24 hours stall rest, after 2-3 days she can go into light work, i.e. lunging. After a week we can start her off on some light exercise under saddle. I plan on keeping it walk trot for a week. Kim said it will probably take about 2 weeks to see the full effect. She said to let her know if we start to see improvement after the first week.
What she does will depend on how she responds to the injection, according to Dr. Ipock.
She did say that she probably won't make the best dressage horse. I guess she's assuming I want to compete at higher levels, because up to about first level the stress on the hocks would be just as well as her working correctly as a hunter/jumper. I suspect she might have been indicating that Amber is the "wrong breed" for it...I just personally don't agree with the point of view that only Warmbloods can be successful in dressage. Perhaps this is more true at higher levels, although it becomes more just a preference to use them because they have more natural ability for the movements, and those competing so high can afford to use the best breed possible.
You can't say that she is prejudice against Quarter Horses, considering she shows them herself.
I think the reason I keep analyzing this is I don't want to let go of competitive dressage. It was easier to let go of the idea of jumping, even though in reality that will be less stressful on her hocks for jumps under 3' than putting her in a "true" dressage frame competitively.
Perhaps it's me who is prejudice against QH hunters...it looks ridiculously easy, but I may be judging too quickly, because dressage looks ridiculously easy to the untrained eye.
Right now, we can't know anything for sure until we see if this is going to work a miracle. But I'm seriously considering just being blatant with myself, and assuming she's looking good after two weeks, really be honest with myself about what she's really suited for. I refuse to do western anything, because the rodeo "disciplines" are not only stupid and pointless to the horse's training, in my opinion, but they are hock killers. Trail and western pleasure are boring and I *know* there is nothing to those but posing. So besides dressage, we have equitation, jumpers, hunters. Equitation...I don't think that will be for us. Jumpers, perhaps, lower levels. Hunters...may be for us. It's one of those "quarter horse" things, and maybe I just need to suck it up, realize I have a QH who is so deeply QH bred that I can't even find the TBs and Arabians in her pedigree...and do something that people do with QHs. Instead of trying to defy the sterotypes of the horse world and treat her like a shape shifter that can be a Warmblood one minute and a TB the next.
And for your amusement, Amber rather doped up after her injection. She was absolutely drunk. Dr. Ipock twitches all horses for the procedure as a precaution, and Amber was so out of it her lip was just limp. When we released it it held it's shape. Her bottom lip just hung there sadly, a little drool stringing down, while we had it on her.
Poor mare. Hopefully it's going to make her feel much, much better.
Hock injections made a big improvement in my horse. And one of my friends whose horse is a jumper swears they changed him completely.
ReplyDeleteAmber's reaction and improvement are going to tell you a lot about what her future should be.
So yeah, Hunters IS easy. They just perch there...coming from a person who did hunters for 6 years, I would know. ( I got bored though and moved to something more challenging and fun.) Its not hard! If hunters say it is, they havent tried anything too difficult then. I'd like to see them ride a 3 yo racehorse, or jump a warmblood over a Weldons Wall. I only know ONE good hunter rider and she does Eventing too. Hunters, Yawn.
ReplyDeleteWho says you cant take a QH dressaging? My good friend evented her QH to Prelim and did WELL. Amber is perfectly capable of Dressage...Grand Prix? Maybe not...but hell, my horse (and many others too) never will be either.
I can't wait to see, Jean. I've never had any experience with hock injections, but the vast majority of what I have heard is positive, so I'm optimistic.
ReplyDeleteUhg, yes, it IS, I know it. I really don't want to, to be honest, but I guess I'm just giving in to being pushed in that direction. It's the "thing" around here. Remember, I'm in the wonderful south. Woo.
Part of me thinks that, A) Bob is nudging us in that direction because he's said before that the barn (and himself) are starting to get into QHs, and when he thinks QHs, he thinks nose dragging hunters...in fact, he even told me Amber should have to move like that to stay sound. I think that's a load of bullshit myself. I do think there's something to be said for her learning better self-carriage to get FIT to stay sound, but "moving like a QH" doesn't make a difference.
And I think maybe Dr. Ipocks motivation is the fact that she's into showing "Wenglish" QHs.
Everybody's been telling me that dressage is going to kill her hocks worse than jumping and I don't see how they figure that, unless we're talking Grand Prix, and I hope they have sense enough to realize I'm not even thinking about trying to get that far.
Nobody says it, and I've struck down bullshit before about needing a Warmblood to do dressage. I don't know if you read back then, Monica, but when I left shithole barn when it was still in George's hands, he told me I would need a BIG horse (like the Warmblood I was leasing from him) to be successful in dressage. Well, I was killing it on a pony after I left his place.
I forget that Jack was a Quarter Pony. And a large number of people in the EDCTSA we met had...Quarter Horses.
I don't know. I heavily disagree with a lot of things I've been told lately. But dealing with these hock problems, trying to figure out what's going to suit Amber best based on keeping her hocks from being over stressed and what she's good at and likes...it's just so freaking confusing. I'm most terrified of making the wrong choice for her and screwing up the potential for a successful life of showing for her, and myself. Agh.
But I know good and well Amber would do fine in dressage. I think I just need to get out of the habit of doing everything somebody else says. The vet saying it though got my attention a little more...I don't know, I feel like I need to put her out on pasture rest and let her get furry and muddy and say she can't do anything either because of her hocks or because she's a QH and apparently, she can't excel in anything. I guess that depends on what your view of 'excel' is. I just wonder if everyone is mistaken into thinking I'm trying to get this horse to be a Grand Prix jumper or dressage horse.