Bummed

It's a bummer when you have been looking for another horse that's a less common breed and there are few in your state for sale thus far and then you finally find one with the mind you like and a personality that makes you just want to snuggle on the sofa with him and eat cookies....then something comes up on the vet exam you can't take a risk on so you have to pass.  Ugh.

Just gotta post my lovely mare here to make me happy in this bummer moment.  It's not the end of the world.  I had a couple "almost the right horse" moments before I found Daenerys (and she wasn't even the top breed I was looking for at the time!). And I'm certainly not looking for perfect, she isn't....but darn close!  LOL.

Look at that muddy awkward stance/picture angle on a slope photo of her!  Isn't she wonderful!  I love my old mare, scars, flaws, attitude and all.  I hope this weekend is good weather since I need to get a nice pony ride in to remind myself that I have a wonderful horse, two actually Chance is a grumpy old man but he can be a sweetie too.  

I'm just adding a younger one to the herd and that will happen when it does! I shan't fret!

Gaited Horse World

In any equine discipline there is bad riding that can often become the "norm". The bad riding can also be abusive.

Rollkur

Why do you need to use this overly restrictive posture to get a horse to collect?  Answer: you don't!!!

Peanut rollers and unnatural gaits

Horses hoppling around in the arena....why is this attractive? It's not and it's definitely not pleasure.

Tenneesee Walker Pads/Soring and Chains

Pic from: https://good-horse.com/blog/end-big-lick/

Tenneesee Walking horses are a well known area. The stacked pads and high stepping that is gained unnaturally....why?  Just why??

Gaited horses in General-harsh bits

Photo From: https://profchoice.com/i-7196459-wonder-bit-smooth-snaffle.html

Equipment is often used as short cuts but just watching those high headed, and hollowed out gaiting horses makes me cringe. You don't have to use harsh bits.  So many people ride in snaffles, bitless and heck, even in simple halters.  Training takes time.  A 30 day trainer brush up....you really think that will fully train a horse?  Ugh.  

All of this has come to the forefront as I've researched gaited horses, Rocky Mountains in particular.  I've looked at two horses now and both were in a gag bit. I don't get it...if you want a soft horse you need a soft bit and you need to teach them to give to pressure not pull away from the pressure to avoid pain.

So far I'm hearing from some gaited horse people that "You can't ride that horse in a snaffle!  You need this foot long shanked bit!" You can't gait without leaning way back or using this bit or having the horses head high up. Or apparently this so called "Wonder Bit" is the best bit for gaited horse, which is a leverage gag bit.  Ugh. No thank you.  I will put the work in with a good trainer to get the horse soft and subtle in a snaffle. I'm hoping I can find a Rocky that hasn't had such extreme short cuts used in it's training.

I've reached out to a local trainer that I really think may be a good fit when I find my next horse.  She trains softness and has the same philosophy in training and riding as I've learned in recent years (the training that I had at Quintessential Arabians, great natural horsemanship) She also mentioned how she felt about harsh bits in the gaited world.  As I've been doing research it's some of the same stuff I see in a lot of disciplines; there are few areas of the horse world untouched by short cuts to get the ribbon or the big bucks unfortunately.

You don't need harsh bits for most riding, a simple curb or a double jointed or even mullen mouth snaffle or heck even bridle less headstall can be used with success if you put the time in and stop taking short cuts.  I've seen a lot of 2 year old Rocky Mountains or Tennessee walkers horses under saddle.  Their horses don't grow much faster than the rest of the horses in the world.

I've ridden several horses for sale in the past couple months.  I had some interesting experiences and have heard varied suggestions or ways to get the horse to gait.  What it boils down to is training and any horse with the right temperament can be retrained.  You don't a certain bit or a saddle to ride a gaited horse. You need a saddle that FITs properly and a bit (or no bit!) that the horse has been trained to understand and a horse that has been trained to carry their bodies in the best way to move properly.

