Monday's Suck Dirt

Things had been going pretty good. I had been working with the High Queen on our Parelli at least every other day, and riding for fitness on the other days. I had gotten Her Majesty half way in to the trailer at least a dozen times. Then we both got tired and cranky and I decided to end things for the day.

I will not go in to the details of why or how because I still feel pretty stupid about it. Lets just say it was totally my fault.

But Monday evening a hoof who shall remain nameless made contact with my ankle. The resulting relationship was nothing less than painful with far reaching consequences.  I am currently scheduled for surgery next week to fix it and then thirty days of rest before I can start physical therapy.

The low estimate for me getting back on a horse is six months. Six months from the start of physical therapy puts me at about December. I don't ride much between late November and late February, so it will most likely be next spring before I can ride again.  That is the worst part. Not the pain of when it happened, not the x-rays when they showed me how bad it was, not the prospect of physical therapy, its the amount of time I will have to wait before getting back in the saddle.

Yesterday was bitter sweet for me. My husband, semi-horsey himself was going to groom both the High Queen and Cowboy, then do some Parelli with them. Then the neighbor came over to help. She loves horses but is a bit frightened of them.

So I had to sit propped in a chair watching someone else play with my horse. I wanted to cry. Because it was all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid my ankle would still be in one piece and I would be possibly showing the High Queen this fall. Now I have to wait a whole season....AGAIN!

The fates are teaching me a lesson I guess. Be thankful for what you have, when you have it, because it could be gone in a moment.

Up and over everyone.

Seperate Corners....Again

Yesterday I had a pretty decent ride. I didn't work on dressage, I didn't work on jumping. I worked mostly on rthym, pace, and my position.  I had recently read an article in Practical Horseman, and then of course watched the awesomeness of Rolex last weekend which brought home the importance of the proper position on xc for speed, accuracy, stability and safety. So I wanted to work on the position I would need when I actually get to the point where Seneca and I galloping cross-country.

Mostly what I did was a very fast canter. I've never had Seneca out to her full speed, and since we are still working on the High Queen's fitness we didn't need to go that fast.  She did however feel well enough to buck with me several times when I asked her to canter going to the left.  She did that before as well and I am going to have to get to the bottom of her displeasure with cantering to the left other than that side is not as flexible as the right.

Today I had intended to work on some Parelli stuff.  We got half way in to the trailer last time and she stood there until I asked her to back out!  WOOO HOO!  We're so close.

But when I went out to get the High Queen from the pasture I found that her left eye was so swollen she couldn't open it to see.  *sigh, head to desk*  Either her brother smacked her while they were playing, or she poked herself with something out in the pasture.  So we won't be riding anytime soon.

Thats all for now. Happy riding.

When You're Down

Just a little burned out this week. I haven't ridden the High Queen in about two weeks. We've been working on Parelli stuff and I've been grooming her to her late spring, totally shedded out high shininess. The Spotted Beast is not quite shed out all the way and still looks a little ruffled around the edges.

So right now because the High Queen will not dein to step forth on to the trailer I have no plans, and no goals.  Thats always bad for me. I always need a goal to keep myself motivated. And while getting ye old evil bay Queen on to the trailer and having her be happy there is a goal I don't want to put too much pressure on that one. I know from past experiences with Seneca that if I put too much pressure on both of us it does not end well.

So what about the Spotted Beast?  Well he's 3 this year and while he's green broke, meaning I can saddle him, get on him, get him to walk around most of the time, and do some circles. We haven't progressed too far, and frankly I don't know if I have enough patience to take him from green broke to broke enough to go out and do things with.  Seneca was already broke when I got her, she didn't know anything about english riding or eventing, but she was broke and just needed to be reeducated. 

There is a biiiiig difference between reeducating a horse and starting a horse. Plus the High Queen is for the most part submissive under saddle. I'm not saying she doesn't test me, but she doesn't pull the antics that Cowboy does.  Yesterday was the first day I had been on Cowboy since December's impromptu lets go riding in the snow day.  He's always been good about being saddled and having me mount up.  He is not great about wanting to do the things I want him to do like turning left or right or stopping. Yesterday he bucked with me once, and reared up with me once. Not hard, or with too much enthusiasm but it was enough to have me rethinking starting him myself.

So as soon as I get the big crack in Cowboys right front hoof under control I'm going to be hunting a trainer to send him to. I would love to send him to an eventing trainer, but most of them are a fair distance from me and I kind of wanted to keep Cowboy closer to home. But we'll see. My ultimate, too fantastical to speak it out loud dream would be to send Cowboy to someone like the O'Connors, or Sinead Halpin(I LOVE her!), or any of the Advanced level eventers in my area. Living in Virginia does have a perk or two sometimes.  Proximity to an overflowing amount of eventers is one of them. But living in the furthest South East corner of Virginia not so many perks.

I'm just feeling a little down. It's raining buckets, I had to work last night from 2am to 5am, then sleep for a couple of hours in my car, then go back to work until noon. And of course sitting her I brood about not being able to take Seneca anywhere and the fact that my new trailer is still weeks, if not a month or so away.  Ah life in the Navy, it does inveritably suck sometimes. Back to my brooding and obsessive trailer searching.

Anyway that's the stuff for today.  Happy riding.