What We've Been Up To

So I haven't blogged in over 7 months.  Oops.  Last winter was way overwhelming, between work, managing the barn while my BOs were gone, seasonal depression, trying to work my horses, and just life in general. I just had to shut down for a while.  The barn situation has vastly improved; my BO stopped the lesson/college program we had so now I don't have to run herd on 10 immature college girls.  My trainer is still coming out and doing lessons, but just for boarders and very select leasees. Work is slowly getting better, as of Oct 1st I got a promotion and the coworker I can't stand is leaving at the end of the month. 

But they make everything better

The biggest thing to happen during our hiatus was I sold Buddy.  We had been schooling 3' at home, and even showed in the .95m jumpers at one show in the spring, but it was too much for him.  Between the college girls riding him and me, he was working 5-6 days a week, but was getting tired and cranky at the bigger heights.  Discussing my long term goals with my trainer (show at 3', start doing some rated shows again, maybe the 3' jumper classic they added to the last A show of the season here in Oregon) we  both thought it would just be too much for Bud. He's 18, but has lots of life left in the lower divisions.  And I have McKenna, who is young and should be more than capable of doing the 3' jumpers.

Bud and his leasee won their first eventing derby at intro.

I had listed Bud on a local FB page and DreamHorse, and had some hits.  We were going to a show, hauling up and schooling Friday and showing Saturday and I had two people lined up to try him at schooling.  Two other people came up to me at schooling asking about him.  Both women trying him were looking for lesson horses, one for her friend outside Seattle and one in Portland.  Both loved him.  The Portland one asked for a trial, and mentioned that I was going to have a bidding war over him since everyone seemed to love him.  Then the Seattle lady came to me with a checkbook out and asked how much I wanted for a deposit.  She had loved him and called her friend and they wanted to buy him on the spot.  I was completely surprised and shocked.  They wrote up a contract, and after our classes on Saturday I dropped him off at the friend's farm where he stayed for a few days before going up to Seattle.  They also payed me more than what I was asking.  It was very surreal, and considering it was my first time selling a horse it went way faster and easier than I ever thought.  I've done some FB/Instagram/YouTube stalking and Buddy has been leased to a young teenager who adores him and is showing him in the 2'6" jumpers. 

Morning I sold him, my last pic of him.

As far as the other ponies, Phoenix has been officially retired.  His side bone on his right front started making itself know again and despite injecting it he was still off. My vet was out a few weeks after we injected and asked about him and flat told me it was time to retire him.  So he's been hanging out all summer getting fat and sassy.  I took him to a friend's who has five acres and a run in to live with a couple of my BO's retired horses but Phoenix bullied them too much and had to come back to the barn.  Which was a good thing; two weeks after coming back he developed cellulitis in his left hind.  He was lamer than I've ever seen, his leg swelled up at least twice it's normal size, couldn't move his hock at all, and almost fell down multiple times.  I was convinced he wasn't going to make it. But five days of twice daily penicillin shots and bute and he was back to normal. 

Day 2 of cellulitis

McKenna has continued her progress, but it still squarley in the baby stage.  She's matured and isn't nearly as ADD as she once was. She's trotting very nicely (most of the time) but our canter still leaves a lot to be desired.  We have started jumping some small crossrails and verticals, just trotting, and she's loving it.  Hasn't looked or cared at anything I've put in front of her, including a brick wall plank and the flower boxes.  Our biggest issue is that she's very smart and tend to get bored and naughty so I have to keep switching things up and changing our ride every time so she doesn't get used to a routine.

I'm going to try and get back into the swing of blogging.  I've started a blog for McKenna but haven't decided if I'll use it or use this one. 

Burnout

Over the past 6+ weeks, I've slowly burnt myself out at the barn.  My barn owner's left for their yearly trip to southern California for part of the winter, leaving me in charge.  This is the third or fourth year they've gone, but there's always been at least two or three of us sharing in barn management duties.  This year was the first year that I was the only one managing the place.  I was doing some extra stalls and feeding, but I did that in past years as well.

I have so much more respect for barn owners and managers now, especially those that have real jobs outside the barn.  I was putting in 12+ hour days during the week; leaving my house by 6:15am and not getting home till 7pm every night.  And for the most part I wasn't riding or working my horses that much.  I was lunging McKenna, but just enough so she wouldn't go stir crazy in her stall.  With Buddy I would hop on bareback and cruise around for 10-15 minutes a couple times a week.

It got to the point where I was having weekly panic attacks/hysterical sobbing sessions.  I dreaded going out to the barn, especially during the busy afternoon hours where I would have to see/interact with everyone.  I'd pull up and see what whose cars were there and then plan how long I wanted/needed to stay and how best to work around who was there.  I did have to get after people, "No you can't ride that horse", "The fields are closed for winter riding/turnout", "Your board/lease payment is late",....you get the idea.  I hated doing so, it made me feel like a bitch, and I would get progressively madder as time went on.  Part of the reason I wasn't riding was because I know if I rode in a bad mood I'd take it out on my horse and that is in no way fair to them. 

Sassy pants on her birthday

But my barn owner's have been back for a week, and already I feel so much better.  I've managed to ride McKenna three times in the last week and Buddy twice.  I think I only rode McKenna twice while they were gone, sorry mare! 

She turned 6 on Valentine's Day and got a big hand full of peppermints.  She's surprised me with how good she's been under saddle for as little as I've done with her in the past 6wks. She had a lightbulb moment the other day when I was trying a baby leg yield to help soften and bend her.  Gave me a nice balanced trot, bending to the inside and holding a frame. 

3'6"ish

I free jumped McKenna again, and she was awesome.  Popped over everything, even up to 4'ish.  I had the fence up to the top of our standards, and she pretty much loped it.  She did kind of scare herself at that height and refused it the second time but once I put it back down to 3' she went over.  I just wish I had something better to take pics/videos than my phone.