Catch-Up Post, Part II (Or, Adrift in the Estrogen Ocean)

Continuing with our catch-up!!

Wednesday: 

On Wednesday, I trailered over to WD for some jumpy jump time!! I hadn't jumped her since our last schooling at Greenwood a few weeks ago, so I was definitely excited to get back to it. I set up a varied assortment of little crossrails and verticals, a one stride line, and a three stride line, just in case we decided to go for just a little bit more. 

Our little playground:

Everything except that one jump with the filler in it that has fallen over - it was just a little bit too big for her. Not included was a Pepto-bismol pink vertical off-screen... I wasn't sure how she would take it, since it has Bloks as filler and it was BRIGHT pink. I guess you just have to sit up and find out, right?

She was GREAT. Hot, a little bargy, but great. She did everything, and did it consecutively as well, even the lines and the one-stride! The one-stride I set a little too long for her considering the small size of the jumps (guess I'm still used to setting them for Gogo's gigantic stride), but she managed very well and stretched out to handle it just fine. She even cantered a few crossrails! She is NOT ready for cantering fences regularly - that whole pesky occasional no brakes thing, you know - but it is good to get her going in a rhythm and maintain it properly. Her biggest issue is that she relies on speed when she gets out of balance, and the faster she goes, the more off balance she gets. She is slowly learning how to quietly stay balanced and use her little engine to propel herself forward instead of fall on her forehand and bear down on the bit as she snowballs forward faster and faster.... it just takes time. 

We went and played in the water after she was done.... she LOVES going through the water and practically drags me in every time! That particular eventer prerequisite: check. ;)

Thursday:

Thursday was supposed to be the barrel race that S and I were going to go to (not to run, just to school there while S ran), but I managed the afternoon before to get ahold of trusty Dr. H, who told me to swing by in the late afternoon with O on Thurs instread. O had literally just finished her cycle, so we figured it was a good time to scan her and see what exactly was going on in there. We gave her some light sedation, and Dr. H got out the ultrasound machine. What we found surprised us - both ovaries are grapefruit sized (that's huge!!) and both are LOADED with tons of huge follicles! Basically what this means is that she is more or less one big walking estrogen cesspool, and even though she's not currently in heat, that amount of circulating estrogen definitely affects her (hmmm I wonder why she's always a little herdbound?). The plan for this month is to give her a shot or two of Altenogest (progesterone) to keep her tempered down through this month's shows, and then when she comes back into full-on raging heat, we'll try to either supplement her with oxytocin  (which, instead of suppressing estrus with progesterone, will help prolong the life of her CL after she ovulates and keep it producing it's own progesterone - basically her body will temporarily think it is pregnant), or induce an anovulatory follicle, which will delay a return to estrus. Both of these things are cheap and work with the mare's system instead of against it (like Regumate or Altenogest both do), so they're worth a try. Dr. H, you think of everything! 

Sure does explain a lot of her wacky behavior, doesn't it? I dunno about you, but I know I am a raging you-know-what when I get hormonal... kind of can't blame her there!

Friday:

It was blazing hot on Friday - 107 without the heat index by the time I was done working - so I decided to call it an early afternoon and go on a date with Future Hubs instead of ride. O got her usual grooming and pampering session, but that was all I was physically up for. We've been battling an itchy tail and mane lately (and itchy everything, honestly.... so many bugs, so much sweat!), and up until this point Listerine has been working well. It seems to have stopped though, and she was back to itching as of yesterday, so I put some MTG on instead. The MTG hadn't been working before, but it seems to help... but she was back to itching today. Half her tail is gone, I am pulling my hair out! We've tried everything else: bug sprays, feed throughs, every oil and itchy product I have in my current arsenal, washing under her tail and udders, and she is up to date on deworming with a negative fecal.... ugh! I think it is time to try the high acclaimed Zephyr's Garden Stop The Itch spray.... I LOVE LOVE LOVE their thrush spray, so I am willing to bet that the itchy spray helps as well. 

Saturday:

Today was supposed to be a nice hack day, but of course, O had some other ideas partway through our ride! We walked out for about an hour down the road, and then trotted all the way back, and she was fantastic save for being a little too forward and a bit disconnected at times. When we got back, I kept trotting around in the big mowed field, and O's boyfriend also went trotting past her. She WIGGED when she went across the field... ooookay, so much for finishing on a quiet note. After riding her down for another half-hour (and I had places to be, so I was on a limited schedule!), I got her to a point where I was pretty happy with her balance and willingness. She is slowly figuring out how to balance better from front to back, and to release her back and stretch her nose out to find the contact instead of curl up behind it and run. I have a little quickie slow-motion video of it - when slowed down, you can clearly see when she curls up a little and when she stretches out and takes her contact back. Note the change in her expression as well, from a bit surly to ears pricked as she goes back and forth!

