...and we CANTER!!!!

This Friday, October 28, will mark the second anniversary that Dino and I first met in Kentucky. I can't begin to say just how lucky I am to have him, that through the ups and downs of this retraining process, we've clicked and bonded together. It doesn't matter where Dino is in the pasture, when he sees me coming he always lifts his head, nickers and walks to the pasture fence.

Horses are a lot like people with their varying personalities, and sometimes they just don't click; with their herd mates or their humans. Its a part of life. I've had a lot of friends who got horses, off the track or from private buyers, and have had to face the fact it wasn't going to work out because of conflicting personalities. To me, that's the hardest reason to sell a horse. I can accept lack of potential and injuries, but conflicting personality just seems like such a trivial problem. However, its not. You're not doing yourself or your horse any favors by keeping him/her if you can't get along. I've been very lucky.

Dino and I have struggled all summer with our right lead canter. I had skirted the issue all the way up to camp and had to face facts, we needed to canter. The nice thing about an OTTB is that their canter is probably their best gait, since they did so much of it training on the track. Dino canters on the longe line with side-reins and I've even long-lined him and cantered, he has a beautiful canter. I knew that Janet told me not to canter him under saddle until Dino picked up the correct lead 80% of the time. "It should only take you a few months," she told me. Well, let me tell you I can stretch a few months into a few years.

I've always liked cantering, and my fear of cantering stems from my riding accident eight years ago. Since then I think I've cantered a handful of times and I've only been over fences once. Fear is just a funny thing and personally, I can't be pushed out of my comfort zone, I have to do it in my time frame. Well the time was right and I felt comfortable enough with Dino that I could canter.

When Dino and I attended camp this past July, it had been a full year since we had cantered last. Over the course of that year, I was able to ride on the buckle and reach forward with my hand to pet Dino on the neck. I was becoming less and less a bundle of nerves. Dino, bless his soul, has been so patient with me and so in-tuned to me that the more relaxed I became, the more relaxed he became. After camp, Dino and I went back to the longe line and worked extensively on the right lead canter. The more we worked, the more I wanted to ride.

On October 8th, I bit the bullet and longed Dino under saddle. He was good and so I mounted up. Worked a little on the trot and when I felt comfortable, I asked for the canter. The first two times, Dino did pick up the wrong lead but he came back down to the trot - a year ago, he would have done a flying lead change. The third time I asked, he got the correct lead and I literally whooped-and-hollered around the arena. I'm surprised my neighbors didn't come out! After a change in direction, Dino cantered but was a little flustered, so back to the trot. The second time we cantered, he was so round and soft that I just melted into the saddle.

By the end of the ride, Dino and I had switched directions a few times working on cantering and in the end, I just couldn't be happier...for him or myself.

Cantering again was not quite my "Ahh-haa" moment, but a flashback memory of the rider I once was and with Dino, could be again.

I've recently switched Dino to Tribute's Kalm Ultra, a 12% protein, 12% fiber, and 12% fat feed. While he's at a decent weight, I would like to see him just a tad fuller.

Tricks of the...trade??

People send me sale ads all the time. Sometimes they amuse me. Other times I'm terrified for the safety for all involved. More times than not, I wonder if people realize just what 'picture' of themselves and their horses they are putting out there for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE. I'm guessing they don't. Or they don't care. Then you have the professional ads, the ones from big name stables with big name trainers/rider and horses to boot. I like how they word their ads. My favorite is: "Has a great work ethic" or "Likes his/her job".

No. No they don't. Really. They don't.

If given the choice of a)carrying a rider on their back while they work on bending or b)lounging around and eating all day; they're going to go with B 99.999% of the time. And who can blame them? I'd rather lounge around all day watching a Storage Wars marathon, but unfortunately my horses have foolishly become accustom to their lifestyle. Which, funny enough, consists of lounging around and EATING.

Of course there is that 0.001% of the equine population that does enjoy their job and does have a great work ethic. I can tell you just where they reside, too: in a stallion barn.

How does this relate to Dino? He has a bag of tricks he uses, when he's asked to do something in a training session that he doesn't want to do. Its a small bag and once he's exhausted all of them, he'll actually do what I'm asking of him. You might be thinking: "There could be something wrong that's causing him to react that way; pain or fear. Maybe you're just not speaking his language or you just haven't played enough games with him..." I have very little use for New Age Horse Trainers and hardly anything nice to say, at all. So I will say this: horses are like teenagers. You walk a very fine line between disciplinarian and friend.

My trainer asked me one time how things were going with Dino and I. "You mean besides the bucking, bolting, and rearing? Oh, we're good," I responded. Those aren't Dino's only tricks. He can back up faster than a reiner and he'll change his tempo from super slow to high speed. He also likes to drop his shoulder and fall in with his hindquarters. Lately it's dropping his head below his knees and then hanging on the reins, giving me great discomfort in my lower back. None of this makes Dino, or any other horse for that matter, a bad horse. I just always need to be ready to counteract Dino's next move. Flex his jaw and keep his poll as the highest point. Come with a little spur or a tap of the whip to keep his hindquarters in line. As for the bucking, bolting, rearing, and backing up: that's longeing.

A week or so ago, Dino ripped a D-ring off my surcingle when he backed up nearly a 100' and then bolted. Dino then ran around the arena like a mad man, probably didn't help I was chasing after him with the lunge whip. But I didn't care, he was going to keep his feet moving until I told him he could stop. And stop he did and came directly to me when asked. How could I be mad? Instead we just went back to work and finished our session. Dino still didn't want to trot, but was more than happy to after I turned the tables on him and made him canter...a whole six minutes. Everytime he broke back down into a trot, which was about every 30 seconds, I cued him back into the canter and each time he picked up the right lead. I was so happy with him because we've been struggling with the right lead all summer.

I think what really started this episode, was that Dino wasn't happy I moved up the side-reins on the surcingle to keep his poll higher. I then ran the lunge line through the bit to the top D-ring on the surcingle, so that I could continue flexing him and engage his inside hind. The first day Dino wasn't happy with this new arrangement, but he went along with it. The second day, he threw his little temper tantrum and ripped the D-ring off my surcingle. Which is typical, the first day back to work from a break or doing something new, Dino goes along with it but you can see the wheels in motion. The next day, he acts up. No big deal and in the end, his being 'bad' didn't get him anywhere, he still had to work. The way I see it, it is merely a rough training patch that I try to turn around to accomplish my goal. In this particular example it was not as successful as I would have liked. He was never forward in the trot, but he didn't want to canter anymore and he was out of tricks. :)

And I can't even be mad at him about my surcingle. I bought it from Dover Saddlery about 13 or 14 years ago. I'm amazed it held up this long. I don't even use the nylon girth that came with it, instead I just use my dressage girth which just seems more comfortable. As far as I'm concerned, Dino did me a favor...heck Dino just bought me AND him a gift - a new surcingle.

Sometimes, its just the little things that can really make one happy. :D

Dino on our first cold morning, requiring the use of a quarter sheet.
(September 16, 2011.)

(The above picture is prior to my moving up the side-reins. Again, here they are only looped around the girth. When I first got Dino, like a lot of off-the-track-thoroughbreds, Dino carried his head too high and was above the bit. In an effort to encourage him to bring his head down and come over his top line, we placed the side-reins around the girth. This also helped in teaching him to carry himself, not use me for balance, and take contact with the bit - as the side-reins were on the last hole. Well, it served its purpose and now Dino needs to bring his poll up and eventually carry it as the highest level. Therefore the side-reins are attached on the second ring from the bottom, and have been taken in to the third hole.)

4th Annual Secretariat Festival

Number 1 Stall at Claiborne Farm, September 24, 2011.

I had heard about the Secretariat Festival when it first started and always said I would love to attend. Last year I did because it fell during the time I was in Lexington for the World Equestrian Games. I had so much fun and enjoyed it so much that I figured I would attend every year as it falls around my birthday and it would be a treat to myself. When the dates were announced this year I thought, "Money's a little tight...I should probably skip it." But then they announced that Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner, would be there and I knew immediately I was going. So I went ahead and my requested time off from work, booked my hotel (THANK YOU, Priceline!!) and made my reservation to tour Claiborne Farm.

