How far we have come:
We have made some amazing progress on our journey with retraining Beau. We were able to ride him again without the fear of him trying to hurt us. We were also able to lunge Beau without him trying to kick us or pull us around. At the beginning of this project, we wanted to be able to barrel race Beau. This sadly became impossible in our time frame due to his injury. Although his injury may have been a setback from our original goal it taught us quite a few things. It taught me how to work under pressure and intense circumstances. When Beau was injured I knew I had to work fast but efficiently at the same time. In a matter of minutes, I was making decisions about his medicines and I didn’t have time to think about it because Beau could have gotten worse. Something else his injury taught me was that if you feel something off with your horse listen to them because it's true. The afternoon that Beau was injured I knew something wasn’t quite right with his leg so I decided not to get on him or lunge him. This gut feeling was proven true when an hour later he rolled and struggled to get up and then limped to his stall. This process in itself taught me that not everything goes according to the plan all the time and when this happens you have to make a compromise and move forward or else no progress will get made.
How this process affected me and Beau
Aside from all the ups and downs in this process one big positive was how much closer it made me closer with Beau. When I started this project Beau was just like a pasture pet in the sense that I never did anything with him other than feed him and do basic barn chores so that he was healthy and taken care of. This process helped me and Beau to reconnect and it helped to bring out his goofy personality and his sweet side. It helped Beau’s attitude improve because prior to this project he was always grumpy and mean just out of laziness but while riding and being worked it helped him get back into his working mentality.
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What Happened:
This week we got delivered some bad news that disrupted our plans again. This week Beau had a vet appointment on thursday to get his vaccines. While the vet was here we had her look over Beau’s leg where he had been limping as well as his topline and hips to make sure he wasn’t in any pain from his injury a few weeks ago. The vet concluded that Beau had mild lameness in that leg. (Lameness in horses shows that they are limping not that they are cool). She discovered this by putting pressure on his topline and hips and he started trembling like it was sore. She said that his leg is fairly good but that his joints are fused from age. She prescribed his 10 muscle relaxers twice a day for two weeks as well as an anti-inflammatory for a week and then a check-up in three weeks. With this, she said that I should wait a week before riding him at all to let him adjust to his medicine. She said that she would be very cautious of riding him so lunging may be my only option to keep him fit for a few weeks.
How we feel:
To us this was devastating to hear because we don’t want to lose our progress with Beau. This really took a toll on me because I am in the position of what do I do with him this last week for Genius Hour that isn’t going to put him in any pain but also ensure that we are making progress. This is a situation that I feel is just a test-and-see type of thing. Me and Haylie have talked about possible things we can do. We think that since there is so much soreness in his hips and back saddling him and riding wouldn’t be a very good idea. We think that flexing his foot like the vet did to help stretch that muscle would help with the limp and that lunging him to keep him moving is an option as well. This week put me in a bad head space, having to hear that my horse's leg is fused and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. This week was a rollercoaster but me and Haylie know that we have to keep moving forward.
Plans for next week:Next week Haylie and I are going to get Beau out and stretch his leg out and then pop his hips and do some exercises that will help stretch out his topline to hopefully help with that soreness. If Beau is feeling good and not in pain then we will lunge him for a little bit because I don’t want to push him too hard. what we did:
This week we had some bad weather that compromised our plans for Beau. Me and Haylie were set to ride Beau Friday but it ended up raining. Due to the rain, I told Haylie not to worry about coming out and that I would find something I could do that didn’t involve riding. I decided that since he had a week off from riding that I would stretch his muscles to help release any tension he had built up. I started by flexing his neck which helps with any movement of his neck and head along with helping with his diagonals. After this you see me walk behind Beau and I run my thumbs along the sides of his spine over his hips and his butt. This causes Beau to tuck his butt under which raises his hips. In the video, you can hear his hip pop and how he immediately relaxed. I then took my hands and put them on the sides of his tail and pushed which caused him to arch his back which helped relieve tension built up along his topline.
