A New Beginning...

Well, its official! Scottie will be staying at ATRC to work as an equine therapist for as long as he is willing and able! His story went live last Friday and it brought tears to my eyes. Therapy work is such a good fit for this phenomenal horse and now his story can be shared with others. The people out at ATRC are great! They take awesome care of the horses and truly care about what they do. 

Photo Credit To ATRC

Please visit the American Therapeutic Riding Center's website to read Scottie's story, meet the other equine therapists, learn about the facility, and possibly even make a donation to this great organization. 

American Therapeutic Riding Center

Just because things dont necessarily go as planned, does not mean that things are over. There is always another option, another road, another chance. We were fortunate enough that ATRC was willing to give Scottie a second chance and allow him to take up another career so that he could continue to be happy and serve a purpose. He may not ever set foot on another cross country course but the work that he is doing now makes the countless hours of rehab, scoops of grain, flakes of hay, and vet visits worth it. Keep kicking!

New Kid on the Block...

New year, new season, new... horse? Yep! Meet Whiskey Bent, known around the barn as Bourbon. He is an '08 17.1h Thoroughbred by Storm Day out of Jenny O/Gold Case. Bred and raced in Louisiana, he just couldn't hack it on the track. Thus, his race record is definitely less than impressive but he liked the turf and was retired sound.

I acquired this horse a few months ago and it was a rocky relationship in the beginning, to say the least. This ridiculous Oklahoma winter certainly didnt help matters because it made consistency difficult. One really REALLY awesome thing about this horse though is that he retains his lessons very well. We can typically pick up our training sessions where we last left off rather than having to reschool countless times. Respect was definitely a major issue and he was quite the cocky boy! I blame the Storm Cat in him, but once I was able to channel that energy and attitude, Bourb has become an awesome partner! His dressage is coming along nicely which is good considering that it has been our sole focus for months. Jumping has recently been added to his training regime and he is taking to it quite nicely. Those big long legs of his tend to get in the way on occasion during grids but he is figuring it out. We went for a cross country excursion over the weekend and I was thrilled with how he behaved! Bourb was happy, quiet, and game to jump anything! We kept it small and positive but there is definitely room for more! This boy is proving to be a one person horse that thrives on a bond but once that is established, he will try his heart out for his rider. I love that in a horse!

I am looking at focusing on schooling shows with him for a while just to build his confidence and gain experience while staying on a budget. Holly Hill is on the calendar as his first recognized HT debut at BN. I have high hopes for this boy in the years to come!

So very much has changed since I last wrote on this blog (as usual) and to say that life got turned upside down might be a bit of an understatement. A family situation prompted me to leave Woodridge and head back home for a while, which is bittersweet. On the plus side, it allows me the opportunity to reflect on the events of last year and truly decide what I want to do in life. I have a pretty good idea though and hopefully that leads to a big announcement in the coming months!

Some of you may be wondering what has come of sweet Scottie boy lately and that is really exciting news! After lots of testing and watching and rehabbing, along with a few serious conversations with my vet, it was decided that a competitive comeback just wasn't in this phenomenal horse's future. That was a tough pill to swallow. The suspensory had healed nicely and there were no residual side effects from the EPM but something still wasnt quite right. Every once in a while a mystery lameness would pop up but it did not seem to effect him any other time. Without spending thousands of more dollars trying to diagnose the problem, with a not so promising outlook, we just couldnt pinpoint the issue and it was decided to officially retire Scottie. He had other plans and apparently "retirement" isnt in his vocabulary! I will save the details for next week, once everything is certain, but it looks like Scottie may have a new lease on life and a new job in which he LOVES! 

It has become quite obvious that thirteen is NOT my lucky number, as 2013 was a long and frustrating year, but it is what it is. I have grown to appreciate the little things in life and am working towards much bigger things than I could have ever dreamed of! Here is to a wonderful 2014, the year of the horse! More updates soon. Until then, keep kicking! 

