Saturday
We finally got a farrier to come out! We have a new one, but he got lost for 3 hours, so by the time he got there it was already 5pm. We don't have to leave early on the weekends any more and that makes me super happy, especially because it's summer!
We rode a little bit before he got there. I rode Harry while my mom rode Brie. Harry was pretty good but did a lot of pacing. I took him in the outdoor arena and he paced some more while I was trying to practice our largo. I went to take him out to walk around the property a little bit and when I wanted to take him over the little hill next to the outdoor arena, he got really freaked out and side stepped his way down the hill and ran back to the arena. I thought that was super odd because I'd taken him out by himself before in the back and over the big hill. Brie and Nina came out with my brother and mom and we all rode around the property and Harry seemed to calm down a little bit while Brie was acting like a giant, just stomping around every where, completely not listening to my mom. I guess she feels better!
After we made it back and waited around a while for the farrier, he got to work. Brie was a perfect angel for the trim and shoeing until he got to her back hooves when she started dancing around a little bit, so we had to twitch her. I felt bad because she was being so good and he even commented on how well-mannered she was, then we ended up jinxing it because she started shuffling and jumping around! Our goal was to put shoes on everyone, but that ended up not being the case.
When he got to Harry, you could tell that Harry was nervous, but he stayed still for the trim. He got front shoes on but when the farrier went in back to fit shoes back there, Harry started shaking like a leaf, so the farrier said he'd just leave him with half a set and finish it this upcoming week.
Nina, as you all know, is HORRIBLE with the farrier because of some bad past experiences, so she was fighting with him the entire time while he trimmed her and didn't get any shoes on. The farrier said that he'd rather just have us get some sedative to relax them than stand there and fight with them, risking them or him getting hurt and he wouldn't be able to do that good of a job. Plus, if he stood there and wrestled with them, it'd only reinforce that every time the farrier come out they'll get pushed around. It makes pretty good sense, although I'm not too keen on the sedative. But if they're calm and they're sedated but still alert and get used to trimming and shoeing and see it's not such a big deal, maybe they won't even need it in the future.
Sunday
Brie was sure feeling good today! I can tell that the shoes make her so much happier. Everyone's been barefoot for the longest and finally the chips got so bad that we decided to put shoes on. I'm happy we did!
With the combo of the steroid injection and her new shoes, Brie was flying at her largo! I figured I would just let her celebrate while still making sure she didn't break into a canter. She seemed super happy to finally be out and moving around again. When she went across the board she sounded like thunder, it was so loud with her shoes on!
My mom rode Harry and you could tell that he was different even though he only had front shoes on. You could see in his eyes that he was thinking about how he needed to pick up his feet a little more now that the shoes were on. I can only imagine how phenomenal he might sound when he has a whole set!
We all walked around outside again and Brie was ready to fly again, but we all walked calmly together because Harry was very nervous. I don't know what the sudden fright is with being outside! Yesterday he spooked at a butterfly landing on the fence! If it weren't for Nationals, I would be only concerned with getting him used to all the different outside demons, such as trees or sunshine, and especially those butterflies!
We're going to call our vet this week and see if they'll sell us the sedative or if they need to come out so we can finish up the shoeing job. Hopefully it'll be all taken care of by Thursday!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Brie's Vet Update
While we were gone on Saturday, the vet went out and injected Brie with a shot of steroids for her arthritis. We found out that it's nothing wrong in the stifle, that she just has arthritis in her hock. She should get some time off and by this upcoming Saturday she should be back to her normal riding routine! I'm so glad that this could be easily fixed and now she's not in pain anymore, although I'm sure she wouldn't have minded being a lawn decoration for the entire summer!
Michigan Show - Sunday
We weren't going to show today, but I spontaneously decided that I would show Nina. Yes, Nina! The horse who I never get to ride! Today's classes were all Pleasure classes whereas yesterday were all Performance classes. My brother didn't want to show Nina in Pleasure and I knew that I wouldn't be able to show Harry in Pleasure since he's so high-strung, so I picked Nina.
Well for someone who doesn't ride her at all, I sure was proud that I got 2nd! We went into the lineup after the class was over and after some time, the judge called for a work-off between two other horses and myself. I've never done a work-off before and not knowing that I was supposed to corto right out of the lineup, I walked out and then corto'd on the wall. My mom told me that if I had corto'd out of the lineup and gotten her headset just a second sooner, I would've took 1st. Oh well, now I know! I only remember showing Nina one other time, and that was with Andre. I was sleeping on the back of a golf cart and Andre came and shook me awake, put me on Nina, and put me in the class! I don't remember what I took then, haha.
