Over Before It Begins

Dr. Joanne Kramer, pink shirt, second from right doing surgery today on #148 at University of Missouri, Columbia Veterinary School.

Query whether women with their smaller hands make superior surgeons.  It was the year 2000 that Dr. Kramer repaired my Aylward's busted nose were the horse was kicked after getting a second and 3 straight wins.  I had a $3000 nose, and this time will sport a $4000 hock by the time it's all said and done.

Racing prognosis, according to the Doc, good.  Two year old season, down the tubes. By Dr. Kramer--30 days stall rest--60 days in small paddock--4 months before serious exercise can begin.  Fragment large enough that it requires sizable incision.  Area will fill with fluid that turn into scarring type cartilage (forgetting term) over time.  This cartilage need develop well as it's necessary to stabilize the area.  Doc say as this develops it will fail to withstand the pressure of exercise or simple gallops.  Apparently the developing material will keep scrambling itself if there's pressure on it and eventually you have a weak conglomerative mess in the joint instead of new tightly patterned cartilage fibers that are necessary for strength.

In one sense over the years in athletics I have developed a sanguine attitude toward injured athletes.  You just wait for them to come back, that simple.  In the other sense right now we're fairly unhappy in RR land.

Lesson IIa

Neglected to mention last post,  particularly if horses are to breeze out of gate in :11s every three days with the idea that heavier work will improve performance:

I am three weeks into working with heavier weights in the gym with a protocol of working up to the heaviest weight I can get up there even for just one or two reps.  The result has been, after an accidental look at the physique in the mirror yesterday, another total body transformation from wiry and muscled to a significantly more powerful appearance.  The other side effect has been that I have been consistently sore all over--muscles, tendons, ligaments.

This soreness has occurred despite being extremely careful to try to avoid it by carefully and slowly increasing the load, number of reps, etc.

This is worrisome in terms of considering working our horses to a heavier load--lest we ever forget we're working with "egg membranes" instead of just "egg shells".  To review--any horse might survive ur workout "today". Tomorrow, unless that w/o is totally consistent with injury prevention--another story.

We'll reconsider this :11s stuff.  For our stable it's way premature, at any rate.

Training:
Thurs. 15 degrees and wind.  Horses fed lightly last days due to fears re frozen water. shows in their work. Attempted a riderless run. anything but into it.  one short 50 yd burst + lazy running. Passed on riding due to conditions.
Fri.  Warmer. Nob the rider awol. "Sick". Decided on lunging to get some control and force some speed.  Same deal as day before.  Only able to get lazy slow galloping.  #148--concernedly noticed him collapse a little on his injured hock.  Stopped immediately.  Good news, #148 is in the trailer and off to surgery Mon.
Sat.  What difference a day makes.  Horses totally into running today. We get our best riderless burst to date.  7f in what looked like about :13s.  #7 looked great.  #148--the long fluid stride is completely missing.  Concerning.  #7 was walk-trotted under tack for 10 min.

Gym Lesson II

I learned early on in athletics non-weight lifters do very poorly against weight lifters.  These days for our human athletes we have both weight room work and modern conditioning techniques that are replete all over Utube, and the results generally are astounding.  In all sports those youngsters coming up are really really good..

Yours truly has now been in the weight room 13 months, and believe I learned a lesson.  There's logical weight work that will improve performance and also other weight work that has one just spinning the wheels.

For the last year I have been involved in high repetition light weight workouts--and, must add, since I'm the only one in the weight room trying to lose weight--on my young and emaciated frame "light weight" means really really light.  My theory'd been with my high reps I was doing twice to three times the work as the muscle heads, my body frame would get wiry and strong, and indeed I have gotten stronger than I was with more definition to the old muscles, noting if there were only a way to get the old skeleton in shape also.

However, with the high repetition routine I think there are only marginal improvements in actual physical performance.  About two weeks ago the Epiphany happened--hey--I am getting nowhere with this.  There were of course fast initial improvements, and thereafter very little gains in strength or power.

Decided then after a year to junk the high rep w/o routine in favor of lifting the heaviest weights I could lift without injury.  It's quickly become obvious to me that the heavy weights are the way to go for improvements in performance.

This translates for our horses probably to avoid high rep long slow workouts completely as being largely useless to performance--as exaggerated e.g. having twice galloped horses the 6 mile Ivers w/o I have zero compulsion to ever go back to that.  Instead am considering that 2f out of the gate  in :22 or 3f in :34 would be the sort of horse weight lifting the would indeed improve performance over time IF, as always, the horse will cooperate.

What do you get e.g. by breezing a horse 6f in :12s every 4 days for weeks and weeks at a time as I've done with Ivers trained horses compared to one 3f in :34 with attendant warm ups and warm downs.  Suspecting without knowing that we'd get a faster better performing horse with the shorter faster workouts.  Speculation at this point--never done this--problems in getting rider cooperation, etc.--seems however, that if one could get a series of :34 w/os this might be expanded and lengthened over time to get a really good horse.  Theory.
Comments?

