Of all the ways to get hurt around a young horse...

 ...passing out while Pyro stood there like a perfect gentleman is not the one I anticipated.

Pyro: I'm a good boy! I am!
(feat. my ever supportive and patient husband)

To treat Pyro's respiratory infection, our vet left the 2nd dose of his antibiotics with me to give 4 days after the initial dose. This stuff is THICK, so it required a bigger 18g needle. He also needed a LOT of it, so it was split into 2 syringes that the vet pulled up and left with me. 

said antibiotic

While this medicine has shown it most definitely works, I unfortunately have a needle phobia. I've worked through it enough to be able to give Pyro and Missy their fall flu/rhino vaccine. I end up a little woozy afterwards, but I'm able to avoid a farm call no worse for wear. I thought I was ready for this. 

Spoiler: I wasn't. 

Blessedly, I had the good sense to ask barnmate Jen to help by holding Pyro. Armed with self confidence and a pocket of cookies, I haltered Pyro in his stall and passed him to Jen. I approached Pyro like nothing out of the usual was happening, scratched/tapped his neck, jabbed and pulled back to make sure I wasn't in a vein, and slooooooowly gave him the shot. It was so thick that it took 2 hands. He only tossed his head once, but otherwise simply looked for his promised cookie when I was done. I felt a little woozy afterwards, as is typical for me, but I took a step back, did some breathing, and felt like I had fully recovered. I got halfway through the 2nd syringe and tried to tell Jen, "I think I'm going to pass out...", but apparently I already was and it came out as an unintelligible garble. 

"Huh, Mom's being weird again."

Pyro, to his credit, didn't react when I fell. Jen leapt into action, making sure I was breathing and not face down in the sawdust. (I really owe her for that one. What does one give a barnmate for traumatizing them? Booze seems the obvious answer. With my luck, I'll be singlehandedly stocking her liquor cabinet.) I came to, disoriented and with an eye full of sawdust. However, it didn't seem like I had hit anything major as I fell into the deep bedding. 

That sawdust filled eye got hella puffy

I'm no stranger to passing out, so once I had my wits about me, I carried on, giving Pyro the rest of the shot (with a clean needle) as Jen cheerleaded me on. I grabbed a snack while she finished mucking my stalls (maybe she needs a monthly booze subscription? Is that a thing?), flushed out my eye, and carried on with my plans. That evening at a holiday party (because of COURSE I had a party to go to) I noticed I was having occasional trouble finding my words, but figured that was just the spiked cider. In hindsight, drinking and socializing was not the best thing I could've done that evening.

Pinto Party (and friend Ivan) in the sunshine

Once I got moving the next morning, it was evident something was wrong. I felt sick. No fever, but I was nauseated, weak, and shaky. My heart raced as I fed and watered the rabbits. As the day progressed, I started to recognize many of the symptoms I had following my traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2018. Que panic when I realized I had another concussion. 

Oh look! Pyro is feeling better!

Now it's 4 days past the concussion, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll be healing from this seemingly minor fall into deep sawdust for a while. As with my prior TBI, this concussion affected my vestibular system, which is in charge of your balance, and increased my existing postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). This means that I get motion sickness just from walking around and explains why my heart started racing when I got up to do chores. I'm also dealing with cognitive fatigue again, which causes looking at a screen to be very tiring and intense sensitivity to light and noise. 

Gotta balance out the heavy stuff with Pyro playing with a ball

What this means going forward is I have to carefully monitor my brain's threshold, stretching the limits of my cognitive stamina without exceeding them. If I ask too much of my brain at once, it takes longer for me to recover than if I preemptively take a break before symptoms hit me.

Happy boy

I likely won't be in the saddle anytime soon, unless it's to sit on Missy and do vestibular therapy exercises (something she helped me with previously). While that's a major bummer to say the least, I'm grateful it's not as bad as the original TBI, and I'm well equipped to deal with it this time around. I know that each concussion you receive makes you more susceptible to them in the future. It's why I ALWAYS wear a helmet when I ride. 

Preferably one with MIPS

The brain can heal, but it takes a lot of time... and some things are simply different now for me. I spent 2 years doing vestibular and cognitive therapy to get to my new normal, but I never got my working memory back. I certainly worry about what that means for my future with horses, but I choose to mitigate the risk as best I can while still taking part in what lights up my soul. I'm definitely considering wearing my helmet whenever I'm handling horses (not just in the saddle), as well as making alternative plans for when they needs shots in the future. 

