Back in the swing

Getting back in the swing of things after my cousin Bobby's battle with liver cancer, couple weeks under hospice care, his death on the Saturday the 22nd and funeral on Thursday the 27th . My aunt, my mother, his girlfriend and I were with him when he died Saturday evening. It was very peaceful and I was glad I was with him when it was time. We miss you, Cuz!! I didn't get to the barn for most of the week, instead, I was going to my aunt's after work every day. On Tuesday night, she asked me to write and deliver the eulogy. So, a few very sad and busy days...

Last night, Hoppy Stearns came out to Tory Hill to work on Daniel, Tessa, and Granit. When I first went to get him, I couldn't find the boys. They were WAY out in the back field!!! Of course, it's so hilly you have to walk all over creation to find them! Well, after about 15 minutes I found them, haltered Daniel and started walking him back up to the barn.

I groomed him and trimmed front hooves while I waited for Hoppy. She hadn't worked on him since he was in Churchville, so he was quite overdue. I told Hoppy that I didn't have the heart to ask her to drive all the way out to Hampstead to work on him!

Hoppy said that Tory Hill is really agreeing with Daniel. She said that he has lots of nice, round, muscle, and really, REALLY looks great! At the old Legacy, she said his muscle was very flat. She said all the hills here are really doing the old boy good!! He really needed bodywork and he was quite pleased that she was working on him. He fell asleep, as usual. He seemed drunk when she was done working on him! He had some stuff going on in the RF, but Hoppy released some stuff going on between P1 and P2. He seemed so much better today as a result. I told Margaux that I thought Hoppy's work was worth every penny!

She worked on Tessa and Granit and I think it did Granit a WORLD of good!!! The old grey mare was looking good when she was done!

This morning, I met Lisa1 and her sister Jen at the barn. Lisa1 got to ride Daniel a little, and her sister hopped on him a little bit. Lisa1 was kind enough to bring Daniel some "Locks of Love" from Ellie and Lyric!! Just in time too - Daniel needs some more hair in his tail! He's down to about 4 braids!!! I finished trimming his hooves, and flysprayed him before I turned him out. The pics are him noticing that his band of brothers is right at the base of the hill, and the other is him first trotting, then cantering, off to meet his boys.

Tomorrow, an early ride, then to meet Paula and Pat for brunch!

Some horses graze

But mine just LOVES eating the leaves off this tree!

I went to trim his hooves tonight. He was such a good boy for me! I adjusted the stand a little higher as Dawn suggested and he was wonderful for me! It was hot as hell, so I worked fast, turned him back out, then cleaned up and got out before the T-storms they're predicting rolled through.

Lots O' deer at Tory Hill

Took the dogs to the farm for a walk (too hot to ride) and counted 15 deer in the geldings' field... (Some were out of frame)

Weekend of riding :-)

I got the ride both weekend days! Both Saturday and Sunday mornings, I met Kara and Tessa at 8am to ride before it got really hot. On Saturday, I groomed him, tacked up and we rode in the outdoor, then did some of the perimeter trails. Tessa did GREAT! Two deer jumped right out in front of her, and she just stood and looked at the them. I guess with all the deer in her pasture, she's getting used to them! Another thing spending time in the mares' field was this huge heron! I'd seen him before in the big filed with the ponds, but never in the mares' field.

I went to meet Stacey and Mark for lunch after, had a LOT of laughs, then went to the tack shop to pick up dewormer. Thank god Leeandra had me help deworm a few times, because I had to get two tubes of Zimecterin Gold in him. And since he's so close now, I was able to go back to the barn after dinner and get that wormer in him! I LOVE having him 15 minutes down the road!!!

This morning, the boys were all in the little pasture (about 6 acres) right next to the barn, so I didn't have to go far for him! We groomed, tacked up, and rode in the big field along the road. We made two laps and those hills are great for all of us!

Both days we were done riding by 9:30, done cleaning tack by 10:00 and home by noon. Another thing that's nice - not rushing out when I'm done! I can just hang out with my horse now that he's close by!

My cousin's very sick with end stage liver cancer. I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can, so I drove into the city after I showered to see him. I don't know what the week is going to bring, so I'm not sure if I'm going to get there before the weekend or not.

New chestnuts at the farm

Lots of deer at the farm tonight. There were 3 in the front field, and I lost count in the back fields! Oh well, as long as they're not jumping in front of my car, I don't care!

Tonight was my first bit of "quality time" with Daniel in a week! I was in Kentucky last week visiting my brother and his family. I got home Saturday night and was going to ride on Sunday morning, but it POURED rain. I spent most of Sunday with my cousin who's in end stage liver cancer... and now his kidneys are shutting down. :-( I drove out to the farm to see Daniel and drop supplements off on Sunday night, and again, thunder, lightning, and RAIN! I dropped the supplements off, and left. :-(

On Monday, I went out with some carrots, just to say hello, fly spray him, pick hooves and go home to continue working on the dreaded Leadership paper...

