So Sorry

Ok - I am a big bad blogging loser! I am sorry.. I have a good excuse.. I still have houseguests and my horse has been taking up all my energy.

So, Sky is doing much better - I am happy to say. Today I kicked her out back with everyone else b/c I know how frustrated she is with being inside and in the round pen at night... She is full of energy and walking normally so we are now just waiting for her heel to heal up (HA! that was funny.... heal/heel... get it..)

Anyway, here is the deal... we were wondering what was wrong with Sky... so Lisa said it was her hip - Bethany said she didn't look 'foot sore' - John said she was unbalanced and had no foot to stand on - John's farrier, Steve, said she was 'severely unbalanced' and needed shoes with wedges... all these opinions kept me in tears for about a week as I did not know who to trust or what to think.

We had Gretchen Ham ( a vet and chiropractor) come out and have a look at her.... so i pull her out of her stall and she was WAY worse than she had been... Gretchen says, "so I am guessing it's this leg"... she looks her up and down and then says to me, "has this always been here"... she turned out to have a gravel (like an abscess) coming out her heel.

So we have been for a week, soaking and wrapping and walking and she is doing much better. Her heel kind of split across the back and is now hardening up as it heels from the inside. I rode for the first time yesterday and she was... well, she acted much like a horse who has been off for two weeks and has spent a lot of time in a stall! I am a cranky bitch this week so the combo was not good (oh, don't forget the hoards of tiny black bugs swarming us... that added a lot to the experience!) Anyway, we managed to get around at the walk/trot a bunch of times and I am looking forward to trail riding this weekend if it kills me!

Oh, forgot to tell you all about the show... or lack there of... Saturday we look at Sky and she was good enough to go for showmanship and trail (the only things I did good at last time!)... So I decide on Saturday at around 4 to go to a show the next morning. I bathed and clipped and wrapped and blanketed... then Sunday AM I woke up to continuous rain! Yuk!

I get to the barn and Michelle was about as enthused as I was about standing out in the rain all day... we talked ourselves into backing out until Lisa came into the barn with B already packed up and said, "let's go!"... So, we relented and got Red and Sky on the trailer and hit the highway... luckily I had left my phone in my back pocket and felt the buzz on my butt when Judy called to say that they were postponing the show... I was thrilled with this for two obvious reasons.. 1. I didn't want to stand in the rain all day and 2. I know have more time for Sky to heal and to get better before we try again so we can do all of our classes!

Anyway, I will let you know how we do.

C

Grounded

Today is Saturday - we are on Day Three of Sky's injury/illness/??? - she is 'off' on her back left leg and the reason is a mystery to us in the barn. She isn't super lame... just favoring it and seems stiff.

We are STILL waiting for the farrier to come... it will be Monday at some point. I guess she didn't get back to Lisa b/c she was over on her phone minutes and didn't want to call until she was into a free weekend... call me a crazy horse mom but that doesn't sound like a good business person to me. But I am super worried about Sky and think that everyone else should be just as concerned!

We've been keeping her in a stall and giving her bute to help her feel better. Lisa took her out and looked at her this morning and says that she's a 1 out of 5 on the 'lameness scale'... I think she is better than yesterday, when she was favoring it a lot more. Improvement is good, I guess.

My therory at this point is that she is the one who kicked the stall door (Onyx's)... I think this because I noticed two cuts on her lower leg that were new when she was hurt... It's either that (in my mind) or she is bruised from walking on her sole rather than the wall bearing the weight b/c she isn't growing enough... which would mean she needs shoes. GRRr... not knowing what is up is awful.

I am worried about Sky and her wellbeing and her health... that's the first priority. But I am also thinking that we will be unimproved in performance for the upcoming double judged LRSS show that is coming up at lightening speed - next Sunday... eight days away. IF she is better, than we will more likely than not, go and suck... IF she isn't than I will bag the idea of going for LRSS year ends and points and skip it in order to go to another series show and mix and match...after all this is a 'growing year' for us.

Overall I am just worried and scared and sad that Sky isn't doing well. It makes me realize how delicate she is and how much I would miss her if we couldn't be the team that we have always been.

