This Semester.

I feel terrible because I haven't written anything this entire semester. The thing is, I really haven't enjoyed my riding class this semester. The school's barn got a new trainer and I don't like her. At the beginning of the semester, she picked on me constantly. Yes, my heels are near-level. They are telling me that they don't want to go lower, yet I have a remarkably secure seat both on the flat and over fences. She wants me in a chair seat so that I can bang on my horse's back when I post like the rest of the class and she wants me to ride all forward and silly-like. There are people in my class who shouldn't even be cantering (let alone holding reins because of their atrocious hands), yet she told me that I wasn't allowed to jump until I could see my toes past my knees and lock my leg (not in those words, but that was the result). She also told me that I had to post without stirrups--one motion that, for some reason, consistently strains my hip. She wouldn't leave me alone until I did and I was upset because my hip started hurting. One day, we were working patterns on the flat and someone forgot to change diagonals after changing directions. She called out the student's mistake and then asked the rest of us, who were lined up and watching, if we understood why a change of diagonal was needed at that point. I honestly thought it was a rhetorical question because no one in the class had any excuse not to know why. No one else answered either, but she decided to make me feel stupid by personally asking me the question again. I would have given her a good explanation, but I didn't feel that I should give her more than a nod's response for such a ridiculous question that had no purpose other than to try and embarrass me. I was so close to dropping the class and demanding a refund.
The school's barn also got rid of two of my favorite horses, Bugsy and Jasmine. Bugsy left with the trainer who left, and I think Jasmine went back to her old home for a while. I've been on Chloe, the huge Clydesdale, so many times this semester. I also rode Rascal a lot at the beginning of the semester.
The other day, I had to jump Chloe. I'm actually getting pretty good with her. I used to be nervous about riding her, and I was honestly scared to death the first time I had to jump her. She's just so big...and...er...gigantic. I'm starting to get used to her massive strides and her way of thinking, so I've had a lot of good rides on her. When I jumped her last Monday, we took a line of jumps and Chloe had a hard time doing the line because I don't think she's ever done a bunch of close jumps before (that's how our new trainer made it sound) and because it was a small stride for her. She ended up handling everything pretty well. We didn't have many problems at all until we did jumps that were far apart. The first jump was rather unappealing to Miss Chloe because, although it was really low and she cantered beautifully up to it, she slammed on her horsey brakes faster than I ever thought she could. It was such an amazing change--she was moving so powerfully with me following closely, then suddenly she stopped and, for a brief moment, I was still accelerating.
Thanks to my solid lower leg and quick reaction time, I moved less than double the height I would have while rising the trot before shifting my weight back and settling into the saddle. We restarted the course and did it quite happily before ending for the day.
During another lesson, Barney gave me a ride that I'll never forget. We were working over ground poles, and Barney refused to go into a certain corner. Our trainer decided to help by standing in his chosen path and, later, standing right in front of the pole. What did jumping-minded Barney do when his ground pole was blocked? Well, he sure didn't wait for our trainer to move out of our way. He took an alternative route--the huge jump off to the right side of the pole. I thought it was hysterical. Our trainer was scared to death because she didn't know Barney could jump and because she didn't think we'd make it over because we were so close to the larger jump when he took off. I could just tell that he was going to do it, and it felt absolutely amazing. Well, it's not like I had any choice of what was going to happen to me; either I was going over the jump with him or he was going to slam on the brakes and send me over by myself. There wasn't any time for my brain to interfere, just pure reaction and smooth movement. I'm striving to achieve that state of mind every time I ride.
And I've been on so many horses this semester whom I've been "warned" about--he's panicky, he's going to take off, hang on tight--and had wonderful rides on. Our new trainer has actually complimented me a lot for my rides on the school horses who tend to explode with other people. She said she was very surprised at their calm behavior. She also complimented me a lot for my ride on Chloe the other day, saying that I stuck with her beautifully. At this point, I doubt I'm going to ride next semester because of lack of time and money and because I've had a sort of love-hate relationship with this semester.
I saw my Wellaphone tonight and I swear she's more beautiful than ever. I love her so much.

Nightmare.

I had a terrible dream last night. I haven't even written it down yet because it was traumatic for me to recall, much less "experience."
It was a little jumbled, but I remember seeing Mac. He was bathed in sweat, and he looked weak. He went down in his stall and I sat next to him, sobbing. He was dying all over again. I couldn't do anything but watch and sob. It was the worst Mac nightmare I've had. I've had a few where I've known that he was dead, where the other horses were freaking out because they knew he was dead, but none that forced me to relive the worst day of my life.
To make matters worse, Sissy was also sick in the dream. I don't know if I wrote about her in a previous entry, but both Sissy and Tina are pregnant. Sissy got sick in the dream, but the sickness caused her to abort the foal. She got better, though.
It's going to take me a while to recover from this one. Stella will help.
EDIT:
"La Mer" is helping until I can get to the barn.

Straight From The Horse's Mouth

Stella had a visit from the dentist today. She had to have her teeth floated and a wolf tooth and a half removed. I kind of feel weird carrying around two extracted horse teeth, but at the same time I think they're really cool :)
Angie came over and felt around in Stella's mouth. She found a "small wolf tooth" on her left upper jaw, so we decided to go ahead and have it removed. It was very close to her molars and it wasn't interfering with the bit or her ability to eat, but we still wanted them gone. First Angie set out to remove the tooth, which was an interesting process to watch.
Stella was, of course, heavily sedated. I'm sure the tooth extraction was a painful process, so she got lots of happy stuff to help her get through it without a problem. Angie popped the little wolf tooth out and told us that it was probably a fragment left behind from a previous extraction.
After the half-a-wolf tooth was out, Angie floated the bottom molars. That wasn't a problem at...all except in my area. I had to support Stella's whole, drooping head while Angie filed away the sharp edges. She was a little heavier than I could easily support, but I just took a few pain pills and everything's fine. Then, Angie put the speculum into Stella's mouth to keep it open while she worked on the top molars. It was then that she realized that Stella had another, very large wolf tooth on the right side. The tooth was so close to Stella's molars that she'd thought it was part of them. After she finished floating Stella's teeth, Angie removed the speculum and started the process of removing the second tooth. Angie remarked that Stella is very clever; she was able to think of different ways to keep Angie from moving the rasp, so we had to stay on our toes. (Angie loves Stella and wants her, but I don't think she'll buy her because Angie knows that Stella means the world to me.)
Stella needed a bit more of the sedative before we could begin. She didn't try to get away from us or do anything bad, but she started to squiggle so much that Angie couldn't work. When the tooth was out, I watched Stella for a while to make sure she was okay after receiving the sedatives, and then I rinsed her off outside and put her back into her stall. She was bleeding a little bit in her mouth, but that didn't stop her from going straight back to munching her hay and, later on, chowing down on dinner.
Angie also performed some chiropractic work on Sydney. It was great to watch. She said that she attended a two-day course on equine chiropractic work, and she said that it was open to anyone. I'd love to learn how to do chiropractic work on horses. It's the only reason I can still ride, let alone walk comfortably; I'd love to make that sort of difference for a horse.
I had to go to a work party for the local horse show club. It was annoying. I was about 20 minutes late getting there because I'd been with Stella, but no one was there when I arrived. My poor Protege (a tiny little sedan) had a hard time going through the tall grass in the field at the showgrounds. In fact, some of the grass came up over the hood of the car because it was so tall. Everyone else except for one lady drove up in their huge trucks, so they didn't have a problem :) I seem to have a lot of problems bringing my car places. Remember the 4-H road cleanup? Ah, good times... A few people eventually came and we picked up some sticks. Wooohoo. Oh well.
And I can't even go to the show this Sunday. At least I'm heading back to school. I'm just going to miss my girl.

Hold The (Stella) Phone...

It's almost time for me to head back to school... I'm very excited, but I'm going to miss Stella again. It's going to be sad, but we'll deal with it when it comes, as it comes.
I went to visit the horses tonight. Stella was doing well. Sydney also came back from trial at the therapeutic riding barn. I helped Larry do the stalls and feed the horses. Then, we went to the porch and sat down for a while. I got Abby to do some tricks, but I think she needs to learn some new, more challenging tricks. I'd like to teach her to pick up her toys or identify shapes, but I don't know how to do the former and I know it'll take me a lot of sessions to get her to identify shapes. I don't have time for lots of sessions right now--I'm going away :(
I gave Stella a great grooming tonight. She was dirty from being outside all day. She got a good currying, and then I brushed her off and went over her entire coat with a finishing brush. I put some spray-in conditioner on her mane and tail before combing them out. I picked her hooves and squirted some betadine on the hoof where she had her abscess. It's been so wet out that I didn't want it to get nasty again.
I did a little tiny bit of trotting her around the yard. We worked around the puddles, setting up, trotting circles, just walking and bending around. It was fun. Then she went back in her stall and I went home. It was nice. I'm going to miss her.

Horses, dogs, otters...you know, the usual.

