Pangea's Blog!

Those of you who were reading Project Runaway know this already, but my new mare is here! Follow her journey at:

The Continental Drift: A Piece of a Heart Horse Comes Home

It's still under construction, seeing as I hardly have any pictures of her yet. But it will be fancy soon, I promise! ;)


And as a special treat, here's an old picture and video of Gogo in the AquaTread, the only time she was able to go:





March 11th, the day before my birthday, will mark five months since her passing. I can't believe it's been nearly half a year already. I'm still not okay about it either. I'm not sure I ever will be.

Two months ago today.

Can't hardly believe it... but Gogo has been gone for two months as of today.
Christmas is going to be very strange without her.
I finally cleaned out my horse trailer from top to bottom... I had been completely avoiding it simply because I didn't even want to look at her stuff. I feel better now that I did it though.

I know I've posted this before, but I wanted to share it one more time. This is Gogo's dressage at Groton House H.T. in 2009.... we won this event on our dressage score of 31.5. Definitely one of the most memorable and best weekends of that entire year.



I might upload some more old videos of her in the near future, things I've not posted before.... I'll have to sort through my footage and see what I can find!

An Old 'Remember When'

Just some old videos of Gogo and I schooling XC in the POURING rain two and a half years ago in CT. Man that was a long time ago.

There is still no easy answer.

I've been a busy girl as of late. Between my trip to Austin, trimming horses, and starting a new job at an equine rehab facility (which is awesome.... pictured right is the Aqua Tread), I've not had a lot of time to get out and watch Gogo really move since her vet appointment. I've seen her walk around a bit (or maybe at this point the correct term would be waddle), but aside from that, I hadn't had a good chance to review her soundness and whether or not she had improved since her cortisone injection in the tendon sheath on the RH. Conveniently, her barn is only about 10 minutes away from the new job... how about that. I had no idea it was so close until I actually drove there after work yesterday.... one less thing to worry about.

Being away in Austin and refusing to think about the whole mess did me no favors in the end in terms of coping and coming to terms with possible and unthinkable things. I pushed the whole idea of finality out of my head during the trip and refused to think about it, even for a moment. In doing so, I allowed myself to create the delusion that life is continuing on as it always has, and that Gogo is really fine and that I must have been overreacting to her severe lameness. I can't imagine life without her, so that's exactly what I've been refusing to try to comprehend.

The original area of filling (the excess in the tendon sheath) has dramatically improved post-injection, just the same as it had last time. The area below it, however - the area of new damage - has not changed. It still looks as terrible as ever.

On the lunge, well... there is some improvement going right, but going left, she is as hip-hiking lame as ever.



Reality check. This did not magically improve while I was away blissfully ignoring matters as hand. This is still a serious problem.



Yet, she is still as cheerful as ever. I am struggling with the morality of the issue at hand - it isn't right to euth a horse who is still in great spirits and getting around okay, but it also isn't right to make a horse wait until they are on three legs and unable to get around before you make that decision for them. Given her current level of mobility and her happiness, it is absolutely NOT time to consider euthanasia yet. I am surrounded constantly by far lamer horses than her who are still alive and getting around okay as well. Still, just because we can keep them going doesn't necessarily mean we should keep them going.

Playing God is impossibly hard to do in these situations. You can eke a little life out of something that normally would have already died, or you can end a life by choice whenever you decide the time is right. They don't ask to die unless they are already dying. They, like all other living beings on the planet, are just trying to survive as best they can.



I've been told that it is to my detriment that I don't believe in organized religion or Men In The Sky or the healing power of prayer. I am every bit a right-brained thinker, but I also wholeheartedly believe in biology and science, and I know a tendon/ligament problem is just not going to magically heal itself to good-as-new. Right now, however, I wish I could buy into the idea of hoping for a small miracle. My hope always spikes and then deflates. I've never had lasting good luck in my life... I can't imagine it would bother to start now.

No progress.

Worsening as of today.








If you still can't see a lameness, then use this video to learn what it looks like in the hind end. You can also see at the end where she struggles to turn around.


