Author: Amanda

first aid · trailering

First Aid Kit for the Trailer: Spring Checkup

Amanda2 Comments

Okay, so it’s more like midsummer checkup, but still: yesterday, I went through the first aid kit that I keep in the trailer. It’s a fairly obsessive kit, because my theory is that while I’m at the barn, I can find just about anything I need or run out to buy it posthaste. If I’m out on the road, who knows where I might be or what I might find?

I keep it in this tupperware box, which is about 12″x9″ – pretty decent size. It’s not packed to the gills. First up was going through the checklist that lives with the kit itself.

Sadly, because I’m a loser, this checklist is left over from the last time I went through the kit, and is no longer accurate. So I just checked again and made additional notes.

Missing this time: two rolls of vetwrap, the lube, the 60cc syringe, the scissors from the suture kit (huh?), the tube of banamine, one of the two pens, one of the two bags of electrolytes.

The antibiotic ointment had expired, as had the saline solution. I threw away the antibiotic ointment but saline solution doesn’t really expire, thanks marketing guys.

I tested the flashlight batteries and the in in the pen, then the thermometer – I stuck it into my armpit. I once nailed some Pony Clubbers on their horse management inspection because while they had a digital thermometer, the batteries were dead. Since then, I’ve been very careful about checking my own during these inspections, because: karma.

Some things I decided not to replace: the second pen, the second roll of tape, the scissors, and the second dose of electrolytes.

Some things I replaced right away: I had already replaced the banamine and just kept it in my main tack trunk, so I transferred that over to the kit. I have enough leftover vet wrap to cover my entire horse head to tail, so it was easy to grab two rolls out and get them to the kit.

I stopped by Walmart on the way home and bought more lube (which necessitated a fair bit of considering time in front of the personal pleasure section at Walmart while wearing my breeches, earning me more than a few sideways looks), a tube of antibiotic ointment, and one addition to the kit: a travel size tube of antibacterial hand wash.

I am not a big believer in the stuff on a daily basis, but I’ve seen how effective it can be around the barn for biosecurity. Every new horse gets a quarantine stall and a big pump jug of the stuff on the door. Our barn is an interesting confluence of several circumstances – rural area with a few other not-great barns nearby, super-fancy and $$$ horses in for training or sales all the time, one or two pregnant mares or new babies at all times, and a very particular ban manager. It’s really great, but it does mean there’s a higher level of care taken about that sort of thing.

Today, I stopped by Tractor Supply and picked up another 60cc syringe with catheter tip. Pre-surgery, I had a half dozen of these around; during Tristan’s rehab, one after another succumbed to broken parts, staining from betadine, or just plain old got lost. Time to re-up.

All I have left to do is update the inventory list and the emergency contact information inside (new barn, need to add the fiance since he would probably care if something terrible happened).

Always bring peppermints!

helmets

#mindyourmelon – Happy National Helmet Awareness Day!

Amanda3 Comments

L. Williams at Viva Carlos recently asked about unpopular opinions, and I’m working on a post about that, but in the meantime here’s one that is unpopular in certain circles.

I believe that if you are not wearing a helmet you are an idiot. Pure and simple. I’m sure you have many other fine qualities. But at some level, you are a fucking idiot. If you fall off, you will cause misery and grief to your friends and family; incur thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars worth of medical bills, and ruin your life. I do not say these things lightly.

Go ahead, gauge the impact: take everything in your life, and erase it. Now put yourself in a hospital bed. For months. Perhaps years. Perhaps even underground. How is that trade-off worth a few seconds of inconvenience? IT’S NOT.

If you post a picture of yourself on horseback without a helmet, I am judging you. I believe you to be a fucking idiot. It’s that simple.

Here’s my helmet story. About six years ago, Tristan and I had a bad ride at a home show. The next day, I took him back out to the arena where he’d lost his marbles, and I rode him for an hour and a half through bucking, bolting, sourness, crankiness: you name it. He was an utter shit for 80 minutes straight.

Finally, dripping sweat, he gave up. He walked calmly on a loose rein, and was content with the world. I was proud of him: as soon as he cooled out, he was going to get a few days off.