I've been going to the pond a lot lately. Larry had to go to town to get some things one afternoon, so I took Abby and Jack down to Jack's Pond. They played in the water while I sat on the overturned boat and dangled my feet in the water. I was in the process of putting my boots back on when I looked up. There were three "creatures" swimming toward me. At first I only saw one, and I took it as Abby still swimming around. I noticed the other two and realized that Abby and Jack were over at Abby's Pond, splashing around and making the frogs jump from their hiding places in the grass. Then, I thought the animals were snapping turtles, but I decided that the heads were definitely mammalian--and that I'd see shells. I assumed they were beavers, but their heads were too narrow to be a beaver. I also didn't think they were muskrats for the same reason. I decided that the animals had to be otters. After that point, I felt like I was having one of those weird, almost transcendental moments where I wasn't sure that I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. It felt like I was hallucinating or something. After a few moments of watching the animals swim toward me, they turned around and started swimming away from me. It was awesome.
The next day, I went out on the holey boat to see if there were any otters swimming in the pond again. I didn't see any, but I got soaking wet because I still haven't repaired the two huge leaks. I enjoyed the water and paddled around for a while.
On the day after that, I didn't plan to go to the barn. I've been having a really rough time with my hip, back, and knees, and I thought it would just be best to stay home and rest. Sure enough, Larry called me while I was eating dinner and asked me if I was coming. I told him that I didn't think I'd be able to and he understood, but he told me that Dylan and Shelby were there for a lesson and they were asking him why I wasn't there. I was upset that I wouldn't see them, so I took some more pain medicine and drove to the barn.
I was obviously limping, which concerned the kids' mother. I assured her that I'd be able to lead Shelby during her lesson, however, and that I was glad to do it. I'm really glad that I came. It hurt when I jogged beside Tina, but Shelby had a great time trotting and I didn't mind too much. Shelby showed Larry her skills at doing around-the-worlds, and even I was impressed. She's very good at them. Larry rode Tina after Shelby was finished riding, and I took the kids and the dogs down to the pond for a boat ride.
I told the kids about the otters. They thought that was very exciting, but we didn't see any otters. I took Shelby and Dylan out on the boat for a long ride. Once again, I got soaked. Most of the water pooled on my side of the boat because I weigh more than the kids. My seat got wet, which made my butt wet, which was rather unpleasant. The seat was wet because Abby insisted on jumping in the boat with us--once again, she needed me to haul her into the boat. I decided to stand in the boat and row back to our landing, hoping that the kids would sit still and Abby wouldn't decide to leap out of the boat, causing me to fall in the scummy water. Fortunately, I didn't get THAT wet.
Shelby also said that I'm a "good friend." We were gathering dirt to make a pretend fire, and I thought that was really sweet of her to say that. Little kids are so great.
After the kids left the barn, I turned on the floodlights and worked some showmanship with Stella. We only did a little bit of trotting, but we did lots of work on other things. I got Stella to do lots of bending. We also worked on setting up until she was doing it on her own whenever we halted. Sometimes, if we practice a whole lot, she'll start doing that. She's great :) We worked on pivoting, which eventually turned out to be pretty decent. I guess I ought to do whatever I can manage. Getting out and doing something positive, like playing with the kids and animals, is better than sitting at home and feeling like I'm too messed up to do anything.
I've been having some good rides on Stella since the arena dried out again. The first night back was okay. She was her quirky little "oh-I-forgot-how-to-do-that" self, as she usually is after a long stint of no work. She didn't do anything too bad, but she was a little spooky in one corner one time around, she insisted on trying to eat grass that was growing up from the pasture (which is right alongside the arena), and she decided that it was okay to ignore my canter cues for a couple of strides.
I also rode her the night before last. She was still a little "off," but she was improving. She wanted to rush a little and still wanted to take her sweet time to move into a canter. The one naughty thing she did was crow-hopping. Stella really felt like she wanted to have a nice hand-gallop. Since we were alone in the arena, I asked her to move into a canter and then got her to extend and quicken her pace. I stuck in a full seat until she really got going, and then I moved into a light half-seat. As soon as I rose from the saddle, she threw her head down and gave me two little crow-hops. They didn't jostle me, but I settled back into a full seat and gradually brought her back into a regular canter. I had a difficult time riding the right lead, so I thought working without stirrups might help. It didn't help, but it was still a good exercise. Our only problem was when Stella and I rode deep into a corner and Stella lost her footing. She stumbled a little and the sudden movement was really painful for me. It hurt all the way up my back and all through my pelvis. I only rode for a little while after that.
I spent a lot of time at the barn today. I cleaned stalls this morning and rinsed off all of the horses because they were sweating in the heat. They enjoyed their baths. I also took Abby to McDonalds. My sister fed her french fries and part of her chicken sandwich. The woman who was working at the drive-thru thought it was strange to see the little dog sitting in the passenger seat with my sister and eying the bags of food with the intent of snatching anything left unguarded. Abby was certainly ready to lap up Larry's strawberry milkshake--if only she'd been able to pop the top off! When we got back to the barn, I gave the dogs some of my Apple Dippers. They enjoyed the caramel. Jack enjoyed it so much that he put his tongue in my caramel sauce and got a mixture of drool and sticky sauce all over my breeches. I also gave one of the apple slices to Stella. By the time I was finished distributing the apples to hungry canine and equine mouths, I only got one or two slices. So it goes.
I took Abby out to Gregg's Place for a while, too. This time, I didn't let myself get disoriented :) She was very happy to go exploring with me. When we got back, Abby was covered in little green sticky-burrs, while I seem to have wandered into a nest of seed ticks. I took Abby and Jack down to the pond, where they splashed in the water and I tried to get the ticks off of me before I could get bitten. I laid down on the overturned boat and lowered my arms into the water, scrubbing violently. Suddenly, Jack and Abby leaped onto the boat and jumped into the water. I seriously thought that I was going to slip and fall into the water because of the way the boat shook. I carefully hooked my foot over the taut rope that was tied between a tree and the boat. That prevented any more near-mishaps, and the dogs continued to roughhouse in the shallow water. I got all of the ticks off, I think. Hopefully I got all the ticks off.
I rode Stella after the horses had their dinner and after it cooled down enough. Mindy came over to help Larry with Curly Sue. I had an excellent ride on Stella. My right lead canter was still a little funny, but I've also been in a lot of pain lately. I assume that it's difficult for me to ride the right lead because I'm out of alignment again. I'm going to the chiropractor tomorrow, however, so hopefully that will be fixed soon. Stella got another quick rinse before I gave her a cookie and turned her out in the pasture for the night.

Stella's Booty (No, this is not about her small behind.)

I haven't been able to ride in AGES because it keeps pouring down. I guess it's for the best, though, because I've been in excruciating pain for the past week or so, and Stella's front left hoof had an abscess. She never acted like she was in pain and I never noticed anything unusual on that hoof when I cleaned it, but the farrier came out and said that she had an abscess. Weird, huh? Stella's a tough cookie :) Now she's wearing a little hoof booty made out of betadine-soaked cotton, vetrap, and duct tape.
Jean helped me with the procedure yesterday, but I had to do it myself today.
It was an ordeal, to say the least. I cut off the old booty and tossed it out before Jack could get it and leave it in shreds around the yard. Then, I had to pick Stella's feet and get everything situated in my reach so that I wouldn't have to put her foot down again. Stella was okay with the part where I picked her hoof up to clean it, and she was willing to pick it up again so that I could do the initial cotton-in-bars, squirt-betadine-everywhere, and wrap-entire-hoof-in-vetrap business. My back needed a break and Stella was getting antsy from having to hold her foot up for a few minutes, so I figured she'd be okay with her foot down for a minute or two. The only problem was that she knew she was going to have to hold the foot up again and didn't want to. She was very difficult about picking her foot up again, but I made her hold it long enough for me to get the bottom of her hoof covered in a layer of duct tape. I guess the betadine started to sting a little (that, or she wanted to play with the booty) because Stella started to lift her hoof up and paw. I didn't let her do that, though. I wrapped the outside of the hoof in duct tape too, and then we were all set. My tough cookie got a cookie and then I put her back into her stall so she could finish her hay.
There hasn't been much going on at the barn lately. It's just been too wet for too much fun.
Oh, I forgot--but how could I? Yesterday, I came to the barn and heard Stella talking to another horse from inside her stall. I was confused because she normally doesn't talk to Tatiana like that when they're both in the stalls, and it didn't sound like she was trying to talk to the horses inside the barn. I came into the yard and saw that Chester was out and about in the yard, messing with Stella and Tatiana in their stalls. I went into the barn and discovered a disaster area. Someone had left his door unlocked. He dragged one of Larry's schooling bridles into his stall (It wasn't damaged, just covered in sawdust.), pulled all of the halters and leads off of the hooks beside each of the stalls, pulled both of the small brooms out of the corner and bent the metal one, knocked over two old box fans that we had sitting in a corner, tipped over the folding chair (He removed the padded seat and shredded it, leaving foam and vinyl-plastic shreds all over the aisle.), completely destroyed a hay bale, knocked over the industrial-sized fan that we keep in the aisle, pulled rags and saddle blankets off of the blanket bars on each stall, and threw the small orange traffic cones off of the fence post where we'd placed them out of Jack's reach. I guess they weren't out of the boy's reach. He didn't hurt himself and he didn't do any major damage; he just made a huge mess for me to clean up. Sounds just like a little stallion :)

