Hackamore Hack

 

 Well... today my back felt good enough that I rode all three ponies! Although, I basically just hopped on Dan for about 15 minutes and we toodled around the pasture. But still! I've missed him. I gave him a quick brush and threw the bareback pad on and then I put him in a hackamore. The one Judy loaned me. I kind of wanted to see what he thought about it. Although it was hard to tell from just a pasture amble. We walked around a little bit and he seemed happy enough in it. Although sometimes he wanted to go right when I asked him to go left and vice versa. I think it had more to do with him wanting to go towards the girls than misinterpreting my aids. But I do wonder if the hackamore works on direct pressure or if it's like a neck rein and works opposite?? I guess I need to ask Judy. Ha! But the breaks work, although again, not sure how much of that is from my seat and body aids because I didn't use much pressure. 

 

I did tempt fate and trot him twice. Just very short stints. The first time was quick enough that I didn't even realize if he was sound or not. It was also a bit harder on my back than posting. So the second time I did it on flat ground and made sure I was paying attention. And it was still super short, but.. he felt sound. Yay!

 

So we wandered around a tiny bit longer and then I slid off and gave him all the rest of the treats. Oh yeah.. ha! He's such a goober. I had my unicorn fanny pack to hold my phone because I didn't want to put my boots back on and my phone case but my breeches didn't have pockets. So every time I unzipped it, he would stop and turn his head back to me, like.... Cookies? Ha ha.. Greedy little man. Of course I obliged him a few times. 

 

Hopefully I can take him for a hack on Sunday at Ashland and we can try it again. 

 

The Auroras Again!!!

I didn't stay out long because my back is hurting and it's cold, but... the northern lights are out again! And luckily, Dan happened to be at the water trough when I went out to look so I was able to get photos of him with the lights!! :) 

So magical! You could even see the pink hue without the camera!

 

Neon sign???

 Ugh..... 

I hurt. Badly. 

This weekend has been a cluster... I tentatively made plans with a bunch of people to fit a bunch of things in because... suddenly there's too much fun things to do and not enough time. The Haunted Trail ride is about to close and I haven't taken any of my horses.... and this weekend and Tuesday are my last chances. Then I don't have many days available for lessons with Liz, so we tried to schedule that. And then last minute Kirsten scheduled an obstacle play day (free) at Ashland, which I really wanted to do... And Sharon and Laura and Kelli all wanted to ride... And I also needed to do a bunch of things like grocery shop, get my tack together for the tack sale, prep the barn for winter, put together Fleck's photo frame, invoices, reports, etc... arghh!! And I couldn't really make plans because I wasn't sure what was happening with my vet visit, and then I was waiting on Liz and then Sharon bailed because her saddle doesn't fit and then it rained... 

So yesterday Liz and I decided that we would do a lesson on Funny and she would stop by on her way home from Aiken, sometime between noon and 4. ;) I told her about the obstacle play day thing so she was going to try to either come right at noon or wait til closer to 3/4ish, but... that did make it tricky. But then this morning she messaged and said she was feeling icky and had a fever, so we cancelled. So I decided to do some house and barn chores, go to the chiropractor because my neck and shoulders were killing me and then... I could take Dan to the obstacle thing and walk him around a bit and then come home and go back with Funny and then do some dressage. Unfortunately Kelli's plans got messed up so she could tentatively only come around 2ish... which.. meant I couldn't really do both and hang out with her.... and she wasn't even sure she could make it, so... I decided to go with my original plan and take Dan first. 

Sigh... bad plan. I should have asked God... or at least listened to my gut that maybe he was too sore from yesterday. Or been a good friend and waited on Kelli... or just waited for the next free play day next month... but no.. I'm stupid and impatient and justified it thinking that Dan needed mental stimulation and that we were just gonna walk and that maybe I'd do it in hand. 