Training:  unexpectedly we're back down to 15 degrees F with wind.  Horses ran lightly riderless last couple of days with very short spurts.  All I could get out of them. Passed on riding. Warmer today. #148 scheduled to transport for surgery Mon.  This horse, of course, is the one we're unable to get on the trailer.  Could do it easily, excep--want to avoid "breaking horses will" type of training. Prefer them to volunteer and like what they do.We'll get him on eventually.

Performance and Lessons From The Gym

13 months into blogger YMCA w/os, and yes, we're feeling stronger, look better, have more energy, all the stuff, and your good blogger was hardly in poor physical condition going in.  The optimal personal workouts last 1.5 to two hours with an hour on the treadmill and an hour of weight work.  Regrettably the number of days of optimal workouts are too few in number, see below.

Doing this much physical work one learns quite a lot about how all this works.  There are lessons galore to take in or relearn in doing hard workouts.  The blog will refer to the details of this when (and as always) "if" my horses get a little deeper in.  Two major lessons:

1.  Avoid backing off the workouts.  What has been achieved personal condition wise after 13 months in terms of performance?.  "No where" would be pretty close to accurate.  Why?  I have a consistent pattern of sluffing off.  Distractions.  Things come up.  Too little sleep. Temporary priorities go in another direct. Etc. Etc.  I find that I am forever backing off and coming back to where I was instead of moving forward.  Whereas, if I had persevered with training in the down times--and they are all short periods of a few days of doing lighter work--who knows where I'd be.  One would think, after 13 months, the progress would be significant to amazing.  Ain't happening.  And for reasons that lack excuse.

And so it is with horse workouts.  Of late--it's too cold, run out of daylight, get there too late, failing to feel it today--or, at the track, rider fails to show, we're too late to get on track, we arrive late at the barn and on and on.  Our horses still work harder than any other horses.  Yet, it's a shame, when one considers, what might be done with consistent w/os.  We observe normal rest times to be sure, and all other days we're out on the track moving forward--what might be accomplished?

Lesson #2 next post.

Training:
We've had 15-20 degree F weather last two days.  With #148 again loses a front shoe 3 days after it was tacked on. I have zero clue what's he's doing to lose them.  Used the weather as excuse to take off--see above.  Horses had had two days ago one of those price of admission riderless workouts.  Commence today and we're still in Preston Burch training of every 3 days.  #148 surgery postponed to next week.  Weather + unable to get him on the trailer.  #7 of course hops right on within 60 seconds.  They always know something is up, or so it seems.

Sun. Misc.

Tone here a little happier.  #7 is  trotting under tack, indeed, a simple thing that should have happened a month ago.  Nevertheless, we're on the way with #7 with goal to gallop by end of January, weather willing.

 Mr. Nob, the rider, reports #7 a bit of a stinker under tack.  Nob mounts and the horse commences light bucking each and every time, which presently is a bit of humor as one can see the horse looking back to check whether Nob is still on, and also because we're counting the days to Nob inevitably hitting the ground.  
Knee laceration on #148 mostly healed.  Both horses were exercised lightly riderless last two days, all hoofs reshod.  Progress just as we're getting ready next Tues. to transport #148 to University for his operation.

New Year's Resolution: Getting It Together

Several times last week the the good grief reaction.  4 month post horse arrival, 1.5 mo. into the 4 month lease of the hay field we have3 of 4 lost front shoes in 20 degree f weather, chip in a hock, blown up knee, and an unexpected 10 day schedule were the sky falls on the blogger.  I got caught in a snow storm on a 250 mile trip.  And, oh, car is stuck in the mud in the middle of the 300 yds between road and hay field.  Time for another diary entry.  Full report.

Horses:  the good news, unless they change the forecast, winter  over.  Fast progress now if the rains will hold off.  The big trial from Wed. went too long and was continued to 2/1,  #7 front shoe tacked on and had nice w/o last eve--btw--for years I'd conducted riderless exercise on a double lunge line with myself sprinting in the middle. Horses run full speed that way.  Due to necessity of lunge line repair now have" triple" lunge line and the horse last night sprinted all by himself full speed without myself having to move a muscle.  Triple lung line.  It works!  They get so far away from the lunger that they think they're escaping.  Only trouble I had was getting the horse to stop.  #148 knee swelling is going down. He ran into a branch.  Riding recommences this eve.  Mr. Nob instructed to weigh himself Monday. A word about personal workouts and what we're learning/relearning in the gym, next post.

Sun. Misc.

Blog will take short sabbatical.  Blogger has big trial scheduled this Wed.  20 degree F weather at the farm.  Is race training is this hard?  #148 has  cut on his knee swollen like softball, and both horses lost front shoe while I was out of town.  Doxycycline.  Believing knee is minor.   Arrived after out of town Sat to train and "both" horses had lost a front shoe.  3 1/2 Capewell race nails used as I was out of the normal pasture nails.  Failing to hold.  Good news:  Warm January coming here in KC, USA.

