Ask and they oblige

Decided to stick close to home this weekend.
Hand walked Luba for 30 minutes Saturday morning and trimmed her feet.
Hung around to watch her for a while.
Had a 3 month old Standardbred filly breathe on me and tickle me with her whiskers.
All in all a lovely morning at the farm.
No signs of colic or Potomac :)

Today, my friend Donna trailered over with her gelding, Skye, to join me on my typical roads and fields ride.  Luba was wound for sound. Took forever for her to line up at the mounting block and stand quietly. When she finally did, she couldn't hold back a small stomp with her back foot. As if to say, "Let's go already!"

Headed down the road to ride in the neighbour's fields. A couple miles of walking to warm up, about 5 miles @ 6.5 mph average, and then another couple of miles walking to cool down. Luba felt good and was very happy to move out - trot, extended trot and canter with a few sideways spooks thrown in for good measure.

Donna has a lovely 2 horse straight load gooseneck trailer with a ramp. She was kind enough to let me practise loading Luba.  I lead Luba on without too much fuss, Donna encouraging from behind and putting up the butt bar. Luba ate a few mouthfuls of feed while on the trailer, but that was it. I was hoping she would just tuck into her sloppy breakfast. Oh well. A couple of mouthfuls is a start.

So just waited a few minutes and then unloaded. Luba was a bit surprised, trying to find her footing on the ramp - looking for a step - and came off a bit fast. So Donna suggested we try again. This time I just stood at the back of the trailer and pointed her on and she went! Wowzers! She did that once last week at the Ganny, when Tracey was already in the trailer with her mare. This is the first time she has loaded for me like that into an empty trailer :) :) :)

So just to prove it was not a big fluke, we did it again! By this time, she had the ramp figured out and came off quite nicely.

Trailer loading with Luba always reminds me of my teacher Sonja, who says, you can't "make" a horse do anything. You ask and they oblige. Usually.

At least it is not a tie up!

Woke at 6 am, said bye to Rob and Olivia and went out to feed Luba. She ate all her breakfast and had a nice lemonade pee :) She nearly ran Chrystal over to get on the trailer and we hit the road at 8am.

Uneventful trip with good travelling weather - between 19 and 24 C as the morning wore on. Got home at noon. Unloaded and Luba started eating everything in sight and drinking.  Noticed that she did not poop on the trailer during the 4 hour trip. Hmmm.

Decided to stay and wait for poo. Eating, drinking, peeing. No pooing. At 1:30, I decided to go for a light ride to loosen her up after the drive.  Walked around the back fields, stopping to eat grass here and there.  Got back to the barn at 2:30, put her in the stall, and suddenly she hunched her back. ADR - ain't doing right. My first thought was tie up, but her hind muscles were fine. She was tucked up and didn't want me stroking her belly. Gave her some banamine (good for either scenario) and called the vet.

Dr. Ben arrived at 3:30 and diagnosed spasmodic colic (characterized by overactive gut sounds rather than the absence of gut sounds). Rectal exam revealed big follicle on her left ovary. Pulled out nice hydrated poo.  Gave her some kind of drug to "reset" her system (must ask what it was). Also gave her antibiotic because several local cases of Potomac Fever have been presenting initially as spasmodic colic and early treatment is important. We are supposed to watch for diarrhea or going off her feed accompanied by fever.  I do not usually vaccinate for Potomac, but sure will once Luba is back to her old self.  Will also start to track her heat cycles more closely to see if there is any correlation between cycling and ADR.

Went back out tonight to check her. She ate a flake of hay and was feeling good. She was quiet but seemed comfortable. Pulse a tad high (38), but nothing to keep me from sleeping tonight! Seemed to know I was worried, so pooped as soon as she came over to see me. Nice hydrated poop. EDPP. Eating, Drinking, Pooing, Peeing.

And Dr. Ben confirmed that this was not a tie up :)

Rain and Mexican

Thunder rattling the windows last night. Woke to a drizzly and then downright rainy day.

