One Year

It's been one year.  I didn't want to know the actual date but my brother went and put it on facebook so now I'll always remember December 4th. 

Her halter is back in my room.  Artemis outgrew it a couple months ago so now it's hanging on my closet door.  It was never Artemis' halter, it will always be Cas' halter. 

So far, it hasn't gotten any easier.  I miss her and think of her often but my own injury has made me glad I decided to end her pain.  At least I can understand why I hurt and I know it'll go away one day.  She didn't have that. 

Red Light Green Light

There's actually been a lot going on here but I've been a bad blogger.  I'm not going to put everything into one post, it'd be way too long. 

First, Artemis has been great lately.  We've also been working with her and the saddle a lot.  She's graduated up to the western saddle and I have to say, I like how ti looks on her.  She really could have cared less when I put it on her for the first time. 

We're still working on leading, since I think she could always be better.  Her biggest problem is she tends to rest her nose against your shoulder when she walks and I don't like my horses to touch me when we walk.  Other than that, she's pretty good.  She's gotten great at stopping. 

One of the big things we work on every second week or so, is standing at the mounting block.  I can now get her to stand beside it, while I'm on it, and lay over the back of the saddle.  My feet stay on the mounting block so she's not actually supporting me, but she doesn't seem to mind it.  I'm really trying to get her used to things on her back and some weight, since hopefully this coming summer, she'll have her first ride.

Today my mom and I went out to the stable early to help them with chores.  We're hoping it'll be good for my arm.  I'm really, really bad at mucking out stalls.  In the time I did one, T managed to do three, and I started a good ten-fifteen minutes before her.  For the last two stalls I did (I did three in total) L helped me.  L and I also dumped one of the full wheelbarrows and we sucked at it.  Okay, I sucked at it. 

We rode after that, my mom and I and T and L.  It was fun.  We played Red Light Green Light for a bit.  Socks and I were awful but it was fun.

The ride was great until the end.  My mom and I were riding side by side, letting the horses cool off, and just as we approached the gate, a woman came rushing around the corner up to it (the gate) and scared poor Jimmy.  He shied sideways, right into Socks and I and of course, it was my right side. 

Needless to say, my arm hurt quite a bit after that.  I needed help getting off.  Dismounting is already difficult enough with barely being able to use my right arm, but I didn't think I could have done it today.  My mom held Socks next to the mounting block and I got off from that.

Also, Artemis is growing again.  I know I say it all the time but I can't get over how big she's getting. 

The Night Ebony Tried to Escape

Picture this: It's night, with only a tiny sliver of the moon visible.  The stable is all but empty except for my mother and I.  It was a great night.

We'd ridden earlier and brought Artemis in to run around the arena with her mother and Jimmy.  We brought Jimmy out first and then because it was so cold, we decided to bring Socks and Artemis out at the same time since their gates are next to each other.

I led Socks, since I'm still pretty nervous leading Artemis outside because of my arm.  When we got to Socks' pen, I took Artemis, just to hold onto her, while my mom let Socks go.  There was a bit of leftover hay in front of Socks' pen so we were standing there, talking, as we let Artemis munch on it.

Ebony was waiting at the pasture gate.  It was cute, she tends to come up with us when we catch Artemis and then wait the whole time for Artemis to come back out. 

We could hear Ebony messing with the gate but we didn't really think about it because that horse is always chewing on something.  Well I just happened to turn and look in time to see Ebony back up and then run, right into the gate.  The gates flew open and her front left leg went through the gate.  She hesitated for a second and then jumped back, pulling her leg out.  While this was happening my mom and I were both silent, but each having a heart attack.

Ebony stood still, staring out at us.  The gates were wide open but I think she was a little freaked out by everything that was happening.  It was lucky for us.  Immediatly my mom came forward, still walking but as quickly as she dared, spreading out her arms so Ebony couldn't get past her.  I, dragging Artemis with me, also walked towards Ebony because the lane is pretty wide and she could just gallop around my mom and into the barnyard. 

Ebony started to come forward but I ran forward to cut her off, and then she hesitated and took a step towards my mom.  We both started speaking to her and calming her down.  Artemis filled in the middle space between my mom and I, and as soon as Ebony saw her, she began to calm down.  We managed to back her up and close the gates.

We had a flashlight with us so I looked her over.  She was fine, I don't think she actually hit her leg on the gate, she just put it through and quickly pulled it back out.  She was pretty freaked out so I couldn't get too close.  We let Artemis go and then triple checked the gate as she left.  The second I got home I sent out BO's an email.

We think she managed to get the chain around the gate off or at least loose, and then when she rammed into it, it pulled the chain out. 

My mom and I never actually spoke to each other while trying to keep Ebony from escaping but we both had the same two thoughts, "Oh crap!" and "There is no way I'm chasing a  black horse at night!"  Of course, if Ebony had gotten out, that's exactly what we would have done.

The next time I saw T afterwards, she just laughed and said she wished she could have seen our faces when it happened.

Ebony is fine.  A huge troublemaker but fine.

Updates on Everyone

Thanks to everyone for your support.  Honestly, I can't tell you how helpful it was to have so many people, online and at the stable, be so nice and supportive.  There are a few people in my life who, since I fell, have been anything but supportive, it was amazing to see how many people are actually nice.

My computer broke a while ago so you won't be hearing from me very often, not that I posted regularly before this.  I figured while I had some time on a computer today, I'd give everyone an update.

Me:

I've been better.  I've ridden a few more times, mostly just walking.  I can't ride for long, my arm does stop to hurt but I'm just glad to be back on a horse.  Socks has been a superstar.  She doesn't try to go faster than I can, she listen's perfectly and when I falter, which happens more than I'd like to admit, she stops and waits for me to collect myself again.

I've gotten more splints for my arm to help with mobility.  Other than that, I'm not doing much.  My sister got me into The Walking Dead so I've been catching up on that.  It's not near as scary as I always thought it would be but it's still pretty gross at parts.  I've been writing a lot more too, I don't really have anything else to do so I might as well try to get as much writing done as I can.

Socks:

As I said, Socks is a superstar.  I love her, what else is there to say?  Her and Lily are getting alone really well, Socks stays out of Lily's way, but Lily isn't all over her like Felene, her last paddock mate, was.  She got a cut on her back right leg again.  My sister washed it out and it looks like it's just a scrap but I'm going to keep my eye on it.

Jimmy:


Jimmy's been good, for the most part.  He's still going great in the bitless bridle.  It's amazing to me how much of a difference that made.  He's been good with his feet,  moreso, with people besides my mom and I lifting his feet.  My sister's friend from work wants to learn how to ride a horse so this past Sunday she came out and had a little ride on Jimmy.  He took care of her, although he did try to do his own thing when she wasn't firm.  Next time she comes she'll ride Socks.

The new problem with Jimmy is he's become very mouthy.  He's always been a nudger, you stand beside him and he just wants to nudge you.  That's nothing new, but now he's actually putting his mouth on people.

We do hand-feed our horses treats.  The rule is though, they only get hand-fed as long as they can be respectful.  I don't carry treats in my pocket except for certain occasions because I hate when a horse nudges my pocket looking for treats.

For example, when I walk up to Socks in the pen, walk by her in the barn, she's not looking for treats.  When I open the feed container in the barn, she will make her motorcycle (feed me) noise and her ears will perk forward, looking for treats.  If I walk over to her she will duck her head down, looking for them and if I don't have any, she quits.  Jimmy was the same.  However, lately, that's not the case.  He actually grabbed the front of my sweater, where my pockets are (that could be coincidence).  We could barely put on his bridle because he was too busy checking all of our hands for treats.  This literally came up in a week.

