tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90292661902776694342024-02-19T08:48:24.691-08:00 Acer FarmJonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.comBlogger409125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-26904084847902259952015-10-22T14:42:00.004-07:002015-10-22T14:42:52.755-07:00In a Nutshell...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I can't believe I am sitting here and it's already October. OCTOBER???? And, it's been weeks, month actually since I have posted anything. Sorry dear readers..I just couldn't find time or the focus to sit and write a post. I will try to summarize, well , atleast hit on the high notes.<br />
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So where did all the time go?<br />
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Well, I rode....<br />
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Alot.....<br />
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Brego and I finally had a breakthrough and are now "communicating" , or should I say I am getting through his big fat Morgan lips..I had to change his bit multiple times but finally we landed on one that works and he is much happier ... and that makes my life a whole heck of a lot easier. God as my witness... it has made him a different horse. All the lateral flexion I knew he had in there is now available to me use (if that makes sense ) because he isn't racing around anymore. I no longer end our riding sessions in a dripping sweat with shoulders that feel like they are pulled out of the socket and blistered ring fingers , through gloves, because he is pulling on me so hard. These days, he' s light, responsive and he isn't a runaway in the canter. His canter is a true canter now! And it's getting quite lovely to ride. If there was another 3 day event available to attend, I would take him in Novice and not thing twice about it. He is come that far.. but the show season is over.. so we will have to wait. Until then I am finally enjoying riding him. ( I may not want to give him back! but don't tell)<br />
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Then when I wasn't riding Brego, I was riding some other horses that belong to my trainer. I made some big leaps and bounds this summer in my jumping.<br />
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I did this...<br />
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There are no other words..It was a big , wide fence. It was totally awesome...<br />
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We attended the celebration of the friend that passed in June . The family has a cemetery on the old ranch property, overlooking the valley where the ranch was. It was surreal and a truly amazing setting. During the service, I happened to look up and one of the clouds over head was in the shape of an Angel's wing. It will be etched in my memory forever. It made it just a little easier to say goodbye to my friend.<br />
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I don't get much vacation time at my work so while I was working, T was working horses for my trainer. Her thing is taking OTTB's , and retraining them as Eventers and then selling them. She does well and gets some amazing horses because of her connections from her days in the Olympics. So, T was quite busy with all that. Several of the Thoroughbreds she had gotten this past spring were being prepared to compete in <a href="http://www.rebeccafarm.org/" target="_blank">The Event at Rebecca Farms.</a> It's a huge thing that is gaining popularity every year. It draws some of the best riders from all over the nation. We spent the weekend out there watching all my trainers horses go in their divisions. They all did quite well.<br />
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Anyways, one of the horses T worked with came in from a client as an outside horse. The owner was at a loss with what to do with him. No one could get on him without getting bucked off . He went to the Event and took 7th place in the Young Event horse, 5 year old Division. He qualified for Galway. It was pretty cool to see a horse make such an amazing transition.<br />
It was an awesome fun summer full of horse activity.If all continues to go well with Brego, the plan is for me to compete at the Novice division.<br />
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<i><b>Then things got real....I mean, life got turned upside down.. in a good way mostly.. </b></i><br />
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We happened to find almost the perfect piece of property cruising around one day , mostly just checking places out casually , dreaming of finding more land with room to ride out the back door. It's not easy to come by in our price range. But here it was..<br />
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The price was a bit high on this place as is the case with most property in the area , but we talked to the realtor, arranged to go look at it, thought about it and decided not to miss out on another opportunity like we did two years ago.<br />
<<i>Insert rewind noise.....> </i>Two years ago we found an fantastic 20 acre piece with a house and an apartment /shop on it, but thought it was way out of our price range so never even thought about putting in an offer because we didn't want to insult the seller. Tuns out , 3 months later, the place sold for less than what we were going to offer. We weren't going to make that mistake twice.<br />
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This new place we found wasn't<i><b> everything</b></i> we wanted . We weren't crazy about the house because it's a pre manufactured home, but we loved the property. There are several old outbuildings that need to be torn down but it has so much potential. 15 acres backed by state land.. I can deal with a less than perfect house.<br />
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We put in an offer.<br />
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It was accepted..<br />
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We nearly had heart failure.<br />
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Then it was time to put our place on the market. So we did..<br />
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And we sold it..<br />
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We nearly had heart failure again...<br />
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<i>Is this all really happening? </i><br />
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We close on our place in November.<br />
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Meanwhile, in the middle of all this T's mom's health took a turn for the worst and he traveled to go visit her last month, knowing it would be the last time he would see her. She was put into hospice the week after that and she passed away last week . T is too young to be without a mom and it's been heartbreaking. He was so close to his mom and she was a wonderful lady. We will travel to his home town next week for the funeral. There has been alot of family turmoil so I am not sure what to expect. I just hate that my hubby has to deal with all this right now.<br />
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The new place that we are hoping to purchase is all looking positive as well. There are some things on the house that the sellers need to fix . In fact, we can't even move in right away once we close on it because we have to pull out all the doggy smelly carpet and refloor and repaint.<br />
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SOOOOOO.. we are moving in with my parents for a few months until we get that all sorted out. The horses will become a divided family for a while. Two will go out to my trainers farm, and my not so little baby Otto and his pasture pal Cassidy will be coming to my parents with me. They have a neighbor that has a little bit of land I can use to keep them on. It's not ideal but I just have to keep Otto nearby. I have control issues, I know..<br />
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whatever..<br />
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With any luck we can put in some temporary corrals in the next couple of weeks or so before the ground freezes. Once we move out to our new place, (hopefully before the end of December), we will then move atleast Otto and Cass out there. There is one shelter that is mostly suitable for two horses...<br />
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I knew life was going to get crazy so I took advantage of one final weekend getaway with some friends to Jackson Hole Wyoming. We had a fabulous time and even spent 5 hours floating the Snake river. It was beautiful and while I didn't get to see a real live Moose, which was a major goal of mine for the weekend, I did happen upon this guy.. ( I have a thing about Moose)<br />
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On another note, I do have a product review to share..<br />
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Bale bags made by <a href="http://www.haychix.com/" target="_blank">Hay Chix</a>.<br />
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Cass and Otto are testing it out this week. They love it although they are lifting it out of the feeder/trough thing still.. I am hoping they will become less rough with it and settle in.. They just couldn't believe they were being given a whole bale of hay and possibly frustrated at the fact that they couldn't get humongous mouthfuls like Hoover vacuums. With any luck, It is going to be my answer to Otto's insatiable appetite without burning through all my hay before February! If anyone decided to get one, put my name in as a referral. I want to get more and we both benefit on the refer a friend program they run!!<br />
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So there you have it.My life lately in a nutshell..I am enjoying the journey!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-68589253154548451812015-07-24T06:57:00.002-07:002015-07-24T06:57:33.306-07:00Slightly distracted and Officially Bitten<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, this past week has been the start of the big Event here in my hometown. It literally called <a href="http://www.rebeccafarm.org/" target="_blank">The Event at Rebecca Farms.</a> It a 3 day event that started about 13 years ago by a local family who was very involved in the sport. Since then, it has grown to impressive levels. It is now deemed one of the top cross country courses in the US. Riders from all over the country fly in with horses to attend this event. It's also an Olympic Qualifier. This year they added an international level 3 Star division. It's a big deal, really. One of the top riders in the US is in attendance this year, Buck Davidson (and my hubby got to meet him and talk to him.. and he didn't even realize who he was at the time.. GRRRR!!!) It is spectated by well over 20,000 people each year plus most of the riders bring in multiple people and/family and turn it into a vacation. You can imagine what that does to the traffic here which is already horrendous for our little town that doesn't have the infrastructure to support it.Our little town bursts at the seams for a couple of weeks.<br />
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Over the years, we often went out to Rebecca Farms to watch a few hours of dressage or cross country and wander through what seemed like endless vendor tents. Its always exciting and fun to attend. I usually know a couple of riders and try to watch their go, cheer them on and pray they don't crash on X-country. There was one year a well respected trainer from the northwest ended up badly injured. She passed away as a result of her injuries. It was definitely sad and scary.<br />
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This year we have had the opportunity to be a little more involved behind the stages of the Event because of the work T is doing for a local Eventing trainer (the same one I am taking lessons with). This year, we know alot more of the riders and the horses in attendance at the Event because T has worked with several. One of those horses competed in the 5 year old division It was exciting to see how far this horse has come in such a short time. 6 weeks ago, the horse wasn't allowing anyone to even get on him without a huge bucking fit. Yesterday, he took 5th place. He went clean in Novice Cross Country and his dressage score was a 28.8. Impressive.<br />
It's been fun <a href="http://eventingscores.com/eventsr/rebecca/ht0715/" target="_blank">watching scores </a> and seeing those riders we know (and their horses) do well. Its definitely a different experience to be on the back side of things, at the barns , as opposed to being a spectator. What has been most striking to me is seeing some of the people who are riding in this . I have always had this preconceive notion that in order to compete at a show like this, the rider and horse really had to have everything perfect. That isn't really the case. While there are alot of top riders here , there are just as many novice riders, junior and adult, that are out there doing it. I found myself thinking several times, "if that person can do it, I could certainly do it". I guess I have officially been bitten... I might make this one of my top goals for 2016 . We will have to see.<br />
In the meantime, Saturday I will take my mom out to watch on Saturday and enjoy a few hours away from the party planning chaos and stress!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-920706297061119862015-07-20T13:54:00.003-07:002015-07-20T13:54:59.370-07:00We survived our first Dressage Test <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So this weekend , was my third schooling show with Brego. I almost can't believe it myself. I never would have imagined getting myself in the show arena this much but I think we are finally getting the hang of it . I was way less nervous this time around and generally felt better about going than I have for the last two. This time around we signed up for dressage, this was yet another one of those firsts.<br />
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For the last few weeks, we practiced a very simple Intro level test in preparation. I wanted easy and attainable and nothing that required a canter. (you all know the issues here by now)<br />
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Basically Intro is to be ridden at walk trot only, no cantering involved. Movement include a free walk, medium walk, riding trot and 20 meter circles. The horse and rider should be adequate with effective aids in transitions, developing bend and relaxation.<br />
Each movement is scored on a 0-10 rating - 0 being Not executed and 10 being Excellent. The rule of thumb is that you don't move up a level in dressage until your scoring a 6 in all areas consistently.<br />
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The next level is Training level and includes canter and sitting trot so that was out. <br />
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Side note ...I always struggle with finding the balance between challenging myself enough and taking the easy known happy path that I know I can be successful at. If you let me, I will always take the happy path (which is why I have a trainer , otherwise I never would have entered a show !) because I want to avoid a total mess up and the ensuring embarrassment. Personality flaw I guess. <br />
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At the same time, it was pretty obvious watching some of the other competitors in attendance that they had "over challenged" their skill levels with the tests they chose to ride and I was thankful to be on the opposite side of that problem.<br />
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We rode our test and aside from a few little glitches with Brego getting above the bit and a little unsteady in his pace, I could not have been more pleased with his performance. Yes, it was simple, no, it was nothing to write home about , but with Brego, that "being steady" things is a huge thing for him. He likes to go slow one minute or suck back sort of, then surge ahead or just have the accelerator on full throttle. In the last few weeks, we have finally been making some progress on steadying up his trot .<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">free walk across diagonal- He does this really well</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for my bell</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing what we know.. me doing my "tip forward"</td></tr>
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I think it was a respectable score, 109 points, 68.1 %<br />
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<b>Intro Test 2015 level B below. </b><br />
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My highest scores were 8's and surprisingly enough, it was on the 20 meter circles.I know my geometry was off, but because he had correct bend we scored well. All that time doing circles and lateral flexion paid off. All of my other scores were 6, 6.5 or 7. I had one 7.5 on the Collective Remarks section on his impulsion and forward. No surprise there.<br />
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My highest scores were 8's and surprisingly enough, it was on the 20 meter circles.I know my geometry was way off, but because Bego had correct bend we scored well. All that time doing circles and lateral flexion paid off I guess. All of my other scores were 6, 6.5 or 7. I had one 7.5 on the Collective Remarks section on his impulsion and forward (second page not pictured) No surprise there. As for the mark on my position, (not pictured again), I tip left and tip forward. It's my very bad habit and I fight it every step of the way when I ride. Someday, I will learn how to truly sit upright.<br />
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The judges remarks were <i>"Lovely ride, nice energy and bending. Becomes slightly unsteady in contact at time"</i>.<br />
<br />
I think these remarks are just about spot on with what we have been working on in my lessons (and at home) so it was nice to have a fresh set of eyes and feedback. It was confirming at the very least.<br />
<br />
The overall impression of this test is that this is generally a horse/rider that are off to a solid start and could /should be looking at moving up to Training Level very soon. We will have to see about that! The world of being an Adult Amateur making a re-entrance into the show world is full of highs and lows. This day was<br />
<br />
Jumping-There were very few people jumping. I did the crossrails class once again (safety zone) and felt very relaxed about it. Brego got a little speedy but he jumped his round clean so we were in the jump off. We were the only ones that jumped clean and did it the fastest (even though I thought he was going at a reasonable pace for him) so we won our jumping class. We were even able to canter several and keep it to a controllable canter. All those days of cantering ground poles might be sinking in a bit!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTH2Vw0J9b9cgAzBSAqYVvdRz5bto8KVQOpNbn0-OXDaDnnbtrepU6EOF444f-6ExFLvS8bWkf4KpLx45M8YKIrwCDv2GTZ6j19tfkCjz5_j5y5y4Phrqn7rgo28oAFNE7dTrD-adU6w0/s1600/2015-07-20+13.34.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTH2Vw0J9b9cgAzBSAqYVvdRz5bto8KVQOpNbn0-OXDaDnnbtrepU6EOF444f-6ExFLvS8bWkf4KpLx45M8YKIrwCDv2GTZ6j19tfkCjz5_j5y5y4Phrqn7rgo28oAFNE7dTrD-adU6w0/s320/2015-07-20+13.34.44.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find the middle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6qVYZDsjqJoyo5j5gTePSDVO-usr_8aVONO_jedfm-38cB1HhKNbdqHzbPwmmVF-n4fVc7KquD11ApBv3qwA2wsGqX80mHvQ9po3X9ZuFRNSNw9YAukMjLQigs8kl7gJnq_4PMgcxpE/s1600/2015-07-19+12.36.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6qVYZDsjqJoyo5j5gTePSDVO-usr_8aVONO_jedfm-38cB1HhKNbdqHzbPwmmVF-n4fVc7KquD11ApBv3qwA2wsGqX80mHvQ9po3X9ZuFRNSNw9YAukMjLQigs8kl7gJnq_4PMgcxpE/s320/2015-07-19+12.36.55.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Overall, I was quite happy with Brego. He listened and was really good. One of the things that stood out to me the most is that there were several "horse" mishaps with horses hauling back from their trailers and getting loose, running around the other trailers. It's a dangerous situation but my horse just looked, and then went right back to eating his hay. Not a care about the other nonsense that was going on. Having a good minded horse that you have done your homework (groundwork) with....priceless!<br />