How we feel:
I feel really good about what happened today. I am aware that we aren’t going to be running him for a while which makes me sad but I know that if me and Haylie stay on track we can at least work more on the barrels in the following weeks. The stretches that we did today showed me how big of a difference they can make in Beau's comfort level and his attitude. This week made me feel much more relaxed about Beau's health because recently I have been so stressed over his leg hurting him and seeing how comfortable he was today after being stretched gives me that little bit of encouragement I need to get back in the saddle next week and make some progress towards riding and working barrels!
Up next:
Next week we are going to stretch Beau before we saddle him and then we are going to spend a good amount of time warming him up in the saddle before we do anything with the barrels. If warm-ups go well we are going to trot Beau around for a minute before we work barrels just so he can get those muscles moving. As far as the barrels go I know that we can’t run him on the barrels but if we can walk through them we can work on technique and improving my ability as a rider.
What we did:
In simple terms we did nothing. This is actually good news for us and for Beau. I called my farrier out to give us a second opinion on Beau's leg before we paid the vet to take x-rays. We walked Beau and my farrier told me that Beau looks stiff but not like anything is broken or torn. He said that since there was no swelling that x-rays were going to be useless in showing soft tissue bruising. We brushed his leg injury up to him overextending a muscle. My farrier told me that what would be best for Beau is to let him rest for a week and give him some pain medicine to help with any possible pain. This is actually good news knowing that nothing is broken or torn. So this week me and Haylie pampered Beau to make him comfortable. We noticed that he was more comfortable in his stall because of the soft shavings so we filled his stall with fluffy shavings to keep him comfortable. We also brushed him, braided his tail and hand grazed him for a while just to stretch that muscle out and keep him moving.
How we feel about it
To me personally, this was a big relief. I was terrified that this leg injury was going to be serious and needed a possible surgery or even weeks of stall rest. I also know that because Beau is an older horse there was always the possibility that he couldn't recover from an injury that serious and euthanizing him would have to be the solution. It did give me the realization that because he is older we are going to have to improvise with our initial goal of running barrels. This would put too much stress on his joints and although that makes me and Haylie disappointed it is best to put Beau first. This means that for barrels we can always trot the straight always and walk him around the barrel itself. It made me realize that we are going to have to change our approach with him as well. We are going to have to spend a lot of time warming Beau up and getting him stretched before we start riding and running him.
What we are doing next week:
Next week me and Haylie plan to take it very easy with Beau and I think that starts with lunging him to get his muscles moving. We may even start riding Beau bareback as a warm-up to get rid of the weight of the saddle. This will also help us understand how he is feeling and kind of "read" him in a way. We then are going to saddle him and hopefully, just walk him around and stretch to make sure that he doesn't cramp. I then want to walk him around the barrels. I don't want to trot him unless he is feeling up to it because I don't want to push him too hard.
What happened:
This week was a series of unfortunate events. Haylie came over and as we went to lunge Beau we noticed him dragging one of his back legs. After lunging him at a trotting pace to see if it was just a stiff muscle and realizing he was hopping on it in a way we concluded that riding Beau wasn’t an option. We knew we still needed something for the blog but we didn’t want to injure Beau in the process. We had to stop and think and we decided that since walking didn’t appear to be putting any extra pain in the leg that was bothering him we would walk Beau through the barrel pattern on foot. This would give Beau a little exercise and would give us something to post for the blog. While we started walking Beau through the barrels he got a little excited and started trotting. Haylie thought that he was moving his leg better but we still didn’t want to push it. After we did this we decided to give Beau a bath which would help out with his shedding and it would also help cool down the leg that was bothering him and help ease any pain. After this Haylie left and all was well with Beau or so we thought. After a while, I went to check on Beau and he was rolling which he usually does but he was struggling to get up. As Beau got up he was seriously limping on the leg that was bothering him. Me and m parents rushed down to check on him. His leg was shaking and he wasn’t putting weight on it. We gave him pain medicine and it significantly improved how he catered to that leg. I am calling the vet on Monday so that she can get an x-ray and hopefully tell us where we need to go from there.