I had such an amazing time! Met some wonderful people, re-connected with others, and stood in line for 3-hours to meet Miss Penny. If you have found this blog because of Secretariat and are unfamiliar with this festival, sign up for the newsletter on their website (scroll down to the bottom of the page). I was told about a big announcement in the next few months... ;)

A few weeks ago, I was trimming Dino's tail and I kept what I trimmed off. While I was visiting Claiborne Farm, I asked an employee if I could leave the hair behind. They were kind enough to allow me to do so. This is probably my favorite picture from the whole trip.

One of my favorite things about going to Kentucky is simply going to a bookstore! Because its 'horse country' it is so much easier to find books and dvds. This time I came home with three books: Horsepower: A Memoir, Jane Savoie's Dressage 101, and Kottas on Dressage. I also got three new dvds: The Life & Times of Secretariat, Zenyatta: A Living Legend, and John Henry: The Steel Driving Racehorse.

Back to topic: Dino is well. He has put on a lot of weight since switching solely to alfalfa hay. His right lead canter is about 75-80% consistent now. I'm itching to try it under saddle, but we've had nothing but rain lately. Figures. But I do have a new goal for next year: canter serpentines, probably just a three loop with simple changes in the middle. I know it sounds so simple to some people, but it would be a huge accomplishment for Dino and myself, and I'm looking forward to the challenge! :)

August Update

That's really how it goes, doesn't it? A once a month update....shameful.

On the one hand a lot has been going on and on the other, not much. Shortly after camp, I was turning the horses out for the night. I don't know if I did something or if Angel saw something, but she spooked. I was leading her out by her halter, so when she spooked, she reared back taking me with her. This is my #1 recurrent injury: a horse rearing back and me getting my arm virtually yanked out of my shoulder socket. It's like a whiplash and hurts for days. This time was no different, I couldn't lift my arm up or hold anything with a weight to it without my shoulder screaming. Not sure what I did, I rarely ever go to the doctor for one I'm cheap (I'll admit it when it comes to me, I'd rather skip and splurge on my horses) and two I don't like to sound crazy. I learned a long time ago that regaling the nursing staff with detailed stories of previous horse related injures, like they can't just look it up in my file, and that fact that I continue to do it, makes me sound crazy.

After I had healed up and was ready to ride, Dino got hurt. I'm still not sure what he did, I had gone down to feed in the morning, the horses had been in their stalls, and Dino had fresh blood on his front left. It looked like a puncture wound, but wasn't and it came up from the bottom. Nothing in his stall revealed the source for the injury. The 'cut' itself was between the inferior check ligament and the deep digital flexor tendon, right above the suspensory ligament. Dino's leg was extremely swollen and tender. At first I cleaned it with betadine solution and treated it with Well-Horse and continued to keep it clean for days and it just wouldn't get any better. Not only am I cheap, I'm also a hypochondriac when it comes to my horses and I was slowly convincing myself that Dino had a flesh eating bacteria. So I changed tactics; gave Dino bute (1 gram was upped to 2 grams) and applied fura-zone and that's when the heat showed up in his leg. Cold hosing didn't make it any better and stall rest made it even worse, so I switched tactics and applied cool pack green jelly. By this time the 'cut' had healed with the help of blue lotion, but the swelling, tenderness and heat had remained. Within a 48 hours of using the jelly, Dino's leg returned to normal and he returned to light work on the third day. The unusual part in all of this, Dino was never lame but I certainly was not going to try and take any chances.

Dino's leg on August 8.


Dino's leg on August 31.

Dino has now returned to light work, not because he's sore or anything, but because we have nothing else on the agenda this year, shows or clinics, and winter is coming so I'm backing off the workload now. Right around three times a week he's being worked and currently only on the lunge line. I'm really focusing on picking up the right lead in the canter and keeping the consistency. We're about a 60, maybe 65%, consistent in getting the lead the first time everytime. When we get to 80%, I'll go back to riding him and work on getting the right lead under-saddle.

Which then takes me to the inevitable yearly question: "To board or not to board?"

Fear Is A Funny Thing

The "Tao" is often described as a path, or way, to clarity. There are those who need guidance to move forward; and there are those who know the way in their bones. The latter seem to possess an uncluttered vision and intensity of commitment that light the way for others, as well as themselves.

- Unknown

I've mentioned my accident here in passing, but have yet to go into details. Today just happens to be the eighth anniversary.

Eight years later I still dream about my accident and in my dreams, it is all still very real. I can feel the wind in my face as we gallop, feel the rhythmic pounding of Angel's hooves, feel her pull on the reins silently asking to be let loose. I can hear her deep breaths and be lost in that world I so dearly love. Then it happens. I feel Angel stumbling. Over and over and over. I try and stay still, stay out of her way and let her find her footing. I feel myself flying through the air, and then the impact. The bone jarring impact that grips my heart with fear. I wake up with a start. Drenched in a cold sweat with my heart pounding in my chest.

July 26, 2003, Saturday, 7:30PM.
What I did was stupid, I shouldn't have done it and it was completely my fault. I wanted to let Angel out and gallop her a little bit. She had been cranky during our ride and I knew running full out was what she wanted. I knew when we reached the end of the straightway she veers sharply to the left, this is because the next field is so over-grown with undergrowth. We started out smoothly, within two strides Angel was in stride and moving comfortably, almost without effort. When we reached the end, she veered and I tighten up on the right rein and stepped into my right stirrup. I wanted to keep her straight, or as much as possible. In my mind, she was going too fast for that sharp of a turn and for sure she'd lose her footing and go down with me. She obeyed the rein and went into the field, where she took this huge step and stumbled to her knees. I lost my balance and let go of my right rein to steady myself. Angel kept stumbling and I kept waiting for the impact of her flipping over and possibly killing us both. I don't know how she did it, as if it was by magic, she regained her footing and then veered at what seemed like a 90º angle. It all happened so fast, her change in direction, and my clinging to the rein for balance. I was slipping and knew I faced a good chance of coming off. But in the back of my mind, I thought I could still save myself. Then it happened. The pressure on her mouth from the bit and my hanging on, Angel did probably the only thing possible - she flung her head to the left. It was like a bungee action or a snapping of a rubber band. She continued left and I flew to the right. I remember being so close to her thundering hooves and knowing there was a great chance I was going to be trampled under them. We were going so fast. My arms stretched out in front of me, my legs stretched out behind me; rendering it impossible to bring them back to my body for protection. With this knowledge in front of me, I knew I wasn't going to be able to go into a ball and roll with the impact. I also knew that at the speed and angle that I was at, I was going to break my neck and get killed. I didn't have a helmet on and landed face first going through the weeds. The only thing that I could think of to still save myself was to duck my left shoulder and throw myself into a ball. If I could do that, the worse that would happen would be a dislocated shoulder or a broken collar-bone. But I did it wrong, or maybe it didn't matter. When I hit the ground, I got whipped around and stopped. Just stopped.

The next thing that I remember was looking up into the clear blue sky with big fluffy white clouds. That's a good sign, I thought. But I knew something was wrong when I couldn't move and couldn't yell for help. I was behind a cornfield and no one saw me fall. My first sensation was nothing. I couldn't feel a single thing below my shoulders. Before panic could set in, pain started to fill my senses. I slowly moved my fingers, hands, neck, took a deep breath...and then nothing. I felt everything fine above the waist, it was below that was the problem. Before I could stop myself, panic did set in and I thought for sure I was paralyzed. Then ever so slow, an incredible pain started to filter its self in. As I took in my surroundings, I found myself surrounded by thick weeds and underbrush. And to add insult to injury, I stopped in a poison ivy bush. But Angel was no where to be seen. I had always wondered if Angel would stick around if I came off, now I knew. I was wrong. In actuality, Angel ran to the closest house, our neighbors, into their garage and when they went to grab her, she took off heading back towards me before going home on her own and into her stall. (Later a nurse was kind of enough to tell me that she thought Angel was trying to get me help my going to the neighbors first, years later I believe it.) My brother found me first and I told them to call 911. It seemed like ages before the ambulance got there. Then it was pure torture, them trying to move me into the ambulance and getting me to the hospital. They couldn't physically pick me up, so they had to slid a sheet under me and move me on to the stretcher that way.