Barking Mad, Pool Party, Et Cetera, Et Cetera

Today we had a 4-H pool party and meeting. It was a whole lot of fun. We drove down to Cassie's grandma's house, where we immediately jumped into the pool. Well, I immediately got into the pool. I have no qualms about stripping down to my bathing suit, especially among friends, and I love swimming because it's good exercise that doesn't stress my joints. Heather and Mindy sat near the pool for a while until Cassie and I coaxed them in with a few gentle splashes. We got really crazy in the pool, splashing at one another and tipping raft-relaxers into the water (I got tipped two or three times; I was just asking for it!). We started up a jumping-in contest. Ellie's mom and Cassie's riding instructor judged the biggest splash, smallest splash, funniest jump, and the target jump, where we took turns trying to jump and land in, on, or through a big inner tube. I won the funniest jump contest with my beautiful slapstick-esque jump, where I pretended to slip and fall into the pool. After we'd had enough of swimming, we went to eat and then had our meeting.
We planned to have a yard sale, a bake sale, and a few other things in order to raise some more money before State in September. We also want to have a sort of arts-and-crafts night where we work on photo collages to hang on our stalls at State. The club used to have really nice wooden and metal plaques to hang on the stalls, but everyone who actually had one has either aged out of the club or changed horses. I think I had one, but it had Mac's show name on it. Cassie also had one, but she had a different horse as well. Yeah, everyone else has aged out--I used to be one of the younger members in the club, but now I'm the oldest by about two years.
I'm old. And I feel old.
Carolynn got a new puppy the other day. She's a little brown and white Chihuahua/terrier, and her name is Bella. Bella bites a whole lot with her little needle-teeth, but she's absolutely adorable. Abby is rather jealous, I think. And poor Jack can't do anything but bark whenever he sees her.
I took the lesson kids out to the pond yesterday. They thoroughly enjoyed the ride in the holey boat, which had a particularly big leak yesterday. I took the boat off the line and paddled out to the middle of the pond, where we watched Abby run around and splash in the water. Abby decided to swim out to us and wouldn't abandon the idea of climbing into the boat. I decided to help her into the boat, which involved tipping it over as far as I could without flipping it over, grabbing her front end, and hauling the filthy, wet dog into my lap. She showed her appreciation of our fine watercraft and her brave rescuer by shaking and soaking all of us as soon as she set paw on board. I was sopping wet from head to toe, but it was so much fun. I haven't taken the boat off of the rope in a while.
After our boat excursion, the kids came back to ride. After they had their fun, I longed Stella--who was in a wild, galloping mood and has been for the past few days--and rode her. She worried me a little when I had her on the longe line, but she made me proud when I rode her. We had a wonderful ride. My posting trot is getting much better. For a while my lower leg kept coming forward, which made my torso come forward, which threw everything out of alignment and made everything fall to pieces. Now, I've re-adopted the classical seat and Stella greatly appreciates it. Stella feels like she driving more from her hindquarters, and she's rounding up and coming onto the bit beautifully. She's really gotten the hang of a free walk, and she likes to cool out with some bending and a nice free walk. Last night I noticed that my right hip joint didn't have the same range of motion as my left. I don't know why. It was strange and it didn't hurt, but I noticed a slight difference as I was posting. Oh well. I'll have to see if I can feel a difference next time I ride.

Letter to a Lost Lover

Mac,
I've missed you so much over the last two years. We haven't been able to talk the way we used to, with me trying to whisper sweet nothings into your pinned ears and you silently hoping that I wouldn't stop. Do you remember all of those times I spent sitting in your stall, watching you eat? I remember them. I remember the night I slept beside you and got to watch the sun rise through the barn doors with you. We were lying together in the sawdust, trusting one another so much as I rested my body between your hooves and my head on your powerful side. It would have been one of the most beautiful nights of my life had it not been your last.
I know I shouldn't dwell on that, my dear. So much has changed here. Your brother, Chester, is growing into a fine young stallion. He would make you proud, I'm sure. He reminds me of you every day, and I can't help but think of you whenever I ride him. Baby Jessie is the newest addition to the barn. She is somewhat related to you; her father is the same as Chester's. I guess that counts for something. She is a lovely little girl, and she is going to be an amazing hunter someday. Stella is becoming quite a fine young lady--already an amazing hunter. We've recently started over fences together, and she absolutely loves it. She doesn't look the same as she did when you last saw her, but I don't think that any of us do.
I've changed some physically, but I've changed much more mentally. I feel different, at least. I spent a very long time suffering after you passed, but I've put the pain behind me and chosen to live life with a new sort of vigor. There's no need to worry about me. Sometimes I sit alone at night, listening to music, and I cry when I think of you. Sometimes something will remind me of you and I'll walk off by myself as I feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Looking at pictures of you brings back good memories. Sometimes I think about our last year at State, when my mom was taking pictures of us at your stall with my blue Stable Management ribbon. I'll honestly say that I wanted to be out on the hill, letting you graze as I talked to my friends. I remember, however, one thought that I had... I knew that, one day, I would be glad to have those pictures. I really, really do love them.
It must sound like I cry a lot. I used to, but not so much anymore. I've come to a point where I like to think of the wonderful things we used to do together. I remember our first show together, where we won the halter class and I got my first blue ribbon. I remember the day that Jacqui rode you and you refused to move no matter what she did. I remember falling off at District because that woman scared you. I remember going for a trail ride to the back field. I remember the perfect rides we had, where we truly reached the state that I crave so much. I remember the day you bit me and threw me on the ground, and that day you bit Stephanie. I remember riding you around the yard and walking right up to those deer. I remember finally making it through the rope gate at State. I remember when you used to jump over the mud puddles in the arena because you were afraid to step in the "holes."
Now, Mac, it's time for you to remember something.
Remember that I love you dearly and that I will never forget you. You're gone and you've been gone for a long time now, but that doesn't change things. You're my good Sir and my wonderful gentleman. You'll live forever in my memories and the stories that I promise to share with anyone who is willing to listen. Much love, my love.

Lost (with a) dog.

We were supposed to do hay today, but Larry decided that he just wanted me to clean the barn and give the horses their dinners instead. I took care of all that, kissed on Stella for while, and then decided that I was going to go out into the woods and walk to Gregg's Place. I had a slight feeling that it was a bad idea when I started heading out there, but I went anyway.
Abby followed me faithfully and led me bravely. She stuck fairly close to my side even though there were so many interesting things to get into. We crossed over logs and jumped over the dry stream bed. We ducked under the vines and thorny plants until we were surrounded by the mass mess of Gregg's Place. The only trouble was, we'd gone to Gregg's Place before when the trees were bare and the trailer was clearly visible. The whole thing was covered in thick green plant material, and I wasn't about to go plowing through there. It was the kind of place that would invite snakes and other animals; I'm not afraid of snakes and other animals by any means, but I definitely respect them and know that they're capable of seriously injuring me or my little Hoo-Dog. I decided to walk out a little farther to see just how far the clutter was spread out. I found a whole lot of old car parts and an old shopping cart, as well as a toaster, the top to a small saucepan, and a broken green laundry basket. Abby still followed faithfully and we strolled through the grasses. At some points, the tallest grasses reached my shoulders. I'm 5'7", so it really was some pretty tall grass. Abby ran along with her nose to the ground until I heard the sound of a car nearby and told her to stop and stand near me. I was scared to death because, well, I thought I was going to get caught for trespassing--and in this area, that could very well involve a shotgun. Gregg's Place is completely abandoned and most of the place I was exploring actually is barn property, but the part I was currently on, er...really wasn't. I crouched in the grass with Abby until I couldn't hear the car, and then I somehow got disoriented.
I should have known that I'd gotten myself turned around when Abby and I came to two massive fallen trees. Abby was able to squeeze under it, but it was well over four feet high and difficult for me to climb over because my hip was hurting. Looking back, I could have just gone around it (The hole where the roots had been was massive!), but I wasn't thinking entirely clearly because I was trying to move quickly. I was impressed by the size of the trees, but I didn't stop to think that, hey, I hadn't seen them before.
We eventually came to the end of the woods, where Abby and I stepped onto a small dirt path. In my head, I thought we were heading toward an asphalt road. I'd never seen the path before and I couldn't see either end of it, so I was very worried. I assumed that one way would lead me to a house and, obviously, deeper into the woods, while one would lead me to a/the road. I figured that as long as I made it to a main road, we'd be okay, even if it wasn't the road I originally intended to reach. While I was standing around and thinking, Abby decided to take off running one way down the dirt road. I hesitated and called to her for a few seconds, afraid that I'd get myself even more lost if I went anywhere without thinking, but quickly decided that I really didn't want to lose her and took off running after her. We ran together for a few minutes until I spotted an asphalt road. I hugged Abby and gave her a good scratch on her back for taking me to the road. I carried her a few hundred feet down the road and finally realized that we were heading back toward the barn. I carried her most of the way back to the barn, mostly when there were cars passing. She's so good about them, but I was still worried. When I finally saw the house and the willow tree and my car and the workshop, I was so happy. We walked back up to the barn and I gave Abby a quick bath because I thought I saw her run through some poison ivy. She wouldn't start to itch, but everyone else who petted her would. I also thought that I'd touched some, so I washed all of my exposed skin with apple-scented doggy shampoo :) We were both soaking wet, so I dragged Abby into the feed room to dry her off. She was absolutely WILD, wanting to romp and play instead of having her coat toweled and her Aussie feathering combed.
After she was all clean, I set up the jump in the arena and we jumped it for a while. I also set out the cones in a weave. Abby wasn't very interested in jumping today, so we didn't go very high. Usually, she can do about four feet, but I didn't want to push her today. I kept the jump between eighteen inches and two feet and covered it with saddle pads as a filler. She took it a couple of times before Jack moseyed over. He wanted to play with us, so I tried to call him over the jump. He ran up to it but chickened out and slammed on his brakes, sending him sliding into the pole. One of the jump standards is broken, so it toppled over when the pole was dislodged. Jack was amazed at what he'd just done, so he took the moment where everything was in a disarray to snatch up one of the cones and run off with it. I chased him around (which is exactly what he wanted) and eventually tricked him into giving me the cone. I put the one cone out of his reach and...he picked up another. We repeated the chase until I could get all of the cones up somewhere where Jack couldn't grab them. His finale was knocking down our jump again and then losing interest and walking off like he hadn't done a thing.
Everyone sat on the porch for a while and talked, and then we went home. I turned out Stella, Tatiana, and Baby Jessie before we went. They all ran around like crazy wild horses, kicking up their heels and a massive cloud of dust. They even coordinated themselves for a while, cantering and galloping in straight lines behind one another, running three abreast, turning simultaneously... It was very nice to watch.
This afternoon was a lot of fun. We have to do hay again tomorrow.

