I bought the most comfortable breeches ever. They are black, lined with fleece, and I got them on sale for $30. I have been wearing them since I was at the barn at 3:00. I think I will even sleep in them! I also bought a nice, fluffly fleece girth for Andy, since his leather 50" one is too long. Since the one I have now is way long, I got a 46". I ripped the tags off and went to put it on and...Too short! Arg! I am such an idiot. I thought for sure that 4" shorter would be perfect. Nope. I can't return a dirty, tagless piece of tack, but fortunately it will fit LB. Right now she has a crummy, dirty string girth. I checked, and it is a 46". This actually isn't too bad, because the polo team recently asked me if I had LB's tack. hahah, what space cases. Where else would it be? So I think they'll be wanting it back, so she does need a new girth. But if the polo club wants her stuff back, they gotta work for it. If they want it, they can come to Hillsboro and get it from me.

My foot is interesting colors. Thanks a lot Andy!

I realized on Sunday that I had brought Andy home exactly a year ago. To celebrate, I brought him a delicious, expensive honeycrisp apple. Apparently, he does not like that particular type of apple, and he spit it out. What a diva. I guess his name is Prince Hellstrom, so he's pretty stuck up. I fed the rest to LB, who was sort of on the fence about it, but she is a food vacuum, so she ended up eating it all.

When I went out I was going to long-line him and work on some softening from the ground, as stirrups + my purple foot = ouch. When I got to the barn one of the little girls, Grace, was riding her pony in the arena, so I decided not to. Sometimes he does buck and screw around on the long line, so I figured I wouldn't. Mel told me how Grace wanted to fall off of her horse so she wouldn't have to canter on her lesson on Friday. Poor girl! I've been there before, when I wanted to fall off and get hurt to get out of playing in a polo match that was totally above my head. I did end up falling off, but not getting hurt enough to get out of playing. But good for Grace, she got the rhythm of cantering during her lesson and I saw her canter when I was riding in there. Hahah, ponies. She rides the cutest little black pony, jazz, and she had to kick it so hard to get it to trot. That makes me appreciate having a really forward, sensitive horse. If I kicked Andy like that he would be in the next county over before I could blink.

So I wound up riding with my newly acquired bareback pad. I love it! It made his narrow back so much more comfortable, and the oh-shit handle made me much less worried about rough stops. I am happy to report that I have now cantered Andy bareback! So exciting. Three years ago I could not canter LB without stirrups. Now I can canter on Andy bareback. We've come a long way baby.

This just in- I have bones of steel! My foot is not broken, thank God, because the doctor would have put it in a cast for weeks if it was! I was pretty worried, as it was an ugly shade of purple and huge this morning. My mom, dad, and the doctor I saw at Urgent Care thought that there was a fracture, seeing how ugly it looked, but the doctor didn't see anything on the X-ray, so I am good to go! Well, unless the radiologist sees something, but cross my fingers that won't happen. As it is, I'm suppose to be on crutches til Saturday, but I hate crutches and the only ones I have are way too big for me and hurt my arm pits, so I am just hobbling along. I'm probably not suppose to ride for a while, but I have a ton of homework for Kandice and Sara, so I think I'll get back on Saturday with my stiff calf boots. I recited the whole RICE acronym to the doctor (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) and told her that I am rider, so I have plenty of experience. She got a kick out of that.

On the subject of my bones made of steel, I seriously think that they are infused with adamantium, a la Wolverine. This is like the third time when I've gotten hurt and the doctors told me they thought I had a fracture, but I X-rayed clear. Most curious, especially seeing as how I don't drink milk unless it's in coffee, and my vitamin D levels are always low. I must just have a great skeletal system. Not to worry, my crappy tendons make up for it!

At my lesson today Sara said that Andy is looking really good. He's building muscles in his butt and topline, gaining weight, and looking nice and shiny. His trot and canter have also really improved. She asked me if I was interested in showing, to which I said "Hell yes!" So I'm going to a schooling at her barn during winter (February I think). Her goal for me is to make it to the ODS Adult Team Show in May. YAY! I was going to broach the topic of showing with her this lesson anyways, and get her opinion on whether or not we'd be ready this year. She thinks it's a great idea. So now I have trainer approval. I am dressage-show bound! I'm not so sure about jumping shows though. That might have to wait a year or so! I am so thrilled that I started working with Sara. Andy and I needed it. She's very focused on turning Andy in a dressage horse, and a little less focused on my riding, which is great. It's what we really need. We'll learn together.

I had a really good lesson on Callie on Tuesday. We spent the whole lesson refining my jumping position. Kandice had me subtly adjusting my two-point at w/t/c, and doing transitions in half-seat as well. Freaking tough work! Can I just say that I need some serious core muscles? She told me that when I go from posting to two-point, my shoulders should be in the same position. Holy abs/back muscles Batman! I am the queen of slumping my shoulders forward. It's probably from years of poor posture. Will work on that. Callie was being really responsive, so Kandice had me work on extending and lengthening at the trot, then collecting back up again. It was so cool how I could really feel the difference!

In other news, a sweaty and displeased Andy completely stomped my foot after my lesson today. I was picking his back hoof when he jerked it out of my hands and slammed it back down to the ground- right onto my foot. It hurt so bad that I couldn't even discipline him- I just had to hobble over the bench and sit down. Naughty pony- he knows better that to do that shit. I really think he was grouchy after working so hard. My foot does not look pretty. It's got a nasty, huge bruise and it and is all swollen. I think I'll have it x-rayed tomorrow, just to make sure there's no break. You can actually see the curved line of Andy's shoe. That little fucker. This is just not my month. I will, however, take this as an opportunity to get new boots. If it had been wearing my stiff calf-length boots my foot wouldn't be nearly as hurt. Those crappy fake leather tall boots have no strength and just let Andy annhilate my foot. No more of that!

Much to talk about! In the past couple weeks I have jumped my first real jump, taken both horses to the beach for my birthday, and long-lined Andy myself.

Jumping is hard! The first lesson with an actual jump was just a cross rail, and I felt so floppity and all over the place. The second had an actual vertical and I felt just as goofy and off. Finally at this last lesson I felt how to do it right. It's funny, I've always pictured jumping as a very active thing for the rider- you have to rise up over the jump with the horse. But I've come to learn that you really just need to get out of the horse's way. Get in to 2-point, tighten your core, sink into your heels, and let the horse close your hip angles. I realized that I had been tightening my hands and letting my body flop around, so I focuses on engaging my core and relaxing my hands, and I had two jumps where everything clicked and I landed smoothly. My trainer told me that Callie and I are really trusting each other. She told me that her other student that rides her is a very strong and forceful with her, which is good for when Callie is lazy and behind your leg, but the way I ride Callie really seems to trust me and let my mistakes over jumps slide. Yay! For once my too kind style of riding is to my benefit.

Andy did not know what to think about the beach. He would NOT let the waves touch him (he would seriously deep hop away from them). He spooked at seashells and he didn't really like the sand. When I first tried to canter him on the packed sand he took about one stride then stopped dead on the forehand, like he couldn't figure out how to canter on the sand. Ow. Pommel, meet crotch. I had to take him to some softer sand to get him to actually go, but he did canter. There is nothing better than cantering your horse on the beach. Love Bug and mom just farted around by the shore. I expected Andy to play crazy race horse like he did on the trails, but he was Mr. Cool. And then when we were cantering I half-halted to bring him to the trot and he completely stopped, and flung his head down. I somersaulted over his ears and landed on my back, looking up at him, reins in hand. Owww, back injury fail! But I'm okay now- I think my back in finally back to normal.

Here's my view of the beach:


Here is mom and LB:
There are no pictures of me and Andy because my mom is too uncoordinated to take a picture and ride. Lucky me- my cell phone was in my back pocket when I fell. I thought I might have crushed it, but I just got in thoroughly sandy. I was a bit disappointed in Love Bug. She was a pain to load in the trailer. It took me about 10 minutes to load her this time, without Katie's help. Andy of course, was a dream. He tried to load himself, when my dad was holding him and I was locking the divider behind Love Bug. He did through his hay net through the window when he was out of hay though. Naught pony. I had to run out on the shoulder of 101 to fix that dumb hay net.

This Wednesday my trainer had me long-line Andy all by myself. It was easier than the time before, but still complicated! She said I'm ready to do it on my own this week, so I'll probably try it tomorrow. He was doing really well- dropping down onto the bit, then staying in a relaxed frame. After 30 minutes of long lining she had me hop on and working on softening him. He did NOT like that. In fact, he was pretty sneaky and would lower his head to trick me, then grab the reins away from me. Sara called him devious, and told me that he was knowingly trying to trick me. Finally she had me get off and did it herself. Once again, Megan is too nice to her horses, allowing them to misbehave. I really need to work on being nastier when it's warranted. Kandice always tells me to GET MAD at Callie. Mostly I just feel tired. But this week I have to work with Andy on softening, cause he just didn't get it. Which leaves me with this list of misperceptions that I've had about (my) riding:

• Strong contact with a horses mouth is bad. I think this comes from polo, where you neck rein with some pretty strong bits. Lara explained this to me well: the reins are like a telephone line to your horse, and when there are loops (looseness) in the line, the call isn't getting through.
• Strong aids are mean and wrong! Sometimes a big kick is needed. Sara booted Andy hard in the ribs, which made me realize that I've been, well, a pussy a lot of time. Of course, I'll kick LB that hard when she goes into her nutty back-up-in-circles fit. Sometimes you have to get mad and mean, especially when your horse is being purposely defiant.
  