<br />
So the world of being an Adult Amateur making a re-entrance into the show world is full of highs and lows. This day was definitely a high and maybe we will be ready for sanctioned show by end of season. You just never know!</div>
Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-88111213444718486302015-07-15T13:56:00.001-07:002015-07-15T13:56:28.576-07:00Broken Wag<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post has absolutely nothing to do with horses in the least, but since most of us also have dogs and it's dog related,I thought it was worth a quick post.<br />
A week or so ago, my dear Borgi dog ,Duncan, rolled in something gross , ofcourse . No spot wash was going to help. He needed a full on bath to get through whatever foulness he had ground into his coat. It was a 97+ degree day out, so no need to carry him in and do a back breaking bath in the bathtub.<br />
Instead, in an effort to consolidate my time/effort, I found a big shallow water tub and hauled it into the back yard, filled it with water, dog shampoo suds , and put Duncan in it and got to working scrubbing off the shmutz... Duncan wasn't pleased with the situation but there was no way he was coming in the house looking and smelling like he did. I hosed him off to get all the soap and and he was good as new.<br />
Besides, the cool water should feel good on such a blazing hot day, right? ( I kind of enjoyed it atleast, Duncan was tolerating it)<br />
When he was done, I tied him to the back porch so he could stay put and not find mud or dirt or whatever to get himself dirty again. This way he could dry in the sunshine. Once he was mostly dry, I brushed him out.<br />
Wallah! A clean cuddly Borgi dog again.<br />
That evening, he ran around like his usual playful self for a couple of hours, Bed time came and all was fine.<br />
Mourning arrived and he was anything but fine.<br />
His tail would not move. Literally ,not move. Normally his tail curls up and over his back but it just hung there, limp. He kept sitting down and looking at his tail. It seemed to hurt when he walked. I tried to palpate it and it seemed a bit swollen at the base of the tail but he was so tender he didn't want me messing with it. All I could think was that somehow sprained it or broke it the night before. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eO6FQA-oipXo9tGE9ObLyx2LYqyWhBcrrQsOyz3XAGleXXbd8IA7BsmgDfzNyjsSY6HcbUT8UooCbMKchSZ-2wKM-GPy0cXuz7dpXn1g7T_jFvax6wpdfJCYd8L80hryuNcx-Vd4j4k/s1600/20150711_082305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eO6FQA-oipXo9tGE9ObLyx2LYqyWhBcrrQsOyz3XAGleXXbd8IA7BsmgDfzNyjsSY6HcbUT8UooCbMKchSZ-2wKM-GPy0cXuz7dpXn1g7T_jFvax6wpdfJCYd8L80hryuNcx-Vd4j4k/s320/20150711_082305.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My tail hurts</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUV0EoYEiqhhWbxRprCOty107wUIbwXLdbyxXRy1rbZTHuDVl8bSUNmK0pqHRhc1mRqeJaLI27g9rWknUApzIn3GajHqTGl9E4f2TDwifD8i5pEJRznS48Jokj3C9Nbzvo_nDaJgKatjQ/s1600/20150711_162719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUV0EoYEiqhhWbxRprCOty107wUIbwXLdbyxXRy1rbZTHuDVl8bSUNmK0pqHRhc1mRqeJaLI27g9rWknUApzIn3GajHqTGl9E4f2TDwifD8i5pEJRznS48Jokj3C9Nbzvo_nDaJgKatjQ/s320/20150711_162719.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duncan being pathetic, Xena trying to console him</td></tr>
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Being naturally curious and hoping to stumble upon an explanation other than a broken tail, I did exactly that.<br />
<br />
Turns out, there is thing called Limber Tail Syndrome .<br />
Who knew? certainly not me...<br />
<br />
(aka; Acute Caudal Myopathy, Dead Tail, Tail Gland Inflammation, limp Tail, etc.)<br />
<br />
It normally affects sporting dogs who go swimming early in the season in cold water . The tail is used as a rudder and the muscles and tail glands get exhausted or inflamed. That is the typical cause. However there seems to be a fair amount of cases where dogs (non sporting type breeds) develop this in the same way Duncan did; cold bath= dead tail<br />
<br />
According to<a href="http://www.avidog.com/cold-tail-season/" target="_blank"> <b>this </b></a>article I found, I made three major mistakes,<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>I bathed him with a cold hose- never do this again I guess.</li>
<li>It was late in the day when he got his bath ( guess this has to do with the dog being dry and warm prior to them settling in for the night)</li>
<li>I tied him up so he didn't move around after his bath- should have run him around a bit</li>
</ol>
<br />
Duncan had a vet appt scheduled on that Monday for his annual visit anyways so we kept an eye on him throughout the weekend . He didn't get any worse and was eating, drinking, pooping and doing all the things a dog normally does, just without his happy tail.<br />
<br />
After his examination, the vet confirmed LTS was in fact what he had developed. She didn't feel any breaks or suspect any nerve issues based on how he was moving. She prescribed a course of Rimadyl for 7 days as an anti-inflammatory.<br />
<br />
Here we are just a few days out and he is already improving. The tail is working about 50% of normal so I suspect a few more days he will be back to his normal happy tail dog wagging self.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVLMDiK_N0X3k0Q1oVBeWB2PtI1RCXsH0B1rdqszEhiIWzumqFAtchjNrcPl6ZX1tmVASVa_4xKvabFxEImKChtrlXWtcXvjaTWTOydGDMAH-SjMe5M1Rv1iMZbHXSbDpWQmxcF-bGU4/s1600/20150715_142635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVLMDiK_N0X3k0Q1oVBeWB2PtI1RCXsH0B1rdqszEhiIWzumqFAtchjNrcPl6ZX1tmVASVa_4xKvabFxEImKChtrlXWtcXvjaTWTOydGDMAH-SjMe5M1Rv1iMZbHXSbDpWQmxcF-bGU4/s320/20150715_142635.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! It's starting to work again!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The good news is that while this is painful for dogs, and makes them look sad, it's not permanent and it can usually be avoided if the right care is taken.<br />
<br />
So now you know!<br />
<br /></div>
Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-36346056547779984572015-07-13T14:01:00.005-07:002015-07-13T14:05:16.704-07:0030 Day Trial Is Over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So our 30 day trial was up yesterday on Midnight. You remember him? <a href="http://acerfarm.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-rehab-case.html" target="_blank">The Rehab case</a>.<br />
<br />
After alot of hemming and hawwing we found ourselves hunting for a good reason to keep him. We really wanted to keep him but it finally dawned on us, we shouldn't be talking ourselves INTO keeping him. In the end, there were just too many red flags that we kept seeing pop up, deeming him in both of our eyes as unsafe. it was clear this horse could /would eventually hurt one of us because of his fear/panic issues. Knowing this didn't make it any less heart wrenching to make the decision to send him back, because his future probably isn't good.<br />
<br />
The drive to the owners was difficult and quite sad. There was still that question, "Are we making the right decision?" looming in our minds, but neither one of us said anything. The decision was made and as it turned out , that answer became glaringly obvious when we went to unload him. He nearly killed himself and my husband in the process. He attempted to fly out of the trailer backwards while still tied. The rope stretched enough to where he got his back feet out, scrambled, nearly fell because one leg was under the trailer, and then lunged forward back into the trailer. It all happened so fast I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We had hauled him twice before with out any issues. There was nothing to spook him but this is his thing. One time, ok, next time, panic.<br />
<br />
Luckily he was only shaken up and he was missing some hair from his forehead when he hit his head as he came flying out. My husband , in the scramble, was quick enough to duck and only lost his ballcap in the process but it could have been really bad. He had no where to go.<br />
<br />
To the owners credit , she is hoping to try to place him at a sanctuary. I put her in touch with two that I knew of that were reputable. I hope it works out because it may just be his best bet.<br />
She was disappointed we didn't keep him, but she said she was glad to know it wasn't just her. She did reveal some stories of various "situations" he had gotten himself into. One story involved getting tangled in a swingset as a yearling and then running as he drug it for quite a while. He nearly died. There were more stories too. Hearing some of that answered the question of how this horse got to be the way he is. I have to wonder if maybe had she worked with him after the first wreck he had , if he might have been ok. Or is it really just bad wiring? <br />
<br />
There was a time where I thought most horses could be fixed with the right care and training but as I have seen a couple of times now, that isn't always the case. Especially when too much time passes and the horse gets too mature. This poor guy I believe, is damaged beyond repair.<br />
<br />
So onto more positive news!<br />
<br />
Brego and I are still chugging along. His trot is getting super nice and he is getting really soft and supple, although he does have a tendency to get behind the bit. So we went from head tossing to curling up like a shrimp. GHEESH!<br />
<br />
We have another schooling show this coming weekend. This time I am actually going to do the dressage and the jumping whereas I have only been doing the jumping in the last two. I will be doing an Intro dressage test that is only walk/trot with two 20 meter circles. We can handle that although I am pretty sure my 20 meter circles will look alot more like Amoeba's, or something unrecognizable as a true 20 meter circle!! It's all part of the learning.<br />
<br />
The canter continues to slowly improve and we started doing more and more cantering over ground poles. He still gets pretty fast but it's getting more controlled now. I am developing the shoulders and hand strength of a weight lifter as a result. He is one powerful little horse. My trainer loves his boldness. I could do with alot less but I am learning so much.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-43765398940634971272015-07-09T15:45:00.001-07:002015-07-09T15:45:29.972-07:00Family Time and Outdoor Spaces <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My parents will be having their 50th Anniversary this July . 50 Years of Marriage, 4 kids and a lifetime of memories. This past year has been challenging for my mom's health so while a 50 year anniversary is special all on it's own, its even more special when for a time, you weren't sure one of your parents was going to be here for it. Their love story is story book. They were born in the same hospital just days apart. They were in the nursery together in fact. They were high school sweethearts. Dad went into the airforce, mom continued with her professional dancing career, eventually opening her own academy. She was a beauty queen pageant , he was devilishly handsome young man. Their old photos remind me of a Hollywood couple.This is one of my favorite photos of them , it was taken at my wedding and the photographer captured a special moment.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJASK8yIi9nfeIke0Vdj7XrQUpg0ONQ0FkI1rAdN6VnM9Vc0R87Mpn7dojr-zwdkeiYgmQcA2ePvwxYuZVGIiyrnKb-yG1JGLFr6XV4uvP2lHhCsS_BPafDlAGnEMyU8mu75WK5iPdCZo/s1600/2015-06-16+09.48.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJASK8yIi9nfeIke0Vdj7XrQUpg0ONQ0FkI1rAdN6VnM9Vc0R87Mpn7dojr-zwdkeiYgmQcA2ePvwxYuZVGIiyrnKb-yG1JGLFr6XV4uvP2lHhCsS_BPafDlAGnEMyU8mu75WK5iPdCZo/s320/2015-06-16+09.48.38.jpg" width="163" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Nonetheless we are having a party and yours truly is hosting it and doing the majority of the planning It will be a small gathering as most of the extended family is back east and can't travel or is no longer with us. As you can imagine, the planning of this has taken the majority of the small amount of free time I actually do have (in between work and riding and keeping the garden watered ...ugh, so sick of dragging hoses!)<br />
<br />
Since it's been so hot and dry here, and my yard doesn't have quite enough shade to keep people from congregating inside, we had to come up with a solution.<br />
<br />
While I was frantically calling around to try to find a party tent rental (which was turning into an exercise in futility because it's the height of wedding season here) , T had it all pretty much figured out already. Smart guy that hubby of mine!<br />
<br />
We had a spot in the back yard that is just a square of gravel with a fire pit in the middle. It's where we have our bonfire parties. It works, but it's not "pretty" or all that exciting. It s just kinda stuck out there, next to the wood shed and the garden boxes, in between a couple of trees.<br />
<br />
But it had potential....<br />
He decided that he now had a good enough reason to build that Pergola he has wanted for years. Before I knew it, there was a stack of lumber ready for construction in the yard. I love that he loves to build cool stuff.<br />
<br />
So what is a Pergola? (seems alot of people don't know because everyone asks when we tell them what we are building) If your curious, <a href="http://myfrugaladventures.com/2015/01/how-to-build-a-pergola/" target="_blank">here</a> is the blog site I went to when we did our research and based some of our design on (plus, it's a really cool blog for the DIY'er)<br />
<br />
The building , or in this case , its more like a frame , is done, nestled between the trees.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">getting better</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">almost done, one more strip for shade and then lights.. </td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
Eventually and before the party, it will be decorated much like this...with a few of my own added touches for additional shade and lighting effects.<br />
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<br />
Then we have fix the gravel footing. Since the Pergola is larger than the original bonfire site, we have to dig up additional grass, get rid of the ugly gravel that is there now, put in treated lumber barriers and then bring in new pretty stones.<br />
<br />
We have a nicer outdoor metal fire pit that has been sitting in the hay barn so finally , we have a good reason to retire the old ugly one that we have been using.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbAcCRYjYj37TyrRSL4GZUoEb6B7thtgNKKw6XjiIqlnvp-QXnV71KNYRuQHS7XsgVgHOJSUL-5n_WiLUbB_nt_ouPxlZWHVW-rL0o_rMhv6n-sXq_16a2rzhhwsAQnmX5IluhyphenhyphenFBssks/s1600/20150702_111434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbAcCRYjYj37TyrRSL4GZUoEb6B7thtgNKKw6XjiIqlnvp-QXnV71KNYRuQHS7XsgVgHOJSUL-5n_WiLUbB_nt_ouPxlZWHVW-rL0o_rMhv6n-sXq_16a2rzhhwsAQnmX5IluhyphenhyphenFBssks/s320/20150702_111434.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old and ugly</td></tr>
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For the slightly less ugly one..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjib58eVDnEe66bgbEc3v5geSgnHVI5js5Pxwexah-vKLv9w0koJhDGNJY5tlwB9_KckG1N5liuJxPWZ9QeTw6bDfVMG_FpCkl3dXbQ4onR-mtu4aOHERQSSe0I_DKz5f_RhB49_yjlo7s/s1600/firepit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjib58eVDnEe66bgbEc3v5geSgnHVI5js5Pxwexah-vKLv9w0koJhDGNJY5tlwB9_KckG1N5liuJxPWZ9QeTw6bDfVMG_FpCkl3dXbQ4onR-mtu4aOHERQSSe0I_DKz5f_RhB49_yjlo7s/s320/firepit.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">will need painted..</td></tr>
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I love creating outdoor spaces for relaxing and entertaining during. I love it even more that my hubby loves building stuff.<br />
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<i>**Please excuse me while I go hunting for the water feature ideas (husband rolls eyes)****</i><br />
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ok, onto other things..<br />
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The title of this post is Family Time and Outdoor Spaces, after all...right??<br />
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We have taken the opportunity to get out there to enjoy a little of both.... I hate to brag.... but doesn't this look like an amazing place? I won't lie...It was....<br />
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I just love this place... and the hubby was catching a quite a few nice brookies while I was enjoying a book, listening to the water fall.<br />
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Montana can be so amazing this time of year....<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-21326466914706904622015-07-02T10:57:00.003-07:002015-07-02T10:57:32.109-07:00Event Derby with Brego.. and Otto's Pasture Accident<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our weather has been .. well down right southern California like. We are breaking heat records left and right . April May and June have been the driest we have have seen in years. Forest fires have already begun and there is no rain in the forecast. Most areas have restrictions for campfires and fireworks, which doesn't hurt my feelings ( on the fireworks)<br />
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I attended an Event Derby last weekend. On the hottest day of the year SO FAR ( we set records in the temperature department)Plus, it was yet another FIRST. First time attempting anything resembling an actual cross country course. Logs, ditches, water jumps.. and then the occasional regular standard fence thrown in for good measure. Again, it was schooling level so low pressure, (well it was supposed to be but I was nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!) We made it around the course with no major issues but it felt really clumsy and awkward. Brego hesitated at one of the log jumps, but with encouragement got over it in a less than graceful way.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Ofcourse, because I was nervous, I got too far forward on most of my approaches .. ughhh...I know better.. really but I don't even realize I am doing it half the time.. SO maddening!! </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The good news was that in spite of my forward position, Brego wasn't rushy, he was actually lazy so it was just weird. He normally requires alot "Whoa dammit" moments between fences but not this day. Nonetheless , we made it around without any major issues but I wasn't happy with how I felt about the course. Had it been cooler, I would have hung around until the jumping was done and then gone out to school it some more with my trainers help but by noon, it was already 95 degrees. I was drenched and wanted to get to the lake for a swim. </span></div>
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After the show, we got Brego home and hosed off, which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy and then was adequately swabbed with multiple layers of bug spray, swat and wound cream for the bug bites that had turned into sores. The horses all looked so miserable and hot, that I decided they all might appreciate a cool hosing off before we left for cool water ourselves. <br />
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Otto seems to enjoy the hose and did all kinds of funny things like trying to drink from it and squirting himself in the face in the process. We were both amused and refreshed, and Otto was apparently feeling so good that after his hosing off, he ran out to the pasture and promptly injured himself. Dumb colts...<br />
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We got lucky, really lucky. I could easily be writing that I have a dead horse.<br />
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Otto, in his rambunctious two year old ways, (please let us survive this year!) was running around and apparently ran into or jumped up and came down upon one of the metal T posts in the pasture that fences off the archery backstop and target holder thingy.. (I know, go ahead and gasp as images of an impaled horse run across your mind) .<br />
