Meeting Astronomic and a lesson with Sam

I met Astronomic. He is a lovely chap, very friendly.Going through that ugly 2 year old stage, all legs, co ordination still required, and a little thin I thought. Extremely lazy. Doesn't move off your leg well. He is normally ridden in spurs and we didn't have any so it was very difficult to get him moving and to keep him moving. I had a dressage whip and he didn't really respond to that either. With all the natural impulsion he had he was very comfortable, took you with him which was lovely. I finally got him to canter and it was a lot of work to keep him cantering for a 20m circle. He paddles in one leg which I didn't like as it quite pronounced. Also his off side hind, in the trot, when it hit the ground just looked odd. I can't really explain it but I didn't like that either. The people who are selling him seem very genuine and told us everything they could think of. I really enjoyed my ride even though it was hard work. I am still very concerned about the amount of work he has done at such an early age.

I had a lesson on Sam yesterday. He worked very well and was sound for the duration. We gave him a lot of breaks of walk as we didn't want to over work him either as he hasn't had too much work since our last lesson. My instructor can see a big improvement. He is happier to move off my legs, listening and reacting to aids quicker. His trot became rhythmical very early so we could ask for him to accept the contact and start working in a frame a lot quicker than normal. She also said that he is engaging well from behind and rounding his back nicely. Canter was still very stiff and braced but we haven't worked on that at home much but he did nice transitions into the canter so that was good.

One of the stable cats was hunting in the long grass around the arena during our lesson. Sam is fine with cats and so far he hadn't battered an eyelid. The cat had found something and decided just as Sam and I were trotting past to make the huge death defying leap. Poor Sam got a fright, he was working so well in a frame which he kept and bounded side ways a good 2m. I went with him and of course the headset that my instructor uses, the batteries died just at that time. She was still able to talk me through it and we continued on with a lovely forward engaged trot. My little heart was racing a million miles an hour. The top end of the arena was causing us problems during the lesson. Something was spooking Sam and it took a bit of riding to push him through this but we worked through it and by the end of the lesson I was able to trot large around the arena with still tenseness at the top end but he was able to trust me enough to continue trotting around there.

I spoke to my instructor as well about Astronomic. She does not believe that I am up to having a young horse. Due to my inexperience and lack of confidence she believes that while he may be very quiet and obliging she was concerned about when we have to face new things in life I may not be able to give him the confidence he needs. I appreciated her honesty and it helped cement in my mind that I had made the right decision. On Thursday night I had made the decision not to purchase Astro. The decision was made due to his age and work load that he has already had. The paddling, the off side hind not landing quiet right, the amount of work it took him to go forward. Also I rode Sam on Thursday night and emotionally I don't think I am ready for another horse.

Astronomic

I am looking at a horse tomorrow night. Astronomic.

Astronomic is a 2yo WB/TB gelding. Will mature 17-17.1hh. Big, expressive mover with rhythmical paces. He has been knowledgeably broken in and schooled. Very quiet, trainable and affectionate temperament. Great to take out. Scored 68% in his first Prep test. Would suit a rider that is looking for a very quiet, straight forward horse that is ready to embark on his career. Currently in light work. View video on You Tube - 'Astronomic: Standout 2yo WB/TB' A video of Astronomic.
He is local to me which is handy. He is a Cleveland Bay cross, I have met his dad, Impeccable Marksman, and fell in love with him when I met him -My main concerns so far are his age and his movement is huge! I don't know if I will be able to ride it and I really don't want to look a fool in front of the owner. I have warned them though and will discuss my concerns when I get there.

Thoughts?

Sam is doing well. One leg swells up a little at night but I think that is from standing around. It goes down during the day when he is out grazing. I gave him a lunge today and it doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.

Sam trys to jump a fence - FAILS

Yesterday afternoon I went out into the paddock to bring Poppy in, looked around for Sam but couldn't find him. A look in the neighbours paddock and there he was grazing in the paddock behind us. I left Poppy where she was, went and grabbed a halter and walked round to catch Sam. He was very happy to be caught meeting me up in the top corner. How considerate of him. quick check and a few scrapes but he was walking sound so I took him home to clean him up.

Once things were cleaned the injuries were a little more serious than I first thought. They are still all superficial but I cleaned them up, dressed them and bandaged him up for the night.

After I cleaned it all up

A scratch under the arm pit.

This morning everything didn't look too bad except that he had rolled through the night. One of the bandages had slipped down a little so part of the wound got pretty dirty. I took the bandages off, cleaned everything up. Took his temperature and that was normal. My neighbour popped in to have a look and we thought it may be better to let it all dry so I sprayed it with Lotagen, put a clean rug on him and turned him out to graze. What did Sam do, went and found the dirtiest spot and ROLLED!!!!! How ungrateful! So I bought him back in, cleaned everything up again and sprayed it all again.

This morning

Slightly swollen, but looking good I think

This afternoon when Scott gets home I will give him a shot on Penicillin. I'll probably give this to him for three days, just to make sure. At least he isn't sore, I have watched him have a trot around the paddock, he is still annoying Poppy and seems pretty happy.

Silly ponies!

Update on Sam

We have improvement. On Friday and Saturday we had a fair bit of rain so the ground is nice and soft at the moment. Sunday morning I put him on the lunge but the ground was too slippery to get a good idea. I trotted him out on the road and he seemed improved. By the afternoon the ground had dried out a fair bit so I lunged him over in the reserve in the arena I have created over there. He had a lovely time kicking up his heels and trotted out nicely both directions. I trotted him on the road again and there was still a small amount of lameness to the right.

