Jumping Pumpkin
Dressage Pumpkin
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween
Just a short post to say Happy Halloween!! Can you tell I'm obsessed with horses?!?!? Hope everyone had a great night :D
Jumping Pumpkin
Jumping Pumpkin
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A North Carolina Update!
Well, I promised this some time ago but alas, I was again negligent on my blogging duties :( Anyways, I have some updates on life in general!
First, the Ponies:
With this new change in lifestyle (i.e. constant love, care and seeing my shining face around the clock!) and a much smaller herd, some have blossomed and others are still working on it. Buddy is by far my biggest surprise! I swear this is not the horse I have been riding for the past 4 years. He is happy, confident, loving and overall a pleasure to be around. His work ethic has changed to being positive and willing to learn while excepting change. After a long hard decision, I have decided to keep Buddy and pursue the last third of my USDF Bronze Medal. This brings me to DJ. My poor creature of habit! This alpha gelding has had a very difficult time being happy at ASF (Albemarle Springs Farm). His herd has diminished from 40 to 3 (including himself) and now seems to take his frustration out on his paddock mates as well as his mother! He is getting better and finally starting to understand that although there is plenty of grass on the farm, he only gets to be on it for about 3 hours! I will say though that he has dropped quite a bit of weight and is starting to resemble the lean and athletic horse I was very competitive with in the early 2000's :) But, much to my disappointment, he is getting older and the demands of third level work are proving to be very strenuous on his tight little joints. So, because of this, we are going to pass the torch to his (seemingly) capable brother, Buddy! I will start searching for a place to take lessons this month and will hopefully have my first lesson since May in October! Trust me, there will definitely be an update when that happens ;)
Second, the family and home:
Mom and Dad are doing well in the new house. We have come to realize and finally accept that this is a MUCH BIGGER home than the one we left in Arlington!! Two of the rooms are still missing furniture but hopefully, one of the rooms should be filled by the end of next month (the formal dining room set is on order). Dad is much more relaxed with his commute to work. It takes a grand total of 45 seconds to walk from the master bedroom to the upstairs office. He has even become a member of a local pool hall and has competed in a few tournaments (and winning some too!). Mom is beginning to get her bearings around the area but is most enjoying picking out all of the new stuff for this new big house! Merlin is like DJ and has taken a little longer than expected on becoming comfortable in our new home. For the first month, he would only leave my room on the second floor to come eat and then it was right back to the room! Poor guy! But I will say he has made a new friend in the neighborhood, a 1 yr old beagle/hound appropriately named "Buddy". More than once, we have found Buddy bounding down the driveway to come greet Merlin, wondering in the house or sneaking into one of the cars for a quick ride!
And lastly, Me!
I have really been enjoying my time with my family and ponies since I have finished school. Time at home with my parents and pup has been relaxing and entertaining (moving furniture, buying furniture, recieving deliveries while controlling the dog, etc.). Time at the barn has helped me become reacquainted with my horses and remembering everything that I love about them :) I have a new job, well PT job and am currently looking for another that might allow me to successfully complete my master's degree later on in order to one day financially support my ponies appropriately!
Well, I guess that's it for now. Next time I update, I will have news on the ponies and hopefully some pictures to go with! Ta ta for now :)
First, the Ponies:
With this new change in lifestyle (i.e. constant love, care and seeing my shining face around the clock!) and a much smaller herd, some have blossomed and others are still working on it. Buddy is by far my biggest surprise! I swear this is not the horse I have been riding for the past 4 years. He is happy, confident, loving and overall a pleasure to be around. His work ethic has changed to being positive and willing to learn while excepting change. After a long hard decision, I have decided to keep Buddy and pursue the last third of my USDF Bronze Medal. This brings me to DJ. My poor creature of habit! This alpha gelding has had a very difficult time being happy at ASF (Albemarle Springs Farm). His herd has diminished from 40 to 3 (including himself) and now seems to take his frustration out on his paddock mates as well as his mother! He is getting better and finally starting to understand that although there is plenty of grass on the farm, he only gets to be on it for about 3 hours! I will say though that he has dropped quite a bit of weight and is starting to resemble the lean and athletic horse I was very competitive with in the early 2000's :) But, much to my disappointment, he is getting older and the demands of third level work are proving to be very strenuous on his tight little joints. So, because of this, we are going to pass the torch to his (seemingly) capable brother, Buddy! I will start searching for a place to take lessons this month and will hopefully have my first lesson since May in October! Trust me, there will definitely be an update when that happens ;)
Second, the family and home:
Mom and Dad are doing well in the new house. We have come to realize and finally accept that this is a MUCH BIGGER home than the one we left in Arlington!! Two of the rooms are still missing furniture but hopefully, one of the rooms should be filled by the end of next month (the formal dining room set is on order). Dad is much more relaxed with his commute to work. It takes a grand total of 45 seconds to walk from the master bedroom to the upstairs office. He has even become a member of a local pool hall and has competed in a few tournaments (and winning some too!). Mom is beginning to get her bearings around the area but is most enjoying picking out all of the new stuff for this new big house! Merlin is like DJ and has taken a little longer than expected on becoming comfortable in our new home. For the first month, he would only leave my room on the second floor to come eat and then it was right back to the room! Poor guy! But I will say he has made a new friend in the neighborhood, a 1 yr old beagle/hound appropriately named "Buddy". More than once, we have found Buddy bounding down the driveway to come greet Merlin, wondering in the house or sneaking into one of the cars for a quick ride!