Quarter Horse...Part II

I guess I'll go ahead and finish with my entry about our spectacular adventure at the summer AQHA show.
I guess I should explain the title of the last entry. We woke up at 5:15 AM on Friday morning to get ready and leave for the showgrounds, and we called for a wakeup call the night before. We never trust the alarm clocks in the hotel rooms, after all. So, since I'm the best at waking up early in the morning, I was busy getting dressed and washing up while my mom and sister were lying in bed and shielding their eyes from the bathroom light that I turned on. About five minutes after I initially got out of bed (Everyone else had gotten up by then, too.), there was a loud noise. I instantly knew that it was the fire alarm, so I rushed to put on my shoes and check the door to see if I could go outside. The trip was becoming all too similar to being back at college (We were actually very close to the college, and everyone knows about dorm fire drills...) when suddenly the alarm turned off and silence was restored to the dark halls. I glanced out the window and saw firetrucks in the parking lot, and Anna, Mindy's mom, called our room to ask us if we'd heard it. She said that she woke up and thought it was the wakeup call, haha :) My sister and I were all ready, so we flopped out on the bed and laughed about the thought of the fire sprinklers going off while people are sleeping in their beds. When we went down to the lobby to snatch up some free breakfast, the poor guy who was at the desk told us that someone had tried to go through the fire escape exit to go to the nearby Denny's restaurant. He added that he's on first-name basis with the local fire department because it happens a whole lot. It was so funny.
I wrote about all of my classes and how proud I was of my little girl. She honestly did give me some impressive rides. As far as pleasure goes, we won all of our classes :) I love her so much.
After all of our classes on Saturday, Mindy and I went to a trailer that was selling tack and other horse stuff. Stella lost her nice lavender halter about a week and a half ago, and I still haven't been able to find it. I'd borrowed an old halter from out of the trailer and we were doing fine with that, but I really wanted to get Stella a new halter. Mindy helped me pick out a few that would look really nice on Stella, and then I brought Stella up to the trailer so we could try them on. She usually wears ridiculously small halters, and I ended up getting a purple cob-sized halter for her. It was very inexpensive, but it looks great on her and I think she's happy to have her own halter again. They had some halters like the last one I had for her, but none of them were lavender and I really wanted to get Stella a purple halter. Sometimes I like to say that I've always wanted a girl horse because I can take her "clothes shopping," braid her mane and tail, and even put that glittery hoof polish (Eh, that's crossing the line...) on her without the guilty feeling of emasculating my poor horse. The funny thing is that I can't stand clothes shopping for myself, and I don't overdo the whole personal grooming thing. She's my little girl; I have to spoil her a little :)
On Sunday, I gave Stella a thorough grooming in her stall, put the new halter on her, and took her out to graze. She was SO happy. She loves to hand-graze. She usually likes to cruise around with her nose an inch or so off the ground until she finds the perfect spot, where she'll munch until the good stuff is gone. I think she was very happy to get out and have a nice snack. I remember the first year we took Stella to this show, just weeks before Mac died. I was leading her around while we waited for Larry to get the trailer hitched and ready for the horses. I turned my back while Stella was grazing and tried to get her to follow me as I walked a few feet closer to my mom and sister, who were also holding horses. I felt a small pull in the lead and heard the satisfied "sigh-plunk" of a horse about to roll, and I turned to see Stella taking a nice roll on the grass. She's a character, isn't she? I thought about that a lot while we were grazing in the same spot.
We packed up when everyone else was finished showing, and then we headed out for the ride home. I think Stella was very glad to be back in her own stall. I gave her fresh sawdust, hay, and water. Then, she got her dinner and I went home to have my own dinner. But first we shared kisses and sweet nothings as I thanked her for an amazing four days.
I'm so lucky to have a horse like Stella.

"I'm going to Denny's. Oh...oh, $#!+..."

The quarter horse show was absolutely wonderful. I want to write about everything that happened, but I really need to backtrack to the stuff that we did before the show.
We went to a local show last weekend. Stella was well-behaved for part of the show (including one class), but I was really upset by her behavior in our last two classes. In our equitation class, we were having a great time until we started cantering. Even then, we had a great time...until someone on a very nasty little horse upset Stella by running up behind her and then shoving herself in the tiny space between Stella's haunches and the rail. Stella took off and then had a terrible mare flare right in the middle of the ring. She started acting like she was going to rear, so I got her moving again and we managed to canter a few more strides before the judge called for the reverse. She wasn't the same after that. She threw her head in the air and hollowed out her back, and she even tried to buck while we were trotting. I wasn't very happy with her.
In the next class, I could feel that Stella was ready to do something crazy. I was so right. Stella absolutely EXPLODED. I don't know exactly what she did, but it had the upward force of one of her bronc bucks and felt like she jumped straight off the ground (No, it wasn't a buck.). It completely threw out my hip to the point where I started crying from the pain. I was absolutely and utterly loaded with a cocktail of painkillers even before I started riding, so I shudder to think of what the pain would have been like if I had gone without them. I decided to be really stubborn (read: stupid) and not excuse myself from the class. Instead, I decided that I would go into the center and trot some circles with Stella until the judge called for the lineup. She wasn't terrible after I semi-excused myself, but I was in so much pain and she was just too volatile for me to try to canter her again.
After that class, I was really, really upset. I took her back to the trailer and tied her up while I hunted for some sort of pain reliever that wouldn't conflict with everything else I'd already taken. After I'd taken a dose of ibuprofen, I longed Stella again in the schooling ring. I made her work enough to get her calmed down, and then I jumped on her for a short ride. She was quite good for me. I wasn't in as much pain, but I still didn't ride for a long time. I was actually really proud of her. Someone even commented on the dramatic change. As I was leading her back to the trailer, Angie, our vet (who would really like to buy Stella from Larry but probably won't do it because she knows just how much Stella means to me--she was the one who ended Mac's life, after all), came over to me and said that I handled the last class really well and that she would've done the exact same thing. She told me that it looked like Stella had been jabbed hard in the belly with spurs, but she knew that was impossible because I wasn't wearing spurs and would never do that even if I did have them on. She also told me that there was a horse in the class who seemed to upset all of the others, and that particularly nasty horse was near Stella both times that she erupted, as well as near another horse who had a "tantrum" in the class. That's something interesting to think about...
At that show, I also judged the therapeutic riding classes. My old riding instructor, Nancy, called Larry and asked if I would help her out. I was glad to do it because I love the therapeutic riding school and love to help them out whenever I can. The kids were great, and they were having so much fun. I was supposed to judge the classes on equitation, so I mostly looked for a relaxed, balanced, safe seat. It was nice to see Nancy again, and I got some experience as an actual judge instead of just a ring steward.
And now back to the show.
Stella proved to me that she is the most unpredictable horse I've ever worked with. She was...wonderful. Sometimes I think she has all of her little "mare flares" at shows because I get nervous or something. Honestly, though, I never feel nervous at all until AFTER she does something, so I can't be the cause of it. When we got to the showgrounds, I unloaded her and put her into her stall. She whinnied to the other horses for a few minutes, but then she settled down with some hay and water. She usually runs circles in the stall all night when we go to shows like this one, but she was pretty calm in just a few minutes. We fed the horses and took care of them before taking them out for a ride. I longed Stella in the big arena and then walked her around the rail up to all of the spooky things. She used to be afraid of the show office, announcer's booths, and a trash can that was in one corner of the arena. She didn't spook at anything, and I took her back to the barn to tack her up. We went out and had a lovely ride together. I was so proud of her. That night, I bathed her and got her ready for our classes on Friday. We went to dinner at Denny's late that night after we'd finished at the barn. The restaurant was right beside our hotel (hahaha, more on that later) and it was open at the hours we were able to go and eat. We had a great meal and then put the horses and ourselves to bed.
The hotel was great. For the past few years, we'd been staying in one hotel, but we decided against it this year because of a little "incident," courtesy of our intoxicated neighbors, that made our first night absolutely miserable. It was pet-friendly, had an indoor pool, and very nice on the inside of the rooms. The beds were amazingly comfortable. They were much higher off the ground than normal beds (I'm glad I fell off the bed last year instead of this one :P) and it was a little surprising to slide that extra six inches or so to the floor first thing each morning.
The pool was also great. We went swimming and sat in the hot tub for the last two nights. The warm water of the hot tub helped relax my stiff muscles, while swimming helped me stretch and allowed me to be weightless and take the strain off of my joints for a while.
On Friday, I took Stella out for showmanship. I personally think our patterns were very good, but we didn't place. She's still a little slow with her pivot compared to the other horses. She also halted slightly crooked when we started the inspection, but I was worried about correcting it because I'm sure the problem would've just gotten worse if I messed with her too much. We did walk-trot after that, and she was very, very good. She moved out like the huge 17-hand hunters that towered over us (Stella isn't a "trendy" hunter, but I like to fit my horse...), rounded herself up, came onto the vertical, and gave me an impressive go. I was so proud.
On Saturday, we did showmanship again. We got 3rd out of 5 under one judge, and 4th under another. I still thought our patterns were really good. The small trotting circle screwed over a couple of horses in the pattern, but Stella handled it perfectly. After that, I tacked Stella up and schooled her before our riding classes. Once again, she was great. The one thing that distracted her was a truck driving around a nearby arena to pick up some jumps. She was interested in the jumps as well as the noisy truck. She didn't spook, but she really wanted to look and see what was going on. In the walk-trot class, Stella worked very well. The judges asked us to extend the trot. Stella didn't quite extend; she really just quickened her pace a little. At home, I can get her to extend her walk and canter, but I'm having some difficulty in getting some real extension of her trot.
I've really got to finish this tomorrow. I'm tired...

Two years ago today.

