Sydney: Our PSSM story and journey to wellness

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Sydney: Our PSSM story and journey to wellness

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30/05/2022

Today was a s**t day. Really pants.

Tacked up and walked down the road nicely forward and interested, then she stopped. Struggled to carry on down the road and kept attempting to turn around. So I got off, asked her to walk a few more steps forward (even if she's in pain I don't want her to develop the habit of turning for home unless I ask her to). She walked home in hand really calmly.

And that was it.

Decision to stop riding for 3 months.

She's not enjoying it and I'm certainly not enjoying the feeling of a horse that is so clearly struggling. The main problem is the inconsistency. Some days she can hack for half an hour and the next she can't handle 50 metres. You never know what horse you're going to get.

We will stick to doing ground work until September- which is helpfully the end of our manic work season. For 3 months we'll just do groundwork and nothing else. I've enrolled on Celeste Leilani's Balanced Through Movement Method in the hope it'll help her. If it doesn't, that's fine but at least I've tried.

The vets have offered to take her muscle enzymes pre and post workout, but that means lunging an overweight, unbalanced, potentially lame horse for 10 minutes and how is that fair? So I think I'll park that for now.

19/05/2022

Good day today. Sydney had the farrier first thing, always makes me nervous as she can be tricky and I always want to make his job as straightforward as possible! I explained about the muscle issue and he was understanding.
I needn't have worried because she stood like a rock, no snatching feet or wobbling around like she normally does.
I don't know whether to put this down to keeping her rugged last night as the forecast was torrential rain ....only 50g but enough to keep the rain off and keep her muscles warm... or the equifeast lamicore she's now getting. I always think unwanted behaviour can be attributed to pain or discomfort so either way this is a good sign.
Next stop to buy catago quarter sheet for when I walk her out to keep her hind quarter muscles happy. This sadly means I'll be selling my Total Contact Saddle but needs must!! 😔

18/05/2022

Today things were a little better.
She let me pick all 4 feet out without a problem (right fore is usually snatchy)
We walked in hand a little way and she was more forward and interested than the last attempt.
I found a high bank and rode her home ba****ck. She's sooooo comfy!
I can only put the improvement down to the very warm night (14 degrees here)
Our last outing was a disaster and I *think* that's because it had rained all day and she got cold. I'm still getting my head around rugging her. It seems totally bonkers, but I am learning that PSSM horses really need to keep warm. So I've dusted off phoebe's rugs and she now has a 50g and 100g ready for the next s**tty day.
She's had a weeks worth of equifeast lamicore, I'm going to keep her on it for a month to see what changes, if anything.

15/05/2022

So it's been nearly a year since I posted on here and what a year its been. Unfortunately not in a good way!
Sydney went through the backing process and seemed not to worry about most of it, we started some basic schooling/short hacks and all felt OK.
After a few months I really started to feel like we weren't making progress. She stopped a lot out hacking and despite doing a LOT of positive reinforcement we couldn't get past this hurdle. She also had a very stiff and clicky left hind and had occasional lameness.
She started putting her head to the floor if I asked her forward when she really didn't want to or couldn't.
I tried her on some vitamin e after a discussion with a friend and remarkably she seemed to improve overnight. She went from planting out on the roads to freely walking forward.
This dramatic improvement sadly didn't last long and her issues started creeping back.
I decided to test her for pssm1 and 2 as she was showing some of the classic symptoms, and after hair testing her via Center for Animal Genetics in Germany I now know she's high risk and symptomatic for pssm2 (n/p2). I've now put her on a new feed (equifeast lamicore and more fibre with vitamin e). She's getting regular bodywork too.
I'll update this page as we go along our journey.

06/06/2021

Sydney has been rather "neglected" in the work sense over the last few weeks as we've started our bat surveys which means working some very late nights.
I've gone back to basics a little with her and started some more ground work rather than focusing on the riding.

Ridden she now has the basics but lacks balance and I thought this was best helped in the ground rather than on her back.

So I've started teaching her to lunge (something she really struggled with but is now settling into it) and some pole work in hand.

I've realised she's very asymmetric and "left bended" meaning she's very heavy on her right shoulder and really finds right circles very hard. Her left hind is very straight and stiff. On the left rein she has a tendency to fall out and on the right rein it takes a lot to move her shoulders out.

So we're seeing Cat Dachtler on Wednesday so she can have a massage and hopefully iron out any tightness and figure out the most helpful exercises to help her asymmetry.