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LUCKILY, the T posts have plastic safety covers on them, for just this reason. I hate that we have these metal posts as some of our fence posts but replacing all the posts is an ongoing project. He still did a number on himself, but had it not been covered, he would have impaled himself.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This saved my horse</td></tr>
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Instead, Otto ended up with a nasty scrape and a fair amount of soft tissue trauma. He also managed to cut his lower gum. I was watching him run around and play , as usual , in the pasture and looked away for just a minute to get through the gate and over to the corrals to fill water tanks. By the time I got there, Otto came over to me with a mouthful of blood and blood running down his chest as if to say as if to say.. <i>"Um.. I did something dumb and I have a boo boo"</i> . I missed seeing the whole thing by seconds I think. One minute he was fine, another, injured.. sigh<br />
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I examined him, cleaned it up and he happily let me squirt water in his mouth which must have felt good on whatever his mouth injury was, but he wouldn't let me get a good look in there. I could kind of see that there was definitely a good cut below his teeth on the bottom jaw. I called the after hours number for our vet, because it was , ofcourse , afterhours. After a long series of questions and answers, we determined that he was probably not mortally injured based on what I could see and feel. There was no actual puncture wound, just a really bad scrape, which almost looked more like a rope burn. The plan was to administer oral banamine, hose the wounds a couple times a day , keep ointment on them and watch for changes, especially watch his eating/drinking habits with the mouth wound. We walked out to the pasture and we did find one of the posts was pushed over , leaning to one side. That had to be the one he did it on.<br />
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He developed alot of swelling over the next couple of days on the chest but he was eating and drinking and moving fine. By Tuesday, however his chest became hot to the touch and the swelling was increasing and spreading over to the other side. He didn't have a temp but he acted like he felt terrible. I decided to take him in to be looked at. The vet examined him , debrided the wound and basically determined he was fine, other than there was alot of soft tissue trauma. There was no sign of infection or foreign objects. I got a tube of <a href="http://www.mountainside-medical.com/ascend-silver-sulfadiazine-cream-50-gram-jar.html" target="_blank">Ascend Silver Sulfadiazine</a> (best wound cream in the world!) and headed back home. Like I said, we got lucky.<br />
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Like magic by the day after the vet appt, the swelling was significantly down and the lacerations were looking much better. They really didn't do much so I am not sure if it was the cream , the debriding or just coincidence that things look significant better. I am opting that the cream did it. That stuff is amazing.<br />
Here is how it looks now.. the long center one is where he came down on the post, we suspect. No idea how the one occurred on the point of the shoulder.<br />
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The injury at the point of shoulder is much more bothersome to him. The vet was initially concerned most on this one because of the growth plate there. However, Otto hasn't been lame at all so likely it was just more soft tissue damage. Maybe more tender because it's bone mostly there.<br />
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Lets hope this is the first and last of any major incidents..<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-21455433741833401992015-07-01T14:14:00.000-07:002015-07-01T14:14:32.747-07:00A Rehab Case<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since the big 50 miler, things have been busy..new horses, injured horses, party planning and another horse show but maybe the most interesting might be that we took in this guy. Handsome isn't he???<br />
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From a distance I have to look at the white on the legs to tell him and Brego apart.<br />
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Did I mention his story??? ok, guess I missed that detail...<br />
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So yours truly saw an ad at a local coffee shop. It said Midnight needed a new home.. a 10 year old Mustang/TB gelding. He was green.. but had groundwork , supposedly. His price was "negotiable". Owner was getting out of horses.<br />
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T and I talked about it and he went to go look at the horse while I was away at the Idaho endurance ride. He worked Midnight a couple of times on the lunge where he was currently living, talked to the owner several times and they worked out an agreement that we would take him on trial for 30 days. He had some bad history but seemed to respond to T pretty well in those first couple of meetings. We weren't really in the market for another horse, but we are always looking for opportunities to take one in that needs help and then rehome. His movement was nice enough that possibly, we could train for jumping and eventually sell as an eventer. Or use him as a replacement for another archery horse since we lost Rebel in November. Either way, he was going to be used.<br />
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As the story goes, the owner said had sent him to a trainer a couple of years ago but took him home early because the trainers couldn't get him to stop bucking. She had tried to ride him last year but had been launched a couple of times and had lost her confidence, understandably. Midnight hadn't been ridden since then, and owner and her husband were getting out of horses.<br />
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Maybe he was salvageable. I have seen T do amazing things with worse cases.<br />
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We saw the issue right away when T started working with him at home so it was pretty obvious that he needed to be started him from the basics. Ground work first to build trust and repore. Anything Midnight did know seemed like he was forced to do it and as a result , Midnight's reaction to everything new is fear based. He tries very hard but his reactions are somewhat explosive. It became very clear to us that Midnight was started all wrong and at 10 years old.. his issues won't be easy to over come.<br />
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Over the last couple of weeks, he has slowly learned that life isnt going to be awful and has made some improvements but the theme with him has been 1 step forward , 3 steps back. T has not attempted to get on him yet. No sense until things on the ground get a whole lot better and safer. The last thing I want is my husband to get injured.<br />
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Whatever the previous trainer did certainly left a mess in their wake in regards to the mental state of Midnight. I have watched T work this horse nearly 6 days a week and once day is not like the other. Typically, a horse that has not been messed with too much makes slow progression, sometime with the occasional set back , but then eventually progression continues. The horse learns to trust and relax. They learn that its' ok to take their time to sort things out for themselves and that it's ok to move their feet if they feel the need. With Midnight, every day is a new set of challenges and just when we think we have him over one thing, the worry and fear eeks back in. <br />
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If he sees something in the distance, like the neighbors horse or in one case, me dragging a tarp to put in storage, he wants to flee, even if the scary object is a long ways off .<br />
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If you put anything above him, such as having him stand next to you while you are on a mounting block (where a rider would be) he loses it and tries to flee.<br />
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Anything touching his flank or shoulder sends him sideways or bucking and cow kicking violently.<br />
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These are just a few of the issues we have been working to get him through.<br />
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One night over dinner, puzzling over this horse, I recalled that when we picked Midnight up to take him home ,it took him a while to get in the trailer. T, ever patient , eventually got him to step in nicely without a fuss, but it took an hour. The not so patient husband of Midnights owner wanted to get on with his evening plans. We were definitely getting in the way of those plans.<br />
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That was when he (a rodeo wanna be guy who used to rope apparently) made a joke , that I recalled. When he saw that it was taking a while to get Midnight in the trailer and he was about done waiting, he made a comment , half joking, "<i>guess we need to see about getting out that cattle prod out again.".</i><br />
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At the time, I thought it was just a joke..but now.. I wonder.<br />
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Seeing the issues with this horse, makes me think maybe there was some truth to that so called joke. The husband didn't exactly strike me as the nicest of people. All he could talk about was spurring his rope horse to get him to do what he wanted.. and how terrible the horse was.<br />
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We will never know the truth but it would provide some explanation to what this horse has suffered.<br />
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While we have made progress with Midnight, it has been incremental. Right now he isn't safe for anyone to ride without alot more time, and maybe not ever. Hard to say.Sometimes the damage is too much.<br />
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We have a couple more weeks left on our trial period. I am hoping for a miracle but I am cautiously optimistic. I hate the thought of returning him to his owner, moreso his owners husband but I also know that we don't have the resources to keep yet another pasture muffin around. He has to be useable and/or saleable.<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-54939206987889423112015-06-09T11:34:00.003-07:002015-06-10T06:08:21.280-07:00City Of Rocks 50 Miler- Bagged<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a 50 miler, my first!<br />
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A friend <a href="https://inthenightfarm.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">(and co-blogger</a>) and I had been chatting for several years about joining forces at some point and doing a ride together. However, it never quite worked out. This time , it did. While I didn't have a horse of my own, she had an extra one that was fit enough to do a 50. She was kind enough to offer me a chance to ride. I was grateful and excited.<br />
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With a little planning and alot of finger crossing it somehow all came together.<br />
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Last Thursday afternoon I hit the road, to make the first half of the 10 hour drive , stopping off at another friends place for an overnight. Her place was about the half way point of the long drive and I was more than happy to have a mid way break in the trip. Making a 10 hour drive in one shot, then riding 50 miles the next day didn't seem too appealing to me. I had a nice visit with J , who moved away about a year ago . She was my favorite riding partner so it was great to catch up and see her again at her new place. She now lives with as many Desert Hares as she does with horses. I have never seen such giant rabbits.. ! She is a bronze artist and she showed me some of her new pieces in her new shop that she was working on. She does amazing work! </div>
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Friday morning came too quickly, and I said my goodbyes to J to hit the road again and make the remaining 5 hour drive. I was anxious to get to ride camp. That second half of the drive seemed like it took FOREVER! As it turned out, my parents were coming the other way, on their way home from Arizona and the plan was to try to meet up in Idaho somewhere for lunch so I had that to look forward to . Unfortunately, the timing didn't quite work out and we just ended up honking as we passed each other on the road. I was grateful for my audiobook, a Janet Evanovich story which are usually guaranteed to be entertaining.<br />
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Finally, I turned onto the final stretch towards ride camp and happened to fall in behind Tamara's rig. That worked out great because I would have been so lost. Honestly, the directions to ride camp <i>could </i>be improved upon to instill a little more confidence in attendees that they aren't going off into no mans land. </div>
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We got the horses settled in , and I got my new "60" second tent set up which took more like 3 minutes and 60 seconds and an extra set of hands, because apparently it wasn't completely dummy proof. <i>(camping is something I came to later in life and haven't done a ton of it, especially on my own so cut me some slack) .</i></div>
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We took a short "trial " ride so I could get to know my ride , Maji and get my stirrups adjusted. Then we vetted in and it was time to we make our way to ride meeting. </div>
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The plan was we would go out , climb to 7500 ' elevation , arrive at a mecca of green grass and cold water at a stock tank, turn around, and make our way to the first 30 minute vet check at 15 miles. </div>
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Then the second 50 minute vet check would take us back to ride camp, completing the first 25 mile loop. There was a lot of climbing on loop one. The second loop was all 25 miles and no vet checks. I thought this was kind of odd . </div>
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Once ride meeting was over, Tamara and I got a few minutes to sit and chat and finish a beer, while being fully entertained by the tiny adorable mice that were running from sage brush to sage brush around our chairs. I was just waiting for a giant Owl to come down and leave claw marks on one of us. </div>
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A mostly sleepless night for me in spite of my usual dose of Melatonin followed and before I knew it , it was time to saddle up and head out. The start was totally quiet and unremarkable for us, which was great. We made our way up , up and up, to our first turn around point at a water tank. We were going alot slower than what Tamara typically would ride because Maji was challenged by a couple of things. One, she was carrying me, and at the risk of self deprecation, I am not exactly in the lightweight division and she had only ever carried a much smaller rider. She was carrying an additional 30 lbs. She also had not done much training at elevation. I got off and walked a few times , to give her a respite on the tougher climbs but also to stretch my legs and keep my knee from getting too sore. </div>
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Several LD riders, including a pack of riders on mules caught up to us at the turn around point and it was here that I started to see why there is such a division in AERC with LD riders. There were several riders in this pack that were definitely "racing" and risking their horses/mules well being in my opinion. I had not seen this in previous rides and given that all I have ever done were LD's, I was surprised. When we all arrived in at the first vet check, one mule was having trouble getting to criteria . Tamara and I sailed through , HR's were down well below criteria. Maji got a B on gut sounds but Tamara thought that was fairly typical for her at this point, given the climb. The mule people remained, arguing (actually yelling) with vets.</div>
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We rolled our eyes, bit our tongues and headed back down the trail.</div>
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Before we knew it, here came the guy on the mule , so we let him pass. </div>
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We made it into our 2nd vet check. She pulsed in at 56 , A- on gait and the vet kept us at a B for gut sounds. She wasn't quite as animated in her gait , thus the A - . However, she was eating and drinking well so there were no other red flags or a reason to not continue. The B for gut sounds was that they were a little quieter than they liked I guess. I had no baseline for what her normal was. The first loop took us about 4.5 hours.</div>
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Before we knew it , it was time to head out again and off we went to complete that second long 25 miles, with no stops. We again did alot more walking than we had wanted to but I wanted to make sure Maji wasn't going to be over ridden. She was being a real trooper and I wanted her to finish this ride, even if we were in the back of the pack, which we were. It was ok though , other than it meant a lot MORE time in the saddle. Tamara was planning to do a 100 in a few weeks on her gelding, a long slow ride was just fine and maybe a good thing for his conditioning. </div>
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The last 10 miles of the ride , we were playing peekaboo with a thunderstorm . I had heard several stories from last year when several riders were caught in a wicked electrical storm. I was not hoping to repeat that. We went as fast as we reasonably could, where we could. Several sections were pretty technical so we had no choice but to walk. </div>
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We finally made it in, and the storm had luckily moved off. We finished at 5:03 pm. We shaved off a half hour from our first loop, finishing in 4 hours.We thought, hoping at this point, that we were last and might get the turtle award but there were two riders behind us yet.. Boo.. </div>
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We got the horses settled in , had dinner , and made a dash for the hot springs down the road. I have never been so happy to sit in Hot Springs. That was exactly what I needed after 8.5 hours in a saddle. </div>
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For my first 50, I really have no complaints. I was sore,and still am. Mostly my calves and quads but that was because I had to keep my stirrups longer than I might normally , due to the blevins buckles on the saddle, which I was not used to. It was a small price to pay in my opinion. Given I had not done much trail riding at all, my "owies" were not as bad as I thought they would be.<br />
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The drive home was again broken into two separate trips, this time going to a different friends house in a different direction, for different reasons that weren't for fun. </div>
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This friend's husband had become ill and now had been sent to ICU. It was not looking good and his time was short. I went to their home to spend the night with the dogs so they would not be alone and more importantly, it would allow my friend to stay with her husband and not worry about things at home. He has since passed. Yesterday was a very sad day. He was the kindest, gentlest man I had ever come to know and he will be missed greatly by many people. </div>
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I guess sometimes, with the good comes the bad. I have so many mixed emotions from the weekend. I am tired, sad and at the same time feeling so blessed that I was given an opportunity to do something like this. It was a good reminder that we never know when our time is up and we should take every opportunity we can to live life to the fullest while we can.</div>
