Carrots here, Carrots there…
We, Johanna and Stefanie are two sisters who embarked on the horse journey together as kids and the fascination has not stopped ever since. Now each of us has over 30 years of experience in handling, riding and horse training. Our blog is about our adventures with our self-bred horse Lola and shows how you cannot always achieve what you set out to, even with a lot of experience, commitment, creativity and perseverance. But you learn a lot on this journey. Our dream was (or is – we have not yet buried it) to work with a horse from the very first steps to the highest level of dressage, from the paddock to the capriole, so to speak. With a little imagination you can tick off the caprioles, but we were far away from the highest levels of dressage.
Our horse has been special since birth (outsiders would say “strange”), but we loved our family member from the start. When we started training, she began to show unexplained symptoms (diffuse lameness, later problems in the gallop and reluctance to move forward). After many vet examinations, clinic visits, special trainings, treatments of all kinds, we had the certainty in December 2018 after a genetic test: Lola has PSSM2 (n/p2, n/px) and many of her behaviors that we could not explain until then, suddenly started making sense.
A lot has happened since we found out about it: we have moved to another stable with 24/7 turnout, adjusted the training and the feeding and at the same time we had to let go of some ambitions. I think we are on the right track because Lola seems much happier and more relaxed now.
Our goal is to share our experience with other horse lovers who are facing the same challenges or whose horses show similar symptoms. Maybe you can save yourself and your horses some diagnostic, stable management or training detours that we had to take due to lack of alternatives (and I don’t think we missed any). Now there is a fast and uncomplicated test for PSSM2, after which you have certainty and can help the affected horse in a better way. In our case, too, the worldwide online community is extremely valuable for the exchange of knowledge and that is why we would like to make our contribution.
We love to hear feedback from you: lola@lolascarrotgarden.com