She's very sweet and learns fast, she gets unsure quickly and that manifests in loss of balance and rushing - polar opposite to phoebe. I have a lot of work to do with this little mare but the more I do with her the more she steals my heart.

02/05/2021

Sydney and I have been busy over the last few weeks! I'll soon be working nights so I am trying to pack as much in with her now as I can as no doubt the tiredness will kick in shortly!
She's been down to the farm, seen cows, tractors, geese, she's been around the village and seen all manner of bikes, dog walkers, washing on lines, tradesman up telegraph poles and screaming kids in gardens.
We done lots of in hand walking and a bit of riding. The rides are short and sweet and I don't ask much of her yet. Just focusing on a strong walk on cue along with halt and "Park" for when vehicles approach. We've also done quite a bit of lining up to stuff in the environment for me to hop on.
I am learning that actually she quite likes being away from home, her confidence in me is increasing daily as we problem solve together. Yesterday we rode down the lane and back, when we got home she walked straight past the gate and continued up the road. I'd say that's a great sign of a horse enjoying herself 😁

22/04/2021

Here we are at the end of April.
I like to leave this blog sitting here for a week or two and come back to it to see what progress we've made.
This week we've tried on some hoof boots as she was getting a bit sore on the nasty lanes. Luckily phoebe's old easyboot gloves fit her really well. I don't know how well they'll work in trot but we haven't got there yet!
We've hacked onto the main bit of road in preparation for the 1.5 mile loop around our very quiet village. She's hacked past horses in their field, people and dogs in gardens and a building site. I am slowly working towards continuing the hack and doing a full loop. She's now excellent with tying, tacking up and really super responsive to her rein cues. Turns need work but that needs balance and it'll come with time. She's being super with "stuff" in the environment and attentive to my cues.
All things considered I'm chuffed to bits with how she's dealing with the backing process 😍

07/04/2021

Here we are up the scary end of the school.
I say scary because it's the top end and there's often people walking the other side of the hedge - but Sydney doesn't seem to worry about it at all, even in 20mph wind!
We've been doing lots of work with the target square which means rewarding behaviours in between the cones (walk on, halt, stand etc) and still rewarding touching the cones so she doesn't get "lost". Last ride I decided we were ready to venture outside the target square and head up to the far end of the school. She was great and listened to all my cues really well.
We've another lesson with Olivia Turner Animal Behaviour Consultant & Equine Bitting Specialist and Yasmin Stuart on Sunday so I'll write another update afterwards.
Well on her way to becoming a solid little riding pony!

27/03/2021

I promised an update and here we are 😁
We had our very first ridden lesson with Yasmin Stuart Equine Physio today. We spent 10 mins on groundwork, mostly just walking, halt, shoulder yields etc. Rewarding the tiny tries to re balance, half halt and relax.
She's getting much better at "doing nothing". She's such a busy horse and finds just standing and relaxing tough. She's the opposite to phoebe!!
Yasmin agreed we should get on and we used the target square for forward motivation and after a couple of ridden circuits introduced some turning and halts. Sydney was completely faultless and we were both thrilled with her.
The positive reinforcement is fabulous for making the exact moment something happens that we want more of (a positive walk on, light turn, soft and relaxed halt etc) and letting her know she's done the right thing.
It makes me wonder about traditional backing procedures - how do horses know where in space to go, how fast, how far? It's all done through pressure and release and avoidance learning (how do I stop my human squeezing, pulling reins, tapping their stick?)
All I know is I'm on the right track, with the right people and the right support ❤️

26/03/2021

Our third ride in full tack in the menage. We're following the connection training "starting your horse under saddle" course which takes us step by step through the process.
She's taking it all in her stride, totally relaxed now with the basics, tying up, tacking up and working in the menage. We're using a target square to motivate forward movement and I've started working on turns and halt in between. She's doing fabulously, she needs to shed some coat as she's just so hairy and hot at the monent, so I'm just doing 20 mins or so and keeping it all fun and engaging for her.
We're really enjoying our lessons with Yasmin Stuart which are keeping us on track. Looking forward to our first ridden lesson on Saturday.
Will keep you all posted on how she does 😀