And lastly, Me!
I have really been enjoying my time with my family and ponies since I have finished school. Time at home with my parents and pup has been relaxing and entertaining (moving furniture, buying furniture, recieving deliveries while controlling the dog, etc.). Time at the barn has helped me become reacquainted with my horses and remembering everything that I love about them :) I have a new job, well PT job and am currently looking for another that might allow me to successfully complete my master's degree later on in order to one day financially support my ponies appropriately!
Well, I guess that's it for now. Next time I update, I will have news on the ponies and hopefully some pictures to go with! Ta ta for now :)
Monday, June 7, 2010
New Beginnings...
It's been some time since my last blog, and I guess that's because so much has happened during that time. Blizzards resulting in 54 inches of snow (for Washington D.C., that is absolutely ridiculous), the last semester of school (well, almost...darn you summer session!) and change...LOTS of change! My change was not always good change. Around March, my family made the final decision to move to North Carolina after my last summer class was complete in June. Both my parents work from home and I would be a college graduate. Because of my horses and lack of employment, I also made the decision to move to NC with them, so that I could have a slightly easier (well, financially that is) way of life as well and removing myself from other toxic personal situations and trying to further my riding career with a higher education.
Unfortunately, this meant saying goodbye to some people that I loved. To make this story shorter and less tearful, I was forced to say goodbye to an equine friend and partner of 5 yrs. that I never thought would have to end. The other person was a close friend and mother figure to me that took my new exciting news rather poorly and since then we have not spoken for reasons that do not need to be explained but at the moment cannot be forgiven. This was a very upsetting and dark time (specifically the month of May). Depression set in which affected my school work, riding, social life and family life. With the help of my family and those closest to me, they helped me pull myself out of my stuper and get back on the track to moving forward.
Now, with one more week of classes until I'm an official college graduate and two weeks until I take my two handsome boys to their new beautiful home in NC, I look back on the events of the year so far and marvel at how I've grown and the lessons I have learned through these sometimes brutally painful experiences. Hopefully, I can take these lessons and use them to better my new everyday life!
I have a couple promises to make myself with these changes...1) I will continue to learn and absorb everything about dressage and becoming a better rider and horsewoman overall, 2) I will go into my new business profession with an open mind willing to learn and listen to others with the thought of "communication" always in the back of my mind, 3) to try and forgive those who wrong me a little quicker in order to make my life less stressful and 4) write in this darn blog a little bit more!
Until next time! (when I will hopefully be writing more about my horses than my moral lessons ;-))
Unfortunately, this meant saying goodbye to some people that I loved. To make this story shorter and less tearful, I was forced to say goodbye to an equine friend and partner of 5 yrs. that I never thought would have to end. The other person was a close friend and mother figure to me that took my new exciting news rather poorly and since then we have not spoken for reasons that do not need to be explained but at the moment cannot be forgiven. This was a very upsetting and dark time (specifically the month of May). Depression set in which affected my school work, riding, social life and family life. With the help of my family and those closest to me, they helped me pull myself out of my stuper and get back on the track to moving forward.
Now, with one more week of classes until I'm an official college graduate and two weeks until I take my two handsome boys to their new beautiful home in NC, I look back on the events of the year so far and marvel at how I've grown and the lessons I have learned through these sometimes brutally painful experiences. Hopefully, I can take these lessons and use them to better my new everyday life!