My x-rays showed that I had broken my femur, at the point of the break my femur had shattered and both broken ends split down the middle, re-broke and came through the skin. When it came down to it, my femur was broken in four spots and I had a dislocated hip. I was in need of emergency surgery if my leg was to be saved. The orthopedic doctor at the county hospital was on call and wasn't returning the page, so around 1:30 a call was placed to Med Corp to transfer me to a level 1 trauma hospital that had the staff and specialist I would need. It was around 2:30am by the time Med Corp picked me up for the transfer and another hour before I got to the other hospital, where I was admitted through the ER. Seven hours had now passed.

Since I had been on so much morphine, the ER couldn't give me anything else but needed to stabilize me and more importantly my leg. I was given a local to numb me and with me being fully awake they drilled a hole through my tibia (right below the knee) to place a pin for traction. I was told prior that I wouldn't remember anything, that's half true. I don't remember the pain, but I'll never forget the sound of drill and breaking bone. I also don't remember screaming bloody murder, but I'm told that I did. From there on out, till after my surgery, everything is very blurry. I slept pretty much all the time and anything that did happen seems like a surreal dream now. I do remember being in prep for surgery and seeing my parents and brother there. During the surgery, 19 hours after my accident, they placed a titanium rod with two screws attached to my leg and a pin in my hip. Instead of stitches, I received 30 staples.

That Monday I started physical therapy, they wanted to get me up and walking around. My breathing was so hard, and it was during surgery, that they found that I couldn't be off oxygen.

I remember Tuesday being all round rough. I was told just how sick I was and that without enough oxygen, I could have permanent damage done to my brain and heart. They feared that my lungs where severely damaged and failing on me. Another x-ray of my chest was ordered. It was hell. My temperature rose to 103.5 and my blood pressure dropped to 93 over 60.

Wednesday they got the results of my x-ray and said that nothing was showing up. Back to physical therapy I went. That night though, they decided that since I wasn't getting better, that a blood transfusion might be best for me. Since my leg was broken for so long, they feared that some bone marrow had gotten into my bloodstream and was causing all the damage. The transfusion started at 5pm and ended at midnight. It was after the transfusion that I finally broke down and cried. It was the first time that I had cried during this whole ordeal. Gail, my 3rd shift nurse, encouraged me to cry, she said that it would probably make me feel better getting it out. It didn't make me feel any better.

Thursday my main doctor came in and told me that I could go home. I was happy and scared at them same time. I was discharged with enough drugs to make a hungry lion content.

In the beginning, I couldn't walk, not even on crutches. I got around with my wheelchair or walker. Two weeks after my accident, my staples were removed. That was horrible, it was like someone was performing hair removal with tweezers.

You truly don't realize how lucky you are that you can do something till it's ripped out of your hands. Nor do you realize how precious life is till you almost lose it. I know that I was very lucky, my first thought was I'm gonna get killed and then it was I'm gonna be paralyzed - all because of the angle and speed I fell at, the doctors figured I hit the ground going 30 -35 mph. We were almost full out, Angel was 16.2hh and weighed over 1200-lbs. So many things could have gone wrong. Angel could have stumbled and flipped right over landing on top of me, she could have lost her balance and fell when I fell and rolled over on me, my foot could have slipped in the stirrup and I couldn't have been drugged, etc, etc. There is so much and believe me I was truly scared whenever I thought about it, which was all the time.

I was also so embarrassed that this happened. Even I would like to think that I'm a better rider than this and would have stayed on, much less had enough common sense to not have done this. Angel probably knew about the undergrowth and that's why she veered, but I didn't listen and made her go into the field. Embarrassment turned into fear, scared that I wouldn't ride again and what kind of rider I would be.

After my accident I threw myself into school. I had four weeks to get from a wheelchair to crutches so that I could go back to school. Not to mention being able to get in and out of a vehicle that I could drive. More than two months after my accident, I re-broke my leg. It really sent me into a deep depression. It was such a set back, that mentally I didn't think I could handle it. There were days that my biggest challenge was getting out of bed. I didn't want to. I really just wanted to give up.

Of course you don't give up. You find the strength inside of yourself to pull through. Even though I was told I couldn't ride for a year, I was back on a horse (Sancho) exactly five weeks after my accident. My Dad had taken his saddle and one of my saddles down to the basement, knowing full well I couldn't get up and down stairs. My new saddle, he took the stirrups off and hung them up in the barn while placing the saddle in my closet. He obviously didn't know who he was messing with, a girl on a mission who needed to heal the only way she knew how: on the back of a horse.

I had convinced my Dad that I could lunge Sancho and asked for his jaquima, a Colombian headstall with reins, a bit holder and pisador (known as a life-line, can be used to tie the horse, lead or lunge), I had everything I needed to lunge Sancho, and ride him, albeit bareback. My Dad and brother, who was visiting that day, watched me for a short time and then went back to their work. Our pasture is in the shape of an upside down 'L' with the barn in front. I led Sancho to the back, tied him to the fence post and shimmed between the electric wires. I then rolled three cinder blocks under the fence and shimmed back. I stacked two cinder blocks on top of each other and used the other as a first step. It must have taken me, what felt like 20 minutes, to gather enough courage to get on and Sancho wasn't happy. He's only 13.2 hh and wasn't use to a 'mounting block', so he had started to dance around. I knew it was now or never, so I threw myself across Sancho's back. Who took that exact moment to bolt forward. I somehow managed to straighten myself and was faced with the an unimaginable pain; my broken leg was dangling against Sancho's side.

My brother was outside in the barn driveway working on his 1987 Monte Carlo, he didn't even look up as I rode by, just said, "You are going to get it..." Another trip earned me my Mother running out of the house, yelling, "You get off that horse right this minute!!!" Which got my Dad's attention inside the barn.

Let me just say, it was much easier to get on than it was to get off.

I didn't ride Angel for years. I couldn't breathe once I got on and would hold my breath during moments of stress. However, I knew I wasn't afraid to ride, I rode Sancho all the time, but it wasn't the same. I can't pin point when I lost the intense passion I had for horses and riding that I had growing up. It was before my accident, I know that much. There were days that I looked out the window into my pasture and saw Angel and Sancho grazing. I was longing to be the rider I once was, the girl that could ride any horse, who wouldn't bat an eye at a large jump, and thrived on the deafening sound from the crowd after a flawless ride. I didn't know what happened to her; was she asleep inside me, had she died, did I kill her off?

But then along came Dino, and slowly but surely I feel her reemerging.

Angel and I before the accident.

Sometimes, I question my own sanity

My favorite picture of Sancho.

Especially when it comes to Sancho. Over the last 12 years I have often wondered why I bought him and, more importantly, why have I kept him. I got Sancho when he nearly 12 and I was his fifth (maybe sixth) owner.

Sancho was foaled on August 3, 1987 and registered under the name Intimador de NFC. His first recorded owner was Sandra Erwin, of National Family Care Life Insurance Company (Dallas, TX), on August 29, 1989. I question if Mrs Erwin was the breeder/owner of Sancho because while she is the first registered owner, why did it take over two years to finally register him? I had thought somewhere in all of Sancho's papers he was bred and foaled in Oklahoma, but now I can't find that bit of information.

Sancho's second registered owner was Hacienda Classico in New Orleans (LA) on May 16, 1990. It was there that Sancho saw the rise and fall of his breeding career:

• May 5, 1992, buckskin colt, Intochable de Classico
• April 5, 1993, chestnut colt, Blaze de Classico
• April 8, 1993, bay colt, Starlite de Classico
• April 11, 1993, gray filly, Diamante de Classico
• May 4, 1993, bay colt, Virtuoso de Classico

Sancho's third registered owner was Hacienda de la Sol in Franklinton (LA) on December 20, 1993.

Sancho's fourth registered owner was Karen Williams in Liberty (TX) on October 31, 1997.

I met Sancho on June 5, 1999 and I purchased him on July 21, 1999. I have now owned him for more than half his life. From the beginning, it has never been easy. I don't recommend anyone buying a horse like I did with Sancho, it was crazy stupid. Nor do I ever recommend buying a horse in such a condition, it was crazy insane.

