vacation: DONE

I've been hand walking Lucy for the better part of a week. She went from perfect angel to downright terror on the ground. She is extremely pushy and cannot walk around the outdoor without having explosions every ten feet or so. Spooking at a leaf, or nothing at all, wasn't just a small affair; it involved a giant overreaction complete with rushing around, butt tucked under, and showing the whites of her eyes.

I have approximately ZERO tolerance for this nonsense but at the same time, I didn't want to get all down and dirty with her because I didn't want her irritating her tendon. Then she got turned out on grass for a few hours one day. She was happily eating grass until some horses returned from a trail ride. She got excited and was a nutcase, leaping through the air and bucking, running in circles, sliding stops…my poor barn owner was not impressed and I had to spend a lot of time fixing the divots in the grass out there. However, her legs looked just as cold and tight after all that excitement as they did before, and I started to realize that putting her back in some light work wasn't going to break her.

Another thing I noticed is that she seemed to be very depressed. Her appetite has gone way down - before the accident, she was eating a bale of hay per day. Now I'm lucky if I can get half a bale into her. She has dropped a bit of weight and Maddy reported that she spent a good chunk of time standing in the middle of her paddock with her head down, looking dull and sad the other day. Fearing she wasn't feeling well, I gave her a dose of Banamine and checked in on her later that night, but all systems seemed to be working fine. I hope that getting her job back will bring her spirits up.

Last night I lunged her for the first time. I debated drugging her and trying to ride, but I am still missing one of my stirrup leathers/irons from the initial incident. Word on the street is that a neighbor picked it up the morning that she got loose, but I haven't been able to track that neighbor down to see if he has it. I'm sorry but there's no way in hell that I am getting on that horse without two stirrups. Though I am really not a fan of lunging, I am also not a fan of dying so this is the lesser of the two evils.

She started out exceedingly naughty on the lunge line, and each time she acted out, the radius of her circle decreased so I would have more control over her and she would have less opportunity to be bad. When she was being good, I gradually let the line out so that she could have more room (and there would be less stress on her legs). Within about ten minutes she was doing a lovely floaty SOUND trot with her nose on the ground. Her breathing steadied and she started actually listening to me.

When we were done, I unclipped the lunge line and she happily pranced off to find the perfect spot to roll. She rolled on both sides and had a look of bliss on her little horsey face. I cooled her out, cleaned out her stifle wound really well, cold hosed her legs, and treated them with poultice. I left them unwrapped overnight but this morning everything looked peachy. There was no heat, no swelling, and to the naked eye they looked completely normal. I ran my fingers down the right front and there was just the tiniest bump, almost undetectable. So that is really great news!

a happier Lu getting some ice wrap therapy

 I don't know when I will finally get back on her, obviously once the stirrup leather is recovered, maybe over the weekend, or next week? But I am glad I let her get some kicks out before attempting anything under saddle. She is one athletic beast, let me tell you.

She is about a week overdue for shoes - I had to cancel her farrier appointment because the vet did not think she could tolerate standing on three legs for the farrier to do his work. However, I think the tendon is more than strong enough to handle that now, and her stifle injury is healing well, so I called and made an appointment. I warned the farrier that he may have to do those two legs in stages if she has a hard time keeping them up, especially that hind leg, but he is a super guy and assured me that he would take his time and be patient with her.

Kenny and I were able to take our family photo for this year's Christmas card and she thankfully cooperated for that! Good thing because I was wearing heels and it is a little bit difficult to manage a fresh horse with heels on.

Also, Cairo got her photo taken at a local dog specialty store, because the proceeds were going to benefit the local animal rescue league. She was a really good girl! The photographer said she had been waiting all day for a dog to come in who would tolerate wearing the Santa hat.

"I had better get a million cookies for this!!"

pony rides

My little three year old nephew is here visiting this weekend with his mom (Kenny's older sister), his dad, and his baby sister. He is a huge fan of cowboys and recently went to a petting zoo where there were ponies, and decided he loves ponies. Then my sister-in-law told him that when they came to visit, he would see Lucy, and she said he was so excited. Well, today was the day they arrived and as soon as I got out of work, I drove to the barn to meet them there so that he could see Lucy.

Lucy gently lipped carrots from his tiny hands, stood stock still while he brushed her, and even gave him a pony ride (with me holding on to him of course!). I was really proud of her - she knew she had precious cargo! His mom, dad, and Kenny were all close-by in case anything went wrong, but she was extra careful and very quiet. As soon as he got off, I jumped her around a bit and she was kind of a terror, but she didn't put a foot wrong while he was aboard. What a good girl.

explaining how to steer

because I was holding onto the kid with one hand, I had to basically
neck-rein to steer...and she did GREAT! I was like, hey, where did you
learn that?!

the jumps were already set up in the ring and he said at one point,
"let's do some jumps!"

um, sorry, that may have to wait til next week ;)

also, what is going on with my stirrups?!?! one is at least 2" longer than
the other.

actually here my stirrups look ok...maybe I was just sitting way off-centre?

these photos don't accurately convey the 'tude I got from her, but at least
she jumped well!

