. There is a small amount of fluid left in the leg but I am confident that within a week or two it should be gone. I am just so thrilled the drastic difference his leg has taken in a couple of days and luckily for us after Wednesday it will be low 20s and high 40s that will really enable us to attack the rest of the fluid and get rid of it!

                                                                          December 16, 2012

                                 

 

                                                                               December 12, 2012

                                 

 

So on to another stage in rehab: Trotting! J

2 Minutes everyday and counting!

Well were about half way through December and Forrest is moving right along. The periods of unseasonable warm days, 70 degree ones, did not help his progress at all. Since there is some edema left in his leg it will flare up on warm days. This is both good in bad. Good because it breaks up the fluid which allows us to break it down and out, however bad because our progress moves slower as we are being cautious when the leg gets bigger. Last week I started at 10 minutes and added 2 minutes every day thereafter. Unfortunately by Thursday we had to stop and continue doing 16 minutes through the weekend. While I understand the process and why, it was still very frustrating.

                                  

According to our original time line, which I know is subject to change; we were supposed to be trotting by the first full week in December. With the heat it has slowed us down considerably. The goal is to have him ready, SAFELY, for the March 2012 horse show and compete in hunters/jumpers up to 2’6/7. While the TCHS is most definitely in the picture we also had about 6 weeks to accommodate and “setbacks” and still be on schedule. Well now we are down to four weeks HOWEVER Forrest’s leg has bounced back and with the streak of super cold weather he will be ready to trot by the 17^th! So looking good.

I have been told that most of the strengthening of the ligaments and tendons is created during the walk where it is safer and easy to judge. We took an extra two weeks at the walk to make extra sure his leg is ready for the next phases: trotting and cantering. These two phases, while will also strengthen the ligaments, are more for fitness and not overdoing the leg with gradually building his muscle and fitness level then just tossing him back in. We don’t want to strain the leg too much until its fitness matches Forrest. Forrest is still sound with no flexion reaction or palpitation reaction. Though he will move his leg for the daily DMSO application…but I don’t blame him!

While walking Forrest we notice that his hind is a bit stiff and sore and luckily for him we got him a massage that lasted and hour and a half Wednesday! I swear this horse has had everything: acupuncture, chiropractic work, messages, etc. and what do I get…nothing! On top of it all he also got an early christmas gift and I purchases a back on track pad that I can ride in so it will help his muscles as we go! Forrest is accumulating some serious bills, he better get better and start earning money back! J

While adding two minutes every day is slow, it means progress. I will admit that I have become VERY frustrated on Tuesday when it just seemed that Forrest was progressing or going anywhere. The weather was warm; we had to hold back, etc. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but I just felt defeated and at that point wanted to give up, toss him out in the field and see him again in a year. While that wouldn’t hurt him, at the same time I know that his rehab is just as important for him and as much as I really wanted to just give up, a big part of me wouldn’t (THANK YOU BIG PART).

I will say that I have noticed a big difference in Forrest. This taking things slow thing has REALLY helped with his focusing and framing. At this point, he doesn’t bulge his shoulder out anymore, he stays consistently in a frame and pushes from behind, and a lot less fuss in general. This slow approach I know will make us even better! We don’t have to relearn everything, but I think it in itself will push us farther than when he injured himself.

So all in all things are going well. We talk our “track” every day and continuing adding our 2 minutes. While Forrest I know is probably bored out of his mind, he is being good. I will say he got some excitement yesterday when he decided that Lilly, the barn kitty, was going to EAT him when she walked out of the barn. That was fun! Nothing like no stirrups and your horse jumping 10 feet to the left out of fear of being eaten…but what can I say, it wouldn’t be Forrest otherwise!

We did end the week with a photo op with his "brother" Indy. I had purchased him an OTTB blue Ribbon that supports After the Finish Line and Forrest, these things are starting to get to his head, got one as a gift as well. So I took both ribbons and both boys and "made" them share some space and take some pictures! What good boys!

                            

A minute everyday

Well I have decided to update weekly. I know that every minute I add to his walking is exciting to me, it most definitely isn't to everyone else and I couldn't imagine writing on every minute….boring. So as of today it has been a solid week since I started to walk Forrest under saddle myself. We started at 5 minutes and added a minute every day. Today we will start to add 2 minutes every time which will put us at 30 minutes of walking and the point in which we graduate to adding some trotting! J

Forrest has been doing very well. The leg has been looking really good and we knew it would be interesting since he has my weight on him for the first time in months. Of course as should be expected with Forrest and his Rehab his leg only got smaller the more minutes we added to his “workout.” And yes it most definitely is a work out; only Forrest could have sweat marks under his girth at the walk but then again we aren't exactly on a loose rein either. We have been getting him to walk up from behind, to help his hip, and leg yielding every day. While he has been getting annoyed at the fact that “leg” is being applied I believe he is happy to have a “job” at the moment.

So the week went well and he progressed as we thought. However we did hit a pivotal moment in his rehab this weekend. There is nothing like getting a call from your trainer and starting it off with: “: you know how I always tell you I am so happy with the leg, it looks great, exactly where I expected it to be,” (insert moment of panicking as I thought it looked terrible), “ well today I went to check the leg and ran my hand down his leg as I always do and for once actually had to DOUBLE CHECK if I had the right leg and even after the second time running my hand down had to LOOK AGAIN to be sure.”

Haha, yep basically she was beside herself with shock at how GOOD it looked. She had her expectations and what she felt and saw blew those out of the water. For the first time in a transition of rehab Forrest’s Tendon Sheath was no longer swollen. This is usually something we account for which is why we usually account for 2-3 days of plateauing work and keeping it the same before adding more. She basically said if he was further along in his walking, and she was half tempted to forgo it anyways, we would start trotting today. But we have our game plan and sticking to it no matter how fast the leg heals we will continue with our timeline. I was so happy to know that the leg is further along than his rehab schedule. But in the long run this basically means when it comes time to trot, canter and eventually jump that his tendon will be ready for it and be stronger.

His leg in general looks amazing. It’s practically gone and at about 95% healed swelling wise. It was even better to hear someone who hasn't seen his injury in a couple months, come and take a look and the first thing they say is “What exactly am I looking at?” J We have decided to schedule the next scan the week of Christmas. This should have Forrest and I trotting for about 14 days before the scan along with a drop in degree in his pads. Unfortunately with the warmer weather, it does make it harder to reduce the rest of the edema in his leg, but when it’s hot out we’ll cold hose/ice the leg to counteract it. So we will keep going and adding two minutes the next week and be ready to rock and roll at the trot next week!