Love this boy (even when he's naughty) with all my heart

So, in the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the little moments of interaction with my horses, be thankful I can still drive to the stable and be around them (so long as I'm not over threshold), and look forward to our future adventures together. Be safe out there, friends!

WOW Convert

 While Pyro is recovering from his respiratory infection, I want to ask if you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, WOW Saddles. 

Pyro modeling his "good enough for now" adaptation of Missy's WOW saddle.

All jokes aside, trying to fit a young Paint/morgan cross with narrow shoulders, broad back, short rib cage, long lumbar spine, and little to no withers through growth spurts that leave him teetering between being downhill and level, all while he builds topline that makes his shape increasingly more flat front to back... has been an absolute nightmare for the past several years. This is a long post, so... saddle up.

His has a... challenging... conformation in more than one way.

As a rather unconventional cross (and therefore shape) Pyro has been hard to fit the entire time he has been under saddle. We've spent a good deal of time in a Brockamp bareback pad. The fact that I was able to ride a 2-year-old, playful rubber band bareback tells you all you need to know about the quality of those pads, but that's a story for another post. 

Riding in the Brockamp at Dancing Horse Farm as a 2.5 year old

I searched for a "Grow With Me" type saddle that would accommodate my plans for low level dressage and jumping, but nothing I found used was quite right. We ended up being stuck either bareback or in whichever western saddle that fit him best at the time while I kept struggling to bring him along in dressage. 

Out of desperation, I even tried to shim Missy's wide M. Toulouse jump saddle. It was unsuccessful. 

I found one of the few saddle fitters who service our area and had them out to assess the fit of my current saddles and give suggestions of what might suit Pyro. At this time I learned about the Loxley line of saddles, which are available with an adjustable tree. Their Foxhunter model is not marketed as an AP saddle, but it's a jump saddle with a deeper seat than most. I did some test rides, and, with the understanding that it could be adjusted as he grew both through gullet plate and wool flocking, I pulled the trigger on ordering a custom Loxley with the adjustable tree. 

This saddle was BEAUTIFUL, exactly as I envisioned for a young horse dream saddle. It also fit me like a glove, staying out of my way and allowing me to forget about it (as good equipment does) and just ride. Pyro seemed comfortable too, so we carried on with our baby horse dressage and eventually introduced jumping. 

A couple years older, figuring his body out

This saddle was our go-to for 2 full years, and during that time it would work well... until it didn't. As he regularly changed shape, I'd dutifully message the fitter to come adjust it for him. Unfortunately, it was like pulling teeth to get on their schedule. Since I was the only client in the area, it felt like I wasn't a priority, even though I had purchased this custom saddle through them. 

There were many sweaty bareback rides as I tried to keep up on his learning while his saddle was waiting to be refitted.

As you can imagine, this lead to a lot of frustration. I had this beautiful, expensive, custom saddle that I couldn't adjust myself and regularly couldn't use as Pyro changed shape. Meanwhile, a friend of a friend introduced my barnmates and me to WOW saddles. These modular saddles are easily adjustable, either by adding or removing air from the panels' front and rear air bags, or by completely swapping out parts. 

Missy patiently letting us measure her for a WOW saddle

The brand's gauge (plus some virtual assistance from a knowledgeable fitter) allowed us to easily spec out what components each horse would need if we were to build them a WOW. While still struggling with Pyro's Loxley, I built a WOW "retirement saddle" for Missy by sourcing used parts and putting the saddle together myself. 

She seemed to really like the Flair panels...

Even if we had to play with the front-to-back balance.

Fast forward to the latest round of Pyro changing shape, his saddle shimmying forward, contacting the fitter... contacting the fitter... reminding the fitter I work an 8-5 and can't haul in during the week... and finally getting on the fitter's schedule almost a month after I had first reached out. 

Meanwhile, Pyro got lots of ground work while we waited.

Once the fitting appointment rolled around, I was dismayed to hear that Pyro's shape had changed such that he was no longer within the bounds of what his custom saddle could do. As he built topline, his back lifted, making the curve of his back front to back more straight and flat rather than curved. This is a common occurrence as horses get more fit. It also rendered my custom saddle useless to us. 