I'll go into some details of the rides I've had but today I'm finishing up this post I started before Thanksgiving and am finally posting now.  I had a ride on a horse today that I think may be the gaited horse I bring home. I have that gut feeling and that's a good thing to have!

Sundowner Trailer

 I had sadly sold my old trailer last year, it was just rusting in place, large and needed more work again and I was just not up for another project that was going to take me away from my horses.  Dani is not a loader and with her tender feet I think she may be more of a home body.  I'll see what I can do about teaching her to load but I'm not going to hold my breath. Chance for sure is a home body since he is not rideable.  So my two older ponies can live the great life at home and I can ride Dani around here.

My future plan is to begin looking for a younger trail horse that can trailer and is calm on trails.  If I can get Dani to come along great I can may bring Steve too!  But I do need a horse to stay with Chance and I doubt I'm going to expand from my two horses all the way to four at the moment. So for now the plan is a trail horse for myself that I can take all over.

I casually was looking at trailers online and was interested in a couple but never really pursued any.  Then I saw an ad in the local agriculture paper for a 2004 Sundowner in Bahama, my very tiny town in NC.  I called the seller up and then went over and checked out a very well kept two horse trailer with a walk in tack room.  I was beyond happy with the trailer. So we bought it on the spot and brought it home...now for a name....Sunny is too obvious....

We'll need to get new tires and then rerun the trailer hookup electrical line since it's a bit worn out and attempts to fall off when hauling thereby loosing working lights when it does but these are minor issues.  It was a great price so I'm excited to have this trailer!

Now the harder part, beginning to look for another horse with trail riding and trailering in mind.  Dani is a hard horse to beat with her personality. The fact that she's been off for nearly two years and I barely had any issues getting her back in gear for riding speaks volumes about her mind.  She is such a sweet and willing horse, certainly more whoa than go. She may just be a horse for rides around the property and up in the forest nearby she is a confidence building for sure.  I love her to pieces so to find another trail riding horse is hard for me, I feel like I'm giving up on her.  In honestly I'm being realistic.  She has health issues and with the laminitis past I don't know how much she can take on a trail even if I could load her.  I want to get out and about and go up in the mountains and ride and do clinics and finally meet people in NC that like to ride.  I don't see doing that with Dani unless she can load in a trailer and I don't know if she'd hold up for hours of trail riding with her past laminitis issues.  

Only time will tell so I am keeping a close eye on her health. If we can get the track system to have less grass grow in it that would be fantastic.  I definitely saw that she moved a lot more on it which is great! She and Chance are our forever horses so they stay here until their last days. The next horse I bring home will be the same, so I need to find the right riding partner.  That's the long hard part for sure. Trailer was easy!

Chance's Crazy Month

While Steve and I were away in Iceland Chance had a run in with that spring gate I'd talked about in the previous post. I have no idea exactly what happened but the spring gate got caught on his tail, he probably ran around like crazy and Dani was probably chasing him. Then by the water trough he barreled through the top rail either kicked it or hit it when he tried to jump it....this is my feeble 24 almost 25 year old horse with all the health issues. He normally just plods around the paddock and pastures like the effort is enormous. Anyhow, he got out of the paddock and then ended up down the street where my neighbor later found him. All four legs had big scrapes on them and he was bleeding some. He was in pain.

My pet sitter was alerted while our friends who had been helping care for our dog and indoor critters got home from work and tried to patch up the fencing. My pet sitter called me and was really concerned about how Chance was moving, he wasn't putting weight on some of his legs. I told her to get the emergency vet out. We were afraid we'd be making a decision from Iceland that we didn't want to make. Luckily the vet treated his wounds, they weren't as bad as my pet sitter suspected and the pain meds helped him too. She kept him separate from Dani for the rest of the week. Poor guy and my poor pet sitter, she is in the process of cutting back to give herself more time for travel so I'm sure this was the final straw! Just kidding, she's still gonna help out but I found another farm sitter group for our travels so I won't have to worry about critter care.

