friday foto finish: itchies + owies

TGIF, y'all! It's honestly been a pretty nice week around these parts, and I'm still riding high on my recent attempt at positivity, no matter what the universe throws at us.**

(**Please, Universe, that is NOT a challenge, tho!)

Anyway. The weather has been mostly obliging. Spring is coming. And Charlie is slowly reclaiming his pride of place as the Dad Bod to Rule All Dad Bods. Just the way we like it! 

Ahem, picture unrelated. But captured here for eternal preservation on ye olde blogge bc what a fucking time to be alive. If you're into that sort of thing, I guess. Lol, for real, tho, the most fun part of getting back into work again..... 

 

Is the JOMPIES YAY! I was only just coming to understand Charlie's newfound zest over fences after starting on the Equioxx generic, before the ill-timed gravel-induced subsolar abscess. And, not going to lie, half expected that maybe my memory was wrong. But... No. Guys. Charlie, he's my favorite <3

 

Sure. He continues to try to find new and exciting ways to maim and lame himself, naturally. Most recently bc.... Well, I think his sleep cycle has been disrupted from losing the herd leader to stall rest. Charlie is a natural lieutenant. He's quite happy to be 'second in command.' But all that's left in his herd right now are a bunch of friggin OTTB fruit loop dodos. 

 

Sure, there's one sensible creature among them (count of 5 animals at present), but sadly none of the others care what he thinks. Instead, they want Charlie to be boss. And Charlie don't quite wanna be. So, it's a moment of flux, and I don't think he's getting much sleep in turn out. Thus his slight oopsie-moment after last week's dressage clinic when he was maximum tired and nodded off in the trailer going home. 

Yes it was sketchy AF. But also, yes, he is actually fine. Scared the ever loving shit out of us and we had to pull over on the side of some random county lane in a farmer's front yard (gentleman farmer, tho, he naturally came out to make sure we were ok!). 

Charlie didn't want to put that leg down, tho, so I called the emergency vet just in case. Turns out he was just a bit stung, but once (after many long moments) he dared touch toe to floor, he realized he was ok, and started bearing weight normally again. Our own beloved vet was on call, and after we got home and conferenced via text, she deemed the episode well within my own capabilities vs needing a visit. 

 

And ya know. The horse is fine. Got a little time off. Tons of cold hosing. A couple days of stable bandages overnight. Some SMZs to ward off cellulitis, since one or two spots are close to full-thickness lacerations. But honestly -- was not meaningfully sore. Crazy, right?  

 

Tho. Lol. Itchy. Always with the itchies. I swear, he almost wants me to scratch his actual wounds. It's weird. Like these photos are from last night (a week later), when my friend thought his posturing for scritches was hilarious. But he's demanding. And how do you say 'No' to a horse like that? That RH has been uber itchy especially since his tangle with tensile last year, too.... Poor guy seems determined to scar the fuck out of this one specific limb. 

 

Anyway, tho. We were talking about positivity, right? Bc... Ya know, narrowly-averted-catastrophe ain't enough to throw us at this point. We are HAPPY! Charlie feels GOOD! And I am bound and mother fucking determined to not let my own frenzied neuroses stop me from enjoying my beloved freshly-14 ottb's newfound joie de vivre! 

 

We are getting fit again! We are jomping again, omg! So far mostly tinkering with little things, but often. Inside and outside the ring. And in interesting and new ways.

Flashback up to the top of this post to that earlier image -- a fantastic low but long grid down the center line. That's been set up for a few weeks, now, and every time we see it, we take a couple passes. Bc FUN omg. And Charlie is not missing a single beat.

 

We jump whatever else looks good, too. I figure, anything under 2'3 doesn't really count as 'jumping' for gargantuan Charlie who knows how to be ruthlessly economical over bigger things. So stuff like this doesn't make me worry about his feet, for example. Rather, it's exciting to give him a chance to reawaken those muscles -- and often :D

 

We also restarted what might be considered a "Baby's First Trot Sets" approach to fitness out in the fields. So much hacking out. But also a little trotting here and there, naturally catching whatever little speed bump xc jumps that tempt us along the way. Charlie has been SO GAME, and feels so good. 

 

And ya know. As always, I'm obsessive in my planning. Don't tell Charlie, but we have stuff on the calendar. Lessons, yes. Also (omg squee) -- entries!!! Just the normal usual stuff, guys, don't go crazy haha. But it's the stuff that I love, the stuff that defines my horse habit. And I'm excited. 

Again, I'll probably talk more about the work I'm doing on the mentality side of the house later. But for now, it kinda boils down to this: In recent years, after what might be considered a kinda global deterioration of general resilience, I clung to a 'gut-check' sorta system. If I felt good, we did it. If I didn't feel good? We didn't do it. And that was FINE. For real. Nothing wrong with that. And I think I needed that space.

But.... Looking forward, I'm working to understand better the mechanisms behind that "feel good / don't feel good" situation --- and give myself more tools to not be quite so reactive and at the mercy of my moods. We'll see how that works, lol. For now, it's Friday. Happy weekend!