I'm about 50-50 on the fence about this. 50% of me says I should make some radical changes and try new options and give it one last go, and the other 50% of me says it's not worth it to anyone or fair to try. Either way I'm going to have to make a decision soon as to what I want to do. I'm running out of time.


EDITED TO ADD: My plan is essentially this....
Immediate short term: Stall her, bute, handwalk, coldhose and wrap (all things I promised her I'd never force her to go through again) until I can stabilize this
Long term: Move her to a different facility with a flat dry lot and solo turnout where she can be strictly dieted and coldhosed/wrapped until this stabilizes. Then hopefully get her to lose some weight, try some herbs/homeopathy/e-stim/whatever.
Basically the same thing all over again, forever. Something needs to change RIGHT NOW or she will blow the limb completely. She gets worse every day out in that field and I need to intervene.

Basically... is it more ethical to let her be happy and limping on a worsening limb letting her be a horse, or be miserable and confined and alone for the sake of her leg... with a pretty grim prognosis either way?

Or, I could euthanize.

Comparison Videos

I thought it would be interesting to post a comparison video from last month and this month in terms of lameness. Last month, I thought she looked pretty good, but could still see a very mild lameness and others could too. This month, I can see an obvious lameness but not everyone else sees it. Tell me what you think after watching these back to back:


Gogo 7/11/11:





And Gogo 8/21/11:





I see a worse lameness now, which corresponds to the ugly fat leg. (It was ugly and fat before, but quite a lot worse now.) What do you see?

Another Really Bad Lameness Eval Video

It's pretty much impossible to get a distractable mare to pay attention on the lunge when you are completely ignoring her in favor of handling a iPod recording a video. Sorry about the totally AWFUL quality. Hard to see anything with her head in the area paying attention to absolutely everything except me. She is, and always has been, a giraffe on the lunge - which is why I never, EVER as a rule used to lunge her without equipment on. Talk about unproductive. Also, potentially harmful. Remember Crazy Trainer who lunged Gogo into the ground on a 12m circle for an HOUR a day in ONE direction (to the right) on uneven ground? Six days a week... for SIX MONTHS? Yep... that'll mess a young mare for life. And I wonder why the right continues to be a problem. We wonder sometimes why they break down... if they're just too weak to hold up and have some sort of genetic anomaly. In reality, WE are usually the cause for it - they'd be fine and sturdy and hardy if WE didn't mess them up so badly. The poorly conformed ones break down easily, and the tough ones still have issues if we trash them when they are young and growing. I still, to this day, blame myself for Gogo's accident. And I always will. I blame myself for her re-injuries too. I cantered her on a circle when she wasn't ready the first time. And I rode her out on the beach when she wasn't ready the second. Regardless of whether or not I thought she was ready, she wasn't. And I'm now facing a chronic injury that might result in a permanent lameness because of it.

Anyway, I digress. Here's today's footage:




It's about the same as it was the other day - noticeably lame to the left, and pretty darn good for the most part to the right.

Poor Gogo. I still don't think she injured herself because she's genetically weak, and I don't think she re-injured because of that either. I still think the blame resides with me. It would be irresponsible of me to do what so many horse owners do and blame the horse for not being able to hold up to their workload. In some cases, like with a badly conformed horse, why would a rider put them through something they won't be able to hold up to anyway? And in a well-conformed horse, that in theory SHOULD be able to hold up well under pressure, it's even sadder - how did you manage to break that thing? It's not like he chose to be lame on purpose.

Unless it's in an unrelated pasture/barn/trailer/whatever accident, the blame rests with the rider/trainer/barn manager when a horse goes lame. Disagree with me if you will, but 9 times out of 10, I fully believe that it is the human's fault in one way or another, be it through improper management, improper riding, pushing a horse too much or beyond his limit, or the like. I don't believe that "some horses just break down and that's how they are." All that does is ensure that whoever caused the problem in the first place feels better about themselves and moves the blame to the animal in question, as though it was the horse's own fault that he went lame. There is ALWAYS a reason, whether it an acute injury or repetitive damage.