Tonight, quality time!!! Dawn came out for Daniel's hoof trim. I got there early, helped with PM feed, and brought him up to the barn. I turned the water on (there's been a leak at the barn, and we're waiting for the plumber... have to turn the water off and on from Jill and Mark's basement... sort of an "On Demand" system.) Dawn said that I've been doing pretty good with his trims. His abscess on the LH that popped last December is finally growing out. Yes, that abscess that had me thinking that I was the worst horse owner EVER... How much I've learned in a few months!

I told Dawn that he's been a brat when I work on the RF, and I put my head against his side last time I trimmed him and just asked him what he was trying to tell me. Then it dawned on me: something hurt, and that RF is the one with the mild ringbone. So, I asked her to work with me on positioning his RF to make him a little more comfortable when I'm working on his RF. We experimented with raising and lowering the stand... and found that he just does best with lots of breaks when I do the RF, in addition to extra support, like keeping my hand on it and giving it support so there's not alot of back and forth movement (that, and make SURE he's getting his MSM and glucosamine/condroitin.) My boy's such a saint to put up with a newbie owner like me!

Anyway, learned lots of new things tonight. First of all, Daniel likes Diet Coke!! I stopped at the Wawa on the way. I needed a Diet Coke, and I know Dawn is a fellow addict, so I bought two. When I was a kid and wanted something, my Grandmother would always say, "Buy two. One might kill you." So, Gram, I didn't want one Diet Coke to kill me so I bought two. Didn't Dawn let Daniel drink hers! And didn't he LIKE it!? Goofy horse. Of course, when we tried to get a picture of said goofy horse drinking the Diet Coke, he wouldn't do it!

The other thing I learned is that Daniel trained me, but I beat him at his own game. Whenever I would put him in crossties to groom or do hooves, he would drop like he had to pee. I'd untie him and hustle him out, so he didn't flood the barn aisle, thereby stopping the grooming or trimming session. Jill suggested a bucket. Yes, I keep a 5 gallon bucket nearby. Anytime he drops, I stick the bucket under him. Once or twice, he filled it halfway... so I dumped it and kept doing whatever I was doing. Never taking him out of the crossties, and only stopping momentarily to make sure the bucket was in position. Now, Daniel doesn't pull that anymore! He puts up with hoof trimming and grooming, without threatening to pee!

Here's a picture of some of those new little chestnuts that are all over the place!

Second lesson with Jill

Sitting here in the airport. Gate F38 at PHL and half the seats, as well as the PA is pretty broken. I hope the plane flies! I hope it's not indicative of the level of service the planes get.
While I'm stting, bored, waiting for my flight to Louisville KY, I'll fire off my thoughts from today's lesson. Like Sara mentioned in one of her posts, lightbulbs like paparazzi's in town! I tld Jill that my ENT Dr ordered a BFT (balance function test) for me, and until I get my balance issues squared away, I'd rather ride with a saddle. She was fine with that.

I carried his saddle down to the indoor, and remembered my helmet this time. I tacked him up with his saddle, and a bridle with a snaffle, not the mullen mouth pelham I normally ride him with. I borrowed a dressage whip from Jill, and used it to pet him, and flick flies, and let him see that a whip isn't there to hurt him. Jill said that it's an extension of my arm.

Joy was there, too, working with Charlie, the 17h Hanovarian (Joy's the girl who braided flowers in Daniel's mane his first week there!). Joy's a petite little thing riding Charlie bareback like a pro... How I wish I started riding at her age, not at 42!

I touched the whip to his right hip to keep him from swinging his hip out at the mounting block, and with it merely RESTING against his hip, he didn't take a step! Thank you Jill!! (Note to self, buy a dressage whip at Dover next week!!). I mounted up and started him (lower leg pressure) at a walk. After he was a little warmed up, Jill started to explain the whole driving from the seat thing. All this time, I'd been forcing my seatbone DOWN to weight it. She explained that you don't do it that way, you simply raise up the opposite seatbone, and the opposite will lower and be weighted! DOLT she said it's like a scale, if you weigh 150 (I freaking WISH), and you lift your left leg, you still weigh 150, it's just all on the right leg. She said I should reach straight up for the roof with my hip, not forward to Philadelphia, nor should I push that seatbone down. Also, when his back muscle rises to meet my seatbone, I should thank him by lightening the contact on the rein ever so slightly, for just a moment.