So Chance recovered from that and then a few weeks later I had the vet out again on a Sunday because he was acting off. I suspected colic or impaction with his behavior and lack of eating or pooping. The vet came out and they said his gut sounds were good. We didn't know what to do and I wasn't going to make a call at that time. We decided pain meds to get him over what ever issue was going on and stayed on the course of wait and see. Moist food was provided. The next morning no better really and he seemed to be more agitated and not laying down for long at all when he did. This time they gave him more pain meds and electrolytes. I'd even called his former owner since she had not seen him in a while and I really wasn't sure what way we were going.  

We did get one bowel movement and the gut sounds were still good. We became more aggressive with electrolytes and damp food. I got some alfalfa cubes that I soaked, some mash and electrolytes. Chance pulled through and began eating more. I kept him separate from Dani and soaked his food really well and continued with the pain meds for a day as well as continuing to finish with the alfalfa. He's been loosing weight so we've had him on more grain lately but not so recent as to cause this. I think we just need to really soak it for feeding him at this point since 1) he's getting more than just the 1lb a day and 2) he's older and his teeth are probably not as good.

A tooth floating is on the books for both horses, fall always seems to be that time of year. I'm very happy that he seems to be doing much better and is eating well again. He's got a lot of health issues with Cushings, Heaves, suspensory ligament degradation (DSL) and the vet questioned maybe sidewinders....still have to read about that. He holds his body off when he's in pain so that may just be a coincidence since I don't see it now that he is well. We are just trying to keep him happy and comfortable for as long as he desires. We'll know when he's done. I didn't think he was this time around and I'm glad we held on with pain meds and let him work through this minor issue. With the good gut sounds we still don't know if he was slightly impacted or colic or what. I wish horses could talk; happy to have my bay Arabian pony still here though! :-)

Something So Obvious

Wow.  This post has been in the draft stage about a year now....just forgot about it.  It's something so simple and yet my life in the barn has become easier because of it.  

What you ask?  Stall door holdbacks.  I have the swing doors in the barn that came withour property.  It's always had these flimsy little holdbacks that really annoyed me since they take a lot more fine motor skills to get them hooked and unhooked.  If you have a horse in the other hand it gets really annoying.

We'd redone an old trailer so I had come across trailer hold backs and one day it finally dawned on me....why not use something like that in the barn?

There is an "innie" and an "outie" part of the hold back, and yes those are technical terms.  The doors are held open with a quick push as the metal piece goes into the rubber center of the innie part of the hold back.

It works perfect on my tack room door, the two stalls and then the gate to the barn area that usually is open.

Next was the "gate" for the one pasture, we could never get our tractor through it without having to hold up the grass shoot flap.  It was a pain since it was a tight squeeze.  Well come to find out that there are electric spring gates that can be used in a larger gap in the fence and viola (vola?)!  We have a "gate" that is much easier to use when we need to mow.

Now I'm going to give a Public Service announcment.....DO NOT USE SPRING GATES!!!  We had a crazy issue with this gate when we were in Iceland of course where Chance got is caught in his tail apparently.  I'll post about that another time.  Now I just use a string of hot rope and it works just as good.

AGAIN, DO NOT USE ELECTRIC SPRING GATES WITH SILLY HORSES!!!!

    Both horses are doing well as I type this.  I have a lot to catch the blog up on but things are getting a little bit back to normal here.  Knock on wood.  Happy Fall!

Iceland and Icelandic Horses

 This year has been a hard year and as the temperatures cool I'm happy that I'm now more than ever ready to dust off my mare and get back to riding.  She has her insulin resistance issue still, got a little tender in early September but got her off any grass and she was good the next day and the vet wasn't too worried.  I need to build up her sole some more and then when I ride see how boots work with her.  Hopefully it will go well but of course I need to start with groundwork for now.  She's very rusty and so am I!

