Barbed Wire

Aka that thing you never want your horse to come in contact with.

Last week I had Lily tied to the fence with her rope halter and I was getting ready to tack her up. I walk up to her, empty-handed, calm and happy, as I had really been looking forward to riding her. We were just going to do a dressagey ride in the paddock.

When I was within 2 feet of her, with her looking right at me, she had an EPIC MELTDOWN. As in head slinging, bucking on the end of the lead rope, flinging her legs every which way in such a manner that I could not get in front of her to release the quick-release knot on the rope. I did try, but that made her frenzy worse. She managed to knock her head on the fence too. I could only step back and watch her helplessly. You'll say that this is why horses should always wear breakaway halters. Well, I had a horse that learned he could pull and break the halter every. single. time. So after that I commonly do tie my horses with rope halters and a quick release knot, though for certain circumstances like trailering, they do wear nylon halters with leather breakaway crowns. I never wander far from a horse tied by a rope halter, and I've never had an issue with being able to get to the quick release knot in an emergency prior to this. 

She finally stopped and stood trembling, and I was able to release her without her losing her mind. I just wanted to sit on the ground and cry. I had no idea why she had just done this. Everyone loves her at this barn. It's just Zoe, Kathy and me, and I have seen Lily around them: she loves them too. A cold front was moving in on that day and the wind was starting to pick up, but we were on the back of the property where nothing was flapping or flying, there had been no odd sounds, no activity on the neighboring farm, nothing happening in the woods. I had ridden her the day before, a light ride to get her warmed up to being under saddle again after her 2-week vacation post Fort Valley 50. She had been a little weird on the ground but fine under saddle.

I untied her and tried doing some basic longing with her but she started tearing around me in terror, refusing to stop. I reeled her in before she could hurt herself.

My levels of upset skyrocketed. I did not know why she was acting this way and did not understand it, but it was a total and absolute regression to the way she used to be before, before I did all of the management changes and the trail riding and the confidence building. She was an emotional wreck and I couldn't understand why. She was not in heat and she has not been hurt by people in years. I've handled and ridden her in awful weather before and it has never been an issue. Heck, we even had a tree fall behind us on the trail a few weeks ago, and she just stood there without exploding while I braced, prepared for her to bolt. She turned her head to look at me, "Are you okay?" and we continued on our way down the trail.

I removed her lead rope and set her free in the paddock to let her run around while I stood in the center. And she relaxed. And then I decided to take her to the back field, the one by the park which is the 2nd largest on the property. I called Lily and she slowed to a walk but continued moving away from me. "Ven aca," I told her. The mare is bilingual. I talk to her in Spanish and most of the new commands I've taught her are in Spanish simply because it is my first language but the basic commands, "Walk", "Trot", "Up" to request the canter, "Easy", "Whoa," "Stand" and "Good girl!" are all in English because it's the language in which she was originally trained and she came to me knowing all of these. It is for her benefit that I've left these commands as is, because we live in a country where English is the first language.

I've used "Ven" to ask her to come to me. But I don't remember using "Ven aca" before. It means "Come here" and is used with more authority. More like "Come here NOW". To my surprise, Lily came to a full and sudden halt, turned and started walking towards me, ears pricked. I was shocked x2. First in that she had responded to a new command with the promptness it entailed and also because she had chosen to come to me at all at my bidding...and with a happy expression. When she is truly upset, there is no getting her to come to you.

She was reactive about me touching her, but she let me lead her by the halter to the back field. There she trotted and cantered at my requests and she gradually started closing the space between her and me until she was trotting and cantering on command in a 40 meter circle around me despite having a full acre to run on. I have not trained her to longe at liberty like that. I can get her to trot and canter from across a field, but the longing at liberty is something that she has chosen to start doing on her own over the last year and a half. Again she came when I called.

I did end up riding her, but we just walked and worked on stretching, relaxation and neck reining for 20 minutes. Nothing more. She was absolutely fine under saddle, just like she had been the day before.

I later talked to Zoe about the whole thing and she said Deja gets like that about static. It is still crazy to me that Lily would be SO reactive about even the possibility of static that she would hurt herself, but I started using Show Sheen under her sheet and blanket after that and wouldn't you know: no more static and no more spastic behaviors from her.

This past weekend Charles was off from work so he came out to ride with me. On Saturday we did a short ride in the park, where we covered 5 miles in 45 minutes. It was Charles's first time riding in the cold, as temps were in the low 40's with wind chills in the 30's. We moved out at a fairly fast pace to stay warm! And also to make it back to the barn before the dusk turned to night. We had so much fun, just trotting and cantering through the trees. There wasn't a soul in the park; we had it all to ourselves.The mares took turns leading and were forward and happy, Lily even pulling on the bit in her eagerness to go faster. It was a really great ride, and I felt like I had finally emerged from the funk that had slowly wrapped itself around me over the last few weeks.

On Sunday we went for another ride. It was slightly warmer at 42 degrees with no wind, and I had been hoping to do a longer ride: either 10 miles or 2 hours, whichever came first. We set out taking every single dead-end loop in the park to up the mileage in a way that would keep us from having to double back on any of the trails. 

There is a somewhat overgrown trail that follows the Hawlings River that looked like it had been cleared. We had never been down this particular trail but had been told of other riders that have used, so we set off to explore. 

The trail was narrow, though, with brush and trees on the right and an old barbed wire fence on the left. I warned Charles to be very careful with the barbed wire. We came to a small, rocky creek crossing where Lily hesitated initially. She crossed with minimal insistence from me but Gracie absolutely did not want to follow Lily through. After several attempts, Charles got off to try to lead her across but she planted her feet like a mule and refused. She was trembling despite his patient insistence and calm reassuring. I didn't like the way this was going though: you had to walk down an incline made up of rocks to then cross the small creek. If Gracie decided to rush forward or jump, the chances of Charles getting hurt were pretty high. There was no real room for him to get out of the way. "Let's call it," I told Charles. "Let's just turn around." To my chagrin, Charles led Gracie through a wide gap in the barbed wire fence. Someone had cut the wire previously; I could see it on the ground as Lily stepped carefully over it. I explained to Charles why he had to be REALLY careful about stepping over barbed wire.

It was an omen. 

This section led into the field at the bottom of the galloping hill that Kathy and I used to take all the time over the winter. We rode around the field and I was wondering why we hadn't ever explored it before. The tiny creek cut through it, creating a deep trench through the center of the field. Charles rode on ahead and I was watching the footing in front of us. Right when I though, "This is a flood plain. This is why I've always instinctively avoided it," and brought Lily to a halt, Gracie sank to her cannon bones in mud that was completely hidden by the grass some 100 feet in front of us. "Get out of there NOW!" I yelled at Charles. He swung Gracie around and we cantered towards the galloping hill, away from the creek. 

