Monday, June 3, 2013

MRI Results Are In and other horse updates

The last post I mentioned I was going ahead with having an MRI of my left knee .I was hesitant but the Orthopedic doctor was almost 99% sure I had a meniscus tear, medially and maybe laterally too. I went in last Tuesday and follow up on Thursday for the results.

As it turns out, the doctor was WRONG!!(this always happens to me with doctors..)

I don't have any Meniscus tears to speak of. 

No, as it turns out, I have " the cartilage and ligaments of a 20 year old "  according to my doc....**blush*** (wish I had other things of a 20 year old.. but hey I will take what I can get)

Looking at the image, it's more than likely I strained my ACL (a little bit of fluid there) and the  IT band.

It was a huge relief hearing that I was not going to need surgery. I have made it this far in my life with ever going under the knife and would like to keep it that way.

The knee is actually starting to feel about 70% better and I have been able to resume some squats/lunges in my workouts.  I have not gone on any hikes so I can't say how it feels on the downhills. The doctor suggested a lot of stretching and using a foam roller to loosen the IT band. Since the Spartan race, and vacation thrown in the mix, I have been way off the rails in the excercise and eating departments so I am anxious to get back on track.

I feel like I definitely dodged a bullet with the knee thing.

Here are  few other updates..

  • The garden -its mostly in... need to plant a few more things but I am not getting carried away this year. Herbs, onions, garlic peppers, root veggies, and a couple of tomatoes.. I might get a couple of cucumbers or squash.. not sure yet.. I have been enjoying the asparagus that is FINALLY producing but after only a couple of weeks of production, the stalks are starting to get woody so it's time to let it go to seed again..

  • Maggie -Since I am not planning to do any endurance with her this year, or maybe ever again, Maggie and I are not hitting the trail. Friends  and family keep asking me a lot of questions about it. I definitely missed it now that ride season in the NW is in full swing but I also have mixed feelings. I miss the idea of attending a ride, and flying down the trail on a good horse,  but I don't miss the endless conditioning I had to do last year with Maggie just to attend a 35 mile ride. I don't miss the worry and fuss because she won't eat and drink on the trail or after a hard condition ride,  until we get home to her beloved water tank.  I don't miss the fight when she goes all race brained on me.  I certainly don't miss the time limitations on the schedule so I can get home from work and get on the trail to condition. It was a huge stressor and felt like a job. That said ,  I am still riding her at home ,working on her flatwork/dressage.   In the last couple of  weeks, she has made some interesting progress. She is doing much better with responding      to   my requests for a slow , collected trot. She is even starting to be able to leg yield while in a trot without having a major fit.. It's small steps but it's huge progress for where we were.. Her roll backs are pretty amazing and I am able to cue her for halt, back and rollback with just a neck rope. It's totally cool.  She has impressed me to say the least. I hope the upward trend continues.

Just to mix up the arena sessions,  I have  jumped her a couple of times over small cross rails. She is still unsure about this whole jumping thing but does her best at it, even though her trail savviness tells her that she should carefully step over it... I might have to put it higher for her to get the idea of what I am asking.. I have no idea if there is any glimmer of talent there but it doesn't matter. Right now I am just using jumping as a break from the dressage stuff. With a horse like her, I have to keep things changed up ALL THE TIME or she gets sour on doing the same thing...

At the end of June, we are going into a 3 day "cowmanship clinic"  to see what Maggie can do on cows. She has previously shown some interest . Her grand daddy , her sire, and her brother (T's gelding) are all pretty cowy... so we will see what she thinks about the smelly beasts.. It's all part of finding her niche.. If all else fails, there is always harness training!


  • JB- He gets his special shoes on this week and with out the demanding conditioning schedule, I hope to ride him more frequently. He really needs some work. His ground manners are embarrassing! I see some round pen sessions in his future.


  • Finding the Fix - So Endurance for Maggie is off the books.. which makes it hard to stay in the game. I still love the sport and don't plan on leaving it. As a possible way to still "get my endurance fix" without a horse to do it on,  I have offered via the MT region endurance FB page  to ride for anyone who has an extra horse at any rides in the MT region or NW region.  I already have some potential opportunities. I am working out the logistics of those opportunities. If you know of anyone, keep me in your thoughts!  This sort of arrangement would be a great opportunity to see some other rides that I normally would not if I were taking my horse du to expense /time. Things become a lot more simple when all you have to do is get in your car and drive yourself to a ride..

  • Jumping Lessons- I am still attending and it's a total blast.  I am planning to continue with a couple lessons a month as my schedule permits.  I have started riding the new lesson horse who is a sweet QH mare. She is much more "safe" than the Trakehner I was riding , but not as athletically talented. But she gets me safely to and over the fence with not a lot of complication.  Long term wish list.. find a horse that is suitable for jumping and endurance.. I am thinking an Arab or TB/Trakeher cross???? All I need is about $15k...yeah right(cough).

Equipment Failures:
  • The trailer is busted. Going into a  trail head parking lot a few weeks back we heard a big clunk.  The parking lot had been used as a mud bogging area by local teenage boys with big trucks. Needless to say, there are big holes, trenches and no matter how slow you go, you get bounced around. One of our leaf springs busted in the process and we had to limp the trailer home.  It goes into the shop this week.  Even if I wanted to get out and ride , I couldn't go anywhere. I would just prefer to get a new trailer but gotta live with in the Long term plan budget for now.

  • The Specialized saddle also had a minor issue. I got off Maggie the other night after riding her and my stirrup pad fell off. I managed to glue it back on with some kind of cement like glue I found in the garage. I have ridden in it once  and it held. The other stirrup pad looks like it's adhesive is starting to give way to so I see another glue repair in the near future. That is one complaint I have about the Specialized is that some of the craftsmanship is pretty chincy. Eventually I will have to get some of the EZ ride stirrups to replace these with.

The rain continues here , everything is lush and green and wet but still , the temps are pretty cool.  It's perfect for the still growing hay crops. Farmers usually start cutting and baling first cutting around the Fourth of July , assuming things dry out enough.


Hoping for warmer days ahead with lots of new adventures....




 

4 comments:

Funder said...

So glad to hear you don't need surgery!

glad you're still looking for fun things to do with Maggie. Something will suit her perfectly and you'll have a great time with it. And there's always horses to catch-ride in endurance! You're right, it's so much easier to just load the car and show up at ridecamp. :)

irish horse said...

Glad the knee is improving! So glad you won't be laid up with surgery, it sounds like you have some good plans for Maggie, even if they're different than you originally thought. Horses sure teach us to be flexible in so many ways.

Riding other horses would be really interesting, I hope that works out. Right now I think I can only handle the devil I know...but other horses might be better behaved!

My eyes would love to see some garden/green photos, now that everything is brown here, hint hint!

Jonna said...

yes, Funder, it was a huge relief. We will see how the catch ride works out..it's always good to get on different horses..

Jonna said...

Thanks Irish Horse.. in my situation, I am going to guess that almost any other horse I ride is going to be less complicated than Maggie.. ofcourse, I could wrong but it will be good to ride other horses if the opportunity presents itself.

I posted some green shots just for you!