Anyways, I have recently ridden a horse though.  My hubby and I did have some time to take a short vacation to Iceland for a week.  I rode a cute gelding name Tindur, meaning mountainside.  He was a bit lazy and I'm not sure if we actually got to do a Tolt but he was smooth whatever we did and was a sweet mount on a cold and rainy day.  Riding on the beach was nice and being on an Icelandic horse was awesome.  I think this breed would not be suited to North Carolina heat though!

The main goal in going to Iceland was to see the northern lights and then experience some more of this amazing earth on which we live.  We had a mostly overcast week but we lucked out with a clear evening and a substorm of solar wind and a great northern lights display that made me tear up so much I lost a contact!  Luckily that contact landed in a clear patch of walkway and I could place it back into it's place to enjoy the rest of the beautiful sky.

The trip was amazing even though it was rainy and overcast most of the time.  We saw a lot of waterfalls between Reykevik and Vik on the southwest area of Iceland.  Didn't venture much further since there was a ton to see there.  If you ever go to Iceland stay for two weeks and see as much as you can.  We crammed in a lot in the week we were there with 3 days in the capital city and then the rest in the country side towards Vik.  

The southern most tip of the island that is Iceland was gorgeous and we got there right about at sunset so the lighting made the land that much more ethereal. It was part of the network of Black sand beaches and that contrast of the foamy white waves and the black sand was striking.

We got close to an iceberg but were not prepared with time or equipment to get up close and personal with it.  Maybe an other time but it was awesome to see one so close. Are traveling penguin Percy who we've had since 2005 went with us and posted about his adventures on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/percy.forster.16 .  It's always nice to get away from it all!  

2022-Not My Favorite Year

This year has already been a hard year.  My parents' health struggles continued (there was a blip about it in my post about Dani's hooves). I tend to keep this blog horse focused but there has not been much horse stuff for me aside from the regular care for my babies who are both doing well. Anways I digress.

The horrible news is that in January my father passed away after a long struggle to gain strength in the aftermath his emergency intestinal surgery last September.  He was doing better and had just gotten through a surgery to reverse the ileostomy bag.  His heart began beating faster so he went to ICU.  The morning of January 14th he was talking with a nurse and then suddenly had a heart attack and went quick and peacefully.  It was instant we were told which is at least some comfort.

All of us were heartbroken and shocked because he'd been improving.  My mother in the assisted living home was told in person by my father's sister, her priest, and my brother and I were on the phone 2,000 miles away. We were out in Colorado that following week dealing with his death and arrangements that were made for the end of February.  Then we headed home while my aunt and cousin stayed to assist mom and continue packing up the house. We needed to get mom to assisted living near my brother and I as soon as we could after dad's memorial.

About a week later my mother had a doctor's appointment and that infection in her sutures, the infection that reared its ugly head back in September, had come back with a vengeance.  I flew out two weeks before the memorial to help my mother in the hospital and continue with the efforts for packing up the house in prep for moving and then selling of their house.  My mother wanted to be in NC near me so I also spent time while out there and while I was in NC looking for assisted living places for her.

My mother had two additional back surgeries to clear out the infection.  The second included a graft of muscle due to her skin around the wounds turning black.  Then she had an emergency surgery for a perforation of the intestine.  She was so weak I was surprised she made it through any of those three surgeries. 

After the memorial I had wanted to get her on a plane with me to bring her home to NC. That did not happen since she was so weak I couldn't possibly have been able to help her navigate the airports. The hospital would not have discharged her either. The plan was to get her strong enough to be discharged to rehab and we could then have her on a plane to NC with a nurse to assist her during the flight. That was apparently not going to happen either. I received a call from the palliative nurses at the hospital in early March.  I had a conversation with my mother that she didn't want to fight anymore.  She would have to have more surgeries to fight her infection and her physical improvement was virtually nonexistent. She wanted to be on hospice.  It was a hard phone call.  I figured out what to do financially and chartered a medical flight from CO to NC on March 18th.