We galloped up the hill and walked down the side of it, Charles leading the way. We cantered down the grassy easement that flows out of the park and dead-ends at the gate to a neighboring farm. We turned around like we usually do, and walked back towards the woods.

Walking back up the easement

Instead of heading back towards the main trail, I decided to do the galloping hill backwards. At a walk, of course. That hill is way too steep to go down it at anything faster than a walk.

You can see the trail going up the hill off to Charles's left

I want to point out that I have ridden all over this hill multiple times. There is a trail that winds around the top of it that I had explored more than once over the summer. I have come across hikers, both alone and with dogs, on this hill, and this trail was shown to me by other trail riders at the previous barn. 

I had found the trail that goes around the top of the hill and Charles was riding ahead and to the side of me, some 20 meters away. The trail disappeared in the carpet of leaves and I decided to just turn around and go back to the main trail we always take. Lily suddenly stopped and I felt her wiggle a hind foot. 

"Wait, she's stuck," Charles said. I tried to turn around to see how she'd gotten stuck, assuming it was a branch and I just needed to make her back up. 

And that's when she lifted the hind foot and I saw the barbed wire wrapped around her fetlock. Brand new barbed wire that had been hiding under the leaves. I went to swing off of Lily, but that was the same instant she felt the wire embed itself in her skin and she lost her mind. I had my hands full trying to keep her from leaping forward and causing more damage to her leg. I was also afraid to jump off or throw myself off of her because I had no idea where the wire was and didn't want to get tangled in it myself. She kicked out...and the two strands of wire that were wrapped around her leg sprang out of the leaves, one on each side of Gracie. Who of course spooked and so Charles couldn't come to the rescue either: he had to keep a panicking Gracie within the two strands of wire so she wouldn't get tangled in them too. 

It was like something out of a freaking horror movie. Or War Horse. I had this momentary vision of the four of us ending up tangled in the wire and bleeding out in the woods.

I hated the barbed wire scene in that movie...

Lily finally kicked her leg free and tried to plunge forward but I halted her and dismounted immediately. 

She was holding up her left hind and it was covered in blood. There was blood spurting from a spot right below her hock on the side of her leg, and several splatters of blood all over her white sock that made it impossible to tell if they were from the cut on the side of the leg or if they were cuts themselves. 

Charles was able to get Gracie out from between the two strands of wire and we searched his saddle bags. Which I had emptied for Fort Valley. My saddle bags with all of my first aid stuff were attached to my dressage saddle. Which was back at the barn, 3 miles away. So I had NOTHING to wrap her leg with or doctor the wound. I was beating myself up over this: OF COURSE the one time I really need the contents of my saddle bags is the one time I don't bring them!!

I was furious at myself. I asked Lily to walk and she was able to put weight on the leg. So I led her back down the hill and down the trail, Charles following on Gracie. He said she seemed to have full range of motion on the left hind. I jogged her for a few strides for him to evaluate, and he said she looked fine.

I sent Lily first into the first large creek crossing we encountered so I could wash the blood off of her leg and better assess the damage. She didn't want to put her leg in the icy water but I finally convinced her and she let me clean her up. She had a cut across the front of her leg, right above the fetlock, the spot under her hock that had stopped bleeding, some more cuts on the inside of the pastern, and a 1" diameter section behind her heel where she had sliced off the skin in a neat triangle. This of course was the most painful spot of all but thankfully it wasn't a spot that was coming into direct contact with the ground. We breathed a sigh of relief that there didn't seem to be anything that immediately required medical attention and continued on our way. Not like we could have done anything if there had been a matter of urgency, but it was good to know regardless. 

About halfway home, I took Lily down into the Hawlings River, where the water is closer to knee height, and sent her into the icy running water to let the river wash her wounds and also do a very cold soaking. I had her stand there for about 5 minutes and we then continued on our way. Note to self: teach all future horses to send. I can't tell you how many times this particular skill of Lily's has proven to be monumentally useful. 

Once back at the barn, Charles untacked Gracie while I gave Lily a dose of bute and then a dose of oral ace: I was going to have to try to clip the leg and I knew she was not going to be happy about it. I untacked her, washed the leg well with soap and cold hosed it for 10 minutes, then let her eat her dinner mash while waiting for the acepromazine to kick in.

The cut across the front of her leg after I had cleaned her up. The blood further down on her pastern was from some scrapes from the barbed wire but they ended up being just that: scrapes. I really hate how much fuzzy winter coats will hide on legs.

It actually doesn't look bad in this photo and you can't see the triangle of missing skin, but you get an idea of the cut's location. It continued to bleed sporadically.

She let me more or less clip the areas where I had seen blood on the leg and it looked like everything was indeed superficial, even the cut below her hock that had bled the most after the accident. I was worried about the back of the leg above the sock because there had been some spots of blood there and she didn't want me to clip it. She's never liked me clipping the back of that leg since one of her bad fungal infections in FL, and I don't blame her. I just wasn't 100% sure that there wasn't anything else going on there. I was also worried about the cut on her heel because it appeared to have a small fissure across the center of it which I figured couldn't be deep but I had no real way of knowing without looking at it closely and it was the one part of her leg that she really did not want me to touch. I let the leg dry off and then squirted all of the cuts with Betadine. And gooped some Furazone over the raw triangle at the back of her heel to try to protect it. It was in a bad spot for bandaging or booting, especially with the weather we were supposed to have: we were expecting rain overnight and all of the next day. The weather was happy to oblige the forecast: it started sleeting while we were getting ready to leave. Lily went out with the other mares. In this fashion she would move around more, but I knew she was going to swell up overnight. Because cuts on horse legs.

I just didn't know how much it would be.

It was solid rain all morning the next day; I didn't get out to the barn until after 2:00 pm when it finally died down somewhat. Kathy had been texting me to let me know that the leg, while fine that morning, had been progressively becoming more swollen over the course of the day and Lily seemed to be getting ouchier on it.

The leg was indeed a tree trunk when I got to the barn. Lily had been standing in the run-in most of the day to stay dry and warm, and that had not helped the situation.

Left leg, the one with the sock. Somehow swollen legs always look better in photos than in real life. But the leg was literally round; no tendon/bone definition at all from the hock down.

