Feelings, So Many Feelings

After working with Carmen I let her back out to the paddock to relax before the lesson.

It was an interesting lesson.

She started off with lots of energy and looking around. What is interesting is that the areas that were NBD during our groundwork, continue to cause some anxiety when being ridden.

This is definitely habit and one that doesn't get me too bent out of shape.

We walked around and then picked up a trot. I am sure that her saddle needs some adjusting (I have a call in) and so I let her warm up to it. Carmen was still getting herself distracted, the work in the ring was not keeping her occupied enough.

getting distracted by the equipment outside the ring.
Still looking pretty though

So Shanea asked me to do a 4 loop serpentine. I was riding it and Shanea kept telling me to turn sooner and I was getting confused. Finally she said 'think of it as 10 m circles'. And then I knew I had to stop.  See, my ring is 60 m long so to do a 4 loop serpentine it's at the 15 m marker not the 10. Once we cleared that up we could work through it.

As we worked Carmen's energy picked up and she was ready to go. She picked up a canter when I didn't ask but I let her roll with it and we flowed along. It allowed me to work on our trot-canter-trot transitions.

After a brief break we went back to trot and I asked her to cross the ring at B she balked. I put my leg on and she gave a big buck. It honestly seemed like she felt I was being too hard and I'm sure my balance was on the front of the saddle and pinching her.

So I just laughed, brought her back to walk and let her get more comfortable. Clearly, she had feelings and one of us had to be zen. I spoke about what I thought was bothering her and we decided to take it down a notch.

We worked on some leg yields at a walk. As we worked, Carmen began to relax. And then wanted to go forward into trot. I waited a bit and then let her roll forward.

Leg yields from left to right were easier then right to left.  She likes to lead with her haunches so worked on that. Here is Carmen expressing her feelings about being made to go to troll corner.

But we worked through it. Carmen can get quite fast and unbalanced so I've been working on that.
In this video you can see that she's speeding and falling out of balance. I turned her into a 10 m circle and slowed her down. From that she's more balanced and, funny enough, less spooky in the corner.

But we finished with this leg yield:

This is the one we finished on.

I was happy with this lesson and how we dealt with things. It seemed to me that Carmen is learning that I will  listen to her when she tells me she's not comfortable- mentally or physically. Which is allowing us to work through it. I am being less intense, which is also good.

Louder Than Words

This week I was laid out with the flu. It was a nasty bug that made me incapable of doing anything other than lay on the couch and watch TV.

It's never easy to be ill with animals because they do not understand sick days.

Usually I can muster up the energy to take care of them but this time it was really hard. Staying upright was hard. Let alone doing barn chores.

But I was fortunate that Ed was home and he stepped into the void with not one complaint. In fact, he was quite emphatic that I was to rest and not do anything.

We have been married for a number of years (32 this year!) and our verbal communication is often of the mundane- plans for supper, work gossip etc.

Words don't always show the inner truth of feelings and thoughts.

But actions cannot mask who we are. For example, Ed went to the store and bought some oranges. He asked if I wanted one and when he brought it to me I saw that he had peeled it for me. He knows that I don't like orange residue on my hands and always wash right after peeling. By bringing a peeled orange he kept me from having to get up.

I took this from the kitchen window. Ed is in the barn taking care of the horses

Guinness kept me company, making sure that I was never lonely. 

Nothing helps you feel better than a loyal dog, says Guinness

As I began to feel better I began to try to take back more chores. It was not easy because he fought me every step of the way. On Friday, while he was showering I snuck out to walk Guinness. When I got back he was not happy but I explained that I needed some fresh air. Which was true.  

This morning I set my alarm to get up to do the morning feed and as I was heading to the bathroom he yelled what are you doing? Go back to bed. 

Drat. Foiled. 

Rather than argue I let him go out while I made the morning coffee and fed the cats. 

Ed has a torn rotator cuff and it has been bothering him more with the additional chores. While he was out getting a hair cut I got the tractor and emptied the manure cart. 

He was back when I brought the tractor back up. 

You know I said that I was going to do that. 

Yes I know but I didn't want you to further irritate your shoulder. 

So I'm trying to protect you from feeling sick and you're protecting me from hurting my shoulder? 

I laughed.  Welcome to our later years. 

The Glamorous Life of Horse Ownership

When we tell others that we have horses it always seems that they picture an idyllic pastoral scene with happy horses and sunshine.

And it's not that that never happens.

It's just that winter is another story altogether.

yeah. Not this. 

so much this

Taking care of horses in winter is hard. 

It basically consists of being obsessed with weather apps and trying to not trip on frozen poop. 

It's trying to decide if the horses need a medium weight blanket or a heavy weight blanket. And deciding that changing them twice a day seems to be a bit too much and could the temperature please stop fucking with me. 

I need a vacation

I actually have a good system worked out- I have my hay box with the slow feed net so that they can have access to forage all day. I also put some 'free hay' out in the field so that they have to walk and not just stand at the buffet like an older couple on a cruise. 

They can go in and out of their stalls at will. I only close them in during storms. Today is one of those days. The forecast was for snow, followed by sleet followed by torrential rain. It's the rain that is most concerning because the snow can cause the water to back up and flood. Like this wonderful day a few years ago when the barn flooded. 

early morning with the snow starting

I let the horses out to have some outside time before the weather turned really bad. Of course they both flatly refused to step outside. 

Irish: I am appalled that you would even consider this weather acceptable. 

Which is frustrating because Irish gets really annoyed at being locked in his stall. He's also really annoyed about the weather and won't go into it. Clearly, it's the principle of the thing. 

