A Fall From Hope, Farewell Rosemary

Life can change in a moment especially when you own horses. A couple weeks ago Rosemary had some swelling between her front legs. It looked like what happens when a kick to the chest drops down. I decided not to ride her in case it bothered her. As the weekend progressed I noticed she also had fluid retention on her belly. I had a niggle of worry. DaVinci has that on his belly from his heart mummur. Rosemary had a cough, but with her history of breathing issues, we took that in stride. Then Sunday into Monday she had labored breathing. On Tuesday she received PEMF treatment and seemed to feel a bit better. But on Wednesday she stumbled into the stall for breakfast. Mom could actually video her breathing it was so bad. The vet said he would come after he saw the video. I was totally stressed at work as I waited.

It turned into almost full blown panic when Mom said she had to go to the vets because she had a temperature and fluid around her lungs. Of course thanks to Covid, Mom could not be with her at the vets. They came back with plural pneumonia and a 50% survival rate. We had to wait for labs to determine the cause/type. Mom and I both kicked ourselves for not calling for help sooner and worrying that we caused it with her nebulizer. The vets continued to battle her temperature, ice her feet to prevent laminitis and monitor the drain tube. That first day they took off four liters of fluid, which helped her breathe easier. The tech would bring her bananas for a treat. They were leaning towards bacterial and we began to hope.

Thursday the check up call began positive, but guarded. Our biggest worry was how to pay for the $12000 treatment. I began to research borrowing against my 401K. Then there was a fall from hope with one phone call. What seemed treatable, became devastating with the diagnosis of cancer. Trying to drive home while crying with Mom on the phone was a trial. So not fair to lose our just turned 13 yr old fun and sassy girl. Of course now we wonder if all her issues over the last year  or two has been this brewing.We had to wait for the vet to call on Friday. It was a long tearful wait.
Peggy and I took Roscoe to a collection in the morning. It was touch and go as to whether Roscoe would let me catch him in the stall. He did not know why I was so upset. But he had the best collection to date. The vet even asked if I switched stallions.  I had to distract Peggy with politic talk to keep her from crying all the way home. One of us needed to be able to drive. It was heartbreaking to pull up to the barn and hear Dottie call, thinking Rosemary had come home.
Mom finally got the call from the vets in the afternoon. We would get no miracle. Rosemary had mesothelioma and treatment was not an option. Plus our cob girl was losing her appetite. We arranged a time to go be with her. Rosemary was burning up and the swelling was increased. She was so uncomfortable. We spent over an hour grazing her and giving her treats. She did relax a little, but could not really stand still. We knew it was time. This was honestly the hardest  to watch because of her discomfort. She went quickly almost even before the second syringe. Nearly 10 years of sassy pony girl lost in a moment.  We had no other choice. but it hurt. I could not handle her going in the ground so I pushed for cremation. She comes home on Tuesday. On top of the vet bill, it is not the cheapest option, but it was the one that worked. We will figure out finances later.
The barn does not feel right without her. So much of how we ran the barn revolved around her. So hug your ponies tight. Life can change so quickly. Off to cry some more.

A Difference of Degrees

Well on top of all the virus fun and event cancellations, I found out my trainer was leaving. Though we have had our rocky moments, she has still moved Mom and I forward in our riding. So I signed up for two lessons the weekend my camp would have happened.
The way Sprieser is set up, I could pay online and we could go straight to the indoor limiting exposure. Rosemary was up to doing the lesson and Roscoe was hot to work. We ended up riding the whole hour and a half and taking turns. This allowed Rosemary enough breaks to catch her breath.

