Baby Boomer Dreams - Dandy's Story - After Canada

Part 1

Finding that lump on the back of the Arabian horse's front leg there was nothing I could do but get the vet. There was heat in the lump and obvious swelling to the leg. The horse seemed to be walking on the leg ok but that lump was huge (or at least is looked huge to me) and right over the tendon on the back of the horse's leg.

The Canadian veterinarian palpated the leg and the lump and then off we went to the warm-up arena to see what we had. Trotting away from the vet, the horse looked sound. The vet's advice was to apply standing wraps and take it easy for a few days. That would get us home to a vet I knew and maybe some idea of what was going on with my horse.

By this time I had discovered that my trainer had decided to use hock hobbles on my horse. Despite the fact that she knew I didn't approve of their use, she had chosen to use them anyway. Because she had not respected my wishes I was taking the horse out of training. I didn't want him with a trainer I couldn't trust and I sure didn't want him worked in hock hobbles again.

I asked her why she'd even used hock hobbles on my horse when she and I had had conversations about them in which she said there was no good reason to use them on any horse. From everything she had said, I thought she felt the same way about them that I did. Obviously it was ok for her to run down trainers who used them, but it was ok for her to utilize them because my horse was different. He was just not getting under himself like he should and she had run into a brick wall so hock hobbles were her answer. So Dandy was going home with me.

Once again I was hearing that my horse was being a jerk. There was no good reason for him to be resisting except that I had spoiled him and he didn't have a good work ethic. Even typing these words makes me angry because that is just NOT my horse.

Again I found myself looking for answers about the training issues involved. While I was willing to admit I didn't know everything, I was pretty darn sure I knew enough about my horse that this just didn't make sense. But for the time being, this problem would have to be on hold until we figured out what was going on with the horse's leg.

Once at home, I treated the horse like he was lame until my vet could get out to see him. I left him up in a stall and hand walked him twice a day. After being cooped up with no turnout at the trainer's and the long trip to Canada and back Dandy was not happy about these plans. Hand walking was difficult at best and didn't get much better. The horse wanted to frolic and play not walk politely beside me. I couldn't wait for the vet to arrive.

When the vet did finally get out to my farm, I didn't really get a definitive diagnosis, well not one that worked for me anyway. An ultra sound revealed the sheath to the tendon was damaged but not the actual tendon itself. The odds were the horse would be fine but there were no guarantees that the sheath would not rupture if the horse was put to use. The vet thought things would be just fine with work but to be on the safe side, I laid Dandy off for six weeks. I was taking no chances my horse might end up with a bowed tendon. The vet agreed it was the best plan for the horse.

Also I talked to my vet yet again about the training issues I was having, the occasional rub marks and falling in the horse trailer and, of course, the sometimes crooked tail. Again he checked the horse over and told me everything was just fine. There was no physical reason for the horse behaving this way.

I remember clearly my frustration at this time. The clock was ticking away on the time for the US National Championships. I had my horse locked up in a stall with hand walking he hated twice a day. More often than not, the horse stripped off his standing wraps, clearly voicing his displeasure at his predicament. And then there was the mysterious problem with my horse that no one believed in but me. I just couldn't believe this was happening but I hung fast with my decision to let the horse heal before riding him and keep searching for a solution for the other problem.

Over time the swelling on Dandy's leg went down leaving him a lump like you'd expect to see from a bowed tendon. Other than that the horse looked fine. Over that entire six weeks the horse never did take a lame step. Once the time was up I was back to riding again, trying to figure out if it was worth a trip to nationals with a horse that had been laid off for weeks. It would only be two weeks before it was time to leave for the show.

As much as I my heart set on showing in Bonanza at Nationals, I was beginning to worry about some of the obstacles. Because my entries had me sent in when I was part of Kelly Alcorn's barn, that meant I would be stabled with them. How comfortable would that be after I had fired her as my trainer? I decided to call Kelly and see.

Kelly said there was no reason the plans needed to change. They would be happy to have me travel with them again and to stable with them. Also, they were counting on me to share a room with their groom. I talked to Dave about it. Had a couple more rides on Dandy and decided that we would make the trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It wasn't really until we were actually on the rode that I discovered how angry Larry Alcorn was at me for taking my horse out of the barn. Even though I was supposed to be following them, he would take off into the horizon and I wouldn't see them forever. I had no clue if I was on the right track or if he's just gone off and left me. It wasn't much fun.

About the time I would think I better stop somewhere and get myself a map and a route, I would regain sight of the rig. They'd decided to stop to eat or something like that and just gone in and ordered while they waited for me to catch up. For someone who's afraid of getting lost and sticks close to home, it was really an awful trip. I was glad when we finally got into the mountains and Larry could no longer leave me in the dust.

For some reason, Larry took the long way to Albuquerque. I'm not sure if it was to torture me or because he didn't know any better. But we went off some where through Idaho, across Montana and down through Colorado. Seems like we went through some really desolate land before we finally got to Denver where it was snowing.

Just like the trip to Red Deer had a memorable picturesque moment, so did the trip to Albuquerque. Vesicular stomatitis was also a factor in this trip as well. We couldn't enter the fairgrounds until a vet had inspected our horses. When we pulled into Albuquerque, we ended up parking on a shoulder of an on ramp in the middle of the night, snoozing until morning waiting for the vet's arrival time at 7:00 am. It's a good thing my horse travels well and thinks that horse trailer is a second home.

As I awoke to the sun streaming in through my truck windows, I saw the most amazing assortment of colors. At first I had to shake off the sleep to even figure out what was in front of me. Just off to my right (where that herd of Belgians had been in Alberta) hundreds of hot air balloons were just beginning to lift off. It was the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival That was my welcome to my first trip to the US Arabian National Championships and what a sight it was.

To be continued................

Albuquerque


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