It Aint Over Yet...

I would like to start by saying that I feel as though I owe everything to Dr. Ellison and Pathogenes, Inc. right about now. Scottie was retested at EMA on Monday for EPM and he was NEGATIVE! This horse went from being the strongest positive possible to a negative test in about six weeks. This is all thanks to Dr. Ellison's twenty years of EPM research and the resulting medication Oroquin-10. Oroquin-10 is a ten day prescription medication that kills off the parasite that causes EPM and carries a 96% success rate and it certainly worked for Scottie! I highly recommend that everyone visit her website and read her blog. It has tons of information about the disease, as well as Dr. Ellison's research and experience with it. Science has certainly come a long way... Pathogenes, Inc.

Now it is time to re-evaluate his walk work under saddle and see how he feels compared to when he was sick. Based on that and how he continues to jog we will then continue with diagnosing his stifle. Fingers crossed for a strong, sound pony!

Although my big dreams for the girls for the fall may not pan out after all, we are starting to make baby steps in the right direction and will see where we go from here. Perhaps the fall will be filled with learning opportunities and spring is always a new season. There is a cross country school at Feather Creek on the horizon at least! Horse trial or bust!!

 It seems as though things may be starting to look up, a least a little bit, for team UAC Eventing. Hopefully we can continue on THAT path! Eventers are very skilled at plan B, as well as plans C through Z, and that is what sets us apart. We always keep on. We always keep kicking. It ain't over 'till its over and it certainly ain't over yet. Scottie's career is not over, in fact I have faith that it is far from it, but Im sure his struggles aren't yet over either. My struggles aren't over. In the end, Im sure it will all be worth it and until then, keep kicking.

Progress and Research...

On the brighter side of life, Scottie seems to be improving. We are almost four weeks post treatment and about ready for our retest. He is getting stronger every day and keeps packing on the weight and muscle. His toe dragging is virtually eliminated. His tripping is gone, except for the random hole here and there. I am still trying not to get my hopes up too high just because sure as I do, it will end in heartbreak, but my fingers are crossed nonetheless. On the not so brighter side, now that his EPM is residing it is becoming evident that he has a stifle problem. We are unsure at this point if it is injury or aging joints and I do not really want to pursue that until after his EPM test. Dynah is now referring to his case as "peeling away at an onion" while trying to resolve his issues and piece together his history. We are definitely still in agreement however that this project is worth the time and it will all work out. While speaking with the vet, the subject of joint injections came up and I was a big unsure of exactly how they worked so I did a little research on my own... The AAEP has a wonderful short article that clears up ALOT about joint injections, and all types of joint medications/supplements actually, so if you are like me please check it out! AAEP Lameness and Joint Medications

Scottie is not the only horse in my life that is improving by leaps and bounds... The Woodridge Farm girls are doing wonderful as well! Allouette III, or 3Lu as we call her, has recently been started over fences and she absolutely loves it! This horse has jumper or eventer written ALL over her!! Her canter is coming along surely and she gets more confident in herself and me as her rider every day. Today we actually hacked out around the property, by ourselves -Shock and Awe- with only one tiny spook! Such a grown up! Wiebella, aka Wiebit, has been working on her self carriage and is coming along nicely with that, thanks to some help from Laurie Hedlund. She gets a little lighter and more sure of herself every day. We are still working on collecting her canter while in self carriage but it will come with time.

3Lu exploring the property on our morning hack

Overall, I am very happy and content with life and horses right now. Things seem to be looking up and heading down the right path (for once!) and that is a huge sigh of relief. Look for a new post shortly regarding Scottie's test results and any other random happenings! Until then, always remember to keep kicking!

Time Heals All Wounds...

Oh, wow. So so so very much has been happening around here and I am just praying that following my gut won't get me in too deep! First off, Duelly was sent back to his owner after long collaboration between my trainers and myself. His heart just wasn't in his work and it is hard to build a relationship on that. Talent can only get you so far in this sport.