So... we loaded up and got to Ashland. At least I had k-taped him this morning so he had some support. I threw the bareback pad and bridle on and then opted to get on and ride him over. I had peeked and saw that Missy and Indy were there! So I figured.. yay... best day ever.. he can see his bestie AND have fun with the obstacles. So we headed over and he saw the stuff and froze!! WHAT IS THAT?!? Ha ha.. I know buddy.. it's not usually there. So we stood and minute and then he walked over. He immediately went up to Indy but then Indy got mad at him. Which... fair, because Dan immediately tried to chew on his leg, but... that's the usual way of greeting him, so.. I don't know. I think Indy was upset being away from home. And Dan was a little unhappy too. He was a little chompy. But he settled and we walked around and did the obstacles. 

He was super. He tried to eat the garocha pole and pull it from my hand. ha ha. No.. don't eat it. We did spear the ring at the walk twice and put the pole back. He didn't mind it swinging around his head.. just tried to eat it. :) We did the cup thing... which he also tried to eat. And then we did the circle walk.. we just didn't do any backing because he was getting fussy. He nailed the rope gait, but again... a little fussy with the few steps of backing up. He weaved the poles. I tried to get him to sidepass over a tiny barrel and he didn't even take one step. Fair enough... I know that's probably too much stress on your stifle, so I didn't ask a second time. We weaved in and out of the barrels and... then I think that was it. 

At that point Missy had left and Dan was a little upset. I wanted to do one more thing because Kirsten was setting up one more obstacle so I let him snack. He had been grazing on and off. So I took a photo and was texting Kelli back while he was grazing.. just sitting on him bareback with the reins at the buckle. I don't know if dan realized he was alone or something spooked him but he suddenly threw his head up and scooted out! I think he cantered but because he was lame it was a crippled weird canter. Unfortunately I had my phone in one hand and then the reins at the buckle, so... I didn't stand a chance. I just bounced and then tumbled off his backside. I landed on my right side and kept the reins. I tried to get up and my side got a sharp burning pain. Ouch!!! I sat back down... tried again.. nope... I think I may have torn my back muscle... it BURNS .... like sharp searing burning pain ... like on fire... everytime I engage that muscle. It's right above my hip between my spine and hip bone. I took a good five or ten minutes before I could get back on. He spooked one more time and spun around me. Seriously Dan??? Ugh... I tried to get on from the bench but it wasn't tall enough so I didn't even try. I did get back on at the mounting block and it didn't really hurt to sit on him so I took him back over and we did the weave poles again. I did try it at the trot and we managed 3 of the 4 before I decided it hurt too bad. 

So then we went home. He was still a little on edge and spooked at a cute appaloosa butt tied to another trailer. Daniel Floyd Breaux! At this point I just wanted to get home. Walking hurt so much worse than riding. 

Sigh... I was hoping it would settle down but nope. I didn't get to ride Funny. I don't know if I'll be able to work tomorrow. I doubt I'll be able to jump Funny Tuesday. Feeding horses was okay but picking up hay hurt and blanketing them almost made me cry. Sigh... I'm so mad at myself... "I learned patience God.... "... except NOPE. I certainly did not. Sigh... I'm never gonna learn.. you'd think by now I'd have figured it out, but no... 

Darn Cheaters!

 Oh how my heart needed this! His too! Hopefully we won't regret it. Although technically, it's been a month and a day since our vet visit with Keelin. Which means he's been resting and not ridden for a month. And thats what Dr. Tull suggested... well, I guess he suggested injecting again and then paddock rest for a month and then back to work. And we didn't exactly do paddock rest.. nor did we inject again... Whoops. But... he has been munching his hay in his stall quite frequently and other than his occasional shenanigans and Halloween, he's been mostly idle. So... but yeah.. I guess we're still cheating. Sigh.. maybe this is why he's on his 9th life. 

 

But... but.... BUT.... we both really really enjoyed ourselves. And I am not sure he's any worse for the wear. I hope and pray not. 

   

It was a beautiful day and I needed to shockwave Marvin for Kelli so we made a plan to do it at Ashland. And since Marvin is rehabbing too, we figured a nice walk with the boys would be good. We weren't sure if either of us would get on or if we would just hand walk them. And I think originally, the plan was a much shorter ride, but... as trail ride leader, I got carried away. Per usual. 