Two years ago today, I rode Mac for the last time ever. Two years ago today, I was trotting stirrupless around the arena when I felt his knees buckle. Two years ago today, we were making jokes about Mac's clumsiness and my latest fall. Two years ago today... I remember it like it happened yesterday.
I don't think I rode on June 20th, 2008. The memory was even more painful back then, just a year after. I did ride today, however. It felt a little strange and I thought about it a few times, but it didn't involve the terrible discomfort that I thought it might.
I feel really sad now, but that's because I'm thinking about it. I remember the feeling of his knees buckling, knowing instantly that he was going down. He fell straight on his knees. When he stopped moving, I was still sitting perfectly astride as if nothing had happened. I was too shocked to move. Mac decided that he had to get up whether I was going to get off or not, and I fell off to the side when he was about halfway up. I scraped my hand on the wire fencing and my right leg started swelling from banging it up against something. I was so scared for him. Jean came out of the house and asked me what happened. I had already told Larry that Mac had been stumbling a lot. We finally proved that something was really wrong. I got back on after checking Mac's legs and comforting the poor boy. I didn't know that it would be our last ride.
I guess I'll talk about Stella now. I'm thinking about writing a nice memorial thing for Mac and posting it on July 15, so I guess I'll save all of my fun stories for then.
Stella and I have been on a roll for the past few rides. She's been absolutely wonderful for me. I've taught her to do a free walk, and she lowers her head whenever I ride on the buckle. She's been relaxed in all of her gaits, rounding up, and basically being the fantastic horse that I know she is. We've been working on our circles, and I've been working on not leaning into my turns at the canter. Because I'm correcting that, she's not leaning into our turns at the canter. It's amazing how much a rider influences her horse's performance.
I'm excited about the Quarter Horse show in two weeks. Hopefully Stella will continue to behave herself there just as she's doing at home. If she behaves this way at the show, I'll love her forever. Ah, I love her forever no matter what :) I'm so lucky to have someone like her.
EDIT:
I should add that Stella gave her first pony ride on Tuesday. Shelby came to the barn for a lesson, and we started her out on Tina. She got a little scared when Tina broke into a fast trot, but we comforted her and she was okay after that. She kept saying that she "almost fell down." I was scared that she was going to fall off too... I would've felt responsible for it. I know, I know :P Then, we put her on Sissy for a second ride. She had fun with Sissy, especially when Larry asked Sissy for a showmanship-style pivot while Shelby was riding. Shelby giggled the whole way through, and the sound of her laughter made me all happy inside. I do love seeing little kids learning to ride. Then, Shelby said she wanted to ride Stella. I figured she'd be okay as long as I longed Stella, Shelby didn't attempt to use her legs, and I held onto Stella at all times. I tacked Stella up in my English saddle (The kid had never been in one and wanted to know where she could hang onto. I told her that the pommel would make a decent handhold.), longed her, and gave her a stern lecture on how she was to behave with a small child on her back. Stella isn't a malicious horse by any means, but she is much less predictable than your average horse. I told her that she was to do everything in her power to keep the child on her back and that she would make me very proud if she could give Shelby a safe, fun ride. I feel that she understood the gravity of her job, because she didn't so much as snort as long as Shelby was sitting astride her back. As I was tacking up Stella, Larry half-jokingly told me not to "ruin a good thing." That made me very nervous, but I really think Larry had about as much faith in Stella as I did or he wouldn't have given the okay to put a kid on her back. I did have to tell Shelby not to run up to Stella and not to move her legs at all once she was mounted. Stella works off of very light leg aids, and I feared both for Shelby's safety and Stella's comfort if I allowed the child to attempt to cue Stella herself.
She really is amazing :) She's just not lesson horse material right now, and I'm not sure she'll ever be the kind of horse you can just put kids on.

Everything in one go.

I know I'm slacking off, don't remind me.
I've been doing lots of working and riding and other fun stuff at the barn lately. The big summer AQHA show that we always go to is coming up soon, and I'm very excited. I'm hoping that Stella will behave herself as well as she did last year, but I'm also preparing myself for whatever she decides to do while we're there. Agh, unpredictable horses...
The kids came for a lesson yesterday, so I tacked up Tina for little Shelby and led her around. She told me to let her ride by herself, so I did. I just stayed nearby in case she had trouble getting Tina to steer or go. Tina really requires a lot of leg, and poor little Shelby doesn't quite have the length or strength to keep her going. She's still having trouble with the idea of using the left leg to turn right and vice versa, but I think she'll get it in time. She's really young, but she really likes it. She saw my English saddle in the tack room and asked me about it. I told her that they're for jumping when she asked if they're the kind that "you don't hang onto." I tell her to hang on tight to the reins and horn when I let her jog a little. When she gets longer legs and a more secure seat, we can work on weaning her off of the horn.
I felt so good when I was helping Shelby mount up. I couldn't lift her onto the horse, so I asked Larry to come over and give me a hand. Shelby looked a little worried and had to check to make sure I was going to lead her around even though Larry was the one who had to lift her onto Tina's back.
I also saw her, her mother, and her brother in the grocery store last Sunday. I was looking around for the least expensive carton of orange juice when a small child came running out of nowhere and latched onto me. Shelby spotted me and had to run over for a hug. It's kids like her who make me think twice about not really wanting children of my own :)
I rode Stella yesterday. She was pretty good, particularly toward the end of the ride. She's been really energetic lately. I blame the high-energy feed that Larry insists she eat so she'll be less "ribby," but I do agree that she really needed to gain some weight. She's just a hard keeper. Stella wanted to do her best impression of a giraffe at the beginning of the ride because she saw the other horses playing in the pasture. I worked the silliness out of her, though, and she relaxed enough to give me a lovely trot and canter. I mostly sat the trot yesterday. I don't know why. I wasn't hurting. I just felt like sitting, I guess. Stella got a nice rinse at the end of the ride. We were both covered in sweat and we both thoroughly enjoyed the cool water.
Stella got a break today. Larry asked me if I'd school Chester, and I told him that I would. He even said that I could use my own saddle instead of riding in his new western saddle. I miss his old one and I'm rather unhappy about the fact that he's loaned it out to someone :( I tacked up Larry's beastly stallion with my "wussy" English saddle and lavender saddle pad (which looks really good on Stella AND Chester), and we went out for a ride.
I mounted up and immediately started thinking about Mac. Chester is Mac's half-brother, out of the same mare, and I swear that Chester looks, moves, and acts a whole lot like Mac did. The thoughts weren't actually bad, but I was still uncomfortable at first. I miss Mac so much. Believe it or not, in eight days it'll have been two years since our last ride together. That means that it's been almost two years since he was euthanized. At this point I feel that I'm as healed as I can be after the traumatic experience of watching one of my best friends die in such an untimely, undignified manner. It still hurts a little, though.
We had a good ride together once I focused on the here and now. Chester really, really drives from his hindquarters. His power is absolutely amazing. He's just like Mac. His trot was lovely to post and to sit, and I spent time doing both. We even cantered tonight. I haven't really been able to canter him that much before tonight because he wouldn't readily pick it up. I hate to say that because it makes me sound like I can't ride anything but a pushbutton school horse, but each time I would try to drive him into the canter I'd have to get off and sit down because the pain was so bad. Even though I'm fairly well-muscled, something (Diagnosis, anyone? Please? It's only been six years...) prevents me from really driving. It was wonderful to finally canter him. He was powerful at the trot, but his canter was EPIC. I've never been on a horse who canters so powerfully. Mac wasn't even like this. I love riding Chester, even though it makes me miss my good sir.
Larry even said that I looked good riding Chester tonight. I didn't feel like I deserved that compliment, but it sure made me all happy on the inside :)
I'm excited for the Quarter Horse show.

A week's worth of updates.

