Now's The Time

I often see time as the enemy, an opponent, or adversary I am up against.  If I just had a little more of it, then maybe I wouldn't run out of it.  We've all heard these sayings; "No time like the present," "Just do it" (now, not later), and "The clock is ticking."  I am trying not to put things off, especially what seems important to me, and take action immediately instead of waiting.  Sometimes, "time is of the essence," other times, "to every thing there is a season," and it is better to wait on some things.

Monday 3/25 - It was late to bed the night before (having arrived home from RTTH after 10 pm), so I was late to rise.  Jim Kellogg, who was visiting, was up shortly after I, so when he came down from the upstairs guest quarters, he got a big ssg from me.  It was so good to see him again after way too long!  I am so glad he decided to act on the invitation to visit, sooner than later.  Now was the time.

I had planned to work on my RTTH blog but visiting with Jim was a priority.  It was so good to catch up with him and hear about his family and life.

Rain was in the forecast, and a bit spotty, so when it had cleared off some, we walked the loop of the Seven Bridges trail.  Maggie absolutely loved Jim.

A load of laundry and dishes were tackled and then I went to the barn and wrangled Zorro and Amiga.  I love that he always comes when anyone calls.  I got them both cleaned up and then rode Amiga bareback out front until Jim and Joe arrived.  They saw our Paso Finos, toured the barn, and then left.  Amiga had been such a handful, I put a saddle on her and worked her a little more intentionally.  She felt great (balanced) with two shoes now on the front hooves.  We got sprinkled on once and then when the rain got heavier I rode back to the barn.







You can see the skies threatening to rain.









I spent two hours at the gym, getting in a good, although difficult, workout.


Photo of the boys at Red's earlier in the week.





Once home, I had little time to make a fruit salad, and head over to Brian's with the guys.  Brian and Jim sure enjoy their dark, craft beers.  I kept mine light.  Brian cooked us a great chicken and mashed potato dinner and even included a vegetable - green beans.  It was all very tasty.

Tuesday 3/26 - It was a gorgeous day.  Again I didn't have much time to blog because I was chatting with Joe and Jim.  Once they headed out to golf, I did another load of laundry, my Bible Study homework, and had lunch.  This herd of eight deer came through after the corn was long gone, but drank water from the pond and creek (video).






I went straight to the barn after Bible Study and concluded the afternoon with a wonderful ride.  Jan and I were together much of the time, but also went our separate ways.














Amiga walked calmly down the trail (video) as we rode away from Jan and Cash.






I took her to the Holly trail while Jan rode in the bean field.  Jan is the little dot you see that Amiga is looking at in this photo.  Once Amiga saw Cash, she got a little more revved up.  She wanted to gait down the Holly Trail (video) so I let her, until we got to the hill.



We walked down and across the creek before returning back to the barn where I worked her some more.

Again I had to rush to clean up and get ready to go out to eat.  Jim treated Joe and I to dinner at Dublin's Crossing.  I had a great Irish soup and side dish.  Jim keeps similar hours as me, early to bed and early to rise, so Joe has been following suit.

Wednesday 3/27 - Jim and his wife Laurie (who was back home in Illinois working) have decided to seriously pursue moving to Fairfield Glade, so he packed up and left fairly early to meet with a relator before hitting the road for home.  Joe headed out to golf and I did some blogging.






The Lenten Rose I planted out back a few years ago, remains untouched by the deer.  I need to remove leaves from flower beds, but it is futile because they keep blowing over from the golf course behind Brian's.  So when the golf course workers started blowing the leaves into a pile, I was quite happy.

Wednesday was now the time to do appointments that were way past due.  So I headed off to the hospital for my pre-colonoscopy apt. (last one 12 years ago), a mammogram (last one 4 years ago), and a bone density (done 3 years ago) to see if the pre-osteoporosis found back then was any better.

By the time I did a bunch of shopping, it was 6pm when I got home.  After I and the pets ate dinner, I took Maggie for a 40 minute walk.  I noticed that the golf course workers left the leaf piles.

Thursday 3/28, shortly after sun-up, the workers were back, raking and collecting leaves, and hauling them away.  Yay!

I went to the Ballet Barre class which gave me enough of a muscle workout I didn't feel the need to do weights.  Then I went to Zumba and got in a great cardio workout while enjoying moving to the Latino music.

Home for a big salad for lunch and I lounged in the sun with Joe.  I read and napped out there also.

