I have an 8 yo mare who I just came to re-realize, after  a show yesterday, is just going to have good days and bad days. On good days, we are amazing- polite, calm and a fiery willing partner who is eager to harness the energy and wow the pants off anyone who knows us- bc they know that... On bad days, we are also amazing! Like.. Fire breathing dragon beautiful! It's both heartening and dreadful to hear about your 20+ partners who haven't changed all that much... Bc I love her to bits, but somedays, I wish I had a QH. 🤣🤣

So... Happy Birthday to meeee!! That day- the day I officially became closer to 30 than 25, was Saturday. And the loverly loverly mare gave me one of the most memorable presents ever- an emergency vet call, surgery in the form of 5 stitches and 3 staples, and... more of my budget than I care to think of.

What have I not written since then to tell you of such news? Well- It's really only gotten better from there! She refuses to eat her antibiotics. At all. So... No grain, either. For 4 days. I haven't noticed a ton of progress in her wound: her knee is a beach ball- legit, you could easily fit a softball x 1.5 in the space of her knee; today, she's limping on it, and it looks like swelling around the stitches. Which to me says infection.. And I can't even say she's been on Abx, because Miss Mare refused to eat them. She got one half of a syringed dose last night. The other half was on me. See? Better and better.

So, I called the vet last night- who got back to me today, and who I asked to come out tomorrow because I think it's hit critical mass and she now needs IM Abx. Only consolation is that I know I have done EVERYTHING in my power to get this girl to eat her meds and take care of her leg. I made carrot paste(raw carrots blended), I made baby food carrot paste (steamed carrots mashed), I tried molasses w/ and w/o carrots, then I went straight to the syringe and she flung it everywhere.

I am so frustrated and stressed out and exhausted, all I want to do is cry. And sleep. But I don't sleep bc I wake up every 2 hours thinking of how tight her wraps are, or how I didn't take her temp tonight, or... any number of things I have done wrong because I am a first-time owner without anyone around to really guide me, just trying to use my God-given brain to make a stubborn mare better. So I think I'm just going to go cry now. Again.

We went to the park yesterday- trailered her in and out, lunged, and rode. She was Highhh!! LoL Just wouldn't settle in consistently, nearly got me off when she leapt up, forward, and sideways going into the ring. Over nothing, of course- just because she could. haha

I won't lie. I love my mare to pieces. She's really pretty special- a big baby, a huge lovebug, but such a brat sometimes.

And something that's been bothering me a little- her funky head!! She's got this beautiful petite little cob size head (on a 16.1 TB) with a horse size brow. It's ridiculous. Cob bridles fit perfectly everywhere but her forehead! LoL She's definitely the Sakura of the barn. And if you get that reference, give yourself 2 pts! haha

So... today, I decided I was going to take this as a blessing in disguise. I have always wanted to buy those pretty decorated browbands, but refused to spend the money for something I didn't really need. Well... I need one. haha My first purchase? A Vespucci hunter browband- horse sized- perhaps with some brass clincher action. I LOVE that look. Pearls and crystals are gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but clinchers are understated elegance. With that big perfect star of hers? She will look gorgeous in a sweetheart browband. Oh my, she will have more browbands than I know what to do with by the time I'm done. LoL And her birthday was Monday, so I think maybe we should get her one for her bday, yah?

In any case, went to the IHA Bohemia cleanup today and... made friends!! Or at least will know some people when I go to shows this summer. It's so exciting! I worked with Phil, Gage and Gavin most of the day, but got to chat with some english and western pleasure people and hang out with the James' and Zackmans' gymkhana friends. It was a lot of fun, even though I was definitely sweating at a couple points! haha And the riding center looks SOOOOO much better. We did a great job!

SWung by the barn today- what a miserable day!! Cold, wet, windy! Ugh! Think back to yesterday, I am kind of pleased about one thing. So, Tuesday, I noticed Sher was... off. Just not acting right. In no real discernible, could-put-my-finger-on-it way, just...off. Bet you it's because she's in heat. Or was just going into it, huh? And it pleases me that I know my girl well enough now to pick up on subtle clues like that. Pretty sweet, huh?

Also got her into some lessons with a jump-maker, so we will be well-exposed to craaazzzzyy jumps. This will be good for us!

Sherwood's in heat! So that added a little excitement to the day- what with Bandit trying to mount her, Texas biting the crap out of her tail and flanks, and me ready to KILL Dennis for letting her out there while she's in HEAT!

On the flip side, she was dead under saddle. Barely wanted to trot, was practically dragging her nose on the ground and toes in the sand through the entire "workout". Poor baby. Needless to say, we didn't accomplish a whole lot. But we did walk around the neighborhood and go exploring the outside world a bit!

Show got cancelled... Boo hiss. Damned March showers!

So, remember how I mentioned that Sher ran out after a couple fences because Nicole was carrying a whip? Well, those are the only videos that came out of that day. So... when I went to the tack swap Tuesday night...