Even those of us to struggle every day to do the best we can by our athletes don't always get it right.

Heart and Sole

A few interesting things have happened recently with Gogo's feet, as I've mentioned a couple of times. They are all directly or indirectly related to grass and the possibility (probability) that Gogo has some sort of metabolic issue, however mild. (I mean, look at her. The mare looks at food and gains weight.) Regardless of whether or not she does, I think it's pretty safe to say that putting this horse back out onto unlimited lush pasture at any point in her future would be dangerous and potentially very harmful. She did not suffer any sort of serious malady during her time out on pasture, but I am certain that if I was less versed in feet, metabolic issues, and nutrition, I wouldn't have ever made any sort of connection between any of these things. She's still as sound as ever in her feet. However, she has some small visual changes in her feet that signal the alarm for me. If she were under different care, this would most assuredly be the horse in a few years that horribly foundered on pasture, with the owner scratching their head going, "I dunno, she's never had a problem before..." The writing is almost always there on the wall for these types of horses. You just need to look for it and know exactly WHAT you are looking for. I'll say it again: in her 6 months on pasture, she has never ONCE been sore. It's not a matter of her soundness. She still crunches gravel, still lands solidly heel-first, still strides out fully. BUT there have been some very interesting changes in her feet that have happened very, very quickly.

1) The entire length of her foot increased... a lot. This mare went from having strong, tamped-short rock crunchers to weaker, lengthened rock-crunchers over a period of a few months. Yes they still crunch rock, but it's interesting that they do. In general, when a hoof capsule gets longer over time (and I'm not talking general overgrowth, I'm talking about when a hoof has just been completely and properly trimmed but still looks long - this also couples with a flat sole), it can point to the fact that the coffin bone is moving lower into the hoof capsule. When I say that, I don't mean the bone is moving, I mean the hoof capsule is slowly but surely distorting around the bone, away from where it should be. (Read a bit about distal decent here. It's not just the classic sinker in a foundering horse... it is WAY more common than you think.)
2) All four feet flattened out and lost their concavity. This coupled with the length of the hoofwall assuredly meant that P3 was settling lower in the hoof capsule. (Remember, she's still sound in all four feet.)
3) A false sole that hung on and couldn't exfoliate itself until literally less than two days after she was pulled completely off of grass. Once off the grass, the stubborn and cracked sole came off easily on all four feet, and all four frogs also exfoliated completely off immediately following. (They did NOT slough off, they exfoliated. Sloughing is a red alert, and exfoliating is a normal process. Believe me, you'd know the difference if you saw it!)
4) Hoofwall rings. This one seems to be more related to taking Gogo off of the Gro N' Win, as the final ring on her hoofwall corresponds exactly to the time when the Gro n' Win was stopped. The new growth is FAR tighter, which means her eternal slight white line separation might actually go away. This is a very, VERY positive thing. If the new growth has been poor, wavy, ripply, bumpy, or otherwise bad, I would be extremely worried.



So what now? Now that Gogo is off the grass for good, her entire sole has exfoliated - kudos to those of you who guessed right - and all four frogs went right along with it. The right hind frog hung on longest, and finally it was ready to go with a little help from me:






Buh-bye frog!
If you notice, there are a few things going on. First, the white line separation is pretty noticeable. But we all see the new hoof growing down - above that, there is no flare, and the white line will be tight at the ground-bearing surface once it gets there. This foot is SO flat but still sound, and if I took away that bit of support - no matter if it is flare or not - I would quickly make her quite a lot less comfortable on hard surfaces. If she lived on a soft surface, sure, I might try it. But she lives out on rocky, rough terrain. She is telling me it works for her for this moment, so it stays. One size trim does not fit all.
Secondly, that foot is VERY flat. It just sort of looks less like the thick, robust foot we're all accustomed to seeing. The dimensions of it haven't changed, save for toe length and sole depth. Interestingly, with a trim post-exfoliation the foot is a fair bit shorter than it was already. It is still WAY too flat, and her sole is quite thin. I have a good feeling that when the new growth above the Gro N' Win growth ring hits the ground bearing surface on these feet, that flare and white line separation is going to be gone, and the sole with concave itself pretty quickly. It may concave itself before then, but it might not. We'll have to see.


