4 shoes are better than one

I've had several entries back-logged, but life is very busy right now, so I'm going to force a media/recap post on you guys instead.

Let's review...

So you know how any time I take a day off to ride Riley he does something stupid -- for example, last time I wanted to go xc schooling mid-week he pretended to colic while Emily was pulling in the driveway with the trailer. A few weeks ago, I took a Thursday off to go xc schooling... I didn't even mention it on here so as not to jinx it. I carefully brought my horse in, checked his shoes and made sure he was comfortable. We had a little time to kill before we were leaving and we all joked around about his evasions. Meanwhile he did this:

Snoozeville, pop: Riley.

That lip.

#GOALSMET

Handsome man

This weekend was a little bit hectic with both Emily and I have opposing obligations both days with only a little bit of overlapping at the barn. Saturday I met her and we were determined to get two sets in before she had to head out!

We decided to take the two chestnut boys out first, her young prospect and Riley (best buds). Everything was still really snow covered, so we opted for a hack along the bridle path that surrounds the big paddocks. Both boys were very brave hacking into the unknown and with the snow being VERY deep in spots, they were getting a thorough workout. I think I even heard Riley huffing and puffing a little. When we got back around to the barn, we decided to take our hack down the drive (it's about a mile long) and up to the big hill that looks back toward the barn. This hill is going to prove extremely influential in Riley's fitness and for me to get a better feel for galloping up and down terrain! On the asphalt, I asked Riley to really march along because there's simply no reason he can't do some "real" work at the walk!

Heading out on our hack around the pastures

Both of us looking super awkward.

The next set involved two of Emily's sale horses. A lovely mare named Lola (who might be sold) and a 5 year old dark bay on his 5th ride post-track. You have to love the brain of a well-adjusted TB as he took the lead and led the whole way bravely. At one point they were heading under some low branches when one caght on her vest and snapped off landing on him. He scooted two steps forward and realized everything was fine and went along his merry way! He's definitely one of those types that is REALLY going to blossom with his own person.

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl...

Turner leaded the way with Emily up. He's for sale!

I had the barn to myself Sunday and I had planned to ride Riley and Turner, but time got away from me and I had some things I wanted to take care of with Riley, so Turner got off the hook. It would mark my first solo voyage on the property (and the ring is a bit of a hike from the barn) but Riley was just stellar.

Heading up the ring, he spotted a buttload of deer bouncing around

Playing the ring, the snow was finally soft again! (also, sweet bedhead Riley)

We mostly stuck to a large oval (probably larger than 20 meters, but I don't have a good eye for such things unless I'm in a dressage court) and it was actually really fun. He felt super, and because of the 6"-12" snow he was taking this big, bold steps that made him feel like a big fancy warmblood! So we practiced bend, riding without reins and using my legs to maintain our shape and of course lots of sitting trot. His trot is generally easy enough to sit, but in the snow he was really getting a lot of suspension, so it was very challenging! I used some of Emma's recent tips and though about pressing down into my toes, which ultimately kept the ball of my foot where it should stay and keeping my elbows elastic. I always try to this of turning my bell button toward the sky to help straighten out my upper body and I felt I was actually doing some pretty solid work!

*Ahem, my core hates me today.

Our snowy playground!

The last goal I had for the weekend was to take a conformation shot for January. Riley's looking a little rough due to some fungus on his face, and I was going to have to do it by myself (HA!), but I wanted to try anyway. Gotta stick to them goals.

But before we get to that, when I pulled him out of his paddock I noticed something kind of horrifying... As in, his tail was half-gone. I nearly burst into tears and as I'm sure a bunch of you know the struggle it was to get his tail long and full...

We still don't know what happened, but it was either eaten by the pony OR some lunatic chopped it off:(

I wound up trimming another 8" off of it to make it look slightly less insane, but I dunno guys, I'm at a loss for words. if anyone has any suggestions to help it grow any faster let me know!

Onto his little conformation shoot. It was moderately successful, but I was just happen he stood very still in a decent position while I snapped these:

Hahahaha.

This was basically the best I could get him to stand up without spooking him or having him walk over to me for snacks.

Tail or no tail, he's super adorable.

Overall, he looks like what I would suspect from having the last 2-3 months off with only light hacking. Under saddle he's been super soft and bendy and he's moving really well even without shoes. they'll go back on in another week or two after the mud disappears. But I think this is a good baseline moving forward. We'll up his workload each ride and get him up to 4 rides a week in the next month.

Hunterland, hooves and head shaking. **Edited with working videos!

Nerd alert.

First up: I rode in my first hunter show in about a billion years on a horse I had ridden once and it was his very first horse show of any kind. Did I mention he's a multiple stakes winner OTTB? Well, turns out he's also a class act and despite not having a confirmed right lead canter, we actually won something! I definitely felt very, very out of place in hunterland, but it was fun and I would do it again in a second! I really liked just being able to go in the ring over and over again to get a feel for things. I had no idea how self-conscious I would feel in the ring though... at least in eventing you feel like you are competing against yourself when you are in the ring (or rather, that's how I feel) but it's hard not to feel self-conscious in a ring full of really nice horses where everyone knows what the are doing and I'm just trying not to make a fool out of myself! The day started off a little rough because of imminent thunderstorms. We got the horses tacked up, walked around and then hacked down to the rings (it was quite a distance) and just as we get there, I hear the hounds (the show was at the facility of a local hunt club) baying and lightning strikes really close by (I nearly pee myself) and then KABOOM (thunder)! My lovely catch ride, stood stock still while I dismounted and everyone walked back to the trailers to hide for the insane 20 minute storm! He also didn't flinch during a WTC class where a horse bolted straight at us and dumped his rider. Thoroughbreds, man... so good. I'm so lucky to have really nice horses to ride while mine is doing... well, what is he doing???

