A friend tagged me in a post about those looks a horse gives us basically when they are saying, “Don’t you dare!” I replied how I thought I was fluent in horse, eye language as a joke.
But, to be honest, those of us that live with horses or dogs or cats or donkeys….alpacas, the eyes speak volumes to us.
Verbal language eventually fades into silence.
I move in silence often with my horses. There is no need to speak. Well, Harley likes it when I say his name.
Every day I work towards having a better, more peaceful relationship with my horses, and so much of it occurs through the eyes.
They look into mine as I gaze into theirs. If I am lucky enough, I will see what their reactions will be through their eyes before their body moves.
I can see their moods before I touch them.
I can see a yes or a no response before they physically act.
I took this picture of his eye ten minutes after I brought him here. I sat on the ground just outside of his area and let him explore and wander without asking a thing of him. He kept coming back to me and dropping his head alongside mine.
His eye told me how tired he was….how injured his soul was….how physically he was on the edge……
Yet…he had a glimmer of hope. He still wanted a relationship and asked me through his eyes if I could give that to him.
Years ago, Shandoka would do this for me. If I was upset, he had this wonderful spot within his scapula (shoulder blade) that the side of my face fit perfectly into. He would let me lean into that spot and stand there with him as long as I needed.
When Shandoka died, Harley began letting me do something similar. He is much shorter than Shandoka, so I can’t put my cheek on his scapula. Instead he lets me drape my arm across his back and rest my head on his withers. He then turns his head towards me to make sure all is well before he goes back to munching his hay letting me continue to rest my weary mind upon his sweet soul.
I often tell people that the best way to see a sunset here in Western Colorado is to look east.
When the sun descends, it casts the most amazing colors and light on the mountains, and in contrast the earth radiates blues and purples. It’s as if the mountains don’t want to see the sun go, and they grasp on to the last bit of colors the sun paints. They then hold them for as long as they can for all of us to see.
My Ina on the rez always said, “Pay attention, because you will never see this again.”
If you look close, you can see some Canadian Geese flying in front of the mountains.
I shook the bag of hay cookies. The horse’s heads shot up, ears turned towards me, noses flared, and it started. They raced each other towards me. Their hooves hit the ground with a thunderous roar as they flew over the ground. Clods of dirt flew everywhere. Each horse contended for the lead refusing to surrender.
“What did I do?” I ask myself.
Weather Wiz maneuvered in a way that cut Harley and Sueño off. It was now between Dulce and Wiz as to who would cross through the gate first. Dulce lowered his head and fought on. His nostrils were breathing fire, and that’s when it happened. Wiz turned his head towards Dulce and tried to ravage Dulce! I couldn’t believe what I saw!
“No way!” I yelled.
Dulce did not let it distract him for a second as he dug in. Wiz dug in next to him as they hit the gate at the same time. A dead heat!
They were so proud of themselves trotting around with their necks in a beautiful arch.
If you’re worried about Dulce, there is no need. All Wiz did was slobber all over his neck.
If you’re reading this, you know that Weather Wiz has been having soundness issues. My vet came out here and did x-rays and diagnosed him with sesamoiditis. He sent the x-rays off to Dr. Lamb at Roaring Fork Equine Hospital for possible treatments plans. She suggested a thorough ultrasound and PRP Therapy.
We have been inundated with monsoons for about three weeks, which is highly unusual. They usually don’t start until mid-July. The rivers are high, and we were in a flash flood watch when I loaded Wiz into the trailer to head through the West Elk Mountains to Glenwood Springs.
Wiz runs warm, so I chose to go through the mountains to keep him cool. It got a little dicey on the way. There were several spots where the material from the pull off spots had washed across the road, and water from new streams meandered along the roads to the other side into the river below. I came across two mudslides that were luckily being cleaned up as I got to them, and there were some mini rockslides. It lightly rained the entire trip, and it was an amazing drive despite my stress. Wiz and I literally got to drive through the clouds as we descended McClure Pass.
Once we got to the hospital, we waited for maybe five minutes before it was our turn. I unloaded him, and he handled everything like a champ. I am so proud of my rambunctious guy.
Some people think that this may have happened due to his training with me, and to be honest, I was concerned that I did something. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. I’ve always had some concerns about his right leg, so we have worked really slow. I haven’t even lunged him, which turns out to be a very good thing.
What has been happening? Well, the first time, he got up from a nap, did a little yoga, and suddenly he was three-legged lame. I kept him in a small area, and he did worse. I decided to take him out to hand graze, and guess what? He was 90% better in three days. After six months, I started letting him do more. He was doing great. One morning I was watching him on the cameras, and when he got up from his nap, he was three-legged lame again. I went back over the footage, and he was sound before he plopped down for his nap. Again, I put him in a small area, and he didn’t improve at all. He was scared to walk. I took him out for a hand graze, and he improved 50% due to that short walk while eating. In three days, he was almost 100%. The main tell right now is that he can’t cross his right leg in front of his left if he does a tight turn.