• Jumping is a lot of work by the ride. Nope, the horse is the one jumping so mostly it's staying out of the horse's way.
  

My favorite quote this week: "If it's crap, don't make it faster crap!" This comes from Kandice, refering to how if I am falling apart at the trot, then I should fix it, and the cue for canter, not just try to sloppy canter from a crap trot.

Andy is not pleased

Poor sweet Andy. Today, during my lesson with my dressage trainer she wanted to work on long lining with Andy, which I have never done before. He was not at all pleased! I generally don't use a lot of lunging, ground driving, or long lining working with him, not that I have issues with it. Of course, I think some people over lunge, and I'd much rather have a horse I can hope on and ride and not have to lunge for 30 minutes before because they're so bat shit nutty. But I know that these things can have a purpose, and I could definitely see how long lining helped get Andy into frame. By the time he understood what was being asked his trot looked so good, and his canter looked great. To me, anyways. Of course, I know him so well that I could tell he didn't like it. He just had this ticked look on his face, and made very excuse to stop. And then he even bucked twice on the line! The second time he threw enough of a hissy fit to rip both lines out of my trainer's hands, and then run around like a darned fool because they were chasing him. But then he did the cutest thing ever. As he was galloping around the arena, all spooked, he ran in my direction. I got in his line of sight and said "Come here you big goofball." He stopped right in front of me, shaking with fear and gave me the most pitiful look. Aww, he loves me. So I fixed the lines, handed him back to Sara and he gave this look like "WTF? I thought I got out of this!" Silly pony.

I jumped my first cross rail on Tuesday! Great success for me and cranky-pants mare, Callie. I now feel ready to conquer the world, or maybe jump a few more cross rails, or hell, even a standard.

Back in the Saddle

I have officially ridden, post injury! Today was my first day back in the saddle. It was kind of against what my mom said I should do, and even my own good senses, but dammit, I had to. My back in generally felt really good throughout the lesson. It felt great to actually use my muscles again, like I was sweating out all the impurities and pain from the past 11 days.

I had a 30 minute lesson with the Sara, the dressage trainer that comes to my barn, and I really like her. She's much more intense that my jumping trainer (or really any other trainer I've worked with), in that she really pushes her students to ride well, and I love that. I need a trainer to push my hard. Of course, I felt all kinds of flobbity and out of sorts during the ride, seeing as how it's been 11 days since I rode last, and my back is still wonky. But she was able to see Andy in full force, see me react to him and ride him, and point me in the right direction for practice.

I told Sara in the beginning that Andy would be slow, relaxed, and difficult to get in front of my leg until I cantered. Then, after cantering his mind would switch gears, and he would start his hollowed out, head high in sky running trot, or his running walk that is one step away from a trot. She told me she saw him rushing forward, hollowing out, and evading the bit. She agreed with me that he has one frame of mind at any time: either slow and lazy, or FUCKING GO! And he'll switch between them instantaneously. My other trainer told me a great saying: When you are riding a Thoroughbred, sometimes you are riding a horse, and sometimes you are riding a Thoroughbred, and they are completely different.

She first of all made the point to me that I am allowing him to rush forward. The longer I allow him to rush the walk, break into trot, rush the trot, the worse it becomes and the harder it is to stop. I need to prevent this before he ever gets to act on it. The question becomes, how do I stop him? My method in the past has been pretty much sitting deep, and using the reins, sometimes alternating rein pressure, usually a quick check and release. I generally just timidly fight with him, as I don't want to be heavy-handed. Sara had me half-halting immediately when he began to speed up, and when he refused to listen, halting and backing him up. I totally see how the more I let it go, the more tense and hyped-up he gets, and the harder it is to bring it down.

I think what I got the most out of today was the lesson on how to ride a half-halt effectively. Half-halts always kind of confound me. I know that they are a combination of driving legs, sitting deep, and checking with the reins. They're a way to re-balance the horse and make him think. But how do you ride one effectively? I had one awesome one on Callie (Evil mareface who bucked me off) as I transitioned from a canter to a trot, and I could feel that it was awesome, but I couldn't quite put together in my mind what I did to make it work. With Andy, Sara could easily telling me what I wasn't doing right. As I checked him, I was falling forward, giving him a cue with my seat to go faster. So she had me really sit back and deepen my seat, as I added the restraining aid of my hand.

Another thing that I was doing wrong was fighting Andy by holding my half-halts waaaaay too long. I know that a half-halt is a very quick action, but when I try and get Andy to slow and relax I try gentle steady restraint. Not effective. He just fights it and gets frustrated. I need to think less about slowing him, and instead make him respond to half-halts. She had me give incredibly brief half-halts, then instant release, to allow him to respond. If he didn't, then it was on to another half-halt until he did. I had this one perfect one, when he cocked one ear back to pay attention to me, then instantly slowed and dropped his head. Ah, bliss! We then saw Andy switch from FUCKING GO to lazy instantaneously, as I half-halted to transition from the canter to the trot, and he dropped down to a plodding walk. Seriously, I have Jekyll and Hide Pony.

My perpetual riding pitfall is leaning forward. My tendency to lean forward comes from riding certain polo horses, where when going from basically a halt to a canter you need to lean forward. My jumping trainer, Kandice, has drilled into me that I need to sit back when asking for and riding the canter, and I've improved a lot. Sara had me lean back even further, and incorporated leaning back and lifting my collarbone into the trot as well, as well as sitting back in my half-halts. On the right lead I also curl my left shoulder in...I guess we all have weird little quirks in our riding.

So I am pretty stiff and sore tonight, although I was stiff and sore before I rode because of preschool and the chiropractor. I am dying to ride again soon though, and practice what I worked on. I guess I'm more excited to ride when I feel like my back problems aren't preventing from riding to my true potential.

Riding Break

I miss my ponies. I haven't rode in a week. Which isn't that crazy, seeing as how I rode maybe once a week, for 10 minutes at a walk when Andy was lame (a good 8 weeks before he was completely sound again). And when I was working 80 hours a week I could only see Andy once a week, and went a few weeks without riding. So one measly week is not that long, but I am spoiled from riding 5+ times a week, sometimes on more than one horse. But a week+ off is not a good thing. Katie and I have often discussed this. You lose a lot in one week of not riding. We'd go maybe 4 or 5 days on a long weekend without riding, then go out and ride polo ponies together, and we'd be huffing and puffing, and sore the next day. Who knows how out of shape I'll be when I ride. Not only have I not been riding, I've not been doing ANYTHING at all. Even sitting at a desk for 4 hours makes my back hurt. Weaksauce.

My doctor said I could start riding again as soon as I felt ready...Does my staggering impatience count as "ready?" I actually feel really good when I wake up in the mornings, pretty much back-spasm free. Of course, by the time I go to bed my back hurts, and is stiff and spasming. So I guess that means ride early? I don't want to ride too hard too soon, but I don't want to lose too much muscle tone either. That being said, I'm going to try to ride tomorrow! I don't really plan on trotting or cantering. I just want to evaluate how it effects my back. Not to mention, I'm supposed to have a dressage lesson on Friday with a new dressage trainer. I planned it weeks ago, for the first opening she had, and I really want to do it. I figured that I would be sufficiently recovered 10 days after falling, so I didn't cancel it. I figured if I still felt awful Tuesday or today, I could cancel...and I don't feel awful. I feel on the fence. So it's kind of too late to cancel now, so I'm just gonna go for it. I'll pay for the lesson, even if I can only walk and have to end things early!

This whole situation is just lame. I knew my luck was running out, and that sooner or later I would have a bad fall and get hurt. I just thought it would be off of Andy, and thought that maybe I'd get a broken arm or hand or something cool, get a cast, and still ride. But backs are important. You kind of need them to do, oh, anything. And I don't want to have to do physical therapy- been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I spent 3 months in PT for a silly knee injury (thank you crazy TB mare), and don't really want to go back for my back. If there was one thing I learned in PT for my knee, it was that I made everything worse by inactivity and guarding that knee. My quad completely atrophied and started pulling my kneecap out of alignment, causing most of my pain. My pt was pretty much just targeted strength training. I don't know how back PT would be different. I'm also trying to keep the medical treatments to a minimum and keep everything hush-hush, because the fall happened on my trainer's horse, during the course of a lesson. I signed the release and take full responsibility for what happened, but I know how insurance companies work and if they knew the real circumstances of the accident I worry about them going after my trainer to pay for medical expenses. So I've been lying about which horse I came off of to any and all medical professionals. She did tell me that there wasn't much I could do to prevent the fall, or stay on once it the horse bolted, but I am of the opinion that if I were a better rider that had better control, then it wouldn't have happened.