Then several things happened very quickly. The herd of cows across the street startled at something. Tristan’s head shot up to look at them, and at that moment he stepped in or on something. He stumbled. He went down, hard, tired from his exertions of the last hour plus.

Tristan went down onto his knees, and I was wholly unprepared. I shot forward and slid straight down his neck on my stomach. My head hit the ground, and I had a split second’s thought that my stomach was trapping his head on the ground. I rolled over my shoulder and onto my back, and then I blacked out.

Honestly, I don’t remember anything after glancing over to see the cows startling, save for that brief, dizzying sensation of my stomach pressing against my horse’s head on the ground. I don’t know how long I was blacked out for, or whether I was actually unconscious or simply have no memory of lying there dazed.

It didn’t seem like a bad fall at the time – probably because of that memory loss, which I hadn’t quite realized yet. I just assumed it had happened very quickly.

So I got back on. Yep. I rode for another 15 minutes, at a walk, around the same field. Then we went into the barn.

Here’s where my memory is crystal clear. I took off my helmet, and put it down on a bench. Only I didn’t. I kept missing. I could not for the life of me set it on the bench: three, four times I missed, and then I finally put it on the bench and looked at it.

I had landed on my right temple, and that corner of the helmet, right where the visor met the rest of the helmet, was crushed in. The visor had snapped half off. The foam underneath the plastic shell was compacted, and I could pop the plastic shell in and out over the spot with ease.

It was like confronted with that reality everything else started to sink in. A dull ache started through my head, and my occiptal lobe, around my eye, started to throb. I got dizzy. I got tired. I felt thick and woolly headed. I put Tristan away and called my mother, an emergency room nurse, and talked to her on the way home (yes, stupid again) to keep me awake, then called another friend when I got home.

I was really, really lucky. If I’d fallen slightly differently, I could have broken my neck. I could have smashed several bones in my face. I could have fallen with much more impact and really truly jostled my brain.

I had about two weeks of headaches, off and on. The initial dizziness and thickness faded after a day or two. I sported a ghost of a black eye around my right eye for a few days.

The much large problem turned out to be my lower back, which had compressed and nearly slipped two vertebrae with the impact. I spent two years in PT, from chiropractic work to massage. It’s still not right, and it probably never will be, though it is vastly better than it could be because of that early attention.

If I hadn’t been wearing that helmet? I would be dead, or severely injured. My life would be totally different. I have no doubts about that.

So, don’t be a fucking idiot. Wear your helmet.

Uncategorized

FORWARD

Amanda1 Comment

Tristan is officially on strike against going back in to full time work. Last night was fitness work: 10 minutes walk warmup, 8 minutes trot + canter warmup. Nothing more accomplished than FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HORSE MOVE YOUR FEET. Not even really that accomplished.

Then we progressed to our trot sets: two sets of round, deep trot for 6 minutes each, interspersed with hill walking. Trotting up and down the gentler of the hills we have. Then a long, slow canter up part of the hayfield hill – I timed it, and it’s 45 seconds for the short segment of it that we usually do. If I can bribe someone to mow down further I can easily double that and it would be a really good canter stretch. For the first time in a while, he was still strong at the top of the hill, though puffing quite a bit.

I think it’s about 50/50 “don’t wanna” and “stiff and tired.” For the former, nothing to do but keep on kicking, keep on pushing him through. Keep adding fitness so it comes easier.

For the latter, I’m going to bump his Pentosan up to every 3 weeks. That was always the option in hand; I think it’s not at all uncommon for some horses to go through it faster than monthly. It’s cheap, available, and it makes a difference for him. Easy call.

He’s also not coping terribly well with the heat, which is interesting. It’s not something I would have expected of him, considering he grew up in the desert. It could be a side effect of ageing; it could be the long winter. It seems to be mostly showing up in his breathing, which is recovering fine but getting labored sooner than I would have thought, and he’s coughing more than usual in the warmup. It has been awfully humid for Vermont, so it could be that. Something to keep an eye on.

Tonight, he’ll get the night off; tomorrow, a long hack out. Saturday might do a dressage school (fiance and puppy are out of town, whoooo!), Sunday a long hack and tack cleaning.

