So its been awhile.

My dear horse Austin is still lame.
As of this week it has been 8 months since I have ridden him for anything other than Vet exams..
I am worried about him, not getting better.
I am bored with out riding and just in a bit of a funk now and again.
So I have started riding the horse I used to lease Red..

He has not been ridden since I got Austin so about a year and a half.
He is a bit resentful of coming out of retirement, but I assured him , nothing dramatic, just some easy trails on the property and some ring work..
I promise.
I have decided to work out also.
Riding was my exercise , then it was hand walking Austin , we no longer do that so I needed something.
So now I walk the trails at our state park, just me or me and the dogs.
I like it and it helps with the stress.
I am also trying to control my food intake and lose weight.
On that note I would like to share an email I sent to some of my friends on Thursday night describing a battle I had with my self in Wal Mart.
Here it is enjoy.

Considering everyone lately has discussed how hard it is to lose weight I thought I would share with you a battle I had today.
This afternoon I decided that instead of going to the barn I would go to the Wal-Mart and pick up a few things I have been needing.
Trouser socks, underwear, fun shit like that.
While there I remembered I needed oil for the horse , and might as well get some rolls for dinner.
As I was cruising the freezer section I happened by the ice cream cooler , and stopped dead in my tracks there it was my kryptonite, Haagan-Daz Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream. 300 calories a serving , 20 grams of fat , 4 servings per container for a grand total of 1200 luscious calories......ohhh baby...
I stood there rooted to the floor unable to walk away.. arguing with myself..yes , no , yes , no
FatMe said, " What if I buy it and only eat one serving a day, that's not so bad.. I can do that . " I assured myself.
WannabeskinnyME said " No way you will eat the whole damn thing I have seen you do it , so step away from the freezer case Fatass "
FatMe turned and sulked away.
But before I could even get out of the isle FatMe spun the cart around and trotted back to the ice cream case.
Telling WannabeskinnyMe, " BS I can have ice cream if I want to , just cuz I am trying to lose a few pounds does that mean I can never have my very favorite ice cream again.. I am buying it "
And with that FatMe opened the freezer door, reached in and touched the container.
It felt so cool, so smooth , so comforting.
Thats when I heard a scream come from WannabeskinnyMe, " NOOOO shut the Fucking door. Let it go, for god sake FatMe, let it go !"
FatMe slammed the door shut.
I felt bit ill, and a little dizzy , I was jonesing for ice cream.. I felt like a junky must feel looking at a line of coke and knowing they shouldn't take it.
As I kind of just stood there in a daze, a bit disorientated thinking well if I can't have ice cream what can I have, WHAT CAN I HAVE ?
I had to get away from the freezer section , I couldn't think there.
I nearly ran from the isle, over to the baked goods, I needed to get something for Marks lunch.
And thats when I happened to see individual donuts for sale Oh christ here we go again...." what about that " FatMe whinned... " I can buy just one , then I can only eat one, can I have that ? "
"NO" insisted that bitch WannbeskinnyMe.. " You know what will happen if you eat that , then you will get on a roll and nothing in the house will be safe "
" FINE " FatMe yelled "What the hell can I have you anorexic twit ? "
Then FatMe heard a whisper, " Sugar snap peas "
" What ? "
"You heard me, sugar snap peas, your daughters just told you this weekend they are really good to snack on."
"Are you freakin kidding me, I am to give up HAAGAN DAZ and DONUTS for sugar snap peas ? "
" Yup just give it a try, just this once for me " cohorsed WannabeskinnyMe
So I share my story of the battle between FatMe and WannabeskinnyMe with you my friends so you will take heart that once in awhile the Wannabeskinnys can win.
And I am munching on sugar snap peas, and I have to say they are tasty,, but there is that little part of me that wonders, wouldn't they be just a little better with some Haagan Daz Vanilla Swiss Almond on the side ?

SPLAT

That's the sound my fat ass made when I hit the ground today in my lunge line lesson.
We were doing no stirrup , no rein work on the lunge line, and the horse spooked..and went right and I went left.
Landed on my left side, mostly my hip. Am sure I will have a huge bruise...
Just so happens that today I wore my brand spanking new winter riding breeches.
That only have knee patches and are very slippy..so I am blaming the pants.
The instructor laughed at that , said it had nothing to do with it , it was the no irons & no reins that did me in.
Still you can bet I won't wear them again on a horse..dang things are JINXED now...
So one beer.. 2 tylenol and an ice pack have been my treatment so far..
I bet tomorrows gona suck...:-(

Still off and my first Karl Mikolka clinic..