6/5/99-SANCHO-new horse arrived by van last night. No one was present when van dropped off horse, this AM he was found to have about 5" laceration RR (Right Rear) caudal (back of) pastern, also has other wounds on RR. (Little abrasions here and there, except for one; located on the front of the RR cannon bone, it looked like someone took an ice cream scooper and scooped all the way down to the bone. It was the size of a 50cent coin) Exam: horse quite painful, slightly dehydrated, non wt (weight) bearing RR. Romp/torb to clean wounds. Pastern wound is quite deep, excessive swelling makes it difficult to assess completely. Wound extends medially to inside of pastern. Gave TT, Pen IM. After cleaning wounds, wrapped RR pastern & lower limb w/biozide & epsom salts, owner (Marsha or Peggy) has already given 3gm (grams) of bute (horse asprin) PO. Rec: 2gm tomorrow & next day. Plan: recheck in 2 days & suture at that time. May have to anesthestize w/Ketamine. Dispense 100 SMZTMP, (horse penicillin) Rx: 10 BID, (10 pills three times a day) start tonight.

I was suppose to be there when the horses were dropped off. It was around 10pm when I called my boss and told her the horses still weren't there. She told me to leave that isle of lights on and a note instructing the haulers on where to put Sancho and Mariah, a Classic Fino mare we were also expecting. I had to work at my other job the next morning, got off around 2pm and went out to the barn. Jake was there and told me that I just missed the vet and to go check out the new gelding. From there I got the story: Louise was feeding that morning and noticed the new gelding standing in the far corner of his stall. At a closer look, she noticed blood and cuts on his back right so she went and called the barn manager to let her know. The BM (barn manager) came out and then called B (my boss) and the vet. The pastern wound was so deep that a man could easily fit two fingers inside the laceration. It was just millimeters from the artery in the leg; he would have bled to death. There was nothing in his stall to produce such cuts on him. A claim from B and the BM was that there was blood in the driveway and that the haulers must of had trouble and just left him that way. I never saw blood out there and the haulers denied leaving the horse in such a condition. Sancho was completely freaked, didn't want anyone near him. I remember standing outside the stall door looking at him when B approached me and said that she expected me to care for this horse back to health. I took the responsibility fully.

6/7/99-SANCHO-recheck wound RR, swelling has receded significantly, but does not appear to be amenable to suturing. (The skin just hung over his hoof, suturing was impossible because everytime he would flex and move the stitches would get ripped out. It had to heal from the inside out) Horse is slightly lame at a walk but is using foot normally. Flexor tendons appear to be functional. (We thought they had been damaged) Cleaned & re-bandaged leg, dispensed betadine scrub & biozide gel. Showed owner (B and myself) how to clean & wrap. Dispensed another 100 SMZTMP. Recheck next wk.

6/18/99-SANCHO-recheck RR, wound has granulated in (blood vessels that rise above the surface, also known as 'proud flesh'; reminds me of cauliflower *yuck*), horse walks favoring the leg. Rec: use trypzyme spray to control proud flesh & begin more exercise for physical therapy.

6/30/99-SANCHO-disp Trypzyme spray for wound, horse reportedly doing well.

Every single day I was there changing Sancho's bandages, hand walking him, grooming him, and loving on him to trust again. I even cleaned his stall, because no one else could do it like it needed to be - seriously. It stunk like no one can imagine. Since the injuries were so bad, Sancho couldn't be on sawdust (the small wood chips could bring on infection if they got into the wounds) so we kept him on straw. One day, I was called down to look at something in his stall and nearly got sick. The floor, which was clay, was almost a solid white -- from maggots!! I laid into people for doing such a lousy job on an injured horse's stall. That's when I took full control of Sancho, his care and rehab. I'd drive the 45 miles out to the vet's to pick up medicine for Sancho - medicine kept in my refrigerator at home, I called the vet weekly to give her updates on his condition, and when he needed new bandages, I went and bought them with my own money.

When potential buyers would come through the barn, B would always show them Sancho. He was well liked, but because of his injuries we didn't know if he'd ever be sound enough to ride again. So no one really showed enough interest in buying him. I had a few thousand dollars in my savings and kept telling myself that it was foolish to buy another horse. Then on July 21, 1999, B called me at the barn. Sancho's owner in Texas had called and wanted him sold or send back. B wanted to let me know and said she'd hate to see me lose him. I fell for it. Hook, line and sinker. I knew Sancho was originally $8,000, but we were going to sell him for $5,000, because of his injuries we had lowered the price to $3,000. For the next 15 minutes it was phone tag between the owner in Texas and B, and myself and B. Finally, B calls me and says, "What can you spend?" And off the top of my head I said, "$1,500." "OK, you just got yourself a horse," is all I heard her say. I didn't know what to say, I didn't even think before I said it, and my parents knew nothing. The next day, B was going on vacation and told me I could just deposit the money into her account, she gave the number and everything and I did it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I got had.

Sancho, Paso Fino, geld, DOB 1994
Kelly bought Sancho from B.
8/6/99-SANCHO-rechec wound RR paster, still carries some swelling even though Kelly keeps it wrapped. May always be thick due to where injury is. Wound still healing, looks good, no proud flesh. Rec: continue granulex spray, keep leg open when Sancho is turned out but bandage if in stall.

I had Sancho a full month before my parents found out and they wanted to kill me. Once again B was on vacation and out of touch for me. Louise was feeding that Saturday morning and called me at 8am. She told me to sit down and said, "A lady just called here. Her name is Karen. She claims that she is Sancho's owner and is going to be sending a van to pick him up. I told her about you, how you bought him from B and how you've been nursing him back to health...she didn't even know that he was injured. She's going to be calling you, I gave her your number so that you two can talk."

About an hour later, Karen called me and it was all true. I was heart broken. B had lied to me about everything. Sancho wasn't a 5year old gelding, he was a 12year old gelding, Karen knew nothing about Sancho being in a trailer accident and didn't OK his sale price to be so low. We talked several times that day. Then Karen surprised me when she said that she didn't really want him back, they never clicked and she was afraid to ride him. By this time, I've only ridden Sancho once or twice and it was only for a few minutes. It was on this day that I had to come clean about my buying Sancho to my parents and everything started to fall apart.

I started getting phone calls from perfect strangers claiming they owned this horse or that horse and how B had scammed them. Then one night it hit me. I was so stressed and tired, and I remembered what B told me: That every horse that comes into her barn, she places insurance on them - just in case something happens. A way to compensate the owners if you will. The haulers denied Sancho had been injured in their care, Louise found Sancho that way, B and the BM claimed there were pools of blood in the driveway that morning, and Karen knew nothing. What if Sancho was worth more dead to B than alive? Would she really injure a horse in the hopes of it dying to collect on the money? I was hearing so many stories, saw so many things while working there, heard B say things, and we had owners coming in the middle of the night to take back their horses. Adding all of this up told me that something wasn't right and I was in way over my head. It would have been the perfect alibi for B to move Sancho, re-sell him and accuse Karen of stealing him back, all the while leaving me with a knife in my back.

I needed a change and I needed an out. Driving home one night, an ad was on the radio for a local community college and their open registration for the next day. I thought about it all night and the next morning, then I decided I was going. I picked up enough classes that it made it hard for me to be at the barn so much. I was slowly dissocializing myself from everyone. B knew something was up and her checks started bouncing. At the same time, I was working on my parents to move Sancho home. Since B's checks were bouncing it helped me convince my parents that I needed to get out of that barn and get Sancho home. On September 26, 1999, Louise did me a favor and hauled Sancho home for me. I was free (for a little while at least) from B and her lies, and I had Sancho safely home.

Karen claimed that she never got her money from B and B's stories kept changing. I understood when Karen told me that she wouldn't sign Sancho over to me and never argued it or seeked legal help in obtaining his papers. There was so much fighting going on and lawyers involved, then on top of that the FBI calling me, I was just happy I got out and still had Sancho. At one point, B even called me and gave me 'friendly' advice, "Don't get involved by talking to these people, if I go down you're going down with me..." But her and the BM didn't stop there, they bad mouthed me all over the area. I just disappeared and waited it all out. Quickly they both lost credibility. B was run out of the area, and has been bad mouthed all over the horse community, and thanks to the digital age: the internet. Honestly, I have no bad feelings towards her, I just wish things hadn't turned as nasty as they did.

On August 3, 2001, Sancho's 14th birthday, I got a phone call. Karen was signing and sending Sancho's papers to me and all I had to do was sign them and send them in to the PFHA. Sancho was mine, all mine - finally!

