Positivity is flowing for change - announcement time!

 Riding at the new barn is slow and sloppy. With no indoor arena and a newer outdoor that hasn't fully "settled", every single step we take is in mud. Yay spring. The only place I have found to do any kind of trotting work is a driveway, and it isn't a long driveway. Oh how I yearn for a indoor, however I am still very happy in my choice of moving barns. 

What are we doing today? - Mia, probably

I have gone to the barn almost every day since I moved Mia, it is super easy since she is now only 5 minutes from my house. Every day she has had water, hay and her stall has been cleaned. It is disappointing that she hasn't made friends, she is always by herself or "close by" the alpha horse. The barn owner even confirmed that last weekend, saying "Yeah, she is always by herself". It would be nice if she would made friends, as I know what it is like to not have friends in the group. Maybe a little more time will help her find a real friend.

Sweaty mare after a long trail ride. More treats?

Last Saturday after I rode, I got a pic from the barn at 730p. I had noticed a bite scrape on the top of her tail dock when I was out that afternoon, it happens when one is out with other horses. It wasn't sore, it wasn't hot, just a 1 inch by 1/2 inch of hair missing. The barn owner saw it and sent me a pic to let me know about it. I am not sure I can convey the happiness I felt at that text, that someone noticed such a minor thing and let me know about it. When Mia was at my old barn, they never seemed to see her injuries and here I am being notified over a quite small section of missing hair at the top of her tail. What a relief it is to feel like someone is looking out for her!

SO MUCH ROOM TO RIDE! This will be amazing when the ground firms up

There are other, small positive changes going on in my life that are really making me feel like maybe life is turning a corner for us. Life for us isn't anywhere near as bad as a lot of people, however lately every time we have tried to do or aim for something good, life has kicked us down. Mia has now been sound since December. Her Lyme came back at super low levels in January. She is now on a Lyme vaccine protocol. She isn't super stiff anymore and can bend. She even loaded right up into the trailer when moving barns, no hesitation at all. Eventually we will be able to ride and become fit again.

Their pastures are to die for...this is a pasture not being used.

But something else has happened. Something big. Something fairly unexpected. We moved to PA from MI for hubby's job. It was a long and difficult process. Hubby has now received a promotion and we will be moving BACK to MI, likely in the May/June/July time frame. Surprise? He was made an offer that he couldn't refuse, and there is some relocation benefits being offered that should make moving SO much easier for us. 

Am I sad that I am already leaving the closest barn I have ever been at? Yes, yes I am.

What does this mean for Mia and I? Likely that our show season is effectively put on hold until fall. I have zero confidence that we will be able to train to compete with the packing/house hunting/house selling that is coming up very quickly. Our plan is to move to an area that I know has an established eventing community and there are a lot of people in the area that I already have relationships with. Fingers crossed that this goes smoothly and quickly, the quicker we move, the quicker I can get back to training and riding!

Let change wash over you

Sometimes change is really hard, sometimes it is not. Change isn't typically hard for me, I have moved houses/states regularly enough that it is just another Sunday. Change has been needed for a while, Mia has been in various states of broken for almost a year. I have been increasingly unhappy with the barn staff since December. Life has been unfair for a while but with the current state of the world, it is unfair for a lot of people.

A big window in her stall? Yes please!

Mia hasn't been happy for a while. She came off stall rest and has not enjoyed being in the pasture that she was put in. The horses in that pasture kept her kicked off of the round bale for the majority of the day, and no matter when someone saw her, she was almost always off by herself just standing around. She had no friends in the new pasture and she was starting to lose weight. I do think horses can be unhappy despite good care, and I do think Mia was falling in this column. In my last post I had turned in my notice at my barn. I love 95% of the boarders. I do love the barn, I do love the facilities, but we definitely were ready for a change. 

Such an amazing stall

After waiting for Mia's 2nd chiro visit this month, we moved to a facility that is literally 5 miles from my house. With the current state of gas prices, this will be huge. Also huge will be my drive time, as the barn was a 32 mile one way drive. A 45 min drive versus the current barn which is a 5 minute drive. It is a no brainer really. I am SUPER excited to be able to see Mia more, and can even do so during the daytime. It will also be super easy to handle any appointments for her. On top of everything else? She now gets a stall again.

Mia making friends already (Mia on far right)

I strongly prefer pasture board because I like my horses to be out as much as possible. In Michigan they were out 24x7 except for feeding time. When I moved to PA, I needed App to move as much as possible for his arthritis and I think it helped him tremendously. That said, I am really looking forward to having a space I can put Mia if I need to. If I am waiting for an appointment, if I need to do something while I am handling her, I now have a place to stash her. Previously any of these needs required me to keep her in a cross ties, this is a much better option. I have told the barn that Mia can be left out as much as possible. 