So on our part, we are going to completely stop feeding him by hand.  If he's not respectful, he doesn't get it.        So we're going to monitor him very closely, see if we can stop the problem but if that doesn't make it better than we need to face another possibility.  There are a lot of different people who go into Jimmy's pen.  His pen mate is a lesson horse (sweetest pony in the entire world, if I had the money I'd buy him in a second) so we are starting to wonder if maybe some of the people going to catch the pony are sharing his treats with Jimmy.  I really hope we're wrong, but the fact that his mouthiness has come up so sudden and he doesn't get that many treats from us, it has crossed our minds.

If he doesn't improve with what we're going to do, then we will talk to the pony's owner.  Not accusing, because I honestly have no idea, and no way to find out, if her students are feeding Jimmy, but I'd like her to be aware of the problem with Jimmy because not only would I like it to stop if he is getting treats, but there's a lot of little girls who go into his pen and I don't want him to be all over them.  It'd just make me feel better to know that her students know not to feed him and to just watch him.  I don't think he'd intentionally hurt anyone, but he could scare someone who isn't sure of what he's doing.

Artemis:

There's not much to report on her except I think she's going through another growth spurt.  I feel like I just measured her but she looks like she's gotten even taller again.  I can't tell her apart from the other horses in the pasture at a distance anymore.  She no longer looks like a baby and instead looks like a real horse.

She still hasn't hit her gangly stage yet either, which is surprising.  There are two other yearlings I read about, one a month older and one two months younger, and both of them have started into that awkward growing stage.  I assume it'll happen soon, maybe her next growth spurt.  Fonda hit it at 11 months and Socks was closer to 2 when she hit hers.

Winter has hit, with the snow and the cold.  (-6, it depresses me that in another month that'll be insanely warm for us)  On the negative side, I see Artemis less because it's usually dark when we get out there and if she's covered in snow, we don't bring her in just so it can melt, get her wet and then throw her back out in the cold.

On a positive note, the cold apparently makes her behave better.  We don't need to bother putting the halter on her to bring her to the gate, she comes with us.  We'll be by Socks pen and she'll be way out in the pasture and see us.  I know it's her because I see her head shoot straight up and she'll watch us the whole time and then come running once we're close.

And I believe that's everything.  Not much going on, it's cold, I'm focusing on healing.  I hope we can solve Jimmy's treat problem pretty easily and by ourselves, I don't want to accuse anyone nor have anyone think I'm accusing them.  I'll try to take pictures one of the next times I'm out, I just lose my willing to do so when it's cold.

And as a final note, it's almost been almost three years since Sisco passed away.  She was my sister's foal and she lived a mere 37 days before she caught pneumonia and died.  I was there the day she was born and the day she died and trying to keep her alive that day was the hardest thing I've ever done.  She was so adorable and although we didn't know her for very long, we often think of and remember her.

I Rode

You read that right, I finally got to ride again.  I had a doctor's appointment last Friday.  I only see my doctor every two months now so I figured I might as well ask him although I was expecting his answer to be no.  I was surprised.  He actually said yes.  I can only walk on her for now and I can work up to doing more. 

So on Saturday my mom and I went out.  We caught Socks, who was actually kind of weird from the start, and my mom saddled her up.  My mom held her at the mounting block while I got on, very awkwardly, and walked beside us for the first lap.  There was a lesson with two people going on in the arena at the same time so she couldn't stay in with me, but she stood at the gate watching.

And now for the reason I've been avoiding writing this post for a few days, it was terrifying and horrible disappointing.  I didn't hesitate getting on Socks because I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to do it.  I've spent so much time in the past four months telling myself it wasn't the horse's fault (which it wasn't, I truly believe that) it was an accident.  I kept telling myself that I'd be fine on Socks, I didn't fall off of her, we've been partners for nine years and she'll take care of me. 

It couldn't stop the horrible anxiety I felt.  I honestly could barely breathe.  I had to focus on breathing and trying to calm myself down.  I thought I'd get better once I actually started to ride.  It just got worse.  I made myself stay on her but I was ready to get off after one lap. 

Socks was as great as I could hope for, but it was obvious she was picking up on my anxiety, although I think everyone in the barn could feel how nervous I was.  She kept herself either pressed up against the wall so my leg dragged against, or ten feet away from it.  She didn't shake her head or try to trot, she just wasn't going to walk right where I wanted her to. 

In a way, that actually helped me a little bit.  It annoyed me and it forced me to get strict with her and get her to walk where I wanted.  I actually forgot about being terrified for a second and focused on her.  It didn't last, but at least I know I can do it.  And my right arm, the broken arm, is so weak.  I tried to ride a lap holding my reins in my right hand and I couldn't do it, it was too weak to hold up for that long. 

I wore a splint on my arm, just to give a little extra support.  I don't think I will next time because taking off the splint was actually much more painful than riding was.  I also talked to my physiotherapist about it and he didn't feel that I would need to wear it.

On Thursday we'll be going back out and barring any more pain than usual, I'll be riding again.  I'm really nervous for it, because our stable owners will be back and will most likely be at the barn, as will most of our barn friends, if this is like any other Thursday.  It's stupid, but I am actually nervous about having people watch me ride.

All this said, I know one day I'll be able to ride her without being terrified.  I will keep getting back on her until I'm not afraid.  I hope it won't take too long, I don't want to subject Socks to my fears any longer than I have to.

Also, I said actually way too many times in this. 

Attack of the Burr Monster

Lately Artemis has been trying to make a new fashion statement.  Each time we've gone out for the past few weeks, we've been greeted with this sight.

My mom likes to joke that it's her crown.  I don't know where she's finding them, she didn't have this problem last year but this year she's covered in them, and not just in her forelock.  She's somehow managed to get her mane and tail tangled with them too. 

The first time we brought her into the barn to get them out, the father of one of the lesson students just burst out laughing.  He didn't think we'd be able to get it out and offered to cut it off for us.  I preferred to at least try first.  Call me vain but I'd rather spend as much time as it takes to get them out then cut her forelock and have her look stupid.  She's at least an angel when getting them out.  I stand on the stool and it takes me extra long with my bad arm but she'll stand there for as long as it takes. 

We brought her into the barn last week.  It was...interesting.  We didn't go out to catch her, but she followed us up to the gate so we figured we might as well.  I hung with her while my mom went to grab her halter.  At first leading, she was fine.  Then E started the feed truck up and she was done.  Everything was suddenly terrifying.  The wire fence was going to eat her, a pigeon flying overhead was a blood-thirsty monster.  It seems like  a certain little princess needs to go into boot-camp.

She's grown too, she looks massive.  I can no longer look out in the pasture and tell which is her just by her size.  We measured her last week and she came out to 14.1 hh.  Another inch and a half and she'll be the same size as Jimmy. 

Socks and Jimmy are doing well.  Socks is the same as ever.  My mom's been focusing a little more on riding Jimmy.  He's still going great in the bitless bridle, his stops are amazing.  He'll start to get stupid, trying to go his own way instead of wear my mom wants him to, but the second she says whoa and pulls back a bit, he'll stop dead.  He's so much better than he ever was in the bit.

