follow the leader!

Happy Monday, y'all! I'm not going to try to encapsulate all the recent happenings into one gigantic post again (for now), but suffice it to say. 'Twas an eventful weekend... How bout you?

charles, blissfully marinating in his acupuncture <3

Anyway, back at the end of last week, both (*squee*) my ponies had an appointment with my favorite body work practitioner. She's a former DVM (she actually delivered Isabel!) who now focuses primarily on holistic chiropractic and acupuncture work, while also running her small breeding and training operation.

doozy is... less sure lol

Not gonna lie, the appointment was scheduled particularly for Mondeuse. But actually, Charlie was probably the main beneficiary. His gigantic frame of a body is really taking a beating with this prolonged hoof soreness, and he's been pretty back sore lately. The whole system is just struggling to get back into sync, ya know?

she handled it well tho!

So we talked about what's been done, the rads from a little while back (which I'd sent in advance), and available tools and remedies we have yet to explore. It's just, there just is not an easy answer unless you are a patient sort of person. He needs time. And care. And time.... Sigh.  

just a few stabby jabbies for the first time

Doozy was a breeze in comparison lol. Like she has some typical racehorse stuff, notably some soreness in the SI region. And Laura observed a few nuances of her conformation that will have implications on hoof wear and the like. But generally, she really liked the mare and encouraged me to enjoy the process!

transition via birdies at the rain barrel!

So, without further ado, we wrapped up that session and proceeded to do exactly that! 

lol how is this for a picture??

You see, our farm recently experienced a very sad and unexpected loss --- Cosmo, chief among geldings and leader of the weekend warrior trail squad, had a strangulating lipoma and was unfortunately not able to recover despite every effort.

omg it's my first sit outdoors!!! and, *gasp* out of an arena! loose in the wild!!!

This left a big hole in a lot of our hearts, and also in the Saturday morning trail group! We are really fortunate that there are a couple horses available for friends of the farm who enjoy leisurely strolls... But, Charlie and Cosmo were friends, ya know? And, more importantly, Charlie and Karen were friends --- and damn if Charlie didn't lean in for a hug himself when the news broke. 

thank goodness for the goodest boy chaperoning <3

So it was decided -- Karen would get to enjoy some saddle time with Charlie while she worked on filling the gigantic shoes Cosmo left behind. And naturally, I only put a few conditions on this agreement -- namely, be a buddy for Mondeuse's outings!

just cruisin the driveway

And it actually all worked out pretty much perfectly. Like, ya know, if you ignore my stress and the fact that Mondeuse was unable to cross the stream mounted that she'd crossed in hand the day prior LOL..... despite Charlie repeatedly circling back to come draw us forward toward home..

made it all the way to the top! sometime soon: the xc fields! but not today :)

Lol oh well tho, that's not the point. More importantly: I had grazed Doozy by the outdoor mounting block on some earlier day, and walked her all around it, and kinda felt like, it'd be fine. Never mind that we've never successfully gotten on before without a ground person. And? It was fine, yesss!

for today, back the way we came

Doozy then just proceeded to follow Charlie up the same routes and laneways we've been hand walking now for days -- including the path we'd just done in hand with another group.

with a little pitstop for some ring familiarization 

For the most part, I kept Mondeuse solidly either alongside or behind Charlie, rather than out in front. But... It didn't seem to really matter. We also cut the leash once inside the dressage ring and did a lap in each direction inside the court. Nothing much, but something important. 

past the upper barn spooky spots

Basically, plenty to make me think we're cleared for outdoor wanders now -- no longer relegated to either the indoor, or needing mounting assistance. Yesss -- feels like a big step!

and into the pleasant bridle paths

Only minor bummer was that Dooz was disinclined to cross the little stream with me aboard. And I admit to being... quite persistent lol, but ultimately unsuccessful. Nbd, I hopped off, we crossed in hand back and forth a few times (with Charlie's assistance in both directions), and Mondeuse's learning profile continues to come into sharper focus. 

charles was again the kindest by waiting to throw that shoe until we arrived safely back in the barnyard, wherein he deposited it right next to me for easy grabbing lol

Only major bummer was Charlie throwing a shoe right as we got back to the barn. Both his fronts were loose (despite getting all the clinchers tightened up a week ago), so I kinda figured it was inevitable... But maybe was a blessing that it happened during the ride so I knew to just keep him in overnight vs letting him lose it out in the wild. 

at least we're getting close to normal maybe? he was exactly 1 day off from 4wks, and got done the next morning. nbd.

Nbd, the farrier came out the next day anyway and we'd already been toying with the idea of shortening Charlie's shoeing cycle to 4 wks just to try to stay in front of his issues. Guess he agrees with us LOLsob. 

All the same. Felt like a great day for both horses -- a solid check in on Charlie's wellness from the practitioner who has known him longest, and some very important firsts for the new Dooz! We'll take it! How was your weekend?