The Repurposed Horse

Tonight is the final night for B and I in our current home.  The majority of our things have been packed into boxes and moved by my wonderful parents (and B), who came to stay with us for the first part of the week. I haven't been to the barn since Sunday, and I haven't left the house since I was discharged from the hospital on Monday, and I'm starting to go a little stir crazy.  Also, laying on a couch while the people I love are busily Doing Things is incredibly frustrating, but then I try to Do Things like walk around...and remember that doctors really do have good reasons for telling you to rest after surgical procedures. New barn B's parents are coming to town tomorrow morning to help us finish the move (aka relocate all the big things), and I am looking forward to finishing my period of convalescence in our lovely new house. I am incredibly glad that we decided to wait a month before moving Leo in - the barn isn't ready, things still need to be purchased...

Thank you all for your kind words on my last post! It means so much to see how many people care about Leo. Last week was quite the adventure, packed so full of things that I barely had time to sleep. I worked overnights Monday-Thursday (typically I work Wednesday to Saturday; but I got the weekend off); cleaned stalls Monday-Wednesday, led feed shifts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; rode in lessons on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; GOT TO MEET TERESA (!!!!) on Thursday; deep cleaned my house and worked on packing; iced all four of a lesson horse's legs twice a day for the entire weekend; worked Fante for her owner; aaaand then today to top off all the craziness I had a long planned surgical procedure done. (So if this post seems a little out of it, it's probably the Percocet). Brief recaps to follow, in no particular order. Blogger meet-up! I was able to flex my work schedule and go in later than normal on Thursday evening, which allowed me to drive up to Leah's...

I mentioned last week that the injections didn't seem to have made much of a difference for Leo; after 4-6 days, he should have been looking better, and he wasn't.  I attempted to contact my vet, and then proceeded to spend the next week playing phone tag. I spent a good deal of time researching Leo's options, staring at my budget, e-mailing (and hearing back from!!) Dr. Ramey , and trying not to dwell on the fact that my horse may never jump again. farrier barn selfies You know how when your horse has a problem, you should typically never Google said problem because you will probably end up driving yourself crazy with worry/convincing yourself that your horse is probably going to be broken forever?  Well.  With a bone cyst, the things you see on Google are, unfortunately, pretty realistic.  From the articles in veterinary journals that I have read to the threads on CotH to the conversations I've had with my original vet, the reality of my situation remains th...

**I received a free breastcollar with running martingale attachment in exchange for my honest review** When Jacke from  Two Horse Tack  initially contacted me to ask whether or not I would be interested in trying out one of their products in exchange for an honest review, I was extremely excited - I had seen multiple other bloggers reviewing their fun biothane products and was eager to try something out for myself.  I hopped onto their website and realized that they have an abundance of options for tack products available to review.  After much deliberation, I decided to go with the English Breastcollar , because at the time, I was still planning on making Leo an eventer, and a breastcollar for cross country seemed like a necessary investment.  I was also extremely curious as to what a brown biothane product would look like - would it go with my other tack, which is all leather? Leo's post-injury career could be modeling, right? Sizing was the first ...

The show for this weekend has been cancelled because it rained overnight and they only have an outdoor arena.  ): This has literally happened for every single show that I have ever attempted to attend for Jumpers.  If I never make it to a Jumper show, I will not be surprised. Suck, suck, suck.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my last post.  I've been avoiding writing because, well, things with Leo kind of suck right now.  The injection appears to not have worked, which was among the worst-case scenarios.  I've been playing phone tag with my vet for several days now, and have not been able to discuss what our next options are.  Leo has been living the pasture puff life, and seems perfectly happy...and I've been trying like mad to not look at any pictures or videos or reminders of the fact that I may never be able to ride him again.  It is truly heartbreaking to think about; I've had him for less than a year and already our career together may be over.  When I have more to talk about, I'll write a whole post about it, but for now there isn't much to say.  We're still in stasis.  And I'm trying to move forward. MegaMare selfie In the process of not-thinking-about-Leo, I decided to enter in a local jumper show.  I'm...

Edit: this has been reposted as my original post was not allowing comments for some reason. Yesterday was Leo's big vet visit at the University hospital. En Route I was a bit nervous about taking him off property; he hasn't exactly been on his best behavior during our previous field trips, and he's been hanging out in the pasture for the last two months, so I was expecting the day to involve a fair amount of drama.  Thankfully, that assumption turned out to be mostly incorrect. He loaded like a champ and we made the 15 minute drive to the University at 9:30 this morning - we'd given ourselves extra time to load because he has been...difficult in the past, but thankfully we didn't need it and were able to check in early.  Barn BFF E then said goodbye and left to go not spend the next six hours at the vet clinic. Leo unloaded well, and after a couple of minutes of saddlebredding around, he reverted to his normal state of being - something that mostly re...

Hello, hello, hello!  I have been back from Canada for about a week now. The trip was incredible - I definitely wasn't ready to leave, despite the lack of horses.  I didn't realize how ridiculously stressed out and tense I had been from Leo's injury, but you guys, I was so, so, so stressed. Canada was a breath of fresh air (literally and figuratively), and I have been striving to maintain the peacefulness that I found while there since my return.  I know that some of you may judge me for this, but I haven't brought Leo in once since my return. For one thing, I've been incredibly busy catching up on life, and for another he really is completely fine in the pasture; he gets checked twice a day, and I've said hi to him...but I haven't brought him in to check for soundness or play obstacle course or groom. I think that some of this is because in my head, I have built up this scenario where I bring him in after leaving him completely alone for ...