The Rider's Knee

The Riders Knee

I’ve just gotten around to reading my latest Equus magazine and found a very interesting article by Dr. James Warson. Dr. Warson is a retired neurosurgeon who is the leading authority on equine-related spinal injuries and author of The Rider’s Pain Free Back. His article this month in Equus addresses rider’s knee problems.  I’m sure a lot of you receive this magazine but if you don’t I thought I might relate what Dr.Warson had to say;

Your knees are designed to move in one direction only, front to back. It is not meant to move side to side or rotate. When we ride, we compress this straight structure against the apex of a round surface, the horse’s barrel. This creates a side-to-side stress on the joint it was not meant to endure. Over the years, this pressure causes the medial collateral ligament to tighten and the lateral ligament to weaken and stretch.  Disruption of either ligament shifts the tibia in the opposite direction, so lateral-ligament weakness results in deviation of the tibia inward (medially) to produce a bowed leg. Once the knee starts to bow, the stresses on the joint accelerate. When standing and walking the body presses down on the knee unevenly, with more weight borne on the medial surface of the tibia. The resulting compression of the medial meniscus  causes inflammation in the joint and degradation of the cartilage that can eventually lead to osteoarthritis. Add hook like arthritic bone spurs, and the result is likely a future knee replacement.

I actually didn’t realize these facts and always thought my bad knees were due to jumping courses and dismounting from a 17’2 hand horse for years.  Now that I know better and do not intend to get another knee replacement, I’ll follow the recommendations Dr. Warson makes below:

1. Control inflammation. In addition to providing some pain relief, over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) can help reduce inflammation in the knee and slow the progress of any arthritic changes. Consult your doctor before starting anti-inflammatory medication.
2. Support joint health. Supplements that contain glucosamine, chondroitin and /or MSM are worth trying, although results are variable. (I take these supplements and they seem to help me).
3. Watch your weight.  Carrying extra pounds adds to the pressure placed on your knees when you stand and walk. (My doctor actually told me that you relieve 3 pounds of pressure on your knees when you lose just one pound).
4. Wear knee braces. These can minimize the sideways pressure on your knees as you ride and provide some relief from discomfort. Braces with solid or semisolid sides are useful when more support and stability are required. Your doctor or orthopedic specialist can help you in making the best selection for your situation. (I haven’t found a knee brace I actually like yet but I do know that the pull on elastic ones absolutely don’t work).
5. Use wedge stirrup pads.  Because they position the foot so that the outside is slightly higher than the inside, wedge stirrup pads will tension the medial collateral ligament, which takes pressure off the medial meniscus and relieves stretching forces on the lateral collateral ligament. ( I’m going to try this and I’ll let you know how it feels. In the meantime, I still like the Herm Springer flex stirrups I am using).

I hope this post was helpful to everyone with older or arthritic knees.  Even if you’re younger it’s a good idea to take care of your knees now before it’s too late. I wish I had known about this earlier on so I could have taken better care of my knees. Do I sound like your mother, sorry about that. I actually am reminded of my grandmother, who had terrible arthritis, warning me “you’re going to get arthritis walking around barefoot in the cold weather” Ah, well the invincibility of youthful ignorance. Sorry Grandma, I should have listened!

Until next time

Quote for Today

In my opinion, a horse is the animal to have. 1100 pounds of raw muscle, power, grace, and sweat between your legs - it's something you just can't get from a pet hamster.
    - Anonymous

The Day After

The Day After 

It’s the day after Thanksgiving the rain has stopped and I decided to take a walk around the farm to counteract some of yesterday’s feast. Grabbing my camera on the way out in case a picture worth taking caught my eye I stepped out into the gray day.  Moments later seeing a good shot I walked down a slope and this is what I got…

Yes, we have had a lot of rain lately and the mud was deeper than I thought. After losing my sneakers to this mud pit, I had a choice of walking back to the barn barefoot or slipping them back on. I dug them out and I burrowed my feet into the slimy depths and sloshed all the way back to the barn. On the way back I was lucky enough to have a bunch of leaves stick to them, the latest fashion statement in barn wear I'm sure. Back at the barn I rinsed them off in the wash stall and barefooted it to the house. So much for a nice walk, the day after.

Until next time

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Over the River

(Thanksgiving Day)

Over the river and through the wood
To Grandmother's house we go.
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh
Through white and drifted snow.

