Life has been hectic, to say the least. The new job I started in January has been good, but it’s a lot more time and focus than my previous gig. Also more travel: I’ve visited Miami, Malaga in Spain, and soon San Francisco. No complaints. It is fun and interesting work, if a bit stressful…
It’s been a very long, muddy winter. And fall, and most of the previous summer too. I had a curious confluence of events that kept me feeling slightly overwhelmed. You know, that feeling where you are juggling everything but can not add one more ball to the mix without dropping everything. So I didn’t blog….
December 4th was my first concert with RTOOT. So. Much. Fun. Even with all of the other crazy stuff going on, I’m really glad I’ve been playing with them. Four oboes in an orchestra. Who would have thought that would work? The theme for the concert was “Ten years of terrible,” since this was the…
I used to play oboe in high school. I was never super good, but I enjoyed playing. Our band director was an oboist and her expectations for me were a lot more than what I was going to ever do. Band class was fun but my first love was writing. Practice at home for 30-60…
After her hock issues, we’ve been evaluating everything with Kasane to try and help her as much as we can. The farrier was out and had a good talk with my vet about some shoe ideas for Kasane. She has her front shoes on backwards now. This helps alleviate pressure from her front suspensory issue…
Kasane is finally home. She came home a few days earlier than expected and she is immediately settling in. She is so happy to be here. Not as happy as I am to have her home. Now begins the recovery process: stall rest followed by small paddock turnout followed by more small paddock turnout. Eventually, in-hand…
My vet called with some good news for Kasane. The synovial fluid test and culture came back today. Preliminary culture results are no growth. Yay! The ultrasound of her joint fluid looked clear with moderate synovial thicking. This is some of the best news we could have had because it means that there is no…
My vet is awesome. She has been keeping me updated on how Kasane is doing. She’s had her hocks lavaged twice she since arrived at the hospital. She’s done well both times. Today, the joint was not as distended. Here’s what my vet said: The joint fluid has some blood in it from the synovial…
Yesterday, Kasane’s hocks were swollen: soft swelling like too much joint fluid. My vet said that if we found any swelling, to contact her immediately. She came out 30 minutes after I sent her pictures of Kasane’s hocks. The result from the vet visit is that Kasane has had a reaction to the joint injection…
Saddle trial achievement unlocked! This past weekend, my friend helped me put the initial ride on Breezy. And today, we had our third ride in her new saddle. We’re taking things really easy. Our rides are 10-15 minutes max. She’s starting off in the rope halter because she’s currently teething. I ask her for a…
A friend of mine is helping me get Breezy ready for her first ride. I’ve done all of the basics: ground driving, bitting, saddling, and the like. I’ve leaned on her back, put weight in the stirrup, and she’s been like “Oh hi, what are you doing?” No panics, no worries, just accepting that her…
Kasane did very well over the summer with riding and lessons. We had improved so much. And then we had two hurricanes back to back and lots of rain. When I got back on her finally, it was like riding a different horse. She felt stiff behind and did not want to move freely like…
Everything has been fine, post-Florence. The hurricane itself took a more southerly path and pretty much avoided my area entirely. Horses were fine in the barn. We got some rain and big gusts, but no damage to my property or at the barn. We were lucky. The worst part was the rain that followed the…
My secondary phone line (used for work) is on a ZTE Axon 7 running Android 7.1.1. A little while ago, I found an app that was running called SystemUpdates by Zzte. The app can not be uninstalled nor easily disabled. (You can use Settings > Apps > Show system apps > System Updates > disable,…
Thirteen years ago, my horse somersaulted and landed on me when we were cantering during a riding lesson. I don’t remember what happened exactly. We were cantering down the long side at the end of the lesson and she felt magnificent: strong impulsion, light in my hands, and then something. The world spun and I…