It is hard to know what the right thing to do for her is. I wish there was one right answer.

C

What's wrong with Sky?

So, right now I am waiting for Lisa to get home so she can look at Sky and tell me if I am legitamately upset or if I am losing my mind... I do not think it's the latter.

I took yesterday off as I have been spending so much time up at Lisa's and we have friends staying at our house so I decided to take a whole day to stay home... today I came back to my old routine and was excited to ride and get back into a training program so that we can work toward the next show.. in only twelve days!

I did spend some quality time updating my resume and applying to a couple of jobs online... very proud of myself. While Lisa and Josh are off doing errands, I decided that was enough and went out to ride.

She was way up on the hill and came to the stall when I called (score for me) and I didn't see any problems watching her walk in from the field... but when I took her out of the stall and put her in the crossties I noticed one of her back legs was slow to move and that she was treating it odddly. After saddling, I walked her forward, watching that leg.... then trotted her while leading her, trying to see it... it was hard to see while leading, so I hopped on and started in a circle..... trying to feel what I thought I had seen... A part of me thought she would just walk off whatever was going on and be fine... but after halfway around the yard I realized that she didn't feel right... so I trotted to try to feel it more pronouncedly - knowing that the trot is where you can see and feel problems best.... definately off... I could feel her favoring her back right leg... so I got off and tried to lunge her with my long rein and now I can definately see her favoring the leg... OH NO!

So I led her up to the barn and untacked her... put a rope halter on her and lunged her again outside the barn doors... something is not right.

I picked all of her feet and think I can see two pink areas on that hoof... bruises, I think. Bethany thought that she wasn't growing enough wall on her back legs, which she was going to check in another week. If she is in fact not growing enough wall then she will need shoes - ouch!! (I mean ouch for me b/c that is an expense I don't think I can take).... I suppose it could be an absess - something that seems to be circulating around the barn - but I don't think so... but what do I know!

So, now I am waiting for Lisa to get home and then for Bethany to come... hoping so much that it is nothing big - hoping that she will be ok - hoping it won't be expensive - hoping that she will have enough time to work to get better before the next show - hoping, praying, waiting....

C

LRSS 5/31

So, our first show is over.. under our belt, which is a good thing. I have to apologize for not having written much lately but life has been busy - a funny thing to hear from someone without a job, but it's true.

Last week we spent the better part of three days driving out to NY to help our friends who are moving to NH. We helped them pack up what they wanted to take and put what they were leaving into an order fit for showing their house to prospective buyers. Karl drove one of their cars back and I stayed to watch the baby while they continued to pack. I followed them back on a very long drive in the dark and fog and rain and by the time I got home I was so tired I couldn't think straight.

So that ate up Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week - a bad thing b/c I didn't ride any of those days but a good thing in the sense that I probably wouldn't have ridden anyway b/c it was raining here... either that or I would have ridden in the rain and made Sky miserable, as that is her least favorite activity!

By the time Saturday came around and I could ride, there was so much prep to do that Michelle and I did a quick hour long jaunt down the road and I rode in the yard for a bit to make sure she wasn't crazy, and that was it.

I do have to say that Sky was the cleanest she's ever been yesterday! We bathed and scrubbed and wrapped legs to keep them clean. Thanks to Lisa's persistant nature she has now a perfectly pulled mane! (that was a process, let me tell you!) So, by Sunday AM we were good to go.

So this is how our day went - first we did halter for horses 6 and over. There were about 15 people in the class and although the judge eyeballed us a lot, we didn't place. Sky did pretty well to set up but is still cocking her back foot and falling asleep on me!.

Showmanship was a lot harder and then we had Lisa to help us with the pattern. The practice did not go so well just because Sky kept trying to crawl into my or Lisa's pocket and had to learn otherwise - quick! So, we practiced and practiced and by the time I went into the ring, I was all like, "just give it a go"... so we did the pattern and messed up a bit on the pivot but otherwise did ok. There were 16 people in that class and there was a lot of standing around while waiting for the decision. It was worth it, though, because we placed 6th out of 16! Not too shabby for my first time out at showmanship!