Did not ride yesterday, although Chrsytal did body work on Luba. She had lots going on in her poll (all that cow watching?) and her lumbar and hind end had some tension after the ride on Tuesday. Otherwise, she seemed okay, all things considered.

Around 11:30 I suddenly noticed that the rain had stopped! We threw on our breeches, popped in our contact lenses and off we went back to the Ganny. Headed into the central forest this time.

Luba started off feeling good and was eating like crazy and drinking out of puddles on trail. But after about 8 miles, she was wanting to go slower on the up hills. We slowed down to a walk and took a big break at the horse parking lot where she ate grass non-stop. Then she had a pee that looked like she was getting behind with her hydration. Muscles, gait and attitude all good, so we just headed back towards the trailhead by the most direct route walking all the way. Muscle sore from Tuesday? Heading back into tie-up territory?

We ended up being out almost 4 hours for almost 14 miles. Definitely more distance and more elevation than we have done since Pine Tree. HRM was wonky today - need to check that out.

Thanks to Chrystal, I did figure out how to set my Garmin map so that north is always at the top.  So now I can use it to breadcrumb my way home.

Rob got off work early enough to join us for dinner in Peterborough at La Hacienda. Great food and great company! DQ for dessert :)

Tomorrow we head home.

Untied!

Yesterday we all went riding in the Ganny.  

We went 11.5 miles. 

A good time was had by all.

Especially me.....

Luba did not tie up! 

Then Deanna and Wendy came over.

And Chrystal cooked an amazing supper.

Waiting for Chrystal and Grace who rode the 3 miles to the trailhead.

The view from here :)

Summer time flying

Captain Chrystal checking our heading

Luba's cows

The day the rains came

Luba and I travelled yesterday to Pontypool to spend a few days with our friends, the Wright-Woodhouse's.

Another hot travelling day (was 28C and humid by 9am). We hit the road by 7am. This time, I fed Luba her sloppy beet pulp breakfast with 2 oz of PnW, then gave her a dose of BCAA, another 10 oz of PnW. Seemed like a ton of elytes, but we were travelling almost 4 hours and I am trying to follow Gayle Ecker's recommendation of 4-6 oz per hour of trailering on a hot day (I am working my way up. 3 oz per hour this time). Also gave her 60cc of Herbs for Horses Ulcer Therapy Plus since she does not eat or drink well on the trailer.

We stopped in Napanee for gas. Luba looked calm, but did not want to drink. So I syringed about 6-10 syringes of water into her mouth and then she started to nibble on hay.

We arrived just before 11am and Olivia helped me set Luba up in a paddock just beside Grace and Seneca.  We have to walk through a cow pasture to get to the paddock. Luba spent most of the day watching the cows and making sure she could always see her new paddock neighbours.....

where the heck did the cows go?

I can see Grace and Seneca, but where are the cows? I know they are out there somewhere. Hmmm.

breakfast in the morning sun

I gave her 2 more ounces of PnW upon arrival. She did not drink right away, but had a nice big lemonade pee and then winked, so looks like she is also in heat. :)

Went with Chrystal to one of her massage appointments. She uses a lot of Masterson techniques on the horses. The fella she worked on is a regular client - a hunter/jumper she works on every 2 weeks. It is amazing how quickly he responded. He had a super sore back - really dropped when she palpated his back. But an hour later, he was feeling much better. Magical hands, Chrystal has!

Later in the afternoon, we went for a little ride in the Fleetwood Creek Conservation area, just down the road from the farm.  It was the perfect little ride to stretch out after the travelling. Luba was very happy to be going down the trail and boldly led a good part of the way.  She wanted a rest after the walk up the short steep hill and then was happy to move out again. I kept feeling her glutes and tried to be mindful of how forward she felt. It is great to have some hills to train on.

 I gave her another 4 oz of elyte and a dose of BCAA before we left and then 2 more oz of PnW with her supper. She drank when we got back from the ride and had another good pee, though it was not as clear as the one she had when we arrived.  She seemed like a B for cap refill before we went to bed. Not sure how much she is drinking, so will keep up with the electrolytes.

