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A Little Horse Therapy
I'm currently in the process of recuperating from a broken humerus in my left arm. That would be the bit bone between your shoulder and your elbow. I broke it March 31st during a fall from a new horse I got off the racetrack. It's not like I'm an inexperienced rider. I rode and started racehorses when I was younger. I actually remember thinking before that I needed to take her back to the roundpen because she wasn't paying enough attention to me. I shoulda listened to my intuition. Ah well, they say hindsight is 20/20.. and they would be correct. Actually I was going to jump off and go back to the roundpen when she ducked back, started to trot. I picked up the reins thinking "nah, we're goin to the roundpen girlfriend."... and then all hell broke loose.
Yup, I am not as young as I used to be. I broke my arm rather badly, have since had a dentist remove a wisdom tooth (it wasn't working anyways.. LOL), my hair has been going grey for the last few years and to top it all off I now have to wear bifocals. So yes... I'm going grey, my bones are brittle, my teeth are falling out, and I'm going blind. Nice to know that age is finally catching up with me.
The one thing I have to say about coming back from that fall is that I still have my nice little quarter horse mare whom I broke a few years ago. She is so broke that while I can't raise my left arm above my head, she's short and she always drops her head down enough for me to latch up the halter and put the bridle on her. She actually turns her head and grabs the bit from me. And she needs the riding. A couple months off have been a little too nice to her. Yup, she's very very fat right now. It does give me a good incentive to work very hard to get myself out to the barn and struggle to get the cutting saddle on her back then ride. It also encourages me to follow through on my physical therapy exercises.
As for the 3 year old that dumped me, she's getting some lessons in how not to spook. Somewhere along the line before me, she didn't really connect up with people. I guess it doesn't help that she is also on pasture board. I'm trying to think of new ways to connect with her like I have with Lilo who will look up at me from across the field when I call her name.
Yup, I am not as young as I used to be. I broke my arm rather badly, have since had a dentist remove a wisdom tooth (it wasn't working anyways.. LOL), my hair has been going grey for the last few years and to top it all off I now have to wear bifocals. So yes... I'm going grey, my bones are brittle, my teeth are falling out, and I'm going blind. Nice to know that age is finally catching up with me.
The one thing I have to say about coming back from that fall is that I still have my nice little quarter horse mare whom I broke a few years ago. She is so broke that while I can't raise my left arm above my head, she's short and she always drops her head down enough for me to latch up the halter and put the bridle on her. She actually turns her head and grabs the bit from me. And she needs the riding. A couple months off have been a little too nice to her. Yup, she's very very fat right now. It does give me a good incentive to work very hard to get myself out to the barn and struggle to get the cutting saddle on her back then ride. It also encourages me to follow through on my physical therapy exercises.
As for the 3 year old that dumped me, she's getting some lessons in how not to spook. Somewhere along the line before me, she didn't really connect up with people. I guess it doesn't help that she is also on pasture board. I'm trying to think of new ways to connect with her like I have with Lilo who will look up at me from across the field when I call her name.
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Comment by Ann Crago on June 30, 2009 at 11:34am
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....Oh...ouch...I also broke that bone right in half and because of the same reason...riding a horse I didn't know ...but that was 20 years ago and I was 35....still took the best part of 4 months to really heal....having a young family at the time with house work and everything we women do...the 2 halfs just won't stay together so they could heal ...Love it when the Dr. says...well just take it easy and don't do anything or it will never knit together....Wanted to ask him to come to my house and be my maid for 2 or 3 months !!!!
Anyhow ...all is well...and the bone healed better than my courage....for17 years I had a wonderful little Welsh-Arabian ..Suzie...who looked after me and kept me riding...I lost her 2 years ago.....
My new guy..Ziggy..is a sweet haflinger..but he is green and they are strong...I'm getting to trust him a little more and riding out of the arena more often...but I still can't bring myself to teach him canter yet....I'm no spring chicken either anymore...and it does get more difficult to call up courage with every passing year...Still we hang in there...just being able to spend time with them is the best place in the world to be.........Best Wishes for a full recovery Desirea.....for me the therapy was more painful than the break....but you sound like you are on your way !!!!
All the best....Cheers...Ann
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Comment by Jackie Cochran on June 29, 2009 at 1:50pm
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Ooh, isn't it frustrating to find your new horse has a mystery lameness.
It is so good of you trying to help this mare.
Sometimes I think that race horses give up on trying to connect with people, that they come to the conclusion that no one will ever bother to listen to them. It can be real hard to connect with a horse that has come to that conclusion.
I hope that your arm heals well. At least you have your cooperative horse who realizes that yes, you do listen to horses and do your best to make their lives better.
I have been working with an arthritic 20+ Arab mare who had also decided that no one would ever listen to her. After around six months of work she finally started looking at us as if we might be friends rather than fiends from the Andromeda galaxy. I am still looking forward to the day in which she will finally look at me and see a friend instead of a task-master.
Your horses are lucky to have a rider of your experience and kindness.
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Comment by Desirea Herrera on June 29, 2009 at 1:28pm
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that's just it Jackie, I have had her out on pasture with other horses. I worked on the tracks but then I tended to work with elite horses who were pampered quite a bit. Missy seems like a horse that the handlers didn't think would run well and so they didn't take the time to connect with her. Unfortunately, she is currently unsound due to god knows what. She's barefoot and in a pasture. Can't find any swelling anywhere, hoof testers don't reveal anything. It comes and it goes. I know she's been bitten and put in her place but after 5 months she should have learned her place in the pecking order. She does have some roaching right over her loin. Makes me wonder if there is a problem higher up in her pelvis. I may have to call Helen Meredith out at United Pegasus. Helen might take her there and they might have some resources to devote to getting her sound that I don't have now that I'm just coming off disability.
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My suspicion is that a 3 yr. old OTTB has never learned how to relate to people on a personal level. I would really start slow and keep her in the pasture (where the other horses are hopefully teaching her adult horse manners) and she can learn to stretch out and relax. And go back to the beginning in training, she really does not know much about being a regular riding horse, and it will take time for her to learn. Be prepared to repeat everything several times, when you move fast, well she was trained to move fast, and she has to learn new responses to stimulus.
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