Meet Barry, the New “Man” in My Life, or What’s Up with Galatea

Actually, it is more like ‘what’s not up with Galatea’.  More on that in a moment.  Meet Barry, a sweet Canadian Sport Horse gelding with limpid brown eyes. He previously carried eventing legend Boyd Martin to some very successful placings in preliminary and intermediate divisions at international cross country competitions.  For those that don’t event, it means this horse was capable of jumping 25+ immoveable objects some of which are 3’9” in height and 5 feet in width that are placed at random and sometimes in combination over the course of 2+ miles of undulating terrain that includes drops of nearly 6 feet and jumping into and out of small lakes.   If that isn’t enough, he could do it at an optimum speed of 18 miles per hour and all without refusing, doing a drive-by, or losing the rider.  In addition, he could dance in the sand on day 1 and on day 3 go on to jump 14 flimsy fences equally as high without knocking any over in less than 2 minutes.  He is what we call a six-figure horse.  After an injury, he was retired from his eventing career and was donated by his syndicate (that means he was too expensive for any one person to buy) to a 501(c)3 organization to have a more relaxed life and be loved by people learning to ride.  The organization sent him to Laura for the winter for a tune-up.  I am leasing him for February while Galatea recovers from…you name it.  Today he and I showed at White Fences First Level test 3 and scored a 63.75%, not too shabby for our 8th ride together. A 60% means that you executed the movement in a satisfactory manner.

Now on to Galatea. I am the owner of a mare who has decided that it is her duty to sample all the veterinary expertise that Wellington as to offer. Yes, the princess has decided that if she had to come to Wellington to work over the winter and suffer the ignominy of being clipped naked so she can be tormented by small flying insects, then I have to pay.  And pay I am in multiple ways. Where to start. Well, recall that first there was the vet visit to determine if her wild behavior and increasing unwillingness to work was possibly due to ulcers. That required an endoscopy and some very expensive ulcer medications.  After being reshod a bit differently by the farrier Laura uses, she began to exhibit a hitchiness in her gaits.  That necessitated a lameness exam and x-rays of her hind legs, both hocks and stifles, that showed some arthritic changes not unexpected for 13 years of age.  So, on to injections of corticosteroids in those four joints to suppress the inflammation and pain, and then days of stall rest to recover.  The vet warned me that everything is connected and once one issue is addressed another may show up that was compensating.  Once her hocks and stifles improved, there was still something in her movement that was not quite right so we had another vet visit.   A local anesthetic block of her left front fetlock improved her way of going.  Palpation of her back at that time revealed some tenderness and she was put on a muscle relaxant (Robaxin) to see if that would help her back.  Nope.  In fact, her back pain actually worsened to the point that running your hand down her back with a little pressure caused her to drop her back.  So, the vet came back out. Subsequent x-rays of the left fetlock showed a bone spur developing and then led to x-rays of the right fetlock because, I dunno know, I am still a scientist at heart we have to have a control for comparison and future reference? And, of greater concern, x-rays of her back have shown that two dorsal processes of her spine are impinging on one another.  It is not kissing spine, but it is right where I sit in the center of the saddle and was finding that a slight shift in my weight could cause her to come to an abrupt halt no matter what we were doing.  Her fetlock and her back are now slated for injections this coming Tuesday and there will be another two weeks recovery time after that. All this means that I have not been able to ride her and will not be able to for some time.  Lastly, the entire 6 weeks I have been down here she has been sneezing more and more while eating her hay, with a runny nose and begun head flipping that was particularly violent when she was out in the sun and decreased when in the barn.  These are all signs of allergies, which can cause photosensitivity in horses.  Per the vet, quite a few horses are displaying allergies right now because it has been uncharacteristically wet this season and things are growing.  Plus, they have been burning the sugar cane fields, which puts really fine ash in the air. You can’t ride a horse that is flipping its head up and down.  So, that has led to allergy testing and treatment, as well as soaking her hay before feeding to control any dust/pollen/allergens.  Maybe I’ll have a horse that is rideable by the end of February.  To put it in perspective, the mare has not had any issues other than the colic surgery in the 7 years I have owned her and I have felt quite lucky.  The princess has just decided to be efficient and get everything done at once. I swear I am not making this up and it is not Munchhausen’s by proxy.