New Blog

I have started a new blog about a young, green broke mustang gelding I purchased a few weeks ago. I hope that he will learn and grow into a good solid endurance partner. Choosing a new horse was very difficult. I miss Riyah so much. A non-arabian gelding is different enough that I'm not constantly comparing 'apples to apples'--this is more like 'apples to oranges'--and is probably a healthy thing for me at this point. Anyway, please feel free to join the journey once again as I blog about the adventures and experiences I encounter with my new partner, Monte Cristo Flyboy, as I try to bring him into the world of endurance riding.

Our blog address is:

www.flyboyofmontecristo.blogspot.com

Good-bye

Riyah, my beautiful sweet girl, was quietly laid to rest yesterday evening out at Judy's ranch. I am still in shock. Still crying. It's midnight and I can't sleep. I keep seeing the last two months going round and round and round in my mind. It has been a long and painful ordeal, but she is in pain no longer.

I had bad news at her vet appointment. Deterioration of the bone. Another bone chip. Serious inflammation. The vet could offer me no hope. He recommended that Riyah be put down. I am devastated, but I am glad she isn't hurting anymore.

There are no words for what I feel. Those who have been through this know what I mean.

Rollercoaster

This rollercoaster is so hard to deal with. Poor Riyah. Her leg doesn't look good. Still swollen and painful. I can't tell if she is getting better at all. Some days I think she is worse, but other days she seems a little more comfortable. She is still quite lame, and last week she had two days where she was on three legs again. It's so hard. I know it will take time, but I don't like to see her hurting. I give her a shot of Adequan (5cc) every four days. She also gets Rapid Response twice a day in her beet pulp mixture. I give her Bute on the really bad days, too. I am trying to be patient and keep telling myself these things take time. I just want to see enough improvement to know that we are on the right coarse and she is getting better.

I have been really down lately. It's the worry and the not knowing and the grief associated with lost dreams and just the fact that I really miss our rides together. She was such a fun horse.

Two Weeks Past Surgery

Riyah has made it to the two week mark and had her follow-up with the vet. He thought she was moving better than pre-surgery. Her hock is still quite swollen, but he told me that was not unusual at this stage following an invasive procedure like she had. He injected the joint with Adequan, and I will give her 5cc IM every 4 days for six treatments. I am also giving her Rapid Response HF+ which should help, too. The vet told me that was a good backup to have going.

Dr. Cody also instructed me to start hand-walking Riyah (yay!) 15 minutes a day. When I got home I walked her around in the arena and she was happy to be out of jail! The first thing she wanted to do was roll in the sand! I am going to re-arrange the panels in the barn to give her a slightly bigger area and to let her wander outside to stand in the sun. That should be good for her.

Keno and the Babysitter are hanging out with Riyah. Keno has stepped up to the plate and is back in the number one spot as far as riding goes and I must say he seems happy about that. We had a great ride in Payson Canyon last week and had fun jumping a few logs here and there.

Riyah Is Home Again

I picked Riyah up and brought her home yesterday. She looks good--perky and interested. Thin, though. She is eating her hay well, but I am going to add beet pulp and oil and a little kelp. She is actually walking much better than before the surgery. Getting that joint cleaned out must have helped. Of course, she is on Bute, too.

Written on the papers I brought home from the vet clinic:

Prognosis: "Guarded due to advanced cartilage damage."

Recommendations: Two weeks stall rest. Adequan at two weeks. Hand walk/ small turnout 4-6 weeks. One year rest with controlled exercise.

We can do this. The hardest part will be controlling her exercise when she starts feeling better! She is going to want to run as soon as her leg will let her if not before!

I am better today than I was on Monday. It's been rough, but I received a note from my very wise-beyond-her-years 19-year-old daughter that really nailed what I have been going through right on the head. She sent me a quote from C. S. Lewis that read:

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God's will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness...We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it. What I know about love and believe about love and giving ones heart began in this.

I think that is a really true but really tough statement. Thank you, Hayley.

I took Keno out for a good ride this morning. We both needed it!

