Trip of a Lifetime

Although, I must say, I certainly hope I'm fortunate enough to have another trip or two like this in my lifetime!

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As I re-read this post, I realized the large amount of skier jargon in it. Here is a quick glossary of terms for non-skiers:

Boot pack: A path in the snow beat down with ski boots resembling a staircase; it becomes easier to ascend with each pass. 
Bowl: Wide, treeless area resembling a bowl.
Cornice: An overhanging mass of hardened snow, often along a ridgeline formed by wind.
"Hammering": Whiteout conditions due to rapidly falling snow, alternately, "nuking".
"Nuking": A term for whiteout snow conditions, also, "hammering".
Interlodged: Becoming "trapped" at a resort due to road closures because of snow conditions. No traffic is allowed in or out of the canyon due to the closure and one must remain at the resort until roads are reopened.
Line: Downhill path; often through obstacles (trees, rocks, cliffs) or through a narrow strip of untracked powder.
Pitch: Vertical rise per foot; steepness
Powder/white powder: New snowfall, and for the means of this post, light fluffy snow that will cloud up with you blow on it.
Shralp: A slang term combining "shredding" and "ripping" used by skiers, snowboarders, skaters, surfers, etc.
Sierra cement: Fresh snowfall that is often heavy in quality.
Traverse: Travel sideways along a mountainside staying at or about the same elevation; in skiing, often involves a thin narrow track about a foot to 18 inches wide in the snowpack
Untracked: Snow that is untouched and no one has skied

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I spent the last week with Dave and close friends skiing outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. It's a skiers mecca; 10+ resorts within an hours drive of SLC and the quality of the snow simply cannot be beat. I haven't skied in California or the PNW before (but I do know skiers refer to the snow over there as "Sierra cement") but I have skied in Colorado and Montana and I can say with certainty that what we skied in Utah was definitely superior. I definitely understand why my "snobby skier friends" (stated with respect) love Utah so much.

Winter in the east, or lack thereof, this year has been awful. The resort ski season used to be a good 20 weeks long. Last year we only squeaked out 14 weeks and that was a fight. This year? This year we are going to be damn lucky to make it to 10 weeks! You can say what you want about climate change, but this is pretty damning.

In an effort to enjoy a skier's paradise, we booked our trip to SLC mid-late January for a few weeks later, hoping and praying to Ullr and the snow gods that we'd time it right with good snow. (And personally, I crossed my digits that I could keep up with the group I was going with. I've been skiing as long as I've been horseback riding and am quite a strong skier, but I would definitely be the weakest link in the group for this trip!)

Did. We. EVER. The area received 83 inches of snow during our week there including a most epic dump of white powder on our third day of skiing. (In contrast it was sunny and in the 60s and 70s back home, ugh.)

Super psyched

Finding my legs on steep terrain

Kind of shows the steepness; photos don't accurately represent it! That's Dave below me.

With fresh powder on the ground, we really wanted our first day of skiing to be at Alta, the ultimate mecca for us this trip. However, the canyon was still closed that morning for avalanche control and the line of cars trying to get there was obscene. So, we made a quick change of decision - we created our own lane with our giant truck amidst bewildered looks from the locals and rerouted for Solitude instead.

We scored a decent parking lot at Solitude and were promptly given lift ticket vouchers by the parking attendant (score!). The pitches were pretty short and we had to traverse a lot, but we found the steep terrain we were looking for along with fresh powder to shralp. It was a great first day and I was pleased that I was able to keep up with our group with little to no problem; I certainly wasn't the first to descend the lines, but the visual guidance of someone in front of me was all I needed.

Traverse right for fresh lines!

Along the traverse above the cornice

Hanging tips over the edge of the cornice

Wind blown traverse tracks; we crept down this slope to reach the area where we dropped into the bowl

We still thought we may go to Alta the next day (more fresh snow), but as friends of ours from our home ski patrol were also out in SLC for a ski trip, we decided to go to Snowbasin to ski with them. Not a bad decision! While the locals complained that it was "so busy" we didn't think so. We found fresh powder all day (again) and had runs that descended 2,500 vertical feet almost every run. It was pretty epic and really helped my get my powder legs figured out for the next day. By midday at Snowbasin I was making the first move into fresh powder lines (she ain't gonna shralp herself!) amidst the whoops and hollers of my excited friends as they followed suit.

