Bittersweet Weekend

Well, the weekend sure didn't go like I had hoped, or atleast start out like I had hoped. Friday night, one of our last remaining two dogs took a turn for the worse . We have been battling urinary issues, bladder issues with her for quite some time and knew that is was only a matter of time. Saturday morning found us at the vet clinic with Morgan, our 14 year oldBorder Collie/heeler cross. While we waited for the xray to come back, I couldn't believe that it was just a few short months ago I was in the same room with our Samoyed, facing the same heart wrenching decision.. The prognosis was not good and there was nothing left to do. Saturday came and went with many tears shed but there was also much work to do as well. We had another load of hay coming, unexpectedly. So, with the wind out of our sails, we grunted and sweated our grief away over the 5 ton of hay staring at us, with a dark gray cloud looming in the western horizon. It was ominous looking and fitting for how we were feeling. We finished , barely in enough time before the rains came in a fury. We spent a quiet evening at home, lost in our own distant thoughts. The day had turned out so different than we had planned.

Sunday, I did a quick ride on Maggie in the arena and went to visit the parents, and planning my ride for today. I was meeting up with a couple of friends, hubby and his good friend was also coming along.

The plans found us riding in new found territory so we set out and I was excited for the new adventure. We found some great new conditioning trails and several of us decided that we would definitely be heading back , maybe as soon as next weekend. Unfortunately, it's about a 45 minute drive for me to get there. There were several tricky water crossings. JB and I had several good training "opportunites" and finally , he realized he didn't have to be a grand prix jumper over water crossings. I was very thankful for my jumping background and ability to stay with him as he launched us over several cricks, that did not exactly warrant that kind of effort! By the last water crossing, he was crossing much easier, still uneasy about it but no more sky rocket launches, thank goodness!!

We had one potentially bad situation where Sherrie's horse suddenly kicked at JB while we were all standing there trying to decide which way to go. The loud Thwack it made and JB's reaction , I thought for sure, he balsted JB's knee in two. I jumped off immediately and looked him over... nothing.... We were farily close so maybe it wasn't as hard as it seemed but it sure sounded hard. What may have happened was the horse may have caught the front of JB's easy boot but I was sure the kick made contact much higher. JB was no worse for the wear and seemed fine , after the initial stun , so we went on our way and he continued to be fine.. I guess these Barbs are tough because a hit that like that should have hurt more than he was letting on. Needless to say, I didn't ride next to Sherrie for the rest of the day... I wasn't going to take any chances. The last thing I need is for JB to get kicked and injured now!

We kept on riding and we estimated, although it was hard to tell, we covered atleast 12-15 miles. JB never really seemed overly tired, and we did trot and canter in several areas. Overall, JB was a real trooper, in spite of the fact that he got blasted for no good reason while he minding his own business. Poor Guy.. he got extra apples and carrots tonight..