Thankful

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I celebrated Christmas with my own family last weekend, and today I am on Long Island, New York with my fiance to celebrate Christmas with his family. Lucy will be enjoying a lovely Christmas mash for dinner tonight thanks to the wonderful people I do the co-op program with at my barn. All the horses are privately owned, but we feel as though they're all our "babies" and spoil them accordingly. Thank you to all the other boarders at my barn who have welcomed Kenny, Lucy, and I so warmly!

Santa was very generous this year, and I can't wait to get back to RI to put the new nameplate I got onto Lucy's halter. I also got a gorgeous drawing table that I have been wanting for a while :D, along with some warm clothes and a great book about equine massage.

Never would I have thought this time last year that I'd have my own horse after years of dreaming about it. Here are a few things I am thankful for:

I am so thankful to have an amazing mare. After having Lucy in my life for less than two months, I couldn't ask for a better horse. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know I am head over heels for Lucy, but I truly cannot believe how lucky I am to have found her.

I am also thankful to have a family who supports my horse addiction, even if they think I'm nuts! I was so touched that my parents took a whole day to come meet their grandpony.

Kenny, my fiance, has been so amazing and supportive. I feel so complete with him and Lucy, like we're a little family (we'll eventually add human kids to the mix, but not for a while!!). He helps me with the barn when it's my day to do stalls, and I know he adores our pony just as much as I do! To top it all off, he is a pretty good rider!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, surrounded by those they love. Give your ponies a kiss for me!

A visit from the grandparents

Today was a successful ride because my parents came to see Lucy and I did not die. That right off the bat is success in my book! But in addition, we got some great progress in the canter, i.e. steering while cantering. She is way too nimble and intelligent, though. She has figured out that while going around in a circle, if she wants to switch direction, she just changes her lead (I have NOT taught her to do that!) and then drags me to the outside. This caused us to have a few "discussions" but by the end of the ride I was just giving her ridiculous outside support around the circle with my outside leg and I was not letting my outside shoulder collapse, and she seemed to understand that these cues meant "stay on the damn circle, horse!".

I rode her for about half an hour and as always, ended on a good note. She was really hot, anyway. It was almost 70 degrees here today and very muggy, and of course she's halfway done growing a winter coat. My friend Samera had come to watch me ride also (as had Jenny...I love that my friends are interested in meeting my horse!!) and she asked if she could have a pony ride. I figured as long as I was leading Lucy it would be ok. She was pretty tired so I couldn't imagine her doing anything stupid, so Samera got a leg up and we just walked around in a little circle, then she hopped off. I untacked Lucy, brushed her out, and we all went on a walk to cool out down the road. My parents brought Cassie with them and so the dog was happy that she got to go for a little walk.

A video from today.

Photos:

impromptu horse show

When I got home from the barn last night I had a FB message from one of the barn moms that they were having a mini show at the barn this morning, and would I like to participate? I was like sure, why not!

I was a bit worried because we are in the middle of quite a big rain storm and the horses were turned out for half a day yesterday and not at all today. I pulled Lucy out of her stall, quickly groomed and tacked her up, and got on without letting her get some energy out first. Before today, every time I have ridden her she's had at least 20 minutes to move freely in either the outdoor or the indoor, but there were people already riding in the indoor by the time I got to the barn so I couldn't do that. This was also her first time as far as I know being ridden in a ring with a bunch of horses. Five horses and riders participated in the "show" so basically I was asking her to behave without having been turned out or warmed up in an indoor with four other horses. That's quite a lot for a three year old TB brain to handle.

There were four classes: equitation, pleasure, hunter under saddle, and a dressage test. Keep in mind this was all in good fun. Our "pleasure" class was not exactly pleasurable, BUT I did feel confident enough in her to let her canter with everyone else and she did great!!! Everyone was so shocked at how well she behaved. It's really asking a lot of her to be ridden with a bunch of other horses going past her but also asking at the same time that she stays slow and steady. She's been taught her entire racing career to run fast and win, and here I'm telling her to let the other horses pass her and not get upset. She was such a good girl.

We called it a day after those classes because we ended on a really positive note, and she was getting quite strong. She got a nice grooming, a bit of massage, and lots of cookies. Once she was all cooled out she got a lot of nice fresh hay and some snuggles, and then I had to head out.

My parents are driving down tomorrow to meet Lucy. They are bringing my dog and I think a few of my friends want to come over and meet her, too. I am really excited to show her off. I think everyone will love her. Maybe we will take her for a walk around the field that's down the street. My mum actually asked to come and meet her...she said (and I quote!) "I really want to meet my new grandpony!" LOL!!