Once I started to "get it" Daniel really lightened!!! I felt more impulsion from his rear and he seemed much more engaged, not just ambling along anymore. We didn't get out of a walk, but we went from the "Daniel amble", to the, "OK, I'm waking up now", to, "is THIS what you want, Mom?" To, "C'mon! Let me trot!!". All at a WALK!!! Now I see why she has students who walk for nearly a year before they get to a trot!!!

After we, I mean *I* got that concept of lifting my opposite seatbone, not pushing down the seatbone I wanted to weight, I had to get the whole stupid dressage whip (or stick, as Jill calls them) think down. I felt like a kid learning to write, and going from a crayon to a long, skinny, pencil. I didn't know what to do with the flipping thing! Once again, Jill (just as Leeandra used to) broke it down to very simply resting it across my leg, and showing me I could move my arm away from his neck so the lash at the end would contact his leg. After an hour, I still couldn't get the whole 'stick' thing down!!

I'm SO gonna have to practice all of this a lot when I get home from KY next week!

Trimmed Hooves tonight

The sky was BLACK and it poured this morning, so I stayed home, did laundry, packed, fixed Daniel's supplements, and trimmed the dogs' nails. I'm flying to my brother's tomorrow and wanted to get all of that out of the way for my parents who are watching the dogs.

Then I showered and went to the hospital with my mother and aunt to see my cousin this afternoon. He's in end stage liver cancer. I was appalled when I walked into his room. There was trash on the floor. Not trash from him, but the staff! I kills me that the staff would take things out of sterile packaging, and toss the packaging on the floor. Just because he's REALLY sick, doesn't mean he doesn't care (or that his family doesn't care) about what his surroundings are like.

We stayed for about an hour and a half. Bobby was having a really bad day according to his nurse. We didn't want to tire him too much, so we left and went to grab something to eat (read: make sure my Aunt is eating.)

After we dropped my aunt off, my Mom and I went to the barn so I could trim Daniel's hooves. He was really good! He doesn't like his RF done - that's the one that has the mild ringbone. Not so much that he doesn't like it done, he doesn't like to leave that hoof on the stand very long. He gets impatient and takes his hoof off the stand. I'll have to ask Dawn what she thinks of this. Maybe I shouldn't have his hoof as high as the others? Dawn's coming to "check my work" on the 12th.

My mother has Daniel totally spoiled! She carries peppermints for him, and he hears the wrapper crinkle and gets all silly. I barely need a lead-rope on him when my Mom's got a pocketful of peppermints! He was sniffing in her pockets for more after he had the last one, the big dork!

Tomorrow morning, we're having lesson number two with Jill, and tomorrow night, I'm off to Louisville, KY until Saturday night!

open field ride!

I had to take this pic - my buddy's got neck, huh? :-)

It was HOT and humid yesterday, so I met Kara at the barn about 8:00am to ride before it got too hot. We decided not to ride in any of the arenas. We're really lucky to be at Jill's: we have an indoor arena, outdoor arena, and two outdoor round pens - for ten horses! Of the ten, only four of them are owned by boarders; the other six are Jill's that she and her students ride.

We decided to ride in a big open field that has three ponds, some hills, and runs along the road at some points. The first lap, I rode Daniel, and Kara walked Tessa (who's only 3 but is REALLY doing well!). The second lap, Kara felt like Tessa was settled enough for her to mount up, so we both rode our horses along the fenceline of the pasture.

Tessa did GREAT! Not one spook! Daniel was rock solid as usual. He tried to give me a trot, at a time I hadn't asked for it, so I took him back to a walk. There were a few times he really stepped out and led, and other times that he was totally happy to let Tessa lead.

I brought Daniel back into the barn, took his tack off and groomed him. I gave him a good coating of fly spray, and walked him back out to his field. We ran into Ashley, who I hadn't seen since the week we moved in. Ashley is one of Jill's students who rides Runner, the black TB who double kicked Daniel his first day turned out, that Daniel returned the favor by kicking and laming for a week... Ashley's the only person who can ride Runner, who is a really hot horse, but Jill compliments her by saying she's her only student who can ride anything. Daniel was mugging her like crazy, sniffing her pockets and behind her back. She confessed that when she comes for lessons, she brings apples for Runner, and for Daniel... It looks like he's found his way to being one of the barn favorites, just like at Legacy :-) Which is good, because there are students every day from 10-12, so I know he's usually getting some TLC while I'm working to pay his for board, farrier, supplements, vet bills, etc. :-)

Today, I trimmed the dogs' nails, and was planning to go to the barn to trim Daniel's hooves. Now with the heavy rain, I'm rethinking my plan to go and trim his hooves. He's probably hanging out in the indoor, which seems to be his happy place. I'd hate to drag him out of the indoor, through the rain, and up to the barn to trim his hooves. Maybe I'll pack for my week in Kentucky visiting my brother, sister-in-law and the kids, go to the hospital to see my cousin, and then trim his hooves tonight...