Update Overload

I'm not even sure where to begin, it's been a while.

First off, most importantly... I passed my boards!!! In less than 5 short months I will actually be a DVM. It's crazy that it's finally almost here - exciting, but mostly terrifying. But that's another post. It's been a really long 4 years!

Lots of things have happened the last couple months:

Jetta did this. Because she's an idiot. Apparently her neck cover came off partially and when the BO called the horses in for dinner, she started running with the other horses, then obviously her neck cover was flapping around and "chasing" her. So the logical thing to do would be to run through the fence, right?

Such a dumb dumb

Luckily she ended up with no serious injuries, just a few superficial scrapes. The next day her legs were swollen, but she's a delicate flower and was never actually lame. A couple doses of bute and she was back to normal!

We went on a frosty New Years day ride which was lovely. But very very cold.

 I've been working with Maisie on groundwork and she's occasionally looking like a real horse a times. An awkward moose calf at other times.

Maisie got to go on another field trip to the barn. She got to hang out in the cross ties, where she's mostly trustworthy. And she got her first full bath! She was MAD about it, or as mad as a little baby horse can get. Lots of pinned ears and tail swishing, but that was it.

Finally getting almost trustworthy in the crossties

My two favorite nicknames for her: my baby string bean or baby noodle

Wearing Jetta's cooler

And then I had a bad day where I euthanized several horses in a row at school, so we did this:

And I didn't die. I never thought I would ride Jetta tackless simply because she's the kind of horse that likes to go-go-go and getting her to slow down is not her favorite. She's been a tough horse to train so while she's very responsive, she also doesn't have the most eager-to-please personality so I just resigned myself to not trusting her without tack, despite the fact that I love liberty work.

Speaking of liberty work, I do a lot of that on the ground with Jetta when I'm too lazy to ride and I've been having a ton of fun with it lately - Jetta is learning how to collect her trot and canter, in addition to changing the size of her circles while free lunging. I'm hopeful it'll translate to better transitions in the saddle!

How's that for a disjointed, overwhelming update post?!

Birthday Ride

My birthday was on Wednesday and since I was still off of school this week, everyone else was either working, traveling or in clinics. So I loaded up my pony by myself and headed to the trails. I finally got a new hoof boot to replace the one that broke so we were back in action!

Pretty leaves

I decided to go to Chip Ross, it's a park that's pretty close to me but for some reason I haven't been there in years. I really have no idea why, it's been almost 3 or 4 years since I've been there but the trails are really lovely and I used to ride there a bunch!

Cool fallen tree

Jetta was on her best behavior though we mostly just walked, which was good because we rounded a corner and came upon a gaggle of children sitting in a circle directly on the trail. I'm really glad we weren't going any faster or we would have crashed through them like a bowling ball. Jetta loves little kids though and obligingly lowered her head after they all came running over to pet her.

Overall, it was just what I needed! I've been really stressed this week as I prepare to go back to rotations (I will be on small animal surgery for the next two weeks) and also trying to study for the board exam which is in just over a month. Scary!

A lady at my barn offered to take a "birthday picture because you both look nice". Jetta was unenthusiastic

Also, my birthday is October 3rd, which is also a Wednesday so I had to wear my pink(ish) shirt

What an Ordeal

We went for a trail ride yesterday which was AWESOME. I finally made it to WM park which was closed last time I tried. This time I scrutinized the website and didn't see anything about closures so off we went. The ride was great. We went around 8 miles, didn't see a single person, did a little swimming. Super fun.

The drive home was not super fun. About halfway home on the interstate the trailer started wobbling and I looked in the rear view mirror to see pieces of tire flying. A couple people frantically waved at me from their vehicles (which I appreciated! I'm always nervous I won't notice if I blow a tire - but it was super obvious). I made it almost another mile to an off ramp and parked on the side and got to work changing out the tire.

Giant wheat field

I was set for this - I am an independent horse woman and I can change a tire! Except, it was super hot. Like not in the 90s anymore, but it was at least 86 degrees with no shade. And I couldn't get the last dang lug nut undone and all these guys in jacked up trucks were driving past me without stopping while I was kicking and throwing all my body weight on the stupid tire iron to get it to turn.

My dork blowing bubbles

I was about to give up and throw the stupid tire iron away but finally got it off. Of course at that moment a guy in a little Ford Focus pulled over (car twins!) and asked if I was ok or needed help. At that point I was covered in dirt from getting on the ground and absolutely dripping sweat - it was basically a river of sweat at that point - and I desperately needed a water break so I said sure and he helpfully put my spare tire on for me. He said that I'd already done the hard part, which I agreed, he'd shown up just a couple minutes too late! I was so thankful for him stopping, I really, really appreciated it!

