Back In The Saddle & Separation

I am happy to report, that I am finally back in the saddle!!! HIP HIP HORRAY!!!!!! Saturday was the first time I actually rode since November, and man did it feel oh so good! It feels amazing to finally have the motivation to work my horses again, I feel like myself again!

Though I just got back in the saddle earlier this month, I have been working the horses consistently since the ground finally thawed out. As much as I wanted to get back in the saddle, I decided to wait. Since Nosey had been out of work for so long, he really had no muscle, so to speak, so due to his lack of muscle, I decided that it wouldn't be fair to him, to make him carry my weight. So, instead I have been lounging the Noseman to build his muscle back up. I've been lounging him 5-6 times a week, in just his halter, doing lots of transitions, change of direction, and backing up.....well as best as he can, he knows what I'm asking of him, but he is very reluctant to do it, I attribute this to his lack of muscles.

With the lounging 5-6 times a week, I am definitely starting to see a difference in him, both in how he looks and in his attitude. He seems like he is much happier, more youthful, like he's feeling good. I think he is enjoying to be back to work, happy to have a job to do again, and I'm happy as well, I'm happy to have my boy back (though he never went anywhere), he is the reason for my love and passion of horses. Having him back in work, I am really enjoying riding again and I'm actually looking forward to it everyday!

I Love my Noseman <3

As for Miss Wind..... Ahhhh Miss Wind, I don't know what I'm gonna do with that girl. So, as you all know I have been having issues with Wind and her attitude changes, with her being aggressive and all since last November and how we thought it was Lyme Disease, but that came back as negative. So we really don't know what is causing her issues, all I can say is that she has gotten 10x's worse, especially since she went into heat three weeks ago and the bad thing is, is that she has yet to come out of heat......I finally made a call to Tufts Ambulatory Services and they are coming out on Wednesday the 30th to check her out....I know, I know took me long enough. I think that the reason that it took me so long to make the call, is that I was a little afraid that something major is going to be wrong with her, and that the only solution is going to be something that I can't afford and I'm going to wind up loosing my girly. I know I'm being crazy and over thinking things like usual, but I just can't help it. So we shall see what the 30th brings, and hopefully it will be good news! *fingers crossed*

So, about three weeks ago, I had to separate Nosey and Wind into their own paddocks. They had been turned out together for about a year now, and last summer they seemed like they were starting to really get along. Now Nosey and Wind have always had a strong love/hate relationship, but since Wind starting to have these problems she had become mean towards Nosey and I, but this last month she has become down right aggressive towards us, like she's out for blood, and when her and Nosey got into really bad fight, that was the last straw, and I separated them.

**I am behind on my posts, hopefully I will be able to catch up this coming week and tell you all about our awesome Easter ride, and what else we've been up to!**

It Never Ends...

It's been awhile. For some reason I am just not good at keeping up with this thing lol, but I swear I am going to really try to make regular posts.

So, just like everyone else living in this Wintery hell, I'm sick of it, it just seems like it's never going to end. Everything around here is either a sheet of ice or a foot of hard crunchy snow, and it's making everything miserable. I mean you know that Winter has overstayed it's welcome when the animals don't want to play in it. My poor dogs (Zoey and Mini) are having such a hard time finding a place to go to the bathroom, because they are having trouble walking on the hard snow. The horses who LOVE the snow, are sick of it as well. When I let them out of the barn in the morning, they stop look at the snow/ice and sigh before walking the rest of the way into the paddock. Me, I've always hated the Winter, I don't find anything fun about freezing temperatures, hard ground, snow, ice, and whatever else comes with Winter. The worst part about the Winter, I can't ride, not cool, I haven't ridden since November.

Of course even if the weather and ground wasn't the way it is, I still wouldn't be able to ride both of the horses. I'd be able to get Nosey going and start getting him back in shape, but not the princess. So, Miss Wind is having issues once again! It seems like it never ends when it comes to this mare and health issues, if it's not one thing it's another. I just want to enjoy my horse and not have to worry about whats wrong with her this time, and the cost that comes with figuring it out. Its all so frustrating, I haven't had a good year without an issue, with this horse since 2010.

The problem this time, started about in November, when Wind began having intermittent, shifting lameness. At first I chalked it up to her just having an episode of tying up, but after giving her time and following the protocol I have for when she does have an episode, there was no improvement. Over time other symptoms started showing up. She became sensitive to touch all over, but she was especially sore in back/loin area, and would drop to the floor at the slightest touch. The other symptom that showed up, which is the biggest one, is that Wind has become VERY moody, and not just mare moody, she has become aggressive, aggressive towards both people and Nosey. She's constantly pinning her ears flat back, baring her teeth, trying to bite and kick. The biggest thing about her aggression is that she is viciously going after Nosey, especially when he is down trying to roll, it's very scary, she's come close to seriously hurting him a few times. Now this behavior is very much out of the norm for Wind, we have always joked and said that Wind is a Gelding stuck in a Mares body.

