Thinking about Dude

Dude would have been 23 today. I knew I wasn't going to be at the barn today due to another commitment, so last night, after I groomed Bestie, I sat on the shavings in her stall and watched her eat her hay and I thought about Dude.

Each year I did a little sign  for his stall; this one was for his 21st birthday in 2014. Going through all the photos looking for the one above made me smile as I remembered what a funny guy he was, but also made me sad because I never thought he'd leave us so soon. It's still unbelievable to me that he's not around.  My daughter told me today about a friend of hers whose dog was diagnosed with cancer and died within the week after diagnosis. She said it was tough on the family. I thought, "I know." A sudden death leaves you reeling. The month after he died was a lost month for me. I felt like I just went through the motions.

I still miss him. I'm glad I have so many photos to keep the wonderful memories fresh in my mind.

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Let a horse whisper in your ear and breathe on your heart. You will never regret it. -Author unknown

Lesson day

I always give Bestie Monday off after our Sunday lesson, then ride Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It was difficult to follow my usual riding pattern this week.

Last Tuesday we had a snowstorm, and there was just enough snowfall that by the time I got home, and our driveway got plowed, I decided not to drive to the barn. The horses had gone out, so I knew she had been able to stretch her legs.

Then on Wednesday, I had book club. Again, the horses had gone out, so I figured she wouldn't miss me.

On Thursday, I had yoga. But I decided to drive over to the barn after class and say hello and at least give her a good grooming.

I knew I had to ride on Friday and Saturday or it would kind of be a waste to pay for a lesson. When I got to the barn Friday night after work, it was cold, in the teens, and I do not enjoy riding when it's that cold. I felt like the Stay Puff marshmallow woman with a hat under my helmet, two shirts, vest, down jacket, long johns and jeans. And neck warmer.

We ended up riding in the lower arena with Katie and Rocky. No one else was at the barn by then. The lower arena is definitely a bit warmer than the upper one; it has the plastic walls which seem to create a slight greenhouse effect when it's a sunny day. The temperature was just below 20 degrees while we rode. I stayed pretty warm except for my hands. Bestie was kind of distracted and speedy, probably a combination of the cold, lack of riding, and the not as familiar arena. Finally, after about 25 minutes, I rode into the center of the ring and Bestie and I hung out there and watched Katie and Rocky while I kept my hands in my pockets. My fingers were aching.

Saturday was a better day. We rode in the upper arena and got a few long side 1/4 lane serpentines in. She was much more focused.

Our lesson today was awesome. Generally we have to negotiate through some sort of tantrum, but she was perfectly fine. Even when the horses in one of the adjacent paddocks started running and snorting, she kept jogging along. We did long side 1/4 lane serpentines, full arena serpentines, lots of jogging, some posting, At one point she spooked - it sounded like something slid off the roof - but she came right back to what we were doing.

Paula videotaped us because we were doing a lot of work on straightening Bestie out and strengthening her in a balanced way. Unfortunately the lighting is kind of tough for filming in the arena, so the video was a bit too hard to see and learn from. I think I need to straighten up a bit - that much I could see. :)

I feel like we've made so much progress and that we're both more confident. Because of hockey, I can't do a lesson this coming Sunday, so we rescheduled to Friday. Then the following weekend I'm in Massachusetts, so I'll have to see if we can work out another day change. I hate to have a long stretch without a lesson since we're doing so well.

A hardworking girl needs hock boots

When Bestie got checked over by holistic vet Kim Henneman back in the fall, one of the the things Kim mentioned was that Bestie's right hip was lower than her left and there seemed to be some imbalance there. She definitely favors a side and we've been working in lessons to balance her.

After talking to a couple people at the barn, I decided to invest in some hock boots for her. I bought the same kind a friend at the barn has - Back on Track - and the friend gave me a coupon ... nice! Bestie really just needed one - for her right hock - but they're sold in a pair. Seems like wearing two can't hurt.

So, almost every day, before I start grooming her, I put them on. She's fine with them. No drama. She probably wears them about 20 minutes. The hock boots are one of those things that I guess could be called an investment. She doesn't have problems that I know of, seems it's fairly minor age-related wear and tear. Hopefully a little TLC in the form of the boots will help keep it that way.

The hock boot material is similar to splint boots, but the material is ceramic infused. After she wears them for the 20 minutes, her hocks feel slightly warmer to the touch.

Here's what the Back On Track website says: Designed to reflect the horse's own body-warmth, Back on Track horse boots create a soothing far infrared thermal heat, which can help alleviate pain associated with inflamed muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints. Used for both injury prevention as well as injury recovery. Back on Track products are not to be compared with magnetic therapy. Our form of therapy works with your horses own body heat.

They are easy to  put on and seem to be holding up well. Bestie's stall neighbor Jack, who is in his 20s, also wears them. When the horses are indoors due to the weather, he wears his hock boots for long stretches at a time.

When I put the link into this entry, I noticed that Back on Track has people products, too. I may have to check them out. 

Never a dull moment with Vermont weather

The key thing to notice in this photo is the big fat 0. As in Zero Degrees. I feel like I completely dodged a bullet having my lesson yesterday when the temperature was a balmy 33 degrees. It always blows my mind when the temperatures drops so precipitously. 28 degrees last night when I went to bed at 10 pm. 3 degrees when I woke up this morning. Wow.

The barn folk wisely decided not to turn the horses out today. The wind chill was sub zero, and most likely they would have gotten the horses all out, only to start bringing them in again. The prince and princess ponies don't last too long in this kind of weather, especially with any wind. They were probably plenty happy in the warm barn.

Bestie certainly seemed content. When I got to the barn a bit after 6 pm, she barely looked up from her hay when I said hello. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, I took her out to the indoor so she could at least stretch her legs. She rolled and then wandered around the front of the indoor checking out the lunge lines and crops hanging from the front hooks, the wheelbarrow with manure (frozen) in it, and the always fascinating corner full of jump poles, standards, and jump box with the artificial flowers in the top, 

While she was doing her tour, I occupied myself by raking the footing away from one side wall. Doing that was enough to warm me up pretty well. Then I clipped her lead back on her and we took a few laps around the indoor at a leisurely pace. 15 minutes out there was plenty, as my fingers were starting to get really cold. With its metal walls, the indoor can feel like a freezer on really cold days.

I cleaned out her stall, fluffed in some extra shavings, picked out her feet, tucked her back in her stall with another flake of hay, filled her bucket full of half warm and half cold water, and wished her good night. Not much else to do when it's this cold. I'm liking the looks of the weather as the week progresses.