According to Dr, Shull and Dr. Lamb, the sesamoiditis is from his horse racing days. He has definite changes to his sesamoids, changes that make me cringe, and one very bumpy area that we need to keep an eye on. We have our baseline x-rays and ultrasounds of his sesamoids, so we can note any changes from year to year. Dr. Lamb does not believe his lameness issues currently have anything to do with his sesamoiditis. Sesamoiditis develops from repetitive, concussive work such as jumping, barrel racing, and horse racing.
This is good news that it didn’t flare up.
She then began examining his tendons and ligaments their entire length and origins and insertions. She said, “The good news is there is nothing major going on here, and nothing to stick a needle into (referring to the PRP therapy we thought he needed).”
What she did find were two old injuries to his suspensory. One is at the medial distal branch, and the other was halfway up his cannon bone. I hoped to have the image, but I haven’t received the report yet. The fibers of the healthy part of the suspensory are long, and then you see much shorter fibers. These two areas are what she thinks are bothering him. He reacted more to the area halfway up his cannon bone.
These are old injuries from his horse racing days. What she thinks, and what I saw, is that he tweaks them doing yoga or getting up. Imagine getting up out of bed or off the floor. You might get up in a weird way or slip a little bit, and then you tweak that muscle in your back or your knee. This is what Wiz is doing. This is why movement improves it instead of makes it worse.
She said that the ligament has great tone, so our hand grazing and ten-minute walks in the mornings are benefiting him; not hurting him. She and Dr. Shull both told me that I had it figured out and to keep doing it. I can never lunge him. Not only is it bad for his suspensory but bad for the sesamoids. Whenever he works, he will have his Cavallo boots on, and his suspensory, orthopedic leg wraps. She showed me where to use the red light on him, and she told me to keep doing the myofascial release work I’ve been doing on his leg and for his body. His tight shoulders and poll that I am releasing every couple of weeks are definitely tied to this. For the record, I have not given him any pain meds; only herbal anti-inflammatories and icing or cold hosing.
The great news is he doesn’t need any pain meds! Instead, I brought home a tube of Surpass for whenever he has a flare up, and that probably will happen for the rest of his life. If he doesn’t recover in a short time, we will head back up to Roaring Fork for another ultrasound to see what changes have happened and treat as needed. He may need PRP one day, but right now, it is all manageable.
We can return to Liberty work, because his leg needs it. It will help keep his leg healthy as long as I don’t let either of us over do it. It is all about balance and will be low level work. We will be doing Liberty work, pole work, and we will do a lot of walking together. Maybe one day we can do low-level dressage work. Riding is out of the question for now. All I care about is Wiz…all of my horses. Their needs always come first. I miss riding. I would be lying if I said different, but what matters to me is them. I love the relationships I have with these silly guys, and that is so much better and important than riding.
Now I don’t have to worry that I just walked Wiz too much this morning. Today we walked all over the pasture and walked back and forth over the irrigation pipe, and instead of being worried, I know that it helped him.
To Horse Racing: I have suggested it before, and I will suggest it again. Turn the infields into cross-training areas for racehorses. If they could cross-train, it could create much stronger bones. It would be great if they could go on a trail that had gentle rolling hills, a pond to walk through, and an arena to do some basic pole work and dressage. It would only help the horse.
This week brought rolling clouds with relentless winds. At times rain or snow stampeded in, and the sun never had a chance.
The horses stood in the corner bracing against the winds patiently waiting for that moment; the moments when the clouds would part and a bit of warmth would shine through. They waited and waited for the light. During that time they ate and rolled thoroughly in the mud and went back to standing against the wind.
Yesterday it happened! The clouds retreated, and even though the air temperature remained the same, it felt glorious. The wind stopped. The sun came back to us, and we all stood there reveling in its warmth.
Sueño decided it felt so good that standing wasn’t enough. He needed to lie down and soak it all in. After turning a few times this way or that, he finally bent his knees and plopped down in bliss.
Now, I was out there picking up their poop, and of course he picked the spot next to the last pile of horse poop. It happened to be a deposit from Harley, who never releases anything of a small nature.
I begged Sueño to not stretch out, and to wait for me to get over there to pick that last pile up. Of course he ignored me, and let out a big moan, stretched out and plopped down on his side. Harley’s poop became his pillow.
It’s been a year since you left us. You are so missed. A lot has happened since you died, but you are never forgotten. It took a long time for the horses to move on without you. Dulce would come down every single day from the pasture looking for you. He finally stopped a few months ago. I’m not sure what made me sadder; him looking for you or him not looking for you.
