Summer Time Tanning

So summer is here and some people are tanning, while others are frying. The smart ones (or insanely over worked) are staying indoors and maintaining their fancy natural skin tone.

Unfortunately for the avid Equestrian fan, the summer tan/burn causes some exciting markings, that last a little longer than we would like! An equestrian's summer tan markings can easily be compared to the ones naturally occurring in the Equine Species. Sadly for us, these markings aren't as attractive on humans!!!

A couple of unique rider tan lines compared to our horsie friends are:

Pasty Legs- this equals 2 hind socks (please excuse the muddy feet- this is my horse and it was a muddy winter day!!!)

Glove Tans= 2 front socks

Hat Tan= Medicine Hat- Imagine that the "Hat" is a person's hair and the face is nice and protected from the sun

(this is seriously the cutest looking tiny pony!!)

Sunglasses tan= poultice face

Liaison did something to his leg (I can't remember what) and he reached down to scratch his face and in the process covered his eye in poultice! I couldn't find a picture of a horse with sunglasses type of markings (was going to look at more paints) but decided that this would be funny enough :)

Everyone's "favorite tan"- the Farmer's tan-cute little paint baby standing with someone who could very well be on his way to getting a REAL farmer's tan!!!

And then the Last Tan (that I can currently think of- though I'm sure there are more) is the:

"I have holes in my clothes and forgot to put sunscreen on those spots" tan

So remember this summer- wear your sunscreen, wear your hat, and hope that you don't start looking like your horse!!!

A Year Later...

Obviously this past year has been really exciting. Apparently I was so caught up in all the "eventful" happenings that I never posted another blog until now.

Truthfully the year was extremely eventful! It definitely had it's ups and downs and huge shake ups. Liaison- the TB that I had last year taught me a lot about myself and took my riding to a new level- not so much in the direction that I wanted it to go, but gave me a new experience with brain fried TB's. The quick recap of the summer with Liaison goes like this:

He healed beautifully from his run in with Byrd and we were headed off to

our first show together- Dressage Rally. I knew going into Dressage

Rally that we weren't going to have the most amazing score because Li was a tense thoroughbred. He was calm as a kitten at home and had the best ground manners- a puppy could lead him- and well, did!

But even though on the ground he was amazing, when riding he was like riding a lit fuse. Most of the time I was able to channel that energy in a positive direction, but other times it just caused him to tense up and be extremely flighty. So with the arrival of Dressage Rally we headed off to see how he would be off the property. I knew it was going to be exciting, but I was not prepared for the end result- elimination because of inability to get him into the Dressage ring. It was the biggest disaster of my riding career (and thankfully an injury free one!) and I was embarrassed by his behavior. When we were in the barns he was great, but as soon as we crossed over into the show area with the announcer and other competitors warming up/riding their tests, Liaison lost it. I barely even made it into the saddle before he started running backwards and leaping into the air and spinning uncontrollably. I heard shouts aimed at me to "control my horse" and others directed at the small D pony clubbers to "MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY" who were mindlessly walking their ponies into the destructive path of the crazed TB. I tried to control him and settle poor Liaison down but there was no hope- I was forced to jump off and take him back to the barn. I tried longing him- which was successful while we were in the barns- his quiet unflappable self returned and the TD let me try to ride my test again because she was impressed with how quiet he had gotten. But again- as soon as we crossed the imaginary line he went bonkers. I ended up keeping him under a tree out of the way until it was time for my test- but even with a lead into the ring, I couldn't make it to the letter "B" before he stood up on his hind legs and I was forced to call it quits and take him back to the barn. I was ready to send him away after that weekend, but with no other horse as a B candidate I couldn't send him away quite yet.

So I spent the rest of my summer looking for another horse, and only finding one that was able to do the flat work part of the test, but by that point I had Liaison settled down (sort of) and had kept him away from places with announcers (which seemed to be a trigger- flashback to the racetrack?) and we even completed a successful upper level ratings camp where he was so quiet and relaxed I swore someone swapped horses when I wasn't looking!

My ultimate goal that summer was to pass my B rating on Labor Day weekend, and even with another horse for the flatwork, I wasn't able to make it happen. Heck no one in my rating was able to make that happen! We all failed the very first section of the rating- the Flat. I remember being so pissed off because I thought that I had done so well with Dollar (the horse I borrowed for the Flat part), but in reality the ride was a great one with Dollar-who could be very tricky on the flat, but not great enough to pass the "Flat" section of the "B" rating. (It took me until this past winter to watch the video of my my rating and realize how bad it really was) But in all fairness the weekend ended up being a great experience because they changed it into a clinic instead of a rating- so we were able to keep riding and improve our ride instead of showing off what we knew for the examiners.

After the "B" rating, Dollar, Liaison, and I headed back home and I took Liaison out for one last trail ride before making the decision to give him back or keep working with him. It was the perfect trail ride because he gave me every reason to keep him, and every reason to give him back. I have never ridden a horse so balanced and fast at a dead run, nor with so little control- truthfully it scared the crap out of me while at the same time gave me one of the greatest thrills of my life. I guess this is what it is like to be a race jockey- except I was out in the middle of a field, by myself, a good 30 minutes from home, not on a racetrack where if I had fallen off wouldn't of lost my horse! Coming home from that ride I made the decision to send him back because I wasn't skilled enough to handle all that power and channel it in a positive way. I know I had no desire to become the next Karen O'Conner and become some great Olympic level rider, I just wanted to enjoy my horses and ride to the highest level I could get to- which my goal is to make it to Prelim- hopefully complete a CCI*???? If not- at least be successful at Prelim! Since I do not have to be the greatest rider and be able to ride any and all types of horses to complete my goal, Liaison was packed up and taken back to his owner. I miss moments with that horse, but overall have been very happy with my decision to find another horse- and I didn't even have to look past my mom's backyard- my next horse had been there all along- just waiting for me to get the "B" out of my system! I fell in love with mom's Connemara/TB cross that had been given to her back in March. He proved to be more horse than she wanted but plenty for me! And after coming off of a ride on Liaison I found him slow and simple!!! Just what I wanted (though a little more spark would be nice!)

