Isis is still lame today. We’re going to give her a bute tonight and tomorrow and see how she does. The liniment seems to be helping.

The lameness is very strange. It is worse going counterclockwise in the ring, and barely noticeable going the other way. Hard to pick out what is causing it when her feet are sore from the rocky trail.

Isis was incredibly sore the day after the trail ride. We both were; although she certainly was worse off. My legs were sore, but not bad. Her entire body was sore. She carefully walked around, picking her way through the paddock to walk over to me.

I rubbed her down with liniment and walked her in the ring for 15 minutes in hand. Enough time to get some exercise and stretch her muscles without working her too hard. She is still very lame.

Last night I was a little worried about riding Isis on the trail. Would she listen to me? Would she pay attention and not freak out? We’d never ridden in a wide open space or woods, much less with a horse she didn’t know.

Trail worries were soon replaced by trailering ones. Isis doesn’t load very well. Last time, it took several hours to get her to load. During the phone call last night, I warned my instructor, who reasssured me that she has a method for getting horses on the trailer that wasn’t stressful.

Isis obviously didn’t have my instructor’s confidence. She did not want to load onto the three horse gooseneck slant-load trailer. Didn’t matter that another horse was in the trailer already. So, my instructor attached the lounge line to Isis’ halter, pulled the line through the trailer window, and held the end. After about 30 minutes and some encouragement, Isis finally loaded.

She trailered beautifully to Norris and then didn’t want to unload. The trailer doesn’t have enough space for a horse to turn around; the only way off is to back off. Stepping off the back of the trailer must have been scary for her because she refused. After a *lot* of various tries, Isis finally got off (took over an hour). We promptly put her back on the trailer (add another 15 minutes) and then proceeded to take her off again (another 45 minutes).

By this time, I was a nervous wreck. Isis was dripping sweat. You could tell by her eyes that she wasn’t scared, she was just refusing to get off the trailer (even though she had gotten off before). She would put her foot down on the ground and then get back up into the trailer.

We finally got her back off the trailer. My instructor said okay, now we ride. Tough love. Isis had to understand that it wasn’t coddling time, it was work time and just because she had been a butt with loading didn’t mean she would get off easy. I tacked Isis up and we started up the trail…

Isis was amazing. She took everything in stride: cars moving down the road next to her, crossing water, motor cycles, etc. The first part of the trail was straight uphill, and that was hard. We stopped every few minutes and let the horses catch their breath.

Before we were half way through the ride, Isis was exhausted. She didn’t want to walk on the trail because of the stones, so she tried to go to one side or the other — often swiping me into a tree trunk. Other times, I’d try to keep her on the trail and she’d step in a pile of leaves (which I fretted over hidden holes).

I walked next to her for the last mile or so along a gravel road. She walked with a mincing, ouchy step, placing every foot very carefully. My instructor pointed out that sometimes horses need tough love, and that horses are pretty tough critters. Isis wouldn’t break. She’d be okay; I just had to relax and keep her moving. I was the one who had to calm down.

After we returned to the trailer, we loaded and unloaded Isis twice. Each time she improved. The last time, she loaded beautifully. We got Isis back to the barn, and she unloaded like a champ.

Isis was treated to a full body massage, liniment, brief sponge bath to remove the worse sweat stains, and plenty of hay. I napped when I got home.

Next time we ride on those trails, Isis will have protective slip-on shoes to prevent the stones from hurting her feet.

What a day for both of us. But good lessons.

Isis will (eventually) start lessons just like Logan has. He’s been doing very well and has been a real champ about it. He’s so much more fun to ride now.

Yesterday I lunged both Isis and Logan. Friday Isis had a full workout with a nice bath. Saturday was Logan’s turn for the majority of attention. It had been severl weeks since I’d done much with him. He saw the bit and actually wrapped his mouth around it immediately (normally it takes a minute or more to get him to open his mouth wide enough for the bit). That was amazing. He was definitely ready to work!

Logan was lunged in the surcingle and side-reins for about 30-45 minutes. He did very well. It’s amazing to see him start out with his head up and his back hollowed and then towards the end of the workout, his head is down, his back is lifted, and he’s getitng his legs underneath him. It’s like watching an entirely different horse move. Lovely to see. After cooling him off, he enjoyed a solid scrubbing and bath. Little pristine booger went out and rolled while I was lunging Isis.

Isis is still on a slow build-up regimen to regain some of her strength. Instead of using the surcingle and side-reins, Isis was free-lunged in the big arena. As usual, she had a few times around to run and play before we got in to work. She settled right in and did 20 minutee of walk and trot with push-button ease. She was great.

I was so pleased with both of them that I called my riding instructor to update her on their progress. She was delighted — and then asked if I would like to take one of the horses on a trail ride. Sure, I thought, I’ll have a few days, maybe a week to get them ready and myself mentally prepared… No such luck.

The trail ride is tomorrow morning!

Several times over the summer I’ve though caught glimpes of a shadow-cat wandering around the house. Is it my eyesight? A left-over of the floating filiments seen in migraine-inspired sight? I’m not sure. The shape always seems to be Basette-sized, slipping around the edges of my vision. It’s comforting to think she might drop in every now and then and visit.

Shadows like memories filter through the morning mist
like dust particles speckling light
A shadow crosses the room
little black bedwarmer fleeing sight?

This has been a mixed day with some excellent news! This morning the vet came out to examine Isis again to make sure she is sound. After the routine exam, the vet watched Isis trot in the ring.

She’s sound alright. Only a sound horse would try to kick me with her back feet while we were trotting! She has never done anything like that before! I apologized to the vet and immediately corrected Isis, then continued to trot until she quit raising her back leg towards me. The vet said she understood and was actually glad to see someone not letting a horse get away with potentially dangerous. The remnants of the hurricane had passed through the night prior, and the vet pointed out that Isis had probably been in her stall for over 24 hours and was glad to be out.

Official prognosis is that Isis is sound and is ready to get back into work! Gently and carefully at first. We can do conditioning up and down hills, but not trotting on the hills. Not yet at least. One or two months of that plus free lunging in the ring so Isis can build up her strength going around corners on her own without the pull from a lunge line.

After the vet left, I turned Isis out in the ring to give her some excersise since she was obviously wound. Oh my was she wound! She took off at a full gallop, curled her tail over her back, and snorted several times as she whipped around the ring. Definitely felt good.

It was beautiful to see her really moving and not showing one bit of lameness.