I will be sure to update with whatever happens during my ride tomorrow! I haven't decided whether or ride Andy or LB. LB's a steady-eddy that would probably be easier to ride, but Andy is my pony and I adore him, not to mention that with me out of commission there is no one to ride him.

Mares= the devil

Every horse I get from now to ever will be a gelding. I do not like dealing with mares! A mare screwed up my knee throwing a bitch fit. A mare bucked me off on Tuesday. And my own mare caused me a mess of trouble today.

I went out to the barn today to try a saddle on LB, with my mom. I am still crippled, and can't lift anything, lead a horse, ride, or pretty much do anything. My mom brought out Love Bug, and she was being a pain- calling to Andy, dancing around, being pushy. I had my mom do so ground work in the arena, and she started behaving again. She put her back in the cross ties, and LB was being okay, until one of the barn cats came screaming out of the bushes into the barn, making a racket, which spooked the horse. In a panic, LB turned herself around in the crossties, and before my mom or I could undo the quick-release latches Love Bug somehow completely slipped the halter.

So off she went through the aisle, and out the back off the barn, to the pasture. Unfortunately, at the same time one of the little girls that has a horse out at the barn was leading him (Mo) out to his pasture. She still had him in hand when Love Bug came tearing out like a demon from the barn, and he started freaking out to, so we yelled at her just to let him go, and shut herself in the paddock, which she did. Poor little think was completely terrified and was crying hysterically by the time I hobbled out there.

So Love Bug, and Mo went up to each other. Mo is 15, and was a stallion until just about a year ago, and he still things that he is. So he was thinking about getting busy. They did the typical horsey-meet each other thing, where she squealed and struck at him. After a minute she walked away and he followed, and I realized, horror of all horrors, that she was in heat and she wanted him. She led him to the fence of the paddock she has with Andy, they started flirting. Poor Andy came over to the fence and was horrified to see his girlfriend with another guy, being all slutty. She was letting Mo sniff her all over, and groom her, and she was holding her tail up and "winking." I was pretty sure that we were going to get a lesson in biology real quick. Poor, poor, Andy. He was so upset watching all this go down mere inches away from him.

Fortunately for us, horses are dumb and like food more than sex, so we got a bag of treats and they both went for it, meaning that Mo was easily grabbed and Love Bug was easily haltered. Crisis, averted, and the 10 year old girl will have to figure out how foals are made some other day.

So, in conclusion, I WILL ALWAYS BUY GELDINGS! Andy might be a goofball, but he's a consistent goofball.

Colic

Worst day ever! The day that I was going back to work, today, my barn owner, Mel called at told me that Andy was showing symptoms of colic- not finishing his grain and laying down. Holy crap! So I rushed my crippled self out to the barn, and by the time I got there he was happy-go-lucky pooping, drinking and eating. So I calmed down and went to work.

When I was at work, Mel called again and said he found him lying down in his paddock, and when she went to walk him he kicked at his gut twice. I was at work, in the middle of urgent projects, and couldn't do anything except get mildly hysterical. By the time I got to the barn a second time, he was up, had pooped, drank, and wanted hay. He had gut sounds, normal respiration and heart rate, pink gums, and good capillary refill. And he wanted his dinner grain badly. Sign. Way to put me through the ringer, Andrew. So he is fine as of now. BO's daughter (Launa, who's kind of the barn manager, and also a vet tech) checked him before bed time, and he was his normal goofy self, so I'm not worried.

I'm just grateful that I have my horses in such a great, caring barn, where they get looked after so closely. I've never actually had a horse colic on me before, so I was incredibly panicky having it happen, even though he was fine both times I checked on him. I'm glad I had Mel and Launa, who have seen many horses through colic and know what is an emergency and what is a watch and wait situation. Not that I would ever hesitate to call the vet when needed, but the vet isn't always needed, and sometimes I get over anxious.

Horses have caused me so much trouble this week! Sheesh!

Sometimes Ponies are Jerks

Seriously. Not my two ponies, because I give them Sleezies and Jolly-Balls and Show-Sheen and they love me. But other jerk ponies. Namely the silly mare I ride during my jumping lessons. She gets points for being a bay thoroughbred (my favorite!), but loses points for making evil snake faces when she gets brushed. Today, Snake-Face decided to throw a hissy fit as a cantered her over two trot polls. As we were going over the second, I released her head with my hands, and before I could even half-halt she exploded into a gallop. I wasn't really scared, because I've been run away with before. Out of control galloping doesn't scare me too much. I was just surprised, because earlier in my lesson the horse was being sluggish, lazy, and completely dead to my leg, and we'd done the gymnastics course a few times before with no huge issues.

So I was furiously trying to check her up, while my trainer was yelling "PULL BACK! PULL BACK!" when she started bucking. I lasted about .5 bucks until I went flying off. If there's one thing I consistently think as I fall, it's "KICK YOUR FEET OUT OF THE STIRRUPS NOW!" Every time I fall it's the one thought that blares through my head. I remember thinking it, and trying frantically to make sure my left foot came out as I rotated around, cause my toe was still in. Fortunately, my foot did not get caught. I would've been pissed if it had, because my knee is finally better from the last time I got caught in the stirrups (thanks to another cranky-pant thoroughbred mare). I fell off to the left, and rotated completely around, so I landed flat on my back.

I hit hard. Because I have a ghetto booty, my ass broke my fall. Holy crap, it hurt so bad! My tailbone felt like it was on fire. This is gross, but I was afraid for a little while that blood was going to start leaking out of my butt. That painful. It was the first fall where I couldn't immediately spring up after hitting the dirt. Usually I just pop up and grab my horse. I couldn't even sit up for a few seconds. I laughed at the absurdity of falling off, smack dab in front of my trainer (we were like 10 feet away from her) and another boarder, and having my first real fall in almost two years. My last "fall" was July, off of Andy, and I landed on my feet, so it was really more of an unscheduled dismount. The time before that was January of 2009, when Love Bug tripped at the canter and I fell over her shoulder, in an epic-ly lame fall. I just couldn't believe that that had happened, and that Andy wasn't the cause of it!

So I felt things out, and determined that I wasn't too badly hurt, and finally sat up and assured my trainer that I was ok (I had to tell her several times, as she didn't believe me, heck I didn't even believe me at first). After a minute or two I could get it. My tailbone hurt like a mother, and I was completely shook up. Of course, I HAD to get back on. I was sufficiently freaked out that I really needed to get back of Callie, the mare, and canter her again over poles, or I might never be able to do it again without having serious fear issues. And I think I was so pumped full of adrenaline from the fall that I wasn't in too much pain. So I got back on, and she was still being a jacked-up butt head but I got her to listen to me, got her brakes working again, then cantered successfully over some more poles. Score 1 me.

Of course, then I went home and the pain started kicking in. My tailbone was radiated pain, and my back was starting to stiffen up and become unbearably painful, so I went to the doctor, got some X-rays (I didn't fracture my tailbone! yay!), some vicodin, and some muscle relaxers. Thank goodness, because I can't really walk (I do this awkward shuffling crab walk), or sit, or do anything except lie down. But the drugs make me at least comfortable, which is good, because ibuprofen does nothing.

Sadly, I can't ride for a while. According to my doctor, I need to take a "long time" off and take recovery slowly. heheh, to me, a long time is a week. I honestly have no idea how long it will take to feel better, or how long it will take for my tailbone to be okay. I've bruised it before, and it took about two months to get completely better. And it hurt a lot when I was riding after I feel. Right now there is no way I can sit a canter on it. So I'm taking things slow. My goal is to be able to ride on my lesson a week from today. Suck. I hate not being able to ride. I probably need to be able to walk before I can ride.

In conclusion, some horses are assholes. Fortunately, I have nerves of steel and have dealt with a lot of jerk ponies. My trainer actually told me she was surprised I stayed on for as long as I did, and I did it because I had my heels down. Go me! I am going to go to the barn to see Andy and LB soon, and give them a hug and a kiss, because they are nice ponies who don't buck me off. Although I did forgive Callie, because she's a TB, and I like crazy TBs.

Riding Success

My goal, as a rider, is to be able to make every horse that I ride better. My philosophy is that ever ride (heck, every interaction with a horse) is a training situation. You are either training them to do well, or untraining the previous good that has been accomplished.

For a long time, especially when I was doing polo, I was just a passenger rider. I exercised horses, I played polo, I got them to at least listen to basic commands (stop, go, turn, etc) but that was about it.

Finally now I feel like I'm finally learning how to improve each horse I ride. I'm learning things like getting my horse collected, with proper head carriage, versus being hollow with a jacked-up head. I'm learning the basics of lateral, and how to introduce it to my horses to work on flexibility and suppleness. Recently I've been focusing on transitions, and how to get correct transitions that aren't heavy on the forehand.

I feel like I could be learning how to ride for the rest of my life, and I still would not be able to learn all there is to know. That's what I love about riding. There is always something to learn; always new disciplines to explore, and you find a lot of really successful riders are quite a bit older than what many other professional athletes (Ie, in their 40s and 50s). This gives me a lot of hope. I don't ever plan on being a professional rider, but if I want to get really good then I have a lot of time to do so!