Then it was on to riding, and after looking at the equitation pattern, I knew we were doomed. I had asked about having to do a change of lead before and came to the conclusion that I wouldn't have to do one... oh, no... the equitation pattern had one! So, we practiced and practiced and after getting Sky to take the correct lead I realized we might be ok. During the pattern in the class, she took the right lead at first, then for the change, the circle was so small I never got her back into the lope! At that point I thought I was doomed to be last but there was a woman behind me having a very hard time with her horse... so I thought maybe we wouldn't be dead last.... Well, while we were doing rail work her horse spooked at something and she fell off, so so much for that. She seemed ok but shaken up for sure. Sky and I managed to get the correct leads but were no match for the experienced riders and horses in the ring and wound up 4th out of 5 (if you count the woman who fell).

Next, we had adult pleasure in which she broke gait and wound up 5 of 5. Adult Discipline Rail was the same story and despite the success of achieving the correct leads, we broke gait again and had to endure the torture of having the judge watch the whole time! Not like it wasn't bad enough that I was lapping the snotty girls on their perfectly slow horses... oh well, 4 of 4 there.

Open Pleasure Senior Horse I made a new goal just to not break gait... grrr... so we acheived that but still ran circles around everyone. Her trot was much better there but the whole day her headset was never right and I couldn't manage what I wanted with one hand... When we lined up the judge mentioned to me that 'she's a little strong'... I explained that it was our first time showing w/t/c and he seemed to understand us better. We still got 4 of 5 there, but I was estatic to just not be last!

Then it was lunch break and by the time we got back on for trail both Sky and I were ready to be done for the day.... but we waited our turn and did our best... I love trail. I do extra things like sidepass up to the mailbox instead of just walking to it, I made sure to stop at the bridge like the instructions said to do.... in the Adult division we never again made it to loping like we were supposed to... oh, well. When we did the course again for Senior Horse we did get a lope in... the second time through I even tapped the mailbox for good measure and threw the coat over her whole head, not just across my saddle as the instructions said to... hey, it made the judge laugh!

So we wound up winning 1 of 7 for Adult Trail and 1 0f 5 for Senior Horse Trail... enough to make my day before we all pulled out for the day! I have a lot to work on for two weeks from now, but that is a good thing. As much as I hate to get last or do poorly it's a place to improve from, something I wouldn't really have if I was still doing walk/trot.

I was super tired when I got home and passed out at 8. I'm sure Sky was sleeping before then!

C

What's been going on

Hey All -

Sky and I are keeping busy... we've been working hard to prepare for the first LRSS Show coming up next Sunday (only a couple of days and it will be 'this coming Sunday'... AHH). We've been trail riding around and we took a trip yesterday to ride with friends...

On the first front, the show prep is going well. We are still working on getting each lead consistantly and on showmanship - at this point I think we have some wiggle room to improve but not much... meaning that there will come a point very soon where we will be who we are for showtime. I keep trying to remember that the first show is only a baseline to guage improvement on and not an end-all-be-all... Lisa says that it's for fun... That is true as I'm sure I'll have a good time but the fun lies in the competition and competition is about winning or losing... truly. Baseline...baseline...baseline...

John came out to have a look at Sky the other day, which was nice. He seems to think that what we are working on is going well which is good. He saw us lope and thinks that we will be good enough to pass for an Adult Class participant... He lauged at me when I told him that I was nervous about doing w/t/c because I had been so nervous about doing w/t last year.

Yesterday Sky and I went with Betsy to Amanda Mix's house to ride. It was our first 'road trip' of the year and it was super fun. Sky did her traditional 'running load' onto the trailer, mainly due to her ongoing addiction to hay that is not hers. She pushes Harvey over to get to his hay rather than take her own... I think it must taste better to share - that and Harvey is 'her man' that she can push around.