Most exciting: as of today, the barn is officially on FOAL WATCH! Mare’s projected due date is July 17 but she is starting to look like she could go any day now. Mom is a big Warmblood-y thing, dad is UB-40. (Between you and me, we are hoping dad contributes a smaller size + general refinement, whew.)

Uncategorized

Muddling Through

Amanda2 Comments

I’ll be honest: the first ride in our new summer program was, quite frankly, not a lot of fun at all. It was muggy and hot and Tristan was not interested in playing.

He was so, so painfully behind the leg when we got started, and every time I put my leg on opted instead for a hopping, half-bucking, disjointed canter. I left the reins long and loose and kicked harder.

It will surprise exactly no one that he took immediate advantage of that and threw his head down and arched his back. I had a brief moment of “ohshitwhathaveidone” and then sat two or three of the best bucks he’s thrown in quite some time before I could snatch the reins back.

After that, he lost his loose rein warmup privileges and I put him in boot camp. It was one of those gritted-teeth, wet saddle pad rides. I was actually pleased at the way it ended, with some really lovely canter work and one or two very good transitions.

We finished with a walk around the fields and a trot/canter up the hayfield hill, then a bit of a hose off and some hand grazing.

Tonight: fitness work. Trot sets. Yaaaay.

dressage · stupid human tricks

The Anxiety of the Horse Mom

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I am a generally anxious person. In some ways, it serves me well. In others…sigh.

Last night I waited until thunderstorms had passed through and the temperature dropped a good 10 degrees from its 88 degree high before I went to the barn. I know many of you ride in 90+ degree weather, but it’s all about acclimation – and 88 degrees is WAY hot for Vermont, especially in early July. We won’t hit 90s until mid-August, and then only for a week or two.

So I waited. And I got to the barn about 6:45, on by 7:00. I described the ride to another woman there as nice, rather than good. It felt great to get a dressage school in. I felt like we made substantive progress from start to finish, and I got some work done on having him lift through his shoulders in the canter.

Overall, though, it wasn’t a particularly good ride. I haven’t ridden much in the last few weeks, nor have I had any really good other exercise, so I felt ineffective and floppy. The rides I’ve done have been in my jump saddle with XC length stirrups so I actually raised my dressage stirrups after flopping out of them one too many times. I was definitely too handsy, and too light in my seat, especially through transitions. I’m not desperately worried: it will come back.

We finished with a bit of a hack around the fields and slow, deep canter up the long hayfield hill. It was still and quiet and the sounds were of the wind in the hay, the particular thud of hooves on turf, and Tristan’s deep breathing as he struggled a bit but gamely kept going. It was a great exercise for him, and he recovered really rather quickly.

Afterwards, we walked and walked, and then I hosed him off for some time, and then spent the next 30 minutes fretting that I’d actually hosed him off too much. The sun was starting to set and he did not dry nearly as quickly as I wanted. I let him have some grass on a sunny spot, and then put his cooler on and threw him a flake of hay to keep his core temperature steady. Then I fretted, and fretted, and fretted, and kept finding delaying actions to go back and check on him.

He still wasn’t exactly dry when I left, but he was warm and comfortable, and it was still 75, for crying out loud. I left a note for night check to pull the cooler from him and I haven’t received any calls, so I’m sure he’s fine.

I’m off to Maine for a few days with family, and then it’s Pony Boot Camp time when I return!

blog hop · mustangs · rescue

Viva Carlos Blog Hop: Interested Parties

Amanda2 Comments

What made you interested in your current horse that led you to buying them in the first place?

Fun question! With a semi-interesting answer for me.

The summer after I graduated from college, I moved down to Maine to live with family for the summer to do something different. I had a job as a cashier at a convenience store on the beach for the summer season, which did not pay nearly enough to continue riding lessons.

So I asked around and found a nearby horse rescue and began volunteering my time: Ever After Mustang Rescue.