Dulce was lost and grumpy without you for quite a while. You were his best of friends. Do you remember when you bit him on the hock, and you got kicked on the side of the mouth that July 4th? You galloped down from the pasture to me so fast bleeding out the side of your mouth, and Dulce was right there with you. It was so hard to separate you two because he was worried he hurt you. Luckily, everything was okay. Your mouth was swollen, and we got the bleeding stopped quickly.
I spent several nights with Dulce in the barn letting him know we would all be okay.
You will never believe this, but even Harley was lost without you. Gosh, he sure resented you when we brought you here. He had no intention of sharing you with Shandoka. Trying to bring you two together took every ounce of creativity that I had. Remember how I ponied you and Harley on either side of Shandoka? I thought it would be a disaster or go well. Somehow, it went well, and you guys became the best of friends. Now he and Wiz play over the fence waking me up every night
You taught Weather Wiz well. Harley only liked playing with you if there was a fence between you. My guess is because Harley was three hands shorter than you and Wiz. All those mornings that Wiz could have gone up on the pasture, he stayed with you, and you two played until I would take you for your hand graze. You were preparing him to step in for when you left, weren’t you?
He is almost as good as you were at taking off Sueño’s mask by the way. He’s not quite as fast but very good.
Sueño struggled. He was always on the verge of cribbing since the day he arrived, and I was always able to keep it at bay. This time I couldn’t. Your death was too much for him, and it started. I really tried to soothe him, but nothing I did was enough this time; your loss was too huge. We manage it with acupressure points, and he is doing okay with it.
He also challenged Harley after you died. He suddenly started going after him, because he no longer felt safe. Harley is the one that keeps them safe when I’m not around. He got obstinate with me as well. I understood. Harley seemed to understand. It was Dulce that ended his challenge one day when I got caught in the middle.
They all developed ulcers after you left us too. Don’t worry. We took care of that.
They all seem to be doing better now. Dulce’s coat is covered in dapples, and everyone else is shimmering in the sun or moon’s light. They play quite a bit, and yes, Dulce still dumps the water tank everywhere.
Nobody likes it when I blow narrow streams of air into their noses like you did, and nobody dribbles water down my back when I am scrubbing the tanks. Nobody will every be like you my four-legged Baryshnikov.
My hope is you and Shandoka are running around playing. He always took such good care of you.
We are all doing well, but that never means you aren’t missed and loved each day.
I open the gate, and the horses lazily walk up. Their heads immediately drop to the ground as they begin snatching grass. Above five minutes later Sueño lifts his head, collects himself and begins trotting circles around Weather Wiz. Wiz accepts the challenge and off they go racing one another, doing a few laps when Dulce jumps in bucking a few times. After a few laps around the pasture, Harley pins his ears back telling them to stop. Dulce and Sueño immediately stop, while Wiz is reluctant to give in. Dulce lets him know it is time to stop with a tossing of his head towards Wiz. Back to the arduous task of eating grass. These are our mornings.
It took a lot of work to get them to this point. I am not one to turn a horse out into a herd without support. Two of my friends that did it that way each lost one of their horses. One horse broke a leg trying to run away from the other horses that were relentlessly chasing him, and another’s leg was broken when kicked by another horse. I know a lot of people do it that way, but I do not. The new horse and I take our time, and Wiz kept telling me he needed to go slow.
When a horse lives and races on the track for several years, there is a delicate dance, or maybe a tightrope you walk with the horse when he is first retired. Their movements up until retirement are controlled as much as possible by humans 24/7. They don’t get to run and around and play with their buddies. Instead, it is all about training for the sport. When they leave their stall, a human hand is always with them.
When they leave the track, they suddenly have room to run and do as they please, and all sorts of trouble can happen. They haven’t had that kind of freedom since they were yearlings. Weather Wiz is an unbelievably playful horse, so transitioning him to be a part of the herd and retirement life was exciting and a bit scary at the same time.
Does he love retirement? Yes! He was ready for it. Wiz loves being an OTTB. With that said, easing him into it had its challenges.
Besides wading through Winter, and sweating through a ridiculously hot summer, Wiz is doing great and loves his herd. When he first arrived, the first month was about him adjusting to his new life. He was nervous around the other horses even though he was in his own area, he would step back into the barn if another horse got too close to him that wasn’t Sueño. I spent time watching him that first month, and I figured it would take some time to introduce him.
I always start out with a new horse on one side of the fence and the others on the other side. This way they can get to know one another in a safe way. I put piles of hay all along the fence on both sides, so they can start eating together. Eating together is the key that begins to open the door.
After about a month, which is what Wiz needed to rebound from everything, he seemed ready to integrate with the boys.