Now, if I could get her to look like that ALL the time, and in all three gaits, we'd be golden!

Quick Video (To see some of the mare-stuff we're dealing with....)

Here's a quick video to show a small part of why I'm considering some, er.... hormonal help for Hellbitch Herself. She did this for approximately an hour before I convinced her boyfriend to come back and calm her. Assuredly, she's doing it again right now, and will continue to do it all night... and will do it all week. She won't eat, sleep, drink, or stop running unless her boyfriend has his nose up her butt. 

This stuff, plus her serious misbehavior under saddle and on the ground, plus being unable to catch her, plus tearing out half her tail from humping the fence.... yeahhhh. It's pretty high my the list of 'worst hormonal issues ever.'

(The tail wrap is from trying to tame it a little after washing it... it was sticking up in all directions. It was only temporary until it dried!)

Losing Her Marbles

Well, it's that time already.... time for O to come back into heat again. BAH.

Gogo was an exception to the annoying in-heat mare rule. Every time she'd come into heat, she listened better under saddle, was more malleable and responsive, and did exceptionally well at shows (we joked that we ought to give her Estrumate before every show just to make sure she'd come in and behave herself!). It was like she was a little less self-assured, so she'd look to me more as a leader. It was AWESOME.

O is the total opposite of that. When she comes in, she'd rather have nothing to do with me. Normally, she's a total peach, very interactive and loving, a total attention hog and a snuggler who comes right to you in the pasture. When she's in heat, the first sign of it is not wanting to be caught. Today I caught her snuggling over the fence with one of her Blonde Boyfriends, and then when I went to go groom her, she left. Come on, we're just grooming, you can do it while we're eating dinner, we don't have to work today! She eventually gave in, and I inspected a nice big bite mark on her butt which no doubt was from her very studdish Blonde Boyfriend. Yep.... she's coming in again.

She gets super distractable and flighty when she's in heat. She can't focus on eating, sleeping, doing regular things... she's just constantly on the search for another horse to flirt with. She is balky and sticky and cranky under saddle. She wants next to nothing to do with me and leaves whenever I show up. And it's hard to say whether or not there was a serious correlation, but that horrible terrible no good very bad jump school we had? Right during her peak cycle, when she was at her most distractable and crappy-feeling. Every other jump school? TOTALLY different horse. She's 100% hit and miss under saddle on the flat either way when she's in - sometimes she's OUTRAGEOUSLY HORRIBLE, sometimes she's ok, but she's definitely a wild animal when she's cycling. She's already on raspberry leaves and magnesium... chaste berry is probably worth a try too. 

There is another option which I am definitely interested in trying - marbling. I'm really NOT a fan of giving supplemental hormones unless there is really a good reason for it - like if she was honestly trying to kill herself or kill me. (Let's face it, hormones are super powerful and super scary! I'm not keen to mess with you, Mother Nature!) The marbling procedure involves placing a specially sized glass marble into the mare's uterus, which tricks her into thinking she is pregnant. This procedure can be somewhat hit and miss... some people swear by it, other people have had their mares expel the marble or come right back into heat anyway. I like this idea the most because a) it is cost effective, b) it is reversible, c) it doesn't need to be given daily/monthly like oral or injectable hormones do, and d) the mare produces the necessary progesterone by herself instead of being artificially given them. 

I have a call in to my vet to discuss some options. Either way, something needs to be done.... dealing with In-Heat Demon Child isn't a lot of fun. Any success stories out there with marbling versus depo/Regumate/etc?

I decided after all was said and done that she should have a little two-week vacation after her awesome schooling last weekend, so she has been relaxing and enjoying herself this week. She's been working super hard and doing very well, and I will be gone all of next week anyway for my own vacation to Michigan (excited!), so I figured she could have a little down time herself. I think it's important to let them have breaks like that... it's something I never did with Gogo, and I regret it now. She won't be ready for the little schooling show at WD at the end of the month, but maybe we can shoot for the one at Curragh in early Sept. I'm going through my list of schooling shows today and making some more solid plans!

EDITED TO ADD: Here is the update list of hopeful shows for the year! Ones in bold are a definite yes (if all goes well, of course), ones that are just in italics are maybes.