The last third of our day at Snowbasin we hiked a little boot pack to traverse a windy ridgeline that would allow us to drop a cornice into a bowl that didn't have many tracked lines through it. The traverse was highly intimidating for me. The track was narrow, rocks and small cliffs bordered it throughout and the winds whipped by me. The exposure of the terrain (and the weather) was intense. Finally reaching the drop-in point on the cornice wasn't that much more reassuring either! It was an intimidating drop down into fresh powder. However, powder makes for a soft landing, so I sucked it up and went for it and I'm really glad I pushed out of my comfort zone to do so. What a thrill!

Finally, on our third day, Alta was a go. We knew a snowstorm would be hitting Monday into Tuesday morning, but the forecasted accumulation from it had varied in the days leading up to it. Ultimately, the storm would dump 26+ inches of beautiful white powder on us.

Alta was by far the steepest terrain I've ever skied. Additionally, it was the most powder I've ever skied, shy of superstorm Jonas last year in the east where our terrain is mostly too low-angle to make it much fun.

The trees kind of demonstrate how steep it was;
still don't do much justice

Super psyched about the snow nuking down

Dave smiling and laughing about the interlodge news

Screenshot I took of the tweet announcing the interlodge threat

Almost needed a snorkel

Dave killed it on his telemark skis all week; I had no illusions about this trip and only took my
alpine gear - tele skiing is HARD WORK.

Our first runs were testing ground for me as I learned how to maneuver effectively in what was commonly waist-deep powder (varied depths for the day were knee to mid-thigh, waist-deep, and occasionally up to my chest). By our third run, I got the hang of it, and the rest of the day was simply amazing. It hammered down the snow the whole day. In fact, it was snowing so much that they closed the canyon around noon! Originally, they'd stated that reopening wasn't guaranteed and we would be interlodged.

Being interlodged means that you cannot leave. The road is closed and you are "stuck" at the resort until the road is reopened; often times the closing is for road maintenance to prevent worse conditions later, but sometimes it can be due to an avalanche or the impending certainty of an avalanche. Nothing and no one come in or out. For a skier, being interlodged at a place like Alta isn't an inconvenience, it is a dream come true. All the powder to shralp and nowhere else to go! Oh, damn. ;-)

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, for us, the road did reopen shortly after 4pm (although the snow was still nuking down) so we did make it back to the rental. Regardless, it was still the most amazing day of skiing any of us had ever had. I am officially a powder fiend.

Legs screaming, we finally took a rest day on Tuesday. Our little group dispersed on this day, one headed back east, Dave and I headed to Park City, and the other two headed to Jackson, WY.

Our time spent skiing in Park City was decent - we did manage to find untracked powder lines all day - but our bodies were still exhausted and it hadn't snowed since early Tuesday morning, so the skiing definitely didn't get any better. Still, we enjoyed what skiing we did before we journeyed back east on Friday.

Boot pack to fresh lines at Park City

Views from Park City

Fresh tracks off Pinecone Ridge

Aspens <3

Park City vista

Finishing up my second run through the mostly-untracked bowl

I'm so grateful we got to enjoy primo snow conditions for this trip and ski so much. I think our total vertical drop skied for the week was somewhere around 67k feet. I wore my HR monitor for much of it to see how the elevation was impacting me, but I haven't uploaded the data yet due to some technological issues. Regardless, I'm pretty sure I burned some serious calories skiing last week!

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Now that vacation is over and some other things in my life are beginning to settle, I plan to write a lot more on the blog. I have a lot of exciting updates to share and a product review in the near future. Stay tuned!

My Three

I arrive, grab three halters, three peppermints, and venture to the field.

Q and Griffin both greet me with their respective whicker and whinny before walking to me, Q initiating the forward motion for once.