In non-horse news, I've been given night-time splints for my arm.  They're working really well, although they're extremely uncomfortable to sleep with.  I've gained five more degrees in my arm after a week and a  half of using it and just today we added even more to the stretch.  I have a problem though, I've been taking it off in my sleep.  I've never had a problem with sleep-walking before but the past few mornings I'll wake up and everything on my night table will be rearranged and my splint will be on the floor.  I have no idea why I've started this now, or how to stop it. 

We'll be working with Artemis this weekend, provided it doesn't freeze us out.  We went from baking hot to freezing overnight. 

Appreciating The Big Guys

The one good thing about Artemis being a jerk (does it make me a bad horse owner to call my horse names?) is that I've been spending more quality time with Socks.  As the most laid-back and experienced horse we own (a.k.a the horse who needs the least work) she doesn't tend to get as much personalized attention from me since I'm always trying to sort out either Jimmy or Artemis.  Not to say I ignore her because I certainly don't.  I've said it before and I'll say it many times, she is my heart horse.  I spend a lot of time with her, but I tend to focus on the other two a little bit more.

Since I still can't ride, I've been taking her for walks.  My mom has been riding Jimmy outside in a field more often, so while she does I take Socks on the halter and walk around the field with her.  It's nice and relaxing.  She walks at my speed and lets me ramble on about whatever I want.  It's one of the only things I can do with her.  I do groom her but since I'm trying to use my broken arm to do that, I can only do it for so long before my arm hurts too much.  Speaking of though, I cleaned her front hoof, completely and properly, all by myself the other day.  It completely killed my arm but I was very happy with myself.  And then kind of upset that I was pleased with that, but I take what victories I can.

Jimmy has been great lately.  The bitless bridle has made all the difference in him.  He's so much more willing to do everything.  Not to say he isn't still stubborn, because he's just a stubborn horse, but now we can at least say that's part of his personality and isn't being caused by discomfort. 

We had the vet out on Friday to do Strangles for the three of them.  Strangles is a nightmare to do every year, Socks hates it, Jimmy usually tries to rear and this was the first time Artemis was going to have her strangles done.  We usually try to do it on our own but the vet was already coming out so we figured we'd get them to do it.  I'm very glad we did.  Socks was perfect.  She didn't put her head up or react at all.  Jimmy got very nervous when I gave the lead rope to the handler and the vet student walked over to him, his back arched, he went stiff everywhere and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head, but he was perfect too.

Artemis on the other hand, was her usual self.  My mom went to catch her when we first got out there and by the time the vet was finished with the big guys, they had only gotten halfway across the field.  The vet student, the handler and I walked out to them to save time, since they had another appointment to go to. 

For the actual Strangles, Artemis was great.  There was no reaction from her.  She's just still being awful to bring in.  Just out in the pasture, once you reach the gate then she's fine.  It's extremely frustrating.

Socks also has a new paddock mate, a bay mare named Lily.  Lily was here the winter Socks and Jimmy arrived but she was kept in a stall.  I was actually worried when I saw Lily was in with Socks because they hated each other.  I couldn't tie Socks up to her stall because they'd be pinning their ears back, squealing and snapping at each other. 

The first day they were together Lily kept chasing Socks away from the food.  T and I were a little concerned because Socks is a horse who can't afford to miss a meal.  Socks is smart though.  She just hung back and slowly inched her way in, slowly letting Lily get used to her presence.  T promised to keep watching them and I knew Lily would be moved if she kept keeping Socks from the food.  However, we don't need to worry about that.  They seem to have sorted it out and are fine now.  They hang out a lot more than Socks or Felene did.  I'm very happy they're getting along.

Socks also got a much needed bath today.  She was great for it, considering she doesn't get bathed very much and having a bath inside is still a new experience.  She did get spooked badly when someone dropped something just as L walked in the door beside her.  My poor horse almost had a heart attack but we got over it. 

Rough Spot

So things have really just been kind of dark and depressing here in my corner.  The weather has been dark and cold, but not raining and weather like that always makes me depressed.  I don't really know why but when it's dark and cold I have no motivation to do anything.  I'm better if it rains. 

My arm is a great source of frustration.  It's going on four months since I broke it and I'm not any closer to being normal.  My doctor won't even discuss the possibility of me riding anytime soon, and while I understand, it's insanely frustrating at the same time.  I can't even clean my horse's feet yet so I know riding anytime soon is unthinkable.  It would just be nice to have some timeline in place instead of feeling like I'll never be able to again.

Jimmy is doing good.  He's going great in the bitless bridle.  He's mostly had time off due to other issues I'll get.  He's always happy to see us, he keeps coming to the gate for some attention. 

Socks is great.  She keeps reminding me over and over why she is the greatest horse in the world.  She's so dependable, when I go out and I'm stressed, she's more than happy to just take a walk with me and let me calm down.  It's such a relief to have her to turn to, knowing that she'll be calm and quiet.  She's adapted really well to the few things I have to do with her.  When I pick out her left hooves (I can sort of do them, but her right side is too much for me still, since I have to lift them with my right arm, which is the broken one) she doesn't put any weight on me.  She's leading great from my left side and has learned to walk nice and slow.  Seriously, I love my horse, I don't say it enough here but she definitly is my heart horse.

Artemis.  Well, Artemis is...kind of being a major brat right now, to put it lightly.  We've been having a horrible time with her.  It started off with her not wanting to come in from the field.  She fought every step, to the point where she reared up and smacked my mom in the face with her leg, though thankfully her hoof missed my mom's face.  I can't tell you how thankful I am that it wasn't worse.  She was leading and then she suddenly jumped up, whirled to the side and reared. 

After we brought her in that day, we spent a good deal of time in the round pen.  What she did was completely unacceptable and she learned it.  My mom is fine by the way, thankfully.

The next time she was perfect.  But then, in part because of some people doing something they really, really should not have (I'm trying to keep as much drama out of this blog as I can) she was so freaked it, it was just becoming a very bad situation.  To avoid further harm to my mother or Artemis, we let her off the lead rope and she went to the gate by herself.

That was two very bad experiences though and today she was awful to try and lead.  It look over an hour to bring her in from the pasture.  However, we didn't give up and by the end she was leading better.  Then when we were setting her free, we made her walk a good ways into the pasture, reinforcing control by getting her to stop and turn and basically just pay attention.  We took her off the halter and she stayed put, which she usually does.  When we turned to leave, she followed us.

I hope we made some progress.  We have a plan in place so we'll see if it works.  I really hope it does.  I do think I get more frustrated than I need to, it's something I'm trying to work on.  I really wish I knew other people working with yearlings, or who had more experience working with yearlings, so I could see what is normal and what isn't. 

Hopfully the weather gets better and with it my mood.  My sister and I did go to the mountains a few weeks back, that was a nice change of scenery from my house and the hospital.  She even found me some bears like I asked.

A Bighorn Sheep licking the salt off the road.

A grizzly bear cub.

The mother of the above cub.

Bitless Sucess

For almost two years now, since Jimmy came down, we've been searching for the perfect headgear for him.  He came down in a sidepull which didn't work for him in the slightest.  He ignored you in it.  So we tried him in a snaffle.  He hated it, the head tossing was non-stop and he was doing everything he could to evade it.  We tried a french-link snaffle but the same thing happened.  So we put him in a curb.  That worked, for a while.  Then it was a curb with a roller.  After a while it became apparent he didn't like that.  So we went back to a snaffle and that was a disaster.  I wasn't really comfortable with trying out bits other than snaffles or curbs because I don't know enough about them and I'm not about to put something I don't understand how it works in my horse's mouth.  So we haven't been riding him much as we've been working on the mounting block issue and we didn't have anything to ride him in.

