Tuesday, March 13, 2018

passing time. in pictures

So let's see here. Last we heard from our hero, we were letting the Olympics Selection Committee know that he's a serious contender. Especially if Tokyo 2020 is gonna be won over the merits of walking down 18" banks. We got that in spades.

i love cheering on this team! pc Austen Gage
So what all has happened since then? Lots!!! This past weekend was Loch Moy's third and final winter series cross derby. You may recall Charlie and I went to the first one in January with Brita. Then last month I hauled Brita and Rachael's horses in my trailer, since Charlie was lame.

lots of happy horses in the sunshine!
This month... Well. Charlie is not sound again. Yea. Tho Rachael was bringing another friend's new horse to hang out and soak up the atmosphere, so Brita's mare Bella got to enjoy her first solo trailer ride. And she was great!

brita made us these adorable laminated equipment packing lists for horse shows!!! how cute!!
I had planned to bring Charlie anyway, sound or not, since the money was already spent and he could benefit from hanging out at a show. But we nixed that idea when he went all three legged again. Sigh.

aw she also made us team hats in our colors. #socialeventing
pc Austen Gage
So ya know. Being at a horse show with friends and watching them have a great time isn't really the worst way to spend a Saturday, in the grand scheme of things.

esp when those friends are badasses
This abscess stuff tho has gotta stop. It's really grinding me down. I'm just so.... tired.

from our last night time ride!!!
Charlie was so so so good for our rides once he came sound again from that LH abscess. I wrote all about what we did leading up to that awesome mini pretend xc school (ditches banks & water, yo!) last week. And he was just so good, my heart was just singing with joy.

yea he continues to be really goofy about soaking lol. no this was not on purpose.
We continued on with that theme through another dressage school - cut a little short bc the arena became very crowded. But it was short and sweet, plus trainer P was there to see how Charlie was going after not having seen him since he first went lame on the LH. And she thought he looked great!

but hey, if he's comfortable, then whatever!
The next day I went ahead and told new upper level event rider trainer K that we'd be good to go for our weekday morning lesson. Our first since the whole nail impalement four weeks prior.

ponies. bc just ponies. they make everything better with their goofy little noses and floofy manes!
Alas tho, Charlie was.... not sound. And in a new and weird way that has me a little concerned. Methinks his entire hind end has grown sore from constantly compensating from one sore hoof after another. In any case, we nixed the lesson and I just worked Charlie out on the flat instead: transitions, leg yields up the wall, raised poles. Trying to engage and stretch his hind end.

horse show prize treats!
He didn't really work out of it, tho. And perhaps the lameness was the precursor to the next day, where he was basically not weight bearing on that left hind hoof again. With a practically visible digital pulse. Poor horse :(

trainer P and her big BIG dressage horse!!! she says he's 17.5hh lolol
So.... Verdict seems to be that LH abscess hasn't actually resolved yet. Sigh. Luckily he wasn't super duper crippled for very long on it, but he still hasn't come sound yet either.

just bc you're size giant doesn't mean you don't love wither scritches!!!!
Tho naturally I'm still spending just as much time at the barn. Luckily doing fun things too, like scribing at an in house schooling dressage show. Where I got to watch a lot of friends go through all their tests!! AND! Got to watch my jump trainer P take one of her horses through his third level debut!!

charlie's also been keeping company with some of the other patients. like this poor very sick mare
I loved getting to watch that, and especially getting to sit in on all the judge's commentary. This particular judge is wonderful - I scribed for her a couple years ago and it's honestly like a mini lesson. She was quick to point out certain movements in various tests (including the eventing tests) that would prove to be the difference makers for winning scores.

and it's shedding season too!! can't have a blog without obligatory hair shots, right?
And quick to provide insights on how certain movements should be ridden etc. I liked it a lot! And apparently trainer P feels similarly bc she had specifically wanted to ride her first 3rd level tests on this horse for this judge, to get honest and constructive feedback on how they're doing.

plus obligatory selfies from hacking out, always gotta have those!
Mostly tho, it just made me eager and simultaneously bittersweet. I wanna ride some tests for this judge too!!! :(

because we've certainly been hacking
In time, tho. For now, Charlie seems pretty sound at the walk again so after finishing up at the show I pulled him out to go wandering around all the fields in the sunshine. Because dammit, if you're sound enough to be turned out, you're sound enough to cart my ass around the pasture.

and exploring
Charlie, for his purposes, was quite happy to do so. Per usual. Sigh. Such a good boy. He even volunteered to trot a couple steps, tho not particularly soundly. So we repeated the same adventures but with the addition of some friends the next day too.

and hacking and hacking. so much hacking.
I'm definitely grateful for the saddle time. And honestly just being able to enjoy my horse. So. Ya know. That counts for a lot. I'm greedy tho haha and I want more.

