Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Nervous Wreck


Sleepy Denali hand-walking this morning. She's not a morning person either!

I was fine. I really was fine up to now. Now. Now I'm a nervous wreck. So much so that Opheila's mom's boyfriend joined me in my run to the gas station this evening and sequential consumption of over 50 grams of fat (Sugar Wafers are evil!!) I'm a nervous wreck and I hate it. When I'm nervous I eat. Boo.

Denali was a good girl today. I hand walked her to wear her out, then gave her a bath. She didn't move a muscle. Poor thing, she was so happy to be out of her stall she'd do anything for attention. I got to the barn at 11 and just hung out with Ms. Denali. We had her wrapped and


loaded by 1:30 and were on our way. It was the first time that Ms. Denali balked at the trailer door. She knew something was up and she wasn't going to be a fool. BUT the sweet smell of hay overcame her and she gave in. She was good girl the whole way to Pilchuck.

We got there and I had to give them her medical history. I chuckled nervously as I wrote everything down. The surgeon came out and talked with me and my trainer. She was very nice and walked out with me to get Denali. Denali is great at loading, and trailering, but once it stops she wants out. Now. I opened the trailer and went inside. She tried to back out as soon as i released the divider (I don't know what to call it, it is a 4 horse slant load, so the thing that holds her in place.) She was all tense and I was at least a little confident knowing that as I pet her and talked to her I could feel some of the tension leaving her back. Eventually she calmed down enough that we could back out of the trailer without killing one of us. The vet tech tried tot take her from me, but I asked if I could walk her to her stall. Denali does really well with people she knows and trusts, but sometimes, SOMETIMES, she freaks out and every time she has she has gotten hurt.

The surgeon wasn't sure what exactly is going on with her leg. The xrays show one thing, but I guess from the outside it shows another. She talked about the tests that she wants to do on Denali. I thought to myself "Yeah, those are all great and all, but if you don't cut her open I'm going to have to pay for those because my insurance won't!" I'm a horrible person. All I know is that the surgeon told me that the quote is $3,500 and that is a low estimate. Great, just freaking great!

Ms. Slew weighs in at a whole 1,180 pounds. I wonder what she weighed before she lost all her muscle. She was a very good girl and made a friend with a pretty warmblood mare next door to her.

Denali settled in very quickly into her stall, and quickly made it known that she was in heat. She stood there with her tail flipped up and kept peeing. Oh Denali, must you be a hussy? I reminded Denali that she wasn't there to be bred, kissed her on her nose and left her. Now I'm sitting her waiting for the surgeon to call me to tell me their game plan for tomorrow. I think I'm going to be sick.

Also, Denali and I want to send a get well to Pia who seems to have almost as much luck as Denali does! Pia is having her own spa treatment (for the second time in a month) tomorrow too. Pia and Denali seem to have the same outlook on life in general. Maybe it's a good thing that they are at two different hospitals! :)


Wheres yous goin?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Countdown

Tomorrow is the day (well, actually Thursday, but I lose control once I drop her off tomorrow so...) I'm a nervous wreck, I'm not going to lie. I'm nervous about fronting the money for the vet bill (which is going to be my salary for a little over a month and a half) and then, just the fact that they don't know what they're looking for. I would probably feel better if they knew exactly what it is that is near her bone.

She's such a sweet horse, and such a doll baby (when she wants to be.) We've been doing hand-walking dressage/showmanship. I have been walking the patterns with her, explaining that "at this point Denali we'd be trotting, but you're not allowed." She's been so good and she is listening really well. The first few days I had to hold her head back and continually stop her and back her so she'd stop leading me. She doesn't do that at all, I can let the rope go slack and she'll stay right where she belongs. I'm teaching her showmanship and to square up. She's getting better at it, but still doesn't put her back leg down (and I don't make her for obvious reasons!) If she does then I praise her, but if she doesn't and she's square I just say it "counts." I'm just doing it for fun and to give her something to think about.

Thank you everyone for your support! I greatly, greatly appreciate it!! I'll try to post on here how surgery goes once I find out on Thursday. Wish us luck!

P.S. This video made me bawl. I am just exhausted and stressed, but I thought it was so cool!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

T-minus 3 days

Life has been crazy. I can't believe that school has been out since Tuesday. More-so, I can't believe that I've done as much I have in the past 5 days.

