I was in a Derby!

I was in a derby!!!! But it was on Lola...
By the next on in October Bear will be the horse choice, I'm sure! I have big plans for him this year!
In the mean time, check out our awesome success on Lola's blog...

<--- click there...

or go here:

http://mytrainingproject.blogspot.com/

Bear takes the back seat... as usual

Bear gets the lush pasture of spring grass while Lola does all the work. When I put it that way, Lola is getting the raw end of the deal! I, however, can't help but feel guilty for not balancing the two.

We're doing lot's of fun stuff with Lola, but writing about it on her blog means this one has seriously dwindled over the last year too. I am a worrier and a guilt traveler (a guilt trip only works if you take that trip, right?). I am a sucker for guilt trips. If there isn't someone around to give me a guilt trip, I misread peoples comments to make it into a guilt trip (my poor fiance is so patient with me!), and when that fails, I just create my own guilt trips for myself because I am not perfect and I cannot live up to my unrealistic training expectations while working full time. There of course being the catch 22, because I can't afford the horses without working full time!

So I move on, and do what I can, and every so often I call myself out on it! So here I am again, justify (to myself) why I haven't completely ruined my horse through my neglectful behavior.

He is happy! He has two acres of pasture to play in. He's always cared for, vaccinated, wormed, and trimmed. He's gets excellent care.

He is already off to a good start. He just turned five and he has more training on him than some horses get their whole lives. By starting him early we opened up his options, I can take him trail riding, alone, with friends, or with completely new horses. I can take him to canter across the big open beach at the lake. Some horses are never under control enough to do that! He can put up with a beginner rider! Probably 10 years down the road I will be so happy that I gave him such low impact/ low stress miles in the beginning. Whatever happens to him physically later one I'm just going to blame myself for anyway! So I guess this is a blessing to have one less item of guilt later.

Its spring, and he's full of it. That's the decision I've made on the uncomfortable or naughty debate. We went for another walk last Saturday. I tacked him up and walked about 15 minutes then rode the rest. He was perfectly fine. He seemed happy, and he was relaxed. It helped that I convinced the whole entourage to come with us! My fiance came and walked our dog, my dad walked their crazy energetic German Shepherd, and my mom walked the old mare (who was THRILLED to get to come along, and was out walking my mom!). Even walking back up the big hill with me on him he seemed comfortable and no signs of head tossing as he tried to push himself and my weight up the incline.

I think the chiro work has done its job. I think Bear needs to get down to business to get this head tossing/half rears in check. I fee like this spring will give us a chance to slowing move back into working condition through trail riding, and this summer maybe we can get back into training mode. Its time I asked more of him on the flat, and this is his year to get started over fences.

He's got a bright future ahead of him. I think its ok that he's not there yet, we still have time.

Updates...

Well the old mare pulled through. The vet came out for a follow up visit later that week and basically said that she had muscle soreness all across that right side, as well as a bit of swelling in the tendon on that leg. She's made a good recovery though and she is back to her perky little self. She even ran around a bit last weekend, and when I went out to stop her, she pranced and snorted at me! Looks like she's back to normal.

The trailer is fine, it was all covered by insurance. Its not the prettiest trailer, but as the guy at the shop pointed out, it wasn't that pretty to start with! Thanks... I know its not shiny and new, but its MINE. This is what it looked like going in... Plus the sun roof/vent was totally busted. Now at least it doesn't leak! I'll post pictures as soon as I get back out there. (It's been so rainy that I have been sticking to the barn when I'm out, it was even SNOWING when I picked the trailer up!)