I started mucking stalls and doing general cleaning, and moved on to handling horses. We rode some of the older non-mustang, completely-broke horses when we had time, but mostly it was ground work boot camp: how many of these horses can we teach to stay calm while brushed, lead like good citizens, pick up their feet, and in general be civilized domestic ponies? The mustangs there ranged from just in from the wild to some who had been living domestically for years but still had zero training to show for it.
Midway through the summer, a rich woman visited and decided she was going to adopt about a half dozen mustangs and bring them to her land so she could look at them out the window and, I don’t know, get a sense of ‘Murica and freedom or something. She had staff come and look at horses and choose the ones she wanted.
One of those was a red roan gelding that everyone called “Big Red” because at 15 hands with good bone, he was one of the largest horses on the property. (Mustangs run small!) He was very flashy and had a cute face, which fit the lady’s criteria for what she wanted to look at every day.
So I was assigned Red, who could not be handled in any way shape or form: could not be touched, could not be groomed, was moved from place to place (like several other horses) by the expediency of closing off some doors & gates, opening others, and herding him.
Many, many hours and weeks later, I had a nice little horse with pretty decent manners. I started him under saddle, and right about that time the rich lady changed her mind. Red was going to stay at the rescue. I did about five rides with him in a sidepull and old saddle, including one in the open, and at the end of the summer kissed his nose and headed off to the job I had lined up for September back in Vermont.
Except, I had fallen in love with him. And the horse I’d been leasing for years went finally, irreversibly, unsound. And I started number-crunching and pondering Ramen noodles.
So I made the call, and after a $150 donation to the rescue, Red – now named Tristan – came to me on January 2, in the dead of winter, and became mine.
In large part, I lucked out. I did not have nearly as much experience in evaluating a horse to have gotten the horse I did on skill. I knew that he was essentially good-natured, very smart, decently athletic, and very handsome. I knew how we worked together, and that his basic ground manners were good. I had the confidence from my summer at the rescue to continue to develop his ground work.
I would go about choosing a horse very, VERY differently these days, but I do not regret the way Tristan came to me.
2014 goals

July Goals Review

AmandaLeave a comment

So what did I think I would be doing in July?

July 

Work commitments ease considerably, and we should be able to pick up the pace here. If all is going really well we can turn the screws and think about the GMHA show at the end of the month, OR think about getting out and foxhunting. 

Possible events for riding or volunteering: Huntington Horse Trials (July 11-12), GMHA Dressage Days (July 25-27)

Yep! Pretty much. Huntington won’t happen – maybe for volunteering, but I can also add to this the GMHA Member Days on July 14-17, and the Dog River Horse Club Gymkhana on July 27.

I’m looking forward to July. July is going to rock.

2014 goals

Quarter 2 Review

Amanda1 Comment

How are my 2014 goals progressing? Here’s the 2014 Goals post; I’ll go down line by line.

Tristan’s Goals

1. Get fit and rebuild muscle

Going really quite well! He’s fitter, and his back is really starting to look good. His neck is changing more slowly, but it is coming along. We’re now trotting the long hayfield hill in a long and deep frame on a regular basis.
2. Strengthen dressage, particularly the canter
Also going really well, though I can’t claim much credit for it.
3. Work on jumping again
I actually have popped him over a few jumps, and an actual lesson should happen in this next quarter.
4. Do a few tests at dressage show
Not yet, but the best candidates for this were always in midsummer through fall. The decision will be between a local schooling show and a bigger recognized show. I have some great options in both directions.
5. Complete a group trail ride
Hmmmm, not yet. Some good options coming up, though, especially with the GMHA member days.
My Goals

1. Get fit!

Hahahahaha. Ha. Damn it. Two steps forward, two steps back…

2. Find a schedule and stick to it.

I actually did a pretty good job with this through April and early May, and then June was like a bomb went off. Back on it going forward!

3. Take more lessons

Hmmmm, not as many as I had hoped for. A few planned for the summer. The big stumbling block here is money: I need to buy a new car in the fall, and I keep coming across unexpected expenses that are taking priority. However, the training rides were an excellent way to address this.

4. Rebuild emergency savings

I’ve just managed to start this up again, and the plan is for it to speed up in the fall.

5. Be better organized with barn stuff

Sloooooowly but surely. Some progress: I reorganized the trailer stuff, pulled the first aid kit to go over, and consolidated some tack. I need a few hours of good weather to drag out and clean my main tack trunk – it’s musty and cluttered.
blog hop · trailering

Viva Carlos Blog Hop: Travel Bug

Amanda2 Comments
I’m catching up, ok?