Not So Good

Oh man, oh man. Why, why, why do I so easily and freely give my heart to these animals who then have complete power to make devastate me? Dreams are so easily shattered and the pieces just dissolve and float away like the salt in my tears.

Riyah's surgery was this morning. They spent 40 minutes prepping her and the surgery lasted another 2 1/2 hours. I stayed and watched it all through the observation window. Dr. Cody called me in to see the screen before he finished up and gave me the bad news. Riyah has pretty significant damage to the cartilage in the joint even though he successfully removed the bone fragment, debris, and other gunk. The cartilage is eroded (actually it looked shredded to me); he thinks it was either injured somehow that day at the arena (hyper-extension type injury?) or it may have been going on for a while even before that. (Possibly due to the fact she was so malnourished during her first couple of years.) It's not good either way. Bone on bone is hard to fix.

Riyah will not have an endurance career after all. She may be ridable in 9-12 months, if her cartilage can fix itself. He told me that was a big if. Dr. Cody says realistically he gives her a 70% chance of being brood mare sound only. We talked about stem cell therapy and platelet rich plasma pros and cons. Extremely expensive and not scientifically proven to make a difference, but an option if I want it.

Anyway, by the time I left I was reeling from the blow. I had big dreams for this mare. I knew the risks going in, but I jumped in with both feet and fell in love with her anyway. I kept it together long enough to drive myself home, and then I fell apart for a little while. It's OK because I'll put myself back together tomorrow so I can go pick Riyah up and bring her home. It will be a long road to recovery. We'll take it a day at a time and see where the road leads. I can only make the decisions I need to make today. The rest will have to wait and see what the future brings.

Long Weekend

It's going to be a long weekend for me. Riyah is at the vet clinic in preparation for her surgery on Monday morning. They will start at 8am. I will be there, of course, and I may watch if I am able. If it was someone else's horse I would jump at the chance, but I don't know how I will feel about watching my own horse go through it. Anyway Riyah was very relaxed about settling in at their barn. Maybe she was bored stiff with the same view from our barn during the last three weeks of stall rest and was happy for a change! Or maybe she realizes that this is the place that can help her and she's just ready to get on with it!

I have sold the truck shell, Roger's saddle (he never used,) and my Freeform endurance saddle, so I can just about afford this procedure! Nothing like liquidating your assets! I still have my Aussie endurance saddle and my jumping saddle for Keno so they were extras, anyway.

I hope Riyah will be good and everything will go smoothly for her this week. I have talked to a couple of people who have been through this and I feel better about it than I did last week!

Surgery on Monday

The vet has scheduled Riyah's surgery for Monday morning. It is a three hour procedure. I will take her up to the hospital on Saturday afternoon so they can have her prepped and ready come 8am Monday. I am sick with worry even though I know it is necessary.

I asked if I could walk Riyah around a bit but he again advised me not to. The less she moves the better since the chip can cause further damage to surrounding cartilage with movement. Poor Riyah! She is bored. I'm glad she has company.

Riyah and the Babysitter seem to get along well. They can visit through the fence and seem pretty attached already. Riyah stays relaxed when I take Keno out. (Maybe she is relieved to have a break from his silliness!)

The Babysitter is a fat thing--cresty and all-over plump with overgrown hooves. I gave her the first trim, but there is more to come! She is on a restricted diet of grass hay in a doubled small mesh hay net. I may also start soaking her hay to reduce the carbs further. She is very sweet and quiet.

I will work in the barn today trimming hooves, braiding Riyah's mane, and getting Keno spiffed up for the parade this evening. Bathed, clipped, etc. Gotta get that free rodeo ticket!

I have sold the old truck shell and Roger's (unused) western saddle so far. That helps with the vet bills.

These pics show Babysitter's feet before and after the initial set-up trim. She still has too-long feet, but I didn't want to change her angles too much/too fast. I'll trim her again today. I'm trying to get the pressure off her toes--she has terrible flare from those overgrown long toes! (And wickedly high heels!) (Gobs of false sole.) (Totally passive frogs.) (Etc. etc.)

