Lingering

What I like about summer is the warmth and light of the sun.  I have much more energy in the summer.  My creakiness doesn't seem as noticeable during the summer months.  I have no problem awaking at 6:30 a.m. and ease into my work day by having my morning coffee as I water my little garden and hanging pots.  After that is done, I have my second cup reading the paper and chatting about world events with My Husband, before I go upstairs to get ready for work. Summer replenishes me.

Summer + riding doesn't work for me, however.  The first summer I had Gem, the temperatures were normal and I was injury free; I was able to ride regularly but in the arena or paddock only, because of my lack of experience.  The next summer, I was still recovering from surgery, so my riding was limited.  The summer of 2011 was tolerable hot although I remember the flies being horrific; they made horse and rider miserable.  I actually had flies hit me in the eyeball a couple of times.  Gross.  The summer of 2012 was awful.  The high temperatures hit us in May, starting our drought, and it was so uncomfortable that I stopped lessons.  Trail rides were far and few between.  In July, I fell and decided that recovering from a pulled groin was the right time to put Gem into 30-day boot camp.  This summer we have been hit once again with high temperatures (32-35C/+90F).  This year, however, it's wet.  The humidity makes it feel like +40C/+100F and the only relief we get from "big hair" days is when we experience torrential rain storms coupled with thunder.  There doesn't seem to be any relief in the near future; these conditions will continue to linger for the next while. Tragically, a lady that I know lost her older horse to a heart attack attributed to the sweltering conditions.  Just when my confidence has improved enough to accommodate the sweltering heat and hit the trails, our time together was sabotaged by Gem's abscess.  It appears that I am not meant to be a summer rider.

We thought we had the abscess licked a couple of weeks ago.  In fact, after the vet checked him the first time and my farrier put a little hole in his hoof where some pus escaped, he was sound enough at a walk for me to saddle him up a few days later and get on him for 10 minutes; I did try him at a jog so that LA could assess him and he was still off.  The next time I took him out of his stall, he was lame at a walk.  The heat was back in his hoof.  I freaked out.  LA happened to have a QH trainer friend visiting; Larry is also a farrier, so he re-opened the hole that my farrier had done and sure enough a very small amount of pus came out.  Was this abscess ever going to go away????  Or was it just going to linger on forever???!!!

Abscess at coronet band.

We continued to soak and poultice daily. The vet was out to float some teeth, so I asked that he take a look at Gem.  As he felt around the coronet band, Gem pulled his hoof away when he applied pressure to the front of the band, straight up from where the hole in his hoof was.  The vet believes that the original hole closed up, even with us soaking and applying poultices daily.  When Larry re-opened the hole, residue pus escaped, but the rest of the infection was already traveling upwards toward the coronet band. When I rode him, even though it was at a walk, it aggravated the infection.  Now it was a waiting game.  He recommended that I take Gem for short walks or light free lunge to stimulate the blood flow to the hoof and encourage the abscess to blow.

I have been continuing to soak his foot, just to keep the original hole clean, and have been hand walking him or allowing him to run around the paddock.  He is sound at a walk, but still off at a jog.  When he lopes/canters (at his instigation, not mine) around the paddock, he seems sound but I suspect that it's an illusion because of the gait.  Standing in direct sun, in hot sand, is not my idea of fun.  The sweat drips down my face, even into my eyes.  Thank goodness for waterproof mascara!!  :-)  But watching Gem look somewhat normal as he moves around the paddock is a big relief.

Something that I have observed since his abscess is that some of his manners have gone by the wayside.  He sometimes revert back to being pushy.  Could be the heat, could be his discomfort.  But, it's something that we will be working on over the next couple of weeks while we are spending time on the ground.   Yesterday, I let him loose in the paddock.  He wouldn't move away unless I did, so I started walking around the paddock with him following me like a dog.  We worked on whoa (pretty good), stand (pretty good) and come (not so good).  He crowded me a couple of times and I had to correct.  There is an exercise ball in the paddock and I kicked it to him and he "threw" it back to me a number of times before he lost interest.  It was just too friggin hot!!

Gem appreciates the 15 minutes out of his stall when I walk him or let him run around the paddock and he especially enjoys the grass treat afterwards.  I have to say that I am so pleased that he's not out during the day in these temperatures.  He gets to nap is the coolness of the barn and then appreciate more acceptable temperatures at night when he's turned out.  I know, I know....he's a horse and they can easily accommodate the weather, but it makes ME feel better to know that he's as comfortable as he can be.  :-) 

As of yesterday, there is no indication that the abscess has blown and there wasn't any heat around the coronet band.  Perhaps the abscess has been reabsorbed??  Keep your fingers crossed that Gem as at the end of this incident.  Hope everyone is staying cool!!!  I find Mojitos help.  :-) 

Follow My Lead

I have seen Gem twice this week.  Both times I rode in the arena because of the frigid temperatures.  