We hung around for the bit in the afternoon, complained about the judging a little bit because there were still horses placing that were acting up, and then packed up and left. Overall, it was a good show and it was great experience for Harry and Nina. I don't know if we'll go to any more shows because we're already qualified for Nationals. I don't know if it would be a good idea to keep showing and work on the little things simultaneously or to just stay home and work then show up to Nationals.
Well for someone who doesn't ride her at all, I sure was proud that I got 2nd! We went into the lineup after the class was over and after some time, the judge called for a work-off between two other horses and myself. I've never done a work-off before and not knowing that I was supposed to corto right out of the lineup, I walked out and then corto'd on the wall. My mom told me that if I had corto'd out of the lineup and gotten her headset just a second sooner, I would've took 1st. Oh well, now I know! I only remember showing Nina one other time, and that was with Andre. I was sleeping on the back of a golf cart and Andre came and shook me awake, put me on Nina, and put me in the class! I don't remember what I took then, haha.
We hung around for the bit in the afternoon, complained about the judging a little bit because there were still horses placing that were acting up, and then packed up and left. Overall, it was a good show and it was great experience for Harry and Nina. I don't know if we'll go to any more shows because we're already qualified for Nationals. I don't know if it would be a good idea to keep showing and work on the little things simultaneously or to just stay home and work then show up to Nationals.
Michigan Show - Saturday
With only a little difficulty, we got Harry into the trailer! We managed to leave in the shortest amount of time that I can remember! But then we made up for it getting stuck in some ridiculous traffic for 2 hours, only moving about 15 miles. Talk about a delay!
We arrived at about 7:30 pm yesterday night, and we didn't work the horses because of our prior experience from the Midwest Classic, when they got all pooped out on Saturday for the show.
Today, I only had one class. Mom had ridden with Nina and Harry in a class before mine and she got 3rd on Nina and 5th on Harry. Nina had a great ride and Harry was so-so. You could tell that she was struggling with him in the class because he kept wanting to take off. We rinsed off both of them for the lunch break and then I started working with Harry immediately after I ate lunch, that way he'd be warmed up enough for my class. He worked fantastically! I could swear that he was Fino-ing down the drive between the warm up and the show arena! I took him in the arena for my class and he behaved beautifully! It was a big class, so I only came away with a 5th, but I was satisfied with his behavior. After that class, I decided to take him into the championship class just for fun and he did wonderfully in that one too, even though we didn't place. I was really proud of him! He's coming along great!
My brother showed after my first class and he took a 3rd with Nina. He was in the championship with me too, and he got 4th champion. So today was a good day!
One thing that definitely threw off everyone we talked to was the judge---she was judging really strangely, placing horses that weren't even gaiting over ones who were behaving absolutely HORRIBLY! In my brother's class he placed 3rd under some little kid who's horse was rearing! I would've liked to pick that judge's brain, but she was never around. I can't understand WHY she would place some horses who refused to reverse, were acting horribly, and were whinnying the entire way around the arena as first place. If I saw a horse even rear a tiny bit, he would be excused. Sometimes judges don't make any sense. And the worst part is that she SAW these horses acting badly! I swear, I should go to judging school.
We arrived at about 7:30 pm yesterday night, and we didn't work the horses because of our prior experience from the Midwest Classic, when they got all pooped out on Saturday for the show.
Today, I only had one class. Mom had ridden with Nina and Harry in a class before mine and she got 3rd on Nina and 5th on Harry. Nina had a great ride and Harry was so-so. You could tell that she was struggling with him in the class because he kept wanting to take off. We rinsed off both of them for the lunch break and then I started working with Harry immediately after I ate lunch, that way he'd be warmed up enough for my class. He worked fantastically! I could swear that he was Fino-ing down the drive between the warm up and the show arena! I took him in the arena for my class and he behaved beautifully! It was a big class, so I only came away with a 5th, but I was satisfied with his behavior. After that class, I decided to take him into the championship class just for fun and he did wonderfully in that one too, even though we didn't place. I was really proud of him! He's coming along great!
My brother showed after my first class and he took a 3rd with Nina. He was in the championship with me too, and he got 4th champion. So today was a good day!