Left front (clubbier foot) pre and post-exfoliation:




You can't tell from the picture, but the biggest difference here is that the foot is now almost 1/2-3/4 of an inch shorter than it was... THAT much sole came off by itself!
The area of weak medial wall on the right side picture is from where she chipped off a big piece of wall before I could rush my tools out to see her post-exfoliation. GIANT chip out of the toe is a mystery... just one of those things. Certainly aided by the weaker bit of hoofwall where the toe crack is. It was just gone when I showed up the other day, so it could have been anything. Hell, she could have struck at another horse and slammed it into something.... this is Gogo, after all! It isn't a problem and it will go away with new growth.

Foot doesn't look great but it will improve. Again, it is SUPER flat and that fresh new frog needs time to callous over and thicken up. This foot needs time to toughen up a bit and re-concave itself. It will, it just takes some time. In the meantime, she is still walking over rocks like she doesn't care.... which is shocking considering how thin her sole is.




In other news, the fat front leg magically dissapeared by itself - yay! It was, unfortunately, replaced by a fat hind leg - the right one, of course! Great. I was concerned that this could mean another blown adhesion or a reinjured limb, so I dropped her in the roundpen to check her soundness. And this is what came of that:




CRAZY WOMAN. There is still a bit of hitchy lameness, but it is no different than it has been. Blown adhesions are SUPER painful and can cause super lameness, even if just temporarily! Thankfully, she historically has still shown lameness when trotting around even when her veins are coursing with adrenaline, so at this point I'll take it for what it is - a mystery non lameness-inducing fat leg. There is a scrape on the leg, so maybe...? Who knows with Gogo though. At least the Mystery Texas Death Fungus has also cleared itself up and gone away, even if it did leave her with a number of small bald patches on all four legs.

Gogo says, WHEEEEEEEEEE I defy you, thin-soled feet and fat legs!




She is an eternal lesson and a perpetual mystery, that is for sure.
In two days it will be our five-year anniversary together... I can't believe it!!!

Beauty and the Beach

It's way, way too hot to even consider venturing outside at the given moment. 107 degrees and climbing? I don't think so.

Instead, I dorked around with my Movie Maker and actually made a movie! I had no idea what I was doing (I am, at best, completely techo-challenged on a good day), but I did it! It's awesome, you should watch it. It might be the best video ever made on the planet earth.





I'd sure like to be doing any one of those things today instead of hiding in my air conditioning! I miss the beach!

We don't need no stinking saddles!

Hay is being cut today in Gogo's pasture.... so what did we do for fun? Went for a little bareback jaunt in the roundpen, of course!





She feels really quite good. She's still a little wonky but it's not bad. The leg looks SO much better after the injection - and the left looks better too, probably from not needing to compensate so much.

Bliss.

A Plethora of Birthdays!

Happy 10th birthday to Gogo!!
AND
Happy 3rd birthday to Snidgey!!
AND
Happy 1st birthday to Tonka!!

Today was one giant birthday party for half of my herd of animals. I can't believe Gogo was barely five when I bought her.... can't believe Snidgey could fit into the palm of my hand when I first brought her home.... can't believe Tonka has put on almost 40lbs in five months since this past January.


Who knew that this tiny little thing.....





Would turn into this GIANT HAIRBALL?







Tonka looks much the same now as when I first got her back in January:





Except she's put on nearly 40lbs. How she spends most of her days:



She is the best. I am so lucky to have her.



And of course, Momma Mare got plenty of snacks (and drooled them all over me):






Tomorrow Gogo goes back to the vet for her six month ultrasound.... nervous but excited for sure. Wish us luck!

Squashy!

Look what we've been up to!