How we feel:
This week made me and Haylie concerned and very scared. It was scary not knowing what was happening to Beau’s leg but it was also interesting to see how we handled the situation and how Beau handled the situation. Haylie had never handled a horse with a sore leg so this was new for her but she learned a lot. It taught us how to go with our guts and if something doesn’t feel right we should listen. Like I said Beau’s response surprised me. He wanted to trot through barrels even though his leg was bothering him because he enjoys it so much and it took his mind off of it in a way. Beau also handled taking the pain medicine well which he usually doesn’t. When you give a horse medicine you have to keep their head up until they swallow it and usually Beau will put up a fight but he was very cool and relaxed when getting the medicine. It was very hard for me after Haylie left and Beau was struggling to get up because if he couldn’t get up there wasn’t a safe option for me to help get him up.
What is happening next week:
Since this week was a rollercoaster and is solely dependent upon what the vet says we have no idea what next week will look like. Right now our plan is that if the vet tells me that it is a strained muscle then we are going to let Beau recover as needed. If it is something more serious and Beau can’t be ridden for a long time then we will switch our project up a little bit and explore recovery processes in horses. We are hoping that this is just a sore muscle that with walking him every day will stretch out and loosen up.
What Happened:
This week Haylie ended up being very sick and was in the hospital for a night so I told her that she needed to recover and focus on that alone. I ran by what I was going to do this week and she thought that it was something that we could work off of. Beau got his hooves trimmed yesterday and this made him a little sore on his previously injured leg due to him having to hold it up for some time. I decided that since he was a little sore I wouldn’t add andy speed this week so I didn’t put Beau in any pain. I saddled him up and we walked a few laps just for a warm-up. I then flexed his neck muscles to prepare him for turning the barrels. I ended up walking him in figure eight around the barrels for a while so that I could work on my technique and he could engage his muscles in turning the barrels again. Beau did very well with this and I am hoping his leg starts feeling better for next week!
How we feel about it:
This made me feel better about technique and my safety and control while doing the barrel pattern. I know that I felt more in control of Beau now that I worked on my technique and previously it was a little nerve-wracking because I never knew if Beau was going to bolt around the barrel and throw me off or if he was going to be polite while we ran barrels. It gave me a good idea of Beau’s attitude towards running barrels. I let me know that he is ready to do it again but that he is unsure of trotting them. Today I know that he was a little sore so that would cause him to be unsure but I think that I have to help him build his confidence back up letting him know that is going to be okay. I know that he did enjoy doing the figure eights because towards the end he did start trotting a little bit and it was something new that he hadn’t done before so it was exciting for him.
Next weeks goal:
Next week me and Haylie are going to see how Beau is feeling by lunging him to make sure he isn’t sore anymore and to help loosen up his muscles. I am going to get on and just flex his neck and then start by doing figure eights to engage those muscles. I then want to slowly trot the figure eights so he can feel what that is like. If all goes well with that I am going to trot him through the barrel pattern to help give Beau that confidence back because he will remember that feeling of when he used to run barrels. I did speak with my farrier about Beau’s previously injured leg and he said that he would advise running barrels at least on the turns due to the chance of him slipping. This does alter our plan but I think it will still be a good learning experience for me and Haylie to run on the straightaways on the barrels and I think it will give Beau that rush of adrenaline again.
What we did:
This week we started Beau on the barrel pattern. Me and Haylie were on a time crunch this week so we knew we needed to make this week's genius hour quick. I brushed over Beau Thursday to help the grooming process Friday go quicker for me and Haylies sake. Friday Haylie helped me saddle Beau so we could get started. Haylie hasn’t been cleared by her doctors to ride again due to her knee so I had her walk with me and Beau for a warm up since she can’t ride. After a few laps of this I felt comfortable walking him by myself. Then I decided to walk Beau around the barrel pattern. I did this just to see where we needed to go to make progress on the barrel pattern in the following weeks. I was very surprised when turning the third barrel and Beau started trotting on his way back “home”. This made me super happy considering he hasn’t been working on the barrel pattern in over a year.