September:
Sept 7th-8th: Curragh Open Schooling & Schooling HT (Schooling Sat, HT Sun)
Sept 21st-22nd: Lazy Dog Ranch Open Schooling & Schooling HT (Schooling Sat, HT Sun)

October:
Oct 5th-6th: Curragh Open Schooling & Schooling HT (Schooling Sat, HT Sun)
Oct 19th-20th: Quail Run Open Schooling & Schooling HT (Schooling Sat, HT Sun)
Oct 26th: 5th Annual Brazos Valley Hunt Fun Show & Trail Ride Challenge

November:
Nov 3rd: Lazy Dog Ranch Schooling H/J Show
Nov 4th: Curragh Schooling Dressage Show
Nov 9th-10th: Texas Rose HT (MAYBE, but it's a BIG maybe!)
Nov 16th-17th: Greenwood Farm Open Schooling & CT (Schooling Sat, CT Sun)
Nov 23rd-24th: Meadow Creek Park HT (MAYBE, if all is going well... this one is further and significantly more expensive than the others due to the fact that it coincides with a recognized event!)

December:
Dec 7th: Las Colinas Schooling Dressage Show




Looking ahead at these potential schooling shows makes me realize how NOT PREPARED I am for going back in the show ring! The last time I ever turned down a proper centerline was at the AECs in 2009. Ya'll, that is FIVE YEARS AGO. I don't even know if half my show tack is still around, and I don't even have the slightest idea when any of these shows open and close. There is SO much to do!!

Keep your panties on, we're working!

Zoom zoom!!

 Spring is springing and the hormones are raging here in Texas, a fact that is not lost on O-Ren. She is all but crawling over the fence to get to S's boys, both of which must look like Prince Charming with their palomino good looks and flowing golden locks. (I have no idea how she ended up with two palominos at the same time... I suppose in the same way that I said I would never own a bay and am now on Bay #4.) P-mare and Imogen are more appropriate in their girlishness - Immy ignores them like the dignified queen that she is, and P-mare, though very distracted whenever they come around, is far more interested in food than anything else.   O manages to keep herself together for the most part, but there is an awful lot of screaming going on whenever she is out of sight of the others, and under saddle she is a totally distractable wet noodle. (Can noodles be distracted? I'm not sure but that's what riding her feels like right now.) She did the same thing last month when she was in heat, although there was much more in the way of flailing and rebellion last time. She's been excellent under saddle (for her) up until this week, but she's been a bit of a twit ever since she came back into heat. Not that she has been BAD, per se... just not as good. I suppose being a hormonally challenged tween will do that to you. 

Ignoring the obvious wardrobe malfunction happening in this picture (the saddle pad without billets about to fly away in the breeze), she can sure sit down and power on, can't she?

Under saddle, we've been working on much of the same - walk/trot work, with some canter tossed in here and there, just keeping the same rhythm and speed. Val mentioned dental work and I agree that this might be part of the issue - I'm still trying to match up with my dentist for an appointment but I'm partly convinced the man is a phantom. If I can't get ahold of him soon, she'll just have to go to the vet instead. I don't *think* she has much in the way of dental problems, given how much she has improved with the contact both on the lunge and under saddle, but it certainly doesn't hurt having it checked out. She was supposedly done recently, but she also supposedly had her feet done 6 weeks before I got her.... right, sure she did:

First photo is when I got her (pre-trim), second photo is after her second trim, which was last weekend. I'd say there's a slight improvement, wouldn't you?

Despite being in flaming, violent heat, she's still adorable. I broke out the clippers for the first time and took care of her bridlepath (which I had done with scissors before) and whiskers - I have no idea if she had ever been clipped before but she thought it was great fun and tried to eat the clippers. She cleans up nice, don't you think?

Yes, yes... warmbloods DO look funny in rope halters. For whatever reason, I have transitioned totally away from leather/nylon halters and only use rope now, mostly because they don't break if your horse pulls back or does something goofy. Once upon a time I always made sure my horses wore a breakable halter, because I thought it was dangerous to not have something release-able on the horse should they pull back. Unfortunately, when your halters break and you have a smart horse like Gogo, you run the risk of them figuring out HOW to break the halters and get away, and because I worried that she would hurt herself whenever she set back (which was often), she always wore breakable halters. (I have about 20 broken halters in my trailer, just an an FYI.) When I got to Texas and was suddenly surrounded by horses who all tied like perfect little angels to anything anywhere, I realized how helpful it is to have a horse that understands and responds appropriately to pressure. I decided at that point that I wanted MY horses to tie too, and taught them all how. All of them tie like rocks, and if anything DOES spook them and cause them to set back (VERY rare), they always hit the end of the line and bounce back to where there is slack in the rope. You have NO idea how helpful this has been! WHY didn't I teach this to Gogo!

The wildflowers are unreal... thanks in part to the rain! It has been storming for about 3 days here, with today finally being sunny enough to dry things out. I'm not complaining, as it softens up the rock hard ground and makes the grass grow, but the mud is a little bit annoying. (Thankfully it is also short-lived... the girls were standing in ankle-deep mud this morning, and by this afternoon it has firmed up enough to ride. Awesome!)

Spring is AWESOME