White Line Disease

Dear Amina in summer of 2014, you found the blog post you've been desperately looking for. Maybe Gambler has some hoof wall separation, although Amina of 2013 who's been dealing with this for three weeks really hopes that isn't the case. So here's what you do.

You cry, and freak out, and tell your horse to please not die.

You call your farrier, fuhreaking out, and he'll calm you down and assure you that the end of the world is not upon you. He'll come out, and look at Gambler's feet, and sigh, and say, yes, he's going to need shoes. So then, you'll go home and cry about money and volunteer to babysit 500 hours per week and ride a million horses and never sleep, so that you can make money. And then your mom will give you a hug, and tell you that the end of the end of the world is not upon you (notice a theme here?).

Next, you'll call the saddlery, and ask if they have white lightning, and the lovely secretary will go "...Well, we have quik silver - uh, yes, sorry, the hoof stuff! Yes, we do!" in a cute British accent, and it will make you giggle.

Then, you will go to the barn and attempt to do the white lightning treatment, and spill $13 of white lightning on the floor of the barn when the plastic bag breaks. You may or may not cry and cuss, but then God will be all "I got this, daughter. Chill out. The end of the world is not upon you" and you'll go sit in the tack room and read your Bible and then calm down.

So then, you will jerry-rig this to epic proportions. And it will fail. And whatever.

Here's what you do don't do. For the love.

• Put the remaining white lightning in a diaper. Vet wrap and duct tape that baby. In the boot it goes, bam. 

WRONG.

Here's what you do. 

You call the tiny animal hospital around the corner. You ask them if you could have some empty IV bags, please, to soak your horse's hoof. The woman will laugh at you and clearly think you are bonkers. You will go into said animal hospital in breeches and tall boots and laughed at.

These 1000 mL bags are tiny. Tiny, I say. Call up your vet and ask for actual IV bags. 

You will go to the barn and try this over again, hopefully not spilling said white lightning/vinegar mix (equal parts). You will. You'll also realize that the boot you're soaking Gambler's hoof in? Not waterproof. Duct tape fixes everything. Hallelujah. 

Then. After the 40 minutes of soaking (the one you forgot to do yesterday. Say whaaaa?), you will put Gambler's hoof in a freezer bag that has been duct taped into oblivion so that it doesn't leak. It will not leak. Hallelujah. You'll do a happy dance. Gambler will be unimpressed as he nibbles on your hair and occasionally some hay, as you sit in his stall, waiting. 

Okay, so I have no clue if this worked. Not the slightest. Whatever.

To catch any (a staggering... wait for it... zero) readers up, Gambler went lame about two weeks ago. He'd torn a huge chunk of his hoof off, so I thought possible abscess due to the trauma. Farrier came out, didn't put shoes on, because neither myself nor my farrier wanted that. I did the whole abscess-soaking-waiting-soaking-waiting thing, nothing. Farrier came out. White line disease. 

Agh. 

We were finally, finally getting somewhere. We were about to start dressage lessons. His ground manners were good. He was actually behaving a large portion of the time.

And now. Two weeks off. AKA, we have to start over. Again. 

But you know what? 

I AM SO BLESSED.

I have basically the most amazing farrier ever. He works very hard and turned Gambler's messy, not-so-great feet into not messy, really great feet. He answers my calls way too late at night, he calms me down when I freak out about my horse dying, he calls me ma'am, which I find hilarious and adorable and polite, and he is so good with Gambler. 

I have basically the most amazing barn owner ever. She works her butt off to provide for all of the horses, she takes such great care of Gambler, who adores her. She is hands down the most talented horsewoman I've ever met. She has such a gift with horses. She has been so kind to me, has helped me through so much, and has become such a great mentor of mine. 

I have a wonderful mom, who drives me to Dover at the drop of a hat. She supports my riding, and is always there when I come home an emotional mess because this is so draining and not worth it and my horse is a little shit and can I please sell him. She helps me a great deal financially, for which I am very thankful, because without her, I wouldn't be able to have Gambler, as I can't support him 100% yet. 

