How is it possible...

For one woman with two horses to have so much STUFF???  Tomorrow Red and Rhio are moving to a new boarding barn, and today I spent several hours attempting to sort, organize, and cart to storage much of my horse paraphernalia.  There were 3 Subaru loads of it, not counting what's going to the new barn and the big dome-top trunk which doesn't even fit in the Subaru (thank you, G, for helping me haul it with your truck!).  I have been very, very lucky in that the last two places I've boarded had ample storage for my growing pile of stuff.  As an endurance rider, I have at least two of everything...for each horse.  And there have been rides where I needed more than two of everything, usually because of rain and everything getting wet.  But where does one store all these duplicates when they are not in use?  Just the number of blankets, sheets, and coolers alone is staggering.  Oh, and don't get me started on buckets.  I don't even know how many buckets I have.  Then, there's all the supplies and medications I have on hand to do my own vet work - two bins of that.  And the list goes on.

In preparation for a new barn, and to attempt to streamline their meals, both boys are going onto new supplements.  Red will be a "fancy horse," and will be getting Smart Paks.  This is a clever, convenient way to order supplements, in which they come packaged in a strip of wells, each well containing the various powders and pellets you've selected for your horse.  Whomever is feeding needs to simply pull the top off the strip of wells for the day, and dump into the feed bucket.  Red will be getting a senior horse vitamin-mineral supplement (pelleted, because he won't eat what Rhio will be getting...just to make life difficult!), MSM for his hocks, and plain salt.  This is essentially what he is currently getting, but instead of doling out a scoop o' this and a scoop o' that each day, it'll be just rip and dump.  Easy!  I'm not thrilled about the premium price I pay for this convenience, but I think streamlining feeding for the new barn owner will be worth it.  Rhio will be getting a granular vitamin-mineral-Omega 3 supplement (the one Red won't eat), plus his antacid, and a fat supplement.  It'll still be scoop-and-dump from a big bucket for him, but hopefully it won't be too much trouble.

Now, if today's winter weather (mostly snow, but some periods of drizzly rain) will hurry up and stop, so the roads will be good and clear tomorrow for hauling, I would be grateful!

Rhio taste-tests his new supplement (it's a winner!  He licked the bowl clean.)

Red's fancy drawer, which came filled with his individual servings of his supplements.

My corner of the tack room, filled with my stuff (it's a lot - but at least it's fairly organized and contained in bins and drawers!)

What's left after hauling most to storage.  It looks so empty! 

My Little Ponies

Needing a break from paperwork and organizing, I dressed warmly for the icy wind off the lake (though the thermometer read a respectable 27 degrees, it didn't feel that warm!) and headed to the barn to visit the boys.  I am desperate to ride, but the footing is just not safe.  So I suffer along as best I can, dreaming of the first long trotting ride of the year.  In past years, that has usually happened at least once in February - not so this year!

Despite the still-wintry weather, the horses are definitely shedding their fuzzy coats.  The trigger for shedding, and for growing their coat in the late summer, is the changing amount of daylight.  I actually try not to groom them too much right now, since they still have plenty of cold weather to endure.  But, sometimes, a girl's just gotta play with her ponies and spend some time making them beautiful.  There's nothing like combing out manes and tails, and currying up a cloud of hair (make sure to stay upwind of the horse you're working on, though - helps keep your eyes, nose, and throat relatively horse-hair free), for mental therapy.

I didn't take any "before" pics, and other than Rhio's wind knots in his mane (now smoothed and braided), there really isn't a lot of visual change.  But I had my hands on my ponies, drinking in their delicious aroma, and soothing my soul just a bit (it's a mite ragged on the edges with too little horse time in general.)

The consequences of wearing anything polarfleece around shedding horses. 

Lucky, or Unlucky?

"Where's the treats?"

If my horses could talk, I don't know whether they'd judge themselves lucky or unlucky to be owned by a veterinarian.  Percentage wise, it is not very often that I wear the "veterinarian hat" when I interact with them.  And, truly, they do not seem to mind (well, except Red and his hock injections - he does not appreciate those even sedated!).