I have a couple promises to make myself with these changes...1) I will continue to learn and absorb everything about dressage and becoming a better rider and horsewoman overall, 2) I will go into my new business profession with an open mind willing to learn and listen to others with the thought of "communication" always in the back of my mind, 3) to try and forgive those who wrong me a little quicker in order to make my life less stressful and 4) write in this darn blog a little bit more!
Until next time! (when I will hopefully be writing more about my horses than my moral lessons ;-))
Good-bye Jono. You'll always be my "Big Jo"
Saturday, January 2, 2010
2010 New Years Goals
2010 Goals for the ponies (& myself!)
- DJ - compete and successfully achieve two 60% at 3rd level to finish off my USDF Bronze medal
- Buddy - to continue to improve his 2nd level with sites set on 3rd and 4th level in the near future
- Jono - to continue to be a superstar in everything he does, to qualify for both GAIG's and BLMs as a 2nd level Adult Amatuer (a bonus would be to win a Dover Medal along the way :) )
- Me - to lose 12 more lbs (already lost 10!!); continue my education with an open mind and heart; to stay relaxed, loose and patient in all of my riding; and to be the best person I can be (on and off the ponies!)
- Everyone - to stay safe, sound, and happy in this New Year!
Wrap-Up of 2009
Good gracious! I have not written in quite some time...and needless to say it was a good but hectic ending to 2009. Since we last left off, my "tick twins" have officially overcome their illnesses and are back into the swing of regular work. I figure since each horse has had a little change in their lives I'll address each one as we go along...
Buddy has been body clipped once (right before winter) and will most likely be clipped again in the following weeks. His hair grows amazingly fast, affectionaly called "mountain hair" since he did originate in the mountain country of Tennessee and moved to the mountains of VA before settling in the DC metropolitan area. His work on second level is steadily impoving with more balance in his gaits and confidence in himself. He did give me New Years gift...a large bloody lower eye lid resembling the size and shape of a lemon. We don't call him "BooBoo" for nothing! Luckily, it was just some superficial scrapings which should heal up in no time.
DJ is currently loving life. Since we diagnosed his cushings early in the year and started treatment, he has gotten back his zest for life and the twinkle in his eye that captured my heart at our first meeting :) DJ also has a new friend, a leasee! Granted I never expected anyone to be able to ride let alone lease my beastie until he was around the ripe old age of 25, but he surprised me by becoming the perfect schoolmaster. Coming off of a hiatus due to establishing a family, my leasee is back and ready for action. She originally owned a rather large PSG warmblood, so making the transition to the 14.3 3rd level sensitive Arabian has proved to be educating! I love watching the lessons because both rider and pony love the work. My leasee is learning again and little man is enjoying the life of a semi-retired schoolmaster!
Now, Jono being the utter superstar that he is, has had a busy end of the year. Since this was a year of education for the two of us, I enrolled him in as many clinics as I possibly could. At the beginning of the year we started with Donna Gatchell, a local professional who worked on making us lighter on the forehand with lots of second and even third level work! Next was our clinic at the beginning of November was with another local professional, frenchman Pascal Martin. After some doubtful facial expressions, he started to work with Jo and ended up pleasantly surprised by his talent and work ethic. Again, lightness was the key. But the season finale, and probably the best clinic I have ever attended, was the Lendon Gray clinic at Sprieser Sporthorse in Marshall, VA at the beginning of December. It was FANTASTIC!!! I did participate in the same event last year with Buddy which left my ego bruised and beaten but at least I came out with some positive moments and exercises. This year it was the complete opposite. She immediately expressed her love for my big fella and throughout the clinic used terms like "fantastic", "cute", "athletic" and "amazing" to describe his work. She polished up our second level and told us to "keep going and keep proving people wrong!" The unfortunate end to 2009 was the discovery of Jono's newly learned vice, cribbing. At first, the vet and I agreed that maybe he had ulcers. So, Gastro-guard was used for the first 7 days which really seemed to do the trick. This led to 28 more days of the ridiculously expensive paste. Unfortuntely, by the second week, this method was not working as well as we had hoped so we finished off the rest of the dosing and are now attempting new methods to discourage this new irritating habit...feed change, alfalfa cubes, a hay net to make him eat slower as well as occupy him, and then the dreaded Miracle Collar (duhn, duhn, duhn!). Lets hope that next time I blog, there will be some improvements!