Other than the apparent fence repairs that need to be made (not sure why all the top strands are all on top of that fencepost.... weird what you don't notice until you look at a video!), it was total squashy comfy joy. I've been on her once or twice, just because, and she's been a perfect angel. Of course, now that I've said that I've probably just jinxed myself!

I did something a little unorthodox today, and let her trot for about 5 or 6 steps when I was sitting on her. She felt like a magnificent dream. I also watched her trot around in the field today of her own accord, and she looked just as good as she felt.



It's reallllllllllllly hot..... perfect for sunset rides, but not so perfect for anything else during the day. My car read this on the way home:



And the heat index today was 111 degrees. I almost passed out while out pruning trees on the farm. Clearly I need to learn to hydrate better.... dang ol' Texas.

We don't see no stinking lameness!

As has been the first week of every month custom since January, I put Gogo on the lunge this afternoon for a minute or so to check her level of soundness. She trotted out REALLY sound for Dr. H last month when she got her first set of spring shots and had her Coggins pulled, but that was in a straight line on concrete. It's sometimes a different story on slightly uneven footing while on a circle.


But honestly, she's looking REALLY good!



Please ignore the neverending clucking. Apparently, that's what I do when I am not paying enough attention to her over my video-taking and can't get her to GO anywhere.

There might be some residual stiffness on the RH, or maybe I'm just looking for it. It's subtle, if it's there. That also could be the fact that she's been out of work for six months now.

Want to know the key to the shine? Apparently, it's don't bathe or groom your horse for two weeks.... swear it. She's been enjoying her level of filth, and apparently it doesn't actually mean she's filthy in any way. She's gleaming!

Her pasture is drying out as well and her feet are making a very quick turnaround... more on that later!

Our first ultrasound since the reinjury is coming up whenever I can manage to secure a day off.... THINK SOUND! (Also send day-off vibes.... I haven't had one in five weeks and I am pooped!)

Remember when? (Groton House.)

Remember when we were kicking patootiebootie at Groton House in 2009? Tied for second after this particular dressage test with a 31.5, broke the tie with a clean and very close to optimum time run on XC, and moved to first after a clean stadium round. The competition was so close that the leader after XC dropped all the way to 5th after one rail in stadium. That show was my favorite of the season and a highlight of my year, and watching these old videos makes me hurt all over wanting to do it again so badly.



You have no idea how badly I want to breed this mare. I kick myself every day over it. Nobody knows how that baby would turn out, to be sure, but if it ends up anything remotely like her at all, it will be my dream horse a million times over. A million and one times over.

(Edited to add: I am not going to get an OTTB. I'm just not. Nor am I looking to purchase another horse anytime in the remote future. I don't want another horse just to have one. Horses are expensive and a risk. The likelihood that I will get another horse while I still own Gogo (which will be until the end of her days) is pretty small, unless it's her foal. So no suggestions on what I should go out and buy! I'm not going out and buying anything.)

Remember when?

Remember when we were kicking patootiebootie in the dressage at every event? Found a brief old clip of Riga Meadow, where we were robbed with a score of 34.0, but were still in 1st after dressage anyway!
(Although, if you remember correctly, this was when she had Lyme and then unceremoniously freaked out on XC later on in the day and did 360s in front of the up bank, which prompted me to believe that this behavior belonged to a physical issue, not an emotional one!)



Sigh.... those were the good old days!


I really do hope I find some sort of a fun turnaround project once I am down in Texas. Something with a little surprise... a horse that needs some help. Something I can make better, and happier. Something that will look at me with great liquidy eyes everytime I come near and silently say, "thank you for giving me a chance."

I.... am awesome

I am, for the most part, a modest person. I don't give myself credit where credit is due, because I hate cocky a-holes and I always feel like it makes me sound like one whenever I admit that I did something well, or that I have a particular talent for anything. For the most part, I think I am pretty average in all ways - a fairly talentless, mediocre individual with medium-average intelligence, and not a lot more. But today, I am going to brag about myself for a minute. Today, I am AWESOME.

