bad moves dooz

Happy Monday, y'all! It's been... whew, a long weekend. After what was a long week, not gonna lie. I spent most of last week in a hotel conference room in the Twin Cities for my company's bi-annual staff retreat. 

It was time very well spent -- I've worked remotely since 2016ish so it's always really great to see my colleagues in person! But it was also a densely packed few days of meetings and social gatherings. Was happy to get home again!

she missed me <3 <3 <3
(obvi so did charles, who was mucho pitiful after not getting his daily grooms!)

My animals seem to do well enough in my absence... The cats suffer most since they're used to having me home for work, but the horses did just fine. Charlie was crusty and sad from lack of diligent grooming, but otherwise managed to keep all his bits attached with just a touch of his perennial demon, mud fever / scratches on his white sock. 

farm strollies on le fresh TB!!

Doozy, meanwhile, seems to have had a wonderful week off! I was happy to give her the time physically, esp after so many intense days at horse shows and dealing with saddle fit issues. Felt like a good time for a little rest. 

wisteria along the driveway!!

She impressed me, tho, with being able to basically more or less get back under saddle again after a full week off! We started with just a very basic hack about the farm -- no pressure, no rings, and no company. Just me and my Fresh AF red mare, out for a stroll! Not for very long, and not without a few skitters and pops lol.... But just fine.

mmmmmm luscious bridle paths

Second ride was a more purposeful flat ride -- still solo but this time in the dressage ring, and in the rain, natch. Doozy was very very good. It had just started raining relatively lightly so the footing was damp on top and dry underneath, meaning it was really easy to see our footprints. Which was perfect for practicing the spirals we worked on in the Sprieser clinic! 

Doozy actually really settled into the work at the walk, despite feeling a bit sharp and wild. Like, it was honestly amazing, probably the most relaxed on the aids I've ever ridden this horse on my own. But, eh, the rain kept coming and Doozy's quarter kinda ran out. We managed some ok enough trot and canter, but she felt maybe a little trapped and like she needed a bit more freedom but was guaranteed to use all that power quite irresponsibly. So I got a few good praise-able moments of trot and canter and called it a day.

best frens!! who would never ever kick each other trying to win the race in for dinner...

Realistically, being able to have a solo w-t-c ride in the dressage ring with some shining moments wasn't exactly realistic two months ago. Even more realistically, we never even really rode in the dressage ring before February / March. Let alone solo + cantering. So I'll take it as a win and be satisfied with it!

ahem. ok. yea. rosette definitely kicked her on the way down for dinner, womp...

Obvi I planned to just keep on incrementally layering on the schooling rides throughout the weekend, but Doozy had other plans. This is at least the 3rd time she's been kicked by her bestie on the way in for dinner. And like.... c'mon, at what point will she learn to like.... maybe don't run up Rosette's butt?? 

The girls like to come galloping over the hill down to the gate (see this post's first pic for a visual), and the whole silly episode was witnessed by my friends who were at the gate calling them in. 

the kick produced an almost immediate geyser of blood

This was useful given the wound was a real bleeder. Ugh. Phone calls were had. After hours vet consulted. Pros and cons weighed carefully... And ultimately the counsel was that, since the horse was completely sound, let her stay in the pressure wrap the evening shift folks had managed to get on, and forgo the emergency visit. 

The after hours vet (who has treated both my horses over the years and is extremely practical and thoughtful) felt like conservative management would be sufficient and stitches not likely necessary. My own vet followed up later in the evening saying she assumed we'd already moved forward with a treatment plan but she agreed it was likely just a skin bleeder and not serious. 

and poor doozy coped with her first day of stall rest since i've had her. well. "cope" is a strong word. here she is almost murdering us both in one fell swoop while working off some energy before i could change her wrap

All the same, we opted to keep Doozy stalled the next day to get a full 24hrs in the pressure wrap. I was volunteering at Waredaca's recognized HT, so headed over afterward and immediately flew my wild red kite out to a paddock to let off some steam before she could be reasonably handled. Poor pony, this was her first stall rest episode with me, believe it or not!

"I AM THE CHAOS" -- doozy, licensed to kill us both, and probably the fence too

The folks who did the original wrap did a very nice job, tho. The wound had clearly continued to bleed through the inner layers of bandage material for some time... but it was completely dry 24hrs later, Even after all the shenanigans in the paddock. No swelling, no bleeding, and honestly not at all a significant wound. Funny how that works out some times!

'twas a close call, but we think she'll survive!

She'll get a course of SMZs to be safe, got some bute, and had the leg wrapped a second night but then returned to turn out today. Bc let's be real, keeping her confined is nobody's idea of a good time!

coping thru tack shopping!

So ya know. It's looking like the wound was more bark than bite... So hopefully I'll be able to keep riding again in short order. But in the meantime, obvi, I did what normal people do and bought more tack LOL....

what do you think? love it? hate it? too much bridle, or just right?

I didn't photograph probably the most important selling point -- the crown piece design. Doozy has like, a gigantic poll lol. Sometimes I kinda feel like her poll and ears are a bit squeezed in the bridle she normally wears. I'll get a pic of the design of this bridle, but it's a lot roomier and more anatomic. Also like the built in flash. 

feels very modern haha, now to just ride in it! c'mon dooz, we got stuff to do!

It's a lot, tho, honestly. Haven't decided entirely what I think -- we'll have to ride in it to really see. We're also trying a new bit on this bridle, since the hackamore proved to be a total fail (womp lol). All in the name of experimentation, I suppose!

Anyway, hope you all had a nice weekend, or least eventful in better ways! Lemme know what you think of the bridle in the comments tho haha, for better or worse!