Today, Sancho is a happy guy. He's my Boi. My big (albeit, little) tough gelding that thinks he's all that, but scoots with his tail between his legs when you yell at him. Not once in the last 12 years has he been lame on that leg and not once have I had any other problems with that leg. As a matter of fact, you have to look closely to see anything. It looks virtually normal. He walks into a trailer fine and hauls comfortably. Everything that he shouldn't be able to do, he does. Off and on through the years, he has been for sale; and each time I deliberately placed the asking price too high.
.....
As I was thinking about writing this entry I tried to conjure up any emotion and I have none that just jumps out. There is pride, joy, love, admiration, sadness; Sancho came into my life at such a crucial turning point. There's also frustration. Sancho is not easy to get along with and I often joke (kinda) that I understand why he was sold so much, he's just plain difficult. I can't remember all the times I got angry phones calls because Sancho couldn't be caught and brought in from the pasture. Or how many times and DAYS that he lived outdoors because he couldn't be caught...okay, I think he eclipsed 30 days at one time. By then I wasn't trying, I didn't care and then he suddenly did care...but I still didn't care and he continued to live outside. But in the end, he has constantly redeemed himself as my "go-to" horse.

After my riding accident and I wanted to start riding again, it was Sancho who helped me heal. When I wanted to experience parade riding, I took Sancho - who always loves a crowd, the larger the better.When I wanted to get back out there going to shows and clinics, Sancho was perfect the horse. Challenging Sancho with dressage, found he loved it and he quickly moved up schooling second/third level movements. He can perform a shoulder-fore, shoulder-in, leg-yield, half-pass, walking pirouette, turn on the haunches, haunches-in, etc., best of all he performs them correctly.

While dressage may seem crazy to some and fun to others, my personal favorite was hitting the trails. Over a five year period, Sancho and I racked up nearly a 1,000 miles. I taught him to jump up to 3', over ditches, and up and down banks. He is road safe, ATV safe, bike-roller blade-skate board safe, barking-chasing dog sane, and it took some work (okay a LOT of work) but Sancho crosses water, too. It doesn't even matter where Sancho is in the group, he can lead, bring up the rear or be somewhere in the middle - its all the same to him. Best of all six, seven or eight hours later I'm not sore like other members of our group. ;)

So yes, I bought Sancho on a whim.

Yes, I have had him for sale numerous times over the years.

And yes, he does frustrate me like no one other.

But much like how I think Dino and I were meant to find each other, with the passing of time I think the same of Sancho and myself. And in the end, this is his home, his forever home and I can't imagine not having him now. He's a part of my life and I'd like to think I'm apart of his.

Slippery Elm Trail, Sancho's and mine's favorite place to ride. It's paved the entire way, allowing me to lose myself to the music created by Sancho's hooves.

Flexibility...HA!!

A wonderful character trait to possess, when dealing with horses, is flexibility. Without flexibility you'll find failure a lot more than success. Two examples: the day's lesson and the weather....you didn't see the weather coming, did you?

Now if you're lucky, you'll have a horse that will be flexible with you. Dino and I have differing opinions on this, he thinks not so much when it comes to flexibility. Just yesterday we had such a disagreement. The footing had dried enough, or at least in one spot, that I could work on a 15-meter circle. My plan: walk-trot just to get him moving and loosen him up. The reality: as soon as we walked into the pasture it started sprinkling. Are_you_kidding_me? I looked up to the sky and saw the storm clouds were moving Northwest. Pssst it'll pass, no biggie I thought. I was wrong, so very wrong. In the end, I didn't care. Dino did.

At the first sign of bad weather, Dino is of the school of thought: stop and seek shelter. I'm of the school of thought: suck it up and get it done. My other two horses, Angel and Sancho, would say, "Okay, if we must." "Yes, you must," I say. With Dino it goes more like this:
Dino: "No."
Me: "Yes."
Dino: "I don't want to..."
Me: "I don't really care what you want, I say yes."
Dino: "Funny you should say that, because I don't really care what you want. I say no."
Me: "I can and will make this difficult for you."
Dino: "Yeah, like I can't do the same to you."
Me: "YES!!"
Dino: "NO!!!"

An hour later, and thoroughly soaked, I was desperate to find a good stopping point. Dino was tired and nothing good was coming from our work, so as soon as I found a minuscule of good, we were done. Walking and cooling out was pointless, the flies were nasty and chased us back to the barn. Dino got a bath and then I spent close to an hour hand grazing him.

I am quite proud of Dino, we were able to work through this while a year ago this would have resulted in a full out temper tantrum. Dino would have acted up and turned nasty, I would have grown upset and overwhelmed. No, I'm not just proud of Dino, I'm proud of us together as a team.

I should point out that if your horse is acting reluctant to work, make sure there is not a reason behind it; something physically wrong with the horse or improper tack fitting. You can't ignore the signs your horse is giving you, every moment you are with your horse, s/he is telling you something and you are teaching it something. Ignoring the signs can lead to a lot of problems down the road. I knew why Dino was acting up, he doesn't like his ears wet. Silly, I know, but it's true. Whenever it rains and I insist on keep going, he does this and he also does this when it comes time to bathe him. He's fine if I'm on his body or his face, but creep up his neck to his ears and watch out!

Don't tell Dino, but the day he doesn't even act up when it rains, is the day I won't even make him work. It's all about flexibility and we can't control the weather, just how we react to it.

Rain, rain GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "As God is my witness, my next place WILL have an indoor arena!!"

So the blog has once again gone dormant. Really I am so sick of rain. A friend of mine told me the farmers around here have to get corn in before Memorial Day or they can forget it. One things for sure, they'll have a real nice wheat crop this year!

I'm at the point now, that when the weather is good Dino must work. As of this writing, we have just over 4-weeks until our first show. I was really hoping to go Training Level, so that we can canter, but our canter needs a ton of work. I don't know, I guess if I really want to show we'll have to do Intro. Not like there aren't other shows happening this summer, pretty much every weekend until early October there's a show somewhere. What's so important here, this show is being held where my trainer is based. Its familiar territory and I believe a good experience for Dino.

All in all, Dino is good. Great in fact. His grouchiness has faded for the most part and he's a fairly agreeably fellow. I'm really not sure what the deal is...I have added a bit of alfalfa to his diet, so maybe that helps with his tummy. I have noticed when he's in work, his stall walking is not as bad and he doesn't touch his manure. Hopefully when this bit of rain passes, we'll have good enough weather again to start back to work.

A sad bit of news, as my last entry had to do with her, I had the vet out last week to pull a coggins on Dino and check Angel. What is typical in a lot of older horses, they sometimes don't handle winter very well, especially the hard keepers. Unfortunately for us, we had an unusually long and hard winter. It was very cold and we got a ton of snow. Back in October, I changed Angel's grain to a grain with a low starch and sugar concentrate, foolishly thinking her metabolism had slowed down enough that she could maintain weight and receive enough nutrients on hay and this grain alone. I was feeding her the recommended amount and supplementing it with oats, she started to loose weight. Then she started to go off her hay, she would eat what she wanted and scatter the rest in her stall. We got to the point of letting Angel go through the hay and whatever bale she started eating was the one we'd feed her. We had a 80% success rate. So then we called my old hay guy who deals strictly with alfalfa hay and got a few bales. She ate and ate all of it! When we mixed in the alfalfa with the timothy, she not so neatly sorted it and ate the alfalfa, so clearly there was something about the old hay she didn't like. But she still wasn't gaining weight, so I switched her back to her old grain and added a fat supplement to her feed. She started to gain weight, but not enough and seemed to hit a plateau.

This has been going on long enough and I needed some answers, but I didn't want the answer I was about to get. My vet has diagnosed Angel with a heart condition, specifically aortic regurgitation and he has assured me that Angel is NOT in any pain. There are no signs of immediate cardiac failure, but we don't have a time frame. As for my options, I really don't have many options outside of blood work & a possible echo. I have to be realistic, she's an older horse with soundness issues. It breaks my heart that I have to look at this from a financial standpoint, I love this girl so much, but I have to do what is right by her and still consider my other two horses. Currently she's developing edema's on the bottom of her belly, she's not maintaining weight, with any exercise she does cough, but (good news) there is NO fever. Right now we are taking it one day at a time.

Dino and Angel, September 14, 2010.

Rain? What rain??

