Happy holidays everyone! A quick update on River, who had me worried after we had to pull at Sesenta Años six weeks ago. I was very discouraged, because it has been one thing after another with her. I was doubting her apparent full recovery from EPM. Or maybe EPM wasn’t the issue, but she had another issue. Stifles? SI? Kissing spine? (Look at her PPE x-rays.) I finished my last post mentioning a scheduled lameness exam with my vet. That was a bit of a sh*tshow, but it turns out to be not that big a deal.
A brief history of River’s challenges to doing endurance
2024
River completed her first 50 successfully at Fire Mountain in 2024 (River’s first endurance ride). Zero issues other than slightly naughty behavior because it WAS her first ride!
Stone bruise!
On her second ride, River got a stone bruise in the forward right quadrant of her left fore. She completed the 50 successfully, but I felt she was off, so didn’t do the LD I had planned for the next day. My farrier found the stone bruise that Monday. He said she should be fine for my next planned ride, Cuyama Oaks.
Corn!
River completed back-to-back 50’s at Cuyama, but she wasn’t “fine.” On the second day, towards the end of the second loop, she became reluctant to move out. It turned out the left front hoof was full of rocks. I removed them and she was fine, and completed. However, Dave Nicholson told me that although she was sound he “didn’t like the look in her eye.” Dave is very good at spotting issues with horses.
I thought it would be the stone bruise, but when my farrier came out he said no. It was a corn in the left (outside) buttress. I had to keep it clean and debris free. With packing, River successfully completed another 50 at the first Treasure of the Sierra Madre ride.
Pectoral muscle tear!
The corn cleared up, but then we had something worse. River was pulled at the Cache Creek Ridge ride after slipping in the mud and sitting down with her front legs splayed. Unfortunately my vet didn’t identify the issue (to be fair River was sound when he saw her). I ended up rider-optioning at Montana de Oro, and the week afterwards we found the torn pectoral muscle.
2025
Footsore!
Although River completed 50 miles in the Eastern Mojave xpride, and the vets assured me she was not lame, I wasn’t happy. She felt foot sore.
We made some small tweaks to River’s shoeing, and she completed back-to-back 50s at Laurel Mountain with no lameness, yay! She was feeling very good, better than ever… and!!
Tying up!
Then she tied up at Cuyama Oaks. I have no idea why. I tweaked her feed, etc., but honestly, River tying up is just the weirdest thing. (Read about how I dealt with her tying up.)
EPM!
Just when I thought we’d figured things out (she completed a 50 and a 30 at the 2025 Treasure of the Sierra Madre), River was diagnosed with EPM. That explained a lot, and we treated it successfully, but still!! (Treating EPM in horses.)
And now it’s another corn (read on)…
River’s strengths (aka why I haven’t lost hope)
Not only has River had one lameness after another, but she’s also a crank. She doesn’t like other horses, she’s alpha, and she does kick. And… she’s not my normal horse-type. I love hot horses! And River is not hot. She’s very calm… and that is a strength. Her calmness may partially explain her low pulse.
River is somewhat of a metabolic wonder
Her resting heart rate is around 28 bpm. If I can convince her to work hard enough to get it above 150, it plummets as soon as she drops to a walk. She’s difficult to condition, because she doesn’t really like to have her pulse above 130. I’ve stopped using a heart rate monitor, because it would freak me out to see it hovering around 65 after miles of trotting.
River also has amazing gut sounds. Always.
In fact, River does have 620 AERC miles
Despite having one issue after another, River has accumulated 505 endurance miles (including two back-to-back 50s) and 115 LD miles in two seasons.
River takes care of herself
She eats and drinks (unless somethings wrong). If somethings wrong, she tells me. When it hurts, she stops. When she is tired, she stops. If we can ever figure out the little issues, she’ll probably last forever, because she’s certainly not going to run herself into the ground.
Figuring out what had gone wrong at Sesenta Años
And at Sesenta Años, River told me something was wrong starting early in the first loop, though she wasn’t lame until an hour after stopping for the hold. I just had to figure out what exactly was going on.
Above: A moment of crazy when River started bucking after I’d brought out the camera at just over 11 miles to record her gait. She felt very good most of the ride, despite the underlying issue.
First planned step: full lameness exam
As planned, I rode River hard the Friday following her lameness at Sesenta Años (November 14). We did 23.43 miles in four hours, 35 minutes (4:15 moving time), with 4,055′ total elevation gain. It was a beautiful ride, even though we got rained on. River was very eager and sound until almost 20 miles in. (Watch the video I took at that point.) Then she started to favor her left fore.
Above: It was a stormy day and we did get rained on! But it was also a gorgeous day for a ride.
I had made an appointment for 1PM, “or as close as I could make it”, with my vet. I had explained what I was doing (riding hard to make sure River was lame so we could block). Their office called me that morning because rain was forecasted. They asked if I still planned to ride and come in. I said yes.