I can tell you what he's NOT doing.

He's not head shaking!

It's been roughly 3 months since his first symptoms showed up (beginning of May, though i think he had some signs in late April), by June they were so severe I was really worried about what the outcome might be. It's been at least a month since I asked him to do anything on the lunge line and the last time I tried to ride him was a disaster so I just kind of ignored him for awhile. Keeping him under a microscope was doing my nerves no good and it was making me a bit bonkers (just ask my horse friends).

I kept hearing more and more updates about how well he seemed and that his symptoms had all but disappeared so I thought Saturday I try to stick him on the lunge line during the hottest part of the day to test it out.

And while he was naughty... save for a few sneezes, he showed no signs. If you look at the videos from previous posts about this the change is remarkable. Ps. If he looks a bit short in these it's because he's barefoot on crumbly hooves.

I actually cried into his neck after this one (a combination of things, but more out of sheer joy to see my horse feeling better).

And I have to say, for a horse that hasn't been ridden or worked since May, he's looking pretty nice. He fist up very easily and he's quite fat and sassy right now, so we'll be lunging for a few weeks until he gets shoes back on and his head is back in the game. I'm still going to be carefully watching for indications of head shaking, because I want to keep him as happy/comfortable as possible and with the weather being as hot and humid as it's been, there's still a chance that we're not out of the woods yet and I'm not sure how he'll be under saddle.

I lunged him again last night and he sneezed a bunch (normal) and I maybe, maybe saw a tiny glimmer of the head shaking, but he was also being VERY cheeky!

I tried to take video but literally every time I did he took it as an opportunity to bolt and spazz out because there was weed whacking in progress nearby. Twit.

Thinking cap engaged.

Full of sass.

Not too shabby for a horse 3+ months out of work, eh?

So, he gets shoes back on August 4th, and the farrier is going to tidy up his crumbling hooves tomorrow so they don't completely fall apart before then due to him stomping flies and growing out the old nail holes. I was going to maybe take him to a hunter pace Saturday, but I want to leave his feet alone and I think it wouldn't be the best idea to risk bruising his soles. So I'll just ride something else (I'm so lucky to have access to lots of other ponies)!

In case you are curious... what's seems to be working:
35 grams of Magnesiumin feed
Taurine (he's part of a study on HS that we just started -- it's an amino acid that is supposed to help with nerve disorders)
Night turnout

*He was on Shake No More Gold for a month, but we just finished it and I am giving him a few weeks off to see if it was a contributing factor. I am very grateful that we haven't had to go the steroid/drug route yet.

Oh, and I have a lesson with a local BNR Thursday! She's going to teach me on one of her cool former upper level horses! Wish me luck!

What we've been up to. Wait and See, and other games.

This is what a life of leisure looks like

We're in a bit of a holding pattern over here, and I'm sorry to leave you guys hanging. There hasn't been a lot to report, but we do have some improvement!

Legging up -- considerations

Go away snow + mud!

With the worst of winter behind us in the Northeast, it's time to start legging our horses back up. Unless you're lucky enough to have an indoor, keeping a horse fit and going up here has been nearly impossible (even trailering to an indoor has been tough!). In previous years, I remember distinctly seeing groups of riders walking and trotting along the roads near our farm all season long. This winter, the roads were much quieter, either people migrated to Aiken for a few months, or conditions on the roads were just too treacherous (see: ice).  So, with the ice melted and very little snow on the ground, we've finally been able to get our guys going again. *ps. while I could have technically gotten Riley going a little sooner, starting and stopping with him isn't good for anyone!

After a full weekend of what I consider a good start to getting him legged up, I found myself thinking about the process and what I consider when bringing a horse into work after several months off.

Gearing up, so to speak.

While winter beats on mercilessly in the Northeast, I've been starting to think about the year ahead for Riley and I. I have come up some some short-term goals but they are all contingent upon various things falling into place! Looking ahead for the next 4-6 weeks they look something like this:

*Leg Riley back up -- he's been on vacation for roughly 2 months and was ridden very lightly in November. We'll start road walking and hacking followed by some trot interval stuff before I ask him for anything proper.
*Move to new farm -- that's happening soon, so the transition period maybe interesting to say the least (more on this in a minute)
*Look at some clinics/shows to knock the dust off (tentatively, we are thinking maybe the end of April as a rough goal for a baby HT)
*Train him on the Equineciser (sp?) to work on a baseline of fitness even if the weather is bad -- this is going to be a very cool addition to his schedule!
*Re-introduce the Pessoa to help with his topline. He goes pretty well in this regardless, but I want him to have at least a little work under his belt before I ask him to work 'hard'.
*Get Riley's front shoes put back on at his next trim.

Treats go here.

Baby's first gymnastic with me.

Hot mess.