We spent the evening sitting outside, drinking sangria and eating Olivia's amazing humus with neighbour Tracy. Rain threatened, so we came in for a round of Trivial Pursuit. Did you know that Madonna's mother was born in Quebec?

Just as we went out to feed the ponies and tuck them in for the night, the rains came. Hallelujia!

My trainer working Luba

Beautiful day at the farm :)

Here is a video of my trainer working Luba on the lunge line.

Animal, vegetable, mineral?

The mineral panel is back. Luba is high for iron 2.3 ug/ml (1.3-2), copper 1.5 ug/ml (0.9-1.4) and zinc 2.4 ug/ml (0.6-1.7). Her selenium is normal 0.15 ug/ml (0.12-0.18). However, this is lower than her March test result of 0.17.


Considering her current feed, vitamin and the hay analysis I had done by Rooney's Feeds (only cost $15!!), Dr. Ben and I decided to drop down to 1 scoop per day of Nutriquin Elite (instead of 2) and add 30g of Vetre-Sel-E. That way she will get less of minerals she does not need (copper, zinc, iron) and more of what she does need to do endurance work (Vitamin E and Selenium).  We are keeping her grain to 4 cups per day  (600 g)  of Evolution Elite. If she looks like she can't hold her weight as we increase work, I can slowly bring this up. Stay the course with the progressive loading for her conditioning, including a camping/riding trip next week. Simulate a competition without the competition.


I did the math and now she was getting 1000 g of Vitamin E and 1.6 g of selenium each day. Starting today, she is getting 1550 g of Vitamin E and 2.1 g of selenium. 


We also pulled blood and it came back today. Her AST has dropped by half, confirming its 14 day half life. Her CK is 414. The reference levels for the blood chemistry from Rideau St-Lawrence Vet Services are different than those provided by Equine Profile Plus panel used by Maxville Vet Clinic. I put both of them in the table below for CK and AST since those are the ones I am obsessing about. So depending on what is "normal", she might be back to normal for AST and CK.  Not sure why they are different. Have to ask more questions and do more digging....


At any rate, she looks and feels fine from the outside. So hopefully everything on the inside is looking and feeling fine too! Hope I haven't reached my limit of Twenty Questions yet!

	2012-07-19 four weeks post tie up; 2 weeks of MagOx supplement	2012-07-06 two weeks post tie up	2012-06-23  tie up at Pine Tree	2012-03-17 annual exam
Protein 52-74	68	67	68	68	steady	can indicated dehydration if elevated
AST 150-550 or 175-340	539	1200	*******	396	declined by half in two weeks. Close to 2400 during tie up?	damaged muscles.
CK 50-250 or 120-470	414	502	*******	389	has never tested lower than 350 in 4 years	damaged, inflamed muscles, Vit E/Sel deficiency. Moderate increases (2-3x) are possible in exercising horses. Post exercise increase is less in well conditioned animals although the baseline level is somewhat higher.Similarly, horses after shipping have moderate increases in CK activity.
GGT 4-53	16	18	19	13	low end of norma	raised during episodes of overtraining or stress
Glucose 3.3-7.5	4.4	4.8	8.2	13	lower post PT	high during stressful situations
Creatinine 70-170	83	79	106	110	lower post PT	high when kidneys are working hard
Sodium 132-142	139	138	139	135	steady	can be low due to excessive sweating
Potassium 2-4.5	3.5	4.2	8.5	4.6	was high in previous years	high potassium and high chloride can be indicative of acidosis (pH imbalance). magnesium depressed by an excess of K
Na/K ratio 25-50	40	33	16	29	higher now because her K is lower
Chloride 95-105	102	103			steady	Chloride is the major extracellular anion, found together with Na+. Chloride is very important for osmolality and acid-base balance.
Calcium 2.75-3.4		3.24	3.06		steady	low calcium associated with thumps, high levels can be associated with excessive dietary supplements