So overall, it was a decent way to end a rather blah year. There is so much planned and anticipated in for 2010 but for right now....I'm just goin to tell you to read the next blog :)
Buddy has been body clipped once (right before winter) and will most likely be clipped again in the following weeks. His hair grows amazingly fast, affectionaly called "mountain hair" since he did originate in the mountain country of Tennessee and moved to the mountains of VA before settling in the DC metropolitan area. His work on second level is steadily impoving with more balance in his gaits and confidence in himself. He did give me New Years gift...a large bloody lower eye lid resembling the size and shape of a lemon. We don't call him "BooBoo" for nothing! Luckily, it was just some superficial scrapings which should heal up in no time.
DJ is currently loving life. Since we diagnosed his cushings early in the year and started treatment, he has gotten back his zest for life and the twinkle in his eye that captured my heart at our first meeting :) DJ also has a new friend, a leasee! Granted I never expected anyone to be able to ride let alone lease my beastie until he was around the ripe old age of 25, but he surprised me by becoming the perfect schoolmaster. Coming off of a hiatus due to establishing a family, my leasee is back and ready for action. She originally owned a rather large PSG warmblood, so making the transition to the 14.3 3rd level sensitive Arabian has proved to be educating! I love watching the lessons because both rider and pony love the work. My leasee is learning again and little man is enjoying the life of a semi-retired schoolmaster!
Now, Jono being the utter superstar that he is, has had a busy end of the year. Since this was a year of education for the two of us, I enrolled him in as many clinics as I possibly could. At the beginning of the year we started with Donna Gatchell, a local professional who worked on making us lighter on the forehand with lots of second and even third level work! Next was our clinic at the beginning of November was with another local professional, frenchman Pascal Martin. After some doubtful facial expressions, he started to work with Jo and ended up pleasantly surprised by his talent and work ethic. Again, lightness was the key. But the season finale, and probably the best clinic I have ever attended, was the Lendon Gray clinic at Sprieser Sporthorse in Marshall, VA at the beginning of December. It was FANTASTIC!!! I did participate in the same event last year with Buddy which left my ego bruised and beaten but at least I came out with some positive moments and exercises. This year it was the complete opposite. She immediately expressed her love for my big fella and throughout the clinic used terms like "fantastic", "cute", "athletic" and "amazing" to describe his work. She polished up our second level and told us to "keep going and keep proving people wrong!" The unfortunate end to 2009 was the discovery of Jono's newly learned vice, cribbing. At first, the vet and I agreed that maybe he had ulcers. So, Gastro-guard was used for the first 7 days which really seemed to do the trick. This led to 28 more days of the ridiculously expensive paste. Unfortuntely, by the second week, this method was not working as well as we had hoped so we finished off the rest of the dosing and are now attempting new methods to discourage this new irritating habit...feed change, alfalfa cubes, a hay net to make him eat slower as well as occupy him, and then the dreaded Miracle Collar (duhn, duhn, duhn!). Lets hope that next time I blog, there will be some improvements!
So overall, it was a decent way to end a rather blah year. There is so much planned and anticipated in for 2010 but for right now....I'm just goin to tell you to read the next blog :)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Another One!
As a follow up to my last entry...Buddy was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This is easily treatable with LOTS of antibiotics and some good old fashioned down time, as long as the fevers stay at bay. I could handle this. I mean, yeah, its disappointing when his 2nd level work was turning out to be really good but what can you do at this point? Well, on Monday I got a call from the vet. I had forgotten that we had done a tick tighter on Jo as a precautionary since DJ had already gotten one earlier this year and we were waiting for Buddy's to come back from Texas. Anyways, the results were in. Jono has Lymes! Can you believe it? I was shocked! I mean this is also a very treatable diagnosis but still! So, now I have 1 with Cushings, 1 with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and the newest one is Lymes. Gotta love horses!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sick Pony
So, three weeks ago I took Buddy to a horse show in Lexington. Granted he did extremely well in his debut at Second Level (64% & 66%!!!) but that is not the point. At the show, he was very quiet and just picked around at his food, highly unusual for this horse. We kept an eye on him but he ate his grain, drank water and had normal stool so we figured he just wanted to go home. Anyways, we get him home and I give him 4 days off for being such a star that weekend. Time for his ride on Friday...what a grouch!!! He was pissy, agitated, harsh in his mouth, tight in his back and overall unpleasant to ride. Needless to say, I was a little agitated myself. I got off and did some ground work which wasn't much better. He just had no intentions of working. I figured, mentally maybe he needed a little longer break so I gave him the weekend off. All the fun stuff started on Monday....