It appears someone does not approve of Riley's flymask and insists on taking it off despite the fact that he's wearing a halter... grrr. I found it the other day (the day after I got it) in shed half-buried. Best part? It was still fastened! Crazy horses. One of the ear covers had a nice size bite out of it so maybe I'll just stop buying the kind with ears? Anyway, this is how I found him Saturday evening. No worse for wear and still able to graze so he didn't really care that much. It was entirely too hot during the day so we opted for a near sunset ride which was glorious. We had been running around all day moving jumps, I used a chainsaw/hedge clipper thing for the first time ever, we helped the farm owner move her horse in, and I walked up and down the same hill too many times to count. Our ring is soooooo close to being finished, but we needed a space to set up some jumps so Em could show Kiwi to a potential client. We set up a small gymnastic out in the field and I hedge-clipped a path in the knee-high grass.

Springing in Spring complete with a shameless photo dump.

Apologies in advance for the one million photos. I rarely get any photos of me riding and Emily and I took turns in the jump school and riding in the ring so we could shoot each other. Side note: It was a good test for both babies to trailer together go stand in a stall and then play musical horses for the next few hours. Neither of them minded being away from the other which is great since some get VERY attached on even the shortest trailer rides.

Oh, and my horse self loads and unloads now:)

om nom nom nom

On the horizon

I'm feeling quite confident about Riley's progress so far. We've had some ups and downs but that is to be expected of a green horse (I mean, he essentially had all of last year off). We're looking ahead at some little things to go to and so far we have:

*Brooklawn Paper Chase on April 5th (hopefully the footing is okay by then).
*Cheshire Pony Club Paper Chase on April 12th (this is one of my favorite paper chases and we can hack there from the farm, it's only 1.2 miles away!)
*I would love to get a xc schooling in before I go to an event, but if I can go to both paper chases, that should cover us on jumping little, solid things)
*Emily and I are debating between the Old Hope Schooling Trial (13th) and The Bucks County Horse Park Schooling Trial (18th) as our first proper outing of the year. I think we are leaning toward the Bucks event as it is in the afternoon on a Friday and will be logistically a little easier on both of us.
*Possibly the CT at Boyd's on the 26th

So, do I enter in the introductory or starter division at Bucks? Both have really simple dressage tests (walk-trot), neither xc is timed and is meant to be extremely inviting, stadium is either 14"-18" or 18"-2'. I guess I'll see how he is over the next two paper chases and make a decision. I haven't jumped in forever, but he also isn't the kind of horse that jumps you out of the tack, so I am not too worried about him being overly exuberant. I am slightly concerned he may have trouble leaving his buddies, but if we can go schooling before then I can probably test that out a little.

Feeling nervous, but very excited!!!!!

Getting back on track and setting some tentative goals

Gorgeous sunrise at Derry Meeting.

So the weather has been a bit bipolar to say the least. We've had days where the high was 5 degrees followed two days later by 60 degrees and rain. The conditions at the farm have held up pretty well considering we had a foot of snow on the ground two weeks ago, last week we got 2 inches of rain in an hour, and now the ground is frozen again. According to the farm owner, our property is holding up better than most (she currently boards her horse at a very fancy facility that she said is a complete mud pit). Now that the ground is frozen again the chopped up muddy areas are tough for some of the horses to walk on, but I have to say that Riley is not even a little sore. I'm hoping he doesn't bruise his soles over the next couple of weeks, but so far, so good. So fingers crossed for that. In the meantime, I've been picking up bits and pieces of tack to replace what was stolen. I broke down and ordered Riley a new bridle (though I'll probably reserve it for showing, etc) and it looks lovely. I was inspired by Aimee's post about bridles, so I took the plunge and tried out an Ovation Figure 8. It has just enough fancy stitching, a fancy padded crown piece and it's nicely padded overall without being bulky.

full disclosure...

If any of you are friends with me on Facebook or Instagram, you've probably already gathered that I tend to lean to the dark side of things from time to time. This can manifest in cryptic status updates and gloomy photos... but don't misunderstand me, I'm not looking for attention or crying out for help. It's a very real, very ingrained part of my personality. I've been an old soul since I was very, very little. I'm the kind of person who is profoundly moved by seemingly small things. I feel very deeply about things that most people don't. I'm a bit of a tortured soul (how cliche of me to say that as an artist) and I fluctuate between being extremely motivated and positive to states of crippling anxiety and depression. I had my first bona fide anxiety attack when I was 22. I remember it VERY specifically and I could not move for a few days. It felt as though someone was standing on my neck and I couldn't get out of bed. I'm sure at the time I really freaked out my roommate... but I was more frightened by all of it. Being very self-aware, I can understand and reflect back on why this happened, there were triggers, and a few major situations that led to that point. I had struggled with insomnia following a car accident in high school and that certainly didn't help much either. It took years for me to understand what was actually going on with my brain. My friend's Mother called it "underdeveloped limb syndrome"... the idea being that if you were born with one leg shorter than the other, maybe you wouldn't notice it as an infant, then as a toddler maybe your parents start to notice, as young child other children may see that you are little different, and by high school it's something that you've been made fun of for, and by the time you get to adulthood you're completely self-conscious about it, trying to hide it as much as you can and being very aware of it at all times. My anxiety is my under-developed limb. I can go long periods of times with nary an issue and then I fool myself into thinking it's gone. It creeps up on me like a stranger in the night and before I know it I'm back to being immobilized by it. But if it wasn't for this tortured soul part of my personality that feels things so intently, I wouldn't be who I am today. I'm a bit of a strange creature, and people are drawn to that, however I easily overwhelm people and can be too intense for some... I know that about myself. I fall in love with kindred spirits though and when I recognize that dark soul in someone else I want to hide there with them. Outwardly, I can seem very normal but inside I feel like a frayed wire. I am comforted by being social because it's a distraction from the war going on inside me.

