the latest + greatest in Charlieland

Ooookay folks, happy Monday! I know I'm not the only one a little bit tired and worn out after a long weekend spent running around and hangin out at horse shows and whatnot.

charlie loves the window in his stall

There was definitely a lot of ground covered, so let's see if I can't just get through all the salient details in a light hearted and easy-to-digest format lol.

look at all those pretty xc jumps! spoiler: we jumped none of them

When I last left off, Charlie was getting back into the swing of things with regular lessons and whatnot as we look forward to the fall riding season. That theme continued through the week with getting out for our latest routine of hacking around with Brita and Bella for trot sets and conditioning.

You woulda thought I coated the poor big ol' bay ottb with shaving cream lol (it's kinda unseasonably warm out right now) but he was good. Earned himself a day off after that, with just a couple light rides planned before this weekend's home starter event (**foreshadowing**).

ooooh but i did go see this fancy little red headed mare!

My weekend errands also saw me popping over to Isabel's barn to pick up some stuff too!!! Unfortunately I jusssst missed getting to watch her go with her lease rider (who has had the lease now since March!!).

and naturally had to catch up with some of my favorite barn cats

They're doing so well together tho. I'm just so so so happy with how circumstances ended up with these two.

she hasn't changed much lol

Her leaser M is a big fan of both dressage and arabs, and Isabel seems pretty smitten with her too. M is actually allowed to pet Izzy's face. Which... like.... is kinda astonishing lol. Normally one must receive an engraved invitation via royal mail just to even consider the honor of petting Ms Thing's fuzzy muzzle. But M has apparently won the princess over!

she looks happy tho <3

Actually there's some stuff on the events calendar this fall that looks like it could be a great fit for these two too, so hopefully we'll have more to come there later. Suffice it to say tho, it's so strangely satisfying and rewarding to know that Isabel has a safe and happy job that includes being a great teacher of dressage.

charlie's feed pan destruction continues so we have gotten more creative

Anyway, the source of my errand at that barn was picking up a spare old tire since Charlie DID in fact manage to rip that feed tub off the wall. Rotten pony. So per recommendations, we moved on to other ideas.

he laughs in the face of our mere mortal efforts to stop his play tho

While the screwed-in wall-mounted feed tub lasted a couple days, this tire/pan combination didn't even last a single feeding. Sigh.... Charlie I just don't understand you lol.

new modification: he's gonna have to legit rip down that board to get it off the wall now

So I tried a new method for mounting the pan to the wall which is WAY more secure, and actually a little lifted off the ground to further reduce the likelihood of Charlie pawing at it. I don't love that it's more at knee level instead of on the ground... but hopefully it won't have a meaningful impact on Charlie's likelihood to aspirate his food.

it's a little higher than i'd wish but... we'll see

Mostly tho I just really want him to stop dumping his food bc I'm fighting a possibly more important battle of keeping his stall dry. And key to that is dealing with barn workers who are reluctant to heavily bed the area where he is most likely to spill food, even tho that's the low spot in the stall where all fluid pools.

So step 1 in my fight is getting Charlie to stop throwing his food around so that folks cleaning stalls are more likely to get more bedding in there. I've also picked up some bags of Stall Dry and pine pellets to further encourage a dryer stall environment. We'll see!

trend-setting suspender action goin on

Of course. Haha. Of course, tho, the keenest among you may have noticed in all of these pictures that Charlie is sporting a whole fun array of leg wear. Ice boots.... Standing wraps.... All of it.

Because.... ya. The horse has gone and wrecked hisself yet again. At least this time he's not actually really lame, but he sure as shit ain't right either.

it doesn't even look like a real leg

He's either re-aggravated that splint again, or given himself a whole new one. Sigh.

oh charlie...

So we're basically gonna pull out all the big diagnostic guns this time around. The splint has never really made him lame, but he's done this to himself at least 3 (but possibly 4) times in the year that I've owned him.

mmmmmm bute

While it's possible that each time is a new injury or simply a re-aggravation of the old injury, it's also possible that something is going on in the leg preventing it from fully healing. So once we can get all the swelling out we're gonna take a little looksie around in there.

hand grazing is fun tho

For his part, tho, Charlie hardly seems to notice at all lol. The leg is sore and sensitive to the touch (esp if said touch is more of a poke or squeeze lol), but he's not really lame on it.

such a goofy horse lol

All the same tho, I'm not messing with it. This particular iteration of the injury is a little worse than previous instances and is proving a little slower to go down.

and he's very suddenly gotten FUZZY

So we're staying a little more regimented with wrapping and icing cycles. I unfortunately just used up the last of my Surpass tho so we'll have to settle for poultice until the vet can grab me a new tube (or decide on any different course of action).

meanwhile: PONIES!!! recognize Noelle??

Naturally tho, as is Charlie's habit of late, his timing was terrible. This past weekend was OF's annual starter trial. You may remember this trial in 2014 was my first ever HT! We then stormed back in 2015 to cruise around BN one last time before moving up to Novice. Then of course last year I was horse-less so I had to miss out, sadly.

hey look at all those awesome xc jumps behind me! sure would be cool to.... actually jump them.

But this year? This was supposed to be our big grand return to my favorite "home" event -- that is now actually literally at my horse's home barn. Our first time ever having a full HT at home: what's not to love about not even needing to haul out?!?

jump judgin is fun anyway tho

Plus OF holds a "farm division" for all levels first thing in the morning so riders and boarders based at OF can cruise through their rides early then stay to volunteer for the "open" divisions (open to the public) for the rest of the day. The kicker? Riding in the farm division costs $40.

Best. Deal. Ever.

esp when you get to cheer on all your friends as they gallop past!

Alas tho, I obviously had to scratch. Sigh. Charrrliieeeee stahhhhhp :(

wheeeeee go team!!!!!

It was fine tho. I just volunteered the whole day instead of only the second half, and got to watch all my friends (like Rachael and Brita, who dominated the farm novice division with first and second place finishes) and new barn mates gallop around and have a blast.

look at all that satin too!! 

It's not quite the same thrill as getting to ride my own horse in competition... But it was still a pretty great way to spend a day.

And in the meantime I'm finally sending myself a cease and desist letter. Laying an embargo down on any and all plan-making with Charlie until we know what's up with that leg. And even then, I'm just gonna try to be a little bit better about taking each day as it comes. Bc I'm kinda over and done with the disappointment of broken plans, ya know?

That's hard for an obsessive planner like myself lol, but I'll do my best! In the meantime, wish us luck getting all the swelling outso we can get clear diagnostics on it soon! Hope you all had a good weekend too - and I especially hope yours involved more actual riding than mine!