Thursday, July 28, 2011

"One day, real soon, you're gonna win it"

     It's hard to believe I've been in North Carolina for almost two weeks now. Still, it hasn't been long enough for me to get completely into the routine of things here. It's like having to pick up an entire new lifestyle and familiar routine, one completely different than the one I've known.
     Although I am really enjoying it, I still can't get over how lost I feel every time I get in my vehicle to go into town. None of the radio commercials are familiar, nor are the stations, the broadcasters, and the traffic updates. I've managed to find four radio stations that are worth listening to; two country, one mainstream, and one mixed station. Besides the few people on the farm, I literally know no body. It's a lonesome feeling, but I'm sure it will subside, at least a little, once I know my way around a bit better. You think little things like that, things you don't even stop to give a second to think about during the day, wouldn't effect you too much when in a new place, but you'll be surprised. Back at home, I can travel all around town, not even giving my full attention to where I'm going, and before I know it end up at the place I wanted to go all along. Here, I've had to be very careful about that, because being the spacey person I am, I'll end up lost after missing a turn.
     As for Stoney, he is really settling in and fitting into the program really well. Since we've gotten here, he's had one day off? Sounds right. Nat was quick to see through his "illusionist" skills and faking engaging his hind end, so now every time he is worked, we are paying close attention that he is ACTUALLY using his hind end. Already, he is developing more muscle, or at least gaining back what he got when in Texas and lost when brought back home. His schedule consists of lots of flat work, lots of hacks with hill work, and trot sets. Did I mention that we're on the edge of the wildlife preserve? There are thousands of acres with tons of trails and hills to hack/trot on. It's insane. Stoney has quickly learned how to hack by himself and jog, two things he was not too skilled at before. Thankfully, we will be having a jump session tomorrow. I haven't jumped since I got here, nor the entire week before I left AR (do to heat and him overheating), so I honestly can't remember the last time he jumped. This is a reassuring fact, especially when he was down in TX jumping 5x a week. That was my needed sarcasm for the post if you didn't catch it. Anyway, I'm sure we'll jump on Saturday as well after he crashes through rails tomorrow. We'll just have to see. Maybe the baby brain has matured, but I'm afraid even his new found maturity won't be able to hold back his excitement. He just loves to jump.
     Added note: Nat is ridiculously found of Stoney. She has ridden him a few times now and loves how he knows all the "party tricks" and is a pleasure to ride. He really listens and with the exception of his ADD days (he's already had one of those here), he wants to honestly please all the time. She is in love with his personality and "very excited" to work with him were her words. She mentioned how she typically doesn't like dealing with other people's horses and only likes her own, but she said Ernie (of course) and Stoney are ones she really likes. And let me say it only took a day for Nat to start coming up with nick names for my man, including The Stone, Stone Monster, Stoner, and many other names she calls him that are inappropriate to repeat. If that wasn't enough, even the chiropractor loved him. When I jogged him for her she said my horse enchanted her and that he was a gorgeous mover. She even mentioned that when she sees him competing at Kentucky in a few years, she'll be able to say she did work on him. Ha. Nat even mentioned how I would be one of few who they wouldn't have to break the news to about needing to sell their horse and find a more athletic/talented horse to compete on. I can't wait for Will to see him. And the best thing about it all? He is the only grey horse at the farm, so he actually holds a little uniqueness. Even at Mike's farm in Texas, he just added to the grey club and became the fourth grey at his farm. I don't know what it is about grey horses, but it seems like all are owned/ridden by people in Area V and they're all competing training level. At Greenwood, there were six other greys besides mine in warm up with me. When I mentioned this to Jasmine, she was quite surprised there were so many, so maybe Stoney will possess a little uniqueness when competing over here. 
     So far, Stoney has gotten chiropractic work done, his feet done, and is quite happy. The vet, Tom, comes out once a week and we jog all the horses in work for him to keep an eye on and monitor. Shocking how Stoney would bump his knee in the pasture the third night here and it swell up to three times its normal size. However, never did he become lame nor was it tender, which was a very reassuring sign. Nine out of ten times, a horse will be lame if his injury is serious. After x-rays and being safe there was no damage to the bones, we decided to work to get the pocket of fluid in the front of his knee as small as possible before eventually having to stick a needle in it to drain. Thankfully, there is no fluid in the joint so it does not interfere with his range of movement nor will it cause problems in the future. It's just the weirdest thing. Like I said, leave it to Stoney. So as you can see, he has become quite accustomed to jogging and in a short time.