I am awesome because I am outrageously clever when it comes to work under serious pressure. I am awesome because I am friendly, social and selfless, and in my travels I have made a lot of contacts and friends who are all willing to help me out when I am in a tight spot, simply because they know I would do the same for them. I am awesome because I am well-adjusted and adaptable, and under pressure I am calm as the proverbial cucumber. I am awesome because in the face of major uncertainty, I am still just as happy as ever.

When the job down south fell through, I suddenly found myself facing a major crisis. I got back to Connecticut on Saturday, and had exactly three and a half days until doggie, kitty, pony and myself were completely homeless. *I* can be homeless without a problem, but I can't have all my critters out in the November cold without a warm place to go, so I had to act really, really fast. I had all my stuff to get out of the apartment, I had Gogo to move. I had no idea WHERE we were going but I knew we had to go NOW. When faced with a crisis pertaining to most basic levels of survival - not freezing to death in November - I moved forward with single-minded determination. At blinding speeds, I packed everything I own, set my little critters up at Honey's apartment, made some quick phone calls, packed up everything at the old barn, cleaned up Gogo and tossed her on the trailer, and spent my Sunday evening settling her up at Hillden, where I once lessoned with Kerry Milliken. (Yikes look at that equitation... that was soooo long ago!) Jen was kind enough to let me come last second, and gave me a day rate in case I found another job somewhere else mid-month and needed to leave. The best part about this situation is that Gogo is now getting 10 to 12 hours of turnout a day, coming in only at night to escape the bitter winds. It's exactly what she needs right now to transition over to 24/7... I don't think she's had that much turnout since she was a foal at foot. I spent the rest of past two days packing and loading all my stuff into my horse trailer. I think I should mention that pretty much EVERYTHING I own fits into my trailer's TACK ROOM. Wow.... that's kind of sad, but also a little bit liberating.

As for Gogo, she survived her first day of long turnout without an issue. I thought she might decide at some point that she wanted in NOW, and would run, but she went out at around 6am, and when I arrived at 4pm, she was just standing quietly by the gate. The paddock she is in has a shed and a holding area, which opens up to the bigger paddock through a gate. When she saw me, she screamed, and started pacing the fence like she was definitely ready to come in. 10 hours is pretty good for a horse that normally starts to run the fence after the first two or three! There was another girl there, and she said that she was grazing out in the field when she arrived an hour or so before I got there.

The farm is known for its absolutely gorgeous sunsets, which you get a perfect view of when looking out at her pasture....






I also made her an oatmeal snack out of the box of old plain oatmeal packets I found in my cubbard while cleaning, and spiced it up with some cinnamon sugar. She thought this was absolutely excellent:





I think she might get used to this retirement thing pretty quickly if all I ever do when she sees me is groom her and shove food in her face!


As for the rest of everything, today is the final day of packing, loading and cleaning. Jen's farm is about an hour away, so realistically I don't think I can go every day, but I will do my best to see her as much as possible while in this little bit of limbo. I have a job interview I am flying out for on Thursday, which is great. The rest of everything is all set up at Honey's apartment, and we are all fed and warm. Honestly, if you can believe it, this whole not knowing what tomorrow might bring is pretty exhilarating. I mentioned to Daun yesterday that it was starting to get old, this whole living out of a suitcase and being constantly on the move (versus friends my age who own houses, are starting to make babies, and are getting fat and rich in their little bubble worlds), but I think I am only interested in having a home base because I am always intrigued by what I don't have. If I was tied down to one spot, I don't think I'd really like it... I'm not old enough to really crave that yet, and the adventurer in me still yearns for movement and excitement. I am young and mobile, and I can go anywhere and do anything that I like. In the wintertime, I do get pretty homey, so the timing of this movement is a bit unfortunate. Secretly, I am seriously excited, because I have NO idea where I am going to end up, and NO idea what comes next. For the moment, I am awesome because I assessed the situation, addressed every issue with streamlined efficiency, kept my cool about the whole ordeal, and have still come out smiling. Given the whole situation, I think THAT is something to be very proud of.