After our colic episode, I've decided to try hand walking Denali without using ACE and she's been fine. I was doing it outside around the farm, but even when she was ACE'd she'd get overly excited when she'd see another horse (I would too!) so I decided to just hand-walk her in the arena. We've been doing the Intro A test over and over again. It gives me something to think about rather than mindlessly wandering around the arena. We've also been working on Showmanship. She always cocks her left leg (suspensory tear) so I don't push it. She's been so sweet!! The Reserpine does that to her.

Today I groomed her really good, and trimmed her bridle path and her whiskers for our trip to the hospital. I took off work on Wednesday to get her ready. I could use the money, BUT I also need a day off. I figured I'd be no good at work anyway, so there's no point in paying me for spacing out.

I wanted to say a million thank yous for your donations!! The Insurance might be paying for surgery, but I still have a tons of bills to pay for her. I withdrew the money from Paypal today and put it into my very low checking account. It's a good thing my husband is in AK because I'm pretty sure he'd kill me! Oh well. Not much I can do.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Oh, and Ms. Denali NOW has a facebook (I know, I'm ridiculous!!) Add her as a friend (Search Denali Slew)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

3 steps forward, 30 back

I'm exhausted, I'm stressed, and those two things don't help my general mood.

Tuesday the vet came back out to give Denali another shot of Reserpine. One of it's side effects is diarrhea and boy did she have diarrhea. This time it was 10X worse than last time. I got to the barn last night and checked on her. She looked pretty bad, and was all sunken in.

I let Ms. D relax and decided to go ride the Morgan. I had an AMAZING ride on the Morgan. It was awesome and I actually felt like I was doing everything right for once.

About 9:00 I went to check on Ms. Denali again, and she hadn't drank any water and then I noticed she hadn't gone to the bathroom at all in the 4 hours I had been at the barn. I went into crazy horse owner mode and went to find a stethoscope and couldn't hear any gut sounds. That's when I noticed that she was kicking at her gut. I grabbed her halter and checked gums, they were pale and there was minimal capillary response. I called the emergancy number and no one called back (turns out that the page didn't go through.) I decided that I'd try to text my vet's number JUST in case she'd answer it. Thank GOD she did! At this point it was 10:15 and she assured me that she should be okay and that she'd be out ASAP, but to try some Banamine first and see if it helps her calm down. She told me to give it to her and wait an hour to see if it helped her to relax. LUCKILY it did, and she drank a little water. I have to say that after 12 hours I have never been so freaking happy to hear that my horse pooped!!

Long, long night and long day. Just wanted to give everyone a Denali update. Surgery still on for the 1st.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Good News! (for once!)

I got some good news today for once!!! I'm so excited. I called the insurance company to see what exactly is covered for Denali's surgery. Everything! Apparently I have a Zero deductible, and need to pay up front, but will get reimbursed for everything! Everything for the first 30 days! I thought it was just the surgery, and that I'd need to pay for the follow-up appointments, but nope! Nothing! I'm so excited! I finally, FINALLY get a break! I then asked them, "What if she goes to a Rehab Center?" The adjuster didn't say "no" but she didn't say yes either. I'm going to look into it. That would be WAY too amazing if they'd cover Pegasus too!! Ugh! I think that I would do back flips if that was the case. I doubt it, I really doubt it, but it's fun to dream!!

(Getting down from cloud 9) Yesterday we went on a trail ride. I took the mighty morgan and it was just my trainer and I. It was a prize ride (which I ALWAYS LOSE) but it was fun no matter what. The Morgan decided at one point to run me into a fence. I tried with all my might to to keep her away from it, but no luck. My left knee is really bruised! I was very mad at her, but quickly forgave her 20 minutes later.

It was raining yesterday. The Morgan and I were following behind my trainer's mare and I used all my power to half halt her off of the QH's Ass. She kept trying to run up on her butt, and I kept having to keep her back. It was a battle, but eventually she calmed down and backed off. At one point she stepped sideways on a hill and down she went on her side. My foot hit the ground, that's how close we were, but at the last second she threw herself forward onto her face to keep me from getting crushed. I'm convinced she saved me! I thought I was going to have a broken leg. It was such a weird feeling. After that she calmed down and listened to me the whole way home. It was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow is my last day of teaching my regular job. My kiddos are super hyper, and I am ready for a change in jobs for a while. I'll be excited to make some money for once! Ms. Nawler's gets the great majority of my money.