Cavallo Sport Boot -- Product Review

Riley has now had 5+ weeks of riding/working in the Cavallo Sport Boots and I can say that I am beyond happy with them. We've still had our ups and downs due to his pasture conditions, but overall he's comfortable enough in the boots to do non-concussive type of work and we got the green light from the farrier on Thursday to keep him moving forward. Due to the boot's tendency to fill with arena footing he said we could skip doing that or see how he feels without boots. But for now our plan of hacking, fitness and keeping his baby brain mentally stimulated are all full steam ahead. He did warn me that Riley may never be totally sound without shoes, but I don't have any delusions that he'll will be able to handle gravel with his flat feet without some ouchiness.

We hacked lightly around the property after his trim (with boots) he felt great (actually he was quite fresh!) and I tentatively made plans to take him on a paper chase a few days later.

He was... excited to say the least. You can almost see a smile on his face.

The barn was very busy that morning and I was little less than 100% (due to tailgating at Fairhill which led late into the night). All the cross ties were taken up and since the other boarders can be a little slow (ahem, this statement coming from me is hilarious) I chose to simply throw his lead line over the pole behind him in the picture (It's not really a place to tie your horse or a place to put your saddle, but it works for both purposes). He stood quietly while I got him all booted up, brushed and tacked up. I have to say, he came out of the pasture brimming with personality... someone made a comment that she could tell he was 4 because after I tacked him up he proceeded to get into everything he could touch. The rail I had him tied to is about 6-7 feet long so he could slide the rope loop down and move around. He broke a giant container of treats, tried to dismantle the mounting block, pulled my friend's helmet out of her bag, and nearly climbed into my lap when I was putting on my spurs. What a ham!

Let's do this. *Also, he's wearing my argyle trouser socks.

We arrived to the paper chase at around noon, I checked us in and grabbed our pinneys. Our start time was an agonizing one hour later. If I had known that I would have packed a picinic! It was a beautiful day and I needed to get my act together so it worked out okay. I'm sure I was a little green around the gills with nerves, so the extra time let me settle down. Riley and Prima were mostly happy to stand on the trailer and eat hay while we waited. Luckily, there are enough of these paper chases in our area that the whole thing runs like a well-oiled machine. We pulled the ponies off the trailer at 12:50 (they were saddled up already), threw on or bridles and got on. We were parked very close to the start and both horses walked over on a loopy rein. I have to say, Prima impresses me more and more everyday... what an amazing 5 year old! It had poured the night before so we waited a little while to start trotting (the start was boggy to say the least) but once we did, Riley felt great. He's been riding around in the boots for around 6 weeks and he felt really confident in them. Traction was not as much of an issue as I thought it would be and little did we know we'd be putting the boots through the ultimate test that day!

Airplane ears deployed. Headphones engaged. He's got his own theme music going.

The trail was very poorly marked. Also, there had been another paper chase a few weeks prior that was marked with pink tape and ours was marked with orange. For the record, safety orange and pink = the same damn thing from across a hay field. We got lost twice, had to bushwhack our way through the forest and over crazy obstacles. We went down one tiny trail with such a scary mud pit crossing that we opted to crash through some trees to the next field instead of doubling back. The ride was supposed to take us approximately 6 miles, but when we finally made it back to the trailers we saw that we had gone 8.3!!! Most of the ride was walking and trotting, but we got in a little bit of cantering here and there. At one point, Riley tucked his head to his chest and felt like a real race horse underneath me! I'll admit, I was reallllly nervous about riding in the boots for a serious ride. We went through the first muddy water crossing and I could sense Riley's concern about getting his feet out of the mud (he figured it out very quickly though) and we came out the other side unscathed. Boots still on and intact! Success! Prima lost a shoe in that mess, and I know Riley would have if he had been in shoes.

Wild TB waiting to start!

I was beaming when we got back to the trailers and still had a sound, happy horse underneath me. He got himself quite sweaty on the way back and I felt like he could have gone around again! At one point a mile or two from the finish, he started playing Marco Polo with any horse that would answer. Then when any of the other groups went out of sight he'd get very agitated and wanted to keep up. It was a good exercise to teach him how to settle and get his brain back. He never did anything too naughty, it was just baby horse behavior more than anything.

But back to my product review...