Over the river and through the wood
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.

Over the river and through the wood
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring,
Ting-a-ling-ling!
Hurrah forThanksgiving Day!

Over the river and through the wood,
Trot fast, my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground
Like a hunting hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river and through the wood,
And straight through the barnyard gate.
We seem to go
Extremely slow~
It is so hard to wait!

Over the river and through the wood~
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! 

Until next time

Friday's Funnies

Friday's Funnies

How Pumpkin Pies Are 'Really' Made

Have a great weekend!

Until next time

Quote for Today

The grass is always greener on the other side, until a horse comes and poops on it.

Dusty's Not So Excellent Adventures

Dusty’s Not So Excellent Adventures

Dusty’s saga started on Wednesday morning when I noticed she hadn’t finished her grain.. Figuring she was simply in a hurry to get out with the herd or perhaps didn’t like her new supplements I took her feed bucket away, groomed and tacked her up for a ride. We rode for a while in the arena and she was definitely not into the lesson. Again, I cleverly deduced she was having a typical ‘Dusty Day’. We ended on a good note and I gave her a treat. Dusty is a treat monster and she took the treat but spit it out.  My radar kicked in; Dusty has never refused a treat in her life.

Wednesday was an uncommonly warm and humid day and when I untacked her, I noticed she was sweating under her saddle more than the light workout warranted.  I put her cooler on, checked her mouth, and found something odd.  Dusty had a canine tooth, which is rare in mares. It was very small and  her gums were slightly red around it.  Could she be teething at age 13 or had I never noticed this particular tooth in the past?  We checked the geldings and they had canine teeth, and then checked Sweetie and she had none. Mystery solved, apparently, her tooth was irritating her, or so I thought.  Dusty is a stoic little mare who never complains, which makes it doubly hard to decipher when she is not feeling well.  I resolved to call the vet and find out if she should have the canine removed.

After some hand grazing I turned her out and Mellon gave her a hearty kick in the side.  Mellon is a neurotic herd leader and since she did not come when he called to her, she was unjustly punished. Dusty finds him dreadfully annoying but puts up with his neurotic nonsense because she has no choice in the matter. So began Dusty’s less than excellent adventures this week. 

I did a little internet research and found the following:

Between 4 and 5 canine teeth (tushes, tusks) between the molars and incisors. Generally, all male horses have four canines. However, few female horses (less than 28%) have canines, and those that do usually have only one or two, which many times are only partially erupted.

The canine teeth of the horse developed phylogenically from the simple, pointed, short-rooted tooth form of the leaf eating, in pairs living, Eocene horse Hyracotherium and served up to the Oligocene as a means of defense (self preservation). In the Miocene the living conditions of the Merychippus changed and they took to eating grass and adopted as a new behavior the life in a herd. The canine teeth possibly played an important role in fights for social ranking; they changed from a crown form to knife-like shape. In the Pliohippus the canine tooth usually remained in male horses and since the Pliocene, it contributed to the fights between stallions, to ensure that the offspring only came from the strongest animals (preservation of the species). Form and construction of the canine tooth are described and discussed in detail under the above-mentioned phylogenic and ethologic aspects. [need citation here]

 

One site stated that mares with canines are usually alpha mares that have a fair amount of testosterone. Dusty is definitely an opinionated alpha mare. The vet did come out and the tooth is not the cause of her problems, it does not have to be removed since it does not interfere with the bit.  She also seems to have another one under the gum on the opposite side that has not erupted.

Thursday morning found Dusty pawing and biting at her sides which were rippling with spasms.  Oh no, COLIC for sure.  Dusty has never colicked and this behavior was definitely unusual for her. The vet was on his way. In the meantime, we administered Banamine and her temperature registered 103.8. The high temperature made colic seem less likely.  The good news is that she was not colicking; the bad news is that she has contracted Ehrlichia or Ehrlichiosis, (for more info check out these sites) which is a tick borne disease. Her current treatment is three days of intravenous tetracycline and then a week of doxycycline. Dusty is showing great improvement and feeling much better.

It bears mentioning that two years ago she contracted leptospirosis  (also check out Leptospirosis Introduction ). This particular disease is caused by a spirochete similar to Lyme disease and can cause moon blindness/ uveitis.  Luckily, even though her eyes were full of puss (identified by the cloudy green visible behind her corneas) we caught it in time and avoided any damage to her eyes. Leptospirosis is generally passed on through the urine of wildlife. Possibly the opossums infected her.

