Life Happens (Third catch-up post)

 This is a long post, but mostly pictures (some of which you may want to fast-forward through). 

Happier times:  Pat, on "Rambler" and me, on "Kate,"  at a poker ride in 2011.

The one bit of disappointment that came up during the spring of 2014 was that my good riding buddy Pat and her husband had decided to pull up stakes and move to Arizona to be closer to their kids.  They quietly put their farm on the market, and were surprised that it sold in just over a week!  Suddenly, Pat was in a whirlwind of preparations for a farm auction and a big move!  She had no time to ride. 

Shortly before they were to head south, but when most of the packing was done, I decided to drag her out for a "farewell ride."  Knowing she wouldn't want to lose an entire day, we chose to stay fairly close to home, and ride at the local "Wild Horse Wind Farm."  It wasn't one of my favorite spots, as there are few trees, but Pat had a little xeroxed map from the visitor center, that showed a four-mile loop that was just about right.

I drove, we got the trailer parked, saddled up, and headed out.  The so-called "trail" petered out less than a mile from the start of our ride, but we were in fairly open sagebrush and had the little topo map and the wind turbines to guide our bush-whacking, so we kept moving.

The "trail" we thought we were following started out in the trees, but soon disappeared.

 About 3/4 of the way around the loop, we were skirting a dry creek bed, headed for what was labeled "the old cow camp."  (A long time local later told me it was a moonshiners' camp, hence the name "Whiskey Dick Creek.")  We had spotted the remnants of an old fence line in the brush on the west side of the draw, so we stayed to the east, side-hilling as we scrambled through the brush.  Pat was leading, on her young horse Chief, and as she cleared the last bit of heavy brambles to break into the grassy clearing that was, we assumed, the cow camp, Kate tripped.  As she jumped forward to regain her balance, I could distinctly hear, uphill from us, the sound of old fence wire pulling through the brush.  I don't know how much of that barbed wire raked its way across her left hind hock, but after her third jump, I semi-voluntarily dismounted as she made her way down to the flat.  By the time she reached the clearing, she was free of the barbed wire, but it was obvious from the blood that we were in big trouble.

WARNING:  GRAPHIC PHOTOS!
If you're at all squeamish about blood you might want to skip quickly over the next 3 or 4 pictures.

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Waiting in the shadow of a turbine for Pat to return with the trailer.  (That's the soaked "dressing" we tried to fashion from a couple of kerchiefs around her ankle, not hide!)

 We tried fashioning a dressing out of two kerchiefs that Pat happened to have, but the bleeding was too much.  By the time I had it tied together, the fabric was saturated with blood and too slippery to stay in place.  Surprisingly, Kate was not lame.  I could see what turned out to be her extensor tendon loose in the wound, but it is not essential for movement.  We were maybe 300 yards below one of the ridgeline roads that service the wind turbines, so we started walking out, letting Kate set the pace, and rest when she needed to.

Cell service was spotty, but at the top of the hill we were able to get through to 911, as well as home.  We never did see the sheriff's department, but Allan was able to get in touch with folks from the riding club on FaceBook, and we had several offers to help.  Also contacted the on-call vet in town (it was 4th of July weekend!) and arranged to meet her at her clinic.  Pat walked out the two miles to get the trailer (we were afraid her young horse might not like leaving Kate, or that Kate might not like being left).  I stripped off her saddle and Kate, Chief and I waited in the shadow of the turbine--it was in the low 90s.  

Once we got to town, Dr. Samantha Howard cleaned up the wound and wrapped it, and started Kate on antibiotics and pain-killers.  Arrangements were made for a friend to haul Pat and her horse home, and Kate and I hit the road east to Washington State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where Dr. Howard had arranged for a team to meet us (in about three hours--WSU is on the opposite side of the state from us).