Lily was toe-touching lame on it. I figured it was from all the swelling but you know: barbed wire. She would not let me touch the leg and there was something about her general disposition that didn't seem quite right. The vet was supposed to come out Friday anyway for shots and it would save me an exam fee if I waited. But it was Monday and I had to work the next three days and I wasn't sure that this was going to get better with just bute and cold hosing, especially with the time constraints that come with working 12 hour shifts. I squatted on the ground to look at the leg better and everything in me said, "Call the vet."

So I did. I spoke with my vet's receptionist, who is awesome, and explained what had happened including the progression of swelling and lameness. She asked if she could put me on hold and she called my vet directly. When she came back on the line, she asked if my vet could come out that same afternoon. It would be an emergency exam because it would end up being after hours: my vet was booked for the day, which I expected, but they didn't want to wait another day to come out. The emergency exam with Dr. H is only $20 more than the regular exam fee. I said yes.

I had about an hour and a half to kill, so I cold-hosed the leg, gave Lily 1 gram of bute because it just hurt to watch her trying to move around, and brought her into the barn for a bit to escape the rain while eating hay. She was blanketed and not wet, but it meant I could sit out of the rain for a while too. And I cried because lately I can't seem to do anything right by her. I was afraid there was something else going on as a result of the barbed wire, something that I couldn't see that would result in her retirement. All of this because of one trail ride.

My vet and her new associate showed up at exactly the time they had said they would arrive. They were able to inspect the leg closely and had the same concerns as I had about the cut on Lily's heel, but they were able to confirm that it was indeed superficial. While waiting, I had thought I should check Lily's temperature but my thermometer was in the car on the other side of the property and I had not wanted to go out walking in the rain to get it. I knew the vet would get a temperature anyway as part of the physical exam. Lily had a fever of 103.

She was started on SMZ right away. I gave her the first dose while the vet while still there. She also had a tetanus booster. The leg was too painful for the ice boot so I cold hosed her one more time.

I put Lily in the run-in shed paddock and closed Gracie off in the paddock next door with what we call the "shitty shed". In this manner, Lily could have all of the larger main run-in to herself and she could also have as much hay as she wanted without Gracie trying to steal it from her. She only ate half of her mash but she had been eating hay so I wasn't terribly concerned that. I was just concerned about everything else: the massive swelling, the pain, and the rapid onset of the fever.

She had 48 hours to get better. We would have to switch antibiotics if she didn't. I personally did not want to do the injectable antibiotics again, as that had been an awful ordeal. So I was really hoping the SMZ would work.

Kathy texted me the next day, Tuesday, while at work to let me know that Lily was moving around well. She was out with the other 3 mares and they had been allowed to go out into the huge front field for a few hours. When I got to the barn in the evening, Lily was super bright and the leg did indeed look better: the swelling had "sunken" to her fetlock but she was moving around SO much better. I gave her her evening dose of bute (Kathy had given her her pm antibiotic dose) and a warm mash (wind chills were in the single digits. WTF MD weather??!) while she wore her ice boot. Her temperature was down to 100. PHEW!!! The antibiotic was working.

Before icing

Lily's leg on Wednesday looked even better. I had gone out to the barn before work to give her her bute dose and ice the leg (she hates the bute syringes and she won't eat the medicine in her food, so I was trying to keep her from getting syringe-shy with Kathy by giving her some of the bute doses myself.) I set down everything in the barn and got Lily out from the field. It was in the 30's but it felt really nice in the sun. Both of my mares were wearing double layers. I was fine with Lily keeping her sheet over her midweight, as she is clipped, but I decided to remove Gracie's sheet before doing anything with Lily. Gracie was being an absolute brat about it and took off before I could get the leg straps on the BRAND NEW sheet undone. (Note to self: no other horse is Lily. Lily would have gotten the message and waited for me to remove the sheet after the second request to stand. Lily is perfect. If horse is trying to run away while removing blanket, just tie the horse up and THEN do it safely.) She took off towards the bottom paddock and for whatever reason assumed that the gate to the big field was open. She slammed into that gate full-force without stopping and fell. It's kind of a wonder she didn't break anything...she got up and took off running around the paddock, sheet hanging from one hind leg now as she flew around at full speed, upsetting both Queenie and Deja. I didn't want her tearing through the gate to the upper paddock because of all of the rocks there (I REALLY didn't want her ripping that sheet to shreds, though it's a Schneiders so I guess it would have been replaced...) but instead of closing the gate to keep her in the bottom paddock, I stood at the entrance and yelled and waved my hands as she turned towards the gate from the far corner of the field. I was thinking she would either slow down enough for me to catch her or come to an absolute stop. There was PLENTY of room for her to do so. Deja and Queenie turned away from me like a normal horse would do. But what did my idiot beast do? She looked me right in the eye and barreled over me as if I wasn't there.

I sat up from the ground covered in blood. My head stung and my nose felt bruised and I'm thinking, "GODDAMN IT SHE FUCKING BROKE MY NOSE." I touched my nose and there was some blood but it didn't match the volume of blood I could feel around my neck and face. The world spun and reeled. There were black spots at the edge of my vision and I was extremely confused, "Where is the blood coming from?" Zoe suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Are you okay??!!" she asked. "I think so," I said, "I just don't know where this blood is coming from." "You have a cut on the back of your head," she said. "You need to go to the emergency room!'

I don't really remember walking from the field to the gate to Kathy's yard but I somehow made it through and called Charles as Kathy materialized to take me to the hospital. Charles was at home; he got the details of what had happened and called his hospital to let them know I was coming and what to expect.

It was an awful drive. Once sitting I was aware of how crazily the world was spinning around me, and closing my eyes did not make the feeling better. Poor Kathy. She was a superstar.

Charles walked through the hospital doors less than a minute after we had walked into the lobby. He took me straight to the back triage room where immediately there were a nurse, a PA and a tech to get my story, examine me, and wash the cut on the back of my head. They were all friends of Charles's so there was a lot of joking around. It was nice to get to meet everyone and I was laughing right along with them, but I would have preferred to meet them under normal social circumstances!  My back was palpated and a basic neuro exam was done to make sure my brain was working normally. Everything was fine, and Charles was able to be present for EVERYTHING. I was sent to CT and the report came back normal. So I was diagnosed with a minor concussion. My head was numbed with lidocaine and the 3" cut on the back of my skull was sutured closed. 14 stitches. And then I went home. 3 hours total for everything and everyone was just wonderful. Compassionate, professional, empathetic. I was giggling over stuff Charles was saying while the cut was being lidocained and the PA stopped for a second because she thought I was crying in pain! I told her she was doing a fantastic job and to continue. There are huge perks to having family work in hospitals.