Mom arrived late friday night on a stretcher to a nursing home in Hillsborough, NC. Assisted living was out the question with her needs and that was hard to convey to her.  The hope was maybe she would get stronger, since she was out of the hospital and with my brother and I nearby to encourage her.  She was positive for those first weeks and it was great to see her regularly. I made sure to always keep pretty flowers visible from her bedside.  Some weeks I was there every day as I got her settled but I needed to pace myself too.  There was a lot to still do with finances and then a discovery that my dad's life insurance probably was not there to assist with her increased needs.  Long story but it was a blow and I was overly worried about how to care for my mother and pay for the medical flight from CO to NC.

The fact that she was nearby was a blessing.  She got to see her grandchildren and son many times and I got to spend time with her as well.  Mom was on hospice but they did evaluate her for physical therapy.  That was not a possibility since she was in such a fragile state. The nurses did get her up to sit in a chair but my mother was not able to stand that for long.  She continued to decline.  I freaked out shortly after she arrived when she had a urinary tract infection that manifested with major confusion and hallucinations on her part.  It was very scary to me but at least cleared up quickly, certainly a new and disconcerting experience.  Then Mom had an Emergency Room visit due to uncontrolled bleeding from her abdominal sutures that should have been long healed.

My mother just wasn't healing.  She ate some food but not enough and what little she ate didn't really absorb into her system. In mid May I was told by hospice that she was declining and they felt she would pass in the next two weeks.  A day later that timeline was one week and the next day we were told and could see for ourselves that it was very imminent.  My brother and sister-in law came down on a Thursday, my aunt (mom's sister) flew in from the Caribbean and Mom's brother from Pennsylvania came down as well as a cousin from Georgia. 

We spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday with her in the small nursing home room.  She was aware she was dying I'm sure on Wednesday when I saw her and held her hand and told her how much I appreciated and loved her.  She was aware on Thursday and told us she loved us, it was hard to talk and she was more moans than words but we knew and she knew and much love was exchanged as we all held her hand. When she rested the family talked about memories and we hope that with hearing being the last sense to go that Mom heard the happy memories and about how much we loved her. Friday she somewhat responded to us talking to her.  Then Saturday her breathing was very gasping and labored.  We didn't get much response from her.  We all said we loved her and said our goodbyes probably 5 times throughout the day between going to lunch or taking breaks.  When we left that evening we felt like this was the very last time we'd speak to her.

I kissed her forehead, told her "Peace be with you mom. I will love you forever". I left soft harp music playing when we all took our leave that evening.  I hope the music was soothing in her last hours.  She passed within 2 hours after we left.  Maybe even right after we left, who knows.  That's the hard part.  We weren't there, the medical nurse checked on her and discovered she'd passed.  The hospice nurse had warned us that most likely she would pass when we weren't there and to not be troubled by the possibility. She knew we were there in the days leading up. We all had held her hand, told her we loved her and supported her until her mind was most likely floating somewhere between this world and the next.  

This has been the hardest thing I've had to do.  Caring for my mother, trying not to be overwhelmed with everything that comes with being a Power of Attorney and Executor of an Estate, grieving for my passed father while staying strong to support my dying mother and then also trying to be there for her in the end and questioning whether I did enough. Now we live on...without Dad and without Mom, to carry on their love and reflect on the memories.   

Dad died January 14th and Mom died May 14th. Exactly four months apart. I'm still in shock that both my parents are gone. Their lives over and plans ended.  They were 72 and 74, still young enough to have been able to enjoy the golden years.  It's hard to believe that 2022 isn't even at its halfway point and I feel like I've aged several years thus far. The road of grief lies before me but hopefully healing and peace as well. Peace be with you Mom and Dad, I'll love you forever.