Dr. Rund was the resident that met us, with a team of about eight vet students.  It was nearing 9:00 PM on the Sunday of a holiday weekend, but they were ready!  The wound stretched about 80% of the way around her leg--they pulled her hide up like a sagging sock to stitch it together.  But there was only a little spot, maybe the size of a half dollar, that was missing hide, so that was a plus.

That's Kate's extensor tendon sticking out.  It had been since the accident, though it would pull under the hide each time she took a step.  The extensor tendon has a redundant "twin" that can take over the job of pulling the toe up during a step, so they weren't too worried about repairing it--there was a good chance it would reattach with scar tissue.

Because the hock is such a mobile joint, the only hope for the wound to heal was to immobilize the leg.  Her *first* cast was fluorescent orange.

Dr. Rund teaching Kate how to swing the leg to the side, in order to move around, on the way to her stall.

After two weeks, the cast was removed, and the stitches taken out.  At this point, Dr. Rund had finished his residency and moved to a practice in Montana (I think), so Kate's care had been transferred to Dr. Claude Ragle, a surgeon at WSU.  Dr. Ragle assessment when the cast came off: "Looks great!  About as good as it could be!"  However, ten minutes later, after removing the stitches, Kate took one step, and the whole site opened back up like a faulty zipper!

So new stitches went in.  Also, it became clear, from Kate's ability to hyper-extend her leg to the rear, that another tendon had been ruptured, either in the original accident, or (as is known to happen) from the two weeks in the cast.  The "pernius tertious" reaches from the stifle to the middle of the cannon bone, and is part of the mechanism that retracts the whole leg, in a zig-zag scissors action, when the horse moves.  This was a more serious loss that the extensor tendon, as it might limit Kate's ability to walk normally.

This time her cast was red, and the plan was to keep it on three weeks.  This was shortened to two and a half weeks, when the cast shifted and began rubbing/irritating both the inside of her hock and the bottom of her pastern, just above the hoof, where it settled.  Also, when they took it off, they initially only removed half of the stitches.

A week later, the rest of the stitches were removed, the leg was wrapped in a bright yellow dressing, and I brought her home, five weeks after she arrived there!

"Are we there yet?"

"Yes, we're home, Kate."  Both getting into the trailer in Pullman, and getting out at home (where I let her turn around for the first time ever), Kate decided the best way to negotiate the trailer step was to "hop" on her good leg.  She would also do this when she was unsure of how to get her injured leg to do what she wanted it to--particularly for tight turns or changes of elevation (stepping over the threshold of her stall).  Otherwise, on a straight, level path, she moved soundly, if awkwardly.

"Home."

Miss Saggy Britches

The biggest danger in the early months was infection.  I got pretty good at changing her dressing every 4-6 days.

Good pink granulation tissue, and, so far, no sign of proud flesh.

The rubs on her pastern and heel from the cast.

The first layer is basically a standing wrap of padding and vet wrap, which serves to keep the upper layer from shifting downwards.

Antibiotic ointment and non-stick dressing go under the next layer.

Elasticon adhesive tape over everything.

Including a good overlap of her hoof and gaskin, to *try* to anchor it in place.

Kate got pretty good at the drill.  So did I.

You can see we made use of every imaginable color of vet wrap.  Also some blue duct tape.

By October the wound was looking pretty good.  Unfortunately, on a couple of occasions Kate would get to farting around and reopen it.

She also developed quite a bit of swelling in her fetlock.  Vet assumes that is was primarily due to the lymphatic system shutting down while the leg was immobile in the cast, and to a lesser extent, in the dressings.

By September the wound probably could have gone without any covering, if the flies weren't still in residence.

Kate had been due for a hoof trim the week after the accident.  At WSU they hadn't felt comfortable making her stand on the leg for a trim for the first few weeks.  Finally, Dr. Ragle gave the go ahead for them to at least trim her fronts.  Upon returning home, in September, our barefoot practitioner, Diedra, was able to do the three other feet normally the first trim.  Kate still wasn't able to flex the injured leg very well, so Diedra just trimmed off the toe with a dremel-like tool.  This was helpful, as Kate was still dragging the toe a bit.  The next time, in late October, we tried getting Kate foot up to the hoof stand. 