So since we last visited Austin lameness issue..
The test ride was a bust on that weekend,,he was for sure off on the left hip.
So Kevin came out on Thursday 10/16 and blocked his hocks..figured lets start with what is usually sore..nope no change..we ran out of time, so decided that we would let Austin rest over the weekend.

While Austin was resting I went to the Karl clinic. Very impressed with his teaching style.. It doesn't hurt that my trainer has been his student for a long time.. So a lot of what he was saying I have heard..But fair warning ,,if you lesson with him you best know what your horses feet are doing at any given time and be able to say it.

The vet and I agreed to meet right away that Monday..lets see what a few more days off has done for the hip. And low and behold its better .. I think 99%.
Kevin ( the vet ) thinks 95%..He block the lower 4 nerves just to see if he could get him to be 100%. Nope he saw no change.
So now what ..we decided I would test ride him on Tuesday and see whats , what under saddle.
I get there on Tuesday and decided to lunge him to see how he looks on a circle.
Since I think he looked pretty darn good on the straight.
During the lameness exam we only ran him in straight lines because it was evident that way..so why stress him any more.
But on the lunge line he is short steppin on the left hind still.
Switched sides he looked better , back to the left and hey he is a bit better on that side now too. Seems to be working out of it.
Got on and only walked..figured a little weight bearing exercise would help .
Skipped Wednesday..let him rest.
Today ( my b-day..I am 49 ) I went and again lunged..seems better ..got on ..feels better..not 100 % but 99% on a lunge circle and under saddle . Fingers crossed ..we are just about mended..
So now I consider us in rehab..we will take it slow .
I will ride him a bit tomorrow..give him the weekend off and see how he is on Monday.
If he looks good I will leave Darcy a message that we may be able to do a 30 " lesson next week. If not lessons can wait..

So we wait

Vet came out today.
And I have to say that I am very lucky to have the vet I have.
He has a lot of common sense, and it helps that we think the same way when it comes to the health of my horse.
Austin was off on the left front most of last week, that is why I called.
Well since making the appointment on Thursday and giving him bute 2 times a day since then , when Kevin came out his left front was fine...HOWEVER , Kev thought he may have seen a little bit of a hitch in his giddy up on the left hip.
So , was he off on the front left or just landing funny to compensate for a sore hip ??? Know way to know. To that end Austin will stay on bute through Thursday, with no work. Then Friday no bute no work. Saturday, no bute light ride , walking and straight lines..If he feels good..Sunday work a bit heavier.
Give Kevin a report on Monday. And of course if anything hits the fan before then we call Kevin..ASAP...LOL..
Called Darcy , and let her know we will not be taking a lesson this week.
If all goes well we will have a lesson next week,
I was going to go to Darcys barn the week of 10/20 for daily lessons..but I think we need to move this to a week in November..
I think just coming off an injury and then into riding hard every day for a week will be to much to soon.
And Darcy is the type of person to think so to.
Nice when the owner, vet and trainer all have the horses best interest at heart..
Lucky Austin..

All good things and some not so good must come to an end.

The not so good thing that came to an end :

I let my trailer partner buy me out.
It had to be...never..ever..go in on anything with a friend.
I am so angry at her , at this point , that I do not even want to talk to her.
Of course she will have a different point of view as to why this did not work out.
But here's my story.
We went in on a trailer together one year ago.
A big one, as I have a big horse..she rides a pony .
She moved to the same barn I was at , so looked like all would work out well.
She used the trailer all summer for shows and what not..always seemed to have it at her house , cleaning and primping it.
We stored it last winter, as she wasn't going to use it and I was not going to do trailer training with Austin just yet.
And just this last month she moved to a barn 40 mins away.
So I have not laid eyes on the trailer in weeks..
I decided that rather than try and get use of the trailer over the summer , just to trailer train that I would keep it at the barn over the winter.
After all she used it ALL SUMMER...So I emailed her and gave her my reasons for wanting the trailer at my barn over the winter.
She emailed me back that she was OK with this ,,then I get an email titled " On second thought.." She changed her mind.
And she was just sure ( I heard from another person ) that I was going to just leave the trailer sit in the cold and snow and was only wanting it at my barn to be a pain in the ass..
So rather than get really pissy with her , which is what I wanted to do.
Because after all who the F is she to tell me when I can or can not use something I also paid for ?????
So needless to say we didn't not come to an understanding and she offered to buy me out.
Stating that she really needs this trailer as her pony is just so used to it..
And after all Austin won't know the difference..what a head case...LOL
Whatever..little pony in a big trailer..fine with me...pay the extra it costs to haul that huge trailer around...I told her what I wanted for my 1/2 she paid me done deal..And while I was counting the money..I told her that NO I wasn't trying to be a pain in the ass..I am going to be taking my horse to my trainers barn on and off over the winter...and since I had thought she was fine with that , I had gone a step further and made arrangements to go to my trainers barn every day for a week for lessons...BUT now I have to pay for transportation...so what..I say..who wants to share with someone that is so insensitive to others..BYE you pain in the ass, don't let the door hit ya.



