Gah. It’s been a bad two years, pandemic aside. Here is a summary of what happened. I have wanted to write up blog posts to cover all of these things, but honestly it’s been too much. I’d start to write and just get overwhelmed by everything.
It has been very hard.
The good
- Andromeda got seriously under saddle! She’s a great little riding horse, although we haven’t quite mastered cantering under saddle. Because of Things. She was the highlight for mid to late 2022.
- Started a new job in April 2022 with awesome new team. It’s great to be at a place where every team member puts in effort and truly makes a difference.
- Found an awesome new boarding barn and moved the girls to their own field in April 2023.
- Continuing lessons with my amazing Dressage instructor.
- I went on a tour of sites from the Sound of Music with other horse people and got to visit the Spanish Riding School! I met Andromeda’s relatives. 🙂
- Back to riding Breezy after a year off due to lameness, fetlock surgery, and ulcers. She’s fully recovered, although I still get a little nervous about ulcers returning.
- Found a new farrier and chiropractor for new barn. Both excellent!
- Went to two conventions this past year, one in February and the other in October, for science fiction and fantasy. AND I talked to publishers who are interested in seeing my stories. Woohoo!
- I completed and submitted a short story for the first time in years.
The bad
- Breezy had intermittent lameness from October 2021 through November 2022. The lameness evaluations showed that she had a bone chip in her front left fetlock and needed surgery. Got that fixed and then she still had hind-end lameness, which thankfully were corrected with shoeing.
- Job stress. About the same time as Breezy’s lameness issues happened, my job became very stressful so I looked for a new one. Started new job in April 2022. Much better.
- New barn search. Barn owners told us boarders they were going to retire in two years in late 2021. My new boarding bard search started in earnest in December 2022. I had been at my old barn for 14 years and did not want to leave. I contacted or visited over 20 barns. But I did move all of us in April 2023.
- Breezy was diagnosed with ulcers February 2023. She was treated with Ulcergard for six weeks and then scoped to check a week before we moved the girls to their new barn. And boy, she had bad ulcers. The vet prescribed another med for a month to help her recover. She fully recovered.
- Andromeda had lameness issues (video playlist of lameness issues) from March 2023 through October 2023 and Scary potential diagnosis. She had an abscess last March and apparently tweaked her lumbar at the same time. Andromeda had the chiropractor and bodywork people out to try to help her recover. Two vets thought possible degenerative suspensory ligament disease, an issue where collagen in ligaments/tendons is replaced by cartilage resulting in a painful condition. There are no treatments. You keep the horse comfortable and see how it progresses.
Vet said to get Andromeda in shape and then we’d check for DSLD. Started riding to get her in shape and Andromeda ended up with another abscess, thin soles, lameness evaluation, etc. She has Scoot boots now, too. She’s recovered from the secondary issues and we’re back to riding when winter weather permits. She looks fine, but we have to get her in shape to have a real evaluation done. - I lost the friendship with my best friend. (Not going into any details, but it took a major emotional toll on me right when Breezy was going through lameness and surgery.)
- Breezy tripped while we were riding on November 4, 2023, and landed on me. I have my fourth sprain on my right ankle. Currently going for physical therapy and I can’t ride in stirrups — yet.
The ugly
The horrible trifecta of fall 2022:
- My sister’s son, Nick, died on a Monday.
- My sister’s daughter, Aloyna, died that Wednesday.
- Thanks to a hurricane, a tree fell on my house that Friday.
Where has Ceffyl been?
Quite honestly, I haven’t had the emotional energy to write anything. I couldn’t face trying to explain the continuing stress and trauma that the pandemic years have dumped on me, my family, and my horses. Writing about these events causes you to relive them. I didn’t want to do that.
I wanted to be able to share some bits of joy or things I learned. Every time I came back to the blog to write, I’d end up looking at the pictures of my sister and her (missing) kids or watching a video of Andromeda and wondering if I would lose her early because of DSLD.
It wears on you. I did find a good counselor and that’s helped, but it’s hard. The counselor helps me consider and dig into things. I’m thankful for that. It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made to give myself that emotional support.