What finally worked was to put her front feet up the little slope to the tackroom, and Diedra was able to trim out the sole some.

Looking good.

In October, Dr. Hayden gave us the best birthday present ever:  Kate was allowed out of her stall!  She was fairly well behaved on what hand-walks we did before the weather turned ugly.

And she now had a small pen where she could move around some more.  This additional movement started to reduce the swelling in her lower leg.

We decided to try some laser therapy, on the premise that it would help the scar tissue form is a stronger, more linear fashion.  Unfortunately, although Kate learned how to get in the trailer without the hop, the shifting of travel ended up opening up her would again.  No go!

She did get to move to a bigger stall and pen, but you can see the new blood/drainage.

She had also grown some really thick, curly hair on that leg.  In order to better keep track of the swelling, I decided in November to trim down the hair.

My clippers didn't want to cooperate.

So I made do with scissors.  It's a good thing that Kate and I trust each other!

It didn't look near as bad without all that hair! Her range-of-motion is still pretty limited, but slowly improving.

My wound care at this point consists of Desitin diaper rash ointment--basically zinc oxide with added vitamins A and D.  I have also been rubbing her lower leg down with "Sore-No-More"-- a witch hazel and arnica gel.

Due to my own medical issues, it's hard for me to be outside in the wintertime much beyond the time necessary to do chores.  But January has been unseasonably warm here this year, so last week we went for our first hand walk in awhile.

It started off calm enough...

...but as we got further from home...

...Kate felt like...

...flying!

After a bit, Kate settled down and we had a pleasant, if vigorous, walk.  Same a few days later, without, thankfully, all the "airs-above-the-ground."

I have just this week gained the use of one of my boarders as a pony horse, so after I get to know him a bit better, and Kate builds a little more stamina on our hand-walks, we may start wandering a little farther afield.  Dr. Hayden believes that I may be able to ride her again by this summer.  Considering that this was not a foregone conclusion last summer, we've come a long ways.  It remains to be seen if she will be limited to local trail rides, or if I'll be able to compete her again.  She can step laterally, as required by many obstacles, but still has some trouble with stepping up and down.  Whatever is to come, Kate will always be "home" here with me.

My next, and final, catch-up post will be of some o the other goings-on in the last year.  Then I will try to keep you abreast of Kate's rehab, and the training adventure that Maddie will be embarking on next week.

This Paint Is A Saint! (mostly)

 CANTICLE

"Kate"

It's been a busy summer, and Kate has done herself (and me) proud!

In the three weeks between school getting out and the start of haying season, Kate and I managed to get out to two mountain trail events!

The first was the Cowboy Mountain Trail Competition, put on by the Three Wild Cowgirls, in Walla Walla.  Barb from the Trail Riders went with me last year, for one day only, and I was hooked!  I love the 95% natural obstacles (no pool noodles or stuffed animal mazes), and the ability to choose the level of challenge you and your horse are up to.  And the group of people that compete at these affairs is always great!

Teeter-Totter Bridge.

The creek was part of each day's course.  They are allowed to drink, and in fact we are encouraged to let them, just as you would do out on the trail during a long ride.

Coming up the "switch-back."

Through the stumps.

Down through the mud bog.

Up...

...around...

...and back down.

The end.

It's a three day competition, and you can ride in as many classes as you/your horse fit the parameters.  In other words, you could spend a lot of money!  I chose to do the Ranch Mare series over the three days, with a "warm-up" in "Old-Timers" on Friday.  I made and then corrected some mistakes in that first class on Friday, and Kate ended up winning the Ranch Mare class for the day, with quite a healthy lead.  I wish that I could have afforded to do another class on Saturday and Sunday, because, by Ranch Mare many of my competitors had had the chance to do the course two and three times.  I ended up with a fourth and a third on those two days.  What was really NEAT! was the last day's ride:  Kate did a perfect round as far as I was concerned!  Forward, no blatant errors, good attitude, just an overall great go!