One thing that definitely threw off everyone we talked to was the judge---she was judging really strangely, placing horses that weren't even gaiting over ones who were behaving absolutely HORRIBLY! In my brother's class he placed 3rd under some little kid who's horse was rearing! I would've liked to pick that judge's brain, but she was never around. I can't understand WHY she would place some horses who refused to reverse, were acting horribly, and were whinnying the entire way around the arena as first place. If I saw a horse even rear a tiny bit, he would be excused. Sometimes judges don't make any sense. And the worst part is that she SAW these horses acting badly! I swear, I should go to judging school.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Day 152
Brie's cut is looking better. She does not like being out by herself though! When I rode by her near the end of my ride, she whinnied (which she rarely does), ran toward the gate and watched me with Harry. Then she proceeded to do figure 8s around the paddock until my brother came and got her while I was still working. How silly!
My mom rode Harry first today and we still had the problem of pacing. Luckily, I don't think there's a soundboard at Michigan, so as long as we can kind of check him out of pacing and back into gaiting whenever he does, we might still do well. It's far too late to try to minute-fix this, so we'll just have to keep working on it until the next show. Harry had a longgg workout today. After my mom was finished riding him indoors, she went into the outdoor arena to work him then had me get on. I worked on walking around the arena and then tried to start gaiting and largo-ing, but he was not having anything to do with largo-ing correctly, so I ended up doing a lot of circle work, which turned out well, then tried to get him on the rail, which didn't work out so well.
Rather than fight with him the rest of the ride, I moved to the round pen. Good old round pen. I worked on keeping his headset and getting out of pacing in there. We also did a little bit of a canter -- I figured that if he could keep a rhythm at a canter then it might improve keeping his rhythm at a largo. It ended up working, either because I was right or because he was tired. We finished with a short walk around the back pasture and a nice bath.
Then we shaved their ears. Or tried to.
Nina snapped out of her halter. AGAIN. This is the second leather halter she's broken! She gets so freaked out whenever anyone goes by her ears, especially with the clippers. It took a good 15 minutes to do her ears and now we have to find someone to fix the halter or buy a new one. Hopefully it can be fixed, those leather things are expensive!
Harry was such a good boy. He was kind of hesitant, but he was done in a snap. Brie was just thankful she didn't have to participate in the nonsense.
Here's to hoping we have a good show this weekend!!
My mom rode Harry first today and we still had the problem of pacing. Luckily, I don't think there's a soundboard at Michigan, so as long as we can kind of check him out of pacing and back into gaiting whenever he does, we might still do well. It's far too late to try to minute-fix this, so we'll just have to keep working on it until the next show. Harry had a longgg workout today. After my mom was finished riding him indoors, she went into the outdoor arena to work him then had me get on. I worked on walking around the arena and then tried to start gaiting and largo-ing, but he was not having anything to do with largo-ing correctly, so I ended up doing a lot of circle work, which turned out well, then tried to get him on the rail, which didn't work out so well.
Rather than fight with him the rest of the ride, I moved to the round pen. Good old round pen. I worked on keeping his headset and getting out of pacing in there. We also did a little bit of a canter -- I figured that if he could keep a rhythm at a canter then it might improve keeping his rhythm at a largo. It ended up working, either because I was right or because he was tired. We finished with a short walk around the back pasture and a nice bath.
Then we shaved their ears. Or tried to.
Nina snapped out of her halter. AGAIN. This is the second leather halter she's broken! She gets so freaked out whenever anyone goes by her ears, especially with the clippers. It took a good 15 minutes to do her ears and now we have to find someone to fix the halter or buy a new one. Hopefully it can be fixed, those leather things are expensive!
Harry was such a good boy. He was kind of hesitant, but he was done in a snap. Brie was just thankful she didn't have to participate in the nonsense.
Here's to hoping we have a good show this weekend!!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Day 151
Well, we haven't heard back from the vet yet on those X Rays, so hopefully no news is good news.
Today we found out that Brie is just a magnet for bad things lately! She had a small gash on her hock, looking fresh, and low and behold one of her boards in the stall was split and she must've rubbed on it and cut herself on the part that was pointing out. We told Paco and he'll have it fixed. We cleaned the wound with some warm water on a rag, then put some iodine on it and finally put this blue paste for cuts my mom found in some vet magazine. It works fantastically! I'll have to get the name of it for you all.