Yesterday was the day for their annual Coggins test.  This is a blood test looking for exposure to a virus which causes a disease called Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA).  This disease is blood-borne, and spread by biting flies or sharing needles between horses.  It used to be very common around the country, but with a 50+ year testing program, it is now a very uncommon disease.  Thank goodness.  However, legal requirements still exist in all states for (usually annual) testing of horses that go out and about to "do stuff."  Each state is slightly different, but in Minnesota, the test must be performed once every 12 months and we must present the original paperwork, as well as leave a copy of the paperwork, at every horse event our horses attend.  If horses are sold, they should have a current negative Coggins for the sale to be legal.  If you transport your horse across state lines, you must not only comply with your state's Coggins requirements, but also with the state you are entering (as well as have a current health certificate, in most cases).

Funnily enough, "Coggins" is a bit of a misnomer these days.  It is the name of the man who invented the first test for the disease, but now a newer, quicker, cheaper test is run in most cases.  This new test cannot truly be called a "Coggins" test, as it uses completely different technology.  However, as happens with other "name brands" in our language, the Coggins moniker has become synonymous with the new test run for EIA.  So, we horse people will say "Coggins," though technically we merely mean a blood test for EIA.

Yesterday, I wander into the pasture and four of the six resident horses, including both Red and Rhio, immediately mob me looking for treats.  Instead of treats, however, I pull needles, syringes, and blood tubes out of my pocket.  Having dealt with many uncooperative horses in my career, I know how lucky I am that I can draw blood in the pasture without a halter or any form of restraint.  My boys just stand there unfazed.  In moments, I have my two tubes of bright red blood and am trying to fend off the four muzzles in my face still looking for treats.

I fill out the paperwork, old-school style with drawings of each side of my horses' bodies and their faces.  I enter descriptions of their markings, along with all their pertinent details (registered name, age, sex, breed, color.)  Commonly, veterinarians are using digital photos and electronic forms for EIA testing, but since I only do my two horses each year, and the old hand-drawn paperwork is still accepted, I keep it low-tech.  Later in the day, after the blood has clotted in the tubes, I stop by a local clinic to centrifuge it, separating the serum from the red blood cells.  Only the serum is needed for testing.

I send off the blood tubes and the paperwork to the lab, and in about a week, I'll have their 2013 paperwork in my hands, and we'll be "legal" for another year!

Freshly collected blood. (Don't worry, the tubes are labelled on the other side so I don't mix them up.)

Blood that has clotted. 

After "spinning."  The red blood cells are at the bottom of the tube, beneath a gel layer (the white stuff), while the liquid serum is on top.  Horse serum is supposed to be that bright yellow color - quite unlike most other species.  It always makes the small animal techs at the clinic nervous when they see it - a dog with serum this color would be in serious trouble!  

The Essence of Rhio

My Rhio was part of artist Tracie Thompson's holiday project.  She wanted to do a study of a different horse each day the month of December.  The set was to be called Christmas Ponies.  Thanks to social media, through a friend of a friend, I heard about her need for additional models, and dug around in my photo archives.  I sent her a handful of shots of Rhio, not really knowing exactly what she was looking for but striving to give a range showing his personality as well as his charming good looks.

The photo she picked is a ride photo, from our first ride of the year in 2011.  It screams RHIO in so many ways - his intensity, his focus, his drive, and his super-charged energy.  I love the motion in this photo.  I love remembering how it felt to be there, sharing in the glory of flying down the trail with him.  This is why I love my horse and our sport - for the moments like this one.

Tracie did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of Rhio in every way.  She did have to create some of the muzzle out of her head, because if you look closely at the photo, he is sticking his tongue out and flapping his lips.  If you look closely at nearly every single ride photo I have of Rhio, he is doing either or both of these things.  It means he is anticipating something he likes - he does it for feeding time, when it's time to be turned out of the barn, when we are on a solo training ride and start heading home, and most of the time at an endurance ride, when he's out there on the trail for the joy of it (and because he thinks he is a race horse and can/should be first.)  I guess she didn't want to have a Christmas Pony sticking his tongue out and flapping his lips!  It is certainly an oddity.

Thank you, Tracie, for this wonderful original art of my boy.  It will be framed and hung with love on my wall for years to come.