And in her huge grassy turnout, and her big airy stall filled with fresh food and clean bedding, Gogo was as happy and fresh as I've ever seen yesterday, despite how ugly her leg is. She's sound at the walk, so I'll take it for what it is. She ate her oatmeal snack with gusto, and stood with the happiest, perkiest look on her face the whole time I was grooming her in the barn. If she's happy, I'm happy.






I am awesome. Gogo is awesome. And YOU are awesome for reading this.

More packing and cleaning.... and then I am freeeeeeeeeeee!

The Waterhorse

I would like to know when November decided to cut the rest of October off and just jump right in the game. It's been freezing and cloudy all week! Also, WHAT is going on with my "posted at" times? Pretty sure I am not writing some of these posts at 3:45am. Maybe I have it on the wrong timesetting, but I don't think I am techno-savvy enough to figure out how to switch that.

Anyway. I've been a bit of a slacker when it comes to writing this week... I've been very busy and a bit mopey due to the cold weather. I seem to be making my yearly transition from violently active warm-weather athlete to cuddled-in-warm-armchair cold-weather hibernator. I did manage to squeeze in five great rides on the woman this week, and gave her two days off, despite wanting to do nothing more than ride and sleep (mmmm.... warm bed). Starting with last Sunday, I hopped back on Gogo bareback for a 45 minute jaunt around the property, just to start her moving again after two weeks of being off. I tried her in something new, a rope indian bosal from the same lady who makes Tamara's tack, just to try something for light trail riding that doesn't involve a bit. I thought for sure she'd love it, given her history with contact issues, but I was wrong. Apparently, and thankfully, those days are long gone. I can honestly say that she really just seems to do better in a bit. She was responsive to the turning aids in the same sensitive way that she always is, and stopped with a verbal "whoa", but as for actually stopping from a rein aid? Nope. Didn't get it. In her usual way, when we got to trotting up the far hill, she broke into the canter and frisked about. However, with the hackamore, she had enough the ability to put her head between her knees and get halfway up the hill before I managed to slow her down. I thought they had a little more sting in them... apparently I was wrong. Oh well, it will be good for trail riding at least...



((Gogo says, uhhhhh....))


After work on Monday, I tacked Gogo up for our weekly road hack, and set out to try and beat the sun before it went down (so early these days!). The best way for me to really assess Gogo's soundness is by sitting on her and trotting her on a hard, flat surface, and I take advantage of my time on the tarmac by spending a minute or two trotting on a loose rein on both diagonals. Even though she was doing her typical look-around-side-to-side-nonstop while trotting, which makes it a bit awkward for steering, she felt exactly the same going from one diagonal to the next. Sweet! I kept the trotting to less than a minute or two, and spent the rest of the time cruising around on the buckle, admiring the fall foliage. Gogo was a crazy half-saint as always: at some point, she and I walked around the corner near a house that was flush with the road, and in the yard was a GIANT blow-up ghost, RIGHT there, hissing with air and waving its giant arms around. It couldn't have been more than three feet away from us. Did she even bother to cast it a passing glance? Nope. What DID she spook at? The yellow mailbox, a few feet down the way. Mares. The whole ride totalled an hour, and it was perfect.

Tuesday we had an excellent work on the flat. Warming up in the early morning chill, we walked around the hills of the property for 15 minutes, and then moved into the outdoor to do some walk/trot work. It wasn't complicated, and I didn't canter due to her level of fresh (didn't want her to go galloping and leaping off after two weeks off), but we did some basic lateral work and some bending and stretching. She also gave me some amazing moments of suspension and lightness when I asked her to move out in the trot down the long side. Every lengthening prior to her injury always had a bit of a rushed, groundbound feel to it - not bad per se, but more covering ground without cadence. These were UP and forward, with power. I think there's a lot to be developed here!