A Babysitter for Riyah

In preparation for a prolonged stall rest/recovery period for Riyah, I have brought in a babysitter. My hopes are that Riyah will be less stressed when I take Keno out to ride if she isn't left home alone. We'll see how that works. Anyway a very kind lady has agreed to let me borrow her section B Welsh pony mare. Gizzelle is a very quiet and relaxed girl. She settled in quickly when I brought her home this morning. Keno, on the other hand, is beside himself with excitement over having another girl on the place. He's being a complete idiot, trying to visit with Gizelle through the fence and charging at Riyah who is stalled in the barn aisle. Riyah is jealous and concerned about Keno's silly circus act. Sheesh. I hope they settle soon. The whole point was to keep Riyah quiet and calm! (Keno needs to go climb the biggest mountain I can find, which is in fact what I plan to do with him tomorrow. He has too much excess energy and I definitely want it burned off before I take him in the parade on Thursday!)

Riyah will be having surgery next week as the surgeon is out of town this week. Having decided this is the only way I can turn, I am ready to get on with it. In a well-meant effort to keep Riyah occupied and happy, and to keep her from dropping any more weight, I gave her an extra hay net (grass hay, of course) yesterday and the previous night. Just that small amount of extra carbs caused her to get really stocked up in both hinds last night. I know the fix for stocking up is exercise, but how do you exercise a lame horse who is on prescribed stall rest?? I did lead her two careful laps around the arena at 10pm last night in an effort to increase her circulation. It seemed to help some. She is still puffy but not as bad. No extra hay today, I guess. Maybe beet pulp and oil for weight? Any ideas out there? Has anyone dealt with a situation like this?

Surgery! (and a plea for help)

I spoke to to the vet this afternoon and he had already consulted with the surgical vet. They both agree that surgery to remove the bone chip is required. Without it Riyah will never be sound and will always be in pain. With surgery she has a good chance of being riding sound, but he can't really tell me with any kind of confidence that she will be sound enough to withstand the rigors of a competitive endurance horse. ("Only a certain percentage of horses will come back as good as before.") What percentage is that? Worst case scenario she will only be brood mare/pasture sound. I can only believe that she will be OK.

This evening I spoke to Dr. W again and got a few more details. Riyah's bone chip or fragment comes from an OCD lesion. It's not too uncommon apparently, has variable causes, and surgery is the only answer. Here is a link about this condition:

http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/HealthConditions/LargeAnimalEquineTopics/OsteochondritisDissecans/

I do feel somewhat better about things today after talking to my husband and a couple of friends. This is not insurmountable. I will find a way to deal with this.

One of the biggest challenges will be how to pay for the surgery. Dr. W says sooner is better than later so that the joint cartilage is not damaged further. SO please read on.

I am selling some things to raise money to pay for the surgery. Please help me out, friends! Pass the link to this blog (www.gloryofthewind.blogspot.com) and my mosaic art blog (www.saltcreekmosaics.blogspot.com) to all the horse people you know. I have lots of mosaic artwork (mostly equine themed--go figure!) that I am willing to sell at greatly reduced prices to raise the money to pay for Riyah's surgery. If the links get passed around enough, I'm sure some of it will sell.

I also have two saddles for sale: a 16 1/2" well used (but not by me!)western saddle (www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=16304811&cat=449) and a black Freeform Classic treeless endurance saddle (listed today on Ebay for $750)

Thank you for your support, prayers, and messages. It's greatly appreciated!

Morning, Noon, and Night

Glass, mirror, and metal

Transom arch (fits over a doorway)

$175

My Mare Misty

$150

Horse of Color

12" plate

$75

Bottled Dreams

6" glass bottle

$75

High Mountain Country

Glass transom arch

$175

In the Quakies

12" plate

$145

Bad News

Two days ago I called the vet again. After a lengthy conversation, he agreed that Riyah was not improving like she should and he wanted to see her again. I had done the two weeks of stall rest, Bute, DMSO/Furazone, and cold hosing. (And that was in addition to celebrating my oldest daughter's wedding, hosting the reception, taking care of my two grandsons (ages 2 and 4) while she and her new hubby honeymooned in Hawaii, enjoying a house full of family staying, as well as dealing with the stress of my youngest daughter having gall bladder surgery four days ago. A busy two weeks to say the least.