Bear is still not quite himself. The wet pasture hasn't helped. The second chiro visit was good news. Basically he seemed much better, so that means two good things, he was better after only two, AND that an improvement after one helps to show that it is something physical (that can be corrected by chiropractic) and not something systemic or neurological that wouldn't have responded quickly. The vet basically prescribed a slow rehab back into work. So far that has meant taking him for walks down the back roads since everything else is too wet to give good footing. We've only been doing in hand work because the first day out he spooked and lost both feet out behind him! I though, well if he wasn't injured before, he probably is now! He seemed fine when I made it out there the next week (darn rain) no lameness at walk or trot. I hopped on in the pasture and he was crabby and defiant under saddle. I don't know if it is attitude or pain. He might be getting a little more cantankerous with age, but based on his character I think its more likely he's in pain or afraid to move around under my weight with the bad footing. So for now we'll play it safe and take our long walks down the road. I think next time I'll tack him up and see if I can't get on and ride a bit once he's had 15 minutes to warm up.

That was my plan for yesterday, but Monday night after walking him I started throwing up when I got home, now I'm down and out with the stomach flu. I am looking forward to longer days, sunshine, and actually getting out to see my ponies!

A week of being too close to death...

Last week was not what it was supposed to be...

I had the dentist/chiro out on Tuesday. Good news for Bear and Lola... good news meaning Bear had some stuff clearly out of alignment, so hopefully his issues will go away with chiro care and he won't spend the rest of his life being a clutz. Their teeth looked good, AND the vet tells me Lola is a year YOUNGER than I was told when I bought her. Bonus!

Then we got the old mare... she needed extra sedation and two infected teeth had to be extracted. No fun for anyone. Plus I had volunteered to pay for it, and the extra work cost QUITE a bit extra.

It got so late that I didn't want to take Lola back to boarding that night, and put it off for another night. I was all set to go out on Wednesday, pick her up, tack up at the barn, and have my fiancé get some good video of us. But when I got to the house the old mare was down. She got up after a bit. But she didn't seem right. She was stomping her back legs and backing up. I went down to check on her, and she seemed alright so I thought she may have been stiff. I hooked up the trailer, pulled it down to the driveway, and before I could load Lola, the old mare went down again. Not a good sign.

And so the night began... 8 hours of stress and anxiety, numerous vet phone calls, a dose of bute, an hour of walking, one poop (YEAH!), a dose of banamine, lots of monitoring her laying down to keep her laying quietly and not rolling, one vet's opinion to either get her to an intensive care for all night monitoring or put her to sleep, a frantic call to our regular vet for a second opinion, a midnight ranch call from said vet, lots of oil down her nose, and one last shot of "stuff" to help, and she finally thought about eating a little. I went home relieved that we hadn't had to put her down, but not convinced that she'd make it through the night.

This mare was my mom's 40th birthday present to herself. She always wanted to own a horse, the one she bought at 18 tried to kill her, numerous times. And yet she bought a very hot arab at the age of 4o... She basically became one of the horses that I grew into. We did all sorts of stuff together, and she became my primary horse once my show mare developed terrible arthritis my first year of high school. So I did some trail trials and endurance on my hardy little arab. She was the horse that I could come home to while in college, and jump on bareback with just a halter and canter circles in the pasture. She was a HUGE part in training Bear. She was such a trooper to come out of retirement to pony around the naughty and frisky young thing that he was. We've owned her for 17 years now. She's a huge part of the family. I was a wreck at work the next day, I kept expecting the call... the one telling me to come out quick because the vet's coming back to put her down.

She did make it through the night, but with all the getting up and laying down (and by laying down I really just mean "choosing a place to fall" because she was so weak that night) she somehow hurt her ankle. She's hardly putting weight on it, holding it out in front, and limping terribly. So now that she's pulled through the colic, she's having to have this injury evaluated. I still can't let myself believe she's out of the woods.

So with all this terrible news, I was understandably edgy when I got a voicemail from the barn owner where I keep Lola. I was so relieved that it wasn't another life or death horse emergency that my first reaction was to laugh when I hear that A TREE HAD FALLEN ON MY TRAILER!!!! Well after seeing it, I'm not laughing. Not what I need just when I'm hoping to gear up with a full schedule of lesson, schooling off site, and showing. I can't afford a new trailer. I'm hoping for the best, and sort of planning for the worst. If the repairs cost more than 70% of the value, it's considered a total loss. I'm not sure I can replace it for what I'll get. I can't justify buying a new one now. I'm not ready to lose my horse trailering independence.