She goes to the hospital next Wednesday and comes home Friday night. I still need to figure out what she needs for her "overnight" bag. I figure she'll be pretty drugged for the most part! Poor pony!!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Getz me outs of this stall!

Glass Legged Thoroughbred

So kite flying is going "okay" Denali is defiantly worked up and wants to GO!! It's a good thing that I will send her to Pegasus. I'm pretty sure she's either going to kill me or herself. As for now, her rehab stands as follows, hand walking for 5 minutes a day and essentially I just add another minute on each day. July 1st she has surgery, and then she's back to her solitary confinement for 14-30 days. Then we start all over again. At this point the surgery is going to delay our trip to Pegasus by a month, so I think the plan is now to send her in August. It's usually the hottest in August, so it will be nice for her to be somewhere cool. In 30 days after she comes back from her fetlock surgery, the vet needs to re-examine the suspensory to see how it's healing. Her lameness test was so horrible on Thursday that the vet wasn't too optimistic with this being an easy re-hab. In 30 days if she's still lame, we're going to block it, to see if it is just the suspensory, or if something else is going on too, like a lesion. Oh the joys of horse ownership! I'm not sure how we're going to see if she's still lame in 30 days because she's going to be lame on her right hind from the surgery.

At least I'm getting practice changing bandages now. She has her left front bandaged due to a cut that just won't heal. The vet was nice enough to not charge me for cleaning it up, bandaging it, and the wrap to change it. I don't know if I've mentioned that, it seems so minor! She cut her leg about a month ago (during the first vet appointment when the x-rays of the left hind were taken) and it just hasn't healed. She keeps breaking it open and it keeps bleeding. It's shaved now (that was fun!) and bandaged. She seriously looks ridiculous!!

I keep thinking about adding up my vet bills in the past month, but once I start doing it in my head and it hits $1,200 and that's BEFORE Pegasus, and before surgery, I stop. Ugh. My mom (who I love dearly when she's not driving me nuts) told me to put her down (she's not a horse person and has never met Denali.) I can't think about putting her down. She's still the same horse, a little crabbier, but that's about it. It's hard to even think about putting her down when everything that is wrong with her can be "fixed." Sigh. Oh Denali, if you only knew the amount of money you've cost me. I think Denali needs her own facebook page. "The World Famous Glass Legged Thoroughbred." Maybe I should make her one...

Saturday, June 19, 2010

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The good is that I remembered my dressage boots today, and I did a half-decent rope braid in the Monster Morgan's mane.

The bad is the Morgan's attitude. I joked that I was on a mini-thoroughbred. She had energy to burn when we go to the show, and it took every ounce of my strength to get her to go into the warm up arena. You see, she's herd bound and freaks out when she's not near them or at least can see them. We went for a nice 20 foot run backwards. It was impressive!! She did calm down after a while, but I trotted on her for at least 20 minutes before I could even get her to respond to a half-halt.

The Ugly. Our test. It was bad, oh so VERY, VERY bad!! I'm glad I did it, because it gave me some good notes to remember when I ride her this week, but oh, it was ugly. Our free walk was non-existent and we ended up back on the rail at B. Oh so bad!! I'm glad I went first!! More people showed up after I embarrassed myself. Ugh. We got a whole 57% and 5th place. When I walked over to get my score, 1st - 5th were still set out. I told the woman I was there to pick up my 5th place ribbon. She seemed surprised that I was right. I told her she must not have seen our ride!! Ugh. On a fun note, Ophie's mom's boyfriend got 1st place with a score of 66% (It might be 68%, I don't remember.) I picked up his ribbon and prize and hid it from him until my trainer was around. I wanted her to see the look on his face, and of course it was priceless!!

Went out to the barn and did our 2nd day of hand-walking, or Kite flying as I call it. That's what hand walking a thoroughbred is like, flying a kite. Even with her stud chain on and ACE she was a live wire. She wasn't too bad, but then she saw Ophelia. Ophelia started running around like a bat out of hell, (it's their favorite game, "Who can go the fastest.") Denali got keyed up and didn't come back down. I had to hold her head into me to keep her from killing herself. Note to self. More ACE and hand walking no where near other horses.

I just feel bad for Denali, the poor thing just has so much crap going on. She doesn't seem to be in pain.

