Dualing Professionals

Thank you everyone for your comments on my last post. I still can't believe she is gone, but seeing her half finished cross stitch project certainly makes it real. And yes Kristen we can talk about a project of your own. Pm me on Facebook or email me at equinpilot@yahoo.com.

While Mom was gone Comrade was having issues with his mouth. The dentist had found he has a gap that will hold food. He told us to use a hose and rinse his mouth. Comrade was not totally thrilled at the prospect considering the weather was below freezing. At one point he even drooled down the gate. He seemed to resolve the issue.

All during that episode, Comrade kept eating. He is a Cob so food is priority. So when we started seeing issues this month the differences were noticeable. This time the drool was almost nonstop and he was not eating hay. Peggy got the dentist on the schedule to come. But Comrade's condition deteriorated to the point of shaking and minor colic. So we called the vet.

Comrade showing off his new sheet

The vet found he had a temperature of 101.8. He was obviously fighting something. So the vet took blood. She also looked at his mouth and did not see a huge amount of stuff in his gap. He got banamine for both the temp and the colic. Soon after he dug into his wet hay pellets and some soft grass hay. That evening his temp was down to 101.5 and in the morning it was down to 101.

During a blanket change Mom and I were appalled to see him so tucked up in his tummy and haunches. He looked horrible. No temp, but he was uncomfortable. Peggy gave him an oral dose of banamine after which he dug into food for the next three hours.

Ember snoot honing in

The next day the vet was coming to do a more thorough oral exam. She found three large ulcers on his tongue. She could not tell us how it happened or why he had an infection. Other than treating the ulcers, there was no other treatment advised. Salt water washes am and pm much to Comrade's delight.
When the dentist came, he did not believe the minor sharp edges were enough to cause the massive ulcers. He took pictures and video to send to three vets he knows around the country. All three individually came back and said that at some point Comrade's tongue was swollen and he chewed on it. That would explain the constant drool too.
 I was really glad not to be present. This vet practice refuses to sedate for our dentist and they feel they are superior. Except that when we used them, the horses were over sedated and sore afterward. Plus they were too expensive. We certainly won't burn the bridge, but we have been looking for another vet. So when the vet asked to do a full dental on Comrade, Peggy was quick to say that the dentist would be coming in a couple of hours. Let the dual begin. The vet lectured over and over about why the dentist  was not the right way to go. Phone conversations with the dentist of course said how the vets don't do things right. Poor Peggy was the concerned owner stuck in the middle. The determination of the dentist and his persistence to find us another vet helped Peggy make the decision. Plus he left a large syringe type thing to do the salt rinses.
In the end we are just trying to find the best care for our horses without breaking the bank.

Comrade had a recheck today from the new vet and no more ulcers. He will be so sad when he does not get anymore soft hay. So will Rosemary who has diligently been stealing it from him.

Rough Month, The Power of Thank You

January is historically a month where I work a ton due to inventory and I barely see my horses. This year our schedule was lighter, so I had hope to get more barn time. Unfortunately I did not realize just how much I would get. During the biggest inventory we conduct, my uncle called to say my Memere had been examined by hospice and the news was not good.

So my parents left for Florida to be with her. She had less than a month to go. My Memere is one of the strongest women I know. She has had MS for awhile, developed Crohns, but she kept going. Just before Thanksgiving, after one too many falls, she made the decision to move in with my uncle. That was the beginning of the end. My independent grandmother lost heart with the decision. My Mom got two weeks with her before she joined my grandfather to dance again. I am so glad we got to see her every year for the last decade.

Her strength helped my sister and I get through the month my parents were gone. Weird work schedules, snow storms, reactivated UC and animal issues made for stressful times. Peggy and Larry helped where they could. I melted down more than once. Sometimes things were just too much.

Fortunately life goes on and all the animals survived. Rosemary is dealing with slight heaves thanks to all the wonderful mold we had last year. So far giving her phosphorus has helped the best. Of course she was better when the vet  came. Dottie's digestive issues have greatly improved since Mom found Succeed. And after dealing with my UC flaring since I was sick in October, it is finally improving after a course of steroids.

Amidst all the crazy a little envelope came in the mail. I nearly cried when I read the card. Memere always had a cross stitch project she was working on. Sometimes she made it for herself and other times she gave them away. Visiting her got me back into doing cross stitch and you all know what my sister and I do every year. The blogger gift we make is something I normally share with Memere once I finish. This time one of the last texts she sent me was to ask me why I was not with her to pull out her threads. I told her I was pulling out my own. I did not get to share the finished project with her this time. So when Amanda sent me a thank you card it reminded me why I started making them in the first place and who inspired me. As long as I cross stitch I have a link to her.

The power of thank you at just the right time can bring happiness when someone is down. Memere was also a big one for the written thank you, so Amanda you certainly showed why she did.

2018 Year in Review

2018 was nothing if not memorable. Sadly not always for good things, but it moved along.
January was my month of inventory at work. I handed the reins over to Lauren for a show. It was a learning experience about showing in horrible conditions.

Another first was Roscoe participating in 3 auctions for stud service: Orchard Hills Pit Stop, NEDA and Westfalen NA. He managed bids in all three.

February was a month I began to see progress in Roscoe's canter work even though we had very few ride times.

March was the month of madness and going green. This was when the big ass tree fell on my trailer and luckily our trailer guys were able to fix it. The horses had a diet change which included spirulina to help with allergies and kelp for their trace minerals. The green change seemed to help even with the bad allergy season.

April brought some actual ride time in lessons and in a show. And I actually backed Ember for the first time. Roscoe also got to play at a jump chute clinic.