Oh, and my nose is fine. All the blood was from a scrape on my nostril. Not sure how that happened. And I'm really lucky Bitch Mare didn't step on me. All the trauma was from falling backwards and hitting my head on the rocks.

Note to self: wear helmet ALL THE TIME with horses, not just riding. Pony Club is onto something.

The world is still spinning this morning. I hope this is both the first and the last concussion ever. I don't even want to think about what a more serious concussion would feel like. It's pretty awful anyway. This is the first time I've actually been sent to the ER by a horse and it was my third visit to the ER ever in my life.

Gracie will get a neuro exam (because this is maybe the 8th time I've seen her fall while running in the pasture since moving to Kathy's) and based on what happens, the options are:
- lots and lots and lots of groundwork if everything is normal. We have been doing a lot of groundwork these past few weeks and the mare is much better if she is paying attention to you, but I really, really HATE that her default mode is to not respect people's personal space
- if everything is normal and her lack of respect for personal space continues despite groundwork, she will be sold or returned to her previous owner
- if she has untreatable neuro disease or something else that is not treatable, she will either be retired or euthanised depending on what it is

I know my dear reader is probably shocked that I jumped from barbed wire to concussion to possible euthanasia and your head is probably spinning like mine is while you're reading. But I assure you I am in my right mind. What happened is this: I thought, "This horse has sent both Charles and I into the ER in less than 5 months. What will happen next?" And my brain zeroed in on the falling. She falls every time she runs in the pasture. Every time. Even when she's just playing and goofing around. It's always at the canter/gallop, and it happens regardless of footing. Even when the footing has been dry. My fear is: if she falls every time she is running without a rider, what happens if she bolts while ridden on trail? She could cripple or kill Charles or me if she falls on the trail while running.

I hate thinking like this and I've never had to make that sort of call personally on a horse. Actually, I've never seen a horse die. So it's not a decision I make lightly. But this was a really big second strike and the only way this horse gets another chance is if she is neurologically normal.

Yup, I should just stick with cats.

November, you can be over now. Kthxbye.

8.5

..miles. We did our first 8.5 mile ride within days of arriving at the this barn. That's like, real endurance training distance, yo.

No one freak out. We just walked the entire distance. Lily was fresh and happy by the end of the ride and standing square on both hind feet. In fact, here's what she looked like after her shower:

"Hey peeps. What's up?"
She was a little foot sore after from all the rocks we encountered on the trails. Can't blame her; she's been either stallbound or turned out on grass, and our former trail riding was over a much smoother path. This issue will be resolved soon. She was buted, linimented, and her hooves packed with Magic Cushion for good measure.

Ok, so let me backtrack.

We have about 15 boarders at this barn. Over half of them are diehard trail riders, with good quiet, solid horses. After riding out with Kathy and Phoebe, I was put in contact with Natalie and Jane, who often ride out to a park I had not even realized was that close to our barn: it is a HUGE state park, one of the largest in the state, taking up two counties and with an infinity of riding trails crisscrossed throughout. Locals call it Redneck Park. It's just a two mile ride to get there, and Natalie and Jane go that way frequently during the week. Kathy and Phoebe have not been able to successfully go out with these two ladies, so they were hoping that if I could make, I'd later be able to give them the tour of the trails.

Done deal!

The ride was originally going to be 2 hours, but it turned into 3 which only happened because we had to backtrack. These ladies prefer to walk on the trails (which I don't mind, especially while we're still working on conditioning Lily and getting her used to this area) and at the beginning of the ride, they apologized saying, "If you want excitement, it's not us." Famous last words.

On our way out, we met up with two other ladies on their mares, Holly and Bootsie. Natalie and Jane ride elderly QH geldings, named Newton and Ace, respectively. Ace and Newton are in their late 20's. You would never be able to tell to look at them - the two horses are muscle-bound and uber-fit. Trail riding is good for a horse's body and mind, and they are living proof of it.

Lily was by far the youngest in the group; the next youngest horse was Holly at 18. Holly didn't know her age: she squealed randomly at other horses and threatened to kick if another horse got too close to her rear end. I let Lily tell me about herd dynamics: she always knew when a squeal wasn't directed at her and held her ground, but if a pinned ear or swinging rump was aimed at her, I didn't stop her from turning and getting the heck out of the way if she needed to. She knew before I did when the issue was with her v s another horse.

My girl impressed the hell out of the other riders. She asked to lead heading out, then became a little hesitant so the other mares led for a ways. Lily, Bootsie and Holly took turns leading as we made our way through the woods, across a street, and onto a private farm where we are allowed to ride on the road. The day was glorious, with temps in the mid-70's and clear skies all around.

Stunning, yes? Yes.

We rode past soybean fields and then found the trail, over by the back of a red barn. Lily and I had been leading up until this point, but Lilybird got timid about the firewood piled underneath the barn, so Holly and Bootsie took the lead. The trail reminded me of part of Treetops Park back in FL: it was narrow, with high shrubs and trees on both sides, a creek on the other side of the trees to the right, and soybean on the other side of the bushes to the left.

And then we came across The Dog.

A Weimaraner, of all things. 

Not the individual we met, of course, but you can see where I'm going in terms of appearance. Imagine seeing this creature from a horse's point of view.
Read more about Weimaraners here.

The trail had a small fork to the right, down to the water's edge. There were two riders with the dog. The dog was off-lead, running up and down, from the main trail to the water's edge, over and over. Typical spastic Weimaraner. They are pretty dogs but you couldn't pay me to own one. His owner was the younger of the two women, and she was standing next to her horse. He scared the crap out of Holly and Bootsie in front, and Lily gave him the one-eye one-ear look as she flinched away from him. His owner managed to grab him as the other rider, an older woman who appeared to be almost in her 80's, barged right smack into the middle of the trail on her horse. (I ride with some really hard-core retired ladies between 55 to 70-something years old; this woman looked older. She gets some serious kudos for continuing to ride.) She apologized, saying that her horse was very green. Her horse was gorgeous, a dark bay with a blaze and 4 white stockings, and he was actually being a very good boy at that moment. He stood still while Lily and I carefully and slowly squeezed past him. The woman's clear pale blue eyes met mine. She was terrified of that horse; I could read it all over her face. I felt awful for her; I've been that afraid of a horse before (Rhythm; her horse actually looked a lot like him), and it is not a pleasant feeling, especially on the trails.

I urged Lily to catch up to Holly and Bootsie with their riders, and we waited for Jane and Natalie to catch up to us. Ace did NOT like that dog, and despite being a solid, quiet trail horse, there was a huge commotion. We couldn't see what was going on from where we were on the trail, but there was a lot of shouting involved between Jane, the owner of the dog, and the other woman on her green horse.