Long story short, one of the people I know from around town made a comment to me- you know, those snotty little, "I saw that video- ooohh.." with that face that just screams, "Ohh, that was so unfortunate!" Yah. So, fighting back the instant urge to either snarl at her (Um... 2nd time over fences EVER??) or come back with some snarky comment ("I'm sorry, when you decide to train your own 4yo OTTB instead of buying a dead broke 17 yo, get back to me."), instead I just blamed the whip.
Which was the problem.
And which she obviously didn't believe because she's a friend of Renee's, who blames me for "ruining" her horse by training him to be forward, fit, supple, and a lover of cross-country jumping.

Sucks when you tell someone you'll sell them your horse and back out after they've been training it for 9 months like it will be theirs... And can't ride. ;)

I guess long story long, huh?

In any case, back to Sherwood. She's coming along so nicely! I took her to the park today, taking advantage of the glorious wind-blown rainstorm weather (hah! Take that, Mother Nature! You can't stop me!!!) to get her on the trailer, to a new place, and work in relative peace. Honest to God, she was a dream. Took about 15 minute to settle, but then we W/T/C around that place like we owned it. Switched rings halfway through without a hitch, got soaking wet, did some patterns, and worked on long and low through all three gaits successfully. A beautiful day in the neighborhood. Will you be mine? Will you be mine? Now- what TV show is that from??

There will be pictures, I just have to make them.

At some point.

In any case, there was a full crew at the barn yesterday! I got done with chores and breakfast in time to work with Fred a bit in anticipation of his "trial" with a girl who responded to Dennis's free lease ad. Call me skeptical at the time, but I figured I better get in some groundwork so she stood a better chance of not getting killed. So... we did that, it went well, and Fred thinks I'm the Blonde Beotch from Hell, who only shows up to make him work. Eh, it is what it is.

Then I had some spare time, so I worked Jovi on the lunge bc his mom works a lot and asked me to ride him. Mind you, this horse hasn't been ridden in over a year, so I'm still not sure where his tack is.. and I felt bad working him under saddle when he has such poor muscle tone. Poor boy. So... we worked on the lunge for 20 minutes at a walk and trot. I found out he doesn't have a walk, so we worked on W/T transitions- even better for building muscle than just trotting around and less strain on his joints! He's such a good boy!

THEN Fred's rider (Kelly) showed up, and Jeannie, and Nicole and Corey! Full house! While Dennis told Kelly all about the Muley One, Nicole and I tacked him up, and she did some more groundwork with him. (She's the Brunette Beotch from Hell. LoL), then hopped on and she warmed him up W/T, while I threw down some cavaletti for Sherwood's future workout. Mind you, Nicole and I together are kind of... a bad idea. We just egg each other on to do more and more stuff. Watch the progression.

Nicole: "Oh, I'll just trot him around a bit and make sure his steering is still there from when we last worked him (last summer)."
Me: "Okay!"
Me after watching her trot him around for a bit: "So... cavaletti?"
Nicole (pondering): "Yeah, okay!"
Me: "I'll just put 2 down."
They go over it a couple times, he gets the hang of it, and...
Me: "Three?"
Nicole: "Sure! why not??"
And there we had Fred going over three cavaletti for the first time ever, on his first ride of the year. Lovely!

Later...

Me: "Hey Nicole, while Fred's busy with Kelly- she's doing great with him!- wanna hop on Sher?"
N: "Hells yes! I wanna see what you're bringing to the show grounds next weekend!"
A(me) after tacking up, Nicole warming her up, and watching them trot around: " So... we've been working on crossrails... Wanna try?"
N: "Sure!"
Long story short, because I'm sick of typing Ns and As and quotation marks!

I gave Nicole a whip because Sher was just being so.. Sherwood, which did the trick on the ground but prompted her to run out after her fences- Gah!! So Nicole got off and I hopped on with the whip, and immediately felt the difference in the Marish One- jet fuel!- so promptly dropped the whip and tried the fence (loose term for a 12-18" crossrail). No more running out, but still plenty forward on the flat. Yay!

Then we raised it to a 18" vertical, which was actually 2' bc whatever idiot made the fences (*whistles, looks away*) made the 18" mark at 22". Now, who can't use a ruler these days?? Honestly. We need to hire better help.
And... lo and behold, Sher likes her fences bigger! There's a bascule hiding in there! Who'd a thunk?

And onto today- we started with a crossrail, then put up one in a line, then raised one of them to a vertical for the last 2 jumps. Probably a total of 10 cross rails and 2 verticals. And you want to know who was an ANGEL through all of it? That's right. That'd be MY Sherwoodigans. I may have to stop calling her that... Hah. Let's not jump the gun!

Who we then promptly asked to step her front feet onto our makeshift mounting block (4'x4'x16" tall) and leapt on top of it, then fell/stumbled off sideways. (I made her do it again the right way after that. Damn these groundwork people making me think my horse is a mountain goat! See what happens?!)

Yes. I want to take this mare cross country.

I think.

Wish us luck in our Cross Rail Hunter classes next weekend!!