It's been a fun couple weeks... not!

When last I posted I thought Naners and I were really going to slide off the eventing train and become a western dressage pair. Fortunately, I borrowed a neighbors wintec pro dressage saddle and neither of us had problems with it. Yay!

But, after I had this figured out Naners wasn't right... her back was okay, something else was going on. With it being the time of year it is, and as I was transitioning her back to grass, I felt for digital pulses, something I can never, ever feel... but there they were, bounding away. Long story short: Naners cannot be out on grass unless our temps are over 40 at night, spring or fall, (40 degrees being the magic temperature that grass can use the sugars produced during the day to grow) or she'll end up with full blown laminitis. I caught it really early, so she's okay. I just need to buy a heck of a lot more hay this year. It never ceases to amaze me how good a diagnostic tool my seat is. Every time things have not felt right to me, regardless of horse, things have turned out to not be right, even if it is so subtle it takes the vet awhile to determine the problem.

With the Wintec working it's very clear that my beloved Black Country Tex Eventer is not working for us. I can't bear to sell it yet, so it'll be collecting dust for awhile. We did a Ride a Test clinic on Sunday and our trainer agrees that the Wintec works just fine for us. Alas, I don't have dressage saddle riding muscles yet, so I'm a freaking mess in it.

We also got our fabulous bonnet from Heartland Horsewear. I love it.

Down the rabbit hole?

Argh. Since I've been able to ride again Naners has regularly had a sore back. First, I noticed she was sore after I rode her. Then I started checking her back several times a day. Generally, she's sore in the morning and not sore in the afternoon. So, one of those afternoons I put my saddle on, and she was sore after a 20 minute ride. I've been testing several variables. Today we tried a western saddle: no soreness. So, we may be looking at doing western dressage. Downside: Naners' natural gaits are much faster than a western horse should be going. Plus: blingy show shirts!

Adventures in grazing

Ummm.... Ollie, that's not how you're supposed to wear it

Ollie says, "It's so windy you can see my forehead!"

It's been quite breezy here the last few days, as it frequently is this time of year. One of these days the wind will turn to dust storms, which I seriously dislike. Dirt behind your eyeballs is never comfortable.

Naners be home

I had a plan for this last week. It was Naners' last week at the trainers and I was going to basically drive out every day and take a lesson.

Sunday morning, a week ago, I was driving out to deliver a browband to a friend and a stupid kid didn't look both ways while driving out of his driveway and hit me. I'm okay, but it aggravated just about everything screwed up in my body. The car is mostly okay, front right fender and wheel are scratched pretty good. Riding was out of the question, at least for a few days. Thurs morning I was thinking maybe I could ride her when I went to pick her up. Then I did something and must have pulled every muscle in my back and spent the rest of the day walking around at 120 degrees. I've obviously left parts out of this story, like trips to the doctor. However, I am cursing doctors past for not giving me the good drugs when I was in more pain than this though. Muscle relaxers are my new best friends.

I'm contemplating getting on her today, just to walk down the road, but only if the neighbor can come with.

I hope I can really ride soon, because our trainer is MOVING! *sob* and I need to take advantage of her all I can before she does. She did a great job with Naners, now we have to get the two of us working together.

And go like my browband business on Facebook :)

Spring

As has been noted elsewhere spring is arriving. Saturday morning the bees were awake, desperately trying to climb in the three half-blooming hyacinths in the garden. This also appeared:

I really dislike gardening, but I love my spring bulbs so much I suck it up. The prairie dogs have been awake for a few weeks, they looked rather ridiculous running around in the snow. The bluebirds have arrived. All we're waiting for is the meadowlarks and we'll be in full blown spring.

Addition: not two minutes after I posted this I heard a meadowlark singing. The gang's all here!

If you can't see are eyes really windows to the soul?

I have, of course, been thinking about the situation with Naners a lot as of late. Things just weren't adding up for me. Why was a mare that can jump, even if she hates it, refusing to go over ground poles? Then I started putting things together and called my vet. Could it be possible that Naners has a vision problem? The answer: yeah. And it would make a lot of sense actually. When talking with the trainer she's with about it she said that she had also been wondering at that possibility. Alas, horses can't read an eye chart, so unless there's something physically wrong with the eye, or there's an obvious problem, they're pretty difficult to determine. But, it would explain so many things with her, so as far as I'm concerned she has a vision issue. Fortunately, it shouldn't be a problem with our dressage plans, but it means that I really am never going to jump her.

Ollie in his turnout

It really blows my mind that I pounded the posts in two weeks ago and now we're covered in snow again.

Decision

I have come to a decision to my dilemma with Banana.

Grad school, a property, 4 dogs, 4 cats and 1.5 horses sucks up funds. Even if I had an awesome jumper right now I really don't have the money to event. If I did have one and couldn't because I couldn't afford it I would be extremely frustrated. So, getting another horse so I can jump makes little sense right now. However, if one falls in my lap I won't turn it down.

So, until I'm done with Grad School (about a year and a half) I'm sticking with Naners and we'll explore this dressage thing. I'm going to take all the jumping pressure off us. Will I continue to explore it as a possibility? Yes, but very, very slowly with no expectations. I'm aiming us for the regional dressage rally at the end of April to see if we can qualify for PC Champs, though I have no plans to actually go (unless funding miraculously appears.) We'll also do the local dressage shows and a recognized one in the fall.

I'm... happy isn't quite the right word, let's go with "at peace" with this plan. It just makes sense.

*sigh* the dilemma is back

Long time readers will remember my regular doubt regarding whether Naners was the right horse for me or not. I like her, I like her a lot. It might even be love, but it's not love like I had with Fudge and Penny. However, in the over two years I've had her, I've always had this nagging doubt over her appropriateness, especially with the jumping issues. Every trainer I've talked to about it has always been, "oh! but she's such a nice jumper!" And I couldn't make them understand that yes, she might have nice form but I really didn't believe she liked to do it. I've had to kick her over 1' logs.

The trainer she's with right now, who I really respect, told me that she thinks if I want to jump I need a different horse. First person in two years that actually voiced what I suspected it. She then told me a story about how she refused ground poles the other day. Seriously, all these trainers... the horse refuses x-rails, how can you just tell me she's a good jumper and not really think down to the problem?

So, here we are with the dilemma again: do I keep her and just do straight dressage? Or sell her so I can jump? I'm not entirely unsure that I would be sad just doing dressage. It was fun being at a show and not wanting to puke. I'm an eventer at heart, but I also am not necessarily against leading a less risky life and not jumping for awhile.