Then we were at our tack shop, looking at bits when we noticed they had a bitless bridle.  I knew they carried them but they'd always been sold out when we were there.  After a lot of mulling it over, my mom decided to buy it.  It came with a free dvd to show results with other horses, how to put it on and how it functions. 

Honestly, we didn't get our hopes up.  We much think a lot of him, but we were paranoid we owned the one horse the bitless bridle wouldn't work on.  Really, I love Jimmy but nothing would surprise me at this point. 

We went out last night, late so we could hopefully try out the bridle without a lot of people there.  It took a while to fit it to his head, and he wasn't too happy with us fiddling around his head but finally it was ready.  My mom took him in the arena, took him up to the mounting block and instantly all that work we've done with the mounting block was forgotten.  He wouldn't stand still.  Another girl, J, was riding and offered to show us something her trainer had taught her.  We agreed and wow, it worked so well.  When he moved away, she got on his case, majorly and made him move away.  She had to do it once and she stood for mounting and dismounting for the rest of the night.

Anyway, once my mom was on him, the change was immediate.  He fought it but it was more half-hearted than anything, as if out of habit.  His ears were forward the whole ride, he looked so much happier.  His turns would make any barrel racer start drooling.  He stopped on a dime (something which took a lot of pulling and saying whoa with the bit).  He backed up.  I didn't even realize he knew how to back up.  It wasn't exactly straight, but he backed up. 

To see the difference, I made my mom put the bit back in him.  I was ashamed with myself for not seeing how unhappy he was in it until now.  I knew he didn't like it, but you can see just how much he hates the bit.  I filmed both reactions so I'll be sure to put them up here once I have them on my computer. 

I'm so happy to have found something he seems to like.  We're also going to try Socks in it, and one day Artemis.  I honestly have nothing against bits but if you have an alternative that works, why not try it out?

This is like the one we have, except ours is brown nylon.  They didn't have any leather ones, and we wanted to make sure it worked before buying a more expensive leather one.

And now on to the ninja horses.  In one of my last posts I mentioned how Artemis and Jimmy both managed to get out of the grass pens.  We went over every single post and board, pushing on them but none werre loose.  So they were banished from it.  Well we went to put Socks in and as we were closing the gate, it spooked her and she ducked her head, dropped her hind end down and managed to get under the boards.  I was convinced that the horses were too tall to go under it, but they proved me wrong.  They will no longer be going in the grass pens. 

We're going out this weekend to try Jimmy in the bitless bridle again.  I just hope he still likes it.

Feet Day

 

It's been very good horse-wise for the past little bit.  We've only been out twice since I blogged last but a lot has happened.

 

Feet Day:

 

Last Saturday was feet day.  My brother came down to do their feet.  My mom and I went to the stable before him and his girlfriend just to get the horses ready.  They were supposed to give us an hour (it's a 45 minute drive to the stable) and then leave to come join us...We were waiting for over two hours with them.  That's the problem with having your brother as your farrier, he'd never be late like that for an outside client, but because I'm family it doesn't bother him, although it certainly bothers me.

 

We caught Jimmy and Artemis, and while Jimmy was getting his feet done, Artemis was out in a grass pen eating grass.  It wasn't the usual grass pen, you can see it from the barn door and it's really just a normal turn-out pen, so the electric fence is hooked up.  I went to hang out with her for a while. 

 

While I was, one of the new boarders brought his horse over, an absolutly gorgeous Polish Arabian/Egyptian Arabian (cool cross huh?) gelding over to meet Artemis.  My insanely friendly horse, who on the way to the barn, had stopped to try and meet this exact horse, was suddenly all shy and trying to hide behind me.  However, when I went over to meet the horse and his owner, she came with me.

 

He came over pretty much just to tell me how beautiful Artemis is.   I always feels like I'm bragging when I say things like that but that's what our conversation was.  He loved her and she of course played the part of the sweet, attention-loving little girl.  It was a different story when she was getting her feet done though.

 

Jimmy was great with his feet.  Artemis was horrible.  However, we at least figured out why.  She doesn't like my brother handling her feet.  If my mom or I do, she stands.  If Alex does it, she throws a fit.  So we tricked her into thinking my mom was holding her feet when it was really Alex.  Now we're going to try to get other people at the barn to start handling her feet more, since obviously other people need to be able to do them.  We already have one volunteer.

 

Socks was good until her last foot.  She has a cut on that foot and it was obviously bothering her.  She let him trim her foot and clean out her sole, and then she was done.  We didn't push it since she was telling us as clearly as she could she just couldn't have her foot up anymore.

 

And to end feet day, Jimmy attacked Artemis.  A full-blown attack.  While Socks was having her feet done, Jimmy and Artemis were in the grass turn-out pen together.  As a side note, I do want to say that they have been in together many, many times since she was born.  We put all three of the horses in together all the time, or sometimes just Socks and Artemis, or just Jimmy and Artemis.

 

I am not sure what went wrong.  My mom looked out the door at them and Jimmy was chasing Artemis around the pen.  That was, strange, but not really upsetting.  We kept watching.  He started biting her and at this point I was getting ready to intervene.  Then he chased her into the corner at the gate, turned around and started kicking her with both hind legs.  Not just once, he probably got her a good eight or ten times in the time it took me to come racing from the barn to pen, yelling at him to quit.  By the time I reached the gate he had chased her to the other end of the pen.  I grabbed Artemis' rope just in case he didn't stop when I entered the pen. 

 

Luckily Jimmy stopped as soon as I opened the gate.  He came trotting over to me and I chased him off.  He then went to my mom and she chased him off.  He stood in the corner looking like an ashamed little boy, although I'm sure he wasn't.  Artemis came right over to me and I caught her and brought her into the barn to check her over.

 

Her hair was messed up where he kicked her but she wasn't actually hurt and it hadn't broken the skin.  I walked her out but she was fine, mostly just a little scared.  We put her in the pasture and went back to Jimmy.  We checked him over to see if he had any marks but he didn't.  He was still acting like an ashamed little boy.  We put him back in his pen.

 

I still can't figure out what made him so angry.  I mean, I realize horses will be horses and get angry with each other, but driving her into the corner and kicking her like that is too much.  That's where a horse gets severely injured.  I would have been just as upset if Socks had done that to him.

 

I'm not really sure where to go from here.  I think we'll slowly introduce them to being together again, with supervision.  They definitly won't be left alone anytime soon.

 

I was going to write about both days but this is already pretty long so I'll split it into two posts.  Next time, we tried out a bitless bridle with Jimmy and we solved the mystery of the ninja horses, thanks to Socks.



My Horse is a Ninja

I think Artemis has a double life as a ninja.  She's doing everything in her power to convince us of it.  More on that later though.  First, I got photoshop and it's amazing thing in the world.  I'm having way too much fun playing with its effects. 

Sommer came down last weekend.  It's the first time I've seen her since Christmas.  I honestly cannot believe how tall she's gotten.  I miss the days when twelve-year-olds were short.  We had a very busy weekend but we managed to get out to the ponies twice.  It was the first time she'd met Artemis and I'm 99.9% sure she loved her.  She wanted to do a lot with her, which was ha65rd because two days before she came up, Sev bucked Sommer off and she cracked her shoulder.  So she was in a sling.  We matched, two blond girls in matching slings.  If I hear one more joke about it I'm going to go insane.