Trail Riding

I went on a trail ride today, and my horses were absolute angels! It was also the first time we hauled them in the new trailer, and everything went fine. I was sooo stressed out and nervous though.

The horses loaded fairly easily. I put Love Bug in first, and she got upset when I shut her in, trying to see Andy. I really think she thought that she was leaving to go back to the polo team. But she calmed down as soon as Andy got in with her. Then Andy got pissed because he couldn't get the hay from his hay net easily, so he was throwing a small hissy fit trying to get his head in the top of the bag. Love Bug pooped within thirty seconds of putting her in the trailer. We latched the door and were off!

We made one small wrong turn, which resulted in going 7 miles out of our way, then doubling back. Whoopsie. Then we made it to Stubbs Stewart State Park. What a great place to ride! They have a huge horse staging area, not to mention it's free to us because my dad gets free access and camping in state parka. So we tacked up, and then headed out. My friend Katie, who taught me everything about horses, came with. She and I took off by ourselves while my mom and dad relaxed and destressed sitting in the shade of the trailer.

The trail system at Stubbs Stewart is gorgeous! It was like riding through the forest described in Twilight (nerdy, I know). Not to mention that there were some gorgeous viewpoints of the coast range. The footing was also really good too. Lots of hills, but nothing too steep.

Most importantly, the horses were absolute angels! Andy did not try to break into a trot by himself once! We were even able to canter for a little bit, with no running away! I am so happy that he is safe to take on the trails now. Love Bug was a steady eddy, as was expected. After Katie and I rode awhile, I got off Andy and let Katie ride him, while my mom rode LB. We got her to go on a trail loop no problem. I am so proud of both of them, and really happy with Andy's behavior as well, although I think he was a bit distracted by all the yummy looking foliage that was on both sides of the trail. He snuck several mouthfuls, despite my best efforts.

We untacked, and loaded without any problems, then made it back to the barn safely. Then it was time to clean the poop-filled trailer out. It was such a fun trip! I've wanted to trail ride at Stubbs since I bought Andy. Now that I have a trailer I'm going to be up there all the time in the summer.

This is Katie and I ready to hit the trails!

Setting Goals

Since I've bought Andy, I've been pretty much just riding aimlessly. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think it's high time that I set some goals and begin to ride with a purpose. I have the entry form for a nearby dressage schooling show in November that I am about to send it. That gives me a pretty good goal- being ready to ride a training level test by mid-November. So now, instead of just 1 hour of walk/trot/canter when I ride, it's an hour of w/t/c AND schooling- halts, transitions, bending, straightness, collection, being on frame, etc. This is hard work! But I'm really committed to riding this test well.

I've been taking hunt seat lessons with a new trainer for the past month, which is helping me tremendously with my own riding and eventual goal of eventing, but it hasn't helped me so much in my Andy issues- mainly rushing through the bit in a choppy, fast gate. I've decided to start training with the dressage trainer that comes to my barn twice a week. Which means that I will be spending a lot of money on lessons this year, but I feel that it is such a good investment in the rest of my life and riding, that I will gladly pay $300 a month for lessons. Ack, writing it out makes is sound like so much!

In other news, I GOT A TRAILER! Hallelujah! Now I never have to depend on anyone to move my horses. What a load off my shoulders. Not to mention, hello beach rides, trail rides, and lots of shows!

Andy is a Little Shit

Andy bucked for the first time under saddle yesterday! Hahaha, naughty pony. Although, in his defense, I think it was because he was mad at me for making too sharp of a turn going too fast. I usually try very hard to collect and balance him around the end of the arena, but I was being lazy and mom was slugging around directly in my way on LB, so I had to divide the end from a 20 meter circle into a 10 meter circle, and as we straightened up he totally bucked. Of course, it was a tiny buck, and I much prefer bucks to rearing and bolting, so I just laughed and called him an asshole. Silly Pony.

Hunt Seat

I had a lesson today, and it was a blast! I'm starting out with a new trainer, at a new barn, on a school horse for a while. Eventually, when I get a trailer and a clue what I am doing, I will haul Andy in for lessons. Drew and the Bug will definitely be staying at their current barn, because I love it there.

Today was my evaluation lesson, and from here on out I will learning hunt seat, leading up to jumping eventually! I have always wanted to jump, and figured that now was as good of a time as any. So today we worked on hunt seat equitation, and fixing the little things that I do wrong, like collapsing my ankles instead of squeezing with my calves, pushing my feet forward when I post, and riding with my hands in the right position for jumping (not in my crotch!). I really liked the new trainer, who gave me good advice on what I was doing wrong and how to fix it, as well as keeping my self esteem up by telling me good things I was doing, like looking ahead and giving clear, consistent commands while still being gentle.

I rode this cute little Morgan named Celia. New Trainer warned me that she rushes down the length of the arena in the trot, and told me I could pull her back to the walk if I needed to/got nervous. Bwahaha, I ride Prince Toyota of the Unintended Acceleration almost every day- it takes a heck of a lot of rushing to intimidate me. A few quick, gentle checks was all I needed to convince Ms. Morgan that I have regulated the speed of crazier horses than her, much to the surprise of New Trainer. Point 1, Megan.

So, by the end of the lesson I have a few things that I think I can correct easily, with just some time in the saddle with Andy. I also was declared a good enough rider to ride New Trainer's Thoroughbred jumper in the next lesson. Heck yes! So maybe I will focus on hunt seat now for a while, instead of dressage. Or maybe do both? Oh lordy! But seriously, no more polo, cause polo is lame.

SOLD!

Offer accepted- Love Bug will now be a permanent member of my family! Love Bug is the first horse I ever had a real connection with, and truly loved, so it makes me incredibly happy to have her with from now on.

I just offered to buy Love Bug! The polo club better freakin' accept my offer, or LB and I might mysteriously vanish.

I'm mentioned Love Bug a few times. This is because my family is leasing her for the summer. So my mom pays for her board and rides her, while I teach her basic horsemanship and manage Love Bug's care. I also ride Love Bug occasionally, for conditioning and schooling purposes, especially when she is being bratty with my mom.

I freaking love this deal. Love Bug is a doll, and Andy loves her as well. I get to ride with my mom, and I also get to ride Love Bug whenever I feel like it. Shockingly enough, after riding just Andy for 7 months, I prefer riding him to Love Bug. I just like his big trot, and his rocking horse canter. He's a very good dressage prospect, and very responsive to slight cues. I can ride him completely from my seat, and I can work with him on variations in each gait (ZOMG extended trot). Love Bug...well, she's a pokey, fat little pony with a short-legged trot/canter that's heavy on the forehand. She's sweet, but Andy has my heart completely. But riding her helps convince me how far my riding's come in the past three years. 2 1/2 years ago I tried cantering her without stirrups. I lasted about 3 strides, then ate dirt. Now I can canter her not only without stirrups, but bareback as well. And I can sit her trot now, which makes me feel less like a failure for not being so good at it with Andy (but now I can sit her trot, I am doing better with his!).

Love Bug is 22, and I can tell she is slowing down. She seems to have less energy under saddle than I remember. I do not, under any circumstances, want her going back to the polo team. Now that I have my claws into her (well, have her at my barn), I don't want to let go. I am 110% sure that she will be happier and better cared for with me. Not that the team mistreats their horses, but playing competitive polo and getting whipped and spurred by multiple fucksticks is no way for a 22 year old mare to spend her time. Plus the club doesn't have the money to spoil their horses like my family and I do. They didn't even shell out $10 for a West Nile Innovator Vaccine. Wtf, polo club, wtf. She'll get a 5-way, her feet done every 3 months, and her teeth floated once a year. We will get her every vaccine the vet recommends, yearly check-ups. bi-annual teeth floats, trims AND shoes every 8 weeks, treats, love, very light riding, and lots of playtime in the pasture with boyfriend Andy.

I have several plans. The one I am going with now is this: I have a wellness exam for her with my vet next Monday (And I am going to have her get a damn West Nile vaccine then too! Silly polo team! It's a core vaccine. I'll even throw in Strangles for good measure). I am going to have a talk with him about whether or not she should be playing intercollegiate polo. And I will take whatever he says to the polo club, along with an offer to buy her. And if they decline, that's where it gets fun :-). My options might include faking a career ending injury for her, or a high-maintenance medical condition that they won't want to pay for, or maybe just going AWOL and not answering my phone, because they don't actually know where she is. HA! Okay, I actually won't steal LB, but the thought has crossed my mind. I will go to bat for my animals, and Love Bug is as good as mine.

Comparisons

These pictures were taken a week after I moved barns, out of the shit heap that didn't feed enough to keep weight on crapaloosas, much less Andy, despite me paying $400 for hay.





These pictures were taken today, a little less than two months after I switched barns.




What an improvement! Of course, he's still got some weight to gain, but he looks so much better. Thank God I moved when I did!