Wednesday, I had the best day of all. Despite the fact that I was off and had every right to sleep in as late as I wanted, I bounced out of bed at 4:30am for no reason at all and woke up a sleeping Chris with, "I am going to go take Gogo to the beach for a sunrise ride!!" (I am lucky to be dating someone who takes my totally random early morning whims in stride) Somehow, I managed to get myself, my trailer, and my horse ready and out the barn door by 6:30am, when it was still dark. When I showed up to the barn, I fed Gogo, and then collected all her tack outside of her stall. She saw me coming in with the halter and had OTHER ideas, promptly turning her butt to me and slowly backing in my direction, which is exactly what she did the morning I went to take her to see Dr. C. This brings the grand total of times she's done this behavior in her life to two. Both times, she got the snot beat out of her in response, so hopefully this will be the last... bad, bad mare. Not tolerated. She was on her best behavior after it though!

Unlike the last two times we went to the beach, this time she was totally relaxed, and she plowed right in to the water like she had plans to swim across the Sound to NYC. Running dogs, people casting fishing lines, drydocked catamarans... nothing phases this mare!








If you turn the sound waaaaaaaaaaaaay up on this video, you can hear me yelping when she went in deeper than I expected and soaked my feet through my boots. Salty wet fail!





Just look at that sunrise. It was amazing! And yes, I MAY have been wearing a scarf at the beach.... it was not quite 40 degrees.

Two days off, another light 45 minute bareback hack yesterday, and one final day off today in order to get us back on track, and we are back to our regular schedule. Stay tuned for more adventures, there are some BIG ones coming up!

Teaser

A quick teaser because I am a bad bad blogger this week (but I have reason to be, given the Staffing Crisis which continues to be eternally neverending and horribly stressful, and is now entering Month Two):




Is that a..... ROPING SADDLE?




And.... SOME TIGHT LEGS?




And.... SOME ROCK CRUNCHERS?




You better believe.... more later!

Fun in the setting sun!

Just a little video of Gogo and I playing around at Baxster last Saturday evening:



She's so silly. When we were cantering, she was like NO I MUST PUT MY HEAD IN YOUR LAP KTHX. But other than that, she was perfect.

Our schedule is as follows: Sunday OFF, Monday bareback hack for 45 minutes around the property and up the hill at a walk/some trot, Tuesday dressage, Wednesday hack out off property for 1:00+ w/t/c, Thursday jumping tiny little things, Friday hack up the road for 50-60min, Saturday hack off propety for 1:00+ w/t/c. It's a bit lucid, and it's not very serious. It's just fun, and good for both our brains. My only goals are to strengthen her body all over, give her a good fitness baseline going into the winter, and putting her brains in place for the upcoming cold indoor arena seasons. Other than that, it's all just fun and games, and I like it that way.

Although it's pretty clear that I'm going to need some LESSONS sometime in the next century. That equitation leaves plenty to be desired.

How Do You Measure a Year in the Life?

How do you measure a year in the life?

In handwalks?


In ultrasounds?


In coldhosing, in eternal wrapping?



In progress? In setbacks?



In stall rest?


In freedom?



How about love?




A year ago to the day, Gogo and I tackled our tough course at the AECs and slipped up momentarily before the fourth fence. Somehow, some way, during this slip she seriously injured herself, and the rest has been history. The slip as caught on video:



Hard to imagine that in that instant, a year's worth of damage was done. Hard to imagine how miraculous tiny events - like sitting on your horse for the first time in months - can feel. Hard to imagine where we would be had this never happened, hard to imagine where we will be this time next year. I spent today with Gogo just bathing and clipping her all up, making sure she knows just how lovely she really is. She was a bit surley coming in from turnout (she really does seem to hate it, I don't know what else to do!) but once we started primping she was her old cheerful self again. Mares! It's gotta be all about them.



I am entering week three of a major staffing crisis, so nearly all my attention and energies have been completely focused on that, but hopefully I will be able to exhale soon enough and put my head back on straight. Then we'll talk fall. I want to change Gogo's schedule again but I honestly don't think I have more than two brain cells to rub together at the moment, so I need to let my head settle first.

For now, it's time for bed. Congrats to all competitors at this year's American Eventing Championships, you are all champions in my book.