We'll see. I kinda want to go all crazy helicopter mom and start throwing ridiculously expensive diagnostics at what is almost certainly an abscess. Or ya know. Just fly entirely off the handle and buy a second horse to have another saddle to sit in. But, knowing my luck, then I'd just end up with two lame horses who break my heart haha. So.... yea.

For now, we're just passing the time. I've got a couple upcoming events on the calendar (like fox hunting! and our first horse trial of the season! and the one after that too!!) that look a little less likely with every passing day. But ya know. We'll see. I gotta say tho, the extra daylight hours definitely make everything a little bit better!

49 comments:

  1. Glad you were still able to get out and have some adventures with friends, even if they weren't quite the adventures you were initially planning. Hopefully Charles is sound soon so you can get back to work! Scribing for that judge sounds like an amazing experience! And yes, the extra daylight is amaze-balls 😍

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yea this judge is definitely pretty cool, i wish she were closer to our area so that she'd do more shows around here!

      Delete
  2. Ugh- I'm sorry. I went through one of those winters with Foster, and it is absolutely the pits. Here's hoping the abcesses are over soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks i hope so too! charlie's getting a little too accustomed to this pampered pasture pet lifestyle lol

      Delete
  3. I've got my fingers and toes crossed on the west coast that you are able to go to your scheduled events for the rest of the year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks! i keep telling myself that the horse will be fine and that everything will be ok. bc it probably will be. but damn it sucks to keep missing stuff, and not even just bc of the lost cash....

      Delete
  4. Ugh, I'm so sorry he's lame again. Hope it dries out soon where you are!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks - it's actually quite dry here right now!

      Delete
  5. Aw man! I hoped you were past this. Lol at him soaking both feet though - sounds like a good idea though just in case there's something in there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha i had hoped we were past this too. sigh. and yea lol i thought it was super cute/ridiculous when he stuck both feet in the bucket.... tho i was also legit concerned about trying to get his feet *out* of the bucket when we were done!

      Delete
  6. Boy, this has been a tough winter. I hope everything resolves itself and Charlie is feeling better SOON! You've got fun things to do! *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. right??? i can't decide if i need to sit him down and tell him about all my fun plans, or if i need to just toss him out in the field for three months and forget he exists.

      Delete
  7. Come on Charlie! Feel better soon! This weather the worst! While I have no hope that it will ever improve, maybe it will one day and we will have happy, sound horses. And horses that eat. Grr.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. we've actually been super lucky with the weather down here - we've missed all the snow you guys have gotten! and our ground is nice and dry too. so. ya know. small wins, i guess.... at least charlie eats haha (including bute tablets straight from my hand!), he's got that in his favor ;)

      Delete
  8. I love that you remain positive but not oblivious or blind or something. You're gonna be unstoppable soon. ❤️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks. i'd settle for just being able to get started at all, or at least get a nice consistent stretch of soundness! right now we seem to only really get about six weeks at a time...

      Delete
  9. My heart breaks for all you are going through with him. He is worth it all though and think about how all this bonding time is going to impact your partnership in the future as you attack more interesting things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks. it's definitely really crappy to be sidelined again and again. i'm always happy to spend time with the horse, he's just so pleasant to be around, but i'm eager to get back to working on our actual ridden work too. we've always put a lot of effort into building trust, i'm very confident in that. now i want to see what we can do with it!

      Delete
  10. ugh come on CHARLIE. I was going to say do u think the mud is causing some of this but you say its not as muddy there. UGH it is here. AND I STILL HAVE SNOW> WTF. go away. I have branches to cut up and cant get to them because of the snow still in front of the bush. SIGH. I hope you figure it out and he starts getting better. CAUSE SHOWS are coming dude. :) I am glad you got to hop on at least though!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I vote for "c'mon Charlie" to be his new show name. It is all we say lately!