Next on my agenda was riding with Jan.  Amiga was already in her stall for the night (before 4pm).  After she finished eating her grain I tacked her up.  When I got on, she immediately didn't feel right.  Sure enough, she was quite lame, this time on her back left leg.  I was so discouraged and frustrated.  I have been slowly working her back up from lameness due to the abscess in the front right hoof.  She had been doing so well and coming along nicely.  Polly and I felt and saw nothing wrong with her leg or hoof, but I gave her Prevocox and soaked her hoof and fetlock in Epson salt for 30 minutes, thinking maybe it was another abscess.



I needed to vent some negative mood, so after I fed Maggie, I took her for a nice long walk.  We started out in back for a look around.  Many more leaves have blown into and washed down the drainage ditch.  Hopefully, one more removal will do it for this season.

Then it was beer and popcorn for dinner while I watched Survivor with Joe.  They have added some interesting twists this year.  So new surprises keep occurring.

Friday 3/29 - I was back at the barn at 8am to check on Amiga's leg.  She did not show any lameness, so I put her out with the mares.  Judy and I chatted a moment and then as I was fixin' to leave, a couple from Colarado came to pick up Cookie to take her home with them.  As I left, Boz was staring in the direction of where he had last seen Cookie (they were good friends).  He didn't move as I drove off.  Chester on the other hand was relaxing in his hole by the rocks (see him?).  I am sure he will not miss her pestering him.


I got back to my second cup of tea and my computer when I got home.  I interspersed blogging with several phone calls, sending e-mails, baking beer bread and doing a load of laundry.

Mid afternoon I went back to the barn to check on Amiga.  Patty was there working with and loving on Zorro.  I brought Amiga in and noticed she was still kind of lame periodically on the back left leg.  I decided to ride at a slow walk, for just a little bit to see how she felt.  I was not happy with what I saw and could feel.  Amiga was lame off and on.  We think it is her stifle.  It was like her leg would get in a certain position and she couldn’t move it very well, and then it would go back and be okay.  I had heard a pop when I lifted her hoof to put it in the bucket to soak the night before, and Judy, Yvonne, and I heard it when I was walking and turned her.


I read that "injuries to the ligaments of the equine stifle generally result from a combination of speed and rotation, quick changes of direction and other missteps a horse may take when traveling at speed or when out of balance.  Not just athletic horses, but any “pasture potato” can incur a stifle injury from direct trauma, such as kicks, slips, falls or problems often associated with bad footing from wet, or muddy conditions.  Horses with weak stifles may stumble more frequently; they may fall out behind; and their stifle joints may even make popping or clicking noises."

Another article about locking stifle said: "Normally, the ligament slides out of the notch when the horse swings its leg forward as it begins to walk. If the ligament gets hung up and doesn’t slip into an unlocked position, the hind leg can’t be flexed forward and the horse has to drag the stiffened limb forward for a few steps before the ligament releases. This is commonly known as a locking or sticking stifle. While veterinarians term the condition “upward fixation of the patella,” old-time horsemen have a simpler descriptive phrase: “That horse is stifled.” They might add, “Back him up a few steps to get it to release,” and this trick often works."  I think it is going to take more than just a few tricks to fix Amiga.  She just seems to continually be afflicted with one issue or another.  I think she is too fragile for the kind of riding I want to do.  And as much as I love her, I am wondering if now's the time to replace her, in all fairness to both of us.

Feeling even more discouraged, I came home, had a light dinner, and walked Maggie before getting ready to go out.  There was a little incident with the new neighbor's dog, which prolonged my walk and shook Maggie up, but thankfully no harm done.  But then I had to really hustle to get to the Conference Center in time for the dance.

Sherri had invited me while at Ballet Barre and I sat with her, her parents and their neighbors.  It was an enjoyable evening, and there was plenty of dancing going on.  There was a table near us and the dance floor, with eight gals enjoying a ladies night out.  I recognized several of them, especially those who love to dance.

Saturday 3/30 - I forgot to mention that Joe left for Phoenix at 2am Friday morning, so dog walking was all my responsibility.  With another horse lameness issue, I was also mentally preoccupied and frustrated.  Still trying to get the RTTH blog finished, I was having difficulty.  Feeling somewhat defeated makes me want to shut down and just sit home.

I decided to give Amiga complete rest, so did not put her out with the mares but put her in the dry lot.  It is next to the gelding pasture, so Zorro and Cash came over to investigate and say hi.






I did get in a good weight workout, bought groceries, and neatened up around the house.  I went back out to the barn to give Zorro his shot that we had held off on.  Cheryl did it for me and then I lunged Zorro (video) to get his blood flowing and hopefully prevent any soreness from the shot.  Amiga was still acting sore, off and on while walking, and especially when turning her.  She also had troubles stepping back on her back left leg.


