Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Lame

Tax is lame. This is probably my first time in all the years of owning horses I’ve ever really had a lame horse and not known why. He got his back shoes put back on last Saturday and he’s been off ever since. Its not extremely noticeable at the trot but it’s hurting enough that every time I ask him to canter that direction on the lunge he’s in obvious discomfort and drops back to the trot hitching his hip up for a couple of strides. I had the vet check his hoof when she was out the other day and we didn’t find anything with the hoof testers so it’s not likely it’s a hot nail. We decided to reschedule a lameness exam because the weather was so bad and Tax was being just a little insane from being cooped up. I’m not sure what to do at this point…if I should wait a few more days or just schedule the exam and get it over with.  I think I’m scared and my reaction is I really just want to stick my head in the sand and pretend like nothing is wrong.  I won't of course but it's tempting. 

His pastern on that leg has always been slightly bigger than the other side and I've never had it x-rayed. I’m worried that maybe the angle the new farrier trimmed him at might have made some old injury from the track flare up. I’m also worried it might be something worse…maybe he caused some kind of soft tissue injury running around in the mud in the turn out. He’s just always been SO sound. If there is anything really wrong I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it. This sucks…

I guess if there is any up side to this it’s that I will get to see the cute vet. He came by the barn to pick up something from the other vet who was out and he’s grown his hair out and it’s just a little curly which I love. He also must have gotten contacts or wasn’t wearing his glasses because of the rain. He looked like some kind of angel. He’s adorable and he heals sick horses. I think I’m in love.

Monday, March 28, 2011

At last...

Kind of a cool picture of December and her new pasture buddy Donzi.

I haven’t been blogging lately or writing much in general really. So what have I been up to? Not riding enough, I can tell you that. We’ve been suffering through some almost biblical rain storms up here in Northern CA. I’m so sick of mud I can’t stand it and I have to wade through a river to get to the back pasture at the barn to feed. I’m not joking...it’s at least two feet deep now and my boots aren’t tall enough to keep the water out so I always go home with frozen toes.

What’s been going on? I’m working a lot. My professional career can be demanding and on top of it I’m working part time at the barn 4 days a week. One of my kids is in Little League and I’ve got a girl taking some basic English riding lessons with me. December is a perfect lesson horse and we’re just working on getting Maddie riding more balanced and safe before her family decides if they want to move on to a real trainer. Her parents aren’t horse people but Maddie is so helpful around the barn I offered to get her riding for free. I want to talk about her more later because its been such a good experience for me.

It was time to simplify a little bit. Three horses is too much for me, and I’ve decided to give December a forever home. Something about that little mare just clicked for me and I know I will feel responsible for her for the rest of my life. Charlie is back at the trainer’s place and he’s for sale again. I feel bad but I never really had time to get attached to him. I don’t have the time or money to do any paint shows this year so it didn’t make sense to keep him. I’m going to devote my time and money to the H/J world again. I really enjoyed last year with Tax and I think I’ll try to get December out a bit this year too and maybe Maddie if she’s ready.

Maddie is a wonderful student. She is twelve and absolutely in love with horses and riding. She’s the sweetest kid and works her butt off and has just enough fire to not be timid. She’s a good friend of our barn manager’s son and started coming out with his family and helping with chores all the time. The manager wanted to let her ride but she never had before and our manager is all about safety which is a good thing. When she asked about ideas to get Maddie some lessons I offered to get her started since December is so good with kids and since I’ve given some beginner lessons at different barns I’ve worked at. Kid’s can be difficult…I’m not really a kid person and when they are lazy I have trouble getting them motivated. I’ve taken the time to put together a pretty structured lesson program with homework and everything. Maddie takes it all very seriously. We’re working on the lunge line right now so she can focus on figuring out balancing and posting before worrying too much about reins. The first time she rode she couldn’t figure out how to rise up for the post. She listened hard to everything I told her, she watched me do it, then she went home and researched it on the internet, practiced off the horse until her next lesson and then in our second lesson wouldn’t give up until she got it figured out. Cutest thing ever!

Oh, I almost forgot…how do you forget this kind of thing? I’ve finally lost a considerable amount of weight. I’ve lost about 45 lbs this year alone and including the weight I lost last year its more than 50 lbs. I’ve gone down a total of 4 sizes. I’m down to a size 12 pants right now which I don’t think I’ve been since I was 25. This has made riding SO much easier. All of the trouble I was having getting Tax balanced is practically gone. I used to have a lot of trouble staying upright when he pulled on my hands because I was fighting the weight of my chest. I’ve lost about 5 inches off my chest now and he can’t pull me forward like he was so that bad habit went away pretty rapidly. I’ve been cantering him over a small jump in a big slow circle and his speed is getting much more consistent. As soon as the arena dries out a little I’m going to start working him through some grids.

December has moved from my house to the barn Tax is at. She’s obviously feeling much better. Her weight looks pretty good and I haven’t seen any signs of illness. This is very good! I’m working on getting her fit and hoping to do some flat classes and low fences with her this year along with Tax. Our barn manager’s horse has been off due to an abscess so she’s been riding December too when she gets a chance and loves riding her. I’m so happy she’s come around and is happy and healthy again.

I think that’s the bulk of my updates for now. Have fun riding folks! This week is supposed to be beautiful here and I plan to take full advantage of it.