Bow Knows... No Bows? Bows.

Bows.  Not happy, pretty bows that you put on a fluffy, girly dog.  No.  Rotten bows.  Bows that happen on horrible footing to previously clean, tight legs on my favorite horse in this province. 

That's right.  Jose has a bowed tendon. 

The worst part is, I didn't even see it!

Jose came in last week with uneven swelling on 3 legs.  I bandaged him, buted him for a couple days, and kept him on stall rest.  A couple of bandage changes and some hosing later, I pulled his wraps and felt no swelling on any legs, everything nice and tight.  My dearest husband was with me and I'm grateful for his keen eyes. He kept telling me there was still "swelling" on one front leg.  But I couldn't feel anything.  He pointed at it.  I was down at his legs in the stall and couldn't see what he was looking at.  Finally, I stood up and walked out of the stall and looked at him from a distance.  There it was, plain as day, a tendon bow. 

Ugh, I died a little.  I know it's not life ending and fortunately not career ending for him because he's not a show horse, but it's not a fun injury to deal with and certainly it could render him unfit for riding in the future.  No, we don't "show" but we have a lot of adventures and he's my Mr. Reliable.  Not being able to take him for rides again is a horrible, daunting thought! 

I left the wraps off overnight so I could see what was really going on.  The next morning, yup... there it is.  Swelling around and definite tendinitis...  So, back to aggressive treatment right away. Cold hosing, bute, borrowed some BOT wraps today from my incredible friend and got Jose his early Christmas presents with some ice wraps and lik-it boredom breakers.  Two days later, the swelling has reduced remarkably and he's continued to be weightbearing without hesitation.  Small blessings!!!  I'm so fortunate to have a veterinarian who allows me to pick her head for anything I might have overlooked or not considered.  Sweats, cold treatment, bute and something new, Sinew-X supplement. 

There's still definitely thickening back there, but I'm THRILLED with the response it's given already.

I'm also so thankful for all the support at the garrison saddle club.  Many more hands to help keep his water bucket full and his hay net loaded.  It's a beautiful thing to have a group work together. 

Send lots of happy thoughts Jose's way please!!!  <3  So we can join you in your Happy Horseing!

Back Up and Running!!!

After contacting every single internet provider for a rural community, we're finally up with "LTE" service.  I say "LTE" not LTE because so far we've had a few experiences with no service or painfully slow service.  Regardless, it's more than before and we're back in business!!

So what's new? 

Belle is unfortunately not pregnant.  I was so sad to hear that my good friend, who had borrowed her to breed to a retiring stallion - same sire to her first heart horse, is not in fact in foal but had a very minor infection in her uterus.  My heart is broken that she won't have a wee one in the spring.  Most unfortunately, that is the nature of breeding. 
Positive note, the vets don't expect the infection to have any lasting results as it was caught early and was fairly localized and she should not have any issues conceiving and carrying a pregnancy again in the future.  So, we're planning to try standing her to Ritchie in the spring. 

Thursday and Billy are growing very well!  It's so fun to discover with the youngsters - their first snow fall, exploring a new paddock.  Chai will be 18 months on the 29th of November.  She's already so tall that I have to stand up on my toes to try to get my arm over her back!  Sensible though, oh good grief is she a good kid!  I can't wait until the fall to bring her to the garrison saddle club and have more opportunity to play with her!

Baby racehorse was all sorts of amazing!  #horsewithnohashtag

This is not a trail ride.

If you know me at all, and realistically, if you're reading this blog you must be one of my close friends, you know that there are some things that I do NOT do on horseback.  One of those things is jump.  That's dangerous and scary.  The other is "trail ride".  Again, not safe.  Too many variables and opportunity for accident.  However, I have some pretty incredible friends and they are much braver than I am.  Upon an invite from my dear friend who was taking her brand new baby racehorse #horsewithnohashtag, out to Blackfoot grazing area, we tagged along with another friend and his super-easy quarter horse.  Jose was a rockstar!  We climbed hills - which we've never done together, and he stayed with me the whole way, all perfect!  Not sure I'd be in a big hurry to do that one again, but it was not horrible in the end. 

 

 

If he isn't the best boy ever, I'm not sure who is!

Ali was sure to give Jose a good brushing when we returned home. 

Happy Horseing! 

Quiet Season

This time of year is almost always very quiet in the dog grooming side of the world.  As such, it turned out that I had no dogs on my book today so I get an extra-extra long weekend!  Again, I'm hanging out at a Tim Horton's for their free Wifi (thank you) as explornet has assured Anthony that it will be another two weeks before they can activate our access but they fully intend to continue collecting money from the account... Oops, that's another blog post for another blog altogether! 

Carrying on!

I like this time of year.  We go so hard consistently from April right through to fall it's nice to have things get quiet again and relax a bit.  I still do a couple of first-aid clinics in the winter, I don't mind that - rather enjoy it really, but no trick-horse clinics in the winter.  It's not worth the risks of trying to haul JJ around on questionable roads. 

Really, I'm so damn lucky!