Everybody made it in one piece, thankfully.

Our next obstacle was a creek crossing. Lily has been fine with creek crossings, but this one involved a steep drop (1.5') into pastern-deep mud before actually crossing the creek. I knew she'd have problems with that. The two mares in front of us took their time crossing, even stopping to drink from the creek, so Lily got to stand in front of that bank and take a good look without trying to spin around away from it. When our turn came, instead of trying to fight with her I simply got off and led her across. She hesitated for a split second, thinking about the drop, then followed. I mounted up on the other side, no problem.

We continued on our way.

The next obstacle was A Mud Hole. It was actually a really shallow, wide creek, but the creek bed had been churned to mud by the local hunt that had galloped through the day before. Said mud was cannon-bone deep; the "creek" was about 4' wide. Going in was easy, but coming up on the other side involved leaping up onto a 2.5' bank. The bank was literally perpendicular to the mud at a 90 degree angle, looked slimy, and you could see where horses had slipped trying to get up. I wish I'd gotten a photo. I didn't like the looks of it at all.

I could have sent Lily across if I'd brought my lunge line-just let her leap across, unhindered by my weight. (No idea how I would have gotten across after her, though..) But I knew there was no way in a million years that I'd get her to step into that muck, and I didn't want her to. It was just asking for a broken leg if she panicked, and for what?

All of these thoughts ran through my head as Lily and I stood and watched Holly's and Bootsie's riders attempt to get their mares across first. Of the two, Bootsie was the only one that actually put her legs into the bog, took one step in, then immediately backed away. She refused to even think about attempting it after that. Newton made it across, but since none of the other horses would go, Jane and Natalie decided to backtrack and take us another route.

We had the horses crawl up a steep hill...

...and ended up in The Cornfield.

I had Lily follow Jane and Ace through the corn, with the rest of the group behind us. Jane was trying to find a shortcut around the creek that would take us to an area called Four Corners, from where we could head home. There was no path to speak of as we followed the tree line, and the corn just got thicker and thicker in front of us until it was impassable. So we all turned our horses around and headed back.

We did some serious bushwacking

Lily astounded me. She shoved berry bushes aside with her head and obediently followed Ace through the corn on a loose rein. Heading back, she flinched when the corn leaves smacked her muzzle, but she plowed on doggedly. I had no idea my mare had it in her to bulldoze. I discovered on this day that she does! Now I'll just have to find out if she's willing to do it without another horse in front of her...

So then we had to go back down the steep hill and follow a deer path through the woods back. The deer path was on the side of a 45-degree-angle hill. We followed it back onto a real trail around the cornfield. This part seemed to take forever. Lily and I were second, behind Newton, and Holly was walking along with her nose right up against Lily's butt. Lily normally doesn't mind this, but she kept turning her head to glance at Holly behind her in annoyance. No pinned ears, but I knew she was annoyed. She'll tolerate another horse's nose touching her behind, but not forever. I looked back and saw that Holly was placidly munching on a giant stalk of corn leaves, and realized that the leaves were tickling Lily. There was nothing we could do, however: we were right up against Newton's muscular chestnut rump and couldn't go any faster.

The trail led us up another very long, very steep and very rocky hill. Lily started to really struggle trying to stay behind Newton at a slow walk, but I held her back...and then the trail widened. I asked Natalie if we could pass, and she said yes. We trotted past her and came back to a walk at the top. At that point I realized that Bootsie and Holly had followed right behind Lily.

We crossed a road where Lily for whatever reason tried to whirl around, upsetting Holly behind her. I kicked Lily forward and we stayed in front. The forest was beautiful.

Natalie and Jane wanted to show a stone wall to Holly and Bootsie's riders, and we followed the trail until we finally found it. I missed the part where they explained why this wall was a big deal, but it was a 2' high wall that was probably a couple hundred years old that ran parallel to the trail for a ways. I tried to get a photo, but at this point, Lily was on a mission and this is all I got:

You can kind of see the light on the top of the wall to the left. Terrible photo. It could just as well be a photo of Big Foot for all you can see of the wall...

The trail started to go downhill gradually. Lily was going at her most forward walk: we were still about 4 miles away from home, but she definitely knew where we were headed. There were a lot of logs to step over, varying in height from 6" to 2' thick. Some of them were embedded in the trail, forming steps and banks, so the horses had to step over them and down. This was Lily's first time negotiating this kind of obstacle. She did it without pause. I spent most of this ride patting her neck and praising her!

You can see a fallen tree up ahead on the trail that we had to negotiate.

We came to another small creek crossing, where two riders were headed in our direction. We got out of the way so they could pass, then Bootsie and Holly went ahead across the stream. Lily followed like no one's business. She didn't even look at the creek.

I'm glad the other two mares went ahead. We followed the trail up an incline, to a point where it did a right angle and veered sharply to the right. Bootsie and Holly suddenly spooked and tried to bolt right at the corner where the trail turned. Lily didn't react to the mares, and I was really happy about this, because we came face to face with...

...A Bow Hunter.

In full camouflage gear, bow laid across his lap. He was sitting stock still. If the mares hadn't reacted so strongly, I would have never seen him, despite him being only 4' in front of us. Lily pricked her ears at him, recognized him as a person before I registered that it was actually a living being and not a mannequin (he was that still), then said "Whatevs" and followed after Holly.

Lilybird, I love you.

The trail took us right onto the edge of another soybean field. But we had one more obstacle:

The Dog.

Yes. That dog. Again.

Again, not the individual we encountered.

The two riders were on their horses, with the dog closely at their side this time. They stepped back to let us come through. Holly and Bootsie's riders turned left to follow the trail along the soybean field and we rode up a ways so Jane and Natalie could follow us. Jane informed us, however, that we had to go the opposite direction, which was being blocked by the two riders with the Weimaraner.

The older woman and Jane got into a yelling match. Then the dog's owner spoke up and clarified that they just wanted us to step aside so they could go down the trail that we had just come out of. Jane immediately switched gears to a more polite tone, and we all made room so they could go down towards the bow hunter. We then turned around to continue the trail up the other way, following the tree line by the soybean field.

We came to another fork in the path. Bootsie's and Holly's riders had to be back at their barn by noon. Holly had some sort of freakout and I didn't get to see what it was about because all of a sudden Lily just about jumped on Jane's lap trying to get away from the other mare. Next thing I knew, both mares had taken off down the trail at a trot, Holly still bouncing around, half-bucking and swishing her trail angrily. I held Lily back so we could stay with Jane and Natalie. Lily had absolutely no problem with letting the other two mares go ahead.