Sneaking One In

'Winter Storm Watch,' 'Hazardous Weather Outlook,' and the like, have been blazoned across all the local news and weather outlets for the past three days.  All eyes have been glued the massive band of weather approaching across the continent via satellite and radar images.  Last night on the bus to the symphony, I watched a guy compulsively refreshing his iPhone browser page on weather.com.  Every conversation I've had in the past 48 hours have turned, early on, to the weather.  The mall, Target, and Cub Foods parking lots were jammed with cars yesterday, stocking up for the storm.

So what do I do this morning when I wake up?  Peeking out the blinds and simultaneously firing up the computer to check the weather,  I quickly decide I'm going to ride.  By my judgement, I have at least 2 hours till it hits. What else would I do on a 30 degree winter day when a major storm is bearing down upon us?  Especially a day that I originally didn't have any plans for, as I was supposed to be traveling to the Twin Cities for a baby shower (which I'm pretty bummed to be missing, actually!) - so a day that is essentially "free."  (Ok, the to-do list is ever growing and things just don't seem to be crossing themselves off of it, but anything I accomplish on a "free" day is just bonus, right?)

Then there's also the little voice in my head, the skeptic, which says, "They've been hyping this up too much.  That fierce wind off the lake will keep the storm at bay, and it will just swirl around Duluth, hammering all the surrounding areas, but we'll get nothing."  That is not an unprecedented thing, and well within the realm of possibility.

So, carefully dressing in layers, and packing along a bag of extras (2 pairs of hand coverings - 1 mittens, 1 gloves, 2 head coverings - 1 wind-proof balaclava, 1 standard winter hat, Carhartts - just in case the fierce wind at my house is doubly fierce at the barn), the dogs and I head for the barn.  The wind is really whipping, but it's not out of control (yet.)  My wind-blocking winter riding tights are doing a good job layered over my midweight long underwear, and I leave the Carhartts in the car.

Rhio lets himself into the barn, as G and I stand talking (she's finishing up mucking out stalls and feeding hay, the gate is open...) and I waste little time tacking up.  I was so tempted to ride in my bareback pad, which I haven't used a single time this winter!  It is so comfortable and warm.  But, I'd eyed up the big hill on my drive up (the paved one) and thought it was about time to tackle it for the first time this year.  A saddle is preferable for safety and security, plus I can use my blaze orange breastcollar tubes and rump rug for visibility.  This low, gray sky, dirty snow, and a dirty white horse don't mix well to make us visible to drivers.  And, if I need to get off, with my saddle I can actually get back on - not so with the bareback pad!

We set off down the driveway, testing out the footing.  Despite being snow-covered, the relative warmth and high humidity of the past few days have made it squishy, soft, and grippy.  Yeah!  Off we go, gusty wind be damned.  Rhio is as eager to get out and about as I am; he looks around at the wind-whipped trees, and flapping bits o' this and that, and flicks an ear at passing traffic, but mostly just focuses ahead, ears pricked, as if to say, "Where we goin', Mom?"

The flagpole at the school, no flag attached, was actually vibrating in the wind, making an interesting sound at counterpoint to the clanging of the metal flag clip also banging into the metal pole.  Rhio was unfazed.  The wooden sign 'Lakewood Town Hall' was swinging violently in the wind.  Rhio remained unfazed.  At this point, I am thanking myself for NOT choosing Red on this day.  Red is Mr. Spooky, especially when ridden alone.  It would not have been fun to ride him today.

The only thing Rhio balked at was the flapping, snapping yellow caution tape in someone's yard (ostensibly to keep the snowmobilers from riding across their property) - he watched that very carefully while walking past on the OTHER side of the road.  We trotted all the way up the big hill, and turned the corner on the gravel road to make the 4 mile loop.  I was prepared to go back the way we'd come if the footing was bad, but it was delightfully good and we were able to complete the "walk around the block."  The woods trail had been packed by a snowmobile or two, and we were even able to canter a bit on the way home. Whee!!!

The snow started about an hour after I got home.  I guess we really are going to get this storm.

The calm before the storm.

We Did It!