I then venture to grab Stan who has watched the events up to this point. He whickers his greeting, too, before giving his typical walk-around bossing Griffin and earning my chiding before he'll acquiesce to being haltered.

We venture to the barnyard. Cranky faces are swapped between Q and Stan while Griffin skirts to the front, nervous about being around Stan who is still The Bossy New Guy.

Leading three horses at once is harder than it seems; Stan is definitely the problem child!

All three receive grain and grooming while I casually sip on the beer I had the foresight to bring. These quiet after-work moments with the horses are all the better with a cold brew in hand!

As I putz about doing this and that, as three sets of ears and eyes follow my every move. Each horse stands square with a hind leg resting.

I finally can't resist and begin a gratuitous photoshoot for a few minutes. They're just too cute.

Varying degrees of filth and varying degrees of successful clip jobs.
Clipper batteries died hard by the time I got to Stan, sorry buddy!
I can say with certainty that all horses are very appreciative of their clips though;
they're much more perky and active in the field in the days following! It's so nice to see.

Can't wait for more time and warmer days to get this guy out on the trails to build fitness back for
the first time since...2007!

She doesn't look as awful as I'd worried after 6 months off!

Okay, this is actually not from last night, but Griffin was in a dark spot last night that made photos poorer.

Finally, I decide to toss on my helmet and clip reins to Q's rope halter. I vault onto her bareback and we walk in slow, meandering circles around the barnyard for five to ten minutes. I revel in the pleasure of sitting astride my little 100-mile mare after so much time off. It's been 6 months since she began showing symptoms and 5 months since we diagnosed her suspensory injury.

On Wednesdays we wear pink.

Smiles and floppy relaxed ears <3

This mare is the queen of getting mud on her poll. Cakes it in there like a boss.

I couldn't help myself and gave her a vanity plate/tramp stamp.

We're not rushing into anything, but it is so nice to have these quiet moments riding her again, even if they are infrequent for now, the briefest of brief, and the slowest of slow. I'm grateful for the time.

After our short jaunt, I cuddle more with each horse before Lauren and her mom show up for lessons. Spring is imminent and I think I'm ready.

Slowing Time

Time is marching more deliberately and slowly for me lately. It's a welcome change-of-pace and so calming to the mind. Big life changes are upon me, which I will share in a month or so on the blog, and the whirling-swirling chaos that accompanies these things by nature has me seeking quiet solace in other aspects of my life.

Driftwood playing at the Purple Fiddle a week+ ago

I'm rarely on my computer these days and I'm on my phone much less than I used to. So much less on my phone, in fact, that I hardly have any new photos to share at all because I have been leaving it at home or in my car when I go places to do things. (The photos in this post are 90% of my photos on my phone from the past two weeks and they were only taken on two days during that time period.) I haven't really had time to pick up my DSLR either.

A magical unicorn themed bathroom at Tip Top in Thomas, WV

I'm pleased with the slower, more deliberate and purposeful way I've been living lately, but it doesn't make blogging easy! Fortunately, not much blog-worthy news is going on at this time of year. It seems winter is ending abnormally early though. I'm both excited and saddened by this. Excited because more horse time is always a plus, but I'm sad because I do love skiing and winter sports so much!

Bareback conditioning ride on Stanley

Due to the radical swing toward spring weather, I did bib clips on all three horses yesterday. None of them is close to shedding their thick winter coat yet, so something had to be done. But, as I fully expect some sort of burst of snow/cold before the end of April, I didn't feel comfortable making them more naked because they are turned out 24/7 and I'm not in a position to be able to run out and blanket them for every 24 hour cold spurt.

Selfie game is strong with these two, and the derp game is strong with all three of us.

Each of my horses fell asleep happily while I clipped them. And they each loved getting their faces clipped the most. Q loved the whole experience so much that she continued to linger near me (those who were not being clipped were free to wander and graze in the barnyard) when I'd finished while I clipped Griffin. The boys clips look a little mothy in comparison to Q's because they wanted to nuzzle and "help" me throughout which made the job a little difficult! But as I said aloud to them in the process, doesn't really matter how good or bad they look because we don't exactly have any travel plans to be in the eye of the public before they've shed their winter tresses fully. If they need to be touched up later, so be it. But for now, the only objective was to give them some relief from 65°F+ sunny days with their yak coats on.