Cavallo Sport Boot

I chose the Sport boot over the simple for a few reasons. The Simple boot did not fit Riley's feet quite as well. According to their site, the sport boot is made for horses with a narrower hoof and after trying both styles on him, I definitely like the sport better. The consensus on fit is that the horses hoof should "pop" into the boot. A little extra room is okay, but too much and you'll have rubs. Riley grows hoof at an alarmingly fast rate, so even though Cavallo recommends measuring for fit following a recent trim, I would recommend maybe waiting a week or so. I had to buy two pairs to keep up with Riley's feet. He generally wears a size 2, but after a few weeks I could barely get his hoof in them! The 3's are probably a touch too big, but with the pads they fit well enough. There's a bit of an adjustment period when you first start using them, much like a brand new pair of hiking boots, you have to "break them in". I found what works for us is to use a pair of silky socks (mine) to pull on over his hoof and over his pastern before I slip his hoof into the boot. He had some chips to grow out and they kept catching on the hard plastic on the inside of the boot, making them impossible to put on and this seemed to help quite a bit. The socks also seem to help with rubs, which he only got once when he was being a jerk and I made him work for longer than I anticipated. The sport boots have a big flap in the front with a tab closure vs. the simples which have 2 velcro tabs. I found the velcro tabs clumsy and potentially dangerous as they seems more inclined to allow things to get caught in them. Both styles have adequate hoof support and serve as shock absorbers (which is great for Riley's tender soles) and they both have drainage holes in them allowing debris, water, mud to escape easily. My only complaint is that they started to twist a little during the paper chase. I think this was a combination of them being wet and muddy and the torque from riding over lots and lots of uneven terrain. They didn't turn enough to be a problem for him, but I wonder if they could hurt him if they turned too much. I know Andrea mentioned to me that she's had a pair turn all the way around! After the paper chase, I pulled them off Riley and there as only a little bit of mud inside them, the socks were destroyed, and I simply hosed the boots off before they dried to get all the mud out of the velcro and seams. They look good as new!

Raising a white flag.

I am in a weird funk right now. Things are not going well with Riley. He's not happy and either am I. It's been about a month since his shoes were pulled for good and even though I was told to keep him in work (and invested in TWO pairs of boots for him) he's miserable. How can I tell? Well, he's the kind of horse that greets you in the field, he comes in eager to please and never minds going to work. He's been avoiding me at all costs in the field. I have to drag him out and he's even planted his feet a few times and refused to move. Yes, this could just be stubbornness, but it's not. I'm dressing his feet with Sore No More before rides, Durasole after and babying the hell out of them to make sure that he's comfortable. He's not. Last night was the last straw for me and I left the barn feeling really defeated. What he needs is time and no agenda (and although I've convinced myself that I don't have one, I'm still holding on to a glimmer of hope that I can ride him sooner, rather than later). He needs to be in a lay up situation for the next 4-6 months. I don't want to rush this. I can't. He's too nice of a horse to simply put glue-ons on him, or pour $$$ into tests when we know it's his soles. I like the farm where we are now and it has lots of great amenities, but we can't use any of them. Yes, the arena has nice footing, but to get there he has to walk on gravel. To get from the field to the barn is the same story (and it's a hike). I thought about just leaving him there for the winter and trying to just go out once a week or so to pull him in and groom him, but I know he'll be miserable coming in across the rocky terrain/gravel.

Riley bashed his nose on the gate latch and cut it. Did I feel sorry for him? No*

Moving okay but still NQR even with boots.

 He looks okay tracking left, but definitely sore tracking right.

So what does this mean for us? Well, after I posted a photo of Riley on FB last night my trainer called me this morning. We had a weekend planned in two weeks where I was going to bring Riley down to do a little boot camp. Obviously that's out of the question now and I sent her an email this morning about that (which then prompted her phone call). She felt as though I should consider a diagnostic appointment at Penn on Riley's feet (I think she was under the impression that he was sore/off 100% of the time). Once we discussed the situation a little further she agreed that time was the best answer for him and to re-evaluate in the Spring. We came to the agreement that Riley needs to be in a more closely monitored environment. Right now I have little control over his feeding situation and he doesn't have access to a stall if he needs it. So something needs to change. We discussed some possible situations and I'll share more with you guys once a firm decision has been made. I just want the poor dude to be happy and comfortable again!

In the mean time, I need to figure out a way to keep riding. I need to be in tip top shape by the time he's ready for me!

Also, when life gets you down, there's always puppies:

New hound puppies sunbathing

This little guy is named Skunk!

*I nearly had a heat attack when I saw the blood coming from his nose
**I quickly put 2 + 2 together and remembered he just bopped his nose on the latch

Looking on the bright side

Riley is officially barefoot until further notice. After a frank conversation with my farrier he said, "if he was my horse this is what my plan of action would be" and we followed it. He came out, scolded Riley for pulling another shoe, was not devastated by the damage he did removing said shoe, and trimmed him all around. He did remark on what fantastic back feet he has. So that's something... which brings me to focus of this post. Looking on the bright side.

I am generally an optimistic individual. I have been known to cheer lead for those around me during hard times, I am excellent at seeking out silver linings and clinging to them as a source of hope when everything seems bleak. I've had a significant amount of diversity in my life and it's this characteristic that has helped me persevere. However, I am not immune to feeling sorry for myself and I definitely get the-whole-world-is-working-against-me-why-can't-I-get-a-break kind of feeling. Especially regarding Riley.

He's my first horse. I've waited 30 years (I took my first lesson when I was 4) to finally have a horse of my own and he's been more or less un-rideable since May. I didn't want to look at my Google calendar to confirm this, but I did yesterday and discovered that I've sat on him maybe 12 times since his PPE. The calendar is checkered with "lame", "almost sound", "NQR", "pulled shoe" notes. We've hardly made any progress due to all of these starts and stops and it's hard to see those around me (near and far) out having a great time on their horses who seemingly never have these issues! I know that 90% of this is out of my control, but it still makes me feel like a less than adequate horse owner. I question myself daily if I am actually doing everything I can to make sure that he'll improve.