     So now I should probably get to the spectacular and  positive news that I bring to this post. Stoney and I went to a combined test at the Carolina Horse Park on Sunday with Nat, and he scored the best dressage score he's ever gotten. I know judges tend to give higher scores at combined tests than at actually events, but it was definitely the best test we've ever ridden, not even regarding the score. We got a 70, which would have translated to low thirties or high twenties in eventing terms. Pretty crazy when I haven't even been able to break into the thirties with Stoney in the year and a half I've been eventing him. The main difference was that he was more supple and was freely moving forward more with more impulsion from behind, as well as staying quite relaxed (for a thoroughbred) and the judges definitely recognized that. Nat was thrilled with it and when I came out of the arena, she told me, "one day, real soon, you're gonna win it." Even though it was extremely hot and I kept wondering why the heck I was out there, it was great for Nat to be able to see what we need to work on with our actual dressage test, like corners and better accuracy. With having a monster horse, who at any second if feeling like it could jump out of the arena, getting us eliminated (which he has tried once), I am a bit timid about getting deep into the corners of the arena and making corners my helpful friends.
     As for more great news, I mentioned to Nat about running a few prelims before the end of this fall and she acts as if she thinks it's a possibility. Of course, she hasn't seen us jump yet, but dressage is by far our weakest phase, and she's already turned that around in a week. She can't believe the progress Stoney and I are making together so fast. However, she said that she wants to wait until Will gets back this fall and works with me before letting me move on up to preliminary.
     As far as the place itself, the farm is beautiful. This state has no dirt whatsoever. At least I haven't witnessed any yet. It's all sand, which makes for great footing because even though it has rained EVERY DAY in the afternoon since I got here, there is never any mud. The arena is still perfect footing.
     As for North Carolina drivers, they are crazy and quite terrible. The occasional person you encounter back home on the interstate who cuts you off, tailgates you, or is just a complete idiot is how every single person is here. You would think they'd have more respect for horse trailers as well, but they have less respect than Arkansans. I can say this and not offend anyone from my farm seeing how Will is from Texas, Jasmine is from Iowa, Kaitlynn from Louisiana, and Nat from Australia. Literally no one is actually from North Carolina themselves, which is ironic.
     Well I've been quite exhausted every day being here. That's mostly why I haven't blogged at all. Usually when I get inside, I eat a late lunch and am usually napping before having to go out and feed at four. I've left the apartment twice, once going to Walmart and the other going to Chilis one night with Jasmine and her boyfriend, Max. It hasn't bothered me too much, mostly because I'm always tired and don't care to do anything anyway. Not knowing absolutely anybody is also a leading factor as well.
     As for the near future? We have a horse show in Maryland that Kaitlynn, Jasmine, and I are going to in a little over two weeks. Three weeks after that I am taking Stoney to an event at the Carolina Horse Park as well. I can't wait to see how he does (:
     We all have goals written up on the board. Kaitlynn's was to make cross country time on Ben (which she accomplished not too long ago), Jasmine's was to qualify for her one star on Pata (which she did) and is now trying to place well at AECs on O'livia. Will's is to win Burghley. We decided mine should be to place in the top five after dressage. That's a pretty nerve racking goal for Stoney and I! Once I've accomplished that, my next will be to successfully complete a prelim this fall, and then after that to qualify for the Junior Young Rider team for Area V for the one star. Nat agreed with my idea that once I go to Young Riders next summer competing at the one star level, my next thing to focus on would be to qualify for the two star team the following summer. I'm pretty excited with how bright my future looks (:
     I apologize for such a long blog, but when I've put it off for so long and had so many things happening, I couldn't help but write a book. Sooooo much has happened in such little time. I'll try to be better with posting more and shorter ones at that!