We made it up the huge hill in Amanda's driveway and then headed out on the trails. We did a great ride and stopped by a beautiful pond where we could 'swim' with the horses. We didn't get in too deep for fear that they actually would swim given the 90 degree heat and the cool pond. Sky did very well tromping through the water although she was more interested in the grass growing under the waves near the shore than anything.

After some photos and more wading, we boondocked our way around the pond on a trail that was kind of narrow and over-grown. That led to a much better trail and we had lots of hills to condition on! Sky had a great time, as far as I could tell, even leading for a while on a trail that nobody knew where it would come out! We all made it home, safe and sound, and while the horses chilled out in Amanda's stalls, we had lunch. The ride home was uneventful and I'm looking forward to my first Blackwater ride of the year on Sunday.

Today was a day off for Sky - no riding, I mean. I realized from my Ride America log that I have ridden the past 7 days in a row, so I thought today would be a good day for a break. The vet was here this morning to float teeth etc. Sky went first as I was the first one to the barn... We had estimated a cost for everything based on having sedation so when Donna tried first to do her teeth wide awake, I freaked out a little. I didn't realize that it wasn't as uncomfortable for Sky as I imagined. I guess I thought of how I would feel if someone stuck a big file in my mouth to grind my teeth down and put that on Sky. I soon realized, and was explained to, that it wasn't bad for them. Sky even seemed to enjoy it, curious about the feeling and the instraments... Donna loved how good she was and I was proud of her!

The vet also said that her fungus-y mark is a sarcoid and that the best thing to do is leave it alone. She said that she could remove it but it would just come back. So, Sky has an ugly mark that nothing can be done about - just like her mom. I guess it runs in the family - or it's just who we are...

She also had her feet trimmed today - ten weeks (oops) after it was done last. I tried my best to explain to Bethany what John was talking about with regards to the shape of her foot and I think they look better. Bethany said that there is a possibility that her backs are wearing too quickly for barefoot and we'll keep an eye on it, but she might have to have shoes if she isn't growing wall....

So, today seems like it's been a lazy day - I have other things to do and I feel guilty for sitting around, but my guess is that won't last long.

C

"I'm high on life, can't you tell"

Clinton Anderson said that your horse will never stay at the same level, day to day - she is only getting better or getting worse depending on what you do with her.

Today, Sky is getting better.

C

Hey, Look Ma, One Hand!

Yesterday I rode with a couple of goals in mind... I wanted to see where I was if I rode with my reins in one hand, the way you are supposed to for shows, and I wanted to work on transitions.

I did both - and at the same time even... trotting, stopping, walking, trotting... you know the drill - all reining with my right hand only... it's measurably more difficult considering that the only reason I really will hold my hand this way is for shows - if I'm trail riding I leave my reins crossed and ride with one hand, but am always ready to use two if I need to. For training and schooling, I typically ride with two because I need as many tools as I can get.

But for shows one hand is the way (because you know if I was a cowboy out on the plains, I would need my other hand for roping etc.). So, yesterday I decided it was time that I better make sure I can do it when the time comes... Sky remembers a lot from showing last year and did great at the walk and trot. I concentrated a lot on smooth transitions, using my seat as much as I can to control her speed and get her to listen.

The walk and trot was going so well that I made a choice to go right ahead and ask her to lope while I had a free hand.... she is doing well with her lope but not perfect. She doesn't seem to get it the first time I ask... the second time she does great but the first is always bad... and I don't mean the first time for the session of riding... I mean the first time that I ask her after a little walking and trotting... I have got to get her to know what I mean and I'm sure it is my fault in some way. My big fear is hearing the 'all canter or lope' cue come out of the lould speaker and then be on the wrong lead! I know that there are worse things that could happen, but I think being on the wrong lead is a major faux pas.

We have two weeks left until our first show... well, thirteen days... ewww.. don't say it like that!!! I looked at my 'timeline' last night that I had made when I had five weeks to go and I am pretty much where I said I would be which is a good sign. However, the hardest preperation is ahead... I have to put the pieces together.... practice equitation patterns with the lope, practice trail courses with the lope, lots and lots of showmanship practice... I have to make sure that we are going to be ok to do w/t/c... it's going to be a busy 13 days.

C