Tired Thursday?

I don't have much to report on the horse front these days. Rusty is doing well and we have been riding a fair bit. I haven't had time for a lesson for awhile, but I still feel that we have been making some progress. Rusty has a vet appt. tomorrow for his vaccinations and a teeth float, so riding will be out for us.

I meant to post these pictures yesterday for Wordless Wednesday, but once again, I'm a day late and a dollar short. :-)

I was able to watch the annual inspection of the musical ride yesterday. Guess I shouldn't complain about work too much, when I get to see things like that. I know I've posted pictures of the ride before, but I wanted to share a few photos from this year. It was a cloudy day, so the pictures aren't quite as clear as I had hoped. Oh well - you guys get the idea! (edited to add: blogger never lets me make the pictures bigger when you click on them. I'll try and fix it tonight...)

Making Some Progress

I contacted the saddle fitter/maker that I had been told about. He was very polite and helpful on the phone and offered to come out and fit Rusty this weekend! (He also knows my barn owner somehow, so that helped!). I just got home from my session with him and I have a saddle on order!

Turns out that Rusty needs semi-QH bars. The guy put a few bare trees on Rusty and very patiently explained to me how they fit/didn't fit and why. It was very informative. So, I bit the bullet and order a semi-custom saddle from a company he deals with in Alabama called Rocking R Saddles. The saddle was only a couple of hundred more than the Billy Cook (which has been sent back), so that damage wasn't too bad. I have been so frustrated with saddle searching and testing, so this visit came at a good time. The only kicker is that I have to wait about 3 months to get the saddle. Oh well - my guy guarantees the fit, so it will be worth the wait.

I've ordered the trail saddle in the chestnut colour shown in the slightly crappy picture on the left. It will have a black suede seat instead of the reddish one pictured. I was even able to order short fenders for my stubby little legs. That makes me very happy, for some strange reason. lol

There is some floral tooling on the saddle, but not all over the whole saddle. There are 3 silver conchos and a silver brand badge, so I have a tiny bit of bling. I was tempted to order one with more silver, but that just seemed very silly for someone that will probably never show! I just need (hahaha - I don't really need, more like want!!) to order a nice chestnut bridle to match. My justification for ordering another bridle is that I'm riding Rusty with two different bits, depending on what we are working on and I'm getting tired of taking my bridle apart each time. So, I'll have one bridle for the loose ring snaffle and another for his western bit.

I managed to sneak in a short ride after the saddle fitter left. It was super windy outside, but Rusty didn't bat an eye. We did a fair bit of cantering, which is really great for me. My confidence is back up to about 85% and my balance is catching up fast. I really feel like I am doing a better job at being consisten with my cues as well. We are getting the left lead canter from a jog most of the time and the right one is coming along. My balance is all wonky to the right, so I really have to focus on that alot. It is nice to feel like I'm making a bit of progress, regardless of how small.

Welcome to Saddle Fitting Hell

So, the shiny new saddle? Doesn't really fit. It fits him really well standing in the barn, but after lots of trotting and cantering, it rode up on his shoulders. :-( The barn owner rode him for me and got him all sweaty - and the sweat marks were only far forward on his shoulder. I feel for NuzzlingMuzzles - she is going through saddle fitting problems with her arabian mare too!

I'm going to try and send it back to the tack shop - they have a decent trial policy. I have to say that I'm really disappointed with this tack shop and their attitude. I called on Saturday to see if they had any ideas for other saddles that might fit him instead. The lady I spoke to was really rude on the phone and her advice was to try another saddle pad! She asked me to describe the situation with the saddle fit. I tried to explain his back shape and what the saddle was doing - she then said "Well, what am I supposed to do, I can't see your horse, you know..." Oh really? You are in another town 7 hours away and you can't see my horse? What is wrong with you? I quickly ended the conversation before I said something rude back to her.

I'm calling today to get a return authorization to send the saddle back. I really don't get rude people in retail - I'm trying to give you alot of money and if you are just nice with me, I'll buy stuff! Pretty simple, really.

So, I'm back to square one. I just found out about a tack shop in the area and the owner makes and repairs western saddles. How I didn't know this place existed is beyond me! I have every tack shop in the area, with several alternate routes, their hours and brands they sell all permanently etched in my mind! lol. I'm going to call this guy today and see if he has any ideas. It will be much easier to deal with a shop within driving distance. I just hope he is nice and helpful for a change!

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On more positive note, have you guys heard of or been watching Britain's Got Talent? I think this piece has also been all over the news, but if you haven't seen/heard it, you have to check it out. Safe for work...

The embedding option has been disabled, so you'll have to go over to Youtube to watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-KiGva9dV4

I won't say anything more on it - you just have to watch it!

Oh boy!Ohboy!Ohboy!

Guess what arrived today??

My bad-ass photography skills make the box look way smaller than it actually is...

Keep your fingers crossed that it fits ol' Rusty! I'm going out tonight to test it.

Got mints??