I left them to it until  I could hear the ice hitting the window. I went back to the barn and got their stalls organized. Irish immediately began running around. 

Irish: noooo, I don't want to go in- I want to be out. I'm a hardy steppes horse! 

Finally I got a lead around his neck and brought him in. Carmen ran into her stall with relief. Carmen is okay with being inside as long as the hay feeder keeps getting filled. Irish will likely forgive me. 

In the meantime Guinness thinks that the weather is fine and doesn't understand why I'm not enjoying it. 

Heart's Ease

I know I should not be complaining about the weather- it's certainly been mild. But I still have not been able to get back into a regular riding schedule and it's driving me a bit nutty.

Last week there were some beautiful days but I was 500 kms away for work. When I returned home the weather had turned cold and rainy.  This weekend had mild temperatures but oh my god, the wind was terrible.

Call me a wimp but I could barely face being out in it for a little bit of time.

Riding was out of the question.

On the plus side the wind is drying out the mud.

Irish is starting early with his 'let me into the grass field now' stare. 

Fortunately I had a distraction- a few of us from work were in a Curling Bonspiel. It was a fundraiser for the hospital. It was a lot of fun and a great team building exercise. I do enjoy curling. We had 6 of us sign up- only four can play at a time so we cycled in and out. We didn't win any games (there were a lot of very experienced teams and three of members were new to curling) but I think that we had the most fun.
P

So I  had a good weekend and I should feel happy. And I wasn't unhappy.

And yet, I found myself cranky this afternoon. I took the dogs for a couple walks and I cooked a roast beef supper complete with roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding.

And I was still out of sorts. So after supper I left the dogs in the house (much to their dismay) and went out to the barn.

I started with Irish. I groomed him from nose to tail while he stood there enjoying the scratches. Carmen watched closely and gave a nicker. I figured it was at Irish but when I moved away from him she nickered right at me.   I brought her out to groom and she soaked it all up. She showed me a couple itchy spots and while I detangled her tail she just relaxed.

I then cleaned both the stalls and told Ed to let the dogs out. I played fetch with the two young hooligans before coming inside.

And I felt completely better and content.

Anyone else out there feel out of sorts if they don't get their 'pony time'? And it's not just about seeing them -I see them every day because I feed them and clean their stalls. When I boarded I used to believe  that my horse would be more attached to the barn owner but now I realize that there's a difference between care and caring.

Now I just need this weather to improve so I can ride. In a fit of blinding optimism I have a lesson tentatively arranged with Shanea.

House of Cards

Many years ago I worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist in our local hospital. Part of my job included working with inpatients. One thing I noticed was that often an elderly person would come in with a pretty simple diagnosis (like urinary tract infection) but would quickly decline and other things would happen. A doctor explained to me that as we age we are a like a 'house of cards'. When one part goes the rest can quickly fall. I saw it happen again and again.

What has this to do with a horse blog you ask?

Well that is starting to describe Irish.

I've written about him before but essentially Irish has numerous health issues: 

•  He has also been prone to colic (fortunately not in the past two years #notcursingmyself). I think that his current diet has really helped with that. 
• His feet are terrible and he can abscess at the drop of a hat. He's in special aluminum wedge shoes to support his heels
•  approximately 3 years ago started head shaking which I manage with magnesium oxide and UV fly mask. 
• And most critically he was diagnosed a few years ago with a 'neuro issue' - most likely arthritis (I've written about it before) and he's on a daily dose of previcox. 

As a result of his neuro problems he started being incontinent of urine  (I cannot remember if it's been one or two years- I think one). It went from every now and then to essentially he dribbles all the time. I've had him tested and it's not due to any infection. I wouldn't really care except that it gets on his hind legs. I try to wash them regularly and keep them clean but I'm fighting a losing battle. And I can't wash them in the winter.  His skin on his fetlocks and cannon bones is essentially being eaten away by the urine.

I've tried diaper cream and it helps for a bit but not enough.  His fetlocks look like I've dipped them in acid and he's even getting some proud flesh from it. He also is becoming less 'himself' and more withdrawn and a bit unhappy. I used to say that it was a crap shoot as to what would take Irish out: his gut, his hind end or his feet. Now it's looking like it might be urine and I never imagined that.  I am feeling that if Irish developed an infection because of this it might be the end for him. 

I tried bell boots but they didn't help. I have spent hours scouring the internet for a solution: something he can wear on his hind legs. It would have to cover from his hocks to his hooves, be breathable but not hold the urine next to the skin. 

Then a friend posted on FB about some boots she was ordering to stop her horse from getting mud fever:

I looked into them and it seemed that they might actually be the solution I was seeking. I found a place in Canada to order them from (My friend was ordering from Great Britain at a killer price but by the time I did the conversion and delivery I realized that I wasn't going to be saving that much).  I decided to order them and if course I threw in a few other items to get free delivery.

I have to say I was super impressed with Sprucewood Tack- they answered my questions and delivery was FAST. I ordered on Thursday afternoon and they arrived the next Tuesday. I was impressed with the boots they were soft, flexible and seemed to be really well made:

 I gave Irish's legs a thorough wash and then wrapped his legs to dry them and keep the urine off. Once his legs were dry I put them on. They seemed to fit well and were easy to adjust. Irish was less convinced and did the horse 'silly' walk when he headed back to his stall. 

This morning they were still in place and looked good. I really hope that he can keep them on for a long time. The instructions say up to twelve hours. I am going to be leaving them on longer then that but think I will give him a short break every day.

If these don't work I am out of options.

And that's not a place I want to visit.



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