A Small Tribute To An Incredible Horse

     I was sitting in the barn Thursday morning, Stoney in the wash bay and I sitting on an upside down bucket as I soaked his foot after his morning hack. He was still a bit lame from his incident with his shoe from the week before. As I was fiddling with my phone, I got a call from Mom. It was quite unusual to hear from her this early in the morning, especially since she knew I was working. Since I wasn't doing anything but making sure my horse stayed still, I answered. What she told me next was the last thing I ever expected to hear.

     I never thought that when I unloaded my childhood horse from the trailer this mid July it would be the last time I would lay eyes on her. The thought never crossed my mind. Although there was not a set time as to when the lease would be up and I would ask for my horse again I was sure she would be there on Cassie's farm until I was ready to take her back. In my mind, I still had another ten years to call this horse mine.

   As my mother began to tell me of the events that took place the night before, I just buried my face in my hand, trying to keep some composure (a wasted effort). Stoney could tell something was wrong, and he began to bury his face in me, almost as if to say, "Why are you sad? I'm perfectly fine. See?" He was quite persistent in letting me know that he would be alright and that he didn't understand what the big deal was.

     With our busy barn, it didn't take long for someone to notice my break down. Kaitlynn had brought Billy and Tatham up because they were next for us to ride. It was then that she noticed I was sort of having a complete breakdown, even with me trying to be discrete. She came over and squatted down in front of me, giving me a huge hug. No one at the barn could understand what I was going through better than she could, that's for sure. She had the same experience only a year ago.

     Finally, Stoney's twenty minutes was up, and I took him back to his stall. By this point, Kaitlynn had made her way into the tack room and had told Nat what was going on, and she met me over at his stall with a huge hug as well. Being Nat, she always has to make you laugh, no matter how terrible a situation is. Lately in the barn, we have a knew phrase being used when a horse comes up from the pasture and has managed to bang themselves up. It's called "pulling a Stoney." Yes, this is quite sad, I know. So when she said, "I have no choice but to say something cruel and make you laugh at a time like this," telling me "[my mare had] pulled the ultimate Stoney," I couldn't do anything but laugh through my tears. Only Nat could get a laugh out of me at a time like that. That woman amazes me. She let me go inside for the rest of the morning, and I was thankful to be in a place where I had people around me who were understanding of such a situation. 

     For those who do not know, Raven somehow managed to break her right back leg above the hock. Cassie and her family had gone off to her son's baseball game that evening, having seen Raven perfectly content before they left. When she got back and went out to feed everyone, Raven did not come up like she usually did. Cassie went out searching for her and found her standing beneath a tree, looking quite normal as she stood still eating grass. It wasn't until Cassie got closer that she realized her leg was broken, and it was turned inward in an abnormal way, showing there was nothing but flesh that was keeping it attached.

     Thankfully, vertebrates release endorphins when experiencing pain as to create a since of well being (gotta love AP Biology), and according to my mother, it was quite evident when looking at Raven in the face that she could not feel much.

     The vet, Dr. Pallone, arrived only a few short minutes after my mother, and it did not take long for them to make the decision that she needed to be euthanized.

     Pallone said that with a break above the hock, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to repair it. The well known race horse, Barbaro, had a similar break above the hock, his not being nearly as bad as Raven's. His owners had all the money in the world to put into him, and after his hind end being in a sling for months and many other problems arising, still nothing could be done to help him.

     Pallone was positive that no horse, not even the draft horses Cassie owns, could have kicked Raven and caused such a break. There were no signs of a kick, only scratches on the inside of her leg, showing signs that she might have fallen. He is sure that the only cause had to have been from the pressure of her own weight. With the bones of horses her age becoming quite fragile, it may not have caused much for her injury to occur. However, not knowing exactly what happened was and still is difficult to take in.

     To have something or someone taken away from you long before you expect them to leave is one of the hardest things in life to bear. However, there will always be someone who can relate to your situation. Although I lost a great horse, I did not have to experience the heart wrenching pain others such as Ayron Young, Abbie Golden, and Kaitlynn Mosing have experienced. All of their horses were taken from them before their time as well, but these horses were there competitive horses and their futures. These girls were still spending countless hours in the saddle with their horses when they were tragically taken from them. These girls are ones my heart still reaches out for, for I can not fathom how they dealt with such things. I can only be grateful that I still have Stoney in my life.

     Of course, there are always the thoughts of what people wish they had done differently. I wish I had spoiled Ray more with treats (although she did manage to tear open Stoney's bags on many occasions, eating them all), and I wish I had found time to take her out on more hacks. In the end though, I knew she was quite happy with the life and retirement I gave her.

     Many have heard the quote, "all horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl." When thinking of this, I must say that Raven was quite a lucky horse. She was not loved by one, but three little girls throughout her life. There aren't many horses who are given that delightful experience.

     I don't know how to even begin to describe how incredible of a horse this mare was. She was by far the greatest first horse a mother could have ever wanted for their daughter. Being only nine years old when she came into my life, she was my baby sitter, even at her young age of ten. Not once did this horse ever buck with me, nor did she have a mean bone in her body. She put up with just about anything, and she jumped her heart out for me until the intelligent horse knew that she was incapable of jumping any higher. There are so many fond memories I have of this horse, memories I will always have.

     I must say, I cannot believe all the love and support I have been given by so many people. I have such caring people in my life, and I have absolutely no clue how I became so blessed.

     Although I am experiencing a painful loss, I am not the only one who is filled with grief. Raven was just as much of Lindsey Petro's first horse as she was mine, and I can't thank her enough for giving me the opportunity to have Raven in my life. She was the most important horse in her life for quite a long time as well. My heart also goes out to Gracie, Cassie's daughter, who unfortunately did not get to experience Raven in her life for as long as Lindsey and I did. This eight year old girl was crazy over Raven and loved her from the moment she layed eyes on her. Cassie, as well, is in my thoughts. Although we have reassured her it was not her fault, she is still sick with guilt over it all. She was willing to do whatever it took to keep Raven alive, and I hold nothing against her, knowing she took great care of my horse. 

     My only regret I seem to have is that I was over a thousand miles away when Raven left me. To not be able to be one of the last people she saw when she left this earth is upsetting, but knowing my mother was able to be with her was the next best thing. I can't help but wish this had at least happened when I was back home and only fifteen miles away from her, but I know God had his own perfect time for her leaving. All that is left to do is accept it and be grateful for the memories and teachings that Raven left me. This mare blessed more than just me with her presence, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will forever be remembered by many.

    

     

    

     

Hooray for Magnesium Sulfate

     To say Stoney and I have had a rough and quite unlucky time since being here just doesn't quite cut it. If you've been following me and reading my previous posts, you would know my horse has injured his knee, got caught in the fence (resulting in not going to Maryland), and knocked himself so hard that he got a nice splint as well. On top of ALL that, he threw a shoe the week before Morven Horse Trials in Virginia. Yeah, I know. So what. He threw a shoe. That doesn't count as an injury. Just keep with me. 

     Will tacked his shoe back on for me (he pulled it when doing flat work), and three days later, we were going on our last ride Thursday morning before leaving for Virginia on Friday. Since I was doing a trot set with Kaitlynn and he had previously pulled a shoe a month or so ago on a trot set, I decided to put bell boots on him. Knowing my luck, my horse would pull his second shoe this week and THE DAY before leaving. Boy, do I know my luck like the back of my hand. 

     Little did I know, my horse is so talented that he can not only pull a shoe while wearing bell boots (their sole purpose for existing), but he can also do it the day before we leave. 

     This time, however, the poor man only pulled one side off and somehow managed to step on the toe clip (for those who don't know, it is part of the shoe that comes up on the side of the hoof in the shape of a triangle to help keep it on and secure). He went completely three-legged lame, and I pulled him up and jumped off. 

     At first I thought he just pulled a shoe again, but it wasn't until I picked his foot up off the ground that I noticed the toe clip completely lodged in his foot. Being my horse, he slammed his foot back down because he is incapable of balancing on three legs. I picked it up again, noticing it had started to bleed, and brought forth my death grip. Stoney apparentley came to the logic reasoning in his mind that since it hurt to put his foot down and he couldn't balance on three legs, it would be much easier to go completely down on the ground (fully tacked I might add) while I held on to his foot. 

     By this point, I didn't care if I ripped off half his hoof wall while trying to pull the shoe off that was still half way on. I just wanted the toe clip out of his foot. All the while this was going on, Benn is looking completely wide eyed trying to figure out what is going on while Kaitlynn is calling Jasmine and Will. 

     Once I got the shoe off, Stoney was fine and we embarked on our walk back to the barn while Kaitlynn finished her trot set. She still had 26 minutes left of our 30 minute trot.  We got so far. 

     I showed Nat and Will,  and they had me Butte him and wrap his foot after cleaning it.

     Now, my luck gets even better. Trust me. (That was completely sarcastic by the way). After taking care of Stoney, I went and called Jay, our farrier, to see if he could get out that afternoon since we were leaving in the morning and Will didn't feel comfortable putting the shoe back on with the hole in his foot. Jay was out of town, so he gave me his back up farrier to get a hold of. What would you know. That farrier was out of town as well. Don't worry, there's more.

     Our plan was to get his shoe on immediately when we pulled up to Morven Horse Park on Friday and Will work with me Friday afternoon. When calling the secretary to see if the farrier would be ready when we arrived, she said he would be out there tomorrow but was on call today. Long story short, I called him. He couldn't put it back on until morning. He called a friend who also could not get out there Friday evening. Seriously? I have an unlucky disease. I'm hoping there's a cure before I move up to prelim.

     Thursday afternoon when Nat and I were picking out stalls, I mentioned to her that there is a bright side to all this. When I leave here, I will know how to handle practically anything that goes wrong with my horse. She just laughed and said, your riding may not come far, but you'll be able to fix and handle anything!

     Will had me jog Stoney Friday morning (or at least attempt to since he was full of himself and taking off with me), and said he was sound to go this weekend. So by 10:15 we were loaded and on the road to Leesburg, VA.

     Stoney and I got to ride in style in the motor coach all the way there. This thing is as tall and long as an eighteen wheeler, but that did not stop Will from passing everyone on the interstate and going eighty. I can't complain though because my horse came off the ramp looking better than ever. It was quite humorous though when we got stuck in traffic 5 miles from the horse park and seeing everyone stare at our motor coach in awe as they passed. I found myself so amused that I started counting the amount of people who were staring. Yes, I know. Kinda pathetic, but I had floated into a state of boredom.

     If I could describe the weekend in one word, I would use miserable. It was 43 degrees (felt like 38 degrees according to the weather channel app) with pouring rain and 20 mph winds. I honestly did not see the sun all weekend.

     Once we arrived after five, Kaitlynn and I hit the ground running, getting the four horses settled in (mine, her baby going novice, and two of Will's horses) and did not stop until about nine at night. We slept in the motor coach and were back at it at 5 30 the next morning. Hooray for being a working student. We were actually stalled across from Boyd Martin and his crew so that was pretty surreal getting to meet him. We actually forgot Will's vest back at the farm in all the hastiness of trying to leave Friday morning (oops), and Boyd, being good friends with Will, let him borrow his.

     My first ride time wasn't until 10:15, but when doing morning chores for four horses, having to check in, get my horse's shoe on, studs in, AND be on by 9:15 since he hadn't been in work for the past two days, that did not leave me with as much time as I was hoping.

     It was pouring rain when I got out to dressage warm up, and I didn't realize how soggy the ground had already become from the riders warming up that morning. My smaller grass tips were struggling to do their job, and I quickly realized I needed bigger studs. Will was out there on Peanut because they were still running the preliminary division when I was out, so he gave me pointers as he was trotting by.