The nice thing was that the first day (when we did get a "practice run") we had a good enough lead that by Sunday, even with the third and fourth the other two days, Kate held on to a one-point lead for the three day series!

Champion Ranch Mare

(Love this picture so much, I'm putting it in again!)

Shanda (and friend), Kate's partner, and Lana in the background (two of the three Wild Cowgirls)

Cups (an option instead of ribbons) for each individual day's go, and the captain's chair, complete with CMTC logo,  for the series (that's Kate's new and improved bridle)

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A few weeks later my friend Barb and I headed down to Goldendale (catching up to Debby, who had gone down the night before) for one of a series of competitions at C.B.Mello Arena.
 We started out in the open in-hand class, mostly to let Kate have a look at the course.  She was so willing and forward that she ended up winning the class.

Tire Two-Step

Log and Rock Maze

Campsite

Water Obstacle, complete with Ducks!
That's my foot, stepping over my obstacles.  Kate's going, with or without me.

Then came two under saddle classes. We had a few glitches here...

 The pleasure class was more ACTHA-like, with pool noodles and pink flamingos, which Kate handled okay.  The second was called "Ranch Horse" and was more natural obstacles.

Waiting our turn.  Sunburn city for both Kate and I!

 Many of the obstacles in the pleasure class were the same as the in-hand class: the campsite, the log/rock maze, the water crossing.

Over the hills, and through the criss-cross logs. 

Here was one we had done very nicely in Walla Walla--carry the bucket of water to a barrel and empty it--only a little farther.  Suffice to say that Kate and I both got just a little bit wet.

One obstacle in both classes that I didn't get any photos of was a horribly muddy, knee deep bog.  In the first go, Kate had other footprints to follow across the narrow direction of what used to be a pond.  She looked hard, but didn't hesitate.  The second go, she was the first in the class, and had to create the path the long direction of the bog.  Here again, she looked, but slogged right on through.  I was very proud of her!

Major glitch here:  I had no clue what a "Spanish pole" was!  We were to approach the tree, pick up the pole to a vertical position, circle around it (between the tree and the pole), then return it to the leaning position on the tree.  Kate thought I was asking her to run her head into the tree!  When I did finally get a hold on it, she proceeded to drag it 50 feet away from the tree, where we finally circled it, then returned it, more or less, to the tree...

Another pole disaster here:  See the two barrels?  The pole was across them.  We were supposed to pick up one end by its rope handle, circle the other barrel without letting the pole drop off, then return the handle end to its barrel.  Notice how far we are from the barrels?  'Nuff said.

Kate is an ace at teeter totter bridges! 

We did have a problem with a very solid bridge that shouldn't have been an issue--except that it had two kiddie pools underneath it representing a "creek?"  Kate just about lost it!  I was determined not to get off.  After three or four tries, and backing up a total of a couple of hundred feet (Kate's favorite evasion), she decided it was no big deal and walked right across!  Silly girl!

Leaving the arena through the gate.  Kate did a lot of side-passing at various obstacles, and was getting frustrated with me for keeping asking for them, but most were pretty decent.

At one point we were supposed to lope down a slight hill.  This was after some of Kate's most frustrating behavior, and I wasn't even going to go there, so we long trotted instead.

Even with a couple of 1s for the basically attempted but not completed obstacles, Kate managed to get two thirds!

Our awards.  The night light is already up in the hallway (for grandkid visits) and the sign will go out by the tie rings in front of the barn.  The candle?  Not sure yet--I'm not a candle person.  It may get re-gifted.

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Just before haying season got going, two grandkids came over for a couple of days before camp nearby.

Hello, horsies!

Laney learns about trail obstacles.

And Kate practices side passes (Laney thought going sideways was way cool!).

Brenden and Misty in the big pasture.
Misty tried to take advantage, but Brenden prevailed!

What a pair--the kids and the horses.

