Field Trips

Henry and I continue to have a blast (well I'm having a blast, he's happy 90% of the time, the other 10% of the time he's internally shaking his head at me). We played cross country again. 

And then did a couple of stadium rounds a week later. 

He's a different ride from Butterball, but at the same time, the basics of a steady, even stride and having enough canter don't really change. So it's good to still be getting in the mileage there. But it's also just plain fun to go jump around with a willing partner. 

Meanwhile, Butterball got to go on a field trip to the Chi Institute. Ben had gone to their labs several times, but I had not taken Butterball. I was worried that he did not have 4 hours of touching in him. He is a VERY GOOD PONY, but he also has LOTS OF THOUGHTS and does LOTS OF THINGS. Whereas Ben is one of the only horses I know who would have been DELIGHTED to be in the exact same dressage arena every single day of his life. Soooo basically I was worried that we were going to run out of quarters and he was going to become the most annoying, fussy, fidgety pony ever. 

Well, I underestimated my pony-golden-retriever. He had a great time. 

First he inspected their lawn care job and helped out by removing any stray grass blades

His muzzle looks uneven. It was. They worked on it. 

He enjoyed (almost) all the touching and reciprocated by cuddling with every single person

Then he got a nice break and ate some grass

Purposely headed into the long section, full on water buffalo 

Hold on, I can't go back in yet, I'm peeing (and eating)

Definitely would have put himself through the person gate/pass through... definitely a pony 

After his break he got REALLY SLEEPY 

And took a nap

The whole first half was the students reviewing points, but even then he did react to the finger pressure at a few of them. It was very cool to see. 

After the break they did an actual treatment with needles. They decided to work on his qi deficiency (based on his tongue, pulses, and tendon issue). He had many more feelings about his treatment than Ben ever did. He did request that the students slow down at one point when he was hit with a number of points around the feet. It was a good learning moment for them to look at their patient as well. But once the points were in he processed them very quietly. It was the first time that he was still other than when he napped. And after about 5-7 minutes he sorta came to again and had a few big releases and then requested that the needles be removed. 

I took notes on which points they used and added a couple to my dolphin stim treatment plan for him. The TA did some myofascial release on him as well and noted tightness over his left SI area. While she released that myofascial sheet, he had some muscle fasciculations in his left lumbar paraspinal muscles, it all really is connected! The next ride our halts were so much straighter than they have been. 

His new farm is on the way home, so we stopped and did his 30 minute walk there, it was fun to put pony on property for the first time

That grass is for me? 

Fresh Eyes

As part of our dental rehab program, Butterball got acupuncture done in early December. He tolerated it waaaayyyyy better than I thought the sensitive soul might. Granted Ben was super sensitive too, but had none of the "OW, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!?!?" feeling that BB has about needles. 

DH and I had in fact hit some of the face points with his dolphin stim, so we were on the right track. But the hard part about the dolphin stim is you have to keep touching, so they basically can't move their face. The electroacupuncture made that somewhat easier. But the needles for the face are quite short, so they did want to pull out during his treatment. 

His vet commented, and I definitely see it in the pictures above, that he was somewhat poorly muscled all over. She said it was everywhere from his masseter muscles on his jaw to his back to his hind end. She also pointed out some spots of regional adiposity. She told me that there is new info that insulin spikes highest in January, so recommended testing him again. I last did that in September of 2024 and he was at 20, which is the highest spot of the normal range. Pending those results, she recommended either topping his feed with a higher protein dressing or switching him to a low NSC performance feed. If he was in the 20-50 range she recommended trying diet alone, potentially KER brand low NSC, limiting grass, etc. If he was over 50, she recommended one of two pharmaceutical options. 

June, when I think he was actually looking his best 

Since moving to Ms. GY's, he has eaten ration balancers of a variety of brands. I think he actually looked his best back when we got the portions right at his old barn, so I messaged that barn owner. He was eating Seminole Equalizer at that point. 

So I went and picked that up. While he ate the rest of his previous ration balancer, I top dressed his food with the Pre-Fuel liquid that EM recommended. It is distinctly NOT Butterball's fave (who really likes the taste of pure amino acids?), but he persists. 

December: A week or two before his vet saw him 

February: I think we're moving in a positive direction. He's got more topline again and, honestly, more weight. I've said it before and I'll say it again, feeding the half-pony is trickier (albeit cheaper) than feeding the thoroughbreds. He is very susceptible to weight swings due to grass, hay, and relatively minor changes in workload. 