She was very excited to see Socks and Jimmy, she hasn't seen them since they came down almost two years ago.  (I cannot believe it's already been that long!).  I think she was most excited to see Jimmy, which was strange and refreshing.  Family members (okay she's not technically family but she's close enough!) usually only spend their time criticising and making fun of him.  It was nice for someone to be happy to see him.  And he was the perfect gentlemen.  He stood for all the hugs she wanted to give him.

Training wise everything is going as well as I could hope.  Socks has finally accepted the fact that she cannot run everywhere like she'd love to with my mom riding her.  Artemis has had the saddle and bridle on twice, working on leading, standing at the mounting block and neck reining from the ground.  She's getting a vacation from the saddle for  awhile now.  

Jimmy is being amazing with his training.  We're mostly focusing on him standing next to the mounting block quietly and calmly.  He's been spending a lot of time in the round pen.  First we started by just doing the motion of getting on him, lifting your leg.  Well yesterday we brought in the stool to the round pen to work with that.  We didn't even have to round pen him.  He stood beside it for as long as we wanted him to.  So we took him to the outdoor arena and the mounting block in there.  He stood perfectly.  To really test him we brought him in the indoor arena.  He moved away from it there but seriously after two minutes, he was standing beside it perfectly.  Now the question is, will he do it again?  I guess we'll find out.

In the round pen.

In the outdoor arena.

In the indoor arena.

Okay now about Artemis being a ninja.  As I said in my last post, Artemis escaped while they were moving the pasture horses.  They're not entirely sure how, since she can't fit under the fence but we're 90% sure she didn't jump it.  Well, she got out again yesterday.  And apparently taught Jimmy how to as well.  Her and Socks were in the grass pens while we worked with Jimmy.  My mom went out to get the stool from the round pen and finds little Miss Artemis outside the pen.  She let my mom grab her halter but there was a lesson going on in the outdoor and the trainer had her dog, a giant Great Dane.  Well as soon as Artemis saw the door she was terrified.  Luckily my mom caught her and brought her in the barn.  We put Jimmy in the pen with Socks while we put Artemis away.  When we got back, there was Jimmy, outside the pen, eating. 

We have no idea how they did it.  We checked the pens, there's no broken boards, no holes.  We even tried to get Jimmy to walk under it but he pulled the "No way, I am not doing that!"  He's taller than the boards anyway though, I can't see him being able to walk underneath it.  My only guess is they're somehow managing to crawl, in some weird horse way.  I might never know, but they lost the privilege to be out there if we can't sit with them.

To end this post, Artemis is finally over 14 hands.  She's just below 14.1 hands and is exactly one had shorter than her mother.  Two more inches and she's the same size as Jimmy.  I was ridiculously excited.

100th Post

I am actually surprised at how long it's taken me to reach 100 posts.  All I ever do is talk about my horses, apparently I don't feel the need to write about them as much.  Anyway, here it is, my 100th post!

Yesterday was Artemis day.  We did a lot with her, especially considering all I had planned to do with her was lead her around a bit.  I've healed enough to be able to lead her around a bit, so while my mom rides that's usually what I do.  The first time I had to remind her she does have to listen to me, apparently she forgot.

We decided to put the bit in her and get her used to having that in.  She chewed it, a lot but that was expected.  After a while L really wanted to see her with the english saddle on so we decided to put it on.  She was great.  One of the things we're working on with her is standing at the mounting block quietly while I stand on it.  It's going very well.  She doesn't move.  Yesterday I put my leg on the saddle and nothing.  I put some weight in the stirrup and she stood perfectly.  Hopefully by the time both of us are ready for her to be ridden, she won't have a problem with any of it.  Fonda was like that and I hope to get her the same way.

While watching my mom ride I decided to try something out I'd read in one of my dad's old Western Horseman magazines from the 70's/80's.  It was about teaching a yearling to neck rein from the ground.  It's very similar to teaching them when on them, only modified a little bit.  Artemis did great.  I pulled the reins against her neck, and them put slightly more pressure on the inside rein, if I wanted her to turn to the inside.  At first she thought I wanted her to back up but after a few tries she understood.  She'd take a step and I'd let her stop and pet her.  I was also able to get her to back up very easily from rein pressure and telling her to back up.
After my mom finished riding we took Artemis and Jimmy for a walk.  We're trying to reinforce proper leading with them so we take them on walks around the stable.  She was good until we put Jimmy in the pen to eat grass and led her away.  She didn't like that but she calmed down pretty quickly.

To finish the day we unsaddled her and then led her into the wash rack.  We didn't wash her off, I'm just happy right now if she'll stand in it quietly.  And she did.  She snorted a lot and smelled the rubber mats but she was fine.  I didn't want to fry her mind though so we ended the day there.  She was a superstar.  Beware of bragging, but I can't believe how easy-going and good-minded she is.  She's okay with anything I do to her, she might not like it, but she's willing to try it out.

Apparently she had a little escapde on Sunday.  We weren't there but T and E told us all about it.  They're haying at the stable and they needed to get all the tractors through the pasture where Artemis and the other pasture horses are.  So they wouldn't escape they wanted to put them in the field beside the outdoor arena.

They led most of the horses and figured the young ones, Artemis and Ebony would follow, since they usually are happy enough to follow behind their herd.  I'm actually a little foggy on the details and need to ask T again to explain it all to me, but Artemis decided not to follow.  She had a little run around the farm before going in the field.  Then, a while later, S, one of the boarders, came running up to T's house to tell them that a horse had gotten out. 

Yeah, somehow Artemis managed to get out, breaking a railing while she was at it.  She had another run around the stable, and in the parking lot before S caught her.  Then Miss Artemis spent the night in the round pen alone feeling shame. 

S caught Artemis I guess because T and E were a little nervous to.  I find it amusing, they've known Artemis since she was born but really, I can't blame them.  They know we lead her but they've never actually seen how she is to lead.  They can't afford to get hurt and I'd be horrified if Artemis or the other two hurt them.  Next time I see S though, I'm going to have to thank her and ask how Artemis was for her.  No one besides my family has ever led her so I hope she was good.

Battle Scars

Okay, so I finally decided to stop being lazy and actually write about soome updates.  First, and probably the biggest, there are a whole bunch of new boarders and horses at the stable.  A trainer brought along her horses and students a few weeks ago.  Understandably, a lot of the older boarders were a little concerned about this.  Our stable has always been really quiet, not much goes on, and it's so much busier now.  So far it's all going well though and hopefully it stays that way. 

As I said in my last post, Jimmy has a new paddock mate, Zaine.  They're getting along very well.  We've been focusing on ground work with Jimmy, mostly to do with the mounting block.  He's been doing great.  We were also complimented on him and my mom was left speechless.  One of the new boarders said he's a very beautiful horse and my mom had no idea what to say.  Now both of us think he's beautiful, but no one compliments on Jimmy, ever.  In fact, it's usually the opposite (granted that's usually just from family members). 

Socks is good.  Not much to report on her.  Her and I are going to start taking walks around the farm.  I can lead her but not like I used to.  I have to lead her on my left side now so the walks will help us both get used to it.  I always led her on my right side, which would be her left side.  Now with it switched, she doesn't really believe me that she has to stay behind me.

Artemis has been doing great.  Her new big thing is fly spray.  Apparently it's going to eat her.  She's getting much better after it, we make a point of spray her every time we see her.  She's leading much better now.  And growing.  She's just under 14 hands, or she was last time we measured her and she already looks like she grew again.  Her withers are almost as big as I am.  The new trainer said it's crazy to think that in a year her two month old Holsteiner colt could be as big as her.  I think it's crazy that she thinks Artemis could be the same size as a Holsteiner yearling. 