Riyah did seem a bit better. She was walking on her bad leg. Limping badly, but walking. That was more than she had been willing to do the first week. I really just wanted reassurance from the vet that she was improving and I should just give her more time. But no, nothing so simple.

After keeping Riyah all day and conducting and in-depth nerve block study he found the source of her pain. Riyah has a bone chip or cartilage fragment in her hock. I am still trying to deal with the shock of this news. I can't understand how this could have happened. I have been crying for the last few hours. My husband, bless him, went with me to pick Riyah up. I just can't really grasp this news.

Dr. W said Riyah will need arthroscopic surgery to fix her hock. He with share the radiographs with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and get back to me. He was reluctant to give me her real prognosis until he had consulted with him. I am going to have rough night. I don't know how I will pay for a procedure like this. I don't even know if her injury is fixable. Will she recover fully? These are things I am having a hard time thinking about right now and I can hardly even see to type.

Riyah is in the barn now and I held her sweet face in my arms and stared into the dark depths of her brown eyes through my tears. She trusts me to take care of her. She needs me to take care of her. You know, I wasn't going to fall in love with this horse. I was going to give her a year to see if she had what it takes to be an endurance competitor. That was the plan. In that I have failed miserably because we have already bonded and I love her dearly.

There was rainbow over the mountains as we drove home through a black thunderstorm. I pray it was a sign that there will be a rainbow in this storm, too. Tomorrow will tell.

My phone has rung a couple of times: friends calling to check on Riyah. I apologize for not answering. I just can't talk about this just yet. Thank you for calling and I promise to get back to you soon.

4th of July Weekend

Riyah is tired of being locked in the barn aisle! She wants out, but she is still quite lame. Somewhat better, but she is still on Bute. She's only getting a gram a day, and I will be out of Bute soon, so maybe my husband can pick some up on Tuesday when he goes up north.

I certainly wouldn't have been going riding this week anyway. We celebrated my oldest daughter's wedding yesterday, and I am keeping her two boys while she is honeymooning in Hawaii. My youngest daughter is home from college to have her gall bladder out on Tuesday, and my middle daughter is here visiting for a few days after the wedding. My mother is here also! Yay! But I certainly have not had time to ride! So Riyah should relax and concentrate on getting well so we can ride later when things calm down!

Improvement

Slowly, but surely Riyah is improving! Those first few days were very scary to me, but Riyah has remained in good spirits, eating and drinking like normal all week. She is "stalled" in the barn aisle, with a small mesh hay net to nibble on all day. The first few days she didn't attempt to move around much at all; she flatly refused to walk on her right hind. On the third day, she began to put her hoof down and by the end of that day she was bearing some weight on it, although she was not walking on it yet. But now she walks and rests on it. She is still lame, but nothing like she was a few days ago. I am incredibly relieved. I think she is going to be OK.

Today was to be her last day on Bute. We'll see how she is in the morning. I have been using the liniment on her hock still, but should be able to discontinue that soon also. Tomorrow is the seventh day of stall rest with three to seven still to go.

Vet Trip

Today was scary. After a meticulous and lengthy exam of her entire leg, hip, and pelvis, including 11 x-rays of Riyah's right hock, the vet determined that she had no fractures, but rather a soft tissue injury in the hock itself. There is some fluid in the joint, and it is slightly swollen. I was so relieved I was fighting tears. It is still painful for Riyah, but soft tissue injuries are better than fractures most of the time. Dr. Wallberger injected her hock with cortisone and lidocaine, slathered on DMSO/furazone and applied a supportive wrap from her hoof all the way to up above her hock. He also administered an injection of Bute. She will be on stall rest for 10-14 days! I am sad about that, but relieved that he thinks she will be OK eventually. I will keep her on Bute for 5 days, and monitor her closely.

This was a very sudden, mysterious injury and difficult for the vet to diagnose. I really think something must have happened when the bull spooked her yesterday and she took off. I am so grateful it wasn't worse. This afternoon I was cleaning out the hay side of the barn, and Riyah was resting quietly in the aisle-pen. I looked over and she was standing standing square, actually bearing weight on the right hind. It might just have been the lidocaine talking, since it kind of numbs the joint, but she was obviously getting some relief!