Here is a video of Rusty sucking on his mints - he is totally crazy about them. I only give him a couple of mints after he is untacked and in his stall. He was getting way too pushy about them, pawing in the cross ties if he didn't get one. We do not tolerate behaviour like that, so the treats (if any) wait until I'm ready to go home. The other boarder thinks I'm terribly mean for doing this, but I think Rusty will survive!

You might have to turn up your sound to hear him sucking on the mints - he was a little distracted with me pointing the camera in his face...


Got mints? from Laura Jones on Vimeo.

Things are on a roll...

I made it out to the barn to visit Rusty last night. He was his usual laid-back self. The weather was beautiful and it was great to be outside and enjoying the fresh air. I arrived just as a lesson was starting, so I decided to watch the lesson outside instead of riding in the indoor. I just can't stand to ride inside when it is so nice outside. I sat on the mounting block in the sun and had 2 cats on my lap - not too rough!

Two teenage girls were getting a lesson on riding barrels so I learned alot from watching that. It was interesting to watch the girls try and figure out the placements for the turns. The turn on 3rd seemed to be especially hard for them. The horses were also taking advantage of them a bit and going really wide if the girls didn't give good cues. After a few times around the pattern, the girls relaxed and were laughing and wooping it up - it must've been a nice break from their regular lesson.

I got Rusty ready and warmed him up a bit and I couldn't resist the barrels. We trotted the pattern a few times and after that went ok, I would canter between 2nd and 3rd, trot the turn and then canter home. It was pretty damn fun, let me tell you! Sorry there are no pictures yet again, but I was alone... I can totally see why some of you love barrels so much! I'm sure Rusty has done games before, he seemed really willing to take the turns and once he got warmed up was cantering along nicely. He isn't particularly fast, but it sure was a fun break from the regular rides we do. I'll be sure to mess around with the barrels a couple of times a week from now on.

I had a pretty big smile on my face when I was done riding - I haven't felt that comfortable cantering (on any horse) in quite some time. I wasn't worried about falling, my seat or Rusty taking off. I guess I'm starting to trust him a bit more. Here's to progress!

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On an unrelated note, I found this cute picture online or in an email someone sent me and thought I'd post it...

Back to the Grind...

I am back from my vacation. Not too pleased to be back at work, but what can you do? There are bills to be paid and new saddles to buy!

Coming back to work after 10 days off sure is tough though. I was wearing comfy capris and track pants and running shoes last week, now I am in stupid grown up work clothes and heels. Blech! lol. I was pretty grumpy this morning, but it is wearing off as the day goes on.

We had a good shopping trip in Michigan - found some good deals on spring/summer clothes and a couple of pairs of new shoes. No handbags this time around though. I took about 3 pictures all of last week (and none of them turned out) so unfortunately I don't have anything to post for you guys! I always have a good time with my family on our shopping trips - there is lots of laughter and silliness, which is good to help wash away the stress of work and things.

I didn't plan to not take photos or blog last week, but I think I needed a total break from computers and cameras and things. I read books, did some crafts with my Mom and just spent alot of time relaxing and decompressing.

I did make it to the tack shop that I mentioned in my last post. It was huge (by my standards)!!! Much bigger and well-stocked than my local tack shops. They had a lot of western clothing and cool stuff, although, their cowboy boot selection was really quite crappy. If you can believe it, all I bought was a western bit and a curb chain for Rusty! I went in there giving myself permission to buy all kinds of stuff and it turns out there was nothing that really caught my fancy - well, except for the new saddles, that is.

Now, I didn't buy one on the spot, but I talked to the staff and sat in about 10 or so. I really like the Billy Cook pleasure saddles - and get this - the stirrups actually adjusted to be short enough for me! That is a pretty big deal, as several other brands that I've tried/borrowed just can't be adjusted enough for my stubby little legs. So, this week I'm going to talk to my barn owner about the fit, get a wither tracing of the old boy and then call the shop back and probably order a saddle!!!!

I'm really quite excited, I hope one of them fits. I'm really not happy with my current saddle, so I could sure use a break in that department! There isn't alot of brand selection in my budget in my local area, so if the Billy Cooks don't fit, I won't have a lot of other options. I really don't want to order from the US, since he is so hard to fit. Trying to return a saddle to the US with shipping fees, currency conversion and duty charges would be no fun at all. A couple of local shops can order other brands, such as Tucker and Circle Y, but they are special order only - no returns... So, you have to be 100% sure that you order what you need. With Rusty's fit issues, that scares me a bit. Note to self: make sure the next horse you purchase is a normal size in the back for saddle fitting

I won't get out to the barn to see ol' Rusty until tomorrow night as I have a family thing tonight. The weather is beautiful, so you can bet I'll be grumpy sitting at dinner, wishing I was out riding instead!

Packing up and Heading out

Well, I'm almost ready to go on my little trip to visit my family. I fly out tomorrow night after work (woo!) and first thing Saturday morning we pack up the minivan and drive to the exciting town of Saginaw MI. It's about a 2 hr trip from where I grew up, so not too far. I have a wallet bursting with cash and my passport and I'm chomping at the bit to get going.