I had taken Maggie to the barn with me and we went on a 90 minute walk before returning home for dinner.









I was trying to blog before bed, but hit the hay early because I couldn't stay awake.  I had gotten up too early, unable to go back to sleep when I woke at 3am, because I was ruminating about Amiga.


Sunday 3/31 - It was very windy and rained during the night and again I woke up way too early.  At least I could turn lights on and not worry about making noise because Joe wasn't home.



I waited till 4:30 am to walk Maggie, and she had gotten all riled up along Lakeview.  It was dark, but I could see the shape of a large object in the road.  I moved the dog quickly away and home.  Then at our 7:30 walk, I saw a ginormous opossum trying to walk.  It was in the road going in circles.  I was just too spent emotionally (because of Amiga) to deal with this poor creature.  I was hoping it would survive.  I did not see it on my way driving to Church so was more hopeful.  But then on my way to the barn, I saw it in the yard not far from where it had gotten hit, making it's way towards this house.  I was still cheering for it to survive, but by later in the day, by the steps of the house is where it breathed it's last breath.

When I went to give Amiga her Prevocox, I first checked on Zorro.  Thankfully he did not have a reaction from the shot and I sent Courtney this selfie of me with him.  The situation with Amiga was worse.  She was much more lame.  Brooke had put her in the dry lot since it had worked well the day before.  Well, she said Amiga was running around like a crazy girl.  Scout was with her when I got there and she was quiet but really favoring her back right leg.  Pat looked at Amiga.  When she pressed on her hip muscle, Amiga really gave.  She also has a kind of fluid build up (pocket) there.  And then we all noticed the muscle at her stifle was spasming.

I was so discouraged when I got home, I started actively pursuing getting another horse.  Now's the time I thought.  But when I thought about getting rid of Amiga, I got all teary-eyed and had no idea what to do.

I really needed to make progress reading John for my Bible study, so laid on the floor in the sun to do so.  Monita came to nap by me, making it difficult.





Pretty soon Stevie joined Monita and I, and it wasn't long before I gave in to sleep and took a nap.






Now's the time I thought when I woke up, to get outside for some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise.  Maggie jumped into the back of my car and we drove up to Good Samaritan's and hiked a trail and a few neighborhoods.  We were gone nearly two hours.

I got news that Joe had placed 12th in the poker tournament, which will at least cover his entry fee and the cost of his trip to Phoenix and back.  (And here I was hoping he would stay in the 2nd place position he had started the day in, and bring home horse buying money.)
It was a late dinner but early to bed for me.

RTTH

RTTH - Road to the Horse - I spent an extended weekend in Lexington, at the Kentucky Horse Park, with saddle sisters Judy, Jan, Patty, Shirley, Deana, and Polly, to watch this four day event which strives to entertain and educate fans in the art of natural horsemanship as they start untouched three year old colts.

The main competition was between two returning champions, Vicki Wilson and Nick Dowers.  There were also three wild cards, who competed against each other; Ben Baldus, Wade Black, and Booger Brown (whom I enjoy watching on the reality series Cowboy Way).




The main event (where we spent most of our time) occurred at the Alltech Arena and included the remuda (when all the untouched, three-year-old American quarter horse colts were driven in).  Clinics by each competitor were given, followed by three days of round pen work with each trainer working the colts they chose.  Vendors and exhibitors were present, and there were lots of other horse related activities such as wild west entertainment, rodeo riding, and the Percheron demonstrations.

Nick Dowers                 Vicki Wilson                 Ben Baldus                   Wade Black                      Booger Brown

Thursday 3/21 - My adventure started at 6:30 am, loading into the car with Jan, Mike and Polly.  Mike dropped us three ladies off at our meeting point and we climbed into Deana's truck and headed toward the eastern sunrise and Kentucky.  (Patty, Shirley, and Judy joined us Friday.)














Just outside of Lexington we stopped at Horseshoes Kentucky Grill, for a late lunch.  We really enjoyed the food and ambience of this little restaurant.



Then we went straight to the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park.  (A couple dozen of the photos I have included are from the RTTH Facebook page, no photographer's names available.)

The right photo was taken day two, of Deana and I by her truck.

 

The day wasn't very sunny and there was a cool nip in the air, but at least it wasn't raining.

We arrived in time to watch Vicki put on a clinic, mostly talking about helping your horse to be sound, balanced, and without pain because these things can cause behavioral issues.