I thought these plants looked kinda prehistoric lol

I cheerfully got back on the interstate only to look in the rear view at a giant cloud of smoke coming from the spare tire. I am equipped to change a tire, I am not equipped to deal with a fire on the horse trailer! I quickly pulled to the side of the highway and was at a loss for what to do. I called Les Schwab since they have a roadside tire repair thing, but they charge a $48 service charge, then $105 an hour, plus the amount that the tire costs. And I had 30 minutes to decide if I needed them because they don't take calls after 5pm (of course, right when they are needed) and they were worried I had something wrong with my trailer axle since the spare wasn't working.

Pickin' blackberries

I ended up calling my barn owner because I couldn't think of anyone who would be available and have access to a horse trailer and truck. By some miracle she wasn't working and agreed to come get Jetta so I could figure out what to do. By that point I was starting to have a panic attack - I didn't know how to get my trailer home on 3 tires, AAA wouldn't help me because I didn't have RV coverage and refused to upgrade me because I had a current roadside claim, it was after 5pm, and I needed to unload my horse on the side of a very busy I-5. And my phone was dying. I frantically called the BF who magically was also just getting off work and he drove out.

I am so, so lucky to have great friends and support network!

Jetta is A SAINT. She earned herself so many cookies yesterday - as much as I complain about her I am so lucky to have her. She was the most perfect angel possible and I am so glad I instilled a good trailering ability with her. If your horses don't load well I really, really urge you to teach them (or find someone else to do so!) to self load regardless of the situation and practice on trailers that aren't yours. It is an invaluable skill. Jetta stood perfectly still in the trailer for the 2ish hours that we changed tires and then waited for help. When my BO got there to help, I was so worried. Especially because Jetta had never used a ramp for a trailer. I marched Jetta up to the ramp, she snorted at it, I circled her back and marched her right onto the trailer. Easy peasy (minus the fact that I was literally shaking I was so nervous).

That taken care of, we assessed the situation and decided to try a new tire and see what happened. Of course it was now after 6pm by that point so the only place we could find with my tire in stock was Wal-Mart tire center. My wonderful BF drove over and got the tire only to find that there was a 3 hour waiting time just to take 5 minutes to put the tire on the wheel... he called around and found another tire shop that was still open for another 30 minutes and hightailed it over there across town and they whipped the tire on in under 4 minutes! What an awesome place.

New tire on, it worked perfectly and I was able to get the trailer home safe and sound. What. A. Day. I really hope I never have to do that again.

I am now upgrading my trailering supplies to include a fire extinguisher because who knows when that might come in handy. I'm getting a new spare tire that will actually work. And I will never trailer without my phone charger (and/or possibly a plug-in battery charger) again because if I get stranded without a phone I am screwed. I sat on the side of I-5 for almost 3 hours with not a single person stopping. I get that it's a busy highway, but I was a tiny bit surprised that no one stopped.

If you don't have a TrailerAid I highly, HIGHLY recommend you get one. I can't think of a better $40 spent. Seriously.

Such a lifesaver!

Does anyone else have any trailering supplies they consider a requirement for when they haul horses? And I'm considering getting US Rider coverage since AAA is absolutely worthless. Has anyone used them and what was your experience?

Trail Ride 'Tastic

Yesterday was the last day that I had the borrowed truck so I decided a trail ride was in order! While I love all the trails that are local to me, I had a free day and I love going places that are different than what I normally have access to, so I decided a trip to WM park was just what I needed!

Mondays are rough

Have to get a selfie with my sweet sleepy girl

I checked the website and calendar to make sure there weren't any special events happening and loaded up, and off we went! It's not super close... about just over an hour drive. I rolled in and was about to put money in the pay meter... when a park ranger rolled up and told me that the majority of the park was closed for construction on the culver and roads that access the equestrian portion. Pedestrians could still use the parks, just not horses.

I was crushed. I had even checked the website and everything (I went back and looked at it again - and there was a tiny little banner that I had missed stating that there was construction). Boooooo. I was upset that I had driven so far for nothing. Just for the heck of it, I put another park into my phone's navigation. This park was in the complete opposite direction of where I'd come from, but it was only 1.5 hours from my current location. Just about 20 minutes farther than it'd be going home. I shoved some treats at Jetta and headed to the other park.

We made it to the other park and I unloaded Jetta and let her graze for a bit in compensation for the crazy long trailer ride she'd just been on.

We ended up having a lovely trail ride. I think Jetta was tired from the show, so she was happy to just walk the trails, though we did do a little bit of trotting and cantering. I love this park, it's the one I grew up going to a lot and I have a ton of super fun memories of long afternoons exploring with friends or solo, horse swimming, picnics, and all of my horses I've owned in my life had been there at one time or another.