I'm guessing tomorrow is going to be a long day at work!

I probably won't be posting much while I'm away, as I'll be away from Rusty. I had two great rides this week, so that will have to carry me over till I get back. The outdoor riding ring is in perfect shape, so I rode out there both Tuesday and tonight. I also went out for a hack with the barn owner both nights! We rode down a long laneway and around the hay fields. The laneway was super wet and it turns out that Rusty has no problems going through water! What a good horse he is.

I'm also planning to hit a big (for around here) tack shop sometime next week. It's about 1.5 hour drive from my Mom's house. I may suck her in to going with me to keep me company, but she may not want to wander around a tack shop for a few hours! On my list - cowboy boots, a western shank bit for Rusty, maaaaybbeee a nice western bridle - wouldn't mind a bit of bling and I'm going to talk to them about saddles. I'm really not happy with my saddle and this store has the best western saddle selection in the province!! Yipppeeee!!!! I spent some time on the phone a few months ago talking to someone in the saddle department and she was really knowledgeable, so I'm hoping to get a lot more info in person.

That about wraps it up for me - I hope everyone has a good week. I probably won't be able to resist checking in and commenting, so I'll be around...

Rainy Monday update

We have had 2-3 weeks of beautiful sunny weather, so a couple of days of rain isn't so bad. I didn't ride yesterday, because I don't like the sound of the pouring rain on the arena roof - that sounds kind of silly, I know. A light rain isn't a problem, it can actually sound quite nice.

I forgot my rain boots (aren't these ones with the horses cute?) and as I went out to bring Rusty in to be groomed, I noticed that he was tucked in his shelter on the opposite side of the field.

The field is super muddy and I really didn't want to slop all the way out to get him. He usually comes when he is called, so I was hoping that was the case yesterday. Sure enough, after calling him a few times, he came over the the fence. Good boy Rusty! I was very pleased with myself that I wouldn't get soaked and muddy. Hah - that'll teach me! I let Rusty into the sand riding ring so I didn't have to halter him in the field. The brat walked over the where the remnants of an old round bale we sitting next to a giant deep puddle.

Can you see where this is going?

My clever scheme was foiled. Every time I went to grab Rusty from the hay, he would turn and stand in the middle of this giant puddle! I would try and shoo him out, but he just ignored the lead line whacking that big butt of his!! What a brat. After a few minutes of this, I was soaked already from the rain, so I just waded in to get him. My boots held up to the water, but my pants were soaked almost to the knee! What a rotten horse!

I was definitely not in the mood to do much after that, so he got a quick grooming and was tucked into his dry stall with some hay. I may have caved and given him a few peppermints as well. I should really try and get a video of him eating mints - he crunches them and then sucks on his tongue - I'm not sure if they make his tongue tingle, or what, but it sure is funny. He closes his eyes, lets his ears get all floppy and has his tongue sticking out while he makes a funny sucking noise.

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The other boarder at the barn is thinking of breeding her pinto mare. She has picked out a few APHA studs locally, but doesn't know anything about bloodlines or show records. I'm no expert, but thanks to all of the posts from my wonderful fellow bloggers, I have been able to explain a lot of stuff to her. I was able to help her develop a bunch of questions to ask the breeders, so I hope that has helped her a bit. I gave her a bunch of my old APHA journals and showed her how to use allbreedpedigree.com - she hadn't heard of the web site.

I would really love to have a nice mare some day that I could breed. I think training a foal would be just so interesting. I'm sure someday I'll get to this, it is on my bucket list. Maybe when I am closer to retirement I'll have more time (and money...) to devote to that endeavour.

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This post is all over the place - sorry... It just seems that I need to get all of this stuff out of my head! Putting it down in the blog is a great way to help my overcluttered brain sort things out.

OK - this section is where I could use some help from readers:

We are planning two trips to the US this year, both on the East coast (no West Coast for us this year...).

The first trip will be in late May and we are planning to go to NYC for our 10th anniversary! We will probably be driving, since it is only 8-10 hours away. We were thinking of spending 3-4 days in the city itself and then driving home via Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. I somehow haven't visited those three states yet, so it'll be fun to check them off my list! Does anyone have any suggestions on places to go/visit and of course, any good tack shops ???? My hubby has agreed to stop at tack shops, so I don't want to miss that opportunity!

The second trip will be in September. The hubby is in the World Duathlon (run-bike-run) championships (in his age group, he isn't a pro athlete) and it is being held in Concord, North Carolina. We are thinking of driving down - it will probably take 1.5 - 2 days to get there if we take our time. I'm not sure if we will have extra time to tour around or not, but any tips again on tack shops, outlet malls or cool places to visit would be greatly appreciated!!!

Well, my lunch break is over, better get back to work!

Do these pictures make my butt look big???