I promise to have more exciting content in a week or two. But for now, this is life. It's slow, deliberate, and I'm quite happy.

Galloping

Stan re-entering my life brought back a flood of memories for me. While very welcome, these memories served to remind me how much life has changed in the past five to six years - how much I have changed in that time. Change is a given, and I accept the changes and welcome them for the most part. C'est la vie!

However, there have been some changes regarding my confidence (it's in the 50-90% range now) doing certain things on horseback that I want to revert. All of these particular changes that I'd like to reverse are minor. I could certainly live without them. But - there's always a "but" - I think life will be more FUN if I can teach myself to be 100% confident enjoying them again.

Being an adult has introduced so many more responsibilities and checks and balances to life, y'know? And I have [unfortunately] let that responsibility [and the act of adulting] seep a little too much into my horse life. It's more structured/regimented as a result. And that's great most of the time. But I could definitely stand to let loose a little more. Horseback riding should be fun first and foremost, (okay, well, maybe after assuring it is safe, but safety should be a given before one pursues most activities).

Trot poles. An approved structured activity.

And so, in that vein, I made a goal for myself this year to [re]master the art of galloping on Griffin. If that goes well I'd love to reach a point where I could do the same with Q. She's the one who killed my confidence galloping full-bore because she's got a penchant of stopping on a fucking dime the moment something scares her. This leads to me inevitably taking QUITE a tumble. Just ask me how I know...

And of course, I still gallop on Stan. I've already been galloping almost every ride on him. But this is because I have history with him that includes a wealth of trust, so it's easier to let loose.

Griffin asking to canter with much more gusto than desired in the moment as I tell him, "No. Not yet."

I've begun to incorporate short gallop sets in my work with Griffin lately in my quest to find comfort galloping again. The biggest challenge for me is to not mentally micromanage the situation, Is that a hole? Will he trip? Will he spook? These thoughts are minor and don't cause me anguish at all. They do result in calmly acquiescing to remain in a nice 3-beat gait or a controlled hand gallop as opposed to letting loose into a full-bore gallop. I basically talk myself out of doing something before I've even started. And I've done this so much in recent years that I've created a habit of staying in my controlled comfort-zone.

But no more!

Kenai is my favorite part about this photo

Griffin LOVES to boogie and gallop. And he's pretty gaddamn trustworthy, too. (Read: doesn't make up fake monsters to spook at and drop his rider.)

Flyinggg. And yes, I pursued this entire effort in a dressage saddle. *shrug*

Move out!

I definitely squeal with delight when he really buckles down and launches forward at the beginning. But then I relax and go with it.

And honestly, from the photos you'd be hard pressed to recognize a rider who questions what is going on. I'm balanced and working with Griffin nicely. Which I think I knew, but I wouldn't really admit it to myself until I saw it in photos, y'know?

Small but mighty...and also trying to veer off the designated path.

Speed racer

I'm so relaxed physically, that when Griffin decided to LAUNCH us over this ditch with more gusto than ever before, I just squeaked in surprise and we carried on.

A normal launch over the ditch.

The *surprise!* monster launch over the ditch

He's a damn good horse. And I think he's going to absolutely love doing XC one day.

Smile says it all.

So, how about you - what horse-related things do you miss doing now that you used to do as a kid/teenager? Where is your confidence at a lesser percentage than it once was? Have you created a habit of talking yourself out of certain things before even trying?

Partner vs. Pet

Mel wrote a great post about the differences between horses that are partners versus pets. It really resounded with me and as I started to compose a novel-length comment on her post, I decided instead that I would write a post of my own!

As Mel notes, neither partner or pet is better than the other - and I agree. They're different and special in their own ways.

Griffin

Griffin is just like Mel's ML - a pet. He's friendly to a fault and always wants to be around me and anyone else in the field - human, horse, dog, or otherwise. Most photos I get of him involve his nose in my camera because he is constantly wanting to be RIGHT beside me.