Mini Break

I got jealous of everyone on my social media going for gorgeous trial rides while I was stuck all day in school and studying, so last Friday I threw Jetta in the trailer and we went for a very short and fast trail ride at our favorite trail. I'm not sure why this one is my favorite - it's a logging trail like most of the other local trails - that briefly has a one-track dirt trail at the apex of the hill. Regardless, I love it. I let Jetta power trot up the hill until we reach the dirt trail and then slowly meander the rest of the way up. It was a good reset to a no-good, very bad week.

My favorite place to be

Lost in the woods (but not actually)

<3

We had it all to ourselves

Always Trying to Catch-Up

I have so many blog posts in my head that I want to write, but no time to write them! As usual, vet school owns my soul this term and this term started off extremely quickly. So quickly that by Wednesday of week 1 we were already stressed out, to the point that one of the teachers asked us why we were already stressed, "It's only day 3, how are you all so stressed already??". Answer: cause vet school.

Always tired

It's been an extremely fun term so far though. I can't believe I'm getting to the point where I can accurately diagnose things off of radiograph, ultrasound or ECG (echocardiograms are a whole 'nother story which I'm happy to leave to the cardiologists though!). We have surgery ponies for our large animal surgery class which has been really adorable and fun. They are a TON of work outside of class, especially since they came in feral, not halter broke, with some health problems. But I love our little pony and it's going to be so sad when he goes home.

This term has however, not left hardly any time for things outside of school, especially when you add in boring life stuff - like the washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher all breaking within a week of eachother. #adultingsucks

The little amount of time I have spent with my own horses has been great though! I took Jetta for a short trail ride the other day. It was SO great to be back on my own horse. While I really liked Trask and he was a fun (if frustrating) challenge for me, it was so nice to walk down the driveway not worrying if my horse was going to spook at the garbage cans, the neighbor horses, a puddle, etc. Jetta was extremely happy to be on the trails too - she's still not very in shape and I thought the hills would slow her down, but I thought wrong! She just wanted to go go go the entire time.

Side note, I bought a cheap black 5-point breastcollar used and nothing humbles you more than trying to assemble a piece of tack you've never used before and having it take FOREVER to get on correctly. I felt like an idiot because the straps that attach to the saddle's D-rings came attached to the lower ring (where the straps attach to the girth) and I could not figure out why I couldn't get the straps to stretch to the D-rings, especially because Jetta is solidly a horse-size breastplate and even runs on the smaller size. Duh.

A good 20-30 minutes later...

I'm trying to adjust to my new riding schedule - I get to ride Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It's a good amount of days to ride and I feel good about managing 3-4 days a week. It just feels weird not to go to the barn in the middle of the week.

I had a fantastic ride on Jetta Monday. It's also nice to have the ability to ride with other horses without worrying about if my horse is going to bolt and have a meltdown into another horse! We have a new boarder with a GORGEOUS black/very dark bay warmblood gelding. He is quite stunning and I think Jetta has a crush (I'm also insanely jealous of his tail... I need Jetta's to hurry up and grow faster!). He came into the arena during our ride yesterday and it almost felt like Jetta was trying to show off, she got more uphill and just a little more lofty in her gaits.

Someday we'll get this trot under saddle

Currently we're doing a lot of shoulder-in and haunches-in to get Jetta off her forehand, listening to my aids and engaging with me. She's doing super well with it and already I think her muscles are starting to fill in and she no longer looks quite as terrible as she did, but we still have a ways to go. I'm hoping by the end of February/beginning of March we'll be ready to hit some schooling shows.

Such a majestic dork

My awkward donkey

I also got her a new saddle pad. I'm going to sell our plum Le Mieux set because we don't need two plum sets, but I just love this pad from Equestrian Stockholm and I got it on sale. It's so pretty and I love all the little details - double silver piping, square corners, velcro girth strap, etc. In response to Amanda's post the other day, yes some DQ's (aka me: tack hoarder) need several matching colorful sets. Just because. And where do I store it all? In many different boxes... I have a problem. I have tack in my trailer, in the storage room at the barn, in my tack locker, and in my office at home.
 

It's the same exact color as the Le Mieux plum, just a little different!

Miss Maisie is just continuing to grow up and explore the world. I ordered her some new stall toys so hopefully that will continue to discourage her cribbing. I had a discussion with an equine behaviorist about her cribbing and the conclusion is that her cribbing is genetic since everything else in her life doesn't have any predisposing factors. We're also going to try some acupuncture since there is a small amount of research showing that it can stop their cribbing in up to 60% of cases. I figure it can't hurt!

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