Monday, when the farrier was there and my horse stood like a complete angel dozing off in the cross ties, I had a moment of self-awareness. I've been tunnel-visioned regarding his soundness and hoof issues which has blurred my thinking about him. I was so focused on not being able to ride and how my life wasn't fair and I forgot about all of the good things about him (not completely, they just weren't in the forefront of my mind). So with that in mind, I wanted to make a list of positive things about my horse, after all horse ownership is a lot more than just riding.

Riley's positive qualities:
*he's cute
*despite not being in steady work, he paints a nice picture conformationally
*he has terrific hind feet (hey, 2 out of 4 ain't bad!)
*he's a kind horse
*he's not spooky (he's no dead head either)
*he's a good role model (seriously, put a naughty horse out in the pasture with him)
*he's a good sport (if you're going to be my horse you have to be willing for me to do a lot of stupid things around you)
*he's a nice mover
*he's game (he's never said NO to anything I've asked of him -- okay, maybe the right lead canter)
*he's a great helper for young/green horses (ie, he doesn't get worked up when other horses are losing their minds)
*he loads like a champ
*he comes to me when I call him (I love this)
*he settles quickly
*he is friends with everyone (even though he gets a little beat up in the pasture)
*he loves going to new places
*he's tolerant (he's only ever thought about being naughty)
*he's easy to handle 98% of the time
*he's uncomplicated to ride
*he's willing (I've always said the most important quality about a horse is that they meet you half way)
*he's young (our journey has only just begun)

chowing down on his bute mix

**I'm sure there are more things I could add here, but I'm not sure a list of all the reasons my pony is the best make for good reading. I guess I've just been feeling really low about all of this lately. I've been hiding it a little, but honestly when he pulled that RF shoe on our gorgeous ride the other day I wanted to burst into tears. I felt so utterly defeated and no amount of talking me off the ledge was going to change that. But, after a day or so to reflect, I decided that I have to be proactive about his hoof health and start to look for positive things instead of feeling sorry for myself (which to be honest, is not a good look for me). I gave up all authority to my farrier who I trust implicitly and together we decided that barefoot was going to be the best thing as long as we could a.) keep him comfortable and b.) keep him in work (not necessarily for my agenda, but to keep circulation and to stimulate hoof growth) -- he simply said the hoof he will have 6 months ago will look and feel so different that it will be worth watching him gimp around for a little bit. He liked the idea of using boots (he has another sport horse client that swears by Cavallo boots) so I don't just have to stick to arena footing for work. I picked up some over the weekend (they were too big so I exchanged them) and he fitted them on Monday to make sure they fit perfect (and they did!). We'll start slowly as the boots take a little while to break in, so we'll keep the sessions around 20 minutes and I'll try to mix up the work. I think I'll do a little on the lunge line at first to let him get his bearings with the new footwear and then we'll start hacking around the property at the walk and build up from there. My short term hope is to get him comfortable enough without shoes before the ground hardens for winter.

A few comparison photos:

Fronts (I know, terrible comparison photos -- I'll get better ones) The top image is post-trim after he had his shoes pulled on July 7th. The bottom photo is pre-trim September 16th. Not tons of change here, but at least he doesn't have saucepans for feet anymore, slightly less flare to be seen, but I'll have to get better photos to truly decide that.

I see a lot of change here. Same order for photos as above. The angles of his hoof wall are much different and his heels are starting to look less contracted. It's crazy to think that he was standing so much on his heels before! The one this he has going for him is that he grows a good hoof wall! P's theory is to continue to bring back the toe, but obviously he has to go as slowly as the hoof tells him. I think they look much improved after just 2.5 months.

You know, the craziest thing about hoof problems is being patient. The progress and change comes so slightly and in such incremental amounts that you can make yourself crazy looking for it. I'm hoping that his soles will improve and I'm happy to hear suggestions for products that you guys like! We're using double strength Farrier's Formula and Venice Turpentine already.

The long and the short of it

Riley has managed to pull three shoes off (LF, RF, RF respectively) within 5 days of each other over the last 2 weeks. To say that my farrier and I are frustrated would be a massive understatement.

Troublemakers.

Saturday, we planned to trailer Riley along with Prima (she was competing at Fairhill), but the morning started with a weird vibe. When I got the barn, E had Prima bathed but she had a quizzical look on her face. Something wasn't quite right. Prima was a bit footsore so we bagged the idea of going to Fairhill. No need to make that any worse. With the truck and trailer hooked up and a beautiful day we decided we could take advantage of the circumstances and put the boys on the trailer and go for a nice hack at The Laurels. Henry decided he's never been in a trailer before and made me chase him on with a pitchfork and Riley smashed me in the top of my head as I was fixing the front bar in the trailer (totally an accident) -- like I said, the day had a weird vibe. With Henry working himself up we decided to trailer over to a local tavern, get some lunch and some beers and see how they were doing after a little time to settle. Wouldn't you know they were as quiet as could be when we returned. Off we went for our hack. Except that Riley refused to stand next to the trailer for me to get on. Grrrr. We had a few discussions about this until I led him down the road to a little bank near the entrance to the park. He pulled the same shit again and I made him walk up and down the back until he was will to stand still next to it. Don't misunderstand me here, I realize it's a new, exciting environment and he might not be an angel for mounting, but when I stick my foot in the stirrup and he flies backwards... that is not cool. Finally he realized that I was going to make him work really hard if he wasn't going to stand still, and he finally stood patiently while I got on! So dramatic.