Kate gets her just rewards--a treat from a sweet smelling little girl's palm.

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Then it was time to bale hay!  we lost a couple of fields to early summer rain, but the rest baled up nice in just a couple of weeks of steady work.

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Once I was done with that responsibility, it was off to the trails with the Kittitas County Trail Riders.
One ride I really love is through the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area to Pete Lake, not far from the Pacific Crest Trail.

Kate bruised her sole last year on this shale fall (though it's been cleaned up a little), so this year she wore her Cavallo boots (think: sneakers for horses, complete with velcro).

Lots of water crossings, which are old-hat for Kate.

It's hard to believe that this area is only about an hour from home!

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The next week we headed up to the Upper Elk Heights trail system.

Someone periodically places whimsical characters on the trail, pink pigs, lady bugs, and this friendly (but suspicious looking) fellow.

Later in that same ride, I tried something pretty noteworthy for sometimes herd-bound Kate.

We split off from the main group and joined Gary on an alternative trail for the last few miles back to the trailers.

Kate and I have been building our trust in each other, I, after my issues with Maddie, and Kate just pushing herself through new challenges.  

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 Another day the KVTR group headed off to the Flying Horseshoe Ranch, outside of Cle Elum, for what's becoming an annual trail ride/gourmet burger lunch.  It's so popular that we ended up with over twenty riders, so we broke up into smaller groups.  We had a chance to ride a new trail recently blazed for the Washington State Quarter Horse Association prize ride.

We're not at the back of the group, where Kate usually likes to be...

But wait!  There's no one in front of us either!  Momentous day!  Kate actually led all the way from the ranch to the river!  On high alert the whole way.  A few bug-tussles, and one hissy fit, but she did it!

See?  We're really in front!

When we got to the river, we had to drop down a steep, twisty, brushy trail.  Kate looked hard, hesitated a moment, then trundled on!

Made it.  I gave Kate a break, and let her tag along in the back on the return trip.

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Then it was time for the grandkids to come back, as they had only had two days at Grandma's Farm before camp.  Also "Little Mikey" (who is now about 6'3") needed to come for a while. Three straight days of riding and four at the lake (in spite of the threat I made to put them to work on the building projects).

Mike leads Kate, while Laney does helicopters.  Much more confident this time.

My three banditos!

So confident that she took a ride on RT!

I should have dropped his stirrups even more than the two holes I did.

Mike didn't have quite as much control in the bosal, but Kate had just has her teeth done, so I wanted to give her a break.  She took advantage of it by giving Mike a little crow-hop when he didn't let her follow Laney/RT and Brenden/Misty and I up the hill.  He stuck with her, though.

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One last milestone (no pictures, though, but it did happen.)
Kate went on her first solo trail ride (sorta).
One afternoon, Pat rode the three miles or so from her place to ours.  We snacked and visited a bit, then I saddled up Kate and rode back with Pat about 2 miles.  Pat continued on home, and Kate and I turned back toward our place, along the irrigation ditch.  She knew she was going home, so that helped, and again, she was on high alert.  There was one horse-eating bale of hay that had been left to rot at the edge of a field, but other than a few circles before tippy-toeing past, she was good all the way back--no rushing or fuss.
A lot of Kate's first "trail rides" were in the cattle pasture next door, but she always knew that home was right there (and let everybody know where she was!).  I may have to take her back up to Flying Horseshoe and do a few of their little, close-in loops, to show her she can do it.  (I would definitely carry my cell phone, and maybe even have Pat available with a horse just in case.)
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All in all, Kate and I (and the grandkids) had a great summer.  Did we meet our goals for the year?
Shoulder control for lateral movement and neck-reining--much better side passes and turn-a-rounds, no rubber-necking and the start of neck reining.
Loping--not so much, but we did work on it.  We're both sort of unbalanced and awkward.  Just have to suck it up and ride through her crop-hops, so we can just put the time in on big lope circles.
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Next post:  the building projects!