No side effects so far

Picasso did well last night. The owner of Circle Oak Ranch, Ron, went out and checked on Picasso around 8:30. Said he was quiet and had good gut sound! I went out to see Pica this morning for a shortened hyrdohorse session (did 7 minutes, taking it easy for a few days), and he seemed great! Now when we first started the hydrohorse, I was told that eventually horses get to the point where upon coming out of the hydrohorse they are all jazzed and excited. We have reached that point. Picasso comes out charging and usually has to be restrained. Then once he is hosed off he is usually led to go graze. On the way over, he gets quite acrobatic… Today, he had to go back to his stall while they mowed the paddocks (why the are mowing when they have free grazers was puzzling lol). So he was mighty miffed and not going out IMMEDIATELY. He was striking and trying to push me in the direction of the grass. I told him to knock it off and it out right defiance and angst, he pulled quite an impressive rear! Cheeky….. Sorry no pictures of it. 😉

Here are a couple of pictures of Picasso being “cheeky” before we went to Circle Oak. I love this first one because he and I are in sync with our steps.

This is quite an impressive shot. Not sure how he managed to bend that way, but he did…..

Tildren Today!

Picasso began getting Tildren around 12 pm today. He was sedated and heart rate, temp checked to ensure not reaction. My vet Tere Crocker gave him a few vials diluted in a bag of saline to see if there would be any reaction before giving him more. All was well, so he got the rest and ended up using 2 one liter bags of saline to administer. He did very well.

I stayed with him until about 7:30 pm to ensure he wasn’t going to colic. Still a chance of it occurring over night, but when I left he had a heart rate of about 36 beats per minute, which was normal for him. So I am pretty confident he will be ok through the night. He attacked his dinner and pooped a couple of times, providing that at least for now, the digestive tract is still in gear. Fingers crossed no complications over night!

The Tildren will take a little while to have an effect. Some say one month, some say 3-4 months. Time will tell. But most people who have used it call it “magic.” We could use a little magic…..

‘nother chiro visit

Today, Picasso saw his sensai again, chiropractor Todd Gregory. Todd used his gadgets to fix my little Picasso. Pica was of course suspicious of these new fangled gadgets, so he observed Dr Gregory quite closely, and inspected all equipment before allowing him to use it…..

And after Picasso was so relaxed he was dizzy, MOM got an adjustment! So nice to have a relaxed back again. But what was most memorable was Pica’s eyes when Todd set up the table. “What the hell are you gonna do to me now?” But when I got on the table he was even more intrigued!

He was very confused as to why I was on a table and getting contorted in all kinds of odd positions. Goofy horse….

In other news, Tildren came and will be given to Picasso on Thursday. Wish us lots of luck!

Nice bareback ride today

Rode Picasso bareback today. He was great except for one spook. We were walking by some paddocks when the horses in the paddocks spooked at Picasso. He wasn’t aware they were there and scooted away. Goofy boy. Couple of pictures. The second one shows a classic Picasso evasion.

Beautiful day for grazing

Picasso is enjoying the sun and grass today. Had a good hydrohorse session. We’re at 12 minutes!!! Go Picasso!

Question to the other horsey bloggers:
What are the best ways to rehab or restrengthen the stifle and hind end?
I’ve heard hills, ground poles, and trail rides.

Tildren on its way…

My vet let me know that the Tildren was en route a couple of days ago. So that means it should be here within a week! I have been a little leery of my decision to use Tildren given some of the potential side effects… But I have had several conversations with people who have used it and all have been pleased. One woman I found has a jumper gelding who had the exact some cyst (type wise) that Picasso has! She gave her horse Tildren last year and he is back to kicking butt as a jumper. Tildren isn’t used as often for bone cysts, but it clearly worked for her. Let’s hope it works for us too.

Picasso is up to 5 minutes or so of trotting. We’ve been letting him do this on the Eurociser. But I wasn’t real pleased with how he crowded the gate so much… basically neck inverted, prancing a long.  He didn’t do this every time, but enough. So today I thought maybe I could lunge him on big long ovals and get the exercise done that way.  I let him warm for several minutes to loosen up. He began trotting and all was fine until he upped his trot to a bigger trot. Then it was apparent he was still very asymmetrical. Not lame, but not even…. Kind of a let down…. He is pretty even at the walk now, but not always. I am sure part of the shortening is from his tight hamstrings. When massaged, they do loosen up and he walks evenly… But what is causing his hamstrings to be tight….

Hoping the Tildren will fix that…..

Fingers crossed everybody!

First RIDE of 2010!!!!!

Wonderous vet Tere Crocker cleared Picasso for 10 minutes of riding!!!! He was so good! Probably helped that he was doped on Calm and Cool and it was late in the afternoon when he is the most lazy. He kept himself pretty long and stretched the whole time. Good boy Picasso!

Nice and stretchy!!!!!

Endotapping

I have been experimenting with endotapping lately. Endotapping is a technique for inducing relaxation. It is best explained by JP Giacomini at the link above. Anyway, I have been trying it out on Picasso and according to Margaret Manion, massage therapist extraordinaire, it seems to be providing a benefit. He is less tense. That could also be from my massages as well. Either way, I see the change in Picasso when I tap him. He initially resisted as most horses do. If you think about it, he has held his tension for so long, it probably hurts to release it. But now he is really letting go a lot. Drops his head, BIG yawns, small sighs, and an overall body change. Today I got him to be practically asleep!

His eyes were fluttering to stay open…

Now trying to experiment with tapping in motion to increase his range of motion….

Finally… proof!!!

So I taught Picasso to pick up things….and thanks to Jeriko’s quick camera skills, now I have proof!

He looks like he is begging for food!

Professional Butt Rub

Today Picasso got a second visit from massage therapist Margaret Manion (scroll down for her contact info). Margaret is an excellent massage therapist. She works wonders on a horse. They are transformed. She first saw Picasso right before he went to Circle Oak. He was VERY tense around his sacro-iliac joint and his poll was completely blocked up and tight. She worked on him for an hour and finally got that poll to loosen up.

Today she said he was much better. I have been massaging him since her last visit, and she said my efforts have been helpful for him! His poll was not as tight, although there was some tension. She also said his hind end was tight but better than last time. He is also gaining more muscle. Horray! Go Picasso!

Today was the weirdest weather. The storm rolled in around 10 am, started to POUR around 11 am. Then at around 3 pm, it suddenly stopped and blue skies emerged! It was quite a beautiful afternoon! Good ole Sonoma County!