Breezy was having some trouble when lunged and also some tripping under saddle. She tossed her head cantering on the lunge line and didn’t look right. I couldn’t quite spot the issue though, so we rode a little. When I asked for trot, she tripped a little. I stopped the ride at this point because she didn’t feel right. It’s easy to overlook the front feet when you’re seeing an issue on the...
Continue reading...Kim (Ceffyl)
Three years since Breezy’s first rides
Three years ago, Breezy had her first baby rides. One of her first rides was actually a saddle test session. The saddle fitter noted that Kasane’s saddle wouldn’t fit Breezy and recommended Passier Compact. The local saddle shop had one in the right width, so I went and picked it up on trial. It fit Breezy great. My first ride on her was actually in the Passier. It was very comfortable. Too bad...
Continue reading...Last Call memorial poem for Vania Smrkovski
My friend Vania Smrkovski passed away at the end of June. His celebration of life/memorial service was Monday, July 19th, in downtown Knoxville. Most of the people knew Vania from his theatre and film work, but some of us knew him from college and work.
Continue reading...Breezy glamour shots
Breezy is now six and has matured into a stunning mare. She’s such a ham and loves showing off. My mom is going to a large show this summer and wants me to take Breezy. I’m not sure I’ll be able to so I wanted to do a photoshoot so mom would have some pictures. I have a Pentax K-1 Mark ii (full-frame sensor) and a Pentax K-3 (ASP-C crop sensor). I used...
Continue reading...Hidalgo re-watch
Tack cleaning time, so I always watch a horse movie when cleaning the saddle and bridle. The choice for tonight was Hidalgo. It is such a pleasure to see Viggo Mortensen ride. Because he can actually ride and is a horse person. He apparently did most of the riding himself, including the bareback gallop at the end of the movie. Also, the horse is listed in the pop-up credits on Amazon Prime. That...
Continue reading...Surfacing
There are owls outside in the woods, hooting and echoing to each other. The cat ignores them, languorous on the cat tree, awaiting royal attention. She doesn’t feel the stress of my days except when it is all too much. Then she reaches a paw out and taps my hand, reminding me that the center of the world does indeed exist and needs to be petted. We all must pay the pet tax....
Continue reading...Breezy has come a long way
Breezy’s first saddle was a Passier Compact. It was very comfortable, but she outgrew it over the winter. I took the saddle on trial for a weekend knowing I’d be able to return it if it didn’t fit. So our first ride was in the Passier Compact. The trial was over three rides, number three is in the video below. That winter we barely had any rides because of the weather. Everything was...
Continue reading...Miss A and Miss B save the day
Or maybe just save my sanity. It’s been five months since Kasane died. I realized this afternoon when a friend of mine asked what had happened. I looked at the clock and realized it was almost the same time I had made the decision to put Kasane down. 4:30 PM. I held it together long enough to get through the last meeting of the day, and then I lost it. All of the...
Continue reading...Stay-at-home orders and riding
I have avoided posting on here since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out mostly because I write about my time with the horses. There has been a lot going on, with fallout from Kasane’s passing, Andromeda arriving, and Breezy deciding she was going to be a Royal Chestnut Mare. The stay-at-home orders that were enacted in North Carolina initially said that while people were supposed to stay at home, they could still go out...
Continue reading...Humor: Equine social distancing
All you need is a fly mask and a grazing muzzle and you’re golden! Ready for our outing to Cosco! That’s Isis in her grazing muzzle and fly mask. She had to wear a grazing muzzle any time she was in a field with any amount of grass. She had equine metabolic syndrome. Think of it like a pre-diabetic condition in horses. She couldn’t have the sugar in the grass so she either...
Continue reading...Wonkiness when riding
I am a reasonable rider. I have a good seat and most of the things that Breezy does when she is um… “asserting” her opinion I don’t have any trouble staying on. What got me was when she started getting nervous or jittery in the ring a few weeks ago. I’d get on her and it felt like I was riding a taught rubber band. Wound, like she could take off or explode...
Continue reading...Introducing Andromeda
Andromeda arrived from Texas today after a long ride with Blue Ribbon Horse Transportation. She was a brave girl and walked down the ramp from her box stall and into her new paddock. https://photos.app.goo.gl/R4tvNkmwUAG7sFgHA She settled in and said hello to all of her neighbors. This will be a new adventure for both of us. I’ve had primarily Arabians and she is the first Lipizzan. We’ll get to know each other and hopefully...
Continue reading...Migraine today, thank you weather
I managed to work through a sinus headache today because, at the time, it wasn’t interfering with my reading. Until the weather front really got here and now it’s like a pounding headache that hurts whether my eyes are open or closed, whether I look at a computer screen or not. Nausea is also not a fun thing. I am supposed to have a riding lesson tomorrow. If this headache keeps up, it...
Continue reading...Reclaiming space
My friend and I are supposed to have riding lessons on Saturday. It’s supposed to rain Friday night and part of Saturday morning, so there is a chance things will be too wet to ride. Before my ride, my friend suggested maybe we could haul our horses to my instructor’s barn and use her indoor arena. This would normally seem like a perfectly reasonable solution since Breezy has had her first trailering lesson...
Continue reading...Riding through grief
Grief does weird things to your head. It makes you feel fragile, as if any little thing might make you react in a way that might not be appropriate to the situation. That first week after Kasane died, I visited with Breezy a lot. Mostly just stood out in her field with her or groomed her. Just to be near my girl but not putting myself into a situation where I might not...
Continue reading...