Bumps on the road to the Tevis Cup (post # 74)

I haven’t been posting much lately, primarily due to non-horse related circumstances. New job, moving, family difficulties; these limit my time, and any extra time has gone to Jazz. Then almost two weeks ago, I fell while river hiking. Hard, directly on my tail bone. It’s probably broken (awaiting xray). I can’t carry anything (so my move is going very slowly). I cannot ride (so I don’t think Jazz will be able to do the Quicksilver Fall Classic). All things that interrupt a training program counts as bumps on the road to the next endurance goal. But being unable to ride is a HUGE obstacle (and very bad for my temper).

The worst thing about injuring my tailbone was that I had just taken Jazz to get a full workup–lameness exam with computerized gait analysis, exercise blood panel, radiographs of hooves for new shoes. He’s all ready to go, and I cannot ride him.

Ultimately, these bumps on the road shouldn’t keep me from my long-term goal of Tevis 2024. Below is a brief report on where we are. Although it might take us a bit longer to get from point A to point B, I think we’ll still make it.

Jazz’s current state

I’ve been a bit worried about Jazz’s hocks, because he insists on going down hills sideways. Zig-zagging down is a smart thing to do, but he doesn’t want to go down even a mild incline straight. He won’t slide on the softest dirt. I’ve never noticed a lame step, but I wanted to do a complete soundness exam. It turns out I wasn’t imagining things. On hard surfaces, lunging, my vet and I could see a slight soreness on the left hind. The computerized gait analysis earned its cost for the first time by detecting an equal lameness on both sides. (Before now I’ve always been able to see whatever it detected.)

Above: Jazz at his full-service veterinary appointment at Pacific Crest Equine: lameness exam, floating, etc. He was very worked up at first!

Yeah, he’s sore. I had done a fairly strenuous ride four days before the exam. My vet suggested he could still be sore. This is true, but he’s been going down steep hills sideways ever since I first took him out on the trail. Jazz POWERS down grades up to around 20%, but anything steeper he zig zags and steps sideways.

In all other ways, Jazz seems 100% sound. My vet told me to continue his treaining schedule, with 10 days of bute, and see how he progressed. Due to my tailbone, this has not happened. But a break will not hurt him.

My current state

I’ve just begun a new job as tenure-track professor of psychology at Bakersfield College. First day of class is Monday; we’ve already been doing meetings, seminars, opening day. It’s going to be a great job, but I am very busy. New faculty have training ever few weeks all year, and this first semester will be particularly challenging as I learn the ropes. Academia is academia everywhere, but each department has its own personalities, politics, and rules. I’ll enjoy it, but my horse-time will be limited for a while.

What’s more, I’ll be in Bakersfield during the week. For the time being, my horses will stay in Springville. They’ll be happier here, loose on acres of hilly terrain. On the other hand, I’ll only be able to ride on weekends. That would be fine, if I had been able to train throughout August as planned, but then My Tailbone happened. Despite everything else that’s going on, of all the bumps in the road to Tevis, a damanged tailbone seems the worst right now!

They tell me it might be MONTHS before I am healed. I cannot lift much above 10 pounds. I haven’t yet ridden, though I plan to in the next few days, just to test the water. I didn’t ask my doctor about riding. Non-riders don’t understand riding and they overestimate the dangers. I did ask about lifting and moving. Not supposed to do either if they cause pain… and I’m supposed to take more pain killers than I like.

What about Fantazia?

Fantazia was the horse I really hoped to do Tevis with, but she has suffered more bumps on the road than I had anticipated. She’s been on pasture rest since April (see my post on the benefits of extended rest). I tried to breed her, but that didn’t pan out due to poorly packaged frozen semen and her nerves. (We’ll try again next spring.) She is now trotting 100% sound. We might do a few rides in winter.

Revised plans

For now, I’ll just have to wait and see. I still believe Jazz can do an LD this fall, provided he has nothing serious going on with his hocks or elsewhere. As soon as I can ride, we’ll go back to walking up (and down) steep hills. If he’s still insisting on going sideways, we’ll do a more thorough workup to try to pinpoint the lameness. I’d like to take him to a chiropracter first though. For that I need a free weekend, and I don’t see that coming up any time soon.

I will have to dedicate most of my energy to my new job for the next few months. Once that is sorted, I can (hopefully) resume regular blogging. Until then, you might get few posts with an emphssis on pictures!