Fortunately his insulin results came back well within the normal range at 9! And I feel like he is in fact building topline pretty well now with the grain change. The other change his vet recommended was switching him from Dac Oil to Ahiflower oil. The AI comparison basically mirrors what she said. 

I only just put that one in to play because we had five gallons of Dac Oil to work our way through. It will be hard to assess if this makes a difference because he has really nice dapple genetics and does seem to have adequate insulin control. But the ahiflower oil does seem to check more recommended boxes. 

Anyways, the never ending saga of making sure things are as optimal for the Butterball as possible. But I very much appreciate his vet not just showing up for his coggins, but taking a look at the whole horse and making recommendations. She was the one who pointed out last January that he was standing abnormally after his feet were done; this led to our farrier change and likely saved a whole lot of discomfort for the pony in the long run. 

Current diet: 

• Seminole Equalizer: 1 pound twice daily 
• Purina Outlast: 1.25 cups (0.6 pounds) twice daily; additional serving(s) before a ride or before trailering and then before working after getting off the trailer 
• Ahiflower oil 30mL once daily 
• Coastal grass hay 5-10 pounds per day
• Orchard grass hay 5 pounds per day

Softer

After Goggles' acupuncture appointment we were assigned some homework - some manual therapy I could use to help supplement between appointments. The first step to let him know good things are coming, loosening up a few fascial connections, and getting him used to touch, is skin rolling. 

Almost like a neck twitch, but a looser pinch, and continually moving

This is done starting close to the poll and going all the way down to the shoulder on a few different planes. He quite likes it at this point and starts licking and chewing when I start doing this. He is most sensitive up near the poll which makes sense. 

Then we move on to the muscle releases. He is getting sooooo much better about letting me do these. He's really, really smart. At first I had to just kinda do it softly and stay back out of the way of his mouth. He never really tried to nail me, but definitely wanted to turn and nip when it was a little uncomfortable. I don't know if it is more and more comfortable or if he is learning the release is coming, but he barely turns towards me now. 

Usually those two get some big sighs and releases. He got a great review at his second acupuncture appointment - she scanned him all over and only got a few areas to focus on. At the first appointment he was so uncomfortable she couldn't scan him at all. His poll also felt much better, which is definitely good news. She worked on his hindquarters a bit more and got some good stuff done there. 

Each time I start his manual therapy, he is much softer than the last. His brachiocephalicus is now loose from the get go rather than needing some time to soften and relax. Overall quite encouraging that we're on the right track. 

As we've gone back to a routine this week, we've been starting each day with the cowboy homework. This means patience on my part. We're hanging out for somewhere between 20 - 60 minutes, just hanging. 

Which is mostly him eating

And me standing, using the dried poo pile as my marker to make sure I'm not migrating as he does

But then at some point he comes and checks in with me. 

And then takes a little nap

We did our first ride back yesterday after starting his ulcer treatment. He was great. A car drove by and he noticed it, but quickly returned to focusing on me. We kept it low key with lots of stretching and walk-trot and walk-halt transitions. We didn't canter yet, I wanted to just let him succeed at everything we did. 

Needles for the baby horse

I set Ben and Goggles up for their coggins with one of our local vets and asked her to acupuncture Goggles. She had worked on my mare Leila for her neck pain and it seemed really beneficial, so I was eager to have her take a look at Goggles once he was up in her normal range. Plus establishing care for him with a local vet is always good. 

While we know Ben loves his needles (Part 1 and Part 2) and is actually signed up for another teaching lab in early February, I wasn't sure how Goggles would feel about them. I was positive he was not a candidate for the teaching lab regardless of how he felt about needles because you have to be relatively still and well behaved for FOUR hours and... That's not a Thing we do right now... 

But both Goggles and I were actually delighted. I love the vet, she's super practical about what acupuncture can and can't do and knows the studies, such as they are. She didn't truly acupuncture scan him to begin, just palpated. She said she felt like the more sensitive types get pissed if it hurts when you scan and then are defensive and less likely to let you treat. She did find substantial pain in his left poll and left mid-neck. He was also sore over his sacrum, but that she felt was more consistent with having a job now. Since this was the day after he cantered the circle of death multiple times, I totally agreed. 

Being a very Good Boy

Her tech was also fantastic and held him with just the right balance of entertaining him but not letting him step over the line to being rude. He was very reactive to one point on his left sacral area, so she kinda let that one go in order to focus on his neck. 