We continued our way back home, Lily and the two geldings, in peace, following a dirt road through meadows, sod, and more soybean fields.

Once back at the barn, Jane, Natalie and I parted ways by their paddock, and I continued with Lily solo around the property. She hesitated a little at being separated from the other horses, but I urged her forward into a jog. Once we were at the main bridle path, I let her come back down to a walk until we came to our gate.

Seriously, my mare is a superstar. I gave her a bath, rubbed all four legs and her back with Sore No More, gave her treats, packed her hooves with the Magic Cushion, gave her a scoop of bute mixed with a handful of sweet feed, then put her away in her stall with extra hay and a whole flake of alfalfa, her favorite. She had more than earned it.

And then I gave her the next three days off! She had earned that, too.

Mileage

We did our first solo ride in the woods behind the barn. It's about 3/4 of a mile ride to get to the woods, following a bridle path past the big indoor at the neighboring farm, a couple of turnouts, and following the fenceline of a private property (we're allowed to use it.)

Lily was an absolute superstar.

She walked out eagerly onto the bridle path, occasionally looking around, but focused. There was a slight moment of hesitation when I asked her to turn away from the barn, but she never really stopped. There was another slight hesitation when she saw the horses in the turnouts over by the indoor, but again, she never stopped.

We continued on our way into the woods. As soon as we were within the trees, she asked to trot. So I let her.

We did 4 miles in 55 minutes. 60% of that was trot, and the rest of it was walk, except for 3 very short canter sets. 2 of those were uphill. We did 2 loops around the main trail, adding in the new section that Phoebe and I cleared last week, which is barely discernible unless you've gone through there before.

New trail section

New trail disappears briefly.
Check out her happy ears!

She LOVED the new trail portions. She WANTED to trot those sections, despite there not really being a trail to speak of, and she was more than happy to turn wherever I told her. Again, she totally surprised me.

We rode all the way down to the bridge, and this time, her 3rd time seeing the bridge, she didn't even falter: she walked right over it, no problem.

On the way back home, there is a really steep hill that is optional but it is a shortcut. It is at a good 60 degree angle and the trail winds up it in a series of slow serpentines. I asked her to gallop up the first time, and she immediately asked to walk once we reached the top. I patted her and, instead of heading home, we repeated the loop.

She could clearly see the fields beyond the woods at the spot where I asked her to turn back. She had been gearing up to head home when I asked her to return. Despite this, she happily turned the way I asked her, and continued in her second gear down the main trail again. No hesitation, no looking back, not even the slightest attempt at trying to turn around. WHAT A GOOD GIRL!!!

We took the hill the second time at a trot (the gait she chose), and then I dropped the reins on her neck and we headed back to the barn. She marched us through the fields at a confident, swinging walk. She was dripping sweat, but no panting/blowing whatsoever.

I gave her a bubble bath and poulticed her legs this time. It was HOT today, even by Lily's and my tropical standards. I put her away in her stall afterwards, where she immediately urinated and then proceeded to dig into her hay. She's getting to the point where she's going to have to learn to pee on the trail: after every 3+ mile ride, she's had to urinate by the time we've gotten back to the barn. 2 of those 3 times, she's peed in the cross ties because she couldn't hold it anymore!

I hung around the barn until 4:30 pm or so, then headed home. Charles and I went for a run. It was still hot as blue blazes even after 6:00 pm.

Really beautiful balcony

Green still dominates the scenery

Someone had written this in chalk on the sidewalk.
I thought it was awesome.

Green rules, but we're seeing more and more of this. :) Hard to believe the heat index today was in the high 90's!

We did 3 miles in 40 minutes of run/walking. We then walked to the grocery store to get more cat food. I left Cyclemeter running up until the moment we got home: we did a total of 4 miles between the run and the grocery store stop.

Changes

 So I wrote this entire post and Blogger erased it. GRRRR!!

I've been absent for a bunch of reasons: temporary schedule changes for myself; permanent schedule changes for Charles that involve less time together, so we've been been taking advantage of the time we do have; and 2 barn changes.

Yup, count 'em: two.

I don't post about big changes before they happen because I'm always afraid I'll jinx them. (I'm a highly superstitious person for a reason.) So here's the story: a coworker lives on horse property and had been nagging me for several months now that I should move Lily to her barn so I could help her out in exchange for board. I turned her down the first few times, as I loved the perks of the barn I was at: indoor, outdoor, concrete driveway, easy access to trails. Plus the people there made it worthwhile. And then Charles started his ER RN position, and his training schedule involved less hours than he'd initially been hired for. It's a temporary training schedule, but he had to be on it for his first 90 days. Plus he wasn't getting the overnight differential because he was training during the day. So things were getting tighter and tighter financially. My barn was the second most expensive, board-wise, in the area.

After discussing all of this with Charles for the millionth time, we decided to give the coworker's deal a whirl. While the reasons behind the move were strictly financial, I will admit that I missed taking care of Lily myself: mucking my stall, setting up her feed, going to the feed store to buy hay and grain, etc. At the new barn, I'd be in charge of the evening feeding 7 days a week, and mucking stalls (only 3) on my days off from work. The main drawback was that this place was 15 minutes farther away than the old barn: a long commute after a 12 hour shift at work.

And then the coworker became unreasonable in her expectations. I've already slaved for my horse twice before, first at the barn where I kept Cloud, and later at the barn where I had Lily. At least, in both instances, I had Diana to talk to while working my butt off, which actually made me look forward to the work. But I was physically exhausted all the time, which affected me at work (and my blogging...I didn't write consistently when living in FL because of this). I refused to do it a third time: I have a husband, I still have a physically demanding job, a horse that I like to be able to ride every once in a while, and this time there was no bestie to spend time with. So yeah: I'd either follow the original agreement, or I'd leave. Plus I hate barn drama. Hate hate hate. 0 tolerance.

Within a week of moving in, Lily and I were already out. :/

------------------------------------------------

About a month before leaving my old barn, I'd gone to visit Sally and Jez at their barn. It was a smaller, quiet facility, with only a handful of boarders. About half of the stalls are occupied by the BO's horses: she has several retired, older horses living at her barn. The BO herself was very sweet and welcoming, and I was happy to meet up again with Phoebe and Kathy, two boarders from my old barn! Phoebe has the most adorable, tiny (and feisty) Arabian that she rescued and rehabbed herself after 40 years uninvolved with horses; Kathy has an elderly gaited mare that was a former cart horse in Baltimore. Kathy is currently the BM at this barn and lives on site. 