18/03/2021

We've had a couple of really good lessons in the last month with Yasmin Stuart Equine Physio and Olivia Turner Animal Behaviour Consultant & Equine Bitting Specialist.
The lesson with Yasmin and Olivia together was fabulous because I had a physio AND a behaviourist all in one!
Actually I think this was pretty pivotal for my relationship. I'd gotten really stuck in a rutt with using pressure. Since quitting natural horsemanship and moving over to positive reinforcement, I'd got to the point where I was convinced all pressure was evil and my horse would hate me for it. Of course its much more nuanced than that... Horses take note of everything we do, our breathing, our cues, speech, energy.
The start of the session was a bit frantic with Sydney getting upset that the treats weren't forthcoming, me trying to move her shoulders and her being totally unable to just relax.
So. We worked on simple corrections and my energy leading her, can she stop when I stop, turn when I turn etc. And can she just stand and relax while we chat? At the beginning of the session, NO!
Some very simple tactile pressure cues during leading (ie stop rushing ahead of me) and very simple corrections when I just want her to stand and relax made a HUGE difference to her. Suddenly things made more sense. Olivia made a big point of these things being invaluable for a young horse. When I'm asking nothing of you, please just stand and relax. And she did. By the end of the lesson we were moving from leading, simple physio tasks, cone targeting and moving shoulders. With lots of "can you stand still and relax?" in between.
So now every session with her includes lots of just standing still. Sounds really boring but the clarity has been really useful to her, and me!

This evening I repeated everything Olivia had taught me and we had a brilliant groundwork session, using tactile pressure cues and careful use of my energy and cues to walk on. Even though I had treats on me she relaxed so quickly. I also did a lot of just standing still when I got on her, so it's not all about forward!
We did 10 mins ridden, probably the longest I've been on her for - just simple walking straight lines, soft turns and halt.

Really pleased!

27/02/2021

We've had a bit of a break over the past month or so, thanks to snow and general s**te weather...

We've been having some regular lessons with Yasmin Stuart Equine Physio which is really keeping me motivated and on track. I really love her approach 😊

Managed to get her out for another walk around the village yesterday. It's surprising what we meet even in a sleepy place like this. Whilst we don't have streams of cars, we do have lots of other stuff that can be very unpredictable! Take this child on a bike. It's safe enough here that we often have kids playing in the road and obviously they aren't very horse savvy. And often run up to us wanting to say hello. We also have plenty of families pushing buggies, walkers carrying maps, tractors, dog walkers etc. It's all great for training opportunities but can get overwhelming for a youngster.

Here Sydney deals with the bike perfectly. Didn't even stop to take it in, she's excellent with "things" in the environment generally. But she often gets stressed with lots happening at once. On the way home we had two very enthusiastic children wanting to say hello. Both had big flappy coats in and ran up to us a bit fast. In the distance there were also kids on the meadow shouting and running. Trigger stacking! Sydney did get worried. When she worries she gets erratic and unbalanced and wants out. I find the easiest way to deal with it is turn her around to "reset" her position back next to me and reward LOADS. She calmed down fast but we often walk home quicker than we walk out.

For this reason I reward forward on the way out and halt on the way home. I know I need to get her out more consistently as she really thrives on routine and patterns. Hopefully this weather will mean I can do just that!

We've another lesson with Yasmin tomorrow to continue working on lunging and groundwork in preparation for riding. Whilst I would call her lightly backed she's not consistent enough yet to ride out. I have ridden her up the road and hopped off and she's been great, but the little anxious episodes mean I'm still taking things really slowly to keep her under threshold. Luckily she's only little so getting on and off is a doddle!

Will update as we go.... 😊

15/11/2020

Sorry things have been a bit quiet on here!
Sydney is now a wooly bear, she's grown such a thick winter coat it makes me panic about the kind of winter she's prepared herself for 🤦‍♀️😂

We've been doing little bits of walking out, actually less in terms of distance than previous posts. She had a minor setback a few weeks ago where she felt really reluctant on the way out and tried to race home, I wonder whether she'd had a fright earlier in the day or something because it was quite out of character, but I listened and for the last few walks we've been going just down the road and back to keep her under threshold.

I've also been doing loads of getting on and off, and progressed this to outside the field on the road, asking her to line up to banks and field gates for me to get on. She's really quite solid with that now.

We've started doing a tiny bit of walking down the road with me on board, she sometimes loses me a bit and starts to "wander" and lose focus, at which point I get off and just cue the same behaviours from the ground.

Today we did "short reining" where I'm on the ground, standing next to her belly and walking with her but as if I'm riding, cueing walk, halt, back up and turns.

Things are going really well I just need to keep her below threshold as she's super super sensitive and can worry internally, slow and steady will win this race.

I am planning on introducing her to clippers this week, phoebe is being re clipped and I'd love to hog Sydney as her mane is a complete mess and so hard to maintain. To prepare her I bought a little massager and used it today on her body and mane, she was a little unsure but in the end was happy with it touching her.