Once she had the points in she hooked up the electro acupuncture. I've never seen him be so still for so long. He truly zenned out on the low setting meant to cause serotonin release and calmness. 

Ugh, as I look at this I can see a hint of ribs he's developed since the move. But look how good he's being with the electro! 

Then she turned it up a bit to the pain relief level. He definitely felt it a little bit but then seemed to realize it was feeling good and he relaxed into it again. 

After the time was up for the needles, she showed me a few manual therapy things to do on his neck. Starting with skin rolling to get him used to being touched, then actually grabbing the brachiocephalicus muscle and pushing/lifting up mostly with the fingers in the area of the jugular groove, and doing the same with the muscle just in front of the scapula. She said he was a smart horse, he realized he felt so much better and immediately let us manipulate things that he had previously been guarding. While we were doing the manual therapy on his left brachio, he saw something in the distance and lifted his head, but had the strangest focal muscle spasm pass through, then did some big yawns and sighs. 

She wanted to see him again in 3-4 weeks, and then go to a roughly every 2 month schedule. He's due for his q3 month shockwave next week and he'll get adjusted then too. It seems like a whole lot for a young horse who still isn't doing much, but I truly think he's a special dude. We're also hoping as he builds muscle correctly we can back down on some of these things. But for now I'm so glad to have added acupuncture in, he was so good and got such instant relief from it. 

Feeling Zen

Ben and I went to the Chi institute again on Thursday. This was the first time we'd been on the first day of the course. I requested the same TA as last time and Ben immediately cuddled up to her. I shared that it was partially her scan of him that made me get him scoped. She was pleased to hear that things lined up from the eastern diagnostics to western. It was also an equine only group, so the students had a more whole horse approach with lots of practical questions. The other groups we've demoed for have been closer to their exam and therefore more focused on nailing down the points they were going to be tested on. This group included an equine surgeon, a sports medicine specialist, a vet student, and a few others. Ben was a bit more up and distracted to start the day. He was staring at cows in the distance and generally just a bit fussier than he has been. Totally manageable and he still was being a ham, but kind of reflective of how I've been perceiving his mental state since Rocking Horse. 

Helping out

Going with the ulcers and his reported spooky behavior (reported by me lol), he was diagnosed with a heart blood deficiency and stomach yin deficiency. This meant he got some new points including several calming points on his face. Things along midline pointing caudally are supposed to be calming. They used the 1/2" needles for it and like last time, those needles were allowed to stay in for the trailer ride home. 

The next day, napping in the cross ties. Before I told her anything, Ms. GY asked what he had had done because he was standing around the field with a dopey, relaxed look on his face. COOL!!

He was really pretty sensitive to the points on his back this time, possibly local soreness, so definitely something I need to keep an eye on in the future. 

In other "keeping Ben feeling Zen" news, I took the noseband off his bridle to see if it made him less insanely itchy at the end of rides. It hasn't, but the noseband isn't needed and with his jewel browband, I think he looks a bit like a western pony and I find it adorable!

We also did another trail ride with him as the ponied horse. He did get a bit more uppity with his saintly pasture mate at certain points, so I think next time we'll venture off our safe loop and out into the spookier areas of the neighborhood to broaden his horizons and keep him focused on more than harassing his friend. 

Ben's Best Day Ever (and some mullings on diet, supplements, and balance pads)

Ben and I went to the Chi Institute on Friday for him to be a demo acupuncture horse again. It was pretty foggy and dark that morning when I arrived at the barn. Ben and his older friend had started cantering around while I was letting the other horses in. And unlike his 25 year old friend, he cannot be trusted to navigate the two gates and barn without banging into things when he is feeling VERY frisky in the morning. So he got haltered and I led him in with a bit of trepidation. But he was a good boy and just BOUNCED next to me, not on me. He loaded well and we arrived shortly before the lab started. This was the second in person session of this set of students in the course, so people were a bit less WOW a horse and more focused on the upcoming points exam. 

Taking in the scene, being so handsome and alert

The TA for Ben's group works in Virginia and works on a lot of thoroughbreds at the track. For some reason it had not occurred to me that on the track TBs would get acupuncture, but of course they do! Anyways, the TA adored Ben and he adored her. He introduced himself to everyone by grabbing the empty trash can from the center of the group for putting needles in later and flinging it back and forth while they were chatting about things that weren't him. Then he proceeded to pick up a stick from the arena ground and fling that around for a bit. Clown. Once he had everyone's attention on him, he was a bit more focused and did some yawning and licking and chewing as they identified points. 