How this made us feel:
This made me and Haylie feel surprised because we didn’t think Beau would enjoy working on the barrel pattern again considering he hasn’t run on the barrels in over a year. This little experiment gave us insight into what we will have to work on over the next few weeks. Haylie suggested that we work on stretching Beaus neck muscles and engaging his hindquarters more because she realized that on Beaus' second barrel he was swinging very wide and not engaging his hind muscles. She suggested that we work on this by trotting figure-eights around two barrels so that he can get used to using those muscle groups again. I also noticed that we need to work on our technique around the barrels in general because I am relearning this process myself and last time I ran barrels I remember lining up with the barrel as we run towards it and when we are approaching it we start to move away from it a little to give Beau room to turn.
Up next:
Next week we plan to work on technique and stretching and engaging muscles by trotting figure-eights and flexing his neck. I also want to start adding speed to the barrels so hopefully we can trot through the pattern a few times next week so that me and Beau can get that feeling again.
What happened:
This week Haylie couldn’t make it out to help me due to personal reasons so I was on my own. I decided that I didn’t want to ride Beau when I was by myself. My boyfriend ended up coming over and videoed for me while I lunged Beau. My original plan was to lunge Beau until he was tired but he did very well and he had no resistance to being lunged which I was thrilled about! This led to me feeling brave enough to ride him without someone leading him around. When my mom got home from work she came down and helped me get on and she led me around for a few minutes to allow Beau to adjust then after a few minutes I felt comfortable riding by myself without anyone leading Beau. I decided not to add speed or walk him through the barrels tonight due to it being dark and I didn’t want to push him too far.
How it made us feel:
This made me feel like I regained my connection as well as control of Beau. Tonight felt like a breakthrough for me because the last time I attempted to ride Beau by myself he attempted to throw me off and I had no control over him. Tonight was very different in the sense that Beau was relaxed and I wasn’t scared to ride him because of the control I had. The lunging was a good experience and it showed just how much Beau’s attitude has changed and how his thinking process has developed. One thing I noticed that I didn’t expect to see so quickly was the muscle development that Beau has had over the past few weeks. Tonight when I saddled him I noticed that the saddle pad was saddle were able to sit up off of his withers which shows muscle is developing across his topline which is a good thing. Tonight made me feel accomplished and it made me look forward to Beau's improvement.
What we plan to do next:
Next week I plan to have Haylie get on Beau and just walk him around so that he can get his muscles warmed up. I then am going to get on and ask Beau for a trot and see how he does while building up speed. If all goes well with this I am going to have Haylie walk Beau through the barrel pattern and then if he does well with walking the barrel pattern I am going to get on and try trotting him through it.
What we did:
This week started a little rough for us. I went to go and lunge Beau and almost got hurt so my parents had to come and help me. This resulted in my mom and dad attempting to lunge Beau. I then tried it again and after an hour of Beau getting upset about being lunged he finally settled down. Although this resulted in him being very tired it gave him time to adjust to the saddle which is what we wanted. Haylie then showed up and she had injured her knee so we knew it was best if she didn’t attempt to lunge Beau or get on him for her safety and health. After Beau was tired out I was feeling risky enough to get on him. My parents thought that this was a little dangerous so my mom wanted my dad to just lead Beau around with me on his back so Beau could adjust to moving with a rider again and so that if he did go to buck or freak out I could get off safely. Me, my dad, and Beau walked a couple of laps around the arena and Beau did amazing! It was so nice to be back in the saddle even if I wasn’t the one controlling him. Haylie ended up taking videos and pictures, documenting this progress for our blog. Despite it starting rough this week's genius hour ended on a good note.
How it made us feel:
This week made me and Haylie realize several things, the first being that Beau lunging properly is going to take more than twelve weeks to complete. This was a sad realization but it made us realize that although we can’t perfect it in twelve weeks we can still show the progress made with lunging which is a good thing. This will set us up for practice after genius hour. The next realization we made is that for us to ride Beau safely we have to tire him out first with lunging. This means that me and Haylie need to make a bigger time frame for us to work with Beau so we have time to tire him out and time to ride. We discovered that Beau has no intentions to buck with the saddle if he gets it all out while being lunged which means that me and Haylie have to be okay with him not being perfectly well-behaved while being lunged so that we can be safe in the saddle.