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See you down the trail!</div>
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-48544077084369329182015-06-02T06:23:00.000-07:002015-06-02T06:23:46.226-07:00Have to Start Somewhere<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is going to be a short and sweet post.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">WE DID IT!</span><br />
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Last Sunday, Brego and I went into our first show , or as it was called, mini event. It was a two day deal and is intended to be low key for training purposes. Not a huge turn out and very casual atmosphere. The first day was dressage and cross country. We did not attend those days. We only opted for one class on show jumping day. It was a 10 course fence, more than I have done with Brego so we entered into Smurf, which meant the fences were 18". Super easy, super inviting and super low stress for him and me so as to make our first "show" experience positive.<br />
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Ofcourse I made it into a much bigger deal than I needed to and got way more nervous than I needed to. More than anything I was concerned about remembering the course.<br />
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My class started at 9:00 . I warmed Brego up and he was completely cool headed. We jumped 3-4 times in warm up and he was super quiet , which surprised me because the night before when we practiced at home , he was anything but quiet. I anticipated on show day he would be just as bad. Luckily he decided to be good on this day.<br />
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We finished our warm up and I got to watch a couple riders go ahead of me. Then it was my turn.<br />
I opted to trot him through the course for the first several and if he offered a nice canter at some point, I would let him stay in it. I think we cantered 3 fences.<br />
Brego was absolutely calm , cool and made it super easy on me. I think we did most of the course on a loose rein.<br />
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I was happy, trainer was happy and Brego was like... ok ,, what's next??<br />
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*** I didn't get any photos unfortunately and I didn't get any ribbons because I only competed on the one day.. but it didn't matter. Our first experience at a "show" was very positive.<br />
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Maybe we will try for another in June!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-4617744851106245222015-05-28T09:58:00.001-07:002015-05-28T09:58:08.991-07:00May Updates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Working from home is awesome on days like we have had lately. I can work from my back yard while working on my tan. (Damn, my legs are white!) We are having unusually warm , sunny and dry spring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Our typical </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">spring rains seem to be going everywhere but here. Surrounding areas are getting drenched while we have had to start irrigating . Hay might an issue both in availability and price this year.. alot of hay farmers here don't have irrigation since we typically get enough moisture.. exept on dry years like this year. I think we are in for one of those hot dry years which also means a bad fire season. We haven't had one for a long while.. guess we are due. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lots of things going on around here so I will try to summarize. Most noteably, and most impacting to life in general was my weird back dilemna last week. Last Monday morning, I woke up, swung my legs out of bed, bent
over to give Duncan his customary “good Morning” belly rub , and found myself
stuck. I could not straighten up. A sharp twinge in my lower back and I literally could not move. I
dropped to my hands and knees and slowly clawed myself into a mostly upright
position using the bed. Walking was nearly impossible, standing up straight was impossible , walking , twisting or bending caused excruciating pain. I couldn't help but remember the Seinfeld episode , <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1lIkKn9mdI" target="_blank">"The Pen"</a> when Elaine slept on the couch and woke up with her back all messed up..and then took too many pain meds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"STELLLAAA" (ok, if you haven't seen the episode, you need to!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could have been me.. easily..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if I kept heavy duty pain meds in the house, it would have been me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was that desperate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I suffered through two days of hobbling around before finally calling my chiropractor, which I dreaded the thought of , the idea of being”cracked” was enough to make make me vomit. But , I also knew I couldn't stay like I was, and he probably wasn't going to create any more pain for me than I was already in..I had nothing to lose.. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Apparently I
had something call "Meniscoid Entrapment” which is a fancy term for the cartilage disc known
as meniscoids getting caught between intervetebral spaces. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As it turns out , sudden or non-physiological
movements, cause these little meniscoids to get caught where they don't belong , causing a spinal blockade and pain. ( I 'll can confirm the pain part) From everything I read,
manipulative treatment is the best option. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ice, ibuprofen and limited
movements that involve twisting was the order . By that night , after the adjustment, I felt about 50% better and could walk mostly normal. Another 24 hours and I was mucking paddocks again and lifting hay bales without too much pain. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So, in between all this back stuff happening, my trial saddle arrived. It arrived three days before my back thing but I didn't have time to try it on any of those days so it sat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">On the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">second day of back misery, (now five days into my trial period and still no idea if I would like it) I decided I better give it a go. Time was ticking. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Somehow I thought that it might not hurt so much once I actually got </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b>in</b></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"> the saddle??</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">T made several attempts to talk me out of my </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">crazy fooled idea but I wasn't going to listen so he figured he could atleast do damage control He agreed to help me get in the saddle, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">since I couldn't really move my legs or pretty much do any of the movements needed to actually get on a horse. We should have taken video .. it was pretty hilarious, although I wasn't laughing at the time.. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As soon as I sat
down, I was proved wrong in my theory .</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Nonetheless, since I was up there, I walked around and tried to do a little posting trot to try to get a feel for it. It was a major fail all the way around because I was so tense and in so much pain I was riding weird. Brego was pissed because I was so tense.. and it was just not working out . So, slowly and cautiously, I slithered back of the horse with T's help.. and promptly went in the house to get my ice pack again. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I have ridden in it since the back issue resolved and the verdict is : I love it. I was just going to buy the trial ,even though it was the more expensive leather version </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">However, that plan also kind of went sideways. The trial they sent me had a flaw in the panel. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-xnXqPMjKaZDbRvwtse5pYfavFG_5zfuyuJJWqaFpcURYJ3iEnqDiUtzGPmQrJVBE45AEnVWJNud-yJG88lPAHaQd2Vv2HQBd4ZmOV8PIpKYMpDrt0CPd6mPzEEqSxjvdOLLT-UeizA/s1600/20150520_075033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-xnXqPMjKaZDbRvwtse5pYfavFG_5zfuyuJJWqaFpcURYJ3iEnqDiUtzGPmQrJVBE45AEnVWJNud-yJG88lPAHaQd2Vv2HQBd4ZmOV8PIpKYMpDrt0CPd6mPzEEqSxjvdOLLT-UeizA/s320/20150520_075033.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The leather literally had a slice in it on the panel. It's a wool flocked panel. So even if I wanted to keep that saddle, I couldn't. It's not even really repairable because of how the panel was shaped as a result of this cut. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The bad part is that to order a new one, it takes 10 weeks (backordered from England) which totally sucks. Considering the situation, the dealer offered to let me keep the trial until the new one arrives since they can't sell this one anyways and it's getting returned to the manufacturer as a dud. I thought that was pretty nice. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So I have a new one on order and I did stick with my original plan and order the saddle that is part leather/part synthetic (seat, knee and trim are all leather so the riders gets the feel of leather where it matters.) The price difference was just too much for the budget right now. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is my review/ impressions of the saddle. </span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The leather is beautiful
and obviously good quality.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The brown color
is very dark, almost looks black but it’s nice. Not sure what color I want now.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I could easily
see being able to do flat work and jumping in it based on the flap position.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I love the multiple
billet strap configuration option that the saddle has because it allows adjustment
of girth placement for horses of different builds which means better stability.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The extra wide
bar that I had the dealer put in the saddle before they shipped it is too wide. Brego actually measured a "regular "wide according
to their fitting chart, but I thought given my past experience with his saddle fitting,
an extra wide would be better for him. I was wrong. It sinks down just a little
too much on him.</span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I felt secure in
it but because of my back pain, my posting was weird and I didn’t get a good
sense of whether it was tipping me forward or back. I definitely didn’t try to
do a sitting trot .</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Seat is really
nice and cushy. (with the Synthetic version of this saddle, the seat and knee pads are leather just like this one so it should feel the same in that respect)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> The saddle was</span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> lighter
than I thought it would be.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The stirrup bars
are more inset than a lot of saddles which is a nice feature because it doesn’t
dig into the riders inner thigh. Definitely a plus.</span></li>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My hubby didn't go to Canada over Memorial day weekend as planned for his Archery competition which meant</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> we got to go fishing in our new little fishing boat!!!. (and by little I mean 12 feet long little) Its for lakes mostly and while it’s a far cry from my Dream Pontoon boat, it’s sure to provide some fun summer days on the water. </span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also got a few things done around the place over the long weekend like finally getting my feed room and tack room repainted. They used to be an ugly brown color and for years I have dreamt of little red barns which match the trim on the hay barn..</span></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finally got them!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tack room still needs the door scraped, painted , and the white trim repainted.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tackroom- ugly brown chipping away on door</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feed Room and Dog house</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jump Training-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I lost last week of riding due to my back, but had a good lesson this week, aside from one little snafu where Brego thought he needed to jump a 2' fence like it was a 4 foot fence and nearly unseated me on the landing. Yikes.. had I not been in my new trial , very supportive saddle, I probably would have come off! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are planning to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">attend my first Mini Event with Brego this weekend. I am just doing one jumpers class. It's a super casual atmosphere where my trainer can be coaching me through the entire time which is good because I will likely be so nervous I will forget the course. Luckily it will be super small fences and its really just about trying to see how Brego and I handle the show ring.. Keep you fingers crossed for us!! </span><br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-53576276944366923682015-05-13T10:44:00.001-07:002015-05-13T10:44:30.637-07:00A Few Firsts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
These last few weeks has been full of activities on many spectrums but a theme has emerged it seems. <br />
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The spring weather has been absolutely unbelievable which meant that Glacier Park was calling me. It was time to step out for my FIRST Glacier hike of the season,and as always, it never disappoints. 0 Atleast once a year, I hike this hike.It's just a thing most of the locals must do. It isn't a terribly long trek so a good one to get the season started with. I was suprised at how LITTLE snow there was . It seemed more like July snow rather than April/May levels. Nonetheless, the Glacier lilies and a variety of other wildflowers were putting on a good show.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP0F2YHjSL-5FFtcUcUWoOcW-Tnk0OEYdDhDGPqRx7j6Hl0jgO2kzmrwifVPVUThPAmCZYnSvkjFCnkcv_2UVrmO1bOvLW0YuZOsgeGIv8roSo5uSDdTTX8y8fhxE4T7JEtJWE_dIm0ek/s1600/GP4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP0F2YHjSL-5FFtcUcUWoOcW-Tnk0OEYdDhDGPqRx7j6Hl0jgO2kzmrwifVPVUThPAmCZYnSvkjFCnkcv_2UVrmO1bOvLW0YuZOsgeGIv8roSo5uSDdTTX8y8fhxE4T7JEtJWE_dIm0ek/s320/GP4.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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First hike=> FIRST gear Malfunction<br />
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I have never owned a pair of real "hiking" shoes before, never really saw the need for them. A retired pair of sneakers was always hanging around and always seemed to work in the past, although, I did recall having some issues last summer. <br />
Given the level of pain I was experiencing this time around, and considering I plan to do plenty more hikes this season, I figured it was time to throw out the holey, worn out sneakers and get something that supports my foot more appropriately. I begrudgingly went and found a new pair of actual hiking shoes. My FIRST ever set of bonified hiking shoes.<br />
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I opted for these, because they seemed to give the most cushion to my mid foot area (my problem area) and they seemed to have the best arch support.<br />
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I will feel so "Official" now out on the trail...I have plans to try them out this weekend.<br />
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With the first hike of the season out of the way, it was onto some other horse related firsts (Yay, right?)<br />
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Otto's FIRST saddling</div>
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We started with a review of last fall's lesson , in case he forgot..which of course he didn't .<br />
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A simple rope around the barrel to mimic the feel of a girth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRXFW2Kn_aqoGI69WCmu6cCdOfYLLQ9Jq5dPlrMREqk42FtiOo00gPeicdhXN-obLY8WlDnd-uS-9dA_7aNe0vIGXuJHa1rsEY1Og4AmSskFNNycswE6x0WqT8B2rAw4CFBCZFwA2AuU/s1600/Girth3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRXFW2Kn_aqoGI69WCmu6cCdOfYLLQ9Jq5dPlrMREqk42FtiOo00gPeicdhXN-obLY8WlDnd-uS-9dA_7aNe0vIGXuJHa1rsEY1Og4AmSskFNNycswE6x0WqT8B2rAw4CFBCZFwA2AuU/s320/Girth3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"yeah, ok.. can I chew on it?"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Biv-c6q2bTvJdMcqYZpZHYd9VYeyUe1YwCV2cMEpNeSntd-2IRTRoAg0icSDego6B5WzUUw0nQ8DFAykYPH-KLoB11PxCPT1GB6VWfG9IWkrqIgPXt7lMzGjWcDnbEIppeRXZj1ja20/s1600/Girth1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Biv-c6q2bTvJdMcqYZpZHYd9VYeyUe1YwCV2cMEpNeSntd-2IRTRoAg0icSDego6B5WzUUw0nQ8DFAykYPH-KLoB11PxCPT1GB6VWfG9IWkrqIgPXt7lMzGjWcDnbEIppeRXZj1ja20/s320/Girth1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"why you be pulling on me"?</td></tr>
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And then to walk with rope , while having a little upward tension put on the rope while walking..<br />
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We moved on to this, which was also a review of last fall. A blanket pad and the rope mock "girth"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITRwaePIkWYM9manJL5z9iRgEX53uUmNprGpTfs5lXNV4FFajHQCsa0ZGe_y_4GVCSiVAPhPKkX-fEmZPGdEn0QqclvUrUu1L5WNxQKv0jdjm92phjriuOM9fPKZ5ssMh03EXKIbuU-M/s1600/bg4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITRwaePIkWYM9manJL5z9iRgEX53uUmNprGpTfs5lXNV4FFajHQCsa0ZGe_y_4GVCSiVAPhPKkX-fEmZPGdEn0QqclvUrUu1L5WNxQKv0jdjm92phjriuOM9fPKZ5ssMh03EXKIbuU-M/s320/bg4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not sure about this..</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">always looking at the camera when he should be paying attention to class</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> "I am too sexy for my blanket.. too sexy for me blanket."...</td></tr>
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From here we moved onto placing the saddle on and and off several times, with out the girth and just moving him around in the same way, while holding the off side stirrup up so it wouldn't bother him.<br />
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Baby steps.. baby steps..<br />
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This procession was over the course of a few different sessions. When it came to the actual saddling session, my hubby decided to do it while I was riding Brego, therefore I have no pics to share... :(<br />
You will have to take my word for it , but it went about the same.. at first a little concerned and eventually walking around with his head down..<br />
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Jumping firsts</div>
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I have had 4 lessons now with my new trainer. We had kind of a break through a couple weeks ago. We have jumped our FIRST big REAL fence, a 2'3 Oxer.<br />
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As it turns out, Brego only jumps in really cute form when the fences get bigger..<br />
As much as I like my cross rail and small vertical comfort zone , it was time to move on because apparently, you can make a horse like Brego develop less than desirable jumping habits if you spend too much time jumping smallish fences.........like jumping flat= bad<br />
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So, my comfort zone is being challenged.. Not only have we taken a step towards bigger fences but we have CANTERED our FIRST jump. Brego's thing is to rush and get "chargey" when we approach from a trot, but to our surprise, he didn't seem to do that in a canter. He surprised all of us but time will tell if it was just "beginners" carefulness or if he is going to maintain that way. That was a great discovery since we have mostly been trotting in , landing in a canter, asking for trot again, and then taking the next fence...<br />