Gus is turning out to be a really nice horse and has only been jumping for a couple of months now. We have a long way to go before we're even ready for Beginner Novice at an event, but we'll get there! I'm in no rush, and going slow with Gus helps improve his confidence because he isn't the bravest horse in the world, but he is sure learning! Once he figures something out he's golden, but if he gets scared it takes a longer time to get him over it. So no rushing with this boy, but I know once he figures everything out he'll be the most amazing overgrown pony out there!!!!

Deranged Christmas Ornament

ring ring ring- i glanced over at my purse thinking crap, I don't want to answer my phone but it was G- the barn manager. I grabbed my phone and ran into the living room and hit the send button.

"Hey G"- I said while thinking oh crap did i forget something at the barn and she's calling to tell me i'm in trouble?

"Where are you?" G asks

"I'm at Dad's" was my reply

"Ok- Byrdie attacked your horse and you need to get down here as soon as possible"

shit.

I grabbed my things and quickly drove out to the barn. As I pulled up the driveway I glanced around looking for my horse. I saw that Byrd was penned up in the little feeding stall and the barn lights were on. I walked up to the barn not really sure what I was about to see and hoping it was just a bite mark. I approached the wash stall while G was on the phone talking to Dr. M and looked at my horse Liaison. He was looking out towards the fields and trembling slightly. G had washed him off and put a cooler on him to keep him warm. I quickly checked his legs thinking please let them be clean! The last thing I needed was another lame horse.

Horses are a passion of mine and I am currently a memeber of the USPC. For the past year I have been trying to get my B rating. This is one of the upper level ratings that pretty much means I know how to ride. I might not be the best, but I can get on a horse and ride. The rating system goes from D1 to A (D1, D2, D3, C1, C2,C3, B, H/HA, A). I have spent the majority of my life riding, competing, and moving up the levels to where I am now- an H- which means I passed the knowlege of the HA but haven't passed the riding for the B. Which leads me to my current situation. I have spent the past year trying to find a horse that is talented enough to be my "B" horse. Liaison is the 2nd one that I've gone through this year- and the 4th one that could go to the B. Last year I had a horse named Toby who was amazing. He was a gorgeous 17.2 chestnut Dutch Warmblood that had health issues I thought I could deal with. He was a powerhouse over the jumps- clearing them with room to spare. On the ground he had the best manners- which is very important in a horse his size, because he would of been able to flatten you like a pancake if he was so inclined. But as my luck went, Oct rolled around and he went lame. He was off and on lame for 3 weeks until the vet came out and took some x-rays. The news was bad. He had pretty serious ringbone- which is artritis in a horse's legs, and coupled with his massive size, other health issues, there was nothing we could do. He was in a catch 22- leave him out to pasture and he would founder (a very painful disease in his feet), or keep him contained to a small area and he would be 3 legged lame and barely able to put weight on his front right leg. The decision was made to put him down and come Dec 7, he was frolicing in the great green pasture in the sky.

It took me almost 3 months after Toby, before I found Liaison. Liaison was sound, no problematic health issues, and was free. I am not in a place where I can spent lots of money on a horse and unfortunately the more expensive horses have the talent needed for a B rating. I have until Dec 31 before I age out and can no longer try to pass the B. But really less than that b/c I have to be at a scheduled rating and my goal in the one Labor Day weekend.

Looking at Liaison standing in the washstall, trembling from nerves I thought- oh please not something else. G lifted up the blanket covering my horse and pointed at the red, swollen gashes lacing across Liaison's sides and I wanted to scream. the blood red stood out against his almost black coat and ran all along his barrel and across his flank and into his rump. The other side was worse. A huge gash ran from the middle of his neck to his withers and more across his barrel, right under where the saddle would go, and teeth marks raking down from his croup and ending at the point of his buttocks. Thank god that the scrapes were only superficial and nothing was deep into the muscle. What probebly saved my horse from further damage is his abilty to run. He is a full thoroughbred and raced in his younger days. Byrd is an Appoloosa and doesn't have the speed that Li does.

G and I bathed his wounds with betadine solution, and checked him for any other injury. His legs seemed fine- no swelling or heat that looked like trouble but we weren't taking a chance. I limamented his legs and G applied a cold clay poltice to his legs and I followed behind with wet brown paper and a standing wrap. G also applied Alu Spray to his cuts and by the time we were done he looked like a deranged Christmas ornament. His legs were white with poltice down to his hooves, red wraps in the back, green ones in the front, and silver spray tracing his cuts that looked like a 2 year old's drawing in a coloring book- not staying "in the lines".

We decided to put Liaison in the paddock by the barn and G went down and got the tried and true, best companion horse- Maaike to come and stay with Li for the night. When Maaike ambled up to the barn Li looked out and tensed up until he realized it wasn't Byrd. He then relaxed and we put both horses into the paddock with fresh hay and water for the night. When we left the barn both horses were standing side by side munching their hay and my horse's eventful night finally turned into a peaceful evening.