Monday night I rode him. He was full of beans but went well. I was even able to ride a 15m circle on the soft ground. Tuesday I think he must have woken up on the wrong side of the stable as he was extremely grumpy so I didn't ride. This afternoon we went for a long 40min walk where he strided out well the whole time. He was feeling very fresh, tried to break into a trot a few times but came to a walk without too much fuss. We did two 10minute sessions in the arena with a 3 minute walk break in between. He worked well, very forward but seemed sound.

Townsville Vets have already destroyed Sam's x-rays. They only need to keep them for two years they tell me. I spoke to Brad Dowling the vet who worked with Sam a lot while we were up there and our conversation went a lot like this:

Me: Hi Brad, we are having a few lameness issues with Sam and having a little difficulty in pin pointing exactly where it is.

Vet: So the Pedal Ostitis is finally showing

Me: Oh, they were throwing that around but not to sure.

Vet: I am surprised you have gotten this long out of him

Me: Any suggestions on how to treat it

Vet: Not a lot you can do, he is only going to give you a lot of heart ache being lame on and off.

Me: Thanks Brad

I spoke to Hadley my vet here and relayed what was said. She seems to think his pasterns are playing a part as well and would like to do some more tests. Because I will now have to float Sam into town to be shod (the new farrier refuses to travel out to me) they will test him then. I am to keep him in work and monitor how he goes. In about 4 weeks I will take him in and see how we go. From there we can work out a pain management plan. If the pasterns are playing a part she thinks she can help with this with some injections. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Sams second vet visit and new shoes!

Sam went back to vets last Wednesday. Lame still in both front legs. They x-rayed both front hooves, pasterns and fetlocks. It showed arthritic changes, the pedal bone looks airated, motely but with out x-rays to compare it is hard to know if the bone has changed. Nothing that would have them say, yep that is why he is lame. A master farrier looked at his hooves and the x-rays and shod him. He made some pretty big changes, took him back up to a size 4, took away a lot of toe, made him wider, not so upright, basically made his hooves look a whole lot better and normal. He also has used side clips which I like. Sam was still lame both directions on a circle at the trot. The vet advised to give him more rest and we will re-evaluate Monday.

Today I put him on the lunge to see how he would travel. Pretty good to the left but slightly lame to the right though a huge improvement. We have had so much rain my, arena was like an ice skating rink so I mowed the flat area over in the reserve across the road so I could try him out over there. This afternoon on the lunge he was fine both directions. He had a wonderful time kicking up his heels and feeling exceptionally good. Even bringing him in on a smaller circle to the right at the trot he was showing no signs of lameness. I trotted him out on the road and around in circles. On the hard ground still slight lameness to the right but it had to be a pretty tight circle so I consider this a big improvement.

The vets really have no idea what it could be. I have requested x-rays that were taken in Townsville in 2007 and 2008 to see if we can compare and see if that shows anything. They are throwing around the idea of Pedal Osteitis. I am hoping not for this as there is no 'cure'.

What I am wondering is if he is mainly lame on his right fore - it is overcoming a splint, burst abscess, new shape and shoes. Also if there are arthritic changes then maybe it is time for Sam to be on some supplements.

I am going to wait for them to be able to review and compare the x-rays and then if he is still lame I will take him in again for more tests.

It was good to see him kicking up his heels today, feeling a lot better. Poor little Sam.

Vet report so far

Sam had a day out today, at the vets. I dropped him off at 8am and went back at 2.30pm for his appointment. He had a lovely stable, lucerne hay, fresh water and a neighbour to keep him company. There was even a video camera in there so when you were in at reception you could watch him! That was awesome. I hadn't been to this vet clinic before, it is part of the university here in Wagga, a teaching veterinary clinic. Relatively new so the best of everything.

I got back at 2.30pm and they were ready to see us. First Sam was weighed, he is a hefty 534kg. I thought he would be heavier..... We went through the history of what has been happening, trotted him out and he was a lot worse than he was at home, both ways on the lunge this time. They said he was lame in a straight line as well. Flexion tests, hoof tests, they still couldn't pin point it. Next step was nerve blocks. So far we are up to 3 lame legs. We ran out of time so he is going back next week to check the other leg, have x-rays and they are having a farrier come and look at him. I did ask if it could be his shoulders or more in his body but the further investigating we did it doesn't look like it.

I asked the vet what she was thinking before I left, she didn't want to speculate but it is looking like it might be the shoeing job. My farrier is not the greatest farrier I have ever had, but is always on time, will travel out to me (most think I live out in the sticks) rings me when he is going away to see if Sam will last or if he needs to do him a little earlier and he is a gentleman. Good farriers in this area are hard to come by and the goods ones are not taking on any more clients. The farrier who will be examining Sam next week is one that I have been trying to get into since we moved here. I am hoping that this might be my in. It would mean floating him into the uni for him to be done but if it means that I would get a great shoeing job then I am willing to do that.

Maybe it won't be the shoes, maybe his arthritis and the degenerative changes are starting to play up. I guess we just wait and see.

Sam was their best client today, easiest to examine, to do things with and the most polite. I was very happy to hear that! So Sam gets to stay out tonight as the vet thinks he might get some swelling from all the injections so he is out in his paddock grazing.

Sam still lame

Well I won't be meeting Pirate, his mum sold him on the weekend. Never mind if it was meant to be it would be.

I tried to ride Sam this afternoon but he is still lame. Straight line - sound. Circle left - sound. Circle right still very lame. I have given him a little over a week so I will take him to the vets on Friday. We might get him x-rayed and see what they think. He is happy within himself and certainly wanted to get out and about today on our ride. I might take him for a walk tomorrow afternoon.

I hope you are all surviving the ice cold!