Summers End

 We are well into September and the days are getting shorter. In the past week we have had hot days but the weather is not transitioning to more typical weather. Although it's still really dry and I wouldn't mind some rain. 

it's been a banner year for dragonflies

I took it easy on riding right after the show. It gave us all a time to decompress and me time to reflect on my takeaways. I am really pleased with how well both horses did at the show and I like how it helped draw attention to what is solid and what is not, lol. 

For Quaid, when he gets excited/worried/nervous he has trouble rating himself and does not appreciate me telling him what to do. The judge said that my hand was too tight making him protest. And I'm not going to argue about that, because I am sure that it was. But I think that the biggest issue was me turning him away from the in gate when he was trying to rush there. And when Quaid is upset he kicks out. This is harder to replicate at home because he doesn't get upset too often. I've been having Julia lead on hacks so I can work on slowing him down and keeping him back from Carmen. This is definitely helping. And again, when he really wants to catch up and I say 'no' he protests.  The other day I was working on our canter. To the left it was lovely but to the right he wanted to buck going in. I lifted my hand to stop his head from dropping and he kicked out. I kicked him back and growled at him and the next time he picked up an easy canter. I did a circle, stopped him and called it a day. However, this is our biggest issue and it rarely comes up. Most of the time he's happy to go around and work. I've been setting up poles and cones for us to play with and he enjoys them. 

working on ground tying 

For Carmen I realised how much I let her blow off my half-halts. So I've been working on those at all three gaits. The canter is still hit or miss. She'd much rather dump on the forehand and lean on the rein then lift herself.  But it's getting better. 

Carmen pursuing her life goals

What I need is a lesson on both of them but Jane has been ill so I don't know when it will happen. 

There has been some drama with Guinness. Last weekend he began to vomit and not eating. At first I wasn't too worried but he got worse and couldn't even hold down water. I called my vet who said that they cannot take any emergencies right now so I had to call the emergency clinic in the city. I took him in and by this time I was pretty sure it was a tumour or anaplasmosis. The vet did a physical and he snapped at her when she palpated his hind end. I've had Guinness since he was a puppy and he's never snapped at anyone, even when I took porcupine quills out of him. They did an ultrasound and I was braced to hear that he had a tumour but they saw a 'foreign object' in his small intestine. I was shocked because, while he does chew up toys I hadn't known him to eat a piece. I was also incredibly relieved because that was fixable. Anyway, they operated that day and it was a good thing because it was close to rupturing his intestine. 

Guiness post surgery

The next day I called and they said that they'd like him to go home but they can't get him to eat. I was not surprised because he never takes treats from the vet during his regular checks. I drove in to prove that he would eat for me and then they let me take him home. 

Guinness: stop taking photos and START THE CAR 
before they change their mind. 

He's been eating well since he got home. He's sore and on heavy pain meds but doing well. I got them to show me the piece they took. It was black and says 'kong' on it so it was definitely a toy but I have no memory of it. It must be an old one.  He's leaving his incision alone but I put a cone on him at night and when I go out just in case. He's not a fan. 

G: okay on 3 start pulling
C: mom says it's for your own good
G: traitor

I suppose that given I just spent the equivalent of a used car (albeit an old used car), it's probably good I can't have lessons right now.....

How's your late summer going?