Lauren had both of us start over poles set in the corners and two in the middle. Roscoe decided the poles were going to eat him. He did eventually find his working brain. We slowed him down and put him into a longer Training level frame. When he consistently stretched over the poles, we put him together and picked him up. Man the quality of trot was amazing. He was coming through.
After a break for mom to work, we played with canter. Lauren wanted canter half halts. Last time we did this, I ran out of steam. This time we actually were able to work it. She had us do a working canter, which was bigger than I normally get at home, and then engage my core to help a half halt. Typical for Roscoe, right was better than left. His overall response was better. At times I could feel him sit and lift. He can't do it long, but what a difference.
Then the fun began, leg yields. You all know I have battled these for awhile. Lauren finally seemed to hit on my problem. I keep Roscoe too straight. She had me let his shoulder lead by five degrees. This immediately unlocked his movement. So we tried three degrees, but with less fluidity. Four degrees was the best of both. We finally could move forward and sideways. Hard to believe it was only a difference of degrees preventing our success. And I was able to get the same results at home.
It really stinks to make progress and have to pause lessons. But mom and I have taken advantage of our time to move Ember forward. He will get his own post. Stay well everyone!

Looking forward 

Flying High

This year has been the hardest one yet after losing both my grandmothers and hitting rock bottom health wise. But I have an amazing support system in my family, friends and my online cheering squad. So I am skipping the year end review and focusing on the recent high points.

First I felt a bit lost when I received my blogger gift exchange person and she did not want stuff. For the last five years my sister and I have done a framed cross stitch. So we had to think of a way to still give our person a personalized gift that did not fall in the category of stuff. Fortunately I remembered my sister gave my mom and I shirts with heads of our horses painted on them. My person had a cute picture of her two horses wearing bows, which sparked the idea of putting Christmas bows on the painted heads. My sister was the mastermind for this project and she really pulled it off and even made her own ribbons using an infant sized ribbon. The best part was when our person asked if it was okay to frame a t-shirt.  Of course now I have a ton of Christmas movies to watch since I did not have late nights cross stitching.

Painted Portion

With external bows

Second riding has been at a minimum due to the weather. The times I do ride I enjoy fully. On New Years Eve I did short rides on the three older Cobs. Roscoe volunteered to go first. I nearly regretted the choice to ride bareback. My core was screaming, but having muscles to scream was refreshing. We are not perfect, but I feel like the move to first level is doable.

Up next was Rosemary. She has come so far in the nine years we have had her. I was pleased she did not have any hind end issues after all the mud we have had. She is always full of drama, but also willing to try. We made her day today by taking her for a drive. Her heart is really between the shafts.














Then it was Comrade's turn. He is still recovering and healing his tongue wound. His weight has improved and he looks healthier. I was not sure how much he could do since like me he lost a bunch of muscle. Surprisingly, we walked, trotted and cantered. He had a literal bounce to his step, that again had me questioning the bareback pad. I think he was really happy to work.

I was totally glared at by Ember, but since I was solo I could not ride him. He had to wait until today.
Which brings us the the third point, my awesome baby boy. On Christmas we did another ride offline and he was better. He still had some stops and our steering is nonexistent. He had some spring in his trot and we actually did one stride of canter.

 I shared a bit of his trot and a Cob breeder said it was "suspended and reachy." The next day was the first time we have been able to work in twice in a row. He was even better and listened mostly to me instead of mom. At the end we opened the little area and walked him into the bigger side of the arena. He stayed next to mom and was pretty brave.

Today it was all me and Ember. Mom took video while we walked and trotted. I carried a whip for the first time and used it to keep him from falling in and to encourage him to keep going. Man I was so happy with what he was giving me. I decided to try for canter. Mom had to help so no video. Ember once he picked up canter was actually pretty smooth. I am flying high with how good he is doing. I can't wait to see what happens next time.

Bring it on 2020!

Adult Camp 2019 Day One

This year Mom and I each attended camp. This made the situation a little tougher since they scheduled us back to back. My ulcerative colitis have been super bad, so I was worried about having to run to the bathroom mid tacking. Luckily Peggy was able to attend and help me. The horses stay overnight and we leave the truck and trailer at Sprieser. I drove my car loaded with all our stuff and was able to find their stalls before the horses arrived. Good thing too since I only found Rosemary's. I walked the aisle twice, but there was no sign with his name. A staff member was just as puzzled as I was. She remembered his name. Eventually she found his name paper behind another horse's. She found a stall down the aisle from Rosemary and right next to the bathroom. Perfect for me.