The first ride (Sunday),  I was a bit anxious.  I hadn't ridden Gem in a week at that point.  But to be honest, it had been an exhausting few days with my mother and seeing to her needs and I had nothing left to give.   Gem gave me a little attitude when I was getting him ready, so I was expecting him to be frisky.  Reduced turnout time due to bad weather was probably a factor.  I felt very tired as I walked him up the lane to the arena. Gem was nickering and prancing a bit and I was not looking forward to having to convince him to behave.  But, something strange happened.  As I positioned him next to the mounting block and asked him to stand, his eyes softened.  He stood nicely as I mounted, and waited patiently until I asked him to walk on.  And, that's what we did for most of our time together; just walking, doing squares, circles and some bending.  He was very well behaved.... and kind.  The reins were relaxed and his head was low.  Whatever worry I had about him being frisky vanished and I let my mind clear.  I felt my body start to relax and the pinched look on my face disappeared.  It was...... a great ride.  Could it be that he realized how emotionally and physically drained I was?  Did he see it in how I walked to the arena?  Could he have heard it in my voice?  He just seemed to know what I needed out of that ride.

It was bitter tonight and when I arrived at the barn, my headlights reflected off of the solid ice that covered the lane.  Great.  You see, we had +10C earlier in the week (I know!! Crazy!!), which melted a ton of snow, followed by rain and then the temperatures plummeted again.  Lesson was cancelled this week due to the insane weather.  LA had a truck load of fine gravel dumped on the lane and around the barn.  Thank goodness!  Walking would have been treacherous without it.  However, a horse slipped this morning on the icy pathway to the turnout areas, and fell.  He wasn't hurt, but LA ordered another truckload of the gravel and had it distributed along the paths this afternoon to help the horses maintain their footing.

My frame of mind was much better tonight as I got Gem ready.  I had had a very productive week at work and had ended the work week on a good note. I was looking forward to riding, even if it was just going to be walking in the arena due to the low temperature.  As I opened the gate leading to the lane, Gem stopped.  His head was up, ears forward and there was a bit of anxiousness around his eyes.  I asked him to walk on and he refused.  I spoke quietly.  Gem lowered his head and started sniffing and examining the icy road.  Ah, he was nervous about the ice!  Perhaps news had spread amongst the other horses of the mishap that one of their turnout mates had experienced on the ice.  :-)

I tried to reassure Gem that it was OK.  I asked him to walk on.  He was hesitant.  He took a step, but stopped, again lowering his head checking the ice.  He took another few steps, walking beside me but stopped again.  Then, instead of walking beside me, he moved behind me. With a little encouragement, he continued to walk behind me all the way to the arena.  Perhaps he felt that if I could walk safely following a certain path down the lane, then he was going to follow in my footsteps.  He trusted me to take care of him.

It was another good, relaxing ride.  We walked around the arena with DH's Mom for about 1/2 an hour before the cold took it's toll.  Gem was relaxed and his straight lines and turns were very good.  After a sniff of the ice when we left the arena, he followed me back up the lane to the barn.   And for a horse that doesn't appreciate displays of affection, he allowed me to hug him to my hearts content when he was in the cross-ties - he usually get fidgety when I do this.

I feel there has been a subtle shift in our relationship.  Even though these two rides were not "busy" physically, Gem and I seemed to have moved up a notch in trusting and understanding what the other needs.   Yes, it really has been a good week.  :-)

Black

A friend at the barn sent me this link.   Her Rocky Mountain horse is jet black, so you can see we have a soft spot for black horses.  ;-)  Hope you enjoy watching these stunning Friesians in action.  Wow.

Have a good weekend!

Kingsley

Thoughts are with Wiola over at Riding Instructor's Diary.  She had to say good-bye to her lovely Kingsley.  If you have a chance, please show her your support.  Very sad.  RIP Kingsley....you are now pain-free.

Driving Standard

With the exception of my Sunbird, every car I have owned has been a standard shift. I have had a Toyota Corona, an Austin Mini, Toyota Tercel, Sunbird, Honda Accord and my current car, a Honda Civic. Obviously driving a luxury car or a trendy vehicle doesn’t mean that much to me. All I require in a car is that it be reliable, good on gas and low maintenance....oh, and look good with my hair colour. :-) I usually keep my cars for a long time: my Honda Civic, which looks like the picture below, is 10 years old.