Cutest pony after his hack!

Our ride was really nice. Both horses seemed very happy to be out and about. We crossed a few streams, got in some trot sets, a little cantering and as we headed back toward the trailer we did a quick shoe-check. Guess who pulled his RF? Seriously.

He was understandably really sore on the blue stone and sound on grass. Sigh. Time to reevaluate his situation again. My gut tells me that we should pull him shoes now before the ground get hard (since he is sound enough on grass) and ride him in boots. I've done lots of research on boots and found some that I think will work for him (the farrier will make sure they fit today). This will give him a little bit of time to get over the transition (roughly 2-3 months until the ground gets super hard) and he'll still be able to get in some work. We'll keep the sessions short while his boots break in (and to help prevent him from getting too sore). We will keep him barefoot from now until next spring, in the meantime P will try to trim his foot back to a functional starting point in small measures.

When I called P today, he laughed when he answered the phone and said that he's never had a client like Riley! It was his suggestion that we pull the shoes and he liked the idea of using boots to keep him in light work. He said it's his inclination to pull shoes on horses like Riley, but not a lot of owners can watch their horses throughout the transition (admittedly, it was hard in July, but that was only for a month). I told him that we've taken all goals off the table and that I just want to get him healthy.

These are the boots we tried Sunday -- they are too big, and I exchanged them for a smaller size in the "sport" version

Test run in the arena -- he was sound despite the fit!

I'm going to get some good photos today to show our starting point. It will be interesting to see the differences over the next 6 months. At least he's a good sport about getting the boots on! I'm going to order the pastern wraps today to make sure he doesn't get rubs.

So that's all for now... I'll keep you guys posted on how things go later today. For now, just some cute photos of Riley, since I'm too frustrated to even think straight.

Riley making friends with Zee .

At least he's an easy keeper.

Best buds for life/ Henry makes Riley look like a pony.

ps. Don't forget to enter my contest!!!!!!!

Whole30 wrap up and I meet a blog friend IRL!

As you may remember, I started the Whole30 challenge a month ago. The last four weeks have been filled with plenty of ups and downs and without going through the whole month day by day I'll give you some highlights and lowlights.

Pros:
*My near chronic shoulder pain is completely gone. I'm astonished.
*My insomnia was not an issue. I slept remarkably well and felt more rested in the mornings and more energetic during the day.
*I made lots of awesome recipes that I'm keeping in regular rotation.
*I lost 11lbs. Seriously, this is insane.
*I generally felt much better overall.

Cons:
*I don't care what they say, doing this was actually quite hard... not constantly, but when it got hard I really had to fight not just throwing in the towel. I had at least 4-5 days over the 30 that I came close to quitting due to external stress.
*Due to being busy, I got a little lazy about planning which made some meals a little boring and predictable at times. It was definitely easier to follow this plan if you tried new recipes often.
*The first week is pretty brutal... but that only highlights just how unhealthy your lifestyle was before.
*I got really sick of eggs.
*There were a few days where following the plan meant skipping a meal (which is not encouraged obviously) but I didn't really have a choice. Those were very tough days! For example: when we moved the horses to the new barn (being out in the middle of nowhere without a decent place to get food and poor planning on my part left me very weak and light-headed).

All in all, I feel much healthier because of Whole30. It really helped me understand just how awful processed food is and further more, that sugar is in EVERYTHING. Holy crap. I'm really happy with the results and it's inspiring to think that simply eating clean can have such a holistic effect on your well-being. Going forward, I'm going to implement many of the things I learned throughout Whole30. Specifically, the cooking oils I used. I am completely a ghee convert! Overall, I feel really good about completing this challenge... emotionally, spiritually and physically I feel amazing.

Riley actually moving straight! Love him.

On Saturday, I headed out to the barn to ride and hopefully meet up with Miss Carly of Poor Woman Showing! We exchanged texts throughout the day to coordinate and I crossed my fingers that we'd get a chance to actually meet! The funny thing about having a blog and blog friends, is that when you talk about these people in every day life it sorta makes you sound like you have a bunch of imaginary friends. I has been riding for about 20 minutes when Carly and her hubby and pups arrived. Riley and I had a bit of a discussion about stopping/bulging/cropping at the gate (oh, all while being herded by an unruly border collie -- seriously, my horse is going to be sooo desensitized after this place) so I schooled the hell out of him on a 20meter circle until he finally understood that I meant business. He felt really sound with only a tiny bit of unevenness tracking right and he was delightful in the contact (he loves the happy mouth). I wanted to see my friend school is canter being that she hasn't ridden him since he got the pads/shoes on I thought she would like to feel the difference (plus, any chance to have an advanced event rider school my horse = yes, please). She had him looking wicked fancy within a few minutes, She couldn't believe how much different he felt in the contact and how much freer and more forward his movement was! She picked up both leads with no problem and his right canter departure was probably the best it's ever been! Carly arrived and we chatted for a minute before I got back on to test out his new found happiness in the canter.

Riley is growing into a lovely little sport horse. I can't wait to see what he's going to look like in full work! Also, is it just me, or does he make me look small?