I guess I'll start by adding a really funny detail from District. It was horrifying, yet so terribly cute and funny. My dad is still really unfamiliar with the whole horse show thing, and I asked him to hold Stella while I checked in with the paddock master. Stella was all set for showmanship in her clean bridle and polished bit. When I came back, there was a little flock of children surrounding Stella. I thought it was so adorable--until I realized that the kids were feeding her clumps of grass! Stella's bit was disgusting and her mouth was covered in green foam. I was fishing for a rag to wipe her off when judge Ken yelled at us to come over for the callback pattern. I ended up wiping it off with my glove. They're nasty already and so holey that I should just throw them out, so I didn't really think the green slime from Stella's squiggler would make much of a difference :)
Now for an update from the local horse show last Sunday! Stella and I went into showmanship, hunter go-as-you-please, hunter equitation, and hunter under saddle. I got her all straight for showmanship and then we went out to school in the deep sand arena. The arena is a real challenge to work in, regardless of whether you're riding or doing showmanship, because the sand is terrible. The judge even made a comment to everyone at the end of the showmanship class commending us for a job well done in the ridonkulous sand. She didn't say "ridonkulous," however :P The pattern was sort of P-shaped, without the closure of the loop. We walked from A to B, trotted a loop around C and all the way to the judge, halted and set up for inspection, backed one horse's length, did a 270-degree turn, and walked off. Stella almost, almost broke around the loop because it was very sandy and because it required a very sharp turn to go around the cone and align perfectly with where the judge was standing. We pulled it off, though, and I was really proud of the pattern that we did. One of the other people in the class (the woman who owns Blondie, the horse Larry was working with a few weeks ago) even congratulated me on a great pattern while we were standing in the lineup. When the judge turned her back, I planted a kiss on Wellaphone's nose because I was so pleased with how hard she tried for me. We came out of that class with second place, which I thought was amazing considering most of the people in the class have really nice showmanship horses and some of them were practicing showmanship before I even started riding.
Stella was also really good in hunter GAYP. We just trotted when the judge called for us to choose a gait. I didn't want to risk getting Stella worked up. She went beautifully for me, and we took first. Hunter equitation was okay. Wellaphone had a little mare flare when I asked her to pick up the right lead, and unfortunately it occurred right in front of the judge. She took the left lead for a stride or two before I halted her, but it was all too obvious to the judge. Oh well. We placed fifth, which was pretty decent considering what happened. Hunter under saddle was much better than a lot of classes we've had at other shows recently, but Stella repeated her little mare flare/wrong lead act, once again right under the eyes of the judge. The odd thing was, both times she did it were when I asked her to pick up the right lead. She took the left lead perfectly both times. She behaved herself during the class, though, and we took another second. I ended up with reserve champion in the division, which was a pleasant surprise.
The kids who've been coming to the barn came to the horse show to watch, and the little girl wanted to brush Stella. I'd just dumped a few buckets of water over her and she was soaking wet, but I let the little girl run a soft brush over her while Stella grazed on the lead. That little girl really likes me, evidently :) Her mom told me about how she asked her daughter which horse is the prettiest, and the daughter replied with my name. (I don't know if I should be offended or not, hahaha :D Nahhh...) Her mom asked her again, reminding her daughter that I'm not a horse, and the little girl asked what my horse's name is. The little girl really likes Stella. Maybe one day Larry will let me pop the kid on Stella for a short pony ride. The only problem is, well... If you've read this blog at all, you'll understand that Stella isn't a horse you'd trust to babysit your kids. She loves kids and wouldn't intentionally hurt one, but she just...does things...and doesn't think...and... Yeah. You'll get to hear some more of that as I continue with this particular post.
Mindy came over on Monday and we worked the horses. By "working the horses," I mean that Mindy schooled several of them and helped Larry longe the new paint mare, Curly Sue, while I rode (AND JUMPED!!!) Stella. I can't do but so much "crazy stuff" anymore, and I think Larry is very cautious about putting me on the babies now. Everything exacerbates my pain problems, and it doesn't help that I wear very visible knee braces now. (My knee pain is about 97% gone, though :)) I'm willing to acknowledge my limits and step back if it'll prolong the amount of time I have to ride before everything gives out, so I don't mind that Mindy and Larry get all the fun of working the little ones.
Stella was quite good working on the flat on Monday except for one little thing. We were cantering a circle around half of the arena. As we neared the fence and prepared to continue the circle with a right turn, Stella felt like she wanted to turn left. I tightened the inside rein just a tad and applied a bit more outside leg to focus her mind on turning right. She complied with my request--until we were one stride from the fence, where Stella whipped around and decided that she was making a left turn whether I wanted to come or not. She completely fooled me; I was certain that she was going to go right! My upper body continued toward the right and both my left leg and my butt started to follow until my left knee was up above the pommel. I yelled something that I'd rather not put into writing, which sent Mindy into hysterical laughter, and then I halted Stella and regained my seat. I really, really didn't want to hit the fence, which is what would've happened if I had managed to fall off. Other than that silliness, Stella was well-behaved. I trotted her over a crossrail a few times, and it was fun. I quit while we were ahead, while Stella was still willingly taking the jumps and while I wasn't in pain. Stella's learned that jumps are fun, not scary, and that they're another way to use the excess GO that builds up in her haunches.
Mindy said something so adorable about Stella. We schooled showmanship for a bit while the sprinkler was watering the arena, and Stella started squiggling her lips when I asked her to back. Several months ago, I stated that Stella's head contains a small metal pail full of white ping-pong balls. When she has a mare flare or otherwise goes berserk, the bucket has toppled over and the balls are bouncing around all over the place. In order to calm her down, I have to pick them up and put them back. Mindy said that when Stella squiggles, the ping-pong balls are moving around in the bucket. Stella also has a habit of popping her lips whenever she's confused or a little scared, and Mindy said that was when a single ball popped out of the bucket and onto the floor.
That makes me smile so much :) :) :)
Another day this week, I set up a "carnival" for Stella. Some of the "attractions" were REALLY scary. I set up some small cones to weave through, a jump standard with my jacket thrown over the top, a rag thrown over the fence railing, two poles that we could back through, two tiny beach balls and an inflated latex exam glove, and a paper feed sack. Stella was okay with everything except for the "balloons" and the feed sack. I eventually got her to wear the sack on her back and over her neck, basically everywhere on her body, but I decided to hold off with the "balloons" so that she wouldn't feel overwhelmed. They're still in the tack room for the next time the "carnival" comes to town.
The little kids also came back for another lesson. Once again, the little girl, whose name is Shelby, helped me groom and tack up Tina. I led her around for most of the ride, but I also let her walk around by herself for a little bit. I just walked nearby in case she needed a little steering assistance. Tina takes a lot of leg, even for me, so I know it's difficult for such a small little girl to steer her around. Her older brother, Dylan, has been riding a bit longer and got to canter in the lesson, so I tried to think of some exciting things for Shelby to try so that she wouldn't feel left out. She rode without hands and stretched down to touch her toes. I probably would've gotten her to do an around-the-world, but I personally hate to do them in western saddles because there's so much stuff to catch yourself on. Perhaps that's just part of the challenge :D Then, I brought out two poles and put them out so the kids could walk over them. Shelby told me that she wanted to jump, so I assured her that learning to ride well on the flat and working over poles is the best way she can start to learn to jump. She loved the poles and kept asking me to lead her over them.
After the kids left, Larry told me that I do a good job teaching the kids. That made me really happy. Maybe I should avoid playing crash-test dummy with the baby horses, but at least I can teach future generations of equestrians when I'm not riding Wella.
Wella did something really, really bad when I was tacking her up, but she was excellent when I rode her. I guess she got all the naughty out in one go! I had her all saddled and fly sprayed and everything. She just needed her bridle. Normally, Stella is PERFECT when it comes to being bridled and taking the bit. I don't know what happened tonight. As soon as I slipped off her halter, she took a step forward. I told her to whoa, but then she bolted out the open barn doors, dragging my bridle with her. I was scared to death that the bridle was going to catch around her leg and hurt her, and I was terrified when it actually did wrap around one of her legs. I was begging for it to break (It was Mac's bridle, but I really don't think he would mind.). Eventually she slowed down enough for me to come over to her and hold her head. I immediately unbuckled the reins in case she took off again, but she stood beside me until someone could bring a halter over to us. I checked her legs over for injuries but didn't find anything. I didn't even bother to see if the bridle was broken until after our ride. I grabbed one of Larry's western bridles that has a snaffle almost identical to Stella's on it and just rode in that.
Our ride was excellent. Stella was on the bit and driving beautifully from her hindquarters, moving at a nice pace and being wonderfully responsive to my aids. We did a great simple change. I know she's athletic enough to do flying changes and balanced enough to do them with a rider, but Larry says that he's never tried to get one from her. Since I've never really asked a horse to do one, I think I'll let Larry give it a shot before I try anything. I'd hate to confuse her or teach her incorrectly.
Oh, how I love Stella. She's the greatest horse in the whole world.

Back again.

I haven't done this in a long time, which sucks because now I have to make a huge entry to get caught up.
District was pretty fun. It was my last year to show there. Stella and I did really well in the first showmanship pattern, but I screwed up on the second pattern and we lost the class because of it. The judge that we had was my favorite judge ever, and he came over to me in the lineup to ask me what happened. I just told him that I got a little confused and we laughed about it. He's a great guy :)
Shortly before I mounted up, I loaded myself with a cocktail of painkillers to ward off any show-stopping pain. Unfortunately, I wasn't successful. The pain was AWFUL. I even skipped equitation because the judge kept calling for the sitting trot and I knew I couldn't do it. I knew my equitation would suck anyway. The pain always gets in the way and I have to ride defensively, screwing me over in the whole equitation department. Pleasure wasn't pleasant. I was in excruciating pain but I forced myself to ride the class anyway because it was my last year. I'm assuming Stella picks up on my pain. When I'm hurting, I tense up. That obviously doesn't help an already tense horse to cooperate with me. Her behavior was absolutely atrocious in the class. Wrong leads, threatening a rear, racing around and evading the bit, dodging, refusing to stand in the lineup...yeah, that class had it all. I'm only sorry that we had to go out like that.
I worked at the barn a whole lot all this week. Two little kids have started coming to the barn to ride, and they came once this week. The little boy went to ride Sissy with Larry while I tacked up Tina for the little girl. I love little kids, and I love helping little kids with horses. It makes me so happy. After she helped me saddle Tina and lead her outside, I led her around. I taught her about using her legs (even though her legs are really too short to communicate well) and holding the reins while we walked around through cones. She even got to trot. It was adorable.
Stella and I also had some really nice rides this week. I rode her in Larry's new saddle once. It was a great ride, but my entire seat was bruised--yes, bruised--the next morning. I also couldn't ride with stirrups on Larry's saddle because they're just not in the right spot for my build. I rode in my saddle the next day, and everything was good.
I would write about the show today, but I just woke up after dozing off at the keyboard. I think I'll go to bed and write some more tomorrow.

Solution?

My left knee is the one the chiropractor is more worried about. The left knee is the one that bears my weight and twists around as I mount. Screw tradition, I'm going to mount from the off side and see what that does for me! :)

Preparing for District

My day at District is Saturday, and I've been working with Stellaphone all week long. We've been fine-tuning our pivots for showmanship, working hard at riding, and I've been currying her down and making her look her best for our big day. This is my last year at District, so I really hope everything goes well.
I'm really worried about my hip and knees. In the six years I've been suffering from chronic pain, no one has been able to tell me what's wrong. I'm trying the whole horse liniment, max-dose ibuprofen, and heat treatment for my knees (and sore leg muscles, I'll admit) right now. It's making a positive impact on my soreness, but my knees are still killing me. At least the Absorbine smells good. I had to crawl up the stairs to get a towel because my knees hurt so bad. I also spilled water all over myself after accidentally dry-swallowing my pills and frantically trying to get some water down my throat before I choked on them. I found both of those things quite amusing and ended up laughing between each moan and groan, so at least I've got my sense of humor on my side right now :)
I'm sorry this has turned into my whine outlet. Hopefully it won't continue to be.
Stella and I had a good, hard workout today. We started with some showmanship. I worked on getting Stella to move off me and to pivot on her haunches. If we make it to the callback, we'll likely have to do some sort of pivot, and I really hope we'll make it to the callback. We also worked on taking up a trot at the same exact moment. Running alongside Stella was murder, but I ignored the discomfort and continued with our work. We slowed down and worked on coming in straight to a set point, halting, setting up, backing, and doing quarters. I wanted to make sure that Stella would stand still if I were to go back and fix where the judge messes with her tail or coat. She did a great job. At the end of our session, she would halt and set herself up before I even asked. I gave her lots of hugs and whispered sweet nothings into her mule ears because she's just so amazing :)
I longed her for a bit and then rode her. We rode hard, and it was a good ride. I had a little trouble posting the trot at the beginning of the ride. My lower legs and upper body wanted to slip forward, which irritated me and made Stella go all wonky. I eventually fixed it so everything was properly aligned, and the improvement of her movement was impressive. Our canter was very nice too. I felt like I was sitting correctly, nice and tall and soft, most of the time. I stretched a little bit in the middle of the ride because I could feel myself stiffening up and things were starting to hurt a little. It got better quickly, though, and we rode on. We did so much cantering. I'm sure that made Stella happy. As soon as I cued her into the trot at the beginning of the ride, I could tell that she was just begging to canter.
I've got to finish getting ready tomorrow so that we can leave nice and early on Saturday. Stella needs to be longed hard before we go into showmanship, and longed harder before I mount up to school. She really was a good girl last year, but there are lots of monsters and distractions (as Mac and I found out my first year, when he spooked and dumped me in a class) that I need to be wary of. If I can just keep her head between my legs and out of the clouds, we'll be fine.
I also need to pick out a song. For larger shows, I pick out a song to think about in my classes if I start to feel nervous. It usually takes care of things. I'm thinking something by Nine Inch Nails, maybe "Sunspots" because it's such a great song.
Here. I'll prove that it's great. Have a listen--

See? :) It's uppity enough to get me all energized, but it can still relax me.
I'm so excited.