Friday update

Things have been busy around here, so my blog has been a bit neglected. Work was really busy and just yesterday things backed off a bit, so today should be a nice relaxing day for a change.

Rusty's eye update - his eyes are doing really well - the steroid eye ointment has helped alot. Here's hoping we get a few months or more without a flare-up!

We have had 2 weeks of fantastic weather - sunny and up to a high of 10 C ( Google tells me that is around 50F). Most of the snow is gone (woooot!!) and there are even a few buds coming out on the trees. This is about a month earlier than normal, so I'm trying not to get too excited. We could still have snow and crappy weather this time of year. I took this picture on Tuesday - this is our outdoor riding ring - it is very close to being usable. Almost all of the snow you see on the left was gone last night when I was there. The water had mostly drained off as well. Luckily, since it has a stone dust base and good sand, the water doesn't make it muddy and too slippery. I like riding through the puddles as training for Rusty.
I have been riding alot - about 4 times a week for the past two weeks. What a novelty! I even took Rusty for a walk/jog up and down the laneway a few times just to get outside. I'm tired of riding in circles inside. He was really good - he doesn't spook or anything - just looks around at the scenery. I can't wait to go for a ride around the hay fields when everything dries up!

My last regular riding lesson is next Thursday. The barn owner was sick alot this winter, so she is cutting back on her lessons. I'm disappointed, but a bit happy that I will be saving a bit of money each month There is a chance to do one-off lessons if she has extra time.

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I have 2 more weeks of work before I get a little vacation. I'm taking the week off before Easter to go and see my family. I could really use a vacation.

• We are going on our annual shopping trip to some outlet malls in Michigan - it is about 2 hours from where my family lives. There aren't any good tack shops in the area, so I will be able to resist shopping for more tack I don't need! This trip will be the first of four trips to the US that we have tentatively planned for this year. I think I might do a post on my trips, as I need some advice from readers on tack shops on the East Coast!

I really wish I had bought and saved some US $$$$ when our dollar was at par last year. The exchange rate is kind of crappy now and that sucks. Oh well. Next time I will be smarter about that!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Fitness for riders

Just a note - thanks for the comments on the pictures - I will keep the one with Rusty's reflection in the puddle - I didn't notice that until it was pointed out! I'm also keeping the headless rolling horse -probably couldn't recreate that if I tried! The "horse of the damned" with the glowing eyes and the others will not survive the cut though!

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On a topic totally unrelated to my bad-ish pictures, I have been thinking alot of about fitness and getting into shape. Generally speaking and for improving my riding. The two go hand in hand, in my opinion. For various reasons, I have let my workouts and my health suffer a bit over the past couple of years. Starting back into riding again has made that painfully obvious!

I'm sure there are lots of people that work outside and/or ride a bunch of horses a day - those people probably don't have the fitness problems that your average-stuck-in-an-office-ride-3x-a-week folks do. I'm sure some people feel that the best training for riding is riding - I can't disagree with that, but I also feel that there is room for specific improvements to overall fitness that can benefit riding ability.

There are a few books geared towards fitness and flexibility for riding - a quick search on amazon.ca lists quite a few - Flexibility and Fitness for Riders, Fitness for Horse & Rider, Pilates for the Dressage Rider, Yoga on Horseback: A Guide to Mounted Yoga Exercises for Riders, The Rider's Fitness Program, etc. etc. Are some of these books a bit gimicky? I'm guessing maybe...

Several magazines have run articles on fitness as well, the APHA journal had a big series on it in 2008 (I think) and I've seen articles in Dressage Today and some British riding magazines, to name a few.

I haven't purchased any of these books yet, as I happen to know a great lady that specializes in equestrian fitness. I've been saving up a bit of money so that I can set up a small program with her and work at getting back in shape. I seem to do better with someone helping to motivate me.

Check out her web site when you get a chance - you can sign up for free monthly fit-tips related to riding and training. Equifitt.com is also writing a weekly blog on specific exercises for riding positions - each week she critiques (in a nice way) someone's basic riding position and then makes suggestions for exercises that could help. I plan to start reading these posts regularly - any way to learn is good, in my opinion! I'm too chicken to send her pics of my riding right now - but maybe someday...

I think all types of riders could benefit from specific training like this - someone who is out of shape like me will benefit from any exercise program at all and someone who is quite fit and advanced may be able to add some specific core strengthening exercises to their existing workout to help their riding get to the next level. Strengthening your core muscles - abs and back can go a long way in making your riding more balanced and strong.

Photo bloopers

I love seeing pictures on other people's blogs - I think it really gives an extra "oomph" to the post. Now, not every post requires 12 pictures or anything, but it seems to give the readers a bit more of a connection to the writer. I can see the fears of privacy playing a part in things - maybe posting too many pictures can endanger that sense of self in some way...

As we all know, photographing animals can be really tough - they tend to move around alot! Also, the colour of their hair/fur makes for a challenging shot. Anyone tried to photograph a black lab lately??