Mares

I much prefer geldings. I know this is a horrible generalization, and each horse is an individual, but it's my general feelings. Love Bug is great, but she sometimes has an attitude. We had a come-to-Jesus moment a week ago, when she found out that I can be the bigger bitch. Geldings are simple. Andy and I don't have battles of will. The barn staff actually think he is better behaved, because he actually listens to his handler. My barn owner told me he's probably the best-behaved horse in the barn, and she doesn't even like geldings (crazy lady! although the other gelding there is proud cut, so he's a bit of a jerk). Love Bug, however, embarrassed me by acting like a spaz and kicking the farrier in the shin. Oh Love Bug. She acts like a mare, and then comes up to me and cuddles into my shoulder, and I forgive her for everything. How can you not love a cuddly pocket pony?

I had such a good ride with Andy tonight. He was doing his floaty, almost extended trot that I love. I actually prefer riding him than Love Bug, which is surprising, because Love Bug use to be my end all favorite horse of all time. But Andy is so responsive, and his gaits are so lovely. He's got this big canter that is so much fun when it's collected, and I feel like I could ride that big, floaty trot all day. Love Bug is so heavy on the forehand, and much slower to respond to cues. On the plus side, her trot is much easier to sit, and I can canter her back back, which I am currently unwilling to do on Andy, as I like my ass on my horse, not in the dirt. She also has a better whoa. So they are both awesome horses. My ultimate goal is to keep Love Bug forever. She's 22, and I don't want her to go back to the polo team. They take care of their horses well, but I can just do it better. It's a money thing, and she deserves to be done with polo, and not be ridden by dozens of people.

Success! Sort-of. Andy had another vet visit, and one of his gums had healed up nicely. The other was trapping food still, so it had to have some work done. The vet used a burr on the power float to widen the space in between the two molars where the pit was, so any food that gets in there will just fall out instead of getting mashed up into the gum and getting infected. So on Saturday Andy gets to go back to his normal diet of hay, and he gets to go out on pasture again! Yay! He was such a good horse for the vet. Last time the vet tried to look in his mouth without sedation he threw a hissy fit and gave him quite a fight. This time he cooperated quite nicely. The vet was even surprised. I figure his mouth was probably hurting him before, so now it probably feels better and he's less fussy about it being touched. He's also taking the bit easier, so I bet he feels a lot better. From now on I am definitely getting his teeth floated every 6 months instead of once a year.

I looked in Love Bug's mouth this week to see what her teeth looked like. Hah! Teeth? 22 years of cribbing has left her with practically NO incisors to speak of, just gums. My mom was horrified when she saw it, but the lack of front teeth obviously isn't affecting that fat little pony too much.

I love my new barn. Seriously, every day I am thankful that I moved Andy! I'm paying maybe $20 more a month, and getting so much more. He's looking really good; definitely putting on some on the weight he couldn't gain at the old barn due to not being fed enough.

I am doubly thankful that I moved in now. I had his teeth floated last week, and they turned out to be in worse shape than I expected. His incisors were seriously angled and he had two periodontal pockets, one of which was really big. So his teeth are in as good of shape as they can be after one appointment with the vet, and the pockets in his gums are healing for the next two weeks. Unfortunately, this means that he can't have anything with a stalk, in cause it gets stuck in the pocket. This means no hay or grass. So he's on a diet of Senior mush and beet pulp and he gets turned out in the arena during the day. Poor Andy. In a little over a week he can have hay and pasture turnout again, and the vet will be back to see if the pockets healed. If not; well, we have more work to do and I have more money to spend! But I would be screwed if I was at the old barn, because I would have no way to feed him the 14 pounds of mush he needs a day, not to mention I couldn't really keep him in the huge barn all by himself.

Andy and Lovebug are in looooove. It's so cute, and slightly annoying. I don't really want herd-bound, buddy sour ponies, but they are so KYOOT together. They are stalled next to each other, and get turned out together. The new barn owners actually really like them both, but actually think Andy is better behaved! I am so proud of him. I was telling someone a while ago that if I love my kids half as much as I love my horses, I will be an amazing mother.

I have been MIA for a while, thanks to work. Sadly, this meant that I have also been MIA from Andy-pants as well. During the past two months I've been working as a campaign manager, which is means crazy hours and crazy stress. Seeing Andy during the week was next to impossible, and sometimes I only had an hour or two on Sunday to see him. Lame, I know. But now my works hour have gone down from 70 a week (!) to about 15, so I have some time to breathe, relax, and ride!

In other big news, I am moving barns. This is actually long overdue, and in Andy's best interest. I can't fool myself any longer into thinking that my current barn is a safe, acceptable place for my horse. It's a rude awakening, and I feel super bad for keeping him there for so long, but he will be in a new place within the week.

I never could effectively manage Andy's weight where he is now. My BO won't feed grain, and in the best of times I could only get out once a day to give Andy some senior feed. He never put on weight after I got him, and he might have lost a bit. I made sure our worming program was working, got a blood panel on him, and chalked it up to him being a hard keeper with some dental issues. Now, I'm having a terrible hunch that he is in need of groceries. Now that everyone is shedding out I look out in the pasture at my barn and can see ribs on almost all the horses. This is unacceptable. There's no reason for big, beefy quarter horses and crapaloosas to be showing ribs in June, or ever for that matter. I can see now that they aren't being fed enough. I can't change the past, but I want a fat, happy pony, so that is reason enought for Andy to GTFO. But oh boy, there's more.

I need to know that my horse is safe, and looked after even when I am not there. That peace of mind should come with boarding. I don't have that here. A few weeks ago I showed up on Sunday, for the first time in a week. As I was leading Andy in from the pasture, I was horrified to see a huge gash in his left hind. Okay, not huge, but it was significant, and went over the joint. It was maybe a total of 5 inches long. It wasn't wide enough to need stitches, but I could tell that it would probably scar, and maybe develop some proud flesh. Arg. I know he's an accident-prone horse, but this cut was obviously several days old. So BO didn't notice it, and I wasn't notified that Andy tore a good chunk out of his leg. It's healing okay and will be fine, but the I might not get so lucky the next time, and I'm not willing to gamble with Andy's safety. Obviously BO isn't really checking horses to make sure they're not injured, and they've all been getting injured. Pasture buddy Lance got a nasty puncture wound to his shoulder bone and has since moved barns (smart!), and this cute Palamino got caught on some barbed wire and I found him covered in blood. Which brings me to another point- the fences are barbed wire.

I am an idiot, and when I checked out the place I didn't walk the perimeter of the pasture and examine the fencing. I walked in through a nice wood section, and thought everything was hunky doory. A few days after Andy got there I realized that the majority of the fencing was 3 strands of barbed wire. YUCK! It's only a matter of time before Andy gets caught in it, so I really can't delay moving him.

The icing on the cake is just that I don't agree with BO's idea of horsemanship, and he is not very accomodating to his boarders. His idea of horsemanship is summed up by this anecdote. There is a dropoff on the edge of the gelding pasture that is really a very steep hill of about 20 feet. A horse fell down it (a few, actually have), and was sore. BO's comments: "When they fall, it hurts, so they learn not to do it again." Headdesk. This guy told me to put DMSO on Andy's cut. DMSO is a liniment with anti-inflammatory properties, and is more for inflammation and pulled muscles. Dummy jar. Can you tell I've had it up to here? A few weeks ago I asked to have Andy kept in the upper pasture, which is, IMO, safer, and I can access him at all times. He said no, so Andy is turned out in the back 100 acres, with fallen trees, cliffs, creeks, and all sorts of shit to injure himself of. Right now I have to call the night before if I want him, and he'll move him to the front pasture. Not cool.

The very last straw was getting a phone call two weeks ago from BO. There is this very nice trainer who recently started boarding at my barn who gives dressage lessons. She asked if she could use Andy for some lessons with imtermediate students, which I actually thought to be a good idea. I'm too busy to ride him enough, and having other people ride him under the guidance of a trainer sounded good to be. So trainer looked into her insurance, and found that I would be covered liability-wise if I leased him out to her for those leasons, in a partial-lease type arrangement, which is fine by me. It was my understanding that we were holding off on using him until June, when we'd do all the paperwork and whatnot.

So in the midst of all the god-awful stress I'm under, the Sunday before election day (my only day to sleep in!) I get a phone call in the morning from BO. Apparently, trainer brought my horse in from the pasture and was going to give a lesson on him. I'm a bit perturbed about that, as I haven't signed a lease yet, and I wanted to be there to observe at least for the first lesson, but that's between trainer and I, and when it comes down to it I like her and trust her judgement, so I'm not too mad. But BO was quite the dick to me on the phone. He demanded that I sign a release form if I'm going to allow anyone to ride my horse when I'm not around...Which I suppose I will pull out of my ass, as there are no release forms for riding at that barn (unlike any other barn I've ridden at). Whatever. I can understand him not wanting people using other people's horses without permission, but he continued on to say that before I could let Trainer use my horse, I also had to go to "my insurance guy," and make sure I had coverage for that and get him a print out of that, to which he added the smart ass comment of "I bet your insurance guy will laugh at you when you ask him." Grrr...I think I'm overreacting, but this guy is such a douche canoe who lets anything go at the barn, then is rude to me when I decide to partially lease my horse out to a very good trainer. Not to mention, what insurance? hahaha, whoops. I never really got around to any sort of insurance for Andy. He's not worth enough to quality for mortality (and probably medical), and I think medical would be a waste of money anyways, plus that would take my decision-making power away from me in the case of a serious medical issue. And I just have been lazy and cheap about liability, but I bet my ass that no one at my barn as equine liability insurance. It's not a requirement to board there, so why would he assume I had insurance for my $300 horse? On a side note, I am gonna spring for liability insurance now, as I don't want to get sued if something bad happens. I use to have some through USPA, but that ship sailed a while ago.