The last few years, I have noticed that my finesse at shifting gears is not as good as it used to be. My touch and balance with the clutch it is not as smooth; it’s slightly jerky. For those of you who drive standard, you will understand what I mean. This issue seems to appear when I engage 1st gear from a stop. I sometimes end up revving the engine before the gear is engaged. Or perhaps, when I release the clutch I pop it instead of releasing it with a smooth motion. Not all the time, but still..... Balancing the clutch and gas when I am stopped on an incline has become an issue for me. I am terrified of rolling back into another car! More often than not, my car sounds like a small engine plane getting ready for take off as I try to ensure that the clutch is engaged just enough to keep the car still on the incline. This has become such an issue for me that during rush hour there are some hills that that I will go out of my way to avoid. Driving standard is becoming a pain in the buttinski.

I had it in my head that because I knew how to coordinate my feet and hands when driving my car, I would know how to coordinate them when it came to riding :-) Yes, I had visions of being able to ride any horse presented to me when I first started lessons because I would be able to communicate to them so subtly and precisely that horses would love me and people would be in awe of me. Ah, not quite. Sigh.

The last time I rode Gem in the arena, I did not have spurs on (I use English spurs) and I did not have my crop with me. He was preoccupied and unresponsive. There were times I really had to kick him to get his attention, I had to push much harder to get him going and to keep him moving. Maintaining my balance became an issue. I rode him for 30 minutes and when I dismounted I was exhausted. Now, some of you out there might think that I should be working hard like that regularly; that I should be able to ride my horse without the use of artificial aids, with the exception of the bit. But, this ride reminded me very much of my current situation with driving standard; not being able to coordinate the gas and the clutch. Not my idea of fun.

Gem is by nature curious and lazy. But he is low maintenance and reliable....like my cars. :-) I only get to see him twice a week, and if I want to have a decent ride during lesson, I have to wear spurs - it helps to give him a much clearer message of what I want and frankly, it makes it easier on me. The crop is more for show than anything else; he just needs to see that I have it. :-) These aids, used in conjunction with my verbal commands, help make the ride a more productive and pleasant experience for both of us. Does that make me lazy? Perhaps.

It was pointed out to me recently that Gem's response time to my cues to transition is much quicker. What? Could it be that we are working more as a team? Yipee! Yes, confidence plays a part in how he is reacting to me. But I also think that his quicker response time is a result of my brain is processing what needs to be done and my body reacting without me even realizing it! I am not over-thinking what needs to be done, like when I am on a hill trying to balance my clutch and gas. Cues are becoming ......dare I say it.....automatic!! This means that my hope of becoming a respectable rider is one step closer!

So, you see, automatic is the next phase in my life, both in car and riding skills. I am looking forward to both. I have started to look at cars with an automatic transmission. What do you think? The Veloster is new. It's good on gas and has had decent reviews. And, yes....it looks good with my hair colour.... ;-)Life Lesson: Read books. Not only will you learn how beautiful the written language is, you will learn about the world.

Liebster Blog Award!!

My apologies for the delay in posting. Thank you so much to Story at All Gear No Skill and to Mona at Panic and the Pony for passing along the Liebster Blog Award!

Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs

Choosing only 5 blogs is difficult for me because I really love all my blogger friends! But here are a few that I am sure you will enjoy.

Joyous Art I always enjoy reading about what Joy is up to, whether it’s home schooling her boys, crafting or taking riding lessons.

Love+Revenge+Chocolate Cake I just found this blog. Landers lives in South Africa and has horses, dogs and loves to bake...sounds like a recipe for adventure (pardon the pun!)

Beautiful Mustang Linda has beautiful horses and dogs, including an Irish Wolfhound!

The Horse Talker Laura is a student doing her Masters in Animal Science and hangs out with her beautiful Cob, Trooper, whenever she can.

My Boston, My Friend Fred is such a cutie. Check out his recent fashion statement!

Enjoy!!

p.s. I had to sneak this one in...this blog has more than 200 followers, but I just love it! The women in Advanced Style are inspirational!

Sunday Football

Well, we got our snow base for winter trail riding (yay!!), but today it was bitterly cold (-20C) so I didn't ride. Instead I groomed my boy and then let him out in the front paddock to enjoy the sun with DH.

It appears that Gem and DH have caught the quarter finals fever and decided to play a little football. You may recall that last year, their football got them into a little trouble. :-) The "football" has gotten a lot of use and needs to be replaced. They still manage to entertain themselves, despite the ball being deflated. I just hope the paddock fencing can withstand their game!






The cold didn't seem to bother these guys at all. To be honest, I didn't stay out for too long trying to get shots of their game.....the tops of my ears were freezing and my hands were going numb! Damn you, Windchill, damn you!!!

What was I thinking....?