🐎

10/10/2020

Sydney's had a busy week!

On Friday we had a lesson with Yasmin Stuart Physio, to progress our groundwork, work out asymmetries and look at balance. She has been "backed" in the traditional sense - sat on, walked, stopped etc., but to me backing is so much more than that - I want her to be an all round good citizen, happy to hack out, easy to deal with and happy to work with me in various situations. We are part way there. Yasmin helped me to figure out her heavy right shoulder and what we can do to help her proprioception, without which riding will be really hard work for her. She needs to learn to balance and distribute her weight, which means moving in a way that feels a bit funny and awkward to her, but she figured it out and once she had, she immediately relaxed. We worked on a line of poles and just moving one leg at a time.

Today I thought she'd benefit from a walk out, and we met a family with kids on trikes, cows, sheep behind hedges and plenty of cyclists and not a blip or hint of worry from her.

Yasmin and I will continue to work together and once she's balanced and ready to ride, we'll do a couple of weeks of intensive lessons, during which she'll walk out with us so we can have our first hack with support and "eyes on the ground." I'm so pleased we have a plan and that she continues to make such fantastic progress.

10/09/2020

I started doing some straightness training with Sydney tonight, identifying where she's heaviest and which hind is pushing and which is carrying. Her left shoulder is really heavy and if I let her she will motor along on her forehand... So lots of backing up, then stelling/bending and some circles on a short lunge rein. After 10 mins she was so much lighter and seemed to really enjoy the stretching and getting her body in better alignment. I suppose its like yoga! Then I walked her out in the cavesson and investigated some road works 😁 she's really coming on, confidence is increasing and happy now with a saddle on and some basic ridden cues, but riding is not a priority just yet.

01/08/2020

I have a very clever baby horse!
I took her in the school this evening and the fun ride being held just down the road had just finished which meant plenty of horse lorries going past which unsettled her a bit.

After a couple of mins of trotting around she came back to me as if it never happened and we did some walking together and touching cones. I really didn't think I'd be sitting on her today based on how she looked when we started, but she's not a horse that likes to expend too much energy so luckily it was over before it begun and after that she was super connected.

She lined up to the block beautifully and felt lovely and relaxed the whole time. I'm rewarding mostly forward movement but also touching cones, some stopping and lateral flexions. My GoPro does these neat little highlights videos which are perfect for sharing on here, I'm so happy with how she's doing, actually she's so relaxed I'm starting to wonder if she's done this all before!?! 😂❤️

30/07/2020

Sydney is delighted to be getting more attention 😁
Today was a real milestone for her, she's only been in the school twice and aside from sliding on and off and riding a few walk steps at home (just across the road), she really hasn't done much in the way of "carrying" me. Today I decided to go in the school and see what we got, I threw some cones out as targets and one in front of the mounting block. She's awesome and stands like a rock for me to mount, all the clicker work lining her up, putting my weight on etc has worked wonders. I did a bit of rein cue work but mostly just let her wander, investigate, touch cones if she wanted to and rewarded her for as much as I could. I kept the session short and highly rewarding. She was really calm and relaxed which is what I want first and foremost, even with tinker and phoebe calling. We had our longest ride yet with a couple of nice long walks across the school, she didn't worry once.
Watch this space for more riding reports! ❤️😁

28/07/2020

Thrilled with how Sydney is walking out, sensible and forward, loves trotting like a little driving pony 😁 (now I just need to get fitter)
We met a road closure tonight and had to walk around it and over a mat, she stomped over it like it was nothing at all!

13/07/2020

Sydney has been neglected (again) the last few weeks, the weather has been pants and work has been manic. I have a rare free evening so thought I'd do some training in the field.

I've been focusing on shifting her weight back in almost everything I do with her, down to feeding, giving her hay, putting headcollar on. I just ask for a weight shift back, even a tiny bit and that shifts her off her huge heavy shoulders.

Today I just did a few minutes of asking for back up from the headcollar, I've come to realise her anxiety around food is partly down to her balance, if she walks and falls forward onto her shoulders everything escalates and she puts her ears back and rushes. So I've been clicking and treating for her responding to tactile nose pressure and then backing up. Which is helping her to think "backwards" rather than rushing forward.

I then worked on moving her shoulders over, which again requires her to shift her weight back, otherwise its impossible!

She lined up perfectly to the mounting block, so I hopped on, to my delight she responded beautifully to the left and right rein cues taught weeks ago, I asked for a bit of "walk on" and stopping which felt much lighter after doing the weigh shifting and backing up.