I have a wonderful support system of equestrian friends, who answer my stupid questions and tell me my horse is adorable and tell me I can do this, and I will do this, and that it's going to be okay.

And all of these people? They support me. They encourage me. They compliment me on the hard work that I have put into Gambler, which I don't need, but appreciate. They help me out in every way shape or form. 

I am so darn thankful, which is why I may occasionally dissolve into tears in front of these people, because God is so good to have blessed me with awesome people, and it's overwhelming.

Thank you, Lord. God is my best support system, period. He's just so gosh darn wonderful. 

Work Hard & Smart

Today, I realized something. I have a bunch of really good opportunities staring me in the face, and I've been turning a blind eye, with stupid excuses. But I don't have time to ride a bunch of horses every day! But I'd rather save money than take a dressage lesson every so often! But I don't want to! But that horse is kind of boring, so I won't get much out of riding him! But that's hard work! But I don't want to deal with that horse's attitude! 

Dear me, that's stupid. Dear friend who helped me realize this, thank you. 

Today, I was speaking with my best friend, who is taking some big steps soon so that her horse career can really take off. It really got me thinking. I am at this awesome barn, with an insanely knowledgeable and talented barn owner. I need to utilize that. I need to watch her ride more, I need to take lessons with her more, I need to do more around the barn to help her out, because she has a lot on her plate. I have a fanfreakingtastic farrier whom I adore and who I could ask questions the entire time I hold horses for him. I have a wonderful vet, and the dentist who just floated Gambler's teeth last week has asked me to horse-sit for her when she goes out of town, which opens up the possibility of a relationship with her. I have many, many horses who I have been asked to ride, and yet I don't. I am wasting precious time, I am not prioritizing correctly, I am putting my happiness second to academics, even though I could put that first and still do well in school. 

"People get places in life because they bust ass." -My wise friend :) 

I'm not busting ass. In fact, I'm sitting on it, and watching the world rush by. What the heck am I doing?! 

"... you realize how much desire, practice, and drive gets you to be good.. not fancy instructors" -Same friend

Talking to her made me realize some things. Horses are what make me happy. So maybe I'll still major in psychology, maybe I'll become an EMT, maybe I'll go into ministry (can you tell I'm undecided on what to do with my life? Yeah...). But I can touch people's lives through horses. I can touch the lives of horses, and change them for the better; Gambler is a living testimony of that.

If I work my butt off, I can get good opportunities, to work with more horses, to ride more horses, to get to know talented horsemen and women, and to learn.

So what if I pursue medical school, get neck deep in student loans, only to realize that all that gives me is a comfortable paycheck and a secure life, on a strictly materialistic level? Horses make my heart sing, they play my heartstrings and create a beautiful song.

Yet, I'm putting that on pause because "school will get me farther".

Clinton Anderson was a high-school dropout. Heck, Bill Gates was a highschool dropout. Does that mean I'm going to quit school tomorrow? Absolutely not.

But I can do both. And I can kick butt. I can do this. So, maybe I'm not the most naturally talented horse-woman there is. But I think I can make up for that in hard work, if I put my mind to it.

So today, I am promising myself something. I am going to work hard. I am going to ride Gambler, and Riley, and Auggie, and whatever project that I get, every day I can. I am going to go to the barn every day, regardless of if I want to or not. I am going to spend every break shovelling gravel (want to know what I did last spring break?) and cleaning the barn and soaking up every second at the wonderful barn. God put this barn in my life, a gift that He just handed to me and said "Here. Take this opportunity and make something great". Well, I haven't been doing that. But I'm going to. I'm going to stay at the barn late, doing chores. I'm going to teach more lessons, even if I'm not paid. I'm going to sweat and cry and work hard. I'm not going to sleep. I'm going to kick butt in school, because I'm going to work hard. I am going to pour my heart and my soul into my academics. But I'm also going to pour every ounce of my being, every ounce I have of everything into my horses. I'm going to ride and work with Gambler even when that's the last thing I want to do. I'm going to figure out how to improve my riding, I'm not going to cut corners or skip steps in his training. I'm going to apply for jobs at different barns, I'm going to do working student jobs, I'm going to try to get internships out in Leesburg under good riders. I am going to work hard, I am going to work smart.