At the vet
Something must have gotten lost in translation, because when I got to the clinic. my vet told me we couldn’t do anything. I asked why not? (It wasn’t raining at the time.) She said that it was too slick to trot out on the asphalt. I explained that I had confirmed with the office that morning, then ridden hard and driven 45 minutes. Then I said I’d trot her out and take full responsibility for any slips. (There was zero risk of slipping.)
In the end, the vet acquiesced and we put the lameness locator gear on River. This was the tricky part, because her rump was damp from the rain. Finally we managed to clip the device on.
(I noticed while at the vet that River was much too thin. I have upped her feed and she is looking better!)
The computerized gait analysis
I have been using the computerized gait analysis for the past four years. I was skeptical until it identified a few things I could not see. (Still to be taken with a grain of salt.)
On this day, it identified a left hind lameness and a left fore lameness. The computer registered the hind as worse than the fore, and my vet corroborated with “when it’s the same side, the hind is always primary.” I said nothing beyond that I found it surprising and clearly my own eyes were faulty sometimes.
To my eyes, that day and when she was lame at Sesenta Años (confirmed by vets), it was clearly the left fore. It had felt like right hind weakness from the saddle before solidifying into clear left fore. But I definitely loved the idea of the issue being resolved with hock injections!
What about blocking?
I had gone to the vet with the goal of blocking River’s left fore from the ground up. It didn’t get done. My vet was reluctant to block her, because it was rainy. I still thought blocking the left fore would be a good idea, but I didn’t want to force the issue (And yes, I was crossing fingers the issue would be resolved with hock injections.)
Above: Left ot top, River wearing the sensor for the computerized gait analysis. Right or bottom, x-ray to assist the vet in pinpointing the exact position of the needle for the hock injection.
Testing hock injections
I was instructed to leave River in a mud-free small enclosure for three days. I did that. Then I went to Bakersfield, where I work. My vet texted me when I was already at work, saying I should keep River locked up for longer…. Too late, Oh well!! But when I got home, she was sound (if very muddy, hahahaha).
I rode that weekend lightly, and on Monday (ten days later), River and I completed an easy 13-mile ride (three hours, 1,600′ total elevation gain). Perfectly sound.
Above: River and I had a beautiful, easy 13-mile ride ten days after the hock injections. She was sound, though we didn’t really put it to the test.
The next weekend, I did easy rides Friday and Saturday. No soreness anywhere. On Sunday, River was clearly lame on the left fore within half a mile of easy riding.
I took some videos in the round pen. Curiously enough, River was much lamer to the right. To the left the soreness was imperceptible. This told me that the issue was either outside lower suspensory or inside hoof (on the left limb). It was clearly not the hock.
Yikes!
On Monday I worked from 9am till 5:30 pm. I called the clinic during a break and made an appointment for 2PM on Friday. After my last class, I texted my vet the videos and said I wanted to bloc from the ground up on Friday. She said “At this stage I would rather take her for a bone scan at Alamo Pintado.”
I did not think that warranted and said so.
Double yikes!
On Friday, when I got to the clinic, my (ex)vet was angry because I had asked her colleague about the apparent reluctance to nerve block and the desired referral to Alamo Pintado before a full work up. At this point, it looks like a misunderstanding. She claimed not to have viewed the videos and therefore assumed it was a left hind issue. I asked why she would say anything without viewing videos OR the horse!
Fortunately for my peace of mind, by the time I got to the clinic, I was pretty sure of the real issue.
It’s (almost) always the hoof
That morning, my old farrier (who now only trims because of arthritis) had removed River’s shoes. Underneath the left bars was a huge, old corn. The shoe was digging into it, and as soon as she was barefoot and trimmed, River was no longer lame.
Above: The bruising from the corn was clear to see once the shoe was removed.
I almost cancelled my vet visit. As it turned out, I should have done so. But I still wanted to block that left hoof and be 100% sure we’d found the problem.
A disappointing vet visit
I should have known my (ex) vet was angry with me when she walked out of the clinic. Looking back, I can see her body language was that of someone on the warpath. I do now understand I should have told her right away that we’d discovered the corn.
But as usual I was oblivious to others’ emotions and excited to let her discover the corn on her own. I still had to prompt her to pick up the hoof, but once she had, she saw it. And then asked me if I wanted to still block. I said yes… and somehow that turned into a confrontation.
To be honest, I have no idea how it disintegrated. A bit of her insisting she had said things via text (which she had not). Somehow we ended up with her saying she hadn’t wanted to block River previously because it was wet and I would have sued the clinic if River had slipped. I said (truthfully) that I would not have. She looked me in the eye and said, “Oh I think you would.”
And that was the end for me. I said so and led River back to the trailer.