I also try to spend more time with the foals since they've been weaned.  Most of the herd is disbursed.  I feel much less anxious now that they're all in their new homes with their new people and settled.  Little Thursday and Billy are still hanging out at the farm with Old Man Bucky, the nanny.  He's so good with them for the first few months of weaning but eventually he gets sick of their neediness and wants out!  That's alright though, there's always others to put in...

Her ears... she's growing into them super well, but I loooved them!

I think I'll head to the barn and spend some quality time with the JJ boy before I pick up Ali from daycare.  Just hang out and maybe go for a ride if someone's around.  No stress, just enjoyment.

Happy Horseing!

Wifi...

Hello my faithful readers... both of you ;-) 
It's been far too long without regular internet connection and I am behind on my blogging!  Today, I sit in a Tim Horton's Restaurant because free wifi is a god send when you need to update and the data on your phone is already through the roof on your shared plan (thanks hunny.) 

Now then, what's news? 
In September I took a vacation.  A much-needed vacation, to CUBA!!!  One of my favorite places on the planet (that I've encountered thus far) to go.  The big part of this is that I did it without Anthony. 
The salon I'm now working part-time at actually shut down for a full week and we all took off to the Caribbean!  I booked my trip to Cuba, the owner booked to Jamaica and our other coworker said she was going to Mexico with her family.  However, after spending about 4 days working together, she decided it would likely be far more fun to head to Cuba with me!  So we did. 
It was a blast. So relaxing, so fun.  I met so many wonderful people.  Many English peoples and French-Canadians down there as well.  I swam with a dolphin, I rode the double-decker bus throughout Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, I swam in the ocean off one of the world's top 10 beaches (it was seriously incredible!!!)  Best part, I saw many of the wonderful faces I'd met at the Tryp resort two years previously and napped every single day! 
Coming home to real life was kind of depressing, except for the smiling face of my Ali girl! 

That's me in the hat!

Jose and I recently did another trip to Beaumont to play on the cross country grounds.  It was so much fun.  As soon as I unloaded him, he knew where he was and was absolutely fantastic to ride.  We schooled some obstacles, small logs, the ditches, up and down banks and through the water.  We had such a great time and, this time, I wasn't the one needing the babysitter!  Definitely something to do again next season.

Last year's picture...

Belle has been bred to Arab stallion Akadamy for a 2017 foal.  Fingers crossed that she caught as it's Akadamy's last year standing open to the public. 

Ritchie is doing splendidly.  Unfortunately Jessica suffered a significant setback as soon as she and Ritchie started off together!!!!  A kick to the temple (not by my horses!!!) has rendered her unable to ride for the last 6+ weeks.  Fortunately she had no fractures, but has had some "shifts" intracranially causing vision, speech and auditory issues.  That being said, she is being managed by a concussion specialist and is seeing rapid and regular improvement! Yay!!!  She tells me that she's been working with Ritchie regularly on the ground, long lining and lunging, and has begun the process of teaching piaffe!  No doubt all the trick training has come in handy as apparently he's picked up the basic concept right away!  What a superstar!!  So, happy thoughts for continued headlining and a speedy return to the tack for Jessica. 

Boy they look good together!

I had a wonderful trick-clinic last weekend at HighThorn.  One of the smaller groups I've had, but all very successful.  I met one gelding, a little Paint, who did literally everything.  I've never met one so game to do it all!  Lay down, no problem, bow, play dead, smile, stand on the box, heck mounting block!  No problem!  It was so much fun to work with him and his owner.  Interesting part of their story is that he is 5 years old.  She is his 4th owner and has only had him for the last year!  Although an incredibly engaging horse, no doubt if he was in a home without clear focus and direction, he would quickly become challenging and dangerous!  There is such a fine line...  Fortunately he's got a very capable home and a bright future!! 

So that's it in a nut shell.  Ponies, happy things, ponies... yay! 

It's been such a cool year of so many new experiences, I just can't wait to see what 2017 has in store! 

In the mean time, happy horseing! 

The Stars Align Again!!

I'm so fortunate for all of the opportunities in my life.  And they just keep coming!  Now, my Ritchie boy has found himself an ambitious rider with visions of taking him through his PSG and maybe beyond!!!

Selling Princess (Leia Organa SE - now Ella) brought me a new connection, and a new good friend!  Jessica D is an FEI rider from British Columbia who has had some really neat adventures and riding opportunities herself.  From spending time in Europe at a jumper training barn to working with Steffen Peters (Yes, that's 2016 US Olympic Bronze Medalist in dressage!!!)  this lady is as lovely a rider as she is a human! 

When she came to pick up her Ella filly, we spent some time with the Ritchie boy too because, well really, who wouldn't want to?!!!  We chatted about getting him through the PSG with good scores to do his upgrade to stud book 1 with the RPSI.  Jessica made me an open offer to take him through the levels. 

The reality of my life as a mom, a business owner and clinician and working a part-time job while my husband works away, is that there isn't much time or money left over for the dedicated training for not only the horse, but myself as a rider to get there.  The appeal of Jessica's offer grew and grew until we finally made an agreement, found a reputable and trustworthy hauler and made it happen!  Ritchie has relocated to Chilliwack, BC! 