He's got an insatiable need to please, too, unlike any horse I've ever been around. He wants to work, he loves any and all jobs I've given him (although he absolutely loves jumping the most), and wants absolutely nothing more than to provide me with The Right Answer when we're working. I routinely refer to him as "my very large dog with hooves" to my non-horse friends.

Walking toward me. Forever and always the most common photo I have of him.

When I bring Q or Stan (or both) in from the field, it is nigh impossible to not bring Griffin. He almost ALWAYS volunteers himself to come, too. He wants nothing more than to be with me. If I work other horses in the barn/barnyard, he waits by the gate for the entirety of the time I'm with the other horses. The only time this wasn't true was when he decided he could no longer bear giving riding lessons to newbies and he would NOT be caught for anything. Any time Griffin alters from his in-my-pocket demeanor, I know something is up and evaluate how to make changes to resolve the problem.

I'm a total sucker for Griffin being such a sweetheart, too, and give him ample treats from my pocket which has only reinforced his behavior through the years. #sorrynotsorry I absolutely adore Griffin, his temperament, his trust in me, and the relationship we have. I think working with him from a young age really helped hone his temperament, the trust, and the relationship.

Stan

Back in the day, Stan and I were closer than close. I had but to think a thing for him to do a thing. He was a partner and a pet and mostly my close friend with whom I could do anything. He was kind of an extension of myself. We spent 5 years apart and he was a pasture puff during that time. Now we're coming back into a relationship and I'm not quite sure how it will end up so far as the partner - pet spectrum.

Stan definitely resents being pulled away from a cushy retirement to re-enter the working world. And I don't blame him! Additionally, he's finally living with mares for the first time in a very long time, so he is quite loathe to leave his ladies to spend time with me. And that is also understandable, considering he lived in one place for 11 years and has now been plopped into a totally new environment. I've been very understanding of the herd dynamic change in his life and have not pushed any steady regimented work on him beyond about one or two rides a week - usually Lauren riding him - since he joined me on July 31. I know all too well how herd dynamics can influence a horse's behavior, and I wanted him to have time to settle in knowing I'd start anew with a schedule for him in January.

From the days we used to just hang out together before and after work was done.

While much of Stan not seeking me out in the field is due to the new herd dynamic, I can't ignore that in our time apart Stan has grown creakier with his increasing age which may be influencing how he views time with me. When I'm sore, I don't want to do anything with anyone (especially a person who instigates activities that make me sore), so I can't fault him for it either. I'm hoping that efforts to keep him working for a minimum of 20 minutes a day 3 - 4 days a week (plus supplements in the near future) will help combat this and make him a bit more willing to be a working partner for me as time goes on. I'm not at all concerned with the in-between no-man's-land we're dealing with right now because I haven't had Stan in any kind of steady work to really judge. He's only been back in my life for 5½ months. The real work is just beginning and we'll have to see where we are at in a few months. Time and miles do a lot for a relationship - and from my experience, usually for the better.

Q

Q entered my life as a partner, strictly. In fact, when I bought her, while I hoped she'd be a grand endurance mount, I wasn't even sure I'd keep her forever and ever. Our first year was one of learning one another. Q has an aloof personality which is likely due to being passed around between a minimum of five people prior to entering my life (and that was all before she turned 6!) As we moved into the second year, we were finally starting to be more than strangers, though not quite friends.

My personal relationships with a person or two resulted in me being a total shitbag to Q in 2014 and I spent 2015 rebounding from that; being overly critical (i.e., a shitbag) to a sensitive horse will leave you years of mess to clean up - learn from me and don't do it. We were on the up and up in 2016, my mess of 2014 mostly resolved except for lingering spooking. We completed a 100 last year and didn't hate one another afterward (minus that moment at mile ~44 where she spooked at a deer and dumped me...I hated her a LOT in that moment).