Anyways, the point of that rant was that barn owner called me on a Sunday morning, and was generally rude and flippant, which doesn't fly with me. I am just ticked about him telling me what I can and can't do with my horse, and not letting me keep Andy in a pasture where I can actually access him 24/7. He can kiss my $200 a month goodbye. I wrote up my 30 days notice and left it there today. 5 other horses left in the past month too, so I hope he realizes that his barn sucks. If he asks me why I am leaving, I haven't decided what I will say. Nice, mature Me thinks I should say that I found a barn closer to me, for a similar price. Snarky me wants to say that I am moving Andy to a barn where his weight can be maintained, and he will be monitored for safety, and where I can access him 24/7. Bitch me wants to say that the facility is unsafe and the horses aren't being fed enough. What shall I do...probably nothing. Move him this weekend without saying a word is the probable course of action.

I'm actually super excited about my new barn. It's the barn where I use to take lessons in junior high and high school, only with a different owner. This really feels like I'm coming full circle. As a little girl taking lessons, I use to dream about keeping my own horse there. I'd go in to ride and feel like such a little urchin, poking around on a school horse while there were all these actual horse owners around. Now I'm going back there, a much better rider with my very own pony. Shit, I love my life!

23 is a weird, awkward age to be. Graduating college, starting a career, and working on relationships is a big transition, and it did not come easy for me. All I can say is thank God for Andy. He has literally been my saving grace through this all. I don't know where I'd be emotionally without him. Equine therapy has gotten me through this first post-college year. Now I've got a job, and lots of prospects for my career, I'm settling back in with my friends after an uncomfortable falling out, and I'm in a good relationship. Buying Andy was kind of crazy, but it got me through the bad times, so now I can enjoy the good.

I took Andy out on the trail today, with no bolting!!! Hallelujah. Of course, I didn't let him canter at all, so that might explain it. He definitely wanted to run, but generally listened to me when I told him no. We also saw the elusive herd of elk that lives in the area. Andy actually saw them first. When I looked ahead to see what caught his attention I saw a shit-ton of elk, about 50 feet away. It was very neat.

Feeling Better

I feel much better about Andy today. My friend Katie, who taught me to ride came out to Hillsboro to visit me and Andy today. She gave me some helpful advice, and confirmed my idea of switching him to a gag bit. She rode him for a while, and also made me realize that he's been ignoring the snaffle even in the arena. I told her how I sort of feel like a failure, switching him to a harsher bit, but she reminded me that he is a lot of horse, and that he was always in a gag bit for polo. She also told that he use to event, which means he is a fairly good jumper! I had no clue. I think this is so cool! I don't jump, but it's something that I eventually want to learn to do. I wasn't going to start with Andy, because I didn't want to make him start jumping at this age. He's old enought to earn his retirement. But if I ever want to start to learn, I could use him! Apparently he went up to novice level eventing, which means he could clear 2'11''. So maybe I will do really low jumps on him! hahah, or not.

In other news, I can finally pop the knuckle on my pinkie finger! I know this might not seem like a big deal, but I hurt it the second day I got Andy, back in November. He pulled back and broke a lead rope, so I grabbed his halter, and somehow got my pinkie stuck into the halter while he was still pulling. I might have broke it, but I think I just sprained it really bad. I haven't been able to pop it for five months, but I finally did! Now I'm glad that I was cheap and never went to the doctor.

Worst Trail Ride Ever

Like the title says, I had the Worst Trail Ride ever today. It included:

• Andy bolting yet again
• Lance bolting with Andy
• My safety stirrups falsely deploying three times
  
• Lance bolting again, dumping his rider and taking off into the road, leaving us to search for him.
• Andy freaking out when Lance when galloping past, fighting me furiously as I refused to let him gallop. This throwing his head up and even half-rearing, culminating in me having to hop off and walk before I got thrown off.
  
• Getting left behind due to my Andy issues when the group split in two looking for Lance. I thought I knew the way back, but I ended up accidentally going off the trail, getting completely lost by myself for about 15 minutes. After crying and figuring that my barn owner would come looking for me eventually, I decided to start yelling and found my barn buddies, who knew the way home.

But, on a positive note, Lance was found and brought back safely. Suffice to say that I won't be back on the trail without doing some serious work with my trainer, and getting a nastier bit for Prince Toyota.

Trail Ride

Today, Andy and I hit the trails again. Andy eats trails for breakfast, if you didn't know. We went with a nice lady from the barn, Deb, and her super cute Rocky Mountain Horse, Coke.

I was a little nervous at first. The very first part of the trail is steep downhill, and muddy, so Andy and I slid our way down. Then there had been a coyote or elk or something, because both ponies got nervous and didn't want to go forward. But we got over that pretty quickly. Pretty soon we made it to the creek and pond, and decided to see how Andy did crossing water. Much to my surprise, he launched into the pond like a champ. We're talking a couple feet deep too. Not only did he go right in, he started picking up his front hoof to splash around! I wasn't too sure if he was playing or getting ready to roll, so we moved forward briskly.

Next, we got to the part of the trail that's a good place to canter. It's nice and wide, and grassy, and uphill. I gave Andy a little squeeze, and up we went. There is nothing more exhilarating that bombing across country at a canter. I politely reminded Andy that he is old and out of shape, but he replied that he felt just peachy, so we cantered the whole way up.

We wandered through the woods awhile, and then got to another good cantering place. That's where it got interesting. Deb decided to let Coke pace up the hill. I figured I would just let Andy trot behind. Andy did not get the memo. In fact, he completely brain farted, got over-excited, and decided to break into a gallop, throwing his head up so I couldn't pull him up. I managed to yell to Deb that I had no breaks, and then we left her in the dust. Holy frick, I have never gone that fast on a horse before! I thought that I'd galloped in polo matches...but this was different. It was balls to the wall, no holds barred galloping. There was no way to pull him back, whatsoever. It was terrifying, yet completely exhilarating. I think we both felt like we were on the race track. All I could think was "Don't fall off, because that would hurt like a bitch!" Eventually, the trail widened up for me to do a one-rein stop, at the same time that my safety stirrup somehow engaged, flying loose from the saddle. I managed to completely stop Andy before I hopped off to re-attach the stirrup/kiss the ground.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Andy had tired himself out during his Man 'o War impression, so I could ride him on a loose rein the whole way back. What a spaz.

Vet Check

Andy had his checkup today, and it went wonderfully!

When I went to get him from the pasture, I think he knew something was up. 99% of the time he lets me walk right up to him, or he comes to me, but today I had to chase he around for 15 minutes to catch him. What a turd! I eventually caught him by petting another pony and making him jealous. It worked. There's two things that apply to my all my (2) animals: no matter what I do, they're skinny, and they're jealous. Lilly stays skinny despite all of my efforts, and she is super jealous of the other cat when I pay attention to the other cat. Why should Andrew be any different? Now, if he has to be on thyroid medicine too I will really be creeped out.

Anyways, there was a new, super cute gray horse in the pasture that was obviously nervous at being in a new place. He followed us to the gate, and stayed there pacing and screaming to Andy. Great. The last thing I wanted was Andy to act herd-bound when the vet came, and the gray was riling him up a bit. Luckily, I used my awesome distraction ability of HAY and GRAIN, and Andy calmed down completely. The vet was a little late, so we both kinda pooped out waiting. Andy was being super cuddly and friendly. I walked out of his view once to check and make sure the nervous gray wasn't still pacing the ridge by the gate, and Andy perked right up and got upset when I was out of view. Ah, true love!

The vet that came out was super nice. I'm so glad I decided to go with that particular practice. He started off by checking Andy's heart and lungs. I myself almost had a heart attack when he told me that Andy's heart rhythm was irregular. It was seriously this blind moment of panic, until I listened to what the vet was saying. Apparently, Andy has a 2nd degree atrioventricular block, which is not harmful at all and fairly common in athletic horses, such as races horses or polo ponies. Apparently, Andy has a textbook case of it, which I thought was very interesting (but thankfully nothing to worry about!)

Andy got a thorough check-up, and everything looked pretty darn good. The vet said that Andy looked very good for a horse of his age and experience. His teeth have some sort of weird slant that make them not quite match up, but other than that they have obviously been well cared for. So he's in need of a float sometime soon, but not desperately. But Andy did pitch a fit when the vet looked into his mouth. He did not like that at all!

The vet also watched Andy moved, and thought he looked very good. Which means no more lameness!!! Yay! He noticed Andy's club foot (front left), and could tell how it slightly affected his gait, but not in a really detrimental way. So we are ready to start back up with dressage lessons and light trail riding.