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In spite of all this good stuff happening, we have still been fighting with saddle fit for Brego. You might recall <a href="http://acerfarm.blogspot.com/2015/04/vacation-over.html" target="_blank">this</a> post about the jumping saddle dilemma?<br />
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Remember that borrowed saddle I thought was working out great????.<br />
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I LOVE the saddle. Brego.. not so much.<br />
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Its comfortable for me. I feel super secure in it and it puts my leg in a really good position. However, it is NOT working for Brego. He started in with Head tossing, hollowing back, pinning of ears, swishing of tail, and once he even kicked out when I asked him for a canter. The crazy thing is that to look at the fit, it really doesn't appear to be bad fitting. Atleast not bad enough to warrant the big reactions I was seeing in Brego. (and we ruled out all other options like teeth, or soreness somewhere else) There were no overly obvious signs of bad fitting like too much rocker or too much tightness in the shoulders. The only thing I did notice was the the hair was "scruffed" the wrong way behind his shoulders after a ride and there were slightly drier areas than the rest of the sweat pattern but nothing that screamed. "THIS SADDLE IS HURTING YOUR HORSE".Brego didn't even react if I palpated the area. <br />
In the long run, we concluded we probably had a "Princess and the Pea "situation here and that it was obviously causing him some discomfort , thus hindering our progression for sure. For now, I am back to riding in my Close contact because I know it fits him. Besides the fact that I feel like I am going to tip over the front of it, Brego is much happier.. and we can carry on...as for me, I can get by for now.<br />
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.....but long term its not the best solution and since we are talking about firsts.. I have this coming......My FIRST All Purpose jumping type saddle.<br />
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The saddle is coming as a trial . Historically , I always disliked a deeper seat for jumping but after experiencing the difference with my friends all purpose, I have come to my senses. Considering I am also doing a fair amount of flat/dressage work with Brego, it just made the most sense to try going this route.<br />
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It's fully adjustable in the gullet and it has this other really cool feature in the panel design that supposedly eliminates the part of the panel that restricts the shoulder movement. I am optimistic this will be a good option for the princess.<br />
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This particular saddle brand actually has a sister brand that is what I was originally planning to try, but they had no trial models available. The two models are identical except the sister brand is partial leather and partial synthetic , and offered a lower price point whereas the one I have coming is all leather. (and a much higher price point) I am sure there is a marketing scheme in here somewhere.<br />
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<i>Send out the more expensive leather model , rider will fall in love and just have to have it.. </i><br />
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The silver lining here is that until I get a more supportive saddle that works for both Brego and I , fear of being launched over a fence head first in this damn saddle has developed one hell of a strong leg position which makes my trainer super happy.<br />
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There might be a few more FIRSTS coming our way . Originally, I wanted to hold off even posting this until I could include those things as well, but that could be two weeks away before I know for sure.. and it could all come unraveled between now and then so while I <strike>can't</strike> won't give any spoiler alerts as it might jinx things , I can tell you it should be exciting...so stay tuned.<br />
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In the meantime, here is a photo I like to just stare at.. because he is developing so darn nicely..and I don't have barn blindness. nope.. not me..<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-16559439383025481282015-05-01T14:41:00.001-07:002015-05-01T14:41:29.883-07:00 Endurance Reflections- Closing the Chapter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, before you move forward, you have to take a look at where you have been , how you got to where you are today and what it all means.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to tell you, I previously wrote this long post that reflected on what this Endurance journey has been about for me, my reasons for not meeting the goals I once set out to meet , the various derailments along the way and blah blah blah.. but the more I read the draft, the more I thought.. Why does all that crap matter? It's all documented here on this damn blog anyways. My readers already know. Why rehash this thing? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So instead, I opted to make this short and sweet as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't been an AERC member since 2012 and that was also the last time I did any competitive rides. (Holy cow, has it really been that long?) Just that fact alone speaks volumes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since 2008, I have been chasing the sport with little success of ever meeting my goal to ride a 50 or a 100. I was able to complete several LD's all of which were fun, challenging and rewarding, but longer distances have remained just out of reach. Endurance has been like writing that novel that I keep saying </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">......................."someday I will finish this thing"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Eight years and still not a single 50 , much less a 100 miler. Pathetic! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know there are other endurance riders out there that have to balance all the same things I do. I know I am not unique. Lots of you have those things called full time jobs, a home and property to maintain, other horses, other interests, family, and everyday life and yet, so many of you seem to somehow manage to train , attend rides and continue to enjoy the sport. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honestly I don't know how but I would listen if someone wanted to let me on their secret. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I kept running into was that the training schedule to condition left NO TIME for anything else because I was too busy catching up on EVERYTHING
else that stacked up when I was riding, like errands, laundry, lawn and garden
upkeep, housecleaning, etc and when I did get to a point where I thought my horse might be ready.. the closest ride was a full day's drive away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Logistics alone tell my story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the work and time to get ready
for a ride that was at the very least a 5 hour (more often times an
8-10hr) trailer ride away, (mucho fuel costs) , then.. </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find someone to stay at
the house to farm sit for the weekend, (another $40 per day)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take at least 1 or 2 vacation days just to travel to ride and get home </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Entrance fees to attend the ride </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food expenses </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes a Kennel stay for the dogs depending on the ride , another $35 per day</span></li>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(*the hubby could stay
home, negating the need for a house sitter, but I don't like to go that
far from home hauling horses alone.. Just kind of a thing for me) </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wondered... Is this
really what it takes??? How is this fun?? This feels like a second job that doesn't pay very well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In the end, I realized it was a path I wasn't enjoying. I wasn't able to compete, much less find enough time to condition to get myself ready to compete. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realized that there two things that would have to change in order to revisit the sport in any seriousness and neither of those are changing at this point.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Work- get to where I only work part time (maybe in the next 5 years if I stay on track) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Relocate - find a place that allows more months of riding weather and maybe somewhere that allows me to have more convenient access to trails, like close by home (not dirt roads either). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there you have it, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> it's time to close the Endurance Chapter.. for now.. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>The only caveat to that is riding someone else's already conditioned horse if they need a rider, then I would be happy to help. I am leaving but I am not leaving the sport mad. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Forging Ahead</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next chapter is this jumping thing. I have been dabbling in the jumping for a couple of years but only halfheartedly because I didn't really have a horse for it. I bought Otto as a future prospect and I couldn't afford yet another horse that would allow me to ride now. Not with four of them already in the pasture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I just decided I was going to ride the horse we had that had the best potential, Brego, and see if I could make it work. As it turns out, it's working. I am having fun. I can ride 2-3 times a week at home for an hour and get something accomplished and not be running my tail off. If I decide to compete again, there are any number of shows and events close by to keep me occupied. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finally found a local trainer that I am clicking with and just locked myself into a committed lesson package for the next 10 weeks. We already started and she has us doing things I never thought we would get done , like jumping our first 2'3 Oxer !! Our first lesson was hard work and we were both a sweaty mess by the end of it but it was a blast. I am totally hooked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know where this adventure is taking us but I am enjoying the ride. Better yet, I am no longer stressing myself out over getting enough ride time or traveling for hours to a competition just to make it feel like my time training was worth something. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In closing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To my readers , those ones that might still be following along on this blog, Thank you for your commitment. There are many other blogs out there that are much more interesting and better written than mine will ever be but I have truly enjoyed getting to meet you all (virtually) and have enjoyed your comments more than you know. Going forward, I won't have much to share that has anything to do with Endurance related ride stories. You might see the occasional trail ride post as I will still be getting out for those . More than likely I will do a few posts on this jumping thing, or maybe I will just start a whole new Blog about that journey. (Not sure yet.) Either way, I hope you all continue to check in every so often ! I will continue to live vicariously through all your ride stories until the time comes when I can get back to endurance myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Trails! </span><br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-58545269848269696352015-04-24T13:54:00.002-07:002015-04-27T11:41:27.737-07:00Jumping Gymnastics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Gosh, this post took me all week to put together .. So much to say , so little time. I had to get all the photos that help "make " the post more interesting , off my phone and that was too much of a time intensive task that I just frankly didn't have time for until very late into the night . and well.. finally , here it is.. for what it's worth.<br />
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<strike>This past weekend,</strike> last weekend...we decided to get out of town for a quick trip to our friends place in the Bitteroot Valley.<br />
(This is the same friend who started helping with some jumping lessons over Easter weekend )<br />
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The trip was for me to get two days of continued jumping lessons and the hubby was planning to do a practice session with a fellow horseback archer. Deciding to actually go was going to have to be a last minute decision because of several potential Trip killers that were pending. <br />
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The first ,and most important was that Otto had to NOT be showing any swelling or symptoms of the looming infection from his castration. ( I know, it seems like this has been going on FOREVER... <i>because it has been</i>..)<br />
Based on my last conversation with my vet, we were pretty sure we would be hauling him in for surgery after his 3 week round of antibiotics. Last week was the first full week Otto was completely off of them. All during that week, I was waiting to see if he was going to swell up , indicating his infection didn't resolve, which ultimately meant we weren't going to be going on any trips anywhere.<br />
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By last Thursday there was no swelling. That was good. I decided however, if we were going to be gone , I was taking Otto with me regardless. I just knew if I left him home, and I was gone, his sheath area would explode. (how's that for Murphy's law reasoning?)<br />
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Besides, a 3 hour trailer ride for a 2 year old ??? why the hell not. He may as well get used to this long trailer ride business. Afterall, he made it here from Missouri without incident. It was time to see how he handled going to a new place as a 2 year old.<br />
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The second potential " trip-canceler" ( now I am making up words) was just finding someone to watch the horses at home and the cat. This is ALWAYS such a hassle.. seriously.. For those of you that board your horses, be thankful if for no other reason that you always have someone lined up to keep an eye on your horse ! We have to pay people to do that..and it's hard to find someone when you need them. As for the dogs, we were taking them with. (One of the may joys of having a fear aggressive German Shepherd is that you can't just leave her with most people because she won't let anyone in the house or let anyone else near her on her territory) It further complicates matters for us.</div>
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As it turned out my neighbor happily agreed to feed the two remaining horses we were planning to leave home and my parents were willing to come by on Sunday to check the cat. I had no excuse not to go. </div>
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Saturday morning, we managed to get ourselves, the horses and the dogs loaded up. Getting this crew packed up and out the door feels like an Act of Congress but we managed and we were on the road by 9 am for our 3 hour trek southward. We arrived in Missoula to take a quick bathroom stop for the dogs and we saw this!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqoswFVad2GEZVqs3LjjnkzL99NRnPm65dqhmy-JDhKE-mV1I7tnTDPaVRWudmK0Z-4OeA25jWPtbK3k9DZVCJqxBLS2wdpHT37Gy8uvPsReUKb65wIT7JLo0asBcHbeK1lh5OcMcuDU/s1600/20150418_120245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqoswFVad2GEZVqs3LjjnkzL99NRnPm65dqhmy-JDhKE-mV1I7tnTDPaVRWudmK0Z-4OeA25jWPtbK3k9DZVCJqxBLS2wdpHT37Gy8uvPsReUKb65wIT7JLo0asBcHbeK1lh5OcMcuDU/s1600/20150418_120245.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I looked to see if there was an actual tour bus rig parked anywhere that housed said country music start, but if there was, it was well hidden and we had to get down the road.<br />
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My husband said, "what were you going to do if you found the tour bus anyways?"<br />
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<i>Well duh.. I was going to go march over there , knock on the door and ask for a photo and a autograph!!! what else would a girl do???</i><br />
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That conversation morphed into other weird discussions about country music stars , that I will spare you from here , that kept me occupied and fully entertained for the hour remaining to reach our destination.<br />
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We arrived about 1:00 to our "home away from home" . The plan was to grab some lunch and spend a few hours that afternoon riding and then off to a BBQ.</div>
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Once we arrived, the dogs quickly went about terrorizing the fenced-in Jack Russels, causing all kinds of rucus. They love being at this place because it's a ranch and they can run like wild children, ride in ranch trucks and 4 wheelers, chase field mice and terrorize the neighborhood without running the risk of getting hit by a vehicle. I love it because I can be a bad dog mom and let them do all those things and no harm no foul.. (exept for one of the resident chickens ( another story, keep reading)<br />
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I unloaded Brego and Tom went to unload Otto.<br />
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I gave T specific instructions to back Otto out of the trailer, and he ofcourse gladly obliged like the good hubby he is. I wanted him to back Otto out because he is getting too darn big and can't quite make the turn easily , atleast not without risking him bumping his head. I thought we had backed Otto out before or I never would have suggested it because this was definitely NOT the time to get into a training opportunity. Well if we had back him out before, Otto seemed to think this was all new and awful and he wasn't the least bit interested in being a willing participant in this nonsense.<br />
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An hour and half later, we FINALLY got Otto backed out of the trailer.<br />
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So, what took sooooo long???<br />
Well, the first thing I wanted to say was that I wasn't losing my marbles. Otto had in fact backed out of the trailer before when we took him to the vet the last time . Only during that time, I recalled that he did bang his nose. It wasn't a huge deal at the time. (which is why I probably totally forgot that detail) He didn't scramble or get stuck or anything terrible and traumatizing. He just kind of ran into the wall as he made the turn around. All I can figure is that he must have remembered it as not something he wanted to experience again.<br />
<i>Or maybe he figured out that the last time he tried this backing out thing, he came home missing parts of his anatomy:) !!</i><br />
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Anyways, once we started the process of asking him to back out, the wrong thing to have done at this point would have been to quit and just revert to turning him around. All it would have accomplished was teach him that all he has to do is resist and he gets what he wants.<br />
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He really really wanted to turn around and I have to tell you , I really really wanted to let him do just that.. to give in more and be done with the whole damn thing because I knew time ticking..<br />