The good thing that came to an end.
Austin has not been lame a day since I bought him , until this week..poor baby
He is off on his left fore..its been a week today..so called the vet.
He will be out on Monday , in the mean time bute 2 X's per day.
Fingers crossed this is only a minor set back.
We are to go to my trainers barn the week of 10/20 but if we have to push it off we will. And even if we push it off till spring..not a big deal either..
Just don't like it when the big boy hurts.. :-(

Been a long time..

Austin all dressed up in his dressage gear.
Handsome boy.

Time for an update ..

When we last spoke I said I was going to do my best to get a good start on my dressage education .
To that end here is what I have done.

Lessons :
Every week , I lesson with Darcy.
And because of this the relationship Austin and I are building is based on the principles that Darcy was taught.
High regard for the welfare of the horse
Teaching done with out force
And so much more that I can't even name all that she has taught me about learning to ride.
And more importantly learning to work with my horse.
She is very good about letting me get something at my own rate of learning.
There for I feel less stressed , and in turn Austin feels less stress.
The relationship that has evolved between Austin and I is one of trust and genuine respect .

In addition Darcy had recommended that I take lunge line lessons.
Austin is not a lunge line horse & Darcy has no such horse either, so we went on a search and found Polly Hall.
She has a suitable horse and was willing to take me on.
Polly gives the lesson but is willing to allow Darcy to have some say in what I need to learn.
Polly is highly thought of by my friends that know her, and I have found her to be a very entertaining and skilled instructor.

I love my lunge lessons with her..and look forward to all she has to teach me.

Clinics :
Adrienne Pot clinic in August.
I really liked her style of teaching.
I found the theme of her instruction right away..hands low and do not move them.
I also found she tailored the lesson to each horse and rider..not cookie cutter lessons.

Karl Mikolka clinic in October..can not wait for that.
Ordered his newsletter, the first year , and am reading them and forcing myself to finish the first year before ordering the next.
Basically using it as a text book.,,but a lot remains over my head, so will bring my questions to Darcy.

Pam Goodrich clinic in November.
I have heard good things about her teaching style to.

Outings:
Lamplight to watch my friend Deanna and her young horse Boo.
She did a great job with that horse..he is good mover and I love his coloring.

Silverwood to watch Darcy ride San Remos
Lovely rider...lovely horse.
The people around me didn't know that I was one of Darcys students so
heard some buzz in the crowd when she came out.
Nice to know that your instructor is well thought of by their peers.

Austin and I have had our own little adventures around the farm .
We ride all over now , and he trusts me and that is the best gift I could ask for.
We had fun day at the barn yesterday and I rode him in one game.
He only shied a little, during our warm up , at the feed bags that were on the ground in the outdoor for the musical feed bag game..
But before the game started I had him standing on them weaving through them and sniffing them.
We may it through the first 3 rounds, of the musical bags game.
He was doing his I am scared noise( sounds like a purr , Leslie said ) a lot , but I just rubbed his withers and reminded him that he is a brave horse.
We hung out in the arena for a while after that game and watch some others.
But then the bugs got pretty bad,,and I figured his brain had enough stimulation for one day.
Took him in and cleaned him up and tucked him into his stall.
I get chocked up just looking at that horse..love him to bits.


Books
In addition to Mr Mikolka newsletter
I am reading
Common sense dressage by Sally O'Conner
The USDF guide to dressage

So there you have it my home study course in learning dressage.
Hope it works for me , as going to the SRS is not an option..LOL

Feeling like crap...and wishing I could go to dressage school

Had to reschedule my Wednesday lesson to tonight , due to a meeting.
BUT wouldn't you know it , now I have a bug and feel like crap.
So just canceled the lesson..I HATE to miss my lessons...
Got to thinking today that I wish ( I know there is, but not in my world ) a dressage school that I could enroll in.
One lesson per week for a greenie , just seems like not enough .
There are so many things I don't know,,,My instructor asked me if I know what on the bit means, and I said that I had heard about it but did not understand what it meant.
My instructor is REALLY good about explaining all these things to me.
But I feel a real need to learn more.
So to get a better understanding of the dressage world I have decided to go to a clinic every month. And I am going to check out some books on the old masters.
I also want to learn to scribe, and see if I can do that this season.
And of course haunt the shows, with my more knowledgeable friends.
So theres my plan , now lets see how that works out.