2009 December | Chris's Blog

Tweets from Talygarn

Mini Show Jumping Wed 8th feb 5.45pm Schedule A To be held indoors. Classes LR 1'6 1'9 2' 2'3 2'6 Entries £7 per... http://t.co/tY4nnghO 2012/02/01
Dressage Feb 5th cancelled Next Dressage Sunday March 4th 2012/01/28
25th Jan Wednesday evening show jumping 5.45pm starts with 2' clear round then 2'3 2'6 2'9 &3' qualifiers for... http://t.co/lKilSp6L 2012/01/25
Tuesday 14th Feb Taster lessons in Equestrian Vaulting, suitable for riders and non riders from 4 to 18yrs of... http://t.co/rUFqMIzx 2012/01/23

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Archive for December, 2009

Colic

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Working with horses in bad weather is difficult enough but ice has got to be the worst. Last Monday morning we’d had a covering of snow overnight which had turned to ice. It was not possible to get the horses in from the field or the ones that were in out of the stables. Tuesday morning the ice was as bad and we decided to leave the horses out until lunchtime. Hoping it might thaw enough to get them in. The ice was still bad but we had some grit we could put down and we managed to get in the horses and ponies needed for lessons that night and the Christmas gymkhana the following day. The rest we left out with hay in the field. Jess who had noticed that Fred had been lying down in the field was concerned that he seemed quite stressed in the stable so I went to have a look at him. As soon as I saw Fred I knew he had colic symptons. He was quite distressed. I took his rugs off as he was sweating and his respiration rate was over 45 breaths a minute (normal being between 8 to 15) He seemed more settled laying down although he did try to roll. I called the vet out. It was impossible to walk him as there was ice all over the yard. Although walking is useful for about 15 minutes if the colic is spasmodic it does nothing but tire your horse out if there is an impaction present. When the vet arrived she was quite concerned. She took his temperature and pulse which was up a bit and then gave him an injection of Buscopan which is a muscle relaxant, she then had a feel internally and felt that the colic was caused by an impaction. This is the more serious type of colic and is the major cause of death in horses. The vet was not happy with his capillary refill and decided to adminster Liquid paraffin staright away. This involved passing a tube down through his nostril and into his stomach then mixing Liquid paraffin with warm water and pouring about third of a bucket through a funnel and down the tube. Hopefully the liquid paraffin will pass through the system and break down the blockage. The vet also injected some strong pain killers. We called the vet again at half five but there had been no change and although Fred was looking comfortable in himself due to the pain killers he had still not passed any droppings or ate or drank anything. The on call vet rang back at 7pm but there was still no change and he came out again at 10pm. He was pleased that Fred wasn’t any more distressed and looked well in himself and therefore felt that the cause was an impaction and not a twist but he was concerned that it had been at least 12 hours since he had ate or passed any droppings. Having had two horses with a severe impaction in the past both of which died I was now extremely worried. We ran the tube through the nostril again and adminstered more liquid paraffin and more pain killers the vet also had a feel internally whilst doing this he dislodges some dropping which he felt looked oily as though the paraffin was getting through. He left with instructions to monitor him through the night and try to get him to eat or drink. I stayed up till 3pm and Steve took over from 4am. As the vet suggested we tried him with Bran mash, apples, carrots, apple juice in his water and handfuls of grass, the grass was the only thing he took an interest in but that was only to nibble a bit and spit it out. The following morning I rang at 10am, still no change. The vet said he would be out at 12 noon, this was now over 24hours with no food and no droppings. The vet arrived at 12pm and again was pleased that he wasn’t looking to distressed as the pain killers would have been wearing off by now and decided to adminster one last dose of liquid paraffin. We had 40 plus kids in the indoor school for the Xmas Gymkhana at this point and I didn’t want them to see this so Jodie kept them in the school whilst Amelia and I assissted the vet. The vet felt that as he was comfortable we should give him more time and only make the decision to put him down if he became distressed. Only a handful of staff were aware of the situation and we have never been so pleased to see droppings in the stable at 4pm in the afternoon and an obvious wet patch, although he was still not eating. I stayed up most of the night on wednesday with him and on Christmas eve he did start to nibble at the grass i had picked so Steve found some grit to make a path from his stable to the garden so I could let him graze. He wasn’t very enthusiastic about eating but at least he was picking a bit. I am pleased to say by Christmas Day he seems to be back to normal. Sarah and Dave from Davey King Vet Practice Bridgend were marvellous and couldn’t have done more for him.

Posted on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 2:57 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

BHS Exams

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

The week before last two of my students took BHS Exams. Eleri took her stage 1 at Pencoed College and Jess took the riding part of her stage 2 at Bicton College in Devon. I was away in Portugal last week so I was anxious to here how they had got on. Eleri felt she had failed the riding as one of the horses she rode was very difficult and in canter it literally took off and she ended up standing up in her stirrups to stop it. Fortunately Eleri did pass both the riding and care section. The stage 1 exam does not involve jumping but in the stage 2 exam candidates have to ride on the flat and jump two horses. Nowadays you ride on the flat first and you are not allowed to go through to the jumping section unless you pass the flat section. Jess obviously rode fine in the flat and continued to the jumping. The first horse she was given put in a very dirty stop and Jess came off. I was very surprised to hear this because in all the time Jess has been here (over 2 years now) no matter what she rides she rarely comes off. Anyway she remounted and continued, the horse stopped again reared vertical and Jess came off the back. The examiner then removed the horse from the exam as unsuitable (several other horses were removed and deemed unsuitable too) and told Jess not to worry it wouldn’t affect how they judged her on her next horse. It really makes you wonder if these examiners are on the same planet, of course its going to affect the way she rides the next horse. Surely the BHS has a duty to check out these exam centres. They try to tell you that the examiners see all the horses ridden before the start of the exam but I have to say I have taken many candidates to exams and generally arrive before the examiners who certainly don’t see any horses being ridden. A colleague of mine recently took a candidate to a stage 1 exam where four horses were removed as unsuitable. It costs Jess £31.50 (£55.50 over 21yrs) for a years membership which she has to have to take the exam. £130 exam fee. Petrol money, B&B and meals plus 2 days lost wages for her mother to take her. I understand that horses can be unpredictable and we have had bad weather recently which may have resulted in horses that normally live out being kept in and therefore may be more of a handful to ride but personally I think if candidates receive unsuitable horses for exams they should be given a free resit. Jess has not yet received her results.

I frequently hear many tales of unsuitable horses in exams. I can’t comment on them as know one is allowed to watch exams but I had a very unsuitable horse for my stage 3 which I overheard the groom saying she was surprised it had been used as it always has people off when jumping, it had both candidates that rode it off and many years ago when I took my PTT (Preliminary Teaching Test) at Bicton College a few weeks before the exam I was staying at a friends in Devon and we decided to go and visit the centre. When we arrived we were not able to look around as there was a Stage 2 exam in progress. Although the exam had been halted as they were waiting for an air ambulance to collect a candidate who had come off in the jumping. Also during my PTT in the lead rein lesson an 8yrold child was bucked off a very fresh 15hh TB looking horse. Maybe the BHS should be a little less greedy and book less candidates into exams if centres do not have enough suitable horses for jumping. Examiners are generally very encouraging but it must be very frustrating and difficult for them to have to examine candidates on unsuitable horses.

Pleased to say Jess Passed. Well Done Jess

Posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 2:39 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.