soundness

Some lamenesses have obvious causes and clear resolutions. Your horse is injured by a known trauma. The wound heals. Perhaps a ligament swells, causes pain, and eventually returns to some semblance of its former self. X-rays and ultrasounds can give definitive diagnoses. Sometimes. Unfortunately for the health of the horse […]

Horse Back Health Is Complicated

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Two weeks ago Tonka was obviously sore, most notably his left front. I immediately stopped riding and made an appointment with my veterinarian. She deduced that the coffin joints inside of his hoofs was causing pain (read more on this blog) and injected the joints with a cocktail of drugs. […]

Coffin Joint Injection Results

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In my warmup before last Thursday’s jumping lesson, Tonka was off. Not so obvious on the straightaways, but definitely on the corners.   Determining exactly where the lameness is originating from can be tricky, but this seemed to be a left front issue. In the weeks prior to this, Tonka […]

Coffin Joint Injections

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The quarantine break of 5½ weeks gave me the incentive to get serious about doing cross-training with Tonka. When you keep your horse at a boarding barn that has an indoor arena and limited trails, it’s all too easy to stay in the ring. But after a month of total […]

Horse Cross-training Success

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By the time I’m back in the saddle, Tonka will have been sitting idly for 5 ½ weeks. I’ve been looking into the best way to return him to work. How much condition does a horse lose in just over a month of standing around? What’s safe to do and what […]

Bringing My Horse Back Into Work

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A horse’s tail can be as expressive as their ears. The tail talks, but like with ears, you need to know the context. You need to know the horse. A swishing tail can mean I’m eager or I’m frustrated or I hurt or there’s an annoying fly or you’re annoying. When […]

Tail Talk

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When Tonka shakes his head, something is going on with him, and I’d better listen. I first noticed this early on, when on a trail ride a friend who was up ahead put too much distance between us. Tonka wanted to trot to catch up. I wanted him to walk […]

What’s Bothering You, Tonka?

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I follow Denny Emerson on Facebook. He’s a true horseman. Not only is he a gold medal Olympian (in eventing when it was long-form), but he has also completed the Tevis cup. He’s full of wisdom and opinions. I love that he writes about how he’s become more patient, empathic […]

Walk to Warmup Synovial Joints

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As a dressage rider, I obsess over every every stride. I care where each hoof is placed, where the shoulder is, how my horse carries his head, the tilt of his jaw. Everything. In trying to position Tonka’s body just so, it’s easy to turn into a nagging rider. As […]

Let Your Horse Think

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