Then Nick Dowers talked about how he trains and what he does on his ranch.

Nick explained the importance of giving your horse a job to break up the monotony of training and make it fun for you and your horse.

His son Crue was riding around on a little pony the whole hour and doing some roping on this dummy practice 'steer.'  This little pony cantered around the arena during half the program.

There was an almost three hour break, so we went to the Clarion (10 minutes away) and got checked in.  This is the lobby area where we met for a cowboy breakfast each morning.  We grabbed a quick dinner at their bar and grill and were back at the arena just in time for the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the running of the Remuda, to get a first look at the colts.

Two Percheron pulled the stage coach around the arena for a few laps and did figure eights.

 
Buffalo Bill had some impressive rope handling skills, but most of it was done from the ground.  I'd rather watch people riding.

Other riders in costume also paraded around.

And then finally the Remuda.  The colts were driven in by the 4-6's ranchers.  These young horses eventually got relaxed enough, they decided to roll.  It was fun to watch them just be horses, even though this setting was so different than the ranch in Texas they had come from.

We got back late and went right to bed.

Friday 3/22 - After our big (complimentary) breakfast, with second coffee and tea in hand, we hit the road.










Jan, Polly, and Deana parked at the arena.








Deana's truck was so comfortable and such a nice ride I had to get a photo of the whole vehicle.

We had plenty of extra time, so after putting coats and day bags at our seats, we went shopping.  We kind of split up, some hitting different booths, the rest room, and walking around.  It was so funny, when we got back, Deana and I had both, independently, bought these handy hair ties that the sales lady put in our hair for us.

Opening ceremonies soon started.  After singing of our national anthem, we heard the singing of Vicki's national anthem from New Zealand.











The roper and trick rider who had performed the night before did the same exact routine.  I did not get photos of her riding the first time, because I didn't know it was coming.  The horse was running full out, so flew by.










This time there were four Percherons pulling the stage coach, instead of two.



They did the running of the Remuda (video) again and then the selection process began.














They picked numbers and Vicki got to choose first.  She (as did the cowboys) went right in among the horses to look them over.  Nick picked 2nd, 3rd and 5th and Vicki 4th and 6th.  Then the three wild card competitors made their selection, only having one horse to work with.

There was a long break while round pens were set up.  We each grabbed a bite to eat at one of the vendor food booths and the other car load of ladies (Shirley, Judy, and Patty) arrived.  They were just in time for the wild card competition.






The three competitors were each in one of the three round pens.  Booger Brown was nearest to us with Ben Baldus to the back left and Wade Black back right.





I was really cheering for Booger Brown because I enjoy his reality show, Cowboy Way.  Unfortunately, he had a mishap with the tarp getting caught on his horse's head, scaring his buckskin.



Winning the horse's trust back was going to take a long time.






His buckskin got the nick-name Bucky, because when Booger first got the saddle on him, this (video) is what happened.  The three wild card competitors trained for almost two hours.

Another long intermission occurred while the round pens were changed from three to two, but three 'holding pens' were also added to each.  Then Vicki (my favorite) and Nick started working with their three colts.  They had four hours, with a 15 minute break, in which to work with their three horses in any order and amount of time they chose to spend with each.





It was interesting to see how they worked with the different 'personalities' of these horses, some requiring more time than others.  They would put one, two, or all three together to boost one's courage or let another watch and process what was happening.



Throughout the weekend, the horsemanship and good sportsmanship displayed by all five competitors was phenomenal, and I think amazed the fans, crew, and judges.  You could tell their comradery for each other and their passion for the horses was extraordinary.




It was quite late by the time we left the arena.  We went to Cracker Barrel on our way back to the hotel.  And it was even later (after 10pm) by the time we got to bed.

Saturday 3/23 - We all made our way to breakfast at different times, sitting and lingering over conversation and hot caffeinated brew.  And then we were off to the stadium for the opening ceremonies.




















The trick rider made three passes around the stadium, at a run, and I was able to get a photo of each of her poses.

The rope trick guy did the same stuff, but the Percheron were in a team of six this time, pulling the stage coach.

Round pens were then set up like they had been the day before and the wild card competition soon got underway.  During down time, we ladies (especially me) got up to walk around and/or shop (not so much me, although I bought a new cowboy hat).




The training included introduction to more obstacles and the competitors could take their colt out of the round pen into the arena space for a total of only 20 mins.