Same old stuff...and playing vet :)

I've been going to the barn every day, cleaning stalls and taking care of the horses. I've also been working on showmanship, and I actually rode Stella today. It was a real ride! We could actually canter because the whole ring was nice and dry. We had a pretty good ride, but Stella was wild today too.
She just hasn't been working that much lately. I did manage to work some of her silliness out. We cantered for a long, long time. She started to buck at one point, but she only did it two or three times before I made her pick her head up and continue cantering. I think she was really glad to get out and canter. I, on the other hand, would've been perfectly happy to skip riding today and lie out on my bed.
I went to the chiropractor again today. Everything hurts so bad. I'm going to give it a day or two to get better and then I'll see what's going on. Last time I went, I was terribly sore afterward and I was in constant, excruciating pain all last week. I do NOT want that to happen again. After my first appointment, I swore I hadn't felt that good since before that awful day in gym class back in 8th grade, when I finally decided something was wrong with me. Now, I'm not feeling better at all. I do feel more aligned, but that does me no good when I can't stand, let alone walk.
Agh, enough about my pains. I don't want to think about it, and no one wants to hear about it.
I "diagnosed" a case of colic today. Blondie, the horse Larry has for training, was behaving oddly. She kept lying down and staying down for long periods of time. At first I thought the warm weather and flies might be bothering her, so I sprayed her with some fly spray but kept an eye on her. Larry had also just free-longed her, so I thought she might be tired. She started to roll, which I discouraged, and I brought out the stethoscope so I could listen to her gut. I didn't hear much, so I was really worried. I continued to keep an eye on her as I finished up the stalls. When Larry came back, he decided she was probably colicking too. Blondie seems to be better now, so I guess it was just a mild tummy ache.
I've also been fighting a tick battle with the horses and dogs. Fortunately, I haven't found many ticks on myself so far, but I've been plucking them off of Jack, Abby, and Stella left and right. Poor Blondie has a bit of swelling on her stomach from some sort of insect bite.
Abby's foot is getting much better. She cut it a while back. It was a pretty good-sized cut, one that I personally thought might need stitches (When the vet took a look at it, she also said it probably would've been a good idea, but the paw is healing nicely anyway.). Larry's been doing a good job keeping his little Hoo-Dog's paw clean and bandaged, and Abby is back to her old antics.

"Dry" day at last.

So, after a week I finally came home wearing semi-clean pants, though I'm all sweaty from a long day of working in the sun. My farmer's tan is developing nicely; my forearms are already getting really dark (for me, at least) while my upper arms are still as pasty white as my legs :)
I played with Stellaphone for a while and then I did a couple of stalls. I was soaking with sweat by the time I finished, and the kids came up to me to ask if I'd take them to a small ice cream shop in town. Since I was hot and tired, I was very willing to spend some time sitting under an umbrella and slurping on something cold and sweet. My sister got a cookie dough thing, Elizabeth got a gigantic sundae with extra strawberries, and I got a strawberry milkshake for Larry and a peanut butter milkshake for myself. When we got back to the barn, I shared my milkshake with Abby. She loves peanut butter.
The vet dropped by and checked to see if Sissy could be bred yet. She's not ready yet. I played with the vet's little daughter, Emily, and we played with the poles and jump standards. She really likes to adjust the jumps, and occasionally she'd ask me to help her jump over the jumps. I'd lift her over them and she'd laugh. Then she'd want Abby to jump, so I'd call her over and Abby, being a wonderful little hoo-dog, was glad to entertain little Emily. Emily got a great surprise after jumping on foot--Larry let her ride around on Sissy. Angie, the vet, and I walked alongside Emily as she held onto the saddle and patted the Boobah's neck. Emily was still interested in the jump, so I set it as low as it would go and we held her tight while Larry led her over the pole. Sissy just stepped over, and Emily was thrilled. I love watching little kids with horses.
Later on, Mindy dropped by and Larry worked with all of us on showmanship. It was fun, and Stella and I did a whole lot of work on our pivoting. Then, we actually got a chance to ride. It was a real ride this time!
Stella was all excited to get out and work. As soon as I asked her to trot, I could tell she was ready to spring into a canter. After some trot work, I did let her canter. We had a pretty good time with it. I attempted some counter-canter work, but Stella absolutely refused to pick it up. I tricked her into it by turning around and not asking for a lead change. She's just so set on picking up the inside lead that I thought maybe getting her to feel the counter-canter would help her get used to the idea that it's okay to get it "wrong." She was a little crazy tonight and didn't want to halt when I asked. I should have longed her before I rode her, but I didn't.
Right before I left, I found my sister and Elizabeth sitting in the lounge making prank phone calls to some kind of over-the-phone adult chat thing. It was funny to hear, but they got kicked off of the thing twice before I made them quit. Each time they left one of their silly messages, the thing would respond a minute or two later by telling them that the free service is for adults 18 and over. Ah, the things kids do to entertain themselves...
Then, the sky opened up and dumped out, and I don't think I'm going to get another chance to ride for a long time. So it goes.

STILL MUDDY. AGGGH.

It's STILL muddy out, but I went for a short ride today. It was fun.
As I've been doing for the past week, I went to the barn and did all of the stalls. My muscles are finally coming back :) I sat on the porch with Larry and Abby for a while. Abby was whining about something, and then Larry and I checked her for ticks. Did I mention that I really dislike ticks? I guess that's what happens once you spot a bullseye rash on your thigh and have to swallow down a course of antibiotics that make you seriously wonder whether you'd prefer Lyme over your next dose. So, yeah, it's personal.
Larry dragged the ring and made it suitable for a short walk-trot ride. I tacked up Stella and took her out to the arena, where Larry was already schooling Blondie, the palomino mare that he's training. Stella and I were standing by the gate while I checked her girth and put some fly spray on her legs. Suddenly, Stella pushed forward and slammed me into the gate. She seemed hesitant to push me any more, yet absolutely panicked about something. Blondie was flipping out and had bumped into Stella in the middle of her mare flare. After our little experience at State, I'm sure Stella was scared out of her mind. It really hurt, but I sucked it up and told Larry I was fine when he asked. He seemed worried about me.
I just hurried and got on Stella. She was ready to go, but I had to keep her in check because the ground was so slick. We did trot some, which was quite nice. The person who last rode in my saddle evidently likes short stirrups, because I had to take them down about two holes. (Stirrups are no big deal, just don't readjust my helmet when you borrow it! ;)) Stella wasn't pleased about having to stop and stand while I adjusted the stirrups. She wanted to walk off, so I backed her up and assured her that she'd be in a lot of trouble if I had to get off :D I'd already mounted from the ground once, and I didn't want to do it again.
Stella broke a canter one time when I was working at a sitting trot. She just got excited and leaped into it, splashing up water and clumps of mud with her wild hooves. I really wanted to canter, but I think two horse-and-rider falls are enough to last me for the rest of my life. It was a fun ride, though, and I was glad to get out on Stella for a little bit.
When we were all finished, I groomed Stella and braided up her tail so that Baby Jessie will quit chewing on it. All of her turnout buddies are mysteriously beginning to lose chunks of tail hair. Stella has been quite fortunate so far, but I'm not taking any chances. Stella's tail is long but very thin, so we can't afford to lose any volume! Stella was very squiggly tonight, which was funny. She got bored when I was working on her tail, so I had to keep distracting her from all of the chew toys that surrounded her.
My body hurts. It hurts worse than it did before I went to the chiropractor. My knees are awful. My hip is awful, particularly after Stella slammed me into the gate. It was really hurting me this morning, though. My lower back hasn't been bad lately except for the times I've had to sit for a long time, such as during my exams last week. I guess things will change with time.

Braving the muck again.

It's still mucky out. So much for all the riding I was going to do before District...
I went to the barn early today. Larry and I turned out the horses and then I got to work on some stalls while Larry tried to fix someone's car. Abby is still limping from a cut on her back paw, but it's healing. It was rather uneventful, really. Larry had to leave and he took Abby with him, so I decided to go home and get some lunch. I came back after a while to finish the stalls.
No one was around once everything was done, so I distributed fresh sawdust, hay, and water to all of the stalls. Then I brought in the horses, who were glad to come in for dinner. Tina was absolutely disgusting. She decided to roll in the really muddy area near the gate, and she was literally covered from head to hoof in thick mud. When I led her inside, she kept trying to rub it off on me and I told her that she was a "nasty, nasty Wiener." I went back out to get Sissy, who stomped in the mud outside of the gate and splattered mud all over my pants. Karma, perhaps? The horses were all glad to have their dinner, and I was very happy to sit in the aisle and listen to the grateful shuffling of hay and crunching of grain. I brought Stella in and gave her a quick grooming once she was finished with her grain. I went home after that.
I can't wait until it's nice out again.

