Another walk... a final walk?

Ugh.. today was emotional. It was a gorgeous day and I tried really hard to enjoy the moment with Dan and enjoy our walk. But..I couldn't help but worry. I felt sick to my stomach and like I was going to vomit most of the day worrying about our vet visit and what I would hear. I know that there is nothing I can do to change it, other than pray.... and it is what it is, but.. man, it's just so heartbreaking. And then I felt awful thinking that maybe this all started with the damn haynet injury and if I could just turn back time and stop myself and say "Yes.. he WILL get stuck, don't be lazy and pull the hay bag out"...maybe we'd be getting our bronze medal about now, and have qualified for the AEC's at training level even.... And maybe my poor baby boy won't have a life full of discomfort and pain because of me. Sigh.. but maybe it's not related to the hay net. He could have easily done something in the pasture, because... Dan! 


So I spent the whole trail ride bawling and praying and not even really knowing what to pray for. I mean... I could pray for a miraculous cure, but why do I deserve that? I could pray for him to still be able to jump, but that's unrealistic. I could pray that we could at least get our bronze but I really really want to jump him. I miss that so much. So instead.. I basically prayed for His will and for Him to give me the strength to handle whatever his Will is... for Him to give me the wisdom to make the right choices regarding the situation and for... Him to forgive me for being so selfish when so much is wrong in this world. And I cried for my pony... I cried for me.. I cried for others. 

And then, Dan made me giggle. He stopped to sniff the ground (one of the 50,000 times it seemed) and picked up a branch with a bunch of dried leaves on it. He was crunching away at them and sounded like he was eating potato chips. I had to laugh. We had a good ride... lots of sniffing of the trails, lots of snacking, and he was a good boy. 


So tomorrow... we shall see....



 

More bounciness

Today I rode Marvin with Kelli again and Dan hung out in the trailer, like a very good boy. Then it was his turn. I met Julie with Jezebel and we set off. Jezebel was super bouncy and so was Dan. He bounced up a few times but mostly contained himself. We took a nice long walk and had fun catching up. 

And... a friend shared this with me.... Oh Dan!!!

Tigger!!!

So... more rides is maybe the better choice for Dan than less rides?? Or maybe not, but maybe for me. ;) Ha!

I decided to not ride Tuesday because I needed to get my brakes done on the pilot and that would be four days in a row. So.. I didn't. And then I worked all day Wednesday, and it was SUPER windy....like worry that a tree would fall on my new truck windy! So, not wise to take the bored horse out for a walk. ha! So anyways, on Thursday.. we rode!

He was a super good boy and sat in the trailer forever while I watched Kelli ride Arwyn and then she watched me ride Marvin. Poor Marvin... I got some good walk work and some amazing trot work and then we got sidetracked by my position at the canter and the poor guy had to keep cantering! Oops. Oh well. He's fine. My position, however, is awful. And I can't figure out how to not hula hoop at the canter and stay in the saddle... and it was frustrating because... how can I practice now? Other than the occasional rides on Marvin, that I'm very grateful for! Sigh... so anyways.. then we took them on a very short trail ride and I came back and got Dan. Kelli stayed on Arwyn and came with me. We rode to the lake and back so Marvin wasn't left too horribly long. They were good. But man, Dan was on a MISSION!! Talk about a power walk. He left Arwyn in the dust. Granted, she was maybe not wanting to leave Marvin.. And Dan was bouncy! He kept sproinging up into a trot for a few strides.... then I'd sit deep and he'd come back. He even sprung into a canter for a step or two, then settled. It was like he just really wanted to go but was trying really hard to be good. So he just power marched. He got so far ahead that they were fixing the sign in the woods and Dan saw it, stopped, almost panicked and spun... the guy said something and Dan realized it was cool... walked on.. and THEN Arwyn saw the guy and started to panic. Hee hee. They both said hi and then we carried on to the lake. Dan splashed a little. Then we headed back to the trailers. At this point, Dan had breathed and was walking normal and then Arwyn decided she wanted to get back to Marvin, so she started power walking. After we dropped them off, Dan and I went for another short loop to get our full 45 min in. It was a gorgeous day. A smidge chilly and cool, but amazing for May!!

More Walking....

So... I probably shouldn't have ridden Dan today, but... I'm afraid I won't get to for awhile after next Monday, so.. we went for a short walk. It was HOT. Ugh... like it finally got hot. It's not super humid yet, but... getting there.

We went for a walk around the small lake with Arwyn and then dropped her back off at the trailer and went to the big lake by ourselves. Dan splashed a little bit. :) It was a good ride.

Swimming Racoons and Fuzzy Wuzzies Oh my!

I decided to take Dan out on the trail again this evening because... well, I'm afraid I may not be able to for a long time after next week. So we did!

 We saw something swimming in the creek and then saw it jump up the bank.. and yep.. that was a racoon! He waved... We waved back. Then we spooked a deer or two.. and then we saw the 2 baby geese... and another baby goose! They're so cute and fuzzy. :) We also saw the tractor in the field, just sitting. It was still scary! Hee hee.. that was the 9 seconds of trotting. :) 

We also saw some buzzards by the dressage arena and Dan was intrigued. His window is the perfect level for him to eyeball out of it :) 

Well... one problem solved!

So.... the truck isn't dead dead... it's career isn't over. BUT... it is a moderately priced repair. (Moderate I guess compared to replacing head gaskets)... and I have to fix it to be able to sell it, so... it's getting fixed. In the meantime... I decided to shop around, because I'm tired of Dan and I getting stranded on the side of the road... middle of the road... in the neighborhood... Especially with going to Tennessee... So, I went shopping. I tried the chevrolets... and it drove nice. But... meh. And I've heard that the engines in the newer ones are sketchy. So then we drove to Dogde and drove two. The used one drove nice but sounded awful. And the new one was ... meh. So then yesterday we went to a new dealership that Cindy recommended and they were amazing!!! And... I drove home in a new Ram. :) I got a great deal on a new one with 0% financing and the 3500 was the better deal, so... I've got a Ram 3500 diesel with 4 wheel drive. :) It's white... it's not super basic, but not super fancy, but it does have a power window to the back. :) Which makes me super happy. And... it already had the gooseneck hitch in it. :) So yahoo!! And I still will have the F350, which.. I can eventually sell, but don't need to immediately. :) 

Well.. the gooseneck hitch is installed but they didn't include the ball. And it's a weird new kind of hitch, so... luckily I was able to find one down the road at the trailer place this morning, so... we go to go ride!!! YAHOO!!! A few hours too late... as Dan was a WILD man this morning. Sigh...  I took the truck and trailer for a test ride without Dan first, and it drove great. :) So yahooo!!!

Dan was a good boy and almost perfect on the trails. It was crowded at Ashland but we managed to avoid most of the people and Dan behaved himself. We saw two baby geese!! Then on our way back from the lake, they were mowing the XC field. Dan held it together and I was just telling him how wonderful he was and how proud of him i was... when he leapt straight up in the air on all four feet, and somehow managed to rear while in the air. To the point that he almost hit me in the face. But he landed on all 4 and walked off without any more shenanigans. He felt pretty good the whole ride, but there was multiple instances where he felt like his stifle collapsed. :( That makes me nervous... very nervous. But... nothing I can do about it.. other than what I am doing... lasering, bemering, isometric stifle work... 

 Overall, a good day. And I'm glad the little stinker is feeling good. :) And yay for being mobile again!