Booger again might have been pushing Bucky too hard, but he was running out of time.  And Bucky, true to his name, put on a big bucking display and Booger was eventually sent flying.  It took awhile for Booger to catch him, and once back in the saddle, he couldn't get Bucky to go back into the round pen.


Meanwhile, in a second round pen, Wade (pictured here) was making great progress with his colt, as was Ben (pictured below) in the third round pen.

There was a long break to convert the three round pens to two.  They took them all down, raked the whole arena, and set them up again.  So I did my walking outside.










I thought this was a family of ducks on a near by pond because there was a lot of quacking, but once I enlarged the photo, I saw the turtles.


All of the security in the horse park and around the arena were on horseback.  This would be a cool job to have, if I didn't have to carry a gun or deal with any confrontations.  🤠

When the second training session was ready to begin, Nick's three horses were herded in, and then Vicki's.  Her round pen was right in front of us.







First, Nick and Vicki were allowed to eliminate one horse from the competition.  They would be riding two through the obstacle course the following day.  They were given three hours to work with their two horses.



Oh, this photo from Facebook must have been taken on Friday, when Nick was working all three of his colts in unison.  It was an amazing display of horsemanship!

He eliminated the palomino and Vicki one of her better horses because she said he was still too herd bound.  It took the wranglers a long time to split him up from the other two horses to take him away.

My eyes were mostly on Vicki since she was right in front of us, and was my favorite.  She practiced riding both horses in and out of the round pen, opening the gate herself.  When she and Nick rode outside the round pen, they both let their horses explore, just trying to get them to be brave and keep moving forward.  The horses could really pick up speed, turn, and stop on a dime as they moved about with a very loose rein.  A lot of good riding was observed.






We got back to the hotel much earlier than the previous two nights and all met down in the lobby to enjoy a drink together.


While sitting and chatting with snacks and drinks, one of the announcers, Craig Cameron, his wife, and their son, all dropped in and said hi.  We shared the wine and chatted with them for several minutes.  So cool!

We got back to our room much earlier than the two previous nights, so had some fun just hangin' out.  Girls will be girls.  Jan took this photo of Polly and I brushing our teeth at the same time.  We three eventually did succumb to sleep.

Sunday 3/24 - We packed up and checked out of the hotel and were at the arena for Cowboy Church by 9:30.  This was our first look at the day's obstacle course.

They started the opening ceremonies an hour early, so there was not much of a crowd.









I had been walking around, so took photos from the opposite side of the arena from where our seats were.

After the singing of both national anthems, the competition got underway, by first walking through the obstacle course with Craig Cameron, Vicki Wilson, Nick Dowers, Booger Brown, Wade Blake and Ben Baldus.








The three wild cards went first, starting with the last place contestant, Booger Brown.  He had incurred over an 18 minute penalty the day before when he couldn't get Bucky to go back into the round pen.  Which means he had less than two minutes to catch Bucky and get him out of the round pen.  Booger made the decision to not put the horse through the obstacles because the horse was not mentally able to handle it, so he just used the time to continue to work slowly with this horse.


Booger caught Bucky and led him out of the round pen, saddled him, and rode him around out in our end of the arena, working on trust, courage, and confidence in young Bucky's mind.  This would help to get this horse off to a good start.  I was so happy that Booger was more than fair to Bucky.  It wasn’t about winning the money... it was about treating his horse with respect.  His explanation about why he didn’t try the obstacle course was a HUGE lesson to audience members!

The race for the titles were very tightly contested in both the main competition and the wild card competition.  Ben Baldus did get his horse to push on the white roll bar to move the wagon towards the fort.  But Wade Black scored higher and won the wild card competition.







For the main event, Vicki went first with her two horses.  After 20 minutes of round pen work, contestants then had 35 minutes to do the rail work and then the obstacle course with each horse.


Vicki did a great job with both of her horses.  And then it was Nick's turn.














Vicki sat to watch Nick and Booger soon joined her.

Nick worked his magic with both his horses.

Through the weave poles.

The tarp was very difficult for all five horses, and was skipped by most after three tries.

The teeter totter was also a very difficult challenge, but pushing the wagon into the fort was basically impossible because it was too heavy.



The water pit with floating balls was extra credit and only accomplished by Nick on his second horse.


After all competitors had finished, it was hard to know who had won each contest.  We decided to wait for the results and for the crowd to clear.  Wade Black won the Wild Card event and Nick Dowers won the main event.

Since we had been snacking all day, we didn't stop for a late dinner, gained a time zone hour, had an uneventful drive, and still didn't get home until after 10:00.

What a fun weekend watching horses, great training, and skillful riding with my saddle sisters!