The Future of Horsing for me

Looking back at the past few years I see my neck surgery that prevented me from riding for a year really set me back, only physically for a period of time, doctor's orders, after that it was mental.  Once I was back and able to ride I'd honestly been out of the habit of riding regularly. It was too easy to just fall back to not riding and prioritize other activities.  We have more than enough projects at our house and on the property that I've done more with those items than riding Daenerys. Why?  That's the hard part...lack of motivation, tired from work, the gosh darn humid hot summers I hate....who knows.  

Chance is officially retired due to his degenerative suspensory ligaments (DSL) in his hindlegs.  We are trying to manage his heaves and Cushings and hopefully not riding him will keep him comfortable in relation to the DSL.  He's a sweet horse to have a around and for Dani to boss around. But Dani, she'll be good to go I hope in a few months.  She never was going to be an eventing horse but well, I'm not an eventing rider either!

The evil equihaler

What do I want in the future of horsing? That's a tough one, I feel like there is often stuff in my life I want to do but then I just get tied up with other stuff.  I have to stay set on my priorities; that's always been difficult for me.  What I always wanted to do is go on trail rides, go to clinics about doing trail obstacles and fun trail competition (ride and tie, small endurance type events etc). I love riding Dani but there will come a day when she can't or shouldn't be ridden just like with Chance.  

Then there is the trailering issue, I have not had success with trailering Dani. She has gotten on a trailer and has been a good girl at times but swinging the dividers or closing the door, that's when she really puts up the fight.  I haven't been able to deal with that as someone not experienced with trailering horses.  Adding this complexity to it had been a bit much and moving to NC I lost my horse network that helped me with these types of things. Here I have to trailer my horse to events to build that network but I can't trailer my horse....chicken and the egg. My fearful mind would wonder "what if I successfully trailer her somewhere but then can't get her back on afterwards and I'm stuck in a parking lot with a silly horse that won't load?"

Dani is a homebody and that's okay.  I love her to pieces not matter what.  She is my first horse, the horse that I could trust after having some fearful falls, the horse that I knew was a great match for me.  She had some challenges but is a perfect partner to play around with; my crazy chestnut mare.  With the new pasture design we are working on there is an area in the difficult slopping pasture that is flatter; I am going to make this my dedicated riding area.  Maybe someday it will officially be like an arena with good footing but for now it will work as a dedicated pony work area.  This was going to be the area for Steve's workshop (my riding area was then going to be where we tore out an older shed). We priced buildings and were floored so he's altering plans and now I have too....that's how it goes.

I'm starting to research a future horse.  A younger but well trained horse that I can cart all over the place and do clinics, trail rides etc.  I've been wanting to learn about some gaited breeds too.  This next year I'll be looking at some Kentucky/Rocky Mountain horses, Paso Finos and maybe Peruvian Pasos, I've already reached out to breeders where I can come meet their horses and ride some to help decide if I want a gaited breed and if so what kind.  If I have a horse that I can trailer with no problem I'll be able to start to build a horse friend network here that I haven't thus far; not being able to bring Dani to events has been a little isolating. When I boarded her....I met people, I rode with people and there was a shared good time by horse people.  I loved that about boarding.  

Steve is not really a rider.  He really needs a horse that he can just get on every once in a while having not ridden in 6 months...so probably no horse for him.  He'll go for a trail ride at a trail ride rental place with me but he doesn't have the time or desire really to learn to ride and do it regularly.  That's fine.  He really wants a donkey, so we'll get him a donkey someday I guess. In Colorado we'd planned on getting that 3 horse trailer and then another horse and perhaps a mule or donkey and going on trips, and overnighters with the riding club.  Obviously that never happened.

I was hoping the venture of horse riding was going to become a thing Steve would enjoy.  He loves the horses and loves caring for them but riding and getting out on trails isn't really a draw for him. For me I need to truly understand that and continue on my own.  Sure he'll come to some events and hang out.  Maybe I can get him involved in a ride an tie type event since he wants to get back into running....so do I actually. If we get a horse that we can cart around we can do an event like that and maybe have a ball together!  And when it's just me and that horse we can do other events.