It was a lovely visit. The serenity of this place felt so right. Plus they offered field board, something which my old barn didn't offer. It's an ideal setup: they have sheds with fans for the field board horses; the BO has extra doors in the barn aisles which serve as partitions: when the weather is bad, the field board horses are brought into the barn; field board horses are grained twice a day and offered free choice hay; the paddocks are mucked and raked regularly; and they get night checks just like the stall board horses do. The rate for all this was less than half what I was paying for stall board at the old barn.

It was hard to leave Sally's barn that day, and it stayed at the back of my mind during my last days at the old barn and while starting out at the coworker's barn.

As luck would have it, a stall became available at Sally's barn shortly after I received the reality check from the coworker. So that's where Lily and I went when I called it quits.

Barn driveway. The photo is not edited. Note the jump field on the left!

The transition there was seamless.

On our arrival day, I turned Lily out in the arena so she could stretch her legs and look around. I hung out inside the arena, talking to Kathy and the BO, while Lily explored. She went to the far end of the arena then walked all the way back to me, where she lay down only 4 feet away from me, and rolled. She was careful to turn away from me while rolling. I was tickled pink: horses will only do this sort of thing close to other creatures they trust. She then got up, shook herself, sniffed me, and walked away again. I was grinning from ear to ear.

Lily in the arena, becoming reacquainted with miniature horses. There are 3 minis at this barn; their dry lot adjoins the arena.

I let her wander while I finished unpacking and getting all of our stuff organized, then brought her in and tacked up. Most people would let their horse adjust to the new barn for a few days before riding. I'd like Lily to be able to go to an entirely new place and still have a brain to work with, so this was a perfect opportunity to practice just that.

We rode down the driveway, did two loops around the property, and then walked around the arena a bit. She was a little looky going down the driveway but was overall a very good girl.

That evening, she went out with the mare herd. Eventually she will be on 24/7 turnout, but we have to introduce her to the two field board mares first: one is a friendly little Icelandic pony, the other, Tally, is a more dominant Standardbred who was rescued by the barn trainer from an abusive situation. We've been letting Lily and Tally meet over the fence for now. So far, so good.

Lily and Tally. No squealing, no kicking or striking.

The trainer wants to be present the day we turn them out together for the first time and so far our schedules have not coincided.

In the meantime, Lily started overnight turnout with the rest of the mare herd (just 4 other mares).

Free Lily

3 of the mares are over 25 years old, the oldest being 33. The 4th mare is a 4 year old Rocky Mountain Horse named Gracie who is on training board. She was just started under saddle last month.

Gracie and Lily seemed to hit it off right away, prancing and playing around the field.

That's Lily with the flagged tail and floaty trot.

Afterwards they settled down to graze. Gracie is what is called a red chocolate in Rocky Mountain horse colors. It is also unique to the breed, but not quite as well-known as the more traditional silver dapple (aka chocolate with flaxen mane and tail.) 

There are two very sweet Hereford cows that share the mare field. During the day they hang out in their section, but they come out at night to socialize with the horses.

Lily used to be terrified of cattle. See if you can tell which mare is her. It shouldn't be difficult:
she's the only one glancing at the camera!

On our second day, I took Lily for a ride in a park that is literally across the street. The street is a pretty busy intersection with huge trucks flying by, so I dismounted to lead her across, and re-mounted once we were in the park.

We went for a jaunt around the meadows. Lily had 2 instances of hesitation where she tried to turn around and head home, but I brought her back full circle to face forward and we continued on our way. I let her choose the pace and was very pleased when she offered to trot most of the way. We saw trails that led off into the woods, but for this first ride out we just stuck with the main trail around the field.

The long, long driveway, headed back to the barn. It is a beautiful view.
The driveway by itself is 1/4 mile long!

We did 3 miles in 45 minutes. I was thrilled with her attitude throughout.

Over the weekend, I made a point of visiting Lily in the field without taking her away from her new buddies. I just parked the car by the field and walked over to where she was. Every time she came to me, a couple of times at a trot! I was glad I brought treats to reward her with to reinforce this positive experience. We just stood together in the field, me scratching her withers while she groomed my leg or grazed peacefully.

I don't endorse treating your horse just 'cuz. Most horses become pushy and nippy from this. But Lily has never been particularly food motivated, and even now, at the height of our treat-giving, she still doesn't automatically seek out a treat from me. She'll snuffle my hand if I hold it out to her, but she won't harass me if my hand is empty. My goal with these visits in the field are to have her associate me with nice things: a treat, a scratch on the withers, walking around the pasture with her. I want it to be about more than just riding; I want her to enjoy my company. Something which I've been trying to do since this whole rehab thing started.

It's been nice having friends to just chill with at the barn, and it's wonderful to have trail riders galore to go out with, including Kathy and Phoebe. I've finally been able to get Lily leading on the trails again. She never lost the desire, but Houdon, Tina's boy and our only trail riding buddy at the old barn, did NOT like to follow. So we followed instead, and everyone was happy.

Why do I like her to lead? Because if she is willing to lead on a trail, she'll be willing to go solo on that same trail later on. It was my main confidence-building exercise for her when we trail rode in groups in South FL. It did wonders for her self-confidence to lead horses that otherwise would have been her superiors in a herd situation. She thrived on this. Plus I got a huge kick out of seeing my otherwise submissive mare take charge.

Our first ride with Phoebe and Kathy went like this. Phoebe's mare, Deja, prefers to follow. Queenie, Kathy's girl, is gaited and thus usually led when the two of them rode together. The minute we added Lily to the mix, Queenie took one look at her and refused to lead: she was more than happy to go behind Lily. Kathy and I shrugged at this funny dynamic and allowed it to happen. Thus Lily took the lead for the first time on a completely and 100% unfamiliar trail through the woods. She only balked at a bridge, but followed when I got off and led her across. It was not a problem when we crossed it again heading home.

Leading into the woods

On the way back home Queenie said, "I gotz this!" and hustled in the lead. Lol
Lily was perfectly happy to trudge along at her own pace, thankfully. Check out her ears.
We covered 4 miles in 1 hour & 20 minutes, at a walk.



This photo and the next were taken on our second group ride. Important points of this ride:
1. We led 4 other horses for the first time since South FL. It was a 3 mile ride.
2. Phoebe and I had gone out earlier in the day and cleared out a portion of the trail so we could make an official loop. Lily and I found the new trail without much difficulty, to everyone's surprise. If you hadn't been out there clearing it prior, you never would have found it! (I'm still not sure how we found it, but Lily was perfectly willing to go off the beaten path and through the brush and brambles.)
3. Lily had been turned out, and I brought her in to tack up so we could go on this ride. She never had a barn sour moment throughout.