I spent the evening with three high school cowboys hauling six tons of hay and stacking it in the barn. Excellent hard workers, all three. They had the 30' flatbed trailer loaded (picking up the bales in the field with me driving) with 200 bales in 45 minutes! They tied it down and we hit the road to come home. Stacking it in the barn was cough-inducing, dust-choking work, but they got it done. I'm glad that chore is taken care of! It's midnight now and I'm so tired I can hardly think!

My oldest daughter is getting married in a week and I am busy with wedding and reception details. My youngest daughter came home from university today and will see the doc tomorrow for testing to solve gall bladder/ulcer issues. I have out of town family coming to stay for the wedding. Without all these extra things happening, I would be depressed about not riding, but at this point I will just be caring for Riyah and praying she makes a quick full recovery. I have fallen in love with this girl and I desperately want her to be OK.

Lameness

Riyah has suddenly (very suddenly) come up extremely lame on her right hind! I am beside beside myself with worry. She is in obvious pain, and I don't have any idea what happened. I have a vet appointment, but not until nine in the morning!

Riyah and I were playing down at the fairgrounds this morning. I had intended to ride her in the arena, but the footing was heavy mud and hadn't been worked since the rain a few days ago. Instead of riding, I just played some of the Parelli games, basically making her think about what we were doing as opposed to what that big tractor over there was doing and what that noisy train was choo-chooing about, and what the dump truck was doing with the trash can, etc. (There are lots of things to see at the fairgrounds!) I sent Riyah over a couple of logs and up onto the dirt bank thing (see photo)and off again(and even here she is resting her right hind, but she showed no signs of lameness at this point.) . We went around trash cans, gates, poles, the calf shoot, and everything there was to look at or go around.

She was interested and thinking. That is until a bull in one of the pens stood up and spooked her. Riyah actually yanked away from me and took off about 40 yards across the parking lot where she suddenly stopped and realized the bull wasn't actually chasing her. She snorted a few times to test him then she came back to me as I walked toward her. (That might be a little thing, but it was a big thing!) Luckily no train was blowing by and the tractor was on the other side of the stadium. Whew.

Anyway we went back to check out the bulls to let her see they were penned up and ugly and certainly not worth getting excited about. She was mostly fine with that, so we continued our tour of the fairgrounds. Every time she got a little high-headed or too close to me, we stopped and backed up. Lots of backing and sideways stuff today, but nothing she doesn't do all the time these days! And virtually all of it at a walk (except when she took off to get away from the bull--that was at a gallop, but it was short.) About 100 yards from the trailer, she noticed a horse and rider in the arena. Her head went up and she started to let her attention drift so I backed her up to the end of the lead rope and we just camped out for a few minutes till she got back to being more left brained about things. It didn't take long--five minutes, tops, but when we walked off again she was not wanting to bear weight on her right hind. At All. Riyah hobbled to the trailer and managed to get in. It was painful to see. I drove straight home with my heart in my throat.

I was afraid she would fall out of the trailer while unloading, but she managed to stay on her feet. Three feet. I cold hosed her leg for 15 minutes right there. I then palpated the whole leg: hip, stifle, hock, tendons, bones, joints--everything looked OK. No heat, no swelling. Her hoof and pastern looked fine. No scrapes, cuts, etc. I called Tammy to come see if she could see anything. She came right over, but there was nothing obvious, unless possibly the inside heel bulb may be a little tender, but Riyah didn't really flinch--she just picked her foot up a little higher, and not consistently.

I gave her two grams of Bute at 11:30am and coaxed her into the barn. She ate her hay and drank, but didn't try to move around. I checked on her all afternoon. No improvement at all. I couldn't tell that the Bute had made any difference. At 3:30 I called the vet.

Tonight Riyah is still penned in the barn aisle; she is eating hay with Keno nearby keeping her company. She doesn't seem too stressed, but she definitely hurts. She is not walking. Her toe is resting on the ground, but she's not really putting weight on it. I feel so sick.

