The Things I Do for Moe...

Oh boy...

I feel like crawling under a rock and dying of embarrassment...  My at-home job has cut hours back, so I picked up a few promo shifts from the OTHER job I have to help pay for Moe's ulcer medication. Usually, I sell wine, which is a great job considering that I used to be a wine/liquor rep for a major distributor and the job is super easy.  Well, the wine sales are down so they suspended the program, and now I'm picking up random promotions.  Sometimes they're for toothbrushes, skin care products, hair products, etc.  Nothing ridiculous.

Well, if it wasn't ridiculous, I wouldn't be posting.  This weekend... I spent 3, gorgeous, SUNNY days stuck in a Costco warehouse, handing out samples of Olay Regenerist Cream (the wrinkle cream on crack), Oral B dental floss and...

Tampons.  Yes, tampons.

People ask me how my day went, and I had to answer, "I've been accosting people with personal feminine products."  I mean, talk about an invasion of privacy.  First, I'm saying you're wrinkly... then, you've got nasty teeth... then, you look like you're bloated and bleeding, so you need a plug.  Free!

Oh, the things I do for Moe.

Woooot!

Just had to post today.

So, at the advice of my very good friend and trainer of years gone by... I stopped with the drill sergeant attitude and did what the hell I wanted today.  :)

I sang at the top of my lungs the whole car ride, and when I got up to the barn, there just so happened to be some jumps set up... so guess what.  Me and Moe had our very first jumping session!  He was so brave and hilarious... totally took everything straight on with no running sideways or silliness, trotted over poles like a champ (while in a frame, mind you), and I was having so much fun, I forgot to worry about making left hand turns.  Apparently I made a few, however, since there were marks on the ground... :)

All in all, I jumped my pony, I cantered my pony, and had a freaking blast.  And he did too.  His little ears perked up so high, and when we were passing by the jumps, he would get all jiggily like he wanted to go back over them... so awesome today.  Nothing pretty - they were only about 12" off the ground so he really just trotted over them every time - but it was still SO much fun.

I havent had a fun day like that in months it seems.  We both really needed that.

And yes.  I wore my helmet.  :)

My new name: Derek Zoolander.

ARRRGH!!!  Cannot for the LIFE of me do a 100% lovely left hand turn.  I swear, when I finally do it, angels are going to break through the clouds with glorious trumpets and wings and sing hallelujahs.  If they don't, Moe certainly will.  To the right, we're just fine.  Not amazing, but passable.  Sometimes it's lovely, sometimes it's a little discombobulated, but most of the time, they're passable.  A far cry better than where we were 6 months ago, by no stretch of the imagination.  BUT, the left is still back there in the floppy, not responsive, waggy forearm stage.  My leg on that side isn't much better, which is stupid as fuck considering you have to USE your left leg to do a passable right hand turn.  So for some reason, as long as we're going right, my leg and arm on the left work just fine.  As soon as we change direction, it's a train wreck.  Again, ridiculously stupid.

If anything, my right should be stronger (outside rein/leg are your "wall" and "package" aids - you use this to keep them going straight, turning, counter bending, and control how low/high their head is depending on what you're doing, outside leg also keeps them straight, turns, moves haunches & shoulders, and pretty much does 80% of the work) and more steady, since obviously it's the strong side.  But no... we go left and my right side goes all wonky, too.

So what do I decide to do today?  That's right, dressage fans... I decide to work on going left.  Needless to say, it was a mess.  Did I get in a single good turn?  Nope.

*SIGH*

Fairly certain the USEF and USDF aren't going to come out with dressage tests with only right hand turns. 

Here's what I learned today:
- If a black cat walks in front of your horse while you're tracking left, you're still going to do shitty left hand turns like you've been doing.
- If you wear underwear with lace in the leg area, you're going to get chafe marks.
- If you get frustrated and try wagging your arm up and down, it's still not going to do anything (except maybe piss your horse off even more)
And last but not least,
- No matter how angry you get, changing direction and going right, and feeling how awesome it is does NOT make you feel any better about going shittily to the left.

Yeah.  Bad day.

Oh MY... Look at the Time...

Yeah yeah, it's been a while.  Again.  Life wraps you up in it's little warm embrace of lovely and snuggies with you, and getting on the computer to update a blog just blows into the back of my mind.

But WHAT an update.  Let's see.  Good news or bad news?

Okay, bad news first.

Since the last update (in late April, again, sorry sorry), Moe has had:
Foot issue:
- Hot nailed, and ended up lame for 2.5 weeks.  I love my farrier.  This was an accident, and with the number of times the guy has been out for Moe throwing shoes, I have nothing but glowing, appreciative words for him.  And, at least he kept the shoes on.
Weight Issue:
- Switched from his normal E Washington Timothy round bale to local orchard, and dropped a good 100lbs (which is BAD).
- Put on a weight gainer (hasn't worked)
- Had his grain changed to wickedly expensive/high fat content stuff that should be encased in damn gold nuggets at the price I'm paying (hasn't worked)
- Had teeth floated in May
At Moe's chiropractic session at the beginning of April, the vet and I both decided that Moe needed another good 200lbs to be in "peak" physical condition for the amount of work he's in, thus the amount of grain/hay/supplements.  Nothing has worked.  The diagnosis?  He's got ulcers.  Great.  The really bad part?  Ulcer treatment is ridiculously expensive.  Like, more than I paid for the horse expensive.  If he were an Advanced Level 4* eventer (or even a Prelim/Intermediate) or ready to go PdG or something, I'd find some way to shell out the $$ for that.  But, he's not, and I can't pay for the good shite.  So, to the generic pharmacy we go.  We'll see how that pans out and I'll keep everyone posted.

Now for the good news!

Photos!!  I know, he's not as soft as he could be, and I'm not a fluid as I should be, but... my heels are down and he's "almost" there (as Patricia is particular about saying).  When I'm by myself riding, there is NO way I'd say I'm "doing everything right" - the goal right now is for me to keep him properly on the bit/bent to the inside/using his back for longer than 3 minutes at a time without ME falling apart.  It's not easy.  But when it happens, it's freakin' lovely.  Just the feeling of your pony expanding under you, moving forward and actually making the connection in your brain that says "HEY, this is what it's supposed to feel like" is amazing.

*sigh*