I am not sure what is up, I am normally a very healthy, accident free person but 2012 has it in for me. Between the New Years Eve fiasco to the torn calf muscle to now I am pretty sick and thinking it is pneumonia, this has been an unfair year for me. Starting Monday my allergies went on the war front and started making me miserable. Tuesday night I got very little sleep as I would wake up when I couldn't breathe, which was constantly. Wednesday I took the full arsenal of drugs, including my rarely used inhaler and super expensive Singular, and got through the day and this morning I feel like a sack of poo. Hurts to breathe deeply, minor coughing starting, sore throat, sore sinuses, sore nose, joint pain, lethargic, headaches, you name it. I found the antibiotics I hadn't finished from my New Years Eve fiasco, since my Dr told me I didn't need them since it was a vaccinated, indoor cat, and am taking that with Dayquil and Advil. Blech. Hopefully I don't have to go to the Dr yet again.
On the flip side I am feeling really good mentally. I had my instructor compliment me on my training of the App, I am riding again and last night I got a call from RB3. She decided she needed to sell Kota as she still had fear when on him, she doesn't trust him. Her boyfriend, which is the reason she bought Kota in the first place, doesn't really want to ride period so RB3 decided to sell him while he is still fresh out of training. She said she had someone over to look at him and they loved him but she said they couldn't get Kota to canter without him bucking. Say what?? I never had that issue when he was here. She begged me to come ride him for the next people that were coming out, she said now that she knows he will buck she will never ride him again. *sigh*.
So I changed my plans, left work about 20 mins earlier than I planned on, ate about half of my dinner and brought my wheezing self to her barn. It was about an hour before the people were to show up so I worked with Kota to see what was going on. I did about 5 mins of groundwork to remind him of space and manners and hopped on. He was a little speedy, not unexpected considering the riding he has had for the past 2.5 weeks. I slowed him down and worked on his lateral movements and they are still nicely installed. I asked for a left lead canter, his good direction, and it felt like he kicked out so I brought his nose to his haunches and kicked him hard for a few circles before letting him rest. It wasn't even close to a buck but nothing out of line will be tolerated at this point. I asked for a canter again and not only got one, it was a fairly nicely balanced canter!
His right lead was a bit stickier, he had problems giving it to me but I got it and there was no hooves stepping out of line. RB3 was happy but a little frustrated and said she just doesn't click with him so she is glad she is selling him. Personally I think it probably has to do with either her riding or the saddle she had bought for him (I was using the one we trained with at the end, she bought him a new one after he went home since the first saddle didn't fit) but either way I am glad he rode well.
The people showed up about a half hour later and fell in LOVE with him. It was an older lady who has a horse who is currently trying to kill her (her words). She says she is thrown from him about every third ride and she wants something she clicks with better. I rode Kota and showed her the buttons as well as the walk, trot and canter and she was happy even when it took Kota 3 tries to get his right lead. She rode him and while she was very tense, she seems to be a decent rider and was able to get him to do everything she asked including a left lead canter.
They bought him right then and there and are picking him up Thursday, today. She will be doing lower level dressage and using him as a trail horse. Here's to hoping he has a good life, it appears his training has set him on the course for a better things. I am very proud that my training has got him here too. Happy Trails Kota!
Just wanted to answer your questions. I'll be back to catch up (again!) soon.
ReplyDeleteYou asked if Chrome's knees had been xrayed to see if they are closed . . . no, not yet. The incident with the feed has me a bit strapped for cash. It's not just his legs I worry about though, it's his back (did you notice how he dropped it so drastically under my weight) because the growth plates in their spine don't harden until as late as seven years old!!! I'm just going to take it easy with him so I don't cause any long term damage or teach him to dislike being ridden due to muscle pain, etc. I'm still going to do stuff on the ground with him like going for walks and learning stuff with clicker. :D
Thanks for the question. I'll include it in a post tomorrow where I'll hopefully have a bunch more questions to answer. :D
Awww that's awesome!! You must be so proud of him. I'm glad he found a great home!
ReplyDeleteThat sucks that you're sick. I hope everything heals up quickly so you can get back to feeling normal again.