So the next few months I plan to get into better shape, just like Dani I've had a bit too much grass!  I may ride locally at a place I found that rents horses for trail or arena work. And then I'll work with Dani once I get the vets okay and play with her around here. My neighbors ride in the woods nearby and if I get Dani back up to speed we could go too I hope. My neighbors are nice but I'm not sure how comfortable I'll be riding with them since even after 6 years we are still the new kids on the block.

Dani's a good horse that you don't need to ride often to keep their head in the game, that's one of her great qualities.  She could be a horse Steve could hop up on occasionally if I keep her ridden some.  She's my special girl.  I love her to pieces and I really hope that she will be long lived. I will do my hardest to figure out how to manage Cushings and insulin resistance in her. I won't give up on trailering her either, with a future horse that can be trailered why not try and see if Dani can come too?  That would mean getting Steve to come out to ride....I have to just concentrate on me.....going off on tangents and the same dream as before.  This is my hobby, my love.  I have to do what is right for me.  Steve's supportive but not a cowboy.

I'm reminded of Colorado, me and skiing. I went a lot with the man I dated before Steve.  This man was passionate about skiing.  I loved it too and went with him and we really enjoyed skiing.  When I started dating Steve I continued to go skiing and he occasionally went with me and we had fun. I started going less and less though since I missed hanging out with Steve and I didn't have ski buddies to go with, it was fun but I was becoming bored honestly.  It wasn't a passion, so it didn't bother me that much that I went less.  Then I started leasing a horse, then I bought one.  Weekends were now pony time! 

Since horses are my love I can't be held back by wanting to do other things with Steve or by all the house projects I have on my to do list.  I have to dedicate time to riding and I know he understands and encourages it...it's the voice in my head that wants to hang out with him or do stuff together and feels bad that I'm out in the barn or what not.  There is time for hanging with the hubs, I just have to prioritize my interests too.  I have to cut out the time for myself and my pony friends, pen it in on the calendar. It's important for me.  

But now I have a thought, perhaps it was easier to plan this time out when it wasn't a "daily out the back door gotta muck and feed everyday" kinda thing. When my horse was a car drive away and I didn't see her everyday, each time I made the trip I was there to ride, I groomed, I played! It's been too easy to fall into the idea that I see my horses everyday and I muck and feed everyday, pick hooves or clean up a silly beast that rolled on poop...that's good enough. It's great I get that time, don't get me wrong.  I love having horses in my back yard. Going outside to grill or get a tool from the shed I'm nickered at; that will never get old. I have to block off time to do the really fun stuff, the riding and training stuff!

With time being so limited on this earth I need to make the time to do what I love.  Dani will heal and I hope I will be riding her early next year. I also hope to find a horse that I can load, trail ride and go out and meet horse people here. I miss the comradery that is "horse people". 

It's very alien to think about buying another horse.  I knew logically I would eventually get another horse as Chance was aging and Dani is only one year younger. This laminitis episode has made me really assess my horse life. I will ride Dani when she's better, I'm confident that will be a possibility. And I will begin a new adventure with another horse too, that can expand my horizons some.  In my head I feel like I would be abandoning Dani but that's silly.  If you only have a Fiat but you need to haul things because hauling things is how you make a living, well you buy a truck right?

I knew buying Dani that she didn't load or haul well.  I accepted that, she was perfect for me in every other way and I've grown and learned so much with her and continue to learn!  She is my heart. I shouldn't feel weird about getting another horse to do more with right? 

So this is the future of horsing for me.  I miss being fully immersed in the horse world with other horse people.  This coming year I have breeders to meet and horse breeds to learn about. This world is full of noise that pulls you in so many directions.  Don't forget your center.  What is your center, what makes you calm, whole, happy? Is your center painting?  Is it skiing? Mountain biking? Hiking? Writing? Horses?