Yes, I do feel a bit responsible
I knew the vet was prone to getting anxious. She had texted me repeatedly to keep River out of the mud after the hock injections, days after any opening in the skin would have closed. And it’s a new vet at a clinic that my family has watched and supported from the days they bought the property it’s on.
And… jeez! I am a psychologist for heaven’s sake! I should be better at communicating and reading emotions. Grade I’d give myself in this situation? D.
But not so much I feel obliged to continue with that vet
I’ll use the other vet at the clinic for the moment. I have enough going on in my life without adding more drama.
And guess what? Even without blocking, I am 95% certain we’re dealing with a shoeing issue. I decided to try a new farrier recommended by Katie de Jong and my vet clinic. You can see his work below.
Above: In the first picture, you can clearly see the corn in River’s left fore. Overall, I liked the new farrier’s work. He was very meticulous. That said, I don’t know that it’s going to be much different from what the farrier who has been shoeing River for a year now. We’ll see.
In this case, it’s the left front hoof
All of River’s hooves grow out from under her, but the left fore is the worst. It has the lowest heel. It had the stone bruise and a small corn in the outside heel last year. This time it’s in the inside heel. the problem is that the shoe shifts and digs into her heel as her hoof grows. The first time was entirely my fault. I let her go seven weeks without the farrier.
This last time it had only been four weeks, but the shoe was set a bit off from the outset. (And yes, I knew this and no I didn’t follow the knowledge to the obvious.)
This brand new farrier thinks River can go seven weeks between resets. This is what is making me skeptical of his ability, but I am giving him a chance. (Though I did insist on 6 weeks.)
River’s current state
River feels good! Because she does have a painful corn growing out, we’re not doing a lot of long concussive miles. Instead, we’re doing a lot of climbing. I’m letting her charge short distances up steep hills. This gives her a good cardio workout without pounding on her feet. It also makes her feel fast and fresh.
She’s also feeling fresh because it’s been raining. We do have an indoor arena, but you have to walk through the rain to get there. I don’t ride as much as I should when it’s wet!
Above: A very muddy River. She loves anything to do with water, including rolling in mud. It takes me three times as long to tack up now.
What about soundness?
So far, she has shown no signs of lameness since she was reshod. Of course, we haven’t gone more than 11 miles. Mostly I’ve been alternating between 3-5 slow miles on the soft grass beside the road and around five miles of steep hill work.
Update on River: Plans for 2026
I just entered River for Fire Mountain, the 50 on day 3. I will have to go slowly, but as long as that corn doesn’t act up, she should be fine. I’ll plan on a slow start behind the crowd, as she will be very fresh.
The next ride in our region is the Eastern Mojave xp, on February 6-8. If River has recovered from the corn, then we will do that one.
After that… I simply don’t know. I am bringing Fantazia back into shape with the goal of doing a few 50s this year, if she is able. As yet, there seem to be few rides in the Pacific Southwest. (I’m crossing fingers that the Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Feliz Cumpleanos rides appear on the ride calendar.)
If I can solve the hoof issue, River should be able to attempt Tevis. But… that’s a big if. We’ll just have to wait and see.
A brief note on veterinarians and farriers
The hardest job for vets and farriers is dealing with the owners, not the horses. (Read my post on the stress of being a vet.) This is why I try to let them come to their own conclusions. Even if I am 99% sure I know why my horse is limping, I take it to the vet and ask for a work up from the ground up. I do not say what I suspect.
When I have a new farrier, I let him or her look at my horse, and do what they think best the first time. Unless there is a serious problem, I let them make their own choices for the second shoeing as well. After that, if I am not happy, I am going to speak up.
I don’t always agree, but I generally shut up about it, especially when it comes to vets. They went to vet school, I did not. If it gets to the point I do not trust them, it’s time to change vets.
I did not think River needed her hocks injected. I thought she was left fore lame. But I did not know. More importantly, I wanted it to be a hock issue. (And injecting her hocks was very unlikely to hurt even if it didn’t solve the problem.) I also did not want to insist on blocking when it was crystal clear the vet did not want to block her. So I agreed to the hock injections. Too bad they didn’t fix the problem.
Reasons to change vets
I would never have dropped that vet just because she was wrong about the source of the lameness. Even her anger at the miscommunication and raised voices would not make me change vets. The deal breaker for me was her accusing me of suing her/the clinic if I had trotted my mare out on wet asphalt and she had slipped and been injured. (More precisely, her accusing me of a hypothetical: I “would have” sued her if River had been injured.)
This told me that the vet did not trust me. I cannot work with a vet (or farrier) who does not trust me. I will trust them (even if–when–they make a mistake). If there is no trust, we cannot together take care of my horses. Mistakes are going to happen on both sides. Miscommunication will happen. But there has to be trust from all parties.