Yesterday Riyah and I had another wonderful ride in Dog Valley. I just can't get over the wild flowers this year; the desert is really amazing.

I was in the saddle at six in the evening and rode for an hour and a half. Riyah was great: calm, energetic, and listening. I tried to work on half-halts and transitions. She is so smart and catches on easily. The challenge is keeping her mind thinking when she becomes excited around other horses because when we are alone, she listens well. We walked and trotted as well, and both of us worked up a good sweat. We had one long canter stretch, coming out at the top of the hill to enjoy a fabulous view of the snow-covered mountains in the distance. On the way back to the trailer we took the dirt road and did lots of circles, figure eights, and leg yields.

Today I took Keno around the Ponderosa trail with four friends. (We were celebrating a couple of birthdays.) The trail was pretty slick in places--like trying to climb a hill covered in Crisco! Two steps forward, slide back three! But Keno is valiant and handled himself well, of course. We had to shoo the cows off the trail and watch out for bears, too!

Big Girl Pants

Today Riyah had to put on her Big Girl pants. I headed up the Ponderosa trail at 9:30 this warm sunny morning with two good friends. Once we got across the river (still high and fast!) we had a six mile gorgeous mountain trail loop ahead of us.

We followed the gully up through the canyon toward an old pioneer salt mine. There are several ledgy places, and I had to remind Riyah to keep her mind on her job and watch her feet as she was totally intent on staying directly on my friend's horse, Sam's, tail. (Sam is Judy's horse, and Riyah lived with them for several years, and she really wants to be glued to Sam's butt apparently!) The spring at the salt mine keeps a trickle flowing all summer, but right now it's a small stream with muddy banks. The trail runs right up the middle of this stream for about a hundred yards.

The trail became pretty steep soon after we passed the salt mine and the horses barreled up the mountainside in a hurry. I would have preferred to slow it down a tic as Riyah was a bit anxious making sure she stayed very close to Sam. I will be glad when I am seen through her eyes as the undisputed Leader-At-All-Times.) We kept going, coming out on the high mountain meadow covered in thick green grass. By the time we made it to the cattle tank I was sure Riyah would want to drink; she was pretty sweaty. Although the tank is full and over-flowing, the horses didn't want to drink at all.

We came out to the same Corral Road I posted about the other day, and followed this for a quarter mile or so. As we were approaching the cut-off trail to the Elk Pasture, I sort of off-handedly commented that I wondered what kind of condition that trail was in. (It sees far less traffic than the Ponderosa Trail, although not many people have been up here yet this year, either.) Judy suggested that we check it out. Agreed.

I hadn't been down to the Elk Pasture in several years. This side of the mountain trail was fairly dry, but super-steep in places. I got off to hike at one point as it was so steep I worried about my saddle going over Riyah's withers! (Need to get that crupper!) We dodged over-hanging branches as we followed the very twisty narrow trail down, down, down into the bottom of the canyon where we came out into the greenest, prettiest meadow I have ever seen. It was paradise to the horses with lush green grass, flowers, and lots of streams.

Lots of boggy spots, too, we found as we headed across the meadow to connect to the trail leading back up the other side of the mountain toward the Ponderosa Trail. Some real heavy-duty boot-sucking bogs! No worries, though. Riyah's EasyBoot Gloves never shifted. She went through every stream and bog, sliding and scrambling as needed (!) but her boots were good. That's why I use the Gloves. So I don't have to worry.

Climbing out of the Elk Pasture was a tough job. The trail is straight up--a long, rocky side-hill with an incredible view for those brave enough to take their eyes off the trail to take it in! The horses were all puffing pretty good by the time we came out on top! Riyah just put her head down and dug in. She is strong and getting very fit. Anyone who doesn't like steep terrain better avoid this trail. It was all steep!

We eventually made our way back to the Ponderosa Trail which is pretty easy compared to what we had been through already! We still had some steep trail to cover, but the trail was in pretty good shape with only a couple of downed trees to skirt. Riyah can handle the hills; I've never ridden a smoother down-hill traveller!