I personally enjoy taking pictures - I'm not particularly good at it, but I'll usually get one or two good ones out of that. I have been working at cleaning and archiving all of the stuff on my hard drive and as I have been going through all of my pictures, I realized that there were LOTS that I needed to delete! Closed eyes, glowing eyes, blurriness, animals looking the wrong way, headless horses, bad angles, overexposure, underexposure - you name it - I've captured it all! lol

So, in an effort at some humour, I offer you the best of my horse photo bloopers. I'm deleting all of these and hundres of others that I won't subject you guys to. A few people have done posts on how not to list a horse for sale - using bad pictures like these is a good start!! I won't put commentary on each picture - I'll leave it to your imagination! My personal favourite is the headless rolling horse... :-)

The equine eye - part 2

Yesterday I wrote a bit of an overview about corneal ulcers and such. Today I wanted to explain a bit more what Rusty and I are dealing with...

His right eye has been ok for about a month. The left eye has just healed up this past week. That makes me happy. BUT, (of course there is a but), all of the vets involved in helping me (3) really feel that he has uveitis.

Which really sucks.

Alot.

However, at this point, he is fine. He isn't spooking or hurting himself - he seems to have a fair amount of vision. It will all depend on the number and severity of any re-occurences that will be the problem. I will be riding him and working him as usual, as long as I can.

Some horses do ok with losing the sight in one eye - I'm sure most of us have "met" a horse that had lost vision in one eye (due to uveitis or an accident) and was just fine. I personally know of 5 - all are ridden regularly and one even became a better jumper after he lost his eyesight in one eye! The hard part for me with Rusty is that he has problems with both eyes – I'm hoping that any vision loss that he has will be slow and progressive so that we can both adjust. Often horses that lose vision in both eyes quickly have a hard time adjusting, so hopefully we can avoid that angle.

The vets also suspected that this wasn't his first case of the problem - they said that it rarely occurs out of the blue this late in life (Rusty is 18)...so that means that it may have been a pre-existing condition, that the previous owners either a) didn't realize because the main care-giver was just a kid, or b) they knew and lied about it. Apparently minor cases are very hard to diagnose in a pre-purchase exam by the average vet.

The signs he had were: excessive tearing, squinting, swelling and sensitivity to light. These signs could be from any number of eye problems - uveitis, ulcers, glaucoma, bacterial and fungal infections, and a form of the herpes virus, believe it or not! So, the vet came and stained the eye - this shows if there are ulcers. Uveitis sometimes presents with ulcers and sometimes doesn't. So, if you have a clear diagnosis of uveitis, you can treat with steroids and often prevent alot of damage to the eye. If you have ulcers though, you can't use steroids, as they can cause blindness.

Rusty is getting about 1.5g of bute a day and he wears a flymask anytime he is outside, as long as it isn't snowing. He seems to be his usually happy self and as long as that is the case, we will be riding and trying to have fun...

The equine eye - a brief overview

I've started and scrapped this post about 10 times... I was (and still am) upset about it a bit and I don't want to go into all kinds of boring details. I'm just going to try and summarize as best I can and provide a few links that helped me a bit in my research.

In a nutshell - the equine eye is very complicated. After trying to learn and read about it a bit, it is no wonder that a vet can do a 3yr residency in ophthalmology to become a specialist. Please note that what I am writing here is a very brief summary of what I have been dealing with and is not veterinary advice...

Horses can have all kinds of eye injuries and problems. When your head and eyes are that big and you are a flight animal, stuff is bound to happen. Injuries to the eye are very common and bacterial and fungal infections are also quite frequent. It turns out that fungal eye infections are very rare in this part of Canada. They most often occur in the southern US.

Corneal ulcers are also quite common in horses. From petplace.com, "Corneal ulcers are usually caused by trauma. For instance, a piece of hay or dust may be caught in the horse's eye, or your horse may bump his eye on something protruding in his stall". Ulcers can remain fairly easy to treat or more complicated ulcers may take many weeks or months to heal.

"A common complication of corneal injuries is inflammation of the uveal tract (iris, ciliary body and choroid), known as uveitis. Horses are far more prone to uveitis than other species. If unchecked uveitis can lead to chronic pain, cataract formation, scarring within the eyeball, glaucoma (increased pressure within the eyeball) and damage to the retina leading to blindness"

As many of you may have heard, Appaloosas are at high risk for uveitis - researchers haven't been able to figure out why, but it is something that makes the breed a bit of a risk. I knew this going into Rusty's purchase, but figured we had a good chance because of his age.

You know it is bad when there are websites dedicated to the subject:

The Appaloosa Project

Blindappaloosas.org

More references:

Overview on ulcers and eye problems

Corneal ulcers - vetcontact.com

An article on ulcers - petplace.com

Equine ophthalmology - NC State U

I'm going to post the second part of how all of this relates to Rusty tomorrow...

Bad (bad!) blogger

I have been extremlely negligent in posting an award that the lovely Cdncowgirl gave me... I just didn't get around to posting it. I'm going to be bad and not pass it on, as I believe it has made its rounds already...