Moving on, I decided to take a chance on another horse and what a chance that is turning out to be!

Meet Scottie, otherwise known as Sir Prescott. Pictured above is just about all Scottie does as of right now: hand walk and eat. This is because he has a mildly strained suspensory in his right hind, but he was free so I figured I would give it a go. Why you might ask? Scottie is a seasoned training level packer that has evented all over area 4 and 5 with a few riders, most notably a junior in which he placed very respectively at some big competitions. Oh yeah, and he was free! Right about now you are probably thinking that I have lost my ever-loving mind. Well, jump on the bandwagon and know that I don't give a damn! Scottie has been given an 85% chance of full recovery and everyone that knows me knows that I do this sport on a shoestring budget. I don't have the financial means to go buy a $15,000 horse. Here's to hoping that a little time and TLC will get me there!

 

Cue more issues, as always. Upon Scottie's follow-up visit to EMA it was discovered that he has EPM. Luckily we caught the disease before it progressed to horrible proportions. His test results from before I got him (which I did not know about at the time) indicated an elevated inflammatory response and low titer but now his numbers were through the roof. He has been started on a cycle of Dr. Ellison's product Oroquin-10 and is wrapping up that round tomorrow. We know in 4-6 weeks, upon another retest, if the treatment worked. In the meantime, his lameness is getting better, his toe dragging has reduced, and his tripping is nearly eliminated. All good signs! If the treatment doesn't work, well... I just don't know but I cant think about that right now. Right now, I have to be strong for myself and for my horse who seems to have had a fairly rough life.

 

Riding is never an easy sport, for anyone. It comes with ups and downs of epic proportion. As of late I have been questioning myself and my dreams. Why do I do this? Why do I put myself through this? Is it really meant to be? Is it even &^*#!%@ worth it? But then I walk into the barn and hear that loving nicker and my heart melts. Instantly I know exactly why I do this. I do it not only for the love of the sport but for the love of the relationship between horse and rider. Scottie is a loving, sweet boy who really brings back memories of Stretch. I miss that horse more than anything and find myself staring at his pictures every night thinking "what might have been" but I know I made the right decision for him. Scottie is my chance to move on. With him, I get that familiar nicker when I walk in the barn. A knowing nuzzle when I have treats. A random lick across my arm or face just because. It touches my heart and I know this horse is what I need right now. This WAS meant to be. I need this horse and this bond just as much as he needs me. I am confident that it will all work out in the end and we will be unstoppable! Time heals all wounds, all doubts, all fears but you cant just sit and wait for things to fall in your lap. Take a chance. Take a risk. Make a change. Follow your heart.

 

More updates to come but until then, keep kicking!

Never Let Go...

Wow, I've really got to get better about updating this thing!

For starters, I would like to congratulate Jamie Aldrich of Ill. on her purchase of Stretch. He has found himself a wonderful home with her and her young daughter. It makes me so happy to know that he is with a family that loves him and that values his skill set and abilities. Best of luck on the show circuit this spring!

Next on the agenda is the fact that I DID IT! I graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelors of science in animal science production in December of 2012! Upon completion of my degree, I accepted a position at Woodridge Farm and Duels and I made the trip to Claremore at the end of December. I will keep y'all updated on this endeavor, but so far it has provided me with plenty of hard work, good foaling experience, and some more quality horses to ride.

Moving on to Duelly... He definitely keeps me on my toes! He came back from his little vacation (aka my injury) in top form and ready to conquer 2013, but then something began to change. He began getting more resistant to work, more cranky about tacking up, more unhappy overall. He didnt want his grain, he began dropping weight, among other things. We suspect ulcers. I took him to the Mary D'Arcy clinic at Feather Creek the beginning of February and that was when we knew something was wrong. He schooled really well overall, for being a green youngster with little cross country experience. Mary loved him and confirmed what we already knew about him having serious upper level potential. However, throughout the weekend he kept acting out in ways not typical of his "get'r done" attitude. While trying to figure out this puzzle he has had a couple of weeks off since the clinic. I am trying him on a couple of different supplements and we will see what happens. Hopefully I will be able to get him out to a local dressage schooling show in two weeks, but that is completely contingent upon whether he is up for it or not.