The woods were beautiful in the late afternoon light. 

The difference between my first week at the coworker's barn and the first week at the new barn was like night and day. I loved the old barn and I will be forever thankful to BQ, John, Jackie, Alex and Juan for their wonderful treatment of Lily, myself and Charles. They were the first to make us feel welcome in this new state. We ended up renting our current apartment thanks to BQ's advice! They are wonderful people and I hope that we can stay in touch. And I'll miss that indoor arena! And our Tuesday Trails with Tina. The one drawback of that was precisely the fact that trail rides only occurred on Tuesdays because it was the only day of the week when Tina's and my schedules matched.

Now we finally seem to have found the one thing that I missed the most from the Florida barn: a wide selection of riders to go on the trails with!

An Epic Vacation Part 2: Intro to Elkins

After lunch, Liz, Charles and I got into Liz's mom's SUV, and she took us to Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV at 4,863 feet high.

On the drive to Spruce Knob

Observation tower

View from tower

Walking over the scree rock

Have some views of the Appalachians!

And I really don't care that these 4 photos all kind of looked the same. It's beautiful, period. :D

Liz: the best WV guide ever.

Bleeding heart, a rare flower

Wild blueberries! Delicious. Better than anything in a store!

Do you see the butterflies? There are 3 in this photo.

Liz in her element.

Love the spruce with the curled trunk on the right!
This part of the forest smelled amazing.

After Spruce Knob, we hustled over to the Sinks of Gandi, a cavern known mostly only by the locals. We had to cross a cow field to get to it, as it was starting to rain. The area around the cavern was gorgeous. 

The trail that leads directly to the cave starts here.

Cavern.

Liz only took us in deep enough that we could still see daylight behind us from the cavern opening-people can get lost inside this cave.
 There are no bats. 

After the Sinks of Gandi, we headed back to Liz's house so we could drop off Charles. He had been going well over 24 hours at this point, and wanted to take a nap. I changed into riding clothes, and Liz and I left for the barn. 

The barn is lovely. There are 4 stalls, a spacious tack room (including a refrigerator with beer!), and a round pen. Next to the round pen, there is a table, which Liz told me the boarders use as a sort of stage to put chairs on in the wintertime. They take turns doing ground work with the horses, while the others watch and drink beer. Freaking awesome. I want to board at her barn!

The pastures are green with good grass, and Q and Griffin were turned out in the front field, while the back field was being used by the horses that are not worked as often. 

I finally got to meet Q and Griffin.

And Q? Her photos do NOT do her justice, and Liz expressed her frustration about this. I tried getting a good photograph, but to no avail. Liz is a talented photographer and not even she herself has been able to capture this mare's true beauty. In photos, Q's head often looks almost too big for the rest of her. In person, Q is breathtaking. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She is nicely rounded but solid muscle, combining the best of the Morgan and Arabian breeds, with a beautiful naturally arched Arabian neck (no insulin-resistance crest; just her natural shape); a slightly dished face with a small, feminine muzzle; some really nicely boned legs and big feet, well proportioned to her size and ideal for Liz's goal with her: endurance. I only wish Lily had as nice a conformation as Q. Liz has often wondered if Q would be suitable to breed some day. My answer is yes: there is nothing about this mare that I wouldn't want in a foal!

I tacked her up with my Alta Escuela, which looked huge on her, and then played with her in the round pen. Q has been trained with more classically natural horsemanship cues, whereas I'm used to the mish-mash of techniques I use with Lily. I got her going walk and trot, then mounted up. 

Q is small but rides like a big horse. Lily feels like a Shetland pony when you ride her, with short strides and a choppy canter. Q's trot has more action, but I found it easy to sit to. She walks with a huge elastic stride.

Square halt.

Walking around the round pen

Trot

We warmed up in the round pen while waiting for the rain to stop. Q felt slightly off at the trot going to the left while in the round pen, and Liz noticed this on observation too. 

The rain stopped, and we moved outside. Q was much better on the grass, and once Liz put her Renegades on, the gimpiness pretty much disappeared.

Walking around outside

Liz tacked up Griffin and rode him around the barn yard. He was in a particularly pissy mood, threatening to buck every time Liz insisted on anything. Liz stuck to him and firmly but gently repeated her requests. Griffin almost always obeyed on the second try. He is a goofy little guy; Liz compared him to Doug, the Golden in Up, and I have to agree. Once you get to know Griffin, that's exactly what he's like!

She then took me on a horseback tour of the property. I tried taking some photos, but the combination of the late hour + the overcast sky made for some pretty dim light. 

Griffin bravely and unfalteringly led the way.

Can you guess why we laughed at this tree?

New, larger barn. It is SOLID - 4" walls and doors. The photo doesn't do it justice. It will be beautiful once it's finished.

All of the horses on the property love people. The paint rump on the right belongs to the Gypsy Vanner cross filly that Liz recently featured on her blog; the chestnut is Mayer, and the brown horse with stockings is Little Bit, whom I would ride on Thursday. He looks snarly in this photo because he was trying to hog the attention; he's really sweet!

Q and Griffin took turns leading, and every time Q trotted, Griffin tried to break into a canter. Silly boy. The lightning bugs were starting to come out as we rode back to the barn. 

Liz gave my saddle a whirl on Q. 

And then I hopped back on to canter Q for the first time. 

She has a big but easily controllable stride, and Liz encouraged me to take her over the smaller cavalletti in the yard. Q is a lot of fun to jump as well-she definitely has a natural talent for it. 

\

Q is a blast to ride!! Afterwards, I cooled her down in the round pen, and Liz suggested taking the saddle off to hop on bareback. So that's what we did. I just walked her around the barn yard. 

Afterwards, we stopped by Liz's new barn apartment so she could pick up a pair of breeches for the next day. The apartment is super cute, with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, at literally a 5th of the price of what we are paying for our 1 bedroom in MD. I wish!!! We then drove back to the house, where I woke up Charles and we all showered so we could go swing dancing. There is an Augusta Music Festival at the university every year, and that night they were supposed to be having swing and blues. We stopped by McDonald's to get a quick sit down dinner, then drove over to the university, completely expecting the dance to be over, but it was actually just starting...at 10:00 pm. 

We were there for about an hour. Charles and I were dumb and didn't get any photos. We can dance, but we had never danced swing before, so we combined merengue and salsa steps. It still looked better than Elbows doing something very similar to a chicken dance over by the stage...lol...

Around 11, both Liz and I were running out of energy, so we headed back to the house, where we all went to bed, with the goal of waking up at 7:00 am to get an early start with the horses.

To be continued...