May brought the breeding season, another ride on Ember and grey horse problems with DaVinci.

June brought a new colt, a dressage lesson,  and a show.

Betsy won the Foal Pool and below is her prize.

July was when we had an awesome jump lesson with Budi. Roscoe and I actually can jump together.

August brought the death of my trailer via Mack truck and the worry of losing DaVinci. We still have to watch him to see if he will need to lose his eye due to the bone fragments in the socket. So far, so good. I don't even want to remember all the trailer insurance stuff I had to deal with.
The month ended on an unexpected high when Roscoe won all three training level tests, earned "10" and came away the high score of the show.

September brought the death of my fun loving aunt after a three week battle with cancer. Ember helped bring up our spirits with an exceptional performance at the jump chute clinic. He really is good for the soul.

Long mane braids pretty successful

October brought the death of Draco. It is so hard to see a young life cut short. It also brought the fulfillment of a goal to get Roscoe on a cross country course. Stephen Bradley helped his introduction go smoothly even if it ended with me on the ground.

November brought another trailer to us. A bit rough around the edges, it needed a new jack and some major maintenance. It is so good to have wheels again.

December was the month of Blogger Gift Exchange and sadly, dog bites.

My gift from L Williams

My sister and I quickly got to work on making the pattern for our annual cross stitch, this time for Amanda at Bel Joeor. I tried to save time by editing the pictures so only the horse was visible and adding a gray background. I picked the pictures specifically so that we could showcase his blaze and brand. I even got two thirds done with the brand picture when I decided the coloring was off and pulled it all out. Luckily the other two heads came out okay. My sister redid the brand picture and it was better. He has a roan patch right by his brand which the computer saw as the same. Luckily Amanda has a "how to read a mustang brand" on her blog and I could write down what it said. Then my sister fixed the pattern and pulled out the corresponding stitches and replaced with white so his brand could be seen. Finally, it was coming together. It threw another challenge at us by being slightly too long for the frame we had, so we had to get creative with framing and mounting. I did not deliver in time for christmas due to the creative difficulties and unexpected trips to the vet when Griffyn got bit twice in the month. He is not the best patient and drain tubes drive him crazy. He is on the mend now and Amanda was happy with her gift even with the delay.

2018 Blogger Gift Exchange

Whew, this the season for having no time. I am madly working on my blogger gift in between slogging through mud. It was a nice break to receive my own gift.
I always have a hard time thinking of what I want, so I normally say I like socks. So when I felt my gift, I  knew they were socks. You can never go wrong with socks. But even better they were personalized...with Roscoe heads! Super cute.

The only problem is that I don't know who to thank. Hopefully the sender will let me know.
Okay, back to work for me.

Roscoe's Wins

If I can ever kick this never ending cold, I may be able to provide some riding posts. Instead here is a brag post.
This year was tough due to the weather cancelling shows and preventing lessons. We made it to four dressage shows at a local series. And though we were not able to move up this year, Roscoe did well at Training Level. Of the nine tests he completed, he placed first four times, second three times and in the rain placed third twice. He had one high score of the day win too.
And at the end of it all he won the Training Level Champion.

We got a pad too

Showing Rosemarys 10th place ribbon too beacuse I had no idea that is what it was

The next win came indirectly to Roscoe due to his kids up in Canada. He won the Get of Sire for the C/D Welsh 2018.

Of course his name is spelled wrong

Castleberrys Debonair, Aderyn du Carousel and Castleberrys Ffrewyn earned enough points to earn the award for Roscoe. Carousel and Debonair even came back to the US for the national show. Then just recently they competed at the Royal. For a yearling, Carousel had a stellar year winning big at both those shows. Carousel even broke Debonair's winning streak at the Royal. Photo credit: Mckeens

Ffrewyn

Carousel at US National

Debonair at US National

Carousel and Debonair at the Royal

Trailer Hunt Success

After all the insurance fun, we started looking at trailers. We definitely wanted a trailer with a steel frame, ramp, dressing room, windows in front and between the dressing room and horse area. I looked at Sundowners but they are all aluminum and they have a pole at the back of the divider. I was working myself towards accepting less than what we had or having to have another payment. I contacted Gore, but they had no used trailers. The best they could do was 15500 for a 2018.
I even debated buying a trailer sight unseen from Washington and having it shipped since the prices were so low.
Then I got lucky. I hit on a used Gore in Florida within my price range. I sent a request for information and mentioned that I was in VA.

The owner called me the next day. The trailer is a 2010 they purchased directly from the Gore factory. They used it for going to civil war reenactments. The tires were new a few years ago and it had little use since then. She was not very tech savvy so I could not get any pictures. Her son said it was on Facebook but I could not find it.
So we made plans to take the truck for our annual visit to my grandmother. When we arrived in Florida, I was actually able to see the pictures on Facebook. Overall the trailer was a bit beat up, but not too bad. On our way home we stopped at their house.

And it matches the truck, bonus

 The trailer definitely was hard used and the Florida weather rusted the jack and the metal parts on the doors. I can handle the cosmetic dents and dings. I did push for money off for the damaged part. It looks like they scraped against a tree. And the funny thing is that the VIN never got engraved on the trailer, nor the weight or tire info. I guess they forgot at the factory.

In the end I probably could have gotten the price even lower, but my dad was off chatting. Now the trailer needs to go in for inspection and to have the stablilizer system installed. I will probably have the trailer guys look at the damage to see if they can pretty it up. Fingers crossed! Then it will be legal and hopefully we can get back to lessons.
I will say, my old trailer was in EXCELLENT condition and hitch covers are totally worth it.