Freezing rain, ice, and snow.

Today was damp, cold, and miserable. I cheered myself up by pulling UK away from his hay after taking care of the barn this morning to brush him and switch blankets. UK wasn't terribly thrilled as hanging with his buddy is far more interesting then me putting Thrush Buster on his feet and putting detangler in his tail. But then I went to the car to get my camera and when I returned there were treats in my pocket, suddenly I was much more fun! UK has learned to associate the camera with treats, thus he poses shamelessly knowing that if he's cute enough I'll reward him after snapping some shots.

I took him out to the snowy ring to get him to stretch his legs even though it was misting nasty half frozen stuff. There was ice hidden under the snow in some spots so I let UK stick to a relaxed trot so he'd be able to handle himself if he slipped.

Even though he's a wuss about the cold, he was born up here in the north so he knows the snow won't eat him (unlike a certain TB I used to own who was terrified of untouched snow). He slipped a few times but wasn't overly concerned as it's normal this time of year to encounter ice. 

We did some follow the leader and he tried to eat my camera, hoping that maybe it had turned into a giant banana rounder. No such luck. He's matured a great deal in the last year, he's much braver and has a calmness about him in the ring now that he used to lack. Part of it is because he's learned to trust me a great deal, finally understanding that I will never put him into a position or place that will get him hurt. 

We finished up and I put his blanket on, returning him to LD and the rest of his AM hay. Hopefully the weather will get better soon and we'll be able to go out for a ride. 

Oh! His feet are really starting to improve. By late spring/early summer he should have amazing feet again. Yay for mother nature! 

Colic, moving and drama

Yup, the dreaded "c" word. Thursday evening I went back up to the barn to give UK his dose of doxy. After dosing him I he kept acting funny, and looking a bit glassy eyed. Concerned, as he'd been fairly normal during the morning, I inspected him closely. If I didn't know him so well I would not have noticed how tight his midsection was. He wasn't in distress, but he wasn't normal either.

I lunged him, and managed to get one poop out of him, but his mid section was still blown up tight as a drum. He was angry that I took away his dinner, which was reassuring. We went for a hand walk down the road, got lunged again, but was still blown up with no gut sounds at all. I gave him some banamine, and waited.

Hours passed and he still wasn't better, no worse, but no better. I ran home and changed into more appropriate barn wear and ate something. I got back to the barn and settled in for the long haul. Mineral oil was my weapon of choice, and UK didn't enjoy getting a whole syringe of it forced down his throat. In the end though it did the trick. I didn't get to bed till 3am, but my horse was much happier after farting up a storm and pooping some more.

Friday dawned with me feeling very sleep deprived but needing to start packing up my stuff for UK's move to the new barn. Cleaning out my trunk always proves emotional as I there are always some items that have fallen to the bottom that used to be Jake's.

Leaving Betsy's was very bittersweet. I loved being there, but I was also looking forward to going to a barn with trails and lots of people to ride with.

Anyways... before I make myself all teary.

UK has been settling into his new home fairly well. He's been very excitable, and it took him a whole day to stop looking for Dacharia. I rode him bareback last night, and it was rather nice. The doxy is really starting to effect the Lyme as he moved forward easily for the first time in weeks.

Today was supposed to be relaxing and fun. Sally, who owns the barn, offered for UK and I to join her and some others on a nice relaxing trail ride. I figured since he's settled in well and was so good last night that we'd be ok as long as we didn't have to lead. Silly me.

I got on him and he started worrying on the bit and overreacting to everything. We started to walk down the driveway, in the middle of the group, and he starts jigging. The farther down the driveway we got, the worse he behaved. Then he reared. I stayed with him and tried to get him to move forward. Then he went up a second time and my right stirrup started to come off my saddle. My thoughts focused on the phrase "Oh shit". I was falling off the back of him. I'm not sure how, but I managed to almost step off him and ended up on my own two feet still holding the reins in my left hand. He proceeded to freak out more and spin around me as some brush had gotten stuck in his tail.

