Month from Hell

I say that, but it's just been a few really crappy moments.

I'm supposed to be on break, but since the girl I'm paying to take care of Ernie and Stella couldn't do all week I went down on Tuesday and have to go down on Friday to look after them. Not a huge deal, it's only an hour drive, however last night wasn't cool.

I was at a friend's house when I got a call from Donnie, the guy that lives at the farm. He basically said he recommended I come down ASAP because Stella looked not so good. She's been a little colicky before, not a huge deal; she's young and extremely sensitive, so it doesn't surprise me that she gets tummy aches every once in a while. It's never anything bad, just some bit of gas (although the first time she scared me pretty bad, she looked like someone had just beat that crap out of her; she was shaking like a leaf and sweating and kept falling down) but I'm starting to wonder if it's normal for it to happen often. The short story is Donnie kept me informed: she was laying down a lot, and shifting sides a lot, but she wasn't thrashing, she wasn't sweaty, she wasn't shaky, she just seemed really, really lethargic and not interested in food in the least. Very abnormal for her, since she LOVESLOVESLOVES to eat. I did 85-90 mph the whole way down, with my friend in the passenger seat trying to make conversation to keep me somewhat calm. I get there, and Donnie is standing outside her stall, shaking his head and laughing. Stella is standing and stuffing her face with hay.

Seriously? Yeah, seriously.

I pulled her out and took her temperature and listened for gut sounds, checked her gums for dehydration, and she was normal on all accounts. There was practically a symphony going on in her gut. She was muddy and really gnarly looking, but other than that she was perfectly content. I left an hour later shaking my head.

Besides the health scare, Ernie has been on and off. We'd had some really great moments, and some "seriously, dude, wtf" moments. I'm now working on my right leg and trying to get back to using it equally with my left leg; my right hand has taken over it's job and now I'm working on softening my right hand and actually use my leg. It's hard. And Ernie is less than excited. He likes the softening death grip I tend to have with my right hand, but he isn't too enthused about the new right leg. As with most things, Ernie enjoys not working hard, and when I require him to work hard AND properly, that's just unacceptable. He's been allowed (and it's be my fault, I admit) to swim through life, and now that things are changing, he's not all that excited.

I have gotten some really nice work in the canter; it's calm and relaxed and rhythmic and his head isn't up by my eyeballs. And the down transitions have been WONDERFUL. The up transitions aren't so hot, but I'm OK with that because it's largely a strength issue; I'm asking him to actually use his butt under himself and push from it, and that's hard for him. He's much rather kind run into the canter. I've just decided to get as few "run-y" steps as possible.

Other than that, I've been happily shedding away two furry creatures. Ernie is body clipped except for his belly and legs and head, but on just those areas is enough hair to cover another horse, and Stella, though not nearly as mammoth-like, certainly has plenty to get rid of. I'm in love with those fiberglass grooming blocks, but they LIE when they say "sheds 10-12 horses"...I go through at least 3 per spring!! Ernie could easily swallow 4 or 5, but that's why he gets clipped.

Many pictures to come. I've been busy trying to get Stella into a bit, but I've yet to find a cheap starter bridle that fits: she's in between a pony and cob size head, and her head's also very delicate-looking, so I'm on a mission. She's going in a lunge cavesson with side reins, and she wears a saddle like a pro. But I do have plenty of pictures I need to download and get up!