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But, I also knew if I gave in, it would mean more issues next time I asked him to back out. I was having a huge internal struggle on this but eventually I knew hanging in there, being persistant and PATIENT would make life easier for him long term.<br />
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** A note about training horses here. FOLLOW THROUGH IS SO DAMN IMPORTANT and this was a good example. When it comes to training horses , I don't typically want to give unsolicited advice but I will say that it never fails to amaze me how people create problems for their horse when they don't follow through on something. My point is if you start something, you better be prepared to finish it with a postive outcome . You may not always get the exact response your looking for but you need to make it successful for the horse, somehow, someway. Throw away your plans and your watch and get on horse time. Be there to support your horse because in the end it's will pay back dividends.<br />
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We didn't really plan this unloading to be an issue and the tight time schedule certaintly didn't alot for it ( We were planning to be riding by 3:00 , done by 5:00 and headed to BBQ) but there we were and we had to follow it through or risk it being a bigger issue later. The crazy thing is that Otto stepped down atleast 2 times with a hind foot right away, so he knew where the ground was. He just couldn't get it sorted out to back his front feet up. He has been backed multiple times in a halter on the level ground but I suppose it's awkward and scary for a young uncoordinated horse to manage their front feet while their back feet are at level lower.<br />
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Otto never got to ugly about things. He just locked up.. mentally and physically because he just didn't think he could do what we wanted him to.<br />
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He stepped out 1 hind foot, then 2 hind feet , and then he would step back in.. and this repeated itself multiple times . He had to sort it out. Eventually, he did . Timing of praise was huge so he knew when he did what was being asked.<br />
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long story short, I was glad it was over and we probably should have loaded him right back in and done it again right then and there but I just felt like he didn't need any more stress for the day. He did what was asked and left it there.<br />
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We finally got saddled and riding by 4:00 .<br />
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Saturday evening Day 1</div>
Goal -Pick up with the trot poles, revisit the 3 fence bounce combination, (which we have spent the last two weeks practicing) and build to 4 fences.<br />
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<i>* * The ultimate goal of gymnastics, or aka grid work, is to build in rhythm and balance. Bounce combinations help to develop an eye and my jumping position. The fences are kept small in order to keep it low stress so the rider and the horse. </i><br />
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After staring with 4 trot poles to 3 crossrails, we went through effortlessly 3 times, Brego was like <br />
"Yeah, I got this, just get out of my way and let me go" So we moved onto 4 fences .<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at the combination from the last fence. The approach was on the other end with 4 trot poles. This is the 4 fence set up. Baby tiny fences at this point because we are building confidence and cadence for both horse and rider.</td></tr>
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Brego gets very bold and eager coming into the line over the trot poles. We worked alot on settling him in the approach without over using the inside rein as we approached.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">coming in a little fast.. </td></tr>
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We focused on my hands ( have a bad habit of breaking my wrists) and asking him to land on the left lead as he lands from the last fence. This is easier said than done because I have to be looking left and putting just a little more weight in my left stirrup by the time we are going over the 2nd fence. Brego much prefers his right lead on landing. We ended the session getting 3 really good landings into a left lead canter and transitioned into a relaxed walk on a loose rein each time. Quiet is the goal.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrdqnpxUeGSYLeS4r7uHwNWlTueTWBNb-lnm_OF2uOzhzRZaivDD5JYjOe9GnBw8wZebmS5O8jbYFUzYjpHhPLSZZXszRgrYKT1kMEX9SjiFpvgHtrjUssPtAhfLUGxcysVYNq1RX1-k/s1600/20150419_095110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrdqnpxUeGSYLeS4r7uHwNWlTueTWBNb-lnm_OF2uOzhzRZaivDD5JYjOe9GnBw8wZebmS5O8jbYFUzYjpHhPLSZZXszRgrYKT1kMEX9SjiFpvgHtrjUssPtAhfLUGxcysVYNq1RX1-k/s1600/20150419_095110.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jump Brego Jump!</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Day 2 </div>
We built from the 4 fence to a 5 fence . Brego is a careful horse and when we came down the line and he saw the 5th fence, he hesitated as if to say..<br />
<br />
<i>"what?? I swear there was no fence here before, where did this come from?"</i><br />
<br />
... but he jumped it with an little extra encouragement from my leg and after that first "WTH" moment he had , he was jumping through beautifully.<br />
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AUTO PILOT = SUPER fun!<br />
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Then we removed the 4th fence and left a ground pole as a marker creating a 3 fence bounce to a one stride. We left a ground pole where the 4th cross rail used to be as a marker to help the Brego with the striding. X = a fence, I = a ground pole<br />
<br />
I I I I X X X I X<br />
<br />
So basically the Rhythm is this:<br />
<br />
<i>4 trot poles- jump- jump- jump- one canter stride (18 feet) , jump.</i><br />
Land on left lead. Canter away , come down to the walk.. Easy Peasy right??<br />
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We don't always get the correct lead but that is all part of practicing.<br />
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That progressed into taking the 2nd cross rail down so now we had a fence, a ground pole, a fence, a ground pole and a fence.<br />
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I I I I X I X I X<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>4 trot poles , bounce, canter stride, jump, canter stride, jump...</i><br />
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It was really cool to feel him find a pace, and leave the ground at the exact time he is supposed to.<br />
Eventually the big thing was that we built to a vertical as the final fence.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we come. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whee!<br />
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I had an absolute blast and Brego is proving to be a pretty good little jumping pony.<br />
<br />
Sunday afternoon came too quickly and it was time to load up and go home. One last adventure awaited us. <br />
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I was busy getting everything packed up and thought the dogs were with T. As I came out of the house, I heard alot of noise coming from the hen house. Someone was either laying the Golden Egg and was really excited, or something was wrong. I saw black feathers everywhere near the truck and chicken yard. Maybe another Racoon or Fox attack??<br />
<br />
Nope..<br />
<br />
I looked up to see Xena exiting the chicken yard as I approached, her tail between her legs and high stepping it for the truck.<br />
<br />
Oh no....<br />
<br />
Indeed, Xena had found some entertainment.<br />
I was a bit shocked a Xena to be honest because she had been to this place so many other times in the past and never paid any attention to the chickens. In fact, I think she was afraid of them. Apparently , she got curious, or brave , or something.. because she indeed got one. <br />
<br />
I ran over to find the victim and the hen was cowered in a corner, but alive. I must have interrupted just in time but she looked pretty bad.. alot like this..<br />
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A little while later, we saw the rooster come out from some hiding place. So much for protecting his flock.. Coward..<br />
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It was a tiring weekend. It was about 7 pm by the time we rolled into our driveway.<br />
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When we unloaded the horses.. Otto backed out.. He was slow and unsure, but he did it .. and it only took about 5 minutes!<br />
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Guess sticking it out the day before was worth the effort!<br />
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I hope to hit the trails a little with Brego this weekend and take a break from the arena. He has done well and hopefully I am good enough to keep him progressing!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-45927505837747635792015-04-13T10:39:00.000-07:002015-04-13T10:50:46.055-07:00Otto Turns Two!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Otto turned two yesterday. He looks older. doesn't he??. He is maturing and has filled out in his body but he has a long ways to go. I really want those legs to put on a lot more bone , but that usually tends to be more noticeable after 3 years old. He is tall and those canon bones.. good grief... I sure hope he grows into them. He must be pushing 15.1 hands maybe?? I suppose I should stick him and get an accurate height one of these days. I am a little afraid to know...but I would like him to stop getting taller anytime..<br />
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Unfortunately, my plans to celebrate his birthday didn't quite work out like I had hoped. I had grandiose ideas of making some kind of carrot cake for him and and a horse sized birthday hat and taking some photos. The weather was nice enough Saturday morning so instead of being a good horse mom, I chose to be a good dog mom instead. I took advantage of the decent weather window that I knew wouldn't last , and loaded up the dogs and hubby for a hike. I felt motivated to climb some hills and get an outdoor workout . All of the Spartan racers were out hill training as well. Been there , done that.. One Spartan race was enough for me!<br />
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By the time we finished our hike and then our errands, it was late afternoon when we finally made it home. We talked about loading up the horses for a quick trail ride since we have not been out once yet this spring, but with the wind the way it was, we opted against it. This time of year, there is still a lot of blow-down occurring in the forested trails we ride in. Not worth the risk of a tree coming down on us! So, riding plans went bust.<br />
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Sunday came, Otto's big day and in the end , Otto had to settle for a quick grooming session during the 10 minute window between snow storms when the wind actually settled to 20 mph gusts instead of 35 and the sun sort of popped out for a few moments. He got a few peppermint snacks and seemed perfectly content with the abbreviated celebration. Mostly he just wanted to be turned out to his pasture. Fine with me.. it was damn cold and miserable out...<br />
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During the process of getting him turned out, we had one eventful moment to commemorate his 2 year old birthday. When my hubby was leading him through a gate ,the wind gusted, jerking it out his hand and sent the gate swinging so that it smacked Otto right in the butt. Otto let out a big double barrel kick, clearly pissed... Oops.The hubby lead Otto back through the gate a couple of times , to let him see that the gate wasn't going to always do that scary thing from now on, every time he was led through a gate. Otto was fine and walked back through the gate with no issues . It's the first of many "unplanned" experiences he will have to learn to deal with I guess and I was glad it didn't fluster him.<br />
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We spent the rest of the day visiting with my parents who stopped by , which was treat because my mom just got back from Seattle earlier last week. She is healing from her last , and hopefully final surgery. I just hope that I am half as strong and mentally tough as her , considering what she has been through. It has been hard to see her go through all of this.<br />
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Considering the weather was awful, it was a good day to finish up some indoor projects . We decided to use up the remaining elk meat in the freezer to make more fresh sausage. The process took about 6 hours of trimming, mixing, measuring, grinding, stuffing and packaging but in the end , we have over 30 lbs of fresh sausage packed and in the freezer. <br />
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It was a full weekend, in spite of no riding. Next weekend.. riding <u>will be</u> priority!<br />
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Happy Trails!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-85663010637049265252015-04-05T21:17:00.004-07:002015-04-05T21:17:39.874-07:00Vacation over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This past week absolutely flew by. I can't believe I have to log into my computer tomorrow morning and get back into work mode. Ughh.. The first half of the week , we didn't get much accomplished because the hubby was sick after getting what I had the week before , and I was still recovering.. and .. still still recovering. Will this virus ever give up?<br />
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Actually, I think we are mostly back to ourselves , sans an unrelenting cough and some mild congestion. We finally managed to get a few things done on the "to-do" list starting last Wednesday in spite of Mother Nature having personality issues. Out to-do list was alot of fits and starts. We did manage to get the paddocks all scraped out with the help of a friends tractor and I was in charge of harrowing the pasture with a 4 wheeler. . It took me two days to get that task done because my hands and toes would get so cold in spite of gloves. I could only go for about an hour and then have to come back in to warm up.<br />
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Nonetheless it got done. The pasture is harrowed and the paddocks are clean and tidy prior to fly season. I even managed to get the north pasture reseeded.<br />
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Wednesday I had my second lesson with a new trainer I am trying out for jumping. It was a group lesson that consisted of a group of 2, me and one other young very green rider so it wasn't really very helpful to me. I haven't decided yet if I will continue to use this trainer. Its a bit early to tell. I like some of the feedback I am getting from her but some of the other feedback she is giving is leaving me scratching my head a bit. I might give it a few more times before I decide, just to give her a fair shake.<br />
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By Friday , friends arrived for the weekend and it was time to spend two days getting some intense instruction from said friend for me and Brego over fences. She spent several years eventing and agreed to come for the weekend for some lessons. I felt honored to have so much of her time all to myself and all I had to do was feed her for the weekend. I had to ride in some unruly weather , including "gropple" (it's a real weather term.. go ahead look it up) . We did the riding lesson version of "twoadays" , a morning and afternoon session both days. Aside from the fact that my legs are really tired tonight , I got more out of those 4 sessions than I have gotten from any trainer I have worked with for the last couple of years. Not too many good trainers here unfortunately. Brego and I worked on cadence , rhythym at the canter and introduced him to some gymnastics. He did a great job. Its not easy to be bringing along a green horse over fences and also to be working on getting yourself better at the same time , but Brego is being so incredibly good. It's coming together.<br />
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I hate training alone so it was really nice to have someone there to help me with some things I was struggling with . As far as the saddle issue, I think I mostly resolved it , surprisingly with a wither relief pad , which was a total fluke. I thought I would just try to switch out and add the wither relief pad under my saddle to see if it helped, not really thinking it would. Well, it worked. It gave the back of the saddle just enough lift to balance it out.I rode in it and it really made a big difference but I still felt like it was harder than it should be to stay in position. Likely, that would correct with more time in the saddle practicing without stirrups. Maybe. The question of whether a new saddle would help the issue was still a real possibility.<br />
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Fortunately, my friend brought along her old eventing saddle which is an AP saddle, just to try out and give me something to compare to. It has ALOT more leg support, and a deeper seat than I am used to riding in over fences but I thought it couldn't hurt to try it. To my surprise, it fit Brego relatively well with enough shoulder room which is his biggest issue. Right away, it was amazing how much more secure I felt in it and suddenly, I wasn't fighting my leg position. I felt really solid in it and Brego didn't seem to be having any trouble in it . In fact, he was almost feeling like he was better because I was more balanced. My friend was nice enough to leave it with me for the time being so I can use it for now.<br />
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Just for comparison, here are a couple of random photos of the two saddles, my Close Contact Collegiate (top photo) and the County Eventer AP (bottom ) I am now trying out for a while. It probably makes sense to find a saddle that I feel more secure in. The close contact has no knee rolls and the seat itself is pretty narrow and flat but darn, I still love that classic look of the CC. <br />
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I thought the AP was going to make it harder for me to get into jump position because of the deeper seat, but it didn't. It literally put me right where I needed to be. Can't deny that. <br />
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Let the saddle hunt begin. (sigh)<br />
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I will keep my eye out for a used one like the one I am tryng but they can tend to be pretty pricey. I might need some time to save up enough to get one, even used. I ran across a Duett jumping saddle online for a really great price. I already own one Duett Companion Trail saddle and it is by far my favorite saddle I have ever owned. I can only assume that their jumping saddle model is just as nice. I am considering it.<br />
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If anyone wants to twist my arm, the Collegiate is probably going to go up for sale. (insert sad face) Contact me via email for details if anyone is interested. It's really a nice saddle but just not the right fit for me. I am 5'5 but the length is too short for even my short legs. My thigh is 21" inches long, if that gives any frame of reference.<br />
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Progress that we made over fences this weekend.<br /><br />The big thing was cantering to a fence. We had previously only trotted into a fence and could not seem to get enough impulsion to land and canter off, to approach the next fence.<br />