We've had dry weather now for a few days, so I took my chances and worked Dino this morning. Nothing fancy, just freestyle lunging. It was really a spur of the moment ordeal. When I got home from work this morning, I peeked out the back and saw the pasture had dried sufficiently enough that I thought I could turn horses out while I cleaned stalls. But then I got distracted with the news, so I turned horses out and went back into the house to watch the coverage. That's when it started raining. Again. Actually, I'd been in the house for atleast an hour by that point. Or was it two hours?

It was just a little sprinkle, but I ran down to the barn and let Angel out on the grass while I started stalls. After I got Sancho's and Angel's done, I put the remainder of their breakfast in theirs, moved the manure cart to Dino's stall and brought those two in.

I'm standing there, in the rain, watching Dino who's watching me. I knew I had a window of opportunity and I had to take it, so I grabbed my lunge whip and entered the pasture to freestyle lunge Dino. My trainer doesn't like freestyle lunging and I can see her point; you don't have any control over the horse and you really don't accomplish anything with it, except the horse running itself ragged. Other people will say they don't like lunging in the traditional sense; surcingle, side-reins, cavesson, lunge line and whip. Really it has to do with pulling on the horse's head, which subsequently pulls on their neck and back, causing them pain. I can understand that, and it is just like anything else with horses: Everyone has a different opinion and what works for one person/horse, may not work for another. I can go either way.

Back when I first got Dino, lunging was an important part of our everyday training. For one, I wanted to get Dino conditioned and two, I needed to install a "WHOA" before I ever put my foot in the stirrup. To me, that is the most important step for anyone getting an OTTB or mounting any new horse for the first time, and it sounds silly, but I seriously want to know, "Will they stop when I ask them to?" Stop walking. Stop trotting. Stop cantering. Stop galloping. Stop before we run into the wall/fence/tree. I've had these experiences, go with me on this and let me tell you, that horse will manage to come to dead stop before you will. Personally, I think that's how Newton came up with his Laws of Motion, he was riding a horse without a WHOA.

Funny story time. When I was a junior I was riding this lovely American Hanoverian mare named Lila. I loved Lila, she was just so beautiful this big bay mare. We were so close that I could walk down the aisle and call out her name, "Liiillllaaaaa", and she'd nicker. Not just any nicker, that deep throaty nicker that horses reserve for their closest herd-mates. Lila was way out of my price range, so I was just happy to keep her ridden, but she was my first experience with WHOA. It was my first time jumping her and she had picked up speed coming down a line, so I, obviously, said "WHOA". I'm sure you know what happened, she came to a dead stop and I did not. You would have thought, lesson learned. Nope. It took several more identical experiences for me learn that lesson. Moral of the story: WHOA is to stop and EASY is to slow down. Lila. Nice horse. Smart horse. Not so smart rider.

Which leads me back to today. Going to the left, Dino was king. He walked when I asked him, trotted when asked, and cantered. He even changed directions when I simply switched my lunge whip from my right hand to my left. I was so happy that Dino was remembering his lessons. He was even staying on a 20-meter circle around me. Such a good boy that Dino! But then we changed directions and all of a sudden I was still dealing with Dino but I was suddenly speaking a foreign language. Serenity. Serenity now.

Well two can play this game. You don't want to walk, well then you get to canter. A few trips around me, "Trot...good boy". A few more trips around me, "Walk...WHOA....walk....CANTER". This went on for several minutes. Or was it several hours? At first, I think Dino was kind of amused at my frustration because he kept turning his head towards me and hanging his tongue out. But then that went away and while he continued to turn his head towards me, his ears were flat back.

Then Dino got really tired and hot, and when he's really tired and hot both sides of his brain make a complete connection. So when I say, "Walk" he walks. And when he walks, he gets to stop and go back into the barn. As I'm putting his halter on, I rub his forelock and ask, "Was it really that hard, to do what I asked?"

Apparently so. And I still haven't learned WHOA = stop, Easy = slow down.

14-years....and counting!

Angel has never lost her inquisitive nature.

It was Spring 1997. I had graduated high school early and my days were filled with horses and riding. I'd been horseless for about 8-months, my junior career was over and it was time to move on, so I was back to catching rides on whatever came along. I had thought I had found a nice Hanoverian gelding the previous winter, but his owner's were firm in the price, which was too much, and my trainer said, "We'll find you something, just have patience..."

On March 24, 1997, a truck load of horses arrived from South Carolina. I remember the date because (one) they were a week late, one of the horses was a steeplechaser and his owner wanted one more race, and (two) this steeplechaser was renamed Oscar with the show name Academy Award - it was the night of the Oscars when they did finally arrive.

I knew one of the six horses on the van was for me, but I wasn't sure which one yet. I was secretly hoping it was Harley. He was this big bay gelding, just built like a hog and he had the most enduring personality. Every opportunity I got, I was taking care of him. After more than a month had passed, all but three horses were spoken for: Harley, Andrea and Aaron. Andrea was a young-green-grade filly. You couldn't tack her up in the cross-ties, you tacked her up in the arena, you had to lunge her before you rode, and you had to make a moving mount-up. Otherwise this filly would EXPLODE and she had a buck on her that no one stayed on! Aaron was a BIG imposing mare, very curious and inquisitive. She had the most amazing eyes and this beautiful dished face. I would hang on the fence and watch other riders school her, her jump was always flawless. I saw her take a 5' vertical with a foot to spare and it never mattered the size of the jump, her jump was always the same. She would boldly gallop to the base of the jump, spring up catlike with her knees to her nose and crack her back over the jump. She was just so round, not too many riders were able to stay with her. One day, during a home show, I was asked to turn her out in one of the back grass paddocks. I couldn't get over her size and how attentive she was, I was definitely smitten.

A few days after the home show, head trainer, Polly, told me to go get Andrea and my friend, Katie, to go get Aaron and be ready to ride in the outdoor. We were both probably nervous, I knew Andrea's reputation and by this time she had earned the nickname 'Bucking' Andrea. Katie was a good rider, so I can't imagine what she'd have to worry about. But then out of the blue, Polly came by and stood watching us get ready. She announced that she had changed her mind, I was to ride Aaron and Katie was to ride Andrea. "Whew," I thought, but then I remembered how bold Aaron was and her concussion forming jump. I was not going to win that day.

Katie and I joined the next lesson, and at the end of the hour Polly came out to check on us. I'll never forget what she said, "That one [Aaron] will like Kelly's soft hands, they'll be good together." I was ecstatic!! The date was April 28, 1997.

I had my new horse and now it was time for a new name, we had been calling her 'Aaron' because she came from Grand Prix rider Aaron Vale's farm in South Carolina. (Similarly, 'Andrea' was named for Aaron's business partner, Andrea King.) I was NOT going to call her a 'boy's' name, so at first I thought Sasha because she was so sassy over fences. I was also a big fan of Fox's Kindred: The Embraced, where one of the characters, a red-head, was named Sasha. However, the name just didn't feel right and instead I just kept calling her 'Mare'. Just a few days after I got 'Mare', I had a particularly bad jumping lesson, "It's like learning how to jump all over again....", I cried. Then it hit me, I learned how to jump on an old American Quarter Horse buckskin, named Angel (see below), and so 'Aaron' who became 'Mare' was officially christened...Angel.

Angel, an American Quarter Horse mare.

It wasn't long before Angel lived up to her new name. We were always short on taller-bigger horses in the lesson program, so I had agreed to Angel being used from time to time for the adult riders. I was not at the ring to witness this, but from what I was told, they were jumping a line of combinations and the rider became off-balance. So Angel stopped, but in doing so, somehow, got her reins caught on the jump standard pulling the jump onto herself. Angel didn't freak out, bolt, spook, panic, etc., she just stood there like a statue while my trainer walked up and untangled her. After the lesson my trainer, Beth, came up to me all smiles telling me what had happened.

This trademark in her personality has continued over the years. There was the time we were hauling to a show and her foot mysteriously became wedged under the manger in the trailer. We had to use a sledgehammer to get her free, and she didn't freak out. When people go to horse shows, they typically stay away from the loud speakers. They crackle, hiss, are loud, and basically they spook a lot of horses, not Angel; we could park right underneath one and they never bothered her. Best part was, no one else was ever parked next to us! Another time was when I had my accident, no one saw me fall and Angel got me help. A few months after my accident, I was getting on Angel bareback when I over-estimated my strength and actually leaped over her back. Instead of my falling to the ground, I had my hand still on the reins, Angel pulled back sharply keeping me upright and then lowered her head so that her head caught me in the chest.