And I am going to make a name for myself. I don't care if I don't become a doctor, or a top trainer. I don't care if I never run my own barn. I care that every day, I make the choice to push myself a little harder than I did the day before.

Trail Riding Adventure

Lyric

Riley

Auggie

Oooooh, boy.
Monday night, I went on a trail ride with Kyra and David. It was ridiculously fun, slightly terrifying, and absolutely hilarious. I was on Riley, Kyra was on her horse, Lyric, and David rode Auggie. Riley is this little quarter horse that I sometimes ride for his owner. I've only ever ridden him in the ring before, and he's always been a very solid citizen, quiet, slow, well behaved - the whole nine yards. Lyric is not so sane. She's calmed down a lot, but well, she still has a ways to go. She's a 9 year old TB mare who sat in a field the first 7 years of her life. Auggie is all around a good horse, he's been exposed to lots of craziness since he fox hunts, and he was p
erfectly behaved the whole time. Lyric was a little jumpy, and Riley went bananas on the way back, but I'll get to that later.

So anyways, we set off down the road, and then turned onto this driveway that led us into the woods. I had never been back there, and it was gorgeous. We cut through this riding ring (that I don't think is ever used) and set off into the woods, following a very narrow, and very swampy trail. Well, the goal was to go to Great Falls Park.

Didn't happen.

Kyra told us to take the wrong turn. Because obviously, who doesn't want an adventure at 7 at night, an hour before the sun sets?

We kept riding, laughing at how lost we were, and how weird this was. The horses were all well behaved, jumping random creeks and logs and going along pretty well. We had to get off a couple times when they would spook and not want to cross ditches and such, but that's to be expected.

We rode for probably about 45 minutes one way. Then, all of a sudden, there was a field of horses! Meaning we were probably about a mile past where we were supposed to have been spit out to go to Great Falls Park. Meaning, we basically had no clue where the heck we were. Well, we galloped up this little hill to see where we were.

And we were in someone's back yard.

Yup.

So, laughing hysterically, we rode up to their driveway. David went and knocked on the door to ask for directions. Needless to say, the lady was really surprised. She thought he was a runner (wearing a riding helmet and carrying a crop...?), and didn't believe there were horses in the driveway until she came out to see for herself. Kyra and I were laughing hysterically the entire time, because there were a bunch of people in the house staring at us through the windows, plus, the whole situation was just ridiculous. The lady told us that we could ride down her driveway (which was like a mile long) and that we'd get to Leigh Mill Rd. If we walked on the road for about a mile, we would get to the back of the field, and would be home. Well, the whole way was downhill and really twisty, and the cars were not very considerate, and the drivers crazy. Since getting hit by cars and dying wasn't on our agenda, we decided to just go back the way we came.

Everything was going fine, until Riley decided that he needed to get back to the barn immediately, and that the best way to do this would be to go insane, attempt to rear every five seconds, and generally be a jerk. I got off and led him the rest of the way, which resulted in me getting covered in beetles and dirt and horse sweat.

Well, we got back in one piece, hosed the horses off, and laughed some more about the pure ridiculousness of the evening.

Just a day in the life.

Every Day, You Save Me

I'm blessed. Really blessed. I am realizing what a diamond in the rough Gambler is, and it makes me so unbelievably happy. I thank God for him every day, he is such a special horse with so much heart and such a desire to please. He takes wonderful care of me, even when I forget how to ride; he forgives my mistakes, and trust me when I say I make a lot of them. He can pull me back together when I'm falling apart at the seams, he is patient enough to let me cry and scream about my life and he makes it all better by putting his head on my shoulder and nickering. I swear that horse gets me. He's just really special. I can't even put my finger on it specifically, probably because there are so many things about him that make him so special, but there really is something special about that horse. I love him.

