Gorgeous Day for a Comedy of Errors!
It was absolutely beautiful yesterday! Sunny, over 50 degrees, no wind, wonderful nature and country smells in the air! If only any of us had been feeling better. LOL I was a little tired after three days of dealing with and worrying about my cat who got injured jumping off the counter--might be a cruciate ligament partial tear, or just inflamed due to patellar luxation, or just a sudden injury to an arthritic area. She's only 12.5 years, but has always felt weak in the back end--not a lot of muscle mass there, but she's never been bothered by it, until now. So she's having to be confined--no jumping and the first night I let her sleep with me--she never leaves the bed anyway--but then she was at my feet and I was afraid to kick her, so I barely slept at all. Next night she was downstairs in my office, so I could sleep--but she cried for a while and it came right up the stairs--and broke my heart and I couldn't sleep. You get the picture. And I'm battling a sinus infection too. Ugh.
My husband is going through some deeply painful mental/personal problems so he's been on the verge of needing to be hospitalized for the last two weeks. So he slept in the car the whole time we were at the farm yesterday.
And then there's Missy. I'll back up.
So, we got her out of the field without incident. I used binoculars to pinpoint her and as soon as I got up to her and showed her a treat--she stuck to me like glue all the way back to the gate. A little too close--she's a bit clumsy with her big old feet, so in a muddy pasture, I prefer her to just "go" or walk farther out to the side. LOL But we did ok. Got her out and in the cross ties. Thought the owners had left the correct saddle out of me--there were two--the tiny, child-size synthetic that is normally Missy's and the old leather one I usually ride her in. But the girth was different and very stiff and hard to get on. And there was a different saddle pad--not a great one--it wouldn't lay flat without a lot of smoothing. Finally got the saddle on and went to get the bridle and the one where hers normally is, didn't seem right. It had some white on it and I was pretty sure hers didn't. So I dug down and found what I thought was hers. But the throat latch seemed to have aged 10 years since the previous week (her bridle is relatively new and stiff) and so had the nose band--plus it grew. Otherwise it seemed the same. Ugh. So I walk her up to the arena and get on and she won't stand still at the mounting block. I finally get on and almost can't reach the stirrups they are so long--even though I put them on my normal holes. Had my husband adjust them, but then I kept not being able to get my foot in the stirrup and realized the irons were small. Not safe. I thought someone had switched the stirrups from one saddle to another. Went back to the barn, couldn't find the other stirrups. Went up to the house and found the owner's daughter and she realized after a minute, I had all the wrong tack. They had not brought the right tack down to the barn. The other saddle is very similar. So she went to get the stuff--and the bridle, brought it and then left. She hadn't brought the other cinch or the other saddle pad. So I used the others and I hate that cinch--so hard to use. Got her all re-tacked and got out to the arena again and Missy was a little better on the mounting block, but not perfect like usual. I get on and ride around a few minutes and my husband takes pictures. Then I look down and think the saddle is too far back--but I'm not sure. I ride around a minute, testing it--cantering a bit. Then I realize the saddle pad is slipping behind the saddle--under it and rolling. Ouch for the horse! So I go back to the arena and re-do the saddle. With that god-awful cinch that takes the strength of hercules to get on. LOL Get BACK on again, and finally am ready to go out on the road. Had a decent ride, although Missy was pretty naughty, for her. She stopped a lot, although she was only hard to get going one time--had to circle her a bit. And she was being naughty at the intersections where I had to cross the highway. She HAS to stand still so I can listen and use what limited vision I have to make sure it's safe to cross. It was late in the afternoon so traffic had picked up. And she did NOT want to wait--almost had to call my husband to drive down and help us cross. But we made it. Then, all the way home, she really wanted to GO and I was having to hold her back tightly in areas that weren't safe for trotting or cantering. She was fighting me a bit on this and jerking her head forward a lot. I rode with as loose a rein as I could in-between to save her mouth.
And about halfway through our ride, my back was hurting so incredibly bad I didn't know how I was going to keep going. But I really wanted to--such a nice day and I so love riding this horse in this area (even when she's being a little sassy) so I did. But I was ready to be done when we got back. Since all of our "cantering" had to turned into more of a hard gallop b/c Missy wanted to get home, I wanted to just do a little more light cantering in the cross country area--to get that nice gentle rhythm, so fun. But then I noticed Missy seemed to be favoring her front leg--maybe. Hard to tell, I walked her around and seemed to not want to step on any gravel at all and stepped a little hard when she did. I had noticed that a couple times out on the road, but thought it was just her showing a bit of attitude, by not wanting to "go" on the way out. But now it seemed like she was actually favoring it a bit--so I didn't ride anymore. And on the way home, she had stopped to pee and released the largest amount of gas I think I've heard come out of a horse! LOL We started going and I said to her, "I bet that feels better". LOL
So, anyway, I hope she's ok. She seemed very unperturbed by the whole thing. Happy to get unsaddled, get carrots and get put back, didn't seem upset at all, even though I found a place on her face missing hair and slightly red. Did I do that? I felt really bad if I did--but she was fighting me a lot a few times. And she was so totally wanted to GO like a bat out of He--, I didn't think she was hurting too badly overall. But maybe she was just feeling bad and wanting to be done. Who knows. I told the owner, she thinks maybe she has an abcess. Their farrier is out every two weeks she said and was due this week I think--so she'll have him check.
Sheesh! What a day! I laughed and told my husband I was feeling so crappy and in so much pain, I think today I was looking forward to our treats at Kwik Trip (every week on riding day) as much as I was the actual riding.
And yet, even after all the hassle....I am already looking forward to next week!
Oh, and even with all this going on--all of a sudden my posting trot is improving and getting smoother and feeling better. Hallelujah. Practice, practice, practice.