   

When we were about to head out Judy was there and asked to join us with Teller, so we all headed out! Yay! Me and Kelli on foot (but with helmets and bridles and bareback pad (me) and saddle (Kelli)) and Judy in the saddle. We walked to the lake and Dan was behaving pretty well. Judy watched him and said she didn't think he looked lame, although maybe he had a slight hip drop on the right side. She had forgotten which side was injured. As we got close to the lake... I mentioned that I would probably hop on because I was afraid that if I stayed on the ground I'd end up in the lake to my waist and/or still lose Dan to a swim. And with his bridle on... I didn't want him getting tangled... So.. I hopped on. Ahhhhhh... instant mood boost! And he barged right in and splashed away. So much splashing! And brrrr.. that water was a bit chilly! Of course he managed to get it all in my boots, so my feet got pretty wet. But.. he didn't swim and I stayed dryer than had I walked in the lake. So then... I just stayed on.... 

 

We had a lovely ride. We just walked and walked and walked. We tried to avoid downhills for Marvin so we kept it fairly flat and on good terrain. Which was probably ideal for Dan too. And he really never felt like he was fatiguing or getting weird. Although at the very end he took a few wonky steps, which may have been more related to terrain than anything. I almost got off at the end but we were so close that I just stayed on and then he didn't take anymore funky steps. But he did let Teller lead from the lake back home, so I do think he was tired and/or sore. He usually wouldn't tolerate it and in the beginning of the ride he was sassy when Teller tried to get in front. 

 

But.... Ahhhh, we both had a blast! He was good and seemed to enjoy himself. I think he was glad to have company and a real pool party again. When we got back he was fairly sweaty (he's soooo hairy and it was 78 degrees) and he was already filthy from the night before and this morning. My thought was that if I rinsed him off, maybe he'd be clean and dry when we got home and I could tape him. Because he was too damp and dirty this am to tape. So I hosed him off and then tied him to the trailer. I debated leaving him tied when we went to shockwave but... we had to walk over to the show booth to get electricity and there was a lot of coming and going at Ashland because of the nice weather and it being a Saturday. And then after chatting with Kelli briefly I walked back over and he had his halter half off... so yep... into the trailer you go sir! ha ha... So the poor guy had to sit in the trailer for a good 45 minutes while I shockwaved Marvin. (and then he did it again in the trailer!)

 

 

When we got home he was still wet! That's some dense hair dude! And of course he immediately dropped and rolled in the roundpen so he was instantly filthy. Sigh... so much for taping. After he rolled he trotted a few steps out of the arena and then tried to take off at a canter/gallop but immediately realized it was a bad idea and came to a screeching halt. Oh buddy... that was LAME!! :( :( :( Although... I haven't seen him canter on the right lead in a while so... I'm not sure if he was way worse or just.. his normal lame. And that was with shockwave last night. Sigh... I hope I didn't undo months of healing today. I guess I'll see how he looks tomorrow. 

 

And then while I rode Funny, it poured buckets at home, so he was soaking wet again when I fed dinner. So no taping again. Sigh.. maybe tomorrow I can get him taped.. even if he's not super clean. The cheap tape seems to stick longer. 

They are having a free obstacle play day at Ashland tomorrow from 1-3. So depending on what time Liz comes, I was debating taking him to that to get him out and about again. We can do it all in hand or at the walk. But I guess it'll depend on how he looks tomorrow. I probably should have at least surpassed or butacorted his stifle. I didn't even think about it until now. Darn! Maybe I can slap some on at bed check. And we cancelled the haunted trail ride for tomorrow too because of timing. Maybe if he's feeling better I can take him Tuesday... otherwise I guess we wait til next year. 

 

More poles

Well, this rehab games are going to get boring quick! Dan's a pro at poles and really only in it for the hay pellets. Which make him really drooly. ;) We did our rehab though. We walked the poles about ten times. He was good, although maybe he got a little fatigued when I switched to do the raised ones first, vs at the end. We also played with some of his tricks and did some pillar work. He is maybe starting to get the hang of his tricks but not really. He is getting the theory of them but not sure which one I'm asking for. ;) 

And clearly he's bored because this is how I found his bellboot today. ;) Ha ha!

 

Crisis averted.... at least for now

 Phew!!! Or, more correctly... THANK YOU GOD!!!