His trip went super well.  I packed him and his kit up and took him down to Olds to overnight with the hauler the afternoon before the trip.  I was sent updates that he was relaxed, eating and having no issues with the new barn and surroundings.  He loaded into the trailer and hauled like a champ getting a stop to offload and stretch his legs half way through.  The only part he didn't like was the tunnels.  Personally, I can't blame him at all for that!  I wouldn't be to crazy about driving through a mountain either!!!

He landed in the evening with Jessica and settled in like he'd been there all his life.  Loads of updated from both the hauler and Jess and I was a much less-anxious mom than I could have been! 

After a day off to settle and have a royal spa treatment, she started Ritchie back to work gently with lunging and today, his first ride back! 

And all went very well!  This begins a very exciting new adventure for the Ritchie boy!  I'm so grateful for Jessica's skill, enthusiasm and knowledge.  I just wish I could be there to see it all!!

I've said it the whole way along and I'll continue to say it as long as I have this horse: It takes a whole team to do this.  I am only one small part.  From his sire's owner, the vets, the verband, the trainers, clinicians, instructors, friends, show committees, it takes the involvement of so many people to make this horse successful.  This is one more step in his story. 

The other really good news is that he will be available for breeding in 2017 via AI (fresh cooled) from a vet in BC! 

The sky is no limit.  What a great new adventure!

Happy Horseing!

To Brooks, Ho!!

Never, not in a million years, as a young equine enthusiast, could I have dreamed that I would end up performing with a Mongolian Hoard at a Medieval Fair in southern Alberta...  could it get more random?

Well, truly, random kind of suits me to a tea really.  So I supposed in the long run, it really does fit me.  In any fact, it was an absolute riot performing to THOUSANDS of medieval enthusiasts with the Khanate of Himorii troop and my best boy, Jose Jalapeno.

There were a wonderful troop of Japanese drummers, fire breathers, costumes and costumes galore, knights in armour (some shiny, some not so much...) gladiators, Mongols, Victorians, vendors, peddlers, and very excited children.  Every hour I sat for a few minutes and just thought how crazy this whole experience was!  And oh so cool! 

We did 5 performances total, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.  Performance 1 on Saturday was a bit rough.  I'd pulled him out while the drummers were performing and he was not nearly as focused as I'd like him to be when we work.  But I knew better for the second round and he was quite brilliant.  We talked with the crowd a lot about Standardbreds, what they are, how to recognize them, how many of them are around and how we've grown together.  Apparently a lot of the jousting horses (yes, real jousting!) are rescues so that played in well.  His third performance was lack luster as he was quite finished but we'd brought out his beautiful barding, put him in it, got up on him and called it enough.  Unfortunately our demo area was a small, ropped-off round ring on the grass.  Not much space to actually move in.

Sunday rained and cleared, rained and cleared... but we did get the opportunity for a fantastic photo opp.  I'm waiting for the photographer's images to come back, but this is a cell-phone shot of the "drunken Mongols" inclusive of their trusty mount...  He was incredible for this shot, it was tough and he did great!  There were at least 3 photographers clicking away while we were down there.  It will be interesting to see where those images end up. 

In any regard, it was an incredible opportunity and we're looking forward to going again next year - despite the 6-hour drive!  We'll get time in the big arena and put on a better show. 

Happy Horseing! 

This Made Me SO Happy!

I have some incredible friends.  Truly, I am blessed and fortunate to have several incredible friends, many of whom are also involved in this crazy equine business.  Today, I had the delightful good fortune to put one of my favorite couples and one of my most brilliant foals together. 

Let me back up and give you some input.  I'd had super-high recommendations for Sawatzky Equine Services when I was looking to have Ritchie started under saddle.  That's where my relationship with Roland and Cindy started.  Roland enjoyed the Ritchie boy almost as much as I do, so much so that he took him for a year on lease from me.  During that time, they bred Cindy's eventing mare to him.  Most unfortunately the mare was not able to catch and carry and the prognosis is very dim for her being able to catch and carry without a very high cost and still a high risk. 

While Ritchie was with them, I had them stand a mare for me.  Lilyana (Lana) has a nearly invisible heat.  Truly, I'd never seen her covered when she conceived Princess.  On an incredible read and sensitivity, Roland selected the right day and the mare was covered, ONCE!  11 months later, there was Lirio. 

It seems so incredibly fitting that this magical filly be part of the Sawatzky family.  I'm thrilled that we were able to make it happen and I'm so excited about what the future has in store for all of them and their "Rio" filly. 

Unlike Princess's departure, Rio was a little less amiable and a lot more muddy!  Despite that, it seems that she and her dam have settled in well at their new home (until weaning anyways, then Lana heads to Calgary!)  I'm sure I'm the most excited of everyone about this new partnership.  It takes a few years before they're ready to really go out and DO things now...

Mud and all, they took Rio home!

My sincere congratulations, best wishes and thanks to Sawatzky Equine Services on their new acquisition of Lirio SE. 

Happy Horseing!