I got him to chill long enough for me to remove the offending branch and pick up my stirrup from the ground. I then decided that we're going on this damn trail ride hell or high water. So I hand walked him the whole bleeding way. UK was lather from head to hoof from nervousness and excitement. It was a miserable experience for me, but a good one for UK. I ended up sun-burnt, exhausted and dehydrated. UK never ran out of energy, despite sometimes trotting sideways while I walked. I think he has the stamina for eventing after all. Ha ha.

Depending on the weather, I think we'll do some ring work and maybe even jump a bit in order to get his brain back and give him some confidence.

I'm going to sleep now... I wish I didn't have to be up so early!

Just a quick update

So I rode UK yesterday, which was very brave of me! The wind was whipping around with 30mph gusts, but for me it felt fantastic after all the heat. UK is somewhat spooky as it is, but add a massive temperature change to cooler weather plus the wind and it's a recipe for disaster. Thus I put him on the lungeline before getting on him. Good thing! He had a whole little temper tantrum which included bucking.

Then with a prayer to the heavens and a determined attitude I mounted my crazy beast. His whole body was tense, and just waiting to explode. I swallowed my nerves and buried them in the back of my mind. Lots of forward trot, and lots of circles while working on being balanced. Every step I had my weight sunk as deep into my heel as possible, letting my very long legs keep me anchored. My torn left ankle makes this a bit painful, but I preferred enduring that little bit of pain to the potential pain of being thrown. Eventually UK focused and started to relax a tiny bit. I rewarded him every time he relaxed, trying to get it into his head that paying attention to me and not the scary things outside the ring was best.

I had changed the big oxer from free jumping him the day before to a nice big crossrail that we could pop over if he continued being good. I knew he'd jump it, as it was a little bit too high to just trot over. However I was not expecting the massive jump that he gave me. We trotted up to it, with me holding my leg and then BAM he jumped it like it was the big oxer from the day before. Thank goodness for muscle memory! I admit, I wasn't able to catch up with him quite as fast as I would have liked, but that was mostly due to the fact I still had my stirrups long for flatting. Thus I caught his mouth for about a second before I let the reins slip through my fingers on the landing. I made him keep cantering afterwards and then walked to regroup.

We attempted to jump it again, but now he was scared off it and stopped when we approached it again. So I spanked him once with my hand. I think the reason he was acting off about it was the shadows were making it seem like there was something in front of it, thus making it look wider then it was.

Not wanting to fight him, I changed tacts. I made him pick up the canter, we did a couple circles and then went back to trot. Then I changed directions and trotted the crossrail tracking left. He was reluctant, but moved forward when asked. Lots of praise was given and then we cantered it, more praise after doing it perfectly. Then we turned back to tracking right and successfully trotted it that way a couple times. Then we ended on that high note.

I gave him today off, but I plan on doing something with him tomorrow as I dragged the ring today. All that fluffy footing is just begging to be ridden on!

I think this weather sucks.

Yup, I really hate it. Mid to upper 80's in May is so not okay. The bugs are killer and there is no relief from the heat. Ugh! I've been riding UK bareback as the thought of putting on half chaps makes me wince. I have never enjoyed the heat, and I doubt I will till I'm old and decrepit. 

The upside of riding him bareback (besides making my muscles work twice as hard) is that it's as close contact as you can get, so it's great for working on lateral movements! We do a lot of bending and circles, as he's still not quite balanced enough when tracking right. Counter bend seems to help him the most, and it has the added benefit of keeping him focused. 

This morning before the heat reached unbearable temperatures I lunged UK, first on a lunge line then free over a jump. He was a bit cranky at first, as Dacharia was making a big deal about me keeping him from her. I took pictures using the sport motion setting again. I love going through all the photos, it's like an animation!

Look at him bend! Look at that neck!! 

I am so very, very proud! 

He only knocked a rail down once, and it was because Dacharia distracted him and he got too deep. Other then that he was excellent. (I started him out over a crossrail oxer first before putting it up to the height in the pictures.)

:p

So that's it for now. Hopefully it will cool down soon so I can actually jump him under saddle without getting heat stroke!