Ayer Mountain Spring Fling

Maya and I completed our first horse show of the season.  All in all things went off pretty good except for a couple of hiccups.  I placed 3rd in walk/trot equitation, walk/trot pleasure and preliminary dressage.  I placed 6th in walk/trot command, which in the past Maya and I do very well but, they put a Simon Says spin to it which put me in 6th place. Obviously I cannot play Simon Says. The classes were pretty large so I think I did pretty well.
The day leading up to the show was stress free, Maya had a little girl riding her in the show for 3 classes as well and offered to prep her the day before for the show so all I needed to do is clean my tack which I did at home, that's were my first hiccup happened. I loaded the car the night before only to find out when I got to the show that I forgot my girth, of all things! Luckily my trainer had a spare, crises diverted.
After the horses were unloaded and tied to the trailer, I breathed a sigh of relief realizing nothing can go wrong from here. I was prepared to come in dead last because I was having fun and that's all that counted. What I didn't expect was Maya to spook and break free of the trailer tie and gallop off into the fields which caused 2 other horses to do the same.  With help, we were able to collect the horses and get them ready for the show.
During the show classes Maya did very well, a little excited and slightly spooky, but not bad for her first show of the season and knowing off hand that she will fall apart when a ribbon is placed on her or handed to me, we had a helper collect the ribbons after each class. I was more disappointed for the little girl ridding her not to have the opportunity to collect her own ribbons.  We will definitely focus on desensitizing her to show ribbons.

A quick update

The fall I wrote about below, well after 2 weeks of pain on my left side, I decided to finally get checked out. Come to find out I broke my sacrum when Maya decided to stamped over me. The Doctor said I can still ride but I better not fall off while it is healing. I am still awaiting my MRI results to be sure nothing else is going on. My husband is being very understanding with my passion for riding; seeing in the last 2 years I have had 2 sets of broken ribs, lots of bumps and bruises and now my back. You got to love him.

Lyme Disease

Well all that funny behavior turned out to be Lyme Disease.  Thankfully the day she dumped me like a hot potato and ran off leaving me dazed and confused, the vet was scheduled to come to the barn for another boarder.  I decided off hand to have him draw a lyme test on her seeing she was hypersensitive to the even the slightest touch.
A week later the results came in, she was positive for Lyme Disease.  We started her on 6 weeks of Doxycycline and then repeat another blood test to ensure that we have eradicated the infection or continue on to another antibiotic.
So far so good: At least the first 2 weeks. Suddenly she has lost weight, become extremely spooky and is back to biting me when I girth her up and try to mount her. Familiar symptoms to an owner of a horse prone to ulcers. I shuttered at the thought of telling my husband that we may need to spend another $1500 on treatments even after relocating her and spending more money on board for a stress free, large grass grazing facility. The only changes that she has recently encountered is the addition of Doxycycline. After speaking with the vet, they believe that the antibiotic is not a contributing factor for her ulcers possibly reoccurring and recommend adding pro-bios daily and 1/4 tube of gastroguard. After 2 weeks we will stop the gastroguard and see if the symptoms have resolved.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that maybe the Doxy is really upsetting her stomach and this may not be an ulcer issue at all.

Four months into the New Year and I have finally put together my goals for 2012. Our first show is coming up in a few weeks and we really need to stay focused. Here are my goals for 2012.

1. Improving my seat
2. Getting her on the bit
3. Trot-Canter transitions
4. Canter- Trot transitions
5. Get show schedule planed
6. Show Maya
7. Hunter Pace
8. Join riding club
9. Beach Ride
10. Work on riding schedule for summer break.
11. Lesson once a month
12. 2 lessons with Dressage instructor Ann Guptal
13. Learn to long rein Maya.

When you're young and you fall off a horse, you may break something.  When you're my age, you splatter.  ~Roy Rogers


I recently found myself falling off Maya tumbling to the ground and feeling the bottom of her hoofs strick me in my arm and back. Thankfully she sprung off of me without bearing all her weight on me. After the inital shock of her being right over me as she tried to right herself , I realized why I have a 15h horse. The ground is alot harder now at 44 than in my twenties. I have the bruises to prove it. The landing might have been less painful if I was actaully in the ring, but we ventured off to the open fields to do some schooling. Trotting along working on my seat, Maya decided to lurch forward then due her typical sideways spook, sending me off the otherside, and her ontop of me to regain her balance. When I realized the coast was clear I looked up to see Maya at a full gallop looking like she was running the Santa Anita riderless.
I always wondered what she would do if I fell, well now I know: RUN LIKE HELL!!!!
I was in to much pain to get back on her so we had a student ride her in the ring to cool and off and calm her down.  With the kids off all week for spring vacation I am releived to have the week off to recoperate both mentally and physically knowing that my trainer will be riding her.  Now where is my heating pad???

Where have I been?

It's hard to believe so much time has passed since I last posted, and disappointed because so much has gone bye without me journaling. I left off with the stomach troubles maya was having. We scheduled an endoscopy which showed grade 2 and 3 ulcers. We immediately started her on gastroguard. After careful research I decided to move her to a new facility so that she can spend more time outdoors with unlimited grazing opportunities and prevent the reoccurrence of her ulcers. 2 days later we relocated her.
Maya is now happy, healthy and adjusting well to her new surroundings. In addition we have had one of the warmest winters that I can remember. We have spent 3 to 4 days riding mainley out in the trails and fields. Maya spends 2 days giving lessons to little kids in their riding program and my son.

Show season has started and we are busy getting ready for our first show in a couple of weeks.

On going tummy ache...

Maya has been struggling with on going tummy aches since we brought her home in Aug. The move has been harder on her than I hoped, adjusting from being outside 24/7 with free choice of hay and water to splitting her day between stall and outdoor paddock with 3 new friends. In the beginning weeks she had 3 episodes of colic in 3 weeks. She had no interest in drinking water in her stall which caused her to develop an impacted colic with intervention taken only the 1st time. The other times she was thankfully able to pull out of it with early measures. We added tums, 12 twice a day with her grain and hay soaked in an additional water bucket and salt in her feed bucket.  After a month we weaned her off the tums when she began to increase her water intake in her stall.  We all believed she was over the stress of the move and the idea of being in a stall in the evening when a month later, yesterday, I received a phone call saying that she was showing signs of distress again. Laying down, pawing and refusing to eat. After some banamine and walking she turned a corner.  The barn manager talked to the vet and instructed us that we need add tums to her diet again and schedule an appointment to scope her to check for ulcers.  I was concerned earlier in the week when she looked uncomfortable while I tightened her girth with ears pinned and head drawn back to where I was standing.  As silly as it sounds I felt she was telling me something, now I know.  My heart breaks for her.  I want her to be happy where she is, but I am not sure if she needs something closer to the surroundings she was in, out to pasture 24/7, or if she will eventually get past the stress of the move. I love where I am, and they love her. They know her habits and the subtle signs she exhibits when she is in distress. The knowledge and experience with the BM and workers is so invaluable and the owners are on premise and keep a close eye on her through the night if they have any concern. Even the boarders are all close that we know each others horse well enough to recognize a problem early on.

I stopped by this evening with her favorite, pears and carrots, and she was very alert and loved her treats. I am going to arrange an appointment for her scope tomorrow.I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine.