BUCKLE bunnies!

 Apparently it doesn't mean what I thought it meant. Ha ha.. But Dan and I won that buckle!!! We are now very proudly going to strut our walk trot buckle. Hee hee. I'm so freakin' proud of him though! 

We got up this morning and let the boys graze in the pasture together while we cleaned out the barn and packed up. Then Dan got a bath and we loaded up and headed to Stableview. We got tacked up and headed over to the arena. The boys were super and we warmed up casually... lots of breaks.. because even at 9:30 ish am it was still pretty brutally hot. 

Dan and I headed in for our turn. Cindy had mentioned that the horses seemed to get a bit sluggish in the arena so perhaps I should aim for a bit more pep. Judy offered me her whip so I took it but then Dan got a bit zoomy! Ha ha. I handed it back to her since the judge was still writing notes. Then we trotted around and she blew the whistle and in we went. It was a pretty nice test! The first half was much better than the last half, but.. it was still decent! I thought our trots were decent, our walk was good, our walk half circles felt nice and smooth... our halt and reinback felt pretty darn good, but apparently needed a bit more fluidity and energy. Then when we did our trot circle and back to the rail he did that thing where he almost slams on the breaks for a split second and breaks to the walk but I was able to kick him on THREE times! Dude... we're not done. He recovered in his diagonal line trot. He didn't lengthen because I didn't ask but he got a bit more bold. That's twice now that we've scored our highest score on that line, so... perhaps I need to ride a bit more forward in the entire test. And then our half circle and down centerline got a bit quick and rushed and we overshot centerline a tiny bit. So it wasn't great. However, he didn't bolt down centerline, so yay for that. It was a pretty good test overall. Good pony! We ended up scoring a 64 and change, which put us in 2nd place behind Judy who scored a 66 and change. Yay Judy and Teller! And yay us! And of course... I didn't look at my score or placing til after I had finished Ease of Handling. Also, I had to giggle because as we were leaving the arena the announcer said it was "Holly Breaux and Wapz... Hot... Damn!.. oh, I mean Dan.. no m. Whoops". ha ha... I told her she was pretty accurate. Dammit Dan! Hee hee

We headed back to the trailer and hurriedly untacked them and hosed them because we had to get back for the EOH course walk. And of course they got treats and carrots and water. Then we headed over to walk the course. We learned (still learning in this new adventure) that because the bull line was numbered as 7a (get pole), 7b (spear ring), and 8 (replace pole) that we could in fact go between the bull head and the last barrel (8) to get to the water. It didn't count as crossing through the obstacle because they were numbered separately. Ah... good to know! It gave us a better approach to the water too. 

We headed back and let the ponies off to graze, pee, and drink some water. Judy and I sat and had a little snack with the fans too. Then we got a text from Linda that they were running early and we should perhaps get a move on. Apparently for Working Equitation, if they have scratches we are expected to move up on our time. As opposed to dressage or eventing where you are allowed to wait til your allotted time. Doesn't seem fair, but okay. So we tacked up and headed over. And then realized we had about an hour before we rode. Ugh... Oh well. We hung out in the shade and it wasn't too bad. There is always a pretty nice breeze at Stableview at least. And I said a quick prayer. I thanked God for the opportunity to enjoy my pony and have a new "career path" for him. I thanked God for answering my prayers and then some. Dan could easily have only been trail sound... or way worse. And here we were... fighting to hold the lead for our belt buckle at a new sport. And a fun one... and one that Dan enjoyed and is good at! So Thank you God!!!

Once we got closer to our ride times, we warmed up. Dan felt good. Much calmer and more controlled than yesterday! I even joked to Judy that this bosal "had some bite" since he was responding to my half halts very nicely! Or perhaps he was a hot and tired boy. We kept the warm up fairly simple but luckily they had a cross rail so I was able to jump it twice to make sure he wasn't going to launch it. He didn't! Phew. And then we were up! Oooh, deep breaths... 

And off we went. We adjusted our garocha pole... and then we heard the whistle. We trotted over, halted and saluted the judge and got started. Through the start flags! Then we went to the double slalom and had to duck under a tree branch to get there. Ha ha. Whoops. Our double slalom was a bit wonky. We weren't quite in the groove and I overshot my first turn and then we lost momentum/balance and broke gait for  a split second.. but then we recovered decently and it was better as we finished. Then we trotted past the bull head and to the water. We walked through the water pretty darn nicely.. no stopping to drink, no snorkeling, no pawing and splashing. Good boy! (We apparently could have been a bit more stretched down, but.... okay.. that's risky!). Then we went straight to the drums and that wasn't too bad. He was a bit stiff and not as bent as I should have gotten him and one circle was a bit wider than the other, but not terrible. Then we trotted straight over back to the jump. I made sure to keep him soft and rocked back and he actually trotted the jump quite politely and didn't land in a bucking canter! I'm pretty sure he actually landed in a trot. We scored a 7.5 on that! (I think, maybe a 7.. but it was our highest score). Then I was able to go straight into the figure 8, which was my concern. There wasn't a lot of room to circle if he had landed bucking or cantering... not without falling into the water complex or running into the bull line. From the figure 8, we went to the gate. It was a reverse gate. Thank goodness Shannon had told us about it because I had no idea before that last show that there was another option. So we had been practicing at home. He did great, although it wasn't super smooth. We got sticky a few times but not for very long. Then we made the direct turn to the garocha pole, which probably worked in my favor as he didn't have time to build up speed. He felt very steady and controlled and not runny! We even speared the ring and my pole didn't even think about bouncing out on the deposit. Yahoo! We then went around to the gate, which was great (also.. let him stretch more as he walks it), and then we had a decent trot and halt at the switch cup. Right on target. Then we trotted out and went through the finish and then halted and saluted. GOOD PONY!!! Overall I thought we should have scored decently. He was pretty good for all the obstacles although we would probably get told we were a bit stiff, needed more bend, and needed to be smoother. I also worried a little bit that my lines/approaches were a bit too... direct and not as "harmonious". But that was on me, not Dan. :) And I was thrilled about the jump and water!

We hacked back to the trailer because we were volunteering as timers and we didn't think we had much time. On the way back Dan made a snarky face at Teller and then Teller sort of spun his butt around at him a few times, so... we joked that they were hot and cranky. Us too, us too. ;) So another quick "good boy", cookies and carrots, hose off, water, and then a pee for them... then back in the trailer with the fans! Then we were speed walking towards the course again (which was way on the other side of the farm.. probably a ten minute walk on foot). We got a tiny bit away and heard Dan squeal and then he started double barreling or kicking out with his right hind repeatedly. What in the world?!? You love Teller!! We walked back over while I was yelling at Dan to cut it out. He was kicking for a good 45 seconds! Dude! Luckily no one was harmed, except for my poor fan. Somehow he managed to bend one of the blades in the fan, but not the cage itself. And It was on the trailer ramp far back. We decided that probably Dan was pissed and wanted Tellers hay instead of his hay so Judy was so nice and gave me a flake of hers and Dan was happy. Seriously dude?!? We were able to put the other fan I had up and walk away with no further commotion. 

We got back to the EOH course and there was no one there. Um... did we miss the whole thing?? We weren't gone that long were we? No... apparently they were on lunch break and then they had a 30 minute course walk and then the speed rounds didn't happen until 15 minutes after that. Oh man.... We could have done a better job getting the boys settled. Sigh... We debated walking back and letting them out to graze for a bit vs just waiting it out vs... We found a nice guy with a golf cart and hitched a ride back. Since the boys were happily munching hay and seemed content in the shade with the fans, we decided to pack up the trailer and get all the things ready to roll once we were done. Then we took the boys off, let them drink and walk around a tiny bit and then we loaded them back up while we went to volunteer. We stopped at the show office first and got our tests and ribbons. Judy won dressage and I got second and then I won EOH (whoo hooo!) and Judy and Kristin tied for 2nd but Kristin won the tie breaker, so Judy got bumped to third. We enjoyed the air conditioning a bit longer and then headed over. 

It was fun timing. We learned something too! In speed rounds, you can do any gait and don't have to have the correct lead. It's just get the obstacles done, done correctly, and in the correct order. And if you spear the ring, you get a 5 seconds taken off your time. And one girl dropped the cup in the switch cup. The rules are that you have to get off and pick it up at her level, so she would have lost a ton of time.. especially since her horse was tall and the mounting block was far away. So instead of called for a "pass" and left the cup on the ground. That gave her 30 seconds added to her time, but... it might have been smarter because she probably would have added more than 30 seconds to get off, get the cup, get to the mounting block, get back on, get back to the switch cup poles, etc. So.. good to know! 

After that they did the awards so rather than walking all the way back and then halfway back again we just went to hang out in the office. In the air conditioning! It didn't take too terribly long and then they announced the winners. 

Dan and I won champion for intro!! Whooo hooo!! We won a sweatshirt, a rambo halter (cob sized doh!), a big tub of fly repellent supplement, some odor eliminator, and our big champion ribbon. Whoo hooo! Judy won reserve champion! Whoo hoo! She got some handimash and two other things too. Nice! Then after they did the show champion and reserve ribbons, they did the buckle series awards. You had to do two of the three buckle series shows to qualify and they did point totals. And Dan and I won!!! WHOOO HOOO! We got our belt buckle! And it is so pretty. And has turquoise in it too. YAY!! Mission accomplished. :) Good pony!!! 

So then we headed back, deposited our goodies... and let the ponies off for a pee, more water, and a tiny bit of grazing. Luckily becaose of the shared hay, the boys were friends again. And because of the fans they weren't even really sweaty, so... we didn't even have to hose them back off. We let them graze for about 10 minutes and then we loaded up and headed home. 

I'm so proud of him! And us. He was so good and stepped up and did all the things I asked. And did it well. And I think he enjoys this game. So.. now I guess we'll go to Tennessee for regionals in October!!

Feeling good... too good??

 hot and steamy. got to aiken uneventfully. hosed off, tacked up... went to school. on the XC course and dan was rowdy! Put his head down between his nose and crow hopped/bucked a few times... 3 times. once after the cross rail. buckskin horse was hunting us down. :( Lost my phone after the jump and she almost stepped on it. Luckiily not! went back and switched to jenny's bosal wtih the hanger vs my buckaroo bosal with the headstall. three bad rides iin the headstall so nope! trotted back to xc and much better behaved... headstall change? got his shenanigans out? Buckskin gone? who knows, but much better behaved and no more bucking. 

played on the obstacles we were allowed. did slalom in the trees ;) practiced switch cup halt at the sprnkler heads. dark and stormy and thundering so headed back... hosed off... made it to lizs and turned the boys out... happy to eat grass and grazed politely together. put them ini stalls for dinner and to avoidi the bugs. left them iin overnight. all ready for some AC and dinner... and her AC went out... 88 degrees in the house!! took cold shower whicih helped, ordered food... ac guy came... no ac tonight...well, minimal ac tonight... fans... it's all good. took a second cold shower and went to bed with fans and light ac

we'll see how tomorrow goes! Grateful to God that he feels sound... sound enough to be rowdy. ;) and sound on smaller circles. 

photos: 8-26 buckle series

Grateful, and also irritated

 Today was an... oxymoron of a day. :) 

 

I was smart and only scheduled one farm today so I could prep for the show. Which was nice as hot as it's been. And with the ponies all throwing shoes, I kind of needed to ride today. So, I had planned to ride with Kelli. The plan was to go for a nice long hack so Kelli could take advantage of having me and Dan to be Marvin's emotional support buddy, and then do a little arena work. She wanted me to watch and get some videos so she could send them to the vet, and then I told her I needed to ride through my test and then check Dan to see how he was on smaller circles. 

 

So we got to Ashland. I was a hair late because it took me longer than I expected. We tacked up and hopped on. We hacked to the lake and then by then, Kelli had changed her mind and wanted to head straight back to the arenas instead of looping around and staying on the trails longer. So we headed down racoon loop, but we took the long path to see Fern Gulley and minimize the downhill for Marvin. Then we got to the XC field. I asked her if she cared if I trotted a log and then did our "water crossing" practice for the show. She didn't, so we did. And he was great! He's learning that there is a time to work and a time to play. :) With the gate too! (or a time to help and a time to not help). So then I let him trot through it and I also trotted a tiny bit. He felt sound! He was maybe a little .... I don't know.. he felt sound, but.. felt maybe a little uncertain? A little sloppy? I don't even know. I was basically letting him trot around on a loose rein and not asking him to use himself at all. But he was happy and felt decent. We "jumped" a few logs and he only launched himself and cantered a few steps over one. The others he actually trotted or jumped from a trot and only cantered a step or two after. Good boy!

 

So then Kelli did a tiny bit of trotting out there. We headed up to the arena and noticed the sky was getting a little dark and there were a few rumbles of thunder. We got to the arena and Kelli asked if she could ride and do her 10 minutes of trot and 2 minutes of canter and have me video and then she would video me. I told her yes, but... I did want to ride through my test. So she started trotting and I started videoing.. and it got darker and darker. And then the wind whipped up and it was nice and cool and refreshing! And then it started raining. Kelli rode on for about 2 minutes and then it started with some thunder and lightning. She stopped, got off, and took off for the trailer. Um... okay... Bye I guess...

 

So Dan and I walked back down to the small arena and I picked up the trot and we went right in and did our test. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad at all! I mean.. it's walk trot, but still. He was a good boy. We finished it despite a few lightning flashes and some thunder and all the rain. Sigh.. I'm so tired of getting rained on and having all my tack and boots be soaking wet! So then I did a few small circles... ten meters or 8 meters or so to check and he's not lame! Yahooo! So then I decided not to keep pushing it and we headed to the trailers. I untacked him and the rain started to let up. By the time I got him hosed off, it was pretty much only a drizzle. Sigh.. of course. Oh well. While I am painfully frustrated and annoyed... and really wish I had more time so that I could have played with him a little and seen if getting him a bit more collected and rocked back made him sore or if he was still comfortable.... I'm also VERY grateful to God that he is sound... even on smaller circles! Because that was not the case four days ago. I very purposely thanked Him... and also thanked Him for not letting us get struck by lightning because I was being stubborn. And, quite honestly... Dan knows his job.. it's walk trot... and even if we don't have a good show and don't win the belt buckle... I'm still riding my horse! Which is very much an answered prayer. And not only is an answered prayer.. it's more than it could have been. I could have a horse that is only sound enough to walk the trails... and God has been so kind and merciful to let me do more with him. So... I'm grateful. But hopefully I'm also allowed to be aggravated at the weather too. 

  

Now to hope that he stays comfy through the end of Saturday and we can at least give that buckle our best shot!

Gnomes and Healing

 Today was a very weird day... 

Liz came for my lesson with Funny and we had the most fabulous ride ever!!! Whoo hooo. And then we pulled Dan out at the barn and LIz worked on him. She said that he felt very locked in his left shoulder/neck base area and his left hip/sciatica. She said he was sore on his left front hoof. And as she worked through things... she said she felt like his stifle actually felt good... but he was guarding it. More like he was afraid of using it vs it actually hurting. She got some huge releases and had me help out too. We basically opened up his pelvis and got fascia moving in his left pelvis/hip area. And she got that spot in his neck and said it was more trapped energy than anything and she got a big release in his poll on the left. She then worked on his stifle inadvertently. She basically said his hamstrings were super tight and hot and that his left quardriceps were locked down. Which makes sense because he's constantly resting his right hind to avoid using that stifle. So she used her energy to break up those tight fascial chains and encouraged him to shift and step onto the right hind. She didn't want to just push him over onto it... because that just makes him brace and guard. But if we encouraged him to shift and stand on it on his own.. then he could start to trust it more. He was soooo good and trying sooo hard. And he did it! A few times. So I'm going to have to keep reminding him. It's the whole "rehab isn't finished until the brain has been rehabbed to know it doesn't hurt anymore" theory. The muscle memory. 

So then she suggested that I not ride him at all today. I said I was supposed to go trail riding with Kelli originally and she was like "maybe just a short trail ride". Sure... Marvin's rehabbing anyways. But then she said he might feel drunk or wobbly. But if he felt great.. to not be tempted to do more. Do NOT do more Holly. I joked and said I should probably just not ride him and she agreed. So before I turned him out, I bled his BL and LU ting points and we chased the energy down and out and she said his foot felt better. And he was certainly acting slightly drunk. Not drunk, but almost like he was testing out his hind end again. But he was definitely more square!

So then she said she wanted to check me and she leaned up against my stone wall and had me stand in front of her. It was fine at first.. she was working on my spine. She said I felt pretty straight and supple. And then she went to my neck. And oooh, I told her how my neck was so jacked up and had been hurting so bad and I had been to the chiropractor twice and it was better but still not right. And she just starting gliding some fascia... like, a tiny little massage. But holy cow.. she isn't kidding. She is HOT! Her energy is intense. I could almost feel like burning, but not in a painful way. And then... suddenly I told her I was feeling faint... and it came on quick.. I was like "Yep... I think I'm gonna faint" and then.. it was odd because when I almost fainted in my biopsy... I could fight it and stayed cognizant of fighting it longer. Maybe because I was sitting down already.. I don't know. But once I told Liz I was feeling faint... about 10 seconds later I was like.. yep, I'm feeling faint and I really think I'm going to faint but I didn't do anything else about it. Next thing I know I'm sitting on the ground and she's sitting behind me. I was like... Oh dear.... I did faint! Are you okay!!!??? She was fine. She said she just guided me down. I really hope so. She's the one with the brain injury and vertigo and here I am fainting. I laughed... "Did you put the sleeper hold on me"?? ha ha. She said that I had some bad energy she needed to get out. She said she can visualize them and hers often looks like an elephant but mine looked like a garden gnome. A mean little garden gnome! And one that didn't take kindly to being ejected so he made me faint. I have no idea.... but I've had plenty of body work and never fainted before. Even with Liz.. she's worked on my neck before. I don't know if it was the stress of the past two weeks.. dehydration... what. But... man.. it took me a hot minute to recover. I really thought I might need to vomit for about 5 minutes. Then I was just... exhausted. So we sat on the ground and talked for another 20 minutes or so before I finally felt good enough to get up. Jeepers... that was just weird! Dan is brave because he took it like a man. He didn't faint! 

And then it was starting to thunder and the clouds were looking a little menacing so I told Liz she should probably get on the road to beat the storm and I wanted some food anyways. I felt fine at that point. 

So yes... very odd. But the good news is that it sounds like Dan is feeling pretty good in general, especially now! And if I can get it out of my head that his stifle hurts and just ride my horse.. we should be fine. And I can keep reminding him and his energy that his stifle is fine and he can trust it. 

Weird day! 

Halfway There

So... I realized that I had spiraled into a worst case scenario instead of trusting God. So, hopefully God is just rolling his eyes at me and my "drama" while He's kindly healing Dan's foot. 

 

I texted Patrick on my way home with Funny asking him if he'd come out to put Lyrics shoe back on this weekend and if he could peek at Dan too. He said he would be by this afternoon. Thank you!!! So, he came out and we got Lyrics shoe back on. She was still very foot sore so he pulled one nail. And then she was still sore but better and she walked out of it pretty well. We figured that she's just tender and we'll see how she is in 24 hours. And by this evening, she was already better! Then we pulled Dan out and since I wasn't sure which foot it was... we took him to the driveway to jog him. Patrick watched and said he wasn't really sure. So then he jogged him for me. We both sort of thought maybe left hind. So, we went back in and hoof tested him and he was mildly positive at the toe. Patrick pulled his shoe and he had a bruise at his toe. And he was consistently reactive to the hoof testers there. And notably.. he seems to be standing on both hinds more square today.. which tells me his left hind does hurt because he normally is resting that right hind almost 24/7. And when Patrick picked up his left hind.. he wasn't fussy like he usually is. Which, either means his left hind hurts enough he's ignoring his right stifle and/or his right stifle is feeling better now that we're two weeks into the steroid injection. Hopefully! 

  

So we ended up filing down the toe of the shoe, taking out the packing material from the toe, and putting the shoe back on. This way he has the best chance of healing without causing new issues and hopefully being sound enough to ride and prep for the show. But he did warn me that it could pack dirt up under there. So I wrapped it after putting some green jelly in there to help dry it out and harden it up.

 

Then Mike and I hung out a bit and I organized the trailer and tried to figure out my show outfits. And then we went to dinner. And then I came home and decided it was kind of cool enough to ride. Well.. it was at least shady enough to ride. It was still pretty miserable and Dan was already crusty and gross. I figured we'd at least practice the obstacles at the walk... 

I tacked up and we hacked up to the arena and did some walking. We did the gate and the reverse gate and it wasn't bad. We did the livestock pen and we practiced our march! And so far he was feeling better at the walk already. So I picked up the trot. And... darn. Still a little lame. It's at least 50% better than it was yesterday though, so that's a start. I do wonder a tiny bit if it's his left front actually, but.. it's so hard to tell. He wasn't that bad so we rode. I kept it to a trot and did not canter. And we kept the trot short and simple. We practiced the switch cup and reverse and he was perfect! Like.. perfect all 4 times we did it. Okay... I just kept my head on straight and asked him to quietly back up with my hands lifted a little and he backed straight up. And I measured my lane.. and it was jump standards too, so it wasn't just stuff on the ground he coudn't see. So yay! We also did the single slalom pretty smoothly too. 

 

I did do the drums once but he was definitely lame for those. Those tight circles definitely made the lameness show up. Ooof, sorry dude! We won't do those again tonight for sure! We did the jug and got some nice trot to halts to trots. And we did the gate a few more times and... man, he's really getting the hang of the gate and the reverse gate!! Good pony! Then we did some centerline to halts.. a turn on the forehand each way before I remembered that was the western dressage test, not the working eq test. Ha ha. Whoops. So we did our 5 meter half turns. And then we did the gate another time or two and jumped the cross rail. And he was perfect! Or pretty darn close. 

 

We quit with that. I gave him bute tonight instead of previcox to see if that helps. If I need to, he can stay on bute throughout the show. I'm praying that it really is just that one bruise and he just needs a tiny bit more time to not be sore on it. And that by tomorrow he'll be sound on it and I won't have to be stressing about the show. I'm going to try very hard to not wonder if it's another foot... the stifle... and not spiral into "it's the end.. I'm going to have to retire him". Please help my unbelief God! 

 

  

Lightning and Lame

 Ugh.... 

I'm trying VERY VERY Hard to not spiral into a pity party...  It dawned on me that I've got a WEEK.. one week before our show. And that means I can ride today (planned to trail ride so I can apologize to Dan and we can be friends again), tomorrow and Sunday and then Tuesday. Tuesday I have my lesson with Liz. Then I work and we leave on Friday and we will practice on Friday and show Saturday. He's already gotten over a week off because of his injection and then missing a shoe. And then the last two or three rides we've had have been awful. And then my plans got all messed up for Lyric and Funny because of their missing shoes.. and the at least I did jump Lyric at Ashland by myself that day because she's now toe touching lame again and Patrick pulled her shoe and so I can't ride her. Which messed up my Chatt hills XC schooling plans with Funny and my lesson at Ashland before her show. But... it's fine.. it's fine... It'll all work out... it's not the end of the world... 

 

So today I was supposed to ride with Sharon and Kelli. Kelli told me she may not be able to depending on how long it took to move her kid. So fair... but it still ended up kind of throwing me off. I wanted to trail ride Dan... so riding with her would have been a good plan. But I could have also ridden him with Sharon. But Marvin loves Dan and does better with her than with Funny, so... I rode Funny with Sharon this morning and then was going to ride Dan with Marvin. And I guess, it did really work out.. in a sense. But... ughhhh. After my ride on Funny I got home and ate lunch and Kelli still had more moving to do, although she also prewarned me that she might not be able to make it. I decided I could stall a little bit and go drag the arena and set up my obstacles so that I could do that tomorrow and/or Sunday. So I did. And that took way longer than I wanted. I got most everythign up but decided to quit at that point and check in. It was close to 3ish and I wanted to make sure I didn't run out of time with Dan. She said she still wasn't done but also wasn't sure she'd have time, so I told her I was going to go and hopefully she could join me later into my ride. 

 

So I grabbed Dan and we headed out. I had a slight suspicion that he wasn't quite right. He just looked a tiny bit short on a foot, but I couldn't figure out which foot and he wasn't ever really consistent or walking long enough each time I saw it. So I didn't think too much about it. We walked our raised poles before we loaded up and headed to Ashland.

I tacked him up and tried him out in his new breastcollar and pad. It all fits and looks good. But it's not exactly the right match. Ugh... The turquoises match well enough but the pad is more blue and black and the BC is more blue and brown. Ugh... But it might work well enough. Anyways... I got on and we hit the trails. We got to the overturned boat by heron lake when Sharon messaged asking if I was at Ashland still (She had left her mounting block and I saw it when I was tacking up and messaged her that I grabbed it for her). Apparently it was storming at her house. Ugh... It was blue skies when I pulled in but it was definitely dark in the distance. Dark enough that I closed my truck windows (thank God I did!). She told me to ride quick! 

 

We headed out and by the time we got to the trail beside the "peninsula" of the swimming lake it had started to sprinkle. Big fat rain drops. No worries... it's cooling it down. I can clean my saddle. We headed to the lake and by the time we hit the beach it was coming down pretty steady. Ugh.. so we headed to Raccoon loop and did that path. He was fussy and short and not striding out. He almost felt like his hind end kept getting stuck. I couldn't tell for sure but assumed it was his right hind. It was almost like he didn't want to bring that leg forward. Or at least that is what I assumed/thought. And then he didn't want to go downhill, so we took the shallow section. It was really raining decently by now and I was getting soaked. My boots were starting to fill up and my hat was dripping water off the brim. Sigh... Okay, but... it's a pop up storm, maybe it'll pass quick. Then I heard the first thunder rumbler... then another... then a flash of lightning. Okay.. maybe we head in. And then when we got to the Never Ending Story stones there was a big flash of lightning and 2 seconds alter a boom. Okay... time to go. We trotted a tiny bit and.... NOOOOOO. Dan was lame. Like.. head bobbing legit lame. I coudn't quite tell if it was front end or hind end, so I'm guessing hind end. Although I can't tell if it's right or left honestly. And maybe it's right front... although when he was walking in the pasture I maybe would have guessed left front. Sigh... We had another good lightning flash and thunder boom. So I made him trot to the water complex, then calmly walk through, then trot off again a few steps. But he was definitely lame so I pulled up. I was sort of hoping that the storm would pass and we could carry on as I could see some blue skies ahead. But, then... he was legit lame and obviously not just a few steps of it. So... in we headed. Plus the rain wouldn't quit. We got to the side warm up area by the arenas and a suddenly there was a big sizzle and flash and then an immediate massive heavy boom! I honestly think lightning might have hit about 25 feet away from us! Bless Dan for being a saint. He and I both flinched/jumped but he didn't do anything. Okay... that was REALLY close and scary. Let's go bubs. I know you hurt but let's trot back to the trailer please. We trotted  a little bit but he was really lame so I gave up. We got back to the trailer and I pulled tack off and loaded him up and we headed home. 

Seriously though???? UGHHHHHH. I want to cry! I texted Patrick and am assuming that when he comes to put Lyrics shoe back on this weekend, he'll check Dan. But good gravy... we've only got a week before we leave for the show. I need to practice.... I need to practice the test AND obstacles. That's at least two rides. And I've only got tomorrow, Sunday and Tuesday. And Tuesday I've got a lesson with Liz. And I honeslty don't know if it's a hot nail... or his poor stifle. Or the other leg that's giving out because he's over-riding it from the bum stifle. And I'm currently mad about that because... I took him to the vet two weeks ago to check and make sure we weren't missing anything else... and I didn't stand up and make sure that we flexed other places, because... his stifle looks so bad we just assumed. But.. maybe it wasn't his stifle. Maybe it's the good stifle.. or the left hind tendon sheath again. We don't know, because we didn't check. And now, it's too late to do anything about it before the show. And... I know.. it's just a show... a measly beginner class/lowest level class show.. But I was really hoping to win that belt buckle. Sigh.. I dont know why it matters so much to me. It shouldn't... not to the detriment of my horse. And maybe.. it's not even that.. it's that I am realizing this is the end... and now he's not even sound for trail riding and.. that breaks my heart. And then.. I'm overwhelmed already this week because of the whole breast cancer thing and.. it's just... it's been a whole lot. I've kept up a good attitude about it and.. I should. But.. Dan's just.. my glue... and ... I feel like I'm losing him despite doing all the things I can... And now I feel like.. this is it.. the end... if I can't get him through this.. then he'll fall apart entirely when I have to take a month (or more) off and then he's done... done done. Sigh... But.. my God is good. And I don't know His plans. And He will make good out of the bad. So.. if it's His will that Dan is done.. I have to trust it. Maybe He knows that Dan just needs a few months off and then he will bounce back again. I don't know. And I need to remind myself to just trust Him. Stop stressing and making things up. Maybe,... and probably likely.. it's a hot nail and Patrick will pull it and best case scenario, he's sound enough to ride immediately after and nothing else is lost... worst case scenario... we either miss the show entirely and don't win a walk/trot belt buckle... or we have to go to the show cold and just do our best. I've already tried to remind myself the whole goal of this WE endeavor is to have fun with Dan again and I've somehow made it not fun this past two weeks. Sigh... I'm trying to listen God... I'm trying. Thank you for protecting us during the storm and the drive home. Thank you for giving me all the extra rides I wasn't ever promised to begin with. Thank you for letting Dan still be here, when he easily couldn't have been. 

But... dang I had a big pity party on my drive home. Sigh... 

Frustrations and tears

 ugh.. awful ride. had lesson with judy at lindas. 

warmed up briefly. rode in the new pad liner and pretty pad. Not sure I like it. Not contoured and too big. sigh... but not sure he cared. maybe that's why he was naughty though?? 

practice and did okay in the beginning but he hates the stop and go. had some issues at the gate but it got nice after a time or two. did the livestock pen decently. double slalom was okay but he started to get fussy and was either rushing on the forehand or rocking back and then walking. And then not listening... like I'd ask him to go and he wouldn't.. or I'd ask him to turn or to half halt or halt and he would just ignore me. He started hopping up in the air and wanting to canter... or slamming on the breaks. sigh... I got mad. i tried not to. 

did the switch cup backing up thing.. and it was awful. Linda said i was in his face so to be softer and not keep yanking on him. So I tried... just tried "Schusshing" and kicking my legs forward. didn't really work. THen we did one step back and release... then one step and release.. then one step and release. which kind of worked but then he still got fishtaily.  then she had me lift my hands.. because he's diving on his forehand and dragging me down and he can't back on the forehand. So lifting my hands UP (NOT BACK) did help.  but then he was also being naughty and I got mad and then he wouldn't go forward... ugh... i lost my temper and was kicking him and then he just got mad. But we finally did manage to do it decently twice. 

then tried the bull line and then the jump. he was sassy over the jump. then tried the bull line and jump with the garocha pole in hand... still naughy. then did the single slalom and he just ran at them... and it was awful. finally had to sit trot and slow him way the freak down. got better but ...

the whole ride was just frustrating. it's the same thing the last few rides. I can't seem to find the happy place. He's hanging on me or I'm hanging on him. He's ducking to avoid contact but then he's running away on the forehand and way too big in his stride if I don't. and then i'm not riding with my body, i'm resorting to my hands, but then he feels like he's ignoring my legs unless i get him with my spur. So i cried... and it's just.. embarassing. Linda thought I was a decent enough rider to ask me to ride her horse and then I have a meltdown and lose my temper and blame my horse.... 

ugh...

shockwaved his stifles and SI joints when we got home. and he was still being a butt... hosed him off and kicked him out. 

will apologize tomorrow. also, off BC again because of my stupid boobs... so that's not helping.

photos: 8-26 oooof . videos from judy