Here is your question of the day. What in the hell is this!?!!???! http://www.sstack.com/horse-care_therapy/q-link-equine/ All I know is it is 200.00 and you braid it in your horses mane and it calms them down. WTF!!??!? Anyone? Anyone? (I really want to continue in my Ferris Bueller's Day off tone of voice, but you won't hear that will you? ;0)

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Surgery Scheduled: 7/1/2010

So the surgery is scheduled! It was suppose to be done next week, but I asked to wait another week because I need to fight insurance and make sure that they will pay for this. I've never made a claim, come one National Equine Adjusting!

Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick. So after her surgery on her right hind we will continue to rehab her left hind. Seriously, does anyone else have a more accident prone horse??? Anyone? One thing is for sure, no one in their right mind would EVER, EVER buy her!!! EVER!!!

Ask me what she's getting surgery on... I'm not even sure!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!





So... Things didn't go as planned. I should have known that when we took Denali out of her stall and she looked just as bad today as she did 45 days ago. I'm to start hand walking her 5 minutes a day, increasing 1 minute everyday up to 30 minutes. The vet will be back out then to re-check her suspensory, and if she still appears as lame as she was today then she's going to block it to make sure it is only her suspensory, and not something else. Pegasus in 30+ days if this goes well.

Then the vet did the x-rays of the "lump" I don't even have the energy right now to go find the old posts I did on it. Bad blogger, bad, bad, bad blogger. Anyway, the marking on her bone (where the shadow is) has changed a lot in the past 6 months and is getting larger. The vet mentioned something about it being a possible bone infection (not likely) a bone chip, or something else. She's sending the X-Rays to the Large Animal Hospital for a consult. I told her we need to do it ASAP if we are going to do surgery because my insurance is cancelled in August.

UGH! She's not in pain so as long as she's not in pain I'm fine with her sucking me dry. Her new show name that we WILL get to someday is Money Pit. Denali was a PILL for the vet even sedated. Denali managed to gash her leg open sometime last night so the vet (who I love) shaved it, cleaned it, and bandaged it. She said it looks like it's healing well, but to keep it covered. Seriously. Even in a stall my horse breaks herself! I now own a giant bottle of ACE to use for hand walking. I wonder if I can take some!

Road the Morgan Monster tonight, we went through our pattern and it went well the first time, then nada. We were both tired so I didn't push it. I used my black Back On Track pad and her back was awesome. I might just use that one on Saturday. When I was leading the Morgan in she snatched some of Nawler's hay. That was a bad move. Denali WAS PISSED!! She started slamming that board she moves up and down, and up and down. Pony not pleased.

Okay. It's late, and I'm tired. Just thought I'd ramble first.

D Day




As in Denali day. Today is the day the vet comes out to give us an update. I was such a nervous wreck last night at the barn trying to figure out how she's doing on my own. She still has a horrible limp. That can't be good. She was in good spirits though, so that's good. She looks thinner to me, which doesn't make much sense because all she does is eat. UGH. Horse, why are you so complicated! She has no muscle tone at all, her top line is totally gone and her butt jiggles when she walks.The continuation of Denali's construction work. I can't even get the board to go the whole way back down. UGH DENALI!! You have more stall toys than you know what to do with, can't you play with those!! MUST you lift up the board to see what's going on? You're so nosey!!
My skinny, lame, no muscled horse. Now imagine this build but 200 pounds underweight. That's what she looked like when I came back from Denmark.

This is our WONDERFUL present from Kristen and Laz over at Sweet Horses Breath. Laz sent it to Denali (and now she thinks they're engaged, watch out Laz!) to help keep the evil spirits away! It worked well for them! I tried to hang it IN her stall, I put it far up in a corner that would be hard for her to reach it since it's glass. God, I'm so dumb! She figured out that it was in there and decided to risk killing herself to see if it was food.... now it hangs on the front of her stall. Thank you so much Kristen and Laz!! We love it!


I'm so not ready for the show. I've tried memorizing my pattern for Saturday. I think I have it down, but in all honestly it isn't going to be pretty. My head and heart just weren't in it yesterday and our ride sucked. I have been using my Back On Track pad on the Morgan Monster, but it's black, so I switched to a white pad (not back on track.) I can totally notice a difference in her back. It takes forever for her to loosen up and start to use it. Ugh. I love my Back on Track pad, it's awesome. Hopefully Denali gets to use it. I owned it for a whole week when Ms. D got hurt. No teasing! My ride is at 9. I'm hoping your right Jay, and that the judges will be more lenient the first ride. I can only imagine what my score card will say in comments! Gulp!