So Andy got two vials of blood drawn, and two intramuscular shots in the neck, and he didn't even flinch. Go figure. I thought he'd throw a hissy fit. Nope, he saved that for the strangles vaccine, which is intra-nasal...up the nose! Haha, he did not want that tube going up his nose. Fortunately, that goofball is no match for a determined vet and assistant. What a doofus. He doesn't give a crap about a needle stuck in a vein, hanging out of his neck, but try and touch his nose or look in his mouth and he gets all cranky.

As for his weight..there's no glaring issue, just some little things I can do, such as keep his teeth floated every six months, keeping up with his worming schedule (according to the fecal egg count, his worm load is low, so I'm doing okay!), and upping his groceries. He's an old horse, and he's teeth aren't the very best, so the vet also suggested significantly upping the amount of Senior feed he's getting, up to as much as 10 pounds a day. I'm still trying to work this out, as I only go to the barn once a day to feed, and my BO won't feed grain...well, maybe I can talk him into it. I'll work something out by myself if I have to. Maybe going to the barn in the morning or afternoon and feeding, then leaving grain in the stall for when he comes in. First I gotta figure out if I'm getting one of the jobs I'm interviewing for this week, and if so what my hours will be. Anyways, as long as his blood tests don't show any hidden problems, his weight isn't a huge issue. The vet said that thoroughbreds tend to be difficult to keep weight on and have much thinner physiques, and Andy probably will always have a lean, athletic body-type. All of which I knew, but it makes me feel better to hear it from the vet.

So, all in all it was a good day! The vet said Andy was a sweet, well-behaved horse in very good condition for his age, and that I'll probably have quite a while of good riding time with him. :-)

I dropped some poop off at the vet today. Hopefully it's not full of worms! As soon as I get the results I can start Andy on a new dewormer rotation, without worrying that I'll cause an impaction colic. My mom also told me that she is giving me $200 (!) to help with the cost of the vet work that he's getting, which is both surprising and amazing. I never thought I would be unemployed for as long as I have been. I certainly have enough in savings to care for Andy for a few years, but it's disconcerting to see myself burn through those savings so fast. Fortunately, my board is now going down by $100 a month, Andy is super economical in terms of shoeing, and I have an interview for a very good, well-paying job this Wednesday!

I rode again today, a little harder. Andy is probably the most out of shape I've ever seen him, but then again, so am I. Not that he knows it. While it's nice not to have to urge him to go, it's also hard to constantly convince him that we don't have to go fast. When I start up lessons again we're definitely going to have to work on his "whoa!" On a good note, I actually managed to do a few strides of actual sitting trot on him, which I've never managed before! Of course, I can do it on horses with smoother gaits, but he has a very big, very hard to sit trot. But I did it for a little bit, so yay!

My boy is back to normal, and I couldn't be happier. I rode Sunday and today, and he felt really good. No lameness, and he was raring to go. Tonight I even had a few moments where I pretty much lost all brakes. That means that Andy feels good again, no more ouchiness! I think he was just really excited. He literally was a galloping fool, but I would much rather have 1000 pounds of GOOO than a pony with a sore foot. It all reminded me about how he has, and continues to inspire me to be a better rider. Like I've said before, Andy does not tolerate heavy-handed riders, so I've focused a lot on my seat, especially using it effectively to slow him down.

Andy has been very economical in terms of hoof care for me. Normally, horses are trimmed/re-shod every 6-8 weeks. Horses in very hard work, like race horses, or ones with hoof issues are sometimes shod on an even shorter schedule of every 4 weeks. Our farrier comes to the barn on Mondays, as long as there are horses to be worked on. I had her look at Andy at 7 weeks, and he wasn't even close to needing a trim. Then I had her check at 9 weeks, and he still didn't need trimming. Now, at almost 11 weeks he's barely starting to overrun his shoes, so I'll have them done on Monday. To make up for all the money I saved by having a long time in between shoeing I'm getting some regular vet work done on the same day (check-up, vaccinations, blood panel, fecal worm count), so that should take a sizable chunk out of my bank account, but it's all very necessary stuff to do!

Hopefully the vet work will also help me get a handle on bringing his weight up. He hasn't lost any weight over winter since I got him, but he certainly hasn't gained anything. I want him to gain quite a bit. He's very out of shape. I rode for maybe 30 minutes on Sunday, maybe 10 minutes of trotting and only a few minutes of cantering, and he broke a sweat. Before I do any trail riding or serious trail riding he needs a lot of conditioning, but I'm not really willing to do that until I get his weight up. So hopefully the vet visit will be very informative!

I'm happy to report that Andy's behavior yesterday was just temporary insanity. Today I brought him into the empty barn alone and he behaved perfectly. Absolutely no buddy sourness. In fact, he was a sparkling example of ground manners. I rode him for a little bit. He's still sore, but slowly getting better. It was almost like he was apologizing because he knew how mad he made me!

I guess we all have off days. I was feeling pretty off sorts yesterday too; so maybe he fed off of my bad mood and frustration as well.

Buddy Sour

Today was one of those days. Andy was a giant butthole tonight. He was acting buddy sour and herd-bound, which he never does. I'll preface this by saving that Andy is usually a lazy doll on the ground. Even my trainer said he had good ground manners. I usually take him from the pasture in the afternoon. He's not barn sour, and he doesn't have a reason to be, because 6 out of 7 times when I bring him in he just gets fed and groomed. So going into the barn alone is a good thing. Sometimes he may seem a little worried that there's no other horses, but he seems to forget about it pretty quickly. He also doesn't really care about other horses in the pasture, and I see him off by himself most of the time (although he usually is somewhat nearby Lance, but that might be all on Lance's part).

When I went to the barn at 4:45, it was pouring down rain and all the ponies were still outside. They are almost always in before four, and they rarely are out in the pouring rain. So all the horses were throwing a fit. I've really never seen anything like it. They were racing around, and as soon as they say me taking Andy to the gate they rushed it. Everything was just very odd- they were all acting strange, and I was a bit worried that something happened to the BO, because it was so late.

As soon as I closed the pasture gate behind Andy he started to freak out. He was trotting, getting into my space, and neighing loudly to the other horses. When I went into the barn and went to shut the door, he almost ran me over to get back outside. Completely unacceptable. I yelled at him, and made him back up for quite a ways. I will not tolerate a horse that runs over me on the ground.

In the arena he was turning in circles, screaming to his friends, and was obviously freaked out, so I knew he wasn't going to tie and stand nicely while I groomed him. So I decided to do groundwork with him until he calmed down. We practiced leading nicely and stopping and walking on my command, not on his, until he dropped his head and relaxed a bit. We backed and worked on moving over off of my hand too. There were moments when he seemed calmer and responsive to me, but then he would remember that he was alone and the other ponies were outside, and he throw his head out, start breathing faster, and call to them loudly. It was very frustrating and after about 30 minutes I didn't think that I would be able to get him calmed to the point that he would tie nicely without other horses in the barn. So I put him in his stall, hoping his hay would distract him. Nope; he still kept neighing hysterically, until the herd finally came in about five minutes later.

I was so ticked that I just fed him, picked his hooves, and left. I ideally would have lunged him or ridden him hard to let him know that that shit doesn't fly with me; but I don't want to risk flaring up his lameness just when he seems to be improving. Hopefully this isn't going to become a regular thing. It was a weird night, and all the ponies seemed to be riled up. He's never been such a butt on the ground before, so I chalk it up to them being upset that their routine had been changed.

A Labor of Love

As a horse owner, it seems that one winds up doing a lot of stuff that normal people might consider disgusting or cringe-worthy. A few weeks ago, I found myself scooping turds out of an automatic waterer, bare handed. Gross, but necessary. When the weather turns a bit warmer I will also have to (horror of horrors) clean Andy's sheath. Or, more appropriately, pay the vet to come out and clean it, so they can properly show me how to do it, and also give him a syringe full of sleepy-time juice. Today, while I was cleaning Andy's stall I realized that what appeared to be clean, dry dirt actually had a layer of rotting bedding underneath. It was pretty impossible to break up with a rake, but I found that if I grabbed the edge and pulled, it came right up, sort of like peeling an onion. So I spent 30 minutes bare-handed peeling up pissed-soaked shavings. In a week I will have to do the endless dance of worming with Andy, and try to get more dewormer in his mouth than on me.

Why do these things? They're not fun, and put me in an other situation and I sure as hell would touch any animal waste with my bare hands. But this is for my horse, who depends on me for everything. In turn, I owe him everything. I've always felt that humans owe their pets and livestock a whole lot. We have domesticated them, and turned them into creatures that are dependent on us for survival. Therefore, we have to provide them. So I will fearlessly grab poop by the handful,if that's what Andy needs!

The Five Horses We Meet On Earth

This piece is from a book called "Horses in the Yard," by Joanne Friedman.

1. The Intro Horse.
We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse leading us. This might have been a friend's first pony, or perhaps it was a draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life meeting, or an imaginary one. I was escorted to the party by The Black, Walter Farley's star horse in The Black Stallion series...

