balancing the days

Yesterday was one of those wonderful days when everything seemed to fall into the perfect balance: I started the morning editing, spent several hours in the barn feeding and setting up horses for the day, came in to do some chores in the house, took a shower and got on my riding clothes, did more editing, and a few more chores, and then mid-afternoon went out to ride the Big Bay and do groundwork with Cody. I wasn't rushed, and got back inside just in time to go to the grocery store with my husband.

Some days this combination just doesn't happen, or if it does, it feels like I have pushed hard to get all the things I want to do into one day.

I realized as it was happening yesterday morning that part of the charm was my being centered. Now, I normally do feel fairly centered, but there is definitely a level of centeredness that goes beyond that, and that's where I was yesterday. Everything flowed.

The peak of my day was getting ready to ride. It was quiet in the barn, the fans were going and the horses were rested and happy. I switched out reins on Keil's bridle, cleaned the new set, reviewed some notes on the outside rein, and then tacked him up in his stall. I haven't done that in a long time - but Salina and the donkeys were in and out of the barn aisle, so I didn't want to spend time moving them. I assembled everything on his stall door and then Salina hung her head over the saddle and watched, which made me wonder if she misses being ridden. She eagerly smelled the white dressage pad when I offered it to her, but turned when I started to place it on her back, so we agreed that perhaps reminiscing about riding is plenty. While tacking up the Big Bay I talked to Salina about my wish that I'd known her when she was younger, and that she would have taught me so many good things about being a quiet, balanced rider. Even the past few years she taught me a lot about that, but I would dearly love to have ridden her when she had her healthy knees and full power.

By the time I got to the arena, the donkeys were out at the gate watching. Keil Bay and I spent about 10 minutes at the mounting block, back to the work of taking one step at a time, making sure that one step was solid before I moved on. I tried to take out any moments of hesitation on my part. And of course it worked perfectly, and he stood like his old soldier self when I finally did the complete process and mounted.

We had an easy ride, as I wanted to focus more on the outside rein than anything else, and we enjoyed walking and some trotting.

After the ride I sponged Keil in his stall and left him eating his hay. Cody and I did some free longing and then I decided to put him on the line. We worked mostly on getting a nice rhythm at the trot instead of rushing, and ended with some cool down work on the lead line. My daughter continued that in the barn yard and did some trailer loading practice, and we ended the "work" loading Redford. (effortless job, since he saw the trailer doors open, came out, and hopped right in!) I am thinking that Redford might end up being the traveling companion for the geldings, as Rafer is much more happy staying with Salina, and Redford seems eager to hang with the "big boys" in the field. He most definitely seems interested in travel.

I woke up this morning with the instant happy feeling: today can be just like yesterday. There is nothing on the schedule to chop up the day. And now, sitting here, I am hoping it unfolds in just the same balanced manner.

you can email the USEA here

I just did, after reading from what I consider a reliable source that Mark Phillips, in response to a barn worker's distress over Bailey Wick's death this past weekend, said:

"Toughen up, Cupcake."


USEA contact page

And while you're at it, email the USEF too.

another horse dies on x-country

I couldn't bring myself to write about this after Rolex last month, and I'm not going to write much now after Jersey Fresh, except to say that I am APPALLED at what is happening in eventing. I have been appalled for several years now, and I'm not seeing anything change for the better. And if I hear one more person say "the horse died doing what he/she loved to do" I think I will scream.

The day I see a horse die while free-jumping an advanced course with no bit, no rider, no spurs, and no whip, I'll concede that point.

oh, dear, I forgot the best part!!

I was so caught up in replaying the vet visit I forgot what happened BEFORE.

We were out in the barn trying to get everything straightened up and ready so that horses could relax after their shot, etc.

We're fortunate in that our barn is set up so that on one side the geldings can go in and out of stalls to shelter to paddock, and on the other, the donkeys and Salina can go in and out of one stall to another paddock. There's one stall that doesn't have a back door, and we use that one as a dental stall for floating, and today it was a great place for the pony to "wake up" from his sedation.

We close the gates to the field and the horses are close but still able to move around, munch on hay, etc. while awaiting their turn with the vet.

So, I had asked my daughter to put halters on so it would be quick and easy to get them one by one when the vet arrived. She had that done in short order.

A little bit later I was heading out to the round bale to get a barrow full of hay, and I saw Redford running out the back door of the stall, bare-headed, with Rafer Johnson's halter in his mouth, chasing Rafer Johnson, also bare-headed!

Those donkeys managed to get both their halters off and then Redford was trying to put Rafer's back on!

That got me laughing and I feel sure was a big step in my not having anxiety today.

Thank you, donkey boys!

vet day

I successfully managed to keep my negative medical procedure energy out of the way for today's vet visit, which I think is pretty good considering I have my own dental cleaning with valium set for tomorrow morning!

The pony had to be sedated to get his ear cleaned out and checked. He was a little booger, but when she got the last bit of gunk out, he lowered his head and leaned into her hand, which seemed to mean it felt good to get that stuff out of there! He got his Coggins' pulled and we didn't do the spring shot, but will do it later in the month. We also discussed the possibility of doing titers on him instead of vaccinating, given his sensitivity to the shots.

Our female vet now has a tech assistant who travels with her, and she was wonderful. She uses tapping to distract the horses from the needles, and although the pony was sedated, he still needed the tapping, which was a wonderful tool to keep him quiet.

His teeth are thankfully fine!

Everyone else got Coggins' pulled, the E/WEE/West Nile/Tetanus combo, which I had originally opted not to do, but the vet didn't have just EEE - so on we went, and had teeth checked. And they all got their homeopathic remedy to help with reactions to the shots.

Salina went next so she wouldn't work up any intensity fretting over the donkeys' getting their stuff done. She was a goddess of composure and it was REALLY good for me to hold her and realize that the two of us together can be calm. (for readers who haven't been here long, we had a sort of debacle with Salina last spring after Rafer's gelding, involving triple sedation, a twitch, knee injections, and me getting bowled over, which we hope never to experience again - and after all that, it was an abscess in her hoof, not her knee at all!)

Vet said Salina looks marvelous and the best she's ever seen her, and her teeth are great. We went over her new diet and discussed Equioxx as a possibility for later years if she becomes less comfortable. For now I use Bute the night before trims and that's it. For now, that is enough.

The donkeys were quite amazing, although Redford decided the clippers were directly from Hell Itself and we decided to pull blood without them. He and Rafer handled everything perfectly and were quite happy when all was done and they were able to rejoin Salina, who of course had watched every moment of the process over the stall door.

Cody needs to gain a little weight, which I'm sure I can facilitate, and we're going to get his teeth floated sometime soon just to keep on top of some ramping on his back teeth. Updated about his PSSM genetic test and the treatment protocol I'm using. Vet said she would NOT do the muscle biopsy if the protocol is so clearly working, so we're on the same page with that.

Keil Bay was his usual kingly self, arching his neck to strike his most handsome pose, but being incredibly easy and quiet about his needles and his teeth. His teeth look great as well, so that was that for today's visit!

The vet and I discussed de-worming protocol and some new info, plus some NC specific info, and we came up with a good plan. I mentioned wanting to learn to do our own fecal counts and she was overjoyed - so starting this month, I'll be doing fecals before and after the de-worming. This will allow me to only worm horses that actually need it, as well as test to see what drugs are working well on our farm and which, if any, are not working due to parasite resistance.

I'm excited, if you can believe it, about the prospect of putting horse manure in baggies, labeling with their names, and using the cool McMasters chambered slides with grids for counting worm eggs.

All I can say is this: I need never worry about running out of things to do and learn when it comes to horsekeeping!