Harry...well, he wasn't exactly bad today, but he wasn't good either. He was having an off day in the most literal sense of the word. He couldn't find his rhythm in his gait, no matter what we tried. Circles, different hand positions, different seats, but nope, he just never really settled into a nice clean gait. Always pacing. I hope that this was just a one day thing, because tomorrow is our last practice before we go to the Michigan show next weekend, and I want to keep up placing highly with him!
I would like to be somewhat productive this summer, so I'm signing up for this Parelli Connect thing online. I'm not sure if I told you all, but last summer I could've had an internship with Parelli in Colorado! I kind of wish I would've taken it, even if it was unpaid. But then again, if I had, I wouldn't have made it so far with Harry! Remember the wild beast he used to be? I'm so glad he's turned out to be so sweet. I'd rather have him be a sweet, not so great show horse, than an uncontrollable blue-ribbon winner! And I like to think I did a good job of taming him, thank you very much.
Oh, so remember when I was on the Equestrian Team? I quit back in October basically because of the facilities not being up to my own personal standards. I just found out that they've decided to move locations to a WAY better stable (one that I suggested way back when) and I'm joining again when school starts. I'm so excited! I missed jumping, and now that I know for sure I have to stop with Brie, it'll be nice to get it somewhere. I plan on starting lessons by the end of the month again, if not sooner!
Today we found out that Brie is just a magnet for bad things lately! She had a small gash on her hock, looking fresh, and low and behold one of her boards in the stall was split and she must've rubbed on it and cut herself on the part that was pointing out. We told Paco and he'll have it fixed. We cleaned the wound with some warm water on a rag, then put some iodine on it and finally put this blue paste for cuts my mom found in some vet magazine. It works fantastically! I'll have to get the name of it for you all.
Harry...well, he wasn't exactly bad today, but he wasn't good either. He was having an off day in the most literal sense of the word. He couldn't find his rhythm in his gait, no matter what we tried. Circles, different hand positions, different seats, but nope, he just never really settled into a nice clean gait. Always pacing. I hope that this was just a one day thing, because tomorrow is our last practice before we go to the Michigan show next weekend, and I want to keep up placing highly with him!
I would like to be somewhat productive this summer, so I'm signing up for this Parelli Connect thing online. I'm not sure if I told you all, but last summer I could've had an internship with Parelli in Colorado! I kind of wish I would've taken it, even if it was unpaid. But then again, if I had, I wouldn't have made it so far with Harry! Remember the wild beast he used to be? I'm so glad he's turned out to be so sweet. I'd rather have him be a sweet, not so great show horse, than an uncontrollable blue-ribbon winner! And I like to think I did a good job of taming him, thank you very much.
Oh, so remember when I was on the Equestrian Team? I quit back in October basically because of the facilities not being up to my own personal standards. I just found out that they've decided to move locations to a WAY better stable (one that I suggested way back when) and I'm joining again when school starts. I'm so excited! I missed jumping, and now that I know for sure I have to stop with Brie, it'll be nice to get it somewhere. I plan on starting lessons by the end of the month again, if not sooner!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Brie's Vet Update
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know that the vet called today. From what he can tell, Brie has arthritis in her hock, but he's sent on the X-Rays for a second opinion in a neighboring county's animal hospital to see if there's anything wrong with the stifle. The vet tech said that so far, we shouldn't ride her until we get those results back (which we can't anyways, we're not out there during the week) and that riding now really depends on her stifle's condition. Her blood sugar was also slightly high for a horse that was fasting until the vet got there to draw blood, so once we find out what's going on with her stifle, we're going to make up a plan to attack both her blood sugar and how to deal with whatever problems she may have coming down the road.
Just wanted to let you all know that the vet called today. From what he can tell, Brie has arthritis in her hock, but he's sent on the X-Rays for a second opinion in a neighboring county's animal hospital to see if there's anything wrong with the stifle. The vet tech said that so far, we shouldn't ride her until we get those results back (which we can't anyways, we're not out there during the week) and that riding now really depends on her stifle's condition. Her blood sugar was also slightly high for a horse that was fasting until the vet got there to draw blood, so once we find out what's going on with her stifle, we're going to make up a plan to attack both her blood sugar and how to deal with whatever problems she may have coming down the road.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Day 150
No word from the vet. We'll call tomorrow when they're back in office.
We just brushed up Brie and let her out in one of the small pastures with a little bit of grass while we rode today. She seemed happy as a clam and was even napping when I went out to go get her. I rinsed her off after I brought her in, fly sprayed her and bleached her feet before putting her back in her stall with a carrot (or five).