Pleased to be the center of attention and being so tolerant of being poked everywhere

During the break we went out to the sunshine so I could warm up and Ben could graze. I chatted with another owner who said he was "obviously a quality thoroughbred" and asked me if I knew of any for sale like him. JT has gotten a similar comment while warming us up and responded "I wish I knew!"

The shiniest, most handsome

He was a bit out of patience after the break. It is a long 4 hours of standing around and being a patient pony, so I couldn't blame him. He quickly tuned back in though and enjoyed his treatment. The students had decided to have the TA do the treatment so that they could keep reviewing. The TA was really quick with her needles and did a lot of B12 injections rather than electroacupuncture. The idea is that the B12 stays at the point and acts as a bit of an irritant and pressure spot so that the stimulation lasts longer without having to necessarily stand there with the needle in. She did it with 22 gauge needles and he really didn't seem to mind it much. 

This time around he was a "Balanced Wood" for his constitution. The way she described it, wood constitution is more solid, brave, trustworthy. Kind of all the things we've been working on with him, I wonder if we've brought out his inner wood. My friend who is currently taking the course discussed it with me later and we decided he might truly be an earth. I realized when the TA was describing a point by the ear and noting that if the ear was pricked forward or pinned the point shifted that I have NEVER seen him pin his ears. EVER. He does not have an angry, mad, or mean bone in his body. And I guess the wood constitution does have some desire to push back against authority and sometimes respond when a fight is picked. Which Ben DOES NOT. Anyways, just kind of interesting things to think about with him. He definitely has a sense of humor. 

You can barely see the 22g needles down his back here 

He scanned positive to a few of the stomach points and she asked what gut support he was on. Which he's not. And he's in full work and doing lots of travelling, so probably should be. She recommended the probiotic Equitic as a starter. As I sit here and am digging deeper though, he has recently been switched to Nutrena ProForce Fuel which contains a probiotic and prebiotic. So does he really need a separate probiotic? But the grain does not contain the specific strain (Lactobacillus reuteri) that is present in the Equiotic... Oye. The probiotic doesn't break the bank, but is roughly $2/day. 

She also prescribed him Tendon/Ligament and Body Sore because I said the Chi Performance hadn't done much. Actually what I said was I had no idea if it did anything. Because he spent November with JT on her grain and hay and schedule, and hee started receiving the Chi Performance partway through that month. Then we moved back to the GY's and he's been on the Nutrena ProForce Fuel since returning there. There's also better grass- Bahia and winter rye, supplemented with Timothy or orchard hay. At JTs it is Tifton round bales instead of grass and then t&a in the stalls. And the rice bran I was getting shipped from Chewy was back ordered so he got switched to Purina Amplify two weeks ago. THEN I got a free sample of Organic Gut Solutions, a product made in Ocala that had some suspicious claims of detoxifying the gut. But the ingredients did not look to be harmful, and they claimed it decreased anxiety, so what the hey. 

Anyways, said all that to say, no idea if the Chi Performance supplement did or did not make a difference because literally ALL the variables have changed since I started him on it. 

As shown in the above grazing picture, he looks fabulous right now. He still needs to add some trapezius muscle back in that atrophied with our poorly fitting saddle. But other than that, he has a great butt and is super shiny and slick and feeling really good. 

He has been slipping more in the hind end though over the past... unknown time frame, I want to say two months. I've been more diligent about stretching his stifles post-rides now that we're back at the GY's. And I've been breaking out the balance pads more. Mostly because he finds them really challenging in the hind end, making me think they're really good for him lol. And if he is slipping somewhere back there, then strengthening the stabilizing muscles should help, yes? 

Don't mind the sweaty saddle mark... I can't use the pads before I ride because I paint his feet with Farrier's Fix OR copper tox and I can't get that on them. And then he gets hosed post-ride. And I don't want to get them muddy and wet. So sweaty post-ride, pre-hose it is. 

The right hind is the hardest to get him on. He really wants to put that foot on solid ground. It takes a lot of repositioning and then clicking for finally putting weight on it to get him to stand on that one. 

We're only doing a minute on them right now, but I'm hoping to build up to more. It is a really good use of the clicker training because I am far from his head, but trying to let him know he is doing it right and a treat is coming. He's so solid on the not mugging me for treats while I am actively clicker training. He was still definitely mugging me for my snack and trying to ask the students for treats yesterday, but y'know, he is who he is. 