Monday's ride was at least more pleasant than Friday's. I had a horse with a much better frame of mind and willingness to try anything but something was still off. It was very similar to riding a horse with a giant neck brace on. His circles were piecey, his laterals were super flat and simple changes were virtually impossible. This wasn't like him either. I got off cleaned him up and turned him out but a little voice kept saying something was not right. Later that night, I spoke with my trainer and she suggested that he was sore from the two needles he got on Monday. (Oh yeah! Buddy also had a break out on his face of some sort so the vet came and gave him an antihistamine as well as a steroid in order to help the healing process.) I decided to give him some more time off and went down Tuesday to rub him down with lineament and give him some Bute. When I got there on Tuesday, he looked very lethargic but still tried to eat and be himself. I gave him the rub down and proceeded to go on with my normal activities and went to go ride another horse. Something just kept nagging at me while I was riding, so just for preventative measures I got off the horse I was riding and went to take Buddy's temperature. I took it three times because I thought I was pushing the wrong buttons or was reading it incorrectly...i wasn't...it was 105.6!!!! I rushed him into the wash stall and called the vet....
To make this a little shorter, the vet came out, Banamine was administered, a large dose of antibiotics were taken, another bath was had and many minutes were spent under three very large fans. His temp finally settled at 100.8...whew! A CBC was done and a tick panel was sent out to Texas. The next morning (Wednesday), the vet visited us again to check on the poor boy. His temp was much better but now he had diarrhea. his blood work came back with elevated rates meaning he had somthing tick related...oh joy! His back legs were swollen as well so now those had to be tended too! More antibiotics were given and then the vet gave her probable diagnosis...PHF...Potomas Horse Fever! Oi! Great...that's what the breakout on his face was, a tick bite!
Well, yesterday he looked good but not much improvement from the day before. He will still be on antibiotics until Saturday so he just has to stay calm, quiet and relaxed so as not to trigger any laminitis or bring back his fever. So, keep your fingers crossed for this poor pony! But I will say that Buddy has really enjoyed his one-on-one attention from me and all the extra lovings he's been getting from people at the barn too!
Monday's ride was at least more pleasant than Friday's. I had a horse with a much better frame of mind and willingness to try anything but something was still off. It was very similar to riding a horse with a giant neck brace on. His circles were piecey, his laterals were super flat and simple changes were virtually impossible. This wasn't like him either. I got off cleaned him up and turned him out but a little voice kept saying something was not right. Later that night, I spoke with my trainer and she suggested that he was sore from the two needles he got on Monday. (Oh yeah! Buddy also had a break out on his face of some sort so the vet came and gave him an antihistamine as well as a steroid in order to help the healing process.) I decided to give him some more time off and went down Tuesday to rub him down with lineament and give him some Bute. When I got there on Tuesday, he looked very lethargic but still tried to eat and be himself. I gave him the rub down and proceeded to go on with my normal activities and went to go ride another horse. Something just kept nagging at me while I was riding, so just for preventative measures I got off the horse I was riding and went to take Buddy's temperature. I took it three times because I thought I was pushing the wrong buttons or was reading it incorrectly...i wasn't...it was 105.6!!!! I rushed him into the wash stall and called the vet....
To make this a little shorter, the vet came out, Banamine was administered, a large dose of antibiotics were taken, another bath was had and many minutes were spent under three very large fans. His temp finally settled at 100.8...whew! A CBC was done and a tick panel was sent out to Texas. The next morning (Wednesday), the vet visited us again to check on the poor boy. His temp was much better but now he had diarrhea. his blood work came back with elevated rates meaning he had somthing tick related...oh joy! His back legs were swollen as well so now those had to be tended too! More antibiotics were given and then the vet gave her probable diagnosis...PHF...Potomas Horse Fever! Oi! Great...that's what the breakout on his face was, a tick bite!
Well, yesterday he looked good but not much improvement from the day before. He will still be on antibiotics until Saturday so he just has to stay calm, quiet and relaxed so as not to trigger any laminitis or bring back his fever. So, keep your fingers crossed for this poor pony! But I will say that Buddy has really enjoyed his one-on-one attention from me and all the extra lovings he's been getting from people at the barn too!
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