We got one full circle in (as seen above photographed by Carly herself) and suddenly my horse was on 3-legs. Um, what? I hopped off immediately to find that he had sprung his RF shoe and bent one of the clips just enough that it was sticking into his sole. Perfect. He's only 2 weeks into his trimming cycle, so while the shoe was half off it was also solidly half on. We tried to pry the clip back enough so he could put his foot down and then we brainstormed on what to do. I honestly could do nothing but laugh at the situation! Between all the ups and downs I've had with him over the last four months and Carly being there to witness the shenanigans it was pretty hilarious. Because we're still in post-moving craziness, we couldn't locate any proper farrier tools so I tracked down a maintenance person and begged him to find a hammer or something for us! He came to our rescue with a weirdly shaped tack hammer and a pair of pliers. We made it work while Riley made a liar of me and stood like a perfect gentleman as we tapped, pulled and pried that sucker off. He lost a bit of his hoof around the clip (so now he has matching holes) and I covered it with a diaper and some duct tape to help protect it in the meantime. Sigh. I was able to give Carly a full tour of the place and I'm sure it was fun for  her to meet some of the horses I talk about all the time! She stuck around long enough to watch E get on her 4 year old for the first time post-track. Kiwi acted like she's been doing this her whole life and walked and trotted around the ring on a loose rein. She's going to be such a fancy horse!

Next time, Carly is either bringing Bobby, or she's bringing her helmet and breeches and we're going for adventures together! My horse is going to have to get it together. In the meantime, I spoke to the farrier who had to laugh when I called him over the weekend. He's going to tack the shoe back on, but if Riley can't keep the leather pads/shoes on for more than a week, we're going to possibly switch him to plastic pads and a tighter fit on the shoes. I'm also looking around for a pair of used Cavallos boots so that the next time this happens I can at least keep him comfortable. We may wind up switching to boots while his hoof grows out. He had such a beautiful hoof wall and now with two sprung shoes, he's got giant holes:( He'll get the shoe put back on tomorrow and I'm going to run out afterward to take him for a spin. Now that he's getting in semi-regular work, his greenness is really starting to show and he's starting to test me more and more. I'd really like to stay somewhat consistent with his training, so I don't lose my upper hand!

Oh yea, super awesome bonus: I stopped at Bartville Harness to pick up some first aid stuff and I found a pair of wide, triple stitched Nunn Finer leathers for $30, a neck strap, and a fleece girth (used) for $10! Score!

what a dumb week

**EDIT: more barn drama following this, stay tuned for part III**

This week has been filled with some serious ups and downs. Sometimes I really think that life likes to kick you when you are down. Don't worry, we're okay, Riley is okay (actually, better than okay), it's just been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.

Looking very cheeky this morning

I'll keep the recap strictly to horse stuff so as not to get too off track. First of all, the farm owner from the place we were moving to backed out two days ago (VIA TEXT). Seriously? This is not online dating, it's real estate you jackass. We also found out that he gave the current tenant one week to move out on a whim. So sounds like we dodged a bullet on that one. But that leaves us homeless/barnless... Luckily the girls found ANOTHER barn that will work just fine. It's actually even closer to us 40-45 mins vs. 1 hour and it's right down the road from the place I looked at on my own... which means... ALL THE HACKING. There's also apparently a gallop track there and it's across the street from a really nice facility so we're going to see if we can use their ring from time to time. The barn doesn't sound as nice as the other one, but the owners are doing a lot to get in good shape for us (including power-washing the whole thing). Hopefully, the details will be smoothed out and the horses can moved over this weekend (they can live outside for a few days -- there are two huge pastures with sheds) and we can get settled in. The long weekend should certainly help give us a chance to unpack, get organized and let the horses get used to their new surroundings. Ugh, I hate not knowing what's going on!

In other news, slightly more uplifting, after a week without a shoe and a soak, wrap, soak, wrap routine for most of it, Riley never popped an abscess. Awesome farrier P came yesterday and he put the hoof testers back on Riley (to which he reacted violently to a week ago) and got nary a reaction, save for the inside heel (but nothing too dramatic). He opted to put leather pads and shoes on him with magic cushion underneath. He was jogged on concrete and said to look really good and only slightly off, then E put him on the lunge and trotted him in both directions and she said that although he started off tentatively (he's been protecting that hoof for months now, can you blame him) he did a beautiful extended trot both ways! Hooray. So $100 later, he's (that thing that rhymes with round) again. I went out this morning to feed and pack up m tack etc and put him in the arena to do another soundness check (*though, based on the galloping he did to come in for breakfast, I needn't have worried).

He's looking very good and feeling very good too! His trot looks even and cadenced, thank the Lord! Also, we was being a bit lazy as you can see in the video, but I don't really believe in chasing him with the lunge whip. I can't wait to get all moved in and start hacking all over the place. Time for him to lose that belly. Also, I switched his supplements up slightly, he's still getting Farrier's Formula (double strength) but I swapped his Platinum Performance Skin and Allergy for Smartpak's Horse Shine Ultra (very similar ingredients and more flax), I'll let you know how it goes.

ps. I'm on day 22 of Whole30, and I'm hanging in there. It's actually been much easier than I thought and I haven't cheated at all (okay, I did buy organic bacon from Trader Joes that has turbinado sugar in it). I've been sleeping way better, and even though this week has been enormously stressful, I've been able to channel that energy elsewhere (for now). My gut feels healthier, my clothes fit wayyy better, and overall I feel renewed.

Oh yea, I think he might be going through a bit of a growth spurt. It doesn't help that he's totally standing here all derpy.

Holy butt high allofasudden.