Dan does not seem any worse for the wear after his shenanigans on Halloween. And, the cheapy k tape is holding. He's not resting that right hind as much as he had been, although he is still resting it a good bit. But while he's standing on it more, he's still standing with it far out behind mostly. But.. progress. Or at least not regression.. maybe.. hopefully. 

I did decide to walk him over the poles today. We just did it 10 times and did some pillar work. And practiced our "High Five". :) He was a good boy. 

 

Spooky!!! Halloween Frights!

 Ooof!! Son of a .... dracula!

 

The neighborhood finally has kids, so they sent out a thing saying that they wanted to do trick or treating. So... if you wanted to participate you could turn on your porch light and put a balloon on your mailbox. It would be from 6 pm to 8 pm. Cool! So we did... I got home from work around 5:45ish.. and stayed on the phone for a hair longer. Then I got the ponies in to feed and was hoping that I could get them all fed before the halloween festivities really started! Just in case the ponies got distracted. It didn't dawn on me that they would be terrified!

 

I managed to get them all fed and gave them all their last adequan dose. And Lyric had the bemer cuffs on getting her legs bemered. So I decided to k-tape Dan because a client had showed me the medial patellar ligament support taping application. Perfect! It's a three step process, with three strips of tape. I got the first strip done. Then the second one was a bit trickier because the trick or treaters had started up. And it was finally getting dark. And they had glow sticks. But it was okay because they were still coming down the road. So... Funny had run out and was concerned... and Lyric was concerned but was still in her stall, and Dan got concerned. He started pacing but I was able to finish the second step. I knew I would have to hurry, so I managed to get the third step done as he was circling the stall, and paused to poop. Phew!! Okay... done. I opened his door and let him out because he was so worried. And then I opened Lyrics door to let her out. As she bolted out I was like "Aghhhhh...her bemer boots!!!!". Dammit!!! So they all bolted out and were prancing in the field where I toss hay. Then they ran a little bit and stopped halfway up the hill. I managed to grab the boots off Lyric thankfully! No damage. Thank you God! At that point it dawned on me... oh crap!! Dan's broken.. he should NOT be running around. Unfortunately at this point the kids had made it to the culdesac and were running up Jean's driveway.. their glow sticks bobbing in the dark, and chattering away. Totally cool, except... the horses were freaking out!! So they all went bolting off again... NOOOO!!!! Ugh... there was nothing I could do... they all ran around for about 10 minutes... alarm snorting... blowing... galloping.... sliding stops. I wanted to cry. 

 

Finally they made their way to Arts house and I was able to get a halter on Dan and hold him. At this point though they were all sort of frozen there.. And of course they were all steaming too and slightly damp from running and the temps were dropping to 40 degrees. Sigh... We sat there for about 5 more minutes... and finally the horses realized the "danger" had passed. I tried to get Dan to walk but he was resistant so... rather than pull him, I just took his halter off. I figured I would toss hay and see what happened. I know that he probably still had some adrenaline on board and... while I was terrified he was going to be crippled lame again... there wasn't anything I could do about it right that second. So I let him be. I went and got hay and the girls started following me. 

 

Luckily by the time I had the hay out, Dan was walking towards us. He didn't look any worse for the wear, but I'm sure the adrenaline hadn't worn off yet. I sat with them a bit longer and by then they had cooled off enough to put clothes on for the night. Sweet dreams buddy... let's pray hard that you didn't re-avulse it and undo any healing we've made. Perhaps the K-tape was enough to keep you from making it too much worse. I did thank God for putting the cards into place for having me know how to do that application today and getting it done in time. 

This morning he wasn't too bad. Maybe a little bit sore but not dramatically worse. Phew. Thank you God! He got the day off and this evening I didn't even do his pole walks because... I figured he needed to rest. I might do it tomorrow, but we'll see. He may get to chill until Monday. We did get some beautiful photos and practiced some of our tricks because he looked like he wanted to. And I did retape him because I realized that perhaps I shouldn't be taping him while he was cocking that leg... perhaps I should be taping him while he was "locked" in order to reduce the force it takes to go into that position. So that's what I did. 

Hang in there buddy... let's maybe NOT try to sabotage your healing please...