A-Okay

It occurs to me that I have simply neglected to post about the results of the blood test.

His blood test was 'unexciting', which is good news. But this still leaves the overt ribbiness as quite the mystery unfortunately. I'm generally clinging to the view that it's the lack of adequate grass statewide at the moment that is making it especially hard to put weight on him, so I do hope that when the rain returns he'll start leaning towards the fat side of things.

In other general Riggs news, I spent some bonding time with him on Sunday afternoon as I, and I feel so guilty, have not had the spare time to spend with him lately. I intended to pull his feral horse mane, but he had other ideas and wouldn't stand still long enough to let me detangle it! I then attempted to just groom the rest of him, but he really had ants in his pants at that point and was weaving and trying to run away from me and digging to China... And then because he wanted me to feel really bad about taking him from his paddock, he played the sore back card. This sort of irritates me a bit as some days he's ducking away from brushes and then, literally the next day, he'll be fine. Does anyone else's horse do this to them? I then gave up and just gave him a bath and he fought less with me over that, so that was a pleasant surprise! I even got sprayed with minimal water!! And then towards the end of the bath he gave in and stood quietly so I was able to detangle his mane - victory is mine! BUT, he wouldn't let me cut his bridle path properly and now he looks like a tool... one day I will conquer the head shyness. I thought I had at one point because he stopped pulling away from my hand going within the vicinity of his ears, but adding the scissors to the mix was too much. Little by little, we'll get there.

He also had a long pick at the grass on the lead (because he's got the great racehorse mentally when being hand picked that 'OMG I AM NEVER EVER GOING TO SEE GRASS AGAIN!) and he nosed a broom, which moved causing him to jump on me. Total ditz.

So that's what's new... I am going to see him again on Thursday and am going to pull his mane then while it's still nice and detangled so I will take some photos then.

I didn't realise I had any recentish shots, but this one is about a week and a half old - he's trying out his new fly mask. Is purple his colour?

Video Time!

So, I know photos are great and all, but I thought it might be interesting for those who can't just come and visit him to actually see him in action :)

Weighty Issues

Over the past month Riggs has done nothing but drop weight. To try and counteract this he was first fed more. When no change was observed his feed was changed and two weeks from that point he still hasn't managed to put on any weight!

 12/11/12

29/12/12

12/1/13

He is currently being fed a sizeable mix of oaten and lucerne chaff, Hygain Ice and rice pollard twice a day. He eats all of his meals and flips the tyre feeder to see if more will magically appear. He also gets hay and is in a paddock 24hrs a day. I have no idea what his issue is! His trainer and wife told me over the weekend that he is normally on the tubby side and all I have to say to that is that 'the plot thickens'. Riggs is proving a genuine puzzle.

So the vet is making a first visit on Thursday, and much to my eternal delight (this is sarcasm) I am unable to be on hand for it. Fortunately, they do their bloodwork internally. So I'm sort of hoping to have an answer on Friday.

This has been infinitely frustrating.

Boots, Wraps or Nude?

As I'm sure I have mentioned countless times, Riggs has an eight month old bowed tendon. I don't know the specifics of the injury except it happened during his final race, felt like a catastrophic sesamoid snap to his jockey, is a low bow and has healed/is healing really well. I find no heat in the leg after light trotting on the lunge, but then the real test will come when the heavier work begins. I watch my horse's legs like a hawk to detect the slightest amount of troubling heat.

With injury comes the question of prevention and support. As a human with multiple tendon and ligament injuries in all limbs (and now a broken bone) it has always been my strategy to provide strength and support to my given injured joint when under stress. I have heavily utilised strapping tape, tubi grip, straps and braces to strengthen, protect and support susceptible limbs. But is it the same for horses?

So far as I can tell there are two schools. You protect your horse's legs or you leave them bare.

Within the protective group are those who use polo wraps and those who use boots. The pro polos out there spout the support polos give, but given the nature of that wrap, how can that be? Research has suggested that the support offered by polo wraps is about 1% and for me, the negatives far outweigh the positives. Those negatives being the potential for bandage bow and the array of dangerous situations incorrectly wrapped polos can create. Further to that, it is strongly suggested from multiple sources that polos do exactly zero to prevent injury. However, many others (vets included) suggest that used correctly, polos provide a superior support, but not necessarily protection. At the end of the day, I must confess that I am not comfortable wrapping my horse's legs.

Boots are another matter entirely. I think that the primary function of boots is to prevent hard impact, in which case Riggs' legs would be in no way supported. He has a set of tendon boots which, for all intents and purposes, stop him or anything else knocking his tendon. So this is a kind of prevention, but not necessarily the prevention/protection I am after. In the course of my research I have become partial to sports medicine boots (SMBs). However, I am still sceptical about how much support they'd give Riggs. But that doesn't stop me from returning to them. I'm particularly fond of the way they cover the fetlock - something I value for a horse with a low bow. My other great concern with any kind of neoprene type boot is the heat retention - which brings me to my final school of thought.

Bowed tendons need to be brought back slowly so that the tendon fibres can realign in a way that allows as much movement in the leg as possible. The tendon also must be kept cool. So this is where the bare legs come in. Many feel that there is no substitute for pure conditioning to strengthen a horse's legs with the aid of boots or wraps. Some feel that boots, SMBs in particular, weaken the horse's legs as they learn to rely on the support of the boot or wrap. All these boots and wraps also affect the natural heat dissipation of the tendon. As the tendon surpasses its optimum temperature the cells begin to die and the tendon is left in distress - which is why we are told to remove boots after exercise and to hose legs off. And there is another reason to leave his legs bare. In terms of prevention, this is essentially it.

On the whole, this is a subject that continues to trouble me. I want to do the best by my boy; I don't want to protect him so much that I hurt him. But I also don't want to under protect him to the point of injury. And still the question remains... boots, wraps or nude?