In fact, I have to say Riyah can sure handle herself in the mountains, period! We covered some really rough stuff today, and she never said, "No, that's too hard," or "No, I don't want to do that." She was pretty amazing. She has more than doubled her water experience in the last two days, and I can confidently say she "does" water now! Rough rivers, muddy streams, and sticky bogs. We finished the ride by crossing the rushing river and headed back to the trailer. We loaded up and headed home to an extra feeding and a day or two of rest. Riyah probably covered 22-25 mountain miles in the last two days.

I am proud of Riyah's performance these last two days. But I will be happier when we reach the point where she won't stress about getting left behind by another horse. I know this is a leadership/confidence issue, and I am working on this with her. It's really the biggest struggle we are having, and when we get past it, she's going to be incredible!

Riyah On the Ponderosa at Last!

Wow, what a ride! Crystal clear blue skies, and early summer green mountains all around--it was truly spectacular! Gail picked me up and we decided to ride up the Corral Road in the canyon thinking that we would catch a short loop of the Ponderosa trail from the top. That way we could see a little of the trail but we wouldn't have to cross the "raging" river. We would just ride back to the trailer the way we came.

But it was just so gorgeous, and Riyah and Annie were being so good, we decided to be flexible. We rode the four miles UP (up and more up)the Corral Road, adding in a little off-shoot trail for a mile or so, then we caught the Ponderosa trail just beyond the cattle tank and rode all the way down (through the bogs, and muddy Salt Creek) three miles to the river.

The river has gone down some, but it is still very fast and strong. Riyah was too anxious to go first, but she boldly followed Annie across! Woohoo! For as little water practice as she has had, she did great! I was very proud of her. Both horses made it safely across, and Gail and I headed down the paved canyon road four miles to the trailer parked down by the cattle corrals. What we didn't expect was traffic in the form of dump trucks carrying gravel for road repairs! The one driver didn't care about speed limits or horses in the road and the two times he passed us he popped his air brakes as he went by to see if he could cause some excitement. Don't you just love people like that? Anyway, it didn't work as Riyah and Annie were very good about the trucks. Riyah was far more concerned about the "trucks entering highway" sign with two orange flags! I mean, who cares about ten ton trucks rumbling past at high speed when there are two orange flags out to get us?!
It was a great ride--good conditioning for the horses, LOTS of training ops (rocks, bogs, creeks, the big river, noisy trucks, and flagged road signs!), not to mention spectacular mountain views, wildflowers arou

nd every turn, and great company!

The river doesn't look so big here, but it is challenging; it's always rocky, but with the high spring run-off you can't see the rocks. We actually crossed in a fairly wide area and it wasn't too bad. We followed the river as we rode back to the trailer and it's amazing to see the power of the water when it narrows. Definitely a place to be cautious.

OK, so I know this blog is supposed to be about Riyah, but I couldn't resist posting about the fun ride I had on Keno this morning. We finally got out on the Ponderosa Trail up in the canyon! We're late this year because of the high water in the river. Crossing the raging river to get to the trail promised to be a little tense, and I was not ready to ask Riyah to face that challenge, so Keno was chosen for this mission. He is an excellent trail horse and had no trouble with the high, swift river, but he was absolutely full of it today! Piaffe (i.e. jigging in place!) on the trail might be fun for a little while, but after that I had to tell him to get a grip and settle down. We had a mountain to climb! Parts of the trail are still quite wet from spring run-off. We confidently faced the rushing river, bogs, greasy ledges, the rocky, muddy Salt Creek, and long, steep climbs--all in EasyBoot Gloves (with a couple of fairly worn-out gaiters, no less!) and had NO boot failures at all! Keno has been wearing Gloves since they came out, and absolutely swears by them!

The wildflowers are out; the grass is tall, and it was a gorgeous day to be out on the trail with friends. Riyah will eventually become quite familiar with this territory since it is the best summer trail around for views, beauty, challenge, and conditioning.

Dog Valley in Bloom!

I decided to take Riyah out to Dog Valley this morning instead of going up the canyon since I get a cell signal out there (she had not been ridden in two weeks after all!) I am so glad I did! The wet spring payoff is here at last! Indian paintbrush, larkspur, wild flax, daisies, slippery elm, and lots of others whose names I don't know are blooming everywhere. It is really quite amazing to see the desert so colorful. I know it won't last, but I plan to enjoy it while it's there.