The lemonade stand award is to recognize blogs (bloggers) that show great attitude/gratitude.

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I've been working on a post on the equine eye and an update on Rusty, but it is all kind of confusing, so I'm not sure what I'll end up posting. I did find some pictures of Rusty from this summer and I'm longing for green grass and the warm sun. Just a couple of months to go...

Farewell my preciousssss

No, I'm not talking about Rusty! He is safe in his paddock with his friends the last time I checked!
Nor am I referring to winter - it is still here unfortunately... I'm referring to my beautiful, hand-made in Europe, English saddle...Yep, I took it into the tack shop I got it from to sell on consignment. The saddle is a Tolga, made in Belgium and is extremely comfortable. It is probably close in quality to a Devoucoux or an Antares. I bought it used and it was still pretty pricey. It is the most comfortable English saddle that I have had the chance to ride in. The guy that owns that tack shop told me it would probably be gone in less than a month, as he often has people calling in to see if he has any used ones in the shop... He also told me he wouldn't take much of a percentage on the sale because he felt bad that I wasn't using it.

Why on earth would I try and sell it, you ask??? Well, I just wasn't using it. I don't think it fit Rusty as well as it could, either. The last time I rode in it, I felt off balance and was tipped back a bit. I don't want to get into buying all kinds of riser pads and such. I'm also not enjoying riding english as much as I have in the past. I have been having a hard time with leg position and balance. I'm feeling much more comfortable in a western saddle. Every time I've been at the barn in the past few months, I look at that expensive saddle just sitting there and cringe a bit when I think of what it is worth. I'm all for buying quality tack, but not if it is going to sit around and collect dust.

Since I'm on the topic of selling tack, I've also had some good luck moving other stuff on ebay. I sold a John Lyon's bridle to Canada, the old Parelli level 1 kit to the UK and two Centered Riding DVDs to the US. My stuff has found new homes all over the world! I'm reallllly trying to not buy any more stuff, so I don't have to turn around and sell it all. My personal assistant wanted to get his nose or paw in every picture I was trying to take, so I had to shoo him down to the basement!

What are everyone's saddle preferences? Would you only ride one or the other? Always ridden english and never tried western, or vice versa? What about buying/selling tack on ebay or local message forums? Do you find it worthwhile, either as a buyer or a seller? Do tell!!!

Not too bad for an old guy...

Just a quick post tonight - I have some better material I'm working on, I promise!! :-)

Here is a video I put together with Rusty...

A few notes:

1) A pylon was harmed during the making of this movie. It is was an unfortunate thing, but we will just have to move on.

2) Sorry about all of the camera jiggling.

3) Don't worry - I'm not quitting my day job to make movies.


Rusty - Feb 2009 from Laura Jones on Vimeo.

Hangin' out downtown

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been pretty busy with work and family and just haven't made the time to sit down and write something somewhat intelligent...

I'm currently in a wonderful French bakery downtown, waiting for a course to start. It is 7:45 and I don't have to be anywhere until 9:15. It is wonderful to have a bit of time to myself to just hang out. I think I'm gaining weight just sitting in this place - the smell is divine! The French sure know how to make delicious pastries and such. I have an almond croissant waiting on the table beside me. I even ordered my items in French!

I haven't been out to see my poor old horse since Sunday. He had his hooves trimmed - I have to say that I'm super happy with my new farrier. He is efficient and friendly - AND - get this - he calls us to remind us of appointments!! No chasing this guy, leaving 33938337 messages. Now that is good for business. He has a blackberry and keeps track of everyone and their horses in there. He even takes notes on hooves that he is watching or trying to correct. Rusty's hooves are great - he hasn't had shoes on since the summer and I hope to keep it that way. I was happy to see the farrier trim the bars and heels - just like Mrs. Mom has been teaching us!! lol

Rusty's left eye seems to be getting better everyday. It hasn't gotten any worse, which is a good sign. In January, his eyes would improve, then be 10x worse the next day. I even started riding him again a couple of weeks ago!! He is so good - he hasn't been ridden/worked for 6 weeks and he is just as calm as before. He is out of shape - but so am I, so we can get back into work together. The weather has lightened up a bit and the temperatures are sort of normal for us, so I'll be able to get my lessons going regularly again.

I'm really looking forward to March 8th - anyone know why??? Daylight savings baby! That extra hour of light will help the temperatures and it will help me feel like I'm living in the real world instead of a dark, cold cave!!! lol

Vet update

I had the vet out last Wednesday to check on Rusty's eyes. We had to tranq' him in order to do the eye exams. It is always strange to see a horse sedated - it seems like they are going to fall over at any minute...

Anyway, we didn't really find out anything new. His right eye is healing, very slowly. That is good news, I guess. His left eye is actually worse. There are more ulcers and because of the irritation in the eye, the vet couldn't see clearly to rule out uveitis. So, that is still a threat. *sigh*. The vet did some scrapings in the eye and the tests don't show anything fungal or otherwise amiss. There could still be a virus of some sort as well, but there is no real test for that apparently. We are treating with antibiotic ointment and bute. He seems to be doing ok - he is still eating well and he seems to be himself for the most part.