     Stoney didn't actually settle in and I didn't really get the amazing movements I did out of him until well after Will had left, and it was when we had to switch areas when getting closer to my time that things unfortuantely started to fall apart. The warm up area was total crap, and the uneven ground did not help my always unorganized horse. Not to mention my arena was on grass and on the side of a hill. Really? I felt it was one of our worst tests other than the fact that Stoney picked up all his transitions spot on at the letters and came back really well after his lengthenings. Apparently the judge saw something I didn't and gave me a score of 37.3, our best and lowest score to date. Until this weekend, Stoney and I had never even broken into the 30s and our best score was a 40.0. I read Will the comments of the judge, saying "horse tight in neck and tight in back." Will just laughed and said, "Yeah, tell us something we don't know."

     I then went to walk (actually run) my cross country course in the rain for the first time (still in soaking wet clothes), just trying to figure out where I was supposed to go. My map got soaking wet as well and ended up soggy and torn by fence 13, resulting in me just having to wander around and hope I could find the next fence.

     When about half way around my course, I called Kaitlynn, explaining how I had to be on in a half hour and I still hadn't finished walking the course nor walked my stadium (which I was doing twenty minutes before cross country) and asked her if she could put bigger studs on Stoney or tack him up for me. She said she didn't feel comfortable putting his studs in but that she'd get him ready for me.

     I got back to the barn fifteen minutes before I was supposed to be on my way to stadium warm up (still not having walked the course) to find that Kaitlynn had his studs in and was tacking him up for me. She was such a life saver, let me tell you.

     Will met me in warm up, and since they hadn't started the training division yet (I was the third to go), I jumped off and walked my course as he held Stoney in the rain for me.

     A soggy and messy warm up arena plus huge studs my horse had never worn before plus the weather I described earlier led to a very hot horse who was quite full of himself. Every time I asked for a transition to canter, he did his "dolphining" thing he does, and every time Will told me to walk in between him adjusting the fences, there was no walking. It was either trotting or jigging. A horse came cantering up behind him once I finally got him to walk and he practically jumped on top of them. On the bright side, I got to meet Philip Dutton who was riding a youngster. He laughed and said to me, "someone is a little excited today," and I laughed and said, "Only a little." I'm not even exaggerating when I say that everyone in warm up was attempting to avoid my horse and I.

     Will was very happy with my show jumping round, and we left up every pole. It was quite a tough course as well, consisting of a wide triple bar with only four strides to a skinny, an upright vertical with a pretty decent size liver pool underneath, and some tight in and outs. Will then said he would go out on cross country to see me go.

     Because the footing was so terrible, Will told me earlier when getting ready to not even put my watch on. Making time on this course was not something to focus on. It was more about just trying to survive with the terrible footing and just to get around in one piece. His last second advice was to gallop in between fences, but to give myself plenty of time to set up for the fences because it would take more time to balance with the terrible footing.

     Let me just say, Stoney was great, yet again, on cross country. The combinations were VERY technicle and difficult for training level (I had two skinny fences that were on a bending line with only one stride between) and he handled all of them quite well, even when I did not do my best getting him to the fence correctly. Lately, I've been collecting him TOO much for the combinations, worrying he'll blow past it if I don't and end up getting him into a canter used for show jumping instead of cross country. I did the same thing to practically all the combinations but Stoney was quick to listen to me when I pushed him up to the second element to make up for jumping in too small, and he took care of it, doing exactly what I asked of him.

     We had a stop at our coffin complex, an A B C combination with a ditch, two strides to a roll top, and two strides to another roll top, all in a straight line. I did exactly what Will was making me not do in show jumping warm up, which was shorten my reins and get him tight in the neck. Doing this, he gets tight in his back, and he gets unbalanced within a split second. As I came around the turn in the process of setting up for the combination, I did just that. When getting unbalanced, it caused him to slip. By this point we were two strides from the combination and he was just honest in saying, "there's no way I can do this Mom. I'm all over the place," and ran out to the left.