Baby you were born to run

We have been back riding for a full week now. Kept the average moving speed at 4 to 4.5 miles per hour. Ride on Friday and today were were 1 hour (including 10 minute warm up and cool down). Today we cantered. How fun :)




It was hot this afternoon (in the 30 C). Luba has been very calm the past few rides. Hot weather? Settling into a routine? MagOx? She is still willing and forward. Just less spooky and stands very quietly for tacking up and mounting. :)

The vet is coming to check blood chemistry again on Thursday morning. The mineral panel is not back yet. Hopefully tomorrow. From the reading I have been doing, it seems like giving extra Vitamin E and Selenium when she is working hard is not a bad idea. Will ask Dr. Ben about Vetre-Sel-E from Bioniche. Will also ask more questions about what is "normal' levels of selenium. I know endurance horses benefit from being at the high end of normal (Luba tested at high normal in March).  Based on 4 cups/day of Evolution Elite and 2 scoops of Nutriquin Elite, she is currently getting about 1.6 mg of selenium per day.

My gut tells me she is ready to go back to "real" work, but I would like to get the okay from Dr. Ben. If everything looks good, I plan to go visit my friend Chrystal who lives near the Ganaraska forest next week for a riding holiday. It will be a good test, as it is about a 3 hour trailer ride and staying over a couple of nights. Just like going to a ride, except we can sleep in and ride whenever we want to. :) :) :)

Luba is being ridden every other day. So our next outing will be Tuesday evening. I think we should take a trip down the road, up Phelan to First line and back. That is about a 5 mile tour.  Kara is planning to come, so maybe we can alternate riding and running. I dyed my hair fuchia red yesterday, inspired by the movie, Run Lola Run.

Run Nancy Run!  Run Kara Run!  Run Luba Run!

Baby you were born to run

Constant, you should be.

Yoda from my GPS comes to mind a lot these days.


Blood chemistry and hematology back. We expected her AST to still be up, because it has a 14 day half life.  Sue Garlinghouse on tying up says, "Hence, 50% is gone within 6 hours, 75% is gone within 12 hrs, 87.5% is gone within 18 hrs, 93.75% is removed within 24 hrs, and so on."

However, her CK was at 502, more than twice the upper limit of the reference level of 250. This means that even on Friday morning, after just two days of hand walking, muscle damage was still happening.

The good news is that the rest of her blood results looks great. Dr. Henderson from Rideau St. Lawrence Vet Services says her RBC and hematocrit are what he would expect to see from a fit horse from the track. Her hydration is good and he doesn't see anything that would suggest ulcers as a contributing factor.

He suggested that I stay the course, keeping to about 40 minutes of light work, every other day. On her "rest" day, I am to hand walk her for about 20 minutes and check for any signs of muscle soreness or stiffness. This would suggest that I should slow down the exercise.  Otherwise, continue to gently increase the intensity over the next couple of weeks. Then we will check her blood chemistry again.

Went out tonight and hand walked Luba for about 20 minutes with Charlotte up (in shorts rather than a skirt this time). She was quiet, but moving well, overtracking and no issues backing up or turning. She cleaned up her sloppy supper, I buffed her feet, gave her a kiss and headed home.

The results of the mineral panel should be back tomorrow. That will give us more clues as to any kind of potential dietary adjustments.

My horoscope for this week extols the"virtues of careful preparation, rigorous 

organization, and steely resolve". I will endeavour to mirror these virtues in my approach to Luba's rehabilitation. This is also in line with the endurance adage "Never hurry, never tarry" and the Roman Augustus Ceasar, kindred of Jupiter, who said, "Make haste slowly".

But, boy, I wish she was better NOW. 

The way it is, is, Cinderella.

Pine Tree 2012 was an amazing learning experience. 

Just vetted in for PT 100. Photo credit: A. Thiel

Luba tied up at the first vet check after 19 mile of trail.  She bravely loaded onto a strange ramp load trailer and we took her back to base camp for some IV fluids. Thanks to Roy, the ambulance driver and Dr. Erin for their great care.