Fri. Misc.

Training:
Thurs:  Off.  Rain
Fri:  1st day planned for #7 serious training.  Rider Mr. Nobb tilting scales at 165 lbs./74kg.  Nobb enthusiasm historically goes as the horses go.  And, we're fairly excited about finally getting #7 there and into training under tack..  Way behind Preston Burch training schedule.   One starts to see why Burch breaks yearlings in June.  Stuff happens.  Nobb tends to get nobbier as we go.  Target rider weight 155 lbs.  Today's trainng later:  each horse was lunged 10 min.  #148, constantly into everything, now has small probably inconsequential wound on above knee with swelling.  By time that was taken care of dark. Passed on riding.

Wed. Misc.

A little excitement in the training sessions last two days. Sorry for more autobiography.  Hope to take good vids soon when blogger is less busy.

 Finally got an open trot under tack from #7.  Gallop next.  Also was able both days to take full advantage of our very nice training area to get legit riderless speed bursts out of both horse .  On Tues.horses galloping together with the 18 yr. old did about 3f at near full speed.  On Wed there was one nice 2 or 3f burst probably about :13.5s, a longer 4f slower gallop and a final of about 6f that looked mostly in :15s.  Decent exercise. Finally! Breathtakingly beautiful to see these enthusiastic youngsters galloping full tilt along a ridge.  Hopefully can catch that on vid.  There's some fun in race training even away from the track.

I would hesitate to exercise #148 with his hock except that I consider this crucial right now.  The horse had already been off 3+ weeks, is about to undergo the operating table that likely would be 3+ more weeks of inactivity--6 or 7 weeks of nothing turning fast twitch muscles cells to slow at a time when the horse needs to be increasing the number of fast twitchers.  My vague memory of exercise physiology--once those fast twitchers turn to slow can they be turned back to fast twitch fibers?  My understanding--no--and best that can happen is they turn into a fast twitch-slow twitch combo.  Thus we assume whatever risk there is right now in exercising #148.  He's moving very well on the hock.

#148 hock:  Again, txs. to Lazar Simic for comment.  Forgot to ask vet re his estimate of location of chip. Did ask vet if he thought there was ligament or tendon involvement because in hock diagrams there is a major ligament that goes right over this area.  Doc said in the negative.

Horse is scheduled for surgery week from tomorrow at University of Missouri Vet School, if we can get him there. A Dr. Keegan, who checked the Xrays and opined that swelling is totally caused by the chip, and also (interestingly) that chip might have started before barbed wire. Unknown where he got that.  Surgery time though dependent on weather and getting trailer out of mud in time to trailer train before arctic blast hits next week.  Will see.  Interestingly, after Tues. hard but short riderless gallop the swelling had gone down dramatically. After today's higher volume work I noticed a little swelling coming back.

Bone Chip

Vet Dr. Jackson examined #148 Monday and another blow across bow..  Initial opinion -- swelling is inside joint consisting of synovial fluid instead of endema or infection.  Then xrays as electrical outlet working this visit.  X-ray looks roughly as above. Looks as if barbed wire sliced piece of bone off the bottom of the bone in diagram, though have yet to confirm this with Vet.

.Presently waitingfor word from Doc -- possible transport with a cow to University to have chip removed.  They need another passenger.  Any comment on this appreciated.  Dr. Jackson stated chip is likely sole cause of joint swelling..  All enough after so many years of questionable luck--here we go again-- to make one consider staying in the game.  As usual, best horse.

Training:  After discombobulation with #148 hock injury, restarted last week.  #148 has run riderless several times.  #7 has been ridden though yet to be trotted as rider suffers injury to inner thigh muscle.  Will recommence ride today.  This morning both horses were driven riderless in our nice fields.  Best run to date--3f of :15-13 sec/f speed.  Nicest run by #7 who finally showed he can run a little.

Done for the fast twitch work , so critical at this stage for speed development and to avoid slow horses. #148 hopefully get in a little more before post operation rest.

Fri. Misc.

New development on #148 hock:

Sat. Some reduction in main swelling over wound
Sun.--light riderless exercise
Mon.--light riderless galloping
Tues. --Both horses took off by themselves for 3 short play sprints in :14s in snow.
 Wed.  Off
Thurs.--horses engaged in light running on my arrival.

No change in swelling noticed Sat to Wed.
Thurs. --Swelling appears slightly larger and has fuller very taut feelling to it as if more fluid leaked in.

Skin over wound is healed--without drainage--would poultice do any good at this point?

Vet this morn. to take a look  Lazar if u happen to see, opinion?.  Will take photos today.

Wed. Misc.

Lazar, txs. for comment.  The wound area on 1/2/13 is still soft to very soft to palpitation.  Looks roughly same size the last week.  22 days since injury. Still treating with bute and doxycycline.Vet wants to examine again in 3-4 days.