Still playing with the layout. What do you think?

Need to focus. Think good thoughts for Nawlers!



Wednesday, June 16, 2010

OMG!

I just got my ride time for Saturday. I go first!! I was hoping to follow in the foot prints of someone else for the 20 meter circle! GULP!! This is going to be bad, very, very bad!! I'm going to hope that no one else will be there. If you're doing the same show, and I know two of you are ;0) whatever you do DO NOT FOLLOW IN MY TRACKS!! My Morgan Monster and I have a geometric deficit. We can't make a 20 meter circle to save our lives!!

UGH. The husband left for Alaska today (insert loud booing here) but that means I can practice with the pony the rest of the week. Interesting will also be switching her bit. The first show we used a loose ring snaffle. The last show I used a Kimberwick to have better control, but can't use that! I'm hoping that my boucher will work for her. I need to go ride tonight and see what her thoughts on life are!! Downfall of riding a lesson horse, she tries to go through the motions so that she can be done. Ms. Monster it's 6 minutes of your life. Please be good!!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Busy, Busy, Busy


Life has gotten ahead of me. I have more on my "to do" list then I like! My husband is leaving tomorrow for 2 months. He's an Archeologist and works in the Arctic Circle. We've had the "no buying anything that eats" speech. No fun! I mentioned that I want another horse and I thought that he was going to have a heart attack. 2 horses = no husband. It's okay honey, I can't afford one horse, let alone two!

My trainer called my last night. I sent her an e-mail telling her how much I LOVED going to the shows the past two weekends. She asked me if I wanted to go to a Dressage show this Saturday. I had Denali's vet appointment, and hadn't practiced ANY tests in over a year. Gulp. Sure, why not! I called my vet, who's amazing! I asked her about changing my appointment, and told her why. She was so excited and said it wasn't a problem. So Denali's appointment is Thursday at 4pm and I'm doing my first dressage show on Saturday. One of my followers will be there too. :) How fun is that!?


Monday, June 14, 2010

Intro Level, Test A

Anyone know where I can get a copy of this test? Gulp! I need to cram!!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Lessons Learned

Our barn's ribbons

This is going to be long winded. Get some coffee or a snack and have a seat!!

I'm so tired. It's always interesting that I'm willing to wake up at 4:45am to go to a horse show, but would bitch at my husband if he even mentioned waking up before 7 am.

Yesterday was our second show, and our first actual show since last weeks was a schooling show. I did not have proper riding coat/shirt so Friday night, after all the tack stores (all two of them) closed my husband and I went to Value Village in hopes of finding a suitable alternative. Value Village is like Goodwill. We walked around the store and I found a black jacket that looked nice and was only $10.00. It fit almost perfect, and so for a whole $14.00 I had my new show outfit. I had never heard of the brand, so when we got home I googled the name: ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA and come to find out the jackets start at $300.00 new and go up. Most I found were $1,200. It might not be a dressage jacket, but it's fancy! I had a few complents on it at the show.

Oh the show. It was dress up, fancy show so I will blame that for not doing as well. :) In reality, I kept bouncing my hands. We did Walk/Trot Equitation, 15 and over and Open. We also did Walk/Trot Pleasure 15 and over and Open. I decided at the last minute to give trail a try too. It was a fun day.

In our first class we got 2nd place. I was excited, but thinks sort of went down hill from there. Our second class The Morgan kept breaking into a trot, so I'm not sure exactly what I was doing with my body. I have a bad habit of pushing with my seat. I got that from Yukon. We got 4th place. In our Pleasure classes....Oh Pleasure... We probably would have done better if the Morgan's ears were not glued on backwards. Seriously, pinned the entire time. She always does it, and it's just her personality. They are not pinned in a mean way, just back. We got 4th and 5th in those classes. Ophie and her mom got first!!! I was so excited for them! Especially since Ophie threw a shoe on Friday night and our amazing farrier came out at 9pm to fix it. They also got Reserve High Point! It was great. We got 5th in trail, not so great, but the ribbon was hot pink so that makes me smile.