The old mare's name is Lacey. I don't think I've ever said her name... it was just such fun to call her the old mare: a background character in the story of Bear. Truth it she has been a huge influence on my riding, and my life. So I think I might take some time to tell her story too.

Vet should be out tomorrow. We'll see what there is to say about the leg.

Happy Birthday Bear!

My spotty valentine is five years old today. This year he has to quit playing and get a real job!

Reunited...

Yesterday I hooked up the trailer at the barn, loaded up Lola, and then swung past my parent's house to pick up Bear. He was super excited to see a trailer pull up, and proceeded to gallop up and down the hill in the lower pasture. This was fine by me, as I was hoping he'd take the edge off his spunkiness before I put the finacé up there!

I caught him, through him in the trailer, and the finacé and I set off for a trail ride! It was the perfect day for it, we just didn't have much time. Both horses were hot and sweaty when we pulled them out of the trailer. It is unseasonably warm, Bear had been running around, and Lola had been probably nervously sweating in the trailer not able to fully see what all the commotion was about, so it was understandable. It didn't change the fact that it felt weird to take up sweaty horses!

They both settled in pretty well once we got up the first hill. I wish we could have done the whole trail, but the day just didn't allow for it. We at least got them out. They weren't crazy or too attached about being together again. I was surprised how fit Lola was compared to Bear, but he really is a weekend pony at the moment, so it makes sense.

When we got back to my parents we had to take off right away for a dinner, so Lola stayed for a sleepover. I knew I'd have to split them up later to feed that night, but I turned them both out to pasture while we were out to dinner, and they were just adorable. They ran around... sided by side, ate grass... side by side, stood to watch each other roll their sweaty back in the grass. They were the picture of perfect contentment. It will be heartbreaking to separate them again today, but Bear needs to be out in pasture, and Lola needs spring grass limited and daily supplements given. Plus they were getting too dependent on each other, and I think the separation will allow me to more easily take them out alone to shows and such.

They will get a repeat of this horsey sleepover next weekend. I have the farrier coming Friday night and the dentist/chiro coming Saturday morning, so I'll be consolidating the horses to one property for the appointments.

Alright, enough thinking about horses, time to go do something with them!

Plans and Goals FAIL!

How ironic that the last post was about plans and goals... this one is all about busy-ness and pasture vacation!

After deciding that the mud ocean that was their pen had become unacceptable I started looking, once again, for a place to keep two horses. I didn't find it. Lola needs certain things, Bear just needs to be dry and turned out. Lola moved to a stall at a place with an indoor arena. Bear moved back to my parent's house. It was good timing really. I am SO busy at work (9-12 hour days). He's SO happy in pasture. Really my parents have the ideal set up. Two half acre pastures to rotate back and forth, a large 1/4 acre pen with a huge shelter, another horse to keep him company, and the put up with his antics. They have refused to unblanket daily, but I don't blame them, what a pain. Not that it matters right now since its cold enough to leave on all day. Then when it warms up I'll just switch to the sheet so that it won't be too hot during the day.

Needless to say, he hasn't been doing much. We did have a fantastic trail ride with the gal that bred and sold him to me! He's certainly grown up since she saw him last! The trail was great, it was a clear bright day, and we had a blast. We also got to do lots of crazy water crossings with all the rain that's been coming down! So we had a good time, and I definitely want to head out there again.

I couldn't get a picture with my phone, but somehow I got some video! New phones... ugh.

Silly, I know...

Bottom line: Bear is happy a clam. I don't feel guilty. He's only 5 minutes away from Lola's barn. So this weekend I'll pick him up on the way to the trails and try a Bear-Lola reunion so that I can take my fiancé out for a ride. We're all happy, and, for now, we all have just what we need. What a good feeling.