Yellow Light

The super rides continued all week until Saturday, when she warmed up fine and then had a good sized spook at the scary corner of the ring (every ring has a scary corner!). I sent her forward and immediately thought she felt a bit odd. I asked someone else who was also riding what she thought and she said she also thought Lucy looked NQR, but there was no real "lameness" and no head-bob. I think she just tweaked something but I opted to play it very safe, so I cooled her out and put her away after a date with the hose. It was warm that day and she seemed to like the water. She even tried to drink it right out of the hose.

My plan was to ride today to see how she felt after a two day break, but it has turned out to be kind of a hectic day so realistically, I may not be able to ride.

My friend Cassie brought her horse Wind to the farm for a little two week tune up with Maddy. I am really excited to have them there! Maddy's horse is down at another farm for the two weeks getting his own tune up with the cowboy that re-started him last year. It's kind of like a game of musical ponies, but it's nice that all the horses are getting a good foundation on them for what will hopefully pan out to be a fun year!

Maddy and I are planning on going to a hunter pace in a couple of weeks. I'm very excited. I hope Lucy behaves herself.

Thank you for all the nice Mother's Day wishes yesterday :) I had a wonderful day. My parents visited and took us out to lunch and then we all hung out at the house. Here's a photo of my mum, myself, and Hannah:

Tiny Monstrosities: The War of 2012

NEVER have I had as many issues with bugs as I'm having this year. The barn she is at backs right up to the trail system that we love so much, which happens to be quite swampy. This means there is no shortage of flying, biting insects. Short of hiring someone to stand in her paddock and karate-chop any big flies that were trying to eat her, I was out of ideas to protect her. I tried spot treatments, I tried switching fly sprays, and finally after getting to the barn one day last week and finding Lucy being tortured by a huge bomber fly, I realised that I had to get her a fly sheet.


This wouldn't be an issue for most people but I have protested the use of fly sheets for years. I have seen bugs get under them and the horse can't escape and I think Lucy would genuinely injure herself if that happened to her. Still, I figured it was worth a try. Enter this eyesore:

This has actually worked pretty well, except for the days when it has been super hot and very humid, because she sweats so badly under it. Today was in the mid 80's and when I went to ride, she was completely dry under it. Once it hits the 90's, though, I don't put it on.

So, ok, great. This solved the turnout problem. But what if I want to go out for a trail ride? I can't ride her with her cape on. Enter this contraption:

"oh my god."

This is the Bug Out Riding Hood. Though it's not beautiful, I found out tonight that it works really, really well. It has very fine netting that she can see out of easily. It covers her head and most of her neck, including her ears. The bugs normally attack the top of her neck on either side of her mane and tonight on our trail ride, she didn't act like they were bothering her at all. They were landing on her in droves and trying to bite, but beside the occasional ear flick, she seemed very content!

unsuccessful biting attempt :D

Western saddle, running shorts, and sneakers...oh my.

We trail rode all through the woods, past the swampy area, around the lake, and through tall grass. She was fine the entire time. Cairo, on the other hand, got chewed up pretty badly. Poor thing :(

Heaven.

So I will call this a success!


On a side note, thank you for all the sweet comments about Cassie. We are taking it one day at a time and making sure she is comfortable. It seems our idea of what could happen if one of the tumors burst wasn't quite accurate according to a second opinion so we may be able to have more time with her. It kills me to not be home right now, but I know my parents are giving her all my love.

life just won't slow down.

Once again my blog (and my horse) have been neglected. I get the feeling that there just aren't enough hours in the day at least once per day, every day of the week. I have ridden just a handful of times due to work and the heat, which up until yesterday has been outrageous. Lauren has still been riding diligently, at least!

This is a video from tonight's ride:

I am SO out of shape but I am really happy with Lucy.

I am heavily distracted now because my beloved Golden Retriever, Cassie, whom I picked out of her litter 16 years ago, has been diagnosed with very advanced cancer all in her lungs and bones. She lives with my parents in MA so I only get to see her every so often. I got the news on Wednesday and the vet who saw her said she had 3 months to live. Then our vet, along with a family friend who is also a vet, looked at the x-rays and recommended that we put her down within the next two weeks because her condition is much worse than the original vet thought. This comes as such a shock. She is the sweetest, most happy dog. Even though she has probably been in terrible pain for quite some time, she always wants to snuggle and she always has a smile on her face. This type of cancer can rupture and cause the animal a horrific death and as a family, we have decided to put her down so she doesn't have to endure that end, even if we may get more time with her if we wait. To me, the risk of her dying a horrible death is not worth getting a few more weeks with her.

I have known this was coming for some time - she's 16, which is an impressive age for a Golden and the adult in me knows they don't live forever, but the reality that it is happening in the very near future has left me reeling.