Lightning and Thunder and Chairs, Oh My!

Lexie is staying with us while Diane and Derek are in England. She suffers so badly with anxiety. I think she is also a little depressed and now add a very loud thunderstorm. About the only thing that helps is her crate covered with a blanket which is at Diane's. So, I hear the thunder and see the clouds, I have time to run to the barn to bring Chance in AND get back with the crate before the storm hits. Right? Maybe not.
I make it to Chance with his halter, a few rain drops. We leave the paddock, a few more rain drops. I decide to run and ask him to trot with me despite the fact that I am in flip flops. The sky opens up on us and the wind picks up hard. We make it to the stall as the first bolt of lightning hits and as I turn him around the white chair in front of the shed goes flying. We both handled it pretty well. Chance was scared and I think his feet may have gotton stuck, but maybe he just decided that running out into the bad weather just wasn't a good idea. So he looked and snorted, (snorting is good, right?) I remembered to breathe while petting his neck reassuring him that he was fine. He looked at me a couple of times, his eyes softened and he dropped his head to eat some hay. I stayed with him until the storm blew by, about 10 minutes. I told him that I was so proud of how well he is doing. And that in time when we are BOTH brave enough we will be doing everything we ever dreamed of. We are in this together and we are doing very well. Shadow looked at us through the crack in the stall wall and said he will do whatever he can to help us. I love days like this!

Oh, I did make it back with the crate and I'm soaked. A little to late for this storm, but I think we have more on the way. I could use some help with Lexie. I want to be supportive of her without encouraging the anxiety. She takes on so much of Diane's stress. I think her purpose here is to help Diane, but she has such a hard time relaxing. I think I'll try and give her 3 weeks of doggy spa treatment. Lots of walks, playing and maybe a job. I could use help at the barn keeping whatever animal is visiting at night away. Lexie can mark her territory everywhere down there and that would help. Maybe it would be good for her and Chance if we went on some walks together.

Anybody have any ideas?

Well, enough for now, I've got to get back to work.

Breathing and Expectations

First, Chance is standing square. I'm not really sure when it happened, I think it has been a gradual change, but today he was perfectly square. I asked him to square up a couple of times, he did it perfectly both times.

Second, he is such a wonderful teacher. When cleaning his back foot today I could feel him getting fidgety, so I started to rush expecting him to drop it any minute. I also realized I stopped breathing with my rushing. And he didn't let me down. He dropped it almost on cue. Then I remembered that if I want softness I need to be soft. So I asked again and very nicely he gave me his foot. This time I expected him to hold it up while I 'softly' cleaned it and continued to breathe. And he didn't let me down this time either! He held it nicely until I gave it back to him.

Piper Ridge next weekend

I'm taking Chance to Piper Ridge next weekend for a couple of lessons with Libby. I am really looking forward to spending some time with my horse. July was very busy and I haven't done much more than feed him, clean his feet and walk him to the bigger paddock. He seems to be in a very good place right now but who wouldn't be with a month off? I'm also a little nervous about taking him, maybe I'll feel better once I spend some time with him this week.

It's Raining

There are not a lot of things more relaxing than waking up on a summer morning to the sound of rain. And there are not a lot of things more difficult to do than get out of bed on a summer morning to the sound of rain. Even the dogs don't want to do anything today!

More progress

I cleaned Chance's feet today. He was like an old pro. He picked up all 4 feet on his own, was able to hold the fronts up himself and only did a little leaning on me with the backs. He is becoming more balanced and patient while I work on his feet. I think he was proud of himself, and he should be!

Oh Shadow!

Having an older horse can offer some great benefits. They are usually well trained, been there done that, they don't have as much energy as the younger ones and are happy to hang out when life gets too busy for us humans.

Having an older pony like Shadow can be challenging. He is mostly grumpy and set in his ways. He bites, pins his ears back, and wants the world to think he is the toughest guy around. But I love him just the way he is. He is an open book, no baggage (thanks to his previous owner of 25 years) We have a connection that can never be matched. We used to ride everywhere, and he will do anything for me. As crabby as he is I know that he loves me. Maybe because I understand him and would never want him any other way.

When he decided not to take his medicine anymore I honored that. And it really makes no sense to pay the high price for the meds just to throw them out. It doesn't matter what kind of food I put it in, he refuses it. The option was to put it in a syringe everyday and give it to him that way. That would have been a horrible thing to do to him. Some horses could probably handle it, not Shadow. It would kill his spirit, he doesn't deserve that. It has been a few months now and I'm not sure how much longer this great little pony will be with me. His weight has leveled off, he is still too thin. Increasing his grain and adding the oil did cause his insulin to go up. Laminitis started to set in last Wed. He was walking slower and shifting the weight back and forth on his front feet. I gave him some bute and waited. It didn't take long for him to improve. David and I left for a couple of days while I had people checking on him. A gave him 2 more doses of bute and J stopped by to take a look at him. He pulled though it without foundering again. It's been a few days without the bute and he seems fine.

On Sunday morning when I went out to feed there was C and Chance but no Shadow! As I came around the corner I noticed almost all the fencing was down in the ponies paddock. C was pacing back and forth at what was the gate. What an angel, even though there was no fence he stayed in the paddock. Afraid to cross the invisible line. Chance was in his paddock talking to me like he always does, "Where's breakfast?" Then I found him. The little sh-- was standing in the middle of the green lush grass enjoying his breakfast. He looked at me as if to say "What's your problem?" I walked over with the halter and he took off in his cute little trot to the gate at the road. Thank goodness it was shut because I know I would have been on another pony hunt in the woods. I picked some clover and the temptation was too much for him. He happily ate it while I put his halter on and brought him back to the paddock. Everyone ate hay while I did fence repairs. So I waited for the laminitis to start up again, but so far so good. It's been over 24 hours now so I think we escaped another close call. Never a dull moment.

Saying Goodbye

I have never been good at saying goodbye. When I was younger I would go on trips and hated saying goodbye to my mother and end up homesick. Then I didn't want to go home because I didn't want to say goodbye to whoever I was visiting. I get so emotionally attatched to people, my animals and sometimes even to places. I am trying to look at saying goodbye in a different way. Having difficulty with this really means that we have good connections, have made new friends, or just really had a great time. Goodbye isn't always goodbye forever, but it still hurts.

I didn't realize how much the N.Irish kids would effect me. The group that came this year was an awesome group of teens. It's been my 1st year involved in MICP and hopefully not my last. I would love to have the kids back next year and do some of the things we didn't have time for this summer. The house is quiet now, even with the 4 of us here. They moved in like they have always lived here. The fit was perfect. We were challenged by some things but the outcome was always good. I think we all learned from the experience and I hope I have somehow made a positive influence in thier lives.