Lots to work on for me and the Morgan. She is use to toting around sma
ll children. One thing is she definently likes me. I stopped by today to give a quick visit to Ms. D on my way home from my working student position, and saw that the Morgan's braid was still in (opps!) I went over to the fence and she nickered at me. She's not a very loving horse (much like Ms. D) so it made me happy that she at least showed some interest in me. Speaking of Ms. D, Like her remodeling of her stall? She lifts that board up so she can watch what's going on down the aisle way in the barn. HA!

Today was my husband's last Sunday in Seattle. We woke up early and went for a day hike. To give you an idea of how that went this is me walking though a waterfall in freezing cold water. Where there wasn't a waterfall there was snow, lots and lots of snow!! It was hilarious. I usually hate hiking, but this was just too wild to hate. Let me just say. That water was FREAKING COLD!!!!


I'm done babbling for now. The vet comes out next Saturday. I'm so ready for this appointment. I hate not having a plan. Speaking of Denali and the vet I wanted to personally thank those of you who have donated to Denali's Pegasus Fund. I signed in to my paypal the other day and we have almost $400.00!! It made me super excited, but we wouldn't have that if it wasn't for you!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Thank you Jay, Thank you Becky, Thank you Rachel, Thank you Karla, Thank you Nardi, Thank you Kari, Thank you Jacqueline, Thank you Nicole, Thank you Jennifer. Thank you!!!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Blogger, I hate you.

So I did something to my blog. It went crazy and I had to change the background. Boo blogger, boo!! If I could just figure out how to make my picture longer or edit it to make it "neat" then I'd probalby be happy. Right now I don't like it.

Had an amazing, AMAZING ride on the morgan last night. Then I got totally depressed after. I want Denali to be like that, and she won't be. I did notice that I tense up when I'm riding and hear a noise. I guess I could say that I spook. I'm just so use to being on Denali and those noises = to a wild ride.

Other than that, show is tomorrow and I'm going out to beautify the pony. I think people can still post comments on here. If you can't e-mail me @ rehabdenali@yahoo.com

Peaceful weekend everyone! Also, if anyone can make a bigger picture let me know!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Shocker!

The insurance company called, they won't renew our policy for next year. I'm shocked (not really) Gee thanks!

Also here are the supplements that I ordered, I did a one time order for now....

BioFlax 20

Cosequin

SmartCalm Ultra

SmartProtect Ultra

TractGard

Round 2

I didnt' want to say anything until I was sure... going to my second show Saturday. Apparently a little more serious, and I need to be a little more dressed up. I'm lacking the ability to take anything serious and nice clothes. I hope to take care of one of those two things tonight. :) Still working on making up a smartpak for Ms. D. I want to have one to send with her to Pegasus, it will just be easier!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Supplement Help!

Supplements. I'm trying to figure out what to put Denali on, what she needs, etc. I've decided to do smartpaks since it jsut seems so much easier!

here's what I'm thinking:

Cosequin
SmartB1
SmartCalm Ultra
SmartE Natural Vitamin E

I currently have her on Trifecta, which hasnt' done a lot for her joints. She still sounds like a rice krispe treat sometimes. I feel like a lot is missing here. The reason I went for the SmartB1 and the SmartCalm Ultra is that if you add those supplements together they are equal to ExStress and less money. There's also not enought vitamins, so I need to pick something out. UGH! I usually LOVE supplement shopping, but I'm spent! Ideas anyone? I also need Biotin for the feet!

Anyone want to shop for me?

Monday, June 7, 2010

Number game

12.

12 more days of work.

12 more days until Denali's vet appointment.

I can't wait for either.

8.

8 more days until my husband leaves for 8 weeks. No phone, no internet, no communication except the old fashioned way. Letter writing. Oh joy! (Sarcasm, lots and lots of sarcasm)

8 pounds lost. Not as much as I wanted at this point, but I continue to work out.

I would like both of those numbers to be bigger. Maybe switch so I can actually be off from work the same time as my husband. Boo. Actually I have one day off. June 23. I'm going to do NOTHING. Then I start summer school. Glory.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Consistency


Large ass on a small horse. What can I say? I'm consistent. I did three walk trot classes with Ophie's mom's boyfriend. I was so sick with this dumb cold (still am) so the positive thing is I had no energy for nerves. None, zip, zilch. The first class we did wasn't so great. There were 6 people in it, so I probably shouldn't have, but I laughed out loud when I got announced third. I honestly thought I'd get last, and was excited that I didn't get asked to leave the arena. The second class was the best of the three. We were "on" a lot more than we were off. AKA, I was able to get her to transition smoothly and kept her moving. There were 6 people in this class too, so I was again thrilled to get third. The last class we did really, really well and then had a few moments of not so good. Exciting news is in the last class Ophie's mom's boyfriend got first!