      Delete
    2. the shows are indeed coming!! and he's already trying to make me scratch from all the things, ugh. bro.

      c'mon charlie indeed. that's certainly all i ever really say to him lately lol. and "really?!" haha.....

      Delete
  11. Oh man Oh man, I seriously feel SO BAD for you and Charlie. Like, so so bad. I can 100% empathize. You are being so incredibly patient, I'm sure I'd be insane by now! I seriously cannot wait until all of this is behind you, and you're finally getting to do all the fun stuff with Charlie. Until then, I'm sending tons of positive vibes!

    <3 Kelly @ HunkyHanoverian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, my patience is definitely worn thin and more or less threadbare at this point, but what are my choices? like it's a miracle i haven't done anything totally irrational yet haha...

      Delete
  12. I think he enjoys all the love and attention too much! The second horse option is a good one, who needs spare money right? It does double the stress though...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh man, i'd be lying if i said i didn't think seriously about it. it's just time tho.... time is such a struggle...

      Delete
  13. Charlumph is still my favorite Charlumph, even though he is making his Emma sad. ❤️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. he will certainly always be the lumphiest of lumphs!!!

      Delete
  14. The struggle is real. Glad he's taking it like a champ. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha he's pretty sure he's hit the jackpot. the pampered pasture pet lifestyle suits him a leeeetle too well for my tastes lol

      Delete
  15. Please stop making Emma sad, Charlie!
    I have to say I do love the great group there - the hats are fantastic, and yep, those are some badass jumps!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. omg these hats tho, i was basically sniveling like a little girl when i saw it haha, we love our team spirit tho!!

      Delete
  16. Charrrrlllliiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!!!!

    The hat is so, so cool though! And I love the laminated list - may need to recreate for myself, it's brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the list is so so so so helpful! esp when we were all brainstorming ideas to add to it, it's amazing how much *stuff* there really is!

      Delete
  17. AGH! So what now? More abscess protocol? You must be pulling your hair out!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. definitely going bald over here, it's official. sigh.

      Delete
  18. Before you hit panic mode- Irish has had abscesses that blow, reform, blow, reform. Mostly for him it was if they blew out his coronet band. If they blew out his heel that was the end. So maybe that's sort of comforting? I think riding him out is good- make it work it's way out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yea i mean, realistically this is basically the same thing we dealt with when he abscessed at the end of last summer. charlie's always kinda had a shit immune system, even the merest of scabs takes forever to heal on him, so it's no surprise an abscess would do the same. just really really annoying.

      Delete
  19. Awwww Charlie! Come on buddy. At lest he's handling it all like a champ. Double soaking? Sure! lol I know how you feel. I'm hoping that once I can finally get Amber's stifle/knee looked at I'll probably have her SI done again because I'm sure she's gotten sore and also when I had that done that was pretty much the best I've ever felt her. But SO MUCH WAIT. I feel your pain haha. Get better, Charlie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ugh yea you definitely know how it goes.... it's so awful to just want the horse to feel better but not be able to do anything but just sit and wait them out. sigh.

      Delete
  20. When in doubt, buy another horse. LOL, I have actually done that. Hugs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lololol yea..... i'm laughing, but it's also kinda true. i'm trying to maintain my sanity and firm grasp on logically evaluating my resources (like, uh, TIME) but the longer charlie's out of business the more tempting that option becomes haha

      Delete
  21. Ugh. I hope Charlie gets better soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you! i'm sure he'll be fine eventually, in his own sweet time! probably!

      Delete
  22. I'm so sorry. While you're able to have fun I can only imagine how frustrating this is for you. You've got an incredible attitude, but I can imagine it's starting to wear thin...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh it's definitely wearing thin, that's for sure. i keep reminding myself tho that it's only march (nvm that i said the same thing last month when it was only february...) and it's still so early in the season. we got time!

      Delete
  23. Wooof the time and patience is such a struggle bus but hopefully he shakes out of everything. Keep us posted and we'll keep our fingers and hooves crossed for you

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think somehow horses must know exactly how far they can push things before they wave the white flag and decide to be sound. I hope that Charlie gives up the abscess life ASAP!! Sending all the best!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for leaving a comment! You may need to enable third party cookies in your browser settings if you have trouble using this form.