I was able to lunge him on Thursday night and he did well. He was a bit frisky, but nothing unmanageable. I got on afterwards and walked him around for a few minutes. I'm going to try starting him back into regular work over the next few weeks and see how he does. The barn owner and I aren't sure how well he can see, so we are taking things easy. He isn't spooky or jumpy, which is a bit of a surprise since his vision may be a bit cloudy. He has such a puppy dog personality and it is cute to see him try so hard to be good.

I was able to help the barn owner with some chores on Saturday, which makes me feel good. I don't like being a boarder that just strolls in to ride and then leaves. I know I am paying her to do the chores, but I still like to help out, especially since she has been so helpful trying to answer my 1000000 questions about Rusty's eyes...

I was greeted to this cute view when I drove in - two of the guys were having a rest in the warm-ish sun.
I helped do a few stalls and then hauled a bunch of hay from the storage barn over to the main barn. I like it that she stores the hay separately from the horses - much safer in my opinion... Climbing up into the hay reminded me of my childhood.

Leo the cat was following me around - running back and forth with each load of hay. He got bored of that and just curled up in a round bale to watch... Apparently Leo can be a bit of a trouble-maker. In the summer he likes to hide behind jump poles and jump out at the horses as they go by! Sounds a bit of a risky habit to me - he looks so innocent here...!I could take 2 bales at a time on the little sled... I had many onlookers. Notice Rusty's mini-me in the first picture below? This isn't Rusty, but a little appy mare named Kismet. She is about 14.2hh and people mix her and Rusty up all the time. More cute little faces... The little paint is my crush Shorty. He always nickers and comes up to the fence for a scratch.

It was nice to get out and do a bit of "real" barn work. I miss that alot being a spoiled boarder!!

Wednesday - not so wordless after all

This post is for Lisa, at Laughing Orca Ranch... Here are some pictures of chip trucks* for you! My thought is too sell everything here, get one of these babies (lol) and move south! What? It could work...

Ahhh, poutine, an Quebecois (Kay-beck-wah) staple. French fries, gravy and cheese curds. There are a lot of people from eastern Ontario and Quebec that are retired in Florida. I bet they would buy poutine from me! I could make trips back here to get nice fresh cheese curds! I could be a millionaire! *cue evil laugh*

*Funny note - if you go to google images and search for "poutine", you get all these pictures of gooey fries, cheese and gravy AND a picture of Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Poutine! Hahhahahaaha - his name is Vladimir PUTIN, not Poutine. Oh, how I love the internet.

*For whatever reason, we call fry trucks/stands chip wagons/trucks/stands. I guess it is our British heritage or something.

** Note - yes, I did post this Tuesday night!

Random updates

I think I'm going to just give you guys a bunch of random tidbits in bullet form today. I have been busy at work again and my brain is running on empty... Lots of little things going on here, but none are really worthy of a big post...

• We've had a week of -25C plus wind chill. It is supposed to go up to -10C tomorrow (around 14F), so I'll be breaking out the sun tan lotion! Hahahaha. Humour is all that is keeping me going at this point. It's not quite as cold as my poor friend Cdncowgirl has to deal with, but nasty all the same.
  


• I am contemplating selling everything I own, buying a chip truck and moving to Florida.
  


• Rusty's eyes - some improvement, some decline. Hard to say which way things are going. Vet check tomorrow to see what is going on.
  


• The equine eye (and I'm sure all eyes) are very complicated. Hard for the average Jane Doe horseowner to understand. Google isnt' much help.
  


• The only veterinary ophthamologist in the city happens to be a friend of ours. I called him last night to talk about Rusty - he couldn't tell me much without seeing him. I wanted to beg him to come out, but we don't know him *that* well... He said I can call at any time to ask him questions though. Uveitis is still a threat at this point.
  


• I have started taking a French class on Saturdays - my boss very strongly suggested that I do so. The class was terrible. I hope it improves next Saturday or I will be cancelling. I have to work in French and my level is intermediate. She wants me at an advanced level. It will take some work. Merde.
  


• I met a retired CIA agent yesterday. Not sure why that is noteworthy, but he was really interesting. He is teaching a writing workshop at work and I got to sit in for a bit.
  


• I ran into a co-worker that I know was on the musical ride. He was on the ride in 1988 when the coats from my previous post were issued. The coat is an old military style called an "atholl" or "atholl grey" (even though these ones are blue). They were made by the CBC specially for the RCMP to be in a made for tv movie. The RCMP riders were dressed up to look like Lord Strathcona's Horse (a mounted military unit, that still exists today - both as a real armoured unit and a ceremonial unit with horses). They keep the coats in the stable and wear them occasionaly in the winter.