I had another doctors appointment and while it was good, it was very disappointing.  I won't be able to get on a horse for at least another two months, probably more.  I honestly didn't think that'd upset me but it did.  There's no telling when I'll be able to get back on and even then, I won't be able to do much.

We also found out that I actually broke my elbow in three places, not one like I thought.  And the doctor had to break it in a fourth spot to get at the intial breaks.  So counting my wrist, my arm was broken in six spots, five from the fall.

I've been trying to get out more, wearing t-shirts because I came to the conclusion I just cannot wear long sleeves for the rest of my life to cover my scars, no matter how much I would like to.  So, for the first time, and probably the last, I'm actually going to post the pictures of what my arm looked like.  If I can deal with the fact of who knows how many people on the internet seeing my arm, I can definitly deal with a few people in the store seeing it right?  At least that's what I tell myself.

That was the bruise I got from falling off.  This was about two weeks after my fall.  It went all down my arm almost to my wrist. 

That is the scar on my elbow.  It doesn't look that bad anymore, it's not bruised and swollen anymore.  Although because it's not as swollen you can see the screws on my elbow much better.

That's the cut on top of my wrist.

And that's the scar on the bottom of my wrist. 

The moral of this story, don't put your arm out when you fall.  It's not worth it, trust me.  They all actually look better than that, my sister hasn't taken any pictures lately. 

We'll be out at the stable tomorrow and I'm very excited to go take Socks on a walk.  I'm just happy I can at least lead her again.

Horse Psychology Part One

Horse live in the moment.  They don't sit around their paddocks, thinking about what an awful ride you had last night and how they wish you'd stop your lower leg from moving so much.  They don't wonder about the future (although honestly, that's debatable.  Just ask anyone whose gone to the stable near feeding time.  You can't tell me they're not standing around waiting for food).

That's what I've always been told at least.  And I do believe it, to an extent.  I mean I really don't think Socks sits around thinking about how I didn't give her treats the last time I saw her.  However, I also think she has some concept if time and past, because trust me, if I go a week without seeing her, I pay for it.  On a normal day, she calls as soon as she sees me and comes over to the gate and waits to get caught.  If I haven't seen her in a while she stands at the bottom of her paddock, back turned to me, and won't even look at me until I'm beside her.  Then she'll walk slowly up the hill and act like I'm just any other person.  She's great at the silent treatment, she really is. 

A few things have happened lately that got me thinking. 

First is Jimmy.  Up at my dad's he was definitely the low guy on the totem pole.  He wasn't allowed to eat, drink or sleep near the others, they'd chase him off.  He was always off by himself, except for the odd time when Cas decided to hang with him.  Then when he came down to the stable, he was put in a paddock with Socks.  They never had anything to do with each other at my dad's but they grew very close very quickly.

Once Artemis was born, Jimmy was in a paddock alone.  Then after a few months he was put in with a horse named Devon.  Devon was the dominant one.  Jimmy was soon covered in bite marks.  E kept a close eye on them and this is what he observed, the reason Jimmy kept getting bitten was because Jimmy wouldn't back down.  Devon would warn him off and Jimmy would ignore him.  The ears back would turn into a warning with teeth and then eventually a bite.  Nothing would make Jimmy back away.

He wasn't in with Devon for long and after that he was in with little Eli.  That also didn't last long because this time little Eli's owner was concerned about the bite marks on his horse.  So little Eli was moved and Jimmy was alone in a pen again.

A few months later and Jimmy was put in with big Eli.  In no time it was established that Jimmy was in charge.  The tiny, 14.3 hh horse bossed around the 16 + hh horse.  Jimmy started to get a reputation as being a mean horse.  (I'm actually going to have more about that in another post).

Just this past week, a new horse, a pony actually, was put in with Jimmy and big Eli.  Big Eli is leaving at the beginning of the month so this pony, Zaine, will be Jimmy's new paddock mate.  E and T were waiting nearby to rescue Zaine if they had to.  Everyone was sure Jimmy was going to chew him up and then spit him out.

Jimmy had other plans.  Apparently him and Zaine love each other.  They rub on each other, stand together, Jimmy doesn't seem to have an issue with him.  Dominance issues did come out at meal time but they were resolved quickly and peacefully (Jimmy's still in charge, no ones surprised).

So E brought up an interesting point.  Maybe Jimmy just doesn't like big horses.  All the other horses he was in with were all bigger then him, by at least a hand.  With the exception of Cas, every horse at my dad's, including all the ones who were mean to him (and I do mean mean, it went beyond mere dominance, I love Pawnee but he is a jerk) were all taller than him. 

The only horse taller than him that he doesn't have a problem with is Socks.  And yes, I have an explanation for that.

When we bought Socks, we bought her along with another horse, a Paint Horse named Target.  For nearly two years, until Target died, it was just the two of them together, every day.  They were tight, to say the least.  After Target died Socks stopped eating, lost a bunch of weight and would run around the property.  She never really got over it, or so I think at least.  We bought Pawnee, and then Jimmy and the others but she never bonded with any of them.  Cas was born and although Socks was a great mother to her, she was never really attached to her after Cas got older.  The only reason they would be together in the field was because Cas followed her.  Socks did her own thing on the edge of the herd.  Her and Jimmy pretty much had zero interaction before coming to the stable.

After coming to the stable, a very strange and new experience for them.  Socks being a trail horse and Jimmy hadn't been off my dad's farm since we bought him.  The barn, the people, the activity, it was a lot to take in and they stuck together.  They're on opposite sides of the farm now but they still call and get excited when they see each other. 

I think because he was in that situation with Socks though, might be why Jimmy never had an issue with her.  She's also not an in-your-face kind of horse.  She's dominant yes, but if you leave her alone, she leaves you alone.

So maybe it is possible that because of how the other horses treated him at my dads, he doesn't like big horses.  It's something to think about at least.  If a horse that's been abused by humans in the past still have fear issues over it, why couldn't a horse that's been mistreated by other horses?

Next time it'll be Socks and her abandonment issues!  If a horse can have them, she definitely does.

Kids and Foals Don't Mix

What isn't cute about that, right?  Kids with foals are adorable, I think we can all agree on that.  However, I don't think a lot of people really realize the dangers of letting a kid mess around with the foal.  And I'm not talking about a foal, I mean the mare.

Mares, like most mothers, are extremely protective of their babies.  They will defend their foals against any percieved threat. 

I've owned Socks since she was a yearling.  I like to think my horse trusts me.  She trusts me, and I trust her.  She also respects me.  She gives me space.  She's had two foals of her own, Cassidy and Artemis.

It doesn't matter how well trained your mare is, or how long you've had her, she is never safe when she has a foal.  Her mind is no longer on you, it is solely on her baby and her baby's safety.  I personally don't think we can expect anything different.  We can only ask them to go against their instincts so much.

Mares with foals are basically unpredictable.  You don't know what they will percieve as a threat.  And you never, ever get in between them and their babies.  Honestly, think of them as Grizzly Bears but slightly less carniverous.  You wouldn't get between a Grizzly and her cubs would you?  So don't get between a mare and her foal.  Chances are, she'll be fine.  But at the same time, she's just as likely to panic and hurt you trying to get back to her baby.

Enough adults get hurt when dealing with mares and foals, so I don't think it's right to allow a child to mess around with a mare and foal.  As mature as a kid may be, you can't always expect them to remember to always pay attention to the mare.  You can expect the cuteness of the foal to help them forget about watching out for momma. 