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<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Ground poles to cross rail to canter depart out of fence, on the correct lead- I have to remember to weight up the stirrup a little more to the side I want the lead for, as well as put a little feel on that rein as well. If I want to come out of the fence on a left lead, then left stirrup and left rein. Seems simple but I was so focused on staying balanced I would forget this. It got a lot easier once I was in a more supportive saddle and I wasn't working quite so hard to stay balanced. </li>
<li>Canter to a combination and maintain a steady rhythm. So once I land and the correct lead, to get Brego to canter at a steady pace coming into the next fence. He did really good at this, once we got out lead figured out. </li>
<li>Ground poles to a bounce- This is one of my favorite exercise to do over fences because it teaches the horse and the rider when to leave the ground and how to maintain a rhythm. We worked up to a three fence bounce, which I never thought we would be able to do. Brego fumbled only slightly the first time through , and then after that, he had it figured out and went through like he had been doing it for years. </li>
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It seems we are off to a pretty good start over fences. Brego is better than I thought and I am getting more confident in him and and myself each time. </div>
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So what about Endurance???? I haven't forgotten. It's just that trails aren't really clear yet. I would like to attend an LD ride in September with Brego. I think I should be able to have him ready for something like that in between jumping. I was invited by a friend to ride her horse in a June ride. I am planning to do it, It would be my first 50. I didn't really see my first 50 being on someone else's horse but honestly, just being able to experience a 50 is worth it. It's been a long time goal. </div>
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Back to work tomorrow. Signing off for some sleep.<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-88075968627149011892015-03-26T16:37:00.001-07:002015-03-26T16:37:23.343-07:00Otto Post Surgery Update and other stuff<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sometimes, life hands you lemons and it's just that. No lemonade to be made . You just deal with it the best you can and keep going because what else can you do?<br />
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Last week a family member had a medical emergency following a surgery that required transport to Seattle and another surgery. That makes 4 surgeries all total to fix what should have been one surgery. It scared the holy shit out of all us. Its been difficult. We have all been on pins and needles but hopefully we are past the worst of it now. Having worked in the healthcare industry for 20 years I know some of the nightmare stories out there , but what happened to my family member is just beyond acceptable. I really think that it will have to be life threatening before I opt for any kind of surgery to repair crucial body parts.. and even then I might hesitate after seeing what has happened, the mistakes made, the complications due to miscommunications, etc. Ok, enuf about that.<br />
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The weather turned back to a wintery mix of cold rain in the valley and snow in the mountains this past week, which is probably just as well because I ended up flat on my back with the flu. I was never so thankful for a job where I don't have to leave the house because I literally couldn't leave the couch for three days. I was able to atleast work a few hours a day and not eat into my sick bank too badly. It was almost as bad as the H flu experience I had last June, but not quite. Today is the first day I feel like I can be in an upright position for more than just a few minutes. It 's amazing how walking to the laundry room to throw a load of laundry in was enough to completely wipe me out for the next hour.<br />
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Ok, so to get to the main reason I was posting. I didn't really anticipate writing this post because Otto has done very well, no issues since his castration in spite of his complication. Then yesterday I noticed , in my feverish haze, that he looked a bit more swollen than I had seen him look at all throughout this entire healing process. I lunged him and it seemed to be better later in the day. This morning, his sheath was twice it's normal size and he didn't want me putting my hands any where near him. My vet was nice enough to swing by on his way through to another appointment.<br />
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We thought we were out of the woods but more than likely because of the additional digging around and the area where the vein was stitched, he's got an infection brewing up in there.. so he is back on another round of antibiotics. If that doesn't work, the vet will have to go in and remove the knot.<br />
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I really hope it doesn't come down to that.. but I guess I will just prepare for the worst.<br />
Next week I am on vacation and will hopefully be feeling well enough to get some riding time in, get my jumps set up in the outdoor arena, and start repainting my rails. I also ended up getting a great deal on some additional rails so I will have another 20 rails to paint. That should be enough to set up a pretty nice gymnastic jump sequence that I can start working on.<br />
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That is ofcourse, if I can ride in my saddle. For whatever reason, the jump saddle that I bought last year and <i>thoouugghht</i> fit me and Brego is suddenly driving me crazy. It's putting me too far in the back seat. It's like I posting up out of a hole. I guess when I think back, I was kind of having that trouble last year but I thought it was just me, like a weakness in my position . But, then I saw a couple of pictures taken at the recent jump clinic. My leg really is too far out in front of me and the maddening thing is that no matter how hard I try, I can't get my leg under me. No pad is going to fix that. The problem , I think, is that my thigh length is too long for the saddle, (not that I have long legs) which means I need a bigger seat size. I can't even begin to think about this right now because the thought of saddle shopping again makes me want to turn green.<br />
I really, really really loved my little Collegiate Apprentice (designed and stamped by Tad Coffin even!) I found because it was almost the same saddle I grew up riding in, plus I got a really good buy on it. Guess I am going to have to figure out what is going to fit me right and try to eventually sell this one. Ofcourse my ideal saddle is either a Tad Coffin or a Antares.. neither of which I have the budget for!<br />
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So all in all, it seems Life is complicated, busy, and unpredictable these days for us. We have other potential hurdles we are going to be facing in the next couple of months that could really complicate things for us. It's too soon to know anything yet but I can say that it's a hurdle I will welcome in spite of the difficulties it might create.<br />
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We had initially planned to take a road trip south for next week (spring break for us) but it isn't going to happen. We just couldn't quite make it all come together with everything going on so , sadly the trip is cancelled. That is twice we have planned that trip and twice we have had to cancel. Spring break will instead be busy with lots of farm cleanup, house painting projects and maybe some fun with friends and family too.<br />
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As usual, we will just make things work the way the cards are dealt to us.. one way or the other.<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-29509829495486838212015-03-20T14:58:00.001-07:002015-03-20T14:58:36.201-07:00I kissed him<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I came running in the house the other night happy.. no.... overjoyed. <div>
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First, early in the day, my new Field boots arrived from UPS and as I opened the box, I dreaded what awaited. 20 minutes of struggling to get them on. However, I was proved wrong. They were a PERFECT fit. No struggling, grunting, sweating or cursing trying to get them over my weird shaped guppy calves. They will need some break in but my legs won't go numb atelast. </div>
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Later in the day, it was time to catch up Otto, and lunge him a bit. </div>
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The mud is back in full force around here but the ice is gone so I slogged out to go get him . </div>
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Haltering the monster has required a skill of precision and speed to avoid him grabbing it in his little lips. He is pretty fast. Well, on this day, he just let me halter him, like a normal horse. He DIDN'T TRY TO BITE AT IT , ME OR ANYTHING ELSE! Not once.</div>
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I rubbed on his face and just enjoyed the moment. He seemed so relaxed and appreciating the attention as opposed to his usual gaminess. I would even go as far as to say he was sweet. </div>
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I was happy, I just kissed him right on the nose.. </div>
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Yep, planted a big one on him and he didn't even mind.. </div>
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Lovee my new improved baby horse...</div>
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-35237261901223059742015-03-16T16:48:00.004-07:002015-03-16T16:48:41.017-07:00Jumping Clinic Weekend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketch of us</td></tr>
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On Sunday I attended the first of a series of jumping clinics at a nearby facility that I signed up for. The clinic focus was working on ground poles and cross rails. The series of clinics are scheduled once a month and then meet each month to build on your jumping skills. I was fairly positive we could handle ground rails and cross-rails since that is where we left off last fall. We have also done a few ground rail sessions this winter so it wasn't totally new. I wasn't totally confident we would manage ok, but you have to start somewhere , right? Brego struggles in new environments with new things to see, but there is only way to work a horse through that..and that is just to do more of it. Last summer he was a road warrior with T, going to all the clinics T was teaching at. Apparently it paid off because he did really really well.<br />
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It was pouring down rain and wind and we all know how that sounds in an indoor arena. There was also alot of activity with other clinic participants and boarders getting their horses ready. Several young girls board here and it was a caucauphony of giggles and talking. Brego snorted once or twice and then settled right in. Pretty soon he was walking around the arena on the buckle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only mostly non blurry picture T managed to get..</td></tr>
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In the group I rode in, it turned out he was much less green than the other horse/rider combo's we were joined with. However, we were also the only horse in the group with a motor. The rest all required alot of "encouragement" to move forward, so the clinician had me set the pace for the trot work. When it came to canter however, we struggled. Brego likes to pull and has a handy trick for getting behind the bit, which makes pulling on my part to slow him down completely useless. We worked on pulling against each other<u> less </u>and just using a softer half halt to slow him up. It was a bit frustrating because it didn't really feel like I was getting any change , but neither was pulling on him with herculean force either. Its going to take time. There seems to be a fine line between getting him to slow and keeping him from breaking into a trot. When it came time to do actually trot rails and cross rails, he was a rockstar. I was quite happy with him. Brego trotted through all the poles and cross rail combinations without much effort. We had hoped that he would actually jump the cross rail , land in a canter and then keep going but he didn't. He just trotted happily through and I was good with that. He stayed calm, straight and forward through it. He even kept a steady rhythm so I was overjoyed with that. We can build from that!.<br />
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I am seeing a a big improvement from where he was at last year.. (a last minute brake at the base of the cross rail, then gingerly step over it like it was a log on the trail) I think he is going to be a horse that requires it to be an actual jump , like a vertical , before he actually sees the value in jumping it.<br />
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We will get there .. but no sense rushing a good thing. I really like where his mind is so far this spring.<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-53440792469350450462015-03-14T09:26:00.002-07:002015-03-14T09:26:19.632-07:00"Geldinghood" <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Otto 's aftercare from his castration has been going marvelously. Much to my surprise, he has not had much swelling at all. My vet recommended 3 days of bute. I only gave him a dose yesterday but I have discontinued because he is doing so well. He has been moving around fine and doesn't seem to be in much discomfort . I noticed he was doing some trotting and cantering around all on his own.<br />
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I still opted to lunge him last night and wasn't really sure how it would go. But he really surprised me again. He was so willing to listen and didn't give me any attitude. He even seemed to start to understand voice cues of walk and trot. He was very good and while I realize part of that is that he isn't feeling 100%, I am hopeful the other part is maybe what "geldinghood" will look like for Otto from here on out. I kept thinking...Did they install a brain when they removed the testicles??? Who was this horse I now had the pleasure of owning??? <br />
I kept the lungeing session short, not wanting to get greedy and turn what appeared to be a major success, into a mishap. The session was probably 10 minutes and not all of it trotting. Ideally he should be trotted 10-15 minutes twice a day but as much as he is moving around on his own, I figured it was probably ok. I was so elated that he was so willing to listen, that I was willing to come back later and do another short session if need be but I didn't have to.<br />
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His legs did have a alot of drainage and old blood dried to them, so I knew I needed to get him cleaned up last night. I had to wait until T came home so someone could hold him while I did the clean up work. I have to tell you, I was really dreading this. He had been hosed at the clinic and I am sure they were more about "getting the job done" than worrying about how accepting he was to the hose and water. His first experience with the hose wasn't exactly how I had envisioned it but that couldn't be helped.<br />
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We started out with a bucket of warm water and a rag. I just slowly hosed his shoulder and front leg so he got used the sensation. He really didn't seem to mind at all so I moved to the back legs. He just stood there, even with a fair amount of scrubbing on my part to get the cakes stuff off . Once most of that was done I wanted to hose the surgical site as well with the cold water. I turned the hose on low and I just let him look at for a while. Then we led him up to it, Pretty soon I was able to let it run on his front hoof a bit. It was a process of let the hose run on him for a few seconds, then take it away, then repeat. I would only let it run on his for as long as he could stand there. He could only handle a second at first , then 3 seconds and so on. We built from there and worked my way to his back legs. Pretty soon, he was letting me hose up between his legs and just standing there. It must have felt good. Lots of licking, chewing and he had one foot cocked. Once again, I was surprised. I don't think JB is that good about a hose even to this day!<br />
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Hope is renewed that I don't have a monster on my hands! So far, "Geldinghood" is looking good on Otto!</div>
Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-58806568272361054582015-03-12T16:47:00.004-07:002015-03-12T16:47:51.836-07:00Something that should be simple<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I think of horses, it elicits thoughts of power, grace, and strength. They are big strong creatures, capable of doing so many amazing things. Capable of tolerating injury and pain rather stoically. At the same time they can be very fragile and delicate. One bad fall in the pasture or one flake of slightly moldy hay can create fatal situations. <div>
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Today Otto went in for a pretty routine procedure for his castration. Before it was all said and done, we found ourselves holding our breath, possibly risking having to sedate him again, and go back in It was all going as planned but then a vein that typically isn't that low or even in that general area got nicked in the process. </div>
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We had a bleeder on our hands. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excuse the heiny shot.. </td></tr>
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The scary part was that at first , we couldn't figure out where it was coming from and in moments like that , minutes feel like hours. I will hand it to my vet, he remained so calm as blood was quickly pooling. I walked out of the room at that point, feeling a little queasy. My vet did find the vein and had to so some quick stitching because Otto was beginning to wake. With the sedation, they only had about 20 minutes of time to work and they were getting to the end of that. Every time the vet reclamped, Otto reacted. </div>
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Once it was all done, we left Otto alone in the surgical room so he could stand up. It didn't take long. Typically this is the part where you give your horse enough time to get their balance enough to get back in the trailer, pay your bill and go on your merry way. But in this case, Otto was still bleeding a more than he should have been. It was possible there was another area of the vein that was nicked but we didn't know for sure. The vet decided to give it a half hour to see if it would begin to let up . If not, Otto would have to be sedated again and then figure out where the additional bleeding was coming from. </div>
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We decided to leave and waited for the call. It was less than an hour. The vet called with positive news that it had stopped and he was only now having the occasional drip of blood, which is MUCH more normal. They had hosed him off and he was ready to go home, along with a heavy dose of a 5 day antibiotic on board and then 5 more days of an oral antibiotic. With all the extra digging around that had to be done, he was definitely now at more risk for infection, probably more swelling and likely more discomfort. Poor Guy.</div>
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We got him home and when I opened the trailer door to unload him, the bleeding had started up again. A steady stream again. SHIT. Of course, I was alarmed so I called the vet back to see if I needed to turn around and take him back or what. I was to wait a half hour again to see if it let up. If not, we were going to have to go back. Luckily, within 20 minutes the bleeding had returned to a more normal amount, a drip every so many seconds. </div>
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As the afternoon went on, we watched him carefully. For a while, we weren't sure if he was showing symptoms of colic or if it was just that he was uncomfortable. He was slowly picking at his hay, drank a little water but he kept picking up his hinds legs, then he would stretch out and paw. Just like some horses do with Colic. I went out and hand walked him, concerned that because of the sedation, the peristalsis of the bowel would cause colic . I didn't need that on top of everything else. I checked his heart rate, (shock) and that seemed normal. </div>