If I hadn't decided on the name 'Angel', I think Cat would have been just as good. In all my life with horses, I have never seen such an accident prone animal...and one that has lived to tell about, too!

1. She tore her left front tendon.
2. She had a reaction to a bad rhino flu shot.
3. Said reaction^^ caused her to founder so badly she seedy toed.
4. She fell through an ice covered pond.
5. She fell into a 6' ditch, with me on her!
6. She got loose once and caught in a rope - major rope burn.
7. She slipped on ice and broke her knees open.
8. She jumped the pasture fence, landed on asphalt and re-broke open her knees.
9. She got her foot stuck under the manger on the way to a horse show.
10. She's colicked twice.
11. Has been cast once in her stall,
12. While rehabbing her took her swimming; she reared up and cracked her head on the ceiling.
13. Another time while backing out the horse trailer she slipped and cracked her head again.
14. Got stung in the eye and nearly lost said eye.
15. Accidentally stepped on her lead rope, reared up and slipped on the grass injuring her sacroiliac joint in her back. (Which has ended her career and almost her life.)

Angel doesn't let those little things bother her too much. She still gets free-range when turned out, we seriously don't pasture her just turn her loose in the yard. She rarely leaves the property and comes galloping when called. Recently she was up by the side of the garage and I called her to the back, she turned picked up a canter and jumped the corner of the back patio, a good six feet wide corner. But she didn't miss a stride, she was simply in her glory. When she was younger and I would leave the jumps up in the pasture, it was not uncommon to see her out there jumping on her own -- completely freestyle. People can say racehorses don't love to run or are not born to run, but I disagree. All you have to do is watch Angel jump something and you know that she truly loves it, so why can't racehorses love running?

Angel freestyle jumping.

One of the things I always considered myself lucky was, you couldn't tell when Angel was in season, as in ovulating. I've heard stories and I've witnessed mares that are purely witchy when in season. All they care about is not what you want them to care about and because they don't pay attention to the handler they are easily spooked and can kick out or bite. Under-saddle, I've heard its not even worth your time trying to ride them, you just can't gain their attention long enough to get any work done. Angel was never a moody mare in the sense of being nasty to ride, she was all business all the time. I just couldn't go changing my mind on distances or expecting her to carry me if we chipped in while jumping. In fact, to this day, the only way you know when she's in season is by her frequent 'potty' breaks.

On the ground was a different matter, as I've said before, Angel is truly an independent horse and has little use for humans or Dino and Sancho for that matter. She's still not moody, just a tough cookie and she truly has mellowed with age. Except when it come to blanketing. She will still nail you (or me, in this case) if you mess with her blanket. The last time my farrier was out he touched Angel's blanket up by the withers. Immediately Angel's eyes narrowed and her ears went flat back. Don't know what it is, but I think everytime she has bitten me it was over blanketing.

Even with all those injuries, freak accidents, and personality quirks, I look at Angel now and remember all the good times, 14-years worth. We know each other better than anyone, there are no secrets between us - just raw thoughts, emotions with no self interest; its a pure relationship. I look at her now and I still see this beautiful-amazing creature. This creature that is so smart, sometimes too smart for her own good, you show her something once and she'll do it herself the first chance she gets. What I don't see is this broken down animal, which is the reality. I remember in her 'glory' days she was so big that she wore an 80/82" blanket, and now her in twilight years she wears a 75". Her girth was a 52" and now she could probably wear a 48". I have to constantly remind myself now that I can no longer live in the past and rehash what was, instead I have to live in the present and cherish what time I have left with my Angel. And really, isn't that what's all about? Always being in the present and appreciative of what you have?

Angel and I enjoying some quality time.

As for 'Andrea', my friend, Katie, leased her for that summer and gave her the show name: Russian Roulette. Horse-people really do have a sick twisted sense of humor, don't they? When Angel was out for an injury and Katie had gone home for a few days, it was I who got to keep Andrea in work. As I had already mentioned, she had a buck no one could stay on....well that's not exactly true. She never got me off, she tried though, boy did she try, but I stayed on and I was the only rider to have ever done so.

Ahhh, to be young and stupid again, with a touch of stickability. :P

You want something? Don't wish for it.

You know how they say, if you want something bad enough, wish for it and it'll come true? Well it's ALL hogwash. You see, I've been wishing for wonderful riding weather. Wishing for it with all my might. What did I get instead? Rain. In fact, I have been able to work Dino since April 13! Which is why the blog has been so quiet. How was he prior to that? Doing pretty good, he was just starting to show signs of Losgelassenheit -- looseness in his back. I could visually see him swinging in his back, and let me tell you, it got me so excited! For a dressage horse, it is one of the hardest things to truly achieve. With this, Dino was also really starting to come over his back, engage his hindquarters while using them more effectively beneath him. A lot of racehorses, they, obviously, don't know how to properly use their body. So when they trot, they kind of just go up and down on their hind legs like a pogo stick. To make them more engaged, loosen their back and have a connection is really a step forward in the right direction.

But then it started raining...and it hasn't stopped!

So what else has Dino been up to? Remember a few posts back when I said Dino really doesn't have anyone in his corner? We can emphasis that now. On April 7, Dino managed to kick off Angel's stall door.

What happened was simple (and completely my fault). Angel, for whatever reason, has decided that she doesn't like the timothy grass anymore and was literally starving herself over it. So I went out and bought $4 alfalfa hay, but I'm still mixing it with the old hay. Doesn't really do me any good, Angel just shifts through it and scatters it in her stall. I don't want to waste it, so when I clean stalls I pull Angel out of hers, put Dino in there and I'll then clean Dino's stall while he finishes up her hay.

Angel's a smart girl, too smart. She knows how to open and close her stall door, open the grain barrel, the pasture gate, etc., among other things. This is were it becomes my fault. I've shown her how to do the first two things, after that she started to figure things out.

So I'm in Dino's stall, he's in Angel's stall and Angel's loose in the barn. My back is turned and out of the corner of my eye, I see Angel open her stall door and enter. Before I could even do anything, Dino started kicking. I don't know how Angel escaped unscathed, but poor Dino didn't. He actually kicked Angel's stall door off, and I'm talking the 4x6 that the door was hinged to split right down the middle and the door itself, landed 4' in front of the opening! How do I know the distance, because it cleared the 4x6 rubber mat in front of Angel's stall door.

At first, I didn't even see if Dino had any cuts on him. I thought he had injured his patella by the way he was holding his leg, and the fact he was hopping around on three legs. The patella is the knee cap and on a horse and is located at the stifle, the juncture where the hing leg meets the belly. When the patella has slipped out of place, it will move over the joint locking the leg. The best way to remedy this is to either a)back the horse up or b)pick up the hind leg, stretching it back until the horse pulls it forward. I opted for option (a) and backed Dino up to see if it popped back into place, if that was the problem. It wasn't. Then I discovered the bleeding right at his left hock. It was a good abrasion. I cleaned it up and managed not to get kicked. Yay me! Last year, while I was at WEG, I purchased a bottle of Well-Horse and I am so glad I did! It really came in handy and I'm happy to report, the product lived up to its claim. Dino's leg healed within two weeks with new hair growth. I should also mention, that Dino's entire left hind stocked up but a little DMSO cleared that up within a few days as well. I just swear by DMSO.

So without further adieu, and for your viewing pleasure, the pictures:

Angel's stall door (top), right where it landed, four feet in front of her stall. Dino's back left hock (bottom), the day after the incident.


In other good news, Dino has two projects in the works. Along the lines of National, and not just me writing here, publication. Stay tuned! ;)

In like a lion, out like a lamb

Don't you love these little weather idioms? The only one I actually like is: "A dry March and wet May, fill barns and bays with corn and hay." Not so much an idiom, but a lovely little rhyme that fills my heart...and lessens my pocketbook. But what can you do? But FINALLY, the weather has broke and the ground has dried, which can only mean one thing: back to work for Dino (and I). HA, a little rhyme. :P

We started back to work yesterday morning and it couldn't have gone better. I have to say, I had very little hope of getting anything accomplished, but Dino proved me wrong, and re-enforced the theory that horses do in fact have wonderful memories, by remembering his lessons from last year. For one, Dino walked when asked and did very little jigging. It wasn't until I made a conscious mental note he was walking that he started jigging (murphy...), but came back as soon as I asked him. So yay!

