Osselets

The last time I was on Shadow was aroundddddd, November 9th. That feels like forever.

We cancelled our lessons last week because it was snowing, and I didn't expect Bonni and Dom to stand out in the snow and work with Shadow while I was warm and cozy in my office at work.

Even after cancelling my lesson Dom had asked if I could still meet her out at the barn around 5:00, I was wondering what was up and told her I would be there. When I pulled up I see her boyfriend Mike's white truck, and again, I was wondering what was up.

I pulled up next to them and out comes Mike and Dom, and they had brought me two new jump standards! I was so surprised and so grateful! With all the the stuff I have going on I haven't gotten around to buying them yet. Dom said that she wanted to do something nice for me, so her and Mike made them. I have never appreciated anything so much before, that was one of the best things anyone has done for me in a while. They really are two of the best people  I know, thanks again to them!

As I said in my last post, I can only pray for nice weather on the weekends now, so that I can get some training/riding in with my boy. Friday morning, Bonni texted me to tell me that Shadow had a bump on his ankle. She has noticed it two days or so prior to this, but wanted to keep an eye on it before telling me because she knows I like to panic from time to time. :) It had been getting bigger as the days went on, so she wanted to bring it to my attention.

I contacted my vet, Dante, and let him know what was going on. He had a full schedule Friday, so he said he would come out for an emergency or he could come Saturday. I told him just to come Saturday and if anything changed I would let him know. I went out around mid-morning to take a look with my own eyes what was going on. Bonni and I were taking a look at his leg and he was a little "ouchy" but not really. I wasn't too worried so I just left my appointment with Dante as it was, Shadow was really not bothered by it, he wasn't lame and didn't have a care in the world.

Ankle Comparison

 Big lump on the outside and swollen all the way around. (left ankle in picture)

Lump on the outside of his ankle 

Saturday morning came around, I got out to the barn pretty early since I had to drop Gizmo off at the vet.
I sat around for while, took a look at his leg again to see if anything had changed and decided to groom his, since he looked like a hot mess covered in dirt with leaves in his tail. I come back out the barn and Shadow is laying down, sleeping like a baby. Literally, knocked out. He had his face in a pile of leaves and he was so deep into a sleep that he was twitching, I couldn't help but take pictures, of course! I've never seen him lay down, and it makes me feel good because they say they won't lay down and sleep unless they feel safe. I'm glad he has adjusted to us and his surrounding so well.

Nap Time, Dirty Horse!

Dante got there around 11, took a look at Shadow and informed me he had osselets on both ankle from racing. He explained to me what exactly they were and how they form. After feeling around the swollen ankle, he let me know it was nothing. He had a little scab on the outside of his front right (the swollen one) and Dante assumed he hit or even casted getting up or rolling and just bumped himself. He told me I didn't need to give him any time off and everything was fine.

What a huge relief! Of course, I got NO riding time in this weekend because even though the vet said it was okay, I still felt like he needed to rest it, so I rubbed him down and went about my busy Saturday and Sunday.

Dom had to cancel for today, which is okay because it is cold and windy again, and I feel bad asking Bonni and her to stand out there, but I will be sure to make myself ride this weekend. I HATE WINTER.                                                  

Sorry for the Delay

So, I really suck at this blogging thing, just like I thought I would.

Life has been crazy and it hasn't left me much time for Shadow in the last two weeks.

We lost Tulsa, which kind of made it hard to go out and not see him there anymore, so when I did get out there, I just kind of spent some time with him, the farm seemed to have an empty feeling and I just couldn't get motivated.

Not to mention getting dark early is really taking my riding time right out from underneath me.

Lessons:

Last week, we really worked on the canter transition and a little bit of "jumping". Shadow is really starting to show that he is willing to canter, he just cannot hold it for more than a few strides. His trot is pretty well there. He looks amazing on the lunge line, if he can just start prancing around all fancy pants with a rider on his back, it will be perfect (almost there). He wiggled his way over some cross rails (learning to pick our feet up still) and plowed through some vertices. We need cavaletti  so that he doesn't learn that objects will move if he just runs into them. By the time I got on him, he was exhausted. He has about 30-35 minutes worth of solid riding time in him before he gets literally exhausted, but we'll get there. I'm learning patience is a must, something I don't have much of. All in all, he did great.

From last Tuesday to this Tuesday I barely even saw him, I stopped out Sunday, but never even brushed him, I was not prepared for the cold, and I don't think I'll ever be. Something I need to get over. Needless to say, I have't ridden my horse in two full weeks. I hate having to tell Dom when she comes out "I haven't done anything with him" I just literally don't even have a minute to myself and I'm starting to feel bad about it.

Dom was out yesterday. We have now moved our lessons up to 3 in the afternoon. This means I can't be there. Dom said he was very resistant and ignoring her leg, which lead me to apologizing because that is my fault. He just sits around and gets ridden once a week, by her! I haven't been able to do any "homework" at all. No transition work, no lunging, no nothing.

We are going to continue the lunge work and do a lot more lateral work. I myself need to start insisting he bends in the correct direction and starts moving off my leg. As I said, he offers such a nice canter but he cannot hold it without coming off the fence.

I did manage to see Dom yesterday for about 5 minutes while she was working with him, and he did seem to have his sassy pants on, again my fault for just letting him sit.

I will ride this weekend if it kills me.


I'm kind of uncomfortable with having lessons and not being there. Only because I feel like I'm not seeing what is being done and I don't want to do anything different when I get on him. I want him to be able to understand what I'm asking and get it done just the way Dom does.

Dom has gotten so busy, so early afternoon lessons are our only option.

I have been  on a steady search for a trailer, we have one, but I am not going to buy tires for it, being that it isn't mine. I have found two really nice ones I am hoping to go look at this weekend and maybe make some progress. If  I am able to get one, William will have to start trailering me to Dom's on Saturdays so I can have her teach me and him from her barn, I'm feeling kind of out of the looped with these early lessons, and it is stressing me out.


I hope this is a short, easy winter because I am over it already!