(*cue internal screaming and pulling out hair*)

After getting to take a trip on the SDAA (shock/denial/anger/acceptance) wheel, I refocused my efforts on what I had available: Missy's WOW saddle. 

Baby's first dressage saddle

When I sourced used parts for Missy, I obtained a few extra parts, ones that I was able to swap out to make something close to what the gauge indicated Pyro needed. The "wrong" parts meant that the saddle was unbalanced front to back, but I was able to accommodate that by adjusting the air in the panels. 

Pitching my pelvis forward since it was cantle high

Despite me being unbalanced, Pyro seemed very comfortable

As expected with the Flair, good even contact

I like where it sits on him, even with not quite perfect parts.

After a couple rides of tinkering with the air, both Pyro and I were pretty darn happy and comfortable!

Much more balanced

The saddle stayed behind his shoulder, and I like the angle the girth lays.

We were blessed by a visit from the WOW Saddle Fairy (our friend who originally introduced us to them), who dropped off one more "correct" part for Pyro. I haven't gotten to swap the new headplate in due to Pyro's illness, but I look forward to tinkering with it, and I know that what we have currently WORKS.

The WOW Saddle Fairy also dropped off our very own gauge for the barn!

As someone who is happy to tinker with equipment, being empowered to work on, adjust, and change my own saddle is a welcome experience. My husband (a mechanical engineer) says I would've made a fine engineer myself, so working on a saddle like this comes easily to me. It's as simple as using the gauge to measure, a screw driver to remove and replace a few bolts, or a pump and valve to adjust the air in the panels. I can easily brainstorm with my barnmates and other local WOW users, and we can get virtual support from the fitter who helped us do the initial measurements. Exploration and inventiveness are encouraged with this ecosystem. It's a refreshing changed after my experience with the Loxley.  I'm officially a WOW convert, at least for me and my ponies. 

Under the Weather

 The past week, baby Pyro has been sick. 

Sad boi is sad

The first sign that something was up was that he was quiet... too quiet. My normal Prince of Mischief was walking out flat footed after the rest of the herd, even as they galloped into the frosty pasture. 

Typically he's a horse that takes "every interaction is a training opportunity" to the max, and no opportunity for play is passed up. 

Saturday he started not finishing his grain meals, although he heartily tucked into his hay. Sunday was more of the same, but Monday he was dull and lethargic. His temperature was a toasty 103.1 F, so he got his first dose of Banamine. Tuesday morning, his temp was even higher (104.0 F) … time to call the vet. Thankfully, our wonderful (and very patient) vet was able to get to us quickly. It turns out despite not having a cough or snotty nose, he has a respiratory infection. He had congestion in his right lung, but no other signs besides the fever, going off his grain, and lacking his usual mischief. 

Not even a half-hearted attempt to dick with me or the wheelbarrow while I mucked 

From what our vet said, this has been common lately. We presume that the sudden shift in weather from 60's and sunny to dead of winter played a part since Pyro hasn't been off property lately, and 3 weeks had passed since Disco joined the barn (not that they're ever nose to nose).

Coaxed to eat his grain as soup

 Poor kid got some medicine to make him feel better in the short term, antibiotics, and directions to receive probiotics. His fever has been up and down since then, so he gets Banamine as needed, and I get the fun task of giving him two more shots of thick antibiotics later. 

Good soup

Missy (who shows no signs of illness) has been a diligent mother, keeping Pyro company while he's stalled. Bless her for not going stir crazy. I got to pony Pyro off her to stretch their legs, but I've also been dual wielding pintos during hand walking sessions. Missy seems to find this sufficient and is only a little annoyed Pyro won't walk faster. 

The most efficient way to exercise three spotty critters at once

I'm not used to having to worry about Pyro's health like this. Missy is the old gal! Pyro's biggest health concerns are growing pains, scrapes from being an idiot in the pasture, and the occasional bout of thumps when he gets dehydrated. It's hard to see him clearly feeling so puny. 

A subdued Pinto Party

He has the occasional coughing fit now (to be expected as he clears out that lung), but I think he's on the right path. This morning, he didn't finish his breakfast right away, and he was pretty sluggish on our walk, but his fever has broken for now.

They might be related...

While I spend far too much of my time shoving a thermometer where the sun don't shine, remember to hug your ponies and watch them like a hawk!