This was a very simple work/lesson, no need to over due it on the first day and risk injury. So we walked for 10 minutes in one direction, long and low, and then trotted for two minutes before changing direction and repeating. We ended on a high note when Dino halted when asked. Again, yay!

One might think: why are you so excited for something so trivial? Au contraire. Nothing is ever trivial when it comes to horses and their training, or this case reconditioning. Nothing is worse than a suspensory or tendon injury in a horse, I know...her name is Angel.

Shortly after I got Angel in April 1997, she suffered an injury to her superficial digital flexor tendon, that's the tendon below the skin and lies against the canon bone from the back of the knee to the fetlock. Angel's injury occurred just below the knee with the tendon fibres tearing. How this happened, I don't know. She could have overstretched the tendon while jumping, i.e., landing after a jumping forcing her fetlock down; she could have been overworked that day, when a horse is fatigued everything in them is fatigued and fatigued tendons loose their elasticity making them more susceptible to strain and injury; or she simply just was not in good enough condition for the workload and therefore her tendons and ligaments where not strong enough to handle the increased stress. In the end, Angel was injured and originally out a couple of months, which didn't work and she ended up being out of commission for 18 months.

So the lesson for the moment: 1)make sure your horse is properly protected from leg injuries, nothing beats a good polo wrap (IF you know how to apply them) if not good work boots that protect their legs. 2)if your horse is tired, what are you gaining by forcing them to continue working? NOTHING. So stop it! I am a big fan of walk breaks, frequent walk breaks. 3)gradually work up to a fitness level. Have a thought out plan on how you are going to get your horse and you back into shape, and have patience. It takes a lot of time to get a horse back into even a moderate workload after being off for the season or from an injury.

Of course I have a plan, I've been fretting over it for weeks now, just chopping at the bit to get back into the ring. Will the plan actually work? Well, that's a totally different question. But hopefully, weather permitting, he will be worked, no more, than 5 days a week and at least 3 days a week.

Week 1: work up to walking 20 minutes with two sets of 2 minute trots
Week 2: work up to walking 30 minutes with two sets of 5 minute trots
Week 3: same as above, add in large serpentines to prepare for flexion and suppleness
Week 4: walking 45 minutes with two sets of 15 minute trots, continue with serpentines adding in loops
Week 5: same as above, add in leg-yields
Week 6: same as above, increase trot time to two sets of 20 minute trots
Week 7: same as above, add two sets of 5 minute canters
Week 8: increase walking to 60 minutes, two sets of 20 minute trots, two sets of 10 minute canters
Week 9: walking 60 minutes, 30 minutes continuous trotting with direction change, two sets of 15 minute canters (if needed)
Week 10: same as above, start asking for impulsion

In the beginning it is not important to use my corners, I will instead work on an oval shape as Dino will be stiff. As the weeks go by and his fitness level increases, going into the corner and becoming supple will be asked. Working on downward transitions are important, especially coming off the canter.

GOAL: first horse show on June 18 and FDCTA camp, July 6-9. Between week 10 and the horse show four weeks later, will allow time to work on the test. I have not yet decided on what level we will show at, Intro or Training Level. Anyone who rides a horse should be able to show at Intro, it is only a walk and trot test with 9 - 13 'movements'. The idea is the horse should be ridden in a light and steady contact. Training Level is walk-trot-canter and has 13 - 16 'movements'. The goal here is show the horse is supple, moves freely, maintains a steady rhythm and accepts contact with the bit. I would feel better with Intro, but in all honesty, I should show at Training Level. We shall see.

After camp I hope to show Dino two more times, so it will make for three shows plus camp this year for us. I'd say that is very feasible, however, nothing is more important than having everything be a positive experience for Dino. At any time we can take several steps back and when we do, we will just regroup and try again!

Howdy!

Compensation

Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that all things are balanced by their opposites. Darkness by light, cold by heat, loss by gain. With that thought, pictures from this past winter (while waiting for the ground to dry).

Dino is always pestering Angel, February 2, 2011.

Angel eating snow, don't know why, February 2, 2011

"You caught me!"

Sancho in a snowstorm, December 13, 2010.

Sancho cantering in the snow, December 13, 2010.

Dino trotting in the snow, December 13, 2010.

Dino being nosy, February 2, 2011

An Empty Corner

My farrier came out this morning to trim everyone's hooves. Dino was first and he had been good all morning with me, so I didn't think much of it. But he kicked at my farrier. Three times. And then charged him when he was back in his stall. He then did the same thing to me, which he hasn't done in about a year. You know, right about now, Dino doesn't have anyone in his corner.

I was thinking about this last night; we've simply gotten use to having two seniors that have been there done that, two seniors who are quiet and don't give much trouble. But, as I reminded my Dad, they weren't always that way.

Angel was a tough horse. I remember just to clip her you'd place her in cross ties, have a chain over her nose, someone would ear twitch her, someone else would hold onto the lip twitch and she'd still be fighting. And man, when she got mad her big brown eyes would just glow red with fury. She was the complete stereotypical (Chestnut mare, beware) package of a chestnut thoroughbred mare with a double swirl; pretty, feisty, head strong, brave, tough, hot, etc.

Riding Angel was an adventure, then AND now. She is the perfect example on why you shouldn't over jump a jumper, instead spend about 95% of the time on the flat and only 5% over jumps. She was nearly impossible to flat, went in a simple egg-butt snaffle - I'd say it was a heavy weight snaffle, very thick. She was always behind the vertical, meaning that she carried her nose just off her chest, kind of like someone who's using too much draw rein. I think I had her atleast a week before I ever cantered her. Boy did she have a stride on her, scared the crap out of me!! An average horse's stride is about 12', Angel's was closer to 14', so it made jumping more difficult. At the end of that first week my trainer at the time, Beth, told me I had the weekend to learn how to canter her...or else! 'Or else' was the silent threat that I was loosing something, probably my stirrups, but I did learn.

When it came to jumping Angel, there was no going back. If the line was a straight forward six strides, I may ask, at the last minute, for seven. Inevitable, we'd chip in which is a big no-no. Angel didn't play that game. If I committed to that six strides, it was six strides. If I tried to see-saw her into seven, she'd make it five. Angel had experience showing in the Level Five classes (3'9" - 4'), she knew more than I. A lot more. So I really needed to let her teach me. She always took care of me and never had a stop in her. No matter the distance I put her at a jump or the angle, she tried. Even if her ears were flat back and her tail swishing angrily.

On the ground, Angel could be sweet as strawberry pie one minute and angry as a hornet the next. She just had no use for people and when you bothered her too much, watch out! Angel took people, including myself, in doses and was truly an independent horse. When I brought Sancho home, we had them in the pasture together. I was holding Sancho and Dad had Angel, we were just letting them touch noses. There was something about the look in Angel's eyes that made me warn Dad, "You better step back..." and that was all I got out because at that very moment, she lunged open mouth for Sancho's jugular! To this day, I don't think she'd care if Sancho or Dino disappeared never to be seen again. She'd probably enjoy the peace and quiet!*lol*

Señor Sancho is a different character all together. You don't find Paso Finos bred like him anymore and if you do, you're shelling out some money. Pasos today, I really don't like. They look very weak in the loin and croup, and appear to become strung out while gaiting. Sancho's just bred so nicely, but maybe I'm just biased. ;) Even at 23, Sancho still has brio, meaning controlled energy or spirit. I must of had Sancho two or three years before he ever walked under-saddle, it was always go-go-go. In hand, Sancho's respectful. Most of the time atleast. He has his 'stupid' moments. But he's a typical Paso; he's got brio, he strives to please, is very willing, responsive, etc. But he still has his moments, those stupid frustrating moments, I just want to rip my hair out moments, moments thinking to myself, muttering to him, screaming/yelling across a field: "I'M GOING TO KIIILLLLL YOOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!! It happens. I can only imagine what my neighbors think...probably why they don't talk to me. Whatever, let them deal with that nut job.

Back to Dino, Dino who is relatively young, feisty, tough, hot, head-strong, athletic, and can test one's patience...

By George, I'VE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's Angel and Sancho all rolled into one!

Sh*t. I am soooo screwed.