Most of us have been somewhere with our horse, whether its camping, a trail ride, a horse show or just moving them to another barn. Like most things with horses, sometimes success is just a measure of trial and error. What is your best tip for traveling with horses?


Lots of other people have answered to make a list and check it twice. I do that. I even have a separate sub-list for my trailer-specific first aid kit. To describe it as obsessive would not be doing it justice.
However, here is my absolute #1 tip for travelling with horses: bring way, way more water than you think you will need, and bring it from home.
There are many reasons for this, so I’ll break it down.
First, horses can become suddenly picky in the weirdest of ways. Having water that they’re used to, from home, diminishes the chances that they’ll go off drinking.
Second, never, ever, ever plan on water being available where you’re going, even at shows. Biosecurity is a real thing. If you arrive at a show, and the only way to get water is out of a communal trough, DO NOT USE IT. Don’t be that horrible example who brings strangles back to your home barn. (I am also fairly neurotic about not letting Tristan graze if trailer parking is in a strange pasture, but I know that’s a little above and beyond.) Bringing your own water helps neatly avoid this problem. If there’s a hose/spigot available, and you can fill up separately from the main trough that everyone and their cousin has used for their horse, then that’s a bonus, and fill up your empty containers before you go home, just in case.
Corollary to this: don’t be that person who waltzes up to the big trough and lets their horse drink right out of it. You are the Pony Club poster child for thoughtless horse owner. I’m serious about this. Don’t do it. If you must, dunk a clean bucket in to fill up.
Third, you never know how long you’re going to be stuck on a trailer. “Oh, it was only a short ride to the trailhead!” becomes a 4 hour wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a hot summer day. If you didn’t bring enough water, or didn’t fill all your empty buckets from the (safe!) hose before you left, then you can’t pull over and offer your horse water and you are going to really, really regret your lack of preparation. I’ve been hauling horses at the tail end of what was supposed to be a short drive and sat for hours and hours in stopped traffic when a horrible accident closed the entire highway. I was very glad I could have my companion jump out and offer water to the horses.
I never hitch up the trailer without somewhere between 20 and 40 gallons of water, depending on how many horses I’m hauling. I usually fill up four 5 gallon buckets, and then I have a few 5 gallon gas containers that I fill up with water as well. I dump and refill them regularly if I haven’t used them up. I scrub them and let them dry in the sun if they show the slightest hint of slime. (I also have 3-5 possible buckets to use for sponging or drinking for horses, so they’re not drinking out of those buckets.) I covet one of those big water tanks that tucks under a gooseneck or in a tack room. Someday!
If you’re hauling with someone else who doesn’t have adequate water buckets in their rig, then it’s your responsibility to provide water for your horse and, if you’re a thoughtful person, for the other horse as well.
So, there’s my lecture/advice. Water: don’t leave home without it.
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2014 goals · canter · training board · video

Final Training Ride

Amanda2 Comments

First: I’m aliiiiiiiiiiiiive!

So I know it’s almost July, but let’s review my June goal:

June 

Unfortunately I already know that most of June will be a wasteland due to a massive work event at the end of the month. The goal for this month is to keep my head above water: stick to a schedule and keep him fit. 

Possible events for riding or volunteering: East Hill Farm Schooling Dressage (no dates yet), Vermont Morgan Heritage Days (June 14-15)

I was right. June was a total timesuck, wasteland, minefield – pick your metaphor. I got maybe a half dozen rides in the entire month.

The good news? Putting him into training for that month was one of the best horse-related decisions I’ve ever made. Hurrah and huzzah for that! He kept in work and fitness, and not only that, he made huge, HUGE improvements.

In fact, I have proof. I was able to get out last night to watch the last of his training rides and I have two short videos: the first of his first canter stretch during warmup, the second of a canter further along in the ride that shows some of what his next step is: more sit, more lift through the shoulders.

Finally, I saw this note and had to laugh. Only in Vermont would we still be worried about it being below 50 overnight. (I camped for most of last week for my work event, and on Friday night it was 38 degrees. Yep. You read that right. SO COLD.)

Here’s to more horse riding and blogging for the rest of 2014!