I am hoping that in a month I'll be able to look back and say that his slipping behind is doing much better... so I'm trying to mentally log # of instances per ride to write down on my calendar post-ride. But at the same time trying not to obsess about it. 

Anyways, do ya'll have any input on supplements, grain choices, and probiotics? Do you take a less is more approach or do you feel supplements can be truly beneficial and feed multiple supplements? 

Needle Adventures

I volunteered Ben to be a demo horse for the acupuncture course running right now at the Chi institute. It's only about 30 minutes away from us, so that is what we spent this morning doing. He loaded easily and travelled okay. He still does much more shifting around when he's stuck in the straight load position than when he had the box stall. He looked around a bit when we arrived, but settled right down as soon as he had a cluster of adoring fans. It was a mixed animal group, so some of the students did not have much horse handling experience. There was one instructor and five students working on him. 

The first half of the morning was identifying the points on the list for the students to learn today. He was a very good sport as long as someone was paying attention to him. 

He LOOOOOOVED the attention

And was very relaxed

In spite of FL being awful hot right now, it was pretty pleasant under the covered arena with some of those "big ass fans" running

He actually did a lot of yawning and licking and chewing along with a couple big stretches, hind leg out behind, hind leg up under, and whole body cat stretch. It seemed like the pressure from the students' fingers on the points was doing him some good. Or he just was enjoying hanging out in the cool with his person. I didn't realized how much he has identified me as his person until I handed him off to run and use the bathroom. As I left he tried to follow and when I came back, he put his eyes on me as soon as I came out of the bathroom door. So adorable. 

He was an incredibly good sport for the whole thing. He was pleasantly patient for the people trying to pick up his feet by randomly pushing on his knee and then dropping the whole foot. He let them palpate points on the medial stifles and on the ventral abdomen cranial to the sheath. He did not love when they counted ribs to find certain points, but he expressed that by moving away from their poking, not too dramatic at at all. All around very good boy. 

We took a 20 minute break after point ID time and then started on an accupuncture session when we got back. First they asked some questions like:

"does he like other horses?" yes

"does he prefer the sun or shade" shade, but honestly what horse doesn't right now...?

"has he ever been aggressive towards humans or other animals?" nope, he is the very nicest person

"what are his faults?" spookiness! 

Those answers combined with the fact that he came back from the break bright eyed and bushy tailed and perturbed that he was not the center of attention at that moment, got him identified as a fire type. The instructor said before the break she would have called him an earth, but after he was a bit... brighter. He wasn't being bad at all, but he was trying to stuff his whole face into each students space, one by one, and get them to give him scratches or let him obsessively lick their hands. 

They also looked at his tongue and mouth. His mouth was deemed a bit dry - no surprise there and probably explained by the fact that he apparently sucks at drinking while travelling. I need to start bringing gatorade or something because even water from home didn't coax him into drinking during the break. His tongue was called pale with a bit of purple. 

Then the instructor scanned him using the round end of a pen to run over specific points. It was pretty cool to watch and hear the descriptions. She was careful to specify that points can be local soreness or can indicate problems in distant places. She also showed scanning an area that didn't contain any points so that could be used as a negative control. He was pretty relaxed with the control area, she said not a typical TB. He was positive to a number of his bladder points over his lumbar area. She said it was pretty highly unlikely he had problems with all those corresponding organs, so it was more likely local soreness. He was positive to his right front foot points, makes sense given the TWO MONTH abscess saga. He was also sore all down his back on his left as opposed to just the lumbar area on the right. He was negative to both hocks and stifles which was nice to see. 

Then they came up with a plan and started taking turns putting in needles. He was SUPER for it. 

He was so good he even got hooked up to the electroacupuncture, which the instructor said she normally did not do the first time. 

Hooked up the electroacupuncture to cross the sore area of his back on this side (aka the whole thing) 

After he was unhooked, she scanned him again and he was much less reactive. I'd seen this with Zinger back in the day, but it was really cool to see Ben enjoying it and benefiting as well! Overall a fun, if a bit long, morning. 

If you are local to the area, these labs are open on a first respond to email basis for horses that are well behaved. You also get a free herbal supplement (Ben's instructor selected Qi Performance for him - I need to pick it up the next time I work in Ocala). They're pretty flexible about it, a few of the horses this morning were not loving the needles themselves, but as long as they are well behaved for the touching part of things, it doesn't seem like the coordinators minded too much (with the exception of the horses they recruit for the exam portion).