Is all of this for ME?! Wait, is that a treat you have there?

And guys. Mia's stall is HUGE. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being 16x16. The barn is a former breeding facility and the stalls are just huge! Mia spent her first night in it last night and it was reported she had nary a complaint with her new digs. She didn't call out, paw, become agitated, or even appear stressed. If anything, she seemed to relax. The situation she was in was perhaps more stressful than I thought? When she was turned out today, she marched out with other horses without a single concern. She is a solid mid-pack horse who likes almost everyone and almost everyone likes her. Apparently she walked out like she had always been in this new field and there were no squeals or scuffles. When I visited her about an hour after turnout, she was happily munching on a round bale. Of which there were 3 bales in the field.

Showing the huge pasture, Mia on the far right bale

The biggest downside of this facility is that there is not currently an indoor arena, just an outdoor arena. An indoor is going to be built as soon as a contractor builds it, but they are having massive problems getting a contractor to start. There is an indoor arena 2 miles down the road that I should be able to start using in a couple of weeks. Does that dampen my ride style? Yes. Did I move anyway? Yes. Seeing Mia today on a round bale in the huge pasture made me happy. Fingers crossed this works out as well as I think it will, maybe we will finally be able to make it to a show this year!

A step forward, a step back

Things were so good after the last post. We started cantering, Mia was accepting weight onto her haunches and offering some real collection and connection. We were working on building muscles, all was going well. On Feb 15th I ran out to the barn and swapped Mia's blanket for her sheet and she was fine. I then tweaked my back and didn't make it back out to see her until Feb 19th. When I got there, Mia was a hot mess. Extremely reactive, not wanting me to touch her, would not bend her head/neck/body, and especially did not want anything touching her neck. Ugh. 

I tried talking to barn management about what might of happened, it did not go well. I was only told Mia is fine because she throws her head when she gets grain. No one knows anything more. I have been having issues with the manager but was super disappointed that I can't even approach and ask about my sore horse. I gave Mia bute for a week and after no change, I called the chiropractor. Mia was just seen on the 12th and got a really good report, so it is baffling as to what caused such a massive setback. 

We don't know what the root issue is, but we ARE missing a big piece of information

I tried riding Mia, but she was super duper stiff and really didn't want to move forward. She didn't want to move forward on a lunge either. It has been a long 2 weeks of the best girl feeling horrible. Even though I would have no one to split the travel fee with, I had the chiro out at the first available appointment which was yesterday. My thought and plan was that the vet will send her for xrays, stall rest, and put her on muscle relaxers. If the chiro didn't fix her, I would indeed go down that route but at this point I was pretty certain it was chiropractic. 

Rides in a freshly groomed arena are the best rides.

The chiro visit went exceptionally well. No one knows what happened to make Mia SO out of whack, but per the chiropractor, this was the worst Mia has ever been. She was out everywhere. EVERYWHERE. She was quite badly out in her hips/pelvis/lower back. Mia was worked on for almost an hour and was so much better at the end of the session. Personally I am curious if she fell somehow, as I am not sure that mud/ruts/ice would cause this much of an issue but we will never know. I am to give her time off until Thurs or Friday and then start riding again. If Mia is still stiff or the adjustment didn't stay, the chiro will be back out on Tuesday for their regularly scheduled visit (and split travel fee) and I can have her done again. The chiro said we are missing a big piece of information and I agree. Something isn't right for us to constantly be having issues, the key is finding what that information is.

It was such a relief to have Mia walk out of the barn relaxed again. The poor thing has been a tense, uncomfortable mess for 2 weeks and she seemed so much happier yesterday. My fingers are crossed  that things continue in an upward trajectory, because this being constantly kicked down when we are trying to climb back up is becoming exhausting. 2019 - so much death. 2020 - Covid. 2021 - Lyme and soft tissue injury. I really have had great plans and nothing is being accomplished.

Ready to get back to lipstick after a ride.

I am making a change though. With regret, I gave notice to my barn. I do like the barn and the people however the hostility directed at me from management is only part of it. I really want to see if a different environment makes Mia happier and healthier. We have been at this barn for 6 years at the end of this month and Mia has been hurt/sick/down every 4-7 months of the entire 6 year residency. She gets great care, but sometimes horses aren't happy. Maybe a different farm will be just what we need.