Then, one day, he came out of his shell, and he began playing with the horses over the fence in a very acrobatic way. Up until then I either hand grazed him, or I let him graze on his own after I brought the other horses down. He always spent his mornings with Chaco who I believe taught him how to play over the fence. It was his specialty. Act sweet, pretend like you’re falling asleep, and when they least expect it, lunge over the fence to land the perfect nibble on the neck.
The morning arrived that I decided it was time to introduce Wiz to the other horses up on the pasture. After taking Chaco for his hand graze, I took Wiz up to the pasture. There is no walking slow with Wiz due to his long stride. He walked and I basically trotted alongside him. The first thing I realized was he didn’t understand the body language of the other horses. They would tell him to back away from them, and for him that meant get even closer. First lesson was how to respond to the horse’s body queues.
How? I had Wiz on a rope, and I would let him walk wherever he wanted with me right by him. When Harley would pin his ears at Wiz if he got too close, I would yell, “Run!” and he and I would move away quick to where Harley felt comfortable. When Dulce walked straight at him with his head low, we would turn around and walk in the direction that Dulce was pushing us towards. Over and over with all the different signals, I helped him understand how to respond.
When Wiz showed he understood, I began introducing him to each horse on the pasture individually. He stayed as far away from Harley as he possibly could, which is not such a bad idea. Dulce was a bit different. One time Dulce was trying to get him to trot around with him when Wiz turned and slow trotted into Dulce’s neck. I was about to panic when Dulce turned and looked at me as if to say, “What’s up with this guy?” Dulce then began to push Wiz forward when Wiz bucked trying to land a hoof on him. Dulce knew it was coming, turned his head to the side and continued to move him. That was that. They’ve been best buddies since then.
When I turned Wiz out with Sueño, they played way too hard. I decided to bring Dulce into the mix sooner than later. Whenever things seemed to be getting out of hand, I would start to walk in to break it up when Dulce would masterfully put them in a time out…. literally. He would drive Wiz down to the dirt paddock while keeping Sueño on the pasture, and Dulce stood in between them not allowing either one of them to engage with each other until they calmed down. After that, all I would have to do is call out Dulce’s name, and he would put them in time out. Dulce is the Passive Leader of the herd, and I learned so much from him each time he decided to step in.
Dulce became Wiz’s teacher, and you rarely found Wiz too far away from him. Still, to this day, he stays close to him, and you usually will find that Dulce will be in between Wiz and Sueño.
One day Wiz decided to challenge Harley, who is the leader of the herd. Nobody really messes with Harley, which is maybe why Wiz decided to take him on? I have no idea what brought this on, but when I heard the sounds horses make when a challenge is on, I dropped everything and ran up to the field. This is when I witnessed something performed brilliantly. Dulce and Sueño trotted over to the two of them. Dulce scooped up Harley guiding him away from Wiz, while Sueño herded Wiz away from Harley. They all ate separately for about ten minutes before all four horses came together once again. Wiz was in.
The alarm sounds and reluctantly my eyes blink open. It is Monday morning. Sueño is pawing the gate impatiently hoping that the sound will hurry me up somehow. Pharoah crawls over to me licking my chin while stretching out every ounce of his being. I put on my clothes and shuffle out the door.
The sky is pitch black with Pleiades hovering above me, and Orion’s Belt is in the upper portions of the eastern sky. A faint hue of yellow barely outlines the mountains as the crescent moon begins its climb. The air is crisp but not chilly. Not even a gentle breeze moves the air. It is as if the whole world is holding its breath.
I remember why. I see the first one. A meteor flies through the midnight blue darkness above me.
I open the gate, and Sueño and Wiz walk on to the pasture with nice long strides. I feel them walk by me as I listen to the sounds of their hooves striking the ground. Harley and Dulce wait for me. For some reason they like me to walk them up to the pasture individually. I first walk Harley. He is my shortest horse, so I easily drape my arm across his back, and we silently walk up to the pasture together. There is no need for a lead rope. We walk side by side in silence.
More meteors dance through the sky. Some brighter than others. Some seem closer than others.
Once Harley is on the pasture, I quietly walk to the barn where Dulce is waiting for me. He pokes his head out for a scratch. After he feels loved on enough, he leaves the barn and we quietly saunter, as only Dulce does, up to the pasture. Again, no lead rope. We walk shoulder to shoulder. I look up and see more meteors making their way through the sky.
We join the others.
They all graze around me as I stand with them in that deep, beautiful, blue darkness. There is something magical about standing with your horses in that kind of darkness with flashes of light sparkling through the sky. Faith, knowing that I was safe standing in the center of these four beautiful beings before the sun colors the sky a different shade of blue.
Reenchanted Thoroughbreds 