After we got home, I spent a week obsessively reading about tying up, running blood tests, having the hay analyzed, talking with anybody who would listen to try to figure out what went haywire.


A Canadian, Dr. Stephanie Valberg, who works out of University of Minnesota is a leading researcher in tying up.  She says, "Tying-up is a syndrome or description of a horse with muscle damage that has many different causes."  


We knew Luba was tying up because she was not as forward as usual on the trail, she got a B skin tent and for muscle tone (tight glutes) and then she peed dark. Blood we pulled just before fluids were administered was off the charts for CK and AST (muscle enzymes). Also really high potassium.


Tying up can be sporadic - horses worked beyond their level of fitness, or due to electrolyte or dietary imbalances. It can also be chronic, due to abnormal regulation of muscle contraction or storing too much glycogen (sugars) in the muscles. High strung fillies are succeptible. Dr. Valberg says,  "Triggering events include stress, excitement, lameness, high grain diets, and exercise at submaximal speeds."


So what happened to Luba? Well, both of us were pretty excited about this trip. Luba does not eat/drink well while on the trailer. And it was HOT. She did not work very hard in the days leading up to the trip. I did not ride her after we arrived at Lysane's on Wednesday because it was so HOT. She did not get ridden on Thursday upon arrival at ride camp because it was so HOT. I did not reduce her feed ration (although 4 cups of Purina Evolution Elite twice a day plus beet pulp without molasses is not a high grain feed regimen). And I did not electrolyte her enough. Plenty of potential triggering events to go around.


Dr. Gayle Ecker of Equine Guelph recommends an ounce of Perform n Win electrolyte per mile on trail. She also says 4 to 6 ounces per hour of trailering in hot weather.  I have never used this much. I have found that a bit more than half that dose has been okay. However, given the heat, the distance we were travelling and planning to ride, I was clearly not aggressive enough with my elyte protocol.


I also committed a cardinal sin. I changed something close to the ride. I started to experiment with Ride Rite electrolyte about the week before we left for Maine. I was using it to pre-load Luba before the trip. It is "stronger" than PnW, and so I was replacing two ounces of PnW with one ounce of Ride Rite. Dumb dumb dumb.


Luba has looked great throughout the whole ordeal. Even when she was on fluids, she seemed to be wondering, "Where is Mae? When do we go back on trail?"

Lemonade, good. Iced tea, bad.

Luba lives out 24/7. She stayed in on Monday night when we arrived home, as it was cold and wet outside. She got a good rub with Sore No More liniment and I left her with lots of hay and water. 


We cut her back to 2 cups of Evolution Elite twice a day. She got daily TLC, hand grazing and bodywork for 9 days. I started her back to work slowly last week. 30 minutes of hand walking Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Back under saddle on Saturday, riding 30 minutes, mostly walking and a bit of trotting. We added 5 minutes on Sunday and another 5 minutes today, with a bit more trotting each day.  The vet pulled blood last Friday, so we should have more data (yeah!) to assess her recovery in the next day or two. In the meantime, slow progressive loading is the plan.


I have also been giving her a dose of BC2A every time I work her. Branched chain amino acids help the body deal with lactic acid and reduce muscle cramping. I also added 10 g of magnesium oxide to her supplements beginning yesterday. This mineral plays a role in nerve and muscle function. Horses that are deficient can be excitable and have muscle tremors (Luba does get muscle tremors when nervous, like when she first settles at a new barn). It is often found in calming supplements.  The vet recommended trying both of these to see if it helps prevent any more nasty tie ups.


I also came to another big conclusion at Pine Tree 100. I am a Cinderella 100 miler.  We need to be going fast enough to be done by midnight, give or take an hour. Being alone out on trail until the wee hours, being hazed in by a drag rider on an ATV or motorcycle is not my idea of a good time. 


So the plan now is to work on speed and doing faster 50s.  Good thing I have some horsey friends with a need for speed.


My Tom Tom GPS has Yoda as the voice. He and Obi-Wan are full of good advice. "You cannot escape your destiny". "The way it is, is."  And of course, "Well you have driven".