Q, my business partner for 100 miles

In our time together, Q's been my athletic partner far more than a pet. However, unlike Mel's relationship with Farley, her partner-horse, Q does still seek me out when we aren't working and we definitely don't hate one another after a weekend together. In fact, in times away from home, Q looks to me MORE and while not as cuddly as Grif, she wants to be with me. I become her herd of one and she seeks me out. (Food has a huge thing to do with this, I'm no dummy.) Additionally, during this time off due to the suspensory injury, Q will come over to me in the field when I fetch one of the boys and has come to the fence/gate with increased frequency to presumably check in on me.

While mostly a partner in the past, I can't help but wonder how much toward pet Q will migrate as time goes on. Slow, quiet one-on-one work builds my relationship with this mare. That is exactly the kind of work that is going to be paramount in our time together over the next many months. As with Stan, I'll have to revisit the pet-partner relationship with Q a few months down the line.

A follow up thought

I think there is great value to horses that are partners, horses that are pets, and those who can be a little bit of both. There really isn't a bad result to any option. It's absolutely personal preference. You still have a bond with that animal in some manner regardless of whether they're more in-your-pocket or strictly a business partner, per se. Personally, I enjoy a dynamic that involves aspects of both and I can honestly admit that having a horse who was strictly my partner would be more difficult for me at this point in my life. (I say "this point" because I can absolutely see where I may prefer differently one day.)

A hard working partner with unquestioning trust of a pet

However, in my reflection of my horses and how they fall on the pet-partner spectrum I am left pondering one thing in particular: the way the horse's early years were spent and how that influenced them. Let's review --

Griffin was passed around frequently for about six months (to three homes) following his weaning, but each new home was short in duration. He was too young to start under saddle so he mostly traveled around meeting new horses and eating as he was handled by different folks. He came to me at 1½ years old and has been with me ever since. It's all chronicled on this blog. And he's had a great life with me, if I do say so myself. He was started slowly and we have built a great relationship over the past five years together. Griffin trusts me implicitly as a result, which is a very big factor in our every interaction. If I ask something of him, he doesn't fret, fear, or worry, he simply tries to find the correct answer that garners the praise he seeks (be it a release of pressure, kind words, treats, etc.) and life moves forward.

Stan was with his breeder to age 4, then was gelded and brought to his next home where he stayed for 11 years before re-entering my life as my horse last year. Stan was never presented with a reason to distrust people. He was started between 3 and 4, was green when I met him, and when I was 16, I put most of the miles on him to make him go from "green" to "broke". I was never mean or pushy and Stan learned what was acceptable and what wasn't through time and miles. I learned a lot, too. Freedom to enjoy one horse in that manner at that age resulted in a lot of blind trust in Stan. And for me, blind trust was a beautiful thing at that point in my life. I didn't necessarily abuse it or push it to crazy limits by any means - and I'm grateful Stan didn't either - but not being told I couldn't do something meant that we tried a lot of things that would cause me hesitation today. A level head and some blind trust built a great relationship and a great foundation for Stan.

Q differs from both geldings. She was bred, then sold to lady #1, passed along to lady #2, then sent to the cowboy, then went on trial to lady #3, then went back to the cowboy, and then came to me. The reasons for being passed along to folks beginning with lady #1 all revolved around her being "too much horse". Mostly, she was hotter than your typical quarter horse (the most common horse in this area, see: Stan) and really needed one person to be around as she learned what was okay and not okay. She also needed that one person to be patient and not react with anger, force, or aggression (the three things that cowboy did). Her 4½ years spent with me support this wholly; the more time she's with me and the more patient, calm, and consistent I can be, the better she is and the more she trusts me and exhibits pet-like qualities instead of exclusive partner qualities. Her guarded personality has blossomed and bloomed.

Seeking me out.

And while I certainly recognize that the temperament of an animal will vary and that there are absolutely bad eggs out there, I wonder about those early years of training and how they correlate to where a horse falls on the pet-partner spectrum?

Certainly other variables factor in over time, too, like how many homes a horse has had, the quality of those homes/their people, and the horses' breeding and tendency to be hotter or quieter. But for the sake of this argument, let's assume no matter the breed, if a horse was brought up by someone knowledgeable, patient, and consistent in a training schedule, would that horse develop more on the pet side of the spectrum or the partner side of the spectrum? Does correct early training that builds more trust provide a higher frequency of horses with pet-like qualities? Or are those things purely temperament based?

