We have had 6 ½ inches of rain down here in the last two weeks, and of that 5 inches fell this week.  All the ponds, creeks and rivers are swollen, there are puddles everywhere, the horses’ winter coats are getting all muddy and matted, and I think every single bug on my land is trying to get into my house to get out of the wet.

Even so I have been able to ride some.  These have not been exciting rides since I have less energy since I started changing my medicines around, but there have been a few favorable developments.  On the other hand there have been a few unfavorable developments that I really hope go away and quit plaguing me.

I started to regain my walking speed by the Sunday after my first dose of Gilenya, it is just that my endurance is around half of what I had recently, so by the time I get into the saddle I am more tired than usual.  Last Sunday Cider was much happier with my side-to-side balance and she gave me several more straight strides than usual.  She seems to have an allergy that causes weeping in the eyes, so she may have been more cooperative due to blurry vision (Shannon is treating her.)  She gave me great contact throughout our ride even though I rapidly got tired.  After 25 minutes I was too tired to ride any longer, and when I got home I just collapsed.

I was looking forward to my lesson on Wednesday that week, but it rained all Tuesday night and the  footing in Debbie’s ring was in bad shape.  That Friday the ring had drained off enough so I could get a lesson in with Debbie.  Mia was coated with dried up mud, so grooming her was a dusty affair!  Even with me using my slicker brush every week I have trouble keeping up with the fungus in her coat.  I was pretty tired by the time I mounted up, so we just meandered around in the ring for a while before we trotted, and then I got another encouraging sign that my new medicine is doing me some good, Mia let me keep contact during the posting trot unlike the week before when she started slinging her head around from the second step of the trot.  Rejoice!  However I just could not coordinate my aids enough to get Mia to do a turn on the hindquarters at the walk, and Mia gave me exactly what she thought I was asking for which did not resemble a turn on the hindquarters very much at all.  Debbie got after me about my hands being too high, and she corrected my lower leg a few times.  This ride, with several trots, got me really tired and I did not recover my energy until Sunday.

And on Saturday night the heavens opened up, and through Monday evening we had over 4 inches of rain, so I could not ride Cider.  I sat around, moping a little bit because I not only could not ride but nothing much is getting done to get my new mobile home ready for moving in.  It has just rained too much. 

I could not get a lesson this week with Debbie since she has gone out of town.  I went out on Wednesday to take care of and ride Mia.  She had been trimmed by the farrier on Tuesday so her left leg was really stiff, so her hind hooves just got cleaned out and treated with thrush medicine.  I just trotted Mia enough to see that she still was happy enough with my contact at the posting trot; she did not sling her head around at all.  I practiced my two-point and my back started hurting in spite of me wearing my Back on Track back brace.  Years ago my back muscles were quite weak and my back hurt every time I did the two-point, and it took me years to get my back muscles strong enough so they did not hurt.  Now the pain is back, and I am not very happy about this since back pain is a listed side effect of the Gilenya.  Mia’s cough was also a little worse.

I saw my neurologist on Thursday, the first time since I started the Gilenya two weeks ago.  He seemed disappointed that I was not gushing about how wonderful my new medicine was!  In addition to losing my endurance, my aching back and my coordination getting worse, all of a sudden my left thumb feels like it is double jointed with an additional bump in the thumb joints.  I have never had this problem before, fortunately my Back on Track gloves are helping the pain.  In fact I have been wearing my Back on Track gloves, back brace and neck dickey constantly for the increased pain.  My memory is worse, and I am having difficulty with spelling, especially spelling names.  This is worrying to me because I tend to be the person everyone asks when they want to know the proper spelling of a word.  I am using my dictionaries a lot right now.  It feels like my brain is changing every day and I have to be very careful in what I say to people because I am definitely not saying the “right” words when I respond to someone!  This adds to my already increased anxiety.  I am hoping that as my new medicine takes effect that I will get to a new normal and that I can successfully adapt to all these changes in my nervous system, probably in three to six months.

Yesterday I went out to ride Mia again.  It was misting all through my ride.  Mia’s left hind was feeling better so I was able to rasp all of her hooves and she was a little bit more willing to move out.  The ring was sopping wet, with vast puddles, and we splashed around the ring trying to find the driest paths around the jumps.  We trotted three times, and each time Mia let me keep contact without any protests, and her turn on the hind quarters was a bit better, so maybe my coordination is coming back.  I barely managed to ride a full thirty minutes.  When we got back into the barn the misting turned into a down pour, but at least I got to ride some!

I am so glad that both Cider and Mia are forgiving of my limitations!  I know it can be upsetting to them when my body changes so drastically, but every time they tone down their responses to my muddled aids. Bless the mares!

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran      

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