Someday his name will be spelled correctly

The horses settled in just fine, chowing down on the hay provided. Mom and I had to work on chipping them out of the mud they gathered from the rain the night before. I could tell Roscoe had to pee, but he is not a fan of pelleted sawdust. God forbid he get splashed. When I got him tacked up, I asked Peggy to walk him in the grass. He had to pee before going into the indoor. NO PEE allowed! He cooperated after scoping out the area.
My mom rode right before me and Rosemary seemed to handle the work okay. We worried a bit about her heaves. I made sure to trace clip her so she would not get too hot.

Roscoe and I headed in for our lesson with Skye Finn, a new trainer to Sprieser.  "This must be the Roscoe I have heard so much about," was the first thing she said. Uh boy, wonder what she has heard. Fair warning, the loud voice is Lauren teaching the other lesson.

Roscoe was full of it and distracted. He spooked at mom walking in, shadows and some mystery stuff. So Skye had us doing baby leg yields and shoulder fore.

 Roscoe started to settle as we worked. He was still a bit tight in his poll. She had us do a  clock exercises of moving his head to points on the clock to loosen him up. I was really wishing I had remembered my spurs. From there we moved to adjusting his trot open and close. Roscoe was deciding all this was a lot of work.

But there was no rest. Onto canter or maybe try to canter. He seemed to forget how his feet work. The tail monster was working overtime. When we finally got a canter, Skye said "he actually has a good canter." I guess he can still surprise people. She wanted to work his transitions. We tried to do a canter figure eight one direction, but my riding could not coordinate, so we changed it around and it worked better. He was still a little dramatic on his left transition. We ended with some nice trot work. Overall though he was distracted, he still did some nice work. I really have to lock down my outside rein so I can support him more.

We had a couple of hours before our cavaletti lesson. Mom and I were in it together. It started with going over poles on a circle and adjusting the number of strides between poles.

 From there we serpentined over poles down the center of the ring. The cobs handled the turns well.

The next part is where it got dicey. Our cobs are pony sized, but they are not pony strided. Both have done cavaletti with horses and not had any issues. Skye ended up closing the distance on the three pole and the two pole to an insanely small stride. We always thought two poles, especially close together, were a no-no. Roscoe decided to just ignore the suggestion and go over both poles in one stride.

We were told to close up our stride. Considering the bad weather this winter, the horses are out of shape. So something happened to Rosemary going over the three poles. We could not see any injury, but she hurt for a little while. Mom eventually was able to get her going again, but the focus changed to Roscoe.
We moved onto some canter work. I can honestly say I let him down. A side effect of the colitis is malnutrition and it drains me. My pony takes care of me and does not hold it against me.

Day one was complete and we survived despite all of us being out of shape. We left the ponies eating their dinner and figuring out that they were staying. Tomorrow we had one more lesson. I was already feeling today. No pain, no gain.

Splish, Splash...Splat

Florence made her presence known in our area just before the September show. My farrier was convinced the show would be canceled, but there were too many signed up for her to that.
Mom and I made an effort to clean up Rosemary and Roscoe even knowing they would not stay clean. When we got to the show, it was very wet footing and misting.
Mom went first and Rosemary quickly said she was not happy with the puddles. She stomped her way around the warm up. She was more up than out and working harder than she needed to. I was proud of Mom. She worked through the drama and did her two tests. The judge was a tough one and did not give any feedback since it was raining. No pictures for the same reason. Rosemary, even tired, still managed to place with me in training 1.
Just picture Rosemary sandblasted. We had to brush off the saddle before we put it the truck.