Thank you Mel for providing the prompt for this thought process. Animal behavior is absolutely fascinating to me and I've really enjoyed thinking about the pet-partner spectrum as it applies to my horses and potential training of other horses.

So how about you? Where do your horses fall on the pet-partner spectrum? What kind of horse do your prefer? Do you think training plays a part in where a horse falls on this spectrum? Leave a comment below or perhaps compose your own post. I'm interested to see where this discussion goes!

Moonlit Snow Galloping

There's something about

Writing haikus in winter

That makes me happy

But even moreso,

There's something about snow rides

That are magical

Especially rides

On my favorite grey horse

In moonlit snow fields

The brisk winter air

And the moonlight above us

Made our shadows dance

Squealing and snorting

Griffin shared his excitement

And I had to smile

We trotted around

Leaving neat hoofprints in snow

With each passing round

Eventually

I let Griffin loose to fly

Racing our shadow

Borrowing freedom

I soared with him over snow

Smiling and laughing

The moon rose higher

Its light reflecting on snow

Subtle sparkles shine

This way and that way

Griffin and I galloped on

Tireless in the snow

Grateful for this night

For the moon and for the snow

And time on horseback

One final gallop

We streaked across snowy fields

With breathtaking speed

With praise and neck pats

I thanked Griffin for the ride

Truly delightful

So very grateful
For this horse and for this night
Just what I needed

Update on Q's Suspensory

I dropped Q off Thursday morning last week for her 120-day ultrasound appointment to wrap up our monitoring of her suspensory injury.

To recap in the most concise way possible: Q came up lame at the end of August and was diagnosed with lesions near the origin of her suspensory in her left hind on September 19. (Due to a wicked year of repeated abscesses in 2 out of 3 of my horses, I had suspected it was an abscess at first. But after she didn't regain soundness after blowing a massive abscess on her RF, off to the vet we went!)

The 60-day ultrasound appointment showed improvements though there was still disorganization in the pattern of fibers.

This most recent ultrasound however showed huge improvements!

Q was very alarmed by the AllEarsApp

When I picked Q up, the vet was out to lunch, so I didn't get a complete download of information beyond the techs telling me, "We can't tell you much other than it's definitely looking better." And hey, that's all I needed to hear at the time! Trending toward "better" is all I care about. I don't mind it taking awhile so long as it is *improving*.

Due to some turnover at my vet's practice (her second vet is leaving/has been working at another job), they've been outstandingly busy for a few months as is wont to happen with these kinds of things. I didn't anticipate dropping by to get a download on information until Monday afternoon. However, to my surprise, my vet took a few minutes Sunday morning to call me and give me an update! She reported that Q looked a LOT better this time around and that it was very hard to see any disorganization in the fibers at all on this round of ultrasounds. HURRAH! She also told me she'd be attending a specialized lameness workshop in Lexington in coming weeks that was centered around suspensory injuries. She's got me and Q in mind as she plans to attend and I'm looking forward to hearing more about the latest and greatest in the realm of suspensory research.

I'm psyched to hear that Q's doing so well and hope she continues to heal and get stronger in coming months. So far she's had four complete months off due to this injury.

She'll get a year off from true work, but we'll be doing some short (5 to 10 minutes) in hand sessions once every week from here on out. These will not be anything exciting or crazy at all, but instead will serve mostly to remind the mare that she is NOT in charge. Her herd status coupled with the time off (read: complete freedom from anything beyond getting her hooves trimmed once every four weeks) has unfortunately resulted some very rude behaviors (e.g., biting me, excessive fidgeting when tied, protest to (read: pinned ears) having her feet handled/certain body parts groomed, and constant wide-eyed and ear-swiveling concern for where her herdmates are at all times) that I absolutely do not tolerate.

I'm so relieved we've had a nice linear healing trend through these first 4+ months following the injury. I hope that this trend will continue into the future.