While my mom warmed up Nina today, I worked with Harry some more. I really do need to strengthen my core. I never was able to stay committed to a workout before, but now that I see how it's affecting my riding, I really do need to start and stick with it! It's getting hard for me to remain in posture and Harry feels it, jolts forward which throws me further off balance and then we have to start all over again! After my mom let my brother take over Nina, she worked with me and my darn hands! It was hard for me to not focus on Harry's speed and just focus on my hands and his headset, but by the end of the day, his head looked beautiful and the gait was following. I worked some transitions in a circle again like yesterday since he was pacing on the rail, walked him, then handed him over to my mom, who took him for a reward ride outside.
Next week I have to really nail transitions, because the weekend after that we head to Michigan for another show.
Here's a funny story. We were pulling into the driveway to the stable today and this dog was chasing a car behind us then saw our car and headed over by us. She had no collar on, so we put her in our trunk and drove down the street to look for where she lived. We ended up finding her house because a neighbor recognized her, so we tried to leave her there but she followed our car back to the stable. Meanwhile, Ray is riding on the street and sees us coming with this dog chasing our car and tries to ignore it and go in the driveway, but as soon as the dog sees him, she goes after his horse! I think she nipped the horse in the heels, so the horse spun around and when she did, Ray took off after the dog down the street! It was the funniest thing! I wish we would've gotten it on video!
We just brushed up Brie and let her out in one of the small pastures with a little bit of grass while we rode today. She seemed happy as a clam and was even napping when I went out to go get her. I rinsed her off after I brought her in, fly sprayed her and bleached her feet before putting her back in her stall with a carrot (or five).
While my mom warmed up Nina today, I worked with Harry some more. I really do need to strengthen my core. I never was able to stay committed to a workout before, but now that I see how it's affecting my riding, I really do need to start and stick with it! It's getting hard for me to remain in posture and Harry feels it, jolts forward which throws me further off balance and then we have to start all over again! After my mom let my brother take over Nina, she worked with me and my darn hands! It was hard for me to not focus on Harry's speed and just focus on my hands and his headset, but by the end of the day, his head looked beautiful and the gait was following. I worked some transitions in a circle again like yesterday since he was pacing on the rail, walked him, then handed him over to my mom, who took him for a reward ride outside.
Next week I have to really nail transitions, because the weekend after that we head to Michigan for another show.
Here's a funny story. We were pulling into the driveway to the stable today and this dog was chasing a car behind us then saw our car and headed over by us. She had no collar on, so we put her in our trunk and drove down the street to look for where she lived. We ended up finding her house because a neighbor recognized her, so we tried to leave her there but she followed our car back to the stable. Meanwhile, Ray is riding on the street and sees us coming with this dog chasing our car and tries to ignore it and go in the driveway, but as soon as the dog sees him, she goes after his horse! I think she nipped the horse in the heels, so the horse spun around and when she did, Ray took off after the dog down the street! It was the funniest thing! I wish we would've gotten it on video!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Day 149
I have some good news and some bad news.
Good news is that Harry and I had a very successful ride today. We worked for about 2 hours! I never get him to myself for that long. I was super happy with his behavior at the start -- he walked! He's usually like a little freight train and just goes goes goes, but he was very relaxed at the start. We walked around and flexed for a while in the indoor then ventured to the outdoor where his attention started to get away from me, but was still pretty good. We kept our walking.
Then we traversed through the inside of the indoor and went out back in the huge pasture. That's where he lost his attention to me, instead too freaked out about everything going on outside. He got a little spooky and started spinning and trying to run back to the barn at one point, but we stopped, stood for a while and then headed towards the big hill and went up it, looked around, then went back into the barn.
Then we started to really work. The entire time I was focusing on keeping my hands quiet and properly positioned...I have a really bad habit of having piano hands, because, surprise, I play the piano. It's just natural. But I really focused on that and sitting deep and back today and rather than relaxing he seemed to want to go more and more until I started sitting more forward. Once I was a bit more forward he definitely settled into his gait better. After working on his gait, we started doing a little bit of transition work on the wall where it wasn't too successful, so we did in a circle. When he got transitions down in a circle, I started walking him to cool him down. I dropped my stirrups because my ankles were killing me today for some reason, probably from sickle-ing, and we walked pretty calmly. He was still super hot when I got off so I hand walked him for a good chunk of time before I gave him a nice bath, after which he was still hot, so I walked him some more until he was completely cool before I put him in his stall.