...

...

...

...

...

...

Horses.

Rusty Trailer- New Beginnings

We sold Rusty....I actually cried after he was gone.  We put a lot of work into him and had plans to haul Dani, a future horse at the time and perhaps a mule or donkey and do the overnight trips with the Kit Carson Riding Club in Colorado.  

We moved to NC and Rusty made the trip hauling a lot of our stuff.  And since then he's basically sat. Owning horse property has been so much work and I've been easily sidetracked from riding. I never got Dani successfully loaded so therefore plans to go to clinics or trail rides here just never happened.  Steve really hasn't had that much interest in riding and the one time he did ride Chance he fell off. Dani, loading in a trailer is still an issue and maybe one I'll be able to work on with her in the future but really I'm not sure I'm up for that.  I see riding her around here but loading her on a trailer is just not in the cards at this point.

Rusty has basically sat and been unused for many years.  For a couple years Steve has been telling me to sell him.  We'll buy another smaller trailer when we need to is his thought.  A smaller two horse trailer would be one that I can haul a single horse in easier than our big three horse one and go on rides with groups myself. So I power washed Rusty and took pictures to show his condition.  A lot of the paint had peeled off since I wasn't a professional metal painter so there was yet more rust. We got a ton of inquiries though! I was floored with the response! We bid farewell to Rusty.  Hopefully the next owner will get good use of him! 

I'm at the point in my life when I have a future trailer that needs repair I'll pay the ones who know how to repair it to do the work.  I'm reassessing where I am in my life and my horse life.  What do I want to do? Where do I want to go?

Stella our 2015 New Truck

Buddy was donated to Veteran's Association

We said goodbye to Buddy our GMC 2500 too since all of his rusty related issues finally caused the battery to have a short and not charge. He had non-working mirrors, no AC, and other electrical issues.  I ended up buying a 2015 Ford F250 named Stella.  She'll be our work horse and trailer hauler from this point forward.  It's so nice to be in a truck that has working dash gauges, windows, mirrors and A/C!!  It was hard to say goodbye to buddy too but I really like driving Stella!!

It's hard to look to the past and see what plans you had that did not come to fruition but it's best to learn and move on.....more on this in a later post! Buddy was sold for a decent amount and it went to a great cause.  Rusty will be with someone that will fix him up again and haul horses around!

Daenerys Update

Dani has been doing well.  She foundered on Oct. 10th but luckily we caught it early.  She recently had a hoof trim after thanksgiving and was maybe a little tender still but doing much better.  I hand walk her when I can with her Cloud Boots on. It's difficult now that it gets dark so early. My farrier is having me apply Hoof Armor to help protect her sole from wear.  I'll have to make a post about that this weekend when I put on the next application.

Both her and Chance are now on Prascend (Pergolide), the medicine for Cushings.  Chance was tested and had a higher reading than Dani!  She most likely foundered due to insulin resistance which she also has. I probably won't be riding her until March or April but I am hopeful that she will be healed well enough to do riding around the property.  Obviously I don't trailer her since that's never been a success for me....

Older ponies, Dani will be 23 and Chance will be 24 in early 2022. Since Chance has COPD and his leg issues he's officially retired.  Steve never really rode him much which is a bummer.  Overall they are both doing well right now being doted on and loved with no work in sight!  Chance is having a flare up of his COPD or Heaves.  We have an inhaler ordered from the vet to give him a 10 day treament.  The syrup he normally is on is on back order now, thanks Covid for the supply chain issues!

We are managing as best we can and will be turning our two connecting pastures into a pasture paradise track system.  I will have to post about what that is but it's a system to make horses move more naturally, meaning more often, since they don't normally sit in nice rich pastures in the wild. It's hard for our pastures to not be green here in NC!