Goal for next week:
Next week I plan to lunge Beau until he is tired and doesn’t want to buck. Then I plan to get on him by myself and just walk him around the arena so me and Haylie can see how he reacts when my parents aren’t walking right beside him the entire time. I plan to walk him through the barrel pattern to see how he does and if he remembers running barrels previously. If all of this goes well I might add speed and see how he does when asking for a trot or a lope.
What happened this week:
This week unfortunately didn't go as planned and we had to rethink what we were going to do this week. Due to Haylie having some personal things going on we decided that for her stress level, it was best if I did it by myself this week so she could take care of what she needed to do. This put me in a tough position due to my pre-MPA concert for the band and the unpredictable weather conditions that wrecked my original plan for this week, rain. My original plan for this week was to lunge Beau with a saddle on so he could get used to movement with the saddle and get better at lunging. This was not possible due to all the rain, the ground was very wet and I felt that it was best if I didn't lunge Beau on wet ground with the possibility of him slipping and falling and the wind factor that was already spooking him out. I knew I had to get some progress done because I didn't want to fall behind so I had to improvise which led to my new plan for this week.
New plan for this week:
My new plan this week was to introduce Beau to weight in the saddle and that factor alone. Something else that was added to this new plan was brushing Beau considering all the mud and hair that he was covered in thanks to spring aka shedding season. I ended up brushing Beau and I threw the saddle on him and in the video, despite it looking crazy you saw me shaking the stirrups against his sides. This was to help desensitize him to it so he wasn't afraid of any noise or movement they would make. I then proceeded to get halfway on him while he was tied and just held that position for a minute to see how he reacted to it. In the video, you can see that he was a little uneasy about me being up there. I then got off and repeated this step and he was much more relaxed after a minute so I then got on and just sat there for a minute. He was surprisingly relaxed about this. I was expecting him to freak out or act up a little bit because it has been so long since I have been on his back. I then did a little bit of flexing with his neck muscled which helps when we are riding so that he is lighter when being turned and me and Haylie won't have to use a lot of pressure to get him to turn. I then practiced turning him in small circles just so he could adjust to moving in the saddle a little bit.
Reflection:
This week originally made me feel a lot less productive in the sense that we didn't get as much done as we originally planned. Despite feeling like this my mind changed as I worked with Beau today. As I started saddling him again and getting up there just to let him get used to that weight again made me feel hopeful and happy as I realized that I would be able to ride him again in a few weeks! It made me smile seeing how amazing he reacted with the saddle again and that shows me that he has a positive attitude towards the saddle and being ridden again. His positive attitude and very quick adjustments give me hope that in the following weeks, our progress will pick back up again! After today I have to admit that it felt good to just be bonding with my horse again and seeing him enjoy it made it so much better. This week showed me that he is a very quick learner and that he feeds off my energy which taught me that if I have a positive attitude while working with him he will sense that. I am eager to see how he reacts to being ridden again and I can hope he will enjoy it as much as I will. Despite this week's setback, I am thrilled that I got some progress done which sets me and Haylie up for success and will make lunging him with a saddle easier so he won't have to adjust to being saddled. This means more progress will be made and we can hopefully start riding within the next two weeks.
Before being brushed:After being brushed:Flexing his neck:
This may look useless to some people but for Beau, it is an important step in this process. So when I flex his neck I am stretching his neck muscles and when I am in the saddle and running barrels on him this is where flexing pays off. It allows me to use light pressure to turn him and control which direction I want him to go. This also doubles as a tension reliever for Beau and it makes him feel much better almost like when we pop our neck or our knuckles.
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Hi there, our weekly blog updates will contain what we are working on and pictures from what we did that week. We hope you will stay and keep up with our progress to see the final product!
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