Riyah was quite energetic after hanging out at home while I was gone, and she was definitely looking for something to spook at. Luckily she didn't find much! I would really have to say she behaved herself very well even though she was pretty high-headed. We rode eight miles through some rocky/hard, dry trails, trotting and walking for one and a half hours. Her trot was very animated and bouncy. We spent some time working on transitions, halts, and leg yields. I actually did a lot of leg yielding at the walk and trot to keep her mind focused on me, and she was very responsive. We also worked on standing still for me to mount (since I kept getting off to take pictures!) as well as mounting from the off side. This is a great exercise for me to practice when I'm alone since I'm pretty uncoordinated about it!

I'm back! After a warm, glorious vacation in sunny Florida I am home and ready to ride! Between beach trips I did actually get to go out on a trail ride with my sister last week. She trailered her two palominos up to Sebastian and we saddled up at the trailhead. I didn't expect to ride while there and hadn't packed riding clothes, so I rode in the one and only pair of jeans I had with me (I never ride in jeans!) and my niece's well-broken in Fatbaby cowboy boots along with a pair of socks I borrowed from my mom. (Thanks, guys---without you I would have been stuck with my swimsuit and flip-flops!) I also rode in her beautiful Western show saddle! Yep, nobody would have recognized me, but I was actually quite comfortable. Sweaty, but comfortable.

It was hot in the palmetto and pine woods. Sandy trails and sunny skies radiated the heat, but coming from our cold, wet spring, I thought it was great. In fact I was having a really fun time until my sister mentioned how nervous the canal we were riding along made her. She reminded me that alligators can move extremely fast when they want to. The fun factor dropped a few million points until we got away from the canal! You have to assume that any body of fresh water in Florida does have alligators.

I was glad to see my horses when I got home last night. They look good and rested and ready to get out and enjoy some serious saddle time! I drove up the canyon this evening to check the river level and the water is way too fast to safely cross on Riyah so we can't get to the Ponderosa trail just yet, so I am going to take her out in the morning to the Corral Road. At least it is in the canyon, but we won't have a raging river to cross!

Riyah and I headed up the canyon solo today. We are late getting up there this year due to the rough spring weather we have had. I decided to try out the Corral Road which I have been avoiding since last summer when the county road department hauled in tons of rock to "improve" the road. Actually it wasn't as rocky as I expected. It's a three mile hike up the mountainside, but so worth the climb. Terrific views, beautiful early wildflowers, a great workout, in addition to the snow covered mountain up ahead.

Riyah felt great; she powered up the road like she was on level ground. She was looking around at the new trail, thinking about spooking at something, but we just kept climbing. I was freezing, having decided I wouldn't need a jacket. Ha. Altitude lowers the temperature dramatically! We still had a blast. It was a stunning day, and I was on this lively enthusiastic mare that I adore.

See this picture? That is how I feel today:

School's out for the summer!

Hooray! I am done for the year. I closed the library down and took off. I may go back for a luncheon tomorrow afternoon if I am back from my ride. (That is a big if, too.)

I celebrated the end of school (and the sunshine!) by taking Riyah out for a solo ride in Dog Valley. A perfect ride. It was warm, sunny, the flowers were blooming, and I was on a lovely, sweet horse.

We rode about six miles at a relaxed pace. Lots of easy trot, walk aways, and trot some more. It really was just what the doctor ordered. Riyah enjoyed it, too. I love a horse who likes to take time to smell the roses. We were trotting along at a nice clip on level ground when Riyah suddenly slammed on the brakes, arched her neck, and leaned down to check out a big clump of blooming slippery elm! Beautiful flowers, but they sure as heck weren't there last time we came this way!

The visiting sheep herd scattered in the sagebrush watched us trot past. Riyah is very good with sheep, you know! A very long blow snake crossed the trail in front of us and we took time to watch him and admire his bright yellow patterns. I gave Riyah time to nibble the grass, and we took in the view. Like I said, it was perfect.