Ok - that turned out to be a fair bit of stuff - thanks to anyone that read down the whole way!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I can't seem to just post photos without adding a few sentences! lol.

Rusty's eyes seem to be improving a bit - haven't had the vet back - probably early next week.

These photos are of one of the musical ride guys - he comes out most mornings for a little hack around the property. I'm totally in love with his coat. It is a big navy blue wool coat with brass buttons - it drapes over him and the horse like a quarter sheet. I want one!! lol

Hey - is that a flash I see...what the...

Oh, there is someone in there taking pictures! Hello!!

He waves at me most days now - kinda cool. I keep meaning to go out and talk to him to see if he would give me his coat - lol! I'm sure it is RCMP issue and hard to come by. I'm only 5' tall as well, so it would be hard to find a small enough one...

Winter wonderland

I went out to see Rusty on Saturday - it was nice and sunny out - and only about -15C in the sun! That is almost tropical for us! lol

We just walked around the riding arena - no halter, no ropes, just messing around. In my lessons in December, we were working on the turn on the fore and turn on the haunches, so it was fun to try it from the ground to see if I could get that big butt of his to move a bit.

We tromped around in the snow - Rusty may have been given a few treats to encourage him along. I was hoping he would roll in the snow to give me some good pictures, but all he did was paw it a bit.It was nice to be outside and just chill (har har - pun intended) with my horse.

His eyes are still iffy - some days are better than others. You can see in the picture above that his left ey is quite small - it was worse than the right eye on Saturday. The vet is due out Thursday or so to re-check. We're hoping we can start giving some steroids to help with the inflammation. Bute isn't really doing much - he is getting 3g a day (split in two feedings) and it helps a bit, but not enough.

I went out this afternoon to check on him again and I let him loose in the indoor arena this time, so he had better traction. He bucked and snorted and pretended like he hadn't been in the arena before. He aslo rolled in the nice dirt - and guess who didn't have her camera!! After about 5 minutes of the bucking and cantering around, he came back to me with the "what now???" face.

I'm glad I made it out to the barn tonight, as our weather is not playing nice yet again. Winds up to 50 km/h and windchills of below -40C!!!! The high for tomorrow with the wind is only expected to get to -30C tops! Argh. I was lamenting the fact that my British ancestors could have stayed on the boat for a bit longer and ended up in the Carolinas, Florida or even the Caribbean. I also think they should have went with a better travel agent!!!

Doom and gloom continues...

I went out to check on Rusty and his poor little eyes last night - hoping to see some improvement. Turns out his left eye is still very irritated and sore. He is on 2-3g of bute, 2x a day, but it isn't really helping that much. He stands in the shelter with his eyes closed when it is bright and sunny out. He isn't rubbing his eyes as much, which is good, but the left eye is still giving him some grief.

I had hoped that over the past 2 weeks his eyes would be much improved - but it doesn't seem like that is the case. I guess I need to be more patient, but I hate thinking that he is in pain and I can't do anything about it. The eyedrops aren't helping either. We also can't give him any steriods until the eye ulcers heal, as steriods can irritate the ulcers and cause more pain.

I was going to try and lunge him last night - or at least just do a bit of ground work in the arena - to give us something to do. But, by the time I got to the barn at 6pm, it was -25C with howling winds. The barn door blew closed on me as I went in and I almost got my leg caught. Imagine trying to lead a horse out through that - not worth the risk of having someone get caught! So, I just put him in the cross ties and gave him a good grooming and lots of treats. His puppy dog personality hasn't changed, so that is good. He enjoyed his grooming with a stretched out neck and lots of funny lip faces. He doesn't usually respond that much, so I knew he enjoyed it.

I was feeling very guilty for not even trying to work him, but the temperatures are just too cold at night, even with an indoor arena. It would probably be tolerable on a sunny day, but I'm stuck at work 99% of the time when the sun is out, so that won't be happening. I know that none of this is my fault - his illnesses, my lack of riding - but I still feel terrible about it all. Rusty wasn't sick (so they said) before I bought him and now that I own him, all sorts of thing are going wrong. My BO tried to make me feel better saying that this particular eye condition could have been easily missed in it's early stages, especially since his owner was just a kid.

I need to have the vet out in a week or so, to re-check his eyes to see if the ulcers are healing. His condition is a bit confusing to the vets, because they know a bunch of things that it probably isn't - ie - glaucoma, leptospirosis, uveitis, etc., but they also don't know what it is or how to treat it.

Sorry for the "bummer" post - I'm just feeling discouraged about riding/not riding, horse health and all of the money that I'm spending and not getting anywhere with any of it. My budget allows for boarding, lessons and some extra for vet bills, but I'm right up against my maximum. It can be challenging owning and boarding one horse, because all of your hopes and fun are tied up in one animal.

Here's hoping Rusty's eyes clear up and I'll look back at this post and see what a Whiney McComplainsalot I've been!

I'm going to try and post something less gloomy over the weekend - maybe some pretend retail therapy will cheer me up!