Now for the not so good news. The vet came out for Brie today. If you don't remember, she's been having some lameness in her back right leg for a while now. It kept going and coming, but even though we had her on stall rest for a while, she was still kind of limping when I rode her last week. Now, the vet came out and looked at her lunge (she was limping), gave her a full exam, noted a bit of warmth in her leg, and took lots of X-Rays. He said that seemingly at best she has arthritis and we can manage that with steroids. It's either in her hock or her stifle, and he kind of said that if it's in the stifle, it's not too good.
He basically told us that her show career is over. Depending on what's actually wrong with her, we'll know whether we can still ride her or not. If this is all from kicking her stall, I'm going to be so mad! I just hope she's okay. At first I was sad because I have to stop trying to do dressage and jumping with her now, and then I was sad because I wouldn't be able to really fulfill the goal of this blog: to blog until I won a 1st place in a class of at least 10.
But then, I realized that all of that has lost its value. As long as she's okay and healthy, even if she can't be ridden very much, it won't change how much I love her. She means the world to me, she's taught me everything I know about handling horses. She's given me a tough skin for the show ring. She's taught me patience and responsibility. Even if she can't be ridden, it doesn't mean I'll stop showering her with love.
And if she can be ridden, then I'll just have to work out being a great trail horse and I might still have costume classes to look forward to. Who knows -- maybe she'll win Nationals for costume. She's always been a looker =]
Good news is that Harry and I had a very successful ride today. We worked for about 2 hours! I never get him to myself for that long. I was super happy with his behavior at the start -- he walked! He's usually like a little freight train and just goes goes goes, but he was very relaxed at the start. We walked around and flexed for a while in the indoor then ventured to the outdoor where his attention started to get away from me, but was still pretty good. We kept our walking.
Then we traversed through the inside of the indoor and went out back in the huge pasture. That's where he lost his attention to me, instead too freaked out about everything going on outside. He got a little spooky and started spinning and trying to run back to the barn at one point, but we stopped, stood for a while and then headed towards the big hill and went up it, looked around, then went back into the barn.
Then we started to really work. The entire time I was focusing on keeping my hands quiet and properly positioned...I have a really bad habit of having piano hands, because, surprise, I play the piano. It's just natural. But I really focused on that and sitting deep and back today and rather than relaxing he seemed to want to go more and more until I started sitting more forward. Once I was a bit more forward he definitely settled into his gait better. After working on his gait, we started doing a little bit of transition work on the wall where it wasn't too successful, so we did in a circle. When he got transitions down in a circle, I started walking him to cool him down. I dropped my stirrups because my ankles were killing me today for some reason, probably from sickle-ing, and we walked pretty calmly. He was still super hot when I got off so I hand walked him for a good chunk of time before I gave him a nice bath, after which he was still hot, so I walked him some more until he was completely cool before I put him in his stall.
Now for the not so good news. The vet came out for Brie today. If you don't remember, she's been having some lameness in her back right leg for a while now. It kept going and coming, but even though we had her on stall rest for a while, she was still kind of limping when I rode her last week. Now, the vet came out and looked at her lunge (she was limping), gave her a full exam, noted a bit of warmth in her leg, and took lots of X-Rays. He said that seemingly at best she has arthritis and we can manage that with steroids. It's either in her hock or her stifle, and he kind of said that if it's in the stifle, it's not too good.
He basically told us that her show career is over. Depending on what's actually wrong with her, we'll know whether we can still ride her or not. If this is all from kicking her stall, I'm going to be so mad! I just hope she's okay. At first I was sad because I have to stop trying to do dressage and jumping with her now, and then I was sad because I wouldn't be able to really fulfill the goal of this blog: to blog until I won a 1st place in a class of at least 10.
But then, I realized that all of that has lost its value. As long as she's okay and healthy, even if she can't be ridden very much, it won't change how much I love her. She means the world to me, she's taught me everything I know about handling horses. She's given me a tough skin for the show ring. She's taught me patience and responsibility. Even if she can't be ridden, it doesn't mean I'll stop showering her with love.
And if she can be ridden, then I'll just have to work out being a great trail horse and I might still have costume classes to look forward to. Who knows -- maybe she'll win Nationals for costume. She's always been a looker =]
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