Dusty has also had Lyme or Lyme disease (check out these two sites for more info), which is a tick borne disease. The entire herd has been infected at one time or another and been treated.  Since Lyme can rarely be completely cured, it remains an ongoing detection process to determine when they need to be treated repeatedly.

Have I mentioned that I detest ticks!

Until next time

Quote for Today

Gypsy gold does not chink and glitter. It gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark.     - Saying of the Gladdagh Gypsies of Galway

A Little Organization

A Little Organization

We’re trying to organize the tack room and, once again, my daughter, being the genius she is, has come up with a brilliant idea.  We have a few too many saddle pads and needed a place to put them that was easily accessible. In order not to put wet, sweaty, hairy, stinky saddle pads in the trunks, they would usually wind up laying on top of a tack trunk or draping over a saddle.  Everything looked messy and unorganized until she found this rack online at Schneider Saddlery.  We hung it in an out-of-the-way unused area of the tack room. This rack lets the saddle pads dry and they are neat and ready to go when we’re ready for them. I like the fact that the arms swing to the left or right so the pads slide on or off with ease.  The arms are also removable, so it can be dismantled easily.  We bolted this one to the wall, but it is designed to also be portable and can be hung over a stall wall from the hooks included with it.  We have another for wet blankets that we can hang over the wall of the wash stall.  If you’re interested in purchasing one, visit www.sstack.com.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Horse people are stable people.

Help Ban Rollkur

Help Ban Rollkur Now

We may finally have the chance to make our voices heard and ban Rollkur/hyperflexion for good. The furor over this particular video has been the spark igniting the controversy about Rollkur. Billie at camera-obscura, has done a wonderful and thorough job of researching all the links and petitions for us to sign. She has also written many thoughtful posts on the subject. Please visit her blog for more information about this disgusting and abusive practice that needs to be condemned and stopped now. We need to get back to the classical and humane way of interacting with our riding partners.

Until next time

Quote for Today

What the horse does under compulsion...is done without understanding...and there is no beauty in it.
    - Xenophon

The Magical 'Hay Tree'

The Magical ‘Hay Tree’

We’ve recently purchased our hay for the winter months ahead.  This particular batch of second cutting timothy hay is some of the best hay I have ever seen but it was also very expensive.  During the winter when the pasture grass is dead, we normally put hay in the hayracks and throw flakes in different locations for grazing.  Our horses have figured out how to drag it through the paddocks and they waste quite a bit.  This year in order not to waste this expensive hay we needed to come up with a better way to distribute the hay during the winter months and I'm happy to report that we found a solution.

My daughter had the brilliant idea to make a’ hay tree’.  I’ve included some pictures below so you can get a look at it. So far, it has been working out very well, there is minimal waste and the hoovers of the herd have to slow down their eating.  It also keeps them busy and they are less bored and less likely to decorate the paddock with the hay their discerning palettes reject. In addition, I don’t think it looks bad at all.                                

 

 

  

If you would like to erect your own, ‘Magical Hay Tree’ here is how we did it:

We purchased a 6x6 – 12 ft. pressure treated pole and two 1x8x8 pine boards and two 1x6x8 pine boards. The pole needs to be this length so no one will be able to run over it and skewer themselves.  Dig a 4 ft. hole and insert the pole, fill in the dirt around it and make sure it’s straight, (I’d use a level). Then put the pine boards on the pressure treated pole, we used crown molding and a cap to displace any water from rain or snow, so it won’t go in between the pine boards and the pressure treated pole.  Next, we stained it white with an acrylic stain. Any color stain will do but we used white to match our fences and make it highly visible to the horses.  Acrylic stain is also not poisonous in case anyone decides to chomp on it, one of the reasons we also covered the pressure treated wood with pine boards.  Next, we added 8 mounting plates with rings on each hay tree; we bought these from Big D’s. I’m sure many tack shops sell them also. We used galvanized screws so they woudn’t rust (brass screws are also good) and I think they are recommended for pressure treated wood.  Our hay nets are the small hole type, it takes a longer time to finish off the hay with these nets and it keeps the waste down. 

Until next time

Quote for Today

Ask not what your horse can do for you - Ask what you can do for your horse.