I love that there are blogs that talk about being able to get their horse do all these fancy things, and I, I am excited about getting third in a schooling show's walk/trot class. Ha!

Before the show yesterday I spent sometime with Ms. Denali. She still has a pretty bad limp, and it makes me really sad. If something happens that makes her unable to be ridden I won't be able to get another horse. I'll just own an expensive pasture pet. I always thought that when I went to my first show I would be going with Denail. I painted my finger nails (something I NEVER do) red in honor of her since it's her favorite color (okay, I made it her favorite color.) A little down about Ms. D. I couldn't imagine having a child. I wouldn't be able to handle it. I'd be worried all the time.

I have no voice. My husband and I went out with Ophie's mom and OMB for dinner last night. I was the perfect date. Unable to talk. ;0)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Denali 1, Stall 0


There you see my horse. There you see the stall door. Denali 1 Stall door 0. My trainer doesn't think that she kicked it, but the door is definently bent and snapped. Ms. D is also limping pretty good on her left hind, which in turn makes me a nervous wreck. Stupid horse. Anyone else have a horse with a torn suspensory? How long did they limp? June 19th is the check up. I can't wait.
Sorry for not updating last night. I had an allergy attack and currently can not hear at all out of my left ear. It hurts like hell.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

T minus 3 days

I'm going to the show on Saturday. Gulp. I think I've ridden the Morgan Monster 8 times in the past three months (if that much) but I just want to get out there and do it. Ophie's mom's boyfriend is going too. It will be both of our first show. He started calling us "Team Green" and I think it fits us. I'm a little nervous (lie: lot nervous) about dealing with other people in the arena. However, I am just going to get out there. As long as they don't ask me to leave the arena I'll be happy. The Morgan Monster is a veteran. She has been to lots and lots of shows, and so I'm not worried about having to deal with her. She was really good for me tonight. I must say getting muscles makes riding much, much easier. I think I did a better job of keeping my hands quiet which has been my major problem.

It's funny. My fear of horses in general is gone. I don't get nervous at all. Except when Ophie is in the cross ties! I'm so afraid that she's going to step back. Tonight I got on the MM (Morgan Monster) and I got nervous, reminded myself that it's the morgan, she won't kill me, and then by the end I was fine. Then I start thinking about the fact that I do not own a Morgan. I own a broken Thoroughbred. Sigh.... I hope that I will be able to ride D with confidence. My lease on the Morgan started today so I plan on getting as much as possible out of it! I want limited fear.

Some other interesting news. I haven't ridden in my field boots since I started working out. Normally they are snug on my calfs and I need to use my zipper pull to get them the whole way up. Well, now they are loose at the top and at the bottom. They still are tight enough around the thickest part of my calf so they stay in place, but it's pretty exciting. My pants are getting loose too. I'm pretty happy. I wouldn't mind them all falling off, except that I can't get new clothes because I can't afford them. :)

Other exciting news. I got hired to teach summer school!! Know what this means?? It means that I am just that much closer to sending Ms. Denali to Pegasus!!! I'm so excited! I found out today at work, and had to spend my day trying to stay calm. I even called and scheduled the vet to come out for MORE x-rays and a sonogram of her right hind. Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching. NOT excited about the money, but oh well. We'll develop our game plan and then go from there. I'm still selling everything of mine that isn't nailed down. So, if you need anything check out my other blog. www.rehabdenali.blogspot.com

Pegasus is a horsey hilton and it is amazing! Pictures do it no justice at all. None! It's the only reason that I'm not totally dreading spending the $1,800. I still can't afford more than 30 days, and that's as long as she doesn't need surgery on her other leg. Oh glory.

Lots to do! Thanks for stopping by! I signed in today and saw that I had 92 followers! WOW! Thanks for joining our ride. I need to update the "readers" blog list! If I don't have your blog posted, and you're a follower please add it to the comments (and tell me how you found us!)

Have a great night!