Children should never be left unsupervised to handle, even pet, a mare and a foal.  And by unsupervised I mean that the parent standing outside the fence doesn't count.  The parent should be right beside them at all times.

Socks was great about allowing us to handle her babies and work with them.  She always just stood, watching, but never was a problem.  That didn't mean I trusted her.  I always worked so I could see where she was.  If she got upset then we stopped what we were doing, just as we did when Artemis or Cas would get upset. 

The stable owner's kids were very rarely allowed in the pen with Socks and Artemis, and only when their parents allowed it.  Then they had to stay right beside us at all times and be subjected to us dragging them away if we felt that Socks or Artemis were not alright with the situation.  It only happened the day Artemis was born because I was not comfortable with it.  After that they were only allowed to pet Artemis if she was in the barn and Socks was tied up, a safe, controlled situation.

I'm not going into details, but this comes about from someone suggesting a child go into a pen with a mare and a foal.  I truly do not believe it's safe for them.  Especially if the mare isn't familiar with the child.

The day Artemis was born, Socks struck out at the stable owner, a man she knows quite well as he'd been checking on her multiple times a day for weeks.  He wasn't hurt, but would a child have been cautious enough and quick enough to escape unscathed?  Socks never had a problem with the stable owner's children, but then again, we never let there be a chance for her to be upset or feel like she had to protect Artemis from them.

That makes a cute picture but I can't help but cringe when I see it.  Did you know that many mares will bite the foal on the back and tail while they nurse?  I do.  I learnt that standing in between Socks and Artemis as Artemis nursed.  That's the only time my horse has ever bitten me and I can't blame her.  She went to do what came naturally and I was in the way.  I also hate that, as far as we can see, there isn't an adult standing beside her.  It doesn't matter what horse it is, Socks, Jimmy or Artemis, the kids are not allowed to stand near them without us there.  I don't want them to get hurt.  The quietest, calmest horse can always panic at something. 

Supervision is something I didn't have a lot of, growing up and training Socks.  I have a lot of falls and injuries to show for it.  Maybe I'm a little crazy for it now, but I think kids absolutly need to be supervised at all times when dealing with any kind of horse, but especially mares and foals.  And supervising from over the fence never counts.

A Dark Day

Today has been a day filled with tragedy.  First I was given the news that my dad's boss/friend was killed in a plane crash.  It's crazy to think of, he was one of the nicest men I'd even met.  He was always so kind when I met him, and often went out of his way to do things for my family.  He was flying his own plane when it happend.  I just can't believe it and my prayers go out to his family. 

There was also an accident during the Chuckwagon races tonight.  During Heat 4, Chad Harden's left lead horse went down due to a, for now, unforseen event, which caused the rest of his team to go down as well.  An outrider and horse who were not able to miss the wagon, clipped the side of it and also went down.  Three horses were euthanized afterward and one is in surgery but expected to win.

It is a horrible tragedy and already people are calling for the ban of the Chucks.  Chad Harden was interviewed after the crash.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/07/12/calgary-chuckwagon-crash.html

Click on the video of Chad Harden on the left to hear the interview.  How can anyone listen to that and still say that they don't care about their horses?  As he says, the horse was 18 and going to be retired next year to be his children's horse.  Once again my prayers go out to him.


I was at the Stampede again tonight to watch their horse show, Tails, but I will tell more about that another time.

Stampede Time

I haven't been out to see the horses much this week.  Last time my mom and I were out she decided to try riding both Jimmy and Socks.  Jimmy had other plans.  He wouldn't let her get on so he went straight out to the round pen.  She didn't end up riding him that day, by the time she was able to get on him, he was too hot and sweaty and we couldn't in good concious make him work when he was like that.  So instead we (meaning my mom) stripped off his gear, walked him around the indoor arean to help cool him off, let him role, and then washed him off with some buckets and sponges.  Then he got to stand for a while in the barn until he was completly cool. 

The last two times I've gone out have been with my grandparents.  My grandfather especially likes to come out to visit with the ponies.  The ponies didn't have to do anywork but I think they enjoyed all the attention.  They got put out on the grass, which Artemis didn't really care about since she's on grass 24/7, but Socks and Jimmy sure enjoyed it.

I went to the Chuckwagons and Grandstand Show at the Stampede Monday night.  I always love going to see the Chucks.  We try to go at least once during the Stampede but it doesn't always happen.

Here is the flag they fly during the National Anthem.

I have to say, taking pictures is not easy but I've forced myself to do it.  It's very awkward since I have to hold it all with my left hand and very awkwardly press the button with my right hand but I do it.  It's one of the few things I love that I can still do.  Hopefully I'll get to go to the Stampede rodeo one day this weekend, my brother and I always try to go.

The Grandstand show was great, Paul Brandt was amazing as always.

Later this month when things calm down, the ponies are going to be put back into real work.  Artemis is going to learn how to go on the trailer.  I would have worked on it before but my arm has forced most of my plans onto the back burner.

One last thing, here is an article posted on Yahoo about one person's list of the hardest Olympic events.  I quite enjoy what his number one hardest event was.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/olympic-sport-hardest-fourth-place-medal-ranks-32-195706044--oly.html

Rest in Peace Scamper

July 4th was a sad day for Barrel Racing.  Charmayne James' great bay gelding, Scamper, died at the age of 35.  Together Scamper and Charmayne won ten consecutive NFR championships, one of them, pictured above, with a bridleless run.  Having been retired, Scamper spent the last 19 years or so living the life a horse should, beside his trusted partner. 

Charmayne James and Scamper were two of my inspirations for barrel racing.  I remember recieving a copy of Western Horsemen magazine and there being a story about them.  Their bridleless run was the coolest thing I'd ever heard and I can only hope to be half as good as they were one day.

Rest in Peace Scamper.  You'll forever be remembered as the greatest barrel horse who ever ran.

Ramblings from an Invalid

I've been saving up posts in my head to write.  I've had to talk myself into typing though, it's good exercise for my hand but one of the most frustrating things to do.  I get frustrated quickly with it and just end up stopping so let's see how this goes!  Also enjoy some rare pictures of myself, I'm like pretty much every other girl alive and rarely like a picture with me in it. 

Jimmy and I, he was getting a hug whether he wanted it or not.

I'm not going to get into the whole hospital experience I went through in detail, because frankly it's very long and I don't remember most of it.  T and I ended up at the hospital and I didn't have to wait long to be admitted.  It was pretty busy, a lot of quad accidents, and I remember my nurse telling me it was a relif I wasn't a quad accident.  She used to ride herself, and actually is orginally from the place I live with my mom.  She was super nice. 

They slowly broke in the news to me, not on purpose, but they kept thinking it wasn't as bad as it was.  First they thought it was a dislocated elbow, then maybe a broken wrist.  Then after x-rays (I think I hate x-rays more than anything on the planet) the actual doctor came in to tell me how badly it actually was broken.  He didn't want to do anything for me, other than control pain, because it was so bad.  He sent my x-rays to Red Deer, where they usually send patients, and the doctor there took one look at them and told him he couldn't help me.  Yeah, that was encouraging to hear.

Long story short, they transferred me by ambulance to my home place and I had my surgery the next morning.  All I'm going to say about that is I hate surgery and I hope I never have to have another one.

