Lesson with Karina

Karina Lewis came over last night to help me out with Chance. It seems that every time I work with her I get more out of than I thought I needed! The only thing that I was really asking for help with was helping Chance leave the yard. Karina is very intuitive and of course I was in tears within 5 minutes of her arriving. I thought I was doing much better with my sadness from loosing Shadow. Apparently Chance wasn't.

My biggest concern was with CC. He and Shadow are brothers and had been together for almost 30 years. They were separated for 3 years while Shadow lived here and CC lived at A's. I brought CC here to live with Shadow 2 years ago. They were at each others hip most of the time. They stood together, ate together even drank water together. So to say the least I was very worried about CC being here without his brother. We even considered putting CC down with Shadow but when the time came it didn't feel right. The thing that shocked me the most about CC was that he whinnied about 15-20 minutes after Shadow had been put down. CC has not whinnied once in the 2 years he has been here. So he whinnied for a couple of hours and then got quiet for the night. The next 2 days he spent standing next to the place Shadow is buried. He left the spot only to eat and drink. This is when I started to think we made the wrong decision about putting him down with his brother. On the 3rd day when I let him out of his stall he went to the round bale 1st. And from then on he goes over to the spot every now and then but seems to be doing just fine.

What I have missed in all of this was that CC has not allowed Chance to go to the spot where Shadow is buried. Chance hasn't had the opportunity to process Shadow's death or say goodbye to his friend. CC was very protective of Shadow and rarely let Chance get near him. Chance and Shadow did get along very well and I didn't realize that Chance was missing him. So last night I walked Chance over to the place Shadow is buried while CC ran around like a little wild pony. Chance did a lot of sniffing and smelling and stood very quietly. It did seem to help him process Shadow's death.

So then we went on to the physical stuff. He had been very sore a few weeks ago, his entire right side was lame. He could barely pick up his right hind leg but was able to stand on it just fine. I couldn't see any physical cuts or scratches, no hoof marks. I'll never know what happened but he either rolled and hurt himself or CC kicked him. There was improvement everyday but it took about 1 1/2weeks for all of the lameness and swelling to go away.
A very nice couple came with Karina and it just so happened that the gentleman with her does manipulation and equine massage. Chance was still stiff from his injury and not able to move as freely as he should have been. He went to work on Chance and when he was finished Chance was moving wonderfully!

Then came the riding part. Karina decided at first to try a different bit, a different snaffle. Then changed her mind and put a bosal on him. I have always wanted to try this with Chance, he has never liked putting the bit in his mouth and honestly riding him in a rope halter is just less stressful for him. But I don't have the confidence to ride him in a rope halter out of the yard. The bosal seemed to be exactly what he needed. Karina rode him to the spot he hasn't been able to get past. He stopped for a few minutes and then moved his head funny. After a few minutes he walked up the hill and out the gate. What Karina was able to pick up from riding him is that I am getting tight and pulling on his mouth. I have worked so hard at NOT doing this, but when Chance drops that head of his I get scared and pull it up. The fear of getting bucked off takes over. With the bosal I cannot yank on his mouth but I still have control.

By the end of the 1 1/2 hrs Karina was here my confidence was back and Chance not only feels better physically but seems to mentally also. I'll ride him a little later today when it's not so hot and see how I do on my own.

A Phone Call

I got a phone call yesterday, it was my son Derek. After I said hello he then said, "I'm okay and Jordan is okay." My heart sunk, I gulped and knew the next words would be "I've been in a car accident." And I was right. It was a very minor accident, he got caught in the soft sand on the shoulder and it pulled his car into a ditch. The big knoll that stopped his car was a gift. If the knoll had not been there his car would have rolled over for sure. He told me where he was and that he had already called the sheriff. When I arrived he and Jordan were both leaning on the car, both looking just fine. There wasn't much damage to the car either and nobody else was involved. Derek was shaken up, and I think it was a good lesson for him. He is a very good kid, never in trouble, always polite, but starting to get a little over-confident behind the wheel. He was starting to drive too fast. I hope this will slow him down.

The worrying never goes away, having teenagers is an experience that sometimes I love and sometimes I could live without. A constant roller coaster ride that I take in stride most of the time. But getting a phone call like that sure does put life into perspective.

I drove by the knoll today and thanked God and the universe for whatever wonderful reason it is there. It saved his car from rolling over and some pretty scary unknown results of what could have happened. I will choose not to think about what could have happened and just be grateful for the knoll.

Don't look up, Don't look down

I just heard somebody say Don't look up, Don't look down, look at where you are right now. Meaning live in the here and now. Good advice for lots of different aspects in life. I'm glad I heard that today and I think I will work on that one.

The teens from N Ireland have arrived

Actually they arrived on July 1st. We only have Jordan with us this year. Things are going great, he jumped right back in where he left off. A very sad event (a death in the family of a host mom) brought more teens to my house for a week. Two girls, Adeva and Blaithin, camped in the camper with Marissa. The names are pronounced (Adeeva and Blaheen). In that week Marissa had a friend spend the night and the host sister of the girls came to visit on another other night. They all went back to their host family yesterday. Lots of comings and goings, showers, meals, and fun here. It has gone very well with only 1 shower in my house! At one meal I looked around and it brought me back to my daycare days, 7 kids eating lunch, only they were all grown up.

I have enjoyed this program. I don't have a lot of time to volunteer during the year to any cause and this makes me feel like I am giving back. Horse time gets put on the back burner for a month but I am really okay with that. For me it's generally too hot in July to ride anyway. And I'm sure Chance would agree to that.

Tonight we are having the N.Irish chaperones over for dinner. Tomorrow we volunteer at a soup kitchen. I think the rest of the week is free for us to do as we please and then the kids go camping Friday-Sunday. The rest of the month will be busy and then everyone goes home on Aug 4th.

self confidence

It's amazing what time out of the saddle and off the horse will do to your confidence. Chance's left eye has been infected, the eye ointment that was prescribed wasn't in stock and we had to use a weaker one. It has helped the swelling but didn't kill the infection. The stronger ointment finally came in and I started using it today. It is already working after just one dose. Anyway, I'm sure his vision can't be clear in that eye right now, in a few days he should be better and I will be riding again.

So about the confidence thing, I was feeding him tonight and noticed that he didn't want to walk through the gate. I ran a new line of fencing along the bottom of the fence about 1 1/2 weeks ago. It is still making him very nervous. There is no electricity going through it, it is only there for visual reasons. The 1st thing that ran through my mind was that I'm not getting on him until he is feeling better about the fence. It could very well have a lot to do with his vision not being clear in his left eye, but it drives me nuts that I do this to myself! It's a self confidence issue that I wish would just go away. I know how to keep him busy enough in the ring to keep his mind off of the fence. Why do I do this to myself?