2. The Experimental Horse
Once you had crossed the line between "Damn, they're big!" and "Wow! Can I try that?" you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience ... wherever this horse came from, he probably didn't benefit from the encounter as much as you did...

3. The Connected Horse
The first horses we meet don't really connect with us, nor do we with them. Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it otherwise...

4. The Challenger
Into each horseperson's life, a little challenge must fall. You'll have read that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope, and there you'll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line, but you actually need this horse in your life...

5. Your Deepest Heart
There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold, appraising eye, and you'll have to be honest about your continued ability to deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you'll seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever... You'll have bought him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment... Maybe you'll still go to shows and ride - brilliantly or barely - in the Alzheimer's class. Maybe you'll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you'll realize that after all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse's thoughts and desires...

My answers:

1. Stormy. I don't know much about him, other than he was a black horse named Stormy. He was one of those poor horses that walked circles in a traveling carnival that came to the parking lot of the Sunset Esplanade. For some reason I loved this horse, and would only ride him.

2. This would be Mars War Cloud. Between the ages of 7 and 13 my only chance to ride was two or three guided trail rides taken in various places during the summer. These two or three hours were my most highly anticipated and favorite hours of the entire year. One of my yearly rides was taken while my family had its annual camping trip at Cape Lookout, at a place called the Ark Animal Sanctuary. When I was about 12, I got matched with a chestnut named Mars. For some reason, on that hour ride it just clicked. He responded to my leg, was light in the mouth, and just seemed to understand what I wanted him to do, not just blindly follow the horse in front of him, like most trail riding outlet horses do. I loved this horse so much that I forced my dad to take me on a second ride before we went home, and the next year I went back and rode him again.

The story of Mars has a sad end for me. For reasons I can't quite remember, after I was 13 my family didn't go to Cape Lookout anymore, so by 2002 I hadn't been to the Ark in quite some time. I was shocked to see a segment on the evening news about how hundreds of animals had been confiscated from the Ark for neglect. I was shocked. From what I remember, when I was there it wasn't the terrible situation that the news said it was. Of course, you cannot get get a court order to confiscate animals without really good proof of abuse or neglect, so I believe it. Not to mention I was a kid when I rode there, so I really would have no idea how to condition score a horse, or what the proper standards were for hoof care and hygiene.

It was very unnerving for me, because I knew the family that owned and ran the sanctuary, and they loved all the animals. They took in everything, beyond their means. I specifically remember one of the daughters, Peggy, telling me how overfilled they were, but people would call them to take animals and tell them that the animal would be dead if they wouldn't take it (euthanized? starved? I'm not sure on the details but I think, at least for horses, it involved a bullet to the head), and they simply couldn't say no. I've given so much thought to what could have happened to the Ark, and what I believe happened is a simple case of a rescue not being able to say no, like Peggy told me. Eventually they had too many animals than they had money or people to care for, and they couldn't afford hay to feed the 100+ horses, or have people to clean stalls. And because of it, animals suffered.

Of course, this meant that Mars was probably among the confiscated horses. I pleaded with my mom to call the organization that was handling the rescue and ask about the chestnut geldings, and see if Mars was still alive, and if there was any way we could adopt him. Of course, my mom had the money, the car, everything except the desire to spend a lot of money and time indulging my horse dreams, so rescuing Mars was not in the picture. I don't know where he wound up; I'd like to assume that he was one of the horses confiscated and happily re-homed. For me, at about the same time I was about to go into a really rough time in high school. I feel like things would have been a lot different if I had a horse to devote myself to.

On a side note, this taught me that every rescuer MUST know their limits as to how many animals they can support, and never exceed that. They MUST have the ability to say no to animals that they can't care for. And they MUST realize that a humane death is sometimes a good thing. Animals have no sense of "am I going to live tomorrow," and a painless death by way of chemical euthanasia or a bullet to the right area of the skull by a competent person ensures that an animal does not suffer needlessly, and eventually have a long, painful death by cruel means (hello double-decker ride to Canada or Mexico!).

End regretful rant.

3. Lovebug. She was really the first horse that I fell in love with, and that convinced me that a life without horses is no life at all. Always steady, always lazy, Lovebug was the first horse that I fell off of, and she was sweet enough to stand still and not step on me, as I lay on the ground in a stupor. She taught me to post and was my first experience riding English. I'd ridden a lot before, but I just didn't bond with any horse before her. I loved this cribbing monster.And I might get to lease her this summer!

4. Definitely Andy. Which might be surprising, considering that he is my beloved first horse, but we've both come a long way in the past year.

When I started riding Andy regularly, about a year ago, it was a wild ride. I will say that I have improved a lot since then, thanks to almost daily rides through winter and spring term and some very helpful advice from my friend Katie, and now my lovely new trainer. But in January of 2009 I was getting back into shape after six months of no riding. I also lacked a lot of basic skills and knowledge, like knowing my correct diagonals or being able to tell what lead I was on. I had been pretty much only riding Lovebug, but for variety's sake I decided to ride Andy.

Oh boy, was that a wild ride! Andy had one speed then: FUCKING GO! And if he wasn't allowed to FUCKING GO, he would throw a hissy fit of evading the bit, half-rears, pulling back, and squirreling around. When I let him finally FUCKING GO, it was a battle to get him down to a reasonable canter rather than an all-out gallop, which is quite terrifying in a small area with slippery footing. To compound things, Andy's gaits are not for the faint of heart. His trot is big, and his canter is bigger, with this deep, rocky motion. Eventually, I ended up loving it, but at first it was incredibly hard to sit. Andy also liked to make sharp, unbalanced turns and quick stops that threw me forward. Needless to say, it scared the shit out of me, and I just barely stayed on.

Because I am a crazy person, I kept riding Andy. I worked damn hard to become a better rider. I worked on having a better seat, and most importantly, quieter hands, because the one thing that Andy would not tolerate was heavy hands. I stopped riding with a chair seat and crooked back. I pretended that his mouth was made of the most delicate china and focused instead on the cues that I could give him with my seat and legs. Finally, I had to ride him during a polo scrimmage. As I warmed up I was quaking in my boots and half-chaps, but as soon as the game started, a curious thing happened. I got so into the game that I forgot that Andy made me nervous. Without nerves, Andy and I clicked. He was turning on a dime, moving off my leg, and going and stopping at all the right times.

He quickly became my favorite horse to play on after that. It also helped that a lot of other people didn't want to ride him, which I understand. Some people (boys) on the team were very heavy-handed, and they never got past Andy's FUCKING GO/LET GO OF MY MOUTH stage. I realized that I got Andy after I played him in a chukker where he behaved like a doll. I handed him over to his next rider, and he threw a bitch fit, half-rearing, and darting uncontrollably around the arena. We were a team after that. I would take him out in the outdoor arena in the sunshine by myself have a ball, getting into the rhythm of his (almost!) extended trot. The day before he left for the summer, I rode him one last time in the sunshine, sobbing, because as far as I knew it was the last time I would ride him.

Looking back, I can understand why Andy was so crazy. He was stalled 24/7, with practically no turnout, thanks to the jackasses at the OSU Horse Center, in combination with high amounts of grain and lots of alfalfa. Any horse would be batshit nutty on those conditions, especially a Thoroughbred that's a known runaway. Now that Andy is at my barn he gets turned out all day in a 30 acre turnout, and he is one lazy cucumber. I found that when I work hard on transitions with him his stops becoming much less unseating, and lateral work has done wonders for his sharp turns. He still challenges me sometimes, but it is a good thing, and it makes me become a better rider and horsewoman.

5. ???? Maybe it is Andy, but I feel that now is too soon in my experience and in our relationship for me to be positive. Only time can tell, so I guess we'll see...

Unfortunately, since my last post I've been dealing with some mild lameness with Andy. My barn owner and I agree that the most likely culprit is a stone bruise, or something to that nature, from when the pasture was frozen rock solid. It's not too bad; just off in the trot. My first inclination was to call the vet right away, but BO and my farrier both advised me to watch and wait. So I've been waiting and watching. Finally, this last week I could tell that we had some improvement. I rode him very briefly in the arena, and while he was still off, he was markedly less uneven. On the left rein he seemed almost sound. So he's not better yet, but definitely on the road to recovery.

That little shit makes me worry so much! I was so upset when when I first noticed that he was off. So I had the farrier and BO look at him, and we found absolutely nothing. No hoof sensitivity, no obvious bruise, no swelling, heat, or sensitivity ANYWHERE. So here I am, worried to death as I brought him out to the pasture. Right after I took his halter off, he squealed, and broke right into a bucking canter, off to find his buddies. Obviously if he felt good enough to run and buck, he wasn't hurting too bad.

So for the past month, I've had a very big pet to take care of. Lame horses still need food, grooming, worming, and stall-cleaning. And the funny thing is, I really don't mind! Caring for animals has always been a pleasant task for me, even some of the icky stuff (like picking turds out of an automatic waterer. Really, Andy?) So my barn routine of late has been pretty relaxing- clean the stall, bring in Andy, feed and groom until he is puuuurty, rinse and repeat!