One thing that has been extremely frustrating is the amount of people telling me to quit riding horses and just generally being around them.  I've been to the emergency room three times, first time when I fell off Socks and broke my pelvic bone, second was for my concussion from Artemis and now my arm.  So yes, I've clearly had a few mishaps with horses but is that truly anymore than anyone else who plays a competitive sport?  My cousin has been in and out of the emergency room more times than I can count for injuries related to soccer and snowboarding.  No one has ever told him to quit soccer or snowboarding.  So why is horses any different?  I've had much less injuries, I mean considering the amount of times I've fallen off and questionable situations I've been in, three trips to the emergency room really isn't that bad.  I'm also well aware of the risks of horses and I've accepted that part of being involved with them means that there's the potential to be injured.

At the hospital they moved me to almost every nurse or doctor I met told me I should quit horses except for two, my main surgeon and one of his doctors who is a rider herself.  When a nurse told me to quit horses in front of her, the doctor just laughed and told her that'll never happen.  I greatly appreciated having her around.

I still have no idea when I'm going back to work or more importantly, when I'll be able to ride again.  People keep asking but I have to wait until my doctor gives me the okay.  It'll be at least until the end of July but I think it'll be longer.  I can't bend or straighten my elbow yet and he doesn't want me starting until the end of July.  That's kind of important for either working or riding. 

We at least have a regular schedule for going out to the stable.  Once during the week and one day on the weekend.  I've become a regular drill sargant and I'm still waiting for my mom to tell me she's had enough and stop taking me.  I'm crazy about Socks being ridden.  I've worked hard this past winter to bring her back into shape after having Artemis and now it feels like it was all for nothing.  Plus for my horse's sake of mind she needs to be ridden regularly. 

Jimmy's main focus is still ground work.  I help out as much as I can but that isn't much.  Artemis is a little brat but I love her.  We're working on her groundwork as well.  Also, have I ever mentioned how I have the best horses?  Okay, probably every horse owner says that but I wouldn't trade my guys for anything.

Socks, my horse with a horrible reputation, is the gentlest horse I could ever ask for.  She'll politely sniff my arm in the sling (I'm convinced she thinks I keep treats in there) but she won't push on it.  When I lead her she follows beside me like a perfect little lady and won't move a muscle as I brush her.  She's always been good but I swear she knows I'm injured.  On the other hand, whenever I got into her pen or Jimmy's, their paddock mates are all over me and it's all I can do to protect my arm from them.

Oh one last thing.  I can't say this enough, I don't blame Thor for me falling off.  People keep asking me that.  No, he was just being himself and I happened to fall off.  Yes, it was a stupid spook and pretty needless but that's life with horses.  I don't hate him, I'm not angry with him  It happens.  I've had stupid falls off of Socks too, I just happened to land wrong this time.

Don't worry, my next posts will be less rambly and more organized. 

The Fall

I am going to try to write about what happened the day of my accident.  Typing is extremely good exercise for my hand, especially now since I'm trying to work my tendons to loosen them up.  This post will probably take me a few days to write since sometimes it hurts too much to write more than a few words.

It started off fine, like any other day at my dads.  We decided to go riding at the end of my dad's road.  This involved a half hour drive in the horse trailer to the end of the road from the house.  My dad, my brother Alex and his girlfriend T were going to go, my dad on his new quad, Alex on Sev, me on Thor and T on Pawnee.  Since we only have a two horse trailer, it'd take three trips, with T and I staying at the end of the road waiting with the horses.

By the time all the horses and the quad were at the end of the road, we had a quick lunch and then saddled up.  My dad went off on his own with the quad and the three of us headed off on the ponies.  It was a beautiful day, warm, not many bugs.  The ponies were being great.  Thor hadn't spooked at anything yet.  We rode, mostly walking and trotting for the first while.  Then, after about four or five kilometres in, we came to a wide, grassy part of the trail and we decided to run.  T and I ended up in the lead, there was more than enough room for the horses to run side by side and everything was great.

Then Thor finally noticed a small stump that had been there the whole time.  To everyone else it looked like a normal, harmless stump.  To Thor I can only imagine it had mile long teeth and claws ready to pounce on him.  He jumped to the right in half a second.  Which would have been fine, I stayed on for that.  What Thor does that is the problem is after spooking to the side, he immediatly jumps right back to where he was originally.  That, combined with the fact that my saddle wasn't quite straight, made it impossible for me to hang on.

I came so close to catching myself but I just coulnd't do it.  I started to fall and the only two things I could think about was not falling on my head and not falling under Pawnee.  He'd been further away but I wasn't sure how close I was to him now.  I fell with one arm tucked against me and one arm outstretched.

From what we've been able to figure out from my arm is that my wrist hit the ground first and then my elbow pounded down into the ground.  All I remember is lying on the ground and the first thought in my head, sorry for the language, was "Holy shit my elbow is broken."  I knew immediatly it was broken.  There was a big ball of pain in my elbow, which doesn't make sense but is the only way to describe how it felt.  My brother looked at me, said, "Good you're alive, i'm going to get your horse."  And then went to get Thor.

I wouldn't look at my arm until T and my brother told me it looked normal.  I was terrified it would be at an odd angle.  It wasn't, thankfully.  My brother didn't believe me it was broken, because it didn't look like the fall had been bad.  However, I was insistant I was going to the hospital now so he was kind of forced to believe me.  T galloped off on Pawnee to go wait at the trailer for my dad, while Alex tried to get a hold of him. 

I remember lying on the ground, thinking of how far I had to walk back to the trailer.  I didn't think i'd be able to do it.  Alex helped me up and slowly we began to walk.  I got two steps and I almost fell over.  I felt like I would pass out.  Alex kept walking far ahead, forgetting I could barely walk and leaving me behind.  At one point he wanted me to get back on Thor.  How, I have no idea. 

I could walk about 10 steps before I'd have to stop because it hurt so much.  Alex kept asking me how it hurt, where it hurt and then going "Oh yeah it's broken" until i told him to shut up and stop telling me it was broken.  My arm was hanging limply at my side and hurt in my elbow and wrist.  I couldn't move my lower arm but I thought that was because of my broken elbow.  I didn't think i'd broken anything else.

We couldn't get a hold of my dad because of bad service so T raided the trailer and came back with the first aid kit.  In my paiin crazed mind I wouldn't let her sling my arm up, because I was afraid I'd damage my elbow more if they bent it.  So the walk continued.  I was so thirsty, more than i've ever been in my life.  The bugs came out and I was getting eaten alive but I couldn't do anything about it.

We finally got a hold of my dad to find out that the quad battery had died.  So he walked up to the trailer and T went to meet him again.  He came on Pawnee and sent my brother with Thor and Sev back.  He walked with me for a bit and then decided to go get the truck.  So because he sent everyone back I was on my own for a bit.  I was just praying this wasn't when a bear decided to come by.

My dad came in the truck and I got in the front seat.  I regret that.  we were on a trail, not a road and the jarring of the truck hurt worse than anything else and finally made me cry.  He drove me to the trailer where he got out and Alex and T got in.  they drove me to the house where they swithced me to T's car, I finally let her slingmy arm and then T drove me to the hospital. 

this is wehre I'm gooing to end this.  Typing is frustrating, I'm a good typer, I write stories in my spare time and now I can barely do it.  I just want to say, I don't blame Thor.  He didn't do it to make me fall, it just didn't work out for me this time.

My second surgery went well and hopefully it won't take me long to recover from this.  I can't tell you how much I miss riding.

Also, i'm all ears for any blog suggestions anyone might have.  I'm so sick of TV so I'm looking for new blogs to read.  Any ideas?