It's officially official - Rhio and I finally earned a UMECRA jacket.  We were 5th place in our region for the 2012 endurance season, so earned a Top 10 jacket.  These babies are coveted by one and all in the UMECRA family, and can't be bought for any price.  It reminds me a lot of my feelings about the beautiful wool letter jackets the upperclassmen wore when I was a freshman in high school.  It took me two years to earn a letter jacket and I still remember the pride swelling up the first day I wore mine to school.  By contrast, it took me 8 years to earn a UMECRA jacket, but I still feel the pride swelling up.  Of course, very few people in the general population will know its significance, but it matters not, because I know how hard Rhio and I worked to get it.

I wasn't able to attend the awards banquet and receive my jacket in person, but thanks to some good friends picking it up for me, I was able to take ownership this past weekend.  (No, I didn't wear it to bed...but only because I like to sleep on my stomach and the zipper would bug me!)  Yesterday I went to ride (for the first time since November 17) and of course wore the jacket.  Rhio wanted to wear it too, so I let him model it as a rump rug.  It does have both our names on it, after all!

Speaking of riding, the psychological effects of not riding have been getting us both down.  It has been a very icy winter (from warm temps and rain) followed by frigid temps and dangerous windchills - not a likely combination for outdoor recreation on horseback.  Yesterday was near freezing, no wind, and with some fresh snow to cover up the worst of the ice, I thought it was worth a try to venture out.

To help ensure some measure of success, I finally got around to installing my EasyBoot Quick Studs into an old pair of hoof boots.  There was a bit of a learning curve to getting them installed (I might rename them "Moderately Quick" Studs,) but I did get to play with a drill in order to accomplish the task.  I decided on 6 studs per boot (options are from 4 to 10!), and have to report very good results.  They did not look as pretty as the picture when I had them all in, but they seemed to work very well.

plain boot

holes drilled for studs

studs installed

Rhio was initially hesitant to walk out - I think he knew there was ice beneath the snow in spots - but it didn't take him long to figure out he actually had traction.  I could feel his confidence in the footing grow.  I was only using front boots, and I would like to put studs in a pair of hinds as well, as we did have some slipping in the bare hooves (but nothing major.)  We were able to walk along the sides of the gravel roads that are relatively unused, and get up the big hill on our trail.  I did not attempt the well-traveled gravel roads, as the traffic seems to fuse the ice/snow into a solid, unyielding mass.  Perhaps on a sunny day, with the top layers getting a bit tacky, we will venture a bit further from home.  I dismounted for the return trip down the hill, but he actually handled sliding down it better than I did and I think with studs in hind boots would have been completely fine.  The biggest problem I had was Rhio feeling so confident in his footing, and so eager to GO!, that we had a few discussions about keeping our speed to a walk.  The ride was nothing to write home about, in terms of training/conditioning/mileage, but it was a balm to both our souls and a great trial of the studs.

post-ride - all studs are present and accounted for, and did their jobs well

The Best Therapy

This has been a terrible winter so far - not really a winter at all.  A few posts back I railed against the fact that it was RAINING in DECEMBER.  It has now RAINED in JANUARY as well.  We are all ice, everywhere.  I haven't ridden since November 21.  This, along with a bunch of other life stuff, has really put me off-kilter.  I can't even attempt to deflect my riding withdrawal into skiing or snowshoeing, two of my favorite winter pursuits - because we don't have any snow!!!

Today I had five straight hours of horses.  It worked wonders on my psyche, truly.  First, I worked on three client horses, giving them acupuncture but also receiving the soul healing that is HORSE back from them at the same time.  This is the wonder and beauty of what I do - I must be totally mindfully present with them and in exchange they give freely of themselves.  Whatever it is, I feel (nearly) like a whole new person (a wee bit more sleep would clinch the deal) - revitalized, regrounded, recentered, buoyed up, and settled, all at once.

Then, I spent unstructured and open-ended time with my own boys.  No clock watching.  No agenda.  Just the time and space to be with them.  Riding would have been better, but two sets of manes and tails all brushed out, eight hooves picked, and countless unspoken words released into their fuzzy necks and frosty muzzles have been therapy enough, for now.