Monday, July 11, 2011

A Red Tongue Vs. a Hefty Marshmallow

     It's safe to say that the summer heat has finally arrived, and it has started to take its toll on not just Stoney but me as well. If I was excited about going to NC earlier, after this past week, I am even more excited now to be able to get away from this heat. It's hard to believe their average highs are about five to ten degrees lower than ours here, mostly because they have gotten more rain than we have. Yes, I'm absolutely green with envy.
     Personally, I prefer riding in the winter than the summer. I know there are many who would object, but besides having limited hours of daylight to ride and the horses' fluffy/constantly dirty coats, there really aren't any negative aspects. At least with being cold, you can always layer on more clothes to stay warm. I have no problem looking like a fat, hefty marshmallow on my horse. In the summer, you just sweat profusely until your clothes are soaked. I can't even go out and clean two stalls without being drenched when I come back inside after fifteen or twenty minutes. Can you say ridiculous? I'd rather blanket my horses every night then deal with all the flies/horse flies. But again, that's just me. I think most riders will agree that they would much rather not have to get up early every morning to ride their horse before the heat starts to dominate the day. Where I live, the only tolerable times to ride in the summer are before nine in the morning and after seven in the afternoon. It takes all my will to make myself get up consistently and ride that early when rather I could sleep in.
     Backing off my little rant of how I basically despise summer (which can't be helped much when living in the south), these past few days I've seen the heat really start to affect my horse. About a week ago I could tell he was a bit more lethargic when jumping, but these past few days, which happen to be the hottest days this year, have been extremely difficult. I guess it makes just a bit of sense that these record breaking highs would have an effect. 
     After checking Stoney's TPRs yesterday (because he was hyperventilating in an attempt to cool himself), I was surprised that his temperature came out as low as it did, reading at 101.0. His pulse was his average at rest as well, being at 36. My main concern I've been having is his respiration, which is 76-80 and is around what his working respiration should be. He's constantly hyperventilating and huffing, and it just is not something a horse owner wants to see. And just a side note though, for all of those who have every faked their horse's average TPR at rest and at work, either for a health and maintenance book or for a rally in PC (I blatantly admit I was one of them), it will be situations like this when knowing your horse's normal TPRs and if your horse's norm is below or above the average rates that will actually pay off. These are the situations that I appreciate having been in Pony Club and being an HB in horse management. 
     However, I now have the pleasure of getting to go out and check on/sponge Stoney every two hours. This is mostly due to the fact that once his water buckets have become half empty, the genius has picked up the new habit of grabbing the bucket with his teeth and tossing the water everywhere in an attempt to cool himself off. Not only does he ruin his bedding as a result, but I'm having to constantly go out and refill his water buckets. I don't know why he tries to pull off his innocent and unknowing face when he's standing there looking at me, the evidence having drenched his face and still dripping off his nose. What I don't understand even more however is what fascinates him so much about picking things up with his mouth and flinging them all over the place. He tends to do this every chance he gets, and after a year of it, it seems his water buckets have become the next victim.
     For the past three days now, the horse has been getting a tube of electrolytes shoved up his mouth once day, sponged every few hours, two fans blowing on him constantly (he had these before, so they don't necessarily count), and he is now drinking 5 gallons of red Gatorade a day, resulting in a constantly bright red tongue and mouth. Who would have thought that the picky horse, the one that will only eat apples on his good days, would end up loving Gatorade.
     Seeing him discontent and hot to the point of misery breaks me a little inside, and I honestly can't wait for him to be north east of here. I was planning on having a jump school with him before I leave, but with the weather beating him up, that looks very unlikely. I'm excited to see his face once we unload him at Gavilan farm, full of curiousness as he lifts his head and takes in his new surroundings. I'm even more eager to see him adapt to his new home and become happy and content.
     Hopefully my life will begin to become more interesting once I get to NC, and I'll have more intriguing things to type besides the unbearable weather that everyone already complains about. This won't be too long I suppose, since I will be leaving in four days. (:  Can you believe the countdown has finally made it to single digits?! ...Because I can't lol 


 Such an uplifting picture, I think. 102? And that wasn't even the high. It was still working its way up to 103 today...


     Four more days until I leave for the east coast? More like four more days of trying to endure and fight for survival.