The break in training seems to have done her the world of good, she's remembered everything and is just as keen as when I left her, and more relaxed around the food which is brilliant. ❤️

20/06/2020

I've been a bit rubbish this week and haven't done anything with Sydney! The weather hasn't helped and we've been working nights too. Every night she's standing at the gate waiting for me and it's hard to leave her and say "sorry off to work!"

Anyway a chat with a friend that is very experienced in straightness training and balance prompted me to start thinking about Sydney and how much she rushes and loses balance easily. Not good for a horse you want to sit on!

So every encounter I have with her now I ask her to shift her weight back, just a little bit. To start with this is a back up, and then becomes a weight shift without moving her feet. She knows back up so I just use my back up cue and feed her treats in the position I want her weight to be in. Bless her she's now already starting to shift her weight back before she takes treats. It doesn't take long with positive reinforcement. When she's in balance she can then take her first step with her weight back, not falling forward. My hope is that she will start to love the feeing of being in balance and then it becomes a natural thing.

Here she is posing, in a nice balance!

13/06/2020

Oh I love this little horse.

She's had a few days off after some teeth issues, today I popped a ghost saddle on (it's on trial) and played with mounting, rein cues and solidifying our walk on cue.

What I find amazing with clicker training is how much they "learn" in the days following a training session. This is why I like to follow an intense session with something fun like a walk out. She's really starting to "get" the rein cues and the walk on is getting there. I'm using cones as targets to motivate forward movement. I'm working on long reins with no contact so I don't confuse her.

The other two galloped down to the barn while I was working with her but she stayed really focused on me - good girl 😁

05/06/2020

Building a positive association with the mounting block 😊

04/06/2020

Sydneys first walk out with the ba****ck pad on today, didn't worry about the girth or anything and walked out as normal. Before we left also had a ride around the yard and tested out our steering and even a bit of back up.

Now on the hunt for a saddle, because phoebe's old HM flexee looks terrible on her.....she has no withers and a teeny saddle platform.....wish me luck!!? 🥴🥴

Oh and just for fun, I popped the pad on her 2yo daughter when I got back. Start em young!!

02/06/2020

Another (warm) walk around the village today. I met a chap half way around and walked with him and his dog for a while, Sydney seemed to enjoy the company and wasn't worried about the dog trotting along around her. We also had a few inconsiderate drivers (and some very considerate ones) plus several bikes and even delivery lorries. Thankfully Sydney was fine, the only thing that seemed to bother her today were the flies! 🐝😕

I am working on moving her shoulders away from me, because she has a tendency to walk into me and towards the middle of the road so I'm using some tactile pressure and rewards to shift her weight over, it's already improving in a couple of walks.

01/06/2020

Here are the first few steps of moving off tonight. Still very early days and I'm not using any targets so she's drawn back to the block - which is fine, she obviously finds it a nice place to be!

01/06/2020

Tonight we worked on mounting, too hot for anything else!! Lots of rewards for standing calmly at the block and once I got on. Then did a bit of "walk on" (one step at a time) and finished on a high note when she promptly marched forward on the cue.

01/06/2020

Sydney is really REALLY heavy on her forehand, not helped by still growing and being a good couple of inches higher on her croup than her withers. So one thing I've introduced on our walks, now she's happy with the basic stuff, is asking for a little weight shift back before I give her treats. This means she is in a better posture to walk on again and doesn't fall forward and rush. Now I've done it few times she's starting to weight shift back of her own accord, which is great! This is a really good exercise for youngsters or any horse that has a tendency to rush forward. I'll try and get a video of it.

31/05/2020

Since FB is insisting I can't add a Page description -

Sydney is a 5yo mare I bought as a companion for phoebe in 2018. In July 2018 she unexpectedly foaled so other than being a very attentive mother she's not done a lot! This page is to log my journey with her from field ornament to sensible, happy, relaxed ridden horse using positive reinforcement training. Please join us 😁

31/05/2020

Sydneys first few walks from the field have been about:

*cementing the basic cues we've established at home including walk on, woah and stand.

*rewarding the connection by clicking and treating all behaviours that show connection to me. This is so important for moments of anxiety, uncertainty etc. She can look to me for reassurance.

*establishing a baseline with novel objects including bin bags, random stuff in people's gardens etc.

*establishing safe behaviour around cars, motorbikes, cyclists, dog walkers.

She's doing amazingly well!

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2nd ride in the school

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