Yay barn.

Yesterday was rainy and awful. I went to the barn to help do some stalls, and then there was a downpour. The whole sky opened up and dumped out over the barn as Larry and I rushed to drag our frolicking horses into their stalls. They were having fun munching grass and playing in the rain, so much that we almost left them outside to get soaked. Larry and I hid in the barn like a pair of wet rats once the job was done. We weren't about to go back out into the rain. Normally I like rain, but this was an uncomfortably heavy rain. As soon as it let up, I ran out to my car and went to the chiropractor.
My chiropractor appointment was interesting. They tried all sorts of things to make my muscles relax. First, they started with some electrical stimulation, which was strange but pleasant. Then, they tried heat. Then, the chiropractor started massaging my back. It worked after a while.
He worked on my hips and nearly pulled me off the table. I jumped to regain my balance after one attempt, but he just laughed and assured me that I wouldn't fall. He said it was difficult because I'm so flexible and it took a lot to make my hip pop. He fixed my neck, which hurt a little at the time. He finished up by playing with my knees. My left knee evidently moves laterally a whole lot. He didn't like that. He asked me if I'd ever injured that knee, but the only semi-serious thing I could think of was the time Mac kicked me in my right knee. I've really banged my left knee, but I don't think any of that would screw it up like it is. I don't know what's wrong with my knees, but they're still hurting... I'm still sore from the chiropractor. Meh. At least I'm properly aligned now.
I went to the barn this morning to see Larry, Abby, and all of the horses. Larry and I put the horses out and then I cleaned some stalls. Larry had to go to town, so I stayed at the barn and continued with the stalls. I got really hungry after a while, so I went home to get some lunch.
I came back and finished all of the stalls. I also played with Jack for a while and ended up pinning him to the ground to pull ticks off of him. He whined and writhed. He put his mouth on me. He nailed me square in the face with a back leg. I hope no one was watching, because it looked and sounded like I was hurting the poor dog. I think I got all of the ticks, though, so I felt like I'd done a good deed. I don't like ticks. I really, really don't. I gave Jack some fresh water and a few biscuits as a reward for letting me rough him up a little, and he appreciated them. I left and went home for dinner and to get my little sister.
I groomed Stella really well. I curried her and ran a hard brush over her, and then used a finishing brush to make her shine. I combed her mane and tail and brushed her face. I picked out her hooves and rubbed the mud off of her legs. I even pulled out the pocket clippers and trimmed her coronets and fetlocks. She looked so nice :) I was going to do her bridle path as well, but the pocket clippers weren't able to handle Stella's thick mohawk.
It was still really muddy out today. The arena was awful, and there were some slippery patches all around the yard.

Back into the swing of things...

I didn't get a chance to ride for about two weeks, but I've gotten to ride every day since I've been home. I feel so lucky :) I rode Stella last night, and I also rode her today. I even jumped today!
Stella hadn't worked for a few weeks, so she was ready to run last night. I think I've already mentioned that she's now getting a high-energy feed to help her gain some weight. She's looking fantastic now, but she needs regular riding to help her burn off some of the extra energy. I longed her for a bit and she behaved herself. Then, I tacked her up, mounted, and waited outside of the ring while Larry finished free-longeing a horse, a pretty palomino named Blondie, that he's training. The horse's owner came to watch. Stella was good while we stood outside of the ring, but I could tell that she was itching to go. I normally like to have a long walk to warm up at the beginning of a ride, both to stretch myself and because Mac always needed a long walk to loosen up his stiff muscles, but last night I let Stella move into the trot early on. She was excited to pick up the pace. We moved along nicely for a while. My shoulders looked like they were leading a bit, but otherwise we looked and felt very good. Cantering was very exhilarating. Stella was wonderful, although she really wanted to go. I alternated between letting her hand-gallop and bringing her back down to a normal canter. Stella got quite strong with me a few times, so I made her halt and stand. She didn't like that very much, but she eventually got the message and stayed focused on me even as we flew around the arena. I almost felt bad after our last canter because I knew her motor wasn't worn down yet. She's like the Energizer Bunny, always going and going and going and going and going...
One time at an AQHA show, actually a few weeks before Mac died, Mindy and I tag-teamed it to try and work the silliness out of Stella before Mindy took her into a class. She longed her, I longed her, Mindy rode her, I rode her, we longed her again, we rode her again, we longed her again, we rode her again...and Stella STILL exploded in the class with Mindy.
The horse just doesn't stop. It's absolutely amazing. Sure, she gets tired, but she'll surprise you with huge bursts of energy just when you think she's done.
Today was really fun. It sprinkled a bit and made the grass in Elizabeth's yard slick, so Elizabeth and Mindy moved a jump into our arena and they were schooling over the fence when I arrived. Elizabeth was on Sydney and Mindy was on Stella. I grabbed my helmet and Mindy handed Stella over to me so that I could pop her over the fence a few times. Mindy left to tack up Chester, but that's another story :) Stella trotted happily to the fence each time, popping over with ease. It only hurt my hip once, and the pain was mild and short-lived. We worked on the flat for a while too. Stella was still a little energetic, but she was very good for me. We had an excellent canter. I also rode with safety stirrups today. Mindy didn't put my saddle on Stella today, and the saddle that she used had stirrups that would slip open if I applied enough pressure in the right spot. It was a little odd at first. I've used the bent safety stirrups before, but never the peacock stirrups or the folding ones like I've used today.
I personally use traditional stirrups. There's no real reason why except that I always have. I'm all for equestrian safety--there have been only a handful of times I've ever mounted a horse without a helmet, just as an example. I've just had my current irons since I bought my saddle and I've never had an issue with them. Perhaps I'll adopt some form of safety stirrup if I ever get really serious with jumping, but until then I think I'll stick with my current irons.
Mindy still was worried about jumping Tina at this stage in the pregnancy, so Larry let her take Chester. Yes, our little stallion is growing up! He got his first lesson over fences today. He's never even had an English saddle on his back. Larry has taken him over ground poles a few times, but that's all. Mindy just hopped on, schooled him around for a bit, and pointed him at a tiny crossrail, which he sailed right over. It was amazing to watch. When we first backed him, Mindy and I told Larry that Chester was going to be an all-around horse. Now he's practicing his jumping and already pretty good at it! He's so amazing.
I might go to the chiropractor tomorrow. I need to go before the District show, too.

Home again.

The semester is over. I am home.
While I'm definitely going to miss school, I'm glad to be back. My pining for Stella was becoming quite overwhelming.
I went to the barn late because it was after 7 when I got home. I talked to Stella in her stall for a while, and then Larry let me ride Chester for a while. He was using the new western saddle on Chester, and I hate the saddle's stirrups. When I have my legs aligned with my hips, I can only keep the toe of my boot in the stirrup. If I keep the ball of my foot in the stirrup, my legs get jacked forward. Larry and I played around with the length of the stirrups, but it was all in vain. I surrendered and rode without stirrups or a problem. I only walked and trotted a little bit, but my legs are KILLING me. It's going to be a long, hard road to getting my muscles back.
I also cleaned a whole lot of stalls and gave all the horses water once I was finished riding. My arms were also aching from the first good use they've had in a long time (Sure, I lift light weights, but nothing can compare to real work.), and it felt great. I've definitely lost a lot of tone over the past few months. It's been making me very sad. I used to have a very muscular body, but I can't stand the repetition of a gym, physically can't run, don't have enough time to get the equivalent at a walk, and don't have a barn full of needy horses at college.
I went to see Stella again after everything was done. I hugged her. She's been rubbing her tail. Larry gave her some dewormer, and I'm probably going to wrap her dock with vetwrap tomorrow. It already looks awful, and she hasn't even done it that much yet.
Agh. I need some ibuprofen and sleep.

Dressage and NIN, what a beautiful combination

I posted this on my other blog, but since it's horse-related...
Here's Isabell Werth riding a dressage test. Someone put it to clips of Nine Inch Nails songs.
Dressage is amazing. NIN is amazing. Whoever made this video is amazing.

I miss Stellaphone.

I didn't go home over the weekend because I had to do a lot of studying and because I wanted to go to the computer science department's picnic. I haven't seen Stella in a long time, and I haven't been on a horse in a long time. I'm starting to get restless like I did when I had to stop riding for a few months because of my hip and back pain. It's crazy. I climbed into a tree outside of the dining hall the other day. I like sitting in the tree because I can watch people. The branch that I sit on is ideal because it's wide enough to be comfortable, easily accessible, low enough that I don't have to worry about getting hurt if I fall, and high enough to make me feel awesome :) Ah, but enough about the tree. I did my riding stretches while seated astride the branch--leg over the pommel, heel to the seat, various shoulder stretches, everything I do in the saddle.
A few nights ago, my mom sent me a text message with a picture of Stella attached to it. She wrote, "We miss you very much." Then, she sent me one of Stella's hindquarters that said "Butt we know you'll be home soon!" It was so cute, and it really made my night.
Amber and I talked about me being a veterinarian last night. I was helping her study human anatomy for her biology class. I explained a lot of stuff to her, and she said that I should be a Biology major since I like it so much. The reason I'm not a Bio major is that I don't like dissection and animal experimentation. Bodily fluids don't really get to me, and I don't have issues with the whole "death" thing. Everyone dies; so it goes. I don't agree with they ways they obtain their animal specimens.
The veterinarian talk really wasn't important. I'm not switching my majors, and that's that. We talked about surgeries and stuff, though, and I talked about watching a small portion of a surgery when I was at the horse clinic with Mac. We talked about Mac for a while. Surprisingly, I was able to do it. It was uncomfortable, yes, but I was able to talk about our fall, his illness, his last night, and the morning he was euthanized. I didn't cry. Sometimes I still do, but not last night.
Things have changed so much.
One month and 23 days until it's been two years since he first fell. Two months and 18 days until two years since he died.
It's about time.