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His symptoms seem to come and go so I have just continued to watch him. He has passed manure , urinated and he eagerly ate his beet pulp mash . At this point, I am assuming he is just painful. He has been standing quietly in his barn , soaking up the last sunshine rays of the day , trying to figure out what in the world happened to him today. </div>
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-67632197055800088132015-03-10T13:52:00.001-07:002015-03-11T11:33:14.233-07:00Wild Pony Classes begin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This past weekend I think we got an official start on ground work training sessions with Otto. T's schedule has been crazy lately with teaching and coaching but this weekend, he had time to help me. And I really need help with Otto and his ground work right now.<br />
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The goal: Leading and begining to learn the concept of a Lunge line<br />
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Our pasture is still icey in spots , but the 50 degree weather is quickly resolving that for us, now creating sloppy standing water in some spots where the ground is still frozen underneath so not exactly great for working a horse on. Fortunately, we live on a dead end road where there is a grave cul-de-sac with almost perfect footing. I did not want to take this training task on by myself because Otto is quite full of himself. I was concerned that he might jerk away from me and if he did, we could have a very scary situation. He could run a long ways , in multiple directions and no matter which way he went, he would ultimately end up on a road. Otto is pretty wild right now between spring, the hormones and just being a young healthy colt.<br />
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So how did it go?<br />
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Leading correctly:<br />
(this means next to the person, not behind them or in front of them or trying to pull away in the opposite direction)<br />
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T lead him over , through , and around various obstacles at hand, like the roadway ditch, a 2 foot pile of snow from plowing ( yes, we still have areas with that much snow) and various puddles . Otto had to pay attention to his feet and what T was asking or risk stumbling. Otto tends to either either surge ahead of the person or drags behind. The method of having Otto go through various types of footing or obstacles kept Otto better engage mentally than just walking along. Otto isn't good at keeping track of too many things at this point so if he has to focus on where he is putting his feet, he is less likely to be trying to do something naughty. It worked and within a few minutes Otto was was stopping when T stopped and walking ahead when T walked on.. and staying at T's side most of the time. Otto's attention span is much like a knat right now so keeping him focused for any length of time is alot to ask. We define success in small windows right now!<br />
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Lungeing.. I will just say this. It started out really ugly. T only asked for Otto to walk on the end of a longer than normal lead line.. about 14 feet. It seems that Otto knows about lungeing. If I had to guess, I would say he has probably been lunged in the past , but incorrectly. He is pretty sure that he is supposed to run around at the end of the line at Mach Chicken speed. There was a bit of leaping into the air, flinging his Araby head , rearing, and whole lot of other junvenile moments as T persistently and carefully requested Otto to seek another answer. I feared more than once he was going to jerk away from T's grasp. When he couldn't get his way, he would start trying to bite at the the lead rope under his chin. Biting = Frustration. It took some crafty timing on T's part with the flag, working between sending him forward (flag placed behind him or at the hocks, about where a lunge whip would eventually be) and slowing him down (flag coming forward in front of him). Eventually he was able to make one or two trips at the end of the lead rope , head down , in a walk. And I could stop holding my breath. I was probably turning blue and about to tip over.<br />
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When we finished all that, we went back to the barn and I groomed on him while T held him since he doesn't stand tied yet. I worked on picking up his feet. This is coming along really well because we have done alot of it. I groomed his belly, which he hates , but is learning to tolerate a little better each time.<br />
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What Otto doesn't seem to mind at all, and somewhat surprising, is the bow and arrow. Otto just stands there right next to T while he shoots his bow. In fact, T often has to chase Otto away so he can actually shoot without Otto becoming a target. At one point, T was shooting over Otto's back, from behind Otto. (yes, I do trust T's accuracy) Otto just stood there watching the arrows fly, seemingly facinated with the whole thing. T is now trying to covet Otto for his next archery horse given his acceptance of the whole thing. Meanwhile, Brego , who was supposed to be T's next archery horse, stands as far away as possible from the dreaded Bow. After 4 years, Brego still doesn't think too much of the Bow. Good thing I am cross training him for jumping. It appears we will be sharing horses for years to come.<br />
Now that spring is here and the days are longer, ( DST, I love you!) I have decided to enroll Otto in my hubby's groundwork program for the season. He's giving me a discounted price that I couldn't refuse.<br />
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Actually, I really, really, really wanted to be able to do all this ground work , colt starting on my own but I realize Otto needs to have some issues addressed first before I can feel comfortable being the one handling him for certain things at this point. Age has a funny way of humbling a person and making us realize we all have our strengths.<br />
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>>>>>Jonna swallows her pride>>>>><br />
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Otto's rearing and airs above ground to avoid doing what is asked is not safe for me. T is much better at keeping calm and working a horse through issues like this. I will continue to work Otto on other things like getting used to spray bottles, clippers, walking over rails, through water, over tarps, etc. but T will work out the other kinks. As hard as it is to accept that, I think it's best for everyone.<br />
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By season end, I want to have a different colt than I do now. One that I can easily lunge, lead, tie and pony without risk of him running away, rearing, or biting. It's not asking too much , is it??<br />
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Thursday is the first step to getting there.<br />
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Stay tuned!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-60681331159540127192015-03-04T11:08:00.002-08:002015-03-04T11:08:47.611-08:00Growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Otto has been in a new phase lately. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Last weekend, I had haltered him up and groomed on him a
bit. He seems to really enjoy this time and is mostly well behaved and happy to stand there with no nonsense mouthiness. Apparently his Pituitary gland is functioning as it should because he has
begun the shedding process in earnest. Longer days generally trigger that response and we
are slowing gaining daylight hours. Evening chores are no longer requiring
lights and a a head lamp. By the time I finished
grooming on him , I was well covered in a nice coat of horse hair. I do
love that his hair is so fine and soft. I just love his silky mane hair. So different than the coarse Morgan and Barb
hair! While grooming, I also noticed that his hooves had REALLY
grown since he was trimmed up last .When I checked my calendar, it had only
been a little over 3 weeks since T had last rasped on him. I was surprise at just
how long his feet were. So long in fact , that he had started to break out on
that damn right hind, on the inside. That right hind is going to be a thorn in my side ! That hoof is improving , but the shape of it
still drives me batty. He is still turned out and so he wears it more on the
inside. He gets alot of toe and it gets very pointy shaped as he gets longer. On the upside, his hooves are pretty concave . T went ahead and trimmed him up , fixed the broken out
quarter and made things a bit more balanced. The icing on the cake was that Otto was really really good. He had one “colt” moment where he
just couldn’t seem to get his legs sorted out to where he felt balanced and put up a
bit of a stink. Eventually we got it sorted out. For the VERY first time, T was able to
hold his Ottos feet between his knees so he could actually nip. Another first! There was enough growth that he could nip
without risking any soreness. </div>
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By god, we might finally be making progress on
those hooves, which reminds me that I need to do a bunch of photos of his hooves. (put it on the weekend chore list, because it's going to hit 50 degrees..woo hoo!) I would like to
track the changes over the next several months. I wish I had taken some already!!
Keep meaning to.. but never quite get there.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyways, we are pretty sure that with all the hoof growth he
has definitely hit another growth phase. T noticed he was able to be a lot more
upright when trimming his feet as well. And…..<o:p></o:p></div>
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Otto, maybe even more indicative of growth is that he has been doing an awful lot of this these days:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Can you see him??</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJGGjP6SKAck5PcXmVzNhNkeDZbXYjgS2sxQUS2xMQmjwCU7B5g57NCTltMAykn1TVQ-dRKI72Rbrw6wLxoiZo295OuxOWJCZ7L0A8s3wcouMNacxpkteC3sxUhu41gXIqQgSI3GoLno/s1600/2015-03-04+11.43.36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJGGjP6SKAck5PcXmVzNhNkeDZbXYjgS2sxQUS2xMQmjwCU7B5g57NCTltMAykn1TVQ-dRKI72Rbrw6wLxoiZo295OuxOWJCZ7L0A8s3wcouMNacxpkteC3sxUhu41gXIqQgSI3GoLno/s1600/2015-03-04+11.43.36.png" height="320" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best napping spot,, under the old Larch tree.. </td></tr>
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I am not talking typical horse naps.. I am talking hour or
more long flat out deep sleeping.. The
most I have seen him stay down like this is for about 3 hours. I went out
to check him a couple of times to make sure he was still breathing! Poor Kid is exhausted these days!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Often times, Otto and Cassidy will lay down together.
Cassidy will only stay laying down for maybe 45 minutes to an hour at most,
then gets up and leaves Otto on his own. Otto eventually wakes up , looks
around to find himself all alone, and eventually gets up to go find his buddy
and resume munching away at hay. Good thing we don’t have a predator problem.
Otto would be in trouble. His buddy isn’t too good with the lookout duties. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, the weather is going to be improving over the next several days and the melting should resume around here. It won't be long and he will be rip roaring around the place once again. </div>
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-62323608626403107152015-02-26T13:56:00.000-08:002015-02-26T13:56:01.934-08:00Post Poned<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So we had the big DAY scheduled for Otto for next Tuesday. I was never so happy!<br />
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Castration day....<br />
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Things were melting nicely because we have been in the 40's with plenty of sun. It looked promising that the footing would be suitable enough to be able to exercise him which is key for the first week. But the weather changed in the last couple of days . It got much colder and the melting has all but ceased. We had to cancel the appt and wait a little while longer..<br />
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Castration can be done three ways. Open, Closed or Semi Closed. Otto will be having an Open castration procedure which means there are no stitches. Just like the name says.. the incision is left open. Most horses that are older and have been a stallion longer, or have other complications, are better candidates for closed or semi closed procedures. JB had to be a closed procedure because he had well, uh, ...big ones.. and the vet felt it was best to stitch things up..<br />
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I won't get into the gory details of the actual Open Procedure but the post operative care requires keeping the wound open and draining, which is crucial for proper healing. All in all, for the first week of so, it's a mess. Usually there is a fair amount of drainage and along with that, comes the scalding on the inside of the legs. Keeping things sponged and cleaned is part of the post operative care. It also helps to keep the inside of his legs lathered in Petroleum Jelly to help increase comfort and minimize scalding.<br />
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It's been in the 30's and low 40's. I don't think any horse would appreciate being sponged twice a day down there, even if it is with warm water..I have not had a chance to introduce Otto to sponging or water but I am going to guess he won't like it. Waiting until temps are a bit warmer might be to my benefit.<br />
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Keeping the wound open...<br />
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The key thing here is EXERCISE.. not just walking around the pasture exercise because that isn't sufficient. It will require forced exercise like trotting for 20 minutes twice a day or more. Otto will be sore and reluctant to move. Normally, the recommendation is to lunge or pony in order to get enough exercise to keep the wound open.<br />
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Otto hasn't exactly learned to do either.. and trying to teach him to do those two things while he is miserable probably isn't a good plan.<br />
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This is where the decision to post pone came in. In order to exercise him, I am basically going to have to chase him around the arena or pasture . Too much ice for that. Had we stayed on the melting path, we might have been able to get by but now that everything is frozen hard again, I can't risk him falling and injuring himself.<br />
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So we wait.. and wait ...<br />
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I am going to bake a celebratory cake for the day when it actually happens!!!<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9029266190277669434.post-21738242527638072522015-02-25T14:48:00.005-08:002015-02-25T14:49:25.241-08:00Every Horse Owners Dream??? NOT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm a classified ad, craigslist junky. I don't know why. I have always been that way. Maybe something I got from Dad , who was always looking for a deal. I watch craigslist and a variety of other classified ads , including a variety of FB groups that have stuff for sale. Someday, they will probably have a support group for people like me.<br />
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Crazy or not, I have sold and bought some great things. Part of the attraction is finding a steal I guess.<br />
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I think I also do it for it sheer entertainment value. People post some crazy stuff out there..<br />
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Every now and then I see things that I just can't believe my own eyes at what I am reading. And then I have to re- read.. and maybe re- read again.. and then stop myself from responding because I can't believe what I am reading!!!<br />
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Lots of people lease horses out. It can be a win win , in the right situation. As a horse owner, if I were looking for a home to lease my horse to, I am pretty sure I would steer clear of this person who posted this ad.... unless ofcourse you want your horse to come back a total nut case..<br />
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Ok , humor me... (I can't help myself ...)<br />
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Dear Poster: Experienced Horse Owner?? really???<br />
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Let me try to understand then..<br />
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You mention the "likes to run" part a couple of times. Clearly, you like to gallop a horse and this is your main interest. Heck, who doesn't, but c'mon.. do you think that spending most of your time galloping your horse is going to be the best choice for the horses state of mind?? You did say your experienced so you MUST know that galloping a horse alot kinda makes most horses a bit , shall we say, crazy???? The Pony Express stopped running in Montana a very long time ago.. Maybe you would be better off to try out as a jockey at a racetrack?? They run alot there.<br />
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And age doesn't matter?? Again, REALLY??? So you mean that if someone sends you their 25 year old arthritic old gelding to you to "give it some exercise", or worse yet, their 2 year old to 'get wet saddle blankets and miles", your good with that?? Nothing good is going to come from that.<br />
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You have conditions as well I see. You don't want a horse that is a bolter or bucker.. I don't blame you.. it sucks to have to ride horses that have those terrible habits...<br />
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Surely the owner of the unsuspecting horse will get back alot more than they bargained for with this deal... I can just see the owner now , scratching his head and saying...<br />
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<i>" I can't understand it..... Brownie wasn't a bolter or bucker when we sent him to you????"</i><br />
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What about you, the rider? What if during one of your Pony express tryout moments you fall off and break your neck..??? The owner of the horse is going to feel terrible and worse, the horse will likely be the bad guy and maybe wind up at the auction.. because he was too "dangerous"... a real bronc... untrainable.. crazy... blah, blah, blah...Or what if the horse steps in a gopher hole, and breaks his leg.. and ultimately loses his life because of your negligence?? Not really fair if you ask me..<br />
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(Why am I seeing a Fergus the Horse cartoon emerge out of this????)<br />
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Is it just me or can you think of a thousand reasons why this scenario could end badly for horse and rider.. I am pretty sure this person is the absolute antithesis of the kind of appropriate leasee I would be looking for..and probably MOST horse owners.. but there are people who won't or don't know better.. <br />
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I surely hope no one sends their poor unsuspecting horse to this person. I really do..<br />
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<rant over=""></rant><br />
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Now, I am going to go ride my horse, quietly and safely...<br />
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Jonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11455369648954700046noreply@blogger.com0