     When I explained it to Will, he said not to worry too much about the refusal and that it was just a mistake on my part that I otherwise would have most likely gotten away with, but since the ground was slippery, it came back to bite me. He said everything else he saw (he was standing at the water complex), looked great.

     After being tied for 9th after dressage and 5th after show jumping, we ended up finishing in 8th place out of 18. All in all I was very proud of the weekend, even if it was utterly miserable.

     It wasn't until about 5o'clock that afternoon that I was able to change into dry clothes. Oh yeah. It was great.

     Sunday was a lot more laid back. Kaitlynn was scheduled to ride all three of her phases, so I was in charge of getting Andy, Will's intermediate level horse, ready for cross country as well as taking care of his preliminary level horse, Peanut, even though he wasn't competing that day. Although Kaitlynn set out all of Andy's tack that he would wear and Will instructed me on the studs he would wear, I got to be in charge of getting him ready as well as taking care of him after which was quite a great feeling. I really enjoyed it, even if Andy did try and kill me that morning after breakfast (he tends to be grumpy in the mornings).

     Being around Will all weekend also made it less awkward between us. Since it was only us three, he was forced to interact with me more (ha) so we got over our awkward phase. 

     Let me just say, I have never had a trainer who sings Adele in the car, randomly walks into the tack room singing Katy Perry, and says things such as "Let's blow this popsicle stand." And this guy is turning 30 this month. He's quite a character to say the least. And as for the singing, he does it ALL THE TIME. Whether there is music or not does not matter. At least when there is music, he sings the entire song. If there is no music, he just sings the same line over and over again, which can get quite annoying really fast. I often wish I could tell him to switch to a different show tune. He loves those.

     Continuing even further, Monday morning our vet, Tom came out, and we did our weekly jog of all the horses. Stoney was dead lame, even at the walk, when I pulled him up from the paddock that morning and when pulling him out of his stall for Tom. He took some hoof testers to him and after showing him where the toe clip went into his foot, he took the testers to his foot and once he came around to the side of the injury, Stoney tried to yank his foot away from him. The poor guy was in some serious pain.

     Tom gave me some antibiotics to give him twice a day and said to give him a few days off, wait to see what happens, and that he'll call me each day to check in. As well as antibiotics, he has been having his foot soaked for 20 minutes twice a day in magnesium sulfate....or this thing called epsom salt. Magnesium sulfate is just more fun to say, I think. What can I say, I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to my like for chemistry.

     With it only being the day after Tom came out, Stoney looked a lot better. He is no longer lame at the walk, and when Nat checked his foot this morning, she said it is looking a lot better. Looks like all the soaking is really helping. Hopefully the wound won't result in an abscess, something Tom was sure might happen. At this point, we'll just take it day by day.

     I'm not too worried, or at least I'm telling myself not to be. Since my next event isn't for three weeks, Tom and Will both aren't too worried. Will said, "With as fast as they go lame, they go sound again just as fast." Also, seeing how incredibly fit my horse was after this weekend, I'm not too worried with his time off before Chattahoochee Hills in Georgia. 

     In the meantime, I am only riding the horses that came in from Maryland a little over a week ago. Billy did not leave a great first impression in that he tried throwing me off the second I got in the saddle and then tried again as well when hacking him. William is over 18 hands and spooks at everything, but I don't mind him much. I'd rather have a horse throw me off because he spooks than a horse throw me off for no purpose at all. Each time I've pulled another horse out of their stall, Stoney pokes his head out of his and looks at me quite confused as to why I'm not riding him. He's such a pleaser.

     Anyway, enough with this ridiculously long post. I'm really trying to get better at making them shorter, but it just doesn't seem to be working. I'll get it real soon, though. Bear with me!

Experiencing the sun again after the gloomy weather in Virginia!