(Very) Tenative 2013 Schedule:
March 17: GCC Schooling Show - Claremore Expo
April 14: SHRA Schooling Show (beginner novice) - Okemah, OK
April 20-21: Holly Hill HT (beginner novice) - Benton, LA

I suppose this post is about remembering the past and never letting go of the future, no matter how dark it may seem sometimes. Things will always get better and tomorrow is another day. Horses really have a way of teaching us to slow down and take things a day at a time, even when we may want to plan two years in advance (spring 2013 BN, fall 2013 N, fall 2014 T). Well played ponies, well played. Until (hopefully a much sooner) next time, keep kicking!

Rough Waters

Since my last post several events have happened, many of those leading me to the decision to put Stretch up for sale once and for all. The upper levels just aren't in the cards for him and it is in his best interest to pair him with a rider that accepts that and has other goals in mind. It hit me today when I loaded him in the trailer that I am about to say goodbye to one of my best friends of nearly six years. I realize that I have to look at this as a business decision and that it is best for him, but it is still difficult. Thus far two families are very interested and hope to look at him soon. I believe that he would be very happy in either situation.

On the other hand, I would like to welcome Dance Of War, aka Duelly, to the Up A Creek Eventing team! Duelly is a 9yo warmblood gelding out of a Seattle Slew mare by Der Radetzky. Needless to say, athletic might as well be his middle name! Duelly has joined the team on a two year free lease and I can now proudly say that I have my first "owner", the wonderful Ms. Linda Dany. It makes me feel so professional!!! Duelly came to me as a blank slate after only 30 days with Lee Johnson and a week with Dynah. We have been paired together for nearly three months now and have both improved by leaps and bounds! He is a completely different ride from what I am used to and nothing could be better for me at this stage in my career. When we first started together, Duelly had never seen more than trot rails and had to learn all about that darn stadium thing! I can thank grids for that one!! We have since completed two schooling shows with incredible results. Duelly's first outing was the Lily Pond CT in which we ran green as grass and finished on our dressage score of a 33.0 to land us in first place. Second on our list was the Gallery Farm CT where we ran in the starter division and finished on our dressage score of a 31.5 to finish in second. Duelly was quite the show stopper at Gallery and had the entire xc warm-up sitting on the sidelines watching him school! I am so proud of my new little grey pocket rocket! He is turning into such a super star and I cannot wait to see where the two of us go in the future!

The down side is that the future has been temporarily put on hold. About two weeks ago I was kicked in the knee while working with a three year old filly and have been down for the count since. Two sets of xrays and two weeks later we have determined that there are no broken bones and we are in the process of scheduling a CT scan to evaluate any possible tendon damage. Unfortunately, the only thing I have been riding is the couch! The fall plan was to aim Duelly for his first recognized event at Texas Rose HT the first weekend of November, but he needed the full two months prior of heavy schooling to be ready to run beginner novice. Scratch that plan. Now I am just hoping that I will be back in the saddle in time to run him in a schooling HT at Southern Hills in mid November and would like to attend at clinic at Feather Creek in either December or January. Only time will tell if these will be possibilities and hopefully we will have more results this week.

Today has been a particularly hard one and I have never missed being on the back of a horse this much. Im not sure why, but it seems as though every time my dreams are finally within grasp something terrible has to happen. Nevertheless, if there is one thing that eventing has taught me it is that things don't always go according to plan and that we must make the most of any situation. I will keep kicking! All this down time is at least giving me the opportunity to step back and evaluate some things in my life and really think about some decisions. Not yet sure what the future holds in that respect but expect to see great things from the little grey come spring because I can't stay down for long!