Things have been kind of a roller coaster this past week with Gambler. Wednesday I think it was, I went to the barn and he had a chunk missing from his hoof. He wasn't lame, but I just played around with him at liberty. Well, Thursday I go out and his other hoof has a chip and flare. And he's lame. Blah! Well, my amazing farrier kindly went out yesterday and was able to fix it; I was worried he would need shoes, but Thomas is really amazing and managed to not have to put shoes on him. I have a great farrier! Well anyways, I go out today and he is still lame. I think because of the trauma to that hoof. Epsom salt soaks, here we come!

Of course, the fact that he is a little sore doesn't stop him from running around like a madman in the field! Oh well.

Before getting all tacked up and  then having that be a waste of time incase he was lame, I took Gambler directly to the ring and lunged him. When I saw he was lame, I burst into tears. Yep, true story. Not specifically because he was unsound, I just got kind of overwhelmed. I sat down on the mounting block, and just cried. Well, my horse has such a kind heart, and he came over and lay his head in my lap. He nickered, as if to say "it's okay, mommy!" and then he started mouthing at my hair. Of course, it made me so happy and I started laughing and telling him how much I love him. I swear, that horse's special talent is cheering me up.

Don't get me wrong, he can drive me absolutely bananas sometimes. But then, I think about everything so special that he does. How the first day I saw him, I fell so madly in love with him that I texted my mom a picture of "my new horse". How he always seemed happy to see me on Saturdays. How the first time I rode him, I burst into tears because it was so amazing. All of the amazing memories last summer. How the few times I have snuck up on him sun bathing or sleeping, I can go sit right next to him and lay on his back, and he just lies there. How he follows me everywhere, like a puppy. How I can ride him bareback, just hugging his neck the whole time, and he takes care of me. How he rolls out the hose with me. How he likes to drink from my water bottle. How he gives me hugs. How he'll be galloping with his friends, and he'll see me and come over to me. How when I turn him out, sometimes he'll hang out by the fence and cuddle with me. Most of all, how he puts up with me no matter what, and somehow loves me. And how happy he makes me. Oh man, I just love this horse to pieces.

Thank you, Jesus for blessing me with this horse and all of the blessings that come with him. I am so incredibly lucky to have the wonderful support system of an amazing barn owner who has become like a second mother to me, wonderful barn friends and awesome horses to ride, an incredibly farrier, who has made Gambler's feet wonderful, and who answers my crazy questions way too late at night, a great vet, friends who have told me I can do this, and most of all, a great horse.

{Goodbye, My Almost Lover}

John Wayne left the other day. I'm really sad. I always get so attached to horses, and then when they leave, it breaks me. I am sad to see him go, but it was for his best. Every so often, he would take a step that made us think he perhaps was lame, but we also thought it could be a balance issue. The vet came out, and he was lame. It's very sad, because that horse had a ridiculous amount of talent. More potential in one hoof than some horses have in their whole bodies. Oh well. This happens a lot to me, it seems. Meet horse, fall in love, horse leaves. At least he will be happy and comfortable now; I am at least glad that we caught his lameness early enough that we didn't stress his joints too much. 

He was a very special horse. Our last ride was ah-mazing. Seriously! We did an awesome little gymnastic; it was kind of a trainwreck the first time through, because he had no idea how to canter the pole, take off, etc, but the last time was perfect and flawless. I am so proud of us both. He really was a special little pony, with a lot of heart and affection. We have a new mare now, Rita. Post coming on her soon... She is something else! 

I will miss John Wayne, but I hope he is happy and I know he will receive rest and time off so that he will be able to continue his job of teaching people how to play polo soon. 

Should've known you'd bring my heartache,
Almost lovers always do...

PS. Ignore my absolute inability to keep my heels down. >.>