Splish, Splash

We had a bit of time until Roscoe was up. This show I asked to ride T2, T3 and then T1. Unfortunately we were not at our best. I was tight and not sitting around him. I tired having Mom shake out my hips, but it was still an issue. Roscoe was greatly insulted to be asked to work in below standard footing. We had to have a serious discussion about him going through puddles when I say. Warm up to say the least, sucked. The show ring was actually better, but he still tried to avoid puddles. At one point I asked for a downward transition from the canter just as he was swerving around a puddle. He totally fell on his face. Not surprising we got "needs balance."

One of the smaller puddles

Despite the weather, footing and my tight hips we did manage to finish all three tests. They were not our prettiest and the judge hit all our weak points, but my pony did as I asked. I hope to be able to ride before this judge again on a better day.

Note I did not wear a white shirt

Our friend who got Winston rideable for us, was showing too. Her boyfriend managed to get some pictures of Roscoe. As for the Splat... that was me later. We were pulling the four wheel cart to load back onto the trailer, when I fell over the railroad tie and landed in the mud. What a way to end a rainy show day.

Unexpected Show: High Five and Hugs

I am still battling the insurance company and it stressed me out completely before the show on Saturday. Mentally I was exhausted. We seriously considered not going to the show, but that would mean losing $120 in show fees. Plus I did not want to lose more this year.
I skipped Ember's adventure because I still have not taken the videos off Mom's phone. It is coming though.

We of course needed a trailer and the one we borrowed for Ember would not work. Luckily my farrier offered his. It is for sale and we hoped it would be a possible replacement. That is not going to be the case since our horses seem to think the butt guards are for going under. Plus I don't think we can handle not having a dressing room. Our Gore spoiled us.

The show was in the evening and gave us time to give them a quick scrub. Rosemary was up first with her Training level debut. I was slightly worried about it due to the lack of riding caused by the dang rain. She warmed up wonderfully and I thought my timing was good. Except we ended up having a few more riders to go.

I lost some of her by test time. Overall it was a solid test scoring between 6.5 and 7 with one 8. She got a bit strung out during her right lead. Fitness will help her with that if Mother Nature decides to let us ride. I worried about if she would have enough left for Mom's tests.

Bless her, she was super for Mom and gave her both leads. It was great for Mom's confidence. Her scores were, T1 68.26% (3rd), Intro-B 65.63% (4th) and Intro-C 67% (1st).





Roscoe had the full set of Training tests to do. He was full of it, even kicked at the mounting block. I did very little warm up, mostly because there were some inconsiderate people in the ring. I did not want to cause and issue. I basically used my T1 to warm up. He actually was not too bad. We still have our issue of getting off my inside leg going to the left, but it was not at the same level as previous shows. As I approached the judge, I was hesitant. She asked how I felt about it. I told her it was warm up and she gave me a high five and said it was great. Then she shocked me by telling me she scored his right lead canter with a 9. My jaw dropped.

I only had one test before T2. It really was a rinse and repeat. Left was bracing and needed better bend. Then we cantered right and it felt amazing. It was more apparent after her comments. She again came to talk and said she wavered about what score to give me. She said he was straight, which has been a challenge previously. In the end she said we got a 10! She gave me a hug and I almost cried.

On the way to a 10

A couple more rides and we were back for T3. This test I knew would be tough. Roscoe was a bit tired and the canter corners especially to the left caused us issues. I have only ridden the test in a small arena so the large ring was tough. This time Roscoe actually got a 10 for his right lead transition. A total win since that is normally a trouble spot. No where near fabulous, lots to work on. He was amazing for me in my brain fried condition. I am still in shock. This judge has seen us twice before and her reaction helped me realize his training is on the right track.

And if the day had not been surprising enough, as I finished my last test another rider said I inspired her and she wanted to be like me. Peggy mentioned people commenting on my hands. Seriously it felt like a I was in La La Land.

We left before the results and they finally posted today. Roscoe had a clean blue sweep; T1 69.78%, T2 73.27% and T3 73.41% (high score of the day training level & up). This was an unexpected show, but exactly what we needed.