 All of her symptoms, were those of a horse with Lyme Disease, so I decided to have the vet out and pull a Lyme titer. The vet agreed that it could be Lyme, and that the test was a good start. He also said that if is not Lyme Disease there is a possibility that it could be Ovarian Tumors, which commonly causes the horse to act like an aggressive Stallion.

Today I received the results of Miss Wind's Lyme titer, it came back negative. It's horrible to say, but I really wish that it came back positive, cause if it did I would at least  know what is wrong with her and we could begin treatment and be on our merry way to getting back to work. So, now we are back at square one, and have to do more diagnostics to try and figure out what the issue is. The next step is to test for the Ovarian Tumors, and if it's not that then I don't know what would be next, but hopefully we will be able to get some answers soon, since I am going to use Tufts for the rest of the diagnostic testing. So, keep your fingers crossed and I shall keep you all updated.

It's Been Awhile...

Wow it certainly has been quite some time since my last post. Things had been kinda crazy with school and all, but now school has come to an end and I am finally graduating from college. Hopefully now I can keep up with my blog and document Miss Wind's adventures. So, now to catch y'all up on Miss Wind....

Wind Goes To School

The week of April 15th Wind got to spend a week on the farm at URI. She was there to be used in the ELLs (Experiential Learning Labs), see URI offers an Intro to Animal Science class for non-Animal Science students to take as a Gen. Ed. and these students are required to participate in an hour long lab, learning and interacting with the animals on the farm. Now we don't have horses on the farm at URI (crazy I know) so for the ELLs a horse has to be brought in for that week, and since I was required to help out with these labs for a grade I volunteered to bring Wind for the week and teach about horses.

Miss Wind was a very good girl while at school. It took her about a day to settle into her paddock, which was located between two flocks of sheep. All but one of the sheep were afraid of her and ran away when she went near the fence, but this one young ewe (female sheep) who ran right up to her and hung out by the fence next to her all day long. It was too cute!!

New Friends Meet

Awwww Kisses <3

Just Hanging

For the first two days Wind was afraid of the run-in that she had in her paddock, because of this I was a bit worried about her not getting any sleep or being protected if the weather turned nasty. Then on the third day I went out and checked and found that she had used the run-in! I don't think that she laid down at all, but there was at least one new poop pile every morning. The fact that she was using the run-in made me feel a little more at ease, though I couldn't be completely at ease with her being at school overnight, being the over protective, worried mama that I am. hehe.

Oh Hello!

Making friends with Sully

So, everyday I took my girly on at least one walk around the farm. She became very comfortable in her little paddock between the flocks of sheep, and Bonnie, the farms guard donkey, (Wind tried SO hard to make friends with Bonnie but Bonnie wanted nothing to do with her, I think Wind's size scared Bonnie a little bit.) but she was not fond of the other animals one the farm. Especially the PIGS!  After the first two days of visiting the animals, Wind became okay with the Cows, she even made friends with one of them!

As for the pigs, the pigs never made it onto Wind's friends list, and it wasn't for lack of trying on the pigs part. Every time we tried to get near they would get up and run over to the       fence and follow her where ever she went, but Wind wanted NOTHING to do with them and kept rejecting their friend requests. She just snorted at them and stared, on alert, and then tried to run away. What totally turned her off of ever considering becoming friends with the pigs was when we were walking and one of the boars started breeding to one of the sows and there was lots of squealing and moving, and with that she lost what ever last brain cell she had left.

All in all Wind's week at school went really well. She was a very good girl, except for when it was time to go home. On the Friday, a storm came in and it got really windy and began to rain, and by the time my brother-in-law came with the truck to haul her home, it was dark out. So, with all that combined, Wind did NOT want to get on the trailer. It took almost 2 hours, 2 halters, 2 lead ropes, a bucket of grain, and a pitch fork to finally get her on the trailer. Besides that she was a very good girl.

Staring at the Sheep

What Wind thought of sheep poo

That sweet face

Pretty Girl!

So Wind had a game that she played to entertain herself with the sheep. She would stand still and let the sheep come up to her, once the sheep relaxed around her, she would pounce at them, flag her tail and take off running, scaring the crap out the sheep. I think she thought it was quite funny, lol, it was quite funny to watch.

Relaxin

 

Wind has Rhody pride!!

Saddle Woes

So, I had the chiropractor out to adjust Miss Wind and he was very pleased with how well she was doing since her last adjustment. Like every adjustment, the chiropractor checked the fit of my saddles, and this time he had some bad news for me. Neither of my two saddles fit Miss Wind anymore, I am extremely bummed about this. Now I have to buy two new saddles, which I cannot afford, especially since I have to buy a new truck. So, as of right now I have no saddle, though my amazing friend Kate has let me barrow and try out her Stubben for a little bit, and I can't buy another saddle until I sell my Dressage saddle, which I am having a hell of a time selling. So, until I sell my Dressage saddle and get a new saddle our competition dreams have to, once again, get put on hold. 

So, thats pretty much whats been going on with us, not much riding, but hopefully that will change very soon. As always we will always have adventures and I hope I can share them with you all. 

For now, Where the Wind Blows is Where The Wind Goes.